Deals, Investments & M&As
MetaX & ConsenSys Announce adToken Sale June 26, 2017
Richard Kastelein - Blockchain News
MetaX and ConsenSys have jointly created adChain, a Blockchain-based open protocol that’s programmable to the needs of the digital advertising industry. MetaX plans to launch a token sale for this platform June 26th.
Omise To Raise $19M In First Cryptocurrency Sale From A Major VC-Backed Startup
Jon Russell - TechCrunch
Omise has raised $20 million from investors, including SBI, Sinar Mas and Ascend Group, but now it is turning to cryptocurrencies and the blockchain for its next move. The company is looking to raise up to $19 million through the sale of its own coin — OMG, short for Omise Go — which will be used to power a network that lets users transfer money and make payments without the need for a bank account or high service fees.
The Rise of Cryptocurrency Ponzi Schemes
David Z. Morris - The Atlantic
Scammers are making big money off people who want in on the latest digital gold rush but don’t understand how the technology works.
Cryptocurrencies
Russia's Central Bank is Writing a New Bitcoin Law
CoinDesk
Russian Central Bank Suggests Tax on Bitcoins
Natalia Suvorova - Bloomberg BNA
Central Bank of Russia: Bitcoin and other digital currencies may be recognized as digital goods in Russia and taxed appropriately.
The Central Bank is currently shaping legislation to legalize and monitor bitcoins, and the first version of the regulations may be introduced in the State Duma within a month.
Exchanges & Trading Venues
GDAX Enables Euro Trading Markets for Litecoin & Ether
Live Bitcoin News
It is always quite interesting to see exchanges add new markets. In most cases, these companies publicly communicate these changes. For some reason, very few people noticed GDAX now supports Litecoin and Ether trading against the Euro. The addition of these markets comes at an opportune time for both cryptocurrencies, though. Demand for Litecoin seems to have hit a bit of a roadblock. Ether, on the other hand, is surging in value.
[Another] ‘Big Three’ Chinese Exchange OKCoin Enables Ethereum Trading
Crypto Coins News
Beijing-based bitcoin trading platform OKCoin has joined the growing list of exchanges to launch trading of Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin.
Vendors
China's Interest & Investment in Ethereum's Blockchain Expands
Bradley Fink - Bitcoin Magazine
When we first heard Vitalik Buterin was learning Chinese, it was a clue to his ambitions in China. Less than two years later, the platform he co-founded is now a growing force in the Middle Kingdom. Since he joined the ChinaLedger Alliance (May 2016) and announced the expansion of BlockApps, an Ethereum building-blocks platform, in China (September 2016), there has been a movement in cities and among companies in big industries all throughout China. This is in some part due to the efforts of Wanxiang Blockchain Labs, which has made it their mission in China to bring Ethereum to the mainstream, and also in part to the savvy and persistent efforts of Buterin himself.
Latest Developments & Agreements
ADX Runs 6 AGM Through Blockchain Technology
MondoVisione
Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) is the first in the MENA Region and the third globally to adopt the Blockchain technology. The launch in 2016 was part of the Exchange’s strategic innovations to further empower and strengthen the services provided by ADX to the local and foreign investors, listed companies, and stakeholders.
The Blockchain technology enables investors to use e-voting in AGMs and access statistical records of each company and its investors through smart devices. It also enables investors to vote from inside the UAE and overseas.
Securities Depositories Release Requirements For Proxy Voting Via DLs
Finextra
CSD Working Group on DLT, an association of Central Securities Depositories working on developing reference products using DLT, has released product requirements for the proxy voting business case.
Singapore Opens Up On DLT Trials
Finextra
First unveiled in November, Project Ubin saw the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) team up with a consortium of banks and R3 to see how DLT can be used for the clearing and settlement of payments and securities, specifically the use of a tokenised form the Singapore dollar on a distributed ledger.
The work built on a similar Bank of Canada-led and R3-backed effort, called Project Jasper, which used a digital currency to enable interbank payments.
In a report on the Singapore effort, Deloitte says that the first six week phase of Ubin was a success, building a "working interbank transfer prototype on a private ethereum network".
Scientists Claim to Have Invented The World's First Quantum-Proof Blockchain
Peter Dockrill - Science Alert
Researchers in Russia say they've developed and tested the world's first blockchain that won't be vulnerable to encryption-breaking attacks from future quantum computers.
Regulation
Tax Authorities In Pakistan Zero In At Bitcoin Traders
The Cointelegraph
While Asian countries like Japan, China and South Korea have been in the news for people taking a fancy to Bitcoin, adoption in Pakistan has been low key.
The first Bitcoin exchange in Pakistan, Urdubit, was established in 2014. There is tremendous potential for Bitcoin in Pakistan, with the country receiving remittances of $20 bln every year. Pakistan also has a vibrant freelance economy, with estimated revenue of $1 bln.
Wider adoption of Bitcoin can bring efficiencies in both remittances and payment for online freelancing.
Analysis
Bitcoin, Stocks and the Fear of Missing Out
Ben Carlson - Bloomberg
Seeing gains on top of gains increases investor confidence that those gains will last.
Bitcoin's Rapid Rise Gives Reason To Question All The Hype
Lily Katz - AFR
Bitcoin's astronomical rally has cryptocurrency bulls feeling vindicated. "Not so fast!," sceptics say.
Opinion
Cryptocurrency Might be a Path to Authoritarianism
Ian Bogost - The Atlantic
“Extreme libertarians built blockchain to decentralize government and corporate power. It could consolidate their control instead.
Read more by Soren K.Group
