Huobi Research Weekly（Vol.93）(12.16–12.22)

17 min readDec 26, 2019

Abstract

The hashrate of Bitcoin increased and the hashrate of Ethereum decreased by this week. The difficulty of mining Bitcoin increased and the difficulty of mining Ethereum decreased. The average number of transactions per block increased and the average block size of Bitcoin increased. The average number of transactions per block increased and the average block size of Ethereum increased this week. The average transaction fees of Bitcoin increased and the average transaction fees of Ethereum decreased. LINK was the most active project on GitHub this week.

The average bitcoin Hashrate for the entire network reached 93.43EH/s, increased by 1.26% from the previous week.Average Hashrate for the entire Ethereum network was 158.56TH/s this week, decreased by 7.78%. Average difficulty for mining Bitcoin this week was 12.890T, increased by 0. 16% from last week. The average difficulty of mining Ethereum this week was 2552.82TH, decreased by 1.03% from previous week.

In network activity, the average size of each block was 1.07MB, increased 3.88% form last week; there were on average 2133 transactions recorded in each block, increased by 1.72% from the previous week. the average number of transactions per block in Ethereum this week was 120.3, increased by 12.96%. The average size of each block was 26277.0 bytes, increased by 9.51% compared to last week. As of December 22th, 2019, average transaction fees of Bitcoin this week was $0.385, increased by 2.12% from last week. Average transaction fees of Ethereum this week was $0.0807, decresead by 9.43%.Total number of addresses on the Blockchain and Ethereum network reached 44.35 million and 80.72 million, increased 0.16(0.38%) million and 0.80(1.01%) million respectively.LINK was the most active project on GitHub this week, with 94 commits submitted in the past week.

In terms of community activity, Tron, Bitcoin and Ethereum are the most popular communities on Facebook. On Twitter, the most popular communities are Bitcoin, Ripple and Tron.

3 investments activities took place in the blockchain industry this week, ZenLedger.io got Angel pound investment from Vestigo Venture, AliExchange got bought by FoPay, Coin bull got strategic investment from Heng Jiu technology and OKLink.

1. Weekly Market Review

1.1 Market overview

This week, the overall market capitalization for the top 100 cryptocurrencies increased of 1.60%, with 38 projects increased in value to varying degrees. According to coinmarketcap, as of December 22th, 2019, the total market cap of cryptocurrencies was 198.2 billion U.S. dollars, increased by 1.60%, and the total market cap of the top 100 cryptocurrencies was 196.7 billion U.S. dollars,increased by 2.15% from last week, among which, FTX Token had the largest increased of 52.38%, bringing its market cap ranking from №44 to №37, Karatgold Coin had the largest decreased of -59.88%, bringing its market cap ranking from №38 to №59. In addition, there were 4 projects that entered TOP100, namely, Bytecoin (BCN, increased 29.93%, Now №91), Bitbook Gambling (BXK, increased 29.87%, Now №89), Noah Coin (NOAH, increased 22.97%, Now №97), Steem (STEEM, increased 4.23%, Now №98). As of December 22th, 2019, Bitcoin was traded at 7511.59USD, 5.10% higher than its price last week. Ethereum was traded at 132.37USD, 7.44% lower than its price last week.

The overall 24h trading volume increased this week. Overall, the 24h trading volume increased by 30.80% compared with the same period of last week. In this week, 52 of the top 100 projects increased in 24h trading volume, led by FTT with a weekly increase of 1014.65%; there were 46 projects decreased in their 24h trading volume, there were 24 projects that saw over 20% decrease in their 24h trading volume, while 5 projects fell by more than 50%, led by CENNZ, with a decreased of 75.64%.

The top 10 cryptocurrencies’ market value increased, the market share distribution remained stable. On December 22th, 2019, the overall market cap of the top 10 cryptocurrencies was 176.5 billion USD, increased by 2.25% from last week, accounting for 89.08% of the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies, increased by 0.57% from last week. The market value proportion of TOP10 project basically stable. BTC’s dominance was 68.65%, increased by 2.29% from last week.

1.2 Segment Analysis

Among TOP 100 cryptocurrency project segments, the total market cap of coin project got the largest increase. The average market cap of Platform projects got the largest decrease. As of December 22th, 2019,the total market cap of coin projects reached 150.7 billion USD, increased by 4.11%. The average market cap of coin projects reached 4.56 billion USD, increased by 7.26%. The total market cap of platform projects reached 22.7 billion USD, decreased by 4.16%. The average market cap of platform projects reached 0.71 billion USD, decreased by 7.15%. The total market cap of application class projects reached 18.74 billion USD, decreased by 3.48%. The average market cap of application class projects reached 0.60 billion USD, decreased by 3.48%. The total market cap of asset-backed token projects reached 4.46 billion USD, decreased by 3.06%. The average market cap of asset-backed token projects reached 1.11 billion USD, decreased by 3.06%.

The market segment distribution of the top 100 cryptocurrencies remained stable. As of December 22th, 2019, among the top 100 projects, the number of coin class projects decreased 1, application class projects increased 1, platform class projects and asset-backed token class both remain the same. The largest overall market cap by segment was still coin projects, accounting for 76.64% of the total market cap of top 100 projects.

Note: According to the different attributes of cryptocurrencies, Huobi Academy of Blockchain Application will divide them into four categories: Coin, Application Class, Platform Class and Asset-backed Token.

Coin Project: Refers to a type of asset developed based on blockchain technology that does not correspond to a specific use scenario and whose main function is only the transaction target. Its asset value is mainly reflected by liquidity.

Platform Class Project: A type of asset that is associated with the development of the underlying technology of the blockchain and is supported by the right to use or participate in the platform.

Application Class Project: Refers to a type of asset that is associated with a specific application scenario and is supported by a certain right of use, participation, or dividend.

Asset-backed Project: Refers to a class of assets that is linked to actual assets such as gold and US dollars and supported by the value of physical assets.

2. Technical Statistics

2.1 Cryptocurrency Mining Statistics

The hashrate of Bitcoin increased and the hashrate of Ethereum decreased by this week. From December 16th, 2019 — December 22th, 2019, the average bitcoin Hashrate for the entire network reached 93.43EH/s, increased by 1.26% from the previous week.

Average Hashrate for the entire Ethereum network was 158.56TH/s this week, decreased by 7.78%.

This week, the difficulty of mining Bitcoin increased and the difficulty of mining Ethereum decreased. As of December 22th 2019, average difficulty for mining Bitcoin this week was 12.890T, increased by 0. 16% from last week. The average difficulty of mining Ethereum this week was 2552.82TH, decreased by 1.03% from that of previous week.

The number of blocks in Bitcoin increased by 6.49%. Top 5 rankings remain the same. The overall distribution of the Ethereum mining pools rankings remain the same, the number of blocks dereased 8.42%. In the past week, Bitcoin mined 1067 blocks, increased 6.49% from the previous week. Among the top five pools were F2Pool、Poolin、BTC.com、AntPool、ViaBTC these 5 pools mined 180、177、152、110 and 62 blocks respectively, accounting for16.87% 、16.59 %、14.25%、10.31% and 5.81 % of all Bitcoins mined this week. The Hashrate was 16.53 EH/s、16.25EH/s、13.96EH/s、10.10EH/s and 5.69EH/s, respectively.

In the past week, Ethereu’s entire network mined 37109 blocks, decreased 8.42% from the previous week. The top five pools were SparkPool, Ethermine, F2pool_2, Nanopool and Zhizhu.top, each mined 11423、8514、4139、3056 and 1867 blocks respectively, accounting for 30.7823%、22.9432%、11.1536%、8.2352% and 5.0311% of all Ethereum mined this week, respectively.

The average number of transactions per block increased and the average block size of Bitcoin increased. The average number of transactions per block increased and the average block size of Ethereum increased this week. According to blockchain.info, from December 16th, 2019-December 22th, 2019, the average size of each block was 1.07MB, increased 3.88% form last week; there were on average 2133 transactions recorded in each block, increased by 1.72% from the previous week.

According to etherscan, the average number of transactions per block in Ethereum this week was 120.3, increased by 12.96%. The average size of each block was 26277.0 bytes, increased by 9.51% compared to last week.

Number of unconfirmed transactions in Bitcoin increased by 6.08%. Number of unconfirmed transactions in Ethereum increased by 58.33% from the previous week. As of December 22th 2019, the number of 7-day average unconfirmed transactions in Bitcoin network was 5236, increased by 6.08% from last week. There were 52359.1 unconfirmed transactions in the Ethereum network, increased by 58.33% from last week, with the lowest amount of unconfirmed transactions in the week being 9562 and the highest amount being 69232.

Total transaction fees of Bitcoin increased. Total transaction fees of Ethereum decreased. As of December 22th, 2019, average transaction fees of Bitcoin this week was $0.385, increased by 2.12% from last week. Average transaction fees of Ethereum this week was $0.0807, decresead by 9.43%.

The average number of distinct miners per day in Ethereum decreased by 3.24% from last week. From December 16th, 2019-December 22th, 2019, the average number of distinct miners per day in Ethereum this week was 53.7, decreased 3.24% from last week.

The number of nodes in Bitcoin decreased and the number of Ethereum increased this week. As of December 22th, 2019, there were 9445 Bitcoin nodes, decreased by 0.98% compared to last week, of which 2376 nodes were in the U.S, 1910 nodes were in Germany, and 285 nodes were in China(№8), each accounting for 25.16%, 20.22% and 3.02% of the total number of Bitcoin nodes, respectively.

As of December 22th, 2019, there were 7197 Ethereum nodes, increased by 1.90% from the previous week. Specifically, there were 1888 nodes in the U.S, 1170 nodes in China, and 666 nodes in Germany, each accounting for 26.23%, 16.26%,9.25% of total number of nodes, respectively.

This week, the growth rate for new addresses of Bitcoin and Ethereum both increased. According to the data on blockchain.info, as of December 22th, 2019, the total number of Blockchain accounts reached 44354762, increased by 167320 (0.38%) this week.

According to the data on etherchain, as of December 22th, 2019, the total number of Ethereum addresses was 80721464 increased by 809024 (1.01%) this week.

LINK was the most active project on GitHub this week. From December 16th, 2019-December 22th, 2019, LINK was the active project repository on GitHub with a total of 94 commits.

Figure 2.19: GitHub Code Activity

Source：cryptomiso

3. Weekly Blockchain News Review

3.1 Industrial Application

1. Largest South Korean Telecom Company Issues Blockchain-Based Local Currency in Busan

South Korea’s biggest telecom company, KT, just announced the launch of a local blockchain-based currency for one of the country’s largest cities, which will reportedly go live on Dec. 30. Local news outlet dongA reported on Dec. 19: “Dongbaekjeon is a blockchain-based card-type local currency issued by Busan City to revitalize Busan’s local economy and ease the management burden of small business.”The media outlet listed multiple ways to access the currency, including a Dongbaekjeon mobile app, a bank named Hana and Busan Bank. The article also noted participants can use the “currency at any store in Busan with a credit card terminal,” although compatibility will reportedly be less common among larger retailers in an effort to encourage spending at smaller local businesses.

2. Thailand Integrates Blockchain to E-Visa System for Higher Security

Thailand, one of the most-visited countries in the world, will soon apply blockchain to its Electronic Visa On Arrival (eVOA).Thailand’s new blockchain-powered eVOA system intends to speed up and protect the digital visa application process and will soon be available for five million visitors from 20 countries. The upcoming eVOA feature is a joint effort of Australian travel company ShareRing and Gateway Services, an entity that owns the license to process eVOA for Thailand, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Dec. 19. According to the announcement, Thailand will initially roll out the blockchain-enabled eVOA service with a focus on visitors from China and India.The new feature will purportedly streamline the process of applying for Thailand’s visa as its existing Visa On Arrival process is done at airports or land entry points in Thailand, according to Tim Bos, CEO and co-founder at ShareRing. The process is paper-based and requires travelers to bring a number of documents like printed copies of their airline tickets, accommodation confirmation and photos. Such a process usually takes about one hour to complete, Bos said in an email to Cointelegraph.

3. Alrosa, Tencent, Everledger Bring Diamonds on the Blockchain to WeChat

The world’s largest diamond mining firm, Russia’s Alrosa, has partnered with Tencent, the operator of Chinese social media app WeChat, on a new blockchain-based e-commerce project.Together with blockchain platform Everledger, Tencent and Alrosa will launch a new diamond-focused retail mini-program targeted at WeChat’s one billion active users, according to a Dec. 16 press release.In a joint statement, the three firms said the program aims to improve transparency and consumer trust across the diamond supply chain, enabling social media users to purchase diamonds with full knowledge of their origin, characteristics and ownership history. The three firms claim that the mini-program can help Chinese jewelry manufacturers and retailers to increase trust in their brand and differentiate themselves amid a highly competitive market. The lure is that consumers have access to an immutable blockchain ledger that accurately reflects the history of each diamond. Alrosa has pledged to provide full information on their diamonds’ extraction in Russia, thus providing users with a reliable measure for the sustainability and “ethical footprint” of their purchases.

4. Oil and Gas Consortium Is 1st to Apply DLT to Industry Balloting

A group of 10 major global oil and gas firms including heavy-hitters like Chevron and Shell has successfully digitized industry balloting using blockchain.The Oil & Gas Blockchain Consortium (OOC) successfully piloted a blockchain-based system for Authorization for Expenditure (AFE) balloting in partnership with Canadian technology provider GuildOne.According to an announcement on Dec. 18, the AFE balloting proof-of-concept (PoC) is the first initiative of its kind and intends to allow participants to send ballots and make elections digitally using blockchain technology. As noted in the report, AFEs are used in the oil and gas industry in order to approve capital and expense projects as well as calculate working interests by members of a joint operating contract. As AFE balloting has been done manually for years, blockchain-powered digitization intends to cut time needed for traditional paper-based process.Specifically, the PoC aims to improve the approval process and provide immutable records of the final working interests, at the same time reducing errors by using smart contracts to calculate working interests automatically. Rebecca Hofmann, chairman of the OOC consortium, noted that the PoC was completed by all ten consortium members in less than four months. She outlined that the new blockchain-based oil and gas industry project has demonstrated the power of distributed ledger technology as well as its ability to “transform fundamental oil and gas business activities.”

5. Taobao launches blockchain technology product categories. Hardware wallet vendors in the blockchain field have settled in.

Taobao said that it has added a second-level category of blockchain technology products. Under this category, two types of goods, including bandwidth sharing devices and digital currency hardware wallets, can be listed, which means that mainstream digital cryptocurrency hardware wallets can now be sold in Taobao system , And the bandwidth sharing device refers to a traffic sharing device such as Wanke Cloud. According to the official description of Taobao sellers, blockchain technology products are now a vent, and many physical goods and virtual software services have been derived. The Taobao industry first builds physical categories.

3.2 International Policies

1. Tokyo will pilot “Tokyo YUA Coin” points system and consider issuing independent digital currency

According to NHK, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has decided to pilot a point system called “Tokyo YUA Coin”. The trial is expected to take place in the Otemachi, Marunouchi and Yura-cho areas along the Tokyo Tokyu Railway from January to February next year. The government is also considering issuing an independent digital currency in the near future. The points system initiative aims to facilitate the transition to a cashless society and activities related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Tokyo YUA Coin will be distributed to those who use cashless payment methods in their daily lives to contribute to the sustainable development goals, such as commuting during off-peak hours to ease morning and evening peak congestion, shopping with their own eco-bags to reduce plastic waste Wait.

2.Draft new bill aimed at classifying crypto assets introduced by the U.S. Congress

According to a Forbes article published on December 19, Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona has proposed a draft bill that will ultimately bring regulatory transparency to the U.S. cryptocurrency industry. The Cryptocurrency Act 2020 states that federal agencies should regulate each type of crypto asset. One of the key things the draft bill will do is define three types of crypto assets; that is, crypto assets. For cryptocurrency commodities, cryptocurrencies and crypto securities, please refer to the draft discussion of the proposed bill. Crypto goods are defined as economic goods or services that are stored in the blockchain and are interchangeable, and the market does not distinguish who produces it. Cryptocurrency is defined as a representation based on US currency or synthetic derivatives on the blockchain. This includes reserve-backed stablecoins, as well as currencies determined by decentralized signs or smart contracts. Crypto securities cover all debt, equity, and derivatives on the blockchain, but do not include debt, equity, and derivatives that operate and register as a complaint currency services business.

3. Int’l Regulator Basel Committee Calls for Prudent Rules for Crypto

Global banking regulator Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) calls for a conservative prudential treatment framework for crypto assets.The Basel Committee — which includes banking regulators from the United States, Europe and Japan — published its report on the prudential treatment of crypto assets. The study was first announced in November, as Cointelegraph reported at the time.In the document, the regulator claims that the growth of cryptocurrencies and related services can negatively affect financial stability and increase the risks faced by banks. The report reads:“Crypto-assets are an immature asset class given the lack of standardisation and constant evolution. Certain crypto-assets have exhibited a high degree of volatility, and present risks for banks, including liquidity risk; credit risk; market risk; operational risk (including fraud and cyber risks); money laundering and terrorist financing risk; and legal and reputation risks.”

3.3 Technological Breakthrough

1. EY Releases New Version of Zero-Knowledge Proof Blockchain to Public Domain

British auditing giant EY has released a new iteration of its zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) blockchain, intending to cut transaction costs by 90%.A ZKP is a digital protocol that enables data to be distributed between the two participants without using a password or any associated information in the transaction.According to an announcement on Dec. 19, EY released its third-generation ZKP blockchain technology to the public domain on the Ethereum blockchain.The new ZKP blockchain aims to make private transactions on public blockchains more scalable by decreasing transaction costs by combining multiple private transfers in a single transaction. Specifically, the new iteration reportedly can batch up to 20 private transfers in a single transaction, reducing the transaction cost to $0.05. Available on GitHub, the new product is reportedly a 400-fold improvement over the initial EY blockchain prototype unveiled in October 2018, the announcement notes.Paul Brody, EY global blockchain leader, noted that the new technology is potentially the “most important EY blockchain milestone” in its global effort to scale public blockchains. Brody noted: “With this iteration, we cut the cost per transaction by more than 90% again, making private transactions more accessible for mainstream business application.”

4.Weekly Investment Activities

Huobi Research

About Us：

Huobi Research was founded in April 2016 and started research and explorations in various aspects in Blockchain area since March 2018. We cover various fields such as Blockchain technology research, industry analysis, application innovation and economic model explorations. We aim to establish a research platform and to offer theoretical foundations as well as judgements of trends in Blockchain to the public, ultimately promoting the development of the Blockchain industry.

Huobi Research Weekly aims to provide participators of the cryptocurrency market with the most up-to-date and comprehensive database to help them facilitate decision-making process.

Disclaimer：

1. Huobi Research does not have any form of association with Blockchain projects or other third-parties mentioned in this report that could jeopardize the objectivity, independence and fairness of this report.

2. All outside information, data referenced in this report is from compliant and legitimate sources that we deem as reliable, and Huobi Research have conducted the due diligence concerning its authenticity, accuracy and completeness, but such due diligence does not provide any guarantee.

3. This report is only for reference purposes. Conclusions and viewpoints in the report do not constitute any form of investment advice on crypto assets. Huobi Research is not responsible for any losses resulting from the use of this report, unless stipulated by law. Under no circumstances should the readers give up their own investment analysis and judgements.

4. This report only reflects the opinions from Huobi Research on the day it was finalized. Future market condition changes may lead to updates of such judgements.

5. The report is copyrighted by Huobi Research, please cite the source when quote, and get approval from us when large amount of contents is referenced. Under no circumstances is reference, abridgment and modification contrary to original intention permitted.