Day: October 15, 2018

Stablecoins and Bank Failure — The Risk of Fiat-Backed Tokens

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About the author: Ranjeet Sodhi is the CEO and Co-Founder of Vault. He is also a fintech entrepreneur with over 19 years of experience leading and turning around key regulatory risk management initiatives for global top tier investment banks and financial services firms, including JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Deloitte, and E&Y. You can follow him on Twitter at @ranjeetsodhi. Recently news broke that Noble Bank, one of the early banks associated with safeguarding Tether’s backing, is likely insolvent and will be available for sale for as little as $5 million dollars…

Crypto Payment Platform BitPay Introduces Settlement in Stablecoins

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U.S.-based cryptocurrency payment processor BitPay has started accepting stablecoins, according to an announcement published Oct. 15. The company now allows its merchants to receive settlements in Gemini Dollars (GUSD) and Circle USD Coin (USDC). Founded in 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia, BitPay provides payment services with Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) with a customer base of 20,000 businesses globally. GUSD and USDC are Ethereum (ETH) blockchain-based stablecoins issued by regulated crypto exchanges Gemini and Circle. The value of each of these coins is tied to the value of the U.S.…

Bitcoin May Have Just Experienced its Final Shakeout Before a Big Rally

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On October 15, the price of Bitcoin dropped to $6,150, dangerously moving closer to its $6,000 support level which it has well maintained since early August. Due to its low volume, Bitcoin struggled to demonstrate momentum in the mid $6,000 region, failing to hold $6,550, a level it had held fairly well throughout the past two months. Over the past 24 hours, the price of Bitcoin surged from $6,150 to $6,750, coming close to breaking out of the $6,800 resistance level that could have opened an opportunity for BTC to…

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Stellar, Litecoin, Cardano, Monero, TRON: Price Analysis, October 15

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The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision. Market data is provided by the HitBTC exchange. Stable coin Tether is being cited as one of the main reasons for the spurt in crypto prices that pushed total market capitalization above $221 billion on Monday (UTC time), but it was not a new issuance of Tether that was the catalyst for…

Zambia Cracks Down on Cryptocurrency Businesses After Declaring Bitcoin Illegal Tender

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The Bank of Zambia has started to clamp down on cryptocurrency-related businesses, mere days after declaring that it does not view digital coins such as BTC as legal tender. The crackdown began on Oct. 14, when the central bank announced an investigation into Heritagecoin Resources Ltd. for allegedly laundering money, according to local media reports. Also read: Zambian Central Bank Declares Bitcoin is Not Legal Tender Bank of Zambia ProbesHeritagecoin’s Deposits Business In addition to the ongoing probe, the Lusaka-based fintech startup faces allegations that it has taken on traditional banking…

Cryptocurrency Exchange OKEx Lists 4 Competitors to Stablecoin Tether

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If tether (USDT) is truly backed by and redeemable for physical U.S. dollars stored in company-controlled bank accounts, the so-called cryptocurrency “stablecoin” should manage to weather this period of uncharacteristic volatility until arbitrage restores its USD peg. If not, we could be witnessing the unraveling of the token that sees more daily trading volume than any other cryptocurrency, except for bitcoin. The latest chapter in the $2.4 billion tether’s trial-by-fire will see OKEx, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, list four USDT competitors, including offerings from industry heavyweights Gemini and Circle.…

Fidelity Debuts Institutional Trading and Custody Platform for Bitcoin and Ethereum

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American brokerage giant, Fidelity Investment finally debuts its cryptocurrency trading platform for institutional investors. The 72-year old finance behemoth wants to provide easier access to Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. Introducing Fidelity Digital Asset Services According to CNBC, the firm announced the launch of its institutional trading platform – Fidelity Digital Assets, on Monday (October 15, 2018). The new unit will oversee the provision of cryptocurrency trade execution and custodial services for big-money investors. In a press release issued by the company, the company’s CEO Abigail Johnson, said: Our goal…

BTCUSD Goes Haywire as USDT Declines

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Bitcoin on Monday pursued a fake upside action across several exchanges, mainly BitFinex, after stablecoin Tether (USDT) started falling. The BTC/USD responded to the upside action witnessed in the BTC/USDT market. USDT traders started exiting their positions amidst growing concerns about BitFinex’s insolvency and its impact on the coin’s liquidity. The more traders swapped USDT for other coins, the larger it dropped, eventually founding support near 85 cents. By that time, Bitcoin had established its upside just shy of $8,000 on BitFinex only – so as other top coins which…

Major Korean Financial Holding Company Wins Blockchain Patent for Improved Fintech Security

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Leading South Korean financial holding company KB Financial Group Inc. has been awarded a patent for a blockchain-based fintech app security solution, South Korean economic news outlets The Digital Times reports Monday, Oct. 15. KB Financial is reported to have over $342 billion in assets under management and presides over multiple overseas and domestic subsidiaries, among them KB Kookmin Bank, the country’s largest bank and also the 60th largest bank globally as of 2017. KB’s new patent focuses on a blockchain-based solution to improve an “essential” security program for fintech…

Third Top Cryptocurrency Exchange OKEx Lists Four Stablecoins at Once

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The third top crypto exchange by market cap, OKEx, has recently announced the listings of four stablecoins at once, according to an official blog post published on Monday, Oct. 15. OKEx has added support for four stablecoins, including TrueUSD (TUSD), USD Coin (USDC), Gemini Dollar (GUSD), and Paxos Standard Token (PAX). According to the schedule mentioned in the statement, the stablecoins have become available for deposits today, at 05:00 PM on Hong Kong Time (HKG), with a number of crypto trading pairs. Withdrawal will be available starting tomorrow, Oct.16. TrueUSD…