TL;DR: Welcome to In Case You Missed It (ICYMI), a daily crypto news update. Startup dedicated to inflating cryptocurrency exchange volumes for a fee. Libra is a “sh*tcoin,” according to Rep. Warren Davidson. Coinbase now offers trading signals. France to approve new crypto startups with incoming regulations, and Facebook Coin searches explode in China.



Startup Dedicated to Faking Exchange Volume

A startup dedicated to fake and inflated volumes come to light in a recent article from CoinDesk. In fact, it’s actually more than just one, but GotBit, an example, uses bots to fake volume by selling and buying, again and again, the same cryptocurrency. It has more than 30 customers of its services and can charge over $15K for achieving a CoinMarketCap listing.

Rep. Warren Davidson Implied Libra is a “Sh*tcoin”

The Libra congressional hearings left us with some very interesting statements from several lawmakers. Rep. Warren Davidson implied Libra was not a real cryptocurrency and in fact was a “shi*tcoin,” a derogatory term used often to refer to low-value currencies. Davidson stated, on a question to CoinShares CEO, that “a lot of people in this space will use a phrase that you may be familiar with: there’s bitcoin, and then there’s sh*tcoin.”

Coinbase to Offer “Trading Signals”

In a very interesting move, US based cryptocurrency exchange bank Coinbase will offer free signals to traders to guide them in their positions. However, these “signals,” as the blog post states, are not Buy or Sell recommendations. Instead, these are “trusted, exclusive data only available on Coinbase.com and are meant to help our customers independently create and manage their own crypto strategy.”

France to Approve First Cryptocurrency-Related Companies with New Rules

France is pioneering cryptocurrency regulations in Europe, as they will give permission to some crypto-related companies to operate in the country abiding by a set of new rules that will be announced next month. These companies will have to comply with normal standards for other financial businesses and pay taxes, according to new regulations. Anne Marechal, in charge of legal affairs at the Financial Markets Authority, declared they were in talks with “three or four candidates for initial coin offerings (ICOs)” to start operations.

China “Libra” Searches Reach ATHs on Google and Social Media

China is paying attention – "Libra will compete with Alipay and WeChat" is now the 2nd hottest search on Weibo (Chinese Twitter). pic.twitter.com/nsMJ4kvHvC — cnLedger (@cnLedger) July 18, 2019

The number of Google searches about Facebook Coin Libra shows China is pretty concerned about how the introduction of this new currency and how it could affect their very developed payment scene. This is evident not only with Google searches, but also on Weibo (Chinese Twitter), where Libra popularity has recently risen due to a statement from David Marcus, head of Calibra, saying Libra will compete with Alipay and WeChat, two established payment networks in the country.

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