Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
Ethereum news
- Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin has sent ETH 3,200, currently worth USD 1.2m, to the recently launched ETH 2.0 deposit contract. This makes him one of the first stakers and validators on the new Ethereum 2.0 blockchain, the first phase of which is expected to launch on December 1 the earliest. There are currently ETH 39,141 staked, with ETH 485,147 more needed for the launch threshold.
Blockchain news
- The South Korean blockchain-powered real estate transaction platform Kasa said it has more than 20,000 users, per Maeil Kyungjae. The firm’s offering allows users to buy and sell tokenized stakes in real estate – and earn money from rental deals and land purchases. The firm will also offer a tokenized offering in conjunction with KEB Hana Bank for a new commercial building in the affluent Seoul district of Gangnam. The building is set to be worth USD 8.9m and will be made available on a long-term lease.
- Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) said the government hopes the blockchain technology sector will generate over USD 6bn by 2030. Per Vanguard, the NITDA’s Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa, claimed that the government was keen to ensure that Nigeria is not “left out” in the blockchain race.
Careers news
- Crypto custody provider Fidelity Digital Assets is on the lookout for some 20 new blockchain and crypto engineers in a new recruitment drive. The firm said, in a post on its website, that it was looking to “improving upon” its “existing bitcoin (BTC) custody and execution services” and is looking to make the hires with “development experience of bitcoin, ethereum (ETH) and other digital assets.” The firm said it was looking to hire candidates “from across the USA, the UK and Ireland” to “work from wherever they feel safe and comfortable.”
Trading news
- Jack Dorsey’s Square said its Cash App business raked in USD 1.63bn “of bitcoin revenue,” as well as “USD 32m of bitcoin gross profit” in the third quarter of FY2020. The firm stated that the figures represented year-on-year rises of “approximately x11 and x15x respectively.”
- Ripple has announced that the total XRP sales, net of purchases, were USD 35.84m in the third quarter of 2020, compared to USD 32.55m in the previous quarter. Per the company’s quarterly XRP Markets Report, Ripple focused solely on its over-the-counter (OTC) sales and leases as part of providing increased XRP liquidity to certain RippleNet ODL customers, eliminating the need for pre-funding, they said.
- Twitter-based crypto “influencers” are slower than price curve movements, per a new report. Researchers at consultant BDCenter said they looked at the relationship between 1.1m tweets posted by more than 100 crypto influencers with 10,000 followers or more between 2018 and June 2020. They hinted that the discoveries show that the crypto community generally meets snippets of wisdom Twitter in-the-know types with skepticism. The firm wrote that “Influencers follow the news, not create it. When they start tweeting about a certain coin more often, it’s because its price has changed – not vice versa.”
Mining news
- The Russian hydroelectric power and aluminum behemoth En+ Group will turn its hand to crypto mining after it formed a joint venture called Bit+ with BitRiver, one of Russia’s biggest bitcoin mining providers. Per a press release shared with Cryptonews.com, Bit+ has already begun its BTC mining operations, fuelled by 10 MWh in capacity from En+’s hydroelectric generators at a “facility located near BitRiver’s current data center in Bratsk, in the Irkutsk Region of Russia.”
Regulation news
- South Korea’s financial watchdog, Financial Services Commission (FSC), has proposed an update to the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, seeking legal amendments per which all virtual asset service providers (VASPs) within the country would be required to use real-name accounts during financial transactions with customers. According to the document, the new rules are proposed in order to “provide further details of anti-money laundering (AML) requirements on virtual assets.” Additional requirements include: opening real-name accounts with financial institutions, separating customers’ deposits, no record of fines or other penalties at least within 5 years, obtaining a data security certification from the Korea Information Security Agency, etc.
Exchanges news
- South American football giants CR Vasco de Gama have teamed up with the Latin American crypto exchange Mercado Bitcoin for a deal that will allow the parties to tokenize transfer deals. Per an official tweet from the trading platform operator, the deal will see the Rio de Janeiro club – four-times Campeonato Brasileiro champions and winners of the Copa Libertadores in 1998 – tokenize stakes of up to 5% in 12 of the club’s youth players. The parties hope to raise some USD 9m in sales.