Crypto News headlines
March 2020
Cryptocurrency news headlines from March 2020, gathering items across digital currency technologies and central bank digital currency projects, focusing on Asia and Oceania. Items are also gathered and delivered from beyond the broad Asia-Pacific region to provide need-to-know industry knowledge.
- Is Texas the new promised land for Bitcoin miners? The backers of several big-money projects are betting yes, thanks to the state’s cheap electricity and unique regulatory environment
- What differentiates bitcoin from its analog cousin, gold? You might respond ‘divisibility’ or ‘portability’…but what really differentiates it? The answer is auditability
- Coinbase Card, Visa debit card allowing users to spend cryptocurrency directly from a Coinbase account, now works with Google Pay
- ICYMI: The UN Cryptocurrency Fund, part of UN Innovation Fund, providing seed funding to blockchain firms that may be useful in social and development settings
- ICYMI: Facebook to change Libra crypto plans following intense regulatory pressure, to now support existing government-backed currencies as well as Libra token
- ICYMI: A New York power plant is now mining $50K worth of Bitcoin each day, having installed close to 7000 mining rigs
- ICYMI: Bank of England releases Central Bank Digital Currency research roadmap
- Facebook Libra rival Celo launches 50-plus member ‘Alliance For Prosperity’ for developers to build decentralized apps based on Celo platform and USD stablecoin
- ICYMI: Thousands of cryptocurrency mining rigs diverted from Ethereum mining pools to provide computational power to a coronavirus research project
- The case for electronic cash: Why private peer-to-peer payments are essential to an open society
- ICYMI: Crypto startups report increased demand for estate-planning services as coronavirus outbreak motivates users to ensure coins are passed on to heirs
- ICYMI: “Even though the proposed system didn’t make the final cut for the coronavirus response bill, it appears the digital dollar got closer than ever to becoming a reality”
- Microsoft files patent application for cryptocurrency mining system powered by data gathered from human activity including exercising, or simply reading an ad
- Discussion Paper: Central Bank Digital Currency – Opportunities, challenges and design, from the Bank of England (pdf)
- ICYMI: Draft bill posted to US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs outlines ‘digital dollar’ and details how it might be maintained
- India: CoinDCX, the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, raises $3M
- South Korea: KB Kookmin bank to launch KB Digital Asset Custody service to hold digital assets and authorize transactions on behalf of clients
- Singapore: Matrixport startup reportedly aiming to raise $40M with focus on developing financial services for professional cryptocurrency traders and investors
- Is Texas the new promised land for Bitcoin miners? The backers of several big-money projects are betting yes, thanks to the state’s cheap electricity and unique regulatory environment
- What differentiates bitcoin from its analog cousin, gold? You might respond ‘divisibility’ or ‘portability’…but what really differentiates it? The answer is auditability
- ICYMI: A look at Utah’s Blockchain Game Partners, building the Gala network to enable games to take advantage of cryptocurrency and blockchain ownership features
- India: Supreme Court overturns Central Bank ban on virtual currency trading, hailed as victory for digital asset industry and India’s fintech and broader tech industries
- Japan: OKCoin fiat-to-crypto exchange gains Virtual Currency Exchange Service Provider registration
- A look at how North Korea uses cutting-edge cryptocurrency money laundering methods to steal millions
- ICYMI: Algorand Blockchain protocol selected as the underlying technology for Marshall Islands’ digital currency, the SOV initiative
- South Korea: S2W Lab data intelligence startup partnered by Interpol to analyze dark web activity, including cryptocurrency transactions
- India: Reserve Bank to seek review of Supreme Court ruling which overturne ban on cryptocurrency trading
- Hong Kong’s First Digital Trust gains $3M backing from Taiwan’s Nogle venture studio, aiming for launch of a rapid settlement and clearing network for digital assets
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