Day: July 30, 2019

Coinbase VP of Engineering Tim Wagner Steps Down

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Tim Wagner, the vice president of engineering at major cryptocurrency platform Coinbase, is reportedly leaving the company. Wagner will purportedly leave Coinbase within the next two weeks, according to a report by CoinDesk on July 30. An unnamed spokesperson for the company is said to have confirmed Wagner’s departure with the news outlet. At press time, Tim Wagner is currently still listed as VP Engineering at Coinbase on LinkedIn profile. Previous roles at Microsoft and Amazon As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Coinbase initially hired Wagner last August. Wagner previously worked…

Major Indian Trade Organization Speaks Out Against Proposed Crypto Ban

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Nasscom, a major Indain trade organization, has said that it is against a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies, which was recently proposed by a governmental panel in the country According to a report by local financial periodical The Economic Times on July 30, Nasscom commented: “Nasscom believes that the recent proposal of the inter-ministerial committee of the government to ban all cryptocurrencies barring those that are backed by the government, is not the most constructive measure. […] Instead, the government should work towards developing a risk-based framework to regulate and monitor…

Bitcoin Forks: Cheap Fees and High Throughput May Centralize Networks and Disincentivize Miners

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CoinMetrics has released a detailed report about Bitcoin and it’s forks, covering a number of topics from the elimination of OP_RETURN in BSV, to the time taken to rewrite the blocks on a network. In particular, a section highlighting the key fundamental flaws in Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Bitcoin Satoshi’s Vision (BSV) offers interesting insights into network economics, July 29, 2019. Trading Decentralization for Usability? Essentially, BCH and BSV have both chosen to scale on their layer one rather than using a network built on the main chain like Lightning.…

Coinbase Pro to Begin Supporting Tezos Trading in August

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Major cryptocurrency platform Coinbase is onboarding the cryptocurrency Tezos (XTZ) to its professional trading platform, Coinbase Pro.  As per an official announcement, Coinbase Pro will open up inbound XTZ transfers on August 5. As the company has done in the past, Coinbase Pro will ramp up to full XTZ trading in four steps: (1) transfer-only, (2) post-only, (3) limit-only, and finally (4) full trading. Additionally, the exchange will document the on-boarding steps on Twitter. All jurisdictions are stated to receive immediate support for the new offering, with the exception of…

Seagate Moving Forward with Blockchain Pilot to Track Hard Drives

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American tech giant Seagate has entered the pilot stage of its blockchain project designed to fight counterfeit hard disk drives (HDD), Forbes reported on July 30. This pilot is a part of the joint initiative Seagate and IBM launched last November. The project aims to help manufacturers, integrators and business partners to better authenticate the provenance of HDDs by using IBM’s Blockchain Platform. According to Seagate’s data security research group managing technologist Manuel Offenberg, in the pilot IBM “is both the customer of these drives, as well as the technology…

US Awards Patent for Blockchain-Based Firearm Data Recording System

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Two American inventors have won a patent for a blockchain-based recording system for ballistic data.  The United States Patent and Trademark Office awarded two inventors — Jason Palazzolo and Kevin Barnes — a patent for a “firearm environmental recording apparatus and system” on July 23. This apparently could include multiple recording devices, including a camera, microphone, and spatial sensor module that can record velocity, spatial measurements and acceleration data.  The filing states that a blockchain database or network could be used to store or be associated with any of the…

Samsung Galaxy S10 Integrates Pundi X’s Digital Currency Wallet

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Smartphones manufacturer Samsung and cryptocurrency payments startup Pundi X’s new cooperation will allow users to integrate the XWallet app to their Samsung Blockchain Wallet. In a blog post published on July 29, Pundi X revealed that it has integrated its cryptocurrency wallet solution into the Samsung’s blockchain ecosystem, thus marking growing adoption of blockchain technology. The post reads: “Samsung Galaxy S10 users can move cryptocurrencies stored in the Samsung Blockchain Wallet into the XWallet, which they can then use as a checking account for instant crypto transaction with Pundi X’s…

Industry, Government to Review Regulations

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In late July of 2019, the New York State Assembly appointed six members to its Digital Currency Task Force, claiming to be the first state-drafted crew across the United States to deal with cryptocurrencies and blockchain. While it is unclear if the influx from Facebook’s Libra has hastened the NY legislators to assemble the team, the first reports from the Digital Currency Task Force are expected to arrive not sooner than the very end of 2020. The Digital Currency Task Force’s initial lineup, goals and deadlines Despite the recent appointments,…

Ripple Partners With Kyoto University, University of Tokyo for Blockchain Research

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Cryptocurrency giant Ripple has partnered with Kyoto University and the University of Tokyo as part of its University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI). Ripple announced its new Japanese partnerships in a press release on July 30. Emi Yoshikawa, senior director of global operations at Ripple, noted that there is high interest in blockchain within Japanese academia: “Japan is quickly becoming a leading force in crypto assets and blockchain. The region has always been forward thinking and exploring ways to improve the current financial system […] We have seen high levels of…

Some Senators Call on US to Lead in Blockchain and Crypto, Others Doubt

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The United States Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs has ended the hearing on “Examining Regulatory Frameworks for Digital Currencies and Blockchain” today, July 30. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, Rebecca M. Nelson, a specialist in international trade and finance; and Mehrsa Baradaran, a professor of law at the University of California Irvine School of Law all testified before the committee. Lawmakers want the U.S. to lead in blockchain Senator Michael Crapo of Idaho began the hearing saying that cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology are inevitable and could be beneficial, further…