#acquisitions are a SCAM mergers are a SCAM subsidiaries are a SCAM

[minastras]

wow what a shocker a massive corporation continues massive-corporationing in the land of massive corporations

[legit-scam-review]

Bitstamp Is Looking Towards ‘Global Expansion’ After Being Acquired by South Korean Investors

On October 29, the cryptocurrency exchange, Bitstamp, was acquired by Belgium-based investment firm NXMH, which in turn, is owned by South Korean media conglomerate NXC Corp.

The Luxembourg-registered exchange is now controlled by the same company that bought the majority stake in the South Korean crypto exchange, Korbit, last year, while its CEO remains in office to continue with Bitstamp’s “global expansion.”

Brief history of Bitstamp, Europe’s oldest and most legally compliant crypto exchange

Bitstamp was launched in August 2011 by Nejc Kodrič and Damijan Merlak in their native Slovenia. As Kodrič recalled in an interview, their business started out in a garage “with an initial capital of just a thousand euros, two laptops and a server.” The idea to open up an exchange came to the entrepreneurs after they experienced difficulties buying Bitcoin in Europe.

As they told Forbes, when they were originally registering their exchange with a Slovenian bank in 2011, it didn’t object because people in Slovenia “didn’t know what Bitcoin was.” In April 2013, Kodrič and Merlak outsourced support, compliance, and legal needs to the U.K., because they couldn’t do all the screening “necessary to keep bad guys out” in their home country. Bitstamp was now a UK registered limited company.

In 2016, Bitstamp became Europe’s first fully legal crypto exchange after it received a license from Luxembourg to operate as a payment institution. To receive the document, the exchange went through two years of various checks, including an audit by Ernst & Young. Being a compliant business, Bitstamp has stuck to strict Know-Your-Customer (KYC) principles.

In 2017, Bitstamp became one of four crypto exchanges that provides the CME Group with pricing data for its Bitcoin futures trading. Kodrič told Cointelegraph at the time:

“It’s essential that we ensure that all data provided does not include any forms of manipulation that could affect the index. We’re proud that we’ve earned the trust of the industry and were chosen to be a part of the new Bitcoin futures market.”

Security seems to be one of the main priorities for Bitstamp, especially after the 2015 hack, when the exchange lost 19,000 BTC (around $5 million at the time). The fraudsters stole the funds from Bitstamp’s hot wallet in a typical phishing attack — the exchange employees received personal emails and Skype messages from seemingly friendly sources. As a result, the person responsible for security, Bitstamp system administrator Luka Kodrich, downloaded malware onto the work computer, which led to the exchange’s security getting breached.

Compensation did not follow, but the security regime was significantly toughened. Specifically, carrying out transactions on Bitstamp now requires using multisignature, and 98 percent of the cryptocurrency is stored in a cold wallet.

Established back in 2011, Bitstamp is the oldest active crypto exchange in the world. It is currently ranked 26th on CoinMarketCap, seeing around $65,858,358 in trades in the 24 hours before press time. Kodrič told Reuters their volume has been down between 60-70 percent comparing to previous years, but stressed that Bitstamp remained profitable in 2018 because current cryptocurrency prices were still higher than they were for most of last year.

Buyout details: Kodrič remains CEO, investor ‘helps with global expansion’

On October 29, Reuters reported that Bitstamp has been acquired by Brussels-based investment firm NXMH in an “all cash deal.” Prior to that, the exchange had raised a total of about $14 million from investors including Pantera Capital, which invested $10 million in Bitstamp in 2014.

NXMH is a family investment holding which has over 2 billion euros in assets “managing the wealth of an Asian tech entrepreneur,” as per its Linkedin profile. It was founded in 2011 and focuses on European consumer and tech investments. The firm is a subsidiary of South Korea-based media giant NXC Corp, which bought a 65.19 percent stake in South Korean crypto exchange Korbit last year.

The deal between NXMH and Bitstamp was reportedly finalized on October 25. Whilst Kodrič declined to share the full terms to the media, he informed Reuters that in 2016 Bitstamp was valued at $60 million, up from $39 million in 2014. Interestingly, in March 2018 the exchange was rumored to be “in the final stages” of being acquired by South Korean investors (of which NXMH is technically a subsidiary) for $400 million.

NXMH now has an 80 percent stake in Bitstamp, with Kodrič retaining his 10 percent ownership interest and staying on as CEO. NXMH has also reportedly obtained “part” of Pantera Capital’s $10 million stake in the exchange, however it will keep a six percent ownership stake in the exchange. Kodrič’s co-founder, Damian Merlak, has reportedly sold all of his 30 percent stake in the exchange in the NXMH deal. According to Kodrič, his co-founder has “not been active since 2015.”

Bitstamp CEO does not believe anything will change for either the exchange’s customers or its 180 employees following the acquisition, as he told Fortune:

“We have kind of the same opinion as NXMH — why change something if it works perfectly well?”

He added that a merger between Bitstamp and Korbit (both owned by one parent company NXC Corp.) was in the talks, but the parties decided to run the exchange separately in the end. The crypto exchanges still plan to share technology, research, and development resources, according to Kodrič.

NXMH was one of four interested bidders for Bitstamp in a process that began in “mid-2017.” He added that they initially struck the deal last December, as the price of Bitcoin was peaking near $20,000, and it took several months for the companies to receive regulatory approval for the arrangement.

Kodrič claims that he and Merlak “were not looking to sell,” and “were definitely not looking for investment because they “didn’t need to raise the capital.” Nevertheless, he took the opportunity to cash out on the majority of his share in the company while keeping 10 percent and remaining the CEO:

“[Bitstamp and NXMH] were very much aligned—where we see the industry going and what the company wants to be […] They’re willing to help us along the way, and help us with our global expansion.”

Other major acquisitions of 2018: Poloniex, BitTrade, Bithumb

Earlier in February, Goldman Sachs-backed, Circle startup, acquired the US-based Poloniex crypto exchange for $400 million.

In late May, Japanese crypto exchange BitTrade was acquired for S$67 million ($50 million) by a Singaporean multi-millionaire and entrepreneur, Eric Cheng. After purchasing a 100 percent stake in the company, Cheng became the first foreign investor to own an exchange licensed by Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA).

On August 31, Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten, with a market capitalization of over $12.5 billion, revealed a 265 million yen ($2.4 million) deal to acquire domestic crypto exchange, Everybody’s Bitcoin.

In October, BK Global Consortium, a group led by one of South Korea’s leading plastic surgeons, Dr. Kim Byung Gun, closed a deal to obtain “50 percent plus one share” of BTC Holding Co. – the largest investor in Bithumb crypto exchange. According to Bloomberg, the purchase was settled at around 400 billion won ($352 million) and will be finalized in February 2019.

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[forensiceyes]

Marijuana Business Acquisitions — Stock for Stock Deals

With Washington’s recent moves to allow owners of marijuana retailers to have ownership interests in up to five licensed retail stores and to also allow owners of licensed producers to have an interest in up to three licenses, the acquisition market in Washington remains extremely active. Similarly, Nevada and California are both experiencing significant movement in acquisition markets — this always happens before and after a market inflection point. Big rule changes, new licenses being issued, and first business dates all spark the market for large scale business transactions. Increasingly in the cannabis market, we are seeing more deals structured as equity-only deals — deals involving no cash.

Two main components arise in structuring a merger or acquisition: the intended organizational structure at the end of the deal and the method of payment for owners of the selling business. The entities could merge, where the companies are combined and only one survives. The selling business could sell its assets, where it disposes of its tangible and intangible assets to the buyer and then cashes out its owners and dissolves. Or both business entities could remain intact, and the buyer takes over ownership of the selling company, making it buyer’s subsidiary. The payment side generally comprises some combination of assumption of the selling company’s debt, cash, promissory notes payable to owners of the selling company, and stock (or membership interest in an LLC).

Stock deals make for an interesting calculation, and the value of the stock, and the stability of that value, depend on a number of factors. If a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq wants to acquire a company using its stock, selling shareholders receive value that is virtually as good as cash. They could keep the stock in the buying entity, or they could immediately sell it in the public market for its cash value. The situation differs for stocks sold over the counter and stocks in private companies. For over the counter stocks (penny stocks), price volatility jumps around so much that selling shareholders may or may not be getting the value they expected. And these companies bear the risk of regulators freezing their public sales, as penny stock markets are still rife with fraud. See The Six Top Marijuana Scams to Avoid. Selling shareholders may think they are getting something of value, but that value can tank quickly. See Marijuana Stock Fraud and Outsider Negligence.

For privately-held acquiring companies, cash and stock differ starkly. The regulated nature of most marijuana business markets only enhances that difference. In a privately held company, whether it’s a corporation or an LLC, the company operating agreement generally restricts or outright disallows selling shares to a third party without approval of company management. If shareholders of a selling company want short-term liquidity, the privately held company must allow for that. And though some companies have scheduled liquidity events for their owners through some variation of redemption of shares, most acquiring companies limit minority owners to getting profit distributions and hoping the buyer company either sells itself to another third party or eventually goes public. At the size of deals our cannabis business lawyers are seeing most often, the “going public” possibility is more pie in the sky than reality.

And just because a company is doing well financially does not mean it will distribute profits or issue dividends to its owners. Managers of growing companies generally want to use that cash for business expansion, reinvestment, or as a potential source for future business acquisitions. When a company owner issues a dividend or distribution, that owner is essentially saying it can’t think of anything better to do in the money. In Washington, at least, owners often horde cash for a rainy-day fund, as the regulations make it so challenging to get short-term capital in case of emergencies.

That said, for those looking at a long-term play, receiving stock in a cannabis acquisition may well be worth it. Marijuana licenses are valuable and smart owners with good brands can often squeeze more profit out of a license than its prior owners could. If the numbers add up, getting a small piece of a larger pie — a pie that you anticipate will continue growing at a good pace — can end up earning a lot more money in the long run than a simple cash deal could have earned. It’s just a question of how much risk the sellers are willing to take.

Marijuana Business Acquisitions — Stock for Stock Deals posted first on http://ift.tt/2q9Scx5

[centuryassociates]

Marijuana Business Acquisitions — Stock for Stock Deals

With Washington’s recent moves to allow owners of marijuana retailers to have ownership interests in up to five licensed retail stores and to also allow owners of licensed producers to have an interest in up to three licenses, the acquisition market in Washington remains extremely active. Similarly, Nevada and California are both experiencing significant movement in acquisition markets — this always happens before and after a market inflection point. Big rule changes, new licenses being issued, and first business dates all spark the market for large scale business transactions. Increasingly in the cannabis market, we are seeing more deals structured as equity-only deals — deals involving no cash.

Two main components arise in structuring a merger or acquisition: the intended organizational structure at the end of the deal and the method of payment for owners of the selling business. The entities could merge, where the companies are combined and only one survives. The selling business could sell its assets, where it disposes of its tangible and intangible assets to the buyer and then cashes out its owners and dissolves. Or both business entities could remain intact, and the buyer takes over ownership of the selling company, making it buyer’s subsidiary. The payment side generally comprises some combination of assumption of the selling company’s debt, cash, promissory notes payable to owners of the selling company, and stock (or membership interest in an LLC).

Stock deals make for an interesting calculation, and the value of the stock, and the stability of that value, depend on a number of factors. If a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq wants to acquire a company using its stock, selling shareholders receive value that is virtually as good as cash. They could keep the stock in the buying entity, or they could immediately sell it in the public market for its cash value. The situation differs for stocks sold over the counter and stocks in private companies. For over the counter stocks (penny stocks), price volatility jumps around so much that selling shareholders may or may not be getting the value they expected. And these companies bear the risk of regulators freezing their public sales, as penny stock markets are still rife with fraud. See The Six Top Marijuana Scams to Avoid. Selling shareholders may think they are getting something of value, but that value can tank quickly. See Marijuana Stock Fraud and Outsider Negligence.

For privately-held acquiring companies, cash and stock differ starkly. The regulated nature of most marijuana business markets only enhances that difference. In a privately held company, whether it’s a corporation or an LLC, the company operating agreement generally restricts or outright disallows selling shares to a third party without approval of company management. If shareholders of a selling company want short-term liquidity, the privately held company must allow for that. And though some companies have scheduled liquidity events for their owners through some variation of redemption of shares, most acquiring companies limit minority owners to getting profit distributions and hoping the buyer company either sells itself to another third party or eventually goes public. At the size of deals our cannabis business lawyers are seeing most often, the “going public” possibility is more pie in the sky than reality.

And just because a company is doing well financially does not mean it will distribute profits or issue dividends to its owners. Managers of growing companies generally want to use that cash for business expansion, reinvestment, or as a potential source for future business acquisitions. When a company owner issues a dividend or distribution, that owner is essentially saying it can’t think of anything better to do in the money. In Washington, at least, owners often horde cash for a rainy-day fund, as the regulations make it so challenging to get short-term capital in case of emergencies.

That said, for those looking at a long-term play, receiving stock in a cannabis acquisition may well be worth it. Marijuana licenses are valuable and smart owners with good brands can often squeeze more profit out of a license than its prior owners could. If the numbers add up, getting a small piece of a larger pie — a pie that you anticipate will continue growing at a good pace — can end up earning a lot more money in the long run than a simple cash deal could have earned. It’s just a question of how much risk the sellers are willing to take.

Marijuana Business Acquisitions — Stock for Stock Deals posted first on http://ift.tt/2lnEzMp

[legit-scam-review]

Elon Musk Wants Advice on Twitter Crypto Scammers, the US SEC Wants Comments on BTC ETFs

Coming every Sunday, the Hodler’s Digest will help you to track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions, and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.

Top Stories This Week

Japanese Cryptocurrency Exchange Zaif Hacked Of Reported 5,966 Bitcoins

As a result of a security breach on September 14, hackers have managed to steal 4.5 billion yen from Japan’s Zaif cryptocurrency exchange, as well as 2.2 billion yen from the assets of the company, with total losses amounting to 6.7 billion yen or around $59.7 million. Tech Bureau Inc, which operated Zaif, stated this week that the exchange detected a server error on September 17, after which Zaif suspended deposits and withdrawals. On September 18, the exchange realized that the error was a hack, and reported the incident to Japan’s financial regulator, reporting losses of 5,966 bitcoins (BTC) in addition to some Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and MonaCoin (MONA).

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Turns To Dogecoin Creator To Stop Crypto Scammers

Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Elon Musk asked Jackson Palmer, the creator of Dogecoin (DOGE), to help him combat “annoying” cryptocurrency scammers on Twitter this week. Musk, directing his tweet at Palmer, asked for help getting rid of scam spammers, to which Palmer replied by sending Musk a short script in direct messages to try to fix the problem.

US SEC Postpones VanEck Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund, Asks For Further Comments

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has requested further comments regarding its decision on the listing and trading of VanEck and SolidX’s Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF), which is expected to list on the CBOE BZX Equities Exchange (BZX). In a notice, the SEC asks for additional comments from interested parties addressing the sufficiency of the BZX’s statement in support of the proposal. In particular, the SEC is seeking comments on eighteen key issues, among which are commenters’ views on BZX’s assertions that BTC “is arguably less susceptible to manipulation than other commodities that underlie exchange-traded products (ETPs).”

New York Attorney General Report: Crypto Exchanges Vulnerable To Manipulation

A new report published by the New York Attorney General’s office states that cryptocurrency exchanges are vulnerable to manipulation, conflicts of interest, and other consumer risks. The findings, part of the “Virtual Markets Integrity Initiative” that consisted in surveying 13 cryptocurrency exchanges, found that an absence of standard methods for auditing virtual assets results in the lack of a consistent and transparent approach to independently auditing digital currency traded on exchanges.

Researchers Explain How Gemini Dollar Transactions Can Be Changed Or Paused

The implementation of the recently launched Gemini dollar (GUSD) stablecoin can be completely changed by a Gemini custodian every 48 hours, according to a study authored by blockchain researcher Alex Lebed and crypto consultant Alexey Akhunov. In the study, the authors review the code of the GUSD’s smart contract in order to demonstrate that the implementation of the Gemini USD can become non-transferrable or frozen at any moment, which is noted in the Gemini dollar’s white paper.

    Most Memorable Quotations

“The data age is major opportunity for manufacturers to reform the industry. But blockchain and IoT will be meaningless tech unless they can promote the transformation of the manufacturing industry, and the evolution of the society towards a greener and more inclusive direction,” — Jack Ma, founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba

“Cryptocurrencies are perfect, but are used for bad purposes today, so [one has to be] careful. Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies are also perfect, they are big, big tools,” — Francisco Gonzalez Rodriguez, executive chairman of multinational Spanish banking group Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA)

“As the government and regulators decide whether the current Wild West situation is allowed to continue, or whether they are going to introduce regulation, consumers remain unprotected,” — UK Treasury Committee on cryptocurrency regulation

Laws And Taxes

Ukrainian Parliament Seeks To Tax Cryptocurrency Assets With New Bill

Ukraine’s parliament has proposed a bill that would tax operations with crypto assets with a five percent tax on individuals and legal entities operating with virtual currency assets, such as cryptocurrencies and tokens. Starting Jan. 1, 2024 crypto-related profits by businesses would be taxed at 18 percent, which is a basic rate for corporate and personal income tax in Ukraine. According to the lawmakers, the introduction of this tax would make it possible to “draw 1.27 billion hryvnia ($43 million) to the budget annually from 2019-2024.”

US Lawmakers Send Open Letter To IRS Asking For Crypto Taxation Clarity

U.S. lawmakers have called on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to issue clarified and “comprehensive” crypto taxation guidance in an open letter this week. The representatives deem that the IRS has had “more than adequate time” to work through complexities after its preliminary rules were issued four years ago, arguing that while the IRS has proactively continued to remind taxpayers of the penalties for non-compliance with its guidance, its failure to introduce a more robust taxation framework “severely hinders taxpayers’ ability” to meet their obligations.

Financial Task Force Says International AML Standards For Crypto Coming Soon

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said it is getting closer to the establishment of a global set of anti-money laundering (AML) standards for cryptocurrencies. The agency’s president Marshall Billingslea reportedly said that he expects the coordination of a series of standards that will close “gaps” in global AML standards at an FATF plenary in October. At that time, the FATF will purportedly discuss which existing standards should be adapted to digital currencies, as well as revise the assessment methods of how countries implement those standards.

Adoption

Binance To Soon Begin Private Beta Testing Of Crypto-Fiat Singapore Exchange

Binance, the largest global crypto exchange, will soon start private beta testing a crypto-fiat exchange in Singapore, as Binance co-founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) tweeted this week. According to CZ, the testing will be launched on September 18, and while no further details have been specified, the crypto-fiat Singapore-based exchange will presumably support the local Singapore dollar.

US PNC Bank To Use RippleNet For Customers’ International Payments

PNC, which is ranked among the top ten U.S. banks with 8 million customers and retail branches in 19 states, will use RippleNet to process international payments for its customers. A particular PNC unit — Treasury Management — will use Ripple’s blockchain solution xCurrent to speed up overseas transactions held by U.S. commercial clients. Ripple emphasises that xCurrent will allow PNC business clients to receive payments against their invoices instantly, changing their approach to managing both accounts and their working capital.

Ripple Executive Hints Of xRapid Launch Coming Soon

Head of regulatory relations for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East at Ripple Sagar Sarbhai told CNBC this week that Ripple has been making strides toward the launch of its product xRapid, noting that a commercial version of its payment platform could launch “in the next month or so.” The xRapid product is a real-time settlement platform designed to speed up international payments that addresses the issues of minimizing liquidity costs and making cross-border payment transactions faster.

Canadian Coinsquare’s Investment Subsidiary Launches Two Tech-Based ETFs

Coinsquare’s subsidiary — Coin Capital Investment Management — has reportedly become the 30th ETF operator in Canada, with the launch of the Coincapital STOXX Blockchain Patents Innovation Index Fund (LDGR) and the Coincapital STOXX B.R.AI.N. Index Fund (THNK) on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). LDGR is a research-focused ETF that intends to provide investors with global equity securities of firms that invest in the development of blockchain technologies, while THNK, aims to provide investments in global equity securities concentrated around four “megatrends” in technology — biotechnology, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and nanotechnology.

Brazil’s Largest Brokerage To Launch Bitcoin, Ethereum Exchange

The largest brokerage in Brazil, Grupo XP, will enter the crypto space by launching an exchange for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) in the near future called XDEX with around forty employees. Grupo XP is the biggest financial group in Brazil, comprising companies with various business models. XP has reportedly set a goal to have $1 trillion reais ($245 billion) under custody by 2020, which is four times what the company expects to raise by the end of this year. In addition, XP will launch a bank in the next few months.

Mergers, Acquisitions, And Partnerships

Crypto Exchange Huobi Joins Russian Bank Innovation Fund

Cryptocurrency exchange Huobi has joined Russia’s VEB Innovation Fund to share notes on crypto regulation. Russia’s cryptocurrency regulation draft law, which passed in a first reading in May, are tentatively set to be passed in October. One of the main goals of the partnership with Huobi and the VEB Innovation Fund is to draw on the crypto regulation experience gained by Huobi and to apply it in Russia, especially for adjusting the legal framework on digital assets.

Switzerland And Israel Agree To Share Blockchain Regulation Experience

Switzerland and Israel have agreed to share their experience on regulating the blockchain industry.Switzerland’s Minister of Finance Ueli Maurer and State Secretary for International Financial Matters Joerg Gasser have recently visited Israel to officially request access to the local markets for Swiss banks.As Gasser told Reuters, by the end of 2018 he plans to prepare a report on blockchain regulation for the Israeli officials that would outline general recommendations.

R3, Dutch Digital Security Company Partner For Blockchain-Based IDs

Blockchain consortium R3 has deployed a digital ID application developed by Dutch digital security company Gemalto on the latest version of the Corda Platform. The parties now expect to conduct several pilots of the application — called the Trust ID Network —  that will reportedly be launched later this year. The application enables digital service providers to operate “fully verified and secured” user personal data by creating a Digital ID, allowing consumers to register within various banking, e-commerce, and e-government services while avoiding repeated due diligence procedures.

Poland’s Largest Bank Partners With Coinfirm To Launch Blockchain Solution

Poland’s largest bank , PKO Bank Polski, will launch a blockchain solution for its customer documents via a partnership with UK-based Coinfirm “in the coming days,” the parties confirmed this week. As part of a drive to enhance security of customer data, PKO Bank Polski will use Coinfirm’s Trudatum to provide blockchain-issued paperwork to its some five million account holders.

Funding Rounds

Chinese Blockchain Fund To Raise Almost $13 Million For Japanese Stablecoin

Yao Yongjie, whose $1.5 billion Grandshores Blockchain Fund has the backing of well-known Chinese Bitcoin investor Li Xiaolai and the local government of the city of Hangzhou, is seeking to create up to three new stable cryptocurrencies (stablecoins) pegged to various fiat currencies. The first reported stablecoin project would involve the Japanese yen, and a second company Yao chairs, Hong Kong-based Grandshores Technology, aims to raise HK$100 million ($12.7 million) in financing for the cryptocurrency.

Winners And Losers

The crypto markets have experienced a comeback this week, with Bitcoin trading for around $6,756 and Ethereum at $245. Total market cap is now around $228 billion.

The top three altcoin gainers of the week are Carebit, Bob’s Repair, and the Ultimate Secure Cash. The top three altcoin losers of the week are Protean, Abulaba, and Bitmark.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

FUD Of The Week

Bitcoin Core Updates Fixes Vulnerability That Could “Take Down The Network”

Bitcoin Core has released an update following the recent detection of a vulnerability in the software: Bitcoin Core 0.16.3 was released with a fix for a denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability.The vulnerability could reportedly cause a crash of older versions of Bitcoin Core if they attempted processing a block transaction that tries to spend the same amount twice. According to Casaba Security co-founder Jason Glassberg, the recent vulnerability found on Bitcoin Core software could “take down the network.” He explained that the network crash “does not appear” to target users’ wallets, but would rather “affect transactions in the sense that they cannot be completed.”

China’s Central Bank Warns Public Of Risks With ICOs, Crypto Trading

The People’s Bank of China has issued a new public notice this week “reminding” investors of the risks associated with Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and crypto trading. Today’s notice ,released from the bank’s headquarters in Shanghai, censures the “unauthorized” and “illegal” ICO financing model for posing a “serious disruption” to the “economic, financial and social order.”

German Finance Minister Doubts Whether Crypto Could Ever Replace Fiat

Germany’s Finance Minister Olaf Scholz doubted publicly this week that cryptocurrencies can currently replace traditional fiat currencies. Scholz compared cryptocurrencies to the tulip fever bubble in the Netherlands in the 17th century saying, “and the danger is great that there will be such a tulip inflation,” noting that cryptocurrencies should also be closely observed by regulators, as they could be used for terrorist financing, money laundering or other criminal activities.

Reuters: Brazilians Antitrust Regulator To Inspect Six Major Banks Over Crypto Trade

Brazil’s antitrust regulator, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), is reportedly inspecting six major national banks for alleged monopolistic practices in the crypto space, according to Reuters. The probe, which was initiated n the request of the Brazilian Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Association (ABCB) following several complaints, will determine whether the country’s largest banks closed the accounts of brokerages trading in Bitcoin.

Malware Reportedly Stolen From NSA Contributes To Skyrocketing Cryptojacking

Leaked code targeting Microsoft Systems which hackers allegedly stole from the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) sparked a fivefold increase in cryptocurrency mining malware infections, according to a report from the Cyber Threat Alliance. Eternal Blue, which was reportedly stolen and then used for the infamous cyberattacks WannaCry and NotPetya, has been used by hackers to gain access to computers in order to covertly mine for cryptocurrency, with detections up 459 percent this year.

Prediction Of The Week

Bitcoin To See 30 Percent Rally By End Of 2018, Says Mike Novogratz

Billionaire investor Mike Novogratz predicted this week on Twitter that Bitcoin will see a 30 percent rally by the end of 2018. Stating that the $8,800 to $10,000 threshold would be the the defining moment for institutional investors to enter the space, Novogratz claimed that it is impossible for BTC to not reach the $8,800 to $10,000 price points by the end of the year.

Best Features

Bitcoin Miners Flock To New York’s Remote Corners, But Get Chilly Reception

The New York Times visits Massena — a region formerly filled with American corporations offering unions jobs — that now has one of the state’s highest unemployment rates. However, as the Time notes, the “abundant, cheap electricity flowing from a dam in the St. Lawrence River,” has brought in the cryptocurrency mining companies, bringing mixed reactions from the area’s residents.

No One Knows What to Call the Hottest Cryptocurrency

After Ripple (XRP) saw an unprecedented amount of growth this week, the question arose: what is it really called — Ripple or XRP? While Ripple Labs Inc. notes that the tokens are different than its open-source network, the token did used to be referred to as “ripples (XRP).”

window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({ appId : '1922752334671725', xfbml : true, version : 'v2.9' }); FB.AppEvents.logPageView(); }; (function(d, s, id){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)}; if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0'; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,'script', 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', '1922752334671725'); fbq('track', 'PageView'); This news post is collected from Cointelegraph

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[legit-scam-review]

Elon Musk Wants Advice on Twitter Crypto Scammers, the US SEC Wants Comments on BTC ETFs

Coming every Sunday, the Hodler’s Digest will help you to track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions, and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.

Top Stories This Week

Japanese Cryptocurrency Exchange Zaif Hacked Of Reported 5,966 Bitcoins

As a result of a security breach on September 14, hackers have managed to steal 4.5 billion yen from Japan’s Zaif cryptocurrency exchange, as well as 2.2 billion yen from the assets of the company, with total losses amounting to 6.7 billion yen or around $59.7 million. Tech Bureau Inc, which operated Zaif, stated this week that the exchange detected a server error on September 17, after which Zaif suspended deposits and withdrawals. On September 18, the exchange realized that the error was a hack, and reported the incident to Japan’s financial regulator, reporting losses of 5,966 bitcoins (BTC) in addition to some Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and MonaCoin (MONA).

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Turns To Dogecoin Creator To Stop Crypto Scammers

Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Elon Musk asked Jackson Palmer, the creator of Dogecoin (DOGE), to help him combat “annoying” cryptocurrency scammers on Twitter this week. Musk, directing his tweet at Palmer, asked for help getting rid of scam spammers, to which Palmer replied by sending Musk a short script in direct messages to try to fix the problem.

US SEC Postpones VanEck Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund, Asks For Further Comments

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has requested further comments regarding its decision on the listing and trading of VanEck and SolidX’s Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF), which is expected to list on the CBOE BZX Equities Exchange (BZX). In a notice, the SEC asks for additional comments from interested parties addressing the sufficiency of the BZX’s statement in support of the proposal. In particular, the SEC is seeking comments on eighteen key issues, among which are commenters’ views on BZX’s assertions that BTC “is arguably less susceptible to manipulation than other commodities that underlie exchange-traded products (ETPs).”

New York Attorney General Report: Crypto Exchanges Vulnerable To Manipulation

A new report published by the New York Attorney General’s office states that cryptocurrency exchanges are vulnerable to manipulation, conflicts of interest, and other consumer risks. The findings, part of the “Virtual Markets Integrity Initiative” that consisted in surveying 13 cryptocurrency exchanges, found that an absence of standard methods for auditing virtual assets results in the lack of a consistent and transparent approach to independently auditing digital currency traded on exchanges.

Researchers Explain How Gemini Dollar Transactions Can Be Changed Or Paused

The implementation of the recently launched Gemini dollar (GUSD) stablecoin can be completely changed by a Gemini custodian every 48 hours, according to a study authored by blockchain researcher Alex Lebed and crypto consultant Alexey Akhunov. In the study, the authors review the code of the GUSD’s smart contract in order to demonstrate that the implementation of the Gemini USD can become non-transferrable or frozen at any moment, which is noted in the Gemini dollar’s white paper.

    Most Memorable Quotations

“The data age is major opportunity for manufacturers to reform the industry. But blockchain and IoT will be meaningless tech unless they can promote the transformation of the manufacturing industry, and the evolution of the society towards a greener and more inclusive direction,” — Jack Ma, founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba

“Cryptocurrencies are perfect, but are used for bad purposes today, so [one has to be] careful. Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies are also perfect, they are big, big tools,” — Francisco Gonzalez Rodriguez, executive chairman of multinational Spanish banking group Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA)

“As the government and regulators decide whether the current Wild West situation is allowed to continue, or whether they are going to introduce regulation, consumers remain unprotected,” — UK Treasury Committee on cryptocurrency regulation

Laws And Taxes

Ukrainian Parliament Seeks To Tax Cryptocurrency Assets With New Bill

Ukraine’s parliament has proposed a bill that would tax operations with crypto assets with a five percent tax on individuals and legal entities operating with virtual currency assets, such as cryptocurrencies and tokens. Starting Jan. 1, 2024 crypto-related profits by businesses would be taxed at 18 percent, which is a basic rate for corporate and personal income tax in Ukraine. According to the lawmakers, the introduction of this tax would make it possible to “draw 1.27 billion hryvnia ($43 million) to the budget annually from 2019-2024.”

US Lawmakers Send Open Letter To IRS Asking For Crypto Taxation Clarity

U.S. lawmakers have called on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to issue clarified and “comprehensive” crypto taxation guidance in an open letter this week. The representatives deem that the IRS has had “more than adequate time” to work through complexities after its preliminary rules were issued four years ago, arguing that while the IRS has proactively continued to remind taxpayers of the penalties for non-compliance with its guidance, its failure to introduce a more robust taxation framework “severely hinders taxpayers’ ability” to meet their obligations.

Financial Task Force Says International AML Standards For Crypto Coming Soon

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said it is getting closer to the establishment of a global set of anti-money laundering (AML) standards for cryptocurrencies. The agency’s president Marshall Billingslea reportedly said that he expects the coordination of a series of standards that will close “gaps” in global AML standards at an FATF plenary in October. At that time, the FATF will purportedly discuss which existing standards should be adapted to digital currencies, as well as revise the assessment methods of how countries implement those standards.

Adoption

Binance To Soon Begin Private Beta Testing Of Crypto-Fiat Singapore Exchange

Binance, the largest global crypto exchange, will soon start private beta testing a crypto-fiat exchange in Singapore, as Binance co-founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) tweeted this week. According to CZ, the testing will be launched on September 18, and while no further details have been specified, the crypto-fiat Singapore-based exchange will presumably support the local Singapore dollar.

US PNC Bank To Use RippleNet For Customers’ International Payments

PNC, which is ranked among the top ten U.S. banks with 8 million customers and retail branches in 19 states, will use RippleNet to process international payments for its customers. A particular PNC unit — Treasury Management — will use Ripple’s blockchain solution xCurrent to speed up overseas transactions held by U.S. commercial clients. Ripple emphasises that xCurrent will allow PNC business clients to receive payments against their invoices instantly, changing their approach to managing both accounts and their working capital.

Ripple Executive Hints Of xRapid Launch Coming Soon

Head of regulatory relations for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East at Ripple Sagar Sarbhai told CNBC this week that Ripple has been making strides toward the launch of its product xRapid, noting that a commercial version of its payment platform could launch “in the next month or so.” The xRapid product is a real-time settlement platform designed to speed up international payments that addresses the issues of minimizing liquidity costs and making cross-border payment transactions faster.

Canadian Coinsquare’s Investment Subsidiary Launches Two Tech-Based ETFs

Coinsquare’s subsidiary — Coin Capital Investment Management — has reportedly become the 30th ETF operator in Canada, with the launch of the Coincapital STOXX Blockchain Patents Innovation Index Fund (LDGR) and the Coincapital STOXX B.R.AI.N. Index Fund (THNK) on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). LDGR is a research-focused ETF that intends to provide investors with global equity securities of firms that invest in the development of blockchain technologies, while THNK, aims to provide investments in global equity securities concentrated around four “megatrends” in technology — biotechnology, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and nanotechnology.

Brazil’s Largest Brokerage To Launch Bitcoin, Ethereum Exchange

The largest brokerage in Brazil, Grupo XP, will enter the crypto space by launching an exchange for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) in the near future called XDEX with around forty employees. Grupo XP is the biggest financial group in Brazil, comprising companies with various business models. XP has reportedly set a goal to have $1 trillion reais ($245 billion) under custody by 2020, which is four times what the company expects to raise by the end of this year. In addition, XP will launch a bank in the next few months.

Mergers, Acquisitions, And Partnerships

Crypto Exchange Huobi Joins Russian Bank Innovation Fund

Cryptocurrency exchange Huobi has joined Russia’s VEB Innovation Fund to share notes on crypto regulation. Russia’s cryptocurrency regulation draft law, which passed in a first reading in May, are tentatively set to be passed in October. One of the main goals of the partnership with Huobi and the VEB Innovation Fund is to draw on the crypto regulation experience gained by Huobi and to apply it in Russia, especially for adjusting the legal framework on digital assets.

Switzerland And Israel Agree To Share Blockchain Regulation Experience

Switzerland and Israel have agreed to share their experience on regulating the blockchain industry.Switzerland’s Minister of Finance Ueli Maurer and State Secretary for International Financial Matters Joerg Gasser have recently visited Israel to officially request access to the local markets for Swiss banks.As Gasser told Reuters, by the end of 2018 he plans to prepare a report on blockchain regulation for the Israeli officials that would outline general recommendations.

R3, Dutch Digital Security Company Partner For Blockchain-Based IDs

Blockchain consortium R3 has deployed a digital ID application developed by Dutch digital security company Gemalto on the latest version of the Corda Platform. The parties now expect to conduct several pilots of the application — called the Trust ID Network —  that will reportedly be launched later this year. The application enables digital service providers to operate “fully verified and secured” user personal data by creating a Digital ID, allowing consumers to register within various banking, e-commerce, and e-government services while avoiding repeated due diligence procedures.

Poland’s Largest Bank Partners With Coinfirm To Launch Blockchain Solution

Poland’s largest bank , PKO Bank Polski, will launch a blockchain solution for its customer documents via a partnership with UK-based Coinfirm “in the coming days,” the parties confirmed this week. As part of a drive to enhance security of customer data, PKO Bank Polski will use Coinfirm’s Trudatum to provide blockchain-issued paperwork to its some five million account holders.

Funding Rounds

Chinese Blockchain Fund To Raise Almost $13 Million For Japanese Stablecoin

Yao Yongjie, whose $1.5 billion Grandshores Blockchain Fund has the backing of well-known Chinese Bitcoin investor Li Xiaolai and the local government of the city of Hangzhou, is seeking to create up to three new stable cryptocurrencies (stablecoins) pegged to various fiat currencies. The first reported stablecoin project would involve the Japanese yen, and a second company Yao chairs, Hong Kong-based Grandshores Technology, aims to raise HK$100 million ($12.7 million) in financing for the cryptocurrency.

Winners And Losers

The crypto markets have experienced a comeback this week, with Bitcoin trading for around $6,756 and Ethereum at $245. Total market cap is now around $228 billion.

The top three altcoin gainers of the week are Carebit, Bob’s Repair, and the Ultimate Secure Cash. The top three altcoin losers of the week are Protean, Abulaba, and Bitmark.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

FUD Of The Week

Bitcoin Core Updates Fixes Vulnerability That Could “Take Down The Network”

Bitcoin Core has released an update following the recent detection of a vulnerability in the software: Bitcoin Core 0.16.3 was released with a fix for a denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability.The vulnerability could reportedly cause a crash of older versions of Bitcoin Core if they attempted processing a block transaction that tries to spend the same amount twice. According to Casaba Security co-founder Jason Glassberg, the recent vulnerability found on Bitcoin Core software could “take down the network.” He explained that the network crash “does not appear” to target users’ wallets, but would rather “affect transactions in the sense that they cannot be completed.”

China’s Central Bank Warns Public Of Risks With ICOs, Crypto Trading

The People’s Bank of China has issued a new public notice this week “reminding” investors of the risks associated with Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and crypto trading. Today’s notice ,released from the bank’s headquarters in Shanghai, censures the “unauthorized” and “illegal” ICO financing model for posing a “serious disruption” to the “economic, financial and social order.”

German Finance Minister Doubts Whether Crypto Could Ever Replace Fiat

Germany’s Finance Minister Olaf Scholz doubted publicly this week that cryptocurrencies can currently replace traditional fiat currencies. Scholz compared cryptocurrencies to the tulip fever bubble in the Netherlands in the 17th century saying, “and the danger is great that there will be such a tulip inflation,” noting that cryptocurrencies should also be closely observed by regulators, as they could be used for terrorist financing, money laundering or other criminal activities.

Reuters: Brazilians Antitrust Regulator To Inspect Six Major Banks Over Crypto Trade

Brazil’s antitrust regulator, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), is reportedly inspecting six major national banks for alleged monopolistic practices in the crypto space, according to Reuters. The probe, which was initiated n the request of the Brazilian Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Association (ABCB) following several complaints, will determine whether the country’s largest banks closed the accounts of brokerages trading in Bitcoin.

Malware Reportedly Stolen From NSA Contributes To Skyrocketing Cryptojacking

Leaked code targeting Microsoft Systems which hackers allegedly stole from the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) sparked a fivefold increase in cryptocurrency mining malware infections, according to a report from the Cyber Threat Alliance. Eternal Blue, which was reportedly stolen and then used for the infamous cyberattacks WannaCry and NotPetya, has been used by hackers to gain access to computers in order to covertly mine for cryptocurrency, with detections up 459 percent this year.

Prediction Of The Week

Bitcoin To See 30 Percent Rally By End Of 2018, Says Mike Novogratz

Billionaire investor Mike Novogratz predicted this week on Twitter that Bitcoin will see a 30 percent rally by the end of 2018. Stating that the $8,800 to $10,000 threshold would be the the defining moment for institutional investors to enter the space, Novogratz claimed that it is impossible for BTC to not reach the $8,800 to $10,000 price points by the end of the year.

Best Features

Bitcoin Miners Flock To New York’s Remote Corners, But Get Chilly Reception

The New York Times visits Massena — a region formerly filled with American corporations offering unions jobs — that now has one of the state’s highest unemployment rates. However, as the Time notes, the “abundant, cheap electricity flowing from a dam in the St. Lawrence River,” has brought in the cryptocurrency mining companies, bringing mixed reactions from the area’s residents.

No One Knows What to Call the Hottest Cryptocurrency

After Ripple (XRP) saw an unprecedented amount of growth this week, the question arose: what is it really called — Ripple or XRP? While Ripple Labs Inc. notes that the tokens are different than its open-source network, the token did used to be referred to as “ripples (XRP).”

window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({ appId : '1922752334671725', xfbml : true, version : 'v2.9' }); FB.AppEvents.logPageView(); }; (function(d, s, id){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)}; if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0'; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,'script', 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', '1922752334671725'); fbq('track', 'PageView'); This news post is collected from Cointelegraph

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The post Elon Musk Wants Advice on Twitter Crypto Scammers, the US SEC Wants Comments on BTC ETFs appeared first on Review: Legit or Scam?.

Read more from → https://legit-scam.review/elon-musk-wants-advice-on-twitter-crypto-scammers-the-us-sec-wants-comments-on-btc-etfs-3

[legit-scam-review]

Elon Musk Wants Advice on Twitter Crypto Scammers, the US SEC Wants Comments on BTC ETFs

Coming every Sunday, the Hodler’s Digest will help you to track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions, and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.

Top Stories This Week

Japanese Cryptocurrency Exchange Zaif Hacked Of Reported 5,966 Bitcoins

As a result of a security breach on September 14, hackers have managed to steal 4.5 billion yen from Japan’s Zaif cryptocurrency exchange, as well as 2.2 billion yen from the assets of the company, with total losses amounting to 6.7 billion yen or around $59.7 million. Tech Bureau Inc, which operated Zaif, stated this week that the exchange detected a server error on September 17, after which Zaif suspended deposits and withdrawals. On September 18, the exchange realized that the error was a hack, and reported the incident to Japan’s financial regulator, reporting losses of 5,966 bitcoins (BTC) in addition to some Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and MonaCoin (MONA).

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Turns To Dogecoin Creator To Stop Crypto Scammers

Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Elon Musk asked Jackson Palmer, the creator of Dogecoin (DOGE), to help him combat “annoying” cryptocurrency scammers on Twitter this week. Musk, directing his tweet at Palmer, asked for help getting rid of scam spammers, to which Palmer replied by sending Musk a short script in direct messages to try to fix the problem.

US SEC Postpones VanEck Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund, Asks For Further Comments

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has requested further comments regarding its decision on the listing and trading of VanEck and SolidX’s Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF), which is expected to list on the CBOE BZX Equities Exchange (BZX). In a notice, the SEC asks for additional comments from interested parties addressing the sufficiency of the BZX’s statement in support of the proposal. In particular, the SEC is seeking comments on eighteen key issues, among which are commenters’ views on BZX’s assertions that BTC “is arguably less susceptible to manipulation than other commodities that underlie exchange-traded products (ETPs).”

New York Attorney General Report: Crypto Exchanges Vulnerable To Manipulation

A new report published by the New York Attorney General’s office states that cryptocurrency exchanges are vulnerable to manipulation, conflicts of interest, and other consumer risks. The findings, part of the “Virtual Markets Integrity Initiative” that consisted in surveying 13 cryptocurrency exchanges, found that an absence of standard methods for auditing virtual assets results in the lack of a consistent and transparent approach to independently auditing digital currency traded on exchanges.

Researchers Explain How Gemini Dollar Transactions Can Be Changed Or Paused

The implementation of the recently launched Gemini dollar (GUSD) stablecoin can be completely changed by a Gemini custodian every 48 hours, according to a study authored by blockchain researcher Alex Lebed and crypto consultant Alexey Akhunov. In the study, the authors review the code of the GUSD’s smart contract in order to demonstrate that the implementation of the Gemini USD can become non-transferrable or frozen at any moment, which is noted in the Gemini dollar’s white paper.

    Most Memorable Quotations

“The data age is major opportunity for manufacturers to reform the industry. But blockchain and IoT will be meaningless tech unless they can promote the transformation of the manufacturing industry, and the evolution of the society towards a greener and more inclusive direction,” — Jack Ma, founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba

“Cryptocurrencies are perfect, but are used for bad purposes today, so [one has to be] careful. Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies are also perfect, they are big, big tools,” — Francisco Gonzalez Rodriguez, executive chairman of multinational Spanish banking group Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA)

“As the government and regulators decide whether the current Wild West situation is allowed to continue, or whether they are going to introduce regulation, consumers remain unprotected,” — UK Treasury Committee on cryptocurrency regulation

Laws And Taxes

Ukrainian Parliament Seeks To Tax Cryptocurrency Assets With New Bill

Ukraine’s parliament has proposed a bill that would tax operations with crypto assets with a five percent tax on individuals and legal entities operating with virtual currency assets, such as cryptocurrencies and tokens. Starting Jan. 1, 2024 crypto-related profits by businesses would be taxed at 18 percent, which is a basic rate for corporate and personal income tax in Ukraine. According to the lawmakers, the introduction of this tax would make it possible to “draw 1.27 billion hryvnia ($43 million) to the budget annually from 2019-2024.”

US Lawmakers Send Open Letter To IRS Asking For Crypto Taxation Clarity

U.S. lawmakers have called on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to issue clarified and “comprehensive” crypto taxation guidance in an open letter this week. The representatives deem that the IRS has had “more than adequate time” to work through complexities after its preliminary rules were issued four years ago, arguing that while the IRS has proactively continued to remind taxpayers of the penalties for non-compliance with its guidance, its failure to introduce a more robust taxation framework “severely hinders taxpayers’ ability” to meet their obligations.

Financial Task Force Says International AML Standards For Crypto Coming Soon

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said it is getting closer to the establishment of a global set of anti-money laundering (AML) standards for cryptocurrencies. The agency’s president Marshall Billingslea reportedly said that he expects the coordination of a series of standards that will close “gaps” in global AML standards at an FATF plenary in October. At that time, the FATF will purportedly discuss which existing standards should be adapted to digital currencies, as well as revise the assessment methods of how countries implement those standards.

Adoption

Binance To Soon Begin Private Beta Testing Of Crypto-Fiat Singapore Exchange

Binance, the largest global crypto exchange, will soon start private beta testing a crypto-fiat exchange in Singapore, as Binance co-founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) tweeted this week. According to CZ, the testing will be launched on September 18, and while no further details have been specified, the crypto-fiat Singapore-based exchange will presumably support the local Singapore dollar.

US PNC Bank To Use RippleNet For Customers’ International Payments

PNC, which is ranked among the top ten U.S. banks with 8 million customers and retail branches in 19 states, will use RippleNet to process international payments for its customers. A particular PNC unit — Treasury Management — will use Ripple’s blockchain solution xCurrent to speed up overseas transactions held by U.S. commercial clients. Ripple emphasises that xCurrent will allow PNC business clients to receive payments against their invoices instantly, changing their approach to managing both accounts and their working capital.

Ripple Executive Hints Of xRapid Launch Coming Soon

Head of regulatory relations for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East at Ripple Sagar Sarbhai told CNBC this week that Ripple has been making strides toward the launch of its product xRapid, noting that a commercial version of its payment platform could launch “in the next month or so.” The xRapid product is a real-time settlement platform designed to speed up international payments that addresses the issues of minimizing liquidity costs and making cross-border payment transactions faster.

Canadian Coinsquare’s Investment Subsidiary Launches Two Tech-Based ETFs

Coinsquare’s subsidiary — Coin Capital Investment Management — has reportedly become the 30th ETF operator in Canada, with the launch of the Coincapital STOXX Blockchain Patents Innovation Index Fund (LDGR) and the Coincapital STOXX B.R.AI.N. Index Fund (THNK) on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). LDGR is a research-focused ETF that intends to provide investors with global equity securities of firms that invest in the development of blockchain technologies, while THNK, aims to provide investments in global equity securities concentrated around four “megatrends” in technology — biotechnology, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and nanotechnology.

Brazil’s Largest Brokerage To Launch Bitcoin, Ethereum Exchange

The largest brokerage in Brazil, Grupo XP, will enter the crypto space by launching an exchange for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) in the near future called XDEX with around forty employees. Grupo XP is the biggest financial group in Brazil, comprising companies with various business models. XP has reportedly set a goal to have $1 trillion reais ($245 billion) under custody by 2020, which is four times what the company expects to raise by the end of this year. In addition, XP will launch a bank in the next few months.

Mergers, Acquisitions, And Partnerships

Crypto Exchange Huobi Joins Russian Bank Innovation Fund

Cryptocurrency exchange Huobi has joined Russia’s VEB Innovation Fund to share notes on crypto regulation. Russia’s cryptocurrency regulation draft law, which passed in a first reading in May, are tentatively set to be passed in October. One of the main goals of the partnership with Huobi and the VEB Innovation Fund is to draw on the crypto regulation experience gained by Huobi and to apply it in Russia, especially for adjusting the legal framework on digital assets.

Switzerland And Israel Agree To Share Blockchain Regulation Experience

Switzerland and Israel have agreed to share their experience on regulating the blockchain industry.Switzerland’s Minister of Finance Ueli Maurer and State Secretary for International Financial Matters Joerg Gasser have recently visited Israel to officially request access to the local markets for Swiss banks.As Gasser told Reuters, by the end of 2018 he plans to prepare a report on blockchain regulation for the Israeli officials that would outline general recommendations.

R3, Dutch Digital Security Company Partner For Blockchain-Based IDs

Blockchain consortium R3 has deployed a digital ID application developed by Dutch digital security company Gemalto on the latest version of the Corda Platform. The parties now expect to conduct several pilots of the application — called the Trust ID Network —  that will reportedly be launched later this year. The application enables digital service providers to operate “fully verified and secured” user personal data by creating a Digital ID, allowing consumers to register within various banking, e-commerce, and e-government services while avoiding repeated due diligence procedures.

Poland’s Largest Bank Partners With Coinfirm To Launch Blockchain Solution

Poland’s largest bank , PKO Bank Polski, will launch a blockchain solution for its customer documents via a partnership with UK-based Coinfirm “in the coming days,” the parties confirmed this week. As part of a drive to enhance security of customer data, PKO Bank Polski will use Coinfirm’s Trudatum to provide blockchain-issued paperwork to its some five million account holders.

Funding Rounds

Chinese Blockchain Fund To Raise Almost $13 Million For Japanese Stablecoin

Yao Yongjie, whose $1.5 billion Grandshores Blockchain Fund has the backing of well-known Chinese Bitcoin investor Li Xiaolai and the local government of the city of Hangzhou, is seeking to create up to three new stable cryptocurrencies (stablecoins) pegged to various fiat currencies. The first reported stablecoin project would involve the Japanese yen, and a second company Yao chairs, Hong Kong-based Grandshores Technology, aims to raise HK$100 million ($12.7 million) in financing for the cryptocurrency.

Winners And Losers

The crypto markets have experienced a comeback this week, with Bitcoin trading for around $6,756 and Ethereum at $245. Total market cap is now around $228 billion.

The top three altcoin gainers of the week are Carebit, Bob’s Repair, and the Ultimate Secure Cash. The top three altcoin losers of the week are Protean, Abulaba, and Bitmark.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

FUD Of The Week

Bitcoin Core Updates Fixes Vulnerability That Could “Take Down The Network”

Bitcoin Core has released an update following the recent detection of a vulnerability in the software: Bitcoin Core 0.16.3 was released with a fix for a denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability.The vulnerability could reportedly cause a crash of older versions of Bitcoin Core if they attempted processing a block transaction that tries to spend the same amount twice. According to Casaba Security co-founder Jason Glassberg, the recent vulnerability found on Bitcoin Core software could “take down the network.” He explained that the network crash “does not appear” to target users’ wallets, but would rather “affect transactions in the sense that they cannot be completed.”

China’s Central Bank Warns Public Of Risks With ICOs, Crypto Trading

The People’s Bank of China has issued a new public notice this week “reminding” investors of the risks associated with Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and crypto trading. Today’s notice ,released from the bank’s headquarters in Shanghai, censures the “unauthorized” and “illegal” ICO financing model for posing a “serious disruption” to the “economic, financial and social order.”

German Finance Minister Doubts Whether Crypto Could Ever Replace Fiat

Germany’s Finance Minister Olaf Scholz doubted publicly this week that cryptocurrencies can currently replace traditional fiat currencies. Scholz compared cryptocurrencies to the tulip fever bubble in the Netherlands in the 17th century saying, “and the danger is great that there will be such a tulip inflation,” noting that cryptocurrencies should also be closely observed by regulators, as they could be used for terrorist financing, money laundering or other criminal activities.

Reuters: Brazilians Antitrust Regulator To Inspect Six Major Banks Over Crypto Trade

Brazil’s antitrust regulator, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), is reportedly inspecting six major national banks for alleged monopolistic practices in the crypto space, according to Reuters. The probe, which was initiated n the request of the Brazilian Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Association (ABCB) following several complaints, will determine whether the country’s largest banks closed the accounts of brokerages trading in Bitcoin.

Malware Reportedly Stolen From NSA Contributes To Skyrocketing Cryptojacking

Leaked code targeting Microsoft Systems which hackers allegedly stole from the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) sparked a fivefold increase in cryptocurrency mining malware infections, according to a report from the Cyber Threat Alliance. Eternal Blue, which was reportedly stolen and then used for the infamous cyberattacks WannaCry and NotPetya, has been used by hackers to gain access to computers in order to covertly mine for cryptocurrency, with detections up 459 percent this year.

Prediction Of The Week

Bitcoin To See 30 Percent Rally By End Of 2018, Says Mike Novogratz

Billionaire investor Mike Novogratz predicted this week on Twitter that Bitcoin will see a 30 percent rally by the end of 2018. Stating that the $8,800 to $10,000 threshold would be the the defining moment for institutional investors to enter the space, Novogratz claimed that it is impossible for BTC to not reach the $8,800 to $10,000 price points by the end of the year.

Best Features

Bitcoin Miners Flock To New York’s Remote Corners, But Get Chilly Reception

The New York Times visits Massena — a region formerly filled with American corporations offering unions jobs — that now has one of the state’s highest unemployment rates. However, as the Time notes, the “abundant, cheap electricity flowing from a dam in the St. Lawrence River,” has brought in the cryptocurrency mining companies, bringing mixed reactions from the area’s residents.

No One Knows What to Call the Hottest Cryptocurrency

After Ripple (XRP) saw an unprecedented amount of growth this week, the question arose: what is it really called — Ripple or XRP? While Ripple Labs Inc. notes that the tokens are different than its open-source network, the token did used to be referred to as “ripples (XRP).”

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Both Kim Kardashian and the Operator of the New York Stock Exchange Get Into Bitcoin

Coming every Sunday, the Hodler’s Digest will help you to track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions, and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.

Top Stories This Week

New York Stock Exchange Operator Announces Digital Assets Platform, BTC Futures

Intercontinental Exchange, the operator of 23 global exchanges including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), has announced plans to launch an “open and regulated” global digital asset ecosystem, as well as one-day physically delivered Bitcoin contracts pending CFTC review and approval. The company, called “Bakkt,” will work with enterprises including BCG, Microsoft, and Starbucks.

South Korean Authorities Investigate Alleged Sunken Treasure Crypto Scam

South Korean authorities are investigating a possible cryptocurrency investment scam by the Seoul-based Shinil Group, who allegedly promised investors that they would be reimbursed with gold from a sunken Russian ship discovered last month. The Russian armored cruiser, which sank 113 years ago, is rumored to have about $131 billion worth of gold.

Square Payment Services Reports $70 Million In Bitcoin Revenue For First Half Of 2018

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s Square, a payment service that added a Bitcoin option in November of last year, revealed in a quarterly report that they have generated over $70 million in Bitcoin revenues in the first half of 2018. According to the report, BTC revenue over Q1 2018 was $34 million, Q2 2018 was $37 million, and the the total revenue for Q2 of 2018 was $814 million.

Kim Kardashian West “Moves Onto Bitcoin” At Charity Poker Night

Kim Kardashian West posted an Instagram Story to her $114 million followers last week of what appeared to be her staking physical Bitcoin chips at a charity poker night out. The physical cryptos appear to closely resemble a Kialara-designed bitcoin, which crypto entrepeneur Matt Roszak tweeted that he gave Kardashian West earlier that day.

Coinbase Custody Considers Addition Of 40 Altcoins To Its Custodial Service

Crypto wallet and exchange Coinbase announced this week that it is considering adding 40 new assets to its custodial service, with the caveat that they may be added “for storage only” and are not currently considering them for trading. Coinbase noted that the addition of an asset to Coinbase Custody is not indicative of whether it will be added to other Coinbase products, adding that all assets under consideration for trading must pass the GDAX Digital Asset Framework.

Most Memorable Quotations

“If something wants to be treated as money, you have to be able to spend, save and calculate with it […] So we do not consider it [cryptocurrency] to be money as such,” —

Petra Hielkema, divisional director of the Dutch Central Bank

“And we don’t want your money. Give it to charity. We are concerned that others will entrust their money to something that is not secure in the way appear to suggest,” — Alan Woodward, cryptocurrency researcher, on his reasons not to claim the Bitfi wallet bounty even if a vulnerability is found

“But if you want to argue that I’m wrong, please answer the question, what problem does cryptocurrency solve? Don’t just try to shout down the skeptics with a mixture of technobabble and libertarian derp,” — Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize winning economist

Laws And Taxes

Bank Of Thailand Allows Banks To Set Up Crypto-Related Subsidiaries

The Bank of Thailand has announced that local banks can set up subsidiaries for dealing with cryptocurrencies, while maintaining that banks and other financial institutions are still banned from directly dealing with crypto. According to the regulatory announcement, Thai banks can now issue digital tokens, provide crypto brokerage services, run crypto-related businesses, and invest in cryptocurrencies through subsidiaries.

Group Of Mt. Gox Creditors Update Terms Of Civil Rehabilitation Plan

Lawyers representing a group of creditors of the now-defunct Japanese Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox have revised their civil rehabilitation plan. The plan confirms that payments will be made in Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, noting that the “remaining cash” from the sale of BTC and BCH should be paid to BTC creditors after the repayment to the monetary creditors. The newly updated plan also notes that reimbursement in altcoins is “unrealistic,” citing the differing selections of coins listed on crypto exchanges.

Adoption

Cannabis Culture Media Org High Times Accepts Crypto In Initial Public Offering

High Times Holding Corp., a cannabis culture media organization, will accept Bitcoin and Ethereum in its Initial Public Offering in an apparent first time for a traditional stock offering to accept crypto. The High Times CEO said that they were adding crypto support in order to attract more investors to the company, noting that it would have been “foolish” to leave out the crypto investor base.

Australia Awards $1.7 Million Grant For Sustainable Sugar Blockchain Project

The Australian government has granted around $1.7 million in a grant to the Sustainable Sugar Project for using blockchain to track the provenance of sugar supplies to Australia. The initiative, known as the Smart Cane Base Management Practice, is part of the sugar industry push for more sustainability and traceability.

Crypto Wallet, Exchange Coinbase Rolls Out Support For British Pound

Major U.S. crypto exchange and wallet Coinbase has announced that it will be rolling out support for the British pound. According to Coinbase, the new feature will let UK customers buy and sell crypto for pounds within the same day. At first the feature will be available only to some current customers, with the service to become available to all British customers “in the coming weeks.”

Tom Lee’s Market Research Firm Adds Bitcoin Payment Option

Fundstrat Global Advisors, Tom Lee’s market strategy and research provider, will start accepting Bitcoin for content via payment operator BitPay. According to the press release, the payment option will permit institutional investors, financial advisors, high net worth individuals, and other entities to use Bitcoin to purchase access to Fundstrat’s reports on different financial sectors.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ships 17 Tons Of Almonds With Blockchain

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has announced the completion of a successful trade of 17 tons of almonds from Melbourne to Hamburg, Germany, using its new blockchain platform.The platform runs on distributed ledger technology, Internet of Things, and smart contracts, with the goal to digitize operations, documentation, and finance in global trade.

Mergers, Acquisitions, And Partnerships

Binance Buys Open Source, Decentralized Trust Wallet In First Public Acquisition

Crypto exchange Binance has bought Trust Wallet, an open source, anonymous, and decentralized wallet that supports Ethereum (ETH) and over 20,000 different Ethereum-based tokens (ERC20, ERC223, and ERC721). Binance said in an interview that it paid a mixture of fiat, Binance stocks, and its own BNB token for the company, which will remain mostly autonomous with Binance helping with administration and work on marketing development.

Zambia Signs Memorandum Of Understanding With Overstock Blockchain Subsidiary

The Zambian government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Overstock’s Medici Land Governance (MLG), the American retail giant’s blockchain land registry subsidiary. Under the terms of the MoU, Zambia and MLG will work together on overhauling land ownership, allowing rural landowners to legitimize their estates and gain access to the financial world.

Thomas Reuters Partners With Crypto Tracking Resource Crypto Compare

Canadian mass media and information company Thomson Reuters has announced a crypto asset data partnership with cryptocurrency tracking resource CryptoCompare, with the company set to provide order book and trade data on 50 cryptocurrencies for Reuters’ institutional investor-focused financial desktop platform Eikon. Reuters’ director of strategy in innovation and blockchain noted that “decline in the price of many of the leading cryptocurrencies during 2018” has not lessened the “increasing demand from our customers for pricing coverage of the major names.”

UK Fintech Firm Billon Signs Letter Of Intent With Tech Provider FIS

Billon has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with international financial services tech provider Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS), with the aim to integrate blockchain tech solutions. Billon, which refers to itself as a “civilized blockchain” company, will work with FIS on the exploration of joint product development and sales opportunities that could use blockchain tech.

Winners And Losers

The crypto markets have taken a hit this week, with Bitcoin dipping briefly below $7,000 and Ethereum trading near $400. Total market cap is around $256 million by press time.

The top three altcoin gainers of the week are Theta Token, aelf, and Huobi Token. The top three altcoin losers of the week are Cryptonex, ChainLink, and Mithril.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

FUD Of The Week

Nobel Prize Winning Economist Paul Krugman Thinks Total Crypto Collapse Is Possible

Paul Krugman, an economist who won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2008, explained his position as a “crypto skeptic” in a New York Times op-ed this week. According to Krugman, the crypto craze is moving the monetary system backwards 300 years. Krugman noted that the high transaction costs and a lack of tethering means that the crypto markets have the potential to “collapse” if people decide that Bitcoin are suddenly “worthless.”

NYSE Trader Believes Bitcoin Has A “Long Way To Go” To Become Mainstream

Alan Valdes, a senior partner at international advisory firm Silverbear Capital and NYSE trader, said in an interview this week that Bitcoin wallets seem “very iffy at best,” when asked about Wall Street’s intentions with cryptocurrencies. According to Valdes, Bitcoin has a “long way to go” before the public will get involved.

Mike Novogratz’s Crypto Merchant Bank Shares Plunge 20 Percent After Trading Debut

Shares in Mike Novogratz’s crypto-focused merchant bank have fallen 20 percent after their trading debut on major a Canadian stock exchange this week. Galaxy Digital LP trades a “Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd” under the stock exchange’s GLXY ticker, slightly renamed after Novogratz opted to secure the listing via a so-called “reverse takeover” route.

Goldman Sachs 2018 Market Outlook Report Calls Crypto Mania “Unsteady”

According to a July 2018 report by the Goldman Sachs Investment Strategy Group, Bitcoin and the “unsteady cryptocurrency mania” are one of the six factors that threaten the Goldman Sachs 2018 market outlet. The investment bank believes that the crypto markets will further decline, as they do not consider crypto to fulfill any of the “three traditional roles of money.”

US SEC Issues Subpoena To Former Beverage Manufacturer Long Blockchain Corp

Long Blockchain Corp., the former drinks manufacturer-turned-blockchain development company, has been issued a subpoena this week by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Long Blockchain Corp. changed its name in January of this year, resulting in a 500% increase in the company’s stock price, but Nasdaq announced the firm would be delisted in April due to low market cap. The company noted that they are complying fully with the SEC’s investigation.

Best Features

How Video Games Helped Pave the Way for Cryptocurrency

This piece delves into the history of the connection between videogames and virtual money, beginning in the early 2000s when the idea of paying fiat for items in virtual gaming really took off in South Korea. According to the author, by the late 2000s digital value was “no longer just limited to nerdy kids in dark basements.” Now, the author believes, video games are already primed for the integration of blockchain and crypto.

 Where Tech, Women, And The Future Of Finance Converge

Coinbase speaks with Fereshteh Forough, founder and president of Afghanistan’s Code to Inspire, about her coding school for girls in Afghanistan and how the use of cryptocurrency is giving Afghan women the chance for financial freedom.

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Tron Foundation Officially Completes Acquisition of BitTorrent

File sharing software provider BitTorrent announced Tuesday that its acquisition by the Tron Foundation is now officially complete.

BitTorrent said it will now operate from Tron’s new San Francisco offices and support the blockchain project’s global development, while continuing to serve the claimed 100 million BitTorrent users around the globe.

According to the announcement:

“We believe that joining the TRON network will further enhance BitTorrent and accelerate our mission of creating an Internet of options, not rules.”

News of the imminent purchase became public in mid-June, when BitTorrent co-founder and former president Ashwin Navin told CoinDesk that Tron was forking out $120 million for the firm.

The news provoked speculation that after the merger BitTorrent might start charging users with fees in cryptocurrency. However, as reported, the firm wrote on its website that it has “no plans to change” its business model and will not charge fees for any of its services. Further, BitTorrent indicated it has “no plans to enable mining of cryptocurrency now or in the future.”

According to a report in Variety at the time, TRON founder Justin Sun began negotiating the acquisition of BitTorrent last September under a “no shop” clause, which prevented BitTorrent from discussing possible mergers with other potential buyers. However, on May 25, BitTorrent reportedly violated that clause and Sun filed legal paperwork to sue. The fate of that lawsuit is unknown.

Tron’s TRX blockchain-based token is now the 11th largest cryptocurrency with a $2.4 billion market capitalization, according to price data provider CoinMarketCap. In May, Tron started what’s called a token swap, shifting all TRX from ethereum to its own blockchain, dubbed Odyssey 2.0.

BitTorrent image via Shutterstock

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

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Marijuana Business Acquisitions — Stock for Stock Deals

With Washington’s recent moves to allow owners of marijuana retailers to have ownership interests in up to five licensed retail stores and to also allow owners of licensed producers to have an interest in up to three licenses, the acquisition market in Washington remains extremely active. Similarly, Nevada and California are both experiencing significant movement in acquisition markets — this always happens before and after a market inflection point. Big rule changes, new licenses being issued, and first business dates all spark the market for large scale business transactions. Increasingly in the cannabis market, we are seeing more deals structured as equity-only deals — deals involving no cash.

Two main components arise in structuring a merger or acquisition: the intended organizational structure at the end of the deal and the method of payment for owners of the selling business. The entities could merge, where the companies are combined and only one survives. The selling business could sell its assets, where it disposes of its tangible and intangible assets to the buyer and then cashes out its owners and dissolves. Or both business entities could remain intact, and the buyer takes over ownership of the selling company, making it buyer’s subsidiary. The payment side generally comprises some combination of assumption of the selling company’s debt, cash, promissory notes payable to owners of the selling company, and stock (or membership interest in an LLC).

Stock deals make for an interesting calculation, and the value of the stock, and the stability of that value, depend on a number of factors. If a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq wants to acquire a company using its stock, selling shareholders receive value that is virtually as good as cash. They could keep the stock in the buying entity, or they could immediately sell it in the public market for its cash value. The situation differs for stocks sold over the counter and stocks in private companies. For over the counter stocks (penny stocks), price volatility jumps around so much that selling shareholders may or may not be getting the value they expected. And these companies bear the risk of regulators freezing their public sales, as penny stock markets are still rife with fraud. See The Six Top Marijuana Scams to Avoid. Selling shareholders may think they are getting something of value, but that value can tank quickly. See Marijuana Stock Fraud and Outsider Negligence.

For privately-held acquiring companies, cash and stock differ starkly. The regulated nature of most marijuana business markets only enhances that difference. In a privately held company, whether it’s a corporation or an LLC, the company operating agreement generally restricts or outright disallows selling shares to a third party without approval of company management. If shareholders of a selling company want short-term liquidity, the privately held company must allow for that. And though some companies have scheduled liquidity events for their owners through some variation of redemption of shares, most acquiring companies limit minority owners to getting profit distributions and hoping the buyer company either sells itself to another third party or eventually goes public. At the size of deals our cannabis business lawyers are seeing most often, the “going public” possibility is more pie in the sky than reality.

And just because a company is doing well financially does not mean it will distribute profits or issue dividends to its owners. Managers of growing companies generally want to use that cash for business expansion, reinvestment, or as a potential source for future business acquisitions. When a company owner issues a dividend or distribution, that owner is essentially saying it can’t think of anything better to do in the money. In Washington, at least, owners often horde cash for a rainy-day fund, as the regulations make it so challenging to get short-term capital in case of emergencies.

That said, for those looking at a long-term play, receiving stock in a cannabis acquisition may well be worth it. Marijuana licenses are valuable and smart owners with good brands can often squeeze more profit out of a license than its prior owners could. If the numbers add up, getting a small piece of a larger pie — a pie that you anticipate will continue growing at a good pace — can end up earning a lot more money in the long run than a simple cash deal could have earned. It’s just a question of how much risk the sellers are willing to take.

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