TL;DR: Welcome to In Case You Missed It (ICYMI), a daily crypto news update. Istanbul Ethereum Fork happening today. New IRS form inquires about cryptocurrency purchases and sales. Bank of International Settlements (BIS) wants central banks to go digital to stay relevant. Coinbase Card introduces DAI as the first stablecoin on the platform. Zcash to keep Founder’s Reward, now named Dev Fund, and Keybase fights spam.



Istanbul Ethereum Fork is Almost Here

The Istanbul hard fork, another Ethereum stepping stone toward Ethereum 2.0, where the cryptocurrency will change its consensus algorithm, will be applied to the network today. While the first part of the upgrade does not bring many improvements to the network more than some minor adjustments and interaction with Zcash, Istanbul’s second iteration, coming the next year, will shift Ethereum to Proof of Stake, and will introduce ProgPow, a new consensus algorithm that hopes to strip mining power from ASICS in favor GPU’s.

IRS Wants to Know Your Crypto History

The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) wants to inquiry if taxpayers have had any contact with cryptocurrencies, according to a new form drafted. The new form asks, “At any time during 2019, did you receive, sell, send, exchange, or otherwise acquire any financial interest in any virtual currency?” The IRS has clearly pointed out they are interested in enforcing taxpayers to report cryptocurrency purchases and sales, even sending letters to potential traders.

BIS Wants Banks to Use Digital Currencies to Stay Relevant

The Bank Of International Settlements is making a call for central banks to embrace the revolution digital currencies are offering in order to maintain relevance. Agustin Carstens, General Manager of the BIS, the central bank to the world’s central banks, suggested central banks must get in the digital payments era to avoid private initiatives like Libra in gaining the upper hand. “We have a responsibility to be at the cutting edge of the debate,” he stated.

Coinbase Card Introduces DAI

Coinbase Card, a cryptocurrency card linked to the US-based exchange, announced they will be supporting DAI purchases as the first stablecoin on the platform. DAI is a stablecoin pegged to the dollar to bring more choices to conservative customers and buyers. DAI will open up new opportunities for buyers to adopt cryptocurrencies without worrying about price volatility, one of the key factors hampering cryptocurrency adoption.

Zcash Community Decides to Keep Founder’s Reward

#Zcash Community members have spoken, and they are in favor of continuing to fund Zcash development. Read our summary of the polling and collective next steps.https://t.co/TaJeS40HJB#ZcashDevFund $ZEC — Electric Coin Company (@ElectricCoinCo) December 5, 2019

The members of the Zcash community voted to keep the Founders’ Reward in the currency, a rule that gives founders 20% of the future issuance of Zcash. However, the distribution of those funds is still to be determined, and the Electric Coin Company is calling the 20% “a development fund,” but the ultimate allocations are still unknown. The Zcash Foundation and the Electric Con company will have to decide which proposal is better.

Keybase Messaging App Fighting Spam Created by Airdropees

Keybase, the secure messaging app, is taking all kinds of measures to fight spam, a new problem for their platform. Keybase was relatively small and directed to devs and their teams, but with the announcement of an airdrop sponsored by Stellar, the network has been crawling with the wrong kind of attention. In response, they introduced measures to fight spam, such as selectively blocking of accounts.

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