30/08/2018: Biggest Stories in the Cryptosphere

1. Major Bitcoin Miner BTC Now Wants To Mine Ethereum

BTC.com, the biggest Bitcoin mining pool, is now interested in Ethereum. The subsidiary of crypto mining hardware Bitmain launched an Ethereum blockchain mining pool. BTC.com is currently behind 16% of Bitcoin’s computing power and 14% of Bitcoin Cash network. Mining Pool Director Zhuang Zhong stated that the plan is to cover 12% of ETH total hash rate’s mining operations within the next 12 months. The company is also convinced with its decision to shift “from a Proof-of-Work algorithm to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus style, through the upcoming Casper protocol” and the fact that it won’t discourage them from mining Ethereum. Zhong explained the decision by saying that they would still be able to host a mining pool in PoS mode. Despite the design’s increased complexity, they would take advantage of their “hands-on experience with wallet and Ethereum smart contracts”.

2. India Looking Into Central Bank Digital Currency

We previously reported on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) wanting to stop crypto firms from receiving services from regulated entities, while looking into issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The central bank has now published its Annual Report 2017–2018, where it announced the establishment of an inter-departmental group tasked with assessing the possibility of issuing a blockchain-based digital currency for domestic payments, as well as investigating blockchain. The Monetary Regulator mentioned the impact digital tokens had on the global payments industry and the growing cost of issuing fiat money as main reasons why they are exploring the creation of a CBDC. The unit has already been operating for at least one month. Furthermore, it will have a role in the creation of crypto regulations related to the usage and trading of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

3. EU Looking Again At Crypto Regulations

We previously discussed on many occasions the European Union (EU) taking steps towards regulating cryptocurrencies. Bloomberg has now reported that EU finance ministers will discuss digital assets’ growing popularity and how they should handle their regulation. This is based on a draft note outlining what will be discussed during a meeting taking place in Vienna on September 7th. The main challenges the union is concerned about are a perceived lack of transparency and the risk of cryptocurrencies being employed in illicit activities. The Austrian government was contacted for further comments, given its currency (rotating) presidency role. Price volatility was what first prompted concerns from European authorities. They mentioned how current EU laws are not enough. This led to the EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, guaranteeing it would look into the matter. The same will also be done for ICOs.

This news roundup was brought to you by BlockEx (http://bit.ly/BlockEx_).

To receive our daily news roundup in your mailbox, sign up here: http://bit.ly/BlockExNewsAndUpdates

Sources:

1. https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2018/08/30/bitcoin-btc-ethereum-mining-bitmain/
2. https://medium.com/swlh/05-04-2018-biggest-stories-in-the-cryptosphere-2b40a3a2302
3. https://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/AnnualReport/PDFs/0ANREPORT201718077745EC9A874DB38C991F580ED14242.PDF
4. https://www.ccn.com/india-is-exploring-a-central-bank-digital-currency-for-payments/
5. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-29/crypto-traders-face-renewed-scrutiny-from-european-ministers
6. https://www.eu2018.at/calendar-events/political-events/BMF-2018-09-07-Informal-Ecofin.html