Image of The Day, 28 of November: The Next Web, Fortune, Bloomberg and Others
We're presenting "the image of the day". Bitnewstoday.com has chosen the most important news about the digital economy and virtual currencies. Only the most valuable stories from only the trusted sources. Each and every event from this list will change the world of the digital economy either way. The most important stories of this day in the most indicative quotes are below!
1. NO TRUST (The Next Web)
SEC chairman crushes hopes of Bitcoin ETFs once again
A week after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dished out massive fines and closed a prominent “decentralized” exchange, its chairman is dashing hopes for Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) one more time.
Speaking at a recent conference, chief US financial watchdog Jay Clayton said he is not convinced digital asset markets are free from manipulation, so blockchain bigwigs should probably cool their jets. After prefacing his views with disclaimers, Clayton noted the market-wide lacking of adequate market surveillance and ‘head-scratching’ security breaches as primary contributors to his distrust of cryptocurrencies, reports CNBC.
2. YOU СAN’T HIDE (Market Watch)
Treasury announces sanctions against Iran-based ransom Bitcoin swappers
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control on Wednesday sanctioned two Iran-based individuals who helped exchange bitcoin ransom payments into Iranian rial on behalf of Iranian malicious cyber actors.
Over 7,000 transactions in Bitcoin, worth millions of U.S. dollars, have processed through these two addresses — some of which involved SamSam ransomware derived bitcoin, OFAC said. OFAC said it's the first time it publicly attributed digital currency addresses to designated individuals The U.S. Department of Justice also indicted two Iranians for infecting numerous data networks with SamSam ransomware.
3. A GLIMMER OF HOPE (Fortune)
Cryptocurrencies show signs of recovery after a crash-tastic two weeks
Bitcoin’s price is showing signs of recovery, following a dismal two weeks that wiped as much as 17% off the cryptocurrency’s value. On Wednesday morning, the value of one Bitcoin was up 9% over the preceding 24 hours, reaching a value of $4,050 at the time of writing. As usual, other cryptocurrencies roughly tracked the change, with XRP up 7,7%, Ether up 10.1% and Bitcoin Cash up 5.3%.
That makes for Bitcoin’s biggest daily jump since July, but it’s worth noting that the cryptocurrency also popped following a weekend continuation of its slump that took it to a point that was 82% down from its high of almost $20,000 a year ago.
4. A CHANGE OF HEART (TechCrunch)
AWS launches a managed blockchain service
It was only a year ago that AWS CEO Andy Jassy said that he wasn’t all that interested in blockchain services. Clearly something has changed over the course of the last year because today, the company is launching two new blockchain services: Quantum Ledger Database and Amazon Managed Blockchain. As the name implies, AWS Managed Blockchain is a managed blockchain service. It supports Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric.
“This service is going to make it much easier for you to use the two most popular blockchain frameworks,” said AWS CEO Andy Jassy. He noted that companies tend to use Hyperledger Fabric when they know the number of members in their blockchain network and want robust private operations and capabilities. AWS promises that the service will scale to thousands of applications and will allow users to run millions of transactions (though the company didn’t say with what kind of latency).
5. MIKE LOSES AGAIN (Bloomberg)
Mike Novogratz’s crypto trading desk lost $136 million in nine months
The bad year for traders at Mike Novogratz’s cryptocurrency merchant bank got even worse in the third quarter — and that was before the market fell out of bed this month.
Net realized and unrealized losses on digital assets at Galaxy Digital Holdings LP’s trading operation totaled about $41 million in the third quarter, bringing losses for the first nine months of the year to $136 million, according to company filings this week. The latest hit was caused in large part by losing bets on Ether, Bitcoin and XRP, Galaxy Digital said.
6. LIVE FROM GOLDMAN SACHS (Finance Magnates)
Investment banking giants JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are the first two companies to use the service
Foreign exchange settlement service provider CLS announced on Wednesday that it has gone live with its blockchain-based payment netting solution. According to a statement released by the company, investment banking giants Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are using the service.
Called CLSNet, the blockchain solution acts as a bilateral payment netting service for more than 120 currencies. Apart from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, six companies from North America, Europe and Asia, including Bank of China (Hong Kong), have committed to joining the service, with more companies onboarding expected to use the service in the next few months.
7. HOSTILE TAKEOVER (The Daily Hodl)
Ethereum and Stellar can take over global payments networks
Ethereum and Stellar-powered blockchains have the power to change the credit card game of racking up billions of dollars in point-of-sale fees. Two percent swipe fees affect all types of sellers — from merchants peddling t-shirts at the boardwalk to gasoline at the pump to delivery food orders on demand — have ballooned into an annual $80-billion behemoth.
In an op-ed published by research group Diar, blockchain consultant Omid Malekan at Citi Ventures argues that stablecoins built on top of blockchains like Ethereum and Stellar can move much faster and more transparently than fiat dollars moving through ACH or wire payments.
Stablecoins can function 24/7, removing bottlenecks and restrictions that can slow banking payment settlements from two to five days.
8. NO HANDS! (Blokt)
Digital assets market head at Goldman Sachs, Justin Schmidt brushed off the possibilities of the bank holding crypto assets for their customers
The biggest name on Wall Street Goldman Sachs isn’t keen on holding its customers’ cryptographic assets yet. Justin Schmidt, the head of digital assets markets at Goldman Sachs said that the bank isn’t any closer to holding the users’ crypto assets for them as they do not want to stray too far off from the regulatory lines.
He noted further that he wants to see consistent research and development in this space which could lead to real products and services: “Custody is this foundational piece that is absolutely necessary. Custody is part of an overall integrated system where different parts need to work well with each other and safely with each other, and you have to be able to trust all the different parts in that chain, from buying something to transferring it to storing it in for the long-term.”
9. NEW TRICKS (The Next Web)
Botnet operators ditch DDoS attacks for cryptocurrency mining malware
Leading cybersecurity unit Kaspersky Labs has warned hackers are “reprofiling” the world’s most well-known botnets en masse in order to spread their cryptocurrency mining malware as widely as possible.
A new security bulletin shows 2018’s significant decrease in Bitcoin price and investor interest hasn’t really correlated with a collapse in cryptojacking incidents. Researchers also declared the legislative control flexed by world governments does little to curtail cryptojackers, as hidden mining malware is commonly found in countries where cryptocurrency like Bitcoin is outright illegal.
10. SHARKS IN THE WATER (The Daily Hodl)
Shark tank star and crypto innovator says bitcoin and crypto bear market could linger for months
Civic CEO and star of Shark Tank South Africa, Vinny Lingham, is offering his take on the current bear market conditions in the cryptosphere.
In a new interview with CNBC, Lingham said he sees Bitcoin hovering in the $3,000 — $5,000 range for at least three to six months, adding, “If we don’t get out of the bear market cycle in the next three to six months, that $3,000 support level could go. The issue really is the narrative. The Bitcoin narrative is that this is a store of value, and so people buying in at $15,000-$20,000 believed that and that’s proven not to be true.”