CryptoDaily; US SEC, Thailand’s SEC, UK’s financial, Bitcoin, Ethereum; August 18,2018

BLOCKCHAIN NEWS   Block Sports drops Ethereum embracing Neo blockchain, as its ‘icing on the cake’ Block Sports, a decentralized sports betting exchange, in a recent interview stated that it had adopted the Neo blockchain after dropping Ethereum. The company is of the opinion that implementing Neo blockchain has ensured them to offer the clients a secured cryptocurrency betting “where escrow and processing is handled on-chain, giving users true control of their funds”. Read more Penta buys stake in CCP Technologies with PNT coins in push to integrate blockchain, IoT Singapore based Penta Global Blockchain Foundation has become the first altcoin to invest in a company listed on a major exchange. According to a Medium post, Penta has purchased a significant portion of shares of a company called CCP Technologies making it the largest shareholder of the company. The investment has been viewed as a positive development in the growth of Penta, a next-generation platform for both public and private blockchainprojects. Read more JD.com, China’s retail giant unveils its blockchain based platform    JD.com, a retail giant in the e-commercial space of China has very recently launched blockchain-as-a-service platform. This revelation has taken place today on 17th August through the publication of a press release. JD has presented the new blockchain tool as a "latest expansion" of its strategy of Retail as a Service [RaaS]. Read more Blockchain based Swytch partners Chuncheon of South Korea to axe carbon emissions Blockchain has proven its potential in various aspects apart from getting widely implemented in the FinTech sector. The technology has now made its way to a humane cause, where it will be saving the planet by reducing carbonemissions from the face of the Earth. The exhilarating initiative has been undertaken by Swytch, a blockchain-based clean energy incentive. To attain its goal, the company has come arm-in-arm with Chuncheon, the capital of Gangwon Province in South Korea, to drive economic and environmental sustainability and to reduce carbon emissions in the city. Read more CRYPTOCURRENCY NEWS US SEC clamps down on cryptocurrency airdrops and bounty campaigns Token airdrops emerged as ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) came under regulatory scrutiny. But the good days seem to be over for the cryptocurrency projects in the US as a recent ruling by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may clamp down this method of practices.Digital asset startup Tomahawk was fined $30,000 and a lifetime ban for allegedly using 'fraudulent market techniques' to push its fundraising, according to the SEC filing dated August 14. Read more This partnership introduces 1.2mn customers to no-fee Bitcoin trading platform Every partnership story turns heads of expectations. The latest head turner is Coinberry, as it has partnered BRD(previously known as Bread Wallet) to “introduce 1.2 million BRD customers to the Canadian crypto trading platform”. The duo confirmed the partnership at the Blockchain Futurist Conference in Toronto on 15th August.As mentioned in a press release, the partnership announcement came in shortly after Coinberry shifted to "commission-free crypto trading, a Canadian first". Read more $1500 is all you need to have your ICO project in Russia, research says Developing an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) project in Russia can now be done at a minimal pocket pinch of $1,500, while the usual cost shoots up to almost $18,000 in the country. As reported by Bitcoin.com, Ratingratingov.ru conducted a study and concluded that the cost of an ICO project will vary from 100,000 rubles (~$1,500) and 3.3 million rubles (~$50,000). Read more Petro cryptocurrency springs, attains the same status as Venezuelan Bolívar Venezuela has now got its government-approved cryptocurrency – Petro. Petro, an oil-backed cryptocurrency, will become an official currency for PDVSA, the country’s state-owned oil and natural gas company. Petro was originally launched this year in the month of February after the government of Venezuela built the same. The announcement came through a televised address by the President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro. “As of next Monday, Venezuela will have a second accounting unit based on the price, the value of the Petro. It will be a second accounting unit of the Republic and will begin operations as a mandatory accounting unit of our PDVSA oil industry," President Maduro announced, reported ABC International. Read more Crypto exchanges could earn $4 bn in revenue in 2018 due to trading fees: Bernstein Trading fees are expected to rake in as much as $4 billion in revenue this year for crypto exchanges, according to research firm Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. This could mean that the crypto market is far from collapse, even though it has witnessed a worrying downtrend over recent days.Trading of virtual currencies generated $1.8 billion in fees at the largest crypto exchanges last year, analysts wrote in a report titled “Crypto Trading -- the Next Big Thing is Here?” The research was first reported by Bloomberg. Read more QOS price drop after FCoin listing sparks concerns over ICO, links with listed firm QOS has raised all sorts of red flags regarding its recent listing on crypto exchange FCoin and its price performance. According to local media reports, QOS may have been be involved in illegal financing activities for its recent initial coin offering (ICO).A recent report by the China Securities Journal revealed that investors chose to invest in the QOS project mainly because of its connections with Guangdong Homa Appliances, publicly-listed firm in China. Read more Thailand’s SEC ratifies operation of seven new cryptocurrency exchanges Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand has given confirmation to seven business organisations to serve as cryptocurrency operators. The Thai regulators have made this announcement on 16th August wherein the cryptocurrency operations of these entities would formalise the domestic market scenario of Thailand. Read more Cryptocurrency scams on the rise, warns UK’s financial regulator FCA UK's financial regulator Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on Friday, August 17, said cryptocurrency scamsters are using photographs of celebs and office addresses in posh London localities to deceive investors.FCA had earlier warned about the same in June.The report posted on the regulator's website notes that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether are not regulated in Britain. FCA claims to have received several complaints regarding investment scams that promised great returns. Read more COIN NEWS Nano [NANO] can now be used to shop at over 200K online retailers Bitcoin Superstore – a crypto-only store – said it would now accept payments made using Nano [NANO]. The store allows users to buy from online retailers who do not charge a membership fee, including Amazon, Alibaba and Walmart.com.This means that the virtual currency can be used to buy products from over 200,000 online retailers. 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