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Putin Outlaws Crypto as a Payment Means in Russia

President Vladimir Putin of Russia has signed a new law that will prohibit the use of cryptocurrency as a payment means in the country by 2021. Meanwhile, the Russian government recently deployed blockchain technology for its constitutional amendment.Crypto as Payment to Become Illegal in 2021According to a report by local news outlet RIA on Friday (July 31, 2020), the bill signed by President Putin will prevent citizens from using crypto to pay for goods and services in Russia. The bill will, however, enable transactions via digital financial assets (DFA).Also, government

Bitcoin Joins the Alt-Season Breaking $10k: The Crypto Weekly Market Update

This week was nothing short of exciting in the cryptocurrency markets. Bitcoin definitely woke up from its slumber and made a few aggressive moves upwards. Altcoins felt the pain as most of them decreased in value as the king of crypto took its toll.In seven short days, Bitcoin went from around $9,600 to $11,400, charting gains upwards of just shy of 20%. Earlier on Monday, the cryptocurrency catalyzed its performance, jumping from $9,800 to $11,200. After that, it consolidated for a few days, and just today, it painted fresh 2020

Blockchain Scam Raises Money by Pretending to Be Associated With the Olympics

The Chinese Olympic Committee announced on April 8 that it’s repeatedly received complaints about illegal marketing pertaining to the upcoming Olympic Games.People claiming to be part of the so-called “World Olympic Sports Foundation” say they’re using blockchain technology to help people invest in special products and other commercial developments pertaining to the Olympics. But that money actually ends up in the pockets of anonymous scammers.They make reference to the Tokyo Olympics Torch Relay to trick people into parting with their money, thinking it’s going to a genuine cause. The Chinese

Exclusive: US Congressional Watchdog on Prototyping Smart Contracts

The supreme audit institution of the United States, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), posted two job positions with its Innovation Lab concerning the development of prototype applications for blockchain technology during March.Cointelegraph spoke to Chuck Young, the managing director of public affairs at GAO, to find out more about the agency’s interest in distributed ledger technologies, or DLT.GAO to refine auditing processes for blockchainYoung stated that GAO's primary application for blockchain will be as “a digital financial ledger” — indicating that the chief auditor is planning to use blockchain to

Revolut Reacts To Corona Crisis, Pushes out New Crypto Support

Revolut, a digital banking app, has recently rolled out its cryptocurrency services to all of its standard users. This comes alongside a statement from the app itself that it widened its access earlier due to the current global economic crisis.This Is No April Fools’On the first of April, 2020, the UK-based fintech service provider made the announcement that it will allow for cryptocurrency accounts and trading to all of its standard users, with a 1.5% flat fee per trade. Before this announcement, these services were reserved only to its Premium

SEC Postpones Decision on Overstock-Affiliated Security Token Exchange

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking more feedback and more time before it decides whether to approve the launch of the Boston Security Token Exchange (BSTX).In a letter published on April 1, the regulator postponed the current April 2 deadline in light of responses to a recent proposed rule change to BSTX’s original filing.The proposed exchangeBSTX is a project for a regulated security token exchange platform that would be jointly owned by Box Digital Markets and Overstock’s blockchain arm tZERO. As the SEC summarizes in its April