WRAPPED ZCASH: At the Devcon event last week, the halls were filled with buzz about smaller projects seeking access to ethereum’s decentralized finance smorgasbord, especially loans and financial products, via interoperability. For example, Josh Swihart, VP of marketing and business development at the Electric Coin Company, told CoinDesk that over the next six months the zcash community will develop a wrapped ZEC token that can be used on the ethereum blockchain, which could enable private, automated loans and financial products. Full story
LATE TELEGRAM: Telegram could delay the plan to issue its own cryptocurrency on the Telegram Open Network by Oct. 31 after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordered it to halt its allegedly “unlawful” token sale in the U.S. According to Bloomberg, Telegram sent a note to investors saying it is considering ways to resolve the temporary restraining order from the SEC , including the possibility of postponing the issuance to after the Oct. 31 deadline. Full story
LIBRA BLOCK? The world’s biggest economies are assessing stablecoins like Facebook’s Libra as a potential risk to the global financial system. In a letter to the G20 nations, Financial Stability Board chair Randal Quarles said the G7 working group is delivering an assessment report on global stablecoins, stating they pose “a host of challenges” to the regulatory community. The draft report warns that, even if Libra’s backers can address such concerns, the project may not get approval from regulators. Full story
TRADING THRILLS: Investors who trade cryptocurrency also tend to take bigger risks in the stock market, suggesting they are seeking dopamine more than diversification. That’s according to a recent study published in the Sept. issue of Economic Letters, which says that cryptocurrency traders’ behavior is driven by thrill seeking. “We find that when engaging in cryptocurrency trading investors simultaneously increase their risk-seeking behavior in stock trading as they increase their trading intensity and use of leverage,” the paper says. Full story
FIRST GEAR: A group of major automakers are about to hit the road with the first field testing of a blockchain-based vehicle identification network next month in the U.S. BMW, General Motors, Honda, Ford and Renault are all working with the Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI) on integrating the system, which assigns vehicles unique IDs to enable automatic payments, such as for tolls and parking, without the need for cash or credit and debit cards. Full story | 
