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Big news this week: Biden nominates MIT blockchain professor as SEC Chairman, how the US Navy, the Texas Government, a Chinese hospital and Frankfurt Airport are using blockchain, how funds hide their purchases and 20% of all bitcoin is lost.

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Frankfurt Airport using blockchain to track COVID-19

Frankfurt Airport is using the Iota blockchain to track COVID-19 test results. German based Ubirch, a blockchain-based cybersecurity technology provider developed the IT infrastructure for a solution it calls the "Digital Corona Test Certificate' to verify an individual's status while remaining compliant with European GDPR data protection standards. Ubrich says it 'anchors an anonymous digital fingerprint in a blockchain. This way, an individual's certified SARS-CoV-2 status can easily be verified by the airline at the departure gate, the arrival airport, or any other entry point by scanning a QR Code. Important to know is that at no point during the process are person-specific user data or test results visible in the blockchain.' (Cointelegraph)

Blockchain to verify Texas state records 

Enterprise content service provider Hyland has partnered with DLT network Hedera to develop blockchain technology that verifies government-issued records. A proof of concept (PoC) of the initiative will issue electronic Apostilles, internationally recognised government authenticated documents and has been presented to the Texas Secretary of State and has been instigated by the Texas Blockchain Council, a trade association. Hedera is being used as a more efficient alternative to Ethereum given Ethereum’s current high transactions costs. (Ledger Insights) 

Blockchain app to prove authenticity and origin of photos

Fake news is real. 73% of Americans surveyed had little or no trust in tech companies to keep their platforms from being misused. A new open-source framework for data integrity has been launched using blockchain to protect the veracity of online content, creating “birth certificates” for photos and videos and tracking any changes made to them. Taiwan-based startup Numbers Protocol has blockchain camera, Capture App, available for download in the App Store and Google Play for people who want to prove that they created images that are being shared online. The app certifies and seals the metadata of photos at the time they're taken on blockchain, allowing users to adjust privacy settings such as not sharing their precise location. Any changes to the photo, including ones made with editing software can be traced and recorded. “If content is captured on a camera app and then copied to a content platform, it’s already very difficult to verify its origin. If I take a photo from Facebook and register it on the blockchain, it means nothing. It’s very different if I take a photo with Capture App and immediately create a registration on the blockchain” said it's founder Yang. (TechCrunch) 

US Navy blockchain for tracking critical weaponry

The U.S. Office of Navy Research has awarded a $1.5 million contract to blockchain firm SIMBA Chain for a blockchain based demand-sensing system to help ensure the supply for "critical" military weaponry parts. The solution will be built for the Defense Logistics Agency, the combat support agency in the U.S. Department of Defense, aimed at reducing disruption issues and threats to engineering and maintenance operations. “Blockchain is well suited to solve complex supply chain pain points as it enables a decentralized mechanism for the recording of non-repudiable transactions, making data both immutable and auditable, and lastly, tamper-proof once written," said SIMBA Chain CEO Joel Neidig. (Coindesk) 

Chinese hospital issues electronic bills on blockchain

A hospital in China is now issuing and keeping track of invoices on a blockchain and sent the first electronic bill to a patient on its blockchain-based invoice management platform on Monday. Patients receive blockchain based tickets to their phones, and can check their medical and billing records for reimbursement without going to the hospital. The southern Chinese province has preferential economic policies to encourage blockchain companies to open and as such is home to some of the leading Chinese blockchain companies. (Coindesk) 

Biden nominates MIT blockchain professor as SEC Chair

Biden is to name former MIT Sloan School of Management crypto and blockchain professor as the new Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Gensler is a well-known figure in the industry, and it is thought that he could aim for “tougher regulations,” raising concerns among Wall Street firms. Gensler has previously spoken against Ripple and will be leading the regulator’s fight against Ripple Inc. (Bitcoin .com) Read More

Bank executes first Shariah compliant Blockchain Transaction

Bangladeshi bank City bank has executed the first blockchain transaction based on Sharia laws in a partnership with the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC). The transaction was executed by Contour, a network build by R3’s Corda. (Finance Magnates) Read More

UK Treasury to regulate stablecoins but not cryptoassets

The government has published a 46-page consultation document inviting response on potential regulatory approaches for crypto assets and stablecoins. It’s planning a relatively light-touch approach for cryptoassets, leaving Bitcoin, other speculative tokens, and utility tokens outside the �?perimeter’ requiring authorisation. In contrast, the government wants to regulate stablecoins but likely not algorithmic stablecoins not backed by assets.

(Ledger Insights)

Billions were stolen in 122 hacks on crypto last year

There were 122 attacks in 2020 with a total loss that would be worth $3.8 billion at today's crypto values. 

Hacks targeted three major areas with wallets being the most lucrative with $3 billion in losses based on current values at an average of $112 million per wallet hacking event compared to about $10 million per attack on Ethereum apps or exchanges.

Hacks mostly targeted:

• 47 attacks on decentralized apps running on Ethereum (current value $437 million) 
• 28 attacks on cryptocurrency exchanges (current value $300 million in losses)
• 27 attacks on wallets (ZDNet)

Fund tokenises whiskey barrels into crypto assets

A California digital asset specialist fund has bet millions buying 2,500 barrels of Kentucky whiskey and turning them into tokenised crypto assets, betting that the barrels will increase in value by 3-5x over the course of five years through the whiskey's ageing process. 'Wave Financial’s Kentucky Whiskey 2020 Digital Fund is both a straightforward, $2.5 million investment into an alternative asset as well as a novel experiment in the burgeoning crypto asset space'. After a one year lockup, the fund will issue digital “tokens” representing shares in the fund, which investors will be able to trade on a cryptocurrency exchange while the barrels are being held in storage. (MarketWatch)

Online metaverse launches in-game tokenised currency

Online metaverse and social networking site IMVU has launched an in-game tokenised digital currency. A user doesn't need a crypto wallet to use VCOIN inside the IMVU experience. “While most virtual platforms allow users to earn in-game credits, those credits cannot be converted into anything that holds value outside of that platform or game” whereas “VCOIN is a game-changer enabling comprehensive and dynamic virtual economies where users can easily convert their earnings into fiat or transfer them off platform” said John Burris, its Chief Strategy Officer. VCOIN allows its users to convert their earnings into value that they can use off the platform, both in peer-to-peer transactions and into fiat. The currency is an Ethereum ERC-20 token and is only the third crypto company to receive a no action letter from the SEC, meaning it has to comply with numerous requirements such as not listing its VCOIN token on an exchange, but doesn't classify it as a security and means that users don't need KYC if they use the token within the platform. (Ledger Insights)

How institutions are hiding their large Bitcoin orders

Institutional investors and speculators trading large quantities are hiding the real sizes of their trades by repeatedly making many smaller purchases, often it seems with the quiet help of many major exchanges – to avoid showing the market their moves to prevent exposing their intent to the market to prevent market moves whilst they are buying. A large institutional-sized order would show its position to the market, causing prices to move against it whereas multiple small orders fools the market into thinking there is not much interest at lower price levels when in fact there is. (Coindesk)

EOS Drops 30% in 18 Hours after Dan Larimer Leaves 

Daniel Larimer, the founder of EOS blockchain has left his CTO role saying that he is increasingly interested in “censorship-resistant technologies”. This follows news that Trump has been banned from social media sites including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube amongst others due to the possibility of his actions inciting further violence. “It’s time to abandon Twitter,” Larimer wrote in a Tweet on Saturday. His departure caused the token which raised $4 billion in a year long ICO and which many have accused of being inflated and lacking use cases, to drop 30% in 18 hours. (Finance Magnates)

Drug dealers' Bitcoin stash laundered in old fishing boat and squid permit

Darknet drug dealers have been accused of hiding a Bitcoin stash that's now worth $16 million and money laundering some of the bitcoin they cashed out by buying an 1974 Triumph fishing boat and a California squid permit to conceal their crime, say US attorneys. The boat and squid permit, and their remaining bitcoin are now in federal hands. (Business Insider) Read More

Crypto .com Teams Up With Booking .com On Travel Discount Deal

Crypto .com has partnered with travel site Booking .com in a deal that will give up to 25% discounts to users of Crypto .com’s app. Its app users who pay for their travel plans using the Visa Card can also get 8% back on their spending as well as access to “travel perks” in a move placing hope on the travel industry but one that might help attract users to the app since some card issuing delays. (PYMNTS) Read More

Chinese bank tests national digital currency at ATMs

The Agricultural Bank of China has equipped a number of ATMs with the means for customers to deposit and withdraw China's new national digital currency. Other major banks are also testing using the new currency using other technologies including contactless cards and wearable devices. (Finextra) Read More

20% of all Bitcoin at $140 billion is lost

People have lost roughly 20% of the circulating 18.5 million bitcoin, now worth roughly $140 billion  because they forgot their passwords or got locked out of accounts. Wallet Recovery Services, a firm that helps recover lost digital keys now receives 70 requests a day from users trying to access their digital wallets and say this number has gone up three times from a month ago.(Business Insider)  Read More This comes as 👇

Man has 2 password attempts left to unlock $240m of Bitcoin in cold wallet

The former CTO of Ripple has just 2 out of 10 attempts left to access the 7,002 bitcoins he bought at $5 each. He wrote the password on a piece of paper, which he lost years ago. If he makes 2 more wrong attempts, the bitcoin is lost for good. (Finance Magnates) Read More

Man offers city $72M to dig up accidentally discarded Bitcoin fortune

An IT engineer in Wales accidentally threw away a wallet containing 7,500 bitcoin over seven years ago while cleaning his house. It's now worth $290 million and is in a landfill site. In a fresh attempt at getting permission to dig up the site, he has offered 25% worth $72 million to Newport council if the wallet is recovered successfully and still works. (Cointelegraph) Read More