Today in the crypto world, Ethereum showed signs of a price bottom, Japan considered regulatory change and Australia cracked down on a former Bitconnect promoter. Samourai Wallet also had to remove features and 13 additional institutions joined RippleNet.
Crypto Insider also released an article on the battle between Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake.
Catch up on the details:
Ether Markets Are Mimicking Bitcoin’s 2015 Price Bottom
The current bear market has seen many comparisons to bitcoin’s previous bear market. On that front, Ethereum now looks to be in the spotlight, mimicking bitcoin’s price chart at the bottom of the last bear market in 2015.
“Since Sept. 2018, the price chart of the world’s second largest cryptocurrency has mimicked the market structure of bitcoin’s bear market bottom in 2015,” CoinDesk noted in a report today.
Japan Eyes Regulation Of Unregistered Crypto Investment Schemes
According to a recent CoinDesk report, Japan’s Financial Service Agency (FSA) is looking to firm up regulatory laws regarding unregistered projects.
Current laws ban unregistered projects from receiving investment funds in the form of cash. There is, however, no clarification that those projects cannot accept crypto assets as investment capital.
Japan’s FSA has seen elevated levels of fraudulent activity where involved parties received crypto assets instead of cash, leading the agency to look into amending current applicable laws.
Australian Federal Court Imposes Travel Ban, Fund Freeze On Bitconnect Promoter
According to a report from CoinTelegraph, Australia’s Federal Court has cracked down on a former Bitconnect Ponzi scheme promoter. Bitconnect director and shareholder John Bigatton recently saw his accounts frozen and his travel rights stripped.
Australian authorities are currently investigating Bigatton, who was the only representative for Bitconnect Australia. Bigatton must reveal his financial records, including his crypto assets and their whereabouts.
Samourai BTC Wallet Removes Security Features At Google’s Behest For Transparency Policy
Samourai Wallet, a popular up-and-coming bitcoin wallet, recently was forced to remove certain wallet features in order to comply with Google.
The wallet touted enhanced anonymity features and avoided mention of fiat currency. Google, however, required Samourai to remove such anonymity features.
CoinTelegraph reported on Samouri Wallet’s blog post from yesterday, which explained, “We hope to bring these features back somehow in the future in the Google Play Store release, and are dedicated to offering the full feature set experience via alternative distribution methods such as direct download and F-Droid in the coming months.”
Payment Network RippleNet Exceeds 200 Customers, Garlinghouse Highlights Fiat Volatility
RippleNet continues to grow as today’s reports showed 13 more institutions have jumped on board the network. RippleNet now boasts more than 200 clients, across 40 different countries.
Among in the 13 new additions are clients from Sweden, Kuwait and England. Notably, five of the 13 new customers “will use Ripple’s digital asset, XRP, for liquidity when sending customer cross-border payments,” noted CoinTelegraph in a report today.
Ripple head Brad Garlinghouse also commented to CNBC on crypto asset volatility concerns, explaining that fiat currencies can also see notable price fluctuations.