In the last few years, the cryptocurrency environment has changed drastically and there is a bunch of new cryptocurrency hotspots popping up across the globe. Gone are the days when certain territories such as Zug, Prague, and other blockchain hub cities dominated the headlines.

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An Indian bank is reportedly forcing customers to agree that they “will not deal with any transactions related to cryptocurrency including bitcoins” when signing up for an account. In addition, there are reports of banks blocking accounts of their existing customers if they are found to have made crypto-related transactions.

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According to China Judgements Online, a database of Chinese court documents, half of all lawsuits pertaining to cryptocurrencies were filed last year, highlighting an increase in fraudulent activity despite China’s regulatory crackdown. The database indicates that at least 202 cryptocurrency scams were promoted via more than 3,000 different platforms.

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New York State is officially launching a cryptocurrency task force aimed at helping the state understand cryptocurrencies and their underlying blockchain technology.

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A survey conducted by Panews has found that 14% of Chinese citizens have invested in cryptocurrencies. The survey also found that 98% of respondents indicated familiarity with the concepts of cryptocurrency and bitcoin – 3% more than those who stated that they had heard of blockchain technology.

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In today’s edition of The Daily, we cover stories that show how crypto assets and technology continue to impact the development of everything, from mobile games to artificial intelligence. We also feature a new crypto trading venue that aims to bring in more investment from ultra wealthy families and institutions.

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The Orion Span project has plans to launch a space station that will be used as a luxury hotel. Its Aurora space station is set to launch in early 2022 and a 12-night stay on the craft will set you back $9.5 million. The space hotel says it has sold out its first six months of reservations and the project is accepting cryptocurrencies that include bitcoin cash (BCH) for 12-night packages.

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Facebook is hiring. The social media giant now has five job openings for blockchain talent at its Menlo Park, California, headquarters in the areas of data science, software engineering and marketing.

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The internet was born from an ideal for information to be shared by all, with all, and was seen as the archetypal decentralized system. Today, however, commercialization by monopolistic and powerful actors has created a system in which we are shown information paid for by the highest bidders, and can only access what the wealthy and powerful permit.

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The Philippine government-owned Cagayan Economic Zone Authority has unveiled a plan to attract Japanese, Korean and Australian companies to its “Crypto Valley of Asia.” The authority is also cracking down on crypto companies operating within its economic zone without a license.

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The crypto market took a turn for the worse on Wednesday when it lost nearly $30 billion in total market capitalization – but not every asset struggled to find buyers.

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One of Japan’s largest insurance companies, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, and IT firm NTT DATA have completed a trial that put the paperwork for marine cargo insurance claims on a blockchain.

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The Taiwanese government has amended its laws that regulate cryptocurrency transactions. The revisions reportedly give the country’s Financial Supervisory Commission “the authority to crack down on anonymous virtual currency transactions.”

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The San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange and brokerage service Coinbase announced on Tuesday that it had raised $300 million in series E equity funding. This latest round confirms Coinbase’s status as the largest cryptocurrency organization of its kind, bringing its market valuation up to $8 billion.

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Japan’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency, has exclusively explained to news.Bitcoin.com how stablecoins are treated under current Japanese law. In addition to emphasizing that they are not virtual currencies, the regulator clarified the registration requirements for their issuers and dealers.

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Russian lawmakers have dropped the term “mining” from a bill to regulate digital assets, following the earlier removal of references to “cryptocurrency.” In addition, the proposed legislation no longer covers the taxation of mining profits, as such matters will fall under the oversight of the Federal Tax Service.

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China should increase its research efforts on the topic of stablecoins and consider backing domestic institutions to issue a yuan-pegged cryptocurrency, a researcher from the People's Bank of China (PBoC) argues.

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So you've pivoted to the upper echelons of your newfound expertise and are looking to increase your skill set to enable a greater understanding of the markets.

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The RBI has denied the "formal creation" of a unit to research AI and blockchain technology, according to a report.

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A few days ago digital asset markets saw some good gains pushing the entire crypto-economy up past $229 billion. Both bitcoin cash (BCH) and bitcoin core (BTC) had nice percentage spikes with BCH up 13 percent, and BTC up 3.5 percent over the last week. However, the biggest gainer this week was ripple (XRP) jumping over 103 percent over the course of the past seven days.

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In recent news pertaining to cryptocurrency mining, Bitfury has announced a “suite” of products powered by the company’s new mining chip, a botnet that hunts and destroys XMR mining malware has been discovered by security researchers, and Soluna has announced that it will commence the construction of its Moroccan wind farm in January.

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South Korea's customs authority is looking to adopt Samsung's blockchain tech as the backbone of a decentralized customs clearance system.

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Chinese mobile payment platforms WeChat Pay and Alipay are scrambling to keep up with regulators after recent announcements regarding initial coin offerings (ICOs) and cryptocurrencies.

Several blockchain associations in South Korea are pushing back against a government plan they fear will stifle industry innovation.

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If you have been following the mainstream financial press, and even some cryptocurrency news sources, you could not have missed the hype around the so called “Blockchain”. It feels like every day another established company claims to be testing using the technology to disrupt its own industry. In reality, however, it seems that the overwhelming majority of these pilots will never materialize.

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Singapore Airlines has officially launched its blockchain-based loyalty program for frequent customers.

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Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has formed a Political Action Committee (PAC), according to government documents published Friday night.

 

A disclosure published by the U.S. Federal Election Commission revealed that the exchange formed the "Coinbase, Inc. Political Action…

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the autonomous Chinese territory's de facto central bank, is poised to launch a live blockchain trade finance platform within two months.

"The Trade Finance Platform is a blockchain project initiated by 7 banks in Hong Kong. The project has been facilitated by the HKMA and is targeted for launch by September 2018," the authority told CoinDesk via email.…

Public filings released in late May establish the strongest link yet between Bitstamp and Korean gaming firm Nexon, which was rumored to have bought the cryptocurrency exchange earlier this year.

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This week one of Europe’s largest speed trading platforms and exchange-traded fund (ETFs) dealers, Flow Traders NV, announced the firm is entering the cryptocurrency space by offering bitcoin and ethereum exchange-traded notes (ETNs) to its clientele.

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