LedgerX Beating Bakkt in Launching ‘Physical’ Bitcoin Futures in the U.S.

Bitcoin derivatives provider LedgerX announced it has launched the first physically-settled bitcoin futures contracts in the U.S. The contracts, which pay traders out in Bitcoin, will be available to both institutional and retail investors. From now on, every U.S. resident with a government-issued I.D. can trade futures contracts for real Bitcoin. According to the recently revealed information, LedgerX has officially launched the first physically-settled Bitcoin futures contracts in the U.S., right before the Intercontinental Exchange’s Bakkt and TD Ameritrade-backed ErisX did the same. However, it’s not just that. According to…

Canadian Judge Approves $1.6M in EY, Legal Firm Fees in QuadrigaCX Case

The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, Canada, has approved over $1.6 million in fees for parties seeking funds from former Canadian cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX, according to recently released court documents. Justice Darlene Jamieson ordered to approve the activities, fees and disbursements incurred by the Monitor — Big Four audit firm EY — in the ongoing proceedings of QuadrigaCX.  The exchange ostensibly lost access to its cold wallet holdings following the death of its founder, Gerald Cotten, in December 2018, and now owes over $198.4 million to an estimated 115,000 users.…

Bitcoin Takes 11th Place, EOS Still Leads

In its latest rankings, the Chinese CCID Research Institute put Bitcoin (BTC) in eleventh place on a list of 37 digital currencies in terms of technology, application and innovation. The ranking results were published by Forex Crunch on July 31. The CCID Research Institute is an initiative of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology that provides a monthly assessment of cryptocurrency projects. The assessment takes into account 37 cryptocurrencies and considers their properties such as basic technology, applicability and innovation, which put together form a total value index. Cryptocurrency…

UK Financial Regulator FCA Won’t Regulate Bitcoin and Ether

Britains’ financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), will not regulate Bitcoin (BTC) as a part of its recent guidance on crypto assets. On July 31, the FCA issued its finalized policy statement on cryptocurrencies in a document titled “PS19/22: Guidance on Cryptoassets.” The document represents an updated version of a consultation paper on crypto assets that was first released for public comment in January 2019, and intends to bring more regulatory clarity to existing types of digital assets. In the document, the FCA considered major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin…

New Bitcoin Cash Specs Propose Heightened Privacy and Double-Spend Proofs

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) development continues as software engineers have revealed two distinct concepts that aim to boost the BCH network. Bitcoin Cash developer Tom Zander has announced new documentation concerning the vision of a double-spend proofs, which now exists as a pull request to the alternative BCH implementation Flowee the Hub. Additionally, Electron Cash developer Jonald Fyookball has reported on the expanded specifications for the Cashshuffle method Cashfusion, a scheme that adds higher levels of privacy to unlinkable coins. Also Read: Exploring the SLP Token Universe Built on the Bitcoin…

Monero Crashes 40% Along July but Long-Term Uptrend Remains Strong

On June 23, Monero posted a 2019 high of $121.12. At that point, the privacy token was up by over 194 percent for the year. Unfortunately, the six-month run was met by heavy selling. Those who bought the cryptocurrency early were happy to dump positions at substantial profits. As a result, Monero plunged to as low as $71.842 on July 17. That’s a brutal drop of over 40 percent in less than a month. The good news is that the cryptocurrency is still bullish from a macro perspective. Thus, long-term…

S7 Airlines Processed Over $1M Via Blockchain Payment Platform in July

S7 Airlines, a member of major global aviation alliance Oneworld, processed over $1 million through its blockchain payment system for the month of July. S7 processed nearly $4 million in payments on its blockchain platform since January 2019 According to an official press release on July 30, S7 has seen significant growth in transactions on its blockchain-powered sales network developed in partnership with Russia’s largest private bank, Alfa-Bank. Nikolai Mukhanov,  executive director at S7 Techlab, said that the platform has seen not only a significant increase in number of payments,…

QuadrigaCX Judge Approves $1.6 Million in Expenses for EY, Law Firms

A Canadian judge approved more than $1.6 million in fees for firms that are seeking to recover funds from the now-defunct Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX. Nova Scotia Supreme Court Judge Darlene Jamieson ruled Wednesday that all activities undertaken and fees incurred by Ernst & Young (EY), Stikeman Elliot (EY’s legal counsel), Kirkland & Ellis (EY’s American legal counsel), Miller Thomson (representative counsel) and Cox & Palmer (representative counsel) under the ongoing Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) proceeding on behalf of Quadriga would be approved. “There being no expressed opposition to the…

Bitcoin Rally Is Around the Corner Based on This Volatility Indicator

Bitcoin has been relatively quiet ever since it posted its 2019 high of $13,880 on June 26. From that point, the market has been on a steady pullback with a few short-lived rallies. Experienced traders would call the price action as “choppy,” where there are no big moves and the trend is mostly sideways. A choppy market is not exciting for day traders because there are no wild swings to profit from. It is also boring for momentum traders and trend followers because they have to wait for the resumption…

Sex & Crypto: Cointelegraph Documentary

Because of its pseudo-anonymous, censorship-resistant nature, cryptocurrency has become a popular payment method in the adult entertainment industry. Pornsites, webcam sites and online sex shops have been using crypto to reduce their dependence on traditional payment services, which often impose restrictions and high transaction fees on these kinds of businesses — which are considered to be high risk.  Sex performers, who often struggle to set up regular bank accounts, can receive crypto payments directly from their clients, counting on the immutability and censorship resistance of blockchain technology.  Also, from the…