Markets

• Price per Bitcoin BTC is at ~$4300 USD (+14% from last Monday)
• Price per Ether ETH is at ~$290 USD (+0.3% from last Monday)
• Price per Bitcoin Cash BCH is at ~$405 USD (-4.4% from last Monday)

Articles

• South Korea bans all new cryptocurrency sales by CNBC
• As China cracks down, Japan is fast becoming the powerhouse of the bitcoin market by CNBC
• Bitcoin ‘More Than Just a Fad,’ Morgan Stanley CEO Says by Bloomberg
• Paying $15 to Send $25 Has Bitcoin Users Rethinking Practicality by Bloomberg
• Goldman Sachs to Explore Starting Bitcoin Trading Venture by Bloomberg
• Bitcoin Bug Bites Japan and South Korea as China Clamps Down by NY Times
• Backers withdraw two proposals to list U.S. bitcoin funds by Reuters
• Chaos and hackers stalk investors on cryptocurrency exchanges by Reuters
• Chinese investors fume over Beijing’s bitcoin crackdown by SCMP
• Hong Kong’s TideBit drawing Chinese bitcoin investors frozen out in Beijing’s crackdown by SCMP
• ‘New internet’ looks to keep user data away from tech giants and bypass China censorship by SCMP
• Hong Kong fast developing as a cryptocurrency centre by SCMP
• Edward Snowden: Zcash Is 'Most Interesting Bitcoin Alternative' by Coindesk
• The Ridiculous Amount of Energy It Takes to Run Bitcoin by IEEE
• Gaming giant Nexon buys South Korean bitcoin exchange Korbit for $80m by TechInAsia
• Open, free and uncensorable websites, using Bitcoin cryptography and BitTorrent network by ZeroNet

This week’s new initial coin offerings (ICOs)

• RefToken is a decentralized solution for affiliate marketing.
• Smart contracts will be used to govern conversion satisfaction and commission payouts.
• Revenue and conversion data will be stored on the blockchain, allowing brands to audit affiliates for fraudulent behavior.
• The token ReferalToken (REF) will be used for commission payments on the platform.
• RefToken is planning to raise 27.5 Million Euros via an ICO.
• A total of 50 Million REF tokens will be created, 44% of which are offered in the sale.
• The presale is already underway and the public sale starts on 17 October 2017.

• Horizon State is building a Ethereum based voting application.
• It is using blockchain for its immutable data store.
• Its uses range from polling, shareholder assembly to general elections.
• The Decision Tokens (HST) is a utility token in the Horizon State platform.
• HST will be used to purchase services, such as casting of votes.
• A maximum of 1 Billion tokens will be created during the ICO with a funding goal of $30 Million USD.
• The exchange rate is set between 3500 - 3000 HST per Ether with early buyer discounts.
• The ICO is scheduled to begin on October 16, 2017.