An Event to Remember: Ria Money Transfer Acknowledged for its Outstanding Charitable Efforts & Host of a Blood Drive Campaign

Ria Money Transfer has been recognized by the American Red Cross and the city of Buena Park for its fundraising efforts throughout the years.

The gratifying and well-attended event took place in Ria’s Headquarters office in Buena Park, California, where we were honored with three special mentions.

First, we were presented with a Certificate of Appreciation from the American Red Cross - with whom we’ve been collaborating since 2015 - for the generous support Ria has provided to the disaster relief campaigns of 2017.

With this, the mayor of Buena Park, Virginia Vaughn granted us with a Certificate of Recognition for our community involvement and philanthropic contributions.

The ceremony was also attended by Norma Aguilar, Mexican Consul for Community, Educational & Cultural Affairs, who awarded Ria with a certificate of recognition for our involvement with the American and the Mexican Red Cross.

    From left to right: Pamela Stone, American Red Cross Senior Philanthropy Officer, Norma Aguilar, Mexican Consul, from Ria Americas: Adriana Garcia, Customer Life Cycle Manager, Abby Valenzuela, Customer Service Manager, and Menchi Orlina, Marketing VP, a member of the ARC and Virginia Vaughn, Buena Park Mayor.

    From left to right: Pamela Stone, American Red Cross Senior Philanthropy Officer, Norma Aguilar, Mexican Consul, from Ria Americas: Adriana Garcia, Customer Life Cycle Manager, Abby Valenzuela, Customer Service Manager, and Menchi Orlina, Marketing VP, a member of the ARC and Virginia Vaughn, Buena Park Mayor.

    From left to right: Pamela Stone, American Red Cross Senior Philanthropy Officer, Norma Aguilar, Mexican Consul, from Ria Americas: Adriana Garcia, Customer Life Cycle Manager, Abby Valenzuela, Customer Service Manager, and Menchi Orlina, Marketing VP, a member of the ARC and Virginia Vaughn, Buena Park Mayor.

    From left to right: Pamela Stone, American Red Cross Senior Philanthropy Officer, Norma Aguilar, Mexican Consul, from Ria Americas: Adriana Garcia, Customer Life Cycle Manager, Abby Valenzuela, Customer Service Manager, and Menchi Orlina, Marketing VP, a member of the ARC and Virginia Vaughn, Buena Park Mayor.

    From left to right: Pamela Stone, American Red Cross Senior Philanthropy Officer, Norma Aguilar, Mexican Consul, from Ria Americas: Adriana Garcia, Customer Life Cycle Manager, Abby Valenzuela, Customer Service Manager, and Menchi Orlina, Marketing VP, a member of the ARC and Virginia Vaughn, Buena Park Mayor.

Last year, Ria Money Transfer in collaboration with the American Red Cross set-up different aid appeals as a response to the natural disasters that decimated homes in the Caribbean, Central and North America and earthquakes in Mexico. The relief efforts helped collect over $83,000 in donations from our customers to help those impacted - namely by the devastating earthquake in Mexico City.

“Ria’s customers have been so caring and generous in their giving, it’s very touching,” said Pamela Stone, senior philanthropy officer, American Red Cross Desert to the Sea region.

“We understand customers are often very far from their home or their extended family, and yet they’re digging deep - reaching out to help a stranger here in the United States or elsewhere around the globe.  As a company, Ria has shown so much compassion, it blows me away.

“They are consistently among the first to reach out after a disaster with ‘We want to help.’ The creative materials they develop for every disaster campaign are powerful.  It’s a pleasure to partner with a company that has such a global reach and is willing to quickly swing into action. From partnering with us here at the American Red Cross or with other Red Cross organizations around the world, Ria helps us assist those in need,” concluded Stone.

Ria took this opportunity to host its first in-house Blood Drive campaign. The rewarding initiative that contributes to the shortage that healthcare centers face, helped to collect 32 blood units, the equivalent to saving up to 96 lives and served to encourage our employees to be regular blood donors and to take part in civic responsibilities.



    Adriana Garcia, Ria Americas' Customer Life Cycle Manager enters the new American Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicle, which is deployed to areas that have been impacted by disasters.

    Adriana Garcia, Ria Americas' Customer Life Cycle Manager enters the new American Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicle, which is deployed to areas that have been impacted by disasters.

    Adriana Garcia, Ria Americas' Customer Life Cycle Manager enters the new American Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicle, which is deployed to areas that have been impacted by disasters.

    Adriana Garcia, Ria Americas' Customer Life Cycle Manager enters the new American Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicle, which is deployed to areas that have been impacted by disasters.

    Adriana Garcia, Ria Americas' Customer Life Cycle Manager enters the new American Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicle, which is deployed to areas that have been impacted by disasters.

Ria’s Customer Lifecycle Marketing Manager, Adriana A. García explained, “As Winston Churchill once said, ‘We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give’ some of the simplest yet strongest words about giving back. Having coordinated this blood drive at Ria was a very strong passion of mine – we serve hundreds of thousands of customers around the world by helping them support their family in the home countries, so this time it was about contributing back in a different way, by giving life.

“Giving back to our communities, is part of the meanings of life, it is therefore, our duty as responsible citizens to help one another and mark a difference,” added García.

    Ria's Buena Park Headquarters in California was the perfect venue to host the Blood Drive initiative, which collected 32 blood units.

    Ria's Buena Park Headquarters in California was the perfect venue to host the Blood Drive initiative, which collected 32 blood units.

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OCASH Tokens: Important Update For Holders

Dear OCASH holders,

In anticipation of the upcoming launch of the OCASH debit card program, we have developed a new business model for this project.

The OCASH card will be available for order for every KYC approved customer in the EEA region. No tokens involved, no ICO performed, no subscription needed.*

We strongly believe this change will introduce a number of advantages for the whole OCASH project.

*Only the dedicated tokens to transfer a deposit to the card will be required.
OCASH BUYBACK ROADMAP

Here’s the roadmap of OpenLedger activities related to this business model change:

    On July 11th, 2018, we burned all the OCASH tokens held on the ico.ocash reserve account, 2 572 610 OCASH in total.

OCASH buyback

    On July 11th, 2018,  we reached all the OCASH token holders with the personal buyback conditions relevant until August 1st, 2018.
    On August 1st, 2018, the rest of the OCASH tokens held on the ico.ocash account will be burned.
    On August 2nd, 2018, OpenLedger will place a single order to buy the remaining amount of OCASH for OBITS on the Bitshares DEX market. The conversion rate is 1 OCASH to 0,2 OBITS.
    Starting from August 2nd, 2018, the OCASH tokens will have no relevance to any OpenLedger ApS activities or the OCASH debit card program.

FAQ
1. How do I know about the updated OCASH project conditions and structure?

The messages about the new business model with more details will be delivered via the multiple OpenLegder channels, including our official website, OpenLedger Telegram channel, a Steemit post, a Facebook post, and a Twitter post. Also, an internal Bitshares blockchain message will be delivered to all the OCASH holders. Please make sure you’re subscribed to the OpenLedger accounts to receive the news in time.
2. What is the lifetime of the OBITS buyback order?

It will be placed as an open order and will be closed only when all OCASH tokens will be bought. For example, if a holder will not want to sell their OCASH for OBITS, the order will exist for an unlimited period of time.
3. What happens to OCASH tokens bought from the former holders?

We will hold all the OCASH tokens bought for OBITS on a single account and burn them monthly, on the second day of each month, starting from September 2018. We will continue doing that until the order is closed and all the OCASH tokens are burned.
4. What if the market price for OCASH or OBITS changes? Will you place a new order then?

The order to be placed on August 2nd, 2018, will stay as it is until fully closed. No exchange rates fluctuations will affect it. No new orders will be placed by OpenLedger for the OCASH buyback offer in the future. However, any user can sell their OCASH tokens for other assets instead, or buy OCASH from other traders.
5. Am I obligated to sell my OCASH for OBITS? Can I keep them on my account or trade them?

You are free to do whatever you like with your OCASH tokens. OpenLedger just provides you with an option to sell OCASH for OBITS. It is your choice whether to make use of the buyback offer or to consider any other options.
6. Will OCASH become just a regular token, without any additional obligations or support from OpenLedger?

Yes, from August 2nd, 2018, OpenLedger will not perform any activities related to the OCASH tokens.
7. My question is not listed here, how can I receive an answer?

Please feel free to send any OCASH-related questions to info@openledger.info.

Stay tuned for the future OCASH project updates!

Follow OpenLedger on social channels

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Russia: No special tax treatment for crypto owners and miners

Russia has no immediate plans for any segregated tax infrastructure to address cryptocurrencies and its community of investors, holders and miners will be regulated under common framework of the Internal Revenue Code of Russia, according to local newspaper Izvestiya.
Russia State Duma

Russia’s State Duma: Shutterstock

The paper published an interview with Anatoly Aksakov, head of the financial markets committee at the State Duma [the Russian lower house of the Federal Assembly], who said there are currently no plans to draw up “separate” tax frameworks specifically for cryptocurrency.
No change, for now

A wide-ranging package of regulations focusing on “digital financial assets” is likely to become law during the Duma’s autumn session, he added. “Separate tax regimes for owners of digital currency will not be described in the regulation text,” although a separate set of regulations might be developed at some future date.

“If they feel like creating separate states for this type of business, then they’ll create them,” Aksakov told Izvestiya. “For now, we’re not going to deal with issues in any form.”

Cryptocurrency mining and exchange will therefore come under the jurisdiction of current taxation statutes. Proponents of new regulations had originally planned for them to become law by 1 July, in line with Russia’s increasingly hands-on approach tom cryptocurrencies in recent months.

Last year, president Vladimir Putin indicated to several authorities, including the Bank of Russia, that he wanted them to frame legislation that addressed initial coin offerings [ICOs] by this month.
A grey area

The lawmakers have also attempted to provide clarification on cryptocurrency mining and exchange, both of which exist in a grey area in Russia. While a number of informal exchangers offer ample opportunity to convert between Bitcoin, Ethereum and fiat rubles, these often take the form of semi-anonymous account funding.

In May this year, the State Duma’s Committee for Legislative Work said that it would support an initiative to form regulations for a digital economy in Russia’s Federation Civil Code. The authority wants to “minimise the existing risks of using digital objects for transferring assets into an unregulated digital environment for the legalisation of criminal incomes, bankruptcy fraud or for sponsoring terrorist groups”.
Cryptocurrency ATMs

St Petersburg’s experiment with cryptocurrency ATMs was short-lived: Shutterstock

Meanwhile local governments have adopted a hardline stance, only to arbitrarily reverse decisions. These include a blanket ban on disseminating information about cryptocurrency, which St Petersburg authorities enacted last year. The city also briefly hosted several cryptocurrency ATMs, but abruptly disappeared only a few months after being installed.
Cryptocurrency news News
See also

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Switzerland acts to head off cryptocurrency exodus

Swiss regulators are stepping up efforts to halt a threatened exodus of cryptocurrency projects from the country, according to Reuters. The news agency reports that the already limited number of Swiss banks active in the nascent sector was further depleted last year after two withdrew.
Swiss town of Zug

Switzerland’s cryptocurrency activity is centred in Zug: Shutterstock

Switzerland is also working on new rules to reassure banks and encourage them to accept the accounts of cryptocurrency companies. The country dropped from second place in 2017 to sixth this year in a table published last month by PwC and the Crypto Valley Association that ranks the sum of initial coin offering (ICO) funds raised in various countries. The Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands topped this year’s list.

The reluctance of local banks to accept cryptocurrency-related business means Switzerland is losing business to offshore rivals including Liechtenstein, Gibraltar and the Cayman Islands, whose banks are more welcoming.

In May, Swiss finance minister Ueli Maurer invited the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), the central bank and the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) to a roundtable discussion on bank accounts for cryptocurrencies.
Zug at the centre

While Switzerland’s crypto-related business is still tiny compared with its traditional banking sector, but has grown rapidly and is a major employer, according to local officials. Supporters also consider it a key innovation for the future of global finance.

The wealthy canton of Zug, outside Zurich has claimed the title of Europe’s “Crypto Valley”, with at least 300 virtual currency businesses opening there in recent years, against a population of only 30,000.

Zug’s finance director, Heinz Taennler, fears many of these businesses will depart if the government does not take steps to give them access to the banking system, without which they struggle to function. “All their banking relationships are going to Liechtenstein,” he told Reuters. “These are hundreds of jobs that have been created, and every job is important.”

Thomas Moser, an alternate member of the governing board at the Swiss National Bank, said some cryptocurrency companies had asked the SNB to intervene. “They raised concerns about problems with opening bank accounts, which was a worry for them, and asked for help,” he said.

“I said this was not something the SNB dealt with, but they should speak with FINMA. We would not want to close the door on the opportunities that such innovation might bring.
A call for clarity

Swiss banks have responded by insisting the authorities offer more clarity on the rules that apply to cryptocurrency projects if they are to serve the market, and at least two major players have withdrawn for now.

Switzerland’s Zuercher Kantonalbank (ZKB), the country’s fourth largest bank and one of a handful of global banks to welcome issuers of cryptocurrencies, has closed the accounts of more than 20 companies in the past year, industry sources told Reuters. ZKB originally helped to establish Switzerland as an early cryptocurrency hub.

One source also said that another major Swiss bank rejected crypto project Smart Valor at around the same time, although he/she declined to name the bank. Both banks reportedly began shutting their doors last October after a management feud severely damaged cryptocurrency project Tezos, which had conducted Zug’s largest ICO.

Few of Switzerland’s 250 banks ever allowed companies to deposit the cash equivalent of cryptocurrencies raised in ICOs, although the report suggests that at least two still do.

Many are concerned that some of the companies launching ICOs failed to carry out anti- money laundering (AML) checks on their contributors.

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SKY, ATM, ESC, and XDRAC Trading to Be Stopped on July 23, 2018

Dear OpenLedger DEX users,

Starting July 23, 2018, SKY, ATM, ESC, and XDRAC will no longer be tradeable on OpenLedger DEX.

To withdraw your funds from our decentralized trading platform, please create a support ticket.

For all the necessary details about the withdrawal procedure, visit https://openledger.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/33000218596-what-to-do-if-coin-is-under-delisting-

Note: manual withdrawals will be available until August 23, 2018, inclusive. We won’t support the tokens after this date and you won’t be able to withdraw the coins.

Best regards,
The OpenLedger DEX Team

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Spending on blockchain ‘to reach $11.7bn by 2022

Spending on blockchain solutions is estimated at $1.5bn this year and will increase annually by nearly 75% to reach $11.7bn by 2022, according to a report published by the market intelligence group International Data Corporation (IDC).
IDC logo

The IDC predicts rapidly-rising budgets for blockchain initiatives

Analysts writing in IDC’s ‘Worldwide Semi-annual Blockchain Spending Guide’ predict that “blockchain platform software will be the largest category of spending outside of the services category and one of the fastest growing categories overall, along with security software.”

The projected increase in spending is expected to be driven largely by the financial sector, with banks among the earliest adopters of the technology. The report states that a total of $552m will be spent on blockchain by the financial sector in 2018, followed by the distribution and services sector, which is investing nearly $379m and the manufacturing and resourced sector, which is allocating $334m.
US leads the field

The analysis suggests that the US accounts for more than 36% of worldwide spending on blockchain technology with cross-border payments and settlements being the most popular application. Around $193m of current US spending is going to this area of business.
China's blockchain spending

China’s blockchain spending is likely to become a future focus: Shutterstock

The report covers developments in the blockchain industry for eight different regions worldwide, with China likely to be added as a ninth in future editions.

“We continue to see the greatest spending and growth for blockchain around lot lineage and asset and goods management,” says Jessica Goepfert, IDC’s program vice president

“Manufacturers want to ensure products arrive where they are supposed to arrive. Retailers and wholesalers seek assurance around the validity and quality of the products they are selling and consumers are demanding greater transparency from providers.”

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India’s Supreme Court upholds RBI cryptocurrency ban

India’s cryptocurrency exchanges have failed in their latest effort to overturn the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) diktat that the country’s banks should not do business with them.

In April the RBI gave banks three months to wind down all their cryptocurrency-related accounts, a deadline that expired in the first week of July. The order was challenged by the exchanges in the Supreme Court, which resumed its hearings today.

However, the ban was upheld after the hearing saw ‘limited arguments’ brought forward by lawyers on behalf of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), which counts domestic cryptocurrency exchanges as its members, and the RBI. The Supreme Court decided to defer the date of hearing again, and the final arguments will now be heard on September 11.

Although the crypto community were hopeful that a strong case for reversing the ban would be put forward today, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and several other prominent authorities have not yet filed their responses and they now have a further eight weeks to complete them.

Some reports suggest that an inter-governmental committee of various ministries tasked with developing a framework for the cryptocurrency sector isn’t likely to decide on any outright ban on trading, but could instead decide that cryptocurrencies be classified as commodities.

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Coinbase: SEC approval ‘not needed’ for Keystone deal

Coinbase has backtracked on its statement last Tuesday that the US Securities

The San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange now says that SEC approval was not given, because it was not needed in the first place.

On July 17, reports stated that Coinbase had won approvals from the SEC and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to acquire Keystone Capital, Digital Wealth, and Venovate Marketplace, three firms which help the digital asset player secure an alternative trading system (ATS) licence, broker-dealer licence and registered investment advisor (RIA) licence respectively.

Coinbase spokesperson Rachel Horowitz now says the company’s discussions with Keystone entity was conducted with SEC staff on an “informal basis,” with no direct involvement of the regulatory watchdog in the acquisition deal – although it has secured such approval from FINRA.
A fraught relationship

The SEC has a fraught relationship with cryptocurrency firms: Shutterstock

The original announcement gained attention because of the traditionally fraught relationship between SEC and cryptocurrency firms, with the authority cracking down on several cryptocurrency businesses in the past, including exchange and wallet services. In March, the SEC said that cryptocurrency exchanges would be required to register with the regulatory body before they could list tokens deemed to be securities.

Last Friday, Coinbase announced that it planned to add Cardano (ADA), Basic Attention Token (BAT), Stellar Lumens (XLM), Zcash (ZEC) and 0x (ZRX) to its limited list of cryptocurrencies. This sparked speculation about the regulatory nature of these digital assets, and whether Coinbase would list all of them together.

The exchange said that all cryptocurrency listings were subject to different regulations levied across the globe, adding some assets “may become available in other countries” before the US. As Coinbase is the largest exchange in North America, gaining approval to list tokenised securities would have represented a major move for certain cryptocurrencies.

US corporate lawyer Dean Steinbeck told Cointelegraph: “The SEC will eventually regulate which currencies qualify as security tokens and which do not. Regulated exchanges, like Coinbase, will avoid tokens that do not qualify under SEC guidance.

“I fully expect Coinbase to get approval to engage in broker dealer activities, including the sale of security tokens. Coinbase has positioned itself as the leading regulatory-compliant exchange in the US.”

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Crypto Exchange Coinbase Forms Political Action Committee

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has formed a Political Action Committee (PAC), according to government documents published Friday night.

A disclosure published by the U.S. Federal Election Commission revealed that the exchange formed the "Coinbase, Inc. Political Action Committee" in June 2018, though it has yet to raise or donate any money. The Form 3x – a "Report of Receipts and Disbursements For Other Than An Authorized Committee" – means the PAC is not currently attached to any candidate running for public office.

The document listed a reporting period from June 4 to June 30.

PACs are formed in the U.S. primarily to raise funds on behalf of candidates running for public office, usually representing specific business or ideological interests, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a financial transparency group which tracks money in politics.

Coinbase communications director Elliot Suthers confirmed that the exchange has launched a PAC, though he declined to provide further details at press time.

While this may be the first PAC formed by a crypto organization, the exchange itself has already donated more than $81,000 for political causes, CNN reported Friday. Coinbase donated $78,000 to Brian Forde, a Congressional candidate and former Office of Science and Technology Policy advisor to President Barack Obama.

The other $3,000 went to BIT PAC, a PAC which has apparently donated to Republicans Justin Amash and Josh Mandel.

Coinbase app image via Shutterstock

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Crypto Trading 101: Bull and Bear Flags (And What They Mean for Price)

 

When it comes to making big money in trading, the trend is your friend.

But spotting the trend when it is in the nascent stage is challenging, and running along with it right up to the top is an even bigger challenge. That's because asset prices rarely see a 90-degree rally or collapse.

More often than not, trends (bullish/bearish) will pause briefly to allow traders or investors who missed the initial move (higher or lower) to join the bandwagon. If the participation increases, the asset price extends the bull or bear run, or else a trend reversal may occur.
Continuation patterns

A trader can spot trend extensions with the help of bullish or bearish continuation patterns, which occur in a variety of easily identifiable shapes, some of the most popular of which are known as bull and bear flags.

A bull flag is appropriately spotted in an uptrend when the price is likely to continue upward, while the bear flag is conversely spotted in a downtrend when the price is likely to sink further.

(While the implication of the pattern is far more important than its name, the "flag" terminology derives from its visual similarity to the fabric you'd see hanging outside a government building.)

Each flag pattern consists of two main components: the pole and flag.

The "pole" represents a strong impulsive move (higher/lower) and is backed by a surge in trading volume and the subsequent pause or consolidation the "flag," which looks like a falling or rising channel.

The flag pattern can be invaluable for a trader in that there are clear points of success and failure to profit or mitigate risk from. If resistance breaks in a bull flag, the trader can be confident price will continue upwards roughly the length of the pole (popularly known as measured height method).

If support of the bull flag is breached, the trader knows the pattern is invalid and continuation is unlikely. The exact opposite is the case for a bear flag.
Calculating the target

An asset usually mimics the pole after a bull flag breakout or bear flag breakdown.

So, the target is derived as follows:

    Bull flag breakout >> Pole height added to breakout price
    Bear flag breakdown >> Pole height subtracted from breakout price
    Pole height = pole high minus pole low

The real world demonstrations of both flag types are depicted below.

The Bull Flag

    Asset: bitcoin (BTC)
    Timeframe: 6-hour chart
    Pattern: Bull flag breakout

The cryptocurrency cleared the flag resistance on Feb. 20, 2017, signaling a continuation of the rally from the $917 low of the pole and opened upside towards $1,228 (target as per measured height method, i.e. pole height ($157) added to breakout price).

Guess what, bitcoin came just $10 shy of price target on Feb. 24, 2017.
The Bear Flag

    Asset: Ethereum (ETH)
    Timeframe: 4-hour chart
    Pattern: Bear flag breakdown

In this case, ether broke the flag support on Mar. 17, 2018 suggesting continued depreciation from the $699 pole high and set scope for $463 (target as per measured height method, i.e. pole height ($133) deduced from breakdown price).

Surprise, surprise, ether was just $12 shy of reaching the exact price target on March 18, 2018.
Conclusion

Bull flags and bear flags can be a trader's friend in strongly trending markets, but they do not always perform as advertised. In some cases, the pattern can present a trap known as a "false breakout" when price breaches the boundary of the flag and quickly retraces.

Waiting for a candlestick to close outside of the flag tends to add credence to the breakout, and can help the trader mitigate risk.

As a trader, you would want to avoid betting or punting on an asset price if the bull flag breakout of bear flag breakout is not backed by strong volumes. A low volume move usually ends up trapping investors on the wrong side of the market.

Further, using indicators like the Relative Strength Index (RSI) to gauge scope for a rally following a breakout can help boost traders' success rates.

READ: Timing the Crypto Market With RSI (A Beginner's Guide)

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Police Force Confiscates 295 Bitcoins from Criminal in UK First

A British county police force has become the first in the country to seize and exchange bitcoins discovered during a criminal investigation.

According to a report from the Financial Times yesterday, the Surrey police force obtained 295 bitcoins last October after arresting a Latvian man called Seregjs Teresko, who has since been convicted for money laundering and sentenced to nine years in prison.

The force further sold the assets for around $1.5 million following a court hearing at the time. Back then, the price of a bitcoin was around $5,000, but shot up to its all-time high of around $20,000 just two months later.

A local court ruled on Thursday that the Surrey police force is entitled to confiscate the bitcoins seized from Teresko, the FT says. The force is further allowed to keep 18.8 percent of the proceeds – approximately £273,000 – that will go towards its operational budget.

The report describes how, after obtaining the money launderer's private key to the bitcoin holdings, the police force subsequently set up its own digital wallet and reportedly used an overseas cryptocurrency exchange to liquidate the assets.

The news comes as a time when law enforcement agencies in the U.K. are beefing up their knowledge about cryptocurrency in an effort to better investigate crimes that involve the technology, as well as to more easily seize such assets.

Last year, a research office backed by a group of U.K. law enforcement groups proposed changing the country's laws to make seizing bitcoin easier. The N8 Policing Research Partnership said at the time it aimed to increase institutional knowledge about cryptocurrency among British police officials via a broad training initiative.

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Bitcoin's Biggest Startups Are Backing a New Effort to Keep Fees Low

2017 was a wake-up call for bitcoin supporters to say the least.

With so many people using the software amid a price boom, the fees for sending transactions swelled higher than ever before, even rising to as much as an average of $26 for a single transaction. It was a road with too many cars, leading to a veritable traffic jam.

Sure, the situation wasn't long to last, as fees fell back to manageable levels, but the worry is this spike could always happen again – if, or dare we say it, when, bitcoin "goes mainstream."

But fees don't have to be as high next time there's a spike in the cryptocurrency's use, at least that's the argument being put forward by those launching a new effort called Bitcoin Optech.

Led by bitcoin developer and Bitcoin Core contributor John Newbery, the effort is an attempt to help the companies that rely on the bitcoin software figure out what scaling technologies they're missing, including those that will push fees lower.

Newbery told CoinDesk:

    "Businesses were caught unawares. At the same time, there was lots of scaling tech that could have helped and that was well-understood, but they weren't adopted yet."

That gave him the idea that developers with knowledge of bitcoin's underlying tech could be more aggressive in helping companies through such upgrades. For instance, the bug fix Segregated Witness (SegWit) activated last August, but bitcoin businesses were slow to adopt the change, even though it can cut fees by half.

Since it can help to improve the experience for all bitcoin users, many notable entities are interested in the effort, with investors Xapo CEO Wences Casares, entrepreneur John Pfeffer and bitcoin development group Chaincode Labs giving them the money to get the project off the ground.

The non-profit effort also boasts six member companies so far, including Coinbase, Square and BitGo, all who've expressed what they believe is a need for an effort like Bitcoin Optech.

"By collaborating with leading engineers in this space, we'll be able to achieve more than we could have by tackling these problems alone," Coinbase lead bitcoin engineer Brock Miller said in a statement. Square strategic development lead Mike Brock said the company is "proud" to be working with Optech.
Coming together

So far, Bitcoin Optech has made contact with 15 to 20 bitcoin companies, saying they're surprised by how excited they are to adopt various scaling technologies. "They're saying something like Optech has been missing. and could be beneficial. It's even bringing people together," Newbery said.

In this way, it's also helping heal relations between the various groups that have sprung up to support the decentralized bitcoin software. In the worst parts of bitcoin's history, a rift has emerged between developers of the Bitcoin Core protocol and the industry's companies, with the two different groups advocating for very different technical upgrades.

"The more engagement there is between industry and open source, the better," Optech's announcement blog post explains.

To that end, they've identified a few key technologies that they can help business with right now.

Coin selection is a complicated problem dealing with the most efficient way of choosing which "coins" to send when a bitcoin users sends a transaction. Adding to the complexity, Bitcoin OpTech project manager Steve Lee stressed that the best selection technique often varies from wallet to wallet.

While "fee estimation" is another technical problem that's hard to get right. Fee estimation tools in bitcoin wallets today often tell users they should pay fees much higher than they actually need to be paying.

Speaking about these very strategies, the Bitcoin Optech team, joined by Bitcoin Core contributor Andrew Chow, held their first workshop in San Francisco. Sponsored by Square, the event saw the developers go over some of these scaling technologies and what's in it for the companies that adopt them.

Lee called this workshop a "good proof point" for what they're doing in that more companies showed up than they could have hoped for. Six of the eight San Francisco companies they broached the topic to showed up at the workshop, demonstrating, in his mind, how hungry engineers at these companies are to learn about how to solve these types of problems.

"It's hard to get their attention," he said.
Catalyzing change

The Bitcoin Optech team stressed, though, that they don't want to be any sort of "central authority" telling bitcoin companies what they should and shouldn't do.

Lee said they're looking to be more of a "catalyst" for change.

By hosting more workshops similar to the above around the world, hopefully to give engineers the tools they need to make these scaling technologies on their own.

Meanwhile, they've been sending out weekly newsletters describing the most recent additions to Bitcoin Core, the most popular bitcoin client. And they have other ideas too, like creating a Slack group where member companies can keep in touch.

Another example of this is they're looking to start what Lee calls an open-source "cookbook," detailing various scaling changes bitcoin companies can adopt.

This documentation would be available to anyone, not just dues-paying members.

All that said, there's a focus to Bitcoin Optech's mission: technologies that businesses can add today

Maybe someday they'll help companies other much-hyped technologies, such as lightning or Schnorr, since many bitcoin companies need to update their software in order to support these improvements.

But Newbery said that might be a while. They're waiting until "they're more advanced in their proposals." Until then, they'll be focused on well-understood strategies that bitcoin companies have yet to adopt.

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BitFunder Operator 'Close to' Plea Bargain in SEC Fraud Case

The operator of defunct bitcoin investment platform BitFunder, Jon Montroll, is reportedly seeking a plea bargain over fraud and other charges laid against him by the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).

FinanceFeeds indicated Thursday that, according to a document submitted by Montroll's legal counsel, "a plea agreement agreed upon in principle and expected to be finalized and entered by July 23" has accelerated efforts to reach a final court resolution.

Back in February, Montroll was hit with a number of charges for operating what the SEC said was an "unregistered securities exchange" and allegedly using the platform to defraud users of their cryptocurrency.

Separately, Montroll is accused of perjury and obstruction of justice over his failure to report a hack of his second business, WeExchange, in 2013. The breach ultimately saw roughly 6,000 bitcoins stolen – now worth some $68.7 million. The accused reportedly transferred some of his own cryptocurrency holdings to the exchange in an attempt to conceal the losses.

According to the New York Attorneys Office, William F. Sweeney Jr., FBI assistant director-in-charge, commented:

    "As alleged, Montroll committed a serious crime when he lied to the SEC during sworn testimony.  In an attempt to cover up the results of a hack that exploited weaknesses in the programming code of his company, he allegedly went to great lengths to prove the balance of bitcoins available to BitFunder users in the WeExchange Wallet was sufficient to cover the money owed to investors. It's said that honesty is always the best policy – this is yet another case in which this virtue holds true."

With the anticipated plea deal set to be finalized next week, negotiations between Montroll and the SEC are expected to reach a conclusion in the next three months, if not earlier.

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South Korea's Finance Watchdog Is Forming a Crypto Division

South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) has revealed it is setting up a department dedicated primarily to cryptocurrencies and blockchain.

The FSC said the new department – dubbed the Financial Innovation Bureau – will focus on developing policy-making initiatives for the domestic blockchain and fintech industry, The Korea Times reported on Thursday.

An FSC official was cited as saying:

    "The new Financial Innovation Bureau will ... be tasked with policy initiatives for financial innovation, such as innovating financial services using fintech or big data, and responses to new developments and challenges such as cryptocurrencies."

Perhaps surprisingly, though, the body will exist only temporarily, with a two-year lifespan.

The decision to set up the temporary bureau was reportedly made during a meeting of financial regulators and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

"The FSC plans a major organizational reshuffle to better protect financial consumers and proactively respond to financial innovation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era," said the FSC official.

The move by the finance regulator come amid a growing effort in the country to develop new laws to regulate the blockchain industry after somewhat knee-jerk reactions in the past.

Notably, South Korea outlawed initial coin offerings last year. However, in May, the nation's legislative arm of government pushed for the removal of the ban, officially proposing legislation to permit ICOs as long as investor protections are put in place.

Earlier this month, it was also reported that members of different political parties are expected to submit bills focused on regulating cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings and blockchain. That follows moves by regulators to tighten rules to reduce the likelihood of money laundering and improve the domestic exchange industry following a number of hacks and cases of embezzlement.

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India's Supreme Court Pushes Crypto Banking Ban Hearing to September

A Supreme Court decision on the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) efforts to bar cryptocurrency firms from receiving banking services will have to wait – for now.

A final hearing on the ban's merits has been deferred to September 11, local news outlet Inc42 reported Friday. The panel of judges overseeing the case want all arguments and submissions from both the RBI and the ban's critics to be submitted by that day. While it is not clear when a decision will be made, Rashmi Deshpande, a lawyer representing Kali Digital, which runs an exchange, said she expects the Supreme Court to "dispose of the case" the same day.

The ban began in April, when the RBI announced that regulated financial institutions would be prohibited from servicing cryptocurrency exchanges and other related businesses. The Supreme Court upheld the ban earlier this month pending Friday's hearing.

Though the scheduled hearing was expected to include all final arguments to the case, the fact that certain organizations, including the Securities and Exchange Board of India, have not submitted their evidence resulted in the delay.

Speaking to Quartz India, Deshpande remained hopeful about the matter, saying:

    "Our expectation is that the hearing will be on the basis of merit where we get to present the case on why the RBI circular is unconstitutional and should be quashed."

At the same time, it was reported by the Bar and Bench that a senior advocate representing RBI said in today's hearing that  "the policy of RBI is of extreme caution," adding that cryptocurrencies had the potential to encourage illegal transactions.

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CoinMarketCap Announces Changes to Counter Fake Volume Concerns

The popular crypto data tracker CoinMarketCap is instituting changes in light of what it called "concerns" over fake volume figures.

In a blog post, published on July 19, the site said that it had already dropped a minimum volume requirement for exchanges listed on the site, a policy it said was originally pursued "in order to filter for more popular exchanges that could be listed on CoinMarketCap."

The site also plans to introduce new filters and ranking metrics in a bid to give users "the power to experience and use the data in a way that fits their needs most."

The announcement followed a post on CryptoExchangeRankings, which tackled the question of how relatively new exchanges were able to move up CMC's volume rankings. "The issue of fake volumes on crypto exchanges is like a UFO: some people claim to witness it but there is no evidence and metrics to prove its existence," the blog wrote.

CMC's vice president of marketing Carylyne Chan wrote in the site's post that it may show high trading volumes due to the way it gathers data from exchanges.

In particular, transaction mining, low fees and wash trading on the part of crypto projects might result in artificially high trade volumes appearing on the site.

Chan wrote:

    "While we have a relationship with most of the exchanges listed on our site, there is no guarantee that any of them will respond or comply to any specific guidelines, but we have to continue showing users the best approximation of price and volume based on all the data we have available. The evolution of new models such as transaction mining also means that there needs to be new ways to account for volume. Compounding it is the fact that they are, in fact, enabling greater liquidity in the way that users are trading more readily on the platforms."

CMC is designed around aggregating data sent to it by exchanges, and so the numbers on the site reflect "the best approximation of price and volume based on all the data we have available," she said, explaining that "even though we try our best to verify the data with the exchanges on our site, we are not in the practice of censoring or policing others."

That being said, she wrote, "we understand that these concerns are valid and have implications on the community and the impressions that people have about exchanges, even more than we are traditionally used to."

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Huobi Launches Service to Build Crypto Exchanges in the Cloud

Huobi, the world's third-largest cryptocurrency exchange platform by trade volume, is now offering a business arm to help customers build their own digital asset exchanges.

Dubbed the Huobi Cloud, the service is set up to provide clients "a one-stop solution ... [to enable] its partners to build secure and stable digital asset exchanges quickly," according to the official press release, though it did not provide specifics on what it will offer these partners.

The company goes on further to explain:

    "Over the past five years, Huobi has accumulated rich and valuable [research and development], security, compliance and operational experience through its digital asset trading platforms ... Huobi is looking to share its expertise and experience with the entire blockchain ecosystem and through this, develop the industry further to achieve mutual benefits for all stakeholders."

As such, Huobi Cloud is envisioned to strike up new global partnerships in an attempt to "promote the rapid and healthy development" of the blockchain space worldwide.

The announcement comes a day after the exchange announced it was making efforts to deepen alliances within the industry through the establishment of the "Huobi Blockchain Plus Industry Alliance."

The Alliance will focus on "community-based operations" to bring together experts and academics in the blockchain field to work together and leverage Huobi's "ecological resources."

These resources give members access to "jointly building blockchain labs with partners free of charge, sharing the research capability, technical capability and Blockchain Plus practical experience accumulated by Huobi Group over the past five years," among others.

Indeed, the cryptocurrency exchange giant has been making efforts to build stronger networks for the blockchain industry in recent months. In June, after launching a new investment option for retail investors, Huobi revealed they would be facilitating an investment fund envisioned to raise $93 million for blockchain startups in both China and South Korea.

Huobi image via Piotr Swat / Shutterstock

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Malta Says Crypto Rules Aren't Yet In Force

Malta's new cryptocurrency regulatory framework has not taken effect just yet.

Three bills regarding cryptocurrencies, blockchain and distributed ledger technology, passed by Maltese Members of Parliament in June, set out a number of ambitious changes to the country's legal landscape overseeing cryptocurrency-related businesses. However, the Malta Financial Services Authority said Friday that one of these laws is "not yet in force."

The government is currently developing the "Virtual Financial Assets Framework," which will complement "The Virtual Financial Assets Act," according to the announcement.

Until such a time as this framework is complete, the MFSA is not yet in a position "to start receiving request for approvals and authorizations under the Act."

Nor is it clear when the framework will take effect. The announcement notes that the bill will not take effect until "such date as the Minister for Digital Economy may establish by notice in the Government Gazette."

That being said, Malta, dubbed the "Blockchain Island," has been hailed as one of the world's most friendliest jurisdictions for cryptocurrencies attracting major crypto businesses such as Binance and OKEx.

In fact, it was reported this month that Binance, a major cryptocurrency exchange, would partner in efforts to launch the first Malta-based "decentralized and community-owned bank" dubbed the Founders Bank.

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Bitcoin Price Analysis: accumulating gains for the next ascent, $7,530 could unleash the upside – Confluence Detector

After the big surge early in the week, Bitcoin has been consolidating its gains. The BTC/USD is well supported and breaking above one significant level is the key to the upside.

The Technical Confluence Indicator shows that the $7,530 level is the all-important Pivot Point one-month Resistance 1. The broad timeframe makes the level critical for any upside move.

A break above the level opens the door to a surge higher, with only minor levels slightly slowing down such a potential rally. The $7,605-7,625 area consists of the Simple Moving Average 100-one-day and the Pivot Point one-day Resistance 1.

The next upside target is $7,717 which is the Pivot Point one-day Resistance 2. From there, the next hurdle is already above $8,000 at $8,034.

$7,439 is immediate the current battleground with the dense cluster of the Bolinger Band 15m-Middle, the SMA 100-15m, the BB one-hour Middle, the one-hour low, and the SMA 10-1h.

The pair is well supported at $7,392 with the Pivot Point one-week Resistance 3 and the Fibonacci 61.8% one-day.

Click to see the Full Confluence Indicator

Bitcoin technical confluence July 20 2018

The Confluence Detector finds exciting opportunities using Technical Confluences. The TC is a tool to locate and point out those price levels where there is a congestion of indicators, moving averages, Fibonacci levels, Pivot Points, etc. Knowing where these congestion points are located is very useful for the trader, and can be used as a basis for different strategies.

This tool assigns a certain amount of “weight” to each indicator, and this “weight” can influence adjacents price levels. These weightings mean that one price level without any indicator or moving average but under the influence of two “strongly weighted” levels accumulate more resistance than their neighbors. In these cases, the tool signals resistance in apparently empty areas.

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Bitcoin Daily: Steve Bannon Creates A Cryptocurrency, Hedge Fund Founder Pans Bitcoin

 

Regulators in Switzerland are doubling down on efforts to help crypto projects stay in the country, Reuters reported. The country’s crypto sector has experienced fast growth and provides jobs to hundreds of workers. But companies in the industry might leave if they government does not help them access banking systems.

“All their banking relationships are going to Liechtenstein,” Zug’s Finance Director Heinz Taennler told Reuters. “These are hundreds of jobs that have been created, and every job is important.”

In other news, Steve Bannon, the former advisor to President Donald Trump, is bullish on the bitcoin and is reportedly creating a cryptocurrency, according to CNBC.

“I like bitcoin. I own bitcoin,” Bannon said at an interview at a conference. Even so, Bannon is cautious when it comes to initial coin offerings (ICOs): “Too many investors get blown out by things that aren’t thought through,” Bannon said.

On a different note, billionaire Ken Griffin is hesitant to get involved with cryptocurrency, CNBC reported. Griffin, an investor and founder of Citadel, said none of his portfolio managers have suggested buying crypto. He added that he has “a hard time finding myself wanting to be in the position of being a liquidity provider to a product that I don’t believe in.” And, when it comes to bitcoin, Griffin said, “I still scratch my head.”

Elsewhere, a bitcoin bear thinks this week’s surge in bitcoin prices may last, CNBC reported: BK Asset Management’s Boris Schlossberg believes that bitcoin could rise above $8,000 without too much difficulty. The price of bitcoin was $7,468.70 as of 6:17 p.m. on Thursday (July 19), according to CoinDesk.

And while HSBC has been cautious with digital currencies, the bank has put efforts toward the blockchain, Cryptovest noted. In May, for example, HSBC and ING carried out a pilot finance transaction using the blockchain. However, a spokesperson for HSBC told Forbes, “HSBC does not trade cryptocurrencies, nor do we process payments denominated in virtual or cryptocurrencies

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Bitcoin could take a major chunk of change from gold, crypto expert says

 Bitcoin back above $7,000 has crypto bulls believing in the rally again. To one crypto expert, the leading cryptocurrency’s long-term move could be stratospheric.

Such a move will be fueled by a maturing crypto market that could lure investors out of physical gold and into “digital gold,” says Gabor Gurbacs, director of digital asset strategies at VanEck/MVIS.

“Gold today has around $7 trillion outstanding. If you take, say, 5 to 10 percent — I’ll let everyone do the math — bitcoin has upside,” he explained on CNBC’s “Futures Now” on Thursday.

Bitcoin currently has a market cap of $128 billion, according to Coindesk. If 10 percent of the gold trade were to shift into bitcoin, it would more than triple its market cap, by Gurbacs’ calculations.

“Bitcoin is used as digital gold today. It’s a de-risk asset. Basically if someone wants to outlay systematic risk, then one would go to access gold or digital gold (bitcoin),” he added.

Before bitcoin can take off, the crypto market first needs to evolve to address a few topics of consternation to institutional investors, says Gurbacs. He counts marketwide pricing and valuation and customer protection and compliance as among those issues.

There are 120 different exchanges out there, he says, and often the price of bitcoin changes from platform to platform. His firm, VanEck/MVIS, is addressing that issue with independent pricing benchmarks.

Gurbacs is optimistic the crypto market can change and mature to mirror more traditional investments.

“We believe that there is sufficient liquidity. We believe there is pricing benchmarks. We believe there is a way to integrate bitcoin into the financial ecosystem that we are used to for ETFs, stocks, bonds and commodities,” he explained.

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The Daily: Anti-Crypto Politician Backed by Payments Firm, Grayscale Raised $250m in H1

 In today’s edition of Bitcoin in Brief we cover an American anti-crypto politician who is financially backed by a legacy payments firm, a positive change of leadership at Goldman Sachs, Grayscale’s performance during first half of 2018 and much more.

Also Read: Mastercard Patents a Method to Manage Cryptocurrency “Fractional Reserves”

 He Who Pays the Piper Calls the Tune

The Daily: Anti Crypto Politician Backed by Payments Firm, Grayscale Raised $250m in H1Whenever you hear politicians talk about something and it sounds like they don’t have a clue about it, it’s important to remember that they may have a vested interest in misunderstanding it that way. An example of this came as US Representative Brad Sherman (Democrat-California) blasted cryptocurrencies at a House Financial Services Committee hearing entitled “The Future of Money: Digital Currency” on Wednesday.

“We should prohibit U.S. persons from buying or mining cryptocurrencies,” Rep. Sherman proclaimed. “Mining alone uses electricity which takes away from other needs and-or adds to the carbon footprint. As a store, as a medium of exchange, cryptocurrency accomplishes nothing except facilitating narcotics trafficking, terrorism, and tax evasion.”

And indeed members of the crypto community where quick to point out on social media and forums that, according to Opensecrets.org, his top financial contributor for 2017-2018 is Allied Wallet. This company is an online payments processor offering credit card, ACH and other legacy services that stand to lose out once wider cryptocurrency adoption makes them redundant.
DJ D-Sol Takes the Helm at Goldman

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) has announced that Lloyd C. Blankfein will retire as Chairman and CEO on September 30, 2018, and that the Board of Directors has appointed David M. Solomon to succeed him in both roles. The move caught the interest of cryptocurrency investors as, while Blankfein was more hesitant, Solomon is considered to be open to trading the new instruments. “We are clearing some futures around bitcoin, talking about doing some other activities there, but it’s going very cautiously,” Solomon said in an interview on Bloomberg TV last month. “We’re listening to our clients and trying to help our clients as they’re exploring those things too.” Goldman Sachs must “evolve its business and adapt to the environment,” he explained.

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The Simple Ledger Protocol Following the Colored Coins concept, another paper was revealed

Following the Colored Coins concept, another paper was revealed to the public written by Ryan X. Charles, Mark B. Lundeberg, Calin Culianu, Jonald Fyookball, James Cramer, and the developer Unwriter. The paper called, “Simple Ledger Protocol: A token system for Bitcoin Cash,” details a proposal for the BCH network that handles tradeable redeemable tokens without a consensus upgrade. Enhancement proposals such as GROUP have not been able to obtain consensus needed to change the base protocol, explains the group of developers. Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP) utilizes metadata in OP_Return transactions and the SLP creators believe consensus can be achieved by “token users and market participants adhering to a prescribed set of simple rules.”
No Matter How You Slice It — Token Assets Are Coming to Bitcoin Cash
A diagram from the SLP paper.

“Because SLP builds on the transaction chain of the existing Bitcoin framework, users can easily verify transactions with SPV/lite wallets within practical boundaries,” the paper explains.  

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Bitcoin Cash Community Greeted by Two More Token Creation Systems

                   

No Matter How You Slice It — Token Assets Are Coming to Bitcoin CashThe Bitcoin Cash (BCH) network has seen a lot of development since the last hard fork which debuted the reenabled Satoshi OP_Codes and the upgraded default data-carrier-size. The BCH community and developers have been bolstering the idea of tokenization on the BCH chain. There’s been a bunch of ideas so far with Andrew Stone’s GROUP proposal and Joannes Vermorel’s Tokeda paper. Then this week Bitmain developers revealed the Wormhole project that utilizes a fork of the Omni Layer. Then on Wednesday, two more token ideas have been introduced for the BCH chain — One concept from the Cryptonize.it developers, and another proposal written by a group of six developers including Jonald Fyookball, James Cramer, Unwriter, Mark B. Lundeberg, Calin Culianu, and Ryan X. Charles.

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The Amended Settlement Act Japanese Minister Denies Ties to Unregistered Crypto Exchange Under Investigation The National Diet, the seat of the Japanese government

Japanese lawmakers amended the Act on Settlement of Funds in May 2016 to regulate businesses handling virtual currencies. This law was amended after Mt. Gox went bankrupt in Japan in February of 2014 due to the misappropriation of customers’ assets by its operator.

In response to these background events, Japanese lawmakers enacted the Amended Settlement Act with three pillars of regulation as follows:

    Registration requirements on virtual currency exchange business in Japan;
    Regulation against money laundering and terrorist financing; and
    Introduction of rules to ensure customer protection.

What do you think of this Minister’s implication in government investigation into the crypto exchange operator? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Images courtesy of Jiji Press and Japan Times.

At Bitcoin.com there’s a bunch of free helpful services. For instance, have you seen our Tools page? You can even lookup the exchange rate for a transaction in the past. Or calculate the value of your current holdings. Or create a paper wallet. And much more.

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Japanese Minister Denies Ties to Unregistered Crypto Exchange Under Investigation

              

 Seiko Noda, Japan’s Minister for Internal Affairs & Communications, and Minister in charge of Women’s Empowerment, was questioned by the Japanese press on Thursday over her involvement with an unregistered cryptocurrency exchange, which was allegedly violating the Japanese fund settlement law.

Also read: Japan Tax Agency Says Individuals Earning $1,800+ in Crypto a Year Will Declare Tax

It was revealed on Thursday that, on January 30, Noda’s secretary and aide allegedly invited an agent of the FSA and the representative of an unnamed unregistered cryptocurrency exchange operator to her parliamentary office. The said exchange operator was under investigation by the FSA for operating without registration, Jiji Press reported. The FSA had slapped the Tokyo-based company with a warning on January 12, saying it was suspected of violating the law.
Given Her Position as a Cabinet Minister, Noda Risked Being Accused of Exerting Pressure on a Government Investigation
Japanese Minister Denies Ties to Unregistered Crypto Exchange Under Investigation
Seiko Noda, Minister for Internal Affairs

“Because there has never been any administrative ties between this company and my office, I believe there is no exerting pressure on the front of this government investigation.” Noda told the press at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, on Thursday.

According to Noda, her secretary and aide solicited an FSA agent for general background briefing regarding crypto exchanges’ legal framework and organized a meeting at her parliamentary office with an acquaintance who represented the company. Noda said she was not present at the meeting. The unnamed company was under government investigation on suspicion of violating the fund settlement law at the time, but Noda’s team claims it was not aware of that fact. An FSA official visited Noda’s office at the Diet members’ building on January 30 to explain Noda’s aide and the representative of the company under investigation the FSA’s positioning on regulations concerning funds raising by issuing cryptocurrency and other matters.

A senior agency official noted that the request from Noda’s office for a briefing could be interpreted as pressure. “A public servant will likely take it as pressure if an aide to a sitting Cabinet member calls for a meeting in which an employee of a company the agency is looking into is also present,” the official was quoted saying to Asahi newspaper.

Noda told reporters that she hasn’t received any political contribution, nor had she made any investment with the company. “I promise I will take more prudent responses in the future.” She added.

The company, which began dealing in its own cryptocurrency in October 2017, received administrative guidance in February 2018 not to continue selling cryptocurrencies.

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Bitcoin Price Risks Pullback Before Testing $8K Again

Bitcoin (BTC) could be in for a minor price pullback, having clocked a 39-day high above $7,500 earlier today, technical charts indicate.

The leading cryptocurrency rose to $7,562 on Bitfinex at 03:00 UTC and was last seen changing hands at $7,400 – up nearly 10 percent on a 24-hour basis. Further, the price rally has pushed the week-on-week gains higher to 15 percent.

On Tuesday, BTC crossed the inverse head-and-shoulders neckline resistance of $6,838 with strength, confirming a short-term bearish-to-bullish trend change.

So, a rally to $7,900 (inverse head-and-shoulders breakout target) could be on the cards. However, the move may not happen in the next 24 hours as the retreat from $7,562 to $7,370 indicates the bulls are keen on booking profits, having pushed BTC higher by more than $1,300 in the last 72 hours.

Further, the technical charts are also reporting intraday overbought conditions, meaning a price pullback could be in the offing before the rally continues. Moreover, investors who missed the initial move higher would have the opportunity to board the BTC freight train on any price pullback.

A minor correction, if it occurs, could end up recharging the engines for a sustained rally to $7,900–$8,000.
Daily chart

The above chart shows BTC has pulled back from near 100-day moving average (MA) hurdle of $7,613. Still, the bias remains bullish as the cryptocurrency has found acceptance above the 50-day MA.

The short-term moving averages (5-day, 10-day) are rising in favor of the bulls and the 5-day MA has cut the 50-day MA from below, confirming a bullish crossover.

What's more, the relative strength index (RSI) has also adopted a bullish bias (above 50.00).

As a result, BTC is more likely to extend the rally to $7,900–$8,000 in the short-run and confirm a successful reentry in the pennant pattern. That would be a major blow to BTC bears as the bearish pennant breakdown in June had signaled a revival of the sell-off from the record high of $20,000 reached in December.

A move back inside the pennant pattern would signal a long-term bearish invalidation. Meanwhile, a break above the pennant resistance, currently seen at $8,210, would strengthen the odds of a long-run bullish reversal.
Hourly chart

 

The RSI is beginning to roll over from the overbought territory (above 80.00) and the price pullback will likely gather pace if RSI drops below support at 58.00. Hence, we are unable to rule out a drop in BTC prices to $7,000.

That said, the dip is expected to be short-lived as the 50-hour MA, 100-hour MA, and 200-hour MA is located one above the other, indicating the path of least resistance is to the upside.
View

    BTC price is seen rallying to $8,000 in the short-run, albeit after a healthy pullback to $7,000.
    The technical correction will likely help BTC chart a more sustainable rally to $8,000.
    Only a daily close (as per UTC) below $6,839 (inverse head-and-shoulders neckline) would abort the bullish view.
    A close below $6,080 (July 12 low) would shift risk in favor of a drop to $5,755 (June 24 low).

Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing.

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