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LUXURY BLOCKCHAIN: LVMH, the luxury brand conglomerate which owns Louis Vuitton and other high-end labels, is preparing to launch a blockchain to verify the authenticity of its goods. Code-named Aura, the platform is expected to go live in May or June, sources told CoinDesk. Beyond just tracking its own brands’ goods, however, LVMH is hoping to bring its competitors onboard as well by giving each participating firm equal ownership over the platform. Full Story
LIGHTNING STANDARDS: The open-source WebLN standard, a new bitcoin standard for simplifying payments over the Lightning Network, has been adopted by two of the more popular lightning wallets (Lightning Joule and Bluewallet) and apps like Lightning Spin. WebLN decreases the number of steps a user needs to take to make a payment, a key step for a technology where it is still risky to transfer real money. Full Story
DRAGON HACKED: Singapore-based DragonEx says cryptocurrencies belonging to users and the exchange have been stolen due to a hack discovered Sunday. While the company has yet not disclosed a total value for the heist, the attackers appear to have taken as many as 20 different cryptos, including bitcoin, ether, XRP, litecoin, EOS and tether. Appealing for help in tracking and recovering the stolen cryptos, the exchange said some funds have already been found and that it is cooperating with police over the breach. Full Story
NO IPO: Crypto miner maker Bitmain’s application for an initial public offering has officially lapsed, meaning the manufacturing giant will not be going public anytime soon. An update on the HKEX website, where Bitmain filed, showed that its IPO application had been shifted to the “inactive” list, after its initial prospectus was filed Sept. 26. In a blog post, Bitmain said it intends to “restart the listing application work at an appropriate time in the future,” though it did not specify when this might happen. Full Story
STABLECOIN INTEREST: Crypto lender Cred is partnering with TrustToken to let holders of the dollar-pegged TrueUSD stablecoin generate returns on their funds. TUSD holders can now take part in CredEarn, which pays back interest for loans of assets to Cred’s platform. Holders can transfer their assets to Cred for a minimum six-month commitment, and according to TrustToken’s David Steinrueck, they can get “up to” 8 percent in return – though legally, this isn’t guaranteed. Full Story |
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| RANGE BREAKDOWN: Bitcoin fell to $3,920 yesterday as expected, confirming a downside break of the recent trading range and shifting the short-term trend to the bears. As a result, the cryptocurrency risks falling below the 30-day MA, currently flatlined at $3,883. The bulls will be hoping that the price bounces up strongly from the 30-day line, but still need a UTC close above $4,055 to revive the recent rally. Full Story |
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BEST OF THE BEST
MISSED GOAL? Last July, the Gibraltar United football club announced it would become the first professional soccer team in the Gibraltar Premier division to “pay players in cryptocurrency,” promising to include such payments in every player’s contract by the next season. However, this initiative appears to have – at the very least – stalled, reports The Next Web. Quantocoin, which players were supposed to be paid in, has yet to begin trading on any crypto exchange, and few people have downloaded the project’s app on the Google Play Store.
THE REST
REGULATORS' CHOICE: CME Group chairman and CEO Terry Duffy believes that regulators might be more willing to accept fiat-backed stablecoins for products than cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, according to an interview with Business Insider. Duffy explained that government groups are likely to look askance at cryptocurrencies with finite supply, and convincing regulators to become comfortable with products based on such assets will first require concrete use cases.
TOKEN SALE SALE: Ivan Komar, the founder of a crypto project called Sponsy, is trying to sell it on eBay for $60,000, according to the Financial Times. Asked why, he explained that "We hired a lawyer and that was a big mistake for us. Because our lawyer basically told us that we should not launch any ICO before we built a real product that might have some users." If he had to do it all over again, Komar said he would try to run the token sale first before worrying about a product. |
WHO WON #CRYPTOTWITTER  |
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Bitmain's IPO lapses