AT&T Wants to Create a Blockchain ‘Map’ of Your Social Media History

Telecom giant AT&T has filed a blockchain-oriented patent application to “map” social media histories. Titled “Blockchain-Based Social Media History Maps,” and published on Thursday, it describes a system of tracking social media history “on behalf of” subscribers. Presumably, such a service would be most useful to employers and prospective employers. AT&T Eyes Blockchain for Social Media Scraping Tool One of the specific categories the patent application describes tracking would also be “career interests.” Thus, we can presume that the service is not merely for tracking potentially negative social media activities.…

French Financial Regulator Blacklists Four Crypto Websites for Unauthorized Offerings

The French stock market watchdog, the Financial Markets Regulator (AMF), has blacklisted four crypto-related websites for unauthorized investment offerings, according to an official statement published Friday, Dec. 14. The AMF announcement notes nine companies that are allegedly operating without necessary regulatory approval, including four crypto-related firms. In the announcement, the stock market regulator warns investors about the increasing number of unregistered investment projects, claiming that “new unauthorized actors appear regularly.” The recent blacklist includes such crypto-related websites as iminage.com, elos-patrimoine.com, infoconso.info, and live-crypto.com.net. Elos-patrimoine claims to offer “risk-free” crypto investments,…

The Crypto Markets May be in a Rout, But the Blockchain Job Market is in Full Swing

Although the crypto markets are caught in a persisting bear market, blockchain jobs are in a raging bull market, with blockchain developer job growth topping this year’s LinkedIn Emerging Jobs Report. The report, which was released by LinkedIn on December 13th, analyzes the fastest growing jobs in the US, and notes that the blockchain industry was the fastest growing job market in 2018. Crypto Crashed, But Blockchain Still Thriving  Although the cryptocurrency markets have faltered throughout 2018 and are currently sitting at their lowest price levels since mid-2017, the blockchain development…

Plunging Bitcoin Prices Create New Woes for Tainted Crypto Exchange Coincheck

Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck is facing hurdles as it looks to recover from the colossal $550 million cryptocurrency theft in January 2018. This time, the culprit is the lack of liquidity and positive sentiment in the digital asset market, reported Nikkei Asia Review on December 12, 2018. Businesses Take a Hit with Falling Prices Bitcoin prices continue to fall since a specular run-up in late-2017, which saw the pioneer cryptocurrency reach $20,000 on some exchanges. Since then, digital currencies have taken a spectacular beating, with the most prominent currencies seeing…

Cameroon Separatists Create Cryptocurrency Called AmbaCoin

A separatist government in Cameroon’s semi-autonomous English-speaking southern region of Ambazonia has announced the launch of a new sovereign cryptocurrency called AmbaCoin (AMBA). Operating on the ERC-20 standard, AmbaCoin is being touted as the official currency of the “Federal Republic of Ambazonia,” the currently unrecognised country that separatists are pushing to actualise. QZ Africa reports that more than 20,000 AMBA tokens have been bought out of a total supply of 100,000,000 available in the pre-ICO sale. The actual ICO is scheduled to begin on December 24, with 1 AMBA selling…

Bitcoin to Be Worth ‘Great Deal More’ in Three Years, Circle Co-Founder Says

Jeremy Allaire, co-founder of crypto finance company Circle, told CNBC in an interview Friday, Dec. 14, that Bitcoin (BTC) will be worth “a great deal more” than it is now. When asked about the Bitcoin price in three years, Allaire told Squawk Box host Andrew Ross Sorkin that he does not make “significant price predictions,” while adding, “I think it is certainly going to be worth a great deal more that it is today.” Allaire also stated that while Bitcoin is attractive as a non-state store of value, a slew of…

Existing Financial Law Should Be Adjusted to Blockchain Industry

The Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat) has said that existing financial law in the country suits the blockchain industry, but needs specific adjustments. The government suggested several amendments in an official statement by the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) published on Friday, Dec. 14. In a meeting on Dec. 7, the Bundesrat adopted a report on the legal framework for blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) in the financial sector. The report analyzes relevant framework provisions, outlines the need for measures and proposes concrete steps for developing the necessary legal conditions…

Amid Ethereum Classic Schism, ‘Community Notice’ Issued

Amid Ethereum Classic Schism, ‘Community Notice’ Issued December 14, 2018 by William Peaster The Ethereum Classic community is currently in the throes of a contentious schism. Some ETC stakeholders have sounded the alarm on what they’re calling an attempted community takeover by Digital Finance Group (DFG), backers of ETC Labs. Now, a notice has been issued warning enterprises in the space to steer clear of DFG’s software going forward, but ETC Labs has pushed back. What comes next remains to be seen.  Also see: Boerse Stuttgart, Europe’s 10th Largest Stock Exchange,…

European Parliament Calls for Increased Blockchain Adoption in Trade

The European Parliament has called for measures to increase the adoption of blockchain technology in trade and administration with a provisional resolution published on Dec. 13. The resolution, dubbed “Blockchain: a forward-looking trade policy,” generally considers blockchain “as a private, permissioned distributed ledger technology (DLT)” but also admits that “various case studies and industries will derive different utility from a mixture of private/public, permissioned/permissionless blockchains.” The resolution notes that Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) in the EU are underutilized — only 67 percent of EU exporters and 90 percent of EU…

Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Stellar, EOS, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Bitcoin SV, TRON, Cardano: Price Analysis, Dec. 14

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision. Market data is provided by the HitBTC exchange. A lot of crypto investors have lost a staggering amount of money this year. The total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies is threatening to break down of the $100 billion mark. Unlike the traditional assets, there is no set standard to arrive at a…