1.This $100K Luxury Swiss Watch Will Have a Built-In Crypto Wallet

      2.Monerium raises $2m seed round to issue e-money on blockchain

      3.Bitwise Applies for a Physically Held Bitcoin ETF with the SEC

      4.Canadian Electoral Body Is Looking into Cryptocurrency Donations

1.This $100K Luxury Swiss Watch Will Have a Built-In Crypto Wallet

Favre & Fils, a luxury Swiss watchmaker that traces its family history back three centuries, is developing a handcrafted mechanical timepiece with a built-in crypto-wallet

The company announced last week that the watch will have crypto “cold wallet” and “state of the art proprietary security solution” based on blockchain technology.

Favre & Fils CEO Laurent Favre said in a statement:“We have developed this first timepiece with the idea of offering something useful for the crypto-community, not simply something to spend their money on.”

A company representative told that one watch piece will cost in the range of CHF100,000 – CHF150,000 (or $102,000 – $153,000), depending upon the variant – gold, metal, etc.

The watch will “guarantee ultimate in-data security and privacy protection”, the company said in a statement, adding that the first prototype will be released during the second quarter of 2019.

2.Monerium raises $2m seed round to issue e-money on blockchain

Monerium, an Icelandic startup planning to issue asset-backed, redeemable, and regulated e-money on blockchains through a licensed institution, has raised $2 million in a seed funding round.

Jón Helgi Egilsson, Monerium chairman and former chairman of the Central Bank of Iceland, says: -“In Iceland in 2008, a centralised financial system collapsed and almost caused a systemic economic meltdown. The ‘too-big-to-fail’ banking institutions were a single point of failure for deposits, lending, and payments.

“By becoming an asset-backed, regulated, and redeemable e-money provider for blockchains, Monerium will help to decentralise global finance, which will offer customers more options to store and send e-money, while simultaneously supporting financial stability.”

The firm has applied to become a licensed financial services company in the European Economic Area through a wholly-owned subsidiary. The proceeds of the seed round will be used to accelerate the development of services.

3.Bitwise Applies for a Physically Held Bitcoin ETF with the SEC

Bitwise, a U.S.-based cryptocurrency index fund provider, has filed an initial registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, proposing a physically held Bitcoin ETF, the SEC announced on their website on January 10, 2019.

Bitwise Files for a new Bitcoin ETF

The crypto industry has entered the year with new hope about the future of cryptocurrencies, as a startup is looking to introduce a new type of Bitcoin ETF.

Bitwise, a San Francisco-based cryptocurrency index fund provider, has applied with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a new Bitcoin exchange-traded fund. According to the registration form published on the SEC website, the proposed ETF will track the Bitwise Bitcoin Total Return Index.

The value of the index will be calculated based on the prices of bitcoin that the Index Provider derives from the cryptocurrency’s price transactions occurring on cryptocurrency exchanges, it said in the application.

Bitwise said that the newly proposed Bitcoin ETF will be unique on the market, as it draws prices from a variety of digital asset exchanges. This will enable the ETF to better represent the market, the company said in a press release.

4.Canadian Electoral Body Is Looking into Cryptocurrency Donations

On January 9, 2019, it was reported that the Canadian Electoral Body, Elections Canada, has published a draft document detailing the procedure for the acceptance of cryptocurrency donations as well as seeking the input of various parties regarding the handling such donations.

One of the trickiest aspects of cryptocurrency and government is the issue of political donations. In Taiwan, for instance, cryptocurrency has gained acceptance as a form of campaign contributions. In some places in the United States, they have been banned altogether.

In Canada, however, the government is beginning to explore the use of cryptocurrency for political donations ahead of the upcoming elections.

Elections Canada, the official body tasked with handling political fundraising in the country, has announced on their website that “with interest in cryptocurrency on the rise, political entities have requested guidance on accepting contributions and conducting other transactions in bitcoin or altcoins.”

The document is only a draft document and various parties have been contacted about the matter and have until January 21, 2019, to submit their views on how cryptocurrency should be treated and how the document might be altered with time.

In the case of Elections Ontario, Cryptocurrency contributions are subject to the same laws as fiat contributions which means that there is a cap on annual donations and a cap of $20 on anonymous donations.

The identities of those who contribute above the $20 will have to be reported by the party which could prove challenging due to the anonymous nature of some cryptos.

Parties would also need to submit the transaction history of their wallets the same way they would their bank statements should they choose to accept cryptocurrency donations.