Last week, an annual forum featuring Russia’s top people from the economic sector was held in St. Petersburg, and cryptocurrencies were a hot topic there. Notably, government agents and state-controlled businesses were vocal about their interest in blockchain, but seemed to distance themselves from digital tokens. Meanwhile, the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies is still missing in the country, despite the fact that local authorities have been tasked to prepare the needed amendment a while ago. So, where is Russia heading in terms of crypto and blockchain? Brief introduction to Russia’s relationship with cryptocurrencies Russia’s stance on cryptocurrencies has been mixed …

This article has been updated to clarify that Medici Land Governance will give technical training, not trading, to local workers in Liberia. Overstock.com subsidiary Medici Land Governance has signed a memorandum of understanding with Liberia to help the African nation digitize government services, a news release announced on June 10. The pro bono pilot project will explore how Liberia can strengthen its economy through blockchain and enhance interoperability between government departments. As well as strengthen the country’s capacity to generate revenues, the release notes that such infrastructure could reduce corruption. During the project, local workers in Liberia will also be …

The president of Germany’s central bank, the Deutsche Bundesbank (BBk), has warned central banks about the potential risks of introducing digital currencies, Reuters reports on May 29. Jens Weidmann, BBk president and chairman of the board of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), reportedly claimed that the adoption of digital money could potentially destabilize the financial system during periods of crisis. The German economist explained that easy access to digital currencies could accelerate a collapse of lenders, while it would “fundamentally change the business model of banks” even in a good economic environment . Weidmann also argued that easy access …

Russian state-owned holding conglomerate Rostec proposed a roadmap on applying blockchain in all the governmental data systems, local financial newspaper Kommersant reports on May 24. An institution under Rostec has reportedly developed a blockchain roadmap worth up to 85 billion rubles ($1.3 billion) that claims to provide an economic impact of up to 1.6 trillion rubles ($25.4 billion) in five years. The project was presented by Rostec’s structural body, the Novosibirsk Institute of Programming Systems (NIPS), during a blockchain conference held in the Republic of Tatarstan on May 23. According to Kommersant, the NIPS’ roadmap includes a blockchain implementation in …

A senior official in Russia's parliament, the State Duma, has argued that cryptocurrencies have the potential to ruin governments, Russian financial media agency Rambler reported on May 20. Nikolai Arefiev, a member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and vice-chairman of the Duma’s committee on economic policy, innovative development and entrepreneurship, claimed that cryptocurrencies were created in order to hide large offshore assets from the government. If cryptos such as bitcoin (BTC) had emerged by 1994, Russia would have been “fully destroyed” so far because it would have lost all its capital offshore, Arefiev stated, speaking at a …

A cross-market platform called LH-Crypto says its service gives traders the opportunity to transact across a plethora of cryptocurrencies and 200 other financial instruments — including forex on fiat currencies, precious metals, shares and commodities. Its beta version also enables users to participate in margin trading — a feature that it says helps distinguish its ecosystem from crypto exchanges. Not without risks, margin trading via LH-Crypto means members can make deals using sums 100 times larger than their account balance. Traders can receive funds in cryptocurrencies or fiat — and if they top up their account using traditional currencies, this …

Bahamian tech company PO8 has developed a project that aims to register data of excavated sunken artifacts on blockchain, according to a press release published on Jan. 29. PO8’s project addresses blockchain as a unique method to boost the local economy by profiting from sunken treasures in the waters surrounding the island country, which is reportedly worth around $100 billion. As estimated by PO8, the project will contribute $60 million a year to the economy of the Bahamas, as well as create more than 100 jobs at peak seasons. The blockchain-based marine project writes that each excavated artifact will be …

Blockchain can allow for the creation of a borderless economy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor Silvio Micali claimed in a interview on Bloomberg’s Daybreak Asia, Jan. 21. Speaking on the show, Micali outlined three major properties of blockchain systems that must function simultaneously to enable a more inclusive and borderless economy — security, decentralization and scalability. According to MIT’s Ford Professor of Engineering, until recently, only two of those three basic properties could have been achieved simultaneously at any time. When asked about scalability in particular, Micali stressed that a decentralized system really needs superior technology to provide the …

Russia's Ministry of Finance (MinFin) believes that the creation of a Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)-backed digital currency is inevitable due to the United States’ sanctions. Major Russian media agency Rambler reported MinFin’s comments on Friday, Dec. 21. MinFin reportedly sees an opportunity for launching a digital currency backed by countries in the EAEU by 2020 or 2021, as deputy finance minister Alexei Moiseev revealed. The Eurasian Union was established in 2014 and includes five member countries: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. The announced digital currency project will be most likely implemented without using blockchain technology, Moiseev stated, as reported …

A blockchain project with the ambition of being at the forefront of a “brand-new digital economy era” has unveiled its vision for 2019-2020, with five important milestones that will enable its technology to evolve in line with the needs of its user base. VEE, the latest blockchain database project by Sunny King — the creator of PoS — is based on supernode proof-of-stake (SPoS) — a consensus algorithm that the company says is “currently up, running and extremely stable.” With a success rate of up to 99.99 percent for blocks and with a new block produced every four seconds, the …

A startup says the tokenization of assets represents the next big milestone for blockchain technology – and is creating a platform that’s going to enable individuals and businesses to digitize real-world items. According to IDA, its infrastructure helps to solve a dilemma facing the world today: an effective link between physical and digital economies. The company says digitizing assets can help strengthen rights of ownership, allow everyone to track resources and prevent waste, and create a tamperproof record of transactions. In its white paper, the company has set out why this evolution matters. IDA claims that digitized assets are going …

A hybrid community-owned digital asset exchange is hoping to simplify trades and investments while driving down the cost of transactions. DAREX’s hybrid model enables users to trade utilities and securities – and the revenue generated from these transactions is subsequently shared with token holders. In time, the exchange hopes to become a “truly beneficial and democratic exchange platform for all.” The startup is set to be “the first exchange of its kind” thanks to how it blends the benefits of centralized exchanges with a decentralized ownership structure. The platform is going to be “100 percent owned” by the Darico community …