Another week has passed in the cryptocurrency space. This week saw positive headlines, as well as negative, adding to the market's current state of indecision.
In general, this week has been a relatively boring one in terms of price action. Today, however, saw the market perk up with litecoin rising over 10%, seemingly in response to a big Mimblewimble collaboratory announcement.
According to a February 8 report from Crypto Insider, the Litecoin Foundation plans to collaborate with Beam regarding Mimblewimble technology. As stated in Beam's Medium announcement, plans include "allowing on-chain conversion of regular LTC into a Mimblewimble variant of LTC and vice versa."
Bitcoin also rose almost 10% today, as per CoinMarketCap data at the time of this writing.
Take a look at some the top headlines this week
Kraken acquires crypto trading operation in a large-scale deal
This week started out with big news from the high seas. On February 4, exchange giant Kraken acquired a major crypto derivatives platform named Crypto Facilities. Kraken's blog announcement stated the event as a “nine-figure deal,” and Kraken's largest acquisition to date.
Crypto Facilities reportedly plans to continue working in London, in line with the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority.
Crypto Insider noted, "[a]s a result of the acquisition, specified Kraken customers will have the opportunity to trade six different crypto futures asset pairings."
Binance-owned TrustWallet joins FIO to simplify wallet usage
Tuesday brought in big news from TrustWallet as the Binance-owned operation joined the Foundation for Interwallet Operability (FIO). FIO includes several top names in the industry, including the ShapeShift exchange and MyCrypto wallet.
Simply put, the group reportedly looks to simplify the wallet experience for users across the board. In its report on the news, CoinDesk explained, “standardizing addresses and messaging software should reduce the risk of human errors while sending and receiving crypto.”
TrustWallet's work with FIO may also prove useful as Binance develops its decentralized exchange (DEX).
One of this week's more significant developments included Facebook's blockchain-based acquisition. The social media powerhouse reportedly picked up the crew behind Chainspace, a smart contract operation. Crypto Insider posited, "[w]hat may interest Facebook is the startup’s focus on building a smart contract system that can enable payment services through blockchain technology."
According to a Facebook spokesperson, quoted in a recent Cheddar article on the subject: "[l]ike many other companies, Facebook is exploring ways to leverage the power of blockchain technology. This new small team is exploring many different applications."
Iran announced a gold-backed crypto asset this week. The effort included collaboration between Kuknos Company, as well as four banks. The four banks, Bank Pasargad, Bank Mellat, Bank Melli Iran and Parsian Bank, also reportedly plan to incorporate the asset. Named PayMon, the gold-backed cryptocurrency additionally will see listing on Fara Bourse, an Iran-based over-the-counter (OTC) exchange, according to a Financial Tribune report.
A total of 38 different gold-backed crypt assets currently exist, as listed and explained in a guide from CoinTelligence.
