Elon Musk thinks paper money is going away and crypto will take its place | The derivatives market is heating up in crypto, and Binance might be the next firm to jump in
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The derivatives market is heating up in crypto, and Binance might be the next firm to jump in
Voting app Votem shuts down Cleveland office before Series B raise
Elon Musk thinks paper money is going away and crypto will take its place
BitGo offers $100 million insurance protection for crypto assets under custody
“It bypasses currency controls. And crypto is a far better way to transfer value than pieces of paper. That's for sure. Without a doubt." — Elon Musk, CEO Tesla
The Big Block
Cryptocurrency trading is stuck in the doldrums but one corner of the market is heating up, according to numerous market specialists.
Derivatives. It’s a word that has finally found its way from the world of pedantic Wall Street parlance to the center of the crypto trading world. Derivatives markets cover an array of financial products including options, futures, swaps, contracts for differences — all of which provide exposure to the market in a way that doesn’t touch underlying crypto.
Such products are becoming more attractive to firms facilitating crypto trading as volumes remain stagnant in the underlying spot market. They are also the focus of a number of new firms launching this year.
“As an ecosystem matures, and as the crypto ecosystem matures, people look for new ways to express a view of the market,” Thomas Chippas, chief executive officer of ErisX, said in a phone interview with The Block. ErisX is one of the crypto firms set to launch a derivatives exchange this year in the United States — among others including Intercontinental Exchange’s Bakkt and SeedCX.
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Around The Block
Voting app Votem shuts down Cleveland office before Series B raise
Votem, the mobile, decentralized voting platform, was about to close a Series B raise with Medici Ventures, Overstock.com’s venture arm, when an odd report by ClevelandScene claimed the company had shut down.
“One of Cleveland’s largest blockchain start-ups abruptly closed last week due to a lack of funding. Employees at Votem, a company making innovations in online voting platforms, did not receive their most recent paychecks and were told on Friday that everyone was fired, effective immediately,” wrote Sam Allard of ClevelandScene. Votem clarified that the move was not a shutdown but a restructuring and that it was still in the business of modernizing voting via the blockchain. — More
Elon Musk thinks paper money is going away and crypto will take its place
During an episode of ARK Invest's FYI podcast with Elon Musk the discussion veered away from Tesla and into Crypto. Musk's answers, though limited, were enlightening.
"Crypto, seriously?" he asked when the hosts brought it up. He laughed, recalling a time when crypto got him in trouble. — More
Mapping out projects using IPFS — More
BitGo offers $100 million insurance protection for crypto assets under custody — More
Cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift gears up for a rebranding — More
Tim Draper forecasts cryptocurrency will go mainstream in five years, leaving fiat to criminals — More
Huobi.com lists XLM, XMR, and STEEM for trading — More
Mining giant Bitmain reportedly lost $500 million in Q3 according to IPO filing — More
Coinbase acquires blockchain analysis startup Neutrino — More
Privacy coin Beam receives funding from Japanese internet giant — More
Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten to potentially offer cryptocurrency integration in the upcoming months — More