France is piloting its own digital currency too

In today's newsletter, we will be covering:

• Bitfinex allowing Lightning Network shopping on Bitrefill with Bitcoin

• Former Morgan Stanley developers launching cryptocurrency derivatives exchange

• France will be testing its central bank digital currency in Q1 2020.

Today, we also have our weekly 'Thursday think tank' section, courtesy of our friends over at Flipside Crypto!

Daily Market Summary - Bullish 

Total Market Cap: ~$197.7 billion (~1.4%)                  BTC Price: ~$7,320 (~1.8%)

24-Hour Volume: ~$71.9 billion (~31.2%)                   BTC Dominance: ~67% (~0.45%)

Notable movers: Matic Network (MATIC) (~11.8%), Verge (XVG) (~9.3%), Enjin Coin (ENJ) (~32.6%)

BTC is currently trading at ~$7,320, up ~1.8% over yesterday. In this week, BTC has been seen trading within a tight range of ~$7,180 and ~$7,540. On the daily chart, BTC is still trading below its 21-, 50- and 100-day EMA support lines, and RSI is still at ~38.9, indicative of significant overhead bearish momentum. 

BTC is still trading within its lower highs and lower lows trading pattern/ channel/ zone it has been trading within since late June this year. 

Poll of the Day

How much do you agree with this statement: "I am against the idea of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)."

Why or why not? Share with me in the polls!  

Shopping with Bitcoin

Crypto exchange Bitfinex and crypto store Bitrefill are collaborating to enable the trading platform's clients to shop with Bitcoin (BTC) over the Lightning Network. Bitfinex users can now pay for different services with the BTC that they hold on the exchange.

Both companies credit the development to the "world's first dynamic B2B settlement process over the Lightning Network," and explained that they use "customized versions of Lightning to open large channels together" and allow "better flow and reliability to users". 

The partnership will let the exchange's customers buy more than 2,000 various prepaid vouchers with BTC to cover the costs of "services and products relevant to gaming, dining, entertainment, travel and more." 

Bitrefill Chief Commercial Officer John Carvalho thinks that Lightning adoption among exchanges is key because it is "integral to preparing for the next wave of adoption and building out a parallel economy for Bitcoin."

A team effort

8 former core developers from financial services business Morgan Stanley have launched a new crypto derivatives trading platform in Singapore, Phemex. 

The former developers claim that the platform is 10 times faster than traditional crypto trading platforms, and offers retail and institutional investors 100x leverage in Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP) perpetual contracts. The contracts will supposedly be supported by traditional financial products like stock indexes, foreign exchange and more in the future. 

Phemex Co-Founder Jack Tao mentioned that they are the 1st to really bring "Wall Street level sophistication to the worldwide crypto derivatives markets." He also expressed confidence as executives from Morgan Stanley, "know[ing] what kind of ways, what kind of direction, or what kind of architecture can support high-frequency trading, stability and low latency."

And another one

France's central bank, the Bank of France, intends to pilot a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for financial institutions by the end of Q1 2020. The Bank of France also confirmed the news on Twitter.

The digital euro pilot will only aim for private financial sector participants and will not involve retail payments made by individuals, as a digital currency for retail clients would "be subject to special vigilance." This initiative seeks to strengthen the efficiency of the French financial system.

Also according to the governor of the Bank of France, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, the initiative also seeks to "assert French sovereignty over private digital currency initiatives" like Facebook's Libra stablecoin. 

Other news 

• Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler has officially been appointed to the U.S. Senate on 4 Dec by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp.

• Crypto exchange Gemini has hired a former senior executive from U.K.-based Starling Bank, Julian Sawyer, to lead Gemini Europe.

• The blockchain and AI subsidiary of Chinese insurance giant Ping An Insurance, OneConnect Financial Technology, has revealed the terms for its $468 million IPO.

Blockchain term of the day - 51% Attack

If more than half the computer power or mining hash rate on a network is run by a single person or a single group of people, then a 51% attack is in operation. This means that this entity has full control of the network and can negatively affect a cryptocurrency by taking over mining operations, stopping or changing transactions, and double-spending (reusing) coins.

Crypto calendar  

TBA         - Justin Sun's lunch with Warren Buffett

What you said

"How much do you agree with this statement: "I am digging the new CoinMarketCap jobs board.""

The average vote was 6.1. 20.8% of y'all voted a '1', and 24.1% of y'all voted a '10'! 

"Why or why not?"

Lots of opportunities – Definitely! Do apply! 

 

 

just saw for the first time.. thanks for this, it will be very helpful for eco system. – The crypto space definitely needs more people. The space has to grow to what we envision it to be. 

 

 

Sorry, never looked at it. - Do check it out!!! 

See you again tomorrow!

our newsletter? Share with a friend!

our newsletter? Spam your enemy!

Trust yourself that you are part of something great~