The Crypto Report
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has once again stomped on the dream of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, sending the price of Bitcoin tumbling.
Bitcoin fell below the US$6,500 mark after the SEC postponed its decision on an application for a Bitcoin ETF submitted by VanEck and Solid X until September.
The SEC just recently rejected a similar application submitted by the Winklevoss twins.
“The selloff witnessed on Bitcoin continues to highlight how extremely sensitive the cryptocurrency remains to the ETF developments," wrote FXTM analyst Lukman Otunuga.
“Cryptocurrencies could receive a solid boost and end up becoming the main talking point across financial markets if the SEC approves a Bitcoin ETF in September,” added Otunuga.
READ: Bitcoin and cryptos hit as SEC stalls on ETF decision
In blockchain news, Microsoft Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) cloud platform Azure now offers a proof-of-authority algorithm for Ethereum, according to a company blog post.
The algorithm is intended to offer a more efficient way to build decentralized applications for private networks.
Microsoft said that its current proof-of-work algorithm “works great in anonymous, open networks where competition for cryptocurrency promotes security on the network. However, in private/consortium networks the underlying ether has no value.”
The new algorithm was designed to be more suitable for permissioned networks where the participants know each other.
The Cann Report
Medical cannabis company Vireo Health Inc is planning to go public.
The Minneapolis-based company has raised more than US$16mln, a boost from its initial goal of US$12mln, ahead of its plan to go public on the Canadian Securities Exchange, as per a Twin Cities Business report.
“We anticipate hundreds of jobs will be created under the Vireo Health umbrella over the next 36 months,” said spokesperson Andrew Mangini to Twin Cities Business. “Vireo Health [also] intends to invest millions of dollars into existing markets.”
There will be around 50 new open positions in Minnesota as well as openings in New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
READ: Daily CryptoCann™ Report: West Virginia offers blockchain-based mobile voting; Aurora Cannabis expands its greenhouse operations
On the West Coast, California has legalized recreational marijuana use, but a sizable number of consumers are still turning to the black market.
Nearly one in five cannabis consumers are buying from the black market, according to consumer survey results shared by Marijuana Business Daily.
The consumer survey was conducted by Marketview Research Group and commissioned by Eaze Solutions, a California cannabis company.
The study found that 18% of California respondents made a black market purchase in the previous three months and of those, 84% plan to do it again.
Respondents said they were likely to visit the black market again “due to the illicit market having cheaper products and no tax.”
Around 96% of respondents had purchased from a state-licensed business and of those, 92% would buy from the legal market again.
Results showed that a 5% decrease in the California marijuana tax rate could convince more than 20% of black-market customers to visit licensed cannabis businesses.