Day: July 10, 2019

Blockchain Firm Near Raises $12M From Coinbase Ventures, Xpring and Others

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American blockchain firm Near has raised over $12 million in its Series A round from a range of high-profile investors, including Coinbase Ventures and Pantera, according to a press release on July 10. Near — a startup that develops a public, proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain focused on usability and scalability — has secured $12.1 million from industry players such as Coinbase Ventures, the investment arm of crypto exchange Coinbase, investment firm Pantera Capital, crypto hedge fund Multicoin, and Ripple’s developer ecosystem project Xpring, among others. Unlike an initial coin offering-like approach,…

Why Bitcoin Miners Are Fleeing China for Iran

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Mounting cryptocurrency regulations have some Chinese bitcoin miners fleeing the world’s second-largest economy. Their surprise destination? Iran. According to the Managing Director of the Iran Blockchain Association, Mohammed Sharqi, talks have already started between interested parties. Confirming this in a statement to PressTV, Sharqi said: “The Chinese have made requests through official channels for cryptocurrency mining in free zones.” Iran Flip-Flops on Crypto Mining Iran just can’t decide whether bitcoin is legal. | Source: Shutterstock Iran has a complicated relationship with cryptocurrency. While bitcoin mining is technically recognized as an…

Max’s Corner: Seeing through the “Blockchain not Bitcoin” Meme

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Photo: Shutterstock Boomers hate Bitcoin. At least they did at the beginning. But who could blame them? In the early stages of its development, bitcoin was nothing more than a joke, a fake currency for people who wanted to buy drugs on the deep web. To the banks it was anathema, the fruit of a fever dream shared by ignorant young people, criminals and dangerous anarchists. It was a flash in the pan; something to be ignored while it lasted. However, as Kyle Torpey points out in his fascinating op-ed…

HSBC Blockchain Connection Reduces Transaction Time by 40%

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Global banking giant HSBC has tested out its blockchain-based trade finance platform Voltron and reduced transaction time by 40%, the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply reported on July 10. To arrange a shipment between Hong Kong and Dubai, HSBC partnered with major retail organization Landmark Group which provided its blockchain platform ReChainMe. The companies linked up their respective platforms, which reportedly resulted in the reduction of transaction time by 12 days, or 40%. Sunil Veetil, regional head of trade at HSBC MENA and Turkey, said that blockchain-based platforms will…

Bitcoin Is Shaky But BTC Indispensable In Investment Portfolios

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Bitcoin (BTC) is up 14.6 percent Cryptocurrencies have a role to play in investment portfolios Despite skepticism, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are increasingly becoming part of investment portfolios. That’s notwithstanding their wild price fluctuations. At the time of writing, BTC is up 14.6 percent week-to-date. Fundamentals There are diverse opinions as far as what Bitcoin is. Generally, there is a consensus that BTC is first a medium of exchange and a settlement layer. However, its price volatility is bogging its progress toward its quest of being a global settlement layer. High…

Crypto Bull Market Rages, Poloniex Opens Fiat & Credit Card Purchases

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The bull market is in the air as digital exchanges roll out new features in anticipation of the influx of new retail traders. Just recently, CEX.io expanded its operations to the U.S. to target dissatisfied Coinbase users. Whereas, Circle-owned Poloniex recently announced that its customers can supercharge their trading experience by allowing them to deposit and withdraw funds using their bank accounts. On top of that, the exchange also enables consumers to buy bitcoin using their credit or debit cards. The crypto-to-crypto exchange has seen its market share plunge from…

Metropolitan Bank Says It Shut Down Tether’s Account After 5 Months

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Metropolitan Commercial Bank maintained accounts for stablecoin issuer Tether and affiliated companies for less than half a year before shutting them down, a spokesperson told CoinDesk. The New York Attorney General (NYAG)’s office, which is embroiled in a legal battle with Tether and its sister company, crypto exchange Bitfinex, filed new documentation Monday showing that Tether held accounts at Metropolitan Bank and Signature Bank, two crypto–friendly banks based in the state. These documents were presented as evidence for the NYAG’s argument that it has the legal authority to investigate the companies…

Metropolitan Bank Says It Shut Down Tether’s Account After 5 Months

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Metropolitan Commercial Bank maintained accounts for stablecoin issuer Tether and affiliated companies for less than half a year before shutting them down, a spokesperson told CoinDesk. The New York Attorney General (NYAG)’s office, which is embroiled in a legal battle with Tether and its sister company, crypto exchange Bitfinex, filed new documentation Monday showing that Tether held accounts at Metropolitan Bank and Signature Bank, two crypto–friendly banks based in the state. These documents were presented as evidence for the NYAG’s argument that it has the legal authority to investigate the companies…

Why Crowdfunding needs Blockchain & Tokenomics

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Pledgecamp is a crowdfunding platform that incorporates blockchain technology for security and accountability. Since decentralization lies at its very core, it was crucial for Pledgecamp to build a robust internal ecosystem, where its members are automatically incentivized to work in the best interests of the entire network. The way they managed to achieve that, was by incorporating some pretty sound tokenomics principles. Tokenomics 101 Tokenomics consists of two words “Token” and “Economics.” Tokenomics is the quality of a token which will convince users/investors to adopt it and help build the…

Bitcoin Sheds Nearly $1,000 in Minutes: What Could be Next?

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Bitcoin Plunges to $12,400 No, Bitcoin bulls are not back in control, Bloomberg. In the past two hours, the leading cryptocurrency has shed a large portion of its week-to-date gains, falling to $12,200 as of the time of writing this. It still isn’t clear what triggered this flash collapse, which comes shortly after BTC breached $13,000 and was poised to close some important short-term candles strong. With Bitcoin down nearly $1,000 in minutes, what exactly is next for the cryptocurrency? Well, no one is actually 100% sure. And no one…