Monday April 8 2017, Weekly News Digest

United States

Bitcoin’s bullish streaks continue in Q2, flies more than 37% (EconoTimes), Rated: AAA

Bitcoin has been spiking higher from the last couple of weeks, rose from the lows of $3,405.30 levels to the current $5,298.60 levels which is almost more than 37% so far (i.e. 10% in March month and 27% in April month series).

Technically, after BTCUSD has bottomed out at $3,215.20 levels, consequently, the bullish engulfing pattern has occurred at $4,071.70 levels.

Could Bitcoin (BTC) Halving Hype Be the Source of the Recent Price Gains? (NewsBTC), Rated: A

Bitcoin has been able to hold onto most of its recent gains and has secured its position above the important $5,000 mark. Despite this, BTC does appear to be treating $5,200 as a level of relative resistance, and it is unclear as to whether or not the crypto will be able to garner enough buying pressure to propel it above this level in the week to come.

At the time of writing Bitcoin is trading up 1% at $5,140, up from its 24-hour lows of roughly $5,000 that were set late yesterday evening.

Bitcoin Price Aims for ‘Parabolic’ Bull Market, Sets Long-Term Target at $ 72,000 (CCN), Rated: AAA

From 2015 to 2017, the bitcoin price surged from around $150 to $20,000 in a parabolic movement, demonstrating a staggering gain of 13,233 percent within a two-year period.

In the next several years, according to the analysis published by respected trader Peter Brandt, the bitcoin price could potentially recover quickly from the current level at $5,000 to over $50,000 if it continues to show strong momentum.

In the last 24 hours, the valuation of the crypto market has recovered by $4 billion while the bitcoin price rebounded from around $4,900 to $5,169, by more than 3 percent.

Bitcoin (BTC) Is Not a “Joke” or a “Bubble”, $ 6,000 Easy Target (NewsBTC), Rated: A

Wall Street leaders like Fidelity are investing and participating in infrastructure development squashing claims that Bitcoin and Blockchain are just but “Fool’s Day Joke.” Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) is firm above $5,000 and bulls now aim at $6,000.

LITECOIN PRICE CONTINUES TO RIP PRE-HALVENING, BUT MAY NEED A CORRECTION (Bitcoinist), Rated: AAA

Litecoin (LTC) continues to lead the altcoin market with a recent push to establish an even higher level of support and sustain trading in a new range against Bitcoin (BTC). 

Grayscale Investment Large Cap Fund chides XRP in favor of bullish Litecoin [LTC] (AMBCrypto), Rated: A

Grayscale Investment Group, a crypto-centric asset management firm has reshuffled its digital large-cap fund [DCP] composition for the next quarter with a notable change. Litecoin [LTC], the fourth largest cryptocurrency has seen its dominance increase while XRP saw a sharp decline in its dominance.

Ripple Building: First Fiat–InterLedger Protocol (ILP) Connector Launched (Ethereum World News), Rated: AAA

The Ripple development team has launched the first fiat InterLedger Protocol (ILP) connector, and it is expected to be a big step towards interoperability with traditional financial systems and gain massive adoption.

Ripple (XRP) Price Could Soon Follow BTC and ETH Higher, Targets $ 0.40 (NewsBTC), Rated: A

After a downside correction, ripple price found support near the $0.3250 level against the US Dollar. The XRP/USD pair started a fresh rise and traded above the $0.3380 and $0.3400 resistance levels. Later, there was a close above the $0.3500 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average. A swing high was formed at $0.3791 before the price corrected once again. It declined below the $0.3600 level and the 50% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $0.3258 low to $0.3791 high.

Ripple Co-Founder Donates $ 25 Million in XRP to US University (CoinDesk), Rated: A

Ripple co-founder and executive chairman Chris Larsen, his wife Lyna Lam and nonprofit foundation Rippleworks have donated $25 million in XRP cryptocurrency to San Francisco State University.

The university announced the news on Friday, saying that the donation is the “largest gift ever made in a digital asset” to a university in the U.S.

Coinbase preps new matching engine ahead of crypto bull run (TokenPost), Rated: AAA

Leading cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is building new matching engine infrastructure ahead of an expected bull rally in the crypto market, The Blockreported.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong Says Crypto Needs These Things for Mass Adoption (Blockonomi), Rated: A

Stability

The problem with Bitcoin, and just about every other cryptocurrency apart from stablecoins, is that they fluctuate so heavily against the dollar. If someone purchased $100 of Bitcoin in December of 2017, they would have now just $25. That’s a pittance compared to the 2% a year most people in developed countries lose to inflation.

Scalability

The problem with Bitcoin is that ten years after its creation it still only does about seven transactions per second.

Usability

As many people have come to realize, the experience of using crypto is not nearly as intuitive as it should be. While coins like Nano and NEO are renowned for their well-designed wallets, many coins lack that. Also, buying, trading and selling crypto can be stressful.

Justin Sun Says New USDT-TRON will be Fast, Free and Smart!, Launch Expected On 9th Of April (ZyCrypto), Rated: A

Just when new development from Tron seems to be over, another major development gets announced. This time, Tronfoundation CEO Justin Sun is announcing the launch of Tron-based USDT in two days.

App from Simple co-founder builds bridges from banks to blockchains (American Banker), Rated: A

Shamir Karkal has played several roles in the financial services industry, first as a McKinsey consultant, later as a co-founder of the challenger bank Simple and eventually as head of the API ecosystem for BBVA.

But he’s set to take on a new challenge Thursday, when his new startup, Sila, launches a set of programs and APIs that let developers connect bank accounts and money transfer capabilities with distributed applications running on blockchains like Ethereum. For example, it would allow a company that wants to offer some kind of banking service over Ethereum to access existing payment systems like ACH, Visa and Swift, without having to get a money transmitter license.

Research Collaboration: Albatross (Nimiq), Rated: A

Team Nimiq is proud to present Albatross, the outcome of our research collaboration with Trinkler Software. Albatross is a Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm that is able to achieve a performance close to the theoretical maximum for single-chain Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithms. While a technical description of the protocol has been published, this blog post strives for a lighter and easy-to-understand overview.

Statement on “Framework for ‘Investment Contract’ Analysis of Digital Assets” (SEC), Rated: A

As part of a continuing effort to assist those seeking to comply with the U.S. federal securities laws, FinHub is publishing a framework for analyzing whether a digital asset is offered and sold as an investment contract, and, therefore, is a security.  The framework is not intended to be an exhaustive overview of the law, but rather, an analytical tool to help market participants assess whether the federal securities laws apply to the offer, sale, or resale of a particular digital asset.  Also, the Division of Corporation Finance is issuing a response to a no-action request, indicating that the Division will not recommend enforcement action to the Commission if the digital asset described in the request is offered or sold without registration under the U.S. federal securities laws.

More specifically, the information contained in this framework may apply to entities conducting the following activities related to digital assets:

• offering, selling, or distributing
• marketing or promoting
• buying, selling, or trading
• facilitating exchanges
• holding or storing
• offering financial services such as management or advice
• other professional services

Judge Rules Against ATBCoin LLC, Rules Its ICO A Security (The Tokenist), Rated: A

The judge for the Balestra v. ATBCoin LLC et al. case has said that even if token holders are not entitled to corporate profits, it could still be considered a security.

Dont Buy Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies going to collapse (Coinnounce), Rated: B

According to a recent publication on CNBC, Peter Mallouk, the financial planner and president of Creative Planning, a wealth management company believes that in the near future, cryptocurrencies are surely going to collapse and it is not advisable to buy bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies at the current stage.

International

Cryptocurrency market cap sees 2019 all-time high of $ 185 billion (Chepicap), Rated: AAA

New milestones continue to be set in 2019 following the recent 2019 all-time high trading volume being set just last week, followed shortly by a new 2019 all-time high bitcoin price when BTC broke over $5,000. Today sees the total market capitalization set a new 2019 high too. 

The market capitalization reached just short of $186 billion, a new 2019 all-time high.

Russia’s New Gold Rush Could Shake Up the International Monetary System (The Moscow Times), Rated: AAA

Russia is buying gold. A lot of gold. Within the span of a decade, the country quadrupled its reserves. Gold buying last year exceeded mine supply for the first time, so Russia is about to become a net importer of the metal.

What makes the recent moves especially significant is the fact they are being replicated in Beijing. According to official data, China raised its bullion reserves to 60.62 million ounces in March from 60.26 million a month earlier; last month’s inflow was 11.2 tons, following the addition of 9.95 tons in February, 11.8 tons in January and 9.95 tons in December.

Here is how the scheme might work. Money would circulate in the form of blockchain entries provided by a global platform and be entirely backed by gold reserves held in an international trust insulating them from state interference.

Security Token Offerings (STOs) Increased By 130% In Q1 2019 (The Tokenist), Rated: AAA

According to recent data analysis by inwara, Security Token Offerings (STOs) experienced a notable surge in the first quarter of 2019. With an increase of 130% and a simultaneous drop in Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), STOs are beginning to actualize their potential through real-world implementation. The following is a statistical breakdown featuring some of that implementation in Q1 2019.

According to the report, a total of 47 STOs took place in Q1 2019. That’s a 130% increase compared to the 20 STOs seen in Q4 2018.

See the full report here (you’ll have to give up your contact information).

The Game Is On For Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple And Litecoin (Forbes), Rated: AAA

Over the last seven days, Bitcoin has gained 25.74%, Ethereum 18.76%, Ripple 16.12%, and Litecoin 53.20%–see table 1. The rally was extended across the cryptocurrency markets, with 94 out of the top 100 cryptocurrencies gaining in price-see table 2.

Will Bitcoin ever reach the $20,000 mark again?

Crypto Market Could Hit $ 200 Billion (NewsBTC), Rated: AAA

• The total crypto market cap is likely setting up for more upsides above the $180.0B and $185.0B levels.
• Bitcoin cash price is trading nicely above the $300 level and it may accelerate above $325 and $340.
• EOS price is currently consolidating above $5.50 and it could soon revisit the $6.00 level.
• Stellar (XLM) price is up more than 5% and it may rise towards the $0.1400 level this week.
• Tron (TRX) is also up around 5% and it is likely setting up for a break above the $0.0300 resistance.

Bitcoin (BTC) mining pool closure (MinerGate), Rated: A

MinerGate’s Bitcoin mining pool will be shut down on 3 April 2019, while withdrawals will stay available.

MinerGate has also added a Grin mining pool supporting C29 MimbleWimble.

Is It Time for a Blockchain Brexit? (CoinDesk), Rated: A

Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU) is not so much a technical crisis between a ‘hard fork’ and a ‘soft fork’ but a legitimacy crisis. Yet the solution to its core dilemma — politically deciding between a ‘Hard Brexit’ and a ‘Soft Brexit’ — may actually lay in harnessing blockchain technology’s great potential as an economic governance system for the digital age.

Are Industries, Governments and UN Agencies Ready For 5th Machine Age Blockchain Adoption? (Forbes), Rated: A

Spotlight news garnering wide interest from this year include from JP Morgan, their announcement of a successful test of a digital coin representing a fiat (example USD) currency – JPM Coin —  blockchain-based technology enabling the instantaneous transfer of payments between institutional accounts. This matters since it’s estimated that JP Morgan influences $6 Trillion US in daily transactions. Another example includes Master Card with an estimated 81 patents in blockchain and ranked amongst the top in blockchain.

From the WEF Future of Jobs report, by 2022, adoption forecasts include across 12 industries at 45% however differing widely such as financial services at 73%, healthcare at 67%, infrastructure at 18%.

Barclays, RBS, R3 Cut Property Transaction Times in Blockchain Trial (CoinDesk), Rated: A

Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), enterprise blockchain firm R3 and other participants have completed a blockchain trial that they say resulted in faster property transactions.

The tech partner on the project, R3-affiliated Instant Property Network (IPN), announced Thursday that the trial used test data to carry out simulated property transactions over a distributed ledger system over a five day period. The effort, the firm said, demonstrated that the real estate buying and selling process could be reduced from more than three months to “less than three weeks.”

Three Big Reasons You’re Failing at Getting Your Cryptocurrency Adopted (Dash News), Rated: A

1: You Don’t Have Infrastructure to Make It Easy

Quite frankly, most cryptocurrencies were meant more for speculative trading and transfer than for actual use, and as such don’t have many decent wallets available.

2: You Won’t Use It

I hate to be the one to come down hard on this point, but if you’re a cryptocurrency fan, you’re probably not prepared to use it in any kind of meaningful way with any kind of regularity.

3: You Won’t Learn and Work to Make It Better

Rather than giant, profit-driven, well-funded companies, cryptocurrencies are community-driven decentralized projects. Given this obvious fact, it’s surprising how few people will lift a finger to contribute to helping develop the ecosystem.

Here’s the Top Five Phishing Scam Methods Affecting Crypto Users in 2019 (Bitcoin Exchange Guide), Rated: A

Just recently, $225 million has been lost due to cryptocurrency investors becoming affected by such scams, according to a report issued by Chianalysis, an anti-money laundering software for bitcoin.

In December 2018, there were reports of an attack on Ethereum Wallet and that 200 BTC (approximately $800,000 USD) had been stolen.

Myetherwallet (MEW) recently sent an email to users alerting them of an unrelated security incident on the servers and as a result, the wallet requested users’ login information.

Fake initial coin offerings are an issue and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission has worked to alert users of such scams.

Prize scams are scams where the scammers send a phishing email to the winner to alert them that they have won a prize and that they need to pay on the proceeds. This type of scam has been recognized as an issue by the Federal Trade Commission, which states that “if you have to pay, it’s not a prize.”

Unfortunately, sextortion has permeated the world of bitcoin. According to an article by The Next Web, blackmailers scammed users from $332,000 in sextortion scams.

European Union

Ethereum Price Runs Out of Fuel as ETH/USD Shorts on All-Time Low (Bitcoin Exchange Guide), Rated: AAA

Crypto market is in the green with Bitcoin (BTC) going to $5,152 and Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) yet again ruling the market with 7 and 10 percent gains respectively while Ethereum seeing the gains of just over 2 percent.

At the time of writing, Ethereum has been trading at $168, as per Coinmarketcap. The YTD gains of ETH are only 25 percent while Bitcoin is close to 40% up since the year beginning.

 

Analysts Highly Bullish on Ethereum (ETH) as Crypto Markets Trade Sideways (NewsBTC), Rated: A

At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading sideways at its current price of $166.70, and is up slightly from its daily lows of $165.

Ethereum (ETH) Price Signaling Bullish Breakout, Buying Dips Favored (NewsBTC), Rated: A

Ethereum price climbed to a new yearly high, with swing moves versus the US Dollar andbitcoin. ETH is likely to continue higher and buying dips close to $180 and $174 might be a good idea.

Ethereum Decentralized Applications Nearing Half a Billion Worth of ETH Locked in dApps (Bitcoin Exchange Guide), Rated: A

Around 2.5 million ETH (approximately $400 million) is locked in decentralized applications. The dominant dApp is MakerDAODAI smart contract, as it has around 2.2 million ETH.

Binance Exchange Faces UI Issues During Bull Market Surge (Asia Crypto Today), Rated: AAA

Various outlets reported that Binance exchange was crippled by a major technical issue. First pointed out by a post on Binance’s Reddit community, a user reported being unable to log after the exchange’s UI repeatedly crashed.

Binance is Giving Away up to $ 500 BNB Through MyBinance Contest (AltcoinBuzz), Rated: A

Binance, the leading cryptocurrency exchange, has started a contest that rewards participators for their creativity. You can win up to $500 BNB just by recreating the Binance logo.

Ethereum Classic Price Explodes 34%, Blasts Cryptocurrency to 4-Month High (CCN), Rated: A

The Ethereum Classic price jumped as much as 33.79-percent on Sunday, rocketing the cryptocurrency to a four-month high above $7.50.

CoinMarketCap data shows the Ethereum Classic priceestablished an intraday high at $7.79, its best mark since November 16, 2018, on an hourly candle.

CARDANO, IOTA, RIPPLE AND CONSENYS IN NEW EUROPEAN PARTNERSHIP (ICO Examiner), Rated: A

The European Union (EU) has embraced the newly formed International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA), consisting of 105 different entities in an official ceremony at its Brussels headquarters this week.

Platforms such as Cardano, IOTA, Ripple, Lisk and Gnosis are listed amongst INATBA’s members as well as other blockchain industry heavyweights such as ConsenSys, Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, and Bitfury.

Cryptocurrencies Continue Expanding in Both Slovenia and Croatia via Bitcoin City Growth (Bitcoin Exchange Guide), Rated: A

Virtual currencies have expanded all over the world, including in Slovenia and Croatia. Now, the number of firms that are accepting cryptocurrencies in the region is also growing. After reaching shipping centres, Elipay is now moving forward and integrating around 300 stores in Slovenia. In the near future, it can reach Croatia after the central bank’s approval.

IOTA joins EU blockchain initiative to progress global standards (Smart Cities World), Rated: B

The IOTA Foundation, a non-profit which supports the development and standardisation of new distributed ledger technologies (DLT), has joined the International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA) as a founding member.

New Blockchain Protocol Poised to Bring Digital Currency to the Masses (PR Newswire), Rated: B

A Swiss public-benefit Foundation, the Swiss Shakti Foundation, headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, is about to unveil a blockchain-based currency called Shakti Coin (SXE) that promises to usher in a new era of smart money. The new stablecoin is based on a revolutionary blockchain protocol called Proof-of-Effort (PoE) that is intended to democratize mining and make Shakti Coin the world’s most practical medium of exchange.

United Kingdom

Flyp.me accountless exchanger adds Cardano (ADA) to growing list of cryptocurrencies (Coinatory), Rated: AAA

Flyp.me, the instant accountless exchanger, has just listed Cardano (ADA) bringing the total number of available coins and tokens to 32. This move provides users with instant access to Cardano, just using their preferred wallet while maintaining control over their private keys.

Cudo Miner releases T-Rex Ravencoin Miner for NVIDIA on Windows and Linux (Yahoo! Finance), Rated: A

Cudo Miner, the crypto mining software application, today released the latest T-Rex NVIDIA GPU miner on Windows and Linux (X16R algorithm), bringing Cudo Miner users the most up-to-date technology and enabling the most profitable mining of Ravencoin (RVN) – one of the most popular altcoins on the market currently, having seen a sharp increase in price over the last month.

Mining influencer, Brandon Coin, says: “Cudo is bringing T-Rex, the most up to date Ravencoin miner to the platform resulting in 5-10% more hashrate over Z-Enemy miner while also having a good dev fee on the miner. Cudo has proven itself to be a mining company for the miners, listening to help its customers thrive.”

Mismanagement and Misdirected Funds: The ’21 Million’ Chainstarter ICO Story (CCN), Rated: A

A deep-dive by Cointelligence paints a much darker picture of the project and its goals. On Yavin, a researcher at Cointelligence, tells the story from beginning to end. Riveting, to say the least, if you have an interest in blockchain projects, the report details how Nick Ayton and David Lofts eventually parted ways on bad terms and each accused the other mismanaging funds and making poor decisions for the company. Most interestingly, both continue to pursue separate versions of the 21 Million television project.

Asia

Binance Will Arrive in Singapore Before the Month Ends (Fintech News), Rated: AAA

In September last year, Binance, one of the best known crypto exchanges, expressed intentions to set up fiat-to-crypto trading platforms on almost every continent.

True to its intentions, Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, announced at a conference in Seoul that Binance Singapore will come online in April—a fiat to crypto exchange servicing the SGD.

Support for Binance Chain Is ‘Coming Very Soon’ to Enjin Wallet (CryptoGlobe), Rated: B

Last Thursday (April 4), the CEO and CTO of Singapore-based startup Enjin answered questions at an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session hosted by Telegram channel “Binance English”. This article focuses on some of the main highlights of this article, especially those involving the Enjin Wallet app, a special version of which is available for the Samsung Galaxy S10.

Why You’re Still Early to Crypto and the Potential Payoff is Massive (Toshi Times), Rated: AAA

There is some debate about where cryptocurrency falls on the Perez Surge Cycle, a useful approximation for determining into what stage a technology exists. Some people claim that 2017 and early 2018 marked the frenzy period, with a parabolic bubble and media attention like never before.

However, a more conservative estimate is that crypto is in fact still in the gestation phase.

Samsung Galaxy S10 With Supported Crypto Wallet for Ethereum Gets Hacked (The Daily HODL), Rated: A

How 5 Asian Countries Regulate Cryptocurrency (Bitcoin.com), Rated: A

India

Three regulators — the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Ministry of Finance — regularly attend the Financial Stability Board (FSB) meetings and G20 summits.

Within its mandate, the central bank has prohibited financial institutions from dealing in “or providing services for facilitating any person or entity in dealing with or settling” cryptocurrencies, the FSB detailed.

Japan

At the opposite end of the crypto regulatory spectrum, Japan legalized cryptocurrency as a means of payment back in April 2017 under the amended Payment Services Act.

South Korea

There are three regulators for crypto activities in South Korea, with the main regulator being the Financial Services Commission (FSC).

Singapore

Despite the country’s early history in the space, the only crypto regulator listed for Singapore is the central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which performs many regulatory functions.

China

Another member of the FSB, China became a hotbed of crypto activity in bitcoin’s early life but then began heavy oversight of the crypto industry, banning crypto exchanges outright in 2017. In addition to the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the country’s central bank, five other government bodies regulate crypto-related activities in China.

Vitalik Buterin Urges South Korea to Deregulate Blockchain, Embrace Crypto (CCN), Rated: A

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and a bipartisan group of lawmakers urged the South Korean government to deregulate the blockchain industry. They say the current laws are overly restrictive and therefore, inhibit innovation.

MENA

Tunisia Aims To Be A Pioneer In Blockchain Technology (CoinJournal), Rated: AAA

Tunisia is looking to be a pioneer in implementing blockchain as the country’s central bank explores the use of the technology for a national digital dinar, reports the Asia Times.
The Tunisian central bank has set up a working group to study blockchain, digital payments and cryptocurrencies overseen by Abassi and Driss serving as a founding member.

Africa

Blockchain Africa 2019 showed us that blockchain is too important to ignore (Coin Insider), Rated: AAA

The Blockchain Africa Conference 2019 in Cape Town earlier this year was a platform for relevant figureheads in the industry of blockchain to demonstrate how the technology can be used to tackle several social and economic issues across the globe.

Micronesia

Palau halts cryptocurrency activities (Pacific News Center), Rated: AAA

The Palau Financial Institution Commission initiated the moratorium which would impact startups looking for opportunities to engage in cryptocurrency or virtual currency activities. The commission adopted a resolution instating the moratorium on March 19, according to a report from Palau-based Pacific Note.

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