BTC prices have risen by 9.7% over the past week, gains that aren’t to be sniffed at. But this pales in comparison to the 31.8% surge in ETH over the same period, with XRP climbing by a staggering 113.25%.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping told G20 leaders it's time for central bank digital currency rules (Photo: Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs)China launches second lottery to test digital yuan
China’s central bank will repeat its $1.5 million “red envelope” central bank digital currency program in Suzhou, following the successful run in Shenzhen
The Shenzhen test acted as both a stress test and a marketing initiative. The City government gave away $1.5 million to 50,000 randomly selected citizens, who each received 200 yuan—about $30—usable at any of the 4,000 merchants who accept the digital yuan. The Suzhou test will include important new features that did not factor into the Shenzhen trials, most notably the ability to pay while offline.
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How big is crypto? Even firms that track transactions liker Michael Gronager's Chainalysis are going unicorn (Photo: U.S. State Department)Chainalysis goes unicorn
The blockchain intelligence firm’s latest fundraising round valued it north of the VC magic number: $1 billion
Along with cryptocurrency exchanges and financial firms, Chainalysis' bitcoin and cryptocurrency tracking tool have been used by law enforcement agencies including the FBI, IRS, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security in a number of high-profile cases, including the closure of the largest-ever child pornography ring, “Welcome to Video.” Other cases included operations targeting bitcoin fundraising by terrorist groups Al-Qaeda and Hamas.
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PayPal CEO: We’ll make it ‘very simple and easy’ to use crypto every day
In an interview, Dan Schulman predicted that PayPal’s embrace of bitcoin and three other cryptos will help bring digital currencies into the mainstream
“Early next year we’re going to allow cryptocurrencies to be a funding source for any transaction happening at all 28 million of our merchants, and that will significantly bolster the utility of cryptocurrencies," Schulman said.
