Blockchain News, Opinion and Jobs

@the-blockchain-news

Blockchain News is building a must-read, premiere news brand focusing not just on blockchain technology and cryptocurrency markets—but also on the culture and personalities of the industry. We write about hard news and market trends, but we also cover the visionaries and alchemists of the industry like the rock stars they are. We appeal to blockchain professionals, as well as mainstream readers and pop culture enthusiasts. Like Rolling Stone in the 1960s, we’ll bring the mainstream to this counterculture until it goes mainstream—and then become the nimble center of it. Blockchain News was founded in 2015 by Richard Kastelein with the goal of educating and informing those curious about Blockchain.

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TopBrokers.com: Top-5 Advantages of the Forex portal

The Forex industry, without a doubt, will continue to experience significant growth in the years to come. With so much potential, it’s become a competitive place among Forex brokers globally. For inspiring Forex traders, there’s a very long list of Forex brokers available at your disposal on topbrokers.com. But the idea of sorting out all these brokers may not be an easy thing to do. Because there are many factors to take into consideration, you may find yourself struggling to decide where to actually put your hard-earned money in. Forex Portal TopBrokers.com Now this is where TopBrokers.com can help you. Essentially, TopBroker is an all-in-one portal where users can find everything they need to know about the many Forex brokers available in the market today. This portal understands the needs of every aspiring trader, so details about brokers are presented in a clear and precise manner. If you’re quite new to currency trading, TopBrokers is your go-to website for everything that you need to know around the Forex world. Advantages of TopBrokers.com In-depth Forex Broker Reviews Other Forex websites also provide Forex broker reviews, but what’s good about TopBrokers is its very detailed approach in reviewing Forex brokers. If you have some brokers in mind that you’re interested to trade with, but still unsure whether it best suits you, you can check its in-depth review at TopBrokers.com. Learn more about broker regulations, deposit r by Richard Kastelein Read the full article

Crypto Security Predictions for 2021

The crypto industry experienced its fair share of cyberattacks and security breaches in 2020. Hackers stole millions from bitcoin firms such as KuCoin exchange while several DeFi (decentralized finance) platforms endured cybersecurity breaches. Cybersecurity and crypto industry experts predict that 2021 will see a rise in cyber-attacks targeting DeFi platforms, individual users, and smart contracts. Meanwhile, the increased institutional investment in cybersecurity will improve security standards and measures on most exchanges. DeFi Is the New Target Experts predict that attacks on crypto exchanges will remain stable or decline, especially among the established exchanges. Meanwhile, attacks on DeFi platforms and protocols are bound to escalate, with most hackers targeting new platforms. Losses resulting from cryptocurrency hacks, thefts, and fraud reduced to $1.8 billion in the first 10 months of 2020 compared to 2019. But the DeFi sector experienced a rise in the number of attacks. DeFi hacks comprised 21% of the theft and hack volume for 2020. DeFi accounted for almost 50% of all the hacks and thefts that happened in the second half of 2020, valued at $47.7 million or 14% of the hack volume. Experts attribute the high volume of attacks targeting DeFi platforms to the hype surrounding the sector, which is similar to the ICO craze of 2017. The problem is that many DeFi founders are launching their platforms too quickly without first performing the necessary smart contract by Richard Kastelein Read the full article

Top 5 Crypto Exchanges in 2021

As Bitcoin’s price rises and cryptocurrencies enter the mainstream, traders will want to get involved more than ever. If you didn’t know, the best place to trade is on a cryptocurrency exchange. In this post, we’re going to go over the best exchanges to trade on. We’ll look at their support, funding methods, listed assets, security, and more to decide. Coinbase This US-based cryptocurrency exchange is one of the most well-known platforms for trading digital assets. It’s quite limited in terms of selection, as the company wants to vet any tokens before listing them. However, that limitation serves its users well, as traders always know an investment is safe to make. Of course, Coinbase provides various funding methods for traders to take advantage of. You can link a bank account, debit card, or another wallet to transfer funds. From there, you can simply buy your cryptocurrency and hold it on the platform. The platform also provides a comprehensive learn program that rewards you in cryptocurrency for participating. Almost every time it lists a new asset, Coinbase releases a new Learn class catered directly to it. Binance Binance is the world’s largest exchange. It lists hundreds of assets and supports various funding methods from around the globe. However, it’s worth noting that you must link a bank account to trade on Binance. You can’t link a debit or credit card like on most other platforms. That said, Binance offers its own cryptocurrency, Binance Coin, to help you by Richard Kastelein Read the full article

SEBA Bank Completes Series B Fundraising to Fuel Growth For Providing Smart Banking and Full Services in Digital and Traditional Assets

FINMA licenced Swiss Seba Bank - who already provide a seamless, secure and easy-to-use bridge between digital and traditional assets - approved the completion of its Series B capital increase at its Extraordinary General Meeting today. SEBA Bank is primed to fuel and accelerate its growth strategy according to the team. Guido Bühler, CEO of SEBA Bank, stated: “I am delighted that the strengths of SEBA Bank and its track record in 2020 were recognised by our existing key shareholders and new investors leading them to participate in a second capital raise. This support will allow us to accelerate the strong growth SEBA Bank is delivering as we also plan to expand into new markets in Middle East and Asia and support US institutional clients.” All existing key shareholders and new investors from Switzerland, Europe and Asia participated in the capital raise. With this strategic milestone, SEBA Bank is well-positioned to further deploy its domestic and international expansion and capture high growth. SEBA Bank has today secured equity capital which will further strengthen its capital base, and this new equity will allow to expand the product and service offering, increase SEBA Bank’s lending capacity for clients and start leveraging the established hub in Switzerland into new markets. SEBA Bank will tokenise its shares of the Series B fundraising soon after the blockchain law will come into force in Switzerland. The capital raise follows the completion of our leading integr by Richard Kastelein #bank #capital #Raise #SEBA Read the full article

OP-ED: Concerns Regarding FinCEN’s Proposed Rules

by Peter Smith, Last week I sent a letter on behalf of Blockchain.com to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (embedded below), outlining my concerns regarding FinCEN’s anticipated rules related to self-custodied wallets. Since then, FinCEN released a set of proposed rules that has been widely commented on in the crypto space. The good news is that the proposal published by FinCEN on Friday is less onerous than we had anticipated. For a great synopsis of the proposed rules, I recommend reading Compound General Counsel Jake Chervinsky’s thread on twitter. Here are some of my thoughts about the proposal to implement additional restrictions on self-hosted wallets, as captured in my letter. First, the rules may be unintentionally detrimental to the underlying goal of addressing money laundering and terrorist financing activities. The challenges of addressing money laundering in the global financial system are admittedly immense. Second, the rules may simply bifurcate the industry into providers who comply with the rules and off-shore wallet providers who do not, relegating illicit activity outside of the view of US law enforcement agencies. It’s possible that unregulated offshore hosted-service providers may gain a competitive advantage over AML/KYC-regulated providers, so US law enforcement agencies may end up losing access to information that is currently readily available to them. Blockchain.com’s financial crime department interacts with law enforcement authorities on a daily by Richard Kastelein #blockchain #FINCEN #oped #Opinion #petersmith Read the full article

How the Halving Impacted Bitcoin?

Bitcoin halving is undeniably a huge event for the entire crypto comminute and one that has had great consequences, not just on Bitcoin. As the year comes to an end, we can really see the real consequences of the halving that occurred on May 11, 2020. In this article, we take a look at the halving and how it impacted Bitcoin over the course of 2020. Bitcoin Halving The role that miners have in the blockchain network is a good introduction to Bitcoin in general and how it is different from other cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies. Otherwise, they have an indispensable position because they have to solve computational problems in order to validate a new block of transactions in the network. Thus, their work not only ensures that the blockchain network is safe but also without the miners, it would be impossible for new BTC to enter into circulation. It goes without saying that it is a tedious job that requires an investment in good equipment, computer hardware, energy, and time. The halving is an event set to happen after 210,000 are mined, and it occurs roughly every four years. The purpose of the halving is to cut the inflation in half, as the reward of miners is also split in half, with each halving. More specifically, the reward was 50 BTC before the first halving in 2012, then it got reduced to 25 BTC, and in 2020, it is 6.25 BTC. The Price of Bitcoin Typically the price of Bitcoin depends on several factors like the position of rival cryptocurrencies, trading platf by Richard Kastelein #Bitcoin #goldrush #Halving #SatoshiNakamoto Read the full article

Renewed Interest in Crypto Sparks All Time High Bitcoin Value as the Year Draws to an End

The worst year of all years in every other way, is now ending well for the wallets of Bitcoin owners. Eighteen days before the third year anniversary of its previous high of $19,783, Bitcoin has reached a value of $19,857.03, after starting the year on a slightly more positive note than the year before, with by Richard Kastelein #Bitcoin #Crypto #price #Wallet Read the full article

Bitcoin Mixers Protecting Privacy and Anonymity from Hackers

One of the reasons why the cryptocurrencies have gained popularity over the years is because trading them is supposed to be anonymous... but this is only partially true. In reality, Bitcoin is actually quite traceable. And this is no different for Ethereum, which is just as detectable and vulnerable to phishing attacks caused by leaky databases as Bitcoin. If Bitcoin and Ethereum are traceable, leaky databases can also expose user details and the contents of their wallets. It is quite a scary thought that your anonymity could be on the line. The solution to this problem is simple. Mixers. Online services that allow users to bewilder any hacker to figure out the origin of funds. The Bitcoin Mixer (Bitcoin Tumbler) website Bitcoinmix.org is a great service if you want to maintain your anonymity when you make purchases online. It can be very useful if you want to do p2p payments and donations. So, what exactly is it? How does it function? And do you really need the platform? Keep reading for some insightful information because regardless of whether you are making online purchases, making P2P instalments or simply buying gifts, the tumbler will keep you untraceable and ensure your own data. What can mixers do for you? Bitcoin mixers spin a person’s funds through a process that protects anonymity by receiving fresh, alternative bitcoins at the other end. The focus is on making sure that the mixer has the ability to obfuscate the trail so even the best hacker can’t figu by Richard Kastelein #Bitcoin #BitcoinMixers #Mixer Read the full article

7 Things You Should Know About the Bitcoin Hype

The most popular cryptocurrency is having a moment again. But what’s with the Bitcoin hype right now? It’s been almost 12 years since Satoshi Nakamoto developed the peer-to-peer electronic cash system that brought us Bitcoin. Millions of people have been buying and selling this decentralized cryptocurrency for years now. So why this global hype all by Richard Kastelein #bitco Read the full article

In 2020, Decentralized Finance is a Hot Trend — Along With Yield Farming And Governance Tokens

by Blaise Cavalli, Decentralized finance (DeFi), a new investment mechanism exploded into the financial sector and certainly has been the trend to watch in the digital assets industry. With billions of dollars in value circulating on public blockchains, has only been a matter of time for digital assets to enter the field of generating yield through on-chain banking and financial systems. Different financial products from borrowing and lending to derivatives have made their way into the blockchain finance industry, driven the last few months by this experimental trend to provide traditional financial instruments into the sector. The movement is largely enabled by Ethereum blockchain as it offers the interoperability needed for different money legos to interact with each other. The governance of these new money protocols has been a major concern, which introduced the idea of governance tokens, usually generated through Yield Farming approaches. What’s Yield Farming? DeFi platforms open up a whole range of new ways and business opportunities, and yield farming has become the cornerstone concept for DeFi in 2020. The craze started with Compound’s COMP governance token, which was the first to initialize this investment mechanism. On June 15, Compound distributed its governance token on top of earning the usual cryptocurrency interest. by Richard Kastelein #BlaiseCavalli #cryptocurrency #Governance #Liquidity #YeildFarming Read the full article

SocialGood Blockchain Project Aims to Improve Society - With a Tokenized Donation Machine

SocialGood is an ambitious blockchain project that has the soaring aim to rewrite capitalism as we know it today by utilizing Blockchain along with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create what is, essentially, a donation machine. The blockchain-fueled platform creates a win-win for consumers and social foundations in its non-profit business cycle. Their vision is to “make society better” by providing all consumers with promising digital assets free of charge via their 'CryptoBack' solution and to provide profits to foundations doing essential work around the world. The Problem It's clear to many the middle class in the West is in decline in the current capitalist structure. The gap between the 'Haves' and the 'Have-Nots' continues to widen. The SocialGood team says corporate shareholders are enjoying most of the fruits of global economic development and it has become one-sided, where consumers pay money to companies and stockholders' profit from it. This is the result of 'Mainstreet' not getting the opportunity to participate in the game while 'Wall Street' continues to cleave the class system. The SocialGood Whitepaper notes: "The problem with the capitalist mechanism is that this economic gap continues to widen as a small portion of asset holders monopolize the majority of the world's assets. This was even mentioned as an issue in Oxfam's report “An Economy for the 99%,” as discussed at the Davos Forum Summit (World Economic Forum 2019)." "To by Richard Kastelein #DONATION #good #nonprofit #social #socialgood Read the full article

SEC Issues No-Action Letter To IMVU Enabling Transferable Digital Assets

Leading avatar social platform IMVU has been issued a no-action relief from the Staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the sale of VCOIN, IMVU's new digital asset. IMVU now plans to sell VCOIN as a non-security which will enable users to buy, gift, earn and, for the first time, transfer a digital asset off the IMVU platform to convert it to fiat. "IMVU's established user base and extensive business history gave VCOIN the right platform, right controls and right economy in which to launch an owned token that could provide users' unmet needs - including the ability to exit the platform and convert to fiat for use in the real world," said Nancy Beaton, VP Strategy & Blockchain for IMVU. "We appreciate the SEC Staff's time and consideration of our no-action request, and the no-action letter that followed." "Users of IMVU, and really all virtual and game users, want to be able to earn real value for the services and goods they offer and VCOIN will be the first to provide this," said John Burris, Chief Strategy Officer, IMVU. "Launching VCOIN into the high-velocity IMVU economy, it could quickly become one of the most active, largest and user-focused digital asset economies in the space." VCOIN launches in the massive IMVU economy early January 2021. Currently, the IMVU economy sees more than 27 million monthly transactions and 14 billion Credits changing hands each month for virtual goods and services. by Richard Kastelein #imvu #SEC #vcoin Read the full article

Common Types of Cryptocurrency that You Should Know

Cryptocurrency is steadily winning grounds. You can use cryptocurrency as an investment or a means of payment. It's a digital alternative to cash or credit cards to make everyday payments. In the past, the crypto business sounded scary. But many are now gaining trust and investing in the different types of cryptocurrencies available. What is blockchain cryptocurrency? Blockchain cryptocurrency is a digital asset that works as a medium of exchange. It's different from the common traditional currencies in that it works on digital channels with strong encryption to secure all online financial transactions. The encryption layers also control the creation of additional units and also verify the transfer of assets. There are various types of blockchain cryptocurrencies such as: 1. Bitcoin Bitcoin is one of the commonly used currencies. It's perceived to be an original cryptocurrency and was created in 2009. Bitcoin uses blockchain technology and enables users to make peer-to-peer transactions. The transactions are secured through an algorithm within the blockchain. You can view the transactions, but only the bitcoin owner can decrypt it using a private key. Bitcoins are different from bank transactions in that there's no central regulatory authority. The users manage and control the transactions, which allows for anonymous exchanges. You can use Bitcoin to pay bills using Bitcoin debit cards. by Richard Kastelein #Common #cryptocurrency #Types Read the full article

PayPal To Allow Users to Buy, Hold and Sell Cryptocurrency With New Service — Receives Conditional Bitlicense from New York State Department of Financial Services

Fintech giant Paypal is planning to launch a cryptocurrency service enabling members to buy, hold and sell tokens directly from their PayPal account along with mentioning plans to create a funding source for purchases at its 26 million merchants worldwide by significantly increase the utility of cryptocurrencies. The company was granted a first-of-its-kind conditional Bitlicense by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). The service is now available to PayPal account holders in the U.S. through a partnership with Paxos Trust Company, a regulated provider of cryptocurrency products and services. The company plans to expand the features to Venmo and select international markets in the first half of 2021. The current COVID-19 pandemic and an increased interest in digital currencies from central banks and consumers have driven Paypal into the arena which is expected to give a significant boost to the cryptocurrency sector. "The shift to digital forms of currencies is inevitable, bringing with it clear advantages in terms of financial inclusion and access; efficiency, speed and resilience of the payments system; and the ability for governments to disburse funds to citizens quickly," said Dan Schulman, president and CEO, PayPal. by Richard Kastelein #Crypto #cryptocurrency #Paypal Read the full article

Seven Celebrities That Allegedly Use and Invest in Cryptocurrencies Daily

If you thought that the “cryptocurrency world” was only limited by nerds, then let us open your eyes with this list. To our surprise, we have found more than 100 celebrities that use and invest in cryptocurrencies They have diverse reasons for it, but something that all of them have in common is that they don´t have any regrets, in fact, they are happy with the results after they started to use cryptos, they enjoy the freedom and security that blockchain offers them in general Ashton Kutcher Apparently, the actor not only plays millionaire roles in movies or TV series (as Steve Jobs or Walden Schmidt) He also likes to make smart use of his money. Or at least that was the impression he gave on “The Ellen Degeneres Show” when he talked about where he was investing his money. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss Know widely in the Hollywood world, the Winklevoss twins are a perfect example of how volatile the cryptocurrency market could be since the way their fortune fluctuates is everything but normal. However, they are positioned as great entrepreneurs, cameo experts, and Hollywood most charismatic twins. 50 Cent In 2014, 50 Cent saw a great opportunity to test the value of cryptocurrencies. Therefore, he listed Bitcoin as one of the payment methods for his album “Animal Ambition” besides the dollar. by Richard Kastelein #50Cent #AshtonKutcher #Bitcoin #CameronandTylerWinklevoss #celebrities #cryptocurrency #KanyeWest #MelBrown #MykeTyson #SnoopDogg Read the full article

Dutch Central Bank Registers First Cryptocurrency Provider Amdax B.V. — Under European Guideline AMLD5

Based in the heart of the Netherlands financial world, Amsterdam-based Amdax B.V. has been given a green light and officially registered by De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) as the first provider of cryptocurrency services in the Netherlands. The registration will allow AMDAX to process crypto transactions and store cryptocurrencies. The Dutch government has been somewhat bullish on cryptocurrencies and since May 21st, 2020, it's applying new legislation related to cryptocurrency, based on European guideline AMLD5. Starting at 2.5 BTC, AMDAX supports retail and professional traders and businesses with a portfolio for trading cryptocurrencies, secure storage, and insured custody — bringing more credibility and security to the emerging market. The AMDAX registration process kicked off on May 21st took four months. The European guideline AMLD5 for crypto regulation focuses on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing and the Dutch have packed on stricter, more additional requirements, including criteria for the assessment of clients and for tracing the origin of the money they want to invest. A mature asset class With its DNB registration, AMDAX intends to contribute to the adoption and acceptance of crypto. “We are very proud we have obtained this registration as the first crypto company in the Netherlands,” said Valentino Cremona, co-founder and director at AMDAX. “DNB justly applies high standards for this registration. by Richard Kastelein #amdax #AMLD5 #DeNederlandscheBank #DNB Read the full article

Hong Kong Slams Door on Retail Trading — Plans to Regulate Cryptocurrency Markets

In a massive crackdown on fraud and money-laundering, Hong Kong has announced a ban on the retail trading of digital currencies, and will now for all cryptocurrency exchanges to be licensed under new regulations. The new regulations will allegedly bring down the hammer on a massive amount of unregulated cryptocurrency trading in the city. Some pundits are noting that the proposed regulation, if it can garner support and go ahead, should spell the end for an era of relaxed regulation of bitcoin and other virtual assets in Hong Kong. At present, most crypto-exchanges are not regulated. Industry players expect the stricter licensing regime will lead to consolidation as some exchange platform providers exit the local market. Don Guo, CEO of Broctagon stated: “Although this is an immediate knock to the local crypto industry, this as a positive. The cryptocurrency industry has lacked a regulatory consensus and framework to ensure safe trading. While the landscape has typically been fragmented, it is encouraging to see Hong Kong take the steps to establish a mainstream-like environment for participants looking to trade crypto. “That said, the conversation is far from over. Although this news move may protect investors and encourage wider uptake, the UK’s FCA has recently banned the trading of crypto derivatives altogether, and other global governments continue to drag their heels with regards to regulation. by Richard Kastelein #Blockhain #cryptocurrency #Exchange #Exchanges #hongkong #Markets #regulate Read the full article

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