Recap From SEA Travels
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For the last 10 days, I traveled through Singapore and Thailand for conferences and tried to better understand what is going on in each geography for blockchain.
I was able to spend a dinner and some time with the Binance team and their partners.
In Singapore, I noticed that there was quite a bit of chatter around enterprise blockchain and security tokens. One of the more high-profile announcements during the week was the announcement of Project Ubin, using blockchain and distributed ledger technology for clearing and settlement of payments and securities. The project is being collaborated on by JP Morgan, Temasek, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore. For security tokens, folks mentioned that tokenization of real estate is not likely to be the first killer use-case, as REITs already exist. I personally think that a company like Otis is on the right path where you can reduce the financial friction of owning/transferring a piece of a collectible, creating a new target demographic for alternative assets.
In Thailand, there has been some regulatory progress as four crypto exchanges have received licenses. Since then, only five crypto exchanges have received approval and only one ICO. There seems to be a push for more flexibility from the Thai SEC to promote innovation going forward. On enterprise blockchain, two projects have stood out recently, one is a blockchain-based renewables platform led by PTT (the large energy conglomerate) and the other is Velo, a blockchain-based credit and payments platform that has strong cash-in/out and enterprise partners involved.
DIGESTS
Hard Problems in Cryptocurrency: Five Years Later
In 2014, I made a post and a presentation with a list of hard problems in math, computer science and economics that I thought were important for the cryptocurrency space (as I then called it) to be able to reach maturity. In the last five years, much has changed.
NEWS
China central bank’s Shanghai unit officially announces to crack down on crypto exchanges
Shanghai headquarters of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the country’s central bank, has officially announced that it will crack down on cryptocurrency exchanges in the city.
Bakkt's volumes are soaring as bitcoin sinks, and it could signal impending 'hockey stick growth'
Bakkt’s growth could continue, one expert predicts.
Canada: Thieves Steal 4K from Bitcoin ATM, leave 50K untouched
"Our security camera caught at least one of their cars drive away, which was a grey Nissan Sentra. The police were also able to catch their license plate too."
IN THE TWEETS
REGULATIONS
Crypto Market’s Overreaction to Xi’s Blockchain Remark Prompts Tougher Crackdown
After rallying as much as 30 percent within hours of Xi’s speech, the price of bitcoin has fallen back to a level even lower than it was before his remarks and dipped to a six-month low below $7,000 on Monday.
French Central Banker Advocates For Blockchain-Based Settlements in Europe
The central bank of France wants the eurozone to build a blockchain-based settlement system that will move euros more quickly and at less cost than with existing technologies.
NEW PRODUCTS AND HOT DEALS
Orchid's decentralized VPN network set to go live
Orchid says its new VPN protocol and token will make privacy more private. Launch is slated for the first week of December.
BNY Mellon Aims to Go Live ‘ASAP’ on Trade Finance Blockchain Marco Polo
Bank of New York Mellon has joined the Marco Polo trade finance consortium running on R3’s Corda, becoming the 28th bank to do so.
MEET WITH ME
Los Angeles, November 25-29
Orange County, December 9
Las Vegas, December 20
New York City, January 7-10
ADDITIONAL INFO
Hi, I’m Paul Veradittakit, a Partner at Pantera Capital, one of the oldest and largest institutional investors focused on investing in blockchain companies and cryptocurrencies. The firm invests in equity, pre-sales/IEO rounds, and cryptocurrencies on the secondary markets. I focus on early-stage investments and share my thoughts on what’s going on in the industry in this weekly newsletter.
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