Looking back at last week’s biggest news, including price analyses for BTC, ETH, and XRP.

In the same week that Goldman Sachs took a dim view of Bitcoin and crypto writ large - the irony of their negative stance being partly based on crypto’s ability to be used for money laundering was not lost on the community - JP Morgan was forced to settle a class action law suit from retail users over excessive fees and interest rates. A precedent which could effect other banks and payment providers who have been known to charge retail users excessive fees.

Elsewhere, mobile carriers are doubling down on crypto with Gemini becoming the first major exchange to be integrated with Samsung wallet, allowing retail users to self-custodise assets directly on their phone. And Vodafone has inked a partnership with blockchain firm Energy Web to explore IoT connections for energy distribution assets like wind turbines.

Below is our weekly roundup of industry and coin specific news. If you’d like to get in touch with us about any of our products or services, we look forward to hearing from you. Just send us a note.

SEC Orders BitClave to Pay Its ICO Investors $25 Million Point Point 2

BitClave, a California startup whose Ethereum-based search engine raised $25.5 million in a 2017 token sale, will pay back its 9,500 investors in a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). BitClave raised the funds between June and November 2017 to investors around the world, including in the US. But it failed, like most ICOs, to register its tokens as securities.

BitClave will pay prejudgment interest of $3 million, and a penalty of $400,000.

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Defying Coronavirus Crash, BlockTower Crypto Fund Stretches 30% Total Return to 73%

BlockTower Capital’s cryptocurrency hedge fund has defied this year’s coronavirus-induced crash and returned 33% profits in the first four months of 2020, according to a report by CoinDesk.

Despite the havoc coronavirus wreaked on markets, the fund did better in those four months than the stock index did in any full year since 1997. And as a result of the climb, the fund returned 73% for those who invested from day one and held on through to last month.

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Swiss regulators green light crypto transactions for local bank

Swiss financial watchdog, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has given the go-ahead to InCore bank to engage in digital asset transactions. InCore is now the first Swiss B2B bank to be approved by the FINMA to carry out its digital currency business and will now be able to allow institutional clients to purchase, sell, and hold crypto assets which is expected to further play into increasing the appetite for the emerging asset class.

InCore had previously already partnered with Swiss IT consulting company Inacta AG to provide services for digital assets management.

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Latest Coin News

BTC

• Price Analysis: Bulls are working hard to nurture a bullish trend from the support at $9,400
• Bitfury Launches Mining Investment Solutions for Institutions
• China Parliament passes law allowing inheritance of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies; a changing crypto narrative?

ETH

• Price analysis: Buyers are in for the long haul; target set at $300 following an impending break above $250
• Ethereum Significantly Less Private Than Bitcoin, New Research Shows
• Altcoins Outpace Bitcoin in Broad Crypto Rally: Cardano and Ethereum Biggest Gainers

XRP

• Price Analysis: The placement of the daily moving averages pointed toward a bullish phase for the coin 
• Binance launches options trading for Ethereum and XRP
• XRP liquidity breaks record on Mexico’s largest crypto exchange

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