Day: October 23, 2018

Aussie Blockchain Startup Wins Billionaire Branson’s Tech Challenge

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Power Ledger, a blockchain startup based in Australia, won business magnate Sir Richard Branson’s Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC) 2018, as reported by Australian news channel Nine News. The challenge, whose previous finalists include Doctor on Demand and Vantage Robotics, aims to provide entrepreneurs with the right tools to help them build their tech products. Power Ledger received endorsements worth millions of dollars in a ceremony that took place at Branson’s Caribbean island this weekend. Power Ledger was launched in 2016 and raised $34 million AUD in its ICO the following year with a mission…

Ex-Fidelity Exec Joins Blockchain Company Bloq as Chief Operating Officer

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A former executive at financial services giant Fidelity Investments has been appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) at blockchain infrastructure firm Bloq, according to a press release Oct. 23. Bloq’s new COO, Hadley Stern, spent seventeen years at Fidelity, which administers over $7.2 trillion in client assets. His most recent role was at the helm of the crypto and blockchain incubator within the company’s innovation lab, Fidelity Labs – overseeing the launch last week of its new crypto-business, Fidelity Digital Assets. Bloq’s co-founder and chairman Matthew Roszak characterized the new appointment…

Bitcoin Struggles at $6,380, BAT Falls 10% Despite Coinbase Interest

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The Bitcoin price has fallen to the $6,300 region after failing to retain momentum in the $6,400 to $6,500 range. The volume of the dominant cryptocurrency has experienced a minor recovery from $3.1 billion to $3.6 billion across major cryptocurrency exchanges. Yet, regardless of the settlement of seven consecutive weekly candles in the low $6,000 region, it is struggling to demonstrate any promising price movement on the upside. Price Surge by the End of 2018 is Important Yesterday, on October 22, CCN reported that due to the low trading activity…

Level Up! 500 Games to Accept Altcoin as Payment for the First Time

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A “made for gaming” cryptocurrency has become the first-ever altcoin to be accepted by a major gaming platform – in what is being described as good news for developers and players alike. MobileGO (or MGO for short) has been picked up by Xsolla, a company which aims to help content creators launch, monetize, and market titles. The collaboration means the cryptocurrency is now available for use in more than 500 games – with more than 500 million players getting the chance to purchase titles and use the altcoin for in-game…

Fidelity’s Blockchain Incubator Lead Just Went Full Crypto

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Hadley Stern, the executive who led Fidelity Investments’ blockchain research and development for the last three years, is joining a well-known startup in the field. Announced today, Stern has been named the first-ever chief operating officer at blockchain software startup Bloq. Stern worked for 17 years at Fidelity, most recently as a senior vice president and the managing director of the blockchain incubator at Fidelity Labs. Stern is leaving the financial services giant just as it launches a new digital asset trading and storage platform, Fidelity Digital Asset Services LLC,…

Chinese Mining Giant Bitmain’s New Firmware Update Reignites AsicBoost Controversy

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Chinese cryptocurrency mining giant Bitmain confirmed it would roll out a firmware update for so-called ‘Overt AsicBoost’ to all its Antminer models in a blog post Monday, Oct. 22. Bitmain, which holds a monopoly on Bitcoin mining through its subsidiary mining pools BTC.com and Antpool, said the release would begin with its most recent Antminer S9 product, extending to older versions next week. Overt AsicBoost refers to a method of increasing mining “effectiveness” for Antminers, Bitmain says, in a way that does not produce “any negative impact on the Bitcoin…

Bitcoin Price Watch: Break Below $6,390 Could Accelerate Losses

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Key Points Bitcoin price is trading above the important $6,390 support area against the US Dollar. Yesterday’s highlighted major bullish trend line is intact with support at $6,390 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken). The price must stay above the $6,390 support to avoid a downside break. Bitcoin price is struggling to stay above $6,390 and $6,400 against the US Dollar. BTC/USD must clear the $6,430 and $6,450 resistance to climb higher. Bitcoin Price Analysis There was a slow and steady decline from the…

Report: Bitcoin is Less Volatile Than Amazon, Netflix, and Nvidia

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Historically, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have been criticized for their volatility, a trait which is often cited as a hurdle for crypto adoption in terms of real-world usage and increased interest from institutional investors. But according to new data, the No. 1 digital currency by market cap is actually less volatile than some of the largest and most popular stocks on Wall Street. Bitcoin’s HV Much Lower Than in Early-2018  The data comes from CBOE Global Markets, which focused on the 20-day historical volatility (HV) of Bitcoin, a number which has…

National Bank of Canada Pilots Blockchain to Combat ‘Complex’ Processes

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A major Canadian commercial bank will use blockchain to simplify the process banks use to issue transactions, a press release confirmed Oct. 21. In partnership with IT and business consulting services firm CGI and blockchain startup Skuchain, the National Bank of Canada (NBC) plans to leverage smart contracts in order to replace current email-based procedures. Its solution consists of a combination of CGI’s Trade360 trade finance platform and Skuchain’s smart contract creation software, based on the latter’s blockchain platform Brackets. Together, it will “improve processing times, reduce risks and help…