Bitcoin is "first success" of blockchain / China's CBDC ready in 2-3 months / Bitcoin and the S&P 500

Inside Bitcoin presented by DataStax.

Presented by Subscribe | View in browser Market Watch: Since falling below $9,000 at the end of last week, Bitcoin has yet to climb to its previous highs. Within the top 20, 17th place Cosmos is the only one to see any significant increases, rising nearly five percent in 24 hours. Bitcoin: $8,759 (⬇️ 1.28%) // $158 billion market cap. Ethereum: $187 (⬇️ 0.31%) // $20.3 billion market cap. XRP: $0.275 (⬇️ 1.68%) // $11.9 billion market cap. Bitcoin Cash: $286 (⬆️ 0.06%) // $5.1 billion market cap. Top 100 Winner: DxChain Token: $0.002 (⬆️ 50.02%) // $129 million market cap. Top 100 Loser: Synthetix Network Token: $0.759 (⬇️ 9.50%) // $109 million market cap. Prices are as of 8:56 a.m. ET.       1. The Chinese state-run Xinhua News Agency has published a report recognizing Bitcoin as "the first successful application of blockchain technology." The report questions whether it is the future of currency's development or if it's a "tulip" that has been hyped up. Apart from that, the report strikes a positive note, which is in contrast to the nation's hardline stance on the market. China delivered a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs) in 2017. –SINA       2. Founding managing partner of HCM Capital Jack Lee has said that China's central bank digital currency (CBDC) is ready and expects it to launch in the next two to three months. Lee told CNBC that the People's Bank of China (PBoC) will use the currency to improve its oversight over capital flows. Lee's comments are in contrast to statements from China's central bank, which noted in September that its digital currency had no launch date set. –CNBC       A MESSAGE FROM FASTLY Extend the power of your core cloud to the edge with our API-first platform. Bring your innovative ideas to life, faster. Our edge cloud platform moves data and applications closer to users, at the network edge — so you can deliver fast, secure, and scalable online experiences. Take it for a spin and test up to $50 traffic, free.   3. A new survey finds finance professionals are optimistic regarding Bitcoin's future. The survey, conducted by Chainalysis, found that around 48 percent of 350 finance professionals believe that Bitcoin will outperform the S&P 500 in the next year. The results showed that one-third think that equities will be the investment class with the biggest year-over-year growth. This was followed by fixed income and the House Pricing Index, at 13 percent and five percent, respectively. Looking further into cryptocurrencies, 70 percent are of the opinion that a global digital currency will emerge within the next five to 10 years. One-third think the U.S. will control it while 28 percent believe that China will take the lead. –DECRYPT       4. Tunisia is reportedly set to launch its own central bank digital currency (CBDC). Russian startup Universa Blockchain has been working with Tunisia's government for the past year on the project. Using technology from the startup will help to launch the country's e-dinar. Announcing the move during the yearly meeting of the Forex Club of Tunisia, Universa Blockchain CEO Alexander Borodich said the CBDC was ready to launch. It's hoped that the currency will help to improve the country's monetary system. The news comes at a time when several central banks are turning their attention to launching their own central bank digital currencies. These include the likes of China and Turkey. –LEDGER INSIGHTS       A MESSAGE FROM DATASTAX Scale Out, Don't Stress Out. Ensure your Database is Holiday-Ready. The holiday rush is about to begin—and in 2019, it's expected to be the biggest spending season ever. Learn more about why holiday sales success starts with your underlying database.  Read the holiday database report.   5. Joseph Lubin, Ethereum co-founder and founder of Consensys, said he hopes China's central bank digital currency (CBDC) will allow for interoperability with public permissionless blockchains. He further said that he would like to see China get more involved with Ethereum, arguing that the network is the "strongest of the blockchain technologies." Turning his attention to China, Lubin is of the opinion that the country will continue to undermine the U.S.'s reserve currency role, but thinks its central bank digitial currency will have little impact with this. –FORBES       6. European Central Bank's former president Jean-Claude Trichet has said that Bitcoin is not real. Making his comments at Caixin's 10th annual conference in Beijing, Trichet added that it doesn't have the characteristics that a currency must have. He further argued that even if Bitcoin is supposed to be based on "underlying assets," he sees a lot of speculation, which, in his opinion, is "not healthy." –SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST       7. Real estate owner and developer Ben Shaoul has sold a retail condo in Manhattan for $15.3 million in Bitcoin. The 11,400-square-foot property was sold to a Taiwan-based company known as Affluent International LCC. Shaoul, who is president of the Magnum Real Estate Group, has listed Bitcoin as a payment option for several listed properties in the past. In 2018, one was for a 624-square-foot studio with an asking price of $875,000, while the other was for a 989-square-foot one-bedroom at $1.48 million. –COIN TELEGRAPH       8. Bobby Lee, founder of crypto exchange BTCC, believes Bitcoin will surpass gold's market value by 2028, and rise to a price of $500,000. Lee posted his prediction during a series of tweets over the weekend, noting that gold is currently worth $8 trillion versus Bitcoin's $157 billion market cap. However, he went on to state that with money being printed globally, the price of Bitcoin is "likely [to] be over $1 million." –@BOBBYCLEE       9. Singapore's central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), JPMorgan, and investment firm Temasek Holdings have developed a multi-currency blockchain-based payments network. The prototype has been created to allow payments made in different currencies to be done on the same network. The prototype is the latest milestone for Project Ubin, a collaborative project by MAS with the financial industry to test the use of the blockchain. –THE BUSINESS TIMES       10. A report from the International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts China will spend $2 billion on blockchain technology by 2023. The market intelligence firm finds that China will see a projected increase of 65.7 percent in its yearly growth rate from 2018 to 2023. Most of this year's spending will go toward banking and payment technologies, which will help to boost innovation regarding the blockchain. –BE IN CRYPTO       This newsletter was written and curated by Rebecca Campbell. She has been writing and reporting on various industries for the past 10 years, more specifically tech in the last three. Connect with her on Twitter.

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