Coinbase, one of the best-known U.S. cryptocurrency exchanges, is facing a backlash after purchasing a company whose executives have been tied to an Italian firm accused of selling spyware to repressive governments.

Fincross, based on the island of Mauritius, is launching a regulated investment bank for digital assets. It faces tough competition.

Entrepreneurs in the digital-assets industry say that even as some attract investment from multibillion-dollar institutions, they are routinely refused basic banking services by the likes of HSBC and JPMorgan Chase.

Universities are starting to offer courses in bitcoin and other cryptocurrency skills, and that's just the start, according to David Uhryniak, blockchain services leader at Crowe LLP, and Brian T. Zygmunt, a partner at Crowe LLP.

Crypto exchanges are adopting anti-fraud surveillance tools as they attempt to root out pump-and-dump schemes, insider trading and bogus orders.

Figure, the startup headed by Mike Cagney, uses blockchain technology to provide home equity loans in as little as five days. It intends to use the newly raised funds to offer other services, including wealth management.

It creates an auditable, distributed ledger of transactions that cannot be altered or removed, enabling transactions that are valid, authentic, trustworthy and immutable, according to David Uhryniak, a blockchain services leader at Crowe LLP, and Brian T. Zygmunt, a partner with Crowe LLP.

Quadriga Fintech Solutions Corp. is in danger of running out of cash to cover the cost of its restructuring unless the Vancouver-based crypto exchange can retrieve money from banks and payments processors, according to the firm overseeing the process.

When a cryptocurrency exchange is unregulated, you need to investigate its security practices yourself, writes Phillips Nizer LLP's Patrick Burke.

States are changing how they regulate bitcoin, but convincing merchants and consumers to jump-start a dreary cryptocurrency payments market is another matter.