Cryptocurrencies have mixed week as Bitcoin leads

A new research note from crypto prime dealer SFOXindicates there may be a correlation between the bitcoin price and holidays, at least during pronounced bull runs. The note from the SFOX research team points to 2017’s massive rally in the crypto asset market around Thanksgiving and Christmas in the United States and a more recent price increase during China’s Spring Festival this year as two examples of this phenomenon.

Bitcoin Price FOMO in Late 2017 and Early 2019

During the time from November 12, 2017 to December 17, 2017, the bitcoin price increased from $6,030.53 to $19,205.93. The vast majority of this growth in the bitcoin price came after the Thanksgiving holiday. Brief recoveries in the bitcoin price were also seen in the days after Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

Bitcoin Rally Fuels Market in Crypto Derivatives (WSJ), Rated: A

Wall Street has dreamed up an array of derivatives tied to stocks, commodities and mortgages. Now such contracts are being developed for bitcoin.

In recent months, some cryptocurrency firms have begun touting structured products linked to the price of bitcoin, with complex formulas determining how much they pay out.

Bitcoin Bull Puts Money Where His Mouth is, Holds 50% of Wealth in BTC (NewsBTC), Rated: A

For a while now, Anthony Pompliano has been a leading champion of Bitcoin (BTC). Best known as “Pomp”, the Facebook staffer-turned-crypto investor and media tycoon has garnered over 100,000 followers on Twitter while lauding BTC.

Speaking with trade publication CoinTelegraph, Pompliano, the co-founder of fund manager Morgan Creek’s cryptocurrency investment branch, claimed that 50% of his net worth is stored in Bitcoin.

WIKILEAKS HAS RECEIVED MORE THAN $ 46 MILLION IN BITCOIN (Bitcoinist), Rated: A

Posting on the Bitcoin subreddit, “Boredguy32” revealed that the controversial organization may have amassed about 4,054 BTC. Based on the current spot price, this cache would be worth about $46.2 million.

FORGET FUD, DAY TRADES; GO LONG ON YOUR BITCOIN INVESTMENT (Bitcoinist), Rated: A

Since the end of 2017s monster rally a number of financial analysts have suggested that a 1 to 2 percent digital asset allocation should be part of every well-diversified portfolio and considering Bitcoin’s current performance this appears to be sound advice.

As the chart below shows, the first half of 2019 provided great returns for stock investors and at the moment Bitcoin is strongly outperforming each of these markets.

Bitcoin price chart

23 blockchain languages driving the future of programming (TechBeacon), Rated: AAA

People get more serious about building correct and trustworthy languages when money is at stake. But in reality, all of the different cryptocurrencies are more than just money. Each transaction is actually a mini-program that executes when the money is spent. If the software runs correctly and completely—and only if it does—the money is transferred from owner to owner.

The simplicity of the languages has led some developers to create higher-level, more feature-rich languages that are closer to what is used for most modern code. Some of the latest options are more elaborate and must be compiled into the operations that are embedded in the blockchain.

Not all of the languages underlying the projects are new. Other developers have wondered whether we need to create something different, and they’ve been experimenting with tweaking and limiting old, general-purpose languages that deliver the same features as newer languages while maintaining a connection to more familiar syntax. This approach can make it easier for developers to integrate their existing code with blockchains.

Ethereum Futures Inbound as Demand For Bitcoin Dervatives Explodes (NewsBTC), Rated: A

For a while now, investors have been waiting on futures for Ethereum (ETH), the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. These expectations have been stifled though, with regulatory uncertainty and interest concerns about the crypto asset.

But, according to a recent report from The Block, the CME Group, one of the world’s largest financial exchanges, is prepping to launch a product for Ethereum. For those unaware, the CME is a Chicago-based institution that famously launched Bitcoin futures near the peak of 2017’s boom.

Ripple Price (XRP) Showing Positive Signs: More Gains Possible (NewsBTC), Rated: AAA

Recently, bitcoin price settled above the $11,000 level and started trading in a range. However, ripple price started a decent upward move after it tested the $0.3750 support area against the US Dollar. The XRP/USD pair broke the $0.3900 resistance level to move into a positive zone. Moreover, there was a break above the $0.4000 resistance and the 100 hourly simple moving average. It even spiked above $0.4100 and formed a new swing high at $0.4108.

Recently, it started a downside correction below the $0.4000 and $0.3950 levels. Moreover, there was a break below the $0.3900 level, but the $0.3860 level acted as a support. The price bounce back above $0.3920 and the 100 hourly simple moving average. Moreover, there was a break above the 50% Fib retracement level of the recent decline from the $0.4108 high to $0.3863 low.

Ripple-Backed XRPL Labs Reveals New Look at XRP-Powered Banking App (The Daily HODL), Rated: A

The app is called Xumm and is designed to allow users to hold and spend euros, dollars, XRP and other currencies without any help from a financial institution. A new image of the platform shows an account manager with the ability to send and receive XRP, along with a transaction history and an inbox that lets users manage contacts.

The head of XRPL Labs, Wietse Wind, says the company is working to obtain a banking license to make it happen and has an “interesting meeting” on the subject next week.

TRON[TRX] leader announces new milestone for BitTorrent[BTT] in the ICO sector (Our Bitcoin News), Rated: A

BitTorrent is expected to have a huge boost within a day or two. A new update with regards to speed and file-sharing is on its way.

BitTorrent is ranked at #36 on coinmarketcap and denotes positive momentum. The price of BTT is $0.001333 after a slight surge of 1.57% was seen. The trading volume recorded is $41.82 million in the course of the past 24-hours. The supply has 212,116,500,000 BTT tokens involved.

Tron (TRX) soars over 8 percent as Just Team joins Sun-led blockchain (Tron Weekly), Rated: B

Justin Sun, Tron’s founder and CEO, announced yesterday that Just.Team is about to join the Tron network.

Generation Z Does Not Plan to Buy Cryptocurrency (CoinTelegraph), Rated: A

Generation Z does not plan to buy cryptocurrency, according to the results of a survey conducted by Business Insider released on July 5.

Per the report, SurveyMonkey Audience partner Cint surveyed 1,884 U.S. residents between ages 13 to 21 to learn the opinions Generation Z. The survey participants were asked how likely they were to purchase cryptocurrency in the next six months, and over 52% answered: “not at all.”

All the hype around Libra is a red herring. Facebook’s main game is Calibra (The Conversation), Rated: A

Probably not. It’s more likely that blockchain, and even Libra, is a means to a end; it’s about Facebook wanting to be not only the world’s biggest social media platform but also the globe’s go-to marketplace, putting Amazon, eBay, Apple and Google in the shade.

To appreciate why this suggestion isn’t also hyperbole, we need to talk not so much about Libra but its companion technology, the “custodial wallet” called Calibra.

How Facebook monetises data

Why is this important? Because Facebook is in the business of gathering your personal data.

It now uses this information to make about 99% of its income from selling advertising – US$14.9 billion in the first quarter of 2019 alone.

Its value as an advertising delivery mechanism comes not just from its sheer number of users (1.56 billion daily users, and 2.37 billion monthly users) but from what it knows about them.

Facebook users — Source: The Conversation

Corporate Blockchain After Libra: Can Big Tech Companies Compete With Facebook? (Bitrates), Rated: A

Facebook is working with 27 corporate partners to power Libra. How can Microsoft, Amazon, IBM, and Google compete? Will they try?

LibraVista released a developer-friendly API to Libra blockchain data. (AccessWire), Rated: B

On July 5th, LibraVista announced the release of the ‘LibraVista-api‘ project (https://api-testnet.libravista.com/doc/), which aims to lower the study difficulty of the Libra technologies and provide easy access to the Libra on-chain data. This would be a vital complementation to the Libra official documents and development tools.

Washington paying more attention to cryptocurrencies (Pensions & Investments), Rated: A

In late May, the Securities and Exchange Commission hosted a daylong fintech forum where staff and stakeholders discussed key issues and opportunities surrounding digital assets and distributed ledger technology such as blockchain, the technology behind the transfer of assets. The SEC now has a team of staffers devoted to financial technology issues, which sources said is an encouraging sign.

Lawmakers Push To Fast-Track Crypto Regulation (PYMNTS), Rated: A

According to The Wall Street Journal, “the Internal Revenue Service is expected to update its 2014 guidance on cryptocurrencies in coming weeks, following an April request from a bipartisan group of 20 lawmakers. It is part of a broader push to boost the nascent cryptocurrency industry.” Not only that, but the newspaper said the U.S. Congress “is considering at least three bills that would resolve some of the murky legal issues surrounding digital money.”

Texas LLC seeks to take on Coinbase by ‘weaponizing’ SMS messaging patent (The Block Crypto), Rated: A

Anuwave LLC is a company with its principal place of business in Frisco, Texas.

Anuwave is asserting that Coinbase’s text notification solution is infringing on Anuwave’s patented technology. To prove their assertion, Anuwave has about 2-3 pages of argument detailing how they claim Coinbase is infringing Anuwave’s technology. It is worth noting that this is not a lot. In fact, at nine pages, this is a short patent lawsuit.

NASA Considering Using Blockchain to Secure Flight Data Based on Hyperledger (Blockchain Reporter), Rated: A

NASA is exploring the use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) to secure aircraft flight data. The study claims that blockchain networks and smart contracts can help alleviate some security problems.

Tiger Trading Adds Gemini as an Execution Venue (PR Newswire), Rated: B

Tiger Trading Network, LLC, a NY based digital asset order execution management system (OEMS), is pleased to announce that they now offer trading on Gemini Trust Company, LLC (Gemini), a leading cryptocurrency exchange and custodian.

International

Bitcoin Leads the Way in a Mixed Week for the Majors (Yahoo! Finance), Rated: AAA

Bitcoin rose by 2.56% on Saturday. Reversing a 1.42% fall from Friday, Bitcoin ended the day at $11,281.

Joining Bitcoin in the green for the day were Ripple’s XRP, which led the way with a 3.08% rally.

Bitcoin Cash ABC and EOS also ended the day in the green, with gains of 1.59% and 0.19% respectively.

Bitcoin Cash SV (-1.2%), Litecoin (-0.18%), Binance Coin (-0.15%) and Ethereum (-0.09%) saw red on the day, while Tron ended the day flat.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down by 0.55% to $11,219. A mixed start to the day saw Bitcoin fall from a morning high $11,276 to a low $11,111 before finding support.

Binance[BNB] faces competitors (Our Bitcoin News), Rated: A

Binance Coin[BNB] has begun a climb in the green zone yet again. An ascent rate of 3.13% was noted in the course of the past 24-hours. The price of BNB is $33.66 on coinmarketcap, and its rank remains at #7. The trading volume recorded is $220.914 million.

ErisX, Huobi, and Gemini are planning on exploring this facet well.

Colocation is the new feature being included. At first, Gemini was the one to move forward with this controversial move in New York. Now the Singapore and Chicago-based exchange have also expressed their interest.

DigiByte Price Surges 33% Due to Upcoming Major Update and DBG-BNB Peace Tweet (CryptoGlobe), Rated: A

According to CryptoCompare data DigiByte’s price rose 33.7% in the last 24-hour period, as it’s currently trading at $0.0156, which means its market cap is now close to the $150 million mark.

DigiByte

DOGE Price Climbs By 9% During First Week Of Third Quarter (CryptoNewsZ), Rated: A

The coin opened the third quarter at $0.0032. Within the first day, the coin dropped to $0.0029. The same ratio of pick and drop was maintained throughout. However, when Binance exchange announced the listing of Dogecoin, the coin jumped from $0.0030 to $0.045. The hike was of 40%. Later, the market pressure brought the coin to $0.0035 from $0.0045. The downtrend registered 21.13% loss. The coin continued with several picks and drop. The first week of the third quarter booked 9% upsurge by taking the price from $0.0032 to $0.0035. Today, Dogecoin opened at $0.0035 and is currently trending at $0.0034.

Regulatory Overview of Crypto Mining in Different Countries (CoinTelegraph), Rated: AAA

A move by the Iranian government to cut off the power supply to local Bitcoin (BTC) miners grabbed headlines in June amid a soaring price gain by the preeminent cryptocurrency. As Bitcoin surged to prices not seen since 2017, a rising hash rate mirrored renewed interest in the cryptocurrency. By July 1, the Bitcoin mining hash rate surpassed 69 quintillion hashes per second.

crypto mining

According to data from Blockchain.com, the Bitcoin mining hash rate has been on a steady increase over the last six months:

AmaZix launches the first global blacklist of Telegram users (Malta Winds), Rated: A

AmaZix, which has managed over 140 groups in the crypto and blockchain space in the past two years, has opened up access to its global blacklist of over 54,000 banned users

Just as email spam and phishing attempts are protected by a handful of major email blacklists, AmaZix launches the first such service for Telegram

AmaZix has found that every cryptocurrency group it monitors has had scam activity, and 7.5% of all Telegram users are malicious

Using Blockchain To Significantly Reduce Data Protection Liability (CoinGecko), Rated: AAA

The protection of sensitive consumer data collected by organisations is absolutely crucial in this modern, technological age.

It’s fair to suggest that many of the current measures put in place by organizations to ensure consumer data is well protected are very poor.

In the first two months of 2019 alone (Jan, Feb), nearly 2.5 billion records had been leaked due to data breaches. An absolutely shocking statistic considering the increase in awareness of the importance of cybersecurity.

A study sponsored by IBM found that the average cost of a data breach in 2018 was over $3.8 million, with the average cost of a stolen or misplaced record being around $148.

cybersecurity — Source: Hiscox Cyber Readings Report

How Blockchain Can Improve Database Security

The recent Deloittes 2019 Global Blockchain surevyfound that most respondents now see blockchain as a top-five strategic priority, a jump of 10% from 2018.

Blockchain for the Food, How Industry Makes Use of the Technology (CoinTelegraph), Rated: A

As blockchain continues to push for mass adoption, the food and beverage industry is shaping up to be one of the most inclusive destinations for the technology: Just over the past few months, a variety of players — including juggernauts like Nestlé, Carrefour and Starbucks — have reported on their latest blockchain-powered initiatives within the field.

According to recent research, 20% of the top-10 global grocers will use blockchain by 2025.

According to a 2018 study released by the United States-based Food Marketing Institute (FMI), the public demand for transparency is growing within the market. Essentially, customers are becoming more health-conscious and want to know as much as possible about the food they get.

Specifically, the report found that as much as 75% of consumers are more likely to switch to a brand that provides more in-depth product information — beyond what’s provided on the physical label. When shoppers were asked the same question in 2016 in a similar study conducted by Label Insight, just 39% declared they would switch brands.

Fidelity International begins exploring blockchain (FN London), Rated: A

Fidelity International is exploring the use of blockchain technology, stoking expectations that the fund management company is mulling a foray into the cryptocurrency market.

Staff across various parts of the international business — which oversees more than £317bn in assets globally — are involved in investigating the technology underpinning cryptocurrencies, according to people familiar with the matter.

European Union

Facebook’s Cryptocurrency Plan Draws ECB Warning on Regulation (Bloomberg), Rated: AAA

Financial regulators must act fast to prepare for the push by U.S. tech giants such as Facebook Inc. into the financial system, according to European Central Bank Executive Board member Benoit Coeure.

The Ethereum Killer Is Already Here – And Its Name Is Binance (CCN), Rated: AAA

Long considered the king of the dApps, Ethereum is the one that other blockchain platforms seek to dethrone in their own attempts at ascension. Hence the well-known term – Ethereum Killer – which is often self-applied by ambitious crypto projects looking to punch above their weight.

The Binance cryptocurrency exchange now apparently refuses to list new tokens against ETH on its platform, and in some cases has even removed ETH trading pairs.

Binance Coin (BNB) Commences The Week On A Higher Note Trading At $ 34 (CryptoNewsZ), Rated: AAA

After two weeks of slow trends, Binance Coin may have found the key to go upside once again. The coin announced the use of Atomic Wallet to trade BNB coin in lesser time and recently it has also announced the listing of DOS network on Binance DEX.

Binance Coin has had a topsy turvy ride for the last two weeks, and the coin is unable to trade above $35. In the last five days, there has been a mix of high and low tides. BNB started at $31.5749 but soon surged to $34.5707, but then again, the coin rapidly dropped to $32.3584. It continued crawling between $32.3584 and $33.3263 for some days and surged to $33 in between briefly, which was soon followed by a drop to $32.473 again. As on July 8, 2019, at 04:42:49 UTC, BNB is trading at $34.089 and surging higher.

Ethereum Price Jumps 6% as Institutional Money Tingles Bitcoin Recovery (CCN), Rated: AAA

In the past 24 hours, the price of ether, the native crypto asset of the Ethereum blockchain protocol, has increased by five percent against the U.S. dollar.

ETH/USD stays above $ 300, further upside is limited (FXStreet), Rated: AAA

A move above $300 handle emboldened the bulls and pushed the price towards resistance $310, where new selling orders popped in. At the time of writing, ETH/USD is changing hands at $304, moving within the range with a bearish bias.

Ethereum Dips Below 292.95 Level, Down 2% (Yahoo! Finance), Rated: A

Ethereum fell bellow the $292.95 level on Sunday. Ethereum was trading at 292.95 by 09:59 (13:59 GMT) on the Investing.com Index, down 1.51% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage loss since July 7.

Over the past seven days, Ethereum has seen a drop in value, as it lost 3.11%. The volume of Ethereum traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $7.38B or 12.13% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $273.0729 to $302.9962 in the past 7 days.

New ECB Boss Christine Lagarde Made A Serious Bitcoin Warning (Forbes), Rated: A

Earlier this year, Christine Lagarde, who has just been nominated to replace Mario Draghi as president of the European Central Bank (ECB), warned that cryptocurrencies are “shaking the system”—something that could signal a change in the ECB’s approach to bitcoin and crypto and potentially spur adoption.

Meanwhile, the bitcoin and cryptocurrency community has largely welcomed Lagarde’s nomination to the top job at the ECB, with some expecting her openness to crypto to be “good for the industry.”

United Kingdom

UK regulator looks to ban crypto-derivatives (ZDNet), Rated: AAA

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has proposed banning the sale of derivatives and exchange traded notes (ETNs).

Referencing certain types of cryptoassets in its proposal last week, the FCA said it is looking to address harm to retail consumers from their sale.

China

Facebook’s Libra Must Be Regulated by Central Banks: PBOC Official (Caixin Global), Rated: AAA

Whether from the perspective of monetary policy or macroprudential management, Libra, a convertible digital currency that can flow freely across borders, should receive support and supervision from central banks and be incorporated into their regulatory frameworks, Mu Changchun, a deputy head of the People’s Bank of China’s Payment and Settlement Department, said in an article published in Caixin Weekly.

Australia

TravelByBit adopts Binance cryptocurrency BNB (Tron Weekly), Rated: AAA

Binance’s trade volumes are so high that the demand for BNB soared from the very beginning. That brought the price up very quickly. This is a remarkable example of how usefulness in a cryptocurrency makes it perform well in the market. Even during the 2018 crypto winter, when every other coin was losing value (Bitcoin included), BNB managed to be in green numbers most of the time.

So BNB’s usefulness created demand, then the demand created value and high market performance. The next step was natural: so many users were buying and holding BNB that it has found many other use cases outside of the Binance platform. Maybe it started as a lubricant for the Binance ecosystem, but by now, BNB is one of the most useful and reliable cryptocurrencies in the world because it’s found several ways to be useful whether you trade at Binance or not.

There’s yet a new use case for BNB which was announced just yesterday. TravelByBit Beta is live. This Australian platform allows you to book over a million flights and hotels using BNB alongside Bitcoin and Litecoin. The payment gateway runs on the Binance chain.

Asia

Facebook’s Libra Faces Skeptical Government in Asia’s Third-Largest Economy (Bloomberg), Rated: AAA

The latest skepticism to Facebook Inc.’s plans for its new cryptocurrency called Libra comes from India as Asia’s third-largest economy is not keen on allowing the digital currency in the country.

Bitfinex Unus Sed LEO Smart Contract Audit Reveals Nasty Surprises for Holders (Be In Crypto), Rated: AAA

After its $1 billion USDT LEO token sale, things could be said to be looking up for Bitfinex as the exchange continues to recover from what has otherwise been a tumultuous start to the year. However, new evidence suggests that there is more to its new Unus Sed LEO token than first meets the eye.

According to a recent audit by security researchers at Cointelligence, the smart contract for Unus Sed LEO is hiding some nasty secrets that might cause investors to think twice before purchasing or even holding LEO tokens.

Zilliqa Collaborates With Xfers to Launch Blockchain Payment Solutions (CoinTrust), Rated: A

ZIL, the native cryptocurrency of Zilliqa, a blockchain technology firm based in London and Singapore, has gained over 12% in the past 24 hours to trade at $0.0187 mainly because of a new partnership with Xfers, a payment solutions provider, for the deployment of distributed ledger technology (DLT) in handling payments.

Singapore’s Tax Agency Proposes to Exempt Cryptos From GST (CoinDesk), Rated: A

The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) published last Friday an e-Tax draft guide for treatment on what it calls the “Digital Payment Tokens,” seeking to exempt any entity dealing with such digital assets from GST liabilities.

If the draft guide passes into legislation, starting from Jan. 1, 2020, the following changes will take effect to “better reflect the characteristics of digital payment tokens:”

(i) The use of digital payment tokens as payment for goods or services will not give rise to a supply of those tokens

(ii) The exchange of digital payment tokens for fiat currency or other digital payment tokens will be exempt from GST.

Bank of Japan denies plans on issuance of digital currency (Taiwan News), Rated: A

Deputy Governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) Masayoshi Amamiya (雨宮正佳) said during a conference on Friday (June 5) that the BOJ would not issue digital currency in the near future, Reuters reports.

India to Educate High-Ranking Police Officers on Cryptocurrency (Bitcoin.com), Rated: A

As the Indian government prepares the regulatory framework for cryptocurrency, the country’s police force is working on educating law enforcement officers on cryptocurrency. India’s premier police training academy, the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVP NPA), has announced a course on the subject to train officers of the Indian Police Service (IPS).

The course entitled “Investigation of cases involving cryptocurrencies” is scheduled to be held on Sept. 5 and 6 at the institute which is located in Hyderabad. Enrollees will be nominated IPS officers of the rank of Additional Superintendent of Police to Inspector General of Police, the institute explained. The academy has begun accepting nominations for the course; self-nominations are not accepted.

The richest in South Korea are actively investing in crypto, showing big interest (CryptoSlate), Rated: A

A subsidiary of SK Group, one of the largest conglomerates in South Korea that operates the nation’s biggest telecommunications company SK Telecom, is set to invest in a crypto fund created by ConsenSys.

MENA

Iranian Assistant Minister Accuses United States of Blocking Cryptos and Mining (Toshi Times), Rated: AAA

Saeed Zarandi, Iran’s Assistant Minister of Trade, Industry, and Supply has said that the US Congress is attempting to stop Iran’s access to cryptos and cryptos mining. Specifically, this comes as Iran has recently begun showcasing plans for a massive crypto mining facility.

Canada

Blockstream’s crypto Green Wallet now supports Liquid Network sidechain (TokenPost), Rated: AAA

As per a press release, Green Wallet users can now store, remit, and receive Liquid Bitcoin (L-BTC) and Issued Assets on the Liquid sidechain.

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United States

Bitcoin Hash Rate Hits New All-Time High (CoinTelegraph), Rated: AAA

New Research Shows Why The Bitcoin Price May Skyrocket Later This Year (Forbes), Rated: AAA