It is a well-known fact that innovations begin to happen at a rapid pace when big corporations start pouring funds into budding technology. Blockchain technology is facing a similar trend. Chinese internet giant Baidu is developing a technology to perform energy-efficient mining. The new protocol, named Super Chain, was revealed during a local conference in China last week. Super Chain is capable of inserting and removing the consensus mechanism, resulting in lower power consumption. The Super Chain protocol is compatible with both Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchain. Notably, Baidu launched the blockchain as a service (BaaS) solution in January.
In the Middle-East, Maqta Gateway, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi port, has launched its own blockchain-based system for managing imports and exports. The system, named ‘Silsal’, uses a combination of blockchain technology and digital user identities to reduce the paperwork and provide public access to transaction updates. Maqta Gateway will provide Silsal to freight forwarders and their clients before giving it to the rest of the trading community as a free trade tool.
Mastercard has announced that it has built a blockchain, which can run the whole of its network. While speaking at the Money20/20 conference, Ann Cairns, vice-chairman of Mastercard, said there exists a need to identify “real use cases” for the technology. In April, Mastercard published a patent for speeding up the rate at which data are verified by nodes. The company acknowledged that the slowdown in the company’s growth in Q1 2018 is due to a decline in the price of cryptocurrencies and a subsequent drop in trading activity.
Bitcoin (BTC)
Research on Google Trends has revealed that a decline in the price of Bitcoin is directly correlated to the interest of the general public in learning about the cryptocurrency. Google Trends uses numbers to visualize search interest relative to the peak on the chart for the given time and region. A value of 100 indicates maximum popularity and vice-versa. Bitcoin had a popularity of 37 on January 1, compared with 9 as of June 2. Read more here.
Ripple (XRP)
RippleNet has announced a program named “University Blockchain Research Initiative” to encourage research, innovation, and adoption of blockchain technology in schools and universities. Under the program, Ripple will be providing a grant of $50 million to 17 universities, including MIT, the University of North Carolina, and the University of Pennsylvania. Notably, the donation is given in dollars and not in any kind of cryptocurrency. Ripple has also clarified that there is no precondition to include Ripple’s technology in all the research and projects funded by the company. The number of job openings, related to blockchain and cryptocurrency, has increased by over 150% on y-o-y basis and this was the primary reason for the initiative, Ripple clarified. Read more here.
Our Forex Trading Plan
Litecoin. Litecoin has formed a double bottom pattern in the chart, as shown below. The rising stochastic oscillator indicates a gain in momentum. Therefore, we are expecting the LTCUSD pair to begin an uptrend. The major support and resistance level is 11,440 and 21,600, respectively.
A long position in the LTCJPY pair may give us good returns in the short-term. Using one of our accounts with Forex brokers, we may establish a long position near 12,800. Once, a long position is opened, we would compulsorily place a stop-loss order below 11,000 levels. On the higher side, a sell order will be placed near 16,000.
Our Binary Options Trading Plan
Ethereum Classic. Ethereum Classic (ETC) looks bullish on the chart. The cryptocurrency has made a bullish swan pattern against the greenback, as shown in the image below. Therefore, we are planning to use our binary options trading account to benefit from the rise in the price of Ethereum Classic.
We may acquire a call option contract to benefit from the analysis. The option contract offered by the binary broker should be active for a period of one week. Furthermore, the ETCUSD pair should be trading near $15 in the cryptocurrency market.
Disclaimer: Any financial trading analysis offered here is our opinion and is not intended as advice or direction for investors. We cannot guarantee the success of any trades made as a consequence of this article, and we encourage traders to incorporate a strong money management strategy to limit losses when they enter the markets. Please use this article as part of your own research before formulating strategies prior to trading.
