Venzuelan Bolivar To Bitcoin Transactions Surges

According to Venebloc, a site that tracks transactions of LocalBitcon in Venezuela, the number of transactions between the bolivar-to-bitcoin has recently reached a peak on April 17, 2018.

A total of $1.009 million worth of Bolivar was exchanged to bitcoin.

Venezuelans are turning to cryptocurrencies to access foreign goods as the government of Venezuela has since been enforcing strict controls on foreign exchange.

Having limited access to official foreign exchange markets is making it hard for the citizen of Valenzuela to determine their currency’s worth.

Currently the rate of a Bolivar is about 800,000 Bolivar per dollar.

Instead of addressing the issue of hyperinflation where prices soared as much as 8,900 % in the last 12 months, the government launched its own oil-backed cryptocurrency the Petro (PTR).

It is reported that its initial token sale have raised more than $5 billion from investors throughout the world.

The Blockchain Observatory executive secretary, Daniel Pena, says that Petro will have a positive impact on its economy in 3-6 months.

Crypto Exchange Executive Running For Mayor of Taipei

The Chief Executive Officer of the self-proclaimed “largest OTC exchange in Asia" is setting its sights of becoming the mayor of the capital of Taiwan, City of Taipei.

Yi-Ting Cheng who is better known as xdite is a world class developer and hacker having won the Global Grand Prize a Facebook 2012 hackathon.

The 35-year-old CEO said she decided to run herself since she cannot find suitable candidates who understand the business.

She envisions making the city of Taipei the advanced city it once was.

She wants to make Taipei as the pioneer Blockchain city in Asia.

She added that the proximity to Japan, China and South Korea and its generally regulation friendly business atmosphere gives it great potential to be one.

To realize this she plans to create a Blockchain community and financial technology zone which includes building a cryptocurrency invested bank in the city.

Saxo Bank Analyst Sees Bullish Market In Q2 2018

Jacob Pouncey, one of SaxoStrats in-house strategist claims that due to the increase of regulations and investor protection the inflow of institutional capital to the cryptocurrency market is to be expected.

He also hypothesized that the downward trend is due to many shaken out “weak hand” investors by the bear market.

The remaining “Strong hand” investors who were not shaken off are ready to latch onto any good news that will trigger the reversal of the trend to a more positive one.

In the last few weeks we have seen Wall Street talent and money moving into the cryptocurrency space as we have seen top talent from traditional financial institutions going for top post in cryptocurrency startups like Coinbase and Blockchain.com, as well as new multimillion funding of cryptocurrency initiative from renowned Venture Capitalists.

He describes recent events as “springboards” for a cryptocurrency bull market in the second quarter of 2018.

Walmart To Store Payment Data On A BlockChain

The retail giant Walmart is hinting on using Blockchain Technology to store payments data.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) had published in Thursday two patent applications of Walmart which were submitted on the 13th of October of last year.

Both filing seems to be an implementation of a system that will use a permissioned Blockchain platform to secure payment data that cannot be assessed by unauthorized parties.

The first filing describes a vendor payment system that can be automated and the second filing describes a digital shopping system.

The twin applications are the latest attempt of Walmart to bolster their presence in the Blockchain intellectual property sphere.

Previously the company was seeking patent for a ”Smart Package” that would be used for encoding information as well as applications that uses Blockchain for tracking shipments of food.

A New High of Bitcoin Price: $8500 For the Month of April

Data from Bitfinex shows that the bitcoin price continues to surge as it hits a new high for the month of April.

Its price continues to make gains nearing the end of the week as it traded above $8,500 for the first time in April.

While the average trading price for bitcoin was around $8,300 a sudden spike saw prices jump from the upper $8300 to the lower $8500 mark in less than 10 -minute period.

The momentum of bitcoin seems to reflect the overall gains of cryptocurrency market as other currencies are also enjoying this bullish uptick like Ripple who has seen 20% gain in a 24-hour period.

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