China’s Central Bank Uses Blockchain to Issue $2.8B Worth of Financial Bonds

The adoption rate of blockchain technology in China continues to impress as the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has reportedly issued 20 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) in blockchain-based special financial bonds for small and micro enterprises. According to local news outlet Sina Finance in early December, the funds are specifically used to issue loans to these Chinese small and micro-sized companies to support their continued development in the economy. As of the end of September, the PBoC issued around 404 billion yuan ($57.7 billion) to 410,000 small and micro enterprise…

Bakkt’s Bitcoin Options, Cash-Settled Futures Contracts are now Live

Bakkt, the Bitcoin (BTC) trading platform geared toward institutional investors on December 9, 2019, announced that it had launched two new digital currency products – Bakkt Bitcoin Monthly Options, and Bakkt Bitcoin (USD) Cash Settled Futures. Expanding the Crypto Product Catalogue Intercontinental Exchange’s (ICE) Bakkt said on December 9 that it will be using its flagship physically settled BTC contracts as a benchmark to support its newly launched financial products. In a rather ambitious comparison, the institution compared its crypto offerings to its Brent Crude Oil Futures which, today, is…

EToro to Issue Debit Cards Starting Q2 2020

Multi-asset investment platform and social network eToro is allegedly planning to launch a debit card in the second quarter of 2020. On Dec. 9, Business Insider reported that the United Kingdom-based digital asset trading platform’s 12 million users will be able to spend their earnings via a debit card, planned for launch in Q2 of next year. The service will reportedly launch in the UK firt. However, other details about this planned debit card launch remain unclear. EToro’s global head of PR & communications, Amy Butler, confirmed to Cointelegraph that…

It’s All About $7,400 for Bitcoin Price as a Big Move Is Now Imminent

Bitcoin (BTC) closed the week slightly above $7,500 up 1.56% ($115), which marks the first positive week since the close of the first week of August. Today Bitcoin touched a high at $7,660 following and a low at $7,370 with most of the price action taking place in the second half of the day. The 24-hour losses listed in the chart below show that the wider market has followed suit with Ether (ETH) trading back around $150 and XRP at $0.225. Cryptocurrency market daily view. Source: Coin360 Weekly chart BTC…

BTSE Exchange Plans $50M Token Raise on Blockstream’s Ethereum Rival Liquid

The idea was in vogue mid-decade until the emergence of ethereum, which was designed specifically for such use cases, and became the go-to launching pad for initial coin offerings, security tokens, non-fungible collectibles and the like. But Liquid, launched in September 2018, has started to make inroads; last week, BTSE announced it was integrating Blockstream’s Liquid versions of bitcoin and the dollar-pegged token USDT.  Source If You Liked This Article Click To Share 50MBlockstreamsBTSEEthereumExchangeLiquidPlansRaiseRivalToken CryptoX Portal

BTSE Exchange Plans $50M Token Raise on Blockstream’s Ethereum Rival Liquid

The idea was in vogue mid-decade until the emergence of ethereum, which was designed specifically for such use cases, and became the go-to launching pad for initial coin offerings, security tokens, non-fungible collectibles and the like. But Liquid, launched in September 2018, has started to make inroads; last week, BTSE announced it was integrating Blockstream’s Liquid versions of bitcoin and the dollar-pegged token USDT.  Source

New Mac Malware Hides in Memory and Masquerades as a Crypto App

The malware infects Mac OS computers by injecting an executable file into the boot process, thereby hiding it from the user and rendering it difficult to remove. The executable then looks for various online payloads and runs them in memory, ensuring that anti-virus software could miss the malware after reboots and other OS events. Ultimately, there is very little for an anti-virus app to find as the payload changes over time and the malware has root privileges on infected machines. Source If You Liked This Article Click To Share AppCryptoHidesMacMalwareMasqueradesMemory…

Binance’s Partner Allows Users to Buy Crypto with Credit Card in JPY and CAD

Israeli-based fintech and cryptocurrency firm Simplex now supports two new fiat currencies — the Japanese yen (JPY) and the Canadian dollar (CAD). Following the addition, users at some of Simplex’s partner exchanges such as Binance will be able to buy crypto via credit cards using JPY and CAD, industry publication The Block reports Dec. 9. Not all Simplex’s partner exchanges will be supporting JPY and CAD by default Cointelegraph contacted both Simplex and Binance in order to confirm the news. Simplex’s spokesperson confirmed the report, noting that the company’s partners…

LedgerX Places Founders on Administrative Leave After Tussle With CFTC

LedgerX offers bitcoin derivatives products to institutional and retail investors in the U.S., primarily physically-settled options and swaps contracts. The company failed in a bid to launch physically-settled bitcoin futures earlier this year, though its application to modify a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) registration allowing it to do so remains outstanding. Source