31/07/2018: Biggest Stories in the Cryptosphere

by BlockEx

1. Reuters Partners With CryptoCompare To Track Cryptocurrencies

We previously reported on Reuters tracking 100 cryptocurrencies to create a sentiment data feed. The news agency has formed a partnership with crypto market data aggregator CryptoCompare. The latter will integrate order book and trade data for 50 cryptocurrencies in Reuters’ financial desktop platform Eikon. The price fluctuation predictions will be more reliable and traders will be provided with a wider view of the crypto market. Reuters also believe that the initiative will educate investors in terms of how to incorporate ‘tokenized assets’ in their portfolios. The news comes following a survey revealing that 20% of the 400 companies interviewed was considering integrating crypto in their operations within the next 3–12 months.

2. Crypto Service Leads To Growth In Profits For Swiss Bank

Swiss banking group Swissquote has enjoyed a growth in profits by 44% in the first half of the current year. Many believe that this is due to crypto rising in popularity since one year ago, the online bank was labelled “the first European online bank to launch Bitcoin (BTC) trading accounts for its clients”. This is why many believe that a strong demand, along with crypto markets seeing their financial value surge, was the reason behind this trend. Apart from the profit, the bank also benefited from a surge in the number of customers accounts and trading activity. When they exceeded expectations the first time, back in January 2018, Swissquote itself attributed the event to a strong interest in Bitcoin trading and more people applying for an account.

3. Tech Venture Investor Believes Bitcoin ETF Is a Matter Of Time

Fatfish Internet Group CEO Kin-Wai Lau stated that it’s not too long before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approves a Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF). He thinks that it’s a matter of months before the market accepts this kind of ETF. Lau also added that there are certain elements an applicant needs to provide in order to be successful. Examples include self-monitoring and liquidity creation. The executive also believes that cryptocurrencies’ prices, Bitcoin’s included, will benefit from a ‘second wave’ and their prices will rise. His positive stance is due to the strong interest crypto is benefiting from at the moment. Finally, he concluded by noting that a growing number of countries is regulating the industry rather than ban it.

4. SEC’s Crypto Senior Advisor Wants Coin Industry To Communicate More With Regulators

A month ago we covered Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) assigning its first crypto senior advisory role to Valerie A. Szczepanik. The Senior Advisor for Digital Assets and Innovation has now said that she wants the coin industry to communicate more with regulators. She noted that crypto companies might be intimidated by SEC and, therefore, less prone to approach the agency. Due to a mistrust towards the government, many are reluctant to discuss their business. Szczepanik wants the situation to change and crypto firms to ‘talk more with regulators’. At the moment, her main three policy are ICOs, coins classification (if securities or not), and Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

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