CoinMarketCap now shows cryptocurrency prices in BCH, XRP, and LTC (TheNextWeb.com)
Popular price tracker CoinMarketCap has added the option to show cryptocurrency prices in three additional digital currencies: Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), and Ripple (XRP). This means that users will now have the option to view the value of all other coins based on the rate of one of these three currencies. The feature will come in handy to users who primarily focus on trading in the same currency – especially when it comes to keeping track of profits and losses.
Saudi Arabia Warns Against Initial Coin Offerings in Cryptocurrency Market (RT.com)
Riyadh has cautioned the public against investing in initial coin offerings (ICOs) due to the high risk, potential losses of capital and alleged fraud in the cryptocurrency market. According to the Capital Market Authority, crypto investing and speculative trading are potentially risky due to the high volatility of virtual currencies, the insular nature of their valuation and the lack of proper regulation in the Kingdom. The caution comes as the number of websites and advertisements for investment in digital currencies, as well as marketing campaigns on social media targeting Saudi citizens, has significantly increased in recent times.
Pixabay/Public Domain
Regulate Bitcoin? ‘Not The ECB’s Responsibility,’ Says Mario Draghi (CoinDesk.com)
Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, has said it’s not his institution’s job to regulate cryptocurrencies. As part of the ECB’s #AskDraghi video series, the former Italian central banker said he has seen many users on Twitter ask if the ECB would regulate or even ban bitcoin. In response, he said: “It’s not the ECB’s responsibility to do that.” Draghi also discussed whether he would recommend purchasing bitcoin in response to a question from a college student.
Ethereum may Introduce its own Identity Standards Rather Soon (NewsBTC.com)
A lot of things are happening behind the scenes of Ethereum. While the scaling issues are being sorted, there is another project worth keeping an eye on. Introducing two new identity standards on top of this ecosystem will be a big challenge. Even though ERC20 is a standard associated with digital data, it seems separate identity standards will be introduced. Known as ERC725 and ERC735, these proposals are well worth keeping an eye on. Blockchain technology is about so much more than financial transactions. Recording transaction data has become second nature when distributed ledgers are the talking point.
Telegram Zero-Day Vulnerability Used in Cryptocurrency Mining Attacks (MyBroadband.co.za)
Hackers have been able to exploit a vulnerability in the Telegram messaging app’s desktop client to earn units of cryptocurrencies such as Monero and ZCash, according to Kaspersky Lab. Telegram is one of the most popular messaging hubs used by members of the cryptocurrency community. Kaspersky said on its website that users were tricked into downloading malicious software onto their computers that used their processing power to mine currency, or serve as a backdoor for attackers to remotely control a machine. While analyzing the servers of malicious actors, Kaspersky researchers also found archives containing a cache of Telegram data that had been stolen from victims.
Litecoin is Sliding After its First Competing Fork is Announced (Markets.BusinessInsider.com)
Litecoin is down 2.2% Tuesday morning — alongside most other major coins — after the cryptocurrency’s first hard fork, Litecoin Cash, was announced by an unaffiliated organization. Litecoin holders will receive 10 tokens of litecoin cash for every one litecoin they own, the newly minted Litecoin Cash foundation said Monday. The goal of the new currency is to increase the “block speed” at which the network can process transactions. The foundation says litecoin cash has a goal block time of 2.5 minutes — faster than litecoin. Like bitcoin and most other major cryptocurrencies, but unlike the existing Litecoin network, litecoin cash will use the more energy intensive, but potentially more secure, proof-of-work mining method.
NVIDIA and AMD Have a Cryptocurrency Mining Conundrum on Their Hands (Madison.com)
Graphics card developers’ sales are surging: Of course, bitcoin is itself a special case. Whereas graphics cards were used to mine bitcoin tokens in the earlier days of its existence, special ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) chips are required to mine bitcoin today. That’s not the case for most of the other minable cryptocurrencies, with high-powered graphics cards more than doing the trick. And it’s a big reason graphics-card developers NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD), more commonly known as AMD, have seen their sales and share prices skyrocket.
UAE Exchange Joins Forces with Ripple for Cross-Border Payments (Cryptovest.com)
One of the largest remittance companies has just taken a bold step towards embracing blockchain technology through a partnership with the organization behind the XRP token. UAE Exchange, a foreign exchange and remittance provider that operates in 30 countries, has joined Ripple’s network, RippleNet, with the aim of easing cross-border payments across its own infrastructure. “Incorporating Ripple’s blockchain technology into our payments systems will bring customers an enhanced, new payments experience. The early adoption of this game-changing technology allows us to offer a competitive service, as it will have an impact on the speed and cost of cross-border transactions,” said Promoth Manghat, CEO of UAE Exchange.
Microsoft exploring use of blockchain technology, pointing to the likes of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin (FXStreet)
It is reported that tech giant Microsoft are exploring the use of blockchains, touting names such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, for their respective technologies. The reason this is of interest to the company, is they see value and efficiencies in the use of the blockchain technology for their decentralized IDs (DIDs) through the Microsoft Authenticator app. They highlight that with the current model, people do not have any form of control over their identity, which is exposed to all sorts of potential issues; theft, data breaches etc. Microsoft believe that with the use of Blockchain, people can store, control and access their identity in an encrypted digital hub.
Bitcoin CRACKDOWN: South Korean Crypto Boss Says Shutting Down Bitcoin is a BAD Idea (Express.co.uk)
BITCOIN and other cryptocurrencies are facing a crackdown in South Korea but one crypto boss has said regulators must not do a blanket ban on the digital currencies. South Korea is home to one of the largest bitcoin exchanges, being the third biggest market in the world for bitcoin trading. Demand and prices have reached a huge premium of 40 percent in South Korea. But Government officials have been signalling plans to crack down on the crypto trading. CIO of one of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency funds #HASHED has warned that a straight ban on all cryptocurrencies is a bad idea.
