Zimbabwe’s new finance minister said the country should embrace Bitcoin at state level in a manner similar to Switzerland, local media outlet IT Web Africa reports Monday, September 17. Citing the Swiss central bank’s “investment and understanding” in Bitcoin, Mthuli Ncube said he would call on the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to follow in its footsteps. “Zimbabwe should be investing in understanding innovations and often central banks are too slow in investing in these technologies,” the publication quotes him as saying. “But there are other countries which are moving faster. If you look at the Swiss central bank they …

Backed with continuing adoption, crypto holidays have become a reality. At this point, flights and hotels all around the world can be booked with Bitcoin (BTC). Still, some cities are more ready to accept your BTC — and major altcoins — than others, depending on the local infrastructure and crypto-related policies. According to data from Coinmap, currently there are around 13,150 venues, shops and ATMs supporting Bitcoin on the planet, and that number has been unhesitatingly growing since late 2013. However, as Gili Gershonok, a crypto nomad who deliberately chooses not to have a bank account, told Cointelegraph, ignoring fiat …

The World Economic Forum (WEF) foundation has outlined more than 65 blockchain use cases for solving the “most pressing” environmental challenges, in a report published September 14. In the report, titled “Building Block(chain)s for a Better Planet,” the Switzerland-based WEF has highlighted a large number of blockchain applications that could be used to help solve the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. The proposed applications, according to the WEF, can enhance the environment protection efforts in several ways, such as new financing models for environmental outcomes, the realization of non-financial value and natural capital, outlining more efficient and cleaner decentralized systems, …

Free and fair elections are one of the pillars of healthy democracies. From the United States to Sierra Leone, advocates of blockchain believe that the technology can bring a new level of transparency, fairness and efficiency to the electoral process. In spite of the enthusiasm of the blockchain community — and tentative support from political bodies — attempts to implement the technology have enjoyed mixed success and have faced impassioned criticism. Japan’s scientific hub trials blockchain In late August, the Japanese city of Tsukuba trialed the use of blockchain technology in its voting system. Tsukuba is a city already closely …

Swiss blockchain startup Smart Valor has won approval from the country’s regulators to operate in the local financial market, Reuters reported September 5. Smart Valor will be regulated by the local Financial Services Standards Association (VQF) rather than the national regulatory agency, the Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). The VQF is authorized by FINMA to check anti-money laundering (AML) compliance. Status as a regulator-approved financial intermediary will purportedly give Smart Valor more credibility, as it will be actively supervised for AML compliance. However, it was not clear whether other blockchain-related companies in the country have won approval as financial intermediaries. …

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) organized tours to other countries for its officials to study cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICO), according to its 2017-18 annual report. The Indian regulator reports that authorities have already undertaken “study tours” in particular to study cryptocurrency and ICOs at Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA), the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). The overseas study trips reportedly took place to help officials “engage with the international regulators and gain deeper understanding of the systems and mechanisms,” the document states. The report is not the …

Swiss and US-based blockchain cloud computing startup DFINITY has closed a new funding round worth over $100 million from repeat backers including Andreessen Horowitz, it confirmed August 29. DFINITY, which aims to build what it describes as an “Internet Computer,” raised a total of $102 million Swiss francs ($105 million) from partners that also featured blockchain-focused investment outfit Polychain Capital. Both Polychain and Andreessen via its investment fund a16z had previously participated in the startup’s investment, contributing to a $61 million round in February. Having raised a total of just under $200 million since its foundation in 2015, DFINITY ultimately …

Litecoin (LTC) transactions are now available via encrypted messenger app Telegram, Litecoin founder Charlie Lee tweeted today, Aug. 9. A bear market is the best time for people to work on adoption. Check out https://t.co/Ua8LQz9f4h. Send and recieve LTC on telegram. Eventually, it will support SMS also. Great work @ztxrepublic team! 👏 We build it and they will come. Adoption is key! — Charlie Lee [LTC⚡] (@SatoshiLite) August 9, 2018 The new Litecoin feature Lite.im was developed by blockchain startup Zulu Republic. Based in Zug, Switzerland, the firm develops decentralized applications (DApps) and “is an ecosystem of digital platforms built …

Bitcoin’s boom has spawned more than just a digital currency revolution. Companies across the globe have explored the potential of blockchain technology in a range of different spheres, including cars, phones, and a multitude of disruptive alternatives in banking, government and as well as shipping. Also, it is not only the small startups that are trying to push blockchain innovation, but rather conglomerates as big as Amazon, Alibaba and Microsoft. However, these companies are still trying to negotiate an ever-expanding regulatory framework that is growing at different rates across different states. Many different companies began springing up within the cryptocurrency …

Cointelegraph recently had the chance to speak with Pierre-Edouard Wahl, the head of blockchain digital services at PwC Switzerland, about the future potential of blockchain in the country. Wahl, who noted that PwC Switzerland worked closely with main Swiss stock exchange SIX on their announcement of a future distributed ledger-based digital asset exchange, elaborated on his beliefs that crypto must be used in order to go mainstream enough to give people back control of their digital footprints. This interview has been edited and condensed. Molly Jane: Could you tell us how you got interested in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space? …

The Maerki Baumann private bank will become the second Swiss bank to accept cryptocurrency assets, financial news outlet International Investment reports August 6. The private Zurich bank has decided to accept crypto assets from payments received for services rendered, as well as those earned from crypto mining, as a response to new market demands and the rise of cryptocurrencies’ popularity, International Investment writes. Maerki Baumann noted that they are not ready to provide direct cryptocurrency investments, but will provide “experts” to clients interested in crypto investing. According to their statement, the bank “closely monitors the development” of crypto as an …

Cryptocurrencies — what are they? Money? Commodities? Securities? Utility tokens? Or something else? Few national governments seem to be in any kind of agreement on this question, and for now, at least, their divisions have given such currencies as Bitcoin and Ethereum a floating, indeterminate status on the global stage. As a result, cryptocurrencies lack a single, definite existence, with some nations treating them as money (e.g., Japan, Germany) and others treating them as an unregulated, speculative asset (e.g., Mexico, Denmark), making them the financial equivalent of Schrödinger's cat. However, as this review of classifications of crypto throughout the world …