Day: September 10, 2018

Can Bitcoin Save Argentina? – CoinDesk

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Michael J. Casey is the chairman of CoinDesk’s advisory board and a senior advisor for blockchain research at MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative. The following article originally appeared in CoinDesk Weekly, a custom-curated newsletter delivered every Sunday exclusively to our subscribers. When people ask me what got me into bitcoin, I often answer with one word: “Argentina. “ Amid the sad news that the South American country is again gripped by a currency crisis, I’m getting a strong reminder of that connection. Below, I explain it and explore one crypto team’s proposal…

WeChat Now Censoring Bitmain and Crypto Price Prediction Accounts

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The WeChat messaging app is continuing its efforts to block official accounts that involve cryptocurrencies, now targeting those that distribute content for sales of bitcoin miners and cryptocurrency market analysis. The official sales channel of bitcoin mining giant Bitmain, which has the WeChat ID “antminersale,” appears to be blocked on Monday. As of press time, searching for content previously distributed by the account leads to a page that says it has violated relevant rules. The notice states: “Following users’ complaints, the platform [WeChat] has reviewed and discovered that this account…

Interstellar Arrives: Visa, Citi-Backed Chain Acquired By Stellar Startup

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A long-rumored acquisition that finds two of the crypto industry’s leading entrepreneurs teaming to back the world’s sixth-largest blockchain has been confirmed. Announced Monday, Chain, which raised more than $40 million from financial institutions including Visa and Nasdaq, in the process helping define the narrative for business interest in the technology through its partnerships and stage appearances, has been acquired in an undisclosed deal by Lightyear.io, a startup building on the Stellar protocol. Closed officially September 5, the deal will find both brands combining to form a new entity called…

Paxos Unveils Dollar-Backed Stablecoin Approved by New York Regulator

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Blockchain startup Paxos announced Monday that it has launched a stablecoin with regulatory backing from the state of New York. The newly minted Paxos Standard, which has been approved and will be regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) is fully backed by the U.S. dollar, the company said. Notably, Paxos is already a qualified custodian, meaning it is legally regulated and approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to hold client funds. The Paxos Standard token is designed to provide liquidity for investors trading in crypto assets by…

Blockchain Records Will now be Accepted as Legal Evidence in China

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Internet courts in China will henceforth deem evidence authenticated using blockchain technology as being legally binding. This follows the publication of new rules by the Supreme People’s Court of China which state that blockchain records will now be admissible in court. According to the South China Morning Post, internet courts which have been set up with a view of handling internet-related legal disputes will now be in a position of recognizing digital data as evidence upon verification by methods that include among others blockchain, time stamps and digital signatures. An…

‘Crypto Assets Are Here to Stay,’ Says EU Commission Vice President

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The European Commission, the executive body that proposes legislation for the EU, will this year conclude a regulatory assessment for the governance of crypto assets, because they are “here to stay,” a high-level has official said. Speaking at a press conference after a meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council last Friday, Valdis Dombrovskis, vice president of the European Commission, said member states are supportive of moves to chart regulations governing the cryptocurrency industry in the economic region. Dombrovskis said: “We also had a good exchange of views on crypto-assets. We…

Monero Wallet Provider Releases Web-Based Wallet for Tor Browser

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XMRWallet.com, an open-source, client-side Monero wallet provider, has released a new web-based wallet for the Tor web browser, the company announced in a Reddit post on Aug. 28. The post notes that there had been a high demand for such a wallet from XMR users. Now they can send and receive the private and untraceable cryptocurrency through what claims to be the first Monero web wallet for the distributed and anonymous Tor network. Within the Tor network, Monero (XMR) is the cryptocurrency of choice among many users. For the advocates of a…

Bitcoin Retains Bear Bias Despite Recovery From 25-Day Low

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Bitcoin’s (BTC) recovery from 25-day lows seen over the weekend has done little to alleviate the near-term bearish bias, technical studies indicate. The leading cryptocurrency fell to $6,119 on Bitfinex on Saturday – the lowest level since Aug. 14 – bolstering the bearish setup established by a sudden $1,000 drop witnessed during a 24-hour period in the middle of the last week. However, the drop to 3.5-week lows also pushed the intraday relative strength index (RSI) into oversold territory below 30.00. As a result, the sell-off has stalled in the last…

Explosive cryptocurrency growth is near the “ceiling” according to Ethereum co-founder

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According to Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, the days of rampant and explosive growth in cryptocurrency price are over. This has been witnessed by the recent sharp and sudden decline experienced on Saturday, bringing the total market cap to within $2 billion of a new yearly low. Coins such as Ethereum and bitcoin lost significant gains from a brief bullish momentum in the previous week. Speaking to Bloomberg at the Ethereum industry summit conference in Hong Kong, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin stated that we are past the point where 1,000 times…

Bitcoin Markets Volatile After US SEC Suspends Trading in Two Crypto-Based Securities

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US regulators banned trading of XBT Provider’s Bitcoin and Ether Tracker One securities Sunday, September 9, briefly sending cryptocurrency markets tumbling. Citing “confusion” among investors, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a notice that two exchange-traded notes (ETNs) –  Bitcoin Tracker One (“CXBTF”) and Ether Tracker One (“CETHF”) –  would cease trading until September 20. “The Commission temporarily suspended trading in the securities CXBTF and CETHF because of confusion amongst market participants regarding these instruments,” the SEC’s statement reads, continuing: “[T]he Commission cautions broker-dealers, shareholders, and prospective purchasers…