Bitcoin Magazine’s Week in Review brings you the most critical, interesting and popular news affecting Bitcoin this week.
Adoption & Community
Crypto Point-of-Sale Service Provides Relief to Venezuelan Refugees
Good news this week for crypto users migrating from Venezuela to Colombia. The Panda Group, operators of Panda Exchange, announced a new service to alleviate some issues that Venezuelan refugees may encounter when passing across the border to Colombia.
Refugees can now use cryptocurrencies to make purchases at a point-of-sale (POS) shop on the border. Visitors are able to purchase a variety of goods using cryptocurrencies and can even purchase bitcoin at the store. Bitcoin functions as a practical means of payment for many Venezuelans due to the national currency experiencing dramatic inflation.
From the Dark Web
Following Wave of Shutdowns, Remaining Darknet Markets Fill the Void (Again)
Major darknet markets have experienced shutdowns after law enforcement officials cracked down yet again on online drug bazaars. As usual, a new generation of low-tier markets are filling the void left behind by fallen competitors. It’s a cycle that repeats itself every couple of years because consumers want the convenience of purchasing drugs from home.
Specialized resources counter criminal activity on the darknet, along with broadscale cooperation between law enforcement agencies across different jurisdictions. Nevertheless, darknet markets are quickly shrugging off law enforcement actions and migrating to their next best options. Because of this, agencies have been working to reduce the growth of these markets by creating distrust between users and vendors, but there is yet to be a significant result.
Digital Assets
Facebook’s Libra Is Here. But It Might Not Be What You Think.
The crypto community buzzed all week about the introduction of Libra, self-billed as a “simple global currency and financial infrastructure that empowers billions of people.” It’s a new digital currency created by Facebook, hijacking Bitcoin’s narrative as an open and global monetary system — without actually resembling Bitcoin in function, structure or decentralization.
Additional reading:
- Op-Ed: This Might Be Facebook’s Real Plan For Libra
- Regulators Are Already Breathing Down Facebook’s Neck Over Libra
Payments
Lightning Labs Strikes on iOS, Android With Noncustodial Mobile Wallet
Lightning Labs is bringing its Lightning wallet to mobile with the launch of iOS and Android apps. The apps leverage the bleeding edge of the Lightning Network’s sharpest tech and are noncustodial, just like the desktop app that came before them. Users are given the full-fledged functionality of a Lightning node using Lightning’s LND implementation, made possible by Neutrino, a lightweight client built for privacy.
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