UK Startup Puts Haitian Farmers and Their Crops On the Blockchain

A Blockchain company in the UK has a new program for Haitian farmers and their crop sales.

A UK tech company recently announced a blockchain ecosystem for farmers in Haiti, bringing clarity to the supply chain while bolstering sales.

Agriledger, a blockchain outfit based in the UK, was responsible for building this new ecosystem. Their goal was ensuring that farmers receive adequate pay for their crops, a Feb. 28 post from Spring Wise stated.

Each farmer is a part of the system

Agriledger’s blockchain-based solution assigns farmers enrolled in the system with a digital ID number. With this ID, farmers become part of the digital supply chain.

Agriledger additionally allows these Haitian farmers to tokenize their products, granting them greater access to peer-to-peer dealings.

Blockchain keeps the data honest

Agriledger’s blockchain underpinnings have allowed for a far more transparent solution than what has previously existed in the region. Parties can now trust the validity of data they interact with, which smooths the process of acquiring loans and other financial services for the participating farmers.

The ecosystem also touts digital wallets and payments, bolstering the additional benefits of convenience and speed.

Looking toward the future, Agriledger aims to build a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform in which suppliers and retailers can interact.

Supply chain management continues to grow as a hot use case for Blockchain technology. Just a few weeks ago, Avril Group, an agro-industrial partnership specializing in nutrition, started using IBM’s Food Trust blockchain network for its supply chain.

Cointelegraph reached out to Agriledger for additional details, but received no reply as of press time. This article will be updated accordingly, should we receive a response.

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What Do the Richest Men in the World Think of Crypto and Blockchain?

Blockchain and cryptocurrencies are as disruptive as they are polarizing. Here are the opinions of the world’s richest people on the technology.

For the past decade, blockchain, Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies have disrupted everything they have touched — including banking, hedge funds, law enforcement, health care and real estate to name a few. Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies are set to revolutionize many industries, yet this is only the beginning.

However, despite the overall enthusiasm and excitement around cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology’s capacity to revolutionize the world as we know it, many of the world’s richest men have expressed mixed opinions.

For instance, some billionaires, like Warren Buffett, are known to be staunch Bitcoin critics while others, like Tim Draper, are avid supporters. In 2018, for instance, Buffett predicted that Bitcoin, in particular, will have a “bad ending.”

On the other hand, billionaire investors like Tim Draper, Michael Novogratz and David Marcus have maintained a bullish stance on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Here is Forbes’s list of the world’s wealthiest individuals and their opinions on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

Jeff Bezos

Jeff Bezos is the world’s richest man with a net worth of $130 billion according to the 2019 Forbes list. The founder of Amazon, the e-commerce colossus, has been rumored countless times to have invested in Bitcoin. Plus, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has been quoted saying that he expects Bezos’s online retail giant to be the catalyst for the next Bitcoin bull run.

However, none of the rumors have been confirmed, and Amazon has denied any plans to accept Bitcoin or any other crypto on its platform. The only blockchain-positive development associated with Jeff Bezos is amazon’s cloud computing arm 2018 partnership with a blockchain startup called Kaleido.

Bill Gates

With a net worth that exceeds $100 billion, Bill Gates has featured among the world’s richest for quite some time. Although Gates had earlier shown enthusiasm for Bitcoin in 2014, where he told Bloomberg in an interview that Bitcoin was better than any currency, he has since retracted his remarks, noting that the anonymity of digital currencies is not good for transactions.

Furthermore, during a 2018 interview with CNBC, Gates said: “Bitcoin and ICOs are completely speculative.” However, like most critics, he added that blockchain, the underlying technology behind most cryptocurrencies, has its merits.

Warren Buffett

Buffett is a longtime critic of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Before the 2018 Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting, the longtime investor called Bitcoin a “mirage” that is “probably rat poison squared” and “not a currency.”

However, in a recent interview, Tron CEO Justin Sun outlines that Buffett was very open to new technologies. This came after Sun had a charity lunch with the Oracle of Omaha just a month ago, during which the young CEO tried to explain crypto’s potential to Buffett.

Even though Buffett went as far as accepting Ton (TRX) from Sun, Buffett maintained that he does not own any crypto and reiterated that he will never own crypto since it has “zero value.”

Bernard Arnault

With a business empire that spans over 70 brands including Sephora and Louis Vuitton, Bernard Arnault has featured among the world’s richest since 1985 when he bought Christian Dior. Since then, his luxury brands have grown, posting record sales — especially in 2018 — according to Forbes.

Although there are no official comments of Arnault about Bitcoin or blockchain technology, reports show that the billionaire teamed up with Microsoft Azure and ConsenSys last year to develop a blockchain platform that will track products produced by LVMH.

Other blockchain and crypto-related reports about Arnault include one, in which he rejected involvement in setting up a Belgian crypto trading company called Abesix Belgique.

Larry Ellison

Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle, is worth over $50 billion and is listed as the world’s seventh-richest richest man. He is one of the few billionaires who have been vocal about Bitcoin and issued positive remarks about the merits of blockchain technology.

In a 2017 article by Business Insider, Ellison is quoted saying that blockchains are often thought of in the context of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies: “But increasingly, companies outside of finance are using blockchain technology to replace long-held authentication practices in law, real estate and shipping.”

Mark Zuckerberg

After Facebook’s debacle with the launch of its stablecoin cryptocurrency called Libra, a lot of people have expressed concern that if all of Facebook’s users adopted Libra as a currency, most of the world’s fiat currencies would be compromised.

However, while onlookers are concerned about the threat Libra would bring to local currencies including Bitcoin, Zuckerberg maintains that “when we do things that are going to be very sensitive for society, we want to have a period where we can go out and talk about them and consult with people and get feedback and work through the issues before rolling them out.”

Since 2018, Zuckerberg has held a positive stance particularly toward blockchain technology, saying: “The technology powering Bitcoin could help improve Facebook in the future.”

Michael Bloomberg

Apart from being listed among the top ten richest people in the world, Michael Bloomberg is currently running for as a presidential candidate for the Democratic Party in the 2020 United States presidential elections. Unlike other high ranking politicians, such as the U.S. President Donald Trump, who expressed negative opinions about Bitcoin and Facebook’s Libra last year, Bloomberg has shown a somewhat positive view on crypto and blockchain technology.

Bloomberg is quoted saying: “Cryptocurrencies have become an asset class worth hundreds of billions of dollars, yet regulatory oversight remains fragmented and undeveloped.” He also added: “For all the promise of the blockchain, Bitcoin and initial coin offerings, there’s also plenty of hype, fraud and criminal activity.”

With reports of surging popularity in the polls, Bloomberg’s policies on financial reforms are in the spotlight. The former New York mayor recognized cryptocurrencies as an asset class and has included policies in his campaign that will protect consumers from crypto-related fraud and clarify the responsibilities of crypto regulators with a framework to define initial coin offerings.

And a few other billionaires with strong thoughts on crypto

Ray Dalio

Ray Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater Associates, has recently spoken in an interview with CNBC where he echoed concerns about the state of the global economy as have many Bitcoin investors and supporters, saying: “We’re in a spot in monetary policy where you can no longer stimulate the same way you did before.”

However, instead of advising those who are concerned about a coming global economic downturn to turn to Bitcoin, Dalio believes that gold is a much better safe haven than Bitcoin. In Dalio’s opinion: “There are two purposes of money: a medium of exchange and a store-hold of wealth. And Bitcoin is not effective in either of those cases now.”

In the interview, Dalio pointed out that Bitcoin is still too volatile to sufficiently act as a proper store of value.

Elon Musk

Recently, Elon musk has been in the spotlight for his cryptic tweets about Bitcoin. However, the CEO and founder of Tesla finally revealed that he is "neither here nor there on Bitcoin.” Although Musk sees the value of Bitcoin, he believes that it is mostly used to perform illegal transactions:

“This sort of gets the crypto people angry, but there are transactions that are not within the balance of the law.”

He further added that although he sees “crypto as an effective replacement for cash,” he did not see it as a primary replacement. Granted, Musk does not fully endorse cryptocurrencies, however, he admits that there is a change coming to the financial industry and that banks need to watch out.

Jack Ma

According to a 2018 article by Bloomberg, Jack Ma issued a warning over cryptocurrencies, declaring Bitcoin to be a potential bubble. The founder of the giant e-commerce Company Alibaba and chairman of Ant Financial, a Chinese-based financial conglomerate, has revealed in the past that he pays special attention to Bitcoin and blockchain technology especially toward their capacity to establish a cashless society.

Even recently, during the 20th annual China Association of Science and Technology, Ma maintained his stance on Bitcoin being a possible bubble and pointed out blockchain as the “key that opens a treasure of chest of effective new technological tools.”

Michael Novogratz

Mike Novogratz, CEO and founder of crypto merchant bank Galaxy Digital Holdings and the former manager of the Fortress Investment Group, correctly predicted that Bitcoin would hit the $10,000 mark by the end of 2017.

Popularly known as Novo, the unlikely crypto hero has maintained that: “Bitcoin is going to be the digital gold.” According to Novogratz, Bitcoin is “the only one of the coins out there that gets to be a legal pyramid scheme. Just like gold is.”

To put his money where his mouth is, it is reported that Novogratz has invested about 30% of his fortune in cryptocurrencies. Despite making a huge loss on Bitcoin’s historic plunge in 2018 where his Galaxy digital Holdings reportedly lost $136 million, Novogratz remains undeterred.

He is quoted by Bloomberg saying that despite the frustration of investors losing money, the company has a “business that can break even” and that they have “plenty of cash to run the business for a long time.” Recently, the billionaire reiterated that he is even “more bullish on BTC” despite Bitcoin’s price struggle with volatility.

Tim Draper

In September 2019, venture capitalist Tim Draper doubled down on his previous prediction of Bitcoin hitting $250,000 by 2022 when he added that those predictions were “conservative.”

Draper has maintained a bullish stance on Bitcoin since June 2014 when he bought Bitcoin that had been seized and auctioned off by the U.S. Marshals service. The total amount of the Bitcoin he owned at the time was estimated to be worth $19 million.

Recently, Draper spoke to CNBC where he revealed that six months ago, he pulled his wealth out of public stock markets to hold more of it in his Bitcoin portfolio. In regards to the worldwide stock market plummeting due to coronavirus concerns, Draper revealed that his exposure was limited.

The Winklevoss twins

After Bitcoin’s price surge in 2017, Tyler and Cameron became the first Bitcoin billionaires. The two brothers and founders of Gemini, a crypto exchange, claim to own about 1% of the total Bitcoin in circulation.

Despite the seeming bad blood between the twins and Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, the Winklevoss twins have revealed in interviews that they believe Facebook’s Libra is positive news for the crypto space. Furthermore, according to a CNBC report, last year, the twins talked with Mark Zuckerberg before Facebook’s announcement of its Libra stablecoin. Currently, the Winklevoss brothers are counted among the world’s top Bitcoin millionaires.

Bill Harris

Bill Harris, the former CEO and co-founder of PayPal, is known for being one of the harshest Bitcoin critics. In an article he wrote in 2018, the former CEO of PayPal called Bitcoin a scam, adding that “it’s a colossal pump-and-dump scheme, the likes of which the world has never seen.”

During an interview with CNBC, Harris explained his position by pointing out that there is “no relation between value and usefulness” in the Bitcoin and crypto space. However, like most critics, Harris agrees that blockchain technology has “terrific applications.”

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Dubai Welcomes Global Businesses With First Blockchain KYC Platform

DIFC and Mashreq Bank launch Blockchain KYC platform to support faster business registration in the UAE.

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Mashreq bank announced the launch of their new blockchain data-sharing platform on March 1st.

This platform will allow licensed businesses and corporations to open digital bank accounts instantly by verifying their identities via an internal blockchain.

Mashreq accomplishes this by removing the existing paper-based KYC procedure and replacing it with a blockchain-centric digital one. DIFC prepares each new KYC record as part of a company’s corporate license application. With the customer’s consent, this information is then shared electronically with Mashreq via the blockchain. The result is a simplification of the process companies currently go through when opening a new bank account. This will make it easier and faster for new companies to do business in the UAE.

According to their statement, DIFC-incubated fintech firm Norbloc provided the blockchain platform (Fides), Gowling WLG drafted the legal agreements, and Deloitte supported Mashreq with governance and program management.

DIFC’s framework change makes the Fintech business even more appealing to the rest of the world

DIFC’s recent framework changes are what has made Mashreq Bank’s recent launch possible. The DIFC is one of Dubai's independent free-zones, offering companies 100% ownership of their businesses without the need for a local partner.

The DIFC’s legal framework places an emphasis on data protection, while maintaining practices which are consistent with all EU regulations and OECD guidelines. Their system is designed to help organizations process their personal compliance info, while simultaneously upholding every individual’s right to privacy. Ahmed Abdelaal, CEO of Mashreq, added that:

“The program aligns with the UAE Blockchain Strategy 2021, earmarking the beginning of a journey towards a broader vision of forming a Consortium of Banks, Government Bodies as well as other Licensing Authorities, for seamless sharing of customer KYC data, thus leading to increased transparency, added security, and a better customer experience..”

As Cointelegraph previously reported, the UAE has recently taken a positive stance on the crypto and Blockchain industry. In addition to Mashreq’s KYC platform, several other blockchain-based initiatives are also under development. These include a digitized trade project known as the “Digital Silk Road”, and a document exchange platform known as the "Bank Trust Network”.

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Coronavirus Hits Crypto, Buffett Beef, Craig Wright a ‘Disgrace’: Hodler’s Digest, Feb. 24–Mar. 1

Cryptocurrencies fall ill as coronavirus fears grip the market, Anthony Pompliano attacks Warren Buffett, and CZ calls Craig Wright a “disgrace.”

Coming every Sunday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.

Top Stories This Week

A bruising week for cryptocurrencies, stock markets and even gold

This week, it seemed like nowhere was safe from panic over the coronavirus. Almost $3.2 trillion in U.S. stocks has been wiped out U.S. since Monday — and over the past seven days, Bitcoin has tumbled by more than 13%. Even gold, traditionally regarded as a safe haven asset, wasn’t immune from the sell-offs. BTC failed to defend its 200-day moving average, a crucial factor in determining the health of the bull market, which Cointelegraph analyst flibflib described as a “significant issue.” The coronavirus outbreak has now spread beyond mainland China — with South Korea, Italy and Iran hit the hardest. Expect further turmoil in the markets if the virus continues to spread at this alarming rate.

Anthony Pompliano attacks Warren Buffett and defends Bitcoin

In a live TV interview on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Anthony Pompliano pulled no punches in dismissing Warren Buffett’s criticism of cryptocurrencies. After the billionaire suggested that digital assets were being used for money laundering, the Morgan Creek Digital Assets co-founder accused him of being a hypocrite. Pompliano alleged that Wells Fargo, one of the banks Buffett invests in, has helped launder billions of dollars for the notorious Sinaloa drug cartel. During the CNN interview, Pompliano went even further and claimed that Buffett was out of touch, saying: “I really don’t take technology advice from somebody who uses a flip phone or doesn’t use email.”

Warren Buffett doesn’t want to own any cryptocurrency

Pompliano’s fighting talk came after Buffett had told CNBC that he doesn’t own any cryptocurrencies because they “basically have no value.” It seems like the world’s fourth-richest man wasn’t sold on Bitcoin when he met up with Tron CEO Justin Sun for a charity lunch. Warning about how cryptocurrencies don’t produce anything, Buffett said: “What you hope is that somebody else comes along and pays you more money for it later on, but then that person’s got the problem. In terms of value… zero.” Nonetheless, the billionaire said he had a “very pleasant” three-and-a-half-hour lunch with Sun. However, there’s a twist. Sun says Buffett does own cryptocurrency because he was given some as a gift — adding that blockchain records can prove it.

Kaspersky debuts blockchain-based voting machine

To describe the use of mobile voting during the Iowa caucus as a disaster would be an understatement. But this isn’t stopping Kaspersky Labs from developing a blockchain-based voting machine that could become a mainstay of elections in the future. The machine works by issuing voters with unique QR codes or tokens that ensure they can only cast a ballot once. It could eliminate the need for multiple polling places in urban centers, as voters would be able to use their mobile phones instead. Kaspersky Labs says it does intend to completely replace paper-based voting with this technology, as it could “deprive and alienate certain groups of people” from exercising their democratic right. With fears of hacks and data breaches looming large, it could be some time before such machines go mainstream.

Revolut will make crypto available in 50 states

After gaining traction in Europe, Revolut is now planning to enable Americans in all 50 states to buy and sell everything from Bitcoin and Ether to Litecoin and XRP. Square is being eyed up as Revolut’s biggest competitor in North America — and the fintech firm believes it could gain an upper hand because of how it supports more than just BTC. Revolut has just raised $500 million on a $5.5-billion valuation, but the company’s general manager, Dan Westgarth, believes that investors aren’t put off by its exposure to crypto. He told Cointelegraph: “Our investors like crypto. They don’t mind the risk as long as it is well-managed, and we are good at it.”

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin is at $8,604.94, Ether at $222.68 and XRP at $0.23. The total market cap is at $245,828,750,264.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Kyber Network, Power Ledger and WaykiChain. The top three altcoin losers of the week are Molecular Future, Cosmos and ABBC Coin.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis. 

Most Memorable Quotations

“Our investors like crypto. They don’t mind the risk as long as it is well-managed, and we are good at it.”

Dan Westgarth, Revolut digital manager

“I think the price of Bitcoin, on a long-term basis, will quantuple, if that’s a word.”

Robert Herjavec, millionaire host on Shark Tank

“Without keys, BTC will be confiscated. Code is law, and courts can mandate patching code. Bitcoin is not encrypted. It is economic.”

Craig Wright, self-proclaimed Bitcoin creator

“He [Craig Wright] claims to be the founder of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, which is a lie. He hurts the credibility of Bitcoin and is a disgrace to our entire industry.”

Changpeng Zhao, Binance CEO

“There's a sucker born every minute, and many of them own Bitcoin.”

Peter Schiff, crypto skeptic

“Ultimately, Bitcoin will be the winner and will be the global reserve currency at some point in the future.”

Anthony Pompliano, Morgan Creek Digital co-founder

“I don’t own any cryptocurrency. I never will […] You can’t do anything with it except sell it to somebody else.”

Warren Buffett, billionaire investor

Prediction of the Week

Shark Tank’s Robert Herjavec says Bitcoin’s price will “quantuple” long-term

We love a bold prediction here at Hodler’s Digest — especially ones that may not actually make much sense. Robert Herjavec, the multimillionaire star of “Shark Tank,” has said he believes BTC is currently valued at only a fraction of its long-term potential. He told Kitco News: “I think the price of Bitcoin, on a long-term basis, will quantuple, if that’s a word.” (A quick footnote here… quantuple isn’t a word. We can’t be sure, but we think he may mean “quintuple,” which would see BTC increase fivefold.) His inability to access a dictionary doesn’t seem to be the only problem. During the interview, Herjavec appeared to confuse the term “Bitcoin” with the entire crypto industry as a whole, adding: “You can buy different types of Bitcoin, and I think it’s a bit of a fragmented industry.” That’ll be Ether, Rob.

FUD of the Week

Courts will seize BTC with miners’ help: Self-proclaimed Satoshi Craig Wright

Craig Wright has claimed Bitcoin can and will be seized to accommodate court orders. The Australian entrepreneur, who has proclaimed himself as the BTC creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, believes the first seizures of the cryptocurrency by the courts will happen this year — and that it could happen without private keys. Wright is now calling for hacked exchanges that have lost Bitcoin to get in touch so “people get their money back, starting this year.” He went on to say: “You see, Bitcoin is easily confiscated, easily returned to the owner.” Whether or not any of this is grounded in reality remains to be seen.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao: “Craig Wright is a disgrace”

Wright’s many stunts have left other stalwarts in the crypto industry distinctly unimpressed. One of them is Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance. He told Cointelegraph that Wright’s claim of being Satoshi Nakamoto is a lie, adding: “He hurts the credibility of Bitcoin and is a disgrace to our entire industry.” Zhao added that Wright could easily have proved if he actually was behind BTC, adding: “He could not use even the most remote way to prove his claims. The true inventor of Bitcoin is far more capable than that.”

Threat alert: New trojans targeting major crypto exchange apps discovered

A new trojan that steals two-factor authentication codes generated by the Google Authenticator app has been identified by an Amsterdam-based cybersecurity firm. “Cerberus” has an extensive list of targets, including the U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. It is also believed that the Remote Access Trojan has the ability to steal device screen-lock PIN codes and swipe patterns. ThreatFabric, the company that uncovered Cerberus, warned: “We can conclude that this screen-lock credential theft was built in order for the actors to be able to remotely unlock the device in order to perform fraud when the victim is not using the device.”

Best Cointelegraph Features

The BCH question: How to recover after $30 million hack and mining tax row?

Bitcoin Cash has had a rather awful start to 2020 — with some analysts predicting we will now begin to witness the cryptocurrency’s “slow death.” Joseph Birch looks at some of the biggest issues facing BCH, which has divided its community like never before.

Defining Bitcoin: Money, currency or store of value?

What is Bitcoin? Is it a currency? A form of money? A store of value? All of the above or none of the above? Perhaps something completely new? Here’s António Madeira.

Presumed guilty: Financial watchdogs see crypto as illicit by default

Some major jurisdictions, such as Russia, are planning to flag any and all transactions involving cryptocurrency as suspicious. What gives? Here’s Kirill Bryanov.

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Analyst Claims 98% of Mining Rigs Fail to Verify Transactions

Crypto analyst Alex de Vries has claimed that carbon footprint of Bitcoin mining is on par with New Zealand, with the network’s power consumption equaling that of Chile.

Alex de Vries, the founder of the Digiconomist, has given a damning assessment of the electricity consumed by Bitcoin (BTC) mining in an interview with British media outlet, The Telegraph.

According to de Vries, a single Bitcoin transaction expends the same quantity of electricity needed to power a British household for 59 days, 780,650 Visa transactions, or 52,043 hours of video streaming on Youtube.

The article asserts that the annual returns generated from Bitcoin mining are nearly $5.9 billion — with approximately 4 billion mining units competing for a share of the bounty worldwide. At the end of August 2019, Bitcoin miners were estimated to have generated $14 billion in profits since the technology’s inception.

De Vries asserts that 98% of mining rigs will never verify a transaction, resulting in an enormous and unproductive electricity expenditure. “They are sort of participating in a massive lottery and every 10 minutes one gets lucky and gets to produce the next block,” he states.

“The shocking thing is the average lifetime of a bitcoin mining machine is one and a half years, because we have a new generation of machines which are better at doing these calculations. That means it’s impossible for 98 percent of the devices during their lifetime to make the calculation that actually results in a reward. So the rest are just running pointlessly for a few years, using up energy, and producing heat, and then they will just get trashed because they can’t be repurposed. It's insane.”

There are a number of factual issues with de Vries’ statements. He fails to substantiate his claim that there are 4 billion active mining rigs on the Bitcoin network. Cointelegraph’s internal calculations indicate this number is closer to 2.5 million. De Vries also asserts that miners who do not succeed in releasing new blocks are pointlessly wasting energy. However, this does not consider the dynamics of mining pools, and ignores the benefits that a large hash power affords to the security of the Bitcoin network.

Criticisms of Digitconomist’s estimated power consumption of mining

De Vries’ calculations are derived from Digiconomist’s Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (BECI) — which shows Bitcoin’s power consumption has recently broken into record highs.

According to BECI, Bitcoin mining currently consumes roughly 77.78 terawatt-hours per year — roughly equal to that of the entire country of Chile, and exceeding that of the Czech Republic by 13.9%. However, the index also provides a minimum estimate of roughly 50 terawatt-hours annually — equal to that of Romania.

BECI estimates that BTC mining results in e-waste generation comparable to Luxembourg and a carbon footprint on par with New Zealand.

During 2018, crypto investment company Coinshares published a report contradicting the figures produced by BECI — with the firm’s data estimating the electricity consumed by miners to be roughly half of Digiconomist’s.

Coinshares asserted that its findings “strictly contradict” BECI’s estimates, accusing the index of being predicated on “incorrect assumption resulting from inadequate research.”

Bitcoin mining and renewable energy

Coinshares’ 2018 report found that bitcoin mining is largely powered by cheap renewable energy, particularly hydro, with fossil fuels representing the minority share of the network’s total electricity demand.

The firm’s December 2019 report estimates that 73% of the electricity used to power the Bitcoin network comes from renewable sources — two-thirds of which is located in China.

Further, BECI fails to consider the nuances of the electricity markets in which Bitcoin miners seek to operate — with cryptocurrency author and advocate Andreas Antonopolous arguing that cryptocurrency facilitates a new form of arbitrage that takes advantage of excess renewable energy that would otherwise be wasted. 

“What happens when you build a 50-megawatt plant in a place where they only have 15 megawatts of demand? In some cases, if it’s alternative energy, like wind, solar, or hydro, you can’t turn it off or turn it down. You’ve built it, and it will produce, and then what? You’re basically wasting energy. Now, what if, in that environment, you can find a way to turn that energy into an alternative store of value […] by using electricity that would be otherwise wasted. Now, Bitcoin is an environmental subsidy to alternative energy all around the world.”

Miners move flagship facilities from Sichuan to Texas

Many top mining companies have recently made moves to establish flagship facilities in Texas, United States, shifting their focus from the abundant hydropower offered by China’s Sichuan province. Texas would be the world’s fifth-largest producer of wind power worldwide if it were an independent nation, with the state regularly generating large excesses in electricity.

Bitmain’s Texas-based facility is currently believed to be the largest in the world with a capacity of 100 megawatts. This may not be the case for long, however. Frankfurt-based Northern Bitcoin plans to launch a facility boasting three times as much capacity in Texas before the end of the year.

Alex Liegl, the CEO of Layer1 Technologies, recently stated that Texas offers large-scale miners “the cheapest power in the world.” Layer1 Technologies is a US-based mining company that launched operations at its Texas facility in January.

Layer1 powers its operations using a privately owned substation, and deploys shipping containers filled with mining hardware suspended in non-conductive liquid for cooling.

With the technology and geography of the crypto mining industry perpetually shifting, appraisals such as de Vries' are often viewed as reductionist. Commentary on the Bitcoin network’s electricity consumption seldom articulates the nuanced dynamics of the market. While the sheer quantity of electricity used in BTC mining may appear large, three-quarters of the power consumed by the network comes from a renewable source — much of which may not have otherwise found use.

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XRP Price and Volume Linked to Twitter Activity, New Data Reveals

Data shows that since 2018 tweets mentioning XRP have influenced trading volume and the correlation has become stronger in 2020.

XRP gains from the month of February were erased over the past two weeks as the altcoin returned to its late January price at $0.23 today. The majority of the losses appear to be caused by the massive correction in traditional markets, which caused a sharp downturn for Bitcoin and many altcoins.

As reported by Cointelegraph, analysts now view the correction as a major setback, raising doubts about the future of the long-awaited bull market. 

Cryptocurrency market daily overview. Source: Coin360

XRP is one of the most frequently mentioned cryptocurrencies on social media platforms, especially, Twitter. As discussed in the previous analysis, there is a relationship between the number of daily tweets mentioning Bitcoin’s (BTC) and it’s trading volume. This leaves the door open to discuss if the high number of XRP mentions on social media also influenced its volume or returns. 

Relationship between tweets and XRP price since 2018?

The number of tweets mentioning XRP has been relatively consistent over time with its yearly averages since 2018 is similar. In 2018, the average number of daily tweets mentioning XRP was 5,937 daily average tweets. While, in 2019, the average daily number of tweets reduced slightly to 5,364 tweets. However, January this year had a smaller average number of tweets (5,001 tweets) with a spike — 6,919 tweets — on Jan. 6, the day XRP price gained more than 12%. 

Recently, the average number of tweets observed during February has increased to 6,429 daily tweets, a much higher average than the ones seen in earlier periods. 

The number of daily tweets from January 2018 until February 2020.

Following the trend of having a higher average in February, the correlation between the number of daily tweets and XRP prices in 2020 has been the highest since 2018 at 62%. Moreover, the correlation between these 2 variables this month has similar values at 60%, much higher than in January (12%). 

However, this relationship has been much lower in previous years: In 2018, the correlation between the number of tweets and XRP price was set at 35%, while in 2019, it shows almost no correlation – 7%. 

A correlation of 0% means that XRP returns and the number of tweets is not related in any way. A correlation of 100% means that XRP and the number of tweets move completely in the same direction, while -100% correlation means they are inversely related. 

A small positive influence on returns

The inconclusive trend seen in the correlations leads us to employ other analyses where we find a small significant relationship between the daily number of tweets and XRP returns. In 2019, when the number of daily tweets increased by 1%, the XRP return on the same day increased by 0.032%. However, in 2018, no significant relationship is present. 

A slightly higher influence is observed in the first month and a half of 2020 — when the daily number of tweets would increase by 1%, XRP returns would increase by 0.059%. 

XRP daily price from Jan.1, 2020 until Feb.18, 2020.

This stronger relationship between XRP mentions in tweets and trading volume was also reflected in the higher correlations seen in 2020 when compared to other years. However, when looking at the influence of today’s number of tweets and XRP returns tomorrow, we do not find a significant relationship, meaning, tweets can’t predict future returns. 

The number of daily tweets from Jan.1, 2020 until Feb.18, 2020.

A stronger relationship between tweets and volume

When it comes to the relationship between the number of tweets and XRP daily volume, a much higher influence is detected. Any of the years analyzed (2018, 2019, 2020) shows a significant relationship between these variables. The strongest influence happens, once more, at the start of 2020 — when the number of daily tweets would increase by 1%, XRP’s volume would increase by 1.215% the same day. This relationship is slightly lower in 2019 (0.916%) and in 2018 (0.926%).

What’s more, the relationship between the number of daily tweets today and XRP’s volume tomorrow is also significant across the years, even though it’s slightly lower than the values observed for the same day effect.

Once more, 2020 sees the strongest relationship — when the number of daily tweets would increase by 1%, XRP’s volume tomorrow would increase by 0.972%. During 2018 and 2019, this relation is set at 0.741% and 0.871%, respectively. 

XRP versus Bitcoin: 2020 outlook

XRP and Bitcoin have been compared regarding other features like the correlation of both currencies to gold. The start of 2020 has seen a shift in the ”digital gold” narrative with XRP price having a stronger correlation to gold than Bitcoin. 

As published by Cointelegraph, the daily number of tweets mentioning Bitcoin influenced its daily volume whether on the same day or the next day. However, when establishing the same parallel, in the case of XRP, a stronger relationship is found regarding returns in 2019 and 2020, while having comparable significant results for the influence of tweets in XRP volume. 

Looking forward, investors should be aware of the consistency of these relationships as the year moves forward and pay attention to social metrics in the case of XRP. 

Data for the number of tweets drawn from bitinfocharts.com. The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.

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Hester Peirce’s Last Effort at SEC as Wilshire Phoenix BTC ETF Is Rejected

With Hester Peirce’s term expiring in June, Commissioner takes a swipe at the SEC.

Securities and Exchange Commissioner (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce has published a dissenting statement in response to the Commission’s rejection of Wilshire Phoenix’s Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund application. 

In her statement, Peirce slams the SEC for its biased treatment of Bitcoin-related products with the passion of a “Bitcoin maximalist.” Given that the commissioner’s term expires in a little over three months, at the beginning of June 5, it raises a question: Could Peirce be positioning herself for a life after the SEC?

Anti-Bitcoin bias among regulators?

In her latest statement, Commissioner Pierce claims the SEC’s handling of Bitcoin-related products is inconsistent with Section 6(b)(5) of the Exchange Act which stipulates requirements for an exchange where the asset will be traded ‒ it needs “to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices [and] to protect investors and the public interest,” but doesn’t have such requirements for the asset itself:

“As I explained in the Winklevoss Dissent, this provision requires the Commission to look to the rules of the exchange seeking to list the product, not the attributes of the assets or markets underlying the product to be traded.”

SEC will never approve Bitcoin-related products?

Peirce surmises that based on “the ever-shifting standards” that the SEC applies to the Bitcoin products, no filing will ever get approved. Furthermore, she believes that this attitude — instead of protecting retail investors — deprives investors “of the ability to access bitcoin in markets within our regulatory framework.”

In addition, the Commissioner states there was not a single “pre-Bitcoin” case where the SEC analyzed whether the volumes were “significant when compared to the underlying commodity markets.” She concludes:

“In at least one case, the Commission approved a rule change to list shares of a product referencing a futures market that, at the time of approval, had no trading whatsoever.”

Perice’s worst fears confirmed

Commissioner Peirce asserts that the concerns she had previously voiced are being borne out: that a conservative and inconsistent approach that the SEC takes toward Bitcoin-related products “impedes innovation in this country and threatens to drive entrepreneurs, and the opportunities they create, to other jurisdictions.”

According to Peirce, not only is this treatment of crypto products “impeding innovation,” but even worse it is “setting precedent that will make it more expensive to submit rule filings to bring other listed products to market, and more difficult for the Commission to approve them.”

The SEC is comprised of five commissioners, each appointed by the U.S. president for a five-year term. With Peirce leaving, the likelihood that the Commission will become more crypto-friendly in the foreseeable future is low.

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