20% of Bitcoin’s daily trading volume generated by a single project

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The VeriBlock blockchain

According to the recent research published by Forbes Crypto, about 20% of all Bitcoin transactions are generated by a project called VeriBlock. It is developed on top of Bitcoin blockchain with the aim to provide a more secure alternative to existing cryptocurrency networks. VeriBlock is based on proof-of-proof (PoP) concept that functions as a supplemental consensus mechanism for blockchains integrated with VeriBlock. Basically, it allows minor altcoin projects to avoid security issues related to low hash rate and relatively low reward for mining. Low hash rate may lead double spend…

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Two Thirds of Korean Crypto Exchanges Fail Government Security Check

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crypto fail

Only a third of cryptocurrency exchanges inspected got a full pass in a recent government security audit. The Ministry of Science and ICT, the Korea Internet & Security Agency and the Ministry of Economy and Finance inspected a total of 21 crypto exchanges from September to December 2018, examining 85 different security aspects. Notably, only 7 of them – Upbit, Bithumb, Gopax, Korbit, Coinone, Hanbitco, and Huobi Korea – cleared all the tests, CoinDesk Korea reported Thursday. The remaining 14 exchanges are “vulnerable to hacking attacks at all times because…

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Coinbase suspended Ethereum Classic (ETC) trading after a successful 51% attack

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Ethereum Classic attack

The cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase suspended the trading of Ethereum Classic (ETC) after double-spend attacks worth $1.1 Million. The cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has suspended the trading of Ethereum Classic (ETC) after double-spend attacks that consist in spending digital coins twice. Ethereum Classic (ETC) is the original unforked Ethereum blockchain, the attacks resulted in the loss of $1.1 million worth of the digital currency. 51% attack refers to an attack on a blockchain by a group of miners that controls over 50% of the network’s mining hashrate. “On 1/5/2019, Coinbase detected a…

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McKinsey Finds Little Evidence of Practical Blockchain Use Cases

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McKinsey & Company Blockchain

Major financial consulting company McKinsey & Company believes that there is little evidence of practical use for blockchain, according to an official post published on Jan. 4. McKinsey was founded in 1926 and has a reported revenue for 2018 over over $10 billion, with over 27,000 employees globally. The article, written by three McKinsey partners, notes that the “evidence for a practical scalable use for blockchain is thin on the ground,” explaining: “Blockchain has yet to become the game-changer some expected […] given the amount of money and time spent,…

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Ethereum Extends Impressive Run, up 35% in 1 Week

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Ethereum chart

In the past week, Ethereum, the second most valuable cryptocurrency in the global market, has experienced a strong upward movement, recording an additional three percent increase in value on the day. Within seven days, the Ethereum price has increased from $117 to $159, by over 35 percent against the U.S. dollar, making it one of the best performing crypto assets throughout the past two months. Can the Constantinople Fork Effect Continue to Fuel Ethereum? Analysts have attributed the positive price movement of Ethereum to its upcoming Constantinople hard fork. The…

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The First Bitcoin Block Was Mined 10 Years Ago Today

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Bitcoin 10 years

Bitcoin’s Genesis block, which was mined on January 3, 2009, at 18:15:05 UTC, is now 10 years old. The Bitcoin Network Turns 10 The marking of the 10th anniversary of Bitcoin’s block 0 is, however, not to be confused with the Bitcoin whitepaper’s 10th birthday which was commemorated last year on October 31 in remembrance of the day the whitepaper titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” was released. As CCN reported earlier, Seychelles-based bitcoin exchange, BitMEX, has marked the day by placing an ad on the front page of…

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Bitcoin Above $4,000 Again as Top Cryptocurrencies See Gains Across the Board

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Market visualization from Coin360

All of the top 20 cryptocurrencies are seeing moderate gains, with Bitcoin’s (BTC) price going above $4,000 again, according to CoinMarketCap data. At press time, Bitcoin is up nearly four percent on the day, trading at $4,050. Looking at its weekly chart, the current price is lower than the Friday’s high of almost $4,200; but the cryptocurrency is still trading significantly up from $3,294 — the point at which it started this week. Ripple (XRP) — the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization — has gained over five percent on…

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German Railway Operator Examines Deploying Blockchain to Tokenize Its Ecosystem

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Unibright Deutsche Bahn Ecosystem Tokenization via Blockchain

German railway operator Deutsche Bahn AG (DB) has partnered with blockchain integration platform Unibright to examine the possibility of tokenizing its ecosystem. A press release revealed the partnership on Tuesday, Dec. 18. DB appointed Unibright to make preparations for an internal workshop, dedicated to the possible tokenization of the company’s assets. The railway giant, which is considered to be the largest in Europe, wants to find out whether decentralized solutions can cut operational costs and help DB interact with other members of the travel industry. Unibright developed a proof-of-concept (PoC)…

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Coinbase Moves $5 Billion

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Coinbase Moves $5 Billion

Major cryptocurrency exchange and wallet Coinbase recently made what it claims is the largest transfer of crypto on record, a company blog post reports Dec. 19. According to the post, 5 percent of all Bitcoin (BTC), 8 percent of all Ethereum (ETH), and 25 percent of all Litecoin (LTC), along with “many other assets” were moved to new cold storage infrastructure in what the firm “believe[s] is the largest crypto migration on record.” Coinbase reports that last week, the firm “completed an on-blockchain migration of approximately $5 Billion (as valued…

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Opera For Android Now Has A Cryptocurrency Wallet

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Opera blockchain browser

Opera had confirmed earlier this year that it would build a cryptocurrency wallet inside its Android browser. The company has followed through on that promise and confirmed today that the latest version of its browser does indeed come with a cryptocurrency wallet. The announcement was made at a blockchain event in London today. The latest version of Opera for Android comes with a built-in crypto wallet. It will enable users to make transactions online and also securely store their digital tokens within the browser itself. The Opera browser’s cryptocurrency wallet…

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IBM Research and Hello Tractor Pilot Digital Wallet for Agriculture Based on AI and Blockchain

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Hello Tractor

Scientists from IBM Research and start-up Hello Tractor are piloting an agriculture digital wallet and decision-making tool which provides demand and supply visibility for farmers, tractor fleet providers and banks to give farmers the equipment and technology they need to build a sustainable farm. The technology was unveiled at TechCrunch Startup Battlefield Africa 2018. In Sub Sahara Africa more than 60% of farms are powered by humans, with less than 20% provided by engines, a model which is not sustainable as food demand increases due population growth, which is averaging…

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UNICEF Invests in Blockchain Technology for Its Upcoming Humanitarian Projects

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Unicef Blockchain

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has announced investing in six blockchain startups. According to UNICEF, the new investments are part of the strategy the agency intends to implement in integrating blockchain in its humanitarian work line. The humanitarian agency already received more than 100 applications from 50 different countries, in response to the shout out it released in Jan. 2018 for young technology startups, while it already has 20 technology firms in its innovation fund, that range from science, machine learning, and virtual reality, to drones. Today,…

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Facebook Is Hiring Blockchain Engineers

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facebook blockchain

It appears as though the social media giant Facebook has been quietly hiring blockchain engineers currently. There are five different job listings in the Facebook Careers section. The listings are for the following jobs: data scientist, data engineer, software engineer, and product marketing lead. It is currently unclear as to what exactly Facebook might be doing with these new positions, although Mark Zuckerberg himself (the founder of Facebook) hinted that he might be developing his own cryptocurrency. Although he did not specifically say that this was in the company’s plans,…

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Swiss Post and Swisscom launch a 100% Swiss infrastructure for blockchain applications

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Swiss Post and Swisscom

Private Blockchain-based ProjectWhile the Swiss Post is Switzerland’s national postal service, Swisscom is one of the country’s largest state-owned telecom service providers. The two will ally to streamline their service offering and foster the blockchain ecosystem in the country. The joint venture is the first “private blockchain” platform in the country to be operated by two entities. The platform differs from other private blockchains in that the data will strictly remain within the borders of Switzerland. Further, the press release noted that the security of the platform would be on…

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BitGo Now Supports Universal Protocol Alliance Stablecoins

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BitGo platform

BitGo, a leading blockchain security and cryptocurrency custodian based in California, has formed a strategic alliance with the Universal Protocol Alliance. The partnership will enable BitGo to offer support for the latter’s cryptoassets, including its U.S. dollar (UPUSD) and euro-pegged (UPEUR) stablecoins, according to a Business Wire press release on December 6, 2018. BitGo Supports Universal TokensPer sources close to the matter, BitGo, a highly-reputed cryptocurrency custodian and institutional cryptocurrency financial services company is now offering support for all tokens from the stables of the Universal Protocol Alliance (UP). In…

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