The first week of June has been an exciting one for the cryptocurrency markets. Arguably the biggest news was the EOS mainnet launch on Saturday. The controversial project, created by block.one, recently completed an unprecedentedly long ICO, raising over $4 billion, and voted to launch on June 9. The fifth largest cryptocurrency allows enterprises and small business ventures to build scalable blockchain applications on its network. Investors are eager to see how the mainnet will perform.

Here’s the rest of the week in review:

Blockchain fintech startup R3 might be running out of money, according to Fortune. Founded in 2014, R3’s mission is to help a consortium of financial institutions use blockchain technology. Though R3 secured $107 million in funding last year, now its large expenses, tricky business model, and fierce competition are raising questions about the company’s future.

CNBC reports that $1.1 billion worth of crypto has already been stolen this year. Malware and ransomware are the main culprits. Criminals also search the dark web for tools to hack exchanges and other businesses. The criminals prefer ransom paid in Monero (XMR). The US and China have suffered the most attacks in 2018. Investors should remember that cold storage, multifactor authentication, and strong passwords are crucial to asset protection.

Forbes reports that US regulators are showing the crypto community and lawyers a united front as they hurriedly decide on a regulatory framework. Both the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently issued new guidance on the regulation of crypto activities. They remain particularly interested in preventing and punishing fraud in spot markets, derivatives exchanges, and unregistered ICOs.

Russia’s president Vladimir Putin recently stated that cryptocurrency is unique and no country can have state-run cryptocurrency. In an interview, Putin explained that cryptocurrency is transnational by definition and thus no sovereign nation can create and maintain its own cryptocurrency. He reiterated the Russian government’s official position that crypto is a poor means of payment or savings. Russia is still under criticism for its attempted ban of the messaging app Telegram, which is popular in the crypto community.

A US startup is trying to profit from price differences between crypto exchanges. Arbitraj LLC has built a tool to help traders identify arbitrage opportunities. A developer claims that some hedge funds are interested in the tool, and arbitrage will be profitable for the next 18 to 24 months.

Crypto prices did not move much this week but have fallen all weekend. Even though Mike Novogratz believes that crypto will reach $20 trillion due to institutional demand, crypto’s market cap has bobbled around the $340 billion level. Massive resistance remains because the majors tested the 20-day exponential moving average and fell back twice. This week’s biggest winners include VeChain (VET), Binance Coin (BNB), and Siacoin (SIA). The biggest losers include Cardano (ADA), IOTA (IOT), and Bitcoin Private (BTCP).

More News:

Follow us: Telegram | Twitter | Newsletter