Why are Cryptocurrencies trending in the News?

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The Five Ws

Who: Everyone
What: Cryptocurrencies trending in 2019
When: Now! Get some crypto knowledge
Where: On www.Halfbare.com
Why: What’s the news, why the trend?

Cryptocurrencies Trending

Cryptocurrency, stocks, and regulators have been circling each other for years.

Now in 2019, the breakthrough is occurring.

Contents

2019 Highlights

J.P. Morgan

J.P. Morgan in February announced they are creating and currently testing their own digital coin called JPMCoin which will enable the instantaneous transfer of payments between institutional accounts.

This is a dramatic shift towards cryptocurrency and blockchain technology adoption because CEO Jamie Dimon in August 2018 called cryptocurrency a “scam” and said he had “no interest.”

Well, apparently he saw the value and changed his mind. 🙄

What will JPMCoin do?

It will allow the instantaneous transfer of payments. Right now, domestic transfers between banks can take 24+ hours and wire transfers take days.

Facebook

Facebook has announced they are developing a cryptocurrency coin that will be used on their platform 2020. The cryptocurrency project codename “Project Libra,” will pay its users with the Facebook Coin to view ads, shop on Facebook and interact with other content.

They plan to integrate the coin with WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram which are also owned by Facebook.

The Facebook Coin is being touted as a “stablecoin” which means that each Facebook Coin = $1 U.S. Dollar. So in essence, the coin will be used as a reward system for users.

Why use a coin and not points?

Crypto coins are digital assets which use blockchain technology that makes it extremely cheap to implement, track, and integrate across multiple platforms.

Also, since the coin will store a value of $1, the processing of digital assets for payments can be as low as a 1/10th of a penny or even lower. To give you an example, Paypal charges 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction. Think about the cost savings that will occur using a digital asset!

Overstock

Overstock, yes Overstock.com the U.S. retail giant, launched tZERO a cryptocurrency and token exchange. tZERO has filed a retail broker-dealer license which will allow users on their app to trade security tokens listed at tZERO and even traditional stock — all in one app.

A one-stop-shop for both crypto and stocks.

The filing for a retail broker-dealer license is currently pending and they plan to slowly roll out more features later this year.

Riot Blockchain

Riot Blockchain, a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ under the ticker RIOT, plans to launch a regulated crypto exchange. It will be called RiotX and they plan to offer — banking, trading, and a digital wallet.

Their current portfolio of blockchain assets include:

  • Coinsquare — Coinsquare is a leading Canadian exchange for digital currencies, and recently received a strategic investment from a prominent global asset management firm.
  • Tesspay — Tesspay plans to develop a blockchain-based escrow service for wholesale telecom carriers that guarantees payment in full and on time.
  • Verady — Verady provides cryptocurrency accounting and audit technology services through VeraNet, where financial institutions, corporations, and individuals can audit, account and report on blockchain assets.
  • Mining — They have about 8,000 cryptocurrency ASIC miners mining Bitcoin, BitcoinCash and Litecoin. They are mining approximately 122 Bitcoins and 28 Litecoins per month.

Bitcoin ETFs

Bitwise Asset Management, NYSE Arca, VanEck, Cboe, and the Winklevoss brothers are some of the biggest names submitting Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposals to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Who are these people or companies?

Some of the world’s largest exchange holding companies! They hold billions of dollars in assets.

An interesting note about the Winklevoss twins:

ConnectU (originally HarvardConnection) was a social networking website launched on May 21, 2004, that was founded by Harvard students Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss, and Divya Narendra in December 2002.

Like on many social networking sites that preceded it, its users could add people as friends, send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Users were placed in networks based upon the domain name associated with the email address they used for registration

In 2004, the Winklevoss brothers sued Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, claiming he stole their ConnectU idea to create the popular social networking site, and ultimately received $65 million.

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)

The digital asset platform Bakkt will be launched later this year.

Ok, big deal?

This is huge.

Why?

Bakkt is owned by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which is best known as the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Also, Bakkt is backed and funded by Microsoft and Starbucks.

Yes, in the near future you could buy coffee with crypto at Starbucks. #cryptocoffee

They have been rapidly acquiring various assets to launch later this year.

Ripple

Ripple has been exploding!

As Kim Kardashian would say, “Like…for reals.”

Ripple’s 200+ partners include banks, payment providers and digital asset exchanges.

They provide blockchain technology that allows their partners to process and provide liquidity for payments on RippleNet, creating new, competitive cross-border payments services for their customers.

RippleNet offers three products: xCurrent, xRapid and xVia.

  •  xCurrent —  xCurrent is Ripple’s enterprise software solution that enables banks to instantly settle cross-border payments with end-to-end tracking. Using xCurrent, banks message each other in real-time to confirm payment details prior to initiating the transaction and to confirm delivery once it settles.
  • xRapid — xRapid is for payment providers and other financial institutions who want to minimize liquidity costs while improving their customer experience. Because payments into emerging markets often require pre-funded local currency accounts around the world, liquidity costs are high. xRapid dramatically lowers the capital requirements for liquidity.
  • xVia — xVia is for corporates, payment providers and banks who want to send payments across various networks using a standard interface. xVia’s simple API requires no software installation and enables users to seamlessly send payments globally with transparency into the payment status and with rich information, like invoices, attached.

All three products can work separately or together.

Ok, so what?

Remittance!

Uh, what?

Remittance is the act of transferring money from one country to another.

Simply put, an international money transfer.

The MOST popular reason why money is sent internationally is due to foreign workers sending it home.

I didn’t know this was common until I became friends with Navy Sailors of Filipino descent who consistently send money back home to help out their family.

Currently, the most popular ways to send money internationally are through Western Union and Moneygram because they do not require a bank account. However, the downside is that using these methods come at a steep cost due to additional fees.

Ripple solves that problem by using XRP, Ripple’s digital currency, which offers banks and payment providers a reliable, on-demand option to source liquidity for cross-border payments that is much cheaper.

With these savings, platforms are able to pass the savings along to the consumer. Service platform BeeTech Global, based in Brazil, was able to reduce their fees by 80% to consumers using RippleNet.

xRapid utilizes XRP, Ripple’s digital cryptocurrency coin. Unlike the previous Crypto trends of 2019 we have discussed, XRP has been available and actively traded since 2012.

As of today, one XRP is worth $0.32 with an active volume of $8.27 billion traded monthly on crypto exchanges.

Buy Ripple (XRP). Learn how!

International Business Machines (IBM)

IBM has been working with Stellar on World Wire, another remittance provider. Currently, the World Wire platform has payment locations in 72 countries, with 48 currencies and 46 “banking endpoints” (which include banks and money transmitters) where people can send or receive cash.

IBM’s World Wire uses Lumens (XLM), the native digital currency of the Stellar Blockchain, which can be used as a “bridge currency” when it is hard to trade one type of fiat for another.

Interesting Fact: Stellar was created by former Ripple co-founder Jed McCaleb. In essence, Stellar, backed by IBM, is a direct competitor of Ripple who is backed by 200+ banks and payment providers.

Remittance is trending towards a $1 Trillion market. Plenty of pie to go around.

Earn FREE Stellar (XLM). Learn how!

Conclusion

Honestly, I could talk cryptocurrency all day!

There are plenty more examples of digital currencies and blockchain technology making waves in 2019.

So, what is important?

Blockchain technology is extensive and major financial, business and government institutions have not only noticed but are actively participating.

This should pique your interest.

I am a firm believer that if big institutions are getting involved than there is money to be made.

It’s been a long time coming, but 2019 will finally see the cryptocurrency market make its mark on traditional finance in a tangible way.

Was this Cryptocurrency article helpful for you? Let me know in the comments below.

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