Late last week, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), the top financial regulator in Japan, published a draft report which outlined the new framework for addressing cryptocurrencies and Initial Con Offerings (ICOs) in the country. The report was released following with the 11th study group meeting of the agency, and it contained a cumulation of recommendations from the previous ten sessions.

As a regulator, the FSA has to submit bills and stay accountable to the Japanese parliament, however, the agency is also responsible for supervising financial activities in the country, with companies seeking to issue investment vehicles and assets being required to register and get proper accreditation from the agency. This report, which has been the subject of numerous rumors, is seen by many as a definitive stance by the Japanese government on cryptocurrencies, a move yet to be made by most developed countries till date.

In the report, the FSA acknowledged the fact that technological innovation is continuously changing, and it has come to see the importance of collaboration with other authorized regulatory bodies.

“Because of this, we urge contributors to sign up for the qualified [self-regulatory] affiliation,” the document reads.

This way, the agency is expected to help improve techniques following the country’s laws. Back in October, the Japan Digital Foreign Money Trade Affiliation was accredited by the FSA with the aim of effecting self-regulatory laws in a legal framework. With this accreditation, the industry body was given the means to develop guidelines for domestic cryptocurrency exchanges, including measures to ensure that money laundering and insider trading are curbed.

As expected, the regulator placed restrictions on privacy coin listings, margin trading and transactions in derivatives.



On the issue of ICO regulation, the FSA explained that specific tokens might be subject to regulation depending on how they are structured. ICOs would be under the purview of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.

The report also addressed the existence of “deemed dealers,” companies which have gotten the leeway to operate cryptocurrency exchanges while reviewing their applications. It points out that while a lot of these dealers have been advertising their platforms and urging people to sign up, many their customers are still unaware that they aren’t registered.

Concerning deemed dealers, the report proposed some regulatory measures. First, it established that they should not be able to expand their portfolio of coins until they get proper registration. Also, they won’t be able to get new customers or promote their services as well. They must also be made to notify their existing users of their situation viz-a-viz registration.

Reports in local media show that there is little to no any opposition to the proposed measures, and this means that the content of the draft is expected to form the new regulations of the agency. Earlier in August, new FSA Commissioner Toshihide Endo had told Reuters in an interview that the agency had no plans to shut down the cryptocurrency sector.

“We would like to see it grow under appropriate regulation,” he had added, at the time.


Source: https://www.ccn.com/japanese-regulators-publish-new-cryptocurrency-regulation-draft/

A state-owned bank in Brazil is about to issue a crypto token designed to maintain parity with the national currency.

Revealed exclusively to CoinDesk, the Brazilian National Social Development Bank will launch a pilot in January 2019 for the BNDES token, which runs on the ethereum blockchain and is backed 1-for-1 by Brazilian real. The bank has been experimenting with the stablecoin throughout 2018 and will now use it for tax-deductible contributions to cultural institutions.

ConsenSys, the ethereum design studio, will be among the companies consulting the bank during this process. Although the Brooklyn, N..Y.-based conglomerate of startups wouldn’t comment on this Brazilian project beyond confirming its involvement, it falls squarely in line with priorities listed in an internal statement issued by its founder Joe Lubin earlier this month, stating the company will renew its focus on being a blockchain advisory specializing in architecture and token design.

For the pilot, the bank will issue several hundred dollars worth of BNDES to the National Film Agency, a film distribution company called El Cine for short, to create and promote scripts and movie productions in Brazil.

Since the bank has a history of corruption scandals involving misallocated funds and alleged bribes, the pilot creators hope public BNDES blockchain data will help bolster trust in state-owned banks.

The trial will use the National Registry of Taxpayers’ (Cadastro Nacional da Pessoa Jurídica, or CNPJ) electronic identification certificates, which are already widely used by Brazilian companies as official registration documents

“We can enforce rules using smart contracts. The company that receives the money can only spend it with companies that are working within the [film] sector,” Vanessa Almeida, a BNDES systems development manager, told CoinDesk.

Regarding the CPNJ identifiers, she added:

“We have a kind of ID in Brazil that has a certificate to send a token to the company, the company has to sign with this certificate…we will know in advance to which address you can send the tokens.”

This project was developed, with help from Ethereum Foundation developer Alex Van De Sande, to allow filmmakers associated the nonprofit El Cine to collect and share their financial records in real-time. Recipients will only be able to redeem the stablecoin through the bank for local currency.

All that transaction data may be leveraged to develop and inform future use cases as well. “This information can help guide public policies,” said Almeida. “They will have a better map of this sector of the economy.”

Beyond trading
Stepping back, cryptocurrency traders have been the leading stablecoins users so far, storing value in their exchange accounts that can be instantly swapped for other cryptocurrencies without dealing with banks.

Exchange companies like Paxos, Gemini, and Coinbase, all added fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies in 2018. In contrast, this Brazilian pilot shows a use case for fiat-pegged crypto beyond speculative markets.

Rosine Kadamani, founder of the the educational Blockchain Academy in Brazil, told CoinDesk this pilot could have ripple effects across the country.

That’s because the government-run development bank manages funding for projects ranging from educational initiatives to building infrastructure like roads and dams.

“Because unfortunately, Brazil is very well-known for corruption, there’s a lot of questioning about the use of public funds,” Kadamani said. “They start with a stablecoin that is basically an accounting control, because everything goes back to the bank. But in the future, if it works well, there are other implications.”

Indeed, Gladstone Moises Arantes, Jr., technical lead of the BNDES blockchain initiative, told CoinDesk the bank will reevaluate the results of this pilot and consider expanding it to other organizations that receive public funding.

He told CoinDesk:

“The concept we have could be used for other institutions in Brazil or the government as a whole.”

Source: https://www.coindesk.com/this-brazilian-bank-is-using-ethereum-to-issue-a-stablecoin

Asia is currently one of the most regulated continents on the planet in terms of cryptocurrency laws. Hong Kong is the latest Asian nation that is set to tighten crypto laws on traders and exchanges.

The Hong Kong Securities and Exchanges Commission (SFC) is looking to tighten the current cryptocurrency laws as concerns over crypto-crime and money laundering heighten across Southeast Asia.

Tightening Less-Stringent Cryptocurrency Laws
Hong Kong’s current stance on cryptocurrency is one of the least stringent in the region, which is a stark contrast to the more hardline approach taken by mainland China. As Hong Kong is one of the world’s leading financial epicenters, the SFC is set to reevaluate cryptocurrency laws, especially in terms of regulating the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) sector.

Crypto-related commercial activities in China are pretty much banned, so some people might think that this move is long overdue. According to the SFC, if an investment fund has 10% or more of digital assets they will now need to obtain a license. And even then the companies will only be able to sell their products to professional investors.

The SFC want to set up a voluntary scheme where exchanges will be able to test their digital assets in what is being deemed a “temporary regulatory sandbox” and will then be able to decide whether they need to seek a license.

Writing is on the Wall for Hong Kong
The Hong Kong SFC have been warning the industry for many months about their plans to impose tighter cryptocurrency laws. Earlier this year in February, the SFC warned seven cryptocurrency exchanges in the wake of complaints made by investors.

It is hardly surprising that Hong Kong is looking to tighten cryptocurrency laws as many major economies across the world are currently reevaluating their stance on crypto regulations.

There are many pros and cons in tighter regulatory measures on the Hong Kong crypto industry. Although many consider it essential to safeguard investors and keep a lid on the industry, others believe that the new cryptocurrency laws could be costly and work against crypto firms in Hong Kong.

Daiwa Institute of Research professional Daisuke Yasaku believes it might be a bad thing for Hong Kong when saying:

“The cost of regulations will be high. The requirements of the SFC initiative may prove too burdensome for some operators.”

The price of wider crypto adoption will always be high, but that is the price we pay sometimes to ensure the industry and investors are protected. Will the tightening of cryptocurrency laws in Hong Kong be a good or bad thing for the local industry? Only time will tell.


Source: https://www.ccn.com/hong-kong-regulators-set-to-tighten-cryptocurrency-laws/

The French financial watchdog, the Financial Markets Regulator (AMF), has blacklisted four more cryptocurrency websites in their ongoing mission to stamp out unauthorized crypto firms.

As news of riots in France batter the world news, the AMF is also using strong-arm tactics to keep then nation’s crypto sector honest and in-check with their latest move.

Official Statement from the AMF on Friday

The AMF is the main watchdog that regulates the French stock market and announced on Friday in an official statement that they have blacklisted a further four cryptocurrency websites. The reasons cited for the blacklisting of the websites are mainly centered on unauthorized investment offerings.

In the official statement, the AMF outlined nine cryptocurrency firms that have been operating without approval from official regulatory bodies in France, with the four websites named on the list.

The AMF also warned potential investors that they should exercise caution when investing in companies that are new and unfamiliar. They went on to say that France has seen a surge of new and unauthorized crypto projects that are yet to seek approval from the regulatory body and that investors should be careful with the un-vetted cryptocurrency websites

Cryptocurrency Websites Blacklisted in France

The cryptocurrency websites blacklisted by the AMF include elos-patrimoine.com. live-crypto.com.net, iminage.com, and infoconso.info.

The AMF has blocked the websites for conducting crypto trading on the domestic front while failing to meet the necessary legal requirements to do so. The AMF statement said:

“It is warning the public against several companies from offering atypical investments without being authorized to do so”

Blacklisted cryptocurrency websites such as elos-patrimoine.com were allegedly offering monthly returns to investors between 3% and 5% without the authorization to offers guarantees.

The AMF is an independent regulatory body that is there to protect the interests of the public and investors. They basically keep the French crypto markets honest and ensure that crypto-related businesses adhere to the nation’s crypto regulations and maintain order in the marketplace.

Back in September, a regulatory framework for ICOs from the AMF was passed by the French Parliament. The framework was originally drafted back in March to protect those investing in Initial Coin Offerings.

The AMF and French government are working hand-in-hand to keep a lid on the ICO markets to ensure new ICOs are fulfilling their legal requirements. With the AMF now blacklisting unauthorized cryptocurrency websites, it sends out a message that although France welcomes crypto, it is also serious on keeping the sector under control.

Source: https://www.ccn.com/french-financial-watchdog-blacklists-more-cryptocurrency-websites/

I got confused at first when i was looking for the Bitcoin Discussion Board. I thought it was deleted but later found out that it was merged with Altcoins Discussion Board and renamed "Cryptocurrency Ecosystem".

I prefer the new arrangement and I like the new additions.

An informative piece from Timothy Enneking who is the founder and the primary principal of Digital Capital Management, LLC (DCM).
Link to the article: https://www.coindesk.com/when-theres-blood-in-the-street-why-its-not-quite-time-to-be-long-crypto

Two members of the Rothschild family are credited, perhaps incorrectly, with the (in)famous quote regarding investing: “When there is blood in the street” (James in the mid-19th century and Nathan, after the battle of Waterloo).

The family has been one of the richest in the world for over 200 years, so there’s something to be said for following the advice of its members… In the crypto space, therefore, the question becomes, Is there enough blood in the streets now that it’s the time to buy? I would argue no. Or, more precisely, not quite yet.

The basis for this conclusion is the past behavior of bitcoin (which, for the purposes of this article, I will use as a proxy for the entire crypto market – fully aware of the fact that it’s not perfect in that role, but only reasonably good).

The data set used is all related to bitcoin drops of 80 percent or more.

That’s because there is a very interesting aspect to historical BTC performance: There are no peak-to-valley drops between 57 percent and 82 percent over its trading history. Thus, it becomes quite easy to narrow the data down (since a drop of 50 percent is fundamentally and qualitatively different from a drop of more than 80 percent).

This leaves us with four instances: a bit too few in an ideal world, but enough, in some cases, to reach some rather definite conclusions.

The four drops are:





Of course, the last one is not yet over. Note that the current bear market has, to date, barely exceeded the third largest. To reach second place, BTC would have to drop to $2,553. To take first place, BTC would have to fall back to $1,239.

If we analyze the drops more closely, some interesting facts emerge. For instance, the average number of days between peak and valley is 233, or about 8 months. (The average would be 10 months without the unusual 2013 drop, which saw a peak-to-valley duration of two days.) This reinforces the conclusion that another bottom is probably close in terms of timing.

Then, once crypto markets hit bottom, how long does a recovery generally take?

We see those data below:





So, with quite a range, the average time for the price to double from the bottom is four months. The average time to reach the prior peak is one year and four months, or one year from the bottom doubling. Once that peak is reached, however, the time for the peak to double is a remarkable two months – and the range of the data is quite small: from one to three months. Conclusion: once enough momentum to reach the prior peak has been achieved, it consistently keeps going very strongly.

As we can see, the range of dates to reach and double the peak is far less than the range to double the bottom. Again, the sample is small, but the trend is clear. However, it’s also clear that the time required for all three metrics is increasing over time; thus, it may well take longer to hit each level this time around.

Are we at the bottom?

Further analysis is required to determine this. Let’s call it “spike analysis.”

BTC virtually always reaches a peak and puts in a bottom with a spike. In other words, there is not a nice round hill at the top and a gently sloping down-and-up valley at the bottom. Bitcoin’s tops and bottoms are more violent. And that “violence” can be measured.

For the first peak from the first table above, we have some statistical data, but no good graph as 2011 graphs are not generally available. However, regardless of the data source, the wick is enormous, up to 40 percent from the immediately surrounding prices.

For the November 2011 valley, the graph is quite interesting. The drop, while it does not look dramatic because of the tremendous jump (about 500 percent) shortly thereafter, was actually nearly 10 percent with an almost immediate recovery. The total drop was also the largest drop in bitcoin history in percentage terms at 93.6 percent.





The next peak, in April 2013 was even more dramatic, with a jump of 25-40 perecent depending on what one chooses as the starting point.





Stunningly, the next valley was put in two days later. (For those of you who, as I, lived through this, you will remember that this sudden spike and drop were directly related to the Cyprus debt crisis.)

(Please note that I am not addressing in any detail the various exogenous events which may have driven the crypto peaks and/or valleys. In addition to Cyprus in 2013, you had PBOC/MtGox in late 2013 and early 2014, the futures market-fueled rise in late 2017, ICO and general crypto regulation in 2018, etc. Good fuel for another article, but too much to address here.)

Again, depending on what one chooses as a baseline, the drop here was about 20 perecent. (It should also be noted that this drop may be viewed as a double or even triple bottom, but as it was put in over a very short period of time, the analysis still holds.) This is now the fourth largest drop in BTC history, having just been displaced by the current one.

The next peak was later that same year, in November. This peak is a bit of an anomaly for two reasons: first, the spike was only about an 8 percent increase and, second, there was a clear double top – although, again, over a very short period of time.





The next valley was just over one year later, in January 2015. This time the drop was about 15 percent and was very clear. The total peak-to-valley drop, at 86.9 percent, remains the second-largest in bitcoin history.





The final peak, and almost certainly the best known, was in December of last year. This was roughly a 12 percent peak and was extremely clear.





Finally, we look at the current price chart. We can see that there was a large drop from 6,000, but there has been nothing like a “violent” bottom put in – in fact, the opposite is true.





When capitulation?

Of course, a “violent bottom” is simply another way of saying “capitulation.” That concept has become so well known that many people, including authors of articles similar to this, are asking “have we seen capitulation yet?” (My favorite recent quote in this regard is “point of apparent capitulation” – which appeared about $1,000 ago.)

Here is my thought on capitulation: it will be obvious to nearly everyone when it happens. If lots of people are asking whether “that move down” was capitulation or not, it wasn’t.

So ,where will the bottom be? In my opinion, there is a relatively small chance of putting in a bottom around $2,800. However, I suspect that the odds are higher that the BTC price will test $2,000 within a month or two. Even if I’m correct, however, that would only move this drop to second place of all time.

One further point I would like to make is to address the question which “crypto folk” never ask, but which “fiat folk” do: Can the Bitcoin price drop to zero?

I remember almost six years ago when I first heard of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. I wasn’t convinced they would survive. After a year or so, survival wasn’t an issue, but scale and importance were. Now, it seems clear to me that crypto trading tokens (so I’m deliberately excluding blockchain applications which do not rely on “cryptocurrencies” that trade) and bitcoin are here to stay and that they will eventually play a non-trivial role in the financial system.

Without going into a long explanation, there is simply too much infrastructure that has been and is being developed, too many people with too much “skin in the game,” and too many advantages for the trading token ecosystem to utterly collapse.

The conclusion: a new bottom is nigh upon us, but not quite here yet. Or said another way, there is not yet enough blood running in the crypto streets to simply start buy bitcoin and other tokens which trade.

From an investment standpoint, however, while it’s not the time to buy, it is the time to invest. It’s obviously impossible to time the bottom exactly, so one must be positioned to invest now to maximize the benefit of the reversal. How to do that? Select a long-short investment vehicle (which the Rothschilds did not have) and invest now. I’m quite certain you won’t have to wait long for the next bull run to begin and, in the meantime, such a vehicle can make money on the balance of the drop.

After months of monitoring and observing the “promising and challenging” potential of distributed ledger technology (DLT), the European Union (EU) is finally making a turn into the blockchain industry.

How it all started
Back in February 2018, the European Commission (EC) launched the EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum, aimed to support European cross-border engagement with the technology and its multiple stakeholders and to unite the economy around blockchain.

Since its official launch, the newly established organization — supported by European Parliament — has released three thematic reports: the first one in July, dubbed “Blockchain Innovation in Europe”; the second one in October, “Blockchain and the GDPR”; and the third one in December, “Blockchain for Government and Public Services.”

The second major step was taken in April when 22 countries — 21 EU member states and Norway — signed a Declaration that created a European Blockchain Partnership (EBP). During 2018, five more European countries joined the EBP: Greece and Romania in May, Denmark and Cyprus in June, and Italy — the last member to join — in September. The partnership’s main focus is on cybersecurity, privacy, energy efficiency and interoperability, all in full compliance with EU law.

As Mariya Gabriel, commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society, underlined welcoming the established of the EBP:

Blockchain is a great opportunity for Europe and Member States to rethink their information systems, to promote user trust and the protection of personal data, to help create new business opportunities and to establish new areas of leadership, benefiting citizens, public services and companies (sic)

Back in the fall, ResearchAndMarkets.com published a new report dubbed “EU5 Blockchain Technology Market (2018-2023).“ In the report, the EU is expected to increase its investment into blockchain- and DLT-related projects from $94 million in 2018 to $386 million by 2020. The positive view within the document toward the blockchain industry in Europe is based on several crucial facts: The EC is liberalizing the industry’s regulation and it creates a new task force entrusted with blockchain expertise.

Another move toward blockchain was made in October this year when the European Parliament formed a resolution titled “Distributed ledger technologies and blockchains: building trust with disintermediation.” The resolution states that DLT “could potentially affect all sectors of the economy,” but it focuses on several important spheres: finances, health care, transport, education, copyrights, public governance, data protection, and some others.

The agreement shows that the Parliament has set the plans for the EC to ensure that its proposed policies would be realized, taking into account benefits of the DLT implementations and warning about some of the related risks. This resolution is a crucial document, as it means that Parliament articulated several main features.

Health care sector
The potential of DLT implementation in the health care and medical sector was among the first initiatives discussed by the European Union. My Health My Data (MHMD), the EU-funded project, has been aimed “to use blockchain technology to enable medical data to be stored and transmitted safely and effectively.” The resolution signed in October highlighted that blockchain would “improve data efficiency and the reporting of clinical trials in the health sector, allowing digital data exchange across public and private institutions under the control of the citizens/patients.”


For the EU, the main focus of the implementation of blockchain technology is on the protection of personal data (followed by the General Data Protection Regulation, known as GDPR), which gives “people more control over how they store, manage and use personal data generated online,” says DECODE, another blockchain project funded by the EU. According to the document, blockchain “should protect the privacy of sensitive health data” and allow “citizens to control their health data and benefit from transparency thereon, and to choose which data to share, also with regard to their use by insurance companies and the wider health care ecosystem.”

It also underlines the importance of improving the health care sector with DLT “through electronic health data interoperability, identity verification and a better distribution of medication,” as well as improving the management of health care systems.

Financial services
There are several major advantages of DLT implementation for the financial sector within Europe. One of them is, definitely, the significance of the blockchain technology in financial intermediation by “improving transparency and reducing transaction costs and hidden costs by better managing data and streamlining processes.”



The EC and local regulatory authorities are to monitor trends of DLT implementation in the finance industry and are encouraged to do “the research and experimentation that major financial institutions have undertaken in the exploration of the capabilities of DLT.”

The European Parliament also expressed its concern about the “volatility and uncertainty” of cryptocurrencies. It requires the EC and the European Central Bank (ECB) “to provide feedback on the sources of volatility of cryptocurrencies, identify dangers for the public, and explore the possibilities of incorporating cryptocurrencies in the European payment system.”

There are certain risks related to initial coin offerings (ICOs), and the resolution stresses the “lack of clarity with regard to the legal framework applicable to ICOs,” that could negatively affect the investment and funding potential of ICOs. The Parliament asks the EC and national regulatory authorities “to identify criteria that enhance investor protection and articulate disclosure requirements and obligations for the initiators of ICOs” to avoid risks and dangers related to ICO projects.

The certainty and clarity of the crowdfunding in the crypto space could increase investor and consumer protection and reduce “the risks stemming from asymmetric information, fraudulent behaviour, illegal activities such as money laundering and tax evasion.”

How bright is the blockchain future in Europe?
Meanwhile, the Distributed ledger technologies and blockchains resolution has more political significance than legal, as the EC is not required to do anything in response to these requests.

Last week, four major blockchain companies — including Ripple, the NEM Foundation, Emurgo (based on the Cardano blockchain) and “smart ledger” development firm Fetch.AI — formed “Blockchain for Europe” Association. It is aimed to help the EU “shape the global agenda” on blockchain by providing education on the technology’s potential and by developing “smart regulation” of the blockchain industry.

The EC does not appear to be fully involved in promoting a global regulatory framework for the blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystems. The general idea is to focus on promoting the regulations of the technology on national levels.

A vivid example of it is another declaration signed on December 4 between seven southern European countries — including France, Italy, Cyprus, Portugal, Spain, and Greece. It was reportedly initiated by Malta, commonly known as the “Blockchain Island” of Europe. This declaration calls the EU for help to “promote DLT that is most associated with cryptocurrencies but is increasingly being used by governments to offer services to citizens.”

Switzerland is another European country, but not a member state, that has friendly regulation on the blockchain and crypto industries.

Europe has the ambitions to become "the global leader in the field of DLT," which can be seen from the number of initiatives taken place over the 2018 year. Still, it might want to consider bringing more legal power to them rather than just “raising the awareness.”

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/europe-takes-serious-steps-towards-blockchain-adoption

The Exodus 1 is HTC’s cryptocurrency and blockchain oriented phone. It’s designed as a native blockchain mobile and to work securely with cryptocurrency and decentralized applications (dApps).

Revealed in a recent tweet by co-founder Brendan Eich, who also developed the Firefox Mozilla browser, Brave will be HTC’s default browser.

https://twitter.com/BrendanEich/status/1071445228006072320

The HTC Exodus 1 is built with the decentralized promise of blockchain in mind. It, like Brave, hopes to restore the ownership of personal data back to individuals. For cryptocurrency owners, the phone will store private keys in a secure enclave on the phone called Zion.

Though the Brave browser itself is not blockchain-based, Brave does aim to eventually decentralize its Ethereum-based BAT. Eich himself describes the BAT platform as currently “semi-centralized” due to the need to manage how its BAT tokens, used to reward Brave publishers, are distributed. Eich told TNW recently:

“We will decentralize much of the BAT platform over time, but as our roadmap describes, not all at once and up front. That is neither scalable nor anonymous on today’s main blockchains.”

Challenging the Incumbent Web

What the Brave Browser does do is offer users the facility to block all adverts and cookies, potentially delivering faster search, loading, and navigation. By doing this Brave hopes to take away some of the search market dominated by the likes of Google and Microsoft, which collect massive amounts of user data.

Brave also plans to reward users who opt-in to viewing adverts with BAT tokens, which advertisers must pay, potentially handing back the reward from the monetization of data to the data owner. As of September 2018, Brave had already achieved ten million downloads and four million active users, a growing figure likely to have influenced HTC’s choice.

HTC’s decentralized chief officer Phil Chen, according to CNET reports, said of Brave:

“It is challenging the incumbent web…advertisement-trade-for-attention model that has crippled the internet browsing experience. We’re at a crisis of giving that away for cheap endorphins and surrendering all that power to the big-data monolithic cloud companies that mine that data.”

Neither Brave or HTC have revealed much in the way of details about the partnership. HTC phones are popular but the blockchain-based mobile market is unproven. The partnership will certainly help kudos for Brave and if sales of the Exodus 1 go well, add to Brave’s user base.  The new phone is not without competition, SIRIN Labs also unveiled its crypto-native smartphone, the FINNEY, earlier this month.

Source: https://www.ccn.com/htc-exodus-1-blockchain-smartphone-will-ship-with-brave-browser/