Coinbase Confirms Shutdown of Crypto Index Fund Product
Last Friday, a spokesperson from Coinbase announced that the company is shutting down its institutional-investor focused index fund product. As stated, the crypto index will be formally closed by the end of the month, with customers instead directed to the recently-announced Coinbase Bundle product. The Coinbase Bundle product unlike the index fund, is open to all Coinbase customers, with no accreditation required. The minimum required investment is only $25 as well, compared to $250,000 for the fund. The spokesperson said:
"After assessing demand from retail, accredited and institutional investors, Coinbase has decided to shut down Coinbase Index Fund. We will focus on providing diversified exposure to all investors through Coinbase Bundle"
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Ethereum Classic Incubator Program Receives 120 Start-Up Applications
Recently, Elizabeth Kukka, Program Director at ETC Labs, gave an interview explaining how the Ethereum Classic (ETC) incubator (ETC Labs) is doing. Since the launch on the 1st of October, ETC Labs has, according to Elizabeth Kukka, already received around 120 applications so far. ETC Labs is currently in its pilot program and the official launch is set to the first quarter of 2019. ETC Labs' Program Director explained:
"Pilot projects get free working space, great coffee, and the opportunity to work alongside some of the best minds in the business. They will also have the opportunity to pitch their ideas to a roomful of investors at our launch event on October 25th. The goal of this pilot program is to put the incubator model to work and get feedback from these initial teams before going live.”
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UK Cryptocurrency Regulations May Take 2 Years for Lawmakers to Draft
Recently, James Kaufmann, Legal Director at Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC) UK, said it could take two years to introduce such regulations due to a couple of reasons. To achieve the results within such a timeline is based on a best-case scenario where the proposals with the House of Commons Treasury Committee report starts to progress. Kaufmann stated:
“Past precedents show it can take years to make relatively minor regulatory changes to the financial regulatory regime. For example, it took two and a half years from the Treasury’s original announcement (10 May 2004) for the regulation of home reversion plans to come in force (6 November 2006).”
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North Dakota Regulator Issues Cease and Desists Against 3 ICOs
Last week, The North Dakota Securities Department issued cease-and-desist orders against three companies promoting initial coin offering (ICO) in the state. Karen Tyler, the Securities Commissioner, named Crystal Token, Advertiza Holdings (Pty) Ltd., and Life Cross Coin aka LifecrosscoinGmbH, as the latest offenders involved in illegal business practices related to cryptocurrencies. The North Dakota Securities Department stated:
"The Orders are the result of investigations being conducted by the Department’s ICO Task Force, convened by the Commissioner to identify ICOs and cryptocurrency related investments that pose a risk to North Dakota investors. The effort is also part of Operation Cryptosweep, a coordinated multi-jurisdiction investigation and enforcement effort involving over 40 U.S. and Canadian securities regulators. The companies that are the subject of the orders are Crystal Token, Advertiza Holdings (Pty) Ltd., and Life Cross Coin a/k/a LifecrosscoinGmbH."
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