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LUNCH DATE: There are only four days left until Tron founder Justin Sun’s lunch with Warren Buffett and Sun has handed out another golden ticket. The lucky winner is Yoni Assia, founder and CEO of eToro. Sun wrote on Twitter: “I'd like to invite my good friend @yoniassia, Founder & CEO of @eToro, to join my lunch with @WarrenBuffett. 4 days to go and more friends to be announced!” Assia quickly replied saying it would be a “A big step for bridging between the traditional finance world and the new one!” Full story
FUNDING FAILURE: The Singaporean government’s taxation agency is proposing to remove goods and services tax (GST) from cryptocurrency transactions that function, or are aimed to function, as a medium of exchange. On Friday, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) published an e-Tax draft guide for treatment on what it calls the “Digital Payment Tokens,” seeking to exempt any entity dealing with such digital assets from GST liabilities. Notably, the agency specified that stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency designed to have a value pegged to an asset such as a fiat currency, may not qualify to be GST exempt. Full story
CRIME COST: Nearly 2.7 trillion won ($2.3 billion) have been lost to crimes involving cryptocurrency in the last two years, according to South Korean government data. Figures provided by the country’s justice ministry on Sunday indicate that losses from crypto scams, Ponzi schemes, embezzlement and illegal exchange transactions (but not exchange hacks) came to 2.69 trillion won from July 2017 to June 2019. The ministry further said that 420 individuals have been charged over cryptocurrency crimes in that period, with 132 having been arrested. Full story
DATA BREACH: QuickBit, a Swedish cryptocurrency exchange listed on the NGM Nordic MTF market, allegedly leaked 300,000 customer records via an unprotected MongoDB database. The exchange confirmed the event in a series of updates on their investor relations board. The leak, detailed by security researcher Paul Bischoff, first came to light after security aggregator Shodan noted the existence of the open database. QuickBit said that an outside contractor left the data unprotected while attempting a security upgrade. Full story
LIBRA PROBE? A parliamentary committee in the U.K. may move to probe Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency project over fears it will wield too much power. Speaking to Financial News, Damian Collins, chair of the House of Commons’ Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said, given the company’s past poor record on privacy, he has concerns that Facebook can adequately protect the financial details of its billions of potential Libra users. Further: “If we’re going to have this payment system ... that exists within a Facebook walled garden, which no one really has access to or can question, then our concern has got to be that this system is going to be open to massive fraud.” Full story
FUTURES TESTING: Bitcoin futures firm Bakkt is supposed to begin testing its long-awaited products Monday, nearly a year after first announcing. While Bakkt has delayed its official go-live date multiple times, and does not currently have a planned launch day, the company has secured most of the regulatory approvals it needs after self-certifying its futures contracts through the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Bakkt is now just waiting for a trust charter from the New York Department of Financial Services, at which point it will be able to offer U.S. consumers access to physically-settled bitcoin futures contracts. Full story |
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FALLING SHORT: Bitcoin has broken out of its longest losing streak since December. Even so, the case for a deeper correction remains intact with prices holding below $11,080 (as per Bitstamp data). Short-term indicators are also biased bearish. As a result, prices could fall back below $10,000 over the next day or two. A break above $11,080 is needed to invalidate bearish setup and open the doors to $12,000. Full story |
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| CHECKING TRANSACTIONS: Settlement assurances are the most important aspect of any public blockchain, particularly if you are an exchange or your company otherwise depends on verifying a successful number of confirmations for a transaction, writes Nic Carter, partner at Castle Island Ventures. Carter outlines the different reasons he believes settlement assurances are important, as well as different facets that can be used to evaluate a blockchain’s settlement process. |
WHO WON #CRYPTOTWITTER  |
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