Binance To Help With Australia’s Distress

Many institutions and people from around the world, including foreign governments, private institutions, celebrities, and everyday people, have responded to the country’s current situation by offering prayers, thoughts, and donations to the Australian burnfire relief.

One of the latest donations comes from the Binance Charity Foundation, the blockchain-based charity division of the world’s leading crypto exchange Binance.

Binance Charity announced January 7 that it had made a $1 million (A$1.45m) worth of BNB donation as a lead for its new charity project, Australia Bushfire Donations, to raise funds for the dire situation in Australia.

According to Binance, the funds raised in the new initiative “will be used to help alleviate the impact of this disaster and facilitate the restoration afterward.”

Speaking about the development, Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), noted that it is saddening to watch the fires spread across Australia and its effects on human lives, properties, animals, and ecology.

“Donating for Australia Bushfires charity program is the most direct and effective approach to make an impact, and we are also calling for the whole crypto community to join us in supporting Australia,” CZ added.

The Cryptocurrency Community Can Weigh In Too

Members of the crypto community who wish to partake in the Australia Bushfire Donation charity project can donate with the Binance coin on the Binance Charity platform, which is decentralized and transparent. At the time of writing, 13 donations have been made, amounting to 120.5486 BTC ($1,001,855.80).

Meanwhile, some crypto influencers like Alex Saunders have rallied members of the crypto community to show the world the power of Bitcoin by donating BTC for the Australian Rural Fire Service.

Data from Blockchain.com shows that a total of $12,040 has been sent to the designated BTC address.

Why? To begin with, because it involves Binance, the behemoth exchange. And second, because there are rewards in-store.

In a tweet, the Loom Network announced that Binance launches its validator on Basechain. It then added that Binance Exchange offers monthly Loom airdrop rewards.

In the embedded medium article, the company explains, “Binance joins our pool of 21+ Basechain validators currently running nodes to help secure the network. As you may already know, validators help secure Loom Network’s DPoS mainnet — Basechain — by making sure that every transaction on the chain is valid and accurate.”

So, starting the 4th of January, the exchange will commence taking “live snapshots of user LOOM balances and airdropping LOOM rewards directly into your Binance account.”

At the same time, note that the company isn’t talking about soft staking. This means all you need to do “is have LOOM sitting in your account.” Concurrently, users don’t need to “lock” tokens away.

“You can simply get LOOM rewards directly to your account while maintaining the freedom to use your tokens whenever you need to,” the company explains.

The details of this program are available here.

A good year for Loom

The Loom Network also says that overall it’s been a good year for the company. For instance, it points out, “We made our mainnet and the Loom Wallet fully interoperable with Binance Chain by building an ERC20–BEP2 token bridge and bringing smart contract functionality to Binance.”

Besides, according to the company, it is now possible to send BEP2 tokens to Basechain. And then convert them to ERC20 tokens, “which you can withdraw to Ethereum mainnet — and vice versa.”

Other achievements include the release of a new CryptoZombies course on how to build on Binance Chain.

The platform made this announcement via a tweet.

The tweet reads: “Exciting times ahead! LitemintHQ acquires the renowned decentralized exchange and service platform Stellarport.”

This acquisition aims to connect the crypto space to the gaming industry, all on Stellarport. For the uninitiated, Stellarport is your gateway to the Stellar network.

Currently, the mobile gaming industry is worth $68.5 billion. It also boasts of a large number of gamers from all walks of life around the world. That said, this industry alone can help facilitate worldwide crypto adoption. And this partnership is set to do it.

What’s Litemint all about?

Litemint is an open-ended app and game platform. Designed on open-source, decentralized protocol Stellar, Litemint aims to bring together the gaming sector and fast-rising blockchain markets. It plans to connect and provide gamers with new opportunities as well as tokenized game assets such as collectibles and non-fungible tokens. Though still a startup company, it boasts of about 36,000 users every month.

Stellar port, on the other hand, is a very important asset in the Stellar ecosystem. With about 100,000 users, it provides Litemint with a robust operating base.

What to expect?

Despite the acquisition, there will be no change to Stellarport’s mission. After all, it is well-known in the Stellar ecosystem. Litemint users will also have unlimited access to the Stellarport chat system. Thus, providing users with hitch-free opportunities across all platforms.

Litemint will also enable a “Basic Mode” on the Stellarport exchange. This will make it easier for new and uninformed users to trade crypto. Also facilitating the usage of all assets backed by Stellarport such as cross-currency in-app purchases.

Litemint has expressed high hopes about the acquisition. The gaming startup believes that as long as strong synergy potential, user interaction, assets interchange, and minimal redundancy is fostered, the acquisition will soar to great heights. Also adding that, “We strongly believe that with such acquisition we are witnessing the birth of a powerful aggregate, fully geared for mass adoption, in the Stellar ecosystem.

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DLive is the latest in Tron’s string of acquisitions. The blockchain-based streaming platform will join Poloniex and BitTorrent in Justin Sun’s portfolio.

DLive is joining forces with Tron and its subsidiary, BitTorrent. Currently built on the Lino blockchain testnet, DLive will migrate to the Tron blockchain and merge with BLive, Tron’s much smaller streaming equivalent, as part of the deal.

The ACE Protocol Foundation, creators of the Lino Network, also announced a strategic partnership with BitTorrent.

Launched in September 2018, DLive already boasts an impressive user base. The streaming service already has over 3.5 million monthly visits, according to SimilarWeb. Notably, the platform’s rapid user growth was stimulated by a partnership with PewDiePie — YouTube’s most watched internet celebrity.

The deal will make DLive Tron’s third public acquisition, following other high-profile purchases including crypto exchange Poloniex in November and file sharing company BitTorrent in June of 2018. Charles Wayn, the CEO of DLive, declined to comment on the terms of the deal.

As part of the transition, the Lino Network and DLive will move away from the Lino blockchain’s coin and validators. It’s unclear how DLive’s recently added Lemon coin will be affected. Both platforms are expected to move to BitTorrent’s BTT token as part of the integration. Further details are expected Jan. 15, 2020

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In its Ripple Drop holiday special, the San Francisco-based company has gone over crypto happenings in 2019.

Ripple is feeling good about the crypto space. The episode includes discussions on the effect blockchain tech and crypto have had on global technology. And what enthusiasts should expect in 2020.

CEO of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse alongside several other members of the executive team were on ground to partake in the broadcast. They each discussed specific happenings in 2019 and their 2020 expectations.

Surprises in 2019

It seems that there was a unanimous agreement that the Libra Whitepaper launch was quite surprising. For instance, Breanna Madigan, Vice President of Global Institutional Market chaired this opinion.

She also pointed out how the announcement helped to set world government on their toes. Producing a worldwide clamor for crypto regulatory structures.

She said, “I’d say there were a few things that surprised me this year”. For instance, Libra. The way it “catalyzed global governments across the world to come together and start to understand the urgency around developing regulatory frameworks.”

At the same time, Marcus Treacher, SVP of Customer Success disclosed that RippleNet’s exponential growth was a big surprise for him. He referred to “the pace in which we were able to grow a global network, by connecting banks and payment companies.”

Monica Long, SVP of Marketing, endorsed Treacher’s opinion. She also added that “I was very pleasantly surprised by the demand that we saw for On-Demand Liquidity. […] “2019 was a breakout year for that product and customer adoption.”

Special Moments for Crypto

For Ripple CTO, David Schwartz a very special moment was when he discovered Bitcoin. He described it as the minute “everything just clicked.”

For Garlinghouse, it was when he watched Alex Holmes applaud ODL, pointing out how beneficial it was to his business. Alex Holmes is MoneyGram’s CEO.

What to expect in 2020

As we step into a new year and decade, the crypto space is in the limelight. Many crypto analysts have come forward with predictions of what to expect in 2020.

Garlinghouse believes there will be more mergers between several crypto. He said,  “[…] you don’t need 3000 plus cryptocurrencies out there.” David Schwartz echoed this belief. He also added that for continued growth, crypto must profound workable solutions to real-world issues.

And said, “I think we’re going to see more growth of blockchain into different use cases. […] I think the focus is going to be can you solve an actual problem.”

Ethan Beard, SVP of Xpring, says that blockchain technology will supersede “the underpinnings of the entire financial industry.”  Asheesh Birla, SVP of Product Management agreed with this notion. She also added that the long term potential of decentralized tech is huge. For Treacher, the Internet of Value is one sphere that will gain traction in the new year.  

He said, “The Internet of Value that we’re creating is very much coming to life […]. I can see blockchain technology merging into other core enabling technologies and together creating the fourth industrial revolution.”

In conclusion, the new year holds a lot of potential for digital assets and decentralized tech. We expect more crypto holders, increased adoption as this technology unfolds to become a pillar in the global financial sector.

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Samsung To Support 3 New TRON dApps

According to a recent Korean report, three of TRON-based decentralized applications will be available on of the bestselling smartphones launched by the tech giant, such as the flagship Galaxy S10.

Two of the new app additions are dubbed Super Player and Blockchain Cuties. The latter is one of the most popular games among Samsung users, as a fantasy-based collectible blockchain game.

Before inducting those games, Samsung already had numerous of similarly-based dApps – Dozer Bird, Dark Town, Links Puzzle, and Cryptophishing.

During the last days of October, the two companies announced the beginning of s new partnership, noting that TRON will be integrated with Samsung’s Blockchain Keystore. Following the announcement, developers using the platform can build applications running on TRON’s blockchain, and users can access it from their devices.

TRON’s 2019

As 2019 is coming to its end shortly, TRON marks another memorable year with several key announcements and news surrounding it.

Aside from the Samsung partnership, the company started working with the most used stablecoin – Tether (USDT). More specifically, the stablecoin is supposed to migrate its supply to TRON’s network, and as of recently, close to $1 billion USDT had already been integrated on Justin Sun’s blockchain product.

Back in September, TRON revealed plans for a new Proof-of-Stake mechanism, new staking partners, and TRX incentives. According to Sun, the new features should provide for “a fair, decentralized distribution of staking revenues, encouraging greater user participation, and smoother engagement with staking from more wallets, exchanges, and partners.”

With all the latest improvements on the network, arguably, the most controversial news surrounded the anticipated charity lunch. Justin Sun won a $4.5 million bid to participate in the charity event with one of the most successful investors in the traditional financial markets – Warren Buffet. After promoting the lunch, Sun had to postpone it due to alleged health issues. However, as CryptoPotato reported a few months ago, the real reason might have been Chinese political involvement and pressure on Sun and his staff.

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In an episode of RippleDrop, she revealed that in 2020 the firm aims to address fake volumes in the industry.

According to her, the firm does not want to be among those who release false trade volumes. Or such which have been exaggerated.

Accordingly, the company Ripple previously revealed that it had been working with trusted partners to tackle the problem on a large scale. Madigan says, “we think about a lot in the Ripple, and we have made some noise about it is the persistence of fake volumes in the industry.”

And that is a problem that has gotten a lot of noise and attention in the past year, but surprisingly, we have not seen much progress been made, so that is something we will continue to focus on in 2020.”

The firm also evaluated its approach to XRP volume reporting. Particularly, reviewing new options and requirements for sourcing market data while taking a “more conservative approach to XRP sales” in the second quarter of 2019.

Bitwise started the fire

To remind, in 2019 following Bitwise’s report about exchanges faking volumes, popular data site, CoinMarketCap faced backlash for reporting false volumes. Many other crypto exchanges came under fire for allegedly facilitating wash trading and trade volume manipulation.

The report stated that 95% of Bitcoin trading volume reported by CoinMarketCap, a go-to website for crypto data, was false.

According to it, CoinMarketCap reported roughly $6 billion per day in Bitcoin trading volume. The actual figure stood somewhere close to $273 million, or nearly 4.5% of the reported amount, which was highly exaggerated.

Although, according to a survey by Chainalysis, large crypto exchanges have appeared to have stopped misreporting their trading volumes.

But New York-based blockchain analytics firm is suspicious. It says that some crypto exchanges including Bitforex that still report fake trading volumes. This is in a bid to simulate higher market activity and liquidity.

Chainalysis research named Binance, Bitfinex, Kraken, Bitstamp, Coinbase, BitFlyer, Gemini, itBit, Bittrex, and Poloniex. These are the exchanges consider as the only exchanges that report their actual volumes.

Good year for Ripple

Ripple closed the year in a grand style. It has reportedly raised $200 million through a Series C funding.

CEO of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse, also spoke on the extraordinary development. He said the company is on its way to fulfilling its goals. Concurrently, he believes many companies slowed down their momentum this year while Ripple stood out.

Ripple Expands South American Presence With Brazillian Partnership

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Ripple Expands Brazilian Influence

Ripple is planning to expand its presence in Brazil with new significant partnerships next year, according to a recent report. It states that after signing previous deals with large banks in the country such as Santander, Bradesco, and Rendimento, Ripple wants to start utilizing XRP for remittance payments.

Luiz Antonio Sacco, the company’s managing director in Brazil, spoke about the country’s potential for substantial growth in the next few years:

“With successive advances in Brazilian banking regulation to facilitate financial transactions, including international, opportunities here will grow greatly in the coming years.”

Earlier this year, Ripple launched operations in Brazil intending to expand further not only in the country but in the whole South American region. At that point, Sacco noted that Brazil is among the leads in fin-tech innovations, and RippleNet’s introduction would allow for “excellent, efficient cross-border payment experiences for their customers.”

Ripple’s Recent Evolvement

The South American expansion is just a part of Ripple’s improvements and news from this year.

Back in June, the company made a major announcement for a strategic partnership with money transfer giant – MoneyGram. When it comes down to foreign exchange settlement using digital assets and cross-border payments, Ripple will be a key partner for MoneyGram according to the initial two-year agreement. Furthermore, the blockchain-based company will provide a $50 million capital commitment in exchange for equity within this period.

More recently, Ripple managed to secure a $200 million Serious C funding investment in a round led by large investment companies, such as Tetragon, SBI Holdings, and Route 66 Ventures. The company said that the money will be used to broaden further the utility of its cryptocurrency, XRP, and for improving the blockchain technology – the XRP ledger.

Speaking of XRP, despite the positive news from the company behind it, its price appears to be on a declining trend. After reaching the yearly high of over $0.50 back in June, XRP is mostly on the downturn and is currently trading at $0.193, which is a 65% drop in several months.

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The BtcTurk Established in 2013, Turkey’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, with all major cryptocurrencies supported. According to the Blockchain Transparency Institute, BtcTurk is a top-25 exchange, with about $3.45 million in 24-hour trading volume.

Dash currently has Turkish lira trading pairs on the Sistemkoin, Vebitcoin, Koineks, Bitci, Ovis, and Koinim exchanges.

Increased adoption of cryptocurrency in Turkey.

The report states that in 2019, Turkey has struggled with currency devaluations of the lira, The rate of inflation reportedly as 20% at the beginning of the year and the latest data showing an annual inflation rate of around 10.5%. While the inflation rate is decreasing, it shows that the Turkish economy doesn’t secure consumers’ and investors’ confidence anymore. The growing accessibility of cryptocurrencies such as Dash enables consumers and merchants to be better able to escape the government-created inflation and currency uncertainty.

Dash consistently manifests an interest in the Turkey cryptocurrency market and the addition by BtcTurk represents progress. The cryptocurrency has made several attempts to take advantage of key conditions for growth in the country. Accordingly, these efforts include creating a Dash Embassy in Turkey. The embassy focused on hosting community outreach events in the region.

Dash’s focus on Turkey is backed up by market research, as the Statista Global Consumer Survey has shown that Turkey has the highest cryptocurrency adoption rate in the world, with 1 in 5 Turks claiming to own cryptocurrency, surpassing This places the country ahead of Latin American countries like Colombia and Brazil.

This, combined with high inflation rates for the lira, Dash seeking to maximize its adoption both in cryptocurrency-heavy markets and countries seeking alternative money due to currency devaluation.

VALLETTA, Malta, Dec. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — OKEx, the world’s largest spot, and futures digital asset exchange by trading volume, today announced a partnership with FirmaChain, a blockchain-based electronic contract platform. Through this partnership, customers can use OKEx’s global utility token, OKB, for purchases on FirmaChain. In addition, FirmaChain’s FCT token will be listed on OKEx on December 18, 2019.

FirmaChain uses blockchain technology to bring transparency and verification to contracts while solving issues including forgery. Through its decentralized application (DApp) Duite, FirmaChain reduces processing costs for international contracts by using less resources and simplifying the process, overcoming the current limitations of traditional, written contracts.

The depositing of FCT will be available from 10:00 December 11, 2019 (UTC). FCT spot trading against USDT and BTC will open at 10:00 December 18, 2019 (UTC). FCT withdrawal will open from 10:00 December 19, 2019 (UTC).

“FirmaChain is an excellent company developing real-world applications with blockchain technology and coming up with its groundbreaking e-contracts platform,” said Andy Cheung, Head of Operations at OKEx. “We’re excited about this partnership that we are able to add FCT, the native token of FirmaChain on the OKEx trading platform, and at the same time, to include OKB for service redemption on the Firmachain network, where users can choose to pay in OKB or FCT when using the e-contract provided by Duite, Firma Solution’s service.”

“FirmaChain is excited to join OKEx’s global ecosystem and gain access to a broad potential user base for our innovative, blockchain-based electronic contracts platform,” said Young In Yoon, CEO of FirmaChain. “We look forward to a successful and mutually beneficial partnership with OKEx to bring forth new use cases of blockchain technology.“

OKEx recently announced its OKB token integration with Ledger, Aliniex, Bvnex, and Cryptomall to build an increasingly comprehensive ecosystem for cryptocurrency traders. The company offers the most diverse trading products in the market, ranging from spot trading, fiat-to-token trading, margin trading, and crypto derivatives, helping traders, miners, and institutional investors optimize their investment strategies.

About OKEx

OKEx is a world-leading digital asset exchange headquartered in Malta, offering comprehensive digital asset trading services including fiat-to-token, token-to-token, and derivatives trading to users globally. Currently, over 400 spot and derivatives trading pairs are available for users to optimize their trading strategies. With a safe, reliable, and stable environment for digital asset trading, OKEx serves millions of customers in more than 200 countries and regions.