Monday March 11 2019, Weekly News Digest

United States

Bitcoin – Hits $ 4,000 but Holding on is another Story (Yahoo! Finance), Rated: AAA

Bitcoin rose by 1.95% on Saturday. Reversing a 0.6% fall from Friday, Bitcoin ended the day at $4,017.2. It was only the 2^nd visit to $4,000 levels in March and the 1^st time Bitcoin was able to hold onto $4,000 since 23^rd February.

Bullish through the morning, Bitcoin rose from an intraday low $3,940.5 to a late afternoon intraday high $4,046.2.

The move through to $4,000 levels saw Bitcoin breakthrough the first major resistance level at $4,024.33 before easing back.

Bitcoin Price Could Sink to $ 1,850 Despite Bullish Crypto Momentum (CCN), Rated: A

The stability of Bitcoin has led many tokens and alternative cryptocurrencies to record large gains against both BTC and the USD, with assets Litecoin, Enjin Coin, and Kyber Network surging by 50 to 100 percent in short time frames.

However, speaking to CCN in an interview, a cryptocurrency technical analyst known as “Bleeding Crypto” said that a drop to $1,850 still remains a strong possibility for the dominant cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrency Price Analyst Predicts Bitcoin (BTC) USD Value to Reach $ 30,000 By 2021 (Bitcoin Exchange Guide), Rated: A

It seems that Bitcoin (BTC) could reach $30,000 as soon as 2021 according to AngeloBTC, a recognized trader that was able to obtain thousands of BTC during the bull run of 2017. Since the market started to be in a bear trend, he stopped posting information about digital currencies and he reduced his presence in social media.

Bitcoin’s Lightning Network will demolish coin’s future, says Bitcoin millionaire Erik Finman (AMBCrypto), Rated: A

Erik Finman, in a recent twitter rant, bashed the Lightning Network and its functionality. He said that it was not entirely decentralized, which in theory defeated the whole philosophy behind cryptocurrencies and the decentralization approach.

Bitcoin Coders Send First Bitcoin Lightning Payment Over Radio Waves (Fossbytes), Rated: A

The transaction was organized on Twitter when Rodolfo Novak, co-founder of CoinKite, a bitcoin hardware startup, invited interested people in attempting a transaction on JS8call. JS8call is a software for Amateur radio that can encode and decode radio waves.

Bitcoin Jesus: Don’t Delete Coinbase, No Other Firm Does More for Crypto (NewsBTC), Rated: AAA

Roger Ver is among the most polarizing characters in the crypto industry. He often goes against the grain, even if it earns him notoriety. Such is the case with recent comments made by Ver, defending San Francisco-based Coinbase in the face of the ongoing #DeleteCoinbase boycott.

Blockchain Forensics Firm Chainalysis Clarifies Data Use in Wake of Coinbase/ Neutrino Controversy (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A

Blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis has blogged to address possible concerns that its services could be being used to violate crypto users’ privacy.

Ripple Price Analysis: XRP Looks Set To Climb Above $ 0.3200 (NewsBTC), Rated: AAA

• Ripple price has formed a strong support above the $0.3070 level against the US dollar.
• The price is facing a couple of strong resistances near the $0.3130 and $0.3160 levels.
• There is a key contracting triangle formed with resistance at $0.3130 on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair (data source from Kraken).
• The pair is likely to climb above $0.3160 and $0.3200 as long as the $0.3070 support is intact.

Forbes Analyst Predicts That Litecoin (LTC) Will Take Over XRP (XRP) Before The End Of 2019 (Smartereum), Rated: A

Many true believers will never admit this but in the cryptocurrency space, price prediction is important. It’s true that the price action of cryptocurrencies isn’t supposed to affect your interest in the industry. However, it’s difficult to completely ignore it. For a while now, many investors have been searching for accurate Litecoin price prediction 2019 and XRP price prediction 2019 among others. Well, an analyst on Forbes recently gave price predictions for both coins. In fact, the analyst proposed that there will be a flipping toward the end of the year that will put LTC ahead of XRP.

Litecoin and EOS Have Great Price Week. What’s Next? (The Independent Republic), Rated: AAA

The past several weeks have seen strong returns for various crypto projects, with notable gains for both EOS and Litecoin LTC. Both projects have seen 20%+ 24-hour gains in recent days, and this price action has managed to stick around. What’s at the root of price improvements for EOS and Litecoin? What do they have to do with similar action from Bitcoin? And will we be building on this momentum, or is this another fool’s recovery? Let’s take a look.

RIPPLE CEO SKEPTICAL OF JP MORGAN’S NEW CRYPTOCURRENCY (Bitcoinist), Rated: A

He spoke at the DC Blockchain Summit on March 6. The executive said that he thinks it’s “great” that major financial institutions such as JP Morgan Chase stepping into the cryptocurrency industry. His praises, however, ended quickly. He stated:

If you give them a dollar for deposits, they’ll give you a JPM Coin that you can then move within the JPM ledger. Wait a minute, just use the dollar! […] I don’t understand. If you’re just moving within the JPM ledger, and it has to be dollar-to-dollar, one-to-one backing, I don’t understand what problem that solves.

What is TRON? What is TRX? A Must-Read 2019 Guide Packed Full of Info (Blokt), Rated: AAA

TRON is a highly ambitious project aiming to establish a truly decentralized Internet. If you’re wondering what that involves or simply “What is Tron?” then you have come to the right place as this guide is packed full of useful info.

Tronix or TRX is the native digital currency of the Tron blockchain. It first came into existence when Tron launched a successful ICO which raised over $70 million in September 2017.

Tron’s [TRX] market volume tops combined volume of Ethereum [ETH] and EOS across two days (AMBCrypto), Rated: A

A report from DApp Review showed that between March 3 and March 5, Tron’s transaction volume was more than the combined value of its two biggest rivals, EOS and Ethereum [ETH]. The value of Tron was a whopping $43.616 million, while EOS and Ethereum clocked $11.617 million and $4.408 million respectively.

MakerDAO Votes to Raise Ethereum-backed Loan Interest Rate by 2.0 Percentage Points (CryptoSlate), Rated: A

MakerDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization that provides crypto collateralized loans, voted to raise interest rates from 1.5 percent to 3.5 percent. The vote is a continuation of two February rate increases in an attempt to curb its Ethereum-backed stablecoin, Dai, from trading below its $1.00 peg.

eToro Launches Platform In US (AltcoinBuzz), Rated: A

The social platform that is available in over 140 countries and has over 10 million users, eToro, is now available in the US for cryptocurrency trading.

Fidelity’s Digital Asset Platform Goes Live With Select Clients (CoinTelegraph), Rated: A

Fidelity Digital Assets, the digital currency wing of United States financial services giant Fidelity, is now live with a select group of clients, the firm announced on March 8.

Wells Fargo, Warren Buffett’s Investment, Paid 20% of Bitcoin Market Cap in Fines (NewsBTC), Rated: A

In his recent interview with CNBC, America’s most successful capitalist Warren Buffett reiterated his negative stance on bitcoin.

The legendary investor told Becky Quick that bitcoin was a delusional asset which “attracts charlatans,” adding:

“If you do something phony by going out and selling yo-yos or something, there’s no money in it — but when you get into Wall Street, there’s huge money.”

Blockchain-Based Journalism Startup Civil Relaunches Another ICO (All-Stocks), Rated: A

However, Civil’s ICO failed and the project didn’t take off at its first attempt. But now, in an announcement this week, Civil is back with renewed resolve and a plan to get the project off the ground. The project’s ecosystem has the CVL token. Starting from March 6th, users are able to buy the Civil membership and CVL tokens. The tokens represent the consumers voting power in the Civil ecosystem. The announcement reads:

“Thirty-four million Civil tokens will be priced by The Civil Media Company at $0.20 per CVL on March 6. Every token sold will trigger a slight price increase until the last token goes for $0.94 via a transparent, fixed and linear slope.”

Crypto Crash: Why the Crypto Market is Going Down   (Smartereum), Rated: A

• Bad Press: public perception of the currency is affected by headlines of crashes as well as negative statements by financial institutions questioning the validity of the currency.
• Inadequate security: for bitcoin to gain stability, merchants, and consumers need a safe spot to store funds.
• Stringent government regulation: bitcoin is decentralized and has not central authority regulating it.
• Delay in the ruling of bitcoin ETF by SEC: experts also believe that the approval of this fund could cause BTC value to skyrocket.

What’s the Back Story to Security Token Offerings and Regulation? (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A

The initial coin offering (ICO) / Security Token Offering (STO) continues to endure a period of regulatory uncertainty. As things stand right now, ICOs are securities. End of story.

If you completed an ICO after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued the DAO Report – you are probably in trouble. Hire a good securities attorney and ask the SEC for forgiveness and maybe, just maybe, you may get off with a less punitive judgment from the enforcement division.

What You Should Know Before Setting up a Cryptocurrency Masternode (AltcoinBuzz), Rated: A

Simply speaking, a masternode is a server on a decentralized network that keeps the full copy of the blockchain in real-time. It has unique functions which makes it different from normal nodes. They include features like doing instant transactions, increasing the privacy of transactions, and direct send.

Factors to consider before setting up Masternode

Masternodes can be run by anyone for a cryptocurrency. However, there is an entry criterion in place to ensure that the system doesn’t get malicious. The entry barrier is what one needs to collateralize certain units of that particular cryptocurrency to run a masternode.

In order to become a masternode, you must consider the below factors:

• A masternode is an always online computer (ideally — a server) that has a static IP and is running cryptocurrency wallet software that is fully synchronized with the blockchain network.
• Your wallet should possess specific technical parameters: switched on 24/7, the power of the computer, etc.

• To run a masternode you must purchase in a specific amount of coins to deposit into the wallet as collateral (For DASH minimum you need 1000 DASH units and for PIVX minimum you need 10,000 PIVX units). So this minimum units varies from crypto to crypto. This is mostly a much bigger expenditure besides the hardware costs.

VaultTel Selling New SIM-Card Crypto Hardware Wallet (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A

“Consumer Spy Tech” and nano-tech enthusiasts may be pleased to hear that an American company called VaultTel has created a cryptocurrency hardware wallet that is accessed via one’s cellphone SIM-tray.

How cryptocurrency assets are becoming a new battleground in divorce disputes (Bankrate), Rated: A

In 2018, only 5 percent of the American population held cryptocurrency, according to a survey by the Global Blockchain Business Council. An additional 21 percent of respondents, however, said they were considering adding it to their portfolio.

As cryptocurrency has surged in popularity, it’s become much more common for investors to carry shares in the largely unregulated market. For married couples looking to part ways, this means dealing with cryptocurrency as an asset could make for a difficult and lengthy divorce process.

US arrests cryptocurrency exec over ‘multibillion-dollar’ fraud (Engadget), Rated: A

PRO-BITCOIN COLORADO GOVERNOR SIGNS CRYPTOCURRENCY-FRIENDLY BILL (Bitcoinist), Rated: B

In November, Bitcoinist reported that US Representative Jared Polis, who is a known cryptocurrency and blockchain advocate, became Colorado’s Governor.

On March 6, Theresa Szczurek said that Polis has signed Colorado’s Digital Token Act. The act is supposed to enter into effect on Aug 2, 2019, and it aims to cement the state’s position as a “hub for companies and entrepreneurs that seek to utilize cryptoeconomic systems to power blockchain technology-based business models.”

Crypto-Hostile Massachusetts Extends Olive Branch to Blockchain Industry (CCN), Rated: B

Massachusetts regulators haven’t made it easy for blockchain entrepreneurs. State officials have kept bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies at arm’s length by attempting to dissuade investors and spotlighting the risks of participating in the market and by cracking down on companies operating in the space.

Locals, however, can take heart, as a new working group created by the very office that has been targeting cryptocurrency has been launched. The Fintech Working Group is designed to help startups to grasp securities laws, and its early focus will reportedly be on crypto assets. Blockchain startups should gain clarity on what the state deems unregistered securities.

International

Top 5 Crypto Performers Overview: Binance Coin, Litecoin, NEXO, EOS, Stellar, Monero (CoinTelegraph), Rated: AAA

The BNB/USD pair has extended its strong run from the bottom. It easily scaled above the overhead resistance of $12 and skyrocketed to the critical resistance zone of $15 to $18. After a large-range week, we anticipate a consolidation or a minor correction in the next couple of weeks.

The LTC/USD pair closed (UTC time frame) above $47.2460 last week, triggering our buy recommendation. Traders can keep the stop loss at $40. The next level to watch on the upside is the zone between $69.2790 and the 50-week SMA. If the momentum carries the digital currency above both these levels, the rally can extend to $94.2590 in the medium-term.

Featured cryptocurrency* — NEXO/USD

Nexo provides instant loans to clients against their crypto assets. This way, the clients can keep their assets for the long term, but still monetize them for various uses like buying a home, a car, marriage, etc. in the short-to-medium term.

The company caters to a wide range of clients, issuing loans from $500 to $2 million per client.

EOS/USD

We had suggested that traders initiate long positions on a weekly close (UTC time frame) above $3.8723 in our earlier analysis. Though the EOS/USD pair rallied above $3.8723 in the previous week, it could not close above it.

Top Cryptos See Minor Losses as Bitcoin Falls Towards $ 3,900 (CoinTelegraph), Rated: AAA

At press time, Bitcoin is down just under 1 percent on the day, trading at around $3,931, according to CoinMarketCap data. Looking at its weekly chart, the current price is over 2 percent higher than $3,845, the price at which Bitcoin started the week.

ETH is down by 1.3 percent over the last 24 hours. At press time, ETH is trading around $136, after having started the day around $138. On its weekly chart, Ethereum has seen its value increase by about 2.2 percent from $133, ETH’s price last Saturday.

Second-largest altcoin Ripple has seen almost no price movement in the 24 hours to press time and is currently trading at around $0.313.

Decrypt Guide: How to use a Bitcoin, Ethereum or XRP block explorer (Decrypt Media), Rated: A

Can’t find your Bitcoin? Don’t worry, all is not lost. Like anything that needs fixing, there’s a tool for the job. In this case, it’s a block explorer.

Compound Has $ 23.4 Million USD Locked In. Here’s How the Crypto Lending Platform Works (Long Hash), Rated: A

Compound is playing an increasingly large role in the decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape. It is one of the most popular DeFi applications at the moment, but it’s not always easy to understand. Here’s how Compound works.

As of press time on March 8, 2019 (8 am UTC),DeFiPulse.com values the total digital assets locked into Compound at around $23.4 million USD. According to the tool’s rankings, the only platform surpassing Compound is MakerDAO, which accounts for $298 million USD.

Best Cryptocurrencies To Invest In For Beginners (ZyCrypto), Rated: A

• Bitcoin (BTC) has been consistently being on top. A coin that was designed by a certain Satoshi Nakamoto (a pseudo name) in October 2008 – titled as Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System
• Ripple (XRP) – another name for it is Ripple transaction protocol (RTXP). It was launched by Ryan Fugger in 2004, a Web developer in Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
• Ethereum (ETH) – the system surfaced on 30 July 2015, made possible by Vitalik Buterin. It is a kind of decentralized money, means there is no company, government or bank controlling it.

Samsung’s Announcement Causes Enjin Coin to Rise 400% Overnight (Inside Bitcoins), Rated: A

Samsung, with its most recent announcements, has caused hysteria in the cryptocurrency market. The smartphone manufacturer launched its latest flagship, the Samsung Galaxy S10, with a built-in cryptocurrency wallet that offers hot and cold storage of four crypto tokens. Enjin Coin, being one of the supported cryptos for the wallet, has been impacted massively after the announcement.

The crypto token was being traded at a price point of about 1000 Satoshi before the announcement. After the news, Enjin Coin rose to 5050 Satoshi within a matter of hours. The new price point is 400% higher than the initial price point of this drastic movement.

Exclusive Interview with Coin360 CEO (CoinGape), Rated: A

For some insights on the ICOs and what we are looking at going forward, we talked with Evan Ropp, CEO of cryptocurrency market tracker Coin360.

1. Hello Evan. Tell us about Coin360. Why did you make it if there were plenty of similar services? Before I got my hands on crypto, I was into fiat trading and when I decided to try my hand at crypto I realized that there were no solid heatmaps out there that were easy-to-use and convenient. All the other projects out there were virtually identical and I was surprised at the lack of decent UX in such a high-tech marketplace.

Lyft and blockchain company Solve.Care partner on ridesharing solution (MedCity News), Rated: A

Lyft has already made moves into the non-emergency medical transportation space. But through a new partnership with an Estonian health IT startup, it’s adding blockchain to the equation.

The rideshare company has joined forceswith Solve.Care, which offers a blockchain platform for healthcare coordination, administration and payments.

Bumble Bee Foods uses blockchain to track fresh Tuna from ocean to table (Chepicap), Rated: A

US seafood giant Bumble Bee Foods in collaboration with German tech company SAP Cloud Platform Blockchain service, has launched a blockchain platform to trace the journey of the yellowfin tuna from the Indonesian ocean to your dinner table.

According to a press release, both companies will continue to innovate and improve upon seafood traceability as more and more consumers demand to know their food is safe and sustainably sourced. The new platform will be able to monitor the supply chain of yellowfin tuna from Indonesia to end customers.

Ripple Adoption: 19 Companies To Benefit From Using XRP For Cross-Border Payments (Oracle Times), Rated: B

• Euro Exim Bank
• Bittrex
• Bitso
• Coins.ph
• Bitstamp
• Cuallix
• Mercury FX
• Catalyst
• SBI Virtual Currencies
• IDT
• Viamericas
• SendFriend
• FlashFX
• Arrington Capital
• Bitrue
• JNFX
• FTCS
• Transpaygo
• R3

Block collider launches Decentralised marketplace (Its Blockchain), Rated: B

Block Collider is a mineable multi-chain protocol that bridges blockchains together to create interwoven, trustless cooperation between people around the world.  The project is similar to multi-chain projects Polkadot and Cosmos in that it allows for interoperability and communication across ‘walled garden’ blockchain networks.  However, Block Collider is completely unique because it does not rely at all on ‘network validators’ unlike ALL other interoperability protocols.

Validators introduce points of centralization in blockchain networks that create attack vectors and misaligned incentives.

BLOCK COLLIDER FACTS:

• Since launching their multi-chain platform in August of 2018, their network has grown to dynamic community of over 55,000 Miners in over 110 countries.
• $550 million dollars pledged, only $7 million accepted  making it one of the most oversubscribed ICOs in history

BORDERLESS FACTS:

• Zero exchange fees.
• Cross-chain – Transfers between any tokens running on the participating chains. Initially; Bitcoin, Ethereum, NEO, Lisk, and Waves blockchains.
• No login or trusted entity – All local storage and P2P trading.
• Fastest confirmation times (faster Ether than ethereum)
• Most secure network by removing the weakness in brought in through central-nodes

European Union

About 7,500 Ethereum Addresses Contain Over 80% of Total ETH Supply (CryptoGlobe), Rated: AAA

There are currently 7,572 Ether (ETH) addresses that reportedly hold more than 80% of the total circulating supply of the world’s second largest cryptocurrency.

This, according to a report published by cryptoasset research firm Delphi Digital, which revealed that over 80% of Ether’s total circulating supply is held by wallets that have a balance of at least 1,000 ETH. There are currently 7,572 ETH addresses with a minimum 1,000 ETH balance.

Ethereum Price Forecast: Ether Approaching Next Crucial Break (ETH News), Rated: AAA

• Ether’s price continued to struggle near the $140.00 resistance against the US dollar.
• ETH/USD could accelerate losses if it clears the $135.00 support and a bullish trendline on the 2-hour chart.
• ETH/BTC extended losses below the 0.0345BTC support and may revisit 0.0342BTC.

Entering The Ethereum – Long-Term Economics & Analysis (Delphi Digital), Rated: AAA

One of the most exciting aspects of this rapidly evolving world of “crypto” is the open source ethos it was built upon. It has swept up people from vastly different backgrounds, beliefs, and geographies in its move towards a more transparent and equitable world. Some industry participants are technical gurus; some are cryptography experts; some have backgrounds in psychology or sociology; others can be found debating the ideals of Keynesian economics in the deep corners of the web.

Such a wide spectrum of expertise will inevitably lead to some dispute, but it also presents an incredible opportunity for all of us to contribute to a movement much bigger than ourselves. It allows us to collectively push the boundaries on new ideas, business models, and social constructs far beyond the possibilities any one individual or team ever could.

Our goal with this report is to spark greater discussion around the future of Ethereum and the critical challenges it is likely to face over the coming years, especially as it transitions to Serenity. While a lot of technical attention has been given to this subject, we wanted to expand upon the preliminary discussions surrounding Ethereum’s long-term sustainability and future economics.

Vitalik Proposes A Raise In Transaction Fees, Gets Backlash From Community (BTCNN), Rated: A

Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum network, proposes a new crypto wallet fees to the crypto community on the 8th of March via a post on Tweeter. This he proposes to be a “sustainable” way to fund cryptocurrency wallet developments: a tiny per-transaction fee that goes to the wallet’s developers. This, unlike his usual proposals, got a backlash from the crypto community.

Binance CEO Says Vitalik Buterin’s Proposed Wallet Fee Won’t Fly (Bitcoin Exchange Guide), Rated: B

Ethereum creator, Vitalik Buterin recently proposed increasing the user fees on the network in order to support developers with sustainable funding.

However, the Chief Executive Officer of the largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance, Changpeng Zhao says this won’t fly.

Suggesting for a flat one-off payment of 1 gwei where $1 USDequals 7,436,340.8997 gwei, Buterin says it could collectively raise up to 2 million in a year.

Binance Coin (BNB) Outperforming The Entire Cryptocurrency Market (Smartereum), Rated: A

The Binance Coin burn started when the cryptocurrency winter started at the beginning of 2018. At the time, all the top cryptocurrencies per market capitalization fell significantly against the USD. However, the Binance Coin burn seems to have come to an end as the native token of the Binance Chain is currently up by 141. 7% since the beginning of the year while BTC is only up by 4%. BNB is outperforming the entire cryptocurrency market. It has stopped tracking the price of BTC.

Trezor One Latest Updates Include Ripple (XRP) Coin Support (CryptoNewsZ), Rated: AAA

New updates are on the cards as per the recent official announcement made by Trezor through its blog. The company is soon going to update its wallets called Trezor One with two firmware updates that will significantly enhance the products’ features and security. In addition to that, the company will also be allowing users to store Ripple (XRP) tokens on its Trezor Model T wallet, an update for which the crypto enthusiasts have waited for long.

German Finance Ministry seeks to introduce regulation for blockchain-based securities (Token Post), Rated: A

The German Federal Ministry of Finance has published a paper that discusses the introduction of regulation for blockchain-based securities.

The regulator underscored the need to open up the country’s law to include electronic securities. It said that the key objective is to position Germany has a leading digitization and fintech location and develop a blockchain strategy.

Major Online Swiss Bank Integrates Bitcoin Custody, Boost in Institutionalization (NewsBTC), Rated: A

Swissquote, a $618 million worth online banking group, announced Friday that it is partnering with Zug-based Crypto Storage to enable cryptocurrency custodial services on its platform. The Gland-based said that institutional investors on its platform would be able to transfer cryptocurrencies from their external wallets to a Swissquote account and vice versa.

SAP helps Europe’s biggest popcorn company Nataïs with blockchain traceability (Ledger Insights), Rated: A

French popcorn company Nataïs wants to empower consumers to see where their popcorn came from by using blockchain. The company is Europe’s largest popcorn producer and number three in the world. It teamed up with SAP’s Co-Innovation Lab and SAP partner STMS to implement the traceability solution.

United Kingdom

World’s biggest Blockchain ETF on London Stock Exchange (Coinnounce), Rated: AAA

Cryptocurrency enthusiasts around the world have been curiously waiting for a bitcoin ETF to be approved by the SEC or any other potential government in the world. However, before a bitcoin ETF, the world’s biggest blockchain ETF is scheduled to be launched by Invesco on the London Stock Exchange. Invesco is a large investment management company that has more than $800 billion in assets under management.

Revolut Launches ‘Auto-Exchange’ Functionality for 5 Cryptocurrencies (SludgeFeed), Rated: A

Revolut, a London-based digital banking startup with a retail-focused cryptocurrency exchange and trading app, has released a new feature called “Auto-Exchange,” which allows users to instantly convert funds into 24 different fiat currencies and 5 cryptocurrencies with pre-selected rates.

Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and XRP (XRP) are all supported, in addition to fiat currencies like the dollar and euro.

Get rich quick with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies? Not likely, says watchdog (The Times), Rated: A

Investors in cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ether tend to have a “get rich quick” attitude and invest only because they fear they will miss out on the next big thing, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said.

China

Ethfinex introduces decentralized token listings with Kleros dispute resolution (Bankless Times), Rated: AAA

Kleros, a decentralized arbitration platform, is teaming up with Ethfinex Exchange to offer a fully decentralized listing process for new projects looking to have their tokens traded on the exchange.  This will be the first production-scale application of a new, completely decentralized curated list application developed and tested by Kleros that will allow companies to make ‘crowd-sourced decisions.’

aeternity to host Meetup in Hong Kong (Event Brite), Rated: B

To celebrate the Token2049 week, æternity is hosting a pop-up ævent in Hong Kong on Friday, 15th March.

• Fri, March 15, 2019
• 8:30 PM – 11:30 PM HKT

Location

Australia

Do start-ups stand a chance in the face of ‘crypto winter’? (The Sydney Morning Herald), Rated: AAA

Cryptocurrencies have lost more than $400 billion from their global market cap over the past 12 months, but despite this Australian start-ups remain determined to weather the fallout from “crypto winter”.

“The best time to build something is where there’s a lull in the market,” says co-founder of cryptocurrency investment app Amber, Aleks Svetski.

Loyalty start-up Liven sells $ 10 million tokens after removing ‘ICO’ from its marketing (Financial Review), Rated: A

A decision by restaurant loyalty start-up Liven to stop calling its capital raise an initial coin offering (ICO) and instead label it as a “token sale” has paid off, with the business bringing in $US10 million ($14.2 million) from its private sale.

Asia

The Blockchain divide: why large corporates are delinking it from the crypto world? (YourStory), Rated: AAA

But with Blockchain being linked to the speculation behind cryptocurrency, corporates are more than happy to delink the technology from cryptocurrency. By doing so, they are defeating the very purpose of a decentralised approach to verifying transactions and enforcing contracts with utmost transparency.

The death knell was sounded by AWS, the $28 billion public cloud giant. It launched a couple of Blockchain-based services at AWS Re:Invent 2018 based on a centralised smart contract system with AWS acting as the verifying layer but with no link to the crypto rewards mechanism.

Blockchain and AI: What Happens When the Technologies Merge? (Appinventiv), Rated: AAA

Blockchain technology is one of the driving forces in the world of innovation. It has revolutionized various industries, including Healthcare, Supply chain, Mobile app, Retail, Real Estate, and Finance by adding a layer of security and transparency into their processes. And on the way, it has become one of the moved loved technology by Entrepreneurs and their users.

1. The global market for Artificial Intelligence will be of worth $190 billion by 2025.
2. By 2019, 40% of digital transformations will be done via AI.
3. AI-enabled voice assistants will hit more than 4 billion devices across the globe by this year.
4. Companies relying on AI data will take $1.2 trillion a year from non-insight driven firms by the year 2020.

Blockchain has also demonstrated a wider future scope as depicted from the statistics:-

1. According to IDC, $11.7B will be spent on Blockchain by the year 2022, with a compounding annual growth of 73.2%.
2. 69% of banks across the globe are experimenting, and around 90% of North American Banks and European banks are investing in Blockchain development to make their processes seamless, secure and transparents.
3. Banks and Finance firms are predicted to save around $8-12 B annually by embracing Blockchain.

Samsung Pay Will Integrate Cryptocurrencies for 10 Million Users (CCN), Rated: A

On January 29, The Korea Herald reported that Samsung is set to integrate a cryptocurrency wallet into the Galaxy S10, well over a month before the formal release of the Samsung Blockchain Wallet on February 21.

South Korean Kakao Corp’s Ground X Plans to Extend ICO After Raising $ 90 Million (CoinTelegraph), Rated: A

The crypto unit of South Korea’s largest internet conglomerate Kakao Corp will repeat its initial coin offering (ICO) after netting $90 million from investors, Bloomberg reported on Mar. 11.

Klaytn, the blockchain platform which is the responsibility of spin-off firm Ground X, will now seek to raise another $90 million as soon as this week. In December 2018, Kakao had first announced that it was planning to raise around $300 million through Ground X to develop its own token.

Japan’s J-Coin is Not A Crypto, Enthusiasts Disappointed As Digital Currency Is Launched (BTCWires), Rated: A

Japan’s enthusiasm for putting its best foot forward with regard to modern technology is quite well-known. Therefore, when reports had surfaced that its Mizhuo bank is working to launch a cryptocurrency called J-coin, few were surprised. However, this month, shattering hopes of crypto enthusiasts, Japan has come out with J-coin as digital currency that is definitely not a cryptocurrency. In fact, this coin is not even based in blockchain technology.

Kyber Network Hosts a Community Poll to Decide on Aragon and DAOStack for KyberDAO (Bitcoin Exchange Guide), Rated: A

Earlier this year, Kyber has shared its plan for this year which is going to focus on expanding and deepen the involvement of the community. For the Kyber network, the team would be moving towards a permissionless liquidity protocol that can be “implemented on any smart contract enabled blockchain.”

MENA

Aber: A new era of cross-border digital remittances (Arab News), Rated: AAA

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) and the UAE Central Bank (UAECB) have announced in a joint statement the launch of their pilot project Aber, a common digital currency between the two countries. Its main objective is to enable banks in both countries to deal directly with each other digitally, and to conduct financial remittances through the use of blockchains and distributed ledger technology, the statement said.

Latin America

Binance CEO CZ Hints at Creation of Fiat-to-Crypto Exchange in Argentina (CoinTelegraph), Rated: AAA

CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, Changpeng Zhao, has hinted at the creation of a new fiat-to-crypto exchange in Argentina in a tweet sent on March 9.

The tweet was in reply to a piece published by crypto news website CoinSpice. The article in question concerned the agreement between the government of Argentina with Binance Labs, the exchange’s investment and social impact arm, to co-invest in blockchain projects that are backed by the exchange.

Mexico Looks to Bolster Crypto Regulations (CryptoNews), Rated: AAA

Per news outlet Imparcial, Banxico is seeking to ensure that companies dealing with cryptocurrencies ensure their crypto-dealings are kept “at a healthy distance” from their conventional financial operations.

Canada

QuadrigaCX case shows need for cryptocurrency regulation (Global News), Rated: A

A high-stakes legal drama featuring cryptocurrencies has been unfolding in a Canadian court recently.

The antics that led to the litigation almost defy credulity, and they highlight the need for new regulations to better suit a financial marketplace that includes virtual currencies.

Authors: