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 Google Reverses Crypto Ad Ban, Allows Crypto Exchanges In Japan, US To Advertise The U.S. tech giant Google is set to update its ad policy in October, re-allowing registered cryptocurrency exchanges located in the U.S. and Japan to advertise. According to the official announcement, starting in October, Google will allow registered cryptocurrency exchanges …

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) confirmed its Bakkt cryptocurrency platform’s first offering will take the form of physical Bitcoin futures. ICE, which also operates the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) released new details Tuesday, September 25. Bakkt, which ICE has said will be a “regulated ecosystem” for institutional investors aiming to get exposure to cryptocurrency, will offer futures against at least three fiat currencies: the U.S. dollar, British pound sterling and euro. “Our first contracts will be physically delivered Bitcoin futures contracts versus fiat currencies, including USD, GBP and EUR,” the company wrote on Twitter. “For example, buying one USD/BTC futures contract …

Bearish positions for non-commercial contracts of Bitcoin (BTC) futures are on the decline, according to the latest Commitments of Traders (COT) report released by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) August 24. For the week ending August 21, the report shows that the net position on BTC futures declined by 1,266. Short positions fell by 210 contracts to 3,426 as compared with the previous week, with long positions up by 56 contracts at 2,160. As shown by the negative total tally, the market is still overall net short, yet -1266 is a sharp turnaround from the -1926 recorded June …

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rejected a total of nine applications to list and trade various Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from three different applicants, according to a three separate orders published by the SEC today, August 22. The disapprovals come one day ahead of the anticipated deadline, August 23, stipulated for a pair of BTC ETFs that had been submitted by ProShares in conjunction with the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) ETF exchange NYSE Arca. The SEC has now rejected a further seven proposed ETFs alongside the ProShares pair –– these being five further proposed ETFs …

Bakkt — the forthcoming regulated global ecosystem for crypto assets recently unveiled by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) — will not support margin trading for its Bitcoin (BTC) contract, according to an official Medium post published August 20. Earlier this month, ICE –– the operator of 23 leading global exchanges including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) –– had unveiled ambitious plans to create a “seamless” global ecosystem for digital assets that would cover the spectrum from federally regulated markets and warehousing to merchant and consumer needs. The announcement notably revealed plans to offer a 1-day physically delivered BTC contract by November, …

Cryptocurrency trading platform Crypto Facilities has added Bitcoin Cash (BCH) to its list of futures products, announcing in a press release that the product would go live at 4PM BST Friday, August 17. Crypto Facilities, which rose to prominence when it partnered with CME Group on its first-of-its kind Bitcoin futures in December 2017, said the move reflected Bitcoin Cash’s status as a “top five coin” by market cap. The platform already offers Bitcoin (BTC), Ripple (XRP), Ethereum (ETH) and Litecoin (LTC) futures. “We are pleased to be expanding our cryptocurrency derivatives offering with the launch of [Bitcoin Cash] futures,” …

Starbucks has clarified that it will not be accepting Bitcoin (BTC) or other cryptocurrencies as payment, despite misleading reports from mainstream media, a spokesperson told Motherboard Friday, August 3. Earlier on Friday, New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) operator the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) announced plans to create a new “global platform and ecosystem for digital assets,” dubbed “Bakkt,” alongside a group of big name enterprises including Starbucks, BCG and Microsoft. Following the major announcement, a number of mainstream media outlets, including Bloomberg and CNBC, ran misleading headlines –– such as CNBC’s “New Starbucks partnership with Microsoft allows customers to pay for …

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) will not introduce futures on cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin (BTC) in the near future, CME CEO Terry Duffy revealed in an interview with Bloomberg July 26. In the interview, Duffy said that the company should first evaluate and develop an approach for Bitcoin, stressing that Bitcoin futures “might have been the most controversial launch of a product.” Duffy emphasized that altcoins futures contracts cannot be launched immediately, because they are “highly volatile and new,” and the company cannot just list products for trading in order “to see where they’re going to go.” Duffy said, “I …

July 24: Bitcoin (BTC) broke through the $8,000 price point this morning, as the top cryptocurrency continues to outperform most other crypto assets, according to data from Coin360. In the days following the strong upswing that kicked off across the crypto market on July 16 and accelerated further on July 17, Bitcoin has sustained positive momentum while other alts slid into negative territory. Market visualization from Coin360 Bitcoin (BTC) is trading around $8,009 to press time, up 3.9 percent on the day. The leading asset gained over $200 dollars within the space of an hour and a half this morning …

The world’s largest exchange-traded fund (ETF) provider BlackRock announced the formation of a working group to assess potential involvement in Bitcoin (BTC), Financial News (FN) reports today, July 16. The move furthers a U-turn on BlackRock’s previously critical stance towards cryptocurrency. Following in the footsteps of fellow giant Goldman Sachs, the cross-industry working group convened by BlackRock will among other things focus on whether the company should invest in Bitcoin futures, FN reports, citing “two people familiar with the matter.” In general comments to FN, a spokeswoman from BlackRock said the company had been “looking at blockchain for several years” …

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision. Since their triumphant advent in the wake of the December 2017 bull run, Bitcoin futures seem to have occupied an oddly fixed position in the minds of many cryptocurrency buffs. A popular view among those who follow the dynamics of the crypto world rests on a set of established points about BTC futures: they exist since late 2017; they are offered by Cboe and CME, two respectable regulated exchanges; they help manage investment risks …

Amsterdam-based speed trader Flow Traders NV has entered the cryptocurrency market despite the warnings of the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) not to buy and sell digital currencies, Bloomberg reported July 5. Europe’s largest trader of exchange-traded funds Flow Traders NV is reportedly the first firm to buy and sell exchange-traded notes based on Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). According to Bloomberg, such publicly traded notes could broaden the appeal of crypto by making it easier and cheaper to invest. Co-Chief Executive Officer of Flow Traders NV Dennis Dijkstra said that cryptocurrencies are underestimated, adding: “It’s big, and …