The Mystics May Be Here, But Are Crypto's Cards in Reverse?
There's a man and a woman dancing beneath a lush wreath held up by four wands, crystals protruding from their tops.
"It's a good card to pull."
The Four of Wands.
In front of me - my life - there's good times, happiness, good fortune.
Reading from an online tarot card symbology site, my friend and tonight my forecaster says, "If you have been working on a project, this card indicates you will reach an important milestone and will have cause to celebrate. You have completed a significant phase of the project and can feel very proud of what you have accomplished so far."
There's a man and a woman dancing beneath a lush wreath held up by four wands, crystals protruding from their tops.
"It's a good card to pull."
The Four of Wands.
In front of me - my life - there's good times, happiness, good fortune.
Reading from an online tarot card symbology site, my friend and tonight my forecaster says, "If you have been working on a project, this card indicates you will reach an important milestone and will have cause to celebrate. You have completed a significant phase of the project and can feel very proud of what you have accomplished so far."
The Age of Endless Blockchain Forks Is Coming to an End
When we sit down inside of EY and discuss what the biggest risks are to the future of the blockchain industry, one topic that comes up again and again is the high rate at which key blockchains are forking and the possibility that future forks will split apart large blockchains with critical mass.
This is important because we do not believe that private blockchains will scale effectively beyond highly specific use cases into a general-purpose platform for digital contracting between enterprises. That job, if any system is to take it, will belong to public blockchains.
The more companies and users there are on a single network, the more likely it is you can transact with your key business partners over a common infrastructure.
When we sit down inside of EY and discuss what the biggest risks are to the future of the blockchain industry, one topic that comes up again and again is the high rate at which key blockchains are forking and the possibility that future forks will split apart large blockchains with critical mass.
This is important because we do not believe that private blockchains will scale effectively beyond highly specific use cases into a general-purpose platform for digital contracting between enterprises. That job, if any system is to take it, will belong to public blockchains.
The more companies and users there are on a single network, the more likely it is you can transact with your key business partners over a common infrastructure.
The Next Generation of Crypto Exchanges Has One Big Missing Piece
Heralded as a way to put true custody back into the hands of traders, decentralized exchanges have moved out of R&D phase and are enrolling early adopters. But before users can start rejoicing, there's a serious chicken-and-egg problem, one that entrepreneurs believe is preventing the model from challenging the Coinbases and Krakens of the world.
In short, you need liquidity to get adoption, yet in order to get adoption, liquidity must be good, a fact acknowledged by even those who see the potential in more high-tech trading offerings.
But more broadly, it's worth looking at how centralized exchanges solve this problem. Oftentimes, they make deals with market makers to incentivize them to create liquidity. These incentives usually come in the form of a rebate or reward that's exchanged for the guarantee a certain amount of what traders call "order book depth" is maintained at all times.
Heralded as a way to put true custody back into the hands of traders, decentralized exchanges have moved out of R&D phase and are enrolling early adopters. But before users can start rejoicing, there's a serious chicken-and-egg problem, one that entrepreneurs believe is preventing the model from challenging the Coinbases and Krakens of the world.
In short, you need liquidity to get adoption, yet in order to get adoption, liquidity must be good, a fact acknowledged by even those who see the potential in more high-tech trading offerings.
But more broadly, it's worth looking at how centralized exchanges solve this problem. Oftentimes, they make deals with market makers to incentivize them to create liquidity. These incentives usually come in the form of a rebate or reward that's exchanged for the guarantee a certain amount of what traders call "order book depth" is maintained at all times.
Bitcoin price LIVE: BTC falls to $9k - Warren Buffett, Bill Gates SLAM crypto 'rat poison'
Bitcoin is priced at $9,322 at the start of the day, with Ethereum at $757 and Ripple at $0.83.
Headlines this weekend were dominated by three of the world's richest people using the platform their wealth provides to slam cryptocurrencies.
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett called bitcoin "probably rat poison squared," and his partner Berkshire Chairman Charlie Munger said trading in cryptocurrencies is "just dementia."
While Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates told CNBC that he would bet against bitcoin if he could.
He said: "As an asset class, you're not producing anything and so you shouldn't expect it to go up. It's kind of a pure 'greater fool theory' type of investment."
"I agree I would short it if there was an easy way to do it."
Bitcoin is priced at $9,322 at the start of the day, with Ethereum at $757 and Ripple at $0.83.
Headlines this weekend were dominated by three of the world's richest people using the platform their wealth provides to slam cryptocurrencies.
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett called bitcoin "probably rat poison squared," and his partner Berkshire Chairman Charlie Munger said trading in cryptocurrencies is "just dementia."
While Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates told CNBC that he would bet against bitcoin if he could.
He said: "As an asset class, you're not producing anything and so you shouldn't expect it to go up. It's kind of a pure 'greater fool theory' type of investment."
"I agree I would short it if there was an easy way to do it."
The Economics of Ethereum's Coming Consensus Change Are Taking Shape
1,500 ether.
That's how much cryptocurrency users will need to participate in testing ethereum's upcoming consensus protocol, Casper, at least according to the blockchain's creator Vitalik Buterin. During the final day of an ethereum conference in Toronto last week, Buterin took the stage to discuss his version of the software designed to change the way those running the software reach agreement.
Called Casper FFG, the algorithm has recently seen notable progress (with the first specification arriving last month), and Buterin said at the event he expects the pace of experimentation to quicken (though no timeline for the change has been given).
1,500 ether.
That's how much cryptocurrency users will need to participate in testing ethereum's upcoming consensus protocol, Casper, at least according to the blockchain's creator Vitalik Buterin. During the final day of an ethereum conference in Toronto last week, Buterin took the stage to discuss his version of the software designed to change the way those running the software reach agreement.
Called Casper FFG, the algorithm has recently seen notable progress (with the first specification arriving last month), and Buterin said at the event he expects the pace of experimentation to quicken (though no timeline for the change has been given).
Another blockchain for smart contracts?
As surprising as it might sound, there's a respect for incumbency even in the world of cryptocurrencies. As such, when the upstart EOS protocol launched last year with the ambition of improving on innovations like ethereum (themselves just a few years old), incredulity was in ample supply.
Intervening months haven't exactly helped this perception. But despite the skeptical experts, not to mention the very public derision of talk show host John Oliver, the EOS project has raised more than $2 billion in ether from the sale of EOS tokens, which will power its forthcoming network.
It's a notable success given the ICO was done differently than most other issuers, starting in summer 2017 and staying open through a series of auction periods through June 1 of this year.
Still, less than a month away from the sale's conclusion (and the platform's long-awaited launch), EOS is finding itself back again in the conversation. The price of the crypto token is steadily rising, something that has the interests of investors piqued, especially so given that gains haven't exactly been easy to find.
As surprising as it might sound, there's a respect for incumbency even in the world of cryptocurrencies. As such, when the upstart EOS protocol launched last year with the ambition of improving on innovations like ethereum (themselves just a few years old), incredulity was in ample supply.
Intervening months haven't exactly helped this perception. But despite the skeptical experts, not to mention the very public derision of talk show host John Oliver, the EOS project has raised more than $2 billion in ether from the sale of EOS tokens, which will power its forthcoming network.
It's a notable success given the ICO was done differently than most other issuers, starting in summer 2017 and staying open through a series of auction periods through June 1 of this year.
Still, less than a month away from the sale's conclusion (and the platform's long-awaited launch), EOS is finding itself back again in the conversation. The price of the crypto token is steadily rising, something that has the interests of investors piqued, especially so given that gains haven't exactly been easy to find.
Facebook's David Marcus to Lead New Blockchain Research Unit
Social media giant Facebook is launching a team dedicated to exploring blockchain technology.
The initiative will be spearheaded David Marcus, who has served as the company's vice president for its Messenger app division. Marcus is a former president of PayPal.
"After nearly four unbelievably rewarding years leading Messenger, I have decided it was time for me to take on a new challenge. I'm setting up a small group to explore how to best leverage blockchain across Facebook, starting from scratch," Marcus wrote in a post on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
A report from Recode indicated that while the team will have fewer than a dozen people, it will feature engineering and product staff from Facebook's Instagram unit as well.
Although it remains unknown at this stage the exact work to be carried out by the new team, the news marks a notable move by the social media giant.
Social media giant Facebook is launching a team dedicated to exploring blockchain technology.
The initiative will be spearheaded David Marcus, who has served as the company's vice president for its Messenger app division. Marcus is a former president of PayPal.
"After nearly four unbelievably rewarding years leading Messenger, I have decided it was time for me to take on a new challenge. I'm setting up a small group to explore how to best leverage blockchain across Facebook, starting from scratch," Marcus wrote in a post on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
A report from Recode indicated that while the team will have fewer than a dozen people, it will feature engineering and product staff from Facebook's Instagram unit as well.
Although it remains unknown at this stage the exact work to be carried out by the new team, the news marks a notable move by the social media giant.
Startup Raises $3 Million to Build 'Proof-of-Space-Time' Blockchains
The Israel-based firm, called Spacemesh, aims to build "a blockmesh operating system," seeking to improve upon more standard blockchains by using a new consensus protocol called "proof-of-space-time" (PoST) to replace proof-of-work (PoW) and proof-of-stake (PoS).
Perhaps the most interesting feature of PoST is the assertion that it can run on any desktop computer, and is aimed to be resistant to powerful and costly mining chips called application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), according to statements. Further, the protocol won't even need to rely on mining by graphics processing units (GPUs), which are similarly on the expensive side.
The Israel-based firm, called Spacemesh, aims to build "a blockmesh operating system," seeking to improve upon more standard blockchains by using a new consensus protocol called "proof-of-space-time" (PoST) to replace proof-of-work (PoW) and proof-of-stake (PoS).
Perhaps the most interesting feature of PoST is the assertion that it can run on any desktop computer, and is aimed to be resistant to powerful and costly mining chips called application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), according to statements. Further, the protocol won't even need to rely on mining by graphics processing units (GPUs), which are similarly on the expensive side.
Facebook’s blockchain foray is about trust, not crypto
Facebook is launching a new team dedicated to blockchain led by David Marcus, the former PayPal president who oversaw Facebook Messenger for four years and recently joined the board of Coinbase.
But Facebook’s blockchain story isn’t about payments, it’s about the social networking giant restoring consumer trust in light of its recent data scandal.
It’s entirely possible payments will be part of its blockchain strategy, which the company has said little about publicly other than that it’s meant to explore how blockchain technology could be beneficial to its business. But that doesn’t necessarily require blockchain. The likelier angle is that Facebook is looking to restore trust from consumers.
Facebook is launching a new team dedicated to blockchain led by David Marcus, the former PayPal president who oversaw Facebook Messenger for four years and recently joined the board of Coinbase.
But Facebook’s blockchain story isn’t about payments, it’s about the social networking giant restoring consumer trust in light of its recent data scandal.
It’s entirely possible payments will be part of its blockchain strategy, which the company has said little about publicly other than that it’s meant to explore how blockchain technology could be beneficial to its business. But that doesn’t necessarily require blockchain. The likelier angle is that Facebook is looking to restore trust from consumers.
Bear Mood? $9K Still in Play Despite Bitcoin Rally
Despite a brief rally yesterday, bitcoin (BTC) is still in corrective mode and risks falling back below $9,000, chart analysis suggests.
The cryptocurrency broke out of the bearish falling channel setup Wednesday, courtesy of a bullish relative strength index (RSI) divergence - indicating the pullback from the recent high of $9,990 had ended at a low of $8,980.
The breakout also raised the prospects of a stronger move towards $9,767 (April 25 high) and possibly even the $10,000 mark.
However, the ascent has been cut short around $9,380 in the last 15 hours, as seen in the hourly chart below.
Despite a brief rally yesterday, bitcoin (BTC) is still in corrective mode and risks falling back below $9,000, chart analysis suggests.
The cryptocurrency broke out of the bearish falling channel setup Wednesday, courtesy of a bullish relative strength index (RSI) divergence - indicating the pullback from the recent high of $9,990 had ended at a low of $8,980.
The breakout also raised the prospects of a stronger move towards $9,767 (April 25 high) and possibly even the $10,000 mark.
However, the ascent has been cut short around $9,380 in the last 15 hours, as seen in the hourly chart below.
Crypto Is the 'People's Revolution,' Says Investor Mike Novogratz
"This has been the people's revolution," Michael Novogratz of Galaxy Digital told the crowd at the Fluidity Summit in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on Thursday.
Speaking from notes written on the back of a paper plate, he added:
"We have never had a market mania led by retail before."
But Novogratz came to talk about the move of institutional investors into cryptocurrency following last year's dramatic boom in prices. Novogratz started his remarks by mentioning his company's own big recent development, the launch of the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index, which tracks the most liquid assets trading on blockchains.
"This has been the people's revolution," Michael Novogratz of Galaxy Digital told the crowd at the Fluidity Summit in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on Thursday.
Speaking from notes written on the back of a paper plate, he added:
"We have never had a market mania led by retail before."
But Novogratz came to talk about the move of institutional investors into cryptocurrency following last year's dramatic boom in prices. Novogratz started his remarks by mentioning his company's own big recent development, the launch of the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index, which tracks the most liquid assets trading on blockchains.
Bank of Canada's DLT Trial Shows Instant Securities Settlement Possible
The latest "Project Jasper" blockchain trials have shown that distributed ledgers are effective at automating securities settlements in real-time, according to Bank of Canada and two partners on the project.
Announced in October 2017, the latest stage of the research effort moved on from its previous focus on payments to a proof-of-concept for "an integrated securities and payment settlement platform," CoinDesk reported at the time.
Working alongside the central bank were TMX Group, the financial services firm that operates the Toronto Stock Exchange, and Payments Canada, a non-profit that operates the primary payment channels within the country.
Now, a Reuters report published on Friday indicates that the three partners have found that, following tests of the platform, both assets and money can be tokenized and exchanged instantly, the report says.
The latest "Project Jasper" blockchain trials have shown that distributed ledgers are effective at automating securities settlements in real-time, according to Bank of Canada and two partners on the project.
Announced in October 2017, the latest stage of the research effort moved on from its previous focus on payments to a proof-of-concept for "an integrated securities and payment settlement platform," CoinDesk reported at the time.
Working alongside the central bank were TMX Group, the financial services firm that operates the Toronto Stock Exchange, and Payments Canada, a non-profit that operates the primary payment channels within the country.
Now, a Reuters report published on Friday indicates that the three partners have found that, following tests of the platform, both assets and money can be tokenized and exchanged instantly, the report says.
'Utility' No More? ConsenSys Pitches 'Consumer Token' Label
The Brooklyn Project - the token regulation initiative headed by ethereum startup ConsenSys - wants to dispense with the concept of "utility tokens" in favor of what it calls "consumer tokens."
The Project discussed its intention to shift the discourse at the Fluidity Summit on Thursday during a presentation by ConsenSys' policy lead Pat Berarducci and OpenLaw's Aaron Wright.
According to a document published by the Project, the initiative broadly aims "to provide a basic framework for long-term oriented behavior and to help establish trust between the initiators of consumer token projects, their collaborators, their customers, and the public at large."
More specifically, it makes recommendations on project objectives, practices and legal disclosures.
The framework defines consumer tokens as those lacking "equity ownership, a predominant interest in a fund, passive-earned dividend rights, or other characteristics of a financial instrument." Likewise, they must be "consumptive in nature."
The Brooklyn Project - the token regulation initiative headed by ethereum startup ConsenSys - wants to dispense with the concept of "utility tokens" in favor of what it calls "consumer tokens."
The Project discussed its intention to shift the discourse at the Fluidity Summit on Thursday during a presentation by ConsenSys' policy lead Pat Berarducci and OpenLaw's Aaron Wright.
According to a document published by the Project, the initiative broadly aims "to provide a basic framework for long-term oriented behavior and to help establish trust between the initiators of consumer token projects, their collaborators, their customers, and the public at large."
More specifically, it makes recommendations on project objectives, practices and legal disclosures.
The framework defines consumer tokens as those lacking "equity ownership, a predominant interest in a fund, passive-earned dividend rights, or other characteristics of a financial instrument." Likewise, they must be "consumptive in nature."
Blockchain Security Takes Spotlight At NYC Innovation Summit
"At its highest level, blockchain is a trust layer."
In nine words, Kaleido Insights founding partner Jessica Groopman succinctly summarized the gist of CDX Academy's "Blockchain Brand Innovation Summit" on May 11 during her opening remarks.
The summit itself brought together representatives from blockchain startups and incumbent institutions to debate and discuss different use cases for the technology, noting both its advantages and its flaws.
According to various panels, the obvious use for blockchain is in data storage, whether in healthcare or in other private, consumer data. The overreach of many centralized institutions as it relates to personal data, in particular, has made headlines recently, perhaps the most notable being third-party application's collection of Facebook users' private information.
"At its highest level, blockchain is a trust layer."
In nine words, Kaleido Insights founding partner Jessica Groopman succinctly summarized the gist of CDX Academy's "Blockchain Brand Innovation Summit" on May 11 during her opening remarks.
The summit itself brought together representatives from blockchain startups and incumbent institutions to debate and discuss different use cases for the technology, noting both its advantages and its flaws.
According to various panels, the obvious use for blockchain is in data storage, whether in healthcare or in other private, consumer data. The overreach of many centralized institutions as it relates to personal data, in particular, has made headlines recently, perhaps the most notable being third-party application's collection of Facebook users' private information.
At Ethereal Summit, A Human Face On A Blockchain Future
"Raise your hand if you don't know what 'bitcoin mining' actually is."
At an impromptu Q&A at Ethereal Summit on May 11, Consensys software engineer Ashoka Finley encouraged the audience to ask embarrassing questions they might have about cryptocurrency and blockchain.
"What's 'hashing'? Don't know what a bitcoin is?" Finley went on, encouraging attendees.
The questions spoke to the sentiment on day one of the two-day conference hosted by the company, a Brooklyn-based ethereum startup incubator, characterizing the inclusive atmosphere CEO Joseph Lubin appeared to be aiming for with the whimsical conference set in New York City.
Indeed, there was no shortage of eager blockchain enthusiasts onhand to discuss how they hope blockchain can change society and the world.
While cryptocurrency and blockchain technology has so far been relegated to mostly to a community of techies, Lubin drove home the message of inclusion at a press conference around lunchtime. He told the group of a couple dozen members of the media that after attending a number of banking and trading conferences focusing on blockchain, he wanted to put on an event that "really spoke to normal people" - to artists, musicians and others whose primary focus wasn't blockchain.
"Raise your hand if you don't know what 'bitcoin mining' actually is."
At an impromptu Q&A at Ethereal Summit on May 11, Consensys software engineer Ashoka Finley encouraged the audience to ask embarrassing questions they might have about cryptocurrency and blockchain.
"What's 'hashing'? Don't know what a bitcoin is?" Finley went on, encouraging attendees.
The questions spoke to the sentiment on day one of the two-day conference hosted by the company, a Brooklyn-based ethereum startup incubator, characterizing the inclusive atmosphere CEO Joseph Lubin appeared to be aiming for with the whimsical conference set in New York City.
Indeed, there was no shortage of eager blockchain enthusiasts onhand to discuss how they hope blockchain can change society and the world.
While cryptocurrency and blockchain technology has so far been relegated to mostly to a community of techies, Lubin drove home the message of inclusion at a press conference around lunchtime. He told the group of a couple dozen members of the media that after attending a number of banking and trading conferences focusing on blockchain, he wanted to put on an event that "really spoke to normal people" - to artists, musicians and others whose primary focus wasn't blockchain.
A Daily Show Comedian Showed Up to Roast an Ethereum Conference
"No one knows what the fuck is going on."
That's according to Ronny Chieng, senior correspondent on the satirical news program The Daily Show, who took the stage at Ethereal Summit on Saturday with ConsenSys founder and CEO Joseph Lubin and Kavita Gupta, founding managing partner at ConsenSys Ventures.
Chieng, who spoke with Lubin in December on the show, again criticized the big promises and hype of the industry. He argued that many people in the industry use complicated jargon and words that were "invented" two or fewer years ago to camouflage the fact that they don't actually know how the technology will change the world.
"No one knows what the fuck is going on."
That's according to Ronny Chieng, senior correspondent on the satirical news program The Daily Show, who took the stage at Ethereal Summit on Saturday with ConsenSys founder and CEO Joseph Lubin and Kavita Gupta, founding managing partner at ConsenSys Ventures.
Chieng, who spoke with Lubin in December on the show, again criticized the big promises and hype of the industry. He argued that many people in the industry use complicated jargon and words that were "invented" two or fewer years ago to camouflage the fact that they don't actually know how the technology will change the world.
Moral Food: A Fish's Trek From 'Bait to Plate' on the Ethereum Blockchain
It's a little bit like "Finding Nemo" - except at the end, you get to eat the fish.
During the Ethereal Summit, hosted May 11-12 by ethereum startup/incubator ConsenSys in Queens, New York, attendees were given an immersive experience to highlight the benefits a blockchain could have of tracking goods as they move along the supply chain. While blockchain's use for supply chain management is being tested for a whole host of products by startups and tech heavyweights alike, during the summit, Viant, an ethereum-based supply chain management startup, focused on tuna.
The experience started by showing attendees a short documentary film called "Bait to Plate," that charted the journey of a person-sized Yellowfin tuna caught in the waters off Fiji, an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean.
The documentary followed the fish from being caught to being packaged to being shipped all the way to plates of attendees at the conference.
Viant co-founder Kishore Atreya told CoinDesk, "Those who ate the sushi knew exactly where their fish was coming from."
It's a little bit like "Finding Nemo" - except at the end, you get to eat the fish.
During the Ethereal Summit, hosted May 11-12 by ethereum startup/incubator ConsenSys in Queens, New York, attendees were given an immersive experience to highlight the benefits a blockchain could have of tracking goods as they move along the supply chain. While blockchain's use for supply chain management is being tested for a whole host of products by startups and tech heavyweights alike, during the summit, Viant, an ethereum-based supply chain management startup, focused on tuna.
The experience started by showing attendees a short documentary film called "Bait to Plate," that charted the journey of a person-sized Yellowfin tuna caught in the waters off Fiji, an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean.
The documentary followed the fish from being caught to being packaged to being shipped all the way to plates of attendees at the conference.
Viant co-founder Kishore Atreya told CoinDesk, "Those who ate the sushi knew exactly where their fish was coming from."
