China and the United States will be the main hubs of the blockchain industry, according to a report. OKEx decided to suspend withdrawals amid a police investigation.
The European Central Bank (ECB) recently opened a public survey for citizens to contribute ideas about the Digital Euro. Depending on the results, the agency could launch the project in the middle of next year, with a new research phase.
In recent days, the price of Bitcoin has remained slightly higher, with an estimated average growth of 1.6%. The cryptocurrency has traded between USD 11,266 and USD 11,688. At the time of writing this article, BTC is trading at USD 11,461, as reflected in the market price of Latin America and Spain.
In regards to the ECB survey, the Government of Spain expressed its intention to increase the control over operations with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. For that reason, they proposed the “Law on preventive measures to combat tax avoidance.” This would require citizens to provide detailed information on balances and transactions inside and outside of Spain.
The Central Bank of China requested to accelerate the development of its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Digital Yuan. Vice-governor Chen Yulu wants to show that the currency protects the security of payments. The central bank’s request came at the same time that the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) presented a document that specifies their way to design digital currencies.
According to the BIS, the Digital Yuan complies with the characteristics that CBDC should have. At the moment, citizens of China are participating in pilot tests, but they fear for their privacy. In Shenzhen, they are distributing 10 million Digital Yuan (equivalent to USD 1.5 million) among 50,000 winners.
The most recent report on distributed ledgers from the consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) states that 12 countries will concentrate on the global expansion of blockchain technology within the next ten years. China and the United States would lead the way regarding its adoption. Following them will be Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, India, and France, in addition to the United Arab Emirates, Sweden, Luxembourg, Spain and Italy.
The incorporation of the merger between the Schnorr and Taproot protocols into the Bitcoin code occurred after intensive testing and review. Schnorr (BIP 340) and Taproot (BIP 341) merged with the core of BTC, through the use of tapscript (BIP 342). There might be a consensus on how its activation will take place in an upcoming version of Bitcoin Core.
The OKEx exchange recently suspended the withdrawal of cryptocurrencies from its platform after having lost contact with one of the signers of transactions. The exchange explained that a public service called one of the service’s privacy key holders to cooperate with them. The announcement caused a slight reversal in the crypto market a few days ago.
By Alexander Salazar
