THE MARKETS - BTC: $3,915.57 | +$351.34 (+9.86%) since last week
- ETH: $144.58 | +$24.23 (+10.14%) since last week
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Binance's DEX testnet could become the first truly successful decentralized crypto exchange
This week, Binance launched the first iteration of its decentralized exchange (DEX). The exchange reportedly boasts faster transaction speeds through an enhanced order matching system, and its entire architecture was built with rapid scalability in mind. With an upgraded codebase and Binance Chain's near-instant transaction finality, Binance's DEX can now handle the same trading volume as the exchange's flagship website does today.
Pension funds say it's time for institutional investors to consider crypto
One of the world's foremost pension fund consultants has just released a new report recommending that institutional investors (and pension funds in particular) consider crypto more seriously. At present, it seems crypto could only be a viable option for institutional investors with more than $300M under management - and for prospective fund investors, it's critical to plan for spending quite a bit of time understanding the space and identifying potential investment options.
Binance Coin is often overlooked - but here's why it has a lot of potential
As a utility token, Binance Coin (BNB) hasn't yet received the same level of investment as Bitcoin or Ethereum. Many of Binance Coin's properties (such as acting as a discount token) aren't fully appreciated by investors, and as a result, the token is severely undervalued at present. Binance's relentless innovation in the crypto space and its global reach give its token a significant amount of upside and as a result, it may be an attractive investment option for some.
Ethereum is condemning the behavior that caused the departure of one of its top developers
The Ethereum community is at a turning point. After receiving credible threats against his family, Ethereum developer Afri Schoedon left the community - and it's illustrative of how difficult it can be to govern even decentralized organizations. In an open letter, hundreds of prominent leaders in the Ethereum community spoke out this week on how important transparent but productive discussion is to the further development of the platform.
Security Token Offerings aren't looking to fare much better in 2019
Tokenized securities present themselves as a way to efficiently trade shares and transfer ownership of digital securities contracts, but few appear to be buying the hype so far. This analysis from TechCrunch reveals how Security Token Offerings represent a potentially massive innovation in the crypto industry, but also why the year ahead will likely involve building the infrastructure required to launch an STO, rather than a surge of STOs successfully entering the market.
Here's how Coinbase uses dust mixing to protect customer funds during hard forks
In recent years, Coinbase has used a technique called "dust mixing" to safeguard its customers' deposits during contentious hard forks (such as last year's Bitcoin Cash hard fork). This technical breakdown explains how hard forks work, and how the Coinbase team leveraged dust mixing as a form of replay protection during the Bitcoin Cash hard fork. Dust mixing is critical to keeping customer funds safe, but it remains little-understood by the general public. This piece demystifies the process in an easy to understand way.
A huge battle is brewing for the Ethereum decentralized trading market
Decentralized liquidity network Bancor is backed by $150M in ICO funding, while Uniswap offers a similar service powered solely by a $100K grant from the Ethereum Foundation. Even still, the two services are now in direct competition with one another to become the largest market in terms of Ethereum trading volume. Despite being less than a year old, Uniswap has quickly risen to become a threat to Bancor, and to some, its rise is illustrative of the dangers of overfunding.
Elon Musk calls Bitcoin brilliant, and better than fiat for value transfer
Elon Musk is one of the world's top innovators and thinkers, but he's remained silent about his opinions on crypto until now. In an interview this week, Musk voiced his strong support for the technology, saying that crypto has the potential to be a far better way to transfer value than fiat. That said, Musk also added that given the energy required to run a crypto network is "computationally energy intensive", his companies would be unlikely to get into crypto in the near-term. | | COMMUNITY NEWS - Coinbase has just acquired blockchain intelligence platform Neutrino. Link
- CZ speaks on the rise of Binance, and what's next for his decentralized exchange. Link
- Shift will reportedly be shutting down its Bitcoin debit card program. Link
- Samsung's new Galaxy S10 will include native private crypto key storage. Link
- Galaxy Digital is backing a $15M funding raise for crypto analytics startup CipherTrace. Link
- Mark Zuckerberg is seriously considering using blockchain for Facebook login authentication. Link
- BBVA has just issued a $40M green bond based on the blockchain. Link
- Ocean Protocol will be CoinList's first token sale of 2019. Link
- Crypto exchange QuadrigaCX risks running out of money during its restructuring. Link
- Meet Nano, the instant zero-fee cryptocurrency. Link
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