Month: February 2020

Polkadot Targets Onboarding Ethereum Ecosystem with Chainlink Oracles

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Polkadot is readying itself for its expected network launch after it announced its integration with Chainlink oracles on February 25. The progress made with the integrations is an indication of a systematic approach that will allow porting with Ethereum infrastructure. Polkadot Announces Integrations of Chainlink Oracles The integration of Chainlink oracles is vital in the creation of Polkadot’s decentralized finance and other smart contracts. Chainlink has finalized the preliminary integration on Kusama, which is a Polkadot canary network synonymous with a testnet. Following the move, Polkadot developers will now be…

The Libra Association Gets a New Member in Shopify

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The Libra Association has signed up Canadian e-commerce platform Shopify as its newest member as the troubled crypto project looks to get back on track. Libra has lost several founding members in recent months for a variety of reasons, the most prominent of which was the massive amount of scrutiny leveled at the project. The association was originally made up of 27 founding members; however, several early backers such as Visa (NYSE:V), PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL), and Mastercard (NYSE:MA) all jumped ship before the founding charter was signed, leaving just 21 members.…

Telegram Developers Jump to TON’s Defense in SEC Case

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A group of Telegram Open Network (TON) developers, calling themselves “The TON Community Foundation,” have submitted a court document criticizing the SEC’s prosecution of the project. The former messaging app turned blockchain developer has been embroiled in a long-running suit with the United States Securities and Exchanges Commission, which alleges that US$1.7 billion raised from the sale of ‘Gram’ tokens between January and March 2018 should have been registered with the authority because the tokens constitute a security. Telegram has consistently denied the accusations and has recently been backed up…

CME Sees Second-Best Month for Bitcoin Futures Trading

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January was the second-best month for CME’s Bitcoin futures trading since its 2017 launch, averaging 10,800 contracts, 69% greater than the average daily volume in 2019. Last month also saw new options on Bitcoin futures picking up pace. Since launch, 466 options contracts, or 2,300 equivalent Bitcoin, have traded—nearly 40% as blocks, showing signs of institutional interest, CME said. It also registered a record monthly average of 56 large open interest holders (entities that hold 25+ contracts). The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) launched its Bitcoin futures options last month, with…

Libra Vice Chair Unconcerned By High Profile Departures

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Dante Disparte, Vice-Chair of the Libra Association, said that he was unconcerned by recent high-profile departures from the project just two weeks after Vodafone became the latest name to ditch the proposed digital coin. Speaking to CoinDesk at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, Disparte said that the Libra project was picking up pace despite huge regulatory resistance to the project and the departure of several of the association’s initial supporters, namely Mastercard, Visa, and Vodafone. He also said that the door remains open for those firms to…

Craig Wright Accused of Abusing Attorney-Client Privilege in Trial

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Craig Wright, the self-professed creator of Bitcoin (BTC), has been accused of abusing attorney-client privilege in order to block documents from being used as evidence in the ongoing trial against him. Australian computer scientist and businessman Craig Wright is being sued by the family of his deceased business partner Dave Kleiman for US$10 billion in Bitcoin, said to be encrypted in a “Tulip Trust.” In a court document filed on Sunday in Southern District Court of Florida, the legal team representing Ira Kleiman, brother of the deceased, challenged Wright’s “illusory” assertion…

Mastercard CEO Reveals Why His Firm Quit Libra Over Several Red Flags

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Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga says his company left The Libra Association after his attitude towards the project deteriorated over proposals to link the coin with its own built-in wallet, Calibra, as well as the lack of a clear business model. In an interview with the Financial Times, the payment services chief, who has headed up Mastercard since 2009, described the various red flags that led to his decision to pull the company from the project. “It went from this altruistic idea into their own wallet. I’m like: ‘this doesn’t sound…

Crypto Capital Co-Founder Rejects Plea Deal in Shadow Bank Case

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Crypto Capital co-founder Reginald Fowler has rejected a plea deal with the US government in an ongoing case in which he is accused of operating a “shadow bank” for several crypto exchanges. Fowler was indicted in April 2019, along with Israeli national Ravid Yosef, for allegedly running a shadow bank for several cryptocurrency firms, including Bitfinex and Tether, which are currently embroiled in a separate case in which they are accused of creating “the largest bubble in human history.” According to a letter submitted by the prosecution on January 31, the…