The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued a startup that promised crowdfunding participants a smart backpack, but instead spent money to buy BTC and pay for credit cards.

The lawsuit states that Douglas Monahan and his company iBackPack of Texas raised $ 800,000 to "develop several products," including a smart backpack with batteries for charging phones and laptops. However, instead of releasing the iBackpack, as the FTC claims, Monahan was spending money "on personal goals." The commission also claims that Monahan threatened displeased customers on the Internet.

The head of Bakkt, the platform for institutional clients, Kelly Loeffler: "race day" is nearing, the platform is waiting only for approval of an application from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Initially, it was expected that the Bakkt platform would be launched at the beginning of this year, but the start was postponed due to the lack of approval by the company from US regulators. However, the company's management still believes in the launch of the platform already this year.

Tom Lee, co-founder of the US research company Fundstrat Global Advisors, expressed the opinion that the price of Bitcoin should be at around $ 14,000.

Lee also said that the old Bitcoin whales returned to the market and began a mass buying up of the first cryptocurrency due to the changing mood in the industry.

The head of the American retail giant Overstock Patrick Byrne emphasized the blockchain's potential in the economy and said that in the future the invention of this technology would be equated with the creation of the Internet.

According to Patrick Byrne, the blockchain revolution we are currently seeing will be more important for future generations than the invention of the first printing press or the creation of the Internet.

Blockchain could change the financial world during the global financial crisis in 2008.

This opinion was expressed by the Chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Christopher Giancarlo, speaking at the fourth annual DC Blockchain Summit in Washington. According to him, the use of the blockchain would change the response of the regulators at that time.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recalled the guidelines on primary token allocation (ICO) on its Twitter account. The dedicated section of the regulator's website lists five aspects of the ICO that consumers should be aware. In addition, the SEC has posted information for investors and marketing specialists in the section.

The information has been on the site since last year, but the SEC decided to draw attention to it on social networks this weekend amid ongoing debates about regulating the industry. This material is notable for the fact that the SEC explains its principles regarding ICO in accessible language - it is much easier for all interested parties to familiarize themselves with the information in this format.

Former head of the US Federal Reserve Janet Yellen, known for her extreme skepticism about cryptocurrency, unexpectedly for herself became the owner of a small part of Bitcoin, having received it as a gift.

The well-known critic of the Federal Reserve and part-time supporter of cryptocurrency Ron Paul published an article entitled "Trump Is Right, Fed Is Crazy", where he urged to abandon the fiat money printed by central banks, and start using alternative calculation options, which include cryptocurrencies.

The US federal judge ruled that the criminal case against two allegedly fraudulent primary tokens (ICO) placements is subject to securities laws.

The 2018 US China Blockchain and Digital Currency Conference at LAX Marriott Hotel on August 22, 2018 is organized by Blockchain China Connect, Artisan Business Group, Inc., and partnered with FundingPost.com. Event sponsors include Triphop, a social travel and rewards platform based out of Silicon Valley that aims to enhance the travel experience for hotel guests while simultaneously helping hotels leverage social media marketing, WONO, a reliable decentralized peer-to-peer platform for exchanging property and services and LIQNET, an exchange with unique liquidity aggregation technology. The conference is the only Sino-US investment and funding focused event for blockchain and cryptocurrency industry. Hundreds of blockchain entrepreneurs, investors, bitcoin mine operators, traders, and legal taxation experts are expected to attend, and it will provide a great platform for peer-to-peer networking and exploring investment, finance, business and collaboration opportunities between the U.S., China and other countries.

The last days were relatively calm for Bitcoins. Cryptocurrency is traded in a range of 16 000 - 17 000 thousand dollars and almost does not make sharp movements in one direction or another. However, many wonder: what exactly pushed him to such levels, unthinkable a few months ago? In addition to such obvious reasons, as the launch of Bitcoin futures in the US, there are less obvious. According to the report of the Wall Street Journal, the last few months Bitcoin has become extremely popular among traders and the population of East Asian countries, and not only Japan and China. CryptoCompare states that Japan, South Korea and Vietnam last month provided more than 80% of the total trading volume.