Weekly Blockchain News, January 10, 2022

Welcome back in the weekly summary of leading developments in the crypto/blockchain space, presented from Billon's point of view. Check what happened in the last days when it comes to CBDC and other enterprise uses of blockchain. Enjoy the read!

Bahrain central bank trials JPM Coin.  The Central Bank of Bahrain has teamed up with JP Morgan's blockchain and crypto unit Onyx to test the Wall Street giant's JPM Coin digital currency. The test saw Bahrain's Bank ABC initiate real-time payments for Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) with its counterparties in the US using the JPM Coin system.

Kazakhstan’s deadly protests hit bitcoin, as the world’s second-biggest mining hub shuts down.  The second-biggest country for bitcoin mining lost its internet access, taking as much as 15% of the network offline. In result bitcoin fell below $43,000 for the first time since September in trade on Thursday, falling over 8% at one point

Bitcoin could reach $100K and overtake gold's market share: Goldman Sachs.  Despite bitcoin's ebbs and flows, the cryptocurrency could reach $100,000 — according to analysts at Goldman Sachs Group, it is steadily pushing out gold's place in the store of value market.  The investment firm raised the possibility of, in the next five years, bitcoin making up as much as 50% of the entire store of value market. This would put its value at around $100,000 and an annualized return of between 17% and 18%.

In El Salvador, bitcoin’s libertarian streak meets an autocratic regime. The cryptocurrency has come to symbolize financial freedom from governments. Many Salvadorans are unhappy about the way it was made an official currency. Many beliebe that bitcoin, which should be a symbol of anarchy and independence from the state, was turned by the autocratic president Bukele into a symbol of oppression.

China launches app for its own digital currency as it looks to expand usage. China’s central bank has launched a pilot version of a wallet app for the digital yuan in a push to expand its usage to more people. The new app allows users in 10 areas including major cities Shanghai and Beijing to use the digital currency .Still, the e-CNY app will face stiff competition from China’s two dominant digital payment apps — Ant Group’s Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat.
 

Jamaica is rolling out its central bank digital currency after ‘successful pilot’. Jamaica will roll out its own digital currency in the first quarter of 2022 after a “successful” pilot, the country’s central bank said on Friday. The Bank of Jamaica worked in partnership with digital currency vendor eCurrency Mint. The country's National Commercial Bank was also part of the pilot to test the range of services to be offered.

Thieves steal gallery owner’s multimillion-dollar NFT collection.“I have been hacked. All my apes gone. This just sold please help me,” wrote gallery owner Todd Kramer, of New York’s Ross + Kramer Gallery, in a since-deleted tweet posted on December 30. Tough luck!

In 2022, workers will be paid in bitcoin and cryptocurrency. For people who ardently believe in the future of cryptocurrency, are open to volatility and risk and have a long-term time horizon, payment in bitcoin may be an exciting new way to enhance your wealth, "Forbes" claims. Do you agree?

Garry Kasparov: crypto means freedom. Kasparov, easily one of the smartest people alive, is now a champion of cryptocurrency. In the interview with "Coindesk" the chess grandmaster expects a basket of coins to replace the dollar within a decade.

And that's it for now. See you next week!