Central Bank of China Official Says Digital Yuan Will Be Different From Bitcoin

The People’s Bank of China’s (PBoC) deputy director Mu Changchun said that the digital form of the yuan will be different to Bitcoin (BTC) and stablecoins. Chinese news outlet South China Morning Post reported on Dec. 22 that the head of the digital currency research institute at the PBoC said that China’s digital currency would be a digital form of the yuan with no room to speculate on its value, and without the backing of a basket of currencies. Mu explained: “The currency is not for speculation. It is different…

BitPay Experienced 3-Hour Bitcoin Payment Outage

Major cryptocurrency payment service provider BitPay has confirmed that its service had a temporary outage of Bitcoin (BTC) payments on Dec. 22. Bitcoin payments were briefly unavailable for almost 3.5 hours on BitPay as the company was working to fix transaction issues, BitPay Support tweeted Dec. 22. According to the information, the service was restored by 4:25 PM EST. Multiple users complained about the issue Prior to the BitPay’s official notice on BTC payment issues, a number of users have reported that the service was unavailable. Some Bitpay users on…

Peter McCormack On A Defiant New Era For Bitcoin

Peter McCormack is one of the most prominent podcasters in the space. In 2019, he added a new podcast called “Defiance” and focused on the intersection of bitcoin, human rights, and political activism to complement his “What Bitcoin Did” podcast. In this special end of year episode of The Breakdown, Peter discusses why the past year represents an inflection point for citizen action and sovereign protest around the world, and why 2020 is likely to see a continued bloodletting among non-bitcoin cryptoassets.  Disclosure Read More The leader in blockchain news,…

Binance DEX Should Be Criticized for Centralization, Not ETH

Binance’s decentralized exchange is a better target for criticism over being centralized than Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin believes. In a recent Twitter discussion, Ethereum co-founder Buterin triggered a wave of argument over decentralization in the crypto industry, particularly Binance DEX as well as Ethereum itself. Criticizing Ethereum for being centralized is bad, Vitalik says The discussion started after Buterin retweeted a promotional video by multi-currency digital asset and derivatives exchange BTSE on Dec. 21. While the video apparently has nothing to do with questions like Ethereum’s decentralization, the Ethereum co-founder has…

SEC-Licensed Broker-Dealer BitOoda Secures $7M Seed Funding

United States-based cryptocurrency brokerage BitOoda has secured $7 million funding from major investors including former senior investment exec at JPMorgan. Founded in 2017, BitOoda positions itself as a digital asset financial services platform that combines digital finance and applied science. Investors are former execs from British Petroleum, JPMorgan and S&P Global Platts According to an official announcement on Dec. 23, BitOoda’s new seed round featured founder of international energy analytics firm PIRA Energy Gary Ross, who is also a former head of  global oil analytics and chief energy economist at…

Cyprus SEC Flags 3 Trading Platforms That Look Suspiciously Similar

Cyprus’ Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) recently issued a warning against almost 200 unregistered investment platforms, three of which look strikingly similar and falsely advertise ties to licensed and regulated firm BDSwiss. The CySEC posted an update to its list of unapproved website addresses on Dec. 10, which now contains 187 different names.  The CySEC noted at the top of its posted list: “[T]he domains that are included in the following list are not owned or operated by Cyprus Investment Firms (CIFs) which have been authorized by CySEC to provide…

Price Analysis Dec 23: BTC, ETH, XRP, BCH, LTC, EOS, BNB, BSV, XTZ, TRX

Bitcoin strong move to $7,600 signals that trend change could be in the making and has also created buying opportunities for select altcoins. Bitcoin is leading the recovery from the front, which is a positive sign. This shows that bulls have used the recent dip to buy. As a result, Bitcoin’s dominance has increased to 68.9%. Former Wall Street trader Tone Vays believes that Bitcoin will increase its dominance further in 2020, perhaps as high as 85%. Although institutional money will enter Bitcoin first, it is unlikely that other altcoins…

Thomson Reuters Partners With Verady On Tool To Tackle Crypto Taxes

Thomson Reuters, the multinational media conglomerate, announced on Dec. 19 a partnership with Verady, a firm that specializes in the accounting and reporting of cryptocurrencies and blockchain assets. The two companies will collaborate on bringing a new cryptocurrency tax tool to market. Thomson Reuters GoSystem Tax RS product will soon include a “Virtual Currency Organizer” for individuals reporting cryptocurrency transactions on tax form 1040. According to Thomson Reuters, the tax tool will serve as a single point of data entry and review for virtual currency transactions including exchanges, forks, purchases…

Ethereum Network Draws Developer Ire After Scheduling New Year’s Day Upgrade

The organization behind ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, is drawing criticism from developers after scheduling an upgrade on New Year’s Day – a work holiday in most countries. The Ethereum Foundation on Monday announced the plan to implement the “Muir Glacier” upgrade on Jan. 1. The upgrade will take place when the ethereum network hits its 9.2-millionth block, said a blog post on the organization’s website. The upgrade would come just less than a month after the network’s last upgrade in early December, known as “Istanbul.” According to the blog…

Ethereum Network Draws Developer Ire After Scheduling New Year’s Day Upgrade

The organization behind ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, is drawing criticism from developers after scheduling an upgrade on New Year’s Day – a work holiday in most countries. The Ethereum Foundation on Monday announced the plan to implement the “Muir Glacier” upgrade on Jan. 1. The upgrade will take place when the ethereum network hits its 9.2-millionth block, said a blog post on the organization’s website. The upgrade would come just less than a month after the network’s last upgrade in early December, known as “Istanbul.” According to the blog…