Cryptocurrency

Zimbabwe offers a way to test blockchain’s worth

5 Mar 2019

Even after a 60 pct devaluation, Harare’s monetary credibility is irreparably broken. That should make it an ideal test case for distributed ledgers replacing ropey central banks. Yet citizens’ justifiable distrust of the state doesn’t mean ceding monetary control is an easy fix.

JPMorgan blockchain idea is far from a killer app

14 Feb 2019

The U.S. bank is introducing a cryptocurrency to help clients transfer money to each other instantaneously. Boss Jamie Dimon once called bitcoin a fraud, so even a baby step into the related technology is notable. But so far it looks like an overwrought fix for a simple problem.

Blockchain will finally make itself useful

31 Dec 2018

The distributed-ledger technology associated with bitcoin is due a breakthrough in 2019. Banks and companies are gradually applying versions of it to tasks like settlement. Demonstrating blockchain’s utility, though, will say little about the value of cryptocurrencies themselves.

Crypto could bring Facebook some stability

21 Dec 2018

The social network may issue a dollar-pegged digital currency to let its 1.5 bln WhatsApp users transfer money. So-called stablecoins embody much of bitcoin’s original promise and have grown popular as other crypto assets tanked. Beleaguered Facebook would welcome a similar effect.

Crypto disruptors want a hug from Wall St

27 Nov 2018

Enthusiasts snapped up bitcoin and its digital imitators believing they would replace financial intermediaries. But an 80 pct price collapse has dampened the revolutionary fervor. Now the likes of NYSE and Fidelity can’t come soon enough with futures, ETFs and custody services.

Bitcoin’s slide blows digital stardust to winds

20 Nov 2018

Fans dreamed the cryptocurrency would consign conventional finance to the dustbin. But it’s more vulnerable than stocks and bonds to investor funk, plummeting a third in a month and 75 pct from its peak to below $5,000. Bitcoin’s flaw remains its lack of fundamental value.

Chip industry’s new paradigm looks like old one

16 Nov 2018

As cutting-edge semiconductors got harder to make and demand boomed from new fields like bitcoin mining, top manufacturers seemed invulnerable. Shrinking sales forecasts from Nvidia and Applied Materials show companies are as prone as ever to economic cycles and excess inventory.

Bitcoin remains a triumph of hope over experience

31 Oct 2018

The digital money is marking its first decade with a punishing slump. Fraud and regulatory zeal have dried up issuance of rival cryptocurrencies. The underlying blockchain technology has yet to produce its first killer app. It’s a long way from Satoshi’s revolution.

Cannabis is like bitcoin, only with revenue

15 Oct 2018

Stocks of producers like Tilray and Canopy have risen faster than the digital currency did, fueled by Canada’s imminent legalization. Today’s valuations make no sense and accounting is patchy. Unlike bitcoin, these pot companies have real sales – but that only fuels the frenzy.

Bitmain mines for a more precious currency

3 Oct 2018

The world's top crypto equipment maker collected a third of its $2.5 bln in sales last year in bitcoin and its ilk. Converting some of it into cash has helped fund the profitable business. As prices of virtual money fall, though, raising $3 bln in an IPO would be a sweet trade.

Chancellor: The mother of all speculative bubbles

11 Sep 2018

Since the interest rate discounts future cash flows, the central banks’ policy of ultralow rates has had an outsized impact on investments whose income lies far out in the future, whether through tech firms or 100-year bonds, and on assets providing no income. Danger awaits.

Hong Kong office space gets unneeded bitcoin lift

23 Aug 2018

Cryptocurrency exchange operator BitMEX is paying a record $344 a square foot per year to rent in the world’s priciest commercial property market. Chinese capital controls and rising interest rates haven’t cooled things off. The city’s real estate is a safer bet than bitcoin.

Venezuela’s Maduro rearranges economy’s deckchairs

20 Aug 2018

The president’s plan to devalue the bolivar, peg it to an obscure state-backed cryptocurrency and raise the minimum wage will widen the already gaping hole in the OPEC member’s finances. Promised fuel-price hikes, if botched, could send his socialist government to the seabed.

Crypto goes to Hollywood without a happy ending

26 Jun 2018

An Italian producer has raised $575 mln in a private coin sale to take on the likes of Netflix and Facebook. His proposed entertainment platform will reward producers and viewers of films, music and other content with tokens. The audacious plan has as many holes as a B-movie plot.

BIS cryptoskepticism is more than fear of change

18 Jun 2018

A rally in digital currencies faded after the bank for central banks said bitcoin and its ilk are unlikely to replace dollars, yen et al. There are good reasons to downplay the roughly $300 bln market’s disruptive potential and instead find complementary uses for the technology.

Latest Bitcoin ETF idea flirts with mainstream

6 Jun 2018

A year after its first shot was nixed by the SEC, SolidX is proposing a new exchange-traded fund backed by the digital token. Futures markets have addressed the agency’s concern about maturity. And closer regulatory scrutiny of cryptocurrencies improves the odds of a green light.

EU transparency purge may boost bitcoin legitimacy

14 May 2018

The European Union will force exchanges to identify users who trade in cryptocurrencies. That could make it harder for criminals to use them to hide ill-gotten gains. The clampdown might deter some traders, but should make virtual currencies more respectable.

Kodak’s lost crypto moment mirrors its decline

10 May 2018

The imaging firm’s partner aims to raise $50 mln in a coin offering to develop a photographic-rights platform. Kodak stock popped over 300 pct when it unveiled the plan in January but it has since lost most of that ground. The ICO hype has faded even faster than film photos did.

Review: The ultimate truth about blockchain

6 Apr 2018

The technology behind bitcoin has applications that extend far beyond the crypto-currency hype. But is it the panacea for humanity’s problems? “The Truth Machine” takes a positive view of decentralised digital ledgers, but underplays fundamental questions of safety and trust.

Telegram sends warning to Wall St and Sand Hill Rd

3 Apr 2018

Russian entrepreneur Pavel Durov’s messaging service raised $1.7 bln from private sales of its crypto-currency this year, besting all but three IPOs. Booming coin offerings face more oversight and many ring hollow. But Durov’s tech chops should give bankers and VC firms pause.