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Coinbase Launches Open Source Encryption

The library will help develop complex cryptographic techniques to meet the needs of the growing DeFi industry.

On Monday, Coinbase, the world’s fourth-largest cryptocurrency exchange by turnover, announced the creation of a new cryptography library, Kryptology, as a compendium of blockchain developer tools. This includes secure, audited, and easy-to-use APIs, as well as a repository of common issues and lessons learned throughout the history of cryptography.

Without encryption, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin would be lines of digital code that anyone can copy/paste. It would be easily replicable and falsifiable, leading to big problems like spending double the money. Recent advances include Boneh-Lynn-Shacham, or BLS, companies that senders cannot deny the validity of their transactions, ensuring that their data is securely stored. Another recent adoption is the Shamir Secret Sharing, or SSS, algorithm. The SSS shares a secret security between several participants, called shareholders, who must work together to rebuild the secret. The setup is ideal for storing private keys that have access to decentralized finance, or DeFi, smart pools and contracts that lock a large amount of money.

Then there are zero knowledge tests, ensuring that encrypted messages can be transmitted and validated without revealing underlying personal data, making them ideal for use in complex DeFi applications. Finally, designing new elliptic curves, such as Pasta, could also potentially improve cryptographic portfolios.

One of the main areas of innovation in cryptography is privacy coins, which can allow users to avoid tracking blockchain forensic signatures and prevent outsiders from seeing the details of their transactions. Law enforcement agencies have rejected this technology because of its ability to promote illicit activities.

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Croatian supermarket chain introduces cryptocurrency payments

Croatia’s biggest supermarket chain, Konzum, has announced that customers can now pay with cryptocurrencies to buy products from its online store.

Pay for groceries with encryption

The initiative was carried out in partnership with Croatian payment processor Paycek, developed by local financial technology company Electrocoin. With the new payment system, which started on December 1st, Konzum customers have the option to choose to pay with one of nine different cryptocurrencies on the store’s online retail platform. The cryptocurrencies accepted in the online store are Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ripple (XRP), Stellar (XLM), Dai (DAI), EOS (EOS), Tether (USDT) and currency of USD (USDC).

PayCek integrates cryptocurrency payment service

To pay in encryption, customers can scan a QR code after adding their items to their online cart. A confirmation of the transaction, along with an invoice from Konzum, will be emailed to the customer shortly thereafter. To counteract fluctuating cryptocurrency prices, PayCek guarantees the buyer a fixed exchange rate at the start of the transaction and provides sufficient time for successful execution. PayCek is very experienced in integrating a cryptocurrency payment module into online stores, having previously provided the same service to Croatian electric bicycle company Greyp Bikes.

The cryptocurrency payment option at Konzum is currently limited to online purchases only. However, the conglomerate plans to introduce the service even in its physical stores.

Uroš Kalinić of Konzum’s management team noted that the initiative was an attempt to stay ahead of global trends.

“As the biggest minority chain in Croatia, which in its 65 years of history is a continuous leader in the national market in terms of commercial results and technological achievements, we are proud to be leaders in another area that is rapidly developing and dictating the future.”

Cryptocurrency Retail Payments

Despite a series of regulatory turmoil, cryptocurrencies are slowly but surely making their way into mainstream retail. For example, Newegg, a large California-based e-commerce company, had already started accepting BTC as payment in 2014. Then, in early 2021, Newegg began accepting payments from Dogecoin (DOGE), shortly thereafter by Litecoin (LTC). More recently, the company made the news again, this time for including the popular Shiba Inu (SHIB) memecoin in its list of acceptable cryptocurrencies.

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US Treasury Secretary Yellen says it has not been decided whether the Fed should issue digital currency

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says she has not decided whether the Fed should issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC). “There are some benefits” to a digital dollar, Yellen said, but noted that “there are also significant costs.”

Janet Yellen hasn’t decided whether the Fed should develop a digital dollar

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday during an interview at the Reuters Next conference that no opinion has been formed on whether the Federal Reserve should create a digital dollar.

She explained that the decision would require a broad consensus between Congress, the central bank and the White House. The Secretary of the Treasury believes that more study is needed on the advantages and disadvantages of having a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the US, including its effects on the banking system. Yellen opined:

I see pros and cons in doing this. And my own opinion is not based on that.

According to the Atlantic Council’s Center for Geoeconomics, 87 countries (representing more than 90% of global GDP) are exploring a CBDC.

Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard has urged the Fed to urgently develop a digital dollar. She said in July that she cannot understand why the United States is not actively developing a digital currency for the central bank when China and other countries are. Brainard is President Joe Biden’s nominee for the position of Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Yellen, who was the 15th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018, said the US central bank is expected to release a report detailing his work on a CBDC soon. She added that the Fed understands that consensus is needed to proceed.

However, the Treasury secretary said the question of whether the Fed should develop a digital currency for the central bank was not discussed “seriously” at the White House, explaining:

This is an important decision and needs consensus. There are some benefits, but also significant costs ... It can work to disintermediate the banking system. And, you know, we have to figure out the pros and cons. I still don't have a view.

Several Federal Reserve governors fail to see the benefits of the Fed issuing a digital dollar, including Governors Michelle Bowman, Randal Quarles and Christopher Waller. “I remain skeptical that a Federal Reserve CBDC would solve the significant problems facing the US payments system,” Waller said recently.

In September, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell shared an update on the progress of the digital dollar study. He insisted that the Fed is not behind other countries in the central bank’s digital currency (CBDC).

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Fidelity Canada Launches Cash Bitcoin ETFs and Mutual Funds

Fidelity Canada successfully launched its Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) as well as the Fidelity Advantage Bitcoin ETF (mutual fund) on December 2, becoming the first of them available in the country. The funds will be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the codes FBTC for the Canadian dollar and FBTC.U for the US dollar version.

Fidelity Canada Becomes Largest Asset Manager to Launch Bitcoin ETF

Having had enough of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the agency’s blatant refusal to approve a prominent Bitcoin ETF, Fidelity Investment Inc. migrated to Canada to pursue its ETF plans, and ultimately the business was successful.

In a statement released by the company on Thursday, Fidelity Canada’s senior vice president of products and marketing, Kelly Creelman, expressed the company’s satisfaction even though the Bitcoin ETFs and ETFs began trading on the same day.

Meanwhile, this official launch comes several months after Fidelity officials had a closed-door meeting with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), seeking the green light to launch a similar product in the States. -United. However, to date, the SEC has not approved or, as has been seen in some cases, categorically rejected crypto ETFs. The reasons of the SEC mean that these products do not comply with the strict rules of mutual funds.

Meanwhile, also in November, Fidelity Canada was approved by regulators across the country to offer an institutional platform for bitcoin trading and custody.

Now, with over $ 4.2 trillion in assets managed by AUM, Fidelity Investments has perhaps become the largest asset manager to launch a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

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Bank of America sees huge opportunity in metaverse for the entire crypto ecosystem

The Bank of America strategist says the metaverse is a great opportunity where cryptocurrencies will be widely used as currencies. “I really think it’s a great opportunity,” he said.

Bank of America Metaverse Forecast

Bank of America strategist Haim Israel told Insider on Tuesday that the metaverse is a great opportunity for blockchain technology. Moreover, he hopes that the cryptocurrency will become popular.

Israel is the chief research officer at Bank of America and a global strategist. He is also Director of the Global Thematic Research Team at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He detailed:

I really think this is a great opportunity ... You need the right platforms ... it will definitely be a great opportunity for this whole ecosystem.

The Bank of America strategist predicted that the metaverse is where “we’ll start using cryptocurrencies as currencies,” pointing out that this is where people will finally start to use cryptocurrencies extensively for money. transactions.

However, the research director believes that existing cryptocurrencies are likely to be too volatile for this purpose, hoping that certain types of stable currencies will dominate.

The Metaverse gained a lot of attention in October, when social media giant Facebook changed its name to Meta. Many real estate properties on the Decentraland virtual reality platform were recently sold for $ 2.4 million, and Republic Realm paid $ 4.3 million for a property in the metaverse The Sandbox on Tuesday.

The Bank of America strategist also predicted that traditional payments companies will be much more interested in cryptocurrencies if they are widely used in the metaverse. “I see a lot of collaboration between the two,” he said.

Earlier this month, global investment bank Morgan Stanley said the metaverse is the next big investment topic. Last week, Grayscale Investments released a report indicating that the Metaverse is potentially a $ 1 trillion business opportunity.