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Tuesday, November 21, 2017

BitLicense Architect Ben Lawsky Joins Ripple Board

Ben Lawsky, the former New York Superintendent of Financial Services who spearheaded the BitLicense regulatory framework while in office, has joined startup Ripple's board of directors.

According to a press release from Tuesday, Lawsky will help Ripple advance its payment platform as well as its in-house digital asset, XRP.

"The company and its leadership are passionate about making our global financial system more efficient, more secure and more fair," he said in a statement.

Lawsky is perhaps best known for establishing the BitLicense framework, the notable and at-times controversial regulatory scheme that took shape in 2013 and 2014 and came into effect the following year. Since then, only a few licenses have actually been awarded, and a still-active legal effort aiming to undo the BitLicense remains ongoing.

And though a new consulting firm created in 2015 raised the prospects of Lawsky advising the industry he once sought to regulate, the former NYDFS chief has largely stayed on the sidelines.

In a departure, however, Lawsky last month spoke about possible regulations for initial coin offerings (ICOs) at the Money2020 conference in Las Vegas, saying the potential for fraud could cause "a backlash against the entire bitcoin and crypto ecosystem."

Source: CoinDesk

CryptoCurrency News: New Code Released for Vlad Zamfir's Ethereum 'Casper' Upgrade



The Ethereum Foundation's lead developer for the Casper upgrade, Vlad Zamfir, uploaded the first version of the protocol's code to GitHub on Tuesday.

via CoinDesk

Blockchain Data Links Tether 'Attack' to 2015 Exchange Hack

The individual or group behind the alleged Tether attack may have been involved in a previous well-known hack in the bitcoin space.

Those behind the alleged theft of $31 million worth of Tether's US dollar-backed tokens were also involved in a high-profile hack two years ago, a cybersleuth has concluded from available blockchain data.

The company behind the dollar-backed cryptocurrency tether claimed Monday night that it had been robbed, sparking a new wave of speculation around the token, its backers and its alleged role in recent bitcoin market movements.

And, as might be expected, the availability of public blockchain data for the transactions involved led a number of observers online to trace them back in an attempt to find answers.

In posts on the r/bitcoin and r/cryptocurrency subreddits, a user going by the handle SpeedflyChris has linked the alleged Tether attack to the $5 million hack of Bitstamp in 2015. As reported at the time, employees at that Luxembourg-based bitcoin exchange fell victim to a weeks-long phishing attempt, ultimately leading to the loss of some 18,000 bitcoins.

At the heart of SpeedflyChris' analysis is this wallet, for which transactions from Bitstamp can be seen dating back to January 2015.

As SpeedflyChris notes, the address in question was used to send bitcoins to another address that later received tokens from Tether's "treasury" wallet, in a series of 21 transactions over the course of Nov. 19. Included in the alleged theft of the roughly $31 million in tethers was 5 BTC, which ended up in three separate wallets as Tether uses Omni, a bitcoin-based software protocol to effectively "tag" coins to serve different purposes.

Separately, SpeedlyChris' analysis indicates that the primary address in question is also connected to thefts that occurred at the China-based bitcoin exchange Huobi in 2015, as well as a number of transactions to peer-to-peer bitcoin exchange LocalBitcoins.

What now?

Despite the pseudonymous nature of public blockchains like bitcoin, the data offers a level of transparency into the movements of the funds involved.

Yet the absence of identifying information beyond wallet addresses means that online sleuthing has its limitations.

On the other hand, in the event of a law enforcement investigation, such data could ultimately come into play.

Source: CoinDesk

CryptoCurrency News: Report Warns SAFT May Increase Legal Risk of Token Sales



Making ICOs compliant while delivering on their disruptive promise may be a harder needle to thread than the SAFT plan anticipates, a new paper says.

via CoinDesk

CryptoCurrency News: ECB President Draghi: Cryptocurrency Impact Still 'Limited'



European Central Bank president Mario Draghi reiterated his view that cryptocurrencies are too small to regulate on Monday.

via CoinDesk

CryptoCurrency News: Morocco Regulators Warn of Penalties for Cryptocurrency Use



The foreign exchange office of the Moroccan government has stated that the use of cryptocurrencies can lead to penalties under existing rules.

via CoinDesk

[FOREX NEWS] US existing home sales beat expectations – USD ignores


Sales of second hand homes are on the up, hitting an annualized level of 5.48 million in October, better than 5.42 million expected and 5.37 million beforehand. The rise is accompanied by another interesting fact: the level of inventories is at its lowest since 1999 – yes before the previous crisis and also 18 years [...]

The post US existing home sales beat expectations – USD ignores appeared first on Forex Crunch.



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CryptoCurrency News: Russia Will 'Never' Consider Bitcoin Legalization, Says Minister



The Russian minister of communications and mass media said yesterday that the country will not consider the legalization of digital currencies.

via CoinDesk

CryptoCurrency News: Blockstream, Digital Garage Team Up to Foster Blockchain in Japan



Bitcoin infrastructure company Blockstream has expanded its partnership with IT firm Digital Garage to boost blockchain development in Japan.

via CoinDesk

CryptoCurrency News: Untethered? Bitcoin Shrugs Off Hack in Push to $8,500



Fears over a cryptocurrency hack revealed yesterday saw a brief crash in prices, but bitcoin soon bounced back.

via CoinDesk

CryptoCurrency News: R3, Microsoft Expand Partnership to Boost Corda DLT Adoption



Distributed ledger startup R3 is moving to more deeply integrate its Corda platform with Microsoft's Azure cloud service.

via CoinDesk

CryptoCurrency News: Blockchain Has Potential in Curbing Odometer Fraud: EU Report



The European Parliament has released a research paper that touts blockchain in the prevention of odometer fraud or "clocking."

via CoinDesk

CryptoCurrency News: How Will Bitcoin's Lightning Network Be Used?



Often trumpeted as the future of bitcoin, the success of the Lightning Network may come down to economic forces, say researchers.

via CoinDesk

CryptoCurrency News: Ethereum Startup ConsenSys Opens New London Office



Ethereum development startup ConsenSys is expanding to London.

via CoinDesk

[FOREX NEWS] EUR/USD pressured on prospects of new German elections


Intensive coalition talks failed over the weekend. The business-friendly FDP did not want to talk business anymore and abandoned the negotiation table. A report that they may support a minority government from the outside sent the euro higher, but they did not prove to be correct. The German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, urged Chancellor Angela Merkel [...]

The post EUR/USD pressured on prospects of new German elections appeared first on Forex Crunch.



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[FOREX NEWS] GBP/USD is hopeful for a big cheque from May


Will PM Theresa May agree to pay the divorce bill that the EU demands? This is the hope that pushes the pound higher. Accepting paying a fat cheque to the EU will unlock the second stage of the talks, regarding the future relationship. The EU sequenced the talks early on. They forced the UK to [...]

The post GBP/USD is hopeful for a big cheque from May appeared first on Forex Crunch.



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