September 27, 2018
QUOTE OF THE DAY 
"Don't be afraid to be a loner but be sure that you are correct in your judgment."
- Walter Schloss
| COIN | PRICE | 24H |
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| BTC | $6,525.704455 | +0.1% |
| | ||
| ETH | $218.877756 | +1.49% |
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| XRP | $0.523857 | -5.15% |
| | ||
| BCH | $574.625559 | +28.08% |
| | ||
| EOS | $5.62958 | +4.55% |
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*Information as of 9:30 AM EST
Bitmain Reveals Remarkable Growth After Officially Filing for IPO
It's official...Bitmain is going public
According to a document released yesterday, Chinese mining giant Bitmain has officially filed an application to list the company's shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX).
Prior to listing, Bitmain was required by HKEX to provide the document, called a "draft application", to give investors a detailed business overview.
After reviewing the 438-page document, Bitmain crushed it during the 2017 crypto boom, but can they sustain those profits in the long-run?
Selling the shovels
While most were out searching for gold during the California Gold Rush, some made some healthy profits by selling shovels. Bitmain is 'selling the shovels' (mining equipment) during the crypto boom and it's clear the company is generating healthy profits.
In 2017, Bitmain grew its revenue to a whopping $2.5 billion, up from $277 million in 2016.
And so far this year, the mining firm shows no signs of stopping after it reported this year's revenue through June 30 to be $2.8 billion - already surpassing total 2017 revenue.
It's not all sunshine and rainbows though
Though Bitmain's revenue growth looks promising, 2018 has definitely been a bumpy ride.
Since the crypto market has been on a steady decline following January's peak, Bitmain has likely seen a slump in sales and this caused operating margins to decrease from 48% in 2017 to 36% in the first half of 2018.
Knowing this, Bitmain is likely choosing to hide the firms declining sales by lumping financials of the first quarter and the second quarter of 2018 together.
Clear skies ahead?
Despite the crypto slump, Bitmain still released its new innovative 7nm mining chip earlier this week.
Add in a green crypto market and Bitmain could definitely have some steam going into its IPO, but for now, the firm will need to continue weathering the storm.
Experts Claim North Korea is Using Crypto to Dodge U.S. Sanctions
North Korea is using crypto behind the U.S.'s back
Two financial experts, Lourdes Miranda and Ross Delston claim that the North Korean government is using cryptocurrencies as a way to evade United States imposed sanctions.
These two experts know what they are talking about. Miranda is a financial crimes investigator specializing in intelligence collection and Delston is an expert witness specializing in anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism.
It is thought that North Korea is using international exchanges to launder money so that they can exploit international financial institutions. According to sanctions, any financial institution that does business with the United States is not allowed to deal with the North Koreans.
According to Priscilla Moriuchi, a former NSA cybersecurity official, North Korea is heavily involved with crypto:
“North Korea has pursued other avenues for obtaining cryptocurrencies as well, including mining of both bitcoin and Monero, ransom paid in bitcoin from the global WannaCry attack in May and even commissioning a cryptocurrency class for North Korean students in November.”
North Korea may be developing its own cryptocurrency
According to Miranda and Delston, North Korea is using popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to dodge sanctions. But, the government is likely creating its own cryptocurrency.
Having its own cryptocurrency would give even more power to the shady nation. While most blockchains are known for being decentralized, centralized blockchains are possible. North Korea would likely maintain control over their blockchain and give themselves permission to alter any records.
Miranda and Delston talked about the power a government controlled crypto would give to North Korea:
“Having their own crypto-currency would also facilitate their ability to open online accounts under the guise of a non-adversarial nation using anonymous communication to conceal the user’s locations and usage on the internet.”
VanEck and SolidX Remain Unfazed Despite Last Week's ETF Delay by the SEC
Patiently waiting for their turn
Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced the second delay of the VanEck-SolidX ETF.
Initially, the application was filed on June 20th and may now have to wait over 6 months before any final decision is made. Even if regulators reach the new December 29th deadline, they still have the ability to further delay the ETF approval into February.
It's a bummer to see the ETF decision delayed once again, but this time, neither VanEck or SolidX were surprised.
No panic at the headquarters
Following the SEC announcement, CoinDesk reached out to both VanEck and SolidX to gather opinions about the matter and both companies remained unfazed in the midst of uncertainty.
Gabor Gurbacs, director of digital asset strategy for VanEck, went so far as to the say the delay was actually "expected" since the SEC "needs time to understand the market better."
Adding to that, Gurbacs holds that the SEC has all the material it needs to make a decision:
"We have answered pretty much every question that was asked and especially the 18 questions ... around liquidity, pricing, market manipulation, it's all part of our application how we address that."
Taking the time to get it right
The SEC is taking its time to get this ETF decision right since it could be a pivotal moment in Bitcoin's future.
To do this, the SEC has asked for the public to comment with any insights, opinions, or research relating to the decision on its website.
SBI Ripple Asia gets Green Light from Japanese Regulators
MoneyTap coming in hot
Japanese financial firm SBI Holdings has received regulatory approval to move forward with SBI Ripple Asia, a joint venture with the popular crypto startup Ripple.
Allegedly, SBI Ripple Asia has been in the works since 2017 and is looking to bring its new smartphone app MoneyTap to market soon.
Now that SBI Ripple Asia received permission to handle electronic payments as a new “Electronic Settlement Agency Service Provider”, MoneyTap will soon allow users to send payments on its platform based on distributed ledger technology (DLT).
Things are heating up
In the last week, Ripple's XRP cryptocurrency experienced a 47% gain as positive sentiment grows around the startup's new partnerships and product launches.
Many were impressed by the new partnership with PNC Bank as well as the reveal that Ripple's newest product xRapid may launch within the next month.
Following these announcements, XRP made a dash for second place as it passed Ethereum in market cap for the second time this week, however, it could not sustain the position.
- A state-owned commercial bank in China completed the issuance of mortgage-backed securities worth $1.3 billion using a blockchain network.
- A U.S. judge sided with the Commodity and Futures Trading Commission in a cryptocurrency fraud lawsuit, ruling bitcoin is a commodity.
- Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) stated that it regrets allowing Zaif to continue its operation after the exchange was given two warnings to drastically improve its system.
Golem (GNT)
Golem is a global, open source, decentralized super computer that anyone can access. It is made up of the combined power of users' machines, from PCs to entire data centers.
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