Below is a report of the key bullets from Jane Edmondson Consensus Summary, but the overarching theme that I heard from the conference was that evolutionary progress that was made this past year in the infrastructure build out of blockchain is not remotely reflected in the price of crypto.
One of the lessons I learned from my nearly 20 years of experience in the ETF ecosystem is that once lower cost is discovered from efficiency of structure the pursuit of that benefit becomes a competitive mission. Welcome to the world of global optimization and collaboration! Trust is earned over time, but sometimes best to be verified and price is the easiest metrics to measure. Meaning – as the ecosystem searches for a balance on the issue of finding “the optimal blockchain process” it dis-intermediates itself through issues related to “forks”, “proof of work” and mining. However, this is okay because the journey to find optimization of process realistically should not be expected to be neat; especially when it is done in an open forum. Therefore volatility on price may always be a characteristic; except of course where you have blockchain that is subject to the characterization of intranet vs internet (Closed System vs Open System). This should not be misconstrued as a reflection of a lack of progress, but a reflection of a new ecosystem developing that is built on computer code rather than human touch and relationships. Welcome to the new world!
P.S. It is curious that crypto prices rallied around the timing of Consensus, but personally price is less important to me than the progress that blockchain has made in this past year. Price and progress should not be expected to be linear contrary to our hopes and dreams
In two to five years we will see more pure play public companies, much consolidation and technological disruption of industries that at a minimum will be on parallel with the evolution that came out of the internet.
Lately, many successful unicorn’s that are not directly related to Blockchain have been going public. However, we know they are out there – plotting- developing and progressing. We look forward to monitoring their progress with our eyes wide open. .https://www.bitcoinmarketjournal.com/biggest-blockchain-companies-by-valuation/
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By Chris Perrota of Altcoin
Consensus Day 1 Recap
The Winklevoss twins have partnered with Flexa, cryptocurrency payments network, to enable retailers to accept cryptocurrency payments in stores. Through the SPEDN wallet over 15 large retail chains, which is 30,475 retail spaces, will start accepting cryptocurrency payments. The SPEDN wallet supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Gemini Dollars.
The long-awaited Bitcoin product, Bakkt, will finally begin to test their futures contracts this summer. The plan is to release two futures products, a daily one and a monthly one. While we are still waiting for the CFTC to give the green light, Kelly Loeffler, CEO, said that the products will be CFTC regulated.
While there is no hard evidence of this, at Consensus, there are many signs from eBay talking positively about cryptocurrencies. With over 179 million users worldwide, this would be big if true.
While this isn’t specifically Consensus news, it is still important to point out. With all of the good news coming out, this could possibly help altcoins start to run up higher in price, or could allow traders to take profits from the past week. Tell us what you think below.
Paxos now allows users to get fiat instantly when using their platform. Users PAX and USD will now be shown as a single balance on the account.
Consensus Day 2 Recap
–Hester Peirce, SEC Commissioner, when asked about a Bitcoin ETF said: “Time was right a year ago.”
Hester Peirce has been very open about her feelings on a Bitcoin ETF. She has time and time again defended the space saying that the SEC should issue guidance, not restrict innovation.
Kevin O’Leary and Anthony Pompliano talk about Bitcoin and institutions, institutional investors, and retail investors are entering the space and why going forward it will be a good asset. This is a great watch for anyone who is new to the space or wants to better understand Bitcoin and the space we are n.
–SEC delays Bitwise ETF Approval
This was expected. The SEC will probably wait until the last possible moment to issue an opinion. We will have to wait until later this year to get the final decision. Until then, don’t expect much from the SEC.
–Coinbase opens XRP trading for NY residents & Coinbase opens up USDC trading to 85 countries
The more access people over the world have to crypto assets, the better. Personally, I think that the USDC is more important because it allows citizens in countries with a volatile local currency to find stability in a trusted stablecoin.
–Samsung to add crypto wallet support to more phones
While it was great to see Samsung add a cryptocurrency wallet to their flagship phone earlier this year, most people can’t afford it. It is great for adoption that Samsung is adding cryptocurrency support for lower-end phones.
–Charles Hoskinson partners with Polymath
This partnership can help both Polymath and Cardano. Polymath has worked with security tokens the past 3 years and Cardano is one of the most used blockchains in the space.
In order to improve security, Uphold will tap Ledger’s expertise and incorporate the company’s institutional custody platform, Ledger Vault, to increase its anti-hack protection.
Bithumb will provide fiat pairs with up to 100x leverage. Great for gamblers if you are into that sort of thing.
Consensus Day 3 Recap
Christopher Giancarlo, Chairman of CFTC, talks crypto on his way out
He believes that the CFTC is built on four main cornerstones, when it comes to cryptocurrencies, adopting an “exponential growth mindset,” becoming a “quantitative regulator,” embracing “market-based solutions,” and manage the ever-present tension between innovation and regulation.
Coinbase has over $1 billion of crypto under management
If you needed more proof that institutions are coming into crypto, here it is. In just about 12 months, Coinbase has over $1 billion worth of assets under management while getting about $150 million per month from 70+ institutions.
The fifth largest electrical company in the world is using an Ethereum Dapp
EDF is the fifth largest electrical utility company has launched simulator software on the Ethereum mainnet.
Deloitte to launch a large project by the end of the year on Ethereum
Even though Deloitte announced that it was moving its clients to VeChain, the CTO, Antonio Senatore, said that 50% of their projects are built on Ethereum.
Presidential candidate Andrew Yang believes Regulators “Owe” clarity on rules
Andrew Yang believes that “it is unfair to folks” to not have regulatory clarity surrounding crypto and he thinks they “owe us some degree of clarity.”
Binance has restarted services post hack
Finally, after a week of being on lockdown, Binance has finally reopened deposits and withdrawals.
