PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD
- BTC ($9,390): +10% / +30%
- ETH ($189): +14% / +44%
- LTC ($71): +27% / +71%
- XRP ($0.25): +12% / +31%
- Crypto Market Cap ($261B): +11% / +36%
- BTC Dominance: 66%
THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO
- Five mining entities - all based in China - control 49.9% of all computing power on the bitcoin network, the highest concentration of mining power ever. The five mining entities - AntPool, BTC.com, BTC.top, F2 Pool and Via BTC - are available via BitDeer which lets consumers rent mining power without buying or setting up crypto mining hardware. BitDeer allows individual miners to pull resources and share in bitcoin rewards. Link.
- Arianna Simpson, founder of crypto hedge fund Autonomous Partners, is joining Andreessen Horowitz as a deal partner. Autonomous had raised from investors like Brian Armstrong, Union Square Ventures, and Craft Ventures. Andreessen raised a $350 million crypto fund in 2018. Link.
- Casa founder Jeremy Welch is stepping down as CEO of the crypto security startup and Nick Neuman, Casa's current head of product, is filling his role. Casa's signature product, the Keymaster, is a multisig system allowing customers to easily manage and control their private keys. Link.
- According to a recent report from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, the use of bitcoin in darknet markets such as for buying illegal drugs has continued to grow though it still makes up less than 1% of all transactions. Over $600 million worth of bitcoin was spent on darknet markets in Q4 2019. Link.
- The World Economic Forum has set up a consortium to design a robust governance framework for digital currencies, including stablecoin. The consortium brings together private and public organizations to achieve financial inclusion goals through digital currencies. Several central banks, including the Bank of England, will help develop the governance framework. Link.
- Coinbase Custody and Bison Trails joined the Proof of Stake Alliance - a group of organizations dedicated to educating US regulators on blockchain. The organization aims to bring regulatory and tax clarity for proof of stake blockchains, especially around staking rewards. Other members of the organization include Tezos and Polychain Capital. Link.
- Coinbase launched a new international custody business in Ireland to service European clients. Coinbase Custody launched in 2017 to institutional investors and has over $7 billion assets under management. Though Coinbase Custody has been serving international customers to date, the new business unit will better serve the needs of these customers. Link.
- The Zcash community voted to allocate 20% of Zcash mining rewards to a development fund, while miners will get only 80% of block rewards starting in November. The community rewards are intended to encourage development on the Zcash platform. Link.
- TruStory, a token-based reputation and digital debate platform, announced it was shutting down after raising $3 million in venture capital in 2018. Founder Preethi Kasireddy said the platform was shutting down due to an "unsustainable" business model and being too early to market. The platform allowed users to participate in debates by staking tokens called "TRU". Users who misbehaved or lied lost their stakes. TruStory was backed by True Ventures, Pantera Capital, and Coinbase Ventures. It's not clear if investors' capital will be returned. Link.
- Coinbase hired Google's VP of Product Management as its Chief Product Officer. Prior to Google he was head of product at Indian e-commerce giant, Flipkart. Link.
- Ethereum researcher Virgil Griffith pleaded not guilty to violating North Korean sanctions. In November 2019, Griffith was arrested by US authorities for traveling to North Korea in April and giving a talk at a blockchain and crypto conference in Pyongyang. Link.
- Cambodia's national bank is set to launch its own blockchain-based interbank payments platform. The platform, called "Bakong," will go live within the quarter and will act as a quasi central bank digital currency. The Bakong wallet will be linked to users' bank accounts and will enable easy P2P transactions. Link.
- A new law in Singapore requires crypto businesses operating in the country to be registered and licensed. The legislation covers "digital payment token services" which means all crypto firms and exchanges in the country will have to comply with AML and CFT regulations. Crypto companies will have to apply for one of three licenses allowing them to operate in the country. Link.
- Iran's government issued over 1,000 crypto miner licenses. According to reports, crypto mining has the potential to add $8.5 billion to Iran's economy. Mining is attractive in Iran due to the relatively cheap cost of power. Link.