Top 10 main news of the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain for the last week

The closing week played an important role in the history of the digital asset market. As a result of the bullish trend that prevailed on the crypto market until Friday, May 17, Bitcoin has reached its highest level since the beginning of 2018.

Altcoins traditionally followed the first cryptocurrency. However, as a result of a sharp collapse prices Bitcoins to kriptobirzhe Bitstamp, which was marked by early Friday May 17, the first cryptocurrency was at the level of $ 6180. At the same time, over the past 24 hours, the crypto market lost over $ 20 billion.

About what news preceded the collapse of the market, as well as what is the forecast for further price movements of the largest cryptocurrency capitalization, read our weekly analytics.

Microsoft will launch a system of decentralized identification on the Bitcoin blockchain

On May 13, Microsoft introduced an early version of the ION project, the purpose of which is to provide users with a system for decentralized identification of individuals using the Bitcoin blockchain , which can be used, for example, to access accounts in social networks or mail.

ION also translates the right to use content from the social network to the user himself. As co-founder of the Decentralized Identification Group of the World Wide Web Consortium, Christopher Allen, noted, ION can change the entire technology industry.

Bitcoin advertising launched on US TV channels: Fox News, AMC, National Geographic

Cryptocurrency assets manager Grayscale Investments, part of the holding of Digital Currency Group holding Barry Silbert, acquired airtime for broadcasting Bitcoin advertising and the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust on major American TV channels, including AMC, Fox News and others.

The company is doing all this as part of the #DropGold campaign , urging investors to abandon gold as a means of savings in favor of Bitcoin, since the world has entered the digital age.

The main characters of advertising are trying to avoid an apocalyptic fate due to the investor's obsession with gold by adopting a digital future. Security, speed and efficiency of Bitcoin can not be ignored, according to the company.

Samsung integrates cryptocurrency wallet into budget smartphone models

South Korean giant Samsung Electronics intends to add support for cryptocurrency in its low-end smartphone models.

This year, the mobile phone maker first entered the digital assets market, presenting the functionality related to cryptocurrency in the new flagship Galaxy S10.

The smartphone is equipped with a cryptocurrency key store and supports decentralized applications (DApp).

“We will lower the barriers to a new experience, gradually expanding the number of Galaxy models that support blockchain functions. We will also expand our service to other countries outside of Korea, the United States and Canada , ”said Chae Won-cheol, Senior Managing Director.

The Korean conglomerate also plans to issue a blockchain-based mobile ID card and local currencies. The company is already negotiating with two telecommunications giants – SK Telecom and Korean Telecom.

SEC: during the IEO Exchange may violate the law on US securities

On Monday, May 13, during the Consensus conference, a representative of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Valerie Schepanik noted that exchanges conducting IEO, in which they sell project tokens, while making profit from trading, can be considered securities dealers and with it fall under the US Securities Act. Especially if they conduct operations in the country or provide services to US citizens.

In this case, the companies issuing tokens need to register and obtain a broker-dealer license, or register as a stock exchange or as an alternative trading system.

At the same time, a representative of the regulator noted that if issuing companies do not have American registration, but operate in the United States or provide services to clients from the United States, sooner or later they will have serious problems.

Bitfinex Crypto Exchange raises $ 1 billion in closed tokensale

Closed exchange placement of LEO tokens of the Bitfinex exchange, which lasted 10 days, brought the site $ 1 billion.

A large number of small and individual investors, as well as large companies from the cryptocurrency industry that have invested more than $ 100 million, took part in IEO Bitfinex.

Bitfinex technical director Paolo Ardoino noted that the success of the tokensail speaks of a high degree of trust and investor interest in the stock exchange.

Opera browser will support blockchain networks, including TRON

On May 15th, it became known that Opera browser will soon start supporting several blockchain networks, including TRON. Thus, users of Opera's built-in crypto-wallet will be able to conduct operations with TRC standard tokens, play games and download decentralized TRON-based applications through a browser.

Currently, users also have access to the ERC20 and ERC721 standard tokens. During the year, Opera plans to add support for several more blockchains. Such active work in the field of crypto-industry has become possible thanks to the partnership between Opera and Ledger Capital.

Hardfork Bitcoin Cash Causes Network Problems

On May 15, the planned hardfork took place in the Bitcoin Cash network, but soon after the introduction of the update , technical problems arose on the network.

The BitMEX researchers reported that at block 582679, the Bitcoin ABC 0.18.2 client began to perceive the chain as incorrect, due to which the chain was divided into two versions: updated nodes fell into one, non-updated ones into the other.

After that, the Bitcoin Cash network became unsafe for transactions. However, the developers in the shortest possible time have developed a solution and implemented a patch.

Charles Hoskinson and Polymath create a new blockchain network for security tokens

The co-founder of such projects as Ethereum and Cardano , together with the crypto company Polymath, are working on launching a new blockchain network that will allow creating and managing security tokens .

The new network is called Polymesh. Polymesh corporate clients will be able to issue security tokens that will comply with securities laws.

As noted by Hoskinson, when creating Ethereum, the developers did not pay much attention to legal compliance. However, now launching a secure and regulated blockchain for the securities market is an “exciting challenge.”

SEC postponed decision on Bitcoin-ETF

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has again postponed consideration of the Bitwise Asset Management application for the launch of a Bitcoin-based Exchange Investment Fund (ETF).

For the first time, the Bitwise application was filed at the beginning of the year, in March the SEC postponed the decision until May, but on May 14 it became known that the regulator needed additional time to render the final verdict.

According to the Bitwise survey, 58% of the company's customers would prefer to invest in cryptocurrency through the ETF. SEC is also reviewing a bitcoin-ETF approval from VanEck and SolidX. The term of consideration of the second application will come to an end on May 21. Approval of these SEC funds can significantly increase the cost of the first cryptocurrency.

Blockstream has created a platform for the release of security tokens

Blockstream, a developer of blockchain solutions, has launched Liquid Sidechain platform, which will allow to issue security tokens.

This product will allow platform clients to release security tokens faster and easier, since issued tokens will comply with all regulatory standards. Security issued using Blockstream tokens will be provided by smart contracts with multi-signatures on the Bitcoin network.

Publication date 05/18/2019
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