At a hearing before Congress today on the rise of alternatives to cash, crypto took centerstage, with many representatives clearly invested in learning more about the space. Congress clearly has crypto on the brain, with the question of regulation being a matter of when. At a Jan. 30 hearing before the Fintech Task Force, a body within the United States House of Representatives, lawmakers were focused on bringing crypto into the conversation.  The basics The hearing — entitled “Is Cash Still King? Reviewing the Rise of Mobile […]

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Former Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith pleads innocent before New York court in North Korea sanctions case. Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith entered a plea of not guilty Thursday afternoon in a Southern District of New York courthouse. Griffith is charged with conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act after traveling to North Korea (DRPK) in April 2019 to attend a cryptocurrency conference.  If convicted, Griffth, who once called himself a “disruptive technologist” whose aim was to “make the Internet a better and more interesting place,” could […]

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CME has passed the $100 billion volume mark for its Bitcoin futures trading product. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, or CME, has hosted over $100 billion in volume for its Bitcoin futures trading product.  “CME Bitcoin futures have surpassed $100 billion in total notional value traded since their launch in December 2017,” CME Group Managing Director and Global Head of Equity Index Alternative Investment Products, Tim McCourt, told Cointelegraph.   Institutions join crypto During the crypto boom of 2017, mainstream financial entities began moving into the industry.  In December […]

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Bitcoin’s Taproot proposal is believed to vastly improve privacy, but its author revealed that it is not a silver bullet and it does not hide CoinJoin transactions. The activation of Bitcoin’s (BTC) Taproot upgrade is moving forward as official Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIP) were submitted for review on Jan. 24. Even though Taproot is often hyped up for its privacy improvements, its true impact is likely to be very minor. What is Taproot? Taproot is the name given to a proposal coined by former Blockstream CTO Gregory […]

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At a congressional hearing on digital payments, U.S. Representative Emmer expressed fear over stifled crypto innovation. In a Jan. 30 congressional hearing on mobile payments, U.S. Representative Tom Emmer fears criticism of digital payment innovation may stifle progress. Emmer laid out his concerns over regulation smothering innovation: “There’s a whole environment out there of brilliant, genius, young people who are coming up with new ways to transfer value every single day,” he said. “I worry that we’re going to crush that entrepreneurial spirit and that advancement.” Digital […]

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Bitcoin’s impressive rally continues to amaze investors as the price reaches $9,530 to set a third daily higher high this week. For the second time this week, Bitcoin (BTC) bulls have protested against any attempts to push the digital asset below the $9K mark. Earlier today, the price dropped slightly below $9,200 but the pullback stopped right at the Jan. 19 high at $9,198 before reversing to surge higher on a high volume spike. Bitcoin daily price chart. Source: Coin360 The move to $9,530 set a daily […]

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As regulatory concerns over XRP have been intensifying, some celebrities stepped in to voice more FUD about the coin. As regulatory concerns over XRP — the world’s third-biggest crypto asset — have intensified, some celebrities are stepping in to voice more FUD about the coin. Ben Askren, former UFC fighter and known Bitcoin (BTC) bull, has driven more scepticism toward XRP with a short tweet on Jan. 28: “I think XRP is a scam.” Askren loves Bitcoin and Litecoin, not XRP Askren’s latest cryptocurrency verdict builds on […]

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Bitcoin Cash so no block for five hours earlier today, but due to low usage the transaction backlog was cleared without difficulty in two blocks. The Bitcoin Cash (BCH) blockchain has seen no new block for five hours earlier today. However, due to low usage, the transaction backlog was cleared without difficulty and normal activity resumed. Data available on advanced blockchain explorer Blockchair show that BCH block number 620025 was mined at 2:14 on Jan. 30. The next block, number 620026, was found at 7:33 of the […]

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