Venezuelan Gov’t Releases Crypto Calculator + More Crypto Briefs

Crypto Briefs is your daily bite-sized digest of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related news – keeping you up-to-date with under the radar crypto news from around the world.

Cryptocurrency News

• The Venezuelan government has announced it will release a currency convertor app for Android smartphones. Sunacrip, the government’s cryptocurrency supervisory body, says the app, named the Petro Calculator, can convert pairs of fiats and cryptocurrencies. Compatible fiats include USD, the euro and the bolivar, and the cryptocurrencies are bitcoin, litecoin, dash and petro. Prices, says Sunacrip, are updated every minute.
• Japanese newspaper Asahi advises on cryptocurrency inheritance issues, with a comment from financial giant Mitsubishi UFJ. The latter advises making a list of cryptocurrency assets for next-of-kin, and advises crypto holders to consider keeping login information and passwords in a safe place that can be accessed only in the event of their death. (Read more: FinalMessage – Last Resort Security For Your Crypto

Blockchain News

• Messaging giant Telegram has finally released code and documentation for a testnet of its TON blockchain. As reported, some investors in Telegram’s new digital token, the Gram, reportedly will immediately be able to sell their coins once they are delivered within the next two months.
• South Korean telecoms giant KT is to launch blockchain-powered healthcare platform, reports Fn News. The company has teamed up with mobile health provider Lemon Healthcare on the platform, and will make use of smart contract technology to let customers make appointments, receive prescriptions, pay and make insurance claims.
• A South Korean journalist has explored the hows and whys of K-pop gaint SM Entertainment’s decision to move into the blockchain sphere last week. The journalist says, in a Hankyung report, that the reasons may be financial, as SM has experienced lower-than-expected financial results of late. The writer also moots a possible collaboration with telecoms provider SK. SK has been working with SM since 2017, and the former has already developed its own blockchain platform and blockchain business model.
• South Korea’s Sejong Cyber University will begin offering free online blockchain courses, per a Kuki News report. The courses will be available as of this month, and have been created in conjunction with the Korea Information Security Society, Seoul National University and the Ministry of Education. Units include blockchain basic principles; blockchain and information protection; and blockchain application and practice.

Cryptocurrency exchange news

• The Monex Group CEO Oki Matsumoto was interviewed by media outlet Diamond Online. The company operates the Coincheck exchange in Japan. In the interview, the CEO said he reached out to Facebook about Libra on the day the project was announced, and received a reply saying that Monex was the first Asian company to get in touch with Facebook about possible Libra collaboration.