Bitmain Becomes Biggest Blockchain Conglomerate Following Series B Funding
Bitmain's series B funding closes to create the largest global cryptocurrency conglomerate in China.
China’s dominant bitcoin mining manufacturer has become the largest crypto conglomerate in the world after securing a new round of Series B funding.
Bitmain Expands Influence
Caixin news agency reported last week that Bitmain has secured between $300 million and $400 million in new funding from Sequoia China, U.S. hedge fund Coatue and Singapore-based EDBI, effectively becoming the largest cryptocurrency company in the world. With the latest round, Bitmain’s total value has swelled to $12 billion.
Bitmain is making waves across the blockchain industry, having recently announced plans to purchase roughly 43% of Opera Ltd., a Norway-based internet browser that has filed for an initial public offering with Nasdaq.
Back in May, the company led a $110 million financing round for Circle, an influential cryptocurrency company with backing from Goldman Sachs and others. In an official announcement, Circle said Bitmain’s stake in the company will allow it to expand critical infrastructure needed to power the crypto economy:
“Bitmain Co-founder and CEO Jihan Wu is well known for espousing a vision similar to ours regarding the creation and adoption of a new global economy powered by cryptographic...
Ukraine Has No Plans to Regulate Crypto Mining
Ukranian miners can now be at ease, as officials have stated they have no intention of regulating the popular crypto mining.
Up until now, cryptocurrency miners in Ukraine have been living in fear and uncertainty. Crypto mining companies worried they would be fined, eventually, or that somehow their equipment could be seized.
However, officials from the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine have clarified the department currently has no interest in issuing regulations for cryptocurrency mining. A representative from the Office of Effective Regulation, Igor Samohodsky, emphasized crypto miners have been operating in the shadows, fearful of the repercussions.
Ukrainian crypto miners are allegedly generating more than $100 million a year which would generally attract authorities, but not in Ukraine. The country has proven to be extremely crypto-friendly, going as far as erecting a statue in Satoshi Nakamoto’s honor. The plans were announced earlier this month, and the statue is expected to be where once Lenin’s stood.
There have been reports of a proposed stated-issued cryptocurrency, earlier this year. In a statement released by Ukraine’s security council, The National Bank...
United States Senators Discuss Cryptocurrency Threat to Elections
Based on the facebook investigations does the Senate even know enough about crypto to make an intelligent call?
Cryptocurrencies are "tailor-made" for foreign powers hoping to influence American elections, a security consultant told a group of U.S. senators on Tuesday.
Scott Dueweke, director of threat analysis company DarkTower, was one of several witnesses appearing before the Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism to discuss the potential use of cryptocurrencies by foreign agents in order to influence American elections. He argued that lawmakers must focus on identity solutions to prevent undue foreign influence on upcoming elections.
"There is a global shell game being played now," by people hoping to bypass financial disclosure rules, he said. As a result, they are purchasing political advertisements and donating to certain parties in efforts to influence elections.
Dueweke added:
"They exchange one form of money for another … fiat currency in and fiat currency out, but in between you're going to have these multiple layers of cryptocurrency that are going to be impossible to track."
...
Florida Is Creating Its Own Crypto Czar
Florida's taking the crypto lead with a new State position.
Florida is set to have its own cryptocurrency czar.
The Sunshine State's chief financial officer, Jimmy Patronis, said in a statement Tuesday that he has created a new position to supervise the state's cryptocurrency industry. He explained that the new overseer will be tasked with enforcing applicable regulations to protect investors from potentially malicious actors.
"Florida can no longer remain on the sidelines when it comes to cryptocurrency. I have directed my office to create a position that will oversee how current securities and insurance laws apply to Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and cryptocurrencies as well as shape the future of these regulations in our state," Patronis remarked.
Similarly, Patronis said that...
Develop Your Own Smart Contracts with TheTokener Video Tutorials
TheTokener will be rolling out a video tutorial series to enable you to develop your own smart contracts.
TheTokener is excited to announce that we are launching a video tutorial series for developing smart contracts! With the help of Solidity programming language, in this series, you will find everything you need to know in order to get started with your own smart contracts.
Our first video is an introduction to Ethereum, Smart Contracts and Solidity. This will be an introductory type of the tutorial, sort of a 'getting started guide'. If you are a complete beginner, don’t worry, this is a right place...
The SaveDroid ICO Exit Scam that Wasn’t
Cryptobriefing ran an interview with Yassin Hankir of Savedroid, who secured a bit of notoriety by faking an exit scam.
The nightmare of many an investor in ICOs is that the whole thing is a con, and that the con artists’ exit strategy is an anonymous beach somewhere and a secret bank account. Hankir dramatized that nightmare. After raising $50 million in Savedroid’s ICO, he tweeted out a photo of himself in an airport, in front of a departures-and-arrivals screen, making a thumbs-up gesture. This he juxtaposed with another photo: of a bottle of beer on a beach.
This was not, though, a flamboyant scammer’s “exit.” It was a show, intended to dramatize Hankir’s view that such scams “create a significant risk to the market,” because without trust “the whole market will break down.”
Savedroid is still around, and it has 100,000 installs on the Google App store. Its website claims that the token (SVD) will soon be listed on exchanges. But as Cryptobriefing observes: it isn’t yet. And the make-believe scam did it no favors.
Bitfinex and Tether Chief Strategy Officer Resigns
Chief Strategy Officer Phil Potter of Bitfinex announced Friday that he has decided to resign.
He is also leaving the same role at Bitfinex’s partner company, Tether Ltd., issuers of a stablecoin (USDT) that is pegged 1:1 in value to the US Dollar.
Potter Steps Down
In an emailed statement released to the media on Friday, Potter stated:
As Bitfinex pivots away from the U.S., I felt that, as a U.S. person, it was time for me to rethink my position as a member of the executive team.
The dubious timing on Potter’s departure, which comes in the wake of both companies being served subpoenas by the United States Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in December of last year, has raised questions as to whether the investigation was related to the split.
All Eyes Are on Bitfinex
Bitfinex is currently the sixth largest cryptocurrency exchange, with a 24-hour trade volume of more than $432 million. The exchange has been under scrutiny from...
Huobi Global Crypto Exchange Moves into Brazil
The chances are you have heard of one of the most prominent players on the market. The Huobi global exchange with trading volume of $1 140 189 009 – and a wealth of remarkable features.
Hongkong-based Huobi has recently confirmed they will be expanding their services into the Brazilian market. Let’s take a look at what consequences this may have for the crypto market and how it will affect you directly.
Who are they again?
Huobi is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges around. It bears a proud .pro status (this isn’t an award, it just means the address is at huobi.pro, but it still sounds cool), been around since the beginning of times (meaning 2013), and trades, according to the stats, more or less 127 000 BTC every 24 hours, which means it is the third largest trader around. How is that for the power of presence?
With very simple verification and registration procedures and optional delicious offerings like using marginal trading or a credit shoulder, it is indeed one of the most popular choices around. The fact that it is becoming so successful that the management has decided to throw a considerable part of their funds into extending into Brazil is undoubtedly an argument in crypto’s favor.
Background:
Huobi’s main strengths, as you will no doubt learn from their website now that we have intrigued you, are:
“Strategic insights based on research, trends, and 50+ unique indicators to properly evaluate investment potential and risk and in-depth, comprehensive information on 190+ cryptocurrencies.”
We’d also like to point out the importance of “advanced distributed system architecture built to protect against DDoS and other potential threats”, in light of recent hacker attacks.
Also, you will be glad to know this isn’t their first endeavor to explain the potential foreign lands hold:
“Huobi Global Professional Cryptocurrency Exchange has covered global clients and has opened trading offices and operation centers in Singapore, the United States, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and many other countries”.
With all the experience Huobi has in asset acquisition and extension of their areas of influence there can be no doubt this enterprise will be as much of a success as the other ones, and we are very much looking forward to hearing more good news from them on their recent enterprise.
What happened?
Huobi’s relocation may have been a consequence of some internal struggle to do with governmental restrictions on currency trading in China, where Huobi originally comes from.
Well, all we care about is that it does the job, and does it very well. There are more than 190 currency pairs available with Bitcoin taking the lead. There are also many options available for users who may want to get heavily involved with graphs, use timelines, and learn massive...
US Government Officials Must Disclose Crypto Holdings
The U.S Office of Government Ethics has moved towards creating transparency in government officials cryptocurrency holdings.
Those working for the executive branch of the U.S. government must disclose their cryptocurrency holdings, ethics officials said Monday.
In a legal advisory released Monday, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) clarified that cryptocurrency is "property held … for investment or the production of income" instead of a "real" currency or legal tender. As a result, the OGE will now require executive branch employees to report holdings of digital currencies because they "may create a conflict of interest for employees who own it."
The disclosure requirement is a major move, requiring members of the U.S. executive branch – officials working for the White House as well as the galaxy of federal agencies – to reveal their crypto holdings. Earlier this year, a member of the U.S. Congress submitted a petition seeking similar requirements for federal lawmakers.
The OGE's document also specifically...
A Japanese Village Is Planning Its ICO
A small Japanese village is turning to cryptocurrencies in an effort to bolster its economy.
Nishiawakura – a village of approximately 1,500 people in the Okayama prefecture in Japan – revealed its plan last week to launch a regional initial coin offering as a way to secure funding. The municipality, in particular, relies on forestry to support its economy - about 95 percent of the town is made up of forest area, according to the village's official announcement.
Nishiawakura Coin (NAC) will be issued by Nishiawakura's Token Economy Association. While the launch date has not yet been released, some details about the coin can be found on its official website.
The village launched the...