Most major cryptocurrencies have resumed their up move, which shows that the rally can extend for a few more days. The total crypto market capitalization has risen from about $190.5 billion at the start of the year to over $243 billion. That is a rise of about 27.55% within 17 days. This shows that the bulls are back in action. Another interesting thing to note is that the rally is led by altcoins, which are outperforming Bitcoin (BTC) by a huge margin. This shows that the current rally is more…
Day: January 17, 2020
Crypto News Roundup for Jan. 17, 2020
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US SEC Charges Convict and Associates for $30M Fraudulent ICO
The United States Securities and Exchange Commision has charged a group of criminals, who raised over $30 million through a fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO). Per a Jan. 12 press release, the SEC charged convicted Boaz Manor, his business associate, and two companies, CG Blockchain Inc. and BCT Inc. SEZC, with violating the antifraud and securities registration provisions of the federal securities laws. Manor is a dual citizen of Canada and Israel. The entities allegedly raised more than $30 million in a fraudulent ICO, conducted with the objective to launch…
SEC: Cash-Strapped Telegram Launched 2018 Token Sale to Pay for Servers
Telegram launched a 2018 token sale because it was “short on cash” to pay for servers, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said. The claim, made in the regulator’s latest document dump in its ongoing securities case against Telegram, shows for the first time the core of the SEC’s argument: that the token sale was merely a substitute for equity financing. At the time of the sale, Telegram framed it as financing for a next-generation blockchain that would be faster and more versatile than its predecessors. The documents released…
Block.One Will Not Launch Its Social Network on EOS
In June when Block.one, the company behind the largest initial coin offering (ICO) in history, announced its Facebook-challenging social network, Voice, it promised the blockchain would run on the EOS mainnet. Plans have changed. Voice is meant to be a new kind of social network, one with crypto built in and one that defeats bots by verifying the identity of every single account. The company went silent about Voice for months after the summer announcement but then, in December, it revealed a launch date for Voice of Feb. 14. With…
Amid Legal Controversy, Telegram Blockchain Explorers Are Already Available
As the SEC lawsuit against Telegram Open Network (TON) forced it to postpone mainnet launch, working blockchain explorers are already available for the testnet. Blockchair announced the creation of a user-friendly alternative to Telegram’s own explorer. A stalled launch has not stopped blockchain explorers In 2018, TON raised more than $1.7 billion in a private initial coin offering (ICO). On a technological level, it aims to replace Bitcoin and Ethereum by featuring a transaction throughput that is reportedly competitive with Visa and MasterCard. As per its white paper, it will…
SEC Charges ICO Operator Who Used Alias After Past Conviction
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged CG Blockchain Inc., BCT In. SEZC and their operators Boaz Manor and Edith Pardo with fraud, alleging he raised $30 million through an initial coin offering (ICO). The SEC alleged in a press release Friday that Manor hid a past criminal conviction by working under an assumed name, passing himself off as an employee of Pardo’s to raise funds for BCT. As part of this effort, Manor allegedly “darkened his hair [and] grew a beard” out of concerns that his actual identity might…
Ripple-Backed Crypto Wallet BRD Launches Blockchain Toolbox for Enterprise Apps
Mobile wallet provider BRD is making something of a pivot, launching a suite of tools aimed at allowing blockchain developers to more easily build apps for enterprises. Called Blockset, the new offering – announced Friday – is described as a blockchain data integration platform with a suite of tools that allow coders to create “enterprise-grade” blockchain applications. These bring the ability to automatically pull in on-chain data via an API and, BRD says, conduct transactions in “near real-time” on multiple blockchains. Nodes can be hosted “out of the box,” BRD…
Grayscale Marks Record Year, Bitcoin Sentiment Aloft
Grayscale Investment, the world’s largest crypto asset fund manager, has had a record-breaking 2019, pulling in as much investment as they have from 2013-2018 cumulatively. This data supports the narrative that the correction hasn’t killed optimism in the Bitcoin market. Institutions and high net-worth individuals using Grayscale are still very much in the game, January 17, 2019. Growing in a Corrective Market Anyone of the belief that the ongoing seven-month correction has hindered Bitcoin’s growth potential is in for a surprise. Grayscale Investments brought in $607.7 million of new investments…
Swedish Crypto Exchange BTCX Plans IPO in 2020
One of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges in Scandinavia wants to go public later this year, hoping it will enable traditional investors to participate in “new finance.” Oskar Soderstrom, CEO of Stockholm-based BTCX, confirmed to CoinDesk that they are looking to deliver an initial public offering (IPO) before the end of Q3 2020. Corporate financial advisory firm Eminova Partners has been engaged to help file the offering, expected to take place in Sweden. “Our aim is to bring bitcoin to the masses and to bridge the gap between new and traditional…