Today’s Ethereum news update takes us all the way from Aruba to North America’s oil sands projects where companies are working on ETH Contracts.
Let’s start with the oil sands.
Some of you may remember that Canadian energy firm Petroteq Energy Inc
(OTCMKTS: PQEFF) forged a partnership with First Bitcoin Capital Corp (OTCMKTS: BITCF). The joint venture is called PetroBLOQ and it is now a member of the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance (EEA).
“PetroBLOQ is a welcome addition to our growing community of diverse global industry experts,” said Julio Faura, chairman of the board of EEA. (Source: “PETROTEQ ENERGY ANNOUNCES PETROBLOQ’S MEMBERSHIP IN ENTERPRISE ETHEREUM ALLIANCE,” Petroteq, December 4, 2017.)
“We seek to attract a variety of organizations to help create enterprise-grade standards for Ethereum and to drive current and future development of the ecosystem to benefit all participants.”
The EEA now has more than a dozen subgroups working on how to mesh blockchain with their respective businesses. For example, using ETH contracts, an oil company like Petroteq might create a supply register that tracks chain-of-custody and ownership.
It’s not glamorous work, but the same can be said of most businesses that don’t sell to end consumers. Firms that sell mining equipment, for instance, don’t make the front page. But that doesn’t make their money any less real.
Much in the same way, we could see these enterprise applications eventually create a lot of activity on the Ethereum blockchain. It’s only a short hop in logic to assume that some of those apps will require monetization, which in turn means good things for ETH.
Now, let’s make our way down to that little slice of heaven-on-Earth, Aruba. What’s going on there?
In a nutshell, there is a battle royale over tourism revenues between Expedia Inc (NASDAQ: EXPE), Priceline Group Inc (NASDAQ: PCLN), and the island paradise of Aruba. The travel companies have soaked up most of the cash in this space because they deal directly with customers, but Aruba feels this is deeply unfair.
In retaliation, Aruba partnered with an Ethereum-based startup that could eat Priceline and Expedia’s lunch. It is called Winding Tree.
What this company does is assist small islands with building their own booking platform using ETH Contracts, so as to claim a bigger piece of the pie. This would help Aruba bring more money to its own shores, in turn growing the tax base and state coffers.
As with the EEA, this could lead to more traffic on the Ethereum blockchain, bringing us one step closer to the “world computer” envisioned by Vitalik Buterin. Every step we get closer to that vision is good news for ETH investors.
Daily Ethereum Chart:
ETH Price: At the time of writing, the Ethereum to USD exchange rate was $448.83, and the Ethereum to Bitcoin rate was 0.03538290 BTC.
Analyst Take:
Our Ethereum price forecast suggests the currency could reach $1,500 in 2018. We see nothing in today’s Ethereum news update to alter that prediction.
Source: Price Confidential
