Category Archives: Cryptocurrency

Public retail adoption of stablecoins might occur more rapidly in countries without a strong banking infrastructure.

The 2017 Global Findex database, launched with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, points to advances in digital technology that are key to achieving the World Bank goal of universal financial access.

Stablecoin initiatives are developing at a rapid pace.Adoption of stablecoin, a form of collateralized cryptocurrency pegged to a stable fiat currency like the yen or dollar are being debated by central banks.This is a good signregulators are discussing how blockchain style coins can become mainstream payment options.However in developed economies where the banking sector is more established, regulators are still cautious of risks.

While the basic use-case for the mass adoption of stablecoin is as a potential fiat-currency replacement, how those coins are implemented is hotly debated.Coins collateralized by traditional currency, like the euro, United States dollar or the pound can be structured in different ways.

Based on the European Central Bank (ECB) paper In Search For Stability In Crypto-Assets: Are Stablecoins The Solution? (August 2019), stablecoin adoption, particularly in well-regulated countries, for example counties in the European Union, would need definitive rules governing the accountability of the issuer, decentralization responsibilities, and clear guidelines for what underpins the value of the asset before widespread implementation can occur. Last months statement by the French finance minister regarding the intention to block Libra development in France makes it clear that stablecoin adoption has challenges.

At the same time institutions like the Financial Markets Authority (AMF), part of the French financial regulatory system, announced in July 2019 plans to create a voluntary regulatory framework for crypto firms.

While Libra may face an adoption risk among European nations, it seems clear that coin development will continue.

Recently the president of the ECB said in a letter, dated September 26, 2019, that it is exploring the potential of crypto assets and assessing their impact to monetary policy and retail implications.In the letter the ECB president, Mario Draghi, said that new stablecoin arrangements (such as Libra) backed by large technology companies could have potential for widespread adoption.

However in the same letter a number of concerns were cited where stablecoin initiatives were untested and gave rise to a host of risks and issues.

For proponents of stablecoin adoption, central bank media coverage combined with Facebooks determination to create Libra suggest collateralized coins will have a future, especially in retail payments, sometime in the coming years.

But where can stablecoin trading and exchange find a foothold as a true monetary option in the short term?

Potential adoption can have a competitive advantage in countries where currency volatility, compounded by a poorly regulated banking system or nonexistent financial infrastructure, is the norm.Stablecoin trading can provide access to banking with less volatility, compared to economies where the financial system is viewed with a lack of trust. Venezuela is a good example.

The 2017 Global Findex database, lunched with funding from Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, points to advances in digital technology are key to achieving the World Bank goal of universal financial access. The same report highlights that 1.7 billion people lack a bank account.Stablecoin can become a path for the unbanked to create a stable store of monetary value and exchange. If access to digital technology increases across all nations, the implication for the unbanked and poor may well be widespread crypto adoption over local and less resilient financial systems.

An adoption strategy to watch is where stablecoins can offer an alternative to hyperinflation, offer price stability and financial access to the public.

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How Adoption Of Cryptocurrency Stablecoins Can Open Access To The 1.7 Billion Unbanked and Poor - Forbes

Trust is the fundamental element in business transactions. It is what keeps economies and societies functioning. Throughout history, we have managed to build complex institutions from legislative, judicial, law enforcement to banks and various financial institutions to enable trust in commercial transactions. We also invented tools such as fiat money, bonds, stocks and contracts to guarantee the successful execution of business transactions.

And then came Bitcoin and its blockchain technology that allowed two parties to exchange value with trust without legislative institutions, fiat money, banks or contracts. It is, simply, a revolutionary technology. This is probably why blockchain was hyped as the next generation of the internet that will create the programmable economy.

(Full disclosure: I own bitcoins and have a small investment in Facebook.)

Despite the many successful implementations of blockchain, it has not been as transformational and didnt generate the much-hyped benefits.

One reason is that blockchains are implemented as disconnected solutions with no foundational protocols such as TCP/IP, HTTP and HTML that created the internet revolution. Additionally, no single blockchain network emerged as the dominant one that would offer a multitude of business services to produce the desired transformational benefits.

Enter Facebooks Libra cryptocurrency and blockchain.

On June 18th, Facebook announced the Libra blockchain and cryptocurrency, which raised many questions: What is Libra and how will it work? Is it a cryptocurrency? Is it a blockchain? Will it overtake Bitcoin and Ethereum? Will consumers trust it? What is its potential? Whats in it for Facebook? And will Libra become the unifying and transformational blockchain that everyone was hoping for?

The Libra whitepaper holds some answers to the above questions, including how it will be governed. Libra will be launched by the Libra Association, which is an independent, nonprofit membership organization, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Libra will be governed and controlled by this association and will be independent of Facebook. It is currently composed of 28 organizations.

The key difference between Libra and Bitcoin is the permissionless versus permissioned blockchain. Simply put, a permissionless blockchain implies that anyone with the right hardware infrastructure can apply the mining protocols and participate in validating transactions and in becoming a validating node on the Bitcoin network. Currently, Bitcoin has over 9,500 nodes, which enabled it to withstand the test of time and produce an immutable, distributed and secure ledger.

In contrast, Libra is going to be a permissioned blockchain that is centralized where its consensus mechanism, software and governance are controlled by Libra Association members who are the only ones permitted to validate transactions. At launch, the Libra blockchain will have 100 permissioned organizations. Visa, Mastercard, Uber, Vodafone and Spotify are among the founding companies of the Libra Association.

So, is Libra a cryptocurrency with a blockchain like bitcoin?

Well, Libra applies many of the same building blocks and concepts as Bitcoin. It uses a blockchain, cryptography, digital wallets, anonymous accounts, smart contracts and the gas concept with a new programming language called "Move." This makes Libra more like Ethereum than Bitcoin.

Libra will be implemented as a stable cryptocurrency by pegging it to a basket of low volatility assets such as the dollar, euro, yen and bonds, and through creating the Libra Reserve. This reserve allows the 100-node consortium to mint and destroy Libras as needed and based on demand. So, when customers buy Libra coins using dollars, those dollars are put into the reserve that is then invested in low volatility assets. This fund concept is missing from Bitcoin and Ethereum, which leads to their price swings and speculations and makes Libra a powerful contender to Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptos.

Libra is also being architected with some advantages over traditional cryptocurrencies. It will consume far less electricity than Bitcoin and is touted to have a higher throughput of 1,000 transactions per second (TPS) compared to bitcoins seven TPS and Ethereums 15 TPS.

It also promises to make sending money across the globe as easy as texting and will have very low fees compared to close to 5% of the transaction value of international wire transfers.

Furthermore, Libra has the potential of helping many of the 1.7 billion unbanked to enter the global financial system. It could trigger a wave of innovation in financial services as much as the internet did for online services. These are some remarkably important advantages for Libra that could possibly offer the transformation that has been expected from blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

With Facebooks 2.4 billion users across the globe, Libra has the potential of transcending governments and central banks and possibly becoming an international digital currency. If Facebooks users adopt Libra to shop, transfer money and transact, it could make Facebook one of the most powerful financial institutions in the world. That would herald a consumer revolution but could also make financial systems less stable and reduce governments economic sovereignty, writes The Economist.

Its clear that Facebooks Libra has legs but also some serious challenges. Aside from the technological challenges of delivering the Libra network with the advertised throughput, security and smart contracts, there are questions on whether a 100-node blockchain network can be immune to global outages and to denial of service attacks.

In addition, how will a 100-node permissioned blockchain move into a permissionless one within the planned five years, and maintain the promised 1,000 TPSs? Will consumers accept it as a slower alternative to credit card processing that is at some 1,700 TPS? Finally, it is not clear when Libra will be available and how will it be rolled out.

But, more importantly, Facebook needs the blessing of governments across the globe and the trust of its customers. These are two enormous obstacles that Facebook would need to overcome. It is by this fundamental trust from governments and from consumers that would define the future of Libra and possibly of Facebook. So, can Facebook address these two trust problems and use Libra to solve its own low level of trust from consumers and governments?

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Will Facebook's Libra Overtake Bitcoin Cryptocurrency And The Ethereum Blockchain? How Will It Work? - Forbes

(Photo by S3studio/Getty Images)

Throughout the history of cryptocurrencies, altcoins have had a lot of trouble competing with Bitcoin, which is basically the gold standard of the market. In terms of everything from network effects to brand recognition, there is still simply no real threat to Bitcoin's position at this time.

That said, Ethereum briefly passed Bitcoin in one key area last week: total daily USD-denominated transaction fees. In fact, Ethereum miners collected more in fees than Bitcoin miners on this past Saturday and Sunday too, according to Coin Metrics.

Additionally, while it's been a rough September for the Bitcoin price, Ether is in the green (just barely) this month, and the cryptocurrency recently enjoyed one of its best 24-hour Bitcoin-denominated price moves ever recorded.

Increased Usage Means Higher Fees

In cryptocurrency networks, transaction throughput is limited in order to preserve decentralization. If the network is processing too many transactions per second, the users' ability to run their own full nodes and check that no one is cheating will be harmed. Since the whole point of using a public blockchain is to gain properties like censorship resistance and trust minimization, avoiding centralization is key.

Due to the limitations placed on capacity, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum see higher transaction fees when the networks become congested. This is exactly what has happend with Ethereum over the past month, as total daily USD-denominated transaction fees hit levels not seen in over a year.

So, what has caused the recent spike in Ethereum transaction fees? It appears the blame can be placed on a Ponzi scheme-esque game called FairWin, which also has a critical vulnerability in its associated contract on the Ethereum blockchain. According to on-chain crypto market analytics firm Glassnode, FairWin has recently been consuming up to half of the gas spent on the Ethereum network at any given time.

The spike in FairWin's popularity, according to Etherscan, correlates almost perfectly with the increase in total fees seen on the Ethereum network this month, according to Coin Metrics.

Total USD-denominated transaction fees per day for the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks.

What Does This Mean for Ethereum's Future?

The total value of all the transaction fees paid on a cryptocurrency network every day is a key metric to watch because it illustrates the level of demand for that particular blockchain. If people are willing to pay relatively high fees to use a particular blockchain, they must be getting some sort of utility out of it.

Additionally, fees are intended to eventually replace the creation of new Bitcoin as the incentive for miners to secure the network. Things will likely work differently for Ethereum, as the Ether token is expected to be issued on a perpetual basis, which means a never-ending block subsidy. This is effectively a trade-off of dilution of the current Ether supply in exchange for a higher level of network security.

In terms of their possible effect on the Ether price, it's unclear if fees are an important metric to watch. While total fees can be a useful indicator of the amount of real activity on a cryptocurrency network and provide a greater incentive for miners or stakers to secure the network, this data point doesn't necessarily have much to do with the native token of the network.

This point is especially true when it comes to Ethereum, as that blockchain is often used to issue and transfer non-native tokens.

At the end of the day, it does not seem clear that a popular Ponzi scheme game or the movement of something like Tether USD means people should be buying and holding Ether over the long term. And as Castle Island Ventures Partner Nic Carter recently explained, a cryptocurrency increases in value when users decide to hold the asset for long periods of time rather than utilize it as a sort of appcoin.

It is perhaps the market's realization of this point that was behind Ether's 85% drop against Bitcoin since the peak of the hype around the altcoin becoming the largest cryptocurrency (measured by market cap) back in June 2017.

Update: This article has been updated to note that, according to Glassnode, up to half of the gas recently spent on the Ethereum network was for FairWin. This differs from the 33% number included in the original version of this article.

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This Cryptocurrency Just Surpassed Bitcoin In One Key Adoption Metric - Forbes

Bitcoin is undoubtedly exciting, but, as much as it might promise to solve some of the problems associated with global finance, its also responsible for creating problems of its own. The most concerning of these is the environmental impact of mining cryptocurrency due to the huge amounts of electricity it requires. This, in turn, results in tens of millions of metric tons worth of carbon dioxide being pumped into the atmosphere.

Thats a big cause for concern, and its something that researchers at Switzerlands Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne have been working to come up with a solution for. In contrast to the large electricity consumption and carbon footprint of Bitcoin, they are developing a new approach to cryptocurrencies they hope could lead to a near zero-energy alternative.

We developed an algorithm that enables payment in a secure and efficient manner, Guerraoui Rachid, a professor in the School of Computer and Communication Sciences, told Digital Trends. Essentially, unlike Bitcoin and its alternatives, the algorithm we propose does not require reaching global agreement about the ordering of all transactions.

But how does it do this? The answer involves a fundamental rethink of the traditional Bitcoin model, first described more than a decade ago by mysterious Bitcoin pioneer Satoshi Nakamoto. That approach involves a consensus distributed system in which all players must agree on the validity of transactions, which involves the execution of complex and energy-intensive computing tasks.

The alternative approach, called the Byzantine Reliable Broadcast, works by assuming participants in the system are good actors and only ignoring them if they are seen to be abusing it. In doing so, the researchers behind the project think safe cryptocurrency transactions could be achieved with just a few grams of CO2 rather than an estimated 300 kg for a current single Bitcoin transaction. Thats more like sending or receiving an email.

The problem we are solving is called double payment, and it is the main problem posed by Nakamoto in his seminal paper defining Bitcoin, Rachid explained. We basically looked carefully at the problem and realized that you do not need a heavy consensus-based solution. If, hypothetically, Alice wants to send money to Bob, it is enough for Bob to ask around if Alice was not trying to cheat and give the same money to somebody else.

The work was selected as the best paper at the International Conference of Distributed Computing (DISC). Theres still a long way before this work ever gets turned into an actual cryptocurrency approach, however if, indeed, it ever does.

Im not sure whether Id do that, Rachid continued. I would rather open-source it and have people use the algorithm for exchanging goods in a frugal manner.

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Bitcoin has a massive carbon footprint. This clever new cryptocurrency doesnt - Digital Trends

Cryptocurrency promises to change the world, but it might start with games. The ubiquity of microtransactions in modern video games makes the industry ripe for a crypto insurgence. With gamers spending an average of $85 each on the (free-to-play) game Fortnite, generating $300 million a month for the games creators, cryptocurrency luminaries are looking hungrily for a way to get them to do it using their tech.

Probably the most obvious way for cryptocurrency to slot into the games industry as it stands is as a replacement for traditional card-based online transactions. Developers could end their dependence on external payment mechanisms by creating their own, entirely new online currencies, which players would then use to buy gear and cosmetics, both from each other and the devs. It would mean an added degree of control for the developer and, perhaps most enticingly, an end to the vagaries of regional pricing, with the price of everything being measured in the games own currency. Some startups even envision a world where the game pays like a job, raising $2 million for a system which rewards players with actual cryptocurrency for in-game deeds.

On the other side of the equation, theres the potential to make those ephemeral in-game items a lot more concrete using the blockchain, the tech that powers cryptocurrencies. Players gear could be indelibly recorded on the blockchain, protecting it from erasure by fickle devs or the technical vicissitudes of the games servers. It also creates the possibility of an entire ecosystem of item-sharing between completely different games. Relying on the blockchain creates space for players to share and trade their items across entirely different gameworlds, even entirely different developers. Items could take on form and value outside the games for which they were originally made, almost like physical goods.

Thats not to say the future of crypto in games is all but assured. The tech still has its share of kinks, and some of them arent going anywhere. The delay between a transaction and taking place and actually being registered on the blockchain is still about 10 minutes, and thats by design. Its a delay thats here to stay unless someone revolutionises the process. A bitter pill for gamers who are used to instant transactions to swallow. In terms of less permanent flaws, theres the recent news of a blockchain hack, which has caused quite a stir despite the assurances of some experts that the story might have been over egged even though some experts point out the story isnt quite as sensational as it might initially seem. Its certainly not great PR for the technology.

Cryptocurrency continues to promise the moon and shoot for the stars in all spheres, and gamings no exception. Its absolutely true that the tech could change the face of the gaming industry if it ever saw widespread adoption by the EAs and Ubisofts of the world, but the truth is that right now the really exciting experimentation is happening at start-ups and smaller companies. In a few years time, we might be making our livings with a gamepad in hand, but for now the future is still all horizon.

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The Potential and Reality of Cryptocurrency in Video Gaming - Finextra

Imagine a hairdryer running on high, continuously, for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The energy it drainsabout 40 kilowatts per hourequals what one extremely powerful specialized computer uses to mine cryptocurrency. A single six-building data center outside a small town in northern Iceland houses nearly 30,000 of these machines.

That town of about 900 people, called Blndus, uses about 1,500 kilowatts of energy per hour, on average. The data center uses 32,000, says Zane Griffin Talley Cooper, a doctoral student in Penns Annenberg School for Communication. That data center also has its own dedicated connection to the nearby hydroelectric power plant, which itself is growing in anticipation of industrial expansion into northern Iceland.

On its face, Iceland seems an ideal setting for the fast-growing cryptocurrency industry. The country uses 100% renewable energy thats relatively cheap to access. Its climate acts as a natural coolant for continuously running machines that heat up quickly. And to date, the political environment there has mostly welcomed this industry.

But despite those facts, Cooper has questions, not about what cryptocurrency is or does, but about what it requires. How does it work on the ground? he asks. What must be in place for cryptocurrency to happen in a given setting and what about the people involved in building and maintaining the system?

A multimodal exhibit Cooper created with Annenberg technologist Kyle Cassidy and doctoral student Katie Gressitt-Diaz of Rutgers aims to answer some of these questions through a virtual reality (VR) documentary film, a photo series, and conceptual sound work. It also brings people face to face with a fully operational cryptocurrency mining machine, called an application-specific integrated circuit or ASIC. The intent of the exhibit, on display in the Annenberg Forum through May 2020, is to convey an ethnographic exploration of cryptocurrency and blockchain in Iceland and to spur thinking and conversation about their energy use.

Without understanding the nuts and bolts of cryptocurrency, the subject can seem, well, cryptic. Part of the confusion, according to Cooper, is the word mining attached to it. Its not something that already exists that you find, he says. Rather, its a sort of transaction-verification process and subsequent reward for that authentication, in the form of a finite number of untraceable electronic coins.

Cassidy likens it to a ledger book. All of the people who are mining cryptocurrency, theyre watching that ledger and making sure no fraudulent entries are put in. At intervals decided by each currencys creatorand there are thousands of cryptocurrenciesa coin is generated and given to one of those people as a reward. A verified transaction then typically gets added to a block, which joins other blocks to form a chain known as the blockchain. The blockchain is the history of all transactions on that particular network, ever, Cooper explains. And, in theory, it cant be erased.

The verification process itself is complicated. It requires generating a very particular number that, when added to the data already in the block, produces just the right number of zeros in a row, something impossible for humans to solve. That means the more computing power, the better. When Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency, came on the scene in 2009, nearly anyone could verify transactions on a regular old laptop. But as more coins started to circulate, meaning more puzzles to solve, that soon wasnt enough computing power.

People moved to desktops, then to graphics cards, stringing them together, Cooper says. Then that wasnt enough, so companies started creating whats essentially a motherboard built for a single purpose, to mine Bitcoin. It used to be that you could make a profit with just one, but all of a sudden, four wasnt enough. You had to get seven, 10. Then you had mining pools, where people would link a bunch of machines together in the hopes of getting pieces of a coin. These mining pools grew, and then large data centers started being built, first in China, then in other placeslike Iceland.

For the past year, Cooper has been thinking about cryptocurrency in Iceland within the broader context of his research, which focuses on how our digital world depends heavily on what he describes as regimes of resource extraction and energy production. In fall 2018, he started contemplating a trip to experience and document how Icelands natural resources move from the earth to the ASICs, and who is involved in that process. He asked Cassidy to come take pictures and enlisted Gressitt-Diaz, who studies sonic representation in media at Rutgers, to construct conceptual sound pieces, do field recording, and design an audio mix for the documentary.

In 2019, the trio visited Iceland twice, once in March, a second time in July. They met with blockchain and cryptocurrency industry insiders, environmental activists, two members of the Icelandic parliament, and several people in the energy industry. They toured a geothermal energy facility and a data center.

They learned a great deal. Being in these spaces is so wild because you can hear what they sound like. It doesnt jive with the images portrayed on Instagram, says Gressitt-Diaz. Youre hearing traffic, the sound of drones flying overhead. There are all of these sounds, of tourists chattering, machine sounds, the hum of powerlines, what I refer to as dirty noises that are there and real and part of the sonic identity of Iceland. But they dont come across when youre looking at idyllic images of Iceland on Instagram.

Technology is everywhere, too. Gressitt-Diaz recalls experiencing this even on a deserted road on a relatively empty part of the island.

We pulled over at one point on top of this hill, she says. There was a wide-open space where you could look out onto this vista, land as far as the eye can see. There was nothing around except power lines, and they were really loud, this technology connecting people on the island to power, to electricity. Even in this spot in the middle of nowhere, you could hear the presence of people and their machines.

From that time in Iceland came the exhibit now on display in the Annenberg Forum, Alchemical Infrastructures: Making Blockchain in Iceland. Coopers part is a 40-minute, two-part VR documentary film that visitors experience with Google Cardboard viewers, a 360-degree ethnographic examination of cryptocurrency landscapes in Iceland. The film blends multiple environments into single spaces in an attempt to show how different infrastructures and ecologies mix and depend on each other in complex ways.

You have Icelands active geology, which is the foundation of all of this. If Iceland wasnt at the intersection of two tectonic plates, then geothermal energy wouldnt be so prominent there, Cooper says. You have the energy industry, which is involved in tapping into that geothermal energy. Then you have the blockchain companies, which have set up real estate and are negotiating with the energy companies. Plus, you have the environmental angle.

With this film, he adds, Im trying to allow people to feel the geography of it all.

Cryptocurrency mining machines are so loud that the single Antminer S7 on display must be submerged in mineral oil. As the top recording showcases, the sound is still noticeablethough much quieter than the 30,000 machines that run continuously outside an Icelandic town called Blndus, heard in the bottom recording.

Cassidys portion consists of 10 portraits. Theres one of someone who survived a volcanic eruption and another of a powerplant manager, plus photos of cryptocurrency managers and an environmental activist, among others. I wanted to make my part of the story about these individuals, the faces of these people who are part of this along the way, he says. That made it real for me.

With her soundscape, called Icelandland, Gressitt-Diaz says she wanted to showcase just how entangled technology and nature, the environment and people are. I hope people will come away from the piece understanding how the use of technology in Iceland has a profound and sometime irreversible effect on nature, she says. If we continue to allow big industry to take advantage of that great energy resource, nature will continue to suffer until its too late.

The final component of the show is a fully functional ASIC, specifically a Bitmain Antminer S7thats actively mining Auroracoin, the unofficial national cryptocurrency of Iceland. The machine is so loud when turned on that it must be submerged in mineral oil to stay cool and be suitable for a public space. Etienne Jacquot, an Annenberg IT support specialist, was the lead engineer responsible for setting up the Antminer and connecting it to the network. He maintains the energy and revenue displays at the exhibit and manages the digital Auroracoin wallet.

The ASIC will run continuously during the course of the exhibition, costing roughly $2 a day in electricity. In just about a month, it earned 123 Auroracoins which, at current exchange rates, comes in at about $3.16.

But Cooper and the others are much more interested in energy consumed than coins earned. Because if the process to put on the exhibit taught them anything, its that blockchain and cryptocurrency can succeed, but often at great cost to the environment, even in a place that runs on 100% renewable energy. When the S9 version of the Antminer was released, for example, S7s suddenly became too slow, making them mostly obsolete and likely destined for a landfill.

This exhibit is intended to open peoples minds to what this system looks like. Its the beginning of something, not the end product, Cooper says. I dont know if we should or shouldnt build a world out of blockchainI think it has a lot of promisebut we need to account for all of these negotiations between the environment, energy infrastructure, and social and political infrastructure. Then maybe some good can come of it.

Homepage photo: Through his two-part 40-minute virtual reality film, Cooper is aiming to convey an ethnographic exploration of cryptocurrency and blockchain in Iceland and to spur thinking and conversation about their energy use. (Photo: Kyle Cassidy)

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Exploring cryptocurrency and blockchain in Iceland - Penn: Office of University Communications

Since it was announced earlier this year, Facebooks cryptocurrency Libra has been dragged over the coals many times. And now it seems staff at the Big F are also apprehensive about its launch.

Internal interviews between Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook employees were leaked today, by The Verge, and appear to show unease amongst the ranks. Zuck called for staff to rally together against skeptics, critics, and the regulators.

But what about Libra? Indeed, staff made Facebooks plans for a digital currency a point of contention asking Zuck for more information. Herere three things we learned about Libra from the leaked interviews.

we want to work with traditional currencies. So we have a test going in India. Were working in Mexico and a bunch of other countries to have this rolled out broadly. The hope is to get that rolled out in a lot of places with existing currencies before the end of this year, Zuckerberg said to employees.

And we have this bigger, or at least more exotic, project around Libra, which is to try to stand up a new kind of digital money that can work globally, he added.

Libra has come under a lot of scrutiny since it was announced back in July, much of which has assumed it would launch as a token. With this statement it sounds like Libra is two things: a money transfer business and a digital currency. But, according to Zuck, some of us might get part of Libra before the end of the year, but it wont have the Libra token, thatll come later.

TNW has contacted Facebook in India to learn more about the test Zuckerberg mentioned, we will update this piece if we learn more.

But part of what were trying to do overall on these big projects now that touch very socially important aspects of society is have a more consultative approach, Zuckerberg said. So not just show up and say, Alright, here were launching this. Heres a product, your app got updated, now you can start buying Libras and sending them around.'

Indeed, it sounds like Facebook is actually trying to act responsibly we can decide if thats true later. According to Zuck at least, it seems that Libra was announced way ahead of launch on purpose. Letting the project undergo the intense scrutiny that it has and continues to go through, was all part of the plan.

This is going to be a long road. We kind of expected this, Zuckerberg told employees.

Zuckerberg said he wouldnt be surprised if [Facebook] ends up having similar engagements like this on other socially important things that [its] trying to move, like [its] big push to get towards more encryption across [its] messaging apps.

Indeed, when the conversation turned to brain-computer interfaces, which Facebook has been working on for a number of years now, Libra cropped up again.

Were trying to make AR and VR a big thing in the next five years to 10 years I dont know, you think Libra is hard to launch. Facebook wants to perform brain surgery, I dont want to see the congressional hearings on that one, the Facebook CEO said, and I agree with him.

With that in mind, it sounds like Facebook is taking all this Libra regulatory kerfuffle in its stride. If Facebooks resolve is as steely as Zuck makes it sound, it seems Libra isnt going away any time soon, even if we do keep asking it to stop.

If youre enjoying watching Facebook get grilled on an almost daily basis, it sounds like theres going to be plenty more opportunities to grab the popcorn in the future.

Want more Hard Fork?Join usin Amsterdam on October 15-17 to discuss blockchain and cryptocurrency with leading experts.

Published October 1, 2019 13:42 UTC

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3 things the leaked Zuckerberg tapes taught us about Facebooks Libra cryptocurrency - The Next Web

The cryptocurrency market alternates between green and red days amid growing indecision. While Tuesday saw a strong recovery across the board, Wednesday brought some disappointment and pushed Bitcoin and all major altcoins back into the negative territory.

The market capitalization of all digital assets in circulation decreased to $220 billion from $224 billion on Tuesday, while an average daily trading volume dropped to to $53 billion from $63 billion the day before. Bitcoins market share edged to 67.8%.

BTC/USD has lost 1.6% on a day-on-day basis and stayed unchanged since the beginning of the day amid growing bearish sentiments. The first digital coin staged a strong recovery above critical $8,000 on September 30, though the further upside seems to be limited at this stage. At the time of writing, BTC/USD is changing hands at $8,270. The coin touched an intraday high at $8,388 but failed to pass a strong technical barrier located in that area.Ethereum, the second-largest digital asset with the current market capitalization of $19.1 billion, returned back below $180.00 handle. The coin has lost over 3.5% in recent 24 hours as the downside correction gained traction. ETH/USD retreated the intraday high of $178.00 to trade at $176.30 by the time of writing.Ripples XRP has been on retreat during the recent 24 hours.The coin bumped into resistance on approach to $0.2600 and slipped back below $0.2500 barrier. The third-largest digital asset with the current market value of $10.7 billion has lost over 4% in recent 24 hours to trade at $0.2480 at the time of writing.

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The cryptocurrency market failed to develop sustainable recovery, slips back into the red territory - FXStreet

If asked 5 years ago if youd rather have a Bitcoin or a single ounce of gold, you probably wouldnt bat an eyelid, unless it was a stunned reaction to the audacious question. Until two years ago, the notion that the value of Bitcoin would ever come close to that of gold was unimaginable.

Yet, in 2017, the price of Bitcoin finally caught up to the age-old unit of value and reached unit-for-unit parity with gold. Unsurprisingly, when this came to the attention of gold investors around the world, the trading game was spun on its head.

Increasingly, the concept of gold-backed cryptocurrencies has surged and paved the way for a new generation of altcoins and new, innovative methods of storing value. In combination with the need to tackle the inherent fractures within the crypto market, such as violent and unpredictable volatility, the new generation of stablecoins have come to serve a great purpose.

Stablecoins are designed to minimize the volatility of the price of the currency in the market. Pegged to a cryptocurrency, fiat money or another exchange-traded commodity, the stablecoin remains relatively stable with respect to the asset to which its pegged. And stablecoins do so in two main ways. Asset-backed stablecoins, such as Tether (USDT), value their currency against the value of fiat currencies or a precious commodity, like gold.

Image Source: CoinMarketCap

Algorithmic stablecoins such as Timvi (TMV), rely on computing logic to monitor the supply and demand of its currency to achieve stability.

Stablecoins are primarily pegged to the stable values of fiat currencies or precious commodities. In the case of a gold-backed cryptocurrency, one token should equate to one gram of gold. The price of the cryptocurrency wouldn't fall below the current price of gold, hence, price stability. The reserves of gold must be held by some third party and must be perfectly representative of the amount of stablecoins in circulation. When the gold reserves of the third party grow, new coins can be issued.

One of the most prominent stablecoins backed by exchange-traded commodities, Digix Gold Token (DGX), is backed by physical gold bullion, with 1 DGX equating to 1 gram of 99.99% LBMA (London Bullion Market Association) standard gold. Reserves are kept in a custodial vault in Singapore and users can redeem their gold by mail or pick it personally.

The traditional financial economy abandoned the gold standard in 1944 following the Bretton Woods Agreement. The gold standard restricted the ability of governments to use monetary policies such as quantitative easing to ease adverse conditions. The core values of the crypto market are based on the premise of non-intervention, meaning that the restricted ability of governments to intervene is a nonfactor in the crypto exchange.

There have been some eyebrows raised regarding the logistics of having a mainstream cryptocurrency pegged to gold. Bitcoin's growing market cap of $146 billion (CoinMarketCap) is indeed immense compared to most companies but this pales in comparison to gold.

Image Source: CoinMarketCap

As of now, there are an estimated 190,040 metric tons of gold above ground and 54,000 metric tons in known reserves underground that can be mined.

So, todays rate of $1,485 per ounce of gold means that theres approximately $12.8 trillion worth of gold in the world. If a small portion of global gold reserves were to be replaced with Bitcoin, its value would continue to grow and prices would be kept at a minimum of the price of gold.

Image Source: BullionByPost

Gold-based cryptocurrencies have some distinct advantages. Some have even gone as far as to say that they should replace gold itself, as a store of value. The amount of gold in the world is limited to the amount that can be mined. Likewise, the supply of Bitcoin maxes out at 21 million coins.

Gold is relatively portable since it can be melted and divided into smaller units. It can also be verified and is transportable given that the weight of an ounce of gold is equivalent to a slice of bread. But Bitcoin is cryptographically secured and controlled by a private key and they can be divided infinitely. I believe these features make cryptocurrencies more attractive than gold as a store of value.

The main reason for restoring a gold standard in a cryptocurrency exchange is to create a baseline or minimum value of the coin or token that will always be equivalent to that of gold. It places no limitations on prospects for growth as the price of the coin can exceed the value of gold.

Gold-pegged digital currencies offer protection from sharp dips, stabilize the market and encourage investment. The math adds up and gold would appear to be the most appropriate commodity to back a stablecoin.

No financial investment is free from mishaps, and cryptocurrencies pegged to gold are no different. While the blockchain is a highly secure means of tracking digital transactions, there are still tangible risks. This valuation system introduces concerns over storing large supplies of physical gold. If said gold were to disappear or be stolen, so too would the value of the coin.

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Equities Contributor: Oleg Spilka

Source: Equities News

DISCLOSURE:The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors, and do not represent the views of equities.com. Readers should not consider statements made by the author as formal recommendations and should consult their financial advisor before making any investment decisions. To read our full disclosure, please go to: http://www.equities.com/disclaimer.

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24-Carat Cryptocurrency: Returning to the Gold Standard - Equities.com

Controversial USD-backed stablecoin Tether is now the worlds fourth biggest cryptocurrency, only surpassed by Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple.

Tether, which is actually only 74-percent backed by cash and other assets, garnered a higher share of the market after a major sell-off.

According to CoinMarketCap, Tether currently has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion.

Its trading volume stands at $36 billion over the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin undoubtedly the worlds most famous cryptocurrency suffered a considerable decrease in terms of both price and market cap.

Although Tether enthusiasts may see this as cause for celebration,I wonder how hardcore cryptocurrency fans will stomach a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar being in the top four its likely theyll find it outright tragic.

Come say hi to the Hard Fork teamat our blockchain event. On October 15-17 in Amsterdam, hear from top experts as they discuss the industrys future.

Published September 25, 2019 15:29 UTC

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Dollar-pegged stablecoin Tether is now the worlds 4th biggest cryptocurrency - The Next Web