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Ric Edelman: A Bitcoin ETF is on the way

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Creating a Bitcoin ETF has been a priority for many influential crypto players for months already (maybe more). But the road to an ETF has been almost as hard as Frodo’s road to Mordor.

Ric Edelman’s opinion

But Ric Edelman, founder of Edelman Financial Engines, appeared earlier today at CNBC’s ETF Edge at the Inside ETFs Conference in Hollywood, Florida. He had this to say on the subject:

“It’s virtually certain. The only question is when” then he continued: “The SEC has several legitimate thoughtful concerns that the industry has to overcome but I’m confident they will. Eventually, we will see a bitcoin ETF and it’s at that stage that I will be much more comfortable recommending that ordinary investors participate.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been walking with led shoes on the subject of cryptocurrencies. Are some of them securities? Are some of them actual money? And how can you tell the difference? Should these assets be available for the market at large?

And how should they be regulated? SEC has provided us with some answers to those questions, but some questions still remain, and they are getting on the way of mainstream adoption.

SEC’s decisions will be important because Bitcoin still lacks a secure chain of custody (in traditional terms, in practical terms, Bitcoin’s blockchain is most likely much safer than the traditional mechanisms).

On the other hand, SEC’s decisions will apply to the US only, which is not that important in crypto compared with Japan, China or Korea, so it will have no way of affecting international price flows or to governate trading platforms based overseas.

The big boys are interested

Mr. Edelman also explained that major financial institutions are interested in finding a solution that enables them to get a piece of the crypto action, and that could be enough for an ETF to go online eventually. The market is already there.

“We’ve got some serious players. Fidelity has made a major announcement in the custody issue. We’ve got Kingdom Trust and a number of other very serious players on the custody side. I’m confident that in very short order VanEck or Bitwise will satisfy the custody concern to the SEC,” according to Mr. Edelman.

Tom Lyndon has an opinion too

Tom Lydon, who is ETFTrends.com editor-in-chief joined the conversation to add that he already sees a huge demand for something like a Bitcoin ETF.

“There is pent-up demand. We interview advisors all the time. Seventy-four percent say they’ve talked to clients about their interests in bitcoin, so they need to step up when this happens because that money is going to go elsewhere,” Lydon contributed.

VanEck and SolidX are trying to get an SEC authorization to come up with the world’s first Bitcoin ETF. But they withdrew their application because Trump’s government shutdown could complicate things too much to get a resolution in time.

And why does any of that matters to you or me? Because many experts agree on something: the next bull run in crypto will be driven, at least partially, by institutional investors. So far, crypto’s players are small investors for the most part, and an ETF would be one of the ingredients that could change the market for good.

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

Disclaimer: The presented information is subjected to market condition and may include the very own opinion of the author. Please do your ‘very own’ market research before making any investment in cryptocurrencies. Neither the writer nor the publication (TronWeekly.com) holds any responsibility for your financial loss.

Biopspace.com, Tron and the ALS Association launch the VoiceYourLove campaign for ALS awareness

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Tron is going to join forces with Biospace.com and the ALS Association to create awareness for ALS. They are going to take advantage of the good wishes that are common during Valentine’s in many of the world’s countries to work together and make a difference.

In this article, we’ll tell you quickly who these three players are, and a little about the initiative as well so you can be aware and join it if you consider it a worthy cause.

Biospace.com

Biospace is an online platform that champions the industry of the life sciences by providing a hub for news and careers. While it’s now a fully digital resource, it’s been around since 1985, providing insights, opportunities, and connection tools for organizations and talented professionals who work on improving health and quality of life in the planet.

The website is the most comprehensive source for news and information in the life sciences. It breaks the news daily and helps investors and scientist to be up to date with the essential information on the medical device, pharmaceutical and biotech industries. As such, it’s quite an influential website that can generate traffic, relevance, and awareness for all the subjects it deals with.

Tron

Tron is a third generation blockchain-based programmable platform that allows for the development and deployment of decentralized applications and smart contracts. The platform includes a native cryptocurrency called Tronix (also known as TRX).

The Tron project was founded by Justin Sun, who already had fame and credibility as a technology investor and creator, and it has a very definite objective. It wants to decentralize the world wide web using its blockchain.

It’s become one of the most famous blockchain projects in the cryptosphere in a concise time (about a year and a half), and it’s managed to grow in a time in which most of the other projects in crypto are either shrinking or losing value.

The ALS Association

ALS is an illness better known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. The association is committed to create awareness about it and fight it. In order to achieve those objectives, they look for all kinds of help. They’re especially adept at PR since that facilitates getting donations that can be used for the scientific research that could help eradicate ALS.

The campaign for ALS awareness

The new campaign is called “VoiceYourLove,” and it includes the help of several blockchain technology players (the Binance Charity Foundation will also help), several celebrities and some Silicon Valley giants.

Former “Friends” star Courtney Cox kind of launched the campaign by issuing a video in her Twitter account:

“@CourteneyCox
When was the last time you told someone you love them? Today we’re launching the Voice Your Love campaign to raise awareness about #ALS and bring a little more love into the world. @alsagoldenwest
#VoiceYourLove “

We wish the campaign great success. It will not only help the ALS community, but it will help crypto as well because it will show the world how the blockchain technology can be a force for good in the world (which remains a doubtful proposition for a lot of people on the earth).

You want to Join Tron in this kind endearue and donate? Excellent. Here is the official donattion page where you can donate TRX to support the cause.

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

Disclaimer: The presented information is subjected to market condition and may include the very own opinion of the author. Please do your ‘very own’ market research before making any investment in cryptocurrencies. Neither the writer nor the publication (TronWeekly.com) holds any responsibility for your financial loss.

Editor’s Note: The article was updated to include the official donation page link.

Tron CEO Justin Sun gets even with Ethereum’s Co-Founder on Twitter

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The unending saga between Sun and Buterin has surfaced again as Mr. Sun made a tweet today that compares their number of followers on Twitter.

Nevertheless, it seems the bromance between both crypto-giants will forever surface. Ethereum’s creator, Vitalik Buterin, made some clarifications concerning BitTorrent lately; Tron’s CEO, Justin Sun, has also come up with his own comments that directly point to Buterin.

Sun had a caption of his and Buterin’s Twitter page that showcased and compared both Twitter followers. He also added this to the caption:

“Now we are both 832k.”

That is not all; Sun also emphasized that he started six years after Buterin and that he has caught up with the Ethereum creator in the crypto-space. In Tron CEO’s words,

“We started six years after you but we always know it is never too late.”

As expected, Sun’s tweet has sparked lots of comments not only in the Tron community but in the crypto-space generally.

A Twitter user who goes by the name SM Airdrops (also a crypto-enthusiasts) said this:

“@justinsuntron I watch the market, I see how the manipulations are made. And with the fact that your network is growing rapidly, I can say with confidence that TRX is the future leader in terms of percentage growth in the coming years. @vitalikButerin and ETH will be number 2.”

Vitalik Buterin has been in the crypto-space for quite some time now as the founder and creator of Ethereum blockchain, which is one of the top-cryptocurrencies without any doubts. Buterin has acknowledged BitTorrent’s work as an app as a “mega time success.”

Coming back to our story, in just a few hours after Justin Sun’s tweet, Misha Lederman, the co-founder of IAmDecentralized.org and known Tron supporter, posted this on his Twitter page:

“That didn’t take too long…The founder of #TRON @justinsun has, after starting his twitter page 6 years after @VitalikButerin, now surpassed #Etherum’s co-founder in followers. It’s a testimony of new vs. old & the hunger in the #crypto space for progress #IAmDecentralized”

Misha Lederman’s tweet showed that Sun now has more followers than Buterin.

At the moment, the top three decentralized apps on DappRadar.com are all powered by Tron. Other apps that follow are based on EOS. Misha Lederman posted this on the 8th of February,

“To think #TRX has been able to dominate the DApp world so quickly, in under 4 months since activation of Tron Virtual Machine on Oct 12, is nothing short of remarkable.”

More interestingly, Buterin has made no comment or reply concerning Sun’s tweet, but it’s certain he will as he is known for his out-of-the-box sense of humor.

It is essential to know that no feud or war is going on between Tron and Ethereum. In fact, both Sun and Buterin have a cordial relationship. Additionally, regardless of whatever is going on, both digital assets are doing well these days, despite the bear market.

Ethereum managed to take back the second spot from Ripple’s XRP a few hours ago, while BitTorrent token campaign is having a success that’s been hardly witnessed before.

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

Bithumb crypto exchange launches digital assets OTC trading desk

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Bithumb, the largest Hong Kong exchange in terms of trading volume which majorly supports Bitcoin trading has recently launched Ortus’ backed over-the-counter exchanging desk. The platform is created on the idea of facilitating deep-pocketed investors to trade crypto off the books.

According to the press release made public on Feb. 7, Ortus’ backed OTC trading is regarded as the “service specifically for the institutional clients” by the exchange because of its assistance binding to the wealthy investors to perform large-volume trades, as it facilitates them to carry out direct trades that is opposite to the process done on the crypto exchange itself.

“Ortus will operate to allow institutions to buy and sell digital assets through a network of global liquidity providers and benefit from a competitive and best price execution service,” said by Rahul Khanna, the director of Bithumb.

Rahul Khanna further went on saying:

”Institutions trading digital assets need to open accounts at exchanges and OTC desks around the world; however, there is no real solution for an aggregated liquidity provider or a trusted interdealer where Institutions can trade these assets. To fill this market gap, Ortus will operate to allow institutions to buy and sell digital assets through a network of global liquidity providers and benefit from a competitive and best price execution service.”

To use the service; institutions first need to go through a strict on-boarding process which will be comprised of KYC (Know-Your-Customer) and AML (Anti-Money-Laundering) documentation provided by the applicants, the firm noted.

Although the firm has not announced about which crypto will be offered for OTC trading yet, but once all the required criteria for joining is met, customers will have the right to enjoy the exciting features provided by Ortus.

The ensured custody wallet, competitive pricing from the world’s largest OTC desks and liquidity providers, and a US-Based bank account are few of them.

More about OTC Desks

Ever since late 2017, when the reports about OTC market being noticeably larger than the cryptocurrency exchange market started to take place on the news realm, we have seen a significant number of exchanges having launched OTC desks over time.

Even Last year, TABB Group, international research and consulting firm focused primarily on capital markets, estimated the worth of OTC market of BTC to be 2-3 times higher than the exchange market.

To capitalize on the growing interests of institutions, many cryptocurrency exchanges worldwide have made moves into the over-the-counter (OTC) market ever since the report went public.

CoinBase, the leading crypto exchange and wallet provider from the US, had launched its OTC desks last year in November, for institutional customers. Poloniex also launched its over-the-counter trading desks for the wealthy investors, with a minimum order set to be of $250,000, the following month of December.

Last month of Jan has seen two notable digital exchanges Bittrex and Binance penetrating into the OTC market by introducing their own OTC desks.

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

Disclaimer: The presented information is subjected to market condition and may include the very own opinion of the author. Please do your ‘very own’ market research before making any investment in cryptocurrencies. Neither the writer nor the publication (TronWeekly.com) holds any responsibility for your financial loss.

Tron and Play_Goc are taking over the world

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When Tron became an independent network from Ethereum last May, there was a lot of talk about “the Ethereum killer.” It was suspected that title would go to Tron, or EOS, or Cardano.

Some observers thought that Ethereum was just unbeatable, and some were very optimistic about Tron’s and EOS’s potential. It’s been almost eight months now, so what are the stats showing us?

The second most used dApp in the world

You can monitor the world’s decentralized applications as closely as you want. For that, you could use several resources. Among those, there is the dappradar.com website which tracks the number of users and token flow that is going through every dApp in the world every day.

By the site’s standards, the top ten dApps are running on Tron and EOS (noticeably, not on Ethreum). Five of those run on, Tron, and the rest on EOS.

Among those five apps running on Tron Play_Goc stands out.

It’s a gaming and gambling app that features traditional betting games such as Blackjack, but they have a plus: they are decentralized, and they offer fair odds to players, which is something you could never expect at a traditional gambling website in which the house must always have an edge. Which is not wrong, the house must be able to make a buck by letting you play.

The app is serving 6,600 users every day, and it supports a wide variety of digital currencies. TRX is the main among them because all the others are Tron-based tokens (BTT, PLAY, SEED, IGG, ANTE, LVH, and GOC).

Tron is taking over

And why is this so important? Because it means that Tron’s blockchain and community of developers are finding the way to develop and deploy exciting apps that attract users that are excited about the project and the project’s native token (Tronix, or TRX).

So Tron is managing to position itself as the Ethereum killer indeed. Why? Because Tron can boast a million more users (or at least confirmed accounts) than EOS.

It’s all about the use case

So this app is a use case for TRX but also for many other Tron-based tokens. And that’s quite important. The Tron community is very bullish about the Tronix coin, and they like buying it and using it to support the network’s apps. This is very important because this kind of interest from users is the thing that creates genuine demand for the digital asset and that demand will end up translating into market performance.

And that’s what we’ve seen recently. Tronix remains a relatively cheap cryptocurrency but over the last couple of months, it went from 11th place to market capitalization to 7th. And then it lost a spot, to stabilize at 8th. Keep in mind that Tron has been moving forward and growing in a year in which most other projects have been shrinking, losing people and value. So that growth is very impressive from any way you could see it.

Tron is here to stay because it’s giving us interesting apps. And Play_Goc is top on that list.

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

Disclaimer: The presented information is subjected to market condition and may include the very own opinion of the author. Please do your ‘very own’ market research before making any investment in cryptocurrencies. Neither the writer nor the publication (TronWeekly.com) holds any responsibility for your financial loss.

Bitcoin Futures Spiked 8% on February 8th: Is It A Start of A Long-Term Rally?

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Bitcoin Futures suddenly spiked on February 8th, reaching the highest level of the year after a nearly 8% increase.

Bitcoin Futures suddenly spiked on February 8th, reaching the highest level of the year after a nearly 8% large increase. The move came unexpectedly, and it allowed Bitcoin (BTC) itself to surge from $3,393 to $3,662.98. The new development has also sparked new speculations regarding Bitcoin ETFs as well, with the US SEC commissioner saying that ETFs might eventually happen. According to Brian Stutland of the Equity Armor Investments, this might be only a start and an indication that a bigger rally is about to happen. He believes that, if Bitcoin ETFs appear on the market, portfolio managers could allocate to Bitcoin in their models. If there is enough demand for the ETFs, and if investors do actually want to hold them, this might have a significant impact on Bitcoin itself. Stutland also believes that this could be what is currently driving the Bitcoin price, which surged right after the demand for Bitcoin Futures started growing. Stutland pointed out that nothing is certain at this point, and that a lot has yet to happen in order for an actually significant rally to arrive, but the current development could be the start of something new. Bitcoin might go above $4,000 In addition, Stutland seems to believe that Bitcoin may have found a bottom at around $3,500, which might allow it to push up and possibly breach the $4,000 resistance. TJM Institutional Services' Jim Iuorio also commented, stating that current charts show the "blend of positioning and technicals." He pointed out that the crypto market saw a lot of shorts since the price drop on November 14th. Iuorio also confirms that Stutland's prediction about BTC price breaching $4,000 might be correct, although he will not be convinced that it is a long-term increase unless the price breaches this barrier, and continues going up.

The move came unexpectedly, and it allowed Bitcoin (BTC) to surge from $3,393 to $3,662.98. The new development has also sparked new speculations regarding Bitcoin ETFs as well, with the US SEC commissioner saying that ETFs might eventually happen.

According to Brian Stutland of the Equity Armor Investments, this might be only a start and an indication that a bigger rally is about to happen. He believes that, if Bitcoin ETFs appear on the market, portfolio managers could allocate to Bitcoin in their models. If there is enough demand for the ETFs, and if investors do actually want to hold them, this might have a significant impact on Bitcoin in the long-run.

Stutland also believes that this could be what is currently driving the Bitcoin price, which surged right after the demand for Bitcoin Futures started growing. Stutland pointed out that nothing is certain at this point, and that a lot has yet to happen in order for an actually significant rally to arrive, but the current development could be the start of something new.

Bitcoin might go above $4,000

Besides, Stutland seems to believe that Bitcoin may have found a bottom at around $3,500, which might allow it to push up and possibly breach the $4,000 resistance.

TJM Institutional Services’ Jim Iuorio also commented, stating that current charts show the “blend of positioning and technicals.” He pointed out that the crypto market saw a lot of shorts since the price drop on November 14th.

Iuorio also confirms that Stutland’s prediction about BTC price breaching $4,000 might be correct, although he was not convinced that it is a long-term increase unless the price breaches this barrier, and continues going up a little further at least.

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

Blockchain travel startup Travala accepts Tron (TRX) for payments now

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Tron has continued to record immerse success ever since it came to life. The Justin Sun-led cryptocurrency is gradually being accepted as a means of payment on various platforms, and a blockchain startup Travala.com also included TRX just a couple of days ago.

Notably, Travala users can now travel and book rooms in 550,000 properties across more than 80,000 places with TRX coins. Not only that, Travala now accepts other cryptocurrencies on its platform including Bitcoin, XRP, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash.

There is no doubt that settling your bills on Travala using TRX or other cryptocurrencies will help you save a lot. However, you will be saving more than 10% when paying through cryptocurrencies; it is also a convenient way since the network is blockchain-powered and it is decentralized with lots of incentives.

Travala.com is powered by NEO blockchain, which has often been regarded as the Airbnb of cryptocurrencies. With this blockchain network, Travala offers greater value for its users, while hoping to surpass competitions by offering discounts that will be invariably lower than other travel companies around the world.

There is also no doubts that when you take out middlemen and allow clients to have a one-on-one conversation with merchants, travel plans will become really fast and efficient. Even though Travala is relatively less than two years old, the company is hoping and projecting to be the number place for travel needs.

Travala has an ICO which was unveiled between 31st of March 2018 and 21st of April 2018, and this coin offering raised more than $2 million according to ICObench. The travel platform has its own token known as AVA. Taking the bear market into consideration, it is necessary to note that the startup travel company is doing remarkably well when it comes to value per token loss.

Nevertheless, the price of AVA might be 60% lower than its ICO – but the platform and its own token has great prospect to become better in the future as it begins to enhance and increase its travel business by offering discounts and offering the ability for users to pay travel bills through cryptocurrencies.

It is also necessary to note that KuCoin featured Travala’s token AVA last year with Bitcoin and Ethereum trading pairs. However, the team behind Travala stated that its token increases the transparency of the platform.

“As a Next-gen Online Travel Agency, fundamentally changes the relationship between the consumer of the future and their travel shopping.”

Travala is becoming one of the best travel-booking places that combine the present generation Online Travel Agency functionalities with the prospects and gains of the next generation blockchain technologies. With this platform, users are now entitled to discounts up to 50% in 210 countries worldwide.

As Travala increases its payment options, a Point of Scale System powered by Tron, known as Poppy, is expected to cut visa and other payment processors. Poppy aims to do this by adding cryptocurrencies into the retail market. As a merchant, all you have to do is to update your Point Scale System and get the Poppy application installed.

Image courtesy of PixaBay.

Ripple‘s UBRI partners with the world’s leading universities to foster blockchain growth

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Ripple’s UBRI (University Blockchain Research Initiative) was launched in June last year for fostering the development and growth of the blockchain industry by partnering with top-tier academic institutions. The initiative by Ripple has now collaborated with 29 universities to further increase academic research and various advances in the crypto-sphere.

Last year, Ripple’s UBRI only had 18 academic institutions on its radar, but it has expanded its reach by collaborating with 11 new schools to further increase the academic interest of post-doctoral and graduate students also.

Ripple invested more than $50 million on tech resources to the first set of top-tier academic schools in partnership with UBRI, which included 18 institutions from all over the world.

The new set of partnership by Ripple’s UBRI includes top-notch universities and colleges that represent different academic fields. The new partners include:

  • Duke University
  • Carnegie Mellon University
  • Cornell University
  • University of Michigan
  • Georgetown University
  • University of Kansas
  • National University of Singapore
  • Northeastern University
  • Institute for Fintech Research, Tsinghua University
  • University of Sao Paulo
  • Morgan State University

Ripple’s initiative through UBRI is poised to nurture future engineers, business professionals, and owners to apply blockchain technology to their field. The initiative has also been aimed to create awareness on the influence of blockchain on all sectors of the world.

However, Ripple’s SVP of Global Operations, Evin van Miltenburg stated:

“We created UBRI back in June 2018 to provide the best support for 17 different universities around the world to help progress their study of blockchain technology, cryptography, digital assets, and Fintech”

Evin added,

“The blockchain is an incredibly transformational technology and helping advance the best minds in the world, who are already showing interest in the field, sure to benefit the entire ecosystem. We’ve added 11 new universities this time around and now have 29 schools involved with the program. Expanding the ecosystem to a more global, diversified network of UBRI partners will only continue to enrich these projects.”

Ripple’s funding on UBRI is intended to boost the initiative in different ways and in various academic areas spanning from business, law, engineering, and so on. UBRI resources from Ripple looks to help these schools to launch new courses, award scholarships and incentives to students who have an interest in blockchain technology.

Evin van Miltenburg further said that Ripple aims to ignite the spark among students in these universities knowing that “they are the most capable individuals in the field.”

Ripple Boosting Innovations Through Academia

Even though Ripple’s UBRI program was launched just last year, all institutions in partnership with this initiative have expressed an immense sign of improvement, thus, indicating Ripple’s ambitions to boost innovations in the blockchain industry.

Ripple’s UBRI relationship with the University of California, Berkeley, has fostered departmental collaborations in the school. Additionally, it has enhanced the creation of research projects and funded activities that are led by students – including the forthcoming blockchain UI/UX hackathon.

Another institution benefiting from Ripple’s UBRI program is the University of Texas at Austin. UBRI lead in the school, Professor Cesare Fracassi, has emphasized that the program has helped U.T Austin in 3 different ways:

“Firstly, it has permitted the funding of faculties and Ph.D. students who are interested in blockchain technology. Secondly, it has increased the curriculum on the blockchain, thus, helping students to gain more knowledge on blockchain technology. Finally, the program has helped to fund important research for people who want to know more about blockchain technology.”

This year, however, the schools in partnership with UBRI initiative will conduct lots of programs on blockchain related matters. On the other hand, Ripple aims to sponsor lots of student-led activities this year to boost innovations in top-notch academic institutions around the world.

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

TRON dApp Users Surge by 239% in the Last Month

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According to recent charts tracking the dApp performance and their daily active users (DAU), TRON dApps have seen a massive increase in the number of users within the last month. On January 8th, TRON dApps had around 18,500 active users — a number which has skyrocketed to 62,724 as of February 8th.

Within a single month, TRON dApp DAU number surged by 239%, while Ethereum lost around 31% of its DAU or 4,275 users. Another big competitor in the dApp sector, EOS, has also seen growth in its DAU, although a much smaller one of only 14% (9,534 users).

Why did TRON’s DAU number grow?

TRON has been one of the most popular projects in 2018. However, it recently started attracting even more attention due to several events.

The first one is the launch of the BitTorrent token (BTT), which happened on January 28th, 2019. The token sale was held on Binance Launchpad, a platform dedicated to increasing exposure of promising projects. BTT is a part of TRON’s ecosystem, and the event has been very beneficial for TRX as well.

Another reason why TRON has seen more activity recently is also connected to BTT, and it includes a series of airdrops that will gift BTT to TRX holders. The airdrops are expected to happen on occasion throughout the next six years.

Furthermore, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, Binance, decided to support TRON and BitTorrent, which brought additional attention to both projects, as well as to TRON’s entire ecosystem. So much so, in fact, that TRX managed to double its value within only 30 days, starting from December 17th, 2018. During this period, TRX price grew from $0.0127 to $0.025, with the coin’s current price being at $0.026498, according to TradingView.

Also, TRON’s dApps have been relatively popular in the crypto community ever since they appeared on its platform, most of which are gambling and gaming-oriented. As a result, the TRON ecosystem has become one of the fastest-growing ones in the crypto space, and the recent reports regarding its DAU numbers confirm it.

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

Buying stocks using Bitcoin is now possible using Abra Wallet

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On Wednesday, the US-based digital currency exchange and wallet provider, Abra Wallet, announced via blog post that it has upgraded its global investment app. As a result of the upgrade, the app will now allow users to invest in commodities, stocks, and ETF (Exchange-Traded Funds) with Bitcoin.

The San Francisco-based firm has urged all its users from 155 countries worldwide to sign up with them to invest in 50 new investment assets using Bitcoin. The investment can be as little as $5 and it is with zero trading cost for the whole year of 2019.

The platform is ready to provide a package deal on which opportunists can invest in stocks such as Facebook, Apple, Google, Netflix, Amazon, and Coca-Cola, fiat, exchange-traded funds, and cryptocurrencies.

Bill Barhydt, the Founder and the CEO of Abra commented on the development as following:

“We’re are going to start with popular US stocks and ETF’s and add more global assets in the coming months. Of course, all of the great features for investing in the cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies remain fully integrated as well.”

Mr. Barhydt further went on by saying that Abra contributes to the trades and investments using the crypto collateralized contracts (C3s). He explains how these contracts work, in Abra’s CEO words:

“[I]f you want to invest $1,000 in Apple shares you will place $1,000 worth of Bitcoin into a contract. As the price of Apple goes up or down versus the dollar, Bitcoin will be added to or subtracted from your contract. When you settle the contract – or sell the Apple investment – the value of the Apple shares will be reflected in Bitcoin in your wallet which can easily be converted back to dollars, or any other asset for that matter. When you enter into a C3, you’re effectively creating a smart contract which automatically determines – based on the price of the Apple shares – whether you have made money or lost money. The underlying Bitcoin collateral then adjusts itself accordingly to be equal to the value of the Apple shares.”

To put simply, investors will be setting up Bitcoin as collateral to invest in stock or an ETF. Bitcoin will be added into or subtracted out of their account as the status of the value of the assets shapes over time.

Abra will be the one taking risks in all of the contracts on the platform, but the risks have been carefully fenced and the system has gone through many trials for testing purposes on many contracts.

The CEO of the digital exchange ensures about it saying,

 “Abra has already successfully processed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of these investments contracts and has never lost money on them”.

The development has brought a lot of excitement in the crypto community even though the platform will likely be less useful for US-based investors because of the easy access to the US stock market, but it will surely be a game changer in the regions of the large unbanked population where access to the said stock market is comparatively difficult.

According to Barhydt, the platform was designed to assist the investors from those regions, who were unable to invest in the global stock market previously, with these investment opportunities.

Caitlin Long, Co-Founder of the Wyoming Blockchain Coalition and a wall street veteran also expressed her appreciating views about this huge and game-changing development by Abra. Her tweet reads:

Image courtesy of Pixabay.