Crypto Currency

Agriota E-Marketplace may give farmers in India more access to the UAE’s multi-billion dollar food industry. Food industry officials in the United Arab Emirates may soon have a blockchain-based supply chain to obtain agricultural products directly from India. According to an Aug. 31 report, officials in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be using Agriota E-Marketplace, a new platform that employs blockchain technology to bridge the gap between farmers in India and the nation’s food industry. Agriota reportedly provides transparency by verifying the food supply chain from Indian farms to food processing companies, traders and wholesalers in the UAE. Essentially, the platform will allow Indian farmers to connect directly with food industry firms in the UAE to offer cereal, seeds, fruits, vegetables, spices and condiments. India exported more than $1 billion of food products to the UAE in 2019, according to data from the country’s Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Deve...

Ethereum’s co-founder has taken aim at coins designed to incentivise yield farming, comparing their underlying economics to irresponsible monetary policies Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum (ETH ), has again taken to Twitter to warn against naive bullishness in the decentralized finance ( DeFi) sector, comparing the economics of yield farming tokens to the Federal Reserve’s money printing. Yield farming - providing liquidity to earn interest in the form of tokens - has taken the crypto community by storm and sparked the DeFi boom. However, Buterin highlighted the aggressive supply inflation of many governance tokens, saying this puts downward pressure on the prices of “coins that are getting printed nonstop to pay the liquidity providers.” Seriously, the sheer volume of coins that needs to be printed nonstop to pay liquidity providers in these 50-100%/year yield farming regimes makes major national central banks look like they're all run by Ron Paul. Buterin is ...

Excitement for Yearn Finance’s yETH vault has reached a fever pitch after rumors of the product’s release circulated on Twitter. Analysts predict that the imminent launch of yETH by Yearn Finance could trigger a renewed surge in buying pressure on the ETH markets. The product, which is being voted on by YFI token holders, will automatically find the highest yielding decentralized finance ( DeFi ) protocol/strategy for Ether ( ETH ) deposits. Yearn Finance’s core products are ‘vaults’ that seek the best returns for yield farmers, while also pooling funds to reduce gas fees. With Yearn’s vault purporting to guarantee the highest returns while removing the labor and research needed to maximize the profitability of yield farming, combined with hype around the brand, the yETH vault is expected to drive up demand for ETH. Some members of the crypto community speculate that guaranteed premium yields may attract capital that might have otherwise been designated for Ether staking in phase 0...

The two crypto mining operations stole almost $20,000 in electricity monthly. Officials in the Malaysian state of Johor shut down two crypto operations which had stolen more than $600,000 worth of electricity over three years.  According to a Sept. 1 report from local news site The Star, Malaysia’s Energy Commission, power utility firm Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), and local officials arrested individuals responsible for the theft of more than $600,000 in electricity used for crypto mining. The authorities raided two mining operations in the city of Iskandar Puteri. Nazlin Alim Sadikhi, a regional director with the country’s Energy Commission, said one of the crypto mining operations with 100 rigs had been operating nonstop for three years. The other setup with 48 rigs chugged along mining crypto for two years. The owners only paid $7-14 monthly for electricity, but together with the rig operators siphoned almost $20,000 worth of power monthly. “We found that illegal wiring w...

Policyholders can pay in either Bitcoin or Ether through Bitcoin Suisse. A major health insurance provider in Switzerland has made Bitcoin and Ether payments available to its policyholders. According to an Aug. 31 announcement , Atupri Health Insurance is partnering with crypto financial services company Bitcoin Suisse for its 200,000 customers to make payments using Bitcoin ( BTC ) or Ethereum ( ETH ). Atupri, based in Bern, will not be holding any digital assets itself, but rather just receiving fiat payments in Swiss francs once the BTC or ETH is exchanged by Bitcoin Suisse. The insurance company — with roughly $887 million in annual sales as of 2019 — will have customers paying for any fees associated with mining.  “As digital pioneers in the healthcare sector, we anticipate social trends and offer insurance solutions with long-term prospects, said Caroline Meli, Head of Marketing and Sales at Atupri. “Blockchain technology and the associated use of cryptocurrencies are bec...

Bitcoin and altcoins have bounced off their range lows, but they are likely to encounter resistance at higher levels. The U.S. stock market is on track to clock its best August performance since 1984 . Meanwhile, Bitcoin ( BTC ) is attempting a positive close for the month after having declined consecutively in August 2018 and August 2019. However, gold futures and the U.S. dollar index (DXY) have not been in favor, as both could end the month in the red. Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a 5% stake each in five leading Japanese trading companies, and just a few days back, the company announced that it had a stake in a gold mining company. Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360 Max Keiser of the Keiser report believes that these recent purchases by Berkshire are an indication that Buffett is diversifying away from the dollar. Hence, Keiser expects Bitcoin, gold and silver to make new all-time-highs in the near term. While anything is possible in the markets, d...

Programmable privacy is about to become a reality. Open-source Blockchain protocol Secret Network announced its intention to add privacy-based secret contracts to its mainnet. The upgrade will take place on September 15 once the proposal is passed by the community. According to the foundation’s announcement , developers will have the opportunity to build and deploy so-called “secret” smart contracts that use encrypted inputs, outputs, and states. Secret contracts could enable many different blockchains to utilize private data in decentralized apps without compromising their user’s personal security. The foundation explained: “Secret contracts allow for programmable privacy, allowing for arbitrarily complex data privacy controls to be implemented inside applications. The flexible encryption capabilities and controls offered by programmable privacy unlock the potential value of the decentralized web.” Secret Network is focusing on onboarding new secret contract developers, secre...

Crypto wallet app Klever will allow users to stake cryptos in Cred’s staking programs from within the wallet. Cryptocurrency wallet platform Klever will allow users to stake Bitcoin ( BTC ), Ether ( ETH ), Tron (TRX) and other cryptocurrencies in Cred’s staking programs from within the wallet. Cred is a cryptocurrency staking and lending platform that allows users from across 190 countries to lend their cryptocurrency funds in return for monthly rewards in stablecoins, cryptos and fiat currencies.  The new feature will allow Klever users to opt for any of the staking programs listed on Cred in return for monthly rewards. Once the in-app staking goes live, it will allow users to stake Bitcoin, Ether, and Tron without having to hold any minimum threshold.  Users will also be able to choose whether they prefer to receive the monthly interests in ERC-20 stablecoins or other cryptocurrencies such as BTC, ETH, TRX, Chainlink (LINK) and Basic Attention Token (BAT). Both compani...

A vastly improved gross margin on sales contributed to a reduction in net loss of over 90% compared to figures from a year ago. Bitcoin mining rig manufacturer Canaan on Aug. 31 released its unaudited financial results for the second quarter of 2020. While gross profit was up both year on year and quarter on quarter, the company still posted a net loss, albeit one which has narrowed significantly in the last twelve months. The amount of computing power sold in its application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) hardware was 2.6 million THash/s. This represents an increase of almost 200% on Q1 figures of 0.9 million THash/s, but is an 18.2% drop on figures from the previous year. Revenues were also up 160% on last quarter, but down a quarter from last year, at RMB 178.1 million ($25.2 million). However, gross profit of RMB 43.3 million ($6.1 million) was up over 300% year on year, and over 1,700% on figures from Q1. This was accompanied by a significant increase in gross margin f...

Ethereum price soared above the $400 resistance recently, kickstarting what could be a powerful rally to $500. As the price of Ethereum’s native digital currency Ether ( ETH ) has been showing massive strength recently, the path seems to be continuing toward new highs. Ether price ran from $220 to $445 in the previous five weeks and this is one of the biggest surges for the altcoin in the past 18 months.  However, as the rally didn’t provide many opportunities for laggards to hop on the train, is $500 the next target for Ether? Let’s examine the technical setup.  Crypto market daily performance. Source: Coin360 Ether flips crucial level for support fueling bullish momentum As Ether broke through the magical barrier of $340-360 as crucial resistance, it was crucial for the bulls to flip this area into a new support zone.  ETH/USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView The chart proves this level’s significance, as the $340-$360 zone became support throughout the previ...

Hacktivist Bitcoin developer Amir Taaki took aim at Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin on Twitter recently for essentially writing off smart contracts inventor Nick Szabo as a right-wing crank. Taaki wrote that this sort of attitude was typical of an “Eth[ereum] culture which is about sparkling burner parties, privileged digital nomads, microdosing LSD, sex orgies and […] Hacktivist Bitcoin developer Amir Taaki took aim at Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin on Twitter recently for essentially writing off smart contracts inventor Nick Szabo as a right-wing crank. Taaki wrote that this sort of attitude was typical of an Eth[ereum] culture which is about sparkling burner parties, privileged digital nomads, microdosing LSD, sex orgies and social-justice / vague doing-good. Pretty much everyone had the same initial thought: Why arent I getting invited to these parties? But Taakis comments also highlighted the political divisions between Ethereum and Bitcoin. Is it really as simple...

The Sage of Omaha is getting out of the world’s reserve currency, Max Keiser claims, and that’s a prelude to Bitcoin hitting a new record. The U.S. dollar is getting so weak that even Warren Buffett is getting out and Bitcoin ( BTC ) will see all-time highs, says Max Keiser . In his latest forecast for macro, the RT host warned that safe havens would seriously outperform fiat. Buffett, he implied, knew what was coming. Keiser: Buffett “getting out of USD” “Buffett’s move into Japan, along with his GOLD investment, confirms he’s getting out of USD BIGLY,” Keiser wrote on Twitter Monday.  “USD is trending lower today, about to break key support. Bitcoin - Gold - Silver Will all make new ATH in the near term.” He was referring to Buffett’s move into Japanese assets, taking a 5% stake in the country’s five biggest trading houses in a move which totals $6 billion, Reuters reports. “The five major trading companies have many joint ventures throughout the world and are likely...

Major crypto exchanges are consolidating smaller, niche services to expand their overall market reach. The past few months have seen a number of major crypto companies facilitate some serious big-money acquisitions. For example, on Aug. 25, blockchain software firm ConsenSys bought out JP Morgan’s enterprise-variant of the Ethereum blockchain Quorum . Similarly, earlier this year, global cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced that it was acquiring CoinMarketCap, one of the most referenced crypto data websites. In this regard, crypto derivatives exchange FTX, too, announced on Aug. 26 that it had recently come to an agreement with Blockfolio to take over the digital asset portfolio tracker for a total sum of $150 million. But a pertinent question that FTX’s latest acquisition raises is: What will happen to all of Blockfolio’s existing user data, and should users be wary of their holdings being disclosed to tax authorities? Cointelegraph reached out to Ian Balina, the founder a...

Crypto needs financial products — simply positioned and simply transparent — to preserve and grow people’s assets in difficult times. With the COVID-19 crisis showing no signs of abating in the United States, central banks around the world have deployed financial airbags in the form of quantitative easing , and they plan to do a lot more. Modern Monetary Theory has taken center stage, and we are witnessing it in action. It’s a sight that will leave you awestruck: like witnessing the financial version of the first atomic explosion of Los Alamos and the Manhattan Project.  What is going on with the world’s economy is unprecedented. We are entering completely new and uncharted territories, and all bets are off with respect to inflation/deflation. How will different asset classes react to the stimulus? Will we see price inflation, price stability or chaos? No one knows. One thing is certain: More absurdity is surely in store, and one should keep their wits about them and pay close ...