Monday, June 25, 2018

Thiel Foundation Rewards Four Blockchain Entrepreneurs with Thiel Awards and $100K

June 25, 2018 Read in Browser
Blockchain Brew
quote-left-filled.pngQUOTE OF THE DAY quote-right-filled.png
"We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose inifinite hope."
- Martin Luther King Jr.

Happy Monday! If this bear market has had you feeling blue just remember that there are likely thousands of private keys lost with thousands of Bitcoin stuck forever. It can't be all that bad. Have a great week everyone!

Cheers,
Blockchain Brew Team

MARKETS
COIN PRICE 24H

BTC $6,120.31 +3.09%

ETH $456.502 +3.09%

XRP $0.476906 +2.44%

BCH $741.735 +6.21%

EOS $7.98891 +8.46%

*Information as of 9:30 AM EST


NEWS

Thiel Foundation Rewards Four Blockchain Entrepreneurs with Thiel Awards and $100K

THIEL FOUNDATION

  • The Thiel Foundation is the private foundation of the Paypal co-founder and Facebook early investor, Peter Thiel
  • The foundation concentrates its philanthropic efforts on innovative technologies that have the potential to impact the world
  • Each year, the foundation recognizes 20 young visionaries under the age of 20, inviting them to become a part of the Thiel Fellowship and rewarding them with a $100,000 grant

Allyson Dias, director of the Thiel Fellowship explained the mission of the Thiel Fellowship:

"Leaving behind the safety of the classroom and choosing to build a business instead isn't easy or glamorous. But our Fellows have found what we suspect to be true more broadly: young people learn best by doing things in the real world."

CRYPTO FELLOWS

  • This year, among the new Thiel Fellowship class are four young blockchain entrepreneurs, who will be joining the likes of Vitalik Buterin as Thiel Fellows in the blockchain sector
  • The four winners are:
    • Axel Ericsson, Vest co-founder
    • Robert Habermeier, Polkadot co-founder
    • Daniel Ternyak, MyCrypto CTO
    • Aparna Krishnan, Mechanism Labs co-founder
  • These four will all be receiving a $100K grant from the Thiel Foundation for use on their ventures

RESEARCH

Pairings of 6 Cryptocurrency Comprise 69% of Total Crypto Volume,Research Indicates

TOP PAIRS

  • Liquidity in the crypto markets is known to be few and far between compared to other markets and this can cause volatility due to order books being so thin
  • Now, according to research by Diar, pairings of 6 cryptocurrencies comprise 69% of total crypto volume
  • The breakdown of average volume amongst the coins comprising 69% of all crypto volume is as follows:
    • Bitcoin - 33%
    • Tether - 17%
    • Ethereum - 12%
    • Bitcoin Cash - 3%
    • XRP - 2%
    • Litecoin - 2%

ALTCOIN PROBLEMS

  • When Diar analyzed altcoin markets, research concluded that "liquidity [is] near non-existent on [the] majority of traded tokens" and that most altcoin price action is "pinned to the peaks and valleys of Bitcoin"
  • This conclusion was made after finding that 49.3% of altcoin markets (803 tokens) had produced less than $10,000 in trade volume
  • In addition, only 6.3% of markets produced $5 million or more in trading volume

CONCLUSIONS

  • The low levels of volume could be a result of the bear market
  • Since January when prices peaked, volume has been on a steady downtrend just like the entire crypto market
  • Looking forward, as the market matures and more exchanges add crypto-fiat pairs, volume could become less concentrated among the top cryptocurrencies and see a wider spread among the altcoin markets

TECH

New Ethereum Standard Named ERC-1155 Set to Revolutionize Games Market

TOKEN STANDARDS

  • Ethereum is a platform where developers can build decentralized applications and launch tokens by using the functionality of smart contracts
  • To create compatibility among tokens, Ethereum developers set out to create ERC (Ethereum Request for Comments) standards
  • These standards require tokens to include a specific set of functions so that it can operate with smart contracts in a predictable way

ERC-1155

  • Many have heard of the ERC-721 standard which is the token standard that CryptoKitties and other digital collectible games have been built off of in the recent year
  • However, since ERC-721 is expensive and inefficient to move large databases of items that game developers use, ERC-721's same developer, Witek Radomski, has created a new token standard called ERC-1155 to eliminate these problems

Radomski showed excitement for the new ERC-1155 token standard and its implications for the industry:

"Our new ERC-1155 Crypto Items standard allows for infinite numbers of fungible and non-fungible items in a single deployed contract. We needed it to be lightweight and easy for the network to handle. If this does take off, the gaming industry alone will require tens of millions of new items–but the application of this standard is by no means limited to the games market. ERC-1155 tokens could be used to certify all forms of ownership, tangible or digital."

If you would like to read into the technical definition of ERC-1155 to understand how it functions, visit here.


NEWS

$3 Billion Tron to Complete Token Migration on Its Own Independence Day

TOKEN MIGRATION

  • Today, Tron (TRX) is set to complete the token migration it started last week
  • Since inception, Tron was an ERC-20 token, built on the Ethereum blockchain
  • However, today marks a big day for Tron as it will finally be operating on its own independent blockchain

Earlier this year, Tron decided creating its own independent blockchain was the best strategy since Justin Sun, CEO of Tron, claimed Ethereum had its "inefficiencies":

"Ethereum is like IBM back in the day, making those big supercomputers. And I'm not saying that ethereum does not have robust technology, but I'm saying that ethereum is just like IBM. They only focus on tech, they don't focus on user experience."

MAKE OR BREAK

  • Since this is the first time Tron will be on its own blockchain operating independently, it is a make or break time for the cryptocurrency
  • Just like the EOS mainnet launch recently and many others in the past, Tron is bound to come across some hiccups and must deal with them promptly and properly to succeed
  • However, though these types of events have had their problems in the past, they are a large step forward for crypto development and progress as a whole
  • A successful launch can instill confidence in the entirety of the crypto market

MORE BREWING
  • China's Latest Government-Backed Crypto Rankings Put EOS 1st, BTC 17th
  • Bitcoin Miner BTCC to Sell Stake in Pool for $17 Million
  • AliPayHK Opens Blockchain Remittance Corridor to the Philippines

TODAY IN CRYPTO
TRON (TRX)
"TRON Foundation will conduct a burn of 1,000,000,000 TRX all at once."
Nano (NANO)
"..We will release a development update every Monday, so you will have a better look into where the project stands and where it is heading."

Today in Crypto is powered by coinmarketcal.com


COIN OF THE DAY
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Hydro Protocol (HOT)
Hydro is a network layer protocol for high performance decentralized exchanges and marketplaces with built-in incentives for coordination. The Hydro Protocol (HOT) defines the rules for executing decentralized orders and provides the mechanism for order matching. Hydro utilizes 'Federated Liquidity Pools' (FLP) to address the issue of liquidity sharing among various decentralized exchanges.
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The above is not intended to be investment advice.
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June 25, 2018

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THE FEATURE

Tron Independence Day Explained: What's at Stake for a $3 Billion Blockchain

One year and nearly $3 billion later, the Tron blockchain is set to finally put its much-debated technology to the test.

At least, that's what should happen Monday, when Tron completes the token swap it began last week, migrating the last of its users' funds from ethereum to a new proprietary blockchain. For investors, the moment marks a historic "independence day" of sorts, but it could more broadly become a make-or-break moment for the project, which though controversial, already finds itself among the top cryptocurrencies globally.

Founded last July, Tron has set out to "decentralize the internet." However, the project has yet to rigorously define what this means in practice.

And while Tron's rhetoric may seemingly resemble that of many cryptocurrencies that emerged from 2017's token boom, the project is distinguished by the size of its funding and the outspokenness of its founder, former Ripple representative Justin Sun, who last week caused a stir in the tech world by purchasing the company behind file-sharing service BitTorrent.

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Crypto Exchange Huobi Poaches App Exec to Lead New US Branch
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AlipayHK Opens Blockchain Remittance Corridor to the Philippines
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Bitcoin's Defense of $6K Raises Odds of Relief Rally
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Bitcoin Miner BTCC to Sell Stake in Pool for $17 Million
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How Commerzbank Is Throwing Out the Business Blockchain Playbook
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Another Bitcoin Miner Maker Is Seeking to Go Public in Hong Kong
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Tron Independence Day Explained: What's at Stake for a $3 Billion Blockchain
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Ether Price Drops to 10-Week Low Near $400
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Quebec Weighs Plan to Sell 500 Megawatts to Crypto Miners
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Chinese Police Arrest Crypto Miner for Power Theft
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Overwinter Ahead: What Should Happen When Zcash's First Hard Fork Hits
With its community aligned, Zcash's first hard fork, Overwinter, might not be exciting. But as always, you never really rule out a blockchain split.

Crypto Tourism Is Growing – For Better or Worse
From luxury cruises to Middle East startup tours, crypto enthusiasts are traveling the world, but it's not always seen in a positive light.

4 Blockchain Entrepreneurs Win $100K Thiel Awards
Entrepreneurs and developers behind four different blockchain startups can add their names to the list of Thiel Fellowship awardees.

Crypto Non-Profits Are Flawed – Zcash Thinks It Can Change That
Ahead of the Zcash Foundation's first big gathering, crypto aficionados are watching to see if the non-profit can redeem a maligned governance model.

Crypto Trading 101: A Beginner's Guide to Candlesticks
If you have ever been confused by patterns flashing on crypto charts, this crash course on candlesticks will help clear a few things up.

EOS' Blockchain Arbitrator Orders Freeze of 27 Accounts
For the second time in EOS' infancy, transactions are being censored. For some, it's a way to stop scammers. For others, it's centralized overreach.

Bitcoin Price Falls to New 2018 Low
The price of bitcoin slid below $6,000 on Friday, hitting a new low for 2018.

Bitcoin Price Drops to Within $100 of 2018 Low
The price of bitcoin fell to within $100 of its 2018 low Friday morning as last weeks rally proved to be short-lived.

Bitfinex's Chief Strategy Officer Leaves Crypto Exchange
Crypto exchange Bitfinex's chief strategy officer Phil Potter is leaving the firm, Reuters reported Friday.

US Senate Hearing Will Look at Crypto's Impact on Elections
The U.S. policymakers will look into potential risks that digital currencies could pose to the American democracy.
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