Image of The Day, 18 of October: The Verge, Motley Fool, Reuters and Others
We're presenting "the image of the day". Bitnewstoday.com has chosen the most important news about the digital economy and virtual currencies. Only the most valuable stories from only the trusted sources. Each and every event from this list will change the world of the digital economy either way. The most important stories of this day in the most indicative quotes are below!
1. CRYPTOLAND (The Next Web)
TicketMaster discovers blockchain, buys Ethereum-powered app
TicketMaster, the most globally recognized company in events ticketing, has given into the hype and bought a startup specializing in blockchain-based ticketing solutions.
Announced today, TicketMaster now owns Upgraded Inc., an American software firm responsible for creating a nifty smartphone app that authenticates event tickets using Ethereum technology. Essentially, Upgraded generates dynamic barcodes powered by smart contracts, which venues and ticket-holders can scan to ensure they don’t fall victim to scalpers and other fraudsters.
2. FAKE NEWS (Blokt)
Fake news site uses pictures of New Zealand's Prime Minister to promote cryptocurrencies on Facebook.
The fake news nuisance is growing by the day where pictures and even deep-fakes are used to manipulate audiences. A new fake news controversy related to digital currencies has unveiled in New Zealand. A fake news ad campaign run on Facebook was using the pictures of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to promote digital currencies. The ads suggested that the New Zealand Treasury is investing half of its wealth in a new Bitcoin start-up.
The ads were reported to the government by news website Stuff. The office of the Prime Minister then reported these ads to Facebook, and they were taken down. The ads were used to target different age groups in New Zealand and featured captions like “Every Kiwi aged between 30 and 45 must NOT miss this.” These ads included a picture of PM Ardern, along with a photo of US president Donald Trump or some money.
3. GOLDMAN AND NOVO (Bloomberg)
Goldman wades deeper in crypto, betting on BitGo with billionaire Mike Novogratz
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and a venture founded by one of its former partners, billionaire Mike Novogratz, are investing in cryptocurrency custodian BitGo Holdings Inc., as the bank’s deep-pocketed clients keep asking about secure ways to hold those assets.
Combined, Goldman Sachs and Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital Ventures contributed about $15 million to BitGo’s Series B fundraising, which brought in a total of $58.5 million, the startup said Thursday. The endorsement from two firms with strong Wall Street roots may help BitGo attract more institutions and wealthy investors as customers.
4. CIVIL MYSTERY (The Verge)
No one knows what Civil’s failed token sale means
Yesterday, the world’s most ambitious media blockchain company had a very public embarrassment. It was the last day of a public token sale for the Civil Foundation, a media project using blockchain to launch a new generation of ad-free media startups.
But when it came time to sell the token at the center of it all, the project came up short. Civil had initially planned to raise as much as $24 million, and pledged to return the money if it raised less than $8 million. In the final accounting, less than $1.5 million was spent on tokens, more than $1 million of it coming from Civil’s direct investors at ConsenSys.
5. ELON MUSK EMBRACES CRYPTO (Daily Hodl)
Elon Musk enters the world of crypto: accepts Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin at The Boring Company
Elon Musk has officially entered the world of cryptocurrency, with the entrepreneur’s startup The Boring Company now accepting Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin.
Founded in 2016, The Boring Company’s mission is to eliminate traffic in major cities by creating a web of underground tunnels that provide a new way to rapidly move from one place to another. With the company building its first test tunnel in Los Angeles, Musk decided to sell a line of unique items promoting the venture, including hats and the now-infamous “Not-A-Flamethrower.”
6. A DEAL GONE WRONG (TV2)
A Norwegian man was brutally stabbed to death shortly after completing an in-person cash-for-Bitcoin exchange
According to Norwegian news organization TV 2, the stabbing occurred on Monday morning at the 24-year-old victim’s apartment in Majorstuen, an affluent neighborhood in Oslo, likely between 7:50 am and 12:10 pm — when one of his roommates discovered the crime scene.
Sources within the Oslo police department told TV 2 that the murder victim had completed a Bitcoin trade shortly before the tragic incident and that others within his social circle were aware of his cryptocurrency dealings. Grete LIen Metlid, the leader of the Oslo police department’s head of intelligence and investigations unit, told the publication that investigators were aware of a tip involving a possible Bitcoin connection, but he declined to elaborate further.
7. GOT TO GET A GRIP! (Motley Fool)
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and Bitcoin Cash are sinking again
It has been a soft 24 hours of trade for the crypto market with small declines being seen across the board. This has led to the market shedding 0.5% of its value over the period to US$210.6 billion according to Coin Market Cap.
The market had been given a major lift earlier in the week when Fidelity announced the launch of its Fidelity Digital Asset Services business which will handle cryptocurrency custody and trade execution for institutional investors. But since then momentum has slowed and prices have started to fall back again.
8. TO KILL AN ETHEREUM (The Next Web)
Tencent and Huawei lead Chinese companies in building coinless “Ethereum-killer”
A consortium backed by major Chinese corporations Tencent and Huawei will debut its new open source “blockchain ecosystem” FISCO BCOS at the Singapore Fintech Festival next month. BCOS is geared towards providing enterprise-grade distributed ledger (DLT) solutions. Much like the Ethereum-based Hyperledger Fabric, it is completely coinless.
This makes BCOS more of a set application templates geared towards businesses looking to adopt DLTs than a single “traditional” blockchain. Behind the new platform is China’s Financial Blockchain Shenzhen Consortium (FISCO) task force, which features more than 100 members, spearheaded by major financial players like WeBank, Tencent Cloud, and Shenzen Securities Communication.
9. HACKED’N’SPAMMED (Reuters)
Navigating cryptocurrency “wild west”
When Peggy and Marco Lachmann-Anke learned in January that hackers cracked a 40-character password and cleaned out their cryptocurrency wallet, they did not go to the police or alert the tokens’ issuer, the Berlin-based technology group IOTA. They just bought more coins.
The Cyprus-based German couple, who describe themselves as financial educators, figured they had no chance of recovering the coins and it was not even clear who might take up their case. Yet they took the roughly $14,000 loss in stride — something that comes with the territory when one bets on a new, exciting technology in a yet unregulated market.
10. A NEW BEGINNING (Blokt)
The Internet and Mobile Association of India has formed a new committee to push the blockchain technology
The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) announced on Oct. 15 through a Twitter post that it is forming a blockchain committee to work with the government and stakeholders to identify opportunities and challenges and develop the ecosystem.
The Indian government has shown a not-so-convincing attitude toward the positive regulation of cryptocurrencies. This comes after an impending court case on the ban of cryptocurrencies has been dragging for too long, with no clear sign of when or how it will end.