Casting Shadows: The BTCMANAGER Week in Review for June 19
No doubt about it. The big story this week was the booming price of BTC and ETH … right up until it it wasn’t. Then the spectacular collapse of The DAO took over the headlines. BTCMANAGER took you on the rollercoaster ride, but also covered a few other stories of note, including the long-awaited integration of BIP32 into the Bitcoin Core wallet.
ETH-USD Eyeing Push to $22.72; Support Now Found at $19.30
For Ether, the week began on a strong note, and progressed from there. ETH-USD continued to push toward psychological resistance at $20, posting a fresh all-time high at $19.889. It seemed to be on a trajectory that could have seen the market break the $20 handle, where buyers might have looked to target $22.72. Continued bullish momentum could even have see the market extend as high as $28.24 over the coming weeks. But this was not to be.
Rollercoaster Ride for ETH-USD as Solution Arises for DAO Attack
Virtual currencies slumped to fresh lows as the DAO, a decentralised organisation built upon the Ethereum blockchain, was attacked early on Friday morning. BTC-USD and ETH-USD both sustained large losses with Bitcoin dropping to around $740 while ETH-USD posted lows of $13.511.
The community initially responded by spamming the network to slow down the attacker; DAO-BTC and ETH-BTC then saw dumps as it appeared that the attack was still on-going. It then became apparent over 3.5 million Ether had been drained from the DAO; this attack was on the DAO code and Ethereum is still working as it it supposed to.
Since then, a fix proposed by Vitalik Buterin has been hotly debated by the community, and is likely to remain at the center of attention throughout the coming weeks.
BTC-USD Posts Fresh High at $725; Market Could Correct as Low as $635
Bitcoin began the week with cautious optimism following a fresh highs of $725 USD, but with the potential for a market correction. By mid-week, however, the bulls were firmly in control. The fresh high at $750.55 posted early on Thursday indicated that bullish momentum might even safely take BTC-USD above the $750s. But as in the case of ETH, the momentum seemed to shift downward in response to the attack on The DAO.
In Other Stories…
Ethereum-powered Velocity Aims to Decentralize Options Trading
Decentralization is continuing to infiltrate everything from how we find a new home to how we find work. Now, it is moving into derivatives. To provide solutions to the increasing difficulty of using centralized risk management, Velocity aims to provide a method for autonomous derivatives using Ethereum smart contracts.
“Velocity will enable speculators to hedge risk on the prices of digital assets,” Daniel Cawrey, communications officer at Velocity, told BTCMANAGER. “We know this is something the space needs. Derivatives are essential to the modern financial markets. This is why we are bringing them to cryptographic assets like bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.”
Indian uTrade Unveils Blockchain Clearing and Settlement Platform, Partners with GMEX Group
U.K.-based Global Markets Exchange Group (GMEX Group) has announced the integration of uClear, a real-time clearing and settlement platform that uses blockchain technology. uClear is a product of uTrade Solutions, based in India, that enables real-time clearing and settlement of contracts across the cash and derivatives segments of the financial markets.
Built on Multichain, the solution is aimed at exchanges and trading venues, allowing them to clear trades post execution more efficiently through a private blockchain. uClear comes integrated with a set of features that includes real-time risk management, report and transfer instruction generation.
Simple BIP 32 HD Wallet Implementation Integrated Into Core
The Bitcoin Core team has finally integrated the Simple Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) 32 HD Wallet system, written by Pieter Wuille, into Bitcoin Core on June 15.
BIP 0032, entitled “Hierarchical Deterministic Wallets,” is a wallet type initially introduced by Wuille back in 2012, a protocol which has already been integrated by almost every wallet service provider over the past three years. The integration of BIP32 into Bitcoin Core will result in more platforms and wallet service providers offering HD wallets for greater convenience and security.
Review: Smart Contract Betting Serves As Educational Resource For Ethereum Enthusiasts
BTCMANAGER reporter James Ryan Moreau checked out a betting site that turned out to be an effective a tool for educating people on how to transact with Ether and how smart contracts work, as well as an entertaining way to pass the time.
