The Fall and Rise of Bitcoin
Cryptos and communities rally forward despite the fall of yet another centralized exchange.
Quadriga’s collapse is a sizable blow to Canadian Bitcoin.
But Bitcoin will continue — already showing signs of a rebound this past week — and Canadians on the recovery will be looking for new, smarter ways to transact.
In a response to Quadriga’s collapse, YAP has published a follow-up to last year’s Bitcoin Essentials series:
“In this article we highlight:
Why it is essential to know security principles
How to apply basic personal security
What are the alternatives to centralized exchanges”
“Canadian Alternatives to Quadriga” is a necessary read for anyone looking to up their transaction safety in 2019.
Naturally, we suggest our own services as an alternative against risky online exchanges! It would be impossible for us to avoid a bit of self-promotion.
And we do some finger-wagging as well.
Yes, we really, really urge caution with centralized exchanges — and yes, we do provide a competing service. But we’re a business built by a small team, and we each know friends, family, and community members to have lost money when dabbling with online exchanges.
Even if you weren’t riding the Quadriga exchange when it crashed, these past few weeks still happened in slow motion for those watching.
If you’re in need of a healthy zoom-out, something to cleanse the palate, we have another feature to talk about:
“My ex-landlord told me the other day, ‘I wish I accepted Bitcoin when you offered to pay rent in Bitcoin 4 years ago.’ Today, he happily accepts Bitcoin.”
That’s YAP co-founder Ferdous Bhai, relating a personal aside as part of an essay entitled “The End of Government Money.”
In a piece described as a “call to embrace the wealth transfer mechanism that Satoshi Nakamoto has bestowed upon us,” Chainrift’s Bhai acts as both historian and foreteller. With a sweeping retrospective on cryptocurrency’s maturation against fiat currency, Bhai demonstrates that crypto has presented civilization with a choice — collaboration or exploitation.
Whatever the outcome, the responsibility will be ours alone — but our new tools can potentially empower us towards moral choices.
If you enjoyed these articles, we recommend following both Chainrift Research and YAP Exchange on Medium.
Cryptocurrencies saw an exciting week with major positive attention from Twitter’s Jack Dorsey and even a head nod from the SEC, with commissioner Hester M. Pierce noting significant progress is being made on the regulatory front. The general sentiment towards cryptos at the end of the week was rather positive, with a market-wide rally led by Litecoin, which surged 30 percent to surpass EOS and Bitcoin Cash.
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BTC 6 Month Chart
(Coindesk)
Today — 4706.66 CAD
One week ago — 4470.88 CAD
One month ago — 4727.05 CAD
Six months ago — 8378.27 CAD
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Twitter’s Jack Dorsey bullish on Bitcoin. Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, said that Bitcoin would probably become the internet’s “native currency,” and still has a bright future. “I believe the internet will have a native currency and I don’t know if it’s bitcoin. I think it will be [bitcoin] given all the tests it has been through and the principles behind it, how it was created,” Dorsey said on a podcast with Joe Rogan. “The world ultimately will have a single currency, the internet will have a single currency,” Dorsey added. “I personally believe that it will be bitcoin … (It would happen) probably over ten years, but it could go faster.” In addition to Dorsey’s talk with Rogan, he also participated in the Lightning Network’s touch initiative.
Silver linings in crypto’s bad year in 2018, and what’s next this year. In 2017, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies exploded in popularity, with a bull run minting millionaires around the world. However, it all came crashing down in 2018, a major popping of the bubble. But there were some silver linings in 2018, including a record for token sales and initial coin offering (ICOs). Cryptonews offers some predictions about where the cryptocurrency market is heading in 2019.
Canadian blockchain associations form new group. Canada’s largest blockchain trade association, the Chamber of Digital Commerce, and the Blockchain Association of Canada have merged according to a press release from the group. The new ‘supergroup’ now features over 200 companies, including Microsoft, Overstock, and IBM. Canada’s push towards supportive regulation, high internet speed, and low-cost electricity has made it a hotspot for crypto projects from around the world. The press released noted, “Canada’s blockchain leaders and government would like to see a strong and coordinated blockchain ecosystem that is ready and able to effectively collaborate with policymakers to ensure the industry in Canada will thrive.”
Litecoin to explore Beam for private transactions. On Thursday, the Litecoin Foundation announced that it had approached Beam about a possible Mimblewimble implementation via Extension Blocks on the Litecoin blockchain, sparking a surge in the cryptocurrency widely seen as Bitcoin’s ‘little brother’ or testnet. Mimblewimble is a blockchain-based protocol focused on privacy and scalability, and the Litecoin Foundation hopes that It brings a greater level of privacy to Litecoin users.
Venezuela Bitcoin volume hits record high. Amid an increasingly volatile situation in Venezuela, Bitcoin trading volume in the country has soared to new heights, surpassing 2000 Bitcoins traded in a single week. The increased interest in the cryptocurrency comes as the country takes center stage as world powers weigh in on its leadership situation, with current leader President Nicolas Maduro receiving support from China and Russia and opposition Juan Guaido receiving support from the United States. With tensions growing, reports are arising that the Venezuelan government has been seizing gold and cash, making Bitcoin a sort of a safe haven asset for the country’s people.
