Month: January 2020

Blockchain technology is an important tool in addressing the data protection crisis, Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Brittany Kaiser believes. Kaiser, a former business development director at controversial British data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica, has discussed global data privacy issues in an interview with Cointelegraph on Jan. 23. Currently serving as co-founder at digital intelligence startup Own Your Data Foundation, Kaiser first came into the spotlight during the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which revealed that the firm had collected raw data from up to 87 million Facebook profiles for the Trump campaign. Speaking…

British telecom giant Vodafone is the latest firm to pull out of the Libra Association, the non-profit body overseeing the Facebook-led digital coin, bringing the total number of early backers to withdraw from the project to eight. Vodafone Walks Away Both Vodafone and Libra confirmed the news last week with the departure appearing to be amicable, despite several high profile withdrawals last year coming across as less than friendly. The telecom company now says it intends to dedicate resources previously allocated for the project to its own well-established digital payment…

Controversial computer scientist Craig Wright claims to know exactly who was behind the spectacular Bitcoin SV pump of early January. Wright says the interest in the market was indeed organic but is unwilling to go into specifics. Wright also believes that the patents filled by nChain will position the company well to take advantage of central bank and private efforts to create stablecoins. He says that when those behind such projects realise the challenges, it will make sense for them to use Bitcoin SV. Wright Knows Exactly What Caused the…

It’s here! The United States tax season officially started on Jan. 27, and this time, crypto tax is in the spotlight. Following developments that culminated in the Internal Revenue Service publishing new guidance in October 2019, the bureau has begun to invest efforts in cryptocurrency tax reporting and investigation and is expecting to see an increase in crypto tax reports. Those who intend to report their crypto activity can skip down to the tips for easy and accurate reports. As for the crypto cypherpunks who are not going to report…

BCB Group, a European crypto-focused payment processor for the likes of major global crypto firms like Coinbase, has secured a license from British regulators. The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has officially approved the firm’s core subsidiary, BCB Payments, as an authorized payment institution (API), BCB Group announced on Jan. 29. The company is now officially regulated both in the U.K. and Switzerland Having secured an API license from the FCA, BCB Group now holds two regulatory approvals to offer cryptocurrency-related services in Europe. BCB Payments sister firm, BCB…

A millionaire by age 18, early Bitcoin (BTC) investor Erik Finman said the environment around Bitcoin has significantly changed since 2011 — and not for the better.  “It just ain’t what it used to be,” Finman told Cointelegraph in a message on Jan. 26, 2020. Recounting the early days, Finman explained: “Bitcoin, when it first came out, was incredible. It wasn’t just cutting edge technology – it was bleeding edge! You just felt the energy in the air. That this was the real deal. Everyone felt united in this cause…

Bitcoin and a few other altcoins have broken above their 200-day SMA, which indicates the possibility of the start of a new uptrend. Japanese consulting firm Nomura Research Institute, which is an affiliate of financial services giant Nomura Holdings, has launched a tradable cryptocurrency index in partnership with cryptocurrency investment solution provider Intelligence Unit. The index, which is meant for financial institutions, will track a basket of cryptocurrencies and can be traded in US dollars and yen.  Though several financial companies have launched services for institutional investors, the inflow of…