Iran May Unveil State-Backed Cryptocurrency This Week

Iran is reportedly expected to announce its state-backed digital currency at the annual Electronic Banking and Payment Systems Conference which starts on January 29th. The move is an attempt to bypass US-imposed economic sanctions.  Iran-Backed Cryptocurrency Iran first announced its intentions to launch a state-backed digital currency in the summer of 2018. The move was occasioned by the fact that the country was set to undergo renewed economic sanctions from the US. Since then. the country was also kicked out of the Society for Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), which has…

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Arwen Enables Self-Custody for Traders of Centralized Crypto Exchanges

Centralized exchanges are a common security concern in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. As a single point of failure they can be strong-armed by governments, routinely targeted by hackers, or operators could pull an exit scam and elope with client funds. Despite these risks, they dominate cryptocurrency trading volumes. A new solution promises to enable trade to use centralized exchanges but without handing over control of coins to them. Also Read: Belarus’ Largest Bank May Establish a Cryptocurrency Exchange Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins Boston-based startup Arwen (formerly Commonwealth Crypto) announced on…

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GDPR Can’t Stop Behavioral Ads, But These Bitcoin-Friendly Browsers Can Help

The GDPR has lofty goals when it comes to protecting consumer privacy. But even if you’re opting out and blocking cookies, you’re still being tracked. According to a group of privacy advocates in Europe lead by Brave privacy browser, advertisers can even track victims of sexual abuse. GDPR Not Stopping Behavioral Ads Behavioral advertising has become a sort of trade-off between consumers and companies. With ad fraud costing companies more than $16 billion in 2017, non-human (or bot traffic) is at its highest point. Advertisers understandably want to ensure they…

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Back to Basics: What Is Money?

Our current economic system can be compared to a merry-go-round that has us consuming, trapped in debt and spending as quickly as we earn. What is fiat currency? Why do we use it and who controls it? And how does it compare to gold and bitcoin? It is worth going back to basics, to better understand the fundamentals of what makes money money. Also Read: Why a Global Recession Would Be Good for Bitcoin What Is Money? The earliest coin, featuring a lion The first ever currency is credited to King Alyattes in Lydia…

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JPMorgan Argues Bitcoin Only Valuable in a ‘Dystopian’ Environment

JPMorgan analysts say Bitcoin appeal only exists in a dystopian environment. The Wall Street giant also believes Bitcoin isn’t a safe haven despite outperforming the S&P and Dow Jones over the past decade.  JPMorgan: Bitcoin Only Valuable in a Dystopia In a note to clients published last week, JPMorgan analyst Jan Loeys poured cold water on Bitcoin’s value proposition. Loeys, who is also JPMorgan managing director said that the top-ranked cryptocurrency would only have real value in a dystopian situation. A portion of the report reads: We have long been skeptical…

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Mystery Bitcoin Miners Are Altering Mining Pool Dominance

During the first month of 2019, studies have revealed the growing trend of unknown miners processing blocks on the Bitcoin Core (BTC) network. A few years ago, most mining pools began revealing their identity via the coinbase parameter when they found a block. Over the last two years, however, unknown miners have started to dominate as established operations have lost a considerable share of hashrate. Also read: Bloq Labs Reveals Software Suite That Aims to Increase Hash Power by Double Digits Unknown Bitcoin Miners Have Been Shifting Hashrate Dominance The bitcoin…

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Venezuela Bitcoin Trading Sets Giant All-Time High

Venezuela traded more bolivars for bitcoins than ever before last week. Volumes on P2P trading platform Localbitcoins reaching 15.7 billion VES ($10 million) amid increasing political instability. 7 Days, $10 Million Data from monitoring resource Coin Dance, which began tracking Localbitcoins volumes again this week after a short hiatus, confirmed the new weekly record. In Bitcoin terms, the week ending January 26 did not set a new high for trade volumes, pointing to the continued weakness of Venezuela’s six-month-old Sovereign Bolivar. 1782 BTC went through Localbitcoins over the past seven…

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Belarus’ Largest Commercial Bank May Establish a Cryptocurrency Exchange

The cryptocurrency market might be underperforming in terms of prices, but the technology continues to evolve and become deeply integrated into the economy. This is especially true in smaller nations that see an opportunity to stake a claim in the new digital economy. The latest example of this can be seen in Belarus, whose largest bank is now reportedly considering setting up its own cryptocurrency exchange. Also Read: Galaxy Digital Is Raising $250M to Help Firms Survive Crypto Winter Belarusbank Crypto Exchange According to a report by the state-owned Belarusian Telegraph…

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Biggest Bank in Belarus May Launch a Cryptocurrency Exchange

The biggest bank in Belarus is reportedly looking into launching a cryptocurrency exchange platform.  Belarusbank Studying Crypto Exchange Business The Chairman of the Board at Belarusbank, the country’s largest bank, has said that they are studying the opportunity of creating a cryptocurrency exchange platform. Speaking to the local TV channel, Belarus 1, he said: The possibility of creating an exchange platform for trading operations with cryptocurrencies is being studied. We are currently addressing the issue. Supposedly, this is just a part of the bank’s plans to transition to using digital technologies. Besides…

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The Daily: Iran Said to Announce Crypto-Rial This Week, Italy Closer to Crypto Regulation

In this edition of The Daily, Iran is reportedly preparing to announce its national cryptocurrency during a conference starting on Jan. 29. Also, a draft decree introducing legal definitions for terms related to cryptocurrencies has been introduced in the Italian Senate and the IMF has voiced concerns over Malta’s blockchain industry while recognizing the positive growth prospects for the island nation. Also read: Crypto Wallet Raises $15 Million, Localbitcoins Suffers Vulnerability Report: Iran to Unveil Sovereign Coin Within Days Iran is expected to present its state-issued cryptocurrency at the end…

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