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DOUBLY PRIVATE: JPMorgan Chase’s blockchain team wants to bring privacy features to Quorum, its (private) ethereum variant, using an extension of the Zether protocol. The protocol, which was designed for confidential payments and is compatible with ethereum and other smart contract platforms, would obscure both how much money is sent in a transaction, as well as who is sending it. JPMorgan’s team plans to open-source the code Tuesday. Full Story
SPEEDY DEXS: San Francisco-based decentralized exchange (DEX) startup 0x is partnering with StarkWare to try and improve the number of transactions per second that DEXs can process, using zero-knowledge proofs. StarkWare CEO Uri Kolodny told CoinDesk that “a marketplace where only three trades per second can be settled is a very illiquid market,” but plans for “non-custodial trading at scale” using a ZKP solution. Full Story
VITALIK PROPOSAL: The core infrastructure behind ethereum 2.0 might be in for a major redesign. Dubbed the beacon chain, a new proposal by ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin suggests radically modifying the blockchain’s role in a new iteration of the ethereum network based on proof-of-stake consensus. According to Raul Jordan, co-lead at non-profit Prysmatic Labs, the proposed beacon chain design “makes it a lot easier for application developers, people building on [ethereum],” to leverage the new network without having to re-learn the parameters of an entirely new blockchain platform. Full story
IBM EXIT: Jesse Lund, IBM’s global head of blockchain for financial services and digital currencies, is departing for new pastures, the company has confirmed. A former banker, Lund spearheaded IBM’s World Wire payment network which used the Steller blockchain to help banks remove pain points from cross border payments. Asked if Lund’s departure would affect the Stellar/World Wire partnership, Jed McCaleb, co-founder of Stellar, told CoinDesk: “No, we are still full steam ahead with World Wire.” Full Story |
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SPONSOR SECTION  A new cast of innovators and founders in the blockchain ecosystem is fundamentally changing how business is conducted across industry sectors around the world. We call them Emerging Disruptors. Learn what makes them different in our new Perspective. |
| BULL SIGNAL: The ongoing bitcoin price consolidation below $9,000 has taken the shape of a bull flag – a chart pattern marking a pause that often leads to further gains. A break above the upper edge the flag, currently at $8,890, could lead to a move toward key Fibonacci resistance above $9,400. The bullish case would weaken if prices find acceptance below the former resistance-turned-support of $8,390, but that’s looking unlikely. Full Story |
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BEST OF THE BEST
TROJAN BITCOIN: Websites claiming to offer users the ability to earn up to $50 in bitcoin every day are in reality suckering unsuspecting victims into downloading ransomware or a password-stealing Trojan, reports Bleeping Computer. The advertisements initially say users can earn ethereum through referral links after downloading a program (malware), before then saying users can earn $15-$50 in bitcoin. Once downloaded, the malware locks up the victims’ computers or looks for passwords.
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EXCELLENT ADDITION: Bitcoin has taken another step into the mainstream after being added as a currency option in Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet program. The news was tweeted by bitcoin “permabull” Dennis Parker with a screenshot indeed showing bitcoin nestled between the Azerbaijan manat and the Georgian lari in the app’s pop-down menu. Now preparing your crypto tax accounts will be a much easier affair.
SOOTHING SOUNDS: BitListen is a real-time bitcoin transaction visualizer with a difference. Instead of just pretty pictures (bubbles, in this case) the web app also translates transactions into soothing sounds, according to a piece by The Next Web. Larger amounts trigger larger bubbles and louder sounds, while smaller ones, well, you can guess. The site dates to as far back as 2013 but has been relaunched under a new name after it was hacked to host malicious malware. |
WHO WON #CRYPTOTWITTER  |
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A JPM boost