Here’s what happened this week in Bitcoin in 99 seconds.
Overstock plans to sell its decades-old retail business in the next few months to focusing on its multiple blockchain-oriented startups. As a result of the announcement shares of Overstock surged as much as 26 percent although the stock is down 66 percent this year.
The CEO of Bakkt, a crypto exchange is run by the operators of the New York Stock Exchange announced a delay in the exchange’s launch. Bakkt is expected to channel major institutional investment into Bitcoin. The exchange is pushing out their launch date to January 24th, 2019, in order to upgrade their security with deposit insurance and cold storage.
Tobacconists in France will be able to sell bitcoin from the first day of 2019. French startup Keplerk will provide the infrastructure necessary for the sale of crypto.
Giga Watt, A major US mining company declared bankruptcy. The company owes over $7 million in debt. The move shows the financial strain on miners as well as the ICO industry – in mid-2017 Giga Watt launched an ICO which raised $22 million. Giga Watt was subsequently sued for conducting an unregulated securities offering.
Finally, Bitcoin’s daily transaction value is approaching that of credit card giant, MasterCard. The company moved about $11 billion daily in 2018, whereas about $8 billion was sent daily via Bitcoin this year.
That’s what happened this week in Bitcoin. See you next week.