Day: January 14, 2018

According to a note issued by HBSC economic analyst James Pomeroy, Sweden could be the first nation to issue their own cryptocurrency. A document, which was sent to clients this week, titled “Sweden’s Big Year: Can the Economy Overcome Some Challenges?” set forth some rudimentary proposals of what an e-krona might look like.

The international bank that is HSBC calls the Swedish economy “one of the world’s most interesting”. It would be a fitting place to roll out a central-bank-issued, digital currency as they have one of the lowest actual cash usage rates on the planet. According to Business Insider, the use of cash is actively discouraged by shops and other businesses offering various goods and services. The business-focused news source also highlights anecdotal stories of beggars and buskers having their own card terminals to take electronic payments out in the street.

The HSBC-issued note states that the launch of a so-called “e-krona” might not happen this year but is something that may occur within the next few years.

Sweden’s Riksbank have identified two possible ways that a centrally issued digital currency could work. One is based on value, the other is on a register system. HSBC claim that the first option “would be more like cash is at present, with value stored on an app or a card rather than in a central database”. Meanwhile, the second option would use a register-based system. This would mean that e-krona would be stored on centrally registered accounts themselves. According to Pomeroy, the second option is:

“… more complex, but may make the framework easier to expand and develop over time, and would likely require the use of blockchain technology.”

Meanwhile, Sweden’s central bank has stated that it would consider using a combination of both options. The HSBC analyst added:

“A Central Bank Cryptocurrency (CBCC) would use blockchain technology, whereas a non-blockchain solution would make the e-Krona a ‘deposited currency account’.”

In addition to the fact that Sweden are already moving quickly towards a cashless society, the history of financial innovation within the State makes their efforts to be the first to launch a national digital currency fitting. Over 350 years ago, it was in Sweden that the first modern banknote was created. It’s therefore appropriate that things have moved full-circle and it is in the Scandinavian nation that cash itself might finally cease to exist.

Sweden are by no means the only country to consider launching their own digital currency though. Over the Christmas break, the Bank of England made headlines after speculation increased over them launching their own virtual currency later this year. There has also been talk of a CryptoRuble from Russia, and recently Ukraine have hinted towards similar via their own Facebook page.

Image: PixaBay

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Apps have taken over our lives. An average American has over 80 apps on their phone and spends over 2 hours on those apps each day. These apps are impressive. They can do incredible things, making our lives increasingly simpler with each update. They can talk to our cars, our tv’s and even our homes. But they can’t do one important thing. Talk to each other.

Bits and pieces of information are spread out across the 80 various apps that we use. For example, some apps like LinkedIn contain primarily professional experience, including skills, endorsements, and resumes. Other social network apps are better for adding mass numbers of contacts but aren’t synced with LinkedIn. Upwork has professional reviews of your work posted by clients. Then there are the freelancer websites that contain the work you’ve done. Even your email can have valuable information, but it’s only viewable to you.

All of this information is valuable. Especially if you’re a freelancer or anyone trying to drum up more business. Because this information is valuable, too much valuable time is spent managing the information across the multiple platforms when it should be spent actually doing the work that brings in money. Plus, you’re subject to those platforms and how they share and use your information. The user has virtually no control.

One Integrated Platform With All Your Professional Experience

 Dock.io, a blockchain based network is providing a solution to these problems. Their solution is simple, connect all these apps through one central network. Through Dock.io, you can update information on any connected website and it will automatically be transferred to every other connected app.

Dock.io helps save time by connecting your information, experience, and reviews from all your apps on a single network. The Dock.io protocol provides all the necessary categories to put your best professional foot forward. The profile feature allows you to sync all of your professional skills, qualification and work experience. You, the owner are given access to modify all of the information. Plus, the information must be verified by a third party, providing complete trust that all of the information is validated and true.

Your reputation is vital in finding new clients, and the Dock.io protocol allows your reviews to be managed and shared across your apps. This makes building and maintaining your reputation easier and more impactful.

The last primary feature of the Dock.io protocol is the network. Connections are everything in business, and Dock.io allows your professional relationships to be imported, accessed and modified across your apps. Best of all, this network is available at your fingertips, through the use of its own mobile application.

How Dock.io Works: The DOCK Token

 Dock.io is different from other app connecting networks because it operates on Ethereum’s blockchain. Ethereum (ETH) is the popular cryptocurrency whose blockchain allows decentralized apps (DAPPS) to be built upon it and enables use of its smart contract technology. Dock.io is one such application.

The Dock.io network is powered by its token, DOCK. As a crypto token, DOCK will have a monetary value associated with it, incentivizing users to access and share their data. Users have the ability to vote on new proposals and the future development of the platform. The token is also used when apps want to access data on their platform. Conversely, apps are rewarded with tokens when they create a new point of data on the platform.

The Dock.io platform is also secure and trustworthy. To ensure this, the token is only transferred when a third party app accepts the data that is created. This ensures that users aren’t exaggerating or lying about their professional history, which would give them an unfair edge in the hiring process.

Dock.io can change the way freelance workers find business. It saves valuable time by integrating all your professional information from multiple apps into a single platform. It allows a running resume to be maintained and continually updated, providing potential clients the most up to date information on your work. This, along with its trustworthy validation process provide a new way for freelancers to find work.

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Companies have cottoned on that, just like in the 90s with .com, and even recently with cannabis, if they now add a Blockchain theme to their name investors will supply pique their interest. #ANALYSIS

Blockchains are inefficient, and worth the cost only when censorship-resistance is required. For money, it clearly is; for identity, it just might be.

One of the latest pop groups to emerge out of Japan are the trend-riding Kasotsuka Shojo. The name translates to Virtual Currency Girls and in typical J-Pop style, each of the eight members wear a different costume representing one of the largest cryptocurrencies. Amongst the performers are Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, NEM, and Ethereum.

The all-girl band are seeking to educate the public about digital currencies from a wider angle than simply pure speculation. This is evidenced by their first song, “The Moon and Virtual Currencies and Me” and another tune which includes the lyrics, “Don’t forget about two-step verification,” and “Never use the same password twice”.

Kasotsuka Shojo were created by the Japanese girl band factory that is the Cinderella Academy. The entertainment company also manages several other popular groups.

The crypto-themed band played their first show in Tokyo last Friday. It was an action-packed thirty minutes in which the eight-piece explained the benefits of using electronic currencies, as well as the present security risks faced by those in the space. During the performance, various dramas from the digital currency space were acted out on stage. In one such vignette, the girls representing Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash had a scrap over Hinano Shirahama’s (BTC) assumed leadership of the cryptocurrency world. BCH’s representative, Rara Naruse, declared:

“The surge of Bitcoin caused various problems. To solve these, Bitcoin Cash was established, with smaller fees and quicker transactions. So I think Bitcoin Cash will replace Bitcoin at some point in the future. The market cap of Bitcoin Cash will be number one!”

It should come as little surprise that the world’s first cryptocurrency-themed pop group hails from Japan. Besides the nation’s love of music that often seems quirky but is sometimes downright bizarre to us in the West, Japan are also trend-setters in the treatment of Bitcoin as legal tender there. At one stage, the island State accounted for the largest share of global Bitcoin trading and their Tokyo-based BitFlyer exchange platform continues to be one of the planet’s largest. Quartz report the research of Japanese finance company Nomura. They state that thanks to the sharp rise in the price of Bitcoin over the last twelve months, combined with Japan’s embrace of the technology, has helped their GDP to the tune of 0.3%.

Image: PixaBay

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Governments are centers of trust – so why would they make the leap to blockchains as a way to extend that already vital service?

Key Points

• Bitcoin gold price after trading in a range for a long time broke the $300 level against the US Dollar.
• There was a break above a major horizontal resistance at $290 on the 4-hours chart of BTG/USD (data feed from Bitfinex).
• The pair traded as high as $368 and is currently correcting lower towards the $320 level.

Bitcoin gold price has moved sharply above $300 against the US Dollar. BTG/USD is now in the bullish zone above $320 and is poised for more gains.

Bitcoin Gold Price Trend

There was a decent support base formed around $200 in bitcoin gold price against the US Dollar. The price traded in a range for a long time above the $200 level and it later started an upside move. It gained momentum and was able to move above the $250 and $260 resistance levels. The upside move was strong and the price succeeded in moving above the $300 level.

More importantly, there was a break above a major horizontal resistance at $290 on the 4-hours chart of BTG/USD. The pair traded above the $350 level and closed above the 100 simple moving average (4-hour). It traded as high as $368 and is currently correcting lower. An initial support on the downside is around the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $198 low to $368 high at $328. However, the most important support is around the $290 and $300 levels. The 38.2% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $198 low to $368 high is also at $303 to act as a support.

Therefore, the $300 level is now a major support and buy zone in the near term.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for BTG/USD is strongly placed in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BTG/USD is gaining momentum above the 65 level.

Major Support Level – $300

Major Resistance Level – $350

Charts courtesy – Trading View, Bitfinex

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