BINANCE LEAK? Crypto exchange Binance is investigating an alleged major leak of its customers’ data that may affect up to 60,000 individual users who sent KYC information to the company in 2018 and 2019. The supposed hacker supplied CoinDesk with hundreds of photographs and we’ve identified a number of users who recognize images as ones they sent to Binance for account verification. Binance says the user information does not match the data on its own system and, as such, said there’s no evidence so far to show it’s directly coming from the exchange itself. Full story
GITHUB BAN: Iranian blockchain developers are being hindered from participating in software projects after Microsoft’s GitHub started identifying and banning Iranian accounts based on U.S. trade restrictions. Behrad Khodayar, CTO of Iranian blockchain startup Behkame, told CoinDesk: “So, when it comes to developers from banned countries, this recent restriction by GitHub will have a major effect on their professional lives and whether they can join such world-class companies.” Some of these restrictions are even mistakenly applied to Iranian expats who reside in Europe or North America. Full story
WORLD FIRST: Seychelles’ only stock exchange has just listed a tokenized security for trading, becoming the first in the world to do so. The exchange, MERJ, is licensed by the nation’s Financial Services Authority and is launching the token to represent its own equity. Revealed exclusively to CoinDesk, MERJ said it will follow the listing by offering 16 percent of the tokenized shares in a public offering later in 2019. It’s also in discussions with “several companies” over potentially listing their tokenized shares on its platform. Full story
PLAYING DIRTY? Kik claims the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) manipulated facts and took comments out of context in the regulator’s lawsuit against the startup over its 2017 token sale. In a 130-page filing Wednesday, Kik laid out a paragraph-by-paragraph rebuttal of the SEC’s arguments and flatly denied the core allegation that the company had conducted an unregistered securities offering. CEO Ted Livingston told CoinDesk the SEC was “playing dirty” in its June complaint by trying to “simply make [Kik] look bad.” Full story
INVESTMENT SPAT: The debate over bitcoin’s role as a “safe haven” asset hit mainstream media on Tuesday. Speaking with CNBC on Tuesday, businessman and co-host of NBC’s “Shark Tank” Kevin O’Leary and Morgan Creek Digital’s Anthony “Pomp” Pompliano took opposing sides in the conversation. Pomp said over half of his net worth now resides in the world’s largest cryptocurrency by total value. O’Leary said he shouldn’t stake more than 5–20 percent in a single sector, adding: “I teach this stuff! ... That’s nuts!” Full story |
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| BULL TARGET: Bitcoin has risen back to $12,000 after a sharp drop around midnight UTC, but prices need to print a close above the psychological hurdle this Sunday to revive the stalled bull run and open the doors to $15,000. A strong rejection above $12,000 similar to those seen in the last week of June and second week of July could prove costly. Full story |
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