Cryptocurrency News Now!: SEC gives ETFs hope

Friday, August 24, 2018

SEC gives ETFs hope

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MARKET

COIN	PRICE	24H

BTC	$6,557.479693	+1.67%

ETH	$277.524597	+1.6%

XRP	$0.325764	+1.06%

BCH	$530.745701	+2.09%

EOS	$4.925253	+3.08%

*Information as of 9:30 AM EST

NEWS

SEC gives ETFs hope

SEC Taking Second Look at Nine Bitcoin ETFs that were Denied Wednesday

WEDNESDAY'S DENIALS

On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission denied the applications of nine Bitcoin ETFs because of the risk of market manipulation and fraud
These nine applications were filed by three companies: ProShares, Direxion, and Granite Shares
The SEC's decisions Wednesday came just weeks after the Commission denied the widely publicized Winklevoss Twin's ETF

SECOND LOOK

On Thursday, just a day after denying the applications, the SEC sent letters to the three companies informing them that their applications are being reviewed once again
The SEC said that staff members made the decisions for the denials on behalf of the SEC and the Commission (Chairman and Commissioners) retain the right to review decisions made by SEC staff

An excerpt of the letters sent to the companies said:

"This letter is to notify you that, pursuant to Rule 43 I of the Commission's Rules of Practice, 17 CFR 20 I .43 1, the Commission will review the delegated action. In accordance with Rule 431 (e), the August 22 order is stayed until the Commission orders otherwise."

ETF ROLLERCOASTER

Bitcoin ETF applications have crypto investors on the edge of their seats, everyone is hoping that an approved ETF may be the only thing able to pull us out of this treacherous bear market
It is best not to overreact to every SEC decision, the Commission is doing their due diligence and the process takes time
The SEC has shown support for cryptocurrencies in the past and has always put a focus on protecting the investor, rather than hindering crypto
It is seems likely that a Bitcoin ETF will one day be approved, it may just not be this year

ADOPTION

World Bank to Settle World's First Public Blockchain Bond

FIRST OF ITS KIND

For the first time in history, the World Bank will settle a bond on Ethereum next week
The bond is a two-year bond valued at AUD $100 million ($73 million) and will be settled with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Other similar pilots or prototypes have been done in the past, but this is the first time a legally valid bond issuance is managed from start to finish on the blockchain

BONDI

The type of bond being settled has been named 'Bondi', an acronym for Blockchain Operated New Debt Instrument
Bondi will be transacted on a private Ethereum blockchain between the World Bank and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia
For the private network, the World Bank is using Microsoft's cloud service to host the blockchain and says that Microsoft has validated Ethereum’s “capabilities, security, and scale”

OPINION

Ripple Believes XRP is More Decentralized Than Bitcoin and Ethereum

RIPPLE CLAIMS DECENTRALIZATION

On August 22nd, Ripple's CTO David Schwartz posted a blog that explained Ripple believes the XRP ledger is far more decentralized than Bitcoin and Ethereum
To defend his argument, Schwartz took aim at Bitcoin and Ethereum's PoW (Proof of Work) algorithm that allows a handful of miners to earn rewards for validating transactions on the blockchain
Further, Schwartz claimed that mining is becoming increasingly centralized because users are just joining mining pools for convenience rather than mining with their own setups
According to Schwartz, Ripple's consensus protocol does not need mining and allows for rewards to be distributed to more than a few specific parties, thus making XRP decentralized since no party has significant control

THE PUSH BACK

After Schwartz posted the blog, many Bitcoin and Ethereum supporters spoke out against his claims
The largest argument that Bitcoin and Ethereum supporters made was that according to "Are We Decentralized Yet?", over 81% of the total XRP is held by the top 100 largest XRP accounts
In contrast, the top 100 Bitcoin accounts hold 19% of the supply and the top 100 Ethereum accounts hold 34% of the supply

THE SECURITY SCARIES

It seems as though every action Ripple is making recently is to show that XRP is not a security
With a class-action lawsuit looming overhead that claims XRP is a security, Ripple has distanced itself from its cryptocurrency XRP by rebranding and is also pushing large amounts of content talking about Ripple's decentralization
In an AMA on Wednesday night, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse stated "It’s very clear to me that XRP’s not a security", but only the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will get the final say

GOVERNMENT

Singapore Central Bank Teams Up With Deloitte and Nasdaq on Blockchain Asset Settlement

SIGNED DEAL

Today, the de facto central bank of Singapore announced that it had signed a deal with multiple partners including big names like Deloitte and Nasdaq
The deal spurs from Singapore's Project Ubin blockchain integration plan in which Singapore plans to explore the use of blockchain technology for payments and settlements
Per the deal, the parties are expected to create "Delivery versus Payment (DvP)... capabilities for settlement of tokenized assets across different blockchain platforms"

WELCOMING BLOCKCHAIN

Singapore has been welcoming to blockchain technology while also remaining cautious about new consequences
Through Project Ubin, a project that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has been working on since 2016, officials hope to see "real impact" from the project by 2020
Now that MAS has signed a deal with commercial partners, it only highlights Singapore's interest in making a blockchain technology use case a reality

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BREW BITS

Pornhub announced partnership with PumaPay to allow customers to pay via cryptocurrencies.
The People's Bank of China published a statement to warn citizens of crypto-related scams.
Germany is allegedly exploring new independent payment systems free of United States influence.

TODAY IN CRYPTO

Nxt (NXT)

NXT-Ardor-IGNIS Hackaton

NXT/Ardor “Hackaton blockchain meets Game Jam” at Danube University Krems, Summer 2018

PROOF | SOURCE

NEO (NEO)

Blockchain Challenge

NEO Blockchain Challenge in Tokyo from Aug 24-26.

PROOF | SOURCE

Ontology (ONT)

Mainnet Launch Tokyo

Ontology hosts a closed event in which 50+ corporates in Japan learn how ONT's public chain infrastructure can help their industries.

PROOF | SOURCE

Ardor (ARDR)

Hackathon & Conference

Ardor mentioned with its unique childchain architecture.

PROOF | SOURCE

Ontology (ONT)

Indodax Listing

PROOF | SOURCE

Cardano (ADA)

Buenos Aires Meetup

Meetup for ADA, IOTA, EOS, and XMR in Buenos Aires on Aug 24 at 6:30 PM.

PROOF | SOURCE

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LEARN LINGO

Counterparty Risk

noun

A risk that one party will fail to meet their contractual obligation once an agreement has been reached between two or more parties.

COIN OF THE DAY

Bottos (BTO)
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