Welcome to Moonday Mornings, Hard Fork’s wrap-up of the weekend’s top cryptocurrency and blockchain headlines you shouldn’t miss.
Take a look at what happened over the past weekend.
1. Ethereum dev conspires with North Korea
US authorities have arrested developer Virgil Griffith, who has most recently been working at the Ethereum Foundation, for consulting with North Korea on how to use cryptocurrency to evade sanctions.
“Despite receiving warnings not to go, Griffith allegedly traveled to one of the United States’ foremost adversaries, North Korea, where he taught his audience how to use blockchain technology to evade sanctions,” assistant attorney general John Demers said in a US Department of Justice statement.
2. German banks could hold and store crypto from next year
The 💜 of EU tech
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
Next year, Banks in Germany will be regulated to offer cryptocurrency products. New legislation in the fourth EU Money Laundering Directive will allow banks in the country to hold and sell cryptocurrency.
The bill was passed by the country’s federal parliament and is now expected to be given the green light by Germany’s 16 states, CoinDesk reports.
3. Israeli cryptocurrency mogul is being sued for fraud, again
Moshe Hogeg, the founder and Co-CEO of Sirin Labs, is being sued over another one of his token offerings. A new federal court lawsuit has been lodged against Hogeg and his company Stox Technologies in Seattle.
The plaintiff claims that they lost over $430,000 after investing in Stox and that their decision to do so was based on statements in the company’s whitepaper. The plaintiff is also accusing Hogeg of using investor money to buy land in Tel Aviv and one of Israel’s top soccer teams, The Block reports.
This isn’t the first time Hogeg has faced allegations of this nature.
4. Blockchain could save food industry $31B by 2024
According to figures from UK based tech industry researchers Juniper Research, blockchain-based technologies could save the global food industry more than $31 billion over the next four years.
It says that substantial savings can be realized by immutably tracking food across the supply chain to reduce food fraud. Using blockchain technologies, supply chains are expected to streamline and be easier to regulate and make compliant, further reducing costs.
And finally…
5. IBM wants to stop package stealing drones with blockchain
Numerous commerce firms, like Amazon, are working on delivery drones, but not everyone believes the devices will be honest. Earlier this month, IBM won a patent to use blockchain to prevent delivery drones from stealing your packages.
In short, IBM thinks that it can use a sensor and a blockchain to track the journey of a drone delivered package. If the sensor detects that something isn’t quite right about the journey, it’ll alert the package’s recipient.
That’s all well and good, but what happens if a drone does fly off with your package? Logic would assume it’d be the same situation if your package didn’t arrive by any other means. A solution looking for a problem?
Well, there you have it.
Now go get on with your week. See you next time.
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.