June 5, 2019 @ 9:41 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Mark Karpeles, the man whose incompetence many believe resulted in the destruction of early Bitcoin-exchange Mt Gox and the loss of almost $500 million USD of Mt Gox user funds, is starting a new “blockchain” venture, AP News reports. Karpeles recently beat tremendous odds and… Read More

June 5, 2019 @ 5:14 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Operators of Coinroom, a Polish cryptocurrency trading platform registered in 2016, have shut down the platform suddenly and disappeared with client funds, Polish business media site Money reports. At least 50 people on an online forum have claimed they lost between 300 and 60,000 “zlotys”… Read More

June 5, 2019 @ 1:02 am By Cali Haan  |  

LocalBitcoins, a popular service that connects buyers and sellers of bitcoins across the globe, has confirmed that it has dropped in-person cash trades for bitcoins from its list of available services. Funds moving in and out of bitcoins through LocalBitcoins will now have to pass… Read More

June 4, 2019 @ 10:48 pm By Cali Haan  |  

After a period of relative quiet during the first part of this year, “CryptoTwitter” started lighting up late last month with reports of a spate of SIM-swap hacks being waged against known American personages in the crypto investing world, ZDNet reports. In a SIM-swap hack,… Read More

June 4, 2019 @ 9:57 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Governing politicians in the Marshall Islands have issued a press release and video explaining their plans to develop, implement and sustain a “sovereign” national cryptocurrency (SOV) intended to, “…combat poverty and climate change” in the Pacific Island nation. The country’s current President, Hilda Heine, survived… Read More

June 4, 2019 @ 3:58 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seeking information from investors who lost money when the Canadian cryptocurrency trading platform QuadrigaCX fell apart late last year. Individuals with questions or concerns about the failed exchange or who believe they were a victim in the… Read More

June 4, 2019 @ 1:33 am By Cali Haan  |  

LocalBitcoins, a popular global bitcoin trading service that matches individual buyers and sellers, has removed in-person cash trades from its list of available payment options. The change appears to have been applied across the platform, though some Canadian sellers are still advertising a “cash in… Read More

June 3, 2019 @ 11:32 pm By Cali Haan  |  

90% of the blockchains so far implemented by companies trying to stay current will be obsolete by 2021, global business advisory company Gartner claims in a recent news release: “By 2021, 90% of current enterprise blockchain platform implementations will require replacement within 18 months to… Read More

June 3, 2019 @ 11:21 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Civil, “a community-owned journalism network based on transparency and trust,” will lose banking services at major US bank First Republic June 6th, Decrypt reports. Civil has been building a blockchain-based digital archive for news articles, and, according to the Civil website, “…Civil tokens are currently sold by… Read More

June 3, 2019 @ 7:52 pm By Cali Haan  |  

In a speech delivered to delegates of the Commissione Nazionale per le Societa e la Borsa (CONSOB- Italy’s securities regulator), CFTC Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo highlighted his organization’s commitment to regulating commodities markets, including the cryptocurrency sector, in a manner that gives room for innovation. He… Read More

June 2, 2019 @ 12:17 pm By Cali Haan  |  

John Rwangombwa, Governor National Bank of Rwanda (BNR), has issued a notice alerting Rwandan citizens, “to the existence of investments scam(s)…operating in Rwanda (through locally-registered businesses or from abroad through online platforms).” The warning also states that pyramid, multi-level marketing and fake initial coin offering… Read More

June 2, 2019 @ 12:01 pm By Cali Haan  |  

An analyst writing in the latest issue of the Diar Newsletter has argued that Facebook is facing considerable “demographic challenges” to the success of its anticipated venture into cryptocurrencies. The venture, tentatively dubbed “GlobalCoin,” is now being developed at Facebook by a team of blockchain,… Read More

June 2, 2019 @ 9:49 am By Cali Haan  |  

Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors from the globe’s twenty most powerful economies are “expected” to collaborate on creating a global registry of cryptocurrency exchanges when they meet at the G20 Conference in Fukuoka, Japan, in June, Nikkei Asian Review (NAR) reports. G20 government personnel meeting… Read More

June 1, 2019 @ 8:11 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The President of Germany’s central bank, Jens Weidmann, has warned that implementing central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) could lead to the destabilization of global financial systems, especially during times of fiscal crisis. The warning came during a speech delivered at the opening of the Bundesbank… Read More

June 1, 2019 @ 8:15 am By Cali Haan  |  

Tethers, controversial “stable” crypto-coins created to allow quick moves in and out of cryptocurrency trading positions are being introduced onto the EOS network, a newer rival of the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks. Tethers are issued by the Tether company, which announced the plan May 31st… Read More

June 1, 2019 @ 7:44 am By Cali Haan  |  

Bank of Russia head Elvira Nabiullina has told deputies of the State Duma (parliament) in Russia that her organization is wary of cryptocurrencies, Pravo reports: “We are against the legalization of cryptocurrency as a means of payment. We believe that there are big risks for… Read More

May 31, 2019 @ 7:38 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Global consulting firm EY (Ernst & Young) has released its research into  the creation of “…a set of smart contracts and microservices,…(using the) ZoKrates zk-snark toolkit, to enable standard ERC-20 and ERC-721 tokens to be transacted on the Ethereum blockchain with complete privacy.” Software for… Read More

May 30, 2019 @ 5:50 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has drafted a bill to allow its Board of Directors to create rules that would require all individuals, companies and/or platforms dealing in or issuing cryptocurrencies to be licensed, The Egyptian Independent reports. The rules would supplant a “fatwa”… Read More

May 30, 2019 @ 4:56 pm By Cali Haan  |  

LiteLink, a publicly-listed Canadian company (CSE:LLT)  that bills itself as ” a leader in logistics, artificial intelligence and digital payment solutions,” has announced that it has been chosen by Deloitte Canada, “…to bring technical experience to key client engagements.” More specifically: “This collaboration has already generated… Read More

May 30, 2019 @ 3:03 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Though cryptocurrencies were created to offer an alternative to traditional banking -and to affront it- the past two years have been characterized by crypto’s quest for legitimacy. To be fair, cryptocurrency exchanges with long-term interests, including Coinbase and Gemini, have attempted to be compliant from… Read More