SEC Delays Wilshire Phoenix Bitcoin ETF Ruling + 11 More Crypto News
Crypto Briefs is your daily bite-sized digest of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related news – keeping you up-to-date with under the radar crypto news from around the world.
Regulation news
- American regulator the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) says it has pushed back its decision on whether or not to green-light Wilshire Phoenix’s proposed Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) offering. The SEC would have to change its rules to allow the ETF on the New York Stock Exchange’s NYSE Arca platform. Wilshire Phoenix has been waiting for the SEC to make its mind up since May, with Bitwise Asset Management also waiting to hear if its Bitcoin ETF will be approved.
- The head of the FBI has traveled to South Korea to meet the country’s prosecutor general and police chief – with cryptocurrencies on the agenda. Per Herald Corp, the FBI has previously collaborated with South Korean authorities to nix multi-million dollar cryptocurrency-related scams, and the parties say they will continue to work together on a number of matters.
- On Sept. 19, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation calling for the financial crimes regulator to study its use of “innovative technologies” — including blockchain, per Coindesk. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.
Exchanges news
- Japanese exchange bitFlyer says its American and European branches will list a range of new tokens. Per a press release, bitFlyer USA now lists Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic (ETC) and Litecoin, while bitFlyer‘s European exchange will buy and sell all three of the aforementioned tokens, in addition to Lisk and Monacoin.
- Cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex has won a motion in the appellate division of the New York Supreme Court, which means it won’t have to turn over documents pertaining to its use of the cryptocurrency Tether until a future date, if at all, Forbes reported.
- DeversiFi, a high-speed decentralized crypto exchange, said it “is completely overhauling the world’s first decentralized exchange governance token, Nectar (NEC)” which will give their traders “more influence and higher stake in [the] exchange.” Moreover, they aim to launch a Decentralized Autonomous Organization, (DAO), funded with approximately USD 3.5 million worth of ETH derived from Ethfinex exchange fees over the past 18 months. “By giving NEC real utility in the form of huge buy-backs and trading fee discounts, we hope that NEC holders will use the DAO to fuel the growth of the DeversiFi exchange. However it will be completely up to NEC holders what they do with the USD 3.5 million of ETH under their control,” according to Will Harborne, Founder and CEO of DeversiFi.
Crypto pay news
- RFID-powered crypto pay is coming to Venezuela, per a report from Bitcoin.com.mx. The media outlet quotes a Central University of Venezuela professor as stating that businesses in the country will soon be able to use Point-of-Sale devices that are compatible with smart cards, ending reliance on QR codes and smartphones for people wishing to pay in cryptocurrencies. The professor says the RFID solution allows merchants to confirm transactions in around seven seconds.
Blockchain news
- Some of South Korea’s largest companies will outline their blockchain plans at an event to be held in Seoul beginning on Friday this week. Fn News reports that electronics giants Samsung and LG will be joined at the conference by telecoms companies SK and KT – as well as international players such as Rakuten and Amazon Web Services.
Investment news
- Security token platform Securitize said it has secured a USD 14 million strategic fundraise with backers that include three of the world’s largest banks – Banco Santander through its venture capital arm (Santander InnoVentures), MUFG via its wholly-owned corporate venture capital subsidiary (MUFG Innovation Partners), and Nomura Holdings. The company plans to use the fresh capital to further develop its technology platform.
- Knøx, Canada based digital asset protection startup that targets asset managers, liquidity providers, and exchanges, has raised an USD 8.25 million seed round and is launching a digital asset custody service for institutions and fiduciaries, Betakit reported. The funding round was led by Initialized Capital, which was Coinbase’s first investor, with participation from iNovia and Fidelity.
- Bitfinex Token Sales, a token sale platform operated by Bitfinex, said that the upcoming Kimcoin token sale is a “good example” how the platform aims to increase a variety of tokens they’re offering. “K.im want to sell tokens to develop and grow but they are not yet ready to list, making an IEO inappropriate. However, we want to offer Bitfinex users the opportunity to participate in the K.im token sale and we are able to do so by taking this flexible approach,” the exchange explained. K.im is a digital content sales platform started by Kim Dotcom, who allegedly made millions by allowing illegal file-sharing to run rampant on now-defunct site Megaupload.
Crypto business news
- Major crypto company Circle said they’ve decided to “pause Circle Research activity for the time being as we decide on a future direction for the program.” In one of their recent reports, the research arm of Circle said that decentralized lending services may now finally be about to break into the mainstream, while crypto staking is another income-generating practice that is gaining traction in the space.
