Today on Altcoins This Week, we discuss ZCash Prices and their sudden spike, Facebook could potentially be working on its own cryptocurrency, altcoin prices and more.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange Launches Ethereum Index
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME Group) has announced a partnership with Crypto Facilities to launch the CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate and Real Time Index. The new index aims to provide users with access to real-time Ether (ETH) price in USD. According to the press release, the Index will be calculated by Crypto Facilities and will be based on activity in exchanges such as Bitstamp and Kraken. The Indexes will update once per second every day of the year, providing real-time transparency to the USD price of Ether(ETH). Last December, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange launched futures trading for Bitcoin (BTC) and it seems it’s now Ethereum’s turn. Crypto Facilities have introduced futures contracts for Ethereum to enable investors to take positions on this cryptocurrency.
Facebook Could Be Developing Its Own Cryptocurrency
According to Alex Heath, a news anchor for Cheddar, Facebook is working on the possibility of creating it’s own cryptocurrency for digital payments. Facebook has banned cryptocurrency and ICOs ads from it’s platform. The reason behind this it says, is to protect its users from deceptive information and potential scams. No more details are available at this time, but Facebook is under scrutiny from the world after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where more than 87 million users’ data, was wrongfully used by applications linked to the social media company. Facebook may be looking to Blockchain to clean it’s image and to provide more transparency and immutability to the platform. The company has been putting a team together, with David Marcus, ex-director of PayPal, leading the Blockchain investigation unit for the company.
Ripple Launches Venture Capital Fund “Xpring”
Ripple has announced its intention to launch Xpring, a service that aims to provide financial backing to companies that develop products and services for the XRP coin. Through this initiative, Ripple plans to invest in, incubate, acquire and provide grants to companies and projects run by proven entrepreneurs that use the XRP Ledger and the digital asset XRP, to solve their customers’ problems in a transformative way. Ripple has hired Ethan Beard, previous Developer Director at Facebook, as Senior Vice President to lead this project. They have already partnered with major companies in the banking sector and are now seeking to become more relevant to the everyday user. The company has also announced its investment in other projects such as Blockchain Capital and Omni.
ZCash Prices Spike After Gemini’s Announcement
Zcash (ZEC) prices have grown more than 45% after the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini announced its listing on their platform. The increase in price follows the decision by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) to allow them to add ZEC to the markets, starting next Tuesday. The New York exchange founded by the Winklevoss brothers, has previously received NYDFS approval to list other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Dash and Litecoin, although it has not announced when those will be added to the platform. Gemini is one of the very few fully regulated exchanges in the world, and is the first one licensed as a Zcash exchange. Altcoins Follow Market Patterns Altcoins experienced the downfall of the general market. Ethereum (ETH) started the week at $790 and went down from there. On Tuesday it had already lost about $60 and struggled to remain within the $700 mark until Friday, when it reached its lowest point of $648. It recovered somewhat, closing the week at $730. Ripple (XRP) started the week at 0.87c and dropped to its lowest point on Friday, reaching $0.66c but recovered, closing the week at $0.74. Bitcoin Cash (BTH) opened the week above the $1,700 mark but throughout the week, lost almost $400 of its value, perhaps due to its delisting from BL3P. It closed the week at $1,400. Litecoin (LTC) tried to hold its support at the $160 mark throughout the week, however it too suffered with the rest of the market when it went below $140 on Friday, before closing the week at the $140 mark. After news hit that the major exchange, Upbit, was allegedly being investigated, the entire market dropped about 15% in general. Perhaps the opening of Consensus 2018 yesterday, will bring up prices when showing support from major players in the industry.
