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What Moved Global Markets
– Everyone’s looking forward to the US/China trade deal signing. And according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, China’s commitments in the Phase 1 trade deal with the United States were not changed during a lengthy translation process and will be released this week as the document is signed in Washington.
– US/Iran tensions update: On Friday, Iran actually admitted to ‘unintentionally’ shooting down Ukrainian airliner, blamed ‘human error’. The tragedy happened on January 8th, when the Boeing 737-800 airliner crashed five minutes after takeoff from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport, just hours after Iran fired a barrage of missiles at U.S. targets in Iraq.
– The dollar fell and global equity markets retreated from fresh highs on Friday, as signs of renewed U.S.-Iranian tensions scuttled a rally triggered by a U.S. labour report showing a strong economy despite slowing job growth in December.
– Oil fell on Friday to cap its worst week since July.
Crypto Prices (from CoinMarketCap)
Bitcoin: Up 0.85% to $8,161.19
Total trading volume (24h): $22.29+ billion USD
Ethereum: Up 0.18% to $144.23
Total trading volume (24h): $8.39+ billion USD
3 biggest movers 24 hours
Biggest Mover 1: Folgory Coin (FLG) is up 1,920.67% to $9.42
Biggest Mover 2: Internxt (INXT) is up 85.80% to $1.20
Biggest Loser: PATHHIVE (PHV) is down 41.14% to $0.007038
What moved Crypto Markets (i.e. digital assets)
– Bitcoin price was a little above $8,150 at the time of writing. A report published on Jan. 9 by cryptocurrency market research firm Arcane Research, Bitcoin trading volumes more than doubled in a week. Per the report, the 7-day average daily trading volume has seen a 126% increase in a week at the start of 2020, with almost $1.5 billion traded just on Jan. 8. The report reads: “The market recovered sharply from the disappointing $192 million that were traded on Jan. 1.”
– Tether/Bitfinex saga goes on and on… Plaintiffs have filed a revised lawsuit against both companies and their parent firm iFinex. Karen Lerner, one of the attorneys involved in the case, told The Block: “Plaintiffs refiled the case to efficiently vindicate the rights of Bitcoin traders and Bitcoin futures traders”. Bitfinex and Tether have denied the allegations of market manipulation as “meritless.”
– A strict new regulatory regime is dawning upon European firms handling cryptocurrency. Friday marked the deadline for the European Union’s 28 member nation-states to adopt the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive or AMLD5. The new rules require crypto exchanges and custodial service providers to register with their local regulator and demonstrate compliance with thoroughgoing know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering AML procedures.
– In addition to the enhanced KYC and reporting obligations, the regime gives greater power and reach to financial intelligence units and law enforcement. These regulations represent a double-edged sword for the industry. On the one hand, the added costs of compliance may burden smaller firms in the field, and possibly force some to fold or merge.
Other Specialties
Fintech: Smart contract auditing team ChainSecurity partnered with the Swiss branch of Big Four auditing firm PwC to enhance the services the global auditor provides. In an email sent to Cointelegraph, a PwC spokesperson explained that no acquisition took place and multiple ChainSecurity teams joined the firm. PwC hopes that, with ChainSecurity’s team, the firm will become “the world’s leader in smart contract auditing.”
Healthtech: Medirom, a healthtech company based in Japan, has announced that it will be working with MATRIX Industries, a Silicon Valley material science company, to deliver the world’s first health monitoring smartband named MOTHER that never requires charging. This will enable users in the US and Japan to monitor their health activities 24/7.
Al: Check out the coolest AI announcements from CES (includes a prosthetic arm that learns, a smart mirror for skincare, and even a device that scans the contents of your fridge so as to think up creative dishes to cook.)
Smart cities: Addressing the digital divide and increasing broadband access has become a national priority, with a particular focus on closing the urban-rural divide. In an effort to close the city’s digital divide, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has released a plan to partner with private companies to bring affordable, high-speed internet service to the city’s five boroughs.
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