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COPYRIGHT COPYCAT: Craig Wright, the Australian entrepreneur who recently and controversially filed copyright registrations for the bitcoin white paper and original code, now has a legal rival. A second copyright registration for the white paper has appeared on the public catalog of the United States Copyright Office, indicating that a certain Wei Liu is also claiming to have originated the work under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. Wei Liu told CoinDesk that he filed the copyright in response to Wright, saying: "I filed it just to let people know anyone can register a copyright. Everyone can be Satoshi Nakamoto." Fullstories
FAKE PUMP: Scammers boosted the price of Bitcoin SV (BSV) Wednesday by publishing a fake news alert purporting to show that BSV’s creator is also bitcoin’s. Masquerading as the Chinese news site Coinbull, the bogus alert claimed that Craig Wright had transferred bitcoin (BTC) from the so-called Satoshi wallets to prove his identity. The result? A $60 boost in the bitcoin SV price in less than 10 hours. Coinbull responded on WeChat to deny the “malicious” rumor. Full story
LICENSES COMING? Egypt appears to be loosening its restrictions on cryptocurrency. A source speaking to the Middle East News Agency described a proposed bill to ban the creation, trading, or promotion of cryptocurrencies without a license. Previously Egypt banned all cryptocurrency under Islamic law. The bill, according to the Egypt Independent, would give the board of directors of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) the right to regulate cryptocurrencies and require, multiple potentially expensive licenses to do business. Full story
NO CODING: Salesforce, the provider of cloud solutions for business management, has revealed its own blockchain solution built on the Hyperledger Sawtooth platform. The product, named Salesforce Blockchain, is aimed to help users build and maintain blockchain networks, apps and smart contracts, allowing them to “create and share blockchain objects in the same process as any CRM data object – with clicks, not code,” according to a press release. Several clients are already testing the product. Full story
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A new cast of innovators and founders in the blockchain ecosystem is fundamentally changing how business is conducted across industry sectors around the world. We call them Emerging Disruptors. Learn what makes them different in our new Perspective.
BITCOIN BOUNCE: Bitcoin rebounded from $8,420 on Wednesday, forming a bullish higher low on the former resistance-turned-support zone of $8,500–$8,390. Further, the price carved out a bull flag breakout on the short duration chart earlier today, strengthening the case for a rally to $9,000. Even so, caution is warranted on the part of the bulls, as trading volumes have dropped recently. Full story
BEST OF THE BEST
SANCTIONS SIDE EFFECT: The FBI has said that North Korea carried out cybercrimes including hacks and crypto malware attacks to circumvent sanctions, according to U.S. broadcaster Voice of America. As reported by The Korea Herald, Tonya Ugoretz from the FBI’s cyber readiness, outreach and intelligence branch, said at an event this week: “Sanctions are having an economic impact, so cyber operations are a means to make money, whether it’s through cryptocurrency mining or bank theft.” The FBI is working to find ways to prevent crypto and fiat currency “going to places where it should not,” Ugoretz added.
THE REST
BLOCKCHAIN’S CHALLENGE: David Treat, managing director and co-lead of Accenture’s blockchain division, has said the biggest challenge for taking blockchain mainstream is now not the tech, but rather the ‘team sport’ nature of blockchain. “The hard part is to get the necessary alignment of interests to build new business models working with a collection of clients,” he told Silicon Republic. Treat also said the firm sees the most potential for blockchain in financial services infrastructure, supply chain (“both physical and digital”) and identity.
TOKEN REWARDS: The U.K. city of Bristol is trialing a blockchain-based scheme that rewards employees for being more energy efficient. For the initiative, the city council has turned to a rewards platform from EnergyMine, Energy Live News says. Employees can either accept their crypto rewards and claim offers from partners of the initiative or donate the equivalent value to a registered charity.