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​​Mastercard Patent Claims Cryptocurrency Can Benefit From Fractional Reserve Banking


U.S. multinational financial services corporation Mastercard wants to apply principles of fractional reserve banking to cryptocurrency, a new patent application published Thursday, Oct. 25 reveals.

According to the document, published by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), the payment processor has plans to allow merchants to interact with what it calls “blockchain currencies” via a new method of simultaneous crypto and fiat storage.

Specifically, reference is made to “methods for managing fractional reserves of blockchain currency.”

Mastercard has offered a mixed public stance on cryptocurrency in recent years, this month winning a further blockchain-related patent, while signalling along with Visa it may classify cryptocurrency and ICOs as “high risk.”

In its new filing, the company appears to wish to apply principles of the fiat banking system, which it considers “are specially designed and configured to safely store and protect consumer and merchant information and credentials.” The patent filing continues:

“...The use of traditional payment networks and payment systems technologies in combination with blockchain currencies may provide consumers and merchants the benefits of the decentralized blockchain while still maintaining security of account information and provide a strong defense against fraud and theft.”

The concept may take some commentators by surprise, as fractional reserve banking – where there is not proof that a lender has the funds which correspond to a customer’s promised holdings – already has a transparent solution in Bitcoin.

Noble Bank, the former main reserve bank for cryptographic stablecoin Tether (USDT), notionally pegged to the U.S. dollar, had claimed it did not use fractional reserve and could prove it had one dollar for each USDT token, though the stablecoin project has avoided going through a public audit.

Taiwan Will Issue Draft ICO Rules By June 2019, Regulator Says


Taiwan plans to release draft Initial Coin Offering (ICO) regulation by June 2019, local English-language daily news outlet Taipei Times reported Tuesday

The publication quoted plans from Wellington Koo, chairman of Taiwanese finance regulator — the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) — who was speaking at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan Finance Committee.

“The more we regulate, the more this new economic behavior wanes,” he told members of the meeting on Oct. 22.

ICOs have created tension throughout international jurisdictions keen on avoiding consumer exposure to fraud. Locally, mainland China has banned the practice altogether, a move which has also been in force in South Korea since September of last year, but which may now see a reversal.

Last October, however, Taiwan conversely opted not to directly regulate either cryptocurrency or ICOs, while in April of this year authorities confirmed they would use existing anti-money laundering (AML) legislation to govern the industry.

Despite Koo’s statement on ICO regulation, Taiwan nonetheless does not plan on “curbing the creativity and productivity associated with cryptocurrencies,” the Taipei Times continued, provided they do not constitute securities.

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​​Blockchain Investor Vinny Lingham: ‘Bitcoin Threatens Gov’ts’ Ability to Make Money’


Bockhain entrepreneur and industry advisor Vinny Lingham told Cointelegraph in an interview Oct. 21 that cryptocurrency prices will surge again, but it will take some time.

Speaking with CT during the Money20/20 conference Sunday, Lingham – also the CEO of Blockchainidentity startup Civic – stated that cryptocurrency markets need time to regain previous volumes, arguing that the market’s priorities have shifted:

“Now the world is waiting for utility, when people will actually start to use the cryptocurrencies.”

Lingham also said that governments globally are poised to push back against Bitcoin (BTC), as “it threatens their ability to make money.”

The investor also added that central bank-issued cryptocurrencies are imminent:
“Every country will issue their own cryptocurrencies. Many countries will. And that will become interesting. And that is going to happen.”

“Sometimes it’s just simple as time,” Lingham concluded the interview.
Back in June 2017, Lingham had made a statement that Bitcoin was “better money” than Ethereum (ETH).

In May 2017, Lingham, made a similar prediction to this week’s, asking the crypto community “to be patient” for Bitcoin’s price to grow – which it subsequently did manyfold.

Online Bank Swissquote Enters ICO Market With Purchase and Custody Option for Clients

Swiss online financial services provider Swissquote announced it had become “the first bankworldwide” to offer purchase and custodial services of (Initial Coin Offering) ICO tokens for clients

Swissquote, which has offered various cryptocurrency-related services to account holders since 2016, began its latest service by allowing them to purchase ICO tokens from industrial diamond manufacturer LakeDiamond.

Explaining the move, the bank said it was now no longer necessary for ICO consumers to “understand blockchain.”

“Combining crowdfunding with the blockchain creates a new form of fundraising,” CEO Mark Buerki commented.

The service will work via Swissquote users purchasing tokens directly from their online account, with the bank itself holding them in a separate wallet.

It remains unknown which further ICOs will be endorsed under the scheme.

The ICO industry has suffered at the hands of the ongoing 2018 bear market across cryptocurrencies meanwhile, with many tokens now worth less than their initial entry price.

Data from Diar released in September noted some of the worst losses extended even to famous names such as Bancor and Kin.

The sector is not done, however, with last week also seeing Russia’s largest majority state-owned bank Sberbank confirming it had completed a mock ICO as part of a regulatory sandbox trial.
Once sufficient ICO regulations are in place, the banking giant said in a press release Oct.19 that it would consider expanding its ICO services for its clients.

​​Malta: Two-Thirds Fail Crypto Agent Exam Despite Authorities’ Attempts to Ease Process

Almost two-thirds of those taking Malta’s cryptocurrency agent certification have failed, despite examiners’ last-minute changes to ease the marking scheme

Since the Virtual Financial Assets Act (VFA) came into effect last November, the exam, as well as a training course, has been mandatory for all those looking to work as “agents” in the crypto sector.

“Agents” here refers to practitioners such as lawyers, accountants, and auditors who may want to liaise between Initial Coin Offering (ICO) operators, or other cryptocurrency vendors, and the island’s watchdog, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA).

According to the Times of Malta, around 250 people took the exam, which entailed a series of multiple choice questions and was initially graded with “a negative marking scheme.” After recognizing the percentage of successful candidates was set to be “extremely low,” the examiners reportedly made a last minute decision to revise the assessment scheme. Nonetheless, the pass rate eventually transpired to be 39 percent.

The Times of Malta further reports that the assessment process, as well as the impromptu marking scheme change, has left many prospective practitioners “frustrated.” Alongside individuals, the VFA accreditation is required of any businesses seeking to provide crypto asset services, including investment advice or portfolio management; notably, it is essential for the compliant conduct of any ICO — through token issuance, sale, and trading — on the island.

The exam’s coordinator, the Institute of Financial Service Practitioners, has reportedly declined to comment on the matter.

The Times of Malta cites an MSFA “consultation document” reportedly from early September that is said to have stated it had “become evident that certain industry players are not sufficiently prepared to register as VFA agents,” advising of the “need to address an existing expectations gap, particularly in view of the inherent risks of this sector.”

Due to this, the watchdog reportedly proposed introducing higher capital requirements and regulatory fees as part of its VFA assessment, alongside mandatory “continuous professional education” and the passing of the written certification.

Malta has earned a strong reputation for having a robust and transparent crypto regulatory climate, landing it the moniker of “Blockchain Island.” The VFA Act was passed in July 2018 as part of a broader crypto and blockchain regulatory framework that included the Digital Innovation Authority Act and the Innovative Technological Arrangement and Services Act.

Also in July, Cointelegraph reported that the world-renowned Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) examination had added cryptocurrency and blockchain to the curriculum, as part of a new section called “Fintech in Investment Management” in its 2019 exam.

​​Blockchain Startup Offering ‘Dynamic Fees’ To Help Users Save Money On Transactions


A blockchain-driven startup believes that blockchain technology has the potential to be more than a “one trick pony designed for investors” – setting the objective of creating cutting-edge technology for fast transactions, and delivering “practical services for real people.”

According to ARK, its entire ecosystem has been built around encouraging the mass adoption of cryptocurrency through a user-friendly platform. The company says its team is determined to ease consumers into blockchain by creating easy-to-use tools and products that gradually increase awareness and general knowledge about the opportunities that blockchain technology provides.

Among ARK’s distinctive features is a development called SmartBridge, which enables its blockchain to interact with any other popular networks, including Bitcoin and Ethereum. “Continuous risk analysis and internal recurring penetration testing is constantly being carried out” to assuage fears about security.

Overall, the company hopes to make blockchain creation and adoption as easy as making a website with Wordpress.

Desktop, mobile, and hardware wallets

ARK believes one of its strengths is its easy-to-use wallets. Syncless, paving the way for “very fast” transactions, they are compatible with all ARK based blockchains and can be customized with plugins and personalized to fit users. Ledger Nano hardware has been built into the wallets for added security.

A major hurdle to cryptocurrencies becoming more popular in public circles has been the risk of transactions being delayed because of congested systems. ARK says its network resolves this by being “one of the fastest in the industry” – with block times being completed in just eight seconds.

ARK also believes that it has managed to protect itself against any potential issues when it comes toscalability in the future. Through the SmartBridge functionality, the platform says it is “able to offload non-essential functions to hundreds of parallel chains.” Therefore, making the team believe that this paves the way “for great scalability, while keeping the main ARK blockchain lean and fast.”

The power of dynamic fees

Another concept put forward by the ARK Network is dynamic fees. This makes ARK the first DPoS based blockchain to achieve this feat, the company says. Here, the speed with which a transaction is processed will hinge upon how much the consumer is willing to pay in terms of fees. The startup hopes that this will deliver financial flexibility to the community without detracting from a “seamless user experience” – and the platform says it will be reviewing this feature’s progress and make tweaks wherever necessary. In short, it means someone who needs their crypto in a hurry can jump to the front of the queue by paying a higher fee, while someone watching their pennies can pay less for transfers as long as they are willing to wait a little longer for it to be processed.

ARK’s website comes complete with detailed updates of how far along it has come in completing certain milestones – as well as providing a due date. For example, at the time of this writing, it was 84 percent through a “total overhaul” of the ARK Core – paving the way for a plethora of new features, including a higher number of transactions per second. It is expected to be released later in October or early November.

The Augur Oracle Platform Is Preparing for Its First Large-Scale Update

On October 5, representatives of the Augur decentralized platform reported on their readiness for the first update of the system. The developers have launched “indicative planned changes” for the deployment of Augur v2, which will be simplified from a technical point of view.

​​Kenyan Gov’t to Use Blockchain in New Affordable Housing Project


Kenya’s government plans to deploy blockchain technology to manage a government housing project of 500,000 units

Within the affordable housing program the government of Kenya reportedly aims to build 500,000 units by 2022, and assist contributors earning less than 100,000 Kenyan Shillings ($992) as they cannot afford mortgages. According to the Star, out of the 2.48 million Kenyans employed in 2016 only 77,000, or 3.1 percent, earned over Sh100,000.

The Star reports that blockchain technology will be used to ensure the proper distribution of housing to deserving participants in the program and address issues of graft from both legislators and beneficiaries.

Per the report, the government hopes that the new technology will reestablish public trust in the government’s housing initiatives, following the National Youth Service scandal, in which 40 civil servants and 14 private sector officials were arrested for looting $78 million from the project's coffers.

Speaking at the second urban dialogue on the affordable housing agenda with the World Bank in Nairobi, Housing and Urban development Principal Secretary Charles Hinga said:

“Kenya will use blockchain technology to ensure the rightful owners live in government funded housing projects.”

The project will reportedly be financed by the National Housing Fund under the Finance Act of 2018, to which Kenyans will contribute 1.5 percent of their salary that will be matched by their employers.

This is not the first attempt to employ blockchain in Kenya on the governmental level. Recently, Kenyan Distributed Ledgers and Artificial Intelligence task force chairman Bitange Ndemo said that the government should consider tokenizing the economy to deal with “increasing” rates of corruption and uncertainties. This move, according to Ndemo, would have the government print less hard currency.

In June, “decentralized liquidity network” Bancor in partnership with non-profit foundation Grassroots Economics launched a network of blockchain-based community currencies in Kenya aimed at combating poverty. The project seeks to stimulate local and regional commerce and peer-to-peer activity by enabling Kenyan communities to create and manage their own digital tokens.
While blockchain- and token-based projects are being implemented in the country, the Central Bank of Kenya’s (CBK) is wary toward cryptocurrencies. In April, the CBK issued a circular to all banks in the country, warning them against dealing with crypto or engaging in transactions with crypto-related entities.

Harvard, Stanford, MIT Endowments All Invest in Crypto Funds


Multiple Ivy League and other prestigious U.S. universities are said to have made investments into “at least” one cryptocurrency fund. The report was published by the technology news site

Citing an unnamed source, the Information reported that the multi-billion endowments of Harvard University, Stanford University, Dartmouth College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the University of North Carolina had all invested capital in the crypto space. This is “a sign of the asset class’ growing acceptance among institutional investors,” the source said.

Harvard’s endowment is reported to have hit $39.2 billion during the fiscal year 2018, making it “by far the largest university endowment across the globe.” In the wealthiest U.S. college rankings for the previous fiscal year, both Stanford and MIT’s endowments scored within the top ten – fourth and sixth respectively – with Dartmouth College and the University of North Carolina also appearing in the top twenty five.

As reported last week, fellow Ivy League titan Yale has also just been revealed to be a crypto investor. The college is said to have been one of those that helped to raise $400 million for a new crypto-focused fund created by Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam, former Sequoia Capital partner Matt Huang, and Charles Noyes, formerly of stalwart crypto fund Pantera Capital.

With news that the world’s leading academic players are backing the emerging asset class, a host of top international universities have also been contributing to skill acquisition in the space by offering blockchain, smart contract, and cryptocurrency-related courses. Institutions such as Cambridge University have conducted substantial research into the crypto-finance field, and Swiss university Lucerne even accepts Bitcoin payments for tuition fees.

Mastercard Awarded Patent for Partitioned, Multi-Currency Blockchain


Mastercard has been awarded a patent for a method to partition a blockchain, making it capable of storing multiple transaction types and formats. The patent filing was published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on Oct. 9.

The document explains that in current blockchain systems, the transaction records stored in the different blocks that comprise a blockchain are “often required to be of the same format and include the same types, and sometimes even sizes, of data.”

This means that any entity that wants to use multiple types of blockchains — whether ones that support different cryptocurrencies, or ones with varying degrees of permissioned or open access — is forced to operate many different blockchains at once.

Mastercard notes that this consumes “significant” resources and computing processing power, which is the impetus for finding an alternative solution.

The patent proposes that using a “partitioned blockchain” could resolve this problem, outlining the particulars of how block-generation and transaction data storage would work in the prospective system. It coins the term “subnet” for the proposed partitions, which would be internally consistent but would interact in a wider, single system.

The patent continues to outline that “a partitioned blockchain may include transaction records for three different subnets, where the transaction records associated with each respective subnet may be formatted differently and may involve the transfer of a different cryptographic currency as associated with each subnet.”

As previously reported, Mastercard has filed a high number of blockchain-related patents. This summer, the company proposed a new method for linking assets between blockchain-based and fiat currency accounts, based on using a public (permissionless) blockchain. In the spring, it filed a patent for a system to speed up the activation of new nodes in a blockchain, as well as for a blockchain system to combat identity theft.

Dubai Government-Backed Digital Currency Will Get Its Own Payment System


Consumers in Dubai will soon be able to use digital currency to pay for goods, services, and utilities following a new government partnership, a press release confirms Tuesday, Oct. 9.

The deal between emcredit, a subsidiary of the Dubai Department of Economic Development, blockchain payment provider Pundi X, and its partner Ebooc Fintech & Loyalty Labs LLC will facilitate point of sale (PoS) payments in emcredit’s emcash currency.

Ebooc will provide PoS terminals for in-store payments, while Pundi X plans to roll out 100,000 units globally over the next three years, the press release notes.

Emcash is pegged to the United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s fiat currency, the dirham.

“We … envisage consumers in Dubai being able to make real time payments using Dubai's digital currency for all their payment needs for shopping, paying for government fees etc,” Abdalla Al Shamsi, CEO DFP and co-founder of Ebooc commented in the press release.

Dubai continues to position itself as a blockchain innovator at state level, with multiple schemes ongoing as part of its goal of becoming a fully blockchain-powered city by 2020.

Plans to roll out emcash first surfaced in September last year, Cointelegraph reported, with full details of the payment network to follow later this financial year.

Pundi X, meanwhile, became the focus of unwanted attention in June after hackers stole 2.6 billion of its NPXS tokens from South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Coinrail. In July, Bancor announceda security breach resulting in the loss of another 300,000 Pundi X tokens.

Venezuela Mandates Passport Fees Must Be Paid in Controversial Cryptocurrency Petro📋


Venezuelans can only use the state-backed cryptocurrency, the Petro, to pay for passport fees starting next week, the country’s vice president Delcy Rodriguez said in a press conference Friday, Oct. 5.

Ahead of Petro’s official “launch” in November, Rodriguez confirmed that as of Monday, Oct. 8, fees for all passport applications will only be payable in Petro, and will cost an increased amount: 2 petros for a new passport and 1 petro for an extension.

The average monthly minimum wage in Venezuela, Bloomberg reports, is four times less than the cost of the raised passport fee.  

“In the case of Venezuelans who are abroad, until the first day of November the cost will be $200 for issuance and $100 for extensions,” Rodriguez stated, according to leading Latin American newspaper El Universal.

Venezuela has sought to combat the side-effects of rampant inflation and a failing economy by embracing the use of cryptocurrency to circumvent capital controls.

As Cointelegraph reported, Petro, President Nicolas Maduro’s purported solution to the country’s economic crisis, has consistently courted controversy, with accusations last week claiming its developers copied the whitepaper of altcoin Dash.

Along with the passport fees shake-up, Rodriguez also announced the formation of a dedicated migration police force, ostensibly designed “to preserve citizen security and migratory control.”
Bloomberg notes that around 5,000 citizens flee Venezuela each day.

What If the Cryptocurrency Rally Does (Not) Happen before the End of the Year?

What awaits the cryptocurrency market in the last weeks of the outgoing 2018? October has come, and, as the chief analyst for ThinkMarkets U.K. Naeem Aslam noted, the current situation resembles the beginning of the 2017 bull market. Even the fact that Bitcoin is struggling to break through resistance levels at $6,800 and $7,000 at the beginning of October while keeping the support line at $6,000 is very similar to what it was 12 months ago. Then, Bitcoin cost a little more than $3,000, and in the end, soared to a level of $20,085 on December 17.

Have the DEXs Fallen before Regulators?

Centralized, decentralized, hybrid, and so on. The choice of crypto exchanges today is broad, but it is not simple. Traditionally, the most obvious difference between CEX and DEX was controllability of the regulator. Centralized sites sought to improve relations with the SEC, sacrificing user comfort, while decentralized defended privacy. A new player, however, the decentralized Everbloom exchange, which has already established relations with several financial regulators, wants to break this balance of forces.

⚙️Coinbase’s Institutional Platform Head Leaves Firm After Five Years


Leading U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase has announced that veteran employee Adam White, head of its institutional platform group, is leaving the firm

Adam White was reportedly Coinbase’s fifth-ever employee, joining “in 2013 when the founders were still working out of a one-bedroom apartment and Bitcoin was trading around $200,” as Bloomberg notes. Prior to his work at Coinbase, he reportedly served in the U.S. Air Force and received an MBA from Harvard Business School.

For his most recent post, White served as Coinbase’s vice president and general manager of the institutional business. As of spring 2018, the exchange has been rolling out a series of products targeted at major institutional clients – including custodian services and an Index Fund – which Coinbase considers could “unlock $10 billion of institutional investor money sitting on the sideline.”

While White reportedly declined to comment on his departure, a company spokesperson told Bloomberg that:

“While we’re extremely sad to see him go, we’re also confident in that group’s ability to keep executing on the vision that he laid out to be the most trusted venue for institutional investors to trade cryptocurrencies.”

CEO Brian Armstrong gave his comment, saying:

“Over the past five years, Adam helped us build our exchange business into the largest U.S.-based crypto-trading venue, and was integral to growing Coinbase’s global presence and scaling our culture to multiple offices.”

Coinbase announced Oct. 3 that Jonathan Kellner, former chief executive officer of Instinet, is joining as a managing director of the exchange’s institutional business.

There has been a wave of new talent joining the San Francisco-based exchange, which recent reports have suggested could soon be valued at $8 billion. This week, Coinbase announced that Chris Dodds, a member of the board at Charles Schwab, would be joining the exchange’s board.

In late September, the company hired former Fannie Mae General Counsel Brian Brooks as its new Chief Legal Officer; former Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft employee Tim Wagner also joined Coinbase as vice president of engineering this summer.

Ultimatum to Congress from the Crypto Industry: Who Will Prevail?

It seems that American crypto enthusiasts have run out of patience with respect to a clearly unregulated legislative base. More than 50 industry leaders gathered at the invitation of Congressman Warren Davidson to discuss this issue. The roundtable was attended by representatives of Nasdaq, Fidelity, Andreessen Horowitz, State Street, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

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