Image of The Day, 6 of December: Forbes, Bloomberg, Blokt 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. WE WILL BUILD OUR OWN BLOCKCHAIN! (The Next Web)
Swiss utilities are creating DLT templates for private blockchains
Switzerland‘s state-run postal and telecoms services are hellbent on building a national blockchain in a bid to recruit local businesses to convert to distributed ledger technology (DLT).
Swiss Post and Swisscom have shared details of joint-venture to build a completely private Swiss blockchain for launching locally operated “decentralized” applications.
The proposed blockchain is to be a touch more centralized than usual. All data it handles is said to be kept within Switzerland’s digital borders. What’s more curious is the press release includes a rather alarmist sales pitch. Apparently, having Swiss utilities act as blockchain gatekeepers means the infrastructure uses less electricity, making it more “green.” Even weirder, apparently having a national blockchain hosted by a handful of approved servers magically means it’s more secure than Bitcoin.
2. MAKING TEA ON BLOCKCHAIN (Blokt)
Japanese tea products can get verified proof of origin on blockchain
Blockchain project VeChain announced that it is working closely with the Fuji MARUMO Tea Garden, one of the historic tea businesses in Japan to prove traceability of tea products. The blockchain network uses an advanced IoT and traceability solution which will enable Fuji MARUMO’s customers to verify the origins of their tea products by using a smartphone.
Each product will come embedded with NFC chips on the package, which could be read by the smartphones to determine the authenticity of products. The first trial batch will begin with 100 products embedded with the chips, which will be served as a limited edition offering from Fuji Team. This trial will help in providing Proof of Concept for the broader implementations later.
3. WAITING A BIT LONGER (The Daily Hodl)
Don’t hold your breath for Bitcoin ETF
Hester Peirce of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is dampening expectations about an imminent approval of a Bitcoin ETF. Appearing at the Digital Asset Investment Forum in Washington, D.C., Commissioner Peirce told the audience, “Don’t hold your breath,” on the SEC, which has to-date rejected and delayed several Bitcoin ETF proposals.
During a fireside chat with Erica Williams, a partner in the government, regulatory and investigations group of Kirkland & Ellis, the world’s highest grossing law firm, Peirce said institutionalization “will happen,” but cautioned people to lower their expectations about an upcoming approval timeframe for a crypto ETF. The timeframe could extend for decades.
4. INTERNET WAS MADE FOR SCAM (Forbes)
‘Bitcoin’ scam ads continue to plague facebook despite policy overhaul
Bitcoin scam ads, luring Facebook users with promises of riches using binary trading platforms, continue to plague the social network, which is still battling against waning investor confidence after a myriad of scandals over the last two years. Despite the recent fall in the bitcoin price, scammers are using the cryptocurrency to tempt Facebook users into get rich quick schemes that claim to guarantee huge payouts in exchange for a small "investment."
Facebook updated that policy in June, allowing pre-approved advertisers to use its platform for cryptocurrency products and services — reflecting the expectation that the traditional financial industry is gearing up to enter the bitcoin and crypto space. But despite that it appears these bitcoin scams are still appearing on the social network, however, with scammers altering the words used in the ads to slip under Facebook's scam-spotting algorithms.
5. CLOSE TO THE OCEAN LEVEL (Bloomberg)
Bitcoin approaches lowest level in more than one year
Bitcoin’s slump accelerated, with the largest cryptocurrency approaching another fresh low for the year. The digital token dropped as much as 4.7 percent to $3,549, and is flirting with the prior 2018 low of $3,522 set Nov. 26. It’s trading around the lowest level since September 2017. Bitcoin reached a record high of almost $20,000 last December.
“We’re seeing new lows in everything for the year,” said David Tawil, co-founder and president of Maglan Capital. “It’s a risk-off environment all around. No risk assets are safe.” Cash and treasuries are the only things that will be up with this pervasive sentiment."
6. IT WILL SURVIVE! (The Daily Hodl)
Andreas Antonopoulos maps out crypto survival and why Bitcoin will avoid a ‘death spiral’
Bitcoin won’t go to zero, according to Andreas Antonopoulos, a cryptocurrency advocate, teaching fellow at the University of Nicosia and former chief security officer at Blockchain.info.
Bitcoin’s self-preservation mechanism adapts to its environment in order to incentivize the mining community. If mining a coin becomes too costly and difficult, it adjusts. If it becomes too easy, it adjusts. It will ultimately readjust its difficulty target, says Antonopoulos, to make mining profitable.
7. THE KEY TO THE CRYPTOEDEN (Blokt)
MakerDAO founder says stablecoins are “the true key to unlocking the great potential of blockchain”
The price of digital assets can swing wildly in either direction — no questions about it. However, this year has mostly seen a bear market with the majority of coins down by more than 70 percent from their peak value. According to a blog post published by MakerDao, the bear market has contributed significantly to the existence of stablecoins — cryptocurrencies insulated from price volatility.
Rune Christensen, the founder of MakerDao, was quoted as saying: “The true key to unlocking the great potential of blockchain will come with the widespread adoption of stablecoins.”
8. PLEASE STOP! (Wired)
Company wants to use the blockchain to stop phishing
A company called MetaCert is trying to fight phishing emails with an extraordinarily simple method. The company has spent seven years compiling a database of web addresses known to be used by phishers, and the company and its users are constantly reporting more
Just as important, it also has a database of known "safe" addresses used by the companies hackers like to spoof: banks, payment services like PayPal, and online retailers. MetaCert's software uses those databases to check the links in your email and place a little green shield next to known good links, a little red shield next to known phishing sites, and a gray shield next to unknown sites.
9. I’LL SUE YOU! (Market Watch)
UnitedCorp files suit against Bitmain, Roger Ver, Kraken and others over alleged manipulation during Bitcoin Cash hard fork
The aftermath of the tumultuous Bitcoin Cash hard fork has hit the courts after Florida-based United American Corp. filed a suit against some of the biggest names in the cryptocurrency market, accusing them of manipulation of the Bitcoin Cash network during and after the Nov. 15 hard fork.
According to a press release, Unitedcorp alleges that parties including Bitmain, Bitcoin.com, Roger Ver and the Kraken exchange engaged in “unfair methods of competition” that were detrimental to UnitedCorp and other stakeholders. “We are bringing this suit on behalf of UnitedCorp because we believe strongly in the value and integrity of democratic, distributed and decentralized blockchain networks which will become more important with time,” said Benoit Laliberte, president of UnitedCorp, in a press release. “In order to maintain confidence in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin Cash, no person or entity can be allowed to control them.”
10. DOUBLING DOWN (The Next Web)
Coinbase doubled its cryptocurrency lineup in 2018 — and that’s just the beginning
With yesterday’s addition of Zcash (ZEC), popular exchange service Coinbase has more than doubled its cryptocurrency lineup in 2018 — and by the looks of it, the trend is here to stay.
Up until August, Coinbase supported a narrow inventory of cryptocurrencies on its flagship desktop and mobile apps, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH), the last one of which was added last December.
But this year alone, Coinbase has already bumped its offering with five new currencies: Ethereum Classic (ETC), 0x (ZRX), Circle’s dollar-pegged USD Coin (USDC), Brave browser’s Basic Attention Token (BAT), and Zcash. Indeed, all of these tokens made their way to the platform in the latter half of 2018, with four of these added in the last two months alone.