Crypto.IQ Daily Digest July 26, 2018

ETHEREUM, NEO, ADOPTION
China’s Decision to Choose Ethereum Over its Own Blockchain NEO is Monumental

+IQ PERSPECTIVE

Any talk of DApp platforms has to include Ethereum that has been the unchecked leader of that space since it was created three years ago this month.

Despite its powerful position, challenges for Ethereum’s title come from a couple of wouldbe usurpers: Cayman Islands-based EOS and NEO that was developed in China.

That’s what made the decision by Chinese government officials to use Ethereum for the country’s cryptocurrency of choice for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s dream city the Xiongan New Areaso so surprising.

All that said, we disagree with the take of this article. While it’s not exactly good for NEO to have lost this slot to Ethereum on NEO’s home turf, it’s only for one city in the most populous nation on earth. NEO and other comers still have a shot.

COINBASE, EXCHANGES, BCASH
Coinbase Finds Employees Not Guilty of Bitcoin Cash Insider Trading

+IQ PERSPECTIVE

In a somewhat less than surprising outcome, Coinbase has absolved its employees of insider trading as it relates to a Bitcoin Cash buying spree they allegedly carried out in the hours before Coinbase announced it would list the coin.

The price of BCash jumped at that time, just ahead of the announcement on Twitter.

Almost universally, a listing on a large exchange like Coinbase will drive up the price of any coin. The timing on these BCash buys looked questionable because Coinbase at first said it would not list the coin until January. Instead, the move came on Dec. 19.

Despite Coinbase’s inside exoneration of its employees, it isn’t over yet. There remains a lawsuit from Coinbase customers, who became angry when, due to a loss of liquidity, Coinbase stopped selling BCash despite buy orders from existing customers just after it listed the coin. Coinbase reopened trading of the coin the next day when the price had jumped considerably.