Day: July 15, 2020

Six Months Later, Bitcoin Community Finally Debates How to Activate Taproot

boss

The Taproot upgrade represents one of the most significant developments for Bitcoin’s mainchain in recent months. Despite seeing very little controversy, the community is still debating on the proper procedure on how to implement it more than six months after the BIPs were published. The issues stem from the necessity of conducting a soft fork that would be accepted by all relevant stakeholders. According to a Reddit thread pinned in the r/Bitcoin community, “the biggest problem with activating Taproot is PTSD from the previous softfork, SegWit.” History of SegWit SegWit…

nCino (NCNO) Stock Up 195% in First Day after Raising $250M in IPO

boss

Following its IPO, nCino (NCNO) stock increased 195% on the first day of trading. However, today it is down nearly 15%. After filing for its initial price offering (IPO) last month, nCino Inc (NASDAQ: NCNO) raised $250 million in the IPO, as stock prices climbed over 190% on its first trading day. nCino, the financial cloud-based software provider, is now the latest company to achieve a healthy IPO day. At first, nCino planned to sell shares between $22 and $24. However, the stock opened at $70.90 per share and jumped over…

Digital Assets Fund Adds $905M in Record Quarter

boss

Grayscale Investments has just released its quarterly report which shows that institutional demand for Bitcoin and other digital assets is still on the rise despite the lack of action from Bitcoin price (BTC). The report shows that Grayscale had yet another record quarter for its digital asset products with $905.8 million dollars invested over that time period. The nearly $1 billion inflow means Grayscale almost doubled its previous high of $503.7 in the first quarter of 2020. Out of the total amount of funds accrued by Grayscale, Bitcoin continued to…

How Can Blockchain Disrupt Cross-Border Payments?

boss

Ripple’s former chief market strategist, Cory Johnson, says that cross-border payments are where blockchain technology can bring the most change. Johnson claims that speculation around cryptocurrency has slowed down the adoption of blockchain technology in traditional finance. He stated: “Blockchain seemed like a technology that drew volatility and speculation and Lambos (…) That’s not an environment that conservative businesses like, say, banks want to get themselves involved in.” Innovation is still happening, however — especially in the field of cross-border payments. This is where Johnson believes blockchain technology can find…

Shenzhen Stock Exchange to Integrate Blockchain Technology to “Better Serve” China’s Capital Market Sector

boss

The Shenzhen Stock Exchange, also known as the Shenzhen Stock Connect, has signed an agreement with the Guangdong Equity Exchange to jointly work on further developing the use of blockchain technology in the capital market sector.  Shenzhen, located in the south of China, has been known as part of the Greater Bay Area, which integrates Hong Kong and Macau along with nine other municipalities in the Guangdong region, which accounts for around 12 percent of China’s national GDP.  In 2019, Shenzhen was ranked ninth in the world’s financial centers, with…

A Village in El Salvador Created a Bitcoin-Friendly Economy Amid COVID-19

boss

El Zonte, a village located in El Salvador, was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, the community implemented an economic system based in Bitcoin (BTC). According to a report published by Forbes, the community’s BTC-powered economy began to take hold after an anonymous donor gave a multi-year, six-figure donation to El Zonte in early 2019. Bitcoin used to pay for anything within the town Residents started to adopt Bitcoin as a local alternative to conventional financial solutions after their tourism sector was decimated by the pandemic. The article…

Stellar Foundation Joins Forces With Samsung to Integrate its Blockchain Ecosystem

boss

The Stellar Development Foundation, or SDF, announced the official integration of its blockchain ecosystem into Samsung’s Blockchain Keystore on July 15. This integration aims to provide a solution for Stellar end-users to store private keys on selected Galaxy smartphones. According to the announcement, developers from the Stellar ecosystem will be able to create blockchain-related apps and services for Samsung Galaxy smartphone owners. Recruiting for the Stellar blockchain ecosystem Denelle Dixon, CEO and executive director of the Stellar Development Foundation, commented on the partnership with Samsung: “Stellar’s integration into the Samsung…

How a Digital Dollar Can Make the Financial System More Equitable

boss

Patrick Murck is chief legal officer at Transparent Systems, developers of distributed settlement solutions, and an affiliate at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center. Linda Jeng is global head of policy and special counsel at Transparent Systems and a senior fellow at Georgetown’s Institute of International Economic Law. Digital dollars can be designed in any number of ways, and these design choices will have profound implications for the people who use them. Congress should carefully consider why we need a digital dollar and what should be the core objectives. Is the goal…

Bitcoin’s (BTC) Journey Above $10K Tied to Progress Against COVID19

boss

Quick take: Traditional markets have reacted positively to news of a possible COVID19 vaccine by Moderna. The optimism should spread to Bitcoin as BTC is highly correlated to the S&P 500. Since mid-June BTC has suffered from a lack of volatility. The inventor of Bollinger Bands, John Bollinger, has suggested a move by BTC is in the pipeline. Earlier today, the traditional markets rallied briefly as news broke that the pharmaceutical company of Moderna had had positive results with its COVID19 vaccine trials. According to the Wall Street Journal, participants…