In today’s edition of The Daily, we look at a company that has decided to expand from the cryptocurrency space into outer space by buying a venture focused on mining asteroids. We also cover an investment platform that has secured R&D funding from a government agency, as well as a limited-edition hardware wallet.
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Struggling Space Startup
Consensys, the software company established by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, has acquired struggling space startup Planetary Resources. The New York-based company said it will now operate its “space initiatives” out of Planetary Resources’ former facility in Redmond, Washington. The two sides did not share the financial details of the asset-purchase transaction, but it is safe to assume Consensys didn’t pay a lot.
When Planetary Resources was launched in 2012, the company promised to usher in an age of private entrepreneurship in the solar system. It said that it planned to expand humanity’s access to metals and minerals worth trillions of dollars and received the backing of many notable tech figures, such as Google’s Larry Page and Eric Schmidt. However, by the start of this year, the company had failed to secure much-needed additional funding, leading to its decision to downsize its workforce and indefinitely delay its first asteroid-prospecting mission. Now it will be up to Lubin to prove he can become the Elon Musk of the cryptocurrency world by reviving Planetary Resources.
“Bringing deep space capabilities into the Consensys ecosystem reflects our belief in the potential for Ethereum to help humanity craft new societal rule systems through automated trust and guaranteed execution,” Lubin said. “And it reflects our belief in democratizing and decentralizing space endeavors to unite our species and unlock untapped human potential. We look forward to sharing our plans and how to join us on this journey in the months ahead.”
Callaghan Innovation Supports Vimba
Auckland-based cryptocurrency investment platform Mycryptosaver has it is changing its name to Vimba. The rebranding decision coincides with the announcement that the New Zealand government’s innovation arm, Callaghan Innovation, has agreed to back Vimba with R&D funding. The startup, which was originally founded as Mybitcoinsaver back in 2014, now claims to have 5,616 clients.
“This is a truly significant investment from Callaghan Innovation and a real show of faith in the future of this very exciting asset class,” Vimba CEO Sam Blackmore said. “The money will go towards new key features for our expanding service. We will use it to build secure multi-signature crypto wallets for our users and we’re also looking into expanding the range of cryptocurrencies available to them — beyond bitcoin and ethereum.”
After the investment was announced earlier this week, controversy erupted over reports that the government had spent taxpayers’ money on a bitcoin company. However, Vimba soon issued a stating that Callaghan Innovation had only approved a grant for 40 percent of the estimated cost of one of its projects, which was valued at roughly 315,000 New Zealand dollars in total.
10-Year Bitcoinniversary Memorabilia
Yesterday the cryptocurrency ecosystem the passage of 10 years since Satoshi Nakamoto announced the publication of the bitcoin whitepaper. Hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger hardware wallet choose to mark the occasion by unveiling a new limited-edition device.
“The Ledger Nano S – White Paper Edition is meant as an homage to this iconic date, with its white casing and special engraving,” the company said. “Offering the same features as our standard device, it comes with the original whitepaper, in a made-for-the-occasion box.”
Crypto Is a Double-Edged Sword for Iranian Regime
According to reports from Iran, the head of the country’s Passive Defense Organization, Brigadier General Gholamreza Jalali, described cryptocurrency as a double-edged sword for the regime in a recent TV interview. Unsurprisingly, the government wants to use the technology to bypass international financial sanctions, but fears it could also loosen its control of the economic activities of its citizens.
Jalali said that “cryptocurrencies are untraceable in the financial and monetary system of each country, but internationally they can provide us with great opportunities. Cryptocurrencies can help bypass certain sanctions through untraceable banking operations.”
He further called for the creation of a .
“Our major problem here is the U.S. dollar, because the United States uses its national currency to control any country’s SWIFT operations,” the general added. “So we should reduce dependence on the dollar and replace it with another currency.”
What do you think about today’s news tidbits? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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The research arm of banking giant Morgan Stanley recently released a report showing the increase in institutional participation in the cryptocurrency market. On Wednesday, October 31st, Morgan Stanley released an update to its report – “bitcoin Decrypted: A Brief Teach-In and Implications”.
In the , Morgan Stanley highlights the trends over the past six months of and the overall crypto market. However, Morgan Stanley says that even though the institutional investment is on a rise, the retail participation is stagnant.
Observations Made Through the Rapid Morphing Thesis
Morgan Stanley report started by specifically emphasizing on the “rapidly morphing thesis”. The thesis noted bitcoin as “digital cash” and said that investors had full confidence in the cryptocurrency. Furthermore, the thesis noted how bitcoin has emerged as an answer to the issues within the traditional financial system.
Moreover, the thesis also mentions several issues discoveries which have helped the bitcoin ecosystem to evolve as a whole. It takes a tour through all things like a number of hacks, hard forks, price volatility, and others. Moreover, it also lauds the most important aspect i.e. the permanent blockchain ledger which records all transactions.
The most important thing which the thesis mentions is that for almost a year now, bitcoin has emerged as the “rapidly morphing thesis”. It also says that since January 2016, there is a gradual increase, in the crypto investments, made in institutional crypto products. Venture capital firms, hedge funds, and private equity firms have stored a total of $7.11 billion so far.
This figure is certainly expected to shoot up as big players like the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and Fidelity Investments get their platforms released. ICE is currently preparing itself for the launch of its expected by the end of 2018. Furthermore, ICE announced that the Bakkt platform will offer physically-settled bitcoin Futures contracts. As a result, it is likely to usher more liquidity in the crypto market.
On the other hand, financial services giant Fidelity Investment announced its crypto-centric platform . The platform will offer crypto storage and trading solutions specifically targetted towards institutional players.
The Growing Importance of Stablecoins
The report touches down on one of the most popular topics currently i.e. stablecoins. Stablecoins are basically fiat-pegged digital currencies used for quick execution of crypto trades. However, the report goes the cite the use of controversial stablecoin (USDT). The report notes that bitcoin is “moving increasingly towards trading vs the stable coin USD-Tether (USDT) [sic]”.
It further notes: “USDT took an increasing share of BTC trading volumes as cryptocurrency prices started falling. This occurred because many exchanges only trade crypto->crypto and not crypto->fiat. Trading crypto->fiat requires going through the banking sector which charges a higher fee. Also as bitcoin prices fell, so did most all other coins so if owners wanted to come out of bitcoin holdings, they needed to go to another asset which was closer to the valuation of the U.S. dollar.”
Off lately, there is a growing number of stablecoins introduced within the crypto market. Or we can say that the market is preparing for institutional trading making the trading process simple.
