Revenue Department of Thailand to use blockchain and machine learning to tackle tax avoidance and fraud. The Thai Revenue Department has revealed its plans to track tax payments using blockchain and maсhine learning, local news outlet Bangkok Post reported Nov. 5. Ekniti Nitithanprapas, the Revenue Department’s director-general, told reporters that blockchain will be used to verify the validity of taxes paid and to speed up the tax refund process. Machine learning, in its turn, will help reveal tax fraud and create more transparency, Nitithanprapas also noted. The […]

Ripple markets appear buoyed this week as the asset gains 18 percent in 24 hours to briefly overtake Ethereum as top altcoin. Ripple (XRP) overtook Ethereum (ETH) to become the largest altcoin by market capitalization again today, Nov. 6, after gaining 18 percent in 24 hours. Data from CoinMarketCap confirms the latest switcharound of the top two altcoin assets, repeating a pattern that has occurred several times this year. Market capitalization overview. Source: CoinMarketCap XRP shot higher over the weekend as markets reacted to a basket of […]

Bitfury has released details of a major funding round with participation from various European and Asian investors. Bitcoin mining infrastructure provider Bitfury has raised $80 million in a closed funding round, the company revealed in a press release shared with Cointelegraph Nov. 6. The round, which comes weeks after rumors Bitfury was considering an IPO, was led by European venture capital fund Korelya Capital. Other participants included South Korean internet giant Naver Group, Asian institutions Macquarie Capital and Dentsu Japan, as well as Michael Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital. […]

Bitcoin ( mining behemoth Bitmain has officially released two new 7nm (nanometer) “Antminer” crypto mining machines, designed to mine with the SHA256 algorithm. Bitcoin (BTC) mining giant Bitmain has officially released two new 7nm (nanometer)  “Antminer” crypto mining machines, according to an official tweet posted Nov. 5. Bitmain indicated in September that it would be equipping its new Antminer models with next-generation Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) chips. ASIC chips are geared to compute optimally for a specific hashing algorithm and, as Bitmain’s tweet confirms, these latest “acceleration” […]

Bitcoin futures trading on the U.S. Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) hit record low volatility levels in October, in stark contrast to the rocky global equity markets. Bitcoin (BTC) futures trading on the U.S. Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) hit record low volatility levels in October, in stark contrast to the rocky global equity markets, MarketWatch reported Nov. 5. As Kevin Davitt, senior instructor for The Options Institute at Cboe Global Markets has outlined in a video Nov. 1, the average weekly volatility for the week ending […]

The Swiss financial watchdog FINMA has reportedly advised the country’s financial institutions to set crypto asset risk coverage at 800 percent of their value. The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA has advised banks and other financial institutions to estimate risk coverage for cryptocurrencies at 800 percent of current market value, Cointelegraph auf Deutsch reports today, Nov. 5. Major local news portal Swissinfo reportedly saw a copy of a confidential letter from FINMA to the Swiss Association for Audit, Tax and Fiduciary (EXPERTsuisse), which explains the watchdog […]

A group of senators has introduced a vote of no confidence in the administration of Marshall Islands president Heine due to plans of issuing a national digital currency. The President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands Hilda Heine faces a vote of no confidence due to her administration’s plans to introduce a national digital currency, Radio New Zealand News (RDZ) reported Nov. 5. The Marshallese parliament initially endorsed the creation of the national digital currency,  which would be called the Sovereign (SOV), in February of this […]

Audit and consulting firm Deloitte and Attest Inc. will develop a blockchain-based digital identity solution to assist its government clients. “Big Four” accounting firm Deloitte has partnered with identity management company Attest Inc. to develop a blockchain-based digital identity system, according to a press release published Nov. 5. Chicago-based Attest is an identity management company that offers a shared identity platform enabling its clients to conduct transactions, wherein its governmental customers can provide identity services to citizens. The collaboration will purportedly develop a digital identity offering for […]

Scammers comprised several Twitter accounts today to masquerade as Tesla CEO Elon Musk and promote fraudulent Bitcoin scams. Several verified Twitter accounts have been hacked to impersonate Elon Musk today, Nov. 5, with one reportedly collecting almost $170,000. After compromising verified accounts, scammers changed the profile name and picture in order to pose as the Tesla CEO. Scammers would then post in comment threads started by the real Elon Musk, so as to give the impression of legitimacy. Some of the scam tweets said that Elon Musk […]