FEE FLIPPENING: Ethereum transaction fees are back on the rise and gaining parity with those on the bitcoin network. As seen in data from CoinMetrics, ethereum even briefly surpassed bitcoin in daily transaction fees on Sept. 21. The fairly rare event was down to bitcoins experiencing lower transaction volume alongside a fall-off in prices, while ethereum has seen a spate of transactions related to dollar-pegged stablecoin tether. “I do believe this is a temporary thing,” said trader Eric Choe. “Historically, bitcoin transaction fees have been higher." Full story
HOOP DREAMS: In partnership with crypto firm Paxos, NBA guard Spencer Dinwiddie is looking to raise $13.5 million by tokenizing the first year of his three-year, $34.5 million contract. Dubbed the DREAM Fan Shares platform, investors in the securities offering will earn interest through Dinwiddie’s bi-monthly paycheck.The minimum buy-in is $150,000. The guard for the Brooklyn Nets told CoinDesk that his contract is fully guaranteed, meaning investors do not risk losing their funds if he is injured or otherwise unable to play. Full story
WAIT OVER: Harbor Square Investments, a subsidiary of tokenized securities platform Harbor, has received a broker-dealer license from FINRA, company executives told CoinDesk on Friday. The move breaks a lengthy standoff between aspiring crypto broker-dealers and the U.S. regulators who approve them. For more than a year, the SEC and FINRA slow-walked Harbor’s and roughly 40 other crypto firms’ applications, voicing concerns that the digital assets they trade causes investors undue risk. “It took the regulators a long time to get a handle on the space and understand it and its implications,” Harbor CEO Josh Stein told CoinDesk. “This was very new for the SEC and FINRA, and they wanted to do it right.” Full story
UNDER PRESSURE: Dutch bank ING’s chief economist has said “fully fledged” digital currencies will be developed by central banks in just two to three years. Mark Cliffemight, speaking in an ING video published Friday, argued that the Facebook-led Libra cryptocurrency project is putting pressure on monetary authorities. With Libra slated for launch in 2020, central banks “would have” to make a move in that timeline. “I think we’ve already got some sense of urgency amongst the policy community,” he added. Full story
RSK TAKING: IVO Lab, the parent company behind RSK‘s bitcoin smart contract network, has acquired Spanish-language social networking platform Taringa. With the deal, IVO Labs plans to integrate RIF, RSK’s native token, into Taringa, as well as test RSK decentralized applications and infrastructure on the platform. One of the largest Spanish social media apps, Taringa claims to have some 30 million users, 1,000 active communities, and 8 million daily shares on its platform. Full story |
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| BIGGEST DROP? Bitcoin remains on the defensive and looks set record its largest weekly loss of 2019. The prospects of a sustained bounce look weak, as the cryptocurrency is finding no takers, despite technical indicators reporting extreme oversold conditions. A deeper drop to $7,500 could be in the offing over the weekend. Full story |
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| | FACEBOOK’S FENCE: Will Libra contribute to Facebook’s monopolization of tech? At least one senior executive at Ripple thinks so. In an interview with CNBC , Marcus Treacher, Ripple’s senior vice president referred to the stablecoin project as a “walled garden,” a term used to describe companies that exercise outsized control over their software and apps. Treacher points to the centralized design of the 28-member Libra Foundation, a Swiss-based non-profit that will oversee the development of the cryptocurrency. |
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