Merrill Lynch Report: Bitcoin's Value 'Impossible to Assess'
Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch wrote a report regarding the value of Bitcoin. The report states that a potential move by global brokerages to offer products around cryptocurrencies could have a big impact on the wider market.
Notably, the report touches on the possible factors that could shape the cryptocurrency market in the future – including financial products based on the tech. The bank's analysts suggest that a move by brokerages to begin offering such services to their clients could affect both the overall liquidity of the market as well as the market capitalization for the relevant cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether
"The coin universe is dynamic, innovative and volatile; while a true value for cryptocurrencies may be impossible to assess, one factor which we believe could affect their liquidity and market capitalization would be if one or more global broker/dealers decided to offer institutional-like products."
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Dutch Bank Complains About the Electricity Used on Bitcoin
Dutch Bank ING released a report in which it complains about the amount of energy that the average Bitcoin transaction consumes. The report states that the excessive use of electricity when verifying transactions makes the process costly. Dutch Bank ING notes, however, that this high cost also serves as a deterrent to those who would seek to disrupt the network. ING senior economist Teunis Brosens said:
"By making sure that verifying transactions is a costly business, the integrity of the network can be preserved as long as benevolent nodes control the majority of computing power. Together, they will dominate the verification (mining) process. To make the verification (mining) costly, the verification algorithm requires a lot of processing power and thus electricity."
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Gold Miner Backs Blockchain Company and Starts Mining Bitcoin
A Canadian mining guru, Frank Giustra, has begun mining Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies instead of just gold. He has recently backed a Vancouver Blockchain company, called Hive Technologies Inc, to oversee these mining operations and offer first-ever mining stock options.
After Gisutra brought Hive Technologies into the foray, the company’s shares have skyrocketed, rising over 630%, according to Bloomberg.
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