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Image of The Day, 7 of December: The Next Web, Forbes, Asia Times and Others

07 December 2018 20:55, 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. BIG PREMIERE (Forbes)

Shell trades derivatives on technology developed by Applied Blockchain

Shell announced the world's first oil product derivatives trade using blockchain technology developed with Applied Blockchain. The technology is currently being used within Shell, allowing the company’s various businesses to trade by seeing real-time prices from its trading teams.

Founded in 2015, Applied Blockchain develops blockchain technology solutions for some of the world’s largest organizations, and most promising start-ups, and was one of the first companies to recognize the potential of blockchain technology for enterprise.

2. BELOW THE SEA LEVEL (Market Watch)

Bitcoin falls 10% as bad news descends like cockroaches coming out of a hole

Cryptocurrency prices fell sharply on Friday, as another bout of selling took digital currencies to fresh lows. Bitcoin, the world’s No.1 digital currency, crashed through support at $3,500, falling more than 10% to a 15-month low at $3,230 on the Kraken exchange. A minor bounce has a single Bitcoin currently fetching $3265.00, down 9.3% since 5 p.m. Thursday.

“The price of Bitcoin has crippled on the back of this and I think it is likely that the price may not only drop below the $2K mark, but with this kind of momentum behind it, the price can test the 1500 level,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analysts at Think Markets U.K. in a research note. “Simply put, the bad news keeps coming just like cockroaches coming out of a hole.”

3. ORWELL WAS RIGHT (The Next Web)

EU wants to manage your digital identity on the blockchain

Blockchain promised us freedom and liberation from centralized authorities like governments, but in the latest report from the EU Blockchain Forum (EUBF), the technology is starting to sound more like 1984 than ever before.

The EUBF’s latest report details that for blockchain to realize its potential within government institutions, they must focus on using the technology to build two things: digital identity systems, and digital versions of their national currencies.

4. PUSHING FORWARD (The Next Web)

US moves accelerate Iran’s state crypto push

US sanctions have hampered Iran’s international import and export payments, its personal banking network and have seen it excluded from the inter-bank SWIFT messaging system.

These moves, which have long been in the pipeline, have led to the increasing development of the country’s blockchain ecosystem, with reportedly two state-backed cryptocurrencies now in the works, one from the Central Bank of Iran and the other by the country’s Information and Communications Technology Ministry as well as blockchain technology pacts with Armenia and Russia. Earlier this year, the government stopped its banks from dealing in cryptos in a bid to stop reserves leaving the country as the US sanctions came into force.

5. OBITUARY FOR BITCOIN №301 (Forbes)

Is Bitcoin going to zero?

It won’t go quietly, but the recent precipitous drop may be the beginning of its inevitable and inexorable death spiral. Or there could be a dead cat bounce. Either way, I see Bitcoin as a dead man walking. Future generations may read about Bitcoin in a finance textbook as a curiosity and wonder what all the fuss was about. There are still some die-hard adherents espousing the virtues of Bitcoin, desperate to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Unfortunately for them, the end may not be pretty when it comes.

Proponents of Bitcoin tend to focus on the impact of the blockchain technology that drives it, and make no mistake, blockchain is the real deal. Blockchain is fundamentally changing the way industries do business, from traditional banking to supply chain management. But just because blockchain technology is creating a new paradigm doesn’t mean that Bitcoin shares that same distinction. Television fundamentally changed the way the world received news and entertainment. However, it also gave us the likes of Manimal and My Mother the Car.

6. DUBIOUS SHAPESHIFTER (The New York Times)

As Bitcoin trading shifts shape, big money stays away

Bitcoin's value has plunged by three-quarters this year, sending the original and biggest cryptocurrency back to levels not seen before its bubble. And price isn't the only aspect of trading that has changed. The retail investors behind Bitcoin's dizzying ascent to a record of nearly $20,000 last December have fled, leaving the early adopters and crypto-related firms that traditionally dominated digital coin trading driving exchange volumes.

And while bigger investors from proprietary traders to hedge funds are growing more active, mainstream financial firms have stayed away from cryptocurrencies, even as market infrastructure seen as key to their entry begins to be built. The shifting shape of digital coin trading, depicted by industry data and interviews with exchanges and companies, suggests bitcoin is struggling to evolve from a speculative asset favored by relatively niche investors to an investment choice in the same league as stocks or bonds.

7. CRYPTOCORTEX TO INSTITUTIONAL (APnews)

Deltix connects CryptoCortex to institutional digital asset exchange Seed CX

Seed CX, which through its subsidiaries offers a licensed exchange for institutional trading and settlement of spot digital asset products and plans to offer a market for CFTC-regulated digital asset derivatives, today announced investors can access its market via Deltix Inc.’s institutional crypto-trading platform, CryptoCortex.

Deltix, which launched the CryptoCortex platform this year, has been providing quantitative research, analytics and algorithmic trading solutions for equities, futures, options and forex for over 12 years. The company’s award-winning QuantOffice and QuantServer products serve institutional buy-side and sell-side firms. “Deltix’s CryptoCortex trading platform is preferred by the world’s most sophisticated quantitative trading firms and market makers, and we expect strong demand for trading on Seed CX’s spot and derivatives markets,” said Ilya Gorelik, Founder & CEO at Deltix.

8. OPEN THE FLOODGATES (Blokt)

Weiss ratings analyst says Bakkt’s entry this january would open the floodgates for large institutions

With the end of 2018 fast approaching, one can say that it has been a disappointing year for Bitcoin so far and the crypto market as a whole regarding prices. After a series of dips in recent weeks, the coin is now valued at $3,371.17, way below its January 6, 2018, high when it traded near $20,000. This means that Bitcoin has already lost more than 80% of its value this year.

But despite the crypto market’s falling value, many investors remain confident that the downtrend could still be reversed. One factor that could end the market’s decline and perhaps even push it toward an upward trajectory is the entry of Bakkt, which will launch its Bitcoin futures trading service by January 24, 2018. Writing for Weiss Cryptocurrency Ratings, DLT expert and cryptoanalyst Dr. Bruce Ng believes that Bakkt’s scalable crypto trading platform which is specifically geared for institutional investors will have a tremendous impact on the space when it goes live next year.

9. PHANTOM PAIN (CNBC)

Bitcoin price pain continues as the cryptocurrency plummets to a 15-month low

This week brought more bad news for Bitcoin investors. The world's largest cryptocurrency fell as much as 11 percent to a low of $3,293.31 on Friday, its lowest level since September 2017, according to data from CoinDesk. Over the past seven days, bitcoin is down more than 20 percent.

The price drops follow a miserable November for Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency ended the month down 37 percent, its worst drop since April 2011 when the cryptocurrency fell about 39 percent, according to data from CoinDesk.

10. WELCOME TO THE CLUB (APnews)

Cred and Universal Protocol Alliance join Blockchain Advocacy Coalition (BAC)

Cred, the leading provider of crypto-backed lending with over $300 million in credit facilities and the Universal Protocol Alliance, creator of the Universal Protocol Platform, today announced that they will join the Board of the Blockchain Advocacy Coalition to provide education and support to state and federal legislators and regulators.

“We’re pleased to welcome Cred and the Universal Protocol Alliance to our Board,” said Ally Medina, Executive Director of BAC. “These pioneering blockchain organizations are at the cusp of innovation. By working closely with policymakers and regulators, our board members will help develop thoughtful policy initiatives that support innovation in the blockchain industry and benefit the U.S. economy.”