#105: Crypto's cold streak has turned icy

Winter is... coming?

Chain Letter Blockchains, cryptocurrencies, and why they matter 11.27: Winter is... coming? Welcome to Chain Letter! Great to have you. Here’s what’s new in the world of blockchains and cryptocurrencies.  It’s getting chilly out here. It’s still too early to tell whether the recent prosecutions of two ICO projects by the US Securities and Exchange Commission marked the beginning of an industry-wide slowdown and contraction—the dreaded “crypto winter.” But a number of recent developments won’t help in heading off a cold streak. First, Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, delayed the launch of Bakkt, its much-ballyhooed forthcoming digital currency exchange, until late January 2019. It’s not a huge delay, the project was supposed to launch next month, but in a Medium post explaining the new schedule, CEO Kelly Loeffler said her team needed more time due to the “volume of interest in Bakkt and work required to get all of the pieces in place.” (Related: “Wall Street’s embrace could break Bitcoin”) Then, Bloomberg reported that US prosecutors have “recently homed in on suspicions that the tangled web involving Bitcoin, Tether and crypto exchange Bitfinex might have been used to illegally move prices.” So what's new here? We learned in January that US regulators had subpoenaed Bitfinex and Tether. In May, we found out that the US Department of Justice had opened a criminal investigation into whether traders had used cryptocurrency exchanges to manipulate digital coin prices. However, the “homed in on” language here seems much more specific than we’ve seen before. Something appears to have changed. Whatever the story, the Tether/Bitfinex saga, which has already undermined Bitcoin’s public image, shows no signs of letting up. Meanwhile, cryptocurrency prices continue to plummet, with Bitcoin’s dropping 20% in the last week. That’s led between 600,000 and 800,000 miners to close up shop since mid-November, according to CoinDesk. The Bitcoin network’s total mining power, or hash rate, has fallen by more than 20 percent since the beginning of this month. Bitcoin’s system is designed so that it can get its miners to stick around by changing its economic incentives in response to decreasing mining power. But the precipitous fall-off in price and mining power seems to reflect a profound change in the air—crypto winter or not. So, that happened. So much for Craig Wright’s prediction that Bitcoin Cash’s hash wars would take months. It’s already over. On Friday, Calvin Ayre, a billionaire ally of Wright’s, declared in a blog post that his side of the acrimonious hard fork, which calls itself Bitcoin SV (for Satoshi’s vision, in case you’ve forgotten) doesn’t want the Bitcoin Cash name any more. He also called for permanent split of the two chains, saying it would be a win-win since “the definition of winning is fundamentally different to each side.” Bitcoin SV, he wrote, is the “original Bitcoin, not the original Bitcoin Cash (whatever that even means).” Yes, exactly. Whatever that even means. Let us help you better understand bitcoin and blockchain technologies. Join us at the Business of Blockchain event on May 2nd and hear directly from the world's brightest blockchain innovators. Loose Change Fill your pockets with these newsy tidbits. • Usage of Bitcoin as a method of retail payment has decreased by 80 percent this year. (Reuters) • The US Federal Election Commission has said it is permissible to mine cryptocurrencies in support of political campaigns. (CoinDesk) • Ohio intends to be the first state to accept Bitcoin for tax payments. (Wall Street Journal $) • Saudi Arabia is working with the United Arab Emirates to develop a cryptocurrency for bank-to-bank payments. (Finance Magnates) • US investors can now buy blockchain tokens that represent shares in a luxury residence in South Carolina. (Fortune) The Money Quote “I don’t care whether tZero is losing $2 million a month. We think we’ve got cold fusion on the blockchain side.” —Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock, on why he’s staking his company’s future on blockchain technology despite the down market. Byrne expects to wrap up a deal to sell Overstock’s retail business by February. The centerpiece of the company’s blockchain portfolio is the yet-to-launch tZero, which is supposed to be a platform for trading crypto-tokens that represent traditional securities like stocks and bonds.  (Wall Street Journal $) We hope you enjoyed today's tour of what's new in the world of blockchains and cryptocurrencies. Send us some feedback, or follow me @mike_orcutt. Know someone who might enjoy reading Chain Letter? Was this forwarded to you, and you'd like to see more? Artificial intelligence is here. Own what happens next. Attend EmTech Digital 2019 March 25-26, 2019, St. Regis Hotel San Francisco, CA View this in a browser You received this newsletter because you subscribed with the email address: contacto1745.send-mail@blogger.com edit preferences   |   unsubscribe   |   follow us      MIT Technology Review One Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142

Week 48: Komodo's Tech Tuesday. A massive upgrade in technology for the entire Komodo ecosystem.

Please note that this update is a hard fork. It is, therefore, a mandatory update.

Share Share Tweet Read Later Forward Tech Tuesday #12 If this is the first time you're reading our newsletter you can subscribe here and guarantee you don't miss out on important news.  Week 48  Sapling, New Hashing Algorithm & Coin Emission Schedules – Komodo Update Phase I Please visit the komodoplatform.com website throughout the week for details on these important and ground breaking updates. Komodo is going through some massive updates in the coming months which benefit the whole ecosystem. The majority of the updates come from downstream – the Verus Project providing the implementation of what originated from upstream development, zCash Sapling. The date has been set for December 15. Future updates extend the ecosystem capability of independent blockchains to include the ability of independent blockchains to create side chains too.  Komodo main chain included! Read the full upgrade guide here: https://komodoplatform.com/upgrade-guide-dec-15/ Crypto Will – Heir Crypto Condition (App Integration Enquiries Welcome) Development of an heir contract has begun preliminary testing.   With the sapling update looming, newer smart contract styled crypto conditions testing has been reduced to give priority to the Phase I update of the ecosystem. Komodo & WordPress Plugin For WooCommerce Passes Review The plugin is ready for any shop owner to use.   Key Features: Accept payment directly into your personal Komodo wallet. Komodo wallet payment option completely removes the dependency on any third party service and middlemen. Accept payment in Komodo for physical and digital downloadable products. Add Komodo payments option to your existing online store with alternative main currency. Flexible exchange rate calculations fully managed via administrative settings. Zero fees and no commissions for Komodo payments processing from any third party. Set the main currency of your store to USD or Komodo(KMD). Automatic conversion to Komodo via real-time exchange rate feed and calculations. Ability to set exchange rate calculation multiplier to compensate for any possible losses due to bank conversions and funds transfer fees The coinpayments.net plugin has been available for a long time that accepts other mainstream cryptos like BTC, LTC, KMD etc. for payment.  Komodo is happy to have two plugins available for WordPress integration. KMD Labs – Notaries Compete For Top 20 The blockchain formerly known as "STAKED" has had its own "rebrand".   Now known as KMDLABS, the discord community this past weekend competed for 20 spots as the project's notaries. The KMDLABS project moves at a rapid pace.  Some other developments include blockchain dog, p2p censorship resistant streaming and general PoS chain tools.  We look forward to seeing what comes out of the first 20 notaries dedication to the cause of fast development. This week, a coin migration (fungibility between chains) script was made available.  More information will follow in the coming weeks. 51% Immunity – Proof Of Power Verus Project has made another astonishing claim – 51% immunity with a paper that thoroughly explains their hybrid PoS/PoW algorithm which is being merged into Komodo during an update in the future. We thank the incredible work of the Verus Project for collaborating on continued improvements in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. IOS Agama Wallet Public Beta Testing Agama mobile for iOS is out for public testing.   You first need to download Apple's Testflight App and then submit your email address (that you use in the App Store) to the support manager in discord so you can be added to the list of beta testers! Interested in GUI dApps development?   Discord's #cc_gui channel will be where most of the work will take place in the coming weeks. Thank you, Komodo (& ecosystem) developers, what an exciting week! Click for past issues of Tech Tuesdays Please share this email. Thank you for being a part of our community.  Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.