 QUOTE OF THE DAY  |
| “Bitcoin, and the ideas behind it, will be a disruptor to the traditional notions of currency. In the end, currency will be better for it.” - Edmund Moy |
Happy Tuesday! It is our job as early adopters of crypto to educate others about the potential. If you know someone who would benefit from Blockchain Brew, forward this email to them by clicking on the 'Invite Friends' button above.
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Blockchain Brew Team
| COIN | PRICE | 24H |
|
| BTC | $6,399.01 | -5.83% |
|
| ETH | $440.698 | -9.3% |
|
| XRP | $0.451039 | -5.68% |
|
| BCH | $699.408 | -6.97% |
|
| EOS | $7.44859 | -13.34% |
|
*Information as of 9:30 AM EST
$25 Million Stolen From Decentralized Exchange, Bancor
BANCOR
- The Bancor Network is a decentralized liquidity network that allows users to buy and sell tokens directly from their wallets at a low cost
- At the time of this writing, the market capitalization for Bancor is around $138 million making it the 73rd largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization
- During its ICO in July 2017, Bancor raised $153 million in just a few hours making it one of the biggest ICOs ever
HACK
- On Monday, the Bancor Network was hacked with the attacker making away with $12 million in Ether, $1 million worth of NPXS, and $10 million worth of BNT
- The hacker was able to steal these funds by compromising a wallet that was being used to upgrade some of the smart contracts on the network
- Bancor was able to freeze the stolen BNT but the other funds were not able to be frozen
- The wallet containing the stolen funds was able to be traced and can be viewed here, Bancor is working with exchanges to make it difficult for the thief to liquidate the funds
NO SURPRISE
- This is definitely not the first hack that has happened this year, new research done by blockchain security firm CipherTrace has found that $731 million worth of cryptocurrency has been stolen from exchanges by hackers already this year
- For comparison, only $266 million was stolen in all of 2017, roughly 1/3 the amount in twice as long as a time period
- If cryptocurrency wants to become mainstream, the space must figure out how to protect individuals assets
Korea Says Cryptocurrencies Pose ‘Insignificant’ Risk to the Country’s Financial Sector
NOT SIGNIFICANT
- It has been recently reported that the total of all cryptocurrency accounts in South Korea in December 2017 was valued at $1.79 billion
- While $1.79 billion may seem like a significant figure, it accounts for only 8% of total deposits within the country which total to $23.27 billion
- This data was gathered in December 2017 when Bitcoin was near $20,000, now at less than 60% of that value, cryptocurrency is even less significant currently in Korea
The report explains that being so insignificant, cryptocurrency is not a threat:
“The amount of crypto-asset investment is not really big, compared with other equity markets, and local financial institutions' exposure to possible risks of digital assets is insignificant. Against this backdrop, we expect crypto-assets to have a limited impact on the South Korean financial market."
TIDE TURNING?
- This central bank report comes just as Korea is seemingly contemplating loosening some of its regulations towards cryptocurrencies
- Just last week, the Korean Financial Services Commission publicized that it has no oppositions to cryptocurrencies
- It seems likely that Korea will follow the G20’s guidance in creating a worldwide treatment for cryptocurrencies for all nations to follow
- Also last week, Korea revealed a draft of industry classification standards that recognizes cryptocurrency exchanges as financial institutions
New Study Identifies Six Challenges Cryptocurrencies Need to Overcome Before Mass Adoption
NEW REPORT
- In a new report released by eToro, researchers suggest that cryptocurrencies are on their way to reaching mass adoption "within the decade"
- According to the report, cryptocurrencies already fulfill the store of value principle of fiat money
- In contrast, Bitcoin is yet to act as a medium of exchange or serve as a unit of account
CHALLENGES AHEAD
Before cryptocurrencies reach mass adoption, the report identifies six challenges that cryptocurrencies will need to solve:
- Scalability
- Cryptocurrencies need to solve the scalability issue to conduct more transactions on the network at the same time
- Usability
- Cryptocurrencies need to become more intuitive to use for regular people and not be so tech heavy
- Regulation
- Cryptocurrencies need to receive regulation clarity from governments to spur mass growth
- Incentives
- Cryptocurrencies will need to build a rewards system that doesn't incentivize manipulation
- Privacy
- Cryptocurrencies will need to continue to offer different levels of privacy for users to freely choose
Dr. Zeynep Gurguc, a researcher who helped coordinate the report, provided his closing thoughts:
"New payment systems (or asset classes) do not emerge overnight but it is worth noting that the concept of money has evolved - even in our lifetime - from cash to digital or contactless payments. The wider use of cryptocurrencies and crypto-assets is the next natural step if they successfully overcome the six challenges we set out in our report."
Major Economists Bash Bitcoin's Ability to Survive in Interview
CURRENCY FAILURE
- According to an interview released by Financial News yesterday, Joseph Stiglitz, Kenneth Rogoff, and Nouriel Roubini all bashed Bitcoin's use as a currency
- The three major economists namely criticized Bitcoin's volatility and lack of intrinsic value
Each economist then provided more depth to their arguments against Bitcoin:
STIGLITZ'S STANCE
- Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist and highly regarded professor at Columbia University, particularly dislikes the idea of Bitcoin's anonymity
- Stiglitz believes that this creates the opposite effect of a "transparent banking system"
- Because of Bitcoin's ability to allow for "nefarious activity", Stiglitz believes governments will ban the use of Bitcoin if it gets too large
ROGOFF'S REASONS
- Rogoff, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, predicted that Bitcoin could be worth as low as $100 in ten years
- He believes this prediction will largely come true because of government regulation and intervention
- Rogoff, like Stiglitz, also reasoned that Bitcoin's anonymity is a deterrent for use as a currency
ROUBINI'S BASHES
- Roubini, often popularized as "Dr.Doom" for predicting the 2008 financial crisis, criticized Bitcoin's ability to become mass adopted
- Roubini argued that even at Bitcoin conferences vendors would rather accept U.S. dollars
Roubini went on to bash Bitcoin's use as a store of value instead of as a currency:
"How can something that falls 20% one day and then rises 20% the next be a stable store of value?"
- Nigerian Entrepreneurs are Choosing Bitcoin Over the National Currency
- These Bitcoin Graffiti Artists Color the World’s Streets
- London School of Economics to Offer Online Cryptocurrency Courses
EOS (EOS)
"..He'll be talking about developing on EOS as compared to Ethereum and will address design pattern comparison and architecture."
Ardor (ARDR)
"Come mingle with the community and our 4 speakers, in an evening for blockchain insiders."
Stellar (XLM)
LOBSTR the most popular Stellar wallet was approved by Apple and will be released on App Store on 10 July.
Today in Crypto is powered by coinmarketcal.com
| Bulwark (BWK) |
| Bulwark is a privacy based cryptocurrency project with a focus on hardware development and user freedom. With Proof of Stake and Masternodes, users can either stake their Bulwark for rewards or lock collateral into masternodes to provide a variety of services such as Instantsend (Instantaneous Transactions) and Obfuscation (Coin Mixing for Transaction Anonymity) to the network and in return are compensated for being part of the core network infrastructure. |
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