Bitcoin Daily: UNICEF Backs Blockchain Projects, Bitmain Shutters Israeli Development Center

Bitmain is reportedly shuttering its development center in Israel, which was created two years ago, TheNextWeb reported. The outlet said a number of the center’s staff members will be laid off, and Bitmaintech Israel Head Gadi Glikberg, who is also a Bitmain VP, will leave the company. Glikberg reportedly told employees, “The crypto market has undergone a shake-up in the past few months, which has forced Bitmain to examine its various activities around the globe and to refocus its business in accordance with the current situation.”

In other news, South Korea’s Shinhan Bank has started to tap into blockchain technology for its “daily working process,” according to Cryptovest. A bank official who was not named, according to reports, said of the implementation, “The new system helps remove such human errors and helps improve work efficiency through clearer, task-related communications rather than wasting time on correcting mistakes.” While the outlet said there wasn’t information on the “scale” of the bank’s use of the blockchain, it has piloted DLT through an interest rate swap transaction in November.

On another note, UNICEF is backing startups that are looking to “solve global challenges using blockchain technology,” Coindesk reported. The organization, which is the charity effort of the United Nations for children, is reportedly putting $100,000 toward the effort. Recipients include Atix Labs, Onesmart, Prescrypto, Statwig, Utopixar and W3 Engineers. UNICEF Innovation Principal Advisor Chris Fabian said in an announcement, “Blockchain technology is still at an early stage – and there is a great deal of experimentation, failure, and learning ahead of us as we see how, and where, we can use this technology to create a better world.”

And bitcoin commanded a dominance rate of 55.38 percent on December 6, the highest level in 11 weeks, Coindesk reported. The outlet said the metric, which measures cryptocurrency market share, stood at approximately 55.1 percent as of the writing of the report. It could indicate that investors are moving resources from alternative digital currencies to bitcoin and “at the very least, demand for bitcoin is outpacing other networks.” The price of bitcoin was $3,410.57 as of 6:40 p.m. on Monday (December 10), according to Coindesk.