What's New in Crypto - Crypto News

What’s New in Crypto – Crypto News

Crypto News

Today in a selection of the latest news and events from the world of cryptocurrencies:

Rather PayPal than Flexa: Bakkt talked about a new application
Developer: Ethereum 2.0 zero phase baseline debugging completed
Tether launches stablecoin secured by material gold
Deutsche Bank: By the end of the decade, the number of blockchain wallet users could grow to 200 million
Charlie Lee invited Litecoin miners to donate 1% of the rewards from each block mined

Rather PayPal than Flexa: Bakkt talked about a new application

The new consumer app from Bakkt’s cryptocurrency platform will be able to support a wide range of digital products, including cryptocurrencies, loyalty points or promotions. This was stated by company president Adam White at the World Economic Forum in Davos, writes The Block.

According to him, in the application, any value in digital form will be considered as digital assets. Thus, in addition to cryptocurrencies, it will also be able to support virtual goods and other assets.

In addition, Bakkt is considering adding stock trading and a portal for sellers. All this would make the application look more like a traditional fintech product like PayPal than a cryptocurrency service like Flexa.

White also noted that the “killer application” in the cryptocurrency market has not yet been implemented, but he is confident that sooner or later this will happen:

“What gives me optimism is that we are seeing great interest from developers. I’m sure that someone will decide something. ”

Developer: Ethereum 2.0 zero phase baseline debugging completed

The developer Diderik Loerakker, who is preparing the specifications and implementations of Ethereum 2.0, shared on Twitter the latest information about the upcoming launch of the updated network.

According to Loerakker, the zero phase of Ethereum 2.0, which consists in launching a “signal” circuit or Beacon Chain, went through a stabilization process. “Further, according to the plan, certain significant expansions of specifications and improvement of practical utility,” he added.

In addition, a design version of the first phase has already been prepared, during which the mechanism of interaction between shards or individual chains as part of the whole blockchain will be determined. The project was prepared on the basis of a “cross-shard client interaction record” during the DevCon conference.

“So far it’s not perfect, but it allows us to return to the right path after all the changes in the plan of the first phase,” Loerakker writes. “Now we can continue to write tests for the first phase and iterate over improved system details, such as custodial play.”

Also, network tools for all data structures were brought to the new standard of the SSZ serialization algorithm. The changes have already been reflected in the increased productivity of the high-level client.

The next step will be the inclusion of the three functions described by Loerakker in the main Ethereum 2.0 repository on GitHub, after which the developer intends to start preparing new monitoring tools for the test network.

Earlier this week, it became known about the successful completion of the audit of the Ethereum 2.0 deposit contract, which is now ready for launch, at least in the test network.

The transition of Ethereum to the second version of the protocol will be the culmination of the developers’ long-term work and will consist in the gradual inclusion of the second largest cryptocurrency consensus mechanism Proof-of-Stake in the blockchain instead of the currently used Proof-of-Work.

Tether launches stablecoin secured by material gold

Tether has launched a new stablecoin secured by material gold.

According to the company, Tether Gold “grants the right to own one troy ounce of pure material gold in a certain gold bullion.” A stablecoin with the XAU ticker ₮ will be released on the Ethereum and TRON blockchains. Tether writes:

“Tether Gold is launching in response to the growing demand for digital assets that provide access to the world’s most enduring asset and the geopolitical need for an alternative financial system.”

Gold, which will be provided with tokens, is located in a Swiss vault, the name and location of which are not disclosed. In this case, Tether will not have control over the store or take a commission for the storage of gold.

Tether Gold holders will be able to exchange their tokens for gold after the verification procedure and subject to the minimum transaction size requirements. The minimum direct purchase amount of XAU ₮ will be 50 units or 50 troy ounces of gold, that is, approximately 75 thousand dollars. Smaller units of XAU ₮ up to 0.000001 troy ounces will be available for purchase on exchanges.

Tether Technical Director Paolo Ardoino said:

“Tether Gold provides the combined benefits of tangible and digital assets, eliminating the disadvantages of gold storage in more traditional ways, associated with high costs and limited access.”

Deutsche Bank: By the end of the decade, the number of blockchain wallet users could grow to 200 million

A new study by Deutsche Bank says that while digital payments (including cryptocurrency) will “grow at the speed of light” over the next decade, cash, which the bank called “dinosaurs,” will not disappear in the near future.

Despite the widespread belief that the use of cash payments is decreasing, residents of many countries still prefer to pay in cash. For example, 69% of US residents choose cash as their preferred payment method.

“Cash payments will remain part of the economy for a very long time. Over the centuries, people have gained deep-rooted trust in paper and coins in unstable times. Today, little has changed, ”the researchers write.

The survey was conducted by German researchers who recorded the responses of 3,600 respondents from the United States, Britain, China, Germany, France and Italy. The survey featured cash, online payments, mobile payments, and cryptocurrency.

Researchers noted that over the next five years, mobile payments will amount to two fifths of store purchases, which is four times the current level. “In the next decade, digital payments will grow at the speed of light, which will lead to the disappearance of plastic cards,” the document says.

Moreover, the report says that the projected increase in the number of owners of digital wallets may indicate the beginning of mass adoption of cryptocurrencies: “If the growth of users of blockchain wallets continues to reflect the growth of Internet users, then by the end of the decade they will be 200 million, which is four times higher than the current level. “

The report pays great attention to China, which is becoming a non-cash state due to the rapid development of digital payment infrastructure.

Researchers have found that online payments in China have doubled since 2012. In addition, the possible launch of the digital renminbi can have a strong impact on the global economy: “If companies doing business in China are forced to switch to the digital renminbi, this will certainly undermine the primacy of the dollar in the global financial market.”

China’s progress in this direction has also prompted the rest of the world to begin research on the National Bank’s Digital Currency (CBDC). This week it became known that the Bank of England, together with five other central banks – the Bank of Canada, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden) and the National Bank of Switzerland – will study CBDC.

Charlie Lee invited Litecoin miners to donate 1% of the rewards from each block mined

Commenting on the recent initiative of the Bitcoin Cash community, according to which miners can begin to compulsorily transfer 12.5% of block extraction rewards to the development of the project, the creator of the Litecoin cryptocurrency made his own proposal to deduct part of the awards in favor of the Litecoin Foundation or other infrastructure projects.

Charlie Lee’s proposal, however, is more democratic: according to him, miners could donate Litecoin Foundation only 1% (0.125 LTC) of rewards for the blocks found, while doing this on a purely voluntary basis.

“What if Litecoin pools donate 1% (0.125 LTC) block rewards to the Litecoin Foundation? If every miner / pool does this, about $ 1.5 million a year will come out! ”Lee wrote.

Developing his idea, the creator of Litecoin emphasized that due to combined mining with Dogecoin and other cryptocurrencies based on the Scrypt algorithm, miners collect more than 105% of block rewards.

“1% is a reasonably small amount to donate to the public good,” he said.

Moreover, according to Lee, the matter may not be limited to one Litecoin Foundation: pools can allow miners to decide on their own donation recipients. They can be other projects in the ecosystem, for example, Litecoin.com or The Lite School.

The reaction to Lee’s proposal turned out to be mixed – a number of commentators supported the idea, others questioned its feasibility, others even suggested that Charlie donate the money he received to develop the ecosystem by selling his cryptocurrency at a peak in 2017.