This Week in Cryptocurrency: October 12, 2018

• AH, My Eyes! It Burns!

AH, My Eyes! It Burns!

So much for stability. Just when we thought the worst times were behind us, the market decides to take another dip into the depths below. The entire crypto market was hovering around $220 billion for the majority of the week before shedding off over $20 billion towards the end. It currently sits at just over $202 billion – a 7.34% drop on the week.

Let’s check in on our top three cryptos:

Bitcoin was the only coin with single digit loses, falling 4.22% this week.

Ethereum got hammered hard with an 11.03% fall.

XRP took a beating, dropping 16.57% in the last seven days.

Gemini Secures Insurance for Hot Wallets: In what may be an industry first, Gemini has now obtained insurance for the digital assets held in the company’s hot wallets. The insurance is arranged Aon, a global professional services firm specializing in risk, retirement, and health solutions. Now, Gemini maintains insurance for its users’ cryptocurrency as well as their U.S. dollar funds through traditional FDIC guarantees.

Hopefully, other custodial exchanges follow suit. The risk of hackers has certainly been a deal breaker for many potential cryptocurrency investors, so this extra layer of fund security should help to bring more people into the space.

IBM Launches Food Blockchain: On Monday, IBM announced the launch of IBM Food Trust, a food-tracking blockchain for commercial use. And already, some notable companies have signed up. The list includes Nestle, Dole Food, Kroger, and Unilever among others. The Food Trust network runs on the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain protocol and costs $100 to $10,000 per month to utilize.

Other than the Food Trust, IBM also runs blockchain initiatives regarding shipping, global trade, insurance, and even entertainment. In our current bear market, it’s adoption like this that should give you hope.

People Saying Things

Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em: Before you go and check your calendars, no, it’s not 2007 again. Soulja Boy is back in action, however. Climbing out of relative obscurity this week, the Chicago-born rapper released and subsequently Tweeted his newest banger, Bitcoin. “How is it?”, you ask. We’ll let you be the judge.

Soulja Boy – Bitcoin (Young Drako) https://t.co/5RHWgQUlf0 via @YouTube

— Soulja Boy (@souljaboy) October 6, 2018

Google Sell ‘Em: After first instating a cryptocurrency ad ban, and then reversing it (for some), Google is back again to play with our emotions. The company recently released an ad (ironic, we know) in which they imply that cryptocurrency is just money that isn’t real. C’mon Google. We’re sensitive right now.

BITBOX Exchange Opens for Business: Popular messaging company LINE has just entered the crypto game. Here’s what to expect with their newly launched exchange.

A Guide to Verge (XVG) Mining Pools: Not sure which Verge mining pool you should join? We’re here to help you out.

Is Litecoin Cloud Mining a Worthwhile Option in 2018?: You may have heard about it recently, but Litecoin Cloud Mining was soooooo 2017.

The Biggest Crypto Programming Errors of All Time: Uh oh. We present to you some of crypto’s most notable goof-ups.

Institutional Investors Using OTC Markets to Enter the Bitcoin Market: You down with OTC? Yeah, you know me. Who down with OTC? Institutional investors, apparently.

Is Dutch Coin Doomed to Become a Flying Dutchman?: “There’s only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people’s cultures and the Dutch [Coin].”

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What Is Coin Selection and Why Does It Matter?: Bitcoin transactions are more complicated than you think. We break down how they work here.

ndau CTO Ken Lang on the First “Bouyant” Digital Currency: We sat down with ndau CTO Ken Lang to learn more about the floating stable coin.

Singapore Embraces Blockchain and a Digital Currency Future: If you thought Malta was crypto cool, just wait until you read about Singapore.

What Are Blockchain Confirmations and Why Do They Matter?: One confirmation, two confirmation, three confirmation, four. Reading about them won’t be a bore.

How Blockchain and Construction Will Build a New World: Looks like Bob is going to have to change his title to “the Blockchain Builder” now.

Tierion: Utilizing the Bitcoin Blockchain to Verify Documents: We break down what you need to know about this document verification project.

Seoul Mayor Building Blockchain Smart City: Last week, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon announced his Blockchain Urban Plan, a $108 million plan to elevate the city from traditional to smart. The five-year, smart city plan outlines the implementation of blockchain technology into several public services such as labor welfare and voting in elections.

The mayor also laid out a strategy to create two building complexes for the specific purpose of incubating blockchain startups. With these kinds of progressive actions, we could easily see Seoul rise to the level of Silicon Valley, Malta, or even Zug before long.

Vanua Who? Vanuatu: More and more small nations are betting big on blockchain. First Malta, now the less than 300 thousand person island nation of Vanuatu is positioning itself to become a hotbed of cryptocurrency activity. The South Pacific island is receiving help from Malta in establishing its own regulation for blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT).

Malta gained notoriety when Binance, cryptocurrency’s most active exchange, relocated their headquarters to the tiny archipelago this past March. The move was spurred by the lack of regulatory clarity in Japan and Hong Kong, the two places in which Binance was first operating.