Number of Bitcoin wallets stays on the steady rise

Summary:

• Alibaba’s CEO says blockchain technology will be meaningless unless it can promote the transformation of the manufacturing industry

• The number of Bitcoin wallets keeps growing regardless of what’s happening in the market

• A Seoul-based firm delivering food starts accepting Bitcoin Cash

• Does Ripple have a base to bounce back?

From time to time we are writing about miscellaneous opinions regarding cryptocurrencies coming from the most prominent people from the business world. While some of those comments might be classified as rather baseless, other ones deserve crypto traders’ attention. In our view the latest speech of Alibaba’s CEO should be put to the latter group. In the eyes of Jack Ma, the e-commerce conglomerate chairman, blockchain technology along with artificial intelligence and Internet of Things will be meaningless unless they can promote the transformation of the manufacturing industry, and the evolution of the society towards a greener and more inclusive direction. Why is manufacturing so important? This sector in China alone is valued at around $3.1 trillion, these sectors play a crucial role in economies elsewhere as well. Looking back to the past one may notice that the industry of smart manufacturing had grown exponentially over the recent decade with a number of conglomerates exploring various innovative ways to cut back costs and improve their efficiency. Hence, if the manufacturing sector globally would be able to continue improving its efficiency and thereby lowering prices (amid the growing competition among others), it could be supportive of the global economy too benefiting consumers all around the globe. There is no doubt that these modern technologies could help achieve such target.

The number of Bitcoin wallets has been steadily rising irrespective of what’s happening in the crypto market. Source: Macrobond, XTB Research

While the price of Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies as well) tends to swing substantially, the number of new wallets is not subject to such volatility instead it has been constantly increasing over the recent quarters. This shows that while speculators could be unwilling to trade Bitcoin and other virtual currencies so eagerly as they did at the end of the past year, fundamentally the blockchain technology keeps gaining popularity as evidenced for example by the number of Bitcoin wallets.

Bitcoin Cash enthusiasts may find another positive piece of news concerning their cryptocurrency. Namely Shuttle Delivery, the Seoul-based firm delivering food via a online platform, has announced recently that it begins accepting Bitcoin Cash as a means of payments. Note that the application enabling customers to order food is available in Korean and English and it can be successfully used by Android and OIS mobile phones and other devices as well. On top of that, the firm decided to add payments via PayPal and credit cards too. Finally let’s add that the Shuttle Delivery app connects Bitcoin Cash users in South Korea to more than 200 local restaurants.

Technically Ripple may experience a bounce in the nearest term given the fact that the price has so far been able to stay above $0.26. If so, one may count on a bounce toward $0.3. Source: xStation5