The cryptocurrency market never closes, and the industry itself is growing faster than ever. This means there’s more breaking news, and more vital information emerging than ever before. This Week in Crypto is Covesting’s weekly news recap aimed at providing the most complete coverage across the cryptosphere.

SEC Delays VanEck Bitcoin ETF Decision Yet Again

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has yet again delayed the deadline for making a decision on whether or not to approve a Bitcoin ETF proposal from VanEck and SolidX. The new decision deadline is set for February 27, 2019.

The proposal has been under the SEC’s review for months now, despite the SEC rejecting a number of Bitcoin-related ETF’s in the past. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce recently told investors not to “hold” their “breath” waiting for a Bitcoin ETF and that it could happen tomorrow, or in “20 years.”

Bitcoin Miners Are Exiting the Market after Latest Drop

According to Malachi Salcido, CEO of Washington-based cryptocurrency mining firm Salcido Enterprises, cryptocurrency mining firms are being flushed “out of the market” and that only “relatively few” will survive.

Salcido Enterprises is one of the largest mining firms in North America, and is located in a region of the United States where energy costs are extremely low - lower than China where Bitcoin mining is booming. Without cheap energy costs, Salcido says, miners will struggle to remain profitable during the continued bear market.

Crypto Pump and Dump Groups Responsible For $7M in Volume a Day

According to a new report from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Review, two researchers from Imperial College London have discovered that cryptocurrency pump and dump groups are responsible for adding $7 million a day in trading volume.

The team used artificial intelligence and machine learning to conduct their review. Pump and dump groups often buy up lots of coins to artificially raise the price (pump) then sell the coins off (dump) at a higher price, usually to their own group members, scamming them in the process.

ConsenSys Lays Off 13% of Staff in Company 2.0 Restructure

The Joseph Lubin-led startup incubator has laid off 13% of its employees in a major company overhaul being dubbed ConsenSys 2.0.

Lubin explained that in order to survive the current bear market, the company “must retain, and in some cases regain, the lean and gritty startup mindset that made us who we are.”

U.S. Government Plans to Track Privacy Coins

A new report from the research arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security hints at the U.S. government developing a technology that can analyze and trace privacy coin transactions.

Privacy coins like Monero and Zcash allow senders and receivers to remain anonymous, which creates a challenge for governments seeking to curb money laundering through cryptocurrencies.

Coinbase Trademarks BUIDL

San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has filed for the trademark “BUIDL,” similar to the common cryptocurrency term “HODL,” which originated as a misspelling of the word “hold” but has since taken on the form of an acronym for “Hold On for Dear Life.”

The trademark covers “software as a service (SAAS) featuring software for transactions using virtual currency, namely, software for managing, buying, selling, storing, transacting, exchanging, sending and receiving virtual currency,” suggesting that Coinbase is developing a technology it will be able to license out to developers.

Bitcoin Sub-Reddit Reaches Milestone 1 Million Users

r/Bitcoin, the popular sub-reddit dedicated to the number 1 cryptocurrency by market cap, Bitcoin, has amassed over 1 million subscribers.

While the number may not seem significant, with only 21 million Bitcoins that can ever exist, the one million number is notable due to it representing nearly 5% of all the bitcoins in existence, if each user owned at least 1 BTC.

Ethereum Price Falls to Double-Digits

Ethereum and the ICO craze of late 2017 helped drive the cryptocurrency bull run to new heights. But just as fast as the price of Ethereum has climbed, it has plummeted almost just as hard, reaching new bear market lows this week of just over $80. This represents a 94% decline from Ethereum’s all-time high price of over $1,400 in early January.