The servers Edward Snowden used to leak thousands of documents to journalists were paid for using bitcoin (BTC), the National Security Agency whistleblower revealed at the Bitcoin 2019 Conference on June 27. Snowden was working as a CIA subcontractor in 2013 when his leak revealed that telecom companies and governments were involved in “almost Orwellian” mass surveillance programs that swept up the phone records of unsuspecting Americans. Speaking via video-link from Russia, he described the ability to exchange and transact without being watched and recorded “is the foundation of all rights” — and said bitcoin was helping to deliver privacy …

European Union banks could have an instantaneous payments system in place by 2020, Reuters reports on June 26. Per the report, real-time payments have been possible in the eurozone since 2017, but only about half of the banks in the bloc adhered to the initiative. Still, Reuters notes that adoption may accelerate now that Facebook’s Libra stablecoin is shaping up to be a competitor to local banks. Director general of the European Payments Council (EPC) Etienne Goosse reportedly said that — regardless of the success of Facebook’s Libra’s project — competition from technology firms was here to stay, and banks …

Singapore’s central bank has held discussions with Facebook about its upcoming libra cryptocurrency, Bloomberg reported on June 27. Ravi Menon, the managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, reportedly acknowledged libra’s potential benefits — such as making payments cheaper or supporting the unbanked — but said the regulator needs to understand exactly how the tech giant’s system will work. As well as warning that it isn’t clear whether libra would offer a superior alternative to other electronic payment mechanisms, Menon said Singapore would be seeking assurances on security and privacy issues before making a regulatory decision. At a news …

Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said that Facebook’s Libra stablecoin must comply with anti-money laundering regulation and seek banking licenses if it offers banking services, Reuters reports on June 25. Per the report, while Villeroy admitted during an interview with French magazine l’Obs that there was room to improve cross-border money transfers. He also pointed out that Facebook’s libra project has to comply existing banking regulation because “the risks are increased by the anonymity that Libra users would have.” Villeroy also touched on possible requirements for a banking license: “If the project seeks to go beyond payments …

Facebook has started advertising for a head of data science to work on its Calibra wallet, a recent job posting shows. According to the tech giant’s vacancy, it is looking for an “experienced analytics leader” who can use data to drive insights, shape the wallet’s future direction, and measure product success. Understanding how users interact with the product and identifying opportunities is listed among the responsibilities. Leadership experience features among the minimum qualifications, along with at least eight years’ experience of quantitative analysis. Describing the perfect candidate, Facebook said they would be “scrappy, results-focused and self-starting” — as well as …

Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin said that Facebook’s Libra token is like “a centralized wolf in a decentralized sheep’s clothing” in an article published on tech news outlet Quartz on June 21. The social media giant released the white paper for a its cryptocurrency dubbed Libra earlier this month to mixed reviews from experts in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries and concern from government regulators. In his article, Lubin notes that Libra’s white paper describes feelings common among many in the cryptocurrency community. It states that “sending money across the globe should be as simple and inexpensive as sending a message …

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group has released data showing that open interest in Bitcoin futures is rising, as per an official Twitter post on June 18. Interest in BTC futures over time: https://twitter.com/CMEGroup/status/1141015074062110721 According to CME, bitcoin (BTC) open interest spiked on June 17 with an all-time high of 5,311 contracts totalling 26,555 BTC, or approximately $246 million at press time. Futures are standardized contracts that bind a party to buying or selling some asset at a predetermined date. Notably, the CME group also remarked in the Twitter post that BTC futures appears to be gaining popularity with institutional …

Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin has announced that it is now listing the cryptocurrency Binance Coin (BNB) issued by the exchange Binance, according to a press release on June 19. KuCoin will reportedly offer BNB trading pairs with Bitcoin (BTC) and Tether (USDT). The announcement also notes that KuCoin will support projects based on Binance’s native blockchain, Binance Chain, in addition to its native coin BNB. The recent development shows that major trading institutions are putting trust in Binance’s token-vetting process on its initial exchange offering platform. At press time, KuCoin is the 46th largest cryptocurrency exchange on CoinMarketCap, with an …

Eos (EOS) developer Block.one has paid $30 million in cash to purchase a domain name for its new blockchain-based social media, called “Voice.” The development was revealed in a filing published by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on June 18. According to the SEC filing, submitted by enterprise analytics and mobility software provider MicroStrategy, Block.one’s domain name purchase of “voice.com” was enabled by web domain registrar GoDaddy and concluded on May 30, 2019. In an official statement, Marge Breya — senior executive vice president and chief marketing officer at MicroStrategy — outlined what she believes to be …

French Minister of the Economy and Finance intends to “ask for guarantees” from Facebook in regards to its forthcoming digital currency Libra, media outlet Europe 1 reported on June 18. The Minister of the Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire told Europe 1 that Facebook’s long-awaited stablecoin Libra is an “attribute of the sovereignty of the States” and should “remain in the hands of the States and not of the private companies which answer to private interests". Le Maire stated that he will “ask for guarantees” from the social media giant such as "the guarantee that this instrument of transaction …

Crypto analytics firm Coin Metrics partnered with Social Market Analytics (SMA) to collaborate on a feed of real-time sentiment towards cryptocurrency based on social media data, according to a press release on June 17. The new partnership intends to collect and analyze data posted by crypto community on social media in order to provide a new tool to help crypto traders to track social media sentiment data to build their portfolio strategies. The new product will initially target sentiment data solely on social media giant Twitter, Coin Metrics CEO Tim Rice confirmed to Cointelegraph, adding that the firms are currently …

Binance Research, the research arm of major cryptocurrency exchange Binance, claims that Facebook’s Libra stablecoin could spark additional cryptocurrency volume in a post published on its blog on June 18. In the announcement concerning the release of the full report, Binance Research claims: “Libra could spark additional cryptocurrency volume due to increased accessibility from both institutional players and everyday retail users.” Furthermore, the post also notes that the researchers anticipate that the Libra will have a significant impact on both local and global markets, financial and economic industries, as well as in the cryptocurrency space. This influence will manifest after …