The government of Switzerland has announced that it plans to tokenize their national currency, the Swiss Franc. A cryptocurrency that is backed by a fiat currency is referred to as a stablecoin. The perception is that a tokenized fiat currency is less volatile in price swings than its purely digital counterpart. The stablecoin proposed by Switzerland will not be the first of its kind. There is a stablecoin backed by the United State Dollar, the Tether , the United States Dollar Token (USDT). The Russian government has proposed the creation of a stablecoin backed by the Russian Ruble, the Crypto Ruble. And the government of Venezuela has also proposed the creation of a stablecoin backed by their reserves of oil, the Petro.
The Venezuelan stablecoin and the Russian stablecoin have more of a presence in the news media then on the cryptocurrency exchanges. Despite the economic woes of the Venezuelan economy the Petro has not lived up to its hype. It has been reported by several major news sources that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Dash are where the people of Venezuela have flocked to, in order to preserve what’s left of their devalued savings. The Venezuelan Bolivar was devalued by 95% in an effort to counteract hyperinflation. The Russian Crypto Ruble proposal has stalled in the legislative process.
Switzerland may not be the first nation to attempt to issue a digital token backed by a fiat currency, but it may very well be the first to successfully create one. A stablecoin model for others to emulate or perhaps become the dominant fiat backed token in the world.
The odds of success for the Swiss are much higher than their predecessors. The Swiss economy is not shrouded with instability. The Swiss economy lays claim to having the highest level of nominal wealth per adult, along with the eighth highest per capita gross domestic product globally. The Swiss Franc has gained 75% more purchasing power compared to the USD over the last 50 years. Switzerland is the world’s largest importer and exporter of gold. Although it is not in the headlines very much there is also a King of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander. These attributes about Switzerland just exemplify the level of stability it maintains compared to the economies of the prior stablecoin issuers, Tether, The Petro, and the Crypto Ruble.
Tether has been surrounded by rumors of inaccurate accounting practices and market manipulation. The Swiss token proposal guarantees monthly, transparent audits for its investors. It’s not only the stability of the Swiss economy that makes this proposed token interesting, it’s the timing of it. Geneva is well known for its unique brand of tourism. Switzerland has a reputation of being the place where wealthy people go to visit their money. Right now, digital financial transactions are still slower than fiat currency transactions domestically and internationally. Why would a country that has such a dominant presence in international finance move to a vehicle that, for all intents and purposes, is substandard to what is already in place? The answer to that question may be related to Ripple’s (XRP) latest announcement.
Ripple (XRP) has announced that the launch of their xRapid payment platform will be very soon, possibly within the next 30 days. xRapid claims it will be faster, cheaper, and more accurate because of the blockchain technology behind it. xRapid can effectively knock SWIFT, the reigning international money transfer king, off of their throne. Some analysts feel that SWIFT has already raised the white flag and has adopted the can’t beat them join them posture, predicting an alliance may be forged. And now enter the world’s safe haven for money and money transfers, Switzerland. It appears as though a tidy arrangement may be in the making. The developments are still unfolding and XRP’s value is rising. These events deserve attention. The 21st Money Team will keep you informed.
Forex News & Analysis
The United States Dollar / Swiss Franc (USD/CHF) pairing helps us understand the historical relationship between two economic powerhouses. The US still reigns supreme as the world’s number one economy and Switzerland is the world’s Banking capital.
USD/CHF Chart Courtesy of Tradingview
The chart clearly demonstrates how the USD has lost value against the CHF over the last thirty years. But it shows the stability of both currencies against each other in recent years. That is somewhat reassuring as tokenized fiat currencies are emerging. The USD Token, Tether (USDT) is already in existence and the Swiss have announced plans to issue a tokenized version of the CHF as well. Will the USD be able to maintain its stability against the CHF in the crypto market? The USD has certainly maintained its value against the CHF within a few cents over the last few years. But the crypto market has a technological X-factor which could add volatility to a once stable relationship.
Global boundaries are disappearing. Brexit can actually become a reality that will change the economic landscape of the European Union (EU). Bear in mind, Switzerland is still part of the EU. As we enter the digital age of finance will these two currencies still reign supreme? The Swiss franc has a lot more monetary muscle than the USD. The US holds the population with the largest appetite for goods and services worldwide. We’ll see how these two economies fit inside the digitized financial jigsaw puzzle that is taking shape.
The United States Dollar /Bitcoin (USD/BTC) pairing saw the dollar lose value against the crypto giant. The dollar began the week exchanging at $6,491 /1 Bitcoin. The dollar ended the week exchanging at $6729 / 1 Bitcoin losing 3.67% against Bitcoin by the weeks end.
The USD index (.DXY) compares the USD to 6 globally dominant currencies. The USD lost ground when compared to its global counterparts towards the end of the week. The .DXY index recorded a value of 94.5 at the beginning of the week. The Index closed at 94.00 recording a 0.532% loss in value by the week’s end. The Mexican Peso held an advantage over the USD throughout the week. The Mexican Peso (MXN) began the week exchanging at 18.83823 / 1. The MXN closed the week at 18.8810 up 0.227%. While the Japanese Yen (JPY) maintained a slim advantage over the dollar at the close of the week as well. The JPY ended the week marginally stronger, pairing with the USD at 111.823 / 1 at the beginning of the week and closing the week recording an exchange rate of 112.748 a 0.827% increase in value.
Crypto Futures News & Analysis
Bitcoin continues to remain above its charted lower line of resistance. The crypto trading community is eagerly anticipating what will be the catalyst for the next bull run. The ETF conversation will not be a factor until 2019 when the Securities and Exchange Commission will review new or pending ETF applications. What could possibly be on the horizon for Bitcoin? Why is it able to maintain this support level near $6,200?
Chart Courtesy of TradingView Prepared by The 21st Money Team
One of the reasons could be that key investors and intuitive traders recognize that globalization is on the horizon. And it appears as though Bitcoin will be an integral part of the economic globalization process.
A recent statement from the Chinese Premier, Li Keqiang, reinforces this realization of our modern financial era. Premier Li says,
“We are now standing at a crossroads, a crossroads facing a choice between globalization or de-globalization. We are encouraged to see the trend of globalization continue to forge ahead at its own pace. ……Globalization has presented China, and all countries around the world, with tremendous development opportunities. In the age of globalization a new round of Industrial Revolution has come into being.”
The new industrial revolution, is the phrase that really sums it all up. Blockchain technology and all of its applications are still being explored. The full potential of the technology is still unknown. What is known? Bitcoin is at the center of this new industrial revolution, that’s a fact. Bitcoin is the cornerstone of digital currency. Whenever Bitcoin nears its lower threshold of resistance and bounces off that line, it is clear that investors and traders share the same mindset as Premier Li. Globalization is unstoppable.
Crypto Stocks & Analysis
There is a unique relationship between blockchain technology and silicon valley stocks. Buy-in opportunities that become present in the cryptocurrency market are mirrored in silicon valley stocks. Silicon valley adds depth to computing power and speed to the processing of data available from the internet. Those two factors contribute greatly to the functionality of blockchain technology and its integration into the business models of the 21st century.
The silicon valley stock that has caught the attention of The 21st Money Team is NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA). It appears as though the growth of the blockchain and NVDA are interlaced. Timely purchases of NVDA stock can potentially lead to astronomical gains as this technological innovation factory helps the world go around with state of the art graphic cards and chipsets.
NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) Chart courtesy of Yahoo Finance
Purchases of NVDA during the lows of the cryptocurrency market have given those insightful investors a lot to be happy about. In August of 2016 after the Bitfinex exchange hack NVDA was trading near $61 per share. Now NVDA is trading at $266 per share a 336% increase in value since August of 2016.
This week’s Biggest Winners in Cryptocurrencies
1) +114.96% Ripple (XRP) Started the week at $0.274 Ended the week at $0.589
2) +72.82% Global Currency Reserve (GCR) Started the week at $0.195 Ended the week at $0.337
3) +46.97% Power Ledger (POWR) Started the week at $0.132 Ended the week at $0.194
4) +41.56% Electroneum (ETN) Started the week at $0.00542040 Ended the week at $0.00767295
5) +41.45% Eternal Token (XET) Started the week at $0.152 Ended the week at $0.215
6) +38.03% Endor Protocol Token (EDR2) Started the week at $0.0468 Ended the week at $0.0646
7) +37.21% Tezos (XTZ) Started the week at $1.29 Ended the week at $1.77
8) +34.60% ChainLink (LINK) Started the week at $0.263 Ended the week at $0.354
9) +33.90% MonaCoin (MONA) Started the week at $0.941 Ended the week at $1.26
10) +32.61% Cindicator (CND) Started the week at $0.0184 Ended the week at $0.0244
11) +30.64% Ruff (RUFF) Started the week at $0.0173 Ended the week at $0.0226
12) +30.47% Cardano (ADA) Started the week at $0.0663 Ended the week at $0.0865
13) +25.43% Decentraland (MANA) Started the week at $0.0637 Ended the week at $0.0799
14) +25% FunFair (FUN) Started the week at $0.0140 Ended the week at $0.0175
15) +20.96% Dragonchain (DRGN) Started the week at $0.229 Ended the week at $0.277
Crypto Chart of the Week
Ripple (XRP) Chart Courtesy of Coinvaluator
Ripple(XRP) ranks 3rd on the list of cryptos ordered according to their market capitalization. XRP’s current market cap is $23,480,000,000. Ripple connects banks and payment providers via RippleNet to provide one frictionless experience for sending and receiving money globally. RippleNet runs on the most advanced blockchain technology. It is scalable, secure, and interoperates with different networks. Customers have optional access to source liquidity using the world’s fastest and most reliable digital asset for payments. $842,000.00 worth of XRP changed hands September 21 at an average price of $0.593.
Ripple has announced that their xRapid Payment Platform may be live within the next 30 days. Many analysts attribute the rapid rise in price to that announcement.
Heard Through the Grapevine
Upcoming ICOs and Events
Upcoming Events
September 21 – BitFest Conference Amsterdam, Netherlands
September 26 – Blockchain Live London, England
October 1 – 2 – SWELL Conference San Francisco, California USA (Special Guest Speaker – Bill Clinton)
October 8 – 10 – Blockchain East Summit And Trade Show New York, USA
October 9 – 10 – XBlockchain Summit Bali, Indonesia
October 15 – 16 – SolarTech Summit Porto, Portugal
October 17 – Financial Times Digital Health Summit New York, New York USA
October 23 – Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference Malta Mellieha, Malta
October 30 – November 2 – Devcon IV in Prague Prague, Czech Republic
October 31 – November 2 – World Crypto Con Las Vegas, Nevada USA
November 1 – 2 – Malta Blockchain Summit St. Julian, Malta
November 28 – 29 – Blockchain Expo North America 2018 Santa Clara, California
November 29 – 30 – Monaco International Blockchain Forum Monaco
March 19 – 21, 2019 – Money20/20 Asia Singapore
Upcoming ICOs
Coconuts (COCO) Sale Starts September 21, 2018 Sale Ends February 25, 2019 / An ICO project that contributes to world energy resources to produce biomass fuels and clean energy from coconuts
Cromacoin (CRC) Sale Starts September 21 Sale Ends November 13 / Pay for Everyday Needs With Your Favorite Cryptocurrencies.
Energy Premier (EPC) Sale Starts September 21 Sale Ends October 31 / Energy retail & bidding
Abele (ABELE) Sale Starts September 22, 2018 Sale Ends January 22, 2019 / Using innovative blockchain technology, which relies on distributed ledgers and operates transparently, with independent validation and verification, to design and launch four phases of the organizational structure Abele Trust (PHASE 1), Abele Chain (PHASE 2), AbeleTS (PHASE 3), Abele Asset Management (PHASE 4)
weBloc (WEB) Sale Starts September 22 Sale Ends October 11 / The advertising protocol that tokenizes and connects the conventional digital advertising ecosystem with the blockchain-based advertising ecosystem
WPP (WPP) Sale Starts September 22 Sale Ends December 22 / Reducing the cost of green energy to most parts of the world by transmitting power production data from wholesale renewable energy producers around the world into the platform
B21 (B21) Sale Starts September 23 Sale Ends September 30 / A fintech company headquartered in Gibraltar and is the developer of a personal wealth management platform exclusively for crypto assets
Coingrid (CGT) Sale Starts September 23 Sale Ends October 22 / Aiming to make investing in cryptocurrency as easy as sending an email
Utemis (UTS) Sale Starts September 23 Sale Ends October 14 / Transforming the entire Latin American Continent into a Single Economic Space
Arevalor (ORB) Sale Starts September 24 Sale Ends October 15 / A company focused on bringing real estate to the blockchain with a realistic, real world approach
Cyber Capital Invest (CCI) Sale Starts September 24 Sale Ends October 22 / Offering our users the most flexible and secure cryptocurrency investment fund with a highly profitable business model
Dataeum (XDT) Sale Starts September 24 Sale Ends October 21 / Blockchain-based Platform Using Crowdsourcing for Data Generation
Genuine Fashion (GFT) Sale Starts September 24 Sale Ends December 24 / bringing consumers, manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers together in a single decentralized network
GSC Aviation (GSCP) Sale Starts September 24, 2018 Sale Ends February 27, 2019 / Combining the effectiveness of battle-tested databases for query processes with the security of blockchain technology to provide a shared, trustworthy platform for updating information such as the financial strength of vendors, quality standards, and MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul) data
iCasting (TLNT) Sale Starts September 24 Sale Ends October 1 / A revolutionary one-stop-shop talent ecosystem, serving the whole casting industry from one platform
Pinmo (PMT) Sale Starts September 24 Sale Ends October 8 / A decentralized social media marketing network that helps advertisers to deliver ads content directly to allow users to post on their online social networks
Play Game (PXG) Sale Starts September 24 Sale Ends October 22 / Direct-to-play html5 gaming platform, marketing and distribution, creating playgame.com. A direct-play gaming platform where players can play HTML5 games directly from their desktop, mobile browser or even embedded on their own application
Qiibee (QBX) Sale Starts September 24 Sale Ends October 1 / Revolutionizing the loyalty market by offering a blockchain-based loyalty ecosystem, on which every brand can build its very own loyalty application
Records Keeper (XRK) Sale Starts September 24 Sale Ends September 30 / An Open-Source Public Platform (with an independent Mine-able Blockchain) for Record Keeping & Data Security
Tokeneo (TEO) Sale Starts September 24 Sale Ends December 16 / Creating a cryptocurrency trading platform, where everyone could participate on an equal footing in its development, influence its shape and fully contribute to its success on a partner basis that so far have been typical for the reality of big business
VIARIUM (VRX) Sale Starts September 24 Sale Ends October 24 / A tool that will completely replace physical space. VIARIUM consists of a single virtual space that includes VR worlds and VR architecture of shopping centers, separate buildings, showrooms and other VR models created by the VIARIUM platform
WeBuy (WBY) Sale Starts September 24 Sale Ends November 4 / On-Demand Blockchain Era Commerce Platform
Cryptocean (CRON) Sale Starts September 25 Sale Ends October 25 / Offering a universal service for buying, selling, exchanging and integrating cryptocurrency into real life
Flexion (FXN) Sale Starts September 25 Sale Ends October 25 / A real utility token based on ERC20 (Ethereum) that is offered by to its investors in the crowd sale supplemented with various features
Neuroseed (NSD) Sale Starts September 25 Sale Ends October 25 / A platform that combines Big Data suppliers, ML algorithms developers, computing power suppliers, data storage suppliers, validators with domain expertise, distributors and customers
Quantler (QUANT) Sale Starts September 25 Sale Ends October 21 / An ecosystem for creating, analyzing, sharing and the running of decentralized personalized investment funds
ROMAD Endpoint Defense (RBDT) Sale Starts September 25 Sale Ends October 25 / The fully functional next generation antivirus that is using innovative patented approach to chase the malware
SportsFix (SFT) Sale Starts September 25 Sale Ends November 25 / A decentralized sports media ecosystem which aims to completely change the way fans connect and engage with sports content
SRT (SRT) Sale Starts September 25 Sale Ends October 25 / Creating the world’s first blockchain platform for the oil refining industry
XMaterials (XMAT) Sale Starts September 25 Sale Ends December 23 / Aiming to disrupt the construction industry, introducing revolutionary replacements for traditional building materials (concrete, granite, marble, and ceramics combine to a $600 billion industry)
Zwoop (ZWP) Sale Starts September 25 Sale Ends October 25 / Transforming How the World Shops Online
CADS (CADS) Sale Starts September 26 Sale Ends September 30 / A hybrid system that connects an advertising platform with cryptocurrencies and in this combination provides its customers with a unique new cryptocurrency
Cryptyk (CTK) Sale Starts September 26 Sale Ends October 31 / Building the world’s most complete cyber security and cloud storage platform
Green Power Exchange (GPX) Sale Starts September 26 Sale Ends October 26 / Enabling simple Peer-to-Peer energy trading
VogoV (OGO) Sale Starts September 26, 2018 Sale Ends March 14, 2019 / An already-functioning adult entertainment studio based in Los Angeles that produces and distributes high-quality content in 4k and 60fps as well as VR videos
VolAir (VOL) Sale Starts September 26 Sale Ends November 30 / Bringing private jet charters & luxury lifestyle to the people
Yumerium (YUM) Sale Starts September 26 Sale Ends October 10 / Play, review and Share to Earn Gaming Platform
Blockchain.io (BCIO) Sale Starts September 27 Sale Ends October 25 / Providing a high level of digital asset protection and a safe record of transactions
Securix (SRXIO) Sale Starts September 27 Sale Ends November 30 / An operationally ready cryptocurrency mining solution
Zue (ZUE) Sale Starts September 27 Sale Ends October 30 / Redefining the total wellness industry by cryptonizing the platform with a global cryptographic token “ZUE”, powered by the Blockchain Technology
Aceso (ASO) Sale Starts September 28 Sale Ends December 15 / User To User Cyber Threat Intelligence
Alluma (LUMA) Sale Starts September 28 Sale Ends November 13 / The first institutional grade cryptocurrency exchange dedicated to emerging markets in Asia
Dlex (DLEX) Sale Starts September 28 Sale Ends October 20 / A cryptocurrency exchange with advanced features
Noiz (NOIZ) Sale Starts September 28 Sale Ends October 31 / An AI+blockchain ad exchange network providing transparent data to all parties, ensuring optimized user experience & empowering social impact campaigns
Selfpay (SXP) Sale Starts September 28 Sale Ends October 28 / Proposing an innovative mixed solution with a clear updatable path enabling sellers and buyer to accept any cryptocurrency, anywhere, anytime
