Cryptocurrency and Blockchain associations in Russia, China, and South Korea are planning to file a joint lawsuit in May against Google, Twitter, Facebook, and Yandex for not allowing crypto-related advertising, local news outlet TASS reported yesterday, March 27.

At the end of January, Facebook announced a crypto advertisement ban citing “misleading or deceptive promotional practices,” with Google following suit in March, although their ban will not  take effect until June. Most recently, Twitter confirmed they will also ban crypto-related ads, specifically for Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) and token sales. Yandex is also expected to enact its own set of prohibitive measures, according to local media reports.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/eurasian-association-of-blockchain-to-sue-social-media-giants-for-banning-crypto-ads

The Internal Revenue Service has reminded U.S. taxpayers to include any cryptocurrency income on their annual tax forms.

In a release published Friday, the IRS noted that cryptocurrency transactions are taxable like other forms of property, echoing a release issued in 2014 outlining how cryptocurrencies would be taxed.

At the time, the IRS said profits and losses on digital currency would be treated as capital gains when the currency is being used as a capital asset. Similarly, wages paid to employees in crypto are taxable, while crypto payments made to independent contractors and service providers are reported through Form 1099.

https://www.coindesk.com/irs-reminds-us-taxpayers-report-crypto-earnings/

JPMorgan Chase is considering making Quorum, its Blockchain and smart contracts platform, into its own company, Bloomberg reported yesterday, March 23.

A unnamed source told Bloomberg that no conclusion has yet been reached about whether Quorum would function better as an independent entity, which could potentially attract more partners. The Financial Times adds that other unnamed sources have said that the JPMorgan label attached to Quorum may be steering away potential partners that are also competitors of JPMorgan.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/jpmorgan-considers-making-blockchain-platform-quorum-an-independent-entity

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is preparing to examine up to 100 hedge funds that deal with cryptocurrencies, a person familiar with the matter told WSJ March 22.

The initiative is separate from the dozens of cryptocurrency probes, which mainly target companies the SEC suspects of running afoul of securities laws via Initial Coin Offerings (ICO).

While examiners will report any suspicious activity uncovered in the course of their examinations, the main purpose of the initiative is to inform how the commission’s policies should address cryptocurrencies, the source told WSJ.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/wsj-sec-to-examine-up-to-100-crypto-related-hedge-funds

Coinbase may be on the verge of its biggest acquisition yet.

According to sources close to the situation, the San Francisco startup, which has raised more than $225 million in venture funding, is in talks to purchase Earn.com, which rebranded late last year from 21.co with the launch of its eponymous paid messaging platform.

One source with knowledge of the talks said Earn could be selling for more than $30 million, with the figure representing a low estimate of the terms discussed. (Earn.com has raised more than $120 million over multiple funding rounds since it was founded in 2013).

Still, Earn.com is said to be in talks with multiple parties about a potential acquisition, with one source indicating that the suitors were all "household names" in the industry.

While no deal has yet been struck, the news follows the March announcement that Coinbase had hired Emilie Choi, the former head of mergers and acquisition at LinkedIn, as its vice president of corporate and business development.

Earn.com CEO Balaji Srinivasan would potentially join Coinbase under the terms of the deal.

Coinbase did not respond to requests for comment at press time.

https://www.coindesk.com/coinbase-talks-buy-one-bitcoins-best-funded-startups/

Privacy-focused cryptocurrency zcash is gearing up for its first hard fork.

And while that may call to mind bitter debates over development or excitement about free coins, actually zcash's first hard fork - dubbed "Overwinter" - isn't about either. Instead, the cryptocurrency's developer team is hoping to lay the groundwork for more dramatic upgrades in the future.

While there are some features being added to zcash in the update, Zooko Wilcox, co-founder and CEO of Zerocoin Electric Coin Company, which develops the network, told CoinDesk, "The purpose of this is to get practice doing network upgrades."

https://www.coindesk.com/zcashs-coming-hard-fork-pave-way-even/

A group of Russian deputies headed by Anatoly Aksakov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, submitted a draft of federal law on cryptocurrencies and Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) regulations to the State Duma, as reported in an official press release March 20.

According to the press release, the documents “On Digital Financial Assets” and “On Alternative Methods of Fundraising (Crowdfunding)” were prepared in accordance with the recent instructions from president Vladimir Putin, stating that cryptocurrency regulations will become law by July 1, 2018.

The bill “On Digital Financial Assets” was first introduced on Jan. 25 by the Russian Ministry of Finance. It defines cryptocurrencies and tokens as digital financial assets, allowing trading only via authorized cryptocurrency exchange operators, and establishing Know-Your-Customer (KYC) regulations for ICOs.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/russia-state-duma-considers-law-on-digital-financial-assets-echoes-us-regulations

"This will replace the BitLicense."

It's safe to say Assemblyman Ron Kim has high hopes for his newly proposed New York law, Bill A9899. Submitted to the state legislature in February, Kim's legislation takes aim squarely at the so-called "BitLicense," the much-maligned regulatory regime now imposed on crypto startups serving the fourth most populous U.S. state.

In interview with CoinDesk, Kim went so far as to state his goal is to clear a path for startups, eliminating some of the more controversial components of the law, while preserving those he believes can help protect consumers.

https://www.coindesk.com/meet-the-new-york-lawmaker-who-wants-to-replace-the-bitlicense/

"The market is being chilled."

Issued by Mike Lempres, chief legal and risk officer at Coinbase, the statement captures the mood of the moment for crypto innovators in the U.S. as regulatory uncertainty and months of wanton market growth appear to be finally coming to a head.

Spurring the shift is that the SEC finally confirmed last week what had been long rumored, that it's investigating companies and startups associated with initial coin offerings (ICOs). In response, entrepreneurs are largely surrendering on the idea new cryptocurrencies created and sold to investors could be considered so-called "utility tokens," a term denoting a digital commodity meant to represent the share of a blockchain protocol.

https://www.coindesk.com/icos-iced-12-month-freeze-us-token-trading-just-beginning/

The G20 is set to hold two separate discussions on cryptocurrencies next week in an effort to seek what representatives call a "common response" on regulation.

A media representative for next week's summit, to be hosted by Argentina, which currently holds the G20 presidency, said that the first meeting will take place Monday. The talks will feature Argentina Treasury Minister Nicolás Dujovne and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Secretary-General José Angel Gurría, among other stakeholders.

A second discussion will happen on Tuesday, the rep told CoinDesk.

https://www.coindesk.com/g20-delegates-will-seek-common-response-crypto-talks/

Velvet has always been a sign of nobility, but in the crypto space, it's now the name adorning a new and promising way for upgrading blockchain software.

At least that's the hype behind "velvet forks," a mechanism for upgrading cryptocurrency code that has some high-profile crypto enthusiasts intrigued.

"We think the most interesting part is the idea that you can introduce some new concepts to permissionless blockchains without necessarily having a majority of consensus participants agree to do so," said Imperial College London research assistant Alexei Zamyatin.

And that complex statement cuts to the core of why Zamyatin and others believe velvet forks might be beneficial.

https://www.coindesk.com/soft-hard-velvet-new-fork-promises-crypto-upgrades-without-controversy/

Following the bulls' failure to capitalize on bitcoin's recent price recovery, the cryptocurrency could be in for another sharp sell-off, the technical charts indicate.

The cryptocurrency found a temporary low of $8,371 on March 9 and jumped above $9,000 in a convincing manner on March 11, according to CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index (BPI).

However, the corrective rally seems to have stalled over the past few days.

The cryptocurrency has spent a better part of the last 48 hours moving in a sideways manner in the narrow range of $8,800-$9,400. As of writing, the BPI is seen at $9,095 - down 0.5 percent for the session.

https://www.coindesk.com/bull-weakness-leaves-bitcoin-facing-further-sell-off/

South Korea's ban on initial coin offerings (ICOs) could be eased in the coming months, according to a new report.

CoinDesk reported in September that the country's Financial Services Commission had moved to prohibit the blockchain funding model. Yet a new report from the Korea Times suggests that the ban may be lifted in part, specifically for token sales that meet as-yet-to-be specified conditions.

An anonymous source told the newspaper:

"The financial authorities have been talking to the country's tax agency, justice ministry, and other relevant government offices about a plan to allow ICOs in Korea when certain conditions are met."

https://www.coindesk.com/south-korea-may-lift-ico-ban/

Bitcoin Ponzi scams are raking in millions - all without much effort.

That may be self-explanatory to those who traffic the social media forums where the subject is discussed, but to researchers, it's also a fertile ground for new findings. For them, someone asking for money and promising 100x returns isn't simply a nuisance, they're an opportunity for study.

Indeed, the Financial Crypto 2018 conference in Curacao last week delved deep into the many ways these scams are propagating and why some have been so much more successful than others.

University of New Mexico assistant professor Marie Vasek looked through nearly 2,000 scams, revealing research that hinted at the sheer variety seeking crypto gains. Some, she said, last for ages until the hoax is found out, others come and vanish overnight, all without much interest.

https://www.coindesk.com/ponzis-death-stranger-ways-lose-crypto/

Two identical bills in Tennessee have been put forward to prevent retirement funds from investing in cryptocurrencies. Two more that legalize Blockchain use for electronic transactions are also working their way through the House of Representatives and the Senate, according to legislative tracking site Legiscan.

House Bill 2093, introduced on January 30, 2018 by Republican representative Michael Curcio, proposes prohibiting “the trustees of any defined contribution plan or related investment vehicle established as a health benefit by the state insurance company from investing in any cryptocurrency.”

Another line was later added to the bill, clarifying that trustees cannot invest in crypto “notwithstanding any law to the contrary.”

House Bill 2093 is set to move to the Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee on March 14.

Senate Bill 2508, which has already passed by a vote of 10-0 in the Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee on March 6, was introduced by Republican Senator Bill Ketron on February 1, 2018. Senate Bill 2508 has been recommended for passage to the Senate Calendar Committee.

The text of the senate bill is virtually identical to that of the house bill, and also plans to amend Title 8, Chapter 27, Part 8, by adding the following section:

“Nothing in this part prohibits a local education agency from participating in any other post-employment benefits investment trust.”

In conjunction with the bills banning retirement fund crypto investment, two other bills regarding the legalization of Blockchain technologies have been passing in through Tennessee legislature.

Tennessee House Bill 1507, introduced on January 10, 2018 by 12 Democratic and Republican representatives, seeks to “[recognize] the legal authority to use Blockchain technology and smart contracts in conducting electronic transactions; protects ownership rights of certain information secured by Blockchain technology.”

Senate Bill 1662, which is again identical in text to the Blockchain House Bill, has passed in the Senate on March 8, 90-0. The Senate bipartisan bill was introduced by two Democratic Senators, Lee Harris and Jeff Yarbro, along with two Republican Senators, Steven Dickerson and Richard Briggs.

Cryptocurrency regulation attracted bipartisan movements in mid-February of this year, for legislators on both sides of party lines have recently seen a need for regulation after the growing interest in cryptocurrency across the US.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/tennessee-new-legislation-prevents-crypto-retirement-funds-while-legalizing-blockchain

Crypto rich but low on cash?

With all the ICOs that have taken place (not to mention the meteoric rise in the value of crypto assets late last year), there are a lot of entrepreneurs who fit this description, but few products that allow them to turn long-term HODLing into actionable capital.

That's the idea behind a new subsidiary being started by Dominion Capital, a family office based in New York City. While the company has long invested in a variety of assets, Dominion's known for helping to finance projects by backing loans.

As it turns out, Dominion has also been quietly involved in crypto for years, and the firm believes now is the time to prove the worth of the nascent asset class by expanding its services into the sector.

https://www.coindesk.com/cash-hodl-family-office-offer-loans-bitcoin/

The lineup of speakers, excellent as it was, was entirely composed of white men. It further reinforced the idea that the world of cryptocurrency and blockchains is a male-dominated affair, and it did so before an impressionable audience of relative newcomers to the technology.

We helped perpetuate an imbalance in which the narrative, the access, the culture and thus the development and policymaking behind this technology has been steered by a small group of similar male elites. In planning the event, we'd fallen for the oldest mind trick in the book, and it had been played on us by very own minds: the bias of habit and of insufficient critical thinking.

I'm especially embarrassed about this because I've been preaching for some time the urgent need for diversity in the crypto community.

https://www.coindesk.com/time-acknowledge-encourage-women-blockchain/

Bitcoin seems to be testing politicians across all aisles.

In fact, even members of the U.S. political party known for its broad opposition to regulation have been embracing the idea the market needs greater oversight, according to former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) commissioner Bart Chilton.

And Chilton has the experience that would make him a credible source.

In his role at the CFTC, Chilton was known for his aggressive stance against fraud and was among the first regulators to openly talk about the potential need to regulate bitcoin. Indeed, as far back as 2013, Chilton had begun considering the need for government oversight of cryptocurrency. As a possible nod to Chilton's concerns, just a year after his final term ended, the CFTC officially deemed bitcoin a commodity.

https://www.coindesk.com/ex-cftc-chief-even-republicans-pushing-crypto-regulation/

Often, when a cryptocurrency tanks, holders of a rival coin will tease them with "SFYL" - sorry for your loss.

But the entire industry needs to keep an eye on Tether's USDT token, because if something were to happen to it, the result could be everyone's loss.

That's because the coin, also known as tether, has become a pivotal source of liquidity for the crypto markets. Without wanting to further spread fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) in a community that's had more than its share, a collapse of tether would be extremely bad for these markets, causing a ripple effect and, in the worst case, conceivably toppling exchanges.

https://www.coindesk.com/big-fail-tether-might-still-cryptos-ticking-time-bomb/

Последний день зимы принес сразу несколько новостей, касающихся масштабирования сети Эфириума. После частично удачного тестирования протокола Casper FFG в версии pyethereum (протокол Эфириума на языке pyethereum – варианта python) в конце января, 28 февраля в тестовой сети стартовал вариант Casper FFG на Harmony – тот же протокол на языке Java, ранее носивший название EthereumJ.
На момент написания статьи, в сети работает только один узел Harmony, что послужило причиной ироничного твита от Виталика Бутерина:

Сеть на pyethapp пока никуда не годится и только узел Harmony работает Координатором (Coordinator™), соединяя между собой узлы, работающие на pyethereum.

Смысл твита в том, что роль Harmony аналогична узлу Координатора в системе IOTA – традиционной мишени для критиков из сообщества Эфириума, обвиняющих IOTA в централизации. Впрочем, комментируя этот твит в Reddit, Бутерин заметил:

Строго говоря, ситуация изменится, когда к сети подключатся другие узлы Harmony. А то, что у нас уже есть две независимые имплементации Casper FFG – само по себе отличная новость.

Для полноценной работы Harmony в него осталось добавить логику голосования валидаторов, однако это более простая задача.

Тем не менее, для того чтобы существенно приблизить срок реализации в основном блокчейне хардфорка Constantinople, необходимо, чтобы код Casper FFG был включен в основные клиенты сети – Geth и Parity, а этого пока не произошло. Правда на совещании разработчиков в конце января представитель Parity говорил, что Casper будет включен в код «в ближайшие несколько недель», однако до сих пор этого не произошло.

Реализация Casper FFG не увеличит пропускную способность Эфириума, поскольку это надстройка PoS над существующим протоколом PoW. И даже когда PoW будет заменен на алгоритм предложения блоков PoS, это увеличит производительность всего в три раза, что явно недостаточно для достижения пропускной способности, сравнимой с Visa – это задача шардинга, решение которой начнется только после полного перехода на PoS. А пока задача повышения производительности целиком ложится на разработку разнообразных решений второго уровня: сайдчейнов Raiden, Plasma и каналов состояния (Generalized state channels).

Dapps для взрослых и децентрализованные казино
С приходом весны выяснилось, что на переднем крае разработок общих каналов состояния находятся проект децентрализованного видеоконтента для взрослых с говорящим названием SpankChain и платформа децентрализованных казино Funfair. Таким образом, циничный мем, восходящий к началу интернет-эры, получил очередное подтверждение в XXI веке:

Весь интернет держится на трех больших P – Porn; Poker; Pills.

Команда SpankChain, разработчик доставки видеоконтента и аналогичной Криптокотикам блокчейн-игры Cryptotitties, название которой, как и название основного проекта, в комментариях не нуждается, выложила код микроплатежных оффчейн-каналов на Github. В отличие от однонаправленного канала микроплатежей µRaiden, каналы SpankChain могут быть двунаправленными и содержат механизм экстренного закрытия, позволяют передавать не только эфир, но и токены вместе с состоянием смарт-контрактов. Однако, в открытом доступе находится только часть кода.

Другой разработчик каналов состояний – платформа децентрализованных казино FunFair. Поскольку из-за крупных сумм, которые предполагается хранить на депозитах смарт-контрактов, требования к безопасности кода гораздо выше, чем у SpankChain, подход к разработкам здесь более формальный. Код смарт-контрактов FunFair полностью находится в открытом доступе и уже 9 месяцев работает в тестовой сети. Предполагается, что он будет портирован в основной блокчейн Эфириума в ближайшие недели, а открытие платформы для всех желающих состоится во втором квартале.

Конечно, непредвиденные задержки остаются возможны у обоих проектов, однако, с большой вероятностью можно прогнозировать, что по меньшей мере одна из платформ начнет полноценную работу, после чего вероятность перегрузки сети значительно уменьшится, поскольку желающих снизить издержки много.

По первичным оценкам, использование каналов состояния может увеличить пропускную способность сети Эфириума от 10 до 100 раз. Однако, нужно учитывать, что цена за такое увеличение – существенное уменьшение безопасности сети, так что их можно считать лишь временным решением. Сайдчейны Plasma, по крайней мере теоретически, повысят безопасность, но лишь до определенного предела, кроме того, они еще не достигли стадии готового продукта. Безопасность операций, сравнимую с возможностями основного блокчейна, может обеспечить только шардинг.

https://bits.media/news/vesennee-masshtabirovanie-efiriuma-testirovanie-java-versii-protokola-casper-i-saydcheyny-ot-proizvo/