News A French intelligence official has been charged with selling state secrets on the dark web for BTC. Also in this roundup, we look at a new threat analysis tool trawling deep web sites for certain keywords and detail a surprise namecheck in Disney’s latest movie. Also read: Banks, Money Mules and Front Companies Aid Terrorists in Conflict Zones Launder Money French Officer Charged With Selling State Secrets There’s more to the deep web than criminality; like every part of the Read more …
British finance minister Philip Hammond has said that the issue of trade across the Irish border after Great Britain leaves the European Union (EU) might be solved by deploying blockchain technology, The Irish Times reported October 1. Speaking at the Tory party conference in Birmingham, Hammond reportedly asserted that “there is technology becoming available […] I don’t claim to be an expert on it but the most obvious technology is blockchain,” when asked how the government plans to achieve frictionless Read more …
In a significant move to propel the adoption of blockchain technology in the enterprise sector, two of the largest blockchain consortiums in the industry have announced their formal collaboration. The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA), a consortium that sees over 300 members working to leverage open-source Ethereum technology for blockchain solutions in enterprise and Hyperledger, a cross-industry working group led by the open-source Linux Foundation, are formally each other’s organizations as associate members, the two said in a press release on Read more …
Google is bringing in stricter rules for Chrome extension developers, a move should reduce the risk of crypto hacks and mining malware. Announced Monday, the web and technology giant is planning a series of changes to the way Chrome handles extensions that request extensive permissions, and is also tightening the rules for developers distributing extensions via the Chrome Web Store. Google said in a blog post: “It’s crucial that users be able to trust the extensions they install are safe, Read more …
One of the most pertinent issues facing the cryptosphere today is regulation, as members of prominent governmental agencies, like the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), have yet to come to a unanimous opinion on how this nascent space should be regulated and managed. However, a leading member of the CFTC intends to amend this problem, recently outlining his thoughts on the crypto market and how regulators, like himself, should address it moving forward. CFTC Chair Drops Read more …
A study conducted by global professional services firm Accenture indicates that with regards to the adoption of blockchain technology, the semiconductor sector is currently enjoying the highest levels of bullish sentiment compared to other surveyed sectors. The study which polled mostly senior executives at firms which boasted of yearly revenues of at least US$0.5 billion showed that 88% of the executives in the semi-conductor industry expect to have blockchain technology integrated into their organization’s systems in the next 36 months. Read more …
Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs – the cryptographically rare digital items CryptoKitties made famous – are so new, they’re challenging for prospective sellers to price. That’s according to Devin Finzer, co-founder of OpenSea, a startup billed as an “eBay for CryptoKitties,” but that is aiming to stake its claim more broadly as a platform for blockchain-based collectibles. This issue in mind, the company, backed by investors like Founders Fund and Coinbase Ventures, is announcing a new feature Monday called “bundles,” which allows Read more …
Matt Hougan, the vice president of research and development at Bitwise Asset Management Inc, expects the correlation between Bitcoin and the broader financial market to remain low, which may allow Bitcoin to appeal to institutional investors as a proper diversification asset whose price movement is immune to traditional market swings. According to research findings published by professors Lawrence Trautman and Taft Dorman of the Western Carolina University, wild price fluctuations of Bitcoin allow the asset to be a prime candidate Read more …
News Terror financing is taking on a new shape, but still retaining its old aides. Environmental crimes such as wildlife trafficking and illegal ivory sales have overtaken the drug trade as the major income source for terrorists around the world, accounting for more than a third of their revenue. However, it is not cryptocurrency that is helping non-state militias and terrorist groups fuel conflict in countries like Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Afghanistan. Rather, banks, human mules and Read more …
How would you like an exchange that’s completely free? Or one where you are in full control of your assets? An entirely transparent one, to both users and token issuers? How about one that lists all types of assets out there? StellarX is set to become all these and more. While no one can guarantee the future, especially when a development team chooses to remain in the shadows, here’s what the co-creator of StellarX — who introduces himself as simply Read more …
Bitcoin futures firm 1Broker said Monday that it will begin allowing users to access a “read-only” version of its platform, a move that comes days after it was hit with charges from U.S. regulators. The company announced Monday that it was looking for legal counsel in the U.S., which 1Broker hopes to do within the next few days. Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission accused the company of violating federal law by Read more …
The London Block Exchange has announced the launch of a GBP-pegged cryptocurrency stablecoin called LBXPeg. In a statement posted on its website, LBX revealed that the so-called “cryptopound” will be tied to the value of GBP held in an auditable U.K. bank account on a 1:1 basis. Speaking to Business Insider ahead of the launch, LBX CEO, Benjamin Dives said: “We will be ready for the first cryptopound to be minted in the next 10 days. The primary use case will be Read more …