Image of The Day, 10 of December: Forbes, The Next Web, Blokt and Others
We're presenting "the image of the day". Bitnewstoday.com has chosen the most important news about the digital economy and virtual currencies. Only the most valuable stories from only the trusted sources. Each and every event from this list will change the world of the digital economy either way. The most important stories of this day in the most indicative quotes are below!
1. END OF THE LINE (The Next Web)
Bitmain forced to shut down Israel operations due to cryptocurrency bear market
It appears the downturn of the cryptocurrency market is having a ripple effect (pun intended) on the industry. Numerous blockchain businesses have been forced to close down or lay off staff to survive — and the latest one is Bitmain. The mining giant is the latest to be hit by the cryptocurrency bear market and is shutting down its Israel-based development center, Bitmaintech Israel, Globes Israel reports.
The development center was set up two years ago, and will close this week laying off its 23-people-strong staff in the process. Gadi Glikberg, head of Bitmaintech Israel and VP at Bitmain, will also be parting ways with the business, according to Globes. Bitmain blames the recent drop in the price of Bitcoin and general bear market across the cryptocurrency industry for the closure. Indeed, Bitmain is hardly the only blockchain company that has had to fire employees in order to stay alive.
2. TRIGGERMEN (Forbes)
Jeff Bezos will trigger the next bull run on the market
Bitcoin and cryptocurrency investors have battened down the hatches for what could be a long crypto winter, the name given to the Bitcoin bear market that has mauled prices over recent weeks. But many Bitcoin and crypto faithful are eagerly looking towards the next Bitcoin price bull run, which they remain confident will come eventually.
Now, the chief executive of major global Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange Binance, Changpeng Zhao, has said he expects Jeff Bezo's online retail giant Amazon to be the catalyst for the next Bitcoin bull run. Changpeng Zhao, often known simply as CZ, took to Twitter to ask his followers what they think the trigger for the next Bitcoin bull run will be. When one wag, Crypto Guy @Ankit4043, joked that CZ could spark a bull run by buying all the Bitcoins currently in circulation, CZ replied that he couldn't but Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who's often the world's richest person largely due to Amazon's soaring share price, perhaps could.
3. THE ENDGAME (The Daily Hodl)
Facebook reveals ‘ultimate goal’ for crypto and blockchain technology
Facebook is shedding new light on the social media giant’s cryptocurrency and blockchain strategy. Back in May, Facebook announced a big company shakeup involving the creation of a new division dedicated to looking at how the company can leverage blockchain technology. Now, a series of job listings reveal new details on exactly what Facebook plans to do.
The company has five blockchain-related job listings, as of December 10th. The listings include a data scientist, data engineer, two software engineers and a product marketing lead. The job descriptions outline Facebook’s ultimate goal of bringing blockchain to the mainstream, including the potential to bring “equitable financial services” to billions of people.
4. IN A MIDDLE OF WOODS (Market Watch)
Bitcoin bear market is far from over, says analyst
Bitcoin prices rallied as much as 10% over the weekend, giving virtual currency owners some respite after another tumultuous week. However, after moving above $3,600 on Sunday, the price of a single bitcoin has drifted lower and was last fetching $3,413.40, down 3.3% since 5 p.m. Eastern Time Sunday on the Kraken crypto exchange. The market value of all cryptocurrencies is hovering above its 15-month low at $110.8 billion, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Stephen Innes, head of Asia Pacific trading at Oanda, is arguing that the Bitcoin bear market is far from over because the No.1 digital currency has yet provide a significant use case. “Bitcoins have gone well beyond the ridiculousness of tulip bulb mania,” he said on Monday. “It’s has been a disastrous year for cryptos, and by all indication, the current bear market could go from bad to worse with no fundamental or underlying reasons to buy BTC even more so when the only support offered up is a squiggly line on an analyst chart.”
5. THE END (Forbes)
Is this the end of blockchain?
In recent years much has been said about the transformative power of blockchain — the distributed, encrypted ledger technology that powers Bitcoin. Although Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are its most publicized use cases, it was often said that blockchain would revolutionize many other business processes across industries, from banking to diamond mining and food safety.
However, a recent study into 43 initiatives reported that despite a great number of promises and convincing arguments, none of the projects have been able to show that they have been able to use blockchain technology to achieve their objectives. With Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies steadily losing value during 2018 — as much as 80% compared to their peaks last year — is it time to admit that the great experiment with decentralized, distributed ledgers has failed?
6. JOIN THE CRYPTO SIDE (The Daily Hodl)
Push to convince Elon Musk and tesla to adopt Bitcoin triggers debate
A post shot to the front page of r/cryptocurrency Sunday, calling on Bitcoin and crypto believers to persuade Elon Musk to add a Bitcoin wallet to each and every Tesla on the road and in production. The post touted Tesla’s power to bring cryptocurrency to the mainstream and give drivers a new way to pay for items directly from the comfort of their futuristic supercars.
The effort follows a similar campaign by the CEO of leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance, who challenged Musk to accept cryptocurrency for the purchase of Tesla vehicles back in October.
The response to the new post on Reddit quickly transformed into a debate on the viability of Bitcoin as a payment platform, especially in comparison to cryptocurrencies such as XRP, IOTA and Nano. The debate mirrors the complexity of the crypto market as a whole, and the ongoing search for a digital asset that truly finds a way to become a widely adopted payment platform for the mainstream.
7. WEEKLY REPORT (Blokt)
The Tron Foundation released the international version of its weekly report in multiple languages, summing up its activities for the week.
The Tron Foundation recently released the international version of its weekly report in which it detailed the technical projects and community development efforts it has been working on. The Foundation revealed that tests for a multi-signature wallet are in progress. It also talked about the Tik Tok contest, recent meetups with university students and the Tron Ecosystem Co-Builder Plan which could come to life soon.
Tron has completed the work on optimizing the logic of synchronization module and improving message processing. It has now also achieved dynamic changes of resource ceiling. Work is underway for a multi-signature wallet and node merge, allowing full nodes to provide interfaces for SolidityNode. During the week, Tron also announced the Tik Tok contest for its global user base, dubbed “Duet with Justin Sun.” The event is giving away prizes worth 10,000 RMB to the winners. The Tron Foundation also reached out to the students of China’s prestigious Peking University, organizing an event titled “Tron to the Future: Blockchain Technology and Ecosystem” in association with global blockchain game incubator platform DOGI. Over 200 students attended the meetup.
8. GAME ON (Market Watch)
A $1-million ‘Buffett Bet 2.0’ is brewing
Oh, it’s on! In one corner, NYU professor and serial doomsayer Nouriel Roubini. In the other, Morgan Creek Digital founder Anthony Pompliano. Roubini called Bitcoin the “mother of all bubbles” and slammed blockchain enthusiasts as “scoundrels” selling a “scam.” Pompliano, a tireless crypto proponent, described his best trade as “long Bitcoin, short bankers.” Clearly, the two have wildly divergent views on the future of digital currencies, and their differences recently spilled over on to Twitter after Pompliano told vocal bitcoin critics to put up or shut up.
In what he calls “Buffett Bet 2.0” — a reference to when Warren Buffett famously wagered that investing in the S&P would outperform top hedge funds — Pompliano is willing to bet $1 million that Morgan Creek’s basket of cryptos will outperform the S&P over a 10-year period.
“This is a combination of our outlook not only for the upside of cryptocurrencies but also the outlook on public equities,” Pompliano told CNBC last week. “A lot of people might look at this and just think we’re bullish on crypto — but you need to look at what asset we’re going up against. Public equities aren’t exactly at their all time highs either.”
9. BRICKS ON BLOCKCHAIN (ComputerWorld)
Real estate blockchain set to go live in early '19
New York-based ShelterZoom plans to launch a real estate application that will lets buyers and sellers transact deals over a blockchain-based network, which could make purchasing a house as easy as pressing a button on a smartphone or tablet.
Set to go live in the first quarter of 2019, the application allows sellers, buyers and real estate reps to see all offers and acceptances in real time online. Real estate agents, along with clients, can also access property titles, mortgages, legal and home inspection documents through the Ethereum-based encrypted blockchain ledger.
10. REMOVE ALL HUMANS! (The Next Web)
South Korean bank wants to use blockchain to reduce human error
South Korea‘s second largest bank is in the middle of rolling out a blockchain-based system designed to reduce human error. Shinhan Bank is using the blockchain for Interest Rate Swap (IRS) transactions. The bank purportedly implemented this system at the end of November, local news reports.
Interest Rate Swaps can get quite complicated, but fundamentally they are a type of futures contract based on swapping an interest rate between a number of parties. Two or more parties can enter into a swap contract and agree to pay each other based on the increase (or decrease) of interest rates. It allows the involved parties to hedge risk and manage debt. “Prior to the blockchain-based process, there had been no standardized rules governing keeping and managing financial records, a reason why market participants had to rely on their own records which often times led to errors despite the cross-checking process requirement,” a Shinhan spokesperson said.