This Week in Crypto

OCBC joins JPMorgan’s blockchain initiative, CME Group plans to launch bitcoin options in early 2020, and the U.S. Financial Services Committee plans to question the SEC about cryptocurrencies next week.

Bank of America joins R3’s Marco Polo network, Loom is bringing DeFi to the Tron and Binance chains, and Zap wallet is launching in-app OTC trading.

Binance plans to add over-the-counter trading, a Casper Labs co-founder has been arrested for extortion, and Abra will provide a fiat-to-crypto onramp across 6,000 locations in the Philippines.

Binance US launches in 37 states, Germany’s government passed a new blockchain strategy, and the SEC has charged ICOBox for securities violations.

Huobi expands to Argentina, messaging app LINE launches a crypto exchange, and China cracks down on mining operations in the mongolian region.

The Libra Association will face questions from European Central Banks, OKEX has delisted five privacy coins, the U.S. has sanctioned three North Korean entities for cyber crimes, and former Consensys employee Harrison Hines is launching a crypto-native alternative to GitHub.

Square Crypto announced a $100k grant to fund the development of BTC Pay Server, Hodl Hodl released open source code for it’s exchange, and Consensys announced the launch of it’s DeFi project called Codefi.

The Libra Association stays firm on launching, despite rejection in the EU, KyberSwap introduces a fiat on-ramp, and Binance US is preparing to launch next week.

KyberSwap introduces a fiat on-ramp, EOS will undergo a hard fork, and the Libra Association is staying firm on the launch of the Libra cryptocurrency.

France will not tax crypto-to-crypto trades, France minister Bruno Le Maire wants to block Facebook’s Libra project, Binance is opening trading for it's BUSD stablecoin, and Zelle co-founder Mike Kennedy is joining Interstellar as it’s new CEO.

The Libra Association is seeking a swiss payments license, Mastercard partnered with R3 to pilot a cross-border payments solution, and Binance US is planning to open deposits next week.

Facebook has added the Singapore Dollar to it’s Libra basket of fiat currencies. Coinbase has launched a USDC Bootstrap Fund. Nasdaq has listed a new decentralized finance index. And Gemini is launching an institutional custody solution.

Amir Razi has worked across several startups and holds 11 years of professional experience. Razi received his MBA from USC in 2014 and undergrad degree from UCLA in 2006. Today, Razi is a blockchain consultant helping enterprises and individuals learn the fundamentals of blockchain technology.

Bitcoin mining power has set new records this week, a hacker has released hundreds of KYC photos, reportedly from Binance, many countries are implementing suggestions by Financial Action Task Force, and Coinbase prevented a sophisticated phishing attack.

Coinbase prevented a sophisticated phishing attack, Blockstream has announced the launch of a mining farm, and 15 nations are planning to set up a system to monitor cryptocurrency transactions under the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).