Day: August 22, 2019

Samsung-Backed Blockchain Startup Raises $7.5M from Shinhan Bank

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South Korean blockchain startup Blockco has secured 9 billion Korean won ($7.5 million) in a recent Series B+ funding round participated by major local banks. Banks continue interest in blockchain Backed by South Korea’s tech giant Samsung, Blockco announced the investment in a blog post on Aug. 22. The funding round involved South Korea’s oldest bank Shinhan Bank and South Korea’s largest foreign exchange bank, Korea Exchange Bank, also known as KEB Hana Bank.  Additionally, the new investment was also supported by healthcare-focused venture capital firm LB investment and the…

R3 Plagued by Internal Conflicts Over Corda, Sources Claim

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The development of R3’s enterprise blockchain platform Corda is being plagued by fundamental disagreements over its core vision, causing frustration and delay. The claim was made in a report from FT Alphaville on Aug. 22, citing numerous insider sources. “Corda maximalists” versus interoperability proponents Sources close to R3 reportedly allege that there is a gulf between Corda’s engineers and its senior management as regards the product’s design and development. The engineers have purportedly lost faith in the technology itself, considering it to be functioning poorly and underscoring that it lacks…

Bitcoin Selloff Stalls at Historical Price Support Near $10K

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View Bitcoin’s defense of the 100-day moving average and a bullish divergence of an hourly chart indicator suggest scope for a minor price bounce to $10,300 Bitcoin will remain in the hunt for a drop to $9,467 (Aug. 13 low), as long as the rising wedge breakdown seen on the 4-hour chart remains valid. A UTC close above $10,956 would shift risk in favor of a rally to $11,850-$12,000. A weekly close above $12,000 is needed to confirm bullish revival. Bitcoin (BTC) sellers are again struggling to force a sustained…

Bitcoin Maximalists Embrace Ethereum After Receiving an Offer They Can’t Refuse

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A group of hardcore bitcoin maximalists have heroically overcome their hatred for Ethereum after receiving ERC20 shares in crypto exchange INX worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The staunch BTC loyalists, led by Blockstream CTO Samson Mow, have agreed to support a project built on Ethereum, despite all the mean things they’ve said about it. The news has provoked intense debate within the crypto space, however, with some cynics arguing that the maximalists are only in it for the money. Also read: The World Bank’s Blockchain Bond Is Just a…

Bitcoin Price ‘Not at the Top’ of New Bull Cycle Yet, New Data Shows

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Bitcoin (BTC) price has far higher to go during its current market cycle if crowd sentiment takes charge, according to analysis of the Bitcoin Days Destroyed (BDD) technical metric. In social media posts Aug. 22, Hans Hauge, senior qualitative researcher at crypto investment fund Ikigai, identified Bitcoin sentiment as being similar to early 2017. That was just months before the cryptocurrency reached its all-time high of $20,000. “Bitcoin bubble tops are clearly identified with a dark red cluster of Adjusted Binary BDD,” he summarized tweeting a corresponding chart.  He added:…

Swiss Private Bank Says 400 New Clients Demanding Crypto Products

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Swiss private bank Maerki Baumann has had a deluge of over 400 new clients wanting to tap its future blockchain offerings since it revealed its interest in the sector. Swiss Info reported on Aug. 22 that the Zurich-based institution — which has $8.2 billion AUM but faces stiff market competition and an erosion of its margins — has opted to embrace blockchain to rejuvenate its business.  Bid to be “the go-to private bank” in Swiss crypto In an interview with Swiss Info, Maerki Baumann CEO Stephen Zwahlen said that the…

Bitcoin Price ‘Will Never Hit $50K’ Gold Bug Peter Schiff Tells Tom Lee

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Bitcoin (BTC)price  will never make it to $50,000, gold bug and crypto skeptic Peter Schiff has claimed in the latest attack on the largest cryptocurrency. ‘This is hysterical’ In a social media debate on Aug. 20, Schiff, who is well known for his distaste for Bitcoin, said that gold would definitely reach $5,000 in the future.  Schiff was debating with Joe Kernen, the CNBC host who recently interviewed Bitcoin proponent and regular Schiff troll, Anthony Pompliano. “Prior the 2008 financial crisis, when I was still invited on CNBC, Joe was…

Palestinian Civilians Are Using Bitcoin More Than Terrorists

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The Takeaway: Experts say Hamas is now using bitcoin for cross-border fundraising at an unprecedented rate. Still, even the largest estimates of terror financing in the region are apparently dwarfed by civilian bitcoin usage in the Gaza Strip, local experts tell CoinDesk. General awareness in Palestine of bitcoin and ethereum has increased since 2018. Freelance payments and remittances are reportedly the leading use-cases for bitcoin transactions in the Palestinian territories. Terrorists aren’t the only Palestinians using bitcoin. Sources in Gaza told CoinDesk bitcoin is now more popular than ever among civilians,…

Bitcoin Dominance Is Actually Above 90%, New Research Suggests

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Bitcoin’s true share of the total market capitalization for all cryptocurrencies could be as high as above 90%, Forbes reported on Aug. 22. While mainstream crypto data aggregators have been pointing to a dominance level of around 70%, analysts at Arcane Research have calculated that the real level may be much higher. Liquidity must be taken into account Arcane Research has argued that to get a more accurate measure of Bitcoin’s dominance, liquidity should be factored into the equation. They write:  “One might be able to sell one token for…

Rakuten Wallet to Facilitate Spot Trading Services for Cryptocurrencies

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Rakuten Wallet – a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Rakuten Group – announced in an official press release that the company is moving a step further to the crypto market with a new spot trading services for cryptocurrency assets. The service will allow users to trade cryptocurrencies through a dedicated smartphone app developed by the firm. The application will be first launched for Android devices and the iOS version of the application will be released later on this year. Rakuten Wallet Inc. is aiming to ease the process of crypto…