A number of different securities opinion-makers, from Barron’s to CCN’s own Ben Brown, have opined that the Federal Reserve rate cut will ignite a bitcoin rally. The truth is that, like everything else having to do with bitcoin, any movement in its price will be based entirely on speculation. That’s why it will always be […]
The post Fed Rate Cut Was NEVER Going to Spark a Bitcoin Rally appeared first on CCN Markets
The National Basketball Association has long been known as one of the most progressive sports leagues in the world. They’re continuing their forward-thinking today with the announcement of the new blockchain-based game, NBA Top Shot. The NBA, along with the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), has teamed up with Dapper Labs to create a blockchain-based […]
The post NBA & CryptoKitties Creator Team Up, Could Bring Blockchain to Masses appeared first on CCN Markets
The NBA has partnered with the crypto collectibles developer behind CryptoKitties to launch a new collectibles platform and competitive game.
The United States National Basketball Association (NBA) and its affiliated union — the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) — have partnered with Dapper Labs of CryptoKitties-fame to release a new crypto collectibles game.
According to an official announcement on the NBPA website, the upcoming game is scheduled to launch in early 2020.
The game, called NBA Top Shot, will be a roster-building competitive game that is based on crypto collectibles. According to the announcement, fans will be able to gather live footage of NBA games that can then be used in some capacity to build a competing roster for the game — or to simply be owned and trade as a collectible, as the user chooses.
Roham Gharegozlou, the CEO of Dapper Labs, provided his perspective on the planned game’s offerings, saying:
“The NBA and its players are among the greatest heavyweights in global culture [...] Through NBA Top Shot basketball fans can engage with their favorite players, teams, and each other in entirely new ways. We use the latest in blockchain technology to create assets and experiences that are guaranteed limited edition and authentic, not to mention portable and permanent in a way nothing digital has ever been before.”
A number of basketball organizations are getting involved in blockchain technology. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, the Sacramento Kings basketball team has opted to work with a crypto mining hardware firm to install Ether (ETH) mining machines in Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center. The proceeds of the new initiative will reportedly go to charity — specifically a program called MiningForGood, which focuses on tech education and workforce development.
Additionally, the Cleveland Cavaliers have partnered with crypto firm UnitedCoin as its official partner. The arrangement will reportedly allow for UnitedCoin to receive advertising via the Cavs, as well to provide a fintech inroad for the basketball team.
An Arizona startup is testing its stablecoin payments platform for the medical marijuana industry through the state’s fintech sandbox.
The state of Arizona has accepted a blockchain-based, cannabis industry-oriented payments solution into its fintech sandbox.
According to a recent press release from the Office of the Attorney General, the company — called Alta — is a cash management solution for licensed medical marijuana providers and vendors. The Arizona-based financial services startup intends to offer a stablecoin that is pegged 1:1 with the United States dollar.
During its sandbox testing phase, Alta will trial its member onboarding and remittances platform. The end goal of the platform is to let users pay for goods and services using the stablecoin instead of fiat money.
Cannabis, while legal in some states in the U.S., is still considered a controlled and illegal substance by the federal government. As such, banks are hesitant to deal with cannabis-related business as it would be grounds for the government to revoke their federal deposit insurance, which is a crucial financial safety net for banks.
Sarah Wessel, the co-founder and COO of Alta, said that this blockchain-based service can provide a crucial financial service and make local communities more safe:
“The cash economy for legal cannabis in Arizona exceeds $350 million annually [...] These are legitimate companies, innovators and entrepreneurs that are forced to operate in cash. We offer them peace of mind. Our digital payment technology lifts the burdens of having to operate solely through cash and makes our communities safer.”
Other crypto business and state governments have tried to bridge the gap between the cannabis and financial services industries. In 2017, the Dash network began paying the firm Alt Thirty Six to integrate Dash as a payment option in the cannabis industry’s point-of-sale systems.
From the legislative side, lawmakers in the state of California proposed a bill in February that would accept crypto for tax payments from cannabis-related businesses. The bill, which has not moved out of committee since March, aimed to relieve tax offices from the large piles of money brought in by cash-heavy cannabis businesses.
Arizona became the first state to introduce a regulatory sandbox in March 2018. Republican Congressman Jeff Weninger reportedly sponsored the legislation behind the sandbox. Weninger commented on the potential broader use cases in today’s press release, saying:
"It's exciting to have Alta as the newest participant in Arizona's FinTech Sandbox. There's huge potential for stablecoin technology in cash-intensive businesses around the world, and Arizona is fortunate to play a critical role in the development and growth of this emerging industry."
The Chinese maker of Bitcoin mining hardware Canaan Creative is allegedly seeking to go public in the U.S. Per a report which appeared on a Chinese social media platform, Canaan has already filed the application documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The cryptocurrency mining rigs maker is seeking to raise approximately $200 million from […]
The post Chinese Bitcoin Mining Giant Files For $200 Million US IPO: Report appeared first on CCN Markets
Crypto markets are seeing widespread green, with Bitcoin breaking back above $9,700 and many large market cap altcoins seeing solid gains of between 3 and 9% on the day.
Wednesday, July 31 — crypto markets are seeing widespread green, with Bitcoin (BTC) breaking back above $9,700 and many large market cap altcoins seeing solid gains of between 3 and 9% on the day.
Market visualization. Source: Coin360
Despite trading in a lower price range since dropping back to a four-figure price point in a recent corrections, BTC is today up a solid 2.4%, bringing it to $9,717 by press time.
This mild uptick nonetheless stops short of bringing the coin back into the green on its 7-day chart, where Bitcoin is still reporting a fractional 0.7% loss. On the month, losses are starker, topping 8%.
Yesterday, Peter Tchir — a former Executive Director at German multinational investment bank Deutsche Bank — argued that Bitcoin is an indicator of hidden geopolitical tensions, pointing to the coin’s momentous performance this May at a time of fraught trade talks between the United States and China.
Also this week, erstwhile Bitcoin bear and CNBC host Joe Kernen predicted that the top coin could hit $55,000 — a 500%+ price surge — by the time of its next halving in May 2020.
Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360
Top altcoin Ether (ETH) — which celebrated its fourth birthday yesterday — has posted a 1.9% to trade around $212 by press time. In corrections earlier this week, the coin had circled perilously close to the round $200 mark, but has since recovered ground and is just slightly in the red, at 2.2%, on its 7-day chart. On the month, however, Ether is down over 18%.
Ether 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360
XRP is reporting a 2.7% gain on the day, while among the remaining top ten coins several alts are seeing stronger upward momentum: Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is posting a 7.5% gain on the day, Litecoin (LTC) is up 3.6% and Binance Coin (BNB) is up 4.1%.
In the context of top twenty coins, Tezos (XTZ) is outstripping all other assets, seeing a 24% gain on the day following news of the token’s listing on major United States crypto exchange Coinbase. At press time, XTZ is trading at $1.24
Tezos 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360
Still among the top twenty, strong gains are being reported by Chainlink (LINK) — up over 9% — as well as by NEO (NEO), IOTA (MIOTA) and Cosmos (ATOM), all of which are up by 4-5%.
Total market capitalization for all cryptocurrencies is at $261,434,827,781 at press time, according to Coin360 data.
Dominating the crypto headlines this week is the hearing devoted to examining regulatory frameworks for cryptocurrencies and blockchain held at the United States Senate Banking Committee. Cointelegraph reported live on the most important developments during the hearing as it unfolded.
Yesterday’s Committee hearing notably follows upon earlier hearings in mid-July that had examined the regulatory hurdles surrounding Facebook’s Libra.
Rain has secured a license from the Central Bank of Bahrain, which it says will significantly help form banking ties.
Bahrain-based cryptocurrency exchange Rain has become the Middle East’s first exchange to receive a regulatory license.
In a blog post from July 31, Rain confirmed it had received a Crypto-Asset Module (CRA) license from the Central Bank of Bahrain.
The license came the same week Rain announced successful closure of a $2.5 million funding round backed by partners including the V.C. arm of crypto derivatives giant BitMEX. Kuwaiti blockchain fund Blockwater also contributed. The blog post reads:
“With this license, Rennes has become the first encrypted currency trading platform in the Middle East to be fully licensed by a regulatory entity and join a limited range of internationally recognized platforms for currency trading.”
As Cointelegraph reported, the Middle East market has traditionally proven a tough environment for crypto businesses, specifically those involved in trading.
Islamic banking laws forbid certain types of transactions, with scholars in different jurisdictions giving conflicting opinions as to whether cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) conform to norms that frown on speculation and interest lending.
Rain did not mention the issue, instead stressing its position as a fully-compliant financial operator and ability to form meaningful ties with local banks. The blog post continues:
“Through licensing, we have demonstrated our commitment to the terms of the encrypted assets unit in terms of capital adequacy, cybersecurity, insurance, reporting, governance and other matters that ensure our readiness to provide our services to both institutional and individual clients.”
July meanwhile saw additional recognition of cryptocurrency activities across the Arabian Gulf in Iran, where the government took steps to formally condone Bitcoin mining after a period of jockeying within different governmental ministries.
A web developer for one of cryptocurrency’s biggest scams has been arrested. Dhaval Mavani, who developed Bitconnect’s website was apprehended in New Delhi after being deported from Abu Dhabi. A warrant for his arrest was issued last year in August, per the Times of India. Mavani was reportedly hired in 2017 by the alleged head […]
The post Indian Bitconnect Dev Arrested for Promoting Shi**y Multi-Billion Scam appeared first on CCN Markets
While fresh data confirms that the crypto community continues to be male-dominated, the gender imbalance may be less extreme than previously thought.
While fresh data confirms that the crypto community continues to be male-dominated, the gender imbalance may be less extreme than previously thought.
A report published by fintech firm Bitpanda and market research company GlobalWebIndex on July 31 examined a broad set of data points to glean insight into the profile of European crypto investors.
The report notes that while prior research has suggested that as much as 90%+ of crypto investors are male, fresh analysis indicates that the gender distribution among European crypto holders is 78% male and 22% female.
Female crypto investors are 30% more likely to be in the top 10% of earners — 21% versus 16% of their male counterparts — and 3.3x more likely to be so than the “average woman.”
Both female and male crypto investors have different profiles from average European women and men. Female crypto investors are 1.6x more likely to work in finance than other women, as compared with male crypto investors being 2.6x more likely than other men to be in the industry. 2.3x more likely to work in marketing (as compared with 2.3x for men) and 1.9x more likely to work in banking (2.2x for men).
Beyond professions, when it comes to interests the report claims that female crypto holders are “more different from other women than male cryptocurrency holders are from other men” — showing greater divergences from other female internet users than do men in areas like computers, coding, tech, gambling and finance.
The conclusions drawn from the report’s broader profiling of European crypto investors’ lifestyle, finance & investment behaviors largely confirm prior research — as well as several stereotypes that have evolved around the industry.
In terms of geographic distribution, European markets with younger, more affluent and online populations tend to have more crypto holders. Switzerland has the highest rate of crypto ownership in Europe — at 7% of internet users and 14% of asset holders.
While the United Kingdom scores only 11th in terms of countries with the highest share of crypto holders, with 3x the average rate London itself has the highest concentration of crypto holders anywhere in Europe.
A United States-wide survey published earlier this month revealed that 9% of millennials chose crypto as their top long-term investment option — roughly threefold the percentage among older generations.
Crypto and blockchain companies need incentives to stick around, says Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire in aftermath of Senate hearings.
The CEO of cryptocurrency trading and investment firm Circle thinks the United States will create appropriate regulation as more companies move overseas.
Speaking to Bloomberg in an interview on July 31, Jeremy Allaire highlighted ongoing tendencies for crypto market participants to move abroad as a factor motivating future regulatory policy in Washington.
Allaire’s comments come in the aftermath of his testimony at Tuesday’s dedicated crypto and blockchain policy hearing, the latest in a series of sessions U.S. lawmakers have held on the emerging industry.
“The increase in proliferation of digital asset projects outside the U.S., the movement of companies to leave the U.S. and projects to get started outside the U.S. is definitely getting people’s attention,” he told the network.
He continued:
“I think it is ultimately going to lead to, ultimately legislative initiatives to try and ensure that there are appropriate safeguards and investor protections but also clarity, which is much needed to allow the technology and industry to flourish.”
As Cointelegraph reported, the recent hearings have produced a wide range of reactions from lawmakers, from acknowledgment of Bitcoin (BTC) to claims it funds global terrorism.
On Tuesday, Senate Banking Committee chairman Michael Crapo became the latest official voice to suggest that it would be impossible for the government to ban decentralized cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.
“If the United States were to decide that we didn’t want cryptocurrency to happen in the United States and tried to ban it, I’m pretty confident we couldn’t succeed,” he said.
Allaire meanwhile added that global appetite for cryptocurrency would take the form of crypto-style technology being implemented on top of existing fiat currencies first.
“I think we’ll see support from governments for central bank money that operates on top of these digital currency systems,” he predicted.
Amsterdam, Netherlands — July 30, 2019 — Dusk Network, the privacy-oriented blockchain protocol, has announced the public release of its Testnet (Shin 殉星). Testnet Shin features the first-ever implementation of private Proof of Stake, made possible by the novel Segregated Byzantine Agreement (SBA) consensus protocol and zero-knowledge cryptography. With the release of their Testnet, the […]
The post Dusk Network Releases Groundbreaking Private Proof Of Stake Protocol Testnet appeared first on CCN Markets
An article on Chinese social media claims Canaan Creative has beaten the likes of Bitmain to filing an IPO in the US.
Chinese Bitcoin mining giant Canaan Creative has allegedly filed a $200 million initial public offering (IPO) request with United States regulators.
That was according to a report which appeared on local social media platform WeChat on July 31, which claimed the application was already sitting before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Despite being less known in the West than its competitors such as Bitmain, Canaan is one of the three main Chinese Bitcoin mining players, the third being Yibang International. While Bitmain was reportedly planning to file an IPO with the US SEC as of the end of June, this report — if accurate — would mean that Canaan Creative has beat them to the punch.
In March, Canaan Creative raised additional capital in its latest funding round, with the exact amount remaining uncertain. No new investors came on board, with all new cash reportedly coming from existing backers.
Now, the IPO filing means Canaan is the first Chinese market participant to successfully take its case to the U.S. market, claims the report.
As Cointelegraph noted, previous attempts at IPOs had met with rejection, with Canaan, Bitmain and Yibang all trying unsuccessfully to launch the offering in Hong Kong.
At the time of Bitmain’s failure in December 2018, rumors cited the then highly volatile nature of Bitcoin as a potential factor giving regulators cold feet. Mining had suffered a setback the previous month as Bitcoin prices plunged, sparking significant shifts as participants attempted to stay financially stable.
Six months later, the landscape has transformed, with Bitcoin’s bull run seeing a dramatic reversal of fortunes across the mining industry.
In June, Bitmain said it was looking to file a U.S. IPO of its own.
It’s always a good idea to read over the 10-Q and 10-K SEC filings of public companies. Occasionally, you may catch something in those filings that weren’t discussed in the quarterly earnings report, or mentioned during the conference call. Sometimes, a little change in the language used can tip you off that the company may […]
The post Does Tesla Know Something About China It Isn’t Telling Us? appeared first on CCN Markets
Tezos is rallying due to recent news about its Coinbase Pro listing, while top coins are seeing slight gains on the day.
Tuesday, July 30 — Top cryptocurrencies Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and XRP are all trading slightly up at press time.
Market visualization. Source: Coin360
Bitcoin has been trading between $9,000 and $10,000 this week, and was showing little action on the day. At press time the coin i sup 2.37% to trade at $9,652.
Squawk Box co-host Joe Kernen predicted on July 29 that Bitcoin could hit $55,000 by the next halving of its mining rewards, which is projected to occur in May 2020.
Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360
Top altcoin Ether has had a steady week and is trading around $212 at press time, up 2.26% on the day. On it’s weekly chart, the coin is up 1.63%
Last week, institutional cryptocurrency exchange San Francisco Open Exchange (SFOX) suggested that Ether may not be an altcoin. SOFX reasoned its assertion by noting that Ether’s correlation to Bitcoin movements is higher than other so-called altcoins.
Ethereum 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360
XRP has seen a 3% gain on the day to trade at $0.319. On its weekly chart the coin is up over 3.5%.
XRP’s issuing firm Ripple recently expanded its University Blockchain Research Initiative to include academics in Japan via Kyoto University and the University of Tokyo.
XRP 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360
Among the top 20 altcoins, Tezos (XTZ), the 16th largest cryptocurrency by market cap, has seen the largest price spike on the day. At press time, XTZ has seen over a 24% rally to trade at $1.24.
The spike follows an announcement from United States-based crypto exchange Coinbase, which revealed today that it would be offering XTZ on Coinbase Pro starting August 5.
XTZ 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360
Earlier this month, Cointelegraph reported that Latin America’s biggest investment bank, BTG Pactual, plans to shift its security token offerings onto the Tezos blockchain. The bank and Dubai-based asset manager Dalma Capital will purportedly use the Tezos blockchain to tokenize assets in various different industries, including real estate, equity and lending.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is also seeing notable gains, up over 9% on the day to trade at $330.42, while the only loser among the top 20 coins is Bitfinex’s exchange token Unus Sed Leo (LEO), which is down 1.34% to trade at $1.33.
The total market cap of the top 100 cryptocurrencies is currently over $261 billion, according to the data provided by Coin360’s summary table.
Libra is under attack from a big name in the tech world, again. Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks and recurring Shark Tank guest, has already called Facebook’s new digital currency “dangerous” and “a big mistake.” Now he’s doubling down on that prediction, suggesting that it could be even worse than he […]
The post Tech Billionaire Mark Cuban Doubles Down on Potentially Deadly Libra appeared first on CCN Markets
Electronic Arts delivered middling earnings and a revenue beat, which investors apparently approve of enough to send the stock higher by 5 percent in after-hours trading. With the gaming industry constantly going through changes, it’s critical to stay on top of what the numbers say and mean in order to avoid getting caught in […]
The post Electronic Arts Rises on Earnings Because Games Are Killing It appeared first on CCN Markets
Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook is reportedly working on a back-door content-scanner for WhatsApp, tantamount to a wiretapping algorithm. If the reports are correct, Facebook will scan your messages before you send them and report anything suspicious. It’s a huge violation of privacy and renders WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption pointless. Facebook will do the same thing with its […]
The post Zuckerberg Plans to Wiretap Whatsapp. He’ll Do the Same to Libra appeared first on CCN Markets
Facebook warns its investors that its Libra stablecoin may never be released.
Facebook has warned its investors that its Libra stablecoin may never be released, CNBC reports on July 29.
Facebook told its investors in its latest quarterly report that — while the firm expects to launch Libra next year — some factors could prevent its release. Iin the risk factors section of the document, the company admits that it recognizes the significance of the pushback shown by regulators towards Libra.
CNBC also reported that a Facebook spokesperson told the outlet on Monday that:
“Engaging with regulators, policymakers, and experts is critical to Libra’s success. This was the whole reason that Facebook along with other members of the Libra Association shared our plans early.”
As Cointelegraph reported earlier this month, Alexander Lipton, a connection science fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and adjunct professor of mathematics at New York University, has claimed that Libra’s white paper copied concepts for a coin proposed in his academic work.
Also, earlier this month online brokerage Monex Group Inc., owner of the hacked Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck, announced that the company plans to join the Facebook Libra cryptocurrency project and had filed an application to join the Libra Association.
In a bid to drive greater financial inclusion, Philippines-based UnionBank has launched a payments-focused stablecoin pegged to the Philippine peso.
In a bid to drive greater financial inclusion, Philippines-based UnionBank has launched a payments-focused stablecoin pegged to the Philippine peso.
A report from PhilStar Global on July 26 revealed that the new, bank-backed cryptocurrency — dubbed PHX — is being implemented on UnionBank’s i2i platform.
I2i is an acronym for island-to-island, institution-to-institution, and individual-to-individual and is the name given to the blockchain-based clearing system that connects UnionBank to rural banks in the country.
Arvie de Vera, UnionBank’s senior vice president, has outlined that the UnionBank-issued PHX is designed to function as “a stable store of value, medium of exchange and is a programmable token with self-executing logic. It enables transparent and automatic execution of payments.”
According to PhilStar Global, buy, transfer, redemption transactions and domestic remittances using PHX have been already been completed by three rural banks — Summit Rural Bank in Luzon, Progressive Bank in Visayas and Cantilan Bank in Mindanao — on the i2i network.
De Vera has added that the stablecoin resolves reconciliation issues and eases audit and compliance issues. Initially, the currency will be available to i2i network participants who can purchase it via direct debit from their UnionBank accounts.
PHX is also frictionlessly redeemable for pesos, which are then credited back to the users’ UnionBank accounts.
As the report notes, UnionBank launched the stablecoin in support of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ advocacy of digital financial inclusion for people and communities in the country.
Earlier this month, UnionBank successfully completed a pilot of a blockchain-based cross-border remittance from the Philippines to Singapore involving use of the i2i platform.
The initiative used blockchain-based tokenized fiat to remit from Singapore's OCBC Bank to an account holder at a rural Cantilan Bank, as part of the banks’ ongoing project to provide unbanked Filipinos with access to financial services.
sponsored
A tracker that delivers the latest crypto prices in visual form has unveiled new features to help its users keep on top of market movements.
A website that delivers live cryptocurrency prices and market capitalizations in visual form has unveiled a suite of updates and new features.
Coin360 displays the latest market movements for coins and tokens in proportionately sized blocks based on their market capitalizations. Every block shows the cryptocurrency’s ticker, current price and percentage change — and charts can also be accessed by hovering over the block. Colors illustrate when prices change: green when values have risen, red when they are in decline and gray when there is no movement. Users have the ability to analyze the market’s performance over a period of their choosing, whether this is an hour, a day, a week or a month. Customized date ranges are also available.
With hundreds of cryptocurrencies out in the marketplace today, most enthusiasts are only interested in a handful of coins and tokens. To this end, Coin360 has introduced watchlists — a tool that enables visitors to monitor a select few cryptocurrencies. Through watchlists, a user can create a curated list featuring the coins they hold and can keep track of the top-50 coins and tokens.
Elsewhere on the main page, Coin360 users can switch tabs to assess the performance of major crypto exchanges. This data is neatly organized to show which platforms have verified data — and which don’t. Hovering over each supported exchange offers additional information, such as the number of trading pairs offered, whether margin trading is available, maker and taker fees, and the fiat currencies accepted for deposits.
For those who are new to crypto, the team offers a blog that delivers daily and weekly overviews on the state of the market, along with detailed summaries that break down complicated crypto topics.
A scrolling ticker at the bottom of the screen delivers the latest crypto news headlines from trusted sources — giving visitors live information about the current events that might be driving prices upward or downward.
An array of filters is provided to help visitors cut through the noise and achieve maximum relevance on every visit. The base currency used to display information can be switched from the United States dollar to the euro, pound or Chinese yuan — and the 200 coins with the biggest gains or losses over 24 hours can be brought up at the touch of a button.
The Liquidity Book provides users with insight into the best prices that are available for buying or selling cryptocurrencies. This is achieved by comparing the market depths of multiple exchanges and presenting them in ascending or descending order. Specific platforms can also be selected if a user wants to contrast its offering with rivals — making it ideal for discovering the smallest price a coin can be bought for and the highest price it can be sold.
For some crypto enthusiasts graphical representations may be more effective in helping them to understand what’s going on than text in tables. However, for those who are struggling to pull themselves away from the old-fashioned approach, a table view is still available.
The team notes that the table view provides vital statistics about crypto exchanges, including when they launched, the number of followers and subscribers they have on Twitter and Reddit respectively, and their reviews on Trustpilot.
Coin360 says its main motivation has been to deliver features that cannot be found elsewhere in the crypto industry, all while ensuring that visitors only see the information that’s relevant to them.
Disclaimer. Cointelegraph does not endorse any content or product on this page. While we aim at providing you all important information that we could obtain, readers should do their own research before taking any actions related to the company and carry full responsibility for their decisions, nor this article can be considered as an investment advice.
The development team behind proof-of-stake blockchain Solana received $18 million in funding.
The development team behind proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain Solana received $18 Million in funding, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on July 30.
Per the release, the funding round was led by Multicoin Capital, with participation from Distributed Global, Blocktower Capital, Foundation Capital and Blockchange VC, among several other companies. The latest funding round purportedly brings Solana’s value up to $20 million.
Solana claims that the platform is the first web-scale blockchain, since they believe it to be the first solution capable of hosting applications with computational bandwidth akin to the modern internet. Per the press release, the Solana network can support 50,000 transactions per second.
“Solana is the closest thing to the ‘world computer’ blockchain developers conceptualized in the early days of crypto,” said Kyle Samani, co-founder and managing partner of Multicoin Capital. He adds that Solana will allegedly scale on the base layer without sharding, explaining:
“While many developers have proposed sharding solutions for scaling existing layer 1 solutions, they introduce a tremendous amount of complexity and create new user experience problems that are difficult to solve.”
Solana is also launching its development network, where developers can now download the dedicated software development kit and start building decentralized applications based on the new chain.
The press release also claims that Solana is the first multi-threaded blockchain and that it is optimized to run on graphics processing units processing many transactions in parallel.
“Other than Solana, all blockchains are single-threaded processors,” explains Anatoly Yakovenko, Solana’s co-founder and project lead. “That is, they can only make one state update at a time. By architecting a system designed from the ground up to support concurrent processing, and by optimizing computation for massively parallel GPUs, Solana can process 50,000 TPS across a network of 200 nodes—and it does so without creating any additional overhead in terms of UX, latency, or composability for developers.”
As Cointelegraph reported in May, Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin said that the Ethereum blockchain will become about 1,000 times more scalable in 18 to 24 months, after changing to PoS.
The massive-scale hack of major United States credit card issuer Capital One has left the personal data of over 100 million individuals exposed.
The massive-scale hack of major United States credit card issuer Capital One has left the personal data of over 100 million individuals exposed.
As CNN reported on July 30, confidential data for around 106 million Capital One customers' accounts and credit card applications was stolen by an alleged hacker, Paige Thompson, 33, in March of this year.
Thompson, a Seattle resident, was arrested by the FBI on June 29 and is accused by the US Department of Justice of having gained unauthorized access to personal data that included names, addresses, zip codes, phone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth and self-reported income.
All this data is collected by Capital One “routinely” each time it receives credit card applications, the company has revealed in an official statement.
Thought to have affected roughly 100 million U.S. customers and 6 million Canadians, the suspect allegedly gained access to 140,000 Social Security numbers, 1 million Canadian Social Insurance numbers and 80,000 bank account numbers, as well as data pertaining to customers’ credit scores, credit limits, balances, CNN reports.
According to CNN, Thompson had formerly worked as a software engineer for a cloud hosting company used by Capital One. Her access to the company’s servers was facilitated by exploiting a misconfigured web application firewall, CNN reports, citing court filings.
The major breach of a centralized repository of Know Your Customer data reveals the fault lines of corporations’ custody over their clients’ data. The crypto community has been quick to reflect on the flaws of such legacy models as compared with more resilient, decentralized systems. As Morgan Creek Digital Assets co-founder Anthony Pompliano tweeted today:
“No one has ever hacked Bitcoin. It is the most secure computing network in the world.”
While security breaches of centralized crypto exchanges are still commonplace, to “hack” Bitcoin, a potential attacker would have to gain access to the private keys of every single wallet address individually — rather than one centralized trove like Capital One’s.
Capital One has stated that "unlikely that the information was used for fraud or disseminated by this individual," and that "no credit card account numbers or log-in credentials were compromised and over 99% of Social Security numbers were not compromised."
As CNN notes, the suspect nonetheless revealed her intentions on Twitter to distribute the ill-gotten confidential information, such as Social Security numbers along with full names and dates of birth.
As Cointelegraph has reported, privacy concerns in an era of far-reaching data centralization are spurring the development of secure, decentralized blockchain-based alternatives from major tech players such as Microsoft.
In an interview with Cointelegraph this summer, BitMEX CEO and co-founder Arthur Hayes underscored the importance of financial privacy. He argued that the public is on the brink of a sudden wake-up call in light of the unmistakable negligence and misuse of individuals’ digital property and identity credentials, as well as incursions into their on — and offline freedoms.
Last week, Alexandria Ocasio–Cortez made several misleading statements regarding stock buybacks in Congress, as part of her push to ban such buybacks. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@RepAOC/@AOC) and @P4AD President David Mitchell on stock buybacks: 🎥 https://t.co/66n2jaBY2Z pic.twitter.com/XmVaIMAKkO — CSPAN (@cspan) July 26, 2019 That being said, AOC did make a good point regarding stock buybacks […]
The post AOC is Right on Stock Buybacks, But For All the Wrong Reasons appeared first on CCN Markets
Smart Valor debuts with two cryptocurrencies and four fiat currencies, with further expansion planned.
Swiss integrated cryptocurrency exchange Smart Valor has launched trading of four fiat currencies with Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).
As a blog post issued July 30 confirmed, Smart Valor, which combines exchange with custody and brokerage features, will continue to add new currencies on a monthly basis.
The company is headquartered in the town of Zug, home of Switzerland’s Crypto Valley Association, and represents the first integrated exchange provider to launch in the country.
“After 18 months of development, we are excited to go live with a core element of the SMART VALOR Platform — the exchange,” CEO Olga Feldmeier commented in the blog post.
She added:
“This brings us a huge step forward to our vision of becoming the world’s first security token exchange for alternative investments.”
The initial pairs on offer for BTC and ETH are the Swiss franc, British pound sterling, euro and U.S. dollar. In future, pending receipt of the requisite license from Swiss authorities, Smart Valor will offer security tokens.
“The roadmap for the next 6 months also includes long-term deposit of fiat money, CHF-based stable coin as well as trading and staking of exchange’s native cryptocurrency currency VALOR,” the blog post added.
The launch comes amid rapid progress for other Crypto Valley members.
As Cointelegraph reported, finance app Aximetria gained a nationally-recognized Anti-Money Laundering (AML) license this week, while broker Bitcoin Suisse previous revealed it had applied for permission to act as a banking and securities dealer.
Smart Valor’s custody service meanwhile saw it partner with France-based Ledger and the U.S.’s BitGo.
CEO Adam Back explained users now have more options as a new update provides support for stablecoin Tether.
Bitcoin (BTC) users can now take advantage of the Lightning Network while sending coins on Blockstream’s Liquid sidechain.
Following the debut of support for stablecoin Tether (USDT) on Liquid, Blockstream CEO Adam Back confirmed on Twitter that the technology can also support Lightning payments.
Using a combination of Lightning and Liquid allows users to benefit from the speed and low cost of off-chain transfers, along with the specific advantages of Liquid itself.
“It's not so widely known but Lightning protocol is designed to work across multiple chains,” Back wrote July 30. He added:
“The demo was L-BTC but could be BTC on one channel hop and L-BTC on another. and route other liquid assets.”
As Cointelegraph reported, the Tether announcement saw a warm reception, as sidechain support means it can handle heavier loads more quickly than its inherent Omni Layer technology.
Liquid introduces sidechain versions of supported tokens — for instance L-BTC for Bitcoin and L-USDT for Tether — which can be exchanged for mainnet tokens of equivalent value at any time a user chooses.
On Monday, Back noted L-USDT was currently only tradeable on Bitfinex, the exchange that shares its CEO with Tether’s issuing entity, but that more options would follow at an unspecified time.
“Given (Tether’s) USDt use case that makes it a good fit for in-chain swaps, fast exchange transfer for arb trade, user cold to exchange tradeable,” he explained about the impetus behind the move.
Swiss-based financial technology company SMART VALOR has announced today that it has launched the Digital Asset Exchange, with strong institutional investor support. Zug, Switzerland – July 30th 2019, Today, Swiss-based SMART VALOR, a digital asset exchange, went live with an initial offering of 9 Crypto-Fiat trading pairs. It is the first exchange operated out of […]
The post First Integrated Digital Asset Exchange Goes Live in Switzerland Supported by Leading Institutional Investors appeared first on CCN Markets
Incoming payout could induce change in stagnant markets, three days after Bitcoin shed almost $1,000 in minutes.
Bitcoin (BTC) price continued trading around $9,500 July 30 as analysts suggested the end of the month could still provide a fresh move upwards.
Market visualization. Source: Coin360
Data from Coin360 revealed little change in Bitcoin’s behavior Tuesday after the largest cryptocurrency suddenly lost $800 over the weekend.
As Cointelegraph reported, the downturn caught markets by surprise, BTC/USD dropping from $10,150 to a low of around $9,200.
Now, attention is focusing on Bitcoin futures — the end of the month means settlement, something which has traditionally placed downward pressure on the Bitcoin price before payouts take place.
For Josh Rager, the regular analyst and trader, the near-term course for BTC/USD could involve an uptick towards $10,000, but with the 50-day moving average forming a roof.
Rager specifically viewed CME Group’s futures as an important metric.
“CME is an important chart to watch & looking at one scenario that could play out,” he wrote on Twitter Tuesday.
He continued:
“I lean neutral sideways but would be intrigued if price moved up to fill the meme gap at $9965 1D close before rejected off 50 MA[.] Lean bullish if price closes above $10,635 on CME.”
Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Courtesy of Coin360
So far, however, little evidence suggests the more bullish scenario will occur, with many suggesting a period of bearish action is likely before momentum for gains builds once again.
Others pointed to ongoing regulatory scrutiny, particularly in the United States, as pressuring price. On Tuesday, Washington is set to hold another hearing dedicated to blockchain and cryptocurrency policy.
“It’s a new product. It’s much different from most new products,” J. J. Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade, told Bloomberg.“Everybody, including regulators, are trying to figure out the best way to roll this out to protect people, keep it something that’s viable but keep it from being the Wild West.”
Altcoins meanwhile continued to move in step with Bitcoin’s sideways action. Ether (ETH), the largest altcoin token by market cap, dropped slightly more than average — 2.5% on the day — to land at $208.
Ether 7-day price chart. Courtesy of Coin360
Other major coins saw negligible losses of up to 3%, while only a handful registered any form of gains, these not surpassing 2%.
Steve Lee highlighted Square Crypto’s emphasis on Bitcoin in a recent community AMA on Twitter.
Steve Lee, a project manager at Square Crypto — the crypto arm of the payments company Square — made a number of recent remarks that solidify the company’s emphasis on Bitcoin (BTC). Lee commented to this effect in the course of an “ask me anything” (AMA) session via Twitter on July 29.
Jack Dorsey had previously discussed how Square Crypto aims to develop the crypto ecosystem in general, and is taking steps to improve infrastructure for all — not just Square.
However, the recent AMA indicates that Bitcoin is playing a main role in their current developments. Early on in the AMA, Lee described Square Crypto as “an open-source initiative designed to strengthen the bitcoin ecosystem.” He also wrote:
“Our goal is Bitcoin for all. We are focusing on improving the Bitcoin experience for mainstream users. The user journey will always be central to our thinking.”
Over the course of the AMA, one user even asked Lee why the group called themselves “Square Crypto” instead of “Square Bitcoin.” Lee simply responded by linking to an earlier tweet in the AMA, in which he said:
“We are very, very pro-Bitcoin. There is more than enough work for us to do there. That said, we are open to emerging use cases and technologies that complement Bitcoin.”
The response leaves open the possibility of developing Bitcoin-adjacent infrastructure within the crypto space at large, but still highlights the original cryptocurrency as the nascent team’s main priority.
Square stock is also on a roll this year as crypto markets recovered from last year’s “crypto winter.” As Cointelegraph reported last week, Square stock is up over 50% in 2019, while Bitcoin’s price has soared over 150% since Jan. 1.
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Square unveiled Bitcoin deposits for its Cash App at the end of June. This service allows Bitcoin to be deposited from external wallets, with a cap of $10,000 worth of Bitcoin every seven days.
The U.S. Department of Defense has put blockchain on its four-year roadmap for cybersecurity improvements.
The United States Department of Defense (DoD) is pursuing blockchain solutions for cybersecurity as part of its digital modernization strategy.
The DoD released plans for blockchain tech in its four-year roadmap on July 12, entitled “DoD Digital Modernization Strategy: DoD Information Resource Management Strategic Plan FY19–23.”
According to the report, the DoD’s research branch, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), is currently engaged in at least two exploratory blockchain projects focused on cybersecurity.
First, DARPA is experimenting with blockchain in order to construct a new — or improved — communication and transaction platform. Stated intentions for this platform include communications between units and headquarters as well as between intelligence officers and the Pentagon.
Second, DARPA is attempting to create an “unhackable code” with blockchain technology, citing blockchain’s ability to gather intel on bad actors who attempt to hack into databases.
As reported by Cointelegraph, DARPA previously announced plans to host a two-day blockchain workshop in February. DARPA was particularly keen on examining permissionless consensus protocols. The organization also noted that there were potentially valuable use cases for blockchain in data storage, saying:
“Technologies for distributed consensus protocols have been revolutionized by their prominent role in cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies. These technologies have dramatic implications for the security and resilience of critical data storage and computation tasks, including for the Department of Defense.”
In December 2018, DoD officials examined how blockchain technology could help emergencies responses in disaster situations in a presentation hosted by the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support’s Continuous Process Improvement.
Jeremy Allaire’s Circle issued a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin before stablecoins were cool. Now that Facebook has joined the fray with its Libra coin, which is designed to be backed by a basket of fiat currencies (and maybe other financial instruments), the spotlight on stablecoins has grown brighter. But Allaire, who is testifying in front of […]
The post Jeremy Allaire’s Circle the Latest to Distance Itself from Facebook’s Libra appeared first on CCN Markets
The chief of the SEC Division of Enforcement's Cyber Unit has resigned, after around two years of leading investigations involving crypto and cyber security.
The chief of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Division of Enforcement's Cyber Unit, Robert A. Cohen, has stepped down from his role at the commission.
According to an official announcement by the SEC, Cohen served as the first chief of the Cyber Unit since its inception in 2017.
The Cyber Unit is in charge of securities violations pertaining to cryptocurrency and digital assets, in addition to cyber-related trading violations and cybersecurity disclosures and procedures.
During his time leading the unit, Cohen supervised a number of investigations, including a lawsuit against the startup Kik for running an unregistered $100 million token offering, as well as charging DJ Khaled and the boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. for unlawfully advertising an initial coin offering.
Regarding Cohen’s work as chief of the Cyber Unit, the Division of Enforcement’s co-director Steven Peikin said:
"The Cyber Unit has been a great success under Rob's strategic leadership [...] Soon after its creation, the Cyber Unit immediately began filing impactful cases that protect investors and demonstrate the SEC's ability to respond nimbly to new and difficult challenges.”
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, the SEC recently gave the blockchain-based startup Blockstack the green light to issue a $28 million public token offering under Regulation A+, which is apparently was a first for token offerings. Blockstack founders Muneeb Ali and Ryan Shea noted that it took the company approximately 10 months and $2 million to get approval from the SEC.
The SEC also approved a gaming-related token offering, saying that they did not qualify as a security.
Youniqx Identity AG, a subsidiary of the Austrian State Printing House, has developed a cryptocurrency hardware wallet.
Youniqx Identity AG, a subsidiary of the Austrian State Printing House, has developed a cryptocurrency hardware wallet, reveals a press release published on July 29.
Per the report, the hardware wallet — named Chainlock — enables the offline storage of private keys allowing access to cryptocurrency wallets. The device is reportedly capable of generating the private key, and is also water and heat resistant. The wallet in question will be available via the firm’s partners, including Tokenize Exchange in Singapore and Coinfinity in Central Europe.
The release further claims that the Austrian State Printing House is specialized in identity document manufacturing that “implements and offers personalisation solutions for identity documents such as the highly secure Austrian passport.” Youniqx was founded by the firm last year to expand operations in the digital identity space. The subsidiary reportedly developed a video identification service and an identity management app alongside the hardware wallet in question.
As Cointelegraph recently reported, Daimler, the German multinational corporation behind the Mercedes-Benz brand, partnered with European blockchain interface solutions startup Riddle & Code to provide an open car hardware wallet solution.
Also earlier this month, self-proclaimed electrification, automation and digitalization global giant Siemens has likewise shown an interest in adopting blockchain-based solutions. In particular, Siemens is exploring the use of blockchain in the transportation industry.
Overnight, the bitcoin price flash crashed to $9,100 across major crypto exchanges in the likes of Bitstamp and Coinbase, dropping by nearly seven percent against the U.S. dollar. The bitcoin price flash crashed to $9,100, recovered beyond $9,500 within minutes (source: coinmarketcap.com) Within minutes, however, the bitcoin price surged from $9,100 to over $9,500, rebounding […]
The post Bitcoin Price Dusts Off Sunday’s Flash Crash to Recover Near $9,500 appeared first on CCN Markets
Ripple CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, and its executive chairman, Chris Larsen, posted an open letter to congress on Sunday asking authorities not to paint their company with a “broad brush”. The executive duo paid careful attention to emphasize that while bad actors exist in the cryptocurrency space, many are, in fact, doing their bit to stay […]
The post Ripple CEO Tells Congress to Avoid XRP From Facebook Libra Smear appeared first on CCN Markets
