From the case for Bitcoin’s use as digital gold to Ethereum’s Constantinople upgrade, here’s a look at some of the stories breaking in the world of crypto.
Bitcoin
New market analysis shows more than half of Bitcoin’s supply hasn’t moved in a year.
According to crypto research firm Delphi Digital, the growing number of investors who are “hodling” their Bitcoin indicates the market may be near a bottom.
“In the second half of 2018, the 1 year UTXO band began to exhibit a positive growth trajectory directly in tandem with the 1-2 Year band as older UTXO bands remained flat. We’re seeing an accumulation process now similar to the one at the end of 2014. This would imply a bottom is in sight.”
In addition, the number of investors who haven’t moved their BTC in more than five years has reached 20%. That means more than 4 million Bitcoin could be stashed away for good, lending support to the argument that Bitcoin could emerge as a new form of increasingly scarce digital gold.
Ethereum
The Ethereum-based development studio ConsenSys has released a detailed look at the upcoming Constantinople update.
The post examines the coming change to Ethereum’s block rewards, which will be lowered by a third on January 16th.
Ripple and XRP
Ripple is looking for an IT support specialist. The San Francisco startup now has a total of 37 job openings.
Meanwhile, XRP is now available on GB Exchange, a subsidiarity of the Gibraltar Stock Exchange. The platform launched in July after raising $27 million in funding.
Cardano
IOHK, the creator of Cardano, says it’s moving its headquarters from Hong Kong to Wyoming. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson confirmed the move in an interview with EAK Digital.
Tron
Tron has hired SEC attorney David Labhart as its new chief of compliance. Tron founder Justin Sun says the move will ensure the platform stays on top of regulatory compliance.
“As the cryptocurrency space matures, investors and regulatory agencies around the world must trust that TRON has a forward-thinking and stable growth trajectory that doesn’t run afoul of any regulatory requirements.”
Labhart spent nine years at the SEC, focusing on broker-dealers, investment advisors and self-regulatory organizations.
Augur and 0x
The Ethereum-based gambling DApp Augur says it’s integrating Veil on January 15th. Veil leverages the 0x protocol to make trading faster and cheaper.
Meanwhile, new analysis on the real-world use of Augur from Tetras Capital founding partner Alex Sunnarborg indicates that Augur is struggling with adoption. There’s now less than $100,000 at stake on the platform.
According to Augur’s official weekly report, however, the total value of bets on the platform has reached $2,040,934 (13,451 ETH).
IOTA
Episode 3 of the official IOTA Tangle podcast is out. It analyzes a number of new business models that are forming, thanks to distributed ledgers.
“We are speaking to Simon Jegelka, managing director in the German flood protection start-up, topocare, and to Daniel Trauth, leader of the industrial IOTA lab Aachen and department head at the laboratory for machine tools and production engineering of RWTH Aachen University.
Both of them have received grants from the IOTA Ecosystem Development Fund in their efforts to improve industrial business models by using distributed ledger technologies.”