Image of The Day, 31 of August: CNBC, The News Asia, The Japan Times and Other
We're presenting “image of the day”. Bitnewstoday.com has chosen only the freshest and 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 of today's stories in most indicative quotes are below!
1. BLOCKCHAIN BOOM (CNBC)
Blockchain jobs are booming in Asia, even as cryptocurrency prices struggle
Blockchain and cryptocurrency jobs are increasingly appealing to job seekers from more conventional sectors in Asia — even as the technology's most famous use case struggles on the price front.
Blockchain technology, which underpins cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, is a digital record of transactions that cannot be altered. It has the potential to not only disrupt much of finance, but also many other industries.
2. CRYPTO FOR TOONS (The Verge)
Line will give users its own cryptocurrency to buy stickers and webtoons
Japanese messaging app Line is launching its own cryptocurrency in a bid to attract and retain more active users, as spotted by TechCrunch. The token is called Link, and the company is avoiding an initial coin offering (ICO) and is instead giving the token away for free to users when they complete certain activities.
Line said the tokens can be used to buy stickers, webtoons, and other services on the app. Link will be listed on Line’s own cryptocurrency exchange, Bitbox, which launched back in June. It’s releasing 800 million tokens to users as a part of a rewards system, which as Line hopes, will incentivize users to participate more in the app while keeping 200 million in reserve.
3. GYEONGBUK COIN (The News Asia)
South Korean Province to Issue Own Coin as Gov’t Says Crypto Should Be ‘Accepted’
The government of a South Korean province will issue its own blockchain-based digital currency in a move to replace a state loyalty scheme, local media first reported on Monday, August 27. Officials in Gyeongsangbuk-do will partner with blockchain startup Orbs to create Gyeongbuk Coin, which it will roll out to consumers in lieu of the existing “Hometown Love Gift Cards.”
“There are still many problems to be solved by notifying merchants of the way they use coins, creating separate programs, and issuing coins,” The News Asia quotes Sunghyun Chung, the head of the science and technology policy department of Gyeongsangbuk-do as saying.
4. INVISIBLE IRANIAN CRYPTO (Crowdfund insider)
Iran again announces plans for state cryptocurrency, still no sign
An Iranian politician has once again taken to state-owned media to promise the release of a government cryptocurrency to help Iran sidestep sanctions and participate freely in the global economy, Press TV reports via ISNA.
The latest comments were made by the Deputy for Management and Investment Affairs, Alireza Daliri, on behalf of the Directorate for Scientific and Technological Affairs of the Presidential Office of Iran. Mr. Daliri told ISNA student reporters that there are numerous Iranian tech companies with sufficient expertise to develop a state-backed digital currency now, but said the companies, who were collaborating with the Central Bank of Iran, were still working out the bugs.
5. SOFTWARE CRUTCH (The Japan Times)
Software to help police track cryptocurrency crime
The National Police Agency has mapped out a policy to introduce software next fiscal year to visualize the transaction history of virtual currencies in the face of increasing money laundering, massive theft and other cases related to cryptocurrencies.
The software can extract transaction data needed for an investigation from an enormous volume of data, making cyber investigations more effective. Blockchains, a form of the digitized public ledger, manage all cryptocurrency transactions. It usually takes a long time to find and trace specific data in a blockchain because of the massive number of transactions.
6. CRASHING CURRENCY CHAOS (Asia Times)
Cryptocurrencies grow as economies stumble under sanctions and other pressures
The Iranian rial: crash. The Turkish lira: crash. The Argentine peso: crash. The Brazilian real: crash. There are multiple, complex, parallel vectors at play in this wilderness of crashing currencies. Turkey’s case is heavily influenced by the bubble of easy credit created by European banks.
This is a serious currency crisis affecting key emerging markets. Three of these – Brazil, Argentina, and Turkey – are G20 members, and Iran, absent external pressure, would have everything to qualify as a member. Two – Iran and Turkey – are under the US sanctions while the other two, at least for the moment, are firmly within Washington’s orbit.
7. DOORS TO JAPAN (Bitcoin News)
160 Crypto Exchanges Seek to Enter Japanese Market, Regulator Reveals
Japan’s top financial regulator has revealed exclusively to news.Bitcoin.com the number of crypto exchanges seeking to enter the Japanese market. The agency also confirms the number of existing exchanges that have exited the industry, leaving only three applications currently being reviewed.
The FSA revealed in July that about 100 companies were interested in applying for a license to operate a crypto exchange. Among them are Line Corp and Yahoo! Japan. Line has recently launched an exchange, Bitbox, that serves customers globally except those in Japan and the U.S. The company is waiting for the FSA’s approval before beginning operations in Japan.
8. PREDICTION TIME! (Forbes)
ICO Advisor Satis Group Estimates
Despite downward pressure on the price of bitcoin for most of 2018, ICO advisory firm Satis Group sees bitcoin's value proposition and market depth as strong vis-a-vis other crypto assets and is estimating that its price could hit $96,000 by 2023 and $144,000 by 2028.
The predictions come in a new report on crypto asset valuation in which overall crypto market capitalization is estimated to grow from approximately $170 billion currently to $3.6 trillion over the next ten years.
9. TIGHT SPOT (Market Watch)
A break of the tight trading range could see bitcoin fall to $3,000
In early afternoon New York trading, one bitcoin last changed hands at $6,965.03, up 0.8% since Thursday at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on the Kraken crypto exchange. Despite the intraday volatility, the No. 1 digital currency has not broken out of the $5,500 to $8,500 range in more than three months, a tendency that one asset management firm pins on the dominance of short-term traders.
“The technical analysis teaches us that the movement within such a triangle often ends up with a breakdown of support and a sharp impulse to decline,” he said. “In this case, bitcoin has a serious chance to reach the level of $3,000 to complete the triangle”.
10. DOOM AND GLOOM (Forbes)
'Blockchain Is Useless, All ICOs Are Scams' says Nouriel Roubini
An infamous skeptic and economist Nouriel Roubini considers blockchain nothing but a useless and over-hyped technology that will never go anywhere because of the proof of stake and the scalability issues. No matter what, this is not going to become another benchmark because it is just too slow
During the conference, his argument started from a typical economist point of view; Bitcoin doesn’t satisfy the definition of money which is a medium of exchange, a unit of value and a store value. It would be completely pointless to discuss the definition of money because there is an equal amount of well-balanced arguments to support the concept that Bitcoin satisfies the definition of money.