Month: March 2020

YouTube Scam Impersonates Ripple CEO Garlinghouse for Fake XRP Airdrop

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Despite YouTube’s many aggressive actions against cryptocurrency-related content, the world’s most popular video-hosting website is apparently having trouble discovering a major scam account involving crypto. On March 23, the crypto community spotted a bogus YouTube account impersonating Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of major blockchain company Ripple, in order to promote a fake airdrop scam.  Video containing fake XRP airdrop description was uploaded on YouTube on March 19 The apparent scam account has around 277,000 subscribers and contains only one video, which promotes a fake giveaway in the third-biggest cryptocurrency, XRP. Uploaded…

Russian Ministry Wants to Test Crypto and Blockchain in Regulatory Sandboxes

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Amid regulatory uncertainty for cryptocurrencies in Russia, a federal ministry introduced legislation that would legalize crypto and blockchain within a special regulatory environment. The Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation has reportedly prepared a draft law that would allow the testing of cryptocurrency and blockchain developments within a special regulatory sandbox. Sandbox to unlock blockchain and crypto testing in eight industries According to a March 24 report by local news agency Izvestia, the draft law was introduced to the State Duma — the lower house of the Federal…

Crypto Mining Crunch Time – Bitcoin Halving Less Than 50 Days Away While Global Economy Shudders

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On or around May 13, the BTC network will see a block reward reduction as miners will go from getting 12.5 coins per block to 6.25 coins following the halving. The last time the protocol’s block reward halved was on July 9, 2016, and the global economy looked a whole lot different back then. This time around, while BTC miners see reward reductions the world’s financial system has been crumbling and the digital asset’s value is much lower than it was four weeks ago. Also read: Countdown to Block Reward…

Alipay Patents Reveal More Details About China’s Forthcoming CBDC

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In the past month, Chinese payments platform Alipay has disclosed a number of patents relating to and revealing more details of China’s planned central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital yuan. According to a report in local media outlet Interchain Pulse on March 23, Alipay is set to play an integral part in the major functions of the currency when it is launched. Alipay to be a secondary issuer of China’s CBDC The first patent, published Feb. 21, revealed that Alipay is likely to be involved as a third-party operating…

Alipay Patents Reveal More Details About China’s Forthcoming CBDC

boss

In the past month, Chinese payments platform Alipay has disclosed a number of patents relating to and revealing more details of China’s planned central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital yuan. According to a report in local media outlet Interchain Pulse on March 23, Alipay is set to play an integral part in the major functions of the currency when it is launched. Alipay to be a secondary issuer of China’s CBDC The first patent, published Feb. 21, revealed that Alipay is likely to be involved as a third-party operating…

Mt. Gox Creditors to Meet Tomorrow As Reimbursement Process Inches Forward

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In the latest sign of a step forward in a lengthy compensation process, the infamous hacked Bitcoin (BTC) exchange Mt. Gox appears to be hosting a new meeting for its creditors tomorrow, March 25. In an official announcement posted to the now-defunct exchange’s website on March 24, Mt. Gox’s rehabilitation trustee notified creditors of a new portal through which they will be able to access all documents to be distributed at tomorrow’s meeting. As previously reported, as many as 24,000 creditors are thought to have been affected by Bitcoin exchange…

Fintech Giant Revolut Launches in the US, Initially Without Crypto Support

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United Kingdom-born digital banking app Revolut is launching today, March 24, in the United States — but investors will have to wait for its crypto trading functionality to be up and running. Revolut’s rollout in the U.S. follows a major partnership with Visa back in October, which paved the way for the fintech’s global expansion to 24 new markets, including North America. That same month, it expanded its partnership with Mastercard to further support its U.S. offering. The neobank and smartphone app is already firmly established in Europe — with…

BitAngels Will Go Fully Virtual to Keep Community Active During COVID-19 Outbreak

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The industry’s first angel network for digital currency startups, BitAngels, is launching a series of virtual pitch events to keep investors connected during the global coronavirus pandemic. On March 25, BitAngels founder Michael Terpin said the network’s transition to a fully-online model of collaborations and events aims to keep the blockchain investment community “active and thriving” through uncertain times. (Locked)down but not out While the lockdown across many of the world’s major economies may be unprecedented, Terpin wrote that the model, in some sense, returns the network to “its roots…

Bitcoin Price Eyeing $7,000 After Fed Says it Has ‘Infinite Cash’

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Bitcoin (BTC) and gold showed clear signs of strength on March 24 as the United States Federal Reserve revealed the true extent of its money printing.  Having cleared $6,000 on Monday, BTC/USD went on to hold ground at around $6,500. At the same time, gold rallied, as market analysts suggested its recent selloff was over. Fed: We have “infinite cash” The precious metal traded at around $1,572 at press time, a daily improvement of 1.35%.  Bitcoin versus gold 1-year chart. Source: Skew.com For gold, the rebound echoed behavior during the…

Major Crypto Player-Backed PAC to use Tokens to ‘Vote’ for Candidates

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One of the hot button issues for elections in the United States is separating money and politics. At the center of this topic is political action committees (PACs), organizations that can support candidates or legislation with money raised privately. HODLpac, the PAC founded by Tyler Whirty of the venture capital firm the Takoma Group, may be looking at a new way for Americans to donate to congressional candidates using crypto. By doing so, they may not only demonstrate how blockchain can be utilized for campaign contributions, but also supporting crypto-friendly…