There's a ton of great #news today. Tuesdays are like that. You wake up thanking God it's not Monday morning, then you get slammed as if it was in fact Monday morning. It might as well be Monday morning. But it's Tuesday and you're so looking forward to that mid-afternoon cupcake.
Just for the record, I do not eat cupcakes in the afternoon.
So, having gone off on the random bus, let's get this circus back on the right wheels. It's Tuesday and there's a ton -- as in, a LOT -- of great #crypto news shaking up the neighborhood. And not all of it is worthy of five minutes knee time in the confessional. Still, I'd like to confess. I did eat some cake for lunch.
Crypto News
Topping the news today is #Coinbase (what else is new, right?). In this case, we learn they've almost got as many customers as Fidelity Investments. But I'm betting that it won't be long before we'll be reading how they have more customers than Fidelity.
One of my favorite coins is 0x. When you write it, it looks like ox, as in the funny looking creature on four legs. But it's actually pronounced z-rocks. Like Xerox but with a Z. And today's 0x news is a version update that allows users to engage in #Ethereum ERC-721 token swaps. And, no, it's not immoral. Even priests can do it.
And now, the moment you've been waiting for. #TrueUSD finally bit the bullet and launched on #Binance. Now can we get on with our lives?
The U.S., in a rare moment of vulnerability, decided it needed Canada's help for something. So securities regulators grabbed a broom and sent it as a gift to woo Canadian securities regulators (both of them) across the border for Operation Cryptosweep because, hell, they were just tired of all those ICO people fishing for digital gold.
On the Ethereum network, there was a traffic jam. It was backed up all the way to game dapps, which managed to snag $7.5 million worth of crypto rubber in 24 hours, and that caused gas fees to double. Don't they know, the 70s have come and gone?
In China, Canaan Inc. is contemplating a $2 billion IPO. Hey, why not? I hear they're in fashion in China these days.
Sberbank in Russia got smart. Well, they issued smart contracts while conducting a $12 billion transaction. Someone was bound to do it.
Then Korbit. I'm not sure what this South Korean crypto exchange was thinking, but they decided to drop a few altcoins. One of them was #Steem. Made me cry.
Crypto Analysis
Meanwhile, if there is any confusion about what a national cryptocurrency is, and I know there's a lot of confusion these day around national anythings, this article should clear it up. There is a very fine distinction between a national cryptocurrency and a central bank digital currency. Don't forget it.
#Bitcoin uses a lot of energy, but will it ever produce as much as Austria? My guess, yes. And it might be sooner than you think.
Crypto for real estate is all the craze. But will it ever go mainstream? The only way is if Stanford starts offering a Ph.D program in cryptoeconomics. Just kidding about the Stanford part.
In case you didn't know, males dominate cryptocurrency. After all, what says "alpha" more than money you can't touch?
One prognosticator says #Bitfinex may have contributed to Bitcoin's price correction, and it probably didn't even have that in mind.
If GDPR has you scratching your head, you're not the only one. There's a very good chance it could kill the blockchain. Might that have been the intention?
Here's one for the road: Why are there so many Russians in crypto? Inquiring minds want to know.
Interested in more awesome cryptocurrency and blockchain reads? Check out today's Blockchain Times.
In case you're wondering, aside from a few dollars in Bitcoin, an open account at Coinbase, and, of course, an active contributor on #Steemit, I have no stake in any of the companies mentioned in this post, nor am I compensated by them. I am a paid #editor for Blockchain Times. Rock on!