The Daily: Bakkt Won’t Offer Leverage, Congresswoman Holds Crypto

In today’s edition of Bitcoin in Brief we cover stories about Intercontinental Exchange’s crypto trading platform Bakkt, which won’t be offering leverage or margin trading, and a US politician who has revealed she’s bought a couple of cryptocurrencies.

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Bakkt Won’t Offer Leverage

Bakkt, the recently-announced subsidiary of the parent of the New York Stock Exchange — Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE), has decided it won’t offer leverage on crypto trading. This was decided in the name of ensuring efficient price discovery and is meant to set it apart from other venues. Kelly Loeffler, the CEO of Bakkt, stated: “A critical element to price discovery is physical delivery. Specifically, with our solution, the buying and selling of Bitcoin is fully collateralized or pre-funded. As such, our new daily Bitcoin contract will not be traded on margin, use leverage, or serve to create a paper claim on a real asset. This supports market integrity and differentiates our effort from existing futures and crypto exchanges which allow for margin, leverage and cash settlement.”

Congresswoman Holds Crypto

Tulsi Gabbard, the American congresswoman from the Democratic Party serving as the U.S. Representative for Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district, is the latest politician revealed to have made an investment in cryptocurrencies. She bought both ETH and LTC in December 2017 according to her latest Financial Disclosure Report to the Clerk of the House of the Representatives. The disclosure doesn’t reveal her current cryptfolio but the initial investment, at least, was somewhere between $2,000 and $30,000 USD.

Wechat Begins New Crackdown on Crypto Accounts?

Chinese internet users are complaining that a number of cryptocurrency related media accounts, some of them very well known within the local crypto community, are no longer available on the popular social network Wechat. These include: Jinse Finance, Shenlian Finance, Bishijie, Dprating, Huobi news, Token Club and Wujie Blockchain. While nothing official about the matter has been announced yet, Chinese internet censors recently got a new leader which could provide a reason as to why they are cracking down on the field again. Just few weeks ago, the government revealed it picked Zhuang Rongwen as the next chief of Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) after its former head (Lu Wei) was removed for corruption.

Israeli Startup Extends Reach to Africa

Virtual Crypto Technologies Ltd (OTCQB: VRCP), an Israel-based developer of cryptocurrency point-of-sales systems, has announced that it’s signed an Exclusive Distribution Agreement with a third party company, Virtual Crypto SA Ltd, to begin selling its products in the Southern African Region. The distributor has committed to acquiring both hardware and software solutions from the developer which will receive ongoing royalties and support fees. Territories in the deal include South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, and Swaziland.

CEO Alon Dayan commented: “Cryptocurrency is increasingly popular in the Southern African Region, which is a strong emerging market. Cryptocurrency provides investors and businesses with an opportunity to diversify their portfolio. In addition, the Virtual Crypto solutions offer businesses and consumers a secure payment alternative with real-time availability and broad accessibility.”

What do you think about today’s news tidbits? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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