Category: News

Vitalik Buterin boycotts CoinDesk conference

In a series of tweets Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin explained why he’s not not attending CoinDesk’s Consensus 2018 conference, citing the $2-3k ticket prices as “rent seeking” and the publications ethics based around “off the record” interviews.

4. And by the way, the conference costs $2-3k to attend. I refuse to personally contribute to that level of rent seeking.

— Vitalik "Not giving away ETH" Buterin (@VitalikButerin) April 26, 2018

IBM planning to use Blockchain to track diamonds

IBM’s latest blockchain initiative TrustChain will bring transparency to the diamond industry by tracking the process from raw material to finished jewelry.

Read more at Investopedia.

Sony files blockchain patent

Sony has filed a patent with the US Patent & Trademark Office to store consumers digital rights on the blockchain dubbed Rights Management (DRM

Read more at Toinnov.

Venezuela to get $1 billion cash injection from petro ICO

The Venezuelan president has said the country will receive a $1 billion cash injection from the sale of its cryptocurrency named the PetroDollar (XPD) which allegeldy raised $5 billion dollars, $1.7 of which will be set aside for importing “food, medicine and industrial goods.”

Read more at Phys.

Penny stock firm proposes Blockchain mining at coal plant

Plans to create an Australian “Blockchain Valley” with cheap fossil energy have been met with a stony reception from blockchain insiders.

Read more at GreenTechMedia.

AirSwap breaks $1 million trading volume in 24 hours

Decentralised trading platform AirSwap has handled more than $1 million dollars worth of transactions within the first 24 hours of launching. AirSwap was co-founded by a veteran of automated trading firm Virtu Financial Inc

Within the first 24 hours of launch, $1M worth of trades were made through AirSwap’s marketplace! #AirSwap https://t.co/88ScUYFXFE

— AirSwap (@airswap) April 27, 2018

$100,000 bounty for crypto pump-and-dump whistleblowers

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has created a bounty to encourage whistleblowers to come forward in exposing “pump-and-dump” schemes withunique information that leads to sanctions of $1 million or more are eligible.

Read more at CFTC.

Crypto exchange more profitable than Germany’s biggest bank

In the first quarter of 2018 the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance, recorded profits of $200 million surpassing Deutsche Bank’s $146 million. Today Deutsche Bank announced the loss of 1,000 jobs equating to 10% of its US workforce.

Read more at Reuters.

8% of Americans are invested in crypto

Around 8% of Americans know of cryptocurrencies according to a survey of 2,000 adults carried out by Finder.com

Read more at CNBC.

Singapore to speed up Blockchain patent processing

The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) has announced a new initiative named ‘Fintech Fast Track’ that aims to speed up the patent application-to-grant process for blockchain-based patents.

Read more at BlockTribune.

Early investor in Tesla, Skype and Hotmail says Bitcoin will be bigger than all those combined

Speaking at the Intelligence Squared U.S. debate, renowned venture capitalist Tim Draper said Bitcoin will be bigger than his investments in Telsa, Hotmail and Skype combined, while reiterating his estimates that a single BTC will be worth $250,000 by 2022. He also said that purchasing a coffee with fiat in the future will be commonplace and that staff would laugh if customers tried to pay with old money. Draper purchased 30,000 bitcoins in a 2014 U.S. Marshals Service auction.

Read more at CNBC.

It’s a knockout! SEC charges third founder of Floyd Mayweather-backed cryptocurrency

Raymond Trapan, the co-founder of cryptocurrency firm Centra has been charged by the US SEC for masterminding a scheme which duped investors into believing they had partnerships with major credit card companies such as Visa and MasterCard. The initial coin offering raised $32 million and was endorsed by boxer Floyd Mayweather.

Centra’s (CTR) ICO starts in a few hours. Get yours before they sell out, I got mine https://t.co/nSiCaZ274l pic.twitter.com/dB6wV0EROJ

— Floyd Mayweather (@FloydMayweather) September 18, 2017

Read more at CNBC.

Total Market Cap smashes through $400 billion

The total cryptocurrency Market Cap has exceeded $400,000,000,000 with a 24hr hour volume of $26,591,855,442 and current volume of $418,414,019,607.

See the current Market Cap at https://coinmarketcap.com/

Iran’s banks banned from dealing in crypto-currencies

The government owned central bank of Iran has banned financial instituions from dealing in cryptocurrencies, stating concerns that the technology could be used by criminals to launder money.

Read more at BBC.

Bitcoin Lightning Network matures with record 2000 Nodes, $150K Capacity and over 7000 active channels

The Lightning Network has almost doubled its capacity in two weeks this month as more and more users expand the protocols usage.

Read more at Bitcoinist.

Incoming heavyweights – one in five big financial institutions are getting ready to trade crypto

According to a survey by Thomson Reuters, one if five institutional financial firms are planning to trade in cryptocurrencies within the next 12 months, more specifically Ethereum, Ripple and Bitcoin are among the most popular. The Bitcoin landing page of Thomson Reuters’ Eikon data terminal is the second most visited page.

Read more at Quartz.

Crypto crackdown lands India’s central bank in court

Kali Digital EcoSystems has challenged the Reserve Bank of India’s clampdown on financial institutions in the Delhi High Court, on two grounds of the 1950 Indian constitution: Under Article 19(1) (g), which allows citizens to enjoy the right to carry on any occupation, trade or business; and Article 14, which prohibits discrimination and mandates equal protection under the law for all. The Reserve Bank of India is aiming to stop other banks and institutions working with cryptocurrencies.

Read more at inc42.

Goldman Sachs explores crypto trading with new hire

Justin Schmidt has been hired by Goldman Sachs as VP and Head of Digital Asset Markets to potential head its crypto trading desk in the future. According to his Linkedin profile, Schmidt was senior VP at Seven Eight Capital and portfolio manager at LMR Partners.

Read more at Tear Sheet.

Are our feline pets behind the bitcoin craze?

A scientific hypothesis on how our feline friends infected with toxoplasmosis are driving humans to buy Bitcoin was presented at last night’s BAHFest at MIT 2018.

Read more at Reddit.

Walmart is getting suppliers to put food on the Blockchain

To improve transparency and reduce waste, Walmart is trying to encourage suppliers to use Blockchain technology. Speaking at the MIT Technology Review’s Business of Blockchain conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Vice President of food safety and health for Walmart, Frank Yiannas said blockchain technology was able to cut the time it took to track various types of produce to two seconds from six days.

Read more at Bloomberg.

Binance to create employment opportunities for Uganda’s youth in blockchain

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance is planning to use its influence in the blockchain sector to help Uganda in its economic development. It hopes to create new employment opportunities for the Ugandan youth and drive investments from the blockchain sector in the East African country.

Read more at TheNextWeb.

Swiss Post goes Blockchain with Modum

Modum has partnered with Swiss Post to deliver an industry-leading, temperature-monitoring solution that enables regulatory compliance for shipments containing medical and other temperature-sensitive products.

Read more on the Modum blog.

Track crypto prices with your lightbulb

You can now reduce the amount of time spent at your computer checking the Bitcoin prices by hacking your light bulb to glow red/ green or yellow. Get the code on GitHub.

Nasdaq-Listed company Xunlei faces class-action for disguising ICO

Nasdaq-listed technology firm Xunlei has become the subject of multiple class-action lawsuits from investors who purchased the company’s digital token, Linktoken. Xunlei is accused of misleading investors to disguise an initial coin offering (ICO) through which Linktoken was distributed.

Read more at Bitcoin.com

Blockchain could help Opiod crisis

BlockMedx aims to reduce the number of opioid overdose deaths with Blockchain technology. It aims to solve the identity and security flaws that are contributing to the current crisis, specifically where prescriptions are forged and duplicated. In 2016 around 64,000 Americans died from a drug overdose.

Read more on BlockMedx’s Medium blog.

LinkedIn cofounder Eric Ly launches ICOHub to eliminate ICO scammers

Co-founder and former CTO of LinkedIn, Eric Ly recently launched Hub, Human Trust Protocol to help strangers safely interact on the internet and build digital reputations based on their transaction history.

Read more at VentureBeat.

Binance has quashed rumours that it intends to introduce fiat-to-crypto trading pairs.

A spokesperson told Bloomberg, the reports are “fake news”.

Binance only handles trading between cryptocurrencies, not fiat.

Several crypto publications covered the news including the Daily Express, all based of rumours circulating across social media.

In the last 24 hours Binance has handled $2,152,690,811 billion in trading.

Source: Bloomberg

Consortium of banks test first transactions on Blockchain

IBM in partnership with the CaixaBank, Bank of Montreal, Commerzbank, Erste Group and UBS have passed the first live pilot transactions on the IBM built Batavia blockchain platform. The trading of cars from German to Spain and textiles between Austria and Spain were carried out on the network. Do you think this challenges Stellar and Ripples blockchain tech?

Read more at FinExtra.

Bitcoin must go up for profitable mining

According to Morgan Stanley Equity Analyst Charlie Chan, the price of Bitcoin must reach $8,600 for mining to be profitable based on (US$0.03 kW/h) energy price.

Read more at CNBC.

Chip manufacturer blaming crypto for bleak outlook

The world’s largest semiconductor foundry company, TSMC which has become a major player in the Bitcoin mining industry is allegedly cutting its revenue forecast for the year blaming the uncertainty behind the cryptocurrency mining demand.

Read more at CNBC.

Tezos co-founder slapped with pocket change fine

Tezos co-founder Arthur Breitman has been slapped with a $20,000 fine and a two year trading ban by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). This seems like pocket change for an ICO that raised $232 million.

Read more at Reuters.

China’s tech giants skirt ban with Blockchain investments

Three of China’s biggest tech firms Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent are battling for Blockchain stardom while steering well clear of the crypto trading crackdown, cool move eh… by investing and developing Blockchain companies, they skirt round the ban.

Baidu recently launched Totem a blockchain-based image right management platform similar to KODAKOne. They also launched a pet rearing game called Laici Gou.

Alibaba has the most Blockchain patents in the world, they recently launched a system for luxury goods sold on its flagship shopping site Tmall.

Tencent founder Pony Ma is optimistic about identity & document verification. Tencent partnered with a Chinese city to test tracking prescriptions on the Blockchain.

Read more at Quartz.

MP Matt Hancock is pro blockchain

MP Matt Hancock delivered a speech at the Blockchain Conference regarding the momental impact he thinks Blockchain technology will have on people’s lives in the future. He mentioned the World Food Programme Ethereum Blockchain aid initiative, which has transferred vouchers based on cryptocurrencies to 10,000 refugees in Syria, enabling them to buy food without “the need for cash, credit cards or paper.”

Syrian blockchain program receives $2.4 million donation

The United Nations World Food Programme has received $2.4 million dollars from Belgium to support a blockchain-based payment system for refugees. Funds will also be used to expand the UAV project to collect data and analysis to cope with natural disasters.

Read more at CoinDesk.

SophiaTX scoops blockchain company of the year

Enterprise blockchain platform SophiaTX has been named company of the year in this months CIOApplications magazine.

Mark Karpelès has a new job and it’s not in crypto

Mark Karpelès, the CEO of bankrupt Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox has found a new job as the chief technology officer of the world’s largest VPN service, London Trust Media based in Denver. His new boss is more than happy with his past role, stating he skills unarguably continue to exist. Although the CEO of London Trust Media was one of the co-founders of Mt. Gox, friends with benefits? We think so.

Read more at Fortune.

Bitcoin is booming in Venezuela

According to research by VeneBloc, cryptocurrency trading in Venezuela has reached a new record surpassing $1 million dollars of Bolivar currency to Bitcoin in April.

Read more at CNN.

Cryptos back, will it stick?

Buy orders now make up for 90% of the cryptocurrency market for the first time since March 2017.

Read more at TurtleBTC.

$1.5 million dollars gone in a click.

Watch the CEO if Binance burn $1.5 million in just 3 seconds.

Eligma joins Enterprise Ethereum Alliance and Decentralized Identity Foundation

Blockchain firm Enigma announced their membership in the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance as well as the Decentralized Identity Foundation.

Read more at Eligma.

Poland crypto tax protest

After Poland’s finance ministry introduced a a %1 tax on all crypto trades, angry enthusiasts are demonstrated outside the tax ministory on Friday 19th.

Read more at WYKOP.

World’s first IOTA smart charging station released

IOTA have announced the world’s first smart charging station where users can pay with IOTA to charge their vehicle.

Read more AMBcrypto.

If you don’t believe that cryptocurrencies are having an effect on mainstream society, then you should really check out the latest information coming from Barclays Plc.

One would think a bank like Barclays would be as traditional as they come, but that is no longer the case. It has been reported that they are now gauging interest on a potential cryptocurrency trading desk.

Bloomberg has reported that Barclays are well into the preliminary assessment of the trading desk. Although no concrete plans are yet in place, this would represent a massive step into the future for the British bank.

If they were going to go down this road, they would become the only big European investment bank to do so. The likes of investment chief Tim Throsby and CEO Jess Staley may need to give it the go-ahead, as this isn’t in line with what other continental banks are doing.

Staley and Throsby are no strangers to showing innovation in leadership; for instance, Throsby authorised the transfer of huge sums of capital to high-risk trading from safer corporate lending already.

There is an existing demand for the services, with the likes of bitcoin hedge funds eager to find banks that can look after their transactions. Crypto hasn’t found its home within the banking sector just yet, but once it does, it could be a lucrative partnership for all involved.

This is especially true if you consider that the amount of hedge funds focusing on crypto grew significantly from in the year ranging from February 2017 to February 2018.

Goldman Sachs haven’t been shy in expressing their ambition around digital currencies. The American organisation has set up a trading desk, which it hopes will begin trading this summer.

Los Angeles-based DNAtix, also known as the ‘genetic blockchain company’ has successfully performed the world’s first DNA sequence transfer on the Ethereum Blockchain.

The complete genome sequence of the Enterobacteria phage phiX174 sensu lato virus was transferred in a proof of concept test on the Ethereum blockchain and is believed to be the world’s first single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) virus to ever be stored in this manner.

The human genome contains 3 billion base pairs which is approximately 100 gigabytes in raw data. This amount of data is too large to be supported by any current blockchain technologies however the team at DNAtix have developed specialised compression algorithms which reduce the size by 75%, resulting in an impressive 700 megabytes. The team is also confident that this can be improved even further with a total 99% size reduction in the future.

“For the purpose of the POC we uploaded the virus sequence which is ~5400 ‘letters’ that equals about 1348 bytes,” explains Ofer Lidsky, DNAtix’s CEO and co-founder.

This transfer of DNA on the blockchain opens up many doors for medical services and applications like DNAtix who wish to develop autonomous, distributed and redundant global ecosystems.

The firm also hopes that by placing DNA on the blockchain it will open up data access and research for 3rd parties to push forward developments, advancements in treatments and preventative medicine for the benefit of humankind.

Three Chilean-based cryptocurrency exchanges – CryptoMarket, Buda and Orionx –are seeking new banking partners after having their accounts shut down.

With little to no explanation, Banco del Estado de Chile, Itau Corpbanca and Bank of Nova Scotia have ceased providing their banking services for the exchanges, with some pointing the finger at the government secretly forcing the banks to do so. But as yet this is unclear.

South Americans are concerned that the ban is mimicking the cryptocurrency bans of other countries, such as China and the UK, whose banks have notoriously formed a cartel to block any cryptocurrency businesses gaining access to a bank account.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Guillermo Torrealba, Buda’s co-founder and chief executive officer, said: “They’re killing an entire industry. It won’t be possible to buy and sell crypto in a safe business in Chile. We’ll have to go back five years and trade in person. It seems very arbitrary.”

Chile’s cryptocurrency market is small but burgeoning. Entrepreneurs created digital coins Chaucha and Luka, whose names play off local slang used for money, while locally-based exchanges like Buda and CryptoMarket operate across Latin America. Buda traded about $1 million per day before losing its bank account, compared with about $2 billion for the world’s biggest exchanges.

Chile’s cryptocurrency industry is still small but rapidly growing with the Buda exchange trading around $1 million per day in digital assets.

The shutdown exchanges have said they follow stringent know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering practices by running checks with authorities and agencies.

Thousands of Chileans and crypto supporters around the world have taken to social media to support the exchanges with the tag #ChileQuiereCryptos.

The exchanges have formed a joint case at the appeals court, which has already agreed to hear their case; but the bank accounts remain shut until further notice.

In a statement issued today, cryptocurrency exchange OKEX has confirmed that it has started expanding operations to blockchain friendly Malta.

After meeting with the Maltese regulatory and government leaders to discuss their legislative plans, OKEX confirmed that they will “make Malta a foundation for further OKEX growth”.

This comes as no surprise given Malta’s position not only on blockchain technologies but also other sectors that are otherwise heavily scrutinised and regulated in much of the rest of the world. For example Malta has long been supportive of gambling and finance firms seeking better tax incentives and more flexible legislation.

The news follows in the footsteps of Binance who also recently migrated to the country for the same reasons.

OKEX carries a daily trade volume of over $1 billion dollars with millions of customers globally.

“This is just the start. Other companies will soon establish their operations in Malta”, said Silvio Schembri.

This is just the beginning. OKEX and Binance are currently among a growing number of crypto companies that are being forced to expand operations in Malta due to harsh regulatory conditions that are being set in their home countries – a trend, which if unaddressed will stifle innovation and growth in much of the developed and western world.