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WALLET ISSUES: Troubled Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX has filed for creditor protection with the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. The company is hoping the court will appoint Ernst & Young to act as an independent third party to oversee its proceedings, which under local law, are generally seen as a move to stave off bankruptcy.
The exchange explained in a court filing that it had 115,000 customers, and owed them approximately $250 million CAD or $190 million USD. However, the vast majority of these funds are in crypto, and no one at the exchange can locate or access its cold storage wallets.
According to the filing, QuadrigaCX founder and former CEO Gerald Cotten was solely responsible for overseeing its wallets, and he generally shifted the majority of its funds to cold wallets for security. After he passed away in early December, his team lost access to the cold wallet.
To make matters worse, much of the exchange’s fiat holdings are still tied up after a banking issue it had last year. Full Story
RACE BEGINS: Cboe's BZX Exchange has resubmitted the VanEck/SolidX bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposal withdrawn during the government shutdown earlier this month. If approved, the exchange would allow investors to purchase or trade shares of a bitcoin trust in a potential market first.
The VanEck/SolidX ETF’s submission means there are now two such proposals sitting before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. However, neither has yet been published in the Federal Register, meaning the clock has not yet begun on either proposal.
Once the proposals are published, the SEC will have 240 days at most to decide whether to approve or reject each. Proponents hoping for an approval believe that an ETF will bring fresh funds – and therefore, liquidity – to the bitcoin markets. Full Story
ORANGECHAIN: IBM has completed a trial of blockchain technology to track a shipment of mandarin oranges from China to Singapore.
Announced today, 28 tons of mandarin oranges, or 3,000 cartons containing approximately 108,000 fruits, were delivered ahead of Chinese New Year celebration on Feb. 5 (mandarin oranges are a symbol of prosperity, IBM explained). The main shipping document, the bill of lading, was recorded on a blockchain.
This document serves as a proof of ownership of goods, as a receipt of goods and a contract of the shipment, and normally it’s mailed to all parties involved in the shipment, including banks providing trade financing. For the pilot, IBM created an electronic bill of lading, or e-BL, which helped reduce and speed up administrative processes “to just one second” as the document flow is automated, the company claims – while the standard paper-based procedure takes five to seven days.
“By using the e-BL, we have seen how the entire shipment process can be simplified and made more transparent with considerable cost savings,” Tay Khiam Back, the chairman and CEO of fruit importer Hupco, said in a press release.
Along with saving time with the document processing, the trial showed that a blockchain-based electronic system can cut operating costs like electricity used for refrigerated cargo containers while they wait for collection at the port, storage costs and other expenses, IBM said. It also made for a better handling of information, providing a traceable and tamper-proof storage of records for the maritime shipment industry, where document fraud accounts for 40 percent of all fraud. Full Story |
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 CoinDesk’s Crypto-Economics Explorer aggregates data points across the industry to measure the size and opportunity of crypto markets. In addition to price and market cap, CoinDesk’s explorer provides users with a comprehensive way to view the crypto-economic forces that shape an asset’s market maturity, growth and potential. Exchange interest is important in determining the activity occurring among speculators and investors buying and selling cryptocurrencies on exchanges. We observed DASH over the beginning of this week and found some growth in exchange activity. The exchange interest fluctuated as follows: - 1/27: 13.92 percent
- 1/28: 14.41 percent
- 1/29: 20.91 percent
- 1/30: 20.91 percent
- 1/31: 12.89 percent
This was largely due to DASH’s total exchange volume hitting a high of $941 million on January 28 which grew 481 percent from the previous day’s total. Exchange volume levels like this have not been seen on DASH since Dec. 20, 2017, which reached a high of $816 million. For more research insights, check out the CoinDesk Crypto-Economic Explorer here to see this table and more. |
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| RECORD BROKEN: Bitcoin's record sixth consecutive month of losses in January reinforced the bearish view put forward by the long-term momentum studies, opening the doors for a re-test of December lows near $3,100. Bearish pressures, however, would weaken if the key support at $3,298 holds. Today, a rise to $3,500 could come into play as prices have moved out of the bearish channel on the hourly chart. Full Story |
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BEST OF THE BEST CHICAGO BUSINESS: Chicago is becoming a "battleground" for crypto ATM firms seeking to serve the city's large number of early adopters, according to Crain’s Chicago Business. Thirty new crypto vending kiosks have just arrived in the Windy City, thanks to Atlanta-based Lux Vending, while the city already boasts a large number of machines from other firms such as Red Leaf Chicago and Athena Bitcoin. Lux chose to put so many of its 200 ATMs in Chicago due to its large population and history as a financial hub, the firm said. With firms like CME Group and Cboe Global Markets based in the city, a number of cryptocurrency firms are also setting up in Chicago, including Coinbase which has an office there. While the crypto markets have seen a bad year, Lux’s CEO said that the downturn had allowed the firm to “build up infrastructure and be ready for a next wave of demand.” THE REST
MALTA TODAY: Since Malta introduced the Virtual Financial Assets Act last November, blockchain and cryptocurrency firms have been flocking to operate in the Mediterranean jurisdiction, says Malta Today. In fact, Malta’s Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has received over 340 notifications from firms working with blockchain since the act came into force. Blockchain firms were obliged to notify the MFSA of their activities as of the act’s passing. The MFSA received around 340 notifications altogether, of which 259 were complete enough to be processed immediately. Of those, 41 were from VFA agents, 36 from ICO projects of ICOs and 182 were from service providers. Parliamentary secretary for digital services and innovation Silvio Schembri said “Malta has become a powerhouse of economic innovation, and this legislation places so far ahead of other countries. Now when we talk, people and countries listen.” REUTERS: Estonia has been moving toward a more digital economy, but missteps and scandals are getting in its way. Money laundering concerns in particular might also have an impact on the cryptocurrency businesses in the nation, Reuters says. At present, it is fairly simple to acquire a business license for crypto startups, but the nation's leaders might give law enforcement officers the ability to withdraw these licenses should they be misused. According to Estonia's central bank deputy governor Madis Muller, “There is a money laundering risk with cryptocurrency operators. We have made it too easy for these crypto operators now. They get a reputational benefit from their link to Estonia. We get the reputational risk." |
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