The fourth week of June has been exciting for the blockchain and cryptocurrency world. Perhaps the biggest news is that TaTaTu reportedly deceived investors through cryptocurrency fundraising. The company's 2018 initial coin offering (ICO) raised an enormous $575 million from investors while marketing itself as the next Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) of blockchain. But one year later, TaTaTu has turned into a rewards program for watching videos. The company recently confirmed that it is not a blockchain business, but an enterprise with a small blockchain component. As the Ethereum-based (ETH) TTU token sees low activity, investors and other critics allege that the company took advantage of the cryptocurrency craze to become one of the top five ICOs of 2018. Instead of a blockchain platform, TaTaTu is now a streaming platform.
Here is the rest of the week in review:
Henry Kravis, billionaire investor and philanthropist, is finally buying into the world of crypto assets. According to a Bloomberg report, Kravis, cofounder of global investment management firm KKR & Co (NYSE: KKR), apparently invested in a cryptocurrency fund offered by ParaFi Capital. ParaFi Capital is described as an "investment firm focused on the blockchain ecosystem" with backing from Bain Capital Ventures, Dragonfly Capital Partners, and others. ParaFi has reportedly invested in crypto exchange Coinbase and Ethereum-based stablecoin developer MakerDAO. Kravis' move represents another titan of traditional finance experimenting with the crypto sector.
The Trump administration has contacted Israeli crypto startup Orbs to develop blockchain solutions for the Middle East region's longstanding political conflicts. White House officials met with Orbs in Bahrain this week. Economist and top Trump advisor Kevin Hassett even floated the idea of using blockchain technology to resolve land title disputes in the Palestinian territories, which perhaps overlooks the fact such conflicts generally involve the Israeli military. There were no Palestinians present at the meeting, but the Palestinian Monetary Authority is also reportedly exploring blockchain solutions. Orbs cofounder Netta Korin said the firm is working with the US State Department on several secret blockchain projects.
Crypto prices corrected and then rebounded this week, closing at $323 billion. Bitcoin (BTC) dominance rose to a high of 62% as the largest coin topped $11,000. For the majors, Bitcoin led with the sole gain, while EOS, Bitcoin SV (BSV), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Ripple (XRP) posted heavy double-digit losses. In the top 100, the biggest losers were Dent (DENT), down 40%, Grin (GRIN), down 21%, and Monero (XMR), down 20%. The biggest gainers were Chainlink (LINK), up a whopping 115%, Egretia (EGT), up 79%, and Lambda (LAMB), up 53%. Next week investors will see if Bitcoin can regain the $12,000 and $13,000 levels.
The author owns a small amount of BTC.