Pakistan is developing a CBDC prototype and considering issuing a rupee-backed stablecoin.

The post Privacy Coins Rally Driven by Technicals, Narrative appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Privacy tokens are taking center stage this week, bucking the slump that has affected the broader cryptocurrency market. Notable commentators in the cryptocurrency space have been predicting a spike in privacy coin prices for months. Their projections now appear to be coming true. Some have wondered whether there hasn’t been a coordinated effort to pump privacy coin prices. Zcash Foundation’s executive director, Alex Bornstein, has told Cointelegraph that Zcash’s recent success is due to broader concerns about governments infringing on users’ right to privacy. A combination of hype and technicals has put privacy coins back in the spotlight as other coins struggle. Zcash Privacy coin Zcash (ZEC) has made impressive gains, with its market capitalization up more than 10% over the last week. Zcash’s price is up over 76% over the last seven days to $632. It flipped Monero (XMR) to become the largest privacy coin by market capitalization. Zcash price saw gains of over 75% on the week. Source: CoinMarketCap The price increase follows significant upgrades made by the network’s developer, the Electric Coin Company. At the beginning of the month, the company introduced cross-chain swaps and private payments by integrating with the transaction layer Near Intents. The integration resulted in a spike in Zcash volume on Near Intents and an expansion of the “shielded pool” — i.e., the collection of encrypted addresses where ZEC is stored. Bornstein told Cointelegraph on Chain Reaction that “there’s just a powerful narrative, and I think people are just waking up to what Zcash can really accomplish.” Related: Why Zcash and privacy tokens are back in the conversation Monero Monero (XMR), which until recently was the largest privacy coin on the market, saw a near 10% price gain over the past week. Its market capitalization increased 2.7% to $6.62 billion. Monero price closed…

Bitcoin’s mining industry is feeling growing strain as the key profitability gauge, hash price, slides toward levels that could push smaller operators offline and put pressure on mining equipment providers and service partners. Related Reading: Australia Faces Make-Or-Break Moment As Tokenization Sweeps Global Markets: ASIC Chair Hash Price Nears Danger Level According to industry reports, […]

JPMorgan Chase has increased its exposure to spot Bitcoin ETFs (exchange-traded funds) as investors withdrew more than $500 million from the investment products. According to [...]