China Introduces New Anti-Anonymity Regulations for Blockchain-Related Companies

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has introduced new regulations for blockchain firms that are operating in the country. The announcement was published on the regulator’s website on Thursday, Jan. 10. According to the CAC, the guidelines, which will come into force on Feb. 15, were developed to contribute to the healthy development of the industry. The document describes the firms that are subject to regulations as websites or mobile apps that provide information and technical support to the public using blockchain technologies. As soon as the regulations come into…

Crypto Exchange Seed CX Launches On-Chain Wallet Solution for Institutional Investors

Crypto exchange Seed CX — a Chicago-based licensed platform targeting institutional clients — has launched a digital asset wallet solution with on-chain settlement, according to a press release published Jan. 10.   Seed CX has reportedly developed the new wallet solution together with its settlement subsidiary, Zero Hash — a crypto and fiat currency custodian providing on-chain settlement services. Zero Hash reportedly has FinCEN’s regulatory approval to operate as a money transmitter across 25 American states, and is also under review for a prospective BitLicense from the New York State…

Bitcoin (BTC) Safe Haven for Countries with Economical Troubles: Nick Szabo

Being of censorship resistant nature, the cryptocoin could turn as the road of safety for many countries that are currently facing various financial issues and crises or set on negative-status for international trade, believes Nick Szabo – known and respected cryptographer. Mr. Szabo added his thoughts on the current financial industry situation and how cryptocurrencies could fit in at the Uni of Tel Aviv on Jan 8th – Israel BTC Summit. The influence and center stage that Bitcoin and its following coins are appreciating is immense even during a time of crypto-market bleeding. As reported…

Venezuelan WTO Request Accuses US of ‘Discriminatory Measures’ Against Petro Coin

Venezuela has taken issue with United States sanctions, including those levied against transactions in the country’s national digital currency, the Petro (PTR), according to a World Trade Organization (WTO) consultation request, published Jan. 8. The request, dubbed “United States — Measures relating to trade in goods and services,” was originally filed on Dec. 28. In the document, the delegation of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela requests consultations with the U.S. government regarding “certain measures imposed by the United States in relation to trade in goods and services.” In particular, the…

Russian Parliament to Focus on Digital Economy Bills in Next Session, Says Chairman

Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, has said that bills on the digital economy will be a priority during the upcoming session. The parliament’s official website revealed this in a press release published Wednesday, Jan. 9. Speaking at the opening of the parliament’s spring session, Volodin mentioned the digital economy bills that are currently being considered, including the ones on digital financial assets, digital rights and crowdfunding. According to the chairman, the members of the parliament will focus on these bills during the upcoming…

How Conflux Plans to Solve the Scaling Problem

PoW, Meet DAG: How Conflux Plans to Solve the Scaling Problem January 10, 2019 by Paul de Havilland Conflux, set to launch its test phase in February, has proposed a scaling protocol that runs contrary to the growing movement toward Proof of Stake. By interlacing Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) data with Proof of Work, the startup says it can provide transaction speeds of over 6,500 transactions per second. Also read: Ahead of Ethereum Constantinople Update, Community Eyes ProgPoW Subscribe to the Bitsonline YouTube channel for great videos featuring industry insiders & experts The…

New York Economic Dev. Non-Profit NYCEDC Opens Blockchain Center

The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) has announced that it is opening its Blockchain Center in Manhattan, Bloomberg reports today, Jan. 10. The organization told reporters that the center is part of a partnership with international trade organization Global Blockchain Business Council and affiliates of New York-based venture capital fund Future Perfect Ventures. Located in the Flatiron District of Manhattan, the 4,000-square-foot center will reportedly offer blockchain-oriented educational services to the general public, such as programming classes to lectures for software developers. Ana Arino, chief strategy officer at…

‘Crypto Dusting’ Attack Sends Illegally Obtained Bitcoin to Random Cryptocurrency Wallets

Crypto dusting attack, a hack on cryptocurrency wallets is used to distribute laundered money to the wallets of unsuspecting customers, which in turn, affects their reputation and draws the attention of law enforcement, reports DarkReading on January 8, 2019. A New Way of Distributing Laundered Money According to DarkReading, crypto dusting is a new attack which distributes illegally obtained funds from an unknown source to the wallets of innocent cryptocurrency holders. These funds are usually sent to random crypto addresses, and as such, a person has no control over being a…

Crypto Scammers are Taking Advantage of Ethereum Hard Forks

Upcoming forks in Ethereum and Ethereum Classic have given opportunity to scammers. Two alleged “hard fork” versions are trying to steal money from users of both. Ethereum Nowa claims to be forking away from ETH. Ethereum Classic Vision claims to fork away from ETC. These forks are allegedly in response to regularly scheduled network upgrades in both blockchains. Accordingly, the team at Guarda, which offers a web-based solution similar to Coinomi, wrote to CCN to report that both of these forks are scams. The official web wallets both Ethereum Nowa…

Bitwise Files With the US SEC for a Physically Held Bitcoin ETF

Cryptocurrency index fund provider Bitwise Asset Management has applied with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a new Bitcoin (BTC) Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), according to a registration form published today, Jan. 10. According to the form, Bitwise’s proposed ETF will track the Bitwise Bitcoin Total Return Index, the value of which is “calculated based on the prices of bitcoin that the Index Provider derives from bitcoin price transactions occurring on cryptocurrency exchanges.” According to a press release accompanying the newly filed form, the firm’s proposed…