After rallying for four consecutive days, the cryptocurrency market is undergoing a technical correction. Bitcoin (BTC) reached a level of $7,130, but selling pressure has brought it down to about $6,980 levels. A firm cross-over above the level of $9,000 is required to turn the market bullish in the long-term. As the price of Bitcoin and other altcoins rises, there is a considerable increase in crypto-related scams.
To prevent fraudsters from swindling hard-earned money of unsuspicious investors, regulators in the US, Canada, and Europe are fully engaged in monitoring and identifying scam projects. In this regard, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) has announced that “Operation Cryptosweep,” an investigation initiative, has resulted in more than 200 inquiries on ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) and other crypto-related investment products.
It is the largest ever coordinated initiative launched by state and provincial regulators. Since the launch of the initiative in May, the regulators have discovered over 30,000 crypto-related domain names. Notably, most of them were registered last year when Bitcoin was hovering near its historic high of about $20,000.
Government-level blockchain initiatives
China’s Beichuan Qiang county (autonomous), situated in Sichuan province, has inked a deal with Beijing based Sinfotek Group to set up a blockchain company named Hangzhou Yi Shu Blockchain Technology Co., Ltd to assist in the improvement of the forest industry. The new company will ensure “forestry economic development and industrial poverty alleviation.”
Private sector blockchain initiatives
Lloyd’s of London, a leader in the UK insurance market, is insuring a crypto custody platform of the US-based firm Kingdom Trust. Established in 1686, the British insurer is active in more than 200 countries. Between 2011 and 2016, the company has paid claims to the tune of £68 billion (~$87 billion). Kingdom Trust serves over 100,000 clients and has $12 billion worth of assets under custody. It is the first regulated firm to offer custody of digital assets. The firm provides custody for more than 30 different assets.
The Associated Press (AP) news agency has signed a content licensing deal with blockchain startup Civil. Under the partnership, AP will explore ways to aid ethical journalism, protect intellectual property rights and monitor content usage with distributed ledger technology. Furthermore, AP will deliver its content, both national and international, to Civil, so that all media firms will be able to access it on the blockchain platform. The licensing will be provided by AP directly. Civil has stated that AP will be incentivized with CVL tokens. Civil believes that such a measure will keep ensuring that the new room will operate as intended and maintain accuracy.
Yahoo Finance has integrated Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Litecoin (LTC) trading on its platform. The platform currently provides statistics related to altcoins such as Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum Classic (ETC) and EOS, but do not offer the option to trade those altcoins. Many crypto enthusiasts believe that it is another step forward towards crypto adoption.
Education
A study conducted by the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has revealed that 42% of the world’s top 50 universities have at least one subject on blockchain or cryptocurrencies. Coinbase conducted the research in partnership with survey company Qriously. A total of 675 U.S. college students were interviewed, and courses offered at 50 international universities were reviewed.
The study has also found out that blockchain-related courses are most popular in the U.S. Only 5% of the 18 reviewed universities that operate outside the US offer at least one class on cryptocurrencies or blockchain technology. With 10th and 9th positions, the blockchain course is the most popular at Stanford and Cornell universities.
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.
