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SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital $IDK.ca – 75% Think #Bitcoin Will Double in Price This Year: Crypto Twitter Survey $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 4:58 PM on Thursday, January 16th, 2020

SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.

75% Think Bitcoin Will Double in Price This Year: Crypto Twitter Survey

Author: Kiril Nikolaev

An economist ran a poll to check the pulse of the bitcoin market. An ultra bullish atmosphere may signal that a trend reversal is incoming

  • The bitcoin rally is making many crypto investors euphoric.
  • An economist ran a poll to check on the pulse of the BTC market.
  • An ultra bullish atmosphere may be a sign that a trend reversal is incoming.

Over the last couple of weeks, bitcoin has been slaying bears and disbelievers. On Tuesday, bitcoin printed a fresh 2020 high of $8,903.20. The crypto token’s renewed bullish vigor is driving many retail investors into euphoria.

One retail trader is already predicting that bitcoin will hit $20,000. | Source: Twitter

The ecstatic atmosphere probably drove Alex Kruger to measure community sentiment. The trader and economist ran a poll asking Crypto Twitter (CT) what they think would be BTC’s 2020 high.

Results reveal that CT is feeling ultra bullish. That’s bad news for bitcoin.

Nearly Half of Survey Participants Believe Bitcoin Would Breach $20,000 This Year

Kruger recently ran a poll that involved the responses of over 4,000 participants. Results show that 47.1% believe that bitcoin would trade above $20,000 this year. Close to 30% think the coin would settle between $14,000 and $19,999. The remaining 25% said the cryptocurrency will trade at $13,999 or lower.

Poll results may foreshadow massive capitulation. | Source: Twitter

The survey reveals that nearly 75% of participants believe that bitcoin will print gains of over 100% this year. Almost half see the cryptocurrency skyrocketing by over 180%. These are ultra bullish predictions even by bitcoin’s standards. The results tell me that it is wise to take a contrarian stance.

The Wisdom of the Crowd Is Rarely Correct

When it comes to investing, the wisdom of the herd is often wrong. This is especially true of bitcoin. The digital asset has a tendency to mislead the crowd and burn retail investors.

We saw this happen in the 2017 bull market. Many retail investors hopped on the bandwagon just as bitcoin was peaking around $20,000. Countless got wiped out as the cryptocurrency entered a vicious bear market.

This happened again in December 2018. At the time, bitcoin was trading at $3,000. Many capitulated as calls for a massive drop to $1,800 reverberated on social media. What did the cryptocurrency do? It left disbelievers with their jaws on the floor as it soared to a 2019 high of $14,000.

The Crypto Dog considering the possibility of a bitcoin drop just before the cryptocurrency skyrocketed. | Source: Twitter

These examples show that it’s prudent to look at the other side of the coin. Getting pulled by the herd is a bad trading strategy.

Source: https://www.ccn.com/survey-reveals-bitcoin-will-double-in-price-this-year/

Storming the Gates: How ‘Crypto Davos’ Became a Thing SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital $IDK.ca $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 9:43 AM on Wednesday, January 15th, 2020

SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.

Storming the Gates: How ‘Crypto Davos’ Became a Thing

  • In recent years the WEF Meeting has come under fire as a place where wealthy elites gather to discuss solutions to problems they helped create and perpetuate – problems many blockchain startups are working to solve.
  • But the reality of Davos lies somewhere between these two extremes.

This is part of a series of op-eds previewing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. CoinDesk will be on the ground in Davos from Jan. 20–24 chronicling all things crypto at the annual gathering of the world’s economic and political elite. Follow along by subscribing to our pop-up newsletter, CoinDesk Confidential: Davos.

Sandra Ro is the CEO of the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC), which is organizing the four-day Blockchain Central Davos event.

The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), renowned as a place where business executives, government officials, entrepreneurs and NGO leaders convene to create positive change, is days away.

In recent years the WEF Meeting has come under fire as a place where wealthy elites gather to discuss solutions to problems they helped create and perpetuate – problems many blockchain startups are working to solve. But the reality of Davos lies somewhere between these two extremes.

So why engage? Why do we keep going back?

WEF 2020

2020 is special: It’s the 50th anniversary of the WEF, a non-profit foundation created in 1971 to engage society’s foremost political, business and cultural leaders to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

This year’s WEF theme is “Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World.”

Some of the broad questions to be asked: What does “stakeholder capitalism” mean? Is it tracking progress towards the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? How does technology fit in?

“With the world at such critical crossroads, this year we must develop a ‘Davos Manifesto 2020’ to reimagine the purpose and scorecards for companies and governments,” said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the WEF.

If the world is at a crossroads, what is the role of cryptocurrencies, digital assets and blockchain? And who gets to shape and influence this future?

In short, should “Crypto Davos” collaborate with the established elites?

Crypto Davos, four+ years in the making

Crypto pioneers set up shop with Davos side events four or five years ago. These were modest gatherings to discuss the future of cryptocurrencies. Very few elites knew what this was, or paid it much attention.   

Just as bitcoin and ethereum began as organic grassroots initiatives, Crypto Davos grew mainly by group chats and word of mouth. However, by 2018, Crypto Davos reached peak excess, coinciding with the boom of ICOs. This was followed by muted numbers in 2019 with the bust, and now, in 2020, a mix of Crypto Davos stalwarts are returning alongside mainstream corporations that are ahead of the curve in embracing blockchain and, sometimes, cryptocurrency. (Unfortunately, the mantra of “blockchain good, crypto bad” lingers in certain corporate and government circles, though it is dissipating over time.)

What happens at WEF’s official gathering is important, but most who have attended Davos previously know that “the Promenade” is a beehive of activity around cryptocurrencies, blockchain, AI, cybersecurity and other emerging technologies. Many crypto people who attend Davos never step foot inside the main event and do not hold a coveted “white badge.” Instead, they hang out on the Promenade and participate in a myriad of panels, networking events and meetings, mixed with late-night partying and bonding.

The Promenade blockchain events are in high demand and considered cutting edge, thereby attracting some high-profile leaders who might seem out of place under normal, stodgier circumstances. Seeing rock stars, actors, CEOs, billionaires, social-impact entrepreneurs and developers together is not unusual at Crypto Davos.

Where else do you see both Jamie Dimon and Jamie Oliver walking down the same block within meters of each other? Or Michael Douglas walking into an MIT-hosted lunch on AI and blockchain? (Seriously, that happened back in 2017.)

So why did a bunch of crypto people start coming to Davos in the first place? Switzerland’s crypto-friendly environment partially explains the attraction.

But the secret sauce of Davos is not just about discussing important ideas.

Once you make it to this normally sleepy town, you are jumbled together with 30,000 influential people on a few blocks of a “main street.” It makes for an intense and rewarding four days of networking and deal-making, which sets the tone for the rest of the year.

Crossover appeal

Crypto Davos, despite its outsider status, has influenced and changed the course of mainstream Davos.

Just look at 2020’s big thematic on “stakeholders in a cohesive and sustainable world,” which covers everything from economics to climate change to technology, and includes topics like digital identity, digital asset regulation and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

In 2020, many, if not most, corporations participating at Davos have internal blockchain projects and/or are members of digital asset groups. Five years ago, the CEOs of these same corporations probably did not know blockchain existed.

Crypto Davos has profoundly influenced the interest and growth of digital assets and blockchain technology among some of the most elite institutions, governments and world leaders.

Not bad for a bunch of outsiders.

Selling out?

To the cynics and anti-establishment crowd, we debate every year why we pay exorbitant rates to put together an event at Davos. The high costs, occasionally not-so-subtle hostility from the mainstream, increasingly strict town council rules and the general logistics nightmare are enough to deter most.

However, we return, because our supporters love attending. Why? Because we have met some of the most awe-inspiring people at Davos, from rocket scientists to world leaders to humanitarians.

With a combination of bright, motivated people, ideas turn into action here: from investments to business deals to project launches. No matter how great the tech, we are humans who make connections by meeting each other, spending time with each other and, ultimately, collaborating with each other.  

The key for Crypto Davos is to keep influencing and building bridges with the establishment to yield the societal change we want. Blockchain works best when it’s collaborative. The same holds true at Davos: Crypto Davos can improve and scale with the resources of large institutions; Establishment Davos can reimagine business models and government services to create a more equitable and functional society.

This grand experiment works best if people collaborate across geographies and disciplines.

Long live Crypto Davos (at least until the next better version comes along).

Source: https://www.coindesk.com/storming-the-gates-how-crypto-davos-became-a-thing

#Visa to acquire #crypto-serving fintech unicorn #Plaid for $5.3B SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital $IDK.ca $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:54 AM on Tuesday, January 14th, 2020

SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.

Visa to acquire crypto-serving fintech unicorn Plaid for $5.3B

by Yogita Khatri

  • Payments giant Visa is set to acquire Plaid, a crypto-serving fintech unicorn, for $5.3 billion.
  • Announced Monday, Visa said the acquisition would help it enter into new businesses and enhance its existing card business
  • The deal is expected to close in the next 3-6 months, pending regulatory approvals.

Plaid helps users to connect their bank accounts to apps, such as PayPal’s Venmo, to conveniently share their financial information. The startup also serves crypto firms, including Coinbase and Abra wallet.

Visa would pay $4.9 billion in cash and around $400 million of retention equity and deferred equity, according to a presentation deck. The payments giant is paying a significant premium over Plaid’s valuation which recently hit over $2.5 billion.

“The combination of Visa and Plaid will put us at the epicenter of the fintech world, expanding our total addressable market and accelerating our long-term revenue growth trajectory,” said Al Kelly, CEO and chairman of Visa.

The deal has the potential to help Visa add 80-100 basis points to its revenue growth by 2021, per the deck.

Both Visa and Mastercard invested an undisclosed sum in Plaid recently. Founded in 2012, the startup has raised over $350 million in venture capital funding to date.

Source: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/52914/visa-to-acquire-crypto-serving-fintech-unicorn-plaid-for-5-3b

ThreeD Capital $IDK.ca – The race to integrate #crypto into global banking is real $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 9:30 PM on Sunday, January 12th, 2020

SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.

The race to integrate crypto into global banking is real

Public sector projects are driving greater interest to adopt fiat-backed cryptocurrencies by central and regional banks.

Metamorworks / Getty Images

  • Central banks in Asia and Europe are in the final stages of launching digital currencies for future payment systems and cross-border transactions, according to a new report from accounting firm KPMG.

And governments around the world see the launch of these blockchain-based central bank digital currencies (CBDC) as something that could one day give them a competitive advantage in global trade.

“In 2020, we at KPMG expect to assist regional and central banks in the development of well-defined technology frameworks that can anchor private-sector initiatives,” Arun Ghosh, U.S. Blockchain Leader at KPMG, said in a blog post.

Among other banking entitires, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has shown support for fiat-backed cryptocurrencies, saying they can reduce the reliance on government-issued money, “and unlike bank transfers, crypto asset transactions can be cleared and settled quickly without an intermediary,” Dong He, deputy director of the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department, wrote in a post for the IMF.

“The advantages are especially apparent in cross-border payments, which are costly, cumbersome, and opaque,” He said. “New services using distributed ledger technology and crypto assets have slashed the time it takes for cross-border payments to reach their destination from days to seconds by bypassing correspondent banking networks.”

In a blog post, the IMF said today’s fiat currencies are in flux “and innovation will transform the landscape of banking and money.”

Other countries are already looking to innovate in ways that given them an advantage.

China is reportedly close to releasing a national cryptocurrency that, because of greater efficiencies, could challenge the U.S. dollar as the de facto currency for international trade. Other smaller countries such as Sweden are planning their own state-sponsored cryptocurrency. (Sweden’s would be called the e-Krona.)

And the Bank of England has been researching cryptocurrency since 2015. Even though theit does not currently plan to issue a cryptocurrency linked to Pound sterling, it has published extensive research on the monetary policy and financial system implications of issuing CDBCs.

“If a central bank issued a digital currency, then everyone (including businesses, households and financial institutions other than banks) could store value and make payments in electronic central bank money,” the Bank of England said in a research paper. “While this may seem like a small change, it could have wide-ranging implications for monetary policy and financial stability.”

Regardless of any movement by central banks, Ghosh said, fiat-based ‘stablecoins’ are already being issued by the private sector to support enhanced value exchange and settlement within organizations and across banking networks.

For example, JP Morgan Chase announced last year it had developed what was seen at the time as the first cryptocurrency backed by a major bank – a move that could legitimize blockchain as a vehicle for fiat cryptocurrencies. JPM Coin, as the bank calls its new digital money, is considered fiat currency because it’s backed by U.S. dollars in accounts designated at JPMorgan Chase N.A.

Each JPM Coin is equal in value to one U.S. dollar.

Wells Fargo has also announced it will pilot its own cryptocurrency to enable near real-time money movement and cut out settlement middlemen, thus reducing fees.

And the Reserve Bank of Australia has conducted pilots with Ethereum-based cryptocurrency in the hope it could be used by third parties for cross-border payments. So far, the bank has not found a significant case for its use in light of Australia’s relatively stable banking system, according to a Senate inquiry into the matter last month.

“The upside for businesses and consumers will trickle down through adoption…, Ghosh said, nothing that the new systems could result in “near instantaneous value settlement” with “enhanced cash flow realization and/or liquidity of certain positions.” 

Blockchain is being piloted by financial services institutions in five primary areas: for clearance and settlement, trade finance, cross-border payments, insurance claims processing and anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) efforts.

For cross-border transactions, stablecoin could cut settlement times from days to minutes by eliminating the need for private organizations such as Depository Trust and Clearance Corp. (DTCC) in the U.S. and Euroclear in the European Union. The DTCC and Euroclear now handle securities settlements.

Blockchain-based systems could also streamline the process of buying and selling  stocks and bonds. Those transactions can take up to three days, with longer delays  of up to 10 days not uncommon, according to Bruce Fenton, founder and managing director of Atlantic Financial and a board member of the Bitcoin Foundation.

“The challenge with securities now is you need a trusted third party to say what’s true,” Fenton said. “It’s not your broker. It’s not Merrill Lynch or Fidelity and it’s not the issuer either; Apple has no clue who their shareholders are, either. The function is performed by these large centralized groups because the brokers don’t necessarily trust each other; they’re dealing with their competitors.”

The problem with relying on central settlement organizations is that transactions can get bottlenecked through the use of a single ledger, such as VisaNet or SWIFT, he said. With blockchain, trust becomes moot since digital tokens representing securities or money are inextricably linked to the funds or securities – and transfers can be done  in hours, Fenton said.

Given those efficiencies, more than a half dozen universities are already working on developing a payment system to rival today’s conventional clearance and settlement networks.

In addition to the scaled adoption of cryptoassets now being driven by the public sector, Ghosh sees four other crypto trends likely to emerge over the next year or so as business executives apply “an unprecedented level of innovation … driving new revenue models by leveraging blockchain and tokenized assets.”

Those trends include:

  • Advances in cryptoasset custody technology, or how digital assets are owned, stored, secured, transferred and accessed in a decentralized environment.
  • A shift from private-permissioned to interoperable blockchain implementations. With many private blockchain implementations coming to fruition, the next step is interoperability.
  • More success when scaling the technology with a converged artificial intelligence (AI) framework – and better results when initializing their AI investments.
  • The convergence of AI, blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT) to help manage climate change.

About that last prediction, Ghosh said: “Decentralized, transparent data models enabled by blockchain, which houses data transferred via IoT that is measurable using advanced analytic techniques, can be visible to a vast number of countries and regulators that are jointly monitoring and reporting on carbon emissions, rising sea levels and the remediation of toxic waste, among other applications.

Source: https://www.computerworld.com/article/3512650/the-race-to-integrate-crypto-into-global-banking-is-real.html

ThreeD Capital $IDK.ca – 20 #Blockchain Predictions for 2020 #crypto $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:00 AM on Friday, January 10th, 2020

SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.

20 Blockchain Predictions for 2020

  • Blockchain is entering a pivotal year in 2020, a period that will decide not just the future of cryptocurrency, but blockchain and the very idea of decentralization.

By Andrew Keys January 7, 2020

As a Managing Partner at Digital Asset Risk Management Advisors (DARMA Capital), and former Head of Global Business Development at blockchain software powerhouse ConsenSys, I’ve had an inside look at the rapid development of blockchain technology, the extreme volatility of crypto markets, and the emerging ecosystem and culture of decentralization. And let me tell you: Blockchain is entering a pivotal year in 2020, a period that will decide not just the future of cryptocurrency, but blockchain and the very idea of decentralization.

Buckle up, because it’s going to be quite the ride. Here are 20 predictions for blockchain in 2020.

1. Ethereum right now is like dial-up internet in 1996—14.4kbps. Soon it will be the equivalent of broadband.

Remember the days of dial-up internet? Let me take you back to 1996: although AOL was quickly becoming a household name, getting online for most required swapping tangled wired connections and clogging up phone lines to access a limited range of products at a snail’s pace. With a 14.4kpbs connection, intrepid retail consumers could browse the world wide web while transferring data at 1.8kbs per second. To download a megabyte of data took over 9 minutes. All of the content was text-based and bare bones, but it worked! Casual observers could see that this technology would be useful, but few predicted the wholesale societal and economic transformation the internet would bring to the world within a matter of years.

Sound familiar? It’s directly analogous to where we’re currently at with blockchain. 2020 in blockchain years is the equivalent of 1996 in the internet era. Much like the internet, blockchain progress will kick into overdrive with Moore’s Law, and Ethereum 2.0 will be the big red button that launches us off of dial up and into broadband. (Disclosure: I’ve owned Ethereum for several years.) The signs are all there. Almost every sector and leading enterprise is looking into blockchain implementation, governments are terrified of being left behind and are scrambling to catch up, while the infrastructural elements are now in place for developers to build, deploy, and scale products. In 2020 we will begin to see what a decentralized future actually looks like.

2. Bitcoin and blockchain will finally break up

Bitcoin should be revered as the patriarch of digital assets. Bitcoin confluenced cryptography, peer-to-peer networking, a virtual machine, and a consensus formation algorithm to solve “the double spend” and “the Byzantine general’s problem” elegantly. That said, time moves on. The Bitcoin maximalists that believe Bitcoin is where this decentralizing technology might be are in for a rude awakening.

As blockchain reaches a scaling watershed, there’s one key differentiation that the world will come to acknowledge, one that enthusiasts are likely already very familiar with—the difference between Bitcoin, Ethereum and other decentralizing technologies. Bitcoin’s ascension to digital gold has been astounding, and has signaled the beginning of a whole new techno-economic era. But digital gold is just that—a beginning.

The current market capitalization of gold is $8 trillion dollars. That’s an eye-popping number, sure, but it represents a potential ceiling market opportunity for Bitcoin’s “digital gold.” Smart contract-enabled blockchains like Ethereum will digitize the global economy and unlock value in the whole spectrum of assets and processes. In turn, decentralized networks will reach into the farthest corners of every industry on the planet (and beyond). We will be able to digitally represent fiat, gold, software licenses, equity, debt, derivatives, loyalty points, reputation ratings, and much much more that we can’t even conceive of yet. That’s a market opportunity estimated at well over $80 trillion dollars. Bitcoin is a singular use case. Comparatively, Ethereum has infinite use cases.

3. The potential for global economic recession looms, fiat currencies be warned!

Economic uncertainty has been looming over the globe for years. It’s not so much a matter of if, but when the house of cards tumbles with major worldwide implications. Europe will likely be the first to hit recession. One look at the five biggest economies in the region and it’s clear. Germany’s Deutschebank is on life support. The United Kingdom has been eating itself with Brexit for years. France is in a state of constant protest. The Spanish and Italian economies are drowning. The European Union is by now only nominally a union, and growing divisions will leave many nations especially vulnerable.

With respect to the USA, let me paint two realities for you: In 2020, China and the U.S. finally reach a real trade deal. The economy gets a tailwind into 2021 and Donald Trump is re-elected. There’s another leg to this stock market blow-off phase. The house of cards lives another day. If there is no trade deal or no re-election and the global economy is further challenged, the bottom could fall out of Quantitative Easing Mania, and the value of many national currencies around the world will be challenged like never before. The value of fiat currencies could endure a precipitous drop in value via extreme inflation.

Digital assets have exiguous properties similar to gold and oil in that they are provenly scarce. If and when this crisis lands, the digital asset class will be the hedge to traditional central banking systems that resort to printing—and thus depreciating—currencies in times of crisis.

4. The U.S. will have to play catch-up after China’s big play in crypto and blockchain

In January 2020, a new suite of regulation will come into effect that represents a sharp about turn by the Chinese government towards a pro-blockchain and cryptocurrency stance. With new legislation towards mining, state news channels praising Bitcoin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced governmental support for blockchain technology in October, it’s clear that China is making its move. China’s central bank will soon test its own digital currency in the cities of Shenzhen and Suzhou with four state-owned commercial banks. Countries like the United States that may have been sluggish to take a leading role in supporting blockchain development will be left with little choice but to play catch-up, and the result will be a huge net positive for the industry.

5. We march onwards to Ethereum 2.0

The long-awaited Istanbul hard fork—the final hard fork of Ethereum 1.0—has successfully deployed. The Muir Glacier difficulty bomb delay update was the cherry on top. Vitalik Buterin has already released a block explorer for the Proof of Stake Beacon Chain, and the march towards Ethereum 2.0 is proceeding at a rapid clip. Proof of Stake Ethereum exists. It’s alive! The roadmap to Serenity is in full effect. 2020 will see Ethereum move stridently beyond Phase 0 of Ethereum 2.0, onto Phase 1 and the launch of shard chains. Then, it’s game on.

Ethereum developers have already proven their ability to work wonders, and that this decentralized team is now in the stride of hitting ambitious roadmap targets is the best indicator in all of blockchain for future success. To daily observers, this upgrading process may seem long and winding, but the extra time it takes to develop the network properly will benefit the entirety of humanity. While Web2 was defined by philosophies like ‘Move Fast, Break Things,’ Web3 should be guided by mantras like ‘Do it the Right Way This Time.’

6. Layer two scaling solutions will turbocharge Ethereum

Ogres, like onions—and like blockchain networks—are all about layers. With the rollout of the Istanbul hard fork, Ethereum is on its way towards 2.0 levels of scalability at layer one. Joe Lubin stated last year at SXSW that Ethereum will process millions of transactions a second. How it achieves this is a combination of steady upgrades to the layer one network and integration of layer two scaling implementations.

Poon and Buterik’s solution of Plasma’s “blockchains on blockchains” was not just brilliant and prescient, it was the inception of a whole sector of Layer Two development. Sharded chains may occupy much of the debate at the moment, but state channels being developed by Celer, Connext, and Counterfactual will be the massive mycelial data network underground that unleashes the main chain to operate unencumbered by state weight. Sidechains will transact the bulk of lower-risk transactions rapidly. Payment channels like Raiden will enable instantaneous token transfers, while ZK-Snarks will keep all of your data private amidst all the transactional action. The stack is all there, and 2020 will see 2.0 come to life.

In the meantime, innovations like Plasma’s Optimistic Virtual Rollup means that projects don’t have to wait for the transactional throughput they need to flourish. That’s huge. There was a time when blockchain scaling was driven by theory and hope. No longer! The incredible, global, decentralized dev teams working on Ethereum will change the world with this technology, and we are all eternally grateful.

7. Layers of the Web3.0 stack go live

A decentralized environment is about more than just shards and nodes, and we’ll see that manifest in in 2020. Web3.0 will be defined by mesh networks connecting smart contracts, file storage, messaging, payment channels, side chains, oracles—the list goes on. 2020 will see many essential infrastructural elements of Web3.0 go live.

What is Web3.0? Here’s a quick breakdown:

The digitization of all assets: Stocks, bonds, fiat currencies, electrons, loyalty points, software licenses, Beyonce concert tickets, insurance policies, derivatives and other assets previously inconceivable, will become natively digital.

The automation of agreements: Microsoft Word legal documents will turn into digitalIf > Then > Else lines of computer code that will move the aforementioned digital assets trustlessly, creating completely new business models like an employment agreement that gets paid by the minute, a piece of art that can pay a royalty to an artist every time it is sold from one owner to the next, a piece of real estate that can pay its investors automatically every time rent comes in, the ability to divide income amongst band members every time a song is played, or routing an electron efficiently to various parts of a micro-grid.

Self-Sovereign Identity: Instead of logging into Airbnb, Facebook, Uber, et al, you will log into your own self-sovereign browser, and will have the same ability to rent a hotel room, use social media or hail a car, but instead of the legacy application providers the same service will occur peer-to-peer, rather than through a thin layer of rent-seeking intermediation. You’ll get paid $1 dollar a day to look at advertising when on social media instead of Zuckerberg and your ride and home shares will be 2/3rd of the current cost.

Some examples: The Interplanetary File System has already showed the nature of data file storage on the decentralized web. Protocol Labs’ Filecoin builds on IPFS to rent users’ hard drive space for crypto. The platform is on schedule to launch in March, with the testnet just launched very recently.

Helium is a mesh network where stakeholders purchase nodes under $500 to provide low bandwidth for Internet of Things devices. Tom Shaughnessy of Delphi Digital recently noted, “Since going live on August 1, 2019, over 2,130 nodes are live on the network covering 90% of U.S. states across 425+ cities. At Verizon’s IoT costs (600KB/year for $12), Helium is underpricing Verizon by 99.9988% ($0.00001 for 24 bytes or 0.024 KB). This type of price consolidation we should expect from the next generation of cell phone service providers, data storers, and truly any intermediary via a decentralized world wide web.

Kyle Samani, and the team at Multicoin Capital have done a great job of mapping a potential Web3.0 software stack with examples of companies attempting to provide solutions. Although it remains the very early days and we’ll see tremendous competition for a hegemonic position for all layers of the Web3.0 stack, the Web3.0 stack will likely look a little something like this:

Credit: Multicoin Capital

8. Expect a radically altered blockchain landscape by 2021

By the turn of 2021, we will have a much clearer picture of whether newfangled layer one blockchain networks like Near, Polkadot, Dfinity, and Nervos will be able to contribute substantially to the blockchain ecosystem. Competition is good and I remind everyone that the goal is global disintermediation, decentralization, and the commoditization of trust, rather than a brand of protocol winning. That said, this sprint to layer one supremacy has only spurred on the development of Ethereum 2.0, and the many competing elements are experimenting with new ways to develop the best blockchain product. The answer to who will succeed lies with developers and users.

Ethereum still retains the most robust developer engagement by far. Some view this race as a winner-takes-all, but with so much to be gained from developing this new technology, coopetition will raise the tide for all. There could also be fit-for-purpose blockchains, that satisfy particular niches. New competitors to the layer 1 space will have to deal with Matteo Leibovitz’s “distribution quadrilemma,” which states criteria that new networks must simultaneously satisfy at launch to engender monetary premium. They are:

  1. wide/equitable distribution
  2. revenue generation
  3. potential for upside
  4. regulatorily compliant

The biggest challenge is requirement #4. If a VC or multiple whales own a large amount of a network’s tokens—a ubiquitous occurrence with layer one “Ethereum Killers” — it will be incredibly difficult to sway the SEC that the token isn’t a security, which means all those big investments and will disrupt nothing but VC piggy banks.

9. The tribulations of Libra will continue…

Facebook’s Libra will not go live in 2020 in any form of scale. The “decentralized wolf in sheep’s clothing” has already done much to bring blockchain to the forefront of global discourse—for better, and at times, for worse. But the company is learning fast that consensus and deployment do not always adhere to the best laid plans of even billionaires. When it does go live, Libra will undoubtedly be a force of education and adoption for billions of people. Farmville with crypto? I can’t wait! Before it gets to that point, however, expect Chinese organizations like WeChat, Alipay, and Alibaba to aggressively pursue first mover status in the space given the recently relaxed regime in the country. Trust in Facebook stagnates still as we enter another election year in the US. If social media has proven so earth-shakingly problematic, we can only guess what ills Facebook’s version of ‘social banking’ may hold within.

10. Trillion dollar companies signal the climax and end of the 3rd industrial revolution

Apple. Microsoft. PetroChina. Saudi Aramco. When the next behemoth rises over a trillion dollar valuation—it will stay there. That same company probably won’t pay a single dollar in U.S. taxes. This is a prime example of vast inequality in the value capture of our economic systems, and it’s only getting worse. Legacy Web2.0 companies are making billions for the shareholder capital class by using the individual as the product. They’re spilling personal data into the clutches of nefarious actors with alarming regularity. As more and more companies pass the trillion dollar mark, it will signal the blow-off phase of late capitalism. After the inevitable crash, we’ll be faced with a once-in-an-epoch opportunity for more equitable, democratized, and sustainable business models to proliferate. Will you be ready?

11. Self Sovereignty on the web will become a human right

With hacks and breaches in both Web2.0 and Web3.0 environments a daily occurrence, it’s clear that change is a necessity. Projects like the Decentralized Identity Foundation have taken major strides in establishing open source standards that will furnish the whole blockchain ecosystem with digital identity components that are trustworthy and decentralized. Blockchain IDs and zero-trust datastores like those created by uPort and 3box will rapidly replace the creaky walled databases we rely on now. Establishing this web of trust may be amongst the most important pieces of the blockchain puzzle in 2020.

Web2.0 stalwarts like IBM and Microsoft are well aware of the urgency of the issue, and they’ve allocated substantial resources to iterating digital identity in their own image. But self-sovereignty must be just that—owned by our selves—before the internet can be truly democratized. Ownership and privacy of data will soon be seen as a human right, and self sovereignty is the solution to attaining it.

12. Say it with me…CME Ether futures

After Bitcoin futures options in January, I have a feeling that it’ll be Ethereum’s turn. CME Ether Futures will be announced in 2020 and will go live in 2020. The CME has an almost 125 year history of innovation in financial instruments, birthing both new asset classes and digitizing the process of exchange along the way. With Bitcoin and Ethereum, the CME will continue this tradition of innovation, in turn catalyzing legitimacy for digital assets and opening access doors for mainstream investors and institutions to kickstart the next round of market growth for digital assets. Futures & options create forward demand curves that are a necessary precursor to a regulated ETF market. Our once child-like asset class is growing up.

13. A billion dollar DeFi ecosystem is a matter of months away

Decentralized Finance will continue to lead the industry in the first quarter of 2020. Over $600 million dollars are currently locked up in decentralized finance platforms. That number will cross one billion before summer. Organizations like a16z have bet big on platforms MKR and Compound, while projects like Synthetix, Uniswap, dYdX, and InstaDapp are furnishing a feverishly active sector of the blockchain ecosystem, one that isn’t immediately contingent upon scaling timelines. That said, DeFi organizations will probably have to spend some big legal dollars in compliance and lobbying. Just one example: in all 50 states, a company needs a specific license to lend to retail clients. When DeFi inevitably gets too big to ignore, regulators will roll out the red tape carpet.

14. The sleeping giant of blockchain awakens — supply chain

Counterfeit goods represent a market of over $1.8 billion dollars annually, with some estimates seeing that number rising over 10% as production and online distribution methods improve. Household names like Louis Vuitton and Levi’s have been quietly perfecting proof of concept trials with leading blockchain companies to ensure provenance and protect consumers on a global scale. Treum has already shown the value of blockchain-ensured supply chain processes on items ranging from salsa to tuna to skincare products. Now, major box retailers like Walmart and international food corporations Nestle and Dole are diving in head first. A recent report stated that companies in Western Europe alone are set to save $450 billion dollars in the next fifteen years with blockchain based supply chain solutions, with operating costs reduced almost 1% across the board. That’s a whole lotta tuna!

15. Art and music will take a lead in consumer-interfacing blockchain applications

Blockchain’s impact on art, music, and the creative space will be profound. In a 2014 report, The Fine Arts Expert Institute (FAEI) in Geneva stated that over 50% of artworks it had examined were either forged or not attributed to the correct artist. Blockchain can fix this now, and I’ve experienced it myself. This year, I purchased a work of art titled “The Human Way” by Vladimir Kush. The payment, certificate of authenticity, and ownership history were irrevocably recorded on the Ethereum blockchain with Treum. By this time next year, this process will be far more commonplace. And it’s not just provenance that makes the arts a prime field for blockchain implementation. Tokenized ownership and the establishment of equitable business models not beholden to gatekeepers have the attention of the art world already. Watch this space.

16. Proof of Work is dying while killing Earth. Long live Proof of Stake.

Retro gaming may be in vogue, but by the end of 2020, Proof of Work will be considered the Atari while we’re all getting used to the controls on the Proof of Stake Playstation. Vitalik Buterin and Ethereum were early adopters of the concept of Proof of Stake, and now there’s a whole industry of projects utilizing stake-based validators to uphold blockchain networks. The reason why is clear: Not only does it unlock the scalability trilemma in terms of speed and security, it is far less taxing on the Earth—y’know, the thing we’re trying to change with this whole decentralization movement anyway. Proof of Work is inherently wasteful, and what’s the point of revolutionizing economic systems if it means contributing to the destruction of the environment? It’s time to move forward.

17. Regulators gonna regulate

While the expectations of the blockchain and larger tech world may move fast, regulators and governments were built to move slowly. Digital assets have now moved out of a phase of distrust by legislative and regulatory institutions, and policy at both the agency and legislative level is aligning to unshackle the technology and streamline regulation. The most recent guidance from the IRS in October suggests that the US government acknowledges that virtual currencies will play a big part in the economy to come. Further, it is well known that the CFTC does not see Ether as a security. Wyoming’s leadership in this regard—with a total of 13 pro-blockchain laws—is behooving other states to catch up. And if there’s one thing that will provide an impetus for the federal government to move forward on the issue, it’s not being left behind by China. 2020 will see positive guidance on blockchain introduced at the state, national, and international level.

18. The unbanked remain unbanked — For now

Decentralized Finance is a remarkable phenomenon with major implications for both blockchain and global economies, but for the time being it will continue to fall short of the oft-repeated mantra and goal of ‘banking the unbanked’ via providing access to financial services to billions of people around the world who need it most. Why? As it stands, the lending community is insular, and issues around ‘reputation’ mean that those who need it most can’t access it. These will surely be ironed out over time, but for the duration of 2020, Decentralized Finance will continue to steadily grow in an enlarging, but closed circle. And that’s not a bad thing. Look at it this way: The sector is already approaching the billion dollar mark, and we’re still effectively in beta mode.

19. User Experience Will Have To Be Better Than Web2.0

Apple’s iPhone is the best selling phone ever because it’s simple and it works. That’s all the consumer needs to know. While many of us tech nerds get our jollies tinkering around the various layers of the Web3.0 stack, everything will need to be abstracted away for the typical Web3.0 user experience to appeal to the general populous. That’s why masterfully artistic UI/UX designers are as important to this industry right now as low layer distributed systems computer scientists.

But UX/UI isn’t just about clean lines and minimal design. From standards to libraries, toolkits, scaling solutions, onboarding, custody and wallet integration, there’s so much that has to be optimized beneath the screen to present that level of functional simplicity. Rimble is an example of an open-source library for creating improved user experiences for Web3.0 decentralized applications. Expect this to be a prime sector for development in 2020. While the first wave of decentralized consumer apps put blockchain front and center, the next will be led by projects that are more subtle and nuanced in the method of blockchain integration.

20. “If you’re going through hell… keep going” – Winston Churchill

The bubble and burst of cryptocurrency in 2017 was like an excessive frat house rager that led to a helluva hangover in 2018 and 2019. There are two types of bubbles, though. Some — like the housing crash of 2008 — leave behind debt encumbrances and waste, while others — like the dot.com bubble — establish foundational infrastructure and crystallize key organizations which go on to become a backbone of the industry. The crypto bubble is akin to the latter, and will lead to the real blockchain boom, one driven by utility, not speculation.

In the wake of crypto markets’ irrational exuberance in 2017 and equally irrational despondency in 2018, the core blockchain community of developers and technologists got to work, heads down, and focused on building infrastructure. Their labor is now bearing fruit. We’re at the crossroads of the next industrial revolution, and it begins in 2020. This progress towards global decentralization and automation will lead to the most prosperous society we’ve ever had.

Here’s to the roaring 20’s!

Andrew Keys is a managing partner of Digital Asset Risk Management Advisors (DARMA Capital), a digital asset investment fund. Previously, Andrew was head of global business development of ConsenSys, the largest software engineering firm in the world solely focused on creating blockchain solutions to build the future of the Internet. Jemayel Khawaja, Editorial Director at ConsenSys, aided in the research and writing of these predictions. This article is not intended as investment advice or solicitation. These are Andrew’s personal views and not that of DARMA Capital or ConsenSys.

Source: https://money.com/ethereum-bitcoin-blockchain-predictions/

ThreeD Capital $IDK.ca – #Crypto Today: #Bitcoin is ready for a massive bull’s run #crypto $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:10 AM on Wednesday, January 8th, 2020

SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin is ready for a massive bull’s run

Here’s what you need to know on Wednesday

Markets:

  • The BTC/USD is currently trading at $8,347 (+5.8% on a day-to-day basis). The coin has been moving within a strong bullish trend and hit a new 2020 high at $8,464.
  • The ETH/USD pair is currently trading at $144.7 (+1.18% on a day-to-day basis). The Ethereum retreated from the intraday high of $147.96; now, it is moving within a short-term bullish trend amid low volatility. 
  • XRP/USD settled at $0.2145 after a spike to $0.2255 on Tuesday. The coin is down 1.15% in recent 24 hours.
  • Among the 100 most important cryptocurrencies, the best of the day are Quant (QNT) $3.9 (+17.5%), Synthetix Network Token (SNX) $0.9973 (+13.57%) and Horizen (ZEN) $8.43 (+13.16%), The day’s losers are, Decentraland (MANA) $0.0335 (-8.5%), MaidSafeCoin (MAID) $0.0810 (-7.42%) and Komodo (KMD) $0.5434 (-5.92%).

Chart of the day:
BTC/USD, daily chart


Market:
 

  • Bitcoin (BTC) rallied to as high as $8,464 amid the escalation of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. While the correlation is not clear, many experts believe that Bitcoin is growing due to rising conflict between the United States and Iran as a push towards the recent high occurred amid the news that Iran had attacked US military bases in Iraq. 
  • Tether (USDT) market capitalization increased by $500 million on CoinMarketCap due to the rating adjustments; however, some experts believe that this development might have served as a buy signal for algo bots and set Bitcoin’s bullish ball rolling. BTC/USD started snowballing in a few hours after CoinMarketCap updated its Tether capitalization.
  • Cryptocurrencies may be an exciting concept, but they won’t threaten the dominant position of the US dollar, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief economist, Gita Gopinath. She believes that the technologies have not reduced the costs of moving between the currencies, which is the critical barrier on the way to overtaking USD. 

Industry:

  • Istanbul update implemented on Etheereum network at the end of 2019 increased the scalability of StarkEx protocol for centralized exchanges, StarkWare experts noted.

“StarkEx *measurements* (not approximations, nor estimates) break Ethereum’s scalability record post-Istanbul, with a 2000X improvement over Ethereum Layer-1: 9K trades/sec at 75 gas/trade (or 18K payments/sec) (1/5)”

  • Binance Charity Foundation launched a program aiming to help Australia mitigate the consequences of bushfire. The blockchain-based charity platform created by one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges invites everyone to participate in the program and donate funds to support Australia. Binance intends to donate $1 million.
  • Berlin-based bitcoin bank Bitwala included ether (ETH) to the list of available services. The bank allows customers buying ETH, the second-largest cryptocurrency asset by market capitalization, right from their current accounts. The company explained the decision by Ethereum’s significant role in decentralized finance (DeFi) movement,

Source: https://www.fxstreet.com/cryptocurrencies/news/crypto-today-bitcoin-is-ready-for-a-massive-bulls-run-202001080639

ThreeD Capital $IDK.ca – #Bitcoin 2020: The Bottom is In and Prices are About to Surge, Several Analysts Claim #crypto $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:47 AM on Tuesday, January 7th, 2020

SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.

Bitcoin 2020: The Bottom is In and Prices are About to Surge, Several Analysts Claim

  • Bitcoin corrected by over 50% from the 2019 high of $13,880.
  • With the retracement in the last six months, some analysts believe that the bottom is in.
  • The number one crypto is flashing accumulation signals convincing popular traders that the cryptocurrency has turned bullish in 2020.

Bitcoin may have started 2019 strong but ever since it posted a high of $13,880 in June, the top cryptocurrency has been correcting. It dropped to as low as $6,425 in December. At that point, bearish calls for a revisit to $5,000 levels were strong.

One analyst expecting bitcoin to drop to $5,000. | Source: Twitter

Those who have been waiting to buy below $6,000 have been left out. The digital gold is now trading above $7,000 and analysts are expecting bitcoin to leave this price area soon. Many see a base being formed, which can propel the number one cryptocurrency to greater heights early this year.

Analysts Claim Bitcoin Has Bottomed Out

After a weak second half of 2019, it appears that the worst is behind for the most dominant cryptocurrency. A number of widely-followed analysts on Twitter say that bitcoin is carving a bottom.

For instance, Faisal Sohail believes that the cryptocurrency has already tapped the bottom when it dropped to $6,475 in December. He believes that the digital asset will trade between $7,000 and $12,000 before the halving. ” alt=”” aria-hidden=”true” /> Bitcoin to start climbing before the May 2020 halving. | Source: Twitter

User Bitcoin Macro supports Faisal’s view. In an emphatic tweet, Bitcoin Macro exclaims that the bottom is already in. He also tells his followers not to get shaken out.

Majin, Crypto Twitter’s biggest bull, has also turned bullish after months of uncertainty. The liquidity game theorist believes bitcoin will take off and leave $7,000 behind.

Accumulation Pattern to Send Bitcoin Above $11,600

BTC has been range trading between $6,700 and $7,600 since November 20, 2019. That’s a $900 range over 45 days. To many analysts, this is a sign that a new base is being built to prepare bitcoin for the next leg up, hence, the call for a bottom.

Charles Edwards, head of digital investment firm Capriole, sees a potential accumulation pattern forming. More importantly, he believes that the bottom is already in. According to Edwards, his bias would be confirmed once bitcoin trades above $8,000.

Charles Edwards sees a Wyckoff accumulation pattern developing in bitcoin. | Source: Twitter

Edwards is not alone in seeing a pattern indicating that whales and other smart money investors are accumulating the largest cryptocurrency. Trader CryptoWolf also sees an accumulation pattern developing. His bias will be confirmed once the price goes above $8,090. A move above that level would also trigger the breakout from a large falling wedge.

CryptoWolf’s initial target is $9,550 and then $11,600.

Bitcoin needs to take out $8,090 to gain bullish momentum. | Source: Twitter

Traders Starting to Have a Rosy Outlook

With these signals, other traders are expressing their optimism on the prospects of the top cryptocurrency. The popular trader The Crypto Dog tweeted that he’s bullish on bitcoin.

It is not everyday that The Crypto Dog posts bullish tweets on bitcoin | Source: Twitter

The widely-followed Crypto Rand shares The Crypto Dog’s upbeat outlook on the dominant cryptocurrency. The Crypto Rand is also bullish on bitcoin | Source: Twitter

Is it a coincidence that the top analysts are tweeting bullish statements on bitcoin as the top cryptocurrency prints an accumulation pattern? Probably not. It’s very likely that these analysts are also seeing the bottom or base-building signals on the number one coin. If they’re right, then strap in. Bitcoin’s 2020 price action might start off with fireworks.

Source: https://www.ccn.com/bitcoin-2020-bottom-prices-about-to-surge/

ThreeD Capital Inc. $IDK.ca – Why 2020 will be a big year for #crypto $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 11:36 AM on Friday, January 3rd, 2020

SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.

Why 2020 will be a big year for crypto

  • 2020 is going to be a big year for crypto. 
  • The “Crypto Winter” of 2018/2019 flushed out much (but certainly not all) of the nonsense, and the market has significantly matured over the last few years.

In 2020, I expect accelerating crypto asset adoption, and key building blocks will come into place for crypto to achieve its long-term potential of revolutionizing how value is stored and transferred around the world. 

I think my 85 theses from ~7 months ago have aged pretty well. Here, I’ll focus on the 15 most impactful developments I expect to see in 2020.   

Institutional Investing 

  • The Global Macro Investors Come In

Ray Dalio clearly laid out the global macro thesis for crypto when he said:

“So, the big question worth pondering at this time is which investments will perform well in a reflationary environment accompanied by large liabilities coming due and with significant internal conflict between capitalists and socialists, as well as external conflicts. It is also a good time to ask what will be the next-best currency or storehold of wealth to have when most reserve currency central bankers want to devalue their currencies in a fiat currency system.”

Ray’s conclusion was to buy gold. In 2020, I believe large global macro hedge fund investors (potentially even Ray) will publicly take the position that bitcoin is a logical asset to hold if you believe this narrative.

  • Traditional Asset Managers Continue to Trickle In

I am very encouraged by the State Street survey indicating 94% of their clients hold digital assets or related products, and a survey of endowment funds in which 94% of them stated that they invested in crypto assets over the last year.

I expect these types of traditional asset managers to continue to show strong interest in crypto in 2020, but do not expect massive inflows from this segment. 

The primary reason for this is that portfolio manager incentives are not conducive to encouraging large crypto allocations.  Currently, crypto is still a non-consensus investment. If a portfolio manager gets behind investing in crypto, and it does well, they probably get a nice bonus (but not the types of payouts available to those investing their own money or 2/20 hedge funds); however, if it does poorly (or they lose money in an operational issue like an exchange hack), they get fired for losing client funds in “magical internet money.”

The portfolio manager who sticks with the consensus position of not taking a meaningful bet on crypto keeps their cushy job. Eventually, I believe the consensus will shift to the position that crypto has a role to play in a diversified portfolio, but not this year.  

Retail Investing 

  • Bitcoin Derivatives Trading Grows, Altcoin Trading Shrinks

For active retail traders looking for quick gains, long-tail altcoin trading was once the place to find the volatility and potential they sought.

Now, with altcoins down 90%+ from highs, active traders are increasingly moving to leveraged bitcoin derivatives trading, which offers the volatility they seek, in an asset that is not on its way to zero. 

I expect volumes on U.S. regulated crypto derivatives exchanges (e.g., CME, Bakkt) to grow strongly, but the center of activity this space will continue to come from exchanges that cater to non-U.S. retail traders (BitMEX and the like).

  • Stats Get Stacked (and Earn Interest)

While derivatives are great for active traders, the more important developments for those accumulating crypto are those that enable them to easily grow their holdings.

In 2020, this will happen in two ways: 1) The ability to earn crypto for retail activity will accelerate as more ecommerce and payment companies integrate this into their offerings, and 2) Crypto holdings will increasingly migrate to places where they earn interest, such as BlockFi, Celsius, and Voyager. 

  • Automated Tax-Loss Harvesting Becomes Available

Crypto taxes are a disaster not only due to the horrendous reporting from many exchanges but also because investors are missing out on the ability to significantly reduce their taxes via automated tax-loss harvesting.

Personal Capital and robo-advisors made tax-loss harvesting mainstream for traditional assets, and in 2020, this will finally come to crypto (along with better tax reporting).  

Market Structure

  • Fewer Exchanges, More Brokerages

The number of crypto exchanges exploded over the last few years. In 2020, I expect this to rationalize. Exchanges are inherently network effect businesses (liquidity begets liquidity), and smaller players will fall behind, and either be acquired, fold, or pivot their business models.

I expect those that excel at acquiring and servicing customers will become brokerages and source their liquidity from other exchanges or large liquidity providers.  

  • Use of Third-Party Custodians Increases

Exchanges and brokerages will increasingly use third-party custodians as they focus on their core competencies. This will make the market safer (as assets are custodied with best-in-class providers) and will eventually increase capital efficiency, as assets held at major custodians will provide buying power across multiple exchanges.  

The emergence of instant crypto settlement solutions (think Silvergate Exchange Network for crypto) from large crypto custodians will also be a major development in 2020, and further increase the utility of market participants holding their assets with these custodians.

  • Crypto Friendly Banks Scale 

Obtaining fiat banking accounts and payment services has been, and will continue to be, one of the biggest issues for crypto companies. Around the world, large risk adverse banks will continue to shy away from banking the crypto industry, providing an opening for new entrants and smaller players to fill the gap as technology-driven intermediaries, or full-stack de novo banks. In 2020, I expect some new entrants to run into significant issues with regulators, while those that are able to navigate regulatory pressures will scale impressively.    

  • Lending Market Grows

The crypto lending/borrowing market flourished in 2019, let by companies such as Genesis, BlockFi, and Celsius.

I expect volumes will continue to significantly expand in 2020 across several vectors: 1) Traders borrowing crypto to short and overcome capital inefficiencies, 2) Investors borrowing dollars using their crypto as collateral (much more tax efficient then selling), and 3) Crypto companies becoming de facto banks by taking stablecoin deposits and making stablecoin loans. 

  • Counterparty Risk Flares Up

The counterparty risks from holding assets with exchanges (e.g., hacks) and payment processors (e.g., Bitfinex / Crypto Capital debacle) have been the most notable to date.

This year, counterparty risk from defaults by uncollateralized crypto borrowers and from direct counterparties failing to deliver on trades (i.e., Herstatt Risk) could also come to light if we see significant downside volatility. 

These are likely to be smaller flare-ups vs. systematic blow-ups and will help the market mature as market participants become more discerning in selecting counterparties and using solutions to minimize these risks. 

Stablecoins

  • USD Stablecoin Market Cap and Volumes Accelerate

Tether’s remarkable resilience has demonstrated insatiable demand by market participants not directly served by U.S. banks to have USD denominated accounts to settle trades and store value. Despite significant regulatory uncertainty, I expect Tether’s market cap to continue to continue to grow in 2020. 

The regulated fiat-backed USD stablecoin market (USDC, TUSD, PAX) will experience huge growth rates (off a relatively small base) as they become the money transfer rail for use cases the need a solution that 1) is regulated and 2) runs on a open network (anyone with a crypto wallet can send/receive).

This will be a compelling position that sits between the Silvergate Exchange Network (regulated + closed network) and Tether (unregulated + open network).

  • International Stablecoins Grow

I expect stablecoins for many other major currencies will also start to gain traction as a regulated, open money movement rail for those currencies. 

Longer term, things get really interesting as liquid markets develop between stablecoins of various currencies and provide a 24/7, global, highly efficient FX market that is accessible to everyone (and sidesteps the correspondent banking system). Eventually, I expect the market cap of stablecoins will surpass that of bitcoin. 

  • Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) Remain Mostly Conceptual

Most contemplated CBDCs are significantly different than stablecoins such as USDC. With CBDCs, the recordkeeping of the value owned by individuals and businesses is centralized with a central bank. There are only a few situations where a central bank / government is likely to take over this recordkeeping function (e.g., China).

I do not expect any major CBDCs to be launched in 2020 (other than small scale PoCs) but do expect significant developments in 2021 and beyond. 

Emerging Markets Usage

  • Emerging Market Adoption Continues to Grow

The adoption of crypto assets in markets with hyperinflation has grown significantly and will continue to do so. The interesting question will be if bitcoin or stablecoins emerge as the primary winner in these regions.

My heart hopes that it’s bitcoin, but my head says it will be stablecoins. 

DeFi

  • Impressive Innovation, Little Adoption

The most innovative developments in crypto continue to be in DeFi (decentralized lending, derivatives, exchange, prediction markets, etc.), but 2020 breakout growth in this area is highly unlikely.

Currently, these solutions simply do not solve problems better than centralized options, and each of the smart contract platforms have issues that will complicate adoption (with ETH it is the complexity of their development roadmap).

Bullish on DeFi long-term, but not this year.

Source: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/51876/why-2020-will-be-a-big-year-for-crypto

ThreeD Capital Inc. $IDK.ca – #Bitcoin demand is strong affirms prominent #crypto-trader $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 11:26 AM on Monday, December 30th, 2019

SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.

Bitcoin demand is strong affirms prominent crypto-trader

By: Manu Naik

In a recent thread on Twitter, popular cryptocurrency trader, Scott Melker, posted his findings on analyzing candle wicks on the monthly Bitcoin charts.

Wicks usually show the extent to which an asset’s price fluctuated between the open and close of the candle’s time frame. Long upper wicks near a peak indicate market participants are trying to sell as high as possible, increasing selling pressure and driving the price down. Long lower wicks near a valley, however, show traders are looking to buy at the lowest price possible, increasing buying pressure and driving the price up.

Source: @scottmelker on Twitter

Melker, who goes by ‘The Wolf of All Streets’ on Twitter, noted that since May, when BTC nearly touched $14,000, the successive monthly candles’ upper wicks have been receding in length, becoming shorter and shorter toward October.

In a similar fashion, he pointed out how the monthly candles after October showed increasing lengths in their lower wicks, with the month of October itself showing a balance in length between upper and lower candle wicks. According to Melker, this indicated strong BTC selling pressure during the rally earlier this year, as well as stronger buying on dips.

Source: @scottmelker on Twitter

Additionally, Melker affirmed his hypothesis that demand is strong by drawing attention to the previous week’s swing failure pattern. Further, he claimed that BTC‘s last weekly candle’s wick crossing under the last swing’s low indicated the “price was pushed down to fit orders — engineered liquidity.”

Source: BTCUSD on TradingView

While not a flawless basis on which to expect a bull market, a look at the historical data for Bitcoin‘s weekly price shows candles with long wicks have tended to precede considerable movement in BTC value. As the market looks to buy at lower and lower levels, it seems likely that sellers will continue to prop the price up higher and higher, possibly leading to a gradual rise in Bitcoin value over the coming weeks and months.

Source: https://eng.ambcrypto.com/bitcoin-demand-is-strong-affirms-prominent-crypto-trader/

ThreeD Capital Inc. $IDK.ca Announces Completion of Private Placement with St-Georges Eco-Mining $SX $SX.ca $SXOOF #Bitcoin #Ethereum $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 5:26 PM on Monday, December 23rd, 2019
  • Announce that it has acquired 3,000,000 units of St-Georges Eco-Mining Corp. at a price of $0.10 per Unit
  • In consideration, the Company has issued an aggregate of 5,000,000 common shares of the Company at a deemed price of $0.05 per common share and made a cash payment in the amount of $50,000.

TORONTO, Dec. 23, 2019 – ThreeD Capital Inc. (the “Company”) (CSE:IDK), a Canadian-based venture capital firm focused on investments in promising, early stage companies and ICOs with disruptive capabilities, is pleased to announce that it has acquired 3,000,000 units (the “Units”) of St-Georges Eco-Mining Corp. (“St-Georges”) at a price of $0.10 per Unit. In consideration, the Company has issued an aggregate of 5,000,000 common shares of the Company at a deemed price of $0.05 per common share (the “Offering”) and made a cash payment in the amount of $50,000. Each Unit of St-Georges consists of one common share (the “Share”) of St-Georges and one share purchase warrant (the “Warrant”) of St-Georges, with each Warrant being exercisable to acquire one additional Share at an exercise price of C$0.185 for a period of 9 months following the date of issuance.

“ThreeD is very pleased to deepen its relationship with St-Georges,” said ThreeD Capital’s Founder, Chairman and CEO Sheldon Inwentash.

“We are pleased to have the continuous support of ThreeD in our financing efforts. The company has been a supportive partner helping us expand our different business silos and making valuable introductions,” commented Mark Billings, Chairman of St-Georges.

All securities issued and issuable in connection with the Offering are subject to a statutory hold period expiring on April 24, 2020.

About ThreeD Capital Inc.

ThreeD is a publicly-traded Canadian-based venture capital firm focused on opportunistic investments in companies in the Junior Resources, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain sectors. ThreeD seeks to invest in early stage, promising companies and ICOs where it may be the lead investor and can additionally provide investees with advisory services, mentoring and access to the Company’s ecosystem.

For further information:
Gerry Feldman, CPA, CA
Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary
[email protected]
Phone: 416-941-8900 ext 106