Crypto Ethone

  French police arrested 29 individuals yesterday in a sting operation against an alleged network of financiers of extremist groups in Syria, in one of the largest such operations in the country. According to French counter-terror prosecutors, the network conducted its financing activities through the purchasing of cryptocurrency coupons which enabled it to send references to contacts within Syria who then credited them to bitcoin accounts. This method of funding the extremist groups and contacts is markedly different in comparison to the usual methods of transferring funds and laundering money to groups, with the rise in the use of cryptocurrencies offering possible alternatives to terror groups and their donors. The prosecutors’ statement confirmed this, saying: “Constant surveillance of these networks prompted terrorist organizations to seek more opacity by using crypto-currencies such as bitcoin .” Those 29 individuals – arrested from various sites across the country – report...

  EY , the big four accounting firm, has launched a new  Explorer and Visualizer  solution for investigating on-chain data including  Bitcoin  (BTC) transactions.  It has been reported that the new solution launched as a part of the EY Blockchain Analyzer product suite, as the beta version is now available for free for individuals.  However, EY said that it will soon make the solution available as a service on its blockchain website. According to the report, users will be able to utilize search functionalities along with its visualization technology. It will allow audit teams to explore and track on-chain data by searching for specific transactions, addresses, and blocks. They may then analyze the gathered data to manage legal, compliance, and fraud risks.  Andrew Gordon , the Global Forensic and Integrity Services Lead of EY, said that the Explorer and Visualizer solution will make financial reporting for blockchain-enabled transaction...

  Three years after its $257 million initial coin offering (ICO), Filecoin has said its live network is about to launch. In a post Sunday, the blockchain-based storage provider said the mainnet will launch at block 148,888, currently expected on Oct. 15. Designed as a decentralized alternative to Amazon Web Services or Cloudflare, a data retrieval service, Filecoin  raised $257 million in a 2017 token sale – the most raised in an ICO at the time. Having originally committed itself to a mainnet launch in mid-2019, the project has sustained industry interest with 230 projects and 1,000 developers set to begin work on Filecoin when live. More than 400 miners from around the world participated in this month's "Space Race" testnet phase where network data capacity increased by more than 325+ pebibytes – seven times the entire written works of mankind, in all languages. In the coming weeks, the project said it will continue adding storage, optimize operations ...

Russia’s telecom regulator Roskomnadzor has added Binance , the world’s largest crypto exchange, to the list of blacklisted websites in the country. The exchange was blacklisted on June 2, 2020, but Binance became aware of this only on September 24th, after receiving communication from Roskomnadzor. In an announcement on its Russian Telegram channel, Binance said it was included on the list of prohibited domains because its website includes information about the purchase and sale of crypto assets like bitcoin ( BTC ). According to Roskomnadzor, Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, distribution of such data is restricted in the country. However, Russians can still access the exchange without the use of censorship-resistant tools such as a virtual private network (VPN).  Binance said crypto users’ funds stored with the platform are safe.  It is also taking legal advice on the way forward. In its announcemen...

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz on Thursday pledged to speed up euro zone financial reforms aimed at regulating crypto-assets and deepening capital markets, which he said could help accelerate the economic recovery from COVID-19. Scholz said he welcomed the European Commission’s latest proposals for the regulation of crypto-assets and their underlying blockchain technology , used in private sector projects such as Facebook’s Libra stablecoin. “These are important proposals to make Europe’s financial sector really strong. My goal is to move the discussions forward quickly,” Scholz said, adding that this also applied to the Commission’s proposal for expanding the bloc’s capital market. As Germany currently holds the rotating presidency of the 27-member bloc, Scholz said he would put both reform packages on the agenda of the next EU finance ministers meeting on Oct 6. “With the package we can promote innovations in the financial sector so that Europe sets standards worldwide,” Scholz...

  Just recently a new project called Polkadot joined the top ten crypto coin list almost immediately after the project officially launched. Today, the Polkadot network is the sixth-largest blockchain in terms of market capitalization.  The blockchain is considered an Ethereum competitor by a few individuals, and some crypto proponents speculate it will be amongst the top three market caps in the near future. Crypto proponents have noticed a new top ten crypto-challenger in the world of digital assets, as the  Polkadot (DOT)  blockchain has recently joined the leading ranks. A number of people never heard of Polkadot and wonder how this coin made it into the top ten so quickly. The top six crypto assets in terms of market valuation on Wednesday, September 23, 2020. The project was conceived by Ethereum cofounder  Dr. Gavin Wood  and the developer has worked on the protocol for the last four years. The project also stemmed from the initial coin offering (ICO...

  Winklevoss brothers-founded Gemini powers the first regulated crypto exchange in Canada. Wealthsimple Crypto, the first regulated cryptocurrency exchange in Canada, is rolling out its trading platform to the public today. Starting from Sept. 22, users in all 13 provinces and territories in Canada will be able to sign up for the new product and start trading cryptocurrencies . At the launch, Wealthsimple Crypto will allow users to buy and sell Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether ( ETH ) through the platform’s mobile app. Deposits and withdrawals can only be made in Canadian dollars, The public launch of Wealthsimple Crypto comes shortly after the company received regulatory approval from Canadian securities regulators on Aug. 7. To date, Wealthsimple Crypto is the only crypto asset platform that has been authorized to operate in Canada by the Canadian Securities Administration (CSA), a representative told Cointelegraph. Prior to public launch, Wealthsimple Crypto was available in ...

  The OOC has insisted that national banks and federal savings associations may hold “reserves” on behalf of customers who issue stablecoins. These are surely good times for Stabelcoins .  The world’s largest economy’s banking regulator.   In a detailed letter released yesterday, permitted national banks to hold reserve currencies for stablecoins (Tether, Circle). The letter which was released by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) responds to questions regarding the application of stablecoin-related bank activities. It concludes that national banks and federal savings associations may hold “reserves” on behalf of customers who issue stablecoins, in situations where the coins are held in hosted wallets. “National banks and federal savings associations currently engage in stable coin-related activities involving billions of dollars each day,”  Acting Comptroller of the Currency, Brian P. Brooks, said.  “This opinion provides greater reg...

Japan has a unique economy. It contains large manufacturing, exporting automobiles and electronic goods. This nation is most of the time considered as the largest and most innovative in the world. With the recent rise of Chinese and South Korean manufacturing, This country has begun to focus more on high-tech and precision goods . The Finance minister and central bank governors have already discussed  cryptocurrency  regulations at the G-20 summit and Japan is taking notice at home. Leaders of the Bank of Japan ( BOJ ), Ministry of Finance( MOF ), and Financial Service Agency ( FSA ) have done a number of meetings to understand if the country should take the next line to adopt a government-sanctioned digital currency. How does the Japanese government embrace a central bank digital currency, and would that impact the world economy? Those are the questions everyone is asking right now. Despite the rise of countless crypto exchanges, the US dollar continues to be the de fact...

  The unique addresses for DeFi is growing in an exponential manner.  It is important for Ethereum to scale considerably and to on-board the user base.   The network usage from DeFi is very high and analysts are wondering of ETH 2.0 will be able to keep up with its network usage with its layer-2 implementations. Yield farming is causing DeFi platforms mushroom up every other day.  The network congestion continues to increase.   While the DeFi users are very eager for the ETH 2.0 there are substantial doubts on whether it will be possible to scale the blockchain.  Whether it will be enough to scale is questionable. There are also concerns growing about how ETH 2.0 will influence the already peaking gas fees. Technically, Ethereum 2.0 will start off with 64 shards.   Every shard will potentially operate a separate chain with its own transaction history.   Thus, the network will increase its transaction capacity by 64 times. Of n...

  The country’s President revealed that a government decree was being prepared to lift the ban. Crypto mining was prohibited in the country in December 2019 due to an electricity crisis. Despite the ban, it is still legal to import crypto mining rigs, which has led to illegal mining activities. The President of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, has indicated that the nation will lift its  de facto ban  on crypto mining. A Russian publication reported that Aslan’s government had plans to regulate and optimize on crypto mining. The independent country in North West Georgia took emergency measures in December 2019 to reduce electricity consumption.  “Now we are working on accounting and identifying the points where these mines are installed, it will not be possible to hide anything. (…) A government decree is being prepared, which will outline the most optimal mechanisms to regulate this process. We will not prohibit it [mining], the state will regulate it p...