Are under evacuation order. The blazes are now considered the fifth largest in the history of the state. This is bloomberg. Host this is Bloomberg Technology. Cryptocurrencyr spiked during the wall street launch. The countdown continues to the servicewho will hold providers accountable if Net Neutrality is rolled back. . Eavesdropping in the comfort of your own home. Bitcoins debut. The contracts thrusted the cryptocurrency into the realm of regulators, banks, and institutional investors. To give you highlights, we are joined by our reporter in new york to walk us through the day. Reporter we saw surges in the first few hours of trading and there are Circuit Breakers in place and, if there is a surge of temper said, there is a pause in trading. 10 , there is a trade pause. Inre was an early surge volume and you can see the price action leveled out over the course of the day. That is what you see on the top and the volume is on the bottom. The total volume over the course of the trading was around 3900. Not crazy volume, in terms of notional value and underlying value of what we see on a typical day of bitcoin. Million notional trading, compared to the volume traded in the same time. Ngss is an early day and thi could heat up as per disciplines watch the days of trading and decide whether or not they want to get in. Host talk about the historical moment of cryptocurrency being traded on a major u. S. Exchange. Bitcointraded products into a regulated traders andmany investors would not be allowed to invest in bitcoin, but they could have access to the futures seeingand we are not on the futuresng market. Goldman sachs says it could make markets on behalf of clients and participants in the market and allowing trading. Oflso talked to the ceo Interactive Brokers that is handling the futures trading. He has a lot of reservations about Bitcoin Futures and the risk that they might have. Are you hearing about skepticism from investors and traders . Do they have to play the game . Reporter there is skepticism about whether or not this is a bubble and, if it is not a bubble, what are the risks . Something to point out is that Interactive Brokers are among ghose who are allowing tradin of bitcoin, but are not allowing shorting and requiring that those put down 50 marginal or collateral to make trades. There are hurdles for investors in futures. That is something they are watching and there is a spread between bitcoin and Bitcoin Futures. 18,500. Re at one of the reasons could be that investors are allowed to buy the regulated market, but not the other ones and we are not seeing andtrage pulling the gap we will watch to see if it does in the coming weeks. Host thank you so much. Word from comcast that they are no longer reviewing 20th century fox. We had been reporting that they were in talks to purchase 20 century fox and we know that disney is still in talks. Comcast is no longer engaged. Sticking with the cryptocurrencies, i want to bring in bogart. Block chain investing technology company. This was the first fund dedicated to the coin and block ecosystem. We saw volumes at a reasonable level and there was an upside. I dont know what more you could wish for . This is the beginning of the institutionalization of that coin and there will be a much larger trading for derivatives and we might do an edp in a year from now. There is a lot of questions about where the value is actually coming from. What do you think . I like to think that this is an iceberg and people see a payments mechanism and they hear about cryptocurrency as p ayments. Is people are purchasing it because it is a digital gold. People want to own some of this network and, underneath the surface, we have this digital and programmable assets and this is the most interesting thing. The concept is that we take something from the physical world and make it digital and we haveconstraints and programmable money. Available in the world of Financial Assets for the first time. We know that others are trading bitcoin assets. Will more follow with more cryptocurrency . With aink it all starts coin and we will see that come out and i think we will see other exchanges doing other assets in this global phenomenon and we should contrast that with the dotcom boom. Canne with a smart phone participate in this market. It is remarkable. St they can purchase a paid now that it is being traded publicly. Where do we draw the line between what is legit . Guest that is fair and i think lighthanddoing a approach and that is doing a favor for the echosytem. Ecosystem. Bute is a long road ahead, they dont want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Now, you want to create a safe environment and not discourage that innovation. This is a significant step. How does it change your business . Guest we have been investing stem and we will continue to do that. We are not holding the large assets. We are looking into new opportunities in the space and there are on answered unanswered opportunities. Y talk to me about those opportunities. We are looking at decentralized exchanges. This is some of the functions we have seen in Financial Markets that are happening in a nativelydigital ecosystem. Things like paypal made it easier to spend in the digital world. Crypto assetsd are a new infrastructure for the digital age. Etherium is nex . That is the most likely candidate. It is number two and has the largest market capitalization after bitcoin. When do we see a Critical Mass . Are we going to see a handful of these . There are hundreds and hundreds of cryptocurrencies. How many of these will end up in this more legitimate market . Create one of these things and put it out into the world and there are already thousands. Dozens question mark half a dozen will make it in the next 25 years. Dozens . Half a dozen will make it in the next 25 years. Will happen tomorrow . We will get trading on the upside. All right. Thank you for joining us. We will be watching the rest of the week to see how things go. We have continuing developments on this comcast and disney story. Comcast says that they were never at a level to make a definitive offer. We reported earlier that comcast is no longer engaged in no longer looking at 20 century fox. 21st century fox. The deal could come within days. That is coming up. We will talk more about uber. This is bloomberg. Er riders will ub be able to use the service through the spring, as they appeal the license. The transfer will not take until april or june. We are joined now by a reporter and our guest for the hour. Have more time now and they were expecting an appeal. What does this mean . Reporter this gives them time to negotiate and you can think of this as dual track. There will be more direct negotiation with regulators and hopefulthat uber is that they will come up with some negotiated truce with this and that is what is going on. Host how likely is that . Is an essential part of many cities and i have always said that it is harder to togine london asking uber leave and the question is how they meet in the middle to get something they want. They are more willing to negotiate and come to a negotiated settlement in the cities. There will be a resolution and it is just a matter of finding a happy place in the middle. Host yet, they are finding battles around the world. They will obviously have to come up with compromises, but how much will that impact the Business Model . Some of the steps they will have to take will involve things where they provide a benefit for the driver or other kinds of things that i think have an impact on the way the company is valued. I think that, longterm, as they create these compromises, which they will have to, it will impact the longterm valuation of the company. Reporter in so many places, uber is an incumbent and they are meant to be a lightweight business that relies on independent contractors. Costs wouldt raises be bad for business, but if it nts, that could be good. Host what is the latest on that . Reporter december 28. With thee first price implied valuation for the secondary share and people are puzzling over whether they want to stay at that price or miss out on that and hope that it forces a higher price. People are doing soulsearching about what they think the shares are worth. Hopeful thatloyees they can sell the shares in this offering . Reporter early employees see the gain in value over what they got the shares for, they will probably be excited to have a moment of liquidity. Exactly. Thank you. Bob, you are sticking with me. Astronauts on other planets. He signed a directive to send an american astronaut back to the moon and mars. No details have been given on funding or whether nasa would rely on private industry. Tired the Space Shuttle program in 2011. Coming up, we will look at possible repeal of open internet protections. Here is a look at afterhours trading. Has said they are no longer reviewing 21st century fox for a possible purchase. We will continue to cover the story. This is bloomberg. Host verizon is betting on the nfl. They will be able to stream nfl with through apps for free no data charges. Nonverizon subscribers will only be able to use that with a subscription fee. Hold a vote too decide on the future of Net Neutrality and big names are taking sides. Amazon has announced that it is opposed. Is,of the main complaints nternetl hold the i providers accountable. Joining me to discuss this is todd shields and bob odonnell. So, todd, we sought new moves happening today and a statement from the commissioner about the fcc. Announcement at between the fcc and ftc and it instantly ran into controversy. A leading democrat, representative fopalone, called it worthless. I dont want to cast doubt on but this is a way to way hands with the ftc in a that critics say dont hold water. Host we spoke to tom wheeler, under whom Net Neutrality was passed. Of consumerme protection, they say they will not protect consumers. In the name of better regulation, they say they will c, but aover to the ftv commissioner says that, even if they do that, they do not have any authority. They are running away from their responsibilities. Have does the ftc authority or not here . Guest like Everything Else in this debate, yes and no. Generally oppose the upcoming rejection of the rules and the acting chairwoman of the federal trade Commission Says we can do it, but there is a catch. The federal trade Commission Works after the fact and they go after companies for doing things that are unfair. The federal communications Commission Says you cannot do certain things. There is a forwardlooking thing to the fcc that would be absent from the ftc. However, proponents say that the prospect of being whacked by the ftc is enough to make people behave. What do you say . It is ironic. To blockthe ftc wanted time warner for some of the reasons that Net Neutrality was created, yet they want to get rid of net utility roles and this is a disconnected thing. If we are looking at how much of the traffic on the internet is video it is 75 . Services. Is on video the question is how people use Video Services and if we can look at comparisons with mobile internet. All of the big carrier started packaging Video Services at no cost to subscribers as an incentive to get them to go to the service and i think that we will see a lot more of this and these kinds of packages. Ironically, it makes the open internet into a Cable Television package with a limited choice of options. Host you think that we will have different experiences . I think that there will be the cost of Certain Services. If you go with a particular isp get Certain Services for free, but other services will have a cost associated with it all stop host with it. Host we will continue to watch this reporting. Thank you. Coming up, Bitcoin Futures. We will hear from the Global Markets chair and ceo next. If you want to, you can listen on bloomberg radio. This is bloomberg. You are watching Bloomberg Technology and we have a check of your first word news. The white house says that the pipe bomb explosion in the new york city subway system shows the need for immigration reform. The Authorities Say that an immigrant from bangladesh arrived at the u. S. Several years ago and set off a pipe bomb near times square and injured himself and wounded three others. President trump says that the lax immigration system allows in adequately vetted people into the country. The white house is pushing back against Sexual Misconduct allegations against president he hassaying that already denied it. Three women are calling for a congressional investigation. Im speaking on behalf of the present and i am saying that these allegations are false and i am relating that information to you. In terms of the specifics, there have been multiple reports that i will provide to you after the briefing. A trump official, paul are backand rick gates in court for conspiracy and Money Laundering charges. Scolded Paul Manafort for discussing his charges with foreign news media. Thelicy chief says that European Union reiterated their jerusalem. N the many leaders have expressed disapproval of the decision to recognize jerusalem as the capital. Almostad an exchange for two hours and we underlined a lasting peace between israelis ad palestinians and we have consolidated and united position. Netanyahu said that recognizing jerusalem was stating a reality on the ground. Theresa may has given into critics who Want Parliament to have more power to scrutinize laws. Her official spokesman said that the Prime Minister has accepted a change and is drafting a law to prepare for the u. K. s exits from the bloc. This is bloomberg and we will have more technology coming right up. We are turning to a developing story with disney in pursuit of a deal with fox assets. Comcast says they are no longer engaged in a review and said that we never got to the level of engagement needed to make an offer. Ing us now is still with us is bob mcdonnell. We have bob odonnell. Talking about this, but what do you read into the statement from comcast . This came out of the blue and we were not expecting a statement at this point. It is coming down to the wire and it is fascinating the comments they made. They never got deep into analyzing that and they were looking at this as a responsibility to shareholders, which suggests that they were a stalking horse for disney and not really that motivated to do that. We do not know if that is pr spin. Focus back onto thaey and we have reporting disney could be a bettert candidate from a regulatory standpoint. The comcast and fox deal, given some of the decisions from the might be problematic. Host why will disney make a more practical suitor . It is interesting. Even the people who were closely involved might not be able to read the doj. Interesting read on the at t and time warner deal and it appears that the first mergers are not so straightforward as you might have expected and there could be a horizontal deal with disney that is less troublesome because , clearly, with at t and time warner, they indicate a behavioral remedy. Isnt really something that they favor anymore. Read of thecent deal, there is a partnering with and it is a cell to regulators to clear the deal. The other thing to think about is disneys ability to purchase the rest of the outstanding sky shares. Disneyhe u. K. Rules, would need to change that deal. You cannot make a price any lower or anything like that and this is a difficult trial with regulators there, in terms of the amount of media assets that they own in the u. K. And it makes it difficult for them to purchase sky. The decision has been delayed until january and it could still be clear, but disney does not have the same conflicts that fox does and it makes it easier for them. Host bob, what do you make of this when they say that they are not that far into it . That it is what is happening with at t and time warner. On the doj perspective, you clearly have concern that the with companiking es and there is friction. They are focusing on moving the tv piece, not fox news or fox sports, which remains separate. It makes sense. Host we will continue to follow beingnd thank you for here. Bob, you are sticking with me. All right. Another top story is the debut of Bitcoin Futures on the Global Markets exchange. This topsge move as market cap. We were joined earlier by a ceo to talk about the appetite of the purchase of prince so far. Guest it is meeting dedicatedns and our liquidity providers are getting comfortable with this commodity, in this case. Ais is not unusual, from launch perspective. We have a lot of people scaling and i expect to see a little change in transaction over time. I am curious who the purchase of prince really are. You talk who the participants are and whether they ations they arec going into the markets. There are wellknown representts and they many endusers, but we wont see that clarity for some time. I think you will see that build over the days to come. Commentators say that you have priced from gemini. Any plans to expand . We are pleased with the partnership with gemini and the transparency into their auction price. They know their users and the information sharing and that is important. We are traderfriendly with this contract and, at the time of the settlement, it isnt different from Bitcoin Futures or if you are holding bitcoin. Is there a change plant to offer a physically settled contract . It got a lot of attention. We are pleased with the futures contract and i think you will see that around the potential for securities with etms. You will see that as the next frontier in the evolution of bitcoin in a broad base of users, but that has to get the ftc comfortable with that. Many contracts, other types of trading with derivatives i think we will see the derivatives. We need to get through this settlement process with the index and i think you will see that as a result and it will be in the months and not the weeks ahead. There is a longer process with the fcc. What about the minicontract . You are talking about a big piece for retail investors. It really is. To give you scale, there might contracts. Or mini i am interested in the the ideal for whales, that somebody can figure out who is in the market and corner it. How are you staving that off . It is difficult to do because we are a transparent market. Gemini allows transparency into the process and regulates the futures market. And wew our users reconstruct traits. Trades. Wouldnt it be too late, then, with the whales . It would be. If you use the gemini auction, we willan index and look at the settlement price from gemini and that has to fit within an index of other bitcoins. Bitcoins. Eo, edthat was the c tilly, there. The most nominations, each with 12. Some of the shows include the crown,. In the meantime, hulu got three nominations. A music Identification Service is acquired, shazam. Next. This is bloomberg. Host apple has confirmed that they will acquire a music Identification Service that has found struggles in monetization. This is significantly less than efforts in 2016. Joining us now is our bloomberg tech editor and still with us is bob odonnell. Mark, why are they buying shazam . I dont know. They have integrated with siri. The name of aou song. Why do they want it . It is data. This gives another purpose. Maybe that will close out android. We will see. You have other companies that are trying to purchase shazam, but shazam is a key component. A competitor if purchases shazam and apple does not have the partnership anymore . They could lose the data. From a feature perspective, there is not much it can add that they already had. In terms of integrating into apple music. They could make a social functionality, the most tagged songs, a particular song they get so many hits, they could push it up the charts, but there arent many other ways to integrate this. Has become important to the apple bottomline. We have this chart here and you can see how apples music revenue has climbed. Bob, what do you make of the fact that apple is doing this . Reach ay, it didnt potential that some investors expected this to. Two things. Theyre trying to find a way to beef up whatever they can. They have the capability, but they need to make sure that they can control this and music is the top application. Smartthe toprequest of speakers. The thing we think about with shazam, it was the earliest ai functionn with pattern recognition at a pretty impressive level. Aiy want to bring bthe into other places. The valuation question is around ai as a product, but it is more of a feature. Host there are questions as to whether apple will use is exclusively or whether they will do a deal with other entities. I could see this going both ways. Onle music is built music and they have a team of android app developers. They might want to make this exclusive. I think that we will know in a few months. Sticking with are me. Coming up, voiceactivated speakers are expected to be a top holiday gift, but some are wary about privacy. The founders of gemini will be on the show. You can catch that. This is bloomberg. Host a german shoe manufacturer is breaking up with amazon and says they will. Through themucts in europe and alleges that the company is sitting on their counterfeity allow shoes to get sold. Breakdown in an trust. Concerns, a speaker poses a threat to user privacy. Devices contain microphones that collect data and send it back to the parent company. They say that the data is only collected one keywords are smoking. Joining me is our guest for the and a writer who wrote about this. User are concerns about privacy that could be exaggerated. There was an article that said do not by anyone an echo. Doctorow said that this is normalizing surveillance and i have the echo in every room of my house. If you look at the privacy of her cautions these devices, it is explicit and it is not recording everything. Aere is a passive mode aand wake mode. Say that weto cannot conjure hypothetical scenarios that get us scared. We have had situations where trust has been undermined by devices getting hacked. What if Amazon Corporate says they are not listening, but somebody is . They are not letting third loading data onto the system. It is not like the android or macos. It has not happened yet. Researchers have demonstrated vulnerability, but they had to go in and destroyed the device. Ourave to suspend disbelief. Host it should we be scared or should we trust . Guest we should be cautious, but lets not forget about the cameras. There have been many examples like this. This is not different, in that regard. Because these speakers are popular, it impacts a group of people. As the technology improves, we are going to have less going up to the cloud. Right now, one of the problems with the speakers is that they can only do one request. Do a conversation, they need more intelligence locally in order to have that conversation. Over time, a little bit less would go to the cloud. As the technology evolves, we will see that. Host there are conversations that go back to headquarters. Amazon does not want to necessarily hear all of that. Can we be thinking about what we are saying to alexa . Reporter you are running an illegal business from your home or committing crimes, do not say and do those things. Authorities could get a wiretap to get into these devices. We have not seen that yet and we dont know about that. I would suggest they would resist that and change the nature of the device. You know when it close. This falldoes with the kindle and the amazon phone . Will be transformational question mark it will be transformational . It will be a way to extend into the home. Fire were attempts that were promiscuous in their failures. Thank you. Great to have you here on the show. That will do it for this edition of Bloomberg Technology and we are Live Streaming on twitter. Check us out weekdays. That is all for now. This is bloomberg. 7 00 a. M. In hong kong. I am yvonne man. Welcome to daybreak asia. The asiapacific markets at the building gains on wall street. Oil at its highest for 2. 5 years. Brent jobs shutdown. Is just after six ago p. M. In new york. Bitcoin celebrate its first day of futures trade