Autor Cointelegraph By Prashant Jha

Binance user protection insurance fund reaches $1B valuation

Binance user protection insurance fund reaches $1B valuation

Uverejnil používateľ | feb 1, 2022 |

Binance, the world’s leading crypto exchange by trading volume, announced its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) reached a $1 billion valuation.The user protection insurance fund was set up in July 2018 to protect users’ interests. Binance committed a portion of the trading fee towards SAFU and began allocating 10% towards the funds. The crypto exchange also revealed the two wallet addresses where the funds are being held in order to ensure transparency. The two wallets contain a billion-dollar worth of crypto in BUSD, BNB and BTC.Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, urged other crypto platforms to follow on their footpath and reveal the details of their emergency insurance funds as well. He said, doing so would make them more transparent and also help them showcase their commitment to regulators.Responding to the queries from Cointelegraph, a Binance spokesperson revealed that the SAFU is meant to protect users’ interests and funds are used at Binance’s discretion. He went on to add that SAFU is focused on, but not limited to Binance.com. He explained:”The purpose of SAFU is to protect Binance users and we reserve the right to cover issues outside of Binance.com if required.”In the absence of clear regulations, crypto investors and traders in many countries are solely dependent on crypto exchanges’ security measures to safeguard their funds. However, some of the most notable crypto platforms have been hacked despite the promised security, with millions in user funds getting lost. Thus, the role of user insurance funds becomes very critical.Related: The biggest crypto heists of all timeWhile decentralized exchanges and protocols have been the primary target of hackers for the ease of heist, however, that doesn’t make centralized exchanges any safer. Earlier this month, one of the Crypto.com suffered a $33 million reported loss after a hacker managed to siphon funds from 483 user accounts. The crypto platform claimed it had compensated users who lost their funds.

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Former BOJ official warns against use of digital yen in the financial sector

Former BOJ official warns against use of digital yen in the financial sector

Uverejnil používateľ | jan 31, 2022 |

A former Bank of Japan (BOJ) official who reportedly headed the digital currency research is now advising against its use.According to a report published in the Japan Times, Hiromi Yamaoka, the former head of the BOJ’s financial settlement department, advised against using the digital yen as a part of the country’s monetary policy.Yamaoka’s biggest concern lies with the negative interest rates and believes once the digital yen becomes a prominent tool for mass payments, the common public would have to bear the brunt of the depleting value of the fiat currency. He went on to warn that the digital yen could pose a risk to financial stability and could have disastrous outcomes for the economy.Yamaoka is currently working in the private sector, chairing a forum of 74 firms that include some of the biggest banks in the country. The forum is currently working on launching a private digital currency as early as April this year.Related: Japan will prioritize simplicity in CBDC design, says central bank executiveIn October 2020, the BOJ shared a three-phase trial outline for its central bank digital currency (CBDC). The first two phases of the trial are focused on testing the proofs-of-concept while the third phase would see a pilot. The first phase started in April 2021 and is expected to finish by March this year. The BOJ is expected to start the second phase of the trials later this year that would test the technical aspects around the issuance of the digital yen.Despite being one of the first nations to introduce crypto regulations, cash is still a king in the Japanese retail sector owing to natural calamities which often cut off power in the country. Thus, the payment sector in the country is more focused on executing offline transactions. In July 2020, the central bank published a research report focusing on developing an offline CBDC.BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said in a statement on Friday that they are not looking for an immediate launch. He also noted that a digital yen could launch by 2026 and the decision won’t be made by the central bank alone.

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Multichain DApp protocol Astar raises $22M in latest round led by Polychain

Multichain DApp protocol Astar raises $22M in latest round led by Polychain

Uverejnil používateľ | jan 28, 2022 |

Astar, a multichain DApp protocol formerly known as Plasm, has raised $22 million in its latest strategic fundraise.The funding round was led by Polychain and saw participation from the likes of Alameda Research, Crypto.com Capital, Digital Finance Group and a few other angel investors. Astar rose to popularity after gaining the Polkadot parachain slot last December and the protocol was officially launched on Jan. 17th.Astar is currently working to become the first protocol to support two virtual machines on its Polkadot parachain- The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and WebAssembly (WASM). While EVM is currently active, the platform would transition to WASM over time. The Astar team is working with Parity blockchain to push its WASM integration. Being a multichain protocol, Astar supports multiple EVM and non-EVM Layer-1 bridges. Currently, two Ethereum bridges are live and a Cosmos bridge is under development.Talking about the impact of two virtual machines on a single Polkadot Parachain, Sota Watanabe, founder of Astar Network said:“Interoperability is not only a buzzword but also a reality in the Polkadot ecosystem by connecting all parachains with different virtual machines together with XCM. Astar will be the only parachain supporting both virtual machines and at the same time also make them interoperable with each other.”The Astar team said the recently raised capital would be used for hiring industry-leading engineers to implement both EVM and WASM and to invest and nurture Astar native ecosystem projects. Related: 3 possible reasons why Polkadot is playing second fiddle in the L1 raceParachains on Polkadot are individual blockchains running in parallel within the Polkadot ecosystem. These have been in development for five years and mark a breakthrough for cross-chain tech.

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Belgian MP becomes first European politician to accept salary in Bitcoin

Belgian MP becomes first European politician to accept salary in Bitcoin

Uverejnil používateľ | jan 28, 2022 |

Bitcoin (BTC) craze among lawmakers has reached the Belgian parliament now, as Brussels member of parliament Christophe De Beukelaer became the first European politician to convert his salary to Bitcoin.The Brussels MP’s monthly salary of EUR 5,500 will be converted to Bitcoin using Bit4You crypto trading platform, reported Bruzz. Beukelaer who represents Humanist Democratic Centre (CDH) party, hopes his move would inspire other politicians in the region to show a similar interest in the nascent tech. Beukelaer cited the example of New York City Mayor Eric Adams and how American politicians are working to make their native state or city a Bitcoin hub. He said:“New York City Mayor Eric Adams has spent three months collecting his Bitcoin salary to make New York the Bitcoin hub. I think it is not too late for Brussels and Belgium to play a leading role in the cryptocurrency industry.”Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez is another popular lawmaker who is known for his BTC advocacy. He has been quite vocal about making the city a Bitcoin hub and apart from getting his own salary in Bitcoin, he has been working on policies to avail the same option for the city employees.Related: No regrets for NYC mayor receiving his first Bitcoin paycheck during dipNot just politicians, some of the biggest names in the sports have also come forward to accept BTC salaries. A total of seven NFL stars have chosen to get paid in Bitcoin until now, similarly, NBA stars such as Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala have also announced they would accept Bitcoin salaries moving forward.The confidence of sports stars added with a growing number of politicians looking to get paid in BTC indicates the growing popularity of Bitcoin as an asset.

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Chinese food delivery giant joins CBDC efforts

Chinese food delivery giant joins CBDC efforts

Uverejnil používateľ | jan 28, 2022 |

China’s food delivery giant Meituan has become the latest tech firm to integrate central bank digital currency (CBDC) payments for its services.Meituan users can link the digital yuan wallet to their service app and use it for a range of daily services such as booking hotels, cabs and paying at restaurants. The food delivery and daily services app recorded 660 million transacting customers last year, and the integration of e-CNY payments would only help the Beijing government to test its sovereign digital currency more widely.Over the past few months, major tech giants in the country such as WeChat and JD.com have joined the mass retail testing of e-CNY.China completed the development of its CBDC in 2019 itself, and over the past two years, the authorities have been extensively testing its use in the retail market. The CBDC pilot began as a travel subsidy for government employees and later expanded to include millions of people and thousands of businesses.While there hasn’t been any indication of a public launch yet, many believe the growing pace of trials suggests that the government might be looking to launch the CBDC during the upcoming winter Olympics starting on February 4th.Related: US lawmakers don’t want Olympic athletes to use digital yuan at 2022 gamesZou Lan, director of the PBOC’s financial markets department has said that the cumulative transactions in e-CNY have reached 87.57 billion yuan ($13.68 billion). By the end of October 2021, nearly 10 million merchants had activated digital yuan wallets.China is currently at the top of the CBDC game, having started the development for the same as early as 2014. While 91 nations have started their CBDC development, only a handful have reached the pilot phase including China, South Korea, Switzerland and France. The United States is currently in the discussion phase and lawmakers weighing in the pros and cons of a sovereign digital currency.

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