Swiss bank Falcon has opened a cryptocurrency transfer service
The private Swiss bank Falcon realized the possibility of making transfers and storing cryptocurrencies, according to a press release dated January 21.
According to the publication, individual and institutional clients of the bank will be able to transfer and receive supported cryptocurrencies using separate wallets, as well as convert digital currencies into fiat currency. At the first stage, the service will support only four cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin.
Falcon says that thanks to his latest initiatives, a full range of banking services is becoming available for assets released on the blockchain. Among other things, the bank includes cryptocurrency in portfolio and tax reporting.
“Falcon took another opportunity to show itself as a leader in the digital asset space, combining traditional private banking with innovative financial solutions,” said Martin Keller, CEO of the company.
The bank also offers a cryptocurrency storage service, which, according to a press release, has been tested by third-party auditors, meets the requirements of anti-money laundering and customer identification.
In 2017, Falcon received permission from the Swiss Financial Market Supervision Authority (FINMA) to work with cryptocurrency assets.
The private Swiss bank Falcon realized the possibility of making transfers and storing cryptocurrencies, according to a press release dated January 21.
According to the publication, individual and institutional clients of the bank will be able to transfer and receive supported cryptocurrencies using separate wallets, as well as convert digital currencies into fiat currency. At the first stage, the service will support only four cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin.
Falcon says that thanks to his latest initiatives, a full range of banking services is becoming available for assets released on the blockchain. Among other things, the bank includes cryptocurrency in portfolio and tax reporting.
“Falcon took another opportunity to show itself as a leader in the digital asset space, combining traditional private banking with innovative financial solutions,” said Martin Keller, CEO of the company.
The bank also offers a cryptocurrency storage service, which, according to a press release, has been tested by third-party auditors, meets the requirements of anti-money laundering and customer identification.
In 2017, Falcon received permission from the Swiss Financial Market Supervision Authority (FINMA) to work with cryptocurrency assets.
CEO of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange questioned the prospects for IPO mining companies
The head of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) has confirmed that specializing in mining cryptocurrency companies can in vain expect to hold an initial public offering (IPO) on its site. This writes CoinDesk, citing local media.
According to their information, HKEX CEO Charles Li Xiaojia said that companies wishing to issue their securities on HKEX should have a “sustainable” business model. Although Lee did not mention specific names, he gave his comment on the requirements for listing in response to a question about the prospects for miners. To date, three major Chinese mining companies - Bitmain, Canaan and Ebang - have applied for an IPO on HKEX, but none of them have received any approval.
According to Lee, a company that earned billions of dollars in one area and then suddenly switched to another direction, refusing to disclose information about its results at a certain interval in the past, demonstrates that its business was “unsustainable” in the first case.
The next question HKEX asks such companies is their ability to continue doing business and make money. The exchange will "adhere to the principle of market adaptability" when considering applications for IPO, including those that were issued by cryptocurrency miners, Lee added.
Bitmain filed an application for an IPO in September last year, and Canaan and Ebang - in May and June, respectively. Later, a source familiar with the situation said that HKEX is not in a hurry to approve these applications due to the volatility of the cryptocurrency market.
The head of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) has confirmed that specializing in mining cryptocurrency companies can in vain expect to hold an initial public offering (IPO) on its site. This writes CoinDesk, citing local media.
According to their information, HKEX CEO Charles Li Xiaojia said that companies wishing to issue their securities on HKEX should have a “sustainable” business model. Although Lee did not mention specific names, he gave his comment on the requirements for listing in response to a question about the prospects for miners. To date, three major Chinese mining companies - Bitmain, Canaan and Ebang - have applied for an IPO on HKEX, but none of them have received any approval.
According to Lee, a company that earned billions of dollars in one area and then suddenly switched to another direction, refusing to disclose information about its results at a certain interval in the past, demonstrates that its business was “unsustainable” in the first case.
The next question HKEX asks such companies is their ability to continue doing business and make money. The exchange will "adhere to the principle of market adaptability" when considering applications for IPO, including those that were issued by cryptocurrency miners, Lee added.
Bitmain filed an application for an IPO in September last year, and Canaan and Ebang - in May and June, respectively. Later, a source familiar with the situation said that HKEX is not in a hurry to approve these applications due to the volatility of the cryptocurrency market.
Startup Kik intends to defend the status of his token before the SEC in court
Kik start-up developer Kik Interactive Inc. ready to meet with representatives of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in court to defend their interests in connection with the expected actions of the regulator in relation to its token, distributed through the ICO in 2017. This was the head of the company Ted Livingston said in a conversation with The Wall Street Journal.
The SEC believes that Kik, having sold $ 100 million Kin tokens, has issued and distributed unregistered securities, according to documents reviewed by the WSJ. Livingston noted that the authorities do not accuse them of fraud, but insist that Kik did not register his proposal properly and, as a result, did not fulfill the requirements for information disclosure. The initiative comes from the SEC law enforcement department and requires that the commissioners vote for it - it has not been done so far.
Livingston decided to integrate a cryptographic token into its platform as a tool for its monetization - developers and users can earn Kin by creating applications or performing various types of tasks, such as passing surveys. The issuer said that from the very beginning he had positioned his token not as a valuable paper, but as a mechanism that would form the basis of a new ecosystem of applications and services, of which Kik itself would become an integral part.
While the SEC claims that the majority of ICO tokens are securities, referring to the ruling of the Supreme Court 73 years ago, Kik on December 10 put forward a counter argument according to which the distribution conditions Kin do not allow the token to be recognized as security.
“The implementation of law enforcement actions against Kik and its foundation will further aggravate the situation of extremely inadequate regulation,” the company's lawyers wrote.
Kik start-up developer Kik Interactive Inc. ready to meet with representatives of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in court to defend their interests in connection with the expected actions of the regulator in relation to its token, distributed through the ICO in 2017. This was the head of the company Ted Livingston said in a conversation with The Wall Street Journal.
The SEC believes that Kik, having sold $ 100 million Kin tokens, has issued and distributed unregistered securities, according to documents reviewed by the WSJ. Livingston noted that the authorities do not accuse them of fraud, but insist that Kik did not register his proposal properly and, as a result, did not fulfill the requirements for information disclosure. The initiative comes from the SEC law enforcement department and requires that the commissioners vote for it - it has not been done so far.
Livingston decided to integrate a cryptographic token into its platform as a tool for its monetization - developers and users can earn Kin by creating applications or performing various types of tasks, such as passing surveys. The issuer said that from the very beginning he had positioned his token not as a valuable paper, but as a mechanism that would form the basis of a new ecosystem of applications and services, of which Kik itself would become an integral part.
While the SEC claims that the majority of ICO tokens are securities, referring to the ruling of the Supreme Court 73 years ago, Kik on December 10 put forward a counter argument according to which the distribution conditions Kin do not allow the token to be recognized as security.
“The implementation of law enforcement actions against Kik and its foundation will further aggravate the situation of extremely inadequate regulation,” the company's lawyers wrote.
Indian government concerned about the potential impact of digital assets on national currency stability
According to information published on February 4, the government of India is seriously concerned about the consequences of the legalization of crypto active assets in the country and their impact on the national rupee, its course, liquidity, and basic stability.
According to an insider, this issue is now being closely studied by a commission formed by the country's government headed by the Minister of Economy and previously World Bank Executive Director Subhash Chandra Garg.
In the case when the turnover of Bitcoin or other digital assets will be resolved, as well as its use as a means of payment, can there be serious problems with the stability of the national currency rate? The overall impact on the country's financial market, which this step may have is unclear and difficult to predict, which gives rise to skepticism and apprehension.
Such concerns are fueling research by BIS, a global banking structure uniting all significant central banks of the world. They contain a warning that even digital assets issued at the state level may pose a threat to financial stability.
The more optimistic participants are not present in the committee and do not make decisions, but in every possible way seek to comment on the situation.
Rahul Raj, founder of the Koinex cryptocurrency exchange in India:
At the moment, it is somewhat premature to worry about the effect of cryptocurrency on the stability of the money supply, since the volumes of transactions with their participation are insignificant compared to other financial flows.
In other words, in order for such a threat, in theory, to take on some shape, a turnaround is necessary that is comparable to Visa or Mastercard.
According to information published on February 4, the government of India is seriously concerned about the consequences of the legalization of crypto active assets in the country and their impact on the national rupee, its course, liquidity, and basic stability.
According to an insider, this issue is now being closely studied by a commission formed by the country's government headed by the Minister of Economy and previously World Bank Executive Director Subhash Chandra Garg.
In the case when the turnover of Bitcoin or other digital assets will be resolved, as well as its use as a means of payment, can there be serious problems with the stability of the national currency rate? The overall impact on the country's financial market, which this step may have is unclear and difficult to predict, which gives rise to skepticism and apprehension.
Such concerns are fueling research by BIS, a global banking structure uniting all significant central banks of the world. They contain a warning that even digital assets issued at the state level may pose a threat to financial stability.
The more optimistic participants are not present in the committee and do not make decisions, but in every possible way seek to comment on the situation.
Rahul Raj, founder of the Koinex cryptocurrency exchange in India:
At the moment, it is somewhat premature to worry about the effect of cryptocurrency on the stability of the money supply, since the volumes of transactions with their participation are insignificant compared to other financial flows.
In other words, in order for such a threat, in theory, to take on some shape, a turnaround is necessary that is comparable to Visa or Mastercard.
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The American stock exchange cryptocurrency Coinbase implemented support for Bitcoin in its wallet application, which was launched six months ago.
“Coinbase Wallet already supports Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, and more than 100,000 ERC20 tokens and collection items from the ERC721 standard based on Ethereum. Our goal when working with Coinbase Wallet is to create the world's leading crypto-wallet, the storage of assets in which is carried out by users, ”the company wrote.
Coinbase Wallet supports both SegWit addresses and old format addresses. In addition, users can switch to the Bitcoin test network in advanced settings.
In today's announcement, Coinbase also confirmed that it continues to work on the integration of Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin "and other popular cryptocurrencies."
Earlier, some community members noted that Coinbase representatives deliberately avoid mentioning Bitcoin in their public statements, and even assumed that the exchange is building its policy in such a way as to shake the status of the first cryptocurrency.
“Coinbase Wallet already supports Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, and more than 100,000 ERC20 tokens and collection items from the ERC721 standard based on Ethereum. Our goal when working with Coinbase Wallet is to create the world's leading crypto-wallet, the storage of assets in which is carried out by users, ”the company wrote.
Coinbase Wallet supports both SegWit addresses and old format addresses. In addition, users can switch to the Bitcoin test network in advanced settings.
In today's announcement, Coinbase also confirmed that it continues to work on the integration of Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin "and other popular cryptocurrencies."
Earlier, some community members noted that Coinbase representatives deliberately avoid mentioning Bitcoin in their public statements, and even assumed that the exchange is building its policy in such a way as to shake the status of the first cryptocurrency.
A senior researcher at nChain, Craig Wright, who has earned the ill fame of a man trying to convince the public that he was hiding under the pseudonym of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, responded to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission of the USA (CFTC) about the cryptocurrency Ethereum.
“My name is Dr. Craig Wright. Under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, I completed a project that I started in 1997, ”he writes.
Wright claims that colossal amounts of false information and misunderstanding accompany Bitcoin and “all the derivative systems on the blockchain (including Ethereum),” and this is what forced him to start more active public activities.
“The system I created was partially intended to eradicate fraud as much as possible with technology. The blockchain's little insight has led to the spread of false information and the revival of old fraudulent schemes, ”writes Wright, noting that many of these schemes have taken the form of ICO.
He also describes the transformations that Bitcoin and blockchain technology as a whole made to the trading process, ensuring compliance with the terms of the agreements when transferring rights to financial instruments between traders.
“Ethereum is a poorly crafted copy of Bitcoin, aimed at fulfilling promises in smart contracts that were represented in Bitcoin itself, but were locked by its developers. The Ethereum network has already reached its limit and, in fact, is used only by unscrupulous offices, which are organized in such a way as to mislead those who do not have sufficient technical knowledge of market participants. Ethereum did not provide any technology for computing, and the ICO did not create anything that would not exist before them, ”Wright added.
This week, Wright also commented on the news about the launch of the cryptocurrency of JPMorgan bank, stating that he "has patents on what they are going to do," for which he was nicknamed the "patent troll."
“My name is Dr. Craig Wright. Under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, I completed a project that I started in 1997, ”he writes.
Wright claims that colossal amounts of false information and misunderstanding accompany Bitcoin and “all the derivative systems on the blockchain (including Ethereum),” and this is what forced him to start more active public activities.
“The system I created was partially intended to eradicate fraud as much as possible with technology. The blockchain's little insight has led to the spread of false information and the revival of old fraudulent schemes, ”writes Wright, noting that many of these schemes have taken the form of ICO.
He also describes the transformations that Bitcoin and blockchain technology as a whole made to the trading process, ensuring compliance with the terms of the agreements when transferring rights to financial instruments between traders.
“Ethereum is a poorly crafted copy of Bitcoin, aimed at fulfilling promises in smart contracts that were represented in Bitcoin itself, but were locked by its developers. The Ethereum network has already reached its limit and, in fact, is used only by unscrupulous offices, which are organized in such a way as to mislead those who do not have sufficient technical knowledge of market participants. Ethereum did not provide any technology for computing, and the ICO did not create anything that would not exist before them, ”Wright added.
This week, Wright also commented on the news about the launch of the cryptocurrency of JPMorgan bank, stating that he "has patents on what they are going to do," for which he was nicknamed the "patent troll."
The South Korean stock exchange cryptocurrency Coinbin, which became the successor of the hacked Youbit exchange, called itself bankrupt after it suffered material damage in the amount of $ 26 million, writes the portal Business Korea.
According to his information, Coinbin CEO Park Chan-Qu declared bankruptcy on February 20, with which payments of cryptocurrency and Fiat stopped and will continue to be carried out within the framework of procedures provided by law.
Puck said that an employee of the company, who in the past was Youbit CEO and who became its operating director under the terms of the agreement, neglected his duties and squandered Coinbin funds. In addition, the new owner passed the obligations to customers arising from the hacking Youbit.
“We are preparing to initiate a bankruptcy procedure in view of the occurrence of debt obligations caused by a waste of funds by our employee,” he added.
According to Pak, the attacker claimed that he deleted the cryptocurrency keys from cold wallets containing hundreds of bitcoins and lost access to a wallet that contained more than 100 ETHs. Pak insists that these actions were deliberately carried out in order to assign assets to the exchange and were not a mistake.
Youbit was hacked in 2017 twice: in April and in December. The circumstances of the second hack became the reason for the exchange to be suspected of attempting to carry out insurance fraud.
According to his information, Coinbin CEO Park Chan-Qu declared bankruptcy on February 20, with which payments of cryptocurrency and Fiat stopped and will continue to be carried out within the framework of procedures provided by law.
Puck said that an employee of the company, who in the past was Youbit CEO and who became its operating director under the terms of the agreement, neglected his duties and squandered Coinbin funds. In addition, the new owner passed the obligations to customers arising from the hacking Youbit.
“We are preparing to initiate a bankruptcy procedure in view of the occurrence of debt obligations caused by a waste of funds by our employee,” he added.
According to Pak, the attacker claimed that he deleted the cryptocurrency keys from cold wallets containing hundreds of bitcoins and lost access to a wallet that contained more than 100 ETHs. Pak insists that these actions were deliberately carried out in order to assign assets to the exchange and were not a mistake.
Youbit was hacked in 2017 twice: in April and in December. The circumstances of the second hack became the reason for the exchange to be suspected of attempting to carry out insurance fraud.
Vision Hill Advisors presented an analysis of cryptocurrency hedge funds for the fourth quarter of 2018, in which they compared their performance with the behavior of the bitcoin market and the segment as a whole.
According to the results of the analysis, the fourth quarter turned out to be the most painful for cryptocurrency funds for the entire period of research. The median loss on this segment was 18.8% versus 9.2% in the third quarter and 4.3% in the second. Relative to Bitcoin, however, hedge fund assets grew by about 25%, and against Bitwise 10 Large Cap - by 27%.
“Active managers outperformed passive bitcoin holders and large-cap digital assets throughout this quarter. We believe that this is a positive conclusion for all active managers in the industry, which will help to promote digital currencies among institutional investors along with the development of improved methods for assessing indicators in accordance with the strategy, ”said Vision Hill partner Dan Zuller.
However, not all strategies showed equally negative results. Funds that adhere to quantitative investment methods have outperformed Bitcoin by 40% and received a median income of 2.9%. Losses of such funds in any of the quarters did not exceed 3.1%. At least two out of ten funds of this type closed the fourth quarter with a positive result.
Vision Hill estimates the paper sizes of the private token market (SAFT, SAFE, etc.) at $ 15-20 billion. Nevertheless, the real value of these assets is likely to be much lower if we take into account the fall in the public market in 2018.
The size of the broader venture capital market, which includes stakes in such players as exchanges, custodial services, news platforms, etc., is about $ 35 billion on paper, but it can also differ significantly from the real one.
The total amount of funds that were managed by cryptocurrency funds without taking into account the assets of traditional funds that invested in this market in the fourth quarter was about $ 4.5 billion, a decrease by a quarter compared to the second quarter.
An earlier study by Crypto Fund Research showed that last year investment teams in the cryptocurrency space switched from hedge funds to venture capital.
According to the results of the analysis, the fourth quarter turned out to be the most painful for cryptocurrency funds for the entire period of research. The median loss on this segment was 18.8% versus 9.2% in the third quarter and 4.3% in the second. Relative to Bitcoin, however, hedge fund assets grew by about 25%, and against Bitwise 10 Large Cap - by 27%.
“Active managers outperformed passive bitcoin holders and large-cap digital assets throughout this quarter. We believe that this is a positive conclusion for all active managers in the industry, which will help to promote digital currencies among institutional investors along with the development of improved methods for assessing indicators in accordance with the strategy, ”said Vision Hill partner Dan Zuller.
However, not all strategies showed equally negative results. Funds that adhere to quantitative investment methods have outperformed Bitcoin by 40% and received a median income of 2.9%. Losses of such funds in any of the quarters did not exceed 3.1%. At least two out of ten funds of this type closed the fourth quarter with a positive result.
Vision Hill estimates the paper sizes of the private token market (SAFT, SAFE, etc.) at $ 15-20 billion. Nevertheless, the real value of these assets is likely to be much lower if we take into account the fall in the public market in 2018.
The size of the broader venture capital market, which includes stakes in such players as exchanges, custodial services, news platforms, etc., is about $ 35 billion on paper, but it can also differ significantly from the real one.
The total amount of funds that were managed by cryptocurrency funds without taking into account the assets of traditional funds that invested in this market in the fourth quarter was about $ 4.5 billion, a decrease by a quarter compared to the second quarter.
An earlier study by Crypto Fund Research showed that last year investment teams in the cryptocurrency space switched from hedge funds to venture capital.
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The American stock exchange Cryptocurrency Coinbase acquired the Italian analytical startup Neutrino for $ 13.5 million, according to documents from February 15 that came to Bitcoin Magazine portal.
Previously, these details of the closed February 19 transaction were not disclosed. It was assumed that Neutrino “will continue to function as an independent structure based on Coinbase’s London office”, that is, risk director Marco Valleri, technical director Alberto Ornaga, and CEO Giancarlo Russo should have retained their positions.
The public negative reaction was caused by the connection of Neutrino employees with the organization Hacking Team, which provided software for monitoring and analyzing repressive regimes. Marco Valleri and Alberto Ornaga were the founders of the Hacking Team, and Giancarlo Russo joined them in 2004 as operations director. Each of the three executives had a 22 percent stake in the company. The remaining 33% belonged to 360 Capital, a venture capital firm in Paris, which invested $ 565,000 in the project in April 2017.
Under the terms of the contract, Coinbase agreed to buy out shares from their owners and thus absorb the company. Valery, Ornaga and Rousseau should receive $ 2,951,792.91 each, and 360 Capital - $ 4,993,401.86. On the day of signing the contract, each of the managers was transferred to $ 487,045; 360 Capital received $ 4,055,107. The remaining $ 8,332,534 were transferred to a trust account with Credit Suisse Bank. When and how these funds will be distributed in favor of the beneficiaries is unknown.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong recently announced that his company will bid farewell to employees who worked at the Hacking Team.
Previously, these details of the closed February 19 transaction were not disclosed. It was assumed that Neutrino “will continue to function as an independent structure based on Coinbase’s London office”, that is, risk director Marco Valleri, technical director Alberto Ornaga, and CEO Giancarlo Russo should have retained their positions.
The public negative reaction was caused by the connection of Neutrino employees with the organization Hacking Team, which provided software for monitoring and analyzing repressive regimes. Marco Valleri and Alberto Ornaga were the founders of the Hacking Team, and Giancarlo Russo joined them in 2004 as operations director. Each of the three executives had a 22 percent stake in the company. The remaining 33% belonged to 360 Capital, a venture capital firm in Paris, which invested $ 565,000 in the project in April 2017.
Under the terms of the contract, Coinbase agreed to buy out shares from their owners and thus absorb the company. Valery, Ornaga and Rousseau should receive $ 2,951,792.91 each, and 360 Capital - $ 4,993,401.86. On the day of signing the contract, each of the managers was transferred to $ 487,045; 360 Capital received $ 4,055,107. The remaining $ 8,332,534 were transferred to a trust account with Credit Suisse Bank. When and how these funds will be distributed in favor of the beneficiaries is unknown.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong recently announced that his company will bid farewell to employees who worked at the Hacking Team.
The blockchain project's own cryptocurrency Stellar XLM continues to climb this Monday - in the last 24 hours, growth was 10%, and in a week, 25%. The XLM trading volumes together with this reached $ 266 million, thus returning to the levels that the market last saw in September 2018.
Events are developing against the background of the announcement of the micro-payment service SatoshiPay of March 7, according to which the German media company Börsenmedien AG will provide him with financing, having bought out a five-percent share in his business. In addition, the companies have entered into a strategic partnership agreement, under which SatoshiPay payment solutions will be integrated into the Börsenmedien AG platform via the Stellar distributed network, which will allow readers to send transactions to content authors directly from their wallets.
“We are pleased to become a strategic partner of Börsenmedien AG, who firmly believes in the mission of SatoshiPay both as an investor and as a content provider. The digital materials of the group, such as videotapes, PDF files, and e-books, are the ideal scenario for applying our technology, ”said SatoshiPay CEO Meinhard Benn.
Liza Nestor, Director of Cooperation at the Stellar Development Foundation, commented on this news: “The introduction of direct micropayments through the SatoshiPay platform has tremendous value for various industries and regions. Buying content is an obvious starting point. SatoshiPay continues to pursue its goals by attracting such particularly important partners as Börsenmedien AG. ”
In late February, Stellar was hinted at possible prospects by IBM’s vice president for blockchain and digital currencies, Jesse Lund. According to him, in the near future, about 40 banks can join its payment network Blockchain World Wire, in which XLM is used as an intermediate currency. At the same time, Land clarified that IBM could start working with other cryptocurrencies in order to provide users of the service with a choice.
Events are developing against the background of the announcement of the micro-payment service SatoshiPay of March 7, according to which the German media company Börsenmedien AG will provide him with financing, having bought out a five-percent share in his business. In addition, the companies have entered into a strategic partnership agreement, under which SatoshiPay payment solutions will be integrated into the Börsenmedien AG platform via the Stellar distributed network, which will allow readers to send transactions to content authors directly from their wallets.
“We are pleased to become a strategic partner of Börsenmedien AG, who firmly believes in the mission of SatoshiPay both as an investor and as a content provider. The digital materials of the group, such as videotapes, PDF files, and e-books, are the ideal scenario for applying our technology, ”said SatoshiPay CEO Meinhard Benn.
Liza Nestor, Director of Cooperation at the Stellar Development Foundation, commented on this news: “The introduction of direct micropayments through the SatoshiPay platform has tremendous value for various industries and regions. Buying content is an obvious starting point. SatoshiPay continues to pursue its goals by attracting such particularly important partners as Börsenmedien AG. ”
In late February, Stellar was hinted at possible prospects by IBM’s vice president for blockchain and digital currencies, Jesse Lund. According to him, in the near future, about 40 banks can join its payment network Blockchain World Wire, in which XLM is used as an intermediate currency. At the same time, Land clarified that IBM could start working with other cryptocurrencies in order to provide users of the service with a choice.
New York investment company Shuttle Holdings will launch a beta version of the custodial service for digital assets based on a private cloud and IBM encryption technologies by the end of the month, CoinDesk writes. Companies participating in the project will not store the tokens themselves but will provide the tools for this to their customers, which can be banks, brokers, other asset custodians, funds, family capital management units, and high-income investors.
IBM showed a solution that will be involved in the Shuttle Holdings service at the Think 2019 conference in February. “What example could be better than a world-changing financial technology?” Look at digital assets: how do you protect data? This issue is of concern to many in the financial industry, ”said Nataraj Nagaratnam, technical director of cloud security at IBM.
IBM's latest initiatives indicate that the company wants to join the formation of infrastructure for storing digital assets after it has developed blockchain with limited access and transactional service using Stellar technology.
The developers of the new service claim that they will not adopt the generally accepted model of “cold” storage. Together, they promise to create a solution that allows customers to quickly access assets and provide a compromise level of protection based on hardware security modules.
IBM showed a solution that will be involved in the Shuttle Holdings service at the Think 2019 conference in February. “What example could be better than a world-changing financial technology?” Look at digital assets: how do you protect data? This issue is of concern to many in the financial industry, ”said Nataraj Nagaratnam, technical director of cloud security at IBM.
IBM's latest initiatives indicate that the company wants to join the formation of infrastructure for storing digital assets after it has developed blockchain with limited access and transactional service using Stellar technology.
The developers of the new service claim that they will not adopt the generally accepted model of “cold” storage. Together, they promise to create a solution that allows customers to quickly access assets and provide a compromise level of protection based on hardware security modules.
Mining on video cards today
Statistics on mining on video cards from F2Pool:
• In July 2018, 13 million video cards were involved in the mining industry, today their number has decreased to 8 million.
• The most popular among miners by price / performance criteria are GeFox GTX 1080Ti / 1080 / 1070Ti 1070/1060/1163/1166/1050 and Nvidia RTX2080 / 2080Ti / 2070Ti video cards.
• AMD video cards are better suited for Ethereum mining, and Nvidia for smaller cryptocurrencies, for example, Grin and Beam
• The hardfork Constantinople in the Ethereum network did not affect the profitability of mining.
According to the assessment of the head of F2Pool, Li Qingfei, Ethereum cryptocurrency is the most popular for mining on video cards, it accounts for 60% of the utilized capacities. But after about six months, mining ETH on video cards with 4 GB of memory will become problematic due to the increase in the size of the DAG file.
Statistics on mining on video cards from F2Pool:
• In July 2018, 13 million video cards were involved in the mining industry, today their number has decreased to 8 million.
• The most popular among miners by price / performance criteria are GeFox GTX 1080Ti / 1080 / 1070Ti 1070/1060/1163/1166/1050 and Nvidia RTX2080 / 2080Ti / 2070Ti video cards.
• AMD video cards are better suited for Ethereum mining, and Nvidia for smaller cryptocurrencies, for example, Grin and Beam
• The hardfork Constantinople in the Ethereum network did not affect the profitability of mining.
According to the assessment of the head of F2Pool, Li Qingfei, Ethereum cryptocurrency is the most popular for mining on video cards, it accounts for 60% of the utilized capacities. But after about six months, mining ETH on video cards with 4 GB of memory will become problematic due to the increase in the size of the DAG file.
On this Wednesday, two benchmark crypto indices of the CoinMarketCap tracking service will be launched on the platforms Nasdaq Global Index Data Service (GIDS), Bloomberg Terminal, Thomson Reuters Eikon (Refinitiv) and the Stuttgart Stock Exchange, and also on the portal itself, CoinDesk writes.
According to CoinMarketCap, the presented indices are the “most comprehensive” offers in the field of cryptocurrency market data and cover the 200 largest digital assets by market capitalization.
The CMC Crypto 200 Index (CMC200) includes Bitcoin and, according to the company, covers more than 90% of the global crypto market. The second index - CMC Crypto 200 ex BTC Index (CMC200EX) - allows you to monitor market behavior without taking into account Bitcoin, which currently accounts for more than 50% of the capitalization of the segment.
“Thanks to these indices, the availability of cryptocurrency market data will increase in an easy-to-share format,” said Brandon Chaz, CEO of CoinMarketCap.
To implement the initiative, CoinMarketCap has entered into an agreement with the German supplier of financial indices Solactive, which will settle and administer both instruments, as well as re-balance them on a quarterly basis. Data on the behavior of markets will come from CoinMarketCap.
According to Solactive Sales Director Fabian Colin, cooperation with CoinMarketCap will allow his company to develop individual indices for its customers.
Earlier this week, CoinMarketCap, in collaboration with a startup Flipside, added a rating system for its largest cryptocurrency to its website.
According to CoinMarketCap, the presented indices are the “most comprehensive” offers in the field of cryptocurrency market data and cover the 200 largest digital assets by market capitalization.
The CMC Crypto 200 Index (CMC200) includes Bitcoin and, according to the company, covers more than 90% of the global crypto market. The second index - CMC Crypto 200 ex BTC Index (CMC200EX) - allows you to monitor market behavior without taking into account Bitcoin, which currently accounts for more than 50% of the capitalization of the segment.
“Thanks to these indices, the availability of cryptocurrency market data will increase in an easy-to-share format,” said Brandon Chaz, CEO of CoinMarketCap.
To implement the initiative, CoinMarketCap has entered into an agreement with the German supplier of financial indices Solactive, which will settle and administer both instruments, as well as re-balance them on a quarterly basis. Data on the behavior of markets will come from CoinMarketCap.
According to Solactive Sales Director Fabian Colin, cooperation with CoinMarketCap will allow his company to develop individual indices for its customers.
Earlier this week, CoinMarketCap, in collaboration with a startup Flipside, added a rating system for its largest cryptocurrency to its website.
Coinbene cryptocurrency exchange, included in the top 20 portal CoinMarketCap for the adjusted trading volume, announced the technical work on this Tuesday. In the network, meanwhile, spreads information about the possible hacking of the trading platform, writes Cointelegraph.
One Twitter user said this morning that his deposits are waiting to be credited for several hours. In response, the exchange wrote: “To improve the user experience, CoinBene updated its platform wallet on March 26th. In the course of technical work, related operations, such as deposit/withdrawal of funds, will not be affected, the trade will not be affected. ” The author questioned these words, noting that the technical work was not announced by the company in advance.
In another tweet, Coinbene promises to report separately on the completion of technical work and claims that all requests for deposit and withdrawal of funds will be automatically processed after that.
Meanwhile, director of information technology blockchain-startup Diviproject Nick Saponaro draws attention to the fact that during the last hours with the stock exchange were withdrawn significant amounts of funds, which can also indicate some problems.
Curiously, however, the fact that the address to which the tokens were transferred 5 months ago received a “cold wallet Coinbene” from one of the users of the Ehterscan portal. The exchange has not yet commented on the latest observations of community members.
One Twitter user said this morning that his deposits are waiting to be credited for several hours. In response, the exchange wrote: “To improve the user experience, CoinBene updated its platform wallet on March 26th. In the course of technical work, related operations, such as deposit/withdrawal of funds, will not be affected, the trade will not be affected. ” The author questioned these words, noting that the technical work was not announced by the company in advance.
In another tweet, Coinbene promises to report separately on the completion of technical work and claims that all requests for deposit and withdrawal of funds will be automatically processed after that.
Meanwhile, director of information technology blockchain-startup Diviproject Nick Saponaro draws attention to the fact that during the last hours with the stock exchange were withdrawn significant amounts of funds, which can also indicate some problems.
Curiously, however, the fact that the address to which the tokens were transferred 5 months ago received a “cold wallet Coinbene” from one of the users of the Ehterscan portal. The exchange has not yet commented on the latest observations of community members.
An application for an initial public offering (IPO) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx) of the Chinese mining company Bitmain will expire today, on Monday, March 25, unless the trading platform reports otherwise.
Half a year ago, Bitmain announced part of its financial statements in accordance with the requirements for companies wishing to enter an IPO. As previously noted by the South China Morning Post portal, the HKEx allocates 6 months to ensure that the application is admitted to closed hearings of the committee, which decides on its future status. If for the specified period the application before the hearing is not allowed, it is considered invalid.
Earlier it was reported that HKEx is in no hurry to give the green light to appeals from mining companies, doubting the viability of their business models. Last November, the application of a competitor from Bitmain, a mining company Canaan Creative, lost its validity.
If Bitmain decides to contact HKEx again, in accordance with the rules of the exchange, it will have to disclose financial statements for the third quarter of 2018, which the company until recently avoided, presumably due to large losses in this segment.
Half a year ago, Bitmain announced part of its financial statements in accordance with the requirements for companies wishing to enter an IPO. As previously noted by the South China Morning Post portal, the HKEx allocates 6 months to ensure that the application is admitted to closed hearings of the committee, which decides on its future status. If for the specified period the application before the hearing is not allowed, it is considered invalid.
Earlier it was reported that HKEx is in no hurry to give the green light to appeals from mining companies, doubting the viability of their business models. Last November, the application of a competitor from Bitmain, a mining company Canaan Creative, lost its validity.
If Bitmain decides to contact HKEx again, in accordance with the rules of the exchange, it will have to disclose financial statements for the third quarter of 2018, which the company until recently avoided, presumably due to large losses in this segment.
Hong Kong company Blue Cross will use the insurance blockchain
Hong Kong insurance company Blue Cross uses blockchain technology to speed up the process of payments for health insurance, as well as to eliminate fraud in this area.
According to the company, the decision based on the blockchain will speed up the resolution of insurance claims, prevent fraud and reduce costs.
“Blue Cross is the first insurance company in Hong Kong that provides customers from all over the world with the opportunity to use the blockchain,” the company said. “Local insurers Rivals Prudential, HSBC Life and Bowtie Insurance started selling insurance products and processing insurance claims online last year, but they still have blockchains in place.”
It should be noted that the insurance company ZhongAn Online uses the blockchain for checking records and processing claims, however, it only offers this service on the mainland.
“As data and transactions are verified in real time, the risk of fraud is eliminated and claims can be processed faster for more than 200,000 company customers,” said Blue Cross CEO Patrick Wan.
He stressed that Blue Cross will also be able to save on its own costs since the blockchain eliminates the need to reconcile data on medical claims between various parties.
The company's blockchain solution is based on the Hyperledger technology, as is the eTrade Connect trade finance network, launched in 2018 with the support of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and twelve banks.
According to William Yeung, co-founder of MediConCen, a Hong Kong-based startup developing medical blockchain-based medical applications, Blue Cross customers can save time.
“The use of the blockchain also means that medical facilities may not hire a large number of support staff for administrative work, but access the Blue Cross network,” he said.
Hong Kong insurance company Blue Cross uses blockchain technology to speed up the process of payments for health insurance, as well as to eliminate fraud in this area.
According to the company, the decision based on the blockchain will speed up the resolution of insurance claims, prevent fraud and reduce costs.
“Blue Cross is the first insurance company in Hong Kong that provides customers from all over the world with the opportunity to use the blockchain,” the company said. “Local insurers Rivals Prudential, HSBC Life and Bowtie Insurance started selling insurance products and processing insurance claims online last year, but they still have blockchains in place.”
It should be noted that the insurance company ZhongAn Online uses the blockchain for checking records and processing claims, however, it only offers this service on the mainland.
“As data and transactions are verified in real time, the risk of fraud is eliminated and claims can be processed faster for more than 200,000 company customers,” said Blue Cross CEO Patrick Wan.
He stressed that Blue Cross will also be able to save on its own costs since the blockchain eliminates the need to reconcile data on medical claims between various parties.
The company's blockchain solution is based on the Hyperledger technology, as is the eTrade Connect trade finance network, launched in 2018 with the support of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and twelve banks.
According to William Yeung, co-founder of MediConCen, a Hong Kong-based startup developing medical blockchain-based medical applications, Blue Cross customers can save time.
“The use of the blockchain also means that medical facilities may not hire a large number of support staff for administrative work, but access the Blue Cross network,” he said.
Joseph Lubin and Jimmy Song bet half a million about the future of Ethereum applications
Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin and bitcoin-enthusiast Jimmy Song approved the terms of the bet, which they agreed to hold in advance, writes the Decrypt portal.
The conditions are as follows: if 15 unique decentralized applications have 10,000 daily and 100,000 monthly active users for 6 months, until May 23, 2023, Song will pay 810.8 ETH ($ 1,673,333); otherwise, Lubin will have to say goodbye to 69.74 BTC ($ 550156).
The reason for choosing such non-rounded values is that each initially set at $ 700,000, but the decline in the market did its job. Lubin and Song agreed on holding a bet at last year’s Consensus conference, where the latter favored the idea of “Bitcoin, but not the blockchain,” and spoke of Ethereum as follows: “I see nothing but abstruse terms”
The amounts of bets were specially set sufficiently weighty for both participants. It is possible that by the time of the calculations in 2023 in fiat terms the losses of the losing side will be much higher.
“This is the most painful rate,” said Song. “Personal interest, that's the whole point.”
“Jimmy’s position is that there are no decent applications on the blockchain, and the only thing that matters is bitcoin,” Lubin said. - I recognize Bitcoin as a fantastic invention and see a narrow scope for what is created on its basis. We love it, but decentralized applications are also really useful. ”
The essence of the dispute comes down to the ability of decentralized applications to meet the expectations placed on them, in particular with the help of Ethereum. The song is confident that centralized technologies will always be faster and more convenient in the context of development and does not see the prospects for the development of decentralized networks as an alternative to existing centralized solutions.
“It may happen that many useful applications will be created on the basis of Ethereum and they will be decentralized enough, but they will not meet these two criteria. Then I will lose, while the ecosystem will show its strength, ”Lubin added.
Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin and bitcoin-enthusiast Jimmy Song approved the terms of the bet, which they agreed to hold in advance, writes the Decrypt portal.
The conditions are as follows: if 15 unique decentralized applications have 10,000 daily and 100,000 monthly active users for 6 months, until May 23, 2023, Song will pay 810.8 ETH ($ 1,673,333); otherwise, Lubin will have to say goodbye to 69.74 BTC ($ 550156).
The reason for choosing such non-rounded values is that each initially set at $ 700,000, but the decline in the market did its job. Lubin and Song agreed on holding a bet at last year’s Consensus conference, where the latter favored the idea of “Bitcoin, but not the blockchain,” and spoke of Ethereum as follows: “I see nothing but abstruse terms”
The amounts of bets were specially set sufficiently weighty for both participants. It is possible that by the time of the calculations in 2023 in fiat terms the losses of the losing side will be much higher.
“This is the most painful rate,” said Song. “Personal interest, that's the whole point.”
“Jimmy’s position is that there are no decent applications on the blockchain, and the only thing that matters is bitcoin,” Lubin said. - I recognize Bitcoin as a fantastic invention and see a narrow scope for what is created on its basis. We love it, but decentralized applications are also really useful. ”
The essence of the dispute comes down to the ability of decentralized applications to meet the expectations placed on them, in particular with the help of Ethereum. The song is confident that centralized technologies will always be faster and more convenient in the context of development and does not see the prospects for the development of decentralized networks as an alternative to existing centralized solutions.
“It may happen that many useful applications will be created on the basis of Ethereum and they will be decentralized enough, but they will not meet these two criteria. Then I will lose, while the ecosystem will show its strength, ”Lubin added.
Bluzelle launches DDN content delivery network as a decentralized alternative to CDN
Bluzelle, a crypto-project for creating solutions in the field of distributed data transfer, this Monday announced the launch of its Data Delivery Network (DDN) product at the production stage.
DDN functions like a content delivery network (CDN), but instead of caching content, it places data on many distributed networks. According to the developers, such a system helps to find servers that are as close to the user as possible, which in turn leads to multiple increases in data transfer speed in a decentralized network.
“Currently, application capabilities are limited to data caching technologies that require complex configuration, were created over 10 years ago and are managed by several data centers. They are not adapted for non-stop technologies such as AI, VR, and 4K, ”said Bluzelle CEO Pavel Baines, adding that his company's solution allows you to always place data where the user is, freeing service providers from related worries.
According to Bluzelle, DDN currently supports more than 25 data centers and demonstrates a 30-fold increase in reading speed compared to Redis, the recognized leader in this field. In this case, synchronization of the recorded data is performed by all network nodes in less than a second.
Bluzelle, a crypto-project for creating solutions in the field of distributed data transfer, this Monday announced the launch of its Data Delivery Network (DDN) product at the production stage.
DDN functions like a content delivery network (CDN), but instead of caching content, it places data on many distributed networks. According to the developers, such a system helps to find servers that are as close to the user as possible, which in turn leads to multiple increases in data transfer speed in a decentralized network.
“Currently, application capabilities are limited to data caching technologies that require complex configuration, were created over 10 years ago and are managed by several data centers. They are not adapted for non-stop technologies such as AI, VR, and 4K, ”said Bluzelle CEO Pavel Baines, adding that his company's solution allows you to always place data where the user is, freeing service providers from related worries.
According to Bluzelle, DDN currently supports more than 25 data centers and demonstrates a 30-fold increase in reading speed compared to Redis, the recognized leader in this field. In this case, synchronization of the recorded data is performed by all network nodes in less than a second.
Ethereum Foundation will send $ 19 million to scale the ETH ecosystem
The management of the Ethereum Foundation plans to allocate $ 30 million for the development of the ETH cryptocurrency ecosystem, of which $ 19 million will be used to finance the work on scaling the air.
Over the next 12 months, the team plans to expand funding for the Ethereum 2.0 project, as well as Plasma and the activities of research organizations within the broadcast ecosystem.
The messaging team says:
ETH is used to protect billions of assets and as the basis for many hundreds of applications. We consider it necessary to continue working to ensure that Ethereum continues to remain the dominant platform in the world for smart contracts.
Another $ 3 million will be used to improve the skills of developers, to organize the annual Ethereum Devcoin conference, as well as to support regional offices of the Ethereum Foundation.
The company, on average, spends about $ 20 million annually to finance the work of its team. However, last year, expenses rose to $ 27 million. Grants were allocated to 90 different projects, 23 of which are aimed at improving the throughput capacity of the cryptocurrency network.
The company's blog says that developers are constantly engaged in improving the ETH network since the Ethereum Foundation is interested in increasing the number of platform users to consolidate the status of a key player in the cryptosphere.
The management of the Ethereum Foundation plans to allocate $ 30 million for the development of the ETH cryptocurrency ecosystem, of which $ 19 million will be used to finance the work on scaling the air.
Over the next 12 months, the team plans to expand funding for the Ethereum 2.0 project, as well as Plasma and the activities of research organizations within the broadcast ecosystem.
The messaging team says:
ETH is used to protect billions of assets and as the basis for many hundreds of applications. We consider it necessary to continue working to ensure that Ethereum continues to remain the dominant platform in the world for smart contracts.
Another $ 3 million will be used to improve the skills of developers, to organize the annual Ethereum Devcoin conference, as well as to support regional offices of the Ethereum Foundation.
The company, on average, spends about $ 20 million annually to finance the work of its team. However, last year, expenses rose to $ 27 million. Grants were allocated to 90 different projects, 23 of which are aimed at improving the throughput capacity of the cryptocurrency network.
The company's blog says that developers are constantly engaged in improving the ETH network since the Ethereum Foundation is interested in increasing the number of platform users to consolidate the status of a key player in the cryptosphere.