Number of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Lobbies Tripled in 2018

The number of lobbies working on blockchain technology issues in Washington D.C. tripled in 2018, politics-oriented news outlet Politico reported on March 18. The number of entities lobbying on digital currencies and blockchain reportedly grew almost thrice in the course of the past year, reaching 33 projects in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to 12 in the same period of 2017. Jerry Brito — executive director at the non-profit organization Coin Center that works with Reps. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) and Darren Soto (D-Fla.), both known for their cryptocurrency-friendly attitude…

Overstock to Retain Retail Arm, Support Blockchain and Crypto Ventures

The CEO of retail giant Overstock.com, Patrick Byrne, noted the potential profitability of the firm’s retail arm in its Q4 2018 earnings conference call on March 18. Byrne’s statements indicate that Overstock may not be divesting from its retail wing as soon as was previously indicated. Last year, Byrne reportedly told The Wall Street Journal that Overstock would sell off its retail wing sometime in early 2019. During the section of the conference call devoted to retail, Byrne said that “this is going to be a year of explosive growth,”…

Ethereum DApp Growth Slows While EOS and Tron Race Ahead: Report

Ethereum DApp Growth Slows While EOS and Tron Race Ahead: Report EOS and Tron are leadign Ethereum in dApp growth. | Source: Shutterstock According to new data from RatingDapp, EOS and Tron both gained significant user share over the last week, while Ethereum dApp growth slowed. Ethereum remains the godfather of decentralized applications, with by far the largest user base, ecosystem, and most liquidity. But the landscape is changing quickly, with Tron and EOS dominating in transaction volume. Ethereum Grows 20% Slower Than The Week Before Pure volume is not…

CoinMarketCap Introduces New Metrics for Crypto Fundamentals

Cryptocurrency market data platform CoinMarketCap has added a new metric to their site for measuring the fundamentals of cryptocurrency projects. The new rating system dubbed the Fundamental Crypto Asset Score (FCAS) measures cryptocurrency projects “health” by considering user activity, developer behavior, and market maturity. Basically, the service provides insight into the growth and development of a project: “We intake raw blockchain data across relevant projects and parse them internally. Once we clean, analyze, and recreate the raw data elements, we combine them with market data gathered from various sources to…

How to Become a Bitcoin Trader

There are several ways to make money in the cryptocurrency market, and you have probably read about some of them. We have covered a few techniques on this platform too. In this post, however, I’ll explain some common trading methods you can begin using right away and give you a few tips for engaging safely in the market. You must have heard some people refer to themselves as Bitcoin traders, but what exactly does that mean? These are some of the questions this post will try to answer. How to…

Bitcoin Price Has Just a 5% Chance to Hit $10,000 in Next 6 Months

The chances of the bitcoin price reaching five figures within the next six months are growing slimmer by the day. Based on the current value of BTC options, cryptocurrency analysis firm Skew Markets has disclosed that the odds of bitcoin exceeding the $10,000 mark by September are now just 4.6 percent. Odds of bitcoin >10k by September = 4.6% What do you think? pic.twitter.com/5BVeRbETem — skew (@skew_markets) March 18, 2019 Additionally, the probability of bitcoin reaching slightly lower price targets are not that great either. For instance, the probability of…

Russian Police Deny Covert Confiscation of 2 Billion Rubles, Mining Equipment

Russian Police Deny Covert Confiscation of 2 Billion Rubles, Mining Equipment March 18, 2019 by Jeff Fawkes On March 14th, 2019, police confiscated cryptocurrency mining equipment and “large amounts of cash” from Sadovod and Moscow trading centers in the city of Moscow, according to a TASS police informant’s anonymous news tip. However the next day police officially denied the confiscation, adding a 2 billion ruble ($31 million USD) figure that wasn’t mentioned in the TASS report. Also read: Lawyer: People Increasing VPN, Tor Use to Avoid Media and Crypto Censorship We…

75% of Bitcoin Exchanges Report ‘Suspicious’ Crypto Trading Volumes

A site called TheTie released a report today that estimates over 86% of all reported Bitcoin exchange volume is suspicious, while 75% of exchanges report extremely dubious volumes. The research uses a different formula than other reports have: it values each website’s visitors and compares that value to the reported figures. Potential Fake Crypto Volumes High Across The Board Many Bitcoin exchanges – most notably Bithumb – report volumes well in excess of what should be expected given their web traffic. | Source: TheTie For example, Bithumb, which has been…

US National Pork Board to Pilot Blockchain Tech Following New Partnership

The United States National Pork Board has partnered with blockchain startup ripe.io to test out a blockchain platform for pork supply chains, according to a press release published on March 18. The collaboration will ostensibly enable the Board to use a blockchain-based ecosystem to monitor and evaluate sustainability practices, food safety standards, livestock health, and environmental protections. The platform will purportedly provide insight into the production environment of pork, making it transparent and allowing parties to ensure valid certifications. According to ripe.io, the information in the system will stay anonymous.…

Another Small Stop on the Road to Universal Blockchain Voting

On March 7, news broke that Denver is slated to become the second United States jurisdiction to pilot a blockchain-powered mobile voting platform in its upcoming municipal election. Absentee voting will start on March 23 and will run until the Election Day, May 7. The announcement came almost exactly one year after the first initiative of this kind — deployment of mobile voting solution in West Virginia primaries and then midterm elections — was made public in March 2018. Once again, it was the Tusk Philanthropy foundation that spearheaded the effort,…