On Today’s Edition of Altcoins This Week We Discuss the Recent Banning of Crypto Ads by Google, the Scam Scheme From Ico Giza That Cost Over $2million to Investors and Much More.
ICO GIZA Performs Exit Scam with over $2 Million
An ICO by the name of GIZA has disappeared into thin air with over $2 million of investors’ money. The project was based around the development of a hardware USB wallet for cryptocurrencies. The person leading the project was an individual by the name of Marco Frike who it later appeared to be a fake identity on LinkedIn. Mr. Frike built the entire team for the project from freelancing website Upwork and a Russian manufacturer. Rumors of a scam began to surface after the Russian company complained of not getting paid, culminating in the money disappearing and no one being able to contact the elusive Marco Frike.
Japan Urges G20 Regulators and IMF Pitches In
In recent news, Japan is urging all G20 counterparts at a meeting next week to develop measures against money laundering through cryptocurrencies, in a bid to fight the dark uses of cryptocurrencies in the current market. It is believed that the discussion will centre on criminal activity and consumer protection, rather than how cryptocurrencies might affect the banking system, with the general consensus being that too stringent action would not be healthy. At the same time, Christine Lagarde from the IMF posted in a blog that the global community needed to “fight fire with fire” and use blockchain technologies to control cryptocurrencies in their fight against criminal activity. Money laundering through cryptocurrencies has become a hot topic of discussion in multiple governments that are now looking to regulate all mechanisms related to it to prevent this from happening.
Binance and Coinbase Chase New Markets
The Chinese cryptocurrency exchange Binance, which surfaced in the news last week for a hack affecting its trading bots, has announced that they will launch their own blockchain, which plans on allowing the transfer and trading of blockchain assets. With this move, Binance is looking to combine their current service offered with a new decentralized exchange service to provide a more complete service. In general, the news has met a very positive reaction within the community.
Meanwhile, Coinbase has been applying for licenses to work in Europe and the UK in particular. The cryptocurrency exchange company recently obtained an e-money license in the United Kingdom that allows them to trade with the European Union Member Nations and the UK. Coinbase is looking to expand their markets internationally by reassuring their users that they plan on supporting their activities with all legal measures possible.
Google Follows Facebook and Bans Crypto Ads
Following similar actions taken by Facebook earlier this year, Google has announced that they will be banning all advertising campaigns based around cryptocurrency and related content; “(including but not limited to initial coin offerings, cryptocurrency exchanges, cryptocurrency wallets, and cryptocurrency trading advice)”. The announcement comes as part of Google’s Financial Service Policy update that will go into effect in June 2018.
Market Slides with Bad Press
As it was expected, the market has shown negative reactions to the latest news around the blockchain industry. The entire market is experiencing a heavy downfall, with Ethereum losing approximately $100 over the last 24 hours. ETH had been holding steady overall for the week between the $ 660/$720 mark until the latest news became known by the community.
Ripple also had a steady but poor week, sliding down to 65 cents but has climbed back up to 70 cents, in part thanks to their Asian fanbase who are proving to be less sensitive to bad news.
Cardano dropped from 22 cents to 17 cents. Neo continues to drop down, going from $100 to $68. BitcoinPrivate BTP lost a third of their value hitting $54 at present and ZClassic seems to be turning into a zombie blockchain, which could disappear in April if the market continues as it is.
