Image of The Day, 16 of October: The Verge, Forbes, Bloomberg 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. GEOPOLITICS: RIPPLE VS BITCOIN (Forbes)

China's Bitcoin dominance is disturbing Trump's White House and pushing it towards Ripple

China is, by some distance, the undisputed world leader in Bitcoin mining — with Chinese mining pools controlling more than 70% of the Bitcoin network's collective hash rate. Many in the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency industry have expressed concern about how much control this gives China over Bitcoin, with the Beijing-based Bitmain Technologies mining more than half the world’s Bitcoins.

Now it appears U.S. president Donald Trump's White House is also worrying about China's Bitcoin dominance, with a Ripple Labs executive suggesting the U.S. administration is interested in ripple (XRP) adoption to offset China's Bitcoin strength.

2.  TO CONTROL THEM ALL (The Verge)

Sony will use blockchain technology in its latest attempt to fix DRM

Sony hasn’t always had the best track record when it comes to digital rights management, or DRM. (Look no further than its massive 2005 CD copy protection scandal.) But now, the company has announced that it’s working on a new DRM system for protecting digital content based on blockchain technology,

While details are still slim on how or when Sony will be implementing the blockchain-based DRM system, the project sounds ambitious. Sony says that the current system is “specialized for managing rights-related information of written works,” but it’s looking to explore other avenues to apply it to, including digital textbooks, music, movies, VR content, and ebooks.

3. NO HANDS! (The Next Web)

Dev sends Bitcoin without using the web or the power grid

One day we might all be able to send Bitcoin from literally anywhere in the world, with no electricity and no internet connection. Off-grid cryptocurrency transactions seem to be becoming an achievable possibility as yet another developer has managed to send Bitcoin without a data connection, using low-cost consumer grade hardware.

An ingenious developer from New Zealand managed to send the transaction over 12 km away using four goTennas and a $30 Android smartphone. For the uninitiated, goTennas are small devices that groups of adventurers use to stay connected to each other in areas with no cell reception. The devices pair with smartphones via bluetooth and send data to your fellow adventurers using radio frequencies.

4. HOW IS IT GOING? (Forbes)

Is the $70m university blockchain agenda going anywhere?

Seventy-million dollars is a lot of money donated to one cause.

In this case, the cause is the future of blockchain and the donors are the Ethereum Foundation and Ripple’s University Blockchain Research Initiative.

Even though both the Ethereum Foundation and Ripple have committed at least $70 million, there is a loose agenda for how universities will spend this money. Lacking one specific objective for the donations, Miyaguchi says that implementation is “rather flexible” and Miltenburg says that there’s “no prescriptive” way for universities to use the funds.

5.  RWANDA HOTEL (Reuters)

Rwanda hosts first tantalum-tracking blockchain

Rwanda’s mining boss announced on Tuesday the world’s first blockchain project to track tantalum from the pit-face to the refinery, part of a push to woo investors seeking a conflict-free source of minerals.The project is the work of Circulor, a British start-up specialised in blockchain, and Power Resources Group (PRG), which has mining and refining operations in Rwanda and Macedonia.

Francis Gatare, chief executive of Rwanda’s Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board, said it was vital for Rwanda to prove it was a conflict-free source of tantalum, used amongst other things in mobile phones, and other minerals. “Blockchain is one of the technologies that has demonstrated capabilities of providing a more efficient and effective way of delivering traceability for commodities,” Gatare told Reuters.

6. KILLING IT (Business Insider)

Europe is killing it in crypto

In the race to be the world's dominant crypto region, European countries are crushing their peers in the US and Asia. The value of "token sales" in Europe this year is about $4.1 billion, far above the $2.6 billion in the US and $2.3 billion raised in Asia. In a token sale — also known as an "initial coin offering," or ICO — a quantity of cryptocurrency is sold in the form of "tokens."

And according to Stack Overflow, Europe houses 5.5 million developers compared to 4.4 million in the US. And European universities churn out twice as many STEM PhDs as the US. The technical talent has always been there, but until the crash of 2008 it was the banking industry that syphoned off the top minds. Not anymore. "With this wave that's democratizing access to capital, the technical talent doesn't need to migrate to the US to raise venture capital and build global companies," the report said.

7. NOVOGRATZ SAYS (Bloomberg)

Noogratz says cryptos are safe now

Michael Novogratz, Galaxy Digital founder and chief executive officer, discussed the evolving landscape for cryptocurrencies with Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker on "Bloomberg Markets: The Close."

Novogratz based his comments on the fact that the charts “retouched the highs of late last year and the point of acceleration that led to the massive rally/bubble.” The former hedge fund manager was positive in stating that the retracing of the bubble was completely taking the cryptocurrencies back to the point before the massive bull run started. Novogratz’s statements were directly similar to what Tom Lee of Fundstrat had stated during the Ethereum Classic Summit.

8. OUT OF CONTROL (Blokt)

Roubini’s temper out of control

Call it an emotional outburst or a deliberate ploy to get his point across, Nouriel Roubini, aka Dr. Doom, seems to be shooting (metaphorically, of course) in the general direction of anyone who disagrees with his take on the crypto economy. At this point, it wouldn’t probably be much of an exaggeration to call some of Roubini’s recent tweets mere wild rants that could potentially get him into legal trouble.

Buterin and Dr. Doom prepares for a live debate to settle the matter once and for all. For those who haven’t been in the loop, Roubini called the premining of Ether a deliberate scam and criminal activity. He went a step further with his allegations by calling Vitalik Buterin and Joseph Lubin, cofounders of Ethereum, “ring-leaders” of the “scam.”

9. 52% VOTE FOR CRYPTO (Daily Hodl)

Survey shows 52% of investors at top traditional brokerages would invest in cryptocurrency if option existed

In a new survey covering mainstream interest in cryptocurrencies, LendEDU, in collaboration with The Daily Hodl, explores the untapped market of traditional investors. The results reveal that 52% of respondents would likely use their brokerage accounts to invest in cryptocurrency, if the option existed, and 59% of traditional investors believe their brokerage will offer cryptocurrencies in the near future.

The interest in cryptocurrency investing mirrors recent institutional interest and developments on Wall Street, including the launch of Fidelity Digital Assets; the upcoming crypto exchange Bakkt from Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange; Yale’s entry into crypto endowment investments, along with Harvard, Stanford, MIT and other leading universities; and pending Bitcoin ETF approvals that are being deliberated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

10. ROCK STEADY (Market Watch)

Bitcoin is steady

Bitcoin prices held on to Monday’s gains but failed to get a further bump after news Fidelity, the financial services giant, would begin offering crypto trading and custody services for hedge funds and sophisticated investors. But the price reaction was somewhat muted, the crypto community is hailing the news as a major win for the industry. “This is a huge step forward in mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency,” wrote Bruce Elliott, president of ICOx Innovations, a cryptocurrency rewards and payments system.

“For many reasons, seasoned investors have either been shut out of crypto markets or have been slow to invest up until now. This is a signal that financial markets and regulators are gaining clarity and comfort on the outlook for trading cryptocurrencies,” he said.