Over the past few months, Bitcoin (BTC) has been surging and it has hit a new year-to-date high surpassing the $9,000 level for the second time in 2019, a feat that has left investors looking at the $10,000 mark.

Bitcoin Rallying

Bitcoin is 151% up year-to-date and the rallying of the most popular cryptocurrency has been associated with the inauguration of the CME Bitcoin futures market. In the last session, the coin was up by 7.50%, hitting price highs per of $9,387 on Bitstamp Exchange before experiencing a slight fall.

At the beginning of the week, BTC price was around $8,100, with the “real 10” volume of the cryptocurrency being $600 million. Bitcoin price has benefitted from the growing price of Litecoin, which has gained close to 19% in the past week.  The rise in BTC comes at the back of a spike in trading volume by more than $19 billion worth of the crypto asset traded across various exchanges in the last session.

At the time of writing, BTC is trading at $9,310.

>> Bakkt Announces Bitcoin Futures Launch Date in July

Facebook’s Anticipated Launch of Digital Currency

The cryptocurrency industry has been enhanced with the latest news that Facebook is likely to launch its own digital currency with details expected to be unveiled on Tuesday. Facebook is said to have secured the services of Uber, Spotify, and Visa. Although Facebook’s digital coin is expected to compete with Bitcoin, it is rather seen as a validation of blockchain technology and value.

Equally, the coin is benefiting from the general improvement in sentiment regarding cryptocurrencies. The anticipated halving of Bitcoin in the next year has also led to the surge in BTC price and investors and traders are looking forward to the event that will see a cut in Bitcoin supply by half, while some are foreseeing a supply shock.

Bakkt Exchange, backed by Starbucks and Intercontinental Exchange, expects to start accepting beta testers on its platform beginning next month.

Featured image: DepositPhotos © Syda_Productions

According to French financial publication Les Échos, software giant Ubisoft is exploring potential blockchain applications in gaming. The move to blockchain is said to give the gaming firm a competitive edge in the gaming world.

Ubisoft Blockchain Applications in Gaming

Ubisoft has allegedly been exploring blockchain applications for months under the radar.

And now it has already established one particular use for the technology that would serve as a lucrative edge. As Les Échos describes, Ubisoft plans to place intra-game virtual objects onto the blockchain and then monetize them. These virtual objects could be character accessories, clothing, weapons, etc.

Effectively, the Ubisoft team is in the advanced stages of creating a blockchain-based marketplace for in-game items. This means that gamers can actually purchase accessories and items within the game using the blockchain and cryptocurrency.

As the publication states further:

“The idea is to give a digital existence on the blockchain to the ‘items’ (accessories) available in video games; content that publishers monetize.”

Epic Games’ Fortnite

The idea has been likened to Epic Games’ successful video game Fortnite—which is free to download but gamers can buy virtual add-ons and accessories to equip their characters with.

But using the blockchain takes this model further as it “preserves gamers’ digital property rights.”

Les Échos notes:

“When you buy a costume on Fortnite, your investment is lost, the accessory is locked in the game. If we use the blockchain, we give a physical existence to a digital element.”

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As stated, the Ubisoft team is said to be already in the advanced stage of development, and now rumors say that it will use the Ethereum blockchain to implement it. This means that gamers would likely use any ERC-20 token for purchasing the intra-game items.

It remains to be seen whether Ubisoft would launch its blockchain-based marketplace for in-game items in an existing game to a brand new one. And when we are to expect a launch also remains undisclosed.

Featured Image: DepositPhotos © JJFarquitectos