Day: February 20, 2020

Trump’s Bitter Twitter Blast Proves Bloomberg Actually Won the Democratic Debate

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Mike Bloomberg struggled to defend himself in the democratic debate. When the rest of the candidates attacked Bloomberg, it proved he’s become a real threat. Donald Trump’s nervous tweet about Bloomberg following the debate shows that he sees him as a threat. Wednesday was a tough night for Mike Bloomberg as he took the stage for his first-ever Presidential debate. His opponents, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Joe Biden had a rare bonding moment that night as they joined forces to pile on Mr. Bloomberg. He…

Norwegian Air May Allow Customers to Pay With Crypto as Soon as Spring

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Travelers on Norwegian Air, one of the largest airlines in Europe, will soon be able to pay for flights using cryptocurrency. In an interview with a local business newspaper, CEO of Norwegian Block Exchange (NBX) Stig Kjos-Mathisen said his crypto trading platform had successfully developed payment infrastructure that will allow customers on Norwegian Air to purchase tickets with digital assets. “Everything is ready to go from our side”, Kjos-Mathisen said the interview. NBX aims to roll out the new feature to Norwegian customers sometime later this year, and possibly as early…

Brazilian Central Bank Promises Instant Payment Platform to Compete With Crypto

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The Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) has announced a plan to launch a new near-instant payment system during November. The platform, called the Brazilian Instant Payment Scheme (PIX), will facilitate peer-to-peer and business-to-business transactions in 10 seconds or less via mobile phone, internet banking, or select ATMs.  According to a press release published Feb. 20, It is mandatory for all financial and payment institutions licenced by the BCB to provide their 500,000 active customer accounts with the functionalities required to facilitate PIX transfers. The release states that transactions will be…

Cardano to Undergo Network Upgrade in Preparation for Shelley

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The Cardano (ADA) network will perform a scheduled upgrade on Feb. 20 to introduce Ouroboros BFT, an improved consensus mechanism. The update is an intermediate step between the current Byron era and Shelley, which will introduce staking on mainnet. Announced by IOHK on Feb. 19, the upgrade will be executed on Thursday at 9:44 PM UTC, or 4:44 PM EST. The network will undergo a hard fork, though the team emphasizes that “it is a planned and managed protocol upgrade.” What is Ouroboros BFT? The new protocol is a development…

Crypto Accused of Facilitating Illegal Gambling — What Are the Odds?

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Last week, a report claimed that cryptocurrency-based illegal gambling has surged in many parts of Asia owing to the rise of this novel asset class in recent years. In this regard, the article further added that over the course of the last five years or so, betting amounts have become substantially larger, partly because of traditional payment methods being replaced by cryptocurrencies.  From a more technical standpoint, a research study released by Transparency International, a nongovernment organization based in Berlin, Asia’s illicit gambling market was found to be worth a…

007 Meets Spy Kids in Fortnite’s ‘Top Secret’ Chapter 2 Season 2

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Fortnite servers are down as Epic Games preps Chapter 2 Season 2 update. Dubbed ‘Top Secret’, the new season runs with a spy theme. Marvel’s Deadpool skin will be available as part of the Season 2 Battle Pass. Fortnite’s long-awaited Chapter 2 Season 2 is upon us. Or, it will be in a few hours. As customary for substantial updates to the battle royal shooter, the servers are currently down with no time frame as to when they might go live again. Fortnite Goes ‘Top Secret’ To tide players over,…

007 Meets Spy Kids in Fortnite’s ‘Top Secret’ Chapter 2 Season 2

boss

Fortnite servers are down as Epic Games preps Chapter 2 Season 2 update. Dubbed ‘Top Secret’, the new season runs with a spy theme. Marvel’s Deadpool skin will be available as part of the Season 2 Battle Pass. Fortnite’s long-awaited Chapter 2 Season 2 is upon us. Or, it will be in a few hours. As customary for substantial updates to the battle royal shooter, the servers are currently down with no time frame as to when they might go live again. Fortnite Goes ‘Top Secret’ To tide players over,…

Investor Fortress Raises Buyout Offer for Mt. Gox Creditor Claims By 71%

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The New York-based private equity firm Fortress has issued a “premium” offer to buy out creditor claims from the now-defunct Mt. Gox exchange. In a letter said to be sent by Fortress managing director Michael Hourigan on Monday, the company said it was offering creditors with large claims at a “premium price tier” on a first-come, first-served basis. Although parts of the letter seen by CoinDesk have been obscured, the new Fortress offer represents 88 percent of creditors’ account value – assuming a bitcoin price at $9,800 – on the…

Overnight Sell-Off Puts Bitcoin at Dangerous Risk of Correction to $8,400

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Bitcoin has surged by more than 40 percent this year, but its inability to sustain above a technical resistance area is increasing the risk of a massive correction ahead. The cryptocurrency on Wednesday plunged back below a so-called $10,000 milestone for the third time in eleven days. The move downhill started at around 21:30 UTC and took only twenty minutes to bring the bitcoin price down from $10,172 to as low as $9,280 (data from Coinbase). On the other hand, the overnight decline prompted traders to buy bitcoin at cheaper…

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse Tells Banks That ‘Crypto Is Not a Bad Word’

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Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse’s mission is to demolish bankers’ fear of cryptocurrencies and get them on board with the new asset class. During a recent interview with CNN, Garlinghouse explained that “once regulators understand you’re not circumventing regulatory frameworks they get very comfortable very quickly.” Garlinghouse said that someone at the World Economic Forum in Davos told him that “crypto is still a bad word here.” Because of this attitude in traditional finance, a big part of his work is explaining to bankers how crypto can solve real-world problems while…