Blockchain and ICO News

The CEO of Twitter and cryptocurrency enthusiast Jack Dorsey believes that Africa will determine the future of the cryptocurrency industry.

According to Dorsey, despite the development and adoption of cryptocurrencies in Europe and America, it is Africa that will become the head of the industry. After his tour of Nigeria and Ghana, Dorsey said that the African continent is developing rapidly, but is still very poor and this will be one of the main reasons for the adoption of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

The most anticipated event of the cryptocurrency industry in 2020 is the halving of the Bitcoin miners award (halving). Many associate with him a new growth cycle of the cryptocurrency market.

In the traditional economic system, the Central Bank regulates the exchange rate of the national currency, which, if necessary, can saturate the economy with money or withdraw it from circulation. There are various tools for this: currency intervention, a quantitative easing program, raising or lowering interest rates on loans and deposits for commercial banks and other methods. They allow the Central Bank to contain or increase inflation and, in general, influence the economic situation in the country.

According to CoinATMRadar, the number of active crypto ATMs worldwide has exceeded 6,000 for the first time. Of these, three quarters of the devices are located in the United States and Canada.

According to recent data, there are currently 6,004 crypto ATMs installed in the world, more than 65% of which are located in the United States. In addition, 108 devices were installed this month, and data also shows that on average around 11 new crypto ATMs are installed daily in the world.

American entrepreneur and cryptocurrency enthusiast John McAfee believes that cryptocurrency firms are not required to prevent the use of crypto assets for crime.

According to the director of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, Changpeng Zhao, the platform plans to add support for all 180 fiat currencies of the World.

According to Zhao, Binance intends to provide customers with "direct access to the great liquidity" available on the exchange. This statement discloses the exchange's plans for cooperation with third-party services to add as many trading pairs with fiat currencies as possible.

Ethereum co-founder and CEO of Consensys Joseph Lubin hopes that China's state-owned cryptocurrency will be compatible with open blockchains, including Ethereum.

Lubin expressed his opinion during an interview with Forbes, published on November 9. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the government will finish testing digital currency from the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey in 2020.

The Turkish Central Bank plans to release a digital lira in accordance with the annual presidential program at the end of next year. Along with the launch of its own cryptocurrency, the government is going to begin developing a special platform for making instant payments with a digital lira. The Turkish Council for Scientific and Technical Research (TUBITAK) will also work on the project.

Now a little more than 18 million Bitcoins have been mined, and the maximum number of BTC cannot exceed 21 million. Bitcoin enthusiast Charlie Shrem believes that in a few years even 5 BTC will be able to change the life of their owner.

Of course, 5-10 Bitcoins is from 45 to 90 thousand dollars at the current exchange rate, and not everyone can afford such money. However, on the other hand, even 1 BTC, in the case of multiple growth, can change the life of the owner.

Blockstream Chief Strategy Officer, Samson Mow, believes that regulators' hostility towards Bitcoin could be a "double-edged sword" for the organizations themselves.

Mow said that bitcoin really solves a large number of problems of the traditional financial industry, for example, inflation. In his opinion, the countries of the world will have to accept cryptocurrencies because of their advantages, and the hostility of regulators towards Bitcoin can destroy the credibility of them.

Fundstrat Global Advisor Managing Partner and cryptocurrency enthusiast Tom Lee believes that after the recent strong growth in Bitcoin, the bulls have again begun to dominate the market.

Last Saturday, the rate of the first cryptocurrency grew by 30%, showing a record growth over the past few years. The price of Bitcoin even exceeded $ 10,000. Now trading is at around $ 9,400, but according to Tom Lee, in the near future the rate may again go up.

Heath Tarbert, chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), believes that Ethereum futures will be launched as early as next year.

During his speech at Georgetown University, Tarbert expressed the view that air futures will appear within 6-12 months, however, the launch of such products does not mean an immediate growth in the cryptocurrency industry.

Well-known American entrepreneur and cryptocurrency enthusiast John McAfee believes that stablecoins are only an intermediate solution for decentralized exchanges.

McAfee mentioned the main problems associated with the conversion of fiat and cryptocurrencies on exchanges. According to him, stablecoins are not quite suitable for use on decentralized exchanges, given that such exchanges do not collect any information about users, including their names, addresses, insurance number, email, etc.

Telegram sent a new letter to its investors, in which it says that the launch of the TON blockchain is postponed for six months. The launch deadline is now set for April 30, 2020. Investors can exit the project by taking 77% of their investments.

In the letter, the company refers to a proceeding with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which considered Gram tokens to be unregistered securities. The regulator managed to achieve a time limit on their sale and use, which interferes with Telegram's plans.

Founder and CEO of BKCM cryptocurrency investment company Brian Kelly believes that the industry does not currently need Bitcoin traded exchange traded funds (ETFs).

Kelly emphasized that Bitcoin ETFs are not needed for the development of the industry, since the first cryptocurrency is already available for trading on regulated platforms such as Fidelity and TD Ameritrade.

The American regulator dealt an unexpected blow to the upcoming TON blockchain, accusing Telegram of unregistered sale of tokens a year and a half after the ICO.

The U.S. government seems to consider corporate cryptocurrencies more dangerous than public blockchains. Until now, all the claims of regulators and politicians have been streaming on Facebook for the Libra project, and a similar development by Telegram, which began selling $ 1.7 billion in tokens in January and March 2018, has remained in the background. However, this silence was deceiving.

Telegram introduced the first edition of the rules for using the "Gram" cryptocurrency wallet, which was developed by the company to store the tokens of the same name.

The rules say that the Gram wallet is provided by Telegram FZ-LLC and will be built into the Telegram messenger, and is also available as a separate application. One of the main points in the rules is the age limit - only people over 18 years old can use the wallet. In addition, only citizens of countries in which it is not prohibited by law can use the Gram.

Former U.S. Attorney General and current partner at Andreessen Horowitz investment company Kathryn Haun believes open blockchains help solve crimes.

Hon called blockchain transactions "digital bread crumbs," which, one by one, lead to a real criminal. In addition, law enforcement agencies are much more effective at combating crimes committed with bitcoin than monitoring traditional financial flows.

The head of the blockchain division of Facebook, David Markus, in his blog spoke about the shortcomings of traditional payment systems and why you need to switch to systems based on the blockchain.

"As I've been traveling around the world meeting with key stakeholders, it became clear to me that the advantages of digital currency transmitted over a blockchain — notably when it comes to broadening access and lowering costs of financial services — weren't as evident to others as I assumed they were," Marcus began his story.