Check out some of this week’s crypto and blockchain headlines, originally reported by Cointelegraph Japan. This week’s news from Japan included declining trading volume, statements from prominent figures on China’s pending digital currency, a Lisk staking announcement and a blockchain-based letter of credit.
Japanese Prime Minister Aso warns against digital Yuan
Japan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Financial Minister Taro Aso urged people to be wary of the digital yuan, also known as the digital Renminbi RMB, noting the digital currency’s usage in international payments.
He stated the situation as “a huge problem”, according to Reuters reporting.
Future ADB president Asakawa notes a future for digital yuan
Upcoming Asian Development Bank (ADB) president Masatsugu Asakawa also spoke on the digital Renminbi, noting possible global effects.
Asakawa also noted the digital asset might potentially conflict with the dollar, pending worldwide usage.
Crypto faces declining cash and leverage trading volume in November
Crypto trading volume via cash and margin held an upward climbing trend from August until November 2019.
Numbers from November, however, show a decline, according to fresh data from the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA) from Nov. 10.
Coincheck enables Lisk staking
Tokyo-based crypto exchange Coincheck announced users will now be able to stake the crypto asset Lisk (LSK), a global first for the asset, noted in the announcement from Coincheck.
Staking functionality will begin at a beta phase, with participants needing at least 10 Lisk on their exchange account to activate staking.
Japan’s largest bank issues blockchain-based letter of credit
Mitsubishi UFJ Bank – Japan’s largest bank – issued a letter of credit on the blockchain, Cointelegraph Japan reported, based on an announcement from the bank.
The banked used a platform designed by KomGo, a company headquartered in Switzerland. KomGo has seen investment from major companies including ING, BNB Paribas and Citigroup.
Mitsubishi UFJ Bank distributed the mentioned blockchain-based letter of credit to its arm in London.
The “Bank of Mitsubishi UFJ will use the komgo system to digitize letters of credit, streamline the identity verification (KYC) process, and encrypt data for trade finance”, Cointelegraph Japan explained.
Bitcoin News Summary – January 13, 2020
Bitcoin reacted to the US airstrike in Iran by rising dramatically. Gold, the traditional safe-haven asset, also rose similarly over the same period as the threat of war loomed, raising the interesting prospect of whether Bitcoin is acting as a hedge against geopolitical risk.
Two major Japanese corporations, GMO and SBI are to establish a huge mining facility in Texas. 300 megawatts capacity is planned, rising to 1 gigawatt by year-end, which is three times bigger than Bitmain’s facility in the same state. Both GMO and SBI are involved in other major crypto ventures.
Dutch crypto derivatives exchange, Deribit, is changing ownership, moving from a Dutch company to a wholly-owned Panamanian subsidiary. The move comes in response to new EU AML regulations, which the Netherlands has adopted in stringent form.
The Cobinhood exchange is shutting down for an audit. The exchange, which also runs the COB exchange token, claims that it will reopen on the 10th of February. Users are warned against depositing any coins in the meantime. Some in the community are concerned by the news, suggesting that the exchange might be pulling an exit scam.
Major French video game company, Ubisoft intends to incubate blockchain-based game startups. Between May and November of this year, the company will be focusing its Entrepeneur’s Lab on blockchain-based and social gaming. Developers from all over the world may apply to the program.
Before we conclude, this week’s “Bitcoin quick question” is why does my Bitcoin address keep changing in my wallet? Well, since all Bitcoin transactions are easily visible on the blockchain, it’s considered best practice to use a different address each time you receive Bitcoins. While it’s possible to use the same address each time you receive funds, doing so makes it easy for anyone to track your entire payment history by analyzing that one address. Today many wallets will automatically present you with a new address when you’re expecting payment. This way your coins are spread around multiple, seemingly unrelated addresses, making it much harder to track your financial activity.
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