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China will establish a national blockchain platform called (BSN) Blockchain Service Network on April 25, 2020. This was brought to notice a few weeks ago. It is believed that this move is initiated before the launch of Chinas government-backed cryptocurrency, DC/EP. And this initiative seems to be taken with much more seriousness than ever before.

There are indications that the crypto-yuan will be launched shortly. The majority of the experts believe that this could change the whole course for the global financial system. Drawing attention to what exactly is known at present and what it concludes, below are a few facts.

Xi Jinping, Peoples Republic of Chinas Chairman, last year had said that China has prioritized the development of blockchain-tech. This is for the acceleration of the industrys growth. It was already known at that time about China developing its own cryptocurrency since the year 2014.

And since the announcement of Facebook plans for Libra became known, China became much encouraged. The anticipation of Facebooks issuance of its own currency awakened the governments all around the globe.

China took hold of it as an incentive. Firstly, to enter into competition with the dollar in the digital payments market. And, eventually, to change the global financial system fully.

China set an example for other countries to understand what the future might hold. Therefore, its idea encouraged many countries to announce their own CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies) development.

In April 2020, the first version of the digital yuan applications screenshots popped up online. The tests started among the white list of the Agricultural Bank of Chinas clients in four pilot regions including Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Chengdu, and Suzhou. This is known through the preliminary information. In April, Suzhou enterprises also plan to pay transport subsidies accounting for 50% to local workers with the new digital currency.

Few basic functions are revealed in the screenshots, and the interface shows similarity to Alipay and WeChat Pay. Both of the applications belong to Chinese payment platforms. Besides, according to what officials have stated, there is already a possibility to understand the majority of the cryptocurrencys functions.

Shifting the focus to what is unveiled about Chinas digital currency are the following points.

DC/EPs concept does not seem similar to a decentralized cryptocurrency as per what is known about the crypto presently. There are less significant differences in this new system in comparison to WeChat Pay or AliPay. The data structure of the blockchain will assure high traceability and control, for the government.

China might gain a lot of advantages to be the first to establish a government-backed digital currency. Also, Libra and Ton, both competing projects are facing hurdles along their way.

China will set an unprecedented example for other governments to follow. There is a likelihood that this can mark an entry into a new era where physical cash ends and the central bank cryptocurrencies begin. Alongside a much stronger likelihood that this will transform the international monetary system entirely.

See the article here:
Is Chinas National Cryptocurrency The Beginning Of A New Financial Era? - The Coin Republic

A "Zuck Buck" is displayed on a monitor as David Marcus, the executive leading Facebook's blockchain initiative, is questioned by U.S. lawmakers in Washington, D.C., on July 17, 2019.

Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Facebook's cryptocurrency project is taking a new, scaled-down approach as transactions increasingly take place online during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Libra Association, an independent group organized by Facebook to manage the libra crytocurrency, said it now plans to offer stable coins backed by just one nation's currency in addition to its coins backed by multiple currencies. That means some coins offered by the group would serve as the equivalent value of a U.S. dollar or a Euro, for example. The change comes after Facebook's plans for libra were shot down by lawmakers around the world who worried about a company with a history of privacy scandals having control over their citizens' resources.

The move represents a big change for libra, which Facebook originally pitched last year as an alternative global system that would make it easier to make digital payments no matter where in the world you are. The new proposed design for libra would make it more like standard digital payments services such as PayPal.

The change also could ease some concerns among U.S. lawmakers who feared the new currency could compete with the U.S. dollar. The Libra Association also said it's taking steps to make the currency more secure and safeguard it from illegal activity like money laundering.

David Marcus, the Facebook executive and former PayPal president who spearheaded the cryptocurrency initiative and is now a member of the Libra board, addressed the changes in a series of tweets Thursday.

"I keep on thinking about all the people and small businesses that could benefit from the Libra Network already being operational especially now during these times of unprecedented hardship," he wrote.

Marcus said the group is now fully funded by its members, with less than 10% of that funding coming from Facebook.

The Libra Association has seen a significant change in its makeup since the project was first announced. A slew of payments companies, including Visa, MasterCard and PayPal, abandoned the project following government scrutiny. After losing eight of its original members, Shopifyand crypto start-up Tagomijoined the Libra Association in February.

It's still unclear if the changes announced Thursday will be enough to sway regulators and policymakers in favor of the project. U.S. congressmen pressed Marcus and CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a series of hearings last year, even asking them to halt plans for the currency altogether until they could come up with a proper regulatory framework. The executives only said they would wait to launch until they got approval from who they deemed were the appropriate U.S. regulators.

Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Tex., a member of the House Financial Services Committee that grilled Zuckerberg at a hearing about libra last year, does not seem entirely convinced by the new framework.

"Facebook and the Libra Association had an opportunity to address the concerns I and my other colleagues raised with their initial whitepaper," Garcia said in a statement Thursday. "Unfortunately they chose not to listen to the bipartisan concerns raised about Libra.I will continue to work to make sure that the SEC regulates any such asset as the security that it is under current securities laws."

The group is now waiting on regulatory guidance from the Swiss government. Libra said Thursday it had started the payment system licensing process with the Swiss Financial Markets Supervisory Authority (FINMA).

FINMA said in a statement Thursday that Libra's application "differs considerably from the project originally submitted." FINMA said it's committed to coordinating with international partners during its evaluation of the project due to its global implications. It said it has been working closely with theSwiss National Bank and more than 20 supervisory authorities and central banks around the world.

"FINMA will give special consideration to whether strict national and international standards for payment infrastructures and also for combating money laundering can be upheld," according to the statement.

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WATCH:Facebook's libra head: I don't see bitcoin as currency, it's digital gold

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Facebook's vision for a new cryptocurrency gets watered down as it attempts to woo regulators - CNBC

Updated: May 25, 2018:

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Cryptopia: High Court decides cryptocurrency is property and it was held on trust for account holders - JD Supra

Akon, the rapper-turned-crypto entrepreneur whos building an entire city in his own name in Senegal, announced today that yet another African city will run on his cryptocurrency, Akoin.

Akoin, which is currently in beta and will launch later this year, will power the Mwale medical and technology city (MMTC), a $2 billion science and tech hub in Western Kenya. MMTC is the Hamptons of New York in Kenya, according to a 2018 promotional video that describes the vision of its creator, Julius Mwale.

At the center of the city, which houses 35,000, is a 5,000 bed hospital called Hamptons Hospital. The hospital is surrounded by thousands of homes, resorts, retail outlets and a 36-hole golf resort. The plan is to rework all of the citys payments systems, which currently process 50 million transactions each year, so that they support Akoin.

Why got to all of the bother? I wanted to create something special for African citizens, especially financially, and give them a currency that they can trust and also utilize on a day to day [basis], Akon, who is of American and Senegalese descent, told a Zoom call full of journalists attending the virtual Blockdown 2020 conference.

Akon said his dream is for Akoin to be the future currency for the continent and all the developing countries around the world.

To kick things off, Akoin, which is based on Stellar, will also power the $10 billion Akon City. Construction on the city started in March 2019, and the city is now 85% complete, Mwale told the Zoom call. From there, the skys the limit: We expect the Akoin platform will exclusively run for about 70% of Africa, said Mwale.

Akon, real name Aliaume Damala Badara Akon Thiam, told journalists from his residence in Atlanta that his aspiration is for Akoin to be the future currency for the continent and all the developing countries around the world.

Not now, obviously: smartphone penetration in Kenya is roughly 21%, according to Newzoo's 2018 Global Mobile Market Report, and Senegals is 19%, according to its 2015 edition. Only some Akoin transactions can be processed though so-called dumb phones.

Although those who willingly surrendered their land to Mwale for the construction of MMTC are now virtually millionaires, according to the promotional video, most Africans wont be able to make the most of Akoin.

But my vision for Akoin is the future, Akon told Decrypt. It's not so [much] about what's happening right now, because I know once Akoin is in effect, and we're moving it in the areas that we're moving in...its going to grow very rapidly.

Once enough people come online, people will see how easy it is to navigate within the system, and obviously that will help to integrate it within their lives, he said. Thatll speed up adoption, Akon said. But until the majority of the continent uses smartphones, Akoins full functionality is reserved for those residing in the Hamptons of Africa.

Go here to read the rest:
Akon wants his cryptocurrency to power the whole of Africa - Decrypt

Google recently removed 49 phishing Google Chrome web browser extensions after receiving reports about their activity.

Harry Denley, director of security at cryptocurrency wallet startup MyCrypto, explained in an April 14 Medium post how he got the extensions removed from Chromes store within 24 hours with the help of phishing-specialized cybersecurity firm PhishFort.

The removed extensions include ones that targeted the owners of hardware wallets produced by Ledger, Trezor and KeepKey, and users of software wallets Jaxx, MyEtherWallet, Metamask, Exodus and Electrum.

The extensions triggered the users to enter the credentials needed to access the wallet such as mnemonic phrases, private keys and keystore files and sent them to bad actors. Hackers were then able to steal the crypto assets contained in the wallets.

Some of the extensions also had fake five-star ratings in the Chrome extension store, but the reviews contained little to no info ranging from good, helpful app to legit extension.

One of the extensions reportedly had the same review copied and pasted eight times by different users. The copypasta included an introduction to Bitcoin (BTC) and explained why MyEtherWallet the extensions targeted wallet was the preferred wallet option. It is worth noting that MyEtherWallet does not actually support Bitcoin.

The investigation uncovered 14 control servers behind all the extensions, but fingerprinting analysis revealed that some of the servers were managed by the same bad actors, with the oldest domain being linked to many other control servers. Denley subsequently concluded that the same bad actors were behind most of the extensions.

Some of the domains used in the phishing campaigns were relatively old, but 80% of them were registered in March and April 2020. Most of the extensions were published on Chromes store this month.

This is not the first time that the community has discovered a malicious Google Chrome browser extension targeting crypto users. As Cointelegraph reported in late March, a Redditor warned the community that he lost some crypto assets after falling victim to a fake Ledger extension.

Google Chrome extensions targeting crypto users are so common, that earlier this month MyEtherWallet warned its user that its official extension was removed for allegedly containing malware. Fortunately, the extension was restored shortly after the team contacted Google to solve the issue.

Brett Callow, threat analyst at cybersecurity firm Emsisoft shared some advice on how to avoid falling victim to such phishing attempts:

"Security products may detect malicious extensions, but the first line of defence should always be common sense. The best advice is to only install extensions from official stores and to do a little research prior to installing them. If a website randomly prompts you to Click allow' to continue downloading an important browser update, just close the page.

Visit link:
Google Removes 49 Phishing Extensions That Steal Cryptocurrency Data - Cointelegraph