ConsenSys shifts

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February 4, 2020 CONSENSYS SHIFTS: Ethereum venture studio ConsenSys is shifting focus – and downsizing 14 percent as a result. “In the coming months, ConsenSys will finalize the transition from its venture production model and spin out a number of its internally funded projects into the ConsenSys Investments portfolio,” the Brooklyn, NY-based company said in a statement. Full story GUIDANCE EXPLAINED: Although it goes against the grain to shoehorn an identity layer onto a technology specifically designed to be pseudonymous, crypto firms must comply with the Financial Action Task Force’s “Travel Rule,” if they wish to stay above the law. Ian Allison breaks down the technical, legal and operational issues involved in implementing an experimental new guidance to identify users for virtual asset service providers. Full story NEW BEGINNINGS: Bitcoin SV (for Satoshi's Vision) hard forked to its “Genesis” iteration to increase on-chain scalability and transaction capacity. An hour after the milestone update, BitMEX Research tweeted "a significant number of nodes have not upgraded for the hardfork and are stuck on the pre-hardfork block." A BSV spokesperson said it’s not a "persistent chain split" but one miner "who did not update their software.” Full story TRADING TOOL: Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini integrated one of the world’s leading real-time markets data platforms, TradingView, which allows users to execute trades through a new interface and provides charting tools and a forum. Full story BTC AUCTION: The U.S. Marshals Service will auction nearly $40 million in bitcoin from more than 50 administrative forfeitures and legal cases, the first such auction since the end of 2018. Full story DEMAND DIP? The bitcoin market is showing signs of temporary bull fatigue, which is usually seen after notable price rallies. The cryptocurrency may test dip demand by revisiting the crucial 200-day average support currently placed under $8,900. If that support holds ground, the bulls will likely launch a fresh move toward $9,600. Full story   MODERN FINANCE:  Last year, former CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo made waves with his “digital dollar” proposal, a cryptographic replacement to old fashioned USDs. Now, sitting down with CoinDesk's Michael Casey in Davos, Switzerland, “Crypto Dad” talks about the wave of digitization that will replace all outdated financial systems. Watch now APP-SOLUTE DISASTER: With Iowa election results still unconfirmed, Markets Daily is back and digging into the question: Would a blockchain have helped? Listen in WHO WON #CRYPTOTWITTER   Copyright © 2020 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

Bitspark is closing / FCA changes crypto registration fees / Gemini integrates TradingView

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Presented by Subscribe | View in browser Market Watch: Coin prices are down slightly during Tuesday trading but Bitcoin remains above the $9,000 mark. Lesser-known coin ICON is up by nearly 60 percent in a 24-hour period. Bitcoin: $9,177 (⬇️ 1.79%) // $167 billion market cap. Ethereum: $186 (⬇️ 1.52%) // $20.4 billion market cap. XRP: $0.250 (⬆️ 0.05%) // $10.9 billion market cap. Bitcoin Cash: $377 (⬇️ 1.01%) // $6.9 billion market cap.  Top 100 Winner: ICON: $0.517 (⬆️ 57.37%) // $268 million market cap. Top 100 Loser: MonaCoin: $1.64 (⬇️ 8.34%) // $107 million market cap. Prices are as of 1:32 p.m. ET. 1. Hong Kong-based blockchain remittance startup Bitspark has announced that it will be closing its services, citing internal restructuring issues. In a blog post, George Harrap, CEO, wrote that the "decision was not taken lightly" and that the platform will be closing its doors on March 4. According to the announcement, Bitspark users have from yesterday, Feb. 3 until March 4 to withdraw their assets. After that date, account logins will be disabled for a period of 90 days. The decision to halt its services comes after the release of their Cash Point product last year, which saw a 400 percent month-over-month growth following its release. However, as Harrap explains, due to internal restructuring that didn't work out and a decision taken by shareholders internally, they have decided to call it a day. Harrap also noted that while the Hong Kong protests and the coronavirus haven't affected the company much, "it hasn't helped either." -BITSPARK 2. The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has revised its registration fee structure for crypto companies. In a Handbook Notice from the regulator, it states that if income from crypto activity in the U.K. amounts to around $325,000, then organizations will be charged $2,600 in registration fees. Those who earn over $325,000 will have to pay $13,000. Prior to these new changes, all crypto businesses had to pay a flat fee of $6,500; however, after receiving feedback that stated this would be too high for some small firms to pay, it decided to revise this. -THE BLOCK A MESSAGE FROM EQUITYMULTIPLE Making Real Estate Investing Simple, Accessible & Transparent. Build a Stronger Portfolio. Looking to diversify beyond stocks & bonds? EquityMultiple provides you access to the kinds of commercial real estate investments that were once open only to institutional investors. Start with just $10k & diversify across markets, property types, & risk/return profiles. Build a better portfolio. Invest Today   3. Crypto exchange Gemini has integrated trading chart analysis service TradingView. According to an announcement, the platform has added TradingView as a trading partner, giving its institutional customers the ability to trade or invest directly with the trading service. As part of the integration, Gemini is now listed in the TradingView's Trading Panel, in addition to the Brokerage Section. Founded in 2014 by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, Gemini is an exchange and custodian that permits customers to buy, sell, and store crypto such as Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ether, Litecoin, and Zcash. -TRADING VIEW 4. Binance's futures platform is launching a Zcash(ZEC)-Tether(USDT) perpetual contract with a maximum leverage of up to 50 percent. According to an announcement, trading for the ZEC/USDT pair will go live tomorrow at 08:00 UTC. Binance has said that in a bid to avoid manipulation, it will introduce a pricing limit of ±1% on the mark price within the first 15 minutes after trading starts. Unlike a traditional futures contract, there is no expiration or settlement date for perpetual contracts. -BINANCE 5. Chair of China Minsheng Bank Hong Qi has said that digital technologies such as the blockchain will help to speed up China's digital transformation in the next 10 years. Qi went on to say that the use of the blockchain will also assist at upgrading its "agriculture, manufacturing, finance and other services" in that time frame. -ECONOMIC INFORMATION DAILY 6. BitPay CEO Stephen Pair has said that the platform will soon be adding more support for cryptocurrencies, along with the possibility of a Lighting Network integration. While he didn't name the exact coins they would likely be included on the platform, Pair did indicate that they were interested in the ones that had the highest market capitalization. Yet, while they are looking at coins that have adoption and work well for payments, BitPay isn't excluding those that aren't as adopted, which are "doing something innovative around payments." -COINTELEGRAPH 7. South Korean crypto wallet Bitberry has decided to close to doors, citing an uncertain market in the blockchain space. In an announcement, Bitberry is to close on Feb. 29 and is requesting that users withdraw their funds from the platform. It won't be charging withdrawal fees, Bitberry has said. Jang Sung-hoon, CEO of Root One Soft, the operator of the wallet, said they have decided to close the wallet because of "market deterioration and uncertainty of the blockchain industry." -TOKEN POST 8. Mode, a financial services company backed by Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, has launched its Bitcoin banking iOS app. The London-based company has made its app available to all countries apart from the U.S. and users can get started using the app with as much as $65 to purchase Bitcoin. -FINEXTRA 9. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a technology known as the "spider" that is thought to help avoid congestion on off-chain crypto payments networks. According to the developers, the crypto routing scheme delivers a more efficient payment channel network (PCN). By using Bitcoin's Lightning Network, PCNs permit users to charge accounts with a chosen amount of crypto. While this is a faster option than those made directly on the blockchain (on-chain), PCNs can also be slowed by inefficient routing schemes. Spider is hoping to change this by splitting transactions into smaller amounts over different channels at various rates. -COIN DESK 10. Investment platform CurioInvest and Seychelles-based digital asset exchange MERJ Exchange Ltd. are offering tokens that will be backed by luxury collectible cars. According to a report, the Car Token (CT1) is to be pegged to the value of collectible cars, enabling people to own a fraction of an asset. Jim Needham, head of digital strategy at MERJ, said: "You can have a guy in Uganda who's able to invest in a rare car that's kept in a vault in Stuttgart, tokenized by a company in Liechtenstein and it all fits within this recognized regulatory environment." The two companies are hoping that rare and collectible assets, such as vintage cars, will continue to appreciate. A report from Knight Frank shows that vintage cars have returned over 330 percent in 10 years through 2017. -BNN BLOOMBERG 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 Beth Duckett, Inside.com staff writer. Ad Invest in Exclusive, Expertly Vetted Real Estate. From Anywhere. Start with just $10k.

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