Cryptocurrencies have become a global phenomenon in the past few years. Now Facebook is launching it’s own cryptocurrency, in association with Visa, MasterCard, Uber and others. The stated aim of Libra is to “enable a simple global currency and financial infrastructure that empowers billions of people”. The announcement has sparked ...
2019-07-19 11:07 | News | Rappler
What if tomorrow nobody but the United States would use the US-dollar? Every country, or society would use their own currency for internal and international trade, their own economy-based, non-fiat currency. It could be traditional currencies or new government controlled crypto-currencies, but a country’s own sovereign money. No longer the US-dollar. No longer the dollar’s […]
2019-07-19 06:07 | Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China, Cryptocurrency | DissidentVoice
Author: Fri, 2019-07-19 00:45 CHANTILLY: Top finance officials from the Group of Seven rich democracies are warning that cryptocurrencies such as Facebook’s Libra should not come into use before “serious regulatory and systemic concerns” are addressed.
The chairman’s concluding summary from the G7 meeting in Chantilly, France, says the officials agreed that so-called stablecoins — cryptocurrencies pegged to real currencies — will
2019-07-18 21:07 | News | ArabNews
Author: AP ID: Thu, 2019-07-18 06:05 TEHRAN: Iranians feeling the squeeze from US sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic’s ailing economy are increasingly turning to such digital currencies as Bitcoin to make money, prompting alarm in and out of the country. In Iran, some government officials worry that the energy-hungry process of “mining” Bitcoin is abusing
2019-07-18 07:07 | News | ArabNews
Author: Wed, 2019-07-17 23:01 LONDON: After months of relative calm in cryptocurrency markets, bitcoin exploded back into life in April with its sharpest price jump in over a year — but few people could convincingly explain why.
The 20 percent leap focused investors’ attention on one of the enduring mysteries of cryptocurrencies: What moves the price of an emerging asset in an
2019-07-17 20:07 | News | ArabNews
A selection of the best letters received from our readers this week. Email letters@newstatesman.co.uk to have your thoughts voiced in the New Statesman magazine.
Regarding plain speaking by ambassadors to Washington: when John Freeman was editor of the New Statesman in 1962 he described Richard Nixon, then bidding to become governor of California, as “a man of
2019-07-17 15:07 | News | NewStatesman
Author: Reuters ID: Wed, 2019-07-17 06:07 CHANTILLY, France: G7 finance ministers will have the growing powers of big digital firms in their sights when they meet on Wednesday outside Paris despite divisions about how best to tax them. France wants to use its presidency of the two-day meeting in the picturesque chateau town of Chantilly
2019-07-17 06:07 | News | ArabNews
Facebook, which is expected to pay $5 billion in fines for violating privacy rules, is going to launch a new cryptocurrency, supported by big tech companies and backed by hard currencies. The offering has raised serious concerns among lawmakers over how it will be governed.
2019-07-15 06:07 | Tech | SputnikNews
Author: Kevin TRUBLET | AFP ID: Sun, 2019-07-14 02:08 LONDON: Facebook’s planned virtual unit Libra, already under heavy attack from US President Donald Trump and global regulators, faces skepticism among the wider cryptocurrency community as well. One theme — besides Brexit — dominated discussion among the movers and shakers from London’s financial technology or FinTech
2019-07-14 04:07 | News | ArabNews
Author: Reuters ID: Fri, 2019-07-12 05:52 WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Thursday criticized Bitcoin, Facebook’s proposed Libra digital coin and other cryptocurrencies and demanded that companies seek a banking charter and make themselves subject to US and global regulations if they wanted to “become a bank.” “I am not a fan of Bitcoin and
2019-07-12 02:07 | News | ArabNews
In recent weeks, Facebook has created a new digital currency and the price of Bitcoin has fluctuated wildly. Has money itself always been an illusion?
It is difficult to know when humans first started securing or “encrypting” messages to hide them from unwanted readers; the practice must be almost as old as written language, although examples are sparse. We know, for
2019-07-10 14:07 | News | NewStatesman
According to 33 national organizations, the project “raises profound questions about national sovereignty, corporate power, consumer protection, competition policy, monetary policy, privacy, and more.”
***
In a letter Tuesday, a coalition of 33 consumer, privacy, economic policy, and other groups …
The post Watchdog Groups Call on Congress and Federal Regulators to Impose Moratorium on Facebook’s Proposed Cryptocurrency appeared first on Global Research .
2019-07-04 13:07 | English, cryptocurrency, Facebook | GlobalResearch
Jessica Corbett, staff writer In a letter Tuesday, a coalition of 33 consumer, privacy, economic policy, and other groups called on congressional leaders and top federal regulators to impose a moratorium on Facebook's proposed cryptocurrency called Libra "until the profound questions raised by the proposal are addressed."
2019-07-02 15:07 | News | CommonDreams
Several major websites reported problems with their operations, though not all of them were immediately linked to issues occurring on the Cloudflare platform, the US company that provides content delivery network services.
2019-07-02 14:07 | Tech | SputnikNews
After months of speculation, Facebook has finally lifted the lid on its plans for a global cryptocurrency. Facebook hopes Libra will be available to selected users as early as next year for use in transactions across the platform. As with conventional currencies, the company hopes you’ll want to use Libra to pay for online transactions, […]
2019-06-29 00:06 | Articles, bank of england, bitcoin | NovaraMedia
Payments can happen cheaply and easily without banks or credit card companies. This has now been demonstrated – not in the United States but in China. Unlike in the US, where numerous firms feast on fees from handling and processing payments, in China most money flows through mobile phones nearly for free. In 2018 these […]
2019-06-27 20:06 | Banks/Banking, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency | DissidentVoice
Author: Reuters ID: Tue, 2019-06-25 10:15 PARIS: Facebook’s planned global ‘Libra’ cryptocurrency must respect anti-money laundering regulations and it must seek banking licenses if it offers banking services, France’s central bank chief said in a magazine interview. Facebook announced plans last week to introduce a new global cryptocurrency called Libra as part of an effort
2019-06-25 10:06 | News | ArabNews
Mon, 2019-06-24 22:38 LONDON: Governments, not companies, must regulate social networks, Facebook’s head of global affairs and former UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, said Monday. “It’s not for private companies, however big or small, to come up with those rules. It is for democratic politicians in the democratic world to do so,” Clegg told the BBC in an interview. Clegg, the former leader of British Liberal Democrats party, said
2019-06-24 19:06 | News | ArabNews
With wary regulators and a public reputation in tatters after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook’s crypto journey will be far from smooth.
Facebook announced the launch of its new Libra “cryptocurrency” last week to much fanfare. Since then, bitcoin, the world’s most famous digital currency, has been buoyed by the first entrance of a major tech giant into the crypto market, has
2019-06-23 23:06 | News | NewStatesman
Author: Reuters ID: Fri, 2019-06-21 07:40 LONDON: Major central banks and regulators will want oversight of Facebook’s proposed new currency and payment system, Libra, to ensure it is safe and does not allow money laundering or finance terrorism, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said. “It has to be safe, or it’s not going to
2019-06-21 07:06 | News | ArabNews
Author: Fri, 2019-06-21 05:21 LONDON: If Facebook’s new cryptocurrency should resonate anywhere it should be India, where the social media giant has more than 300 million followers. Many Indians are shut out of banking and face punitive fees for simple transactions, like transferring money to their loved ones. But in India as elsewhere, the US company’s ambitions to remake global finance
2019-06-21 02:06 | News | ArabNews
Author: AFP ID: Thu, 2019-06-20 10:19 GENEVA: Switzerland’s market watchdog confirmed Thursday that it is contact with the “initiators” of Facebook’s new cryptocurrency, as questions mount over how the money will be regulated. Switzerland has tried to establish itself as a global cryptocurrencies hub, but the entry into the market of a behemoth like Facebook
2019-06-20 10:06 | News | ArabNews
How the Winklevi made the difficult leap from being very wealthy to being obscenely wealthy.
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are “mirror” twins, which means that they came not only from a single fertilised egg, but that their embryo divided unusually late; they spent well over a week as the same body. When they face each other, they see a reflection. A
2019-06-19 16:06 | News | NewStatesman
In a move that could reshape the world's financial system, Facebook has unveiled plans to launch a new global digital currency called Libra. Facebook announced its plans on Tuesday after secretly working on the cryptocurrency for more than a year. It will launch Libra next year in partnership with other large companies including Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and Uber. Facebook said it wants to create "a simple global currency and infrastructure that empowers billions of people." The plan has already come
2019-06-19 12:06 | News | DemocracyNow
FACEBOOK unveiled plans Tuesday for a new global cryptocurrency called Libra, pledging to deliver a stable virtual money that lives on smartphones and could bring over a billion "unbanked" people into the financial system. The post Facebook takes on the world of cryptocurrency with ‘Libra’ coin appeared first on Asian Correspondent .
2019-06-19 00:06 | Business, Insights, News | AsianCorrespondent
Facebook has finally confirmed its plans to launch a cryptocurrency called Libra. As the previous reports suggested, Libra won’t be controlled by Facebook alone. The cyptocurrency is being launched by Libra Association, a governing body (being established not-for-profit organization) that has 27 founding members to oversee Libra and its development. Facebook will be having one […] The post Facebook announces its cryptocurrency ‘Libra’, to launch next year appeared first on MENAbytes .
2019-06-18 10:06 | News, Global | menabytes
Author: AFP ID: Mon, 2019-06-17 09:46 LONDON: Facebook is set Tuesday to unveil a bid to bring cryptocurrency payments into the mainstream, reportedly with the endorsement of governments and financial giants. The world’s biggest social network is expected to outline details of a virtual currency launching next year that it hopes will avoid the rollercoaster
2019-06-17 10:06 | News | ArabNews
Sat, 2019-06-15 21:34 DUBAI: In the great debate over crypto finance, there is little middle ground. Either you are deeply suspicious of the brave new world of bitcoin and blockchain — like the eminent economist Nouriel Roubini, whose attacks on the fintech phenomena have sparked a Twitter storm of argument — or, like a growing number of crypto believers in the Middle East, you believe that the new wave is unstoppable.
2019-06-15 19:06 | News | ArabNews
Far-right European parties are embracing climate crisis denial – a move borrowed from the libertarian playbook.
Last week, Barbara Kolm, one of Europe’s most high-profile libertarians, was formally accused of illegally funneling money to some of Europe’s most high-profile right-wing populist parties. If true, the alliance is the latest episode in a history of collaboration between champions of free markets and opponents
2019-05-17 11:05 | News | NewStatesman
Author: Associated Press ID: Fri, 2019-05-03 12:14 SAN FRANCISCO: The Wall Street Journal reports that Facebook plans a cryptocurrency-based payment system that it could launch for billions of users worldwide. The system would use a digital coin similar to bitcoin, but different in that Facebook would aim to keep the coin’s value stable. Bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies
2019-05-03 12:05 | News | ArabNews
Author: Associated Press ID: Fri, 2019-05-03 03:28 SAN FRANCISCO: The Wall Street Journal reports that Facebook plans a cryptocurrency-based payment system that it could launch for billions of users worldwide. The system would use a digital coin similar to bitcoin, but different in that Facebook would aim to keep the coin’s value stable. Bitcoin and
2019-05-03 00:05 | News | ArabNews
In early April, in the anxious days of mourning after the
massacres at two New Zealand mosques, the Australian government passed what it
called the Sharing of Abhorrent Violent Material bill. The hastily drafted law
called for fines of up to 10 percent of annual revenue or three years of jail
time for technology executives whose companies fail to “expeditiously” take
down abhorrent content. According to The Guardian , objectionable
content would include “videos depicting terrorist acts, murders, attempted
murders, torture, rape or kidnap.”
2019-04-23 11:04 | Foreign Affairs, Politics, Facebook | NewRepublic
When you live in a part of the world where the seasons are distinctively different, the arrival of spring is always welcome. In Canada, where winters are long and cold, the receding snow and temperatures above zero Celsius are always a warm blessing — literally. There’s only so much of minus 10C a person can bear, and shovelling snow just to get your car from your driveway is indeed tedious. I once saw winter temperatures fall to minus 50C, water
2019-04-20 10:04 | Opinion| | GulfNews
Author: Reuters ID: 1554189528701756500 Tue, 2019-04-02 07:08 LONDON: Bitcoin briefly touched $5,000 on Tuesday, its highest level since late November, while other cryptocurrencies also surged. On the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange, Bitcoin rose as much as 20 percent in Asian trading to briefly touch the $5,000 mark before settling at $4,730 by 0700 GMT, up 14 percent on
2019-04-02 07:04 | News | ArabNews
Author: AFP ID: 1553678619121176400 Wed, 2019-03-27 09:17 HONG KONG: The world’s largest maker of cryptocurrency mining chips has shelved plans for an ambitious initial public offering in Hong Kong, becoming the latest victim of bitcoin’s price plunge. Bitmain Technologies said Tuesday it has allowed its IPO application to lapse, six months after it was initially filed in
2019-03-27 09:03 | News | ArabNews
After posting a tutorial on tracking GRU agents’ bitcoin (BTC) transactions, I’ve received numerous responses asking how to find out even more. I aim to please, so I’ve put together another tutorial using Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades’ bitcoin funding campaign as a case study. What You’ll Need To effectively analyze any bitcoin address, I rely... The post How To Track Illegal Funding Campaigns Via Cryptocurrency appeared first on bellingcat .
2019-03-26 20:03 | Guides, bitcoin | BellingCat
Author: Sat, 2019-03-23 00:05 LONDON: The Gulf is overtaking Asia as the global leader in cryptocurrencies, as countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE embrace blockchain technology despite the crash in coin prices, according to the cofounders of a new digital-currency exchange. Bitcoin prices have plummeted by more than 50 percent in the last year, from a high of $9,683.54 on
2019-03-22 21:03 | News | ArabNews
Author: Miwa SUZUKI | AFP ID: 1552622819861386400 Fri, 2019-03-15 07:56 TOKYO: A Japanese court sentenced the former high-flying creator of the MtGox bitcoin exchange to a suspended jail sentence of two and a half years Friday after finding him guilty of data manipulation. The Tokyo District Court convicted Mark Karpeles, a 33-year-old computer whizz from France, for
2019-03-15 04:03 | News | ArabNews
There are plenty of titles published today that are as controversial as Nabokov's novel.
This week, the London Book Fair brings thousands of publishers, agents, writers and bookfolk from all over the world to a massive airless hangar in West London, where they will all try to convince each other that their dog-eared manuscript or watermarked PDF will be next year’s
2019-03-13 12:03 | News | NewStatesman
The Essex-born stand-up comedian on the evolving sociology of the internet.
Jamali Maddix doesn’t like “regimes”. The 27-year-old comedian-turned-broadcaster “bombed out” of London Metropolitan University, but not before winning the Chortle Student Comedy Award in 2014. “I didn’t like school, I’ve never liked routine,” he explains, “yet I found myself a reason to go. Other people were going, and at 18, I
2019-03-12 13:03 | News | NewStatesman
Over a half-century ago, President Dwight Eisenhower recognized a force that threatens democratic government. In his farewell address on January 17, 1961, he alerted the American people about a "permanent armaments industry of vast proportions" and its impact in shaping the very structure of our society. He called it the military-industrial complex and urged the … Continue reading "Bitcoin: Cryptographic Tool That Can Secure Civil Liberties"
The post Bitcoin: Cryptographic Tool That Can Secure Civil
2019-03-02 05:03 | Uncategorized | AntiWar
On a steamy Sunday last July, at about half-past noon, a caravan of unmarked SUVs exited the FBI’s Washington, D.C., field office, an eight-story concrete building that exudes all the charm of a supermax prison. The cars moved swiftly across the city; speed was critical. There were indications that the target, who had canceled the lease on her apartment and packed her belongings, was about to take flight. Just before one o’clock, the SUVs turned off Wisconsin Avenue and into
2019-02-11 10:02 | feature, Politics, Magazine | NewRepublic
Hello! This week we kick-off with an explainer on Russia’s impressive economic performance in 2018 (sanctions notwithstanding) and whether the growth data could been doctored. Then we have stories on Durov’s very optimistic valuation for his new cryptocurrency project, how a propaganda chief fared when he went on a popular YouTube show, billionaire Mikhail Fridman’s […] The post Why is the Russian economy growing despite Western sanctions? appeared first on The Bell — Eng .
2019-02-08 20:02 | Weekly | TheBell
Dubai-based luxury ecommerce platform The List that raised $1.7 million in seed funding last year now accepts Bitcoin as a payment method, the company announced in a statement yesterday. The payment method is only available on The List’s iOS app. The startup claims to be the first luxury fashion mobile platform to offer the Bitcoin […] The post Dubai-based luxury ecommerce platform The List now accepts Bitcoin payments appeared first on MENAbytes .
2019-02-07 11:02 | News, Technology, Crypto | menabytes
Author: Reuters ID: 1549337558603542300 Tue, 2019-02-05 00:38 TORONTO: About C$180 million ($137.21 million) in cryptocurrencies have been frozen in the user accounts of Canadian digital platform Quadriga after the founder, the only person with the password to gain access, died suddenly in December. Gerald Cotten died aged 30 from complications with Crohn’s disease while volunteering at an orphanage in
2019-02-05 03:02 | News | ArabNews
Author: Reuters ID: 1549254277776115500 Mon, 2019-02-04 03:57 SINGAPORE: Singapore police on Monday said it was looking into reports by the Financial Times of alleged financial irregularities at German payments firm Wirecard. The FT last week published two reports about alleged wrongdoing at Wirecard’s Singapore office that sent shares in the member of the blue-chip DAX sharply lower.
2019-02-04 04:02 | News | ArabNews
In recent years, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have been used by terrorists to conduct funding campaigns, authoritarian governments to subvert its citizens’ human rights, and GRU agents to hack the Democratic National Committee as well as the Clinton campaign. Though many people utilize virtual currencies for legitimate purposes, the technology is an enticing tool for... The post Tracking Illicit Transactions With Blockchain: A Guide, Featuring Mueller appeared first on bellingcat .
2019-02-01 22:02 | Guides, bitcoin, GRU | BellingCat
Author: Reuters ID: 1549038817335647800 Fri, 2019-02-01 07:15 TALLINN, Estonia: Estonia’s push to become a digital society has left it vulnerable to dirty money and sanction breaches, the country’s top banking regulator has warned. The Baltic state took center stage in one of the largest-ever money laundering scandals last year — the Estonian branch of Danske Bank helped
2019-02-01 17:02 | News | ArabNews