24 Hours in Crypto – 6th March 2018

Welcome to the first edition of 24 Hours in Crypto. We’ll try to keep this a regular section where we review the most important Crypto news stories from the last 24 hours.

1. IDEX leaves Etherdelta in the dust

In just over one month, IDEX overtook Etherdelta (ED) as the top ranked decentralized exchange. The volume flippening is painfully obvious as EDs volume went from $28.5M on 15th January 2018 to just $1M today. IDEX went from $0,728M to $13.5M in the same time-frame.

2. Cryptocurrency exchanges reduce withdrawal fees

With the Bitcoin transaction fees falling for weeks there is more good news now coming from the exchanges. Binance, Bitfinex, and Kraken have reduced their withdrawal fees for up to 50% thanks to transaction batching and increasing adoption of  Segwit.

3. Bitcoin dominance is on the rise, fueling bullish predictions

Bitcoin’s dominance rises above 40%. So there is an almost unanimous opinion among the Crypto influencers that Bitcoin is on the rise again. They are basing their predictions on technical analysis, increasing Segwit adoption, lower transaction fees and a cleared backlog of transactions (mempool). They also point out that the hype lever is currently very low (Google trend for term Bitcoin is close to baseline), suggesting this might be a good entry point before the hype cycle starts up again.

4. Belgian Tax Authority Going After Crypto Investors

Belgium is on the offensive against crypto traders with several investigations being opened into Belgian citizens who have traded on foreign exchanges. Despite not formally recognizing cryptocurrencies, Belgians speculating on crypto markets are expected to pay 33% tax on their gains

5. Two Indian Token Marketplaces Suspend Trading Due to Regulatory Pressure

Btcxindia and Ethexindia exchanges with over 35,000 members have halted trading on 5th March 2018 and advised their members to withdraw their cryptos or face account maintenance fees.

Btcxindia recently informed its members: As we heard in the budget speech, the Indian government is discouraging cryptocurrency trading. This has been clear also by government actions in the last year, and has put our business under a lot of stress and put us in a position where we don’t feel that we can continue our business in a professional manner any longer.

6. Interest in Cryptocurrency up 15-Fold in Kazakhstan

As the Bitcoin fever eases in the west and far east, Kazakhstan is just getting started. That is according to Yandex, a multinational corporation specializing in Internet-related services and products.

7. Bittrex Blocks Residents of North Korea, Iran, Crimea, Syria, and Cuba

The regulation noose around crypto assets is tightening. North Korea, Iran, Crimea, Syria, and Cuba become the victims of repressive mainstream politics.

8. Kaliningrad Offers Tax Breaks to Bitcoin Miners

Any mining company willing to base itself in the westernmost Russian region and invest at least 1 million rubles ($17,000) will be offered tax breaks on profits and property and lower benefit payments are among other incentives.

9. Poor Adoption of South Korea’s Crypto Real-Name System

The obligatory conversion of virtual currency exchange accounts and connected bank accounts to the new real-name system is not going well, with only 19% of accounts complying so far. The new registration requirement came into force on 30th January 2018.

10. South Korean Government Officials Banned from Holding and Trading Crypto

It’s the end of the road for South Korean officials’ crypto careers with a blanket ban on all holding and trading for all government officials.