On June 27, 2019, a handful of leaders for a wildly popular ponzi scheme that spread across Asia were arrested by Chinese authorities after they managed to fleece unwitting customers out of roughly $3 billion. PlusToken, as it was called, promised its “investors” monthly returns of anywhere from 10 to 30 percent in its eponymous...Read More
Scalability is still a point of concern for Bitcoin — but clever minds continue to produce innovative proposals to resolve bottlenecks. One of the specific scalability concerns is the growth of the unspent transaction output (UTXO) data set held by Bitcoin nodes. This is the list of all (fractions of) bitcoin in existence and details...Read More
Today, we’re partnering with the Polkadot Network to accelerate the adoption and decentralization of Polkadot tokens (“DOTs”) as it aims to solve the challenges of cross-blockchain interoperability and create a new paradigm for on-chain governance. When the integration is complete, Blockchain’s over 41M Wallets will not only be able to store, send, and receive DOTs,...Read More
South Korea’s Prixbit cryptocurrency exchange has officially closed down. In a website post dated Aug. 9 and entitled ‘Prixbitend,’ the exchange declared it would cease operations. The move was subsequently reported by local press. “Due to negative internal and external influences, management difficulties could not be overcome and normal operation became impossible,” the founder wrote. The exchange said...Read More
Smart contracts could soon get a boost in bitcoin as prominent programmer Pieter Wuille has unveiled a new coding language designed specifically for their use. Posted to the bitcoin developer mailing list Monday, the ‘Miniscript’ language aims to make it easier for programmers to write up “smart contracts” or conditions for spending bitcoins. Programmers Wuille, Andrew...Read More
Ten crypto projects announced Tuesday they had joined the Messari Disclosures Registry, including four top-100 projects by market cap: Cardano, Lisk, V Systems and Beam. The new batch of crypto assets brings the total number of projects listed on the registry to 53. It launched with 12 projects in November 2018. “The ability to find basic...Read More
The Veritaseum blockchain platform and its founder Reggie Middleton have filed a response to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the regulator’s claim that its ICO was fraudulent and illegal, and that Middleton had later manipulated the VERI token’s value. As a result, the SEC managed to get a New York court last week to temporarily...Read More
Wall Street’s self-regulatory organization (SRO) has green-lit a new blockchain-powered securities trading platform. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has approved the membership application of IOI Capital and Markets, which plans to act as a placement agent for privately placed, digital securities on a permissioned Hyperledger Fabric blockchain. Co-founders Rashad Kurbanov and Hamid Gayibov have been...Read More
The Takeaway: An Israeli startup called Libracamp is funding development on Facebook’s Libra testnet. More than 80 projects have applied for the five spots in Libracamp’s initial virtual bootcamp, which starts in November. Even though Facebook admitted in a recent SEC filing that regulatory pushback may prevent Libra from launching, Libracamp remains undaunted. The Libracamp...Read More
Deloitte, one of the “Big Four” professional services firms, has officially launched a plug-and-play product aimed to help enterprises showcase their blockchain solutions to clients. The firm’s new “Blockchain in a Box” (BIAB) is designed as a mobile unit packed with four built-in nodes and several monitors that can be linked to external services such...Read More
Ledger will provide its asset management system to Estonian cybersecurity-focused crypto exchange Rokkex. French hardware wallet producer Ledger will provide its asset management system to Estonia-based crypto exchange Rokkex. Cybersecurity-focused exchange Built by Lithuanian cybersecurity and fintech professionals, Rokkex will integrate its trading platform with Ledger’s enterprise wallet management solution Ledger Vault to secure its...Read More
The volatility which characterizes the current market conditions, as well as Bitcoin’s relative stability in recent weeks can definitely be deceiving. Bitcoin is currently trading above $10,000 and rumors of institutional capital on the way are attracting the attention of many investors, especially in light of the news that Bakkt, the new Bitcoin futures trading...Read More
Bitcoin Bitcoin is again falling below the trend line, for the third time since the beginning of this parabolic trend in April. Meanwhile, the price continues to be rather volatile and the chart seems to be waiting in the coming days. Support in this range is around $10,500 and it’s not as stable as we’ve...Read More
A man has been sentenced in San Diego, California, for conspiring to sell drugs over dark web markets for cryptocurrencies. Thirty-nine-year-old Sky Justin Gornik had pleaded guilty to using a number of marketplaces such as Alpha Bay, Trade Route, Abraxas, Evolution, Outlaw Market, and Dream Market to deal in fentanyl, carfentanil, ketamine, oxycodone, amphetamine and other...Read More
The Bitcoin hash rate has broken yet another new all-time high, hitting an eye-popping 82.5 TH/s. The Bitcoin (BTC) hash rate has broken yet another new all-time high, according to Aug. 19 data from monitoring resource Blockchain.com. The top coin’s hash rate has continued to break previous records throughout summer, today hitting an whopping 82.5...Read More
Partnership between crypto exchange bitFlyer and tech services company Tpoint Japan allows local users to exchange loyalty points for Bitcoin. Cryptocurrency exchange bitFlyer and technology services company Tpoint Japan announced a new partnership that allows local customers to exchange loyalty program points for Bitcoin (BTC) and earn rewards for paying in crypto. The official press...Read More
Bitcoiners give @Bitcoin a cautious welcome after years of pro-BCH rhetoric abruptly changes to BTC advocacy. Bitcoin’s (BTC) best-known names are currently playing a guessing game after one of the industry’s most controversial Twitter accounts changed its views overnight. @Bitcoin switches from Bitcoin.com to Bitcoin.org Multiple users, including Reddit’s r/Bitcoin Subreddit moderator, BashCo, are supplying...Read More
Erik Finman joins Marshall Hayner in adding multiple cryptocurrencies to Metal, their joint payment app project. Cryptocurrency payment app Metal has launched as a full version in what creators say will dominate the market over Facebook’s Libra. In a social media post Aug. 19, Erik Finman, who co-founded Metal together with former QuickCoin co-founder, Marshall...Read More
Crypto financial services company Circle CEO Jeremy Allair thinks that Bitcoin is particularly attractive to people who want to have control over their funds. Jeremy Allaire, CEO at cryptocurrency financial services company Circle, expressed his optimism in regards to Bitcoin (BTC) being a safe haven for investors despite recent market volatility. On Aug. 19, Allaire...Read More
Crypto vs RBI case resumed hearing today, 20/8/2019 in Supreme Court, Court No. 5. Ashim Sood, counsel for the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), questioned RBI’ ban on Cryptocurrency stating FATF guidelines suppress the illicit side of Crypto assets and earlier docs of RBI shows no study took place. Mr. Nakul Dewan, Ld....Read More
Bitcoin is on a positive track lately, increasing by more than $1,000 in five days alone. The cryptocurrency is currently trading at around $10,800, marking yet another positive leg up of about 3% on the day. The increase comes despite seemingly bad news for the crypto community that the New York Supreme Court denied Bitfinex’s...Read More
Michael J. Casey is the chairman of CoinDesk’s advisory board and a senior advisor for blockchain research at MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative. This essay is presented as a part of No Closing Bell, a series leading up to Invest: Asia 2019 focused on how the Asian crypto markets are interacting with and impacting global investors....Read More
INX Limited, a crypto exchange startup, plans to raise up to $129.5 million through an IPO, in the first security token sale registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). No, that’s not a typo for “ICO,” the initial coin offerings that tested the limits of securities law during the go-go days of 2017. IPO...Read More
A Canadian judge has dismissed a motion to set aside an asset freeze in a civil forfeiture case involving the purported FUEL token. A Supreme Court judge in British Columbia (BC), Canada, has denied a motion to set aside an asset freeze, which was requested by the defendants in a multimillion dollar cryptocurrency fraud case....Read More
Huobi Wallet has added MakerDAO’s various offerings to its list of supported assets and services. Major cryptocurrency exchange Huobi has added support for MakerDAO tokens and decentralized apps (DApps) in its wallet. Huobi Group shared the announcement with Cointelegraph on Aug. 19. MakerDAO has a stablecoin called Dai, a token named MKR, and applications including...Read More
A department of the Israel Ministry of Finance is looking to drive fintech competition with industry teams and licensing help. The Capital Market, Insurance and Saving Authority, a division of Israel’s Ministry of Finance (MoF), is looking to accelerate the process of procuring licenses for blockchain and fintech companies in the country. Israeli business news...Read More
The New York State Supreme Court has ruled that Bitfinex is in the jurisdiction of the state’s Attorney General, allowing for a continuation of its investigation. The New York State Supreme Court has ruled that the New York Office of the Attorney General (NYAG) has jurisdiction over cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex. According to a court filing...Read More
Blockchain-powered prediction markets attempt to change the world, from politics to science, by creating digital democracies with a new age of financial tools. Recently, there have been an increasing number of blockchain-based prediction markets (PMs) such as Augur, Bitcoin Hivemind, Amoveo, Gnosis, Cindicator, etc. PMs use the technology of smart contracts for bets on various...Read More
Independent public charity Fidelity Charitable has received $100 million in cryptocurrency donations since 2015. Independent public charity Fidelity Charitable has received $100 million in cryptocurrency donations, according to its recently published report. In its “2019 Giving Report,” Fidelity Charitable illustrated account development throughout 2018, and provided insights into its growth since its establishment. Generally, the...Read More
Blockchain-based customer relations manager (CRM) Cere Network just closed a $3.5 million seed round. Backed by Binance Labs, Neo Global Capital, and Arrington XRP Capital, among multiple others, Cere Network opened a New York office and will announce an innovation lab in Berlin during Berlin Blockchain Week. Cere Network provides a blockchain service for integrating...Read More
