No one understands what Telegram is trying to achieve with its new blockchain. At least, that’s the view of TON Labs, one of the main independent developers for the Telegram Open Network (TON).

In an hour-long discussion with Crypto Briefing, Alexander Filatov, TON Labs’ Managing Partner and CEO, along with CTO Mitja Goroshevsky, said that the community is still struggling to fully appreciate TON’s full significance.

Initial Coin Offerings may have gone the way of MySpace, but you may soon be able to buy stock on the blockchain.  MERJ exchange, the official stock exchange of the Republic of Seychelles, announced the first IPO’s of tokenized shares earlier this month.

Currently valued at approximately $25 million USD, MERJ listed its equity on the Ethereum blockchain, adding a new slant to the old IPO formula.

IOHK has announced a strategic partnership with the global athletic brand New Balance to use the Cardano (ADA) blockchain to authenticate its range of premium sneakers.

Beginning as a pilot, the plan is to roll the program out worldwide. There are no plans to use the ADA token for this specific solution.

Following the successful launch of the Shelley testnet last week, Cardano users will be able to earn ADA from November onwards as the network starts to add all the additional functionalities to the staking protocol ahead of a slated move to mainnet sometime in the new year.

Cryptography may be the foundation of a secure network, but human factors should never be underestimated. Bitcoin developers have finally revealed the details of a vulnerability in the Lightning Network, which was first discovered last this month.

Given the decline of cryptocurrency markets over the past week, it may be a good time to put things into perspective about the latest dip. While the usual advice to ‘zoom out’ is scant comfort during a bear season, it may be reassuring to note that many of bitcoin’s metrics are still in an upwards trajectory. 

Here, we take a look at the relative size of the crypto economy, some technical historical patterns, rising interest among institutional investors, and demographic shifts, all of which suggest a bright future for bitcoin despite the occasional dip.

London has an unusual number of strings to its bow. Not only is it one of the largest financial centers, it is rapidly becoming a leading hub for fintech investment. Last week a leading lawyer suggested that regulators are making London an “incredibly positive” place for crypto.

Crypto markets are again under pressure. After a short stabilization yesterday, Bitcoin resumed its slide and briefly plunged below $8000. The rest of the market followed suit,  most coins showing single-digit losses with few exceptions.

When you think of blockchains with a social media application, Bitcoin is probably not the first ledger that comes to mind.

• Ethereum tumbles to its weakest trading level since April 2019
• The lower time frame shows that a potential bullish reversal pattern may be forming
• The recent drop has created bullish MACD divergence on the 30-minute time frame extending towards the $210.00 level

Ethereum has staged a minor recovery towards the $165.00 level after falling alongside the broader cryptocurrency market, as Bitcoin tumbled below the $8,000 support level on Thursday.