The winds of change have been blowing through the crypto space today and yesterday.

Lisk finally changed their logo among other notable big changes during their relaunch yesterday.
Bitfinex now has an account with another major bank after Wells Fargo cut ties.
Coinbase is implementing SegWit.
And to top it all off, Venezuela’s cryptocurrency is now in it’s presale phase.
Alright, let’s get into it.

Lisk Relaunch

What’s new:

• Logo
• Website
• Upcoming release of Lisk Core 1.0.0

Their website now offers a Blockchain Academy which provides educational information on things like:

• Defining a blockchain and its use cases
• Defining a cryptocurrency
• Explaining decentralization
• Explaining consensus protocol

In the next few weeks keep an eye out for the release of the Lisk Core 1.0.0, it will set the stage for the following release of their Sidechain Development Kit.

Coinbase implements SegWit this week.

What this means for users of coinbase:

If you accidentally send Bitcoin Cash to a Bitcoin wallet, they will no longer be able to recover those funds.

Bitfinex and Tether ties, new account with ING

Bitfinex was in the news a couple months ago when word got out that they were subpoenaed by U.S. regulators due to its ties with Tether, not only is Bitfinex an exchange that lists Tether, but they both share many of the same managing team.

Tether has always been shrouded with doubt in regards to whether or not they do indeed have enough USD in their reserves to support their one-to-one ratio of USD to Tether.

There has also been speculation about Tether creating new coins to purchase Bitcoin.
If this is true than it would account for some of the support that Bitcoin has seen these past months.

Wells Fargo ended their relationship with Bitfinex back in December, but now it looks like Bitfinex has rebounded into the arms of ING.

Venezuela’s Petro token

The presale for the crypto token of Venezuela called Petro coin, began yesterday and it already raised about $735 million. The total supply of coins will be 100 million and each coin will be backed by a barrel of oil.

If you want to participate in this one be sure to check the official links I’ve posted down below.

The main motivating force for this coin is so the Venezuelan government can get around the sanctions put in place by the U.S. and European Union.

It should come as no surprise that this one is surrounded by claims of it being illegal and the U.S. has even warned that if its citizens take part in this sale they’ll be in violation of the sanctions.

A government run cryptocurrency is a perfect example of an oxymoron, and something tells me this wasn’t designed to benefit the people of Venezuela either.

Let’s keep an eye on this one and see how it plays out, no doubt it will influence other governments one way or the other.

Additional Reading

Lisk Website
Lisk Twitter Update
Coinbase SegWit Announcement
Bitfinex Subpoenaed
Bitfinex and ING
Petro Coin Raises $735 mil on First Day of PreSale
What is Backing Petro Coin
Petro Coin Official Website
PreSale Website
Twitter