Day: July 12, 2018

Australian Bank Bans Use of Home Equity Loans for Crypto Trading

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The Australian Bank of Queensland has banned property buyers from using home equity to buy cryptocurrencies, the Financial Review reported July 12. The Bank of Queensland is reportedly the latest institution to bar credit lines from loans to be used for leveraged purchases or trading of cryptocurrencies. The bank justified the ban with the potential high-risk of these kind of investments, stating that while leveraged currency trades can be lucrative, a poor investment decision could prove devastating. The Bank of Queensland is updating loan contracts, alerting consumers that “any loan…

Startup of Self-Proclaimed Bitcoin Creator Receives Three Bitcoin Cash-Related Patents

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Blockchain startup nChain, associated with a man who once proclaimed himself to be Bitcoin’s (BTC) creator, has been granted three Bitcoin Cash (BCH)-related patents by the European Patent Office (EPO), according to an official statement July 11. The three new patents relate to the development of new methods of digital rights protection using blockchain technology and specify Bitcoin Cash’s blockchain as the standard technology on which transactions are demonstrated. The first patent listed in nChain’s announcement is entitled “A method and system for verifying ownership of a digital asset using…

League of Legends Philippines Removes ‘Cryptojacking’ Code From Its Client

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Security engineers of the Philippine community of major multiplayer video game League of Legends (LoL) have removed Coinhive crypto mining code from its Garena client June 11, according to an official statement from the group’s Facebook. On July 9, Monero (XMR) mining malware Coinhive was first detected on the LoL client by a player who posted about the issue on the League of Legends subreddit. According to the group’s Facebook statement, the recent case of Coinhive cryptojacking was caused by “unauthorized modification of the League of Legends PH client lobby…

World’s Fourth-Largest Stock Exchange Eyes Blockchain Use in Securities Transactions

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The world’s fourth-largest stock exchange released plans to use so-called distributed ledger technology (DLT) in securities transactions July 10. The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), which as of December 2017 had a market cap in excess of $5 tln, said in a report that “most people” consider that blockchain technology can “help improve the transparency of the securities industry.” “Part of the market is now starting to adopt this technology in part, and larger-scale industry applications will do so after a few years,” the institution wrote in introductory remarks. While China’s…

Crypto Markets Continue to Descend as Governments Globally Clarify Regulations

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Crypto markets continue to see red today, July 12, as data from Coin360 shows, with Bitcoin (BTC) falling below the $6,200 price point. All of the top 50 coins by market cap are red on the day to press time. Market visualization from Coin360 The markets have now reversed their weekend upswing, which followed a promising week in which they consolidated gains first claimed in a late June rebound. The downward trend comes as the governments of major markets globally are refining their official regulations on cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is trading…

American Express is Eyeing Blockchain for a Proof-of-Payments System

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Credit card giant American Express has filed a patent application for blockchain-based proof-of-payment technology. American Express isn’t an institution unfamiliar with blockchain. Throughout the past few months, we’ve seen the financial services company support the blockchain very publicly. Just recently, the company deployed Hyperledger’s blockchain technology to upgrade its Membership Rewards program, becoming the first major U.S. financial services company to do so. While Bitcoin May Be a Competitor, Blockchain Might Be the Key The company has come a long way, indeed. You may not remember it, but back in…

Patent Application Eyes Bitcoin Blockchain for Artwork Provenance

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A newly-published patent application seeks to use blockchain technology to establish and maintain a chain-of-ownership for artwork. The patent application, which was published by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) on Thursday, lists the framework’s inventor as Howard H. Sheerin, a patent attorney in Scottsdale, AZ. According to Sheerin’s LinkedIn page, he now works in Silicon Valley, where he has been “studying and actively participating in the cryptocurrency revolution, including to draft multiple Bitcoin/Blockchain patent application.” His website also indicates that he accepts bitcoin. Writing in the patent application,…

Trump Crypto Fraud Task Force

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Trump crypto fraud task force: Earlier this year, the United States government revealed that it was looking at cryptocurrencies, with a particular focus on market fraud, and that it was developing a “comprehensive” strategy around virtual currencies. Now in the second half of the year, the US government is diving even further into the crypto industry. On Wednesday, July 11th, President Donald Trump signed an executive order, giving officials the final go-ahead they needed to create a consumer fraud task force. Further, alongside targeting other areas, the new Trump task…

‘Wikipedia of Structured Data’ Protocol Secures Backing From Pantera, DCG, 25 Others

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Decentralized structured data startup Dirt Protocol has secured investments from major crypto venture players to build a blockchain platform for reliable data, the company announced July 11. Contributors to the funding round included well-known crypto industry names such as Pantera Capital and Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group, along with Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam. A total of 15 venture partners and 11 angel investors participated, the startup reports. Dirt, which will use the $3 mln it raised to create its eponymous platform, seeks to deploy blockchain technology and a system of…

Robinhood’s Zero-Fee Crypto Trading Platform Adds Support for Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash

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Financial services mobile app Robinhood has added support for Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) on its Robinhood Crypto Platform, according to a July 12 blog post. Robinhood’s blog post notes that they are planning to “further expand our coin offerings and add support for coin transfers,” writing that the entire Robinhood platform has a reach of more than 5 million people. Robinhood launched its zero-free crypto trading platform in February, originally supporting Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), with trading available for U.S. residents in California, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, and…