Last year was an interesting one for blockchain and cryptocurrency, contrasting with past years in ways that go far beyond mere finance. It was a banner year for the maturation of the whole space, and not just in terms of the dollar price of your favorite cryptocurrency. Instead, 2019 has proven to those paying attention that blockchain is more alive than ever, and is exemplified by the growing sector’s most impressive and active participants. 1) Crypto custody and clearing gain momentum Gemini – Owned and operated by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Gemini was already one of the most popular global …

At the end of 2019, Cointelegraph collected an interesting and sometimes unexpected selection of books from people without whom the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain would be completely different. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, Changpeng Zhao, John McAfee, Grigory Klumov and the Cointelegraph team shared the most interesting books that they read in 2019. These recommendations are for those who want to immerse themselves in the crypto industry. They also aim to help readers understand the ideas that have influenced the worldview of these industry leaders. Here are the top 10 books that the best crypto minds of our time recommend …

The nonfungible token market is one of the most exciting spaces in crypto right now. Significant investments are being made on nonfungible tokens as people diversify their decentralized portfolios in the hope that this promising market continues to grow. As we begin 2020, let’s take a look at five of the most expensive NFTs sold last year. 5. Gods Unchained — Atlas ID #8840817 Price: 210 ETH (approximately $31,500) Date: Dec. 5, 2019 Gods Unchained is a competitive card game on the Ethereum blockchain and is similar to the popular mainstream title, Hearthstone. The most significant difference between the two …

South Korea remains the third-largest crypto exchange market by volume, just behind the United States and Japan. Despite that, throughout the past three years, the government of South Korea has opted against fully regulating the local crypto market. In the second half of 2019, the government of South Korea started to work on several bills that would further legitimize the crypto sector and allow it to evolve into an established industry. Below is the complete timeline of the passing of bills and controversy surrounding the regulatory side of crypto in South Korea since 2017, and what is expected to come …

Prominent figures from a range of long-established companies found greener pastures in the blockchain realm in 2019. From BlackRock to Goldman Sachs, and from HSBC to the SEC, traditional industries saw some of their top personnel leave for new prospects in cryptocurrency over the past year. Early 2019 Frigid winter conditions in the crypto market failed to dissuade career moves into the industry. Despite the bearish market conditions of early 2019, many saw fit to join the blockchain movement and leave their familiar jobs behind. Tron hired David Labhart as the company’s first chief compliance officer. Labhart previously worked as …

Alexander Zaidelson, CEO of Beam I closely watch the developments in the privacy space — Zcash, Monero, Grin and of course Beam. Whale Alert Since Whale Alert covers the largest blockchains with a goal to expand to cover at least 99% of the value of all blockchain transactions, I try to keep up with as many existing and upcoming coins as possible. Erik Voorhees, CEO of ShapeShift ETH, EOS, ATOM, BNB, XMR/ZEC, MKR, and of course our new token, FOX, which enables free trading at ShapeShift! Vladimir Tomko, Co-founder, CEO and game producer at Blockchain Cuties Universe Coins I watch …

Data privacy has long been seen as one of the major non-monetary usages of blockchain technology. Many governments and corporations are already running recordkeeping systems based on distributed ledgers to securely store internal data. Tech enthusiasts believe that blockchain has the potential to revolutionize personal data and identity management for private citizens as well, yet these hopes remain largely aspirational so far. One of the reasons for that is regulatory uncertainty: Lawmakers around the globe are having a hard time catching up with data security challenges that the sprawling online economy poses. In 2019, the regulators accelerated their efforts to …

Alexander Zaidelson, CEO of Beam I don’t think I have a solid basis for making such predictions, but I will try. Using the basic logic, we can play within the historical all-time high and all-time low boundaries. I think it is possible that at some point in 2020 Bitcoin may hit the all-time low or even go a bit below it, so I would say the low can be $3,000. As things progress and the adoption grows, the demand for Bitcoin and crypto in general will surge, and it is totally possible that it will go up to all-time high …

Alexander Zaidelson, CEO of Beam I am trying to follow general technology topics and also global politics. Developments in the larger world outside crypto community are bound to influence our industry in many ways. Whale Alert I try to follow a lot of different topics, but those topics about the use of technology and its impact on society interest me most. For example, a relevant current topic is the use of electronic voting devices. I think this is a good example of the need to look further than just technological innovations and consider a combination of technical and non-technical solutions. …

The past few years have been a watershed moment for security in crypto. As the asset class has gained popularity, more and more security breaches have been highlighted and more institutions targeted. The burgeoning industry is ripe with opportunity, but also with risk. Two incidents that highlight this lapse in security spring to mind. Back in January 2018, Coincheck Japan was targeted, with attackers succeeding in stealing $530 million worth of NEM tokens from the crypto exchange. It is one of the biggest crypto exchange heists in the relatively short history of the industry and stands alongside the infamous attack …

Alexander Zaidelson, CEO of Beam The biggest themes for 2020 will be privacy, the rise of confidential stablecoins — especially algorithmic ones — DeFi and wider adoption. Whale Alert We are still in the early adoption phase of crypto. When talking about cryptocurrency, it is hard to pinpoint a single topic that will be the most important with regard to its development. The important news to look for in 2020 will probably not be the big headlines, but will be the relatively small incremental changes, both technological and social in nature, that will increase trust, security and transparency but also …

Alexander Zaidelson, CEO of Beam I think the year of 2019 was a year of big hopes for wider adoption and some disappointments. The Libra debacle was one of the big events that, in my view, influenced the market quite a bit. While the reaction of the hardcore crypto community to Libra was mostly negative (Libra is not really a cryptocurrency), there was hope that bringing 1B people to blockchain-based currency will increase awareness and adoption. But this did not work out. So, in my mind, the biggest milestone is that crypto made inroads into the mainstream media and awareness, …