Cryptocurrency, Earnings, Market Summary

2 min Market Summary: 2 Nov 2018

Posted on by TrackRecord Trading

NOTABLE MOVES  

  • U.S. ISM Manufacturing PMI at 57.7 vs expected 59.0, the pullback is most likely a natural slowing of activity following what has been an impressive acceleration in manufacturing activity on a national level. That point notwithstanding, the deceleration in what has been one of the hottest sectors will feed into the peak-growth narrative that has been prominent of late. U.S. Treasuries ticked higher on Thursday, pushing the 2-yr yield down four basis points to 2.84% and the 10-yr yield down two basis points to 3.14%. USDJPY down -0.19%, $112.72.
  • There were no prints from the E.U., with French and Italian banks closed for holiday. Euro popped 0.80%, $1.1403. Bank of England unanimously voted to leave rates unchanged at 0.75% as expected on Thursday. Additionally, the central bank lowered its growth forecasts for 2018 and 2019 by 0.1% in each year to 1.3% and 1.7%, respectively. The bank that it would need to step up the pace of interest rate rises in the years ahead if Theresa May was able to negotiate a smooth Brexit deal. Announcing the verdict of the bank’s latest Monetary Policy Committee meeting, the BoE said rate rises would still be “gradual”, but indicated that it would need to raise rates to 1.5% over the next three years to keep inflation under control. Three months ago, it suggested only one quarter-point increase was necessary over the same period to stop the economy from overheating. Mark Carney said the bank’s central forecast was that the economy would run hotter, pushing inflation higher and “as a consequence, a margin of excess demand emerges”. U.K. Manufacturing PMI at 51.1 vs expected 53.0. Sterling rallied 1.86%, $1.3003.
  • Dollar was broadly weak on Thursday, USDCAD down -0.49%, $1.3091. Aussie Trade Balance at 3.02B vs expected 1.71B. Aussie rallied 1.85%, $0.7205.
  • S&P 500 up 1.06%, 2,740.37. Nasdaq up 1.47%, 7,069.17. Nikkei down -1.06%, 21,687.65.
  • Favorable trade-related tweet by Trump lifted stocks from their early downtrend. The benchmark index briefly turned negative in the early going before comfortably trading in positive territory for most of the session. Trump tweeted that he had a “long and very good conversation” with President Xi, adding that discussions have been moving along nicely with meetings being scheduled at the upcoming G-20 summit in Argentina. According to a Reuters report, President Xi confirmed he spoke with Trump over the phone, expressing his willingness to meet with Trump at the G-20 summit, hopeful for a stable relationship with the U.S.
  • Music streaming platform Spotify (SPOT 141.16, -8.53) lost -5.7% after it reported a Q3 operating loss above guidance. The company also slightly lowered its fourth quarter monthly active user (MAU) and premium subscriber guidance, which did not bode well for a stock trading in a very competitive space.

 

BLOCKCHAIN & CRYPTOCURRENCY NEWS  

NASDAQ Eyes Crypto Market Manipulation Use Case for Market Surveillance Tool
The world’s second-largest stock exchange NASDAQ says its market surveillance technology can “stamp out manipulation” in cryptocurrency markets. Regulators, brokers and exchanges have surveillance teams that monitor activity constantly and advanced technologies to help capture and analyze abusive behaviors including pump-and-dump schemes, insider trading, wash trading as well as spoofing and layering. The move comes as Bitcoin’s new-found stability temporarily takes emphasis off the idea that its markets were subject to foul play. NASDAQ saw the first cryptocurrency client for its SMARTS Market Surveillance solution come in April in the form of Gemini, the cryptocurrency exchange operated by the Winklevoss twins.

Hong Kong Regulator Announces New Plans for Cryptocurrency Industry
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued two circulars on Thursday concerning cryptocurrency regulations. The first outlines a new approach which aims to bring virtual asset portfolio managers and distributors of virtual asset funds under its regulatory net, and the second document addresses intermediaries that distribute crypto funds. The SFC will impose licensing conditions on firms which manage or intend to manage portfolios investing in virtual assets and it will explore whether crypto exchanges “are suitable for regulation in the SFC regulatory sandbox.”

Anypay Provides Bitcoin Cash Invoices That Can Be Paid by Sending a Text Message
On Oct. 29, a Bitcoin Cash proponent used the Cointext wallet to purchase a croissant by text message at La Maison Navarre, a bakery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The shop uses the free Anypay point-of-sale application, which connects to the Cointext system to allow people to make purchases by SMS. The Anypay.global payment processor, a free point-of-sale application for retail merchants, has integrated Cointext payments within its invoice platform. If a user chooses to pay for a product with bitcoin cash, they will be introduced to Anypay’s invoice system, which displays a written BCH address, a QR code, and the ability to pay by text using an SMS-based code. The Cointext wallet is a light client for mobile phones that allows users to send BCH over standard text messaging services without an internet connection.

Cryptocurrency, Earnings, Market Summary

2 min Market Summary: 1 Nov 2018

Posted on by TrackRecord Trading
  NOTABLE MOVES  
  • U.S. Employment Cost Index q/q at 0.8% vs expected 0.7%. Chicago PMI at 58.4 vs expected 60.1. ADP Non-Farm Employment Change at 227K vs expected 188K. Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady on Wednesday at -0.10% (inline) and slightly trimmed its inflation forecasts as global trade frictions clouded the outlook, reinforcing views the central bank is in no rush to trim its massive stimulus. While ruling out a rate hike, Kuroda said the BOJ could take further steps to ease the strain on markets. The BOJ announced changes in its bond-buying operations, they will reduce the frequency of its bond buying operations in November and aim to have government bonds traded in the secondary market longer than they currently are. USDJPY down -0.20%, $112.86.
  • E.U. CPI Flash Estimate y/y inline at 2.2%. Core CPI Flash Estimate y/y inline at 1.1%. Euro down -0.26%, $1.1315. In Brexit, Sterling got bid after Dominic Raab suggested he expects a deal on the UK’s exit from the EU to be agreed within three weeks. The Brexit secretary told a committee of MPs he was happy to appear before them to give evidence “when a deal is finalised” and “currently expected 21 November to be suitable”. Sterling up 0.47%, $1.2767.
  • Chinese Manufacturing PMI at 50.2 vs expected 50.6. Non-Manufacturing PMI at 53.9 vs expected 54.7.
  • Canadian GDP m/m at 0.1% vs expected 0.0%. WTI crude extended its recent decline, losing -1.3% to $65.31/bbl, reaching its lowest level since August. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a weekly crude oil inventory build of 3.2 million barrels, marking the sixth straight week inventories have risen. USDCAD up 0.40%, $1.3159.
  • Aussie CPI q/q at 0.4% vs expected 0.5%. Trimmed Mean CPI q/q inline at 0.4%. Aussie down -0.32%, $0.7083.
  • S&P 500 up 1.09%, 2,711.74. Nasdaq up 2.31%, 6,967.10. Nikkei up 2.16%, 21,920.46.
  • Technology stocks were in control from the get-go, following Facebook (FB 151.79, +5.57, +3.8%) releasing its third quarter earnings report the previous evening. Alphabet (GOOG 1076.77, +40.56, +3.9%) and Netflix (NFLX 301.78, +15.97, +5.6%) joined Facebook with noteworthy gains on Wednesday, underpinning the strength in the communication services sector (+2.1%). Likewise, Apple (AAPL 218.86, +5.56, +2.6%) and Amazon (AMZN 1598.01, +67.59, +4.4%), respectively, provided strong support for the outperforming information technology (+2.4%) and consumer discretionary (+1.6%) sectors.
  • JPMorgan Chase (JPM 109.02, +2.29) and Bank of America (BAC 27.50, +0.71) provided strong support with respective gains of 2.2% and 2.7%. Financials benefited from a slight steepening of the yield curve, with the 2-yr yield increasing four basis points to 2.88% and the 10-yr yield rising five basis points to 3.16%.
  • In other earnings, General Motors (GM 36.59, +3.05, +9.1%), eBay (EBAY 29.03, +1.61, +5.9%), T-Mobile US (TMUS 68.55, +4.63, +7.2%), and Automatic Data (ADP 144.08, +6.82, +5.0%) all sported healthy gains after reporting better-than-expected results. On the other hand, Kellogg (K 65.48, -6.38) lost -8.9% after missing bottom line estimates and lowering its adjusted earnings outlook.

 

  BLOCKCHAIN & CRYPTOCURRENCY NEWS  

Binance Freezes Funds With Suspected Money Laundering Links From Controversial Exchange WEX
Troubled cryptocurrency exchange WEX.nz has seen its funds frozen by fellow exchange Binance after users claimed the exchange was involved in money laundering. According to CEO Changpeng Zhao, laundered funds would “soon” use decentralized exchanges to avoid freezes traditional platforms are able to instigate. BTC-e remains subject to a giant $4 billion fraud investigation by Greece and U.S., with alleged founder Alexander Vinnik still in custody following his arrest in July 2017. WEX soon began exhibiting suspicious traits once it began operating, with prices of Bitcoin significantly larger on its order book than global norms. At press time, BTC/USD on WEX.nz was quoted at $8,547 – 35 percent higher than the CoinMarketCap average.

Venezuela Begins Public Sale of National Cryptocurrency Petro
On Monday, the Venezuelan government announced that the public can now purchase the country’s national cryptocurrency directly from the Superintendency of Cryptoassets and Related Activities (Sunacrip). Sunacrip is in charge of regulating all crypto-related activities in Venezuela. Buyers can visit the Sunacrip headquarters to purchase the petro with cash. Purchasing with cryptocurrencies can also be done on the petro’s official website. The public sale of the petro was scheduled for Nov. 5. However, Venezuela’s Superintendent of Cryptoassets Joselit Ramirez explained that the launch was moved forward due to the fluidity with which events developed and the support of President Nicolás Maduro. On Thursday, Venezuela’s vice president of the economy, Tareck El Aissami unveiled two more petro options which will be enabled on the Sunacrip website on Nov. 5: Petro Pago (pay) and Petro Ahorro (savings).

Kenya’s Bithub Africa Mines Bitcoin Using Solar Power
Founded in 2015, Bithub.Africa is a commercial blockchain accelerator that is driving the adoption of blockchain technology and solutions across Africa. The company also focuses on building systems that facilitate access to financial services and energy through public blockchain projects and open protocols such as Bitcoin. Bithub Africa has started using off-grid solar power to mine bitcoin and Ethereum and has laid out a series of interconnected cables and devices at its small mining facility in Nairobi. An inverter connects to a battery, which is patched through to a controller that is linked to a 200-watt solar panel. The PV module is fixed to the roof at an angle to maximize solar capture. Bithub Africa also extracts litecoin and ethereum classic using conventional sources of electricity, with only minimum air-conditioning needed to keep the mining rigs from overheating in addition to its solar-powered cryptocurrency mining operations.

Cryptocurrency, Earnings, Market Summary

2 min Market Summary: 31 Oct 2018

Posted on by TrackRecord Trading

NOTABLE MOVES  

  • U.S. CB Consumer Confidence at 137.9 vs expected 136.3. 2-yr and 10-yr Treasury notes added two basis points each to 2.84% and 3.11% respectively. USDJPY up 0.61%, $113.06.
  • German Prelim CPI m/m at 0.2% vs expected 0.1%. E.U. Prelim Flash GDP q/q at 0.2% vs expected 0.4%. Adding to Euro woes, Italian GDP in Q3 showed no growth, with Italian Deputy PM Salvini stating that the GDP slowdown is another reason to press ahead with the budget expansion. Euro down -0.25%, $1.1345.
  • Broad Dollar strength, political woes in the Union, and the absence of progress in Brexit negotiations all weighed on Sterling, with no fresh catalyst behind Tuesday’s slump. Sterling dropped -0.68%, $1.2706.
  • Aussie Building Approvals m/m at 3.3% vs expected 3.9%. Aussie up 0.68%, $0.7104.
  • S&P 500 up 1.57%, 2,682.63. Nasdaq up 1.43%, 6,810.12. Nikkei up 1.45%, 21,457.29.
  • Tuesday’s price action in the S&P 500 oscillated with the volatility in large-cap technology stocks before finally taking a decisive swing upwards in the last hour of trading. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, which had been down approximately -0.7% intraday, closed at its session high with a 1.43% gain.
  • Philadelphia Semiconductor Index climbed 4.2%. Notable chipmaker NVDIA (NVDA 203.00, +17.38) jumped 9.4% after J.P. Morgan analyst Harlan Sur upgraded the stock to overweight from neutral. He thinks that investors are underestimating secular gaming trends, as more than 30 new titles are set to be released in the next two quarters and as e-sports continue to gain in popularity.
  • Amazon (AMZN 1530.42, -8.46, -0.6%) was the only FANG member to post a loss. In earnings, Dow components Pfizer (PFE 42.89, -0.34, -0.8%) and Coca-Cola (KO 47.63, +1.17, +2.5%) both reported better-than-expected profits. Pfizer, however, lowered its revenue guidance, while Coca-Cola reaffirmed its guidance. Additionally, former Dow component General Electric (GE 10.18, -0.98) fell -8.8% to its lowest level in nearly a decade after missing top and bottom line expectations and cutting its quarterly dividend from $0.12 per share to $0.01 per share. Under Armour (UAA 23.23, +5.04) soared 27.7% following a better-than-expected earnings report. Facebook shares whipsawed in after-hours trading, following a mixed third-quarter earnings report Tuesday. Earnings per share (EPS): $1.76 vs $1.47 estimated. Revenue: $13.73 billion vs. $13.78 billion estimated. Facebook’s shares were down as much as -6% and up as much as 5% after hours as investors dissected Zuckerberg’s comments on future spending and growth. They finally settled in positive range, up about 3%, after the company’s earnings call concluded.

EARNINGS NEWS  

BLOCKCHAIN & CRYPTOCURRENCY NEWS  

U.K.’s Financial Regulator Mulls Ban on Sale of Crypto Derivatives
The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said it will consider whether to ban the sale of cryptocurrency-based derivatives. The watchdog is reported to have said it will now launch a consultation in the first quarter of 2019 into whether or not to place a ban on their sale in future. The regulator’s remarks came the same day as a new report published by the Cryptoassets Taskforce – which includes representatives from the FCA, the U.K. Treasury and the Bank of England – emphasized that leveraged crypto-based derivatives were even riskier than spot market trading as they can amplify and “cause losses that go beyond the initial investment,” as well as imposing additional fees. The FCA reportedly plans to launch a parallel consultation into whether to extend its regulatory jurisdiction to crypto assets themselves, as well as to infrastructure providers such as exchanges and wallet services.

Bitcoin ‘Patient Zero’ Says BTC’s Current Stage is Like ‘1992 for The Internet’
Bitcoin “Patient Zero” Wences Casares, the founder of Bitcoin (BTC) wallet startup Xapo, said that the seminal cryptocurrency may take years to prove successful. Casares forecasted that it will take at least seven years to determine whether BTC is successful, and if it does, BTC will become a non-political global standard of value and settlement. Notably, the Bitcoin advocate said that it will not replace fiat currencies as “it does not make sense.” He added that the idea that a blockchain can “change the idea of an asset, that already derives its value from a central authority […] its really nonsensical and does not make any sense.” Regarding blockchain, Casares stated in January that there would eventually come about a single “robust” blockchain to move value globally. Per Casares, the future of crypto lies in the cooperation around a singular, robust blockchain, and in his opinion BTC is the most likely to be the blockchain of choice.

Bitcoin Is ‘Anything but Useful’ Says Ex-Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen
Bitcoin is “anything but” a useful store of value, former U.S. Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen stated in a speech during an interview at the 2018 Canada FinTech Forum in Montreal.  Yellen – who rose to fame in the cryptocurrency community last year as the target of the now infamous ‘Buy Bitcoin’ session,  called Bitcoin a “highly speculative asset” and “not a stable source of value.” She also noted that the Fed was not “seriously considering” the concept of a state-issued digital currency at the time of her engagement.

Cryptocurrency, Market Summary

2 min Market Summary: 29 October 2018

Posted on by TrackRecord Trading

  NOTABLE MOVES  

  • U.S. Advance GDP q/q at 3.5% vs expected 3.3%. Advance GDP Price Index q/q at 1.7% vs expected 2.1%. Revised UoM Consumer Sentiment at 98.6 vs expected 98.9. U.S. Treasuries prices rose, as the market turmoil drove some safe-haven positioning. The 2-yr yield decreased five basis points to 2.81%, and the 10-yr yield dropped six basis points to 3.08%. USDJPY down -0.45%, $111.91.
  • Euro up 0.24%, $1.1403. Over the weekend, UK’s Chancellor Philip Hammond warned that a no-deal Brexit will jeopardise budget plans, prolonging UK’S austerity and that the government will need a new emergency one. Sterling up 0.12%, $1.2833. USDCAD up 0.28%, $1.3107.
  • S&P 500 down -1.73%, 2,658.69. Nasdaq down -2.34%, 6,852.40. Nikkei down -0.40%, 21,184.60.
  • A stronger-than-expected advance Q3 GDP reading (+3.5% actual vs +3.3% consensus) took a backseat in Friday’s trading action to Amazon lowering its fourth quarter revenue guidance and Alphabet missing third quarter revenue expectations. Facebook (FB 145.37, -5.58, -3.7%), Netflix (NFLX 299.83, -13.04, -4.2%), and Apple (AAPL 216.30, -3.50, -1.6%) also back-pedalled from notable gains in the previous session, adding pressure to the communication services and information technology (-1.9%) sectors. In other earnings news, Mohawk Industries (MHK 115.03, -36.04, -23.9%), Western Digital (WDC 44.19, -9.82, -18.2%), and Colgate-Palmolive (CL 59.58, -4.24, -6.6%) contributed to angst over future earnings growth. Flooring manufacturing company Mohawk cited weakening demand, inflation, and pricing pressures for its lower outlook; Western Digital said customers are being more conservative, resulting in softening demand; and Colgate-Palmolive encountered profit margin pressures from higher raw material and packaging material costs.
  • Conversely, Dow component Intel (INTC 45.69, +1.38) easily beat consensus revenue and EPS estimates for the third quarter and issued fourth quarter guidance that exceeded analysts’ average estimates. Shares of the chip maker finished 3.1% higher.

  BLOCKCHAIN & CRYPTOCURRENCY NEWS  

  • Ukraine: Economic Development and Trade Ministry Launches State Policy to Legalize Crypto
    The Economic Development and Trade Ministry of Ukraine has initiated a “state policy” for the classification and legalization of crypto-related activities. The Ministry has issued an official press release stating that its purpose is to “create understandable conditions for conducting activities in the field of virtual assets and virtual currencies,” and to usher in “adoption of the concept of a state policy” for crypto. It has proposed establishing legal definitions for key terms, including “virtual currency” (“cryptocurrency,”) “virtual assets,” Initial Coin (or Token) Offerings (ICOs or ITOs), cryptocurrency mining, “smart contracts,” and “tokens.” The concept is expected to be implemented in two stages, and will be completed in 2021.
  • World’s Largest Crypto Exchange OKEx to Delist 50+ Trading Pairs Due to ‘Weak’ Performance
    Major Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange OKEx will delist over 50 trading pairs with weak performance. The exchange will halt the trading of a swathe of pairs that they cite as having weak liquidity and trading volume at 6:00 am Oct. 31, 2018 CET. The exchange warned users that they should cancel their orders of the affected pairs from the platform. Earlier this month, OKEx announced the listings of four stablecoins at once – TrueUSD (TUSD), USD Coin (USDC), Gemini Dollar (GUSD), and Paxos Standard Token (PAX). Founded in 2014, OKEx is at press time the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of adjusted trading volume, seeing around $402.5 million in trades over the past 24 hours.
  • VeChain Signs MoU for Blockchain Development with Cyprus
    Singapore-based blockchain platform VeChain Foundation, U.S. blockchain startup CREAM, and the national investment partner of the Republic of Cyprus, Invest Cyprus, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MoU is focused on establishing a framework in the field of blockchain technologies and related use cases. Per the MoU, the parties will work on a number of national level investment strategies, which involve blockchain-powered economies and promote blockchain technology, particularly in financial services. The suggested reforms will purportedly comply with regulatory procedures such as Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements, E.U. law, and other regulations.
Cryptocurrency, Market Summary

2 min Market Summary: 26 Oct 2018

Posted on by TrackRecord Trading

NOTABLE MOVES  

  • U.S. Core Durable Goods Orders m/m at 0.1% vs expected 0.5%. Durable Goods Orders m/m at 0.8% vs expected -1.3%. The Fed-sensitive 2-yr yield was unchanged at 2.86%, while the benchmark 10-yr yield closed one basis point higher at 3.14%. USDJPY up 0.10%, $112.37.
  • German Ifo Business Climate at 102.8 vs expected 103.1. The ECB left its key interest rates unchanged at 0.00%, as expected. ECB confirmed that its plan to end monetary easing by the end of the year remains on track. “Regarding non-standard monetary policy measures, the Governing Council will continue to make net purchases under the asset purchase programme (APP) at the new monthly pace of 15 billion euros until the end of December 2018,” the ECB said in a statement. The decision takes place as concerns mount over Italy’s fiscal policies and their potential impact over the stability of the euro area. The central bank’s president said in a subsequent press conference that he expected euro zone inflation to pick up despite weaker momentum. Euro down -0.16%, $1.1374.
  • Brexit negotiations remain in a stalemate, and the latest header on the issue referred to UK’s Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, who said that the EU’s “intransigence” is preventing them from achieving a deal. Sterling down -0.48%, $1.2819. USDCAD up 0.13%, $1.3072.
  • S&P 500 up 1.86%, 2,705.57. Nasdaq up 3.35%, 7,016.39. Nikkei down -3.72%, 21,268.73.
  • Heavyweight Microsoft (MSFT 108.30, +5.98) powered the recently struggling information technology sector, closing 5.8% higher after reporting above-consensus top and bottom lines Tesla (TSLA 314.86, +26.36, +9.1%) and Twitter (TWTR 31.80, +4.26, +15.5%) comfortably exceeded earnings expectations. Tesla, in fact, surprised investors by turning a profit last quarter.
  • The FANG bunch traded bid, led by Amazon (AMZN 1782.17, +117.97) and Alphabet (GOOG 1095.57, +44.86) sporting gains of 7.1% and 4.3%, respectively, ahead of their earnings reports. Ford (F 8.99, +0.81, +9.9%), Visa (V 140.52, +6.26, +4.7%), Comcast (CMCSA 35.84, +1.72, +5.0%), American Airlines (AAL 32.37, +2.03, +6.7%), and Whirlpool (WHR 111.34, +7.07, +6.8%) all finished with healthy gains, capitalizing on better-than-expected earnings results. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 19.27, -3.52, -15.5%) issued a revenue warning for the fourth quarter, and Southwest Air (LUV 49.91, -4.67, -8.6%) acknowledged that it is facing some higher-than-expected cost pressures.
  • Amazon dropped roughly -7% in after-hours trading on revenue and guidance miss. The e-commerce and cloud giant reported EPS of $5.75 versus consensus estimates of $3.08, according to FactSet. But revenues of $56.58 fell short of expectations for $57.1 billion. In addition, Amazon guided for revenue of $66.5 billion to $72.5 billion, below a $73.79 billion consensus estimate.
  • Likewise, Alphabet stock sinks on revenue miss, down more than -3.4% after hours. Alphabet reported EPS of $13.06 versus $10.42 expected and revenues of $33.7 billion versus $34.04 billion expected.

 

BLOCKCHAIN & CRYPTOCURRENCY NEWS  

China’s Alibaba Cloud Expands Enterprise Blockchain Offering to Global Markets
Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, is enhancing its Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) offering outside China. Alibaba Cloud will expand its enterprise-level blockchain service to major international markets including Europe, the U.S., and South East Asia. The blockchain solution offers a broad range of applications such as automatic deployment, consortium blockchain management, smart contracts, and others. Founded in 2009, Alibaba Cloud is reportedly considered as the largest cloud services supplier in China, as well as the third largest in the world, and now is operating 52 availability zones in 19 regions across the world.

German Central Bank and Deutsche Boerse Successfully Complete Blockchain Settlement Trial
The central bank of Germany, Deutsche Bundesbank, and securities marketplace organizer Deutsche Boerse (DB) have successfully completed the trial of a blockchain solution in the settlements area. The transaction volume and speed of a production system were tested on the Hyperledger Fabric framework and Digital Asset, a distributed ledger (DLT) solution for the financial sector. The high latency for some technology stacks and high CPU-usage were mentioned among weaknesses, while higher resiliency and lower cost of reconciliation due to the joint database were considered to be benefits. The main point of the joint research was bond issuance, settlement, corporate actions, and redemption, as well as cash transfer including the provisioning of digital coins, transfer between market participants, and settlement of cash payments, the summary states.

Japan’s Financial Regulator Mulls Cap on Cryptocurrency Margin Trading
Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) is planning to put a cap on the leverage available for crypto margin trading to curb speculation and risk. Currently, there are no regulations specifically governing the cryptocurrency margin trading space in Japan, with exchanges offering as much as 25 times leverage. That means traders can effectively borrow cryptocurrencies worth up to 25 times the deposit with an exchange, however, just a 4 percent drop in the purchased crypto assets would wipe out the initial deposit.  The news follows previous statistics released by the FSA, which indicated cryptocurrency margin trading has seen rapid growth in Japan. For instance, over 80 percent of the total cryptocurrency trading volume in Japan in 2017 came from derivatives trading, which recorded $543 billion. More than 90 percent of that figure came from margin traders. Seven of the 16 licensed exchanges by the FSA now offer marge trading services, adding that a panel comprised of FSA officials and industry experts is now set to discuss ways to impose potential regulations in this area.

Cryptocurrency, Market Summary

2 min Market Summary: 25 Oct 2018

Posted on by TrackRecord Trading

NOTABLE MOVES

  • U.S. Flash Manufacturing PMI at 55.9 vs expected 55.4. Flash Services PMI at 54.7 vs expected 54.1. Fed indicated in its Fed Beige Book for September that manufacturing prices continued to rise, attributed to tariffs. The Fed-sensitive 2-yr yield closed two basis points lower at 2.86%, and the benchmark 10-yr yield closed four basis points lower at 3.12%. USDJPY down -0.39%, $112.00.
  • German Flash Manufacturing PMI at 52.3 vs expected 53.4. German Flash Services PMI at 53.6 vs expected 55.5. E.U. Flash Manufacturing PMI at 52.1 vs expected 53.0. Flash Services PMI at 53.3 vs expected 54.5. Euro dropped -0.63%, $1.1399. In Brexit, PM May had cabinet meetings on Wednesday and the fear is not only for no-deal, but a revolt within her party and cabinet. Sterling fell -0.76%, $1.2884.
  • BoC raises interest rate to 1.75%. The BoC also pointed out that since the economy is now running close to its potential, it no longer needs policy stimulus and hence the overnight rate will need to rise to neutral in order to achieve the inflation target. Senior Deputy Governor Wilkins reiterated that the Bank estimates neutral to be in a 2.5 to 3.5% range. Risks to the global economic outlook related to the U.S.– China trade tensions were also discussed. But Governor Poloz pointed out that related risks to the economy are not all to the downside because there could also be a negotiated de-escalation of those tensions. The BoC’s statement was more hawkish than the one it published last September. The central bank not only raised interest rates (expected), but it also dropped its reference to “gradual” rate hikes. USDCAD traded to a low of 1.2971 in the aftermath and recovered to close -0.28% lower, $1.3048.
  • Stocks initially opened flat, but soon began ticking lower before doing a nose dive in the late afternoon. AT&T (T 30.36, -2.66, -8.1%) and Texas Instruments (TXN 92.01, -8.24, -8.2%) weighed on their respective communication services and information technology sectors with disappointing earnings reports on Wednesday. Telecom giant AT&T missed earnings expectations, citing its recent acquisitions and accounting changes. Likewise, chipmaker Texas Instruments reported below-consensus revenue and issued a Q4 earnings warning, acknowledging that demand has slowed for its products across most markets.  STMicroelectronics (STM 13.69, -2.18) also fell, losing -13.7%, after lowering its guidance, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped -6.6%. Dow component Boeing (BA 354.65, +4.60, +1.3%) reported better-than-expected top and bottom lines and raised its earnings guidance.
  • Tesla’s shares jumped by more than 12% (After Market Close), with the company reporting a surprise profit for the third quarter. Tesla gave investors hope that its production rates will improve, saying that the number of labor hours to build the Model 3 fell. Musk told analysts on a call it was an “incredibly historic quarter” for the young car company. It was welcome news for investors following an otherwise a tumultuous few months. The electric carmaker reported adjusted EPS of $2.90, well above consensus estimates for a loss of 7 cents per share. Revenue came in at $6.82 billion, soundly ahead of a $6.1 billion consensus.
  • Microsoft rises on earnings beat, but Azure growth slows. Shares in the tech giant rose 4.3% in after market hours after the company reported better-than-expected earnings for its fiscal first quarter. They reported earnings of $1.14 per share, topping analysts’ expectations of 96 cents per share. The company also reported revenue of $29.08 billion versus Wall Street’s expectation of revenue of $27.90 billion.

CRYPTOCURRENCY UPDATES

Nasdaq Wins Blockchain Patent for Smart Contract-Based Information Release System

Yesterday, Nasdaq, the worlds second largest stock exchange by the market cup, revealed a new blockchain patent award. Blockchain technology, or more specifically smart contracts, could be used to automate and ensure the security of the information release process. Each modification and/or approval of the document is recorded as a separate transaction on the blockchain where each of the submitter, editor, approver, and recipients interact with the blockchain with corresponding unique digital identifiers — such as private keys. Several months ago, Nasdaq has tested a blockchain proof-of-concept system for securities collateral, and has also filed for other patents linked to the technology. Last month, Nasdaq executives said they were looking at adding cryptocurrency data to its market analytics tool after users showed what it called “abundant” interest.

Crypto Exchange Bitfinex Denies Allegedly ‘Fake’ Tether Volumes Listed on CoinMarketCap

Major crypto exchange Bitfinex was recently accused of publishing trading volume data from “a market that doesn’t exist.” The article had argued that since the exchange does not provide a USDT/USD trading pair, this was an intentional strategy to make it appear as though a large volume of such trades were occuring on the exchange. In fact, Bifinex users are only able to deposit and withdraw both Tether and U.S. dollars through their accounts, rather than execute such trades. Bitfinex has recently been prompted to deny rumors that it was “insolvent” or facing banking issues in response to reports that its banking partner, Puerto Rico’s Noble Bank International, was seeking a buyer and had lost both Bitfinex and affiliated firm Tether as clients. The following week, the platform temporarily suspended all fiat wire deposits without providing a specific reason, although it had acknowledged in its prior statement that “complications continue to exist” for Bitfinex “in the domain of fiat transactions.”

Chinese E-commerce Giant Alibaba Wins Preliminary Injunction Against Alibabacoin

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has won a preliminary injunction against Dubai-based Alibabacoin Foundation in a lawsuit over the misleading use of Alibaba in their name. The court’s decision implies that the Alibabacoin Foundation will no longer be able to promote or sell its cryptocurrency in the country until larger action on this case is decided. In mid-October, the Alibabacoin Foundation reportedly offered for Alibaba to purchase their startup. According to the Alibabacoin Foundation’s website, the company wants to build a fund security system improved by a secret technique for implementing a blockchain algorithm into a facial recognition hashing process. According to CoinMarketcCap, Alibabacoin is ranked 1691th in global cryptocurrency rankings, and has seen a decline in price this week dropping from $1.6 per coin to $0.37 as of press time.

Cryptocurrency, Market Summary

2 min Market Summary: 24 Oct 2018

Posted on by TrackRecord Trading

NOTABLE MOVES

  • U.S. Richmond Manufacturing Index at 15 vs expected 25. Japan’s finance minister said he expects a planned sales tax increase next October to cause some disruptions. The 10-yr yield finished three basis points lower at 3.17%, but was down as much as eight basis points. USDJPY down -0.34%, $112.45.
  • German PPI m/m at 0.5% vs expected 0.3%. EU rejected Italy’s budget plan to increase its deficit spending to 2.4% of GDP in 2019. Euro up 0.05%, $1.1471. In Brexit, headlines indicated that the EU is willing to offer PM May a UK-wide customs union as a way around the Irish backstop issue, but it will have to be negotiated separately to the Withdrawal agreement. PM May, however, wants a UK-wide customs backstop that is legally-binding and included in the divorce bill. Sterling up 0.14%, $1.2980. USDCAD down -0.14%, $1.3083.
  • S&P 500 down -0.55%, 2,740.69. Nasdaq down -0.32%, 7,118.67. Nikkei down -2.67%, 22,010.78.
  • Disappointing earnings reports from Dow components 3M (MMM 192.55, -8.81) and Caterpillar (CAT 118.98, -9.73) heightened worries that earnings growth may have peaked and weighed on the industrial sector, which lost -1.6%. 3M reported lower-than-expected top and bottom lines and also lowered its earnings guidance. Meanwhile, Caterpillar drew attention to higher material and freight costs, including tariffs. Shares of 3M lost -4.4%, and Caterpillar shares fell -7.6%. Dow component McDonald’s (MCD 177.15, +10.52, +6.3%) helped lift the consumer discretionary sector after it reported above-consensus top and bottom lines. Meanwhile, Verizon (VZ 57.21, +2.23, +4.1%) led the communication services sector higher after it reported better-than-expected earnings.

 

CRYPTOCURRENCY UPDATES

Payments Company Square Open-Sources Its Bitcoin Cold Storage Tool

According to U.S. payments processing company Square’s announcement it is open-sourcing its Bitcoin (BTC) cold storage solution dubbed “Subzero“. “Subzero,” uses a Hardware Security Module (HSM)-backed cold wallet for which the company has now released the code, documentation, and tools. A HSMs’ security benefits include robust protection against physical tampering, strong access control and the option to replicate keys for backup or recovery purposes. Subzero has reportedly added multi-signature protection for its wallet, in which “participants [must] use a combination of smart cards and passwords” to authenticate transfers. QR codes are used to exchange the minimal amount of data needed between the offline and online world. The company also says it has leveraged industry stalwart crypto wallet Trezor’s “open source projects (such as trezor-crypto) as much as possible.”

Use of Blockchain in Major Industries by Numbers: Retail, Manufacturing, Finance, and Others

Many startups, major conglomerates, supply chain operators, and distributors have attempted to integrate blockchain technology over the past two years, to increase transparency and reduce the power of central entities in data processing. The exponential increase in demand and interest in blockchain technology has enabled multi-billion dollar markets for the blockchain in major sectors including manufacturing, agriculture, retail, supply chain, IoT, and payments. The researchers from ReportLinker firm stated that the blockchain in manufacturing market is forecasted to be worth around $30 million by 2020, and the market will continue to grow at an annual growth rate of 80 percent, to $566 million by 2025. The offshore banking market, which is mostly dominated by financial institutions and banks that oversee savings accounts for high profile retail traders and institutional investors, is estimated to be valued at around $32 trillion. Blockchain in energy and insurance are also predicted by MarketsandMarkets to grow to $7 billion and $1,4 billion respectively by the end of 2023, at a compound annual growth rate of 84.9 percent.

Ex-Fidelity Exec Joins Blockchain Company Bloq as Chief Operating Officer

A former executive at financial services giant Fidelity Investments Hadley Stern has been appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) at blockchain infrastructure firm Bloq. In a Medium post published today, entitled “The Tokenization of Things and Building the Unimaginable,” Stern gave his perspective on the history of the new technologies driving an “efficient, frictionless” economy stating that without coming off as doctrinaire or fundamentalist, it’s fair to say that Satoshi Nakamoto delivered a true gift in the Bitcoin whitepaper, that is, a way to produce and account for a provably scarce, wholly digital asset. Stern’s blog post further outlined three fundamental market areas to be undertaken at Bloq as part of the company’s aim to further the management and integration of digital assets.

Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency Updates: 23 Oct 2018

Posted on by TrackRecord Trading

Visa Set to Launch Blockchain-Based Digital Identity System with IBM in Q1 2019

Visa is readying its blockchain-based digital identity system dubbed Visa B2B Connect for cross-border payments for launch in the first quarter of 2019 that will provide a blockchain-based digital identity solution for financial institutions to securely process cross-border payments. From a technical standpoint the solution will integrate a Hyperledger Fabric framework with Visa’s “core assets,” which the release claims will establish a scalable permissioned network for use in the financial sector. Visa – alongside MasterCard – has this month reportedly moved to group cryptocurrency and Initial Coin Offering (ICO) under a new “High-Risk Securities Merchants” classification, meaning interaction with them will be subject to additional monitoring.

Demand for Blockchain Engineers Has Grown 400% Since End of 2017

The average earnings of a blockchain engineer have soared to between $150-175,000 per year. Since 2017, the demand has soared 400 percent, despite the wider cryptocurrency bear market. CNBC notes the demand is further fueled by the interest of global tech giants such as Facebook, Amazon, IBM and Microsoft, all of whom are currently advertising for specialists from the emerging sector. Desired knowledge encompasses “networking, database design and cryptography computing skills,” and fluency in the Java, JavaScript, C++, Go, Solidity and Python coding languages, CNBC notes, citing “multiple blockchain engineers” as its source. The report was compiled to encompass tech workers across thirteen global cities, based on over “420,000” interview requests alongside an optional demographics survey to include age and race data where possible.

China’s Internet Watchdog Issues Draft Regulations for Blockchain-Based Info Services

China’s top-level internet watchdog, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), published new draft regulations for blockchain-based information service providers. The draft proposes twenty three articles for the regulation of all companies or entities providing blockchain-based information services to the Chinese public. Under the proposed rules, all such entities would be required to register with the CAC within ten days of launching their platforms. The regulations would also require service providers to censor content that is deemed to pose a threat to national security or to “disrupt the social order,” and to allow authorities to inspect user data stored on their systems.

Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency Updates: 22 Oct 2018

Posted on by TrackRecord Trading

Global AML Watchdog to Release Crypto Regulations By Next June

A global money-laundering watchdog has said it will begin publishing rules for international cryptocurrency regulation by next summer. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said that global jurisdictions will have to bring into force licensing schemes or regulations for crypto exchanges and possibly digital wallet providers under the new rules. Companies offering financial services for initial coin offerings will also be included. The news comes after the FATF plenary meeting this week with officials from 204 global jurisdictions to discuss crypto regulations and other matters.

Ethereum Devs Reach Consensus to Delay Constantinople Hard Fork Until January 2019

Ethereum (ETH) core developers have reached a consensus to delay a planned hard fork of the protocol until January 2019. The fork, dubbed “Constantinople,” was first trialed on Ethereum public testnet Ropsten on Oct. 13, and had been slated to be activated on the main Ethereum blockchain by the end of Oct.-Nov. this year. A testnet is essentially a simulated version of the primary network that allows developers to try out smart contracts or upgrades without having to pay “gas” (computation fees) for their execution. The Constantinople hard fork is is a system-wide Ethereum update designed to increase the network’s efficiency, and notably includes plans to reduce block rewards for miners, as well as to introduce changes to the network’s consensus mechanism that would make it more resistant to ASIC miners.

North Korea-Sponsored Hacks Comprise 65 Percent of Total Crypto Stolen

Hacker group “Lazarus,” reportedly funded by North Korea, has stolen a staggering $571 million in cryptocurrencies since early 2017, a study conducted by cybercrime company Group-IB reveals. The report, dedicated to hacks in 2017 and 2018, identifies the allegedly state-sponsored hacker group Lazarus as responsible for $571 million of the $882 million total in crypto that was stolen from online exchanges during the studied time period; almost 65 percent of the total sum. Out of fourteen separate exchange breaches, five have been attributed to the group, among them the industry record-breaking $532 million NEM hack of Japan’s Coincheck this January. The report states that hackers target cryptocurrency exchanges using mostly “traditional” methods, including spear phishing, social engineering, and malware.

Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency News: 19 Oct 2018

Posted on by TrackRecord Trading

Global Security Firm G4S Announces High-Security ‘Vault Storage’ for Holding CryptoGlobal Security Firm G4S Announces High-Security ‘Vault Storage’ for Holding Crypto

U.K.-based multinational security services company G4S has developed a new service for protecting cryptocurrency assets. G4S, formerly Group 4 Securicor runs both prisons and detention centers, as well as stores cash for “large companies,” and has released an solution for holding crypto assets in a form of high-security offline storage protecting customers from hacks. G4S is based on a foundation of “vault storage” that is inaccessible for cyber criminals and hackers, as well as “armed robbers alike.” The new security solution distrubutes crypto assets into independent components placed securely in the system’s security vaults. In June 2018, cybersecurity company Carbon Black estimated that criminals stole around $1.1 billion worth of cryptocurrencies in the first half of 2018, with 12,000 marketplaces and 34,000 offerings associated with cryptocurrency theft that hackers can take advantage of. On Oct. 10, anonymous attackers hacked the adult entertainment platform SpankChain, stole around $38,000 worth of major cryptocurrency Ethereum (ETH), as well as $4,000 worth of the platform’s native crypto token.

Natwest Bank Launches R3 Corda Blockchain-Based Syndicated Lending Platform

U.K.-based bank Natwest will integrate a new blockchain platform based on R3 Corda technology for use in the syndicated loans market. The new platform, dubbed “Fusion LenderComm,” was developed by blockchain consortium R3 and fintech enterprise Finastra, and aims to streamline the global market for syndicated loans. The platform works by enabling “financial institutions acting as agents to publish loan data to the ledger and extend self-service capabilities to lenders. Through their own portal, agents can define and then publish lender-specific deal position data to the platform, allowing individual lenders to consult the data themselves and not resort to extra phone or online communication to query positions.

Dubai – the Blockchain Oasis of the UAE: From Public to Private Sector

The first proposal for an official Dubai cryptocurrency called emCash came about in October 2017. The cryptocurrency is pluged to be used for payments for governmental and nongovernmental services – and is pegged to the UAE Dirham. The partnership was announced on October 9, which includes emCredit, a subsidiary of the Dubai Department of Economic Development, blockchain payment provider Pundi X and its partner Ebooc Fintech & Loyalty Labs LLC. Ebooc will be responsible for providing point of sale terminals in retail outlets, while Pundi X is expected to create 100,000 point of sale units over the next three years. The Central Bank of the UAE began working on legislation at the beginning of 2017 to address the use of cryptocurrencies in the country. The UAE Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) warned the local investors about the inherent risks associated with ICOs. Given that they are not regulated in the country, investors had no means of legal protection against fraud. As Dubai and the UAE continue to explore and develop technology with the use of blockchain technology, as well as provide a guideline for the use of ICOs and cryptocurrencies, the outlook in the region seems positive.