Image of The Week, February, 18 — 22: The Street, Bitcoin Magazine, News BTC and Others
Mark Zuckerberg is mulling a blockchain-based Facebook log-in as a more secure option (MarketWatch)
Bypassing an intermediary is the cornerstone of blockchain technology. So, according to Facebook CEO, he is considering a return to decentralized or blockchain authentication. A distributed ledger system could “dramatically empower individuals”, Zuckerberg added during his conversation with Harvard Law Professor Jonathan Zittrain. It is also reported that Facebook is increasing its blockchain resources and had recently acquired a team behind Chainspace, a London-based startup with a blockchain.
As Initial Coin Offerings Lose Favor, Crypto Exchanges Step In With IEOs (The Street)
Controversial ICOs keep fading along with falling crypto prices and due to scams. But could the exchange-regulated approach change the whole situation? The newly presented concept is called an Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) and this latest capital raising methodology allows exchanges to supervise and launch new blockchain projects themselves. With IEO an asset is listed on an exchange directly and doesn’t need to go through independent private placement or through an intermediary. In theory, the IEO insurance mechanism should help investors hold projects accountable for unfulfilled promises, and the exchanges could act as regulators in this situation. Also, the new method promises a reduction in various project costs. One of the first examples of successful IEOs is the recent launch of the BitTorrent token via Binance Launchpad platform.
Insanity: Ethereum Wallet Pays Nearly $575,000 in Fees to Transfer $25 in ETH (News BTC)
It seems that the crypto market has already seen everything: ups and downs, scams and even fake deaths. However, this news really makes you wonder. A strange and mysterious Ethereum wallet sent 0.1 ETH while paying an astronomical sum of 2,100 ETH in fees. The total fee was over $302,000 at today’s Ethereum, while the Ether equivalent of only $14.40 was transferred during this transaction. Opinions in the crypto community about the meaning of this operation became quite divided. And this controversy increased after it became known that the wallet had several similar transactions with huge fees. So what could it be? An inexperienced user, malfunctioning bot or money laundering scheme? We’re still yet to discover.
So Far, Only Two Businesses in Ohio Have Used Bitcoin to Pay Taxes
It’s been only two months since Ohio state launched its bitcoin tax payment option on the official crypto payment platform OhioCrypto.com. Robert Sprague, the state’s treasurer, told that the program is still being reviewed and might be both curtailed or expanded in future. At the moment Ohio is the first and only state in the US to receive taxes in cryptocurrency. However, only two businesses have filed their taxes in crypto by this time. But the Ohio’s lawmakers still have high hopes for turning the state into a major hub for the blockchain industry. However, the state authorities did not disclose the amounts of the first tax crypto payments, citing the secrecy of this information.