Today on Altcoins This Week we discuss the recent ban imposed by the CFTC to a crypto fraudster, we comment on the reasons behind Ethereum fall and more.
Judge Bans Crypto Fraudster For Life
The Commodities Futures Trading Commission has had its decision to permanently ban a crypto fraudster for life upheld by a New York judge.
Patrick McDonnell, the chief operator of CabbageTech – yes, CabbageTech- was adjudged to have deprived large numbers of investors of funds using “trickery, false statements and misappropriation of funds.” He has been ordered to pay over $1 million in restitution and penalties. McDonnell was unrepresented and eventually stopped showing up for court dates, so wasn’t present for the verdict.
Blockchain Bond Exceeds Expectations
The world’s first Blockchain issued and managed bond has exceeded its target and raised $80 million. Bond-i is being arranged by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and was launched by the World Bank.
Announcing the success, the World Bank said that Bond-i “is part of a broader strategic focus of the World Bank to harness the potential of disruptive technologies for development.” The bond was created by the CBA Blockchain Centre of Excellence and is being managed on the Ethereum Blockchain.
Whale Movements Causing Ethereum Bother
The recent decline in the value of Ethereum has been widely blamed on cash-strapped ICO’s exchanging their Ether for fiat, but large investors may also be behind the descent, which has seen the crypto traded for amounts similar to this time last year.
California based lawyer Zoe Dolan, who has been monitoring the Ethereum Genesis Block, spotted that one Ethereum investor who purchased 314,000 Ether as part of the Blockchain’s ICO, has moved a large portion of his stash onto the Bitfinex exchange in recent months. The whale has been moving large sums over the past three months, roughly coinciding with the sharp decline in the crypto’s value.
Tether In Top Ten Following Half Billion Coin Mint
Bloomberg reported this week that Tether minted half a billion dollars worth of new coins in August alone, but the surge in supply has done little to impact the crypto market.
Tether, which the CFTC believes was used to manipulate the price of Bitcoin last year, is now in the top 10 coins in terms of market cap on foot of the new release. In previous times a new release of Tether, or USDT as it is often called on Crypto Exchanges, has coincided with a bump in value for Bitcoin and, by default, other cryptocurrencies. However, in August, Bitcoin lost almost 15% in value. Bloomberg reports that it is now harder to use stablecoins to pump and dump large cryptos such as Bitcoin, but smaller coins can still be manipulated quite easily by using Tether to drive up the price and then make a profit by dumping the artificially inflated coins.
Markets – Altcoins Steady Towards The End Of Damaging August
Altcoins were reasonably steady this week, with the largest five coins looking set to see out August having lost between 10 and 20% in value over the month as a whole. Ethereum (ETH) opened on Thursday at $271 and failed to advance further than $283, which was its peak price on Saturday, seeing out Sunday in the mid two seventies. XRP opened on Thursday at $0.319 and came closest to passing $0.33 on Saturday, when it closed at $0.328. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) opened on Thursday at a lowly $519, and it moved between the five twenties and five thirties for the rest of the week, closing on Sunday back at $520. EOS also opened low on Thursday, at $4.73, but made up ground to trade for over $5 for a spell on Saturday, before retreating back to $4.95 on Sunday. There was little drama for Stellar (XLM)
either, opening at $0.213 on Thursday, having spells above $0.22 on Friday and Saturday, before frantic, but small movements on Sunday within the $0.21 and $0.225 range.
