The New York Fed's most recent Household Debt and Credit Report shows credit levels reaching new highs; total consumer debt for Q2 2017 was $12.8 trillion and student loan debt reached $1.3 trillion; Forbes highlights an increasingly upward trend in student lending which it says is being supported by federal government loans. Source
Overstock.com has announced it will allow customers to pay in over 40 cryptocurrencies through support from ShapeShift; the e-commerce website is the first well-known retail platform to allow coin payments beyond bitcoin; the payments are facilitated by an API built by cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift. Source
The panel explores the spectrum of responsible online credit; discusses what is clearly irresponsible lending and what are some of the borderline cases of credit being deemed responsible; panelists discuss the many of things to consider when it comes to responsible lending including sales tactics, APRs, transparency and loan stacking/debt traps. Source
Currently reconsidering the Winklevoss brothers' ETF proposal, the SEC has now received another approval request for a bitcoin ETF; investment manager VanEck has submitted a prospectus to the SEC for a bitcoin-related ETF; the fund differs from previous funds, with its investments based on derivatives of bitcoin; VanEck is seeking to list the fund on the Nasdaq and says it will also include conventional investments such as US Treasury bonds and cash for risk diversification. Source