As the blockchain space continues to mature, enterprises are starting to realize the technology’s capabilities. A major promise of blockchain is its ability to connect industries that typically operate in silos, bringing about new opportunities for data-sharing and increased transparency. While private blockchain networks are efficient for sharing sensitive data between network participants, public blockchain networks like Ethereum are gaining traction for organizations seeking data integrity. A report by Big Four firm Ernst & Young published in November 2019 found that the number one use case for enterprise blockchain adoption…
Month: August 2020
Switzerland’s top online retailer completes transaction with digital franc
Galaxus, the largest online retailer in Switzerland, could start accepting payments in a stablecoin issued by local cryptocurrency bank Sygnum. According to an Aug. 27 tweet by Sygnum, the companies have just completed an electronic commerce payment using Sygnum Bank’s stablecoin known as Digital Swiss Franc (DCHF). As officially announced, the e-commerce transaction was enabled by Denmark-based crypto payment processor Coinify. Launched in March 2020, Sygnum’s DCHF stablecoin is pegged one-to-one to with the Swiss franc, and intends to eliminate the need for card systems, reduce settlement costs and fraud,…
Belarus crackdown has tech firms restless
A political crisis, mass detention of peaceful citizens and internet blocking in Belarus are hitting the country’s IT sector hard. Amid this social turmoil, some companies are moving their offices and servers abroad, others are using VPN services, while some are advising their customers to buy cryptocurrencies. What is happening in Belarus, a country that just a couple of years ago was considered to be a favorable jurisdiction for IT and cryptocurrency projects? And how is digital technology helping its people regain their social and economic freedom? A failed Silicon…
Telegram supports protests in Belarus with new opposition flag emoji
Major encrypted messaging app provider Telegram has expressed support for the mass protests in Belarus against sitting President Alexander Lukashenko. On Aug. 25, the Telegram app introduced a new animated emoji to replace the national flag of Belarus with the white-red-white flag. Opposed to the official red and green flag of Belarus, the white-red-white flag is used as a symbol of the opposition to Lukashenko’s regime. With the new feature, the emoji of Belarus’ national flag automatically turns to the animated opposition flag when a single symbol is typed in…
Libra replaces general counsel Robert Werner after 3 months
Stevan Bunnel, former general counsel for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has been revealed as the Libra Association’s new leading lawyer. Since leaving the Homeland Security Department in 2017, Bunnell co-chaired the data privacy-focused legal practice O’Melveny & Myers until joining the Libra Association this month. The association’s former general counsel, Robert Werner told Bloomberg Law that he chose to depart from the position after it became clear it meant he would have to relinquish an existing position on the boards of directors for Deutsche Bank Trust Co.…
Bitcoin Capital hopes to foster mass crypto adoption via its exchange-traded product
Investment firm Bitcoin Capital hopes that its exchange-traded product will foster mass crypto adoption. The firm’s Bitcoin Capital Active Exchange Traded Product, or BTCA, is traded on the Swiss Stock Exchange. It can discretionarily allocate funds to fifteen different cryptocurrencies and fiat. Daniel Diemers, one of the directors of FICAS, the company that manages the product, told Cointelegraph that these types of products are essential for the mass adoption of Bitcoin: It is easy tradable. We have seen already here in Switzerland that some of the popular online banks like Swissquote, which…
The frontrunner in ByBit’s trading competition is up 4000% so far
A trader has managed to secure over 4,000% profit in less than three weeks as part of the World Series of Trading, or WSOT — a competition hosted by leverage crypto trading exchange, Bybit. Using his Twitter name for the competition, SalsaTekila appears on the WSOT troop leaderboard, advancing his team forward with 4,495.95% profit. The trader started the competition trading with just 0.19 Bitcoin (BTC), but has managed to turn that into about 8.76 BTC over the course of the competition. The trader jumped on Tone Vays’ YouTube channel on Aug.…
Indian crypto P2P market size triples despite regulatory uncertainty
Even as fears of another blanket ban on India’s digital asset market linger on, peer-to-peer Bitcoin trading within the Asian powerhouse is still surging, hitting all-time highs over the first week of August. This immense growth was initially spurred by the Supreme Court’s unequivocal decision earlier in March 2020 to repeal an unconstitutional circular imposed by the Reserve Bank of India forbidding local banks and various financial institutions from providing services to crypto exchanges and investors. According to data aggregated by peer-to-peer Bitcoin (BTC) marketplaces Paxful and Localbitcoins, weekly trading…
Russia’s Sberbank and S7 Airlines to sell flight tickets for tokens
Sberbank, the largest state-owned bank in Russia, is working with a major domestic airline company to introduce a blockchain-based ticket sale system. Russia’s largest bank is reportedly collaborating with S7 Airlines on a new ticket sale platform that will enable corporate clients with instant settlement through smart contracts and tokens. According to an Aug. 26 report by local newspaper Kommersant, the new system is planned to roll out in September 2020. This would be the first time virtual tokens are used for payment and settlement in Russia, the report notes.…
What Binance’s choice of integration protocol tells us about DeFi projects
Compound Finance and Kava Labs were chosen as Binance’s two integration partners for the leading cryptocurrency exchange taking its first step into decentralized finance by launching DeFi staking. Time will tell if the benefit of Compound and Kava’s integration will provide value to the crypto community. So far, the indication looks promising, as the new DeFi staking product integration on Binance reached oversubscription in 30 minutes. With Kava launching its testnet soon, thereby allowing for even more than just Binance Coin (BNB) to migrate to its exchange, the bridge to…