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March 8, 2019 LEADER ARRESTED: A “top leader” in the alleged OneCoin pyramid scheme, Konstantin Ignatov, has been arrested by U.S. authorities, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced Friday. Ignatov is being charged with wire fraud for his role with OneCoin. The U.S. Attorney, Geoffrey Berman, said Ignatov, his sister Ruja Ignatov and another defendant, Mark Scott, “created a multibillion-dollar ‘cryptocurrency’ company based completely on lies.” Full Story BLOCK SPIKE: The number of blocks issued daily on ethereum jumped by more than 1,500 within a 24-hour period after the network’s recent Constantinople upgrade.The surge is a direct result of the temporary disabling of a piece of code in the software known as the “difficulty bomb.” The code has been gradually increasing the mining difficulty of the ethereum network and slowing block creation since last December. Full Story WHEN ETHER? Fidelity Digital Asset president Tom Jessop says the new crypto trading and custody division of the financial services provider has developed an internal framework for adding new cryptocurrencies, and the company plans to add assets based on client demand. While this demand has so far correlated with market cap size, Fidelity may take some time to list other cryptos like ethereum, due to upgrades planned for its network, while ethereum classic will require a risk assessment after a 51 percent attack earlier this year, he said. Full Story  TRIGGER TRADES: Mobile finance app Revolut has launched a new feature akin to those offered on more pro-level exchanges allowing users to “auto-exchange” cash and cryptocurrencies. The firm said that its over 4 million users can now set up automatic trades for, say, U.S. dollars to bitcoin or ether to XRP, based on a pre-set target rate. “If the rate never hits your target, no currencies will be exchanged,” the firm said. Full Story​ REVVING UP: Gaming crypto Enjincoin (ENJ) is up 78 percent after the project said it has an official partnership with Samsung Electronics, likely relating to the tech giant’s new flagship phone, the Galaxy S10. The news sparked a frenzy of investor interest, causing ENJ to almost double in value Friday from around $0.10 to $0.19 before dropping back slightly. Technical indicators are showing ENJ is now overextended on all time frames, so a correction may be in order before more upside can be achieved. Full Story​ BEST OF THE BEST THE NEXT WEB: South Korea will launch a new task force to tackle cryptocurrency fraud and fintech crimes, according to TNW. The initiative aims to address an 800 percent surge in crypto-related crime seen in the nation over the last few years. The task force will be able to track accounts suspected to hold illicit funds, as well as share information with other government agencies to recover funds and take legal action against bad actors. THE REST RTT NEWS: Commerzbank and Deutsche Börse have successfully carried out a real-world repo transaction using blockchain tech. Made as part of a proof-of-concept trial to examine blockchain’s potential in securities settlement, RTT News reports, the transaction was based on a public note worth 10 million euros. FORBES: Could ether outperform bitcoin if the bull market returns? Possibly, according to a new report cited in Forbes. Delphi Digital’s report looks at ether’s volatility, which has been significantly higher than that of bitcoin over the last six months. The piece says that it’s hard to find an altcoin that “will not simply follow the movements of the bitcoin price in a more volatile manner.” WHO WON #CRYPTOTWITTER Copyright © 2019 CoinDesk. All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 250 Park Avenue South New York, NY, 10003, US Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list