Musiccosmos

From longer approval processes to the threat they might lose access to the European market, it’s safe to say U.K. blockchain startups are looking for contingency plans. A quick recap: in 2016, the U.K. held a referendum on whether to stay in the European Union (E.U.), with a majority of voters opting to leave the economic bloc. Since then, the government has been negotiating with E.U. officials on the terms of its exit – but recent hurdles have raised the specter of a “no-deal Brexit” that could lead to economic turbulence and uncertainty. It’s that uncertainty that has some blockchain startups sweating about their future prospects – at least in the months ahead as politicians attempt to hammer out an agreement. “Brexit is a hindrance to everything in the short term,” said Jamie McNaught, CEO and founder of Solidi Ltd, which is developing a blockchain-based payments platform that uses cryptocurrencies to facilitate money remittances. He told CoinDesk: “[It’s] because all finte...

A recent study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) suggests that cryptocurrency markets move depending on the type of attention they receive – unlike traditional financial markets. In contrast with other traditional financial assets, cryptocurrencies don’t behave or respond to the same set of market factors as traditional financial instruments but instead, move more closely with “cryptocurrency specific factors,” according to the non-profit’s  report , which was published this week. These factors include investor attention and market momentum, described as the “time-series cryptocurrency momentum at the daily and weekly frequencies.” The paper’s authors, Yale University economists Yukun Liu and Aleh Tsyvinski, suggest that, contrary to public opinion, “the markets do not view cryptocurrencies similarly to standard asset classes.” The paper cited CoinDesk’s bitcoin, ethereum and XRP price trackers (referring to XRP as “ripple”) as the source of it...