The Weekend That Was in Cryptocurrency & Blockchain

Industry 3 min, 12 sec READ

by Shira Lando

The weekend has come and gone and with it cryptocurrency and blockchain news. Bitrates gives you a recap of everything important that's happened

Weekend or no weekend, the wheels of crypto news keep on rolling. For those of you who decided to step outside and get some sunlight, here's everything important you might have missed. 

Industry

• Novogratz's Galaxy Digital has released its first quarterly report, reporting a net loss of over $100 million and a drop of 20% in stock value. Novogratz, in typical optimistic fashion, is not deterred by the results. 
• Medici Land Governance, an Overstock.com-owned subsidiary that uses blockchain technology to help build user-friendly and low-cost modern land administration systems, entered an agreement with the World Bank to start using blockchain technology to help ensure secure land tenure in developing communities. 
• Argo Blockchain, a cryptocurrency mining company, is the first firm of its kind to be listed on the London Stock Exchange, raising £25 million and with a total valuation of $61 million.

Regulation 

• Despite banning banks and other financial institutions from dealing with cryptocurrencies, Bank of Thailand (BoT) now allows local banks to set up subsidiaries for dealing with cryptocurrencies. According to local sources, Thai banks are now able to "issue digital tokens, provide crypto brokerage services, run crypto-related businesses, and invest in cryptocurrencies through subsidiaries".
• In a statement published on the Department of Financial Services (DFS) site, the chief of New York's financial regulatory body, Maria T. Vullo, said that the agency "fiercely opposes the Department of Treasury's endorsement of regulatory 'sandboxes' for financial technology companies", adding that

Toddlers play in sandboxes. Adults play by the rules. 

Blockchain Technology

• Mexico will run a first blockchain public tender in August to transparently assign projects and eliminate corruption in the public sector. The bidding process will be based on the Ethereum blockchain and will implement the use of smart contracts to immutably record each separate phase of the project. More here.
• Turkey announced the inauguration of the country's first academic blockchain institution, the Istanbul Blockchain and Innovation Center (BlockchainIST Center) at Bahçeşehir University (BAU).
• DIFC Courts (the Dubai International Finance Centre Courts) have partnered with Smart Dubai, Dubai's Silicon Oasis Authority, to launch a "Court of the Blockchain" to discover new blockchain applications for streamlining the verification of judicial processes. 

Exchanges 

• Bithumb, second most prominent cryptocurrency exchange in Korea, announced the suspension of the creation of new accounts following the lapse of its contract with NH Nonhyup Bank starting August 1. In the three days following the suspension, the exchange's trading volume has plummeted by 40%. On August 4, Bithumb announced the reopening of withdrawals and deposit services for nine altcoins. 
• In an unprecedented event for OKEx, the Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange had to liquidate a long position worth $460 million, forcing traders to forfeit around 20% of their profits to settle the disparity of 950 BTC. 

Coins and Tokens 

• Ethereum entered an agreement with Minds + Machines Group Limited, a provider of Internet Top-Level Domains. The agreement will enable Ethereum's Ethereum Name Service ("ENS") to get a top-level domain name, letting users register their addresses with a .luxe extension. The .luxe name can thus serve as the public identifier for an individual's Ethereum asset. 

Hacks and Frauds

• The infamous Coinhive miner has been abused once again, this time by a cryptojacker who targeted ISP-grade routers. The "mass exploitation" of MikroTik routers for the purpose of cryptocurrency mining was first reported by an independent malware investigator.  

Markets

• VEN suffers fall as mainnet goes live, NEO, ETH and XRP market analysis, Aug. 3.
• Ethereum Classic blasts high on Coinbase news, BTC, BCH and ETH market analysis, Aug. 4.
• In the absence of positive news, BTC, ETH and LTC continue their downslide, market analysis Aug. 5.