Tag: cryptocurrency

LG Working On A Cryptocurrency Wallet Suggests Patent

With the rise in the popularity of cryptocurrencies since the last few years; many major smartphone OEMs have also tried to take advantage of the trend. Taiwanese electronics giant HTC launched its Exodus handset which is based on the blockchain technology for trading and buying cryptocurrencies. Samsung also launched a wallet supporting the currencies with its Galaxy S10 lineup of devices. Now, reports of another major smartphone manufacturer getting into the cryptocurrency market have surfaced online. Latest patent filings by LG reveals it is working on a cryptocurrency wallet for use in its devices. It will be called the ThinQ Wallet and may be introduced soon.

LG ThinQ Wallet

As mentioned above, LG has filed for a patent for a cryptocurrency wallet called the ThinQ Wallet. The patent was filed at the USPTO (The United States Patent and Trademark Office). The description of the listing mentions it is a software for smartphones that specialises in payments. It will use blockchain technology, which is what all the cryptocurrencies are based on. Using it, the company is working on a digital wallet for the currencies, so they will work as a traditional wallet application which specialises in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

LG G7 ThiNQ

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The name ThinQ is used by LG in products that boast of some form of Artificial Intelligence technology; so it may be the case that the wallet when launched will feature AI as one of its features. It is speculated that the company may introduce the ThinQ Wallet alongside a flagship smartphone in the following weeks. Unfortunately, more details about the upcoming device or the cryptocurrency wallet are unknown at the moment. However, the patent listing suggests that we may not have to wait too long to hear about them.

July 8, 2019
Facebook Announces Its Cryptocurrency Named Libra

American social media giant Facebook has announced a digital currency called Libra on the 18th of June. It is a cryptocurrency that aims at allowing billions of Facebook users to make transactions globally. Libra is expected to debut in the year 2020 alongside a blockchain network supporting it. The company also introduced its newest subsidiary called Calibra, which is a payments interface that will leverage the various assets of Facebook like Messenger and WhatsApp.

About Libra

As mentioned above, Libra is the latest cryptocurrency backed by Facebook. The company believes it will be used for money transfer between people in developing countries; who do not have access to a proper banking structure. The final goal though is to develop the first mainstream cryptocurrency, which is in use more than Bitcoin. Facebook believes Libra will grow into a currency which is stable and decentralized; this means no country will have ruling rights over it. Although the social media company is developing the currency, it has formed the non-profit Libra Association alongside 27 other partners so help it develop and get the cryptocurrency into the mainstream market. These partners include names like Mastercard, Visa, eBay, PayPal, Uber and Vodafone.

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The aforementioned organizations together are set to contribute to an asset pool known as Libra Reserve. This will make sure that every Libra (a unit of the currency) is backed by something essential in nature. This is different than how Bitcoin works, as it relies on its rarity and insufficiency to increase in value. Facebook’s Libra is being viewed as a financial behemoth, due to the sheer number of people using Facebook actively, which is around 2.4 billion each month. However, as the company always finds itself in the middle of a privacy debate, it may also face a lot of criticism when it lands next year.

June 18, 2019
Cryptocurrency Transactions Are Now Punishable For Up To 10 Years In India

Cryptocurrency is a digital currency format in which a number of encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of the same. As per latest news, any person in India found dealing in cryptocurrencies is liable to serve 10 years in prison. This penalty will be applicable to all those who “generate, mine, store, sell, transfer, dispose and issue” any forms of cryptocurrencies, directly or indirectly. Also, besides making it completely illegal, the bill associated with the proposal will make the holding of cryptocurrency a non-bailable offence.

The statement was published in a proposal in the draft of Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2019. This is an extremely bashing news for those who were expecting the legalization of Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. Moreover, a lot of cryptocurrency trading platforms in the country will face a huge setback from this proposal, since they have been waiting for a favoured decision from the government’s side.

The panel drafting the bill is being led by the Secretary of Economic Affairs, Subhash Chandra Garg. Furthermore, the panel consists of members from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), in addition to representatives from investigative agencies and Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). Reports state that strict laws would soon be implemented to deal with people involved in the trade of cryptocurrency. Also, sources reported that India is likely to have its own digital currency.

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The article quotes that “If any conduct is punishable under any other law, this Act will be in addition to, and not in derogation of such law”. Currently, Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency in the world. As mentioned before, the introduction of a new cryptocurrency, speculated to be called the “Digital Rupee” will drastically change the way cryptocurrency dealings are made in the country. Only the future can guarantee the viability of this decision.

June 8, 2019
Facebook’s Cryptocurrency May Launch In June Itself

As reported previously, Social Media giant Facebook is planning to unveil its own cryptocurrency. The company is proposing to set up a digital payment system in up to twelve countries by the beginning of the year 2020. The currency is currently referred to as Globalcoin, but the name may change when Facebook outlines its plans in more details. Facebook also claimed that it has already completed talks with the Bank of England regarding the risks and opportunities of a new currency format. However, the latest reports state that the new currency may be unveiled in this month (June 2019) itself.

Apparently, the company is planning a huge push that will include bonuses for merchants that will adopt the cryptocurrency right away. Facebook also plans to introduce real-world kiosks where users can exchange their “GlobalCoins” for cash. Furthermore, the employees of the company can choose to be paid in the new cryptocurrency, an initiative that Facebook believes will encourage newer users to adopt the cryptocurrency with ease.

The project has been in the works for a while now and was codenamed Libra in the beginning. For the alleged project, Facebook will have to collaborate with various banks; which will allow it to exchange international currencies into Globalcoin. As mentioned before, it has already had a successful talk with the Bank of England, so this should not be a major problem.

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The major advantage Facebook will have with its currency Globalcoin over its rivals like Bitcoin and Ethereum is the sheer number of users of its various products. Over 2 billion people have been recorded to use Facebook actively and millions of other members of the audience are hooked to applications like Instagram and WhatsApp. Hence, these platforms can serve an important role in boosting the popularity of the new cryptocurrency. However, since Facebook has been involved in multiple security and data breaches in the past, the organization will have to establish a fair amount of trust in its users in order to make its cryptocurrency successful in the long run.

June 6, 2019
Facebook To Launch Its Cryptocurrency Named Globalcoin Soon

Social media giant Facebook is planning to introduce its cryptocurrency soon, according to the latest reports. The company is planning to set up a digital payment system in about twelve countries at the beginning of the year 2020. The currency, referred to internally as Globalcoin, may be announced with a changed name by the end of this year when Facebook outlines its plans in more details. To reaffirm the reports, it is claimed the company has already completed the talks with the Bank of England about the risks and opportunities of a cryptocurrency. Facebook is seemingly also in talks with a few money transfer firms; to devise an affordable method for people without a bank account to send money

How Globalcoin Will Work?

According to reports, Facebook is looking forward to creating a digital-based currency; able to provide an affordable and secure way of transacting online. Like mentioned previously, the company aims to do the above without the need for the users to have a bank account. The project has been in the works for a while now and was codenamed Libra in the beginning. While it is referred to as Globalcoin internally, do not be surprised if the name is changed when it is announced officially. For the alleged project, Facebook will have to collaborate with various banks; which will allow it to exchange international currencies into Globalcoin.

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The major advantage Facebook will have with its currency Globalcoin over its rivals like Bitcoin and Ethereum; is the sheer number of users of its various products. Over 2 billion people have been recorded to use Facebook actively and millions of other audience are hooked to applications like Instagram and WhatsApp. By utilising these platforms and integrating its currency with them, Facebook can have a plethora of users of its currency in a short amount of time.

May 25, 2019
Facebook Developing Cryptocurrency To be Used In WhatsApp

Social media giant Facebook, is reportedly developing a cryptocurrency to be used to transfer money using WhatsApp. WhatsApp, as we know, is owned by Facebook and is going to receive the first taste fo the company’s Blockchain initiative. The report suggests that the company is developing a stablecoin. We’ll discuss what a stablecoin is, further into this article. But for now, its pretty interesting to see how this idea developed.

The Social Currency

Facebook had been keen on entering the financial arena, for a very long time. In fact, it had hired PayPal president David Marcus way back in 2014. After a few months at the company, Facebook named him as the head of the blockchain division. Within a few more months, Facebook hired more than 40 people into this blockchain division. however, despite having so many employees and resources, nothing that the division does was made public.

Obviously WhatsApp would be the ideal choice for the company to start exploring this booming, yet jittery market. More than 200 million people use the messaging service in India alone. Another notable statistic is that India also leads the world in remittances. With more than $69 million sent to India, it is a pretty lucrative market for new and more convenient currencies to be integrated. However, another challenge is gaining the trust of people. Especially in a country like in India, where either the awareness about cryptocurrencies is low or nil and those who are aware are wary of the same.

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However, Facebook plans to introduce a stablecion currency to change this. A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency which is designed to minimise the effects of price volatility. To do this, they are pegged to an existing currency or to traded commodities such as precious metals. Therefore, they end up being more stable and don’t carry the risk of the ‘bubble’ suddenly bursting.

December 21, 2018
HTC To Launch Exodus Blockchain Smartphone On October 22

HTC has teased its very own blockchain smartphone in an Instagram post. The device, named Exodus, will launch on October 22. This is the world’s first major blockchain phone. The announcement about this was made earlier this year, in May. Blockchain refers to the decentralised ledger technology which underlies cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. The HTC Exodus is a crypto phone that supports cryptocurrencies. Rumours also say that you will be able to purchase the phone using cryptocurrency.

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https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo10uP_hptt/?taken-by=htc.exodus

The teaser on Instagram does not reveal anything about the device other than the name and the launch date. However, reports tell us some of the details. The software used in the phone is not Android, but is based on it. The device includes some security protocols which handle the required encryption for the safe transfer of currency, according to reports. The company also revealed that the device has a new trust execution environment. This keeps the cryptocurrency safe and secure in an ‘enclave’ within this trust zone. It also has a ‘Social Key Recovery’ which prevents hackers from getting access to your wallet.

Siri Finney

A Switzerland based company, Sirin Labs was the first to make a commercial Blockchain smartphone, going by the name Finney. The device features a built in ‘cold storage’, peer to peer resource sharing and other Blockchain elements. It features a 6-inch display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. The display also features a notch. The device has a 12 MP main camera and an 8 MP front camera. The Finney costs $ 999 and is available on pre-order.

HTC had earlier mentioned that for the phone to be truly successful, they need support from cryptographers and the cryptocurrency community. Nothing about the other features of the device is known as of now. However, reports suggest that the phone will cost around $ 1,000.

October 15, 2018
Finney Is A Blockchain-Powered Smartphone For Cryptocurrency Enthusiasts

Smartphones, over the years, have become quite stagnant. We see a similar design, specifications and features in the majority of phones. That doesn’t mean there is no innovation, Huawei launched the P20 Pro with a triple-camera setup while Vivo launched the first-ever smartphone with an in-display fingerprint sensor. However, in October, we won’t see a launch of an engineering marvel but, a rather quirky smartphone to say the least. Sirin Labs, the Switzerland-based firm will launch the first-ever blockchain smartphone.

In September 2017, the company unveiled a blockchain-powered smartphone and PC for cryptocurrency nerds. These devices would act as secure wallets for all the cryptocurrency wealth the user possesses. Now, the company has roped in Foxconn to manufacture the smartphone. Interestingly, Foxconn is the same firm that manufactures the iPhones for Apple.

Sirin Labs has conceded that it plans on launching the Finney in October 2018. The company has already received 25000 pre-orders and hopes to sell between 100,000 and a few million units in 2018. A rather ambitious number, we must say. According to Sirin Labs, the company has plans to further launch blockchain-powered smartphones in an association with other OEMs. The company is already in talks with Huawei, world’s third largest smartphone maker.

Finney Phone

The Finney phone will retail for a price of US$ 999 (Rs 65000 approx.) or about 0.15 Bitcoin. The smartphone will be readily available to buy at physical stores in eight cities where cryptocurrency is currently striving, in countries like Vietnam and Turkey. This means that the chances of the smartphone launching in India are slim.

According to a report by Bloomberg, the smartphone will have a physical switch will activate coin-related services. Additionally, it will have a feature similar to Apple Key wherein users will be able to secure the devices with an iris scan, fingerprint, or a simple password. This feature will be useful for people who have multiple wallets with different passwords. The Finney will run on open source Android-based Sirin OS. Interestingly, users will be able to earn tokens by sharing their mobile data connection with people around them.

The specifications mentioned on the company’s website include a 5.5 inch display, 64GB of onboard storage coupled with 6GB of RAM. The device will also sport a 12MP rear-facing camera and a 13MP front camera. The website also has a small asterisk next to the specs which mean these are not the final specifications.

Last year when Samsung launched the W-2018 flip smartphone, we iterated that it was a device for a very specific audience. The Finney phone takes that to another level because not a lot of people would shell out a thousand dollars for this smartphone.

April 5, 2018
Atari Announces New Cryptocurrency Called Atari Token

Atari is venturing into a new business of cryptocurrencies with Atari Token. The company has partnered with a brand Infinity Network, which is the creator of blockchain based Atari Token. The company is also planning to create a new digital entertainment platform using the same. It looks like the crypto has already started to pay off, as the latest Bloomberg report suggests that, the stock of the company has already spiked up to 60%.

Atari is mainly known for arcade games and video games, but the name has been also associated with movies and music as well.

Infinity Network has signed up for a long-term contract to use the name Atari. In exchange for this, the French company gets a minority stake in this new entity.

The company is creating a new digital platform, which will help the customers to make transactions using Atari Token. The company will continue its partnership with Pairplay to create a “Pong Coin” based on Atari Token exclusively for “crypto casinos”.

What is Cryptocurrency or Atari Token?

Every US dollar or an Indian rupee printed has to be directly proportional to the gold that country has, the value fluctuates with the actual gold value. However, the cryptocurrency is a digital asset, which works independently. Cryptocurrency value depends on people, if people think it has a value, then the price goes higher or vice versa. Hence there are no entities that actually controls these currencies.

The creator of the cryptocurrency can limit the number of tokens or coins. It all depends on the demand. The recent rise and fall of the Bitcoin explain this phenomenon in the simplest way. If more people buy, the prices go up or vice versa.

February 17, 2018