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US FIRST: Any U.S. resident with a government-issued I.D. can now trade futures contracts for real bitcoin. Revealed exclusively to CoinDesk, LedgerX has officially launched the first physically settled bitcoin futures contracts in the U.S., beating the Intercontinental Exchange’s Bakkt and TD Ameritrade-backed ErisX to the punch. Perhaps more importantly, LedgerX is offering the new product to both institutional and retail investors, allowing anyone who can pass know-your-customer processes to trade the contracts, not just institutional clients with millions in assets. Full story
CRYPTO RULES: The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has finalized its guidance on crypto assets, clarifying which tokens fall under its jurisdiction. True cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether, which the FCA classes “exchange tokens,” are not regulated, and neither are utility coins (mostly), but security tokens fall under the category of a “specified investment” and, in turn, the FCA’s remit. Some stablecoins could be classed as e-money and therefore be regulated, but the FCA said “definitive judgements can only be made on a case-by-case basis.” Full story
MINER CRIME? The Russian Federal Customs Service has opened a criminal investigation into an importer of bitcoin mining units for potential underpayment of customs fees. The Far-East Trading and Industrial Company, or DTPK, may have failed to pay about $1.2 million on 6,012 Bitmain-manufactured ASIC miners imported from August 2017 to February 2018, according to a search warrant obtained by CoinDesk. DTPK, based in Moscow, showed customs officers falsified documents with the incorrect prices for the equipment, which included Bitmain’s Antminer S9-13.5, L3+ and D3 models, along with power units, says the search warrant. Full story
KRAKEN'S CATCH: Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has just acquired a firm offering a way for institutional investors such as hedge funds and asset managers to better manage their portfolios. The exchange announced Tuesday that it has bought Interchange, an accounting, reconciliation and reporting service provider that it says offers an “institutional-grade” service. Interchange notably boasts as co-founders Dan Held, formerly director of product at wallet (and now crypto exchange) provider Blockchain and co-founder of ZeroBlock, and Clark Moody, founder of Blockchain acquired bitcoin trading platform RTBTC. Full story
ANOTHER EXIT: Coinbase’s vice president of engineering Tim Wagner is leaving the crypto exchange after slightly over a year on the job. Other high-ranking engineering staffers are leaving too, CoinDesk has learned. Wagner is the latest example of a senior member of the team departing the company in recent months. In May, Coinbase lost both CTO Srinivasan and COO Asiff Hirji. A recent report by The Information exposed tensions between the two men that caused turmoil in the company’s executive ranks. Full story |
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| TIDE TURNED? Bitcoin is looking north today, with intraday charts reporting an end of the pullback from recent highs above $13,000. The price breakout, however, is not backed by a rise in trading volumes, so BTC may struggle to find acceptance above $10,000 in the next 24 hours. A strong rejection would validate the bearish lower-highs setup and invite stronger selling pressure. Full story |
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| | CHESS MOVES: The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has completed about 30-40 percent of development of its DLT-based replacement for the ageing CHESS settlement system, ZDNet reports. Speaking at an event, ASX general manager of engineering and architecture David Campbell said that once the platform is live, expected in 2021, he expects the real innovation to happen. He said: "Post go-live, we see investment by our customers, intermediaries, and technology providers into new solutions sitting on top of our DLT platform, additional products and asset classes.” |
WHO WON #CRYPTOTWITTER
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