 QUOTE OF THE DAY  |
| "Technology made large populations possible; large populations now make technology indispensable." - Joseph Krutch |
Happy Thursday! Another day, another hack. This time it was the Waves newly launched decentralized exchange. Just another reminder for our readers to always be suspicious when entering personal wallet information on a website.
Cheers,
Blockchain Brew Team
| COIN | PRICE | 24H |
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| BTC | $8,233.48 | +0.38% |
|
| ETH | $477.883 | +1.35% |
|
| XRP | $0.461575 | +1.32% |
|
| BCH | $837.84 | +0.14% |
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| EOS | $8.64546 | +1.91% |
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*Information as of 9:30 AM EST
CFTC Will Not Regulate Retail Crypto Markets
LAISSEZ-FAIRE
- On Wednesday, CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo, spoke to the House Agriculture Committee and the topic of cryptocurrencies was brought up
- Commissioner Giancarlo pronounced that the CFTC will not regulate the cryptocurrency trading markets, but only ensure compliance and prevent fraud in futures markets
Giancarlo explained:
“It is not the historical role of the CFTC to play this type of role in cash markets. It is not my place to advocate for expanded jurisdiction. There may come a time for the govt to step, but the question is when is the time. The total value of crypto market is probably less than one big publicly traded company so it’s not a big market. [I think] we should follow the regulation template of the early internet which was ‘first, do no harm.'”
BEHIND THE TIMES
- The commissioner also revealed that a consortium of the world's six biggest banks approached the CFTC with plans of building a blockchain network to trade default swaps and make bank payments
- The consortium offered the CFTC to be a part of the network by running a regulatory node, but this would be classified as a gift, so by law the CFTC was not able to accept the offer
- Giancarlo is disappointed the CFTC is falling behind on blockchain technology because there is too much yellow tape when it comes to the government and new innovation
The commissioner talked about the CFTC falling behind when it comes to blockchain:
“We’re falling behind. The Bank of England has announced a new blockchain compliant payment settlement system. We’re 4 years behind. We need to test and understand it and know how to work it as a regulator before coming to Congress. …Using subpoenas to get information from blockchain finance industry I think is the wrong way to go about it. I think cooperation is the way forward.”
Korean Financial Authority Urges Lawmakers to Regulate Quickly to Prevent Hacks
CRYPTO BILL
- With South Korea's first crypto bill on the way, South Korean regulators are hoping blockchain and cryptocurrencies can flourish under guidance
- However, according to Hong Seong-ki, a member of South Korea's Financial Services Commission, the crypto industry isn't prepared in terms of security
- Because South Korean regulators' first priority is to protect investors, money laundering prevention and investor protection will be the first bill passed
NOT READY
- Hong Seong-ki does have a point when he implied that South Korea's cryptocurrency exchanges aren't ready for mass adoption because of security issues
- In June, two of South Korea's leading exchanges, Bithumb and Coinrail, were hacked
- Both exchanges lost more than $40 million in user funds but were able to remain solvent and cover the amount stolen by anonymous hackers
WHAT'S THE FIX?
- As the crypto industry matures, exchange security will develop much further
- Regulation is almost necessary to force exchanges to invest in security development to keep investors safe
- In addition, those who get hacked will lose customers anyway since there are now a handful of exchange choices for investors
MetaMask Extension Removed from Google Chrome Store for 5 Hours
METAMASK
- MetaMask is one of the oldest and most popular decentralized apps on the Ethereum network
- The MetaMask browser extension allows users to cross the bridge straight from their browser to utilize decentralized apps on the Ethereum platform
- This is the most popular interface used by players of the game CryptoKitties
PULLED FROM CHROME
- Yesterday, for an unknown reason, MetaMask was removed from the Google Chrome Store for 5 hours
- After removal, MetaMask operated fine, however, new users weren't able to sign up
- In addition, during this time a bigger concern hit the MetaMask team and that was a phishing lookalike that took MetaMask's place in the app store
Augur, another decentralized app spread the word on Twitter to protect unknowing MetaMask users:
AFTERMATH STATEMENT
- After the whirlwind of events that allegedly happened because of an error on Google's side, the MetaMask team released a statement
- In the statement, the team called the event a "wake-up call" and shed light on a few concerns including phishing and updates
- Most significantly, however, is the idea that MetaMask is at the mercy of the browser store its extension is listed on
- Though many MetaMask users urged Google Chrome users to jump ship because of this mishap, it is important to understand that Google is still the gatekeeper to the decentralized web in this scenario
A Look Into Ethereum Dapps And The Future
CURRENT DAPPS
Ethereum was created with a vision to disrupt the world, creating a network that could host decentralized applications that have the ability to make a real change. Even with its lofty market cap, Ethereum dapps seem to be falling short of this mission.
Here are the largest dapps on the Ethereum network as of this writing:
- PoWH 3D - 2,650 daily users
- Essentially a transparent ponzi scheme
- Fomo3D - 2,301 daily users
- Fomo3D - 2,301 daily users
- IDEX - 2,095 daily users
- ForkDelta - 1,407 daily users
- FOMO Short - 572 daily users
Larry Cermak, a respected crypto analyst summed up the state of Ethereum dapps nicely, tweeting:
"It's depressing from the community perspective. If the majority of DApp usage comes from scams and ponzis, how is that useful to anyone? Legitimate use-cases like DEXs and prediction markets are not gaining any traction while scams and useless games are thriving"
DISAPPOINTING
- The technology behind Ethereum shouldn't be downplayed, but looking at the list of the top five Ethereum Dapps you can't help to think that the network is being used to its full potential
- Earlier this year, Vitalik even said it himself, giving his opinion that many cryptocurrencies are overvalued and haven't even came close to reaching the main goal of disrupting centralized industries and banking the unbanked
- The Ethereum network is currently valued at $47.5 billion, but this valuation for sure isn't based off of the networks current use cases rather the potential for what the network can become in the future
WHY SO MANY BAD DAPPS?
- At this point in time, it does make some sense why there are not any useful decentralized apps on Ethereum besides exchanges
- Gambling platforms and games are much easier to develop than the ground breaking dapps people are looking for and there is a lot of superficial hype around something like CryptoKitties or a decentralized lottery
- The real dapps that will actually disrupt the world are in development and will eventually come
A LOOK AHEAD
- Real use case dapps are starting to emerge out of development and will hopefully overtake the dapps at the top of the rankings today
- Golem, a decentralized computation market, entered into beta earlier this year
- Augur, a prediction market, went live roughly two weeks ago
- Status, a decentralized chat app, is making strides towards its launch
Alex Van de Sande, developer of Ethereum's Mist browser and Ethereum core developer, talked about the importance of dapps to Ethereum:
"Ethereum makes no sense if there are no dapps; if there are no dapps running on ethereum then it's just another coin that gets its worth from speculating. I think our job, as ethereum developers, is to try to understand what are the dapps doing and what are the dapps not doing, what are the biggest challenges for those dapps, and we need to solve that for them. We serve the dapp developers."
- Iran Plans National Cryptocurrency as New US Sanctions Loom
- Bitcoin Price Is On The Brink Of Going Even Higher, Says Blockchain Venture Capitalist
- Joseph Lubin: People Said Ethereum Could Not Be Done, but It Is a Remarkable Success
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