Square Crypto Is Creating a ‘Lightning Development Kit’ for Bitcoin Wallets

Square Crypto, the payment company’s bitcoin-focused wing, is building a “Lightning Development Kit” for wallet and app developers to more easily build on the layer-2 solution. Announced Tuesday, the new kit includes an API, language tools, demo apps and other features to help developers integrate support for Lightning payments into their own wallets. Existing bitcoin wallets will also be able to support Lightning through the new kit, rather than requiring companies to build a separate wallet. The tools will help developers create better user experiences, a Medium post explained. “For…

Square Crypto Is Creating a ‘Lightning Development Kit’ for Bitcoin Wallets

Square Crypto, the payment company’s bitcoin-focused wing, is building a “Lightning Development Kit” for wallet and app developers to more easily build on the layer-2 solution. Announced Tuesday, the new kit includes an API, language tools, demo apps and other features to help developers integrate support for Lightning payments into their own wallets. Existing bitcoin wallets will also be able to support Lightning through the new kit, rather than requiring companies to build a separate wallet. The tools will help developers create better user experiences, a Medium post explained. “For…

Infamous Online Gaming Community Clanbase to Relaunch With Blockchain Technology in 2021

Self-proclaimed ‘Father’  of E-Sports, Ted Owen, is apparently planning to relaunch Clanbase in 2021 with Version Two of his new Blockchain-fueled gaming platform called PlayAPI. “PlayAPI is the culmination of a life spent in the epicenter of the video game revolution. It is a dream to organize a gamer’s life in one central location, regardless of platform or publisher. We knew we had to offer significant value to the developers in order to achieve this goal and have them exclusively hand over their back end data. Our proof of concept,…

Venezuelan Team Working on Bitcoin Mesh Network Based on Offline Radios

A Venezuelan team is developing Locha, a decentralized mesh network that doesn’t rely on the internet to transact with Bitcoin (BTC). The system, based on radio waves, was born in response to frequent electricity and internet outages in Venezuela. Locha Mesh is an open-source project led by Randy Brito, a member of the Bitcoin Venezuela organization. It is developing two devices, named Turpial and Harpia, that would allow anyone to connect to the Bitcoin blockchain using long-range radio waves. Turpial is the simpler version of the radio transmitter, reported to…

6 Central Banks Form Digital Currency Use Case Working Group

Six central banks have formed a working group with the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) to share findings as each investigates potential cases for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The group will be comprised of the central banks of Sweden, Canada, Switzerland, the U.K. and Japan, as well as the European Central Bank (ECB) and the BIS. Announced by all seven members Tuesday, each institution will continue assessing the “economic, functional and technical design choices, including cross-border interoperability” of CBDCs and will sharing any findings. The members will also work…

ICO publishes Code of Practice to protect children’s privacy online

“There are laws to protect children in the real world. We need our laws to protect children in the digital world too.” – UK Information Commissioner Today the Information Commissioner’s Office has published its final Age Appropriate Design Code – a set of 15 standards that online services should meet to protect children’s privacy. The code sets out the standards expected of those responsible for designing, developing or providing online services like apps, connected toys, social media platforms, online games, educational websites and streaming services. It covers services likely to…

Paxos Launches Automatic Conversions Between Bank Deposits and Stablecoins

Paxos announced Tuesday a new feature allowing customers to automatically wire transfer funds from their bank accounts into either Paxos Standard or Binance USD stablecoins. Conversely, any PAX or BUSD sent to the designated address will be automatically wired back to the individual’s bank account in USD. Zach Kwartler, senior product manager at Paxos, told CoinDesk this functionality, dubbed Auto-Transfers, should be available with any bank in the U.S. “The blockchain and the real financial world need to be closer together,” he said. “For us, our vision is to use…

Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust Is Now Open to More Investors as SEC Reporting Company

Grayscale Investments’ bid to register its Bitcoin Trust as an Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reporting company has succeeded. The trust’s shares are now registered under the Exchange Act of 1934, making the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust the first cryptocurrency investment vehicle to become a reporting company. The trust now has to publicly file its quarterly and annual reports as 10-Qs and 10-Ks with the SEC and publish updates on unscheduled material events and corporate changes.  The new status also reduces the statutory holding period for accredited investors from 12 months…

Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust Is Now Open to More Investors as SEC Reporting Company

Grayscale Investments’ bid to register its Bitcoin Trust as an Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reporting company has succeeded. The trust’s shares are now registered under the Exchange Act of 1934, making the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust the first cryptocurrency investment vehicle to become a reporting company. The trust now has to publicly file its quarterly and annual reports as 10-Qs and 10-Ks with the SEC and publish updates on unscheduled material events and corporate changes.  The new status also reduces the statutory holding period for accredited investors from 12 months…