Hodler's Digest, May 21-27: Market Slumps, Crypto Investigations Abound, but Adoption Stays Strong

The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into possible crypto market manipulation, specifically looking at Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The Turkish-owned Shacklewell Lane Mosque in East London has partnered with local blockchain startup Combo in order to set up a Bitcoin and Ethereum wallet for crypto donations during the Ramadan practice of almsgiving, Zakat.

Poland's Ministry of Finance is temporarily suspending tax collection for cryptocurrencies, after admitting that the current tax framework often caused crypto traders to pay more taxes than the funds that they have invested.

If the tax goes into effect, it could be seen as a first step in solid crypto legislation for India.

Money Forward Inc., whose budgeting app had a reported 5.5 mln users by late 2017, will launch a crypto asset exchange this year through their new subsidiary, MF Financial Co., Ltd. MF plans to launch a crypto media platform by summer 2018, then the crypto asset exchange and a digital assets remittance and settlement system.

As the crypto markets are taking an unexpected slump this week, BTC is below $7,500 and ETH below $600, and total market cap is around $325 bln.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph's market analysis.

The crypto holdings of a job candidate could potentially indicate criminal intent or a predisposition to risky behavior, depending on what eventual crypto legislation in America will dictate.

As the DoD needs to track the around 4 mln people with security clearance, the added step of scrutinizing their crypto holdings could "Grow the backlog considerably."

" As for the reasons behind this optimism, Lee cites the relatively low cost of BTC production to mining, an untapped market of institutional investors, and reminds crypto investors to HODL.Best FeaturesBlockchain Week Heralds An End To Blockchain Brotopia.