Morning everyone. Some good news today— Bitcoin is not at zero, and Ethereum is above a dollar. Rejoice!
3 things you need to know:
One: India may not blanket ban cryptocurrency investment after all. The original ban stated that after July 5th, Indian citizens would not be able to use their money to buy or sell more cryptocurrencies. It seems that that may change much sooner than previously thought. The ban has been challenged by many parties as unconstitutional. People are arguing that the governments fears about money laundering and using crypto for illicit activity can be sufficiently prevented by using proper KYC/AML processes.
Happy quote: “I don’t think anyone is really thinking of banning it (cryptocurrencies) altogether. The issue here is about regulating the trade and we need to know where the money is coming from. Allowing it as (a) commodity may let us better regulate trade and so that is being looked at.”
Two: Cryptocurrency custody service BitGo to add support for 57 more ERC-20 tokens. It aims to have support for over 100 cryptocurrencies by the end of 2018. BitGo is currently the industry leader when it comes to institution custody solutions. This additional support will only increase the head start it has over other companies trying to provide custody solutions such as Coinbase.
ERC-20 Fever: The decisions on which tokens are added to BitGo are largely driven by BitGo’s client’s requests, meaning that tons of people have been requesting ERC-20 tokens.
Custody is hard: There are tons of hedge funds out there that actively trade cryptocurrencies and currently have no good way of securing assets. Most of the active traders out there just take the risk of hosting assets on an exchange, and either buy insurance or risk a small part of their portfolio. Custody is such a big issue in these markets, and risk of losing assets is incredibly high.
Hot take: A custody solution that also offers a seamless trading service and allows for insurance to be bought (all on one platform) will take off. Coinbase is currently 2/3 of the way there…
Three: Opera is adding Ethereum Support to its mobile browser. One of the main gripes with DApps is that they are almost exclusively accessible from desktop web browsers. In a mobile world, this is a problem. Opera’s mobile browser will add support for all ERC-20 tokens, and will even support some ERC-721 tokens like Crypto Kitties. Not only will Opera offer wallet functionality, it will allow for access to DApps from its mobile browser.
Cool beans: Personally, I have used very few DApps. I held off from trying CryptoKitties because I like to play games on the go. Maybe what is needed for there to be, “killer DApps” is simply mobile support. Let’s not forget that at the height of the bull run, Coinbase hit #1 on the Appstore. People need DApps to be as simple to use as regular old Apps.
Also in the news:
What I’m reading today:
Regulators Are Slowly Starting to Get It: Utility Tokens Are Real!
Here’s a great piece by Michael Casey about the evolution of regulators, and their coming around to the admission that there may in fact be shortcomings in current securities law.
It’s clear that there are stark differences in countries approaches to regulation of these digital assets, and that the borderless and free nature of cryptocurrencies is forcing less innovative countries to catch up.
ICO’s are cutting out the United States because they can comfortably raise money from Asian or European investors. Malta has become a leading voice in the blockchain community, and Switzerland is beginning to introduce crypto-friendly legislation. The article presents a nice overview of how regulators are finally coming around…some good news in this otherwise difficult climate.
Around the corner:
NULS is releasing their mainnet on July 12th
Cboe Bitcoin Futures Expire on July 18th
3rd annual DC Blockchain conference takes place on July 26th
Market Outlook:
Quick Take
Almost nothing has changed since yesterday, so let’s just have a quick recap.
We tested the 6.3k support a couple times as expected, but didn’t break. If we break 6.3k, it’s possible that 6k follows. If we break upwards past 6.4k, we’re looking at a possible run to 6.6k
Daily Chart:
Fear & Greed:
Less fearful than yesterday. Not a lot to see here. We’re unfortunately in one of those uncertain zones, where it’s high probability for moves in either direction. When in doubt, look at the larger trend and you’ll find the likeliest move to be in line with that trend.