Day: March 5, 2020

Telegram ICO Investors Included Russian Oligarch and Ex-Minister

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Newly released documents relating to Telegram’s 2018 ICO have revealed some big-name backers, including Russian oil tycoon Roman Abramovich and former Minister of Open Government Affairs Mikhail Abyzov. The publication of the documents highlighting some of the big-money backers in Telegram’s planned blockchain, Telegram Open Network (TON), is just the latest development in the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) case against the firm, which claims the messaging app violated securities laws by failing to register its 2018 token sale. The names and the amount that they invested were listed…

Here’s Why Analysts Are Bullish On Bitcoin After $9,000 Retake

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After falling as low as $8,400 on the weekend, Bitcoin has mounted a strong recovery over the past few days. Just recently, the cryptocurrency breached $9,000 for the first time in days, now trading at $9,130 as of the time of this article’s writing (TradingView chart can be seen below illustrating this price action). This means that since the local bottom, the price of BTC has gained 8.7%, confirming bulls are not yet dead. Although a daily candle close above $9,000 has not yet been sustained, analysts are getting bullish…

Vitalik Buterin Sees Future in Decentralized Privacy Currency

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With governments increasingly looking at launching their own digital currencies, you might worry that crypto just can’t compete with national financial infrastructures. Not so, says Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. Buterin spoke with Block TV podcast on March 4 about his predictions for the future of currency — specifically the fate of decentralization. He claimed that digitalization is inevitable and decentralized privacy currency would be more favorable to many than a state-controlled Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC). Digitalization is inevitable and privacy is king Vitalik believes that with or without blockchain…

Crypto Software Firm Zabo Raises $2.5M in a Seed Round

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Zabo has announced it has raised $ 2.5 million in seed funding, allowing it to extend its portfolio of services to continue connecting its customers’ cryptocurrency wallets to banks, brokerage firms, FinTech apps, and tax software. As detailed in a March 5 blog post, the seed round was led by Moonshots Capital and included funding from Blockchange Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, Digital Currency Group, CoinShares, Tezos Foundation, Capital Factory, among others. Bolstering connections with mainstream financial services Zabo’s technology is used in a wide variety of financial services applications, both…

The US Dollar Could Fall Out of Favor If It Doesn’t Go Digital, ING Economist Says

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As multiple countries and entities weigh the validity of a central bank digital currency the physical United States dollar still sits in a place of dominance — but for how long? “The dollar is the dominant currency today,” ING economist Carlo Cocuzzo said on a panel at London Blockchain Week. Cocuzzo added that “90% of forex turnover is in dollars, so the U.S. stands to lose in this game.” A September 2019 report from The Bridge showed similar prominence, with USD tallying 60-70% of foreign exchange reserves.  Countries and companies…

Brazilian Ministry of Education Proposes Issuing Diplomas on the Blockchain

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In an attempt to fight against the falsification of university diplomas in Brazil, the Ministry of Education (MEC) has proposed, creating a Blockchain-based platform to issue digital certifications among non-state universities. According to Cointelegraph Brazil, MEC minister Abraham Weintraub has raised this possibility, which also seeks to create cohesion between diplomas and thus generate a space for self-regulation. To finance the creation of the platform, Brazilian newspaper Valor Economico has said that the resources will come from the private educational institutions themselves since they will be exclusively responsible for issuing…

Legendary Soccer Player Turned Face of BTC Pyramid Detained With Fake Passport

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Legendary soccer player Ronaldinho Gaúcho was ‘arrested’ trying to enter Paraguay with a fake passport. One of the greatest soccer players in the history of the sport and now under investigation for participation in companies accused of running cryptocurrency scams using his name, Ronaldinho Gaúcho, was detained on March 4, in Paraguay, according to Cointelegraph Brazil. The Paraguayan National Police reportedly entered the hotel suite where the former ace was staying at the Paraguay Golf Club and found two false Paraguayan passports in his name and his brother Roberto de…

BitGo Introduces Institutional Crypto Lending Service

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The world of crypto has developed at a breakneck pace over the past few years, and in a new development, cryptocurrency firm BitGo has announced the launch of its own crypto lending service. In recent times, the crypto lending industry has grown at a decent pace, but there is still room for a lot of growth. Key Expansion The announcement from BitGo is an important one and could usher in a new era in this niche space in the crypto sphere. The company claims to handles 20% of all transactions…

Blockchain Awareness Growing — but Still Needs 3 Things

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Speaking at the Hyperledger Global Forum 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona, the World Economic Forum’s head of blockchain and data policy, Sheila Warren, discussed blockchain’s potential to solve real-world problems.  Warren, who started her career as a lawyer on Wall Street before joining the WEF, began her keynote by explaining that in 2018, the conversations people were having at WEF’s annual event in Davos, Switzerland, were focused on the differences between Bitcoin (BTC) and blockchain technology: “In 2018, no one understood what blockchain was. While the technology had some obvious attributes,…

Why Coronavirus Could Be the U.S. Housing Market’s Unexpected Savior

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U.S. rental properties are becoming a “coronavirus safe haven,” according to Roofstock, a residential listings website. Investors from Asia, Europe and even Australia seem to believe the spread of coronavirus is more contained in the United States than elsewhere. The U.S. housing market is likely to benefit from reduced mortgage rates, but affordability issues and stagnant real wages could impede on growth. With coronavirus looking more like a global pandemic, risk-on assets like stocks have become too volatile to predict. According to one rental property sales website, investors from Europe…