The Reserve

20 November 2017 | SUBSCRIBE

// FLUCTUATIONS AND NEGOTIATIONS

This column is sent from a castle, where the future of crypto is being battled out formally over dinners and drinks, and informally in the back-and-bedrooms. It’s where the destiny of bitcoin and other blockchains are decided - out of sight, and sadly out of most minds.

It’s the same game, with new players. Whatever the dramatic price fluctuations this week - it all comes back to the politics. It is a reminder to me that the macro price movements in - and even the survival of - blockchains, are decided by a very small, select group of people, playing castles.

Otherwise - the segregated witness upgrade to bitcoin core is starting to bear fruits. Charlie Lee, the creator of Litecoin, proudly announced that the first ever cross-chain transaction between Bitcoin and Litecoin happened via an atomic swap this week.

Briefly, the lighting network is an off-chain network which can help reduce the stress on the main Bitcoin chain by offloading transactions. Whilst atomic swaps enable users to exchange Bitcoin for Litecoin or any segwit integrated blockchain. All positive steps forward in the scaling challenges we face.

// MUST READ

Pricing fluctuations lead to crypto’s highest ever trading volume.
The Royal Society talks evolution of the cryptocurrency market.
A general framework for blockchain analytics.

// PRICING SUMMARY

// DISASTER OF THE WEEK

It’s always someone’s fault. With this week's price volatility, Bithump’s users have filed a lawsuit following a costly server outage on November the 12th. The outage only lasted 90 minutes but cost traders millions - one trader alone claiming a loss of over 250 million.

Similarly, users from Bitfinex, another cryptocurrency exchange, have noticed issues with money withdrawals on the exchange, suggesting another Mt. Gox is in the making. Bitfinex publicly denies these allegations and states that it believes that this is a coordinated attack.

But more: Exodus suspended exchange trading pairs over the weekend, after the rush to buy BCH caused major congestion in the network. Transactions in instances took longer than 12 hours to validate, with many failing at the end.

// TRACTION

American express partners with Ripple for international payments via blockchain.
Mastercard has patented its own blockchain-based money transfer solution.
HPE launches their blockchain as a service.
Square is testing its cash app that enables users to buy and sell bitcoin.
Fujitsu revealed that it has designed a new payments technology to facilitate transactions between blockchains.
Coinbase will launch a new service for institutions.
Canadians have developed a new digital-identity system based on blockchain technology.
Allianz’s blockchain prototype allows to accelerate and simplify international insurance transactions
U.S customs and border protection look to implement blockchain technology.

// ROAD TO REGULATION

The EU issued a statement to warn investors and firms about the risks of ICOs.
Coinbase is close to losing its case against the IRS to protect users from tax probes.
The Financial Conduct Authority of UK has issued a warning to investorsregarding cryptocurrency CFDs.
Malaysia is planning to create a regulatory framework for ICOs.
Singapore has published a guide for ICOs subjected to the securities laws.
Tezos is facing its second lawsuit for breaking U.S securities laws.

// ICOS

Last week highlights:

Presearch raised $4.5m for a decentralized search engine.
Eth bits raised $4.1m for facilitating secure trades between bank accounts and crypto.
Privatix raised $2.1m for a broadband marketplace powered by a P2P VPN network on blockchain.

Upcoming:

Trade.io - Active – Blockchain trading platform.
SISA - November 20, 2017 - A decentralized and democratized pool fund.
ODM - December 1, 2017- Investment blockchain for investing in oilfield.

// OTHER

The Reserve disapproves of the potential for Mt. Gox to make hundreds of millions from a quirk in Japanese bankruptcy law.Interactive Brokers expresses "deep concern" with CME's Bitcoin futures offering in full page WSJ ad. Every week there are more and more Bitcoin forks, check out some upcoming forks here.