Commodity conundrum

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November 15, 2019 CLASSIFICATION QUESTION: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is evaluating whether ethereum will still be classed as a commodity as it migrates to a proof-of-stake consensus system, Chairman Heath Tarbert said. The SEC is also reviewing the question, said Tarbert at the CoinDesk's Invest: NYC event this week.  Full story BITLICENSE KILLER? There’s now a way cryptocurrency businesses can get around New York’s notorious BitLicense, and it runs through Wyoming, say members of the team that drafted the 13 crypto-friendly laws enacted by the state this year. One of those laws allows Wyoming to charter Special Purpose Depository Institutions, a new type of fully reserved fiat bank to custody digital assets that the team thinks could allow crypto startups to operate in New York without local approval. Full story SIM-SWAP BUSTS: The FBI arrested two Massachusetts residents Thursday on charges of attempting to steal cryptocurrency and hijack social media accounts in a “SIM swapping” scheme.The pair allegedly targeted crypto company executives and those “who had high value or ‘OG’ (slang for ‘Original Gangster’) social media account names.” Full story ONECOIN PLEA: The Department of Justice  has reached a plea deal with Konstantin Ignatov, brother of OneCoin co-founder Dr Ruja Ignatov, for his involvement with the alleged cryptocurrency fraud based out of Bulgaria. Ignatov pleaded guilty to multiple counts including money laundering, but still faces up 90 years in prison, according to the BBC. Full story  FRACTIONAL INVESTMENT: Custody bank Northern Trust is testing the trading of fractionalized bonds on a blockchain. Working with Singapore-based debt markets company BondEvalue, the bank is providing asset servicing for large, high-grade bonds that will be tokenized and divided to give easier access to retail investors using Hyperledger Sawtooth. Full story ENOUGH FUNDS? A Wall Street analysts has an unpopular opinion regarding the SEC’s hesitance to approve a bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF), reports Bloomberg. “The SEC needs to punt the ETF until crypto becomes bigger,” said Tom Lee, a Fundstrat Global Advisors strategist, at a Blockshow conference in Singapore. Lee estimates that bitcoin’s price would need to rise to approximately $150,000 to meet the daily demands of an ETF. 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

India won't consider crypto bill / Binance blocked on Weibo / FBI arrests SIM swapping suspects

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Presented by Subscribe | View in browser Friends,  Today we will be launching our 58th newsletter, Inside Meditation. Over the last decade I've been meditating and it's had a profound impact on my life, lowering stress, making me more focused and fostering a sense of equanimity in my life.  The newsletter will focus on the latest science, techniques and culture around mindfulness. We are starting with two weekly editions, one in our classic top 10 format and the other taking deep dives into the practice.  If you're feeling stressed by all the news and your social media feeds, I highly recommend signing up. Thanks to Muse for sponsoring the newsletter for the next year — it really means a lot to me and the team to have your support for this important newsletter.  We are currently hiring eight more full-time writers for Inside.com, if you're interested in working from home and helping us delight our customers you can apply at jobs.inside.com.  We are also considering a couple of new newsletters in the coming months, you can vote with your email here:  Inside.com/nocode Inside.com/music Inside.com/apps  If you have other ideas for newsletters, hit reply.  All the best, Jason@calacanis.com        Market Watch: Friday trading has seen industry prices go into the red. Bitcoin remains below $9,000, but lesser-known altcoin BLOCKv has seen an impressive over 7,000% rise in value. Bitcoin: $8,623 (⬇️ 1.35%) // $155.6 billion market cap. Ethereum: $183 (⬇️ 1.77%) // $19.9 billion market cap. XRP: $0.265 (⬇️ 1.78%) // $11.5 billion market cap. Bitcoin Cash: $273 (⬇️ 2.33%) // $4.9 billion market cap. Top 100 Winner: BLOCKv: $0.090 (⬆️ 7,595.26%) // $240 million market cap. Top 100 Loser: Aurora: $0.008 (⬇️ 12.05%) // $52 million market cap. Prices are as of 12:30 p.m. ET.       1. The Indian government is not going to consider a crypto-related draft bill during its winter session of Parliament. In August, the Indian government said that a draft bill, Banning of Cryptocurrency & Regulation of Official Digital Currencies, would be introduced during the winter session, which takes place from November 18 and December 13. The draft bill suggests a complete ban on the use of crypto in India. At the same time, it introduces a Digital Rupee, which would be issued by the country's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). According to Sohail Merchant, CEO of Indian crypto exchange Pocketbits, the delay provides some relief. Merchant added that the time can be used to help them present their case to regulators. –COINTELEGRAPH       2. Binance's account on China's Weibo website has been blocked. According to a notice on Binance's Weibo page, the account has been blocked due to violations of law and regulations. Zhu Hongbing, chairman of Singapore Blockchain Technology Foundation, said that the account's suspension is related to Binance's plan to accept fiat through China's payment companies Alipay and WeChat. –THE CHINA TIMES       A MESSAGE FROM THE MOTLEY FOOL 5 Stocks That Could Set You Up For Life Whether you're an experienced investor or not, having time to research stocks can be a challenge. That's where The Motley Fool comes in. We've put together an exclusive report with five stocks for building wealth, and we're offering it for free to Inside.com readers. That's right: completely free. Click here to claim your free copy of 5 Stocks For Building Wealth! 3. Follow Friday: Caitlin Long A 22-year Wall Street veteran from the likes of Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, and Salomon Brothers, Long turned her attention to the crypto space becoming chair and president of enterprise blockchain company Symbiont from 2016 to 2018. From 2018, she has been a gubernatorial appointee of the Wyoming Blockchain Task Force, which has endorsed a number of draft bills aimed at encouraging the technology in the U.S. state. Since 2012, Long has been a Bitcoin evangelist and a blockchain one since 2014. In 2016, she was awarded the Women in Finance Award for Excellence in Blockchain. Some of her posts on Twitter focus on the steps Wyoming is making in the blockchain space and crypto custody rules for blockchain banks in the state.       4. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested two residents from Massachusetts after they allegedly stole cryptocurrency and hacked into social media accounts by SIM swapping their phones. The U.S. Department of Justice has charged Eric Meiggs, 21 and Declan Harrington, 20, with conspiracy, wire fraud, computer fraud, abuse, and identity theft. The two are alleged to have targeted those they believed were likely to have "significant amounts of cryptocurrency." The two are reported to have sought to steal $500,000 in cryptocurrency from 10 individuals. –COIN DESK       5. Joerg Molt, an individual who is claiming to be Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, has allegedly been scamming seniors with a so-called Bitcoin Pension plan. He's reportedly still operating the scam, which has been up and running since 2017, and is believed to have swindled an estimated 7,000 people out of at least 0.1 Bitcoin. That's around 700 Bitcoin, worth more than $6 million at today's rate. –BE IN CRYPTO       6. China's Shuangjiang county has given a seal of approval to a tea traceability platform powered by VeChain. Teaming up with local tea producers, the VeChainThor blockchain will record the lifecycle of the tea from the raw materials to the consumer. Consumers will be able to access the information by scanning a QR code or near field communication (NFC) tag on their smartphone. According to a Department of Commerce representative, the Pu'er Tea Traceability Platform will help to raise the reputation of Yunnan tea worldwide. –COINTELEGRAPH       7. Crypto platform Binance has added support for the purchase of crypto assets such as Bitcoin with the Turkish lira through digital wallet partner Papara. The announcement was made on the exchange's website today. According to it, users can now exchange lira for Bitcoin, Ether, and XRP; however, the sell option is not yet enabled. The lira is the sixth fiat currency supported by Binance, after the Nigerian naira (NGN), the Russian ruble (RUB), the euro (EUR), the Ukrainian hryvnia (UAH) and the Kazakhstani tenge (KZT). The ultimate goal for Binance is to support 180 fiat currencies on it. –THE BLOCK       8. Retail firms Carrefour and Nestlé are using IBM's Food Trust blockchain to track the supply chain of infant formula. With the platform, the companies are hoping to boost confidence in product quality by delivering increased transparency of the entire supply chain of the Bio 2 and 3 infant milk range, which are produced by Laboratoires Guigoz. –THE NEXT WEB       9. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has awarded $199,984 to Digital Bazaar, a Virginia-based company, to develop blockchain security for it. The Department's Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) made the Phase 1 award as it explores the application of the blockchain and distributed ledger technology "to issue credentials digitally to enhance security, ensure interoperability, and prevent forgery and counterfeiting." –THE BLOCK       10. Ukraine's Lviv Railway has been caught illegally mining crypto using the electricity at Ukrainian Railways. According to the state-owned company, the railway firm used electricity to plug in over 100 crypto mining devices to mine Bitcoin. Since the beginning of 2019, the estimated amount of electricity losses totals $40,700. –COIN DESK       This newsletter was written and curated by Rebecca Campbell. She has been writing and reporting on various industries for the past 10 years, more specifically tech in the last three. Connect with her on Twitter. Edited by Inside Dev and Inside Deals editor Sheena Vasani.       Ad If you want to invest better, you want The Motley Fool.

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