The Best Levels of Open Interest in Bitcoin Futures Are Regained at the CME Group

Alexander Salazar
-
0
The Best Levels of Open Interest in Bitcoin Futures Are Regained at the CME Group

Open positions on Bitcoin futures were around 3,300 in December 2019. Recently, the CME Group launched its BTC futures options product.

It was reported that Bitcoin futures negotiations at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group have returned to levels that had not been seen since July 2019. Until now in January this year, the open interest index (positions that are not closed every day) of that product has been around 5,000 contracts.

In contrast, the average number of open positions on CME futures last December was 3,322, according to data from the CME Group itself. According to the same source, it closed with an open interest of 4,949 contracts on Monday, January 13th. If those numbers are compared concerning the average in December, the increase is close to 50%.

Before January 2020, the average has exceeded 5,000 only twice within a month in this open interest index for contract negotiations at the CME Group. Those levels were registered in June and July 2019, after which those figures fell month after month for the rest of the year.

It was at its best on January 7th, when the open interest exceeded 5,400, as the CME Group described at the time through its Twitter account. It should be noted that this figure is above the best record reached in May last year.

Each Bitcoin futures contract at the CME Group is equivalent to a total of 5 BTC. Therefore, the current open interest volumes correspond to about 25,000 BTC. If the current price of BTC on the market is considered, the figure is around USD 217,000,000. At the time of writing this article, the value of BTC is USD 8,714, according to market data from CoinMarketCap.

New Bitcoin Futures Options

This rebound coincides with the launch of a new Bitcoin derivative product at the CME Group. These are the options on Bitcoin futures contracts, whose quotation is equivalent to 5 BTC, the same as that of futures.

According to data from the firm Skew, published on January 13th on Twitter, during the first day of the negotiations of these options on the CME Globex platform, 55 contracts were traded, that is, an equivalent to more than USD 2,300,000, at the rate of 275 BTC.

Greater Attention on Bitcoin Derivatives

There is no doubt that Bitcoin futures have been gaining popularity, a growth in which the CME Group has played an important role. Even though Bitcoin derivatives already existed, the launch of CME futures in 2017 was one of the first regulated product offerings in this environment.

Recent figures suggest greater institutional attention towards Bitcoin derivatives, something that is ratified by product launches of this type on other platforms, the most recent of which is the case of Bakkt.

As was the case in 2017, the launch of the new CME product seems to have had a positive impact on the price of Bitcoin. The rebound on Tuesday, January 14th, exceeds 6% in the last 24 hours, according to figures from CoinMarketCap.

By Alexander Salazar

With New Miners, Mining Farms Prepare for Bitcoin Halving

Alexander Salazar
-
0
With New Miners, Mining Farms Prepare for Bitcoin Halving

Mining farms in the USA have recently acquired a batch of the latest generation Bitmain miners. The disappearance of a pattern in the Bitcoin nonce points to the disconnection of Antminer S9 machines.

The third Bitcoin halving is approaching and the mining industry is taking precautions. Two US companies in this sector claimed to have recently acquired a batch of the latest generation miners. This could be motivated by the low profitability expected from older miners, such as the Antminer S9, after the reduction of the reward.

The firm Riot Blockchain, located in Oklahoma, announced earlier this year that it had acquired 4,000 Antminer S17 Pro devices. These are the most powerful Bitmain mining machines on the market, which will be arranged by Riot Blockchain before the end of January. Accordingly, Blockware Solutions announced the start of its activities by January 15th with more than 1000 Antminer S17 + devices, as said in MinerUpdate.

Although the popularity of the latest generation of miners was indisputable in 2019, these two major acquisitions of batches of miners in the USA could be due to the next Bitcoin halving and its possible consequences on miners’ profitability. The reduction in mining reward is a mechanism used by blockchains such as Bitcoin to prevent the inflation of their cryptocurrencies.

When the third Bitcoin halving occurs in May, that reward will go from 12.5 BTC per mined block to just 6.25 BTC. This reduction will significantly affect miners’ income, reducing their profits by almost half. According to Token Analyst, almost 97% of the mining revenue from this industry comes solely from the reward per mined block.

Cryptocurrency mining also proves to be an expensive activity, which compromises its profitability based on elements such as electricity rates, the climate of the area and the processing power of miners. If Bitcoin’s current price is also considered, many old miners have become obsolete equipment for this market, since they do not generate the same profits as before. Therefore, it is not surprising that companies start updating their machinery and bet on much more powerful miners.

Farewell to Antminer S9

Antminer S9 could be one of the miners whose profitability is compromised after the halving, say analysts in this sector. This forecast could be motivating the disconnection of these miners, which seem to be increasingly missing in the network. The disappearance has been reported by the Plan B team on Twitter, who discovered it thanks to an unusual pattern in the Bitcoin nonce.

In 2016, an uncommon pattern began to be registered in the distribution of nonce values. The nonce average began to register unusual values ​​at that time, being lower than expected. It should be noted that the nonce is a 32-bit field whose value establishes a certain string of zeros to form the hash of a block.

Since Antminer S7 and S9 devices were introduced to the market in 2016, firms such as Token Insight and BitMex noted that it could be the firmware of these miners (a computer program controlling the electronic circuits) that was producing the phenomenon. Although Plan B recently reported that the unusual pattern has completely disappeared from the blockchain, the mystery has not yet been solved.

By Alexander Salazar

The Court Allows Craig Wright to Keep the Bitcoins that He Allegedly Owns

Alexander Salazar
-
0
The Court Allows Craig Wright to Keep the Bitcoins that He Allegedly Owns

A court ruled that the sentence issued in August 2019 was improperly imposed. Craig Wright has until February 3rd to demonstrate that he owns the private key of the bitcoins.

Almost five months after a Florida court ruled that Craig Wright, the self-proclaimed creator of Bitcoin, had to hand over all the bitcoins that he owned until December 31st, 2013, to the family of his former partner Dave Kleiman, the decision was reversed because it was improperly imposed.

The district judge, Beth Bloom, indicated on Wright’s appeal that, although she proved him right on this point, she gave him until February 3rd, 2020, to demonstrate that he owns the private key of his alleged Bitcoin holdings.

According to the case document, signed by the judge on Friday, January 10th, after thoroughly reviewing the file and the sanctions imposed, the court agreed with the defendant that this sanction was improperly imposed.

The court also ratified that Wright should pay USD 658,000 for legal fees corresponding to the plaintiff, which Wright had deemed unreasonable.

The court’s decision is a follow-up to the lawsuit filed in February 2018 by Ira Kleiman, brother of the late computer scientist Dave Kleiman. It should be remembered that Wright maintained a partnership with Kleiman, through which they accumulated a large number of bitcoins between 2009 and 2013. The lawsuit also highlighted that it was not clear whether both were the real creators of Bitcoin.

Craig Wright was questioned by the judge, who said that his behavior delayed and obstructed the process to determine his alleged ownership of the bitcoins claimed by the Kleiman family. In August 2019, Ira Kleiman alleged that Wright had appropriated 1.1 million bitcoins from W&K Info Defense Research, a company co-founded and operated by Wright and Dave Kleiman. At that time, Judge Bruce Reinhart ruled in favor of the Kleimans, so that they would receive a payment of 550,000 BTC, which will not happen now.

Demonstrating His Private Keys

The deadline was given by the court to Craig Wright until February 3rd is for him to demonstrate that he has control over the bitcoins that he supposedly accumulated during Bitcoin’s first years, in partnership with Kleiman. However, Wright has stated that he does not own a portion of the private key that would give him access to the funds.

The Australian entrepreneur has said that he mined bitcoins during that time, but that he established a trust where private keys are protected to safeguard the bitcoins, so he cannot access them. Previously, Wright had said that he would possibly receive the keys in January 2020.

With Bitcoin’s current price around USD 8,126, 1.1 million BTC would now represent an amount of USD 8,938 million.

Despite Craig Wright’s efforts in recent years to demonstrate that he is the creator of Bitcoin, the community that makes life in the cryptocurrency ecosystem on a global scale has rejected this possibility on repeated occasions, which still keeps the real Satoshi Nakamoto anonymous.

Currently, Wright is the most visible head of the cryptocurrency project Bitcoin Satoshi’s Vision (BSV), a hard fork of Bitcoin Cash (BCH) that, according to him, reflects the true ideals of Satoshi.

By Alexander Salazar

After an Increase of 100%, Bitcoin SV Reaches the Fourth Position by Market Capitalization

Alexander Salazar
-
0
After an Increase of 100%, Bitcoin SV Reaches the Fourth Position by Market Capitalization

Bitcoin SV went from ninth to fourth place in the cryptocurrency ranking. The price of BSV advanced from USD 170 to more than USD 400 between January 13th and January 14th.

In the middle of a green market, with Bitcoin’s price exceeding USD 8,700, there is another prominent cryptocurrency: Bitcoin SV (BSV). This altcoin born from a fork of Bitcoin Cash, which is in turn derived from the pioneering cryptocurrency, has gained more than 100% within a period of 24 hours.

Between Monday, January 13th, and Tuesday, January 14th, the price of Bitcoin SV has gone from around USD 170 to exceed USD 400. The increase in the percentage, at the time of writing this article, is exactly 148.14%, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

With this increase, BSV rose to fourth place among the main cryptocurrencies, according to its market capitalization. With its initial price in these 24 hours, BSV was previously ninth on this list.

It should be noted that this market capitalization went from USD 3,075 million to more than USD 7,000 million. With this increase, the cryptocurrency outperformed the pegged cryptocurrency or stablecoin Tether (USDT) and the altcoins Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), EOS (EOS), and Binance Coin (BNB). During its highest point in this period, the market capitalization of BSV is close to USD 8,000 million while its price is close to USD 422.

The increase in the price of Bitcoin SV coincides not only with a rise in most of the cryptocurrency market but also occurs after the announcement of a new decision by a Florida court, which affects the main promoter of this cryptocurrency, Craig Wright.

The Australian entrepreneur, who has launched a crusade to be considered the real Satoshi Nakamoto, will not have to hand over the amount of BTC that he owns to the family of his late ex-partner, Dave Kleiman. This decision reverses the initial sentence in the Kleiman-Wright case, which forced him to hand over all the funds in BTC that he had until December 2013.

The low liquidity levels for BSV reflected by the largest exchange houses, according to their operation volumes, suggest that the increase does not correspond to exchange activities. On the contrary, this seems to indicate an inflated price that was resonating in the market.

BSV is not the only cryptocurrency with low liquidity levels, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Likewise, other major currencies have increased their value between January 13th and January 14th, such as BCH, ETH, and LTC.

Another Rebound Caused by Craig Wright

It is not the first time that news involving Wright has dramatically boosted the price of BSV. It also happened in May 2019, when the controversial promoter of the cryptocurrency filed a copyright application for the Bitcoin white paper.

On that occasion, Bitcoin SV increased up to 75% in 24 hours and its value grew even up to 200% during that time. The price reached USD 139, but a rapid correction returned BSV below USD 100. It is worth mentioning that the market capitalization of the cryptocurrency then was above USD 1,757 million.

By Alexander Salazar

PwC Increases the Use and Capacity in Its Smart Contracts Team

Maria Rodríguez
-
0
PwC Increases the Use and Capacity in Its Smart Contracts Team

The company decides to expand the use of blockchain technology to increase the capacity of the team responsible for developing smart contracts.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, technology has caused great and important changes in society as well as companies that now rely more on the development of methods that help improve their productivity and efficiency. It is for this reason that companies like PwC have opted for the innovation and security offered by blockchain technology in most commercial and technological areas.

For this reason, the prestigious consulting company PwC, one of the largest companies in the world responsible for providing support to all types of organizations, companies, and governments, has decided to increase the capacity of the team responsible for creating smart contracts. This suggests that services related to blockchain technology are being the most requested ones and also the most outstanding in recent years.

In this way, ChainSecurity, the smart contract audit team, has partnered with the Swiss section of PwC. This movement represents a great impact on the crypto world, as it puts the smart contract development team among the most requested for all kinds of companies on the planet. This means that now all companies that have business with PwC will have the facility to join a blockchain network.

In a statement issued by the company, it was informed that PwC seeks to become the largest company in the world to provide consulting services on Smart Contracts. In this way, it will focus on integrating the services of a new ally, ChainSecurity, into its work portfolio.

“As an integral part of PwC Switzerland, the ChainSecurity team will focus on accelerating PwC Switzerland blockchain audits, including technical audits of Smart Contracts and blockchain platforms, as well as in risk coverage services for customers with crypto assets”, the statement says.

In this way, Konradin Krieger, who is the Director of PwC, said that this alliance does not mean a purchase of rights or acquisition, and rather that it is a transfer of all its ChainSecurity equipment to PwC. This adds, even, to the Director of Operations and the Technical Director, who, at the moment, will be in charge of leading a new team called “Smart Contract’s Assurance”.

Krieger commented: “We expect market demands to increase rapidly as the blockchain generalizes and, as demonstrated by the incorporation of the ChainSecurity team. We are very interested in developing our capabilities around blockchain technology so that we are ahead of the market. We will continue to grow the team to anticipate these needs based on how we see the market unfold”.

This movement will be able to promote the development of blockchain technology within the consulting capabilities that PwC had already created in recent years. In this way, new methods will be approved to expand the entire client portfolio that the company expects to achieve worldwide. The objective is to increment its results related to the world of smart contracts and the opportunities they offer.

By María Rodríguez

Panama Will Train Public Officials in Blockchain ​​And Its Uses

Alexander Salazar
-
0
Panama Will Train Public Officials in Blockchain ​​And Its Uses

The training program for public employees on blockchain technology will take place on January 20th, 21st, and 22nd

Recently, it was announced that a training course related to blockchain technology is available for all public administration officials. This was known through the Linkedln account of the Chamber of Digital Commerce and Blockchain of Panama.

The course is named: “Developing Blockchain with Linux operating system”, and it is expected that public officials in Panama can also be trained for its use.

Likewise, the workshop organizers were enthusiastic to undertake this initiative that puts blockchain technology at the service of state institutions. “We started the year with the first workshop for public officials of the Republic of Panama in Programming and Development in Blockchain”. They also revealed the dates for the start of the workshop, knowing that on January 20th, 21st and 22nd, the Institute of Technology and Innovation, located in the City of Knowledge, will be the place where the preparation will take place.

It is known that the workshop will have a basic and intermediate level; thus, counting on topics that will initiate participants in the crypto world. Some of the issues that will take place within the preparation stand out: Blockchain theory, Blockchain in practice, and use cases of Blockchain.

Although it turns out to be an initiation course, it is believed to have a sufficient level so that participants can perform, once completed, simple tasks with blockchain, using the Linux operating system.

The initiative to conduct this workshop came as an invitation of the National Authority for Government Innovation itself, which hopes that a large number of participants can be covered.

Some of those who will develop this educational component are part of the ChainZilla firm, which provides other services related to consulting and the development of blockchain and fintech. The educators are supported by government authorities so that they can schedule a workshop as complete and practical as possible according to the time that is allocated for training.

It is important to highlight that one of the authorities most involved in the project, the Chamber of Digital Commerce and Blockchain, was also created as an institution aimed at finding and boosting Panamanian talent in new technologies and creating new economic ways to the future.

In addition to helping, as the main objective, startup companies and entrepreneurs in the commercial area of ​​new technologies. In this way, they promote these academic initiatives to inform the population about the new forms of digital commerce. The official website of the institution affirms that among its main functions is the support and impulse for companies, people and institutions in facilitating the compression and training of all the different technologies.

Finally, the institution seeks to be one of the top organizations among Latin America that develop an ecosystem of digital commerce and blockchain technology. The institution’s final goal is to transform its organizational scheme and become a DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization), which would mean being managed by its affiliates and workers.

By María Rodríguez

1...1,4081,4091,410...1,654Page 1,409 of 1,654