 |
BITCOIN LAWSUIT: Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have filed a lawsuit against early bitcoin investor and entrepreneur Charlie Shrem, claiming that he owes them roughly 5,000 bitcoin from a past business deal.
The suit, publicized Thursday and first reported by the New York Times, alleges that the Winklevoss brothers paid Shrem $1 million in 2012 to buy bitcoin on their behalf, but he failed to deliver the full number of coins.
Shrem has previously stated that he had limited funds following a brief jail sentence, but has since bought two luxury cars, two powerboats and a $2 million property, which the suit alleges were likely paid for with the bitcoins.
At press time, the value for 5,000 bitcoins is roughly $32 million. Full Story
SIGNUPS SUCCESS: Binance Uganda has signed up 40,000 new customers in its first week of operations in the African nation. The subsidiary was first announced in October.
Nearly three out of four individuals in the nation do not have bank accounts, which may be a factor in the demand for accounts at the exchange. Like its parent company, Binance Uganda does not use fiat currencies or require clients to have bank accounts.
Instead, it is partnering with a local payments provider to help residents convert fiat currencies into bitcoin or ether – the two cryptos accepted by the exchange – and vice versa.
Binance CFO Wei Zhou said, "[Users] just have to have money within the mobile payment system. They don't have to have bank accounts." Full Story
KIK START: Mobile messaging app Kik’s new cryptocurrency ecosystem is rapidly growing as it adds a number of apps around its kin token in the coming weeks. To date, 10 have already been released, with over 20 others on the way.
The company hopes to release some 32 apps on the Google Play and iOS App stores, all centered around its token. Users can earn and spend kin through the apps, which have been developed by members of the broader Kik community.
Apps already published cover a range of use cases, including dating, language learning, networking, mental health, productivity and more. Full Story |
|
|
|
|
 |
CoinDesk Research tracks many different metrics in the crypto economy. Social interest is important in determining the engagement of various coin communities.
We observed Reddit post volume on each cryptocurrency's unique subpage for Wednesday, Oct. 31. Bitcoin (BTC) had the highest amount at 64,000 followed by Bitcoin Cash at 49,000 and VET at 18,000.
Notably, VeChain (VET) came in at third place despite being down at 20th in market cap. This could be due to the subreddit's Daily Discussion posts that see a large number of comments.
And while the bitcoin cash subscriber base is only 24 percent of bitcoin’s, it over-performed here, reaching 77 percent of bitcoin's post volume.
For more research insights, check out the CoinDesk Research section here. |
|
SPONSOR SECTION
 HYCON - Hyperconnected Coin - is a new, minable blockchain protocol featuring on-chain scalability with high transaction throughput capacity in a fully decentralized manner. On October 31st, HYCON will implement the GHOST Protocol, which marks an important milestone in our journey towards becoming a DAG-based blockchain with the SPECTRE consensus algorithm. Check out our code on GitHub and follow us on social media to stay updated on our progress. Learn More Here |
|
| UPHILL BATTLE: Bitcoin defended the key 21-month EMA for the fifth month running in October, so far, but the follow-through has been anything but encouraging. As seen in the daily chart, prices are trapped in a symmetrical triangle and a breakout will likely set the tone for a near-term move. Plus, a years-long rising trendline that is now acting as price support may keep the bears at bay. Full Story |
 |
BEST OF THE BEST TECH NODE: In China, odd-looking marine animals called sea cucumbers provide a potential new use case for blockchain technology, according to Tech Node. Considered a delicacy, the costly echinoderms (a group that includes sea urchins and sea stars) can command a price tag of as much as $3000 per kilo. To help mitigate the risk of counterfeits, Chinese e-commerce giant JD is now looking to put sea cucumber data on a blockchain by coordinating with firms processing and distributing products based on the creature. This would include information such as where and when a sea cucumber was caught and processed. The company has even installed cameras that constantly live stream a primary fishing area and production factory in the northern Chinese port city of Dalian. THE REST THE NEXT WEB: Google searches for the term "blockchain" are becoming more popular than those for "cryptocurrency," according to a piece from The Next Web. The trend change seems to have kicked in in September 2017, since when "blockchain" has consistently attracted more searches. The term "bitcoin" continues to remain the most popular in the crypto sector, though – being nearly 10-times more popular than "cryptocurrency" and "blockchain." SECURITIES TIMES NETWORK: China Merchants Bank, a private sector lender based in Shenzhen, says it has successfully piloted the blockchain-powered issuance of electronic invoices (e-invoices). The bank conducted a pilot for customers purchasing precious metals, also notifying the Shenzhen city's local taxation authority in the process, according to a report from regional news outlet Securities Times Network. Unlike paper invoices, the e-invoices connect all the stakeholders involved in the purchasing and reimbursement process on one platform using blockchain tech. The solution improves traceability and tackles the common issues of fraud and tax avoidance, the report says. |
|
WHO WON #CRYPTOTWITTER  |
Consensus: Invest Keynotes |
|
|  Jay Clayton Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission |
|  Dr. Mohamed A. El-Erian Chief Economic Advisor at Allianz |
|
| |
|
|
| | | | | | |
