Members FA-Digest October 28th

Bearish:

Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange OKEx announced that it will delist 50+ trading pairs with low liquidity and trading volume. Reminder: earlier this month, OKEx added support for 4 new stablecoins pegged to the U.S. dollar: GUSD, PAX, USDC, and TUSD.

Bullish:

the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration declared that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin must be treated as legal property, despite the ban from the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) on cryptocurrency trading and ICOs. The arbitrator clarified that there is no law in China that prohibits the possession of Bitcoin or its transactions between individuals. Some Chinese speaking redditors state that nothing has changed overnight, and in most places in China merchants are not legally allowed to accept cryptos as a payment. Reminder: China banned cryptocurrency trading and ICOs in 2017, WeChat has recently banned a number of crypto related accounts, and Chaoyang District government in Beijing ordered all local commercial venues not to host any crypto-related events or activities.

Legal:

the chairman of Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FCS) has reportedly confirmed that the commission is drafting a set of national standards for ICOs, aiming to make tokens as easy to invest and as liquid as stocks.

Tech:

Japanese technology giant Sony has developed a contactless cryptocurrency hardware wallet that will have “multiple possible applications”, according to an official press release. Unlike many other hardware wallets that require a connection to user’s PC or mobile device via USB cable, Sony’s wallet would store private keys on a contactless IC card, so user will be able to easily sign transactions from NFC-enabled mobile device.

Australia Post is offering a new digital identity service, Digital iD, that will allow users to sign up to local cryptocurrency exchanges within a few minutes, instead of uploading selfies and waiting days for verification. Australian crypto exchange Digital Surge is among the first adopters of the Digital iD platform.