Crypto Market Update (20 February 2019)

Bitcoin Global News (BGN)

February 20, 2019 -- ADVFN Crypto NewsWire

General Market Outlook

The market is now consolidating after two days of strong positive movement. Coins are now split between positive and negative gains, while trading volume has slowed by $5 billion in the past 24 hours, but is still trending at nearly double what it has been for most of the month of February - currently just over $30 billion in 24 hours. Crypto.com (MCO) and Storj (STORJ) are the major stand outs of the top 100 coins by market cap - up over 14% and 13% respectively in the past 24 hours. The value of Bitcoin (BTC) is holding right around $4,000 for no significant change and a total market dominance of 51.6%, and the value of Ethereum (ETH) is just under $150 for +0.5% change in the past 24 hours. Market cap for the overall cryptocurrency market made no significant change still trending right above $135 billion total.

Major Headlines

Coinbase Acquires UK Analytics Start Up

The London offices for Coinbase will gain the group of 8 developers behind Neutrino. The startup is primarily a blockchain analytics service provider. “We decided to join Coinbase because we’re totally aligned with the company’s mission of building an open financial system and we share the same commitment to regulation, compliance and security in the cryptocurrency space.” - Neutrino CEO Giancarlo RussoThe small team will maintain their ability to provide service to anyone interested, not strictly providing coinbase with their expertise. For Coinbase the company will assist research of new assets while ensuring the cryptocurrency exchange can identify undesirable activity, like theft, without handing over internal information to external companies. “This is particularly important as we work with regulators and agencies in different countries to bring new assets there.” - Coinbase’s director of engineering and product, Varun Srinivasan

Advancement In Security Token Platforms

Digital currency along is difficult for most people to understand. The technology has now been applied to other forms of assets, creating the term “tokenization.” Here platforms are creating methods to provide access to partial ownership of assets that individuals might not otherwise be able to own. However, it has posed problems for governments as to how to categorize these digital assets. This process is being used for real estate, gold and is now being re-applied to the tokens themselves to add even more ambiguity to the situation. Two startups are looking to streamline the process of issuing and trading security tokens by providing an all-in-one solution. Securitize, a Coinbase-backed security token startup and OTCXN, a blockchain infrastructure company to develop and offer a digital security offering service will help firms tokenize and sell secondary securities. It will utilize Securitize’s securities compliance platform and OTCXN’s custodial ledger system.

BitGo Offering Cryptographic Key Insurance

An argument for maintaining the traditional financial structure is that it provides a system of insurance for investors assets. With public cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, there is no fall back for individuals who lose the data needed to access their Bitcoin wallet. These private keys can be held physically, or digitally, but maintaining the information digitally leaves the information at risk of being hacked. BitGo will now facilitate insurance for digital assets by providing $100 million of cover against theft or the loss of cryptographic keys. The insurance will be offered through the Lloyd’s of London insurance market. “It is not always easy for some clients to understand under what circumstances their investments are insured and to what extent their loss would be covered. We are changing that by being more transparent than any other company about the terms of our coverage. Transparency and accuracy is essential for building trust in the market.” - Mike Belshe, CEO of BitGo

Top 5 Gainers

Globaltalent (GBT) +59.43% at $0.002726

BitNewChain (BTN) +59.00% at $0.032916

Metadium (META) +49.84% at $0.008098

The Currency Analytics (TCAT) +29.91% at $0.004083

S4FE (S4F) +28.94% at $0.627698

Top 5 Losers

BitWhite (BTW) -35.55% at $0.003971

PlayCoin [ERC20] (PLY) -32.77% at $0.028997

PlayCoin [QRC20] (PLY) -32.74% at $0.028997

Dex (DEX) -28.60% at $0.032996

Dexter (DXR) -23.51% at $12.93