Latest Updates
China’s Blockchain-Based Service Network Partners With ConsenSys
- Quorum will be made available in about 80 different cities through BSN’s public city nodes in mainland China.
- ConsenSys will also cooperate with the BSN to provide a training program for Quorum in China
Latest Updates
CoinMENA Acquires License From Central Bank of Bahrain
- CoinMENA has obtained a "Crypto Assets Services Company License" from the Central Bank of Bahrain.
- The license will allow the exchange to operate in Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Oman.
OKEx Exchange Launches Swap, Farming DApps
- OKEx has launched Swap and Farm dApps on its OKExChain network.
- OKT token holders will be able to stake OKT to earn OKT-USDT LP tokens and earn yield from providing liquidity to the OKT_USDT Farm Pool.
BIS Working on Cross-Border CBDC Testing Platform
- CBDC research and testing is high on the BIS Innovation Hub's agenda list for 2021, including a new platform for testing CBDCs.
- The BIS also announced its new "innovation Network", which will see its 63 members share knowledge about CBDCs.
VanEck Seeks SEC Approval to Launch ETF
- VanEck has filed a request with the SEC to launch a digital asset-related ETF.
- The fund would track the performance of companies operating in the crypto industry.
Wright’s Threat Backfires, More Websites Hosting BTC Whitepaper
- Craig Wright has threatened the owners of Bitcoin.org and Bitcoincore.org with legal action if they don't remove the BTC whitepaper from their websites.
- In response to the threat, even more websites have started uploading the file, including Facebook's subsidiary Novi and payments giant Square, to name a few.
Indian Cloud Provider Tanla to Launch Encrypted Messaging Platform With Microsoft
- Indian cloud communications firm Tanla and Microsoft will launch a blockchain-based CPaaS.
- The Azure-based platform will provide a more secure messaging system to enterprises.
BitMEX Operator Joins Global Digital Finance Organization
- BitMEX's parent company 100x has joined Global Digital Finance (GDS).
- Joining the organization will enable 100x to advocate for a better regulated financial system.
Shenzhen Conducting a Third CBDC Lottery Trial
- Residents of the Longhua District in Shenzhen have until 26 January to sign up for the event.
- Unlike the previous lottery trials, China has decided to place some limitations on who can participate this time.
Oasis Pro Receives FINRA Approval For Digital Asset Trading Platform
- Broker-dealer Oasis Pro Markets received approval from FINRA and SEC to launch a digital asset trading platform.
- The platform will enable users to trade digital securities with stablecoins and CBDCs.
Thai Stock Exchange to Launch Tokenized Assets
- The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) will be launching a digital asset exchange in the second half of 2021.
- The exchange will only list tokenized digital assets.
Editors' Picks
Timeline of Notable Central Bank Digital Currency Events in 2020
- Although most countries are still not certain whether CBDC is necessary, research of the technology has escalated.
- China and its digital yuan are leading the race in terms of testing, but The Bahamas were the first country to issue a CBDC (the "Sand Dollar") beyond a pilot program.
Satoshi Nakamoto Lived in London While Working on Bitcoin. Here’s How We Know.
- Satoshi's Bitcointalk posts, SourceForge commits, and emails, lay out a clear activity pattern, which we plotted in different time zones.
- Other available data gave us clues that helped us determine, with reasonable confidence, where he lived.
Satoshi Used Timestamps For Early Bitcoin Source Code Versioning
- We analyse early Bitcoin source code archives - a preliminary version from November 2008, 0.1.0 (both RAR and TGZ), and 0.1.3.
- We conclude that Satoshi used timestamps as a versioning scheme, before the SourceForge repository was established in mid-2009.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Bitcoin Mining Pool
- In the study, we included 16 major Bitcoin mining pools with 80 stratum server locations across 11 countries on 4 continents.
- The data shows that Asia, North America, and Europe is where almost all stratum servers reside, with 1 pool and 1 stratum server representing Australia.
Square Invests $50 Million In Bitcoin
- The payment firm was able to secure 4,709 Bitcoin at an average price of $10,600 per BTC, which is equal to 1% of Square's total assets.
- The firm has stated that BTC is "an instrument of economic empowerment" that can help the "world to participate in a global monetary system".
Estonia Begins CBDC Research
- Eesti Pank will look into KSI Blockchain, which is already a part of its e-government system.
- The project will last for two years and will be conducted in several phases, the first focusing on building a scalable, practical and secure platform.
The US Introduces New Crypto Exchanges Bill
- The bill will supposedly allow crypto exchanges to operate in the entire US under a single license, rather than applying in 49 states separately.
- While the SEC is currently responsible for the oversight of ICOs and token pre-sales, the introduction of the act might cause a shift in the status quo.
Opinion
The Blockchain-Enabled Elections Of The Future
- We now have the technology to immutably store and process data in a trustless environment, yet we still resort to paper ballots as the fundamental ingredient for elections.
- In a blockchain-enabled future, voting will be as simple as withdrawing money from an ATM, and processing election results will be finished in minutes.
Opinion: How Will Crypto Markets React To The Second Wave Of COVID-19?
- As several countries have already entered the second period of lockdown, many parts of the world are bracing for a long winter of isolation.
- How will this affect crypto markets this time around, and how will it differ from the first lockdown?
Opinion: Why The $100,000 Harvest Finance Bounty Is Absurd
- Only if we put ourselves in the shoes of the attacker can we find a possible angle of negotiation in a bid to recover more from the 13 million USDC and 11 million USDT that were profited from the arbitrage scheme.
- Although the Harvest Finance team has acted responsibly in the face of an unprecedented-to-the-project crisis, their bounty reward initiative is naive.
Opinion: The Impact Of PayPal Entering The Crypto Market
- PayPal will expose cryptocurrency access to its 346 million user base and 26 million merchants worldwide.
- The news is a stamp of mainstream approval on cryptocurrency, but doesn't come without its downsides, including asset encapsulation and centralization, the latter seen by many as the enemy of what Bitcoin stands for.
The Crypto Market Is Preparing For Ethereum 2.0
- Several delays and a couple years of flying under the radar have set up Ethereum's Beacon Chain as a catalyst to a possible crypto market renaissance.
- Phase 0 launch is just around the corner and the market is preparing for the expected increase in demand for ETH.
Can Cryptocurrency & Blockchain Really Change The Global Economy?
- The robustness of trustless DeFi could be the improvement current financial systems need.
- With global change on the horizon, cryptocurrency could be at a turning point.
Is DeFi Sustainable?
- Although speculation largely drives DeFi at the moment, there is much more potential there to be extracted.
- Leading countries are already experimenting with concepts such as CBDC.
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In Other News
xSigma to Launch Decentralized Index Fund
- A subsidiary of Chinese pipeline manufacturer ZK International announced the launch of a decentralized index fund platform.
- The platform will enable users to create their own indexes in the form of Ethereum tokens.
Banque de France Completes CBDC Pilot
- The French central bank completed its CBDC pilot in collaboration with blockchain service provider SETL, who provided the private blockchain and CBDC stablecoin.
- The pilot saw 2 million euros worth of simulated shares purchased and sold by investors using a CBDC.
Dubai Looking to Regulate Digital Assets
- Dubai's top financial regulator is drawing up a new framework to regulate digital assets.
- The regulation is set to cover a wide range of digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and security tokens.
e-Money to Launch Stablecoins on Avalanche
- e-Money will be launching a suite of European-currency stablecoins on Avalanche.
- Users will be able to buy and sell the stablecoins on the e-Money wallet and trade them on the e-Money DEX.
Huobi Korea Becomes First Exchange to Receive ISMS Certification
- Huobi Korea has acquired an ISMS certificate from the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA).
- The certification will help Huobi comply with the country's Special Payments Act.
Mt. Gox Creditors Could Soon Claim 90% of Remaining Bitcoins
- A new deal between Mt. Gox's trustee and Fortress will enable creditors to claim 90% of the exchange's remaining Bitcoin.
- If the majority of creditors agree, they would be reimbursed directly from the Mt. Gox trust.
Crypto Research Organization IC3 Receives Chainlink Research Grant
- Academic research organization IC3 was been awarded the Chainlink Research Grant.
- IC3 will use the grant to conduct additional research into oracle networks.
Blockchain Lender Secures $100 Million Mortgage Financing From J.P. Morgan
- Blockchain lending platform Figure has secured a $100 million financing facility from J.P. Morgan.
- The funding will be used for conforming and jumbo mortgages.
Fireblocks Introduces Staking Rewards for Polkadot, Tezos, Eth 2.0
- Fireblocks has rolled out staking services for Polkadot, Tezos, and Ethereum 2.0.
- The company's enterprise and institutional clients will be able to increase their yield by 5% to 15%.
China’s Blockchain-Based Service Network Partners With ConsenSys
- Quorum will be made available in about 80 different cities through BSN’s public city nodes in mainland China.
- ConsenSys will also cooperate with the BSN to provide a training program for Quorum in China
CoinMENA Acquires License From Central Bank of Bahrain
- CoinMENA has obtained a "Crypto Assets Services Company License" from the Central Bank of Bahrain.
- The license will allow the exchange to operate in Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Oman.
OKEx Exchange Launches Swap, Farming DApps
- OKEx has launched Swap and Farm dApps on its OKExChain network.
- OKT token holders will be able to stake OKT to earn OKT-USDT LP tokens and earn yield from providing liquidity to the OKT_USDT Farm Pool.
Wright’s Threat Backfires, More Websites Hosting BTC Whitepaper
- Craig Wright has threatened the owners of Bitcoin.org and Bitcoincore.org with legal action if they don't remove the BTC whitepaper from their websites.
- In response to the threat, even more websites have started uploading the file, including Facebook's subsidiary Novi and payments giant Square, to name a few.
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China’s Blockchain-Based Service Network Partners With ConsenSys
- Quorum will be made available in about 80 different cities through BSN’s public city nodes in mainland China.
- ConsenSys will also cooperate with the BSN to provide a training program for Quorum in China
VanEck Seeks SEC Approval to Launch ETF
- VanEck has filed a request with the SEC to launch a digital asset-related ETF.
- The fund would track the performance of companies operating in the crypto industry.
Indian Cloud Provider Tanla to Launch Encrypted Messaging Platform With Microsoft
- Indian cloud communications firm Tanla and Microsoft will launch a blockchain-based CPaaS.
- The Azure-based platform will provide a more secure messaging system to enterprises.
BitMEX Operator Joins Global Digital Finance Organization
- BitMEX's parent company 100x has joined Global Digital Finance (GDS).
- Joining the organization will enable 100x to advocate for a better regulated financial system.
Timeline of Notable Central Bank Digital Currency Events in 2020
- Although most countries are still not certain whether CBDC is necessary, research of the technology has escalated.
- China and its digital yuan are leading the race in terms of testing, but The Bahamas were the first country to issue a CBDC (the "Sand Dollar") beyond a pilot program.
CoinMENA Acquires License From Central Bank of Bahrain
- CoinMENA has obtained a "Crypto Assets Services Company License" from the Central Bank of Bahrain.
- The license will allow the exchange to operate in Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Oman.
VanEck Seeks SEC Approval to Launch ETF
- VanEck has filed a request with the SEC to launch a digital asset-related ETF.
- The fund would track the performance of companies operating in the crypto industry.
Oasis Pro Receives FINRA Approval For Digital Asset Trading Platform
- Broker-dealer Oasis Pro Markets received approval from FINRA and SEC to launch a digital asset trading platform.
- The platform will enable users to trade digital securities with stablecoins and CBDCs.
Dubai Looking to Regulate Digital Assets
- Dubai's top financial regulator is drawing up a new framework to regulate digital assets.
- The regulation is set to cover a wide range of digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and security tokens.
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Read More
CRYPTOCURRENCY
Hacker Returns Stolen Funds to Cover Protocol
- The price of the COVER token plummeted from around $850 to less than $50 in a matter of hours after the hack.
- Hours after the event, Grap.Finance claimed responsibility for the hack, and returned the funds with a note saying: "Next time, take care of your own shit".
RSK Launches Trustless Bitcoin Bridge
- Users will now receive a proof of their transaction when sending BTC to the multi-sig wallet, which can be used to receive the corresponding amount of rBTC.
- The change was made to decentralize the pegging process, and minimize the trust involved with users and "pegnatories".
Voyager Digital Adds Support for USDC, Algorand Standard Assets
- Users will be able to earn up to 8.5% on Algorand-supported USDC on the Voyager platform.
- Both companies will be working towards providing a better and more investor-friendly digital asset environment.
CoinMENA Acquires License From Central Bank of Bahrain
- CoinMENA has obtained a "Crypto Assets Services Company License" from the Central Bank of Bahrain.
- The license will allow the exchange to operate in Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Oman.
OKEx Exchange Launches Swap, Farming DApps
- OKEx has launched Swap and Farm dApps on its OKExChain network.
- OKT token holders will be able to stake OKT to earn OKT-USDT LP tokens and earn yield from providing liquidity to the OKT_USDT Farm Pool.
Huobi Korea Becomes First Exchange to Receive ISMS Certification
- Huobi Korea has acquired an ISMS certificate from the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA).
- The certification will help Huobi comply with the country's Special Payments Act.
e-Money to Launch Stablecoins on Avalanche
- e-Money will be launching a suite of European-currency stablecoins on Avalanche.
- Users will be able to buy and sell the stablecoins on the e-Money wallet and trade them on the e-Money DEX.
Online Metaverse IMVU Launches Stablecoin
- Online metaverse platform IMVU has launched VCOIN, a blockchain-based digital currency.
- The tokens can be bought from and sold to IMVU at a fixed rate of 250 tokens for $1.
U.S. Federal Regulators Allow Banks to Work with Stablecoins
- The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has allowed banks to use stablecoins.
- Banks can now buy, sell, and issue their own stablecoins, as well as use blockchain networks.
Wright’s Threat Backfires, More Websites Hosting BTC Whitepaper
- Craig Wright has threatened the owners of Bitcoin.org and Bitcoincore.org with legal action if they don't remove the BTC whitepaper from their websites.
- In response to the threat, even more websites have started uploading the file, including Facebook's subsidiary Novi and payments giant Square, to name a few.
India Considering 18% Tax on $5B BTC Market
- The country's finance ministry has submitted a draft document, which would impose an 18% goods and services tax on Bitcoin transactions.
- India's Central Economic Intelligence Bureau has estimated that taxing Bitcoun could earn the country around $1 billion a year.
Binance Diversifies Offering With New European-Style Vanilla Bitcoin Options
- Binance has listed a new type of Bitcoin options to encourage institutional investment.
- Users will be able to write and sell the options as an issuer.
China’s Blockchain-Based Service Network Partners With ConsenSys
- Quorum will be made available in about 80 different cities through BSN’s public city nodes in mainland China.
- ConsenSys will also cooperate with the BSN to provide a training program for Quorum in China
Fireblocks Introduces Staking Rewards for Polkadot, Tezos, Eth 2.0
- Fireblocks has rolled out staking services for Polkadot, Tezos, and Ethereum 2.0.
- The company's enterprise and institutional clients will be able to increase their yield by 5% to 15%.
Ethereum’s Beacon Chain is Now Live
- The launch event went without any hiccups, and the first block of Beacon Chain was discovered shortly after 12:00 UTC.
- There are currently 881,728 ETH deposited into the Ethereum 2.0 staking contract, which are likely to remain locked until 2022.
Damage Done: Coinbase is Delisting XRP
- The avalanche of XRP delistings seems to have arrived, as Coinbase has just announced that the asset will not be tradeable on their platform after January 19.
- The larger cryptocurrency community is torn on the issue, while XRP has lost two thirds of its price within ten days.
Ripple Profits From 2019 MoneyGram Investment
- Ripple's 2019 investment in MoneyGram seems to be paying off, with the firm netting $15.3 million from selling 2.2 million of its shares in the remittance firm.
- While the developer of XRP is planning to sell a total of 4 million MoneyGram shares, that only represents one third of its stake.
Ripple Continues To File For Trademarks In The U.S.
- Last week the firm filed for yet another trademark, PayString, though the lack of information leaves us guessing what it will be used for.
- 2020 has been a busy year for Ripple, as can be seen from the USPTO website, which shows the company has filed for 11 trademarks throughout the year.
Mysterious Miner Threatens The Existence Of Bitcoin Cash ABC
- Transactions on the ABC chain are only let through if they contain the following message in their op_return: "There was never a funding problem."
- The occasional block mined by ViaBTC mostly contains spam transactions, making transacting on the network next to impossible.
Bitcoin Cash Splits, Again
- The outcome of the contentious fork appears to be a massive win for the new BCHN implementation.
- BCHA, while still alive and kicking, appears to only catch 5% of the coin's value. alongside less than 0.1% of the total SHA256 hash rate.
Timeline: Craig Wright’s Story So Far
- Though the Australian has claimed, multiple times, that he is Satoshi Nakamoto, he has yet to provide any concrete proof.
- Wright's story has been revolving mostly around the debunking of multiple "proofs" of him being Satoshi, his role in the Bitcoin Cash split, a multi-billion dollar lawsuit, and his patent trolling company.
Chainlink Awards Grant For xDai Integration
- Protofire will use the grant for a native integration of Chainlink's oracle technology into xDai Chain.
- Being both a validator and core developer of the xDai technology stack made the firm an excellent candidate for the grant.
Unibright Announces New Token Model For UBT, Upgrades Payments System
- The new UBT token will be used as “integration gas” for Unibright services, calculated and managed by Provide Payments.
- Users will be able to buy the assets either directly from Provide or from exchanges and will have to transfer them to Unibright’s hot wallets in order to use their platform.
Ocean Protocol Forks To Retrieve 21 Million OCEAN Stolen From KuCoin
- The organization encourages members of its community to support the hard fork.
- Users who want to transact with their OCEAN tokens will have to use different means in order to do so as it will take time for third-party providers to integrate with the new contract.
Bitcoin.com Will Host the Ideaology IEO
- The Ideaology crowdsale will be the second one hosted by exchange.bitcoin.com, after the successful IEO of Atari's very own ATRI token last year.
- The IDEA token will be native to a platform for freelance workers, with an integrated digital marketplace and an Idea launch-pad.
After a Successful IEO, The Atari Token Is Now Trading Live
- ATRI's initial live trading price is revolving around the IEO price, providing an opportunity for people who didn't pass KYC to purchase the tokens.
- The IEO lasted slightly more than 24 hours before reaching its hard cap of $1,000,000.
Gaming Giant Atari To Launch An IEO On Bitcoin.com
- The asking price during the IEO will be more than 3 times higher than the price in the first presale round.
- The token will be used for payments in video games and DeFi use cases are also possible in the future.
Founder of Centra Tech Sentenced to Prison for ICO Scam
- Robert Farkas was sentenced to one year in prison for conducting an illegal ICO.
- Farkas and other Centra Tech founders defrauded investors out of $25 million in 2017.
U.S. Court Orders Blockvest to Pay $700K
- The firm had made false claims to have received regulatory approval from various agencies, one of which was fabricated.
- Blockvest and its founder will need to pay $696,000 in civil penalties, and abide by a number of restraints and conditions moving forward.
Kik & SEC Jointly Propose $5 Million Settlement To End ICO Lawsuit
- The proposed joint settlement is not final, and still requires approval from presiding judge Alvin Hellerstein.
- If approved, the settlement will enjoin the firm against future securities law violations, and make it pay a $5 million fine.
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