Today's top 5 crypto news !

Hello folks !

Today's top 5 crypto news !

1. DID THE SEC JUST MAKE IT EASIER TO LAUNCH A BLOCKCHAIN BASED ETF IN THE US? :- NEW RULE WILL APPLY TO MOST ETFS

SEC Chairman Jay Clayton says the new rule would “level the playing field” and that:

The proposed rule would cover most ETFs operating today and all similar ETFs that sponsors may seek to launch in the future.

Clayton did qualify his statement by explaining the new rule wouldn’t cover all products, some would require greater scrutiny. Complex leveraged products sometimes called “exotic” ETFs, for example, would not be eligible for the new process the rule would create.

In theory, the change could open up the market for investment firms offering blockchain-based ETFs. That is, ETFs which – instead of investing in cryptocurrencies themselves – invest in companies developing, or based on, blockchain technology. Blockchain-based ETFs can be viewed by traditional investors as a less risky way to capitalize on the new blockchain economy. Read here

2. INVESTMENT INTO OVERSTOCK’S CRYPTOCURRENCY EXCHANGE CAUSES SHARE PRICE TO ROCKET :- Hong Kong-based GSR Capital is investing $160 million in Overstock’s cryptocurrency venture, the exchange tZERO. The news immediately hiked Overstock’s share price by 12.5 .percent.

Through its tZERO exchange, a majority-owned subsidiary, Overstock plans to bring “efficiency and transparency” to capital markets. tZERO’s recent joint venture agreement with BOX digital markets will create what Overstock hopes is the first regulated security token exchange.

LETTER OF INTENT

tZERO is currently running a Security Token Offering (STO) to fund the project. GSR Capital’s planned investment, in the form of a letter of intent, to purchase $160 million worth of tZERO tokens, has led to tZERO extending the private funding round of its STO to August 6th, 2018. tZERO tokens are currently available in the private sale at $10.00 per token. Read here

3. NEW COINBASE PRO PLATFORM OFF TO A ROCKY START AMID FLURRY OF CRITICISM :- Digital currency exchange Coinbase shuttered GDAX on June 29th and transitioned to Coinbase Pro. The new interface is marketed as an upgrade but has received a lot of initial criticism.

Coinbase has been very busy over the last few days. Responding to criticism about failures with their customer service, the exchange said on Thursday how they are planning to open a new office in Portland Oregon.

An official announcement from the company says the new location will be hiring for roles based on “customer support, finance, compliance, IT, and HR.” The news comes a few weeks after the exchange officially opened an office in Japan to help “accelerate the global adoption of cryptocurrency.” Read here

4. SOUTH AFRICA’S CENTRAL BANK SEES ETHEREUM BLOCKCHAIN ONLY AS ‘BACKUP’ :- The South African Reserve Bank (SARB), South Africa’s Central Bank, has concluded a multi-bank project to test bank-to-bank payment transfers using the Ethereum based platform, Quorum.

Project Khokha is a collaboration of eight South African banks including SARB, Absa, Capitec, Discovery, Investec, FirstRand, Nedbank, and Standard Bank.

70,000 TRANSACTIONS IN TWO HOURS

The project used the Ethereum blockchain platform Quorum. It aimed to replicate South Africa’s current bank-to-bank payment platform, the South African Multiple Gross Operation Settlement System (SAMOS), using the distributed ledger technology of blockchain.

After a 14-week realistic trial of the bank-to-bank clearance and settlement system, the project has been deemed a success. It replicated transactions rather than using actual transactions but proved that the 70,000 daily transactions handled by SAMOS could be completed using blockchain technology within two hours. Read here

5. ABNORMAL TETHER PRICE MOVES ON KRAKEN LEAVE ANALYSTS PUZZLED :- Massive trade orders on Kraken fail to sway the price of Tether any further than modest ones, leaving researchers and analysts puzzled.

UNLIKELY COINCIDENCES

“USD-backed” Tether (USDT) is making headlines yet again for the dubious activity surrounding the token. A report from Bloomberg today details evidence that Tether markets on the US-based Kraken exchange are possibly being manipulated by the practice of wash trading—in which market-makers fill their own orders to control the price of an asset.

The study cited data between May 1 and June 22 of 56,000 different USDT trades on Kraken and found repetitive orders of unlikely similarity. Curiously specific trades, such as one for 13,076.389 Tethers, were among the most frequently ordered amounts on Kraken during the evaluated time period, leading researchers to conclude that the orders were produced by “automated trading programs.” Read here

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