Some major rally with major correction this week but overall the market value increased. What is interesting is that majority of altcoins have outperformed Bitcoin.
Current prices:
BTC = around $7.7k (+2%)
ETH = around $248 (+25%)
XRP = around $0.39 (+21%)
EOS = around $6.19 (+10%)
NEO = around $12.17 (+23%)
IOTA = around $0.40 (+22%)
XLM = around $0.13 (+31%)
BNB = around $29 (+21%)
XMR = around $87 (+9%)
VET = around $0.008 (+18%)
The next major resistance is 8.4k, if BTC crosses it then clear sail to 10k if BTC gets rejected few times then we can go to 6k. Still bullish long term. Bitcoin will outperform altcoins during rally but altcoins will outperform once BTC stabilises.
Cryptocurrency ban in USA?
On 9th of May Democrat Congressman Brad Sherman urged his colleagues to pass a law that would ban cryptocurrencies in the United States: “I look for colleagues to join with me in introducing a bill to outlaw cryptocurrency purchases by Americans"
Sherman says the ban is necessary because crypto threatens to undermine the U.S. dollar and is only useful for criminal activities like money-laundering, drug-dealing, and tax evasion. What is interesting is that his largest political donors are financial services companies.
It is currently unclear whether the ban can be implemented. The market did increase in value so the annoucement didn't really affect the price.
Cryptocurrency acceptance in shops?
On 13th of May cryptocurrency startup Flexa is working with several retailers to allow them to accept cryptocurrency when paying in shops.
The technology currently supports Bitcoin, Ether, Bitcoin Cash, and the Gemini Dollar, and it’ll work at retailers including GameStop, Nordstrom, Whole Foods, Caribou Coffee, Jamba Juice, Crate and Barrel and more.
Users can pay for the items using Flexa’s app, Spedn, which generates a QR code that users scan at the checkout register. The merchant receives immediate payment in dollars, and the equivalent amount of cryptocurrency is debited from the cryptocurrency wallet in the Spedn app. The system is still very early but it could be a good alternative to traditional crypto debit cards. I do think the annoucement was made bigger than it should have been.
Facebook removing bans
On 8th of May Facebook made an announcement that it is removing its restrictions on ads related to blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. Prior to this, Facebook had only allowed a limited number of ads which had to be pre-approved to run crypto-related ads.
“While we will still require people to apply to run ads promoting cryptocurrency, starting today, we will narrow this policy to no longer require pre-approval for ads related to blockchain technology, industry news, education or events related to cryptocurrency.”
What is interesting is that these developments also come after Mark Zuckerberg expressed a keen interest in blockchain technology and the crypto space as well as their own cryptocurrency.
Ethereum Development Kit for Azure Cloud released
On 6th of May tech giant Microsoft has released a suite of tools allowing clients to build ethereum-based apps on its cloud computing platform Azure.
The ethereum development kit comes as an extension to Microsoft’s source-code editor Visual Studio Code, allowing developers to create and deploy ethereum smart contracts and utilize open-source blockchain tools such as Solidity and Truffle.
Last month Microsoft also launched a token-building kit in association with the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, aimed to help businesses design and create the suitable cryptocurrency tokens. Azure is a 2nd largest cloud services provider in the world.