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This week's news: Gamestop disrupts traditional markets, centralised exchanges facing class action lawsuits = the biggest mass-market advertisement for decentralised exchanges, more airlines trialling blockchain for covid-19 checks, blockchain's use in anti-trolling and less than 1% of crypto is criminal. And our new industry publication Blockchain Industry Review - check it out 💪

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Blockchain touted as anti-Trolling & anti-cyber abuse solution 

We’ve heard of blockchain being cited as a solution to everything from supply chain management to IoT. But how about using it to combat online trolling? Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant has suggested a blockchain-powered ID solution could help tackle cyber abuse and trolling while allowing users to maintain a level of anonymity. She’s certainly not alone in believing that digital identity is set to become one of the key use cases for blockchain. Whether it can combat the scourge of online trolls, however, remains to be seen. (Cointelegraph)

Car insurance claims firms go onto blockchain 

Two US insurers will be using their jointly developed enterprise blockchain solution for auto claims. After a car accident, both party’s insurers communicate with each other and decide which driver is at fault, but this process is manual and inefficient and involves reconciliations between the insurers. With a blockchain that shares the data, there should be no need for reconciliations. “In most cases, this blockchain solution will assist in speeding up subrogation recovery, resulting in an earlier return of the customer’s deductible,” said Robert Yi, chief claim officer at State Farm. “Carrier-to-carrier claims payments will be almost completely automated in the future, saving time and money,” said Sean Burgess, USAA chief claims officer. “Utilizing blockchain technology helps us securely improve and automate a manual process and ultimately gets money back to our members and customers faster.” (Ledger Insights)

Multiple airlines trial blockchain Covid-19 credentials

The International Air Transport Association IATA used blockchain in its IATA Travel Pass platform to address airline verifications of Covid-19 credentials. Qatar Airways will join Emirates, Etihad Airways British Airways and Singapore Airlines that plan to test the blockchain credentials and hopefully one day ease lockdown restrictions! (Ledger Insights)

What’s the Deal With Hyperledger?

You’ve probably heard of Hyperledger, the customisable blockchain designed for enterprises. Developed by the Linux foundation, it’s evolved into that rare thing: a business blockchain that’s seeing real world adoption. For businesses seeking to build blockchain-based applications, Hyperledger is the go-to solution. This week, Decrypt took a deep dive into Hyperledger, exploring what makes it tick and examining use cases for its modular framework. From the Bank of Cambodia to Honeywell aerospace for an online used parts marketplace to Walmart, organisations of all kinds have made Hyperledger a cornerstone of their blockchain software stack. (Decrypt) 

Gamestop Pumper WallStreetBets next stop: Dogecoin

The cryptocurrency and stock markets generally inhabit separate spheres, with little crossover between the two. Crypto traders trade crypto while their stock market counterparts trade “stonks” as they’re colloquially known. Synergies between the two markets were enhanced this week, however, with the incredible surge in Gamestop’s shares, driven by a retail rally that left Melvin Capital, which had been heavily shorting the stock, billions of dollars in the hole. Now, one of the accounts behind the Gamestop surge, WallStreetBets, has turned its attention to crypto memecoin Doge, with predictable results.(CoinDesk) Doge is currently up 300%+ in 24 hours, having been pumped up to 10x its initial price. With centralised exchanges such as Robinhood playing to the hands of the hedge funds against the retail investors, it surely won't be long until decentralised exchanges gain more traction. Meanwhile, Twitter handle @robinhood representing the original from Sherwood Forest is happy to have gained a lot of new followers.

Bank of England Governor Is Bearish on Cryptocurrency

In news that will surprise no one, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has expressed scepticism about the long-term viability of cryptocurrency. Bailey doubts that crypto has potential as “a lasting digital currency,” believing that the future of digital currency lies with CBDCs. His comments come at the same time as Agustín Carstens of the Bank of International Settlements ventured that “If digital currencies are needed, central banks should be the issuers, as they are best placed to provide sound money.” Needless to say. many in crypto disagree. (Bitcoin.com)

Fed Chair Powell: �?We’d Welcome Higher Inflation’

The Federal Reserve has signalled that it has no intention of applying the brakes to the $120 billion-a-month in asset purchases it’s been liberally laying down. “I’m much more worried about falling short of a complete recovery and losing people’s careers and lives that they built because they don’t get back to work in time,” said Fed chair Jerome Powell. “I’m much more concerned about that than the possibility which exists of higher inflation.…Frankly, we’d welcome higher inflation.” This is probably not going to do any harm for Bitcoin. (CoinDesk)

Is Institutional Demand enough to keep Bitcoin momentum?

Institutional appetite for Bitcoin has been credited with pushing the cryptocurrency to the all-time high it reached earlier this month. But BTC has since slumped, and is struggling to hold $30k territory, and there are signs that the institutional rally is losing momentum. According to Guggenheim CIO Scott Minerd, “Right now, the reality of the institutional demand that would support a US$35,000 price or even a US$30,000 price is just not there. I don’t think the investor base is big enough and deep enough right now to support this kind of valuation.” Is Minerd right, or does this institutional rally have further to run? (Cointelegraph)

After Gamestop, retail investors look to tokenised stocks

We’ve already touched on the news of Gamestop and the retail-led buying mania that left several Wall Street hedge funds nursing billion-dollar losses. Following the closure of r/wallstreetbets and the corresponding Discord, credited with fuelling the retail mania for stocks, crypto is offering up tokenised versions that can be traded 24/7 and can’t be shuttered by disgruntled hedge funds. While Mirror Protocol serves tokeniseds version of popular stocks like Tesla and Apple, FTX exchange has waded in, listing GME stock for futures trading. (TheBlock)

Does Bitcoin Underperform During Tax Season?

Theories as to why Bitcoin is rising or falling are ten a penny, but here’s one we haven’t heard before: BTC drops when traders are forced to sell to cover their hefty tax bill for all those 2020 gains. According to Delphi Digital, “those who realized significant gains trading various crypto assets last year will likely have to sell at least a portion of their holdings to cover expected tax liabilities.” (CoinDesk)

Crypto Isn’t Criminal – Despite What Bankers Would Have You Believe

The tired trope that Bitcoin is responsible for funneling much of the world’s dirty money can finally be laid to rest. Data shows that less than 1% of all BTC transactions can be associated with criminal activity. Despite what US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen might insist, “illicit use” accounts for merely a fraction of all Bitcoin transactions – and that number is falling. (Bitcoinist)

Trading platform ABE.io partners with LAB577 for build out of Corda-based DLT ledger powered by DASL

The Rise of BlockFi and the Crypto Neobank

Neobanks, those mobile-first digital banks catering to a millennial audience, lack just one ingredient: cryptocurrency. Enter the crypto neobank, as pioneered by the likes of Wirex, Revolut, and now BlockFi. This week, The Block took a deep dive into BlockFi’s business model to establish why the future of neobanking intersects with crypto. With more than $8 billion in client balances, BlockFi has found its niche, and shown why you can’t have banking without Bitcoin. (The Block) Read More

Will 2021 be the year of Ethereum Funds? 

Brace yourselves: Ethereum funds are coming. As the industry gears up for the launch of CME Ether futures on February 8, Galaxy Digital’s Mike Novogratz has revealed that he’s launching an ETH fund of his own. According to his firm, “investing in ETH is similar to investing in a basket of early-stage, high-growth technology stocks that provides investors exposure to the explosion of next-gen smart contracts and decentralized applications.” (TheBlock) Read More

Old School Miner Cashes Out $236M of Vintage Bitcoin

Bitcoins mined in 2010 and never moved since fascinate the public, intrigued by the identity of these early adopters and their reasons for cashing out now. On Monday, a miner sold 1,050 BTC that were obtained over a decade ago and had lain dormant in a wallet ever since. Why now? Who knows, but there’s never a bad time to claim a quarter of a million dollars. (Bitcoin.com) Read More

Mark Cuban on NFTs and 'penny cryptos'

Dallas Mavericks owner and billionaire Mark Cuban has revealed what’s in his crypto wallet, and it turns out he’s got a penchant for low cap “penny cryptos”. Turns out he’s big on NFTs. Perhaps that’s to be expected given the success of NBA Top Shot, the digital collectibles platform that’s turned its early buyers into millionaires. (Decrypt) 

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