The State of The Market — February 14, 2019BTC: $3,611.84 (-0.52%)ETH: $121.70 (-0.93%)XRP: $0.302635 (-0.38%)
The market is in negative today, as Bitcoin is testing its support at $3,600. It is not a strong support yet, and if bears have it their way, Bitcoin could once again crash to $3,400 over the weekend when the volumes are low. The total market cap lost $1 Billion in the last 24 hours, and all of the top 10 cryptocurrencies have posted small losses. The market is following Bitcoin’s price movement right now and Bitcoin dominance remains unchanged.
In other news, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has suggested that a new smart contract function called “Create2” be integrated into the upcoming Constantinople upgrade. The function adds a new attack vector to the platform and allows a smart contract to be created at an address that can be determined beforehand by different parties. The new function is designed to allow interaction with a smart contract that does not yet exist on the blockchain and it would be included in EIP-1014. Also, Busan, South Korea’s second-most populated city after Seoul has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with blockchain company Hyundai Pay. Hyundai Pay has developed a blockchain platform and a cryptocurrency wallet. The partnership is to promote the growth of fintech startups and jobs in Busan. Hyundai Pay will relocate its headquarters to Busan and build the needed infrastructure.
1) Market materials from Intel show that the company has launched a commercial blockchain package based on Hyperledger’s ecosystem. According to Intel, the blockchain suite is designed for businesses desiring to launch their own blockchain fast and effectively. The platform will allow users to develop blockchain-based applications and it uses Xeon processors along with other Intel hardware. Intel says the suite includes all the necessary components to launch a hyperledger-driven blockchain and Intel says that the package is “enterprise-ready”. (Read More)
2) Sweden’s XBT Provider has canceled the launch of its cryptocurrency basket due to volatility. XBT launched the world’s first Bitcoin tracker, Bitcoin Tracker One in 2015 and subsequently launched Bitcoin exchange-traded note (ETN). XBT said it needs more knowledge about hard forks and different communities before listing coins. XBT’s CEO Laurent Kssis said, “If we get it wrong, these assets will drop and if they’re part of the basket we can’t go back because it’s in the final term-sheet.” XBT wants the crypto market to settle and give further clarity before revisiting its plans. For now, it has been shelved without a launch date. (Read More)
3) German pharmaceutical multinational Boehringer Ingelheim has announced that it is set to trial IBM Blockchain in clinical trials. The company is hoping to improve trust, transparency, patient safety, and patient improvement in clinical trials using blockchain. Currently, clinical trial processes and records are often erroneous or incomplete. Boehringer will test the integrity of blockchain in this sector with IBM. Early last year, Pfizer, Amgen and Sanofi were considering blockchain for developing and testing new drugs and another pharma firm Merck filed a patent to use blockchain in manufacturing medicines. Also, the Indian government plans on using blockchain to prevent counterfeit drugs. (Read More)
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