Category: Crypto

Categories
Crypto News

Bitcoin Gold (BTG) To Be Delisted By The Bittrex Cryptocurrency Exchange Platform

The Bittrex cryptocurrency exchange platform has notified that it will remove Bitcoin Gold (BTG) from its list of cryptos as of September 14th, in a controversial decision that includes accusations from the startup of causing problems due to 51% attacks and loss of funds. Under these arguments, Bittrex requested compensation of about 6,000 BTG, or about $128,400, which the Bitcoin Gold team refused to pay so that Bittrex would delist the token.

Bitcoin Gold (BTG) team stated the Bittrex decision is not affecting them

Although Bitcoin Gold (BTG) regretted Bittrex’s decision, it made it clear that the impact that this elimination from the exchange platform will have on its ecosystem “will not be substantial as Bittrex has not been a superior liquidity provider for BTG in recent months.” The crypto’s team highlighted that its main exchanges remain HitBTC, Bithumbumb, Binance, Bitinka, and Bitfinex.

“Bittrex markets represent a small fraction of our volume at this time. Bittrex announced this decision today based on a double-spending attack on May 19th, despite all our efforts to help them, and even though the danger has passed,” stated the Bitcoin Gold (BTG) team.

A cyber attack on Bitcoin Gold (BTG) caused losses of $20 million on Bittrex cryptocurrency exchange

The constant attacks on BTG’s PoW and blockchain have resulted in more than $20 million in theft, which is why Bittrex would have made this decision.

In May this year Bitcoin Gold (BTG) was attacked with rented computing power from NiceHash in which those involved managed to steal around $20 million, so Bittrex temporarily suspended payments with Bitcoin Gold (BTG).

While Bittrex cryptocurrency exchange demanded BTG team to pay some compensations, the devs behind Bitcoin Gold (BTG) refused to pay the money, forcing Bittrex to decide to delist this cryptocurrency. On the other hand, Bitcoin Gold (BTG) team stated it doesn’t feel responsible for the cyber attack in question.

Categories
Crypto News

Alibaba And IBM Ranks The First In Number Of Blockchain Technology Patents Filed This Year

Technology giants Alibaba and IBM are competing for first place in a new list that ranks global entities by the number of blockchain-related patents filed to date, published on August 31st by iPR Daily. iPR Daily, a specialized intellectual property medium, says it has consolidated data from China, the European Union, the United States, Japan, and South Korea, in addition to consulting the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) International Patent System.

Alibaba of China has just sealed first place, having filed a total of 90 patent applications related to blockchain technology, while IBM has so far registered a total of 89. In third place is Mastercard, with 80 claims, followed by Bank of America, with 53.

IBM, for its part, has consistently expanded its participation in blockchain technology in various fields of this industry. It recently signed a $740 million, five-year agreement with the Australian government to use blockchain and other new technologies to improve data security and automation in federal departments, including defense and home affairs.

China, despite its negative stance on cryptocurrencies, remains the world’s leader regarding the blockchain technology patents

The fifth on the new list is the Central Bank of China, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), which has filed a total of 44 patent applications dedicated to blockchain technology projects, including its centralized digital currency.

As reported earlier this year, WIPO data previously indicated that the most significant number of patent applications for blockchain technology in 2017 came from China, which filed 225 patents that year, compared to 91 in the Americas, and 13 in Australia.

China’s adoption of the new blockchain technology is counterbalanced by an increasingly harsh stance against decentralized cryptocurrencies, which has intensified further in recent weeks. This divided position is reflected by Alibaba’s founder, Jack Ma, who has expressed his support for the blockchain technology, although he views crypto coins with skepticism.

Categories
Crypto News

Cryptocurrency Exchange Platforms In Japan Should Obey New, Stricter Regulations

Cryptocurrency exchange platforms across Japan should now follow a more stringent procedure to conduct their operations legally, after the country’s financial authority has strengthened its evaluation system in this area.

Sources at the Financial Services Agency (FSA) told The Japan Times that the new rules aim to ensure that future cryptocurrency exchange platforms are carrying out proper risk management. The FSA evaluation process had been suspended after 58 billion Yen (about $530 million) was stolen from customers in January following a cyber attack on the Japanese exchange house Coincheck.

Applicants now have to answer to about 400 inquiries, almost four times more questions than in the original procedure, the Japanese news portal reported. Additionally, the evaluations provide for on-the-spot inspections by the FSA to verify the truthfulness of the answers.

Among the new requirements that candidates are required to submit, there is information regarding the board meetings which gives clues about the financial health of the company and the security of its IT system. This data also allows FSA officers to assess whether company executives are adequately involved in decision-making.

The hacking of the Coincheck platform forced the Japanese authorities to tighten up the control over cryptocurrency exchange companies

The control over the cryptocurrency exchange platform conducted by the Japanese financial authorities was tightened after the multi-million dollar robbery on Coincheck.

By March, five Japanese crypto trading platforms had already closed their doors because they were unable to comply with the Financial Services Agency (FSA) regulations. Others were temporarily suspended by the agency to catch up with the regulations.

Additionally, in April, a group of sixteen FSA-approved cryptocurrency exchange platforms across Japan set up the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Industry Association with the aim of establishing self-regulatory measures to protect users and prevent cases such as the one that involved Coincheck.

More recently, in June, the FSA issued orders for commercial upgrades to six crypto trading platforms after conducting on-site inspections. The measure required operators to improve their internal audit and user protection systems.

Categories
Crypto News

Voting System Based On Blockchain Technology Tested In Japan

Residents of a Japanese city in Ibakari prefecture had the opportunity to use a voting system based on blockchain technology as a security measure, on August 28th. Although this is one of the first projects of its kind across Japan, the report on this project does not describe the procedure for validating the information. The news was released by The Japan Times, which specified that the voting system was designed to select a proposal for social contribution projects in the city of Tsukuba.

The objective of this program was to provide a platform for transparent elections that cannot be altered

To this end, the city authorities, known for driving technological development in the region, partnered with a project known as My Number, a personal identification software. The report indicates that the vote was taken online.

In order to participate, residents had to use a card provided by the My Number platform, which consists of a 12-digit number that any resident or foreigner can use in Japan. Participants voted on a screen after placing their cards for verification. In total, 119 votes were recorded by this procedure, validated in a blockchain system that according to the authorities prevents the data from being falsified or leaked.

Tohoku University professor, Kazynori Kawamura, who is familiar with digital election research, commented that the reputation of these systems needs to improve. “Due to fear of mistakes, administrative organizations and election boards will probably find it difficult to introduce these systems,” said Kawamura.

Voting systems based on blockchain have been successfully tested in other countries, as well

On August 7th, a vote on the Senate election was held in West Virginia, in the United States, which allowed the military in service to vote through a mobile application that used a blockchain system to protect the data. However, several voices criticized the project, arguing that the transparency and immutability of the information depended on a company that used private nodes to validate the information.

Several projects on elections supported by blockchain technology have been developed around the world. While the desire for technology that allows for greater transparency and security of information is legitimate, it is necessary to discern when it is appropriate to use these systems and when a simple database is sufficient.

Categories
Crypto News

The Reserve Bank of India Consider The Development of a Crypto Token for Financial Transactions across India

Despite maintaining a strong position against cryptocurrency, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced in its annual report for 2017-2018, published on Wednesday, the establishment of an interdepartmental committee charged with creating a cryptocurrency mechanism for financial transactions in the country.

Price bubbles in cryptocurrencies market still raising concerns of the RBI

The RBI devotes a full section to cryptos in the annual report 2017-2018, under the title “Cryptocurrencies: Evolving Challenges,” in which it begins by ratifying the strong cryptocurrency regulatory policy that this institution has deployed against cryptos across India.

“Although cryptocurrencies do not pose systemic risks at present, their growing popularity leading to price bubbles raises serious concerns in the area of consumer and investor protection, as well as for market integrity,” said the Reserve bank of India (RBI) in its Annual Report 2017-2018.

The Reserve Bank of India plans on launching a crypto token to conduct financial transactions across India

On August 10th, local sources reported the creation of an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) composed of members of the RBI, the Ministry of Information Technology and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). This committee is responsible for considering the launch of a crypto token for financial transactions in India, including a set of regulations and a roadmap for its use.

“Rapid changes in the payment industry, coupled with factors such as the emergence of private digital tokens and the rising costs of managing fiat currency, have led central banks around the world to explore the option of introducing digital fiat coins. In India, an interdepartmental group has been set up to study and provide guidance on the feasibility of introducing a crypto token issued by the central bank,” the Annual Report 2017-2018 of RBI reads.

Even though the RBI kept its negative stance regarding cryptocurrencies, they plan on releasing a crypto token to conduct financial transactions across India.

Exit mobile version