The rundown: Bitcoin and all major currencies were down in the morning; blockchain firm Huobi Global plans to expand into the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia; blockchain-based, skill-sharing platform Vanywhere appoints Bittrex CEO to its board; MGT Capital is relocating Swedish Bitcoin miners to Colorado; a China arbitration court says that Bitcoin should be legally protected as a property; India’s Supreme Court asks the government to submit a detailed cryptocurrency report in two weeks; and more.
Here is what is happening in the cryptocurrency market on Friday.
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In the News
Blockchain company Huobi Global announced plans to expand into the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. The company made the announcement at the World Blockchain Summit in Dubai. Huobi has established a Dubai-based operations team to cover the three regions in order to replicate its ecosystem model. It will offer OTC trading, token-to-token trading, blockchain projects incubation, community development, and an educational center.
Vanywhere, the blockchain-based, skill-sharing platform, announced that Bill Shihara, the co-founder and CEO of Bittrex, has joined the company’s board of advisors. Shihara will use his extensive blockchain expertise to provide strategic guidance and support to the Vanywhere team, according to a press statement.
MGT Capital Investments (OTCQB: MGTI) is relocating Swedish Bitcoin miners to Colorado. The company entered into a hosting agreement for a facility in Colorado Springs, Colo., to support its Bitcoin mining operations. The company has been analyzing various options to relocate its 6,300 S9 Antminer Bitcoin Miners presently housed in northern Sweden.
Vstock Transfer, a transfer agent and registrar firm that services private issuers, IPOs and Regulation A transactions, has selected OKTO.io for Vtoken’s issuer clients looking to conduct a registered security token offering. “We recognize that the technical underpinnings of security tokens are much more dynamic than traditional securities. Knowing that we will need to work with a broad array of technology requirements, we chose OKTO.io for their blockchain and broker dealer knowledge and experience,” Yoel Goldfeder, CEO of Vstock Transfer, said in a statement.
The Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration in China says that Bitcoin should be legally protected as a property, reports Coin Desk. The arbitration court published a case analysis of a recent economic dispute that involved a business contract relating to possession and transfer of crypto assets.
Hearing a case against the cryptocurrency banking ban by the Reserve Bank of India, the Indian Supreme Court has directed the government to submit a detailed report within two weeks. The Modi government set up a panel in December 2017 to propose regulations on cryptocurrencies. The panel was expected to submit its suggestions by July.
Vietnam’s largest telecoms company Viettel Group is betting big on blockchain. Its innovation arm Viettel Enterprise Solutions has set a goal to become the country’s main blockchain technology provider in five years, according to a report by local news outlet Viet Nam News.
For the third quarter of 2018, Ripple reported selling $65.27 million worth of XRP programmatically. During the quarter XRP II, a Ripple subsidiary that is a registered and licensed money service business, sold $98.06 million worth of XRP in institutional direct sales. In total, the company reported selling $163.33 million worth of XRP in the third quarter.
The Canada Border Services Agency and the Port of Montreal are jointly testing blockchain technology to streamline freight shipping, reports The Canadian Press. The new technology was developed by International Business Machines (IBM) and Danish shipping container giant A.P. Moller-Maersk Group.
Cryptocurrency Prices Today (As of 6:03 AM EST)
Bitcoin (BTC) is up 0.23% over the past 24 hours, trading at $6,470.76.
Ethereum (ETH) is trading at $203.93 in the morning, up 1.03% over a 24-hour period.
EOS is trading at $5.47, up 0.74% over the past 24 hours.
Ripple (XRP) is trading at $0.4607, up 0.52% over a 24-hour period.
Litecoin (LTC) is trading at $52.33, up 0.31% over a 24-hour period.
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