Stanford Student Calls Out Crypto Professor for Inaccurate Bitcoin Lecture

In January of 2019, student Conner Brown attended a guest lecture by a Professor Susan Athey at the University of Stanford Graduate School. She gave a presentation to his “Evolution of Finance” class titled “Blockchain and the Future of Finance.” According to Brown, the presentation contained “multiple misstatements” about Bitcoin and its fundamentals. After the presentation, Brown was dissatisfied with how Bitcoin was referenced by Athey during the lecture to a room comprised (mostly) of people who were unfamiliar with the fundamental concepts behind the technology. This prompted him to…

New York-Based Signature Bank to Offer Services to Fintech Firms in Bermuda

New York-based commercial bank Signature Bank will begin offering financial services to fintech firms in the island nation of Bermuda, local news daily the Royal Gazette reports on Feb. 28. According to the Royal Gazette, banks in Bermuda have mostly avoided dealing with the fintech industry, which is in need of financial services. Bermudian Premier David Burt said: “Signature Bank’s willingness to consider Bermuda-licensed businesses for banking services is a significant vote of confidence in and endorsement of Bermuda’s efforts to create a leading high standard regulatory regime for fintech…

California Bill Would Legalize Crypto for Tax Payments From Cannabis-Related Businesses

Lawmakers in the United States state of California have introduced a bill to allow cannabis-related business to pay fees and taxes in stablecoins. The bill was introduced by the California State Assembly on Feb. 21. Assembly Bill 953 would allow the state, city and county tax offices in California to accept stablecoins — cryptocurrency pegged to a physical asset or a fiat currency — from cannabis-related companies seeking to pay their excise or cultivation taxes, with effect from Jan. 1, 2020. The bill further reads: “The bill would authorize that…

XRP is now available on Coinbase – The Coinbase Blog

Starting today, Coinbase supports XRP at Coinbase.com and in the Coinbase Android and iOS apps. Coinbase customers can now buy, sell, convert, send, receive, or store XRP. Please note that inbound transfers and many sends require the specification of an XRP destination tag. XRP will be available for customers in most jurisdictions, but will not initially be available for residents of the United Kingdom or the state of New York. XRP is the cryptocurrency used by the XRP ledger, which supports international currency exchange and remittances. The ledger is powered…

Crypto Terminal Allows Traders to Build Automated Strategies and Access Multiple Exchanges

The startup that has built a “next-generation crypto trading terminal” says its product is focused on simplicity and automation — enabling traders to set up their strategies and spend evenings away from their screens. Superorder says its crypto terminal is built for 24/7 trades. One of its platform’s features is the Strategy Builder, a tool enabling users to create trading strategies and sequences using a simple drag-and-drop interface. Once a strategy has been built, it is executed as soon as certain conditions are met. In the spirit of compatibility, the…

Crypto Exchange Kraken Offers $100,000 Reward for QuadrigaCX’s Missing Funds

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has posted a $100,000 reward for the discovery of the major Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX’s missing funds. Kraken announced the offer in a blog post on Feb. 28. QuadrigaCX has faced financial difficulty following the sudden death of its founder Gerry Cotten in December last year. Since then, Quadriga has not been able to access its cold wallets where it kept most of the assets, because Cotten was apparently solely responsible for the wallets and corresponding keys. Quadriga purportedly only has CA$375,000 ($286,000) in cash, while it…

Swiss Fintech Market Grew by 62 Percent in 2018

The Swiss fintech market grew by 62 percent in 2018, according to a recent study by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences published on Feb. 27. The Lucerne University of Applied Sciences undertook an in-depth review of Switzerland’s fintech market for the fourth time. The report dubbed “IFZ FinTech Study 2019” reveals that on a global scale the cities of Zurich and Geneva remain in second and third place for the best cities for fintech, respectively. The fintech sector inside the country grew 62 percent over the previous year. Per…

Kraken Exchange Offers $100K Reward for Missing QuadrigaCX Crypto

Crypto exchange Kraken is offering up to $100,000 to anyone who can help solve this year’s biggest blockchain mystery: what happened to QuadrigaCX’s coins? Kraken announced Thursday it would pay the reward to users who could help it locate the missing funds. Any tips sent to the platform will, in turn, be shared with law enforcement, the company said in a blog post. The reward is payable in fiat or cryptocurrency. To participate, Kraken is encouraging users to listen to a pair of podcasts that outline both what is already known…

Bittrex Leads $1.5 Million Seed Round in South African Crypto Exchange VALR

Global crypto exchange Bittrex led a $1.5 million seed round in South African trading platform VALR. Bittrex CEO Bill Shihara told CoinDesk the South African market has “tremendous untapped potential.” Fellow VALR investor Michael Jordaan of Montegray Capital told CoinDesk that VALR’s support for 50 cryptocurrencies will offer the most diverse range of assets of any African exchange when it opens to the public on March 1. “The VALR team has the potential to change the cryptocurrency landscape in South Africa and globally,” Jordaan said. VALR co-founder and CEO Farzam Ehsani…

Facebook Coin Rumors Continue to Circulate

There have been Facebook coin rumors for months in the crypto community and today, the New York Times stirred them up again. According to the New York Times report, Facebook is currently working on its own digital currency to integrate into its messaging services. Facebook Coin Rumors A few months ago, Bloomberg released an article about Facebook developing its own stablecoin to be used on its WhatsApp messaging app. This was the start of the rumor mill, although many have discussed in the past the potential of the advertising giant adopting…