The top daily news from the cryptocurrency and blockchain space:
- Circle chief executive in heated talk on CNBC’s Squawk Box.
- Over $1 billion worth of STOs to hit the Tezos blockchain in major deal.
- Zero-knowledge Ethereum transaction mixer, Heiswap, unveiled.
At the time of writing, bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) are trading at $11,758.1 (+2.6%) and $296.3 (-0.5%), respectively. As for the MVIS CryptoCompare Digital Assets 10 Index, it is currently tracking at 4,608.2 (+1.4%).
Circle CEO in Heated Talk on CNBC’s Squawk Box
Jeremy Allaire, the chief executive of Goldman Sachs-backed cryptocurrency startup Circle appeared on CNBC’s pre-market business news program, Squawk Box, to discuss Facebook’s Libra initiative and the value proposition of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
When pressed by co-panellist Kevin O’Leary on the purpose of cryptocurrencies – a currency type he described as “rogue” – Allaire found it difficult to put two words together without being talked over. And so, post-interview, the Circle chief executive took to Twitter to point out O’Leary’s “incredibly weak and limited understanding of crypto currency [sic], digital assets and blockchain tech [sic];” retweeting a three-minute snippet of the interview shared by Squawk Box’s account.
Bitcoin is a rogue currency, says Mr. Wonderful @kevinolearytv pic.twitter.com/eF860ahg3s
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) July 3, 2019
Over $1 Billion Worth of STOs Coming to Tezos Blockchain
Tezos (XTZ), a multi-purpose blockchain which aims to combine a self-amending protocol and on-chain governance to manage the future changes and implementations to the network, is set to serve as the basis upon which BTG Pactual, the largest standalone investment bank in Latin America, and Dubai-based asset manager Dalma Capital use to launch security token offerings (STOs).
“By utilizing the new platform for digital securities transactions,” the joint press release read, “the financial institutions address a deal pipeline in excess of [one billion dollars] for existing and prospective token issuances – with an outlook to utilize Tezos to tokenize a wide variety of traditional and alternative investments.”
Heiswap: Zero-Knowledge Ethereum Transaction Mixer
Software engineer Kendrick Tan announced a new product he calls Heiswap, an Ethereum transaction mixer that utilizes ring signatures and stealth addresses; allowing users to ‘wash’ their ether (ETH) in a manner that is confidential.
“To ‘wash’ their Ethereum, a user simply deposits a fixed amount of Ethereum into the heiswap smart contract, wait until there are more participants in the pool and then withdraws it from the smart contract.”
Explaining Heiswap – which is live on the Ethereum Ropsten testnet – in a blog post published Wednesday, Tan added he will “probably” continue updating his invention, given it is “a whole month before [his] next job.”
