Day: August 3, 2018

Coinbase has announced a new service aimed at improving access to cryptocurrency payments for e-commerce businesses.

Bulls cling on as Bitcoin dips below $7,400, Ethereum nears $400

Investing in cryptocurrencies is still a very daunting task for most consumers. There is no really convenient way to do so without encountering friction. Cred aims to make a name for itself in this regard, as it is designed to let people create a cryptocurrency portfolio by tapping into 13 different currencies.

The Idea Behind Cred

Making cryptocurrency investing more appealing and attractive to the masses is a big challenge. Consumers demand convenience without the risk of suffering from price volatility. That seems rather difficult to achieve, mainly because cryptocurrencies are very volatile in nature. Cred offers some interesting solutions in this regard which may be of value to the right users.

How Does it Work?

By offering a mobile application for users to create their own cryptocurrency portfolio, the Cred team is targeting very specific markets. Its primary focus lies in offering users the option to micro-invest by rounding up payment card purchases. This ‘extra change’ will be used to invest in particular cryptocurrencies without users having to jump through additional hoops.

One of the main selling points of Cred is that it does not just focus on letting users buy Bitcoin or Ethereum. There is a wide selection of currencies to choose from, as Cred supported 13 different currencies at the time of writing. Additionally, the company provides users with a secure and trusted investment platform protected by next-generation security measures.

As one would expect from a platform such as this one, availability is fairly limited. The Cred app only works in Missouri, Massachusetts, Montana, and California. Those are four key states for cryptocurrency as a whole, although it is evident that a nationwide rollout is needed in order to make a big impact. Achieving that goal may be a bit difficult given the different regulatory requirements in each state.

The Future of Cred

Getting more people to invest in cryptocurrencies is difficult, but applications like Cred can make it happen. Its business model seems to make a lot of sense, even though it can only be accessed in select US states. More companies working on automating cryptocurrency investments on behalf of consumers is a positive trend, as it can help the industry as a whole grow.

CLS is almost ready to put the forex market on the blockchain, but not all participants are on the same page

Cryptocurrencies are not considered as “real money,” says the divisional director of the Dutch Central Bank

McDonald’s has launched a new physical currency called MacCoin to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Big Mac, one of its most popular hamburgers. MacCoin will be the first currency in the world to be backed by hamburgers; each MacCoin can be redeemed for a Big Mac. This is also possibly the first currency backed by McDonald’s, a global company that has over 36,000 restaurants that pulled in USD 24.6 billion of revenue in 2016.

There will only be 6.2 million MacCoins ever minted and they will be distributed in the 50+ countries where MacCoins are accepted. Every customer who buys a Big Mac gets a MacCoin, essentially making it a “buy one get one free” deal. The distribution began on 2 August 2018 at lunchtime. Considering McDonald’s gets an estimated 69 million customers every day, it is probable that all the MacCoins will be distributed within the first day or two.

The MacCoins can be exchanged for a Big Mac, which is about USD 5. But Big Mac price varies from restaurant to restaurant and will go up over time due to inflation. In theory, this gives the MacCoin value and makes it a currency that should be quite simple for people to start exchanging for money outside of McDonald’s. Right after launch, MacCoin had a market cap near USD 31 million.

The supply of MacCoins circulating in the public will decline over time as people redeem them for BigMacs. There is no indication that McDonald’s will be destroying these coins. They could end up holding them in a corporate vault, since the MacCoins will be worth money and can potentially be sold for cash.

Its scarcity also makes the MacCoins collectible, added to the rarity of a well-known corporation like McDonald’s to issue its own currency.

In the typical coin economy, once supplies of MacCoins run out at stores and leave public circulation due to redemption, the price of MacCoin should go up, if demand continues. Since MacCoin is not based on any blockchain, however, there is no way to verify supply, even if the name might tempt users to draw comparisons to cryptocurrency.

Just because a currency is backed by something doesn’t mean that it can’t go higher, it just means it can’t go lower. Demand should determine the price of MacCoins in the future, rather than the price of a Big Mac.

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Image Courtesy: Zachary, Bitcoin News

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Canaan Creative, the world’s second largest Bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer, has launched what it claims is the “first ever” Bitcoin mining television set

At the Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium in Barcelona last week, two researchers presented a plan to bring the anonymity of monero to the ethereum network with the catchline “Trustless Tumbling for Transaction Privacy”.