Month: February 2018

Microsoft has concluded that so-called ‘layer 2’ solutions are necessary for Bitcoin to scale and is “collaborating” on the technology. Microsoft: On-Chain Fails To Meet Capacity Needs In a blog post on Monday, Director of Program Management at Microsoft’s Identity Division Alex Simons said that layer 2 scaling solutions, which principally involve the Lightning Network, are superior to on-chain scaling. Simons writes: While some blockchain communities have increased on-chain transaction capacity (e.g. blocksize increases), this approach generally degrades the decentralized state of the network and cannot reach the millions of transactions…

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Nas and Snoop Dogg have backed trading application Robinhood, and now legendary rap star Jay-Z has added his imprimatur through a subsidiary, Arrive. Robinhood is already valued at over a billion dollars, closing in on 1.5 billion as of this writing, having recently announced Robinhood Crypto.   Also read: Internet Pioneer Who Influenced Assange & Snowden Dead at 70 Jay-Z Goes Crypto Shawn Carter, 48, better known as Jay-Z, owns an entertainment-centric management company, Roc Nation: talent agency, concert promotion, music production, record label, film production, and even music publishing are…

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Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have long had a reputation for being the payment tools of criminals. Now, Europol claims billions of dollars are being illegally laundered with cryptocurrency in Europe. Large Estimations According to the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol), three to four billion pounds ($4.1 to $5.5 billion) of criminal money is being laundered using cryptocurrency in Europe alone. Europol’s director, Rob Wainwright, told BBC’s Panorama: It’s growing quite quickly and we’re quite concerned. They’re not banks and governed by a central authority so the police cannot monitor…

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Accusations of FUD, #fakenews and similar terms are sadly all too common in the crypto world. Startups in the field are many times headed by young people, sometimes bringing a needed fresh perspective and attitude, but a few appear to completely lack the maturity needed to run a public business. In the case of IOTA this is exacerbated by sycophants who enable this situation and rather attack critics than have an adult discussion. Also Read: Analyst: IOTA Sharply Overvalued Due to “Overwhelming Evidence of Serious Flaws” IOTA Fans Try to…

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Well-known cryptocurrency traders have reacted with excitement to news decentralized cryptocurrency exchange Hodl Hodl has launched its public BETA. Hodl Hodl Sets Price Of Avoiding KYC At 0.6% The p2p platform, which offers traders decentralized exchange functionality for Bitcoin and Litecoin, announced its limited debut February 11. “For now, we are opened in BETA-mode until July of 2018, which means a lot of new features are coming soon, with the main functionality of the exchange being ready and available for use now,” a blog post reads. Hodl Hodl includes SegWit…

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Bitcoin futures traders in Hong Kong are turning away from the autonomous territory’s unregulated cryptocurrency exchanges, flocking instead to regulated US markets. Safety First December saw the launch of Bitcoin futures on both the CBOE and CME. Since then, trading volume has steadily increased as traders in Hong Kong turn their backs on their less secure domestic exchanges in favor of regulated US markets. TD Ameritrade CEO Gary Leung claims his is one such firm experiencing increased interest in Bitcoin futures coming out of Hong Kong, explaining to the South…

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The Russian government is drafting a bill to introduce the accreditation of initial coin offering issuers. Accredited organizations must comply with a set of rules, including having 100 million rubles capital, and are subject to inspections every three years. The regulators are currently accepting public comments on the proposal. Also read: Japan’s DMM Bitcoin Exchange Opens for Business With 7 Cryptocurrencies Accrediting ICO Issuers The Russian Ministry of Communications and Mass Media has submitted a proposal to accredit the issuers of initial coin offerings (ICOs) “on a voluntary basis for a…

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