Top Blockchain Stories, Government Policy, and Market Moves (7/2–7/9)

5 min readJul 9, 2018

The Price of AI Token (PAI) Triples in 3-Days

The price of the first artificial intelligence currency (PAI) increased dramatically by 59.82% on July 4. The 24h transaction volume accounted for 20% of the total amount traded on the Huobi Exchange that day. Later the next day, PAI increased by another 10%, which surpassed the $1 USD mark and set a new record high. The significant rise of PAI’s price came largely from popularity of artificial intelligence and blockchain, as well as financial support from famous investors such as Tencent and Softbank. However, TokenInsight concludes that there was no fundamental support for this rise, so individual investors should stay cautious.

Fcoin Launched GEM, Limiting Daily Price Variation Of New Tokens

FCoin officially launched the new sub-brand “FCoin GPM” on July 2nd. The listing rule of FCoin GPM adopts the mechanism of “The cumulative deposit number ranking”. The transaction fee charges 0.2% only to the seller, and its “trading is mining” rule remains unchanged. The FCoin platform limits the daily price variation of new tokens and states that: increases shall not exceed +100%, while decrease shall not exceed -50%.

The launch of the FCoin GPM further drives the ecosystem of the exchange, while at the same time laying the groundwork for the high-quality projects move up innovation board through further project screening and supervising.

Li Xiaolai’s Private Recording Leaked

On the morning of July 4th, a recording of Li Xiaolai, one of China’s largest Bitcoin holders revealed in a secretly taped conversation which included currency scams, profiling, and other information. In the recording, Li also revealed his own approach to “cutting leeks”, that is, using celebrity status to hype up projects and “harvest” retail and newbie investors.

This incident significantly impacted investors, and in return caused the market to fall on July 4th. Since then, there are different opinions on the interpretation of the recording. As an investor, we should keep thinking independently, as the words and information in the recording is not significant and should be regarded as celebrity gossip.

Bitmain Completed the Series B Financing Round

According to Caixin, Bitmain raised between $300 million to $400 million from Sequoia Capital subsidiary Sequoia China, U.S. hedge fund Coatue, and Singapore-based governmental investment fund EDBI. In September 2017, Beijing-based Bitmain received $50 million in a Series A funding round from Sequoia Capital and IDG Capital.

As the world’s largest mining machine manufacturer, Bitmain makes up almost 60% of the entire ASIC mining industry in the global market. This successful financing round indicates that Bitmain is highly regarded as a unicorn company and expects to be listed in the future at almost 100 billion dollars in valuation.

Ripple Faces Third Securities Fraud Lawsuit

Court documents signed last week reveal that Ripple Labs Inc. and its CEO have been served with their third securities fraud lawsuit in as many months. In this latest suit, dated June 27, a private XRP investor alleges that Ripple Labs Inc. and its CEO Bradley Garlinghouse have tampered their token with its proprietary Ripple technology and even illegally profited from price increases the whole time.

This fraud involved Ripple’s centralized and non-mining distribution models, even driving prices throughout its ICO period, and the company sold nearly $100 million of its own currency in the last quarter of 2017 alone.If the Ripple Labs fraud lawsuit is true, it will set a precedent in the global cryptocurrency industry, and the company executives will face criminal charges for illegal transactions. Investors should beware of the current status of the company and its token.

International Government Policies:

Abu Dhabi Global Market Launches Crypto Regulatory Framework

The financial authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market has launched a regulatory framework to regulate spot crypto asset activities, including those undertaken by exchanges, custodians, and other intermediaries, following the completion of a public consultation.

International Tax Authorities Form J5 To Fight Crypto Crimes

Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) announced the formation of its tax enforcement super group, the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (or the J5 for short). The J5 features tax authorities from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and the Netherlands.

This move shows that the above-mentioned countries believe that cryptocurrency is the hardest hit in financial crimes, including offshore tax crimes, and cybercrime.

China CAICT: The Evaluation of The Trusted Blockchain Will Be Officially Launched and Completed September 2018

According to the official website of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), on June 28th, a discussion on the evaluation of the trusted blockchains was held. The meeting was to determine a proper test method and performance test specifications for trusted blockchain projects. With the finalization of the evaluation plan, the test will be officially completed and due to launch by the end of September 2018

The “Trusted Blockchain Review” is a third-party product testing project organized by the Trusted Blockchain Promotion Program. Its purpose is to boost user confidence through proper information disclosure and to standardize the development of the blockchain industry.

Market Money & Where It’s Going:

Alipay Cooperates with Gcash on Blockchain Remittance

On July 3, Alipay partnered with Philippine e-wallet Gcash to allow cross-border remittances between individuals in the Philippines and Hong Kong. Blockchain technology allows both parties to use the service to track the status of funds and all remittance messages are encrypted. This is the first service to use the blockchain technology for remittances, which will reduce costs and increase efficiency.

Baidu Launches Tuteng Points Publicized Blockchain Layout

Baidu will officially launch tuteng points on July 18 and publicized the Baidu blockchain layout for the first time. Tuteng points are a means of reward and stake settlement in the ecosystem.

This move shows that Baidu actively lays out the blockchain industry and promotes the application of blockchain technology in Baidu products.

Microsoft Teamed Up with Two Chinese Companies to Develop Enterprise Blockchain Platforms to Develop Cross-Industry Technology Applications

Microsoft Taiwan Branch has formed a partnership with China Binary Sale Technology Limited and Chengdu High Cloud to build a platform for enterprise blockchain development, hoping to bring revolutionary innovation to industries such as finance, e-business, and entertainment in the APAC market.

Microsoft’s active cooperation shows that domestic companies are in a leading position in blockchain development, and blockchain technology is promising in cross-industry applications.