Category: Crypto

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Crypto Finance News

Rippled 1.0.0 Officially Launches On Github – Big Future

Rippled 1.0.0 has now been released on Github. Analysts are marking the launch on Github as the “hold status” of the product and even though Rippled just came out of the alpha and beta phase, the product is available to use by all of Ripple’s customers. “A large part of the @Ripple C++ team is at #Consensus2018. But that didn’t stop us from releasing rippled 1.0.0” said Nik Bougalis in a recent tweet.

Rippled

In case you didn’t know, Rippled is the product name of the network that XRP Ledge runs on. The servers that Rippled uses connect to a network of peers, relays cryptographically signed transactions and they maintain a local copy of the shared global ledger. Moreover, Rippled is fully written in the famous C++ programming language.

xRapid Is Ready and Available

The xRapid product is functioning on the XRP Ledger which means that the finished 1.0.0 version of Rippled is now ready and available for commercial use. We should mention the release of Rippled 1.0.0 comes right after David Scwartz conducted a live demonstration of how xRapid works.

This is how a cryptocurrency enthusiast who saw the live demonstration of xRapid describes the process: “Just watched a live demo of xRapid by @ripple. $100 was sent from NY to Mexico in 2 minutes, which included 2 different conversions in which the result was Pesos in a Mexican bank account. IN 2 MINUTES! The XRP part was done in seconds. #xrpthestandard”.

Successful Demonstration

From the looks of it, David Schwartz’s demonstration was more than successful and it left a good impression on everyone who was present during that time. While Rippled 1.0.0 took a long time to become available for Ripple’s customers, we think it’s to assume that the waiting for it has been worth the time.

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Crypto

Coinbase Prime Launched To Bring Institutional Investors Into The Cryptocurrencies Market

Just recently, Coinbase announced the launch of some of its new services, namely, Conibase Custody and Coinbase Prime, the latter being a new platform specially created to offer a great series of instruments destinated for institutional investors who want to join cryptocurrency trading. After the news has been released, many speculations emerged, some crypto enthusiasts voicing that this action will push the market faster toward a market cap of $1 trillion.

Trying to become the ultimate champion of the cryptocurrencies market, Coinbase considered attracting the attention of institutional investors which could bring big money to the market booting the cryptocurrency market capitalization.

In its most recent statement, the San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange operator released its Coinbase Prime which is, as they describe it, “a new platform specifically designed to provide a set of tools and services that institutional investors rely on when trading with cryptocurrency.”

Coinbase Prime aims to attract institutional investors into the cryptocurrencies market

The goal of the program is to overcome the shortcomings in infrastructure that the institutions demand by providing “loan and margin financing products to qualified clients.”

“We are delighted to help institutions around the world participate in this emerging asset class,” stated the Coinbase team.

The main reason why institutional investors avoid trading on the cryptocurrencies market is the lack of some clear crypto regulations and the needed instrument for a secure and reliable trading.

The Coinbase platform will supply a decentralized liquidity reservoir for all Coinbase instruments. Over the year, it will “introduce new features such as low latency performance, local data center colocation services, institutional connectivity and access, and clearing and settlement services”.

Furthermore, financial institutions lack the right resources and instruments to be able to operate in the cryptocurrencies market. By supplying all the utilities and facilities to these institutional investors, Coinbase Prime will allow these investors to embark on an easy journey into the cryptocurrency universe.

The final outcome for the cryptocurrencies market, according to some crypto enthusiasts, will be the $1 trillion crypto market cap milestone.

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Crypto

Bitbond To Use Bitcoin (BTC) Blockchain For International Cryptocurrency Loans

The German digital bank Bitbond, whose services offers cryptocurrency loans to medium-sized companies and self-employed people, has recently announced that it will now support international loans via the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain network. This project is implemented to avoid the use of the regular international financial communications network SWIFT.

Bitbond thought to use the market’s biggest cryptocurrency, the BTC, only to transfer credit funds faster because BTC will not be the crypto in which the loans will be offered not to alter the fiat currency value of the loan due to the volatility of the BTC.

Bitbond is still a medium-sized financial institution which managed only about 100 clients, who are mainly small firms and self-employed workers, which, typically, do not exceed revenues of $50,000 per year.

Bitbond’s idea not only includes cryptocurrency but also artificial intelligence to qualify borrowers. The “patented automatic learning algorithm” uses “alternative data” to give an eligibility score to the applicant, which may be based on his/her online transactions and/or sales on eBay, Amazon, money received/sent on Paypal, and further on.

Bitbond decided to offer international loans via the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain

Cryptocurrency loans services are developing their space within the digital coin ecosystem. In fact, they are not only found in the Bitcoin (BTC) market, as initiatives such as ETHLend have emerged, dedicated to lending ETH, as well as fiat currency, through the Ethereum blockchain platform.

However, this method of financing for microentrepreneurs is still not well known, mainly because of the state of adoption of cryptocurrencies, along with the lack of clarity about the tax conditions for the lender involved in making loans in digital currencies.

Processing and receiving credit at a traditional banking institution is a process that can take weeks, a process that Radoslav Albrecht, the CEO and the founder of Bitbond, decided to leave behind by creating, a couple of years ago, a banking platform that would allow small and medium-size companies to receive cryptocurrency loans quickly and at low cost. Now, Bitbond is betting on carrying it out with international loans via the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain network.

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Crypto News

New EU Crypto Regulations Come With Stricter Anti-Money Laundering And Anti-Anonymity Regulations

Today, the European Union (EU) approved new crypto regulations aiming new anti-money laundering legislation which, among other things, aims to combat anonymity in the cryptocurrencies market transactions and to facilitate access to information on the real owners of the cryptocurrencies companies.

The 28 Member States took the final steps towards approving the new rules on this Monday, May 14th, which were approved by the European Parliament in mid-April. These rules will be published in the Official Journal of the EU and countries will have 18 months to transpose them into their national legislation.

In particular, the new crypto regulations in the EU oblige cryptocurrency exchange platforms and coins issuers, including companies running ICOs, to apply due diligence controls similar to those currently required from banks, such as verification of their customers.

In addition, these crypto-related platforms and services must be registered, including the cryptocurrency exchange platforms, check cashing offices, or trusts, as well as any other company offering crypto-related services.

The new EU crypto regulations bring in stricter anti-money laundering and anti-anonymity regulations while lessening others

However, in the case of prepaid cards, the amount from which cardholders will be demanded to get verified will be reduced from 250 to 150 Euros.

Other modifications included in this fifth reform of the directive is the right of any citizen to access information on the actual owners of companies operating in the blockchain technology and/or offer crypto-related services.

The aim of this measure is to eliminate the opacity of so-called ‘mailbox companies’, which are often used to launder money, hide funds and evade taxes.

The directive also includes stricter crypto regulations criteria for assessing whether countries outside the EU pose a risk of money laundering and closer monitoring of transactions involving countries at risk. It also includes provisions to enhance the protection of persons who disclose information on money-laundering, such as the right to anonymity.

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Crypto News

Bitcoin (BTC) And Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Cryptocurrency Payments Accepted By A Tax Office In A Florida County

The Seminole County tax collection office in the state of Florida announced that it will begin accepting Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) as payment methods through the BitPay platform, making it the first US government tax office to allow citizens to pay in cryptocurrency.

In a statement released by the government agency, Joel M. Greenberg, the county’s tax collector, noted that blockchain technology could provide all county residents with more optimal and modern payment services, increasing transparency as well as the accuracy of settlements, and lowering the high costs of credit or debit card fees.

As a result, the office partnered with the international payment platform and cryptocurrency exchange, BitPay, to accept settlements in Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) for the payment of driver’s licenses, identification cards, title, and property taxes.

Alan Byrd, the spokesman of Seminole’s office, confirmed that the cryptocurrency payment will be available next June. In this way, the government agency will receive payments directly from BitPay.

Florida implements Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) cryptocurrency payments via BitPay for taxes

Furthermore, the authorities do not believe that there is any risk of price volatility since users only have to send the exact amount of money in Bitcoin (BTC) or Bitcoin Cash (BCH) to pay the bills, for example, a transaction that in turn only costs a fee of 1%, considerably less than the fees required by banks.

In this regard, Byrd also confirmed that the tax collection office is not interested in the cryptocurrencies market but in offering more varied and convenient payment services to the citizens.

“We are not speculating in the market but we are excited to see more payment options being offered to our customers,” he said.

While Seminole County, Florida, is the first US government agency to open up to Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) cryptocurrency payment, other government offices have been evaluating the possibility of making digital assets an effective method of payment.

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