Coinigy Insights Weekly Roundup #1

Today, the Coinigy team is happy to release the first weekly Insights Roundup. Apart from the original research pieces the Insights team works on, the Roundup series aims to highlight key pieces of work from the community as a whole. Along with this, we briefly describe key industry news developments that took place during the week that community members may have missed. If you have any questions or think we missed something important, feel free to let us know!

Research

2018 Cryptoasset Taxonomy Report by CryptoCompare

• CryptoCompare released their taxonomy of cryptoasset report for 2018. This 79-page release aims to classify cryptoassets through a common system with the two main groups being ‘Fungibles’ and ‘Non-Fungibles’. The report covers all aspects of digital assets, from governance, decentralization, ICOs, data structures, and dozens of other metrics.

Profiting Off Crypto Volatility: Accurately Projecting 1hr Price Movements by Joshua Frank of The TIE

• The validity of sentiment analysis for price movements in different assets is constantly brought into question by people who doubt its power. In this piece, The TIE analyzes just how powerful of a factor sentiment is for forecasting future price movements in cryptoassets.

Weaknesses in the Web 3.0 thesis by Joe E., a contributor at the The Block

• Cryptoassets and blockchain technology are frequently labeled as ‘Web 3.0’, an evolution from the current ‘Web 2.0’ era of information technology being centrally controlled by major companies. Contrasting that, Web 3.0 involves a decentralization of data and information where users have far more control. Here, The Block touches on some of the current weaknesses in this thesis.

Competing with Bitcoin Core by BitMEX Research

• The power of Bitcoin Core and its central repository is often referred to as a reason of how Bitcoin cannot truly be ‘decentralized’. In their latest piece, BitMEX Research discusses this idea and announces their plans to launch a competing client to Bitcoin Core to illustrate that at the end of the day, the users are who control Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Network Momentum by @PositiveCrypto

• Developed by @PositiveCrypto on Twitter, network momentum is a leading indicator of Bitcoin prices in order to determine market cycles timing. Willy Woo was able to translate this idea into an interactive chart to show how momentum reacts in different parts of the cycle.

Industry News Bits

• Multi-trillion dollar financial firm Fidelity is launching an institutional platform for cryptoassets, including custodianship, trade execution, and other services.
• The U.S. Marshals announced a plan to auction off around 600 BTC next month.
• Huobi, one of the largest cryptoasset exchanges by volume, is launching their own stablecoin solution, dubbed HUSD, which acts as an 'all-in-one' for the 4 regulated stablecoins: PAX, TUSD, USDC, and GUSD.
• 1Fox, a provider of leveraged cryptoasset trading for 6 years, is closing down.
• Binance, the world’s largest exchange by volume, is partnering with Chainalysis in an effort to implement more compliance and anti-fraud measures on the exchange.
• Global consulting and services firm Accenture partners with Digital Ventures to develop a blockchain-based solution to facilitate how companies conduct business.
• Custody services provider BitGo raises $15+ million in new funding from Goldman Sachs and Galaxy Digital Ventures.
• The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is setting up a new division, dubbed the Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (or FinHub for short), to be the SEC's resource of all FinTech-related matters, including distributed ledger technology (DLT) and digital assets.