Newsletter: 5
In the news
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse Explains Why XRP Cannot Be a Security. For a while now, Ripple has been stuck in a class-action lawsuit to determine XRP’s classification. In a motion filed in December 2019, Ripple is requesting that the case be thrown out of court because it has no merit. The lawsuit began in 2018 and was initiated by investors and members of the XRP community who are convinced that Ripple sold unregistered XRP tokens to them. More info.
One of the earliest Crypto exchanges started in 2012 is planning for an IPO this year by Q3 2020. Sweden based, BTCX, is looking to go public in Sweden and it supports trading in Bitcoin and Ethereum using the Swedish krona and euro as fiat funding options. More info.
Binance is eyeing a crypto trading launch in Japan. They are in discussion with a subsidiary of SoftBank and the Japanese exchange TaoTao to work together to provide trading services for users in Japan. More info.
China has been actively exploring blockchain for intellectual property protection and is now considering an application to secure trade secrets. If the concept moves forward, Shanghai may soon launch a pilot in the Lingang New Area free trade zone. More info.
Crypto wallet provider, BRD, which is backed by Ripple and SBI holdings (Japanese financial services company), is entering into the enterprise blockchain market under the name ‘Blockset’. Blockset aims to provide ready-to-use tools for banks, financial services institutions and consultancy firms to build blockchain applications quickly and at a lower cost. More info.
Facebook’s Libra association forms 5-member committee to over technical development of the project and the committee will also publish a technical governance framework in Q1 2020. Framework would include the process by which the open source community can propose technical changes to the network and a transparent process for evaluating those proposals. More info.
Bitcoin miners made an estimated $5 billion in revenue during 2019. Of that $4.89 billion via block rewards and $146 million via transaction fees. More info.
Australia’s central bank explores digital currency. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has run a proof of concept for a wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Its experiments were run on a private permissioned version of Ethereum, and the bank plans to extend its exploration this year. More info.
U.S may be entering a new cold war with China over the future of money. China’s goal is to leverage the rise of cryptocurrency, including both domestic bitcoin mining and a state-issued digital currency, to supplant the dollar and become the world’s leading economic power. More info.
Reading
Expert opinions on whether crypto market is coming back to going away. More info.
Top fintech trends entrepreneurs must watch in 2020. More info.
Disclaimer: My posts, articles and opinions expressed here are strictly my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer or others.
