BTC.com News Digest

10th of December 2018: Crypto exchange Gemini supports Bitcoin Cash, South Korean regulators to discuss the future of crypto regulations, More ICO regulations are coming in Malaysia, Honest.cash the new uncensorable social media platform, Ethereum’s Hard Fork is planned for January 14th and more.

Staying up to date with all the latest crypto news can be overwhelming. Just sit back with a cup of coffee, we’re here to digest some of the top crypto news of the week for you.

Crypto exchange Gemini has announced that it now supports trading and custody activities for Bitcoin Cash (BCH), effective this weekend, with full trading slated to begin on Monday. […] In the announcement, Gemini specified that its Bitcoin Cash support is limited to BCH ABC under the BCH ticker. As a result, all BCH withdrawals from Gemini will only be valid on the ABC blockchain, and any funds sent to the platform over the Bitcoin SV blockchain will be invalid and irrecoverable.

The Indian government panel appointed to recommend cryptocurrency measures has reportedly submitted its report to the country’s finance minister, suggesting a new legal framework for cryptocurrencies. The actual content of the report has yet to be announced publicly. Industry participants weigh in on speculation about the report’s content.

On December 10, South Korea’s National Assembly along with several members of the Congress are set to hold the country’s first official debate around crypto involving high profile government officials. On the agenda: Transparency and Efficiency of Crypto Exchanges, Establishing the Importance of Crypto Exchanges and Establishing the Importance of Practical Regulatory Frameworks.

Malaysia’s securities regulator and central bank are to strengthen their scrutiny of initial coin offerings (ICOs) through new rules meant to eliminate issues of unfair trade practices and alleged risk of money laundering and terrorism financing. The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) said they will also tighten regulation in the trade of cryptocurrencies to boost investor security.

The city of Zug, home of the Swiss Crypto Valley, has been named the fastest growing technology community in Europe. According to the report, Zug recorded a 177 percent increase in the number of tech meetups in 2018, compared to last year. The city’s crypto activity has been warmly supported by the Swiss government, which is fine-tuning its legislation and policies to improve financial innovation, with particular emphasis on virtual currencies.

Since the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) network hard fork a few weeks ago, a new social media platform called Honest Cash was launched for BCH proponents. Similar to blogging platforms like Medium or Steemit, the Honest Cash application gives registered users the ability to create a unique profile tethered to a BCH wallet and post written content in short or long form. Initially registered users could only post written text, but since then, Barwicki has added the ability to upload photos and videos as well. This means the Honest Cash community of users can reward good content by tipping not just writers, but vloggers, graphic artists, reporters, and more with Bitcoin Cash.

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the country’s central bank, highlighted the illegality of Security Token Offerings (STOs) in the country. [… ] In addition, the chief of the Bureau of Financial Work, Huo Xuewen, warned against STOs about a week ago: “I want to warn those who are promoting STO fundraising in Beijing. Don’t do it in Beijing. You will be kicked out if you do it.”

Constantinople’s Hard Fork is a much anticipated moment, soon to arrive despite a few hiccups along the way. This decision took place during Ethereum’s recent bi-weekly Dev Core Meeting, last held on December 6th. Cointelegraph’s Halen Partz writes that “The upcoming Constantinople hard fork encompasses five separate Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) in order to soften the transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to more energy efficient proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus algorithm.” A Blockchain analytics platform and explorer for Ethereum named, Ethscan was used to determine the date for Constantinople’s Hard Fork to be January 14, 2018.

KFC in Venezuela is accepting payments using the cryptocurrency Dash starting this week, joining a growing list of fast-food chains that accept crypto in Venezuela, including Subway and the Papa John’s pizza chain. KFC will initially roll out the program at its store in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas before expanding to 24 other locations across the nation.

Sources: Bitcoin.com, CCN.com, Toshitimes.com, Cointelegraph.com