This Week in Cryptocurrency: December 7, 2018

• Down with the Ship?

Down with the Ship?

Everyone better start praying to Satoshi and start praying soon. The market took another hammering this week, nosediving over 15 percent. Only a handful of cryptocurrencies in the top 100 saw green this week. The list includes Bitcoin SV (9.99%), Waves (25.75%), Factom (12.75%), and Huobi Token (4.27%). But what about the three big boys?

Bitcoin tumbled 14.82% down to below $3,500.

XRP lost 15.77% over the week with a current price tag of just over $0.30.

Ethereum bled a gruesome 23.19% since last week. You can now grab a full coin for under $90.

Wyoming Takes Another Pro-Blockchain Stance: The Cowboy State continues to quietly build themselves up as a cryptocurrency and blockchain hub in the United States. After passing a series of blockchain-friendly bills in February, the legislative committee recently added another piece of blockchain legislation to the list. The new bill, receiving a vote of 13-1 for, allows banks in the state to provide services for blockchain assets.

The bill is apparently the product of a “Blockchain Task Force” committee. The purpose of the committee was (and is) to discover the challenges that blockchain entrepreneurs face.

For those that know, or live, in Wyoming, this ruling should come as no surprise. The state was dubbed the Equality State as the first state allowing women to vote and has consistently passed progressive legislation.

BREAKING! #Wyoming legislative committee passed #blockchain #bank bill 13-1 over heavy opposition from the banking industry. Congratulations and thanks to all out supporters! pic.twitter.com/nQDjALykRk

— Caitlin Long (@CaitlinLong_) November 30, 2018

Survey Says…Crypto!: According to a recent survey by job platform Humans, 29 percent of U.S. freelancers would like to receive at least part of their income in cryptocurrency. The freelancers argue that legacy systems take too long, limit daily transfers, and charge exorbitant fees among other issues. For example, PayPal charges almost three percent on many of the transactions on the platform.

However, merchant adoption is still one of the biggest roadblocks. Having to convert to fiat removes much of the value that crypto incomes bring. That being said, there are plenty of projects making crypto-friendly merchants a soon-to-be reality.

People Saying Things

Breyer Don’t Care: Billionaire Investor Jim Breyer made a long-term bullish argument for cryptocurrency at Fortune’s 2018 Global Tech Forum. He stated on the conference stage that although “we are close to a nuclear winter right now,” the industry is filled with some of the best computer scientists and Ph.D. students and postdocs. And, “you don’t want to bet against the best and brightest in the world.”

How Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Meets Blockchain: IaaS is a big, growing business, and blockchain projects want a piece.

Stablecoins and Currency Pegs: What Can History Teach Us?: Many people are elated about the numerous stablecoin options. Here’s why they may not be all they’re cracked up to be.

What Is tZERO? (And Why It Could Be a Big Deal): If 2017 was the year of the ICO, it looks like 2019 may be the year of the STO. tZERO looks to lead the way if it happens.

When to Buy Bitcoin: A Guide to Stacking Satoshis: Market down or market up – knowing when to buy Bitcoin is tough.

SEC Cracks Down on ICO Social Media Influencers: Congratulations, DJ Khaled. You played yourself.

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Blockchain’s Killer App? The Most Successful Distributed Computing Projects so Far: We’re still on the lookout for blockchain’s first killer app. One of these projects could take the title.

How to Use a Bitcoin Paper Wallet to Keep Your Crypto Safe: Sometimes you gotta kick it old school with a little ink and paper.

Understanding Cryptocurrency Taxes: How to Calculate Your Bitcoin Taxes 101: The taxman cometh. Make sure you’re prepared when he does.

Tax Time! How to Calculate Your Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Losses: The silver lining in this bear market – claiming your losses.

The Challenges of Cloud Computing and How Blockchain Can Help: The technological world revolves around cloud computing. Fine for now, but abundant issues on the horizon.

Bitcoin Market Nightmares: Whales and HODLers to Blame: Who’s to blame for the down market. And will Bitcoin ever recover?

Vitalik Receives Honorary Doctorate: Ethereum hell-raiser Vitalik Buterin may have dropped out of college in 2014, but that’s not stopping him from earning a degree now. Last Friday, the University of Basel’s Faculty of Business and Economics granted Buterin an honorary doctorate for his innovative work with blockchain tech. The dean of the school, Prof. Dr. Aleksander Berentsen presented him with the distinction at the Dies Academiscus celebration.

Buterin responded to the distinction, “I’m honored to have received an honorary doctorate from the University of Basel, the oldest university in Switzerland. Switzerland is well known for its innovative blockchain research.” 

Australia Blockchain Accreditation Arrives: Good news to the folks down unda’. You can now receive the Advanced Diploma of Applied Blockchain, the country’s first accredited blockchain course. The course, developed by the Blockchain Collective, covers a wide variety of blockchain subjects. Some of the topics include blockchain business models, interoperability, operating smart contracts, and establishing a framework for peer-to-peer consensus. Sign us up!