Weekly Crypto #12
Bitcoin ruled as a commodity, Tim-Berners Lee driving decentralization forward, time is for Facebook to use blockchain, Malta’s gov held DELTA Summit, universities are starting to offer blockchain technology courses to prepare students for the workforce and BlackBerry pivots into blockchain for healthcare.
Regulations & Finance
Bitcoin Ruled Commodity: The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) officially called bitcoin a commodity, which means it’s essentially claiming it under its umbrella. The SEC has for now rejected bitcoin ETF plans. As a commodity, from a regulatory perspective, bitcoin could be treated like gold or oil.
EU Markets Regulator Budgets €1.1 Million to Monitor Cryptos, Fintech: European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) revealed its plans in 2019 Annual Work Programme. The ESMA’s primary objective for the coming year, it states, is to: “Achieve a coordinated approach to the regulation and supervisory treatment of new or innovative financial activities and provide advice to present to the EU institutions, market participants or consumers.”
Institutions More Bullish on Bitcoin than Retail Investors: Fundstrat, the first Wall Street strategy firm to embrace bitcoin, compiled a report, capturing cryptocurrency sentiment among investors. The report found that institutions were more confident and bullish on the bitcoin’s prospects in 2019. Twitter survey found retail investors more prone to ripple (XRP).
Countries are Fighting to Appeal to Crypto Businesses: Sign of Massive Demand. Gibraltar and Malta are competing to win the favor of the crypto industry in Europe, with Malta pulling ahead. Malta held a DELTA Summit this week, showing government’s commitment to become “cryptocurrency haven”, as said by Malta’s Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat. Malta’s Prime Minister also hailed crypto as ‘Future of Money’ in his recent UN Speech.
South Korea’s Policy Chief Calls for Legalization of ICOs: The chairman of Korea’s National Policy Committee has called for the legalization of initial coin offerings, and stated that, with token sales becoming a global trend, “I do not want the ICO door closed completely … The state should not ignore [the issue].”
Industry & Technology
Web Creator Tim Berners-Lee Ready to Drive Decentralization Forward: Berners-Lee invented the web almost 30 years ago and now he’s working towards providing decentralization on blockchain and removing the technology giant’s monopolies on our data. Tim said he’s devastated by today’s internet and is working on a new solution Solid — Inrupt.
Opera Browser Operator to Explore New Applications of Blockchain: Strategic partnership with blockchain advisory and financial services firm Ledger Capital to further explore blockchain tech, is seeking new “application and use cases” for blockchain, as well as “growth opportunities” for the tech within Opera products.
It’s Time Facebook Protected User Security with Blockchain Tech: A Facebook vulnerability affecting almost 50 million user accounts has been the most significant security incident suffered by the company to date. This security breach, according to the article, may have been prevented if Facebook had incorporated blockchain technology to ensure data security.
The Latest Course Catalog Trend? Blockchain 101: New York University, Georgetown, and Stanford are among the institutions that offer blockchain technology courses to get students thinking about its potential uses and to better prepare them for the workforce, as job postings requiring blockchain skills ballooned by 200 percent in the first five months of this year.
BlackBerry Introduces Blockchain-Backed Platform Focused on Healthcare Services: BlackBerry is pivoting into security and computing, and part of the new focus released a blockchain powered platform for the healthcare field. The system is designed for the storage and sharing of medical data, where information can be entered by patients, laboratories and IoT devices.
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