The cryptocurrency market remains mixed with Bitcoin (BTC) in the positive region, while other altcoins trading in negative zone. At the time of trying this article Bitcoin was trading at $7,703, up 0.3% in the past 24 hours. Ether (ETH) has lost 1.5% to trade at $193.91. XRP has lost 0.5% to trade at $0.1960. Other major altcoins which have gained in the past 24 hours include Tezos (XTZ-2.68, -3.1%), Ethereum Classic (ETC-$6, -3.1%), Cosmos (ATOM, $2.74, -2.3%), Dash (DASH-$80.90, -3.3%), ChainLink (LINK-$3.59, -2.8%), IOTA (IOTA-$0.1709, -2.6%), EOS (EOS-$2.72, -1.7%), Tron (TRX-$0.0143, -0.3%), Cardano (ADA-$0.04599, 1.1%), Binance Coin (BNB-$16.36, -0.2%), Huobi (HT-$4.03, -0.6%), Litecoin (LTC-$43.81, -1.9%), Bitcoin Cash (BCH-$238.55, -2.5%), OKB (OKB-$4.84, -1.5%), and Stellar (XLM-$0.0672, 8.4%). The altcoins which have lost ground in the past 24 hours include Monero (XMR-$61.91, 0.6%) and LEO (LEO-$1.05, 0.1%).
Government level initiatives
Huobi Token the first global exchange token to be recommended by Japanese regulators
Huobi Token has received the credit of being the first universal exchange token endorsed by Japanese regulators after the Financial Services Agency (FSA) acknowledged HT as a cryptocurrency compliant with the prevailing laws and qualifies to get listed for trading the world’s biggest virtual currency market from next month.
So far, only 25 other cryptos have been endorsed on the FSA’s whitelist as Japan stiffens rules to explain cryptocurrencies in a better manner.
In 2019, the Japanese House of Representatives amended the Payment Services Act (PSA) and Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA) with the act going live on May 1st.
Law firm Morrison & Foerster LLP has opined that some of the changes will improve crypto investors’ interests. Notably, cryptocurrency derivatives will be audited as per the regulations of FIEA, and crypto-related companies have to register in order to operate in the country. Cryptocurrency derivatives trades that involve settlement in cryptocurrencies, earlier supervised by the PSA, will also come under the FIEA oversight.
Private sector initiatives
WeBank places third with the maximum blockchain-related patent applications
WeBank, the China headquartered digital bank, took third place in the list of companies with maximum blockchain-related patent filings to their name. Prominent enterprises, Alibaba and Tencent, took first and second place, respectively.
The digital bank, notably, has moved up to third place, from fifth after filing 632 patent applications last year. Almost 80% of the patent applications are related to technologies such as AI (artificial intelligence), blockchain, big data, and cloud computing.
Specifically, the patents filed by WeBank focuses on open source consortium chain framework (48%), middleware (40%), and other solutions (12%) associated with algos, cross-chain technology, and privacy protection.
The subjects indicate the increasing reliance of the banking sector on financial technology. Last year, WeBank revealed a new open-source financial technology plan that intends to partner with coders across the world.
Securitize launches a new tool for dealings of digital securities
Digital securities issuance platform Securitize, supported by top US-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, has revealed a new tool that guarantees that secondary market dealings of digital securities conform with regulations.
Securitize Instant Access, in its blog post, has simplified the process of guaranteeing compliance in p2p trades made by investors in private securities. Securitize utilizes smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain.
To conduct a transaction, investors have to privately indicate their interest in liquidating their digital securities through the use of a web link, which can be popularized on various channels.
The blog post detailed the process as follows: “Once an issuer decides to enable the Instant Access feature, any potential buyer who has KYC/AML approval from, and is registered with the issuer, can purchase the digital security from the holder if the holder has shared the transaction link with them. Only transactions that meet these KYC/AML requirements and adhere to any applicable transfer restrictions imposed by the issuer via the DS Protocol will be permitted.”
Miscellaneous
Weekly trading volume on LocalBitcoins.com reaches record high on the Chilean peso
Data provided by CoinDance indicates that weekly trading volume on the LocalBitcoins.com platform has reached an all-time high in terms of Chile’s fiat currency. Specifically, the value of trading volume hit 330 million Chilean pesos in the week ended April 4th. Notably, the value may vary slightly as the Chilean peso continues to depreciate.
According to the data provided by the Forex broker XE, the peso declined by more than 6.45% versus the greenback in the past two months and 27% year-to-date.
As per cryptocurrency market data provider CoinLib, Chilean cryptocurrency exchange CryptoMarket has recorded a significant rise in trading volume in the past few weeks. Daily trading volume in the US dollars rose by roughly 270%, compared with March 30, to $281,000.
Disclaimer: Any financial trading analysis offered here is our opinion and is not intended as advice or direction for investors. We cannot guarantee the success of any trades made as a consequence of this article, and we encourage traders to incorporate a strong money management strategy to limit losses when they enter the markets. Please use this article as part of your own research before formulating strategies prior to trading.
