 QUOTE OF THE DAY  |
| "It's not how much money you make, but how much money you keep, how hard it works for you, and how many generations you keep it for." - Robert Kiyosaki |
Happy Tuesday! If you love reading the Blockchain Brew, let us know by tweeting at us and we will show some love back! If you don't already, you can follow the Blockchain Brew Twitter account here for more updates and content.
Cheers,
Blockchain Brew Team
| COIN | PRICE | 24H |
|
| BTC | $6,822.50 | +5.36% |
|
| ETH | $539.506 | +8.49% |
|
| XRP | $0.554524 | +7.8% |
|
| BCH | $912.544 | +8.98% |
|
| EOS | $10.7868 | +4.67% |
|
*Information as of 9:30 AM EST
Regulated Crypto Custody on the Horizon, Another Reason to be Bullish
CRYPTO CUSTODY
- One of the largest risks that institutional investors assume when they buy crypto at the moment is crypto theft from hacks
- To jump this hurdle, many firms are attempting to offer crypto-custody services that will safely store cryptos in both cold storage and hot storage (crypto storage accessible via internet)
- However, before the firms are able to qualify as a U.S. regulated custodian, the firms must meet strict standards for guarding assets and since crypto is relatively new, the processes are being developed
ON THE HORIZON
- Crypto custody services are expected to be welcomed by U.S. regulators soon, minimizing risks for hedge fund managers and other institutional investors
- Coinbase has been leading the charge to be the first crypto custody service to market, however, Wall Street firms such as Bank of New York Mellon Corp., JP Morgan Chase & Co., and Northern Trust Corp. are also rumored to be working on crypto-focused custody services
BIG WAVE
- Since most investment advisers are required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to store investor funds with a U.S. qualified custodian, many funds have sat on the sidelines waiting for regulators to approve crypto custody services
- According to Sam McIngvale, Coinbase's custody project lead, about $20 billion in assets are set to flow into the crypto market once custody services are available
- In addition, BitGo, a blockchain security company looking to be approved for crypto custody services as well, stated that it has "several hundred hedge funds and wealth managers" waiting to be approved once the service goes live
Kyle Samani, a managing partner at Multicoin Capital, told Bloomberg in a phone interview that crypto custodianship will usher new investment in the market:
"There are a lot of investors where custodianship was the final barrier. Over the next year, the market will come to recognize that custodianship is a solved problem. This will unlock a big wave of capital."
New York Awards 7th Ever BitLicense to Square
BITLICENSE
- The BitLicense is a controversial cryptocurrency legal framework enacted by issued by the New York State Department of Financial Services
- The license is necessary if a company wants to operate in the crypto space in the state of New York
- The regulation was enacted in August of 2015 and caused more than ten cryptocurrency business to stop all operations in New York
- Prior to Monday, only six entities have been granted the BitLicense: Coinbase, bitFlyer USA, Ripple subsidiary XRP II, Circle Internet Financial, itBit, and Xapo
Department of Financial Services superintendent Maria T. Vullo announced the newest BitLicense approval, saying:
“DFS is pleased to approve Square’s application and welcomes them to New York’s expanding and well-regulated virtual currency market. DFS continues to work in support of a vibrant and competitive virtual currency market that connects and empowers New Yorkers in a global marketplace while ensuring strong state-regulatory oversight is in place.”
WELCOME TO NEW YORK
- Square, which offers instant buying and selling of Bitcoin to its customers through its Cash app, will now be able to expand this feature to its customers in New York
- The company which was founded and ran by Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, has seen its stock benefit from its crypto platform, profiting $34 million in the first quarter of 2018 from its crypto business
Square’s Cash App chief Brian Grassadonia commented:
“We are thrilled to now provide New Yorkers with Cash App’s quick and simple way to buy and sell bitcoin.”
Anybody May Be Able to List Any Coin on Upcoming Binance Decentralized Exchange
ANY COIN
- Binance has plans to launch a decentralized exchange this year that will be accessible to everybody
- Unlike with centralized exchanges, Binance will have very little to no control over what cryptocurrencies are exchanged on its platform
In a recent interview Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s CEO, explained this concept:
“On the decentralized exchange we’ll have less control. More likely anybody can list any coin. That’s the philosophy of the decentralized exchange, it’s freedom of choice, freedom of investments. But with freedom there will be people who are scammers. That’s not something we can control.”
BINANCE CHAIN
- Binance is currently developing a blockchain platform that will be known as Binance Chain to handle the trading and transfer of coins for the decentralized exchange
- Binance Chain users will be trading speed and liquidity for anonymity and security, the DEX will be slower and have higher fees which are necessary to validate the trades on the platform
- Currently, the centralized Binance exchange processes 1.4 million transactions per second and about $1.5 billion in volume daily, the decentralized exchange should not be expected to match those figures
CENTRALIZED VS DECENTRALIZED
- Cryptocurrency investors have many complaints about centralized exchanges, they provide little to no privacy and often use shady tactics when listing coins and may influence prices
- Decentralized exchanges may solve some of these problems, but they do also have issues of their own, decentralized exchanges are a greater target for hackers, will be host to many scams, and will have significantly less liquidity
Skycoin is Worrisome to Investors After Shaky Series of Events
STOLEN SKYCOIN
- Skycoin, a cryptocurrency that is focused on creating a new decentralized internet, has had its fair share of issues lately causing a sell-off
- According to a Skycoin status update, Skycoin CEO Synth and his wife were held against their will for 6 hours while EVOLAB (Skycoin China marketing team) members beat, threatened, and robbed them
- In addition to the 6,466 Skycoins the EVOLAB team allegedly robbed from Synth, the report stated that EVOLAB had also embezzled approximately 100,000 Skycoins during Skycoin's relationship with them
- After the funds had been stolen, Skycoin contacted top exchanges and had the wallets holding stolen funds frozen to limit the impact of the situation
PUMP AND DUMP
- Along with the stolen Skycoin news, Skycoin has also been accused of knowing about Skycoin insider trading
- This accusation came after an audio tape was released by a Twitter user that reveals Skycoin CEO Synth allowed pump and dumps on Skycoin to happen
The audio tape mentions Sudo, the Head of Community of Management for Skycoin:
"We knew who’s dumping, what’s going on, buy the dip and buy this and buy that … everyone was doing the opposite of what the public was doing. There was a whole insider information channel on the thing, and it used to be open. Sudo came and made the room private."
SCAM OR NOT?
- After the series of shaky events, many are calling Skycoin a complete scam
- However, some Skycoin followers don't believe that this FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) is true and believe that Synth was just "joking around" in the audio
- Regardless of whether Skycoin is a scam or not, the coin has fallen from its all-time-high of $34 less than one month ago and now sits around $7
- Japan: Financial Watchdog to Issue Business Improvement Notices to 5 Crypto Exchanges
- John McAfee To Stop Promoting ICOs After “Threats” From SEC
- Cryptocurrencies Could Make Banks Obsolete, Says Malta Bankers Association Head
| Crowd Machine (CMCT) |
| Crowd Machine is an advanced distributed computer. Embedded within the computer is an app development engine that requires no coding, enabling anyone to create decentralized apps and smart contracts without limitation. |
| WEBSITE | | REDDIT |
| The above is not intended to be investment advice. |
| 1317 8th Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414. |
| If you don't absolutely love us, drop us, click here. |
| Copyright © 2018 Blockchain Brew, All rights reserved. |
