A New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) trader said in his interview on August 3 that Bitcoin (BTC) ?is very iffy?following the launch of a new regulated BTC exchange Bakkt by the Intercontinental Exhange (ICE), the parent company of NYSE.
Alan Valdes, a senior partner at international advisory firm Silverbear Capital and NYSE trader got concerned about Bitcoin when asked if Bakkt launch can be considered a sign that Wall Street is taking cryptocurrency seriously.

ICE announced its plans to design a Microsoft cloud-leveraged “open and regulated, global ecosystem for digital assets” earlier today. First use cases will be for trading and conversion of BTC versus fiat currencies.
According to the report, Bakkt will include federally regulated markets and warehousing” alongside “merchant and consumer applications.” ICE states that Bakkt is developed for “support transaction flows” in the $270 billion digital asset marketplace, and facilitate its “secure” and “efficient” evolution.
Wall Street investors have been changing their opinion on cryptocurrencies. Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein repeatedly declared that Bitcoin ?was not for him?, however, in May, said that a dedicated research team was examining how Goldman could provide a range of cryptocurrency-based products in the wake of customer demand.
Last month, the world’s largest exchange-traded fund (ETF) provider BlackRock announced the formation of a working group to assess potential involvement in BTC. While a spokeswoman said that the company has been “looking at blockchain for several years” she did not mention cryptocurrency.

According to Simon Kenin, a TrustWave researcher, 200,000 routers were secretly programmed for mining Monero (XMR) across the country.
The cybercriminals were able to hack their way into the system using a malevolent code that covertly runs coinhive in the backend.

Forbes sources say that it was possible due to a small microchip located inside the router that is similar to that of any hand-held device. This Microchip is not very strong but is still capable of doing more than just connecting a user to the web or enabling WiFi services.

Even though mining does not pose a threat to cryptocurrencies and crypto-users accounts, it can lower the speed at which system works. In addition, the risk is greater for handheld devices as it can cause the device to overheat up to a point where it can melt.
Although a patch for this threat was provided by the manufacturer in April, many routers were not updated.

Crypto hijacking is becoming a very popular trend among cybercriminals because it brings stable income and requires less work.

On Saturday, August 4, btcinformation.org resource positioned as a “community-supported” fork of the well-known Bitcoin.org site has been officially launched.
NKV, OpenDime developer, says that ?Keeping with the theme of decentralization, there is NO official Bitcoin website?.

The author of a variety of documentation and one of the early supporters of bitcoin David Harding, who also made his “small contribution” to the work on the new site, notes that btcinformation.org lacks any advertising and third-party trackers.

Just like bitcoin.org, new resource has an open code and everyone are free to have a look at it or make additions to it on GitHub page. According to Reddit, the website is registered by Bitcoin developer Endy Chow which was confirmed by him personally. He is planning to transfer the control over the domain to the community.
What makes btcinformation.org different from Bitcoin.org:
? Website design.
? ?Events? page was removed because it used to be filled with unrelated to Bitcoin information.
? Bitcoin Core was also removed. We note that Bitcoin Core is an independent project.
? Translations were temporary removed but will be restored in the future.
? Less JavaScript and cookies and no Google Analytics tracker. btcinformation.org is not going to sell adverts.
? No ?Donations|?. The project team is currently working on improved way to collect and distribute donations.

It should be reminded, that Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream, didn’t support Cobra, co-founder of Bitcoin.org, during Bitcoin Cash fork last year and said that bitcoin.org belonged to the community. He proposed to transfer the control over the website to Theymos admin that was supported by many Bitcoin holders. Cobra accused the head of Blockstream of the attempt to change leadership in bitcoin.org in order to get control over the website.

The latest quarterly skills index by global freelancing website Upwork shows that the fastest growing skill in the United States during the second quarter was blockchain. According to the Q2 2018 Upwork Skills Index, blockchain clinched this position by beating over 5,000 other skills listed on one of the largest freelancing platforms in the world.

In addition, Go, a programming language developed by Google, and can be used for blockchain apps development, is also listed on Top 20 skills which clearly shows the growing demand in blockchain related specialists. The feat was a repeat of the first quarter of 2018 when blockchain emerged as the fastest growing skill in the world’s largest economy for the first time. Since last year blockchain-related skills have enjoyed quadruple-digit growth.

Upwork reports that the most wanted skills in blockchain industry are distributed system engineers and developers in various languages and frameworks such as Solidity and Node.js., C ++, as well as Telegram admins and White Paper authors.

Key points

The Ethereum exchange rate is under strong pressure.

To change the trend, it’s necessary to break through the resistance around $432.

Now there is a bearish trend, the correction of the ETH cost is limited by a powerful barrier at $732.
The resistance will be very difficult to overcome.

This week, the market is dominated by a downward trend. The Ethereum rate fell sharply to $397, breaking the barriers at $430, $423 and $400. Then the price of ETH was consolidated in the range of $400. During the last fall of the exchange rate from $483 to $397, the cryptocurrency was trading below 23.6% of the Fibonacci level. However, buyers were unable to seize the initiative, that is why ETH could not keep above the $417 mark.

At the moment, the price of Ethereum fluctuates around $406. On the four-hour chart, two bearish trend line has formed with resistance in the region of $412 and $432. In addition, an intermediate resistance zone in the range of $423 is forming. This chart indicates that buyers will meet a strong resistance barrier at $432.

The main support level is $397.
The main resistance level is $432.

Paul Krugman: 300 Years of Monetary Evolution Erased by Cryptocurrency

Nobel Economist Paul Krugman believes that digital money creates obstacles that were destroyed centuries ago

American economist has taken another swing bitcoin, arguing that the prominent cryptocurrency, as well as its peers, represents a 300-year economic regression and will “likely” experience a “total collapse.” Writing in his regular New York Times column, Krugman — who has at various times published articles lambasting bitcoin as “evil” and “the long cryptocon” — lays out a case for why his continued skepticism towards cryptocurrency is justified.

Krugman also said that money revolution came a long way to simple transaction and current debit and credit system and digital transaction are based on it. Crypto enthusiasts represent a 300-year economic regression and create problems that have been already solved.

He emphasized that central bank are doing their job well. They provide simple tools and purchasing power. However, the governments usually abuse their rule to issue more money.

Bitcoin is needed to criminals for money laundering in particular, Krugman says. High value notes have a big advantage compare to digital money, their value is based on lower value notes.

Cryptocurrency does not have any link to reality. Its price depends on the expectations. Bitcoin will lose its value as soon as speculators understand that it didn’t have any from the first place.

About the same time the authorities announced on 6 August in the official report titled “Technology of distributed databases in the field of social services.”

According to the researches, blockchain can be used for developing social services platform, which will be presented to various projects. Nevertheless, the authors of the report emphasize that blockchain has to be conform with legislation regarding protected disclosures.

The Scottish Government intends to form a group of experts involved in crypto community aiming at developing the best options of blockchain implementation into the national economy and social services field.
Staff recommended the following website UKAuthority: “the Scottish Executive should facilitate the development of the blockchain technology, in cooperation with the company CivTech, digital CodeClan Academy and the University of Edinburgh?.

It should be reminded that such analytics companies as Big Innovation Centre, DAG Global and Deep Knowledge have published an independent report stating that Great Britain can become the center of blockchain development and digital currency. According to the experts, this country has all the necessary resources and can play a leading role in the market.

On August 10, the US Securities and Exchange Commission conducts a session dedicated to VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust and going to approve or reject the changes in regulation of the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE).

It is noteworthy that CBOE is planning to create Bitcoin ETF that will be trading SolidX stocks and the intended price is 25 BTC. According to SEC sources wishing to remain anonymous, the commission is leaning towards approval of CBOE application.

Unnamed CBOE representative stated that close relationship between the exchange and the regulator will have positive impact on the decision making process.

Earlier, VanEck and SolidX submitted joint application to develop VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust that will be protected from stealing and.
It will be connected to new VanEck index and will collect Bitcoin price from different USA based OTC exchange platforms.
We note that the price of the most popular cryptocurrency went down due to SEC rejection of Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust application.
Many crypto industry experts are sure that the first ETF is not going to be launched before spring 2019.

Back in May, a raid at the UpBit’s offices in Seoul raised concerns among the company’s investors and crypto trader of the platform, as the company was accused of misconduct. The trading platform was considered insolvent after the accusations.

As Forbes reported yesterday, August 5th, UpBit cryptocurrency exchange managed to prove its integrity before the authorities. As part of the raid South Korea’s financial watchdog, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), along with the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KFIU), seized hardware and documents from UPbit to evaluate claims from unknown sources that the exchange was insolvent.

South Korean accounting firm Yoojin was tasked with overseeing the audits. The results show company keeps all the investors’ assets and additional financial funds and it’s enough for continuing the work. Hence, UpBit is able to process withdrawals for customers upon the request of its customers and the exchange will continue to release audit reports on a regular basis to prove its solvency.

On May 11, the information regarding accusations was published online by the Korea police. After the search and hard disk and accounts checking allegations were not substantiated.

Users risk when they mess with bitcoin, but the country’s Central Bank does not plan to ban it.

The head of the banking department of the Dutch Bank, Petra Hielkema, shared her attitude to digital money and noted that the government did not plan to ban cryptocurrencies, but it regarded them as serious risks for users. Bitcoin is rarely paid for purchases, and its price is too volatile to keep funds in this asset.

She stressed the prospects of blockchain. The Central Bank has been experimenting with this technology for the last three years. At the moment, such solutions cannot work in the Dutch payment system, but it is possible that it will happen in the future.

According to a survey of the Ipsos analytical company, only 7% of Dutch residents own cryptocurrencies. This is one of the lowest rates in Europe.

Against the background of the large cryptocurrencies fall, the trust currency shows good growth.
Over the past 24 hours, tokens including Digibyte, Elf, Polymath and 0x have recovered, bringing the cryptographic market to $258 billion.

Both Bitcoin and Ethereum have recorded a two percent increase from yesterday’s price range. But in the last hours, the prices of these cryptocurrencies began to go down again. Bitcoin went down below $7000 and is now trading at $6988, Ethereun is holding at $406.

Since July 24, when the price of Bitcoin reached $8000, the cryptocurrency market has struggled to rehabilitate and show at least some burst. Now the volume of Bitcoin has fallen below $4 billion and is at $3.7 billion, which the currency has not seen since July 21. The volume of Ethereum, around $ 1.4 billion, has fallen by 50% from $3 billion since the middle of last month.

When Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two largest crypto-assets on the world stage, fell markedly over the last two-week period, the volume of Tether (USDT), the so-called stablecoin, the rate of which is hedged by the US dollar, rose.
According to observations, when the volume of Bitcoin and Ethereum falls and Tether increases, the market tends to a fixed short-term correction. In the next 24-48 hours, provided that the volume of Bitcoin remains at the current level, the value of the coin will chart a downward movement to $6500.

While the cryptocurrency industry enjoys great news related to the announcement from the New York Stock Exchange in conjunction with Microsoft and Srarbucks, the market itself does not work very well.

Despite the positive changes in the industry, in the OTC market, it seems that traders massively sell cryptocurrency, and it takes time for the changes to affect it.

The authorities of the Indian state of Telangana and Tech Mahindra have signed a memorandum of understanding with the aim of launching the country’s first blockchain-quarter.

According to Economic Times, the blockchain district will be located in the state capital – Hyderabad. The government intends to create a center for the development of new technologies and an incubator for Indian blockchain startups.

Business24 News Inc reports that the state government will be responsible for the construction of the new district’s infrastructure, as well as providing political and regulatory support for the blockchain launch.
In turn, Tech Mahindra will provide technological support to residents of the district. According to the company, they are also developing the Eleven01 blockchain platform for local startups.

The IT giant Tech Mahindra also works with foreign blockchain startups offering solutions for the Indian market.
Earlier, the neighboring state of Telingana in Andhra Pradesh signed an agreement with a fund to begin the development of an ecosystem based on blockchain within the framework of the Vinag Valley Fintech Valley initiative.
In June, the government of the Indian state of Kerala began to consider using blockchain technology to manage food supply chains.

At the same time, Andhra Pradesh and Telingana are studying the use of blockchain technology for the digital processing of land registers.

KICKICO, which recently recovered 70 million stolen KICK tokens following a hack last week, are now experiencing a huge surge in their coin’s value by over 45% since the attack.

This rise in price could be due to anticipation of an exciting new project soon to be launched. It has been rumoured lately that certain members of the KICKICO team and its main seed investor have been working on the new platform called U.Community, a transactional social blockchain environment, which serves as an interface to a UOS blockchain protocol.

Following a KICKICO Twitter announcement, there is a planned airdrop of the new project’s blockchain native coin to reward current KICK token holders. Key details of this upcoming coin distribution have not yet been disclosed by the U.Community team, however, it is estimated the pool value may reach $40 million.

On August 2, KICK coin was listed in the top 100 cryptocurrencies on coinmarketcap.com, trading at $0.16 USD.

“We appreciate all the ongoing support and faith of our KICKICO community in light of the recent incident, which has only encouraged us to set our goals even higher,” said Alexander Spirin, Head of Community at KICKICO.

The KICKICO team has promised to compensate all stolen KICK tokens and will soon begin transferring funds to users’ wallets.

KICK token holders were the first to notice that funds were missing, notifying the KICKICO team who then worked quickly and tirelessly to regain control over the tokens and prevent further potential losses.

“It was through the vigilance and collaborative efforts of our community and team which led to such a positive result. Clearly the market has positively reacted to our handling of the situation. Together with all the support from our users, this has led to the growth of the token’s value,” said Mr. Spirin.

A Statement Saying That the Exchange Will Be Shut Down Was Published On Fake WEX Account on Bitcointalk.org

According to ForkLog, the moderator of wex.nz account on Bitcointalk.org forum published a statement on the closure of the exchange due to the lack of funding from beneficiaries. However, the official page of WEX is WEX-OFFICIAL, which is missing any information or rebuttal.
The moderator noted that this was not “their” fault, while it was unclear who he meant, saying “we”.

Moreover, they put forward an ultimatum to Dmitry Vasiliev, CEO in law of the exchange, demanding to compensate the losses of the platform users. Otherwise, certain “specific names” will be made public.

We shall remind that earlier it became known that Dmitry Hevchenko, known under the callsign “Sailor”, refused to buy WEX.
According to our source, approximately 45% of user balances were taken out of the platform.

As ForkLog reports, the price of Ethereum Classic has approached three-moths high against the background of recent positive news. It’s close to $20.

The ETC/USD price has increased by 11,20% over the past 24 hours, it has grew even more in relation to BTC – by 13,66%.
High trading volume of ETC is also notable – it has reached $560 million in the last 24 hours.

Capitalization of the cryptocurrency is now the same as it was in the beginning of May: more than $2 billion. Due to this, Ethereum Classic got closer to the TOP-10 of CoinMarketCap, coming in a close second to IOTA.

The increase of ETC was caused by the announcement regarding its listing in the trading app Robinhood which was made yesterday. The upcoming integration of ETC into Coinbase services gives a boost, too. It’s expected that it will be integrated today.

According to the CoinMarketCap’s data, the highest average weighted exchange ETC rate of this year was recorded on January 14, when the coin’s price reached $ 46.50.