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What Moved Global Markets
– US/Iran tensions update: Both the United States and Iran pulled back from new military action. The United States told the United Nations that the killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani last week was self-defense and vowed to take additional action “as necessary” in the Middle East to protect U.S. personnel and interests. In turn, Iran’s U.N. Ambassador wrote in his official letter that Tehran “does not seek escalation or war” after exercising its right to self-defense by taking a “measured and proportionate military response targeting an American airbase in Iraq.” The U.S. Army had to make an official statement after recruiting offices in the U.S. were hit with a barrage of panicked phone calls over the fraudulent text messages.
– US/China trade deal update: China’s Vice Premier Liu He, head of the country’s negotiation team in Sino-U.S. trade talks, will sign a “Phase 1” deal in Washington next week, the commerce ministry said on Thursday. Liu will visit Washington on Jan. 13-15. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Dec. 31 that the Phase 1 deal with China would be signed on these dates.
– Markets reacted to both news with excitement: Wall Street hit record highs on Thursday.
– World Bank warns of global debt crisis following the fastest increase in borrowing since the 1970s. In its biannual Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report, published late Wednesday, the Washington D.C.-based group said there have been four waves of debt accumulation over the last 50 years. The current wave — which started in 2010 — is thought to be “the largest, fastest and most broad-based increase” in global borrowing. “The history of past waves of debt accumulation shows that these waves tend to have unhappy endings,” Ayhan Kose, director of the World Bank’s Prospects Group, said in the report.
Crypto Prices (from CoinMarketCap)
Bitcoin: Down 1.47% to $7876.06
Total trading volume (24h): $23.74+ billion USD
Ethereum: Down 2.00% to $137.70
Total trading volume (24h): $7.77+ billion USD
3 biggest movers 24 hours
Biggest Mover 1: BitGuild PLAT (PLAT) is up 124.22% to $0.000575
Biggest Mover 2: Ether Zero (ETZ) is up 70.79% to $0.015455
Biggest Loser: Game Stars (GST) is down 62.02% to $0.000222
What moved Crypto Markets (i.e. digital assets)
– Bitmain cancelled operation partnership for its Texas mining farm. In October, Bitmain announced its Texas mining farm and a partnership with DMG Blockchain. The latter said the two firms mutually decided to discontinue the existing agreement that designated DMG as the operator of Bitmain’s Texas mining farm, which already has 15,000 “next generation” miners installed. The Canadian firm cites the failure to materialize “cost and operational efficiencies” as the reason for this termination.
– Six months after it was released for beta testing, China’s nationwide blockchain network – the Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) – is ready to launch. The CoinTelegraph reports that China’s BSN project is slated to launch in April. The BSN was developed by a group of institutions including the SIC, China Mobile and China UnionPay. It is set to involve a total of 400 enterprises and 600 developers.
– South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb is set to invest 10 billion won (~$8.6 million) in Busan city’s “regulation-free” zone for blockchain development. The country’s Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced the news on Thursday, saying that Bithumb will invest via its subsidiary GCX Alliance.
– Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith has been indicted over allegations relating to a conference appearance in North Korea last April. In a court document filed in the Southern District of New York on Jan. 7 (see below), Griffith is charged by a grand jury with one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Griffith was arrested in November on federal charges of illegally travelling to North Korea in April and presenting at the “Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference,” despite the U.S. Department of State denying his permission to travel to the country. He was then first denied bail and was later granted bail on a condition that his family secures a $1 million bond. Griffith’s lawyer Brian Klein at the time also mentioned that Griffith has been suspended from the Ethereum Foundation, although the foundation is in support of Griffith.
– According to Wednesday’s report, Griffith has still not been released. “He has not satisfied his bail conditions yet. Still awaiting the approval of his co-signers and the posting of properties as collateral,” per the report. The Federal Bureau of Prisons, the agency under the Department of Justice responsible for the custody of incarcerated individuals, also shows that Griffith is still locked up.
Other Specialties
Fintech: Ripple and Thailand’s oldest bank, Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), are working on enabling cross-border payments via QR (Quick Response) codes. Revealing the development on Wednesday, Ripple said the QR code system will allow SCB to offer its customers’ remittance services, as well as micro-payment services. “Imagine you are a tourist coming to Thailand, and you can use your home country mobile application to scan for payment and eliminate the need to exchange for local currency. You can use your mobile app, scan the QR payment and receive goods right away,” said Arthit Sriumporn, SVP of commercial banking at SCB.
Healthtech: Biotechnology and medicine startups top the Innovators Under 35 Europe list. The annual awards lauded 19 entrepreneurs for developing cutting-edge medical technologies. Blockchain-powered software that ensures drugs’ traceability, a diagnostic tool to identify microbes in the blood and a device to prevent cardiac arrest in heart disease patients are among the winning European projects of a competition for young innovators.
Al: Film studio Warner Bros. has signed a deal with Cinelytic, an LA startup that uses machine learning to predict film success. The studio will use Cinelytic’s algorithms “to guide decision-making at the greenlight stage,” according to The Hollywood Reporter, though Cinelytic’s CEO Tobias Queisser stressed that the software is only an assistant. Regardless of who has the final say — human or algorithm — the deal is a significant step forward for Hollywood’s slow embrace of machine learning.
Smart cities: Consumer demand for electric and hybrid vehicles is up, with 41% of U.S. drivers saying they would consider an alternative to a gas-powered car for their next vehicle, according to Deloitte’s annual Global Automotive Consumer Survey. That’s an increase from 29% among U.S. drivers the previous year. Range remains one of the largest concerns among American drivers about electric vehicles (EVs), with 45% citing it as a reason traditional gas-powered cars are better. Nearly two-thirds of Americans surveyed said EVs need a range of at least 200 miles per charge before they would consider buying one. The survey also showed mixed feelings about autonomous vehicles (AVs), with 48% of U.S. consumers saying they believe they are unsafe and 58% saying they would not pay more than an additional $500 for a car that has AV technology.
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