Startup @Dfinity Raises $102 Million to Build ‘Internet Computer’
Cryptocurrency startup Dfinity has raised another $102 million to fund the development of its “world computer,” bringing its total capital intake to nearly $200 million.
Announced on Wednesday, the funding round was led by a16z crypto, Andreessen Horowitz’s dedicated cryptocurrency fund, and crypto hedge fund Polychain Capital. The two firms were also joint leaders in Dfinity’s most recent funding round, which raised $61 million and was announced in February. Altogether, the startup has raised approximately $195 million.
Speaking on the announcement, Dominic Williams, founder and chief scientist of Dfinity, said:
“The Internet Computer is a public infrastructure that aims to host the world’s next generation of software and services. The platform provides a novel means to develop and host new software systems where R&D costs can be 90% lower, yet hosted systems are far more secure since the Internet Computer is unhackable, and are always available, highly interoperable and better able to preserve the privacy of confidential data.”
While individual stakes in the present round were not disclosed, Andreessen Horowitz reportedly...
Zcash Hard Fork Scheduled Before Halloween
Zcash is an open, permissionless cryptocurrency designed to protect privacy. It is the creation of Zooko Wilcox-O’Hearn, who is also known for “Zooko’s triangle” and the Majo Nation P2P system.
The news is that the founders have just released their version 2.0.0. They are encouraging all users and miners to upgrade to the new version as quickly as possible.
The great thing about 2.0.0? It is “Sapling compatible.” Sapling is the term used in the Zcash orbit to refer to an upcoming hard fork, expected on October 28, that will amount to a major protocol upgrade, allowing shielded/private addresses to be supported by mobile and hardware wallets, exchanges, and payment processors.
October 28th will also be the second anniversary of the official launch of Zcash.
TransferGo is The Worlds First Remittance Service to Add Crypto Trading
UK-based service TransferGo has reportedly become the world’s first remittance operator to offer crypto trading, Bloomberg reported July 27.
TransferGo now lets customers buy and sell five major cryptocurrencies –– Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC).
According to TransferGo CEO and founder Daumantas Dvilinskas, the crypto trading option was launched “in response to demand from our user base”:
“With over 4,000 users signing up in the first few hours we can see there is a strong demand in...
Google Shuts Down Its Crypto Ban Rumor Mill
Google is making a lot of headline news in the crypto space as of late, and there’s at least one area that deserves particular attention. It entails Google’s AdWords, which, as of this week, is called Google Ads. Since this name change, reports are surfacing that suggest Google’s anti-crypto stance doesn’t apply to this service.
It does.
Google slap
Google has taken several steps that observers see as the tech giant’s attempt to avoid the dark side of the crypto space. For example, this week it removed MetaMask—a browser-based Ethereum wallet—from the Google Chrome Web Store. The move sparked a panic inside of the community, and even MetaMask tried...
An Old Debate Re-Ignited
Stakeholders in Ethereum have resumed a debate from last year concerning the Parity Technologies hack and its fall-out. Parity was a wallet services start-up in the summer of 2017. In November, a hacker made off with about $32 million worth of ether due to Parity’s vulnerabilities.
The question is whether Ethereum ought to institute a system-wide upgrade known as Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 999 as a way of returning money lost as a consequence of the hack. EIP 999 would reactivate 564 of Parity’s wallets.
Some in the community think money lost should stay lost. Yes, it is unfortunate but it is also critical to the integrity of the whole system that the blockchain not be tampered with. This is sometimes known as the Code-is-Law view. One might also call it the We’re-Not-Central-Bankers view.
The most recent flare-up of the debate began on Saturday, July 19, when the Council of Ethereum Magicians (yes, that’s the body’s name) met to discuss technical updates and code disputes. Afri Schoenden asked to advance EIP 999 within the code review process.
The move set off a social-media firestorm. One tweet runs: “The Parity bailout was just stealth ‘accepted’ by the Ethereum Foundation despite community rejection.” Apparently that is an overstatement of what has happened, although the idea of a reactivation of those wallets is moving … slowly … forward.
A Patent-Based Bull Run
There has been something of a boom of late in cryptocurrency related patent applications filed by Big Money players. Wells Fargo, for example, applied for a patent on a system in which any type of ‘data element’ can be located, protected, and accessed by means of its tokenization.
Meanwhile, Bank of America now has 45 blockchain patents pending, adding the latest to that queue in recent days.
Those with romantic visions for a blockchain revolution may have (at best) mixed feelings about what they may see as its corporate co-optation, and the fencing in of a commons at that. Still, the boom in filings may mean good things for the prices of the more venerable currencies in the field. Bitcoins are now in the neighborhood of $7,500. That isn’t a pricey neighborhood if your mind is still focused on the December 2017 numbers, but it is a significant improvement over late June.
The Yuan Now Accounts for Less than 1% of Bitcoin Transactions
China’s comprehensive ban on cryptocurrency trading has had its desired effect: the yuan renminbi now accounts for less than 1% of global bitcoin transactions.
Yuan Transactions Down
Once the dominant quote currency for bitcoin, the yuan is no longer being used to facilitate fiat-to-crypto trades, according to new data from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC). The central bank disclosed the data Friday through the state-run Xinhua news agency, which showed that the yuan accounts for less than 1% of bitcoin trades from a peak of more than 90%.
Last September, China’s central bank issued a blanket ban on domestic cryptocurrency exchanges and announced a zero-tolerance policy for initial coin offerings (ICOs). Over the past ten months, regulators have also stepped up efforts to limit access to foreign digital currency exchanges.
The PBOC says it has ensured a zero-risk exit for 88 cryptocurrency exchanges and 85 ICO trading platforms, according to Xinhua.
A blockchain analyst by the name of Zhang Yifeng believes that China’s ban had a positive impact on price volatility:
“The timely moves by regulators effectively fended off the impact of sharp ups and downs in virtual currency prices and led the global regulatory trend,” Zhang said, as quoted by Xinhua.
Though...
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao Bitcoin is Still in a Good Position
Crypto thought leader and founder of the largest exchange gives his insights on Bitcoin after ist 70% drop from the currencies high.
Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the founder and CEO at the world’s biggest crypto exchange Binance, has said that bitcoin is still in a positive position after its 70 percent fall since early 2018, especially considering its strong rally throughout 2017.
Crypto Market is Better in Every Way
From January to December of 2017, the price of bitcoin increased from $890 to $20,000, by more than 2150 percent. In comparison to mid-2017, the volume of bitcoin has increased by five-fold, signifying a significant surge in demand and interest towards cryptocurrencies as an emerging asset class from investors in the public market.
In an interview with Bianca Chen, a cryptocurrency researcher and reporter in Zug, Switzerland, CZ said that the cryptocurrency sector is in a better position than a year ago, in terms of infrastructure, price, volume, and mainstream interest.
“Just checked, btc price was $2500 a year ago, today $6800. Trading volume for btc was 780m a year ago, today is 3.4b. There you go,” CZ said.
In mid-2017, the cryptocurrency sector did not have any proper infrastructure in place for both retail and institutional investors. As of July, the crypto market has an institutional platform called Coinbase Custody established, with which hedge...
The Maltese Government Approved 3 Cryptocurrency Bills
Another country moves forward into the global cryptocurrency markets.
The Maltese Parliament yesterday voted unanimously to approve three cryptocurrency and blockchain bills. These bills that are designed to make Malta one of the most important and desirable locations in the blockchain space should now facilitate the setting up of further companies in this sector.
In a tweet shortly after the vote, Parliamentary Secretary for Digital Innovation Silvio Schembri said that he was honored to have spearheaded the legislation through Parliament and also expressed thanks to all those who had collaborated on the project. He also announced that Mr Stephen McCarthy will be the new CEO of the Malta Digital Innovation Authority.
Today Maltese Parliament unanimously approved 3 bills on DLT/blockchain, a 1st in the World. Honored to have driven these bills. Announced that Mr Stephen McCarthy will be the CEO of the new #Malta Digital Innovation Authority. #BlockchainIsland -SS
— Silvio Schembri (@SilvioSchembri) June 26, 2018
Junior Minister Delighted to Spearhead the Process
Speaking to CCN, the junior minister also expressed optimism on the way that these new bills will allow the crypto and blockchain sector to flourish.
CCN also spoke to Dr. Joseph F Borg, a partner at WH Advocates and solicitors ad founder of Bitmalta on these important developments:
“Today is a historic day for blockchain and cryptocurrency enthusiasts, professionals and entrepreneurs in Malta. It is the first step to make Malta the jurisdiction of choice for blockchain businesses. The fact that parliament unanimously voted in favour of the three bills is crucial for the stability of the sector and for...
Cryptocurrency Retail Investor Capital Is Not Dead
With major events unfolding in the cryptocurrency space surrounding institutional investors of late, little attention has been given to the retail investor.
Andreessen Horowitz stole the spotlight with its recent debut of a $300 million cryptocurrency fund, but meanwhile, it’s done little to prop up the bitcoin price, which continues to trade in the doldrums. Meanwhile, naysayers have been doubting that retail capital will ever find its way back into this space again.
If you ask Bart Smith, who spearheads digital assets at Susquehanna, a wave of retail capital will serve as the next catalyst to ignite a crypto rally. Smith told CNBC:
“Frankly where you have seen demand is from retail investors in the U.S. Coinbase, Gemini, Circle — all those people are servicing retail investors.”
First-Mover Urgency
Smith recalls the recent SEC decision that the No. 2 cryptocurrency Ethereum should not be classified as a security and therefore won’t be regulated by the Wall Street watchdog. But other coins, he pointed out, don’t have...