Token Report by New Alchemy Newsletter Issue #3: Asylum Harbor
This is so off the chain.
Like this preview? Subscribe for the next issue.
Congratulations are in order for the digital asset known Bitcoin, or by some, Bitcoin Core. All should recognize it as the one which just reclaimed a 50% or higher share of the total cryptocurrency market cap. In the shadow(s) of Bitcoin is a range of competing altcoins; some of which have seen a price drop-off in recent days, while most share a strong price action correlation with Bitcoin.
There is one coin besides Bitcoin which actually has a fair running chance at claiming the title of “most popular cryptocurrency,” and that’s Tether ($USDT). Contrary to the volatile disposition of its crypto-competitors, the $USDT / $USD match on exchanges like Kraken stays at one dollar every day.
This balancing act has garnered much public attention, including an op-ed last week by Paul Krugman and an article this week in the Wall Street Journal titled “The Mystery Behind Tether, the Crypto World’s Digital Dollar.” Authors Paul Vigna and Steven Russolillo came to this conclusion:
“There are a couple of forces in this market that if they failed, it would be catastrophic. Tether is one of them.”
The relative size of Tether’s influence on the Bitcoin spot market and the company’s controversial history make it a polarizing and important subject for investors and developers to be aware of.
1 Short Read
Why bother with financial tokens?
From the view of a former author of this newsletter, hear the arguments for and against tokenizing securities. Galen Moore continues New Alchemy’s primer series with this summary of the immediate benefits blockchain technology can bring to traditional investments:
News Blocks
Interesting topic nodes for tokenization and cryptocurrency
on the ledger this week:
Municipal Voting
Three Ways Blockchain Could Transform Local Government — National League of Cities
Ukraine Election Body Trials Voting on an NEM Blockchain — CCN
“Why security experts hate that ‘blockchain voting’ will be used in the midterm elections” — MIT Technology Review
“West Virginia to offer mobile blockchain voting app for overseas voters in November election” — Washington Post
Faceblock
David Marcus, who was recently appointed to lead a “small group at Facebook to explore how to best leverage Blockchain across Facebook,” announced last week he will step down from Coinbase’s board.
This is amid rumors that “something’s brewing” between Facebook and Stellar, rumors which Facebook has denied.
There is general speculation is that Facebook is considering or actively developing a blockchain payments platform.
Regulation
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and the World Bank sold the first bond “created, allocated, transferred and managed using blockchain technology,” called the Blockchain Offered New Debt Instrument, or “Bondi”
The European Blockchain Observatory and Forum published a report calling on the EU to protect blockchain innovation from regulation, including “Resolving the tension between cryptocurrency technology and the new General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR”
China Issues First Tax Authority-Approved Invoice on Blockchain — Coin Telegraph
Exchange Upgrades
Binance Offers First Look At Planned Decentralized Crypto Exchange — CoinDesk
Coinbase launched instant trading and listed Ethereum Classic (so did Robinhood)
Chinese Private Equity Firm To Invest $270 Million In tZero — Forbes
Bittrex announced they will be launching USD trading pairs for BTC, ETH, USDT, TUSD, ETC and XRP on August 20
Need more news? We’ve rounded it up for you.
Check out this month’s Token Report by New Alchemy Reading List for a download on opinions, developments, and research affecting the tokenization industry and cryptocurrency market.
New Alchemy is a leading blockchain strategy and technology group specializing in tokenized solutions for the most innovative companies worldwide. Token Report is a part of New Alchemy’s market research team, focused on providing independent data insights and research on digital currency markets. Get in touch with us at Hello@NewAlchemy.io.
Have questions about this newsletter?
Reach out: @KyleSGibson / kyle.gibson@newalchemy.io
