HALVING TROUBLES: Bitcoin miner manufacturers Bitmain and MicroBT are locked in a race to bring top-of-the-line machines to market ahead of bitcoin's halving event this Spring. On Thursday, Bitmain released its latest AntMiner S19 and S19 Pro models, which the firm hopes will recover market share lost to its fastest-growing competitor MicroBT. Full story
BLOCKCHAIN ≠ BUSINESS: It has become trendy to apply blockchain governance principles to almost anything. But what works for the technical realm of blockchains does not automatically translate to the running of businesses or social organizations, writes CoinDesk columnist William Mougayar. “Democracy is great for society and government, but it is bad for business,” he said. Full story
CIRCUMSPECT MOTIVES: Saeed Muhammad, a commander in the Iranian Armed Forces, said Iran should look to cryptocurrencies to bolster international investment despite heavy sanctions on the nation. "To circumvent sanctions, we must develop solutions such as the exchange of products and the use of cryptocurrencies with our partnerships [in other countries]." Full story
DORSEY’S DOUBLING: Nearly half the revenue on Square's Cash App came from bitcoin in the fourth quarter of 2019. A shareholder letter published Wednesday reports $3 million in gross profits on $178 million in bitcoin revenues, up 50 percent over the prior two quarters. "The peer-to-peer transfers network continues to be our best acquisition channel," Jack Dorsey, Square CEO, said. Full story
EXCHANGE TRADED FAIL: The SEC rejected Wilshire Phoenix's bid for a bitcoin-based exchange-traded fund Wednesday, arguing the New York-based company had failed to prove the bitcoin market is sufficiently resistant to market manipulation. Hester Peirce, the SEC Commissioner known as "crypto mom," published a dissent stating her agency applies a "heightened standard" to bitcoin products. Full story
FRAUD WARNING: Scammers have been sending fake versions of CoinDesk's daily newsletter to try to trick recipients into visiting a suspicious "XRP giveaway" site. If you received this message, which copied our logo and design and even used our executive editor's name in the "from" field, know that it did not come from us. (Note that the actual sender's address is not a CoinDesk.com domain.) Please forward to fraud@coindesk.com and nik@coindesk.com, and block the sender if received. |
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CRYPTO LENDING REPORT: The growth of crypto lending could attract new users and help the entire ecosystem grow. The introduction of lending, however, can also add systemic risk, and could change the very nature of the underlying assets. Will the benefits outweigh the potential vulnerabilities? This report also looks at what the near future could hold for the service, and the impact this could have on the sector as a whole. Download it for free here. |
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| BOUNCING BACK: Bitcoin has bounced from one-month lows hit early on Thursday and may extend the recovery to $9,000. The cryptocurrency is currently trading near $8,800, having hit a low of $8,520 at 01:15 UTC this morning, a level last seen on Jan. 26. A move above key resistance at $9,430 is needed to weaken bearish pressure. Full story
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| FUNDING TALKS: CoinDesk sat down with Josh Cincinnati, Zcash Foundation Executive Director, about building sustainable ways to fund the development of the privacy-preserving cryptocurrency. “The thing that matters most when when funding public goods … is to establish legitimacy in the process," meaning product users must be involved in the conversation, Cincinnati said. Watch now |
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