Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:51 AM on Thursday, January 23rd, 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.
BTC/USD is currently trading at $8,650 (+0.40%) in the afternoon in U.S. hours, the range continues to tighten, ahead of next explosive breakout. Â
ETH/USD is currently trading at $168.25 (+0.30%), there is a lack of committed direction for now following the big pump last week. Â
XRP/USD is
currently trading at $0.2360 (+1.30%), price action remains very much
narrow. The range to the upside of $0.2500 to the downside $0.2300.
Among the 100 most important cryptocurrencies, the best of the day
are GNT $0.043133 (+28.95%), KMD $0.712816 (+15.49%) and SXP $1.72
(+11.27%) and The day’s losers are BCN $0.000272 (-12.50%), CENNZ
$0.55991 (-11.49%) and BCD $0.588775 (-4.30%).
Chart of the day: BCH/USD weekly chart (price action moving within a bullish pennant pattern)
Market
Vitalik Buterin believes that Ethereum Classic can be merged into
Ethereum 2.0 in the same way as a new shard-like ETH’s current Proof of
Work (PoW) chain will be integrated.
Blockchain payments processor BitPay has added support for XRP, the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. XRP has been integrated on BitPay’s platform via Ripple’s open developer platform, Xpring.
Regulation
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), has
created a Blockchain Expert Policy Advisory Board (BEPAB) to make it
easier for governments and other stakeholders to tap the benefits of
distributed ledger technology (DLT). BEPAB is made up of several heavy
hitters in the blockchain space, including IBM, R3, and ConsenSys.
Industry
British telecom giant Vodafone has become the latest member to leave the Libra Association.
The original consortium of 28 members supporting Facebook’s ambitious
digital currency project has only left with 20 participants.
Huobi Group has announced the launch of Huobi Brokerage, a digital
asset brokerage platform, during the annual Davos forum. As the global
blockchain company’s first brokerage solution, Huobi Brokerage will
provide digital asset trading products and services to institutional
clients and high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs).
Binance has announced the launch of its Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Merchant
Program. The P2P program will allow merchants to provide fiat currency
payment solutions to people around the world and earn revenue, according
to a blog post.
The Blockchain Association has filed an amicus curiae brief in
response to litigation against Telegram initiated by the United States
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The Blockchain Association, a collective of advocates involved with
the blockchain industry, filed an amicus curiae brief with the court of
the Southern District of New York on Jan. 21.
According to a former executive from the Bank of Japan, who made a
statement on Wednesday, major central banks started to set up study
groups into crypto shortly after Facebook’s threat was made clear.
Quote of the day
The biggest barrier to Bitcoin adoption is the lack of understanding about what money is and how it works.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 11:21 AM on Wednesday, January 22nd, 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.
Square’s Crypto Division Finally Releases Details of First Bitcoin Product
Last year, Jack Dorsey — the chief executive of both Square and Twitter — began to openly shill Bitcoin in a number of public channels.
Naturally, his love for Bitcoin extended into his companies, with Square announcing a new division called Square Crypto in 2019.
For instance, on the Joe Rogan Podcast, he revealed that he thinks
the cryptocurrency will become a native currency of the Internet, and
during an official earnings call for his fintech company Square, he took
some time to tout his love for Bitcoin.
Naturally, his love for Bitcoin extended into his companies, with Square announcing a new division called Square Crypto in 2019.
Dorsey’s premise was that someone told him the most important thing
he could do for Bitcoin is to “make the broader crypto ecosystem
better,†hence the creation of this new division to do “what’s best for
the crypto community and individual economic empowerment.â€
#BitcoinTwitter and #CryptoTwitter!
Square is hiring 3-4 crypto engineers and 1 designer to work full-time
on open source contributions to the bitcoin/crypto ecosystem. Work from
anywhere, report directly to me, and we can even pay you in bitcoin!
Introducing @SqCrypto. Why?
The team leader, a former senior employee at Google, did mention
products meant to improve the usability of Bitcoin as a day-to-day form
of money but was slow to elucidate any ventures it was eyeing.
But today, we got our answer.
Square Crypto Unveils First Product, a Bitcoin Lightning Network Developer Kit
This is kind of like a traditional software development kit (SDK) but
focused on the Lightning Network, a second-layer scaling solution that
effectively migrates some transactions off the main chain to allow for
lightning-fast, effectively free, and cross-chain transfers.
We’ve got the team. We’ve got the mission. We’ve got hit or miss
tweets. And now it’s time to talk about what we’re building: Introducing
the Lightning Development Kit, or LDK. https://t.co/o73cJy7Cur
The LDK, the post indicates, will allow wallet developers to create
“custom†integrations of the Network in an “easy, safe, and configurable
way†through an API, demo apps, and other technical tools.
As to what exactly the LDK can be used for, at least from a top-down perspective, Square Crypto gave three examples:
1) Adding Lightning capabilities to existing bitcoin wallets — no
need to create a separate wallet just for Lightning. 2) Supporting
multi-device, multi-application access to a single wallet. 3) Allowing
wallets to make UX/security/privacy tradeoffs such as external
transaction signing and customizing their state backup to a cloud
service.
Essentially, it should make the integration of the Lightning Network
into existing or up-and-coming cryptocurrency software much easier than
it is, and should, therefore, increase the adoption of the scaling
solution with ample time.
It’s kind of like a shoehorn, but with the shoe being Bitcoin software and the foot being the Lightning Network…
Very Good Timing
The release of the LDK comes at a very good time, with the Lightning
Network once again entering the minds of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency
enthusiasts.
Per previous reports from Blockonomi, Bitcoin proponent Hodlonaut has started what is known as the Lightning Network Trust Chain for the second time.
Last time, this challenge, which sees individuals use the Lightning
Network and large BTC transactions to create a link between Twitter
accounts, gained much steam. Dorsey and LinkedIn and Microsoft board
member Reid Hoffman participated in the Chain, amongst other prominent
members of the community.
And as a result, the Lightning Network saw a flurry of growth, with
the capacity of the Network nearly doubling in value during the time the
chain was being formed.
With the arrival of the second Trust Chain and Square Crypto’s new
Lightning Network kit, this Bitcoin scaling solution could see a
micro-renaissance, so to say.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:45 AM on Tuesday, January 21st, 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’s 2020 Rally; Financial Advisors Opening Clients’ Doors To Crypto
Get Forbes’ top crypto and blockchain stories delivered to your inbox every week for the latest news on bitcoin, other major cryptocurrencies and enterprise blockchain adoption.
The digital asset has been following a broad, upward trend all week, pushing higher after reaching a 2020 low of $6,852 on January 3.
Some market observers have cited hopes the cryptocurrency will enjoy greater adoption in 2020 when explaining these gains. Others have pointed to anticipation surrounding the upcoming halving, scheduled to take place in May, as another factor in bitcoin’s recent push higher.
Plus, why is bitcoin driving altcoins higher? The short answer: beta. Read more here.
FINANCIAL ADVISORS CONSIDER CRYPTO
According to a new survey of more than 400 financial advisors
conducted by cryptocurrency investment firms Bitwise and ETF Trends, 13% of advisors are now allocating crypto for their clients. That’s more than double the 6% of advisors that were allocating crypto in 2019.
The number one factor driving that uptick? Crypto returns. Of the financial advisors polled, 54% cited that as the reason to allocate more investment dollars to digital currency.
According to Bitwise managing director and head of research Matt
Hougan, financial advisors are opening their clients’ doors to crypto by
either acting in an advisory role—showing clients how
to purchase crypto in a secure and safe environment—investing in the
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, which trades over-the-counter, or purchasing
shares in private funds that provide access to cryptocurrency.
GRAYSCALE’S RECORD YEAR
Bitcoin and cryptocurrency asset manager Grayscale revealed inflows of $600 million in 2019, more than 2013 through 2018 combined, after its best quarter on record. $147 million of last year’s investments came from new clients—24% of the total.
“If the persistent question is ‘where are the institutional investors in crypto?’ the answer is that they’re here and showing up in a meaningful size,” Michael Sonnenshein, managing director at Grayscale, said on the sidelines of the Crypto Finance Conference in Switzerland.
“With 71% of assets raised in Grayscale products during 2019 coming
from institutions, we now have empirical data that this is part of a
longer term trend—one that we have no reason to believe won’t be
sustained into 2020.”
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:36 AM on Monday, January 20th, 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 Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers
By: Bob Mason
A bullish start to the day saw Bitcoin rally to an early morning intraday high $9,169.5.
Bitcoin broke through the first major resistance level at $8,974.03 and second major resistance level at $9,056.47 before hitting reverse.
The reversal saw Bitcoin fall through the major support levels to a late morning intraday low $8,450.0.
Finding support in the 2nd half of the day, Bitcoin struck $8,750 levels late on before easing back.
Bitcoin broke back through the third major support level at $8,534.77
and the second major support level at $8,708.67 before easing back to
sub-$8,700 levels.
The near-term bearish trend, formed at late June’s swing hi
$13,764.0, remained firmly intact, in spite of the gain for the week.
For the bulls, Bitcoin would need to break out from $11,000 levels to form a near-term bullish trend.
The Rest of the Pack
Across the rest of the top 10 cryptos, it was a mixed day for the majors.
Bitcoin Cash SV bucked the trend, rallying by 12.14%.
It was particularly bearish for the rest of the pack, with Tron’s TRX
(-5.93%) and EOS (-4.82%), Litecoin (-4.48%), and Ethereum (-4.19%)
leading the way down.
Binance Coin (-2.31%), Monero’s XMR (-2.91%), Ripple’s XRP (-2.98%), also struggled on the day.
Bitcoin Cash ACB and Stellar’s Lumen saw modest losses of 0.56% and 1.87% respectively.
While it was another mixed bag on Sunday, it was a bullish week for the crypto majors.
Bitcoin Cash SV led the way, rallying by 70.17%, with Bitcoin Cash
ABC and Stellar’s Lumen up by 24.77% and by 22.77% respectively.
Whilst the rest of the majors saw more modest gains, it was double-digit gains across the board.
Through the current week, the crypto total market cap rallied from a
Monday low $215.38 to a Sunday week high $250.2bn. At the time of
writing, the total market cap stood at $238.72bn.
Bitcoin’s dominance held onto 66% levels following the bearish
Sunday. Trading volumes continued to ease back from $177bn levels hit in
the early part of the week. At the time of writing, 24-hr volumes stood
at $123.19bn.
This Morning
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up by just 0.03% to $8,701.4. A
mixed start to the day saw Bitcoin rise from an early morning low
$8,698.6 to a high $8,720.0.
Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.
Elsewhere, it was yet another mixed start to the day for the crypto top 10.
Bitcoin Cash ABC (+0.80%), Monero’s XMR (+0.18%), and Tron’s TRX (+0.55%) joined Bitcoin in the green.
It was a bearish start for the rest, with Bitcoin Cash SV falling by 1.76% to lead the way down.
For the Bitcoin Day Ahead
Bitcoin would need to move through to $8,780 levels to support a run at the first major resistance level at $9,095.47.
Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Bitcoin to break back through to $9,000 levels.
Barring a broad-based extended crypto rally on the day, the first major resistance would likely limit any upside.
In the event of another breakout, Bitcoin could visit $9,200 levels
before any pullback. We would expect Bitcoin to come up short of the
second major resistance level at $9,492.23 on the day.
Failure to move through to $8,780 levels could see Bitcoin hit reverse.
A fall back through Sunday’s low $8,450.0 would bring the first major support level at $8,375.97 into play.
Barring another crypto meltdown, however, Bitcoin should steer clear of the second major support level at $8,053.23.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:00 PM on Sunday, January 19th, 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.
2020 has so far been particularly positive for Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency market. Starting the year at around $7,100, BTC currently trades at almost $9,000, charting notable increases throughout the entire week.Â
2020 has so far been particularly
positive for Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency market. Starting
the year at around $7,100, BTC currently trades at almost $9,000,
charting notable increases throughout the entire week.
In the past 24 hours alone, Bitcoin
gained another 3% to its value, increasing from around $8,650 to about
$9,000 from where it retraced a bit and it currently trades at $8,900.
BTC/USD. Source: TradingView
Bitcoin’s total market capitalization
has increased to $162 billion. However, its dominance has sized down to
66.1%, meaning that altcoins have managed to recover and to claim new
grounds.
Indeed, looking at how other
cryptocurrencies besides Bitcoin performed, it’s rather clear that they
are flourishing. All of the projects from the top 20 are in the green,
charting serious gains throughout the entire week. The past 24 hours are
no exception.
Bitcoin SV is once again one of the
best-performing altcoins, increasing by 10% throughout the past 24
hours. Others who marked serious gains include Binance Coin (9.14%),
EOS, (8.84%), Bitcoin Cash (7.8%), and so forth.
$3.2 Million ETH Stolen From UPbit Is Already Laundered: Report Claims. Following
the hack of UPbit which took place in November 2019, it now becomes
clear that $3.2 million from the stolen cryptocurrency has already been
laundered. The report also claims that this happened by using small transactions in a lot of different exchanges.
YouTube Crypto Purge Is Back: Popular YouTuber Davinci Reports He’d Been Blocked From Streaming. Despite issuing a formal apology and saying that the cryptocurrency purge has been a mistake, it appears that YouTube is taking
a charge at content creators once again. Popular cryptocurrency
YouTuber Davinci has said that his channel has been flagged and that he
has been blocked from streaming.
Craig Wright’s Defamation Case Against Hodlnaut Reportedly Dismissed By UK’s High Court. Self-proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto, Craig Wright, has reportedly seen his defamation case against popular Twitter user Hodlnaut dismissed. The merit for the order is the is lack of jurisdiction but the case will supposedly continue in Norway.
Significant Daily Gainers and Losers
Ethereum Classic (31.45%)
Ethereum Classic (ETC) is undoubtedly
the most significant daily gainer throughout the past 24 hours, at the
time of this writing. Up 31.45% so far, ETC stands at a price of $10 and
a total market capitalization of about $1.1 billion. More
interestingly, ETC saw a surge in its 24-hour trading volume which is
now more than $3.2 billion.
MonaCoin (24.72%)
MonaCoin is another altcoin that
managed to impress in today’s trading session. It’s up about 24 percent
in the past day alone, bringing its price to $1.22 at the time of this
writing. MonaCoin now sits on a market cap of about $80 million and is
the 61st largest cryptocurrency. In terms of 24-hour trading volume,
MonaCoin stands at about $21 million.
Swipe (-11.83%)
Unfortunately, not all altcoins
managed to increase with the rest of the market. Swipe is down about
11.8% and its price reduced to $1.30. The cryptocurrency stands on a
total market cap of about $79 million and saw a trading volume of $14
million in the past 24 hours.
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
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.
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.â€
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.â€
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).
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
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.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:45 AM on Monday, January 13th, 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.
This Chart Shows the Crypto Market Is On Verge of Bull Phase
Murad Mahmudov, CIO of Bitcoin fund Adaptive Capital, recently drew attention to a textbook chart that applies to any financial market — including crypto — which shows what trends in an asset’s volume, open interest, and price means for said asset’s future trajectory.
Over the past seven months, analysts have been wondering when the crypto market is going to revert back to a bull phase.
You see, when Bitcoin started rallying from $4,000 higher in
early-2019, analysts and investors thought this was the start of a new
bullish paradigm for the cryptocurrency market. But, they were sorely
mistaken when BTC fell by 50% from its peak and crypto assets like Ethereum and XRP actually posted losses on the year.
Per a simple tried-and-true chart depicting trends in markets, the
crypto market is likely on the verge of entering its next bull phase.
Here’s more on why.
Crypto Market About to Enter Bull Phase
Murad Mahmudov, CIO of Bitcoin fund Adaptive Capital, recently drew attention
to a textbook chart that applies to any financial market — including
crypto — which shows what trends in an asset’s volume, open interest,
and price means for said asset’s future trajectory.
The chart shows that the most optimistic scenario for any market is
if the asset’s price, volume, and open interest for its futures market
rise in tandem, suggesting “strength,†“bullish†price action, and an
overall trend of prices rising.
And what do you know! Bitcoin, over the past few weeks, has seen its
price, volume, and open interest increase all at once, showing
effectively no signs of weakness. This suggests the crypto market is on
the verge of entering into a serious uptrend for the first time in
months.
Related Reading: Key Bitcoin Sell Signal Flashes: Here’s Why Analysts Aren’t Concerned
Notably, there is a bull case for Bitcoin rapidly building. For
instance, the Lucid Stop and Reversal indicator, which “signals a stop
and an entry in the opposite direction†when it reverses, just printed
an extremely bullish signal. The indicator shows that Bitcoin just saw its first buy signal since March 2019, with the trend as defined by the SAR turning bullish.
On the fundamental side of things, Bitcoin is now four or so months out from its next block reward reduction, known as a “halvingâ€
or “halvening.†Prominent investors, including former Goldman Sachs
employees, have suggested that this event will affect BTC’s
supply-demand dynamics in a way that will push prices dramatically
higher.
With Bitcoin leading the rest of the crypto market, any strong
increases in the price of BTC should lead to similar price action for
altcoins. Of course, there is a growing expectation that altcoins will underperform the market leader, but a strong uptrend in BTC shouldn’t do anything but help the rest of the crypto market higher.
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.â€
In a blog post, the IMF said today’s fiat currencies are in flux “and innovation will transform the landscape of banking and money.â€
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.â€
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.â€
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.
