The Month in Crypto — November 18

Markets tumble, AWS enter the blockchain space, Nasdaq & VanEck to offer bitcoin futures, Bitcoin Cash hard-fork.

The News

• Capitulation was the word of the month as the markets plummeted. bloomberg
• Nasdaq confirmed the world’s second largest exchange will launch a bitcoin futures product next year in a partnership with investment firm, VanEck. cnbc
• Bitcoin Cash hard-forked after a developer disagreement as to how transaction scalability should be addressed. The split triggered a hash war to control the mining power and economically has been a bad decision for both. Prior to the split Bitcoin Cash was $400 and now BCHABC is $170 and BCHSV is $100. cointelegraph
• For the first time, Morgan Stanley acknowledged cryptocurrencies as an asset class. coindesk
• The SEC was on the warpath this month, charging multiple people and companies involved with ICOs. Celebrities such as Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khaled were charged. cnbc

Capital

• KuCoin, the Singapore based cryptocurrency exchange raised a $20M equity round. techcrunch
• Flipside Crypto have completed a $4.5M equity round. Their goal is to bring transparency to crypto assets. coindesk
• Aztec, a start-up looking to provide privacy layers to ethereum transactions to allow business use raised $2.1M in equity. coindesk

Adoption

• Amazon Web Services have become the latest company to offer cloud-based blockchain services. zdnet
• A consortium led BP and Shell launched a blockchain based oil trading platform. Initially, the platform will process North Sea crude oil contracts. oilprice
• Ohio became the first American state to accept bitcoin for tax payments. techcrunch
• The SIX Swiss Exchange launched the first global multi-cryptocurrency ETP. financialtimes

Market:

Markets continued to tumble in November and fell almost 35% in one week, following the bitcoin cash hard fork. Bitcoin fell 37% finishing the month at $4,000 USD. Ethereum performed worse and fell 43%, it is currently sitting at $113 USD. Ripple (XRP) was one of the best November performers falling (only) 20% and becoming the second largest cryptocurrency by overall market capitalisation.