Bitcoin Daily: French Tobacco Shops Have Bitcoin For Sale; China Mobile Creates Blockchain Water Purifier

Coinbase reportedly stopped all Ethereum Classic (ETC) transactions following a potential so-called “double spend” attack, The Hacker News reported. The cryptocurrency exchange found “repeated deep reorganizations” of the digital currency’s blockchain. According to the outlet, attackers reportedly took coins that had been spent from those that received them, before moving them to new entities that they reportedly selected. To keep its customers’ funds safe, the company said in a blog post that it “immediately paused interactions with the ETC blockchain.”

On another note, China Mobile’s Internet of Things (IoT) unit has tied blockchain technology to a water purifier, CoinDesk reported. The purifier, which has an IoT module and computing chip, takes in data that could be beneficial to both suppliers and manufacturers. Customers, in turn, will reportedly be given a digital token called PWMC that can be used toward replacement filters or other kinds of products. China Mobile IoT Product Market Director Xiao Yi said, according to the outlet, “Our goal is to also attract those who are not in the cryptocurrency or blockchain community, who may have heard of this technology, but not necessarily understand it.”

In other news, Engiven said it has rolled out a platform to help nonprofits learn how to take donations through digital currency, Venture Beat reported. The company seeks to fill a void in a market, where nonprofits may lack the knowledge or technology to take in cryptocurrency donations. Engiven Co-founder James Lawrence said in a statement, as cited by the outlet, “As the industry grew, it became apparent that most nonprofits did not have the clarity or resources to leverage this new asset class, and we saw that as a greatly missed fundraising opportunity.”

Some tobacco shops in France are beginning to sell bitcoin, in addition to items like cigarettes, lottery tickets and cigars, Reuters reported. Keplerk, a FinTech group in the country, helped six Paris-area tobacco stores offer the cryptocurrency for sale. Keplerk Co-founder Adil Zakhar is looking to have 6,500 stores signed up when February rolls around. Zakhar said, according to Reuters, “Some people find it complicated to get bitcoins online. They trust their local tobacco shop owner more than they would trust some remote, anonymous website.”