Image of The Day, 11 of December: Blokt, Bloomberg, The Rolling Stone 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. QUITE A SAUSAGE FEST! (The Next Web)
85% of employees at recently launched blockchain startups are male
At this point, gender inequality in tech is well documented. As it turns out, the blockchain industry is absolutely no different — there is a staggeringly disproportionate amount of males employed by the next wave of cryptocurrency companies. Recent analysis discovered men comprised an overwhelming majority of recent blockchain startups — just 14.5 percent of team members are women, reports blockchain data firm LongHash.
Even worse, female executives are in charge of just seven percent of these recently founded cryptocurrency companies. For advisors, the number is just one tick higher, at roughly eight percent.
2. TAKEOVER (The Daily Hodl)
Square overtakes Coinbase as Bitcoin dominance rises
The payment platform Square’s Cash App has recently overtaken Coinbase as the most widely used iOS app to buy Bitcoin (BTC). Square has also surpassed YouTube as the most popular iOS app in general.
Owned by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Square gained major popularity among retailers and shoppers before it integrated Bitcoin. After announcing support for purchases of BTC in all 50 states earlier this year, Dorsey leveraged his customer base by giving Cash App users an easy way to buy cryptocurrency. Since Square’s existing customers had already gone through the process of uploading verifications and banking information, buying Bitcoin was seamless.
It also captured the attention of Bitcoin’s key demographic and Cash App’s target audience: Millennials on the go.
3. THE END IS NIGH! (Forbes)
The next leg of the Bitcoin crash is here
If it’s not the stock market crashing, it’s Bitcoin. When asset instruments crash, they go down in stages. Stages are price ranges when the asset stops and maintains a level of stability before they reprice again to another level. Many markets do this on the way up as well as down. Once a market has stabilized, the next break away from that range is highly likely to produce a sizeable move. For a trader this offers a market neutral signal that can be jumped on, long or short.
And bitcoin looks to be breaking south for the next leg down. Forgive me for making such brave unhedged calls; I can’t be right all the time but as far as I’m concerned it’s highly likely we are about to drop quickly towards my $2,500 target.
4. HIGH ON BLOCKCHAIN (The Rolling Stone)
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin — but the technology could help transform cannabis
Blockchain is a new, little-understood but much-discussed technology, which appeals to different people in different ways. Investors like that it’s part of the digital infrastructure that allows cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to exist, and however irrationally associate any use of it with huge windfalls. Computer programmers and cryptography experts — the type of people who more or less don’t consider anything safe or trustworthy — actually do put their trust in blockchain. And business owners like that it’s a relatively easy-to-implement way to grab some forward-thinking tech hype.
The cannabis industry, like many others, is recently seeing an explosion of companies claiming to be implementing blockchain in one way or another. But even industry veterans are puzzled about what exactly that means. “Blockchain is still a very early technology. People that are claiming to do it, I don’t really know what they’re doing or what’s going on,” says Rama Mayo, the co-founder of cannabis agency Green Street, a firm that’s booked celebrity cannabis endorsements for musicians like Snoop and The Game. “I have no idea what the applications for it [in cannabis] could be.” So why are cannabis companies embracing blockchain — and is it helping them find innovative ways of doing anything other than hyping themselves?
5. LET IT SNOW! (Bloomberg)
Winklevoss twins ignore ‘crypto winter,' looking toward 2019
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss aren’t deterred by the exodus of retail investors during this year’s cryptocurrency market collapse. The co-founders of Gemini Trust Co. are trying to woo individual investors through a new app that allows users to purchase Bitcoin and other virtual currencies on their exchange. The product hits the market at a low point for Bitcoin, which shed almost 80 percent of its value this year. The Winklevoss twins said that they’re accustomed to navigating skepticism over digital assets.
“We’re totally at home in winter,” said Tyler Winklevoss, in an interview at the company’s headquarters in Manhattan’s Flatiron district. “It gives us time to build internally, and refine and kind of catch our breath,” said Cameron, sitting next to him.
6. CRAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! (Market Watch)
Subdued volume and a steep selloff have marked a turbulent first year for Bitcoin futures trading
For Bitcoin bulls, it couldn’t have started any better. On Cboe Global Markets bitcoin futures trading opened at $15,000 on, jumped above $17,000 later in the session and saw trading so vigorous that the market had to be halted more than once. CME Group Inc. launched its contract on Dec. 18.
Now, after one year of trading, the exchange halts are as prevalent as ever, but for less cheerful reasons. As Bitcoin euphoria gave way to a 2018 rout, the price of the underlying asset has tumbled to multimonth lows, losing as much as 85% from its all-time high. On Dec. 7, the Cboe front-month contract hit a record low at $3,160, down nearly 80% from the opening price at $15,000.
7. AND THAT'S ONLY A START (The Daily Hodl)
Ethereum and EOS DApps hit $165 million in weekly transaction volume
Ethereum and EOS are powering more than $165 million in weekly transaction volume on a variety of decentralized apps, as the push for real-world adoption of cryptocurrency and blockchain heats up. The new numbers come from State of the DApps, which tracks just how much decentralized apps on a variety of blockchains are actually used.
The term decentralized application, or DApp, refers to any piece of software that runs on a decentralized network. DApps can run in a web browser, on a computer or on a smartphone, and are considered to be one of the key ways that cryptocurrency and blockchain technology can reach the mainstream. So far, most of the DApp volume is coming from gambling platforms, a multi-billion dollar global industry. The number one DApp BetDice has generated more than $129 million in revenue in the past seven days.
8. FABULOUS MR. NOVO (Bloomberg)
The former Goldman Sachs partner and hedge fund manager made and lost a fortune on Bitcoin. He’s undeterred by its drop
No one on Wall Street embraced cryptocurrencies with as much gusto as legendary trader Mike Novogratz. After Jamie Dimon called Bitcoin a “fraud” in September 2017, Novo, as he’s known, predicted, correctly, it would hit $10,000 and keep climbing.
The former hedge fund manager and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. partner became an unlikely hero of the crypto movement and a billionaire on paper. Emboldened, Novogratz announced he was starting a cryptocurrency merchant bank, Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd. But as he was raising money for the firm in January, Bitcoin began its historic plunge. Galaxy has since reported $136 million in trading losses. Novogratz is undeterred.
9. THINKING LONG TERM (Blokt)
IOTA creates a new omega team to focus on its long-term goals
Talking about balancing innovation with operationalization and standardization, the IOTA Foundation today announced that it is launching a new team. Named Omega, the new team will be focusing on the long-term goals of the organization. IOTA is inspired by the emerging trend of bimodal IT in traditional industry which splits a department into two parts. One department looks after the support and maintenance of the existing system while the other focuses on innovation and expansion.
IOTA writes: “As the entire IOTA Foundation is tasked with ongoing innovation, we must approach this problem in a slightly different way.” Therefore, they have introduced a new bimodal structure in the Foundation. They have created two separate teams called Alpha and Omega.
10. GALAXY ON BLOCKCHAIN (The Next Web)
Samsung could be developing its own blockchain phone
Earlier this week, Samsung submitted three European trademark requests for blockchain-based smartphone features, spotted by Galaxy Club. The three trademarks are named as “Blockchain KeyStore,” “Blockchain key box,” and “Blockchain Core.” These names obviously leave little to the imagination. The trademarks are potentially alluding to forms of private or public key storage. Perhaps Samsung is working on a form of hardware wallet to be built into its future devices.
Indeed, the trademark documents do state that the trademarks will apply to “Smartphones; Software applications for use with mobile devices; Computer software platforms; Application software”. Sadly though, as these are just trademark requests and not patents, the documents do not go into any further detail. We will have to wait to see exactly how these trademarks are brought to life.