April 23, 2018 - CNBC
It appears one of the worlds largest investment banking companies, Goldman Sachs, is making big moves in the realm of cryptocurrency. Beginning his role on Monday, April 16th, Justin Schmidt, a former trader, will be the first to head the digital assets market in the company's security division. "In response to client interest in various digital products, we are exploring how best to serve them in the space, " Goldman Sachs spokeswoman Tiffany Galvin-Cohen said in this statement. These peaking of interests from clients interested in entering the crypto market will now have a venue laid by Goldman Sachs investor relations. Justin Schmidt was previously the senior vice president at quantitative trading firm Seven Eight Capital, and a trader at a proprietary firm, among other roles, according to his LinkedIn profile. Rumours about Goldman's strategy for crypto-related offerings have circulated since December after Bloomberg reported the bank is planning the launch of a crypto trading desk. Many dedicated media crypto outlets have tried to debunk the story but it appears Goldman Sach's has indeed been pushing into this emerging market. As history follows, Goldman, the bank with a reputation for being one step ahead of its peers is putting money and resources behind someone who is dedicated to explore "the range of options" cryptocurrency offers. "The job of a bank's trading desks is to help their clients trade the financial stuff they want to trade. . . If the sorts of customers who are banks' customers want to trade a thing, then that thing becomes a financial thing, and so the banks had better start helping them trade it", Matt Levine wrote last week. This is a huge step for big banks and cryptocurrency, it's more likely now that banks will begin touting the ability to give clients access to crypto trading, without having to deal contracts themselves.
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April 21, 2018 - Twitter
WikiLeaks is calling for a global blockade of one of the world's largest exchanges for cryptocurrency trading, Coinbase. This move by the company essentially banned the WikiLeaks shop from using its platform "without explanation". The whistleblowing organization claims the cryptocurrency payments processor is responding to a "concealed influence" and is urging members of Coinbase to boycott its services.
WikiLeaks Shop noted on twitter that the action was taken without explanation or reasoning. A statement posted by WikiLeaks Shop states that "Upon careful review we believe your account has engaged in violation with out Terms of Service and we regret to inform you that we can no longer provide you with access to our service." WikiLeaks Shop sells merchandise such as t-shirts, hoodies, posters, and accessories to help fund its operations (which is used by millions of people). The website accepts several forms of payments including cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin. Coinbase itself is no stranger to controversy and is currently facing a lawsuit for alleged insider trading. 
April 17, 2018 - Pornhub
Pornhub has announced today its venture in the world of cryptocurrency. As of this decision, users will be able to pay subscription fees with Verge cryptocurrency. These subscription fees cover premium subscriptions for users on Pornhub, and its sister sites, Brazzers and Nutaku. Verge cryptocurrency is anonymity-focused, which is why Pornhub decided on using it as its primary crypto-payment option. Though users can view Verge transactions on its public ledger, Verge uses Tor (an anonymity tool) and other anonymous network layer l2P to hide user's specific transactions' IP address. Many users have opted out of this and chosen to hide themselves on the Verge private ledger. Pornhub Vice President Corey Price told The Verge that cryptocurrency offers "convenience and security" and that the company as a whole "[has] been looking at crypto for quite some time". Companies like Valve and Stripe have ended their cryptocurrency support for reasons like high transaction fees and volatile prices that may be a hassle for many people. The Pornhub page that hosts information about Verge states "The future has come. In our efforts to keep current with out community's privacy and payment preferences, Pornhub will now be accepting Verge as means of payment for services like Pornhub Premium and more, on our platforms." They continue to state that "Building on Verge's core values of security, anonymity, and practicality, the introduction of this cryptocurrency as a means of payment Pornhub signifies an important foray into the future from the industry that is always on the cutting edge of technology". Verge cryptocurrency has been volotile the last few weeks and as of today, the price of Verge (XVG) has fallen nearly 23 percent after Pornhub's announcement. More information about this will be released as it becomes available. 
April 12, 2018 - CoinMarketCap
Prices in Bitcion soared nearly 10% in today's market after having spent nearly two weeks hovering around $6,500-$7,000 USD. The coin reached its two week high today to around $7,796 at 4:00AM PST. This news is great for bull investors as Bitcoin has been trading sideways in a narrow price range the last few weeks. According to WhaleCalls, the cryptocurrency picked up bids at $6,766 and rode the wave up to $7,000. This move triggered stop losses on short trades. Techical buyers may see this growth as an upside break and could trigger a huge increase in daily trading volume. Furthermore, the sudden jump in bitcoin prices forced traders who had previously bet against the cryptocurrency to buy back into the market. "Once Bitcoin broke higher, shorts were squeezed and forced to cover," says Brian Kelly, CNBC contributor and manager of BKCM, an investment firm focused on digital currencies. Traders indicate that Thursday's big Bitcoin move could be an unwinding of pressure built up from the April 17 tax deadline. This regulatory move startled investors but may investors think Bitcoin prices can recover even further than they have. Bitcoin wasn't the only successful cryptocurrency today either with Ethereum gaining nearly 7% as of 10:00AM PST. Other movers today include Ripple with an increase of 11.5% and EOS with an incredible 20% increase in price. It's green across the board for cryptocurrencies as today may mark a new trading floor for Bitcoin investors. BTC will likely break through $7,100, confirming a falling wedge reversal and move towards the resistance lined up at $7,500. More information will be posted as it becomes available. 
April 10, 2018 - Bunz.com
Popular among millenials, Bunz Inc. has announced its venture into the crypto-realm with its own digital asset, BTZ. With a very catchy name and cult-like following, it's safe to say some Bunz are cooking in the oven. BTZ, short for Bunz Trading Zone and pronounecd "bits", is a digital asset that can be used on the Bunz website in exchange for goods listed by every-day people. You might be thinking "Hey... haven't I heard of something like this before? Isn't Craigslist and OfferUp just like this?" Here's where it gets interesting. the Bunz mantra is to not use any form of money in the exchange of goods. Instead the original motive was to use a barter system and trade items like pasta sauce, old records, or invitations to events. As this concept grew, so did the Bunz platform. Now, the next evolution of Bunz has begun and will be powered by their very own cryptocurrency, called BTZ. As stated on their website "BTZ will act as an alternative currency for use on the Bunz app when trading and will be redeemable at local stores, breweries, cafes and more, in the cities where Bunz is now active."
Each of the current 200,000 Bunz members will automatically receive 1000 BTZ worth approximately $10 USD. With these BTZ tokens, customers will be able to purchase goods and services safely and conveniently through the app. To receive your 1000 tokens, follow this link and register your account through Bunz, you will see your tokens deposited roughly 15 minutes after registering.
Bunz's CEO Sascha Mojtahedi told Vice Money "The beautiful part about BTZ is you're not buying this currency like a typical currency, where you have to put money in to get value. We are giving the currency to you for contributing to the network." Also mentioned in this meeting with Vice Money was the speculation that the company plans to launch an ICO (Initial Coin Offering) for BTZ. This will allow for fundraising of the token and the listing of BTZ on exchanges around the world. More information will be posted as it becomes available. 
April 7, 2018 - CNBC
Popular cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is planning to launch a platform for early-stage investments called Coinbase Ventures. This means that Coinbase may invest in direct competitors. Coinbase's president and COO Asiff Hirji announced on CNBC this Thursday this possible venture in that "We're going to invest off our balance sheet into crypto companies [more specifically] in companies that are in the space and are aligned with our values". The Coinbase Index is basically the DOW Jones of the crypto world and will track four of the worlds biggest cryptocurrencies. According to the company, any profits generated by its venture fund will be "de minimis". This means no instant satisfaction or return on your money. More likely you will see money invested into the fund to grow in its seed-stage investments.
Emilie Choi, Head of Corporate and Business Operations at Coinbase announced on April 5th that the goal of the fund (at least in the beginning) is to "help the most compelling companies in the space to flourish... This means we don't have the strategic requirement of formalizing partner relationships with such companies, as some corporate venture programs do."
This means Coinbase Venture operations will focus only on building strong relationships with its clients in order to spur on the development of the total cryptocurrency ecosystem. Coinbase has a strong alumni network, so it will be interesting to see if this move towards expansion and maturation will be a positive or negative outcome for Coinbase. More information will be posted as it becomes available. 
April 6, 2018 - Soros Fund Management
Earlier this year, billionaire George Soros denounced cryptocurrencies calling it a bubble. Now his $25.2 billion dollar fund management company plans on investing and trading digital assets. Soros, who bet billions (and won) against the British pound in 1992 said that cryptocurrencies will cause more harm than good "[and that] in this case, as long as you have dictatorships on the rise you will have a different ending, because the rulers in those countries will turn to Bitcoin to build a nest egg abroad." When this comment was made by Soros back in early January, Bitcoin prices fell nearly 42 percent. Though this caused an early bear run for investors; hope has not been lost. Soros Fund Management's Adam Fisher, responsible for overseeing macro investing in New York, received internal approval to trade digital assets these last few months but has yet to take any action.
The approval of trading digital assets should not come as a huge shock as Soros has already been indirectly betting on crypto. In the fourth quarter of 2017, Soros Fund Management amassed a stake in Overstock.com, making it the third largest shareholder.
Overstock.com is a discount e-commerce company that as of August 2017 became the first major online retailer to accept digital currencies as a form of payment. In March of 2018, Overstock filed with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to create a $250 million ICO to support its tZero alternative trading system. This means that Soros Fund Management is currently supporting the efforts made by Overstock and its ventures in cryptocurrency as means of conducting business. More information will be posted as it becomes available. 
April 4, 2018 - GiveDirectly.org
Ethereum (ETH) and OmiseGo (OMG) have teamed up to donate the equivalent of $1 million USD in OMG tokens directly to refugees currently living in extreme poverty with the host site GiveDirectly promising to deliver those funds. Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin and OmiseGo founder Jun Hasegawa announced this donation to the public saying "The crypto economy has grown immensely over the last year, bringing a great deal of wealth to many people and organizations within the ecosystem. In part we simply see an exciting opportunity to share that wealth. We hope the fortunes made in the crypto space will lead not to extravagant lifestyles but to extravagant generosity." This Robin Hood-esque duo wants to push towards collaboration for a project that embodies their shared vision of a more free, decentralized world. This type of leadership is what we need in our world, and with your help you too can make a difference.
How Can You Help?
Donate to GiveDirectly. GiveDirectly provides unconditional cash transfers to people living in extreme poverty. You can donate Bitcoin, Ether, and Ripple. Donate to the Water Project. The Water Project is a well-known organization among bitcoin proponents. This charitable organization invests funds to build local, clean water solutions to help citizens suffering from the water crisis in sub-Saharan Africa. Almost 1 in 9 people world wide do not have access to safe and clean drinking water, be the one to change that. Donate to United Way. United Way bitcoin donations will support United Way Worldwide's Innovation Fund. The Innovation Fund drives the development of new technology and new 
April 3, 2018 - CoinMarketCap
Bitcoin (BTC) continues its push back to $8,000 after the 'Death Cross' event occurred last week. Bull investors have managed to increase the total value of all cryptocurrencies by $20 billion dollars this previous 24 hours. With Bitcoin hovering at a 5% increase, most investors of digital assets are praying this is a bottom. CNBC reported that the Bitcoin price jump was a result of Japanese online broker Monex reportedly making a bid for Coincheck, a cryptocurrency exchange. After this news, Bitcoin hit it's high of $7,400 and Monex shares increased by 23 percent on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The Japanese company plans to bid several billion yen for majority stake in Coincheck as an effort to stabilize the exchange, Nikkei Asian Review reports. Monex owns U.S.-based online brokerage TradeStation which offers real-time market data for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin. As it stands today, Monex is currently valued at around $870 million. With its proposal to invest billions into the cryptocurrency market; calm waters seem to be approaching. While this Bitcoin break seems impressive, the bull fight is far from over. An increase in price above $7,800 into $8,000 would be needed in order to confirm a trend reversal in the bulls favor. The Relative Strength Indicator (RSI) of the last 24 hours indicates a possibility that Bitcoin could rally a few extra hundred dollars. This is an extremely popular momentum indicator that has been featured in several media platforms. A resistance line built at $8,000 would create a lift of the RSI above its declining trendline. More information will be posted as it becomes available. 
April 1, 2018 - Github
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum and co-founder of Bitcoin Magazine announced today a possible hard fork that will alter the total max supply of Ethereum. He states on Github "In order to ensure the economic sustainability of the platform under the widest possible variety of circumstances, and in light of the fact that issuing new coins to proof of work miners is no longer an effective way of promoting an egalitarian coin distribution or any other significant policy goal, I propose that we agree on a hard cap for the total quantity of ETH." As it currently stands, Ethereum has a total current supply of 98.557 million coins in circulation. In the long run, setting the total supply at 120 million would allow for economic sustainability following the move to a new algorithm after the hard fork. A move like this shows signs of maturity among the Ethereum project and a more familiar number to calculate. What's important to know from this article is that this is still simply a 'proposal', nothing is set in stone quite yet. With these proposals will come change and Ethereum developers and consumers must embrace that change. This change would be a huge milestone for the protocol's overall design and usability. The next hard fork (phase 1 Casper) will alter reward distributions and will ultimately change in-protocol rewards like mining, staking interests, and staking rewards. |
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