Crypto Flipsider News – Musk Buys Twitter; Google blockchain node; Hong Kong crypto hub; Ripple milestone by DailyCoin

Read in the summary:

• Elon Musk completes $44b Twitter deal, Binance confirms investment

• Google (NASDAQ:) introduces cloud-based Blockchain Node Engine for

• Hong Kong is considering legalizing retail crypto trading to become a crypto hub

• Now has less than half of the total XRP supply in a major milestone

Elon Musk completes $44b Twitter deal, Binance confirms investment

The world’s richest man and self-proclaimed Doge father, Elon Musk, who previously said his bid to acquire Twitter was for the sake of humanity, has announced the completion on his Twitter page, tweeting “The bird is freed.”

After months of back-and-forth and lawsuits, Elon Musk finally closed on his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter Thursday night. Musk, now finally CEO of Twitter, hopes to make changes including monetizing creators and also reducing the number of bots on the platform.

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, also participated as an equity investor in the takeover. CEO Changpeng Zhao confirmed the participation by tweeting that Binance had linked around $500 million “two days ago.”

Continuing with the changes on the microblogging platform, Twitter announced that it will allow users to buy, sell and display non-fungible tokens (NFTs) directly through Tweets via partnerships with four NFT marketplaces.

Flip pages:

• Following Elon Musk’s takeover, several members of Twitter’s C-suite have been fired, including the company’s CEO, CFO and legal head.

Why you should care

Crypto experts believe that Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter could benefit the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Google Introduces Cloud-Based Blockchain Node Engine for Ethereum

On Thursday, October 27, tech giant Google announced that it will launch a cloud-based node engine for Ethereum developers and projects, called the Blockchain Node Engine.

Google explained in its announcement that developers can use the Blockchain Node Engine to deploy a new node, ideally making the process easier, faster and ultimately more secure.

In addition, Google’s Blockchain Node Engine will be a “fully managed service”, helping developers by actively monitoring the nodes and restarting them if something goes wrong.

James Tromans, who leads Google Cloud Platform’s Web 3.0 product, explained that the services offer several advantages over competing node providers where you share “nodes with many other customers and you don’t retain configurability.”

Flip pages:

• Tromans also notes that while it is starting with Ethereum, since it is the most widely used blockchain, it hopes to support other chains in the future.

Why you should care

Google’s Blockchain Node Engine solves two significant problems for Ethereum developers, the time it takes to launch a node and the pain of keeping it running.

Hong Kong is considering legalizing retail crypto trading to become a crypto hub

Recent reports suggest that China’s autonomous special administrative region, Hong Kong, is considering plans to legalize retail cryptocurrency trading to eventually establish itself as a global financial hub.

According to people familiar with the matter, Hong Kong authorities may enforce a friendly crypto-regulatory framework in March 2023. In addition, the framework is said to legalize crypto-retail trading and listings of leading digital assets.

The report also suggests that the Hong Kong government will announce its intention to become a global crypto hub during a fintech conference starting next week.

However, crypto platforms will soon be required to apply for a license to offer retail trading in 2023. Further information on the subject is expected to be announced shortly after public hearings are held.

Flip pages:

• The move contrasts with mainland China, where cryptocurrencies and mining has been banned.

Why you should care

In recent months, Hong Kong has gradually turned its focus towards the crypto industry and could also be a big proponent of the next bull market.

Ripple now has less than half of the total XRP supply in a major milestone

In its third quarter report published on October 27, Ripple Labs revealed that it has reached a major milestone as the amount of XRP tokens held by the company fell below 50% (50 billion XRP) for the first time ever.

The milestone also settles the centralization criticism of Ripple, as the company controlled most of the token’s supply. Ripple further rejects centralization claims saying that it only operates four of the 130 existing validator nodes.

Ripple also announced in its report that it sold $408 million worth of XRP tokens in the second quarter and a total of $310.68 million of XRP tokens in the third quarter.

According to Ripple, the company will continue to sell the token only in conjunction with its on-demand liquidity (ODL) product, where XRP is used to seamlessly bridge two fiat currencies.

Flip pages:

• Ripple and the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) are expected to file response briefs to bring the long-running lawsuit to an end next month.

Why you should care

The milestone highlights that the growing “real world utility” of XRP continues to grow through its use to settle cross-border payments via Ripple ODL.

See the original on DailyCoin