Today on Altcoins This Week we comment on the recent calculation error CoinMarketCap experienced, which caused altcoins to show in green; we comment on Coinbase plan to add in up to 40 new coins and much more.
CoinMarketCap Left Red Faced After Putting Coins In The Green
Altcoin holders received a pleasant surprise last Friday when they checked the current price of their coins on popular market aggregator CoinMarketCap. Some altcoins had, it seemed, experienced a huge increase in value. While some of the gains listed were in the realm of the possible given the volatile nature of the crypto market; others, such as Bitcoin Diamond (BCD), had shot up by over 1000%, leading some to worry that the site had been hacked.
This was not the case, however, the gains were indeed fictional and were blamed on a price calculation error. It appears that any coin with a listed Tether (USDT) market received a false boost in value, because an incorrect value for Tether (USDT) had been used, leading many coins to appear inflated. Normal services resumed after twenty-four hours with most altcoins accompanied by the red indicator that has proven difficult to shake off in recent weeks despite CoinMarketCap’s best efforts.
Coinbase Plans To Securely Host Up To 40 Altcoins
A month after boosting the price, albeit temporarily, of the five altcoins it claimed to have under consideration as additions to its roster, Coinbase has proclaimed that it is considering hosting a further forty coins.
However, the announcement concerns Coinbase’s recently unveiled hosting platform Coinbase Custody, and will not allow investors to trade or exchange these new coins through the Coinbase exchange. The popular San Francisco based platform cast its net wide for this recent announcement, with familiar altcoins from the top 100, such as Ada, XRP and Monero, sitting alongside less familiar names like TaTaTu. Indeed, some of the coins proposed to be included by Coinbase are in the midst of an ICO, such as Polkadot, Hedera Hashgraph and FOAM.
Bank of Thailand Reaffirms Ban On Banks Using Crypto
The Bank of Thailand has reaffirmed its position that banks in the south-east Asian kingdom are forbidden from offering crypto services to customers or directly investing in cryptocurrencies. However, banks are allowed to set up subsidiaries which can themselves handle digital currencies.
This does not mean that the Thai public at large will be able to trade in cryptocurrencies through these subsidiaries. The Bank was clear that they will only be allowed to trade with companies and institutions that are approved by the Thai SEC. Thailand became the first country to fully regulate ICOs earlier this year, but does not allow its banks to operate crypto exchanges or allow their debit or credit cards be used for crypto purchases in the country’s legal and regulated crypto exchanges.
Ethereum Domain Name Partnership: Time To Trash The Hash?
Ethereum Name Service has partnered with top-level domain operator Minds + Machines Group Ltd to secure a new .luxe domain for Ethereum related business activities. From October, when the .luxe domain is launched, wallet holders, as well as users of dApps or Ethereum based smart contracts, can purchase a .luxe domain to use in place of the 40 digit long hash indicator currently used to differentiate between contracts on the blockchain.
The .luxe domain will also allow users to easily connect their Ethereum based activities with those hosted on the traditional internet under the same domain, bringing the blockchain a step closer to the mainstream. Lead Developer of Ethereum Name Service Nick Johnson said the partnership would “advance integration between existing DNS-based name services and the Ethereum Name Service, improving usability for blockchain applications and users.”
July Gains All But Wiped Out
It’s been a tough week for altcoins, with many in the top 100 losing the significant gains they made through the last two weeks of July. Ethereum (ETH) saw its value slide to below $400 for the first time since April. It opened Thursday at $420 but struggled on Friday when it hit $399, before a slight recovery saw it trade for $407 by Sunday. XRP was down too, opening Thursday at $0.447, retreating to $0.429 and hitting a low of $0.427 on Saturday. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) shed over $100 in value this week. It opened Thursday at $767 but was trading at $691 for a time on Saturday, before a slight recovery on Sunday brought it back to $700. EOS opened at $7.24 before it too nosedived, hitting a low of $6.92 on Saturday before clawing back to just over $7 on Sunday. Stellar (XLM) has lost momentum after rapid gains at the end of July, but it still holds its own in the top 5 altcoins. It saw its $0.276 Thursday opening pared back to $0.23 by Saturday, before a slight correction brought it back to $.24 on Sunday.
