French Central Bank To Pilot Central Bank Digital Currency

By RTTNews Staff Writer | Published: 7/21/2020 10:19 AM ET

The French Central Bank is set to pilot the integration of central bank digital currency (CBDC) for interbank settlements after it selected eight candidates to participate in the experiment.

The selected candidates are Societe Generale, HSBC, Iznes, ProsperUS, Euroclear and Accenture as well as small time crypto-startups such as Seba Bank and LiquidShare.

Since the beginning of 2020, Banque de France had begun the process of experimenting with CDBC. It now aims to explore with partners the potential contributions of new technologies to improve the functioning of financial markets and more particularly interbank settlements.

To initiate the project, Banque de France successfully tested in mid-May the use of a blockchain developed by its teams to experiment with the use of a CDBC to settle a digital financial securities issue by Société Générale Forge.

Further experiments will now be carried out by the Banque de France in cooperation with the selected eight participants to test the use of a digital central bank euro in interbank settlements.

The experiments will focus on exploring new methods of exchanging financial instruments (excluding crypto-assets) for central bank money. It will also test the regulation in digital central bank money in order to improve the conditions of execution of cross-border payments and revisit the methods of making central bank money available.

The strong response to the call for applications for the experiments from finance and technology companies shows the interest in exploring the potential contributions of a digital euro issued by the central bank to improve the functioning of the financial markets, in particular interbank settlements.

The French central bank will start working with each of the eight firms over the next couple of days in order to carry out the experiments over the coming months. The digital euro is not expected for general consumer purposes, but only for interbank transactions.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

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Article written by an RTT News Staff Writer, and posted on the RTT News.com website.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Elon Musk Is Unwittingly Pumping His Favorite Cryptocurrency Again

Elon Musk Sees Dogecoin Engulfing the Global Financial System like A Sandstorm

By Bernice Nyambura – July 18, 2020

SpaceX and Tesla CEO is adamant to promote Dogecoin as his favorite cryptocurrency over Bitcoin. As one of the prominent public figures whose account was hacked during the twitter-bitcoin scam, Elon musk now thinks that Dogecoin will soon sweep over the global financial system like a sandstorm.

Within minutes of his tweet, Dogecoin’s price shot up by 8%, going up to 14% at the time of this writing. Last week, Dogecoin enjoyed a massive 150% spike after a TikTok user endorsed other users, saying that buying low could make a lot of people millionaires when the coin hits $1.

Elon Musk Only Sells Dogecoin

Loved for his high interaction with his Twitter followers, the crypto-verse often takes the opportunity to get him talking about Bitcoin and altcoins. Being one of the many public figures whose accounts got hacked during the twitter scam, Musk responded on a lighter note to one of his followers asking about his promised “Bitcoin giveaway” with:

“I only sell Dogecoin.”

However, his response doesn’t mean that he is totally against Bitcoin, evident as is from his earlier tweet in May, in which he said that he owns 0.25 BTC. Musk was on the frontline to advocate for more Bitcoin awareness when Harry Potter’s author J.K Rowling asked about how Bitcoin works, shortly after the third halving event.

Bitcoin vs Dogecoin

Musk’s advocacy for Dogecoin started in 2018, when he recruited Dogecoin’s creator, Jackson Palmer, to help him put a stop to multiple crypto spambots, some of which were impersonating him. In response, Palmer told him to send him a direct message, to get the script to fight annoying spammers.

In a 2019 April’s fool joke obviously aimed at advertising the coin, Dogecoin made Elon musk its CEO after conducting a twitter poll, that Elon won by 54% against prominent personalities, including Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin and Metal Payments’ CEO Marshall Hayner.

Again in March this year, Elon Musk made crypto headlines by saying that Dogecoin is the best cryptocurrency, in two separate tweets that reference an inside joke about Dogecoin’s origin.

Compared to the 21 million total Bitcoin supply, Dogecoin has over a 100 billion supply which according to its creators will ensure it will always have a low price and lower transaction fees than Bitcoin.

Currently, Dogecoin has a market cap of approximately $429 million, with its highly vibrant community believing it is a worthy investment and likely to hit $1 price in 2020.

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DISCLAIMER

The views expressed in the article are wholly those of the author and do not represent those of, nor should they be attributed to, ZyCrypto. This article is not meant to give financial advice. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the various cryptocurrencies available.

The original article written by Bernice Nyambura and posted on ZyCrypto.com.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

ZCash (ZEC) is Overtaking Monero as the Go-To Privacy Coin – Weiss

John P. Njui   •   BITCOIN (BTC) NEWS   •   May 10, 2020

Quick take:

• According to Weiss Ratings, Monero (XMR) is losing its appeal as the choice privacy coin.
• Users who value privacy are leaning more towards ZCash (ZEC).
• ZCash recently went through the Heartwood upgrade that enables more third-party integrations and better privacy.
• ZCash (ZEC) also has a halving event in November of this year.

The team at Weiss ratings have concluded that Monero (XMR) is losing its appeal as the choice coin for privacy-centric crypto users. The same users now prefer ZCash (ZEC) due to the addition of new features through the recent Heartwood upgrade. The team at Weiss Ratings elaborated on the shift toward ZEC via a tweet that stated the following.

#Zcash has successfully hard forked in the planned network update “Heartwood.” Now, miners can receive transactions directly to their private address. Privacy coins are very important for the space, and Zcash is overtaking #Monero as the go-to privacy coin. #XMR #ZEC

ZCash’s Heartwood Network Upgrade

The mentioned heartwood upgrade was activated at block 903,000 of the ZCash network on the 16th of July at approximately 11a m UTC. This upgrade enables more third-party integrations and better privacy through shielded coinbase. Furthermore, the upgrades were as a result of the two ZCash improvement proposals of ZIP-221 and ZIP-213.

Flyclient, specified through ZIP 221, enables efficient proofs of Proof-of-Work for light clients. In addition to enabling improved light-client wallets, this improves many cross-chain protocols. This ZIP specifies modifications to be made to the Zcash block header format to include Merkle Mountain Range (MMR) commitments.

Shielded Coinbase – ZIP 213 defines modifications to the Zcash consensus rules that enable coinbase funds to be mined to shielded Sapling addresses. It does not disable the use of transparent addresses in coinbase transactions.

ZCash Halving in November 2020

Also worth mentioning is the fact that ZCash (ZEC) has a halving event later this year in mid-November. The halving will happen at block 1,046,400 which is estimated to occur on the 16th of November. With the ZCash halving, mining rewards will be reduced from the current 12.5 ZEC to 6.25 ZEC.

The event exactly four months away and ZCash could have adequate bullish momentum to retest the $75 resistance zone that was last visited in mid-February this year. Other zones of considerable resistance for ZCash on its way up include $64, $66, $69 and $73.

(Click image for larger view)

In the meantime, the daily ZEC/USDT chart indicates that ZCash could be due for a pullback. This can be seen through a reduction in trade volume; the MACD turning bearish; and a high daily MFI of 74.

As with all analyses of ZCash, traders and investors are advised to use adequate stop losses. Additionally, having an eye out for sudden Bitcoin movements is highly recommended when trading altcoins.

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to give financial advice. Any additional opinion herein is purely the author’s and does not represent the opinion of EWN or any of its other writers. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the numerous cryptocurrencies available. Thank you.

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Original article posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site, by John P. Njui.

Article re-posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

More Darknet Entities Are Making Use Of Bitcoin Mixers, Study Finds

By Vincent Mislos – July 15, 2020

Everyone in the world can use Bitcoin, which means it is available for legitimate purposes and to those with malicious and criminal intent. The study by analytics firm Crystal Blockchain has revealed the growing use of Bitcoin in the darknet, made increasingly possible through the use of mixers.

According to the report, darknet entities actually sent a lesser amount of Bitcoins between Q1 2019 and Q2 2020, from 64k BTC to 50k BTC this year. However, this 50K BTC is of higher value when considering Bitcoin’s price in USD, which means darknet users have transacted $411 million worth of BTC in Q1 2020 vs. $384 million worth of BTC in Q1 2019.

Because of the requirements imposed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), darknet users are increasingly not using exchanges with KYC requirements. FATF actually imposed its cryptocurrency regulations, especially the “travel rule” to its member countries and supervised regions. The countries’ governments are the ones who imposed the FATF regulations on exchanges within their jurisdiction. The ‘travel rule’ would require the exchanges to disclose the names and personal details of anyone who transacted above a certain amount (usually above $1,000) so naturally, darknet and criminal entities will not use this route.

However, Crystal Blockchain noted that in USD terms, the value that darknet entities received via exchanges with verification requirements have increased from $36 million in Q1 2019 to $73 million in Q1 2020.

The analytics firm also said darknet entities might also be using other, more private cryptocurrencies for transaction purposes.

Since the blockchain made it possible to identify the route of transactions, Crystal Blockchain also found out that darknet users are increasingly sending Bitcoins to one another. This activity grew by 10% vs last year. The analytics firm thought this indicates cooperation between the criminals or perhaps the criminals are trying to hide the Bitcoin within the darknet. This will avoid the risk of exposing their activities and entities.

Notable in Crystal Blockchain’s report is the darknet’s increasing use of mixers. In Q1 2019, darknet entities sent 790 BTC to mixers. In Q2, they sent 7,946 BTC. The number of Bitcoins these entities received via mixers has also increased, 288 BTC in Q1 2020 from just 106 BTC in Q1 2019.

“From this analysis, it seems that exchanges with verification requirements are becoming less popular as a way to withdraw bitcoin from darknet entities, while mixers are becoming more popular for withdrawing from darknet entities,” Crystal Blockchain noted.

Mixers are used by some individuals to mix their coins with other users, in order to preserve their privacy. But because exchanges can easily mark Bitcoins coming from mixers, some of them would refuse these “marked Bitcoins” from being deposited to their wallets. Paxos Global discouraged the use of mixers while Binance flags coins coming from mixing services. Paxos reaffirmed that they do not necessarily deny service to users who used mixers, but it is within their responsibility to ensure that their customers are not engaged in illegal activities.

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DISCLAIMER

The views expressed in the article are wholly those of the author and do not represent those of, nor should they be attributed to, ZyCrypto. This article is not meant to give financial advice. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the various cryptocurrencies available.

The original article written by Vincent Mislos and posted on ZyCrypto.com.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Crypto Traders See ChainLink (LINK) Hitting $10 Before BTC Hits $10k

John P. Njui   •   CHAINLINK (LINK) NEWS   •   July 14, 2020

Quick take:

• ChainLink (LINK) recently hit an all-time high of $8.50 on the 13th of July.
• LINK is now a top 10 coin on Coinmarketcap.
• In a Twitter poll, Crypto traders are confident LINK will hit $10 before Bitcoin retests $10,000.

Since mid-June, ChainLink (LINK) has more than doubled in value from around $3.65 to the new all-time high of $8.50 on the 13th of July. At the time of writing this, LINK is hovering around $7.50.

The rise of LINK in the crypto markets has been attributed to two factors. To begin with, ChainLink (LINK) has proven to be immune to the price movements of Bitcoin. Secondly, the LINK network continues to grow at an impressive rate. The team at Cane Island had found that the user growth rate on ChainLink has seen an increment of approximately 17% per month.

LINK Becomes a Top 10 Coin on Coinmarketcap

The incredible run of LINK in the crypto markets has resulted in the digital asset edging out several ‘heavyweights’ on Coinmarketcap. On its rise to the top 10, LINK has zoomed past the prominent digital assets of Stellar (XLM), Tezos (XTZ), EOS and Crypto.com Coin (CRO).

If the current bullish momentum of ChainLink is maintained, LINK could also edge out Binance Coin (BNB), Litecoin (LTC) and Cardano (ADA) in the near future.

(Click image for larger view)

ChainLink (LINK) Will Hit $10 Before Bitcoin Retests $10,000

It is with this brief background surrounding the crypto market activity of ChainLink, that crypto traders are optimistic that LINK will hit $10 before Bitcoin retests $10,000. Their confidence in LINK outperforming BTC was captured in a poll by Timothy Peterson: an Investment Manager at Cane Island Alternative Advisors and a believer that LINK will outperform Bitcoin.

With three hours till the end of the poll, 66% of respondents believe that LINK will most likely break its all-time high of $8.50 and hit $10 before Bitcoin revisits $10,000. A quick glance at the daily LINK/USDT chart reveals that there is plenty of bullishness present around LINK.

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Original article posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site, by John P. Njui.

Article re-posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

BitTorrent Adds Binance's Stablecoin BUSD As Payment Option

By RTTNews Staff Writer | Published: 7/13/2020 10:23 AM ET

U.S.-based torrent client BitTorrent, Inc. has teamed up with major crypto exchange Binance to add its US dollar-backed stablecoin Binance USD (BUSD) as a payment option to purchase BitTorrent and µTorrent Classic Pro, Pro+VPN or Ad-Free. BUSD is a NYDFS regulated stablecoin.

Binance's native token BNB was already an option for payment. However, it is replacing the BNB token on Ethereum blockchain (ERC-20) with a faster and more liquid BNB token on Binance Chain (BEP2) as the payment option.

BUSD joins as the sixth cryptocurrency accepted by BitTorrent after TRX, BTC, BTT, OKB and BNB with the help of CoinPayments.net, a leading integrated payment gateway provider for cryptocurrencies. The replacement of BNB also follows the recently announced adoption of Binance Chain by CoinPayments.net.

The addition of the stablecoin as a payment option provides the speed of cryptocurrency with the stability of the U.S. dollar. This enables consumers to spend the volatility-free stablecoins at businesses around the world and also eliminates costs and delays of bank transfers or wires.

Stablecoin transactions are verified by a decentralized network and recorded on an immutable public ledger, providing security, efficiency and transparency of blockchain payments, while eliminating traditional payment fraud associated with credit cards.

Following the addition of BUSD and BNB (BEP2), BitTorrent has announced a discount of 25 percent for BitTorrent Classic Pro on all crypto-based purchases for a limited time.

BUSD users may purchase one-year subscriptions of BitTorrent or µTorrent Classic products, including Pro, Ad-Free, and Pro+VPN for Windows. Pro includes advanced malware protection, no ads, an HD media player, file conversion, and premium customer support.

By using BUSD or the other supported cryptocurrencies, millions of BitTorrent customers can unlock powerful features such as advanced malware protection for its popular desktop torrent clients.

San Francisco-based BitTorrent is the company behind the largest decentralized P2P communications protocol for distributing data and large files over the Internet. With over 100 million active users each month,the protocol is responsible for moving a significant percentage of the world's Internet traffic each day.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

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Article written by an RTT News Staff Writer, and posted on the RTT News.com website.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe