Weekly Crypto Market Update

MARKET MOMENTUM

Digital assets recorded a very steady week where the total market cap was oscillating in a tight 2% range around the $140bn tag. While some of the altcoins have experienced interesting performances, the larger assets remain conservative. Market leader Bitcoin has been sitting at a $4,000 tag since last Monday, nearing a long-term resistance which may indicate a big move ahead. The rest of the 5 largest assets, ETH, XRP, LTC and EOS are slightly down (1% - 2.6%), waiting for BTC. Similarly, volume and market dominance of BTC has not moved at all. Last week's best performers among the top-30 digital assets were Tezos (35.2%), Cardano (19.6%) and Ontology (13.8%).

CRYPTO MARKET NEWS

2gether Launching Visa Debit Card That Allows Users to Spend Digital Assets
Madrid-based banking start-up 2gether is launching a pre-paid Visa card that allows customers in 19 EU nations to spend 7 digital assets with no fees.

IBM Signs 6 Banks to Issue Stablecoins on Stellar Blockchain
6 banks have signed a LOI to issue Stablecoins on IBM's World Wire network, which is built on the Stellar blockchain, in order to move remittances or foreign exchange across borders more cheaply and quickly.

Bithumb to Reduce Staff by up to 50%
South Korea-based crypto exchange Bithumb will lay off 50% of its current 310 employees, according to CoinDesk.

Bitwise Reports 95% Fake Volume on Unregulated Exchanges
In preparation for an ETF application, US-based Bitwise Asset Management has published an extensive study of 80 crypto exchanges, which found that almost 95% of all unregulated exchanges report fake volume.

Binance is Firing Up for Margin Trading
According to a Reddit analyst, who has looked into the Binance rest API, documents point out the possibility of the Binance launch of margin trading on the 482 trading pairs in addition to spot-only trading.

SBI Group Launches Mining Chips Manufacturing Subsidiary
Japanese financial firm SBI Group has announced the establishment of a new mining chip manufacturing subsidiary. SBI Mining Chip Co. will be also responsible for the development of mining systems.

Bitmain to Deploy $80 Million Worth of Bitcoin Miners
Abundance of hydroelectric power is drawing Bitmain, the crypto mining company, to China, where its plans to place 200,000 units worth $80m.

Tezos CMARKET MOMENTUMompletes Its First Blockchain Vote
The blockchain Governance platform has completed its historic first round of voting for upcoming protocol changes. Proof-of-work Athens A which proposes higher gas limits and lower roll size, has won with almost 26,000 votes, although half of the community have not participated.

Last Week in Funding
Software company Tendermint raised $9m in round led by Paradigm; Blockchain startup Bizon Tralis raised $5.25m in Seed from Galaxy Digital and others; Crypto start-up Donut raised $1.8m in Seed round; Crypto hedge fund Numerai raised $11m in secondary token sale from Placeholder VC, Paradigm and others

SECURITY TOKEN NEWS

Custody Firm BitGo Adds Support for Blockchain Capital Token
US-based digital assets custody firm BitGo, has added support for Blockchain Capital token BCAP.

Polymath Partners with SeriesOne to Launch Digital Securities Ecosystem
Token issuance platform Polymath is joining forces with crowdfunding platform SeriesOne to launch a security token ecosystem, where token issuers will be able to create, manage and trade security tokens.

Securitize, OpenFinance, Cuttone & Co. and Dilendorf Khurdayan Webinar
Some of the notable players in the digital securities space have decided to sit down, talk and share their current views on the ecosystem and briefly described the process of issuing digital security in a webinar.

REGULATORY NEWS

Canadian Regulators Propose Ban on Crypto Margin and Short Trading
The Canadian Securities Administration has proposed a temporary ban on margin trading and short selling of any digital asset, to safeguard investors from potential risks.

SEC Asks for Feedback on Digital Assets and Custody
The US SEC is seeking industry inputs regarding the application of the Custody Rule to digital assets, specifically whether any revisions to the rule might be necessary.

Japan to Tighten Digital Asset Margin Trading
Japan will be capping the limits for margin trading to max 2-to-4 times the initial deposit from 2020, and also requires any venue offering margin trading to register with the government.

Former CFTC Chairman Calls on Congress to Strengthen Crypto Regulation
Former CFTC Chairman Timothy Massad, who led the agency from 2014 – 2017, has outlined a path forward for crypto regulations in his report, urging Congress to act to bring authority over the market under one house - preferably the SEC.