Draft Crypto Legislation Won’t Be ‘Significantly’ Edited

Maxim Akimov, the deputy prime minister of Russia, announced that the authors of Russia’s draft cryptocurrency legislation were not planning on making any changes to the bill. His statement was reported by Russian information agency Finmarket, which specializing on the financial and commodity markets, on Dec. 11. The bill “On Digital Financial Assets” — approved by Russia’s parliament, the State Duma, back in May — has given rise to a lot of discussion within the Russian legal discourse since its first reading. Back in the fall, all crypto- and token-related…

Dutch Central Bank Proposes License Requirement for Cryptocurrency Service Providers

Cryptocurrency service providers will soon be required to obtain a license from the central bank of the Netherlands, major Dutch news outlet DeTelegraaf reports Dec. 11. The article explains that the measure has been undertaken hoping that it will “prevent such cryptocurrencies being used to launder money obtained through crime or to fund terrorism.” To qualify for a license, providers will reportedly need to know who their customers are and report unusual transactions. All of this data will be monitored by De Nederlandsche Bank, the Dutch central bank. After the…

Russian Draft Bill Blocking Suspicious Financial Websites ‘Could’ Cover ‘Scam’ ICOs, Experts Note

A group of Russian members of parliament (MPs) has introduced a draft bill on blocking suspicious financial websites on Tuesday, Dec. 11. Russian crypto media outlet Forklog believes it can encompass “scam” Initial Coin Offerings (ICO). According to the document, the country’s central bank will be able to call to block websites as soon as they do not comply with the current legislation. Moreover, the state bank can apply to the court in order to block the page on the basis of pre-trial settlement. Websites that fake existing banks’ URLs,…

IBM Research Teams up With Agritech Firm to Boost African Agribusiness with Blockchain

IBM Research has teamed up with United States-based agriculture tech firm Hello Tractor to boost the African agriculture industry with blockchain. The partnership was described in a Dec. 11 blog post on IBM’s official website. According to the post, the IBM Research division in Kenya is working with Hello Tractor’s developers in order to apply various tools and technologies, including blockchain, to the Hello Tractor mobile platform that enables farmers to access tractor services on demand. Specifically, IBM Research scientists will incorporate blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies…

Bitwala Begins Offering Bank Accounts With Bitcoin Wallet and Debit Card

Finance Cryptocurrency banking provider Bitwala has started offering its banking service to cryptocurrency users in Germany, starting with 40,000 pre-registered customers. A spokesperson for the company has shared details with news.Bitcoin.com about this new service which will soon add support for additional countries and cryptocurrencies. Also read: Indian Supreme Court Moves Crypto Hearing, Community Calls for Positive Regulations New Banking Service for Crypto Users Bitwala announced on Wednesday, Dec. 12, that it has started offering banking service to cryptocurrency users. “New users along with the 40,000 pre-registered customers will be onboarded…

Facebook to Go Full Steam Ahead in Blockchain?

Facebook to Go Full Steam Ahead in Blockchain? December 12, 2018 by Paul de Havilland Facebook looks set to expand its nascent blockchain activities. At least, that’s how it appears given a glance at the social media giant’s careers site. Also see: Thai Lending Platform JFin Coin Partners with R3 and Microsoft Subscribe to the Bitsonline YouTube channel for great videos featuring industry insiders & experts Facebook’s Blockchain Team Set to Expand Facebook already has a blockchain division staffed by around 30 people and headed up by former Messenger head David Marcus. Its…

Ethereum’s Geth Software Upgrades Ahead of January Hard Fork

The most-used ethereum software client has published code that includes an activation time for Constantinople, a proposed upgrade that, if enacted by users, would bring additional features and enhancements to the network. Go-ethereum (Geth) v1.8.20, released on Tuesday, sets the Constantinople hard fork on the ethereum mainnet, the principal version of the platform, for block 7,080,000. Together with Parity, Geth is one of two softwares used by a majority of the participants in ethereum’s network. As such, the move is the latest sign Constantinople is moving ahead on schedule. The…

Samsung Could Be Developing a Bitcoin (BTC) and Crypto Wallet App for The Galaxy S10

News reaching Ethereum World News from The Block and SamMobile.com indicate that the giant electronics and smart-phone manufacturer of Samsung, might be working on integrating a Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency wallet into its unreleased Galaxy S10 device. According to SamMobile, Samsung’s new cryptocurrency service will have two parts: A cold wallet for saving cryptocurrency, public and private keys as well as signing private keys for cryptocurrency transactions A crypto wallet for transfers, viewing account information and transaction history The phone manufacturer is yet to provide any official details about the…

Canadian City of Calgary Launches Local Digital Currency for Intracity Transactions

Calgary, a city in the Canadian province of Alberta, has launched its own digital currency. The Calgary Dollar will allow holders to pay for services and goods at local shops, Canadian major media outlet Global News reports Friday, Dec. 7. According to HuffPost Canada, the Calgary dollar was initially launched in 1996, with citizens and businesses offering goods and services in exchange for the local currency alongside the Canadian dollar. This new move in 2018 allows citizens to download an app and store the digital currency on their devices. Calgary…

Germany’s Second Largest Stock Exchange, SolarisBank Partner to Launch Crypto Exchange

SolarisBank and Stuttgart Exchange Group are jointly developing infrastructure for a cryptocurrency exchange, Cointelegraph Germany reports Dec. 12. The Stuttgart Exchange, founded in 1860, is the second largest stock exchange in Germany and the ninth largest in Europe. SolarisBank, on the other hand, is a German fintech company established in 2015 that holds a banking license and offers a “Banking as a Platform” service. This news goes along with the plans announced by the exchange in May to release a zero-fee cryptocurrency trading application. The two companies’ crypto exchange, “which…