en
Back to the list

Image of The Day, 19 of November: MIT Technology Review, Forbes, CNBC and Others

19 November 2018 20:59, UTC
Daniil Danchenko

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. STRAIGHT OUTTA CRYPTO-COMPTON (The Next Web)

Switzerland sets precedent with world’s first cryptocurrency ETP

Switzerland’s leading stock exchange has given the go-ahead for the world’s first cryptocurrency ETP, the Financial Times reports. The ETP is called the “Amun Crypto exchange traded product (ETP)” and will be trading from next week on the “Six” exchange in Zurich.

The Amun Crypto ETP will track an index made up of five leading cryptocurrencies including: Bitcoin, XRP, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin. Each of these coins will be weighted at 49.7 percent, 25.4 percent, 16.7 percent, 5.2 percent, and 3 percent, respectively. The fund also holds a 2.5 percent annual management fee.

2. WE NEED TO GO DEEPER (The Daily Hodl)

Bitcoin price will go even lower

The senior market research analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence says Bitcoin remains on a bearish trajectory. Mike McGlone says the price of BTC could drop all the way down to $1,500. According to McGlone, the slump “was sparked by the pump for the Bitcoin Cash hard fork. That pump that began a few weeks ago got the market a bit too offsides with speculative longs playing for the good-old days. But this is an enduring bear market.”

3. IN THE DITCH (The Next Web)

Asus and Gigabyte left with mining hardware surplus as crypto-hype dwindles

Asus and Gigabyte are purportedly struggling to unload excess hardware stock now that interest in cryptocurrencies and mining has significantly dwindled, DigiTimes reports. Fooled by the temporary boom in the cryptocurrency market, Taiwanese manufacturers ramped up production for mining hardware in the beginning of the year.

Unfortunately, following a sudden dip in cryptocurrency prices and a slew of complications from the prolonged US-China trade war, interest in mining hardware seemingly disappeared in the third quarter of 2018.

4. A CHANGE OF FAITH (Bloomberg)

Former DLT supporter loses faith in blockchain

For years, a common mantra among corporate executives has been that "the blockchain," the technology underlying Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, is where the real value lies in the future. As such, we've seen numerous initiatives and consortiums designed to port various business practices off of legacy, centralized systems and onto the blockchain. However sometimes this does not last.

Angus Champion de Crespigny, who formerly advised  numerous companies on how to use blockchain technology, now doesn't believes that ultimately it will get them anywhere.

5. HARD IMPACT (MIT Technology Review)

Blockchain smart contracts can finally have a real world impact

A startup says it has tackled a long-standing problem that has kept smart contracts from responding to events in the outside world.

A startup called Chainlink is combining its software with a trusted hardware system called Town Crier, developed by a leading academic cryptocurrency research group. The idea is that by working together, the two systems can allow blockchain-based services to interact with real-world events with a greater degree of trust than is possible from today’s oracle services. For example, if your flight is canceled but you bought flight insurance, a smart contract might instantaneously pay you after getting an update from a trusted source of flight times.

6. THREE STAGES (The Daily Hodl)

Big Four auditor KPMG has published a report on the next phase for cryptocurrencies.

Entitled “Institutionalization of Cryptoassets,” the report reflects a positive outlook on the viability of the crypto economy to scale and realize its full potential. Coinbase contributed to the report, adding insights into how Bitcoin and the crypto markets can transform from their current status as volatile alternative coins to a mature asset class.

While blockchain developers and crypto entrepreneurs are focused on adoption and ways to introduce cryptocurrencies to the masses through mainstream applications, point-of-sale devices, e-commerce portals, gift cards and Visa cards, crypto-as-money has a long way to go to reach the world’s total money supply of roughly $90 trillion, the Federal Reserve Board’s balance sheet of over $4 trillion or the global traditional asset markets of more than $300 trillion.

7. HAVING A BIT OF FAITH (Forbes)

Big players continue to pour money and faith into blockchain

Many have been wary about investing in the crypto market specifically because of these unpredictable price swings. The future is unseeable, and you’re unsure what tomorrow holds. The ever changing “mood” of the crypto market has caused many large corporations to stand by the wayside — hesitant to invest in a project that has more foreseeable risks than benefits.

However some big corporate names including Facebook, Google, IBM, and Microsoft have been open about their research and experimentation with blockchain technology. And while it took some time for these companies to come around to the idea of blockchain, there’s a lot at stake. The global market for blockchain related products and services is already valued at $700 million, and will continue to rise, and is expected to exceed $60 billion by 2024. So whether these companies are finally coming to play because they are threatened by the new technological giant or because they really want to utilize for a variety of issues such as global transaction speed and payment processing, their entrance into the blockchain world cannot be ignored.

8. UNDER THE $5,000 (CNBC)

Bitcoin drops 12% to below $5,000

Bitcoin hit a low of $4,891.24, bringing its losses to more than 22 percent in the past seven days and more than 65 percent this year, according to data from CoinDesk.

The digital currency began stumbling last week after months of relative calm. Bitcoin had been trading in the $6,400 range for the majority of October, a break from its volatility earlier this year, as the rest of global markets sold off. The cryptocurrency is now down more than 30 percent since last Thanksgiving.

9. NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK (Blokt)

Blockchain game developer Mythical Games secures $16 million in series-a fundraiser

Next-generation game technology studio Mythical Games arrived on the mainstream gaming scene with a bang. The studio secured $16 million in funding in a Series-A round led by Galaxy Digital’s EOS VC Fund. Other participants in the fundraiser were Javelin Partners, Noris, DDC, OkCoin and Fenbushi Digital. The studio will cater to new game economies created on the EOSIO blockchain.

The Los Angeles headquartered company is engaged in user-generated content and new player economies. These economies help players in creating closer tie-ups with their developers, brands, content creators and other players in the ecosystem. Their proprietary Mythical platform will be available to top developers who could create player-owned economies. In addition, their solutions will help in creating new ways for customizing game assets and providing ownership of these assets.

10. WRATH OF THE TRADERS (Bloomberg)

Furious traders slam crypto exchange for fiddling with contracts

The episode at Hong Kong-based OKEx, which claims to handle more than $1 billion of crypto trades daily, involved futures on Bitcoin Cash, the virtual currency that split into two last week. In a decision that traders described as unusual if not unprecedented, OKEx forced the early settlement of its Bitcoin Cash contracts without warning on Nov. 14, just as prices were tumbling.

In a series of statements after the early settlement, OKEx apologized for “the inconvenience it may cause” but said the decision was taken to protect customers from the volatility associated with the Bitcoin Cash split. The exchange said it acted without notifying clients to reduce the risk of market manipulation. “After considering various scenarios, we decided that an early settlement was the most fair and rational decision to maintain an orderly market,” Andy Cheung, head of operations at OKEx, said in a response to questions from Bloomberg.