- Blockchain ETF Launch on Stock Exchange!
- USA is launching two new Blockchain Bills!
- Ledger receives an Investment of $ 75 Million!
- Crypto Crisis: Telephone Counseling should help against Crypto Panic!
- Social Network Yours.org raises $ 1.5 Million!
The first two Blockchain ETFs started on Wednesday with the reality shares Nasdaq NexGen Economy ETF BLCN and the Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF BLOK.
Nasdaq announced Wednesday the launch of the two Blockchain ETFs BLCN and BLOK. This makes them the first two exchange-traded funds for blockchain-based indices. The funds, however, refer to large tech companies that are not necessarily exclusively concerned with blockchain technology.
BLCN & BLOK: Blockchain ETF on the Stock Exchange
BLCN is a passively managed fund that tracks the reality shares Nasdaq Blockchain Economy Index. It aims to capture the returns of global companies, the resources for the development, exploration, innovation and / or use of blockchain technology for their own or others' benefit. According to his own statements, he uses both internal and external research and his own blockchain score ranking system.
As can be seen from the request of November last year, the index will list between 50 and 100 companies with the best ratings. These include Overstock, IBM, Nasdaq and Accenture. The funds of the companies included in the index must have a market capitalization of at least $ 200 million and an average trading volume of $ 1 million in half a year.
BLOK, on the other hand, is an actively managed fund that offers investors a basket of leading blockchain companies. American companies will dominate here, while the rest will represent companies from China, Canada and Japan.
Financial instruments and the crypto scene
The exchange-traded funds BLCN and BLOC should be emphasized that they refer to the blockchain technology and not to cryptocurrencies. It almost seems as if the addition "Blockchain" should produce incentives to buy here. Nonetheless, investors may in future speculate on the index performance of blockchain companies. In addition to futures contracts traded since December, the ETF is now weaving another traditional financial instrument using blockchain technology.
Ultimately, however, the futures cover the crypto currencies themselves, while ETFs focus on the (in part) underlying technology. One expects a less risky investment instrument here, since the blockchain itself is rated as more stable than the volatile cryptocurrencies.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Eric Ervin, co-founder of Reality Shares, said he also expects an ETF for Bitcoin:
The Security Exchange Commission also criticized the name of the funds and suggested that companies remove the word "blockchain" from the name. Despite the doubts of the US authorities, Ervin is optimistic and expects the names of the funds to change again in the future:
Name or not - the funds are now live and available.
ETN instead of ETF: Bitcoin on the stock exchange according to Swedish model
Bitcoin ETFs were already planned in the US, but were discarded again. The reasons were that the Financial Regulator and ETF companies could not agree. The United States Authority was skeptical about the instability of the price and the (in their view) questionable intrinsic value of the cryptocurrency.
The view to Scandinavia could help here. CNBC reports that the Swedish company XBT Providers has successfully distributed a publicly traded Bitcoin product over the past two years. This attracted European investors and more than $ 1 billion.
In contrast, this product is exchange-traded debt securities or exchange-traded notes - ETN for short. Unlike the ETF, the ETN from Sweden not only tracks the price of the currency, but also keeps it. For Bitcoin ETF, this direct link would no longer exist. The Swedish company also expanded its product to Ether last year.
Similar attempts in the USA failed so far however:
says Garrett Stevens, Managing Director of Exchange Traded Concepts.
But back to the Blockchain ETF in the US. The BLCN stock currently stands at 608,496 and priced at $ 24.25 per share. The volume of BLOK, however, is significantly higher at 1,274,817 at a price of $ 20.21.
Blockchain technology is on the rise again in 2018. Two new bills in the US have already been presented this month. While one is about data security, the other is designed to fight the illegal financing of terrorism.
A new bill, presented to the Colorado Senate, provides for the use of blockchain technology to protect private data from cyber-attacks. The bill introduced by the Senate on 16 January stipulates that the use of Distributed Ledger eliminates the need for paper records and the personal updating of such data. The blockchain system will then resolve the existing data collection and retention issues of the state and create a more secure record. Upon adoption of the law, the Colorado Chief Information Officer would be required to evaluate the costs and benefits of using distributed ledgers in various government systems and to determine blockchain's ability to handle cyber attacks compared to traditional computer systems.
In 2017, there were between six and eight million attempted intrusions into the state of Colorado's digital platforms every day, according to the bill. Many government-maintained records are unsecured and therefore "valuable targets for identity thieves and hackers intent on stealing corporate data." The bill states that there are more and more threats to steal personal information.
In addition, the bill indicated that Colorado is currently obliging citizens to visit government agencies in person to change their information. This condition could be solved using a blockchain system.
Bill against terrorist financing
Another bill, on the other hand, has a different purpose. The goal is to combat the use of cryptocurrencies for terrorism. The new law of 10 January seeks to combat terrorism by offering rewards for information. This should lead to convictions of cryptocurrency based terrorism. The bill, which was submitted to Congress by House Financial Services Committee MP Ted Budd (R-NC), proposes an Independent Financial Technology Task Force to distribute the rewards. However, the amount of these rewards was not mentioned in dollars or in cryptocurrency.
The second section of the draft is:
The FinTech Task Force is staffed and chaired by the Minister of Finance, five federal directors and four individuals from think tanks, nonprofit organizations and the banking industry. The bill also calls for the creation of a FinTech Leadership in Innovation Fund to uncover the development of programs and methods to detect digital currency usage among terrorists. This fund could provide grants to universities, businesses, non-governmental organizations and individuals contributing to the research of anti-terrorist tools.
Despite increasing regulatory attention to cryptocurrency-funded terrorism, a June 2017 European Union report found that terrorists still favor Fiat over digital currencies. The tracking potential of blockchain records could be a possible cause.
Ledger, the Parisian manufacturer of hardware wallets. receives a mega-investment of $ 75 million. After selling more than a million wallets this year, the company is likely to have become the world's largest wallet developer.
Selling hardware, but developing software: This is the way to formulate Ledger's recipe for success. Founded only in 2014, the Parisian startup has quickly become the darling of the scene and pushed the former top dog Trezor from Prague from the throne of the hardware wallets.
For Ledger 2017 was an excellent year. The company has repeatedly proven that they are one of the top wallets worldwide. Whether SegWit, Forks, ICO tokens, or altcoins - Ledger has always been one of the first wallets to implement new features in a way that is easy to use and secure. Last year, Ledger was named the most private of all Bitcoin wallets.
Of course, these benefits are reflected in the sales figures: With around one million wallets sold, Ledger became profitable in 2017. From its original eight, the company has grown to 82 employees, to the headquarters in Paris still had branches in San Francisco and Vierzon. The rush for the hardware wallets is so great that the company could not keep up with the production at times and customers often had to wait for weeks or months. Who makes the mistake of buying from another provider - or even Ebay - risked to get a manipulated device, which actually has already happened and has led to losses. So, better not do it, better wait a week or two longer.
This should change soon. Because with the second round of investment ledger could collect enough capital to expand production capacity. Under the direction of Draper Esprit, a consortium of investors, including not only Draper companies but also Boost VC, the Digital Currency Group and others, has raised a staggering $ 75 million (about € 61 million). This is one of the largest sums ever invested in cryptocoin startups. That they are going to a wallet developer is wonderful news.
In addition to increasing capacity, Ledger plans to use the money to develop new products. Soon, for example, the "Ledger Vault" will go online, enabling banks, hedge funds and asset managers to store crypto assets. We are curious what will happen and look forward to hearing more from Ledger.
At Reddit and in many other forums, hell has been going on in the last few days of cryptocurrency. Someone even published the contact details of US telephone counseling at Reddit because panic had broken out everywhere. The announcement was quickly voted the most popular thread of the day. Reddit.com is one of the most popular sites on the web every month with about 12 billion page views.
Not only Bitcoin was hit hard at the beginning of the week, almost all cryptocurrencies are struggling with significant losses these days. However, according to our analysis, this price collapse happens every year in January, so it's not surprising. The usual factors added more details this time, which had a negative impact on prices. Thus, the online stock exchange BitConnect was closed, after in the first week of January in this respect already issued an injunction. The enormous profit promises of the operators, which were allegedly to be achieved with the help of the self-developed "trading robots", moved more and more into the distance. The BitConnect token even suffered a loss of up to 90%.
In addition, bad news came from China and South Korea, which unsettled the market. As we have already reported, mining in China should be regulated by the state, and in South Korea a general ban on the country's own crypto exchanges is currently being considered. At Reddit, it is assumed that the soon-to-be-completed Bitcoin futures have contributed their share to the current development. Whoever has bet on a falling course of the Bitcoin, can soon be lucky. In addition, various investors in recent days wanted to prevent their short-term gains are lost again, which is why they have repulsed their coins. The cascade began to roll. Since yesterday, however, all cryptocurrencies are already in the green again anyway.
The Forum Reddit is one of the top contact points in the world with about 12 billion page views per month. Almost 40% of visitors live in the USA. Last Tuesday, Reddit's reference to telephone counseling reached a whopping 38,176 points for all investors. No wonder that the discussion strand was voted so often within a few hours, because at that point in time, some US investors have lost a lot of their money. So the panic may have slowly given way to the exhilaration of buying cheap.
Whatever happens next, we will stay on the ball and as usual will report on everything worth knowing in a timely manner.
The social network Yours.org, on which influencer Bitcoin Cash can earn for their content, received $ 1.5 million during a first round of financing. Financial support received the project mainly from Bitmain and Nchain, who showed themselves very generous. The project should help to understand and use cryptocurrencies by the general public.
What is Yours.org?
Yours.org was developed by Ryan X. Charles and is one of the most successful platforms that Bitcoin Cash uses. Memes, stories, art and cryptocurrency news can all be shared on the minimalist portal. The concept with Bitcoin Cash seems to be growing and the number of users is increasing weekly.
Behind the platform is the idea that cryptocurrencies are more than just buying and selling. Cryptocurrencies should be fun again and also stimulate creativity.
Small payments made easy
Bitcoin no longer seems to be suitable for small payments. The gap that resulted was filled by Bitcoin Cash. In a statement in which CEO Ryan X. Charles also commented on the financial support that will secure the future of the platform, it said:
Jihan WU from Bitmain also commented positively on the platform. They could be spent again small amounts on the Internet. With the financial backing of Bitmain and Nchain, the management of the platform, based in San Francisco, will be able to recruit more engineers. This should help the platform to grow.
The website provides a good example of how Bitcoin Cash, which can gain more and more support, is being used. For example, the exchange Kucoin announced this week that it will also trade with BCH in the future.
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