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Africa Using Blockchain to Drive Change, Part Two: Southern Solutions

With pundits like Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey predicting that Africa “will define” the future of Bitcoin (BTC), cryptocurrency and blockchain technology continue to attract interest from both public and private establishments across the continent. Many of these adoption cases have been moving beyond finance, developing solutions targeted at issues like unemployment, identity management, health care and supply chain, among others.Amid the growing enthusiasm for crypto and blockchain technology in Africa, industry stakeholders interviewed by Cointelegraph identify a lack of education as one of the major hurdles standing in the way of more

Crypto Community Largely Approves of Binance Acquiring CoinMarketCap

Despite markets all over the world facing ever-worsening economic troubles amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it seems as though the crypto industry has been able to weather the storm, at least thus far. In this regard, Binance — the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange — has recently reached an agreement to acquire CoinMarketCap, one of the most prominent crypto data websites.The official announcement was made by both companies on April 2, with Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao telling Cointelegraph that CMC and Binance have from the very start been working to make

Coronavirus & Bitcoin Price: Is China Losing Its BTC Mining Monopoly?

This week the price of Bitcoin (BTC) surged more than 15%, reaching a high at $7,200 before pulling back into the $6,800 range. Despite the recovery, Bitcoin still has a way to go in order to reach the $8,000 level seen before the coronavirus-triggered selloff on March 12.Cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360The drop had several consequences on the Bitcoin network. Having reached the $3,800 price range, the accentuated drop forced some Bitcoin miners to throw in the towel and shut down their operations due to mining becoming unprofitable.As miners have

As Malta Delays Regulatory Clarity, Fewer Firms Remain on ‘Blockchain Island’

It seems that Malta is becoming both less popular among and less populated with crypto firms. The European Union country attracted dozens of industry players in 2018 on the back of the “blockchain island” agenda championed by the local government, but the relevant framework has not yet proven to be effective. Meanwhile, the official rhetoric apparently started to shift away from the blockchain sector, as the government now aims to consolidate it with “other niche sectors.”Meanwhile, the Malta Financial Services Authority, continues to pluck out non-registered crypto agents — be

Google Chrome Leads the Pack, but Privacy-Oriented Browsers Gain Traction

In recent months, big-name players like Google and Apple have been going the extra mile to showcase their privacy features to the world. However, as most people are now aware, these multinational companies have business models that are centered around collecting and aggregating the data of their customers. In this regard, growing interest in privacy-first browsers like Brave clearly suggests a collective increase in internet users’ concern over how their personal information is being accumulated, stored and utilized on a day-to-day basis.Individuals all over the globe have become so accustomed to

Staked Token Supply Doesn’t Correlate with Price, Says Messari Analyst

As cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile, crypto players can’t stop arguing about what really impacts the price of certain coins and what does not.Some crypto pundits believe a larger amount of tokens staked in Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchains could push the price upwards by reducing the circulating supply, making the remaining tokens more valuable. But blockchain and crypto analytics firm Messari has crunched the numbers and reports that there is little correlation between the two.Announcements correlate with price thoughIn an April 1 blog post, Wilson Withiam, a researcher at the Messari

What to Expect When You’re Expecting… the Bitcoin Block Halving

Many industry experts hold varied expectations for Bitcoin’s price following the block reward halving in May, proving 2020 is anything but mundane. “On both prior occasions, Bitcoin surged to a new all-time high within 12 months, with the latest coming in December 2017 when the price reached about $20,000, which was followed by a massive decline,” Bill Herrmann, CEO of alternative investment banking firm, Wilshire Phoenix, told Cointelegraph in an email on March 10. Herrmann also pointed out that Bitcoin’s market has matured compared to past years, noting that information available to

Bitcoin Price Soars 15% to $7.2K But Breaking $8K Won’t Be Easy

Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $7,106 representing an impressive 14.7% gain in the last 24 hours and 6.8% for today. Other global markets are also up off the back of President Trump’s comments around the likelihood that crude oil production will be cut back, which is one of the triggers which caused Bitcoin to slide from $9K to $8K in early March.Looking at performance relative to its peers, Ether (ETH) and XRP both continue to underperform versus Bitcoin as was the case last week. Bitcoin dominance remains at 66%. Cryptocurrency market

New Report links Satoshi Nakamoto with the Monero Whitepaper

The identity of Bitcoin creator (or creators) Satoshi Nakamoto is still one of the most highly debated questions in the crypto space today. However, a new research report is suggesting that the creator also developed another prominent digital asset. According to new research by Monero Outreach, the privacy-focused digital asset may also be the creator of Bitcoin. Using Monero to “Fix” BitcoinMonero was developed in 2014 as a means of addressing some of the privacy issues that Bitcoin had at the time. Up till today, the asset remains one of the most private digital

Vitalik Buterin: Ethereum is DeFi Chain as Much as Bitcoin is Digital Gold

Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin has recently asserted that aside from the numerous potential applications of Ethereum in various areas, its use as a cryptocurrency, for settlements, cannot be overlooked. This is coming after Ryan Sean Adams, the founder of Mythos Capital, shared how Bitcoin Maximalists are trolling him about how pointless Ethereum is. Got Maximalists trolling me about how pointless Ethereum is meanwhile I just sent a crypto backed stablecoin in a private transaction on the Ethereum mainnet peer-to-peer w/o a bank Keep trolling We’ll keep building the bankless future

Bitcoin Price Fills $6.6K CME Gap as Technical Metrics Flip Bullish

Bitcoin (BTC) delivered few surprises on April 1 as steadier trading conditions prevailed for a third day and volume remained low.Cryptocurrency market daily overview. Source: Coin360BTC price shoots to plug futures gapData from Coin360 and Cointelegraph Markets painted a decidedly lackluster April Fool’s Day 2020 for Bitcoin, which since March 30 had traded in a narrower corridor between $6,100 and $6,600.Compared with volatility earlier March, conditions were a relief for traders, while compared with the same time last year, the overall picture remained less enthusiastic.As Cointelegraph reported at the time,