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Bahamas National Cryptocurrency Developer Says Startups Essential for Adoption

Bahamas National Cryptocurrency Developer Says Startups Essential for Adoption

The CEO of NZIA Ltd, the firm developing the Bahamas’ central bank digital currency, said that startups will be key to its adoption

The CEO of transactions firm NZIA Ltd, Jay Joe, says Bahamian tech startups will need to lead the development of Project Sand Dollar, according to a report by the Nassau Guardian on May 31.

Project Sand Dollar is an initiative to tokenize the Central Bank of the Bahamas’ (CBOB) fiat currency as a central bank digital currency (CBDC), which is supposed to launch in the Bahamian district Exuma this year.

Joe discussed how he thinks participation from local banks, small and medium-sized enterprises, and entrepreneurs in CBDC implementation will be crucial to the budding token’s adoption. He also commented on how solutions built by local tech startups will likewise be important in driving the digital token’s mainstream use:

“We are going to build the back end and we will open up the front end to allow local entrepreneurs, tech startups, whomever to be able to build new products and create new services around CBDC. We feel that this is going to be a key aspect of really making this thing become a real, living, breathing thing that people engage in.”

As previously reported by Cointelegraph, The Central Bank of the Bahamas signed an agreement with NZIA on May 30 to develop the token, after naming the firm as its “preferred technology solutions provider” at the beginning of March.

CBOB initially announced plans for its CBDC at the Bahamas Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference in June 2018. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the Bahamas, K Peter Turnquest, commented on the importance of digital currency for an island nation, saying:

“A digital Bahamian currency is especially important for the many family islands as they have seen many commercial banks downsize and pull out of their communities, leaving them without banking services. As an island nation, where transportation can be an inconvenience for many, especially the elderly, and costly, we must offer financial services digitally and securely.”



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Crypto Markets Show Signs of Recovery, While Oil Prices Slump

Crypto Markets Show Signs of Recovery, While Oil Prices Slump

Cryptocurrencies have entered the green zone after seeing some losses over the past couple of days.

Friday, May 31 — cryptocurrencies are on the rise again after seeing a slight correction yesterday, May 30, with EOS (EOS) being the only coin among the top-20 cryptocurrencies to register double-digit gains.

COIN360

Market visualization by Coin360

The leading digital currency bitcoin (BTC) is up slightly over 3% on the day, and is trading at $8,573 at press time. On its weekly chart, bitcoin saw its lowest price point at $7,924 on May 26, while its highest price point of $8,994 was on May 30.

BTC

Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Meanwhile, only 1.3% of economic transactions for bitcoin came from merchants in the first four months of 2019, according to recent research from United States-based blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis.

The second largest coin by market capitalization, ether (ETH), is up by 4.86% in the last 24 hours, and is trading at $268.75 at press time.

Ernst & Young’s head of innovation, Paul Brody stated earlier today that 83% of decentralized applications (DApps) on the Ethereum network are “not in the most productive uses.” Brody noted that 14% of Ethereum-based DApps are used at cryptocurrency exchanges, while most of them are used for gambling and gaming, accounting for 44% and 13% of DApps, respectively.

ETH

Ethereum 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Ripple (XRP) has seen a 3.58% increase in its price over the day to trade at around $0.438 at press time. The altcoin started the week at the $0.383 price point.

XRP

XRP 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

EOS has shown over 15% growth on the day, and is trading at around $8.58 at press time. At the beginning of the day, EOS was trading at $7.32, dipping to as low as $7.28.

EOS

EOS 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

The remaining coins on CoinMarketCap’s top-20 list have registered gains between modest 0.13% and 10%, with none of the coins in the red.

Total market capitalization of all digital currencies is over $272 billion at press time, up around $25 billion from its intraweek low of around $247 billion on May 26.

Total market capitalization

Total market capitalization 7-day chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

As CNBC reported earlier today, oil prices slumped, with Brent crude futures falling $2.40, or 3.59%, to $64.47 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures decreasing 5.5% to $53.50 per barrel.

The drop purportedly follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to increase tariffs unless Mexico stopped people from illegally crossing into the United States. The plan would impose a 5% tariff on Mexican imports starting on June 10 and increase monthly, up to 25% on Oct. 1.



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G20 International Watchdog Says Regulators Need Better Crypto Risk Assessments

G20 International Watchdog Says Regulators Need Better Crypto Risk Assessments

The FSB said in its latest report that regulators need to improve their risk assessment strategies to keep up with innovations in the cryptocurrency sector.

G20’s international watchdog, the Switzerland-based Financial Stability Board (FSB), said in its latest report that regulators need to improve their risk assessment strategies regarding financial activity in the crypto space, according to a report by Reuters on May 31.

The report noted that one potential risk assessment metric regulators could look at is banks’ and other financial entities’ degree of exposure to cryptocurrency. The report also added that the FSB does not currently believe that crypto poses “a material stability risk” to the financial sector.

As per the report, existing crypto regulations are somewhat weak, and the fast rate of technological innovation may leave the sector with even more areas of questionable regulation. Crypto assets currently can reportedly fall outside regulators’ jurisdiction, due in part to inconsistent standards between countries.

China, for instance, has reportedly taken a “near-total ban” approach to cryptocurrency exchanges, while Japan is attempting to keep cryptocurrency exchanges legal with proper licensure.

As previously reported on Cointelegraph, Japan is currently cracking down on cryptocurrency exchanges that do not have sufficiently good anti-money laundering practices. Unlike China and South Korea, initial coin offerings in Japan remain legal. Japan will also be hosting the upcoming G20 summit in Osaka this June, and is expected to lead the conversation on international crypto regulations.



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Crypto Exchange Bitfinex Temporarily Shuts Down Deposits and Withdrawals

Crypto Exchange Bitfinex Temporarily Shuts Down Deposits and Withdrawals

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex has announced that it temporarily shut down its services.

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex has temporarily shut down its services, according to a tweet published on May 31.

The tweet specifically says that the change has temporarily paused deposits and withdrawals “due to the outrage of one of [their] network providers.” “Funds are safe in cold storage. Situation should be restored ASAP (ETA 3/4h). Apologies for the inconvenience,” the company further states.

Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino has posted links to the exchange’s hot wallets, so as to insure the community that there are no outgoing tokens and that user funds were secure.

As previously reported, Bitfinex and its affiliated stablecoin issuer Tether were brought into full focus when at the end of April, the New York Attorney General (NYAG) Letitia James accused the two companies of covering up a $850 million loss that could have affected New York investors.

Per the filings at the time, Bitfinex allegedly never revealed the loss to investors, with executives of the exchange and Tether engaged in a series of conflicting corporate transactions where Bitfinex received access to up to $900 million of Tether’s cash reserves. Bitfinex allegedly took no less than $700 million from Tether’s reserves and used the funds to hide losses and inability to handle clients’ withdrawals.



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Coinbase President and COO Departs From the Company

Coinbase President and COO Departs From the Company

American major cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase’s president and chief operating officer Asiff Hirji has reportedly left the company.

American major cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase’s president and chief operating officer (COO) Asiff Hirji has left the company, Bloomberg reported on May 31.

A source familiar with the issue told Bloomberg that Coinbase named Emilie Choi, vice president of business, data and international, as its new COO. Prior to the appointment, Choi — who served at Yahoo Inc. and worked on the original Alibaba investment and Flickr acquisition — worked on potential partnerships and acquisitions at Coinbase.

Hirji’s previous work experience is marked with over 15 organizations, including IBM Canada, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, information technology company Hewlett-Packard, and Saxo Bank, among others.

In recent months, Coinbase has lost several of its senior executives, including Tim Plakas, former head of OTC at Coinbase, who left the company to join cryptocurrency bank founded by Michael Novogratz, Galaxy Digital, and compliance officers Mikheil Moucharrafie and Jeff Cartwright who joined Facebook.

In early May, Coinbase’s chief technology officer, Balaji Srinivasan also announced his departure from the company. In his tweet, Srinivasan said that he had enjoyed his time at the exchange and that he will now take time off “to get back in shape — and up to speed on everything happening” when he was busy working at Coinbase.



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Tether Stablecoin Now Available on EOS Blockchain

Tether Stablecoin Now Available on EOS Blockchain

Tether is partnering with EOS parent company Block.one to release its stablecoin on the EOS blockchain.

Blockchain tech company Tether has announced that it is partnering with EOS parent company Block.one to release its stablecoin (USDT) on the EOS blockchain (EOSIO), according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on May 31.

According to the announcement, Tether developed the Tether EOS smart contract, which has been sent to the EOS account “tethertether” and peer-reviewed by the Canadian branch of EOS. Tether EOS is reportedly well-suited for peer-to-peer microtransactions, due to its delegated proof-of-stake design.

Tether’s Chief Executive Officer, Jean-Louis van der Velde, said that expaned the coin to the EOS blockchain provides greater interoperability.

As reported by Cointelegraph on May 30, major United States-based cryptocurrency exchange and wallet service Coinbase says that it now offers trading and storage support for the EOS token. EOS is notably one of the most circulated tokens that has been added to the exchange in recent times, boasting a market capitalization of over $8 billion.

Tether, meanwhile, is in the middle of a case versus the New York Attorney General (NYAG) Letitia James, who accused crypto exchange Bitfinex and Tether of defrauding New York investors via a massive $850 million loss cover-up. Bitfinex lawyers subsequently moved to dismiss the case on grounds of inapplicable jurisdiction and subject matter.



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Binance Charity Foundation Signs Memorandum of Understanding With Ugandan NGO

Binance Charity Foundation Signs Memorandum of Understanding With Ugandan NGO

The Binance Charity Foundation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the NGO Safe Future, launching a project focused on education improvements.

Binance Charity Foundation (BCF), the charity arm of major crypto exchange Binance, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Safe Future, a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Uganda focused on local education improvements. Binance announced the development in an official blog post on May 30.

The Binance for Children Special Impact Education Project Uganda reportedly aims to provide a number of new supplies to schools in Uganda, such as solar panels, sanitary pads, school supplies, LED screens, as well as breakfast and lunch for students.

According to the CEO of Safe Future, Mula Anthony, these developments will reach 100,000 students and 160 schools in the region. As shared in an official Twitter post shared on May 28, Anthony said the project has begun with the installation of lighting kits in two Kampala schools.

As previously reported on Cointelegraph, the BCF previously launched its pilot charity campaign “Lunch for Children” with the stated aim of providing breakfast and lunch to students in Kampala throughout 2019. As per the recent announcement, the project has since expanded to include 10 schools in Kampala and Jinja. The charity arm of Binance reportedly intends to ultimately aid one million students in Africa, in countries such as Rwanda, Kenya, and Ethiopia.

In April, the BCF opened a cryptocurrency donation channel to fund the rebuilding of the Notre Dame cathedral. The program, called “Rebuild Notre-Dame,” had received thousands of dollars via bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), and Binance’s internal token Binance Coin (BNB).



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Op Ed: Bitcoin in Africa, What Needs to Be Done to Encourage Adoption?

Op Ed: Bitcoin in Africa, What Needs to Be Done to Encourage Adoption?

Bitcoins

Bitcoin has the potential to revolutionize the African continent. Through Bitcoin, millions of unbanked Africans will have access to financial services.

These and many more such statements exist across the internet. All these statements are true. But, despite all the benefits that Bitcoin is expected to bring to African countries, adoption levels in Africa continue to be the lowest globally.

Which begs the question, “If Bitcoin is to help Africa catch up with the rest of the world, what is preventing Africans from adopting the cryptocurrency?”

Why Is Africa Lagging in Bitcoin Adoption?

Africans are interested in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Nigerians account for the highest number of searches for the keyword “Bitcoin.” However, this peak in interest does not appear to be translating to increased adoption rates.

Why is this?

One of the main factors limiting bitcoin adoption in Africa is the availability or lack of regulations. African governments either have introduced strict regulations limiting bitcoin use or have not introduced any legislation to govern cryptocurrencies.

In countries such as Zimbabwe, the government introduced strict regulations against cryptocurrencies, which resulted in Golix — the country’s only crypto exchange — shutting down its bitcoin ATMs.

In countries where crypto regulation is still absent, citizens are exposed to a multitude of scams, which makes them wary of bitcoin. In Uganda, for example, bitcoin scams have been on the rise, which has resulted in legislators calling for regulation of crypto assets.

The lack of regulation also plays a part in bitcoin’s market volatility. Generally speaking, early bitcoin adopters had a high-risk appetite. However, most people hate the uncertainty that results from the lack of regulations, which has contributed to the lag in bitcoin adoption in Africa.

Lack of Awareness

Bitcoin is still a foreign concept to many Africans. This lack of awareness is another factor contributing to the low rates of bitcoin adoption in Africa. A very small percentage of Africans has heard of bitcoin. A majority of these are young tech enthusiasts, freelancers and traders.

The higher percentage of the African population has never heard of digital coins. Bitcoin is expected to help the unbanked access financial services. However, how is this to happen if most of this population has never heard of cryptocurrencies?

Putting bitcoin in the hands of this population will contribute greatly to mass adoption in African states. But this cannot be done if the majority of the population does not understand bitcoin.

The lack of awareness of bitcoin has also made many Africans prone to crypto scams. Many Africans don’t understand how bitcoin works. Scammers use this ignorance to frame bitcoin as a get-rich-quick scheme, which attracts thousands of willing investors. In March 2019, several Kenyans lost their savings after falling for a Brazilian bitcoin con.

Expansive Use of Mobile Money Services Hinders Adoption

Africa is home to over 50 percent of the global mobile money market. In some countries, over 80 percent of the population uses mobile money services. This high proliferation of mobile money is a major contributor to the failure of many Bitcoin-based startups in Africa.

For you to send or trade bitcoin, you need to have a smartphone and access to the internet. Mobile money services, on the other hand, allow one to send or receive money through text messages, a feature that works even on the most basic telephone handset.

Although internet access has been on the rise in Africa, the majority of the population still lacks access to stable internet connections, which results in them preferring the more accessible mobile money services.

Bitcoin will undoubtedly transform the African continent. However, to achieve this transformation, several changes need to occur within the continent and among Bitcoin-based startups.

The Introduction of Bitcoin-Friendly Regulations

Many crypto enthusiasts are against the idea of introducing crypto and blockchain regulations. To these individuals, regulation means to control, and bitcoin was created to be free from any centralized control.

On the other hand, regulation can also mean to make something “regular.” It can help bring order to a chaotic situation. Currently, bitcoin is considered a risky investment, especially in Africa, where many have fallen prey to scams in the past.

The mass adoption of bitcoin in Africa will need the majority of the population to have access to the cryptocurrency and feel confident using it. The only way to achieve this is by giving people the perception that bitcoin is safe; the introduction of crypto-friendly regulations is necessary for this to happen.

Bitcoin is a borderless currency. This feature limits a nation’s ability to regulate it. Rather than regulating the cryptocurrency, policymakers can introduce laws to govern startups and apps using bitcoin.

Educational Workshops Can Help Promote Bitcoin Adoption in Africa

Bitcoin adoption in Africa largely depends on Africans understanding the benefits that the cryptocurrency offers. Startups working with Bitcoin in Africa should conduct educational workshops across the continent to ensure people understand the technology.

Most of the unbanked population in Africa don’t have access to basic internet services. To these people, Bitcoin is still a foreign concept that they only hear about in the news, and in most instances, it’s usually bad news.

Educational workshops would help dispel any negative myths about Bitcoin. If people understand that bitcoin is not a scam, but a new form of currency that is easier to transfer and is free from government-related economic depressions; adoption resistance will reduce.

Integration With Mobile Money

Mobile money has achieved widespread success in Africa. Two-thirds of the sub-Saharan population currently use mobile money services. For Bitcoin to achieve widespread adoption in African countries, startups need to integrate Bitcoin and mobile money.

M-Pesa and Ecocash are the dominating mobile money services in Africa. Any startup dealing with Bitcoin should integrate these mobile money options in their platform.

Take the example of Kenya’s M-Pesa. The mobile money service allows Kenyans to send money via text messages. M-Pesa also has a wide network of agents spread across the country. Bitcoin-powered startups that have integrated their services with M-Pesa have experienced higher levels of adoption.

Kipochi, a bitcoin wallet that allowed Africans to send and receive bitcoin, while at the same time allowing the exchange of bitcoin to Kenyan shillings, had integrated M-Pesa to its services. However, after the Kenyan Central Bank cautioned Kenyans against investing in bitcoin, Safaricom, the company behind M-Pesa, canceled the partnership. Before this cancellation, Kipochi was experiencing an increasing number of users. However, the ban resulted in the death of the company.

Wallettec is an example of a startup that has successfully integrated mobile money with digital wallets. This integration has allowed the company to thrive both in South Africa and Kenya.

Africa is a unique market. In the U.S., companies are installing bitcoin ATMs in grocery stores to promote adoption. In Africa, bitcoin ATMs would achieve minimal success — people rarely use bank ATMs. Bitcoin integrated with mobile money is a better option for Africa as it also allows agents to earn from facilitating transactions.

Conclusion

Bitcoin has the potential to transform African countries. However, adoption rates need to increase drastically for this transformation to occur.

Achieving mass adoption of Bitcoin in Africa will require the efforts of both policymakers and private companies; otherwise, the many benefits that Bitcoin is poised to bring to Africa will remain a dream.

This is a guest post by Steven Weru. Opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Bitcoin Magazine or BTC Inc.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.


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Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Litecoin, Binance Coin, Bitcoin SV, Stellar, Cardano: Price Analysis May 31

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Litecoin, Binance Coin, Bitcoin SV, Stellar, Cardano: Price Analysis May 31

Most major cryptocurrencies have pulled back. Can they spring back up or will they spend some time in a range?

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Market data is provided by the HitBTC exchange.

Michael Novogratz, founder and CEO of cryptocurrency merchant bank Galaxy Digital, believes that the adoption of the blockchain technology by mainstream technology companies and interest by Wall Street firms helped start the rally. He now expects Bitcoin to remain range bound between $7,000 and $10,000.

Bitcoin has seen a massive run in 2019. When the price is appreciating so much, it is unlikely that many people would spend their Bitcoin. Research by Chainalysis suggests that only 1.3% of economic transactions for Bitcoin came from merchants in this year.

Considering the high volatility, Susquehanna’s Bart Smith believes that Bitcoin investment is “certainly speculative.” However, we believe that with the right strategy, the risk in trading cryptocurrencies is no greater than trading in equities or any other traditional asset class. What do the charts project for major coins? Let’s find out.

BTC/USD

Bitcoin (BTC) spiked up above $9,000 on May 30 but quickly reversed direction and fell to a low of $8,034.31 within a few hours. Currently, the bulls are attempting to hold the price above $8,000. The trend remains bullish as both the moving averages are sloping up and the RSI is in the positive territory. But the negative divergence on the RSI warrants caution.

BTC/USD

If the BTC/USD pair rebounds from the current levels and rallies above $9,053.12, it can reach the next overhead resistance of $10,000. However, if the bears sink the pair below the 20-day EMA, it can slide to the next support at $7,413.46. The digital currency will lose momentum if this support also breaks.

After the quick fill and stop loss hit on our trade recommendation, we will play it safe and avoid suggesting short-term positions. We will wait for a reliable buy setup to form before proposing a trade.

ETH/USD

Ethereum (ETH) spiked on May 30 and reached the overhead resistance zone of $300–$322. As expected, it quickly turned around and plunged to the 20-day EMA. The bulls are currently attempting to hold the price above the 20-day EMA. If successful, another rise to the overhead resistance zone is probable.

ETH/USD

Though both the moving averages are sloping up and the RSI is in the positive zone, the negative divergence on the RSI is giving a warning signal.

A breakdown of the 20-day EMA can sink the ETH/USD pair to $225.39. If this support also breaks down, the fall can extend to the 50-day SMA. We do not spot a bullish pattern at current levels.

XRP/USD

Ripple (XRP) attempted to scale above the overhead resistance zone of $0.45–$0.47919 on May 30 but failed. This resulted in a quick drop to close to the 20-day EMA. Currently, the bulls are attempting to keep the digital currency above the 20-day EMA, which is trending up. If successful, we might see another attempt to push the price above the overhead resistance zone and towards the target objective of $0.60.

XRP/USD

On the other hand, if the XRP/USD pair plummets below the 20-day EMA, it can dip to the $0.37835–$0.35660 support zone. A breakdown of this zone is likely to signal an end of the recovery. Therefore, traders can keep the stop loss on the long positions at $0.35.

BCH/USD

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is in an uptrend. It has been trading above the 20-day EMA and below the resistance line of the ascending channel for the past few days. A breakout of the channel is likely to propel it to $638.99.

BCH/USD

The RSI has formed a large negative divergence, which is a bearish sign. If the BCH/USD pair breaks down below the 20-day EMA, it can slip to the 50-day SMA. Below this support, a dip to the support line of the channel is probable. We will wait for a reliable buy setup to form before recommending a trade in it.

EOS/USD

EOS triggered both our proposed buy level and the stop loss within a few hours. It thereafter plunged to the support of $6.8299 where buying emerged. Currently, the bulls have again pushed the price above the channel. They will now try to scale the overhead resistance at $8.4790. Above this level, a rally to $9 and above it to $9.60 is possible..

EOS/USD

Both the moving averages are sloping up and the RSI is in positive territory. This shows that the bulls are in command. Our bullish view will be invalidated if the EOS/USD pair reverses direction from close to $8.4790 and breaks down of $6.8299.

LTC/USD

The spike in Litecoin (LTC) stalled at $120.1518. Hopefully, traders would have closed 50% of the long positions around these levels, as suggested in the previous analysis. The trend remains up as both the moving averages are sloping higher and the RSI is in the positive territory. We are keeping a close watch on the negative divergence on the RSI.

LTC/USD

A failure to defend the 20-day EMA will start a deeper correction towards $91. If this support breaks, the LTC/USD pair will turn negative in the short term. Therefore, traders can keep the stops on the remaining long position at $90.

If the pair rebounds from the current levels, it will move up to the $121.9018–$127.6180 resistance zone. A breakout of this zone will increase the probability of a rally to its target objective of $158.91.

BNB/USD

Binance Coin (BNB) again turned down from the resistance line on May 30. This is the fifth instance that the bulls have failed to break out of this barrier. Currently, the cryptocurrency is attempting to stay above the 20-day EMA. If the price rebounds from the 20-day EMA, a rally to the resistance line is probable. If the momentum carries the digital currency above the resistance line, the up move can reach $40 and above it $46.1645899.

BNB/USD

Another possibility is that the BNB/USD pair enters into a range before launching the next up move. As the cryptocurrency is in a strong uptrend, we will suggest a long position once we spot a reliable buy setup.

However, if the bears sink the pair below the 20-day EMA, it can slide to the 50-day SMA. This is a critical support to watch out for because if this breaks down, the bears will have the upper hand.

BSV/USD

Bitcoin SV (BSV) has reached eighth place in terms of market capitalization after skyrocketing higher on May 29. That was followed by a hugely volatile day on May 30, when it reached close to the lifetime highs and then flash crashed to a low of $44.765, all within a few minutes. Thereafter, the price recovered and by the end of the day, the loss was limited to 11.42%.

BSV/USD

Currently, the BSV/USD pair is finding support close to the 50% retracement level of the recent rally from $85.338 to $254. If the support at $169.669 holds, the bulls might attempt to break out of the lifetime highs of $254.130 once again. Above this level, the next target to watch on the upside is $307.789 and above it $340.248.

Conversely, a breakdown of $169.669 can plunge the pair to $149.767. This is an important support, below which the digital currency can dip to $121.432. A vertical rally is unsustainable, hence, a few days of consolidation cannot be ruled out. The cryptocurrency is very volatile and the risk is very high, hence, we shall not suggest a trade in it.

XLM/USD

Stellar (XLM) rallied to an intraday high of $0.15002523 on May 30 but quickly gave back its gains and dipped below the critical level of $0.14861760. It needs to close (UTC time frame) above $0.14861760 to complete an inverse head and shoulders pattern that has a target objective of $0.22466773.

XLM/USD

On the downside, the bulls are attempting to defend the 20-day EMA. Both the moving averages are flattening out and the RSI is just above the midpoint, which points to a consolidation in the short term. If the XLM/USD pair dips below $0.11507853, it can drop to $0.08641170. Traders can wait for a close (UTC time frame) above $0.14861760 to initiate the trade as suggested in our earlier analysis.

ADA/USD

Cardano (ADA) broke above the overhead resistance of $0.094256 on May 30 but quickly gave up its gains and dipped back to the 20-day EMA. As the price did not close (UTC time frame) above the overhead resistance, it did not trigger our buy suggested in an earlier analysis.

ADA/USD

The bulls are trying to keep the ADA/USD pair above the moving averages. If successful, we might see another attempt to break out and close (UTC time frame) above $0.094256. This will complete a rounding bottom that has a target objective of $0.22466773. Traders can enter on a close (UTC time frame) above $0.10 with a stop loss of $0.0730. We do not like the bearish divergence that has formed on the RSI. If the pair slips below $0.0731 it can fall to the next support at $0.057898.

Market data is provided by the HitBTC exchange. Charts for analysis are provided by TradingView.



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Australian Government Publishes Update on Cryptocurrency and ICO Rules

Australian Government Publishes Update on Cryptocurrency and ICO Rules

Sydney Australia

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has published an update on how it intends to regulate crypto-related businesses and initial coin offerings (ICOs).

In this guideline, the financial regulator outlines requirements that need to be followed for cryptocurrency businesses to be compliant with the ASIC Act.

This update is noteworthy as the country continues to battle crypto scams, losing almost $4.3 million in 2018.

Going forward, companies issuing crypto assets deemed to be financial products will be required by law to procure an Australian Financial Services (AFS) license. On the flipside, for crypto assets which aren’t financial products, promoters must ensure that they don’t engage in any form of deceptive advertising.

According to the Corporations Act, an ICO could be a financial product if it's a "managed investment scheme, security, derivative or non-cash payment (NCP) facility," ASIC explains.

Exchanges that manage and offer trading of these assets would also be required to follow the new guidelines, including holding an Australian market license, unless covered by an exemption.

In instances where miners could be considered as a part of the clearing and settlement processes for financial products, Australian laws will apply.

In part, the release notes, “Businesses offering crypto-assets, or offering services in relation to crypto assets, need to undertake appropriate inquiries to satisfy themselves they are complying with all relevant Australian laws.”

Crypto wallet and custody service providers would need the appropriate custodial and depository authorizations to operate, while crypto asset payment and service providers involved in non-cash payment facility require an AFS license.

The agency pointed out that it would be enforcing know-your-customer and anti-money laundering standards on all crypto assets. These cover assets managed within and outside of the country's borders in tandem with the Australian Consumer Law.

ASIC Commissioner John Price said, “Australian laws will also apply even if the ICO or crypto-asset is promoted or sold to Australians from offshore. Issuers of ICOs, crypto-assets and their advisers should not assume the use of these structures means that key consumer protections under Australian laws do not apply or can be ignored.”

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.


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Man Sentenced for Illegal Money Transmission Services on LocalBitcoins

Man Sentenced for Illegal Money Transmission Services on LocalBitcoins

LocalBitcoins

U.S. citizen Morgan Rockcoons has been sentenced to fines and prison time for running unlicensed money exchange services on LocalBitcoins.

Advertising himself on the peer-to-peer bitcoin trading network, Rockcoons made more than 1,000 transactions with hundreds of different users. The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) pursued him on charges of not registering his business with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

Rockcoons’ sentencing marks the end of a somewhat protracted legal battle, following his arrest in February 2018. Rockcoons attempted to sell 10 BTC to an undercover law enforcement officer for $14,500 in cash after the officer explicitly told him that the money was acquired through the production and sale of controlled substances.

The DoJ released information on this case on May 28, 2019, claiming that Rockcoons is to spend “21 months in prison for wire fraud and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business,” in addition to forfeiting over $80,000 in profits.

This marks the continuation of a trend from the U.S. federal government as it ramps up prosecution of bitcoin traders. In April 2019, the DoJ sentenced Joseph Burrell Campos to prison time and an $800,000 fine for similar charges. FinCEN itself began directly pursuing cases of this sort only a week later, levying civil damages against Eric Powers.

As in the Campos case, the DoJ claims that the charges against Rockcoons fall under Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) jurisdiction. Another similarity between these two cases is that the DoJ explicitly named LocalBitcoins.com as the mechanism by which both defendants advertised their illegal services. With the site shutting down all operations in Iran in late May 2019 to comply with U.S. sanctions on the country, the site’s operators seem aware of the possibility that legal action could be taken against the service itself.

The DoJ report added that, in this particular case, Rockcoons pled guilty to more than just the unregistered trading of bitcoin. While out on bail in 2018 for the original crime of selling bitcoin without registration, he offered parcels of land for sale in bitcoin. Rockcoons claimed that hundreds of square acres of barren Nevada desert constituted the upcoming real estate development of “Bitcointopia” where bitcoin would be legal tender. Rockcoons did not actually own any of this land.

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.


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Big Four Auditing Firm EY Open Sources its Ethereum Private Transaction Solution

Big Four Auditing Firm EY Open Sources its Ethereum Private Transaction Solution

Big four auditing firm Ernst & Young open sourced the code of its Nightfall Ethereum private transactions solution.

Big four auditing firm Ernst & Young (EY) open sourced the code of its Nightfall Ethereum (ETH) private transactions solution and released it on GitHub on May 31.

The readme information file featured on the GitHub repository explains the function of the software in question:

“Nightfall integrates a set of smart contracts and microservices, and the ZoKrates zk-snark toolkit, to enable standard ERC-20 and ERC-721 tokens to be transacted on the Ethereum blockchain with complete privacy.”

In the same file, EY claims that it decided to release its research in the hope of speeding up the adoption of public blockchains. Still, the release “is not intended to be a production-ready application and we do not recommend that you use it as such.” Instead, the paper warns:

“It is an experimental solution and still being actively developed.”

In April, EY also released two new blockchain developments, a new version of its Blockchain Analyzer and a zero knowledge proof protocol.

As Cointelegraph explained in the recently released dedicated analysis, the recent government crackdown on cryptocurrency mixers, which help add privacy through anonymity to crypto transactions, has caused outrage in the crypto community. Internet security guru and cryptocurrency bull John McAfee said:

“Bitcoin mixers are now being targeted. Anonymity itself is slowly being considered a crime. The word ‘Privacy’ will soon mean ‘Criminal Intent.’”

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has, instead, proposed creating an on-chain smart contract-based ether mixer, according to his note on collaborative development platform HackMD on May 24.



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Bitwise Calls Out to SEC: 95% of Bitcoin Trade Volume Is Fake, Real Market Is Organized

Bitwise Calls Out to SEC: 95% of Bitcoin Trade Volume Is Fake, Real Market Is Organized

The size of the legitimate BTC trade volume is just as large as the bitcoin futures market, Bitwise tells the SEC.

At the 1997 edition of the annual Worldwide Developers Conference — an event put together by iPhone-maker Apple Inc. to communicate directly with its community of developers and users — a participant asked founder and then-CEO Steve Jobs the following question:

"What do we do about the press? Wall Street Journal reporters get up in the morning, sell Apple short and then go write stories about us. And, it’s clear that it’s perception versus reality. They don’t know s--- about operating systems. They don’t know anything about tools. They don’t know what’s going on in the future. They don’t know that we’re building icebergs, and building from the bottom up."

The bitcoin (BTC) market is in a somewhat similar position. The mainstream media has published quite a handful of negative headlines. A considerable population of traditional finance folks, who can't wrap their heads around the need and use of bitcoin, are happy to point at inconsistencies in the market to back their "I told you so" declarations about how they believe bitcoin is a farce.

Jobs replied by comparing the way the press treats new developments to how people tend to treat a child whom they saw as an infant, disregarding the fact that the child might have matured considerably since then.

In the case of bitcoin, the lag time is not only true for the press, but also for regulators and traditional finance professionals. Additionally, it appears that the crypto community is accepting and following the notion — perhaps unintentionally — by educating the public about how bitcoin and the crypto space at large are evolving. There have been scads of reports with the aim of doing just that. The latest is from Bitwise Asset Management, an American crypto asset fund manager.

Bitwise has recently prepared a 104-page white paper. In it, the fund manager argued that the bitcoin market still has inconsistencies regarding trading data, but the legitimate part of the market has a "remarkable efficiency."

The report builds on a presentation Bitwise had made to the United States Security Exchange Commission (SEC) in March of 2018 to back up its cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund (ETF) application filing.

Here's are the most important points, with some perspective, from the report.

Approximately 95% of reported BTC trading volume is fake

As part of the research, Bitwise analyzed trading data of some 83 exchanges. Researchers said they looked at the trade size histograms, volume spike alignment and spread patterns of these exchanges. They concluded that there are only 10 exchanges with 100% real trading volumes, and these 10 exchanges collectively account for 5% of the reported trading volume.

Bitwise classifies the 10 exchanges as real volume exchanges or reference exchanges. The 10 exchanges include Binance, Bitfinex, bitFlyer, Bitstamp, Bittrex, Coinbase Pro, Gemini, itBit, Kraken and Poloniex. Among the 73 exchanges that Bitwise condemned as displaying fake volumes are OKEx, HitBTC and Huobi.

As expected, there were questions raised about the reliability of the Bitwise study considering that these popular exchanges aren't regarded as real volume exchanges. Bitwise pointed out that the trading data of the three exchanges doesn't follow that of Bitwise's real volume exchanges. It also referenced existing research that found similar patterns with the three exchanges to support its findings.

Fake Transaction Volumes Estimated by Different Researchers

Using the data above, the average daily volume of these three exchanges would have increased the volume of legitimate trading in the Bitwise study from $554 million to $622 million. But the researchers said that it wouldn't have materially changed their conclusion.

HitBTC published a blog post in response to Bitwise's report in which it says it that it has a different customer profile compared to other exchanges, particularly those that the report branded as legitimate. That's because the exchange supports algorithmic trading, whose pattern is likely to noticeably differ from human trading. HitBTC wrote:

"Different exchanges have different customer profile. HitBTC is among the first crypto exchanges to offer low-latency institutional grade (FIX) trading API. This is why the client profile of HitBTC differs from that of unmentioned but implied ‘reference exchanges’."

Low-latency trading simply means strategies that respond to market events in milliseconds, and algorithmic trading is one of those strategies. 

Bitwise did recognize the use of algorithms in crypto trading by pointing out that the average price deviation of 0.12% across its real volume exchanges is within the arbitrage band, adding that the trend "suggests that institutional-quality arbitrageurs and algorithmic programs are in place that monitor the system and identify and capitalize on any pricing discrepancies to constantly keep the prices closely together."

OKEx, on the other hand, admitted that some traders engage in wash trading on its platform to quickly build their trading volume so they could enjoy a lower fee structure.

The remaining 5% makes up for a highly regulated and efficient market

With six of the 10 legitimate volume exchanges in the report based in the U.S., Bitwise argues that the crypto space is more regulated than presumed. Of the 10 exchanges, only Binance isn’t a money services business (MSB), while only the four non-U.S.-based exchanges don't possess a BitLicense, which is issued by the New York State Department of Financial Services. This level of oversight only breads transparency.

The crypto market is maturing thanks to developments since December 2017

The year 2017, marked the time when bitcoin attracted the most attention from the mainstream world, thanks to the wild bull run that saw the crypto go from just under $1,000 per BTC to nearly $20,000 by the end of the year. But, the following 12 months saw the price drop to as low as nearly $3,000 during a period that is widely regarded as the crypto winter.

Bitwise research suggests that the bitcoin market has significantly matured over the period. First of all, pointing to a downward trend in the average deviation of bitcoin’s price on its 10 reference exchanges from the consolidated price in the broader market, research claims that the quality of the bitcoin spot market has improved.

The Aggregate Average Deviation of Bitcoin's Price from Consolidated Price

According to the chart, the price of bitcoin on the 10 exchanges deviated by as much as 0.25% to 0.4% between January and March 2018. The trend, however, levels out as of April 2018. Bitwise suggests that this trend shows the growing competitiveness of bitcoin arbitraging.

Also, the introduction of bitcoin futures in December 2017 has attracted bigger traditional market players to the crypto space and has so far made the market more organized, according to Bitwise. The cryptocurrency space has seen the entrance of one of the world’s largest asset managers, Fidelity Investments, which has built a custodianship solution.

Algorithmic market makers including Jane Street, which traded more than $8 trillion across all financial products in 2018, also started offering bitcoin trading in 2018. Other large algorithmic market makers that have entered the space include Susquehanna International Group, FlowTraders and Jump Trading LCC.

These developments, according to Bitwise, have allowed the bitcoin market to sizeably grow in efficiency. The paper points at trends on how deviations in price are being rapidly wiped off the market as proof that institutional-grade tools are being deployed.

Nail-biting moments in anticipation of Bitwise ETF ruling

Bitwise is currently awaiting a decision to be made on its ETF filing with the SEC. With this report, the crypto asset manager aims to alleviate the SEC’s fears and show the commission that the market has matured to a level where it can sustain an ETF product.

When the SEC rejected an ETF application by the Winklevoss brothers last year, it expressed concerns that regulated derivatives markets such as the bitcoin futures market are small relative to the spot market. In turn, this would make it difficult to see through the unregulated, and possibly fraudulent, nature of the bitcoin market.

By showing that the spot market is significantly smaller than often reported, Bitwise pointed out that the size of the bitcoin futures market is almost as large as the bitcoin spot market. Through this, the fund manager hopes to persuade the SEC to finally ease up on its concerns regarding cryptocurrencies.



via cointelgraph.com
Bitcoin and Top Altcoins See Losses as US Stock Market Sees Slight Uptrend

Bitcoin and Top Altcoins See Losses as US Stock Market Sees Slight Uptrend

Most of the top 20 cryptocurrencies are reporting moderate losses on the day by press time.

Friday, May 31 — most of the top 20 cryptocurrencies are reporting moderate losses on the day by press time, as bitcoin (BTC) still holds over the $8,300 mark, with minor gains on the day.

Market visualization courtesy of Coin360

Market visualization courtesy of Coin360

Bitcoin is nearly 5% down on the day, trading at $8,320 at press time, according to CoinMarketCap. Looking at its weekly chart, the coin is up over 3.7%.

Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

As Cointelegraph reported earlier today, Michael Novogratz, founder and CEO of cryptocurrency merchant bank Galaxy Digital, has said that he expects bitcoin to consolidate in the $7,000-$10,000 range.

Ether (ETH) is holding onto its position as the largest altcoin by market cap, which currently stands at $27.4 billion. The second-largest altcoin, XRP, has a market cap of $17.8 billion at press time.

CoinMarketCap data shows that ETH has seen virtually no movement over the last 24 hours. At press time, ETH is trading around $258. On the week, the coin has also seen its value increase over 2.7%.

Ether 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Ether 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

On May 24, New York-based blockchain firm ConsenSys released a new Blockchain and DApp Developer Job Kit to help aspiring Ethereum blockchain developers enter the market.

XRP is over 8% down over the last 24 hours, and is currently trading at around $0.426. On the week, the coin is up over 8%.

XRP 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

XRP 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Among the top 20 cryptocurrencies, the one reporting the most notable price action is bitcoin SV (BSV), which is down about 14% on the day.

At press time, the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies is $263.4 billion, nearly 5% higher than the value it reported a week ago.

Total market capitalization 7-day chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Total market capitalization 7-day chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

In traditional markets, the United States stock market is seeing discrete gains so far today, with the S&P 500 up 0.21% and the Nasdaq up 0.27% at press time. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), on the other hand, has gained a solid 11.33% on the day at press time.

Major oil futures and indexes are mostly down today, with WTI Crude down 2.28%, Brent Crude down 2.34% and Mars US down 4.56% at press time. The OPEC Basket is up 2.11% and the Canadian Crude Index has seen its value decrease by 3.15% in the 24 hours by press time, according to OilPrices.



via cointelgraph.com
Bitcoin Blender Cryptocurrency Mixing Service Shuts Itself Down

Bitcoin Blender Cryptocurrency Mixing Service Shuts Itself Down

Cryptocurrency mixing service Bitcoin Blender has willingly shut down after issuing a short notice asking its users to withdraw their funds.

Cryptocurrency mixing service Bitcoin Blender has reportedly willingly shut down after issuing a short notice asking its users to withdraw their funds, tech news outlet BleepingComputer reports on May 30.

Per the report, the message describing the service that appeared on the homepage of the website present both on the Tor network (often referred to as the darknet, dark web or deep web) and on clearnet before it shut down was the following:

“We are a hidden service that mixes your bitcoins to remove the link between you and your transactions. This adds an essential layer of anonymity to your online activity to protect against ‘Blockchain Analysis.’”

The shutdown was reportedly announced both on the homepage of the dark web website and on the BitcoinTalk Forums on Monday. Some users reportedly missed the short time window and were not able to withdraw their funds, as one user said on the aforementioned forum:

“I recently came to know about the shutting down process of bitblender, I had much coins saved onto it. I unfortunately missed the withdrawal warning as I was away for past few weeks. I am trying to access http://bitblendervrfkzr.onion/ for last 2~3 hours but I can not succeed.”

At press time, while the Tor mirror is currently inaccessible, the clearnet website is still online.

As Cointelegraph recently reported, Dutch, Luxembourg authorities and Europol shut down one of the three largest cryptocurrency tumblers, BestMixer, after an investigation found a number of coins from the mixer were used in money laundering.

Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin proposed shortly after the shutdown the possibility of creating an on-chain smart contract-based ether mixer.



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Blockchain.info Confirms In-Wallet Paxos Stablecoin Trading Rollout for June 3

Blockchain.info Confirms In-Wallet Paxos Stablecoin Trading Rollout for June 3

Next week’s mobile wallet trading will mark the return of a fifth cryptocurrency to the company’s wallet.

Cryptocurrency data aggregator and wallet provider Blockchain.info will launch trading of its fifth coin, paxos standard token (PAX), on Monday, the company told industry news outlet CoinDesk on May 31.

Paxos is a United States dollar-pegged stablecoin, and its addition will be a first for Blockchain.info in the stablecoin space.

Blockchain currently supports four cryptocurrencies: bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), bitcoin cash (BCH) and stellar (XLM), having removed its limited bitcoin SV (BSV) options earlier this month.

The company had hinted about the move for some time, surveying users about their relationship with stablecoins and releasing publicity material. At the start of May, executives confirmed a formal partnership with Paxos.

Last week, a dedicated blog post confirmed PAX was live for Blockchain.info’s 37 million wallets.

“Launched in September 2018, Paxos Standard tokens are fully backed by physical U.S. dollars stored in FDIC-insured banks and regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services,” the staff wrote in an apparent explanation of their choice of stablecoin asset. The post continued:

“This financial certainty eliminates price volatility and gives users around the world an entirely new way to send value, manage inflation, mitigate trading risk, and gain exposure to the US dollar.”

Speaking to CoinDesk, Xen Baynham-Herd, head of Blockchain.info’s wallet department and strategy, said that ultimately the company wanted to add fiat currency functionality to the wallet.

“Doing the stablecoin project here with PAX is a really big deal because it’s not just that we are adding a new asset, it’s adding a true dollar balance into the wallet,” he explained.

The comments mark a contrast in ideology between wallet providers, some of which conversely aim to remain free of fiat-based operations. Last autumn, Samourai even took the step of removing USD balances from its wallet altogether, arguing bitcoin users should learn to transact entirely in cryptocurrency.



via cointelgraph.com
Russia: Raiffeisen Bank Introduces Blockchain Platform for Corporate Settlements

Russia: Raiffeisen Bank Introduces Blockchain Platform for Corporate Settlements

Raiffeisenbank, a Russian subsidiary of Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International, developed a blockchain platform for settlements by holding firms.

Raiffeisenbank, a Russian subsidiary of Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), has developed a corporate blockchain platform, the bank announced in a press release on May 31.

Targeting holding firms, the new blockchain platform claims to automate settlements by corporate clients and enable a trusted network for sharing data between a group of companies, the press release notes. Specifically, the product reportedly automates the process of supply settlements between buyers and suppliers, as well as providing tools for financial management.

While the product was reportedly developed by Raiffeisenbank at the request of major local sleep products manufacturer Askona Life Group, the new blockchain platform is available for the bank’s other corporate clients.

Evgeniy Kirillov, investment manager at Askona Life Group, claimed that Raiffeisenbank’s blockchain product allowed the company to reduce labor costs by more than 40%, as well as to reduce human error risks to zero.

Previously, Raiffeisenbank had partnered with Russian government-owned oil giant Gazprom Neft to issue a bank guarantee on blockchain.

Raiffeisenbank’s Austrian parent company RBI had also recently announced a blockchain trade finance pilot based on blockchain consortium R3’s Corda enterprise blockchain platform Marco Polo. The platform counts major global banking institutions, including BNP Paribas, ING and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, among those using its services.



via cointelgraph.com