Daily TL;DR - January 19th (Your One Stop Daily News)

DAILY TL;DR W/ CHESLINK
JANUARY 15TH – 19TH
January 19th

1. BTC NEWS
2. IN OTHER NEWS

MARKETCAP ANALYSIS

Recap from 11/20
Market Cap: $243,311,416,536
24h Vol: $7,403,167,283
BTC Dominance: 56.2%

As of 12/11
Market Cap: $462,879,608,891
24h Vol: $25,098,117,991
BTC Dominance: 61.7%

As of 12/31
Market Cap: $592,941,301,681
24h Vol: $33,207,433,786
BTC Dominance: 38.0%

As of 1/8
Market Cap: $743,509,110,252
24h Vol: $49,897,768,988
BTC Dominance: 34.2%

As of 1/15
Market Cap: $644,874,662,903
24h Vol: $38,996,461,258
BTC Dominance: 34.4%

As of 1/17
Market Cap: $547,619,005,202
24h Vol: $58,838,546,348
BTC Dominance: 34.9%

As of 1/19
Market Cap: $578,716,549,272
24h Vol: $33,601,889,009
BTC Dominance: 34.1%

BTC NEWS

France and Germany Upcoming Possibility of Bitcoin Regulations
• http://www.ejinsight.com/20180119-france-germany-to-make-joint-bitcoin-regulation-proposal-at-g20/

France and Germany will make joint proposals to regulate the bitcoin cryptocurrency at the next summit of the G20 group of major economies in Argentina in March, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said.

“We will have a joint Franco-German analysis of the risks linked to bitcoin, regulation proposals and these will be submitted as a joint proposal to our G20 counterparts at the G20 summit in Argentina in March,” Reuters quoted Le Maire as telling reporters.

Bitcoin Doomed with No More Customers?
• https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2018/01/19/bitcoin-stuck-without-plan-gain-customers-could-doomed

According to Moore, there are three types of customers who first adopt technologies in a predictable sequence. Innovators are technologists at heart and arrive first, even before a compelling use case may exist. Next, Early Adopters are visionaries who have taken notice of the Innovators, and they see the disruptive potential of a new technology.

Finally, the Early Majority arrives. These customers are pragmatists. They do not seek the first-mover advantage that the Early Adopters prize; rather, they want workable solutions and will not be patient with glitches and bugs. This group is massive compared to the Innovators and Early Adopters, and their adoption is critical to a technology's success.

IN OTHER NEWS

DASH Scholarship at ASU
• http://bitcoinist.com/dash-funds-blockchain-research-arizona-state-university/

In November last year, Arizona State University (ASU) entered into a collaboration with Dash, a top-20 cryptocurrency with a market cap of just over $6.5 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. The self-funding crypto offers many distinctive characteristics, including instant and private transactions through its InstantSend and PrivateSend features respectively.

According to AZ Big Media, the move came after Dash donated $50k to the ASU’s Blockchain Research Laboratory (BRL) in August last year.

The partnership will introduce the Dash Scholars Program, which will provide $100k to fund undergraduate and graduate research fellowships, and open source projects. The program will also contribute $100k to the BRL and $50k to the Luminosity Lab and blockchain course development. In addition, $100k will be allocated to an ASU online graduate course scheduled for this fall.

Vitalik’s DAICO Alternative to ICOs
• https://themerkle.com/vitalik-buterin-releases-revolutionary-new-daico-model-for-icos/

Buterin’s proposed model could greatly improve the traditional structure of an ICO and eliminate the risk of resources being used in an inappropriate manner by ICO creators for personal gain. The “DAO” in “DAOICO” refers to a Decentralized Autonomous Organization that is governed by a smart contract.

A DAICO contract is published by a single development team that wishes to raise funds for a project. The DAICO contract starts off in ‘contribution mode,’ specifying a mechanism by which anyone can contribute ETH to the contract, and get tokens in exchange. This could be a capped sale, an uncapped sale, a Dutch auction, an interactive coin offering, a KYC’d sale with dynamic per-person caps, or whatever other mechanism the team chooses. Once the contribution period ends, the ability to contribute ETH stops and the initial token balances are set; from there on the tokens can become tradeable.

In addition to publishing the new DAICO model, Buterin also announced subsidies of between US$50,000 and US$1 million to reward any work that contributes to solving the ongoing scalability issue present in the cryptocurrency environment.

Crypto Trading Bots
• https://bravenewcoin.com/news/cryptocurrency-trading-bots/

Gekko is a free open-source bitcoin trading bot that can be found on Github. It allows users to execute basic cryptocurrency trading strategies. The bot aggregates live price data, calculates indicators, executes live orders, and can simulate live markets using historical price data for the backtesting of trading strategies.

While its functionalities are somewhat limited compared to some of its peers, Gekko is a good trading bot for those new to the cryptocurrency markets who want to test out different automated trading strategies.

ZenBot is another open-source cryptocurrency trading software that can be found on GitHub. It can be downloaded for free and its code can be modified by anyone who feels it could use an upgrade. Zenbot supports multiple digital assets and uses a technical analysis-focused approach to execute trading strategies. It also offers high-frequency trade execution, extensive backtesting, and a paper trading function to test strategies in real-time.

Having said that, on the bot’s GitHub page its developer warns from using it with large amounts of trading capital as some users have reported losses in live trading even when paper trades showed gains.

CryptoTrader is a cloud-based platform that allows users to develop their own cryptocurrency trading bots which are hosted on the platform. The software supports multiple currencies and exchanges, and allows for thorough backtesting of trading strategies. Additionally, CryptoTrader provides a marketplace where users can sell trading strategies that they have developed as well as buy other user’s strategies.

The prices for subscriptions to CryptoTrader ranges from 0.0013 BTC to 0.016 BTC per month and can be paid for in both bitcoin and litecoin.

Haasbot is probably the most popular crypto trading bot on the market today. The bot provides candlestick chart pattern recognition and allows users to combine that with several other trading signals to develop more advanced crypto trading strategies. Furthermore, the trading bot is supported by a long list of major bitcoin exchanges and is fully customizable in terms of when it should execute trades.

Haasbot also allows users to engage in arbitrage across exchanges as well as protect their investments using stop-loss limits, among other value-adding functionalities. At a price ranging from 0.035 BTC to 0.084 BTC for a three-month license, this bot is at the higher price end and recommended for more advanced traders.

OMG Potentials
• https://medium.com/@petehumiston/omisego-omg-real-problems-real-solutions-everything-you-need-to-know-8-reasons-to-buy-92551527c0a7

I have derived a value of $74.25 per token by looking out to 2022 and discounting fees from transactions (Discounted Fee Flow/ DFF). My price target is based on several assumptions (discussed below) and potential share of the remittance market, mobile wallet market, cryptocurrency trading volumes, and digital economy that I believe OmiseGO could capture. Although a bullish price target from current levels, I believe I could be severely underestimating the value of OmiseGO given conservative assumptions, lack of global market data, and other market opportunities not addressed. I’ve also included a sensitivity analysis to further analyze the impact of tweaks to discount rate & transaction fees. Note: I am modeling for Asia markets ex China.

Everex and OMG Possible Visa Connection
•

https://twitter.com/AtichaiSiri/status/953950270618181633

- AtichaiSiri

Everex and Omise got invited by Visa to join Visa’s Everywhere Initiative for exploration of payment solutions! Stay tuned for bigger news, guys!

BAT to Work with Twitter
• https://www.reddit.com/r/BATProject/comments/7l4033/transcript_of_ama_with_brendan_eich_ceo_of_brave/
• https://mobile.twitter.com/BrendanEich/status/954010713944551424

On Twitter, it is on the roadmap after Twitch. As with Reddit, requires parsing the DOM to find payees.

Vitalik Leaves VC for Full Time ETH Work
• https://investfeededge.com/ethereum-co-founder-vitalik-buterin-leaves-fenbushi-capital/

Vitalik Buterin, co-creator of Ethereum (ETH/USD) and one of the more prominent figures in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space, has stepped down from his position at Chinese venture capital firm Fenbushi Capital.

Founded in 2015, Fenbushi invests solely in blockchain-enabled companies, with the aim to “accelerate the inevitable future of Blockchain economy.” Buterin was initially involved with the firm as a General Partner; however, Buterin and Fenbushi have both officially confirmed that he will now be staying on only in an advisory capacity, with Buterin clarifying that he will “no longer be able to devote sufficient time to meet the growing demands of both Fenbushi and Ethereum.”

Among Buterin’s concerns were the facts that blockchain tech has yet to relieve the world’s unbanked, provide censorship-resistant commerce for the masses, facilitate micropayments, advance the potential of smart contracts, and rescue citizens of countries struck by hyperinflation.

Explaining that his aim is to direct his energies solely toward developing Ethereum to meet rising expectations, and ensure that it can ‘walk the walk’, Buterin stated that he would be focusing on the numerous challenges the platform was facing, such as scalability issues and the introduction of sharding and the Casper proof of stake protocol.

“I expect 2018, at least within the Ethereum space that I’m best able to speak about, will be the year of action. It will be the year where all of the ideas around scalability, Plasma, proof-of-stake, and privacy that we have painstakingly worked on and refined over the last four years are finally going to turn into real, live working code that you can play around in a highly mature form in some cases on testnets, and in some key cases even on the public mainnet. Everyone in the Ethereum space recognizes that the world is watching, and we are ready to deliver.”

US Treasury Warns about Venezuelan Petro Crypto
• https://themerkle.com/us-treasury-warns-investors-about-petro-cryptocurrency/

Venezuela’s Petro cryptocurrency has made a lot of media headlines over the past few weeks. For now, it still remains unclear how well this project will fare, especially because the country’s Senate has no plans to approve it. It seems the US Treasury Department is warning investors regarding the new cryptocurrency. It is possible that this form of money violates sanctions against the OPEC nation’s socialist government.

According to the US Treasury Department, the Petro can be seen as an extension of credit to the Venezuelan government. This would consequently expose US-based investors to legal risk if they purchase this currency in the future. The consequences of such risk should not be underestimated. In fact, it would open up a proverbial can of worms no one wants to tangle with right now. For now, the Treasury’s statement is only an official warning rather than an actual guideline, though.

Byteball (Another DAG)
• https://themerkle.com/introducing-byteball-a-dag-based-digital-currency/

To help fix blockchain issues, new technologies are emerging on the market, known as data acyclic graph systems (DAG). New cryptocurrencies have emerged, such as IOTA, RailBlocks and Byteball. The systems upon which these currencies are based allow users to further leverage the potential of the technology.

Byteball offers numerous benefits, such as:

• Encrypted chat between users
• Blackbytes providing private, untraceable value transfers
• Ability to send Bytes via chat apps
• Multi-signature support
• A user-friendly wallet
• No limitation to the number of transactions
• A fair distribution and a limited supply
• Smart contracts can bind transactions to conditions
• GB/BTC exchange, insurance against flight delays etc.
• Ability to send Bytes via email by adding the recipient's email address where you would normally add their Byteball address.

OKCoin to Launch in Korea
• https://www.coindesk.com/okcoin-to-launch-cryptocurrency-exchange-service-in-south-korea/

According to The Korea Times, the Beijing-based firm is eyeing a partnership with NHN Entertainment, a Korean developer, publisher, and distributor of mobile and PC games, for the venture.

The news source suggests that NHN is considering the partnership and an equity investment, though the move has apparently not been finalized
OKCoin was established in China in 2013, but had to shutter its domestic exchange operations in October 2017, following Chinese regulators' crackdown on cryptocurrency exchanges. Since then, the company has shifted to an over-the-counter model, and turned its attention to international markets.

The exchange has already put in place the OKCoin Korea website and is accepting pre-orders for cryptocurrencies before the official launch. It aims to offer more than 60 digital currencies to be traded against the Korean won, according to the site.

VeChain So Much Hype
• http://ethereumworldnews.com/vechain-recommended-choice-step-rockets/

First thing first, the coin launched two-three years ago in 2015 being part of a product that does have actual users right now. In the community and ecosystem we enthusiast about maybe everyday that is rare to meet.
The firm backing up the digital currency is a BaaS company [Blockchain-as-a-Service] targeting on developing towards the IoT [Internet of Things]. Might sound similar to IOTA [MIOTA], however unlike the later one – VeChain is on the authenticity within supply chains terms.

The idea is that, by using blockchain technology, the authenticity of goods that are purchased can be verified. It’s a system that aims to ensure product quality, but in a decentralized, global network that cuts across industries. Using smart chips, products are tracked throughout their lifecycles. The chips can also help with quality control, like with agricultural or food product where a change in temperature could affect the goods.

DragonChain
• https://medium.com/@PAAlmasi/dragonchain-blockchain-business-magic-9c3ffe4ad47e

In 2014, Disney started privately developing a blockchain project, DragonChain, that would provide enterprises with over 20 use cases. Several years later in 2017, Disney agreed to make the project open sourced and helped created the DragonChain Foundation to maintain ownership and responsibility of the open source code. The team is now in the process of creating server-less environments for enterprises, as well as creating an incubator to encourage startups to leverage their blockchain. Today, DragonChain trades for $3 a coin, however, since the DragonChain team already has a fully functioning product, with over 200 projects set to utilize their incubator, and a planned integration with Amazon AWS, this coin could easily trade for $60 a coin in 12 months.

The DragonChain mission to create a truly scalable and secure blockchain solution for enterprises has clearly filled a demand as the platform already has 200 projects in the pipeline. Pair their adoption progression with the planned integration with Amazon AWS and this coin could undoubtedly touch $60 a coin in 12 months.

NapoleonX Algorithmic AI Trading
• https://cointelegraph.com/news/trading-bots-to-govern-an-investment-strategy-of-newly-created-decentralized-autonomous-funds

NaPoleonX answers two questions. The first one relates to the use of Blockchain technology in investment beyond the crypto-world and the second one relates to the merger of conventional and crypto-trading. In Blockchain-based algorithmic asset management, investors will find a solution to both profitability and security.

In anticipation of broad conventional asset tokenization, the highly experienced NaPoleonX team has innovated the Decentralized Autonomous Fund (DAF) that makes investing in both cryptocurrencies and conventional assets on the same platform possible and robust. As trading bots are posing a real challenge to conventional asset management methods, being more effective and cost-efficient, NaPoleonX is introducing algorithms so that cryptocurrencies can be traded securely and transparently. In short, NaPoleonX is an innovative investment platformdevoted to cryptocurrency holders.

NaPoleonX will be fully regulated and licensed, and Napoleon Crypto SAS already has 20 high performing strategies which enable the creation of 10 DAFs. The ICO for this ambitious project will be launched Jan. 22nd and the team is aiming to collect €15 mln.

Visa Will Not Support Any Cryptos
• http://www.livebitcoinnews.com/visa-confirms-will-not-support-bitcoin-cryptocurrencies-future/

A lot of cryptocurrency users are not too happy with Visa right now. Their decision to suspend WaveCrest’s services has not gone over too well. It seems the payment card giant has another reason for this rather sudden decision. More specifically, they have zero intention of supporting any cryptocurrency through their network. Bitcoin is not a payment system, hence it has no business piggybacking on Visa’s infrastructure. A very clear sentiment that will create some interesting discussions.

There is a good reason why Visa and cryptocurrencies won’t play nice. In fact, everyone knows these two industries will not mix particularly well. Visa is the world’s largest credit card company in the world. Most people used Visa-issued cards to spend cryptocurrencies in a more convenient manner. For Visa, this brought along a lot of new users, but also grave concerns. After all, the company doesn’t want to bear any responsibility for currencies they don’t natively support. Right now, fiat currency-based transactions are the only type the company plans to process.