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China's Center for Information and Industry Development has released its latest rankings of 35 crypto projects that were evaluated over the past two months. While several top positions remain unchanged, Bitcoin has climbed up the overall ranking. New Rankings From China The Center for Information and Industry Development (CCID), under China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, released the 12th update of its crypto project rankings Thursday. The number of projects evaluated was unchanged from the previous rankings published in March. The center also announced that starting this month the rankings will be adjusted every two months instead of monthly. In addition to the overall ranking, the CCID published three others based on basic technology, applicability, and creativity sub-categories. EOS tops the list overall, followed by Tron, and Ethereum. The center started ranking Tron in February, debuting at number two overall and has remained at that position ever since...

As the G20 summit approaches, member countries have been discussing how to implement the standards set by intergovernmental organizations such as the Financial Action Task Force. While there may be some challenges in complying with the standards, the European Central Bank says the risks crypto assets pose to the euro area's financial stability are manageable. The G20 countries have reaffirmed their support for the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as the global standard-setting body in areas such as anti-money laundering. They have also agreed to follow the FATF recommendations including those concerning crypto assets. The FATF held its annual Private Sector Consultative Forum in Austria earlier this month with its members and over 300 representatives from the private sector participating. Members of the FATF are 36 countries and two international organizations including the European Commission. The FATF explained: The discussions focused on the mapping of virtual asset services a...

Dutch authorities arrested a 33-year-old businessperson for allegedly defrauding investors through a crypto mining fraud. According to local reports, Dutch tax authority's investigative department, FIOD, made the arrest. The suspect was a director of two private limited companies, which he allegedly used for money laundering, fraud and forgery activities. The man started his company back in 2017. Through the company, the suspect received money from investors who thought they were buying computers for buying bitcoins. The suspect collected about €2 million ($2.2 million) from the investors. Investors were promised returns of 0.3 Bitcoin Core (BTC) per month (about $2,389 at current prices). Investors became worried when they failed to get the returns or their mining computers. Upon investigations, authorities discovered that the BTC mining machines were probably never even purchased. Initially, police had searched his house in November 2018 and discovered luxury goods such as bags, ...

Every year on May 22, the cryptocurrency community marks this day in 2010 when Laszlo Hanyecz purchased two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins. To help you celebrate Pizza Day, here are a variety of options to buy to pizza with bitcoin cash (BCH) in different countries around the world. How to Buy Pizza With BCH on Bitcoin Pizza Day 2019 One of the simplest ways to pay for pizza with bitcoin cash (BCH) in the U.S. is to get a gift card for you favorite joint on the Bitcoin.com Store. Here you can order cards for use in major national chains such as Domino's and Papa John's as well as smaller regional options. To find a place selling pizza for BCH in Europe you can check out your country's local branch of Takeaway.com. The Amsterdam-headquartered company operates over a dozen international food delivery websites and apps and a number of them accept BCH such as Germany's Lieferando.de, Poland's Pyszne.pl, and the Netherlands' Thuisbezorgd.nl. If you are living or visiting...

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is currently reviewing three bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), one of which was filed last week to track the prices of two cryptocurrencies. An SEC commissioner said at the Consensus conference on Monday that the time is right for a bitcoin ETF, as the commission is due to make a decision on one of them next week. At the Consensus 2019 conference in New York on Monday, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, also known as "crypto mom," discussed the regulatory environment for bitcoin ETFs. Expressing her dissatisfaction with the current law, she asserted that the SEC should do more to provide a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency including rules around safe harbor. Decrypt quoted her as saying: I thought the time was right a year ago — even longer than that … My first chance to comment on it was a year ago … Certainly the time is right, but there are still questions floating around the SEC that need to be answered as much as p...

While there are many countries around the world that are cracking down on cryptocurrency markets or wary about how to embrace and regulate them, there are other companies that are receiving support from the government due to the shifting attitudes on the potential of blockchain technology. Recently, Billon Group was awarded over $2.1 million by the European Union (EU) to develop a blockchain-based document management system. The money comes specifically from the European Commission's SME instrument program, which is part of a larger overall Horizon 2020 program. Horizon 2020 describes itself as the "biggest EU Research and Innovation program" ever. A total of 64 organizations were awarded in this particular phase of the program, including other blockchain-related companies such as Settlemint, a blockchain software company, and KYC (Know-Your-Customer) service AUTHENTEQ. Billon will not only be digitizing paper documents, but encrypting them, as well. The idea is to increa...

Binance suffered a large scale security breach late today, according to a statement. Hackers managed to obtain API keys, two-factor-authentication codes and other information. In addition, 7,000 Bitcoin ($40 million) were withdrawn in a single transaction. The hackers used multiple techniques, including phishing attacks and computer viruses to get at Binance and its hot wallets, where it keeps funds to manage the day-to-day operation of the exchange. The hackers were unable to access the Binance cold storage—the off-line wallets where the majority of funds are kept. Likewise, individual user wallets were not directly affected. CZ Binance✔ @cz_binance  Have to perform some unscheduled server maintenance that will impact deposits and withdrawals for a couple hours.  No need to FUD.  Funds are #safu. Though trading will continue, the $40 million hack means Binance will halt withdrawals and deposits for a week, while performing a security audit. According to the statement: "The hacker...

The FBI, working in conjunction with its European partners, has struck another blow against darknet markets (DNMs). On this occasion, it's a particularly low blow, as news website Deepdotweb has become the latest victim of its interminable war on drugs. On May 7, both its clearnet and darknet domains were seized, and the operators arrested and slapped with money laundering charges. The War on Drugs Becomes the War on Information Not content with waging a war on drugs, law enforcement (LE) have set their sights on media platforms that report on darknet activity. Earlier today, Deepdotweb became inaccessible, its homepage replaced by a seizure notice that's become all too familiar to darknet market users. The shutdown generated shockwaves that have resonated way beyond the darknet community, marking the first time that feds have targeted the press in this manner. Deepdotweb (DDW) was by far the most popular clearnet resource for accessing links to DNMs, following the closure of s...

US entrepreneur turned presidential candidate John McAfee has invited infamous Bitcoin SV supporter Calvin Ayre for a face-to-face meeting following accusations he was a "conman." CRAIG WRIGHT TO MCAFEE: 'I WANT YOU IN COURT' The latest episode in the ongoing drama involving Bitcoin SV proponents, McAfee announced on social media that he was staying meters away from Ayre's Antigua residence. The summons comes after Craig Wright, one of the co-founders of Bitcoin SV who alleges it to be the 'real' Bitcoin, gave an interview to Australian media network Finder. During the debate, which lasted over 90 minutes, Wright accused McAfee of "building a career out of being a conman." "Please sue me, Mr. McAfee," he said, alluding to current mass lawsuit he and Ayre are orchestrating against anyone who disputes claims Wright created Bitcoin. "…I want you in court." While not addressing Wright directly, McAfee took issue with the content o...

On April 25, the Mt. Gox civil rehabilitation trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi published a new announcement concerning the deadline for the rehabilitation plan. According to the letter sent to Mt. Gox creditors, Kobayashi has delayed the proceedings for another six months due to "undetermined" claims. Following the announcement, bitcoin security specialists Wizsec published a scathing critique of the Coinlab claim for US$16 billion and alleged that it was "the elephant in the room causing this delay." Mt. Gox Civil Rehabilitation Proceedings Delayed Another 6 Months The Mt. Gox proceedings have been delayed once again according to the court trustee's latest letter to creditors, which says claimants now have to wait until Oct. 28, 2019. Nobuaki Kobayashi detailed that it is "not possible at this moment to make appropriate provisions in a rehabilitation plan." Moreover, Kobayashi also mentioned the court still has to deal with "undetermined rehabilitation ...

On April 30, the global cryptocurrency payment processing firm Bitpay announced its partnership with the tax-related financial products and services provider Refundo. The collaboration will give U.S. residents the ability to receive all or a portion of their federal and state tax refunds in crypto. Federal and State Tax Refunds Using Blockchain Payments U.S. taxpayers now have the ability to get all or a portion of their federal and state tax refunds back in bitcoin core (BTC), according to the latest announcement from the Atlanta-based company Bitpay. The firm recently partnered with Refundo, a leading tax service provider founded in 2011. Refundo provides taxpayers with professional financial services alongside refunds, advances, and refund transfers. The company says the partnership with Bitpay allows for a transparent and seamless experience during tax season. Refundo believes the underbanked could benefit from a refund experience tied to crypto because it could help bridge the gap...