Apple has acquired Mobeewave, a startup with technology that could transform iPhones into mobile payment terminals. Mobeewave’s technology lets shoppers tap their credit card or smartphone on another phone to process a payment. The system works with an app and doesn’t require hardware beyond a Near Field Communications, or NFC, chip, which iPhones have included since 2014. Samsung Electronics Co. partnered with Mobeewave last year to allow its phones to use the technology.
Crypto Assets of $50 Billion Moved From China in the Past Year
About $50 billion in cryptocurrency assets have left China in the past year, a possible indication that investors are dodging rules that limit how much capital they’re allowed to transfer from the nation, according to Chainalysis. Tether accounted for more than $18 billion of the outflows from East Asia in the period. Tether has become a U.S. dollar replacement for many people in China, with lots of Chinese businesses and merchants, especially those working overseas, now accepting Tether.
East Asia: Pro Traders and Stablecoins Drive World’s Biggest Cryptocurrency Market
East Asia is the world’s largest cryptocurrency market, accounting for 31% transacted in the last 12 months. East Asia-based addresses received $107 billion worth in the last 12 months, which is 77% more than Western Europe, the second-highest receiving region. Much of this can be attributed to the region’s stranglehold on mining activity. China alone controls 65% of Bitcoin’s global hashrate, which means that the majority of all newly-mined Bitcoin starts out at Asia-based addresses, giving the market a massive liquidity boost.
What’s Behind the Meteoric Rise of Chainlink?
Chainlink’s LINK token has experienced a meteoric rise this year, becoming a top-five crypto asset by market capitalization. It acts as a bridge between cryptocurrency smart contracts and off-chain resources like data feeds, various web APIs, and traditional bank account payments. Chainlink has been making partnership and integration announcements nonstop throughout the year, although adversity is no stranger to its path.
Farmers Could Soon Be Hedging Their Risks With Decentralized Weather Data
Arbol, a platform that allows farmers to hedge weather risks, is integrating Chainlink data oracles. With blockchain, settlements and payouts can be instant, whereas in the centralized world, participants may have to wait weeks, if not months. Farmers can hedge against various adverse weather conditions having a negative impact on their crops. They can buy a hedge — for example, if a temperature in their region reaches a critical level, which will trigger an automatic payout. By adding Chainlink’s oracalized weather data feeds, the company’s platform has become more decentralized and resilient.
What Is Ethereum 2.0?
Ethereum 2.0 or ETH2 or Serenity is the evolution of Ethereum network into the next phase for the performance improvement of Ethereum. The main aspect in this upgrade is the shift of Ethereum’s consensus algorithm from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake ( PoS). This will result in the improvement of security, usability and scalability of the ethereum network as a whole. The upgrade will be live in multiple phases, starting with Phase 0 in this year of 2020.
Posted from Diigo: https://www.diigo.com/user/kiffmeister/Fintech
