Coinbase has been awarded a BitLicense and Zcash is one step closer to integration with Ethereum. Here are the cryptocurrency highlights of week 3:
- The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has awarded cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase a formal license (BitLicense) to do business in the state. The license was granted after a “comprehensive” review of Coinbase’s anti-money laundering, capitalization, consumer protection and cybersecurity policies, according to a statement provided to CoinDesk by the NYDFS. The company will now be subject to ongoing supervision by the regulator.
- Work on integrating Zcash’s privacy-focused tech with ethereum’s distributed applications platform has reached a new milestone. According to a blog post by Ethereum Foundation team lead Christian Reitwiessner and Zcash Company engineer Ariel Gabizon, new code has been tested as part of effort to create a means to verify zk-SNARK proofs written in Solidity, Ethereum’s smart contract language. Zk-SNARKS are zero-knowledge proofs that provide a means to shield certain types of data (like who is sending what amount of digital currency), and form a central component of Zcash.
- One of the lawyers who helped craft the application for what would be the first-ever bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), David Brill, is doubtful the SEC will approve such a request any time in the near future. Brill explained that he believes factors such as China’s impact on the price of bitcoin make an approval unlikely. “It seems unlikely, among all the other reasons, that the commission is going to want to move forward with a product where the major trading is done on an exchanges that may not be following our AML guidelines” according to Brill.
- Grayscale Investments has filed to list its Bitcoin Investment Trust on the New York Stock Exchange in a $500 million initial public offering, according to documents submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday. Shares of the trust presently trade over the counter. The Bank of New York Mellon will serve as the transfer agent for shares of the fund, and Xapo Inc., a bitcoin wallet and vault company, will serve as custodian of the trust’s bitcoins.
- Compared to the previous week the price of Bitcoin has increased by more than eleven percent, with the exchange rate currently at $923 per BTC. The price of Ethereum increased by more than twelve percent, taking Ether up to a rate of $10.92 per ETH. Ethereum Classic gained more than 17 percent, with the price increasing to $1.42 per ETC. Zcash’ price increased slightly. One ZEC is now trading at roughly $44 per coin.
