14/03/2018: Biggest Stories in the Cryptosphere

1. Indonesia Could Soon Have More People Investing in Crypto Than Stocks

Indonesia Digital Asset Exchange, the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the country, could soon have more participants registered than the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The latter currently has 40,000 more members than the former. However, it has been predicted that the crypto platform, previously called Bitcoin.co.id, will have 1.5 million crypto investors by the end of the year. Oscar Darmawan, the Chief Executive Officer, has disclosed that the exchange is receiving 3,000 new registrations on a daily basis. Most trading is done in Bitcoin, but Ethereum is also growing. The country’s central bank, Bank Indonesia has not banned crypto exchanges, but has issued strong warnings about the risks.

2. Coinbase Partners With Barclays

Coinbase, one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, has formed a banking relationship with Barclays, where it also opened an account. This might come as a surprise considering the wary approach adopted by many British banks. The news was released on Tuesday by the crypto exchange. The move means that now Coinbase’s members will benefit from smoother transaction processing, compared to when Coinbase was working with an Estonian bank. Previously customers could easily deposit using Pound Sterling, withdrawals were a long process. Furthermore, the UK regulator Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has awarded an e-money license covering 23 EU countries to Coinbase.

3. New Tech By Huawei Could Allow To Stress Test Blockchains

Chinese tech giant Huawei is working on a framework which will enable stress tests on the various blockchains. It has been named Project Caliper, and will be submitted to the Hyperledger consortium, which is led by the Linux Foundation. Hyperleger Fabric, Hylerledger Sawtooth and Hyperledger Iroha can already be examined using the tool. However, more will be added going forward. The idea behind the project is to enable a simplified comparison of blockchains by integrating them into this framework. At the heart of this tech, there is an adaptation layer, which serves as a connector between the existing blockchains and Caliper.

4. 46 US States Can Now Enjoy Circle’s Cryptocurrency Investing App

Goldman Sachs-backed startup Circle has introduced its cryptocurrency investing app to the US market. 46 states will now enjoy immediate crypto trading with no commission. New York, Minnesota, Wyoming, and Hawaii are excluded. On Tuesday, people who took part in the beta testing program conducted by Circle Invest, received an email to announce that a new version of its app was available on the Apple Store and Google Play. Users can trade any amount of the main cryptocurrencies. Rather than charging a commission, the app makes a profit from the spread i.e. the difference between the buy and sell price (approximately 1.5/2%). The company is also keen to receive feedback on the early access version made available.

This news roundup was brought to you by BlockEx.

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