TL;DR: Welcome to In Case You Missed It (ICYMI), a daily crypto news update. US Congressman Tom Emmer will introduce a crypto-friendly bill. Bitfinex market share dips. Global regulators to study capital levels for crypto assets. German banks propose a digital euro. Uber launches Uber money digital wallet, and Overstock’s tZERO and the Tezos Foundation will tokenize more than 500 million euros in UK properties.



tZERO and Tezos Will Tokenize Real State Properties in UK

tZERO, the securities exchange platform and property of Overstock, will be collaborating with the Tezos Foundation, tokenizing more than 500 million euros in properties financed by Alliance Investments to open the properties to investors in their tokenized forms. Rani Zahr, CEO of Allied Investments commented about the benefits of tZERO tokenization. He declared, “Raising funds through an STO is more efficient, cost-effective, autonomous and democratic than traditional financing. We believe that we are at the forefront of a technological change.”

US Congressman Tom Emmer Announces Crypto-Friendly Bill

While the sentiment of the US Congress is eminently anti-cryptocurrency, or at least anti-Libra, as was evidenced during the last hearing with Mark Zuckerberg, Tom Emmer thinks otherwise. Emmer announced he will introduce a bill to maintain currencies outside SEC procedures when distributed if they fulfill all traditional securities requirements. He explained, “Companies that have followed our current rules… deserve the certainty that they can offer their digital asset to the public.”

Bitfinex Market Share Shrinks

Bitfinex's market share continues sliding in 2019. We are witnessing Bitfinex's fall from glory. A little more than a year ago, Bitfinex used to control a quarter of the market. This month, Bitfinex's market share sank to only about 7%. pic.twitter.com/lScZ0fQVlv — Larry Cermak 🦁 (@lawmaster) October 31, 2019

Bitfinex, a renowned cryptocurrency exchange, is having a tremendous reduction of market share. According to researcher Larry Cermak, the exchange has been losing in volume to their most direct rivals such as Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, Bitstamp, Bittrex, Gemini, and Poloniex, going from 23% in June 2018 to 7.3% during this month. This could be the result of Bitfinex being immersed in a lawsuit from the New York Attorney General, and also from the scandal of their banking partner Crypto Capital (currently being accused of laundering money for Colombian cartels).

Global Regulators to Study Capital Levels for Crypto Assets

The Basel Committee, constituted by banking regulators from all over the world (including US, Japan and Europe), will produce rules to help banks determine best practices in dealing with cryptocurrencies not tied with any physical asset. These rules will take into account the high risk of holding such assets. “The Committee will seek the views of stakeholders on a wide range of issues related to the prudential treatment of crypto assets,” the agency’s press materials stated after a two-day conference in Madrid, Spain recently.

German Banks Propose a Digital Euro

The association of German Banks (Bankenverband), an organization grouping more than 200 private commercial banks and 11 member associations, proposed the creation of a digital euro. Despite this recommendation, the group also stated the introduction of private based currencies like Libra can bring dangers to the system by introducing non-state controlled variables. “The stability of the existing monetary system must not therefore be endangered by the provision of crypto-based digital money,” they concluded.

Uber Launches Digital Wallet

Uber, the shared ride startup, launched Uber Money, a digital wallet that lets their users pay for rides and also get cashback for payments. The move places Uber into the financial services world, facilitating their customers’ payments by accepting a variety of systems to fill the wallet. Most of the Uber rides are still paid with cash, so this is a clear change of strategy for the company.

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