Day: January 16, 2019

BitMEX Denies Report of US, Québecois Account Closures and Correlated Volume Decline

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Major crypto derivatives trading platform BitMEX says there are major inaccuracies in a recent media report that alleged the exchange was closing United States and Québec residents’ accounts due to a regulatory crackdown. Cointelegraph Japan reported the news on Jan. 16, following comments from a BitMEX representative. In detailed comments to CT Japan, BitMEX claimed there were as many as six major mistakes in the report, which was published on Jan. 15 by Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper South China Morning Post (SCMP). SCMP had reported that BitMEX was moving to…

Crypto-Funded Brave Browser is about to Start Paying Users to View Ads

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Source: Shutterstock Brave Browser is an ICO-funded Chrome fork that markets on its respect for privacy. By default, Brave blocks advertising on the web. Sites that are visited a lot automatically have an account created for them in Basic Attention Tokens, and once their balance reaches a certain threshold, they can cash these tokens out. Today, Brave announced that they are going to introduce their own advertising platform which pays themselves and users. The tokens are worth about 12 cents each at the time of writing. What’s Old Is New…

Canada Digital ID System Could Use Blockchain to Secure Data, Says Banking Executive

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A Canadian banking group supports the idea of using blockchain technology as part of a digital ID system for residents, national news agency The Canadian Press reported via various local media outlets on Jan. 15. Speaking during a presentation at the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto, chief executive of the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) Neil Parmenter said it was necessary for untamperable solutions to form the basis of ID procedures relating to the banking and finance sectors going forward. The comments come as Canada eyes the opportunities afforded by…

HSBC Completed $250 Billion in Blockchain-Processed Transactions in 2018

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HSBC. Image Shutterstock. According to a press release quoted by the Financial Times on Monday, HSBC, one of the largest banking institutions in the world by total assets, reported $250 billion in settled transactions in 2018, using the blockchain technology. The press release revealed that during the last calendar year, HSBC settled over 3 million blockchain-based foreign exchange transactions. Performed through its blockchain platform, “FX Everywhere,” the bank says it has processed 150,000 payments since the platform launched in February 2018. HSBC completed its first blockchain trade finance transaction in May…

More Oil Giants to Join Blockchain-Based Platform Vakt for Energy Commodity Trading

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Chevron, one of largest American multinational energy corporations, and two other major energy companies have joined Vakt, a United Kingdom-based blockchain platform for energy commodity trading. Reuters reported on the development on Jan. 16. Along with Chevron, Total, a leading French multinational integrated oil and gas company, and major Indian refiner Reliance Industries have become members of the Vakt platform. The article stresses that the agreement is a step towards quicker and safer logistical operations. The Vakt platform, backed by JPMorgan’s Quorum blockchain technology, aims to become a digital transaction…

Bitfury Enters Music Industry With Blockchain-Based Open Source Platform Launch

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Blockchain and Bitcoin mining manufacturer Bitfury announced the launch of a dedicated venture to open source the music industry in a blog post on Jan. 16. The spin-off, dubbed Bitfury Surround, aims to tackle the complex and often unfairly proportioned flows of revenue between artists, fans and middlemen using blockchain technology. The post explains, “The Surround platform will enable the entire music entertainment industry to streamline operations through secure transfer of copyright assets, streamlined connectivity as well as better monitoring and management systems. Surround marks Bitfury’s ongoing expansion into various…

Binance Targets EU, UK Traders With New Fiat-to-Crypto Exchange

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Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by adjusted trading volume, has launched a new fiat-to-crypto exchange on the island of Jersey, a British self-governing dependency. The firm announced Wednesday that, through the new exchange, users are able to trade in pairs for bitcoin and ethereum against the British pound and the euro in Europe and the U.K. “Binance selected Jersey for its highly developed digital infrastructure, robust regulatory framework, and world-class financial services sector,” the exchange’s chief financial officer, Wei Zhou, told CoinDesk. He further clarified that Binance Jersey is…

Crypto Exchange Binance Enters European Markets, Launches Binance Jersey

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Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance is expanding to European markets with the launch of a new platform for fiat-to-cryptocurrency trading, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Jan. 16. According to the release, Binance is launching a new trading platform, dubbed Binance Jersey, designed for fiat-to-crypto trading of the euro (EUR) and British pound (GBP) with Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) within Europe and the United Kingdom. Trading on Binance Jersey — including such pairs as BTC/GBP, ETH/GBP, BTC/EUR and ETH/EUR — will become available for the exchange’s users…

Bitcoin ( BTC/USD) and Ether (ETH/USD) Market Update: Jan 16

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Global crypto market cap is up with $4 billion since Monday and now stands at $121 as Top 10 currencies managed to avoid further loses.  BTC/USD Bitcoin briefly dropped below $3,600 on January 13, but successfully rebounded on the next day, January 14 gaining 4.4% in value. The BTC/USD pair erased all losses from the previous three days and closed the session at $3,750. Yet another hack in crypto world. The New Zealand-based exchange Cryptopia announced that on January 14 it “suffered a security breach which resulted in significant losses.”…

Record US Government Shutdown Prolongs Crypto Winter

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If things were not bad enough in crypto land the US government is adding to its woes. The longest shutdown in history is taking its toll on the economy, innovation and the crypto industry. The Waiting Game Continues Regulators are no friends of those in the blockchain and crypto industries but they have come to accept that some form of regulation is necessary for the nascent ecosystem to flourish. As observed by the MIT Technology Review this prolonged shutdown is delaying vital decisions that could make a huge difference to…