eToro recent listing looks like a security | The Big Four are on a hiring spree | ICOs and exchanges still dominate Ethereum smart contracts
Bitcoin $6,321
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Ethereum $196.30
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Crypto Mkt Cap $202B
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BTC Dominance 54.20%
eToro’s recent listing looks like a security, but the firm isn’t worried about regulators
‘It’s a no brainer:’ The Big Four are on a hiring spree for crypto audit efforts
Research: ICOs and exchanges dominate Ethereum’s top smart contracts
“When I’m on my deathbed, I want to be able to say I took every opportunity presented to me to improve the world for the good of all” Zooko Wilcox, CEO The Zcash Company
The Big Block
eToro on Monday announced that it would list Binance’s BNB token, bringing the total number of cryptos available on the brokerage’s platform to 13.
Holders of BNB, the native token of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, can use the token to trade at a discount on the exchange. It’s one of the few cryptos that’s seen its price increase since the beginning of the year, as per CoinMarketCap data. At last check, it was trading at $9.38 per token, up from $8.60 in January. Binance issued BNB through an initial coin offering, a process similar to an initial public offering. The firm raised $15 million from the sale.
The addition of BNB to eToro’s platform came as a surprise to some market observers who say some aspects of its design resemble a security. Regulatory agencies, like the SEC in the U.S. or the FSA in the UK, typically have authority of the buying and selling of securities.
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Around The Block
‘It’s a no brainer:’ The Big Four are on a hiring spree for crypto audit efforts
Crypto markets have tanked 70% since the beginning of the year, but institutions are just getting started in the nascent market — or so the narrative goes.
On Monday, The Financial Times put out a report that supports this thesis, outlining the ways in which Big Four accounting firms are doubling down on their crypto businesses. Major accounting firms, including EY, PwC, and KPMG, are on a hiring spree and building out in-house crypto projects, Hannah Murphy reported in London. "It’s a no brainer,” Jeanne Boillet, global assurance innovation leader at EY, told the FT. — More
Energy researcher: We should not recklessly extrapolate recent growth rates for Bitcoin into the future
Energy researcher and author, Jonathan Koomey, published a response to recent articles around the concerns of Bitcoin's energy consumption. According to Koomey, there is a tendency for many to assume that "because information technology is economically important that it also must use a lot of electricity, but that’s just not the case." — More
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