Day: October 3, 2020

Abkhazia Lifts Two-Year Ban on Bitcoin Mining, Moves to Regulate the Sector

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Abkhazia, the self-governing but disputed territory of just 245,000 people sandwiched between Russia and Georgia, has lifted its two-year ban on cryptocurrency mining. The ban came into effect in December 2018 after a surge in mining activity left the region facing an energy crisis. Now, the government is moving to regulate the industry in an effort to flush out illegal miners as well as to control the amount of electricity utilized in the extraction of bitcoin. According to Abkhazia’s official cabinet website, the new plan will include regulation by the…

China Warns of Too Much Economic Stimulus

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China’s former finance minister warns the world is at risk of turmoil. The trouble is loose monetary policies and economic stimulus measures. That’s a joke coming from the world’s largest managed economy. Lou Jiwei, former finance minister of China, recently warned that the nation could be stuck in economic turmoil for years. Anti-Globalization, Overstimulated Economies Are the Problem Lou sees the problem as two-fold. The first problem is that anti-globalization views will likely persist. That could pinch world trade and keep economies from recovering from the coronavirus as quickly as…

Belarus News Media Considers Decentralized Tech to Push Back Internet Censorship

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Amid the ongoing political unrest and frequent internet shutdown or censorship, the local media outlets in Belarus are using decentralized technology to connect with peers outside. Solutions like NewNode, VPNs, and other proxies have surged in popularity. The political unrest in Belarus continues to escalate after the latest controversial elections in the European Republic. On Friday, October 2, the Belarus government announced canceling press accreditations for all foreign journalists with immediate effect. This move creates further trouble blocking its citizens from accessing all local media websites. Some media outlets in…

Crypto Exchange Coinbase Hands Over Customer Data to UK Tax Authority

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Coinbase is handing over customer data to the British tax authority, Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC). The measure affects customers with a U.K. address who received more than £5,000 ($6,450) worth of cryptocurrency during the 2019/20 tax year. On Oct. 2, Coinbase sent an email to its U.K. users advising them that it will share their account information with the HMRC. The exchange said the tax agency originally asked for records relating to all UK customers dating back to 2017, but it later worked out a plan that resulted…

XRP Ledger blockchain energizes decarbonization, but tokenization a challenge

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As tech giants like Google and Facebook announce plans to become carbon-neutral businesses by 2030, smaller companies are doing the same. The only difference is that innovative startups are taking clever approaches that seek to be more effective than those implemented by large, centralized companies. For example, Ripple — a fintech company that allows banks, payment providers and digital asset exchanges to send money using blockchain — has committed to becoming carbon net-zero by 2030. In order to meet this goal, Ripple has unveiled a set of initiatives driven largely…

USPTO Grants Ripple Patent for Oracle-Based Smart Contracts System

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The patent presents interesting use cases for data transactions between the Ripple ecosystem with the outside world. It also provides a new opportunity for Ripple to develop interesting smart contract apps for tangible and as intangible assets. On Friday, October 2, San Francisco-based blockchain startup Ripple Labs added yet another feather to its cap. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted Ripple Labs the patent for a smart contract design that collects data from the outside world using oracles. The patent is a milestone achievement for Ripple and…

Zimbabwe’s Stock Exchange Open to Crypto Listing Subject to ‘Regulatory Approval’

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Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) CEO Justin Bgoni says its recently licensed subsidiary, the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange is open to listing bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. However, according to local media reports, any such listings are still dependent on the digital asset issuers getting “regulatory approval.” The report does not provide any details of requirements that cryptocurrency issuers must meet for their respective tokens to get listed. Furthermore, some in Zimbabwe’s small crypto community are still skeptical about the announcement especially since it is not coming from the regulators. Others say…

Synthetix (SNX) Investors Are Accumulating the Coin In Waves

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It’s been a tough past few days for the entire crypto market. Synthetix Network Token (SNX), in particular, has dropped rather hard: the coin is down 5% in the past 24 hours alone and nearly 20% below the local highs. Despite the drop and widespread range trading seen over the past month, investors are bullish. Related Reading: Ethereum Transaction Fees Surge to All-Time Highs After Uniswap Launch Synthetix Network Token (SNX) Is Being Accumulated En-Masse: Blockchain Data According to Matt Casto, a crypto-asset analyst working for CMT Digital, there are…

Bitcoin price says keep calm and carry on

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Bitcoin (BTC) price appears on the verge of closing another week pinned below the $11,000 resistance but given the major events of the week, things could have been so much worse.  Cryptocurrency daily market performance snapshot. Source: Coin360 The top-ranked cryptocurrency by market cap held its ground as KuCoin revealed more than $150 million worth of assets had been stolen from the exchange, and the price only stumbled slightly as the CTFC announced that legal action was being taken against BitMEX exchange.  The price again avoided collapse when DOW and…

What Happens If The CFTC Targets Tether Next?

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The unthinkable just happened: Bitcoin derivatives trading platform BitMEX is being targeted by the CFTC for a variety of charges, and the company’s CTO has already been arrested related to the case. Now, the worst possible scenario could be on the horizon: The United States regulator could target Tether and parent company Bitfinex next. Here’s how this black swan event could play out, and how it could be devastating to the entire fabric of the cryptocurrency if this happens. Crypto Industry Giants Feel The Pressure Following CFTC Taking On BitMEX…