Image of The Day, 29 of August: Fortune, News.Bitcoin, Bloomberg, and Others
We're presenting “image of the day”. Bitnewstoday.com has chosen only the freshest and 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 of today's stories in most indicative quotes are below!
1. A STABLE EXCHANGE (Fortune)
Cryptocurrency Exchanges Back $32 Million StableCoin Project
Crypto giant Binance and three other big exchanges are joining together to fund Terra, a new initiative to get consumers to adopt digital money by using a so-called “stable coin.” To pursue the idea, Terra and its Korean-American founders have raised $32 million from the exchanges and from blockchain-focused investment funds, including Polychain Capital.
While Terra is hardly the only stable coin project out there, it contains a twist: Terra is partnering with a number of eCommerce ventures in Asia to encourage consumers to use the currency.
2. PLAYING BALL FOR CRYPTO (Forbes)
Italian football club makes history after becoming first to be purchased in cryptocurrency
Italian Serie C football club Rimini FC 1912 has become the first team in history to be purchased in the cryptocurrency. Quantocoin, which uses the blockchain-technology to provide an alternative crypto-payment method for investors, now owns 25% of the side. The Gibraltar-based firm made the purchase in its cryptocurrency of the same name.
According to Pablo Dana, a partner at Quantocoin, the purchase will be the first of many that his firm wants to make in the industry. He believes the cryptocurrency offers a unique opportunity to fight corruption in a sport which has been rocked by a number of high-profile scandals involving cash, such as the accusation that Qatar bought votes as they won the right to host the World Cup in 2022.
3. WELCOME TO THE COLORADO (News.Bitcoin)
Colorado Investigating Three Cryptocurrency Firms
The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies is investigating three cryptocurrency firms for promoting unregistered initial coin offerings in the state. The investigations are a part of a growing trend of fraudulent companies looking to make quick money. All three firms failed to show up at a hearing to present evidence as ordered by the Commissioner.
“As a part of an investigation into what has become a trend of allegedly fraudulent companies looking to make quick money,” the agencies announced on Monday that “Colorado securities commissioner Gerald Rome has signed orders to show cause for three cryptocurrency companies”.
4. BITCOIN HOTEL (The Next Web)
Hackers sell data of 130 million Chinese hotel guests on the dark web for 8 Bitcoin
It seems that China’s crackdown on cryptocurrencies doesn’t extend to the infamous dark web. A hacker is selling the personal data of over 130 million individuals for 8 BTC ($56,776 at press time) on a Chinese dark web forum, technology publication Bleeping Computer reports.
According to the local media that spotted the dark web advertisement, the hacker is selling more than 240 million records belonging to 130 million clients that include phone numbers, email addresses, bank accounts and hotel booking details. The total data is roughly 141.5 GB in size.
5. CHINESE COPY (Bloomberg)
How Chinese Technology Grew to Rival Silicon Valley
Despite starting years behind the U.S. in developing a technology industry, China now boasts some of the world’s biggest companies in the field. There’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. with its mammoth e-commerce operations, Tencent Holdings Ltd. and its WeChat social network with 1 billion users, and Baidu Inc. with its stranglehold on the Internet search. As those companies look beyond the domestic market for their next leg of growth, China’s government is eyeing a leading global role in industries such as artificial intelligence.
The country’s political hierarchy has set its sights on becoming a world leader in a number of key technological industries through its “Made in China 2025” program. As a part of that plan, the government is putting in billions of dollars’ worth of investment to build up its semiconductor industry and reduce its reliance on foreign supplies. China’s leaders said last year that artificial intelligence would be a vital driver of expansion that would generate more than 400 billion yuan ($48 billion) to the economy by 2025.
6. ALL CLEAR! (Yonhapnews)
Korea’s 2nd-Biggest Crypto Exchange Resumes User Registrations
Bithumb, South Korea’s second-biggest crypto exchange by daily trading volume behind UPbit, will officially resume registrations for new investors as early as this week. NH Bank, one of the largest financial institutions in the country, is set to sign an agreement with Bithumb on August 30 to provide virtual bank accounts to Bithumb users, which will allow new users to trade on the trading platform.
The resumption of Bithumb registration will lead to an influx of capital in the crypto exchange market of South Korea, especially in the mid-term, as new investors that have previously been unable to trade will now be able to access Bithumb and its liquidity. If Bithumb failed to come to an agreement with NH Bank on a long-term relationship, then the government could technically ask the exchange to halt its services until it acquires a major banking partner.
7. BLOCKCHAIN IN GENES (Tech Crunch)
George Church’s genetics on the blockchain startup raised $4.3 million from Khosla
Nebula Genomics, the startup that wants to put your whole genome on the blockchain, has announced the raise of $4.3 million in Series A from Khosla Ventures and other leading tech VC’s such as Arch Venture Partners, Fenbushi Capital, Mayfield, F-Prime Capital Partners, Great Point Ventures, Windham Venture Partners, Hemi Ventures, Mirae Asset, Hikma Ventures and Heartbeat Labs. Nebula has also has forged a partnership with genome sequencing company Veritas Genetics.
Veritas was one of the first companies to sequence the entire human genome for less than $1,000 in 2015, later adding all that info to the touch of a button on your smartphone.
8. BLOCKCHAIN COMPUTER (CNBC)
Andreessen Horowitz invests in a blockchain start-up building the 'world computer'
A blockchain start-up dubbed the "world computer" has raised $102 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz and the crypto hedge fund Polychain Capital, among others. The start-up, Dfinity, will use the money to hire employees and fund other initiatives.
While blockchain-related start-ups in Silicon Valley pop up every month, Dfinity is one that the venture capital community has been closely watching. Some experts say Dfinity will one day rival Amazon Web Services.
9. BLOCKCHAIN INITIATIVES (Buisness insider)
The CSIRO just launched the Australian smart contract system for all businesses
The Australian National Blockchain (ANB) is a joint initiative been the CSIRO’s innovation centre Data61, IBM, and law firm Herbert Smith Freehills. The consortium said the ANB would allow for a more secure and efficient process to manage business processes and enter into legal contracts.
“The ANB will enable organisations to digitally manage the lifecycle of a contract, not just from negotiation to signing, but also continuing over the term of the agreement, with transparency and permission-based access among parties in the network,” Herbert Smith Freehills said.
10. CIVIL JOURNALISM (Tech Crunch)
Civil, the blockchain journalism startup, partnered with one of the big names in media
Civil, the two-year-old crypto startup that wants to save the journalism industry by leveraging the blockchain and cryptoeconomics, has partnered with the 172-year-old Associated Press to help the wire service stop bad actors from stealing its content.
Civil, using its blockchain-enabled licensing mechanism, which is still in development, will help the AP track where its content is going and whether it’s licensed correctly. In exchange, the AP has granted the newsrooms in Civil’s network licenses to its content. Civil, which has raised $5 million from the blockchain venture studio ConsenSys, is planning to make the licensing tool available to all the newsrooms in its ecosystem once it’s up and running.