Inshorts

Crypto exchange Poloniex stops working in Washington State. According to information on the website of the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions', digital currency is "a medium of exchange not authorized or adopted by a government". All traders working in this jurisdiction are given two weeks to close open orders and withdraw funds. Accounts will be frozen on April 21, but the exchange does not hurry to delete user data, hoping to resume work in the future. This is not the first time that a crypto exchange has to stop work. The Washington state also does not have the Bitfinex, Kraken and Bitstamp exchanges.

The amount of miners supporting SegWit activation on Litecoin reached seventy five percent. However, it is necessary that the support of the miners remains at seventy five percent for at least the following eight thousand sixty four blocks to automatically activate the protocol. Over the past twenty four hours, seven thousands two hundred and forty four blocks from the required eight thousand sixty four were created. About eighty two percent of the miners support the activation of the Segwit protocol. Nonetheless, the level of support may again fall below seventy five percent.

Porsche becomes interested in blockchain technology. German automaker announced a Porsche Innovation Contest for startups focusing on blockchain. Porsche aims to obtain external input on the disruptive potential of the blockchain transaction system by collaborating with the startup scene. The automobile manufacturer is offering €25,000 in prize money as well as a three-month stint at SpinLab, a Leipzig-based accelerator it backs. Applications for the contest are due by the 15th May.

The central bank of Hong Kong is developing a prototype of a digital currency. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority together with the Hong Kong Interbank Clearing Limited and the consortium R3 are working on the creation of a cryptocurrency’s prototype. The first stage of the development process will be entirely devoted to the studies expediency of using a digital currency for interbank transfers within the country, financial payments between firms, and also for exchange and over-the-counter transactions. Creation of new cryptocurrency will start at the end of a year.

Litecoin inventor urges crypto community to activate SegWit. Charlie Lee started advocating for Segregated Witness activation on Litecoin and Bitcoin in early January. He claims that the main benefit of SegWit is transaction malleability fix, which would allow Lightning Networks (LN) to be built on top of Litecoin. Charlie Lee believes, that Litecoin will still be used after SegWit and Lightning Networks activation on Bitcoin due to higher transaction fees for Bitcoin LN than for Litecoin LN transactions. The other important feature is instantaneous cross-chain transactions, which will allow efficient decentralized exchanges.

Disclaimer. This video is brought to you by CoinIdol.com in partnership with Koles Coin News Channel. This information is provided by a third-party source and should not be viewed as an endorsement by CoinIdol. Readers should do their own research before investing funds in any company. 

Digital currencies reach thirty billion dollar market capitalization. Bitcoin remains the main driver, nearing twenty billion dollars due to rise in price since last week. However, it lost market share, falling below seventy percent. Ripple's market cap rose slightly above one billion dollars. Litecoin price hangs around ten dollars, rising from four to twelve last week because of hype regarding the activation of segwit. Ethereum, Monero and Dash still remain the main altcoins.

The European micronation will be celebrating its second anniversary this week. Zlatko Sucic, Liberland’s Commercial Attache to Serbia, explained that the taxation in Liberland will be voluntary, and the state will be minimally involved in public education and public health. People who donate to Liberland, small country between Serbia and Croatia, or pay the voluntary taxes, will earn Merits. Merits will be the official currency of the country, but the backing currency will be Bitcoin. Liberland is accepting citizenship applications, but only people with ten thousand Merits can claim their citizenship at this moment. 

Find out more: Pay Taxes to Earn Merits, Cryptocurrency of The EU's Youngest Country

Group of insurance companies in China completed a new blockchain trial. Shanghai Insurance Exchange had initiated a blockchain trial centered on insurance businesses in the country. Nine insurance companies partnered with the exchange, including Cathay Life Insurance, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance, AIA Group, China Continent Property & Casualty Insurance and Minsheng Life Insurance. The test was reportedly aiming at making use of the security and traceability features of blockchain, and to solve the credibility issues facing insurance firms. The vice president of People's Insurance Company of China Wang He believes insurance is a natural fit for blockchain given the sector's reliance on disparate systems that include many participants with the need to share information.

Disclaimer. This video is brought to you by CoinIdol.com in partnership with Koles Coin News Channel. This information is provided by a third-party source and should not be viewed as an endorsement by CoinIdol. Readers should do their own research before investing funds in any company. 

Monero ecosystem recovers. The value per XMR is going up for the past 24 hours. Things look rather favorable for Monero as its price rises along with bitcoin. Keeping in mind how Monero usually responds in a negative manner every time the bitcoin price goes up, it appears things are changing for the better as of right now. As expected, fiat currency traders are returning to the Monero ecosystem after the weekend. Additionally, it appears XMR is appreciating in value against bitcoin as well, which translate to a 6.1% gain over the past 24 hours.