Monday, January 14, 2019

10 Years Later, Still Early 📈

January 14, 2019

Tim Draper Claims the Bitcoin Revolution is Only Just Beginning

Meet the perma-bull

Tim Draper is a renowned American venture capital investor and longtime vocal proponent of cryptocurrencies.

Draper is most famous in the crypto space for buying 30,000 BTC for $650 each from the US Marshals Service in the infamous Silk Road auction.

He has never shied away from making bold predictions for where the cryptocurrency market can go. Last year, Draper called for Bitcoin to hit $250,000 by 2022.

Although his predictions do seem a little outlandish, he has been right in the past. In 2015, Draper called for $10,000 a BTC by 2017, in hindsight that prediction seems conservative.

It's only just beginning

Draper recently wrote an op-ed on CoinDesk in which he proclaimed that he is more confident than ever that the Bitcoin revolution is coming.

In the piece, Draper recounts his history with Bitcoin from the very beginning. He reminisces on the ups and downs of the past decade, how he lost $250,000 in Mt Gox to how he bought 30,000 Bitcoins for above market price in the silk road auction.

After providing a brief history of his past with Bitcoin, Draper goes on to talk about the potential of the technology.

Bitcoin's role in our world

"I remain impressed by the possibilities for bitcoin and blockchain. Bitcoin is a currency that is accepted everywhere without any government friction or interference, a stored value solution that doesn't require a holder to keep a room full of metals and art, and a frictionless currency that can move automatically based on a contract, without the usual drag that comes from regulations and accounting rules."

Bitcoin's vision

"The long-term vision for bitcoin is to give the world economic emancipation. The potential if bitcoin is only limited by the imaginations of the entrepreneurs who work to drive this new virtual economy. To monitor and keep it honest, I believe that the community of users will ultimately self-regulate, possibly eclipsing or obviating the need for the various governments to regulate the crypto world."

ADOPTION

Blockchain Insurance Trial Run Gets Approval from Vermont State Government

Insurance needs a facelift

The insurance industry is loaded with data - often too much. It's costly and inefficient to transfer and pull that data for records.

But now, new initiatives are being taken to streamline the process with blockchain technology. Behind it all? Vermont's state government.

Announced Friday, the state will be testing the new technology with insurers to help maintain "transparent and validated" records in addition to cutting costs.

A stepping stone

While the initiative will simply be a pilot program with a small impact to start, its part of a broader goal that will help Vermont implement blockchain technology in other areas of its regulatory system.

Recently, governments around the world have trialed blockchain and crypto with popular use cases being:

Tax payments
Legal services
Supply chain

Still, however, it's early for the technology and while the trial runs are happening, the overall impact of each project is small.

MINING

Bitmain is Refocusing it's Business and Shuttering International Operations

Israel, Amsterdam, and Texas

According to a new statement released by the Chinese mining giant to CoinDesk, Bitmain is closing operations in Amsterdam.

The shuttered office adds to a string of other recent closures including mining operations in Texas and it's Israeli development site.

In general, the company is actually seeing cutbacks all over its business lines as it trims for a leaner model. It was reported a handful of remote workers have also been laid off recently.

Rocky roads ahead

The reason for the cutbacks? The bear. Crypto's landslide from early 2018 has led mining and the sales of miners to a rocky road and it's unclear how Bitmain will weather the storm.

For now, it seems the closures are part of the firms general strategy as it says it is only "focusing on things that are core to [its] mission."

BITS

But wait, there's more...

🚀 U.S. crypto exchange Bittrex is launching an over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk with over 200 different cryptocurrencies.
⌚️ A luxury Swiss watch maker is selling a watch for over $100,000 with a built-in crypto wallet.
😡 South Africa's national cricket organization fell victim to a crypto scam on Twitter for a moment before recovering.

MEME