Friday, October 25, 2019

Xi says seize

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October 25, 2019
PRESIDENTIAL BACKING: Xi Jinping, president of the People’s Republic of China, has said the country needs to “seize the opportunity” afforded by blockchain technology. Speaking on Thursday in Beijing, Xi said blockchain technology has a wide array of applications within China, listing topics ranging from financing businesses to mass transit and poverty alleviation. “We must take the blockchain as an important breakthrough for independent innovation of core technologies,” Xi told committee members. Full story

QUANTUM THREAT? After a month of speculation, Google announced that it has built and tested a 54-qubit quantum processor called “Sycamore.” The processor was able to perform a complex computation in 200 seconds that the firm claimed would take “the world’s fastest supercomputer 10,000 years.” But with quantum computing said to have the potential to bust current methods of encryption, what does the advance mean for crypto? Full story

ETH-ONOMICS: As ethereum undergoes a major upgrade in 2020, how might the economics of the second-largest blockchain begin to shift? Dubbed Ethereum 2.0, the next  phase will be based on a proof-of-stake consensus protocol, meaning transactions will be processed and validated by users who stake wealth as opposed to miners who expend energy. New analysis of the economic model behind ethereum 2.0 suggests validators can expect to earn 4.6–10.3 percent in annualized rewards at the start. Full story

ENTREPRENEUR ARREST: Polish police have arrested Ivan Manuel Molina Lee, president of Crypto Capital, on accusations of money laundering. According to reports, the crypto entrepreneur was extradited to Warsaw under police escort. Polish authorities claim that Molina Lee is wanted in Poland for laundering up to 1.5 billion zloty or about $390,000,000 including “for Columbian drug cartels using a cryptocurrency exchange,” with Bitfinex specifically cited. Crypto Capital also allegedly lost $850 million of Bitfinex’s funds, leading to a $1 billion token sale this year. Full story

FRANK DORSEY: Twitter will not be joining the Libra Association, according to its CEO. Jack Dorsey replied with a conclusive “Hell no” on the question of his firm’s potential membership of the Facebook-led crypto payments scheme at a New York City-based Twitter event. He explained that Libra is not based on an open standard, “born on the internet,” and as such: “It was born out of a company’s intention, and it’s not consistent with what I personally believe and what I want our company to stand for.” Full story
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: Bitcoin prices shot up 12 percent Friday, climbing off a five-month low touched earlier this week, after Chinese President Xi Jinping said his countrymen should “seize the opportunity” afforded by blockchain technology. Bitcoin jumped 12 percent in the past 24 hours, reaching $8,392 as of 16:02 UTC (12:02 p.m. New York time). Earlier this week, the cryptocurrency touched $7,363, the lowest since May 18. Xi’s comments could boost sentiment toward digital assets in general, providing a positive market backdrop for bitcoin, said eToro’s Mati Greenspan. Full story
CITY IN SHUTDOWN: The IT network in Johannesburg, South Africa, is said to have been breached by a group called the Shadow Kill Hackers and all services have been switched off as a precaution. The group sent a ransom note to city staff saying they’d accessed all systems including stores of financial data, and demanding a payment of 4 bitcoin (worth US$30,000) by Oct. 28. According to local news site Business Day, if the payment doesn’t arrive, the hackers warned they will upload all the stolen data onto the internet.

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Dorsey says hell no / Crypto ownership doubles / Jo'berg's Bitcoin ransom

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Market Watch: Friday trading has seen most of the market trading in the green. Bitcoin is slowly climbing, but it is Bitcoin SV that is making waves. Over a 24-hour period it has risen by over 17 percent.

  • Bitcoin: $7,508 (⬆️ 0.42%) // $135.2 billion market cap.
  • Ethereum: $162 (⬆️ 0.79%) // $17.6 billion market cap.
  • XRP: $0.279 (⬆️ 3.11%) // $12 billion market cap.
  • Tether: $1.01 (⬆️ 0.20%) // $4.1 billion market cap.
  • Top 100 Winner: XMax: $0.002 (⬆️ 26.23%) // $35.6 million market cap.
  • Top 100 Loser: Bytecoin: $0.0003 (⬇️ 7.06%) // $57 million market cap.

Prices are as of 2:15 p.m. EDT.

     

1. Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and mobile payments company Square, has made it clear that Twitter will not be joining Facebook's Libra project. Dorsey said "hell no," when asked would Twitter join Libra during a Twitter thread, which Alex Weprin, editor and reporter Alex Weprin of The Hollywood Reporter, covered. According to the CEO, "nothing within Libra had to be a cryptocurrency to do what they wanted to do." His remarks come at a time when Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO of Facebook, was answering questions from Congress earlier this week on the proposed plans for the stablecoin. They also come at a time when several founding members of the Libra Association have decided to step away from the project, with some citing regulatory uncertainty as to the reason why. –@alexweprin

Jack Dorsey says "hell no" on joining Libra
     

2. The number of Americans who own cryptocurrencies nearly doubled this year, according to a new survey. The study, undertaken by Finder, a financial services firm, shows that the figures in 2019 so far amount to 14.4 percent, which equates to 36.5 million Americans owning crypto. This is compared to 7.95 percent in 2018. According to the company, the average amount of crypto owned was $5,447; however, the median amount was far less at $360. Of those surveyed, men make up the most at owning crypto, with 19 percent claiming they hold some, whereas, only 10 percent of women do. –COINTELEGRAPH

     
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3. Follow Friday: Ryan Taylor

Ryan Taylor is the CEO of Dash Core Group, which develops cryptocurrency Dash, a position he has been in since 2017. In 2016, when he joined the organization, he was director of finance.

Prior to arriving at Dash, Taylor was a hedge fund analyst covering payments industry investments for a $20 billion investment fund in New York. With over 15 years experience in the payments industry, he is considered an expert in the field.

Since joining the Dash Core team, Taylor has spoken out about the steady impact that Dash is making. According to this October article, the altcoin is helping Bitcoin and cryptocurrency traders. In his opinion, it can aid traders in boosting their profits on exchanges.

And he's not afraid of speaking out, particularly when it comes to correcting journalists with their coverage on Dash. Back in August, Taylor took to Twitter to argue that a Coin Desk article hasn't produced a "remotely balanced article on Dash," adding that there were so many factual errors and misinformation presented.

With just under 6,500 followers on Twitter, Taylor is a frequent user. Yesterday, for instance, he reached out to his followers to ask which of the Bitcoin improvement proposals that had been abandoned would offer the most value to Dash if they revived them. Elsewhere this month, he posted a series of tweets that pointed out the growth of the Dash network.

Follow Friday: Ryan Taylor
     

4. The so-called Shadow Kill Hackers have, reportedly, attacked the City of Johannesburg administration website in South Africa if not given $30,000 in Bitcoin. If not given the ransom, the hacking group has threatened to upload stolen data. According to a report, the government has until October 28 at 5 p.m. to hand over the payment. A tweet states that the incident is being investigated by security experts and that appropriate security measures have been taken to avoid any further attacks. –BUSINESS DAY

     

5. Darrell Duffiew, Dean Witter Distinguished Professor of Finance at Stanford Graduate School of Business, has said that cryptocurrencies are likely to change banks' business models in the next 10 years. According to him, the future is coming and the banks that don't get on board will be disrupted. He went on to say that the benefits crypto can provide means that banks may lose access to low-interest-rate accounts. –STANFORD BUSINESS

     

6. Our Follow Friday above, Ryan Taylor, CEO of Dash Core Group, has said that the number of transactions on the Dash network has grown by 178 percent year-over-year. According to him, other records have also been hit. These include the number of mobile wallets now over 56,000, up from 41,000 at the end of Q2. In Taylor's opinion, "this is what adoption looks like." –DASH NEWS

     

7. China's president has said that the country should "seize opportunity" to adopt the blockchain. Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, said that the technology was an "important breakthrough for independent innovation of core technologies." He added that the development of the blockchain must be accelerated while increasing investment and focusing on the key core technologies. –XINHUANET

     

8. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has said that WeChat Pay uses the blockchain to track payments. According to Zhao, they have "got word" that this was the case. However, it's been reported that this may not be the case and that the platform is using the technology for invoicing purposes. WeChat has also previously stated its anti-crypto stance.  –COINTELEGRAPH

     

9. Following China's president announcement that the country should seize blockchain, the crypto community has responded stating that it wishes the U.S. to do the same. Those within the industry have praised China's stance, stating that the keyword to remember is blockchain and not Bitcoin. China is one nation that has banned the use of cryptocurrencies, following the prohibition of initial coin offerings (ICOs) in 2017. –U TODAY

     

10. Tether is gaining popularity as a payment method. According to analysts, this could see it catching up with the likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum. According to CoinPayments, a crypto payments processor, the stablecoin accounts  30 percent of the volume, pushing Ether out of second place. Bitcoin has seen its volume drop to 60 percent from 80 percent last year. –BLOOMBERG

     

This newsletter was written and curated by Rebecca Campbell. She has been writing and reporting on various industries for the past 10 years, more specifically tech in the last three. Connect with her on Twitter.

Editor: David Stegon (senior editor at Inside, whose reporting experience includes cryptocurrency and technology).

     
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