Day: July 30, 2020

Binance Confirms Crypto Debit Cards Shipping to Europe

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Binance has confirmed the shipping of its crypto debit cards to Europe following a tweet from Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, or CZ, several days ago. “We began shipping a limited quantity of Binance Cards on July 24,” a Binance representative told Cointelegraph in a July 27 email. “The cards are being shipped to users in European Economic Area,” the representative added.   CZ posted on social media about the card shipments CZ tweeted the news out in an unofficial capacity on July 25. “This started shipping in limited quantities as…

Dollar Falls to Lowest Level in Over 2 Years While Gold, Silver, Bitcoin Continue to Shine

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The dollar on Thursday dropped to its lowest level since May 2018 as the Federal Reserve said it plans to keep interest rates close to zero, and inflation hedges continue to show strength.  Disclosure The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. Original

Cryptocurrency Adoption Is Growing, But US Needs To Adopt A Solid Blockchain Policy

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In order to be ahead of other countries in the ever-growing industry of blockchain, the US needs to come up with an enforceable and consistent blockchain policy.   Blockchain Industry Is Changing   With the current focus on technology moguls and the growing competition within the industry, including the recent July 2020  antitrust hearing of the “Big Four” tech companies and US Congress, coming up with an established blockchain policy is very important for the crypto community to grow. Also, it will enable US to stay in the lead, making it not only the trading monopoly of the world…

Fan Token Platform Socios Secures Key Regulatory License

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Socios.com, a blockchain startup aiming to tokenize the sports industry, has secured a major regulatory license allowing it to issue its own payments and loyalty card. Issued by the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit, or FIU, the new license has been granted to the new Estonia-based entity called Socios Entertainment OU. Announcing the news on July 30, Socios’ partner project Chiliz.net noted that the FIU is the responsible authority for licensing crypto-related firms in the country. Socios’ prepaid fiat-crypto card is “due in the very near future” The new license allows…

5 Years In, Ethereum Network Growth Echoes Nvidia’s Pre-2016 Bull Run

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In July 2016, a mere four years ago, Nvidia was a $26-billion company focused on GPU chips and graphic card production. In comparison, the long-standing sector leader was Intel Corp, with a $166-billion market capitalization.  The nearly 40-year old chip manufacturer was a blue-chip Fortune 500 company and at the time, it was likely unfazed by such a small competitor. Nvidia’s previous peak market capitalization occurred in October 2007 as its value approached $22 billion. After the 2008 financial crisis, the stock collapsed over 80% and took nine years to…

Audius Rallies EDM Artists, Crypto VCs to Back Vision for Music Payments on Ethereum

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Music is back on the blockchain.  Audius, a streaming service that connects music fans directly with artists, has raised $3.1 million in a strategic round co-led by Multicoin Capital and Blockchange Ventures, with participation from Pantera Capital and Coinbase Ventures.  Audius has now raised a total of $8.6 million as the platform prepares for prime time, having grown in less than a year to over 250,000 monthly users and 40,000 artists. EDM artists seem to be the site’s burgeoning specialty with notables including RAC, deadmau5, Lido, 3LAU, Zeds Dead, Mr.…

US Banks Get Crypto Custody Nod, but Instant Demand Surge Is Unlikely

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The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a division of the United States Treasury that supervises banking in the country, on July 22, issued an interpretive letter clarifying that nationally chartered banks are allowed to provide cryptocurrency custody services to their customers extended to storing cryptographic keys associated with the currencies.  In its letter, the OCC recognizes the current need for banks and other financial service providers to leverage blockchain technology and provide related services to their customers. In addition to national banks, this permission extends to state banks…

Blockchain Bites: Plus Token Ponzi Popped, Cardano Forked and tZERO Cut

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Cardano hard forked to its proof-of-stake network, token platform tZERO cut staff and compensation, and a derivatives exchange is looking to list on Nasdaq. You’re reading Blockchain Bites, the daily roundup of the most pivotal stories in blockchain and crypto news, and why they’re significant. You can subscribe to this and all of CoinDesk’s newsletters here.  Top shelf Hello, ShelleyCardano is now running a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. Announced Wednesday, the open-source smart-contract platform designed to challenge Ethereum’s lead position, hard-forked from the centralized Byron network into the decentralized Shelley network. IOHK, the lead design…

Panasonic Plans to Boost Energy Density of Tesla Batteries by 20%

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Panasonic announces plans to boost the energy density of the battery cells it supplies to Tesla by 20 percent in five years. TSLA stock is 0.15% down to trade around $1,496 at the time of reporting. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) enthusiasts and shareholders got something to smile about, despite the market retracement from its ATH. According to Reuters, Panasonic Corp (TYO: 6752) plans to boost the energy density of “2170” battery cells it supplies to Tesla by 20% in five years. In addition, the company has promised to commercialize a…

Suspects Detained in Ukraine for Bomb Threats Demanding Bitcoin

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The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) detained terrorists who demanded bitcoin in return for not blowing up buildings in the country’s capital. According to a post on SSU’s Facebook page, two 60-year-old men posted a paper note on an apartment building in Kyiv threatening to blow up that building or another one if they didn’t receive 50 BTC to their bitcoin address. To prove they were serious, the alleged terrorists detonated a small bomb near a subway station on July 21 and then called the police twice, reporting bombs were…