Day: March 11, 2020

Blockchain R&D Funding Is Vital, but It Mostly Comes From One Source

boss

On March 4, Twitter topman Jack Dorsey’s digital-assets payment company Square Crypto released a statement showcasing its support for Bitcoin (BTC) development with the creation of a grant program that aims to contribute toward the enhancement of the premier cryptocurrency’s native ecosystem. More specifically, the company revealed that its grant program is open to developers interested in pursuing this field of work. Two developers have already received monetary support from the company: BTCPay Server received $100,000 to continue its work relating to Square’s open-source payment processor, and a pseudonymous developer…

Bitcoin Risks Breakdown to $6.5k as Selling Continues Near Long-term Support

boss

Highlights: Booming global panic could prompt Bitcoin traders to break long-term support trendline. A key technical indicator is confirming a breakdown towards $6,500, bitcoin’s reliable price floor during the 2018 crash and also the 2019’s bottom. Bitcoin is risking declines to as low as $6,500 as panicked sellers threaten to break a long-term support area. The benchmark cryptocurrency plunged 0.62 percent on Wednesday, suggesting that its downside momentum is likely to extend further. The bearish sentiment followed a frantic week that saw bitcoin tanking from $9,214 to as low as…

Australian Tax Watchdog Contacting Crypto Holders to ‘Remind Them’ to Pay Up

boss

In the coming weeks, hundreds of thousands of Australian crypto investors are set to receive a reminder of their tax obligations from the country’s authorities. Citing an unnamed Australian Tax Office (ATO) representative, news.com.au reported on the forthcoming campaign on March 11. “Up to a million” Australians estimated to be buying or selling crypto In 2019, ATO had published its guidance framework on the taxation on cryptocurrencies, defining Bitcoin (BTC) and other crypto-assets as taxable forms of property. In addition to this, the office published a Data Matching Protocol for…

Blockchain Lender Reports 300% Surge as Fed Slashes Interest Rates

boss

A blockchain lending firm has seen the value of total loans funded surge to $1 billion since the United States Federal Reserve announced its emergency stimulus interest rate cut last week. In an announcement on March 10, Figure Technologies — which claims to be the industry’s first fintech to bring lending to the blockchain — said loan applications with the firm had soared by 300% since the Fed’s action. Unprecedented low interest rates Since its launch in 2018, Figure Technologies has used its blockchain, Provenance, to process consumer loans; one…

New Celo Alliance Has Same Aims as Libra – And Some of the Same Partners

boss

The Silicon Valley crypto startup cLabs, focused on mobile payments and the Celo blockchain project, is following another precedent from Facebook’s Libra playbook by launching an industry association through a separate Celo Foundation. Dozens of blockchain companies and investors – including Libra Association members Coinbase, Andreessen Horowitz, Bison Trails and Anchorage – are committing to promote Celo tokens in some fashion by joining this “Alliance for Prosperity.” “The Alliance will use blockchain technology to reimagine the future of money and create inclusive financial tools,” C Labs founder Rene Reinsberg said…

UK Gov’t Includes Blockchain in Negotiation for US Free Trade Agreement

boss

The United Kingdom’s Department for International Trade recently published its agenda for negotiation of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States. Contained within the wide-reaching document, blockchain is identified as one area in which businesses and the country will benefit from an FTA. The document sets out the U.K. government’s position coming into the negotiation of a post-Brexit FTA with the U.S. It lays out the country’s key objectives for such an agreement and ring-fences certain institutions and protections as non-negotiable. These include Britain’s National Health Service and…

DeFi Project Backed by Polychain and DragonFly Capital Shuts Down

boss

Decentralized finance project Paradigm Labs — backed by veteran crypto investors Polychain Capital, Dragonfly Capital, and Chapter One Ventures — is shutting down. In an announcement yesterday, March 10, CEO and co-founder Liam Kovatch said the closure was due to Paradigm’s “failure to carve a viable niche in the DEX [decentralized exchange] marketplace” and to factors both “within and outside” of the team’s control. Out of step with a fast-evolving DeFi landscape Founded in 2018, Paradigm Labs raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding for the development of a product…

YouTube Temporarily Bans Two Popular Crypto Channels Claiming Policy Breach

boss

YouTube has deleted videos and temporarily banned the accounts of two more cryptocurrency enthusiasts citing a breach in company policy. Earlier this week, cryptocurrency educator “Ivan on Tech” and crypto news reporter “The Moon” took to Twitter to express their anger over being censored for what they believed were overreactions by the video sharing platform. YouTube had delivered a strike notice to both accounts, which essentially restricts the ability for content creators to upload videos, live streams or stories for a set period, based on the number of strikes received…

After A High-Profile Hack, bZx Announces Its Way Forward

boss

The co-founder of bZx protocol, which was hacked last month, has taken full responsibility for the lapse and pledges changes for the future. The company that almost broke DeFi is asking for a new beginning. When the decentralized lending protocol bZx was hacked to the tune of some $1 million last month, some started questioning the future of decentralized finance, commonly referred to as DeFi.  On March 9, bZx co-founder Kyle Kistner published a post on the company’s website titled “Mea Culpa: A New Beginning.” The post retraces all the…

Bithumb Partners With Chainalysis Amid Tightening Korean Regulations

boss

On March 10, major South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb announced it has partnered with crypto forensics firm Chainanylsis following the passing of new Korean crypto regulations. Bithumb will employ Chainalysis’s “Reactor” investigations tool to examine suspicious activity on its platform in a bid to comply with Korea’s recently amended Special Financial Transactions Information Act. South Korean crypto exchanges must comply with new regulations by 2021 Certain provisions in the act will take 12 months to come into effect, with the new apparatus expected to be fully implemented after a further…