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GAME CHANGERS: ICYMI, CoinDesk's Most Influential 2018 list is out!
This year, we’re recognizing the industry's top influencers with a special edition CoinDesk Crypto Collectable Store, where unique digital trading cards of the honorees are available for purchase (and in-game play) on a blockchain, right alongside our feature articles and videos.
You can bid for these collectables on OpenSea, an online marketplace for NFTs.
Not familiar with all the individuals represented? Read the profile stories of our 10 most-influential figures in blockchain here.
WAR CHEST: Bakkt, the bitcoin futures market created by the NYSE's parent company ICE, has raised a sizable chunk of change ahead of its launch.
The company announced at the end of 2018 that it secured $182.5 million from 12 partners and investors, including big names like Boston Consulting Group, Galaxy Digital, M12 (Microsoft’s VC fund), and Pantera Capital.
In a separate announcement the same day, Bakkt said its bitcoin futures market – originally planned for launch on Jan. 24 – will be delayed again, confirming previous CoinDesk reporting. The exchange has not yet released a new timeline for its launch.
Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler, noting that moving too quickly can be dangerous, wrote that “The path to developing new markets is rarely linear: progress tends to modulate between innovation, dismissal, reinvention and, finally, acceptance.” Full Story
MINER SHUTDOWN: Japanese e-commerce giant DMM.com is winding down its cryptocurrency mining business less than a year after initially setting up the wing, financial news group Nikkei reported.
The decision was made in September of last year in response to declining crypto prices, which resulted in decreased profitability. However, the withdrawal process, which includes selling the company’s mining machines, may take as long as six months.
The news comes just days after another Japanese firm, GMO, announced it would no longer sell crypto miners, citing losses of more than $320 million over the past year. Full Story
RAISING STAKES: Michael Novogratz is not letting blockchain bank Galaxy Digital's losses deter him. The investor purchased another 2.7 percent of the firm's stake for $5 million, raising his total investment in the company to nearly 80 percent.
The move comes just two months after Galaxy Digital reported losing almost $77 million in the third quarter of 2018. At the time, Novogratz said it "sucks to build a business in a bear market," but added that he remained optimistic about the space. Full Story |
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 CoinDesk’s Crypto-Economics Explorer aggregates data points across the industry to measure the size and opportunity of crypto markets. In addition to price and market cap, CoinDesk’s explorer provides users with a comprehensive way to view the crypto-economic forces that shape an asset’s market maturity, growth and potential. Network interest is important in determining the activity occurring within a blockchain’s internal ecosystem. Exchange interest is also valuable to understand the trading dynamics. On Jan. 2, we observed two key metrics from each category: OnChain Volume and Exchange Volume (OffChain Volume). We then took the top five coins by market cap and measured the difference between those values for each, which will be called the On-Off Ratio. This simply tells us how many dollars moved on the blockchain for every dollar moved on exchanges. Rankings: - BCH 1.77
- BTC .33
- XRP .29
- ETH .11
- EOS .08
It appears that BCH is the highest with a ratio of 1.77. The other coins are distributed below 1, which signifies that more dollars are being moved on exchanges relative to their blockchains. Relative is the key word here, considering that BCH has only 1/3 the OnChain Volume as BTC. This ratio should not be used to say one coin is better than another, but instead used to evaluate the usage of a blockchain compared to its coin’s usage as a trading asset. For more research insights, check out the CoinDesk Crypto-Economic Explorer here. |
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| ROUGH PATCH: Bitcoin has officially suffered its longest losing streak in seven years, after enduring its fifth straight monthly loss in December 2018. The cryptocurrency previously saw a five-month depreciation in 2011, though that streak ended with a 59 percent rise in price in December of that year. Full Story |
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BEST OF THE BEST S&P GLOBAL PLATTS INSIGHT: Blockchain technology may be gaining popularity in the energy sector, wrote energy news provider S&P Global Platts editor Emma Slawinski in a blog post. Slawinksi outlined two projects currently testing the role of blockchain in energy sector post-trade management, as well as derivatives trading: Vakt, a consortium composed of energy providers, trading houses and banks, and Enerchain, operated by energy firms and utilities providers. Vakt launched privately in late November 2018, and a handful of firms are currently using the platform to manage North Sea oil trading. The consortium is using actual data in parallel with legacy systems, rather than separate test data. Enerchain, on the other hand, has about 45 participants focusing on wholesale power and gas trading. However, it remains unclear just how much demand there is for a blockchain platform, Slawinksi wrote. THE REST MOTHERBOARD: A hacker group called The Dark Overlord is threatening to release three law firms' internal documents regarding cases associated with 9/11 if the firms do not pay up in bitcoin. Specifically, the group is threatening Hiscox Syndicates Ltd, Lloyds of London and Silverstein Properties; the former two have insured some of the structures related to the World Trade Center, which Silverstein owned at the time of the attacks. It is unclear what specifically the documents may say, though the hacking group claims they will provide “many answers” about 9/11 conspiracies. A Hiscox Group spokesperson said policyholders who may be impacted have already been notified, while Lloyds of London did not respond to a request for comment by Motherboard. GULF TIMES: Islamic financial institutions are beginning to tap blockchain to verify transaction details, reports the Gulf Times. In a broad overview, the Times notes how banks like Emirates Islamic are using blockchain platforms for their added security features, ensuring that checks are properly authenticated and minimizing the risk of fraud. Blockchain platforms can also be used to ensure transactions and other practices remain Sharia-compliant, the organization reported. |
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