Sadly a week in crypto is hardly complete if a scandal hasn’t broken, and last week was no different following news about more alleged dodgy dealing between Bitfinex and Tether. The New York AG’s office revealed an investigation into payments between the two, dropping the price of BTC in the process.

But it wasn’t all bad news - and it’s important to remember that it never is in crypto - there were some important steps towards further institutional investment in the space (notably Societe Generale), and also the professionalisation of some retail offerings (notably eTrade’s entrance).

Don’t forget the Copper team will be in New York for blockchain week. CEO Dmitry Tokarev will be speaking at the Digital Asset Summit on the 15th. If you would like to attend let us know.

Below we have 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.

Latest Industry News

All you need to know about Bitfinex and Tether

• Last week it was reported that Bitfinex borrowed $850mn from Tether to cover a substantial funding gap preventing Bitfinex users from withdrawing funds
• The Office of the Attorney General in New York announced it is investigating iFinex, parent company to both Bitfinex and Tether, though some speculate whether the OAG has jurisdiction

Read More

Japan’s FSA takes a closer look at exchanges

• Last week the offices of Huboi Japan and Fisco were raided by the Japanese financial watchdog to scrutinise KYC and internal governance processes
• Fisco bought Zaif last year following a big hack, and plans to relaunch it soon. Huboi Japan is part of the Huobi Global group, and maintains one of the largest USDT wallets

Read More

Societe Generale opts for public blockchain

• The 19th largest bank in the world issued a $112mn bond on the Ethereum blockchain, rather than creating their own private offshoot
• While they are the issuer and sole investor, with a 5 year maturation it’s possible the bank could seek outside investors, hinting at a strong future for STOs

Read More

Latest Coin News

BTC

• Price analysis
• Is a long-term (4 year) technical line capping
• ?
• eTrade

ETH

• Price analysis
• Funding secured for third-party audit of
• 45,000 Eth stolen by hacker exploiting

XRP

• Price analysis
• Maybe XRP is the new
• ?
• CEO of Japanese finance giant SBI appointed as

Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter so you can have the latest news delivered to your inbox every Monday morning.