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What Moved Global Markets
– China and the United States have agreed to roll back tariffs on each others’ goods as part of the first phase of a trade deal, officials from both sides said on Thursday, offering a new sign of progress despite ongoing divisions about the months-long dispute.
– The Dow and S&P 500 notched record closing highs on Thursday as the latest signs of progress in U.S.-China trade relations relieved investors, but a report raising fresh worries about the outlook for a deal limited the day’s gains.
– The U.S. government is likely soon to spell out how it will enforce oversight of foreign investment in the United States, a U.S. official said on Thursday, after a law last year expanded the agency’s authority to crack down on harmful Chinese investment.
Crypto Prices (from CoinMarketCap)
Bitcoin: Down 0.97% to $9,263.08
Total trading volume (24h): $22.5+ billion USD
Ethereum: Down 1.75% to $188.15
Total trading volume (24h): $9.03+ billion USD
3 biggest movers 24 hours
Biggest Mover 1: Universa up 156.37% to $0.004006
Biggest Mover 2: (top100) DxChain Token up 85.07% to $0.001031
Biggest Loser: Bitcoin File down 60.68% to $0.000856
What moved Crypto Markets (i.e. digital assets)
– The central banks of Hong Kong and Thailand have been researching digital currency use cases and are planning to release their joint research report by the first quarter of 2020. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced the news at a forum on Wednesday.
– Coinbase announced in a blog post that it is now offering staking services for all U.S. customers, starting with Tezos. Customers holding any Tezos held on the exchange will be eligible to collect staking rewards of approximately 5%.
– AAX, a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange that uses the London Stock Exchange (LSE)’s matching engine technology, has officially launched. After 19 months of development and testing, the company said on Thursday that the exchange platform has gone live on web and mobile, targeting retail and institutional investors with spot, futures and over-the-counter P2P trading.
Other Specialties
Fintech: The municipal Shanghai government has joined forces with financial institutions to create an alliance to foster the use of blockchain for global trade. The Global Times reported on Nov. 7 that during the China International Import Expo earlier today, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, Shanghai Customs and representatives from six bank branches — including the People’s Bank of China and Bank of Communications — signed a Blockchain Alliance proposal for the city’s e-port area.
Healthtech: Apple has teamed up with Veteran Affairs (VA) to allow veterans to now access their health records via iPhone.
Al: The research lab OpenAI has released the full version of a text-generating AI system that experts warned that it was too dangerous to share, as it could be used for malicious purposes. The institute originally announced the system, GPT-2, in February this year, but withheld the full version of the program out of fear it would be used to spread fake news, spam, and disinformation. Since then it’s released smaller, less complex versions of GPT-2 and studied their reception. Others also replicated the work. In a blog post this week, OpenAI now says it’s seen “no strong evidence of misuse” and has released the model in full.
Smart cities: Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) released a paper this week showcasing new navigation technology to help delivery robots find customers’ front doors more quickly and efficiently.
NexChangeNOW Pick of the Day
The US Federal Reserve is hiring someone to “contribute to innovations research including digital currencies, stablecoins, distributed ledger technologies, and broadly financial/digital innovation in retail”.
http://www.nexchangenow.com/news/fintech/71500/the-fed-is-looking-for-someone-to-research-digital-currencies/