💱 Oct. 12, 2018: Russia is going to accept FATF cryptocurrency regulation, Bakkt hires ex-Coinbase employee as COO, and other news
📌 Russia joins FATF to Regulate Cryptocurrency
Russian authorities are planning to join FATF to combat the laundering of criminal proceeds and form crypto regulation in accordance with the world's common rules
Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering — FATF, an organization that has a significant influence on the cryptocurrency market, the movement of funds on exchanges and on the platforms of cryptocurrency companies, may also begin to receive information on money laundering from Russia.
According to the authorities, Russian Central Bank has already received charges regarding circulating suspicious funds. To which, they respond that the state "does not officially regulate cryptocurrency" cash flows. In fact, while using cryptocurrency exchanges here, you can only get a call from the bank to confirm the passport data, but nothing more.
Earlier, governments and organizations talked about the possibility of creating crypto regulation. But, now the country's digital development specialist has stated that “it’s not possible to create some kind of comprehensive legal framework now.” Therefore, the adoption of FATF measures is likely to be enough.
📌 Bithumb Sells $350 Million of its Stake
Bithumb, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, sold $350 million (38%) stake to BK Global Consortium
BTC Holdings Company, the owner of 76% Bithumb shares, agreed to sell 50% + 1 share of its stake to investment firm BK Global Consortium. During the associated process, the market value of the Korean exchange was estimated at $880 million, so a significant share of 38% is currently estimated at $350 million.
«BTCI has been developed in consideration of market representation and liquidity to provide investors with a single indicator that can show the trends of the cryptocurrency market. It consists of Bithumb Market Index (BTMI)…and Bithumb Altcoin Market Index (BTAI).»
As become known, Bithumb has launched its crypto index (BTCI) which is based on its two components: BTMI (all currencies traded on the exchange) and BTAI (excluding Bitcoin). Another local exchange has the same tool. The Upbit Cryptocurrency Index (UBCI) also consists of two indexes - the Upbit Market Index (UBMI) and the Upbit Altcoin Index (UBAI).
📌 Top Coinbase’s Exec. Adam White is joining Bakkt as its COO
Adam White, one of the main Coinbase's employees, now joins Bakkt, the cryptocurrency venture at ICE (NYSE owner)
Bakkt, the complex cryptocurrency trading platform, was firstly announced in early August. It belongs to the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which is the owner of one of the largest stock exchanges in the world, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Microsoft, BCG, Starbucks and other large companies also take part in the creation of Bakkt (the platform will appear in November).
Probably, Bakkt all also intend to attract "their" people from the cryptocurrency industry. This time it is Adam White, Coinbase’s head of the Institutional, which now will be the company`s COO (Chief Operating Officer).
Bloomberg also confirmed this information earlier, but there were no additional details from the company. A spokesman at Coinbase expressed that it's hard for them to see White leave:
«While we’re extremely sad to see him go, we’re also confident in that group’s ability to keep executing on the vision that he laid out to be the most trusted venue for institutional investors to trade cryptocurrencies.»
See also: Coinbase is shutting down its index-fund. Now the exchange working on the new service called “Coinbase Bundle”, which will allow users to buy something like an index of coins listed on its exchange (looking at the Circle's example).
📌 After GPUs: Semiconductor Sales See Record Grow As Blockchain and IoT Technologies Become Visible
The worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $40.16 Billion for this August (+14.9% to the same period of 2017). Based on the data, the semiconductor industry is highly boosted by blockchain and IoT
Semiconductors, which are widely used in electronics and microchips, that requires a large number of diodes and transistors, as well as other elements, are seriously dependent on the high-tech industry. But that's not all - according to Accenture, AI and blockchain are the areas with the highest demand for semiconductor components. Global semiconductor sales reached $40.1 billion in August 2018, which is 14.9% higher than in 2017 for the same month.
Moreover, according to Accenture, a large number of companies originally growth in the semiconductor industry, plan to integrate blockchain into their work for the next 3 years. It is not entirely clear how deep this integration will be, but it is worth expecting that this will also strengthen blockchain use instead of other information technologies.
This market's move has a significant difference from the previously increasing demand for GPUs. After the rapid growth in 2017, the cryptocurrency market is experiencing a decline, so some manufacturers refused to manufacture equipment, suitable for mining. The situation with the semiconductors looks more planned and systemic changing.
📌 More updates
→ The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission strengthened investigations of projects that raised funds through ICO.
- Do not miss out: 0x (ZRX) get listed on Coinbase Pro and the trading is now live with ZRX/USD, ZRX/BTC and ZRX/EUR.
- Litecoin (LTC) is now available on Gemini.
- OKEx delists Bytecoin (BCN) because of its «critical technical issue».
