Month / Apr 2020

by geoffreykfcheng

Binance’s Acquisition of CoinMarketCap Prompts Mixed Reactions

Despite markets around the world facing economic troubles amid the coronavirus pandemic, it seems that the crypto industry has been able to remain unaffected by COVID-19. Earlier last week, Binance has agreed to buy CoinMarketCap for an undisclosed sum – believed to be one of the largest acquisitions in the blockchain space.

A week has passed since The Block first reported that Binance was in the final stages of acquiring the crypto data site. While some users felt that the acquisition was beneficial for the crypto ecosystem, there are also those who think that the deal could give Binance access to a pool of data and unfair advantage over its competitors.

It did not take long for members of the crypto community to weigh in with their opinions. While CoinGecko’s COO Bobby Ong believes that it will be difficult for CoinMarketCap to stay neutral, according to Cointelegraph, many others are largely supportive of the deal.

CoinMarketCap to Remain Neutral and Independent
Fending off concerns over potential conflicts of interest, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) said in an interview with CoinDesk that he had no immediate plans for CoinMarketCap, and that the website will remain independent from Binance under a holding company.

In a recent Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) session, CZ wrote:

My perspective is not to acquire CoinMarketCap so that we can redirect all the traffic to Binance.com. Binance will continue to compete independently. CoinMarketCap will also compete independently. Both platforms need to be able to grow and compete on their own.

On the other hand, CoinMarketCap founder Brandon Chez announced in a letter to their users that he will be stepping down as CEO and will be replaced by the company’s current chief strategy officer, Carylyne Chan, as interim CEO.

Committed to maintaining neutrality and independence, Chen addressed concerns that any cryptoasset or exchange applying for listing on the website will be fairly evaluated in accordance with their listings policy.

I am determined to eliminate any possibility of preferential treatment, and our team has also committed to enforcing this policy. All this will be done in spite of any positive or negative financial effect this adherence to policy might have for our parent company.

(Article: Geoffrey Cheng / NexChangeNOW.)

by geoffreykfcheng

Zoom CEO Addresses Security and Privacy Concerns as Cisco Webex Sees User Growth

If you opened a Zoom link earlier this week and noticed that passwords are now required to join a meeting, you are not alone.

Private Meetings Gone Public
Effective April 5th, Zoom has enabled passwords and virtual waiting rooms as the default setting. However, the new security measure only addresses a single item on a long list of privacy issues that could not hide behind a virtual background.

As the number of its users rocketed during the coronavirus crisis, the video-conferencing platform has also been increasingly criticised over security and privacy concerns. After weeks of negative press about end-to-end encryption, news of zoom-bombing and user data being routed through China, it is discovered that thousands of private user videos have been exposed online. In an effort to restore the reputation of the video-conferencing platform, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan publicly apologised and promised to proactively fix the issues.

Seeking Alternatives
In response to the rise in remote work, video conferencing is becoming the norm for companies around the world. While Zoom is receiving backlash for security and privacy concerns, users look to its competitors – Cisco Webex, Skype, etc. Many of them offer freemium plans to attract new users. Meanwhile, some members of the blockchain community have started turning to open-source alternatives and privacy-focused messaging apps.

Protect your data as much as your health. After all, security is only as strong as the weakest link.

(Article: Geoffrey Cheng / NexChangeNOW.)

by geoffreykfcheng

NexChangeNOW Daily Briefing – Tuesday April 07, 2020

Listen in:

Briefing voiced by Geoffrey Cheng

What Moved Global Markets
Coronavirus update:
– Global cases: More than 1.3 million
– Global deaths: At least 74,300
– US cases: At least 368,000

  1. According to WHO, research to develop vaccines and treatments to fight the coronavirus has “accelerated at incredible speed.”
  2. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is now in intensive care, after he was diagnosed with COVID-19.
  3. There is growing optimism that euro-zone finance ministers will approve new funding to the countries wrestling with the coronavirus pandemic, but division over so-called “corona bonds” is likely to remain.
  4. Stocks jumped, rebounding from sharp losses in the previous week, as the number of new coronavirus cases in the U.S. appeared to slow down. Each of the major indexes rallied more than 5%. Stocks actually hit session highs minutes before the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 1,700 points higher.
  5. Oil prices fell on Monday amid ongoing uncertainty around the prospect of production cuts. The move lower came even as the CEO of Russian sovereign wealth fund RDIF told CNBC that Moscow and Riyadh were “very close” to an oil deal, and as Russia reportedly said it was ready to reduce output, according to Reuters.

Crypto Prices (from CoinMarketCap)
Bitcoin: Up 6.39% to $7,287.84
Total trading volume (24h): $49.51+ billion USD

Ethereum: Up 16.14% to $168.24
Total trading volume (24h): $23.52+ billion USD

3 biggest movers 24 hours
Biggest Mover 1: eosDAC (EOSDAC) is up 308.17% to $0.008496
Biggest Mover 2: Helpico (HELP) is up 184.72% to $0.084596
Biggest Loser: Super Bitcoin (SBTC) is down 57.65% to $0.377167

What Moved Crypto Markets (i.e. digital assets)

  1. Investors have brought class-action lawsuits in federal court against seven cryptocurrency issuers and four exchanges, claiming they sold billions of dollars in unregistered assets in violation of U.S. securities laws. The defendants include crypto issuers Block.one and Tron, and exchanges Binance and BitMEX. The investors said that BitMEX, in addition to selling unregistered securities, also manipulated the cryptocurrency market for its own benefit.
  2. TheBlock reports: major cryptocurrency exchanges appear to remain unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic impact. At least seven exchanges The Block spoke they have seen an uptick in user sign-ups and trading volumes, These include Kraken, Gemini, Bitfinex, OKEx, Bitstamp, Paxful, and KyberSwap.
  3. A group of companies including Consensys and Hyperledger are backing a virtual hackathon focused on solutions for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Announced last Thursday in a Consensys blog post, the hackathon aims to bring together developers and health experts to “build blockchain solutions to help collect, standardize, verify, and optimize data to aid scientists as they seek to better understand COVID-19”. For those looking to compete, the prize money for the STOP COVID-19 Hackathon totals $20,000, including $10,000 for first place, $7,000 for second place and $3,000 for third place. Winning entries will be fast-tracked for additional funding sources through Gitcoin and ConsenSys grants, as well as other funding opportunities within ConsenSys Health.
  4. Crypto exchange Poloniex has rolled out a new token issuance platform called “LaunchBase.” Announced on Sunday, the platform’s first supported project is Tron’s decentralized stablecoin system called “JUST.” JUST was initially named “Djed” when it was announced last week. It is the Tron Foundation’s MakerDAO-like stablecoin system.

Other Specialties
Fintech: The Bank of Korea, the country’s central bank, has launched a pilot program for testing its own CBDC. Announcing the news on Monday, the central bank said the program was launched last month and would run until December 2021. The 22-month program is aimed at identifying technical and legal provisions required to create and issue a digital currency.  On the technical side, it would define central bank digital currency (CBDC) design, an operation method of CBDC, and whether blockchain technology would be feasible to implement.
Healthtech, AI: IBM wants to help researchers better understand and treat COVID-19. To do so, it’s putting its AI to work. It has released a series of new tools to aggregate data, help researchers explore potential therapies, advance the study of newly sequenced SARS-CoV-2 genomes and make the latest info available to healthcare professionals. IBM is also making its Functional Genomics Platform available for free for the duration of the pandemic.
Smart cities: Google Maps is adding another new feature, one that allows users to easily find restaurants nearby that provide takeout and delivery options. Where Google Maps previously let people click to quickly find restaurants and coffee shops, users will now see options for takeout and delivery in the app. The new feature might also help keep restaurants in business, as lockdown restrictions prevent them from serving people inside. And, since Google Maps links users directly to a restaurant, users may be saving themselves, or the restaurant, fees associated with delivery services.

NexChangeNOW Pick of the Day
Coronavirus tracking raises privacy concerns

(Recording & Briefing: Geoffrey Cheng / NexChangeNOW.)