Top News Today
Santander uses Ethereum to redeem $20M bond
As Ethereum Google searches approach a new low, Spanish bank Banco Santander used Ethereum to redeem a $20 million bond. The bond was originally issued in September this year. A new scam was detected using Telegram and YouTube targeting ETH holders. Scammers asked them to send Ether for a reward 10 times the value of their HODLings. Meanwhile, Nike acquired a patent for tokenizing shoes on the blockchain. In China, the Center for Information and Industry Development has ranked Ethereum No. 2 on its 15th blockchain technology report, losing out to EOS. — COIN TELEGRAPH
Image from CoinDesk.
Ledger allows wallet users to stake Tezos
The service has been added to Ledger Live, their online portal for managing cryptocurrencies. Earlier this year, Coinbase and Binance implemented staking on their platforms. — DECRYPT
Binance traders panic amid MATIC plunge
Binance is investigating the reasons for a Matic price dive. The Ethereum token lost nearly 75 percent of value in just a few minutes. Binance CEO tweeted the MATIC team was not involved in causing the price movement. In other Binance news, the crypto exchange says it will support the Cosmos (ATOM) upgrade. The exchange is also launching futures on its iOS app. — CRYPTOSLATE
Image from CryptoSlate.
Klarna, Sofort adopt crypto payments
Klarna is a European bank that provides online payment solutions for retailers across Europe and North America. Its sister company Sofort offers digital wallets. Through these entities, Klarna services 80 million consumers in 17 countries. Increasingly, Bitcoin exchanges such as BitPanda, HappyCoins, and Bity are using Klarna as a payments service. — CAPTAIN ALTCOIN
Ripple condenses Xpring code
Ripple has rolled out new tools for developers on its new consolidated website for Xpring after spending two months on development. Among the changes, the developer site now also supports Go and Python in its software development kit (SDK). One of the few software startups that target the $457 billion enterprise software market, Ripple also recently launched xSongs, a platform for musicians to facilitate micropayments. There’s also a rumor of a Binance-Ripple partnership even as Ripple is defending its cryptocurrency, XRP, against allegations of being a security. — COINDESK
Today’s Bitcoin Chart
Interesting Reads
Invest Diva interviews Binance US CEO Catherine Coley
As Binance US announces it will list Tron, NEM, Tezos, and Ontology, Invest Diva host Kiana Danial interviews Binance US CEO Catherine Coley — NASDAQ
A roundup of Bitcoin candy
Even as the number of Bitcoin addresses with any balance at all hits an all-time high, celebrity basketball team owner and Shark Tank personality Mark Cuban says it will never be a reliable currency. Cuban is not the first executive or old fart to criticize cryptocurrencies, and this isn’t his first time to criticize either. In fact, there are plenty of old-timers who see it as nothing but a toy. And it doesn’t help that it’s often used by scammers and schemers. Still, no matter how pessimistic and ugly the critics can get, you can always find a pie-in-the-sky enthusiast to predict its eventual rise to $50,000. After all, there’s a halving coming. — FORBES
Image from Nasdaq.
Splinterlands has 3,062 average daily players
The Steem blockchain doesn’t have a lot going for it except that it is paying out more rewards since Hard Fork 21 was implemented and users are anticipating the launch of Smart Media Tokens early next year after the recent launch of communities into public beta. However, the most successful venture on the blockchain so far is Splinterlands, previously known as Steem Monsters, which has an average 3,062 average daily players and a market volume of 215,885 STEEM. The total circulating supply of STEEM is 353,661,233. Interestingly, the Steem blockchain is ranked in the top 10 in China. I played Splinterlands when it first launched but not at all in the last six months, though I still own quite a few of the original cards. — ALTCOIN BUZZ
Image from Coin Telegraph.
Kraken says KeepKey is vulnerable to attacks
According to a report published by Kraken Security Labs, a flaw in the KeepKey hardware wallet manufactured by ShapeShift could allow hackers to crack the device for a mere $75 in 15 minutes. The Kraken report indicates hackers could use voltage glitching to retrieve the wallet user’s encrypted key. — THE NEXT WEB
Could crypto lending undermine proof of stake security?
Crypto lending has exploded in the last couple of years with a 1,200 percent increase in 2018 alone. The market has reached $72 million. Since December 2017, 303,237 crypto loans have been issued for a total of $862.2 million. There are now about $80 million crypto loans outstanding. All this lending, however, could leave proof-of-stake networks vulnerable. — CRYPTO BRIEFING
Image from Crypto Briefing.
Note: Yesterday, I had trouble figuring out how to embed a video with Substack. As you can see, I figured it out for today. If you haven’t watched it yet, you can see the Scott Cunningham broadcast on Narrative in yesterday’s newsletter.
Allen Taylor is a veteran award-winning journalist and former newspaper editor. He is a freelance writer focused on fintech, including blockchain and crypto projects, and manages crypto blogs through CryptoBloggers. Follow me on Twitter and Steemit.