Just Like Stocks, Cryptocurrencies Have Risks Although no one could predict the patterns in which cryptocurrencies move with the same kind of precision that we do with stocks, these assets do share certain common traits with equity investments. First, like some stocks, cryptocurrencies are volatile and sensitive to any kind of related news (like how…
If you mentioned cryptocurrency in a conversation with someone in passing last year, most people just assumed you were talking about Bitcoin, but now it seems those times have changed. Altcoins have strongly emerged in the mainstream light after Bitcoin futures contracts began trading on major exchanges in mid-December. The price of Bitcoin has now…
The most cost-efficient Bitcoin miners are application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) which are specifically designed for mining. The largest ASIC producer is currently Bitmain, a Chinese company headed by Jihan Wu. Bitmain Antminers account for a large percentage of the total hash rate. Both the S9 and L3+ models are currently sold out. A new contender for…
Using Bitcoin to send donations is a well-worn and proven concept, and 2017’s unprecedented bitcoin gains have enabled various early adopters to launch philanthropic endeavours. Wikileaks became the first to take advantage of bitcoin for donations in 2010, and has championed its use ever since. The first rush of mainstream charities accepting donations was in…
The cryptocurrency market has taken a beating this week after CoinMarketCap unexpectedly removed South Korean exchanges from its index, which in turn caused major but temporary uninformed panic sell-offs. Source: CoinMarketCap What started out as a scary week for cryptocurrency has begun to make its way back. Like any market, corrections are inevitable but this…
Bitcoin has gained significant price appreciation last year with few shortfalls, hitting the peak of $19,343 in mid-Dec. However, bitcoin price started tumbling since then and fell to around $12,000 level at the end of the last year. It is currently trading just below $14,000. The price of bitcoin declined more than $2,000 compared to…
2017 has been an important day for both Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general. While hopefully not as tumultuous, 2018 is looking like it will bring us a lot of interesting innovation in the space. Here are some of the things I’m personally looking forward to seeing unfold in the new year. ICO Securities After the SEC’s investigative…
I’ve blogged quite a bit about adapting to change lately, and will continue to do so as banking-as-usual (BAU) is not an option. It’s similar to standing in the middle of the road. If you stand there for long enough, you’ll get run over. This is as true in banking: if you stop changing, you…
Ever wanted to buy oceanfront real estate in British Columbia? It will currently cost you around 200 bitcoin today but tomorrow, it might cost you 250. Camilla Stephan-Heck and her husband have decided to accept the highly volatile cryptocurrency in exchange for their beautiful Vancouver Island home. Calculated in dollars, the couple is seeking $2.7…
Chinese Internet Giant Baidu Launches Blockchain-as-a-Service Platform Chinese web search giant Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) has now launched its own blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) platform, calling it the “most user-friendly” blockchain service in the industry. According to Baidu, this platform was built on the company’s self-developed project, and it can make and trace transactions related to digital currencies, digital…
