April Weekly Recap 2

April 7th - April 13th, 2020

Welcome to our 2nd weekly recap for April.

Overview

Crypto News

- CRYPTO TRADING VOLUME RISES IN INDIA
On March 4, India’s highest court quashed a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) order dated April 6, 2018, which prohibited banks from providing services to entities dealing with cryptocurrencies. Activity on exchanges immediately picked up.

The activity on exchanges further improved after Yes Bank, India’s fourth-largest lender, collapsed on March 6, damaging confidence in the country’s banking system.

The nationwide panic triggered by the Yes Bank crisis worked in favor of bitcoin, boosting Cashaa’s sales at a daily rate of 250 percent to 450 percent, according to data provided by the platform.
- RIPPLE INTEGRATION BRINGS INSTANT PAYMENT TO THAILAND
Digital money transfer service, Azimo, has partnered with Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), the oldest bank in Thailand, to launch an instant cross-border payments service from Europe to Thailand through Ripple’s global payments network, RippleNet.
- FIDELITY EXPANDING INTO CRYPTOCURRENCIES
Institutional investors at Fidelity Digital Assets can now trade Bitcoin on the US-based exchange ErisX. Through a strategic partnership designed to increase cryptocurrency exposure for big players, Fidelity’s “stable of vetted institutional investors” will have increased access to Bitcoin liquidity.Fidelity Investments, which manages $8.3 trillion in customer assets, is also an investor in ErisX.

April Weekly Recap 1

March 31st - April 6th, 2020

Welcome to our 1st weekly recap for April.

Overview

Crypto News

- OPERA INTEGRATES .CRYPTO DOMAIN EXTENSION
Opera now enables users to access decentralized web pages through a partnership with Unstoppable Domains.

The collaboration entails Opera’s integration of Unstoppable Domain’s .crypto domain extension. This will allow the browser’s users to surf decentralized websites, as well as make cryptocurrency payments.
- MICROSOFT FILES PATENT FOR CRYPTO MINING USING HUMAN ACTIVITIES
Microsoft has proposed a system that can mine cryptocurrencies using data collected from humans as they exercise or read an advertisement.

The system could use physical exertion to mine cryptocurrencies: sensors could detect when the body is doing a physical task, such as a faster pulse, and use that data to unlock blocks. Scanners connected to the head could even use brainwaves, signals sent out during mental exertion, to mine for cryptocurrencies.
- BYRON REBOOT FOR CARDANO IS LIVE
After more than 18 months of work, the Byron reboot was officially launched on the Cardano network. This reboot entails a number of updates to the Cardano network including the Cardano node, the Cardano explorer, the wallet backend and Daedalus wallet.IOHK stated that the revamped design is modular. This means that it will differentiate the ledger, consensus and network components making it easy to upgrade any of them without affecting the rest.
- CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST 11 CRYPTO COMPANIES
n a coordinated strike against some of the best-known companies in crypto, a US law firm issued a barrage of class-action lawsuits aimed at Binance, Block.one, Bitmex, Tron and several others. The lawsuits allege that the firms bilked investors by selling unlawful securities in the form of digital tokens.

March Weekly Recap 4

March 23rd - March 30th, 2020

Welcome to our 4th weekly recap for March.

Overview

Crypto News

- CARDANO LAUNCHES OUROBOROS
Cardano launched its off-chain scalability protocol, Ouroboros Hydra, on March 25th, after 5 years of development.

The protocol claims vastly increased scalability and low latency for the Cardano blockchain while using little storage on the network’s nodes. The solution also allows for applications such as micropayments, voting, insurance contracts, and other uses that require low fees or instant transactions.

According to IOHK, Hydra could theoretically scale to a million transactions per second.

In Hydra, each user who connects to the network generates 10 heads, which are throughput lanes for data and transactions. Because of that, the system reportedly gets faster and decreases its latency as it scales.
- VENEZUELA’S STRUGGLING INTERNET MAKES TRADING CRYPTO DIFFICULT
The global coronavirus lockdown has put a strain on Venezuela’s internet, which could logically make crypto participation difficult.

Already, within the first seven days of a shelter-in-place movement, Venezuelans have pushed the country’s internet capacities to the limit.

As the crypto space is largely an internet-based industry, digital asset trading and usage might logically become difficult for Venezuelans.
- TRUMP INVOKES DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT
Trump’s use of DPA represents the depth of the problems facing the US economy. Additional stresses to the economy will continue to unfold as supply chain concerns and stock sell-offs have continued. As pressures increase, the need for the production of medical supplies has increased as well.

March Weekly Recap 2

March 15th - March 22nd, 2020

Welcome to our 3rd weekly recap for March.

Overview

Crypto News

- COINBASE CARDS CAN NOW BE USED WITH GOOGLE PAY
Coinbase announced Tuesday that Coinbase Cards can now be added to users’ Google Pay wallets, enabling crypto-backed payments from Google Pay-enabled devices, such as phones or smartwatches.

Coinbase Cards launched its new Visa debit card for U.K. and European customers in April 2019. Holders can purchase everyday goods and services – up to £10,000 ($12,100) per day – with cryptocurrencies held in their exchange accounts that are instantly exchanged into the relevant fiat currency.

The cards initially supported payments BTC, ETH, LTC and BCH. On November 2019, XRP, BAT, XLM tokens were also added to the roster.
- ARGENTINA’S GAS REGULATOR BUILT WITH BLOCKCHAIN
Gasnet, a permissioned blockchain platform was launched Wednesday with approval from regulator Enargas. Running on an enterprise version of the RSK Smart Contract Network, Gasnet is designed to secure and speed Argentina’s chronically delayed gas certification processes.

In the now-operational consortium network, certification documents and transaction details zip between Gasnor and Enargas, each of whom run a network node. That increases visibility and smooths out otherwise crippling delays, allowing technicians to ultimately bring consumer’s gas services online faster.
- COINBASE CHIELF LEGAL OFFICER APPOINTED TO OVERSEE BANKING SYSTEM
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, a long-time cryptocurrency and Bitcoin skeptic, has named Brian Brooks as one of the country’s top banking regulators. Brooks will serve as the next Chief Operating Officer and First Deputy Comptroller of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) after stepping down from his role as the chief legal officer at Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States.

March Weekly Recap 2

March 8th - March 14th, 2020

Welcome to our 2nd weekly recap for March.

Overview

Crypto News

- ETHEREUM CONFERENCE ATTENDEES URGED TO TEST FOR COVID-19
On March 11, the co-founder of decentralized login service provider TorusLabs, Zhen Yu Yong (Zen), tweeted that he had been diagnosed with coronavirus COVID-2019. Zen urged people who may have been in contact with him during the ETHLondon hackathon or the Ethereum Community Conference (ECC) to take “extra precautions and/or get tested.” The coronavirus threat has impacted several major cryptocurrency conferences in recent weeks, leaving many crypto events canceled or postponed until later dates.
- CASH IS THE NEW SAFE HAVEN AS CRYPTO & GOLD CONTINUES TO FALL
Liquidations set in on the cryptocurrency market the day after the U.S. announced European travel restrictions due to coronavirus fears Wednesday. Bitcoin is down 21 percent and Ethereum is down 27 percent over the past 24 hours. That’s more than the traditional markets, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 down nearly 8 percent. Traders liquidating holdings on crypto’s bellwether derivatives exchange, BitMEX, fueled some of these moves. Gold also got hit as traders sold the precious metal for the safety of much-needed cash as losses in equities increases.
- COINBASE MOVES TO CUT BLOCKCHAIN LOAD WITH BITCOIN BATCHING
San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has decided to start grouping multiple bitcoin transactions together, rather than issuing sends one by one.

The adoption of “batching,” the firm said in a blogpost on Thursday, will mean less strain is put on the Bitcoin blockchain from large numbers of transactions arising from the popular exchange. The move is anticipated to reduce Coinbase’s load on BTC’s network by more than 50%, and so will transaction fees by an equivalent amount for customers, according to the post.
- HTC UNVEILS PRIVATE, CRYPTO ROUTER
After the massacre in the broader crypto market on Thursday, major altcoins have already started to recoup some of their losses. Altcoins such as Litecoin (LTC), Tezos (XTZ), and Stellar (XLM), were among the first to return to green after the sell-off, posting 24-hour returns between 3% and 10%. In addition, cautiously optimistic trading also drove Ripple’s XRP higher today, although the recent market bloodbath now means that the popular cryptocurrency has lost about 96% of its value from the all-time high in January 2018.

March Weekly Recap 1

March 1st - March 7th, 2020

Just like the January and February Report, our goal is to visually summarize the cryptocurrency market into an easy to understand and informative way. However, instead of the monthly duration, we will attempt to be more interactive with the market in a weekly format.

Overview

Crypto News

- BAFIN CLARIFIES CRYPTO CLASSIFICATION IN GERMANY
In a press release issued on Monday, March 2nd, 2020, the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) clarified cryptocurrency as: “a digital representation of a value that has not been issued or guaranteed by any central bank or public body and is not necessarily linked to a currency specified by law and that does not have the legal status of a currency or money, but is accepted as a medium of exchange by natural or legal persons and can be transmitted, stored and traded electronically.” According to BaFin, the new classification echoes the guidelines of intergovernmental agencies like the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). BaFin’s new crypto classification announcement is also part of the move by the country to adopt the fifth EU Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5) which began on January 1, 2020. As part of the new BaFin crypto guidelines, cryptocurrency custodians will need to obtain a license for the regulator to offer their services in the country.
- INDIA SUPREME COURT LIFTS RBI CRYPTO BAN
The Supreme Court of India has struck down the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) controversial ban on banks’ dealings with crypto-related firms. The court justices ruled that the RBI’s action was “disproportionate.” Key arguments in the case included the central bank’s contention that cryptocurrency is a digital means of payment and that the institution was “empowered by law” in its intervention.
- SAMSUNG DEVELOPING BLOCKCHAIN PAYMENT SOLUTION
Samsung’s enterprise is working on building a blockchain-based settlement solution for merchants and banks. The Korea Herald reported that Samsung SDS had signed a memorandum of understanding with Israeli fintech solutions provider Credorax to develop the technology, aimed to automatically logging payments data on bank records and ledgers. The product, yet to be named, will operate on Samsung SDS’ Nexledger Universal platform, a Samsung proprietary blockchain. Work processes will be automated using AI technology from Brity Works, another of Samsung SDS company.
- HTC UNVEILS PRIVATE, CRYPTO ROUTER
HTC announced a new privacy-focused, portable, 5G blockchain router that is capable of running a full Bitcoin node. The Exodus 5G Hub follows on from the success of the Tawainese manufacturer’s Exodus 1 phones, which also have the ability to run cryptocurrency nodes. The Hub provides 5G connectivity to all internet-enabled devices and uses Zion Vault software to enable Bitcoin, Ethereum (including ERC-20 and ERC-721 tokens), Binance Coin, Litecoin and Stellar storage for users. The software offers additional security features including social recovery for private keys, allowing users to break up, encrypt and share recovery phrases among trusted parties.
- CRYPTOCURRENCIES LEGALIZED IN SOUTH KOREA
The South Korean National Assembly amended the Act on Reporting and Use of Specific Financial Information and has allowed the use of cryptocurrencies within the country under regulations. After President Jae-in Moon signs the amendment passed in the country’s parliament, the enactment process will begin. It will take one year from the date of the signing, followed by a 6-month grace period. Once the required time passes, cryptocurrency-related businesses, such as exchanges, trusts, wallet companies, and token-sales, will need to comply with new rules. Requirements include having a real-name verification partnership with an approved local bank. The goal is to prevent money-laundering between fiat deposits or withdrawals.
- FRANCE ACCEPTS BITCOIN AS LEGAL TENDER
The Commercial Court of Nanterre of France made a historic decision recognizing bitcoin as legal tender in the country. The ruling relates to a case between French cryptocurrency exchange Paymium and UK-based alternative investments firm BitSpread. Paymium had loaned 1,000 BTC to BitSpread before the Bitcoin Cash hard fork in 2017. After the bitcoin cash hard fork in 2017, Paymium and BitSpread both claimed that the bitcoin cash created belonged to them. The court ruled in favor of the borrower after recognizing bitcoin as a legitimate form of money.

February 2020 Recap

Posted 09 Mar / In Business Analysis, Investigation

February Recap

COVID-19

The new coronavirus strain continues to spread across the globe, and infection rates are only increasing exponentially. The World Health Organization has re-affirmed that there are no current effective treatment, and the viral mutation is still being researched.

By March 1st, the coronavirus, now named COVID-19, has infected more than 90K people across 90 countries around the world. Outbreaks in South Korea, Italy and Iran have been especially infectious.

City quarantines and factory closures are still in effect, and economic relations are still being affected. Mining difficulty and hash-rate for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin has also been drastically influenced by the lack of production.

Provided below is a visual representation of the comparison and differences between traditional markets and cryptocurrencies, and the continued effects of this virus outbreak has affected global economics for February.

Overview

Stock Indexes

Traditional Stocks

Cryptocurrencies

Crypto News

Sources:

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/02/24/808914718/secretive-church-sect-at-the-center-of-south-koreas-coronavirus-outbreak

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51673053

https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html?fbclid=IwAR2TqPvjKTFX9Divbax9Gjm2pgaJuStjwZ0eqhZRzGL8NnvePmOhrmlOqFA#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-28/germany-boosts-border-checks-google-scraps-event-virus-update

https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-anthony-fauci-trump-admin-stops-discussion-2020-2

https://decrypt.co/20515/coronavirus-will-delay-chinas-digital-currency

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/coronavirus-us-live-updates-cdc-symptoms-prepare-how-mask-san-francisco-latest-a9360196.html?page=1#post-1185157259

https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/coronavirus-death-toll-infections-outbreak-evacuations-quarantine-latest-updates-2020-02-10/

https://thenextweb.com/neural/2020/03/02/alibabas-new-ai-system-can-detect-coronavirus-in-seconds-with-96-accuracy/

https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-marshals-to-auction-37m-in-confiscated-bitcoin-in-february

https://cointelegraph.com/news/tesla-stock-now-looks-exactly-like-bitcoin-at-20k-in-2017

https://cointelegraph.com/news/australia-to-release-national-blockchain-roadmap-after-year-of-preparation

https://cointelegraph.com/news/trumps-new-budget-would-have-secret-service-investigate-crypto-crimes

https://cointelegraph.com/news/egyptian-national-bank-turns-to-blockchain-to-boost-remittance-business

https://cointelegraph.com/news/what-caused-bitcoin-price-to-surge-past-10k-over-the-weekend

https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoins-mining-difficulty-stagnates-as-coronavirus-outbreak-delays-new-equipment

https://www.coindesk.com/south-koreas-central-bank-is-building-a-new-blockchain-system-for-the-bond-market

https://cointelegraph.com/news/samsung-keeps-cryptocurrency-functionality-in-galaxy-s20-models

https://www.coindesk.com/dusk-network-plans-to-tokenize-equity-for-thousands-of-dutch-companies

https://cointelegraph.com/news/hong-kong-and-abu-dhabi-change-crypto-regulations-to-align-with-fatf

https://cointelegraph.com/news/house-committee-to-hold-hearing-on-benefits-of-blockchain

https://www.coindesk.com/new-jersey-lawmaker-wants-to-create-a-crypto-license

January 2020 Recap

Posted 13 Feb / In Business Analysis, Investigation

January Recap

January 2020 has proven to be an interesting start to the new decade. Within a short period of a few weeks, the world experienced multiple crises in quick succession.

Iran

On January 3rd, 2020, the Trump administration authorized an airstrike which took the life of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. The strike was justified by the administration as an act of self-defense, citing “imminent” threats to U.S personnel and assets. This event was the catalyst for widespread concern.

But regardless of the reason, rising tensions between the two nations has understandably caused worldwide civil unrest, as further conflicts will deescalate into further violence in the Middle East. If war is declared, forces of both countries and their allies will undoubtedly also be involved.

Q: Global relations aren’t the greatest right now, but what do you do when life gives you lemons that taste like imminent war?

A: You invest in the military complex and commodities such as precious metals, oil and in recent times – cryptocurrency.

Overview

The tension between Iran and the United States show clear correlations with global economics. The value of the traditional market and commodities reacted timely with the events as they happened, and in expectations of financial traders.

Military Contractors

The military-industrial complex stocks had a field day, unsurprisingly.

Commodities

It can be seen across multiple commodity markets that during times of global economic uncertainty, these markets react quickly as a “safe haven” from traditional stocks. This has been seen multiple times with precious metals and oil but now seems to be a common theme with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. An impending war triggered these markets once the news of the US airstrike began to spread as it seemed as if the US was on the brink of “boots on the ground” in Iran. Though the current situation has de-escalated for now, we can assume that as soon as tensions rise. Embassies are under attack and missiles are being launched, we can expect to see the same type of trends to play out again.

Cryptocurrencies

Precious Metals

Oil

For now, military tensions between both parties have eased, and they have chosen to remain amicable with each other. The Trump administration has chosen to refrain from military retaliation and has opted to enforce additional sanctions on the country of Iran.

nCoV-2019

Just as festivities begin to ramp up on the Eastern side of the globe in anticipation of Lunar New Years, Mother Nature has one last surprise for humanity. On December 31st, 2019, the World Health Organization was alerted to several cases of mysterious infectious pneumonia in Wuhan, China.

Thought to have originated from the city’s Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, the establishment was quickly shut down on January 1st, 2020. However, it had proved to be too late and the number of infected individuals quickly exceeded 40.

It took a week, but officials were able to identify the new virus as belonging to the coronavirus family, which includes SARS, MERS, and the common cold. In fact, it is ~79.5% genetically identical to SARS. Designated as nCoV-2019, the virus will be temporarily named Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia, or NCP.

The fatality rates are yet to be determined. It is currently estimated to range from 1.4 – 2.1%, based on official figures. One recent research published in The Lancet suggests it could potentially even be as high as 11%. One month into the SARS outbreak, there were 5 victims. The new coronavirus claimed at least 213 in the same amount of time. The death toll from 2019-nCoV has already surpassed that of SARS on February 8, 2020.

The quickly rising numbers of infected patients could be due to the extremely contagious nature of 2019-nCoV. The virus has a symptom-free incubation period of up to 21 days, and can survive in the atmosphere outside a host body for more than two days. Chinese researchers in Hong Kong estimated that one infected individual can pass the contagion along to 3 – 5 others, using a factor called the virus’ R0 value. The World Health Organization believes that the coronavirus’s R0 value is lower at 1.4 – 2.5 people.

Even as nations are desperately contributing to the efforts of disease prevention, the numbers of victims continue to quickly rise. There are currently 43,101 confirmed cases in 28 countries, with 1,018 deaths so far as of February 11, 2020.

The potential for a global crisis has not been overlooked and taken lightly, as national officials around the world quickly started to enforce travel restrictions and quarantines. China, especially, has been busy. So far, 16 cities in China have been placed under restrictions, which affects about 46 million people, and is the largest quarantine in human history.

Multiple major corporations such as Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, Tesla and Google with operating offices, retail stores, and manufacturing factories have temporarily shut down all facilities across China. The nation extended the Lunar New Year holidays and was expected to reopen their factories on February 3rd. That date was eventually extended until February 10th due to the circumstances of the viral outbreak. Even after, manufacturers will remain closed pending approval from the central and provincial governments.

A poll by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai found that 87% of participants believe that the coronavirus will directly impact 2020 revenues, with 24% expecting revenues to decrease by >16%. China’s 2020 projected GDP growth has also been readjusted to be 1% lower than expected in Q4 2019. According to the Federal Reserve, the disruptions this virus is causing in China will be felt throughout global economies. Understandably so, when China is the manufacturing center of the world.

So let’s do a quick comparison of the differences between traditional markets and cryptocurrencies, and how this virus outbreak has affected both.

Stock Indexes

There’s no real time GDP tracker so the next best thing are stock indexes.

Traditional Stocks

Companies with facilities affected by China’s quarantine

[BONUS] Apple iPhones

Three companies that together make Apple iPhones

Cryptocurrencies

However, the current pandemic of surrounding the novel coronavirus is an ongoing event. The full effect of the virus is likely yet to be felt. More as the situation develops in February.