Day: May 6, 2019

Stocks Plunge Could Spell Trouble For Bitcoin Price in Near-Term, Risking Momentum

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In a cruel twist of fate, it seems that tweets affect not only crypto assets, such as Bitcoin (BTC), but traditional markets too. On Sunday, U.S. president Donald Trump revealed that he intends to increase tariffs on Chinese-made goods from 10% to 25% by Friday. Global assets, like stocks and even BTC, flashed red minutes later. For 10 months, China has been paying Tariffs to the USA of 25% on 50 Billion Dollars of High Tech, and 10% on 200 Billion Dollars of other goods. These payments are partially responsible…

Winklevoss Capital Invests in Firm Using Natural Gas to Fuel Crypto Mining Data Centers

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The Winklevoss twins’ family office, Winklevoss Capital, has participated in a $4.5 million seed financing round for flare mitigation provider Crusoe Energy Systems Inc. to advance its construction of data centers that can mine cryptocurrencies. The news was reported by Bloomberg on May 3. Flare mitigation — as a Crusoe press release accompanying the seed financing round outlines — aims to reduce the environmentally noxious impact of flaring (burning off) surplus natural gas, which is in some cases used to tackle the difficulties of transporting excess gas supplies. While flaring…

‘I Actually Think We Should Shut Down Crypto’

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Famous American economist and Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz has reiterated his negative stance on cryptocurrencies in a CNBC video released on May 6. “I actually think we should shut down the cryptocurrencies,” Stiglitz declared in the video, pointing out his opinion of the major deficiencies of the digital currencies like bitcoin (BTC). According to Stiglitz, crypto is not the right way to create a more efficient global economy due to a lack of transparency. Indeed, he emphasized that cryptocurrencies accompany illegal financial activities such as money laundering by moving…

What’s Microfinancing Doing in Blockchain Space?

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With 139 million clients and a credit portfolio of USD 114 billion in 2017, microfinance has reaffirmed its position as a key tool in the financial inclusion of marginalized populations. The global microfinance market is anticipated to witness steady growth over the forecast period (2017 to 2025). This growth can be attributed to the rapid rise in the number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Developing markets will drive expansion, a trend expected to continue until (and perhaps beyond) 2022, by which point the IMF expects annual growth for this…

Exec Warns $9 Trln Trade Finance Industry Must Go Digital to Combat Fraud, Cites Blockchain

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A senior executive at one of Asia’s biggest banks has said the $9 trillion trade finance industry needs to be digitized in order to tackle fraud, according to a Bloomberg article published on May 5. Ng Chuey Peng, managing director and head of global commodities finance at Singapore’s Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd. (OCBC), criticized the industry’s reliance on paper receipts, and warned forgeries have become so sophisticated that can be difficult to spot fake documents. Paper records are regularly used for everything from invoices to establishing the ownership of goods, and without them, banks…

Blockchain-Driven Ad Campaign for PepsiCo Increases Efficiency By 28%

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A test ad campaign for PepsiCo built on blockchain delivered a 28% increase in efficiency, according to a news release on May 6. Media agency Mindshare said the experiment was part of Project Proton, which uses smart contracts to ensure businesses only pay for ad impressions that are genuine, brand-safe and free from ad fraud. The WPP-owned network claimed that, compared with a campaign run without smart contracts, there was a 28% increased efficiency in terms of costs for viewable impressions. The test took place in the Asia Pacific region back in March…

$100,000 Bitcoin Price Will Kill Every Other Crypto by 2021: Major Crypto Fund

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By CCN.com: One of crypto’s biggest venture capital firms is going all in on bitcoin. Heisenberg Capital says it is “doubling down on Bitcoin Maximalism with new capital,” while sounding the death knell for altcoins. We see the market rejecting everything, except BTC. This has been our dominant investing thesis since 2011. We’re doubling down on Bitcoin Maximalism with new capital. As BTC climbs toward our 2011 target of $100,000, we believe everything except BTC will die-off. — Heisenberg Capital (@HeisenbergCap) May 5, 2019 In the same tweet, Heisenberg Capital…

Malaysia’s Stock Exchange to Develop Blockchain PoC for Security Borrowing and Lending

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Kuala Lumpur-based Bursa Malaysia, the country’s stock exchange, is working on a blockchain-enabled security borrowing and lending proof-of-concept (PoC). English-language local media Bernama reported on the developments on May 6. Per the report, the initiative aims to develop greater transparency and address other challenges of borrowing and lending securities in Malaysia. More precisely, the exchange’s CEO, Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift, reportedly said that the PoC should increase the efficiency, speed and capacity of the aforementioned services, which should consequently bring greater demand. Swift claims that the benefits of the PoC…

Swiss Exchange SIX Top Exec Reveals Plans to Launch Tokens on Blockchain-Powered Exchange

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A top executive at Switzerland‘s principal stock exchange, SIX Swiss Exchange, has revealed the company will look to issue its own digital tokens as part of its forthcoming blockchain-powered digital exchange. The development was reported by financial news outlet Finews on May 6. The SIX Swiss Exchange sees roughly 5.2 billion Swiss Francs (CHF) (~$5.1 billion) in daily turnover, and has a market capitalization of over 1.67 trillion CHF ~($1.6 trillion). As previously reported, SIX unveiled its plans to launch a digital asset ecosystem, dubbed Six Digital Exchange (SDX), in…

Bitcoin Fundamentals and Technicals Flip Overwhelmingly Positive

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2018, by many measures, was the crypto ecosystem’s worse year yet. Digital assets, even Bitcoin (BTC), lost over 80% of their peak value on average; industry startups laid off chunks of employees or shut down entirely; and the words “crypto” and “blockchain” receded from the limelight, becoming a painful memory for those who “FOMOed” near early-2018’s peak. However, an array of data and other key pieces of evidence tells us that more likely than not, 2019 will be an absolutely monumental year for Bitcoin. Let’s take a look. Bitcoin Fundamentals…