Web 3.0 browsers are tapping into existing networks in emerging markets to foster crypto adoption. In October, web browser developer Opera Software AS launched added support for in-browser transactions with Bitcoin (BTC) and Tron (TRX). This follows the company’s initial launch of an in-browser Ether (ETH) wallet in 2018. The latest announcement is part of the company’s grander plan to make the “Web 3.0” easier to access for the average consumer.Opera, based in Norway, is the first major browser to develop and integrate a native crypto wallet, which also supports direct transactions. The company started testing the in-browser payment feature in July through a beta version of the Opera for Android browser.Opera’s move fits into a larger narrative of companies integrating cryptocurrency into existing systems and networks that people already use. Brave Software Inc., another web browser developer, had first incorporated wallet technology into its browser to allow web users to earn cryptocurrency for performing or permitting certain actions that they already do with traditional browsers without earning anything. Other platforms looking to implement similar Web 3.0 features are also active.A first step?Cryptocurrencies are still more popular in the developed world than in developing markets, where most of the world’s financially excluded people live. Opera’s moves to enable Web 3.0 can potentially bring cryptocurrency to several financially excluded people. That’s thanks to the browser’s popularity in the developing world, especially Africa. Opera browsers are popular for their data-saving features. The company claimed that data savings in its products helped users in Africa save nearly $100 million in 2018.Therefore, making crypto wallets easily accessible to this group of consumers could be a big step toward using cryptocurrencies to offer financial services to the unbanked and underbanked. In addition to Bitcoin, Ether and Tron, the Opera crypto wallet also supports ERC-20 and TRC-10 tokens. Multiple decentralized financial, or DeFi, products are already being built using certain ERC tokens.Opera’s push to expand access to Web 3.0 could also impact the burgeoning betting industry in Africa. The combined size of the gambling market in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa was worth an estimated $37 billion in 2018.When asked on how Opera’s latest developments could potentially help onboard new crypto users through gambling, Tron founder and CEO Justin Sun told Cointelegraph that Wink, a decentralized application built on the Tron blockchain is working now with seamless integration. “Users can simply use the Opera browser to play Wink by logging onto Wink.org without using any 3rd party wallets. We expect to see more TRON DApps integrated within Opera in the future, in similar fashion.”According to Opera, 350 million people use its browsers globally — nearly 120 million of those are in Africa. It’s worth noting, however, that Opera’s crypto wallet is only available on the “Opera browser with free VPN” application on Android and the “Opera Touch” browser on iOS. There isn’t any data to tell what portion of the 350 million users use Opera Mini. Still, this means that the crypto wallet is available to fewer than 350 million users. If Opera Mini has the largest user base, then the number of people who can use the Opera crypto wallet could be significantly lower. Opera didn’t respond to a request for comment regarding this.Incorporation into an existing network is becoming a trendOpera isn’t the first company to have integrated functionalities for cryptocurrencies into an existing network to foster quicker adoption, as the Brave browser is another web-surfing tool spearheading the crypto charge. Brave was the first to reimagine using browsers as a tool to foster crypto adoption through its privacy-focused Brave browser. The browser gives internet users power over their data by blocking tracking services and ads. Instead, Brave allows users to earn native Basic Attention Token (BAT) when they view advertisements. Users can also use the BAT to reward platforms and content creators of their liking. The browser recently reached 9 million active monthly users.As Opera appears to be targeting the user base that cares about cost-saving for crypto adoption, Brave’s target is the privacy-loving customers.In August, Brave went beyond its native wallet that only supports its rewards programs to integrate an Ether wallet that supports ETH as well as most Ethereum tokens and collectibles. Unlike its Brave Rewards system, the Ether wallet doesn’t require users to take part in Know Your Customer procedure and can interact with DApps. The browser also allows users to connect a hardware wallet in addition to other layers of protection, according to Brian Bondy, Brave’s chief technology officer and co-founder, who told Cointelegraph: “Our Crypto Wallets feature can be used with hardware wallets (Ledger, Trezor) for users who would like the added security. Additionally, our Crypto Wallet is based on an extension and the background page for that extension has its own process and address space.”Brave has made it clear, however, that its wallet is targeted at “people who already have a working understanding of cryptocurrency generally.” Still, Brave appears interested in using the existing browser network to further the adoption of blockchain and cryptocurrency.“We’re excited to continue pushing the envelope when it comes to support for cryptocurrency and other blockchain applications on the web platform,” Brave said in its announcement of its crypto wallet.IOV Labs, RSK and social mediaBeyond browsers, different companies are tapping into existing networks and systems to promote the use of cryptocurrencies. In September, Argentina-based IOV Labs acquired Spanish-oriented social media platform Taringa, which has 30 million users. IOV Labs, which powers the RSK Bitcoin smart contact platform, sees an opportunity in tapping into data from the social network to build, test and distribute decentralized products based on its smart contract platform and its native RIF token. In the end, it hopes to bring wider adoption to Bitcoin. IOV Labs CEO Diego Gutiérrez Zaldívar told Cointelegraph that:“Latin America, a market already in need of financial services as half of the population is unbanked. The values inherent in the development of Bitcoin, blockchain and Taringa are one and the same, empowering individuals by giving them a voice and the economic tools they need to thrive.”IOV Labs plans to incentivize Taringa users to participate meaningfully in the communities hosted on the social network by rewarding them with RIF tokens. Zaldívar added that:“We know blockchain technology can meet the existing needs of these users far more effectively than existing systems, by protecting user privacy, and sharing the economic value and reputation users create with their interactions.”Alternative app store AptoideIn 2017, Aptoide started developing AppCoins, an open-source and distributed protocol for app stores based on the Ethereum blockchain. It raised over $16.8 million in an initial coin offering for AppCoins’ development. For Aptoide, which claimed to have more than 200 million users, integrating a blockchain-based system was a natural step, owing to its community-oriented approach to app distribution.Aptoide’s chief operating officer and creator, Álvaro Pinto, told Cointelegraph that Aptoide has been a community-driven app store since inception. With Aptoide, users can create their own list of apps, which can be shared with family, friends and colleagues to foster deeper app engagement.Part of Aptoide’s aim is to make in-app payment simpler in emerging markets, where it has the majority of its users. In these countries, it can be difficult for users to make in-app purchases because one can only buy them using a credit card, PayPal and gift cards as Pinto explained:“We have this huge amount of people using smartphones, but if you look into the number, the number of users doing in-app purchases and buying digital goods in the app stores is very limited.” However, Pinto is adamant that the problem isn’t affordability. He believes that many people can afford to make 50-cent purchases, but the process for making such purchases is difficult. Pinto added:“We’re starting to see the common user having their first experience with blockchain, and that was part of the idea — to take blockchain to the average user and to all this gigantic user base of Android.&rdquo […]

Salmon farming company Cermaq and smoked salmon producer Labeyrie began using IBM’s cloud blockchain technology to trace their products’ supply chains. Salmon farming company Cermaq and smoked salmon producer Labeyrie began using IBM’s cloud blockchain technology to trace their product supply chains.Cermaq announced the development in a Nov. 20 press release, revealing that it cooperated with Labeyrie and IBM’s blockchain platform IBM Food Trust to enable customers to get information about the salmon value chain. All Cermaq salmon products now come with a CV and QR-code, so consumers can check details such as:“... [fish] origin, when it was hatched, which fresh water facility it came from, how big it was when it was transferred to seawater, at which sea water facility it has been farmed, as well as health and welfare information such as which vaccinations it has received, what it has been fed, and when it was harvested.”Labeyrie rolled out a traceability system for two of its Norwegian smoked salmon products, thus allowing consumers to see information about the whole production chain of the fish — from egg to store. Commenting on the development, Brede Løfsgaard, sales director in Cermaq Norway, said that the project was partly driven by customer demand for more transparency.Putting food on the blockchainFood manufacturers around the world have been actively integrating blockchain technology into their supply chains. Earlier in November, retail giants Carrefour and Nestlé began deploying IBM’s Food Trust blockchain platform to track the supply chain of milk-based formula for infants. The firms aim to advance consumer confidence in the products’ quality by ensuring more transparency of the supply chain of formulas produced by Laboratoires Guigoz.American logistics giant UPS successfully delivered a blockchain-verified beef shipment from the United States to Japan. The company had partnered with agritech firm HerdX to incorporate its packaging technology into a blockchain network to trace the journey of beef from Kansas to Japan. […]

ShapeShift cryptocurrency exchange has launched new tokens that enable holders to trade on the exchange with no fees. Switzerland-based crypto exchange ShapeShift has launched zero-fee trading and its loyalty token FOX. ShapeShift founder and CEO Erik Voorhees announced the news on Twitter Nov. 20, noting that zero-commission trading on the platform is enabled by the newly released FOX token.According to the executive, zero-fee trading solves two major problems of non-custodial exchanges — illiquidity and high price of services.In order to trade at a zero-fee rate, ShapeShift customers will have to hold the Ethereum-based ERC-20 FOX tokens, Voorhees explained, stating:“The model is simple: hold FOX & you trade at a 0% commission rate. If not, you trade at our retail rate. You don’t spend or lose the FOX tokens to get the benefit. Just hodl.”In a Medium post, Voorhees elaborated that the platform gives customers 100 FOX tokens on verified signup. Each FOX token grants $10 of free trading volume every 30 days.Voorhees expects 30% surge in trading accounts in a monthVoorhees also stated that the new feature is not a temporary offer, emphasizing that zero-commission crypto trading will now be granted perpetually on ShapeShift.In an interview with industry publication The Block, Voorhees said that he does not think that zero-commission trading will negatively affect ShapeShift’s revenues. Instead, ShapeShift plans to sell its FOX tokens to new clients in exchange for perpetual free trading services if the model eventually succeeds. Moreover, users who do not hold FOX tokens will still pay their fees.As a result of the zero-fee trading launch, Voorhees expects a 30% surge in the number of ShapeShift trading accounts.Zero-fee cryptocurrency trading is not a new concept. American stock brokerage Robinhood Crypto is a major provider of zero-fee crypto trading, allowing users to trade seven major cryptocurrencies with no commission fee. In late September 2019, California-based financial firm SoFi launched zero-fee crypto trading on its platform SoFi Invest. […]

Bitcoin price is close to critical support levels, but we anticipate a bounce off the support levels as we take a look at the charts. The Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell has said that the Fed is not developing a central bank digital currency (CBDC), but it is conducting its own research to evaluate the benefits and limitations of such an initiative.On the other hand, Edith Cheung, partner at blockchain-focused venture capital fund Proof of Capital, believes that China will launch its digital currency within the next six to twelve months. A CBDC by a large economy will be an interesting development.Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360The crypto markets have been losing ground in the past few weeks due to the lack of a positive catalyst. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it will review its previous decision to reject the exchange-traded fund (ETF) filing from Bitwise Asset Management and NYSE Arca. Though this review does not guarantee approval, it is certainly a step in the right direction.The majority of crypto investors are in the age group of 18 to 34. Lack of understanding of the technology has kept the people above the age of 50 away from crypto investing. Michael Novogratz’s crypto merchant bank Galaxy Digital plans to tap into this wealth among older investors by offering two Bitcoin (BTC) funds — Galaxy Bitcoin Fund and Galaxy Institutional Bitcoin Fund. These funds could bring a lot of fresh money into the crypto markets.As the fundamentals continue to improve, we believe that dips should be viewed as a buying opportunity. However, it is best to wait for the price to stop falling and signal a turn around before entering long positions. Do the charts of the major cryptocurrencies signal a bottom or could the prices fall further? Let’s analyze the charts.BTC/USDAfter holding close to $8,467.54 for three days, Bitcoin plummeted on Nov. 18. The fall has dragged the price to $8,000, which is psychological support. Just below this, at $7,952.84 is the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement level of the most recent rally. We anticipate a strong defense of this support by the bulls.BTC USD daily chart. Source: TradingviewThough the price has not breached the $8,000 mark, the bulls have failed to achieve a strong rebound. This shows that the bulls are cautious at these levels. If the price fails to scale above the moving averages within the next few days, we anticipate the bears to make another attempt to sink the price below the $7,702.87 to $7,337.78 support zone. If this zone gives way, the BTC/USD pair might nosedive to $5,500. Such a move will be a huge negative but we give it a low probability of occurring.We will wait for the price to climb above the $8,777.89 to $9,080 overhead resistance before turning positive.ETH/USDEther (ETH) has gradually dipped to the first support at $173.841. If this support fails to hold, the correction can deepen to $161.056 and below it to $151.829. A breakdown of $151.829 will resume the downtrend.ETH USD daily chart. Source: TradingviewConversely, if the price rebounds off $173.841, a few days of range-bound action between $173.841 and $197.75 is likely.While most other cryptocurrencies are struggling to hold their support levels, the ETH/USD pair has not given up much ground. Hence, during the next up move, the pair is likely to be at the front of the rally. Therefore, we are not recommending traders to close their long positions yet. They can protect their positions with stops at $150.XRP/USDXRP dipped below $0.24 on Nov. 18, which triggered our suggested stop loss on the long positions. The bulls are currently attempting to defend the support at $0.24508. However, the downsloping 20-day EMA and the RSI close to the oversold territory indicates that bears have the upper hand.XRP USD daily chart. Source: TradingviewIf the bears sink the price below $0.024508, a retest of the yearly low at $0.22 will be on the cards. A break below this level will be a huge negative as it will resume the downtrend.Contrary to our assumption, if the XRP/USD pair rebounds off the current levels, the bulls will try to keep it range-bound between $0.24508 and $0.31491 for the next few days. We will wait for a new buy setup to form before turning positive.BCH/USDBitcoin Cash (BCH) plunged below the 50-day SMA on Nov. 18 and is currently threatening to break below the critical support at $241.85. If this support breaks down, a retest of $203.36 is possible. The 20-day EMA has started to turn down and the RSI has dipped into the negative zone, which shows that bears are in command.BTC USD daily chart. Source: TradingviewContrary to our assumption, if the price turns around from the current levels, the bulls will attempt to push it above the 20-day EMA. If successful, a move to $306.78 is likely. We will wait for the decline to end and the price to form a reliable buy pattern before recommending taking a long position.LTC/USDThe tight consolidation in Litecoin (LTC) resolved to the downside on Nov. 18, with a break below the 50-day SMA. The next support on the downside is $50 and below it $47.1851. If this support zone cracks, the downtrend will resume. Therefore, traders can protect their long positions with stops at $47.LTC USD daily chart. Source: TradingviewIf the bulls defend the support at $50, the LTC/USD pair will extend its stay inside the $50 to $62.0764 range for a few more days. The pair will pick up momentum on a breakout of $66.1486.EOS/USDThe bulls have held the support at $2.9980 for the past two days but have failed to achieve a strong bounce off it. This shows a lack of aggressive buying at the support level. Unless the price quickly rebounds off the current levels, EOS could slip below the support at $2.9980. Below this support, a retest of $2.4001 is possible.EOS USD daily chart. Source: TradingviewConversely, if the EOS/USD pair rebounds off $2.9980, it might remain range-bound between $2.9980 and $3.69 for a few days. The pair will pick up momentum on a break above $3.69.BNB/USDThe bears have made a strong comeback in Binance Coin (BNB). The price has plunged below both the moving averages and is currently challenging the support at $18.30. This is an important level to watch out for because the uptrend line is also located close by. A break below this level can sink the price to $16.50.The 20-day EMA has started to slope down and the RSI has dropped into the negative territory, which shows that bears have the edge.BNB USD daily chart. Source: TradingviewHowever, if the bulls defend the support at $18.30, the BNB/USD pair might consolidate between $18.30 and $21.2378 for a few more days. The pair will pick up momentum above $21.80. Traders can retain the stop loss on the long positions at $16.BSV/USDBitcoin SV (BSV) broke below the descending channel on Nov. 19 and is currently threatening to break below the critical support at $107. If this level cracks, the next support is at $92.693.BSV USD daily chart. Source: TradingviewThe 20-day EMA has turned down and the RSI has dipped close to the oversold zone, which shows that bears are in the driver’s seat.Our negative view will be invalidated if the bulls defend the support at $107. This will be a positive sign as it will indicate demand at lower levels. A bounce off $107 can carry the price to $155.380. We will wait for a new buy setup to form before turning positive.XLM/USDStellar (XLM) is looking weak as the bulls have failed to defend the 50-day SMA. There is minor support at $0.062122 below which a drop to $0.0560 is possible. The 20-day EMA has started to slope down and the RSI has dipped into the negative territory, which shows that bears have the upper hand.XLM USD daily chart. Source: TradingviewContrary to our assumption, if the XLM/USD pair bounces off $0.062122, it will indicate that bulls are using the dips to accumulate. The recovery attempt will face resistance at the moving averages, above which a move to $0.088708 is possible. We do not find a reliable buy setup at the current levels, hence, we are not suggesting taking a position at this time.TRX/USDTron (TRX) has broken below the 50-day SMA. It is currently falling inside a descending channel. The 20-day EMA has started to turn down and the RSI has dipped back into the negative zone, which suggests that bears are in command.TRX USD daily chart. Source: TradingviewThe TRX/USD pair can now dip to the support line of the descending channel, which is close to the horizontal support at $0.0157773. If this support holds, the pair will extend its stay inside the channel.However, if the bears sink the price below the channel, the down move will pick up momentum. The next support on the downside is $0.0136655 and below it is $0.0116262. We will wait for the price to break out and sustain above the channel before turning positive.The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.Market data is provided by HitBTC exchange. […]

French law enforcement’s cybercrime unit has validated judicial expenses incurred during investigations on the Tezos blockchain. The French Armies and Gendarmerie’s Information and Public Relations Center has validated judicial expenses incurred during investigations on the Tezos (XTZ) blockchain.A press release published on Nov. 20 notes that the Gendarmerie’s cybercrime division (C3N) used the system to buy cryptocurrency from Europol-allocated funds and cover its operational costs with those assets.Blockchain ensures the ability to auditTezos’ main development and research center, Nomadic Labs, claims that the system employs “the first smart contract ever developed by a public authority.” The program enables C3N to buy cryptocurrency from Europol-allocated funds and cover its operational costs with those assets.Using a blockchain-based system reportedly simplifies administration and procedures, and ensures the ability to audit and traceability of funds. The smart contract that regulates the functioning of the system only interacts with authorized individuals and enables C3N to justify expenses without disclosing operational activities.Governments are showing an increasing interest in blockchain technology. Recently, during BlockShow Asia 2019, experts stated that blockchain technology enables ecosystem connectivity by sharing information in a trustless, decentralized fashion, which in turn could enable a new form of governance.In a recent instance of blockchain being used in a government administration, China’s Zhejiang province has already processed nearly $6 billion via a blockchain medical billing platform using Ant Financial’s blockchain technology. […]