Crypto Tidbits: Bakkt Bitcoin Custody, China’s Cryptocurrency On the Horizon, XRP In Hot Water

Another week, another of Crypto Tidbits. Bitcoin saw yet another tumultuous week in terms of price action. It fell by over 8% in one day, as bears managed to take control of the market. But, despite this downward price movement, this industry continued to trudge forward.

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Bitcoin & Crypto Tidbits

• Bakkt To Start Custodying Bitcoin Next Week: According to a recent Twitter announcement, Bakkt, the New York Stock Exchange-backed crypto startup, will soon start taking custody of Bitcoin (BTC) through Bakkt Trust Company. The long-awaited exchange will activate this product on September 6th — a Friday. Custody is being launched two weeks out from the activation of Bakkt’s Bitcoin Daily and Monthly Futures contracts. This news comes shortly after the firm revealed that it had received the “greenlight from the CFTC through the self-certification process and user acceptance testing has begun.” Analysts bill the launch of Bakkt as “arguably the most bullish event for institutional investors in the history of Bitcoin”.

On Sept 6, our Warehouse will begin offering secure storage of customer bitcoin to prepare for the launch of Bakkt Bitcoin Daily & Monthly Futures when they launch on Sept 23

These contracts will enable physical delivery of bitcoin with end-to-end regulated markets and custody

— Bakkt (@Bakkt) August 28, 2019

• Telegram May Soon Launch Blockchain And Crypto: According to an anonymous investor in Telegram’s Open Network blockchain (TON), the social media giant will begin publicly testing its chain on September 1st. A Russian outlet claims that the launch of beta testing will coincide with a release of TON’s node software and certain technical documentation. TON raised a purported $1.8 billion over the past year or two, with there being much hype around how the blockchain and cryptocurrency can be deployed to Telegram’s 200 million users.
• Aircraft Manufacturing Giant Boeing Joins Consortium Pushing Blockchain-esque Technology: CoinDesk has found that Boeing, the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer, is making a foray into blockchain, well, Hedera Hashgraph to be more specific. Their sources tell them that the aerospace giant is the 10th member of Hedera’s governing council, which hosts other big names in finance and technology like Nomura Holdings and the blockchain-friendly IBM. It isn’t clear how Boeing will be participating in Hedera’s ecosystem just yet.
• Forbes Drops Bombshell Report About China’s Crypto: Forbes’s crypto editor, Michael del Castillo, recently came out with an extensive report on the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) soon-to-launch cryptocurrency. In it, it was stated that according to Paul Schulte, who worked as global head of financial strategy for China Construction Bank until 2012, seven institutions — massive names in the China corporate and political scene — will be the first to receive access to the digital asset. Schulte purportedly singled out the world’s two largest banks — the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Bank of China, respectively — the Agricultural Bank of China; China Construction Bank; Alibaba and Tencent; and Union Pay, a banking consortium in the Asian nation. Another source speaking to Forbes echoed this, stating that those seven and an eight are likely to get access to the cryptocurrency, which he/she/they says is dubbed DC/EP.
• Samsung Galaxy S10 Now Supports Bitcoin, Stablecoins: This year, the cryptocurrency industry was shocked when Samsung unveiled its Galaxy S10 lineup of smartphones, as the firm mentioned blockchain in press statements on the phone. According to U.today, Samsung’s internal cryptocurrency wallet now supports stablecoins — TrueUSD and USD Coin (USDC) — briefly after adding support for Bitcoin and launching with native support for Ethereum.
• Brad Garlinghouse Quashes XRP Fud: Brad Garlinghouse, the chief executive of Ripple, recently came out to debunk “questionable sources spreading FUD” about XRP in an impassioned Twitter thread. In the scathing message, the industry executive wrote that XRP should not be classified as a digital security. Garlinghouse cited comments from the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority and “others” on the cryptocurrency to back his point. Garlinghouse also addressed a response to an article from Bloomberg about the sale of XRP tokens by Ripple. In that article, the outlet cited countless cryptocurrency industry executives and investors, most of which expressed skepticism towards Ripple’s decision to dump hundreds of millions of dollars worth of XRP on the open market. In his response tweet, the CEO wrote that these sales help expand the utility of XRP, not just the size of Ripple’s coffers.
• UN Official Bashes Crypto in Scathing Interview: In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, a leading official of the United Nations, Neil Walsh, pushed anti-crypto rhetoric, alleging that these digital assets can be used in criminal activity. Walsh, the leading authority on anti-money laundering and cybercrime at the UN, asserted that cryptocurrencies are “another layer” to the “nightmare” that is criminal activity. He specifically called out child exploitation networks, which he opines benefit from digital asset technology. He brought up one case where digital content in which a child was abused could be accessed with a fee paid in cryptocurrency. Walsh also claimed that the fight against cybercriminals, nuclear weapon proliferation, terrorist financing, and money laundering is being hampered by the propagation of cryptocurrencies.
• Institution Looks To Create $1 Billion Crypto Venture: According to a recent report from the Financial Times, Elwood Asset Management, an institution that manages British billionaire investor Alan Howard, is looking to launch a crypto venture worth $1 billion. Speaking in an interview with FT, Bin Ren, the chief executive of Elwood Asset Management, said that his firm is working on a platform that would assign institutional investors diverse, vetted crypto portfolios. As it stands, there are countless “crypto hedge funds” that aren’t suitable for institutional investment. By sifting through the good and the bad, Elwood hopes to create relatively safe crypto portfolios for institutional investors.
• SEC Slaps Crypto Firm & Founders WIth $10 Million Fine: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has just settled a massive $10 million case with an unregistered cryptocurrency platform. Announced in a press release published on Thursday, the SEC has settled charges with Bitqyck, a Dallas-based cryptocurrency exchange, and its founders for offering security-like cryptocurrencies and making false statements about its product.

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