Bitcoin News Summary – December 9, 2019

Ethereum successfully upgraded to its latest version, dubbed “Istanbul” over the weekend. The update contains numerous improvements that address Ethereum’s security against DDoS and spam attacks, gas usage costs, and smart contract flexibility. Istanbul also makes Ethereum interoperable with Zcash. While the fork was highly anticipated, the effect on the price of ETH has thus far proven mild.

$8.9 billion was moved over Bitcoin’s blockchain within the span of one hour, setting a new hourly record in terms of value transferred. The amount was moved by the Bittrex exchange between its cold wallets and consisted of 21 transactions of roughly 56,000 BTC each. The total fees were less than $15.

Privacy-oriented blockchain web browser Brave has seen the number of its monthly active users almost double from 5 to 10 million in one year. At the same time, the firm announced that the number of Brave’s daily active users has tripled over the past year to reach 3.3 million.  The Brave browser combines privacy with a blockchain-based digital advertising platform, offers 3 to 6 times faster browsing than other browsers while giving the masses absolute control over online activities.

The South African Reserve Bank announced plans to implement new rules for crypto to prevent the evasion of capital controls. The new rules are expected in the first quarter of 2020. Crypto demand and search interest are persistently high in South Africa, due to tight capital controls and a slowing economy.

Before we conclude, this week’s “Bitcoin quick question”: Can Bitcoin survive without the Internet?

Well, Bitcoin isn’t completely dependent on the Internet. Alternative methods for transferring transaction information such as radio waves, cellular networks or even innovative methods like Tx-tenna have been successfully used to broadcast Bitcoin transactions. Additionally, The Blockstream Satellite network broadcasts the Bitcoin blockchain around the world 24/7 for free, protecting against network interruptions. If you want to read more about this topic just visit this page.

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

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Alexander Reed

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Having delved into futures trading in the past, my intrigue in financial, economic, and political affairs eventually led me to a striking realization: the current debt-based fiat system is fundamentally flawed. This revelation prompted me to explore alternative avenues, including... Read More

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