Image of The Day, 14 of December: CNBC, Bloomberg, Reuters 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. NOT ONLY BITCOIN (Observer)
Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin explains what you really need to know about blockchain
Bitcoin and blockchain are two of the hottest buzzwords in tech this year. (Guess what’s the No.1 question Americans Googled in 2018?) To most people, blockchain relates to Bitcoin in the same way banks relate to dollars, which explains why the recent crash of Bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies have prompted many blockchain believers to exit the space.
But the inventor of Ethereum, the third-largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin and XRP, Vitalik Buterin, doesn’t believe losing faith in blockchain because of cryptocurrencies is a smart move. This week, the 24-year-old entrepreneur went on a tweetstorm to explain why he thinks blockchain is here to stay and what you really need to know about this technology.
2. STOP ASKING! (CNBC)
Wall Street's Bitcoin bull Tom Lee: 'We are tired of people asking us about target prices'
The best-known Bitcoin bull on Wall Street is getting tired of forecasting short-term prices.
For the last time this year, co-founder of Fundstrat Global Advisor Tom Lee updated his estimate for what a fair price for Bitcoin should be between $13,800 and $14,800. The model still puts Bitcoin about $10,000 above where the world's largest cryptocurrency was trading Thursday.
"Given we are so close to year-end, we are not providing any updates to near-term price objectives — read this as, we are tired of people asking us about target prices," Lee, former J.P. Morgan Chief Equity Strategist, said in a note to clients.
3. ABOVE AND BEYOND (The Daily Hodl)
Blockchain Beyond Bitcoin is growing across Asia
Asia would appear to be growing in the blockchain technology industry. Even China, with its current anti-cryptocurrency stance (against traditional cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, that is, as it’s considering its own national crypto token) is still warming up to the idea of blockchain — it would seem — though some would say probably not without government controls and interests at heart.
Ravi Menon, a senior official from Singapore’s central bank (the Monetary Authority of Singapore — or MAS) has said that there are as many as 50 startups working on blockchain-based technologies. In fact, venture capitalists are eager to invest in the technology, and local universities are even researching it. There are even large tech firms exploring potential use cases.
4. СOMPLIANCE (Reuters)
Pantera says some tokens in portfolio likely noncompliant with SEC rules
U.S. blockchain investment firm Pantera Capital said on Thursday approximately a quarter of the fund’s capital was invested in projects or digital assets that may not have been compliant with U.S. securities regulations. Pantera’s disclosure highlights a growing concern in the cryptocurrency community about digital tokens issued in the last two years that may have violated U.S. securities laws.
In a monthly letter to subscribers and clients sent on Thursday, Pantera Chief Executive Officer Joey Krug said noncompliant projects will likely end up having to offer to buy back the token at the sale price from investors and will have to register as securities. The company could not immediately be reached for further comment.
5. CLOSE TO $3000 (Bloomberg)
Bitcoin set to close week near $3,000 as december losses mount
Bitcoin headed for its seventh weekly slump on Friday, holding above $3,000 — a level it hasn’t broken below since September last year.
The largest digital currency was almost flat at $3,270 at 7:55 a.m. in New York, after slipping 5.4 percent Thursday, according to consolidated pricing compiled by Bloomberg. Bitcoin is down about 3.5 percent from the previous Friday. The wider Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index is on a five-week losing streak.
6. BITCOIN IS LOVE (The Next Web)
Abra is giving away $25 of Bitcoin this Christmas — but there’s a catch
Cryptocurrency exchange and wallet provider Abra is trying to add a little holiday cheer to the current bear market bear market by giving away Bitcoin. This morning, in an email to customers, Abra announced a promotion which would see new investors of its BIT10 “exchange traded fund” (ETF) style token receive $25 of Bitcoin at no cost. But in this life nothing ever comes for free, and this is no different.
Cunningly hidden away in the small print are terms and conditions, one of which states, “any investments in BIT10 totaling less than $1,000 equivalent during the promotion period will not be eligible for this cashback reward.”
7. UNTIL IT WAS … (Wall Street Journal)
Bitcoin wasn’t a bubble until it was
When Lambo?
It was around the peak of Bitcoin’s value a year ago at just below $20,000 that this obnoxious question entered the Urban Dictionary: “How long would it take to amass enough cryptowealth to buy a Lamborghini?” Now, those Bitcoin owners still holding on for dear life after an 82% decline are putting on a brave face, but there is no more denying that we have witnessed the popping of a classic bubble.
8. IN A MIDDLE OF WAR (Forbes)
There’s blood in the streets
Wow, hold up, that’s a frightening idiom. It, of course, means that markets are dropping. However, people don’t often remember the rest of the saying. Attributed to Baron Rothschild, the rest of the original quote is believed to be to "buy when there's blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own."
Starting a company is always difficult but building one in a volatile economic climate is doubly difficult. Within the cryptocurrency industry, it has become a particularly scary time to start a company because we have been undergoing a year-long bear market in all cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, while an internal civil war rages within the community.
9. THE BIG JOKE (The Guardian)
Bitcoin bomb threats across Canada and US appear to be hoax, authorities say
Bomb threats were reported across the US and Canada on Thursday, forcing widespread evacuations and police response, various agencies say, but all the threats appeared to be hoax ransom ploys for Bitcoin payment.
Employees at businesses, subway stations, hospitals, universities, schools, religious community centers, and news organizations throughout Toronto, California, New York, Massachusetts, Florida, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Mississippi, Utah, Michigan, Georgia and North Carolina received emails threatening detonation of an “explosive device” placed somewhere in the building unless they pay $20,000 in Bitcoin.
10. GDPR QUESTION (The Next Web)
General data protection regulation (GDPR) and blockchain is one of the industry’s most contentious debates at the moment
Some believe that public permissionless blockchains cannot be GDPR compliant, and that private blockchains might be the answer to blockchain’s regulatory woes. Even so, private blockchains bring into question the very meaning of what a blockchain is. There is no simple answer.
Dutch blockchain startup, LTO Network, hosted speakers from Barclay’s bank, Cambridge Computer Lab, and Queen Mary University to take on some of these challenging questions at Hard Fork Decentralized last night. The overarching sentiment from the evening? That we should probably be trying harder to get our heads around making blockchain a legally compliant technology that can be used in a broad range of public service settings.