Official Newsletter of 2/18
Bitcoin continued last week in its sideways pattern, mostly between $3,500 and $3,600, before jumping to almost $3,900. This has allowed alts to begin moving, and some have even seen hyperbolic increases in value. Gas in particular rallied over the weekend, surging 50% in a matter of hours, and Vertcoin doubled in value around the same time. Tron holders received the first airdrops of BitTorrent (BTT) on Valentines Day, which also saw decent gains during the week. 2019 has already been a big year for hacks, and in line with that crypto exchange Coinmama suffered a breach of user data, with the attacker gaining access to 450,000 email addresses and hashed passwords. The team states it is working with cybersecurity firms to establish how the breach occurred, and assess the extent of data stolen.
(Taken on 2/18/2019 at 17:01:32 PM US East Coast Standard Time from CoinTelegraph)
Monthly Pivots
(Taken on 2/18/2019 at 17:01:32 PM US East Coast Standard Time from DailyFX)
Weekly Pivots
(Taken on 2/18/2019 at 17:01:32 PM US East Coast Standard Time from DailyFX)
__________________________________________________________________
Business
Binance Delists Projects
Many alt coin holders were given cause for concern this past week, when Binance began delisting coins which did not meet certain criteria for support. The five coins getting the chop were CloakCoin, Modium, Substratum, SALT and Wings. Binance listed some criteria which are considered before projects are delisted, including the level and quality of development and evidence of fraud or unethical conduct. This is not a new process, the exchange also delisted Bytecoin, ChatCoin, Economy and Triggers in October 2018. All of the currencies delisted on February 16th saw significant losses, as being removed from Binance is considered by many to be a death-knell for a project’s potential.
Nasdaq adding BTC and ETH to Global Index service, and BTC ATMs at an All Time High
In positive news for the visibility and legitimacy of Bitcoin and Ethereum, Nasdaq will add price tracking indices for both currencies on February 25th. The stock exchange is making preparations to offer its own futures for Bitcoin, in line with offerings by the CME and CBOE. More positively, for Bitcoin’s long term growth is the increase in BTC ATMs around the world — Coin ATM Radar now lists 4351 ATMs in 76 countries, up from just 500 in early 2016. Bitcoin ATMs allow users to purchase BTC instantly with cash, which is delivered to their wallet typically via scanning a QR code on their phone.
$700 Million: Santander and IBM’s New Blockchain Agreement
Banco Santander and IBM have entered a new deal to promote Santander’s integration of blockchain technologies into their systems. The five-year deal is valued at approximately $700 million with the goal of reducing technical costs in their IT sphere.
JPMorgan Creates “JPM Coin”
Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan’s CEO, is a longstanding critic of cryptocurrency. JPMorgan recently announced the creation of the “JPM Coin” to facilitate transactions across the world in a speedy manner. However, the new technology has been called a cryptocurrency by many. A more appropriate term for this coin is a digital currency because it is an internally based, permissioned, private, and centralized token. Mr. Dimon wants to ease movement of its over $6 trillion-dollar worth of daily transactions.
__________________________________________________________________
Technology
China’s Baidu Launches OS to Support DApp Development
Following Baidu’s “ABC” technology strategy (AI, big data, and cloud computing), Baidu has built a new system for making DApp development simple and easy. Baidu is hoping to promote the development of blockchain technology. The purpose of the new system is to address the shortcomings of current company blockchain infrastructure, data storage costs, and computing bottlenecks. With that in mind, there are six functions that Baidu Blockchain Lab has designed: “trusted computing environment, high performance and high throughput, scalable storage, cross-chain trusted interactions, smart contract support, and contract security audits.”
Samsung Announces Blockchain Speed Boosting Tech
On Februrary 14th, Samsung announced its new invention to speed up blockchain transactions. Samsung wants to hand the reins to blockchain developers to realize its true potential. As of now, the Samsung SDS’ “Nexledger Accelerator” objectively improved transaction processing speed during testing with Hyperledger Fabric.
__________________________________________________________________
Further readings we found interesting!
- Fudan University in China Launches Blockchain Research Center
https://cointelegraph.com/news/major-chinese-university-launches-blockchain-research-center
2. Blockchain-based Information Curation Startup Band Protocol Secures $3M USD seed funding
3. Craig Wright Tells CFTC He is the Real Satoshi Nakamoto
