Tag Archives: cryptocurrency

BTC Could Hit 98 Million Yes 98M USD in 10-20 Years Analyst Says

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BTC Could Hit $98 Million (Yes… 98M USD) in 10-20 Years, Analyst Says

The crypto market has remained bullish on the last weeks, prompting a recent wave of optimism and euphoria among traders, analysts and enthusiasts in general. The 5k zone has supported the BTC, allowing the token to remain stable, reversing some indicators.

Having successfully held above 5k, analysts believe that the strength of the bearish market is losing influence and, with the halving on the horizon, many think that the cryptomarket is starting the next bull run.

Unlike the sentiment of 2017, most analysts today speak of conservative numbers. High forecasts such as Tim Draper’s or John McAfee’s are seen as exaggerated or unbelievable. Recently, however, an analyst did not hold back his mood by publishing a hyper-bullish prediction for the next few decades.

In a thread of 27 tweets, Twitter account Moon Capital explained that in approximately 10 to 20 years, BTC would become the first currency to reach a value of about 98 million dollars per unit.

BTC Could Substitute Fiat.. And Gold

The unusual prediction explains that to achieve this figure, the BTC had to maintain its traditional cyclical behavior but with the technological and financial developments typical of this industry.

This combination of circumstances could trigger the perfect scenario for BTC to become the world’s currency, replacing the global money supply. If this happens, the capitalization already increases by about 90.4 trillion dollars.

Also, investors could stop buying gold in the face of the possibility of using the BTC as a safer means. If the Bitcoin market takes 90% of the total capitalization of gold, it would account for about 6.9 trillion dollars.

This streak would give the BTC the necessary level of influence to allocate the capitalization of other financial markets such as bonds, stocks, equities, real estate and even public investments close to 5% of GDP.

Under this hyperoptimistic scenario, the BTC would gain around 294 trillion dollars in capitalization, becoming the “new global unit of account.” This price would total about 98 million dollars for each available token.

So far, it is still very early, and it is indeed impossible to predict the future, especially when it is such an optimistic scenario. Most banks are developing financial solutions based on blockchain technologies, precisely to compete against BTC, not to adopt this token.

To read the full analysis without having to sort through each tweet, here is a post containing all the Tweets. This is possible thanks to Thread Reader App

Original article written by Jose Antonio Lanz and posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site.

Article posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Japan’s Largest Bank Will Issue a Proprietary Cryptocurrency This Year

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Japan’s Largest Bank Will Issue a Proprietary Cryptocurrency This Year

Cryptocurrencies are here to stay. Their advantages over traditional remittances are so extensive that more and more financial institutions are accepting reality, using these technologies to evolve and adapt their products to the needs of modern society.

The most important announcement in this area happened this week when Mitsubishi UFJ said it would launch its own cryptocurrency at the end of this year.

For the Western population, this may not represent much of a hype, but just to put things in perspective, MUFJ is the fifth largest bank in the world by total assets and the most influential private bank if the Chinese institutions are excluded. Its total capitalization is approximately 2.78 trillion dollars, 300% more than the total assets of Goldman Sachs, and 169 billion more than JPMorgan Chase.

According to the Japan Times, Kanetsugu Mike, president of the bank, commented that this initiative is part of a policy of technological improvement aimed at increasing confidence, security, and efficiency in the organization:

“We aim to build an organization that is relied on and trusted globally, and represents innovation,”

After an internal test conducted in September 2018, the positive results allowed the Mitsubishi UFJ team to feel confident enough to move on to a massive implementation stage.

The use of a cryptocurrency allowed instant transfers to be carried out at almost no cost, something essential for a bank with such a high volume of transactions.

Blockchain is Slowly Becoming More Attractive to Banks

Mitsubishi UFJ is not the first bank determined to use blockchain technology. Already the IMF and the BIS have issued official pronouncements assessing the risks and benefits of issuing CBDCs.

Also, JPMorgan recently announced the development of its own token to facilitate transactions processed by its infrastructure. The development of this tech is as important as the MUFJ initiative since this bank is the sixth most important in the world, and the most influential for the “western world.”

The Bank has a strong relationship with cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. It already uses Ripple technology to process transactions and the partnership seems to be yielding positive results.

Apparently, the cryptocurrency would simply be called “coin.” The bank did not share more details about its development.

Original article written by Jose Antonio Lanz and posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site.

Article posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Over 60 of the World’s Top Corporations Are Investing in Blockchain Study Finds

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Over 60% of the World’s Top Corporations Are Investing in Blockchain, Study Finds

The world’s leading companies have already embarked on the “blockchain train” demonstrating that the technological revolution is already beginning to gain strength. According to a study published by Okta Inc more than half of the companies with profits above 1 billion dollars are investing in the development of blockchain technologies as tools to improve their business scheme.

To conduct the study, Okta Inc surveyed executives from more than 1000 internationally renowned companies to find out how they are using technological advances to adapt to the future. The study focused on investing in labor, technology, operations, and digital transformation.

The results in the area of digital transformation were amazing. The study concluded that almost 90% of large corporations have a strong interest in the application of blockchain technologies and artificial intelligence.

“To fuel this transformation, the vast majority (86%) of digitally transforming organizations are adopting new technologies to support agile app development, as well as getting their hands dirty now with forward-looking technologies like blockchain and AI. All of this is happening while maintaining secure systems and a secure user experience that respects customer privacy.

Similarly, more than 61% of companies invest in blockchain technologies as a business policy. The most popular technological advance is the Internet of Things with 72% of the total.

The internet of things is not only the one that has generated more interest in international investors, but it has proven to be one of the fastest growing technology sectors. A report by Forbes estimates that the total market profits associated with this type of development could be around 520B dollars by 2021.

Currently the market for cryptocurrencies is around 177 billion dollars, however, during the 2017 hype, the crypto coins reached a total capitalization of almost 800 billion dollars before the reversal of trends that gave rise to the bearish streak of 2018.

The crypto market in general has had a good 2019, Since late January there has been a slightly bullish trend that has led many analysts to declare that the tendency of 2018 is already coming to an end.

Original article written by Jose Antonio Lanz and posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site.

Article posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Bitcoin BTC Could Skyrocket To 84k In The Coming Weeks Analyst Suggests

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Bitcoin (BTC) Could Skyrocket To $8.4k In The Coming Weeks, Analyst Suggests

Last week was absolutely monumental for the cryptocurrency market. As this outlet covered extensively, Bitcoin rapidly surmounted key resistance levels on the back of a record-setting influx of buying pressure, with BTC finding itself above $5,000 for the first time since November.

As the crypto asset has stabilized since then, discovering a consolidation range at and around $5,100, analysts have done their best to gauge what comes next for BTC. And according to prominent trader Crypto Thies, a move drastically higher could very well be in store for the leading digital asset.

Thies recently took to Twitter to lay out his reasoning for this call. He explains that as it stands, Bitcoin could find support at $4,300, where it initially broke out, and $4,700, where the asset’s 200-day moving average currently sits. On the other hand, BTC will have trouble breaking past $5,500, $5,700 (the de-facto floor late last year), $6,600, and $8,400 (a top in a mid-2018 bear market rally), as these levels will act as resistances.

But, the trader makes it clear that in the coming weeks, BTC could start to test those resistances in an act of breaking out.

Thies writes that while he is confident that BTC will eventually return to $4,700, he expects for a Bitcoin to head higher in the coming weeks. He looks to the fact that the Bollinger Bands (BB), a measure used to depict trading ranges, have begun to squeeze on the one-week chart, along with BTC’s two-week candle breaking above its middle BB could suggest a move to the high BB, currently sitting at $8,400, in the near future.

Thies’ pseudo-price prediction comes in lower than some, but higher than most, interestingly enough.

Brian Kelly, for example, recently took to CNBC to claim that this ongoing move is likely to bring Bitcoin to $6,000 at the max. Per previous reports, Kelly claims that “high net-worth individuals, family offices, are starting to take a serious interest” in Bitcoin, all as custody solutions have propped up, volumes have spiked, and short sellers looking to cover their rear ends — presenting a strong case for a 20% rally from here.

Filb Filb, too, has kept his bullishness constricted to $6,000 for now. The analyst recently drew attention to two charts which showed similarities both in the structure and timing of their respective moves, specifically in a bid to show that Bitcoin could see a massive wick to the upside. If the move plays out as Filb expects, BTC could rally to $6,000 in the coming weeks.

On the other hand, others have been way more bullish than the aforementioned two. Fundstrat’s in-house Bitcoin optimist, Tom Lee, recently told Bloomberg that he adamantly believes that the cryptocurrency market can now be classified as a bull market, looking to the 200-day moving average for BTC to back his point. He added that a fair value for the asset is currently $14,000.

Is Bitcoin In A Bull Market?

No matter where BTC heads in the short-term, Thies’ Market God indicator, a proprietary measure created to predict trends both in the short- and long-term, has signaled that a bull run could be on the horizon. As reported by Ethereum World News previously, the indicator, which somewhat called the 2018 top, recently issued a “buy” signal for the first time in over two years.

Original article written by Nick Chong and posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site.

Article posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Coinbase Partners With Stellar Foundation to Give Away One Billion XLM

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Coinbase Partners With Stellar Foundation to Give Away One Billion XLM

Coinbase has announced a partnership with the Stellar Foundation that will give away 1 billion XLM, worth $100 million, to users willing to take the time to learn about the currency.

Eligible Coinbase customers in the US will receive an email invitation over the next few days to earn up to $10 of XLM by viewing Stellar tutorials and answering quiz questions. By sharing their unique referral link, customers will also be able to earn up to $40 more of XLM by inviting four eligible friends to complete the lessons.

Under Coinbase’s “Coinbase Earn” program, users of the popular U.S.-based exchange will be able to participate in online modules that will simultaneously teach them about Stellar and blockchain–all the while earning XLM for their efforts. Users can earn $10 worth of XLM for watching a series of videos and lectures, and make an additional $40 through a referral system. According to the official update, Coinbase reports that 100% of the XLM being distributed will go to users, constituting one of the largest coin giveaways for the purpose of increased education. The funds will come directly from the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), which is the non profit organization that helps develop the Stellar protocol.

Coinbase Earn is working with the Stellar Foundation to distribute one billion Stellar Lumens (XLM). 100% of the funds are going directly to Coinbase users to teach them how to use the Stellar protocol.

Coinbase Earn is working with the Stellar Foundation to distribute one billion Stellar Lumens (XLM). 100% of the funds are going directly to Coinbase users to teach them how to use the Stellar protocol. You can read more about the campaign here: http://ow.ly/hS9s50ocAXi

Despite the flack Coinbase received over the XRP listing in February, where some community members–including Weiss Ratings–questioned suspicious market behavior in the hours leading up to XRP being announced, Stellar’s addition to the exchange has gone more smoothly. Coinbase, through the most recent collaboration with the Stellar Foundation, continues its position as being a source of information and education for cryptocurrency, beyond just providing an exchange for market speculation.

Included in the official blog post detailing the giveaway is information about Stellar and the what the XLM currency is attempting to accomplish. The Coinbase blog reports that Stellar is a platform which aims to connect banks, payment systems and people in a way that is more efficient than the current practices.

The post continues,

Today’s global financial infrastructure has a communication problem. There are hundreds of different currencies and payment systems. Each one of these payment systems speaks a different language, so they have a hard time understanding each other. This can make moving money around the world slow and expensive.

Stellar is a protocol designed to solve this problem.

Coinbase highlights the decentralized nature of Stellar, a feature that they have regularly pointed to as criteria for new currencies being listed on their exchange. In particular, Coinbase points out that XLM is attempting to connect people, via money, in the same way that the internet allows the free flow of information.

Since the addition of XLM to Coinbase earlier in the month, the currency has managed to grow above the $0.10 price range. Already the currency is up 4 percent, as of writing, as most of the crypto markets see green.

Title image credit: The Coinbase Blog

Original article written by Michael Lavere and posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site.

Article posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Stop using Chrome Install Brave Browser Wikipedia Co-founder Tells You Why

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Stop using Chrome, Install Brave Browser! Wikipedia Co-founder Tells You Why

User privacy and the risks associated with data leaks should be a priority for today’s globalized society, and Larry Sander, co-founder of Wikipedia, is fully aware of this. In early 2019, Sanders said his new year’s resolution was to protect his cyber-life “(along with getting into shape, of course).”

Sanger explains that security threats from criminals (such as ISIS) and tech giants (such as Facebook and the Cambridge Analytica scandal) are becoming more frequent. However, the second reason that made him opted for “locking his cyber life” is the manipulation of the content that “Silicon Valley behemoths” exert on what users consume in the end:

“The Silicon Valley behemoths have decided to move beyond mere moderation for objectively abusive behavior and shutting down (really obvious) terrorist organizations, to start engaging in viewpoint censorship of conservatives and libertarians. As a free speech libertarian who has lived online for much of my life since 1994, these developments are deeply concerning. The culprits include the so-called FAANG companies (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google), but to that list we must add YouTube, Twitter, and Microsoft.”

To fight this problem, he devised a “plan” which he updated on March 17 and shared on his personal blog, He explained each of the steps he hopes to take during 2019 to have a safer life:

Goodbye Chrome… Hello Brave Browser

The first step of his “plan” (avoid using Google Chrome) has already been completed. He explains that Brave Browser has had a favorable evolution and that now not only is easier to use but it represents a much better option than Google Chrome:

"Stop using Chrome. (Done.) Google collects massive amounts of information from us via their browser. The good news is that you don’t have to use it, if you’re among the 62% of people who do … I’ve switched to Eich’s newer, privacy-focused browser, Brave. I’ve had a much better experience using it lately than I had when I first tried it a year or two ago and when it was still on the bleeding edge."


Brave: The team behind Brave Browser and Basic Attention Token (BAT)

 

Good News For The Privacy Freaks!

Another of Sanger’s steps was subscribing to a VPN service. In this way, the possibility of IP tracking and information manipulation is avoided. However, for those who do not want to spend money on this service, or configure a VPN in more complex cases, Brave Browser can be of great help:

"VPNs solve those problems by making your connection to the Internet anonymous. The big problem with VPNs, and the reason I probably won’t do this, is that they slow down your Internet connection … A nice fallback is the built-in private windows in Brave that are run on the Tor network, which operates on a similar principle to VPNs"

Basic Attention Token (BAT) Makes it Possible To Get Paid While Surfing The Web

Mr. Sander explains that in addition to being privacy oriented (which is Sander’s primary motivation) Brave offers the option of paying users for consuming content. The BAT token is the browser’s native cryptocurrency and aims to change the way content distribution industry works, providing a more favorable and comfortable alternative for users and providers:

It also pays you in crypto for using it… There’s absolutely no need to use Chrome for anything but testing, and that’s only if you’re in Web development. By the way, the Brave iOS app is really nice, too.

Brave Browser has been considered one of the safest web browsers available. Basic Attention Token (BAT) is ranked 30th in the global marketcap with a total capitalization of $237,320,762 according to data provided by Coinpricewatch.

Original article written by Jose Antonio Lanz and posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site.

Article posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Ethereum ETH Co-Founder Predicts Blockchain Will Dominate Economy in 10 Years

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Ethereum (ETH) Co-Founder Predicts Blockchain Will Dominate Economy in 10 Years

Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin made the prediction that blockchain will be a primary catalyst for the growth of the global economy over the next 10 to 20 years.

Speaking in a keynote at the SXSW conference in Austin on Mar. 14., Lubin claimed that he expected the global economy to grow ten times larger over the next decade or two, and fully expected blockchain to be involved in the majority of enterprise and market growth.

Lubin explained his prediction by comparing the current of blockchain and cryptocurrency to that of the internet and email in the years before it became a mainstream sensation. Speaking on the issue of mainstream adoption and the room left for blockchain to grow, Lubin said

“There weren’t a lot of ‘normal’ people firing email around in 1983.”

Ethereum’s co-founder also took the opportunity to address the advantages he sees in the development of Ethereum 2.0 over cryptocurrency market leader Bitcoin. In particular, Lubin explained that the Ethereum development team is specifically targeting the inefficiencies of Bitcoin as areas of advantage for Ethereum 2.0, presenting what he believes will be a cryptocurrency capable of overcoming the current industry hurdles,

“In Bitcoin and currently in Ethereum, you need to have specialized hardware, burn lots of electricity, waste lots of computation, to basically keep everybody in sync. [With Ethereum 2.0, in 18 months] we’ll have a blockchain system much more powerful and scalable that uses orders of magnitude less energy.”

While Ethereum is still a year and a half away from launching its anticipated major update, one that will witness a monumental switch from a Proof of Work system to Proof of Stake, the developer is already looking to how Ethereum can revolutionize the industry and improve upon its current framework.

Lubin made headlines earlier in the week for similar comments related to the benefits of blockchain, when he claimed that the decentralized technology could be of substantial benefit to content creators. Lubin singled out artists as a subgroup that would “benefit quite dramatically” from the adoption of blockchain, allowing them greater control over the distribution of their content while dictating the parameters of its consumption.

During that talk, Lubin went on to state that blockchain removed the need for middlemen in content creation and distribution, a factor that would greatly benefit the bottom line for musicians and other creative performers,

“I think artists in the music industry on average capture about 11 or 12 percent of the value in the industry and those big record companies are sucking up 70 or so percent. We can replace those record companies with smart contracts on the Ethereum platform.”

Cryptocurrency, as a whole, has seen positive price traction in 2019 after an abysmal year for coin prices in 2018. While there have been periods of price oscillation, Bitcoin reached its lowest 30-day price volatility earlier in the week since November 2018. In addition, the majority of top cryptos have experienced double digit price gains since the start of the year, with altcoins leading the market. Ethereum has managed a nice rebound in price after falling in valuation with the rest of the industry from it’s all time high established in early 2018.

Last week, analytic firm Electric Capital reported that Ethereum had the most robust monthly developer contribution, generating twice that of second-place Bitcoin.

Original article posted on Ethereum World News and written by Michael Lavere

Posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Will Cryptocurrencies Replace Gold?

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Will Cryptocurrencies Replace Gold?

By Sunshine Profits (Arkadiusz Sieron) Mar 12, 2019 01:44PM ET


Image Copyright© by American Bullion

The World Gold Council has issued quite a few interesting papers recently. In this edition of the Gold News Monitor, we discuss the most provocative ones. Such as the money worthiness of gold compared to Bitcoin. Or the ongoing gold repatriation trend as Romania recently joined the fray. What can the precious-metals investors learn from here?

Cryptocurrencies Are No Substitute For Gold

In January, the World Gold Council (WGC) published an investment update about cryptocurrencies. The main aim of the report is to refute the claim that cryptocurrencies could replace gold. The authors do not agree, pointing out that gold differs substantially from cryptocurrencies. In particular, the yellow metal:

  • is less volatile – the dollar-denominated gold price is about 10 times less volatile than Bitcoin price;
  • has a more liquid market – Bitcoin turnover is $2 billion a day on average, which is roughly less than 1 percent of the total gold market that has turnover of around approximately $250 billion a day;
  • trades in an established regulatory framework;
  • has a well understood role in an investment portfolio;
  • has little overlap with cryptocurrencies on many sources of demand and supply;
  • has broad appeal outside the tech-savvy demographics.

All these differences explain why Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are not a substitute for gold. In particular, the former should not be considered a safe haven. The best example is Q4 2018, when global stock markets experienced their worst quarter since 2009 – cryptocurrencies then performed as risky assets and fell, while gold rallied. Although you can also find periods when gold did not behave like a safe-haven asset, we generally agree that cryptocurrencies are not a substitute for precious metals. Bitcoin was designed to mimic gold, but it still has to prove its moneyness, while gold has a proven few-thousand year history as a monetary asset.

Gold Demand Trends In 2018

On the last day of January, the WGC published its summary of the gold market for 2018. From the market's perspective, the developments of last year belong to the days of yore, so we will not analyze the whole market. However, we would like to point your attention to one important trend: central banks added 651.5 tons to their gold reserves in 2018, the second highest yearly total on record. And net purchases jumped to their highest level since the end of gold standard in 1971, as more central banks turned to gold as a portfolio diversifier.

Importantly, the rise in official purchases was accompanied by the increasing repatriation of gold. Many analysts interpreted this as a signal of intensifying nationalism, but there is also another narrative. The repatriation of gold signals that the central banks stopped lending gold for any significant volumes. You see, when you want to lend out your gold, you keep it in the Bank of England, the Fed or other systematically important, third-party locations, not in your own vaults. It means that – despite much speculation – the central banks intervene less in the precious metals market. That’s good news for all investors who desire greater transparency and a fairer price discovery process.

WGC’s 2018 Annual Review

In February, the WGC published a review of its activity in 2018. Although most of the review is of little interest to gold investors, the WGC also included its outlook for 2019. In short, the organization believes that increased market uncertainty and protectionist economic policies should make gold increasingly attractive as a hedge. Moreover, the slowdown in the US economy could curtail rising interest rates and limit dollar strength, which would support gold prices.

And in 2019, we should see increasing concerns about a global growth slowdown or even outright recession fears with resulting elevated stock-market volatility and political and economic instability in Europe. We recently discussed the ECB's major policy reversal following the EZ's slashed economic growth forecast and its implications for the gold market.

Disclaimer: Please note that the aim of the above analysis is to discuss the likely long-term impact of the featured phenomenon on the price of gold and this analysis does not indicate (nor does it aim to do so) whether gold is likely to move higher or lower in the short- or medium term. In order to determine the latter, many additional factors need to be considered (i.e. sentiment, chart patterns, cycles, indicators, ratios, self-similar patterns and more) and we are taking them into account (and discussing the short- and medium-term outlook) in our trading alerts.

Thank you.

Complete article posted on Investing.com

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Article posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe.

Facebook is Working to Launch Its Own Crypto This Semester NYT Reports

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Facebook is Working to Launch Its Own Crypto This Semester, NYT Reports

Facebook is not satisfied with becoming a web 2.0 empire. After consolidating in the world of social networks, and buying the most important instant messaging appli on the planet (WhatsApp), now Mark Zuckerberg’s company has its eyes on crypto as its new goose of the golden eggs.

According to an article published by the New York Times, the Facebook project seems to point more towards the development of a stablecoin than a cryptocurrency of fluctuating value. Thus, while it would not be particularly attractive to speculators, it would allow users to make payments and have a virtual wallet without worrying about sudden falls or rises in the value of the token.

If so, Facebook’s cryptocurrency would have a similar use as that of the Chinese messaging service Wechat. Likewise, Facebook’s blockchain would not necessarily be a direct competitor of TON (Telegram Open Network) a blockchain project developed by the Russian messaging company Telegram, which raised more than 1.7 billion dollars in its ICO.

If so, Facebook’s cryptocurrency would have a similar use as that of the Chinese messaging service Wechat. Likewise, Facebook’s blockchain would not necessarily be a direct competitor of TON (Telegram Open Network) a blockchain project developed by the Russian messaging company Telegram, which raised more than 1.7 billion dollars in its ICO.

The interest of these large companies to provide their own proposals to improve payments with fintechs and blockchain technologies has excited several investors who evaluate as positive the influence of these companies in a world dominated by a select group of important financial actors.

“It’s pretty much the most fascinating thing happening in crypto right now,” said Eric Meltzer, a co-founder of a cryptocurrency-focused venture capital firm, Primitive Ventures. “They each have their own advantage in this battle, and it will be insane to watch it go down.”

According to the NYT, Facebook expects to have its stablecoin ready before the end of this semester. Although Facebook has treated the project with the strictest confidentiality, anonymous sources told NYT that those working on the blockchain division do so on an exclusive basis and in isolation from the rest of the Facebook staff.

Likewise, the stablecoin would not be pegged only to the dollar but to a basket of fiat currencies according to the funds that Facebook has deposited in several countries. It is hoped that in this way, Facebook users, and especially those using Whatsapp can send money instantly.

“Facebook is looking at pegging the value of its coin to a basket of different foreign currencies, rather than just the dollar, three people briefed on the plans said. Facebook could guarantee the value of the coin by backing every coin with a set number of dollars, euros and other national currencies held in Facebook bank accounts.

Also, Ethereum World News previously reported that Telegram, Whatsapp’s main competitor (which is also owned by Facebook) sent a letter to its investors assuring that the TON project would be 90% complete and will be initially traded in Asian exchanges.

Original article written by Jose Antonio Lanz and posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site.

Article posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

JPMorgan Chase’s Cryptocurrency: Is It A Gimmick Or The Real Deal?

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JPMorgan Chase's Cryptocurrency: Is It A Gimmick Or The Real Deal?

By Investing.com (Tanzeel Akhtar/Investing.com)

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JP Morgan logo is seen on an android mobile phone. Photo credit: LightRocket via Getty Images GETTY

The announcement last week by JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM), that it plans to launch its own digital token, JPM Coin, caused ripples throughout the blockchain and cryptocurrency space. It's an unexpected development from an unlikely issuer. It's also the first cryptocurrency to be launched by a major global bank.

The bank is characterizing the introduction of this alt-currency as a pilot project aimed at institutional clients. According to JPMorgan, it will enable "instant" fund transfers and will allow both clients and the lender to settle payments over a blockchain network.

What makes this particularly startling are previous statements by JPM's CEO Jamie Dimon who famously bashed Bitcoin more than once. In late 2017 he referred to the most popular cryptocurrency by market cap as a "fraud," and compared the drivers of its then-rapidly-rising price to the mania that in the 1630s drove Dutch tulip bulb speculation.

In late 2018, even after the speculative Bitcoin bubble had burst, he denigrated the asset, saying, "blockchain is real, it's technology, but Bitcoin is not the same as a fiat currency." By those measures, JPM Coin appears to be something of a hybrid: it's based on blockchain technology and will be pegged 1:1 to a fiat currency, the U.S. dollar, which makes it a stablecoin, similar to Tether or TrueUSD.

JPM Coin is a very positive development for the asset class and the industry says En Hui Ong, head of business development at blockchain technology platform, Zilliqa. It demonstrates how blockchain can improve the way legacy payments are handled.

Don't Call It Cryptocurrency

However, he adds, it shouldn't be viewed as a cryptocurrency. Rather, it can best be described as a “digital asset.”

“JPM Coin will be built on Quorum, a distributed ledger platform described as an “enterprise-focused,” private version of Ethereum. As Quorum was developed by JP Morgan and some of its partners, the network will be controlled by the bank itself, rendering it both centralized and permissioned, therefore implying that any participants have to be vetted in order to join the system.

Contrast this with other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum where anyone located anywhere can spin up a node and join the system without permission.”

These restrictions mean only a small number of participants will likely able to join the network. Information from the bank, says Ong, indicates that JPM Coin is a prototype being tested by a restricted number of institutional clients. Though JPMorgan plans to expand the pilot program later this year, there are no plans to offer the cryptocurrency service to retail clients.

In contrast, true cryptocurrencies are available to anyone, notes Ong. All one has to do is to set up a wallet in which to store it. Nevertheless says Ong:

“Despite its differences from cryptocurrencies, the launch of JPM Coin and the participation of a major financial institution lends greater legitimacy to the wider blockchain industry as a whole."

Angelo Laub EOS lead at private data computation and data marketplace Slant agrees with Ong:

“The only users of JP Morgan coin are likely to be JP Morgan and their clients. I can’t even see other banks wanting to use it as it will make them reliant on JP Morgan Bank for processing transactions. Still, it’s a big step for a bank to go ahead and do something like that. This concept would have been unthinkable one or two years ago.“

Others don't see this development as particularly notable. Marcel Vaschauner, Chairman of Slant's board,argues that JPM Coin—which is issued by the bank and linked to the funds of the customer using it—most closely resembles a European digital payment instrument called e-money. He says it's a concept that's already widely used by Fintechs.

Still, because of Dimon's past criticism of cryptocurrencies, some within the industry can't help but appreciate the irony even if he's not convinced about the coin itself. Pedro Anderson, COO and co-founder of Winding Tree says:

“JPM Coin is great validation [of the asset class]. We'll take it. However, the entire case for the coin is built on trusting JPM—that they'll make everything right if they are in control because…they have a lot of money.”

Crossing the Chasm?

Ned Myers, senior vice president of Product Management at AlphaPoint, believes JP Morgan’s entrance into the digital asset space is another clear sign that the security token industry is rapidly “crossing the chasm,” to cite Jeffrey Moore, moving from early adoption to mainstream acceptance.

“Combined with other announcements from Fidelity and ICE’s BAKKT’s announced entry into the digital asset exchange space…we see JPM’s move as a clear harbinger that the use of digital assets by traditional financial institutions has arrived. I am looking forward to the tipping point, in which tokenized securities become the de facto standard for unlocking market liquidity.”

Others, however, would argue this nothing more than an advertising stunt. Vaibhav Kadikar, founder and CEO of, CloseCross believes JPM Coin, though billed as a cryptocurrency, is seen by critics as a self-promotional gimmick with little in the way of real value.

“The pioneering bank is relying on both its dominant market share, with 80% of Fortune 500 companies as clients, and other banks imitating this strategy, to drive increased adoption."

Original article posted on Investing.com.

Posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe