Crypto news this week – January 25

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We’ve hit the small screen in a big way with #LunoTV. This week we’ve released another segment of Crypto News RoundUp – the one place for the latest happenings in the crypto-world. If you missed our first episode, you can subscribe to our channel so you never miss one again.

In this episode, we cover some interesting news surrounding regulation in the Netherlands, Samsung’s new crypto ‘venture’ and Mastercard’s time in the spotlight.

Ready? Let’s jump right in.

FCA Regulation

The FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) in the UK, released their consultation on the latest iteration on how cryptocurrencies fit into the existing regulatory framework.

In the Netherlands

De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the Netherlands’ central bank, and the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) published a report earlier this week. The report suggested crypto-to-fiat exchanges and custody solution providers must be licensed, as cryptocurrencies carry “high financial crime risks.”

Samsung wanting a piece of the crypto pie?

Potentially leaked images of the Samsung Galaxy S10 have been circulating popular tech news sites. What’s the hype? The photos showcase a native cryptocurrency hardware wallet that uses biometric authentication. The possible leak also offers a first look at the Samsung Blockchain KeyStore app.

The native cryptocurrency wallet app is described on the splash page as a “secure and convenient place for your cryptocurrency”. According to SamMobile, “The cryptocurrencies and tokens supported initially may include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ethereum-derived token ERC20, and Bitcoin Cash.”

How phish-able are you?

We’re sure you’re aware phishing attacks are one of the most common threats to internet users’ security. But, before you laugh (or shudder) at someone’s grandmother for sending cash to that bogus binary options guy who’s been emailing her – ask yourself, just how savvy are you at spotting phishing attempts?

Google has jumped in on a great initiative to help educate people and protect them from getting duped by hackers with a new phishing quiz developed by Jigsaw, the company’s tech incubator. The eight-question quiz takes you through a number of phishing scenarios and tests whether you can tell when a possible attack is real or not.

Ouch, Mastercard

Mastercard was fined over half a billion EUR by the European Commission for imposing rules that regulators said may have artificially raised the costs of card payments in the region. Whilst not exactly crypto-related, it does beg the question of how this may potentially impact the fintech industry in the future. We discuss how we envision banks of the future in a Medium story.

#AskLuno

You asked, and we listened.

Consensys, Bitmain, Steemit, ShapeShift and more recently Nebulas and other crypto companies have been downsizing in staff. Why is Luno hiring so aggressively?

We’ve always been focused on achieving a very important long-term goal: to upgrade the world to a better financial system. We believe the only way to do this is by building a team of talented and ambitious people. In 2018 the team more than tripled from 57 to 192, and we expect to double the team (at the very least) again in 2019. Have a look at our Careers page if you’re interested in joining our rocket ship.

We also opened amazing new offices in London and Johannesburg, expanded our offices in Singapore, Cape Town, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, and Lagos, and now operate across over 40 countries in Europe, Southeast Asia, and Africa.

We don’t anticipate this growth to slow down as we continue to invest in better customer service and product experience in 2019, in addition to some exciting new product features and country launches.

What is Luno’s standing regarding Bitcoin’s Lightning Network?

Scalability has been one of the biggest debates affecting Bitcoin’s adoption to date. We believe that the Lightning network is an exciting development with the potential to rekindle the dream of cryptocurrency mass adoption. Of course it still really early days, but our engineering team have been busy working on Lightning integration. #watchthisspace

That’s all for this week, folks.

Let us know what you thought of this episode by reaching out to us on Twitter or directly on YouTube. Join the conversation #AskLuno on social media.

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