Bitcoin News Summary – December 30, 2019

Google-owned video giant YouTube had erroneously removed several cryptocurrency-related videos. YouTube representatives have claimed that the removals were done in error and some content has started to be restored. Nonetheless, the unilateral nature by which YouTube videos were removed has led many content creators to explore migration to decentralized video hosting alternatives.

At the same time, this wasn’t the only sudden and unexplained ban that Google issued this week. Ethereum wallet and decentralized app browser Metamask’s android client was banned from the Play app store. The MetaMask team attempted to appeal the decision but it was promptly rejected. 

Tencent, the Chinese internet giant, and owner of WeChat, is forming a team to explore possible new use cases for cryptocurrencies. The new team will look at how to use digital currencies in its payments platform and how they could be used within existing and future regulatory regimes.

Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten now allows users to convert their loyalty points to Bitcoin, Ether and Bitcoin Cash. Rakuten said the move is aimed at reducing the barriers of entry into cryptocurrency trading.

Bitcoin weekly trading volumes on the LocalBitcoins peer-to-peer trading platform have hit new all-time highs in Venezuela and Argentina. P2P trading volumes in Argentina started setting records after regulators decided to limit and ban buying Bitcoin. Venezuelan citizens, on the other hand, apparently use Bitcoin to escape the extreme inflation of the bolivar.

Before we conclude, this week’s “Bitcoin quick question” is can I receive bitcoin when my computer or mobile phone is powered off?

The answer is yes, you can. The bitcoins will appear next time you start your wallet. Bitcoins don’t really exist on your wallet, they are in fact only a record on a public ledger that is shared between all the wallets on the network. If you are sent bitcoins when your wallet is not running, once you open it up it will update its own records with any transactions it did not already know about, and the bitcoins will eventually appear as if they were just received in real-time. If you want to learn more about how this works check out the link in the description.

Have a question you want us to answer? Just leave it in the comment section below.

That’s what’s happened this week in Bitcoin. See you next week.

Disclaimer

Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. You could lose all of your capital.
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