Bear market halts growth for crypto market-making firm | Bitcoin ATM operator snags BitLicense | Summing up the Bitcoin Cash hard-fork debate
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From $50M bitcoin deals to almost selling for $50M at the market bottom: The story of B2C2
Coinsource just snagged its BitLicense, and now it’s looking into the lucrative remittance business
"We also will be putting out more guidance, the idea is a plain English instrument that people can look at and they'll bring together sort of my Howey-meets-Gary speech, and that analysis ... We'll elaborate on that in a very plain English way, so 'do I think I have a security offering,' look at that guidance and you should be able to sort things out." — William Hinman, SEC Director on regulatory guidance for ICOs
The Big Block
B2C2, a UK-based cryptocurrency market-making firm, was doing multi-million dollar bitcoin deals in 2017 but the crypto bear market almost brought it to the chopping block in 2018.
Sources familiar with the situation told The Block that the firm in recent months was searching for a buyer and laid off a number of employees, including those in business development and sales. It also parted ways with its public-relations firm. The situation for the company, which one source described as “troubled,” is striking considering the firm in 2017 was growing at a breakneck pace. Back then, B2C2 was taking calls for $50 million bitcoin trades.
Last November, it announced three finance veterans were joining its advisory board, including Citigroup’s global head of regulatory, market, and innovation strategy, At the beginning of 2018, the firm announced it expanded operations internationally with a new office in Japan. The bear market brought challenges throughout 2018 though, and only recently has the tide turned.
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Around The Block
Coinsource just snagged its BitLicense, and now it’s looking into the lucrative remittance business
Coinsource, the bitcoin ATM operator, made headlines last week for snagging the holy grail of bitcoin licenses, the so-called BitLicense from the New York State Department of Financial Services.
The firm, which operates 200 so-called BTMs across the U.S., announced it received the nod on Thursday, joining 11 other cryptocurrency firms. The firm applied for a BitLicense three years ago and has been operating in New York under a temporary license. With approval under its belt, the firm is now eyeing an opportunity in a $33 billion market, according to Arnold Spencer, general counsel at the firm. The Block caught up with Spencer to dissect the importance of Thursday’s news. — More
Summing up the Bitcoin Cash hard-fork debate
Coinbase recently announced that the exchange is prepared to support the Bitcoin Cash hard-fork roadmap published by bitcoincash.org. This announcement further defines the battle lines of an ongoing civil war that is threatening to divide the bitcoin cash community and the protocol. — More
Deltec chairman confirms the authenticity of Tether’s banking relationship letter — More
Bancor launches BancorX for cross-chain token trading — More
SEC will publish clear guidance regarding ICOs — More
Bitcoin Cash surges over 25% as investors prep for a possible chain split — More
Bloomberg: Initial coin offerings may have raised less than it seems — More
China central bank to tackle ‘disguised’ ICOs — More
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