Update on Emerging Blockchain Platforms

The named entities or Blockchains set forth below do not represent recommendations to purchase or in any way reflect investment advice. One of the key variables that is critical for deciding to invest is missing. That variable is the current valuation of each token or asset vs the overall market, and a reasoned forecast of future performance vs the market. What is presented below attempts to inform and to encourage research, to learn about each, and to come to an opinion of whether any of them or all of them strike you as being an important participant in the future development of digital asset platforms.

Update on Emerging Blockchain Platforms

The infrastructure build within the Blockchain world is young and filled with new ideas. Some of the entrepreneurs will fail but some will succeed and become the next Google, or Facebook, or Microsoft.

As I research and seek out the winners that lay among the ideas that will never mature, my enthusiasm and belief in the Blockchain technology platform only grows. There are real winners emerging.

Currently there are six newly added enterprises that I find compelling. They are:

1. Blockstack
2. Quant
3. Tomo
4. ChainLink
5. Enjin
6. Celsius

Blockstack

will be the first SEC approved security token. It has filed a $50 million Registration Statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell security tokens to the public. Their founders include PHDs from Princeton University, and they have developed, with $50 million of backing from Venture Capital entities, a comprehensive blockchain platform and web browser that supports contracts and an array of decentralized APPS (applications) that are business and consumer focused.

QUANT

is UK based. Their management team are technologists from the computer security world. They have developed a software licensing platform for business that enables businesses on one blockchain platform to migrate to another blockchain with ease and simplicity. They have designed their platform with banking and oil & gas corporate clients as initial targets.

TOMO

is a Singapore based blockchain. They have an inter-operable platform across blockchains with a focus on the gaming industry and decentralized APPS. They utilize a 150 Node platform in a proof of voting stake environment. Staking rewards on an annual basis exceed 10%.

ChainLink

is based out of the Grand Cayman Islands. It has a close connection to Cornell University. Contracts within the blockchain world need to validate that conditions are met to execute the provisions of the contract. ChainLink provides the bridge to data resources that reside outside the blockchain that are critical verification sources. Think of a music sale that triggers within a smart contract payment to all parties at time of sale (artist, writer, producer, etc). This smart contract must link to a validated external source to verify the sale took place. ChainLink provides that connection.

ENJIN

is a South Korean based company. They are part of the new Samsung S10 phone release, providing a game based blockchain platform for mobile gaming. ENJIN’s game platform has over 20 million users.

Celsius

is a UK based company. Their co-founder developed Voice over Internet Protocol in the 1990s, and has now built the platform to move money over the internet instantaneously through a banking platform for crypto-assets. They accept crypto-deposits and pay interest on those deposits, and they make loans in both crypto and fiat currencies.

Bitcoin price and the 200 Day Moving Average

Over the last 4 days the BTC closing price has exceeded the 200 day MVA for the first time in a year. The MVA price is $4,598 which is now support for the current price. Next stop is the cross of 50 day MVA over 200 day MVA. They are $600 apart with the 50 Day trending up, having closed the gap that existed in June 2018 of $2,500. Step one is done, with the current price above the 200 day MVA. Now we anticipate the 50 and 200 Day cross. Strength begets Strength.

Bitcoin

LiteCoin and Ethereum Price and Volume strength

This week, as of Thursday 11:00 AM EST, has seen a significant increase in crypto-assets, including currencies and blockchain platforms. The combination of double digit price increases with very high volume represents a strong positive for the market, as the movement reflects strength and a deepening participation in ownership. I have previously noted that the strength in LiteCoin was something to watch closely. It led the market as the first CC to have its daily price cross the 200 Day Moving Average of Price (this occurred on February 18, 2019). It continued to strengthen as I added to my position, anticipating it would continue to rise and challenge the the cross-over point where the 50 Day Moving Average of Price would cross and move above the 200 Day Moving Average. The cross occurred on March 16, 2019 at a LiteCoin price of $58.13 per coin. Today the price of LiteCoin is $86.33.

The current charts of LiteCoin and Ethereum are below. It is time to pay close attention to Ethereum. On April 2,2019 its closing price exceeded the 200 Day Moving Average at a price of $141. Today its price is $161.29. It is tracking toward the cross-over of the 50 day and 200 day MVAs. The spread between the two moving averages is currently $13.42. I expect ETH to move higher to challenge that cross-over point. If it breaks above that point, it will likely continue to advance on strength.

LiteCoin

Ethereum

The three charts of Price movement: Bitcoin, Ether, and LiteCoin

The change in price over time of any asset provides insight. In periods of quiet accumulation we see less spikes higher and a more steady pace of modest price rises. BTC, ETH, and LTC are all displaying this type of price movement. Of particular note in this phase of price discovery is the current price trend vs the 200 Day Moving Average of price, and the pattern of the 50 Day MVA vs the 200 Day MVA. As you can see with LTC, the current price went above the 200 Day MVA back on February 18, 2019. This presaged a confirming move of the 50 Day MVA exceeding the 200 Day MVA on March 16, 2019. The underlying environment of gradual and steady price increases is not confined to LTC as the other charts show. Should ETH and BTC continue on their gradual and steady price increases that lead to current prices above the 200 Day MVA (ETH is very close to this cross-over point), further accumulation at higher prices would seem likely.

LiteCoin

Ether

Bitcoin

Three Crypto Investment Lists: The Favorite Ideas, The Favorite Builders, and The High Risk/Reward Gambles

The named entities or Blockchains set forth below do not represent recommendations to purchase or in any way reflect investment advice. One of the key variables that is critical for deciding to invest is missing. That variable is the current valuation of each token or asset vs the overall market, and a reasoned forecast of future performance vs the market. What is presented below attempts to inform and to encourage research, to learn about each, and to come to an opinion of whether any of them or all of them strike you as being an important participant in the future development of digital asset platforms.

 

The Favorite Ideas

 

Set forth below are my top ten Favorite Ideas for investment consideration based on the companies actual performance to date and the meaningfulness and achievability of their stated goals and objectives:

1. Binance
2. Quant
3. ChainLink
4. Bitcoin
5. Ethereum
6. LiteCoin
7. Ontology
8. ENJIN
9. Celsius
10. Kyber Network

I highly recommend that these business platforms be researched to assess whether they fit within your own personal view of the future. I am happy to respond to any direct questions from readers as to why I view any of the above as My Favorite Ideas.

 

The Favorite Builders

 

Set forth below are my top ten Favorite Builders for investment consideration based on the need for their platform and the growth in delivering their solutions:

1. Bitcoin
2. Ethereum
3. Litecoin
4. Binance
5. NEO
6. Ontology
7. ChainLink
8. Celsius
9. 0X
10. Basic Attention Token

I highly recommend that these business platforms be researched to assess whether they fit within your own personal view of the future. I am happy to respond to any direct questions from readers as to why I view any of the above as My Favorite Builders.

 

The High Risk/Reward Gambles

 

Set forth below are my top ten Favorite High Risk/Reward Gambles for investment consideration. These entities and platforms are listed here based on their actual performance to date and the meaningfulness and achievability of their stated goals and objectives:

1. LYMPO
2. PolyMath
3. Morpheus
4. PlayChip
5. Deep Brain Chain
6. The Key
7. Augur
8. Tomo Chain
9. Loom
10. Travala

I highly recommend that these business platforms be researched to assess whether they fit within your own personal view of the future. I am happy to respond to any direct questions from readers as to why I view any of the above as being worthy of further research and understanding.

Tom

It is time for the Blockchain and related Crypto-assets to enter the Arena

This a revised document that includes new additional information added on March 10, 2019 to the March 9, 2019 update

Connolly Financial Advisors, LLC

This document does not serve as a recommendation of any specific asset or as an advertisement. This document represents an update on events underlying the crypto-environment, with links to websites of various companies and to relevant media announcements. The writing below has been sanitized to enable publication for education purposes only.

 

My perspective on the Crypto-eco system
Prepared by Thomas J Connolly
March 10, 2019

THE MAN IN THE ARENA
Excerpt from the speech “Citizenship In A Republic” by Theodore Roosevelt  delivered at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France on 23 April, 1910

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. “

 

 

Executive Summary

The past month has shown strong industry announcements such as new Mobile phones from HTC (the EXODUS), and Samsung (the S10), that are Blockchain enabled with Crypto wallets and connected trading platforms.  A few Crypto-assets have more than doubled in value, such as Binance and ENJIN.  LiteCoin has increased by +20% and has now crossed over its 200 Day Moving Average.  There are clear signs of positive momentum and greater consumer adoption.

2018 was a year of investment and building out platforms for the future, and the early days of 2019 are revealing broader successes from those investment efforts. The acceleration of Blockchain technology into all industries is happening, and the ability to transfer value (effectively money) within the BlockChain eco-system on a global scale is being recognized as a critical component of cross-border commerce. This is one of the most exciting times because it is not about the price of Bitcoin, it is about the adoption of technology and being alive as this evolution accelerates. We are witnesses to one of the great leaps in finance, industry, commerce, and the next generation of the power of the internet.

Perseverance is what Roosevelt praised, even in the face of pain and loss, for it is the power of belief, of not giving in to those that doubt the ultimate victory, that brings change that is good and which advances society to a new platform of connectivity, of borderless sharing of ideas, of equality and the recognition that every person has something to contribute that is valuable to our world.

 

Tom

 

 

 

Crypto-Assets of Particular Interest

The links to the websites of interesting platforms are as follows:

  1. BNB https://www.binance.com/en
    1. Largest Crypto Exchange generating $500 million in annual profit during the 2018 Bear Market. Market value has doubled during the past month.
  2. Quant (QNT) https://www.quant.network/?utm_source=coincodex
    1. Has created the software to link multiple Blockchains thereby facilitating corporate entitie to take advantage of integrating prior blockchain platforms with the newest most powerful emerging platforms
  3. ChainLink (LINK) https://chain.link/
    1. This is the bridge between Smart Contracts and external data sources (Oracles) that provide the necessary information to validate terms of the Smart Contract have been met.
  4. DragonChain (DRGN) https://dragonchain.com/?utm_source=coincodex
    1. US based interoperable platform and incubator of emerging projects
  5. ONT https://ont.io/
    1. China based Blockchain directed at authentication of digital assets and identities. Strong relationship with Microsoft is a clear positive.
  6. NEO https://neo.org/
    1. China based Blockchain that is similar to Ethereum. Smart contracts and decentralized business platform for the future smart economy on the internet.  Gaming is now a key component of their platform.
  7. POLY https://polymath.network/
    1. A Security Token platform to facilitate the securitization of assets in compliance with government regulations. If STOs take off, PolyMath should be dead center in the toolbox of this potential wave of new investment opportunities.
  8. ZRX https://0x.org/
    1. A software platform that serves as the backbone of decentralized exchanges built on the Ethereum blockchain
  9. LYMPO https://lympo.io/
    1. A health and exercise platform
  10. LRC https://loopring.org/
    1. A software platform that serves as the backbone of decentralized exchanges built to support multiple blockchains, including Ethereum, NEO, QTUM, etc

 

2019 expected market moving events

There are many anticipated events in 2019 that will serve to deepen the penetration of Crypto assets into the broader community.  A few examples are as follows:

  • • BAKKT
    Bakkt, which intends to leverage Microsoft cloud solutions to create an open and regulated, global ecosystem for digital assets. The new company is working with a marquee group of organizations including BCG, Microsoft, Starbucks, and others, to create an integrated platform that enables consumers and institutions to buy, sell, store and spend digital assets on a seamless global network. It has recently been revealed that Starbucks will begin accepting Crypto-currencies at their stores in connection with this investment.
    • BTC ETF
    It is expected that during 2019 the United States Securities and Exchange Commission will approve an ETF for trading on U.S. exchanges of a security backed by Bitcoin

    • Stable Coins
    A number of coins are being issued that are backed by Fiat currencies (every crypto Stable coin will be backed dollar for dollar by the designated Fiat currency)

    • Gaming
    Multi-player games and betting game platforms are a focus of the crypto world given the high value of transactions that take place online. The Blockchain is a perfect vehicle for these types of large consumer-based interests.

    • Lending
    Loans in crypto currencies and Fiat loans collateralized by crypto currencies are gaining traction in the market as a new form of financing

    • Interest earning deposits
    Interest earning deposits are expanding to include more crypto assets. Interest rates of between 3% and 7% are currently being paid for deposits of Bitcoin, Ethereum, LiteCoin, etc.

    Articles that present important developments in the Crypto Industry sector:

    • Here’s What You Need to Know About Facebook’s Own Stablecoin

    https://medium.com/okex-blog/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-facebook-s-own-stablecoin-890bbed04c7d

     

    • Fidelity Digital Assetsis now live with its cryptocurrency custodial solution and will provide it to “a select group of eligible clients” as the firm is working towards becoming a go-to service provider for institutional investors in the world of cryptographic and blockchain-based finance.

    https://news.bitcoin.com/fidelitys-cryptocurrency-arm-starts-offering-institutional-investor-services/

     

    • JP Morgan to issue its own crypto-coin, the JPM Coin, for use by its corporate clients

     

    https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2019/02/14/j-p-morgan-is-using-ethereum-to-launch-a-digital-u-s-dollar-heres-what-it-means-for-blockchain/

     

    • Binance records $446 million profit for 2018

    https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2019/02/06/analysis-binance-brought-in-446-million-in-profits-in-2018-despite-the-bear-market/

     

    • Celsius records $630 million in loans in 2018

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelwolfson/2019/02/05/leading-cryptocurrency-platform-completes-over-630m-in-crypto-loans-in-six-months/#7e7af15c526d

     

    • One of the largest publishers in the world addresses the paywall and transaction costs by utilizing a blockchain wallet

    https://cryptobriefing.com/digital-publisher-stellar-payments/

     

    • Wyoming accepts Bitcoin as money

    https://ambcrypto.com/wyoming-senate-passes-bill-recognizing-bitcoin-btc-and-other-cryptocurrencies-as-money/

     

    • A forecast from the former CEO of NASDAQ that by the year 2022 all securities will be tokenized

    https://ethereumworldnews.com/what-will-happen-if-the-508-trillion-global-market-is-tokenized-as-projected-by-former-nasdaq-ceo/

     

    • Harvard, Stamford, MIT and Yale have included Crypto in their Endowment portfolios

    https://www.ccn.com/breaking-harvard-stanford-mit-have-all-invested-in-cryptocurrency-funds/

     

    • New Hampshire and Indiana follow Ohio in tax collections using crypto-currencies

    https://ambcrypto.com/us-states-new-hampshire-and-indiana-introduce-bills-for-taxes-to-be-paid-in-cryptocurrencies/

     

    • QTUM Blockchain becomes Amazon Web Services partner in China

    https://www.coindesk.com/amazon-web-services-china-partnering-blockchain-qtum

     

    • Robinhood, a mobile application that enables you to trade stocks on your phone has been given a New York license to trade crypto-assets. New York is the most stringent state in regulating trading of crypto-assets and is a model for other states, this approval opens many doors for Robinhood and crypto trading.

    https://ambcrypto.com/cryptocurrency-exchange-robinhood-conferred-bitlicense-by-new-york-regulators/

     

    • One of the needs of the Bitcoin platform is to be able to process transactions with greater speed during times of peak demand. The Lightening network is being designed to sit on-top of the BTC Blockchain and will manage the high volumes off-chain or not within the BTC Blockchain.  As Blocks of data are filled, they are re-entered into the BTC Blockchain as completed blocks subject to verification, resulting in thousands of transactions processed per second on the BTC Blockchain, targeting millions of TPS in the next generation release.

    https://www.investinblockchain.com/bitcoin-lightning-network-accelerated-growth/

     

    • Futures Contracts for future delivery of Bitcoin, that require physical delivery of Bitcoin is coming and this will drive demand for BTC ownership to ever higher levels.

    https://www.ccn.com/nasdaq-to-launch-bitcoin-futures-2-0-in-early-2019/

     

    • Head of the New York Stock Exchange indicates Crypto-assets are here to stay

    https://www.ccn.com/unequivocal-yes-nyse-chair-says-bitcoin-and-crypto-are-here-to-stay/

     

     

    Closing Thoughts

    The Crypto asset class is one of the higher-risk sectors that one may invest in.  Many leaders in the financial and regulatory world believe the sector will fail and that the activity in 2017 and 2018 represented a bubble and a bust that will not be recovered.  I believe this is a short-sighted view (pun intended). The growth in capital committed to developing and expanding the Blockchain technology is validating the reach and potential of this technology.

    The number and talent of the brightest minds in engineering, computer science, and the financial industry that are moving ever more deeply into this sector is dramatic.  The most desperate plea coming from the crypto eco-system is for more engineers and computer scientists.  There is an unrelenting demand for the best and the brightest.

    Across the globe, Blockchain companies are holding workshops for developers in an effort to uncover the next critical discovery, the next idea that will springboard the Crypto and Blockchain sector into the mainstream.  Today, there are more brilliant people investing their time and effort in the future of this technology than there has ever been.  I have faith in what they are doing and recognize that our world of border driven tensions is pushing us to find solutions that diffuse the tension for the betterment of the people of the world. Trade wars represent the approaches of old thinking and old thinkers, whereas the next generation of the internet as a platform for distributed technologies that bring all of us closer together in common initiatives is our next chapter.  We have a great book to write that will change the world, won’t you join us?

     

    Best regards,

    TJC

     

     

    Ethereum’s price is trending toward its 200 Day MVA

    On February 18, 2019 LiteCoin’s price crossed its 200 Day Moving Average. This is often a very bullish signal for higher prices in the future. At that time, LTC was priced at $47.34. Since that date, the price has increased by roughly $10, or 20%. The chart of LTC is located within the Market Reports and Charts banner in the menu above.

    The next major crypto-currency that is approaching this notable cross of the 200 Day MVA is Ethereum. The chart below as of March 8, 2019 shows the general upturn and the closing of the gap between the 50 and 200 Day MVA, and the proximity of the daily price to the 200 Day MVA. We should pay attention to this movement in price, as ETH is only $30 below its long-term trend line. A cross would be a bullish price signal.

    My perspective on the Crypto Eco-System

    Connolly Financial Advisors, LLC

    This document does not serve as a recommendation of any specific asset or as an advertisement. This document represents an update on events underlying the crypto-environment, with links to websites of various companies and to relevant media announcements, and has been sanitized to enable publication for education purposes only.

    My perspective on the Crypto-eco system
    Prepared by Thomas J Connolly
    January 31, 2019

    Charles Dickens: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…”

    Executive Summary

    It has been a brutal twelve months with no signs of a lessening on the downward pressure on prices. Given the price declines in the overall crypto-asset market, companies that raised capital in late 2017 and early 2018 and did not convert the BTC or ETH that was raised into fiat currency are finding their treasuries are limited and many will face bankruptcy. Similar to the internet exuberance of 1999 and early 2000, the euphoria is followed by a hangover. How long this period of malaise continues is only a guess, but it will not likely end until a spark of intrigue emerges that captures the mindshare needed to bring greater numbers of consumers into the demand curve for crypto-assets. That event is out there. I believe this. The strong and well financed companies and foundations are advancing technological innovation, and it is only a matter of time before that spark ignites, and a fire emerges that burns hot.

    2018 was a year of investment and building out platforms for the future. While the prices of coins fell dramatically during the year (ex. BTC from approx. $20,000 per coin to $3,000 per coin), the global expansion and deeper penetration into business and society showed significant strides.

    In the case of Bitcoin, the overall coin supply is limited to approx. 20 million coins. Think about that for a moment. There are over 7 billion people in the world. BTC and a few other value-based coins represent the ability to transfer value across borders in seconds, something the existing bank infrastructure cannot do. Additionally, the number of unbanked people in the world total 1.7 billion. These people transfer $400 billion to relatives across borders in slow and costly ways. The average fee for these transfers is 7.45%, with certain geographies significantly higher. The average fee to transfer BTC from Coinbase is 1.49%, and the fee structure in the crypto-world continues to decline.

    With only 20 million BTC serving the world, the demand potential for BTC is beyond what most think about. This demand will drive the price ever higher. Imagine only 100 million people adopted crypto-currencies as a way to move value across borders. That would mean each person, assuming equal proportional ownership, could only have one-fifth of a BTC. The demand potential will create scarcity, and with institutions such as pension plans, university endowments, insurance companies, and banking institutions entering the demand side as investors, the potential expansion in price given the limited supply should follow simple economic principles.

    Beyond the value transfer quality, there are coins representing blockchain platforms that are serving to create through smart contracts the digital asset derivatives of physical assets. The opportunity to have a fractional ownership in any asset in the world is compelling and is consistent with the “New Normal” of only owning what you will use (think AirBNB, Uber, WeWork, etc). Blockchain platforms and smart contracts will enable people to own a piece of the greatest art works in the world, the most luxurious homes, the greatest vacation destinations, precious metals, stocks in the largest companies in the world. The opportunities are endless.

    Existing businesses will be challenged by crypto-based competitors. A simple example is travel. Priceline serves the online world for hotel bookings, airline reservations, etc. Travala is the crypto-equivalent https://www.travala.com/ . They have a hotel, vacation, and airline reservation platform, all with the ability to pay for your travel and accommodations with crypto-currencies or their own coin. Participating hotels exceed over 500 at this time. The world is changing and being at the forefront of change is often exhilarating yet challenging. The early days are the most exciting, followed by the turbulent and the most fearful days of the journey as adjustments are made and corrections are deployed, with many new entrants dying off on the hard path to maturity. Eventually, the strong, the survivors, the innovators will find their place in society with broad acceptance and functionality. These are the assets to own now, the assets that will be the industry leaders in the world of tomorrow.

     

    A few of my investments are below. The strongest performer has been Binance, which is setting all time highs in Bitcoin price

    The links to the websites of each of the noted holdings are as follows:

    1. BNB https://www.binance.com/en
    Largest Crypto Exchange generating in excess of $500 million in annual profit

    2. PlayUp https://www.playchip.global/
    Australia based Global Sports betting and Fantasy Sports platform

    3. BTC

    4. ONT https://ont.io/
    China based Blockchain directed at authentication of digital assets and identities

    5. NEO https://neo.org/
    China based Blockchain that is similar to Ethereum. Smart contracts and decentralized business platform for the future smart economy on the internet

    6. POLY https://polymath.network/
    A Security Token platform to facilitate the securitization of assets in compliance with government regulations

    7. ZRX https://0x.org/
    A software platform that serves as the backbone of decentralized exchanges built on the Ethereum blockchain

    8. LRC https://loopring.org/
    A software platform that serves as the backbone of decentralized exchanges built to support multiple blockchains, including Ethereum, NEO, QTUM, etc

     

    2019 expected market moving events

    There are many anticipated events in 2019 that will serve to deepen the penetration of Crypto assets into the broader community. A few examples are as follows:

    BAKKT

    ATLANTA & NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE), a leading operator of global exchanges, clearing houses, data and listings services, announced today that it plans to form a new company, Bakkt, which intends to leverage Microsoft cloud solutions to create an open and regulated, global ecosystem for digital assets. The new company is working with a marquee group of organizations including BCG, Microsoft, Starbucks, and others, to create an integrated platform that enables consumers and institutions to buy, sell, store and spend digital assets on a seamless global network.

    The Bakkt ecosystem is expected to include federally regulated markets and warehousing along with merchant and consumer applications. Its first use cases will be for trading and conversion of Bitcoin versus fiat currencies, as Bitcoin is today the most liquid digital currency. The effort is designed to address evolving needs in the estimated $270 billion digital asset marketplace.

    BTC ETF
    It is expected that during 2019 the United States Securities and Exchange Commission will approve an ETF for trading on U.S. exchanges of a security backed by Bitcoin

    Stable Coins
    A number of coins are being issued that are backed by Fiat currencies (every crypto Stable coin will be backed by a designated unit of the associated fiat currency, such as dollar for dollar by the designated Fiat currency the U.S. dollar)

    Gaming
    Multi-player games and betting game platforms are a focus of the crypto world given the high value of transactions that take place online. The Blockchain is a perfect vehicle for these types of large consumer-based interests.

    Lending
    Loans in crypto currencies and Fiat loans collateralized by crypto currencies are gaining traction in the market as a new form of financing

    Interest earning deposits
    Interest earning deposits are expanding to include more crypto assets. Interest rates of between 3% and 7% are currently being paid for deposits of Bitcoin, Ethereum, LiteCoin, etc. The video link below is very important to watch. It will explain some key reasons why a new way of finance relationships based on blockchain technology is coming.

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3yZY7UVs-zPKBuyNuPinbQ

     

     

    Articles that present important developments in the Crypto Industry sector:

    .  Binance records $446 million profit for 2018
    https://www.theblockcrypto.com/2019/02/06/analysis-binance-brought-in-446-million-in-profits-in-2018-despite-the-bear-market/

    Celsius records $630 million in loans in 2018
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelwolfson/2019/02/05/leading-cryptocurrency-platform-completes-over-630m-in-crypto-loans-in-six-months/#7e7af15c526d

    • One of the largest publishers in the world addresses the paywall and transaction costs by utilizing a blockchain wallet
    https://cryptobriefing.com/digital-publisher-stellar-payments/

    Wyoming accepts Bitcoin as money
    https://ambcrypto.com/wyoming-senate-passes-bill-recognizing-bitcoin-btc-and-other-cryptocurrencies-as-money/

    • A forecast from the former CEO of NASDAQ that by the year 2022 all securities will be tokenized
    https://ethereumworldnews.com/what-will-happen-if-the-508-trillion-global-market-is-tokenized-as-projected-by-former-nasdaq-ceo/

    Harvard, Stamford, MIT and Yale have included Crypto in their Endowment portfolios
    https://www.ccn.com/breaking-harvard-stanford-mit-have-all-invested-in-cryptocurrency-funds/

    • New Hampshire and Indiana follow Ohio in tax collections using crypto-currencies
    https://ambcrypto.com/us-states-new-hampshire-and-indiana-introduce-bills-for-taxes-to-be-paid-in-cryptocurrencies/

    QTUM Blockchain becomes Amazon Web Services partner in China
    https://www.coindesk.com/amazon-web-services-china-partnering-blockchain-qtum

    Robinhood, a mobile application that enables you to trade stocks on your phone has been given a New York license to trade crypto-assets. New York is the most stringent state in regulating trading of crypto-assets and is a model for other states, this approval opens many doors for Robinhood and crypto trading.
    https://ambcrypto.com/cryptocurrency-exchange-robinhood-conferred-bitlicense-by-new-york-regulators/

    • One of the needs of the Bitcoin platform is to be able to process transactions with greater speed during times of peak demand. The Lightening network is being designed to sit on-top of the BTC Blockchain and will manage the high volumes off-chain or not within the BTC Blockchain. As Blocks of data are filled, they are re-entered into the BTC Blockchain as completed blocks subject to verification, resulting in thousands of transactions processed per second on the BTC Blockchain, targeting millions of TPS in the next generation release.
    https://www.investinblockchain.com/bitcoin-lightning-network-accelerated-growth/

    Futures Contracts for future delivery of Bitcoin, that require physical delivery of Bitcoin is coming and this will drive demand for BTC ownership to ever higher levels.
    https://www.ccn.com/nasdaq-to-launch-bitcoin-futures-2-0-in-early-2019/

    • Head of the New York Stock Exchange indicates Crypto-assets are here to stay
    https://www.ccn.com/unequivocal-yes-nyse-chair-says-bitcoin-and-crypto-are-here-to-stay/

     

    Closing Thoughts

    The Crypto asset class is one of the higher-risk sectors that one may invest in. Many leaders in the financial and regulatory world believe the sector will fail and that the activity in 2017 and 2018 represented a bubble and a bust that will not be recovered. They may be right.

    The counter to the position of a bubble and bust, is the number and talent of the brightest minds in engineering, computer science, and the financial industry that are moving ever more deeply into this sector. The most desperate plea coming from the crypto eco-system is for more engineers and computer scientists. There is an unrelenting demand for the best and the brightest.

    Across the globe, Blockchain companies are holding workshops for developers in an effort to uncover the next critical discovery, the next idea that will springboard the Crypto and Blockchain sector into the mainstream. Today, there are more brilliant people investing their time and effort in the future of this technology than there has ever been. I have faith in what they are doing, and I will remain committed to this asset class until proven wrong. I just do not think I am or will be proven wrong.

    Best regards,

    TJC

    Rubber Bands and Private Keys, a critique of two articles on Bitcoin

    Rubber Bands and Private Keys
    by Thomas J Connolly
    November 30, 2018

    I love imagination. Since I was a little boy I think my most precious moments have been when I let my mind wander, to imagine a world that is similar to today, but somehow different. A world that is better. It makes me happy inside to take that type of walk in a world that represents the future.

    For a moment I want you to join me and pause, to remember. You are between the ages of 18 and 25. Last night you were out with your mates, in a bar listening to music. You were drinking and putting money on the bar. You can still feel the beer-soaked paper money crumpled in your pocket that spent an evening on the wet wooden bar that was the platform of beers and shots, money that you sort the next morning back into smoothed out bills.

    Now think of a round of golf in Arizona. We are comparing cards and settling bets. Money is exchanged across the table, who has a fiver or a ten? Richard asks, “Did you give me the $400”.

    Now think of our children. Do you see them doing the same thing? In a world of Venmo?

    Karen and I ask Justin and Sydney when they are home and are heading out for a night with friends, “Do you have enough money with you”? They look at us quizzically, laugh, and say they do not need money. Everything for them is digital.

    What about your children? More importantly, what about you? We are used to Gary’s security of a Rubber Band, but in truth how often do each of us reach into our pocket and pay for things with paper notes or coins? Has our world become different than what it was when we were at that bar so many years ago? I think the answer is yes, and in that difference are the seeds of a world that is coming, a world that is borderless in terms of “money” flow, one that does not have exchange fees or movement that has the friction of delay. It is inevitable, and we will not need rubber bands (but you and I will still use them to our children’s delight and mockery because they reflect our time when we were young) but we will need Private Keys.

    Now that I have your mind in the right place, let’s look at the articles that John shared with us. The prestigious Washington Post and the LA Times. The key points I discern from the writers’ crafted words are these:

    • There was a frenzy of buying that included “Grandma’s and Grandpa’s cashing in on the action”

    • It is pitched by its promoters as an alternative to “Fiat” currencies

    • “To put it another way, the money in your bank account, wallet or mattress shouldn’t fluctuate widely or unpredictably”

    • “Bitcoin trading systems couldn’t enforce their ostensible safeguards against counterfeiting.”

    • Bitcoin possess value only as long as the expectation exists “that they will continue to be accepted by others”

    • Bitcoin trading is cumbersome and would require super computers to scale like VISA and Mastercard.

    • As an investment asset, Bitcoins price has come down by roughly 80% from its peak in just under a year. The Bitcoin crash should all but exterminate the currency.

    • “Bitcoin has been around for ten years, but we still haven’t found one use for it.”

    • Bitcoin Miners are middlemen that take a fee just like a bank

    • The rise in the price of Bitcoin creates hoarding behavior and that price rise means it will only be adopted by the most fervent believers

    • Since the end of last year the Euro and the Turkish Lira have outperformed Bitcoin, while Bitcoin has only modestly outperformed the Venezuela Bolivar. “So maybe some sort of congratulations are in order: Bitcoin is a better store of value than the worst store of value there is.”

    I think the above about covers the two writers’ main points for concluding why Bitcoin is and will be a failure. Let me do what they did not, which is to go deep vs shallow. On a point by point response, let’s see where they may be correct and where they may be a bit off the mark. Ready? Here we go………

    • There was a frenzy of buying that included “Grandma’s and Grandpa’s cashing in on the action”

    The point the author seems to be making here is that there was a buying frenzy that included a mass entry into buying Bitcoin by people with little understanding of what they were doing, even by the least likely people, Grandma and Grandpa. How true is that statement?

    Well a report released in July 2018 reveals the following:

    22 Million Bitcoin Wallets

    Currently, there are almost 22 million bitcoin wallets according to data compiled by Bitinfocharts.com. However, most bitcoin users have several bitcoin wallets and use multiple wallet addresses to increase their financial privacy when transacting in bitcoin. Hence, the number of bitcoin users is likely less than 22 million.

    2.9 to 5.8 Million Active Users

    A 2017 study by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance suggests that “current number of unique active users of cryptocurrency wallets is estimated to be between 2.9 and 5.8 million.” It is important to note that this study focuses on active users as opposed to bitcoin “hodlers”. This gives us insight into how many individuals are actual users as opposed to only buy-and-hold investors.

    The Cambridge University study collected data from over 100 cryptocurrency companies in 38 countries, which is estimated to encapsulate 75 percent of the blockchain industry. Hence, we can expect the number of active users to be on the higher end of the study’s estimate or perhaps even higher.

    Those are relatively small numbers in a global population of over 7 billion people. While many people became aware of Bitcoin as the media focused on it in late 2017 and into 2018, the actual number who spent the time to figure out how to buy it and to commit money to it was very small. Think of us as a group, we likely have only 1% to 3% of us that own BTC. Fairly representative of the overall population in the current market of BTC (22/7,000 or 3%) and the estimated 5% of the US population that own BTC. Compare the US BTC holders to the percentage of the US population that own stocks (52%), and you can see the author’s stated frenzy for BTC has actually been very narrow. I think the author here was trying to bring emotion to drive a point home, but his point is less than factual.

    • It is pitched by its promoters as an alternative to “Fiat” currencies

    The original paper by Satoshi Nakamoto that introduced Bitcoin is nine pages long (if you would like me to send you a copy, just ask). I have read it. It does speak of developing a network to enable payments, but it does not suggest that Bitcoin will or should replace Fiat currencies. The introduction of the paper reads as follows:

    “1. Introduction
    Commerce on the Internet has come to rely almost exclusively on financial institutions serving as trusted third parties to process electronic payments. While the system works well enough for most transactions, it still suffers from the inherent weaknesses of the trust based model. Completely non-reversible transactions are not really possible, since financial institutions cannot avoid mediating disputes. The cost of mediation increases transaction costs, limiting the minimum practical transaction size and cutting off the possibility for small casual transactions, and there is a broader cost in the loss of ability to make non-reversible payments for nonreversible services. With the possibility of reversal, the need for trust spreads. Merchants must be wary of their customers, hassling them for more information than they would otherwise need. A certain percentage of fraud is accepted as unavoidable. These costs and payment uncertainties can be avoided in person by using physical currency, but no mechanism exists to make payments over a communications channel without a trusted party.

    What is needed is an electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust, allowing any two willing parties to transact directly with each other without the need for a trusted third party. Transactions that are computationally impractical to reverse would protect sellers from fraud, and routine escrow mechanisms could easily be implemented to protect buyers. In this paper, we propose a solution to the double-spending problem using a peer-to-peer distributed timestamp server to generate computational proof of the chronological order of transactions. The system is secure as long as honest nodes collectively control more CPU power than any cooperating group of attacker nodes.”

    While there are those that get headlines by proposing that BTC will replace Fiat currencies, the truth of the matter is that this view is a minority view and not connected to the concept of BTC or the actual existence of BTC. The author has once again chosen to make an inflammatory comment that is shallow and without real substance.

    • “To put it another way, the money in your bank account, wallet or mattress shouldn’t fluctuate widely or unpredictably”

    We would all like this to be true. However, as we know from simply watching the movement of the British pound during George Soros billion dollar move against the UK Pound or the impact of Brexit, that volatility in Fiat currencies is present. What about the EURO vs the USD? How do 50% point moves sound? In August of 2002 the EURO made its debut. It was valued at less than 1 USD. Between then and now, the EURO has soared in value to 1.58 USD and has fallen from that level to 1.05 USD. Volatility is a natural occurring event when normal supply and demand factors exist for all assets. BTC is no different. To highlight the volatility is factually accurate, but it is not a reason to demean any asset that moves based on market dynamics (think of the price of oil). Once again the author seeks to win an argument based on emotion, not facts.

    • “Bitcoin trading systems couldn’t enforce their ostensible safeguards against counterfeiting.”

    This comment made me laugh. I know of not one case where BTC has been counterfeited. In fact, it is impossible simply based on the structure of the Blockchain network on which it resides. This is the most foolish statement of all.

    • Bitcoin possess value only as long as the expectation exists “that they will continue to be accepted by others”

    I believe this is true. Just like any asset, its value is predicated on demand. I think this is an obvious fact of all assets and wonder why the author positioned it as unique to BTC? I guess he needed to meet a word count requirement to fit the paper’s column structure.

    • Bitcoin trading is cumbersome and would require super computers to scale like VISA and Mastercard.

    This statement is both somewhat accurate and wildly wrong. Trading in BTC is fast, almost instantaneous. Try it on Coinbase. I think the author was trying to make the point that as a means of payment it has a low transaction per second metric due to the network requirements for validating the blocks that make up the BTC Blockchain. That is true. It is a young technology that continues to advance, seeking to solve the inefficiencies that it was conceived with. For example there is the Lightning Network that has been developed which is designed to sit on top of the BTC Network. It is currently in testing at 60,000 transactions per second, with the expectation that it will scale to millions of transactions per second. Even the internet use by normal everyday people went through this phase. Can you not remember the modem hooked to your computer and connected to your phone line with all the screeching and noise as it connected to the internet at incredibly slow speeds? Everything does evolve does it not? I wonder why the author would not speak to the way technology is evolving, versus concluding it is a failure when compared to VISA or Mastercard? Shallow reporting if you ask me. Oh, by the way, there is no need for a supercomputer, as the network runs on normal computers in a shared peer to peer network. Talk about sensationalism.

    • As an investment asset, Bitcoins price has come down by roughly 80% from its peak in just under a year. The Bitcoin crash should all but exterminate the currency.

    So which is it? Is it an asset or a currency? Seems the author lost his way for a second.

    If an 80% price drop was enough to conclude that an asset should be exterminated, then the world would look a bit different today as Amazon would be gone for it fell by 98.7% between the year 2000 and 2001/02 (high split adjusted share price of $75.25 and a low of $5.51. Bet you wish you bought AMZN at $5.51). What about Cisco systems? Fell by 86.5%. Corning Glass works by 99%; Priceline by 99.4%; Yahoo by 96.4%, etc. You get the picture.

    • “Bitcoin has been around for ten years, but we still haven’t found one use for it.”

    Really? I think one of the most significant things you would highlight is that BTC can be used to pay taxes:

    US State of Ohio Accepts Bitcoin for 23 Types of Taxes

    The U.S. state of Ohio has set up a cryptocurrency payment portal and reportedly starts accepting payments in bitcoin for 23 types of taxes this week. “Ohio has become the first state in the United States, and one of the first governments in the world, to accept cryptocurrency,” the Treasurer’s Office wrote.

    How can an author/writer for these prestigious news organizations be allowed to print for mass consumption false statements? Dare I say it, “Fake News”………

    • Bitcoin Miners are middlemen that take a fee just like a bank

    A bank charges us for maintaining deposits with them of our own money, paying us less than 1% interest while using our money to loan to credit card users charging them 19% interest, charges us for international transfers, and delays for days sizeable deposits that are mere transfers between financial institutions. As to BTC miners, they are compensated for mining BTC which is adding new blocks to the Blockchain. They are not paid by you or me. The BTC they receive is new BTC, that is why they call it mining.

    There is a fee for transactions, but it is nominal and significantly less than our current banking system. For example, earlier this week, Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, sent $600 million with a $7 fee. To send a $1 million through a bank in an international wire transfer, it could cost institutions nearly $10,000 in fees.

    Taking a fee just like a bank is a partially true statement by the author, but it is misleading in substance and for me amounts to no more than a big lie buried in a small truth.

    • The rise in the price of Bitcoin creates hoarding behavior and that price rise means it will only be adopted by the most fervent believers

    Which is it? Earlier the first author posited that the price rise brought Grandma and Grandpa into the BTC market as buyers of the asset. Now writer number two says that only the possessed few will come into the market. Who is right? Are not these statements foolish?

    Simple fact of life, new technologies are embraced early on by the “believers”. It is not until later that the masses come on board once the technology has proven its value. I imagine you have heard of the S curve in the adoption of new technologies? We are today at the beginning of the curve. BTC has not proven its value yet in a way that would lead to mass adoption, but that in no way means it won’t. The fact of the matter is that the Blockchain is expanding rapidly into every business, and the most comprehensive and developed Blockchain at this point is the BTC Blockchain. The ease with which it enables the transference of capital from one geography to another in a seamless and timely manner indicates to me that the day is coming when mass adoption will happen, and not as a replacement of the USD, the Pound, the EURO or the YUAN, but as a compliment to them that changes the financial industry in a dramatic and significant way.

    • Since the end of last year the Euro and the Turkish Lira have outperformed Bitcoin, while Bitcoin has only modestly outperformed the Venezuela Bolivar. “So maybe some sort of congratulations are in order: Bitcoin is a better store of value than the worst store of value there is.”

    What is it they say about statistics?

    Mark Twain (among others), who attributed it to the British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

    Choosing to make a statement comparing the price of BTC to the named currencies is so misleading that I shake my head in sadness that journalism has fallen to such lows. The writer is accurate in their statement for they searched for the period in time where the statistics aligned with their theory. What if they compared the values between 2010 and now? BTC was valued at $.08 in 2010. What might the increase in value be to now at $4,000 per BTC? Lies, Damned lies, and Statistics, is what I say. Shame on these writers and the editors that allowed such biased and misleading journalism to flourish on their pages.

    Well I guess I am done for now. I hope in the future a better more balanced presentation of the Crypto-Asset world emerges. I imagine it will be written only after the horse has left the barn. But remember, I began this discussion speaking about imagination. I think John Lennon got it right and was prescient in imagining a world without borders as being attainable one day. Maybe we are moving there ever so slowly. I do hope so……

    Ohio Accepts Bitcoin for Tax Payments

    Ohio Accepts Bitcoin for Tax Payments

    The U.S. state of Ohio has set up a cryptocurrency payment portal and reportedly starts accepting payments in bitcoin for 23 types of taxes this week. “Ohio has become the first state in the United States, and one of the first governments in the world, to accept cryptocurrency,” the Treasurer’s Office wrote.

    The office of Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel has set up a cryptocurrency tax payment portal at Ohiocrypto.com. The website explains that businesses do not have to be Ohio-headquartered to pay their taxes in cryptocurrency, adding:

    Under the leadership of Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, taxpayers are able to pay their state business taxes with cryptocurrency for the first time anywhere in America. Ohio has become the first state in the United States, and one of the first governments in the world, to accept cryptocurrency.

    “Beginning this week, Ohio businesses will be able to go to the website Ohiocrypto.com and register to pay everything from cigarette sales taxes to employee withholding taxes with bitcoin.” the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. “Eventually, the initiative will expand to individual filers.”

    23 Eligible Types of Taxes

    According to the Ohiocrypto website, cryptocurrency can be used to pay for 23 types of taxes.

    Eligible taxes are 911 wireless, cigarette / other tobacco products, commercial activity, consumer’s use, direct pay permit, financial institution, interest on lawyers trust accounts, international fuel tax agreement, kilowatt hour, motor vehicle fuel, municipal net profits, municipal tax electric light & telephone, natural gas distribution, non-resident motor vehicle sales tax, pass-thru entity tax, petroleum activity, premium insurance tax, public utilities tax, sales tax, seller’s use tax, severance tax, streamlined sales tax, and withholding tax.

    The Ohiocrypto website also outlines the benefits of paying with cryptocurrency. Firstly, it is “quick and easy” for taxpayers, the website claims. There are three steps to follow: registering on the website, entering tax payment amounts and tax period dates, and then using “your compatible cryptocurrency wallet to pay the invoice with bitcoin.”
    Secondly, payments are tracked in “real-time on the blockchain.” Thirdly, they are secured as “Cryptocurrencies cannot be transferred to third parties without user initiation,” the site notes, adding that transparency is another benefit since “anyone can view all transactions on the blockchain.” Furthermore, there are mobile options allowing taxpayers to make payments on their phones or tablets. The website also notes that “A minimal fee is charged to confirm transactions on the blockchain network.”

    Regarding which cryptocurrencies are accepted, the Ohiocrypto website clarifies, “Taxpayers can currently pay their taxes with Ohiocrypto.com in bitcoin,” adding “the Treasurer’s office looks forward to adding more cryptocurrencies in the future.” The state will not be keeping any bitcoins, however. The Treasury’s Office emphasizes:

    At no point will the Treasurer’s office hold cryptocurrency. Payments made on Ohiocrypto.com, through our third party cryptocurrency payment processor partner Bitpay, are immediately converted to USD before being deposited into a state account.

    Bitpay usually processes both BTC and BCH payments. However, BCH payment processing is unavailable at this time due to the Nov. 15 hard fork of the BCH network. “Bitpay has temporarily paused bitcoin cash payment processing until we determine that customers can pay safely,” the company wrote.

    In general, to pay taxes using either BTC or BCH, taxpayers need to use compatible wallets which both the Ohiocrypto website and Bitpay have listed. Compatible wallets include Bitpay’s own wallet, Copay wallet, Btc.com wallet, Mycelium wallet, Edge wallet (formerly Airbitz), Electrum wallet, Bitcoin Core wallet, Bitcoin.com wallet, BRD wallet (breadwallet), and Electron Cash Wallet.

    “First, select the cryptocurrency you’d like to pay in from the drop-down and select either bitcoin or bitcoin cash (currently unavailable at this time),” the payment instruction on the Ohiocrypto website reads. The website further describes:

    Our third-party cryptocurrency payment processor locks an exchange rate (USD to BTC or BCH) for 15 minutes. If you do not submit your payment within 15 minutes, then you must restart your transaction – which will include an updated exchange rate.

    Story by:
    Kevin Helms
    A student of Austrian Economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open-source systems, network effects and the intersection between economics and cryptography.