Summary:
- US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin signals new rules on cryptocurrencies
- Blockchain.com, a creator of over 40 million digital-asset wallets, moves into crypto trading
- A Philippines' bank conducts its first blockchain-based transaction after issuing its own stablecoin
New rules in the US
Over the course of recent years, some prominent financial institutions as well as many governments have signalled the need to strengthen scrutiny on digital currencies due to the fact that they may pose a risk to the global financial system. Having this in mind, nobody should be particularly surprised by the news which came out last week suggesting that the United States will issue new rules on cryptocurrencies to ensure that they do not negatively impact the financial system, as Bloomberg reports. Let us notice that interest of this topic in the Trump administration has increased after a Facebook announcement that it plans to create a digital token. On top of that, Steven Mnuchin, US Treasury Secretary, said last week that Bitcoin was being used for criminal activity and had pledged that financial regulators would work together on the issue. He stressed that “We are going to make sure we have a unified approach and my guess is that there are going to be more regulations that come out from all these agencies.”
Bitcoin is trying to bounce off its support placed around $9500. However, the price broke below the 50DMA which is a bearish signal. Source: xStation5
Blockchain.com enters crypto trading activity
Blockchain.com, a creator of more than 40 million digital-asset wallets, has informed that it plans to enter the crypto trading activity with the Pit, a London-based exchange. Its offer will include Bitcoin, Ether, Bitcoin Cash, Tether, Litecoin and Paxos. The company has also added that customers may already deposit their funds while trading will begin soon. As per the information given by the company, the Pit is to execute orders in less than 50 microseconds, that is well below the time needed by other exchanges which hovers between 200 and 500 milliseconds. It is also worth adding that Blockchain.com claims that 25% of all Bitcoin transactions come from one of its wallets.
The discrepancy between Ripple and Bitcoin has yet to close. Source: xStation5
A Philippines' bank issues its own stablecoin
As Coindesk informs, the Philippines’ UnionBank has recently issues its own stablecoin called PHX, and along with this issuance it has also conducted its first blockchain-based transaction. We can read that the PHX is pegged to the Philippines' peso and backed by UnionBank reserves. In addition to that, we may also read that “PHX is a stable store of value, medium of exchange and is a programmable token with self-executing logic. It enables transparent and automatic execution of payments,” as UnionBank Senior President said.
Ethereum is approaching the upper end of the triangle formation after it was able to stay above $200. Source: xStation5
