Devs Plot Launch of Telegram’s Blockchain Without Company’s Involvement

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A U.S. court order may have barred Telegram from launching its blockchain, but that doesn’t mean others can’t.

So says the TON Community Foundation, a group of more than two dozen software developers and investors, who are now discussing possible ways to launch the Telegram Open Network (TON) without the messaging platform’s participation.

“We consider it seriously,” the group’s founder, former communications manager at TON Labs Fedor Skuratov, told CoinDesk. The community is now discussing options and no final decision has been made, he said.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Kevin P. Castel in New York ruled in favor of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which asked the court to deem Telegram’s blockchain tokens, named grams, to be securities, and to halt their issuance to investors in the $1.7 billion token sale. Telegram filed a notice that it would appeal the decision.

The foundation’s response underscores the limits of government powers to regulate open-source technology. As with 3D-printed firearms, the state can stop specific individuals or groups from running code, but if it’s in the public domain others can take up the mantle.

Read more: Telegram Appeals Court Ruling Barring Gram Token Distribution

According to Skuratov, all the code needed to launch TON is already out there, published previously by Telegram. The community would only need generate the first batch of transactions, or genesis block, and provide at least 13 computers known as validators to run the network.

“Strictly speaking, no additional measures are required to launch TON by the community, except for a consensus within the community. But in order to get recognized, we will need to come to an agreement with investors (at least, with a majority of them),” Skuratov said.

The move would be similar to hard forks, or splintering into separate networks, some other blockchains went through. One key difference in TON’s case is the mainnet, or live version of the network, has not been launched yet.

Parallel testnet

In fact, TON Labs, the startup that helped Telegram work on the testnet, or experimental version of TON that’s been running since last spring, recently launched its own parallel testnet.

Telegram released the code for TON blockchain nodes in September and kept churning out parts of the project even after being sued by the SEC, publishing a paper on TON’s consensus protocol and a native crypto wallet since last fall.

Now the code is available online and theoretically can be used to launch as many versions of the TON blockchain as anyone wants to spin up. It’s a different question, however, if such a network would be recognized as legitimate and contain real value – this would require a consensus among the TON investors, Skuratov said.

Read More: Judge Halts Telegram Token Issuance in Injunction Requested by SEC

“Now we will begin to contact those whom we know, and we encourage them to also contact us,” he said.

According to Skuratov, it’s still being discussed what to do regarding the tokens that have been planned for distribution at launch to investors and the Telegram team in the TON white paper. 

As TON is a proof-of-stake blockchain, it will need the validators to stake a meaningful amount of tokens from the start so that they can validate transactions. This means a certain number of grams should be distributed to the project’s stakeholders at launch. 

Investors impatient

According to one of the investors who asked to stay anonymous, approximately half of the investors at the moment want their money back, on any terms, while the other half would like to see Telegram come up with some way to still issue tokens.

The deadline for TON’s launch, rescheduled in October with the investors’ blessing, is now April 30. Telegram appears unlikely to meet it, said Yakov Barinsky, CEO of investment firm HASH CIB, which consulted some of the TON investors.

“But if in October, most investors agreed to postpone, now they wouldn’t,” Barinsky said, explaining that under the agreements signed in October, now investors will only get 72 percent of their money if TON does not launch, but it would be still a good deal given that the capital markets are in a crisis.

Read more: Russia Seeks to Block ‘Darknet’ Technologies, Including Telegram’s Blockchain

But giving money back will leave Telegram underfunded, Barinsky said.

Hence, founder and CEO Pavel Durov “will be doing everything possible to keep the money, either asking the investors to approve another rescheduling or launching despite the court decision,” Barinsky said.

“If TON launches, the blockchain industry will rather win than lose,” but without the Telegram team, the project would lose its appeal, he said.

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The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

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Germany’s Bitcoin Group Welcomes Licensing for Crypto Custodians, Expects Competition From Banks

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Germany’s Bitcoin Group Welcomes Licensing for Crypto Custodians, Expects Competition From Banks

Bitcoin Group SE, a prominent member of the European crypto industry, has been preparing to apply for permission to conduct crypto custody activities in its home country, Germany. The providers of such services in the Federal Republic are now recognized as financial institutions. Bitcoin Group, which has been in the business for some time, welcomes the changes that introduced licensing to the sector. Starting from Jan. 1, 2020, banks and other institutions are allowed to store and manage clients’ crypto assets.

Also read: Bitcoin Is Financial Instrument, Clarifies Germany, Crypto Custodians Qualify as Financial Institutions

Bitcoin Group Confirms Plan to Obtain Crypto Custody Permit

As the organization behind one of the largest crypto trading platforms in Europe, Bitcoin Group SE has already established itself as a major custodian of digital assets in Germany. Its fully owned subsidiary, Bitcoin Deutschland AG, operates Germany’s leading regulated marketplace for cryptocurrencies such as BTC, BCH and ETH. The investment group is also owner of Futurum Bank AG and holds 50% of the shares of Sineus Financial Services GmbH, an entity supervised by the German financial watchdog, Bafin.

Germany’s Bitcoin Group Welcomes Licensing for Crypto Custodians, Expects Competition From Banks
The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority of Germany approved the acquisition of Futurum Bank in July 2019.

In December, Bitcoin Group announced it plans to apply for crypto custody permission for its companies from the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority. It hopes to expand its positions in the market for these types of services and the acquisition of Futurum Bank AG, which was approved by Bafin, creates new opportunities to attract institutional clients. Securing a license became necessary following last year’s adoption of legislation transposing EU’s Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive into national law.

The new regulations entered into force on Jan. 1, 2020. The German Banking Act now defines crypto custody business as the safekeeping and managing of crypto assets ​​or private cryptographic keys that serve to hold and store crypto assets that can be transferred to others. In recently published guidance, Bafin clarified that these activities represent financial services. Financial institutions had until the end of March to declare intent to obtain a license and the deadline for filing an application is Nov. 30.

Speaking to news.Bitcoin.com, Bitcoin Group Managing Director Marco Bodewein confirmed that the holding company is going to apply for a crypto custody license and explained:

Due to the current requirements of the authorities, the final application needs to be filed by November 2020 but we will apply officially much earlier. As of now we do not see any challenges for Bitcoin.de at all as we are already in the custody business for several years.

German Banks Are yet to Enter Cryptocurrency Market

Bodewein added that Bitcoin Group welcomes the current development of the regulatory regime in Germany which will open the market for more players including banks entering the crypto space. Competition is usually good for the business, he emphasized, although his crypto company has not yet experienced any stiff competition from traditional financial institutions.

The executive said that Bitcoin Group would also appreciate the adoption of regulations at EU level. “Certainly, the German approach is the first within Europe so it might be possible that Germany created a blue print for the rest of Europe,” Marco Bodewein commented.

Germany’s Bitcoin Group Welcomes Licensing for Crypto Custodians, Expects Competition From Banks
The European Commission is gathering feedback from EU citizens, businesses, and regulators to establish a common regulatory framework for crypto assets and markets.

According to the latest corporate results published in September, Bitcoin Group’s earnings before interest and taxes amounted to €4.228 million in the first half of 2019. During the same period, Bitcoin.de reported an increase in its customer numbers to 808,000 registered users, up from 753,000 at the end of H1, 2018.

Bitcoin Group believes the growth is largely due to the expansion of the range of services provided by the exchange including the launch of a mobile app. The acquisition of Futurum Bank, formerly investment bank Tremmel Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH, will mow allow the holding to offer new products related to cryptocurrencies, carry out proprietary trading and operate a network of Bitcoin ATMs.

How do you think Germany’s new regulations will affect the crypto industry in Europe? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.


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Bafin, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Deutschland, Bitcoin Group, Bitcoin Group SE, Bitcoin.de, Company, crypto-custody, Cryptocurrencies, custodians, Digital Assets, Exchange, Futurum Bank, german, Germany, holding company, investment company, License, licensing, permit, Regulations, trading platform
Lubomir Tassev

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Bulgaria. Quoting Hitchens, Lubomir says: ”Being a writer is what I am, rather than what I do.“ International politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.



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The Dangerous Truth About India’s Cryptocurrency Verdict

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Tanvi Ratna is the founder and CEO of Policy 4.0 and works actively with policymakers in India on blockchain initiatives. She was formerly blockchain lead at EY India and a fellow on cryptocurrency regulation at the New America Foundation.

Industry watchers cheered on March 6 when the Supreme Court of India struck down the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) ban on financial institutions providing banking services to cryptocurrency businesses. However, the decision is not final, and embedded in the text of the judgment are multiple red flags.

In addition, a draft bill to ban cryptocurrencies, released on Feb. 28, 2019, could still move through Parliament. As analyzed by me previously, taken together, the partial court victory and the possibility of legislation moving forward mean that crypto’s legal status in India remains vulnerable.

The fine print

A review of the 180-page judgment reveals the premises of the verdict are not in alignment with what the industry has assumed. 

In essence, the entire verdict hinges on the violation of one of the fundamental rights of the Indian constitution – Article 19 (1) (g), which guarantees the freedom to practice any profession. The Supreme Court concluded the RBI’s measure violated Article 19 (1) (g) for virtual currency exchanges, and that the prohibition measure was not proportional to the threat. The verdict also concluded the central bank had not substantiated the threat with empirical data or credibly examined alternative measures. 

However, one of the reasons the Supreme Court supported the industry was because there was “no law banning virtual currencies yet,” which implies the verdict would not stand once there is such a law. 

The court also referred to cryptocurrencies as a “by-product” of blockchain technology and said the government could separate the two. This refrain of segregating blockchain and crypto has been the premise behind most federal policy to date. 

In a detailed post-verdict analysis, I go over specific excerpts of the judgment, examine other red flags and discuss immediate possible reactions to the verdict.

The industry has won a hard-fought battle, and we can expect to not see a similar reactive prohibition again. However, the clock is ticking on the response of the legislative branch, which could move soon to enact legislation. The central bank, however, can only move a successful appeal if it amasses credible evidence of a monetary risk from cryptocurrencies.

Positive signals

Outside the realm of financial regulators and legislators there have been many government voices speaking up for a more progressive approach to blockchain in India. 

The federal ministry for IT recently released a Draft National Strategy for Blockchain. This report looked at more advanced applications of blockchain, for example around data monetization, and pushed for building a global developer hub of blockchain talent in India. This report was surprisingly critical of policy actions, stating publicly that “awareness of blockchain within government is very poor” and that “lack of regulatory clarity” is the No. 1 obstacle to investment in the sector. 

Many state-level governments, especially those with a strong IT sector and startup footprints, have been actively trying to build blockchain ecosystems. The state of Karnataka, which is home to India’s equivalent of Silicon Valley, Bangalore, and whose government I had assisted in 2018, was actively looking to build pilots. It even conducted one of India’s largest blockchain hackathons with challenges built from within government departments with a plan to move promising ideas into execution. All activity froze in the aftermath of the RBI’s circular, and the state reached out to the federal government. 

Over the last two years, I have also worked with other leading states, all of which are in dialogue with the federal government for regulation to boost growth in blockchain. 

The state of Telangana, home to Hyderabad, has designated an entire area as its “blockchain district,” with infrastructure geared for blockchain startups. Another state, Tamil Nadu, has announced an ambitious blockchain backbone on e-governance, which could be one of the largest projects in the world, covering 10 million citizens. All these states are engaged in dialogue on regulation with the federal government through internal channels. 

In conclusion, clouds still linger over the future of crypto in the aftermath of the Supreme Court verdict. However, true to the size and democratic structure of India, a complex push and pull is underway between different levels of policymakers in the country, with opinions on both sides of the fence. 

Disclosure Read More

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

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Your Coronavirus Face Mask Fails at Protecting You, Warns Top Doctor

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  • N95 masks do not protect people from coronavirus particles.
  • Surgical masks are not effective at all in preventing the penetration of airborne particles.
  • Doctors say people have to stop hoarding them to ensure medical centers do not run out of supply.

People are hoarding surgical and N95 masks all across the world, causing a shortage for nurses, doctors, and employees at medical centers. Yet, according to a highly-regarded doctor, N95 masks do not protect individuals from coronavirus infection.

Coronavirus particles too small even for N95 masks

According to Jeffrey Swisher, chairman of California Pacific Medical Center’s department of anesthesiology, the viral particles in coronavirus (COVID-19) are simply too small to be detected by N95 masks.

He said:

This mask issue is really a problem. Again, you do not protect yourself against COVID-19 by wearing a mask! The viral particles are too small and the filtration ability of surgical masks is insufficient. Even N-95 masks fail to protect you.

In regions like Italy, South Korea, and Japan where the coronavirus outbreak is starting to expand rapidly, the shortage of masks has led to heightened prices of more than 10 times.

Authorities of various countries that have confirmed local coronavirus epidemics have begun to strictly regulate hoarding of masks, especially by distributors that are not selling the masks in purpose for higher profits.

Swisher noted that N95 masks are effective when used by medical center workers when dealing with patients in a closed environment.

As previously reported by CCN.com, due to the highly contagious nature of coronavirus and its reproductive infection rate (R0) of 12, masks are not enough to prevent coronavirus particles from penetrating into the human body.

Although both surgical and N95 masks are not especially effective in preventing the coronavirus outbreak, and people are still choosing to hoard it, it causes a big problem for hospitals.

The doctor added:

But it is a problem when we run out of masks in the hospital cause people are hoarding them! Surgical masks protect you as a patient in the operating room from bacterial contamination. Stop buying and hoarding them!

In South Korea, where the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases have surpassed 3,000, all types of equipment including medical gowns have started to run out.

Surgical masks do not even filter airborne particles

As said by highly-regarded neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta, surgical masks do not even filter airborne particles.

Differences between N95 and surgical masks in combating airborne diseases like coronavirus (source: Sanjay Gupta Twitter)

While N95 masks can filter out 95 percent of airborne particles including viral virus particles, surgical masks do not provide a reliable level of protection.

He explained:

[Surgical masks] do not provide the wearer with a reliable level of protection from inhaling smaller airborne particles and is not considered respiratory protection.

Wearing surgical masks could certainly be better than not wearing any at all, but is it not a reason to hoard them to prevent medical centers from having enough supply to help patients and nurses who actually need them, doctors have said.

This article was edited by Samburaj Das.



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US Develops Cryptocurrency Intelligence Program Targeting P2P Sites, Forums, Darknet Markets

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US Develops Cryptocurrency Intelligence Program Targeting P2P Sites, Forums, Darknet Markets

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has revealed a cryptocurrency intelligence program aimed at identifying unlicensed crypto businesses using P2P sites, online forums, and darknet markets. These areas have consistently presented “a significant challenge to law enforcement” and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

Also read: Regulatory Roundup — Trump’s Cryptocurrency Proposals, IRS Changes Rule, China Quarantines Cash

Cryptocurrency Intelligence Program

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released its budget overview for the fiscal year 2021 last week. The department has several programs that monitor crypto activities, including the Bulk Cash Smuggling Center (BCSC), which provides operational support in the enforcement and prohibition of bulk cash smuggling or transfer of illicit proceeds.

In the budget document, the DHS revealed that the BCSC has developed Cryptocurrency Intelligence Program (CIP), elaborating:

[CIP] identifies unlicensed money services businesses in the form of independent cryptocurrency brokers’ use of peer-to-peer (P2P) sites, online forums and classified advertisements, and darknet markets (DNM) to engage in unlicensed money services businesses (MSB) activity.

According to the DHS, “A large portion of these unlicensed MSBs are engaged in laundering narcotics proceeds, including opioid trafficking.”

US Develops Cryptocurrency Intelligence Program Targeting P2P Sites, Forums, Darknet Markets

‘Significant Challenge’ From P2P Platforms and Darknet Markets

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, under the DHS, has raised concerns over P2P platforms several times over the years. It noted that unlicensed P2P activities have continually presented “a significant challenge to law enforcement.” According to ICE, “Bitcoin and other virtual currencies are the preferred payment method in darknet markets. It is common for unlicensed P2P exchangers to obtain their bitcoin from selling illicit goods and services on darknet markets.” Noting that the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), an investigative arm of the DHS, targets illicit P2P exchangers for money laundering and money services business violations, ICE asserted:

The biggest problem darknet market vendors face is converting virtual currency into traditional fiat currency. To avoid reporting requirements, illicit vendors turn to P2P exchangers or become P2P exchangers themselves in order to liquidate their virtual currency.

US Develops Cryptocurrency Intelligence Program Targeting P2P Sites, Forums, Darknet Markets

Currency exchangers, including cryptocurrencies, are considered money transmitters and are required to register and comply with federal anti-money laundering regulations. Under federal law, they must register with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) as a money services business. FinCEN confirmed in a May report last year that it and law enforcement had “observed unregistered entities being exploited or wittingly allowing their platforms to be utilized by criminals in the U.S. and abroad to further illicit activity, including through darknet marketplaces, P2P exchanges, foreign-located MSBs, and CVC [convertible virtual currencies] kiosks.”

ICE explained that the current U.S. regulatory framework for money transmission activities does not cover the full range of crypto activities that could be exploited for illicit purposes. Nonetheless, U.S. authorities have charged some people and businesses for unauthorized crypto activities on P2P platforms and darknet markets. On Aug. 23, 2019, Kunai Kalra pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business where he exchanged up to $25 million in cash and cryptocurrencies for customers, including darknet drug dealers and other criminals, some of whom used his bitcoin ATM kiosk, FinCEN detailed. This was the first federal criminal case charging an operator of a digital asset kiosk with unlicensed money transmission. On April 18, FinCEN assessed a $35,350 civil money penalty against Eric Powers for willfully violating its rules and requirements during his operations as a cryptocurrency P2P exchange service provider. On Feb. 13 this year, the Department of Justice announced that an Ohio resident had been charged with operating a darknet-based bitcoin mixer which laundered over $300 million.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence believes that “a global cryptocurrency or a national digital currency could undermine the U.S. dollar.” It is now looking for researchers to evaluate this threat and the impact of the U.S. dollar losing its status as the world’s reserve currency.

What do you think of the Department of Homeland Security’s cryptocurrency intelligence program? Let us know in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.


Images courtesy of Shutterstock.


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anti-money laundering, Bitcoin, BTC, crypto assets, Cryptocurrency, cryptocurrency intelligence program, CVC, Darknet Markets, DHS, Digital Currency, DNM, fincen, ICE, illicit use, License, money services business, money transmitter, MSB, online forums, p2p, Regulation, unregistered, US government, Virtual Currency
Kevin Helms

A student of Austrian Economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open-source systems, network effects and the intersection between economics and cryptography.







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BitGo Acquires Harbor in Surprise Expansion Beyond Crypto Custody

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BitGo is expanding beyond crypto custody with the takeover of a onetime poster child of the adjacent market for digital securities.

Harbor’s subsidiaries, which include a broker-dealer regulated by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and a transfer agent supervised by the Securities and Exchange Commission, are included in the acquisition, the companies said. The move allows BitGo to expand its services from custody, becoming what CEO Mike Belshe said is the first “full-stack” service provider in the digital securities space. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition essentially allows BitGo to recreate all parts of the traditional financial system, Belshe said, noting that BitGo itself is a licensed custodian through the South Dakota Division of Banking.

“As we build the market infrastructure for crypto there’s a lot of pieces to put together. At the end of the day the existing market has this huge advantage in having built up its structure over decades and we’re trying to replicate that in a short period of time,” Belshe said. 

The acquisition marks the first time a single entity in the cryptocurrency space holds broker-dealer, transfer agent and a qualified custodian licenses, Belshe said (FINRA and the SEC must approve the broker-dealer and transfer agent transfers to BitGo, a process Belshe said is already underway).

Qualified custodians can store securities on behalf of clients, including institutions; broker-dealers can trade these securities for themselves or for clients; and transfer agents act as intermediaries who help record transactions, among other duties.

While Belshe did not say how much the company holds in assets under management, he said BitGo conducts some $15 billion in transactions each month, including through its international clients.

The firm will add Harbor’s products and services under the acquisition, though an exact roadmap has not yet been finalized.

The sale marks a turning point for Harbor, which originally set out to help other companies issue security tokens before later focusing on facilitating the tokenization of existing securities. In September 2019, the firm created ethereum tokens representing shares of four different real estate funds, totaling some $100 million.

“One piece that we’ve been missing is custody. We’ve had a partnership with BitGo and so when you’re under the same roof things become possible, you make things more integrated than you could before, we’re exploring that now with BitGo, we’re trying to figure out what exactly the roadmap looks like,” said Josh Stein, Harbor’s CEO. 

While Stein is also joining BitGo, his exact role has not yet been defined.

BitGo plans to expand the number of assets it supports, particularly with security tokens, but Belshe said he could not specify which tokens this might include, citing regulatory ambiguity.

“We’re significantly decreasing the barrier to entry by pulling all of these things together,” Belshe said. “This gives us full capabilities around issuing and trading and transferring of security tokens.”

Disclosure Read More

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

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Mysterious Egg Tweet Sends No Man’s Sky Buffs on a Wild Goose Chase

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  • No Man’s Sky creator Sean Murray tweeted an emoji egg earlier this week.
  • Players are speculating that he is hinting at a new feature or even an Easter update.
  • Data mining of the game’s code suggests there’s more to it than meets the eye.

The No Man’s Sky community has been busy mining code and concocting theories about what Hello Games is planning next. All because of an egg.

Sean Murray Tweets an Egg

It all started on Monday when Hello Games’ founder, Sean Murray, authored a tweet consisting of nothing more than an egg emoji.

Under normal circumstances, this would be insignificant, but we’re talking about Sean Murray here.

Source: Twitter

The No Man’s Sky creator isn’t what you’d call a prolific Twitter user, having learned the hard way that anything said on social media can come back to haunt you.

No Man’s Sky’s disastrous 2016 launch saw Murray scale back his activity and adopt a conservative approach, only sharing news and updates when Hello Games had solidly implemented these into the game. A cautious approach, you’d say, but one imposed by a gaming community irked by perceived broken promises and death threats over butterflies.

Nowadays, he’s a little more relaxed, predominantly tweeting out updates and the occasional No Man’s Sky community creations. The success of the Next and Beyond updates has reversed much of the discontent leveled at both Hello Games and No Man’s Sky.

Is this just a wild goose chase? Or something more? | Source: Hello Games

Once in awhile, his tweets carry a veiled meaning that the community is more than happy to deconstruct. Part of this stems from successive No Man’s Sky Alternate Reality Games in the leadup to massive updates. These saw players solve complex puzzles, seek clues in real-world locations, and generally find meaning in the seemingly ordinary.

Murray has a history of tweeting random emojis that predate updates. On the eve of the Visions update’s launch in November 2018, he posted a similarly cryptic rainbow emoji. Soon afterward, Hello Games revealed it was incorporating rainbows into the game.

Source: Twitter

Void Egg

Alongside the egg tweet, an image of a rather more elaborate alien egg hit the No Man’s Sky Facebook page on Monday.

The post reads:

A mysterious egg has been sighted in the Anomaly. Origin and genus unknown…

Source: No Man’s Sky/Facebook

Players unearthed the very same image alongside another when data mining the files from the latest 2.26 update released in January. Hello Games labeled them as SPECIAL.MYSTERYEGG and SPECIAL.STORYEGG, respectively.

Since last week’s 2.27 update, an in-game item with the same image features as a Quicksilver reward available from the space anomaly.

Called “Void Egg,” it’s in the process of being unlocked, languishing at 22% based on the latest reports from the community. As it stands, it has no discernible function.

“Void Egg” has no discernable function. | Source: No Man’s Sky

With all this in mind, this egg means something, but what exactly? That’s a mystery.

The No Man’s Sky Community Gets To Work

Not content with idly sitting by, the No Man’s Sky community is hard at work concocting theories about the egg. Some predict an update for Easter in keeping with the egg theme.

A Development Update blog post from January appears to corroborate this. Hello Games promised:

another, more substantial update arriving in the not-too-distant future.

Others wager that No Man’s Sky is on the cusp of introducing pets hatched from the eggs or possibly a new decorative base item.

Yet, reports of a mysterious new questline offer a tantalizing suggestion that Hello Games will be injecting the game with something more substantial.

Hello Games may be teasing something far more substantial than you think. | Source: Reddit

The reports surfaced nearly two weeks ago, well before Hello Games’ egg-themed social media activity. A previously unheard of quest dubbed “Melody of the Egg” is randomly triggering for a handful of players.

Reddit user u/wellthatwaslame describes it as follows:

The mission itself seems to be called The Melody of the Egg, and as far as I can tell it’s a series of ten random transmissions that you receive also randomly after you warp to a system with a dead world for the first time. I’ve gotten two transmissions so far.

Unable to trigger the quest with any degree of consistency, players looked to the source code for clues. They’ve found the quest files in an entry called NMS_UPDATE3_ENGLISH, added to the game with update 2.26.

Each transmission consists of a number and name alongside the occasional bit of cryptic law:

Players mined the source code for clues about the “Melody of the Egg.” | Source: DevilinPixy/Atlas 65 Forum

Glyphs and Portals

From there, players noticed that the names were cryptic descriptions of portal glyphs. No Man’s Sky glyphs allow travel to a specific point in a galaxy when input into a portal in a particular sequence.

The names were cryptic descriptions of portal glyphs. | Source: Polyphemus/Atlas 65 Forum

After trial and error, the glyph sequence led to the abandoned Runanch-Gisa system in No Man’s Sky’s starting – and most populated – galaxy, Euclid.

Interestingly, a certain HelloGamesP discovered one of the planets in the system called Erptrith Raya on Jan. 20. Based on this, the community is reasonably sure they’ve found the right place.

This is where the treasure hunt led No Man’s Sky sleuths. | Source: dersvr/Atlas 65 Forum

Following the lore instructions mined from the source code, players visited the north pole of the planet, but nothing happened.

Further mining established that a certain number of conditions were required to trigger an event when inputting the glyphs at a portal. There’s speculation that the egg may be the key and one of the prime conditions.

The search has hit a roadblock. With the egg still in a state of unlocking, there’s not much else players can do but wait.

A New Story Update?

While the egg may be nothing than a new cosmetic item, there’s a sense among the community that there’s more to it. Maybe Hello Games intended for players to go searching through game files as part of an ARG-like path to a new update?

Recent changes to No Man’s Sky’s Atlas Path narrative arc add new lore elements that suggest the story may be moving forward.

Changes to No Man’s Sky’s Atlas Path narrative arc add new lore elements. | Source: Atlas 65 Forums

No Man’s Sky lore is one of cyclical simulations, entities, anomalies, and intertwined galaxies. It’s great stuff that compliments a meditative gaming loop.

Yet, apart from a substantial overhaul in August 2017’s Atlas Rises update, little has changed in the intervening years. Successive updates have brought new activities, cosmetics, multiplayer, and a host of quality of life achievements, but haven’t propelled the game’s narrative forward.

The timing seems right. After revamping virtually every other aspect of the game, Hello Games’ alien egg may be hiding a significant story update.

This article was edited by Josiah Wilmoth.



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Not Just Ebay, NYSE Owner Intercontinental Exchange Pushes Bakkt to Retail With Latest Acquisition

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Not Just Ebay, NYSE Owner Intercontinental Exchange Pushes Bakkt to Retail With Latest Acquisition

The owner of the New York Stock Exchange, Intercontinental Exchange, stunned many on Wall Street recently with a reported takeover bid for e-commerce marketplace Ebay. Now the group is aggressively trying to push its regulated bitcoin derivatives exchange Bakkt into the retail space with its latest acquisition of a loyalty solutions provider.

Also Read: Bakkt Launches Bitcoin Options in US, Futures in Asia

Bakkt to Acquire Loyalty Points Wallet Provider

Bakkt, the digital assets subsidiary of the parent of the New York Stock Exchange ,  Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE), has so far focused on providing institutional investors with regulated crypto derivatives instruments such as bitcoin futures and options. Now it’s heading into the retail market. On Wednesday ICE has announced that it has agreed to acquire Bridge2 Solutions, a provider of loyalty solutions, and that following the completion of this transaction, Bakkt will acquire Bridge2 Solutions in turn from its parent company.

The second phase purchase will be made using proceeds from a Series B round of funding which is expected to close later this quarter. The financial details of the deal have not been disclosed publicly as of yet. When Bridge2 Solutions ultimately joins Bakkt, the company hopes the strategic combination will accelerate the development of its consumer app, which will provide digital asset aggregation, conversion and payments through a single platform.

According to its website, Bridge2 Solutions works with some of the world’s leading brands and powers programs for seven of the top 10 financial institutions. It operates 4,500 loyalty, incentive and employee perk programs for companies across a wide spectrum of industries. The company’s Loyalty Pay solution gives consumers the ability to pay with reward points both at the point of sale (PoS) in retail stores and in-app through digital wallets. Integrating with Bakkt may allow its retail partners to offer loyalty programs based on cryptocurrencies or tokens too.

Not Just Ebay, NYSE Owner Intercontinental Exchange Pushes Bakkt to Retail With Latest Acquisition

“With the launch of the Bakkt app, we will, for the first time, offer consumers a robust platform to consolidate and use all of their digital assets, from crypto to loyalty points to in game tokens, in one user-friendly wallet,” said Mike Blandina, CEO of Bakkt. “Combining Bridge2 Solutions’ embedded relationships with banks and merchants and their innovative Loyalty Pay solution will enable us to launch new products that further drive loyalty and empower consumers to trade, transfer and spend digital assets in entirely new ways.”

ICE Pushes Into Retail With Ebay and Bridge2

Intercontinental Exchange owns and operates about a dozen regulated equity exchanges and marketplaces around the world such as the New York Stock Exchange. That’s why it surprised many on Wall Street when it was reported a couple of days ago that the finance giant has made a bid to take over e-commerce marketplace Ebay (NASDAQ: EBAY). On Tuesday ICE denied the media reports with a statement that it “approached Ebay to explore a range of potential opportunities that might create value for the shareholders of both companies. Ebay has not engaged in a meaningful way. We are not in negotiations regarding the sale of all or part of Ebay.”

Regarding the latest Bakkt acquisition deal, it might be able to frame the move as a new focus on retail consumers, especially young people that are more used to shopping online than investing in equities.

Hinting at the reasoning behind the Bridge2 Solutions deal, ICE noted that the global ecosystem for digital assets represents over $1.2 trillion in value and includes digital rewards, loyalty points, in-game virtual assets, merchant stored value, gift cards and cryptocurrencies. “Millennial consumers, in particular, embrace this form of value,” ICE stated. “Whether they are monetizing loyalty points from a favorite airline or trading skins for a video game, the Bakkt app will enable consumers to unlock much of that value, allowing them to trade and spend their digital assets freely, as they would any other currency.”

Not Just Ebay, NYSE Owner Intercontinental Exchange Pushes Bakkt to Retail With Latest Acquisition

“Bakkt was created to help bring transparency and trust to the previously unregulated digital asset markets,” said Jeffrey Sprecher, CEO of ICE. “With the launch of the Bakkt Warehouse and Bakkt futures and options markets, the company has achieved quick success with its custody and trading offering. Bakkt’s second round of funding, and its acquisition of Bridge2 Solutions, will help accelerate the development of Bakkt’s consumer application, which has been a key part of our strategy since we first looked at this market.”

What do you think about ICE pushing Bakkt into the retail digital wallet space with this acquisition? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.


Images courtesy of Shutterstock.


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Avi Mizrahi

Avi Mizrahi is an economist and entrepreneur who has been covering Bitcoin as a journalist since 2013. He has spoken about the promise of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology at numerous financial conferences around the world, from London to Hong-Kong.



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Listen to Elon Musk’s Latest EDM Beats on the CoinDesk Crypto Roundup

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We’ve got the “hawt” new single from Tesla CEO Elon Musk and, as bitcoin ends its best January ever, traders eye a price move above the psychological level of $10,000.

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The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

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Crypto Experts Join OECD ‘High Level’ Advisory Board

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Crypto Experts Join OECD 'High Level' Advisory Board

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, an intergovernmental body with 36 member countries, has formed “a high-level expert group” which includes executives from the crypto industry. They will provide advice in helping develop international blockchain policy principles.

Also read: Regulatory Roundup: EU-Wide Crypto Regulations, New Rules in Europe, US, Asia

‘High-Level Expert Group’ Formed

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) announced this week that it has formed “a high-level expert group,” also known as the Blockchain Expert Policy Advisory Board (BEPAB). The organization described that the group’s primary goal is “to provide advice on its work on blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies; this will include the development of high-level blockchain policy principles.”

The intergovernmental organization currently has 36 member countries, with the European Commission participating in its work. Members engage with OECD experts and delegations from other countries; they are part of the council that oversees the organization’s work.

Crypto Experts Join OECD 'High Level' Advisory Board

Yoichi Iida is the deputy director-general for G7/G20 relationship of the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. The incoming chairman of the OECD’s Committee on Digital Economy Policy (CDEP) explained:

The BEPAB’s geographic diversity is critical to the development of international blockchain policy principles.

According to the announcement, this high-level expert group consists of 45 governments and representatives from the European Commission, the private sector, industry bodies, and civil society groups. The current list of members shows that there are 93 experts on the board in total.

Among members of the expert group from the crypto and blockchain sector are executives from the Libra Association, Facebook’s Calibra, Aidtech, Bitfury, BITT, Blockchangers, Block.one, Consensys, Everledger, Etoro, Infrachain, Iobuilders, Maker Foundation, Outlier Ventures, R3, Ripple, and SALT.

Other members include officials from the European Parliament and government agencies of various countries, including the U.S., Egypt, Japan, Germany, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, and the U.K. Representatives from a number of central banks, blockchain associations, academic institutions, and industry bodies are also members.

Crypto Experts Join OECD 'High Level' Advisory Board

OECD’s Blockchain Work

The OECD has acted as a strategic advisor to the G20 and has been working closely with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on national growth strategies and other policies. The organization has been developing blockchain policies over the past six years. Its work “includes research and analysis on financial consumer protection and financial education issues raised by ‘crypto-assets,’ the potential for the technology to support due diligence requirements in global supply chains, improving corporate governance mechanisms such as proxy voting, and the use of blockchain as a digital enabler of sustainable infrastructure,” its website describes.

The formation of the expert group follows the establishment of the OECD Blockchain Policy Centre in 2018. The center provides resources for policymakers and supports blockchain work by the organization’s Committee on Financial Markets (CMF) and Committee on Digital Economy Policy. Among other initiatives, the OECD also hosts Global Blockchain Policy Forums. The third one will take place in Paris from Sept. 30 to Oct. 1. Last year’s forum attracted 1,600 participants and 200 speakers.

Aerdt Houben, Director of Financial Markets at De Nederlandsche Bank and Chair of the CMF, commented:

We are engaging with a diverse group of experts and innovators in developing principles to guide governments and industry in pursuit of viable blockchain innovation and adoption.

The OECD has published a number of crypto and blockchain-related reports such as one released on Friday entitled “The Tokenisation of Assets and Potential Implications for Financial Markets.”

What do you think of the OECD forming an expert group with representatives from crypto and blockchain companies? Let us know in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.


Images courtesy of Shutterstock and the OECD.


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Bitcoin, bitt, Blockchain, Central Banks, companies, crypto assets, Crypto Experts, Cryptocurrency, Digital Currency, Government, members, OECD, Virtual Currency
Kevin Helms

A student of Austrian Economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open-source systems, network effects and the intersection between economics and cryptography.







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