Key Facts Of The Day 25.07.2018

Bitcoin’s ETF Entrance Postponed

Over the last week, the price of bitcoin has made double a flip, turning the market upside down and forcing traders to tear their hair out. First, the price rises from 6,000 to more than 8,000 due to generally positive forecasts regarding bitcoin ETFs, and now it’s losing positions possible because of SEC’s statement. So what happened? The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said that it needed two more months (till September 21) to decide whether to approve five bitcoin-related exchange-traded funds (ETF) offered by the investment company Direxion Asset Management.

Bitwise Files For Crypto Index ETF

Cryptocurrency index fund Bitwise has announced it has filed an application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list crypto exchange-traded funds (ETF’s) under the product name of “Bitwise HOLD 10 Cryptocurrency Index Fund”. In accordance with the name, the fund will be tied to top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. The company adds that while the fund will capture around 80% of total market capitalization, it will also utilize a 5-year-diluted market cap. This will mitigate the possible volatility of the market in the forms of continuously changing supply, liquidity and other factors.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

1. SEC has not approved a cryptocurrency-backed ETF to date, and following a delay in making a call on a similar application from CBOE, a positive decision is now not a certainty.

2. Cryptocurrency community and investors are eagerly awaiting the arrival of crypto-backed ETF’s. As revealed by SEC when it disclosed results of a request for comment which was 97% positive.

Tezos Announces Audit by PwC

Tezos Foundation, the company behind XTZ token has announced that an external financial audit will be conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Tezos says that they are set to become the first blockchain organization to be audited by a ‘big-four’ firm. This move aims to bring transparency to the how the company operates, which should address some of the controversies it has faced after its initial coin offering (ICO) finished around a year ago.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

1. For the first time, a well known financial auditor will evaluate a large scale cryptocurrency business that should set the benchmark for how blockchain backed organizations should be supervised.

2. Previously, stablecoin Tether project came under much scrutiny for failing to provide an official financial audit. Critics claimed that because the USDT token is backed by the firm at 1 to 1 against the U.S. dollar, a selective one day audit by a law firm is not sufficient to prove its financial stability of the firm.

EY Enters Blockchain Auditing

Ernst & Young (EY) has recently acquired a cryptocurrency technology from San Francisco based Elevated Consciousness Incorporated: The Andy Crypto-Asset Accounting and Tax (CAAT). Think of it as a monitoring tool for cryptocurrency fund transfers and assets, which is in contact with various exchanges and wallets. CAAT will be an invaluable asset for EY to draw investors who are about to enter the crypto market. Like other major accounting firms, EY is working hard to expand its products and services related to cryptocurrency and blockchain.

EY’s Tax partner and Tax Blockchain leader Michael Meisler elaborated the advantageous functions of CAAT by underlining the risk management options. The tool analyzes the potential results so that users can plan accordingly, in other words, CAAT will assist users in entering and finding their way through the crypto market.

Reddit's Ohanian Backs Bitcoin for $20K

Reddit founding partner Alexis Ohanian once again predicted the rise of Bitcoin (Bitcoin: BITCOIN) up to $20,000 by the end of this year. While the second cryptocurrency, Ethereum (BITFINEX: ETH/USD.BITFINEX), should be reaching the mark of $1,500. He also sees the need to keep the focus on cryptocurrency technologies. He also noted that even though cryptocurrencies are very volatile, the technology represents a real viable alternative, which is showing increased credibility over time and has a unique value in the long-term. However, according to Ohanian, the main thing is not to trade with a short-term planning horizon, but to work with technologies that underlie the cryptocurrency.

At 20:00 (GMT+1) total cryptocurrency market capitalization stands at $296,1 billion

Bitcoin (TICKER: BTC.EXANTE) $8092 (-1,77%)

Ethereum (TICKER: ETH/USD.BITFINEX) $470 (-1,14%)

XRP (TICKER: XRP.EXANTE) $0,46 (+1,11%)

Bitcoin Cash (TICKER: BCH.EXANTE) $826 (-3,04%)

EOS (EXANTE: EOS.EXANTE) $8,49 (-0,17%)

Stellar (+3,72%) showed the best growth in the top-10

IOST (+26,90%) showed the best growth in the top-100

Market Dynamics

The trading volume of cryptocurrencies for 24 hours reached $17,9 billion (-2,1 billion per day)

Mining Profitability

BTC $4,0 for 10 TH/s

ETH $0,34 for 10 MH/s

BCH $0,37 for 1 TH/s

LTC $4,5 for 1 GH/s

DASH $0,13 for 1 GH/s

Ongoing ICOs:

Expected ICOs:

Click here for the full list of ongoing ICOs.