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March 14, 2019 TETHER ADMISSION: Tether has updated the terms on its website, saying that its dollar-pegged USDT stablecoin may not be backed 100 percent by fiat reserves. The new text states that while its stablecoin is 100 percent backed, its reserves may at times include “other assets and receivables from loans made by Tether to third parties, which may include affiliated entities.” Tether’s previous terms, as seen on an archived page in mid-February, indicated full fiat backing. Full story FOLLOW THE MONEY: Blockchain analysis has found unusual patterns in money flows through ICOs associated with Israeli tech mogul and Sirin Labs CEO Moshe Hogeg. Read this deep-dive investigation by CoinDesk's Leigh Cuen, which took advantage of new reporting tools that have become available in the age of public distributed ledgers. Full story LIGHTNING SHOPPING: Bitfury Group has partnered with business payments processor HadePay to bring lightning network-based bitcoin payments to merchants in the U.S., Canada and the EU. For the effort, Bitfury has integrated its web-based lightning network Peach Merchant API with HadePay’s platform, allowing businesses to accept payments over the lightning network. After payment is made, merchants can “immediately” convert bitcoins into another currency via HadePay’s platform. Full story COSMIC LAUNCH: Cosmos, a highly anticipated blockchain designed to improve interoperability between any number of other blockchains, has officially released live software. Cosmos Hub will be the first in a series of proof-of-stake blockchains that will be created in the Cosmos ecosystem.The main purpose of the hub launch is to establish the broader ecosystem of validators, while the team continues to work toward cross-blockchain capabilities. “We want to take the blockchain development cycle from idea to implementation down from years to months,” a project ember said. ”This is how we’re trying to transform the blockchain space.” Full story BLOCKCHAIN ON TAP: At the SXSW event yesterday, decentralized identity startup Civic showcased three vending machines selling local staples – Shiner Bock and Austin Amber beer. The demo was a test for a product that Civic plans to roll out officially later this year: a $15,000 machine that can verify a user’s age and accept payment via crypto. “We’re merging identity and payment into one transaction,” Civic’s Titus Capilnean told CoinDesk. Full story STELLAR TRADING: Coinbase Pro is launching trading in the cryptocurrency Stellar lumen (XLM) – news that prompted a bump in the price of the token. "The Internet connected the world's computers so that information could be shared globally. Stellar aims to do the same for money," the crypto exchange said. XLM is not yet available on Coinbase's retail platforms, including coinbase.com or its Android and iOS apps. Full story BEST OF THE BEST CHEDDAR: IBM is teasing an upcoming solution called WorldWire that targets cross-border payments using stablecoins. Jesse Lund, head of blockchain solutions and digital currencies at IBM, tells Cheddar: “We are on a roll to build something new and revolutionary that's really going to change the landscape of cross-border payments." Full details are slated to be released next week, but Big Blue is already talking to its target clients, banks, about the new product, which will provide “fungibility of digital assets for financial institutions.” THE REST NIKKEI ASIAN REVIEW: A Vietnamese travel firm is to reward customers with cryptocurrency for letting it use their data, says Nikkei Asian Review. The company, Triip, will pay out in its own cryptocurrency to customers that provide their travel plans in return. The token can be used to offset the cost of travel bookings with Triip, while the data will be sold to tourist industry service providers to be used in targeted advertising. UNHASHED: Crypto project IOTA is to add geo-tagging capabilities to its transactions, according to a report from Unhashed. To that end, the project is proposing a new standard, called IOTA Area Codes, that will allow users to digitally pin their transactions wherever they are on the planet. IOTA says the move will allow developers to build new applications that can utilize the location data. WHO WON #CRYPTOTWITTER Copyright © 2019 CoinDesk. All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 250 Park Avenue South New York, NY, 10003, US Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list