- Unicef calls Gamer to mine Ethereum for Syrian Children!
- FedEx continues its Blockchain Plans for Logistics!
- Cake Wallet: Monero's Open Source iOS Wallet!
- Bittrex: New Rules for Coin listings!
- USA: Banks stop buying Cryptocurrencies by Credit Card!
- Illinois: Government plans Blockchain Platform!
Today you can not only read Your Crypto News on Steemit but also listen to them as an audio edition on DSOUND! You will find the link for the audio edition at the end of this post!
The invention of cryptocurrencies is not only a revolution for the financial world, other sectors have also seen positive changes. An example of this is a new UNICEF initiative in which gamers and mining play a big role.
Mining for a good cause
On February 2, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced a new project to provide Syrian children with financial support through cryptocurrency mining. The project is called "Gamer Chaingers". Coins obtained during the mining process will be donated directly to the initiative.
If you are interested in the project, you can find more information on therewebsite. First, a software must be downloaded. This contains more details about the use of the software. According to UNICEF, 332 miners have already registered for this project.
In addition, UNICEF stated:
Why gamer?
Gamer are not often the target audience for fundraising. However, they are ideal for this project. For many computer games, a powerful graphics card is indispensable. This is needed while playing for a fast processing and a higher resolution. However, a good graphics card can also be used to mine cryptocurrencies.
While professional miners can run their computer system continuously, gamer must of course also work, eat and sleep. Exactly during these breaks, the gamer computers are supposed to create cryptocurrencies. UNICEF hopes that gamer will make their powerful computers (and the associated high power costs) available during their breaks, supporting the project for Syrian children, without ever having to transfer money.
Global shipping giant FedEx has begun integrating blockchain-based platforms into its day-to-day work by joining Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA).
Freightwaves, a cargo shipping news agency, said FedEx has begun developing a set of industry standards for blockchain usage within BiTA. The company, which is also a founding member of the organization, has already started testing some blockchain platforms. FedEx is also part of the BiTA Standards Board.
The aim of the blockchain pilot program is to store data for conflict resolution, said Dale Chrystie, vice president of strategic planning and analysis. The project aims to identify what data is needed for a permanent ledger to reduce disputes between customers shipping and receiving goods through FedEx.
FedEx sees great potential
The shipping giant also wants to use Blockchain to save its records, he said, adding:
Kevin Humphries, FedEx senior vice president of IT, told the agency that blockchain platforms should enable customers to more efficiently track packets. This is true not only while they are in possession of FedExs but also before and after the company picks them up. While FedEx has so far outlined only a subset of possible use cases, Humphries is "hopeful that Blockchain will have many use cases."
Monero is far behind other cryptocurrencies when it comes to wallets. A big step is therefore the mobile Wallet, Cake Wallet, which has found its way into the iOS AppStore.
A few days ago, an iOS wallet was announced on Reddit / r / Monero. The developers asked the community at the same time for important features. It was unanimously requested to publish the code so that it could be checked for security. In fact, the developers agreed to open the code for review. The review process has already started.
Until the first estimates arrive, you should not transfer any significant sums to the mobile wallet. If you want, you can play with smaller amounts and test the software. But you should always be careful when dealing with the wallet, because even if the code available on GitHub has no errors, there is no guarantee that this code will be the same one using the app in the Apple AppStore.
Cake Wallet is free and, like all projects in the Monero community, is funded by donations.
The Cake Wallet design
The GUI is, as so often at Apple, made pretty. Cake Wallet is a Light Weight Client, a wallet that does not store the entire blockchain. This would occupy a relatively large amount of space for a mobile phone. You connect the wallet to a remote node to access the blockchain. This is a trade-off between usability and security because the remote node can see the IP address of the user. With the upcoming Kovri update this attack vector is eliminated.
So far, integrating Monero into existing wallets has been difficult. Different providers (Ledger, Coinomi ...) have been working on a Monero integration for quite some time, but so far neither a hardware wallet nor a mobile wallet was available.
The crypto exchange Bittrex has published guidelines in which it sets out the conditions under which it will in future list tokens on its platform.
In the new rules, Bittrex introduces factors that need to be considered when considering whether new digital currencies will be included in the crypto exchange. The rules should therefore increase transparency and provide insights into the approach of Bittrex. The policy is a generalized requirement for evaluating tokens.
The admission procedure is divided into two parts. In an advance decision, a single Bittrex employee assesses whether the coin will be included in the second round of decisions. In this case, a multi-headed team decides whether to allow the cryptocurrency on Bittrex in the future. In doing so, Bittrex also checks whether the applicants are legally classified as securities or commodities, which is considered an exclusion criterion.
Furthermore, the operators mainly want to check the legitimacy of the coins. To do this, an applicant must have a justified use case. In addition, the coin must be compatible with the blockchain or technology used, be supported by the community and have a reasonable trading volume. In this context, Bittrex wants to review the developers and their team. In their detailed listing, the exchange operators reserve the right to delete tokens without warning from their marketplace. A message they want to switch only on hindsight on their homepage. After all, the crypto exchange wants to pay more attention to preventing market manipulation. According to the announcement, after the exchange bans a cryptocurrency, the holders have 14 days to withdraw their tokens stored on the crypto exchange.
Bittrex had been criticized last year for freezing client accounts without warning. Although this was apparently for security reasons, it still unsettled some investors. With its current initiative, Bittrex is taking an important step, at least in terms of transparency.
As Bloomberg reports, several major US banks have announced that customers can not buy cryptocurrencies with their credit cards as of 4 February due to potential price losses. Customers of these banks must use for such transactions one of the offered debit cards, in which the purchase price is debited directly from the bank account.
Customers of US credit card companies JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. can no longer buy cryptocurrencies with their credit cards. The companies do not want to "finance a falling knife," as it said. Bank of America has stopped buying cryptocurrencies with there credit cards since last Friday. The spokeswoman for Citigroup, Jennifer Bombardier, was quoted as saying that the company's own guidelines will now be reviewed because the crypto market has developed so rapidly.
The new suspension applies equally to credit cards of private and corporate customers. With the so-called debit cards, however, cryptocurrencies can still be purchased, because the amount is debited immediately from the account. For the bank and the credit card operator, there is no risk from purchase to billing due to possible price fluctuations. The credit card companies are worried that they might be left stranded because of the large price losses of various coins.
For the owners of the credit cards, the suspension also serves to their own security, as cybercriminals with stolen credit cards can no longer acquire cryptocurrencies. In addition, the authorities recently called on banks to make all their customers' transactions visible. However, in the case of buying cryptocurrencies, the authorities can no longer effectively follow the trail of money.
David Nelms, the CEO of the US financial services company Discover, told Bloomberg in an interview in late January that there were good reasons for such a credit card suspension. His company also has no interest in the crypto market and would not support it. Whether this attitude will change in the future, however, depends on the needs of the majority of its customers, so Nelms. So it remains to be seen whether there will be a change of direction in this regard.
A government task force in Illinois recently published a report on a planned blockchain adaptation. Illinois intends to integrate the technology into its infrastructure to manage the registration of citizens and assets.
The adaptation of governments is advancing not only in terms of cryptocurrencies, but also in terms of the underlying blockchain technology. As a report from the Illinois government shows, they are planning an administrative blockchain platform.
This will allow citizens to manage personal information on identity, taxes and past elections. The government hopes for more efficient data management. By having access to the platform for both citizens and government, there are many time-consuming intermediate steps such as administrative procedures and other bureaucratic hurdles.
The report states:
"This report is the first governmental report in Illinois, which will henceforth be stored in a public blockchain. It is a small gesture that shows our desire for the government to use the technology. While the computational steps behind the digital fingerprint are difficult to understand, it is clear that distributed ledger technology can provide a transformation to a smarter, cheaper, and safer way of managing it."
Illinois wants to create more transparency with the platform
It should also allow the platform to digitize assets such as benefits, tax credits and public bonds. With the use of Ethereum blockchain, the government wants to make the administration more transparent.
In addition, the working group has published a database that manages blockchain initiatives by various governments and makes them visible to all. The database alphabetizes progress, studies and plans related to governments' blockchain applications.
Finally, in its report, the government points out that international cooperation is essential to fully adapt the technology. In order to create more effective implementations and decentralized structures, they want to promote the cooperation of different governments. Illinois has already published plans for a blockchain project in medicine last year.
In case you missed my last news just click here!
I wish you all a great Tuesday!!!
ⓁⓄⓥⒺ & ⓁⒾⒼⒽⓉ
Best regards
@danyelk
► Listen on DSound
► Listen from source (IPFS)
