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[zhengqi]

Survey In Canada Sends Worrying Signal To The ICO Market   

If you're launching an initial coin offering (ICO), most of the surveyed Ontarians will not care about your product, your team or if you’re changing the world: 7 in 10 ICO participants care more about whether they can trade the coin or token being offered. At the same time, should something go wrong, they don’t know where to turn, a survey showed.

https://cryptonews.com/icos/survey-in-canada-sends-worrying-signal-to-the-ico-market-2165.htm

[zhengqi]

Malware Monitoring 2.3 Million Bitcoin Addresses

When sending cryptocurrency, one of the main features is the fact that addresses are long and virtually impossible to remember. Naturally, very few people are willing to type the address in by hand, instead relying on copying it from one application to another - and this is exactly where the danger lies.

https://cryptonews.com/news/malware-monitoring-2-3-million-bitcoin-addresses-2151.htm

[Squirrel Dearing]

Crypto Exchanges Are Suddenly Being Censored In Iran

"Every crypto exchange in Iran [has been] filtered since May."
That's how one Iranian bitcoin advocate, speaking on condition of anonymity, described a new wave of government censorship that has cut Iranians off from vital links to the crypto economy ahead of a scheduled renewal of U.S. sanctions in August and November.
Several Iranians exclusively told CoinDesk they are having trouble accessing crypto exchanges like Binance, Blockchain and LocalBitcoins, even with virtual private networks (VPNs) and other workarounds that were already commonplace because of international sanctions... Read More

[miropp]

- Bitmain Is Now One of the 21 Entities Processing EOS Transactions
- US, UK Lead 5-Nation Alliance to Combat Cryptocurrency Tax Crimes

[Squirrel Dearing]

Voorhees vs Schiff: Bull Meets Bear at NY Bitcoin Debate

A debate between an infamous bitcoin detractor and one of the cryptocurrency's most well-known entrepreneurs made sparks fly in New York City Monday.
Hosted by the Soho Forum, a monthly Manhattan debate series, the event saw Erik Voorhees, the CEO of exchange service ShapeShift, argue that government-backed monies will eventually be replaced by bitcoin and blockchain innovations. The world's largest cryptocurrency, he said, just needs gradual adoption to eventually triumph... Read More

[SuperBazooka]

Spain’s Securities Regulator Undertakes a Blockchain Pilot

Spain’s securities regulator Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), BME and various banking and financial institutions Banco Santander, BBVA, BNP Paribas, CaixaBank, Commerzbank and Société Générale have announced the completion of the pilot test for the Fast Track Listing (FTL) project.

In a statement the CNMV has announced:

“The objective has been to simplify processes and reduce the amount of time needed to register issuances. It has been proven that the use of blockchain technology can improve efficiency in terms of time and resources, as well as increase the security and traceability of processes.”

The project has successfully completed the proof-of-concept test which consisted of the registration and issuance of warrants. A process which normally took more than a week was demonstrated to be executed within 48 hours by integrating blockchain technology. The project boasted a reduced time of over 70% due to the connection of all the systems, automatic validation of requirements and transparency.

https://www.ccn.com/spains-securities-regulator-undertakes-a-blockchain-pilot/

[cxboyminer]

Thailand Finalises its ICO Regulatory Framework

After months of uncertainty Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has finally released its regulatory framework surrounding the buying and selling of digital tokens. The new system will be in place from July 16th.

https://www.icoexaminer.com/ico-news/thailand-finalises-its-ico-regulatory-framework/

[Hoofprint]

Big Insurers Are Uniting Behind R3's Blockchain Tech

R3 has scored another win in the insurance sector, giving the startup a wide lead over other distributed ledger technology (DLT) providers in the sector.

https://www.coindesk.com/all-big-insurers-are-uniting-behind-r3s-blockchain-tech/

[Squirrel Dearing]

BIS Chief to Crypto Coders: 'Stop Trying to Create Money'

The head of the Bank of International Settlements has predicted a bad ending for cryptocurrencies, calling for an end to their production in a recent interview.
In an interview with a Basel-based media outlet on June 30, Agustín Carstens took aim at cryptocurrencies and reiterated his belief that they represent "a bubble, a Ponzi scheme and an environmental disaster," according to a transcript published by the BIS on Wednesday...Read More

[Hoofprint]

Summer Blues or Crypto Moon? Take CoinDesk's State of Blockchain Survey



Price declines, hacks, regulatory clarity – Q2 held no shortage of surprise for the crypto market.

Exchanges faced hacks and several smaller blockchains were hit with attacks resulting in millions of lost funds. Further, prominent industry critics Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and Nouriel Roubini all launched new rounds of criticism in the media, with Buffet even going so far as to call bitcoin "rat poison squared."

https://www.coindesk.com/summer-blues-or-crypto-moon-take-coindesks-state-of-blockchain-survey/

[Squirrel Dearing]

Western Union Patent Eyes Cryptocurrency for Secure Transfer System

A newly-published Western Union patent envisions a system that manages recurring transfer notifications and secure payments for a cryptocurrency network.
According to filing documents published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday, the Englewood, CO-based firm — the largest money transfer service in the world — has sought to devise a method to increase the security of electronic payments. The firm first applied for the patent in Dec. 2016...Read more

[SuperBazooka]

IBM Wins AUD $1 Billion Contract to Develop Blockchain, Tech Initiatives for Australia Govt.

Computing giant IBM has been awarded a landmark contract to develop blockchain and other digital technology initiatives for the government of Australia.

Announced on Thursday, the five-year, AUD $1 billion (~USD $740 million) contract is Australia’s latest attempt to make good on its goal to become one of the world’s “top-three digital governments” by 2025 by investing in research into blockchain technology, as well quantum computing and artificial intelligence.

“This agreement is a testament to our forty-year partnership with the Australian Government. It shows trust and belief in our ability to transform and provide world-leading capabilities, leveraging our investments locally in AI, blockchain, quantum and cloud,” said David La Rose, managing director of IBM Australia & New Zealand. “We look forward to helping the Australian Government to re-define the digital experience for the benefit of all Australians.”

IBM already had agreements in place with four federal agencies, and this new contract — which was spearheaded by the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) and runs through June 2023 — will extend the public-private partnership to the remainder of the government as well.

https://www.ccn.com/ibm-wins-aud-1-billion-contract-to-develop-blockchain-tech-initiatives-for-australia-govt/

[Squirrel Dearing]

CoinJoinXT: Using the Lightning Network to Hide Bitcoin Transactions in Plain Sight

There’s a common misconception among the general public that bitcoin is an inherently-anonymous currency. In fact, bitcoin offers users pseudonymity, and the privacy it offers is fragile at best.
Though still masked from the average user, blockchain analysts can use powerful tools to sift through blockchain data and use it to identify the owners of particular addresses. Privacy quickly fades away once a person associates their funds with a service that requires identity verification...Read more

[Ferrokeys]

The mobile version of ICONex for Android has been launched on June 4th. You can store and manage your ICX and ETH just as you do on the chrome extension wallet.

[Hoofprint]

Another Ripple Lawsuit Claims XRP Is A Security

Distributed ledger startup Ripple is facing another class-action lawsuit tied to the legal classification of the XRP cryptocurrency.

A lawsuit filed in the Superior Court of California (San Mateo County) claims that Ripple "created the XRP token and then used sales of the tokens in order to fund its operations and the development of the XRP ecosystem."

https://www.coindesk.com/third-ripple-lawsuit-claims-xrp-is-a-security/

[Hoofprint]

Swiss Stock Exchange to Tokenize Securities In New DLT Platform

Switzerland's principal stock exchange has announced it is developing a blockchain-based platform to tokenize traditional securities with further trading, settlement and custody services for these tokenized assets.

https://www.coindesk.com/swiss-stock-exchange-to-tokenize-securities-in-new-dlt-platform/

[cxboyminer]

World’s Largest Crypto Exchange Binance ‘Expects’ 2018 Profits up to $1 Billion

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance “expects” profits to reach $1 bln in 2018, CEO Changpeng Zhao told Bloomberg in an interview today, July 6.

Speaking as his platform recovers from a week of technical difficulties which saw trading temporarily suspended, Zhao revealed figures that defied the idea crypto exchanges’ success depends on market prices.

Read more: https://cointelegraph.com/news/world-s-largest-crypto-exchange-binance-expects-2018-profits-up-to-1-billion

[Hoofprint]

MakerDAO Pilots Stablecoin With TradeShift to Speed Up Payments



MakerDao, the blockchain startup behind the ERC-20 based stablecoin DAI, announced it has started a pilot program with the supply chain management startup Tradeshift to speed up the payment process for small businesses via blockchain.


https://www.coindesk.com/makerdao-pilots-stablecoin-with-tradeshift-to-speed-up-payment/

[cxboyminer]

Asian Telecoms Join Global Consortium to Build Next-Gen Cross-Border Blockchain Ecosystem

A group of ASEAN and South Asian global telecommunications carriers have joined a global consortium to jointly explore how they can work together on building a next-generation cross-carrier blockchain platform and ecosystem.

Read more: https://cryptovest.com/news/asian-telecoms-join-global-consortium-to-build-next-gen-cross-border-blockchain-ecosystem/

[klasik1980]

Chinese Exchange FCoin Accused of Crippling Ethereum Network for Cheap Publicity

A little-known Chinese crypto exchange is allegedly responsible for the unusually high Ethereum network congestion and gas fees recorded over the past few days.
FCoin, founded by Zhang Jian, formerly of Huobi, is accused of deliberately encouraging a rash of Sybil attacks so as to temporarily cripple the Ethereum blockchain and attract undeserved attention in the process.

https://www.ccn.com/chinese-exchange-fcoin-accused-of-crippling-ethereum-network-for-cheap-publicity/