Friday, November 23, 2018

We're Talking Tokenless 😳

November 23, 2018

12 "Mega Deal" ICOs Have Yet to Release Tokens

No token, no problem

12 initial coin offerings (ICO), including top names like Telegram, Filecoin, and tZero, have yet to issue tokens to investors despite collecting over $50 million each.

According to BitMEX Research, the information arm of the popular cryptocurrency exchange, these "mega deals" are waiting to launch their tokens in the "right market conditions."

That's because the token's price at this time largely hinges on the market cycle rather than the token's fundamentals - meaning the current bear market would largely knock down the token's price and project valuation.

Gargantuan losses

Since these tokens have yet to be listed on the market, they have "implied valuations" using information that is only available from the last investment numbers.

Here's the problem: Because most of these projects completed their ICOs in the middle of the market's bull run last year, the project values have likely fallen quite a bit given the current market conditions.

Once January 1st, 2019 resets the fiscal year, and these projects show their true valuations through a token launch, investors will be hit with "gargantuan" losses, according to BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes.

So far, only 5 of the 12 ICOs analyzed have set expected launch dates while the remaining 7 are staying on the sidelines for a green light from the market.

OPINION

Crypto Critic Nouriel Roubini Feels 'Vindicated' After Market Meltdown

Background on this bear

Nouriel Roubini is a Professor Of Economics And International Business at the New York University Stern School of Business. He is known as "Dr. Doom" after predicting the 2008 financial crisis. Over the years, Roubini has been a harsh critic of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. He once called blockchains nothing more than a "glorified Excel spreadsheet." He has also referred to crypto enthusiasts as "hodl nuts" and "cyber terrorists."

Feeling vindicated

Roubini has constantly bashed cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin. Now with the market in turmoil, Roubini says he feels 'vindicated' of his arguments against the asset class.

Roubini's recently posted to Twitter:

"With BTC down almost 80% from peak (from 20K to ~4K) & all other cryptocurrencies down 80% to 99% I rest my case that this crypto bubble went bust for good. I feel vindicated. So I will take a break for a few days from this toxic Crypto Twitter. Waste of time to convince zealots"

Zooming out

While Roubini feels that the recent price action proves that his opinion about crypto is indeed correct, can the price actually confirm this? Roubini has been trashing Bitcoin since the very beginning when the crypto was just $10.

It seems like Roubini should be more humble to the fact that the prices of this asset class are extremely volatile and price movements, up or down, do not vindicate that an opinion is neither right nor wrong.

STABLECOIN

Auditor Attests that Circle's Stablecoin is Backed 1:1 with Dollars

USDC fully backed

According to an official announcement, Circle's reserves backing its stablecoin USDC have been inspected by the auditing firm Grant Thornton LLP.

The auditors concluded that the stablecoin is fully backed one-to-one with U.S. dollars. As of October 31st, Circle had $127,412,240.89 in its bank accounts, slightly more than the 127,408,827 USDC tokens in circulation on that date.

While this was not a traditional complete audit, having a trusted 3rd party verify Circle's bank account balances will bring additional credibility to USDC. In addition to Circle, USDC is also backed by Coinbase.

The auditor's report explains:

"In making an assessment of the risks of material misstatement, we considered and obtained an understanding of internal control relevant to the preparation of, and the Reserve Account Information in, the accompanying Reserve Account Report in order to design procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of such internal control."

ANALYSIS

Up 300% in 10-Days, What Caused the Lightning Network to Boom?

Blasting off

The lightning network, largely known as Bitcoin's best scaling solution, has seen incredible growth in the past week.

According to Bitcoin Visuals, since November 12th, the network's capacity jumped from 111,725 BTC to its current capacity of 439,767 BTC - an increase just under 300%.

⚡️ What is the lightning network? The lightning network was developed to sit on top of the Bitcoin blockchain as a second layer. Specifically, it was made to help Bitcoin scale by making micropayments possible once again.

So what caused this?

Looking at the charts and lining up the dates, many are pointing to the recent Bitcoin Cash hash war as the primary reason for the lightning network's recent growth.

That's because Bitcoin's lightning network seems to be the best alternative to Bitcoin Cash's low fees and fast transactions after the cryptocurrency split into two blockchains on November 15th due to community disagreement.

Now, over a week after the split, the lightning network is reaping the benefits from those who have lost faith in Bitcoin Cash.

BITS

But wait, there's more...

Norway's government is scrapping its crypto mining subsidy and making miners pay normal electricity prices after the new year.
"Big Four" auditor Ernst and Young (EY) will hire 2,000 employees in India to expand its digital solution services across blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), automation and tax technologies.
Crypto miners are selling off their units by weight rather than by price per unit due to mining losses caused by the recent price drop.

MEME