Day: February 22, 2019

CasperLabs Is Building a PoS Blockchain With Help from Ethereum’s Vlad Zamfir

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A new startup called CasperLabs has launched with the aim of building a new blockchain based on a version of proof-of-stake (PoS), the experimental consensus protocol most associated with ethereum. Ethereum Foundation researcher Vlad Zamfir will serve as lead consensus protocol architect of the company, confirming earlier reports of his association with the startup. Going forward, CasperLabs plans to sponsor much of Zamfir’s research on PoS so as to deploy a “fully decentralized, sharded and scalable next-generation blockchain.” Zamfir further told CoinDesk he would be tasked with “producing protocol specifications”…

Parity Developer Quits Ethereum Projects Amid Outrage Sparked by Recent Tweet

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Afri Schoeden, release manager at blockchain infrastructure firm Parity Technologies, has quit all Ethereum projects after a controversial tweet that sparked outrage on social media. Schoeden spoke to blockchain media BreakerMag on Thursday, Feb. 21. In his tweet, Schoeden reportedly criticized Serenity, also known as “Ethereum 2.0” — a final upgrade for the Ethereum network that brings its mainnet over to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus algorithm. The tweet, which has since been deleted, reportedly read: “Polkadot delivers what Serenity ought to be…” Polkadot is Parity’s upcoming protocol aimed at linking…

JPM Coin’s Emergence Poses a Threat to Ripple (XRP), but Is far from Killing Bitcoin – BTCMANAGER

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JP Morgan, one of the worlds largest banks, made a surprising move to get into the digital currency space by creating JPM coin, which would be used to settle transactions between clients of its wholesale payments business instantly. The news brought a shock to the crypto space due to the bank’s strong stance against Bitcoin in the past. In September 2017, CEO Jamie Dimon once referred to Bitcoin as a “fraud that will eventually blow up.” Then only four months later, he changed his opinion and regretted calling Bitcoin a fraud,…

Stanford Researchers Develop Privacy Mechanism for Ethereum Smart Contract

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Researchers from the Stanford University and Visa Research have developed a privacy mechanism for Ethereum (ETH) smart contracts. A paper describing the mechanism was published on Stanford University’s Applied Cryptography Group website on Feb. 20. According to the paper, the researchers created “a fully-decentralized, confidential payment mechanism” called “Zether” that is consistent with both Ethereum and other smart contract platforms. The developers reportedly developed a new smart contract —  that can be executed either individually or by other smart contracts — that maintains the account balances encrypted and enables the…

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, EOS, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Stellar, Tron, Binance Coin, Cardano: Price Analysis, Feb. 22

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The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision. Market data is provided by the HitBTC exchange. The fundamentals of the crypto space have been improving over the past year. These developments are not going unnoticed by the institutional players. Though they have not committed huge sums of money, they have started testing the waters. Crypto hedge fund Pantera Capital, which…

Fortnite Mastermind Tim Sweeney Defends EOS Blockchain Bloat

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Gaming mogul Tim Sweeney, best known these days for founding the company behind Fortnite, made the unusual decision to defend the size of the EOS blockchain in a tweet today. What’s wrong with 4TB for a global transaction ledger? That fits on a $200 hard drive. — Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) February 22, 2019 Crypto Blockchain Size: How Big Is Too Big? EOS Weekly created a video expressing concern over the current size of the EOS blockchain. Sweeney wondered what the big problem with a 4TB blockchain is. How did the…

Two Companies Used Crypto to Pay Taxes in Ohio, Says State Treasurer

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Two businesses in the United States state of Ohio have paid taxes with cryptocurrencies, state Treasurer Robert Sprague said in a forum on Feb. 19. Ohio became the first state to allow businesses to pay taxes with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) in November 2018. During a forum covering policy issues facing the state, Sprague said that the treasury has only collected two receipts for tax payments using cryptocurrencies. He did not specify the specific amount of tax payments received through cryptocurrency. With that, Sprague emphasized that the Ohio state treasury…

After $50, Litecoin (LTC) Can Easily Double and Soar to $110

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Litecoin price up 18.3 percent in the last week CoinBase Wallet now supports Litecoin (LTC) Transactional volumes up With CoinBase wallet, traders and investors can take advantage of this secure and Segwit supporting platform to store their stash including Litecoin (LTC). Meanwhile, it is after prices cross the $50 mark that risk-averse traders can ramp up with first targets at $70 and $110. Litecoin Price Analysis Fundamentals Competition for dominance just got stiffer: CoinBase wallet, a hot wallet, that describes itself as the “world’s leading user-custodied crypto wallet” now supports…

JPMorgan Estimates “Fair Value” of Bitcoin at $2,400; Crypto Miners React – BTCMANAGER

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According to a report published by South China Morning Post on February 21, 2019, the U.S investment bank JPMorgan Chase estimates the “fair value” of bitcoin (BTC) at $2,400. Cryptocurrency Miners Not Impressed JPMorgan, in their January report titled Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies 2019: Adoption, Performance and Challenges, estimates the intrinsic value or “fair value” of bitcoin at $2400. This didn’t bode too well with cryptocurrency miners the world over who argue that the corporate giant is wrong in its estimate of Chinese bitcoin miners’ production cost. (Source: South China Morning…

University of California Researchers Propose Blockchain System for Clinical Data

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Academics from the University of California, San Francisco, have proposed a method of sharing medical data using a blockchain-based system. An article outlining their research published by international research journal Nature on Feb. 22. The researchers reportedly developed a blockchain-powered system that aims to improve the traceability and immutability of collected clinical data, and make it more trustworthy. In addition, the system aims to advance methods for reporting adverse events during research and improve medical record management. During the trial, the developers reportedly launched a web-based portal accessible to all…