The State of The Market — January 1, 2019 BTC: $3,768.10 (-0.61%)XRP: $0.356546 (-0.02%)ETH: $136.34 (-0.27%)
2018 has been a wild year for Cryptocurrencies. After ending 2017 on a high, 2018 has been the year of cleaning up the crypto industry and focusing on projects that matter. It has also been the year of adoption and regulations, where companies were working hard to get more people into this new space. The market remained uneventful in the last 24 hours, with the total market cap gaining $100 Million. However, not all cryptocurrencies are following a clear trend today. While the top three cryptocurrencies are flashing red, the next three are in green.
In other news, Pon Radhakrishnan, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Shipping has suggested that the Indian government is approaching the development of cryptocurrency regulations with caution. While speaking to the lower house of parliament, Radhakrishnan said that the absence of a global framework for regulating cryptocurrency meant the Indian government should “pursue the matter with due caution [as] it is difficult to state a specific timeline to come up with clear recommendations.” Also, Uber Founder and former E-Trade CEO Steve Ehrlich recently revealed plans to launch his own cryptocurrency exchange called Voyager. The exchange will launch in January 2019 and is offering $25 in Bitcoin for new users.
1) On Monday Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler announced that the exchange had completed its first round of funding and raised $182.5 million from 12 partners and investors. Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital, Pantera Capital, Microsoft’s venture capital arm, M12, and Pantera Capital are among the investors. Loeffler also mentioned that Bakkt was “collaborating” with Starbucks but she did not provide any specific details related to this partnership. Loeffler also mentioned that Bakkt continues to work closely with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and their application for approval is currently in the regulatory review process. (Read More)
2) ICE, the parent company of Bakkt, posted a notice indicating that the January 24th launch date of Bakkt will be amended and they will provide an updated launch timeline in early 2019. The news is not unexpected as the CFTC had yet to grant regulatory approval for the Bakkt futures and now with the US government in a shutdown due to disagreements about the budget, the federal workers that make regulatory decisions will not be able to do so until the shutdown ends. (Read More)
3) According to the data provided by Coinopsy and DeadCoins, nearly 1,000 crypto projects were declared dead in 2018. It refers to the projects that were either scams or failed to deliver the product, leading to zero trading volume. The crypto market has lost more than 85% of its value, wiping out $600 Billion. Investors see the bear market as the perfect opportunity to get rid of the scams and focus on the legitimate projects that continue to deliver. (Read More)
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