Europe
Welcome to another weekly blockchain news roundup from around the world. Here we present to you all the latest Bitcoin news continent by continent and country by country.
United Kingdom
Minister says blockchain solution for Irish border possible: The UK government is currently embroiled in Brexit negotiations with the rest of Europe and finance minister Philip Hammond believes that he has found the answer to one of the most thorny issues of the divorce: the Irish border. Hammond believes that the answer is a blockchain solution for the cross-border trade concept.
Hammond made these remarks at his party’s conference in Birmingham this week. He said that blockchain could be the obvious solution to the problem despite having not much experience of the matter. The free passage between the two Irelands has been in place since 1923 and goods since 1993 but the issue has come into the limelight since the EU is not willing to allow the Britisher to leave and sever economic ties.
Italy
Italy set to become part of European blockchain partnership: Italy has announced that it is about to join the European Blockchain Partnership, a blockchain association that was formed to promote blockchain technology among member states.
Italy is set to become the 27th nation to become a part of the blockchain association since its conception in April this year. A funding of EUR 300 million has been approved for the next four years for the forum.
Malta
Parliamentary secretary says Malta wants to lead cryptocurrency race: Silvio Schembri, the Maltese parliamentary secretary has said during the recent Delta Summit 2018 that the country wants to be leading the cryptocurrency race in the world.
Malta is already one of the safest havens for the development of cryptocurrencies and other blockchain projects. The government is also working on a number of other proposals to promote the sector including the Malta Digital Innovation Bill, the Virtual Financial Assets Bill and Innovation Technological Arrangement Services Bill.
Switzerland
Gold-backed crypto launched in Switzerland: A Swiss asset management company has launched the first gold and precious metals price backed cryptocurrency called the Tiberius coin. The Zug-based Bullion Vault Limited announced this idea a while ago and reflects Venezuela’s crude oil reserves-backed Petro cryptocurrency.
So the answer, according to the Bullion Vault Limited, is that a mix of technology metals could be used including precious metals, minerals and electric vehicle metals like nickel and cobalt.
Austria
Government to use Ethereum for federal bond auction: The Austrian government is using the immutability of the Ethereum blockchain in a federal bond auction after successful trial results. The bonds include a 0.75% bond from 2018-2028 and a 0% bond from 2016-2023 totalling almost EUR 1.15 billion.
The move marks the first time Ethereum has been used and recognized by the government for financial transactions.
Ukraine
Government considering national crypto: The National Bank of Ukraine is considering developing a national cryptocurrency. Reports indicate that the cryptocurrency will be centrally controlled by the NBU and will be equal to the national Ukrainian cryptocurrency and will be called e-hryvnia.
There is not expected to be a hard limit for the e-hryvnia and is similar to the ones being developed by People’s Bank of China and Petro Cryptocurrency of Venezuela.
While the government plans to launch its own cryptocurrency, hodlers and traders of other cryptocurrencies are not being targeted right now. Rather, they may reportedly be given a tax-free decade by the government.
Russia
Nuclear authority to develop blockchain technology: Russian energy giant Rosatom has announced that it is planning to invest into cutting-edge technologies including Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain Technology.
Rosatom is a government conglomerate of more than 360 entities including research centers and nuclear weapons. Evgeniy Abakumov, the head of the organization’s IT wing says that the new technologies will revolutionize the industry and reduce its wastes.
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