Day: April 26, 2019

Samoa Investigates Church After OneCoin Defied Legal Ban to Sell Products to Investors

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A church in the Pacific nation of Samoa is at the center of scrutiny after ministers invited notorious cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme OneCoin to preach to its congregation, New Zealand-based media network Radio NZ reported on April 26. OneCoin, which is now all but defunct after the indictment of both its masterminds, raised hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide by luring investors with the promise of huge returns. Samoa’s central bank banned any activities involving the scheme in 2018, but representatives nonetheless succeeded in approaching the Samoa Worship Centre and pitched…

Blockchain Platform for Content Creators and Fans Sets Out Plan for Gaining Global Reach

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A blockchain-powered platform that allows content creators to reach its fans directly says it is broadening the choice of music, illustrations and webtoons it has on offer — improving both quality and quantity ahead of its launch. The debut of ContentsDeal has suffered from delays, but the company says its team is determined to get its offering online as soon as possible. Already, the platform says it has attracted an impressive ensemble of artists from South Korea and around the world — giving creatives a way of broadcasting their content…

Hamas’ Militant Wing Using Multiple BTC Wallet Addresses to Elude Authorities

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The militant arm of Hamas — the de facto ruling authority of the Gaza Strip in Palestine — is reportedly using increasingly complex measures to frustrate authorities’ attempts to track the flow of its cryptocurrency financing. The claim has been made by researchers from blockchain intelligence firm Elliptic, as reported by Reuters on April 26. As Cointelegraph previously reported this January, a spokesman for the group’s military wing had called upon supporters to make donations to the organization in bitcoin (BTC) as a strategy to combat financial isolation. Hamas’ financial…

Tether Hits Back at Claims Its Reserves Were Used to Cover $850 Million Loss at Bitfinex

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Stablecoin operator Tether has responded to allegations that its funds were used to cover an $850 million loss at the crypto exchange Bitfinex — using a statement on April 26 to claim court filings by the New York Attorney General’s office are “riddled with false assertions.” The state’s top prosecutor, Letitia James, has accused Tether, Bitfinex and associated entities of violating New York law through activities that may have defrauded crypto investors in the state. According to the court filings, the exchange took hundreds of millions of dollars from Tether’s reserves to conceal losses…

Saudi British Bank Launches Ripple-Powered Instant Cross-Border Transfer Service

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Saudi British Bank (SABB) has launched an instant cross-border transfer service powered by Ripple, according to a news release on April 25. The bank said the technology, unveiled at the Financial Sector Conference in Riyadh on April 24 and 25, formed part of its “strategic plan towards digital transformation and enriching customer experience.” According to SABB, it was one of the first banks in Saudi Arabia to join Ripple’s network in January 2018. The technology was then successfully activated through a pilot transaction in December 2018 using Indian rupees. Majed…

CEO of Japanese Finance Giant SBI Appointed as Ripple Labs Executive

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Disclaimer. This article has been updated to include comments from Yoshitaka Kitao during the financial results conference call. Yoshitaka Kitao, CEO and representative director of Japanese financial services giant SBI Holdings, has been appointed as an executive of Ripple Labs Inc., Cointelegraph Japan reports on April 26. As previously reported, SBI Holdings is an active partner of Ripple via their joint venture, “SBI Ripple Asia,” which was established to promote the use of XRP in Asian financial markets back in 2016. SBI’s official announcement states that Kitao’s appointment to his new…

Ohio State Legislature Introduces Bill to Allow Gov’t to Implement Blockchain Solutions

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A new bill introduced on April 24 in the American state of Ohio’s House of Representatives would, if passed, allow the state government and other government entities to implement blockchain solutions in the exercise of their authority. According to the official website of the Ohio state legislature, the bill, titled House Bill 220, has been sponsored by the Republican Party’s State Representative Rick Carfagna, who represents Ohio’s 68th District in the House. As Northeast Ohio media agency Cleveland.com reported on April 25, the bill would prospectively legalize government blockchain applications…

Bitcoin and Ether Market Update: April 26, 2019

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The total crypto market cap lost $13 billion of its value since April 24 and now stands at $171.5. The top ten currencies are all in red for the 24-hour period with Cardano (ADA) and Stellar (XLM) being the worst performers with four percent of losses each. At the time of writing, bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $5,412 on the Bitfinex daily chart, while ether (ETH) stands at $159 and Ripple’s XRP dropped further to $0.299.  BTC/USD Bitcoin peaked at $5,688 during the trading session on April 24 reaching its…

Blockchain ‘Re-orgs’ – Are They Good or Bad for Bitcoin Security?

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Blockchain ‘Re-orgs’ – Are They Good or Bad for Bitcoin Security? April 26, 2019 by Jon Southurst The topic of blockchain “re-orgs” rose to prominence again this week for Bitcoin SV. Are they a particular problem for networks with larger transaction block sizes, as some in Bitcoin have suggested? Or a natural occurence that distributed networks can fix easily? Bitsonline looked at arguments on the issue and spoke to nChain lead developer Steve Shadders about how re-orgs should be handled… and perceived. Also read: Starting a Career in Traditional Finance ‘Is a…

Blockchain ‘Re-orgs’ – Are They Good or Bad for Bitcoin Security?

boss

Blockchain ‘Re-orgs’ – Are They Good or Bad for Bitcoin Security? April 26, 2019 by Jon Southurst The topic of blockchain “re-orgs” rose to prominence again this week for Bitcoin SV. Are they a particular problem for networks with larger transaction block sizes, as some in Bitcoin have suggested? Or a natural occurence that distributed networks can fix easily? Bitsonline looked at arguments on the issue and spoke to nChain lead developer Steve Shadders about how re-orgs should be handled… and perceived. Also read: Starting a Career in Traditional Finance ‘Is a…