United Arab Emirate announces ”UAE Blockchain Strategy 2021”; the initiative is aimed at implementing blockchain technology at a government level; the strategy is expected to save $3B a year for the government; this comes following the similar Dubai Blockchain Initiative launched in 2016 - Link
Bithumb’s revenue spikes compared to 2016; this comes as no surprise since the cryptocurrency industry as a whole experienced an upswing during 2017; however, Bithumb's revenue increased 171-fold compared to the previous year; this may indicate that Bithumb held its cryptocurrency income rather than selling it for fiat currencies - Link
Police abruptly stops Shanghai blockchain conference; the event, called the Global Fintech & Blockchain China Summit 2018, was intended to feature keynote speakers, panel discussions, as well as exhibits from cryptocurrency projects; there are rumours that police cut the conference short following reports on a failed ICO project that was scheduled to be present; the event organizer has, however, denied this - Link
Bank of America files blockchain patents; this news comes as a new patent filing on how the blockchain can be used to authenticate personal and business data has surfaced; this is only the latest in a string of blockchain patents filed by Bank of America; American Express and the People’s Bank of China have also filed new blockchain patents - Link
Caribbean nations to introduce cryptocurrency payments in the travel industry; this comes as a partnership between the Caribbean Tourism Organization and Barbados-based blockchain company Bitt; the overarching goal is to further integrate the economies in the area, by using cryptocurrency - Link
India’s cryptocurrency exchanges may challenge the RBI; this comes following new rules implemented by the Reserve Bank of India that asked crypto exchanges to close their accounts with lenders; exchanges are now reportedly considering filing a collective petition to protest the RBI’s decision - Link
Search engine behemoth Baidu announced blockchain photo platform; the service, Totem, uses blockchain to timestamp submissions of each photography with a real-name identity; this will allegedly make it easier to substantiate allegations of intellectual property infringement; this marks another push by Baidu to boost blockchain adoption - Link
Co-founder of Backpage likely to be released this Friday; the news comes from his attorney, and it follows his posting of a $1M bond; Backpage is accused of generating more than $500M in prostitution-related revenue since 2004; it is also believed that money has been laundered using foreign accounts and converting to and from cryptocurrency - Link
World’s second largest cryptocurrency exchange OKEx moves to Malta; they are following in the footsteps of Binance, who moved to Malta this past March; Malta has recently enacted crypto-friendly legislation in order to attract blockchain companies - Link
Mastercard is hiring further blockchain developers; the new hires are intended to work out of MasterCard’s research and development department in Ireland; this follows recent attempts by Mastercard to acquire blockchain patents - Link