The CME Group has announced that Bitcoin futures trading volume is up by 93%, when compared to 2018’s first quarter.
The Vietnamese Central Bank has banned the import of hardware digital currency mining hardware, citing issues with the management of currency flows.
Three Russian universities are adding blockchain and crypto-related courses, whereas two are offering full masters programs on the technology and the digital economy.
To avoid having local blockchain companies flee to other regions with more lenient regulation, Switzerland has created a working group to encourage banks to provide services and create accounts for these businesses.
The Malta parliament passes three bills on digital currencies and blockchain technology, establishing a supervising authority, alongside implementing friendly crypto legislation.
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission makes several comments about the crypto market as part of their 2017-2018 annual report, and promises to ‘keep a close watch’.
Apple Co-Founder, Steve Wozniak, says blockchain may be a bubble, as companies with innovative ideas fail to integrate a stable vision for the long-term.
Alibaba’s co-founder, Jack Ma, releases blockchain-based payment remittance system, and makes a few negative statements about digital currencies.
Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple, made a few controversial statements on bitcoin and blockchain technology, dubbed as hype.
SEC’s William Hinman, states that Bitcoin and Ethereum aren’t securities, yet many ICO-related tokens may in fact have the legal status of a security.