Cardano Enters The Basho Stage: How It Improves Performance

The software platform Cardano has entered the third stage of its roadmap, the Basho era. It promises to improve the network’s performance and scalability. Cardano’s roadmap is “a summary of Cardano development” divided into five eras to deliver improvements in diverse functionalities of the network that are “delivered across multiple code releases”. Now that the platform’s core smart contract capability Plutus has been deployed, the launch of the Basho era focuses on scaling Cardano, promising “Parameter adjustments, improvements, enhancements and other innovations” supposed to increase the network’s capacity. They also…

Visa Teams Up With Consensys To Build Payment Infrastructure For CBDCs

Visa and ConsenSys, a blockchain software startup, are working to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot program to explore retail applications such as cards and wallets. Both firms will first meet with an estimated 30 central banks to discuss the goals that governments hope to achieve with government-backed digital currency. The pilot program is scheduled to begin in the spring of this year. Visa To Pilot CBDC In Select Countries Visa (V) announced on Thursday that it will take its crypto services to the next level by teaming…

3 ways blockchain technology could further mainstream in 2022

2021 was a breakout year for the cryptocurrency sector and this year is expected to see an extension of the “mass adoption” trend. Public awareness of blockchain technology is on the rise and a new cohort of projects designed to fill more niche roles in society are likely to emerge in the coming months. Three sectors that have the potential to see significant growth in 2022 are human resources (HR), employee payment solutions and platforms that serve the gig economy by offering corporate blockchain solutions. HR might pivot toward blockchain…

What’s In Store For MicroStrategy Going Forward? CEO Michael Saylor Reveals

MicroStrategy has been topping its bitcoin holdings in the last year and is now the public company with the largest bitcoin holdings in the world. Presently, the firm holds over 124K BTC on its balance sheet, worth over $5 billion, remaining in profit despite the recent downtrend. However, with such a large holding, one tends to wonder what the company plans to do with the digital asset in the future. Bitcoin Is Unstoppable MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor was on CNBC to talk about the future of the firm which had…

Strike App Won’t Support Bitcoin in Argentina

One Argentinian user, Nicolás, told CoinDesk that the app can receive bitcoin payments but immediately converts the cryptocurrency to USDT. He said that the Strike wallet only holds USDT. Another Strike user in Argentina, Adam, tweeted that the app was “a disappointment,” describing the app as a custodial wallet that works only with tether under the ERC-20 standard. Source

British Lawmakers Say a CBDC Is Likely to Hurt Financial Stability — Digital Pound Benefits Overstated – Fintech Bitcoin News

According to British lawmakers, a central bank digital currency (CBDC) is likely to raise the cost of borrowing while hurting financial stability. They insist the touted potential advantages of a digital pound are being overstated. Erosion of Privacy British lawmakers have said the use of a central bank digital currency when making regular payments could potentially hurt financial stability and raise the cost of borrowing, a report has said. In addition, they insist the increasing use of the CBDC could also enable the central bank to monitor spending and therefore…

Crypto Job Postings Jumped 395% in 2021: LinkedIn

Postings with titles containing terms such as “bitcoin,” “ethereum,” “blockchain” and “cryptocurrency” grew 395% in the U.S. from 2020 to 2021, according to the study. That was significantly higher than the 95% increase in job listings in the broader tech industry over the same time period. Source

Bitfinex advises Ontario-based users to close accounts before March 1

In a Friday announcement, Bitfinex said it would be immediately closing the accounts for Ontario-based customers who have no balances on the platform. In addition, it planned to restrict access to those who do not have open positions in the exchange’s peer-to-peer financing market or open margin positions. Users who have balances or open positions on Bitfinex and are one of the roughly 15 million residents of Ontario — which includes Toronto and the nation’s capital city of Ottawa — “will no longer have access to any services” starting on…

IOTA Chosen By European Union To Develop Blockchain Solutions

IOTA was selected as one of the projects that will take part in the European Union Blockchain Pre-Commercial Procurement. The platform will be competing with four projects in a second round for this EU program for a chance at improving the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI). Related Reading | IOTA Smart Contracts Enter Beta Phase To Circumvent Network Flaws Announced by the IOTA Foundation (IF), the network has reached stage two out of three after it was selected from around 35 applicants. This second phase will last around six months,…

Stacks ecosystem becomes #1 Web3 project on Bitcoin

On the first anniversary of the launch of Stacks blockchain (STX), which seeks to make Bitcoin (BTC) programmable, the network achieved over 350 million monthly API requests, 40,000 Hiro (development tool for Stacks to build applications on Bitcoin) wallet downloads, and 2,500 Clarity smart contracts. According to a report by Electric Capital, a venture capital firm focused on cryptocurrencies and fintech, these statistics make Stacks the largest project on Bitcoin. More than 11,000 users earned more than 100 BTC rewards per month on Stacks due to its unique proof-of-transfer, or…