Author: CoinDesk

• Financial services provider Fidelity Investments is launching a cryptocurrency trading and storage platform.
• The price of the tether stablecoin (USDT) fell to an 18-month low Monday, and rumors are swirling.
• But it's not all bad news for stablecoins: Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange OKEx has announced that it is adding four U.S. dollar-pegged cryptocurrencies to its platform for trading.
• Blockchain startup Adhara has secured $15 million in new funding from Consensys, the ethereum design studio. Good news for its all-star team of former banking innovators.
• Sony has developed a new blockchain-based digital rights management system that may see commercial rollout.

Late Confirmation is a CoinDesk production made in collaboration with The Podglomerate.

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• Bithumb, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea by trading volume, has been sold.
• Ethereum's next system-wide upgrade is on track for November release, according to coders.
• Gary Cohn, once the chief economic advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump, has just joined a blockchain startup called Spring Labs.
• U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair J. Christopher Giancarlo says that an influx of institutional investors to the cryptocurrency markets may help the space "mature.”
• Crypto exchange Coinbase is shutting down its institutional-investor focused index fund product, a spokesperson told CoinDesk.

Late Confirmation is a CoinDesk production made in collaboration with The Podglomerate.

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• Coinbase will add the 0x protocol token to its professional trading platform, Coinbase Pro. It's the first ERC-20 token to get a place on the platform.
• A region in Northern Syria is looking to cryptocurrency as a way to overcome economic sanctions.
• Crypto giveaway scams featuring Elon Musk impostors are common on Twitter, but on Thursday they went to new heights, with a promoted tweet from a verified account.
• The Securities and Exchange Commission moves against an initial coin offering and its organizer who allegedly claimed to have received approval from the agency.
• Know any Mandarin-speaking blockchain experts? The People's Bank of China is hiring as it continues development of its central bank digital currency.

Late Confirmation is a CoinDesk production made in collaboration with The Podglomerate.

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• Three years in the making, bitcoin's first sidechain, called "Liquid", is now live.
• The Financial Stability Board says that cryptocurrencies and digital assets are not currently a threat to global financial stability.
• The Securities and Exchange Commission goes after an alleged pump-and-dump scheme involving a $100 million ICO.
• Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini hires another Wall street executive
• Blockchain finance firm Clearmatics Technologies raises over $12 million in a Series A funding round.

Late Confirmation is a CoinDesk production made in collaboration with The Podglomerate.

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• The Persian Gulf may get its first cryptocurrency exchange licensed by a central bank.
• A cryptocurrency investment fund in Switzerland receives a license from the nation's financial markets regulator.
• Blockchain startup Bitwala is aiming to launch Germany's first "blockchain bank account."
• SpankChain, a cryptocurrency project focused on the adult industry, has suffered a breach that saw almost $40,000 in ethereum (ETH) stolen.
• Japanese IT giant GMO Internet is jumping into the race to launch a successful stablecoin, planning the launch of a yen-pegged cryptocurrency in 2019.

Late Confirmation is a CoinDesk production made in collaboration with The Podglomerate.

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• French supermarket giant Carrefour joins an IBM Blockchain program.
• An ICO on bitcoin? If start-up RSK has its way, it could happen.
• Controversial exchange Bitfinex attempts to disprove rumors of insolvency.
• Stealth startup Good Money plans to launch of crypto wallet with the help of "mega-bloggers." Hope Floyd's available!
• Venezuelan citizens must now purchase passports using the Petro, the nation's oil-backed cryptocurrency.

Late Confirmation is a CoinDesk production made in collaboration with The Podglomerate.

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• Yale University reportedly invested $400 million in crypto fund.
• SEC is looking for more comments on rejected bitcoin ETFs.
• Miner making multi-million bet on Ethereum staying Proof-of-Work.
• Celsius has over 10,000 users earning interest on crypto.
• Fortnite Cheat has bitcoin-targeting malware.

Late Confirmation is a CoinDesk production made in collaboration with The Podglomerate.

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• The EOS community is having its first voting fraud scandal.
• The U.S. Department of Justice charged seven alleged Russian intelligence agents with using cryptocurrencies to fund undercover operations across the world.
• An ICE official says that his agency tracks cryptocurrency conversions in its investigations.
• The co-organizer of the first-ever Crypto Springs conference says, “nothing is decentralized”.
• A French start-up receives $1.7 million to develop the Lightning Network.

Late Confirmation is a CoinDesk production made in collaboration with The Podglomerate.

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• A critical exploit originally found in bitcoin’s code was patched last month before criminals could act on it. But it now appears there were some victims.
• IBM claims to have found a way to reduce the energy consumption needed on proof-of-work blockchains.
• This week RIpple was out in full force at its Swell conference.
• Crypto exchange Gemini announced that from now on the digital assets it holds in custody will be covered by the insurance company Aon.
• A new Congressional bill dubbed Blockchain Promotion Act of 2018 was recently introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Host Pete Rizzo has the latest.

Late Confirmation is a CoinDesk production made in collaboration with The Podglomerate.

For more information, visit www.CoinDesk.com

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• CoinDesk has released a list of the top universities that offer courses on blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
• Former president Bill Clinton spoke at Ripple’s Swell conference in San Francisco on Monday. Clinton expressed concern about "disparity of access" to new technologies like blockchain.
• A new marketplace for crypto collectibles offers to sell them in bundles.
• Venture capitalist invested almost four times more in blockchain projects this year.
• CoinDesk researcher Peter Ryan discusses a new report on the top universities in blockchain education.

Late Confirmation is a CoinDesk production made in collaboration with The Podglomerate.

For more information, visit www.CoinDesk.com

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.