Day: July 13, 2018

Crypto Markets Show No Friday 13th Fear as Assets U-Turn on Previous Losses

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Cryptocurrency markets staged a modest comeback Friday, July 13, following a week in which Bitcoin (BTC) lost over 5 percent against the dollar and Ethereum (ETH) over 7 percent. Data from Cointelegraph’s price indices and Coin360 show a rebound from weekly lows of $6,180 for Bitcoin, which had hit highs of $6,792 July 8. Market visualization from Coin360 At press time Friday, BTC/USD is trading around $6,250 up just about one percent on the day, this week’s downward momentum failing to crack support around the $6,000 barrier. Bitcoin’s general price…

United Nations Puts Blockchain at Center of New ‘High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation’

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The United Nations’ (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres has created a ‘High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation,’ which explicitly puts blockchain technology on the agenda,  UN News revealed yesterday, July 12. The panel, said to be “the first of its kind,” will gather 20 eminent figures from industry, civil society and academia to tackle the impact of digital technologies on global economies and societies –– an impact ongoing at “unprecedented scale” and “warp speed,” in Guterres’ words. Representing the new body on behalf of the UN Secretariat, Executive Director and co-chair, Ambassador…

South Korea to Simplify Blockchain Investment With New Legislative Changes

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South Korea regulators vowed to introduce friendly blockchain investment legislation in a meeting July 13, the latest chapter of an ongoing push to promote the technology nationally. At the 4th Vice Ministerial Meeting on “Growth through Innovation,” presided over by Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance Ko Hyoung-kwon, the government pledged to make it easier for blockchain businesses to enter the market. In order to promote job creation and support emerging technologies, the South Korean government plans to both “expand tax reduction for new growth engine investment and ease requirements…

a Talk With Leading Law Firm

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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. On July 4, 2018, the Parliament of Malta approved a regulatory framework for blockchain technology, making Malta one of the most ‘blockchain-friendly’ countries in the world. Cointelegraph talked to Simon Schembri, a partner at Ganado Advocates — one of the leading Maltese law firms that was involved in drafting the legislation — about what it means for the country, investors and future. On how…

American Express Files Patent for Blockchain-Powered Proof-of-Payment System

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Financial services giant American Express (Amex) has filed a patent for a blockchain-based proof-of-payment system, according to filing published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Thursday, July 12. The patent’s applicant is listed as American Express Travel Related Services Co., Inc., Amex’s travel arm. The proposed system would automate proof-of-payments by encrypting payment payload data with a public key on an initial node of the blockchain –– the data in question comprising the merchant’s identifying information and the transaction amount. According to the patent filing, the encrypted data…

Bitcoin Avoids Decline to $6,000 But Crypto Market Still in Downtrend

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Over the past 12 hours, the bitcoin price has defended a fall below the $6,000 mark, after falling to $6,070 on July 12. Lack of Momentum and Volume The slight increase in the price of bitcoin from $6,070 to $6,250 has allowed the dominant cryptocurrency to break out of a descending trendline since July 10, setting up a corrective rally in the short-term. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) of bitcoin has also demonstrated a bullish trend for bitcoin in the upcoming days, increasing the probability of bitcoin’s recovery to $6,400.…

CoinList’s Fifth ICO Is a $61 Million Bid to Tokenize All the Assets

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The website aiming to be the gold-standard for token sellers has been picking up the pace. Since spinning off from venture capital giant AngelList last October, New York-based CoinList has been able to make a spot on its website a coveted place for serious projects, even in a crowded market for compliant coin offerings. So, on Monday, the wider world of token entrepreneurs and investors took notice when the company opened registration for its fifth sale. The new entrant? TrustToken, a platform that aims to simplify trading real-world assets on a blockchain.…

Billionaire Steven Cohen Backs Crypto, Blockchain Hedge Fund

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Billionaire Steven Cohen, the founder of Point72 Asset Management, is reportedly backing a crypto and blockchain-focused hedge fund, Bloomberg reports Friday, July 13. Cohen invested in Arianna Simpson’s cryptocurrency hedge fund, Autonomous Partners, via his private equity firm Cohen Private Ventures, according to Bloomberg’s anonymous source. Point72 Asset Management, whose most recent portfolio value is almost $24 billion, is headed by Andrew B. Cohen, who is also the Managing Director of Cohen Private Ventures. Simpson founded Autonomous Partners in December 2017. In an interview with Fortune on July 12, she…

Bancor Creates Crime-fighting ‘Crypto Defenders’ as Scorn Over $12 Mln Hack Escalates

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Self-styled “decentralized” exchange platform Bancor pledged to tackle cybercrime threats to cryptocurrency entities in a blog post July 12 as it resumed operations following a $12 mln hack this week. Summarizing the platform’s future plans in the post, co-founder Guy Benartzi also announced that Bancor’s internal tools that helped tracked its hacked funds would be made available to a wider audience. This move will form a precursor to a major crime-fighting initiative which Benartzi hopes will result in contribution of “resources and capabilities to fight criminals together.” The initiative, described as…

Thailand’s Central Bank is Reviewing Several Blockchain Applications Including Cross-Border Payments

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The march towards the adoption of blockchain technology in Thailand’s mainstream financial sector seems unstoppable. In a speech delivered during the Bloomberg ASEAN Business Summit, the governor of the Bank of Thailand, Dr. Veerathai Santiprabhob, revealed that the central bank was undertaking a review of blockchain applications for purposes of document authentication, supply chain financing and cross-border payments. This is being carried out through the central bank’s regulatory sandbox. “The sandbox serves as a platform for financial institutions and FinTech firms to test new technologies and operating standards in a…