Nejnovější zprávy o šifrovacích faktorech v reálném čase, ICO, tržní kapitalizace a analýza

Bitcoin Cash developers have released a tool for launching tokens, Bitcoin.com CEO Roger Ver confirmed.

Bitcoin.com CEO Roger Ver has hinted his publication may launch an ICO as he unveiled a new tool allowing developers to issue tokens on the Bitcoin Cash blockchain in a Bitcoin.com video August 11.

Together with one of Bitcoin.com’s lead developers Corbin Fraser, Ver hinted in the video at that the advent of the Wormhole Cash protocol, which allows for token creation on Bitcoin Cash, would afford new possibilities.

“For better or worse, ICOs and CryptoKitties are probably coming to Bitcoin Cash in the near future,” Fraser had said, to which Ver responded:

“They’re probably coming to Bitcoin.com, too. We’ve been thinking about having our own ICO for maybe the games part of the platform; maybe we’ll issue a token and pay dividends or use part of the money… to buy back the tokens on the open market.”

The Wormhole release comes as cryptocurrency mining operation Bitmain, which together with Bitcoin.com forms Bitcoin Cash’s major proponent base, hits the headlines over its plans to hold an initial public offering (IPO).

As multiple commentators report, the scheme could help alleviate some of the suspected cash flow difficulties at the giant, which divested itself of Bitcoin (BTC) in favor of Bitcoin Cash (BCH) tokens last year.

The move appeared to be disastrous for Bitmain, a pre-IPO filing suggesting the company had hemorrhaged funds as BCH collapsed in value through 2018.

“According to the Bitmain pre-IPO investor deck, they sold most of their [Bitcoin] for [Bitcoin Cash]. At $900/BCH, they've bled half a billion in the last 3 months,” Blockstream CSO Samson Mow deduced in Twitter comments August 11.

New patents from Microsoft reveal that the tech giant is looking to bolster its consortium blockchain solutions with the use of trusted execution environments (TEEs).

Two new patents from Microsoft reveal that the tech giant is looking to bolster its blockchain solutions with the use of trusted execution environments (TEEs), according to two filings published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) August 9.

Both applications outline how the use of TEEs could further improve security within a consortium blockchain network, which requires that specific nodes are endorsed to act as validator nodes (VNs) on the blockchain.

As Microsoft’s first patent filing indicates, TEEs can help to improve the security of such networks in the following way:

“In one example of the technology, a first node is endorsed. During endorsement of a first node, a pre-determined type of blockchain or other security protocol code to be authorized and a pre-determined membership list may be stored in a trusted execution environment (TEE) of the first node.”

According to the patent, not only a specified protocol or membership list, but potentially a series of further agreed-upon aspects could be stored within a TEE. The patent then outlines how using a system of TEE attestations would be able to securely verify all new participants of the system who are found to possess matching information to that which is stored within the first node’s TEE.

Microsoft’s second patent filing from August 9 outlines how a TEE may also facilitate the verification of blockchain transactions within a consortium network. The same TEE attestation system would generate a sufficiently trustless environment in which other VNS on the network would “not need to do re-computation for verification,” allowing a given pre-authorized entity to “directly” broadcast the “updated official state” of a given processed transaction:

“In some examples, the entire network accepts the transactions, including chaincode transactions, and blockchain states are directly updated. In some examples, there is no need for a copy of the transaction in order to confirm a block.”

Just last week, Cointelegraph reported on news that Microsoft’s Ethereum-based cloud computing platform Azure had replaced its existing proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism with a new proof-of-authority (PoA) algorithm. Microsoft has proposed that the new algorithm will improve the efficiency of building decentralized applications (DApps) for private or consortium blockchain networks.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has included a blockchain-dedicated lab on the list of its key labs for 2018.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has included a blockchain-dedicated laboratory on the list of its key labs for 2018, published August 13.

According to the ministry's post, the lab will be dedicated to harnessing blockchain for the data security industry and IT, and will be overseen by the National Industrial Information Security Development Research Center.

Earlier this month, MIIT proposed a number of measures to accelerate blockchain adoption, saying it would enhance interaction with various localities and departments, and would build a robust industrial ecosystem to allow for the gradual extension of blockchain across diverse fields.

In July, Cointelegraph reported on significant remarks from the MIIT’s deputy director, who called on the country to “unite” its forces to foster blockchain as a “core” technology on an “industrial scale.” The minister emphasized security when speaking of blockchain’s power to prevent “information tampering and forgery,” and said that its potential should be grasped “from a strategic perspective.”

While official Chinese government policy remains notoriously tough on decentralized cryptocurrencies, blockchain tech has been making inroads at the very highest levels of the political structure. This spring, Chinese president Xi Jinping openly praised blockchain as an example of a “new generation” of technologies delivering “breakthroughs.”

Not just the cryptocurrency industry but even mainstream media outlets have highlighted Bitcoin’s stability versus the Turkish lira.

Mainstream media seized on the unravelling currency crisis in Turkey Monday, August 13, with Bloomberg publicizing a demonstration of Bitcoin’s (BTC) comparatively low volatility.

Leading with the headline “Turkey Meltdown Propels Lira Volatility Above Bitcoin,” Bloomberg became the latest publication to reveal the full extent of the Turkish national currency’s devaluation this year.

“The 10-day swings in the lira relative to the U.S. dollar now exceed those for Bitcoin amid Turkey’s escalating currency crisis,” Bloomberg reports.

Turkey has seen an uptick in consumer interest in Bitcoin since the lira, which had already halved in value against the dollar since January, rapidly slid to all-time lows over a raft of geopolitical factors.

According to data from Google Trends, interest in Bitcoin increased markedly in August, while local exchanges have seen volumes explode by over 150 percent this week alone.

As lawmakers enact capital controls, cryptocurrency’s status in the country remains uncertain. Despite Turkey’s official stance appearing to suggest Bitcoin is not compatible with Islam, local exchanges continue to receive full banking support, Forbes notes this week.

Those exchanges have begun seeing increased volatility, with operators such as BtcTurk trading the coin at prices around $500 higher per Bitcoin than on foreign platforms.  

That trend could continue, commentators claim, if the economic situation does not stabilize.

The markets have crashed after the latest SEC decision.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Earlier this week, the cryptocurrency markets slumped: Bitcoin (BTC) lost its $6,500 support, and Ethereum (ETC) dropped well below the $400 mark (rates stand at $6,620 and $319 respectively by the press time). While it’s important to remember that on such a volatile and scarcely regulated market, news might affect the prices to a lesser degree, and the recent drop correlated with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) decision to postpone its verdict on the listing and trading of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) until late September.

The SEC has gained the reputation of being a major news-maker in the cryptocurrency field: The watchdog’s decisions toward the market have been associated with a number of price drops and bull runs.

SEC deems DAO tokens to be illegal securities

When: July 2017

Alleged reaction: Slightly bearish

In July 2017, the SEC came through with a major decision, putting its mark of interest on the crypto market. The regulator reviewed the infamous decentralized autonomous organization (DOA) case and concluded that DAO tokens, issued via its Initial Coin Offering (ICO) back in 2016, were in fact securities and hence had to register with the SEC beforehand.

By making that move, the SEC effectively showed that many other ICOs, which were abundant during their unregulated, ‘free run’ throughout the 2016-2017 period, might be in trouble as well. In order to determine if an ICO constitutes a security or not, the SEC usually applies the Howey Test — essentially, if a token is marketed as a profit-oriented asset, most likely it will be deemed a security being offered by the agency. However, the watchdog has explained that such decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, as the facts and circumstances of any investment transaction — including economic realities — will determine whether the transaction constitutes the offer of sale of a security.

Even though the SEC decided not press any charges that time, it gave a clear signal that the ICO frenzy could be over. Nevertheless, the market barely reacted: While the top five coins fell in price on the day of the announcement, the overall reaction wasn’t dramatic. Ethereum went down about 10 percent, but soon bounced back to its previous value. It might have been the result of market volatility rather than the SEC news, as such.

The SEC denies second Winklevoss ETF application

When: July 2018

Alleged reaction: Slightly bearish

The prospect of getting an authority-sanctioned, crypto-backed ETF has been widely discussed in the crypto community. Some believe it will provoke mass adoption, and the prices will ascend, while others remain skeptical — leaning toward crypto-anarchic sentiments. The SEC gets to decide if the industry is ready for an ETF, and the watchdog hasn’t been particularly optimistic thus far.

In either case, the market tends to react to most ETF-related news. A stark example is the recent SEC’s denial of the Winklevoss twins second application on July 26, which happened just prior to the latest ETF-induced panic in the market. The SEC wasn’t convinced by the Winklevoss’ plea that Bitcoin markets are “inherently resistant to manipulation,” which was among the primary reasons for the rejection.

As mentioned above, the Winklevoss brothers had tried registering a Bitcoin ETF before — their first attempt dates back to 2013. That time, it took the SEC four years to come up with a decision: Finally, on March 10 of last year, the agency denied the initial application based on concerns “that significant markets for Bitcoin are unregulated.”

Both times, the market reacted negatively. In March 2017, the price of Bitcoin fell from $1,300 to around $1,100 in a single day. In July 2018, BTC lost over $400 within the span of just three hours, although it managed to regain its value within the following 24 hours — SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce’s statement of official dissent, which was published soon after the hearing, could have helped in that rebound. In it, she opined that the agency’s move “sends a strong signal that innovation is unwelcome in our markets, a signal that may have effects far beyond the fate of Bitcoin ETPs [Exchange Traded Products],” recognizing the SEC’s influence in the market.

The SEC denies VanEck SolidX ETF request

When: August 2018

Alleged reaction: Strongly bearish

Similarly, this catastrophic week on the crypto market is largely associated with the SEC postponing its decision on the listing and trading of a Bitcoin ETF powered by investment firm VanEck and financial services company SolidX until Sept. 30.

The VanEck SolidX ETF application was submitted in June and was generally considered to be the most promising among crypto-backed ETFs: It didn’t feature bold assumptions akin to the one submitted by the Winklevoss twins that claimed BTC markets are “inherently resistant to manipulation.” Moreover, the VanEck SolidX fund is physically backed — meaning that it will actually hold BTC — and both firms have reassured that this will protect against the loss or theft of the cryptocurrency. According to their filing with the SEC, each share of the VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust is set to cost a hefty $200,000. As SolidX CEO Daniel Gallancy explained to CNBC, the price is set at a higher rate to focus on institutional investors, and the fund hopes to get listed on the Cboe BZX Equities Exchange.

On Aug. 7, the SEC issued a document citing their right to extend the review period. It also stated that the agency had received more than 1,300 comments on the proposed rule change to list and trade the VanEck SolidX BTC shares. Per the document, within 45 days of the filing of a proposed rule change — the trust submitted their application on June 6 — or within 90 days, should the Commission deem necessary, the Commission will approve, disapprove or extend the period of consideration.

While the news seemed rather neutral, and essentially meant that the SEC simply needs more time to rule whether the crypto industry is suitable for an ETF at the moment, panic induced and the markets plummeted: After solid growth to break above the $7,000 mark earlier that day, BTC saw a loss of around $500 in six hours and has lost around 12 percent this week. Similarly, other coins crashed as well — e.g., Ripple (XRP) lost as much as 23 percent of its value since the news was announced.

On the other hand, bullish news on the market that came out recently, like the announcement of upcoming cryptocurrency project Bakkt by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which operates 23 large global exchanges — including New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) — appeared to be largely ignored. In an interview with CNBC, Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead claimed that investors were “overreacting” to the SEC postponing the ETF hearing. He predicted that a Bitcoin ETF approval will take “quite a long time,” citing the nascent stage of crypto adoption. The hedge fund manager also stressed that the most recent asset that gained approval from the SEC for ETF certification was copper, a metal that “has been on earth for 10,000 years.”

SEC and CFTC held a joint meeting where they recognized cryptocurrencies’ importance

When: February 2018

Alleged reaction: Strongly bullish

On Feb. 6, the SEC — along with the Commodities and Future Trading Commission (CFTC) — held a highly anticipated joint hearing in which they elaborated on their stance toward cryptocurrencies, ICOs and blockchain technology. During the meeting, the regulators gave credit to the cryptocurrency industry for adding a new paradigm to the financial system, stressed the importance of fair regulatory frameworks and famously said that “if there was no Bitcoin, there would be no blockchain.”

Consequently, that promoted a bullish trend, and the community reaction following the hearing had a positive effect on the crypto market — which was staggering at the time, likely due to China reiteration of it’s zero-tolerance of crypto, rumors of a ban in India and some mainstream banks prohibiting cryptocurrency purchases with their credit cards. After the SEC/CFTC showed their positive stance in regard to some crypto industries features, Bitcoin and Ethereum saw 20 percent growth in value, and the rest of the cryptocurrency market rallied into the green.

SEC rules that BTC and ETH are “not securities”

When: June 2018

Alleged reaction: Slightly bullish

The SEC’s approach to cryptocurrencies is still not crystal clear. However, at this point it becomes evident that, while the agency considers most ICOs to be securities, the two leading cryptos — Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) — are not seen as such. That sentiment was recently voiced by Jay Clayton, the chair of the SEC, who declared that BTC is not a security because it acts as a replacement for sovereign currencies:

“Replace the dollar, the yen, the euro with Bitcoin. That type of currency is not a security.”

Soon after the news broke, Bitcoin’s price went from $7,525 up to $7,728 within 24 hours, showing a slight growth.

A couple of days after that, William Hinman, the director of the SEC’s division of corporation finance, claimed that Ethereum (ETH) isn’t a security either, putting an end to a months-long dilemma that could have potentially ended up with Ethereum’s 2014 ICO being outlawed:

“Putting aside the fundraising that accompanied the creation of Ether, based on my understanding of the present state of Ether, the Ethereum network and its decentralized structure, current offers and sales of Ether are not securities transactions[…] And, as with Bitcoin, applying the disclosure regime of the federal securities laws to current transactions in Ether would seem to add little value.”

That signal was positive for ETH, meaning that it wouldn’t face any charges. Consequently, the coin’s price rose as much as 11 percent, up to $520.68.

The SEC reminds that exchanges should be registered with the agency

When: March 2018

Alleged reaction: Slightly bearish

In March 2018, the SEC issued a public warning aimed at crypto exchanges. The watchdog explicitly stated that platforms who trade “securities” — and the SEC deems many altcoins as such — “must register with the SEC as a national securities exchange or be exempt from registration.” The announcement read:

“The SEC staff has concerns that many online trading platforms appear to investors as SEC-registered and regulated marketplaces when they are not.  Many platforms refer to themselves as ‘exchanges,’ which can give the misimpression to investors that they are regulated or meet the regulatory standards of a national securities exchange.”

Hence, major crypto exchanges were urged to comply with the SEC’s regulations, entailing a strick Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering( ATL) approach, among other things — some major U.S.-based exchanges, like Coinbase, have since tried to register with the authority.

The news coincided with a noticeable downtrend in the market: For instance, BTC went down 8.6 percent from 24 hours earlier, losing its $10,000 support. However, the surge could have been initiated by other factors, such as rumours about an alleged Binance security breach that were spreading around the time.

Controversial stablecoin Tether issues another $50 million in coins.

Tether (USDT) has issued new tokens worth $50 million on August 11, according to block explorer OmniExplorer.

In late March, Tether had released 300 mln USDT tokens priced at $1 per token.

Over the past 30 days, Tether’s market capitalization lost around $300 million, down from $2.7 billion in mid-July to the current $2.4 billion, according CoinMarketCap.

Tether market cap 1 month chart. Source: Coinmarketcap

Tether is now in second place after Bitcoin (BTC) in terms of highest daily trading volumes, seeing $4.2 billion in trades a day or 28.16 percent of all crypto trades, while Bitcoin’s average 24-hour trading volume is $5.7 billion, or 38.62 percent.

Yesterday, August 11, the price of Bitcoin surged by $300 over the course of just a couple of hours, following a drop to as low as $6,118. As of press time, Bitcoin is trading at $6,357, up just under one percent on the day.

Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: Cointelegraph Bitcoin Price Index

Crypto exchange Bitfinex, which is the seventh ranked crypto exchange by 24 hour volume on CoinMarketCap, shares leadership with Tether. Both companies have come under fire for lack of transparency, as Tether’s USDT tokens claim to be backed one-to-one by USD, yet the company has yet to submit to a public audit.

On June 13, Tether again faced criticism following a study that blamed the company for Bitcoin price manipulation back in 2017. According to the research, Tether’s transaction patterns show it was “used to provide price support and manipulate cryptocurrency prices.”

Later in June, Cointelegraph reported that a law firm working with Tether unofficially confirmed legitimate dollar-backing.

Despite a change in public sentiment toward ICOs and stronger regulatory pressure, ICOs show growth and health for the space in the first half of 2018.

Disclaimer: This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

The market data is provided by ICObazaar.

With the first half of 2018 now past, it is poignant to look back at the last seven months of data on the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) market — an important facet of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Some predicted that the explosion of ICOs last year — with many failures and even more scams — would lead to a collapse in this area, but the statistics tell a different story.

The ICO phenomenon has followed an interesting path since its real boom, starting around May 2017. There has been growth, there has been regulation — as well as changing of sentiment.

2018 has been significantly bigger for ICOs than 2017, with the most successful month coming in March. The data over the last seven months indicates that ICOs continue raising huge sums of money, despite many thinking of them as scams. Additionally, the number of projects launching month by month are pretty steady, even showing growth.

Moreover, the stats suggest that the ICOs in 2018 are aiming for big numbers, with the most popular goals being set between $1 million to $10 million, as well as a significant portion at over $50 million.

Understanding the ICO ecosystem’s progression

Statistics show a definite spike in ICOs from April 2017, when $218 million was raised in that month alone. The rest of 2017 — until November, that is — ebbed and flowed, as 584 ICOs were raising $2.52 billion.

The ICO ecosystem — along with the underlying blockchain technology and digital currency tokens — makes up an important facet of the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem. ICOs are walking their own path in relation to regulation and public sentiment. But they are also affected by positives and negatives in the cryptocurrency markets.

Thus, when the SEC ruled that a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) was a security, and when China decided to ban ICOs on Sept. 4, 2017 — many other state regulators started to take note of the financial risks associated with this form of capital raising.

When in December the fever pitch was reached by the end of the year — with suggestions that the G20 discuss cryptocurrency regulation — alongside Bitcoin’s race to $20,000, ICO capital raised hit a new record.

Against the odds, 2018 has been bigger

But January quickly broke December’s $1 billion record, with 254 projects raising $1.83 billion. 2018, thus far, has been a significantly bigger year in terms of the amount of money raised by ICOs. Additionally, the data shows an increase in the number of ICOs that raised this capital in comparison to 2017.

In 2017, 1,069 ICO projects were launched for the entire year. However, in just the first half of 2018 there have been 2,131 projects raising a whopping $12.8 billion.

Hitting their goals

In the past two months — as a recent cut out to give context as to what ICO projects are aiming to raise — it is interesting to note the caps that projects have put up.

When an ICO puts up a cap, it is the maximum amount of capital that it aims to gather. Most of the up-and-coming cryptocurrency projects set their caps so high that they are unlikely to be reached.

However, that number gives insight into where the projects are aiming. Across June and July, the two biggest targets — in terms of the percentages of projects — were between $1 and $10 million, but there was another large grouping of ICOs whose target was to make it to $50+ million.

To give a little understanding of the funds raised by ICOs, there were five projects that managed to raise over $10 million in their ICO that ended in July. The top grossing one pulled in an impressive $30 million.

The focus of ICOs

With ICOs being a funding system for a business which is aiming to use the blockchain in some way or another, there are a number of categories where these ICO projects congregate on. Popular categories for ICO projects over 2018 include platforms and cryptocurrencies, but also business services, trading and investment companies.

But what has become notable as the year has gone on is that the two biggest categories are getting closer together. For example, in January, platforms accounted for a quarter of all ICO projects, whereas cryptocurrencies were only 15.6 percent. So, while there has been a small growth in cryptocurrency projects, there has been a bigger decline in platforms, as other categories also pick up their stake in the overall situation.

Money is key

While there are a host of different statistics and figures that can tell a story about the ICO ecosystem, the biggest and most important one is the amount of capital being raised, as well as the number of projects coming out monthly.

Looking at that information, the ICO space seems to be on the rise — which may be surprising to many, as regulations and scams should be making them far less attractive to investors. Yet, money coming in is up, and so are products for the first half of 2018.

However, the next few months will be critical to note, as July was the worst month in 2018 in terms of funds raised.

Green markets are making a fresh attempt at recovery following their recent losses, with Bitcoin holding 2018 record-high dominance of total crypto market cap.

August 12: Crypto markets are seeing solid gains today in a fresh attempt at recovery following recent losses.

Bitcoin (BTC) dominance –– or the percentage of total crypto market cap that is Bitcoin’s –– is continuing to see a 2018 record-high percentage, at close to 50.9 percent. After the leading coin decoupled from the wider market yesterday –– holding its gains while other cryptos floundered –– healthy growth has today been distributed across virtually all of the major cryptocurrencies, as Coin360 data shows.

Market visualization from Coin360

Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at around $6,310 at press time, up a strong 3.45 percent on the day, according to Cointelegraph’s Bitcoin price index. The top coin has seen a 24-hour high of $6,455, but has failed to break through $6,500 resistance, trading sideways within the $6,300-400 range for most of today. Having dipped briefly down to a low around $6,209, Bitcoin has recovered in the couple of hours before press time to hold just above the $6,300 price point. Weekly losses remain at about 10 percent, while on the month Bitcoin is up around 1.42  percent.

Bitcoin’s 24-hour price chart. Source: Cointelegraph Bitcoin Price Index

Ethereum (ETH) is currently trading around $322, up  a solid 5.31 percent on the day. After plummeting as low as $306 in evening trading hours yesterday, the altcoin saw a strong push upwards to test the $330 mark. These fleeting attempts to break to a higher price point failed to hold, and the altcoin has since retraced towards the $320 mark. Ethereum’s losses on its weekly chart are at a little over 20 percent, with monthly losses heftier still, at almost 25 percent.

Ethereum’s 24-hour price chart. Source: Cointelegraph Ethereum Price Index

On CoinMarketCap’s listings, all of the top 25 crypto assets by market cap are seeing a healthy flush of green, with gains on the day pushing as high as around 5-6 percent.

Among the top ten coins by market cap, Stellar (XLM) and  Litecoin (LTC) are up the most, both seeing almost 6 percent growth on the day.

Although a Facebook spokesperson yesterday denied  rumors that the social media giant had been considering a potential partnership to build a Facebook variant of a Stellar blockchain, the asset is nonetheless riding positive momentum, which has been particularly strong on the XLM/USD chart.

Stellar’s 24-hour price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Another leading performer among the top ten coins is anonymity-oriented altcoin Monero (XMR), in 10th place by market cap, up almost 4 percent and valued around $93.66 at press time.

Among the top twenty coins by market cap, IOTA (MIOTA), number 11th, is up 4.44 percent and is trading at $0.54 at press time. As seen across the crypto markets, the altcoin is still down on its weekly chart, but has seen a burst of upwards momentum as of evening trading hours August 11.

IOTA’s 24-hour price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Still within the context of the top twenty ranked coins, NEO and Tezos (XTZ) are seeing stronger-than-average growth, both up around 4 percent.

As noted, for the second day running, Bitcoin’s share of the total market cap is above 50 percent and is pushing 51 percent at press time. BTC dominance has been consistently on the rise as of mid-May, while the second-ranked crypto, Ethereum, has seen a downtrend on the month in terms of its total market cap share, down to around 15 percent today.

3-month chart of cryptocurrencies by dominance. Source CoinMarketcap

Total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies is around $214.7 billion at press time, close to its lowest levels on the three-month chart, only hitting lower points in the past two days, and up slightly from yesterday’s low around $207 billion. As compared with $410.6 billion in mid-May, the market is coming bearishly close to a 50 percent decline.

3-month chart of the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies from CoinMarketCap

Alongside retail and institutional HODLers, crypto miners are feeling the pinch of the protracted bear market. Analysts have this week forecast that graphic processing units (GPU) manufacturing giant Nvidia will see a decline in its revenue from sales of crypto mining hardware, which had accounted for over 9 percent of overall revenue in its 2018 Q1 report.

Meanwhile, the director of the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) this week revealed that the agency has seen a surge in filings of crypto-related Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), which now reportedly exceed 1,500 in number per month.

This rising figure was presented as a positive indicator, with the director emphasizing that compliance with regulatory obligations is increasingly important given that “harm can be done with devastatingly increasing speed, breadth, and obscurity in the digital world.”

The US DEA actually encourages people to keep using cryptocurrencies, and the WSJ releases a report exposing a variety of “pump and dump” schemes.

Coming every Sunday, the Hodler’s Digest will help you to track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions, and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.

Top Stories This Week

US Security And Exchange Commission Postpones Bitcoin ETF Until Fall

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has delayed its decision on the listing and trading of a Bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF) until September 30. The SEC is in the process of considering a rule change that would allow the fund, which is powered by investment firm VanEck and financial services company SolidX, to be listed on the CBOE BZX Equities Exchange.

WSJ Reports Price Manipulation In Crypto Conducted By Organized “Trading Groups”

According to this week’s article by the Wall Street Journal, cryptocurrency price manipulation is mainly conducted by organized “trading groups” that create “pump and dump” schemes on services like Telegram. According to the article, these groups can either create millions of dollars for themselves or be stung by the losses once all of the group dump a certain asset at the same time.

US DEA Agent: Ratio Of Criminal Activity To Legitimate BTC Transactions Has Flipped

U.S. Drug Enforcement Enforcement Administration agent Lilita Infante, who is a member of the Cyber Investigative Task Force, said this week that the number of illegitimate Bitcoin transactions has dropped to just ten percent of transactions. Infante added that she wanted people to keep using the blockchain, as it made them more easily identifiable.

Starbucks Denies Bitcoin Payment Method Hype After Misleading Media Reports

U.S. coffee chain Starbucks will not be accepting Bitcoin as payment for Frappuccinos or other drinks after a week of misleading article titles implied the opposite. After last week’s announcement by the operator of the NYSE that they would be creating a new digital asset ecosystem with Starbucks as a partnered, a wave of news reports falsely represented that Starbucks would accept crypto for coffee, while really customers will rather be able to convert BTC into fiat which can then be used at Starbucks.

Jamie Dimon Breaks Crypto Silence, Calls Bitcoin A “Scam”

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said this week that Bitcoin is a “scam” and that he has “no interest” in it, while speaking at the Aspen Institute’s 25th Annual Summer Celebration Gala. According to Bloomberg, Dimon further “suggested governments may move to shut down the currencies [cryptocurrency], because of an inability to control them.” Dimon had told reporters last October that he wasn’t going to talk about Bitcoin anymore after a series of negative crypto comments in the fall.

Most Memorable Quotations

“The potential for an [exchange-traded fund] is causing investors to decide that bitcoin is the best house in a tough market,” — Tom Lee, Fundstrat’s head of research

"The main thing to remember is that bitcoin is very early-stage venture, but has real-time price feed — and that's a unique thing. People get excited about the price and overreact,” — Dan Morehead, CEO of Pantera Capital

Laws And Taxes

Judge Advances Securities Class Action Case Against Tezos Creators

A U.S. District Judge has refused to dismiss a suit against the husband and wife duo behind blockchain project Tezos, who are currently accused of violating U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations through the sale of unregistered securities in the U.S. Although the Tezos creators maintain their fundraiser took place in Switzerland, outside of U.S. jurisdicion, the judge has disagreed.

Adoption

Commonwealth Bank of Australia To Issue Bond On Blockchain Per World Bank Mandate

The largest bank in Australia, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), has been mandated by the World Bank to arrange a bond issue entirely on a blockchain. The Blockchain Offered New Debt Instrument (bond-i) will be issued and distributed on a blockchain platform under the operation of the World Bank in Washington and CBA in Sydney. For now, the two organizations are using a private Ethereum blockchain, but the CBA noted it was open to alternatives.

Study Shows ICO Market Has More Than Doubled Since Last Year

A study conducted by independent rating agency ICORating has found that the Initial Coin Offering market has more than doubled in a year. According to the agency’s 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.

Goldman Sachs Reportedly Plans to Offer Custody For Crypto Funds

Sources told Bloomberg this week that Goldman Sachs is planning to offer its clients custody for cryptocurrency funds, as the bank says that it remains “undecided” on its cryptocurrency plans. A spokesperson for the bank said that they are exploring “various digital products” in response to client interest.

Chair Of U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Reveals Crypto Ownings

Congressman Bob Goodlatte, a Republican representing Virginia, disclosed that he owns between $17,000 and $80,000 in cryptocurrency in what may be a first for a member of Congress to publicly report their crypto holdings. According to his release, the Congressman has principally invested in Bitcoin (BTC), with some holdings in major altcoins Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

Another Swiss Bank To Accept Cryptocurrency Assets As Market Demand Increases

The Maerki Baumann private bank will become the second Swiss bank to accept cryptocurrency assets, citing the new market demands and the rise of cryptocurrencies’ popularity. The private Zurich bank has decided to accept crypto assets from payments received for services rendered, as well as those earned from crypto mining, but notes they are not ready to provide direct cryptocurrency investments.

Mergers, Acquisitions, And Partnerships

UK Financial Authority Launches International Initiative For Fintech Cooperation

The UK Financial Conduct Authority has announced the creation of a global initiative, made up of 11 financial authorities and related organizations, to work together in in order to help fintech firms interact more easily with regulators from different countries. The Global Financial Innovation Network (GFIN) aims to consult on topics such as the growth of technologies like distributed ledger tech and artificial intelligence (AI), as well as the regulation of securities and Initial Coin Offerings (ICO), among others.

Maersk, IBM Launch Global Blockchain-Based Shipping Solution

IBM and Danish transport and logistics giant Maersk have launched their global blockchain-enabled shipping solution, made up of 94 organizations. The global supply chainplatform, TradeLens, has already captured 154 million shipping events, and its dataset is reportedly growing at a rate of close to one million shipping events a day.

Winners And Losers

The crypto markets are still in the middle of their slump this week, with Bitcoin trading at around $6,583 and Ethereum at around $324 by press time. Total market cap is now at around $215 billion.

The top three altcoin gainers of the week are InflationCoin, Jesus Coin, and Galaxy eSolutions. The top three altcoin losers of the week are Artex Coin, VeThor Coin, and Network Token.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

FUD Of The Week

Wall Street Analyst Says Bitcoin Is “Game Over” If It Breaks Year-To-Date Support

Renaissance Macro Research’s head of technical research Jeff deGraaf concluded it may be “game over” for Bitcoin (BTC) in a new analysis if the cryptocurrency breaks its year-to-date support. In a note to clients, deGraaf, also claimed that Bitcoin’s price movements suggest the largest cryptocurrency is “permanently impaired.”

Bitcoin ATM Malware Found Available For Purchase Online

Tokyo-based security software manufacturer Trend Micro has found Bitcoin (BTC) ATM malware available for purchase from an “apparently established and respected” user on a darknet forum. For the price of $25,000, criminals could purchase Bitcoin ATM malware accompanied by a ready-to-use card with EMV and near-field communication (NFC) capabilities. The software exploits a BTC ATM vulnerability, allowing fraudsters to receive the BTC equivalent of up to 6,750 U.S. dollars, euros, or pounds.

Research Shows Twitter Crypto Scam Bots Number Around 15,000

An analysis of 88 million Twitter accounts has revealed more information on infamous phenomenon of cryptocurrency-related Twitter accounts advertising fake “giveaways,” finding a network of at least 15,000 scam bots. The researchers looked at the latest 200 tweets from each account, unearthing a mesh of 15,000 bots at work spreading fake competitions and impersonating some of the cryptocurrency industry’s best-known figures and businesses.

Chinese Bitcoin Trader Sues OKCoin Over Alleged Prevention Of BCH Release

A Chinese Bitcoin trader has sued the crypto exchange OKCoin for reportedly not permitting him to withdraw Bitcoin Cash after the Bitcoin forked. A local news agency reported that this is the first legal action in China that involved last year’s fork of Bitcoin. According to the lawsuit, the crypto investor has accused the exchange of blocking him from receiving 38.748 BCH that he was due after Bitcoin’s August 2017 hard fork.

UK Financial Regulator Warns Against Two Crypto “Clone Firms”

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned investors about two so-called “clone” companies this week, i.e. companies that carry out business activities under the pretense that they are a firm registered by the FCA. One clone, Fair Oaks Crypto, allegedly aims to hoodwink potential scam victims by claiming that they represent Fair Oaks Capital. The other named rogue firm, Good Crypto, was giving out “false details or mix[ing] these with some correct details of the registered firm,” which in this case was London-based Arup Corporate Finance.

Best Features

How to Lose $3 Billion of Bitcoin in India

Bloomberg takes its readers through a complex tale of cryptocurrency fraud, alleged extortion, kidnapping, and more involving a series of business partners, policeman, and even a former politician.

Blockchain: A Manifestation of the Borg?

A humorous comparison of how blockchain technology and the fictional alien race featured on the original Star Trek, the Borg, are actually quite similar due to their hive mentalities, strive for perfection, and ability to disrupt. In the author’s words: “The Borg’s catch phrase, ‘Resistance is Futile’, might as well be applied to blockchain.”

After a short-lived recovery attempt yesterday, the crypto markets have seen another slump today, with Bitcoin being a notable exception.

Saturday, Aug. 11: after short-lived recovery attempt yesterday, cryptocurrencies have suffered another slump today. Almost all cryptocurrencies are down by significant percentages, with Bitcoin (BTC) being a notable exception among the top 20 market cap, up under one percent on the day.

Crypto market visualization from Coin360

Bitcoin is trading sideways, up by about 0.1 percent over the past 24 hours. The cryptocurrency is at the $6,438 price mark as of press time, following a dip to as low as $6,051 earlier today.

After surging to about $8,230 on July 25, BTC is down 8.5 percent on the week. However, the coin is still up 1 percent over the past 30 days.

Bitcoin price chart. Source: Cointelegraph Bitcoin Price Index

After losing the $400 support this Monday,  Ethereum (ETH) has plunged to as low as $306 today. It is now trading at $327, with its price 8 percent down over the 24 hour period.

Unusually, the coin has experienced the heaviest losses among top ten coins by market cap on the day. Ethereum has lost 25 percent of its value over the past 30 days, and more than 50 percent over the past three months.

Ethereum price chart. Source: Cointelegraph Ethereum Price Index

Among the top 20 altcoins by market cap, EOS and IOTA (MIOTA) have seen the largest losses over the past 7 days, according to Coinmarketcap. At press time, EOS is trading at $5.23, having lost around 25 percent of value over the past week, while IOTA is down 36 percent on the week, and is trading at $0.54.

Total market capitalization has dipped to as low as $206 billion today, but the markets have managed to retrace some of those losses, bringing the number to $216 billion as of press time. While the total market cap has dipped to levels not seen since mid-November last year, the number of all digital currencies has recently surpassed 1,800, according to Coinmarketcap.

Total market capitalization chart. Source: Coinmarketcap

Today, Bitcoin’s share of the total market cap has reached 50 percent for the first time in 2018, as a result of continuous growth that began in May. For comparison, back on Jan. 1, Bitcoin’s dominance was around 37 percent.

Bitcoin’s share of total market cap (dominance). Source: Coinmarketcap

Earlier this week, Fundstrat’s head of research Tom Lee cited Bitcoin’s dominance as one of the most important factors of how the market is “reacting to what’s been taking place” in the industry.

On Wednesday, Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead claimed that crypto markets are reflecting some overreaction from the investors. According to Morehead, many have exaggerated the importance of the recent postponement of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) decision on a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) application by companies VanEck and SolidX.

In addition to recommending investors to focus on the Intercontinental Exchange’s (ICE) announcement of its own crypto platform, Morehead pointed out that Bitcoin is still up about 82 percent on the year, noting that "it's all perspective."

The director of the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network says that the agency has seen a surge in filings of crypto-related Suspicious Activity Reports.

Kenneth A. Blanco, director of the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), has revealed that the agency has seen a surge in filings of crypto-related Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs). The number of complaints now exceeds 1,500 per month, according to him.

Blanco’s remarks were made as part of a speech he delivered at the 2018 Chicago-Kent Block Legal Tech Conference August 9.

The director outlined FinCEN’s ongoing role in regulation and law enforcement for the emerging crypto space, which it coordinates in tandem with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). He noted that,

“[While] innovation in financial services can be a great thing… we also must be cognizant that financial crime evolves right along with it, or indeed sometimes because of it, creating opportunities for criminals and bad actors, including terrorists and rogue states.”

Blanco emphasized that in order to safeguard the “incredible innovations” of the fintech frontier, actors’ compliance with specific regulatory measures is critical, given that “harm can be done with devastatingly increasing speed, breadth, and obscurity in the digital world.”

As indicated in FinCEN’s March 2013 guidelines, any acceptance or transfer of value that substitutes for fiat currency - including crypto - is considered to be money transmission, and entails specific regulatory obligations under the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act (BSA).

As money transmission businesses (MSBs), crypto exchanges are therefore required to report both SARs and Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs), as well as to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) frameworks.

Blanco clarified that identical obligations pertain to businesses that provide anonymizing services — often dubbed “mixers” or “tumblers” — that seek to conceal the source of the transmission of crypto. Exchanges located outside of the U.S. but that nonetheless do business in part with residents of the country are also monitored by the agency.

The director gave the example of FinCENs action in 2017 against Russian crypto exchange BTC-e for flouting AML laws as a case in which SARs had “played a critical role,” with filings by both banks and other crypto exchanges providing crucial leads for law enforcement.

He commented that while SARs are increasingly being submitted, the agency has been “surprised” to see businesses taking appropriate steps to meet their regulatory requirements “only after they receive notice [that an examination is forthcoming].” “Let this message go out clearly today:  This does not constitute compliance,” he stressed.

According to Blanco, FinCEN, BSA examiners and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have examined over 30 percent of all registered crypto exchangers and administrators since 2014.  

Blanco further devoted attention to initial coin offerings (ICOs), stressing that while they may fall under overlapping jurisdictions of different U.S. regulatory agencies, their AML/CFT obligations remain “absolute.”

At a recent hearing on crypto and ICOs in Washington DC, Coinbase’s Chief Legal and Risk Officer called out the gamut of American regulators —  including the SEC, CFTC, IRS, and FinCEN — over an extreme “lack of coordination” that he considered to be negatively impacting innovation.

Facebook executive David Marcus will no longer serve on the board of U.S. exchange Coinbase.

Facebook blockchain head David Marcus announced he was quitting his position on the board of U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Friday, August 10, in a statement seen by various media outlets.

Marcus, who joined the exchange’s board in December 2017 and took on a blockchain research group at Facebook in May, said he now thinks it is “appropriate” to leave.

“Because of the new group I'm setting up at Facebook around Blockchain, I've decided it was appropriate for me to resign from the Coinbase board.

“...I've been thoroughly impressed by the talent and execution the team has demonstrated during my tenure, and I wish the team all the success it deserves going forward.”

The decision comes as rumors continue to swirl about a potential acquisition of Coinbase by Facebook. Last month, the social media platform allowed the exchange to advertise its services, reversing a ban which took effect in January.

Correspondingly, media outlets quoted sources which suggested a perceived “conflict of interest” lay at the heart of Marcus giving up the board slot.

According to Facebook spokesperson who spoke to CNBC, the move was “to avoid the appearance of conflict, rather than because of an actual conflict.”

“Under David's leadership Facebook is poised to be one of the leading players in crypto and an active acquirer,” Ryan Gilbert, a partner at Propel Venture Partners and a minor Coinbase investor also told the publication Saturday.

“Who knows, one day an acquisition of Coinbase could be in the cards.”

Analysts suggest that Nvidia will see significant growth in its gaming and servers sales, which will overcome deficiencies from a decline in crypto mining.

Analysts polled by FactSet suggest that Nvidia will see increased revenue this quarter despite “waning” cryptocurrency mining, Marketwatch reported August 10. The purported increase is due to strong demand for gaming devices and data-centers.

While analysts suggest that the company’s revenue from crypto mining hardware will decline, the U.S.-based graphic processing units (GPU) manufacturer will see significant growth in its gaming and servers sales. Revenue from Nvidia’s gaming sector is expected to grow by 47 percent to $1.75 billion on a year-on-year basis while data-center revenue is expected to surge 78 percent to $740 million.

C.J. Muse, an analyst at Evercore, concurs with other analysts, saying that “data Center/AI remains an area of strength, particularly when considering additional benefit of a new gaming cycle favoring Nvidia.” Muse added:

“We believe concerns around a likely falloff from cryptocurrency-driven Ethereum GPU mining strength are largely exaggerated, and Nvidia will likely power through any tough compares from cryptocurrency-driven tailwinds.”

In May, Nvidia reported that it generated $289 million from processor sales to the crypto market. Nvidia’s first-quarter crypto sales amounted to over 9 percent of overall revenue for the company, which stood at $3.2 billion.

Chips for crypto mining made up 76 percent of (Original Equipment Manufacturer) OEM revenue, which was up 115 percent from the previous quarter. Nvidia, however, suggested that sales to the crypto market will likely decrease by two-thirds in the second quarter.

In July, the company’s estimates were proven as the price of specialized GPUs declined along with sinking prices in digital currency markets. Nvidia’s main competitor Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) unveiled in April that 10 percent of the company’s revenue during the quarter was attributed to blockchain or mining, though the company’s CEO Lisa Su said that blockchain was “a bit of a distraction in the short term.”

The mining hardware price fall has not dissuaded manufacturers from producing new crypto mining hardware. In May, ASUS announced the release of its “second generation” cryptocurrency mining motherboard, which was scheduled to launch in North America at the beginning of the third quarter of 2018.

Facebook has reportedly denied its partnership with the crypto firm Stellar following a report on their negotiations for building a Facebook variant of a Stellar blockchain.

Facebook has reportedly denied entering into talks with cryptocurrency firm Stellar (XLM), Cheddar reported August 10. Earlier today, Business insider reported that Facebook and Stellar had been considering a potential partnership to build a Facebook variant of a Stellar blockchain.

A Facebook spokesman reportedly told Cheddar that the company is “not engaged in any discussions with Stellar, and we are not considering building on their technology.”

The statement was made in response to Business Insider’s report that the two companies had discussed a potential fork from the main Stellar network as part of its blockchain efforts. Sources from Stellar reportedly told Business Insider that, “it would make sense for Facebook to record payments transactions onto a distributed ledger like Stellar.”

While the news regarding Facebook’s collaboration with Stellar is in question, the social media company has made some steps to embrace blockchain technology. Last month, Evan Cheng, Facebook’s Director of Engineering moved to the same position at the company’s recently established blockchain team. The team was initially formed in May by David Marcus, the head of Facebook’s messaging app Messenger, to explore possible applications for distributed ledger technology.

The establishment of the blockchain team followed the implementation of a broader shake-up of Facebook's product team, which led to the formation of three separate divisions: a “family of apps” group, "central product services" and “new platforma and infra.”

Later that month, anonymous sources familiar with “Facebook’s plans” told Cheddar that Facebook is “exploring” the creation of its own in-app cryptocurrency, despite having banned crypto ads on the platform earlier this year. Facebook banned crypto ads under a clause preventing advertisements for “financial products and services frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices."

Stellar was originally established in early 2014 as a payment technology built on the Ripple protocol, though it has underwent significant changes since then. In July, Stellar obtained Sharia compliance certification in the money transfer and asset tokenization field. This means that Stellar will be able to enhance its ecosystem in regions where operation in the field of financial services requires compliance with Islamic financing principles.

XLM is one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies on Coinmarketcap’s listings and is trading at $0.21 at press time, down almost 3 percent over the last 24 hours.

British police have warned the public about crypto-related scams, revealing $2.5 million worth of losses this summer.

British police have warned the public about fraudulent investment schemes involving cryptocurrencies, the volume of which has led to 2 million pounds ($2.55 million) worth of losses this summer, according to an announcement published August 10.

In the announcement, the police cite statistics prepared by the Action Fraud national reporting center for fraud and cyber crime, which shows that in June and July victims reported losses of $2.5 million in cryptocurrency scams. The average loss totaled to roughly 10 thousand pounds ($12,700 thousand) per person. Director of Action Fraud Pauline Smith said:

“It’s vital for anyone who invests or is thinking of investing in cryptocurrencies to thoroughly research the company they are choosing to invest with. The statistics show that opportunistic fraudsters are taking advantage of this market, offering investments in cryptocurrencies and using every trick in the book to defraud unsuspecting victims.”

Fraudsters reportedly lure potential victims with “get rich quick” investment schemes in crypto mining and trading. When a person signs up to a fraudulent digital currency investment website, they are asked to provide personal data like credit card details or driver’s licence numbers to open a trading account. Once the victim makes an initial deposit, fraudsters persuade them to invest more to gain a greater profit.

In order to fight fraudulent activity involving cryptocurrencies, the City of London Police’s Economic Crime Academy (ECA) has reportedly developed a one-day “Cryptocurrencies for Investigators” course to train officers to recognize and manage crypto in their investigations.

This week, the U.K. financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), issued two warnings over crypto-related “clone” companies, which claim to be authorized by the FCA. The first firm called Fair Oaks Crypto allegedly tried to hoodwink potential victims by claiming that they represent Fair Oaks Capital Ltd. The second, Good Crypto was reportedly giving out  “false details or mix[ing] these with some correct details of the registered firm,” which in this case was London-based Arup Corporate Finance.

Japan’s Financial Services Agency has published the results of its on-site inspections of crypto exchange operators, saying it will toughen regulatory oversight.

Japan’s financial watchdog, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), has published the results of its on-site inspections of cryptocurrency exchange operators, Cointelegraph Japan reports August 10.

Based on its findings, the watchdog has decided to apply more rigorous oversight into new applications from exchanges hoping to receive an official operating license. Newly registered exchanges will be required to undergo on-site inspections at an early stage and the agency plans to closely examine the effectiveness of their business models.

According to the agency, there are currently “hundreds” of companies awaiting its review.

The FSA probe revealed that exchange operators’ maintenance of their internal control systems has failed to keep pace with the rapid growth of transaction volumes, which it partly attributed to the “renaissance” of the crypto markets in fall 2017.

According to the investigations, the total digital assets of domestic exchanges surged to 792.8 billion yen ($7.1 billion), an over six-fold increase within the space of one year. Meanwhile, most exchanges’ workforces are fewer than 20 people, meaning that one employee on average was found to be managing digital assets worth 3.3 billion yen ($29.7 million).

The comprehensive document identified a wide array of problems across exchanges’ business models, risk management and compliance, internal audits, and corporate governance. The agency further highlighted concerns over insufficient anti-money laundering (AML) measures among certain exchanges.

Local news platform Nikkei has reported that it is likely the new registration of exchange operators — which had virtually stopped in the wake of January’s $532 mln hack of crypto exchange Coincheck — will resume following the FSA’s interim publication.

The FSA has said that “substantial” ongoing review of registration procedures will be necessary, and that it will continue to give “priority to investor protection.”

In May, the FSA unrolled regulatory stipulations for registered exchanges, including tough restrictions on the trading of anonymity-oriented altcoins.

In July, the FSA announced it was considering changing the legal framework for the regulation of cryptocurrency exchanges, and the agency was also recently restructured in order improve its handling of fintech-related areas, including cryptocurrencies.

A self-regulatory body, the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA), formed in early March in order to develop and coordinate policies in conjunction with the FSA. Last month, JVCEA announced it would be requiring its members to place maximum limits on the volumes traded by their customers.

The continued decline of most cryptocurrencies has led some analysts to predict even larger losses in the near future.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

The market data is provided by the HitBTC exchange.

Just a few days back we were discussing whether cryptocurrencies have entered a bull phase. Now, after the recent slump in prices, analysts are predicting a huge fall on Bitcoin (BTC).

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mike McGlone believes that Bitcoin will plunge to last year’s average level of $4,000.

Jeff deGraaf, head of technical research at Renaissance Macro Research has a more dire warning for the Bitcoin bulls. He said that “once the top is complete”, it may even mean “game-over” for Bitcoin. DeGraff is a highly respected voice in the technical analyst community, hence, his forecast should be kept in mind.

However, it is important to note that technical analysts can quickly change their opinion according to the chart patterns. While it is beneficial to know their views, the trades should only be taken based on the current chart patterns. Additionally, every position should be protected by a stop loss to protect the capital, should the markets go opposite to our expectation.

BTC/USD

The bulls have defended the critical support level at $6,075.04 for the past two days. Although this is a positive sign, a sharper pullback would have given us greater confidence that the bulls are aggressively buying at these levels. As the recovery has been weak, we will have to rely on other signs to predict the next probable direction on Bitcoin.

The moving averages are on the verge of completing a bearish crossover, which is a negative sign. On the other hand, the RSI is close to the oversold territory, which shows the selling has been overdone and a pullback is likely.

Any pullback will face a stiff resistance at the downtrend line of the descending triangle and then at the moving averages. The virtual currency will show the first signs of bullishness once it sustains above $7,200.

There is a possibility for the BTC/USD pair to remain range bound between $6,000 and $8,500. We have come to this conclusion because the bottom — around $6,000 — and the top — around $8,500 — have held twice since May of this year. Therefore, aggressive traders can enter long positions at $6,800 with the stops below $5,900 and expect a rally to $8,500. This is a risky trade because we are jumping the gun, so we suggest using only 30 percent of the usual allocation. Positions can be added after the price sustains above $7,200.

Our view of the formation of a range will be invalidated if the bears sink prices below $5,900. Under such circumstances, the downtrend can extend to the next support levels at $5,400 and $5,000.

ETH/USD

Ethereum is struggling to bounce off the critical support at $358. On August 8, the fall to $346.35 was the lowest level since November 19 of last year. The pullback on August 9 was unimpressive as the price retreated from $370.39.

If the bears push the prices below $346, the fall can extend to $280. Though the RSI is already in oversold territory, we are not confident about a bounce yet because during the previous fall in late March of this year, the RSI had become deeply oversold before a recovery happened.

We shall turn positive on the ETH/USD pair once it sustains above the 50-day SMA. Until then, we suggest traders remain on the sidelines.

XRP/USD

Ripple fell to $0.32 on August 8, just below our proposed target of $0.32862. If this level also breaks, the next stop is at $0.24001.

Though the RSI is in a deeply oversold territory, the weak attempt to pull back on August 9 shows that the buyers are in no hurry to buy the cryptocurrency.

We shall wait for the XRP/USD pair to form a bullish pattern before turning positive on it. The first sign of strength will be when the price sustains above the 50-day SMA.

BCH/USD

Bitcoin Cash made a new year-to-date low on August 8 when it fell to $564.9304. The pullback attempt on August 9 faced a roadblock at $619.7510.

The BCH/USD pair can now retest the support at $537.8221, which is the intraday low made on November 8 of last year. This is a major support; hence, we anticipate a strong buying in the zone of $537.8221 — $619.7510. The pair will gain strength if the price sustains above $620.

Conversely, if the bears break below $537.8221, the coin can slump to $400.

EOS/USD

After a failed pullback attempt on August 9, EOS is likely to stretch its downward move to the next support zone of $3.8723 — $4.3396.

We like that the EOS/USD pair is still quoting well above its year-to-date lows. The oversold levels on the RSI point to a probable rebound from the zone between $3.8723 and $4.3396. We shall wait for a strong bounce to materialize before recommending any buys on the pair.

Our bullish view will be invalidated if the bears break and sustain below $3.8723.

LTC/USD

Litecoin has retraced all the way back to the levels last seen in mid-November of last year. This is a negative sign.

An attempt to pull back on August 9 fizzled out at $65 and currently the bears are trying to extend the decline to the next target of $57.

Between late September to early November of last year, the LTC/USD pair repeatedly found support close to the $48 — $52 zone. Therefore, we expect this zone to act as a strong support during the current fall.

Any pullback will face a stiff resistance at the 20-day EMA and at $74.074. We shall wait for the trend to change before suggesting any long positions on it.

ADA/USD

The pullback attempt on August 9 could not scale above the $0.13 line. The previous strong support will now act as a strong resistance. Unless Cardano quickly rises above $0.13, it is at risk of breaking down of $0.111843.

Below $0.111843, the next level to watch out for is $0.078215. Any fall below this level will push the ADA/USD pair into uncharted territory, which is a bearish sign.

We shall turn positive on the cryptocurrency after it stops falling, breaks out of the downtrend line and climbs above $0.15.

XLM/USD

Stellar bounced sharply on August 9, which is a positive sign. This shows that the bulls are keen to own it on dips.

The level of $0.184 is one to watch out for on the downside because it has held since December of last year. Though it was broken on a few occasions, the bears could not sustain the prices below $0.184. Therefore, we expect the support to hold this time as well.

If, contrary to our expectation, the cryptocurrency sustains below $0.184, it will become negative and can slump to $0.09. As we are relatively bullish on the XLM/USD pair, we might suggest a buy once it sustains above the moving averages.  

IOTA/USD

The oversold level on the RSI has failed to attract buyers. IOTA continues to look weak on the charts, with a probable drop to the pattern target of $0.5721. If this level also breaks, the next stop can be at $0.5 — $0.52.

Historically, an oversold level on the RSI has resulted in a pullback. On the previous two occasions when the RSI was close to oversold levels, the IOTA/USD pair remained in a range for a few days before moving up.

So, if the bulls defend one of the above-mentioned support levels, the pair might attempt a pullback. Any recovery attempt will face a strong resistance at the previous strong support of $0.9150. We shall wait for a bullish pattern to develop before suggesting any long positions.

TRX/USD

Tron is struggling to bounce off the critical support at $0.022806. Though the bulls have defended the support for the past two days, they have failed to achieve a meaningful pullback.

The bears will now attempt to break the support at $0.022806. If successful, the TRX/USD pair will become extremely negative. The lower levels to watch out for are $0.018297 and $0.01095383. However, both of these are not very strong support levels, hence, it is difficult to predict where the buyers will step in.

Our bearish view will be invalidated if the bulls buy the dip below $0.022806 and push the prices above $0.02801344. Long positions should be avoided until the prices stabilize.

The market data is provided by the HitBTC exchange. The charts for the analysis are provided by TradingView.

The Tezos Foundation will support four big research institutions “in their efforts to advance the Tezos protocol and ecosystem.”

The Tezos Foundation has announced it will be issuing financial grants to research institutions for blockchain tech and smart contracts development, according to an official press release published August 9.

The Tezos Foundation will provide grants to four research institutions: Cornell University, the University of Beira Interior, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and France-IOI, the press release notes.

Emin Gün Sirer will lead the Cornell University team to “develop protocols that may be applied to Tezos,” paying particular attention to sharding, and Portugal's University of Beira Interior will receive four grants for two master’s theses and two Ph.D. projects focusing on logging events of robots in factory environments and support for machine-checked smart contracts respectively.

France-IOI’s grant “will support the education and training of current and future Tezos developers,” and the grant for Decentralized et Consulting, LLC. (“Decet”), a research institution of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is aimed at building an “accessible online developer documentation resource for the Tezos ecosystem.”

Earlier this summer, the Tezos Foundation had made a statement that it would hold a call for research proposals through an open grantmaking process in August.

Last month, the company had announced that international professional services giant PwC, headquartered in London, would conduct an external audit of the company’s finances, Cointelegraph reported July 24.

The IOTA Foundation is attempting to smooth over management problems and give two of the platform’s founders access to its Board of Directors.

The IOTA Foundation released a public statement August 8 in order to quell fears of a major disagreement among senior management after a transcript of a discussion between the founders and the Board of Directors was leaked.

A statement seen by Cointelegraph explains that following a period of uncertainty over IOTA founders Serguei Popov and Sergey Ivancheglo’s access to the Foundation’s Board of Directors, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) would now allow them access.

As a German-registered non-profit, the IOTA Foundation needed to act within the law, meaning changing its statute is possible “only by a supervisory board resolution,” the statement says. IOTA’s Supervisory Board had not yet met, despite Popov and Ivancheglo waiting for Board of Directors’ access.

The statement notes that the “circumstances lead to a situation, where two of the IOTA founders have been ‘waiting for board seats’ for more than four months,” adding:

“Unfortunately, sufficient priority was not given to this open issue, and there was a failure to keep the missing board members informed about progress.”

Tensions simmered under the status quo, resulting in Ivancheglo demanding embattled board chairman Dominik Schiener to quit. The statement notes that “Sergey Ivancheglo has since stated that asking for Dominik to resign was an emotional reaction to the situation, which had built up over months. The situation did not feel fair to him, being an integral member of the team behind IOTA as we know it today.”

The MoU should be in place by August 10, an interim measure ahead of the Supervisory Board’s first meeting in September, IOTA’s statement writes.

Both the Foundation and Schiener have faced criticism over the past year. In April, a scandal broke out after Schiener told an independent security researcher that she “needed a slap. And in May, University College London cut its ties with IOTA altogether, writing that it was “inappropriate for security researchers to be subject to threats of legal action for disclosing their results.”

China’s first digital invoice on the blockchain has been issued in the southeastern city of Shenzhen, on an ecosystem developed by Tencent.

China’s first digital invoice on the blockchain has been issued in the southeastern city of Shenzhen, local news platform EEO reports August 10.

This is the first implementation of a pilot blockchain ecosystem for invoices that has been developed by Tencent — the developer of the 1 billion-user social media platform WeChat — together with the Shenzhen Municipal Taxation Bureau.

It is the only such pilot to have received the official approval of the State Administration of Taxation, and has been designed for comprehensive use by consumers, merchants and tax authorities, according to EEO. In China, official invoices are dubbed “fapiao,” indicating that they have been issued by the Chinese Tax Bureau for goods and services purchased in the country.

EEO reports that the debut invoice was issued August 10 by a local Shenzhen restaurant. Several other local merchants have already been given access to the system, including a parking lot, auto repair shop, and cafe.

The system allowed for a consumer payment via WeChat to generate an invoice that would be eligible for inspection and management by tax authorities. Cai Yunge, general manager of blockchain at Tencent, is quoted by EEO as saying that the new system achieves a frictionless link between consumer scenarios and tax services.

In the traditional scenario, processing an invoice entails multiple and somewhat cumbersome steps, EEO notes. When a consumer completes a given transaction, they must wait for the merchant to generate the invoice, file it away safely, complete a returns form in the Finance Department, wait for the return to be processed, and then receive their returns.

Using a blockchain-enabled electronic invoice means that the consumer can manage all these steps using one click on the WeChat app after checkout, and is then able to track their reimbursement status in real time, EEO writes.

As EEO notes, blockchain’s cornerstone innovation of providing an immutable and transparent record-keeping system is highly consistent with the invoice supervision process, as it effectively traces the source, authenticity, and accounting of invoices, thereby solving the problems of over-reporting, false-reporting, and other true-false inconsistencies in the process of invoice circulation.

The technology also has the advantage of improving data privacy through encryption methods and providing an overall cost-effective streamlining of processes.

Cointelegraph has previously reported on Tencent’s ongoing cooperation with the Shenzhen Municipal Office of the State Administration of Taxation to establish an “Intelligent Tax” Innovation Laboratory focused on tax management modernization and fighting fraudulent “fapaio” with blockchain technology.

Crypto markets are today tentatively holding gains as they stake their recovery from the week’s earlier plummet.

August 10: Crypto markets are tentatively holding gains today, as they stake their recovery from the week’s earlier plummet. On August 8, total market capitalization had shrunk to $219 billion –– its lowest level since mid-November 2017 –– but today has seen that figure peak as high as $233 billion.

Market visualization from Coin360

Bitcoin (BTC) is attempting to hold the $6,500 support at press time, trading at around $6,485 and up a fraction of a percent on the day. The leading cryptocurrency has seen a 24-hour high around $6,610, but has been trading jaggedly over trading hours, briefly dipping as low as around $6,332, before spiking upwards to re-attempt $6,500. Weekly losses remain at a weighty 13.8 percent, yet on the month Bitcoin is up around two percent.

In an interview with CNBC, head of technical research at Renaissance Macro Research Jeff deGraff said that “game‐over” for Bitcoin is on the cards if BTC/USD break year-to-date support levels.

Bitcoin’s 24-hour price chart. Source: Cointelegraph Bitcoin Price Index

Ethereum (ETH) is currently trading around $360, losing around one percent on the day to press time. The altcoin’s attempt to break through to a higher price point were concentrated during early hours, spiking as high as $369 before dropping back below the $360 mark. The hours just before press time have seen another push upwards, yet these fleeting gains have failed to hold. Ethereum’s losses on its weekly chart are around a stark 13 percent, with monthly losses just under 18 percent.

Ethereum’s 24-hour price chart. Source: Cointelegraph Ethereum Price Index

On CoinMarketCap’s listings, the top ten crypto assets by market cap are mainly in the red, seeing losses no greater than six percent.

The most bullish performance on the day has come from Stellar (XLM), which is up about 3.2 percent to trade around $0.22 at press time. Stellar’s recovery from mid-week losses has been strong, particularly on the XLM/BTC charts.

Stellar’s 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

At the other extreme, IOTA (MIOTA) is down about 6.5 percent to trade around $0.61 at press time. Earlier this week, the alt decoupled from the wider bearish market to claim short-lived growth before seeing its protracted decline.

IOTA’s 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Among the top twenty coins by market cap, Dash is seeing solid growth and is up almost four percent, rising to about $185 at press time, having pushed $191 earlier today. Most other cryptos are seeing price percentage change capped within a four percent range.

Total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies is around $227 billion at press time, down slightly from its 24-hour peak around $233 billion. On the week, total market cap has shrunk by around $40 billion.

7-day chart of the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies from CoinMarketCap

While individual cryptos stake their fortunes in the market, there has been new bullish developments for their underlying blockchain technology.

Today, Australia’s largest bank announced it had been mandated by the World Bank to arrange a bond issue exclusively on a blockchain. Both banks expect that the tech will simplify capital raising and trading securities, speed up operations, and “enhance regulatory oversight.” The World Bank notably issues $50-60 billion in bonds per year for sustainable development in emerging economies.

Meanwhile, the logistics industry is responding to the news of the long-awaited launch of the global blockchain shipping solution that was unveiled this week by IBM and Maersk, dubbed “TradeLens.” The new jointly developed blockchain solution revealed 94 organizations involved and 154 million shipping events already captured, with its dataset reportedly growing at a rate of close to one million shipping events a day.

U.S. television and satellite provider DISH has moved to the BitPay payments service and added a Bitcoin Cash payment option.

U.S. satellite service provider DISH has announced it has added Bitcoin Cash (BCH) as a payment option and migrated to the BitPay payments provider, according to an official press release August 9.

The DISH Network Corporation was among the first satellite service providers in the world to accept Bitcoin (BTC) payments back in 2014.

John Swieringa, the executive vice president and chief operating officer at DISH, said in the press release that the company has “a steady volume of customers paying with cryptocurrency each month”, adding:

"We've added Bitcoin Cash just as we chose to accept Bitcoin to serve customers who have adopted a new way of doing business.”

According to the press release, DISH customers will be able to pay with both BTC and BCH for monthly subscriptions and pay-per-view movies by sending the exact amount of cryptocurrency in a push transaction to the company.

Sonny Singh, the chief commercial officer with BitPay, noted in the press release that they aim to have a “seamless transition” from DISH’s old payment service to the new one. Singh added that cryptocurrency purchases are becoming more popular both because they reduce the chances for credit card fraud, as well as provide a cheaper payment service option for merchants.

Previously, crypto payments processor BitPay had acquired a virtual currency license from New York’s Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), as Cointelegraph reported July 16.

Swiss logistics firm CEVA has praised IBM and Maersk’s blockchain shipping supply chain platform as one of its 90 participants.

Swiss-registered logistics giant CEVA Logistics has announced its participation in IBM and Maersk’s new joint blockchain platform TradeLens in a press release August 10.

The partners unveiled TradeLens, which is dedicated to enhancing shipping supply chains, earlier this week. CEVA said the platform constituted its “answer to the untapped potential of blockchain applications in the logistics industry.”

CEVA CEO Xavier Urbain noted in the press release that they see the “high potential” in TradeLense to be the “real-time access it provides to all partners in the supply chain,” adding

“It is a big step forward toward establishing a market standard for blockchain solutions.”

CEVA, which has annual revenues of $7 billion, is one of over 90 organizations to come on board with TradeLens, with the company hinting that this was by no means the full extent of its blockchain plans. CEVA’s press release stated that “other initiatives are in the pipeline and are currently being evaluated and expected to start delivering solutions in the coming months.”

Shipping supply chains have long formed a focus for simplification through innovation thanks to blockchain technology.

As Cointelegraph previously reported, TradeLens began as a pilot project in March 2017, while other schemes have since begun operating with the aim of using blockchain to reduce costs, paperwork, and timeframes, while enhancing security.

The Indian government is reportedly considering whether to allow crypto tokens to be used within the country.

The Indian government is considering whether to allow crypto tokens to be used in the country, despite its hardline stance on cryptocurrencies, local news outlet DNA India reports August 10.

A committee set up by the finance ministry, under the chairmanship of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) secretary, is reportedly working on a set of regulations and roadmap to allow certain crypto assets to be used in India. Once the draft proposals are finalized, the legislation will be tabled before the Parliament, according to DNA’s source.

DEA secretary Subhash Chandra Garg, who is heading the committee, is quoted by DNA as saying:

"The committee is studying the possibility of using cryptocurrencies or crypto technology (distributed ledger technology) for financial transactions and also what kind of regulations are needed for that…[while] the currency is totally banned, the committee is discussing its other usage and how it can be mainstreamed in India."

While emphasizing that DLT technology — of which blockchain is one type — offers “a lot of promise,” Garg reportedly “categorically denied” the future use of cryptocurrencies themselves “in any manner,” including in payment systems.

Garg said that the DEA has issued “several advisories” to the public warning people of the risks of cryptocurrencies, which are considered to be “a Ponzi kind of scheme” and not “currencies at all.” Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a ban on banks' dealings with crypto-related businesses and persons, which came into effect July 5.

Garg said, however, that he believes the government may “test the waters” when it comes to allowing for crypto tokenization, which — if introduced — would not be able to serve as a substitute for fiat currencies:

"One will need to pay physical money to buy a token which could be stored as a code in any basic mobile feature phone. It can even be used for remittances. So, it is easy to implement from technology as well as regulatory point of view. But in case of cryptocurrency, one needs to allow it as a legal tender first."

As part of its efforts, the committee will reportedly include an analysis of what it considers would be the prospects and consequences of the government legalizing cryptocurrencies.

Ongoing hearings on RBI’s controversial ban have seen the judiciary refuse to grant interim relief to those that purport to be affected. Recently, the court deferred the final hearing on the ban, originally scheduled for July 20, until September 2018.

Everipedia, the blockchain-based answer to Wikipedia, announced its launch August 9.

Cayman Islands-based blockchain startup Everipedia formally launched its peer-to-peer (P2P) encyclopedia August 9, a press release confirmed.

Designed to be an “autonomous encyclopedia without the need for advertisements or donations,” the project uses the EOS network to function and will reward curators with its own token, dubbed “IQ.”

Co-founder of Wikipedia turned Everipedia CIO Larry Sanger commented in the release that they are “elated to release [their] minimum viable network which allows users to vote on and create articles in a decentralized manner for the first time.”

Talk of a blockchain-based “alternative” Wikipedia has long floated around cryptocurrency circles, with fellow co-founder Jimmy Wales’ well-known skepticism of Bitcoin (BTC) and hands-off approach to blockchain technology serving to add to the community’s motivation.

Wales told Cointelegraph during an interview in June that he is “not planning to do anything directly in the blockchain space,” but added

“I am very intrigued by the idea. A lot of people have pitched me on their ideas in the journalism space, I just don’t see it makes a lot of sense. I’ll continue to reflect and think.”

Speaking to Bloomberg this week, Everipedia co-founder and president Sam Kazemian highlighted IQ as one of the biggest challenges currently facing the project.

“Designing token economics that actually work and make sense is the most challenging aspect,” he told the publication,

“It’s easy to create a token and have it do nothing except act as a unit of account inside of some service. But that’s not what the IQ token does.”

Singapore-based Golden Gate Ventures will launch a $10 million global fund for blockchain and cryptocurrency companies.

Singapore-based venture capital firm Golden Gate Ventures will launch a $10 million fund for investments in blockchain and cryptocurrency companies, Reuters reported August 10.

Golden Gate Ventures (GGV), one of the leading venture capital firms in Southeast Asia, will invest in early-stage companies including cryptocurrency exchanges, security providers, and blockchain tech startups through the LuneX Ventures fund.

Local tech media platform e27 reports that the fund was launched through a partnership between GGV and Kenrick Drijkoningen, GGV’s former head of growth. Drijkoningen told e27 that LuneX Ventures has a “strong pipeline of five to 10 investments ready to go,” noting that they have made their first funding commitment to the Singapore-based Sparrow Exchange.

Drijkoningen also praised blockchain, referring to it as “a foundational technology, on par with or possibly exceeding the Internet in disruptive potential,” adding:

“Right now valuations have come down to more reasonable levels and the industry is moving from pioneers to early adopters, which is a great time to start investing."

In June, private equity and venture capital firm Union Square Ventures (USV) reported that it has plans to invest in blockchain and cryptocurrencies over the course of the next 10 years, but will not establish a separate fund.

Earlier this week, the giant commercial state-run Bank of China had announced its plans to increase its investments in the research and development of blockchain and fintech, using around one percent of the bank’s operating annual income.

Year-to-date support is a key factor in Bitcoin’s future, a Wall Street analyst has alleged as prices remain flat.

Renaissance Macro Research’s head of technical research Jeff deGraaf concluded it may be “game over” for Bitcoin (BTC) in a new analysis, CNBC reports August 9.

In a note to clients, deGraaf, who has received multiple accolades for his trading insights in the past twenty years, claimed Bitcoin’s price movements suggest the largest cryptocurrency is “permanently impaired.”

CNBC quotes deGraaf as writing that Bitcoin’s “parabolic moves are notoriously dangerous for short-sellers,” adding that a top normally develops with the appearance of a “descending triangle over months, with reduced volatility and little [fanfare],”

“Once the top is complete on the support violation, the security in question can often be considered permanently impaired or even 'game‐over'. We are of course referencing Bitcoin as exhibit 'A' in today's market.”

Such a situation would become a genuine consideration if BTC/USD broke year-to-date support levels, deGraaf added.

Bitcoin prices have come full circle over the past three weeks to trade around $6,359 by press time, after previously rising as high as $8,450 in late July.

This time last year, Bitcoin traded at around half that figure — $3,400 — as markets began their ascent that brought Bitcoin’s price to around $20,000 in December 2017.

Meanwhile, misgivings from traditional finance sources have continued in recent months, despite increased Wall Street interest and pledges to build out Bitcoin-related infrastructure.

Last week, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon broke silence once more to call the cryptocurrency a “scam” after previously saying he “was not going to talk about” it.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has been mandated by the World Bank to issue a bond that was created, managed, and executed on a blockchain.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), the largest bank in the country, has been mandated by the World Bank to arrange a bond issue exclusively on a blockchain, according to a press release Aug. 10.

CBA will reportedly arrange the first bond globally to be “created, allocated, transferred, and managed using blockchain technology.” The Blockchain Offered New Debt Instrument (bond-i) will be issued and distributed on a blockchain platform under the operation of the World Bank in Washington, and CBA in Sydney.

The two organizations are using a private Ethereum blockchain, but the CBA “remains open” to alternatives as “other blockchains are developing rapidly.” Microsoft conducted an independent review of the platform to assess its security and resilience. CBA Executive General Manager of Institutional Banking & Markets International James Wall said:

“We believe that this transaction will be groundbreaking as a demonstration of how blockchain technology can act as a facilitating platform for different participants.”

According to the CBA and World Bank, using blockchain technology will simplify capital raising, trading securities, speed up operations, and “enhance regulatory oversight.” The World Bank issues $50-60 billion in bonds per year for sustainable development in emerging economies.

5 Day Stock Chart Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Source: Reuters

In July, CBA successfully delivered a 17 ton shipment of almonds to Europe using its new blockchain platform to track the cargo from Melbourne to Hamburg, Germany. The platform is underpinned by Distributed ledger technology (DLT), Internet of Things (IoT), and smart contracts.

In Thailand, the Thai Bond Market Association (TBMA) revealed that it would deploy a blockchain solution on its registrar service platform. The new platform will reportedly allow the TBMA to provide faster bond certificate issuance which, in turn, will boost the liquidity of the secondary market. The blockchain solution is scheduled to be introduced later this year.

Thai police have arrested a once-popular actor as a suspect in a $24 million Bitcoin scam.

Thai police have detained 27-year old actor Jiratpisit "Boom" Jaravijit in an alleged $24 million cryptocurrency scam, Bangkok Post reported August 9.

Jiratpisit is reportedly one of the seven suspects in the alleged crime, including his older brother and sister. On July 26, the Criminal Court awarded a warrant for his arrest following a complaint from a Finnish man that he had fraudulently lured foreigners into investing 797 million baht (nearly $24 million) worth of cryptocurrencies. Jiratpisit has been detained on charges of money-laundering activity, which he denies.

The alleged cybercrooks reportedly promised to purchase shares in companies that invested in the cryptocurrency Dragon Coin. According to the Bangkok Post, investors did not receive dividends from their supposed investment or an invitation to a shareholders’ meeting. The Crime Suppression Division states that the criminals withdrew BTC from their e-wallets and then converted it to baht.

Earlier this week, South Korean police raided the office Shinil Group, whose alleged crypto scam promised investors the spoils of Russian warship Dmitrii Donskoi, that sank 113 years ago. To encourage investors to purchase the company’s own cryptocurrency, Shinil allegedly promised to reimburse them with the gold from the ship. The coin reportedly attracted 60 billion won ($53.7 million) in investments from around 100,000 investors since its launch this year. However, there is no clear evidence that the ship contained anything of value.

Recently, Tokyo-based security software manufacturer Trend Micro found BTC automated teller machine (ATM) malware available for purchase online. Trend Micro cites an advertisement posted by an “apparently established and respected” user on a darknet forum. For the price of $25,000, criminals could purchase Bitcoin ATM malware accompanied by a ready-to-use card with EMV and near-field communication (NFC) capabilities.

А candidate for Colorado governor has added a blockchain policy to his gubernatorial campaign, aiming to make Colorado a “blockchain hub.”

The Democratic candidate for governor of Colorado, U.S  Representative Jared Polis, has added a blockchain policy to the list of issues of his gubernatorial campaign this year, according to an announcement on Polis’ website.

Having set a goal to establish Colorado as a “national hub for blockchain innovation in business and government,” Polis added a set of blockchain-related proposals to his gubernatorial platform on Wednesday, Aug. 8.

In his campaign, Polis advocates for implementing five blockchain-related initiatives, such as developing cybersecurity infrastructure to ensure the integrity of elections, and building a statewide ‘safe harbor’ to exempt digital currencies from state money transmission laws.

Polis also advocates for blockchain-based solutions in the state’s energy grid, the reduction of government bureaucracy while improving government services, and conducting a survey on further blockchain applications.

Following in the footsteps of Wyoming, which created a new class of assets in defining cryptocurrency as “Utility Tokens,” Polis says on his website that he will “work to establish legislation that protects ‘open blockchain tokens’ or cryptocurrencies that are exchangeable for goods and services.”

Some other U.S. states have already embraced distributed ledger technology. In June, Connecticut governor Dannel Malloy signed SB 443 into law, which establishes a blockchain working group to study the technology in order to make Connecticut “a leader in blockchain technology.” In March, the  governor of Tennessee signed a bill recognizing the legal authority of blockchain and smart contracts for electronic transactions.

Polis, who is currently serving in the House of Representatives, belongs to a small group of crypto advocates on Capitol Hill. The current congressman was instrumental in the founding of the bi-partisan Congressional Blockchain Caucus.

As Cointelegraph reported earlier this week, the chair of the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives Bob Goodlatte might be the first member of Congress to disclose that he owns cryptocurrency. Goodlatte reported that he owns between $17,000 and $80,000 in digital currency in his annual Financial Disclosure Statement.