2019 is the year of building cryptocurrency infrastructure. While the longest winter in the history of the cryptocurrency market continues breaking the record of 2011, the crypto community is striving in many ways to resemble Wall Street. The U.S. stock market, which is the largest in the world, has become the standard in the development of new cryptocurrency asset storage systems. But to what extent does the market need crypto custody services?
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decenter.org
Why There’s No Demand for Cryptocurrency Storage Services?
Every other company is offering more elaborate ways of storing cryptos, but the services are not in demand.
Opponents of cryptocurrencies often claim that crypto coins are massively being used in money laundering, drug trafficking, weapons sales, financial crimes, and terrorist financing. The media regularly publish articles about new hacker attacks on crypto exchanges or money laundering through Bitcoins. We figured out what is behind such infamy and what the scale of the problem really is.
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decenter.org
Cryptocurrencies and Crime: What Do the Statistics Say?
Crime is often committed with the use of money, and in this sense, cryptos are still significantly lagging behind traditional cash.
📨 #DeCenterDaily
🌐 According to a recent investor update, the Telegram Open Network (TON) is now 90% complete, with the test network scheduled to launch next month.
via The Block
🤝 Cryptocurrency brokerage startup Voyager is going public in Canada through structuring the deal with an inactive mineral exploration company as a reverse merger.
via CoinDesk
👥 A recent survey of Amazon customers found that 12.7 percent of respondents would feel comfortable purchasing cryptocurrencies under the company’s brand.
via Investing.com
🇰🇷 South Korea’s central bank stated in its latest report that the issuance of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) would lead to a decrease in liquidity and growth in interest rates.
via Bitcoin.com
💸 CENTRE Consortium released a report claiming that USD Coin (USDC) is the second-largest stablecoin, with over 5.5 billion tokens transferred on-chain as of the end of the previous month.
via Cointelegraph
🌐 According to a recent investor update, the Telegram Open Network (TON) is now 90% complete, with the test network scheduled to launch next month.
via The Block
🤝 Cryptocurrency brokerage startup Voyager is going public in Canada through structuring the deal with an inactive mineral exploration company as a reverse merger.
via CoinDesk
👥 A recent survey of Amazon customers found that 12.7 percent of respondents would feel comfortable purchasing cryptocurrencies under the company’s brand.
via Investing.com
🇰🇷 South Korea’s central bank stated in its latest report that the issuance of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) would lead to a decrease in liquidity and growth in interest rates.
via Bitcoin.com
💸 CENTRE Consortium released a report claiming that USD Coin (USDC) is the second-largest stablecoin, with over 5.5 billion tokens transferred on-chain as of the end of the previous month.
via Cointelegraph
ICO_Market_Quarterly_Analysis_Q4_2018.pdf
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The ICObench rating service has released its quarterly report covering the state of initial coin offerings. The analysis shows that in Q4 of 2018, the number of concluded campaigns exceeded that of the previous quarter, while the amount of raised funds dropped by 25%.
Attached is the full report.
Attached is the full report.
The U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York has ruled that the Winklevoss brothers, founders of a cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, must pay back $45,000 in legal fees incurred by entrepreneur Charlie Shrem.
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Cointelegraph
Winklevoss Twins to Pay Out $45,000 in Legal Fees to Charlie Shrem After New Ruling
The court decision comes after an asset freeze on Shrem was halted in November of last year.
This week’s #CryptoCaselawMinute takes a look at the cases that involve the topics of money transmission, arbitration, and misrepresentation.
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Medium
Crypto Caselaw Minute #22–2/7/2019
Bitcoin string cites, click wrap arb clauses, and crypto con-men: This week’s CCM covers a new case dealing with Federal law money…
South Korea’s major cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb has officially launched an over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk under the Ortus brand.
“… there is no real solution for an aggregated liquidity provider or a trusted interdealer where Institutions can trade these assets. To fill this market gap, Ortus will operate to allow institutions to buy and sell digital assets through a network of global liquidity providers and benefit from a competitive and best price execution service,” said company’s director.
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“… there is no real solution for an aggregated liquidity provider or a trusted interdealer where Institutions can trade these assets. To fill this market gap, Ortus will operate to allow institutions to buy and sell digital assets through a network of global liquidity providers and benefit from a competitive and best price execution service,” said company’s director.
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CoinDesk
Crypto Exchange Bithumb Launches OTC Trading Desk for Digital Assets
Crypto exchange Bithumb has launched a global OTC trading desk for digital assets based in Hong Kong.
Credit Suisse, one of the world’s largest investment banks, has completed a blockchain trial for fund transactions.
“With the successful completion of real, live transactions, we were able to prove that considerable benefits can be achieved with distributed ledger technology,” said Pascal Nageli, chief digital officer at Credit Suisse Asset Management.
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“With the successful completion of real, live transactions, we were able to prove that considerable benefits can be achieved with distributed ledger technology,” said Pascal Nageli, chief digital officer at Credit Suisse Asset Management.
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Cointelegraph
Credit Suisse Completes Joint Mutual Fund Transactions Using Blockchain
Global investment bank Credit Suisse and Banco Best completed end-to-end fund transactions on blockchain.
📨 #DeCenterDaily
🔍 Canada’s largest securities regulator has started looking into the infamous Canadian cryptocurrency exchange, QuadrigaCX.
via Reuters
🗓 The launch date of the Intercontinental Exchange’s long-awaited Bakkt platform remains unclear.
via Cointelegraph
🇧🇷 A Brazil-based cryptocurrency exchange Mercado Bitcoin has won a case over the closure of its bank account.
via Bitcoin.com
🇲🇺 An African state of Mauritius will introduce licensing of digital asset custodians in an attempt to become the region’s fintech hub.
via CoinDesk
💧 IBM has started piloting the blockchain technology for monitoring groundwater usage in the U.S. state of California.
via Forbes
🔍 Canada’s largest securities regulator has started looking into the infamous Canadian cryptocurrency exchange, QuadrigaCX.
via Reuters
🗓 The launch date of the Intercontinental Exchange’s long-awaited Bakkt platform remains unclear.
via Cointelegraph
🇧🇷 A Brazil-based cryptocurrency exchange Mercado Bitcoin has won a case over the closure of its bank account.
via Bitcoin.com
🇲🇺 An African state of Mauritius will introduce licensing of digital asset custodians in an attempt to become the region’s fintech hub.
via CoinDesk
💧 IBM has started piloting the blockchain technology for monitoring groundwater usage in the U.S. state of California.
via Forbes
Addressing the students of the University of Missouri School of Law, Hester Peirce—one of five commissioners on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)—expressed her views on the relationships that entrepreneurship and innovation have with regulation.
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The Block
Hester Peirce: tokens sold for use in a functioning network are not securities
Hester Peirce, one of five commissioners on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), spoke Friday about what she believes is the optimal level of regulation while fostering innovation and entrepreneurship. Pierce reiterated that the SEC applies existing…
A California-based asset manager Reality Shares has filed a prospectus to list an exchange-traded fund that would include Bitcoin futures and sovereign debt instruments tied to national currencies.
Initially, the company intends to invest in futures contracts trading on Cboe and CME, but at some point, it may expand to other marketplaces as well.
The fund has limited the amount of money it would potentially put in digital assets to 15% as it believes the SEC may still not be willing to greenlight a full-blown crypto ETF.
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Initially, the company intends to invest in futures contracts trading on Cboe and CME, but at some point, it may expand to other marketplaces as well.
The fund has limited the amount of money it would potentially put in digital assets to 15% as it believes the SEC may still not be willing to greenlight a full-blown crypto ETF.
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CoinDesk
New Proposed ETF Would Mix Bitcoin Futures With Sovereign Debt - CoinDesk
An ETF proposal filed Monday would invest in bitcoin futures and the sovereign debt of several developed countries.
Security firm ESET has discovered a malicious application that impersonated MetaMask, a browser extension for accessing Ethereum-powered decentralized applications, on Google Play Store.
The malware was designed to steal users’ credentials and private keys and also replace a Bitcoin or Ether recipient address with that of the attacker.
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The malware was designed to steal users’ credentials and private keys and also replace a Bitcoin or Ether recipient address with that of the attacker.
Read More »
Cointelegraph
Fake MetaMask Crypto Malware Pulled From Google Play After Tipoff
An app masquerading as DApp MetaMask contained malware that aimed to steal coins by replacing wallet addresses.
Starting from March 1, the law SF0125 on “Digital Assets” enters into force in the U.S. state of Wyoming, which has delighted many supporters of cryptocurrencies. As early as the beginning of December 2018, DeCenter found out that a group of experts was gathering in Wyoming to take part in drafting the cryptocurrency law. On December 4, DeCenter sent a letter to the organizers, expressing support for their undertaking. Four days later, a response was received from Steven Lupien, executive director of the Wyoming state working group on changing the rules for the treatment of special types of assets, in which he expressed gratitude for the solidarity.
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decenter.org
Wyoming Is Not Alone in Recognizing Cryptocurrencies as Money: What’s Next?
Cryptocurrencies have encroached onto the state of Wyoming, and other states (even countries) are up next.
Before implementing the Confidential Transactions technology, Litecoin developers will release the Litecoin Improvement Proposal (LIP)—akin to those existing in Bitcoin and Ethereum communities—to gather public opinion.
Source: https://goo.gl/BVrLLx
Source: https://goo.gl/BVrLLx
📨 #DeCenterDaily
💵 Despite the returning of funds, investors who used Bitcoin and Ether—and not the U.S. dollar—to buy into the failed stablecoin project Basis at the pre-sale report significant losses due to the cryptocurrency market slump.
via The Block
📉 Median transaction fees on the Bitcoin network have dropped to the 2014 levels.
via Cointelegraph
🤝 General Motors Financial has partnered with a blockchain startup Spring Labs aiming to combat identity fraud.
via Forbes
🗓 Square CEO Jack Dorsey has said “it’s not an ‘if,’ it’s more of a ‘when’” regarding the company’s possible integration with the Lighting network.
via CoinDesk
🇵🇭 Major Philippines bank Union Bank has announced the launch of the country’s first two-way cryptocurrency ATM.
via ccn
💵 Despite the returning of funds, investors who used Bitcoin and Ether—and not the U.S. dollar—to buy into the failed stablecoin project Basis at the pre-sale report significant losses due to the cryptocurrency market slump.
via The Block
📉 Median transaction fees on the Bitcoin network have dropped to the 2014 levels.
via Cointelegraph
🤝 General Motors Financial has partnered with a blockchain startup Spring Labs aiming to combat identity fraud.
via Forbes
🗓 Square CEO Jack Dorsey has said “it’s not an ‘if,’ it’s more of a ‘when’” regarding the company’s possible integration with the Lighting network.
via CoinDesk
🇵🇭 Major Philippines bank Union Bank has announced the launch of the country’s first two-way cryptocurrency ATM.
via ccn
Blockchain surveillance firm Chainalysis raised a whopping $30 million in Series B funding. The company seeks to invest new capital in its product development and a new research and development facility in the U.K.
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The Block
Chainalysis scores $30 million to expand into UK with new research and development lab
Chainalysis, a firm that provides governments and companies tools to scan blockchains for nefarious activity, raised a whopping $30 million, the firm announced Tuesday. The Series B, which brings the total amount raised to $48 million, was led by Accel…
Morgan Creek Digital has secured $40 million in funding from two large pension funds that have more than $5 billion in assets under management. A newly established venture capital fund will invest in the blockchain industry.
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Coindesk
Two Public Pensions Anchor Morgan Creek's New $40 Million Venture Fund
In a potential first for the crypto investment sector, two U.S. public pension funds are dipping their toes in Morgan Creek's latest vehicle.
Ripple, Barclays, the Mastercard Foundation, and MIT Media Lab have backed a $1.7 million round for SendFriend, a remittance firm that will use the XRP cryptocurrency as a bridge currency for settling payments.
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Cointelegraph
Ripple, Mastercard and Barclays Invest in Ripple-Based Remittance Firm SendFriend
Remittance company SendFriend has received a $1.7 million investment from investors including Ripple, Mastercard Foundation, MIT Media Lab and Barclays.
At the end of January, the head of the global interbank SWIFT network Gottfried Leibbrandt announced the launch of a joint project with the R3 blockchain banking consortium. As part of the partnership, a new payment standard will be launched, which will use the Corda blockchain for payments. How does the new initiative differ from previous attempts by SWIFT to integrate DLT solutions into its infrastructure, and why could this be a new milestone in the development of the crypto industry?
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decenter.org
Why Does SWIFT Need a Blockchain, or How Does the New Payment Gateway Work?
SWIFT finally joins the blockchain industry to keep up with the competition.
Facebook, the world’s largest social network, has acquired the Chainspace blockchain project, which was founded by researchers from University College London. The secret deal, according to Cheddar, took place at the end of January, and it was initially unclear whether social media only hired the developers or bought the startup. Mark Zuckerberg’s company is not the only social media platform embracing the blockchain tech. Why did Facebook become interested in blockchain development, and why was there demand for decentralized social networks?
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decenter.org
The Beginning of an Era of Decentralized Social Networks, or Why Facebook Is Acquiring Blockchain Startups
Decentralized networks are making their way into users’ hearts.
📨 #DeCenterDaily
💴 Japan-based IT giant GMO Internet has announced that it will issue a Japanese yen-pegged stablecoin dubbed GYEN by the end of the year.
via Cointelegraph
🗓 Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume, plans to release its decentralized exchange for public testing on February 20.
via Twitter
👁🗨 According to a recent analysis, more than 85% of the Monero network is currently dominated by ASIC miners.
via Bitcoin.com
👋 A co-founder of China-based Bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer Canaan has decided to step down from his position as a board member due to having a different opinion on the firm’s strategy.
via CoinDesk
👩⚖️ LocalBitcoins, the world’s largest peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange, has announced it will comply with the European Union’s new anti-money laundering directive.
via The Block
💴 Japan-based IT giant GMO Internet has announced that it will issue a Japanese yen-pegged stablecoin dubbed GYEN by the end of the year.
via Cointelegraph
🗓 Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume, plans to release its decentralized exchange for public testing on February 20.
via Twitter
👁🗨 According to a recent analysis, more than 85% of the Monero network is currently dominated by ASIC miners.
via Bitcoin.com
👋 A co-founder of China-based Bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer Canaan has decided to step down from his position as a board member due to having a different opinion on the firm’s strategy.
via CoinDesk
👩⚖️ LocalBitcoins, the world’s largest peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange, has announced it will comply with the European Union’s new anti-money laundering directive.
via The Block