Crypto weekly is authored by maaria

PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD
- BTC ($7,285): +9% / -45%
- ETH ($294): +8% / -60%
- LTC ($65): +14% / -70%
- XRP ($0.34): +6% / -82%
- Crypto Market Cap ($237B): +10% / -62%
- BTC Dominance: 52%

THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO
- Public documents published on August 21 show that the US Patent and Trademark Office has approved Square's application to patent a system that allows merchants to accept crypto alongside conventional payment methods and cash out in the currency of choice. Square would not be the first payment processor to allow merchants to accept payments in crypto that are automatically converted into local currency. BitPay has been processing bitcoin payments since 2011. Link.

- Nebula Genomics, the startup that wants to put your whole genome on the blockchain, announced a $4.3 million Series A fundraise from Khosla Ventures. Nebula also announced a partnership with genome sequencing company Veritas Genetics, which was one of the first companies to sequence the entire human genome for less than $1,000 in 2015. Both Nebula and Veritas were cofounded by MIT professor and "godfather" of the Human Genome Project, George Church. Link.

- Andreessen Horowitz's crypto fund makes its biggest bet yet, putting more money into a startup that hopes to become the foundation for the next internet. Called Dfinity Foundation, the project recently raised $102 million in a private sale to accredited investors, bringing its total capital raised to more than $190 million. Other backers include Polychain Capital, SV Angel, Aspect Ventures, and Multicoin Capital. Andreessen Horowitz said Dfinity is the biggest position in its two-month old crypto fund. Link.

- The EU announced that finance ministers from 28 member states would meet to discuss tightening regulations on cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency traders. Link.

- Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten announced a deal to acquire domestic crypto exchange Everybody's Bitcoin. The move comes as Rakuten has been considering the role of crypto-based payments in e-commerce, offline retail, and P2P payments more broadly. Link.

- Three crypto mining giants, Bitmain Technologies, Canaan, and Ebang International Holdings, are all facing the prospect of public-market scrutiny for the first time as they pursue stock listings in Hong Kong. If they proceed, the share sales will represent a major test of whether the fortunes amassed are sustainable or destined to fizzle. The risk is that a lengthy bear market will erode demand for the companies' specialized computer chips. Link.

- Firefox will soon begin automatically blocking crypto mining malware scripts, in an effort to prevent third-party scripts from hampering the user experience. These scripts are generally embedded within websites and can commandeer a user's computing power without their knowledge. Link.

- NEO was down 40% month-on-month in August, making it the biggest loser among the top 25 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Link.

- John McAfee's 'unhackable' crypto wallet, Bitfi, was hacked for the second time. Researchers have said that a cold boot attack allows users to steal funds from the android powered $120 Bitfi wallet, even when it is switched off. BitFi later removed the marketing term 'unhackable' from its materials. Link.

- US-based Bittrex, the 18th top crypto exchange by total average trade volume, bought a ten percent share in Malta-based blockchain firm Palladium. In July, Paladium announced plans to distribute $150 million tokens in the world's first initial convertible coin offering (ICCO) in partnership with Bittrex and Unikrn, an esports bookmaker. Link.

- The Taipei Medical University Hospital has rolled out a blockchain-powered platform to improve medical record-keeping. The platform was developed in order to improve patient referral services and enable people to access their medical records. The platform also allows for data transfer between medical establishments and patient portals, which can be authorized and shared using smart contracts. Link.

- Japan's National Police Agency is funding development of new software to help track individuals behind illicit crypto transactions. The software will track the flow of blockchain transactions flagged as suspicious and 'visualize and locate' the individuals sending or receiving the crypto. The efforts come as a result of increasing criminal using anonymity of blockchain to hide transactions, making these efforts difficult to investigate. Link.

- The CFTC won a court order permanently banning a crypto promoter that a judge said preyed on investors in "a bold and vicious fraud". Judge Weinstein concluded that the defendant operated a "boiler room" which illegally manipulated large numbers of investors in different states using false statements and misappropriation of funds. Link.

- Thailand is emerging at the forefront of cryptocurrencies, as the countries government is already mapping out its own central bank digital currency. In the last few months, Thai regulators have been welcoming crypto projects by setting up crypto company licenses to permit exchanges and ICOs. Link.

- Data indicates that the blockchain job industry has seen a sustained uptrend in Asia, while crypto-specific applications appear to wax and wane with volatile markets. Indeed's data revealed that Bitcoin job interest in Asia trended lower after the coin fell from all-time highs last December, while the blockchain industry interest has sustained a strong uptrend. Link.

- PWC announced it would put 1,000 staff through its Digital Accelerators program, in which participants will forego a portion of their regular workload and instead focus heavily on digital innovation including blockchain. Link.