Binance’s CZ declares 2018 a ‘correction year’: Binance’s enigmatic head, Changpeng Zhao, expressed optimism for the crypto market in an interview with Bloomberg (although you might if you were CEO of the world’s leading exchange). The CEO of the “world’s biggest crypto exchange” told the media outlet that although many projects failed in 2018, the year was essentially one of “correction” and said the sector will “kick off 2019 with a bang” as “people in the industry are confident about the future.”
Beijing media groups form ‘copyright alliance’: Local media are reporting that 30 major Chinese financial media outlets, which include the International Finance News, Economic Information Daily, China Business News, Beijing Business Daily, and the Daily Economic News, have formed a blockchain partnership. The “China Financial Media Copyright Protection Alliance” initiative aims to preserve authentication and copyright and embed “a unique identifier DNA” in each article.
OKEx enhances its trading platform: The Malta-listed but Asian-founded exchange, hot on the heels of Binance as the world’s second largest exchange, is pushing its trading technology offer with an instant messaging service that is setting out to streamline the trading process and facilitate dialogue between buyers and sellers. The exchange told media that the solution will allow traders to state exchange rate and payment methods for cryptocurrencies while also sending and receiving messages in real-time with other parties using the service.
Facebook to launch WhatsApp crypto? Rumours have been swirling around big tech players and blockchain, and the latest is that Facebook is seeking to build a cryptocurrency for WhatsApp. Bloomberg is reporting that the cryptocurrency will be a stablecoin that will let users transfer money and the focus, apparently, is the remittance market in India. Much has been made about the company raising a blockchain development of more than 40 people but the much-maligned new media giant is remaining tight-lipped. “Like many other companies, Facebook is exploring ways to leverage the power of blockchain technology,” a company spokesman told Bloomberg. “This new small team is exploring many different applications. We don’t have anything further to share.”
Now Western Union exploring a cryptocurrency solution? Remittance giant Western Union, that has already expanded its digital offerings with a mobile app for remittances in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, is considering digital currencies. Odilon Almeida, president of Western Union Global Money Transfer, told Reuters it is considering how it can use blockchain and cryptocurrency technology to further enhance its global offer and says it has been testing Ripple’s xRapid crypto payment platform.