The Daily: Pro-Bitcoin Governor Elected, Augur Predicts the US Midterms

Wednesday’s edition of The Daily has a distinctly political tint, coming a day after U.S. voters turned out for the midterm elections. There was plenty to excite supporters on both sides of the divide — the pro and anti-cryptocurrency divide, that is. In addition to talking politics, we take a look at the new Stellar airdrop that’s causing quite a stir.

Also read: Car Dealerships and Airport Limos in Japan Begin Accepting Crypto

Crowd Power Is the Midterms’ Biggest Winner

It was widely predicted that the Democrats would regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the midterm elections, not least on decentralized prediction market Augur. The crowd-powered Ethereum application had close to $1.4 million in ETH staked on the outcome of the event, with 97 percent favoring the Democrats. For anyone interested in seeking crowd wisdom on other political events, Augur is currently calling a 36 percent chance of Donald Trump being re-elected in 2020.

Colorado Gains Pro-Bitcoin Governor

In addition to voting for the House and the Senate, U.S. citizens in 36 states cast their vote in gubernatorial elections, including Colorado. There, Bitcoin advocate and pro-tech candidate Jared Polis was elected as governor. The tech advocate and gamer earned a fond place in bitcoiners’ hearts in 2014 when he vowed to fight any attempt by the government to restrict the cryptocurrency’s growth.

In another boon for bitcoin advocates, Gavin Newsom was elected governor of California yesterday. The 51-year-old Democrat was one of the first politicians to accept campaign donations in BTC back in 2014.

Blockchain’s Latest Airdrop Causes a Stir

BTC wallet service Blockchain.com is airdropping $125 million of Stellar’s lumens (XLM) to its users. The wallet provider recently launched a service allowing cryptocurrency developers to airdrop tokens to its 30 million users. The “free” crypto comes with a catch, though: Wallet owners will need to undergo KYC to participate.

Today @blockchain.info came up with a new idea: go through a KYC process with your wallet account, potentially holding 7 years of Bitcoin transaction history, to get $25 worth of some random penny stock.

Please don’t do this. If you want $25-worth of $XLM for some reason, buy it pic.twitter.com/redesYhLMG

— Udi Wertheimer [#reckless] (@udiWertheimer) November 6, 2018

While there are clear benefits of distributing tokens to as wide a community as possible, not least to Stellar, the $125 million giveaway will not change the fact that XLM’s ownership is highly concentrated. Excluding the tokens held by the Stellar Development Foundation, the top 100 holders possess almost 95 percent of all XLM. Airdropping 0.47 percent of the total circulating supply of 104 billion will not alter that. “There’s nothing particularly exciting or ‘inclusive’ about a centralized token’s KYC’d airdrop,” tweeted Matt Odell. “Don’t sell your privacy for $25 ‘worth’ of XLM.”

To the folks at Stellar that are struggling with the very hard problem of fairly issuing a new currency; I am delighted to inform you that a certain S. Nakamoto solved the problem many years ago with a mechanism called "Proof of Work"

— nic carter (@nic__carter) November 6, 2018

Gwyneth Goes Goopy for Bitcoin

Celebrity endorsement of cryptocurrency is generally welcomed by the community, but bitcoiners aren’t sure what to make of Gwyneth Paltrow shilling BTC. The fact that her pro-bitcoin article was authored by the CEO of wallet service Abra, which used the opportunity to promote its services, sat uneasily with many, with The Next Web exposing the links between Gwyneth Paltrow and Abra.

Great piece with @billbarhydt on @goop today https://t.co/cBoeHJ9ts7

— Gwyneth Paltrow (@GwynethPaltrow) November 5, 2018

Many bitcoiners, however, seemed more offended that their beloved cryptocurrency was being shilled by a site that sells $30 psychic vampire repellent and $55 vaginal steamers.

What are your thoughts on today’s news tidbits as featured in The Daily? Let us know in the comments section below.

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