As usual, it's been a super busy week for Ethereum. Coinbase's price for Ethereum at the start of the week was $1044.52. It's currently at $1158.44.
Bull run
Ethereum's price crossed $1200 for the first time in almost 2 weeks. Ethereum has also appreciated significantly against Bitcoin, with the ratio crossing 0.1 and staying there. The last time ETHBTC was > 0.1 (besides touching it two weeks ago) was in July 2017.
Robinhood opens Ethereum and Bitcoin trading in 5 states
Robinhood, the popular zero fees stock trading platform, launched cryptocurrency trading on Thursday. Robinhood targets entry level traders and is thus in direct competition with Coinbase. The new trading service will launch in 5 states initially: California, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, and New Hampshire. Tradeable cryptos will initially be limited to BTC and ETH.
Starbucks is considering digital currency payments, but not considering Bitcoin
Starbucks Chairman Howard Shultz announces that the company plans to accept digital currencies. Shultz does not, however, believe that Bitcoin will play a role in this strategy, remarking that he didn't believe the original cryptocurrency would "be a currency today or in the future."
South Korea banks opening up to cryptocurrency trading again
South Korean banks announce that they will allow cryptocurrency trading but will ban anonymous trading. New cryptocurrency account registrations open next week.
Weiss Ratings gives Ethereum a B, the highest rating they gave to any cryptocurrency
Weiss Ratings, a medium-sized financial grading agency, released their much-anticipated cryptocurrency ratings. Bitcoin was graded a C+ while Ethereum was graded a B. Check out the ratings here: http://moonnocoin.com/weissratings-sokuhou/Weiss-Cryptocurrency-Ratings.pdf. Some users have raised alarm bells on Weiss's credibility due to its history of being prosecuted for fraudulent, misleading statements and engaging in pump and dumps. source
Japan’s Biggest Energy Giant Invests in Ethereum Blockchain Startup
The Tokyo Electric Power company (TEPCO) has invested in UK-based blockchain firm Electron in a focused pivot from centralized structures to decentralized systems for the energy sector. Using the Ethereum blockchain, Electron has a proof of concept platform that is capable of simulating data from 53 million metering points at individual homes from 60 energy providers and proved that energy supplier switches could be executed up to 20 times faster than current switching rates. The same ‘smart meter’ service could also be deployed to other utilities including telecom and water, convincing one former executive from major European utility provider Npower to join Electron’s board. source
Vitalik makes Forbes 30 under 30 in Finance
Forbes released their 30 under 30 lists, and Vitalik made the Finance list. Olaf Carlson-Wee, another notable cryptocurrency figure, also made the Finance list. Olaf Carlson-Wee was Coinbase's first employee and has now moved on to start Polychain Capital, a cryptocurrency hedge fund.
Wikipedia is working to integrate donations via the Brave browser
In a response to a customer inquiry on whether Wikipedia will be accepting donations via Brave, Wikipedia responded by saying they are working with the team to have the option enabled in the future. source
Also, the number of Brave publishers doubled in a week. There are now nearly 8,000 sites and YouTube creators verified to receive BAT. source
Blockchain LLC purchases 64,000 acres near the Tesla Gigafactory in Tahoe-Reno Industrial Park
Blockchain LLC specializes in financial services, security, software and apps using blockchain technology and focuses specifically on Ethereum.
"Blockchains LLC, is purchasing 64,000 acres at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center, with the deal expected to fully close by the first week of February, said Lance Gilman, principal and director of the industrial park. The industrial park that plays host to Tesla, Google and Switch in the Reno area is almost sold out as a blockchain software company is finalizing plans to buy more than half of its land. source
There have been rumours of Tesla building on Ethereum, but they are strictly rumours.
Canadian Government Launches Live Ethereum Public Blockchain Trial For Government Contracts
The National Research Council of Canada (NRC), in collaboration with Bitaccess, have begun trialing the use of Ethereum for a more transparent administration of government contracts. source
The Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) works with SMEs across Canada, generating a large volume of financial transactions and recordkeeping that require transparency and public disclosure. They are now using Ethereum’s public blockchain to discharge that duty to the public, with Bitaccess suggesting they are using what they call The Catena Blockchain Suite.
The smart contract is already live.
Raiden releases Microraiden 0.2.0
Raiden, the state channel project for Ethereum, released a new version of their Microraiden software, version 0.2.0. According to the GitHub release post, "the focus of this 0.2.0 release is testing and receiving feedback from developers who plan to integrate Microraiden into their product." source
On /r/ethtrader...
A completely Russian Steemit post that has no comments, was upvoted to the top of /r/ethtrader with 113 points (92% upvoted). Can there be more blatant vote manipulation?