Day: January 9, 2020

Is SardineCoin Real? The Sardines Are, At Least

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It smelled fishy from the start. On Wednesday, MY Sardines, a Luxembourg-based company, announced its intention to launch a cryptocurrency backed by –  are you sitting? – vintage sardines.  Between the novel collateral, a white paper thin on details (who is the unnamed external auditor for the stock of sardines?) and an April 1 (April Fools’ Day) end date for the sale, crypto commentators suspected SardineCoin was an elaborate prank. This much is clear: It’s not a fluke. CoinDesk found the MY Sardines booth at CES 2020, the long-running consumer…

MakerDAO Pitches DeFi to the Masses at CES 2020

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LAS VEGAS – There’s a “digital money” section on the show floor of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, but MakerDAO is the only digital money with a booth there. There are a couple of other crypto wallets, security firms and a bitcoin ATM company, but ethereum’s favorite stablecoin is the only cryptocurrency directly represented.  MakerDAO Foundation Head of Business Development Gregory DiPrisco had a straightforward answer for why the organization chose to take a space in Vegas. “It’s about opening doors to companies that otherwise we’d have…

Crypto Derivatives Exchange Leaves EU for Panama, Expands KYC

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Crypto derivatives exchange Deribit is leaving the European Union for Panama to avoid new AML rules while changing its Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements.  Deribit B.V., the current Netherlands-based company responsible for the Deribit.com exchange, will officially delegate the trading platform to its daughter company, DRB Panama Inc. on Feb. 10, 2020, a Jan. 9 statement from Deribit said.  Changing regulatory winds  Deribit has decided to transfer to Panama based on the stated likelihood of tightening regulatory demands in the Netherlands, resulting from similar demands seen across the EU, the…

Telecom Giant Telefonica Pilots Blockchain Access on 8,000 Spanish Firms

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Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica has reportedly partnered with the local Association of Science and Technology Parks (APTE) to grant access to its blockchain to about 8,000 firms in Spain. According to a report published by telecom news outlet TotalTele on Jan. 9, Telefonica will deploy nodes of its Hyperledger-based blockchain at APTE’s 52 sites. During the three-month-long testing period, firms will be encouraged to develop applications on the network and allowed to experiment with their own tokens. Telefonica partnered with IT giant IBM in November 2018 to apply blockchain technology…

US SEC Traces $3.5M Back To Alleged Fraudster Behind Fake Crypto Mine

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Recent charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) tied three parties to $3.5 million in fraudulent activities.  The SEC has pressed charges of fraud against Donald Blakstad, crypto mining outfit Energy Sources International Corporation (ESI) and vehicle part company Xact Holdings Corporation, according to a Jan. 8 document from the commission.  The document described ESI as “a purported cryptocurrency mining operation.” Millions swindled Blakstad allegedly gathered $3.54 million from at least 14 different investors via fraudulent offerings, the document detailed.  Blakstad touted possession of three businesses, vending supposed…

KPMG Leader Predicts IoT and Blockchain Will Be Used To Manage Climate Change

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Accounting giant KPMG’s US blockchain lead, Arun Ghosh, predicts that blockchain, combined with the Internet of Things (IoT) will be used to manage climate change in 2020.  IoT is a term for systems of interrelated devices that are embedded with sensors, software and network connectivity that enables them to collect and exchange data. According to a list of 6 blockchain predictions KPMG shared with Cointelegraph, Ghosh noted: “The convergence of these technologies is enabling organizations to accelerate environmental governance, with blockchain’s chain of custody being deployed as a central component…

Facebook’s Zuckerberg Highlights Digital Commerce, But Not Libra, in 2030 Vision

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Mark Zuckerberg’s new 10-year vision says a lot about Facebook’s plan for financial services – and nothing whatsoever about Libra.  Unveiling a vision for 2030, the Facebook CEO unveiled a laundry list of decade’s-end aims for his social media goliath, including an extensive “opportunity” for Facebook to “decentralize” finance and business. “Over the next decade, we hope to build the commerce and payments tools so that every small business has easy access to the same technology that previously only big companies have had,” Zuckerberg said in the post. That vision…

Facebook’s Zuckerberg Highlights Digital Commerce, But Not Libra, in 2030 Vision

boss

Mark Zuckerberg’s new 10-year vision says a lot about Facebook’s plan for financial services – and nothing whatsoever about Libra.  Unveiling a vision for 2030, the Facebook CEO unveiled a laundry list of decade’s-end aims for his social media goliath, including an extensive “opportunity” for Facebook to “decentralize” finance and business. “Over the next decade, we hope to build the commerce and payments tools so that every small business has easy access to the same technology that previously only big companies have had,” Zuckerberg said in the post. That vision…

Oman’s Largest Port Joins IBM’s Blockchain Shipping Platform TradeLens

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On Jan. 8 the Times of Oman reported that the Port of Salalah joined TradeLens, the blockchain-based supply chain platform launched in 2018 by shipping giant Maersk and IBM.  An IBM spokesperson told Cointelegraph the addition of the Port of Salalah puts TradeLens at more than 90 ports and terminals, with over 150 participants in total on the platform.  According to the Times, The Port of Salalah is Oman’s largest port, handling a record number of 4 million shipping containers per year. The port reportedly joins TradeLens as part of…

Ethereum Dev Indicted By Grand Jury Over North Korea Appearance

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Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith has been indicted by a grand jury for conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) after speaking at a cryptocurrency conference hosted by the North Korean government last April. Griffith was initially arrested on Thanksgiving at Los Angeles Internation Airport after FBI Special Agent Brandon M. Cavanaugh alleged that the Ethereum dev had breached the IEEPA in traveling to North Korea without authorization and providing knowledge on how the country can utilize blockchain technology to launder money and evade sanctions. The case was…