Waves Claims 70x Increase in Smart Contract Speed Amid Enterprise Upgrades

Russian blockchain firm Waves has announced updates to its enterprise platform, including accelerated smart contract execution, licensing fees and inter-chain anchoring. On March 17, Waves wrote that the new Version 1.2 of Waves Enterprise will enable an increase in containerized smart contract execution speeds by up to 70 times.  The company has sped up execution times by replacing the platform’s former REST communication protocol with Google’s Remote Procedure Call (gRPC) — which containerizes contract execution by removing guest operating systems from the protocol. The speed-up in contract execution will facilitate…

NEO-Based DEX Partners With Zilliqa to Add Ethereum and EOS Assets

NEO-based decentralized exchange (DEX) Switcheo partnered with the Zilliqa blockchain to allow trading of Ethereum- and EOS-based assets on the platform. According to an announcement on March 16, after the launch, Zilliqa token holders will be able to access Ethereum-based assets for the first time. A Switcheo spokesperson also informed Cointelegraph that there are plans to add Bitcoin (BTC) support as well. The two teams plan to launch a minimum viable product by the end of Q2 2020 and external user acceptance testing by Q3. The development is expected to…

Here’s How Bitcoin Can Bring Digital Gold Narrative Back to Life

Evidence shows that whales are buying the massive bitcoin dip. Bitcoin’s digital gold narrative was crushed in the recent selloff. If whales are indeed buying the dip, bitcoin can eventually regain its digital gold status. Bitcoin has wiped out many traders over the last few days. The intense selloffs coupled with extreme volatility are shaking weak hands out. We know this because the average lifespan of coins that moved in March is around one month. This suggests that those who bought between January and February this year have capitulated. Glassnode…

Here’s How Bitcoin Can Bring Digital Gold Narrative Back to Life

Evidence shows that whales are buying the massive bitcoin dip. Bitcoin’s digital gold narrative was crushed in the recent selloff. If whales are indeed buying the dip, bitcoin can eventually regain its digital gold status. Bitcoin has wiped out many traders over the last few days. The intense selloffs coupled with extreme volatility are shaking weak hands out. We know this because the average lifespan of coins that moved in March is around one month. This suggests that those who bought between January and February this year have capitulated. Glassnode…

Why ‘Setup’ Matters for Cryptocurrency Privacy

Privacy is a core characteristic of cryptocurrencies. Despite mainstream conception, however, it is not the primary goal of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) or Ether (ETH), and is more of an ancillary benefit of using cryptography. The situation is altogether different for cryptocurrencies that seek to maximize anonymity when transacting on the network. Networks like Monero (XMR) and ZCash (ZEC) have soared in popularity, making up part of the handful of leading cryptocurrencies by market cap based on strong guarantees of privacy. Both blockchains offer users virtually complete privacy assurances —…

Bitcoin Jumps as US Stock Futures Rebound after Coronavirus-induced Sell-off

Bitcoin traded higher on Tuesday following a severe sell-off that saw its prices plunge by circa $900 at the start of this week. The benchmark cryptocurrency jumped to intraday high of $5,466 from its weekly low, up 23.34 percent as traders hunted for short-term profits. The move upside quickly followed a weak pullback into the European morning session, bringing price about $200 lower. BTC/USD posts intraday gains after Monday’s rout | Source: TradingView.com, Coinbase Bitcoin’s upside moves followed a similar recovery in the US stock futures. According to CNBC pre-market…

KuCoin Names Co-Founder Johnny Lyu As KuCoin Global CEO

The Seychelles-based crypto exchange KuCoin today announced the establishment of KuGroup, appointing CEO Michael Gan as Chairman of KuGroup and co-founder Johnny Lyu as CEO of KuCoin Global. According to an announcement from KuCoin, the newly established KuGroup consists of three business groups: KuCoin Global, KuCloud, and KuChain & KCS Ecosystem. With their new roles, Michael Gan will oversee the global strategy of KuCoin Global and put more efforts on exploring the boundaries of blockchain technology with KuChain, a public blockchain powered by KuCoin, and how to integrate the group’s…

BitMEX, OKEx, Binance and Deribit: Which Stood out in This Extreme Market with Best Market Depth

Last week was some of the darkest hours of global financial markets. Affected by the COVID-19 epidemic and oil price war, global stock markets, crude oil price, gold price and futures markets dived successively. While people were eager to seek robust investment targets and found that Bitcoin might be the last sort of safe-haven asset, BTC plummeted by approximately 50% on March 13 to a low of $3,791.9. The sudden drop in prices not only impacted the entire crypto market, but also challenged crypto exchanges worldwide. When huge traffic flooded…

Coinbase Card Now Available on Android Phones Through Google Pay

Coinbase Card users owning supported Android phones can now avoid using the physical card. Through an integration with Google Pay announced on March 17, the card can be emulated by a mobile phone. The Coinbase Card connects a holder’s cryptocurrency balance on the exchange, which is then used for spending crypto via an instant conversion to fiat. The card can only be issued to residents of the European Union and European Economic Area, as well as the United Kingdom. Once issued, the card can be used anywhere Visa is supported.…

Binance and Indian Exchange WazirX Announce $50M Blockchain for India Fund

Major crypto exchange Binance and WazirX — the Indian competitor it acquired in November 2019 — have announced a fund aimed at sustaining blockchain development in India. The “Blockchain for India” initiative was announced on March 16 and it is meant to promote the use and adoption of blockchain technologies in the country. With WazirX, the firm has set up a $50 million fund backed by Binance Coin (BNB), Binance USD (BUSD) and WazirX (WRX) to invest in local blockchain projects. WazirX CEO and founder Nischal Shetty said: “With this…