Crypto weekly is authored by maaria

PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD
- BTC ($6,388): -12% / -52%
- ETH ($202): -31% / -72%
- LTC ($56): -14% / -75%
- XRP ($0.28): -18% / -85%
- Crypto Market Cap ($196B): -17% / -67%
- BTC Dominance: 56%

THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO
- Cryptocurrencies across the board fell this week, after reports that Goldman Sachs had backed down on plans to start a dedicated cryptocurrency trading desk. Goldman Sachs has since called the story about them dropping Bitcoin trading "fake news". Link.

- Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey told a Congressional committee Wednesday that the social media company is exploring blockchain solutions for its platform. The company is looking to blockchain to shore up digital trust, particularly around identify verification to fight misinformation and scams. Link.

- Zero-fee stock trading app and cryptocurrency exchange Robinhood is starting preparations to go public and has begun its search for a chief financial officer. Robinhood now has 5 million customers tracking, buying, and selling stocks, options, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. The company has raised $539 million to date and was most recently valued at $5.6 billion. Link.

- Ripple General Counsel Brynly Llyr has left the company. Llyr joined the company in 2016 as its top legal officer. The news comes as Ripple prepares to fight multiple class-action lawsuits claiming the XRP token is a security distributed by the company. Link.

- IBM brought its Blockchain World Wire (BWW) payment network out of beta this week. BWW uses digital currency on Stellar's blockchain to facilitate international settlements between banks in "near real-time". The payment network is competitive with companies like Ripple. Stellar founder Jed McCaleb was a co-founder of Ripple, but left the company in 2013 to start Stellar. Link.

- A new survey by polling firm YouGov found that just under 50 percent of millennials are interested in using cryptocurrencies as a primary form of payment as opposed to using the US dollar. 71 percent of survey respondents said they had heard of bitcoin, while only 13 percent had heard of ether. One important caveat, 87 percent of the individuals who had heard of bitcoin had not mined, bought, or sold the cryptocurrency. Link.

- Walmart filed a patent for a blockchain-based system that would allow delivery drones located only a few feet from each other to exchange information. The drones would be able to exchange authentication signals using blockchain keys to confirm they are in the same fleet. From there, one drone could then safely pass of the package to the other. Walmart has increasingly been turning to blockchain technology in an effort to slash delivery times and drive down costs. Link.

- China's Supreme Court released new rules that recognize blockchain evidence as legally binding. The courts recognized the legality of blockchain as a method for storing and authenticating digital evidence, including digital signatures, reliable timestamps and hash verification, and digital disposition of assets. Link.

- Lightning Labs developer Alex Bosworth is testing a new technology called "submarine swaps" that allows users to swap lightning payments for any on-chain cryptocurrency. Lightning is a layer-two technology for transacting off-chain, meant to revolutionize blockchain at scale by allowing faster and cheaper transactions. Currently, lightning technology only supports funds being sent from a blockchain to the lightning network, and not the other way around. Link.

- The number of short orders placed on ether (ETH) reached an all-time high this week, according to data from crypto exchange Bittrex. Link.

- Kraken, the 12th largest crypto exchange by adjusted volume, is laying off 57 North America-based employees, roughly 10 percent of its client services team. CEO Jesse Powell denounced rumors that the employees were laid off because of a security breach. Redditors have since speculated the layoffs came because of declining volumes on the exchange. Link.

- Eric Voorhees, CEO of decentralized crypto exchange ShapeShift, announced the platform is launching a membership program which "requires basic personal information to be collected" and would "become mandatory soon". ShapeShift began as a peer-to-peer exchange without accounts so the announcement was a shock to many users who believed ShapeShift was caving to regulators. Link.

- The Los Angeles Dodgers will hold a giveaway of crypto-based athlete tokens at the end of this month. Dodger fans will receive tokens during the game against the San Diego Padres, and can use the codes to unlock and transfer the tokens to any Ethereum wallet. The Dodger see crypto giveaways as a way to launch the new age of digital collectibles and promotions. Link.

- European lawmakers are discussing proposed regulations that would set in place new rules for ICOs and the people and businesses that conduct them. The rules would limit the proceeds for ICOs to 8 million euros and mandate KYC/AML rules, but would provide token startups with access to the entire EU. Link.

- Crypto exchange Gemini founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have won a patent for a cold storage method involving air-gapped computers, geographically remote vaults, plastic cards, and papyrus. The patent outlines a plan to develop a network of computers capable of generating accounts for storing crypto, with the computers staying isolated except when necessary to transfer assets. Link.

- Crypto payments startup Wyre acquired Hedgy, a venture-backed bitcoin smart contract development firm. The deal will help Wyre broaden the scope of the services it provides to crypto startups. Wyre provides cross-border payments using bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and other cryptocurrencies to settle transactions. Link.

- The SEC issued an order to suspend the trading of the Bitcoin Tracker One and Ether Tracking One exchange-traded notes, issued by XBT Provider AB, a subsidiary of CoinShares Holdings. The SEC said that the decision was meant to protect investors, citing investor confusion around what types of securities were actually being offered. Link.

- A new report estimates that the crypto ATM market will grow to $114.5 million by 2023. Significant growth will come from two-way ATMs, which let customers change digital currency into fiat and fiat into digital currency. Though developed countries like Germany and Japan are increasing their ATM coverage, the report estimates that the US will continue to have a dominant position in the ATM market. Link.