While bitcoin turned bearish, it was actually a very good week for blockchain enthusiasts as several national and international organizations initiated programs to support the development and application of blockchain based financial technology.

The World Bank picked the largest bank in Australia, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), to develop the world’s first blockchain bond called the Kangaroo bond that is termed ‘bond-i.’ “Once launched the bond will be issued and distributed on a blockchain platform operated by the World Bank and CBA in Washington and Sydney, respectively” said the press release from CBA.

Meanwhile, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has proposed a number of measures to speed up the promotion of blockchain applications in the country. Also, South Korea’s Science Ministry started the second installment of the 2018 Innovative Growing Youth Talent Concentration Project that will encourage young people in the country to learn about the blockchain technology. The initiative will certainly help Korean blockchain companies find the trained workers they need to grow as the industry is rapidly growing and there is a mismatch between labor demand and skilled labor.

We also received some encouraging news from the private sector as IBM and shipping company Maersk said they have jointly started a global blockchain-enabled shipping solution called TradeLens that will promote more efficient and secure global trade.

Given this week’s positive developments related to overall blockchain industry, we found that the following two blockchain stocks demonstrated notable price movements based on shifts in their macro environment and company fundamentals.









BIG Blockchain Intelligence Group Inc.

We recently covered BIG Blockchain Intelligence Group Inc. back in June when they signed a client agreement with Einstein Exchange. This week, the company once again made the news after it announced that they have drastically improved the data center operations that will result in more efficient cryptocurrency mining.

BIG Blockchain Intelligence Group Inc.’s stock turned bullish this week after the news regarding improved data center operations hit the market and its stock reached $0.2165 per share. However, over the last two days, it started a retracement and formed a double bottom pattern on the 240-minute chart.

From a technical perspective, the interesting thing is that BIG Blockchain Intelligence Group Inc.’s Stochastics fell much lower compared to its price and formed a divergence, which signaled a potential rebound in price.

Given that BIG Blockchain Intelligence Group Inc. can mine bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies with much lower cost, thanks to the new efficient process, we believe it will fundamentally improve the company’s bottom line as lower cost of electricity will help increase profits in the coming months.

Hence, if we see the stock breaking above the resistance near the $0.2165 in the next few days, it will likely attract additional bullish momentum.









Reality Shares Nasdaq Nexgen Economy ETF

After Winklevoss brothers failed to launch a bitcoin-based ETF in July, the SEC now decided to delay the launch of another ETF backed by bitcoin from VanEck-SolidX. It was scheduled to go live on September 30, 2018.

However, while the SEC is reluctant to approve bitcoin-based ETFs, there are several blockchain based ETFs that you can invest right now and the most prominent one is the Reality Shares Nasdaq Nexgen Economy ETF (BLCN).

According to its 13F filing with the SEC, it was revealed that banking giant JPMorgan Chase & Co. has acquired 76,729 shares of the ETF valued at approximately $1.7 million. Lido Advisors LLC bought $480,000 worth of shares.

As a result of recent institutional interest in the ETF, its price broke above the $23.00 per share, which acted as a major technical resistance zone over the last few months.

Although Reality Shares Nasdaq Nexgen Economy ETF’s stock remained mostly range-bound, we believe the interest from a leading investment firm like JPMorgan Chase & Co. will certainly start a new bullish trend in the short-term. However, investors should wait for the price to break above the $23.90 per share barrier before increasing their exposure.

Bottom Line

There was no doubt about how useful the blockchain technology is, but this week we saw major government and private institutions renewed their interest in the overall industry. While improved cryptocurrency mining technology will likely only benefit the one company and its shareholders, there were plenty of positive developments related to the industry this week that will ultimately benefit most blockchain stocks and ETFs based on the underlying technology.

Disclaimer