2020

Huge Rise in Chinese ‘Blockchain’ Companies — But Are They Real?

More than 35,000 blockchain companies are operating in mainland China —  but it’s believed that many of them do not even use blockchain technology.In the first quarter of 2020, as COVID-19 shut down factories, offices and cities across the  world, 2,383 brand-new “blockchain” companies sprung up in China.This brings the total to 35,010 companies as of April 1 — over 20,000 in Guangdong province alone — according to Tianyancha, a business data company.But in mid-February data firm LongHash estimated that approximately 70% of the total number of blockchain firms registered

Crypto Friendly Laws Help Boerse Stuttgart’s App Top 100,000 Users

The cryptocurrency trading app of Germany’s second-largest stock exchange, Boerse Stuttgart, exceeded 100,000 users on March 30 amid increasingly permissive regulations in the country.The Bison app, which launched on Jan. 31st, 2019, has attracted a six-figure user base in just 14 months.Bison users grow 40% during Q1 2020Ulli Spankowski, the chief executive of Boerse Stuttgart Digital Ventures subsidiary and developer of the Bison app, Sowa Lab GmbH, notes that the milestone has been reached amid a 40% growth in users since the start of 2020. Boerse Stuttgart’s app supports Bitcoin (BTC),

Binance Research Finds Bitcoin Correlated to Stocks — But Not For Long

In a new report Binance Research found a ‘moderate’ positive correlation between Bitcoin and US equities during the first quarter of 2020 — but neither was correlated to gold.Bitcoin was down 10% over the quarter but still outperformed the S&P 500 which experienced a 19% drop. According to the report, the correlation was fairly high at 0.57, as shown through similar patterns in daily business day returns.Gold and long-term treasuries showed no relationship to other markets as they rose by 8% and 23% respectively.The good news for hodlers is that

Is Decentralized ASIC Production Possible?

The news about ASICs for Nervos CKB came out recently, as the time of writing, there are four ASICs announced, the Toddminer C1, Toddminer C1 Pro, Bitmain K5 and PA miner — the first batch of C1 was delivered on March 9, K5 and PA Miner are expected to be delivered in April and C1 Pro in May.Since mainnet launch, the total hashrate on CKB mainnet has been around 200TH/S on average, it is now gradually picking up (at the time of writing at ~500TH/S) with ASICs. Toddminer says C1+C1

Video: Blockchain.com’s Crypto Market Update — April

Today we’re excited to share the video recording of Blockchain.com’s Crypto Market Update discussion on April 2nd, 2020 between our Co-founder, Nic Cary, and Head of Research, Dr. Garrick Hileman.In the webinar, they cover:Price: what gold price in 2008–2011 may say about BTC?On-chain data: hashrate drop & upcoming halveningHistory: doesn’t always repeat, but often rhymesCOVID-19: winners & losersQ&A from attendeesWatch the full recording now on our YouTube. Source: https://medium.com/blockchain/video-blockchain-coms-crypto-market-update-april-bd3362feb32c?source=rss----8ac49aa8fe03---4

Bitcoin Surges by 10%, Gold and Stocks Also in the Green

We’ve been seeing new hockey stick graphs every day lately and today is no exception. The weekly jobless data just came out from the U.S. and the numbers were even worse than any analysts had guessed. This chart shows the number of Americans who filed for unemployment for the first time last week. Notice that the number is almost exactly double the average analyst forecast (gold bar). In total for the last two weeks, that makes nearly 10 million people out of work due to the virus fears. That’s about

What to Expect When You’re Expecting… the Bitcoin Block Halving

Many industry experts hold varied expectations for Bitcoin’s price following the block reward halving in May, proving 2020 is anything but mundane. “On both prior occasions, Bitcoin surged to a new all-time high within 12 months, with the latest coming in December 2017 when the price reached about $20,000, which was followed by a massive decline,” Bill Herrmann, CEO of alternative investment banking firm, Wilshire Phoenix, told Cointelegraph in an email on March 10. Herrmann also pointed out that Bitcoin’s market has matured compared to past years, noting that information available to

Bitcoin Price Soars 15% to $7.2K But Breaking $8K Won’t Be Easy

Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $7,106 representing an impressive 14.7% gain in the last 24 hours and 6.8% for today. Other global markets are also up off the back of President Trump’s comments around the likelihood that crude oil production will be cut back, which is one of the triggers which caused Bitcoin to slide from $9K to $8K in early March.Looking at performance relative to its peers, Ether (ETH) and XRP both continue to underperform versus Bitcoin as was the case last week. Bitcoin dominance remains at 66%. Cryptocurrency market

Gold Is ‘Toilet Paper’ for the Rich, Bitcoin for the Poor — Max Keiser

People are going to buy Bitcoin (BTC) in droves — because there will be no gold for sale due to coronavirus, Max Keiser predicts.In a recent edition of his Keiser Report news program on March 31, Keiser said that the coronavirus pandemic will push billionaires into gold as a safe haven. Keiser: people will “flock en masse” to BTCOnce supplies are bought up and stockpiled, the only alternative left is Bitcoin.He summarized:“I predict — and this is not only the ultimate use case but the ultimate irony — that once people

Pandemic Is Changing Bitcoin Usage in ‘Unexpected Ways,’ Says Chainalysis

Leading blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis has found that the COVID-19 pandemic and global economic contraction is affecting Bitcoin (BTC) consumer habits in surprising ways.In a new report published on March 30, Chainalysis details how Bitcoin spending trends in three areas — merchant services, gambling and darknet marketplaces — have changed, or even reversed. Weakening correlation could be a boon for Bitcoin merchant services, says reportChainalysis reported that one such change in trend shows resilience among Bitcoin merchant services in the current economic crisis. For example, the firm’s data for Bitcoin spending using

Ark’s 1 Million Token Grant Fund Drives Community Innovation

Interoperable blockchain project Ark (ARK) designated one million ARK valued at roughly $150,000 toward its new development grants program on March 24.While the grant program was launched one week ago, Ark’s Strategic Partnerships Manager, Ray Alvarez, told Cointelegraph that it has already received proofs-of-concept from developers.The program exclusively funds “proposals involving technical deployments and usage of [the] ARK technology stack.”The applications include standalone applications and plugins, including development contributing to Ark’s decentralized private messaging application, desktop wallet, and transaction plugins.In addition to sparking development for specific applications, Alvarez states that