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Write-up:
What Moved Global Markets
– Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Inc said on Monday that sales for its annual Singles’ Day shopping blitz hit 91.2 billion yuan ($13 billion) within the first hour, up 32% from last year’s early haul of 69 billion yuan.
– Oil prices faltered and global equity markets slipped on Friday, halting a week-long record-setting rally fueled on hopes a U.S.-China trade deal was near, as the latest statements out of Washington cast fresh doubts about progress between Beijing and Washington.
– CNBC screened all S&P 500 companies looking for the stocks with the highest percentage of buy ratings. Amazon is the most loved stock on Wall Street, with 47 of the 48 analysts that cover the company recommend buying the e-commerce giant. Payment processors Visa and Mastercard are also on the top-rated list. Both companies have ended the last eight years in positive territory, with most years accounting for double-digit gains in the stocks.
Crypto Prices (from CoinMarketCap)
Bitcoin: Up 2.75% to $9,067.74
Total trading volume (24h): $20.45+ billion USD
Ethereum: Up 2.66% to $189.94
Total trading volume (24h): $8.68+ billion USD
3 biggest movers 24 hours
Biggest Mover 1: Duo Network Token (DUO) up 131.11% to $0.090743
Biggest Mover 2: Universa (UTNP) up 85.29% to $0.006364
Biggest Loser: Simone (SON) down 80.29% to $668.06
What moved Crypto Markets (i.e. digital assets)
– Check out the NexChange NOW Sunday Newsletter about latest blockchain&fintech news from Hong Kong, especially the SFC’s new guidelines for digital assets and a license granted to Tencent to open a blockchain-based virtual bank, AAX launch, HKMA & BoT joint research on CBDCs.
– Bitcoin derivatives provider Bakkt just logged the largest single-day trading volume of its physically-settled monthly bitcoin futures. The volume hit ~$15.33 million on Friday, passing its previous high of ~$10.25 million on October 25. The total volume of Bakkt’s monthly bitcoin futures now stands at $106.74 million (12,012 BTC) since its launch on Sept. 23.
– Ethereum co-founder and founder of Consensys, Joseph Lubin, said that he hopes China’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) will allow for interoperability with public permissionless blockchains, including Ethereum. Lubin made his remarks during an interview with Forbes published on Nov. 9. He explained: “I assume it is going to be exactly what Chinese leadership thinks is most beneficial to the Chinese leadership. Hopefully, that’s also open and we can interoperate with it, but I don’t know.”
– Tunisia has become the first country to start moving its national currency to a blockchain platform. Russian ICO startup Universa will help issue and manage Tunisia’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), reported Russian news agency Tass on Nov. 7.
Other Specialties
Fintech: Bank of America is taking the adage “time is money” to quite the extreme and is watching digital payments closely. Chief Executive Brian Moynihan this week touted the ability to complete $500 million payments for corporate clients via the bank’s Apple Watch app.
Healthtech: CB Insights released Global Healthcare report, that gives a data-driven look at global healthcare technology investment trends, top deals, active investors, and corporate activity in Q3 2019.
Al: Farmers are using AI to spot pests and catch diseases — and many believe it’s the future of agriculture. Drones and other robots equipped with computer vision collect data points from the farms’ existing crops. Through machine learning, farmers can monitor crops’ nutrient levels, while also sheltering them from unpredictable and possibly damaging elements.
Smart cities: The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released a report on its investigation into last year’s deadly Uber autonomous vehicle accident in Tempe, AZ. NTSB found the vehicle did not stop because it wasn’t programmed to react to jaywalkers.
NexChangeNOW Pick of the Day
The US Federal Reserve is hiring someone to “contribute to innovations research including digital currencies, stablecoins, distributed ledger technologies, and broadly financial/digital innovation in retail”.
http://www.nexchangenow.com/news/fintech/71500/the-fed-is-looking-for-someone-to-research-digital-currencies/