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OPEN REGULATOR: The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is willing to approve an ether futures contract – provided it ticks all the right boxes, a senior official told CoinDesk. The regulator, which oversees derivatives markets in the U.S., allowed bitcoin futures markets to launch back in 2017. Now, “I think we can get comfortable with an ether derivative being under our jurisdiction,” said the person, who did not want to be identified. Full Story
APPLE APP: You can now receive bitcoin lightning payments with a few taps of an Apple smartwatch. Launched Sunday by Bluewallet, a popular lightning wallet, the new Apple Watch app allows users to receive bitcoin over the experimental payments network. Transactors can use the app to generate a QR code that someone else can then scan with their smartphone to send over a payment. Full Story
BITFINEX WOES: The New York Attorney General’s office has told a local court that it believes cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex should be made to turn over documents outlining a nearly $900 million line of credit offered by stablecoin issuer Tether. The filing is the latest move in an ongoing legal battle between the NYAG and iFinex, the parent company of both Bitfinex and Tether, that began earlier this April. For its part, Bitfinex has moved to cancel the preliminary injunction secured by the NYAG’s office. Cryptocurrency data provider CoinMarketCap has also just excluded bitcoin/U.S. dollar prices provided by Bitfinex from its weighted average calculation. Full stories here, here and here
SIX COIN: Switzerland’s top stock exchange SIX could issue a token on its upcoming digital exchange, according to its head of securities and exchanges. Thomas Zeeb told Finews that the SIX Digital Exchange would also launch an “initial digital offering” (IDO) service in 2020. That would follow a trial expected to be completed late this summer. By 2021, he expects the platform to be tokenizing traditional securities such as equities, fixed income and funds. “Maybe the token will eventually replace the share one day,” Zeeb said. Full Story |
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| DIP RISK: Bitcoin faces a price pullback to $5,300 having failed to close above the June 2018 bottom of $5,780 for three days in a row. The case for a drop would strengthen if gold picks up a bid in response to President Trump's re-escalation of trade tensions with China and the resulting flight to safety, as the inverse relationship between BTC and gold has recently been its strongest in over 12 months. Full Story |
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BEST OF THE BEST
CRYPTO BUFFETED: Berkshire Hathaway chief Warren Buffett, whose dislike of bitcoin is only rivaled by JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon, has again hit out at the number one cryptocurrency. According to CNBC, Buffet said before his firm’s annual meeting that bitcoin is a “gambling device” and it’s connected with frauds. He further offered the critique that it’s a poor investment as it “doesn’t do anything.” Still, he’s keener on blockchain, saying the tech’s “very big, but it didn’t need bitcoin.”
THE REST
MATURE INVESTORS: Older South Koreans are the most keen crypto investors, according to a new survey from the Korea Financial Investors Protection Foundation. Reported by The Korea Herald, the research found investors in their 50s invested $10,400 each on average. People in their 40s were next most enthusiastic, with investments of around $6,890, while those in their 30s invested just over $5,000. Twenty-somethings came in last, with average investments of $3,400.
CRIME FEARS: Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz has said cryptocurrencies should be “shut down.” Again in a piece from CNBC, Stiglitz said that he has concerns over the pseudonymous nature of cryptocurrencies that means they are popular with criminals. Cryptos, he said, move transactions from a “transparent platform onto a dark platform.” An official electronic payments system, though, could usher in greater efficiencies and a “better regulated economy.”
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WHO WON #CRYPTOTWITTER  |
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Ether futures?