The price of Bitcoin (BTC) has been ranging between $9,800 and $10,500 for nearly a week after a short fall from almost $12,100 seen on Sept. 1. As BTC struggles to show any distinctive price movement, traders are generally cautious. Over the medium to long term, traders expect Bitcoin to recover and perceive the ongoing consolidation phase as a healthy pullback. From July 16 to Aug. 17, Bitcoin rose from $9,005 to $12,486 on Coinbase, with a pullback arguably necessary to neutralize the futures market. A large portion of Bitcoin’s…
Month: September 2020
Blockchain needs to walk before it runs to DeFi
Decentralized finance has become the fastest-growing sector of the blockchain industry. Today, there are over 200 projects working on a wide variety of decentralized financial products and services. That number continues to increase every day as new DeFi-related projects launch. The most telling figure of this rapid growth is the staggering amount of money that is locked in DeFi, recently having passed the $7 billion threshold. The challenge is that increased growth leads to higher risks. As DeFi continues to grow at a rapid pace, this burgeoning industry will experience…
Russian blockchain voting system shows up on GitHub
As Russia is set to pilot a blockchain-based e-voting system, the country’s federal elections authority has provided public access to the platform’s source code. According to an official announcement by Russia’s Central Election Commission, or CEC, the source code for the e-voting system was partly released on GitHub on Sept. 7. The initial release included the source code for smart contracts and front-end elements of the e-voting platform like developer libraries and servers responsible for the vote count. According to the CEC, the internal elements of the e-voting platform are…
Belarusian crypto exchange looks to Lithuania amid political turmoil
Amid the ongoing political unrest in Belarus, some local cryptocurrency-related companies are reportedly setting up backup offices in neighboring countries. Currency.com, a Minsk-headquartered crypto trading company, is reportedly planning to open an office in Lithuania to provide a safe place for its employees. According to a Sept. 8 report by local news agency TUT.BY, Currency.com is offering its Belarus-based employees to “take a sabbatical” in Vilnius amid election-fueled unrest. Cryptocurrency. com CEO Jonathan Squires reportedly said that the company will maintain its offices in Minsk, while relocation is voluntary. “We…
DCG’s Foundry to finance Bitmain customers in North America
China’s crypto mining giant Bitmain has entered a new partnership to streamline its operations in North America. As Bitmain officially announced on Sept. 10, the company has officially partnered with Foundry, a wholly-owned crypto mining subsidiary of major cryptocurrency firm, Digital Currency Group, or DCG. Within the partnership, Foundry will provide financing to Bitmain’s end customers in North America. According to Bitmain, obtaining financing is more difficult for crypto miners than for firms in other industries. Foundry, in its turn, will help “ship a significant number of machines into North…
Revolut expands to Japan as its first non-English speaking market
Revolut, a major European cryptocurrency-friendly trading application is expanding to another major market. The London-based firm has launched its digital banking app in Japan, as Revolut announced in a Sept. 8 tweet. According to a report by The Nikkei, Japan is the first non-English speaking market for Revolut. Headquartered in London, the company reportedly has 13 million users worldwide, operating in European countries, the United States, Australia and Singapore. As reported, Revolut’s initial roll out in Japan will be limited to “international transfers” and “managing money in 23 currencies.” Registered…
Whale vault gobbles up virtual real estate for development in The Sandbox
The Whale non-fungible token vault has become the second-largest holder of virtual land in The Sandbox game — and its owner plans to become a virtual real estate developer. WHALE tokens represent fractional ownership in The Vault — the private NFT collection of the prominent crypto investor and social media profile ‘WhaleShark_Pro.’ It has garnered a $16 million market cap despite holding just $1 million worth of NFTs, suggesting many speculators believe WhaleShark’s collection of rare tokens is likely to grow in value significantly. Blockchain intelligence firm Messari estimates that…
Chinese authorities charge six people over $5.8B PlusToken ponzi scheme
Six of the 109 individuals recent arrested by Chinese authorities in connection with the $5.8 billion crypto Ponzi PlusToken have been charged. The defendants Chen Shaofeng, Luu Jianghua, Lu Jianghua, Lu Qinghai, Jin Xinghai, Wang Yin, and Zhang Qin were charged by prosecutors in Xiangshui County and Yancheng City on September 7. The authorities said they were “suspected in organizing and leading criminal pyramid schemes.” Official announcement of PlusToken scammers’ prosecution: 12309.gov.cn 109 individuals suspected of involvement with PlusToken were arrested in late July, including 27 persons believed to be…
Banks failing to identify up to 90% of suspicious crypto transactions
Financial institutions worldwide have reported 134,500 suspicious transactions concerning virtual currencies in the past two years — but that’s just the tip of the iceberg according to a report published by blockchain forensics firm CipherTrace. The report says the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has seen a major increase in suspicious transaction reports from institutions since publishing its May 2019 Advisory on Illicit Activity Involving Convertible Virtual Currency (CVC). Despite this, CipherTrace asserts that many financial institutions have developed inadequate “home-grown” systems for identifying cryptocurrency-related accounts and transactions, that simply…
US legislators approve bills for study of blockchain in commerce
The Committee on Energy and Commerce has just approved two pieces of legislation to spur more in-depth analysis of blockchain technology in government, clearing the way for their vote in the House of Representatives. In an online debate moderated by Chamber of Digital Commerce founder Perianne Boring on Sept. 9, Democratic Representative of Florida’s 9th District Darren Soto announced that after “nearly two years of pushing,” the Committee on Energy and Commerce had passed the Digital Taxonomy Act. In addition, the committee approved the American COMPETE Act. Both pieces of legislation…