Author: Editorial Office CVJ.CH

Sector Analysis May 2020 Index Performance Index performance was roughly 22%, with the dominating Entertainment sector gaining 42% relative to the Index. Other sectors, e.g. Internet of Things (IoT) and Platform are also the monthly winners. The losing sector is Store of Value (SoV), with an underperformance of 19% relative to Index. In May 2020, the Index saw a trading bandwidth of approx. 30%. SoV (Store of Value) DCR (Decred) is a hybrid proof-of-work and proof of stake cryptocurrency. The project funds its own developments from a decentralised treasury. The genesis block launched in February 2016, with a maximum supply…

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA has authorized the transaction bank InCore Bank to trade, hold, transfer and generate (tokenize) digital assets. This makes InCore Bank the first Swiss business-to-business bank to offer financial service providers and institutions worldwide easy and secure access to a new and forward-looking asset class. Maerki Baumann is the first customer bank to be ready for launch. The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA has authorized InCore Bank AG, headquartered in Zurich-Schlieren, to expand its range of services with immediate effect to include brokerage, custody, transfer and generation of digital assets. . InCore Bank…

The Government Council has decided to support sustainable start-ups whose existence is threatened by the corona pandemic. From 27 May 2020, the canton will participate in the federal programme to expand the guarantee system and guarantee up to CHF 5 million. Under this programme, start-ups can submit an application to benefit from federal and cantonal guarantees until 31 August 2020. The effects of the corona pandemic are also affecting many start-ups. What these young companies need now is capital. The previous federal and cantonal aid programmes, especially the federal programme for COVID 19 guarantee loans, have not been effective for…

After seven years of trading a wide range of crypto assets, Bitcoin Suisse announce the addition of precious metals to its trading offering. The company has added gold, silver and platinum to the crypto- and fiat currencies available for 24/7 trading with immediate cash settlement. Now clients have access to an even greater choice of strong assets to build a diversified portfolio. In times of high market volatility and uncertainty, Bitcoin Suisse is providing another option with a traditionally esteemed asset class. Just a few weeks ago, Bitcoin Suisse added 24/7 trading of fiat currencies. With precious metals, the company adds…

President Rouhani, who also chairs the Economic Coordination Unit, recently announced that the country needs a new strategy for mining crypto-currencies. Iran is wavering between promoting and banning parts of the crypto ecosystem. According to the Iranian portal arzdigital, Hassan Rouhani made a statement to the national central bank (CBI), the energy department and the ministries for information and communication technology. He called for a thorough plan to be drawn up with regard to the crypto-currency economy. Iran’s volatile relationship with crypto-currencies Iran has a fluctuating relationship with crypto-currencies. The mood changes between classifying digital currencies as illegal offers and…

Bitcoin/USD daily basis Bitcoin USD – New highs since March crash At the beginning of the reporting week, Bitcoin tested the zone just below the USD 10,000 mark. With higher lows, the price touched the psychological mark. After another failure in the middle of the week, Bitcoin was rejected, leading the share price back up to USD 8’700. The three following days and the end of the week were marked by a consolidation around the USD 9’000 mark. Despite the renewed failure at USD 10,000, the week can be described as a consolidation below the historical resistance zone. Advancing to…

The US company Visa has filed a patent application for its own digital currency based on blockchain technology. The application was already submitted to the US authorities in November 2018. The details were made public with the recent publication. Visa intends to use blockchain and tokenized US dollars to improve the efficiency of its payment network. The complete submitted application is divided into two different approaches. Described as a ‘digital fiat currency’, one option would consist of a public key linked to a wallet. The other approach notes the “removal of the physical currency from the circulation of a fiat…

The Canadian e-commerce platform Shopify has signed a cooperation agreement with CoinPayments, the leading provider of crypto-currency payments. The cooperation enables Shopify traders to be paid in crypto-currencies. Shopify is an e-commerce software package distributed by the Canadian company of the same name. It enables small and medium-sized merchants to create their own online stores and use tools to set up marketing, shipping and payment options. Shopify now serves more than one million businesses in over 175 countries worldwide. Adaptation of crypto-currencies increases The partnership between the Ottawa-based e-commerce platform and CoinPayments, enables Shopify merchants to use crypto-currencies to make payments. The cooperation…

Bitcoin/USD daily basis Right at the beginning of the reporting week, Bitcoin tested the lower end of the previously scaled territory above USD 8,000. After the first sharp drop in the price on Sunday of just under USD 1,500, which took the price to USD 8,100 at the low for the day, this zone was tested again on Monday. Again with a high daily range of almost 1’000 USD, Bitcoin moved between 8’200 and 9’200 USD, with the daily closing price at 8’500 USD. The 8,000 mark proved to be a good support and in the following three days green…

The use of the tokens will revolve around subreddit-specific digital rewards and rewards within the Reddit platform, including a “special membership” and voting privileges. The US-American company Reddit, based in San Francisco, was founded in 2005 and currently generates a turnover of around 100 million US dollars annually. In addition, the group currently employs approximately 400 people. As reported by «Forbes» reported, the tokens will first be tested in two so-called “subreddits”. These will bring the total number of members to around 2.4 million. Tokens are based on the Ethereum standard ERC-20 The tokens, which were given the names «MOON»…

The event “Bitcoin Halving – View from the Crypto Valley” by our partner CVLabs was held on May 7th in the form of a webinar. Experts from the Valley answered the most urgent questions about the most important event. The speakers offered an interesting contribution and informative explanations about the current Bitcoin Halving. Alexandre Juncker, Blockchain expert at Alpiq, led the discussion. The webinar was introduced by Prof. Dr. Fabian Schär, Professor at the University of Basel. When it comes to Bitcoin Halving, there seems to be some misinformation circulating on “Crypto Twitter”. For example, users think that halving their…

In June 2019, the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) issued a guidance subjecting the crypto industry to the same compliance standards as financial institutions. One of the most controversial and challenging measures was the application of the travel rule to all virtual asset service providers (“VASPs”). While the FATF rules are guidance for the globe’s regulators, nations that do not fall into line risk being blacklisted. FATF will start reviewing how it has been applied amongst its members by June 2020. Compliance with the travel rule by VASPs might be somewhat against the whole crypto philosophy but could also have…

Bitcoin/USD daily basis Bitcoin USD – New highs since March crash At the beginning of the reporting week the Bitcoin price tested the newly climbed 9000 USD zone. The first test to go higher was followed on Monday by a rejection to 8’500 USD. As early as Tuesday, green candles above 9’000 USD were created again. On Wednesday, the previously climbed 9’500 USD were already tested. The actual breakout from the resistance zone followed on Thursday, which brought the price, including the close of the day, to just under the USD 10,000 mark. Friday and Saturday were marked by selling…

After the fully booked CCFE, the first and only Swiss Crypto Finance certification course is going into the next round – 100% online. Switzerland’s first SAQ-recognized Crypto Finance training course “Certified Crypto Finance Expert” was successfully launched in March 2020. With 20 participants from well-known national and international financial institutions such as Credit Suisse, Swissquote and Deutsche Bank, the first course was fully booked. The participants learned about the emerging world of crypto-banking, blockchain, tokenisation, and crypto-assets in a portfolio context from proven experts. Adrian Schatzmann, Strategic Advisor of the Swiss Bankers Association, impressively demonstrated the opportunities and threats for…

Another Halving is at the door. Expected on the 12th of May, the reward the miners will receive for securing the network in the form of newly created Bitcoins will be halved. What are the consequences of this event? In this paper we will offer the most important information at a glance. What is the halving? Bitcoin as a digital currency has predetermined limits on the supply side. For example, the maximum number of Bitcoins anchored in the code is limited to 21 million. Of these, just under18.32 million coins are currently already in circulation. Newly created Bitcoins are paid…

A media release published today shows that the Federal Council decided on 22 April 2020 to support promising start-ups with corona-related liquidity bottlenecks via the guarantee system. The guarantee organizations recognized by the federal government provide start-ups with easier access to bank loans. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO, in consultation with the interested cantons and guarantee organisations, has now created the practical conditions. Applications for guarantees can be submitted from 7 May to 31 August 2020. Guarantees of up to CHF 1 million per start-up Based on the existing guarantee system, a special guarantee procedure was created to…