FCC letter SIM-swap / PBoC tests CBDC / ECB president supports CBDC developement

Inside Bitcoin presented by Catchy Content.

Presented by Subscribe | View in browser Market Watch: Bitcoin has slipped back to $7,700 during Friday trading after enjoying a slight reprieve to higher values earlier this week. Industry prices across the board are down as well. Bitcoin: $7,764 (⬇️ 2.23%) // $140.9 billion market cap. Ethereum: $136 (⬇️ 2.29%) // $14.8 billion market cap. XRP: $0.203 (⬇️ 1.81%) // $8.8 billion market cap. Tether: $1.01 (⬆️ 0.72%) // $4.6 billion market cap. Top 100 Winner: Cosmos: $4.24 (⬆️ 4.91%) // $809 million market cap.  Top 100 Loser: Bytecoin: $0.0002 (⬇️ 17.06%) // $44 million market cap.  Prices are as of 11:45 a.m. ET.       1. U.S. lawmakers have sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging it to provide an account as to why it failed to protect consumers against SIM swap attacks. Yesterday, six Democrats from the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate sent a letter to FCC Chair Ajit Pai, asking for improved methods on mobile operators to prevent risks from taking place in the future. The letter noted that between 2016 and 2019, the number of SIM-swapping attacks - which involve the theft of a mobile phone number to steal online financial, crypto, and social media accounts - had risen from 215 to 728. Mobile carrier AT&T is one company that has faced more than one lawsuit for failing to protect users. –COINTELEGRAPH       2. The central bank of China has completed the top layer design and joint testing of its proposed central bank digital currency (CBDC). The People's Bank of China (PBoC) has also, reportedly, developed relevant standards, carried out research and development. Reports about China planning to test its CBDC first appeared in December, with the first pilot projected for the city of Shenzhen before the end of 2019. Increased interest in China's central bank digital currency follows after Facebook announced it would be launching its stablecoin Libra in 2020, with the intention of helping people without access to financial services. –SINA       A MESSAGE FROM CATCHY CONTENT Free Guide: 7 Steps to Great Technical Marketing Content. Drive qualified leads to your sales team through strong technical marketing content. Start by creating a strategic plan and follow through with great execution, learn how with the 7 Step Guide. Download the free guide 3. Follow Friday: Vanessa B Vanessa B, also known as Crypto Vanessa, is the owner of the Cryptocurrency Insider blog, where she posts articles aimed at helping new individuals entering the crypto space. Under the "First Steps" tab, she focuses on posts such as software wallet vs. hardware wallet and how to recognize the potential of a good ICO. As a regular user on Twitter, some of her tweets focus on where Bitcoin is currently trading, how the market started at the beginning of 2020 (not very well), and who she will be watching in 2020.        4. Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), has said that she supports the bank's involvement in the development of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Speaking in an interview for the business magazine Challenges, Lagarde said that there was a need for fast and low-cost payments. She added that the "ECB will continue to assess the costs and benefits of issuing a central bank digital currency..." while ensuring that the general public can use money from a central bank even if physical money declines. Last December, the ECB president indicated her friendly stance toward crypto assets, stating that the central bank should be ahead of the curve regarding the demand for stablecoins. –CRYPTO NEWS BYTES       A MESSAGE FROM FASTLY Extend the power of your core cloud to the edge with our API-first platform. Bring your innovative ideas to life, faster. Our edge cloud platform moves data and applications closer to users, at the network edge — so you can deliver fast, secure, and scalable online experiences. Take it for a spin and test up to $50 traffic, free. 5. A report from cybersecurity company Kaspersky Labs has found that a cybercrime group, known as the Lazarus Group, with links to North Korea is using "enhanced capabilities" to send malware through the Telegram messaging app to steal crypto. According to the firm, victims' had downloaded a manipulated software with the malware attached. Several of the victims were linked to China, Poland, Russia, and the U.K. Most of them are said to have links to crypto businesses. –COIN DESK       6. Netherlands-based Deribit, a crypto derivatives platform, has announced that it is leaving the European Union for Panama in a bid to avoid new anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. In a statement, Deribit B.V., which is responsible for Deribit.com, will assign the trading exchange to DRB Panama Inc., on Feb. 10. The company noted that if it remained where it is, new AML rules would require it to demand more information from its current and future customers. At the same time, though, it will be expanding its Know-Your-Customer (KYC) requirements on the same date. –DERIBIT       7. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said that crypto companies should pay for their own regulation costs. As part of the governor's "Making Progress Happen" 2020 agenda, Cuomo has proposed amending the state Financial Services Law (FSL). According to him, there is a discrepancy between firms that are listed under the Insurance Law or Bank Law and those that are licensed under the FSL. –THE BLOCK       8. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has tied three parties behind a $3.5 million crypto scheme. Donald Blakstad, crypto mining outfit Energy Sources International Corporation (ESI), and Xact Holdings Corporation, a vehicle part company, have been charged by the SEC. Blakstad is alleged to have taken $3.54 million from at least 14 different investors through fake offerings. –COINTELEGRAPH       9. Crypto businesses in Austria will have to apply for a license to the country's financial watchdog as part of new Anti-Money Laundering (AML) rules. Failure to apply for these from the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) will see companies facing a maximum fine of €200,000 on cryptoasset-related businesses. –FINANCE MAGNATES       10. China's search engine Baidu has launched a public beta of Xuperchain, a blockchain service for businesses. And according to this report, this is just the start of China's blockchain rush. The company first revealed its plans for Xuperchain back in September 2018 and has been described as an "innovative design [with] ultra-fast transaction processing speed compared with decentralized blockchains like Bitcoin." –MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW       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.

We're Hiring! Learn more. | Sponsorship opportunities Copyright © 2020 Inside.com, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Inside.com 767 Bryant St. #203 San Francisco, CA 94107 Did someone forward this email to you? Head over to inside.com to get your very own free subscription! You received this email because you subscribed to Inside Bitcoin. Click here to unsubscribe from Inside Bitcoin list or manage your subscriptions.