Crypto Currency

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered cryptocurrency company Longfin to pay a total of $6.7 million in penalties. The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has ordered purported cryptocurrency company Longfin to pay a total of $6,755,848 million in penalties. Falsely obtained qualification for Regulation A+ offering On Sept. 30, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that a New York federal court entered a default ruling against the fintech company for “fraudulent public offering and falsifying revenue from sham commodities transactions.” According to the SEC, Longfin and its CEO Venkata S. Meenavalli falsely obtained qualification for a Regulation A+ offering by claiming that the blockchain-powered firm was operating within the U.S. However, all of the company's operations, assets and management were in fact outside of the country. The SEC had filed its complaint in the federal district court, sa...

Swiss Digital Exchange, a crypto trading platform by SIX Swiss Exchange, reportedly plans to launch its initial digital offering in 2020. Swiss Digital Exchange (SDX), a digital asset trading platform by Switzerland’s principal SIX Swiss Exchange, will reportedly launch its initial digital offering (IDO) in 2020. SDX security token The not-yet-launched SDX has reportedly set up a global consortium of financial institutions to back its IDO in the middle of 2020, Coindesk reports on Sept. 30. Thomas Kindler, who took over as SDX CEO on Sept. 1, elaborated that the consortium comprises a group of investors such as banks and market infrastructure providers intending to legitimize the technology and raise capital. According to the report, the IDO would be similar to a traditional initial public offering, except that the shares will be issued in the form of security tokens on SDX. Consortium members not revealed While not specifying the consortium members or the amount expected to...

Ethereum’s Istanbul hard fork is expected to break 680 smart contracts on the decentralized management platform Aragon, after its launch earlier today. The Ethereum network’s Istanbul hard fork is expected to break 680 smart contracts on the decentralized management platform Aragon. Jorge Izquierdo, CTO at Aragon One, said that the upcoming upgrade will result in the breaking of roughly 680 smart contracts, industry-focused media outlet Coindesk reported on Sept. 30.  Izquierdo explained that the impetus behind the update is to further ensure frictionless functioning of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) built on the Aragon platform and address affected smart contracts. Izquierdo added that DAOs will no longer be able to receive Ether ( ETH ) from one another and continued: “The issue we’re going to have hasn’t been deemed important enough for this hard fork not to happen, which from our point of view is unfortunate [but] it’s a hard balance we understand.” Ethe...

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has settled with Block.one for $24 million for conducting an unregistered ICO. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reached a settlement with Block.one to pay $24 million in penalties for conducting an unregistered initial coin offering (ICO). On Sept. 30, the SEC announced in a press release that it has settled the charges against the firm behind the EOS network and corresponding token in the form of a civil monetary penalty. Block.one settled the charges without admitting or denying the findings. According to the press release, Block.one’s ICO of 900 million tokens “began shortly before the SEC released the DAO Report of Investigation and continued for nearly a year after the report’s publication.” Block.one raised the equivalent of billions of dollars but failed to register its ICO as a securities offering in agreement with the U.S. federal securities laws, “nor did it qualify for or seek an exemption from t...

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has awarded a $143,000 contract to a Vienna-based firm to develop blockchain security solutions. The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has awarded $143,478 to Vienna-based Danube Tech to develop blockchain security solutions. Silicon Valley Innovation Program On Sept. 26, the United States DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced in a press release that Danube Tech was awarded a contract to assist the department in its ongoing fight against forgery and the counterfeiting of certificates and licenses.  The news release states that services such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Transportation Security Administration, and Citizenship and Immigration Services can all benefit from blockchain-based security solutions, adding: “Current issuance processes are often paper-based, do not facilitate data exchange, and use among systems and could be susceptible to loss, destruction, forgery and ...

The cryptocurrency markets are showing signs of recovery, with Bitcoin’s price hovering about the $8,200 mark. Monday, Sept. 30 — Bitcoin ( BTC ), together with most altcoins, has been trading relatively flat in the last 72 hours, but the overall crypto market seems to be ready to turn around. Cryptocurrency market daily overview. Source: Coin360 Bitcoin has not yet been able to recover from last Tuesday’s double-digit losses, but the coin is showing signs that a recovery phase might be on the horizon. While billionaire technology investor Mark Cuban said that he would be happier owning bananas than Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency has been trading around the $8,000 price mark for most of the day. Since hitting an intraday low of $7,835, BTC has been slowly crawling upwards to its current price point of $8,258, up by 2.62% in the last 24 hours. Cuban claims that Bitcoin is too complicated for the average person, and that the world’s best-known cryptocurrency is...

Crypto derivatives have significant implications on the young market, but are they positive, negative or too difficult to predict? Just a decade ago, speculating on cryptocurrency prices meant figuring out a way to buy Bitcoin ( BTC ) and add it to your  blockchain wallet . This was a feat that was worthy of bragging rights: In 2010, there were few exchanges, low liquidity and barely any infrastructure, meaning that crypto was less a financial instrument and more a digital novelty.  Larger centralized exchanges unlocked the idea that Bitcoin and other  cryptocurrencies have relative value and made it possible to speculate on their value versus fiat currency. Since then, a slow proliferation of a variety of crypto derivatives has transpired. This has given traders many new ways to mobilize their capital in the young ecosystem. The newness of cryptocurrency and its unique decentralized characteristics mean that new financial instruments and their terms are introduced ...

Ethereum’s system-wide activation of the Istanbul hard fork has arrived two days early and caused a split of the Ropsten testnet. Ethereum’s system-wide activation of the Istanbul hard fork has arrived two days early and caused a split of the Ropsten testnet. Huge miner pushing the non-forked chain On Sept. 30, the community manager of the Ethereum Foundation, Hudson Jameson, explained on  Twitter  that there are miners still relying on the old Ropsten testnet, while others are already mining on the new one. Cointelegraph previously reported that Jameson said that the testnet launch of the hard fork was scheduled to take place at the beginning of October. He added: “For anyone listening in who doesn’t know how this works, we pick a block number that we estimate to be around the 2nd of October. [...] However, that might be one or two days behind or forward from that date based on how fast blocks are produced between now and then.” However, blockchains are complex...

Most major cryptocurrencies have stopped falling. They can start a pullback, which will offer buying opportunities for aggressive traders. Various cryptocurrency operators have joined hands to launch a rating system that will define how close a digital asset resembles a security. On a scale of one to five, one will be awarded to cryptocurrencies that are  least characteristic of a security, whereas five will have the most similarities to a security. This rating system will provide clarity to asset managers who have stayed away due to the uncertain legal status of the cryptocurrencies. When sentiment turns bearish, many negative voices can be heard. Mark Cuban has reiterated his negative stance on Bitcoin ( BTC ) and has said that he would rather hold bananas. While it is easy to follow the herd and turn negative, we believe that the current fall is showing signs that it might be a bear trap before the trend turns up once again. Another important point to note is that the curr...

Bitcoin bounces back from the drop to $7,800 but bulls are unsure whether the crypto market bottom is in? Bitcoin ( BTC ) price has had a volatile start to the week. Asia kicked off the trading week with a 4% selloff that brought Bitcoin price from $8,050 to $7,700. The ball was then passed to the Europeans who started a rally which continued through to the New York trading session. By the end of the day, Bitcoin had rallied 8% from the bottom to highs of $8,325, which was near a 3.5% gain for the day.  Altcoins have also been moving higher on the same basis, with Ethereum and XRP being notable gainers of 6% and 9% respectively.  The crypto market has largely been following the risk-on price action today, with traditional markets moving higher and commodities moving lower. We will take a closer look at the key timeframes to try and examine if Bitcoin is nearing a bottom.   Daily Crypto Market Performance. Source. Coin360.com Weekly Bitcoin price chart BTC/US...

Cryptocurrency trading platform Bittrex has announced Bittrex Global, a new platform headquartered in Liechtenstein. Cryptocurrency trading platform Bittrex has announced Bittrex Global, a new platform headquartered in Liechtenstein . Per a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Sept. 30, Bittrex is expecting to roll out Bittrex Global at the end of October in the city of Vaduz, Liechtenstein. A fundamental reason for Bittrex’s choice to set up a new trading platform in Liechtenstein is the country’s regulatory clarity toward digital currencies and blockchain technology. New products in accordance with European Union law Bittrex Global is planning to develop new features and products, including customer reward programs, credit card interoperability, private token sales under EU law and a mobile app for trading cryptocurrencies. Following its launch, Bittrex Global also intends to register under the Transaction Systems Based on the Trustworthy Technologies Act, also known a...

Will Binance’s entry into the U.S. market pave the way for other prominent exchanges as well? From the outside looking in, the United States seems to present a host of amazing financial opportunities. However, when it comes to launching cryptocurrency exchanges or altcoin trading platforms, these possibilities start to dwindle and fade quite rapidly.  In this regard, over the past few years, the U.S. regulatory landscape has seemed so hostile toward the crypto industry that a number of prominent exchange operators have preferred not to serve U.S. citizens at all — a case in point being Bancor , a decentralized liquidity network, that recently decided to block American citizens from using its website to convert its tokens. Related: US a Crypto Exchange Scarecrow — What Needs to Change? All of these negative developments have their roots traced back to America’s lack of clear regulations — especially when it comes to securities legislation . However, despite all these hurdles...

Major cryptocurrency payment services provider BitPay has undergone a security and confidentiality compliance audit, the Service Organization Control 2. Major cryptocurrency payment services provider BitPay has undergone a security and confidentiality compliance review, the Service Organization Control 2 (SOC 2). Per a Sept. 30 press release , business advisory company Aprio confirmed BitPay’s compliance with the SOC 2, a tech audit and a requirement for technology companies that assures that customers’ personal data is kept secure and confidential. Passing an SOC 2 review means that the firm has met criteria set by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants in regard to confidentiality, security, privacy, processing integrity and availability. Commenting on the evaluation, Dan Schroeder, partner-in-charge of information assurance services at Aprio, said: “After thorough review, we have confirmed the design and application of BitPay’s payment system meets the standa...

Executives from the Bank of Ireland have been asked to testify in the case of a OneCoin crypto scam money launderer. Executives at the Bank of Ireland (BOI) could join a trial in the case against Mark Scott, who allegedly helped launder nearly $400 million via cryptocurrency scam scheme OneCoin . Four BOI witnesses to testify remotely On Sept. 29, the government of the United States submitted a court motion seeking the testimony of four witnesses via closed-circuit television from a remote location in Ireland. Initially set for Oct. 7, 2019, the trial has been recently adjourned to Nov. 4, 2019, while a final pretrial conference is scheduled for Oct. 28, as reported by fintech publication FinanceFeeds in early September. All four witnesses are current or former employees of the BOI, where Scott had corporate bank accounts through which he has allegedly laundered over $300 million in OneCoin fraud proceeds.  The list of witnesses includes Diane Sands, the head of BOI’s Ant...

Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance launches a market maker program for its high volume users. Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced in a blog post published on Sept. 30 that it is launching a market maker program. Per the announcement, users whose monthly trading volumes exceed 1,000 Bitcoins ( BTC ) — or can reach such volumes — and who also have quality market making strategies can immediately join the program. Binance explains that the aim of the initiative is to bring more liquidity to the exchange. A bid for more liquidity The firm notes that the program is limited to the spot markets of the trading platform on a “market maker pair list” that will be periodically updated. Each market maker will be given a score based on their performance across various markets, depending on which the exchange will calculate their fees. More precisely, the score will take into account maker volumes, bid/offer spread, total order size, order duration, weight adjustment on specifi...

“I’d rather have bananas,” says billionaire technology investor Mark Cuban about gold and Bitcoin. Billionaire technology investor Mark Cuban said that he would be happier owning bananas than Bitcoin ( BTC ). Cuban made his remarks in a video Q&A published on YouTube by technology news outlet Wired on Sept. 27. During the Q&A session, he answered to a Twitter user asking why Cuban hates crypto if he is “into providing opportunity for people to grow their net worth.”  First, Cuban seemingly suggested that the issue he has with Bitcoin is that its price is determined by the market's demand for it: “Here’s the thing about crypto, particularly Bitcoin: Bitcoin is worth what somebody will pay for it.” BTC has no intrinsic value Cuban continued, suggesting that Bitcoin has no intrinsic value. To better explain his thoughts on the matter, he compared the crypto asset to artwork, comic books and baseball cards: “Did you ever see someone who collected baseball cards? And...

Coinbase, Kraken and other major U.S. crypto firms reportedly team up to establish Crypto Ratings Council. Major United States’ crypto firms such as Coinbase and Kraken teamed up to launch a rating system to jointly define which digital assets are securities. Crypto Ratings Council to launch on Sept. 30 In a move to provide more clarity for what tokens can be traded without the supervision of regulators, major U.S.-based exchanges formed the so-called Crypto Ratings Council, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports on Sept. 30. According to the report, other members of the Crypto Ratings Council include Circle Internet Financial, Bittrex, Genesis Global Trading, Grayscale Investments, Anchor Labs and DRW Holdings' Cumberland unit. The group continues to recruit participants, the report notes. Security status: scale from 1 to 5 Expected to officially launch on Sept. 30, the new crypto council will be publishing online ratings for digital assets on a scale of 1 to 5, where the h...