There are many reasons why people own cryptocurrencies. One is to store cryptocurrencies as value due to the limited supply of coins like Bitcoin. Some people store cryptocurrency for speculation meaning they aim to make a profit when a coins value increases against the United States dollar or other coins.

One of the major reasons why people own Bitcoin is to be able to make daily transactions, from shopping in a grocery store to travelling around the world. But are businesses keeping up with the crypto revolution? Lets take a look.

The travel industry is one of the biggest industries in the world. According to Travel Agent Central, its the worlds second-fastest growing industry. About $1.7 trillion is expected to be spent in the travel industry this year.

With this development, a growing number of travelers who own cryptocurrencies are expected to pay for hotel rooms or for flights from their crypto wallets. A growing number of companies are adapting to this development. For example, both parking reservation company Parking Access and airport shuttle booking company Shuttlefare recently added the Bitcoin payment service provider BitPay to their websites, allowing customers to use cryptocurrency as a payment method.

Humans have relied heavily on banks to make daily payments and securely store their money. Banks are also responsible for investing assets to create more wealth. The number of people using banks is on the rise every year, according to the Global Findex database of the World Bank: 1.2 billion adults opened a bank account from 2011 to 2017.

The traditional financial industry has not been without some challenges in the past few years, with central banks of countries like Venezuela and Zimbabwe printing fiat currencies to address crumbling economies, and market leaders like Deutsche Bank caught in money laundering scandals. Many people are beginning to doubt if the traditional banking system will even continue in the coming years.

With services like PayPal and Alipay offering fast transaction speeds, the crypto space will have to compete in order to partially or completely replace the traditional banking system.

The greatest advantage the cryptocurrency space has is its promise for a transparent banking system. Decentralization and immutability ensure that everyone in the network understands what is occurring within the system a feature lacking in the current banking. Banks understand this, which is why some entities such as Bank of America are using a single, blockchain-centred network to house banking records and to authenticate personal and business data.

Related: The Unstoppable Trajectory: Stablecoins Are Evolving Traditional Finances

The online shopping industry is on the increase as more people are choosing to receive goods from the comfort of their homes rather than trekking to a nearby grocery store. With the online shopping market size expected to reach $4 trillion in 2020, more cryptocurrency companies will need to be involved to make a worldwide adoption of cryptocurrencies a reality.

Related: New Year 2020 Crypto Shopping Guide for Filthy Rich Hodlers

Blockchain can help to improve supply chains in terms of secure and transparent payment service as well as in the online shopping industry. For example, a user can scan a QR code on a container of orange juice to see the products journey to the store, which helps to fight counterfeit goods.

Related: How Can Blockchain Disrupt Supply Chains in the Fashion Industry?

Some companies are also offering an easy way to shop some of the largest online stores, including Amazon. For example, Olodolo enables users to shop on AliExpress while paying in various cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin Cash, Ether and Litecoin.

The cryptocurrency revolution is moving fast, but to help this happen, we need to increase the number of businesses around the world that accept cryptocurrencies as a means of payment. From online shopping to traveling around, we have seen how a lot of businesses are adapting to the crypto revolution.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Oluwatobi Joel is a U.S.-based freelance copywriter, community manager, blockchain expert and serial entrepreneur. He has worked with various blockchain startups as a marketing strategist.

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Cryptocurrency Adoption: How Businesses Are Adapting to the Blockchain Revolution - Cointelegraph

The Peoples Republic of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative has provided an interesting window into the economic practices of the PRC in developing nations. While the Belt and Road Initiative, often referred to as BRI, promises immense growth potential for those involved in its construction, it has also brought the PRCs predatory lending practices, also termed debt-trap diplomacy, to light. These actions provide an excellent context to potential future PRC actions in the cryptocurrency market, particularly given the increasing potentiality of a PRC-backed cryptocurrency.

The rise of PRC-backed debt-trap diplomacy

Debt-trap diplomacy can most clearly be seen in the example of Sri Lankas Hambantota Port. The Sri Lankan government eagerly took on multiple loans in the hundreds of millions of dollars from PRC-backed banks to fund the development of the Hambantota Port starting in 2007. However, the increasing amounts of debt and rising project costs surrounding the fledgling port caused Sri Lankan officials to accept an agreement for a PRC State-Owned Enterprise to take a dominant equity share in the Hambantota Port. These actions eventually culminated in the Sri Lankan government handing the port and fifteen thousand acres of land around it to the PRC for 99 years in 2015. Similar examples of debt-trap diplomacy can be seen in other developing countries throughout the world, to include Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and even South America.

The actions of debt-trap diplomacy coincide directly with strategy from a 1999 book titled Unrestricted Warfare by Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) Colonels Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui. Unrestricted Warfares Chapter 5 directly states that the great masters of warfare techniques during the twenty-first century will be those who employ innovative methods to recombine various capabilities so as to attain tactical, campaign and strategic goals. Debt-trap diplomacy embodies the very definition of innovative methods with PRC loans enabling the PRC to possess a commercial port along a critical waterway just several hundred miles away from India, a noted strategic rival.

Therefore, the development of a PRC-backed cryptocurrency must be given close scrutiny within the context of the global cryptocurrency market. The PRC has demonstrated an ability to leverage its assets to an eventual strategic advantage, showcasing this example of economic warfare through the Hambantota Port. Consequently, the use of a digital economic asset to disrupt a global market is one that does not require a far leap of the imagination.

The growth of cryptocurrency in China

Cryptocurrency emerged just over a decade ago, with an individual by the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto laying out his or her framework for a peer-to-peer version of electronic cash in 2009. Blockchain technology emerged from this creation, allowing for the formation of a publicly-available distributed transaction ledger for digital currencies. The Chinese have enthusiastically received the idea of the blockchain, spurred on by a multitude of other factors such as the welcoming of a non-PRC backed commodity as well as relatively low prices of hardware and electricity, among others. These low prices of both hardware and electricity enable China to comprise a critical role in global Bitcoin mining operations, accounting for over two-thirds of all mined bitcoins in recent past months. This initial embrace of digital currencies continues to rise even to this day, with particular increases in searches for the keyword Bitcoin coinciding with interests towards U.S.-China trade talks.

The popularity of cryptocurrencies in China remains high despite regular PRC bans of digital currencies. This popularity can be attributed to the Chineses populaces a mobile-first mindset, with the Chinese pioneering the acceptance of technology-driven societal changes to include tools such as digital payment systems and bike-sharing services through popular organizations such as Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent.

The rising dragon: the emergence of the digital yuan

Some may consider it ironic that the PRC constantly issues notices prohibiting the use of cryptocurrencies while simultaneously praising digital currencies through platforms such as President Xi Jinping and the PRC-run newspaper Xinhua. However, these types of actions speak more to a PRC desire to dominate the cryptocurrency space and not to internal PRC confusion. Having this viewpoint allows for additional clarity of the PRCs actions. Through this, it becomes easily understandable that the PRC is simply attempting to capture a large part of the global digital currency market with its own state-backed cryptocurrency through its relative suppression of private digital currencies.

The PRC has been developing its concept of the digital yuan since as early as 2014. Tests of a blockchain-backed digital currency were conducted in late 2016, with the eventual report announcing that these trials helped to reduce circulation costs, increase transparency, and curb money laundering and tax evasion. These efforts were further bolstered with the creation of a PBOC-backed Digital Currency Research Institute in mid-2017. In fact, this Digital Currency Research Institute is even based in the same building as the PRC-backed China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation, the PRCs equivalent of a state mint. During theyear 2018,the PBOC announced in its official magazine, China Finance, that it haddevelopeda digital currency;the magazineanalyzed the necessity of issuing a true PRC-backed digital currency. The following year, the PRC established its national cryptography law, which granted the Communist Party authority over three defined encryption categories: core, common and commercial.

With an already-developed stranglehold over the internal Chinese market, the PRC has set the stage for the emergence of its cryptocurrency. The tactic of limiting access to private cryptocurrencies as early as 2013 and as recently as 2019 has enabled the PRC the time and the opportunity to develop its own cryptocurrency, which we will surely see at least glimpses of in the year to come.

Into the future

The PRCs expanding soft and hard power has catapulted the PRC into the global political and economic stage. Huge infrastructure projects such as the BRI have helped solidify this power alongside corresponding growth in the PRCs military might. The development of a PRC-backed cryptocurrency is interesting to note within this context, given the critical importance of China in global cryptocurrency mining operations and markets.

Chinas influence on the global cryptocurrency market is one that must not be underestimated, with some figures having China accounting for over 90 percent of all global trading volume pre-PRC ban on bitcoin trading several years ago. Since then, popular Chinese Bitcoin exchanges such as Bitfinex, OkCoin, and BTCC have comprised over 45 percent of total global digital currency market share at one point or another, though these exchanges are frequently blocked/closed in China to this day. These significant numbers showcase how dependent the global cryptocurrency ecosystem is on China as a cryptocurrency market and as a cryptocurrency miner.

The rise of the digital yuan has a variety of far-reaching effects within the global cryptocurrency market. One way that a PRC-backed cryptocurrency might be utilized would be to allow for competitive trade advantage. With the practice of devaluing the yuan already one practiced by the PRC, the devaluation of a PRC-backed cryptocurrency could increase its power over other cryptocurrencies, and therefore, the cryptocurrency market at-large. Another example of such an advantage would be that the digital yuan could have the potential for individual currency holders to have a deposit directly at the PBOC, allowing the PRC to be the predominant, if not only, supplier of digital money to retail customers. This, in turn, would enable the PRC to use monetary easing as it sees fit, thus further increasing PRC dominance of the global cryptocurrency market. Additionally, the proposed centralized digital yuan, which some may say goes against the very core of cryptocurrency ideals, potentially enables the PRC to increase control and access over its monetary policy and population, respectively. On the same note, the PRC would have access to information from all users of the digital yuan, a notion raising privacy concerns worldwide. These are just several ways that would empower the PRC to conduct economic warfare in multiple ways through its use of a PRC-backed cryptocurrency.

Conclusion

While China may not completely unveil its digital currency in 2020, one can surmise that the world will begin to see some portions of the digital yuan being unveiled this year. In fact, recent announcements have already pointed to plans for Alibaba, Tencent, Union Pay, and four others to be the first to be issued the digital yuan. The digital currency landscape could truly be changed if China were to be the first major economy to adopt a native digital currency, with the digital yuan potentially lording significant influence over the global cryptocurrency market. In conclusion, 2020 will most likely see the unveiling of the digital yuan, a cryptocurrency that must be monitored carefully in order to prevent widespread disruption and destruction to the global cryptocurrency market at large.

Hugh Harsono is currently serving as a U.S. Army Officer. He is a regular contributor to TechCrunch, Tech in Asia, and the U.S. Army War College War Room, with a specialty in startups, emerging technologies, and economics in Asia. The views stated here do not reflect officials positions of the U.S. Army or U.S. Government.

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The Emergence of a China-Backed Cryptocurrency in the Era of the Digital Yuan - The National Interest Online

The Internal Revenue Service could be doing more to help taxpayers who own Bitcoin and other forms of cryptocurrency to comply with their tax obligations, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.

The report, issued Wednesday by the GAO, acknowledged that the IRS has provided some guidance in 2014 and 2019 on what it refers to as virtual currency. In 2014, it issued Notice 2014-21, which said the IRS would treat Bitcoin and other virtual currencies as property for federal income tax purposes and offered some examples of how long-standing tax principles could be applied to transactions involving virtual currency. Despite dramatic increases, decreases and volatility in the prices of various forms of digital currency such as Bitcoin, it took another five years before the IRS responded to the demand for further guidance in the form of frequently answered questions on virtual currency transactions.

However, part of the 2019 FAQ guidance isnt considered authoritative because it was not published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin. The IRS has said that only guidance published in the IRB is its authoritative interpretation of the tax laws. The IRS didnt make it clear to taxpayers that this part of the guidance isnt authoritative and is subject to change.

The IRS has seen the need for taxpayers to report on their crypto trades and holdings, and for this tax season it added a question to the top of Schedule 1 of Form 1040 asking, At any time during 2019, did you receive, sell, send, exchange, or otherwise acquire any financial interest in any virtual currency?

The current IRS guidance says that using virtual currency can produce taxable capital gains, but the GAO report said the IRS could do more to help taxpayers comply. Financial institutions already report information about investment sales to the IRS and taxpayers, to make both aware of any taxable income. But while some cryptocurrency transactions are reported, far from all of them are.

Taxpayers are required to report and pay taxes on income from cryptocurrency use, but the IRS still has limited data on tax compliance for virtual currency. The information returns filed by third parties, such as financial institutions, generally dont require filers to indicate whether the income or transactions they report involved cryptocurrency. The IRS launched a virtual currency compliance campaign in 2018 and worked with other agencies on criminal investigations. Last July, the IRS started mailing more than 10,000 letters to taxpayers with cryptocurrency activity telling them about their potential tax obligations.

However, the IRS and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, also known as FinCEN, havent clearly and publicly explained when and if the requirements for reporting financial assets held in foreign countries apply to virtual currencies, the GAO pointed out. Clarifying and providing publicly available information about those requirements could improve the data available for tax enforcement and make it less likely that taxpayers will file reports that are not legally required.

The GAO recommended the IRS clarify that part of its 2019 guidance isnt authoritative and take steps to increase information reporting, and that FinCEN and the IRS address how foreign asset reporting laws apply to virtual currency. The IRS agreed with the GAOs recommendation on information reporting, but it disagreed with the other two suggestions, arguing that a disclaimer statement is unnecessary and its premature to address virtual currency foreign reporting.

We continue to engage a broad spectrum of external stakeholders for feedback on how the IRS might balance taxpayer service with proper regulatory enforcement of digital assets, including virtual currency, wrote Sunita Lough, deputy commissioner for services and enforcement at the IRS, in response to the report. The wide variety of currency exchanges and digital assets pose a challenge to issuing guidance on specific circumstances, but the guidance issued by the IRS to date illustrates how longstanding tax principles associated with the sale, exchange or disposition of property can apply to virtual currency.

For its part, the GAO said it believes a disclaimer would increase transparency and the IRS could clarify foreign reporting without waiting for future developments in the industry. FinCEN, however, agreed with the GAO's recommendation. FinCEN will coordinate with the IRS to determine the best approach to provide clarity to the public regarding the application of the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) to virtual currency, wrote FinCEN director Kenneth A. Blanco in response to the report. Currently, the FBAR regulations do not define virtual currency held in an offshore account as a type of reportable account.

The IRS recently removed wording from its FAQ page about the applicability of the rules to virtual currency used in games like Fortnite and Roblox, according to Bloomberg Tax, with an IRS official saying the inclusion of the in-game currency was an error.

Link:
IRS urged by GAO to offer more cryptocurrency tax guidance - Accounting Today

The cryptocurrency known as Tezos is among the years best performers across the crypto market so far in 2020 and is showing no signs of stopping.

In the latest move, Tezos exploded by another 24% before a slight pullback. Can the Tezos rally continue, or is an end to the monstrous rally finally in sight?

From the January low to the current high, the cryptocurrency altcoin known as Tezos has grown by over 190% in just over a month.

Year-to-date, its among the crypto markets top-performing altcoins, easily besting even Ethereums rally where the asset doubled in value in less than 40 days. The latest move added to Tezos sizable returns, with another 24% surge on the day.

Related Reading | This Cryptocurrency Is Up Over 130% YTD, But Analyst Warns Not to FOMO

The cryptocurrency is also up nearly 400% from the bottom it set back in October 2019. The rest of the crypto market went on to set a lower-low in mid-December, which Tezos went on to set its first higher low the first sign an uptrend is forming.

And an uptrend did indeed form, one that took the price of Tezos to new highs.

As if nearly 400% returns in a matter of four months wasnt enough for holders of the altcoin asset, the cryptocurrency is also up well over 1,000%, bringing back deja vu of the alt seasons that would occur prior to the crypto bubble popping.

Tezos insane rally is just one of many signs that the crypto bull market may finally be back. During that time, it wasnt uncommon to see dozens of altcoins each at 1,000% or higher gains.

The wealth generated during this time was the trigger that caused FOMO to surge across retail investors, who flocked to the asset class.

If this happens again, Tezos is only getting started.

And while analysts were warning that the asset had gone parabolic and to not FOMO into a rally this late, those that didnt take the advice are up another 200% since the warning was issued.

Related Reading | Altcoin Market Following Early Bitcoin Path Could Lead to Life-Changing Wealth

Tezos early has significant momentum behind it and is now in price discovery mode. Theres no telling just how high the asset could trend, but given how powerful the recent parabolic rally has been, theres likely to be at least a sizable pullback in the days ahead for holders of the explosive altcoin.

At over 1,000% returns from the absolute bottom, FOMOing into Tezos is a tough call but buying the next dip may be wise if the next bull run truly is beginning, as itll be led by new altcoins like Tezos, Link, and many others.

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This Top 10 Cryptocurrency is Surging 24%, And Its Showing No Signs of Stopping - newsBTC

February 12, 2020 London

The Benchmark ranks over 160 active spot exchanges globally to bring transparency and accountability to the cryptoasset exchange landscape by providing a framework for assessing risk. A grade is assigned to each exchange to help identify the lowest risk exchanges in the industry.

The analysis reveals a shift in the top five exchanges with itBit, the US and Japanese regulated exchange, taking the number 1 spot for the first time. It is followed by Gemini (2), Coinbase (3), Kraken (4), Bitstamp (5), Liquid (6), Bitfinex (7), OKEx (8), bitFlyer (9), and OKCoin (10).

CryptoCompares Exchange Benchmark plays an important role in providing institutional and retail investors with a secure, trusted marketplace. We encourage all initiatives that help to foster best practices among trading venues in this fast-growing industry, said Gabor Gurbacs, director, digital asset strategy at VanEck.

Charles Hayter, co-founder and CEO of CryptoCompare, commented,

The industry needs reliable metrics to evaluate the vast number of cryptocurrency exchanges globally and we have been extremely pleased with the response to our analysis since launch last year. Our cryptocurrency Exchange Benchmark aims to provide this transparency by assessing exchanges using a clear methodology to assess risk. The result is clear data on which exchanges are managing multiple risks in the most effective manner, improving decision-making for market participants.

CryptoCompare launched the Exchange Benchmark in June 2019 to evaluate cryptocurrency exchanges globally. Initially ranking over 100 exchanges, it now includes analysis of more than 165 crypto exchanges globally. It employs a qualitative (due diligence) and quantitative (market quality based on order book and trade data) approach and uses correlation-of-volume-to-volatility and standard-deviation-of-volume as inputs to the analysis.The Exchange Benchmark does not rely on aggregate volume data in its analysis due to concerns over volume manipulation, wash trading and trading incentives.

The ranking components include: geography; legal/regulatory; investment; team/company; data provision; trade surveillance; market quality and a penalty factor for negative events. Analysis is based on public information and detailed methodology is made freely available, underscoring CryptoCompares commitment to bringing greater transparency and improved decision-making to the cryptocurrency marketplace.

The full report can be found here.

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CryptoCompare Ranks Top 10 Bitcoin (BTC) and Cryptocurrency Exchanges - The Daily Hodl

Samsung announced a new generation of smartphones during its Unpacked event on February 11. The Galaxy S20s provide advanced cameras, 5G technology and will be able to store your crypto.

However, unlike Samsungs last range of phones, the Galaxy S10s, it hasnt broadcast the cryptocurrency support to the same degree. While previously it advertised its blockchain keystore, announcing new coinsand eventually adding Bitcointhis time theres barely a mention of crypto or blockchain anywhere.

The Samsung Galaxy S20 has an upgraded screen. Image: Samsung.

The only reference is on Samsungs official website, which states that the S20 phones will contain a secure processor dedicated to protecting your PIN, password, pattern and Blockchain Private Key.

But elsewhere its lacking. There are no details as to what this might entail, which coins are supported and how many apps will be able to access the crypto support.

However, we can look to previous phones for answers. The S10s contained a secure enclave for keeping private keys, kept in the phones Knox security platform. It connects to Samsungs blockchain keystore app, which is used for people to see their balances and send money. Considering that the S20 also contains Knox, its possible that it will continue to use the same system.

We have reached out to Samsung for details on the S20s blockchain support and will update this article if we hear back.

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Samsungs new Galaxy S20 will have cryptocurrency support - Decrypt

Paxos Standard (PAX) continues to blur the line between traditional finance and the blockchain -- to the benefit of its users.

One of several types of cryptocurrencies that attempts to offer both anonymity and stability, PAX is a regulated "stablecoin" -- those cryptocurrencies that are backed by reserve assets. Now, it's also begun offering auto-transfers between bank deposits and stablecoins, so thatcustomers can automatically wire funds from U.S. bank accounts into either Paxos Standard or Binance USD stablecoins.

First issued in 2018 by the New York-based blockchain company Paxos, PAX was released as a token on the Ethereum Blockchain and is backed by funds held in FDIC-insured, U.S.-domiciled banks.

The Paxos Standard Token is now the fourth largest stablecoin with a market cap of $220 million and trading volumes of around $350 million daily. It is listed on over 100 exchanges, walletsand over-the-counter desks and has grown in popularity among traders due to its immediate settlement and verified reserves.

PAX FCAS is up 34-points (4.45%) since late-January when Paxos announced a new feature allowing customers to automatically wire transfer funds to or from their bank accounts. The goal is to increase the inflow of dollars on the Ethereum blockchain.

The team highlights the practicality of this new automated feature if you have weekly, recurring deposits of USD; if you are a trader who needs stablecoins on a weekly basis, or a merchant who accepts payment in stablecoins for instance. The team is actively making these transfers faster, within minutes for requests below a certain USD threshold, which explains the 10.22% increase in Developer Behavior were seeing.

FCAS is up 34-points (4.45%)

Developer Behavior is up 57-points (10.22%)

User Activity is up 14-points (1.48%)

Market Maturity is down 1-point (-0.10%)

TheStreet

Stablecoins provide the standard benefits of cryptocurrency without the volatility of price. This makes them extremely useful for users who wish to switch between a volatile cryptocurrency or traditional currency, and a more stable asset.

Regulations in the U.S., however, may deem stablecoins as evidence of debt that is put in circulation as money, forcing the issuer to be licensed as a bank or trust company. Paxos (formerly known as itBit Trust Company LLC) is well positioned in this regard because it is licensed as a limited purpose trust company, distinguishing itself within the blockchain industry as a trustworthy issuer.

Were really a technology firm at heart, and so were trying to give you the confidence of a bank, but the innovation of Silicon Valley, Paxos CEO Charles Cascarilla says.

The FCAS Tracker provides institutional and sophisticated retail investors a top-down approach to tracking 500+ cryptocurrencies fundamentals. FCAS Tracker is currently free to a select group of new users as we continue to develop the product. Visit us here to gain access to Flipside Analytics.

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Cryptocurrency in Focus: Making PAX With Traditional Banking - TheStreet

The last few years have proven to be a crucial moment for cryptocurrency security. The more cryptocurrency has risen in popularity, the more high profile security breaches have occurred, and the more key institutions have been targeted.

The young cryptocurrency industry has always been brimming with opportunity, but with this comes risk, especially when there are lapses in security. Crypto security is especially important to crypto owners because one of the main points of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin in the first place has been to prevent criminals from accessing your database to access your currency as easily as actual money.

There are two key hacks that shed light on such lapses:

In early 2018, bad agents targeted Coincheck Japan and succeeded in stealing over $500 million in NEM tokens. To this day, it is one of the largest and most notable crypto heists, standing shoulder to shoulder with hacks such as the notorious Mt. Gox attack a heist of roughly 800,000 BTC.

Even earlier, in 2016, Bangladesh Bank found itself in the crosshairs of ambitious and skilled hackers. Using fully authenticated transitions, thieves attempted to steal over $800 million across the SWIFT network. Although the thieves received a "meager" $101 million for their efforts, $81 million did eventually make its hands into beneficiaries in South Asia.

What is it that ties these examples together? The victims were sloppy. Both central banks and notable cryptocurrency exchanges had poorly managed security (such as login details) when it came to the transfer of cryptocurrency or fiat money.

Although the SWIFT network was at the center of the Bangladesh Bank heist and similar cybercrimes, the network itself was not hacked; the network's users were. Likewise, in both the Coincheck and Mt. Gox hack, the blockchains central to the hack were never compromised. Rather, the exchanges themselves, and the users were. The login usernames, passwords, and even the systems themselves had such poor security that hackers were essentially left an open door. A door they had no compunction about using.

Thankfully, greater cybersecurity controls were put in place by the SWIFT community. The weak links were quickly identified, and the hackers' go-to methods of attack were disseminated amongst the community.

Can the cryptocurrency industry claim at the enterprise level that it has done the same? Can it claim that it has learned from its own mistakes in an age where negative media coverage is one of the first things customers will often see online? It is difficult to say, but what is clear is that 2020 must see it come together and rise to face the growing risk of crypto threats.

Crypto has matured, but a lot of growth is still needed

The crypto industry's security has grown more robust over the last few years. The solutions presented by custodial and noncustodial wallet providers are increasingly resilient.

Powered by new multiparty protocols or hardware security, these enable secure asset transfers on a consistent basis. Given how popular crypto trading has become with multiple codes in both the EU and USA, these new tools are essential.

Both hardware and software-based multi-signature wallet access are being widely used by organizations. Operating environments are increasingly being encrypted, addresses are being whitelisted, and many other areas of security are being monitored and tightened. Additional improvements have been seen in wallet management systems.

The security community now discusses hacks as they happen, taking steps to patch holes in their security and blacklist any addresses that were party to the theft. However, as these attacks have repeatedly occurred in 2019, there is still much more work to be done.

Upgrading security technology is important, yes, but even more important are the steps taken to improve the risk management operations at the enterprise level. While technology is important, having efficient operations will make all security efforts far more productive and effective. Likewise, more rigorous checks on access to customer assets are key.

Customer investments must be secured, and the industry must adopt standard business practices when it comes to security, access, and any conflicts of interest. In other words, the industry has to start taking itself more seriously.

While no typical asset manager in the world has custody over their customer's assets, this is not the case in the crypto industry. This is a huge mistake. Without having the right principles in place, the industry will continue to deny itself the investment it needs investment it often needs to keep it from remaining vulnerable.

Security has become a huge concern not just for companies and exchanges but also for individuals who possess cryptocurrency. More and more people are looking to security measures such as using hardware wallets, two-factor authentication, and VPN services to keep their cryptocurrency wallets and transactions safe.

But if they see an industry that isn't doing the same, will they trust it? How long will it take the industry to realize that it needs to adopt the financial practices that have proven to work in traditional finance?

In the last year alone, countless foundations, exchanges, and funds have recognized that the crypto industry will never reach its full potential without mature business practices and complete transparency. These are the two things that incidentally protect the customers and their assets and are the elements that matter most. In an age where cybercrime seems to be hitting its stride, this is essential.

As the industry has started to shift towards transparency and best practices, it has increasingly seen enterprise-level solutions emerge to counter hacking risks. Machine learning, and AI, for instance, are cutting edge technologies that hackers struggle to counter. This has brought more willingness from insurance companies to cover third-party custodians who are using the right security technologies.

How will 2020 change the cryptocurrency industry?

For the cryptocurrency to evolve in the ways it needs to, there needs to be more awareness of security risks and a lot more education. Funds, foundations, exchanges, projects, and more must ensure that their processes are secure, transparent and follow best practices the practices that keep their customer's assets safe. Most players will correctly decide to outsource this important task to third party companies who specialize in these exact practices.

This will lead to a state of affairs that sees 2020 close with funds being more difficult to hack than ever. With more organization and collaboration between players and more adoption of enterprise-level security practices and principles, thieves will be far more discouraged from undertaking an attack on a crypto organization.

If the industry can manage to galvanize and make this happen, then the future of the cryptocurrency industry will be looking bright.

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Predicting the Cost of Cryptocurrency Hacks in 2020 - CircleID

NEM Smart Asset System allows users to create their own tokens without any kind of programming. To create a cryptocurrency, the user should simply open the client, enter the name for the token, the numbers of coins, transferability, levy, divisibility and a token is created in just a few minutes. The transactions are made for the new coin, and the transaction fee is anything set by the user.

NEM tweeted: @NemVentures, the venture capital and investment arm of the #NEM blockchain ecosystem, has joined the Decentralized AI Alliance (#DAIA) an alliance of more than fifty diverse organizations working together to democratize the use and control of AI.

The NEM venture is committed to a vision of the AI and Blockchain space as being an open, fair, and decentralized system of technology. The DAIA is powered by thought leaders from global organizations. Therefore, NEM is proud of sharing a strategy with DAIA.

Sydney Ifergan, the Crypto Expert, tweeted: The partnership of NEM Ventures with DAIA is good because like minds and similar visions are useful in forwarding the vision of NEM, which is to function as an open, fair and decentralized system of technology.

There is so much happening at NEM. And, a lot of work is yet to happen to win the communitys loyalty. Recently, the NEM foundation rebranded Catapult to SYMBOL from NEM.

The relevant materials are made available in 5 different languages considering the company is international and that not all are English speaking.

Alex Tinsman, the enthusiastic President at the NEM.io foundation, expressed that the foundation is open, and they rely on the informed democratic on the public blockchain. Further stated, NEM has suffered highly volatile days, and they now have high-security standards providing for advanced, user-friendly multisig features with SYMBOL from NEM.

NEM is now well aware that they need good ideas, good code, and good intentions to build evergreen brands, and they are putting in effort towards achieving it. They are looking to establish organic growth to improve the bonding between the members of the community.

While NEM is working hard on their projects, they are putting equal efforts in distributing trust in their community. They are doing what it takes to be competitive at the same time are being authentic. They are trying to cater to the unique needs of their sub-communities. Anything big or small, they listen to their community.

Link:
NEM Cryptocurrency to build Bonding between Community with Organic Growth - The Cryptocurrency Analytics

Blockmove officially launched its platform a couple of months ago. For such a short period of time, Blockmove has managed to assert itself on the market and is successfully gaining momentum. And all this is due to the fact that the company keeps up with the times and develops the blockchain industry. You are asking how? Its very simple. Blockmove is working towards introducing cryptocurrency into everyday life. Lets look first at the service, that the company provides and who may need it.

More about Blockmove

The Blockmove platform will be interest to both ordinary users (for storing, receiving, sending, and exchanging cryptocurrency) and professional market participants (for accepting cryptocurrency on their websites, online stores, and apps). In the first case, we are talking about using the Blockmove crypto wallet, and in the second about applying for Merchant and API services. In both cases, the user needs to go through a simple and quick registration and then use the services that are necessary for them. The service supports a huge number of different cryptocurrencies, is highly secure, guarantees complete anonymity, and provides a functional software tool (API) for its partners.

Blockmove competitive advantages

Representatives of the Blockmove team say with confidence that their service has no direct competitors. Indeed, comparing the distinctive features of Blockmove with popular analogues, it is not difficult to identify obvious advantages. First, those who want to use the service as a wallet don`t pay any additional commission for deposits or withdrawals. Secondly, really favorable terms are offered to those who want to use Merchant or API, just look at the following table:

Create a completely anonymous and secure wallet right now by going to the Blockmove official website. The registration process is very simple you only need an email and no additional information. After registration, all functionality and features will be immediately available.

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Blockmove has launched a multi-functional platform for working with cryptocurrency wallet, Merchant, and API provider in one place - The Merkle Hash