Over the past few weeks, the price of gold has begun to pick up steam, surging by $35, some 2.5%, in the past three days. In the past four weeks, since the start of December, the asset has gained 4%. While this Santa Claus rally has already brought the price of the metal above $1,500, where it was trading during the peak of trade war talks earlier this year, analysts are currently forecasting that the asset will head higher in the coming months. Related Reading: Prominent Gold Bull Thinks the…
Day: December 28, 2019
Russia’s Central Bank Is Now Testing Real Asset-Pegged Stablecoins
The Bank of Russia, the country’s central bank, has reportedly started testing stablecoins pegged to real assets in a regulatory sandbox. Elvira Nabiullina, Russia’s central bank head, said that the bank doesn’t assume that those stablecoins will function as a means of payment or become a substitute for money, Russian news service Interfax reported on Dec. 25. Nabiullina noted that the Bank of Russia is exploring the potential uses of stablecoins — cryptocurrencies that are pegged to another asset to prevent the volatility associated with crypto markets. She said: “We…
MetaMask Contributor Says Project Lacks Support From ConsenSys
A contributor of major Ethereum browser extension Metamask has reported that the MetaMask team is “totally overwhelmed” and not being prioritized by its parent company ConsenSys. In a Dec. 25 Reddit post, Reddit user lazaridiscom3 alleges that the MetaMask team is not getting the support it needs from ConsenSys, and, consequently, the whole team of 24 employees is overwhelmed. Redditor says the Ethereum’s “critical value-moving piece” isn’t decentralized The post, titled “Help MetaMask out of its Activity-Trap,” goes on to say that the MetaMask team has a number of unsolved…
Privacy-Focused Zcoin Launches Funding Project Similar to Monero CCS
Privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcoin (XZC) has launched a new crowdfunding system similar to one by another major privacy coin, Monero (XMR). In a Dec. 26 blog post, Zcoin announced the launch of the Zcoin Crowdfunding System (ZCS), a new platform that is designed to serve as shift from direct funding from block rewards to a donation model. ZCS to help Zcoin to further decentralize the project and fund additional initiatives The new ZCS system will help further decentralize the project in line with the company’s vision of a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, Zcoin’s…
Bahamas Central Bank Will Pilot Digital Currency Starting December 27
The Central Bank of the Bahamas (CBOB) is planning to introduce a digital version of the Bahamian dollar in the Exuma district. According to an official press release, the CBOB will launch its digital currency (CBDC) pilot on Dec. 27, which will extend in the first half of 2020 to Abaco, a group of islands and barrier cays in the northern Bahamas. The digital currency is being developed under the initiative called Project Sand Dollar and will be the Bahamas’ first digital currency. The initiative aims to make access to…
YouTube Crypto-Related Content Not Fully Restored, YouTubers Say “Nothing Has Changed”
On December 26, YouTube released a statement saying the platform had mistakenly removed hundreds of crypto-related videos this week. However, many of the YouTubers affected by the ban still have not had their videos restored on the site. YouTuber Ivan on Tech told Cointelegraph on December 26th: “Nothing has changed. YouTube said this was a mistake yesterday too. I’m not sure why they are saying this.” Ivan on Tech’s YouTube account, which has more than 210,000 subscribers, received a strike from YouTube earlier this week. He has since set all…
Agharta Hard Fork to Bring Full Compatibility Between ETC And ETH
The upcoming Ethereum Classic (ETC) Agharta hard fork will include features of the Ethereum (ETH) Constantinople fork and intends to make ETC fully compatible with Ethereum. In a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Dec. 26, ETC Labs further confirmed its intention to ensure full compatibility between ETC and ETH, as the coming Agharta update is expected to create backward compatibility between the two networks. ETC Labs CEO Terry Culver commented: “Ethereum Classic Labs is one of the first incubators to support innovative projects on the Ethereum Classic Blockchain. The…
US Bitcoin Derivatives Market, Highlights of 2019
The United States Bitcoin (BTC) derivatives market witnessed a slew of developments in 2019 as “old players” set trading volume records and “new players” introduced novel market products. After months of regulatory maneuvering, Bakkt finally launched and has gone on to post record Bitcoin futures trading volumes. Several platforms have also obtained Swap Execution Facility licenses from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission as the crypto derivatives arena in the country expanded throughout 2019. One of the 19 CFTC-licensed platforms, Tassat, said the approval is a preliminary step to the company listing physically settled…
India’s Payments Platform Vajra Gets the Blockchain Ball Rolling
While the Indian government is uncertain about the use of cryptocurrency, the National Payment Corporation of India, or NPCI, officially announced its permissioned blockchain-based platform, Vajra, to make the payment process easier, faster and more transparent. After detailed research, the NPCI has developed a distributed ledger technology mechanism to provide a highly secure, tamper-proof database for various payment procedures. The NPCI is an umbrella organization for retail payments and settlement systems in India. It is an initiative of the Reserve Bank of India and Indian Banks’ Association under the provisions…
Bitcoin Price Holds Above $7.1K as Trader Eyes Q1 2020 Bottom Forming
Bitcoin (BTC) continued trading sideways on Dec. 27 after spending the Christmas period broadly free of volatility. Cryptocurrency market daily overview. Source: Coin360 BTC “relaxes” this Christmas Data from Coin360 showed BTC/USD hovering practically in the middle of its monthly range between $6,500 and $7,770. At press time, the pair hovered at $7,180, having barely moved over the past 24 hours. The picture had remained static since a curious uptick to $7,660 fizzled earlier in the week. Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360 As 2019 draws to a close, traders…