Crashes in the crypto market resulted in spikes in mainstream media coverage from 2013 to 2018, per a recent study by Clovr
Source: Cointelegraph.com
Original Post: Study: Crypto Coverage in Media Peaked Following Market Slump
SEC Chairman Jay Clayton has claimed that bitcoin exchanges lack sufficient transparency and monitoring for the market to see approved Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). According to CNBC, at the Consensus Invest Conference in New York City recently, Clayton said: What investors expect is that trading in the commodity that underlies that ETF makes sense
The post No Bitcoin ETF Before Important Changes to BTC Markets: SEC Chairman appeared first on CCN
Source: CCN.com
Original Post: No Bitcoin ETF Before Important Changes to BTC Markets: SEC Chairman
Taiwan-based computer hardware giant ASUS is the latest player in the block to join the cryptocurrency mining party. According to a report by Hard Fork, published November 29, 2018, ASUS is persuading gamers to mine cryptocurrencies when their gaming systems are not in use. Partnership with Quantumcloud to Develop Mining Software Per sources close to the matter, ASUS gamers will...Read More. The post by Aisshwarya Tiwari appeared first on BTCManager, Bitcoin, Blockchain & Cryptocurrency News
Source: BTCManager.com
Original Post: ASUS Partners with Quantumcloud to Allow Crypto Mining Through Idle GPUs
On Nov. 29, Sirin Labs announced the commercial launch of its new blockchain smartphone known as the Finney. According to the cellphone creators, the Finney offers “secure and state of the art mobile technology” alongside an embedded cold storage cryptocurrency wallet.
Also read: Bloxroute Joins the Block Size Debate With New Block Propagation Service
Sirin Labs has launched its flagship product the Finney phone, a mobile device named after the late Bitcoin developer Hal Finney. News.Bitcoin.com originally reported on the Finney phone back in May when it was revealed that Foxconn, the company that manufactures iPhones, helped Sirin Labs produce the new blockchain mobile device. This week, Sirin Labs announced the phone can now be purchased on the company’s official website for $999 and the product will also join the Amazon Launchpad program in January.
According to the phone’s specifications, the mobile device has a 6-inch touchscreen display and is powered by an octa-core processor with 6GB of RAM. Finney runs on an operating system called Sirin OS, which is a fork of the Oreo software Android 8.1. The cryptocurrency features within the phone can be seen by using a second touchscreen that’s attached to the phone’s body. Sirin has explained that this is how the Finney device’s extra layer of security works because when the pop-up screen is used, all actions performed by the Sirin OS are encrypted. The Finney creators state that the second touchscreen has a firewall between the main operating system and claims the process makes the phone much harder to compromise. The cryptocurrency side-software has a program known as token conversion service (TCS) so the mobile phone’s owners can swap coins like BTC and ETH.
Additionally, the phone has a 12-megapixel rear camera and a selfie camera with a design that’s very similar to the Solarin phone. The Solarin is another design created by Sirin Labs, but the Solarin carbon titanium 128GB version is a whopping $13,800 plus tax. The Finney model also comes with 128GB of storage and can be expanded upon with a micro-SD card. Lastly, the mobile device accepts a nano-SIM and can connect to traditional Bluetooth, NFC, and wifi networks. “Sirin Labs is also looking for strategic OEMs to implement Sirin OS in additional consumer devices,” the Barcelona-based company explained on Thursday.
The new Finney cellphone is not the only mobile device specifically designed for blockchain security. Taiwanese consumer electronics manufacturer High Tech Computer Corporation (HTC) is also producing a cryptocurrency-centric phone. HTC has said the new “blockchain-powered” product will use a modified version of the Android operating system. The HTC Exodus 1 is also available for preorder on its website by reserving the phone with either BTC or ETH funds. At the moment the HTC Exodus 1 is priced at around 0.15 BTC or roughly $600 at the time of publication.
With the new Finney phone launch, Sirin Labs has explained that the company is planning to open two flagship concept stores so the public can get an inside glimpse at the blockchain mobile device. According to the Finney manufacturer, the first concept store will open in London in December of this year and then another location in Tokyo in January of 2019. Sirin Labs emphasized during the announcement that the London store will also act as a blockchain academy for individuals in the community looking to learn about cryptocurrency solutions.
What do you think about the Sirin Labs produced Finney phone? Let us know what you think about blockchain-centric mobile devices in the comments section below.
Disclaimer: Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support this product/service.
Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the mentioned company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.
Images via Sirin Labs, the Finney phone, and HTC.
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The post Sirin Labs Launches Blockchain-Centric ‘Finney’ Smartphone appeared first on Bitcoin News.
Source: Bitcoin.com
Original Post: Sirin Labs Launches Blockchain-Centric ‘Finney’ Smartphone
Coinbase, a California based cryptocurrency exchange has enabled the option of free PayPal withdrawals for various fiat currencies. This was a quiet and swift move from the exchange and includes withdrawals of currencies like USD, EUR, and GBP, reported Beingcrypto.
The publication also added that this secret update will allow users to withdraw the above mentioned fiat currencies free of charge to their PayPal account.
However, Coinbase has not officially announced about this enabled feature on their website or through their social media handles. Although, it has sent e-mails to eligible users, reported the publication.
The option for charge free withdrawals is only availed by a handful of regions, like US, UK, EU, and Canada. As of now, Coinbase provides wallets for USD, GBP, and EUR, but this addition may indicate inclusion of CAD and AUD wallets.
Meanwhile, the users in Canada and Australia do not have access to withdrawal through PayPal but are provided the option to sell their digital assets to CAD or AUD respectively. However, this option is exclusive only to the users of Canada and Australia and not for any other region.
In order to enable this option, the users have to verify their identities, following which, they will receive and e-mail of confirmation, reported the publication.
This move is a small one facilitating withdrawals. Additionally, this might also mean that the option for PayPal deposits might be underway.
This decision came in shortly after Coinbase declared its plans for global expansion, which was followed by its $300 million Series-E funding round and the addition of the new stable coin Circle to it exchange list.
The post Coinbase secretly introduces free PayPal withdrawals appeared first on AMBCrypto.
Source: AMBcrypto
Original Post: Coinbase secretly introduces free PayPal withdrawals
Stellar Lumens (XLM) seems to have averted another fall for now as the technicals enter oversold territory. The price has now seen a bounce back above a trend line support as the bulls come to its rescue. However, it is still too early to declare victory. The RSI has found support temporarily but the price might be due for another drop yet. That being said, it is unlikely to break out of the pitchfork anytime soon. Even if XLM/USD remains above its current price, it is unlikely to rally aggressively till the beginning of next week. We have seen Stellar (XLM) correct same as the rest of the cryptocurrencies the past few days. Its correlation with Ripple (XRP) was short lived and the price soon began to mimic the trajectory of Bitcoin (BTC).
The pattern formed within the pitchfork on the XLM/USD chart was originally deemed to be a cup and handle. It began forming the cup between November 26 and November 28. Between November 28 and November 29, it had formed the handle, but somehow it did not translate into a rally. Soon after the big cup and handle was completed, another attempt was made to form a small cup and handle between November 29 and November 30 as seen on the chart. This pattern also did not come to fruition as expected and soon afterwards, the price started to fall after retesting top of the ascending channel again. A lot of people feel worried how many a time cryptocurrencies do not abide by traditional market patterns. However, it is pertinent to note that there are usually multiple patterns at play and hence multiple interpretations.
As the XLM/USD cup and handle pattern shows, the only point of highlighting patterns and sequences on a chart is to explore possibilities and assess probabilities. It does not mean that a certain pattern will always be followed just because it has been followed in the past. It would thus be very unreasonable to open an XLM/USD buy position with the hopes that the price is going to go up because a cup and handle pattern is at play. It should be considered as one of the arguments in support of a bullish bias but it should not form the basis for a buy position on its own. This also leads to a more important question which is, “Are you trading or investing?” Stellar Lumens (XLM) is a wonderful project but investing in it long term is not the same as trading it short term. Both require different strategies and research.
The daily chart for XLM/USD explains perfectly why investing in XLM/USD and trading it is not the same and requires different approaches. If you were investing in XLM/USD, you would be comfortable beginning to accumulate around September. If the price went down short term, you would only have taken it as an opportunity to buy more. This also means that if the price were to drop short term, you would have nothing to worry about. In fact, you would be happy to accumulate more. On the other hand, if you were trading, you would be buying and selling the big swings since the beginning of the correction. You start at the beginning of the correction and you see a trend line that the price has respect thus far.
However, if the market were to act irrationally which it does, quite often, you should be able to deal with it. If you look at the fall below the support this month on the above chart, you can see that the fall was very aggressive because a lot of people were not prepared for it. This means that either most of them got stopped out and liquidated because they did not understand the difference between trading and investing or they panic sold because of the very same reason. Investing in XLM/USD might seem easier than trading as you would have to just hold a bunch of tokens, but the reality is different. With trading, the fundamentals of what you are buying and selling does not matter much because you are not holding the asset for a long time. However, when you are investing, you are putting your faith in a project for 5 or 10 years which means you will have to do a lot more work to make the right decisions.
Source: CryptoDaily.co.uk
Original Post: Stellar (XLM) Averts Another Fall But Lacks A Clear Direction Short Term
Source: YouTube: Altcoin Buzz
Original Post: "Bitcoin is Here to Stay" Says NYSE Chairman & ICE CEO - Today's Crypto News
Switzerland’s oldest university, the University of Basel, has awarded an honorary doctorate to Vitalik Buterin, a co-founder of the Ethereum network
Source: Cointelegraph.com
Original Post: Oldest Swiss University Awards Honorary Doctorate to Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin
The newer HBUS cryptocurrency exchange has taken its message to the streets with a new billboard campaign. According to a blog post by the exchange themselves, they are the first in the nation to do this, and we find nothing to the contrary. However, there have been other Bitcoin-related billboard campaigns, like the one Genesis
The post HBUS Launches Crypto Billboard Campaign Mocking Coinbase And Wall Street appeared first on CCN
Source: CCN.com
Original Post: HBUS Launches Crypto Billboard Campaign Mocking Coinbase And Wall Street
Bitcoin Mining, Cryptocurrency–Even with the falling price of Bitcoin and the recent questions being raised about the profitability of crypto mining, American tech company Intel has made headlines with a new patent filing that seeks to improve upon the efficiency of mining.
According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) filing that was published on Nov. 27, the tech giant’s patent specifically seeks to establish “energy-efficient high-performance Bitcoin mining.”
Given the growing concerns over the amount of electricity consumed by Bitcoin mining, a feature that has drawn almost as much criticism–and skepticism–to the industry as price volatility, it’s no surprise that companies are seeking a more economical approach. While some have cried foul over the allegations that BTC mining is contributing to global warming, or that the industry function accounts for more energy consumption than entire countries, it is undoubtedly a feature that will have to be modified for cryptocurrency to reach mainstream. Some enterprising individuals have turned the large input of power consumption in their favor, seeking advantage over competition by moving to regions such as up-state New York which provide more cost effective hydroelectric power.
In the case of Intel and their most recent patent filing, the company secrets to create hardware and technology that will provide an advantage in mining coins while doing so in a more energy efficient manner. Specifics of the patent include a “hardware accelerator implementing SHA-256 hash using optimized data paths,” with the goal of reducing total energy consumption by up to 15 percent.
The filing continues,
“clusters of SHA engines may consume a lot of powers (e.g., at a rate of greater than 200 W)…Embodiments of the present disclosure include energy-efficient ASIC-based SHA engines that consume less power for Bitcoin mining operations.”
Intel has previously been involved in patent filings in Bitcoin mining, having submitted a proposal back in March that aimed to reduce the amount of “energy consumption per hash and maximizing performance per watt,” showing a predilection for the company to improve upon the current efficiency of most mining machines. A breakthrough in such a hardware or technology would enable the company to sell with an edge over their competition, as the climbing number of miners and computing power involved in Bitcoin, while useful for maintaining the network, has had the adverse effect of driving up the cost of mining operations significantly–fees which have been passed onto consumers and the general market.
Given the drop in valuation for Bitcoin and altcoins over the last two weeks, culminating in a dip to $3500 for the first time since 2017, reports were circulating that miners were abandoning their efforts in droves and selling their equipment for pennies on the dollar. While Bitcoin’s hash rate has been falling along with its valuation, many have pointed out that this is likely due to miners shifting to more profitable currencies as opposed to outright abandoning the industry of using their hardware to mine crypto.
Intel’s efforts to produce more efficient mining hardware could be getting a step on the competition during the lowest period of this bear cycle. But, given the timing of the patent filing, it shows a small commitment by the company to exploring crypto even as prices continue to fall.
The post Intel Files Patent for More Efficient Bitcoin (BTC) Mining appeared first on Ethereum World News.
Source: Ethereum Worldnews
Original Post: Intel Files Patent for More Efficient Bitcoin (BTC) Mining
Chinese cryptocurrency mining hardware manufacturer Bitmain has just released its own cryptocurrency index. Going forward, the firm will provide market data for 17 of the largest digital assets by market capitalisation.
One of the planet’s largest producers of digital currency mining hardware has just published an index of cryptocurrency prices. Bitmain announced the move via its website, BTC.com, earlier today.
According to the post, Bitmain’s new price index has been tailored to institutional and individual investors alike. It stated:
“The index tracks the performance of the largest and most liquid digital currency in the market and is denominated in US dollars.”
The index draws its price data from the largest cryptocurrency exchanges on the planet. To help decide which trading venues are eligible to inform the service, Bitmain analyse each based on its: reputation, regulatory compliance, price transparency, stability, and trading volume.
The exchanges making the grade thus far are: Bitfinex, Binance, Bitstamp, Bittrex, GDAX, Gemini, Huobi, Itbit, Kraken, OKEX, and Poloniex.
Bitmain will provide visitors to the index with real-time price updates by the second, along with a daily reference price. This latter feature will be updated at 10 a.m. (GMT +8) each day.
The coins chosen by Bitmain are: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), EOS, Ethereum Classic (ETC), Litecoin (LTC), XRP, Dash, IOTA, NEO, Monero (XMR), Cardano (ADA), Tron (TRX), Icon (ICX), Lumens (XLM), Zcash (ZEC), and OmiseGo (OMG).
In addition to the 17 single digital currency indices, Bitmain has also created a combined index of the leading 10 cryptos. This will be known as the Bitmain Large Cap 10 Index (BLC10). In the words of the Chinese firm itself, the BLC10 will be:
“A comprehensive index of market capitalisation weights, totalling more than 90% of the market’s digital currency market value, covering currency classes, decentralised platform classes and anonymous digital asset classes.”
Related Reading: How Much of the 20% Surge of Bitcoin Cash is Affected by Bitmain IPO?
In other recent Bitmain news, the Chinese mining hardware manufacturer has just had a class action lawsuit brought against it by one of its U.S. customers. The case claims that Bitmain had redesigned their ASIC cryptocurrency mining chips to earn mining rewards and transaction fees for the company rather than the users themselves.
Filing the complaint is an LA resident called Gor Gevorkyan. However, the action is on behalf of all Bitmain’s U.S. customers. Gevorkyan believes this is around 100,000 individuals. He is hoping to sue the mining giant for over $5 million.
However, the lawsuit is just the tip of the iceberg with regards Bitmain’s current troubles. Its plan to go public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has exposed some dubious figures relating to the company’s inventory. This has prompted a full restructuring of its board of directors.
All the while, the once undisputed leader of the hardware manufacturing industry is slipping behind technologically to other companies also building ASIC chips.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The post Bitmain Launches Crypto Index for Investors, Provides Data on 17 Digital Assets appeared first on NewsBTC.
Source: News BTC
Original Post: Bitmain Launches Crypto Index for Investors, Provides Data on 17 Digital Assets
Check Point Research cybersecurity firm has found that the KingMiner cryptojacking malware is “evolving” its attack methods
Source: Cointelegraph.com
Original Post: Cyber Security Firm Check Point Research Reports of ‘Evolving’ Monero Cryptojacker
It’s common to hear people saying, “Why do we need to pay transaction fees to use this coin?” Some elaborate and say, “Aren’t block rewards enough? These miners are extorting us.” In this article, I will try to explain why blockchains need fees to be sustainable. Well, if the goal was just to encourage the […]
The post Why Are Fees Vital in a Healthy Blockchain? appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
Source: Daily HODL
Original Post: Why Are Fees Vital in a Healthy Blockchain?
ETCDEV’s Founder and Technical Lead, Igor Artamonov recently announced an Ethereum Classic security alert. According to him, an unknown person took admin control of Ethereum Classic community organization with Classic Geth and removed all the other admins. The team had recommended all the users not to download Classic Geth until the issue was resolved.
However, within a couple of hours, ETCDEV’s program manager Darcy Reno mentioned that the whole issue was just mistake by Igor. His tweet read:
“There seems to be a mistake here – Igor had added an owner at their request which is correct and fine. That new owner seems to have reverted existing owners to members by some accident or misunderstanding. That user has said that they will revert the change today.”
Classic Geth is an Ethereum Classic repository on Github. The latest version of the project was released 2 weeks back. Geth is the main Ethereum Classic client, a multipurpose command line tool that runs a full Ethereum Classic node. This is a Go language implementation of Ethereum Classic, supporting the original blockchain and its philosophy of immutability, censorship-resistance, and resilient distributed applications.
During the short investigation period by ETCDEV team, its Director, Anthony Lusardi tweeted:
“We are in contact with GitHub and working to regain control. The user who took ownership has not made any changes to any repositories as of the time of this tweet. However, as the note indicates, please proceed with caution.”
He also mentioned that no changes have been made to any repositories currently. Another ETC developer mentioned on Twitter that “the repositories require approved reviewers prior to PR merge and all build pipelines have been paused until the situation has been resolved. All clients are currently uneffected”.
Later, Anthony Lusardi tweeted:
“All is fine now. Issue and an incredible amount of unnecessary drama is resolved. Hooray!”
The post Ethereum Classic [ETC] Geth security alert: “unnecessary drama” resolved appeared first on AMBCrypto.
Source: AMBcrypto
Original Post: Ethereum Classic [ETC] Geth security alert: “unnecessary drama” resolved
De cryptocurrency-mining-gigant Bitmain heeft de Crypto Index gelanceerd. Hierop worden verschillende prijsindexcijfers weergegeven, met als doel om de grootste activa voor
Het bericht Bitmain lanceert Crypto Index verscheen eerst op Newsbit.
Source: Newsbit (NL)
Original Post: Bitmain lanceert Crypto Index
The growing popularity of cryptocurrencies has forced cybercriminals to invest resources in the development of more robust mining technologies to replace the typical ransomware Trojans, reports Kaspersky Lab’s cyber threat research arm Securelist, November 28, 2018. Cryptojacking Almost as Famous as Ransomware Attacks A cybersecurity bulletin titled “Story of the year: miners” talks about the emerging trends among the cybercriminals...Read More. The post by Aisshwarya Tiwari appeared first on BTCManager, Bitcoin, Blockchain & Cryptocurrency News
Source: BTCManager.com
Original Post: Report: No Correlation Between Crypto Mining Attacks and Legal Status of Cryptocurrency in the Country
A new report from CoinShares into Bitcoin mining suggests the practice is likely loss-making for the majority of miners at current prices.
In a ‘whitepaper’ which received high praise from cryptocurrency figures, CoinShares examined various facets of mining, which has seen increased prominence in recent weeks as Bitcoin price 00 dropped to lows of $3500.
“Among our findings is an estimate that since May, the market-average, all-in marginal cost of creation, at ¢5/KWh, and 18-month depreciation schedules has increased from approximately $6,500 to approximately $6,800,” researchers reveal in their introduction.
This suggests that, at current prices, the average miner is either: running at a loss and unable to recover capex, mining at electricity costs closer to ¢3/KWh, depreciating mining gear over 24-30 months, or paying less for mining gear than our estimates.
As Bitcoinist reported, miners have appeared to experience considerable economic difficulties due to price depreciation regardless of the base price of electricity in their location.
Scenes allegedly showing Chinese miners dumping unprofitable units en masse hit social media last week, amid claims the dry season had pushed up hydroelectricity costs which were adding to miners’ headache.
The Bitcoin mining difficulty is set to decrease, not increase, for the first time since December 2, 2011.
Going forward, CoinShares says, mining will continue to focus on the cheapest possible sources of mostly renewable energy.
“Based on historical data on energy mix and locations of cryptocurrency mining operations in China, we have shown that contrary to the common narrative, the vast majority of global Bitcoin mining capacity (minimum 77.6%) is running on renewable energy,” the researchers conclude.
Responding, Saifedean Ammous, the author of ‘The Bitcoin Standard,’ agreed with the findings, adding he would be publishing his “first in-depth analysis of the (economics) of bitcoin mining” Friday.
What do you think about CoinShares’ Bitcoin mining research? Let us know in the comments below!
Images courtesy of Shutterstock
The post New Report Finds 80% of Bitcoin Mining Running on Renewable Energy appeared first on Bitcoinist.com.
Source: Bitcoinist.com
Original Post: New Report Finds 80% of Bitcoin Mining Running on Renewable Energy
One of the co-founders of the second largest public blockchain on the planet has received an honorary doctorate from the University of Basel. Vitalik Buterin received the recognition from the institution for his role in helping to build the Ethereum network.
According to a post from the University of Basel, the institution has just awarded Vitalik Buterin an honorary doctorate for his work on the Ethereum blockchain. As part of a traditional ceremony celebrating the university’s “Dies Academicus”, the co-founder of the most well-known smart contract platform was amongst a group of nine other individuals being celebrated.
Also in receipt of doctorates were: writer Hansjörg Schneider, hospice founder Verena Grether, medical engineer Robert Riener, judge Thomas Stadelmann, neuroscientist Thomas Insel, theologian Hans-Martin Barth, illustrator Armin Coray, and economist Beatrice Weder di Mauro.
Following the award ceremony, the institution tweeted the following:
.@VitalikButerin receives an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Basel. The co-founder of @ethereum has made outstanding achievements in the fields of #cryptocurrencies, smart contracts and the design of institutions. pic.twitter.com/6d6ftTG56n
— University of Basel (@UniBasel_en) November 30, 2018
During the video posted above, the institution states that Vitalik:
“… makes a groundbreaking contribution to promoting decentralization and equal participation in the digital revolution.”
It makes a lot of sense for a Swiss university to celebrate blockchain developers in such a way. The nation has quickly become one of the planet’s main hubs for innovation relating to the technology. Thanks to favourable taxation policies, many digital asset-focused startups have decided to settle there.
Further education facilities have been taking progressively more notice of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies over the last few years. The numbers of blockchain developer courses offered around the world is growing everyday and even the occasional high school has made the effort to educate students and parents on the fintech innovation.
Universities are not just interested in the technology side of cryptocurrencies, however. It recently emerged that perhaps the most respected higher education endowments manager on the planet, David Swensen, has diversified Yale’s investments to cover two crypto funds focused on not only blockchain startups, but also digital currencies themselves.
Related Reading: Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin Receives Proposition from Google
Despite the University of Basel taking notice of Vitalik for his work on blockchain technology, the platform he designed is still far from complete. Work is ongoing on a number of different protocol upgrades for Ethereum. These include a scaling solution known as Plasma, which Vitalik recently stated was nearing completion, but problems have since emerged.
On top of this, a plethora of other upgrades are in the pipeline aimed at improving the efficiency of the “Ethereum Virtual Machine.” The eventual goal is to do away with power-intensive mining altogether and instead use a proof-of-stake consensus finding system.
Featured image from Patricia Beatrix Villanueva via Unsplash, copyright free.
The post Vitalik Buterin Receives Honorary PhD from Basel University appeared first on NewsBTC.
Source: News BTC
Original Post: Vitalik Buterin Receives Honorary PhD from Basel University
The co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, has been awarded an honorary doctorate by Switzerland’s oldest institution of higher learning, the University of Basel. According to the university’s Faculty of Business and Economics, which awarded Buterin the honorary doctorate, the award is ‘in recognition of his contribution to promoting decentralization and equal rights of participation in
The post 500-Year Old Swiss University Makes Vitalik Buterin an Honorary Doctor appeared first on CCN
Source: CCN.com
Original Post: 500-Year Old Swiss University Makes Vitalik Buterin an Honorary Doctor
The continuing decline in market caps has created stress for crypto investors and advocates, but it is also creating a unique and challenging environment for Ethereum and other platforms that are designed to run decentralized applications (dApps). These networks are intended to be a framework around which internal tokens operate, and thus serve a key foundational role within the blockchain space. Their significance is thus dependent on a strong market cap, and a robust community of developers and nodes that ensure their stability and function.
One of the most significant issues facing the Ethereum ecosystem is the fact that the token projects that were launched over the previous two years have all been funded by Ether and Bitcoin. Now that the values of these cryptocurrencies have dramatically fallen, these teams have found themselves short of funds. Adding to this problem is the fact that the tokens themselves are now trading at substantially lower prices, creating further financial strain on the development teams.
The dApp ecosystem is also heavily dependent on public trust, and a firm belief that smart contracts and other advanced blockchain features will enter mainstream use. Although there is little doubt that blockchain technology is headed down this path, the fact that market values can collapse so suddenly has caused great concern for would-be adopters. Simply put, it raises the possibility that these platforms could fail, which would be catastrophic for any institution that relies on them.
Although the development teams for dApp platforms are generally opposed to widespread speculation, presently the vast majority of transactions across the blockchain space are a result of trading. The current price drops have impacted these numbers, with trade activity sharply down from this time last year. This fact has contributed to the decline in values in dApp tokens, thus further weakening platforms like Ethereum.
Besides these challenges, the current market environment also has potential benefits. One of the most significant is that it could play a key role in separating quality platforms from those with less potential. It is well understood that many of the hundreds of tokens on the Ethereum network will not succeed long-term. The current environment is thus hastening the inevitable, and paving the way for greater investment in those that are more worthy of adoption.
Despite present challenges, development of the major dApp platforms remains on-track, an no development teams have indicated that progress has been negatively impacted. This fact is not surprising, as these teams are far more concerned with progress and overall adoption than current prices. Also, even the most developed platforms are far from finished, and all valuation up to this point remains speculative.
The significant volatility of cryptocurrency markets is causing concern for many blockchain advocates, and the issues that it creates for dApp platforms is notable. There is no doubt that long-term success will require price growth and stability. Nevertheless, these declines are most impactful on speculators, and do not detract from the utility of the platforms themselves. The fact that blockchain technology will move into mainstream use is all but certain, and platforms such as Ethereum are all but certain to lead the way.
Featured Image via BigStock.
Source: Crypto News (.net)
Original Post: Current Market Creating Unique Challenges for Ethereum & dApp Plafforms