Day: June 19, 2019

Ethereum (ETH) Price Climbing Higher: Can Bulls Break $275 This Time?

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ETH price found support near the $262 level and recently climbed higher against the US Dollar. The price is currently testing the $270 resistance and it could continue to rise towards $275. There is a connecting bullish trend line forming with support near $268 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken). The pair is likely to revisit the main $275 resistance level, above which it could climb sharply. Ethereum price is slowly climbing towards key resistances versus the US Dollar, but struggling vs bitcoin. ETH price might…

Ethereum 2.0’s Phase Zero Scheduled to Launch on January 3, 2020: Devs

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The first stage of the Ethereum network’s transition to Ethereum 2.0 is expected to take place on January 3, 2020, as said in a bi-weekly call of Ethereum core developers on June 13. During the call, Ethereum researcher Justin Drake said that the dev team is working on code specifications for phase zero, confirming that codes are still expected to be released on June 30. Phase zero is the name of the first transition stage of the Ethereum network from a proof-of-work to a proof-of-stake consensus algorithm, which would pass…

Brazil Requires Crypto Exchanges to Report on User Transactions to Authorities

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The Department of Federal Revenue of Brazil (RFB) has released new rules requiring that cryptocurrency exchanges inform the regulator about users’ transactions in order to identify tax fraud, Cointelegraph Brazil reported on June 19. The guidelines clarify how cryptocurrency trading platforms in Brazil should adopt new rules to report about the movements of users’ crypto funds to the agency, and comply with the requirements of Normative Instruction 1.888/2019 published in May of this year. Specifically, the agency requires that cryptocurrency exchanges operators based in Brazil provide information about all transactions…

Malaysia Launches Work Visa Program for Blockchain Tech Professionals

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Malaysia has launched a work visa program targeting tech freelancers that addresses a demand for blockchain capable talens, local news outlet the Star reported on June 18. The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) — a government-owned organization that oversees the tech sector — blockchain organization Nem Foundation and job marketplace Jobbatical have jointly launched the program. The program aims to attract foreign professionals who will have the right to stay in the country for up to 12 months to provide blockchain-related services or undergo training at a Malaysian company. MDEC…

Open Interest in Bitcoin Futures Contracts Hit All-Time High

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The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group has released data showing that open interest in Bitcoin futures is rising, as per an official Twitter post on June 18. Interest in BTC futures over time: https://twitter.com/CMEGroup/status/1141015074062110721 According to CME, bitcoin (BTC) open interest spiked on June 17 with an all-time high of 5,311 contracts totalling 26,555 BTC, or approximately $246 million at press time. Futures are standardized contracts that bind a party to buying or selling some asset at a predetermined date. Notably, the CME group also remarked in the Twitter post…

Tyler Winklevoss Bets Bitcoin Is Headed to $15,000 Once It Hits This Level

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Published: 19/06/2019 19:40 ET. Journalist: By CCN Markets: The bitcoin price is rising, and Tyler Winklevoss thinks it could see significant gains if it can break through the $10,000 point. The co-founder of the Gemini exchange posted on Twitter that if the world’s highest-valued cryptocurrency moves past that price, it could shoot further to reach $15,000. He tweeted: “If bitcoin breaks 10k, you can bet it’s going to break 15k.” Bitcoin Has Momentum on Its Side Bitcoin has seen modest gains in recent months. It has moved from lows of…

Web Server Security Firm Cloudflare Announces Launch of Ethereum Gateway

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Web server security service firm Cloudflare announced the launch of its Ethereum gateway in a blog post on June 19. Per the announcement, the gateway — which is part of the company’s broader Distributed Web Gateway toolset — lets users “interact with the Ethereum network without installing any additional software.” The system purportedly allows one to access the network and interact with smart contracts through a custom hostname. Furthermore, the new tool can be used in combination with the firm’s Interplanetary File System (IPFS) gateway launched in September 2018: “In…

Visa Set to Join the Expanding Field of Blockchain-Based International Payment Providers

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Visa has launched a payment system for business-to-business (B2B) transactions partially based on blockchain technology. The United States payment behemoth says its platform, called Visa B2B Connect, offers seamless cross-border payment processing for institutional clients without going through the complex web of third-party intermediaries. In doing so, Visa becomes the latest entrant into the blockchain-based payment processing arena. This move brings the company into direct competition with cryptocurrency startups like Ripple and mainstream players, such as Barclays and BNY Mellon with their Utility Settlement Coin (USC) project under the aegis of the Fnality Consortium. Visa…

MetLife’s LumenLab Using Blockchain to Automate Life Insurance Claims

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MetLife subsidiary LumenLab is using blockchain technology to automate life insurance claims, according to a news release published on June 17. Known as “Lifechain,” the collaboration with Singapore Press Holdings and NTUC Income will enable bereaved families who place obituaries in a local newspaper to instantly trigger searches to see whether their loved one had a life insurance policy. This month, 1,000 Income policyholders will be randomly selected to take part in a pilot scheme. The technology works by submitting the deceased’s National Registration Identity Card to Lifechain as hashed data once consent from…

Bitcoin Holds $9,100 Support While Top 20 Coins Trade Sideways

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Wednesday, June 19 — Crypto markets are trading sideways, with the majority of the top 20 coins by market cap seeing losses, according to data from Coin360. Market visualization from Coin360 Bitcoin (BTC) is up by 1.24% to $9,139 at press time, still seeing a slight recovery of price after the biggest cryptocurrency has dipped below the $9,000 threshold earlier on the day. Bitcoin is seeing major gains over the past 7 days at press time, up almost 13% this week. Yesterday, Fundstrat Global Advisors co-founder Tom Lee stated that…