Day: January 2, 2019

Saudi Arabia Completes IBM TradeLens Pilot for Cross-Border Blockchain Trade

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Customs authorities in Saudi Arabia have concluded a pilot scheme linking its cross-border trade platform FASAH with IBM and Maersk’s TradeLens blockchain platform. A press release from Dec. 26 reported the pilot’s conclusion. TradeLens, which IBM and Maersk created in August last year, is intended to be a basis for digital supply chains and launched with almost 100 entities willing to take part in the pilot. For Saudi Arabia, the move forms part of authorities’ desire to expand the country’s economy via the Vision 2030 initiative. “The pilot comes in…

South African Government Establishes Crypto Assets Regulatory Working Group

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A crypto assets regulatory working group dedicated to crypto and blockchain has been established by the South African (SA) government. English-language local news outlet BusinessLive reported on the development on Jan. 2. Tito Mboweni — the South African finance minister — declared: “It is anticipated that, following broad industry comment and participation, the crypto assets regulatory working group will be ready to release a final research paper on the subject during the course of 2019.” The finance minister further noted that the SA Revenue Service is working to include cryptocurrencies…

Foreign Investors Interested in Crimean Blockchain Cluster, Official Claims

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Foreign investors are interested in the Crimean blockchain cluster, local official Georgy Muradov told Russian major news agency RIA Novosti on Jan. 2. Muradov, who serves as the permanent representative of the Republic of Crimea under the president of the Russian Federation, revealed that the project is mainly of interest to Chinese investors, as the country houses many crypto startups. The authorities of the heavily sanctioned peninsula have plans to create a crypto investment fund and cryptocurrency exchange, as soon as relevant crypto regulation is provided by the Russian government,…

E-commerce Giant DMM Shutters Crypto Mining Business Due to Declining Profitability

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Japanese e-commerce conglomerate DMM.com Ltd. will shut down its crypto mining business, citing deteriorating profitability as the main cause. Local business magazine Toyo Keizai reported the shutdown on Dec. 30. The decision was reportedly taken in September 2018, and initial steps to dismantle mining operations — including selling the company’s mining hardware — will reportedly extend over the first half of 2019. DMM.com, which has over 27 million clients for its e-commerce business, first announced its entry into the crypto mining business in September 2017, with a focus on mining…

Bitcoin Price Suffers Worst Monthly Losing Streak For 7 Years

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Bitcoin (BTC) chalked up its longest monthly losing streak in seven years in December. The leading cryptocurrency by market value closed at $3,689 on Dec. 31, representing a 13 percent drop from the monthly opening price of $4,241. That was the fifth straight monthly loss – its worst period since November 2011 – according to CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index (BPI). Back then, BTC was trading below $20 and had depreciated by 81 percent in five months to November 2011. Notably, the tide had turned in favor of the bulls in the…

Bitcoin Price Suffers Worst Monthly Losing Streak in 7 Years

boss

Bitcoin (BTC) chalked up its longest monthly losing streak in seven years in December. The leading cryptocurrency by market value closed at $3,689 on Dec. 31, representing a 13 percent drop from the monthly opening price of $4,241. That was the fifth straight monthly loss – its worst period since November 2011 – according to CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index (BPI). Back then, BTC was trading below $20 and had depreciated by 81 percent in five months to November 2011. Notably, the tide had turned in favor of the bulls in the…

HitBTC Account Freezes in Spotlight as Trace Mayer, John McAfee Claim Foul Play

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Cryptocurrency exchange HitBTC has yet to respond to accusations it deliberately froze account withdrawals on Jan. 1, days prior to entrepreneur Trace Mayer’s Proof of Keys event. In a series of tweets, Mayer joined names such as crypto advocate John McAfee in voicing concern and even suspicion about HitBTC after users reported being unable to withdraw their funds. On both Twitter and Reddit, users acknowledged that the practice of freezing accounts had occurred often in the past, and that the timing two days before Proof of Keys was not necessarily…

India Still Cautious Over Crypto, RBI Shelves Plans For Own Cryptocurrency

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The situation in India regarding cryptocurrency is no clearer as we enter the new year. The government and central bank are clearly still very cautious towards the industry and are unlikely to make things easier in the near future. No Specific Timeline The Indian government has reportedly issued an update on its progress, or lack of, towards cryptocurrency regulation. Ministers are clearly in no hurry to finalize a timeline for a movement towards clearer regulation and acceptance of digital currencies. According to Quartz the minister of state for finance told…

Down More than 70% in 2018, Bitcoin Closes It’s Worst Year on Record

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Exhale. The nightmare of the 2018 cryptocurrency market is finally over. Of course, more downside is always possible, if not likely, but at least the year in which bitcoin prices dropped more than 80 percent and the broarder market lost nearly $700 billion of total capitalization is over. By now, you’re probably well aware the world’s premier cryptocurrency, bitcoin (BTC), catapulted more than 2,500 percent from its 2017 low to reach a new high of almost $20,000 by December of that year. Unfortunately for those at the time who were…

Stellar and Ripple Co-Founder Jed McCaleb: 90% of Crypto Projects Are Garbage

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Photo: Pixabay Blockchain pioneer Jed McCaleb didn’t really choose words when asked about the direction of the cryptocurrency market. In an interview with Yahoo! Finance, McCaleb called Tron and 90% of other blockchain projects “just garbage.” McCaleb, the co-founder of Stellar, Ripple and the now defunct Mt Gox, believes the year-long pullback in cryptocurrency prices is ultimately a good thing. Referencing to the ICO boom of 2017 McCaleb said: “One of the nice things that comes with the market calming down—I still say it’s not a bear market—it means there’s…