 QUOTE OF THE DAY  |
| “Bitcoin is the beginning of something great: a currency without a government, something necessary and imperative. But I am not familiar with the specific product to assert whether it is the best potential setup. And we need a long time to establish confidence.” - Nassim Taleb |
Happy Tuesday! Don't forget we are still giving away copies of @cointradernik new book An Altcoin Trader's Handbook. Simply follow the steps in the 'Giveaway' section below to enter!
Cheers,
Blockchain Brew Team
| COIN | PRICE | 24H |
|
| BTC | $6,714.45 | +1.6% |
|
| ETH | $469.877 | -0.71% |
|
| XRP | $0.470933 | +1.69% |
|
| BCH | $790.223 | +2.72% |
|
| EOS | $7.89679 | +1.62% |
|
*Information as of 9:30 AM EST
A Look Into The Next Major Bitcoin Upgrade: Schnorr
BIGGEST SINCE SEGWIT
- Since Segregated Witness (SegWit) was activated in August of last year, Bitcoin has not seen another major update to its code base
- Schnorr is posed to be the next upgrade to the king of cryptocurrencies and it seems like the cryptocurrency community is excited for what it will bring
- The idea behind Schnorr has been in development for years and now with developer Pieter Wuille releasing a technical draft of the technology, it is one step closer to being implemented into the live code
WHAT IS SCHNORR?
- In simple, Schnorr is a change to how cryptographic keys are generated
- The change in cryptographic key generation will result in increased privacy and security, which are probably two of Bitcoin’s most significant shortcomings
- As of now, Bitcoin allows for “multi-sig” transaction (transactions that require signatures from multiple wallets), but the public can see all of the signers on the blockchain, with Schnorr these multi-sig transactions will look like any other
- Schnorr will also create smaller sized transactions, freeing the network from congestion that has plagued Bitcoin in the past
- Thankfully, the proposal includes a proposal for standards that makes sure that all developers and merchants install Schnorr in the same manner so implementation goes smoothly
Bitcoin developer, Jonan Nick emphasized the standardization of Schnorr saying:
"Standardizing Schnorr for bitcoin is a big step towards using it in bitcoin."
NO DONE DEAL
- Although the a draft of the proposal is complete, it is no certainty that Schnorr will be implemented anytime soon
- Changes are made everyday to the Bitcoin network, but larger upgrades like Schnorr and SegWit must be adopted by the "consensus" protocol
- If you can remember from last summer, the upgrade to SegWit was extremely controversial and debated, while Schnorr is expected to be more well received, it will have to go through the same consensus protocol as SegWit
The lead developer behind Schnorr explained the grueling process of a Bitcoin upgrade:
"Like any consensus change, it will be a long process involving fully fleshing out a draft for integration, publishing it, gathering comments from the technical community and ecosystem, writing implementations of both consensus rules and integration in wallet software, proposing a deployment plan, and if all goes well, get it activated."
- The developers mentioned that once Schnorr is accepted by the community, they will "work on more production-ready reference implementations and tests"
- It seems that Schnorr is widely praised so it is much less likely that we will see an opposing side fork Bitcoin, like was done with Bitcoin Cash when SegWit was implemented
Coinbase Gets the Green Light to List Coins Regulated as Securities
GREEN LIGHT
- Reported yesterday by Bloomberg, Coinbase has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to list coins considered to be securities
- This decision came after both the SEC and FINRA approved Coinbase's acquisition of security dealers Keystone Capital Corp., Venovate Marketplace Inc. and Digital Wealth LLC
- Now, after approval, Coinbase is beginning to integrate its technologies into the new subsidiaries but has yet to release a timeline of when that project will be completed
COINBASE COINS GROW
- Last year, Coinbase only offered top cryptocurrencies by market cap on its platform including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin
- Then, this June, Coinbase announced support for Ethereum Classic (ETC) and that this decision also "paves the way for supporting ERC20 assets across Coinbase products in the future"
- It now makes sense that Coinbase is considering adding Cardano, Basic Attention Token, Stellar, Zcash and Ox with the new approval by the SEC and FINRA
- However, it should be noted that Coinbase hasn't announced that the five former coins aren't securities and if there are legal problems, they may only be available in certain countries
ATS REGULATIONS
With this new approval, Coinbase would be subject to alternative trading system regulations per the SEC:
"Registration as a broker-dealer subjects the ATS to a host of regulatory requirements, such as the requirement to have reasonable policies and procedures to prevent the misuse of material non-public information, books and records requirements, and financial responsibility rules, including, as applicable, requirements concerning the safeguarding and custody of customer funds and securities."
Study Up, The CFA Exam is Getting a Crypto Section Next Year
CFA EXAM
- The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program is "the most brutal exam in the world of finance" according to Business Insider
- This exam is a three-part test that quizzes students on a variety of finance questions with an emphasis on ethics
- Passing the test means obtaining a CFA and that means you can obtain jobs that require CFA credentials
ADDING CRYPTO
- Now, the CFA institute wants to add a new crypto section to the exam
- Cryptocurrencies and blockchain will now be part of a new curriculum called "Fintech in Investment Management" which also covers subjects like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automated trading
Stephen Horan, the managing director for general education and curriculum for the CFA Institute overseeing CFA exams, told Bloomberg:
"We saw the field [of crypto] advancing more quickly than other fields and we also saw it as more durable… This is not a passing fad."
Robinhood Adds Support for Dogecoin
DOGECOIN INCOMING
- According to Robinhood's blog post, the platform is now offering commission-free trading support for Dogecoin
- With this addition, you can now invest in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Dogecoin
- Though Dogecoin was started as meme peer-to-peer cryptocurrency in 2013, it somehow reached a $1 billion market cap in January of this year and now sits at a $330 million market cap
ROBINHOOD'S MOVES
- As Robinhood continues to seek approval for its cryptocurrency trading, it is now available in 17 different states
- In addition, rumors have circulated that Robinhood is looking to obtain its banking license after the platform allegedly had "constructive talks" with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
- Obtaining a banking license would mean that Robinhood could offer financial services like savings accounts and attempt to beat interest rates that traditional banks offer
IT'S GIVEAWAY TIME!
That's right. It's giveaway time. This time we are giving away 3 copies of @cointradernik's newest book An Altcoin Trader's Handbook!
HOW TO ENTER:
- Click the 'Win Your Copy' button above
- Forward the Blockchain Brew newsletter to 3 new people
That's it! We will be tracking the results and announcing winners in the Friday, July 20th newsletter.
P.S. Don't miss this opportunity...this may be the easiest way to get a free book in your lifetime:)
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aelf (ELF)
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