Crypto weekly is authored by maaria

PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD
- BTC ($7,544): -20% WoW / -43% YTD
- ETH ($499): -26% WoW / -31% YTD
- LTC ($144): -23% WoW / -34% YTD
- XRP ($0.57): -29% WoW / -70% YTD

IN THE NEWS
- Lightning Labs announces the first beta release of its Lightning software, making it the first company to deploy lightning onto Bitcoin main net. A lightning network is a type of network that sits above the blockchain. It is comprised of payment channels where users can transfer funds back and forth between each other without needing to record each transaction on the blockchain. By creating a web of these channels, developers enable users to send funds to parties with whom they have no payment channel open by routing the payment through a set of existing channels. Funds sent through lightning are almost instantaneous.

- Moving forward, Lightning Labs plans to implement a range of new features in Lightning (lnd), including “watchtowers” to outsource security (channel monitoring) to third parties, atomic multipath payments to increase payment channel liquidity, routing tools for Lightning node operators and more. And while lnd is already compatible with both Bitcoin and Litecoin, the two networks are not yet interoperable; a fix for this is also planned for a future release.

- The Financial Services Committee held a hearing on Wednesday focused on cryptocurrencies and Initial Coin Offerings. The two hour hearing covered many topics but the overriding theme was government regulation and enforcement. Lawmakers were divided on which direction regulation should take: new laws and powers for regulators, or simply clarification on which existing laws apply to the industry and how.

- Coinbase announces the launch of index funds. Available only to accredited investors at first, the Coinbase Index Fund will give exposure to all digital assets listed on Coinbase’s exchange, GDAX, weighted by market capitalization. As new assets are listed on the exchange, they will be automatically added to the fund. GDAX currently supports Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin.

- Google announces it will ban all cryptocurrency-related advertising including ICOs, wallets, and trading advice across its ad platforms. The update will take effect June 2018 and follows a similar ban that Facebook announced earlier this year.

- Royal Bank of Canada submits a patent application for a platform built on blockchain that would automatically generate credit ratings using a borrower's historical and predictive data. The application as described proposes a system that would utilize more data sources than existing credit rating systems, improving the loan process while creating an immutable record.

- Concerns grow over quantum computing undermining key blockchain cryptography. Researchers have proposed a new cryptocurrency construction that uses 'ideal lattice' cryptography to replace bitcoin’s digital signature algorithm so it can withstand quantum computers.

- BitGo engineer Jameson Lopp, one of the best known developers in bitcoin, leaves BitGo to join Casa, a startup creating a secure multisig wallet for institutional investors.

- New York State Public Service Commission says that upstate municipal power authorities are allowed to charge higher electricity use for cryptocurrency mining businesses starting from March. According to the announcement, the NYMPA said that some mining firms in the area make up for 33 percent of the municipal utility load.

- Binance announces it is launching a public blockchain, which will facilitate the creation of a new decentralized exchange. The token, BNB, will be used to facilitate transactions on the new exchange.

- Comcast Ventures leads a $3.3 million seed investment in Blockdaemon, a NYC-based startup that creates enterprise software for quickly spinning up and supporting nodes on Bitcoin and Ethereum. Blockdaemon aims to be the ‘blockchain as a service’ provider for enterprises looking to develop blockchain applications.

- Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin presented a scaling solution for Plasma, a system of smart contracts that seeks to increase the computational potential of Ethereum. The new solution would limit the amount of data that clients need to process for smart contracts to only the relevant contracts - the current version of Plasma requires all users to download and validate each smart contract in the Plasma system.

- Multicoin Capital announces investors in its flagship fund. Investors include Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, Vy Capital, Passport Capital, and Lead Gil of Color Genomics.. The hedge fund plans to raise $250 million, though according to Reuters it has only amassed $50 million to date. Civic Founder Vinny Lingham joined the fund as a general partner in December 2017.

- South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Bithumb, announces plans to provide restaurants and cafes with digital currency kiosks. Customers will be able to pay for purchases using their holdings on Bithumb.

- Bitmain co-founder Jihan Wu announces that the company intends to invest in 20 to 30 startups working to create ‘private central banks’ powered by blockchain.

- Mt.Gox trustee liquidates $400 million in bitcoin and bitcoin cash.

- Dominion Capital, a family office based in New York City, offers to lend to individuals or blockchain projects against their crypto assets rather than converting them directly to cash. Dominion has said it is likely to only offer loans against bitcoin at first, while it finds product-market fit.

- Coinbase receives a bank account with U.K lender Barclays, marking the first major partnership between a U.K. Bank and cryptocurrency exchange.