Image of The Day, 6 of November: TechCrunch, The Next Web, Forbes 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. FOR REAL NAKAMOTO FANS (The Next Web)
Hublot is making a luxury Bitcoin watch you can only buy with Bitcoin
Swiss luxury watchmaker Hublot is celebrating Bitcoin’s tenth birthday by issuing a very special Bitcoin-themed watch: the BIG BANG MECA-10 P2P. As you might expect, the new Bitcoin watches are only available for purchase using Bitcoin.
It’s really just a new addition to Hublot’s line of BIG BANG MECA-10 watches, but with a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency twist. Hublot will only release 210 copies of the new P2P watch, a number referencing the 21-million Bitcoin that will ever exist.
2. THIS IS A NEW LOW (Market Watch)
Bitcoin market share hits 5-week low
The No.1 digital currency has pushed its market share of all cryptocurrencies to a 5-week low of 51.8%. Lagging Bitcoin traded at $6,427.97, up 0.2% since Monday at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on the Kraken cryptocurrency exchange.
“In the traditional markets, it’s very common to see a stock rally leading up to the end of the year due to the increased activity in the private sector during the holidays. However, after a volatile October, combined with uncertainty surrounding Trump’s trade war and the Fed’s monetary policy, price action has been less than positive in the last few weeks,” wrote Mati Greenspan, senior market analyst at eToro.
3. SHOWING SOME LOVE! (TechCrunch)
The Blockchain wallet plans a $125M airdrop of Stellar crypto to drive mainstream adoption
Blockchain, one of the world’s biggest crypto wallets, plans to give away a vast amount of cryptocurrency in a bold move to scale the adoption of crypto to a more mainstream audience.
Blockchain and the Stellar Development Foundation (stellar.org) will distribute $125 million worth of Stellar lumens [XLM] to Blockchain’s users. Blockchain is claiming this is the largest airdrop in the history of crypto, and potentially the largest consumer giveaway ever — and to most outside observers, it looks that way.
Accessible to anyone with a Blockchain wallet, Blockchain says that the first batch of recipients will receive their lumens, Stellar’s native digital currency, this week — for free. The Stellar network has gained a reputation for scalability, with its lumen token enabling competitively quick, low-cost worldwide transactions.
4. FIRST OF IT’S KIND (Blokt)
Lykke partners with Nxchange to develop the first security tokens platform in Europe
Lykke cryptocurrency exchange announced its collaboration with Nxchange, a fully regulated securities exchange platform, to create Europe’s first fully regulated tokenized securities exchange.
Swiss Lykke’s joint venture with Nxchange aims to develop an ecosystem where companies will offer their securities to a broader investor base, by utilizing the benefits of blockchain technology. Nxchange, the first fully regulated Stock Exchange as a Service, will contribute with its expertise in regulatory compliance and governance regarding listing requirements to host safe and regulated trading.
5. COMMON CAUSE (Fortune)
Crypto companies need to stick to their own
In today’s cryptocurrency landscape, it’s striking how many companies offer the same services. There are numerous exchanges, multiple wallet providers and, heck, there’s even a glut of crypto media outlets.
Right now, it feels there are too many players on the board and — as with any industry downturn — consolidation is a logical response. In a possible sign of things to come, Korea’s NXMH last week acquired the venerable Luxembourg-based BitStamp exchange. More consolidation feels inevitable. When times were good, think $20,000 Bitcoin, such plenty isn’t a problem. The pie gets bigger, customers pour in and everyone grabs a piece of the market. What about now? Prices are stuck in a gutter, public interest in crypto has waned, and trading volume is down 90% in some quarters.
6. MALTA TO THE TOPS (Forbes)
Malta blockchain summit — great success
The weather was filthy for days, but this did not deter the thousands of delegates to descend on the Intercontinental Hotel in St Julian’s in droves for the Malta Blockchain Summit. According to unofficial estimates, the attendance was close to the 8,500 mark and there is talk that next year’s event (which has already been confirmed) will take place at a much larger venue.
Actually, the only criticism that could be leveled at the summit was that the stands and exhibition area was too tightly packed for a proper assessment of the situation. Bars and restaurants were packed to the rafters, but it was great for networking. There’s certainly a buzz about Malta now and the Blockchain island is perhaps not that much of a cliché’ anymore.
7. GETTING A PIECE FOR YOURSELF (Daily Hodl)
Gwyneth Paltrow and her Goop hop on the crypto-train
Lifestyle brand Goop features a new guide to cryptocurrency investing. The online publication posted an interview with Bill Barhydt, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange app Abra, on the “Basics of Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency.” The article is a crypto primer targeting Goop’s wide reach and mainstream readers who have an average household income of $100k+ per year.
Goop’s founder, Gwyneth Paltrow, tweeted the crypto investment guide to her 2.87 million Twitter followers.
8. TIMES ARE TOUGH, BUY OUR STUFF! (The Next Web)
AMD wants a piece of the mining action
Thirsty for a piece of the action from the cryptocurrency mining market, it appears AMD has become the latest graphical processing unit (GPU) manufacturer to target the blockchain sector.
AMD just launched a new explainer page for cryptocurrency and blockchain tech. While the page admits cryptocurrency is currently the most well-known use case of blockchain, it suggests the technology has enormous potential to make an impact in a number of other sectors.
9. DON’T HODL ANYMORE (FXStreet)
And start Buidl!
The Ethereum community is anticipating a network upgrade that is expected to revamp the network’s capacity. The co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin recently assured the community that Ethereum 20. Which has been rebranded to Serenity 2.0 will soon arrive in the market. Besides, it has been reported that a whitepaper with details of the upgrade has already been released.
Bloomberg, on the other hand reported on November 5 the Ethereum Christmas conference. It is believed to be the largest conference for the Ethereum community. The conference is referred to as Devcon and has over the years brought together developers and other industry players interested in the Ethereum project. While last year’s event was attended by other parties including Wall Street players, unlike this year’s event which was attended mainly by developers. However, the attendance double that of last years to 3,000.
10. POWER STRUGGLE (Bloomberg)
Ripple (XRP) leaps higher as Bitcoin falls — again overtakes Ethereum
Ripple (the informal name for the XRP tradeable token) has powered higher over the last 24 hours, again knocking ethereum off its perch as the world's second largest cryptocurrency and gaining more than 20% at the time of publication. The latest Ripple surge comes on the back of a positive few months for the XRP price, which has been boosted by a number of major banks adopting the technology of Ripple Labs — the creator of the XRP cryptocurrency.
Ethereum is down some 84% so far this year, falling from around $1,400 to just $215. Ripple meanwhile has decreased by about the same amount, peaking at $3.71 at the beginning of the year and dropping as low as $0.26 in September. Ripple began 2017 at just $0.006.