Connections. Compliance. Cap Tables.
The Digital Asset Review
JUNE 18, 2019

"Facebook (FB) is set to enter cryptocurrency in a big way.

The social network plans on announcing a cryptocurrency on Tuesday called Libra, according to a report from Wall Street Journal last week, citing several anonymous sources familiar with the matter. Facebook’s stablecoin, which will be fixed to a basket of government-issued currencies to avoid pricing volatility, is backed by investors including Visa (V), Mastercard (MA), PayPal (PYPL), and Uber (UBER) and partners such as Stripe and Booking.com.

But Libra faces many operational challenges around safety, security, and monetization."



"Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, is launching a U.S. division.

The Malta-based company said Thursday it is setting up Binance US, a new trading platform specifically targeting U.S. customers, in partnership with a firm called BAM Trading Services. The platform will be operated by BAM, while using Binance’s wallet and matching engine technologies.

The exchange did not provide a firm timeline for the launch.

The move would represent the first formal entry into the U.S. market by Binance, although residents have already been able to access its trading platform."



"It’s the first time, however, electronic money has been approved for use over a blockchain.

Monerium sees the fact that it’s working under an established framework as a competitive advantage, Valfells said, adding:

'For practical purposes, fiat will be the currency most people and institutions will want to use in the near- and medium-term. And if you are touching fiat in any way, you just have to comply with the relevant regulations.'

Monerium cofounder Jon H. Egilsson will discuss the news at a digital currency conference in Stockholm on Saturday. Egilsson was formerly chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Icelandic Central Bank."



"Bitfinex created a continuous token burn mechanism that will buy back an amount of LEO tokens worth a minimum of 27 percent the revenue of iFinex and its subsidiaries. IFinex’s holdings include digital exchanges Bitfinex, Tether, and EOSfinex.

The buyback program began on June 14 and is programmed to burn LEO tokens every 3 hours. Gross revenues from iFinex will be allocated toward the purchase of LEO tokens at market rates until 100 percent of the tokens have been burned.

The UNUS SED LEO Transparency Initiative consists of an “LEO Transparency Dashboard” providing real-time insights on the amount of funds collected for the buyback and LEO tokens that remain in circulation."



“The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Wall Street’s self-regulatory organization (SRO), has sat for months on some 40 applications from companies that touch cryptocurrencies, numerous people who deal with the agency told CoinDesk.

Some startups have been waiting at least a year, with a few standing by for as many as 14 months, without seeing any movement from FINRA, three of the sources said.

Several industry members believe the regulators have set an unofficial moratorium on these approvals. Among this group, some think that FINRA is waiting for clear guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on how cryptocurrencies are to be treated under securities laws. Others are firmly convinced the SEC has explicitly told FINRA to hold off."


Dave Hendricks is the Co-Founder & CEO of Vertalo. In this conversation, Dave and Anthony Pompliano discuss the structural issues in the legacy system, how we can fix them, what it means to tokenize venture funded companies, and how you at home could benefit from this movement.