With each passing week, things continue to look more positive for the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Although there are varying opinions from time to time, the underlying takeaway remains the same - that digital currency is the future of money. Regulations are shaping up the industry and financial authorities are slowly but steadily understanding how crypto can make a huge difference to the world.
Without further ado, let’s look at the major highlights of last week that took the world of crypto by storm:
Changing IPO trends
- American venture capitalist and cryptocurrency investor, Tim Draper concurred that IPOs or Initial Public Offerings do not make the cut as the best source of funding for industry firms. He shed light on how the existing regulations make it a difficult ride for blockchain companies to go public. “I don’t recommend going public to anybody right now unless your company is worth at least $10 billion,” the investor said.
Instead, he has advised blockchain entrepreneurs to seek investment from large funds or look towards an alternate form of fundraising, such as tokenization, especially in the case of smaller investments.
Moreover, Draper added that diversity is important when it comes to funding early-stage industry startups. He pointed out that the crypto industry, unlike other tech ecosystems,cannot compete with the diversity of new projects within the cryptocurrency industry.
Universal basic income with stablecoins
- Lee Jae-myung, the Governor of South Korea’s most populous province - Gyeonggi - has suggested launching a universal basic income (funded by local stablecoins) to catalyse the province’s economy. In a revolutionary move, he wants to roll out universal basic income using existing or new stablecoins (in place of fiat), as part of economic stimulus packages for those affected by coronavirus.
Regardless, the province is set to issue some USD 1 billion worth of tokens this year, double the amount it issued last year. Based on a survey conducted across the province, 68% of Gyeonggi residents and 63% of companies based in the province said they approved of existing stablecoin projects this year.
Blockchain industry growth in Singapore
- Singapore houses a vibrant foundation and community in the FinTech space, and the blockchain industry has seen major growth in the past year despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) first introduced Project Ubin in November 2016 in collaboration with R3 to conduct inter-bank payments using blockchain.
The project utilises blockchain and distributed ledger technology to settle payments and securities. As part of Phase 5, the recent leg of the project, the commercial viability of the blockchain-payments network was assessed, to check if it could be integrated with commercial blockchain applications. Phase 5 of Project Ubin has been completed, and partners of the project are working towards the production in the payments space.
Bitcoin Vs Gold
- In welcome news, the value of bitcoin rose by 27% percent in the first half of 2020. On the other hand, in comparison to bitcoin, gold underperformed by 11 percentage points, despite gaining value in the first half of 2020, as well as making eight-year highs in late June. Speaking of other metals, silver and platinum recorded negative gains in the first half of 2020. The impressive performance by bitcoin does not come as a surprise, especially because of the benchmark cryptocurrencies increasing correlation with equity markets.
Bitcoin resembles gold in many ways - it is a scarce commodity whose value is derived almost completely from its monetary premium. Also, unlike gold, bitcoin investors have experienced high volatility in the past. Silver and platinum, too, have been more volatile than gold through the first half of 2020. Bitcoin’s value went down by 11.35% in the 1st quarter of 2020 and up by 42.61% in the 2nd quarter (Gold up 5.36% in 1st and up 10.35% in 2nd)
