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Ethereum continues to see a massive increase in contrast to the stagnant and continuous bearish trend of the crypto market. The recent gains experienced by Ethereum made it the best performing of the top cryptocurrencies in the past 30 days. Ethereum had seen gains as it attempts to recover the huge loss it took when the crypto market took a huge plunge in November.
The plunge that struck the crypto market in November saw the value of ethereum drop from around the mark of $220 to $80 and equally lost its position as the second-rated cryptocurrency to Ripple’s XRP within the same period. However, throughout the past three weeks, it has seen a considerable reversal in value as there has been about 80 percent gain. The gains from the $80 mark to $159 as at report time. Also, on the 2nd of January, the cryptocurrency overtook Ripple’s XRP, taking back its second position among other cryptocurrencies
The Reason For The Drastic Gains of Ethereum
The drastic gains that the cryptocurrency has gained has made crypto enthusiasts to adduce the recent success to the impending hard fork that is already scheduled to take place on January 16.
Alex Krüger, an economist and a cryptocurrency trader, stated through a tweet on the eve of Christmas, 2018 that “Ethereum’s Constantinople fork is coming on block 7080000, around January 16, 2019. Constantinople will reduce the block rewards from 3 to 2, decreasing new ETH supply accordingly. On the long run, this is decidedly bullish.”
The historical record of Ethereum’s hard fork has led to an increase in its value afterward. Ahead of the hard fork, the cryptocurrency has seen a boost because of the possibility of positive gains after the hard fork has taken place.
Can Ethereum Surpass $200 Ahead of its Hard Fork on January 16th
The cryptocurrency increase to the value of $200 will see it near the mark it was in November 2018 before it took the deep plunge with other cryptocurrencies. This will make the cryptocurrency distinctive in the market.
The progress Ethereum has made in the past couple of days and the historical antecedent of increase after a hard fork has taken place has increased the interest of investors in the cryptocurrency ahead of January 16. With the recent move in the past days, reaching the mark of $200 before the set date at this point looks possible.
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The two events in the first two days of the trading in 2019 have dragged down nearly every index in the United States
The utmost question doing the round currently is whether it is worth investing in cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, which is the most valuable digital coin. This is because of some weakness was seen in the stock market in the current week following the weak economic data, as well as, the warning issued by Apple on iPhone sales, which could miss expectations. On the hindsight, it looks like the new asset has an edge after having suffered the most in 2018.
Twin Blow
There was a twin blow for the stock markets, and both have the origin of China. However, cryptocurrencies movement does not depend on either China or its encouragement currently because of a ban of digital coins in any form in the country. In short, there is little dependence on the biggest economy of the world to promote the new age asset class. This would mean that any unfavorable events or economic weakness in China will not have any impact either on bitcoin or on any other cryptocurrencies.
However, the same cannot be said about the stock markets. This was due to the drop in PMI to a contraction territory and Apple’s warning about weak iPhone sales due to people preferring repairs rather than new phones and weaker than expected sales in China. Significantly, this weak scenario came amidst the trade disputes tension between the country and the United States threatening to deteriorate the condition further. As far as cryptos are concerned, the trade tensions have got little impact either currently or in the upcoming periods.
Major Indices Fall
The two events in the first two days of the trading in 2019 have dragged down nearly every index in the United States. For instance, Nasdaq Composite Index fell 3.04 percent on Thursday while Dow Jones Industrial Averages and S&P 500 fell 2.83 percent and 2.48 percent respectively. The biggest drop happened in PHLX Semiconductor and NASDAQ Computer Indexes by 5.94 percent and 5.03 percent respectively. While Oil index slipped 0.86 percent, gold and silver index advanced 1.73 percent.
Green in the 7-Day Period
On the other hand, nine out of the top ten cryptocurrencies are trading in the green in the seven-day period with bitcoin gaining 5.03 percent despite losing 1.0 percent in the 24-hour period. Ethereum gained the most among the top ten with 31.96 percent including 1.76 percent advancement in the 24-hour period. Though bitcoin cash has lost 2.82 percent in the 24-hour period, the digital coin gained 9.73 percent in the seven-day period. Similarly, EOS jumped 16.65 percent in the one-week period even after losing 2.89 percent during the 24-hour period.
Though these cannot be termed as favorable completely, the fact is that cryptos, especially, bitcoin, remain the potential bet to gain if the stocks continued its downtrend. Possibly enough, Bitcoin can become a ‘Safehouse’ for all stock market traders in near future.
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Gambling is one of the most valuable industries out there with a market capitalization that is expected to cross $520 billion by 2023.
Just like in any other major industry, new technologies infiltrate the gambling sector and provide future opportunities and open new markets. It does therefore not surprising that countries like Malta offer a legal framework for gambling companies to start working in the European territory.
Apart from cryptocurrencies, as means of payment, the blockchain technology itself can make significant transformations in the existing gambling industry. One prime example of how blockchain can be used to help revolutionize the gambling industry is betbox
Betbox is an online application which is designed to work as a high-tech betting platform powered by Ethereum Virtual Machine. Betbox app users can bet on events that are listed on the platform and also create individual events by themselves. Events can be private for a selected audience or shared in public so anyone can join.
Apart from betting events, betbox users can also list personal challenges within the platform so other users can bet on whether the challenge will be accomplished or not. Additionally to this, betbox aims to provide futuristic features to entertain its followers and give them a chance to secure earnings or win a life-changing jackpot.
By making use of the blockchain technology, betbox aims at storing all betting-related information and votes in decentralized locations thus providing transparent and secure data on each bet. (Try the MVP now on www.betbox.app).
Betbox also ensures secure payments within the platform by providing decentralized wallets which will be connected to the user accounts. The betbox coins, which are used to fuel the native OX-Chain will ensure smooth flow of payments within the betbox platform and also makes it convenient for users to place bets quickly. But not only the betbox coins can be used for taking part in events. The ecosystem is designed to enable betting with other currencies and also with FIAT in the future.
What Blockchain Means For Gambling Industry?
As we mentioned in the beginning, the gambling industry is among the most prosperous industries globally. With the introduction of blockchain in gambling, more people will be interested in trying their hands in gambling and betting, thanks to the transparency and security offered by blockchain.
Betbox is one of the best blockchain-backed betting and gambling apps out there and offers a completely legal, convenient and secure environment.
As blockchain becomes more prominent everywhere, we will surely be able to see more platforms like betbox that incorporate the features and efficiency of blockchain into the gambling industry. But will there be space next to this industry leader?
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It is no secret that government entities are struggling to both define and regulate blockchain technology — particularly in the United States. Despite holding Congressional hearings on the matter, U.S. federal governing bodies cannot come to a consensus on, let alone fix, the discrepancies between state definitions and regulations.
Education in the blockchain space is severely lacking, and as U.S. legislators struggle to understand the technology, other countries have surpassed us — moving onto both proposing meaningful regulation and presenting blockchain use-cases for more transparent government practices. Among the various blockchain technologies, cryptocurrencies are the highest regulatory target across the world. This raises the question: when will the U.S. follow the lead of other countries and form cohesive regulation for cryptocurrencies?
Other countries, particularly in Asia, are strides ahead of the U.S. when it comes to regulation of cryptocurrencies. For example, we can look to Chile helping to establishing a Bitcoin-to-peso exchange in 2015, or China implementing a ban on initial coin offerings (ICOs) earlier this year.
Whether harsh or not, having regulatory guidance not only assists in defining the use-case of the technology for various sectors, but also helps form a roadmap to clear regulation - one that can be built upon as the technology evolves. In fact, Chinese regulators are moving to improve upon their own legislation by looking to the public for feedback. This effort was most recently demonstrated by the draft policy released by the country's top internet censorship agency on how to regulate blockchain service providers. The news followed the Hong Kong Stock Exchange ’s proposal classify fintech startups as subject to existing financial regulations.
China is not the only instance of other countries leading the charge for blockchain legislation — Japan is also at the forefront with their being one of the first to draft regulation recognizing bitcoin as a legal form of payment, issue cryptocurrency exchange licenses, and then taking that a step further by exploring best practices for simplifying tax return filings for cryptocurrencies.
Even countries in Europe and South America have gotten involved, with an EU Securities Group recommending regulating crypto assets under existing financial laws, and Fernando Haddad, the presidential candidate for the Brazil Workers’ Party, recently publishing his plan for the government on the blockchain — helping to heed citizens’ calls for more government transparency.
As other countries are looking for ways to ensure cryptocurrencies can be utilized by the general public, in the U.S., we have a dearth of policy makers and decision makers who are champions of innovation. There is an immediate need for blockchain education among political leaders in the U.S.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) should absolutely be applauded for the recent formation of a division to talk to ICO startups , but the only way to create loophole-free regulation is to open the conversation and include blockchain leaders from various companies, both developing and utilizing the technology. Regulation on blockchain should be treated very similarly to the process used when revamping the tax code or updating the Telecommunications Act — by holding hearings and having roundtables with experts representing all stances on the technology.
The U.S. has a reputation for being a tech industry leader and economic giant; however, we are at risk of being surpassed entirely if legislators do not get up to speed on both the technology and how to best regulate it. We are no longer in a position to be debating the use-cases of the technology, but instead have to figure out best practices for ensuring blockchain is widely available and safe for mainstream use.
In fact, it was released that blockchain technology could actually save the federal government billions of dollars — but the lack of education on the matter within Congress is slowing movement on regulation, and will cause the U.S. to quickly fall further behind in the global technical economy.
It is evident that U.S. consumers and legislators alike are feeling the pressure to enact regulation as quickly as possible. This is no longer a question of when, but a more complicated question of how. While the creation of the Congressional Blockchain Congress was a step, there are still several back roads to the highway of mainstream adoption; we need to agree, as a nation, which one to take.
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A new project called Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) will soon allow Bitcoin-backed tokens to be circulated on Ethereum. The token’s release has been scheduled for January 2019.
WBTC will combine the strengths of two leading coins. Bitcoin has consistently led the crypto market and is widely used throughout the crypto world. Ethereum, although second-place to Bitcoin in terms of market cap, is the leading platform for blockchain development.
With these things in mind, WBTC will blend Bitcoin’s ubiquity with Ethereum’s extendibility, allowing Bitcoin-equivalent tokens to be used in Ethereum-based dApps and decentralized exchanges.
Creators and Partners
The WBTC project is led by BitGo, Kyber Network, and Republic Protocol. BitGo is a wallet and crypto custody provider; as such, it will hold the project’s BTC reserves. Meanwhile, Kyber is a liquidity protocol that will enable users to easily swap their BTC and WBTC tokens.
Various decentralized exchanges and crypto projects have also partnered with WBTC, the most notable of which are MakerDAO, IDEX, and Gnosis. Several other projects are also listed in last week’s announcement, and the project will seek out further adoption as the January release approaches.
Suggested Reading : Choose a cryptocurrency wallet.
Token Management
The WBTC token is generated in a manner similar to stablecoins like Tether. WBTC cannot be mined; instead, it is minted and backed by a reserve of BTC tokens that are held by a custodian. As a result, the price of WBTC will be pegged to the price of Bitcoin, avoiding some of Ethereum’s volatility.
Generally, users will obtain existing WBTC tokens from merchants. However, tokens must also be created and destroyed. When users convert their WBTC tokens to actual Bitcoin, those WBTC tokens will be burnt. Meanwhile, new tokens can be minted by the custodian with the approval of merchants and community members.
Because both WBTC and BTC operate on public blockchains, users will be able to see that the project’s BTC reserves actually exist, ensuring that the two supplies are kept at a 1:1 ratio. WBTC’s reserve status will be prominently displayed on the project’s dashboard. The various WBTC partners will also form a DAO and routinely audit these balances.
Reception and Alternatives
The community reaction to WBTC’s announcement has been mixed. Some are critical of the project’s reliance on a centralized supply of tokens, which puts control in the hands of a few groups.
Centralization is not strictly necessary to create a cross-chain solution: Dogethereum, for example, bridged Dogecoin and Ethereum and implemented a two-way peg without using a centralized reserve.
Kyber Network has laid out some of the factors that led WBTC to choose a centralized reserve model over alternatives, such as atomic swaps and two-way relays. They concluded that some degree of centralization was necessary:
“Evaluating all these approaches, it was very clear that the current state of the industry and technical progress would not permit for a completely decentralized yet practical user-friendly solution.”
It is hard to predict whether WBTC will win over the crypto community in January. Regardless, efforts such as WBTC may go a long way toward uniting previously competitive blockchain platforms. volatility,” said Danial Daychopan, chief executive officer of Plutus, an app that allows crypto transactions.
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On Monday (22 October 2018), Swissquote, the first pure online bank in Switzerland, announced that it had become the first bank in the world to offer its clients the opportunity to participate in Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs).
Swissquote Group Holding Ltd was founded in May 2000, and later that year, Swissquote Bank Ltd obtained a banking license. In September 2013, by acquiring Swiss online broker MIG Bank (a major player in the Forex markets), it became "one of the world’s top ten online currency trading service providers."
Swissquote says that it is proud to have become the first bank to allow customers to take part in ICOs "conveniently in a secure environment against fiat currency" without needing to know much about blockchain technology or even owning a crypto wallet. The bank will "take care of the execution of the orders and the custody of the tokens" for its clients. Swissquote will offer its clients only those ICOs that it believes are "mature projects, ready to be launched," and that it will "review who the management is, what the business is, what the financials are and what the legal situation is."
For the first ICO to become available on its trading platform, Swissquote has chosen Swiss blockchain startup LakeDiamond, a spin-off of the EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne), that designs and builds Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) reactors that are able to grow in its laboratories ultra pure diamonds (less than 1 nitrogen atom in every billion carbon atoms) that are suitable for "the most demanding applications both in the jewellery and high-tech sectors."
LakeDiamond is doing a token (LKD) sale in order to raise funds to buy 50 more CVD reactors so that it can ramp up its production capacity. Swissquote says the LKD tokens "grant a 'right of use' to grow diamonds for a defined amount of time," and they are "the first time-based payment tokens allowing the production of physical assets"
What Swissquote is doing at this stage is a pre-sale (running from October 22 until December 11) of LKD tokens since the actual public ICO is set to start sometime in January 2019. Clients participating now get a 10% bonus (one free token for each ten that they purchase).
