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3 things you need to know:
One: CatalX to launch crypto platform in Canada. The company will be using Bittrex technology to bring a digital asset trading platform to Canada. Canada is a historically underserved market when it comes to blockchain, despite having a (supposedly) tech savvy population.
Coming soon: The produce will be launching soon, on August 27th, and will feature the most extensive selection of digital tokens in Canada.
Bittrex partnership: As a Bittrex partner, CatalX will have access to Bittrex technology and its slate of utility tokens that were selected through a robust, careful token review process.
King in the castle: This partnership positions CatalX as a top dog in the Canadian crypto asset markets, with over 200 coin pairings, low fees, and the strong, trusted Bittrex brand behind them.
Takeaway: Crypto exchanges are helping build other crypto exchanges? YES! And this has been true since the beginning. Have you ever wondered why KuCoin, Binance, OKex and others all look so similar? It’s because they’re all (shh — this actually undisclosed info) built by a company called SHIFT. Exchanges are incredibly difficult to build securely, so most exchange development is outsourced to experts. Moving forward, expect this type of exchange collaboration to continue…
Two: Coinbase acquires blockchain identity company. Coinbase has announced that it has acquired Distributed Systems, a company trying to provide blockchain based identity solutions. This acquisition furthers Coinbase’s reach into decentraland, it really seems as if Coinbase is putting its hands in all the cookie jars.
Cool beans: You know how you can use your facebook instead of making a new account on half of all websites? That’s how you should think of blockchain identity solutions. Except you don’t have to worry about someone selling your data, and your virtual identity isn’t limited to signing in on websites, it could be used to verify your medical records, or provide immigration and customs information about you.
Three: Over $2 million in Ethereum stolen by cybercriminals in Q2. According to a spam and phishing report by Kaspersky, cybercriminals targeting ICOs stole at least $2.3 Million using methods such as fake ICO pages with slightly changed URLs to mimic the real deal. This number does not include traditional phishing methods that compromise a user’s accounts.
“Ethereum (ETH) is currently the most popular cryptocurrency with phishers. The popularity of Ethereum with cybercriminals increases as more funds are attracted by ICOs on the Ethereum platform.”
Slow your roll: Friendly reminder to exercise extreme caution when investing in ICOs. Triple check everything. People will make fake telegram groups, DM you fake contribution addresses, switch up the url, you name it, they’ll find a way to trick people.
Also in the news:
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Market Outlook:
Quick Take
We tested the 6.6k area, but failed to break through, leading to a re-trace to the 6.2k region. We are currently trading around 6.4k, and I see a re-test of 6.5-6.6k coming soon. If we break through 6.6k, the next stop is the 6.8k area; a strong close above that would likely lead to a pump to 7k and beyond.
The bearish case is a strong rejection of 6.5-6.6k, which would send us tumbling down to the 6k area, erasing any gains made in the last 2 days. There is strong support at 5.9k, if we break below that, who knows where we will find our next support.
Daily Chart
Fear & Greed
Overall, we remain fearful. Momentum and strength in the market are weak, as we are clearly still in the midst of bearish market conditions. We are seeing more investors moving to stable digital assets, as the ‘safe-haven’ index has increased relative to yesterday’s reading. Shorts still vastly outnumber longs at 57%, and we could be in for a short squeeze if we break 6.6k.
Here’s a reminder of what these criteria mean
Around the corner:
What I’m reading today:
You can buy tokens backed by Robinhood Shares (and the company is still private).
The tokenization of assets continues -- in a new an innovative manner. A lot of people wax poetic about the impact of asset tokenization, but there hasn’t been much progress that can be pointed to. It’s a model that isn’t proven out yet, but is now being actively tested by Swarm, a cryptocurrency startup, is aiming to decentralize venture capital.
Pre-IPO companies like Robinhood are still private. The only way to own equity in them is to be an institutional investor and invest in one of their funding rounds, or be an employee of the company. What Swarm has done is find former employees looking to sell equity before the IPO. Swarm purchased that equity through a shell company, and the shell company’s shares are listed on Swarm’s platform as SRC-20 tokens.
Slightly convoluted? Yes. Is it legit? Yes.
“Secondary equities transactions and refinancing of legal entities which hold private company equity are not new in the United States. What’s new here is the tokenization of these assets, and the doors opened by this innovation,” -Philipp Pieper, CEO of Swarm Fund
Still, it’s not all that it’s hyped up to be. You still have to be an institutional investor to buy SRC-20 tokens. Baby steps. In the future Swarm plans to list tokens backed by equity in Coinbase, Ripple, and Didi.
It’s an innovative take to distribute previously illiquid equity…in the forms of tokens. It’s great to see decentralization actually happening, as a lot of the time it’s all bark, no bite.