Day: September 5, 2018

Investing in ICOs Is a Risk on Dynamite

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Julian Zegelman, a lawyer with many years of experience, has turned into a VC — he’s now a general partner at TMT Blockchain Fund, a venture capital fund investing in blockchain technology projects. But why did he end his legal career? CR: I was going to ask you a bunch of legal questions, but you’ve mentioned that you’re not a lawyer anymore. How did that happen? JZ: It’s like being a recovering alcoholic, you know? When you’ve been drinking for a long time, people remember that you used to drink.…

Rebasing of Verge’s (XVG) Code to that of Bitcoin Almost Complete

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Ever since the Verge (XVG) network was hacked back in May, and millions of dollars of the digital asset fraudulently minted, there has been an effort by the project’s core developers to change the codebase of the platform. In late June, the team at the Verge project had announced that they were upgrading Verge’s codebase to Bitcoin Core v.0.13. This was due to the fact that this codebase offered updated security protocols and a solid foundation for the project to continue on. It is with this background, that the team…

Andy Warhol’s Multi-Million Dollar Painting Tokenized and Sold on Blockchain

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In a world first, an artwork worth millions of dollars has been tokenized and sold on blockchain. 14 Small Electric Chairs, a two-meter high painting by the late renowned American visual artist Andy Warhol, was sold on blockchain-based art investment platform Maecenas to 100 participants. Approximately US$1.7 million was raised in the cryptocurrency auction for a 31.5% stake of the artwork whose total valuation was US$5.6 million. More than 800 bidders signed up for the auction which was conducted entirely using a smart contract. The bidders were mostly drawn from…

Goldman Sachs Drops Plans to Open Crypto Trading Desk

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Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is halting its plans to open a cryptocurrency trading desk, Business Insider reports September 5, citing sources familiar with the matter. The bank’s plans to create a crypto-focused unit by the end of June 2018 were originally reported by Bloomberg, with sources claiming that Goldman Sachs aims to become “the first large Wall Street firm to make markets in cryptocurrencies.” Now, Business Insider reports citing unnamed sources that the bank has lowered the priority of this project, as the regulatory environment in the crypto industry remains…

Belgian Think Tank Calls for Ministers to Coordinate EU-Wide Crypto Regulation

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Calls to enforce clear and uniform guidelines for crypto across European Union (EU) member states are to be made before EU finance ministers this week, Reuters reports September 5. Brussels-based think tank Bruegel is said to have prepared a new report devoted to the crypto industry for EU finance ministers, who are due to meet this Friday and Saturday in Vienna, Austria. The report is said to reserve particular scrutiny for initial coin offerings (ICOs) as well as for crypto exchanges, the latter of whose presence in the EU is…

Major Indian Bitcoin Exchange Discusses the Aftermath of RBI Ban

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It has been about two months since the crypto banking ban by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) went into effect. News.Bitcoin.com talked to Sathvik Vishwanath, CEO and co-founder of Indian exchange Unocoin, to discuss the aftermath of the central bank’s ban. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space All Eyes on Supreme Court The RBI issued a circular on April 6 banning all financial institutions under its control from providing services to crypto businesses. The central bank gave banks three months to exit any existing relationships with…

Malaysia’s Watchdog Orders Immediate Stop to Beauty Guru Lavidacoin Promotion

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The Securities Commission (SC) of Malaysia has ordered an immediate halt to all promotional activities for the recently-launched Lavidacoin (LVC) pending further review, according to a September 5 notice on the SC’s website. According to local news outlet The Star, Lavidacoin was created by Malaysian cosmetics mogul and beauty guru Datuk Seri Hasmiza Othman, aka Dato’ Vida. The beauty guru reportedly hoped to use an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) to raise as much as $1.5 billion to create an “entrepreneur-focused” online entertainment channel, an LVC payment gateway, and even a…

Australian Firm Aiming for $15 Mln ICO for Crypto Exchange Addresses Regulatory Scrutiny

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Byte Power Group (BPG), the Australian company aiming to launch the country’s first cryptocurrency exchange using an ICO, responded to regulatory pressure with fresh information about its plans Wednesday, September 5. In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), BPG addressed concerns the regulator raised last month as details of the fundraising became public. BPG has since begun selling its BPX tokens, aiming to raise $15 million to build the exchange, whereupon users will be able to use the tokens to pay fees in a manner similar to that…

Turkey’s National Stock Exchange Builds Blockchain Database Platform

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Borsa Istanbul, Turkey’s state-backed stock exchange, has announced the development of a blockchain platform that will store details of new customers and share documents on a decentralized network. In an announcement on Wednesday, the bourse operator said the blockchain platform was developed in-house to accommodate Know Your Customer (KYC) norms, registering new customers and the sharing of information and documents securely in a ‘fast, reliable and transparent platform’. Notably, the blockchain platform has already enabled a number of entities including the national depositry, the clearing and settlement authority as well…

Intel, Software Multinational SAP Partner on Enterprise Blockchain Development Initiative

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Intel and software multinational company SAP have announced that they are joining forces to address “gaps in the market” for solutions that power enterprise blockchain systems, according to an official Intel post September 4. Intel and SAP write that their 25-year collaboration on enterprise infrastructure platforms has recently expanded to encompass blockchain technologies, spearheaded by the creation of a SAP-led global industry blockchain consortium. The post outlines both companies’ blockchain initiatives to date, some of which aim to make the technology interoperable with the SAP HANA Data Management System, on…