Day: August 1, 2018

With a market cap of just under US$7 billion, EOS is the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by valuation. Despite its massive valuation, its recent mainnet launch has been riddled with failures and shortcomings. However, it may soon see a boost in legitimacy thanks to the capabilities set to be provided through the MyWish Smart Contract platform.

In their July 24 weekly development report, the MyWish team shared exciting plans to enable smart contract creation on the EOS network. This initiative’s development is already underway, and it’s estimated to be 7% complete at the time of report. This achievement will make EOS the fourth blockchain on which contracts can be created through MyWish, alongside Ethereum, Bitcoin, and NEO.

MyWish has been quietly growing as a leading smart contract builder, whose services currently span about a dozen contracts on three blockchains. For individuals, inheritance, marriage, and deferred payment contracts can be made for a small payment via MyWish through a simple interface. For businesses, MyWish offers token creation, crowdsale, and airdrop contracts. MyWish can also be used to create decentralized investment pools. These contracts carry fees of around 2 ETH each, and these payments are used by the team to purchase MyWish from exchanges.

While there have been over 1,500 contracts created so far, with new contracts added every several weeks, MyWish remains under the radar, with a current market cap of approximately US$1.4 million and a token price of under $0.08, more than 65% down from its ICO. However, supporters suggest that MyWish’s enabling EOS contracts will generate huge support from the massive EOS community. The current deadlines suggest that this development will be completed within two months. The MyWish team has been notoriously timely, meeting or exceeding every single deadline since its creation in late 2017.

The exact functionalities of the upcoming EOS contract builder have not been revealed, but the team has indicated that it will create new uses specifically for EOS. In the team’s own words, “MyWish will definitely be the first contract builder for EOS.”

Additionally, the team is turning their focus to new marketing initiatives. Marketing campaigns targeting members of both the wider cryptocurrency community and the general public are beginning to unfold across many mediums. Team members will also be speaking at multiple conferences, and talks of a partnership with Lindsey Lohan and her charity foundation have also been unveiled.

When this development comes to fruition, the simple smart contract capabilities for EOS will be much-needed proof of the legitimacy of a network that has thus far been plagued by criticism from the greater crypto community. For EOS, this will surely provide much-needed exposure to a project that, despite its many great developments, remains overlooked by many.

Market strategy and research company Fundstrat to accept Bitcoin via BitPay for content and services

Yet another Google survey is out and this one, commissioned by British Tech Company Sage, has revealed that many employees wouldn’t object to having part of their salary paid in Bitcoin.

In fact, as many as 31% would be happy to have at least some portion of their earnings paid in the flagship cryptocurrency according to the figures. Of the 1,000 respondents, 37% said that they would go for between 1-20% in digital pay and the rest in fiat.

This latest survey conducted by Sage was meant to monitor responses to employees current pay trends and preferences. Sage develops solutions for business and pays salaries as an outsourced paymaster through Sage Pay. The suggestion is that the survey although conducted by a UK company wasn’t limited to a particular region or country due to the way it was administered online.

Darren Francis, who commissioned the survey commented: “It’s interesting that more people were leaning towards the “all-in” option; having their sole or dominant income paid to them in cryptocurrency.”

As Francis pointed out the majority took the “most or all” scenario rather the lower percentage of earnings in crypto by 15% to 11%, the latter saying that they would like just between 61-80% of their salary in Bitcoin or similar.

Another factor turned up by the survey’s questions was that women were far less likely to go for the crypto pay option than men, perhaps reflecting their interest in the subject as a whole. However, as reported by Bitcoin News, recent figures show that the gender disparity has significantly changed of late with far more women adopting some kind of cryptocurrency as part of an investment portfolio in 2018 than previously.

The survey revealed that 25% of women were open to the idea of some part of their salary being paid in cryptocurrency, whereas 75% of males would subscribe to the new pay scheme.

In terms of an age demographic, there was little difference in acceptance of crypto pay between the lower age groupings such as 25-34 and 35 -44, but beyond that, and edging towards retirement, the figures reportedly dropped off, with far last interest in this form of payment being shown by older employees.

Sage used Google Surveys in order to collect the data which relies on a network of content sites including YouTube and the Readers Digest. Respondents visit the survey site and participate in exchange for content.

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A blockchain-based company is going to create films, TV shows, movies and music to satisfy the world’s growing appetite for Japanese pop culture #SPONSORED

Multinational investment bank Morgan Stanley has hired a self-described crypto trading expert and 12-year veteran of Credit Suisse as its new head of digital asset markets

Telegram has put out its first app since its ICO, but that identity play has security researchers reeling.

There is a lot of confusion as to what McDonald’s is really doing with its MacCoin. A fair few people seem to think the company is entering the world of cryptocurrency, even though this is clearly more of a voucher system. Every MacCoin can be redeemed for a Big Mac, which is pretty neat.

MacCoin Sparks the Imagination

There have been rumors about fast food chains entering the cryptocurrency world before. Burger King did it with their WhopperCoin, although it is still unclear if and when that venture will ever become a global initiative. So far, that seems rather unlikely, although it is good to see such companies create new ways to interact with their customers.

McDonalds is now seemingly taking a similar approach. The launch of its MacCoin digital “currency” coincides with the 50-year anniversary of the Big Mac. This iconic hamburger has been around for quite some time now, and it will continue to be of great appeal to consumers around the world for many years to come.

Very few food items could ever last as long as the Big Mac has. Most forms of food tend to disappear after a while or get turned into something completely different. The Big Mac hasn’t seen any shocking changes over the years, although there may still be room for improvement. To celebrate this milestone anniversary, McDonald’s is issuing the global MacCoin currency which can be redeemed for a free burger at any McDonald’s restaurant around the world.

There is only one requirement to receive this free global currency. Anyone who buys a Big Mac on August 2 will be given access to the MacCoin currency. There is a limit of 1 per customer per purchase, which is only to be expected. This also confirms that the MacCoin is a voucher system more than anything else. It should certainly not be considered as an actual cryptocurrency, as that has never been the purpose of MacCoin.

The name MacCoin is aptly chosen, although it may cause a bit of confusion. The term “currency” is added on purpose to show that this voucher system is redeemable for tangible goods and is only linked to the Big Mac specifically. It cannot be used to order anything else off the McDonald’s menu, although it is possible the fast food chain will explore other options when it reaches a new major anniversary milestone.

All in all, it is a very interesting venture by McDonald’s. It also further shows how interesting and popular concepts can be used as marketing tools by major brands. Although most people would prefer to see McDonald’s accept Bitcoin and altcoins directly, it seems highly unlikely that will ever happen. Anything is possible in this world, though, as the concept of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency is not going away anytime soon.

This promoted article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

A KPMG study finds that fintech companies’ investment in blockchain technology in 2018 has already surpassed the entirety of 2017.

Capital growth

‘The Pulse of Fintech 2018‘ biannual study from one of the Big Four auditing and consultancy firms took a global look at the growth of fintech investments, which in the first six months of 2018 has broken past 2017 in spectacular fashion.

The study affirms that blockchain is “moving beyond experimentation”, noting that a majority of Q1 and Q2 investors in 2018 gravitated more toward established companies and organizations moving into “additional rounds of funding”. This is contrasting to 2017 which saw significant amounts of investment in startups, especially through initial coin offerings.

Venture capitalist blockchain investment so far this year has reached USD 858 million, more than 2017’s USD 631 million. These figures are bolstered by two enormous funding rounds: Circle, which raised USD 110 million and  Ledger cryptocurrency wallet, which recently raised USD 77 million.

Safwan Zaheer, Financial Services Digital & US Fintech lead for KPMG said, “There’s more VC flow available than opportunities to invest – a sign of tremendous growth in the space… Investments in blockchain related firms already doubled in the first half of 2018 compared to 2017. Blockchain has the potential to transform banking services. If banking systems were to be rewritten today they would be based on blockchain.”

The study acknowledges the versatile list of applications for blockchain technologies, which is a contributor to its growing success, especially within the financial sector. KPMG cites banking and insurance as two of the primary uses of the technology but also explains that blockchain can “enhance processes for any number of US and global businesses.”

Initial coin offerings

With regards to ICOs, the modern crowdfunding method has also seen a sharp rise, outpacing that of 2017. A similar June report released by another of the Big Four, PwC, found that a total of 537 ICOs in the first five months of 2018 have raised more than every ICO prior to 2018, with a total volume of USD 13.7 billion.

Again, a part-cause for the ICO figure exploding in 2018 is down to the EOS ICO which lasted for a whole year, raking in a record USD 4 billion, beating the previous record of Telegram’s controversial USD 1.7 billion ICO.

The Big Four have been looking at the growing industry with a piqued curiosity; in April 2018, it was reported that the firms were receiving daily enquiries into ICOs and cryptocurrencies from clients.

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Cryptocurrency exchanges need to continue to grow and add support for additional currencies. Bittrex made it clear that it would introduce USD trading for regular clients very soon. Although a few users can access this service already, it appears more users will be given access to this service in the very near future.

Bittrex Expands USD Trading Functions

Most major cryptocurrency exchanges offer users the ability to convert directly between fiat currency and cryptocurrency. In the case of Bittrex, its main fiat currency is the US dollar. Although that was first announced in May of 2018, there still aren’t too many people who can actually trade with the US dollar on the exchange.

That situation is slowly coming to change. More specifically, Bittrex has emailed some users to inform them that their personal accounts are now eligible for USD trading. Those users have been asked whether they desire the ability to make deposits and withdrawals in addition to simply trade with USD.

Although there is still a long way to go until everyone on Bittrex can access these features, the current situation is evolving fairly quickly. As more users gain access to USD trading functionality, it is evident that there will be some interesting cryptocurrency price developments. More fiat currency on-ramp support will attract cryptocurrency users from all over the world in fairly quick succession.

Additionally, users who receive the aforementioned email from Bittrex will need to submit an official trading request form. Without doing so, the new functionality will not be enabled on one’s account. It is a small additional step to take, but one that most people may overlook if they are not paying attention. Moreover, requests are subject to an official approval process by the Bittrex team.

The big question is how Bittrex will evolve once more users are given access to USD functionality. Bittrex is not the biggest exchange as of right now, although it is still pretty popular among altcoin traders. Bittrex doesn’t offer many USD trading pairs either, as they are limited to Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, and TUSD at this point in time.

For the cryptocurrency industry, this is relatively positive news. Although it may not make much of an impact right away, the current situation looks relatively promising. More currencies are improving their market positions, which is another example of how the industry as a whole is maturing. Developments like these help put Bitcoin and altcoins on people’s radar.

Deribit, a cryptocurrency futures startup, which was established in June 2016, offers fiat loans based on cryptocurrency collateral in order to solve the problems of margin calls in the crypto-based lending market.

Deribit: Crypto-backed Loans Made Possible

The pioneers of the Deribit project include John Jansen, Marius Jansen, Sebastian Smyczynski, and Andrew Yanovsky, have worked very hard to see the Futures and Options platform expand into servicing the Lending industry. Their history so far had been about providing regular day-to-day trading advantages to traders. These included the BTC futures and option trading services, margin trading, advanced orders, real-time risk management and bitcoin price indexing.

Now, with the inclusion of a lending system on Deribit, the service platform will locate the niche of lenders and borrowers who have not been able to fully maximize the potential of the lending market, whilst also creating an opportunity for new market players to thrive well within the ecosystem of the lending market.

Cryptocurrency trading can be described as the heart of every decentralized project and blockchain enterprise as a whole. While many projects pride themselves in their ability to solve real-world problems using the blockchain technology, the first few days, months, and even years of the life of most cryptocurrencies are spent on an exchange. This is because the value of the volatility market presents numerous profit margin opportunities for these cryptographic digital assets.

Driving New Demand for Cryptocurrencies

Most crypto enthusiasts are bullish about the future of cryptocurrencies in the coming years and this will, in a way, drive demand for cryptocurrencies. Those who have observed the highlights of Bitcoin’s historic price dynamics, over time are afraid to miss out on the next big thing – the bull-run. Not just bitcoin fans, other altcoin investors are also plagued by the same quandary.

The downside is that for most investors and traders it’s a really big dilemma, as they are torn between the choice to liquidate a part of their crypto stash in order to maintain a living, or to keep their investment and trading activities alive in order to maintain an uptrend quality of their crypto portfolios. Apart from the fact that they want to stay in the game and leverage more trade opportunities and strategies to make more profits, they are also unrelenting to the tax collectors’ wishes.

No Longer Choose Between Profits and Making a Living

Many cryptocurrency exchange platforms have tried to solve this problem through the provision of crypto backed lending services. However, the major downturn of events begins when volatility kicks in, and a huge downtrend plagues the market. Apparently, this affects all players – as the security of the lending business is threatened. The lender is afraid that he might lose the value of the fiat or unable to compensate with the leveraged collateral. On the other hand, the borrower doesn’t want to lose huge collateral nor risk more.

These problems have caused a huge barrier to new market players. Even those in the lending business are doing so with one eye opened, hence, the need for an exchange platform such as Deribit.

Deribit introduced new features to their platform, with some interesting trade and leverage mechanisms to bolster the lending marketplace. Some of the features of this trading platform include the use of put options. This derivative ensures that the lender’s capital is always intact and that the borrower can always pay back the loan sum, when due. The put option enables borrowers to avert the margin call risks.

Deribit aims to maintain the accolade of being one of the most liquid crypto options exchange available out there. It is believed that taking out the margin risks will open up this market to a much more favorable lending ecosystem.

Find out more about Deribit here – http://www.deribit.com/

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