Day: February 5, 2019

Head of Russia’s Second Largest Bank Compares Crypto Mining to Counterfeiting

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Andrey Kostin — the head of VTB, Russia’s second-largest bank — has compared cryptocurrency mining with counterfeiting, major Russian news agency TASS reports Monday, Feb. 4. While speaking to students who participated in an educational contest organized by major Russian tech corporation Yandex, Kostin said: “I am not a big fan of the crypto ruble. To me, this is a kind of counterfeiting. A person who is mining [cryptocurrencies] is similar to someone who is printing money. During the initial euphoria, everyone thought that everything can be paid in crypto…

Four Iranian Banks Support Gold-Backed Cryptocurrency

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Four banks in the Islamic Republic of Iran have developed a gold-backed cryptocurrency called PayMon, financial news website Financial Tribune reported on Jan. 30. According to the article, the crypto asset has been developed in cooperation with the Parsian Bank, the Bank Pasargad, Bank Melli Iran and Bank Mellat. Iran Fara Bourse, an over-the-counter (OTC) cryptocurrency exchange, will reportedly list the new cryptocurrency. The director of Kuknos, the blockchain company taking care of the technical aspects, said that the new crypto asset is a way to tokenize assets and excess…

Crypto Investor Urges Consumers to Accumulate Bitcoin Before Halving, Rally Expected?

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Bitcoin (BTC) and other crypto assets may be nearing their one-year lows, but copious amounts of optimism still exist in the minds of believers the world over. Case in point, while many analysts are unfaltering in their belief that lower lows are inbound, with even one short-term sardonic commentator calling for a $1,700 BTC, hope has persisted. Almost as if they’re grasping for a light at the end of a tunnel, diehards’ hearts have remained ablaze, as they await key industry events that could push this market higher, all while marshaling…

Where is the ‘Missing’ $150 Million? Crypto Exchange QuadrigaCX’s Fiasco Gets Wierder with New Research

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According to a cryptocurrency researcher with an online alias “ProofofResearch,” QuadrigaCX may not have a Bitcoin cold wallet nor $150 million in crypto. In a research paper, Zerononcense editor ProofofResearch stated that based on the evaluation of the company’s 31 Bitcoin addresses, no evidence to prove the existence of a cold wallet for QuadrigaCX was found. No Bitcoin and Ethereum Cold Wallets On February 4, as CCN reported, MyCrypto CEO Taylor Monahan discovered that QuarigaCX does not have an Ethereum cold wallet which stored user funds. Monahan evaluated three main…

Where is the ‘Missing’ $150 Million? Crypto Exchange QuadrigaCX’s Fiasco Gets Wierder with New Research

boss

According to a cryptocurrency researcher with an online alias “ProofofResearch,” QuadrigaCX may not have a Bitcoin cold wallet nor $150 million in crypto. In a research paper, Zerononcense editor ProofofResearch stated that based on the evaluation of the company’s 31 Bitcoin addresses, no evidence to prove the existence of a cold wallet for QuadrigaCX was found. No Bitcoin and Ethereum Cold Wallets On February 4, as CCN reported, MyCrypto CEO Taylor Monahan discovered that QuarigaCX does not have an Ethereum cold wallet which stored user funds. Monahan evaluated three main…

United States Crypto Platform Huobi.com Launches Fiat-Crypto Trading

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Huobi.com, the United States-based partner of Singapore-headquartered crypto exchange Huobi, is launching fiat-crypto trading services, with initial support for three USD-crypto trading pairs. The development was revealed in a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Feb. 5. Huobi.com is operated by HBUS, which launched as a strategic partner of Huobi Group — operator of the flagship Huobi Global crypto exchange — via a newly created San Francisco-based company “HBUS Holdco, Inc.” last June. Following a rebranding campaign and adoption of the Huobi brand name, HBUS.com migrated to Huobi.com this January.…

Russia to Implement Blockchain Tech in University Exam for Education Quality Control

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The Russian Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Education and Science, (Rosobrnadzor) will implement blockchain technology in the country’s main graduation examination, major Russian news agency TASS reports Feb. 5. Starting this year, Rosobrnadzor intends to implement blockchain technology in the Unified State Exam (USE), which is the only form of graduation examinations in schools and the main form of preliminary examinations in universities in Russia. The announcement was made by the head of the Federal Service, Sergey Kravtsov. He stated: “We also talked about the use of…

US Crypto Exchange Coinbase Launches Paypal Withdrawals Support for EU Users

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Major United States crypto exchange and wallet provider Coinbase is launching support for European Union residents to make fiat currency withdrawals to online payment system PayPal. The development was announced in an official blog post published on Feb. 5. As reported, Coinbase had first rolled out PayPal withdrawal support for U.S. users last month. The European extension of the service will reportedly apply to both E.U. residents and those living in European Free Trade Association countries — Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Coinbase had previously integrated support for PayPal back…

Isle of Man Gov’t Executive Agency Forms Global Blockchain Office, Regulatory Sandbox

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An advisory body for the self-governing British dependency Isle of Man (IoM) has launched a hub to promote the development of blockchain, fintech news agency FStech reports on Feb. 5. As a key decision maker for the economic growth of the IoM, Digital Isle of Man initiated the formation of the Blockchain Office, a global blockchain hub to provide a favorable environment for the development of blockchain projects. Along with founding the Blockchain Office, the government executive agency has also launched an Isle of Man Sandbox in order to guide…

Ex-Tether Exec Joins Venture Launching Stablecoin Clearinghouse

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Phil Potter, previously an executive at Bitfinex and Tether, and crypto finance firm XBTO are launching what they describe as a clearinghouse for stablecoins. Still in development, the platform – called Stablehouse,io – is aimed to addresses patchy liquidity, stability and accessibility that currently “prevent the stablecoin market from reaching critical mass,” according to an announcement. Stablehouse will act like a traditional central clearing counterparty, or CCP, allowing the exchange of stablecoins at “a liquid market price and for a fixed minimal fee.” The platform will launch with support for transactions between USDT, GUSD,…