The cryptocurrency market remains mixed with a majority of altcoins in the red. Bitcoin (BTC) is struggling to hold near $9,000. At the time of writing this article, Bitcoin was trading flat at $8,750. Ether (ETH) is trading at $187.25, representing a gain of 0.8%. XRP is trading at $0.2719, reflecting a gain of 0.4%.
Other major altcoins, which have appreciated in the past 24 hours include TRON (TRX-$0.0201, 3.8%), Monero (XMR-$64.82, 4.2%), Huobi (HT-$3.84, 1.1%), Tezos (XTZ-$1.12, -2.1%), IOTA (IOTA-$0.2577, -0.5%,), Litecoin (LTC-$60.71, -0.4%), Ethereum Classic (ETC-$4.84, -0.8%), Dash (DASH-$69.67, -0.1%), LEO (LEO- $0.9568, -2.3%), Stellar (XLM-$0.0756, -0.9%), Cardano (ADA-$0.0432, -0.2%) and Cosmos (ATOM-$3.89, -6.3%). Altcoins which have declined in the past 24 hours are Bitcoin Cash ($284.01, -0.7%), EOS (EOS-$3.46, 0.4%), Binance Coin (BNB-$21.44, 3.8%), OKB (OKB-$3.29, 3.8%) and ChainLink (LINK-$2.98, 7.8%).
Government level initiatives
Ho Chi Minh City to produce a blockchain platform for smart city development
Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City intends to create a blockchain-based regulatory platform for smart city development. The plan was revealed by Tran Vinh Tuyen, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh’s People’s Committee, at the sixth annual international conference of Saigon High-Tech Park (SHTP).
During the event, high-tech business incubator SHTP inked an MoU (memorandum of understanding) with South Korea’s CBA Ventures to foster research and deployment of blockchain technology.
Le Bich Loan, a senior exec at the Saigon Hi-Tech Park’s board of management, stressed that blockchain technology has turned platforms facilitating online financial transactions safer, transparent, simple, and efficient to use. The country’s Ministry of Science and Technology also unveiled plans to give importance to blockchain-centered startups under the program “Supporting the National Innovation Initiative to 2025.”
The program was endorsed by the Vietnamese government in May 2016 and intends to provide a conducive environment for businesses to thrive. The program supports 2,000 startups as per the ministry’s website.
Private sector initiatives
HTC plans to release the Exodus 1 smartphone with crypto capabilities
HTC, Taiwan based smartphone manufacturer, intends to unveil a limited edition of the Exodus 1 loaded with services offered by cryptocurrency exchange Binance. Specifically, the Binance Edition Exodus 1 will provide access to Binance public blockchain, Binance Chain, and also its decentralized trading platform Binance DEX.
HTC and Binance together revealed the launch at the Binance Super Meetup in Singapore. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and CFO Wei Zhou attended the event. Exodus 1 smartphone is supposedly the first-ever blockchain phone to incorporate the Binance Chain.
The Binance Edition Exodus 1 will also offer its native cryptocurrency wallet app, Zion Vault, and Binance DEX that facilitates cryptocurrency trading. Furthermore, the latest smartphone will also include the Binance app and its Trust Wallet. The Binance Edition Exodus 1 is offered for $599, and cryptocurrency can be used to purchase the smartphone.
Ant financial trials its enterprise-level blockchain platform
Ant Financial, the fintech arm of the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba, has started the pilot of its enterprise-level blockchain platform. The information was revealed by Jieli Li, senior director of technology and business innovation at Ant Financial, at the World Blockchain Summit at Wuzhen.
In September, the company divulged its plan to introduce a blockchain platform. While speaking at the event, Li stated that the platform, named Ant Blockchain Open Alliance, will go live in three months after the trial period. The platform intends to back small and medium-sized companies by facilitating them to slash costs and widen their reach.
Li further clarified that only chosen parties would be able to run the network’s nodes. Li said, “As for the selection of node operators, we are more cautious. […] Because to form a credible value network, not only do they need to be a consensus accounting node, but they also need to provide authoritative endorsements.”
The senior director prefers educational institutions to act as node operators as they will add credibility to the blockchain. Notably, Li is not bothered about the country from which the nodes are run.
Miscellaneous
Bitcoin Suisse joins hands with Worldline
Bitcoin Suisse, a Switzerland-based cryptocurrency broker, is collaborating with Worldline, a European payment processing platform, to step-up acceptance of cryptocurrency as a mode of payment in the country.
The firms mentioned above have entered into a contract to set up a platform that would enable Swiss vendors to accept cryptocurrencies as payment. Furthermore, the platform is intended to allow customers to transact online for the purchase of goods and services.
65,000 Swiss retailers will be able to access the platform using Wordline’s countrywide payment framework, referred to as SIX Payment Services. By integrating a cryptocurrency processing ability, the conventional network will be upgraded to accept cryptocurrencies across PoS (Point of Sale) locations and online.
Marc Schluep, CEO of Worldline Switzerland, opined that the facility would enable vendors to accept cryptocurrencies without any issues related to conversion. Schluep said, “through the cooperation with Bitcoin Suisse, merchants can benefit from an entirely new offering without taking any conversion risk.”
Both firms have guaranteed that the service will be simple to use, with settlement to merchants in the form of Swiss francs or eurodollars. Going forward, Worldline aims to launch the facility throughout Europe.
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.
