Bakkt, a Global Platform and Ecosystem for Crypto Assets

The owner of NYSE said that “Bitcoin would greatly simplify the movement of global money,”  and “It has the potential to become the first worldwide currency.” The statement is backed by a real plan called Bakkt. Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the NYSE is launching a regulated cryptocurrency platform, Bakkt which will enable financial institutions and consumers to buy, sell, store and spend cryptos. The platform will be financially backed by Microsoft, Starbucks and Boston Consulting Group. In November, ICE plans to launch its first physically delivered Bitcoin futures and custody cryptoassets with Bakkt, subject to regulatory review and approval.

Coinbase Plugin Enables Millions of Webstores to Accept Crypto

Coinbase has released a plugin that allows online stores using WooCommerce to accept payment in Bitcoin or Litecoin. Coinbase Commerce is already integrated with Shopify which powers over 600,000 businesses. WooCommerce has six times larger user base than Shopify. Coinbase is working hard to enable Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash payments through WooCommerce. Coinbase said “This increased access will lead to more widespread adoption, and ultimately, moves us closer to our goal of an open financial system.” Coinbase also announced that it is final testing for Ethereum Classic support. If everything goes as planned, ETC trading will be enabled on Coinbase starting from 7th of August, 2018.

The First Crypto IPO

UK based cryptocurrency mining firm Argo Blockchain, has become the first crypto company to be publicly listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company raised €28 million through the IPO (Initial Public Offering). Argo provide cloud mining services for Bitcoin Gold, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic and Zcash since June 2018. All of Argo’s mining packages are sold out and they have a huge demand with waiting list of 50 000 subscribers. Now that Argo have their finance solved though IPO, they are building infrastructure to expand their team and services.

Bitcoin: we don’t expect new highs in 2018

An article by Tuur Demeester, economist and Bitcoin investor outlines why there won’t be new all time highs in Bitcoin price for 2018. He pointed out several reasons:

• Small miners are selling significant amount of Bitcoin due to reduced profitability
• Interest in Bitcoin has fallen from retail investors
• Fundamental ratios NVM (Network Value Metcalfe) and NVT (Network Value to transaction) indicates that Bitcoin is currently over-priced.

The article was written before the Bakkt crypto platform launch news, which may have influenced Tuur’s opinion.

More Than 3500 Bitcoin ATMs are Available Worldwide

There are now over 3500 Bitcoin ATMs installed and operational worldwide according to CoinATMRadar. CoinATMRadar the leading bitcoin ATM location tracker shows that about 9 new Bitcoin ATMs are installed everyday. 99.9% of the ATMs support Bitcoin and only 52,7% of them support altcoins, with Litecoin and Ethereum being the most popular altcoins. You can find MrCoin’s ATMs in Budapest downtown and in Mosonmagyaróvár.

Mastering Ethereum

Andreas Antonopoulos's new book on Ethereum is all free on GitHub. Andreas has provided thousands of hours of free education on Bitcoin. But people have called him sell-out for writing “Mastering Ethereum” and questioned his loyalty for Bitcoin. In return Andreas created a video explaining that his new book is exploring the blockchains that use smart contracts which not only applies to Ethereum, but also to Ethereum Classic, Rootstock, EOS, Lisk etc. He said he will remain intellectually curious and open to other cryptocurrency systems.