Cryptocurrency trading platform CoinBene has been put under the microscope again following an announcement from one of Germany‘s top financial regulators.

The Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin) has issued a warning against the cryptocurrency exchange stating that it is operating without a license. What’s more, the BaFin claims CoinBene has been recruiting freelance cryptocurrency traders to perform trades on behalf of the exchange.

CoinBene LTD Germany is not registered on the commercial register in the country, the announcement reads. In Germany, cryptocurrencies are typically classed as “financial instruments.” As such, trading the digital assets on behalf of clients should be conducted under authorization from the German Banking Act Kreditwesengesetz (KWG).

CoinBene has previously denied that it’s operating or even planning to operate an office in Germany. According to a tweet – that predates BaFin’s announcement – previous job postings for Germany-based freelance cryptocurrency traders were fake.

Indeed, with CoinBene’s outright denial that it’s operating in Germany, the question remains: who is operating CoinBene LTD Germany? As the company isn’t registered on the country’s business register, it’s hard to pin it to an individual.

Though BaFin’s warning isn’t unwarranted, unlicensed freelance cryptocurrency traders could, in theory, carry out any number of unregulated transactions with customers‘ money.

It seems this might be yet another example of the classic ‘he said, she said’ dilemma – to which CoinBene is no stranger, by the way. Back in April, some members of the cryptocurrency community believed CoinBene had been hacked after large volumes of cryptocurrency were moved from the exchange .

However, CoinBene swiftly responded claiming the platform was “ undergoing maintenance .” One month and $100 million later, the cryptocurrency exchange claimed it was still under maintenance .

After an investigation, research from analytics firm CipherTrace classified the CoinBene “maintenance” as a hack, stating that it discovered $105 million in cryptocurrency had been sent to other platforms during the period of the alleged hack (March 25 to 28).

With all this in mind, it’s certainly worth treading cautiously if you use CoinBene.

Research: Cryptocurrency is dying

Cryptocurrency exploded like a supernova as prices soared to nearly $20,000 in December 2017. But like a dying star, the crypto-market may now be facing an implosion.

According to a new report from technology research group, Juniper Research, the cryptocurrency “industry is on the brink of an implosion.”

The research highlights some key market metrics, all of which display cryptocurrencies as being on a downward spiral.

“During Q1 2018, cryptocurrency transactions totaled just over $1.4 trillion, compared with less than $1.7 trillion for 2017 as a whole,” the report notes. “However, by Q2 2018, transaction values had plummeted by 75 percent, to under $355 billion.”

Juniper is expecting a further 47-percent drop in transaction values for Q3 2018 compared to the previous quarter.

The researchers claim economic uncertainty typically encourages growth, yet even “strained China-US trade relations and Brexit-related troubles” failed to rouse any interest in the cryptocurrency industry, Bloomberg reports.

Daily Bitcoin transaction volumes have fallen from nearly 360,000 per day in late 2017 to around 230,000 in September 2018. Daily transaction values are down from $3.7 billion to under $670 million over the same period.

Juniper blames various market pressures for this: among other things, the report chalks up the market struggles to a ban on initial coin offering (ICO) advertising, tighter regulations from credit card companies, and price manipulation from exchanges.

If you’re interested in everything blockchain, chances are you’ll love Hard Fork Decentralized. Our blockchain and cryptocurrency event is coming up soon – join us to hear from experts about the industry’s future. Ticket sales are now open, check it out!

Morgan Stanley says Bitcoin is a new type of asset

Sometimes it seems institutions and governments spend more time trying to figure out how Bitcoin should be classified , rather than actually doing anything with it.

Well, global investment bank Morgan Stanley is the latest to stick their oar in, claiming that Bitcoin has become an institutional investment class, CoinDesk reports .

Basically this means its a type of asset like: shares, bonds, property, commodities, or cash.

The revelation comes following a review on the last 6-months of Bitcoin usage data conducted by the bank’s research division.

The researchers stated that permanent ledger technologies, hacks, hard forks, Bitcoin competitors, and market volatility have led them to conclude that this is the most sensible way to classify Bitcoin.

The study came to the conclusion that Bitcoin is no longer just a payment or financial system, but an asset class in its own right.

The bank has been dabbling with Bitcoin for sometime. It sort of sounds like the bank is prepping itself for a Bitcoin ETF …

Bitcoin being seen as an asset class is not a far cry from Satoshi’s original remarks on its classification . But I doubt Satoshi ever thought it would be banks holding the digital commodity.