Cryptocurrencies and exchanges were the focus this week. Coinbase is getting into the decentralized exchange business with its acquisition of Paradex, potentially opening up thousands of ERC-20 tokens to traders, depending on what the SEC ends up doing with regulations. The parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, Intercontinental Exchange, continues work to implement a system to allow large investors to trade bitcoin directly. And Germany’s Deutsche Boerse is looking at getting into the cryptocurrency game. Finally, the city of Memphis had its first blockchain conference, which included keynotes from FedEx and a hackathon for various market segments that included some great prizes.

Featured stories by Amy Castor, David Hollerith and  Nick Marinoff

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Coinbase Takes Another Step Toward Trading ICO Tokens by Acquiring

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase just made an enormous play by acquiring decentralized relayer Paradex this week. Paradex bills itself as a decentralized exchange (DEX), meaning no third party is involved in holding the funds. Instead, users can use the platform to trade ERC20 tokens directly wallet to wallet. Paradex is built on top of the 0x (pronounced “zero x”) protocol.  

Right now, Coinbase trades four coins: bitcoin (BTC), bitcoin cash (BCH), ether (ETH) and litecoin (LTC). Adding ERC20 tokens could significantly boost the number of digital assets it carries. Due to the ICO boom that has taken place over the last few years, thousands of different ICO tokens are now available.

German Stock Exchange Eyes Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies

Frankfurt Stock Exchange parent company, Deutsche Boerse AG, appears to have begun work on technology that will allow them to offer their clients bitcoin and cryptocurrency-related products.

Speaking at an industry event in London on May 23, 2018, Jeffrey Tessler, head of clients, products and core markets for Deutsche Boerse, said they are considering offering cryptocurrency products: “We are deep at work with it.”

The Old New Thing: ICE and the Future of Bitcoin Trading and Regulation

As reported earlier by The New York Times (NYT) and Bitcoin Magazine, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), is developing an online trading platform that would allow large investors to trade bitcoin directly. As news about the ICE platform continues to develop, Bitcoin Magazine spoke with lawyers Ben Sauter and Dave McGill of Kobre & Kim, a New York City law firm which specializes in disputes and investigations, to examine the regulatory issues surrounding the launch of such a platform, including swap contracts and the implications the ICE platform might have on cryptocurrency trading in the future.

What Happened At Graceland’s Ethereum Conference

In its first year, EthMemphis distinguished its place on the blockchain conference circuit for displaying an under-the-hood glimpse at what actually moves this young industry forward, specifically on the Ethereum network. The focus was on blockchain topics and projects applied to supply chain, healthcare, tourism/hospitality, education and law.

Verge Cryptocurrency Suffers Its Second Hack in Less Than Two Months

While Verge executives are claiming a DDoS attack is responsible for the recent serious delays on their blockchain, it appears that the problem may be more serious than the company is implying. The attack lasted more than a few hours and has resulted in over 35 million XVGs (worth approximately $1.7 million) being stolen. The theft occurred when hackers exploited a specific glitch in Verge’s technology by mining multiple blocks virtually one second apart using the same algorithm. This was the same tactic used in a hack just last month that saw over 250,000 XVGs disappear into thin air, forcing Verge to prepare a subsequent hard fork.