Open-source Blockchain protocol Secret Network announced its intention to add privacy-based secret contracts to its mainnet. The upgrade will take place on September 15 once the proposal is passed by the community. According to the foundation’s announcement, developers will have the opportunity to build and deploy so-called “secret” smart contracts that use encrypted inputs, outputs, and states. Secret contracts could enable many different blockchains to utilize private data in decentralized apps without compromising their user’s personal security. The foundation explained: “Secret contracts allow for programmable privacy, allowing for arbitrarily complex data privacy controls to be implemented inside applications. The flexible …

Crypto International, a successor of controversial Swiss company Crypto AG, is reportedly dismissing dozens of employees following a major spying scandal. As many as 70 employees had to quit Crypto International after Crypto AG was found to be selling backdoored products to benefit agencies such as the United States Central Intelligence Agency in February. The firm reportedly confirmed the dismissals to Switzerland-centred publication Swissinfo.ch on Friday. Representatives at Crypto International reportedly said that the dismissals were unavoidable because the government recently refused to resume the examination of export applications. Andreas Linde, co-founder of Crypto International, reportedly said that the action …

South Koreans will soon be able to remotely open bank accounts requiring KYC verification using only their smartphones. According to an Aug. 26 announcement from ICONLOOP, the technology arm of South Korean blockchain network ICON, is partnering with Shinhan Bank to issue KYC compliance certificates. The bank is South Korea’s second-largest, with $375 billion in assets. The blockchain firm will allow customers to use its Zzeung mobile app’s blockchain-based decentralized identity (DID) technology to open bank accounts. Such compliance certificates allow users to bypass redundant KYC compliance processes to request service at Shinan Bank, the second largest in South Korea. …

Several days ago, technology pioneer and crypto advocate John McAfee departed his own privacy-focused asset, Ghost. He has since clarified, however, that he did not leave the endeavor entirely. "I have not abandoned the Ghost privacy ecosystem, only the GHOST privacy coin," McAfee told Cointelegraph in an email following his exit. "The ecosystem is centered on our Ghost cell phone service," he explained, noting that the service will continue. McAfee seemingly left the endeavor in a huff on Aug. 19, stating "I am abandoning the the Ghost project" His tweet cited inept management and forecast the project's doom. McAfee explained …

Although the privacy-focused Bitcoin (BTC) wallet Wasabi Wallet recently dismissed allegations that its anonymity features may be compromised, a third-party expert disagrees. In an Aug. 19 blog post, Wasabi competitor Samourai claimed to have “discovered two potential privacy vulnerabilities in the Wasabi Wallet software.” Per the announcement, the company also found numerous issues with the anonymity of Wasabi Wallet’s CoinJoin Bitcoin mixer. Mário Havel, co-founder of crypto-and-privacy non-profit Paralelni Polis, said that Samourai’s allegations seem credible and can be verified in Wasabi’s code. He explained: “Disclosed vulnerabilities [...] are not affecting the security of the wallet. [Instead they] affect only …

Jeju Island, a southern island in South Korea, is one of the most popular tourist destinations for Koreans and has about 15 million visitors annually. It now requires those visitors to use a decentralized identity (DID) blockchain technology based app that claims to offer private, secure COVID-19 contact tracing. An August 19 announcement said that Jeju Province had reached an agreement with South Korean blockchain company ICONLOOP to introduce the system. Starting this week, visitors will be required to download the Zzeung mobile app when arriving on the Island and verify their identity using a Korean telecom service. A verifiable …

Technology pioneer and cryptocurrency advocate John McAfee has just announced his departure from his own privacy asset project, Ghost. "I am abandoning the the Ghost project," he said in an Aug. 19 tweet. "Management is incapable of making a success of the project," he explained, adding, "It will, without a doubt fail." He elaborated: "I tried to explain the fundamental principles of management, but they fell on deaf ears. My apologies to those that I led astray. Sorry." McAfee has bashed Bitcoin in recent months for its lack of privacy. The tech expert set out to make his own proof-of-stake, …

Demand for Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) has been growing tremendously in the last few weeks, with more than 23,100 WBTC ($274 million) currently in circulation. According to data from FlipsideCrypto, a digital asset data provider, more than half of the WBTC was minted in the past month as the decentralized finance sector saw record growth. Net wBTC supply since launch. Source: Flipside Crypto Launched in 2019, WBTC is an ERC-20 token that is pegged to the price of Bitcoin (BTC). It allows users to seemingly transfer Bitcoin to the Ethereum network and interact with smart contracts. To get WBTC, users must …

Thailand’s central bank is looking at smart contracts and decentralized finance (DeFi) implementations for its national digital currency, the digital baht. Vijak Sethaput, senior developer for the Bank of Thailand’s (BoT) central bank digital currency project Inthanon, discussed the country’s CBDC progress in an interview hosted by a global think tank for central banking, the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum, on Aug. 13. Sethaput was joined by Sky Guo, CEO of New York-based enterprise blockchain firm Cypherium, which is focused on global CBDC implementations and interoperability. In the interview, Guo said that global jurisdictions can borrow from the DeFi …

Grin (GRIN), a major privacy-focused cryptocurrency, is apparently no longer resistant to mining with Application-Specific Integrated Circuits — or ASICs — according to a former core developer. Gary Yu, a former core Grin developer, used a Grin ASIC mining device to test out the miner’s performance, according to an Aug. 10 post on Grin’s official forum. Yu purportedly managed to mine three blocks in less than 24 hours, with a block reward totaling at 180 GRIN, or $118 as of press time. ASIC-powered mining occurred at block heights 819660, 820461, and 820801, Yu added. In the post, the former core …

A major financial watchdog in Russia is developing a new cryptocurrency analytics tool to trace major cryptos like Bitcoin (BTC) and privacy coins. Russia’s Federal Financial Monitoring Service, a federal service combating money laundering and terrorist financing, is reportedly planning to build a new analytics platform for tracking cryptocurrency transactions via artificial intelligence. Dubbed “Transparent Blockchain,” the new system is designed to track the movement of digital financial assets and identify crypto service providers to fight illicit activity related to digital assets, local news agency RBC reported on Aug. 10. According to the report, the new system is able to …

Dr. Richard Stallman is well-known for his free software movement activism. His speeches and work revolve around a term: freedom. And it is precisely that word that prompted Stallman to launch the GNU Project, founding the Free Software Foundation and releasing the GNU General Public License, among other projects, to promote the free software concept. RMS, as Dr. Stallman is also known, has some opinions regarding the concept of cryptocurrencies that have been widely discussed within the crypto community. Three freedoms To understand the concept of freedom Stallman often mentions in his speeches, he explains the difference between "free software" …