Day: July 5, 2018

Senior Opposition Member Demands Probe Into ‘Mega Bitcoin Scam’

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An official from Indian opposition party the Indian National Congress (INC) has demanded a probe into a “mega Bitcoin scam,” The Hindu reports July 5. The scam supposedly involves leaders of the majority Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Senior INC member Shaktisinh Gohil alleged that BJP officials were complicit in a “multi-layered” scam to launder money, which he claims the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Gujarat have estimated at Rs 5,000 crore, or about $723 million. The Hindu reports that the INC has demanded that the Supreme Court monitor an official…

$1.2 Billion in Cryptocurrency Laundered Through Bitcoin Tumblers, Privacy Coins

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California-based blockchain and cryptocurrency security firm CipherTrace released its Q2 2018 report in July 2018 and noted the rise of cryptocurrency crime, money laundering, and other illicit activities. One particular item of note was that $1.2 billion has been laundered through cryptocurrency tools such as bitcoin tumblers and privacy-centric altcoins like zcash and monero. Criminals Increasingly Adopting Cryptocurrency On the back of increased awareness after 2017’s famous bull run, the report stated that nearly three times as much cryptocurrency was stolen in the first half of 2018 than all of…

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to Study Blockchain Implementation

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The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has initiated studies of blockchain technology with a view to subsequently embrace the technology and integrate it into the bank’s business processes, local news outlet NewsDay reported July 5. Speaking at the Alpha Media Holdings’ Banks and Banking breakfast meeting in Harare yesterday, RBZ governor John Mangudya reportedly said that the bank is looking to embrace the technology. He stated that central banks in a number of countries, including China, the U.S., U.K., and South Africa have been considering blockchain deployment for their own…

Buy Stuff with Bitcoin | Which Online Stores Accept CryptoCurrency?

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At the time Bitcoin was launched, there were many skeptics who saw BTC merely as a passing trend that would eventually disappear as fast as it appeared. But this has not happened. Now, nearly a decade later, Bitcoin is still very much with us today and has had a profound impact on the online trade industry. Who would have thought something that only exists in virtual reality would one-day out-trump gold in its value? However, it has not been without its problems – the words Mt. Gox come to mind.…

The Infamous ICO Trying to Rebound Amidst Lawsuits and Disputes

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On June 30, almost a year after the widely successful ICO — a project that raised $232 million worth of BTC and ETH back in July 2017, setting a record at the time  — which was followed by an internal dispute and several class-action lawsuits, the Tezos Foundation has finally launched its beta network. Here’s how the project started, what caused the infamous delay and why the anticipated launch comes with reservations. ‘The last cryptocurrency’: What is Tezos? Tezos was developed by Arthur Breitman, who studied applied mathematics, computer science…

Deadline for Implementing Indian Central Bank’s Ban on Crypto Dealings Ends

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The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) deadline to implement ban to stop dealing with all crypto-related accounts expires Thursday, July 5, local news outlet The Times of India reports. The Supreme Court had also ruled earlier this week not to grant interim relief to those affected by the upcoming ban. Panjak Jain, who works in Indian blockchain and crypto communities as an investor and an advisor, tweeted on July 3 that “it’s unfortunate, but India’s Supreme court refused to stay the @RBI’s limitation on regulated entities from working w/ #crypto…

IBM Signs $740 Million Deal With Australian Gov’t to Use Blockchain for Data Security

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IBM has signed a five-year AU$1 billion ($740 million) deal with the Australian government to use blockchain and other new technologies to improve data security, Bloomberg reports Thursday, July 5. The major contract will see IBM provide technology such as blockchain, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to Australian federal departments, including defense and home affairs. IBM’s Asia Pacific head, Harriet Green, told Bloomberg that the new partnership will give Commonwealth citizens access to the “world’s greatest technologies” “across many, many government agencies.” The new partnership will catapult Australia to “the…

Do We Need to Protect Blockchain Data?

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On June 12, the state of Michigan introduced a bill imposing criminal penalties for manipulating data on blockchains in order to commit fraud. This is the first attempt in the world to legally protect data stored on distributed ledger technology (DLT) — for entering false information into the blocks or changing the blocks themselves, up to 14 years of imprisonment can be faced. The deliberate introduction of false data does not raise questions — here the signs of unlawful actions become visible to all the members of the network and…

Volkswagen Seeks Patent for Inter-Vehicular Blockchain Communications System

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Volkswagen has applied for a patent allowing vehicles to communicate with each other through a blockchain-based network aimed to increase road safety by warning of nearby vehicles and alerting the driver to potential collisions. The system could potentially be used to negotiate actions like merging lanes, overtaking, and a number of other high-risk activities on the road. “In Vehicle-to-Vehicle communication messages are exchanged between vehicles to enable novel safety-relevant use cases. Most of the currently known use cases provide warnings to alert a driver about an imminent event, such as…

Collectable Crypto Game Introduces Personalized Artist-Designed Avatars

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The recently-launched collectable crypto game Blockchain Cuties is set to take the personalized gaming experience to the next level, with plans to introduce ultra-customized avatars designed by graphic artists. Users can submit a photograph of either themselves or of their favourite characters, and the designers will create a ‘lookalike’ character for them to have exclusive ownership and use. The process will operate by a bidding system through the website — with initial bids on a 50 percent-off sale for the first two weeks. Winning auctioneers will also get the choice…