📰 Cryptocurrency/blockchain news: Aug 12 — Aug 13 2018. Don't miss out ➡️
📌 WARNING: KuCoin’s Hong Kong office is empty
The journalist did not find the KuCoin`s staff in Hong Kong
Kucoin centralized crypto exchange has already acquired 2 million users from the different countries and has been active since launching in 2017. At the moment, as before, it is noted that the exchange has an office in Hong Kong and carries out its activities within this region. But, who can even think that Kucoin office at 300 Lockhart Road, Hong Kong is empty and can only be used as "post address" (as the team explained later)?
The journalist and Medium blogger "Jackson Wong" provided proofs showing that the exchange does not work with its customers at the direct address, and also noted that KuCoin Shares declined in price significantly, dropping from $20 to $2. In conclusion, Wong suggested not to work with this exchange due to the questionable circumstances of its current location.
📌 Tether issued $50 000 000 in stable coins
The community accuses Tether of market manipulation (again)
Tether company increased the number of circulating tokens to the amount of 50 000 000 dollars. Reminding, that USDT token is tied to the dollar exchange rate and is considered a variant of a "stable" coin, which can be used for convertible investments.
Now Tether ranks second in terms of trade turnover after Bitcoin (USDT daily trades are evaluated at $4.2 billion), or 28% of the total volume of the crypto-currency market. Despite such positive aspects of the token, as its constant and almost stable support, there are several points that make customers refrain from acquiring this asset. For example, the company has not yet undergone a full audit, and has been seen in market manipulation.
Some people also argue that USDT manipulations allow whales to buy Bitcoin, as well as lower it. Often, the company issues new tokens in the bearish market conditions And, this time, 50 000 000 were finally transferred to the Bitfinex exchange.
📌 Bitmain sold Bitcoins for Bitcoin Cash
Bitmain, the major manufacturer of mining equipment, recently presented information on its own crypto-currency savings during the presentation of its future pre-IPO. It turned out that during the 2017-2018 period, the company exchanged Bitcoin for Bitcoin Cash assets, currently owning more than 1 million BCH coins at the present time.
Now the mining industry is going through not the easiest times, in view of the general decline on the market. It is likely that the company hasn't carried out the direct conversion of Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin. Now, Bitmain owns the largest mining pools of BCH, and can not get rid of them because of the low liquidity of the self-controlled market.
📌 China's Communist Party publishes "Blockchain – A Guide for Officials"
The Chinese Communist Party issued a guide for understanding the technology of blockchain specifically for officials. It is believed that this will help improve the literacy of workers in relation to the technological revolution, in which, of course, the Chinese economy will play an important role.
It how the book describes the role of blockchain and its potential impact:
"The biggest impact of blockchain lies in its operation mechanism ... which seeks to achieve consensus as a way to govern a community. It offers us a brand new angle to think about and resolve different problems."
Initially, China had a conservative attitude to crypto-currencies. But today we can see very different perspectives and opportunities in this direction precisely from Asia. So far, this sector seems to be one of the most conservative, however, decentralized technologies are quite capable of improving the adoption of the "newest economy."
📌 Ethereum will make the 51% attack impossible within its own network
According to Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum plans to use the algorithm invented in 1982 by Leslie Lamport. Integration of this principle implies the addition of independent observer nodes that could review consensus, and not just load the necessary data.
The innovation will increase the fault tolerance of the network up to 99%, which means that the attack can not be successfully ended even with the use of 51, ... 70, ... 80 ... 98% potentially evil nodes. But, the final date of the implementation of this algorithm is not yet called, most likely, Ethereum will become fully protected after the launching of PoS.
📌 Ripple's lawsuits won't be considered in the Federal Court
Investor Ryan Coffey claims to recover the losses he incurred as a result of interacting with XRP. The plaintiff is sure that Ripple is manipulating with the XRP price. This circumstance can be examined in two cases: the illegal activity in California, where the lawsuit was filled, and the more global one, according to which Ripple should be regulated as security. Another argument against Ripple Labs can be explained as fake decentralization of the network, which pretends not to be.
However, Ripple, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and many other assets which are facing more complaints about customer losses and even with the formation of legal claims, are still not securities. Therefore, proceeding from this and the details of the case, the court refused Coffey's petition.
📌 Microsoft releases "Trusted Execution Environment" for future blockchain solutions
Microsoft has submitted two new applications to the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that provide for the use of "Trusted Execution Environment" (TEE) for the future blockchain-based solutions. What's that and how it could be implemented?
In general, TEE is a node code or a verification system that uses validator nodes. The first patent provides the use of the TEE to track the inclusion of new participants in the consortium's network. The second option of using this technology allows verifying transactions in the blockchain with an authorized group of participants.
💰Market Cap: $209 252 194 797
💵24h Vol: $12 065 594 733
📊 Prices TOP 13.08.2018
↗️↘️Bitcoin: $6 330
↗️↘️ETH: $297
↗️↘️XRP: $0,294674
↗️↘️BCH: $552
↗️↘️EOS: $4,96
↗️↘️XLM: $0,229608
↗️↘️LTC: $57
↗️↘️ADA: $0,109088
↗️↘️USDT: $1,01
↗️↘️MONERO: $92
♻️ Trends and general overview
📌 U.S. authorities are considering tax scrutinizing for virtual currencies
But, many regulatory issues remain unclear
Dozens of hedge funds come to the crypto-currency market. It is curious that the end of crypto hedge-funds as a potential "bubble" was predicted right after the end of the Bitcoin rally. However, even in these conditions, we hear that large companies consider this type of investment as promising. However, what is important is the possible changes in tax policy for institutional players.
So, offshore and other types of funds may face uncertainty in regulation. It can also seriously depress the market and leave it without another positive impulse. But, CFTC still considers crypto as the commodity, which can be a reason for receiving the tax benefits.
📌 “Crypto-currencies do not need in ETF/regulation”
More news coming soon...
When the too loud discussions about ETF/regulation come, there also appeared a strong (counter)reaction to it. Many participants of the community asked the question: "Do we really need ETF/regulation today?" Or "This is what Satoshi planned actually?".
Most popular opinions «against»:
News about ETF allows whales to manipulate the market;
Don’t count on an ETF decision to drive the next bull run in 2018;
"Bitcoin is no longer a free currency"/there will be so many losers, and less gainers.
So far, the community is divided into independent enthusiasts (to a lesser extent) and people who want to play their investments. Nevertheless, interest in crypto-currencies does not decrease either from private investors or from large companies.
📌 Bitcoin or fiat money?
New wave of discussions
While some countries have already solved this, including Saudi Arabia, where the crypto-currency trading is illegal, the dispute over the competition between crypto and fiat money does not stop around the world.
The discussion gained new strength due to the currency crisis in a number of countries. The Turkish lira has seriously suffered, earlier it happened with Iran and Venezuela, Russian ruble can be the next asset which will update new low.
Of course, cryptocurrencies can become a solution. But, at first, at the moment, the cryptocurrency is an extraordinary volatile asset, and secondly, not all companies and government institutions accept cryptocurrencies; in the third, this does not eliminate the instability of the existing financial network and systemic risks.
Market data summary
At the beginning of this weekend, Bitcoin price gained a positive momentum and moved to the $6400 - $6500 level. Bitcoin has already passed day lows at $6,019, $6,150 and $6,178 during the last week, which could be the beginning of a critical move to (below) $6,000. Bitcoin's major support level can be indicated at $4,500, and this is also a critical for the market. At the moment, the possibility of such a fall has been delayed.
Will the price of Bitcoin overcome the $6500 mark? Considering the obtained data, we don`t see such changes on the cryptocurrency market that would have initiated the movement into a stable green zone. Levels within $6000 can be perfectly used by traders to minimize daily losses, however, Bitcoin price still feels unstable and cannot give hope for a stable growth in the near future.
Bitcoin dominance exceeded 51%. According to the latest data, the ratio of the largest cryptocurrency to all other coins has exceeded half the volume of the entire market. This movement is developing rapidly for several weeks, with reducing the capitalization of all other currencies.
Is market going to repeat the last November` set-up? The only case is still not a trend, that's why such a comparison at the moment is not correct (not taking into account its predictive veracity).
📌 More updates
- XRP is listed on Netcoins («virtual Bitcoin ATM in stores»): the asset is available for purchases in 21000+ retails.
- Dish (one of the largest US Television providers) now accepts Bitcoin Cash.
- Lisk annunced Commander 1.0.0, command line interface tool.
- ZRX (0x) will be listed on Bitpanda soon.
- EOS expects listing on CoinX.pro.
💱 Exchanges: 24h volume
Binance 1.21B → 17.13%
Huobi 733.42M -> 10.36%
Awesome Report!
Im surprised that Kucoin even has a office. It's a decentralized exchange!
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