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Blockchain Bites: Facebook’s Calibra Facelift and Tencent’s ‘New Infrastructure’ Investments

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Blockchain Bites: Facebook’s Calibra Facelift and Tencent’s ‘New Infrastructure’ Investments

We’re happy to be back after a recharging long weekend. Let’s get to the news.
India’s central bank has clarified its crypto stance, Tencent is looking to invest in “emerging technologies” including blockchain and Facebook’s digital wallet subsidiary announced a rebranding and new details.
You’re reading Blockchain Bites, the daily roundup of the most pivotal stories in blockchain and crypto news, and why they’re significant. You can subscribe to this and all of CoinDesk’s newsletters here. 
Top ShelfLibra’s New FaceA statement announcing the rebranding of Facebook subsidiary Calibra to Novi also reveals details of the anticipated wallet product. The Novi wallet will operate as a standalone app, as well as provide interoperability with Facebook’s social messaging apps Messenger and WhatsApp, to make transactions as “easy as sending a message.” Novi customers will need to be verified using a government-issued ID. The wallet will initially be rolled out to a limited number of countries, though the release date still remains unclear.
‘No Such Prohibitions’India’s central bank has clarified the nation’s new crypto policy, months after the Indian Supreme Court lifted restrictions on banking crypto clients. Commercial banks can indeed provide banking services to traders and firms dealing in cryptocurrencies. “As on date, no such prohibition exists,” the Reserve Bank of India said on May 22. The statement came in response to a query filed by BV Harish, co-founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Unocoin.
Signed TransactionsMore than 100 addresses Craig Wright – the self-proclaimed inventor of Bitcoin currently being sued for half of his supposed multi-billion dollar stash of the cryptocurrency – claimed to be his were used to sign a message calling Wright a “fraud” and making it plain that he does not in fact own or control them. The Bitcoin addresses were inadvertently entered into the public record in the ongoing case against Wright. 
Challenging AmazonIn a bid to attract users beyond the cryptoverse, Halsey Minor’s VideoCoin platform will launch Wednesday with fiat payment options. VideoCoin decentralizes the hosting and streaming of video, paying out a native token to participants in the network. “A company like Fox is never going to go to an exchange and buy volatile tokens. You kind of have to be in the crypto world to use crypto projects – and we are trying to break that barrier down,” Minor said. 
Tencent’s InvestmentsTencent is investing 500 billion yuan ($70 billion) into “new infrastructure” based on emerging technologies including AI, cloud computing and blockchain over the next five years. The investments are aimed at recovering losses accrued during the coronavirus crisis and “further cement virus containment success,” Tencent’s senior executive vice president Dowson Tong told Guangming Daily.
Bitcoin 401(k)Bitwage has unveiled a trial of a bitcoin 401(k) plan. The pension plan is supported by crypto exchange Gemini, the custodian service Kingdom Trust, as well as the established pension provider, Leading Retirement Solutions, who keep records for the 401(k) plan with the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). 
Trading CurrentsThailand is teaming up with a blockchain firm Power Ledger to encourage peer-to-peer trading of renewable energy. “Blockchain-enabled transactive energy solutions including peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading, virtual power plants as well as renewable energy certificates and carbon credits trading will be the key to establishing economically viable renewable energy markets,” said the startup’s co-founder, Jemma Green, and help the nation hit its 25% renewable energy target by 2037.
Strategic InvestmentIndia’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, CoinDCX, has secured a $2.5 million strategic investment led by Polychain Capital with support from Coinbase Ventures. The investment will reinforce the exchange’s efforts to drive cryptocurrency adoption in the country after a major legal victory in March.
Telegram Throws in the TowelTelegram is no longer challenging the Securities and Exchange Commission’s ban on its blockchain token project in the courtroom. On Friday, the company filed an agreement for dismissal without prejudice of a previous appeal challenging the SEC’s prohibition of distributing gram tokens to U.S. investors. 
Supporting Steem?Binance is forced to “technically” support last week’s hard fork of the Steem blockchain, according to the crypto exchange’s CEO. In a statement on Binance’s official blog Sunday, CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said the exchange is “very much against zeroing other people’s assets on the blockchain,” but to not support it would mean that Binance users would not be able to withdraw their steem tokens.
Louisiana Licensing The Louisiana State Senate is about to consider a bill to regulate and license virtual currency businesses. If passed, the legislation would establish Louisiana’s first crypto licensing regime. Crypto businesses would have to apply with the state’s Office of Financial Institutions (OFI), fork over executives’ fingerprints, subject their “experience, character and general fitness” to investigation – and perhaps the business premises as well – and pay a nonrefundable registration fee, among other requirements.
Market IntelDigitization BoostMessari analysts wrote a report arguing the “coming digitization of money,” including the launch of CBDCs, could provide a “secular tailwind” for bitcoin. The resilience of cryptocurrencies has catalyzed government investigation into CBDCs, which in turn expose the wider population to the mechanics of cryptocurrencies. CBDCs, “will increase people’s comfort with and understanding of cryptocurrencies, get more people creating and using cryptocurrency wallets, and provide on-ramps into decentralized cryptocurrencies like bitcoin,” the analysts said. This insight comes from First Mover. Get it in your inbox here. 
Inflation and PriceRewards per block mined on the zcash blockchain – launched and supported by the Electric Coin Company – are scheduled to be cut by 50% sometime in November. The privacy-centered crypto is often criticized for its high levels of inflation, though some industry experts are saying its programmatic halving could solve this problem. This case study could reveal insight about the impact inflation has on a cryptocurrency’s price. 
Fees and TransactionsBitcoin’s average transaction fee has dropped 53% from $6.64 to $3.06 in the past five days, as the backlog of unconfirmed transactions sitting in the blockchain’s mempool has dropped 71% over the same time period. (Decrypt)
Crypto Long & ShortVC InflowsAndreessen Horowitz (a16z) stirred up discussion last week by claiming the crypto economy is teetering on the edge of its next cycle of development, just days after it unveiled a second $515 million crypto-focused fund. CoinDesk’s Noelle Acheson looks at venture capital inflows into crypto and what a16z’s plans means for the direction of this industry. “[V]enture funding implies building, steady progress, support for the never-ending search for product-market fit and a relatively attractive profile for institutions looking for return with reasonable risk,” she said. You can sign up for Crypto Long & Short here.
Opposite EditorialSpiritual Reflections on the Bitcoin HalvingAllen Farrington, a freelance writer, reflects on bitcoin’s third programmatic halving and what the shared event means for the future of the network and the internet. “The bitcoin halving happened at the same time for everybody because the Bitcoin protocol is the same thing for everybody. It knows no borders and no nationalities. It knows no time zones,” he said. 
What I Learned the First Time I Lost a Million DollarsJeff Dorman retells the tale of his gains and losses on Wall Street and what this experience means for risk management in the age of digital assets. “The ability to stay disciplined with risk management changed my career. I always knew I had the tools required to be a successful investor, and I’ve always been convinced I can make smart investments, but it took years to realize the difference between good asset managers and bad ones comes down to more than just picking good investments,” he writes. 
Who Won #CryptoTwitter?Subscribe to receive Blockchain Bites in your inbox, every weekday.Disclosure Read More The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

Argentina Orders Stricter Monitoring on Local Crypto Transactions Amid Battling the Flight of Devalued Pesos

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Argentina Orders Stricter Monitoring on Local Crypto Transactions Amid Battling the Flight of Devalued Pesos

Argentina’s Financial Information Unit (FIU) has ordered stricter controls and monitoring into cryptocurrency transactions in the country to eradicate money laundering and other illicit activities. 
 
 
Argentine newspaper El Cronista reported that the FIU, a government agency that is responsible for enforcing anti-money laundering laws and compliance, is looking to tighten its controls on cryptocurrency trading. 
 
President of the Financial Information Unit, Carlos Alberto Cruz said, “In recent times, we have seen an increase in operations carried out through virtual assets.” He added that these transactions could be “carried out by people who intend to circumvent international standards and avoid the anti-money laundering system.”
 
The announcement by the FIU comes at a time when Argentine citizens have been swapping out pesos for more stable foreign currencies, and “parallel exchange markets” have been observed by the government. 
 
This observation has been backed by Franco Amati, the founder of the Buenos Aires Bitcoin Center, as he explained that the Argentine government is clamping down on its citizens from buying Bitcoin with Argentine pesos and converting them to Bitcoins, then to US dollars on foreign exchanges.
 
Lack of confidence on the Argentine peso
 
Argentina has been one of the earliest adopters of cryptocurrency in South America, in an effort to go against inflation and overcome the prohibition of purchasing and transferring foreign currency abroad. Although cryptocurrencies have always been deemed legal in Argentina, the country formally banned consumers from purchasing Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies using credits since November 2019. 
 
The high adoption of cryptocurrency among the Argentine citizens could be linked to the high volatility of the peso, the value of the peso against the US dollar has dropped by 85 percent in the past five years. Argentine citizens have had little confidence in their currency, therefore converting their pesos into Bitcoins then the US dollar. 
 
Argentina’s central bank looks to test a blockchain clearing system
 
The Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA) is looking to test a blockchain-based clearing system to be used by the country’s major financial institutions. The aim of the blockchain clearing system is to provide efficiencies for fiat payments and enable them to be more reliable and to provide end-to-end traceability. 
 
A proof-of-concept for the permissioned blockchain network has been created, based on RSK Smart Contract network, along with the major commercial banks in Argentina, including Santander and BBVA, according to a blockchain developer IOV Labs. One of the major goals of the proof-of-concept was to show that there are other use cases for blockchain such as smart contracts, other than just cryptocurrencies.
Image via Shutterstock

First Mover: Bitcoin Could Get a Boost From Central Bank Digital Currencies

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First Mover: Bitcoin Could Get a Boost From Central Bank Digital Currencies

Bitcoin prices are caught in a downdraft, after a series of rallies in recent weeks that repeatedly fizzled out at the $10,000 mark. 
“There is no clear understanding where bitcoin will go,” Yuriy Mazur, head of data analytics at cryptocurrency exchange CEX.IO told CoinDesk’s Omkar Godbole. “It may either retrace back to $6,500 or reach $10,000.”
You’re reading First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily markets newsletter. Assembled by the CoinDesk Markets Team, First Mover starts your day with the most up-to-date sentiment around crypto markets, which of course never close, putting in context every wild swing in bitcoin and more. We follow the money so you don’t have to. You can subscribe here.
Source: TradingViewWith the near-term picture cloudy, some analysts are focusing on a longer-term trend that could be surprisingly bullish for bitcoin: the emergence of digital currencies issued by central banks. 
It’s not an obvious investment thesis, since bitcoin was invented to be used in an electronic peer-to-peer payment system that would be free of government control and operate outside of the traditional banking system. 
And most central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs for short, would, by their very nature, be issued and controlled by governments, and in many cases distributed through banks. 
But Jack Purdy and Ryan Watkins of the research firm Messari wrote last week in a report that the “coming digitization of money,” including the launch of CBDCs, could provide a “secular tailwind” for bitcoin. 
CBDCs have gained momentum over the past year, as countries consider whether to roll out digital versions of their currencies to keep up with Facebook’s proposed Libra and China’s forthcoming digital currency electronic payment, which is already in testing.
The journal Central Banking, which is supported by the Bank of International Settlements and the European Central Bank among others, found in a survey earlier this month that some 46 countries are considering CBDCs using a constrained form of distributed ledger technology. 
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told Congress in February that the U.S. central bank is in the early stages of researching digital currencies, and that having a “single government currency at the heart of the financial system is something that has served us well.” 
Even so, JPMorgan said last week in a report that “there is no country with more to losefrom the disruptive potential of digital currency than the United States,” as reported by Bloomberg News. “This revolves primarily around U.S. dollar hegemony.” 
The largest U.S. bank’s warning merely reinforces the urgency and significance of the efforts, and that’s what the Messari analysts were homing in on. 
“Catalyzed by bitcoin and the recognition of the benefits of blockchain technology, many countries and companies around the world have begun researching, testing and launching their own digital currencies,” the analysts wrote. 
“When these projects launch, they will have the combined effect of exposing billions of people to cryptocurrency-related technologies,” according to the report. “This will increase people’s comfort with and understanding of cryptocurrencies, get more people creating and using cryptocurrency wallets, and provide on-ramps into decentralized cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.”
So CBDCs might be used to facilitate purchases of bitcoin? That’s the idea.
Tweet of the dayBitcoin watchBTC: Price: $8,878 (BPI) | 24-Hr High: $9,011 | 24-Hr Low: $8,672
Source: TradingViewTrend: While bitcoin has recovered from two-week lows reached on Monday, the cryptocurrency is yet to beat key resistance above $9,300.
At press time, bitcoin is changing hands near $9,000, having put in a low of $8,630, according to CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index. Prices need to cross Sunday’s high of $9,310. That would invalidate the lower highs setup on the 4-hour chart and confirm an end of the pullback from $10,000 and the revival of the bullish trend. 
However, as long as prices are held under $9,310, the bearish view put forward by Sunday’s downside break of the ascending trendline connecting March 13 and April 21 lows would remain valid. 
The uptick from $8,630 to $9,000 seen in the last 24 hours lacks substance, as volumes have remained low throughout the price recovery. A low-volume bounce is often short-lived. Hence, prospects of a strong move above $9,310 look bleak. 
Besides, higher time frame charts are reporting a failed breakout. “The previous weekly candle below the long-term downtrend line support (drawn from June 2019 and February 2020 high), which locally invalidates the bullishness,” said Adrian Zduńczyk, chartered market technician and CEO of trading community The BIRB Nest. 
So, another move lower toward $8,630 cannot be ruled out. A violation there would expose 78.6% Fibonacci retracement marked at 8524. “If that level is broken, it would result in tapping into range lows support $8,000-$8,100. The 50-day average at $8,300 could also offer support,” said Zduńczyk. 
However, if prices rise above $9,300 with strong volumes, a falling wedge breakout would be confirmed on the 4-hour chart. That would open the doors to a re-test of $10,000. 
Sign up to receive First Mover in your inbox, every weekday.Disclosure Read More The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

Louisiana State Congress Unanimously Pass Crypto-Business Licensing Bill

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Louisiana State Congress Unanimously Pass Crypto-Business Licensing Bill

Crypto businesses may soon be offered a regulated path to legalization in the state of Louisiana.
The state of Louisiana may soon pass a bill, that was filed earlier this year and will allow crypto-businesses to operate legally under a state license.
The proposed bill has been backed by Louisiana state representative Mark Weight. Should the bill be passed, the state would have a regulated crypto framework to operate within and would provide an official definition of traditionally ambiguous cryptocurrency-related terms.
Unanimous Approval
The crypto-license bill was unanimously approved in Louisiana’s House of Representatives last week. A positive sign for potential cryptocurrency providers, but it will now have to pass through the State Senate, and then to the Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and finally International Affairs before final approval.
The new bill is a breath of fresh air for US virtual asset providers, who historically have been forced to set up in crypto-friendly jurisdictions like Malta and Switzerland. This has been due to the restrictive and heavily-enforced overarching US regulatory agenda to prevent cryptocurrencies from being used illegally for money laundering, purchasing contraband, and illicit content.
Louisiana appears to be the next US state demanding clarity on regulations for cryptocurrency business and BitLicenses. So far, New York has been the most active state in seeking regulatory clarity and the state has approved 18 Bitlicenses since 2015.
 
Image via Shutterstock

Bitcoin Bounce Stalls at $9K Amid 2% Rise in S&P 500 Futures

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Bitcoin Bounce Stalls at $9K Amid 2% Rise in S&P 500 Futures

Bitcoin moved back over $9,000 earlier on Tuesday alongside signs of an improved risk appetite in the traditional markets. 
Prices rose to a high of $9,010 at 08:05 UTC, but quickly fell back below $8,900, pouring cold water over excitement generated by Monday’s 2.3% bounce from the two-week low of $8,630. 
At press time, the number one cryptocurrency by market value is changing hands near $8,860, according to CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index. 
Meanwhile, the futures tied to the S&P 500, Wall Street’s equity index, are reporting over 2% gains Tuesday. Major European equity indexes are flashing green, too, with the U.K.’s FTSE index leading the way with a 1.33% gain, as per Investing.com.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, North America’s oil benchmark, has so far scored a 2.4% gain on the day, while safe havens like gold, Japanese yen and the U.S. dollar are nursing losses. 
Risk sentiment seems to have been buoyed by reports of a potential coronavirus vaccine. U.S.-based biotech company Novavax said on Monday that it is beginning a phase 1 clinical trial of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate in Australia. Results are expected in July. 
Bitcoin closely tracked action in the equity markets in March and April before decoupling in the two weeks leading up to the reward halving event on May 11. With halving behind us, the cryptocurrency may again start taking cues from equities. 
As a result, some traders may expect the cryptocurrency to chart a strong break above $9,000 during the day ahead. However, major exchanges like Bitstamp, which is included in the calculation of Bitwise’s “real” bitcoin trading volume figures, have registered low volumes during the last 24 hours. 
That may gloomy news for the bulls, as a low-volume move is often short-lived, according to technical analysis theory. Thus, the sustainability of the recovery toward $9,000 is in question. 
Further, the short-term bias looks to have turned bearish due to cryptocurrency’s recent violation of a two-month bullish trendline.
“The steep upwards trend was broken this weekend, and the BTC price crossed the line which has acted as support several times over the past month. If the downwards price action continues, the lower $8,000 area is an important support zone for the price and should see a lot of buyers coming in,” said a weekly update produced by the cryptocurrency exchange Luno and Arcane Research. 
Adrian Zdunczyk, a chartered market technician and CEO of trading community The BIRB Nest, also cited the $8,100–$8,000 area in a weekly update. Zdunczyk, however, is still bullish for long-term, as are most observers. 
Investors seem to be accumulating coins amid the price drop. On-chain data provided by blockchain intelligence firm IntoTheBlock shows the number of bitcoin addresses holding coins for over a year has reached a new record high of 19.44 million this month, toppling the previous lifetime high of 19.08 million in April. 
Addresses holding bitcoin for more than a yearSource: IntoTheBlockThe metric has been on an upward trajectory for 12 months and is indicative of a strong holding sentiment.
“Record-high long-term holders not only shows the growth of bitcoin’s store-of-value use case, but it also demonstrates the fierce conviction of investors who held tight during the 50% market drop, believing it to be a reliable long-term haven against increasingly unpredictable public markets,” said Jehan Chu, co-founder, and managing partner at Hong Kong-based blockchain investment and trading firm Kenetic Capital.
There’s a general consensus in the investor community that bitcoin is a hedge against the fiscal and monetary imprudence practiced by governments and central banks over the years, and more so, recently in the efforts to combat the coronavirus-led slowdown in the global economy. 
“Investing in tech companies is no longer good enough; investors are now choosing to invest directly in the crypto infrastructure the future will run on,” Chu said.
From a technical analysis standpoint, the overall bias would once more turn bullish if and when prices rise above $10,000. The immediate bearish bias would be invalidated if the risk-on seen in traditional markets powers the cryptocurrency above $9,310.
Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency at the time of writing.
Disclosure Read More The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

Indian Crypto Exchange CoinDCX Raises $2.5M From Polychain Capital, Coinbase Ventures

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Indian Crypto Exchange CoinDCX Raises $2.5M From Polychain Capital, Coinbase Ventures

India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, CoinDCX, has secured a $2.5 million strategic investment led by Polychain Capital with support from Coinbase Ventures.
The investment aims to reinforce the exchange’s efforts to drive cryptocurrency adoption in the country after a major legal victory in March. CoinDCX’s #TryCrypto campaign seeks to bring the total number of crypto users in India to 50 million.
Specifically, the financing aims to bolster CoinDCX’s meetup events, community engagement efforts, educational programs and consumer campaigns, the company said.
“This new strategic investment into CoinDCX is a shot of confidence in our roadmap toward bringing the crypto asset class to a largely untapped Indian market. We look forward to our investors’ continued counsel,” said Sumit Gupta, CEO and co-founder of CoinDCX.
Polychain’s investment is in addition to its participation in a $3 million Series A funding round for the Mumbai-based exchange, which occurred in late March, weeks after a banking ban for cryptocurrency businesses was overturned by the country’s Supreme Court.
Following the lifting of the banking ban in March, CoinDCX has seen a 47% growth in trading volumes and a 150% growth in daily active users. CoinDCX said it was one of the first cryptocurrency exchanges in India to integrate bank account transfers.
“As India continues to close the gap between the crypto economy and the mainstream market, CoinDCX is strongly positioned to become the leading platform that consumers in the country interact with crypto through,” said Shan Aggarwal, head of Coinbase Ventures.
Disclosure Read More The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

Binance CEO Says Steem Too Centralized but Exchange Must Support Controversial Hard Fork

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Binance CEO Says Steem Too Centralized but Exchange Must Support Controversial Hard Fork

Binance is forced to “technically” support last week’s hard fork of the Steem blockchain, according to the crypto exchange’s CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.
In a statement on the company’s official blog Sunday, CZ said that, while the exchange is “very much against zeroing other people’s assets on the blockchain,” to not support it would mean that Binance users would not be able to withdraw their steem tokens.
The result of a dispute in the Steem community over the acquisition of SteemIt – the blockchain ecosystem’s biggest and more powerful application – by Tron and Justin Sun, the hard fork was used as a tool to strip 64 dissenters of their token holdings. At the time around $6.3 million-worth of cryptocurrency was grabbed, with one of the affected parties, Dan Hensley, saying he alone had lost around $1 million of the total.
Wiping out people’s token holdings “goes against the very ethos of blockchain and decentralization,” said CZ. The fact that this can happen on a blockchain means it is overly centralized.”
The fork put Binance in a “tricky” situation, he continued. While the exchange would not otherwise support the fork, “if we don’t support it (technically), no users can withdraw any STEEM coins.”
CZ explained that Binance had waited to see how other exchanges reacted to the fork, saying that soon some had enabled the upgrade. He added that users had been demanding support for the fork too.
Reading between the lines, CZ appears to be encouraging users to withdraw their steem tokens, mentioning several times in the post that support that supporting the fork would allow withdrawals – of course, it could allow continued holding or trading too.
“We do not want to block people’s funds. In this case, we should allow users to withdraw their funds, whether we willingly support this hard fork or not,” reads one of his lines.
The issue of the hard fork – launched apparently with the sole purpose of confiscating the holdings of key community members who were unhappy with Justin Sun’s power in the ecosystem and how he was wielding it – followed a previous hard fork that saw some Steem users create a new blockchain called Hive. The new chain copied over all the tokens from Steem, but not those of Sun and some Steem witnesses.
While the tit-for-tat fork may seem to some a fair reprisal, it’s worth noting that Hive’s tokens were effectively a free copy, while original holdings on Steem were obtained through genuine investments.
In the post, CZ notes that crypto advocate and author Andreas Antonopoulos had suggested in a tweet that Steem’s latest fork would likely result in litigation, with supporting exchanges also to be included as defendants.
The Binance CEO said:” I would have thought that [a class-action lawsuit] would go against everything he is preaching. In a decentralized world, anyone should be able to support any fork. Exchanges providing choices for users to get a ‘forked coin’ is no different by definition.”
The Steem saga illustrates that decentralization is not a utopia and that the community must work together “build a healthier decentralized ecosystem,” he concluded.
Disclosure Read More The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

Craig Wright Called ‘Fraud’ in Message Signed With Bitcoin Addresses He Claims to Own

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Craig Wright Called ‘Fraud’ in Message Signed With Bitcoin Addresses He Claims to Own

The credibility of Craig Wright – the Australian tech entrepreneur who controversially claims to be bitcoin’s pseudonymous inventor, Satoshi Nakamoto – has taken another blow.
After a list of bitcoin addresses Wright had provided as being his holdings in an ongoing court case were briefly and “inadvertently” made public by plaintiffs on May 21, 145 of the addresses were used to sign a public message both calling Wright a “fraud” and making it plain that he does not in fact own or control them.
The court case was brought by Ira Kleiman, the brother of Wright’s former business partner, David Kleiman, and seeks half of 1.1 million bitcoin (worth around $9.6 billion) the two allegedly mined in the early days of the cryptocurrency, as well as intellectual property. The case hinges on whether Wright can prove he has the keys to the trove of cryptocurrency.
“Craig Steven Wright is a liar and a fraud. He doesn’t have the keys used to sign this message. The Lightning Network is a significant achievement. However, we need to continue work on improving on-chain capacity. Unfortunately, the solution is not to just change a constant in the code or to allow powerful participants to force out others. We are all Satoshi”Some of the many addresses in the court filing published on Court Listener are indeed used to sign the message.
The message was first brought to wider attention on Reddit, with the claim that the addresses are for bitcoin mined in 2009 and that have not been moved since.
BitMEX Research tweeted that it had taken “a random sample of 20” of the addresses and found they did not match the holdings of the “dominant” early bitcoin miner in 2009, who many think was Satoshi. The firm’s earlier research on this is to be found here.
Wright had claimed in court that his billions in bitcoin were held for him in so-called Tulip Trusts, but that he could not prove his control of the keys due to attorney-client privilege. He has been accused by the judge of “abusing” client-attorney privilege to withhold documents and “obfuscate” proceedings elsewhere in the case.
Last August, the judge also found Wright had argued in bad faith, perjured himself and admitted false evidence.
In another filing on May 21, the Kleiman team filed an omnibus motion for sanctions against Wright, claiming: “Wright has engaged in a sustained pattern of perjury, forged evidence, misleading filings, and obstruction – this included submission of false evidence which, if not unmasked, could have resulted in Plaintiffs being deprived of their day in court.”
Saying the abuses are “undeniably directed at the singular goal of making it impossible for Plaintiffs to prevail at trial,” defendants seek sanctions and a default judgement against Wright.
If the judge rules in favor of Wright on this matter, Dr. Ami Klin “will testify that he has diagnosed Dr. Wright with Autism Spectrum Disorder with high intellectual skills. Dr. Klin’s testimony will help the jury understand how this disability affects behavior.”
Another of Wright’s experts would testify on whether David Kleiman “had the requisite skills and experience to have written or significantly have contributed to the original Bitcoin software application released in 2009.” The Kleiman team is seeking to block the appearances of the four expert witnesses.
Disclosure Read More The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

Zcash’s First Halving May Solve Its Inflation Problem

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Zcash’s First Halving May Solve Its Inflation Problem

Mining reward halvings are a hot topic in the crypto markets, as they alter a cryptocurrency’s supply and often have a significant impact on prices. 
Bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency by market value, underwent its third halving on May 11, which reduced the reward per block mined to 6.25 bitcoin from 12.5. Bitcoin offshoots bitcoin cash and bitcoin SV also witnessed halvings in April. 
Next in line is zcash (ZEC), a privacy-focused cryptocurrency first created in 2016 that uses a proof-of-work (or mining) algorithm and encrypts user information within shielded transactions. Currently, it is the 26th largest cryptocurrency by market value, as per data source CoinMarketCap.
Rewards per block mined on the zcash blockchain – launched and supported by the Electric Coin Company – are scheduled to be cut by 50% from the current 12.5 ZEC to 6.25 ZEC at block 1,046,400 this year.  Zcash’s first ever halving, the block subsidy reduction is expected to happen sometime in November.
High-inflation cryptoWhile ZEC’s supply is capped at 21 million like bitcoin, its inflation rate is significantly higher than other major cryptocurrencies. 
Cryptocurrency inflation ratesSource: ViewBaseAt press time, ZEC’s annualized inflation rate is 28.19% – the highest among major cryptocurrencies, according to data source ViewBase. Meanwhile, bitcoin’s inflation rate is 1.44. 
Zcash’s high inflation rate has long been a cause of concern among the investors and the analyst community. “If ZEC were a country, it’d have the 8th highest inflation rate worldwide at 32%,” popular analyst Josh Olszewick tweeted in December 2019. 
The cryptocurrency was one of the worst-performers in the first nine months of 2019, largely due to its “disproportionate” supply hitting the market, tweeted economist and trader Alex Krüger in September 2019.  ZEC ended 2019 with an 88% decline, while bitcoin achieved gains of over 90%.
These concerns, however, may ease following November’s supply cut.
“After the halving, the inflation rate will effectively get cut in half from its current level, so any concerns about the inflation rate should be alleviated or be considered a non-issue,” said Connor Abendschein, a crypto research analyst at Digital Assets Data. 
Pre-halving price boost?In recent months, the cryptocurrency has been languishing not far above all-time lows against both the U.S. dollar and bitcoin. After November’s halving, though, investors may give up on punishing ZEC for its high inflation rate and cheer the emission cut. 
ZEC/USD and ZEC/BTC chart“The upcoming halving could give Zcash the boost it needs to stay relevant in the high-cap ecosystem,” said Abendschein.
Further, cryptocurrencies, in general, tend to rise ahead of halvings, which are widely considered to be price-bullish events. 
For instance, litecoin, which underwent its last reward halving on Aug. 5, 2019, doubled in the first quarter of last year despite lackluster price action in bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency by market value and price anchor for the broader crypto market. Litecoin, the seventh-largest cryptocurrency, rose another 100% in the second quarter. 
Many observers argue that halvings create supply deficits and thus put upward pressure on prices. The belief mainly stems from the bitcoin market, which witnessed stellar bull markets in the months following its first two halvings in November 2012 and July 2016. 
The narrative has further strengthened due to bitcoin’s rise from $3,867 to $10,000 witnessed in the two months running up to its third halving earlier this month. 
Bitcoin halving a guide?Miner selling encompassed a significant percentage of total volumes in bitcoin ahead of its first halving in late 2012. After the event, a large drop in selling pressure from miners led to a price rally.
As seen in the chart above, potential miner selling pressure as a percent of total volume fell from 135% to 67% at the 2012 halving.
Bitcoin’s price extended its pre-halving bull run by 6% from $12.75 to $13.50 in the two weeks after halving and went on to hit a record high of $260 in April 2013. 
“Some investors are looking at Zcash similarly and its first halving could bring about the largest drop in potential mining sell pressure (as a percent of total volume) compared to future halvings,” Wilson Withiam, research analyst at data provider Messari, told CoinDesk in a Telegram chat. 
Goodbye Founder’s RewardAlongside the halving, zcash’s so-called (and not universally popular) Founder’s Reward expires in November to be replaced by a new development fund.
“Zcash was launched in 2016 with a ‘Founder’s Reward’ to be allocated over four years. Of all Zcash mining rewards, 80% was allocated to miners, about 15%  was allocated to a group of people that included investors and founders, and about 5% was available to Electric Coin Co. to fund core support functions,” according to the official blog of the Electric Coin Company.
The new fund, which was approved by the zcash community, will distribute 20% of the network’s mining rewards to infrastructure and marketing development, of which 8% would go into a third party grant program, 7% to the Electric Coin Company and 5% to the Zcash Foundation. The other 80% will go to miners.
Source: Electriccoin.coSo, November looks set to be a major month for zcash and the discussion about the halving’s potential impact on price and non-price metrics is likely to pick up the pace as we move closer to the final quarter of 2019.
So far this year, the cryptocurrency has moved pretty much in line with bitcoin and broader markets. Prices fell from $70 to $20 in the four weeks to mid-March as bitcoin as nosedived amid the coronavirus-led crash in the equity markets. The subsequent 150% price rise in bitcoin pulled up ZEC. The privacy coin recently clocked a high of $50 and was last seen changing hands at $45.
Disclosure Read More The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

Bitcoin in Africa: Cryptocurrency and P2P Bitcoin Trade Surge Across the African Continent

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Bitcoin in Africa: Cryptocurrency and P2P Bitcoin Trade Surge Across the African Continent

According to recent data and reports, Bitcoin and cryptocurrency adoption are soaring across Africa.
Cryptocurrency adoption and peer-to-peer Bitcoin transactions are on the rise across the African continent. There have been significant advances across Africa for crypto adoption in terms of regulation, trade volume, and reported cryptocurrency ownership.
Currently Uganda, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, and Kenya frequently rank among the top 10 countries for Bitcoin Google searches according to a recent report by Arcane Research and Luno.
The research emphasizes that Africa is, “one of, if not the most promising regions” for cryptocurrency adoption as it exhibits a young and largely underbanked or unbanked population who are often forced to use expensive forms of money remittance.Crypto P2P Trades Surge Across Africa
The report found that South Africa had taken the lead on the continent for having the highest percentage of crypto ownership at 13% followed by Nigeria at 11%. South Africans also rank fifth globally for crypto adopters. 
This week saw a surge in P2P trade activity for South Africa, allowing them to edge out Kenya with nearly $2 million in trade across Paxful and Localbitcoins.
South African’s appear to be reacting to the recent news of financial regulators taking virtual assets more seriously. Regulators in SA recently issued a policy document that asserts that crypto-assets and activities relating to them “can no longer remain outside the regulatory perimeter.”
Paxful in Africa: #BuiltWithBitcoin
Ray Youseff, CEO and Founder of the Paxful peer-to-peer marketplace also commented on the Bitcoin boom in Africa and the need for further education to ensure the people take advantage of this avenue to financial inclusion.
As part of its mission to provide equal access to the financial system, Paxful launched the #BuiltWithBitcoin, a social good initiative with the goal of building 100 schools funded entirely by bitcoin all across emerging markets. Youssef said, “There are 2 schools in Rwanda, and currently building the 3rd one in Machakos County, Kenya.” He added, “Africa is one of the fastest-growing markets in Paxful. We had an education drive focused on universities last year beginning with universities in East and Southern Africa, the initiative has reached over 1000 youths. The education workshops provided key, practical insights to the true use cases of Bitcoin, how to avoid falling prey to bad actors in the crypto-space and served to counter the over-emphasis on Bitcoin speculation.”
Beyond the talking points, how does greater financial inclusion benefit the global economy, and what problems remain in Youssef’s view? He explained, “The flow of wealth and money helps to make the economy more liquid and create more jobs. Providing an equal financial system bolsters this process by providing more participants and more opportunities to them. This often means new and creative ecosystems to help people and solve their problems will emerge which will provide people with jobs and a source of income.”
 
Image via Shutterstock