Market Analysis Report

New AMD Graphics Card Sells Out In Minutes Amid Crypto Mining Boom

AMD rolled out a new graphics card (GPU) earlier this week, and the product swiftly sold out in minutes. Tech bloggers closely watched the release of the Vega 56, which was released on popular online marketplaces like Newegg and Ebay on August 28.

As expected, given the growing demand for GPUs by the world's cryptocurrency miners – the vast majority of listings were unavailable after the first five minutes. Also exacerbating the situation, are reports that manufacturing issues have led to a constraint on supplies for the new Vega card and rumors that distributors may be jacking up the asking price to boost their revenues amid the unprecedented demand.

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Monero Is Getting Its Own Version of LocalBitcoins

A team of Monero enthusiasts based in Hong Kong have launched an alternative version of LocalBitcoins.com, called LocalMonero.co. The website will connect buyers and sellers of the cryptocurrency based on country of residence. Users can meet and exchange Monero for cash, or buy it online from a local seller. Like the currency itself, LocalMonero.co is also committed to privacy, according to its founders. Launching the website in a Reddit post, the user "optocomp" stated:

"We don't keep any IP logs and we don't require users to have emails. We keep trade chat logs for 180 days for purposes of dispute mediation. The logs are encrypted and all the attachments uploaded in the chat are watermarked and encrypted to prevent unauthorized use."

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Is Uber About to Accept Bitcoin Directly?

Ex-Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has landed the new CEO role at Uber, which has led some cryptocurrency specialists to speculate that the ride-sharing giant will soon accept Bitcoin as a form of payment. As rumors go, there is a backstory that supports those claims - Khosrowshahi, as CEO at Expedia, allowed Bitcoin payments for the online travel site's hotel reservations division.

While Uber has not commented on this (it does accept Bitcoin payments from third party vendors, like CoinBase, but does not accept direct crypto payments for its ride-sharing services), the rise of Khosrowshahi as company CEO makes the addition much more likely.

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Shipping Giant Deploys Blockchain to Combat Industry Cyber Attacks

Marine Transport International (MTI) has implemented its Blockchain pilot which will avoid NotPetya-style cyber attacks. In a press release, MTI said it could see “up to 90 percent reductions” in administrative costs. MTI’s CEO Jody Cleworth commented:

“In recent months the shipping industry has fallen victim to industrial-scale cyber attacks which have left large shipping lines, such as Maersk, completely paralyzed and unable to serve clients,”

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Archain is Building an Uncensorable Internet Archive Inside a Cryptocurrency

The developers of Archain have released the first version of their new cryptocurrency and archiving system. This archiving system, built on revolutionary new cryptographic blockweave technology, would allow users to submit documents and webpages to an archive that is truly permanent and uncensorable for a small fee of the Archain currency, ARCs.

The Archain technology comes at an extremely welcome time, with internet censorship on the rise and the neutrality of the internet being widely called into question. An archiving tool that is truly out of the reach of any individual or organization - even its creators - will allow citizens of the world to take part in the fight for free speech and expression.

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