CBOE applies for new Bitcoin licence
Chicago Board Options Exchange Global Markets has filed a request with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell Bitcoin-based exchange-traded funds, or ETFs.
CBOE wants to list Bitcoin shares worth 25 bitcoins apiece. If approved, they will be available in 2019.
EU confirms that European law applies to European companies
The European Securities and Markets Authority updated its website to answer questions regarding the effect of new financial laws on customers outside of the EU. It says that the laws only cover entities within the EU.
The legal frameworks, MiFID II and MiFIR II, were enacted earlier this year. They are more extensive and stricter than previous iterations and are designed to protect people from financial fraud.
Bitmain at the Opera
Chinese Bitcoin mining giant Bitmain is going to buy $50 million worth of shares in Opera Ltd when the operator of the popular internet browser goes public on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
Opera, which accounts for approximately 3 percent of internet browser usage, filed for its IPO on the 29th of June at the US Securities and Exchange Commission. It expects to raise $115 million.
Blockchain smartphone arms race
London-based Sirin Labs and HTC of Taiwan are directly competing with their soon to be released blockchain-based mobile phones. Sirin appears to be closer to its goal, or at least is more willing to share previews of the phone.
HTC's product is called Exodus. All that has been released so far is a blueprint for the phone, but the company says that it will be on the shelves in the third quarter of this year.
Major Bancor hack
Bancor, a Swiss company that offers a token to token exchange service, paused its operations after hackers reportedly made off with $12 million in cryptocurrency.
The company confirmed that an attack had taken place, but said that it only affected trading operations and not tokens kept in the accounts of customers.
Swedish firm buys piece of Saxo Bank
EQT, a private equity firm from Stockholm, will purchase Saxo Payments Banking Circle in the fourth quarter of 2018. Saxo Payments Banking Circle, founded in 2013, provides infrastructure to process cross-border payments.
The current management of Banking Circle will remain in their positions after the acquisition goes through. Saxo Bank has been selling off side businesses recently because it wants to focus on its brokerage department.
Cryptocurrency advertising - where next?
Most major social media platforms have by now banned cryptocurrency advertising as a response to abundant scams. This was and remains a blow to the cryptocurrency industry, but loopholes are always being found. One of them is to pay 'social media influencers' - that is, users of YouTube/Instagram with thousands of fans - to run campaigns.
This analysis piece examines this phenomenon and its own backlash - such as the trend of celebrities promoting fraudulent ICO projects.
