News 30.03. – 05.04.20

Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency exchanges, Banks

Regulations, CBDC

Blockchain, Technology

Mining

Microsoft filed a patent for mining cryptocurrencies through human movement

France is another country that tests the state’s digital currency

The Bank of France is now officially launching a program of experiments to test the integration of a CBDC for interbank settlements, inviting potential participants to submit their applications. According to a March 30 document, France’s central bank is calling for applications to experiment with the use of a digital euro, aiming to explore the potential CBDC opportunities for clearing and settlement of tokenized financial assets. Although the Bank of France previously called for blockchain-based settlement systems in Europe, the bank said that it doesn’t impose any specific technology within its newly announced CBDC experiment program.

As such, French central bank will select a maximum of 10 CBDC-related applications by groups or individuals, establishing “innovative nature” as a major selection criterion. According to a detailed document calling for applications, applications must be submitted by European Union-based applicants or in a state party to the European Economic Area agreement. Applicants can submit until May 15, 2020, while selection of applications will take place on July 10, the bank announced.

Microsoft filed a patent for mining cryptocurrencies through human movement

In a patent application filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Thursday, the American computer giant said sensors could detect activity associated with specific tasks – such as time spent viewing ads – and convert it into computer-readable data to solve computational problems, in much the same way as a conventional proof-of-work system.

“Instead of massive computation work required by some conventional cryptocurrency systems, data generated based on the body activity of the user can be a proof-of-work, and therefore, a user can solve the computationally difficult problem unconsciously,”

Microsoft says the system could be used to incentivize users to perform certain tasks. Scanners can detect activity from certain kinds of tasks, such as mental concentration when reading an advert, that can verify blocks and reward the user with cryptocurrencies.

Binance buys CoinMarketCap, reportedly for $ 400 million

Binance is in the final stages of talks to acquire CoinMarketCap. The crypto exchange is looking to pay as much as $400 million for the deal. The agreement is expected to be announced this week. If the deal was successfully completed, it would be one of the largest acquisitions in crypto space.

Just earlier this year, Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said that there are two acquisitions in the pipeline that he is “very excited” about. These are “major” and will have a “significant impact,” CZ said at the time. The CoinMarketCap deal could be one of those two deals.

Chinese regulator claims that crypto exchanges fake volumes

The National Internet Finance Association of China (NIFA), a self-regulatory organization set up by the People’s Bank of China, has said that overseas crypto exchanges fake trading volumes. According to its own analysis published Thursday, NIFA said foreign-based crypto exchanges use “robot programs to brush and tamper with data to create the illusion of ‘prosperity’ in the virtual currency trading market.”

“In our sampling analysis based on trading data from some of the exchanges, the daily trading turnover rate for more than 40 coins is over 100%, while more than 70 coins’ rate exceeds 50%. Despite the relatively low price and small market value, there have been massive trading volumes”

ING: Europe plunges into crisis, Europeans will buy less Bitcoins

With the second quarter of 2020 starting, Dutch multinational banking institution ING has warned that the state of the eurozone economy could get worse before it gets better. The economic downturn could see fewer individuals invest in Bitcoin as they tighten their purse strings. The true economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic is still to be realized. A senior economist at ING says that whilst the picture is much clearer now, we still know “surprisingly little.”

FATF: US digital dollar does not fully comply with cryptocurrency recommendations

Global money-laundering watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), has said that the U.S. is not fully compliant with its crypto recommendations. “Minor deficiencies” remain, said the FATF in a report published Tuesday. For instance, U.S.-registered money services businesses (MSBs) keep detailed records for transactions of $3,000 or more, as opposed to $1,000 required in the FATF recommendations.

This higher threshold is not clearly supported by low ML/TF [money laundering/ terrorist financing] risks

Further, the U.S. does not specifically identify “higher risk” virtual asset service providers (VASPs), as they are largely covered under the broader MSB regime, according to the FATF.7

Therefore, it is not entirely clear whether the current approach is sufficiently risk focused, especially since only 30% of all registered CVC [convertible virtual currencies] providers have been inspected since 2014