No one knows how long the bear market will last. One thing is sure that the bear market is removing all the weak projects in crypto industry.

MrCoin

Weekly Crypto Recap

"Trying to stop crypto is same as trying to stop mathematics.” ~ Jason Hsu

Market State

BTC: €3,944.90 | -31.94% since last week

ETH: €116.32 | -38.52% since last week

BCH: temporarily suspended

LTC: €28.97 | -37.59% since last week

Last week was an eventful week for cryptocurrency. We saw a huge drop in cryptocurrency prices. Many people think that the sudden crash was caused by uncertainty surrounding last week’s Bitcoin Cash hard fork. Now we have two seperate cryptocurrencies forked from Bitcoin Cash. Bitcoin Cash ABC version is considered as the “real Bitcoin Cash” (BCH). Bitcoin dropped by 32% to €3,944.90 since last week. While Ether and Litecoin have plunged by 38%.

There were some good news such as Switzerland-based exchange is launching a cryptocurrency Exchange Traded Product (ETP), which offers basket of top five cryptocurrencies. Also IMF urged central banks to explore digital currencies. No one knows how long the bear market will last. One thing is sure that the bear market is removing all the weak projects in crypto industry.

Quiz of the week

What is a Bitcoin transaction fee?

It's an amount of Bitcoin users pay to the miners to include their transaction into a block
It's a fee that is paid to the exchange when you sell/buy Bitcoins
It's a fee deducted from each transaction which is paid to wallet creators when sending a transaction

Scroll down to see the answer at the end of the newsletter.

Top stories of the week

Bitcoin Cash has forked

Bitcoin Cash has now split into two separate blockchains, Bitcoin ABC and Bitcoin SV (Satoshi Vision). Network splits like this happens when the crypto community can't come to an agreement on how to move forward. Bitcoin ABC is supported by Roger Ver and his mining pool Bitcoin.com, enabled smart contract features, oracle services, and scaling improvements. Bitcoin SV is led by Craig Wright, who has previously declared himself Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin SV increased the block size of Bitcoin Cash from 32MB to a maximum of 128MB. A handful of exchanges have announced that they will be supporting both coins. Exchanges are having a hard time to assign ticker symbols for the coins. Bittrex declared Bitcoin ABC as BCH. Some exchanges refusing to maintain the BCH ticker and going with BAB or BCHABC. Bitcoin SV takes BCHSV or BSV ticker.

Iran Removed From SWIFT Banking System

The US government officially removed Iran from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) network. This prevents Iran from sending and receiving transactions from its partners. Kingston University professor Steve Keen, heavily criticized the US government for isolating the central bank of a sovereign nation from the global financial system. Iran has no other option but to turn to cryptocurrency. There are several merchants and major hostels that are already using cryptocurrency. Iran plans to launch its own state backed cryptocurrency like Venezuelan Petro. However that would still be centralized. Fortunately we already have a better solution, namely Bitcoin. Bitcoin will always be available to everyone with an internet connection.

The SEC chases ICOs

The US SEC filed charges against two ICO issuers. According to the SEC, both AirFox and Paragon raised millions of dollars last year through ICOs after the SEC stated that “Tokens are securities” in its 2017 DAO Report. AirFox and Paragon raised $15 million and $12 million respectively. Both companies got the same penalty of $250,000 despite being very different. AirFox transfers mobile airtime and data while Paragon provides supply chain tracking for the cannabis industry. Companies agreed to register their tokens as securities and return the money back to investors in USD. But only to those who submit timely claims and prove they are entitled to payment. This will lead ICO companies to bankruptcy as Ethers they raised is 80% down since 2017.

Venezuelan department store started accepting cryptocurrencies

Venezuelans have been facing a difficult economic situation in recent years. Annual inflation rate in Venezuela passed 150,000% due to constant printing of money. The price would have changed in minutes while you are waiting in the queue. Many restaurants find it hard to keep up with that and no longer bother to include prices on their menus. However in the midst of chaos crypto adoption is growing in Venezuela and helping people to transact with each other. Traki, a Venezuela department store chain started taking cryptocurrencies as payment. The store accepts top cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ether, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and Dash. A Venezuelan was able to purchase 884 items of school supplies and clothing with as little as $260 in Bitcoin. Those items will be donated to Venezuelan kids in need.

IMF Advocates Fiat Cryptocurrencies

The Managing Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde has urged central banks around the world to consider issuing digital currency. Ms Lagarde said in a speech at a recent Singapore Fintech Festival “I believe we should consider the possibility to issue digital currency. There may be a role for the state to supply money to the digital economy”. She also said a state-issued cryptocurrency would be a liability of the state, just like fiat money. Though it’s nice to see governments and banks recognizing the potential of cryptocurrencies, state backed cryptocurrencies would still be centralized and censorable. A recent removal of Iran from the global financial system is a perfect example of it.

The First Crypto ETP in Switzerland

The SIX Swiss Exchange will launch the world’s first crypto Exchange Traded Product (ETP) similar to Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) this week. The ETP will be traded under a ticker name HODL. HODL offers baskets of five major cryptocurrencies Bitcoin (BTC), Ripple (XRP), Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC). Bitcoin accounts for half of the HODL ETP, followed by Ripple making up 30% of the investment. When you buy shares of HODL ETP, it will be backed by the actual cryptocurrencies which they hold. While ETFs rarely have restrictions on type of investors ETPs are not available to retail investors.

Tweet of the week

Meme of the week

Crypto word of the week

Hard fork is a drastic change to a cryptocurrency base code that is not backward compatible. If everyone agrees to the new rules there will be no chain split as everyone will use the updated version of a blockchain. But if there is a disagreement among that crypto communitythere will be chain split. Up until the split the two chains share the same common history. If you had money prior to the split you will have money on both chain after the split.

Quiz answer

What is a Bitcoin transaction fee?

The correct answer is : “A”

Transaction fee is a fee that users pay to the miners to include their transaction into a block. Transaction speed depends on the transaction fee. Users can set transaction fees manually. If they set a transaction fee too low, miners can refuse to include their transaction into a block. The higher the transaction fee the higher the chance that miners will process any transaction and include it into the next block.

Thank you for reading :)

Have a great day!

MrCoin

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MrCoin

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