The clash of two worlds - kitties and Wall Street brokers

This has certainly been a crazy week in the cryptocurrency landscape. I keep writing about this topic, because it truly fascinates me. For years, this crypto thing has been looked at with pessimism, laughed at, and misunderstood. Cryptocurrencies are still misunderstood, but now suddenly both aspiring digital cat owners and Wall Street brokers alike, wants a piece of it! The clash of two worlds…

Cryptokitties

A new game was launched recently on the Ethereum blockchain, and it’s been pretty crazy. The concept sounds silly, but there’s something quite genius with these cryptographic kittens. They live in smart contracts that make them cryptographically unique, digitally scarce, each with unique traits. The uniqueness and scarcity make them appealing to trade and breed. It sounds silly indeed, but in my opinion these cute kittens demonstrate in a playful and very accessible way how Ethereum can be leveraged for fun and for profit.

Bitcoin futures

In just 30 minutes as of typing, Bitcoin trading will go mainstream as the traditional finance industry, headed by the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), is launching regulated futures contracts that can be traded with Bitcoin as the underlying asset.

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win — Mahatma Gandhi

Traditional financial institutions have come to this very interesting point where they don’t really know if they should laugh, fight or ride the winds of change when it comes to cryptocurrencies. But with CBOE opening up trading for the mainstream, it surely will be an interesting time ahead. And although futures trading doesn’t actually trade the underlying asset, I would expect things to shake up a bit (it’s like betting on a football game which doesn’t affect the outcome). Buckle up and be prepared for a ride!