Category: ICO

FATF Crypto Guidance Looks to Bring Industry in Line With Banks

“We recognize that there are a number of areas where both countries and the private sector have wanted more guidance from the FATF level about how they can implement this in practice,” said FATF Policy Analyst Ken Menz in an interview with CoinDesk. “I think this really shows just how fast the virtual asset ecosystem changes, and how quickly, new technologies, new businesses, new models appear. I think it is a challenge for anyone to just keep on top of everything new that happens in this industry. “ Source

SEC Will Not Approve Leveraged Bitcoin ETF: Report

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will not approve the listing of leveraged bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF). The SEC instructed at least one prospective ETF provider not to proceed with their plans for a leveraged funds, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing a person familiar with the matter. The U.S. markets regulator wishes to limit bitcoin-related investment vehicles to those that provide un-leveraged exposure – in others words not comprised of borrowed funds. The report emerges two days after Valkyrie Investments filed to offer 1.25x leveraged bitcoin…

Thailand Department Store Chain Is Testing Its Own Cryptocurrency

A Thai department store chain is trialing its own cryptocurrency for use by employees with a view to offering it to customers in the future. Central Retail Corp., Thailand’s biggest shopping center developer, is distributing its blockchain-based “C-Coin” to 80,000 employees on a merit basis to use as a substitute for cash in its stores, Bloomberg reported Thursday. The C-Coin may be expanded to customers once employee testing is complete. Kowin Kulruchakorn, chief innovation officer for Central Retail Corp.’s tech arm, said plans are not settled as to how the…

UPenn’s Wharton Taps Coinbase to Accept Crypto for Online Blockchain Course

A new online executive education program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania will accept payment in various cryptocurrencies via Coinbase, including bitcoin, ether and USDC, the school said Thursday. The Ivy League business school is launching the six-week “Economics of Blockchain and Digital Assets” course for “business and technology professionals seeking to learn about blockchain and digital assets through its value-driving principle: economics,” according to a statement. The Philadelphia-based Wharton said it will be the first Ivy League institution or U.S. business school to accept cryptocurrency from…

Bitpanda Pro Hires Former JPMorgan Exec to Lead Growth in Europe

The move from a traditional bank to Bitpanda was a “no-brainer,” Barraclough said in an interview. “As cryptocurrency investments further become part of mainstream financial markets, retail and institutional investors are demanding tools which enable them to pursue traditional investing strategies while navigating trading nuances specific to digital assets,” he said. Source

Dogecoin Hits Two-Month High as Shiba Inu Lags in Crypto Rankings

It’s an intense dogfight in crypto skies as dogecoin (DOGE) and shiba inu (SHIB), two of the most popular meme coins, battle it out for the ninth spot on the list of top digital assets by market capitalization. Some traders are profiting from the action by taking spread trades. DOGE has come alive, having lagged SHIB by a significant margin earlier this month. The joke cryptocurrency surged to $0.335 on Coinbase on Thursday, hitting the highest level since Aug. 20, and was last seen trading near $0.30, representing a 22%…

China to Release National Blockchain Standard Next Year, Says Official: Report

China’s technology standardization body will issue a national standard for blockchain next year, said an official from the China Electronics Standardization Institute, according to news site Chuanguan. The institute has drafted a standard and is in the process of approving it, said Li Ming, director of the Blockchain Research Office at the standardization body, at the Fifth China Blockchain Development Competition held in Chengdu, Sichuan. China is looking to boost blockchain innovation and application in enterprise and government across the country, as it clamps down on crypto. Its latest Five-Year…

Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest Scoops Up 2.2M Falling Robinhood Shares

Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management picked up a large number of Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) shares on Wednesday, despite the stock platform’s poor crypto revenues earnings. The move came as Robinhood shares fell roughly 8% on Tuesday after the zero-commission trading platform missed badly on revenue expectations. ARKK, an exchange-traded fund that seeks to invest in “disruptive innovation,” saw 1,728,431 shares added to its portfolio with a fund weighting of roughly 0.28%, according to a trade notification on Wednesday. The ARKW fund, which invests primarily in technologies associated with the “next…

US Regulators Weigh Avenues For Banks to Hold Crypto: Report

A team of U.S. bank regulators is devising ways in which banks may hold crypto on their balance sheets, provide custody and facilitate client trading. In an interview with Reuters reported Monday, Jelena McWilliams, chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), said banks needed to be allowed to get involved with crypto. “If we don’t bring this activity inside the banks, it is going to develop outside of the banks,” McWilliams said. “The federal regulators won’t be able to regulate it.” The FDIC is one of the federal banking…

A Need for More Regulatory Clarity

For years fintech leaders, investors and technologists in the cryptocurrency space have whined about the lack of regulatory clarity coming from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It was only in February 2020, amended in April of this year, that SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce proposed her forward-thinking safe harbor rules providing a three-year grace period from prosecution related to securities registration and a regulatory sandbox to develop decentralized networks. Meanwhile, the SEC charged alleged violators of the Securities Act of 1933 as disparate as Ripple Labs, BitConnect, actor…