This week more on High and Low of DiFi Market. Along with our CEO – Taras Filatov comments..
Acquisition, Announcement, and Launch
- Japanese crypto exchange TaoTao acquired by SBI after partnership talks with Binance ended.
- BitMEX announced the allocation of new leadership roles at the 100x Group, which happens to be the holding group for HDR Global Trading Limited with immediate effect.
- BitFlyer Japan, a well-known crypto exchange, announced that its assets under custody exceeded $1.5 billion in August, the highest level in two years.
- Ledger wallet company passes the official security audit. The process was meant to ensure that customer information is handled properly by the company.
- SBI Holdings announces that it will launch a security token offering for its digital sports subsidiary and that it is contemplating STOs for additional asset classes in the future.
- The central bank of South Korea will begin testing a digital currency next year, becoming the latest global central bank to set out a timeline for exploring CBDCs.
Bitcoin
- Canadian record producer Murda Beatz, known for his collaborations with musicians such as Nicki Minaj, Travis Scott, Gucci Mane, Drake, and others, has bought an undisclosed amount of Bitcoin, he revealed to his 283,000 Twitter followers.
- Bitfinex hackers move another $30M in stolen Bitcoin from 2016. The Bitfinex hackers have moved thousands of Bitcoins in 2020.
- Bitcoin has been sent to 350 deputies of the Spanish Congress as part of an educational initiative similar to the “Crypto for Congress” campaign that sent bitcoin to all Members of U.S. Congress.
- Square Stock reaches its Highest Peak. After the company had purchased roughly $50 million in bitcoin units, the firm’s stock shares have reached an all-time high.
- Tyler Winklevoss predicts wave of institutional investment for Bitcoin following Square’s $50 Million.
Blockchain
- BMW Korea goes Blockchain. The car manufacturer plans to launch a blockchain-based reward program that will award buyers with discounts on vehicle maintenance and more.
- Aragon and Balancer develop a zero-cost DAO voting system. Fast, secure, and cost-effective off-chain governance is no longer just a pipe dream. – TF: welcome development for the future of decentralized businesses and enterprises!
Crypto
- Crypto art piece sells for $130K at Christie’s auction house. The NFT is “a symbolic expression of Satoshi’s vision, forged out of the very code that lies at the genesis of it all.”
- Tim Draper leads targeted $5M Series A for India Crypto Exchange Unocoin. If the target is achieved the trading platform says its valuation would rise to US$20 million.
- Coingecko’s data shows that the combined trading volumes of cryptocurrency exchanges went up by $155 billion between July and September, from $175.7 billion to $330.6 billion.
Ethereum
- Ethereum Miners raked in $16 Million last month as hash rate breaks new highs.
- Ethereum miners made 450K ETH from high network fees during DeFi peak. On-chain data shows Ethereum miners saw a 39% surge in revenue as fees soared during the DeFi craze.
- The director of Binance UK, Teana Baker-Taylor, is leaving the cryptocurrency exchange after a relatively brief, half-year stint in the role.
Governance
- Kyrgyzstan’s central bank suspends SWIFT to prevent capital outflow. The bank is shutting down the SWIFT network as protests rocked the country. – TF: as more financial transactions move to crypto and DeFi, governments will find it increasingly challenging to “prevent capital outflow”
- The Bank of Korea, South Korea’s central bank, is set to test digital currency for pilot transactions next year.
- The People’s Bank of China has already processed $162 million worth of digital currency in pilot transactions.
- $50 Million worth of Uniswap’s native token, UNI, is flowing into the protocol’s governance mechanism but its prices are still tanking despite an increase in collateral.
- Bank of Japan to begin, digital currency proof-of-concept in 2021. The bank released a document outlining its own specific approach to CBDCs from a Japan-centric perspective.
- Dutch central bank approves first crypto service under AMLD5 regulations. The Netherlands has imposed tight regulations related to EU anti-money laundering laws.
- US SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce says that the DeFi has “real potential” for “revolutionary change” but also challenges the current regulatory structure in several ways.
- US Government moves to regulate cryptocurrencies after the attorney general publishes the enforcement framework. – TF: I think both news above are good for the industry. Clear regulation provided it’s easy to understand and implement, will unlock new growth opportunities in the sector.
Law and Order
- UK Regulators ban crypto derivatives to retail consumers. With this, the UK-based companies will no longer be able to offer cryptocurrency derivatives products such as futures, options, and ETNs.
- BitMEX founder and ex-CTO out on $5M bail bond until a court appearance. October has been a dramatic month for the top brass of BitMEX, whose founders face multiple charges from U.S. authorities.
- US SEC charges and arrests John McAfee after $23 million in illegal Bitcoin and ICO promotion gains.
- Tech Millionaire John McAfee is having a great time in prison. John McAfee is awaiting extradition to the US from his cell in Spain.
Others
- Andrei Anisimov, whose LinkedIn profile still describes him as a “Senior Software Engineer” at Coinbase, tweeted Saturday that this had been his last week at Coinbase.
- OneCoin movie starring Kate Winslet coming soon. If the courtroom drama of OneCoin is not enough, you’ll soon see the whole thing play out on the big screen.
- Google searches for DeFi and Bitcoin fall. Google Trends data shows that interest in both DeFi and Bitcoin is waning.
