Telegram Bombshell, Zuckerberg to Testify, Ripple Row: Hodler’s Digest, Oct 7–13

Coming every Sunday, Hodler’s Digest will help you 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 U.S. SEC deems $1.7 billion Telegram offering illegal, orders halt In what may be the highest-level action it has ever taken, the SEC has halted the $1.7 billion digital token offering for Gram (GRM) tokens. In a massive setback for the upcoming Telegram Open Network…

Telegram Responds to Investors on SEC Action, Hearing Set for Oct. 24

Telegram Open Network (TON) developers responded to its investors after American regulators abruptly announced that its $1.7 billion token sale was illegal. No clear feedback from SEC for 18 months According to a TON letter to investors obtained by Cointelegraph, the firm has been trying to solicit feedback from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the past 18 months regarding the TON blockchain and does not agree with the recent action. It wrote: “We were surprised and disappointed that the SEC chose to file the lawsuit under…

Privacy Coin Zcash Community to Develop Wrapped Token for Ethereum

The privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash (ZEC) is seeking access to Ethereum’s decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. Zcash’s shielded addresses on the Ethereum network On Oct. 13, Coindesk reported that the topic of interoperability was the theme of the now concluded Devcon 5 developer conference in Osaka, Japan, where a number of smaller cryptocurrency projects displayed interest in accessing Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem. Summa co-founder, James Prestwich, told the news outlet: “Connecting to other chains doesn’t seem to be an Ethereum developer’s priority, but other chains seem to want to connect to Ethereum.” Developers…

BNB Gains 23% Plus Other Top-5 Cryptos This Week: LINK, HT, XRP, TRX

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been in the thick of the action over the past week. First, the SEC rejected the Bitcoin ETF application from Bitwise Asset Management and NYSE Arca. Next, the governing body obtained a temporary restraining order against Telegram and its wholly-owned subsidiary Telegram Open Network (TON) for hosting a securities sale which would culminate with the distribution of Gram (GRM) tokens within the U.S. The SEC claims that the ICO was illegal as Telegram did not register the offering.  While both news…

Crypto and Blockchain News From Japan: Oct. 7–13 in Review

Japan, the second-largest source of traffic for global crypto exchanges to date, witnessed a number of industry announcements this week as the country hosted the major blockchain event Devcon 5 from Oct. 8 to Oct. 11. Organized on an annual basis by the Ethereum Foundation, the recent Devcon conference featured leading figures in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industries, including Ethereum co-founders Vitalik Buterin and Joseph Lubin. Here is the past week of crypto and blockchain news in review, as originally reported by Cointelegraph Japan. MakerDAO to launch MCD in November…

Crypto Markets Report Mild Gains, While Binance Coin Jumps 7%

Sunday, Oct. 13 — Bitcoin (BTC) continues to bounce around the $8,400 price mark, while most of the top-20 coins by market capitalization report slight gains. Market visualization. Source: Coin360 Cryptocurrency markets are seeing mild gains, generally within a tight range of 1–2%. Binance Coin (BNB), the number eight coin by market capitalization, is the only top-20 coin that that stands out and is surging more than 7.5%.  Bitcoin has been bouncing between $8,300 and $8,400 for most of the day. The world’s most popular cryptocurrency traded from an intraday low…

Bitcoin Price Flatlines at $8.4K as Bollinger Bands Predict Breakout

Bitcoin price (BTC) bulls looked as if they were taking charge last week as BTC/USD rose by over $1,000, albeit momentarily.  Bitcoin rallied throughout the week from a low of $7,760 on Oct. 7 to over $8,800 where it was rejected around the 200 Day Moving Average (MA) on Oct. 11. After this point, 50% of the weekly gains were wiped out in a matter of minutes as it fell back down to the $8,300 range.   As Bitcoin price attempts another recovery, could we start to see altcoins regaining momentum?…

Bitcoin Cash Outshines BTC Retail Spending in Australia by a Wide Margin

The BCH-centric web portal Bitcoinbch.com published on September 13 an in-depth report that shows the aggregate of cryptocurrency expenditure for Australian retail businesses. According to the 10-page document, BCH transactions in the country exceed BTC transactions by a wide margin and BCH is the top digital currency in Australia. Also read: Bitcoin Cast Program Gives Guests a Unique SLP Token In Australia, Bitcoin Cash Is Soundly #1 This week the website Bitcoinbch.com revealed a report that covers cryptocurrency usage in Australia in regard to Australian merchants that support digital currencies…

Which Countries Have the Biggest Premiums?

Up until early 2018, major cryptocurrency markets the likes of South Korea and Japan demonstrated high premiums for Bitcoin. At the 2017 peak, when the Bitcoin price was trading at around $20,000 in the U.S. spot market, Bitcoin was being traded in South Korea’s cryptocurrency exchange market for around 26,000,000 Korean won, equivalent to about $22,000. This difference is now known as the Kimchi premium. Since then, starting with the introduction of various regulatory frameworks by South Korea to reduce regional premiums that included the prohibition of trading cryptocurrencies with…

Bitcoin Will End the Reign of ‘Dictators and Toll Trolls,’ Says Tim Draper

Billionaire investor Tim Draper has stated that he expects Bitcoin (BTC) — combined with other technologies — to change how governments operate worldwide. In a Medium post published on Oct. 10, Draper calls Bitcoin “the startup currency” and praises its decentralization and borderless nature, saying he believes that BTC will bring the world together: “With Bitcoin, and the decentralization that comes with Bitcoin, geographic borders have become less relevant. No longer are we at the mercy of dictators and toll trolls to grow the world economy. […] In the long-term…