The first release of Casper, a planned change to how the Ethereum network reaches a consensus, has been released for public scrutiny; the 0.1.0 ”first release” of the Casper code was published by Danny Ryan, its developer, on Tuesday - Link
Facebook launches a team to explore blockchain; the team will be run by David Marcus, who was formerly in charge of Facebook Messenger and has previously worked at PayPal; this new blockchain group will initially be small, but reportedly includes several key Instagram executives - Link
The Zcash Foundation is reportedly both researching and developing ASIC resistance; this comes following the announcement that Bitmain will release a ”Z9 AntMiner”; it is still uncertain whether Zcash will deploy measures that prevent ASIC mining - Link
The total amount of cryptocurrency purchases by Iranians surpass $2.5B; this capital flight comes from the head of the Majlis Economic Commission; moreover, this is the fact despite that only a minority of Iranians use cryptocurrency; Iran has recently developed a prototype of a national virtual currency - Link
Winklevoss IP, a company owned by Gemini founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss of Facebook fame, has received a cryptocurrency-related patent; the patent describes a system to settle exchange-traded products (so-called ETPs) holding different cryptocurrencies - Link
EOS launches a space invaders game on the blockchain; the EOS block time of merely 500 milliseconds allows the blockchain to support a digital version of the popular retro game; everyone with a unique EOS account name with a Private and Public key can play on the EOS TestNet - Link
Ripple teams up with the payment subsidiary Coinone Transfer; the partnership is intended to allow Coinone to launch its new ”Cross” remittance service on the RippleNet xCurrent platform; xCurrent allows both small and large payments to move quickly, transparently and cheaply across borders - Link
Technical details about the ultra-secure mobile device ”Sirin Finney” have emerged; the phone will reportedly feature an embedded cold storage wallet and be built by Foxconn, who manufacture the iPhone; Sirin Labs, who is developing the device, raised $157.8M in an ICO last year - Link
Robinhood expands commission-free cryptocurrency trading to Florida; the Sunshine State is the latest in a series of several US states to gain access to the Robinhood exchange application, which is devoid of commissions - Link
The art world becomes increasingly interested in cryptocurrencies; this comes as several galleries have recently sold paintings in exchange for Bitcoin; moreover, the blockchain allows to authenticate the correct ownership of paintings - Link
Bloomberg report finds that Silicon Valley millionaires are keeping their Bitcoin safe in concrete bunkers behind blast doors and guards; the startup Xapo specializes in these types of bunkers; reportedly, Xapo vaults hold more than $10B worth of Bitcoin - Link
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