Blockchains and Bagels Daily Market Roundup – 08.17.2018

CoinsquareAugust 17, 2018

Blockchains and Bagels: the morning market update to get you ready for the day ahead. Today, Crypto fund Pantera on track to raise $175 million while Nvidia crypto boom slows down in earnings report.

Crypto hedge fund Pantera to raise $175 million despite market slump

According to an SEC filing this week, Crypto hedge fund Pantera Capital has raised at least $71 million and is on track to hitting its $175 million target. The fund will also focus on companies in the blockchain technology space instead of purely investing in cryptocurrencies. The fund’s early investments include Bakkt, a platform that is now backed by Starbucks, Intercontinental Exchange, Microsoft, and others.

Nvidia’s crypto boom slows down in an otherwise strong earnings report

Revenue from crypto mining sales for Nvidia has slowed down quicker than expected, in an earnings release Thursday after-hours. The company only realized $18 million in chip sales to currency miners, missing sales expectations of $100 million for the second quarter. Shares of Nvidia are down 3% in pre-market trading on Friday.

Bank of China is partnering with UnionPay to explore Blockchain payment systems

State-backed Bank of China has entered into a partnership with financial services company UnionPay to explore blockchain technology for payment systems development. The partnership will investigate deploying distributed ledger technology to improve their mobile banking products.

Genesis Mining to drop lower Tier Bitcoin Contracts

Cloud-based mining service Genesis Mining has dropped support for its lowest tier bitcoin contract amid difficult market conditions and reduced mining outputs. With falling cryptocurrency prices briefly touching year lows, many cloud-based mining services are having difficulty maintaining profitability.