PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD
- BTC ($3,555): -13% / -73%
- ETH ($95): -17% / -87%
- LTC ($26): -24% / -88%
- XRP ($0.32): -14% / -83%
- Crypto Market Cap ($115B): -14% / -81%
- BTC Dominance: 55%
THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO
- Coinbase announced a major expansion that could see the US-based
exchange list up to 30 new tokens. The company said it is considering
supporting Ripple's XRP, EOS (the Ethereum challenger that raised $4
billion in its ICO), Stellar (started by a Ripple co-founder), Kin (chat
app Kik's token), and more. Coinbase currently offers support for nine
tokens: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, Zcash,
USD Coin, 0x, and Basic Attention Token. Link
https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/07/coinbase-dabbles-in-shitcoins/.
- Coinbase announced it was adding more ERC20 tokens to its trading
platform. Following recent launches of 0x (ZRX), Basic Attention Token
(BAT), and the USDC stablecoin (USD Coin), Coinbase announced support for
Civic (CVC), district0x (DNT), Loom Network (LOOM), and Decentraland (MANA)
on Coinbase Pro. Link
https://blog.coinbase.com/erc20-tokens-civic-cvc-district0x-dnt-loom-network-loom-and-decentraland-mana-are-b1af2f53d92b
.
- The massive decline in cryptocurrency prices this year has led to many
crypto startups closing their doors or laying off staff. Many of the
companies are suffering because they kept a portion of their funds in
digital assets like bitcoin and ether. When token prices collapsed this
year by more than 90 percent in some cases, and the value of bitcoin and
ether in their digital wallets thinned out, many developers found they
couldn't raise additional funding. Companies who have suffered include
ETCDEV, the startup that led development on Ethereum Classic, who announced
it was shuttering operations due to a funding crunch. Adult entertainment
site SpankChain also faced a cash crunch, which forced it to downsize its
team from 12 to 8 people recently. Link
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-06/crypto-market-crash-is-causing-startups-to-shutter-operations
.
- Presto, a South Korean blockchain startup, plans to file a
constitutional appeal against the country's ICO ban, claiming it violates
the rights of the people. South Korea's financial regulatory prohibited
ICOs in September 2017. Link
https://www.theblockcrypto.com/tiny/south-korean-startup-to-file-constitutional-appeal-against-the-countrys-ico-ban/
.
- Infura, one of the ethereum's most popular and controversial
technologies, handles around 13 billion code requests per day and provides
a way for developers to connect to ethereum without having to run a full
node. Exact usage stats of the of the service are not public, but it is
said to underpin the majority of decentralized applications in the ethereum
ecosystem. Infura is operated by a single provider - ethereum development
studio ConsenSys - and relies on cloud servers hosted by Amazon. Developers
are becoming increasingly concerned that the service represents a single
point of failure for the entire network. Link
https://www.coindesk.com/the-race-is-on-to-replace-ethereums-most-centralized-layer
.
- Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), one of the top
five hospitals in the US, are collaborating with Korean blockchain startup
MediBloc in an effort to find better ways to store and share patient data.
MediBloc is developing a distributing ledger for storing and sharing
medical data, and is also working on a tool that would convert data now
held by hospitals from existing formats to a universal one. Link
https://www.coindesk.com/a-top-5-us-hospital-is-exploring-blockchain-for-patient-data
.
- Venezuelan President Maduro announced that Venezuela would sell oil
for Petro tokens instead of US dollars by next March. President Maduro has
been looking to amplify cryptoassets in the industry to minimize national
and international dependence on the dollar. The new national currency is
pegged to the Petro token, and is part of Maduro's six year economic plan
to mitigate the devastating impact of US-led sanctions on Venezuela. The
country began selling Petros to citizens in October via a government
system. Link
https://www.coindesk.com/venezuela-to-sell-oil-for-petro-cryptocurrency-in-2019-says-madurohttps://www.coindesk.com/venezuela-to-sell-oil-for-petro-cryptocurrency-in-2019-says-maduro
.
- ConsenSys, the Ethereum development studio founded by Ethereum
co-creator Joe Lubin, announced it was laying off 13 percent of its
workforce as part of its "refocusing of priorities". Before the
restructuring, ConsenSys had over 1,200 staff working on over 50 projects.
The studio has now shifted its business approach to focus on sustainable
projects while suspending unproductive ones. Blockstream CSO Samson Mow
responded to the news on Twitter announcing that Blockstream had doubled
its size in 2018. Link
https://smartereum.com/45110/consensys-lays-off-13-of-staff-as-it-restructures/
.
- Crypto custody solution provider Trustology announced it had raised $8
million from venture firm Two Sigma and Ethereum development studio
ConSensys. Trustology is known for developing the TrustVault, a service
that safeguards private keys by keeping them in "tamper proof, programmable
hardware security modules hosted in secure data centers, with encrypted
backups in the cloud." Link
https://www.ccn.com/crypto-custody-startup-raises-8-million-from-consensys-two-sigma-ventures/
.
Gemini, the crypto exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins, announced
it would begin accepting bitcoin cash deposits. Bitcoin cash is the fifth
cryptocurrency added to Gemini's exchange, joining bitcoin, ether,
litecoin, and zcash. Gemini will only provide support for the Bitcoin ABC
network, which the exchange will refer to as bitcoin cash. Link
https://medium.com/gemini/bitcoin-cash-is-now-available-on-gemini-cc75299d892f
.
- Crypto trading platform ErisX closed a $27.5 million Series B with
participation from Bitmain, ConsenSys, Fidelity Investments, Nasdaq
Ventures, DCG, Pantera Capital, and Valor Equity. The company aims to be a
Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulated futures market and
clearinghouse. ErisX plans to launch spot contracts sometime in Q2 of 2019,
with futures contracts following in the second half of the year. Link
https://www.coindesk.com/fidelity-bitmain-and-more-invest-27-million-in-crypto-trading-platform-erisx
.
- UnitedCorp launched a suit against Bitmain, Bitcoin.com
http://bitcoin.com/, Roger Ver, Kraken, and others alleging they
illegally manipulating the market for personal gain. The The suit claims
that bitcoin.com and Bitmain hijacked the Bitcoin Cash network,
especially by dedicating mining power to the Bitcoin ABC chain. Link
https://www.coindesk.com/mining-firm-claims-bitcoin-abc-proponents-hijacked-bitcoin-cash
.
- Mastercard filed a patent application for a system of conducting
transactions over a blockchain which would obfuscate both the point of
origin and the amount being transacted - this new system would enable
crypto transactions to remain private. The system would work by using an
intermediate address during a transaction that interacts with the public
key, allowing wallets and transaction amounts to stay anonymous. Link
https://www.coindesk.com/mastercard-patent-filing-outlines-way-to-anonymize-crypto-transactions
.
- Crypto custody startup BitGo hired Richard Corcoran as CEO of BitGo
Trust Company, BitGo's institutional custodian that works with hedge funds,
family offices and mutual funds. Richard Corcoran had retired in 2016 after
25 years leading the trust department at First National Bank. Link
https://www.coindesk.com/bitgo-brings-banker-out-of-retirement-to-lead-institutional-crypto-custody
.
- The Department of Homeland Security's Small Business Innovation
Research Program (SBIR) released documents showing that the US government
is looking for ways to utilize blockchain forensic analytics for
privacy-centric cryptocurrencies such as Zcash and Monero. SBIR wants to
design a blockchain analysis ecosystem so it could forensically analyze
transactions on Zcash and Monero for homeland security and law enforcement
applications. Analytics could also help financial institutions enforce KYC
and AML compliance. Link
https://www.theblockcrypto.com/tiny/u-s-government-wants-to-research-ways-to-perform-forensic-analysis-of-monero-and-zcash/
.
- JumpStart, an Ohio-based accelerator, announced plans to invest over
$100 million into blockchain startups based in Ohio. Other investment teams
plan to invest as much as $200 million over the next three years for
blockchain startups that take advantage of Ohio's "Opportunity Zones,"
which provide tax incentives for businesses that invest in poor
neighborhoods. Link
https://www.cleveland.com/news/2018/12/jumpstart-flashstarts-announce-millions-of-dollars-in-funding-for-blockchain-startups.html
.