Author: Editorial Office CVJ.CH

The US company Visa has filed a patent application for its own digital currency based on blockchain technology. The application was already submitted to the US authorities in November 2018. The details were made public with the recent publication. Visa intends to use blockchain and tokenized US dollars to improve the efficiency of its payment network. The complete submitted application is divided into two different approaches. Described as a ‘digital fiat currency’, one option would consist of a public key linked to a wallet. The other approach notes the “removal of the physical currency from the circulation of a fiat…

The Canadian e-commerce platform Shopify has signed a cooperation agreement with CoinPayments, the leading provider of crypto-currency payments. The cooperation enables Shopify traders to be paid in crypto-currencies. Shopify is an e-commerce software package distributed by the Canadian company of the same name. It enables small and medium-sized merchants to create their own online stores and use tools to set up marketing, shipping and payment options. Shopify now serves more than one million businesses in over 175 countries worldwide. Adaptation of crypto-currencies increases The partnership between the Ottawa-based e-commerce platform and CoinPayments, enables Shopify merchants to use crypto-currencies to make payments. The cooperation…

Bitcoin/USD daily basis Right at the beginning of the reporting week, Bitcoin tested the lower end of the previously scaled territory above USD 8,000. After the first sharp drop in the price on Sunday of just under USD 1,500, which took the price to USD 8,100 at the low for the day, this zone was tested again on Monday. Again with a high daily range of almost 1’000 USD, Bitcoin moved between 8’200 and 9’200 USD, with the daily closing price at 8’500 USD. The 8,000 mark proved to be a good support and in the following three days green…

The use of the tokens will revolve around subreddit-specific digital rewards and rewards within the Reddit platform, including a “special membership” and voting privileges. The US-American company Reddit, based in San Francisco, was founded in 2005 and currently generates a turnover of around 100 million US dollars annually. In addition, the group currently employs approximately 400 people. As reported by «Forbes» reported, the tokens will first be tested in two so-called “subreddits”. These will bring the total number of members to around 2.4 million. Tokens are based on the Ethereum standard ERC-20 The tokens, which were given the names «MOON»…

The event “Bitcoin Halving – View from the Crypto Valley” by our partner CVLabs was held on May 7th in the form of a webinar. Experts from the Valley answered the most urgent questions about the most important event. The speakers offered an interesting contribution and informative explanations about the current Bitcoin Halving. Alexandre Juncker, Blockchain expert at Alpiq, led the discussion. The webinar was introduced by Prof. Dr. Fabian Schär, Professor at the University of Basel. When it comes to Bitcoin Halving, there seems to be some misinformation circulating on “Crypto Twitter”. For example, users think that halving their…

In June 2019, the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) issued a guidance subjecting the crypto industry to the same compliance standards as financial institutions. One of the most controversial and challenging measures was the application of the travel rule to all virtual asset service providers (“VASPs”). While the FATF rules are guidance for the globe’s regulators, nations that do not fall into line risk being blacklisted. FATF will start reviewing how it has been applied amongst its members by June 2020. Compliance with the travel rule by VASPs might be somewhat against the whole crypto philosophy but could also have…

Bitcoin/USD daily basis Bitcoin USD – New highs since March crash At the beginning of the reporting week the Bitcoin price tested the newly climbed 9000 USD zone. The first test to go higher was followed on Monday by a rejection to 8’500 USD. As early as Tuesday, green candles above 9’000 USD were created again. On Wednesday, the previously climbed 9’500 USD were already tested. The actual breakout from the resistance zone followed on Thursday, which brought the price, including the close of the day, to just under the USD 10,000 mark. Friday and Saturday were marked by selling…

After the fully booked CCFE, the first and only Swiss Crypto Finance certification course is going into the next round – 100% online. Switzerland’s first SAQ-recognized Crypto Finance training course “Certified Crypto Finance Expert” was successfully launched in March 2020. With 20 participants from well-known national and international financial institutions such as Credit Suisse, Swissquote and Deutsche Bank, the first course was fully booked. The participants learned about the emerging world of crypto-banking, blockchain, tokenisation, and crypto-assets in a portfolio context from proven experts. Adrian Schatzmann, Strategic Advisor of the Swiss Bankers Association, impressively demonstrated the opportunities and threats for…

Another Halving is at the door. Expected on the 12th of May, the reward the miners will receive for securing the network in the form of newly created Bitcoins will be halved. What are the consequences of this event? In this paper we will offer the most important information at a glance. What is the halving? Bitcoin as a digital currency has predetermined limits on the supply side. For example, the maximum number of Bitcoins anchored in the code is limited to 21 million. Of these, just under18.32 million coins are currently already in circulation. Newly created Bitcoins are paid…

A media release published today shows that the Federal Council decided on 22 April 2020 to support promising start-ups with corona-related liquidity bottlenecks via the guarantee system. The guarantee organizations recognized by the federal government provide start-ups with easier access to bank loans. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO, in consultation with the interested cantons and guarantee organisations, has now created the practical conditions. Applications for guarantees can be submitted from 7 May to 31 August 2020. Guarantees of up to CHF 1 million per start-up Based on the existing guarantee system, a special guarantee procedure was created to…

The Colombian city of Bogota, which houses 10.7 million inhabitants (agglomeration), is the largest urban agglomeration in Colombia and has now launched a series of free online courses on the subject of “New Technologies”. Blockchain technology is also part of these courses. As part of these courses, the metropolitan area offers individual units in blockchain technology. The programme, which was created by the Bogota Mayor’s Office, is called “Bogota Aprende TIC” and is designed to strengthen innovation and enable new technologies to make their way into the capital, Bogota. The contents include are Cloud Computing, Big Data, artificial Intelligence, Internet…

Sector Analysis April 2020 Index Performance The index performed around 36%, with some winning and some losing sectors (please see monthly performance relative to Index). One winning sectors was SoV, with an outperformance of 14%; the Payment sector underperformed by 7.75%. SoV (Store of Value) DGB (DigiByte) contributed positively with a performance of 222%. DigiByte is a modification of the Bitcoin protocol design that adjusts confirmation speeds and security assurances when transacting on the base layer. The genesis block was created on January 10, 2014, with an outstanding supply of 105 million. The overall supply is capped at 21…

Most recently, the Geneva-based Libra Foundation returned with a revised white paper and a FINMA application for the authorization of a payment system. This week the admission of a new member in the form of a payment provider was announced. The new payment service provider is the British start-up Checkout.com, who will join the Libra Association as their 24th member. Guillaume Pousaz, CEO and founder of Checkout.com has announced the news in an official statement from the company. The company not only wants to support the technological progress behind Libra, but also to play its part in the necessary regulatory…

Digital currencies issued by central banks will be a hot topic in 2020. Meanwhile, many central banks have already discussed the advantages and disadvantages of CBDC’s, and some nations are already working on their own digital currency. In a survey conducted this year by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) among 66 central banks, 80% of the institutions surveyed stated that they are actively involved in the design of a CBDC. 40% of the banks have already skipped the theoretical research of CBDC’s and are now in an experimental phase. Dutch central bank wants to take a “leading role” in development The Dutch central…

Bitcoin/USD daily basis Source: Tradingview.com Bitcoin USD – New highs since March crash At the beginning of the reporting week, the Bitcoin price was still testing the newly created support zones around USD 6,800. From the middle of the week onward, it climbed again and closed above the USD 7,000 mark. Already on Thursday, an advance into higher regions was seen, which came to a temporary halt at USD 7,800. The following days were characterized by a slightly higher trend in the share price. Consistently slightly higher daily lows in the last three trading days of the week, with narrow…

Proof of Stake (PoS) relies on validators for transaction verification, different from Proof of Work, which uses computational power for the same purpose.