Blockchain Conference Thought to Push Cryptos’ Prices Higher; Didn’t Happen

It was highly hyped as being just what the crypto space needed, but it ended up having not much of an impact on crypto prices.

Just when you think you know what will cause Bitcoin’s price to move, the crypto puts you in your place.

All eyes were on the Consensus 2018 Blockchain conference this week as crypto enthusiasts saw the event as being just what Bitcoin needed to push its price above $10,000.

That didn’t happen.

In fact, Bitcoin’s price fell over the course of the days of the highly hyped event. Bitcoin underperformed, and had been down more than 5% after the event’s kickoff Monday.

Let’s talk about why;

The rally that didn’t materialize
Consensus 2018 kicked off on Monday and ran through Wednesday. Its organizers boasted attracting roughly 8,000 eager beavers who were ready to share their ideas and learn more about cryptos and Blockchain.

We reported to you that organizers had thought the event would attract a mere 4,000 people. With that number doubled, you’d think the price of Bitcoin and other cryptos would have shined this week. The conference, held in New York, failed to have that much impact.

Industry experts weigh in
Eiland Glover, the CEO of the crypto Kowala, told us this about the conference.

“Even though Consensus had a record breaking year in terms of attendance, Bitcoin ownership has spread far beyond the industry heavyweights and crypto whales in attendance. Even with more media coverage of crypto innovations and events, we may be past the days when an ebullient mood among a few crypto insiders translates immediately into a price bump in the larger market.”

On that note, other observers agree, and have pointed to other issues that must be addressed in the crypto space. For example, CoinShares’ chief Danny Masters spoke about custody issues being key to bringing in more institutions and thereby pushing crypto prices higher. He said this to CNBC after the conference wrapped up.

"We need to see this [cryptocurrency] structure continue to build. We need to see the custody solutions come and be provided. We need indices and we need performance measures where we can actually start to understand what we're talking about and measure our performance."

The entire issue about custody could be addressed soon. We reported to you that the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which is the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), is making moves in the crypto space. It’s launching a trading platform that would allow investors to purchase Bitcoin.

One of Bitcoin’s most outspoken enthusiasts, Brian Kelly, was elated about this custody-related development.His excitement relates to the physical delivery of Bitcoin that ICE’s plan could provide. Kelly noted that ICE could provide a custody solution, which has been a big hurdle for our space.

We reported to you him saying:

“How do you hold on to these instruments? These are generally bearer instruments, just like you have bearer bonds, so you have a third party custody person. So that’s the big deal.”

Once that custody solution is in play, cryptos could begin to look like they are becoming an emerging asset class, according Kelly.

Masters said:

"We need to do more mature work around the ICOs, so that post ICO we have a token life cycle; and just give investors more clarity, better expectations, more transparency."

All grown up
Crypto enthusiasts seem all grown up now, meaning it takes more than a conference featuring speakers talking about the space’s greatness to make them buy in.

The lesson to be learned this week over Consensus 2018 is far more people understand the space so that the old rules don’t apply as much. In the past, these events absolutely played a role in boosting the price of cryptos. However, this year, there wasn’t a measurable impact.

This week’s Consensus conference had its fair share of critics, too. Bloomberg ran a piece that led with this:

While the Lamborghinis turned out to be rented and the street protest a marketing gimmick for New York’s Blockchain Week, what’s really leaving some virtual currency enthusiasts disillusioned is the failure of Bitcoin to rally.

Masters pointed out that a shift in focus to institutional players is what the space needs. Masters noted that cryptos could benefit from Mt. Gox coming back into space, too.

While the Consensus conference didn’t provide the spark Bitcoin’s price needed to explode over $10,000, it doesn’t mean investors should be worried.

“Behind the scenes there is so much going on. Developers from all over the world are doing things; there are things going on in Asia that we don’t even know about; they are so far ahead of it. Maybe it was already priced in. In general, you still need to be bullish on this sector.”

Bitmain Aspires to Develop an AI Chip
Bitmain is getting more serious about its entry into the AI market after its booming success in the cryptocurrency space.

author by Miguel Gomez, 12 hrs ago
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The elusive Chinese company that sells up to 80% of the world’s mining ASICs is now considering getting into the ever-challenging AI game.

Bitmain’s co-chief executive, Jihan Wu, said that the company feels “lucky” because of its immense revenue from ASIC sales. Now, the mining rig manufacturer is looking to expand in other directions.

This wouldn’t be the first time Bitmain’s made a foray into the AI market. In October 2017, the rig manufacturer released the Sophon BM1680, a deep learning accelerator that attaches to computer systems for neural network training and inference.

It was much like a GPU for deep learning as opposed to graphics rendering and processing.

Currently, Google is already established in the world of AI with its Tensor Processing Unit, a deep learning ASIC that can process an incredible amount of image data and recognize words inside of them. Then again, the TPU is offered only to customers of Google’s cloud services, which are blocked in China. Here, Bitmain has a significant advantage and plenty of room to grow into a global competitor.

Bitmain’s reputation for chipmaking comes because of a decision that Wu made when he was mulling the company’s business model. He was also thinking of making it a cryptocurrency exchange, but then backed out of that when realizing that it was too much of a legal risk considering China’s regulatory environment and potential government action elsewhere.

“The only thing that is good to do is Bitcoin mining, because it is 100% sure it is legal,” he said.

The decision to concentrate more on AI might have resulted from the intense amount of pressure against Bitmain’s ASIC business from almost every other cryptocurrency with the exception of Bitcoin. Some development teams have even made “ASIC-resistant” into a marketing buzzword.

Since the ASIC giant already has experience in specializing chips for these kinds of applications, Bitmain just might have what it takes to make a significant impact in AI technology, becoming one of the several companies driving the limited but highly promising space.