The financial sector is seeing growing interest in cryptocurrency that has resulted in more and faster adoption according to the latest survey by Thomas Reuters. That news will certainly bolster the objectives in the Middle East where Dubai aims to be the first blockchain powered city. It is also reflective of the hype surrounding EOS as more than 50 companies are competing for 21 supernodes.

But before there was all of these cryptocurrency projects, there were the cypherpunks. In a special feature, we look at the accomplishments of Dr. David Chaum and what has resulted from his early papers on encrypted communication.

Featured stories by Colin Harper, Giulio Prisco, Jessie Willms, Aaron van Wirdum and Bitcoin Schmitcoin.

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EOS Hype Builds as Over 50 Candidates Vie for 21 Supernodes

EOS is scheduled to migrate from the Ethereum network to its own on June 2, 2018, and candidates are excitedly vying for one of 21 supernodes that will support this new mainnet. A mixture of big and little fish, the candidate pool includes upward of 50 different organizations, an overwhelming number of candidates competing for the coveted supernodes come from Chinese organizations.

These 21 supernodes operate as part of EOS’s delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism. In order to keep block producers honest, the network implements a continuous voting process that places supernode operators up for reelection every 21 blocks.

The Genesis Files: How David Chaum’s eCash Spawned a Cypherpunk Dream

Cryptographer Dr. David Chaum is looked at as the man who first envisioned cryptocurrency with his talk on eCash when speaking at the first ever CERN conference in Geneva in 1994. Chaum, who started as a computer science professor at Berkeley University, was not just a digital privacy advocate. He designed the tools to realize it.

First published in 1981, Chaum’s paper “Untraceable Electronic Mail, Return Addresses, and Digital Pseudonyms” laid the groundwork for research into encrypted communication over the internet, which would eventually lead to privacy-preserving technologies like Tor. In 1982, he published his second major paper: “Blind signatures for untraceable payments.” where the cryptographer had designed a solution to realize an anonymous payment system for an internet that had yet to exist.

Thomson Reuters Survey Finds Increasing Interest in Cryptocurrency Trading

According to a new Thomson Reuters survey, cryptocurrency trading by financial firms could increase in 2018, with 20 percent of 400 survey firms indicating they are considering trading cryptocurrency over the next 3–12 months. Among the participants in the survey who indicated they would trade cryptocurrencies in 2018, approximately 70 percent said they were planning to do so over the next 3–6 months with an additional 22 percent planning to trade over the next 6–12 months. The survey also found generally widespread familiarity with cryptocurrencies.

“Cryptocurrency is still a relatively small part of the trading market, but this survey makes clear this niche segment is starting to enter the mainstream of the financial services industry. This is a major change from a year ago,” said Neill Penney, co-head of trading at Thomson Reuters, in a statement.

Saudi Telecom and ConsenSys Boost Blockchain Infrastructure in Middle East

In a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed recently, ConsenSys and the Saudi Telecom Company have agreed to work together to design and build out blockchain technology in a range of government and private sectors including real estate, banking and healthcare. With this partnership, Dubai aims to be the world’s first blockchain-powered city.

Bitcoin Price Analysis: Market Direction Depends on Next Price Line Tests

The price of bitcoin is creeping up this morning into the mid-$9,000 range.

According to yesterday’s price analysis, whether the market was going to move up or down remained to be seen, but key price levels to watch have been near the bottom of our current trading range in the $8,600s. A breakdown of that price level would likely send us retesting our macro lows in the $6,000s. If this current trading range were to break down, that would be an incredibly bearish signal as that would indicate the overwhelming presence of supply in the market.