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What is Bancor Protocol? A DeFi Guide to BTN

Bancor Protocol takes advantage of smart contracts to build a decentralized, interoperable, and highly-liquid token exchange protocol. It became popular in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space shortly after having introduced smart tokens that facilitate instant exchange between different ERC-20 tokens in the market, regardless of their volume. Such development has opened a lot of other opportunities to users without having to involve third-party financial service providers in the scenario. Table of Contents Background The Team The team consists of five members of the Bancor Foundation, based in Zug, Switzerland. Bernard

ING, Rolls Royce and Multi.io Join Blockchain Education Alliance

The Blockchain Education Alliance launched by blockchain accelerator MouseBelt has gained several noteworthy new members. Ashlie Meredith, the head of education for MouseBelt Blockchain Accelerator, told Cointelegraph on Aug. 17 that the new members include brewing company Anheuser-Busch InBev, Dutch bank ING, cryptocurrency exchange Multi.io, and luxury car company Rolls Royce. The addition of these firms makes 26 current members in the organization.According to MouseBelt, these companies have been utilizing blockchain technology for up to five years.  Blockchain Education Alliance was involved in a three-day conference which streamed nonstop in May when

RenVM Guide: A Private and Interopable DeFi Platform

With the objective of solving concerns on privacy, interoperability, and liquidity in decentralized applications, the RenVM ecosystem was established. This is yet another successful DeFi project with cross-chain interoperability, only this time, with better privacy features. The Republic Protocol and its RenVM project were aimed to provide large volume and high-frequency traders the opportunity to execute trades without spooking the market with their calls. With the help of darknodes, they maintained an exchange with a hidden order book. Table of Contents Background Ren began in late 2017 under the Republic

$99 Gas Fees on Ethereum Are Crippling DeFi’s Growth

The surging popularity of decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols on Ethereum (ETH) has contributed to skyrocketing fees, with the network processing an all-time high of $6.87 million in total fees yesterday. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Synthetix (SNX) founder and CEO, Kain Warwick warned that high fees were impacting the growth of DeFi, stating:“In the last three months, we’ve gone from an environment where DeFi was expensive to use and a little bit slow, to now, [where] for a lot of people it’s prohibitively expensive.”Ethereum fees have spiked nearly 100% over the past 24

Q&A: How Blockchain Could Transform the Art Industry

The art world has had a tough time lately. The coronavirus pandemic has forced many galleries and museums to close, with sales of premium pieces also affected.But there could be a solution that helps the industry get back on its feet and achieve much-needed digitization: blockchain. Here, we talk to Niko Kipouros, founder and CEO of 4ARTechnologies, about how this technology could transform the way we purchase and own artwork — and even ensure that the provenance and authenticity of masterpieces are never doubted.1. What are the biggest challenges facing

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

Cryptocurrency News From Japan: August 2 – August 8 in Review

This week’s headlines from Japan included Coincheck readying its digital shareholder meeting solution, GMO Coin announcing negative leverage trading fees, Decurret testing transactions with a power company, Japanese authorities proposing tax changes, and Japanese finance company FISCO developing apps for shareholder voting and staking. Check out some of this week’s crypto and blockchain headlines, originally reported by Cointelegraph Japan.Coincheck setting up for digital shareholder service As Tokyo-based crypto exchange Coincheck readies its new digital meeting avenue, the exchange's co-founder expressed confidence in the project. Known as Sharely, unveiled in June 2020, the

Slow But Steady: FATF Review Highlights Crypto Exchanges’ Struggle to Meet AML Standards

In June 2019, the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force (FATF) introduced its revised set of standards for virtual asset service providers. The document establishes the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements that regulated VASPs —  the term mainly referring to cryptocurrency trading platforms — must eventually implement in their day-to-day operations. The guidelines are framed as recommendations, and the FATF leaves it to the participating nations’ governments to develop their own regulations in accordance with suggested principles.The watchdog has also set a 12-month review timeframe to monitor the public and

Ethereum eSports Betting: How to Get Started

Nowadays, if you are interested in gambling, it’s hard to say you have never heard of cryptocurrency. It is no longer the question of what is cryptocurrency but rather which cryptocurrency is the best option. When you looking at one’s financial options, it is hard to make a blanket call on what is the best route to go, but as far as what we can see, when it comes to online gambling one of the best and most rewarding routes to go would be making use of Ethereum in the

Bitcoin is not Completely Banned in China: Beijing Arbitration Commission

China has no reservation against ‘Bitcoin activities as virtual commodities,’ the Beijing Arbitration Commission (BAC) said in a report today. The report also added that the country’s laws and regulations ‘do not prohibit’ private possession and legal circulation of BTC.Bitcoin Is Not A Currency, But A ‘Virtual Commodity’Today local non-profit arbitration organization, the Beijing Arbitration Commission, pointed out in a report that Bitcoin cannot be used as a currency. It is not a legal tender and is not issued by China’s apex monetary authority.Overall, BTC doesn’t share the same legal