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 US SEC Releases Memorandum From Meeting Over Bitcoin ETF Proposal The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has published a memorandum from a meeting about the Bitcoin exchange-traded-fund (ETF) proposal from VanEck and SolidX that included EC Commissioner Elad L. Roisman and his counsels Dean Conway, Matthew Estabrook, and Christina Thomas, along with representatives …

Take a quick look at CnLedger, a Twitter-based Chinese crypto news information source, and a tweet pinned at the top of its profile might come as something of a surprise: Next time people tell you bitcoin is banned in China, show him this pic. pic.twitter.com/MC3Q2yzBcx — cnLedger (@cnLedger) February 8, 2018 On Sept. 30 2018, China’s oldest tech journal, the Beijing Sci-Tech Report (BSTR), announced it would be offering subscriptions payable in Bitcoin (BTC). And Ethereum Hotel, reportedly the “first” Chinese hotel to accept Ethereum (ETH) as payment, is poised to open its doors in the country’s southwestern Sichuan Province. …

The Economic Development and Trade Ministry of Ukraine has initiated a “state policy” for the classification and legalization of crypto-related activities, Ukrainian state information and news agency Ukrinform reported Oct. 26. The Ministry has reportedly issued an official press release stating that its purpose is to “create understandable conditions for conducting activities in the field of virtual assets and virtual currencies," and to usher in “adoption of the concept of a state policy” for crypto. To this end, it has proposed establishing legal definitions for key terms, including “virtual currency” (“cryptocurrency,”) “virtual assets,” Initial Coin (or Token) Offerings (ICOs or …

The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a warning about investing in nine digital tokens and Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), which have not been accredited by the regulator, news outlet Bangkok Post reported Oct. 26. The SEC reportedly initiated an investigation into digital tokens and ICOs being promoted on social media platforms for investment, and found nine cases wherein promoted digital assets had not been authorized by the market regulator. Per the SEC, the alleged digital assets and ICOs have neither filed an application for the SEC’s approval, nor have they met the necessary qualifications and had smart …

The estate of infamous Wu Tang Clan rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard (O.D.B.) confirmed its Ol’ Dirty Bastard Coin (O.D.B.) will launch Dec. 1, music industry Magazine Vents reported Tuesday, Oct. 23. Originally announced in March and named Dirty Coin, the project — now known as the O.D.B. Coin — plans to use the proceeds from sales of the altcoin to fund various fan engagement projects. Cointelegraph reported at the time of the initial announcement that the issuance will be in partnership with Link Media Partners, a music A&R firm, and will be launched on the TAO network blockchain platform. The …

Taiwan plans to release draft Initial Coin Offering (ICO) regulation by June 2019, local English-language daily news outlet Taipei Times reported Tuesday, Oct. 23. The publication quoted plans from Wellington Koo, chairman of Taiwanese finance regulator — the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) — who was speaking at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan Finance Committee. “The more we regulate, the more this new economic behavior wanes,” he told members of the meeting on Oct. 22. ICOs have created tension throughout international jurisdictions keen on avoiding consumer exposure to fraud. Locally, mainland China has banned the practice altogether, a move which …

Jeremy Allaire, the CEO of crypto investment app Circle, has called on global economies to develop coordinated regulation of cryptocurrencies in an interview with Reuters Oct. 22. The CEO of the Goldman Sachs-backed crypto firm claimed that the global community should develop universal international rules for regulating the crypto space. Claiming that for the crypto industry “ultimately there needs to be normalization at the G20 level,” Allaire has paid special attention to the regulation of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), as well as stressed the need to adopt a coordinated approach towards crypto market manipulation and know-your-customer (KYC) policies. Addressing the …

Swiss online financial services provider Swissquote announced it had become “the first bank worldwide” to offer purchase and custodial services of (Initial Coin Offering) ICO tokens for clients in a press release Monday, Oct. 22. Swissquote, which has offered various cryptocurrency-related services to account holders since 2016, began its latest service by allowing them to purchase ICO tokens from industrial diamond manufacturer LakeDiamond. Explaining the move, the bank said it was now no longer necessary for ICO consumers to “understand blockchain.” “Combining crowdfunding with the blockchain creates a new form of fundraising,” CEO Mark Buerki commented. The service will work …

A new report published Oct. 19 by Big Four auditor Ernst and Young has found that initial coin offerings (ICOs) that raised capital in 2017 have done “little to inspire confidence” one year on. The report, which is dedicated to what EY dubs the “The Class of 2017,” revisits the same projects the firm first analyzed back in Dec. 2017; the sample comprises over 141 “top” ICOs, representing 87 percent of total ICO funding that year. One year later, EY’s statistics are stark: 86 percent of project tokens are reportedly currently trading below their listing price, with 30 percent having …

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has adopted changes to its standards regarding digital currencies and firms involved into cryptocurrency-related activities, according to an announcement published Oct. 19. Paris-based FATF, also known as Groupe d'action financière (GAFI), is an intergovernmental organization established in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures to fight money laundering. The FATF has since developed a series of Recommendations recognized as the international standard for combating money laundering (ML) and the financing of illicit activities. In 2015, the FATF introduced guidance on a …

The government of Bermuda has awarded the first certification for an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) under the island nation’s new regulatory regime for crypto and blockchain business, the country’s only daily newspaper, the Royal Gazette reports Oct. 18. According to the Royal Gazette, the Minister of National Security Wayne Gaines — whose office oversees ICT policy and innovation — announced that fintech company Uulala was awarded certification by the Bermudan government today at the Bermuda Executive Forum in Miami. In July, the Premier and Minister of Finance of Bermuda David Burt introduced new regulations on ICOs to the lower house …

On October 12, Finance Magnates reported that payment giants Mastercard and VISA will both soon group cryptocurrency and Initial Coin Offering (ICO) jurisdictions in a new “high risk” category. What are the consequences for those ‘high risk’ merchants? According to the publication’s undisclosed sources, the ban will be applied to brokers who operate “from unregulated or loosely regulated environments,” and therefore have no license that would show that proper due diligence has been applied to their business. The action reportedly deals with forex, binary, cryptos, and ICOs. More specifically, the alleged move seems to target non-EU countries “in the Balkans, …