Weekly Market Snapshot - May 13,2019

Blockchain.News - Market Update - May 13,2019

Here is what you need to know about the crypto market last week!

Weekly Snapshot of Top Crypto

Coin of the Week

Our Coin of the Week is Bitcoin of course! As of 13 May, BTC is priced at $7189.35 with 21.25% weekly increase! Fidelity will launch crypto trading desks in a few weeks and we expect massive institutional capital coming to crypto space. Bull market is coming?

Top News to Watch

Exclusive: Why Crypto Exchanges Pursue IEO over STO?

Under the falling ICO market in 2018, security token offerings (STO) are considered as the future of ICO. However, it is notable that projects tend to fundraise via initial exchange offerings (IEO) instead in 2019. Garrett Jin, CEO of BitForex, shares to us why most crypto exchanges pursue IEO over STO in 2019. He also evaluated the competitiveness of Hong Kong and Singapore in fostering crypto exchange business!

Blockchain a Top 5 Strategy for 73% Chinese Firms, Says Deloitte

73% of Chinese firms chose blockchain as a top-five strategic priority, compared to 56% of the United States. This could be due to the Chinese government strong promotion on blockchain technology in which a whitepaper published by Ministry of Industry and Information Technology suggested that blockchain would have its own long-term application such as copyright protection and product traceability in the “real economy”.

What Can We Learn from the Binance Hacking Incident?

One of the largest crypto exchanges in trading volume, Binance, discovered “a large scale security breach” on May 7 at 17:15:24 (UTC), where 7000 Bitcoin (BTC) are stolen by hackers in one single transaction.

Exclusive: Technical VS Fundamental Analysis for Crypto Valuation?

In traditional stock investment, traders perform technical analysis to carry out price forecasts or fundamental analysis to reveal the intrinsic value of the stock. However, which methods should be used for crypto valuation? This is the question most crypto traders care about. We had the opportunity to speak with Clemen Chiang of Spiking, which Clemen revealed his answers in this heated debate!

Exclusive: Why BitForex Keeps Listing Bitcoin SV?

While some crypto exchanges like Binance decided to delist Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV), BitForex decided to keep the BSV listing! In Part 2 of our interview, Garrett revealed the rationale of such decision and he also revealed BitForex’s plan in providing custodian solutions!

Facebook Relaxes Blockchain and Crypto Ads

The social media giant Facebook now allows advertisement that “related to blockchain technology, industry news, education or events related to cryptocurrency.”, which these ads no longer need prior written approval to advertise on Facebook, according to the announcement published on its website.

What Are the 4 Key EU Blockchain Initiatives that You Should Know? (Part 1)

The EU has been active in fostering blockchain technology in 2019. Here are the 4 key blockchain initiatives in EU that you should know!

How to Prepare For the Future 10 Pillars of Token Economy?

Around 200 financial professionals and crypto pioneers gathered in “FutureX – Ten Pillars of the Token Economy” on 8 May 2019 held in St Regis Hotel, Hong Kong. The 10 Pillars of Token Economy are audit, developers, funds, institutions, insurance, legal, media, regulations, retail and token champion.

What Are the 4 Key EU Blockchain Initiatives that You Should Know? (Part 2)

Following Part 1 of our analysis, we continue on the key blockchain initiatives by the EU, namely the European Blockchain Observatory and Forum and the European Blockchain Partnership (EBP).

Starbucks Tracks Coffee Production with Microsoft's Azure Blockchain

Starbucks announced the partnership with Microsoft to track the coffee production using Azure’s blockchain service, GeekWire reported on 6 May. The idea behind this project is to connect consumers with the coffee farmers. While farmers leverage new business opportunities, the consumers track the entire process of their coffee using the Starbucks mobile app.

FinCEN: DApps for Money Transmission are Subject to BSA

Decentralized Applications (DApps) now are subject to regulation that related to money transmission according to the new guidance released by the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) on May 9.

Receive Bitcoin Payments? Just a Few Taps on Apple Smartwatch Will Do

The lightning network wallet provider Bluewallet launched a new app for Apple Watches that allows users to make transaction on Bitcoin using the lightning technology according to its post published on Twitter.

Facebook Coin - What We Know So Far

Having noticed a significant dissonance between the general media hype for Facebook Coin (FBC), and our own take on the project, we thought it might be worthwhile to round up everything we know about Facebook Coin thus far.

Fidelity Expands its "Crypto Map" with Bitcoin Trading Platform

Fidelity Investment will begin to launch the cryptocurrency trading platform within a few weeks, according to Bloomberg on 6 May. Fidelity started its “Crypto Map” with its subsidiary Fidelity Digital Assets launched in October last year. The crypto custody service was then launched in Q1 2019.

Exclusive: 3 Regulatory Challenges to Detect Crypto Insider Trading

Apart from the interesting answer in crypto valuation, Clemen also shared with us the key challenges for regulators in detecting insider trading for cryptocurrencies. He also revealed that 2019 is the year of IEO!

Crypto Mom: US SEC Enforcement Is Dragging Crypto Development

Dubbed as “Crypto Mom”, the Commissioner of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Hester M. Pierce expressed her concern over the hinderance of SEC may have on the cryptocurrency industry. Pierce spoke at the Securities Enforcement Forum, East Palo Alto, California in 9 May.

Week Ahead

Consensus 2019
Date: 13 - 15 May
Venue: Hilton Hotel, Midtown, New York
Theme: Hosted by Coindesk, Consensus is the annual blockchain and cryptocurrency event that gather developer, founder, investor from the blockchain and crypto space to engage and discuss about the major trend in the industry. Previous speakers included FedEx’s Fred Smith, Fidelity’s Abigail Johnson, Square’s Jack Dorsey, Chairman of the US Securities Exchange Commission – Jay Clayton, Whitfiled Diffie – co-creator of public-key cryptography, David Chaum – investor of the first digital cash etc.