Blockchain News

Tencent Will Build Virtual Bank After Getting A New License

Published

1 month ago

November 9, 2019

Tencent will build a new blockchain-based virtual bank after the Chinese internet giant got its new license approval by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission. In our cryptocurrency news today, we are reading more about this great news.

Speaking at the world blockchain summit in Wuzhen, China back on Friday, the blockchain chief of Tencent Yige Cai stated that the company’s virtual bank received the greet light form the Securities and Exchange Commission in Hong Kong. The company will also form a team that will support the blockchain-based banking platform according to the Chinese media site Sina Finance.

“Hong Kong’s new regulations and supervision on digital assets transactions validates the importance of blockchain technology and digital assets, which is good news for the whole industry,” explained Cai during his speech at the summit.

The SFC granted virtual bank licenses to 12 entities so far and on the list is Infinium Limited which is a joint venture between Tencent, Commerce Bank of China (ICBC) and Industrial, but also two more institutional investors from Hong Kong. Tencent renamed the Infinium to Fusion Bank back in July after they got one license in May.

Cai didn’t provide any further details about the virtual bank but he stressed that Tencent will build further projects and will also work on the already existing ones, including the offering of a supply chain financing for the global fast-food chain restaurant McDonald’s, according to the reports.

According to another report, Cai is now leading the consortium blockchain group away from the three blockchain development groups in Tencent. The other two groups are responsible for blockchain infrastructure and its blockchain-based cloud services, respectively. Other companies include Alibaba’s fintech arm Ant Financial and SC Digital Solutions Limited which have a 65 percent stake that is owned by Standard and Chartered Bank. The SFC issues more details about their new licensing system that will regulate virtual asset transactions on Wednesday, by creating a much similar framework to the one that is currently overseeing the security brokers in the country.

China is going hard into blockchain technology as we saw previously when president Xi Jinping stated that the country should invest more and embrace it which was one of the catalysts for the spike in prices on the market.

DC Forecasts is a leader in many crypto news categories, striving for the highest journalistic standards and abiding by a strict set of editorial policies. If you are interested to offer your expertise or contribute to our news website, feel free to contact us at editor@dcforecasts.com

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Stefan

Stefan is a full-time member and has been a Bitcoin Specialist for over 6 years. Providing daily news and updates for DC Forecasts.

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Bitcoin Scams

Coinjer Scam Emerges On The Markets: Tips To Protect Yourself

Published

8 hours ago

December 10, 2019

Stefan

The Coinjer scam is one of the newest scams that happened in crypto-related social media. The con mainly works from Telegram channels and cons people into “investing” Bitcoin in order to earn more and we are reading more about it in today’s crypto news.The Coinjer scam is a relatively speaking a small attempt to siphon away Bitcoin (BTC). The con claims that it will give BTC reward but does not pay it, a Reddit thread explains on the subject.The messages circulating on Telegram proclaim that the user won 0.25 Bitcoin (BTC), just they have to claim the prize. The Coinjer site then asks the “happy winner” to register on the site. But an actual withdrawal of 0.25 Bitcoin (BTC) is not permitted and the user must supply some more Bitcoin (BTC) in order to reach the threshold of 0.3 Bitcoin (BTC). Even then Coinjer will not pay its user. Now the con asks for even more verification including a KYC screening, that costs 0.1 Bitcoin (BTC), as noted by another Reddit user. In this way, Coinjer beside the Bitcoin (BTC) is probably stealing electronic and real-world identities too.It looks like the con expanded from the Anglosphere social media to include Asian users. The name Coinjer is a parodical version of CoinJar, a legitimate crypto-payment service. What is now called “the most elaborate crypto scam” resemble a lot to old-fashioned mail-order scams, that had requirements of payment to give the promised prize. And in the end, the scams would not pay the said prize.Usually, scams are more present during growth times, and their presence falls in the duration of bear markets. For now, it seems that the so-called Ethereum giveaway scams have shrunk from Twitter. Pyramid-like scams reappear typically trying to contact investors directly appealing their naivety.This year, PlusToken scam was operating in China for months, stealing away more than $3 billion in Bitcoin (BTC). The HEX scam is also growing its base, trying to take Ethereum (ETH) and possibly Bitcoin (BTC). Telegram in recent times is one of the nest for scam activity, including the spreading of false ICO deposit addresses, tainted wallets, and impersonating ICO leaders. The Coinjer scam is not trying to “sell” another cryptocurrency but directly asks for Bitcoin (BTC).

Blockchain News

Saga Blockchain Firm Launches Libra-Like SGA Global Coin

Published

9 hours ago

December 10, 2019

Stefan

The London-based SAGA blockchain firm announced the launch of the new SAGA token (SGA) which will be very similar to Facebook’s Libra. The digital unit shows that the global currency is compliant with the regulators’ requirements as we find out more in today’s blockchain news.The cryptocurrency is backed by the basket of fiat currency to avoid the high volatility and it acts as a stablecoin that resembles Libra- Facebook’s digital currency that is still under development. Interestingly enough, the advisory board has members such as Myron Scholes who is the Nobel-prize winner, the former Governor of the Bank of Israel and current chairman of JPMorgan Chase Jacob Frenkel as well as Dan Galai who is the pioneer of the VIX volatility index. The blockchain firm was founded by Ido Sadeh Man and is not led by him as well. He explained in an interview:

‘’Unlike other players, we don’t want to be the issuer and the payments layer and the custodian. We’re focusing on the monetary part of it, on the issuance of a sound currency for global use, and we will increasingly liaise with partnerships in the realms of custodianship and of payments.’’

Facebook offers the same idea but it faced a lot of backlash from governments and regulators around the world. However, the SAGA blockchain firm does not want to create a whole new asset basked but it is pegged its token to bank deposits in the same fiat currency group that form the so-called special drawing rights which are an instrument created by the international monetary fund. Another major difference is that Saga will not make a profit from the token as it acts only as an issuer. It does not create its own wallets such as Facebook and Calibra. The users will be able to purchase the SGA on Saga’s site through the Liquid exchange.Sadeh Man explained that the token will act as a complementary currency for cross-border payments so the users could even use it to pay on Amazon in the case fiat money becomes too volatile. Saga explained that they will collaborate with the regulators and the banks since they consider the token as a bridge between fiat and digital currencies. Man commented:

‘’Currencies have not kept up with the pace of globalization and they do not address the global scope and needs of modern lives. The decreasing economic importance of national boundaries, changes in society, and a need for monetary diversification have created a necessity for a complimentary, global, non-governmental currency. We have set out to address this need by launching the first stabilized, digital currency governed by its holders and compliant with AML regulations.’’

Blockchain News

Bitmain Changes Mining Sales Strategy After Co-Founder Wu Returns

Published

18 hours ago

December 10, 2019

Stefan

Bitmain changes its mining sales strategy to stop the decline in market shares after the return of the co-founder of the company Jihan Wu. In our cryptocurrency news today, we find out more about the strategy.During a customer event hosted by Bitmain in Chengdu, China, Wu showed up on stage for the first time as the one and only chairman and CEO of the company after a month of regaining control. Addressing the clients and partners, he explained how Bitmain changes its tactics just to restore the market dominance of the company. Essentially, he proposed to sway the miners and them to stick to Bitmain’s products by having the company risk it all regarding cash flow, price volatility and electricity costs.By doing this, Bitmain is betting that the price of Bitcoin will jump next year during the scheduled halving of the mining rewards which will reduce the new supply created with each block of transaction. Whether the next halving will spark a slight rally as the first two did, is still a subject of debate. While the event was only meant for customers, the company’s presentations show that Bitmain has even rolled out three main tactics to appeal to mining investors. To start with, it seems like Bitmain has replaced the previous sales strategy wherein customers had to pay the full amount in advance for mining equipment because of future shipments with a tired down payment structure.Another tactic that Bitmain plans to roll out is to target those who own mining farms with power resources but still don’t have enough equipment to use the full capacity. The company said it will offer a co-mining agreement that runs for a year for mining farm operators to rent the flagship AntMiner S17. Bitmain will also cover the electricity costs at 0.35 yuan per kilowatt-hour while the mining farm operators remain responsible for maintenance.In return, Bitmain will retain up to 75 percent of the mining profits and all of the farm operators will take the remaining 25 percent. If the mining revenue is less than the electricity cost, all of the miner coins would go to Bitmain. Through this plan, Bitmain could increase the capacity in mining for itself which is an investment that has decreased over the past two years as the company focused on selling the equipment.

Blockchain News

LedgerX Founders Put On Leave: No Real Reasons Have Been Given

Published

19 hours ago

December 10, 2019

Stefan

LedgerX founders Paul and Juthica Chou have been put on administrative leave as the board of directors at Ledger Holdings announced the decision. In today’s blockchain news, we find out more about their decision.In a press release, the Bitcoin derivatives exchange LedgerX explained that two executives will be replaced by the new interim chief executive officer Larry E. Thompson and the lead director of Ledger Holdings. Thompson will take with him the experience of a 30-year career at Wall Street.However, it remains unclear why the LedgerX founders were put on administrative leave. Chou took to Twitter where she explained that there are no real reasons given for the decision except that they ‘’had long-lasting disagreements with the board about the vision and direction of the business.’’At the start of August this year, the United States Commodity Futures trading commission (CFTC) explained that LedgerX’s physically-settled bitcoin futures products are not approved by the regulator. LedgerX commented on July 31^st that the physical futures offering were live on the Omni trading platform. However, the CFTC suggested that this was unable to happen.The derivative specialist Thomas G. Thompson, pointed out that ‘’the CFTC does not show any futures contracts certified by’’ the company. In the meantime, Paul Chou wrote to Twitter once again to take aim at the CFTC in a few explanative tweets. Later in September, the controversy involving the CFTC was sparked when LedgerX claimed that the former chairman of the agency Christopher Giancarlo, cause a blockage of the approval for the amended Derivatives Clearing Organization registration because of the many personal issues he had with the CEO of Ledger, Paul Chou.As previously reported, the regulated crypto trading platform that LedgerX has released a derivative contract that is a pure resemblance to bitcoin according to the official blog post. The new halving contract LXHC is actually a binary option where every payoff is either a fixed monetary amount or basically zero which settles up to the next time when Bitcoin halves. This new product will allow the users to get a fixed payoff if in any case, the next halving happens before a pre-set date and time. If the block is discovered after the halving process, the contract will come down to zero.