Bitcoin Bounces, Monero Still Rising; BTCManager’s Week in Review Nov. 14

The presidential race in the US is now over and ended with a victory for the Republicans, driving a short-term jump in Bitcoin’s price. Of course, uncertainty lies ahead, but the response from investors is pretty optimistic with regard to a Trump administration, with stocks and the US Dollar moving higher as we enter a new week. While Bitcoin showed a bounce, Monero has continued to appreciate as the Zcash hype dies down, gaining over 70 percent in less than two weeks.

Interesting developments in the future of cryptocurrency was introduced last week, with Tez0s unveiling a self-editing blockchain, where participants decide on the voting rules. The project holds the ambition to become the last ever launch of an altcoin, as their blockchain is able to absorb innovations from other cryptocurrencies.

This week’s review is compiled from contributions by Alexander Lielacher, Christoph Bergmann, Jamie Holmes, Joseph Young, Michael Scott, and Nigel Dollentas.

Bitcoin’s ‘Trump Bounce’ Short-lived Despite Media Hype

Bullish pressures may remain dormant for BTC-USD in the short-term, as investors perceived Trump’s efforts to improve American infrastructure and ease fiscal policy as positive for the US stock market and the Greenback The Fed’s Stanley Fischer also chipped in on the results, indicating another rate hike in December is a strong possibility. While media outlets were confident Trump’s victory would boost Bitcoin, it has been nothing but a short-lived bounce, with the price hovering just above $700.

Self-Amending Blockchain Tez0s Gears up for Q1 2017 ICO

Change in cryptocurrency is usually a hassle, with an overwhelming majority of users required to upgrade and install a new version of the software to reach a consensus. Tez0s presents a more elegant solution, with their code allowing for Tez0s’ users to vote for changes in the protocol democratically, as well as changes to the actual voting procedure itself. Tez0s is a “generic and self-amending crypto-ledger” that can be integrated into any cryptocurrency simply by implementing the proper interface to the network layer.

Monero Attracts Mainstream Media After ZCash’s Controversial Launch

The majority of the cryptocurrency community seemed positive that Monero would lose its title of “the leading privacy and anonymity-focused cryptocurrency” against the overhyped and highly anticipated ZCash. Roughly two weeks after the debut of ZCash, it is becoming more evident that Monero still remains as the heavy community and market favorite. Monero continues its upward trajectory at the time of writing, trading at $7.72 on the Poloniex at the time of writing.

U.S. Election Security and The Blockchain: Interview With Darin Stanchfield, CEO of KeepKey

At BTCManager, we had a brief moment to interview Seattle-based security expert Darin Stanchfield, on how blockchain technology may ultimately be the answer in terms of boosting security and protecting voting systems from attacks. Stanchfield is the CEO of KeepKey and stated, “The immutable nature of the blockchain means that if used in an election system, once a vote is cast it cannot be manipulated. In addition, the blockchain is ideally suited to provide an audit trail for election results.”

Initial Coin Offerings: Investor Gold Rush or Major Liability?

With the recent closing of the highly successful ICO for Iconomi, which raised a little over $10.6 million making it the 11th highest funded crowdsale project of all time, it is useful to assess whether ICOs present risks for all involved or represents a new way to turn the conventional financing methods for startups on its head. Thanks to the trustless security blockchain technology have provided cryptocurrency users, many new startups with big ambitions are turning to ICOs as a source of funding rather than seeking funds from traditional sources.

UK Regulator FCA Unveils Fintech ‘Sandbox’ Filled With Blockchain Startups

On November 7, the FCA announced that the first cohort of its fintech sandbox, which received 69 applicants from a range of different sectors and geographies. Of the 69 firms, 18 were accepted into the first cohort as they met the FCA’s eligibility criteria and are in a position to start testing their new products and services immediately. Among the 18 firms, there are established global financial services firms, such as HSBC and Lloyds Banking Group. However, there are also several Bitcoin startups.

Blockchain Startup Colu to Launch Localized Digital Currencies in the UK

Tel Aviv-based cryptocurrency startup Colu announced that in December it will launch two local digital currencies, the Camden Pound, and the Liverpool Pound, in the United Kingdom. This will be achieved through a combination of the colored coins and lightning protocol concepts.

These are actually not the first local digital currencies that Colu has unveiled. So far, it has launched local cryptocurrency projects in Barbados, Brazil, in the Tel Aviv neighborhood Florentine and in the Israeli town Jaffa.