To boost the payments and settlements infrastructure in the US, the Federal Reserve has been tasked with creating a new real-time payments and settlements service dubbed “FedNow.”
<h1>US Federal Reserve Plans New Payment System</h1>
<h1>Mastercard Looks To Develop Crypto Payment And Wallet Solutions</h1>
It looks like Mastercard isn’t content with just being a founding member of the Libra Association, as the payments giant has posted job listings searching for positions to assist in the development of its own cryptocurrency and wallet.
Zooko Wilcox Pushes for New Developer Fund to Support Zcash
Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox has called for the creation of a new “Dev Fund” to support the operations of the privacy-focused cryptocurrency.
<h1>NBA Top Shots Puts The Abilities Of Basketball Players On The Blockchain</h1>
Dapper Labs, the team behind CryptoKitties, has partnered with the NBA to create NBA Top Shots, which will allow fans to buy, sell, and trade blockchain-based NBA player move set collectibles, including “Kevin Durant’s 3-point shot” and “Joel Embiid’s dunk.” NBA Top Shots will launch this fall at the start of the new NBA season.
<h1>Fold Offers BTC Rewards For Shoppers Using Its App</h1>
Crypto payments startup Fold will begin offering cashback rewards in the form of bitcoin to those who use the Fold app to make purchases at Amazon, Starbucks, and Target.
<h1>US DoD Research Arm Looks To Blockchain For Military Communication System</h1>
In a document titled “DoD Digital Modernization Strategy,” the US Department of Defense’s research branch, DARPA, outlined the department’s experiments with blockchain tech to create an “efficient, robust, and secure” communications network for the military.
<h1>Crypto Lending Site YouHolder Left User Info Exposed For Nearly A Month</h1>
Security researchers Noam Rotem and Ran Locar found that crypto lending site YouHolder had left customer credit card data exposed and unencrypted for almost a month, with information including credit card numbers, card verification numbers, and card expiration dates.
<h1>The New York Times Looks To Tackle Fake News With Blockchain</h1>
With the launch of its News Provenance Project, The New York Times will run an initial proof of concept that will see photographs and videos authenticated on a blockchain, which will store the news item’s contextual metadata, including when and where the photo or video was shot, who took it, who edited it, and who published it.
<h1>Cloud Computing Attacks On The Rise As Desktop Mining Malware Falls In Popularity</h1>
A study from Skybox Security suggests that malicious crypto miners are now focused on attacking faults in cloud computing containers as the popularity of desktop crypto mining malware steadily falls off.
<h1>Union Bank To Pilot Blockchain-Powered Remittance Service In The Philippines</h1>
Union Bank of the Philippines will experiment with the use of blockchain tech for remittances, allowing overseas Filipino workers to exercise more control over who receives any money sent back home.
<h1>Utah County To Pilot Blockchain Voting System For August Municipal Elections</h1>
Working with a mobile voting app provided by Voatz, Utah County’s blockchain voting pilot will work to target troops serving abroad who would usually have to rely on absentee paper ballots.
<h1>Gotbit Offers ‘Not Entirely Ethical’ Market Manipulation Services</h1>
Moscow State University sophomore Alexey Andryunin co-founded Gotbit, a bot trading service that can help a crypto exchange fake its trading volume to be listed on CoinMarketCap for a fee of $15,000.
<h1>BitTorrent Founder Introduces ‘Proof Of Space And Time'</h1>
Bram Cohen, creator of the BitTorrent file-sharing protocol, has published a green paper for his Chia cryptocurrency project that utilizes “proof of space and time,” a proof-of-work alternative that relies on the excess storage space on hard drives to verify the Chia blockchain.
<h1>Komodo Releases Beta Version Of AtomicDEX App For Android Users</h1>
Crypto wallet provider Komodo has released a beta version of their AtomicDEX platform on Android, allowing users to perform atomic swaps directly from their phone.
<h1>Coinsquare Wants To Bring Crypto Transactions To Non-Bank ATMs In The US</h1>
Canadian crypto exchange Coinsquare has purchased a controlling stake in FinTech software producer Just Cash, and the partners plan to bring crypto transactions to traditional, non-bank ATMs in the US.
<h1>CipherTrace, Shyft Partner To Provide Solution For FATF ‘Travel Rule'</h1>
Intelligence solutions provider CipherTrace and identity solutions provider Shyft are working on developing a know-your-customer-based solution to the Financial Action Task Force’s new “Travel Rule,” which will see crypto exchanges share trader information.
<h1>Netflix-On-The-Blockchain Project Abandons Crypto Aspirations Following ICO</h1>
TaTaTu, originally pitched as a streaming platform similar to Netflix that would also offer its own publicly traded token, raised $575 million in its 2018 token sale. Now the business running TaTaTu has stated crypto was never really part of the plan and blockchain tech only accounts for a small portion of the platform.
<h1>Hewlett-Packard Wants To Make IoT Devices Safer With AI And Blockchain</h1>
Combining artificial intelligence and blockchain technology, Hewlett-Packard is working on an information-processing method to allow internet of things devices to communicate without sending or storing data on a corporate cloud.
<h1>Florida Town Pays Bitcoin Ransom As Ransomware Continues To Haunt Local Governments</h1>
Officials in Lake City, Florida, paid $500,000 worth of bitcoin to hackers who had brought down the city’s computer system for two weeks. Lake City is the second Florida town in as many weeks to pay a bitcoin ransom as a result of a ransomware attack.
<h1>Opera’s Mobile App With Built-In Wallet Now Available For iPhone Users</h1>
With the launch of Opera Touch for iOS, users will have access to Web3 via the Ethereum blockchain, allowing them to use dApps and make transactions using cryptocurrency.