Pink Taxi, the world’s first blockchain-powered taxi for women, launched its ICO on July 1, 2018 against the background of growing women’s emancipation movement in Middle Eastern countries.
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Civil, a new, decentralized platform for independent sustainable journalism, is launching an initial coin offering (ICO) of /CVL tokens with the aim of promoting and regulating ethical practices for journalists and newsrooms, according to a statement released on Wednesday. With the introduction of blockchain and cryptoeconomics to its platform, Civil claims to be developing is a radically […] The post Civil Wants to Make News More Ethical appeared first on Blockchain News.
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Cryptowhispers explores the wildcatting world of direct denial of service (DDoS) attacks, and why the socially maladjusted tend to flock to that particular vector … especially for coin projects they hate; a popular cryptocurrency trading application executive was involved in a serious car accident on the eve of an anticipated cross promotion at Comic Con; and what would a crypto gossip column be without Twitter drama. Also read: Philippines Embraces Cryptocurrency: Exchanges Issued Provisional Licenses Cryptowhispers at Comic Con San Diego 2018 Rumor has it a multibillion dollar smartphone cryptocurrency trading application executive was involved in a serious car accident Friday, July 20th, ahead of a major promotional reveal. The company has been on a tear this year in particular, expanding its offerings while staying hungry enough to try new, innovative marketing. As far as anyone knows, these two were…
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G20 member countries are now looking at an October deadline for reviewing a global anti-money laundering (AML) standard on cryptocurrency, document shows. According to a statement issued on Sunday, finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20 member countries hosted a meeting during the weekend and reiterated their position on “vigilant” monitoring over cryptocurrency. The member countries further called on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) – an intergovernmental body formed to fight money laundering and terrorist financing – to clarify in three months how its existing AML standards can apply to cryptocurrency. “While crypto-assets do not at this point pose a global financial stability risk, we remain vigilant. … We reiterate our March commitments related to the implementation of the FATF standards and we ask the FATF to clarify in October 2018 how its standards apply to crypto-assets,” member countries…
Read MoreTechnicals suggest a test of the US$10,000 level within the next few weeks, followed by an extended consolidation period before the next bullish markup. Trend indicators on the daily timeframe have flipped from bearish to neutral, while momentum oscillators on the weekly timeframe have begun to flip from bearish to bullish. A BTC ETF decision by the SEC in the month of August could be the catalyst needed to immediately spark price action to the US$10,000 level.
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A new update from the comprehensive semiannual blockchain spending guide predicts blockchain spending to reach a new peak of almost $12 billion in 2022. America Dishes out the Most Spending is expected to increase with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 73.2 percent. IDC, the company behind the report, expects money spent within the blockchain sector to reach $1.5 billion, which is already double the amount compared to last years figures. The United States will lead the charge, responsible for more than a third of worldwide spending through this five-year forecast (36 percent). With some of the largest crypto-related companies within the U.S. such as Coinbase, Bitpay, and Bitfinex, it makes sense most of R&D would be located here. As U.S. regulators begin to understand more about cryptocurrency, new laws and rulings may be introduced that further encourage…
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Gary Gensler was chairman of the U.S Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) between 2009 and 2014, right after the global financial crisis. Today, Gensler is part of MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative, lecturing students on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. Gensler was instrumental in dealing with some of the cleanup from the global financial crisis of 2008. He implemented new regulation whilst at the U.S CFTC for the unregulated swaps market which played a central role in the crisis. His work at the U.S CFTC was successful and the new oversights were implemented in advance of other regulators taking actions to mop up after the crisis. Teaching Blockchain and Cryptocurrency at MIT After leaving the CFTC Gensler became finance chairman for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and bid. Gensler has now joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management…
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“Scarcity” may be a crypto buzzword, but “shortage” has hardly made the footnotes – until now. In early July, the developers behind U Network, a blockchain publishing protocol valued at around $8 million, abruptly announced that it had run out of its reserve of UUU crypto tokens, and that it planned to buy back some of the supply it distributed to early investors through its airdrop in February. At the start of the project, U Network established a 10 billion UUU cap on its token supply (worth approximately $15.6 million), setting aside 40 percent of its total tokens (about $6.2 million) for the founding team and future development. Yet, due to a rising number of strategic partners and interest in its token, the project announced on Medium, “The demand for UUU tokens has exceeded our current designated holdings.” The post continued: “The team…
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South Korea’s top financial regulator is planning a major organizational restructuring that includes introducing some new crypto policy initiatives. A bureau dedicated to financial innovations that include cryptocurrencies is being set up. In addition, an agreement with Chinese authorities relating to crypto and initial coin offerings has also been reached. Meanwhile, the contracts between Korean crypto exchanges and banks for real-name accounts will expire this month. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Major Organizational Restructuring FSC Chairman Choi Jong-ku.Last week South Korea’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), said it will undergo a “major organizational restructuring.” As part of the plans, it “will establish a department exclusively for policymaking initiatives in the nation’s blockchain industry,” the Korea Times described. The new department, called the Financial Innovation Bureau, will have a two-year lifespan. Its establishment is…
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Bitcoin’s price continues to hold ground amid a market sell-off, with growing momentum building to take out its next target of $8,000. The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization fell 3 percent over the weekend, hitting $7,333, according to Bitfinex data, after a quick sell-off from investors dragged down market prices. As it turns out, bitcoin is slowly regaining and consolidating its losses to stand at $7,637.38 as of press time. The crypto shows strong signs of a steady recovery to retest the upper resistances found at $7,575 and $7,694 (the market’s previous close and the previous high). The previous exponential moving average (EMA) bull cross, last seen yesterday, foretold a bullish break above the previous resistance at $7,370, which saw prices rise three percent, paving the way for the sell-off that occurred just hours ago. However, if the current momentum…
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Mainstream media (MSM) loves bitcoin. It is the Donald Trump of money, certain to generate guaranteed clicks with minimum effort. As cryptocurrency has risen, over the past 18 months, so has its profile in MSM publications. But don’t mistake this prolific coverage for affection. Mainstream media has always hated, feared, and misunderstood bitcoin. BTC might have made it to the front pages, but the reporting of it remains as dumb as ever. Also read: Thanks to Mainstream Media the Public Clueless About Cryptocurrency MSM Love to Hate Bitcoin “I read the newspaper avidly. It is my one form of continuous fiction,” riffed Nye Bevan, British Health Minister from the 1940s. The world has evolved immeasurably since the Welsh politician’s day, yet in other respects, little has changed. Many mainstream media outlets, despite have migrated to the web in the so-called…
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Cosplay is no longer a child’s play. It is an industry worth US$ 45 bln, which is growing at the CAGR of 15 percent each year. The growing acceptance of cosplay has transformed the perceptions and made cosplayers into a vital asset that helps fuel the global entertainment business. Cosplay platforms such as Cure WorldCosplay have had an important role to play in the transformation of the cosplay industry. They help bring players from all over the world together and help them interact as well as share ideas. These are not just arenas for sharing creativity but they are also a virtual home for the players. Cure Worldcosplay Brings the World Together Cure Worldcosplay (CW) claims that they are the largest cosplay platform in the world. With more than 720,000 members from 180 countries and the availability of the platform…
Read MoreBusinesses around the world are grappling with the consequences of data privacy regulations. Gathering the wrong information, or too much information, can create compliance risk. Digital identity systems promise to remove the compliance burden and open up new opportunities by returning control of personal data to the individual.
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One of the first crypto unicorns in the space, Coinbase, has enjoyed the same volatility native to the sector it represents just this past week. Most notably, the firm announced the potential addition of five new cryptocurrencies, an odd (and apparently unnecessary) declaration regarding confirmation from the SEC and FINRA, and a tacit response from the Ripple community for not being listed in that most recent batch of tokens. The latter inquiries may even spark an investigation from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for “price rigging.” In the context of Arianna Simpson’s recent proclamation that Coinbase could end up “being bigger than Facebook,” all of this sounds pretty normal. New Potential Listings Coinbase announced that it was in the process of considering five new tokens to be listed on July 13, 2018. In a statement on the company’s official blog,…
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This week news.Bitcoin.com spoke with one of the most prolific developers working with the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) network. Over the past few months, the developer Unwriter has created a large swathe of censorship-resistant applications that are tethered to the BCH blockchain. We decided to get an inside glimpse of all the interesting platforms Unwriter has been launching, and the programmer tells us why they were conceived and how they operate. Also read: No Matter How You Slice It — Token Assets Are Coming to Bitcoin Cash So far the programmer Unwriter has launched platforms such as Chainfeed, a Twitter bot called @_Opreturn, Read.cash, the Bitdb.network, and a few more applications that are compatible with the BCH chain. Moreover, Unwriter has also been collaborating with five other well-known Bitcoin developers and contributed to the working paper called ‘The Simple Ledger Protocol,’…
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At press time, the father of crypto is back up to $7,500. This is a hugely positive sign that bitcoin is regaining traction in the monetary market and moving up the financial ladder. 24 hours ago, bitcoin had slumped slightly to $7,400. While $100 is never a huge deal, it made many wonder if the sudden jump beyond the $7,000 mark – a position that many analysts had been waiting for – was a fluke, and bitcoin was still being subjected to sell-offs and bear activity. It appears this isn’t the case, as not only has bitcoin reached its previous mark, but most technical experts are of the sentiment that bitcoin will remain bullish for some time. One source suggests that resistance currently sits at the $7,600 and $7,700 marks in the immediate future, and that if bitcoin is going…
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The Liverpool City Council is looking to become the world’s first climate positive city by the end of 2020 after agreeing to a partnership with an eco-digital company to integrate its blockchain-powered platform into daily operations. The city of Liverpool has been working steadily to become more environmentally conscious. From 2012-2016, the city saw a 550 percent increase in renewable energy installations and produced 558,000 fewer tonnes of CO2. Additionally, Liverpool stated in February that it would be replacing more than 15,000 street lights with LED bulbs to save energy. Now, the maritime city in northwest England is looking to take advantage of blockchain for even more ambitious goals — with the Liverpool City Council striving to make its home the first climate positive authority by the end of 2018 and the world’s first climate positive city by the end of 2020. Blockchain For…
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Cryptocurrency custody services are in high demand. Institutional investors and wealthy individuals show an increasing interest in Bitcoin and other currencies. For Fusang Investment Office, this is an excellent time to expand their presence in the cryptocurrency world. Fusang Investment Office and Crypto When people demand more exposure to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, service providers have to follow. Catering to these demands is a big challenge. Regulatory uncertainty surrounding cryptocurrency makes it difficult for companies to offer convenient solutions. In Asia, the situation is a bit different. Some countries clearly favor cryptocurrency as a competitor to traditional financial vehicles. Fusang Investment Office in Hong Kong prepares to take the plunge. The company is exploring options to attract high net-worth and institutional clients. Current plans include offering a cryptocurrency custody service, which may launch in Q4 of 2018. Holding assets on behalf…
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CME Group has released data indicating that the Average Daily Volume (ADV) of bitcoin futures contracts grew 93 percent in the second quarter of 2018. In a July 20,2018, tweet on its Twitter account, the derivatives trading giant also revealed that over the same period, the rate of open interest (OI) in bitcoin futures expanded by 58 percent. Much Ado About Bitcoin Futures Since the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and CME announced the introduction of bitcoin futures contracts in December 2017, there have been several divergent opinions on the impact of cryptocurrency derivatives on crypto prices. In May 2018, BTCManager reported that the Reserve Bank of San Francisco issued a letter stating that the reason for bitcoin’s sudden price crash following its December 2017 all-time high was the introduction of bitcoin futures trading into the market. (Source: Twitter – CME…
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Crypto markets slightly fluctuate in a mix of red and green, Bitcoin reclaims the $7,500 barrier
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HashFlare, a cryptocurrency cloud mining services, has shut down its Bitcoin mining service. The platform also terminated all related BTC mining contracts citing lack of profitability in operation. The price of the Bitcoin, the top-ranked cryptocurrency has struggled throughout 2018, declining by more than 60 percent since the start of the year. Bitcoin Mining Payouts Lower than Maintenance Fees In a statement on the company’s Facebook page, HashFlare announced its decision to terminate its BTC mining operation. A portion of the statement reads: We have made every possible effort in order to resolve the problem that has arisen – for instance, we have considered a variety of technical solutions, which would have allowed us to lower expenses related to maintenance and electricity. However, due to the general instability of the market, the actions we have taken could not significantly influence…
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Government officials still express major concerns regarding Bitcoin. Most officials see this form of money as a tool for money laundering. As such, police forces all over the world need to receive proper training to deal with these new threats now and in the future. Training Police Officials Is Critical Dealing with suspicious Bitcoin transactions is not straightforward. Although this cryptocurrency is completely transparent, there is a lot of information to take in. Analyzing transfers for potentially suspicious behavior poses many different challenges. Blockchain analysis firms can only do so much to help. It is now up to police forces to take matters into their own hands. The City of London Police is exploring new educational efforts in this regard. The agency wants to educate fraud investigators on Bitcoin and potential money laundering concerns. Several warnings regarding Bitcoin’s involvement in…
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According to the head of Iran’s Blockchain Association, over 500 BTC belonging to Iranians were confiscated by the U.S. government last year, and the number is still rising. He explains that Iranians are unable to take action through proper channels from within their country due to Iran’s legal status of cryptocurrency. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space Iranians’ 500 BTC Seized by US Government Sepehr Mohammadi, the president of Iran’s Blockchain Association, told Ibena news outlet last week: Last year, a remarkable volume of bitcoins which belonged to some Iranians were confiscated for unspecific reasons by the federal government of the United States, and the process of confiscation is still continuing. He admitted that the exact number of confiscated BTC “is not clear, but it is expected to be over 500 bitcoins, worth approximately 25 billion tomans…
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Two of the world’s larger banks recently acquired three distinct patents in the field of blockchain technology. Wells Fargo’s, aptly titled “Data element tokenization management,” was filed on July 17, 2018, and looks to tokenize pretty much every possible data piece possible. Barclays later filed two patents on July 19, 2018. The first looks to streamline cryptocurrency transfers between clients while the latter hopes to beef up current KYC standards at the British firm. Wells Fargo and Legacy Systems If it’s not entirely clear after examining the patent applied by Wells Fargo, the following analysis will provide an excellent case and point for why most firms probably don’t need a blockchain. In fact, as far as what the American bank is hoping for, there are only two reasonable conclusions that can be drawn. In the first, they’re afraid that Bank…
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Cryptocurrency companies active in the world of cloud mining always face an uphill struggle. It is evident things are not looking all that great as of right now. HashFlare, one of the bigger cloud mining providers as of right now, has confirmed that it will not resume Bitcoin mining for the time being. HashFlare Calls It Quits, for Now The profitability of Bitcoin mining extends to both regular companies and cloud mining providers. Whenever this profitability drops below a certain threshold, something needs to change. As long as the Bitcoin price does not recover any of its lost value, cloud mining will be unprofitable. HashFlare acknowledges that things are not headed in the right direction. The company has struggled to meet investors’ expectations as the threshold for payments has been lower than the maintenance fees for the mining equipment. This has…
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