FATF's rule confirmed

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June 21, 2019 TRAVEL RULE:  The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) unveiled its final interpretative note on cryptocurrencies and virtual asset service providers (VASPs). As expected, the intergovernmental organization is calling on countries to implement the “travel rule,” a banking standard that requires all exchanges, custodial wallets or other providers involved in a transaction to have KYC information for all customer accounts in the transaction. The FATF is also calling on countries to mitigate the use of mixers and tumblers, and says these nations should make sure businesses can freeze crypto wallet or exchange accounts for sanctioned individuals. The FATF is giving countries a year to implement laws taking its recommendation into account, with a review planned for January 2020. Full story CIRCLE K ROLLOUT: DigitalMint, a Chicago-based over-the-counter cryptocurrency trading platform, has installed bitcoin kiosks at 20 Circle K convenience stores as part of a pilot program across Arizona and Nevada. This represents the largest expansion for the crypto platform since its founding 2014, according to a press release. In five years, the company has established either ATM or in-person teller branches at 250 locations in 25 states. DigitalMint ATMs let consumers buy and trade up to $20,000 bitcoin, ethereum and litecoin per day, with a 12 percent fee on transactions. Full story LIBRA UNBALANCED? Facebook’s rollout of Libra may be steamrolled in India by existing regulatory constraints, reports the Economic Times. Despite cryptocurrency’s precarious standing within local law, the outlet said “Facebook has not filed any application with RBI (Reserve Bank of India) for its cryptocurrency in India,” according to an anonymous source with direct knowledge of the situation. The social media juggernaut told the Economic Times, “We expect Calibra to work on WhatsApp and be available globally.” India has 400 million WhatsApp users, according to Statista. Full story HOBBY MINING: Coinmine, a cryptocurrency mining device aimed at the hobbyist market, will now give its users the option to be paid in bitcoin. The device was able to mine monero, zcash, grin and ethereum at launch, a set of cryptocurrencies that had a low enough difficulty threshold to allow for the average miner to see a minimal return. The addition of bitcoin payouts gives miners more incentive to try the $799 ($699 with a special BTC discount) product. The Coinmine box won’t make you a millionaire overnight. The firm sees it as a testbed and experimental tool for those who want to dip a toe into the mining process. Full story US IPO? Crypto mining giant Bitmain Technologies Ltd. is said to be relaunching its initial public offering (IPO) plans, but this time in the U.S. instead of Hong Kong. According to Bloomberg sources, Bitmain is consulting with advisers over a U.S. public listing, potentially in the second half of 2019. The firm could file documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in July. Last September, Bitmain filed to IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) hoping to raise up to $1 billion, however the firm let the application lapse in March. Bloomberg said Bitmain may be reducing its previous fundraising target to roughly $300 million–$500 million for the U.S. offering. Full story ‘FRIENDLY FORK’: One community member is about to begin what one might call a “friendly fork” of the ethereum blockchain called “Alternateth.” James Hancock, project team lead at ethereum startup ETHSignals, told CoinDesk that he hopes the network will act as “a sister chain” to ethereum validating ideas and proof-of-concepts before adoption on the main chain. The goal is to initiate the split in two months’ time. “For ethereum to be sound money, it needs to be very conservative in making changes,” said Hancock. “For ethereum to keep pace with competition it needs to keep making changes. These two ideas are in tension as it is difficult to do both well.” Full story $10K IN SIGHT? Bitcoin's break above the widely followed 38.2 percent Fibonacci retracement of the bear market low has bolstered the bullish setup for the longer term. As a result, prices look set to rise above $10,000. That said, a temporary pullback cannot be ruled out beforehand, as the short-duration charts are reporting overbought conditions. The outlook would turn bearish only if the price finds acceptance below $7,500. Full story CALL TO ACTION: Facebook  co-founder Chris Hughes is calling on regulators to tamp down on the social media giant's cryptocurrency ambitions, saying that if libra succeeds, it could give companies economic power over smaller nations, the Guardian reports . According to Hughes, "if even modestly successful, Libra would hand over much of the control of monetary policy from central banks to these private companies ...If global regulators don’t act now, it could very soon be too late.” The cryptocurrency is already facing regulator and lawmaker scrutiny, with the G7 forming a task force to examine the libra and the U.S. Senate Banking Committee scheduling a hearing for next month. WHO WON #CRYPTOTWITTER Copyright © 2019 CoinDesk, All rights reserved.  Our mailing address is:  250 Park Avenue South New York, NY, 10003, US  Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list

New site + New Interview + New validator! (Loom Update #45)

Hey you.   Did you get a chance to check out our new homepage? — we updated the content and cleaned it up a bit. Take a look and let me know what you think (just hit reply to this email) 😎 Also, have you heard of the Unchained Podcast by Laura Shin? 🤔 IMO — it's one of the best, fluff free podcasts covering the blockchain space. Given that it's high quality, I'd appreciate it if you could Tweet Laura about featuring Loom Network on the show 🐦 — I've been (quietly) nudging her for almost a year without much luck.  Also, if you have any other high-quality, well thought out podcasts / blogs / youtube channels related to blockchain, please send them my way — especially if you think we should be featured. Anyway... Here's... A sneak peek into the mind of Loom Network with Co-Founder James (📺 VIDEO | 47:01) So, while this is an excellent video interview, you can listen to it like a podcast in the background while you work.  It's a great interview with our Co-Founder James Duffy, and Brad Laurie — plus, it covers a LOT of content about some of our latest updates, including: Our approach to blockchain interoperability & benefits for developers Upcoming PlasmaChain rebrand How staking works Projects that are building on Loom Fee structures  ...and a LOT more Plus, if you listen/watch the whole thing, you are bound to get some clues into a few things that we haven't officially announced yet 😜 Anyway, you should... 👉 Watch the latest interview with Loom Co-Founder James Duffy   Last but not least... 1. Please welcome our latest validator: Infinity Stones (has nothing to do with Thanos) 🍾 2. Our CEO Matt will be speaking about Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT's) & Blockchain Gaming on June 26th in Manilla. If you are going to be in Manilla, please come say HI 📅 3. The total amount of LOOM staked has exceeded 212 MILLION, which is about ~30%. If you are interested in getting staking updates every 30 minutes, go ahead and follow @loomstaked (not affiliated with Loom Network) on Twitter. Also, if you are curious, feel free to review the economics of staking 💰 4. Loom's PlasmaChain recently hit 99,000+ transactions in a single day. That's ~10% of Ethereum's transaction volume on the same day 📈  5. Loom SDK now supports universal transaction signing with Portis 🔏 If you want to discuss any of the latest updates — stop by our subreddit @ /r/LoomNetwork.  That's what's crackin' around here at Loom HQ 😉 Until next time... Your friend, —Dilanka P.S—By the way, if you haven't seen it already, someone made an incredibly entertaining cartoon about the history of Bitcoin called Bitcoin & Friends. Check it out. It's GREAT. — On the other hand, if you are looking for something a lot more geekier, Stanford just had an excellent day of talks about Securing Our Cyber Future from Digital Threats (with a focus on Election Security). They just released videos of the entire event. Take a look. Considering that there will be another election next year in the U.S and ZERO politicians have proposed any solutions to election security, I think these talks are quite important. — Also, if you are a fan of retro gaming, take a look at the new GPi Gameboy Case by RetroFlag. That's going to be my weekend project 😉   Want out of the loop? Unsubscribe. Our address: 26/-47 12A Floor Orakarn Building,, 46 Chit Lom Alley, Khwaeng Lumphini,, Bangkok, Thailand, 10330

Bitman U.S. IPO / BTC Reaches High / Follow Friday

Inside Bitcoin presented by Hackajob.

Presented by Subscribe | View in browser Market Watch: Bitcoin's market cap topped $175 billion as it closes in on $9,900. 22 of the top 25 cryptocurrencies have sustained positive gains over the past 24 hours. Ethereum leads the way in the top 10, up almost 8 percent. Bitcoin: $9,855.25 (⬆️ 5.45%) // $175.14 billion market cap. Ethereum: $288.62 (⬆️ 7.56%) // $30.76 billion market cap. XRP: $0.44 (⬆️3.47%) // $18.75 billion market cap. Litecoin: $138.62 (⬆️ 3.08%) // $8.63 billion market cap. Top 100 Winner: MonaCoin: $2.79 (⬆️ 19.02%) // $183 million market cap. Top 100 Loser: Crypto.com Chain: $0.05 (⬇️ 6.75%) // $423 million market cap. Prices are as of 12:16 EST.       1. Bitmain, the world's largest producer of cryptocurrency mining chips, is reviving its plans for an IPO by listing in the U.S. instead of a listing on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong as originally planned. After pulling the strings on its Hong Kong IPO because of decreasing Bitcoin prices, Bitmain will look to file listing documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as soon as next month. Bitmain was last valued at a $15 billion private valuation and will look to raise between $300 to $500 million. - BLOOMBERG       2. Bitcoin reached the highest its been since May 2018, touching $9,840. Bitcoin is up nearly 140 percent on a quarter-to-date basis from April 1st. Bitcoin reached its highest market cap of the year surpassing $175 billion and has erased 40 percent of the bear market drop since reaching $20k in December 2017. The rise in price is pulling the rest of the market as all cryptocurrencies in the top 12 are seeing positive movement over the past 24 hours. - COIN DESK       A MESSAGE FROM HACKAJOB The companies that change the world have one thing in common - world-class talent. We work with over 100k developers and software engineers to match them with the right role. We automate it using our unbiased AI so we're fairer, faster and cheaper than anywhere else. It works, with a time to hire of 17 days and more live candidates than anywhere else in Europe. Check us out. 3. Follow Friday: Michael Creadon is the Head of Business Development at DrawBridge Lending. You can catch Michael at crypto events all over the United States and he posts original daily content on his LinkedIn over-viewing the crypto market. As a former Bloomberg writer, Michael is able to produce clear and concise thoughts making complex crypto jargon understandable for all. Below is a post from this morning that he wrote: "The great rally of 2019 in digital assets continues as everything not tied down is moving higher this morning. Ethereum is back above $290 after falling last year to $82, and looking like insolvency - or something along those lines - was in the cards - not anymore. Bitcoin is about an eight or nine iron away from $10k, depending on your preference. And top alt-coins like EOS, Bitcoin Cash & Bitcoin SV are all pointing in unison the same way - higher. Maybe Facebook's Libra, after all, is the catalyst. Or maybe it's the fact market participants are learning regulations exist to root out bad actors - not simply to wreak havoc on innovation; or maybe it's the fact adoption is becoming a real thing as debit cards and crypto lending move digital assets finally into the real economy. Hard to tell. Yet the undeniable rally in 2019 is starting to feel ever-so-slightly like late 2017, when blockchain and cryptocurrencies took the world by storm in an ambush on financial markets, banks and the status quo. But no doubt it's different this time around if for no other reason education has greatly advancement in the intervening 20-odd months or so. The woman and man on the street, in college, in Caracas, Tehran, Nairobi or East Lansing now know what this is. And that's making a difference." Make sure you follow Michael on LinkedIn to get original insights into the crypto market on a daily basis.        4. From The Forums: Libra vs Farmville. Reddit user Braincrowd posted a chart that compared and contrasted the usefulness of Libra and a popular Facebook game called Farmville. Zctoz responded to the chart by saying, "You said something that your local government does not like Your LIBRA funds are now frozen until next month. Thanks for choosing Calibra, worlds #1 wallet You are not posting and liking enough facebook posts, your withdrawal rights have been canceled until you share more posts that make your local government look good. Thanks for choosing Calibra, worlds #1 wallet We have detected you are not uploading enough photos to facebook, please upload more photos in order to be able to withdrawal, make sure you show your patriotic traits and love for your local government. Thanks for choosing Calibra, worlds #1 wallet"       A MESSAGE FROM CLUBHOUSE A new and better way for software teams to plan, build, and release products. Clubhouse is a fast, uncluttered project management platform that combines just the right amount of simplicity and flexibility so teams can focus on the code, not the tool. 5. Deceased Quadriga founder Gerald Cotten directed client funds from the exchange to his personal accounts. - WALL STREET JOURNAL 6. France is creating a G7 task force to monitor how central banks will regulate new cryptocurrency projects like Libra. - REUTERS 7. Celsius is suspending the distribution of its token to users based in the U.S. over regulatory concerns. - THE BLOCK CRYPTO 8. Grayscale's publicly traded Ethereum Trust (Symbol: ETHE) is available today on the OTC markets. - GRAYSCALE 9. Crypto mining device Coinmine now pays out in Bitcoin. - COIN DESK 10. Amazon Pay Vice President Patrick Gaulthier says Amazon has no plan to create a cryptocurrency. - COIN TELEGRAPH       Written and curated by Darren Webb. He created Currencylists and has worked in marketing roles for a multitude of cryptocurrency and blockchain projects since 2014. Based in NYC, Darren loves to read and continue to learn about cryptocurrency and emerging technology in his spare time. You can find him on Twitter @Dwebbny. Editing team: Kim Lyons (Pittsburgh-based journalist and managing editor at Inside), David Stegon (senior editor at Inside, whose reporting experience includes cryptocurrency and technology), and Bobby Cherry (senior editor at Inside, who's always on social media).

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