Thursday August 9 2018, Daily News Digest

United States

Coinbase Increases Daily Cryptocurrency Transaction Limit To $ 25,000, Enables Instant Trading (Ethereum World News), Rated: AAA

Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange platform in the United States, has taken another step in improving the user experience of traders on its platform. The San Francisco-based exchange service has increased its purchase limit from $25,000 a week to a day.

Ripple Tumbles 20.09% In Rout (Investing.com), Rated: AAA

Ripple was trading at 0.34272 by 04:05 (08:05 GMT) on the Investing.com Index on Wednesday, down 20.09% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage loss since January 16.

Over $ 9 billion wiped off bitcoin’s value after SEC postpones key decision on a cryptocurrency ETF (CNBC), Rated: AAA

Bitcoin fell sharply on Wednesday after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) delayed a decision on a proposed bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), which would have been the first financial product of its kind.

Cryptocurrency markets fell as a result. Bitcoin was down around 6 percent from 24 hours ago at 4:12 p.m. New York time, trading at just over $6,300, according to data from CoinDesk.

Bitcoin Loses $ 7,000 Support After ETF Delay, Altcoins Suffer Large Losses (CoinTelegraph), Rated: AAA

Bitcoin (BTC) prices broke below the $7,000 support level late August 7 to hit lows on Wednesday, August 8 not seen since mid-July, as 99 out of the 100 coins on CoinMarketCap see red.

At press time, BTC was trading around $6,499, down around 8.5 percent on the day and capping a turbulent three weeks in which the largest cryptocurrency gained and lost up to 20 percent.

Tuesday’s move below $7,000 means the coin has almost come full circle since it rapidly gained over $1,000 over a two-day period ending on July 17.

ETH is trading around $366 at press time, matching 2018 lows seen in early April.

SEC delay on cryptocurrency ETF is more a speed bump than a red flag, market insiders say (MarketWatch), Rated: A

Despite the setback on the application submitted by VanEck and SolidX and the ensuing 10% fall in the price of bitcoin BTCUSD, +2.11% , market participants remain upbeat that the delay was just that: a delay.

“I think it was broadly expected,” said Matt Hougan, global head of research at Bitwise Asset Management, when asked about the SEC’s decision to push back its ruling to Sept. 30. “It showed generally that the regulators are wrestling carefully but still [have] a number of issues that require clarity.”

Current Bitcoin Demand is 90% Driven by Speculation, Not Illegal Acts, DEA Agent Says (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A

An overwhelming majority of bitcoin transactions are taking place between speculators, says Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Agent Lilita Infante.

Infante told Bloomberg recently that in the five years since she began doing forensics on Bitcoin’s immutable ledger, the ratio of illegal activity she detects being conducted in bitcoins has flipped from 90% to 10.

The crypto market has lost 20% of its value in 2 weeks and bitcoin is still dropping (Business Insider), Rated: AAA

Bitcoin is down almost 3% to $6,521.47 at 12.45 a.m. BST (7.45 a.m. ET). Over the last 24 hours, it is down around 7%. The cryptocurrency has fallen 13% since the start of the month.

Other major digital tokens are also under pressure on Wednesday:

• Ethereum is down 2.5% to $368.18
• XRP is down 6.9% to $0.35
• Bitcoin Cash is down 5.2% to $621.40
• EOS is down 8.4% to $6.07
• Stellar is down 6% to $0.21
• Litecoin is down 1.8% to $66.11

Here’s the best time to buy bitcoin, according to Yale data (CNBC), Rated: A

The price of bitcoin is known for wild swings — after all, it’s a decentralized cryptocurrency that isn’t backed by any government.

Case in point: Wednesday, bitcoin’s price dropped by over 8 percent after reports that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission delayed a decision on a new type of financial product around the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin traded near $6,450 at 10:30 a.m. EST, according to industry website CoinDesk.

So it might seem impossible for the average investor to figure out which way the digital asset is headed, but a new report by two Yale University economists analyzing historical price patterns suggests there are actually two indicators you can use to get an idea.

1. The “momentum effect”

The first significant factor is momentum: The report found that if the price of bitcoin increased sharply over a week, it would be likely to continue to increase for the following week, Tsyvinski tells CNBC Make It.

2. The “investor attention effect”

Second, Tsyvinski and Liu found the amount of interest and hype around cryptocurrencies, measured by investors searching and posting online, was a significant predictor of price movements.

Litecoin Falls 10.92% In Bearish Trade (Investing.com), Rated: AAA

Litecoin was trading at $62.606 by 17:35 (21:35 GMT) on the Investing.com Index on Wednesday, down 10.92% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage loss since June 22.

Ripple (XRP) and Litecoin (LTC) See 2018 Lows, Altcoin Markets Struggling (Bitcoin Exchange Guide), Rated: A

Due to the postponed Bitcoin ETF decision by the SEC, the cryptocurrency markets witnessed quite a blow off despite just being a delay vs denial outcome. The overall market cap went from $255 billion to currently sitting at $233 billion and caused many alt-coins to experience 2018 year lows.

Ripple’s XRP Coin Reaches 2018 Low

The third largest cryptocurrency by market cap, XRP fell to a 2018 low on Wednesday. The cryptocurrency dropped to $0.35 which is seven cents from the previous yearly low of $0.42 in July. Notably, the current price stands at its lowest level since December 12, 2017, days before XRP along with most other cryptos shot up to all-time-highs over $3 amid a bull run on the crypto market.

XRP is down close to 90% over an 8-month period.

Litecoin (LTC) Cryptocurrency Hits 2018 Price Point

Litecoin has dropped to its lowest point this year, declining 8.9% from its previous yearly low at $72.65, making it one of the biggest losers on August 7th.

Litecoin Price: Ongoing Decline may See Value Drop to $ 60 (NullTX), Rated: A

More specifically, the Litecoin price has declined by 11.65% in the past 24 hours. That is quite a large decline, although it is completely to be expected under the current circumstances. There is no indication Litecoin will maintain its $66 value either, as a further dip to $60 is not entirely out of the question at this stage. Speculators will hope things will never get to that point, albeit it may happen sooner rather than later.

As such, the $320m in 24-hour trades is mainly intent on driving the Litecoin price down even further, although the cryptocurrency markets are unpredictable first and foremost.

‘Unhackable’ Wallet Bitfi Denies It Has Been Hacked (CoinTelegraph), Rated: A

In July, cryptocurrency hardware wallet manufacturer Bitfi’s executive chairman, John McAfee, claimed that Bitfi was “the world’s first unhackable device,” urging security experts to breach its security for a $100,000 bounty.

Since then, a number of reports emerged that suggested Bitfi is not, in fact, “unhackable,” only to be dismissed by the wallet service as well as McAfeehimself, steadily making the bounty hunt seem like a tasteless PR stunt.

Bounty hunt quickly went wrong

Bitfi’s website elaborates on the bounty program, listing a number of “rules”: Essentially, those who wish to participate have to purchase a Bitfi wallet that is preloaded with coins for an additional $10 (the wallet itselfs costs $120, as mentioned above).

Crypto Exchange Bittrex Expands Adds Ethereum Classic and XRP Trading Pairs (CoinTelegraph), Rated: A

Cryptocurrency exchange and wallet service Bittrex has announced plans to launch U.S. dollar (USD) trading pairs for two new cryptocurrencies, according to an official announcement published August 8.

Per the announcement, Bittrex is looking to expand its fiat markets to Ethereum Classic (ETC) and Ripple (XRP) on August 20. The new trading pairs will be added to already listed dollar markets for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), and TrueUSD (TUSD).

You can buy Bitcoin ATM malware for $ 25,000 in the Dark Web (ZDNet), Rated: A

Malware specifically designed to target cryptocurrency ATMs has been located on the Dark Web — and the malicious code commands high prices.

According to Bitcoinist, roughly 3,500 cryptocurrency ATMs are in use, more than quadrupling in number over the course of 2017. Manufacturers Genesis Coin and General Bytes claim the lion’s share of the market.

Crypto ICO Metronome Raises $ 12 Million in Unconventional Auction (CoinDesk), Rated: A

Metronome supporters waited until the very end to buy the last available tokens.

As opposed to traditional ICOs, which have sought to reward early buyers, Metronome’s sale, completed Tuesday, was notable for seeking to sell its tokens at a progressively lower price each minute for up to seven days. Buyers let the auction run 6 days, 23 hours and 40 minutes, according to a post-mortem post by the team.

In total, the project sold 8 million MET tokens for 26,502.21 ETH – which the post valued at $12.1 million (approximately $10 million at time of writing) – from 1,443 different wallet addresses, making an average purchase of $3,623-worth of tokens each.

MIT’s tool for tracking police surveillance: a cryptographic ledger (Fast Company), Rated: A

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have proposed a cryptographically powered system they say could help the public track court orders that let law enforcement access people’s digital data without disclosing too much information.

The system, dubbed Accountability of Unreleased Data for Improved Transparency, or AUDIT, would create a digital ledger of data requests where prosecutors would agree to make their requests public at a later date, assuming court approval. Right now, many court orders approving access to cloud data are designed to be only temporarily sealed, but prosecutors and judges often don’t go back to unseal them once cases are resolved, the scientists say. Digitally committing to unseal the requests would let members of the public track whether the documents are, in fact, later made public.

Want to Short Ethereum? This Uber Vet Has Built a DEX for That. (CCN), Rated: A

Are you a bitcoin maximalist? Convinced that EOS is the “Ethereum killer?” Soon, you’ll have the opportunity to put your money where your mouth is, thanks to a new ethereum derivatives product from decentralized fintech startup dYdX.

The open-source platform, built on top of decentralized exchange (DEX) protocol 0x, uses smart contracts to allow investors to trade ether for tokens that function as options contracts tied to the price of ETH.

Tezos ICO Class Action Looms After Motion to Dismiss Denied (CoinDesk), Rated: A

A federal court judge in California has blocked a move that sought to dismiss a class action lawsuit alleging that the initial coin offering (ICO) conducted by the Tezos Foundation violated securities laws in the U.S.

DarcMatter offers trusted alternative investments via the blockchain (VentureBeat), Rated: A

A fintech company that offers investors a transparent process to access trusted alternative investment opportunities, DarcMatter has developed a blockchain-powered distributed ledger to provide enhanced transparency, security, and trust to the alternative investment industry and the global financial market.

SoundCloud on the blockchain? Audius raises $ 5.5M to decentralize music (TechCrunch), Rated: A

Audius wants to cut the middlemen out of music streaming so artists get paid their fair share. Coming out of stealth today led by serial entrepreneur and DJ Ranidu Lankage, Audius  is building a blockchain-based alternative to Spotify or SoundCloud.

Audius has raiseda $5.5 million Series A led by General Catalyst and Lightspeed, with participation from Kleiner Perkins, Pantera Capital, 122West and Ascolta Ventures.

This cryptocurrency-mining router got hot enough to fry an egg, so we did (CNet), Rated: A

Serves: 1

Time: 20 minutes in a frying pan, 15 minutes directly on the router.

What you’ll need:

• Eggs
• Cryptojacking malware
• Cooking spray
• A router

An Automated Smart Contract Creation Service Is Now Available (CrytoCoin Mastery), Rated: A

Fondu is a smart contract provider for ICOs that requires no developer or background in coding. The platform just requires a user to answer a few questions and it will develop the code for a smart contract soon after.

Stellar and Celsius Network Team Up in Strategic Partnership (Markets Insider), Rated: A

Working in conjunction Lightyear.io, a software company that commercializes projects in the Stellar ecosystem, Celsius Network will be a lending and borrowing partner for ICOs rolling out on the Stellar blockchain. Hundreds of exciting projects are using Stellar and will need access to dollars to scale their businesses.

Banks explore a safe deposit box for cryptocurrencies (American Banker), Rated: B

JPMorgan Chase, Northern Trust, Goldman Sachs and several other banks are developing new products to hold cryptocurrencies in custody, according to the companies and various media reports. Like safe deposit boxes, these custody services would help bitcoin investors defend against theft.

FOAM puts geospatial data on the blockchain–without GPS (Spar3D), Rated: B

FOAM is a company that specializes in protocols, applications and standards that connect geospatial data to the blockchain. FOAM is also the name of an open protocol for building a consensus-driven map of the world. This map will provide the basis for to-be-developed new applications in a range of verticals that can benefit from blockchain, a technology that focuses on decentralization and does away with intermediary parties.

Microsoft Introduces Ethereum Proof-of-Authority Algorithm on Azure (CoinTelegraph), Rated: B

Microsoft’s cloud platform Azure has introduced a proof-of-authority (PoA) algorithm on its Ethereum (ETH) blockchain product, according to a blog postAug. 7.

FIRST U.S. CONGRESS MEMBER REVEALS OWNING BITCOIN, ETHEREUM (Bitcoinist), Rated: B

Congressman Bob Goodlatte filed his annual Financial Disclosure Statement on May 10, disclosing that he owns between $17,000 and $80,000 in digital currencies.

International

ICO Market Doubled Since Last Year, Shows Increased Institutional Investment (CoinTelegraph), Rated: AAA

The Initial Coin Offering (ICO) market has more than doubled in a year according to ICORating’s ICO market report for the the second quarter of 2018, publishedAugust 8. ICORating is an independent rating agency that conducts independent analytical research evaluating ICOs and the ICO market.

According to the report, ICOs in 2018 have already raised over $11 billion in investments, a figure which it purports is ten times larger than the sum of investments from ICOs in Q1-2 2017. ICORating reports that in Q2 2018, 827 projects raised over $8 billion in funding, compared to $3.3 billion in Q1 2018, representing a 151 percent increase overall. The report notes:

“Funds raised by EOS project account for most of this increase, they have collected $4,197,956,135 for a year-long ICO.”

Trezor integrates with MetaMask (Cryptoninjas), Rated: AAA

Bitcoin.com Updates Crypto Paper Wallet Generator for Cold Storage (Bitcoin Exchange Guide), Rated: A

Bitcoin.com features a paper wallet generator and now, the platform announced that it updated the portal so “anyone can easily create a bitcoin cash-loaded bill that can be spent at any time.” To access this feature, simply create a BCH private key and print the paper wallet using a secure printer.

Top Crypto Exchange COO on Increased Hashrate and Bitcoins Future (Blockbid Email), Rated: A

Following the news of the Bitcoin hashrate reaching 52 quintillion hashes per second, COO of Blockbid, David Sapper gives his insights into the future of Bitcoin and what this increased hashrate means for the cryptocurrency.

“The Bitcoin hashrate has accelerated in growth this year, seeing a 60% rise in the last three months. This is great news for Bitcoin miners as it increases their chance of finding the next block and for investors as an increased hashrate can lead to increased prices. With less than 4 million bitcoins left to mine and the reward being halved from 12.5 to 6.25 per block in May 2020, I’m sure that we will see the hashrate continue to increase for the foreseeable future. Past halving’s in 2012 and 2016 saw Bitcoins price spike in 2013 and 2017, so even though supply is limited I don’t see miners slowing down anytime soon.

Hashrate is one of the key indicators of the Bitcoin’s network strength and I’m extremely surprised to see that with the steady increase in hashrate we have seen the Bitcoin price drop back down to $7,000. Bitcoins volatility will always play a factor in its price, but hopefully Bitcoins price will soon start following its growing hashrate”

Status Releases Sharding Client: One Step Closer Toward 1 Million TX/S on Ethereum (CryptoSlate), Rated: A

Status, also known as Status.im, released a lightweight Sharding client, called Nimbus, to scale the Ethereum protocol and create a better ecosystem for decentralized applications (dApps) in processing information.

6 Smart Contract Use Cases Gaining Traction in 2018 (NullTX), Rated: A

#6: Multiparty Smart Contracts

In the world of cryptocurrency, multisignature solutions have become the new normal over the past few years.

#5: Distributed Autonomous Societies

#4: Distributed Autonomous Governments

#3: Exchanging Digital Value

The most common use case for smart contracts today is as a means of exchanging value between parties.

#2: Smart Rights

One of the more exotic options to explore comes in the form of smart rights solutions.

#1: Distributed Autonomous Organizations

The DAO is the best example of how good ideas are not sufficient to sustain an untested business model for a lengthy period of time.

White Hat Hacker Finds Major Vulnerability in Ethereum DApp Augur (CCN), Rated: B

A white hat hacker has discovered a major vulnerability in decentralized prediction market Augur, perhaps the most highly-touted decentralized application (dApp) built on the Ethereum network.

The bug, disclosed through bug bounty platform HackerOne by security researcher Viacheslav Sniezhkov, would have allowed an attacker to inject fraudulent data into Augur’s user interface, potentially leading to a significant loss of funds on the part of affected users.

Carats.io, the fintech company issuing the first digital currency backed by diamonds, is partnering with Celsius (Coin Announcer), Rated: B

The most recent of this good news was encoded in an official press release that announced a partnership between Carats.io and Celsius through a memorandum of understanding.

First, this partnership is going to further better and promote the activities of jewelry traders who have long suffered frustration, particularly from traditional banks when looking for finance. This partnership would mean that jewelry and diamond traders are able to have access to loans and earn interest based on the correlative worth of their digital currencies in diamonds.

European Union

Binance Enforces Strict Rules for Listings and Partnerships (cryptovest), Rated: AAA

One of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance, announced rules concerning the confidentiality of coins to be listed on the platform. Their official Medium post was accompanied by a previous statement from CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.

Vitalik Buterin, Binance CEO Zhao Agree Decentralized Exchanges Should Lead The Way (CCN), Rated: A

During an interview at Tech Crunch Sessions: Blockchain 2018, Ethereum Founder, Vitalik Buterin hoped “centralized exchanges burn in hell as much as possible” as he strongly advocated for the use of decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges.

Internet Giant Opera Brings Native Ethereum Wallet to Desktop Web Browser (CCN), Rated: A

Opera, the web browser backed by bitcoin mining giant Bitmain, has announced that it will add a native ethereum wallet to the desktop version of its web browsing software.

Spain Analyzes The Advantages Of Creating A Central Bank Digital Currency (Cryptocoin News), Rated: A

The Central Bank of Spain (Bank of Spain) has published (in Spanish) at the end of July 2018 a bulletin in which cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin(BTC) and Ether (ETH) are analyzed in order to compare them with the creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency (DBDC) which could bring with it a wide range of advantages for handle their financial policies, besides describing the advantages that it could represent for the Spanish financial system.

ORCA Alliance Easily Raises First ICO Stage of $ 1.5 Million for Crypto Friendly Banking APIs (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A

ORCA Alliance is reporting that its initial coin offering (ICO) easily raised its $1.5 million target in just 50 hours. The Latvia based Fintech is building an “Open Banking” platform seeks to enable digital banking that is crypto friendly. In June, Orca reported it took just 6 seconds to transfer fiat to crypto using their test network.

Largest Croatian ICO Amasses 8.1 Million Dollars, Desires More (total croatia news), Rated: B

United Kingdom

With $ 417K, EOS accounts for two-thirds of all cryptocurrency bug bounties in 2018 (The Next Web), Rated: AAA

HackerOne refrained from sharing the exact number for this year, but there are more than 3,000 blockchain-related vulnerability submissions on its platform in total.

Additionally, the data shows that compared to last year, the total sum of bounties handed out by blockchain firms has jumped more than 500 percent, from $90,000 in 2017 to almost $600,000 in 2018 – and we still have a few months to go. You can thank Block.one and the nigthmarish launch of the EOS $EOS▼1.42% blockchain for that.

As far as blockchain companies go, EOS leads the all-time charts, with more than $417,000 awarded since the launch of its bug bounty program in May. Indeed, $120,000 of the prize money was claimed by one single (white-hat) hacker.

Cryptomining Outfit Argo Bypasses ICO as it Raises £25m in IPO (ICO Examiner), Rated: A

After the recent – and controversial – decision of DigiPulse, a crypto-inheritance platform, to de-tokenise its original token-based business model in favour of traditional, fiat-based payment solutions and shareholder equity allocations, cryptocurrency mining outfit Argo has now announced that it too has also opted for a traditional IPO fundraiser in its bid to raise £25m for its next stage of expansion.

For its IPO, just over 156 million ordinary shares were issued at 16 pence per share, giving the company an initial public valuation of £47 million.

Barclays Says No Immediate Plans to Launch a Crypto Trading Desk, Despite Rumors (Bitrates), Rated: A

In the past week, reports have hinted that the British investment bank Barclays may be looking into setting up a cryptocurrency trading desk in the near future. The rumors first emerged when two of the bank’s traders stated that they were working on a “digital asset project” on LinkedIn.

Not long after the evidence first surfaced, a Barclays spokesperson told Business Insider that while it had no plans to launch a crypto trading desk, the two individuals were indeed employed by the bank. However, shortly after the bank received inquiries from the media, the two former traders redacted the information from their respective profiles.

China

OKEx’s Future Trading Shortfall ‘A Valuable Lesson’ for Cryptocurrency Exchanges (CoinTelegraph), Rated: AAA

But, even with this jump on the futures market, and being the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, OKEx has had its issues with futures trading thus far. First, there was abnormal pricing on March 30 which they had to deal with, bringing with it a threat from a trader that they would attempt suicide if the issue was not resolved.

Now, on August 3, OKEx was faced with a sticky situation in which a ‘Whale’trader’s wrong-way bet on Bitcoin forced a liquidation of a futures contract, forcing other traders to foot the bill. The latest issue means that those with unrealized gains on their short positions this week are set to lose 18 percent of their profits.

Cheung put this forced liquidation of a misfired Bitcoin futures trade — with a notional value of $416 million — down to “merely a bad decision of a trader.”

Bitmain Offers Wi-Fi Routers Mining Cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin.com), Rated: A

Bitmain announced on social media this week it’s releasing two Wi-Fi routers capable of mining cryptocurrencies. The devices, Antrouter R3-DASH and Antrouter R3-SIA, are designed to mint dash (DASH) and siacoin (SC).

They can be bought with cryptocurrency – bitcoin core (BTC), bitcoin cash (BCH) and litecoin (LTC). The first batch comes at a special price – $58 USD.

Australia

Blockchain Startup Havven to Launch Stablecoin on EOS This Year (CoinDesk), Rated: AAA

Called Havven, the Australia-based project said in a release on Wednesday that it is expecting to issue its nUSD stablecoin on EOS by the end of this year. The U.S. dollar-pegged token first launched on the ethereum network in June.

Australian Government Invests in Crypto Tourism Startup (Crypto-News), Rated: A

On its official website, Queensland’s local government announced that at least $8 Million AUD have been released to over 70 domestic companies in the tourism sector. In the very post, they announced that TravelbyBit will be leading the new plan and the sole target given by the government is to attract as many tourists in Queensland as possible.

Asia

Japan Targets Speculative Cryptocurrency Investments in Regulatory Revamp (CCN), Rated: AAA

Japan’s primary financial regulator is reportedly looking at updating its regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency sector to curb speculative investments.

How to pay tax on cryptocurrency assets in India (Money Control), Rated: AAA

The income tax (I-T) department surveyed cryptocurrency exchanges across the country in December 2017. It served notices to 5,00,000 investors for tax evasion.

1. Investment in cryptocurrencies exchanged for real money

If money held in the form of cryptocurrencies is transferred in return for real money, the same rules applicable to income from capital assets, such as long term capital gains tax, will be applicable. Long term gains will be taxed at a flat rate of 20 percent, while those accrued over a shorter term will be taxed according to the slab it falls under.

2. Bitcoin mining

Moreover, cryptocurrencies are not included in Section 55 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, which lays down the template for computing the cost of acquisition for self-generated assets. The implication of this would be to exempt miners from the tax net, till such time as the government decides to amend the I-T Act to accommodate income from cryptocurrencies.

4. Payment for goods and services

Many Indian vendors have started accepting cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum as payment for goods and services. Even though such firms are in the minority, the volume and total value of such transactions is quite substantial, for tax to be foregone.

Arrington XRP Capital, Alphabit and Dekrypt Capital Join the List of Initial Investors in the Universal Protocol Platform (BusinessWire), Rated: B

Universal Protocol Platform, an alliance of industry leading blockchain and digital asset companies introducing a new structure of Proxy Tokens to promote interoperability, has announced a new round of all-star digital asset management funds supporting the project, including Dekrypt Capital, Alphabit, and Arrington XRP Capital. The latest round of supporters join FBG Capital, previously announced as the lead investor in the project.

Eurasia

Ukraine Electoral Commission Uses NEM Blockchain for Voting Trial (CoinTelegraph), Rated: AAA

A member of Ukraine’s Electoral Commission revealed in an Aug. 7 Facebook post that they are working with NEM on a blockchain voting pilot.

Stelmakh noted that they created a test vote using 28 nodes with the NEM blockchain “several weeks ago,” adding that “voting is still open and anyone can take part it in.”

44 Percent of Russians Have Heard of Cryptocurrency, New Survey Reveals (CoinTelegraph), Rated: A

Almost half of Russians have heard of cryptocurrencies, and 13 percent claim to have a good understanding of them, a survey conducted by research holding Romir revealed August 7.

Latin America

VENEZUELA: THE PRICE OF BITCOIN IS NOW DOUBLING EVERY 18 DAYS (Bitcoinist), Rated: AAA

Just a year ago, a cup of coffee in Venezuela would have cost you 2,300 bolivars. Today, however, according to Bloomberg’s Café Con Leche Index, you’d have to pay roughly around 2 million bolivars. What better way to exemplify the rampant inflation plaguing the country?

Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop there. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects that the inflation rate will hit the unparalleled 1 million percent by the end of 2018. In other words, at the current inflation rate, prices in the country are doubling roughly every 18 days.

Bitcoinist reported earlier in June that hyperinflation is causing Bitcoin buying spree which marked new highs every week. This trend is not only continuing, but it’s growing at rampant rates. Since June, the weekly Bitcoin traded volumes have more than doubled, reaching upwards of 17 trillion bolivars worth of BTC this week alone according to coin.dance.

Africa

SOUTH AFRICA RELEASES DRAFT CRYPTOCURRENCY TAX LAW (Bitcoinist), Rated: AAA

The South Africa Revenue Service (SARS) recently released a draft cryptocurrency tax legislation. The draft defines the framework of virtual currency taxation in the country.

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