Bitcoin Cash Futures, Venture Funds, and Lawsuits: This Week in Crypto

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Make sure you check out our previous edition here, now let’s go over what happened in crypto this week. Also, make sure you subscribe for this weeks edition of The CCN Podcast on iTunes, TuneIn, Stitcher, Google Play Music, Spotify, Soundcloud, Youtube or wherever you get your podcasts.

Price Watch:

  • Bitcoin is up 0.82% to about $6,300 following a fall of 12% last week and 15% the week before that following a multi-week price drop. Analysts have cited the strong US Dollar as a reason for the recent drops. One thing more striking about bitcoin’s recent price movement is that the downward movements have been much less dramatic than the rest of the market. This could be, as Tom Lee would say, because “bitcoin is the best house in a tough neighborhood.” Others have continued to blame the SEC’s rejection of the Winklevoss’ second ETF. In any case, so far it’s clear that bitcoin has historically performed best in bear markets, surpassing gold in settlement volume despite its 70% price drop.
  • Ethereum is down 11% to $287 following a fall of 24% last week and 14% the week before. Aside from arguments that explain the whole market’s downturn (e.g. strong US Dollar, ETF rejection, etc.), analysts believe ethereum, in particular, is falling because ICOs are selling off ether. As Cinnober analyst Eric Wall said on his Twitter, “The problem when you give millions of ETH to ETH competitors is that they can unload the ETH on the spot market and short ETH on the futures market before that, so they’re not only securing the funding but also manipulating the underlying spot market in favor of their shorts”. The analyses follow news that BitMEX shorts of ETHUSD are at an all-time high. As far as movements this week, ether has been all over the place, dropping as low as $249 before rising almost 17% to the crucial $300 level. The rally correlated with the issuance of $120 million worth of Tether tokens, indicating the price increases could be due to new capital entering the market.
  • The entire cryptocurrency market cap is flat this week despite intermittent price drops by both ripple (XRP) and ethereum. The market briefly fell below $200 billion this week before returning to the $208 billion mark. Some altcoins have been doing well, like VeChain, which had its price spike nearly 50% overnight. Other coins such as Ontology and PundiX recorded similar gains.

Exchanges:

Startups:

  • Pantera Capital Seeks $175 Million For Third Venture Fund – Pantera Capital, which has pioneered investments in cryptocurrency assets, has set its goal for its third venture fund at $175 million, surpassing the $25 million raised for its second fund and the $13 million from its first one, according to TechCrunch. A new filing for a Pantera venture fund offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission notes the company has already raised $71.4 million in commitments from 90 investors.
  • Genesis Mining Offers Customers a Discount to Offset Falling Bitcoin RewardsGenesis Mining, responding to falling bitcoin mining rewards for its customers, is offering a discount to help customers withstand the current downturn, the company announced in a blog. The company’s Radiant bitcoin mining upgrade price per 1 TH/s has been lowered from $285 to $180. Operating time has been changed from open-ended to five years, incurring no termination. In addition, the daily maintenance fee has been cut to $0.14.

Enterprise:

  • Capital One Files Blockchain Authentication PatentCapital One has applied for a patent entitled “Blockchain Systems and Methods for User Authentication.” The patent was filed in Virginia, USA, with Johnathan Weimer and Ryan Fox listed as the inventors of the authentication system. The move comes as the latest blockchain use in the banking industry, with Chinese banks already implementing blockchain systems. Barclays, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan have also filed blockchain patents.
  • Demand Film Launches CryptocurrencyAustralian-based Demand Film has released a new virtual currency to reward users who promote and watch movie trailers. Demand Film is officially releasing the cryptocurrency, known as ‘Screencreds,’ before the company launches in Germany next Tuesday.
  • 39% of Enterprises Believe Blockchain is ‘Overhyped’ – According to the Deloitte 2018 global blockchain survey, almost 39% of the respondents were of the view that blockchain technology was ‘overhyped.’ The study polled over 1,000 blockchain-savvy executives at firms boasting annual revenues of $0.5 billion or more in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, and China. Nonetheless, respondents did see benefits, with 84% of those polled saying blockchain was more secure.
  • UPS Files Blockchain Routing Patent – According to documents published by the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) on Thursday, the Georgia-based UPS has applied for a patent that utilizes blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) to route packages throughout an international supply chain that may include multiple carriers. Once a package has been scanned into a packaging facility, the system will automatically select a route based on the service offerings of network-connected shipping providers. As the package travels to its destination, information about the shipment will be recorded in the blockchain ledger, allowing the system to rate whether service providers are meeting the obligations of their respective service offerings.
  • Bitcoin Investor Sues AT&T for $224 Million after Mobile-Linked Theft – According to CNBC, California resident Michael Terpin has filed a 69-page complaint against AT&T in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, in which he alleges that he lost $24 million worth of cryptocurrency after the cellular service provider negligently allowed a hacker to obtain unauthorized access to his cell phone account. In addition to the $24 million he lost in the two thefts, Terpin is seeking $200 million in punitive damages from AT&T, which is the world’s largest telecommunications provider and the second-largest mobile services provider.

Featured Image from Shutterstock

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