PRICE CHANGE WTD/YTD
- BTC ($5,265): +3% / +41%
- ETH ($168): +2% / +26%
- LTC ($76): -4% / +150%
- XRP ($0.32): -3% / -9%
- Crypto Market Cap ($177B): +2% / +40%
- BTC dominance: 53%
THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO
- 94 percent of endowments funds invested in crypto assets last year, either directly or through a fund, according to a survey conducted by Global Custodian and BitGo. The study covered 150 mostly US-based funds. More than half of the endowment funds stated that they had invested directly in individual crypto-assets and only 7 percent wanted to decrease their crypto-related investments. Just under 50 percent claimed they would increase their crypto exposure this year, and the remainder planned to hold allocations steady. Link.
- Coinbase brought in almost $520 million in global revenue in 2018, according to an estimate for Reuters. The exchange's UK revenue grew 20 percent last year to $173 million and accounts for almost a third of the firms overall revenue. Link.
- ConsenSys, the ethereum venture studio founded by Joe Lubin, is seeking to raise $200 million from external investors at a $1 billion valuation. The company is projecting $50 million in revenue this year, primarily from contracts with enterprise and government contracts. The company brought in $21 million in revenue in 2018. Link.
- Coinbase announced it was adding crypto-to-crypto trading in 11 countries in Latin America and South East Asia. It could eventually add crypto-to-fiat conversions in some of these markets depending on demand and regulatory requirements. Coinbase is already available in 42 countries, mostly in North America, Europe, Australia, and Singapore. Link.
- Blockstack announced it was bringing on venture capitalist and serial entrepreneur Dave Morin as an advisor. Morin was a former Facebook manager who went on to co-found Path, a photo-based social network that was a competitor to Facebook. Morin had previously expressed interest in a personal and decentralized internet that gives power and privacy back to users. Blockstack is focusing on just that, building a decentralized and secure internet. The platform has 70+ decentralized applications already on it. Link.
- Binance announced that it had successfully deployed the genesis block of Binance Chain. Binance Chain is a part of Binance's vision to become a decentralized platform for different cryptos to trade. Binance hopes to lure projects building on Ethereum to switch over to Binance Chain. Link.
- Mithril, a decentralized social media platform that rewards content creators in its token MITH, announced it was the first project to migrate onto Binance Chain. MITH was up more than 66 percent on the announcement. Link.
- Executive chairman of the Blockchain Research Institute Donald Tapscott said in an interview with Bloomberg that he believes renminbi, the official Chinese currency, will become a cryptocurrency in the future. Though the Chinese government has recently come out against crypto by contemplating imposing a ban on crypto mining, it is reported that President Xi Jinping called blockchain "one of the two most important technologies for the future of China". Link.
- Chainalysis announced it had received an additional $6 million investment in its Series B round from Japanese bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Sozo Ventures. The total Series B raise was $36 million. Other investors include Accel and Benchmark. Link.
- One of the oldest Chinese crypto exchange, Gate.io, has raised $64 million in crypto assets to launch its own cryptocurrency and blockchain through an initial exchange offering. The network is expected to go live in Q4. Link.
- A number of exchanges announced they were delisting Bitcoin SV, the Bitcoin Cash offshoot created by Craig Wright. The push to delist Bitcoin SV started with Binance's CEO CZ Zhao posted a warning to Craig Wright, that if he didn't cease claiming to be Satoshi the token would be delisted from Binance. Link.
- Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) is planning to force exchanges to tighten their security, particularly by strengthening internal oversight over cold wallets. Internal theft has been an issue at some exchanges in the past so the FSA is requiring exchanges strengthen internal regulations and do things like rotate the people in charge of the storage. Link.
- HTC announced it was anchoring Proof of Capital, a new $50 million crypto fund founded by Phil Chen, who created HTC's Vive VR headset and is developing its blockchain phone. The fund also includes a partnership with HTC which will open the possibility for Proof of Capital portfolio companies to work with HTC directly on blockchain initiatives. Link.
- Serena Williams revealed in an Instagram post that in 2014 she launched her investment business Serena Ventures, and silently invested in over 30 companies including Coinbase. Link.