Month: September 2018

Over the last few weeks, there has been a decline in the price of bitcoin compared to the previous year’s meteoric heights. This has not stopped industry officials from launching a charm offensive targeting federal lawmakers and regulators, per a Washington Post report. Several high-profile cryptocurrency companies and tech veterans in the nation are forming an industry lobbying group called the Blockchain Association, to tackle issues related to the technology and digital assets central to them. The trade association will be Read more …

A Brazilian soccer team is looking to raise $20 million by launching its own initial coin offering (ICO). The Avaí Futebol Clube, a Series B soccer team, announced Wednesday that it was generating its own cryptocurrency as part of an effort to develop a digital ecosystem for its fans, help it qualify for the top tier (Series A) of Brazilian soccer and the prestigious Copa Libertadores competition and to build up the team’s physical infrastructure. Inside World Football reported that the Read more …

Between Harvey, Irma, Maria, and now Florence, the United States has seen an unprecedented amount of disastrous natural disasters that have devastated communities and have left billions of dollars’ worth of damages in their wake. Ethereum’s blockchain is now potentially being used to solved many of the resulting problems. The sheer number of insurance requests to cover things like damaged or lost homes and cars has posed a huge issue for the insurance industry, as they have to rapidly approve Read more …

Finance Bank executives rarely get punished for their misdeeds, leading to many people distrusting the entire banking system as plagued with widespread corruption. But once in a while someone has to bite the bullet. Recently, public anger has forced a CFO of a major bank to quit after a huge money laundering affair came to light. Also Read: Denmark’s Largest Bank May Have Facilitated up to $150 Billion in Money Laundering CFO Leaves ING ING Group (EPA:INGA), the Dutch multinational Read more …

It’s been nearly one year since one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges was forced to shut its doors in the wake of a government-imposed trading ban. Now, that exchange, the formerly China-based OKCoin, is eying a comeback on the other side of the globe. Now headquartered in San Francisco, OKCoin’s U.S. offshoot announced on Wednesday that it has received regulatory approval to expand into 20 new states, greatly expanding its reach into one of the world’s largest crypto markets. Read more …

As Cointelegraph reported on Sept. 10, with the approval of the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), Paxos and Gemini officially announced the introduction of two stablecoins called the “Gemini dollar (GUSD)” and the “Paxos Standard (PAX).” Both stablecoins are backed by the U.S. dollar on a 1:1 basis, with every unit of GUST and PAX representing the value of one U.S. dollar. Experts believe that the emergence of fully audited, legitimate and licensed stablecoins will have a profound Read more …

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by volume, is teaming up with the Malta Stock Exchange (MSX) to enable security token trading on the “blockchain island,” a local news site reported Tuesday. The exchange’s chief financial officer, Wei Zhou, signed a memorandum of understanding with MSX chairman Joe Portelli to launch a security token trading platform, Malta Today reported. Malta’s finance minister, Edward Scicluna, praised the crypto industry during a press conference, saying the nation will not miss an opportunity Read more …

On the latest episode of The Bitcoin Game, host Rob Mitchell explains the recent trip he took to the World Economic Forum. Based in Davos, Switzerland, this international conference featured a wide number of economic experts and panelists within the international financial industry. Sitting on one such panel titled “The Crypto Asset Bubble,” Jennifer Zhu Scott, a founding partner at Radian, later came on this week’s episode of The Bitcoin Game to discuss the trajectory of the future cryptocurrency industry Read more …

Does a decades-old securities law apply to an initial coin offering (ICO)? In a case that represents the first time securities laws have been applied to cryptocurrencies, a district judge says it may. On September 11, 2018, in a district courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, Judge Raymond Dearie ruled that two ICOs were securities, based on established laws that govern the financial instruments. His decision does not imply that all ICOs are securities, but that simply calling a token a Read more …

Recent research suggests that there needs to be coordination between leading providers of cryptocurrency infrastructure products to protect against disruption caused by hard and soft forks. However, previous incidents of network upgrades have only strengthened bitcoin and efforts to govern the protocol raise questions over potential centralization. Do Leading Industry Participants Need to Attempt to Exercise Governance Over Bitcoin? According to recent research conducted by Benjamin Trump and others for the ORISE Fellowship , those using cryptocurrencies must improve their Read more …

Crypto, charity and cycling. It’s an unlikely triad, but two fitness enthusiasts-turned-crypto philanthropists believe that, taken in combination, the three can drive positive change. Taking a cross-country cycling trip around the U.S., Tour de Crypto riders Jason Berlin and Jovel Velasquez want to raise $1 million in cryptocurrencies and USD for the Houston Area Women’s Center (HAWC), a non-profit organization with the mandate to “[end] domestic and sexual violence for all.” Through its advocacy, counselling, education, shelters and support services, Read more …