Deloitte & PwC Surveys: To Blockchain or Not?
Every day we encounter surveys, opinions, researches or statements regarding the pros and cons of the blockchain. Investors, developers, and professionals from all industries are bombarded with news regarding the phenomena of the century if not millennia. We summarized two very recent surveys by “big four” accounting firms investigating two opposite views on the blockchain.
PwC Global Blockchain 2018 Survey
- PWC polls 600 executives from 15 regions. Of them all, 84% have a form of involvement with blockchain.
- According to the report, blockchain is changing the way we conduct businesses by tokenization, initial coin offerings (ICOs) and enterprise software platforms, as well as creating new industry and territory leaders.
Deloitte 2018 Global Blockchain Survey
- Deloitte surveyed 1,053 executives from seven countries.
- According to the research, 16% of the companies plan to invest more than $10 million in blockchain already next year. That’s more than 160 companies and roughly $1.6 billion investments in DLT related operations.
Atlas Quantum Hacked, Mass User Data Leak
Unknown attackers hacked the Atlas Quantum, a Brazilian crypto investment platform for arbitrage tradings. User data got stolen from the platform that enables trading cryptocurrency and making profit due to the price differences at various exchanges.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
- Hacker attacks affect many well-known systems, and cybercriminals constantly come up with new methods of stealing information and funds. According to the latest report of Group-IB, in January the number of hacked accounts on crypto exchanges increased by 689% compared to the average monthly indicator of 2017.
- According to the latest data from Kaspersky Lab, in the second quarter of 2018 scammers stole more than $2.3 million from crypto-investors.
Samsung Brings Blockchain Certifiсation For Banks
Telecommunication giant Samsung’s IT branch Samsung SDS announced that their blockchain-based bank co-authentication service, BankSign, is ready. The concept was developed together with the Korea Federation of Banks (KFB). It helps customers to obtain authentication from one bank and access banking services from multiple banks at once. This method has been enhanced with fingerprints, patterns and passwords.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
- Giants like Samsung use blockchain-based platforms to provide solutions to traditional financial institutions. It expands the areas where DLT is being utilized.
- Faster and safer authentication with this system can draw attention from other institutions and blockchain can replace traditional operators.
Banks Obey Maduro, Venezuelans Seek Financial Alternatives
The Central Bank of Venezuela announced the launch of an Android application for converting fiat money into a new Sovereign Bolivar. With the application named Calculadora Soberana, users will be able to exchange old Bolivars for the new ones, tied to the national cryptocurrency Petro. In fact, to convert, the program removes five zeros from the amount entered in the old fiat currency. By the time this article has been written, the application was downloaded at Google Play for more than 10,000 times.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
- Venezuela became the first country to issue a national cryptocurrency. Petro has been repeatedly criticized, it is still not recognized by the international community, but this does not prevent local authorities from promoting the coin.
- The cryptocurrency is very popular in the country because of the crisis, and calculating in Petro can help Venezuela circumvent the U.S. sanctions. With the same goal, Iran plans to establish its own national cryptocurrency.
JPMorgan: Blockchain Will Not Have Competitors
Chief information officer (CIO) of the American JPMorgan bank, Lori Beer, said that the company monitors the cryptocurrency market and actively uses the distributed ledger technology (DLT) to improve the quality of its services. She expressed confidence that the blockchain would replace competing technologies for several years.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
- The bank is more skeptical about digital assets. However, in May JP Morgan began to explore the cryptocurrency sector and decided to create its own strategy in this area. The bank employs staff who are engaged in the analysis and evaluation of the crypto market.
- The use of blockchain in business for a bank is more important than the technology itself. JPMorgan focuses not only on reducing costs, but also on the opportunities for creating new products.
At 19:00 (GMT+1) total cryptocurrency market capitalization stands at $228,4 billion
IOTA (+16,51%) showed the best growth in the top-10
Holo (+23,86%) showed the best growth in the top-100
Market Dynamics
The trading volume of cryptocurrencies for 24 hours reached $13,19 (+2,33 billion per day)
Mining Profitability
- BTC $2,5 for 10 TH/s
- ETH $0,2 for 10 MH/s
- BCH $0,23 for 1 TH/s
- LTC $3,44 for 1 GH/s
- DASH $0,1 for 1 GH/s
Ongoing ICOs:
Expected ICOs:
- 31 August BetOnChart
- 5 September Cryptocean
- 8 September AEN Token
- 15 September COTI
- 15 September GOODWORK