In October, cryptocurrencies had the least volatile month of the year. In what turned out to be a calm before the storm, their prices crashed in the following month. The price of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple declined by 35%, 42%, and 19% respectively. The combined market capitalization of the cryptocurrencies declined from $235 billion to below $130 billion in the month.

December has started with the currencies in the red. As of 4 th December, the currencies have declined by 7.2%, 8.10%, and 6.0%. Year-to-date, the currencies have lost more than 80% of their value.

This article will look at some of the key things to look at as the year comes to an end.

Low Sentiment
Sentiment is the main driver of all asset classes. In stocks, investors tend to crowd shares of companies they believe will show increased growth. The same is true with the cryptocurrencies industry. In 2017, as prices continued to move up, investors from around the world rushed to invest. They did so, not because of the intrinsic value they believed was in the currencies but because of the fear of missing out (FOMO). The crowding of the industry created increased demand, which pushed prices higher.

This year, as the price of the currencies started to drop, weary investors started to exit their positions. This created more sellers than buyers, which led the price to continue dropping. This was not helped by the series of negative news that rocked the industry. This included hackings, the ban of marketing by Google, Facebook, and Twitter, and the regulatory uncertainties among others.

The decline that happened in November was mostly because of the loss of confidence in the industry after a disagreement between Bitcoin miners and software owners led to a hard fork. This created a new currency known as Bitcoin Cash SV. Investors were worried about the future disagreements and the potential for dilution. This low sentiment could lead to continued downward pressure.

Technicals
With the price of cryptocurrencies being very low, some analysts believe that an upward trend could happen because of technical factors. A quick look at the major currencies using technical indicators reveals that they are oversold. For example, on the yearly chart, the RSI of Bitcoin is at 29 while that of Ethereum is at 27. This combined with the low mining activities could lead to a rise in the prices.

There is also the fact that the year is coming to an end, which could lead to many investors to buy the currencies with the hope of a recovery in the new year.

Top Events
This month, a number of cryptocurrencies-related events will take place. Traders watch out for these events with the hope that important news could come from them. On December 11, cryptocurrency enthusiasts will meet at Atlanta for the Atlanta Blockchain Experience. This week, 3rd Annual Blockchain Opportunity Summit will take place in New York. Another important event will be the VIP event by Adventure Capital. In Israel, the NextBlock Conference will take place in Tel Aviv on December 11. This is an important event because Israel has recently emerged as a leader in the blockchain technology. On Dec 14th, The Next Web and eToro will host the Hard Fork Decentralized in London, where speakers will include top executives and policymakers.

At Contentworks, our team of financial professionals closely follows market movements for FX, Crypto and other tradable instruments. We are proud to serve some of the biggest crypto and fintech companies in the world by delivering high-impact articles, videos, PR and white papers.

I have to admit, the timing seems odd.  Earlier this year I published an article in response to the DEA sharing their findings on cryptocurrency titled "DEA Special Agent: 90% of crypto transactions used to be for illegal purposes - today that number is just 10%."

But even with illegal cryptocurrency usage at an all-time low, and more legitimate entities entering the market every week, the US Department Of Homeland Security sees the small number of bad apples as a priority.

Perhaps, just to 'get in front' of a problem, before it even becomes one.

A just-released document on the DHS website invites private businesses to contact them if they believe they can help when it comes to finding solutions to the problems they outline within.  One section of this document dedicated to blockchain is titled "Blockchain Applications for Homeland Security Forensic Analytics".

They begin by mentioning two of the top privacy coins by name:

"This proposal seeks applications of blockchain forensic analytics for newer cryptocurrencies, such as Zcash and Monero."

They explain their reasoning as:

"A key feature underlying these newer blockchain platforms that is frequently emphasized is the capability for anonymity and privacy protection. While these features are desirable, there is similarly a compelling interest in tracing and understanding transactions and actions on the blockchain of an illegal nature." 

If a person or company thinks they can do it - they'll need to explain how, build a prototype, and then show it in action.  Pull it off - and you'll land a valuable government contract.

Now the question is - how private are those privacy coins?  The motivation to find holes in their security just got a lot stronger.

The Ethereum creator has just received an honorary doctorate degree from University of Basel, they shared their reasoning for choosing him:

"In recognition of his contribution to promoting decentralization and equal rights of participation in the digital revolution, as well as for his achievements in relation to cryptocurrencies, smart contracts, and institutional design.

The co-founder and inventor of “Ethereum” – a decentralized platform based on blockchain technology – authored his scientific publications without an academic degree or ties to a university."

Ironically, Vitalik is a college dropout himself, quitting after receiving a $100,000 fellowship from billionaire Peter Theil.

“I’m honored to have received an honorary doctorate from the University of Basel, the oldest University of Switzerland. Switzerland is well known for its innovative blockchain research." says Buterin.

The Thiel Fellowship actually required Buterin and all of it's candidates to drop out before they can can receive the money, the President of Harvard once commented "I think the single most misdirected bit of philanthropy in this decade is Peter Thiel's special program to bribe people to drop out of college."

But it seems to have all worked out for Vitalik.

The ICO is called "Blockvest" and last month they were ordered to halt before they really even began, via an emergency court order.  The SEC press release explained their reasoning at the time:

"An SEC complaint unsealed yesterday alleges that Blockvest falsely claimed its ICO and its affiliates received regulatory approval from various agencies, including the SEC."

But today, the case was thrown out in court, the judge examining the case stated in his findings:

"Plaintiff and Defendants provide starkly different facts as to what the 32 test investors relied on, in terms of promotional materials, information, economic inducements or oral representations at the seminars, before they purchased the test BLV tokens. Therefore, because there are disputed issues of fact, the Court cannot make a determination whether the test BLV tokens were “securities”..."

the findings continue...

"At this stage, without full discovery and disputed issues of material facts, the Court cannot make a determination whether the BLV token offered to the 32 test investors was a ‘security'"

Why we shouldn't read too much into this:
The key word's above are 'at this stage' - because while the ICO had taken on investors, the "32 test investors" named were friends, family, and associates of the founder, which he had approached personally.

Those 'test investors' then made the case that they didn't invest because he had promised huge returns, they invested basically just because they liked the guy, as explained in the finding:

"...they were investing in because they trusted them based on their long-time familial and friend relationship."

It's the fact that the ICO went no further than these '32 test investors' that saved them.  Had the tokens been sold to the public, I think it's safe to say their violations would have been clear and indisputable.

Make no mistake - Blockvest and it's founder were up to no good:
We're not looking at totally innocent people here. The initial press release from back when the SEC ordered them to halt, highlights some of the shady things they were attempting to pull off.

"Ringgold promoted the ICO with a fake agency he created called the 'Blockchain Exchange Commission' using a graphic similar to the SEC's seal and the same address as SEC headquarters."

Other claims included that they we're regularly undergoing 3rd party auditing - they weren't.

But their defense revolved around stating his 'test investors' had never seen any of these false claims - therefore they couldn't have been misled by them. If none of the money he raised was the result of these misleading statements - then he never scammed investors.

One interesting precedent set:
Airdrops appear to be in the clear.  Other than the 'test investors' in this case, the ICO had only given out airdropped tokens to the public.

Given that a 'security' by definition has to involve the risk of an investment being lost, the definition just cannot apply. When it comes to airdropped tokens, no investment was ever made - the tokens are simply being given away.

So - airdropped tokens are outside of the SEC's regulatory oversight.

The full court documents can be viewed here.

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We covered the story when it broke in April and little was heard since then, until now.

It turns out, lawyers for Mayweather and Khaled have been busy negotiating with the SEC, and today reached a settlement.

Mayweather will return $300,000 he received to promote the ICOs plus a $300,000 penalty, and an additional $14,775 in prejudgment interest.

DJ Khaled will return $50,000, pay a $100,000 penalty, and $2,725 in prejudgment interest.

The case revolved around an ICO called "Centra" which turned out to be fraudulent, according to the SEC case:

“They claimed, for example, to offer a debit card backed by Visa and Mastercard that would allow users to instantly covert hard-to-spend cryptocurrencies into US dollars or legal tender. In reality,  Centra had no relationships with Visa or MasterCard.” 

Centra went on to raise $32 million, the criminal cases against the founders are still moving forward.

Binance has replaced the "USDT" symbol on their exchange - it no longer means Tether, but rather a symbol that represents their entire stablecoin market, a collection of multiple stablecoins.

Our readers were the first to see this coming, when an insider within one of the stablecoin projects leaked exclusive information with us regarding the discussions between their leadership and Binance (read that article here).

Well - it all turned out to be true, a new statement from Binance reads:

"Binance has renamed the USDT Market (USDT) to now be a combined Stablecoin Market (USDⓈ). This is to support more trading pairs with different stablecoins offered as a base pair.

We will make a further announcement soon on the exact pairs to be initially moved or added to this market.

Please note that USDⓈ is not a new stablecoin: it is the symbol of Binance's new stablecoin market."

What's interesting here is this at least appears on the surface to be a real jab at Tether, for the simple fact that "USDT" is their symbol, they trade under on every exchange where it's used - and Binance basically just said 'sorry, not anymore'.

But today - Tether just swung back.  Re-opening their "Direct redemption"portal that allows anyone to buy Tether using USD or Euro, and more importantly - exchange Tether for fiat currency.    In a statement Tether says:

"Due to the unexpected rush of new cryptocurrency traders over the last year, Tether grew at an unpredicted rate, quickly making the initial model (enabling direct redemption of Tether to fiat through its native platform) unsustainable. In this environment, it made sense to take the stress off growing pains by flexing the existing model to harness the established infrastructure and security of Bitfinex, which was built to withstand a much larger volume of customers. Those wishing to redeem could do so 1:1 via Bitfinex with whom we had a business to business relationship.

Against this backdrop and with alternative stablecoins entering the market, Tether has maintained its stablecoin market domination, but naturally differentiated, with heavy adoption amongst professional investors.

Now, thanks to stronger banking as a result of our new relationship with Deltec, Tether is able to return to its original vision of having a wallet for creating and redeeming directly on its own platform without having to rely on a third party. This update allows the immediate withdrawal of Tether to fiat (1:1), with the ability to acquire coming soon."

This is Tether saying "we have the money".  But as one person in a telegram channel i'm a member of stated "we'll see" because for many, the mistrust of Tether will continue, adding "they could be offering this knowing not everyone is going to exchange their Tether for USD at once. Smart way to look legit, but we still have no idea what their real USD reserves are".

The words "sold out" or "cap reached" have become a lot more rare to see in 2018, with the exception of several projects where the use case for a token is clear. Crest Token is one of those cases.

That's because the project actually revolves around a digital advertising platform called the "DigiAd Platform" which makes real structual improvements to the current model, it outlines ways advertisers can get better results, and publishers can increase their revenue for running the ads.  So the token's role is clear  - it's essential, because advertisers will need them if they want to use the platform.

We asked Founder and CEO Ben Sanders to outline the concept behind it "I have seen how millions of people online struggle to capitalize on the $300Bn online marketing/digital advertising industry due to lack of knowledge and experience. I decided to put a platform together using the blockchain technology that will allow members benefit from professional advertisers and publishers/affiliates (Crest DigiAd Platform), while developing their skillset in becoming successful publishers/affiliates or learning how to run a profitable ad campaigns for any crypto or non-crypto related ads (Crest Affiliate Marketing Education System - CAMES)" says Sanders.

Sanders will also be a guest speaker at the Silicon Valley Blockchain Expo on it's 2nd day, (Thur November 29th) at the "Innovations & Investors Zone" at 12:20pm (link)

The DigiAd platform utilities two emerging tech sectors, both AI and blockchain, with the end goal of ease of use that will allow for businesses with little digital marketing experience to launch powerful global campaigns - all without having to hire an expensive digital marketing director to make it happen.

Here's some of it's stand-out features:

- It allows crypto and non-crypto related advertisers and publishers to cross-promote and benefit across several industries and ad verticals.
- It enables non-crypto Advertisers and Publishers/Affiliates to enter the large and ever growing crypto/blockchain market.
- It allows crypto-focused Publishers/Affiliates to generate income outside of the crypto space, especially during the low crypto traffic demands.
- It allows members to develop their marketing skills through our educational system called CAMES.

Building all of it is a team that already knows the space, their current ventures are already pulling in 20+ million unique visitors each month, and their combined experience in the digital advertising space totals decades. Their CEO also knows what works in the cryptocurrency space as well, having participated in over 40+ ICOs himself.

Those attending the Silicon Valley Blockchain Expo can meet the team in person at booth #114.

For more information, visit them at https://cresttoken.com

The US DOD, specifically their research arm known as DARPA (The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) which is responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military, now has their eyes on blockchain technology.

Now they're reaching out to experts and professionals in the blockchain technology sector, in an announcement stating:

"Technologies for distributed consensus protocols have been revolutionized by their prominent role in cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies. These technologies have dramatic implications for the security and resilience of critical data storage and computation tasks, including for the Department of Defense (DoD). At the same time, the concrete applications and security of these technologies for the DoD is unclear. DARPA is interested in better understanding the broader implications that such technologies may play for the DoD. In order to investigate these technologies, DARPA intends to hold a workshop in February 2019 based upon responses to this RFI."

Undoubtedly, one big reason for the DOD to be taking a more aggressive approach to implementing blockchain technology is the fact China has such a head start, and the US government better catch up fast.

The Chinese Communist Party, their central bank, and even their court system are in the process of streamlining their technology - and blockchain is at the center of it.  This was all outlined in detail by Forbes earlier this year in an article titled "Making Sense Of China's Grand Blockchain Strategy" and is worth a read.

DARPA's Blockchain Workshop will take place Feburary of next year, and allows for private companies in the blockchain space to present how they believe they could help.

More information can be found here.

Korea, with its 50 million population, is one of the most active market in terms of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency industry as well as investment in the world. Continuing the nationwide investment fever in cryptocurrency, top-ranked Korean enterprises from various industries intend to accelerate the Blockchain market in Korea. No.1 social network platform Kakaotalk invested in Upbit and established the Kakao Blockchain Lab; Game industry giant Nexon took ever a digital exchange Korbit; Samsung launched a Blockchain platform, Nexledger. Korea’s giant economic & financial media Group MTN(Money Today Network Inc.) also turns to Blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, planning to co-organize an international Blockchain summit “CHAIN PLUS+” during 23-24 January in 2019.

Korea MTN Group(Money Today Network Inc.) founded in May 2001, owns an authentic economy cable channel “Money Today”, mainly targets in finance, stock market, market analysis, real estate and other news related to financial area. It is one of the most trusted financial media in Korea, and is recognized as a pioneer media in Korean.

Chainers Inc, co-established by Vision Creator, a top-tier traditional financial advisor and VC in Korea, and The Blockchainer, No.1 Chinese Blockchain ecosystem builder, incubating and accelerating global&domestic Blockchain projects worldwide. So far, Chainers has provided successful business solutions for prominent Blockchain projects such as AE, Terra, ONT, Bumo.

As 2-days summit during the 2nd Annual CHAINERS Blockchain week, CHAIN PLUS+ focuses on topics Blockchain empowering substantial economy, which aims to build a bridge between Blockchain projects and local enterprises and a creative win-win platform for participants in this ecosystem.

Relying on its long term reputation with a great social influence, MTN will invite officials from layers of government, congress, and giant firms in Korea. Meanwhile, with the great support from Korean Blockchain Association and top-tier developer communities like KBIP Lab, Decipher, and POSTECH, Chainers will have over 25% of leading developers in Korea attending the conference. On top of that, top 10 Blockchain Youtubers and 30 KOLs(Naver bloggers) will be the feast in the Chain Plus+ Summit. All in one, one for all.

Global Crypto Press is an official media partner with Chainers Blockchain week.
For full information visit: http://www.blockkarneval.com