Day: December 14, 2018

Telecoms Giant AT&T Seeks Patent for Blockchain-Enabled Social Media ‘Mapping’ System

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American telecoms giant AT&T is seeking a patent for a blockchain-based social media history “map.” The patent application was published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Dec. 13. AT&T’s patent application describes a blockchain-powered system that may include a transaction history controller to store subscribers’ data, which may be used for various purposes. The file outlines a number of particular cases, such as creating and sharing information, ideas, and career interests through virtual communities and networks. Broadly speaking, by deploying the system users could purportedly track “micro-culture transactions,”…

Ethereum-Based Chat Platform Lays Off 25% of Staff Due to Crypto Market Decline

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Ethereum (ETH)-based chat platform Status is laying off 25 percent of its staff due to the recent cryptocurrency market decline, according to a post published Dec. 11. Founded in 2017 in Switzerland, Status is an open source Ethereum-based mobile app that enables its users to chat, transact, and access decentralized applications (DApps). In the announcement, the startup’s co-founder Jarrad Hope said that Status is “much larger than we can sustain” in the environment of the declining market, wherein the company was not prepared for scenarios of ETH dropping over 80…

Blockchain Incubator Binance Labs Releases First ‘Batch’ of Blockchain Projects

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Binance Labs, the venture wing of the largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has released its first “batch” of blockchain projects from its Incubation Program, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Dec. 14. Binance Labs is an initiative that seeks to help early-stage blockchain and digital assets projects and entrepreneurs through direct investments and technical assistance. The Binance Labs Incubation Program is an onsite program that was launched in August 2018. Following a try-out tour with over 500 applicants, Binance Labs selected only eight projects, each of which received…

CEO of Largest Romanian Crypto Exchange Arrested on US Warrant

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The CEO of Romania’s largest crypto exchange Coinflux was reportedly arrested on a warrant from the United States for fraud, organized crime, and money laundering, local news outlet Mediafax reported Dec. 13. Coinflux has subsequently stopped all digital currency exchanges. Founded in 2015 in the Romanian city of Cluj, Coinflux is an online digital currency trading platform, with reportedly more than 200 million euro worth of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Ripple (XRP) in transactions. Vlad Nistor, the CEO and founder of Coinflux, was supposedly arrested on the…

Bitcoin Price Driven More by Speculation Than Utility: BitPay CEO

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BitPay CEO Stephen Pair has stated that speculation drives a substantial part of bitcoin’s current valuation, while the actual use of the crypto market leader as a currency is responsible for only a relatively small fraction of its price. Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Pair revealed that BitPay intends to change this situation significantly over the next few years. In his words: “A very big component of the price is certainly speculation. It’s investors speculating on the future usage and adoption of this technology. A small component of the price…

Major US Crypto Exchange Coinbase Adds Cash Withdrawals to PayPal

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Major American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has introduced free of charge cash withdrawals to online payment system PayPal, according to an announcement published Dec. 14. From now on, Coinbase’s United States-based customers are able to withdraw their cash balances to Paypal. The service for other countries will reportedly be rolled out some time in 2019. Coinbase and PayPal previously integrated in 2016, when Coinbase added support for the payment platform in addition to major credit cards. At the time, Coinbase users were able to sell Bitcoin (BTC) and have their fiat…

AT&T Wants to Create a Blockchain ‘Map’ of Your Social Media History

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Telecom giant AT&T has filed a blockchain-oriented patent application to “map” social media histories. Titled “Blockchain-Based Social Media History Maps,” and published on Thursday, it describes a system of tracking social media history “on behalf of” subscribers. Presumably, such a service would be most useful to employers and prospective employers. AT&T Eyes Blockchain for Social Media Scraping Tool One of the specific categories the patent application describes tracking would also be “career interests.” Thus, we can presume that the service is not merely for tracking potentially negative social media activities.…

French Financial Regulator Blacklists Four Crypto Websites for Unauthorized Offerings

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The French stock market watchdog, the Financial Markets Regulator (AMF), has blacklisted four crypto-related websites for unauthorized investment offerings, according to an official statement published Friday, Dec. 14. The AMF announcement notes nine companies that are allegedly operating without necessary regulatory approval, including four crypto-related firms. In the announcement, the stock market regulator warns investors about the increasing number of unregistered investment projects, claiming that “new unauthorized actors appear regularly.” The recent blacklist includes such crypto-related websites as iminage.com, elos-patrimoine.com, infoconso.info, and live-crypto.com.net. Elos-patrimoine claims to offer “risk-free” crypto investments,…

Bitcoin to Be Worth ‘Great Deal More’ in Three Years, Circle Co-Founder Says

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Jeremy Allaire, co-founder of crypto finance company Circle, told CNBC in an interview Friday, Dec. 14, that Bitcoin (BTC) will be worth “a great deal more” than it is now. When asked about the Bitcoin price in three years, Allaire told Squawk Box host Andrew Ross Sorkin that he does not make “significant price predictions,” while adding, “I think it is certainly going to be worth a great deal more that it is today.” Allaire also stated that while Bitcoin is attractive as a non-state store of value, a slew of…

Existing Financial Law Should Be Adjusted to Blockchain Industry

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The Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat) has said that existing financial law in the country suits the blockchain industry, but needs specific adjustments. The government suggested several amendments in an official statement by the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) published on Friday, Dec. 14. In a meeting on Dec. 7, the Bundesrat adopted a report on the legal framework for blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) in the financial sector. The report analyzes relevant framework provisions, outlines the need for measures and proposes concrete steps for developing the necessary legal conditions…