Day: August 12, 2018

Although the past week was rather quiet for the cryptocurrency industry, the price action seen throughout the past few days seems to tell a different story, with Bitcoin trading within a hefty $1,400 range.

SEC Shoots Down VanEck ETF Proposal, Issues 45 Day Delay

On Tuesday afternoon, the SEC released a document revealing that it would be delaying its verdict of the VanEck and SolidX Bitcoin ETF by 45 days. In a two-page document, the American regulatory body highlighted the fact that it was exercising its right to delay such a decision, from the original date of August 16th to September 30th. Despite the fact that the SEC didn’t outright deny the proposal, some wary investors saw this of a premature sign of what was to come when the final verdict rolls about.

Jake Chervinsky, an American lawyer active in the cryptosphere, released an insightful tweet regarding his opinions on the ETF and its position with the SEC. Chervinsky, who keeps an ear to the ground in this industry, noted that he expects for the SEC to issue another extension until December 29th. In a tweet in the same thread, the lawyer predicted that if the regulatory body “instituted proceedings,” that a disapproval of the proposal would be more than likely.

Expected result, earlier than expected execution.

New deadline: Sunday, September 30, exactly 45 days from the prior deadline of August 16. I had predicted October 1, thinking the SEC would carry the deadline over to the next Monday.

I expect another extension to December 29. https://t.co/dzHq9W6xU4

— Jake Chervinsky (@jchervinsky) August 7, 2018

As a result of rampant bearish speculation, the market saw a quick sell-off, with the price of Bitcoin quickly dropping through the key support at $6,800. Altcoins followed closely behind, posting similar losses in terms of percentage. Nonetheless, CNBC crypto analyst Brian Kelly noted that the market reaction to this verdict was irrational, stating:

“We’ve had this big runup, we’ve had a little bit of a sell-off today. If you are selling today after this decision, its the wrong way to do crypto investing.”

While some investors take Kelly’s statements with a pinch of salt, this statement alludes to the analyst’s longer-term hope for this nascent market.

Goldman Sachs Could Launch Crypto Custody In The Near Future 

Cryptocurrency custody solutions are seen by many as the next step for institutional adoption, with such services easing legacy market firms into this (relatively) foreign industry. As Bloomberg reports, Goldman Sachs, which is unarguably one of the most respected firms on Wall Street, may make a foray into the custody sub-industry. This unexpected news only comes a few months after the New York-based investment giant began the trading of Bitcoin futures on behalf of its clients.

The news of this surprising news comes courtesy of Goldman insiders, who added that there isn’t a definitive timeline for the potential development of such a service. While custody doesn’t sound like much independently, some users hypothesized that the successful launch of custody may entice the financial services firm to launch other crypto-focused ventures in the near future.

In response to a Bloomberg query, a Goldman Sachs spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied the existence of such a plan, stating:

“In response to client interest in various digital products we are exploring how best to serve them in this space. At this point we have not reached a conclusion on the scope of our digital asset offering.”

As covered in the previous Crypto Week In Review, Goldman is not the only traditional markets firm to show interest in custody, as Chicago-based Northern Trust expressed a similar interest for custody while speaking with Bloomberg.

Binance’s CEO Reveals Pre-Alpha Version Of Binance’s Decentralized Exchange

In mid-March, Binance, the world’s foremost cryptocurrency platform, announced the formulation of the Binance Chain project. In the announcement, the platform highlighted its move towards the development of a decentralized exchange. But in the months following Binance Chain launch, the firm went quiet, going multiple months without a substantive update. However, in a recent tweet, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao provided his followers with a video of the “rough, pre-alpha” version of the Binance Decentralized Exchange (DEX).

A first (rough, pre-alpha) demo of the Binance Decentralized Exchange (DEX), showing issuing, listing and trading of tokens. All cli based, no GUI yet. A small step for #BinanceChain, a big step for #binance. https://t.co/2aXkR0gclP

— CZ (not giving crypto away) (@cz_binance) August 9, 2018

As this is nothing but a “pre-alpha” release, Zhao told his viewers not “to expect too much,” highlighting the fact that no graphical user interface had been created as of yet. Although it may have looked rough around the edges, a Binance developer successfully showed off three features that are essential for any respectable DEX.

While many were quick to cast aside this development, CZ sees this as “a small step for Binance Chain, (but) a big step for Binance.”

From what was seen, it has become apparent that all seems to be working according to Binance’s plan. But until Binance releases a version available for public consumption, it remains to be seen whether the DEX can handle an influx of volume and users.

Robinhood, Bittrex, and Coinbase All Add ETC/USD Support

Whilst the market has had a bearish week, the Ethereum Classic project experienced an influx of bullish news, namely the addition of ETC onto three prominent exchanges. First came Coinbase, who had announced the integration of ETC nearly two months before the actual listing occurred. On Friday, August 3rd, Coinbase revealed that its engineering team had entered the final testing phase for Ethereum Classic, expecting this stage to be completed by August 7th.

Staying on schedule, Coinbase launched Ethereum Classic support for its professional-focused platform on August 7th. But for now, fully-fledged trading features will not be available for all Coinbase customers, as the Californian crypto startup intends to issue a one to two-week trading delay for users of Coinbase Consumer (coinbase.com).

ETC-USD, ETC-BTC and ETC-EUR order books are now in full trading mode! Limit, market and stop orders are all now available across all ETC trading pairs. https://t.co/kmOI6HQj7E

— Coinbase Pro (@CoinbasePro) August 9, 2018

Up next was Robinhood, the fee-less cryptocurrency platform that mobile traders have come to love, who introduced Ethereum Classic as its 7th supported crypto asset. For now, Robinhood traders will be unable to deposit or withdraw ETC to the platform. But make no mistake, Robinhood employees are doing their best to implement wallet support for this early-stage venture into the cryptocurrency market.

Last but not least, Seattle-based Bittrex announced a new ETC/USD trading pair, which is one of the exchange’s first forays into fiat-to-crypto (and vice-versa) support. ETC now joins Bittrex’s exclusive lineup of fiat-supported cryptocurrencies, which include BTC, ETH, USDT, TUSD, and XRP.

While many saw these listings as a positive sign for ETC, this array of positive developments has had no discernable effect on the price of the asset so far. So for now, it seems that Ethereum Classic proponents will have to take the full brunt of the stormy market conditions.

Market Tumbles To New Year-To-Date Lows, Investors Remain Hopeful 

The cryptocurrency market was already in a bearish state following the Winklevoss ETF denial, but as the most recent SEC announcement spread through the industry on Tuesday, everything began to cascade further downwards, with Bitcoin rapidly moving under $6,800. For a short period of time, some thought that Bitcoin found a place to stand at the $6,500 level, but as sell-side sentiment continued, Bitcoin was subject to a series of movements that placed the price of the asset at a new monthly low of ~$6,050. Despite the fact that many thought that $5,800 was the next stop for the Bitcoin train, for now, the train has been met with some resistance, as the market has found a foothold, albeit ever so small, within the $6,300-$6,400 range.

While Bitcoin’s chart may look dismal enough, altcoins arguably had it worse, with assets like Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, EOS and XRP posting losses of 15% or more. This altcoin sell-off resulted in Bitcoin’s dominance surging to the highest it has been in eight months, at a staggering 50.9% on Saturday night.

This altcoin capitulation has also resulted in the cryptocurrency market establishing a new year-to-date low, with the collective valuation of all crypto assets briefly moving under the $210 billion mark.

However, in a direct contradiction to this drastic pullback, some industry leaders still hold bullish sentiment. Dan Morehead, Pantera Capital’s CEO and co-founder, called this move downwards an “overreaction” to the aforementioned SEC verdict, implying that the market could pose a recovery shortly. The crypto fund CEO also noted that investors should begin to focus on the positive news, instead of the bearish. While many may be skeptical of what Morehead has to say, as stock investment guru Warren Buffet once said, “be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.”

Featured Image From Shutterstock

The post Crypto Week In Review: SEC Delays Bitcoin ETF, Goldman Sachs Enters Market appeared first on NewsBTC.

In the world of cryptocurrency, centralized exchanges are still a very common sight. That is a bit unusual, especially in an industry where decentralization is the main selling point. Even so, there are several positive aspects of centralized exchanges, especially during these early stages of the cryptocurrency industry.

6. High Volume

Even though there have been concerns over the cryptocurrency trading volume on centralized exchanges, it is one of their main selling points. Thanks to high volume, exchanges tend to attract new users and potentially even institutional investors. This high volume is mainly apparent on bigger exchanges, whereas smaller platforms tend to struggle in this regard.

5. A Lot of Users

Any exchange noting high volume numbers will usually have plenty of users on board. With so many exchanges on the market, it is only natural that their success is primarily determined by the number of active users. Some companies continue to note strong gains in this regard, including Binance and Coinbase. More users means more volume and more liquidity.

4. Cold Storage Security

Although cryptocurrency exchanges still tend to lose a lot of money every single time they get hacked, a lot of funds are moved into cold storage these days. That is by far one of the most positive developments affecting centralized exchanges, and it’s also one of their strong suits. Additional focus on security measures will elevate this industry to new heights.

3. Advanced Trading Features

Even though cryptocurrency trading should not be about seeking out any more risk than is absolutely necessary, margin trading is a very common feature. It is also something which advanced traders will gladly take advantage of, as it makes investing in certain cryptocurrencies a lot more appealing. Decentralized exchanges will not be providing these advanced features anytime soon.

2. Licensing = Legitimacy

As discussed in a previous article, cryptocurrency exchanges must obtain many licenses to be fully compliant with regulations. Not everyone sees the benefits of regulating cryptocurrency, but for a lot of people, it is a necessary evil in order to surpass mental barriers to entry. Most centralized exchanges have taken the necessary steps in this area.

1. Convenience

Despite the growing popularity of decentralized exchanges, their centralized counterparts are still very convenient. Both novice and advanced cryptocurrency traders value convenience first and foremost. Centralized exchanges provide this convenience much more than other service providers, but convenience should not necessarily trump everything else.

Brazilian presidential candidate for the upcoming October elections in that country João Amoêdo has recently expressed pro Bitcoin views.

Amoêdo’s Brazil New Party aims for the privatization of public enterprises like Petrobras, Central Bank of Brazil and Banco do Brasil. Although the party supports welfare programs like Bolsa Família, it aims to privatize the public health system and public education. The state would give vouchers for health and education to people who couldn’t afford it, according to Wikipedia.

In terms of the country’s financial system, the party opposes extensive regulation in many aspects of Brazilian society. They believe the central bank should be independent of the state. When asked about cryptocurrency, Amoêdo said that Bitcoin comes with “advantages.” On the development of blockchain in Brazil, he was particularly upbeat about its place in the country’s economy.

“I see the blockchain as a protocol that increases the reliability and integrity of the data. There are obvious applications, such as for interbank transfers or to register as a notary. Another, not so commented, is to use the blockchain to follow the productive chain of products…. We could follow every step of the production chain of a product, ensuring less bureaucracy and more intelligence.”

When quizzed whether he thought that Cryptocurrency’s had a role in a new Brazil and whether it might be used as legal tender, he responded:

“As a means of payment, I see no doubts that bitcoin can be understood as a legal payment method. If both parties want to exchange a product via bitcoin… I do not see any legal barriers to doing so” adding:

“I do not think they are a threat to the traditional banking system. I see advantages in providing another means of payment for consumers,”

With a population of nearly 200 million and the largest economy in Latin America, Brazil is a significant economic force, and an increase in the adoption of cryptocurrency use would certainly have an impact under a liberal government, which on the whole tend to be more favorable towards crypto. It’s hard to say what stance Amoêdo would take regarding the sector if he becomes the new Brazilian president in October.  Like any other politician, he would want to be seen as a staunch supporter of the country’s national currency, the real, which is tightly pegged to the US dollar. On this he commented:

“But it must be clear that the country has only one national currency, one that has a legal course, that is, the one that people are obliged to accept, the real. No other currency, including the dollar, has this characteristic. Only the real. In addition, there are restrictions on the use of the dollar for payments and as a currency of account, which are the same for any other foreign currency, including crypto-coins.”

He suggests that governments must be made aware of the public’s assets held on-line as the internet shouldn’t become a “tax haven.”

Follow BitcoinNews.com on Twitter at @BitcoinNewsCom

Telegram Alerts from BitcoinNews.com at https://t.me/bconews

Image Courtesy:Pixabay

The post Bitcoin Comes with Advantages Says Brazilian Presidential Candidate appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Are you good at spotting anomalies in complex problems? Charting just might be for you. CoinDesk offers its basic guide for eager intro traders.

Cryptocurrency is a very popular industry in Japan. Ever since the government legalized Bitcoin as legal tender, demand for this speculative asset has not declined by any means. Various exchanges allow people to buy Bitcoin with Japanese yen. The following platforms are listed in alphabetical order, as their daily trading volumes tend to fluctuate a bit.

6. Bitbank

Most traders may not have heard of this cryptocurrency trading platform, even though it has been around for quite some time now. Bitbank offers JPY-based trading of Bitcoin, as well as XRP, Bitcoin Cash, and Monacoin. Despite supporting Ethereum and Litecoin, those altcoins can only be traded against Bitcoin at this stage. It will be interesting to see if the company decides to expand its JPY trading pairs in the future.

5. Bitfinex

Although most people would not expect it, Bitfinex supports quite a few fiat currencies these days. Expanding beyond the US dollar has been the main focus of the company. Its JPY trading market for Bitcoin is not the biggest by any means, yet the company still provides this option to users. It has helped the company strengthen its position in the global cryptocurrency industry.

4. bitFlyer

One of the biggest and oldest exchanges in Japan goes by the name of bitFlyer. The company made a name for itself by being the first platform to introduce Bitcoin-oriented crowdfunding efforts. Its JPY-BTC trading pair is quite popular on a global scale, as bitFlyer usually ranks in the top 25 markets for daily Bitcoin trading volume.

3. Coincheck

Whereas Coincheck used to be one of the bigger exchanges in Japan, the company has seemingly lost a fair bit of clout since its latest hack. Even so, Coincheck is still a relatively popular platform when it comes to buying or selling Bitcoin in exchange for yen.

2. Quoine

One particular exchange always stands out when it comes to JPY trading volume. Quoine has been generating a lot of volume for as long as most people remember. Even so, it is one of the exchanges whose volume numbers are excluded by CoinMarketCap, along with Coincheck and Zaif. It’s still unclear why that is the case.

1. Zaif

The Zaif exchange generates the majority of JPY-BTC volume. In fact, it generates almost twice the volume of the second-place exchange on most days, which is remarkable. Even so, Zaif’s trading volume is currently excluded from CoinMarketCap, although that does not appear to have affected the exchange’s popularity. Despite being the top generator of JPY-BTC trading volume, it only represents just over 1.1% of the global daily Bitcoin trading volume.

While the market didn’t like the SEC’s bitcoin ETF delay decision, observers on social media weren’t surprised at all.

A new Bitcoin News Platform, BitcoinNews.com, is glad to announce their official live launch.

Disclosure: This is a Sponsored Article

Already Highly Viewed Website

The website already receives 1,000,000 views monthly and looks to meet the growing demand for objective news reporting among the various cryptocurrency communities, as well as developing situations around the world and within the industry as a whole.

With Bitcoin and altcoins developing at breakneck speed, it can be overwhelming to read through all the new announcements, whitepapers, and other changes.

On top of the continually changing political scene, with more countries revising regulatory framework or making new decisions within government, it can become too much for one person just looking to stay informed.

Democratic Crypto Journalism For All

BitcoinNews brings only the most relevant information towards the reader and reports it in a way that is easy to read, with the original source always linked to in case readers would like to verify information or dig a little deeper for specific articles.

Users are able to submit news tips and articles, to alert the team of potential stories that could be covered, making crypto journalism a little bit more democratic.

Sponsored posts are a great way for companies and other organizations to receive exposure from a targeted audience, and BitcoinNews is very transparent with how sponsored posts are handled on the platform, with their own section and very apparent markings distinguishing them as such.

Since information can be just as easily spread as rumors and misinterpretations, BitcoinNews makes it their utmost priority to report stories in a way that sticks to the facts, is fair, transparent, and sensible. All news sources are reviewed for authenticity before being included in an article.

And since the platform itself is backed by people from independent media and cryptocurrency experts free of any blockchain sponsorships or influences that may sway them, BitcoinNews is able to execute their belief that crypto journalism should be the truth and keep the best interests of readers at heart.

Market Updates At A Glance

The news platform also features a market capitalization page, allowing readers to also see how the cryptocurrency market is on that day. Positive and negative news affects the market accordingly, and readers will be able to see by how much without leaving the news website.

Traders also interested in keeping up with regulation are also able to track the performance of their portfolio so they don’t miss a beat in a market that never sleeps.

The market cap page tracks the ups and downs of over 1400 cryptocurrency tokens, which include the major coins like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, as well as some more of the well-known altcoins like DASH, XRP, UTRUST, and others.

Updates to the market are reflected as soon as possible, and new articles are released every day.

To check out the news platform, click the link. For social media updates, check out BitcoinNews Instagram and Twitter account. For updates through Telegram, check out their news channel here. For those that prefer managing their own content, you can subscribe to the RSS feed here.

In partnership with NEO and Ontology, Shanghai-based company Zeepin has been working on the development of its unique ecosystem. The company’s mission is to enable economic empowerment for businesses in the creative industries and explore the potential for blockchain use among them by conducting research and engaging creatives on the Zeepin chain. While its initial appearance may sound complex and vague, let’s dig into the whole of Zeepin and its dApps initiatives.

In the creative industry, the complexities of dealing with the legal protection of digital property rights, the establishment of trust transactions and finding like-minded team members may go beyond imagination. It is probably creatives who are the most vulnerable to dealing with unavoidable legal paperwork when bringing their ideas to life.

Zeepin’s team delivers blockchain-based support to innovators to boost economic empowerment of creatives related businesses. The idea is to provide support for innovators from idea inception to fully working project, solving issues related to project financing, protection of copyright, partnerships, remote cooperation, and recruitment. The blockchain will connect creative content with people in need of creative ideas channeled via embedded smart contracts. All of this is strived to be achieved via Zeepin dApps such as ZeeRights, ZeeCreate, ZeeTalent, ZeeFund, ZeeProof, and ZeeSure.  First few dApps will be released on Zeepin Platform after the mainnet launch.

It was little over a year ago when dApps —  decentralized, open-source web applications that leverage on the blockchain technology, became a disruptor. On the Zeepin chain, dApps functionality will be enabled by the utilization of ZPT, a non-refundable token. An example of the concept behind Zeepin dApps is illustrated through this visual of a creative user on the Zeepin platform.

The scope is already large.  However, the company, truly run by creatives, keeps diversifying its dApps portfolio with other exciting ideas and projects. One such dApp launched by Zeepin is CryptoGalaxy – a virtual universe on Zeepin chain. It is an entertainment dApp where users can purchase planets, give them names and enjoy the diversity of a unique set of attributes and characteristics of each planet. CryptoGalaxy is also a virtual mining experience and a journey where anybody can use the GalaBot to dig minerals on the planets within the game. Those minerals can then be converted into GALA tokens which are the functional application coin on the Zeepin Chain and the means of exchange in the Galaxy ecosystem.

Zeepin’s originality does not stop there. The company has been brainstorming on various creative ways of incorporating innovation with blockchain-backed digital storage utilities. As a result, GalaCloud was born.

GalaCloud is an encrypted cloud storage system which is said to have advantages over traditional ones. It is probably the most significant invention of Zeepin so far. On the cloud, the stored files are encrypted and segregated across multiple distributed nodes. The cloud storage is composed of GalaHub and GalaBox nodes, included in the distributed encryption storage network. The GALA coin serves as the means of exchange to obtain access to GalaCloud storage. The platform distributes 70 percent of GALA coin to GalaBox nodes, 20 percent to GalaHub and 10 percent to the GalaCloud foundation. The GalaCloud is an integral part of Zeepin’s infrastructure, as it will also provide distributed storage space and service for Zeepin’s dApps.

To enable the storage, GalaCloud plans to recruit a total of 49 GalaHub nodes. The applications opened on August 8, 2018, and will close on August 25, 2018. In order to enter the pool, participants will need at least 400,000 ZPTs, which will be locked in for 18 months. Following the inclusion of 49 GalaHub nodes by November 2018, the selected participants will have to provide a server with suitable storage space and high-performance bandwidth. One can read more on how to become a GalaHub node here.

On the mining front, there will be up to 60,000 GalaBoxes, released in the first year. Zeepin’s physical device GalaBox is a node of data storage cluster, an encrypted storage device that can store uploaded encrypted shards from users. The idea is that each GalaBox obtained from crowdfunding can join the GalaBox node cluster and become a storage miner through the use of a hard disk. Then, the miner can start mining GALA via the sharing of storage space by GalaBox. Rewards will be calculated according to the optimal coefficient on a weekly basis. More information on the process of GalaBox mining is available in GalaCloud’s white paper.

Initially, 10 million GALA will be released each week, and with each GalaBox added, the compensation will increase by 500 GALA accordingly and be reduced by half every two years. The 2nd round of GalaBox crowdfunding campaign will be launched on August 16 at 2 PM UTC and will run through August 20 at 2 PM UTC with lock-up of 5250 ZPT for 18 months to receive 1 GalaBox. The third round launch will start on August 21 at 2 PM UTC until August 25 2 PM UTC with lock-up of 5500 ZPT for 18 months. Once the tokens are locked, the GalaBox is free for use to anyone.

GalaCloud is an important project not only due to its functionality but also as the fundamental solution for Zeepin’s dApps data storage. All dApps, when at full functionality, might become a major disruptor for creative innovators. The solutions of the platform are complex in production but handy when it comes to application. Hence, lots of creative industries might expect a major simplification for their enterprises operating freely on a trust-based Zeepin platform.

The Zeepin platform has presented itself as the solution for all creatives industry-related problems. The foundation’s values aim to help millions of talents work in a just and trust-based environment. Can we say that Zeepin might become a serious player in a few trillion-dollar creative industries? So far, it does look like it is heading in the right direction. The diversity of Zeepin’s ecosystem drags attention and stands as something revolutionizing in its unique application.

Zeepin has a variety of projects to develop with 2018 being its busiest year – the year of product releases and development. Zeepin Chain’s mainnet will be available from August 31, 2018.

The post Creative Industries to Become Part of Zeepin’s Platform Following Its August Mainnet Launch appeared first on NewsBTC.

Today may prove to be a very interesting day for the cryptocurrency industry as a whole. A lot of currencies are in the green again, even though the overall momentum remains very brittle. The Litecoin price is going through a very positive spell right now, as its value has successfully surpassed $60.5 once again.

Litecoin Price Turns Bullish

It is rather unexpected to see the Litecoin price go up in such spectacular fashion over the past 24 hours. Although this is an altcoin which heavily relies on Bitcoin’s momentum – just like any other altcoin – it is still an interesting trend worth keeping an eye on today. If this momentum remains in place for more than a few hours, the markets will undergo some big changes.

For the Litecoin price watchers, these past 24 hours have resulted in a lot of unexpected momentum first and foremost. This solid 7.02% increase over the past 24 hours is quite spectacular, although it comes at a very crucial period for Litecoin. Even so, there is no guarantee of maintaining this momentum for the foreseeable future, as anything can happen in the cryptocurrency industry.

There is also an interesting development in the LTC/BTC ratio over the past 24 hours. More specifically, Litecoin has gained a surprising 3.47% over Bitcoin, which is a more than welcome turn of events for this particular altcoin. Even so, it is only normal altcoins will be on the rise once Bitcoin stops bleeding value.

Thanks to these gains, the community is now looking at a Litecoin price of $60.55 once again. This is facilitated by an ongoing increase in the LTC trading volume, which currently sits at $256.9m. Compared to most other altcoins, this is well ahead of the pack, although there is still a lot of room left for improvements. Achieving further progress will be difficult once next week comes around, though.

The way things stand right now, OKEx is the go-to exchange to buy and sell Litecoin. Its BTC pair is in the lead, slightly ahead of DOBI Trade’s BTC market. OKEx claims third spot with a USDT pair, followed by similar markets offered by CoinBene – albeit excluded in volume – and Huobi. Coinbase Pro is the first and only fiat currency support for Litecoin in sixth place.

As is always the case in the world of cryptocurrency, it remains to be seen what the future will hold for the Litecoin price. This current trend can be eroded fairly quickly in the coming hours and days, although there is no real reason for the cryptocurrency markets to see any real negative changes in the near future. That doesn’t mean they won’t happen, though.

In a recent Medium post by Hong Kong independent journalist Jackson Wong, the reliability and safety of KuCoin as a crypto exchange was called into question.  In the report, titled “WARNING: KuCoin’s Hong Kong office is empty. Be extremely cautious about depositing money into this exchange,” the reporter expressed his concerns that popular crypto exchange KuCoin could be pulling an exit scam as their Hong Kong offices are empty.

Long Held Suspicious Regarding KuCoin

Wong began his report by recapping his previous concerns about the KuCoin exchange, discussing that he feared they would become illiquid during the next crypto crackdown by the Chinese government.  He claimed that the exchange apparently survived the “hit” by staying under the radar.

Wong then went on to discuss that he feels that KuCoin has always been suspicious because it was home-grown in Hong Kong. Wong claimed that within the Hong Kong community he has never heard of the exchange, and that if they were ever based there that the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC) would have already taken actions to suspend trading on the exchange.

In addition to the fact that the exchange has apparently avoided persecution by regulatory agencies, Wong added that he has never seen any local news reports or promotions about the exchange in Hong Kong. He also called into question the KuCoin team, saying that “none of their directors have Hong Kong names nor do any one of them reside in Hong Kong,” and that “For Chinese nationals to live in Hong Kong, they actually need either a working visa or to apply for a citizenship of Hong Kong.”

Wong Visited the So-Called KuCoin Offices

At this point, the claims against the Hong Kong based exchange can only be defined as anecdotal, so Wong visited the registered address of the KuCoin headquarters, which listed the company as being located in offices in the Kiu Fu Commercial Building on the 20th floor.

When looking at the directory board of the building, the only offices located on the 20th floor is a company called “Rich Moral CPA” and “Smart Team International Consultants.” Wong emphasizes that he didn’t see KuCoin listed anywhere on the directory board.  Wong also importantly noted that KuCoin used to be listed under a secretarial company called Smart Team Secretarial Ltd, which is closely related to “Smart Team International Consultants,” so he rang the office bell hoping to get a response from a KuCoin representative.

Wong claimed that a representative from Rich Moral CPA answered and informed him that the Smart Team moved out of the offices years ago, despite the remaining signage.  Wong also reports that the representative from Rich Moral CPA said that even when the Smart Team was there, that she never heard of KuCoin exchange or anything crypto related.

Where is KuCoin Running Their Operations From?

Wong concluded his investigative report with some theories about where KuCoin is running their operation from, saying:

“I suspect they are either working back in Sichuan of China, as the previous post have mentioned, or they are working somewhere remotely at home in Hong Kong? But that can’t be right, right? It’s a huge exchange and they are only working at home…Well, let’s take a step back. Maybe they have an office elsewhere in Hong Kong? But honestly, I don’t believe that can be the case, as we know that they don’t have Hong Kong ID cards or passports. They can’t just enter Hong Kong as they wish…Chinese nationals can’t just come in and out without a permit.”

The risks of putting money on an exchange without a verifiable headquarters is that if the exchange were to exit-scam its clients by withholding withdraws or by shutting down the exchange randomly, there would be no recourse.  Users would not be able to go to state regulators to get their funds back because the exchange employees could be anywhere in the world.

Wong closes his report by warning investors to avoid the exchange until it becomes more transparent, saying:

“They are just too shady. They told us that they have an office in Hong Kong. But that’s all a lie. No one’s even there! It’s completely empty. And most importantly, they don’t even have a Hong Kong license to deal in cryptocurrencies.”

KuCoin has not yet responded to the accusations within Wong’s investigative report.

Featured image from Shutterstock

The post Major Crypto Exchange KuCoin Hong Kong Offices are Empty appeared first on NewsBTC.