Bakkt, the highly touted cryptocurrency exchange founded by the Intercontinental Exchange, saw zero Bitcoin options traded last week as it continues its hugely underwhelming start to life. The Bitcoin futures exchange, governed by the company behind the New York Stock Exchange, was billed as a gateway for institutional investors to get in on the world of crypto trading given its close associations with established financial institutions. However, the pre-launch excitement failed to translate into activity as Bakkt traded just 623 futures contracts in the first week of launch in late…
Month: January 2020
Crypto Upstages Other Mobile Payments in US Congressional Hearing
Congress clearly has crypto on the brain, with the question of regulation being a matter of when. At a Jan. 30 hearing before the Fintech Task Force, a body within the United States House of Representatives, lawmakers were focused on bringing crypto into the conversation. The basics The hearing — entitled “Is Cash Still King? Reviewing the Rise of Mobile Payments” — featured testimony from witnesses with backgrounds spanning payment providers, consumer advocates and financial inclusion non-profits. While some of the written testimony provided by the witnesses before the hearing…
Virgil Griffith Pleads Not Guilty to Evading U.S. Sanctions in North Korea Jaunt
Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith entered a plea of not guilty Thursday afternoon in a Southern District of New York courthouse. Griffith is charged with conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act after traveling to North Korea (DRPK) in April 2019 to attend a cryptocurrency conference. If convicted, Griffth, who once called himself a “disruptive technologist” whose aim was to “make the Internet a better and more interesting place,” could face up to 20 years in prison. He traveled up from Alabama to attend the arraignment and appeared composed…
CME Bitcoin Futures Hit $100B in Volume Since 2017, Director McCourt Says
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, or CME, has hosted over $100 billion in volume for its Bitcoin futures trading product. “CME Bitcoin futures have surpassed $100 billion in total notional value traded since their launch in December 2017,” CME Group Managing Director and Global Head of Equity Index Alternative Investment Products, Tim McCourt, told Cointelegraph. Institutions join crypto During the crypto boom of 2017, mainstream financial entities began moving into the industry. In December 2017, at the peak of Bitcoin’s all-time price high, CME launched its cash-settled Bitcoin futures trading product.…
Another Crypto Exchange Discourages the Use of Bitcoin Mixing Services
The cryptocurrency exchange Binance was recently scrutinized for flagging a customer’s funds because the individual had used a bitcoin mixing application. Now the platform Paxos Global is discouraging the use of crypto mixers after a customer allegedly sent coins to a mixing service. Also read: Regulatory Roundup: EU-Wide Crypto Regulations, New Rules in Europe, US, Asia Paxos Global Discourages the Use of Bitcoin Mixers The fight for privacy against corporate entities and governments surveilling our everyday financial transactions continues to escalate. Cryptocurrencies have made it harder for governments to track…
Few Banks Will Touch Crypto Firms, but Silvergate Wants to Touch Bitcoin Itself
Silvergate Bank is venturing even further into a field where few financial institutions dare to tiptoe. The La Jolla, Calif., lender made a name for itself providing hard-to-come-by U.S.-dollar banking services for businesses that deal in cryptocurrency. But now Silvergate wants to handle digital assets themselves. While the bank has no such services in its roadmap yet, it has applied for the New York trust license with the aim of providing custody and settlement for crypto. One example of this might look like “providing settlement services for their bitcoin trades,”…
Bitcoin’s Taproot Upgrade Won’t Help Privacy Where It Matters
The activation of Bitcoin’s (BTC) Taproot upgrade is moving forward as official Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIP) were submitted for review on Jan. 24. Even though Taproot is often hyped up for its privacy improvements, its true impact is likely to be very minor. What is Taproot? Taproot is the name given to a proposal coined by former Blockstream CTO Gregory Maxwell in January 2018. The actual implementation was later developed by a team of Bitcoin contributors led by Pieter Wuille. Taproot is a proposal that enhances Bitcoin’s scripts, a set…
Bitcoin’s Taproot Upgrade Won’t Help Privacy Where It Matters
The activation of Bitcoin’s (BTC) Taproot upgrade is moving forward as official Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIP) were submitted for review on Jan. 24. Even though Taproot is often hyped up for its privacy improvements, its true impact is likely to be very minor. What is Taproot? Taproot is the name given to a proposal coined by former Blockstream CTO Gregory Maxwell in January 2018. The actual implementation was later developed by a team of Bitcoin contributors led by Pieter Wuille. Taproot is a proposal that enhances Bitcoin’s scripts, a set…
US Rep. Emmer Unsettled by Stifled Crypto Innovation at Congressional Hearing
In a Jan. 30 congressional hearing on mobile payments, U.S. Representative Tom Emmer fears criticism of digital payment innovation may stifle progress. Emmer laid out his concerns over regulation smothering innovation: “There’s a whole environment out there of brilliant, genius, young people who are coming up with new ways to transfer value every single day,” he said. “I worry that we’re going to crush that entrepreneurial spirit and that advancement.” Digital payments hearing In a meeting of the minds, the Fintech Task Force gathered for a hearing on Jan. 30,…
Nomura Launching Benchmark for Japan’s Crypto Assets
Nomura Research Institute (NRI) will launch a benchmark rank and compare Japanese cryptocurrency assets on Friday. The Tokyo-based management consultancy and research firm said the “NRI/IU Crypto-Asset Index Family” – created in coordination with Intelligence Unit LLC (IU) – will be available through NRI’s financial information database, IDS, to domestic and overseas institutional investors, financial information vendors and crypto exchanges. The benchmark is intended to pull together information specific to the Japanese cryptocurrency market, including data on crypto-yen pairs and closing values, all in local time. A benchmark index is…