Aptos launched its blockchain on Monday, with its native coin going live on several cryptocurrency exchanges later in the week.

Aptos is now live

Aptos Labs blockchain went live on Monday, in the process, became the first of the Facebook spin-off networks to launch. After raising millions of dollars in VC funding, blockchain developers now have a chance to see how it performs compared to the other popular networks like Solana, Cardano, and Ethereum

The native APT coin also went live on numerous cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance, FTX, Coinbase, KuCoin, and Houbi Global. The APT coin went live after the team airdropped 20 million tokens to its early testnet users.

Binance receives a licence to operate

Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance is on a streak. The exchange gained regulatory approval to offer its services in Cyprus, making it the third country it has achieved this feat within the space of one month.

Binance gained similar licences in Kazakhstan and New Zealand a few weeks ago. In Cyprus, Binance was granted Class 3 registration as a Crypto Asset Services Provider (CASP) by Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commision (CySEC).

Digital bank N26 launches cryptocurrency trading services

The cryptocurrency market continues to grow despite the ongoing bear market. Earlier this week, N26, Europe’s first regulated mobile bank, announced that it would launch its cryptocurrency trading services in Austria. 

N26 Crypto will go live over the next few weeks, offering users access to 100 cryptocurrencies. The team said it would add more tokens on its platform once it launches. 

N26’s entry into the cryptocurrency space will see it compete with other leading fintech companies, including Robinhood, PayPal, and Revolut.

Telegram to auction off usernames via the TON blockchain

Leading messaging platform Telegram announced earlier this week that it would launch a username auction platform. 

Telegram revealed that it would launch the platform on the Open Network (TON) blockchain. With a user base of over 700 million users, Telegram said it anticipates massive growth for its upcoming platform.

Another DeFi platform losses funds to hackers

DeFi platforms have been the subject of numerous attacks since the start of the year. Earlier this week, an attacker drained 30,437 OHM tokens (roughly $300,000) from one of Olympus DAO’s smart contracts on the Ethereum network.

Security firm PeckShield reported that the attack happened because a contract failed to properly validate the attacker’s malicious fund transfer request. 

Peckshield added that the smart contract lacked a validation input in the “redeem() function,” enabling the hacker to trick input values to redeem funds. 

Fidelity Digital Assets will begin offering ETH to institutions soon

Fidelity Digital Assets announced earlier this week that it would start offering Ether to institutional investors before the end of the month. 

The firm informed its users via an email that they would soon be able to buy, sell and transfer ether, accessing the same operational excellence, robust security, and dedicated client service model provided for bitcoin investments on its platform.