The Advisory Council of the United Arab Emirates Banks Federation (UBF) discussed applying blockchain in its member banks, according to the Dubai-based English language newspaper Gulf News on Dec. 17. The Advisory Council of UBF, a non-profit organization representing 50 member banks in the country, considered using blockchain to improve Know Your Customer (KYC) processes at entrant banks. UBF’s chairman, Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, claimed that the discussed initiative represents an effort to create and maintain a “thriving banking ecosystem.” Participants also discussed issues pertaining to the country’s national digital transformation program and Emiratization — a government employment initiative to …

The number of unique Ethereum (ETH) wallet addresses has broken 50 million on Saturday, Dec. 15, according to data from the ETH BlockExplorer Etherscan. Number of unique Ethereum addresses on Dec. 15, 2018. Source: Etherscan.io On Saturday, the Ethereum network saw a daily increase of 168,506 unique crypto wallets, following a steady growing trend this year. With that, the highest historical daily growth of unique Ethereum addresses took place on Jan. 4, 2018, with 352,888 new addresses created on the Ethereum network. Highest historical growth of unique Ethereum addresses on Jan. 4, 2018. Source: Etherscan.io While the unique address growth …

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has completed blockchain pilots with tech giant IBM to improve mobile data records. The trials were reported today, Dec. 12, by local English-language, Indian daily newspaper The Economic Times. The TRAI, India’s telecom regulator, along with major telecom providers, have completed tests with tech firms such as IBM in order to explore blockchain’s benefits in improving mobile network systems such as mobile number portability (MNP) and the Do Not Call Registry (DNC). Sriram Raghavan, vice president of IBM Research, claimed that the company has carried out proof-of-concepts (PoC) and pilots with “all the …

The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is seeking public comments and guidance on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain, according to an official press release published Dec. 11. In order to improve the commission’s understanding of Ethereum and its underlying technology, the CFTC has announced its intention to publish a respective Request for Information (RFI) with the Federal Register. In the upcoming RFI, the commission will request public comments on a wide range of questions such as Ethereum-related “technology, opportunities, risks, mechanics,” its market features, as well as use cases of Ethereum network applications. Moreover, the CFTC has expressed the …

Decentralized browser Brave is now the default browser on a phone from major smartphone manufacturer HTC, technology news outlet CNET reported Dec. 10. Founded in 1997, HTC is a Taiwanese consumer electronics manufacturer, which was the leading smartphone vendor in the U.S. at the end of 2010, according to TechCrunch. The company's market share began decreasing, when it trailed Apple, Samsung, and LG with a roughly six percent market share in the U.S. in 2014. In 2017, HTC held 2.3 percent of the smartphones market share, while in 2018 it purportedly controlled less than a half percent. Brave — an …

South Korea’s government will spend 4 billion Korean won (KRW) (about $3.5 million) to set up a blockchain-enabled virtual power plant (VPP) in the city of Busan. The development was reported by South Korean newspaper Yonhap News Agency on Monday, Dec. 10. Busan, South Korea’s second most populous city after Seoul, has announced that the city administration has selected a project to support an innovative energy industry in the region by building a VPP based on a citizens-shared blockchain. The project will reportedly be represented at a national competition in 2019 hosted by the largest electric utility in South Korea, …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has again postponed its decision on a Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF), according to an official document published Thursday, Dec. 6. The SEC set the new deadline for Feb. 27, 2019 in order to further review the rule change proposals to list a Bitcoin ETF by investment firm VanEck and blockchain company SolidX on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE): “The Commission finds it appropriate to designate a longer period within which to issue an order approving or disapproving the proposed rule change so that it has sufficient time to consider this …

Crypto-focused institutional asset manager Morgan Creek Digital has issued a $1 million bet against the S&P 500 (SPX) stock market index, a press release shared with Cointelegraph reveals Dec. 6. The crypto fund has issued a wager that its Digital Asset Index Fund –– a basket of ten major crypto assets –– will outperform the SPX over the next 10 years, starting Jan. 1, 2019. The S&P 500 is based on market capitalizations of 500 large companies that have common stock listed on major U.S. stock exchanges, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or the Nasdaq Stock Market (NASDAQ). The …

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volumes, will launch its own blockchain “Binance Chain” in the “coming months,” as the company revealed in a tweet on Dec. 4. The new Binance-backed blockchain aims to provide a basis for creating new cryptocurrencies and Initial Coin Offering (ICO) tokens, as the company said in the tweet: “Binance is pushing for blockchain adoption and doing many things to help advancement of the industry. E.g. we will have the Binance chain ready in the coming months, on which millions of projects can easily issue tokens.” According to Forbes, Binance announced their plans …

Chinese crypto investor Li Xiaolai will lead a stablecoin project within Hong Kong-based blockchain fund Grandshores Technology, according to an official document issued on Monday, Dec. 3. China’s Bitcoin (BTC) “tycoon” Li Xiaolai — who has a reported net worth of 7 billion yuan ($1 billion) — has been also appointed as an executive director and co-chief executive officer of Grandshores Technology starting from Monday, Dec. 3. Within the new position at the blockchain fund, Li Xiaolai will lead a number of initiatives including the launch of a stablecoin, establishment of a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG)-based public database, development of …

Global retail giant Auchan is expanding TE-FOOD’s blockchain solution to improve the transparency of products’ history, U.S.-based news agency Cision PRWeb reports today, Dec. 4. The French retail group, which is reportedly the 13th largest food retailer globally with operations in 17 countries, has extended TE-FOOD’s FoodChain solution to five more countries. FoodChain is the international traceability information ledger by TE-FOOD, first applied by Auchan in its Vietnam branch. After a 18-month test of TE-FOOD’s blockchain tool in Vietnam, Auchan has now decided to deploy the products’ traceability solution in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Senegal. The blockchain-powered retail monitoring …

26 French companies and five major banks have completed a Know Your Customer (KYC) test based on blockchain, according to a press release by the entrant firm RCI Bank and Services released Dec. 3. RCI Bank and Services, a French automotive financing and insurance firm unveiled details of a customer knowledge-focused blockchain solution trialed in partnership with blockchain consortium R3. According to the press release, the Proof-of-Concept (PoC) test has been conducted in cooperation with the Association Française des Trésoriers d'Entreprise (AFTE), a local network of treasury and finance professionals. As revealed by a participant of the test, RCI Bank …