The COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged the economies of countries all around the world and is showing no signs of stopping. The overwhelming response from global governments has been to place their countries under full or partial lockdowns. This has arguably saved many lives, but the economic fallout has been savage. The United States alone is on track to see a record 30% rate of unemployment and an unprecedented 30% drop in gross domestic product. China, the European Union, Japan and the United Kingdom aren’t faring that much better. In such uncertain times, investors are naturally nervous. After the massive crash …

On May 28, the Digital Dollar Project released its white paper, a 30-page document detailing the potential applications of a CBDC. The white paper continues the nascent think tank’s work to push forward development of a digital dollar. The project and the tenets of the new white paper The paper details certain core tenets of what it considers a digital dollar and what it will push forward. The Digital Dollar Project was founded by former leaders of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and professional services company Accenture. One of those founders is Daniel Gorfine, the head of the CFTC’s fintech …

Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of popular messaging app Telegram, has purportedly resumed his charity activity soon after terminating Telegram’s blockchain project. Known for philanthropic activity, including a $1 million donation to Wikipedia, Durov has donated 10 bitcoins (BTC) to a charity project in Russia. The coins are worth around $96,000 at time of publication. Donation will help people facing financial difficulties due to coronavirus The new donation intends to support a project backed by political activist, Yegor Zhukov — who established himself as a symbol of anti-Kremlin protests. The donated Bitcoin will be spent to help people facing financial …

In today’s evolving business world, industry leaders across the globe are turning to blockchain technology to revolutionize their respective industries. Although blockchain is still a relatively new concept, a growing number of companies are now investing in it. Blockchain has quickly gained a reputation for providing greater transparency, enhanced security, improved traceability, increased efficiency and low costs. One niche area that could be poised to benefit greatly from it is lotteries. Problems with traditional lotteries Although many global economies were soaring prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the inefficiencies of mature industries can still be addressed by implementing blockchain technology. The …

Over the last decade, we have witnessed the massive development of crypto. Formerly a geeky trend, crypto was once a questionable and not easily understandable invention that was used for pizza payments. Since those early days, cryptocurrencies have been transformed into a store and measure of value for many people. Those who were at the forefront of the industry profited greatly, and a new wave of millionaires was born, along with new social groups. Crypto anarchists and Bitcoin (BTC) advocates formed an army, and despite the sharp fall during the crypto winter of 2019, we’ve certainly since gained ground. After …

The Swiss-based non-profit blockchain industry association, the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC), believes that the crises resulting from the coronavirus pandemic have highlighted the benefits of distributed ledger technology (DLT). In email correspondence with Cointelegraph, a representative of the GBBC asserted that DLT can modernize and address the inefficiencies of the systems that underpin the organization of contemporary societies. Coronavirus highlights DLT use-cases “The current pandemic is highlighting many of the inefficiencies and shortcomings of existing systems,” the spokesperson said, emphasizing the failures of many governments in both “preparing and responding to crises.” “While many of these inefficiencies existed long …

We, as a society, are now experiencing a crisis of trust. The three pillars that we’ve had faith in all our lives — institutions, government entities and the media — have all failed us. From trusting financial institutions to guard our assets to expecting politicians to enact smart policies to hoping the media informs us on issues truthfully, we’ve entrusted these institutions to have the public’s best interest in mind and to provide crucial guidance in times of crisis. Instead of witnessing any of that, we have seen politicians, government agencies and the media fail catastrophically in the critical, early …

It’s been a good week for Bitcoin. The halving doesn’t seem to have done the top cryptocurrency any harm at all, with the dollar value up more than 8 percent over the previous week. Ethereum is up more than 10 percent which just shows that the opportunity for blockchain-based solutions are still red-hot. If you’re taking that opportunity to issue tokens or digitized assets and seeking legal counsel with respect to securities and regulation then you should speak to Josh Lawler at law firm Zuber Lawler. They sponsor the Bad Crypto podcast and they’re specialists in developing technology, including the …

This week’s headlines from Japan included BitBank exchange adding three trading pairs, Bitpoint exchange posting decreased fiscal year totals, Bitpoint adding information on its 2019 hack, and Binance donating masks to Japanese nursing homes through its charity arm. Check out some of this week’s crypto and blockchain headlines, originally reported by Cointelegraph Japan. BitBank adds three more asset pairings Japan's BitBank exchange gave details this week on three upcoming additional trading pairs. The platform originally unveiled the fresh pairs in late April. On May 24, BitBank will complete a four-hour offline upgrade to put the pairs into play. After the …

Did you notice the song that Christian Bale’s character was jamming out to in his office when his partner came in to pull the money in The Big Short? Well, it happens to be my favorite metal band of all time: Metallica. And that song is called “Master of Puppets.” It’s almost ironic that as I was writing this article on the real truth behind what’s currently happening with the collapse of our financial and economic markets and calling it “Master of Puppets” — well, this movie scene popped in my mind. Yes, The Big Short is about the big …

As many economies slowly begin opening up again, their stability remains uncertain. 2020 will go down in the history books as the year financial markets suffered their worst day since 1987 and oil’s value went negative for the first time. Bitcoin (BTC) continues to increase in popularity across the globe, particularly as emerging markets with populations counting billions begin to recognize its potential. The asset has proven extraordinary resilience in the worst economic crisis of our living time — even overtaking gold as the best performing asset of 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has pulled the breaks on the world economy, …

Overstock CEO Jonathan Johnson has claimed that private, consumer-controlled immunity passports may be the killer app that propels blockchain technology into the mainstream. In an interview with PYMNTS, he said that the company’s investment arm has turned to two startups creating blockchain-based apps allowing consumers to download and control their health records. Making people feel safe again... Johnson suggests that we must consider what will make an average consumer feel safe to use air travel, restaurants or even stores again after the coronavirus pandemic subsides. Ultimately, he believes this hinges on the knowledge that everyone around them is uninfected with …