Day: October 29, 2018

Three Years Later, Ethereum’s Hottest DApps Are (Still) ICOs and Cats

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With Ethereum’s launch in 2015 came a flurry of excitement over the future potential of smart contracts. Utilizing a more flexible scripting language than Bitcoin, the platform’s decentralized applications (DApps) were touted by proponents as unlocking a plethora of formerly untapped use cases for the blockchain. From tokenized assets and blockchain-based legal contracts to healthcare records and supply chain tracking, DApps are going to remold traditional industries in their image, solve bottlenecks and revolutionize enterprise inefficiencies out of existence. More than three years later, and we’re still waiting for the…

Crypto Startup Ripple Poaches former Google Executive

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Ripple Labs has secured the capture of Google’s erstwhile head of rich communications services (RCS), Amir Sarhangi. The startup confirmed to Reuters on Friday that Sarhangi will be joining the Ripple team as Vice President of Products. Prior to his move, Sarhangi led the rollout of a new wireless messaging system at Google after joining the tech giant through its 2015 acquisition of his startup Jibe Mobile, which developed technology that enabled cell service providers to adopt RCS. Sarhangi’s Background and Possible Gains for Ripple Sarhangi brings a considerable body of experience…

Wider Bitcoin Adoption Could Push Global Warming Beyond 2 C Threshold, Report Says

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A new report from climate change scientists has raised the alarm over Bitcoin (BTC)’s carbon footprint and its potential future impact on global warming, published on Nature.com Oct. 29. The report extrapolates existing data for Bitcoin’s electricity consumption together with various projections for the cryptocurrency’s adoption in coming years. According to the report, in 2017, out of a rough total of 314.2 billion cashless transactions, Bitcoin’s share is estimated to have been around 0.033 percent. While acknowledging that “accelerated growth” is common at the early adoption stage of new technologies,…

International Regulations ‘Desirable’ for ICOs

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Germany’s financial regulator wants to see an international effort to regulate Initial Coin Offerings (ICO), despite remaining uncertain whether they would ever become more than a “niche issue,” German business outlet Handelsblatt reported Sunday, Oct. 28. In an interview with the publication, Felix Hufeld, chairman of Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), said German regulatory sources remained hawkish on ICOs as a financial instrument. “The number (of ICOs) and the volume (of money) per ICO are both getting higher. Investors have mostly minimal rights,” he said, adding: “I can thus only…

Bitcoin Remains Firmly at its $6,500 “Stablecoin” Mark: BTCManager’s Week in Review

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The price of bitcoin barely moved in the past seven days – ranging from $6,450 to $6,550, to close the week effectively unchanged around the $6,500 mark. This week’s headlines have been driven by more adoption-positive news such as Visa saying that it will consider adopting cryptocurrencies if that will be the way the market evolves, Bakkt confirming the launch of its BTC futures for December, and the announcement by Sony developing a contactless cryptocurrency hardware wallet. Moreover, bitcoin mining giant Bitfury has announced that it is considering going public…

World’s Largest Diamond Producer Alrosa Joins De Beers’ Blockchain Pilot

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The world’s largest diamond mining firm, Russia’s Alrosa, has joined the pilot of fellow industry giant De Beers’ diamond supply chain blockchain platform “Tracr,” mining industry news outlet Mining Weekly reports Oct. 29. Alrosa is reported to be the world’s largest producer of raw diamonds in carat terms; together with De Beers, the two firms produce around half of the world’s supply. In Q3 2018, the firm’s rough diamond sales rose 12 percent year-on-year to $949 million in value, even as sales in carats declined. Tracr, whose pilot was first…

Bitcoin Reaches October 2017 Volume as ETH, XRP, and BCH Fall 4%

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Over the last 24 hours, the volume of Bitcoin has increased by yet another 10 percent from $3.5 billion to around $3.8 billion. On October 28, the volume of Bitcoin increased by around 20 percent from $3.1 billion to $3.5 billion, showing strong and sustainable momentum in the lower region of $6,000 for the first time since mid-September. Still Low Volume, But What Happened in November? As cryptocurrency investor and technical analyst Hsaka recently stated, the volume of Bitcoin has declined to the October 2017 level. Trading activity in the…

Bitcoin News: Individuals and Businesses in China Can Now Own and Transfer It Legally

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Chinese crypto ban is already in the past, with the recent news reported by CnLedger, a trusted cryptocurrency news source in China, according to which cryptocurrencies have been legally accepted as a payment method by the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration. Chinese authorities have always stayed negative to innovations, which could possibly threaten the country’s stability. In order to protect the national fiat currency Yuan from devaluation and to control spiraling fraud and scams in the sector that would destabilize the economy, a strict ban was put on all kinds of crypto transaction…

Bitcoin Price Drops $200 to Hit Two-Week Low

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After nearly two weeks stagnating at around $6,400, bitcoin (BTC) has suddenly dropped out of the trading range. At 12:00 UTC, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization dropped nearly $200 to reach a two-week low of $6,243. For the last 14-days, bitcoin had been stuck in a range of $6,590-$6,403 – its least volatile stretch since April 2017, according to CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index (BPI). The squeeze in bitcoin prices had been somewhat surprising, since the cryptocurrency has shown to be correlated with the equities markets which are about to end…

USD-Pegged Cryptocurrency Tether [Briefly] Returns to Dollar Parity

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Tether (USDT), the USD-pegged cryptocurrency that spent nearly half of October trading below $1.00, finally returned to dollar parity on Monday, though it remains to be seen whether it will stay there amid mounting competition from heavyweight competitors. Tether [Briefly] Returns to Dollar Parity The controversial stablecoin, which is supposedly backed by physical USD at a 1:1 ratio, briefly touched the $1.00 mark this morning, putting a temporary end to the USDT/USD discount that originated at the beginning of October. Source: CoinMarketCap Initially, that discount represented just a fraction of…