The State of The Market — January 18, 2019BTC: $3,649.79 (+0.48%)XRP: $0.325594 (-0.51%)ETH: $121.95 (+0.15%)
The crypto market continues to remain steady as it gained just above $400 Million in the last 24 hours. There is no solid trend in the market today, with most cryptocurrencies in green. However, Bitcoin could turn bearish over the weekend as it failed to go past $3,700. It could test its support at $3,400, or even $3,000. The top 10 cryptocurrencies changed by less than 2% in the last 24 hours.
In other news, Grayscale Investments announced that it has launched a new fund dedicated to Stellar Lumens (XLM). The fund is called Grayscale Stellar Lumens Trust and it is designed to provide investors with exposure to Stellar’s price movement. Also, ShapeShift cryptocurrency exchange platform recently released a report titled “Pulling Back The Curtain: How ShapeShift Handles Law Enforcement Compliance.” In the report, the exchange detailed the 60 law enforcement inquiries that it had received during 2018 and discussed how the exchange deals with such inquiries.
1) The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) is set to apply for a digital exchange license. Thailand has become one of the most progressive nations in Asia when it comes to cryptocurrency regulations. With the growing popularity of cryptocurrency exchanges, SET wants in on the action. In Thailand, the SEC issues crypto regulations and the Finance Ministry issues licenses for exchanges. Bitkub Group, one of the first officially approved crypto exchange could partner with SET. (Read More)
2) Coinbase, one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, has acquired a San Francisco-based data collection startup called Blockspring. The company collects data and makes it consumable to its customers through APIs. It helps companies build lead lists, automate marketing reports and integrate live data into their websites. Coinbase, which is valued at $8 Billion, did not disclose the money it spent on the acquisition. Blockspring raised $3.5 Million in its seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz in 2015. Blockspring will continue to operate as an individual company, and continue serving its customers. (Read More)
3) OKCoin founder Star Xu could possibly be looking for a roundabout way to conduct a backdoor initial public offering (IPO) after his firm applied to obtain a 60% stake in a company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX). Documents show that Xu filed for approval to purchase the stake in LEAP Holdings Group Ltd. on January 10 and Xu is requesting that OKC Holdings Corp., be permitted to purchase 3.2 billion shares of LEAP Holdings Group for $60 million. The HKEX temporarily suspended LEAP Holdings’ stock to prevent the news from impacting its price and if approved, the acquisition would provide a path for OKCoin to become a public company without having to proceed through all the regulatory procedures that would be required of a company if they directly applied for an IPO. (Read More)
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