Fintech Enroute: This Week’s Industry News and Analysis
Week of February 15, 2019
Wall Street’s Move To Crypto
Critics who claim that big banks are stuck in the stone-age have a lot to chew on this week: the first cryptocurrency created by a major US bank is here, and it is being brought to us by none other than J.P Morgan Chase. This move indicates Wall Street’s eventual warming up to disruptive technologies. The banks need a way to transfer money at the dizzying speed that smart contracts demand, a rate which old technologies like wire transfers simply cannot sustain. Read more about the importance of this currencies development here: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/13/jp-morgan-is-rolling-out-the-first-us-bank-backed-cryptocurrency-to-transform-payments--.html
Sacrificial Fintech
Ever heard of sacrifices in the Fintech world? Neither had we — until this week. The world of Blockchain — the ledger-powered technology that has the potential to radically transform businesses and allow communities to collectively own networks — witnessed a big sacrifice this week with the Swiss startup Melonport’s release of its blockchain Melon protocol. While it’s not unique for a tech company to release its API and let other startups build on their protocol, this case is rare because 1) we are dealing with the Ethereum blockchain, and 2) this protocol focuses on blockchain asset management, a space not yet penetrated by the advent of decentralized ledgers. Interested in learning more about Melonport’s asset management blockchain moves?
Read more at : https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/11/melonport-dissolves-in-favor-of-its-protocol-setting-a-new-bar-for-the-blockchain-world/
Privacy Coins: The New Bitcoin
This week, Quartz’s Matthew De Silva debunks the notion that cryptos are actually particularly cryptic, or secret. Instead, he explains that one of the greatest ironies of bitcoin being called a “cryptocurrency” is that it is actually the very opposite: every transaction is broadcasted to the entire bitcoin network by design. De Silva calls our attention to a new subset of cryptocurrencies, often lost in the wake of the bitcoin hype, called privacy coins. These “secret-keepers” facilite online transactions which aim to keep senders, recipients, and amounts transacted private. Interested in potentially keeping your digital finances private? Read more at: https://qz.com/1546798/privacy-coins-may-be-the-future-of-cryptocurrency/
Bitcoin Cash Hard Fork Underlines The Benefits of Cold Storage
After the hard fork that split Bitcoin into Bitcoin and Bitcoin cash and roiled markets about two years ago, yet another hard fork occurred within Bitcoin Cash. This time, Bitcoin Cash split into Bitcoin ABC and Bitcoin SV due to, once again, disagreements among developers and miners. This yet again roiled Bitcoin markets and the two coins are differently valued as a result. Popular exchange and wallet provider Coinbase does will not allow trading in Bitcoin SV. As a result, users cannot speculate on the price of the Bitcoin Cash offshoot. But, those who hold BSV in cols wallets can still trade it on an exchange of their choice. Using cold storage enables autonomy, while keeping digital assets on an exchange might cause restrictions on trading.
Read more here: https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/15/coinbase-users-can-now-withdraw-bitcoin-sv-following-bch-fork/
