Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Wall Street Walks 🚶‍♂️

December 26, 2018

Wall Street is Reportedly Getting Out of the Crypto Market

Over the past of couple years, as crypto saw its mania and demise, rumors have run rampant about major firms becoming involved. Some say that institutions are using the bear market as a buying opportunity. Others say that the fraud and volatility scare away major investors. Now, Bloomberg is reporting that Wall Street is "quietly" exiting crypto.

Let's check in on what is going on at some of the biggest firms:

Goldman Sachs

Goldman, arguably the most respected investment bank, was one of the earliest firms to be involved in cryptocurrency rumors. It made an investment in BitGo and also launched a Bitcoin derivative product.

Now, near the end of the year, Goldman still has not launched its rumored crypto trading desk and its derivative product has little traction.

Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley hired Andrew Peel to head its digital assets business earlier in the year and developed a Bitcoin swaps product since at least September.

However, the firm has not yet traded a single contract due to a lack of demand.

Citigroup

Citigroup established a line of cryptocurrency products which they call "digital asset receipts". These products allow institutions to gain exposure to crypto without having to store the underlying asset.

Like Morgan Stanley's swap contracts, Citigroup has too not been able to yet sell its crypto product.

Barclays

Barclays Plc displayed interest in trading cryptocurrencies earlier in the year, appointing two former oil traders to lead a digital assets project: Chris Tyrer and Matthieu Jobbe Duval.

Tyrer ended up leaving the firm in September, and Jobbe Duval followed two months later, according to Bloomberg.

MINING

GMO is Quitting Mining Hardware Manufacturing After 'Extraordinary Loss'

Over and out

Just over a year after Japanese IT giant GMO entered into the mining hardware business, it's already pulling the plug.

The announcement came on Tuesday after management tallied up more than $320 million in losses due to the project.

This figure will be recorded as an "extraordinary loss" on the books and was likely caused by two things:

Increased competition
Poor market conditions

And GMO isn't alone with losses like this, Nvidia, AMD, and even Bitmain have all reported losses in 2018 as miners skipped new equipment.

Still mining though

Despite the losses on mining equipment, GMO still intends to mine cryptocurrencies.

But that sector also isn't looking too pretty. In Q3 and Q2 GMO lost $5.6 million and $3.2 million in mining - mostly caused by increased depreciation costs.

Now, however, GMO is confident it can return a profit as the depreciation cost will "almost be zero after recognizing the impairment cost."

BITCOIN

Bitcoin Pronounced Dead 90 Times During 2018

At every drop of Bitcoin, the media was there to pronounce Bitcoin dead time and time again.

Here are some of are favorite obituaries:

'Worthless' Bitcoin Has Entered Death Spiral: Finance Professor

CCN

Teen Bitcoin Millionaire: "Bitcoin is Pretty Much Dead"

newsBTC

Bitcoin is a 'Dead Man Walking', Claims Creative Planning CIO

CCN

Bitcoin Will Soon Be Dead, Says Wolf of Wall Street

Ethereum World News

ADOPTION

Bank of America Files Another Blockchain Patent, This Time for ATMs

Embracing blockchain

Bank of America (BoA) has been no stranger to blockchain technology. In August it was reported that the traditional financial institution has more than 50 blockchain-related patents filed.

However, the institution has turned the cold shoulder on cryptocurrencies likely because of high investment risk.

Still, it's clear BoA sees an opportunity through the noise.

Eyeing ATMs

On Tuesday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office released a new filing from BoA that outlines a new system that uses blockchain technology to help organize cash-handling services.

Specifically, the technology would eliminate the need to transfer large physical sums of cash and enable more transaction volume on devices like ATMs.

For now, though, it's unclear if BoA has begun building its newly released plans or if it is holding off.

BITS

But wait, there's more...

📈 BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes believes Ethereum 'will quickly test $200' when the ICO market returns.
😦 Bitmain confirmed the layoffs stemming from redundancies in operations.
🇮🇳 A new report says that India may legalize cryptocurrencies but under strict rules.

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Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Project Goerli - Building a Better & Unified Testnet

Today we're talking Testnets; the sandbox-style environment available to blockchain developers experimenting with smart contract technology and DApps.

Can't see images? Click here...

Hi there,

Today we're talking Testnets; the sandbox-style environment available to blockchain developers experimenting with smart contract technology and DApps.

Firstly, there is no testnet available that is both widely usable across all clients, and robust enough to guarantee consistent availability and high reliability.

That's where Project Goerli comes in. Led by Afri Schoedon and Aidan Hyman, the aim is to change the way proof-of-authority testnets operate within both the Ethereum Classic and Ethereum blockchains. We're working together to improve our ecosystems.

The ETC Cooperative, is so confident in this team and project's potential, we've awarded them with a grant of $125,000 to push the ball forward on widespread adoption approximately six months from now.

Project Roadmap & Development Bounty Info Available Here

P.S. The ETC Cooperative is hiring!

Thanks again for choosing to keep up with ETC.

Until next time,

~Anthony Lusardi
Director, US | Ethereum Classic Cooperative
@pyskell

Know someone else that needs to keep up with all things ETC? Share this message!

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Happy Holidays!

and a Christmas surprise

Dec 25

Public post

Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind.
— Mary Ellen Chase

A very merry Christmas

Allow us to wish you all a very merry Christmas!

May your hearts and homes be filled with all of the joys the festive season brings.

Let us remember to take time to slow down, enjoy the simple things, recharge and be thankful for those around us.

Wishing you much happiness not just today, but throughout the New Year.

-Dmitriy & Kunyi

Christmas surprise

We're beginning to enter some very interesting times for Bitcoin and crypto so I'm bringing back the Market Sentiment (Example of what it will look like at the end of this letter).

It will be included once a week with the free Weekly Bulletin.

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Below are the 3 most common scenarios I've seen being discussed for a Bitcoin bottom.

Option 1: Fractals analysis bottom (2,300 - 2,600)
Option 2: Fib extension bottom (1,700 - 1,900)
Option 3: Retest support of 2017 rally bottom (900 - 1,200)

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Closed for Good 😓

December 25, 2018

340+ UK Crypto Businesses Shutdown Operations in 2018

Trying to survive the bear market

According to Sky News, 342 cryptocurrency companies in the United Kingdom either dissolved or liquidated during the year.

Obviously, the discontinuation of cryptocurrency businesses have been influenced by the environment. Last year, when valuations were more favorable, only 139 companies ended operations.

Despite the market and many companies shutting down, more than 800 new blockchain related businesses opened shop during the year.

Extrapolating this across the globe

This report only discloses numbers for the United Kingdom. But, the rest of the world is suffering a similar fate.

It has been widely reported that all across the space, companies are struggling to stay financially afloat. The bear market has devalued companies reserves and now companies are scratching to stay alive.

For example, the crypto incubator Consensys recently laid off 60% of its entire workforce to save costs.

ADOPTION

Cryptocurrency Gaining Popularity for Remittances

Gaining market share

A study conducted by Clovr finds that cryptocurrencies are more often being used to send money across borders. According to a survey of 707 people who have sent money abroad in the past year, 15.8% of them used cryptocurrencies.

Cryptocurrencies still trail more traditional methods like online and money transfer services, and wire transfers.

Crypto users seemed to be pleased with the new technology. Of the respondents who used cryptocurrencies for remittance, ~86% said that they prefer it to other methods.

Awareness is a hurdle

Cryptocurrencies are beneficial over other methods for remittances for several reasons. Mainly, crypto can be transferred faster and cheaper.

While cryptocurrencies are more efficient, they are not capturing a meaningful share of the remittance market.

According to the same survery cited above, the number one reason people are not using cryptos for remittance is that they do not know enough about the technology. The second most common reason is that the user worries that the recipient will not be able to spend the cryptocurrency.

MARKET

Cryptos Surge as Equities Tumble During Holidays

Seeing green

At the end of a very rough year for cryptocurrencies, the market is seeing a bit of a resurgence.

Cryptos were positive almost across the board on Monday with Ethereum being one of the biggest gainers. This comes after Joseph Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum and lead of Consensys, called bottom on the market.

In theory, cryptocurrencies should have little to no correlation with traditional shares of equity. However, this has not necessarily been the case in recent months, but times might be changing.

Santa rally M.I.A.

Historically, the end of the year has been a profitable period for the equity market. After a tough October and November, Wall Street was hoping for some relief to end the year.

Instead, investors were victim to the stock market's worst Christmas Eve performance in a century.

Good sign for crypto

Resisting to follow the equity market is a good sign for cryptocurrencies. It shows that the asset class can be seen as a safe haven from the recently volatile stock market.

Although, it is not certain that the recent cryptocurrency spike was influenced by the ongoings of the equity market.