2 October 2017
On target? Which target?
From their current performance, Ripple and OmiseGO seem most likely to reach their target by 1 December. But none of the cryptos are close to the 50% increase set as the goal. Bitcoin Cash is even further away than on 26 August.
Wider acceptance
At the same time, a number of developments suggest a wider acceptance of cryptocurrencies. The most puzzling is the attention given to a gnomic statement by the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that "virtual currencies might just give existing currencies and monetary policy a run for their money".
'It may not be wise...'
The bland statement that "it may not be wise to dismiss virtual currencies" (may not, who's doing the dismissing?) garnered an amazing spread of headlines.
... and what it meant
In fact she was warning governments they will need to take action to make their currencies more stable, reliable and attractive.
Meanwhile...
Meanwhile, the previous week's ups were followed by a clutch of 24-hour downs.
Crypto developments
Dubai to Launch Its Own Cryptocurrency
The cointelegraph reported on 1 October:
The local government in Dubai has officially launched its own cryptocurrency initiative called emCash, according to announcements by local news media outlets. The cryptocurrency would be used for payment of governmental and nongovernmental services.
According to Ali Ibrahim, Deputy Director General of Dubai Economy, the Dubai cryptocurrency will be considered legal tender “for various government and non-government services, from their daily coffee and children’s school fee to utility charges and money transfers.”
Arabianbusiness.com adds: "Emcredit, a subsidiary of Dubai Economy, and UK-based Object Tech Group Ltd will work together on [the] new technology."
It says:
"emPay will allow the UAE residents to make varied payments through the near field communication (NFC) option on their smartphones. With emCash, emPay users will have the option of a secure digital currency, and merchants can receive such payments in real time without going through intermediaries."
Muna Al Qassab, CEO, Emcredit, says: "Customers can choose between two payment options on the emPay platform - the existing dirham payment or emCash. While the dirham payment goes through normal settlement procedures, intermediaries and costs, emCash payments are settled directly between the user and merchant. emCash thus gives real time value movement and merchants can pass the cost benefit to the emCash holder."
The cointelegraph report by Jon Buck notes:
Dubai is seeking to become a fintech hub for the eastern world and has even recently signed deals to allow for property sales entirely in Bitcoin.
Score: 1% on the validity indicator
Bahrain is Interested in Country Level Adoption of Bitcoin
Cryptocoins News reported on 28 September:
Bahrain is interested in adopting digital currencies like bitcoin amid a wider impetus toward a ‘country level’ adoption of blockchain technologies.
Speaking at the MIT Innovation Forum in Bahrain’s capital of Manama on Wednesday, Khalid Al Rumaihi, chief executive of Bahrain’s Economic Development Board, revealed plans toward installing a regulatory sandbox in the country. The EDB is a government agency tasked to plan and implement the country’s economic development strategy.
Al Rumaihi said: "This [regulatory sandbox] is much like Singapore and what the UK is looking at. This is not just talk. We have launched it. You can go to the website and [the] application process is clear. We are open for business."
The government official revealed that a bitcoin exchange operator in Saudi Arabia made inquires toward establishing a bitcoin exchange in Bahrain. “We are working with the Central Bank of Bahrain on this,” Al Rumaihi added.
Furthermore, he also revealed the extent to which Bahrain could adopt and use digital currencies by suggesting that Bahrain could also issue bonds on a digital currency.
The Kingdom of Bahrain, a constitutional monarchy of over 30 islands in the Persian Gulf, is taking a bitcoin-friendly approach in its advent to become a FinTech hub in the region.
Score: 1% on the validity indicator
Streamr Reaches Pre-Sale Cap in 25 Minutes
Streamr, the decentralized peer-to-peer data sharing protocol, today announced its precontribution window reached its CHF5 million hard cap in 25 minutes. Tokenizing real-time data, Streamr enables a new way for machines and people to trade data on a decentralized P2P network.
BlockchainNews founder Richard Kastelein reported on 1 October:
Connecting producers and consumers, Streamr aims to create a market for real-time data. The Data Market categorizes and showcases publicly available data streams. The Streamr token, DATAcoin, is needed to access and operate the market, and to compensate nodes in the P2P network. Subscribers pay for the data with the token while producers and participants are reimbursed automatically and securely.
Golem collaboration
He adds:
Advising Streamr as a Technical Expert is Julian Zawistowski, CEO and Co-Founder of Golem, the first global market for idle computer power. Recognizing the shared vision and complementary goals of the two projects, Streamr and Golem began to mutually address the technical overlap in July 2017.
A first for Bitcoin Suisse
Opening on September 14, the Streamr precontribution window was the first of its kind on Bitcoin Suisse, the world’s leading crypto-asset broker and asset manager. Operating on a registration model, interested parties underwent a thorough Know Your Customer (KYC) evaluation prior to participating. Following this model, Streamr could proactively manage and prevent any risks associated with token sales, while also raising a substantial amount.
Score: 1% on the validity indicator
Kyber Network ICO Raises About $60 Million in a Little Over a Day
Kyber Network reached its full funding cap of 200,000 ETH, worth about $60 million at an Ethereum price level of $300, in just over one day, financemagnates reported on 19 September. The service is a decentralized and trustless exchange for instant conversions between crypto-assets.
Through KyberNetwork, a user can send one token to a recipient who wishes to receive the payment in another token in a single transaction. It will also introduce a new smart contract interface that would allow existing wallets, which only accepts certain specific tokens, to receive any existing or future token without having to modify the token contract code.
Score: 1% on the validity indicator
Steemit Introduces New Way To Monetize Media And Publishers
Steemit has announced new software to be released this season that allows top publications, mainstream publishers, and social media platforms to create native tokens based on the Steem Blockchain, allowing companies to integrate a customizable and intelligent token system into their website, portal, or platform.
The protocol enables anyone to launch Smart Media Tokens (SMTs) for their website, app, or community, from The New York Times to Subreddits to an independent WordPress blog. This will have the potential to create transaction revenue in ways that paywalls and subscriptions continue to come up short, Steemit says. SMTs are designed to reward publishers and consumers with native tokens based upon their contributions to the platform, based on likes, votes, views, shares and comments, as does Steemit.
BlockchainNews said on 1 October: SMTs will be a native protocol on the Steem Blockchain, one of the most scalable and efficient Blockchains in the industry, allowing content publishers of any size to implement revolutionary new revenue models based on consumer engagement and interaction.
The Steem Blockchain is faster and larger than the Bitcoin and Ethereum Blockchains combined. It has 3 second block times with zero fees (a feature SMTs will share), and is capable of quickly processing the large number of micro-transactions required for any media entity across the globe.
SMTs can be run by any publisher without changing any website infrastructure or functions. This marks a significant step toward bringing Blockchain and cryptocurrency to mainstream media in an accessible and attainable way, breaking down barriers to enter the fastest growing industry in fintech, while creating a mutually beneficial bridge between consumers, content, and media revenue.
Score: 1% on the validity indicator
Leading VC Firm Raises $1.5 Billion to Fund Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Startups
investor Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) has revealed a new $1.5 billion fund that will focus on early-stage startups in the bitcoin and cryptocurrency sectors, btcmanager reported on 1 October.
In August 2017, IVP invested $100 million in Coinbase, the world’s largest bitcoin wallet platform and a major cryptocurrency trading platform, valuing the company at $1.6 billion. For the first time in the company’s history, Coinbase then released a live phone support system for its customers in mid-September, after receiving hundreds of complaints through regulated government financial regulators.
On August 9, 2017, says btcmanager, initial coin offerings (ICOs) surpassed the amount of investment raised by venture capital firms within the cryptocurrency sector. CNBC reported that 92 ICOs in 2017 raised $1.25 billion, securing more funds from crowd sales than early-stage venture capital firms.
“ICO as a new business model leveraging blockchain technology will sustain as the digital way, combining crowdfunding and (a) new hybrid asset class of equity ownership and currency,” Oliver Bussmann, a former chief information officer at UBS, told CNBC.
Score: 1% on the validity indicator
Unscored developments
First Dash Conference
Dash, formerly Xcoin and Darkcoin, hopng to become the Paypal of crypto, held ts first dedicated conference in London on 24 September, the day before the World Blockchain Forum at the same venue (The Oval Space). Both events are organized by Keystone.
The cointelegraph reported a presentation on the upcoming Evolution update. Wirex, a Bitcoin debit card company, announced they will be integrating Dash fully into their platform. According to Cash Alternative TV, the Wirex card will have full support for both PrivateSend and InstantSend.
cointelegraph notes that Dash Core CEO Ryan Taylor "is notoriously stingy when it comes to anything that might resemble hype" and gave few details. The Dash website says that with Evolution "purchases from websites or mobile apps will be simple, requiring only a single click"
'Virtual Currencies Might Just Give Existing Currencies a Run for Their Money'
This is the most dramatic headline I could find, on altcointoday for 30 September.
Christine Lagarde's address in London came with this standard IMF message: "The best response by central bankers is to continue running effective monetary policy, while being open to fresh ideas and new demands, as economies evolve."
But she made her views clear in earlier remarks in the address: "Cyptocurrencies are ?too volatile, too risky, too energy intensive, and because the underlying technologies are not yet scalable.?
Altcoin's source is coindesk, which remarks:
To date, the IMF has advocated a balanced approach on cryptocurrency regulation, voicing that position in a January 2016 staff paper. Lagarde has also voiced support for financial applications of blockchain, a subject that the IMF has explored on an organizational level as well.
Korean Police Confirm North Korean Connection in Bitcoin Exchange Phishing
Nikhilesh De reported for coindesk on 2 October:
In a report released last week, the Republic of Korea's National Police Agency (NPA) said the incidents ? which were said to be ultimately unsuccessful ? did occur. It further detailed that 25 employees at four different exchanges were targeted in 10 separate "spear phishing" attempts since July.
Spear phishing is when a would-be hacker pretends to be someone else in order to trick the victim into providing login or other details, it notes.
AFP, citing Yonhap News Agency, reports police said the North Korean hackers, pretending to be security authorities, sent emails containing malware between July and August this year.
The emails were sent from the same IP address linked to previous North Korean hacking attempts against Seoul, police were quoted as saying.
Dept of Been There, Seen That: bitcoin $8000 by mid-December
Aleksandr Kolohmatov, founder of blockchain platform for prognostics and social researches Oris, spoke at the first initial token offering conference, held in the Russian capital on September 20.
According to btcmanager on 29 September, he predicted bitcoin will grow to $8000 by mid-December with a subsequent drop to $4700.
Swiss news
I've also produced a roundup of recent Swiss news, partly because of its importance as the home of the Ethereum foundation and its push to become an international crypto hub. However, none justify a scoring on the crypto index.
Previous days' commentaries
Excel version
Click here for an Excel 1997-2003 version of this table with records key records, free for download. There's also an Excel version of the shorter summary screenshot used above.
Superforecasting
Indicators
I've listed my seven indicators and explanations of what I consider important here.
As you guys know Cryptocurrency is an emerging technology that will soon revolutionize the way we pay for everything like goods and services. Well This is my opinion