Analysis

Michael J. Casey is the chairman of CoinDesk’s advisory board and a senior advisor for blockchain research at MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative. This essay is presented as a part of No Closing Bell, a series leading up to Invest: Asia 2019 focused on how the Asian crypto markets are interacting with and impacting global investors.

The New York Supreme Court ruled that the matter between the state’s Attorney General and Bitfinex parent company iFinex can continue. The bitcoin price rose 5 percent in response. | Source: Shutterstock; Edited by CCN By CCN Markets: The bitcoin price moved higher on new legal developments in the ongoing wranglings involving Bitfinex and Tether.

INX Limited, a crypto exchange startup, plans to raise up to $129.5 million through an IPO, in the first security token sale registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). No, that’s not a typo for “ICO,” the initial coin offerings that tested the limits of securities law during the go-go days of 2017. IPO

Bitcoin is not a hedge for anything because its volatility actually adds risk to every single scenario a portfolio manager can create. | Source: Shutterstock By CCN Markets: As the bitcoin skeptic here at CCN, my job is to provide counter-arguments to the bitcoin bulls. Today I’m going to debunk the claim that bitcoin is a

Almost 200 CEOs have signed a statement to redefine a corporation’s purpose. Is it just PR, or are they undermining their fiduciary duty? | Source: Shutterstock By CCN Markets: A group of 181 CEOs of publicly held companies trading in the stock market has proclaimed their intent to put the wealth-destroying values of anti-capitalists ahead

Bitfinex and Tether must continue turning documents about an alleged $850 million cover up over to the New York Attorney General (NYAG), a judge ruled Monday. New York Supreme Court Judge Joel M. Cohen ruled that the crypto exchange and stablecoin issuer would have to have to continue turning over documents about a loan the

S&P 500 stock Estee Lauder is pricey, but there may be another way for investors to play retail and capitalize on strong consumers. | Source: Shutterstock By CCN Markets: The S&P 500 is comprised of nearly a dozen sectors, all of which traded in the green today. Leading the charge is skincare stock Estee Lauder,

In part two of his ‘Satoshi reveal’, self-proclaimed Bitcoin creator Bilal Khalid unveils where all his bitcoins are and much, much more. | Source: (i) Satoshinrh.com (ii) Shutterstock; Edited by CCN By CCN Markets: The second part of the Satoshi reveal by the (new) self-proclaimed inventor of Bitcoin proved to be even more outrageous than the

Blockchain-based customer relations manager (CRM) Cere Network just closed a $3.5 million seed round. Backed by Binance Labs, Neo Global Capital, and Arrington XRP Capital, among multiple others, Cere Network opened a New York office and will announce an innovation lab in Berlin during Berlin Blockchain Week. Cere Network provides a blockchain service for integrating

Israel’s Fintech regulator is rearranging its licensing regime to encourage competition in the field. The Israeli Capital Market Authority is looking to change how fintech licenses are distributed in Israel according to a Monday announcement reported by Israeli daily newspaper Calcalist. Some 2,000 fintech and blockchain-businesses are currently seeking licenses from the state regulator. Due

The Dow sprang 275 points because investors are salivating over a new round of easy ECB stimulus to juice the economy. | Source: Johannes EISELE / AFP By CCN Markets: The Dow and broader U.S. stock market extended their relief rally into the new trading week, as plunging consumer prices in the Eurozone bolstered expectations

The World Bank has issued a second round of its landmark blockchain bonds. The international financial institution raised another $50 million AUD ($33.8 million U.S.) by selling the “blockchain-operated debt instrument” (bond-i), according to Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CommBank), which managed the sale jointly with RBC Capital Markets and TD Securities. Both new and existing investors

A luxury condominium complex in Orlando, Florida, is the latest firm to partner with BitPay to provide bitcoin payment processing for real estate transactions. Announced August 6, the Grove Resort & Water Park will accept bitcoin for purchases of their 878 resort-style condo residences. Yet, the relatively small update hides a larger story – BitPay

The president might have had a better chance of getting what he wants for the economy by using reverse psychology on the Fed. | Source: (i) REUTERS / Jonathan Ernst (ii) Shutterstock; Edited by CCN By CCN Markets: In case there was any doubt, President Trump has made it clear what he believes it will

Bank of America is seeking to patent a “partitioned” security system for digital currency wallets that gives different users different levels of access to the stored funds. The second-largest U.S. bank, based in Charlotte, N.C., filed an application entitled “Multi-Tiered Digital Wallet Security” with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in February 2018. The

Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin says improving blockchain scalability could slash costs “by over 100” for every crypto transaction. | Source: Abra/YouTube By CCN Markets: Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin says improving scalability could slash crypto transaction costs by a factor of “over 100.” That’s crucial, considering that blockchain has become so much “bigger than bitcoin.” Moreover, Buterin

Cryptocurrency custodian BitGo has announced the addition of Xapo‘s Pete Najarian to its executive team. Joining as the chief revenue officer, Najarian is tasked with global sales strategy. Najarian was senior vice president of institutions at bitcoin service provider Xapo before joining BitGo. Coinbase Custody announced its acquisition of Xapo’s institutional business last week. Speaking

The stock market is on the verge of a major recovery. Here’s why Wall Street has suddenly turned bullish despite numerous macro threats. | Source: Shutterstock By CCN Markets: Following the U.S. stock market’s wildest week of the year, the Dow Jones and other major indices appear poised to start the week off with a

View Bitcoin has risen by $1,000 since Friday’s announcement by Bakkt exchange that it will be launching physically-settled bitcoin futures on Sept. 23. The price rise has neutralized the bearish setup on the intraday charts seen last week. The gains could be extended further to $11,000, as the hourly chart is reporting a bullish continuation

Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten has launched its own exchange for crypto spot trading. Announced Monday, Rakuten Wallet has gone live for trading in bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH) and bitcoin cash (BCH) against the Japanese yen via an Android mobile app. An iOS app is due to be released in the future, though no set timeline was

Donald Trump and White House officials played down fears of a recession on Sunday, giving a much-needed boost to the stock market. Source: AP Photo/Evan Vucci By CCN Markets: Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures rocketed 200 points in early trading Monday as President Donald Trump sought to allay fears of a recession. Speaking to

Apex Legends became one of the world’s most-played videogames upon its release this year | Source: Shutterstock By CCN Markets: Respawn Entertainment, the company responsible for Apex Legends just entered a flame war with the worst possible opponent: gamers. Today, Respawn published an open letter apologizing for a few store problems related to the new

The Takeaway: Telegram’s long-awaited blockchain, Telegram Open Network, is said to be scheduled to launch Oct. 31, but the yet-to-be-issued gram tokens are already trading in an unauthorized secondary market. Telegram has yet to publicly or formally acknowledge the project, but investors in last year’s $1.7 billion token offering, widely publicized in the press, are

CGEX, a Malta-based exchange opened by South Korea’s Coinone less than a year ago, is shutting down. The exchange posted an announcement last week saying that all services would be terminated on Sept. 18 at 2:50 UTC. After that date, customers will no longer be able to log in, and deposits and withdrawals will no longer be

Spanish megabank Santander Group is expanding its use of Ripple’s technology. The bank is building a “payment corridor” that would let customers in Latin America send money to the U.S. instantly for free via One Pay FX, a mobile app that uses Ripple’s xCurrent software, officials told CoinDesk. Currently, only customers in the U.K. and

Trump’s tweets on China may set the stage for a strong rally in the stock market this week as S&P 500 futures open higher. | Source: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst By CCN Markets: In response to the struggling stock market, Donald Trump’s Twitter feed was awash with positive talk about the trade war and progress with China

Elon Musk is unconcerned about the asteroid that will pass close to Earth in 2029, but SpaceX is working to come up with a solution anyway. | Source: (i) REUTERS/Mike Blake (ii) YouTube/PowerfulJRE; Edited by CCN By CCN Markets: While the mainstream media works itself into a frenzy about the impending “God of Chaos” asteroid

The “big reveal” by the latest self-proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto was an epic failure that overpromised and underdelivered. | Source: Shutterstock By CCN Markets: The latest self-proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto overpromised and underdelivered in Part 1 of his “big reveal” — probably to the surprise of no one in crypto. In a meandering blog post, the self-proclaimed

BioWare suffered another blow with the departure of its next big title’s lead producer, Fernando Melo. Maybe they should part ways with EA. | Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision for Microsoft/AP Images By CCN Markets: Fernando Melo, the lead producer on the upcoming Dragon Age title, is leaving BioWare. This is especially shocking as it’s happening

Source: Mark RALSTON / AFP (i), Shutterstock (ii). Image Edited by CCN. By CCN Markets: Elon Musk relaunched Tesla’s residential solar-power service and claimed that it could save you about $500 a year. Indeed, Musk gushed that it’s “like having a money printer on your roof.” Musk acquired SolarCity in 2016, but the business has