IOTA (MIOTA): The recent announcement by Johann Jungwirth, the Chief Digital Officer of Volkswagen Group of the possibility of increasing the number of IOTA-connected cars has caused a buzz amongst the IOTA community. We look at the overall events that went down at #Cebit18 and the proof of concept employed by IOTA. We also focus on other events in the IOTA ecosystem such as the listing on BitPanda. Finally we detail the key figures that have seen IOTA investors brimming with hope.
IOTA’s recovery in price comes following its partnership with Volkswagen towards the development of connected blockchain cars. In a demonstration by the two companies, IOTA was able to showcase their proof of concept Tangle system at the Cebit 18. The blockchain PoC model for autonomous vehicles proved to be an efficient model for connectivity of the cars through decentralized applications developed on IOTA’s blockchain. Volkswagen plans to have over 250 million cars with Tangle integration by 2020 which is a great step for IOTA as it continues to push for the adoption of its services in real life.
Besides development of smart cars, Volkswagen is also working with IOTA to facilitate the development of Mobile as a service product (MaaS) which is expected to enhance smart vehicles’ functionalities by enabling payments and other services. Volkswagen is a key player in the auto industry with sales estimated at over USD 300 billion and over 600,000 employees. It has a great reach in the market with its products sold across all continents globally. Its partnership with IOTA is therefore a great tool for IOTA to reach mass utility.
The Tangle ecosystem also powers IOTA’s ID citizen cards which are expected in the course of the year. Tangle facilitates identification on the citizen cards through a unique protocol that makes the process of identification simpler. The cards are aimed at enhancing real life functionality for the IOTA ecosystem with Taipei being the first city to implement it in its goals to become a smart city.
Bitpanda is the latest crypto exchange platform to list IOTA (MIOTA) for trading. This follows demand from the exchange’s community to have the coin listed. The coin is however only available for buy or sell trades and efforts to build a fully functional IOTA wallet with additional features to send and withdraw the coin on the exchange is underway. Bitpanda is a European based crypto exchange platform with over 850,000 users and built with the aim of becoming a fast, secure and easy to use exchange in the market. Its listing of IOTA opens up more opportunities for acquisition and liquidity for the coin with increased activity in Europe.
Supporting infrastructure
IOTA has an active community through which the platform continues to be developed and improved. Its design as a blockless infrastructure continues to excite the market disrupting an industry that is still in its early stages. Other players such as Exchange hub have come in to support IOTA by developing solutions that help reduce the amount of time required for businesses to integrate IOTA into their systems.
Key numbers on IOTA
IOTA (MIOTA) is the 9th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization with a value of USD 3.8 billion. IOTA has been trading on a downward trend from a closing price of USD 1.83 on 20th May to its current selling price of USD 1.22 a unit. The current price is however 3.8% higher than yesterday closing price and it has gained 7% since trading begun today. The coin’s 24 hour trade volumes have consistently averaged between USD 50 million and USD 100 million over the last month. This represents 0.61% of the total daily trade volumes in the industry ranking it 7th among the top 10 largest cryptocurrencies and 18th overall.
By Lujan Odera
Crypto Globalist