Top 7 news of the cryptocurrency industry, for the week from June 24 to June 30, 2019

Concluding the last week of June and the first half of the year, we recall the new annual maximum of Bitcoin, an unexpected statement about cryptocurrency made by the Chinese authorities, approval of the launch of delivery bitcoin futures in the USA, the launch of the updated Binance platform with the launch of margin trading and other key events.

Bitcoin exchange rate volatility – formation of a support level

On Wednesday, June 26, the first cryptocurrency updated the annual maximum, coming close to the $ 14,000 mark , but then there was a sharp correction, as a result of which Bitcoin collapsed more than $ 3000 in less than a day, dropping at a certain point to about $ 10,600 .

Against the background of the fall in the BTC rate on the BitMEX exchange, there was a large wave of liquidations (almost $ 250 million), and there were interruptions in the work of the largest American exchange, Coinbase .

In the future, Bitcoin made several attempts to recoup the losses and occasionally rose just above $ 12,000, but on Sunday a new wave of correction is observed. Thus, at the time of publication, “digital gold” , having lost about 7% over the past day, is trading at around $ 11,150, capitalization has dropped below $ 200 billion. Nevertheless, for the week, Bitcoin is still in a slight plus – for the reporting period its price despite all the shocks increased by 3.7%

Note that according to a number of technical analysts, the nearest support level is around $ 10,000 .

Unlike bitcoin, the majority of altcoins for these seven days have significantly subsided, and often their indicators are measured in double digits. Only Ethereum made the “best” of the top ten – in seven days its price fell by 5%, dropping below $ 300.

China recognized Bitcoin as a "safe haven" for investors

Bitcoin has the characteristics of an ideal “safe haven” for investors. This is somewhat unexpectedly stated in a recent report by the official news agency of the Chinese government, Xinhua.

Historically, the Chinese authorities were opponents of cryptocurrency, banning in 2017 both the work of stock exchanges and the holding of ICOs in the country. At the same time, the possession of cryptocurrencies in China is not prohibited.

It is assumed that the change in official Beijing’s position on Bitcoin may be a consequence of the growing geopolitical tensions in the region and in the world as a whole.

Commission on US stock trading approved the launch of deliverable bitcoin futures on LedgerX

On Tuesday, June 25, the provider of cryptocurrency derivatives, LedgerX LLC, received a license from the Authorized Derivatives Market Participant (DCM) from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Due to this, LedgerX will be able to launch the country's first deliverable bitcoin futures.

Thus, LedgerX outstripped the Bakkt, ErisX and Seed CX platforms, which are still awaiting regulatory approval.

At the same time, the company intends to launch the Omni platform for trading options, swaps and futures for bitcoin for retail investors, since at the moment it does not see sufficient interest from institutional market participants.

Binance Crypto Exchange launched an updated version of its platform with support for margin trading

On Wednesday, Binance introduced an updated version of the platform, which, among other things, allowed all users access to margin trading.

As stated by the head of Binance Changphen Zhao, whatever the mood in the market, the exchange continues to develop technology.

Also this week it became known that Binance users will have the opportunity to log into the account and confirm the withdrawal of funds through the YubiKey hardware keys.

Tool YubiKey, developed by Yubico, provide additional protection for user accounts and employees of various services, including Facebook and Google. The key is connected via USB-port or wirelessly.

Goldman Sachs following JP Morgan prepares to launch its cryptocurrency

American banking giant Goldman Sachs can follow in the footsteps of its rival JP Morgan. The bank is considering the possibility of launching its own cryptocurrency.

David Solomon, Goldman Sachs CEO, told the French financial newspaper Les Echos that they are conducting extensive research on the concept of “tokenization”.

Solomon expressed confidence that the digital currency, based on the blockchain , is able to provide trouble-free international payments. Like JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs believes that such an asset should be provided with fiat currencies.

According to Solomon, the rules of the cryptocurrency sector are likely to change in the near future.

“I think that regulators around the world are watching what is happening. They wonder how it will work, and are very attentive to payment systems. There will be changes in regulation, that's for sure , ”said Solomon.

When asked whether Goldman Sachs is in talks with Facebook about a possible partnership in the development and use of Libra cryptocurrency , Solomon declined to comment.

Record trading volumes on BitMEX

The rapid growth of Bitcoin this week may have slowed down, having passed the generally expected correction stage, but this did not prevent the popular stock exchange of derivatives BitMEX from setting two new records this week.

Thus, the head of the company, Arthur Hayes, wrote on Twitter that the total trading volume on the platform over the past year exceeded $ 1 trillion.

Earlier this week, on June 26, BitMEX set a record for daily open interest in the amount of more than $ 16 billion.

According to CoinMarketCap, the total trading volume on BitMEX in the XBT / USD pair for the last 24 hours amounted to more than $ 5 billion, that is, more than 18% of the total trading volume of bitcoin in the amount of $ 27 billion.

UK will determine the requirements for the operation of cryptocurrency exchanges

UK authorities are preparing to introduce rules for controlling sites for trading digital money , turnover of a new type of assets and laundering of proceeds from crime.

Her Majesty’s Treasury (HTM) and Financial Services Authority (FCA) will discuss the adoption of the 5th European Union Directive on the Prevention of the Legalization of Illegally Gained Incomes and the Financing of Terrorism (5AMLD) on July 24 in the UK. The government will examine the requirements for the operation of cryptocurrency exchanges and the circulation of digital money.

On behalf of the crypto community, the responsible Bitlish financial monitoring officer, Christine Drabble, will speak. The meeting will allow to solve problems with market regulation based on the identified risks that blockchain industry faces.

Publication date 01/07/2019
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