Author: Anna Galvez

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Crypto News

European Commission Gives 5 Million EUR For The Best Social Projects Based On Blockchain Technology

The European Commission opened the international call for applications for the Blockchain Horizon Award, an award that encourages the development of social projects based on blockchain technology.

The call to participate is for startups, independent entrepreneurs, developers, researchers or anyone who shows interest in the potential of the platform. In total, 5 awards of 1 million EUR each will be given to the most innovative solutions that have a social impact, according to the European Commission.

“The challenge is to develop scalable, efficient and high-impact decentralized solutions to the challenges of social innovation. To this end, we seek to take advantage of blockchain technology,” the institution stated.

According to the European Commission, the potential to generate social change through the decentralization of processes, related to the challenges of local or global sustainability, has not yet been realized.

Decentralized solutions in the social area are based on innovations in different fields. The organization cites examples such as projects that are implemented to achieve fairer trade, better monetization of work, greater visibility of public spending, and greater transparency of administrative processes.

The projects based on blockchain technology to be presented at Blockchain Horizon Award must be pioneering decentralized solutions

The plans to be displayed must be pioneering decentralized solutions that serve to meet the challenges of local and global sustainability. According to the institution, the proposals must demonstrate feasibility, information exchange, resources that respect privacy, high levels of transparency and more equitable distribution.

One of the essential requirements is that, while participants are free to commercially exploit applications or services based on the blockchain technology, their source code must be published under an open source license.

The final mission of this contest is to stimulate the application of blockchain technology in fields that go beyond the financial world, which translates into multidisciplinary approaches that seek to have a positive impact on modern society. The European Commission, headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, in the Berlaymont building, announced that the deadline for entering the Blockchain Horizon Award is April 2019.

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Crypto News

China Works On Developing Its Own Digital Currency, A Mix Between Cryptocurrency And Fiat Money

China’s efforts to develop a digital currency of its own are tilted towards a model that combines the main features of a cryptocurrency and the existing fiat monetary system in the Asian country. That is the idea that has emerged from research into patent applications filed by the Digital Coin Research Center since its creation last year.

The information, based on data from the State Intellectual Property Office of China (SIPO), indicates that the Digital Coin Research Center, created in June 2017 by the People’s Bank of China, had filed 41 patent applications related to the creation of a digital coin as of Friday, June 22nd, 2018.

According to research published by Coindesk, each patent corresponds to a specific aspect of the system which, when combined, would make possible a technology capable of issuing digital currency and providing the user with a wallet that stores and processes the asset on an ‘end-to-end’ basis. The ultimate goal would be to achieve such an integration that the new digital currency with cryptographic features could be widely incorporated into the existing financial structure.

China proves, once again, its affinity for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology

Among the characteristics of the wallet developed by the Chinese Government, it is worth mentioning that it will be compatible with different types of cryptocurrencies issued by authorized bodies and will have a multi-signature security mechanism.

Some spokesmen for the Chinese government, such as the deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, Fan Yifei, and the head of the research laboratory, Yao Qian, have publicly expressed opinions in keeping with the implementation of this hybrid digital currency, aimed at achieving “a balance between centralization and decentralization.”

Although the model for the new Chinese cryptocurrency-related digital currency does not adhere to the concept and philosophy of a true cryptocurrency, it is clear that the government of China is in favor of the use of blockchain technology in various sectors and processes.

In fact, activities such as mortgage registrations and check validation are already being carried out, or are in the process of being executed, with the support of the blockchain technologies.

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Crypto News Tech

Kin (KIN) Token Integrated As Payment Method From Premium Content In Kik Instant Messaging App

Kin (KIN), a token developed by the company responsible for creating the Kik instant messaging application, can be used to customize the chat windows within the app. That is expected to be just the first phase of a series of uses that Kin token will have within the messaging platform.

The announcement of this launch, called Kin-Powered, was highlighted in a June 27th publication on the Kin Foundation’s official blog. The product strategy that will integrate the Kin token into the Kik instant messaging application will, in principle, enable the use of custom chat premium themes which can be accessed only by using the token and not with fiat money.

This integration is just the first step of the new plans to increase Kin (KIN) adoption

This integration will be the one that will lead to the creation of an exclusive market for Kin, a cryptocurrency created for the decentralization of digital services that does not yet work with any digital service and that is currently in the 76th position, according to the CoinMarketCap.

According to the announcement, a specific survey study was carried out to observe the behavior of Kik’s users. Although the survey revealed that users were more interested in other features that other chat providers offer, Kik instant messaging app’s team has integrated the Kin (KIN) token as a payment method for the customizable premium content within the application because it has been one of the requirements coming from users.

Similarly, at the end of March, the Kin Foundation team announced that it would work with the developers of Unity video games to offer a monetization option to suppliers who incorporate Kin (KIN) payment method into the games. These games are Dead Frontier, Crossy Road, and Pokemon Go.

Kin Foundation suggested this is just the beginning of the new plans they have to increase Kin (KIN) cryptocurrency adoption.

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Crypto News

PornHub Now Accepts Tron (TRX) And ZenCash (ZEN) Cryptocurrency Payment Methods

The famous adult content website PornHub has just released the announcement that it is accepting two more cryptocurrencies, besides Verge (XVG). Namely, PornHub now accepts Tron (TRX) and ZenCash (ZEN) as cryptocurrency payment methods.

The addition signals the ultimate crypto-play by the site, which included a payment feature for the Verge (XVG) cryptocurrency in April.

This announcement, initially issued by Variety, was eventually endorsed by Chris Jackson, the PornHub’s spokesman. Accordingly, the site’s members can now three cryptocurrencies to buy subscriptions or for accessing content on PornHub or any of the PornHub’s affiliated platforms and websites.

After accepting Verge (XVG) in April, PornHub emerged into the world of cryptocurrency payment methods. Apparently, everything went as expected, or even better, because the famous adult content website just accepted Tron (TRX) and ZenCash (ZEN) as payment methods. Even more, PornHub is not willing to stop here and plans on adding more cryptos in the future.

PornHub just announced that accepts Tron (TRX) and ZenCash (ZEN) as cryptocurrency payments methods, and will add more in the future

Here at PornHub, it is important that we address the ever-changing payment preferences of our users and, as such, that means accepting cryptocurrencies as a payment method, which provides users with anonymity and security. We hope to continue storing our arsenal of cryptocurrencies, providing our fans with more payment methods than ever before. Hopefully, we will be the precursor to industry-wide adoption.

Corey Price, the Vice President of PornHub, in the official announcement

On the other hand, ZenCash (ZEN) co-founder, Robert Viglione, said in an official statement that PornHub’s affinity for cryptocurrencies is, in fact, helping the adult platform’s members who now have “the ability to pay for adult entertainment in private without fear of exposure.”

So far, no official comments came from Tron (TRX) representatives regarding the announcement made by PornHub that it now accepts Tron (TRX) and ZenCash (ZEN) as new cryptocurrency payment method.

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Crypto News

Facebook Is Up For Accepting Cryptocurrency Ads, Once Again, But Only Under Specific Conditions

Facebook’s ban on Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency ads on its social networks, including Facebook, has been partially lifted. Now, only authorized advertisers can once again add cryptocurrency ads on Facebook.

In January 2018, when Facebook announced that it was no longer accepting cryptocurrency ads, the company immediately added that it was not a permanent ban. Facebook wanted to give itself some time to examine how to deal with this somewhat new type of advertising. Five months later, we guess Facebook found an answer.

Only the authorized advertisers will be able to use cryptocurrency ads on Facebook

Cryptocurrency platforms and other companies that want to advertise for services related to cryptocurrencies must now submit a request to Facebook and wait for approval. Advertising in favor of ICOs (Initial Coin Offering) is still prohibited with no further details being offered, but Facebook announced it maintained its opinion on ICOs, as this type of fundraising is often associated with misleading or deceptive promotions.

On the other hand, no advertising is tolerated for the binary options trading platforms that are allowing speculation on the course of the cryptocurrencies.

Facebook sees the blockchain technology that powers cryptocurrencies as something useful

Rob Leathern, product management director for advertising at Facebook, writes in a release posted on his blog that due to restrictions, not all cryptocurrency ads will be accepted.

“We will be attentive to reactions, we will examine how our policy works, and we will continue to study the subject so that we can review our position after some time, if necessary.”

Rob Leathern

Facebook sees the blockchain technology behind the cryptocurrencies as useful. For example, in May, the company created a research department on new applications for the blockchain technologies, directed by David Marcus, the former manager of Facebook Messenger.

On Twitter and Google, on the other hand, the cryptocurrency ads ban remains active.

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