Tether Crosses $10B, Leaving Competing Stablecoins in the Dust

Tether, USD Coin, and Binance USD have posted triple-figure market cap growth this year.

Crypto market data aggregator Messari reports that the market cap of leading stablecoin Tether (USDT) has surpassed $10 billion for the first time.

Alongside Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), Tether is now one of three crypto assets with an eleven-figure capitalization. 

Tether’s reported $10 billion market cap comes after year-to-date growth of 144% — with Tether representing $4.1 billion at the start of 2020. 

However, data aggregators are at odds on Tether’s capitalization, with CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap estimating USDT’s market cap to be just over $9 billion. 

USD Coin and Binance USD post strong growth

The second-largest stablecoin by market cap, Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) has also seen triple-digit growth since early January — increasing from less than $450 million to over $930 million today.

USDC has steadily grown since launching in October 2018 to currently comprise the 18th-largest crypto asset overall.

Since launching in September of last year, Binance’s USD stablecoin BUSD has quickly emerged as a major player in the stablecoin sector — currently ranking fourth among stablecoins with a market cap of nearly $166 million.

Binance has grown by more than 875% since representing roughly $17 million at the start of the year, now ranking as the 49th-largest crypto market.

PAX and TUSD stagnate

After starting the year with a capitalization of $225 million, Paxos Standard (PAX), the third-ranked stablecoin by market cap, has seen its market cap stagnate at $245 million since April, according to CoinMarketCap. 

CoinMarketCap ranks Paxos as the 37th-largest crypto asset overall. However, the data may not take into account PAX that have been issued on the Ontology blockchain since April. 

TrueUSD (TUSD) has actually posted a drop in market cap since the year —  falling from $155 million to $144.5 million as of this writing.

TUSD is the fifth-largest stablecoin and the 55th-ranked crypto asset by capitalization.

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Bitcoin ETP Listed on Europe’s Third-Largest Exchange

21Shares said listing on Deutsche Boerse's Xetra platform will make their Bitcoin ETP accessible to a broader institutional market.

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Nvidia Files Motion to Dismiss $1B Class Action Over Crypto GPU Sales

Nvidia has filed for the dismissal of a complaint alleging it fraudulently attributed over $1 billion in sales to gaming markets amid the 2017 crypto bubble.

Major manufacturer of graphics processing units (GPUs) and computing hardware Nvidia has filed a motion to dismiss a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging that the firm misrepresented more $1 billion in sales during 2017 and 2018.

In addition to its popular ‘GeForce’ and ‘GTX’ products — favored by both gamers and crypto miners — Nvidia launched a GPU specifically designed for virtual currency mining dubbed ‘Crypto SKU’ in May 2017. 

However, Nvidia reported only its Crypto SKU sales as having been made to cryptocurrency miners, and investors claim this misrepresented $1.126 billion in other sales as having been driven by demand from the gaming market.

In the motion to dismiss, Nvidia asserts that statements issued by its executives made it clear to investors at the time that it was impossible to know the exact purpose for which customers were purchasing the GPUs.

Nvidia rejects amended complaint from investors

Nvidia cites an August 16, 2018 earnings call in which the firm’s founder and chief executive Jensen Huang stated “whether they buy it for mining or do they buy it for gaming, it's kind of hard to say” in regards to the firm’s GeForce GPU sales.

As such, Nvidia claims that its executives did not lie when they described crypto sales as representing a “small” portion of its revenue, as alleged in the amended lawsuit.

The firm also emphasizes that the original complaint was dismissed due to the allegations relying “entirely” on a report produced by Prysm Group — with the court rejecting the suit on the basis of the plaintiffs’ failure to plead in favor of the “assumptions and analysis” laid out in the Prysm report.

Amended complaint relies on flawed data

Similarly, Nvidia asserts that the amended complaint fails by relying on the findings from a 2018 report into the impact of crypto mining on the firm’s sales that was authored by consulting firm Jon Peddie Research:

“The Jon Peddie estimate rests on a host of unidentified and unexplained assumptions and inputs, which the [first amended complaint] does not allege that Prysm investigated at all. This renders Prysm's analysis even less reliable than before.”

The firm also claims that the complaint selectively quotes its executives to mischaracterize states made concerning its GPU sales, and fails to address shortcoming previously identified by the judge.

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DC Bar Association Gives Nod to Crypto Payments For Lawyers

The Washington DC Bar Association became the fourth to issue an opinion endorsing crypto as an acceptable form of payment.

Four bar associations across the United States have now issued opinions stating they are not opposed to cryptocurrency or digital currency as a form of payment for an advance or services rendered.

The District of Columbia Bar Association (DCB) became the most recent, releasing an ethics opinion which states that lawyers in the nation’s capital could accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment as long as the fee is reasonable and objectively fair to clients. According to the DCB, any lawyer who accepts crypto as payment must also take “competent and reasonable security precautions to safeguard that property”. 

Other bars accepting digital payments

The DCB currently has roughly 100,000 members, making it one of the larger bar associations in the U.S. to state it is “not unethical for a lawyer to accept cryptocurrency.” 

The New York City bar association issued a statement in July 2019 calling crypto payments “business transactions”, while the DCB refers to them as “payment in property” rather than in fiat. 

Bar associations in Nebraska and North Carolina were the earliest organizations to issue statements on crypto for lawyers in 2018. The Nebraska Bar singled out Bitcoin (BTC) in particular and called attention to illegal uses of digital currency, naming Silk Road, the online contraband market infamous for its associations with crypto, as one example.

However, the North Carolina Bar may have written the most skeptical opinion questioning the ethics of crypto as payment. Though ultimately agreeing cryptocurrency is a form of property, it recommended against investing in virtual currency:

“The bulk of people we know regard Bitcoin as “shady money,” and they may well regard lawyers accepting Bitcoin as “shady lawyers.” Will Bitcoin be legitimized one day in the eyes of average Joes and Janes? Maybe—but not soon.”

Why now?

Though the DCB refers to crypto as a “volatile alternative currency” that “raises ethical challenge for lawyers,” it also admits digital currency may be in everyone’s future:

“Lawyers cannot hold back the tides of change even if they would like to, and cryptocurrency is increasingly accepted as a payment method by vendors and service providers, including lawyers [...] the rules are flexible enough to provide for the protection of clients’ interests and property without rejecting advances in technologies.”

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American Pundi X Merchants Can Now Sell Crypto Via PayPal

As the crypto community’s anticipation for PayPal’s exploration into crypto grows, Pundi X has integrated the payments processor for its point-of-sale devices.

Singapore-based blockchain firm Pundi X has integrated PayPal support for its point-of-sale device ‘Xpos.’ 

PayPal is the first mobile payment gateway to be integrated onto Xpos, and users from more than 30 countries can now accept funds via the payments processor.

The integration will take place over two stages, with U.S-based merchants who use Xpos able to apply for PayPay-based keyed transactions from July 1.

A PayPal app is expected to be integrated onto all Xpos devices within two weeks — completing the roll-out.

70% of Xpos users request Paypal support

Pundi X decided to launch the integration after conducting a Twitter poll asking followers which mobile payment app they would like Xpos to support first.

PayPal received almost 70% of votes, beating out WeChat Pay, Alipay, and GoPay, among others.

The integration brings credit card payments to Pundi X’s point-of-sale system, and allows cryptocurrencies to be purchased via PayPal from supporting Xpos merchants.

Pundi X chief executive and co-founder Zac Cheah emphasized that integrations with leading global firms such as PayPal will help drive adoption blockchain-based services and products outside of the crypto community:

“To be able to support a leading online payment provider in our XPOS devices can give people more confidence in using them, and can move usage of blockchain technology closer to the mainstream."

PayPal loves crypto all of a sudden

After shunning cryptocurrencies for a decade, recent job listings for blockchain engineers responsible for “new initiatives” at PayPal global appear to support rumours it will soon offer cryptocurrency sales to users. 

PayPal payments are only supported by a handful of crypto exchanges, such as peer-to-peer marketplaces Localbitcoins and Paxful.

Last week, KuCoin’s P2P Fiat Market became the latest P2P platform to support PayPal, introducing the payment gateway alongside support for USD.

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The ETH/BTC ‘Flippening’ Is 53% Complete According to New Index

The Ethereum/Bitcoin flippening is more than half complete, according to a new metric.

A new metric from German site The Blockchain Center suggests that the long awaited ‘flippening’ —  where Ethereum overtakes Bitcoin — is more than halfway complete.

The newly created ‘Flippening Index’ currently stands at 53.3%. Backtested, it shows this is the first time the index has topped 50% in 18 months — the highest point since March 2019 when it was around 56.2%.

Of course, this latest version of ‘the flippening’ has completely altered the traditional definition. It originally referred to Ether's market cap relative to Bitcoin, but given Ether is currently at just 14.9% of Bitcoin’s market cap, it still has quite the mountain to climb.

Much more thorough comparison

The Flippening Index (which shares some features with the now defunct Flippening Watch) is designed to be a more thorough comparison, weighting the average of eight other indicators to hopefully provide a better overall metric of the use of and interest in the two blockchain networks. The site says:

"The term Flippening refers to the possibility of Ethereum (ETH) overtaking Bitcoin (BTC) as the biggest cryptocurrency. Initially it described the hypothetical moment in the future when Ethereum overtakes Bitcoin by market cap. This tool takes that concept a step further and looks at the long term trend of eight different metrics, that show the status of both networks."

On Reddit, the Blockchain Center's Holger Rohm who designed the metric, explained why he’d simply weighted all the metrics:

"I thought about weighing market cap twice, since that's what it was all about initially, but how should I weigh without it being arbitrary?"

Ethereum leads on two and a bit indicators

Ethereum leads on just two of the eight indicators — transaction count and transaction fees. While it lags behind Bitcoin with 37.8% of BTC’s dollar-denominated transaction volume, the site notes that Ethereum would be “way ahead” if the metric included the value of ERC-20 tokens and stablecoins transferred on the network.

Ethereum has 56.4% of Bitcoin’s active addresses, just under one third of the exchange trading volume, and only 10.4% as many Google searches compared to Bitcoin.

Ethereum does have two-thirds as many nodes as Bitcoin — which excited at least one member of the Ethereum subreddit. ‘Sudden’ Mind said node count is something “we can flip today! Seriously we just need a couple thousand people more to run a node. Let’s get a campaign started!"

The majority of the data for the site is sourced from CoinGecko and Coin Metrics.

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Australian Securities Exchange Switch to Blockchain Delayed to 2022

After stakeholders raised concerns about the Australian Securities Exchange’s blockchain infrastructure plan, it has been postponed until 2022.

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has further delayed its switch to blockchain after public lobbying from key stakeholders.

According to a June 30 update from the ASX, the exchange has officially delayed the rollout of Distributed Ledger infrastructure to replace its current system for processing equity transactions. ASX will now release the project — the replacement for the Clearing House Electronic Subregister System (CHESS) — in April 2022, a one-year push from its most recent timetable.

The exchange cited a number of reasons for the change including the current pandemic, accommodating changes requested by stakeholders, and providing a larger window of opportunity for development.

Peter Hiom, ASX Deputy CEO, said the exchange had “listened to the diverse views of stakeholders and accommodated feedback on timing, user readiness and changes to functionality.” He stated that the new CHESS system would “underpin Australia's financial markets for the next decade and beyond."

Customer feedback drives postponement

Users of the CHESS system lobbied hard to delay the launch of ASX’s blockchain system, with some saying the switch “lacked clarity.”

The CHESS timeline had been under review since March, when ASX announced it would  undertake consultations in June about the rollout due to the pandemic. 

Computershare, one of the main share registry companies in Australia, put pressure on the ASX during the consultation period, asking for a two-year delay. The company stated it had not been given critical information about how the blockchain system would operate or any difference in fees that may be required for services.

Tony Cunningham, founder of CPS Capital, a Western Australian stockbroker, also suggested a delay might be appropriate to better clarify how distributed ledger technology (DLT) would work at ASX for the share registry and broking.

Development of ASX blockchain project

As one of the first large stock exchanges to commit to using DLT, ASX has been working on the transition to blockchain since December 2017. 

The exchange released the first code for its replacement app development tool based on blockchain technology in May 2019. In October 2019, the Australian subsidiary of market operator Chi-X — the sole competitor of ASX at the time — called on regulators at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to investigate the possible effects of blockchain technology on trading activities. 

Cointelegraph reported that prior to the current pandemic, the CHESS rollout date had been set at April 2021.

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Africa Posts Triple-Digit P2P Volume Gains in Three Months

Sub-saharan Africa now represents more than $15 million in combined weekly peer-to-peer trade following triple-digit growth over just a few months.

Peer-to-peer Bitcoin (BTC) trading has seen rapid growth in recent months, with the African continent now the second-strongest region in the world for P2P volume behind the U.S.

Africa was the sole region to produce an increase in seven-day P2P trade this past week — with sub-saharan African trade posting its seventh all-time high for weekly trade in nine weeks.

Since early January, the sub-saharan African has overtaken the Asia-Pacific, Eastern European, and Latin American regions to emerge as the second-strongest P2P market by a volume margin of more than 50%.

African P2P trade surges

Data posted to Twitter by crypto analyst Kevin Rooke on June 30 indicated triple-digit P2P activity among Africa’s top P2P markets over just three months, with volume increases of 125% in Nigeria, 194% in South Africa, 199% in Kenya, and 257% in Ghana.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, a spokesperson for top P2P Bitcoin marketplace Paxful noted that in addition to Africa’s top markets, Cameroon has emerged as a “breakout country” with $5 million in volume during 2020 so far.

Paxful attributes the dramatic increase in trade activity to its ethos of staying “connected to the streets” and fostering grassroots communities in developing markets:

“There’s no one catalyst for the recent significant jump in volume, rather it’s a result of a collective effort on the part of our various teams who have enabled us to successfully enter new markets like India and Argentina, build local communities (in Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, etc.) and form new partnerships.”

“With every new market comes an opportunity to improve and we plan to continue to focus on our users' needs as a roadmap for growth,” Paxful added. 

US dominates P2P volume

Despite Africa’s meteoric rise, North America has further consolidated its lead in P2P volume with recent all-time highs for weekly trade exceeding $30 million.

Regional P2P trade volume: UsefulTulips

The United States represented $30 million in trade by itself this past week, comprising nearly twice that of the entire continent of Africa. Paxful’s spokesperson noted that California is the strongest U.S. state for P2P trade year-to-date.

Nigeria is the second-strongest national P2P market, representing almost $10 million in weekly trade.

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Bitcoin Price Stalls Below $9.2K but Data Shows Investors Are Bullish

Bitcoin price has stalled below $9,200 but on-chain data, investor sentiment, and BTC’s strong quarterly performance are bullish signals.

Earlier today Cointelegraph reported that “Bitcoin (BTC) price recorded its strongest second quarter performance in history” despite a startling crash to $3,750 on March 13. Data from Skew also shows that Bitcoin currently has a quarter-to-date return of 42.39% and the digital asset remains the top-performer for 2020 with a 27.31% return.  

Macro assets year-to-date returns %. Source: Skew

Data from on-chain analytics provider glassnode also showed that since the Black Thursday crash, the total number of Bitcoin whales rose above the 2017 high to 1,800 over the last 3 months. 

Another positive signal of investors’ sentiment towards Bitcoin comes from a recent survey conducted by crypto custodian Bitcoin IRA that shows 43% of the platform’s clients expect Bitcoin price to top $15,000 by the end of 2020. 

After surveying 300 clients, the custody provider found that 57% of participants confirmed that they buy and hold crypto-assets as a long-term investment. 

Each of these data points underscore the growing bullish sentiment surrounding Bitcoin price despite the short-term price action showing the top-ranked crypto asset trading in a neutral zone.  

Bitcoin price continues to consolidate

BTC USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

At the time of writing, the price remains pinched in between the 20-MA and midline of a descending channel. The $9,200-$9,550 resistance cluster remains a hurdle for the digital asset to overcome. 

As discussed previously by Cointelegraph Markets, the 4-hour and daily time frame Bollinger Bands show consolidation is taking place and Bitcoin is forming higher lows on the daily time frame despite trading volume being relatively flat. 

In a recent Bitcoin market update to clients, Delphi Digital pointed out that “Bitcoin has been trading in a relatively tight range over the last month, spending a vast majority of time between low $9,000s and $10,000.” 

BTC-USD vs 30-day realized volatility. Source: Delphi Digital, Bloomberg

The research group also pointed out that “BTC’s 30-day volatility has dropped to its lowest level of the year, which historically has preceded sizable price moves as vol reverts.”  

BTC-USD vs intraday price range. Source: Delphi Digital, Coinbase, Gemini

Delphi Digital also noted that as Bitcoin price consolidates between a key overhead resistance and crucial underlying support zone the intraday volatility decreased, suggesting that a strong directional move is imminent. 

Volatility, COVID-19 and correlation

Since the coronavirus pandemic led to a sharp correction in equities markets in early March 2020, Bitcoin price action has followed that of traditional markets. The strong rebound in BTC price from $3,750 to $10,350 occurred in tandem with the V-shaped recovery currently seen in the S&P 500 and the Dow. 

Currently, crypto investors are deeply interested in whether the short-term correlation between the asset classes will remain or whether a decoupling will take place.

In private comments with Cointelegraph, Delphi Digital market analyst Kevin Kelly said: 

“Historically when the S&P 500 gains 15% or more in any calendar quarter, in every instance (9 before this) over the last 80 years, the index has ended the following quarter in positive territory as well. Now I'd say a positive Q3 for the SPX is far from guaranteed, but still a notable stat nonetheless, especially if you expect BTC to continue trading in line with riskier asset classes in the short-term.”

Regarding market volatility within equities markets and its impact on Bitcoin price action, Kelly explained that: 

“If equity market volatility remains high (or above historical average) then I would expect the correlation between stocks and BTC to remain relatively high as well. Historically, large spikes in the VIX, for example, have coincided with sizable sell-offs in BTC, and so if we did see another violent leg lower in equities I'd expect BTC to suffer in the short run as well.” 

For good reason, equities and crypto investors remain concerned that markets will suffer due to the drastic increase in COVID-19 infections across a number of U.S. states, the recent European Union ban on Americans travelling to EU countries, and the knock on effect his will have on the U.S Airline and global tourism industry. 

According to Kelly:

“When you think about it, the major short-term catalysts for both are quite similar i.e. historical policy responses to a major economic collapse. Also, currency devaluation can actually give stocks a bid as the demand for scarcity and real assets rises.” 

The general view among analysts is that over the coming weeks Bitcoin price could revisit recent lows if the $8,800 support collapses. Despite this mild short-term bearish bias, BTC’s market structure and bullish investor sentiment suggest that the digital asset remains well positioned for further gains in Q3.

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Senate Banking Committee Remains Open to Idea of Digital Dollar in Tuesday’s Hearing

While not every lawmaker was on board with the idea of a central bank digital currency during a Senate Banking Committee hearing Tuesday, no one explicitly rejected it either.

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China Highlights Blockchain in Pandemic Preparedness Strategy

China is looking into the use of blockchain technology to promote data sharing among medical institutions amid future pandemics.

Chinese authorities are trying to strengthen their epidemic preparedness and have identified blockchain as a key component of the response. 

The Chinese Circular of the National Health Commission released its plan on June 30 on how to ramp up its information technology support amid future pandemics. One component of the strategy is the use of blockchain technology for enhancing data sharing among medical institutions.

Data sharing is key 

The Commission is urging local health departments to promote data sharing and collaboration between online hospitals and physical medical institutions. It says that Blockchain technology should be implemented to achieve the safe flow, and authorized access, of patients medical data:

“Local health departments should promote the data docking between ‘internet hospitals’ and regional information platforms and medical institutions at all levels, connect online and offline service links, and provide patients with whole process continuous services covering pre diagnosis, during diagnosis and after diagnosis.” 

Government information sharing 

According to the announcement, other measures will be taken too, to promote the application of electronic certification of medical institutions, doctors and nurses.

These electronic certificates should be integrated with government service platforms to improve government services, the plan states. 

As Cointelegraph reported previously, Chinese local government had launched its first blockchain platform for providing government services.

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Incognito Blockchain Launches DeFi Privacy for Kyber

The Incognito privacy project released pKyber, which enables users to hide their activity from the public Ethereum ledger within the Kyber Network.

Privacy blockchain Incognito has released Kyber Privacy (pKyber), a privacy feature for decentralized finance within the Kyber Network for users from both parties to trade anonymously.

First announced on April 24, Incognito’s open-source technology enables anonymity for smart contract-based protocols, making it possible for any Ethereum-based decentralized app to integrate pKyber.

Making DeFi private

The company claims that the DeFi environment is increasingly facing privacy concerns from seasoned crypto users and traditional investors looking to explore “a new economy.”

Within the integration, Incognito will offer users the option to hide their activity from the public Ethereum ledger.

Speaking with Cointelegraph, Andrey Bugaevski, CEO of Incognito, explained the motivations that drove them to develop a DeFi privacy feature:

“In decentralized finances, the highlighted word is finances. It is someone’s money, someone’s salary, someone's savings. And when we ask ourselves, why should our balance statement be public and visible by anyone who has access to the internet? When we ask ourselves, should personal finance information be confidential? — the answer is [it] definitely should.  DeFi is growing, and demand for privacy in this field is growing accordingly. We believe that privacy may bring even bigger adoption for DeFi projects.”

To apply Kyber Privacy, users must download the Incognito app from the Google Play store or iOS App Store and then enable it to start trading with anonymized Ether (ETH) and ERC-20 tokens.

Bugaevski noted the wealth of development in privacy focused coins like Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC), adding, "They give users a tool to execute fully confidential transactions if you use a native coin. We [found] that the majority of users still want privacy for their favorite coins like Bitcoin and Ether instead of switching it [bank and forth] for each confidential transaction.”

Incognito’s short-term plans

The CEO of Incognito told Cointelegraph that the company further plans to launch a cross-pool trading functionality, add integration privacy for Uniswap, and work on privacy for lending and borrowing.

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First Rupiah-Backed Stablecoin Launches on Binance and Tokocrypto

Binance launched the stablecoin on its own blockchain thanks to a collaboration with Indonesian crypto exchange Tokocrypto.

Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance and Indonesian exchange Tokocrypto have listed a rupiah-backed stablecoin, Binance IDR (BIDR).

According to an announcement on June 30, Binance and Tokocrypto users can now trade BIDR against Bitcoin (BTC), Binance Coin (BNB), Binance USD (BUSD), Tether (USDT) and Ether (ETH). Users will also be able to directly purchase and redeem the stablecoin at a rate of 1 Indonesian rupiah each ($0.000070).

A part of Binance’s expansion plans

BIDR is pegged to Indonesia’s fiat currency and runs on Binance Chain. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao claims that this is the first stablecoin pegged to this fiat currency and was made possible through ample collaboration between the two exchanges:

“Stablecoins [...]  are an important channel for fiat money to spread around the crypto ecosystem. [...] BIDR, in particular, is especially important in supporting our growing number of users who are trading and buying cryptocurrencies with the Indonesian Rupiah.”

The news follows a May announcement that Binance invested in Tokocrypto, which is reportedly Indonesia’s first crypto exchange regulated by the country’s Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency. In November, Binance also acquired the well-known Indian crypto exchange WazirX, in an attempt to further expand its presence in Asia.

In April, Zhao explained that  the firm is prioritizing collaborations with domestic cryptocurrency exchanges that have banking relationships, which subsequently can help in rolling out fiat currency trading.

Binance has also launched locally-regulated crypto trading platforms including Binance Uganda, European trading platform Binance Jersey, Binance Singapore and Binance.US.

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Swiss Equity Firm Makes First Crypto Investment With SPiCE VC Stake

Swiss private equity firm VIVA Investment Partners AG is leaning into crypto funding through a new stake in blockchain venture capital firm SPiCE VC.

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Coin Metrics Offers More Rigorous Measure of Crypto Market Supply

Coin Metrics offers a standardized way of measuring the size and depth of digital asset markets with free float supply methodology.

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BIS Plans New Central Banking Fintech Research Hubs in Europe, North America

The Bank for International Settlements is expanding its “Innovation Hub” with a handful of new locations in Canada and Europe.

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US Soccer Players Can Be Collected, Traded in Tokenized Fantasy Game

MLS fans will now be able to collect and trade digital cards representing league players and use them to play fantasy soccer games run by the firm Sorare.

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FCA Research Says 2.6 Million UK Residents Have Bought Crypto

The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority estimates that roughly 2.6 million U.K. consumers have bought cryptocurrency “at some point.”

The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority estimates that roughly 2.6 million U.K. consumers have bought cryptocurrency “at some point.”

On June 30, the FCA published the results of its latest research into how consumers interact with crypto markets in the U.K. It found that 1.9 million people — 3.86% of the general adult population (18+) — currently own cryptocurrency. 

This presents what the FCA considers to be a “statistically significant increase,” up from 3% in the last FCA consumer research report in 2019. 

The increase brings the total number of U.K. consumers who have ever held cryptocurrencies at any point up from 1.5 million to its current estimated figure of 2.6 million.

Aside from the marked uptick in crypto owners, awareness of the industry appears to be on the rise — 73% of adults have heard of cryptocurrencies, as compared with 42% last year.

Further breakdown of the watchdog’s findings

The FCA’s research indicates that 75% of the 1.9 million currently holding crypto hold under £1,000 ($1,229) worth. 83% of crypto owners buy their assets via non-U.K. based exchanges. 

In general, holders’ level of technical knowledge and understanding of the potential risks associated with lack of protections and asset volatility is high, according to the FCA.

One exception is that 11% of current and former crypto holders mistakenly believe their crypto assets are covered by consumer protections — amounting to roughly 300,000 people. 

The FCA believes that this places these consumers at risk of financial harm. Yet it also found, in parallel, that the most popular reason for U.K. consumers to buy crypto was “as a gamble that could make or lose money,” with full awareness of the volatility in crypto markets.

Another key finding in the research is the apparent prevalence of crypto-related ads and their influence on consumer decisions. 

45% of current and former holders said they had seen a crypto-related ad, of which 35% (400,000 people) said it made them more likely to purchase crypto. Overall, 16% of current and former crypto-owners said they had been influenced by advertising.

Summary of FCA research findings, Dec. 2019. Source: FCA

The U.K. crypto climate

As reported earlier this week, the FCA has just released a detailed statement urging all local crypto business operators to register with the authority by today. Its latest registration requirements come with a series of specific compliance measures, primarily in the areas of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing. 

In its announcement today, the FCA noted it is working with the government and Bank of England as part of the U.K. Cryptoassets Taskforce to tackle crypto-related consumer risks while encouraging innovation. 

The U.K.’s government budget in March 2020 indicated the government plans to consult on measures to potentially bring certain crypto assets into the scope of financial promotions regulation.

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First Mover: Bitwise Calls $50K Bitcoin Price When Market Calm Finally Breaks

Bitwise suggests Bitcoin could be looking at territory well north of the previous $20,000 all-time high.

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Bitcoin Still Up 27% This Year Despite Dismal June Performance

Bitcoin is still outperforming the top traditional financial assets so far in 2020 – even after a dour performance this month.

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Canada's Digital Dollar Should Focus on Inclusion and Accessibility, Say Experts

Experts from the Bank of Canada have released their thoughts on how a digital dollar should be available to all Canadians.

A digital Canadian dollar should imitate traditional banknotes in terms of availability and accessibility, according to staff from the country's central bank, the Bank of Canada.

In an analytical note on June 30, experts from the Bank of Canada revealed some of the goals for its central bank digital currency (CBDC). Analytical notes are a product of staff and analysts at the bank, separate from the Governing Council, so they do not necessarily represent the opinion of the bank itself. 

The group of experts explained that the CBDC should imitate the features of regular bank notes. This means it must be available in urban, rural and remote communities to people with or without bank accounts and can be used by everyone including blind and partially sighted people. The note stated:

“A CBDC should be as accessible as cash.” 

Understanding people’s needs

To maximize inclusion and usability, the note states that the bank should develop a CBDC that Canadians can use regardless of whether they own a smartphone or have access to the internet. People should be able to transact in the CBDC even in regions with poor or no network coverage and also during a power outage. 

As a first step toward developing its proposed digital dollar, the Bank of Canada is seeking to understand the needs of its citizens through extensive consultations with user groups, is considering multiple design options, and will release a prototype before the main launch. 

A universal access device to use CBDC

For every citizen to be able to use the CBDC, the bank aims to work on an affordable universal access device (UAD) that will “incorporate visual and security elements from bank notes.” This will purportedly ensure the safety of people against fake devices and create more confidence in the CBDC system.

The proposed UAD could be of the size of a credit or debit card such that it may easily fit in people’s wallets. The experts note that a UAD should allow people to load value from anywhere and operate without a centralized network. The UAD must also function for long durations on local power and have “potential access to natural sources of energy” such as sunlight.

The note further suggested that if the UAD is not tied to an individual, they could easily be exchanged for their held value.

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BitMEX Owner HDR Appoints Former Bank of China Exec to Board

HDR Global Trading said David Wong – a former deputy CEO at Bank of China – will join its board as a non-executive chairman.

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European Crypto Cards Reactivate as FCA Allows Wirecard to Resume Operation

Crypto.com and TenX’s crypto debit cards are usable again as U.K. regulators allow Wirecard to resume “regulated activity."

Wirecard-issued crypto debit cards from companies like Crypto.com and TenX have been reactivated following permission from the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority, or FCA.

On 29 June, the U.K. watchdog allowed Wirecard Card Solutions, a Newcastle-based subsidiary of troubled German company Wirecard AG, to resume regulated activity. The FCA suspended Wirecard Card Solutions’ license on June 26, soon after news about Wirecard AG misrepresenting over $2 billion in cash reserves surfaced.

The respective restrictions were lifted at 00:01 GMT on June 30, 2020, meaning that all crypto debit cards issued by Wirecard have now been re-enabled. The regulator stressed that there are still “requirements imposed on Wirecard’s authorisation."

The news has since been confirmed by Crypto.com and TenX, who announced that their crypto debit cards are now usable again.

Wirecard is in big trouble

The scandal started on June 18, when auditors from Big Four accounting company EY could not confirm the existence of $2.1 billion in cash. As previously reported by the Financial Times, Wirecard staff in Dubai and Dublin had allegedly misled EY for nearly 10 years by conspiring “to fraudulently inflate sales and profits at Wirecard subsidiaries." 

On June 25, the troubled company filed to open insolvency proceedings, which could be seen as a first step to bankruptcy. Shareholders in Wirecard have already filed legal proceedings against EY for its alleged negligence in auditing the firm. 

Markus Braun, the former CEO of Wirecard, was arrested by police in Munich after being charged with misrepresenting the company’s balances.

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Gold vs. Bitcoin: $2.8B Fake Bullion Scam Highlights BTC Benefits

A huge corruption scandal involving Chinese loans backed by fake gold is pressuring its supporters to defend it against unforgeable Bitcoin.

The Bitcoin (BTC) versus gold debate rages on this week as reports reveal fake bars fuelled a $2.8 billion corruption scheme.

As Chinese media outlet Caixin reported on June 29 via Nikkei, a loans deal between Chinese financial institutions and Wuhan Kingold Jewelry — with gold as collateral — fell apart when it became known the gold was gilded copper.

Schiff: Bitcoin holders are “stupid”

According to Caixin, “at least some” of the gold bars involved were simply copper, with the loan lenders seriously out of pocket as a result.

“That has left lenders holding the bag for the remaining 16 billion yuan of loans outstanding against the bogus bars,” it reported.

The saga is just the latest involving fake gold to engulf high-profile entities. Previously, Cointelegraph reported on allegations that gold reserves in major central banks could also in fact be tainted with other metals.

For Bitcoin supporters, gold’s authentication problems form a major argument against investing or holding the precious metal.

A survey by analyst Mati Greenspan revealed that Bitcoin was by far the most popular choice for investment. Forty-two percent of over 2,300 respondents selected it, while gold was in second place.

For gold bug Peter Schiff, however, the findings said more about the mentality of Bitcoin investors than gold’s integrity.

“This just shows you how delusional #Bitcoin bugs are,” he commented on Twitter. 

“Given how much further Bitcoin is from its record high relative to the Dow Jones or #gold, they still expect it to make a new high first. Hope is never a good investment strategy.”

Bitcoin versus gold one-year chart. Source: Skew

Can’t fake BTC

Schiff’s perspective is nothing new, but his well-publicized ups and downs with Bitcoin have not convinced its supporters to believe in his distaste for it so far.

Last week, RT host Max Keiser claimed with 100% certainty that Schiff making a “huge buy” would occur once BTC/USD hit $50,000. 

Summarizing the gold versus Bitcoin debate in light of the Wuhan Kingold scandal, meanwhile, Parallax Digital CEO Robert Breedlove hinted that the choice would be ultimately obvious for the market.

“#Bitcoin is more divisible, durable, portable, recognizable (which encompasses verifiability), and scarce than gold. Bitcoin is also cheaper to safeguard and less vulnerable to theft,” he wrote. 

“I wonder which one the free market will select?”

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ASX Under Pressure to Further Delay Rollout of DLT Settlement System

The blockchain-based clearing and settlement system from Australia's biggest stock exchange faces further delays if unhappy firms get their way.

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California University Pays Million-Dollar Crypto Ransom

The University of California at San Francisco has paid a million-dollar ransom following unsuccessful negotiations with a ransomware hacker group.

The University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine reportedly paid a $1.14 million ransom in cryptocurrencies to the hackers behind a ransomware attack on June 1.

According to CBS San Francisco, the UCSF IT staff first detected the security incident, stating that the attack launched by NetWalker group affected “a limited number of servers in the School of Medicine.”

Although the areas were isolated by experts from the internal network, the hackers left the servers inaccessible and managed to deploy the ransomware successfully. A statement published by the University of California said:

“The data that was encrypted is important to some of the academic work we pursue as a university serving the public good. [...] We, therefore, made the difficult decision to pay some portion of the ransom, approximately $1.14 million, to the individuals behind the malware attack in exchange for a tool to unlock the encrypted data and the return of the data they obtained.”

A negotiation took place between the hackers and UCSF

BBC News revealed that a covert negotiation between the UCSF officials and the gang took place, but didn’t end successfully.

University’s officials first asked to reduce the ransom payment amount to $780,000, but the hackers rejected the offer, stating that, if they accepted the reduced amount, it’s like they have “worked for nothing.”

Netwalker then warned that they will only accept $1.5 million, and “everyone will sleep well.” Hours later, the UCSF staff asked for the steps to follow to send the payment and put a final offer of $1,140,895, which was accepted by the hackers.

The University’s staff then proceeded to send 116.4 Bitcoin (BTC) the next day to the ransomers' wallets and received the decryption software.

Risks associated with ransomware incidents are “greater than ever”

Speaking with Cointelegraph, Brett Callow, a threat analyst and ransomware expert at malware lab Emsisoft, commented:

“While public and private sector entities in the U.S., Europe and Australasia are the most common targets for ransomware groups, entities in other countries are frequently targeted too. And as ransomware attacks are now data breaches, the risks associated with these incidents are greater than ever — both to the targeted organizations and to their customers and business partners.”

Callow adds that companies can minimize the likelihood of being successfully attacked by “adhering to security best practices — locking down RDP, using multi-factor authentication everywhere it can be used, disabling PowerShell when not needed, etc.”

In early June, Cointelegraph reported that the NetWalker ransomware gang had attacked Michigan State University. The group threatened to leak students’ records and financial documents. At the time, university officials said that they will not pay the ransom.

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To His Own Surprise, Crypto Volume Pumper’s Business Is Still Thriving

Remember that college student who spoke candidly about inflating crypto trading volumes? He’s still at it – and COVID-19 has kept his business brisk.

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Bitcoin Price Bulls Pin Hopes on Descending Channel Breakout to $10K

Bulls need to flip the $9,200-$9,500 resistance zone to support in order to clear a path back to $10,000.

Bitcoin (BTC) price showed a bit of strength by briefly pushing to $9,235 as the daily close occurred but at the time of writing the top-ranked digital asset on CoinMarketCap is trading below the $9,200 resistance. 

Crypto market weekly price chart. Source: Coin360

As discussed in the previous analysis by Cointelegraph Markets, the price remains pinned below the 20-MA and the descending trendline from the June 1 high at $10,380. Until Bitcoin can secure a daily close above the $10,400-$10,500 level the price remains at risk of a breakdown to the $8,800 support. 

BTC USDT 1-hour chart. Source: TradingView

The 1-hour chart shows today’s rejection occurred slightly above the $9,200 resistance and descending trendline where the price formed a tweezer top before pulling back to $9,165. 

On the daily timeframe, the RSI remains below 50 but on the MACD the histogram has flipped from red to pink as the bars begin to shorten and the Bitcoin price is forming higher lows, signaling that selling has begun to decrease. The MACD has also started to flatten and pull closer to the signal line. 

BTC USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

Currently, Bitcoin is below the descending channel trendline and 20-MA but if bulls can manage a high volume spike the price could surge above the high volume VPVR node at $9,600 and in the process flip the $9,200-$9,500 area to support. 

Failure to turn $9,400 to support in the short-term is likely to result in a revisit to the $8,900 support where buyers continue to show interest in purchasing. 

On the daily timeframe the Bollinger Bands indicator shows that despite the weak volume and waning momentum, compression continues to occur as the trading range tightens, all signals that an increase in volatility is incoming. 

Risk-averse traders might consider waiting for a 4-hour or daily close above $9,400 before deciding to open a long or short position. Buying a breakout above the high volume VPVR node at $9,600 could be risky as the price has continuously rejected at $9,800 and $10,000. 

Traders looking to go long might wait for a bounce at $8,900 or even a breakdown of this key support level. Meanwhile, bears will likely look to open short positions from $9,400 through $9,600 as the price has seen in this zone. 

Bitcoin daily price chart. Source: Coin360

As the Bitcoin price traded sideways, altcoins moved slightly higher. Crypto.com Coin (CRO) rallied 6.62% while Cosmos (ATOM) and Enjin Coin (ENJ) gained 4.20% and 12.23%, respectively. 

According to CoinMarketCap, the overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $260.5 billion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 64.7%.

Keep track of top crypto markets in real time here

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LCX and LunarCRUSH Partner to Provide Crypto Market Insights

The announcement from LCX and LunarCRUSH states the partnership will provide data for better crypto trading and investment decisions.

The Liechtenstein Cryptoassets Exchange (LCX) and social analytics platform LunarCRUSH will be working together to provide crypto market insights on security tokens.

According to a June 29 press release available to Cointelegraph, the two firms have taken the first steps to form a partnership which will provide crypto market insights for security tokens and other compliant digital assets. 

LCX and LunarCRUSH will be combining their talents “to deliver community insights, research, background information, historical and real-time market data to crypto investors and traders.” The announcement stated the partnership will help provide data for better crypto trading and investment decisions.

Among the metrics LCX says will be available to its users are price, social media data, volume, engagement and quantitative sentiment analysis. The partnership comes after LunarCRUSH listed the LCX token on the platform’s market insights tool.

LCX is based in crypto-friendly Liechtenstein, which has attracted other companies with its clear regulations on digital currencies and blockchain technology, including crypto exchange Bittrex.

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Bitcoin’s ROI Since 2015 Outperforms Five Major Indices by 70X

Analyst Justinas Baltrusaitis says Bitcoin’s return on investment from 2015 to 2020 puts the digital asset ahead of many traditional markets.

Bitcoin had a nearly 3,500% return on investment since 2015, 70 times that of five traditional stock markets.

According to a June 29 article at investor website Buy Shares, data analyst Justinas Baltrusaitis says from June 26, 2015 to June 26, 2020, the return on investment (ROI) for Bitcoin was more than 70 times higher when compared to the Financial Times Stock Exchange 100, NASDAQ, Nikkei, S&P 500, and Dow Jones markets. 

“During the period under review, Bitcoin’s ROI stood at 3,456.98% where in June 2015, the price of Bitcoin was $257.06 and by June 26th this year, the price rose to $9,143.58. On the other hand, the average ROI for the highlighted indices was 49.27%.”

An asset’s ROI measures the amount of return on an investment relative to the cost. 

Source: buyshares.co.uk

Bitcoin HODLers’ ROI is calculated by comparing the price the moment they purchase crypto to its current value. For those who chose to HODL prior to the December 2017 surge, all investments should have a massive ROI.

Why does Bitcoin benefit?

Baltrusaitis speculated that the difference in ROI may be due to the improved regulations for Bitcoin (BTC), which faced more resistance in 2015 than 2020. However, the current pandemic may also be partly responsible, as “many view Bitcoin as an alternative store of wealth” after the sudden crash of traditional markets.

“Over the years, Bitcoin has been growing in popularity, and the maiden cryptocurrency status has largely contributed to the high return of investment. Bitcoin’s returns are significant despite the perennial fact investing in cryptocurrencies involves substantial risk of loss. The valuation of cryptocurrencies largely fluctuates, and, as a result, investors may lose more than their original investment.”

Cointelegraph has reported some analysts have suggested that Bitcoin is still somewhat or strongly correlated with traditional markets like the S&P 500. Any crash affecting stocks or traditional assets could still cause the crypto market to go to the bears, as they did during the March bloodbath.

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Bitcoin Miner Hut 8 Closes Better-Than-Expected Equity Round at $8.3M

Hut 8 says its new funding is going towards increasing the bitcoin miner's total capacity by a fifth.

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Witnesses Will Vouch for Stablecoins, Digital Dollars in US Senate Hearing Tuesday

Witnesses will discuss stablecoins and tokenized dollars during Tuesday's Senate Banking hearing on the digitization of money.

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Soramitsu Starts Testing ‘White Tiger’ Digital Currency in Japan

A Nikkei article states that Soramitsu will start testing its ‘White Tiger’ digital currency for retailers at a university in Fukushima.

Japanese blockchain company Soramitsu announced it would start testing a new local digital currency for retailers at the University of Aizu.

According to a June 29 report in the Nikkei newspaper, Soramitsu will begin testing “White Tiger,” a digital currency sitting on the company’s native Hyperledger Iroha blockchain. The digital asset will be tested at cafeterias and shops at the University of Aizu in Fukushima Prefecture, 300 km north of Tokyo, starting on July 1 before gradually being utilized at locations off campus. 

The introduction of White Tiger is part of a smart city campaign by public officials and private entities in the City of Aizu-Wakamatsu. Participating stores will be able to receive digital payments from the area’s roughly 120,000 residents through smartphone apps or charge cards.

Soramitsu, based in Tokyo, is one of the blockchain startups behind the development of a central bank digital currency in Cambodia.

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Blockchain Prediction Platform Augur Launches V2 on July 28

Ethereum-based predictions platform Augur announced it would be launching the second version of its platform starting on July 28.

Blockchain-powered event betting company Augur says that users of its REP cryptocurrency need to migrate their tokens once a new version of the platform is available starting July 28.

According to an announcement posted to the platform’s website on June 29, Augur v2 will launch on the Ethereum (ETH) mainnet at the end of next month. This means that REP token holders need to manually migrate their coins to the new version, REPv2. Augur stated that current tokens will be renamed “REPv1” to lessen any confusion.

‘Use it or lose it’ says platform

In addition, the company said the release of Augur v2 would require all REP token holders to participate in any forking, should it occur. Those who fail to do so within 60 days will have their holdings “forever unable to participate in any of the forked and future universes of Augur.” 

However, the platform emphasized that no immediate action was required. According to Augur, forking is “intended to be an extremely rare event.” At the time of the announcement, it would cost Augur more than $9 million, making the new tokens “presumably worthless.”

The platform’s native REP token — now REPv1 — ranks 44th by market cap and is trading at $16.77.

Prediction model used for US elections

Augur is a predictions market that uses smart contracts to let users create and bet on the outcome of any event using ETH. The platform came under fire in 2019 from having an apparent design flaw which may have allowed some users to run scams by settling their bets on the outcome of events before they may have concluded.

In particular, the market for the United States 2018 Midterm Elections exhibited a total volume of more than $3 million on the question of which party — Democrat or Republican — would control the House of Representatives. The market settlement date was nearly four weeks before any changes in leadership were effective.

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Facebook, IoTeX, R3 Among New Members of Confidential Computing Consortium

The Confidential Computing Consortium aims to create systems that sequester sensitive data so it can't be exploited by nefarious actors.

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Blockchain Project Kyber Unveils Date for Planned ‘Katalyst’ Protocol Upgrade

The protocol upgrade includes changes to staking and governance.

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Wirecard Fallout: Auditor EY Accused of Not Flagging $2.1B Black Hole Sooner

Following a sharp drop in the Wirecard stock price, the German shareholders' body holds EY responsible for not alerting the public sooner over the firm's accounting failures.

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Kyber Network Sets Date for Launch of Katalyst Protocol Upgrade

The Katalyst protocol upgrade will include the changes in the in-house token model to attract more participants.

On-chain liquidity protocol Kyber announced on June 29 that a major upgrade of Katalyst protocol will go live on July 7, 2020.

The upgrade includes changes to the Kyber Network Crystal (KNC) token model to attract more participants to the development of the protocol.

According to the announcement, Katalyst aims to reduce friction in liquidity contributions, introduce rebates for high-performing reserves, and allow decentralized apps to integrate with the Kyber network by adding a custom spread.

Participating in governance

Among the features included in the upgrade is the launch of KyberDAO, a community platform that allows KNC token holders to participate in governance.

KNC holders will be able to stake KNC to vote on various protocol parameters and changes, as well as KyberDAO proposals that “aim to improve protocol functionality, operations and adoption.”

Speaking with Cointelegraph, Loi Luu, CEO of Kyber Network, said, “Katalyst will harmonize our efforts towards providing a single on-chain liquidity endpoint for all takers and makers, and establish a long term virtuous loop where the success of the DeFi space, growth of the Kyber ecosystem, and value creation for KNC holders go hand in hand.”

Luu added, “The Katalyst upgrade and KyberDAO support three key groups of Kyber stakeholders: reserves who provide liquidity to Kyber, DApps who connect takers to the Kyber protocol, and KNC holders who form the heart of the network.”

Plans for the coming months

Looking ahead, Luu told Cointelegraph that Kyber will focus on providing more education regarding the benefits that come with the Katalyst upgrade.

“We also aim to increase the number of options available for KNC holders to stake KNC. This includes integrating with more crypto wallets that allow easy access to Kyber.org on their DApp browsers, as well as onboarding more third party Staking Pools that can help vote on the behalf of KNC holders and allow them to receive rewards.”

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Hackathons Benefit From Blockchain Voting, Rewards and Transparency

TAIKAI has announced that it will use the Telos network to facilitate a secure and auditable voting mechanism to evaluate and reward stakeholders in hackathon events.

Hackathon management platform TAIKAI announced June 29 that it would be using Telos network to provide a fully transparent and auditable blockchain voting system, and as a token reward mechanism.

Telos is built on EOSIO technology, and TAIKAI had previously been using EOSIO for this functionality. It was even the subject of a feature on the EOS blog earlier this month.

Hacking isn’t always a bad thing

TAIKAI describes its platform as an open innovation social network, which facilitates the bringing together of corporates facing challenges, with a community of innovators to help solve them.

The hackathon format provides a cost effective way for companies to attract a wealth of highly specialized talent to focus on the problem at hand.

With such a focus on matching up challenges and solutions, finding the right blockchain network on which to run the platform was key. TAIKAI CEO Mário Ribeiro Alves explains:

“TAIKAI is a community-driven platform and we look for like-minded partners that can help us create a network effect. Fortunately, we’ve found TELOS, and we knew from the first meeting that we were completely aligned. I’m confident we’ll build a great future together as we connect companies with innovative teams to solve real-world challenges.”

Blockchain as enabler

Blockchain has been part of the TAIKAI vision from the start, with Alves realizing the value of “tokenization as a way to provide a transparent and auditable selection process for use in hackathons and other innovation challenges.”

However, it was important that a regular user would not notice any difference between using a blockchain-enabled platform and a non-blockchain platform.

Since launching in March 2019, the company has brought on board some of the largest businesses and universities in its native Portugal and is looking to expand globally.

The Telos network has been gaining traction in recent months, becoming the blockchain of choice for Transledger’s interoperability platform, the All_EBT food assistance program in the United States, and has announced support for Ethereum smart contracts following the launch of an Ethereum Virtual Machine.

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First Mover: The Return of the Bitcoin Retail Investor (And Why That’s a Good Thing)

It's been assumed for years that well-heeled financial institutions would become the main driving force and primary investor class in crypto. That narrative may underestimate the power of the retail investor.

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Bitcoin Closes in the Green Sunday to End Longest Daily Losing Run in 6 Months

Bitcoin chalked out minor price gains on Sunday, ending its longest run of daily losses for half a year and avoiding a break below the ongoing restricted trading range.

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Russia's Blockchain Based E-Vote System Suffers Node Attack

The Bitfury-powered blockchain for the Russian constitutional amendments was reportedly attacked over the weekend.

Russia’s blockchain-based voting system for the constitutional amendments has reportedly been attacked via an election observer’s node. 

As reported by state-owned news agency TASS, the attack occurred on June 27 around 8 PM CET. A government of Moscow representative told TASS that the attack did not cause a system malfunction, meaning that all e-votes will be successfully recorded on the blockchain.

According to the official, cybersecurity experts were working to restore access to the attacked node. It is not clear if it’s been repaired at this point. 

E-voting, held from June 25 to June 30 for residents of Moscow and Nizhniy Novgorod, is based on the Exonum blockchain platform developed by Bitfury. Cointelegraph reached out to Bitfury for additional comments regarding the attack, but did not hear back as of press time.

Initiated earlier this year, the constitutional amendments will theoretically allow Vladimir Putin to serve two more six-year terms if approved, meaning that he may remain president until 2036.

The system has experienced hiccups before

According to previous reports, the website for e-voting was inaccessible during the first few hours after going live. 

Moreover, the blockchain-based online voting has produced some abnormal results in certain regions. For instance, nearly 7,300 people assigned to a polling station in Troitsky Administrative Okrug were registered to vote online, despite the station only having a total of 2,358 residents eligible to vote. The local electoral commission claimed that this was a "technical malfunction." 

Further, some people have reported successfully managing to vote multiple times due to the system’s apparently poor compatibility with the vote’s offline part. 

Local journalist Pavel Lobkov posted a video describing how he initially voted offline at his polling station, and then voted online an hour later. 

Similarly, Yael Iliinsky, a Russian national based in Israel, reportedly managed to vote three tunes: online via the website, at the Russian embassy in Tel-Aviv, and at the Russian consulate in Haifa. She also claimed that her daughter, who is still a minor, also voted in Haifa because her documents weren’t checked.

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