$60M hack in Japan, Bitcoin ETF postponed, Winklevoss stablecoin, xRapid release drives ripple up 70%.
The News
The Zaif exchange in Japan was hacked, with $60 million stolen. This is the second major hack in Japan this year. prtimes
Another bitcoin ETF proposal, originally filed by the CBOE and thought to be the most likely to succeed, was postponed for a second time by the SEC. coindesk
The Winklevoss twins released a cryptocurrency that is pegged to the USD. Is it the first ‘stablecoin’ to have received a license from the New York Department of Financial Services. It will be backed by USD held by State Street. cnbc
Ripple, the company behind the third most valuable cryptocurrency (XRP), hinted that they will release a highly anticipated new product called xRapid. The product will use XRP as a liquidity source. The anticipation has driven the price of XRP up 70% over the last month, making it one of the best performing cryptocurrencies in September. cnbc
Bitmain, the mining hardware giant filed for IPO in Hong Kong, following months of speculation. Documentation reveals they made $2.8 billion in revenue over the first six months of 2018. techcrunch
Capital
Veem, the bitcoin payments company, raised $25 million in a round led by Goldman Sachs, with Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins and Silicon Valley Bank participating. forbes
A16z invested $15 million in the MakerDAO project, a stablecoin that is powered by smart contracts built on the ethereum blockchain. medium
Adoption
AT&T announced a suite of blockchain services for enterprise clients using technology built by IBM and Microsoft. att
Google reversed a ban on cryptocurrency related advertisements. cnbc
The CEO of Fidelity Investments, the world’s fourth-largest asset management firm, announced they will roll out blockchain and crypto services before the end of 2018. cryptodaily
New York University became the first university to offer a blockchain major. cointelegraph
Japanese financial giant, SBI Holdings announced they are testing a cryptocurrency to enable mobile retail purchases. sbigroup
Market:
The market continued to fall in September, reaching new overall lows of $186B. The market again showed extreme volatility, falling 15% in 24 hours following rumours that Goldman Sachs will close their bitcoin trading platform. The CFO of Goldman later claimed that as ‘fake news’ (techcrunch). The market slightly recovered and overall is 8% down in September. Bitcoin fell 9% over the month and finished at $6,580 USD. Ethereum performed worse, falling 20% and finishing the month at $230 USD.
