China Gov Ranks Ethereum Number One Blockchain in the World

According to China's CCID, Ethereum is the number one blockchain in the world...

In what is surprising the decentralized cryptographic ledger world today China's Governmental organization, the CCID (China Center for Information Industry Development), has just published an Index (to be updated monthly) of its top 28 Blockchain Technologies, based on three factors: Technology, Application, and Innovation. Ethereum came in at number one. 

After banning cryptocurrencies and ICO's back in September of 2017, the PRC continued to turn up the heat by cracking down on "online platforms and mobile apps that offer exchange like services" in January of 2018, as reported by this Bloomberg.com news article assisted by Steven Yang, which also states, that "Up until early last year, China was the most active market for Bitcoin trading on exchanges." Despite this regulatory clamp-down, or kaibosh, China's interest in Blockchain Technologies has never ceased. 

For example, as noted by CoinGape.com, Investopedia, and others, China owns the maximum number of Blockchain patents worldwide, coming in at 284, which is twice as many as the US's 112; China secured 225 of its total in 2017 alone. Clearly, China continues to look into ways to use this blockchain technology.  Also, the most popular Chinese stock app Straightflush, just began listing Cryptocurrency prices this week. 

As for the index announcement, which was announced last week, it has shown that China still seeks to be the key player in the advancement of Blockchain technologies, having specifically established the CCID (Qinqgao) Blockchain Institute, and the China Blockchain Ecological Alliance as key players. 

The list submitted comes in order as follows: Ethereum, Steem, Lisk, NEO, Komodo, Stellar, Cardano, IOTA, Monero, Stratis, Qtum, BitShares, Bitcoin, Verge, Waves, Ether Classic, Reverb Chain, Dash, Cloud Storage Chain, Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ark, Big Zero Coin, Nano, Bit Cash, Decred, Super Cash, and New Chain. 

Needless to say, Bitcoin enthusiasts were flabbergasted to see its blockchain come in at a paltry thirteenth, having existed far longer than all of the blockchains ranked above it. 

Joseph Voelbel is a Blockchain Researcher living in Los Angeles. You can follow him on Twitter here. 

Ethereum Futures Are Coming Down the Pipe

CME Group, that is the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which also spearheaded Bitcoin Futures, is now gearing up to offer Ethereum Futures as well. A few things to consider about this upcoming news. In such a volatile market, how does one surmise a daily spot price for Ethereum, and which exchanges are to be the importing information centers, as many of them, on a day to day basis, (as one stackexchange.com user notes) vary in price listing. 

Both the Ether Reference Rate and the Ether Real-Time Index will be supplied by UK's Crypto Facilities. The price will be imported by two exchanges, SF-based Kraken, and Luxembourg-based bitstamp. Ether futures, much like last years event of Bitcoin futures, mark a rise in the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies. This type of offer now enables investors to short the market, an option that is only now existing for the flag-ship currency BTC, and forthcoming, ETH. 

A point of concern, or mere consideration, discovered by a team of researchers (Galina Hale, Arvind Krishnamurthy, Marianna Kudlyak and Patrick Shultz) writing for the Federal Bank of San Francisco, note that the event of a futures market for Bitcoin coincided with a steady decline in market valuation, which they believe is not a coincidence. The gist of their research indicates that since the option to bet against the rise of the currency had not yet existed, this new "doubt-money", which enabled investors to acquire and sell BTC a month after they took futures bets out on it, frustrated the general growth and rise in value of the coin. 

Perhaps, over the long term, this will be a good thing, as it strengthens the crypto market to have money flushed into it, regardless of whether it is a bear or bull type investment. But, nascent crypto currencies like ETH have yet to deal with such an infusion, and may behave sluggishly at the onset of such activities. The aforementioned researches could not account for the fact that BTC's decline post futures offering was  relatively slow and not sharp, as might have been expected. 

CME's Bitcoin futures, as of this date, have, "seen a gradual uptick in trading volume" since its inception. Tim McCourt, CME's head of equity products and alternative investments, had this to say, "The Ether Reference Rate and Real Time Index are designed to meet the evolving needs of this marketplace. Providing price transparency and a credible price reference source is a key development for users of Ethereum."

As to just exactly when ETH futures can be expected to enter the market via CME Group, remains to be determined. Be on the look out for bear-shorts stifling daily price growth... (This article is opinion only, and does not constitute financial advice). 

Joseph Voelbel is a Blockchain Researcher living in Los Angeles. You can follow him on Twitter. 

67 Facts You May Not Know About Bitcoin

Recently was contacted by a group of research professionals who put together this infographic on Bitcoin. Click on image below to check it out! 

Also, they sent me a short write up, which I'm including part of here:

"

Why is the Blockchain so disruptive?*

"It is a totally different way to deal with data. Instead of shoring up your servers or maintaining endless server farms, you ship the information out across the network. People who want to use the network have to download the software.

By doing this, they are assisting with the running and maintenance of the chain. So, instead of one company footing the bill to maintain the infrastructure, the costs are distributed throughout the network.

And so is the data. And it is this that is part of the reason that the system is so secure. No one can cut off access to the data or delete it. There is no downtime unless every single computer within the network goes down. (Unlikely considering there are thousands on the network.)

But if anyone can log in, surely it is easy to add fake transactions. Well, actually no – every transaction that is added to the chain must first be verified on the network. That’s why it takes ten minutes for it to go through.

The security of this system exceeds that of traditional systems, even those with the best firewalls. In fact, it is so effective that all of the major banks have been researching how they can start making use of the systems themselves.

Bitcoin and blockchain have not only disrupted the financial services industry, but they have also blasted many well cherished beliefs out of the water completely."

*NOT MY WRITING, BLURB PASSED TO ME BY INFOGRAPHIC CREATORS.