Month: July 2018

Mastercard won a U.S. patent on Tuesday for a method of speeding up cryptocurrency payments. The document, published July 17 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), explains that though cryptocurrencies have “seen increased usage over traditional fiat currencies by consumers who value anonymity and security,” the wide disparity in payment processing times between the two classes of assets puts cryptocurrencies at a “disadvantage.” “There is a need to improve on the storage and processing of transactions that utilize Read more …

Kevin O’Leary, a prominent Canadian entrepreneur, the co-founder of O’Leary Funds and SoftKey, and one of the stars of Shark Tank, has said in an interview with CNBC’s Fast Money that Ethereum has taken one step closer to become the next leader in crypto and blockchain, surpassing bitcoin. Developer Activity is Best Indicator For Price Trend Previously, Ivey Business School professor JP Vergne said the best and most accurate indicator of a cryptocurrency’s growth in price and volume is its Read more …

Aerospace giant Boeing has announced its intention to tap blockchain technology to keep an eye on unmanned air vehicles used for cargo transport and urban air travel in the future. Boeing is partnering artificial intelligence (AI) firm SparkCognition to develop a decentralized platform capable of ‘tracking unmanned air vehicles in flight and allocate traffic corridors and routes’ to ensure secure transportation, the company said in an announcement on Tuesday. The collaboration will notably make use of blockchain technology to monitor Read more …

News According to a report on the social media platform Yours.org, software developers associated with the mining giant Bitmain plan on launching a smart contract protocol for the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) network. The project called ‘Wormhole’ will utilize the increased data-carrier-size and OP_Return transactions alongside a protocol based on the Omni Layer project. Also read: Group or Tokeda? A Look at the BCH Color Coin Debate Bitmain Developers Debut the Omni Layer-Forked Wormhole Protocol for Bitcoin Cash On July 16 a Read more …

We are happy to announce that BTC.com Pool miners can now merge mine RootStock (RSK) next to Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. Merged mining allows different crypto currencies with the same algorithm, such as SHA 256, to be mined together. This allows crypto currencies with lower hash rate to gain additional hashing power by bootstrapping on a crypto currency with higher hash rate. For cryptocurrencies with Proof-of-Work (POW) consensus algorithm, it is crucial to have substantial hashing power in order to secure Read more …

Qiwi Blockchain Technologies (QBT), a subsidiary of the Russian e-payments firm Qiwi, plans to incentivize staff by rewarding them with a custom token. According to a report from Russian news agency Interfax on Monday, QBT – which was launched in March to develop in-house blockchain solutions and provide consultation services around token issuance – plans to issue a token that is tied to the company’s profit. Konstantine Koltsov, a partner at the firm, told CoinDesk that up to 50 percent of Read more …

The Financial Securities Board (FSB) has released its report covering crypto assets for the G20 and is considering lowering the exposure of banks to cryptocurrencies. This would be to increase transparency and reduce the risk of financial instability, even though the report said crypto assets do not pose a material threat. FSB Considers Bank Restrictions The FSB has put forward the notion of restricting the exposure of banks to crypto assets. This may require banks to make changes to how Read more …

There are over 600 million Africans living without electricity despite an abundance of sunshine and hundreds of thousands of solar projects on the drawing board. Now, Sun Exchange, a South Africa-based startup, has developed a solution to Africa’s solar electrification dilemma centered on the intersection of three fast-growing technologies: blockchain, crowd-sourcing and solar photovoltaics. Sun Exchange has combined and synergized these technologies seamlessly on its online platform, enabling people around the world to purchase solar panels that are then leased Read more …

The developer behind the purported and much-publicized Kodak-branded bitcoin mining equipment has officially halted operations and has denied ties to Kodak. As CCN reported, KashMiner, a bitcoin mining equipment, was showcased at CES 2018 back in January by the company Spotlite USA, which claimed to be a licensee of the Kodak brand. Spotlite stated that they were offering two-year leases on their machine which will cost $3,400 to rent. Customers were assured that the miner would bring in a monthly Read more …

News After being denied a post-conviction relief extension in February 2018, Ross Ulbricht’s family and legal team filed a Petition of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court based on constitutional violations in the investigation and at sentencing. The petition was supported by 21 organizations, however, the Court denied Ulbricht’s petition on June 28. The fight to free Ross Ulbricht, 33, is now reinforced with a new petition created on Change.org, 3 days ago by FreeRoss.org. There are currently 6,242+ signatures Read more …

Bitmain, the cryptocurrency industry’s most valuable company, has just opened an office in Silicon Valley ahead of its planned initial public offering (IPO) later this year. The Silicon Valley Business Journal reports that the China-based cryptocurrency mining hardware manufacturer has just moved into 20,000 square feet of office space in downtown San Jose, CA, filling the last vacancy in the city’s Riverpark Towers office building, which has become a hub for tech startups including Okta, Cohesity, and WeWork. Bitmain’s expansion Read more …