North America
Welcome to our weekly roundup of all important blockchain and cryptocurrency news from around the world. Follow the latest developments in the cryptocurrency space continent by continent, country by country.
USA
US ranked at top of favorable countries for ICOs despite regulatory unclarity: A report by Crypto Finance Conference has said that USA continues to be the top destination for cryptocurrencies and ICOs despite SEC crackdown and lack of regulatory clarity.
According to the figures presented in the report, the US has seen over 30 new crypto startups launched in the country, which is the highest in the world. Switzerland and Singapore come in second and third respectively with 15 and 11 projects respectively.
The report also singled out Russia, UK and Estonia as good locations for starting cryptocurrency projects. While the US is still the world’s most popular place for ICOs, other countries are catching up as the US is focusing on regulating the industry, particularly at state level. Arizona is leading in that front but many US states are still in a state of confusion regarding the future of ICOs and cryptocurrencies.
Congressman lobbying for crypto trading, mining ban: US Democratic Congressman from California Brad Sherman has said that cryptocurrency mining and trading should be banned across the USA in a subcommittee meeting.
Sherman used the age-old argument of the use of cryptocurrencies in tax evasion and involvement of rogue states to support this ban and believes the ban must force all US citizens to stop trading in cryptocurrencies.
Observers noted that Sherman’s biggest campaign donor was Allied Wallet, a fiat credit card processing company which stands to gain much from such a crypto ban in the future. Other members and witnesses in the subcommittee hearing mostly stated that the benefits of cryptocurrencies fat outweighed the negatives.
Impact of dollar’s inflation on Bitcoin prices revealed: Bitcoin’s price effect vis-a-vis dollar and Euro inflation is discussed in great detail in a Bitcoin News piece. Dollar and Euro are both subject to constant inflation due to ever increasing money supply from government-controlled state and reserve banks.
While Bitcoin is traded alongside all major fiat currencies in the world, it is primarily traded against USD and Euro in the trading circles. The article concludes that the USD Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Euro CPI have increased from 211 to 252 since the launch of Bitcoin and therefore, the price of Bitcoin must increased 2-3% per year according to the net increase in CPI.
This behavior is obviously impossible to see in the Bitcoin price as it is too volatile right now. If in the future, the price stabilizes, users may see the 2-4% yearly increase. There is also controversy surrounding the CPI so that makes things inaccurate as well. Inflation is likely a lot higher than the actual change in CPI figures.
Blockchain-based energy grid receives $1 million funding from US government: A new blockchain-based smart grid company Grid7 has received a USD 1 million grant from the US Department of Energy, according to latest announcements by the DoE on Monday this week.
The grant was given after Grid7, along with 95 other businesses, were qualified to pass the second stage. The grant will allow the startup to be funded for the next stage of development that will last two years.
Grid7 consists of a 3-member team and aims at developing an energy grid backed by the transparency of blockchain technology.
SEC gives Coinbase approval to buy 3 broker companies for securities trading: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given Coinbase the go-ahead to acquire three broker exchanges including Keystone Capital Corp, Digital Wealth LLC, and Venovate Marketplace Inc. The acquisition will allow Coinbase to become the first cryptocurrency trading exchange to offer securities trading in the country.
The Coinbase move is seen as crucial because SEC has declared that all cryptocurrencies except Bitcoin and Ethereum will be regulated like securities in the US. Hence, an organization trading in them would need a securities-related framework to do so.
However, it will take some time for Coinbase to offer the coins as securities as the regulatory work is still not complete and it is also seeking a broker-dealer with the SEC. Employees will also need to obtain proper licensing for this purpose.
Canada
Canada’s largest blockchain coalition has joined R3 blockchain consortium: Canada’s largest umbrella organization for credit unions, LCUC, has recently announced that it has joined blockchain database company R3.
R3 already leads a consortium of 200 financial institutions in the US and is responsible for the development and deployment of DLT in the space. Its open source system called Corda was designed for dealing with complex transactions.
LCUC wants to add competitiveness to Canadian credit industry through the development of new technologies.
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