Here’s what happened this week in Bitcoin in 99 seconds.
Coinbase announced the doubling of its February staff count, to 500 permanent members. Coinbase CEO, Brian Armstrong, predicted 1 billion crypto users within 5 years.
The SEC suspended the Swedish Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs within America known as “Bitcoin or Ethereum Tracker One”. On the other hand, a regulated Bitcoin ETF was launched on Canadian markets. Known as the FBC Bitcoin Trust, the ETF will allow accredited Canadian investors exposure to Bitcoin’s performance through their bank account or pension plan.
The founder of the OKcoin and OKex crypto exchanges, Star Xu, was arrested in Shanghai. Police suspect Star Xu of fraud in connection with the WFee token, an Ethereum-based platform for WiFi sharing.
A crypto lobbying group, known as the Blockchain Association, has been created in the US capitol. US crypto firms like Circle and Coinbase and investors like Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group are funding the group to advocate for favorable crypto legislation.
US investment bank, Morgan Stanley, announced that it intends to create a trading desk for Bitcoin derivatives. Although it won’t deal in actual Bitcoin, Morgan Stanley will allow clients to open long or short positions on the Bitcoin price.
And finally, major US online retailer, Overstock, stated that it will begin selling Bitcoin to the public in 2019. Overstock was one of the first major companies to begin accepting Bitcoin.
That’s what happened this week in Bitcoin. See you next week.
