Several of the largest crypto companies worth $10B or more are working hard to be integrated into the broader financial system. Through a series of expansionary efforts, companies like Circle and Coinbase are becoming less isolated from their mainstream competitors. Just a few months ago, central bankers deemed the cryptocurrency market to have very little systematic risk due to its relatively small size. But a new IMF report published this week shows deep concern over cryptocurrency's potential to create changing tastes for digital money (see story below).
"The venture, partly backed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., plans to seek a federal banking license to provide more services to customers. It also intends to pursue registration as a brokerage and trading venue with the Securities and Exchange Commission, so it can help investors buy and sell tokens deemed to be securities."
Coinbase expands with deal for broker-dealer Keystone Capital
(WSJ, by Paul Vigna)
"Coinbase, one of the leading cryptocurrency and bitcoin businesses, is acquiring a securities dealer that the company hopes will allow it to expand into the red-hot coin-offerings market."
Monetary Policy in the digital age
(IMF, by Dong He)
"Central banks must maintain the public’s trust in fiat currencies and stay in the game in a digital, sharing, and decentralized service economy."
"Earlier this year, the Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) strongly encouraged the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, Coincheck, to ban trading on privacy protecting coins. They claim that privacy protecting coins such as Zcash and Monero are more likely to be employed in transactions for illicit purposes."
SEC Chairman: cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are not securities
SEC chairman: Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are not securities from CNBC.
Commentary on Chairman Clayton's remark
A U.S. dollar isn't issued by a corporation and sold as an investment product to finance its operations. That, I think, is what Chairman Clayton was getting at with the cryptocurrency/ICO distinction. https://t.co/gALXgYHus8
— Preston Byrne (@prestonjbyrne) June 6, 2018
Let's do the time warp again: the Verge hack, part deux
(Daniel Goldman)
"However, there is something very wrong with reusing code for a high-stakes project without understanding the implications it will have in your software. Different projects, even those with many superficial similarities, involve different design decisions and require different security considerations."
Introducing Obelisk Launchpad
(David Vorick)
"We are willing to work with coin developers to design a custom, ASIC-friendly proof-of-work algorithm, while simultaneously developing a first batch of ASICs. The algorithm is not disclosed to the public until the ASICs are completed, meaning there is no chance that another group is able to be first to market."
Decred Journal — May 2018 from r/decred