Month: January 2019

Cryptocurrency Lending Firm Genesis Capital Processed Over $1.1 Billion in 2018

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Cryptocurrency lending company Genesis Capital processed $1.114 million in borrows and lends last year, according to the recently released Digital Asset Lending Snapshot for Q4 2018. At the end of Q3 2018, the company published its first Digital Asset Lending Snapshot, which reported that Genesis Capital only processed $553 million at the time counting from the start of its activity in March 2018. Thus, the company concludes that “Q4 loan originations increased more than 100% in the final three months of 2018 compared to the prior six-month period.” The company…

Crypto Firms’ Route to Remittances at Scale Will Be Complex but Successful

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Bill Barhydt, CEO of crypto wallet provider and payment startup Abra, believes that consumer cross-border payments and remittance services at scale continue to be a struggle for many crypto firms. Barhydt made his remarks during an interview with blockchain news source Breaker Mag on Jan. 30. As Barhydt outlined, Abra — which counts around 500,000 users in over 100 countries, and supports 30 crypto assets and 50 fiat currencies — was founded with the aspiration to create a crypto-based global bank, which would enable worldwide, frictionless money transfers and credit…

XRP Benefiting From SWIFT–Corda Trial

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Ripple price surge 10 percent SWIFT GPI Link proof of concept with R3’s Corda Transactional volumes picking up, spikes above averages SBI Holdings may be behind an audacious plan of integrating SWIFT GPI with RippleNet via R3’s Corda Settler. The latter use XRP, and if that is the case, our previous XRP/USD trade assertions will be valid. With a 10 percent spike, it is likely that XRP could retest 80 cents. Ripple Price Analysis Fundamentals Good news for Ripple and XRP. SWIFT, the global payment messenger platform, is in a…

Wikimedia Foundation Partners With Payments Provider BitPay to Accept BTC, BCH Donations

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United States crypto payment processor BitPay and the non-profit and charitable organization that operates Wikipedia, the Wikimedia Foundation, have partnered to accept crypto donations, according to the official press release published on Jan. 29. The Wikimedia Foundation had already accepted Bitcoin (BTC), but the aim of the new partnership with BitPay is to be able to accept donations in Bitcoin Cash (BCH), the press release states. BitPay’s chief commercial officer, Sonny Singh, commented on the new partnership: “Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash are one of the cheapest payment options available so…

Fidelity to Reportedly Launch Its Crypto Custody Business in March

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Fidelity Investments isn’t wasting much time in following through on its latest cryptocurrency initiative. The financial services giant will reportedly launch Fidelity Digital Asset Services in March. The news comes less than four months after Fidelity first announced the creation of the new company, which will provide custody and trading services for cryptocurrencies to institutional investors, including hedge funds and market intermediaries. The 72-year-old firm’s interest in the space has been seen as evidence of wider acceptance of cryptocurrency as an investment class.  A Fidelity spokesperson wouldn’t confirm or deny…

Regulator Warns of Online Scam Claiming Gov’t Adoption of Crypto

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The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has warned the public against an alleged scam claiming that a cryptocurrency is officially adopted by the government, according to an official statement on Jan. 29. MAS, which is both Singapore’s central bank and the country’s financial regulator, writes that the fraudulent scheme is being spread through websites that offer crypto investment using false data attributed to the government. The fraudulent websites reportedly claim that Singapore is adopting a cryptocurrency as its official coin, and ask users to provide personal and financial data to…

Gaza’s Ruling Group Hamas Seeks Funding in Bitcoin to Combat Financial Isolation

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The militant arm of Hamas — the de facto ruling authority of the Gaza Strip in Palestine — has appealed to its supporters to send it funds using Bitcoin (BTC). The appeal was made via the official Telegram channel of Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas’ Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, on Jan. 29. Hamas — which comprises social service arm “Dawah” and militant faction “Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades,” is deemed to be a terrorist organization, in whole or in part, by several countries and international organizations — including the United…

How Fidelity Bitcoin Custody Launch in Q1 Crucially Shows Institutional Demand Still Exists

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On January 30, Bloomberg reported that Fidelity, the world’s fourth-largest asset manager, is set to launch its Bitcoin custody service by the end of the first quarter of 2019. Three sources who asked to remain anonymous reportedly said that the plans are still private but the firm plans to introduce Bitcoin storage first, followed by Ethereum (ETH) custody. Why Fidelity Pushing Forward With Bitcoin Custody is Meaningful As one of the biggest mutual fund operators in the U.S., Fidelity works with more than 13,000 financial institutions. It established its intent…

What Made Ripple’s XRP Gain 9% Against US Dollar in Just Three Hours?

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Ripple on Wednesday posted 9% gains soon after Swift announced a partnership with R3, a blockchain consortium. Ripple surged 9% on Swift announcement | Source: Binance At 0800 UTC, the XRP/USD was trading at 0.2934 on Binance. As the market sentiment kicked in, the pair posted three consecutive hourly sessions in green, taking the value to as high as 0.3292. By 1300 UTC, Ripple had risen to 12.2%. In comparison, Bitcoin surged at a modest 1.29%, and Ethereum gained 2.65% against the US Dollar. Swift Brings the Bulls Brussel-based global…

Decred Realized Disputes in Blockchain Projects Were Inevitable: Joshua Buirski

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Decred Realized Disputes in Blockchain Projects Were Inevitable: Joshua Buirski January 30, 2019 by Jon Southurst It’s inevitable that disputes will arise over a cryptocurrency project’s direction, says Decred’s APAC outreach director Joshua Buirski. In this interview with Bitsonline‘s George Levy, he describes how Decred learned from the early Bitcoin development days and why it made a built-in governance mechanism a fundamental part of its code. Also see: Planet Digital Partners Brings Gaming Industry Heavyweights Together Subscribe to the Bitsonline YouTube channel for great videos featuring industry insiders & experts Buirski: All Stakeholders…