Parity CEO Jutta Steiner has said that the new controversial Create2 Ethereum (ETH)

function would have prevented the Parity multisig freeze. Steiner spoke on the subject during an interview with Fortune published on March 5. As Cointelegraph reported in November 2017, a user “accidentally killed” the Parity multisig library by activating a vulnerability to become the owner of the library, and then self-destructing it. The incident involved 587 wallets holding 513,774.16 in Ethereum, at the time equivalent to about $152 million and about $65 million today. Create2, the new function added to Ethereum with the Constantinople update that has been rumored to introduce a new attack vector — a claim since denied by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin — could have prevented this attack, according to Steiner.

As she noted during the interview:

“If that functionality Create2 had existed at the time, there wouldn’t have been a vulnerability, basically.”

This function also grants Parity a new argument to use when trying to convince the community to support a hard fork that would reverse the reportedly accidental hack. At the end of April, a vote to reverse the Parity incident and unfreeze the multisignature wallets ended with 55 percent of the votes choosing not to reverse it. The vote was also accompanied by an overwhelming controversy in the Ethereum community, as participants with large amounts of ETH had distinct advantage in influencing the direction of the vote due to the vote staking process. However, as Steiner now puts it, since that the tooling has been fixed, “wouldn’t it be the right thing to do to also fix the issues that arose when we didn’t have the tooling?”

A recent TrustNodes report points out that the Edgeware smart contract platform based on Polkadot, which is a platform similar to Ethereum and capable of running Ethereum smart contracts and DApps, could be of help to Parity as well. The chain is proof-of-stake (PoS), which means that new native coins, called Edge, are minted by staking them. As the project’s minting process for its native token can be done by locking ETH in a smart contract, TrustNodes notes that Parity’s accidentally locked funds may be eligible for the project’s lockdrop contract. Through the initial lockdrop distribution, three percent of the supply is reported to be handed over to Parity.

According to TrustNodes’ calculations, the locked funds paired with the “dots” tokens held by Parity (also eligible for staking) would grant the company close to 10 percent of the entire supply. Also taking staking rewards in the account, TrustNodes estimates that the actual percentage of Parity’s holdings would increase. Polkadot is a blockchain framework meant to create scalable and interoperable blockchains by linking between many types of blockchains, and is slated for release at the end of the current year. The protocol was one of the largest affected parties in the November 2017 Parity funds freeze.

Article Produced By
Adrian Zmudzinski

https://cointelegraph.com/news/parity-ceo-jutta-steiner-new-ethereum-function-would-have-prevented-the-parity-freeze

Blockchain protocol Tron (TRX) and Tether,

issuer of stablecoin USDT, have announced a partnership to introduce USDT to the Tron network by the second quarter of 2019. The news was shared with Cointelegraph in an email on March 4. The forthcoming TRC20-based USDT — a term that indicates adherence to a technical token standard supported by the Tron blockchain — will be interoperable with all Tron-based protocols and decentralized applications (DApps), and allow for the transaction and exchange of fiat-pegged coins across the blockchain.

The USDT, which launched in 2014, has traditionally facilitated frictionless fiat on- and off-ramping to the crypto markets, allowing users to store and exchange value without the onus of slow fiat transfer processing times. Tron — which positions itself as a competitor to Ethereum (ETH) by coupling decentralized finance with a wider decentralized internet ecosystem — claims that the addition of USDT will therefore “elevate its existing decentralised applications (DApps) ecosystem, improve overall value storage, and increase Decentralised Exchange (DEX) liquidity.”

The press release continues that USDT on Tron will also purportedly make the blockchain as a whole more amenable to enterprise-level partners and institutional investors. As recently reported, Tron CEO Justin Sun had announced the imminent roll out of a hard fork, which took place on Feb. 28, designed to deliver institution-friendly functionality, alongside features such as multi-signature abilities and account management options. The expansion of the Tron ecosystem took a significant step last year with its acquisition of popular peer-to-peer torrent client BitTorrent. The latter launched its native, Tron-based BitTorrent (BTT) token at the start of 2019, which will power the pair’s plans for an evolving decentralized content distribution platform.

As Cointelegraph has reported, the BTT initial coin offering on the Binance Launchpad platform netted $7.1 million dollars, with the sale of 50 billion tokens in under 15 minutes. Tether, which continues to command the lion’s share of the stablecoin market, is nonetheless seeing increasing competition from a steady stream of new fiat-pegged offerings as of last year. The stablecoin has previously faced controversy, after critics had suggested that the dollar reserves did not match the amount of tokens in circulation. Last December, Bloomberg stated that it believes Tether does have the appropriate amount of fiat reserves. Tether has not released an official audit of its holdings.

Article Produced By
Marie Huillet

https://cointelegraph.com/news/tron-and-tether-partner-to-issue-usdt-on-the-tron-network-by-q2-2019

Christine Sandler, Coinbase’s director of institutional sales,

has defended the crypto exchange’s controversial acquisition of blockchain intelligence firm Neutrino. In an interview with financial news channel Cheddar on March 1, Sandler said that previous client data providers were selling Coinbase user data to outside sources. As reported, major United States crypto exchange and wallet Coinbase first announced the Neutrino acquisition on Feb. 19, saying it would make use of the startup’s advanced blockchain analytics tools, Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer technology.

The move swiftly became controversial as details of the Neutrino’s co-founders’ backgrounds came to light: specifically, their prior involvement with commercial software firm Hacking Team, whose spyware has reportedly been used by a broad canopy of international governments and law enforcement agencies, with authoritarian regimes allegedly among them. In response to the crypto community’s furore over these connections — which spawned the #DeleteCoinbase hashtag — Sandler defended the exchange’s decision, telling Cheddar that it was important to leave their current providers due to their data

selling practices:

"We are aware of the backgrounds of some of the folks that were involved in Neutrino […] It was important for us to migrate away from our current providers. They were selling client data to outside sources and it was compelling for us to get control over that and have proprietary technology that we could leverage to keep the data safe and protect our clients."

Characterizing Neutrino’s technology as “really industry leading and best-in-class,” Sandler said that the acquisition represented a decision to bring these tools in-house — downplaying the importance of the talent and senior employees’ histories. Sandler also gave a mention to Coinbase Pro’s decision to list XRP, whose ambiguous status in the U.S. as a possible security token has hitherto complicated its listing on the California-headquartered exchange. Sandler clarified Cheddar that Coinbase’s acquisition of broker-dealer Keystone in June 2018 enables the platform to list securities,

adding:

“There had been a groundswell of interest in adding the asset to the platform. There was some speculation about whether the asset would be classified as a security or not — we’re not securities lawyers. We felt there were compelling arguments on either side."

As recently reported, Ripple’s head of markets has taken to social media to emphasize that the Coinbase decision to list XRP was an independent one — countering rumors that Ripple had either paid or offered the exchange an incentive to do so.

Article Produced By
Marie Huillet

https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinbase-former-provider-sold-user-data-to-third-parties-prompting-neutrino-acquisition

The research arm of top crypto exchange Binance

has published an analysis of JPMorgan Chase’s newly announced stablecoin, arguing that the digital coin brings “minimal direct competition” to Ripple's XRP token in the near term. The study was published on March 1 by Binance Research. As Cointelegraph has reported, JPMorgan Chase announced the forthcoming launch of its new blockchain settlement offering in mid-February: a stablecoin dubbed JPM Coin, to be backed 1:1 by the bank’s USD reserves.

As Binance Research notes, the JPM Coin pilot project will initially focus on settlement and value transfer between financial institutions and is to be issued on the private, permissioned Quorum blockchain network — a fork of the public Ethereum (ETH) blockchain. In terms of inter-bank settlement, JPM Coin is also purportedly for now unlikely to directly compete with Ripple's XRP token — given the latter’s ambition to serve as a multi-bank “mediator currency between both fiat / crypto currencies and any fiduciary product,” as opposed to JPM Coin’s currently closed network solution.

Taking stock of the bank’s vast global client base and $2.6 trillion balance sheet, Binance Research suggests that JPM Coin “could make the institution the largest stablecoin issuer on a blockchain measured by circulating supply and total market cap.” The coin, the study continues, is poised to become a potential “precursor to the third generation of stablecoins,” which will target the world of traditional finance and aim to serve particular purposes and business use cases by means of private blockchain-powered tokens. In the study’s schema, the first generation was spearheaded by stalwart coin Tether (USDT), later followed by a steady stream of “second generation” new stablecoins over the course of 2018. According to the study, while JPM Coin may have significant material impact in improving the cost and time  efficiency of traditional financial services, the study continues, its implications for the public stablecoin market will in the short term

be minimal:

“Large banks and financial institutions […] have a distinct set of advantages in issuing fiat-collateralized stablecoins, but these offerings will not displace liquid, publicly traded stablecoins in the near-term given their closed ecosystems built on private blockchains.”

Moreover, as a proprietary and centralized network, JPM Coin is unlikely to be tapped by competitors in the banking sectors, who may well release their own native crypto tokens in future, the study contends. As reported, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon this week suggested that JPM Coin could eventually find consumer use and evolve beyond internal use cases. Stablecoin innovation continues to gain global traction — with banking titans such as Japan’s Mizuho Financial Group and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group both set to launch their own yen-pegged tokens. Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports suggest that Facebook is also developing its own fiat-collateralized crypto, to be integrated into its messaging services.

Article Produced By
Marie Huillet

https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-research-jpm-coin-unlikely-to-directly-compete-with-ripples-xrp-for-now

In the first month of 2019, the state of Wyoming

has performed yet another series of power moves showcasing its continued commitment to becoming America’s new crypto hub, even despite recent changes in political leadership. The incoming governor, Mark Gordon, made room for some blockchain talk in his inauguration speech, celebrating the state’s innovative approach to regulation and touting a handful of homegrown startups. Over the next couple of weeks, Wyoming’s legislature erupted with a series of groundbreaking crypto-related bills that is only comparable to a similar wave in March of last year.

America’s least populous state, whose economy has been always skewed toward mining and agriculture, looks determined as ever to deliver on the promise to become the nation’s “crypto valley.” Consonant with this jaunty tune, blockchain startups have indeed started pouring into the area. Perhaps Wyoming’s biggest signing this year so far is the relocation of Iohk, the company behind the Cardano blockchain.

The sweeping changes that the Cowboy State’s lawmakers have recently passed or introduced as bills include defining three categories of digital assets and treating them as property; granting assets designated as virtual currencies the same legal status as money; authorizing banks to hold digital assets in custody; allowing corporations to issue certificate tokens that represent shares; and creating a regulatory fintech sandbox aimed at further diminishing any regulatory hurdles to industry startups. These developments look more radical than many of the other states’ recent blockchain-savvy moves, as they often explicitly challenge a variety of disparate federal approaches to crypto regulation.

Celebrating the news of another revolutionary piece of crypto legislation from Wyoming, one could wonder: Is this for real? Are they serious about this? What is it they are really shooting for? Putting Wyoming’s newfound crypto drive in a broader context could shed some light on how and why the state of ranchers and miners decided to boldly reach out to the crypto industry.

Courting the giants

It is not unprecedented for a small state far removed from traditional technology and financial hubs to be courting a burgeoning new industry amid regulatory uncertainty — something that often happens after the initial period of explosive growth. Once a state is willing to tweak its laws to provide a greenhouse level of care and protection to a particular class of enterprises, moving from the comfort of coastal urban areas into some windy plains doesn’t seem like

that much trouble any more.

An unlikely romance between Citibank and South Dakota provides a textbook example. In the early 1980s, when the initial gold rush of early credit card lending business began stalling under the weight of regulations — such as strict interest rate caps — policymakers in the Midwestern state saw their chance. Taking advantage of a Supreme Court ruling that allowed banks to charge the highest interest rate allowed in their home state, South Dakota introduced a batch of lax banking laws and invited banks to feel themselves at home. In 1981, Citibank was the first to respond to the call, bringing thousands of new jobs into the area. The city of Sioux Falls now has about 20,000 financial sector jobs, while South Dakota holds more bank assets than any other state.

Another place in the United States that definitely knows how to attract out-of-state enterprises is Delaware. Its hospitality extends beyond just tech businesses, or any specific kinds of businesses, for that matter — the state has long been known as a tax haven and is now home to almost a half of all U.S. public corporations. More recently, it has seen a surge in limited liability corporations (LLC) registration, thanks to relative ease of incorporation and a small flat LLC tax. Delaware also has a far-reaching statewide blockchain initiative, which apparently became the inspiration for one of the fresh Wyoming bills. Against the background of the already highly welcoming corporate climate, however, Delaware’s set of blockchain-friendly policies inevitably looks less salient than the Cowboy State’s legislative onslaught.

Underlying interests

So, how exactly does the influx of digital-money businesses promise to benefit Wyoming? Perhaps the simplest hunch is that the state is looking to capitalize on registration and incorporation fees. Delaware’s example is enticing: Once you have a steady stream of newcomers from all over the place, you can enter a virtuous circle by keeping the fees low and attracting even more enterprises. State Rep. Tyler Lindholm, who has been behind most of Wyoming’s key blockchain legislation, openly admitted to looking at the Northeastern state as a benchmark, and noted that his state was making about $30 million in fees, against Delaware’s $1.2 billion.

If there is one thing that is potentially more lucrative than attracting a whole new industry to your jurisdiction, it is harboring a new industry that barely exists elsewhere. This is basically what the digital asset custody bill does. By authorizing banks to administer digital assets under the new regulatory framework, Wyoming sets out to reach an ambitious goal of enabling them to comply with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) regulations for “qualified custodians.” This is nothing less than a bid to establish a regulatory environment that would allow for the entirely new class of services to emerge within the state: digital asset custody.

It is worth noting that Wyoming’s attraction to blockchain technology is not a standalone phenomenon, but rather a part of a larger effort to diversify the economy. The official commitment to expanding the state’s technology sector is at least seven years old, while theEconomically Needed Diversity Options for Wyoming (ENDOW) program was established in 2017. It was the ENDOW executive council that included recommendations for legislative action on several technological initiatives last year, including a series of blockchain-related bills.

One more reason to double down on blockchain liberalization has been the flight of money transmitters from the state over the last few years — and the need to get them back.  Contrary to the proclaimed tech-friendly spirit, the Wyoming Money Transmitters Act, which was passed in 2011 and came into full effect in 2014, imposed cumbersome licensing requirements on crypto exchanges. This forced Coinbase and a handful of others to halt their operations in the state by 2015. The series of laws enacted last March included provisions that crypto exchanges be exempted from the money transmission laws. A few months later, Coinbase returned to Wyoming.

Wyoming Blockchain Coalition

If some important legislative developments have taken place somewhere in the U.S., probably someone has lobbied for it. Lurking behind all the news reports of Wyoming’s blockchain regulation advancements is the group called the Wyoming Blockchain Coalition, as well as the names of several of its prominent members. Among them, Caitlin Long is the undisputed headliner.

A Wyoming native with a passion for “honest ledgers,” Long spent more than two decades working for the likes of Morgan Stanley before heading the blockchain startup Symbiont. Having realized that she couldn’t legally donate to the University of Wyoming in crypto, Long got the idea that the state law could use some improvement. That’s how the Wyoming Blockchain Coalition came about. Consisting initially of Long and a few of her friends, the group eventually drew in many of the state’s forward-thinking notables. Their names can now be found among those who sponsored the groundbreaking bills.

Not only are some state politicians members of the coalition, they are also personally invested in local blockchain enterprises. Sen. Ogden Driskill became involved last year with BeefChain — a Wyoming-based startup that is building an immutable ledger designed to track free-range cattle. Another legislator who often makes headlines in crypto media, Rep. Tyler Lindholm, acts as the chief of ranching operations for the same company.

It appears that Wyoming’s impressive push for blockchain leadership relies on several major ingredients. There is evidently a consensus among the elites as to the urgent need for expanding and promoting the state’s technology sector — and somehow they decided that the trendy distributed ledger technology might be their best bet. There is also a tried and tested strategy for small states that are eager to get ahead: tailoring legislation to the needs of whomever they are betting on. Yet, even when all the structural factors are in place, things are unlikely to work unless there are leaders on the ground, who value and understand the innovation they are pushing for. With the blockchain-savvy ranchers of Wyoming, this seems to be the case.

Article Produced By
Kirill Bryanov

https://cointelegraph.com/news/cowboys-on-the-block-inside-wyomings-race-for-crypto-prominence

Afri Schoeden, release manager at blockchain infrastructure firm

Parity Technologies, has quit all Ethereum projects after a controversial tweet that sparked outrage on social media. Schoeden spoke to blockchain media BreakerMag on Thursday, Feb. 21. In his tweet, Schoeden reportedly criticized Serenity, also known as “Ethereum 2.0” — a final upgrade for the Ethereum network that brings its mainnet over to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus algorithm. The tweet, which has since been deleted,

reportedly read:

“Polkadot delivers what Serenity ought to be…”

Polkadot is Parity’s upcoming protocol aimed at linking different blockchains. Schoedon told BreakerMag that he will “no longer work on Ethereum or Ethereum-related projects,” but will remain with Parity. He explained the meaning of the recent

tweet:

“Polkadot is not a direct competitor to Ethereum and chains like Ethereum were always an integral part of the Polkadot vision. The focus of my tweet wasn’t Polkadot or competition, but Serenity, which is, in my eyes, rolled out too slowly, and I fear that it [won’t] matter anymore once we get there. People didn’t get that, and only I am to blame for not getting the message straight.”

Moreover, Schoeden believes that the Ethereum community needs to find some shared values and

goals:

“I also fear that Preethi [Kasireddy] was right last year when she said that we might need to talk about the values (again) to find out what the community really stands for.”

Following the controversial tweet, users immediately accused the developer of “betrayal,” along with “sabotaging” Ethereum from within and having a conflict of interest. Schoeden subsequently clarified that the discussions forced him to quit

Ethereum:

"I did not quit social media, I quit Ethereum. I did not go dark, I just left the community. I am no longer coordinating hard forks, building testnets, or contributing otherwise. I did not work on Polkadot, I never did, I worked on Ethereum. I did not hate Ethereum, I loved it."

The pre-release of Ethereum 2.0 kicked off in early February. The Constantinople hard fork, an upgrade to the Ethereum, network — which encloses separate Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) in order to soften the transition from the current proof-of-work (PoW) to PoS — is scheduled for Feb. 27.

Constantinople faced its first delay in October 2018 due to a consensus issue that was detected on the Ropsten testnet. In January, smart contract audit firm ChainSecurit found a vulnerability in the Constantinople hard fork. The critical issue, which could have allowed for reentrancy attacks via the use of certain commands in Ethereum smart contracts, caused another dealy. Blockchain entrepreneur Andreas Kristof even insinuated that Schoeden was directly responsible for Serenity’s delay.

Article Produced By
Ana Berman

https://cointelegraph.com/news/liechtensteins-bank-frick-launches-institutional-crypto-trading-platform