US Court Orders Dark Web Drug Dealer to Forfeit $150K in Bitcoin

A United States court has ordered Christopher Bania, who recently pleaded guilty to drug distribution, to give up almost 17 Bitcoin (BTC) — worth roughly $150,000 at press time. The plea, order and sentencing Per the Oct. 19 order from a court in Wisconsin, Bania will need to forfeit “Approximately 16.91880054 Bitcoin seized from Bania’s ‘Local Bitcoins’ account.” Though worth roughly $153,100 as of publication, it is much less than the 124 BTC that the court is returning to the defendant, alongside various other cryptocurrencies and over $50,000 in cash…

Can Libra and Other Crypto Find a Ground to Navigate Regulation?

Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies are causing some confusion for regulators globally. Designed usually as peer-to-peer payment platforms, cryptocurrencies seek to improve trust, security and privacy by significantly reducing or eliminating third parties. However, by connecting users directly, cryptocurrencies make regulatory oversight far more complex.  The regulatory control that most governments seek is generally related to money laundering and illegal activity. While cryptocurrency creators have no desire to foster such practices, many nevertheless hope to move away from the sorts of regulatory controls that are seen as centralized, less cost-efficient and…

Bitcoin.com Joins the Coinex Chain Pre-Election Node Process

Trading platform Coinex recently announced the creation of a public decentralized exchange (dex) blockchain that leverages the consensus protocols Tendermint and the Cosmos SDK. This month, up until the mainnet launch, Coinex is in the midst of its pre-election process with new node participants preparing to partner with the Coinex Chain ecosystem. To further promote decentralized innovation, Bitcoin.com has joined the Coinex Chain network by planning to run a validator node on the blockchain. Also read: Market Update: Crypto Prices Spike Significantly In a Matter of Minutes Global Participants Join…

Crypto Exchange OKEx Joins Internet Giant Kakao’s Blockchain Project

OKEx announced that it is joining Klaytn, a global public blockchain platform developed by Kakao subsidiary Ground X. On Oct. 25, OKEx wrote in a press release that blockchain project Klaytn will be onboarding the crypto exchange into their ecosystem aiming to expand blockchain adoption. OKEx is joining a number of industry giants such as Samsung Blockchain, IDG Capital, and Shinhan Bank. The exchange called this partnership an opportunity to build a stable blockchain ecosystem and connect to different networks and portfolios in the blockchain industry. Andy Cheung, Head of…

The Curious Case of AT&T, Seth Shapiro’s SIM Card and a Stolen $1.8M

Over the past week, the global crypto community bore witness to a unique case wherein California resident and blockchain entrepreneur Seth Shapiro filed a lawsuit against American telecom giant AT&T — alleging that a couple of the firm’s employees had perpetrated a nefarious SIM-swap scheme that resulted in the former losing $1.8 million in various crypto assets. Shapiro, who is a two-time Emmy Award-winner, as well as an author and adjunct professor at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, filed the aforementioned lawsuit against AT&T on Oct.…

Bitcoin Is Booming – Here Are 3 Reasons Why Ripple (XRP) Is Not

Bitcoin’s epic surge has lifted the entire crypto market, with one notable exception: ripple (XRP) Ripple is barely treading water, while most of its peers are enjoying meteoric gains. Crypto analysts say there are three reasons XRP is struggling. It’s been quite a while since most cryptocurrencies posted tremendous gains. Major coins such as bitcoin, bitcoin cash, and bitcoin sv are up by over 15 percent. Other coins in the top ten were not far behind, with litecoin and ethereum printing close to ten percent gains. Big-name crypto assets are…

What Will Move Crypto Into the Institutional Realm?

Facebook recently made its entry into the world of institutional blockchain and cryptocurrency with the announcement of Libra. It garnered so much attention that lawmakers in the United States are holding hearings to review the project. Walmart has been flirting with crypto and blockchain for years. At the time of writing, the top crypto exchange handles a volume of around $50 billion, and Bitcoin (BTC) is holding steady around $8,000. This is clearly a new “mainstreaming” of crypto to the masses, but a growing number of major banks, hedge funds…

Blockchain Registers for Recording Ownership Rights Around the World

The use of blockchain to cement ownership rights for real estate and business has been ongoing since 2016, when the technology was first used to organize new forms of registries and registration of transactions. The blocks are used to record information onto the blockchain system, which can then certify the process of transfer of ownership of the property or entity.  This process excludes intermediaries that collect commissions in the process of, for example, conducting real estate transactions while also lowering the risk of fraud. Specialized blockchain platforms can prevent data…

Redditor Claims Miner Controls 50% BCH Hash Rate, Asks to De-List BCH

An unknown Bitcoin Cash (BCH) miner was apparently in control of more than 50% of the token’s hash rate for 24 hours. The miner seemed to mine 73 blocks from 10 am Oct. 24 to 10 am Oct. 25, to which Twitter user Notgrubles responded that this is the reason why “BCH is a security risk and a liability,” while asking to de-list the coin. By controlling 50% of BCH hash rate, the unknown miner, or potentially miners, are not far off from controlling the entire network and the ability…

How Can Blockchain Disrupt Supply Chains in the Fashion Industry?

When receiving new shirts you’d bought online, or bought some jeans from one of the fashion stores on your street, the question that may have come to mind then was, how did these items get to be in my hands? The answer is supply chains.  Supply chains in the fashion industry organize people, activities and information to move fashion products from the producer to the consumer. Although supply chains have undergone a revolution since the advent of the internet and artificial intelligence, that revolution might be incomplete without the introduction…