The cryptocurrency market remains slightly bullish as investors continue to bet on alternate assets to protect their wealth amid the coronavirus concerns. Bitcoin (BTC) has gained 3.4% in the past 24 hours to trade at $6,600. Ether (ETH) has gained 2.2% to trade at $136.09. XRP has gained 0.7% to trade at $0.1749.
Other major altcoins which have gained in the past 24 hours include Monero (XMR-$48.19, 2.2%), Tezos (XTZ-1.63, 3.3%), EOS (EOS-$2.28, 3%), Tron (TRX-$0.0116, 1%), Stellar (XLM-$0.0406, 1.6%), Ethereum Classic (ETC-$5.02, 3.2%), Cardano (ADA-$0.0314, 4.3%), Binance Coin (BNB-$12.70, 1.5%), Cosmos (ATOM, $1.97, 1.2%), Dash (DASH-$66.01, 2.2%), LEO (LEO-$1.05, 1.1%), Huobi (HT-$3.37, 1.7%), Bitcoin Cash (BCH-$224.88, 3.2%), Litecoin (LTC-$39.46, 1.6%), ChainLink (LINK-$2.27, 1.5%), OKB (OKB-$4.33, 1.2%) and IOTA (IOTA-$0.1471, 3%).
Government level developments
Russia’s crypt bill once again postponed
The cryptocurrency saga is seemingly not moving forward as originally intended by the Russian government. After numerous setbacks, the adoption of the cryptocurrency bill has been postponed again, this time due to the coronavirus outbreak. Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, stated that the final version of the cryptocurrency bill, titled “On Digital Financial Assets,” is now ready but won’t be passed before the end of June.
Aksakov has acknowledged that earlier postponements in the approval of the bill were sparked by a difference of opinion between officials on the nature of the asset. Aksakov, who is also the chairman of the Russian central bank’s National Banking Council, detailed that the central bank was not in favor of the legalization of cryptocurrencies. At the same time, the State Duma supported some of the cryptocurrency-related efforts.
The long-overdue rule has been postponed as Russia has changed its precedence to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill was originally introduced in January 2018. Aksakov hinted that the forthcoming cryptocurrency rule would define cryptos and ban its use as a means of payment. Furthermore, the rule will involve the issuance and distribution of cryptocurrencies. Notably, Aksakov stressed that the rule wouldn’t hamper the operation of cryptocurrency circulation.
Private sector initiatives
ConsenSys planning to roll out Covantis soon
In yet another attempt to improve worldwide trade and supply chain operations, blockchain-focused firm ConsenSys has set up Covantis, an agribusiness initiative, with backing from top agriculture-related companies such as Bunge and Cargill. The Geneva (Switzerland) registered company has received requisite regulatory clearance.
Notably, the six founding members of Covantis are Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Cargill, Bunge, Louis Dreyfus Company, COFCO, and Glencore Agriculture.
ConsenSys said, “The platform is currently in development. We will start users testing in May and will be planning to launch the 1st release in the second part of 2020, but obviously, we need to take into consideration the possible impact of COVID-19.”
BMW to launch PartChain soon
Renowned car manufacturer BMW Group intends to unveil its blockchain logistics solution to 10 spare parts vendors this year. Named “PartChain,” the platform had undergone a successful trial by BMW in 2019. In its previous variant, PartChain is structured to guarantee tracing and real-time info transparency for auto parts throughout cumbersome supply chains that involve several participants across the globe. The 2019 trial adopted the solution for buying and tracing headlights, with the participation of two of BMW Group’s 31 aggregate sites, in addition to three facilities of vendor Automotive Lighting.
A member of BMW AG’s Board of Management, Andreas Wendt, who manages the Group’s purchasing and supplier network, stated that BMW now intends to take the trial to several vendors, with 10 of them selected for this year. In the long-term, Wendt noted that BMW’s objective is to utilize the blockchain to develop “an open platform that will allow data within supply chains to be exchanged and shared safely and anonymized across the industry.”
Along with blockchain, which guarantees unalterable, verifiable info collection and dealings, PartChain utilizes a cloud network from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Azure (Microsoft).
Wendt disclosed that BMW would also share the PartChain system with other associates of the Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI). The automaker co-founded MOBI two years ago. MOBI is the outcome of a partnership between BMW, Ford, GM, and Renault, in addition to renowned blockchain technology and engineering companies such as Hyperledger, Bosch, IOTA, and IBM.
Miscellaneous
Opera collaborates with Unstoppable Domains
Opera has started facilitating its users to access decentralized web pages via collaboration with Unstoppable Domains, a software startup aided by renowned Bitcoin (BTC) supporter Tim Draper. The partnership facilitates Opera to embed Unstoppable Domain’s .crypto domain extension. This will enable the users of the Opera browser to navigate decentralized websites, in addition to remittance of cryptocurrency payments.
Blockchain domains saved by the actual owner rather than the registrar of companies and decentralized internet pages are saved on P2P (peer-to-peer) networks (cloud services are not used). This facilitates carrying out trades without depending on intermediates, while preventing censorship.
Unstoppable Domains has opined that the partnership will impact internet connection speed because a decentralized network turns out to be more efficient and robust over time, guarantees more uptime, and will minimize the threat of occurrences such as DDoS attacks.
This is the first time a mainstream browser has embedded a domain that is in no way related to the conventional domain name process. Last October, Opera also turned out to be the first prominent browser that facilitated sending payments in the form of Bitcoin (BTC) directly from within the browser.
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.
