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Bitcoin Inches Down as Chevron, Total Join Oil Blockchain Platform

Published 2019-01-16, 08:42 a/m
Updated 2019-01-16, 11:21 a/m
© Reuters.

© Reuters.

Investing.com - Cryptocurrency prices fell slightly on Wednesday amid a lack of obvious price triggers.

Bitcoin slipped 0.42% to $3,622.40 on the Investing.com Index, as of 8:41 AM ET (13:41 GMT). Ethereum,or Ether, slipped 3.6% to $124.06 and Litecoin was at $31.51, down 1.6%, while XRP decreased 0.5% to $0.3293.

Cryptocurrencies overall were flat with the total coin market capitalization at $122 billion at the time of writing.

In longer-term news, oil giants Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and Total announced they had joined blockchain-based platform Vakt. The company is one of the first blockchain schemes for commodities, as businesses look for ways to harness the technology behind Bitcoin and other digital coins.

Coin miners and investors hope that popularizing the underlying technology will ultimately lead to broader acceptance and use of digital currencies.

Vakt, created in 2017, already includes major companies including BP (LON:BP), Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSa) and Mercuria Energy Group, among others. The platform is a post-trade processing site for commodities that promises to decrease risk and reduce costs through the elimination of paper contracts.

“Total has been supporting industry initiatives to digitize cargo post-trade processes for some time,” Thomas Waymel, President Trading & Shipping at Total, said in a press release. “We view them as a major step forward towards safer, faster and cheaper logistical operations.”

Meanwhile, global blockchain company The Bitfury Group, is launching an open-source music platform secured using blockchain. While it’s not the first company to venture into the music industry, it’s the first time a major player has aimed to change the music industry.

The platform will streamline the transfer of copyrighted assets, by creating a digital system to share and monetize intellectual property, Bitfury said.

The London-based company was recently valued at $1 billion and sells digital coin mining equipment and develops blockchain technology, including for the Ukrainian government.

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