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Ham to Improve on Yam With Latest DeFi Experiment

The Yam yield farming frenzy that took DeFi by storm last week highlighted a number of elements that could have been improved with the launch. A new offering called Ham aims to right the wrongs and improve on Yam with a truly community-driven project. There were several flaws with the Yam launch, but the ultimate reason was that it had to be rescued by whales. This pretty much negates any progress made on the path to becoming a truly democratic and community-governed monetary system. A migration plan proposed late last

Winklevoss’ Gemini Adds Support for Hong Kong, Australian and Canadian Dollars

Gemini, a major cryptocurrency exchange founded by the Winklevoss brothers, has just added support for three new fiat currencies on its platform.According to an official announcement on Aug. 17, Gemini now allows users to trade in the Hong Kong dollar (HKD), the Australian dollar (AUD), and the Canadian dollar (CAD).The three new fiat currencies come in addition to the United States dollar, allowing Gemini users in Hong Kong, Australia, and Canada to buy and sell crypto with native currencies.However, HKD, AUD, and CAD are currently not offered through Gemini’s crypto

Four of the Top Five South Korean Banks to Offer Crypto Services

South Korea’s Woori and Shinhan banks have just announced their intention to introduce “crypto-asset services”. That means that four of the country’s top five banks, holding a combined value of more than $1.2 trillion in assets, are now poised to introduce crypto services.Each of the banks aims to hold and manage cryptocurrencies for clients. Both Shinhan and Woori announced their plans in direct response to the amended Special Financial Transactions Information Act which will change legislation around crypto assets, coming into force next year.Shinhan bank previously announced plans for crypto

$600M Crypto Ad Ban Class Action Filed in Australian Courts

Law firm JPB Liberty filed a class-action lawsuit in the Federal Court of New South Wales earlier today, targeting Facebook and Google for anti-competitive behavior for banning cryptocurrency advertising in 2018.JPB argues the ban, which was loosened in 2019, killed the initial coin offering (ICO) market and caused severe financial damage to the wider cryptocurrency industry.JPB Liberty CEO Andrew Hamilton said the tech giants had acted as a cartel in launching the crypto ad ban, in order to crush competition from the blockchain sector.The suit has garnered more than $600

Global P2P Bitcoin Trading Volume at Highest Point Since Jan. 2018

Combined global peer-to-peer (P2P) Bitcoin trading volumes have surged to their highest levels since January 2018, with nearly $95 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) changing hands on Localbitcoins and Paxful in the first week of August.The spike comes as many Latin American markets have seen trade activity rally into new highs over recent weeks, with the Bitcoin P2P markets in Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Bolivia, Honduras, Paraguay, Uruguay and The Bahamas all posting record highs since the start of July.Venezuelan trade still represents the lion’s share of Latin America’s nearly $13

Championing Blockchain Education in Africa: Women Leading the Bitcoin Cause

It’s no secret that women are underrepresented in the technology and financial industries. In the U.S, women only hold a quarter of computing-related jobs. Some sectors, like software engineering, fare even worse, with female representation as low as 15%. And now along comes blockchain, a technology that promises a global revolution through decentralization. Blockchain has already begun to transform many industries, from finance and supply chain management to healthcare and governance.  However, it has yet to significantly change the demographics of the tech industry. According to a study conducted by

Ethereum 2.0 Testnet Performing Well, 1 Million ‘ETH’ Staked

It’s been almost a week since the launch of the ETH 2.0 final public testnet, which has been performing as intended by most accounts. As many as one million ETH have been staked on the Beacon Chain simulation, reviving hopes of a mainnet launch later this year. The Medalla ETH 2.0 testnet has been running for six days which has given developers a chance to monitor early progress. Launched on Aug 4, Medalla is the fifth and final testnet for the long-awaited upgrade to an Ethereum proof-of-stake consensus. Phase 0

BAND Token is Now Available for Trading on Huobi Global

Band Protocol, the cross-chain data oracle platform, said that its token BAND has been listed on Huobi Global exchange.The company clarified in a press release on its blog that trading on BAND token will start on August 10. Huobi will support BAND/U.S. dollar, BAND/BTC and BAND/ETH trading pairs. Regarding deposits, the company stated that they will be available from August 9 and for withdrawals, they will be available from August 10.The company noted that at present, withdrawals and deposits will be limited only to BAND-mainnet coins and that the time for

South Korean Beachgoers Can Now Use Bitcoin to Pay for Services

A pilot project run by Bitbeat-affiliate company CIC Enterprise wants to provide crypto payment solutions at two of the busiest beaches of the country for tourists to use.According to ZDNet Korea, the firm partnered with card and cash payments provider Innotech for the token-powered payments solution in the Haeundae Beach System on the beaches of Busan in South Korea famous with tourists.The program will allow people to pay for water sports-related activities, life jackets, and even parasol rentals, among others, with Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), along with MCI and WAY

Major South Korean Bank Joins the Crypto Custody Business

KB Kookmin Bank, one of the largest banks in South Korea, has partnered with blockchain venture fund, Hashed, and crypto trading platform, Cumberland Korea, to establish “strategic technology cooperation” on the custody of digital assets.The companies belonging to the partnership state that their inception into the crypto custody business is a response to regulatory changes. These changes encouraged them to look into new business models — specifically ones which rely on blockchain technology.Simon Kim, CEO of the Seoul and San Francisco-based firm, Hashed, stated:"Combining our insight in the blockchain industry

10,000 New Blockchain Firms Established in China So Far in 2020

With over 10,000 new blockchain firms emerging in China in 2020, the number of companies developing solutions based on the novel tech appears set to cross the 90,000 mark. China remains a blockchain hub with Beijing’s anti-crypto stance not extending to companies looking to leverage decentralized ledger technology (DLT). The country’s Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) is also looking to foster greater public-private partnerships in the sector. New Chinese Blockchain Firms in 2020 Surpass 2017’s Total According to figures from crypto market data provider LongHash, China’s blockchain startup scene has grown