What important crypto events happened last week?
Cryptocurrencies
?? Bitcoin Mining Revenues Increased By 48% In November, compared to October, total revenue from Bitcoin mining increased by 48%. The distinctive jump in profitability was caused mostly by the November rise in the price of BTC, so the total monthly income reached the highest level since September 2019. This was also facilitated by the grown number of transactions, which led to an increase in the fees for miners.
?? Ripple: XRP Price Gains 10% – These Are The Key Levels For A Breakout The XPR price continues to experience volatility. Experts call the price of Bitcoin the main factor affecting the cost of XRP, thus Bitcoin's price correction led to a drop of XRP.
Projects And Updates
?? Kraken Will Distribute $150,000 To Ethereum
In a blog post on the official website, Kraken announced the distribution of $150,000 in grants for developers of open-source Ethereum projects in collaboration with Gitcoin, an Ethereum-based fundraising platform. The grants will be Kraken's first-ever donation to the Ethereum project, which the exchange considers being promising both as an asset and as an application platform.
?? VeChain Foundation Expands E-HCert App With New Digital Wallet The VeChain project, together with I-Dante, has been working on the possibilities of using blockchain technologies in medicine since the beginning of 2020. As a result, they launched E-HCert — a project for storing and sharing data about patients in hospitals. Two hospitals in Cyprus have already integrated the app into the data management of COVID-19 patients. In addition to the app, E-HCert has a web-portal that allows doctors to request patient data. This creates a fast, secure, and reliable communication channel between the doctor and the patient. Records are stored on the blockchain, so they are secure and immutable. With their digital solutions, the VeChain team is aiming to create an entire ecosystem for the rapid and efficient exchange of medical information.
?? Huobi’s HISD Stablecoin To Run On Nervos Blockchain The new public blockchain Nervos is trying to become China's answer to Ethereum, and а big step on the way to this became an adoption of a US-dollar backed stablecoin HUSD from the Huobi crypto exchange. Currently, HUSD is an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain. The HUSD will be released to Nervos through the sUDT technical standard, their own token standard created to compete with ERC-20.
?? Creator Of Crypto Asset That Exploded 91,000% This Year Partners With New Project yEarn.Finance is a DeFi project with the most expensive own token in the industry. This week, the creator of yEarn.Finance Andre Cronje said that the project has merged with Cover Protocol, with which they have a long partnership history. Cover Protocol, acquired by YFI, offers risk protection for smart contracts by providing peer-to-peer coverage by fungible tokens. According to Cronje, the merger of the two projects will optimize, expand, and strengthen the work already underway. At this stage, YFI functionality covers the entire range of banking services, allowing the project to compete with traditional financial institutions by offering much lower trading fees and higher incomes.
Regulations
?? Pakistan Moves To Legalize Bitcoin And Crypto Mining The state Assembly in Pakistan passed a resolution on the law on cryptocurrency ownership and mining. This was announced on Wednesday by government adviser Zia Ullah Bangash. The proposal was accepted by various advisers and ministers and addressed to the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a mountainous region in northern Pakistan. It was signed unanimously, which means that the resolution did not cause any reaction or resistance from other members of Parliament. The next hearing will be held on December, 17.
?? A Source At French Finance Ministry Confirms That Stricter Rules Are Coming For The Crypto Sector French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has issued a decree providing for stricter requirements for identifying cryptocurrency users. The French Ministry of Finance has announced the essential of KYC for all cryptocurrency companies operating in the country, this change may ultimately deprive the French cryptocurrency space of any semblance of anonymity. Le Maire called the action a necessary step in France's fight against terrorism. His report mentioned a terrorist group that was funded using cryptocurrency.
Mass Adoption
?? Spotify Hints Launch Of Crypto Services The largest audio streaming service Spotify may consider adding support for cryptocurrency payments. This is evidenced by the job opening of the associated director for overseeing payments strategy and innovations, recently published by Spotify. Among other things, the new employee will be responsible for the day-to-day engagement of the service with the Libra Association project, recently renamed Diem. The Diem Association is a non-profit organization created by Facebook to launch its own stablecoin.
?? Singapore Launches $8.9M Blockchain Research Program For Trade & Supply Chain Singapore authorities have launched the Singapore Blockchain Innovation Program, to support the blockchain ecosystem in the city. Companies participating in the program will receive $8,9 million over the next three years. Grants will be provided for research, development, commercialization, and implementation of blockchain-based applications in Singapore. About 75 companies and 17 projects from various sectors, including trading, logistics, and supply, will participate in the program.
?? Japanese City To Trial Blockchain Voting System LayerX has announced the development of a blockchain-based voting system that will be implemented in the Japanese city of Kaga. 68,000 residents of the city will be able to vote in local elections using the new voting system. The blockchain-based system will be cheaper and more reliable than current systems for electronic voting. The new development will prevent double voting and ensure the confidentiality of ballots.
?? German Bank Gearing Up To Launch Cryptocurrency Fund One of the oldest banks in Germany, Hauck & Aufhauser, operating since 1796, plans to launch a cryptocurrency fund in early 2021. HAIC Digital Asset Fund I is aimed at institutional and large investors who want to diversify their capital into Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Stellar. The Fund will adhere to a passive investment strategy with a cryptocurrency distribution coefficient based on market capitalization and other criteria.
?? It’s Official! Singapore’s Banking Giant DBS To Launch A Crypto Exchange Next Week Singapore's largest bank, DBS Bank, owned by the DBS Group, has announced the launch of its cryptocurrency exchange, which will start trading next week. Institutional clients and accredited retail investors will have access to the exchange. The DBS Digital Exchange platform supports Japanese yen, Singapore, US, and Hong Kong dollars to exchange for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and XRP.
Hacking
?? Hackers Demand $34M Bitcoin Ransom From Taiwan-Based Foxconn Hackers attacked the servers of Foxconn, the world's largest electronics contract manufacturer, and encrypted about 1,200 servers, stole 100 GB of unencrypted files, and deleted 20-30 TB of backups. For the return of access, the criminals requested 1800 BTC, worth about $34 million now. The DopperPaymer group was the one who claimed responsibility for the attack on Foxconn. Hackers published corporate files belonging to the company. This information includes reports and other documentation. However, the leak does not contain any financial information or personal data of employees.
People
?? StanChart CEO Bill Winters: Mass Adoption Of Digital Currencies Is "Absolutely Inevitable" This week, Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters shared his opinion on digital currencies at the annual FinTech Festival in Singapore. StanChart is a large British financial company with headquarters in London, with about 1026 branches worldwide. Winters considers the mass adoption of digital currencies "absolutely inevitable", and also notes that he sees a big future of digital currencies in new, niche segments, where they will have advantages over existing fiat currencies.
?? Apple Co-Founder Launches New Ethereum Token Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak, became a co-owner of the blockchain platform for improving energy efficiency Efforce and released a token named WOZX. The goal of the Efforce startup is to introduce blockchain technology into the global energy sector and advance green technologies. The WORX token was officially introduced on December 1, 2020. The cryptocurrency first appeared on the HBTC exchange on December, 3. Immediately after the start of trading, the WORX price soared from $0.1 to $1.
That’s all for now! For more details follow us on Twitter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, join our Telegram.
The content of this article is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. We ask you to do your research.
