Coming every Sunday, the Hodler’s Digest will help you to track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions, and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link. Top Stories This Week US Charges 12 Russian Intelligence Officers With Crypto-Funded Election “Interference” The U.S. Department of Justice released an indictment this week that charged twelve Russian nationals with the intention to “interfere” in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. According to the indictment, Russian officials from the government’s Main Intelligence Directorate mined cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin in …

Billionaire Steven Cohen, the founder of Point72 Asset Management, is reportedly backing a crypto and blockchain-focused hedge fund, Bloomberg reports Friday, July 13. Cohen invested in Arianna Simpson’s cryptocurrency hedge fund, Autonomous Partners, via his private equity firm Cohen Private Ventures, according to Bloomberg’s anonymous source. Point72 Asset Management, whose most recent portfolio value is almost $24 billion, is headed by Andrew B. Cohen, who is also the Managing Director of Cohen Private Ventures. Simpson founded Autonomous Partners in December 2017. In an interview with Fortune on July 12, she said that the fund has already secured “funding in the …

Major crypto exchange Kraken has issued a scathing response to a recent Bloomberg article about stable cryptocurrency Tether (USDT) allegedly “defying logic” on Kraken’s platform. The article in question, titled “Crypto coin Tether defies logic on Kraken’s market, raising red flags,” was published on Bloomberg June 29, with comments and analysis from several academics and Andrew Rennhack, a former professional poker player. Its authors allege that the price of Tether might be manipulated on Kraken, citing “oddly specific order sizes” and the fact that “huge trades move prices about the same as small ones.” According to Bloomberg, the trades that …

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein reiterated his positive stance on cryptocurrencies in an interview with Bloomberg at the Economic Club of New York, June 19. When asked about the chances of crypto to become a “real issue,” Blankfein said that the adoption of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) could happen similarly to how the adoption of paper money, which replaced gold and silver coins, has happened. Addressing the evolution of money, Blankfein pointed out the common features between paper money and crypto, apparently implying that they both do not have intrinsic value. Noting that paper money has managed to become the …

Wall Street continues to have a tenuous relationship with Blockchain technology. Large banks have recently made statements both for and against the new technology, with some companies like Bank of America already pursuing patents. Problem with privacy Part of the struggle these financial platforms are having with Blockchain technology is the issue of privacy. The key issue for traders is to keep their positions a secret in order to keep other traders and competitors out of the loop. While Blockchain technology provides immutability, it does not provide complete security or anonymity - keys for enterprise level financial adoption. However, the …

Power Ledger, an Australian renewable energy company expects the Blockchain to improve efficiency in the market by enabling peer to peer trading, to make solar panels cheaper. Now it is seeking support through the pre-sale of POWR tokens. The ultimate aim of the POWR token is to enable peer to peer energy trading. Blockchain is becoming a hot topic in the power industry today. For example, Austrian and German energy provider Switch has recently begun accepting Bitcoin for gas and electricity bill payments. Energy trading Excess electricity generated by individuals (say through a solar panel on the rooftop) may be …

Bankers continue to come from traditional financial roles to Blockchain related projects. Leaving behind them a salary of up to seven figures shows a strong belief in the future of digital currencies. The lure of a young but quickly maturing marketplace is growing stronger. From somewhat ‘early adopters’ like former JP Morgan executive Blythe Masters - known for her prodigy climb and creating the modern credit default swap - became CEO of Digital Asset Holdings. Cointelegraph recently covered former Morgan Stanley’s top man venturing into cryptocurrency. One time Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack seeks to launch his own ICO for …

Blythe Masters has been ranked #46 in Bloomberg's List of Most Influential People in Finance. She is the only representative of the FinTech industry in this list. List dominated by politicians The list of 50 most influential people in the world of finance is dominated by politicians. 5 out of the top 6 spots are occupied by politicians of major nations – Theresa May (#1, PM of UK), Donald Trump (#2, US Presidential candidate), Hillary Clinton (#2, US Presidential Candidate), Xi Jinping (#4, Chinese President) and Angela Merkel (#6, Chancellor of Germany) Apart from politicians, central bank governors figure prominently …