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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2017-07-06]
BTC Price: 2608.56, BTC RSI: 53.81
Gold Price: 1222.20, Gold RSI: 34.87
Oil Price: 45.52, Oil RSI: 49.10
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Blog Coverage British Oil Company Expected to Sign Azerbaijan Contract by June 2017; Existing Deal to Expire in 2024: Upcoming AWSCoverage onAegean Marine Petroleum Network Post-Earnings Results
LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / June 2, 2017 /Active Wall St. blog coverage looks at the headline from British Oil Company BP PLC (NYSE:BP).The Company is expected to sign a contract at the end of June extending its production sharing deal for Azerbaijan's biggest oilfields until 2050, according to the Company's regional head's statement on May 31, 2017. With the existing deal set to expire in 2024, BP-led consortium and Azeri state oil firm SOCAR signed a letter of intent in December to continue developing the giant Azeri-Chirag-Guneshly (ACG) offshore fields until 2050. Register with us now for your free membership and blog access at:http://www.activewallst.com/register/.
One of BP PLC's competitors within the Major Integrated Oil & Gas space, Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. (NYSE:ANW), announced on May 23, 2017, its financial and operating results for Q1 2017 which ended on March 31, 2017. AWS will be initiating a research report on Aegean Marine Petroleum Network in the coming days.
Today, AWS is promoting its blog coverage onBP; touching onANW. Get all of our free blog coverage and more by clicking on the link below:http://www.activewallst.com/register/.
The Development Agreement
On December 23, 2016, The State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and the Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC) signed a letter of intent for the future development of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. The agreement included the development of the field until 2050 and will add significant resource potential to the middle of the century.
The ACG Field
ACG is a giant field located about 100 km east of Baku. The field covers an area of more than 432 square kilometers and is the biggest producing oil field in the Caspian Sea. The depth of the reservoir is around 2000-3500 meters and lies in the water depth of between 120 to 170 meters. The existing ACG PSA was signed in September 1994 for 30 years. Oil Production from the field began in November 1997, and as of December 23, 2016, the field has produced more than 3 billion barrels of oil with around $33 billion of investment.
There are six producing platforms on ACG, linked with a world-class onshore terminal in Sangachai near Baku. From the terminal, oil is exported to world markets primarily by the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil export pipeline and the Western Export Pipeline to Supsa. British Oil Company currently is the operator acting on the behalf of AIOC and the Contractor Parties to the ACG Production Sharing Agreement.
The BP-ACG Relation
BP first arrived in Azerbaijan in June 1992, when it opened its first office in Baku. In the last 25 years, BP has partnered with the Government of Azerbaijan and its co-venturers, BP-operated projects, Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG), Shah Deniz, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) and South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP), have contributed to the development of the Caspian Sea as a modern hydrocarbon province.
In the Caspian, the Company operated two giant fields, namely, the ACG (Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli) and SD (Shah Deniz) gas fields. These fields are directly linked to the local and international markets via an expansive export system, including a complex subsea pipeline infrastructure and connected with the Sangachai terminal, three export pipelines with a total length of 3,300 km connected with marine export systems on the Black and Mediterranean Seas.
Azeri's President, Ilham Aliyev, stated on May 31, 2017, that he expected the contract to be signed soon, speculating the final intent to reach an agreement with investors at the Caspian Oil & Gas Conference in Baku.
Stock Performance
On Thursday, June 01, 2017, the stock closed the trading session at $36.24, marginally up 0.25% from its previous closing price of $36.15. A total volume of 6.48 million shares have exchanged hands, which was higher than the 3-month average volume of 6.43 million shares. BP PLC's stock price surged 6.21% in the last three months, 8.11% in the past six months, and 15.63% in the previous twelve months. The stock is trading at a PE ratio of 55.16 and has a dividend yield of 6.62%. The stock currently has a market cap of $120.21 billion.
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SOURCE:Active Wall Street || Watch That Globe-Circling, Business-Crushing Malware Wreck Computers: Curious to know what Tuesday’s global cyber attack looked like inside the businesses that found themselves victim ? Wonder no longer. Daniel White, a cartographer who, in his spare time, runs a popular YouTube channel about computer viruses, published a video demonstration of the malicious software in action on Thursday. The demo had about 30,000 views at press time. In the video, White, who goes by the online alias “danooct1,” spins up four virtual machines--computer simulations within another computer--each running versions of Windows and connected on a local area network. The simulations contain copies of identical “dummy files,” which White uses to show the progress of the attack. Get Data Sheet , Fortune's technology newsletter. Within minutes of setting the malware into motion on one of the machines, the infection spreads across the network and runs its destructive course. One by one, White’s dummy files are encrypted, rendering them into inaccessible, alphanumeric gobbledygook. The malware--referred to as Petya, NotPetya, ExPet, Nyetya, along with other names--then forces the systems to reboot. When the computers come back online, their screens display false notes about “repairing” file systems until, ultimately, ransom notes demanding $300 in Bitcoin appear. You can watch the full video below. The cyber attack, which initially spread out of Ukraine , took down corporate networks at the Danish shipping company Maersk , American drugmaker Merck , Russian oil giant Rosneft, British ad agency WPP, and British law firm DLA Piper , among other places. To spread the attack far and wide, the perpetrators apparently used hijacked auto-update software from a Ukrainian firm, leaked U.S. National Security Agency hacking tools, flaws in Microsoft Windows, and common IT administrative software, researchers has said. There has been some contention among security researchers about whether to classify this malware as a buggy piece of ransomware that, purposely or not, fails to provide a way for people to restore their systems, or as a “wiper,” intended from the outset to raze these networks. Both sides agree, however, that once infected, victims have little hope of recovering their data--even if they pay the demanded sum . Story continues See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com 3 Ways to Protect Your Data in the Cloud India Wants a Discount on Microsoft Windows Tech Giants Have Been Lobbying to Soften a Ban on Working With Russian Spies Global Shipping Giant Maersk Is Reeling From the Ransomware Fallout Police Suggest Petya Ransomware Attack Was a Distraction || We went inside an Amazon Prime Now hub to learn how Amazon does 2-hour delivery: Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is quietly expanding Prime Now, its free 2-hour delivery service. After originally launching in one zip code in New York City back in 2014, it's now available in more than 45 cities in eight countries. This year alone, it's added 14 more cities. But don't feel bad if you haven't heard about it yet. Amazon may be keeping it under wraps as it ramps up its offerings and perfects its fastest delivery method yet. After all, you won't find the service on the Amazon mobile app — you'll have to give up some screen real estate for its "Prime Now" app. We headed inside one of Amazon's Prime Now hubs in the company's hometown, Seattle, to see for ourselves what free 2-hour delivery looks like. What we found was surprising efficiency, a whole lot of randomness and some hints as to what Seattle consumers are shopping for. And, possibility, Amazon's vision for the future of ecommerce and retail. The Prime Now service offers a smaller selection of mostly household items available on Amazon.com to Prime members with a free 2-hour delivery window. It's no small feat considering there are tens of thousands of products available, as well as selections from local restaurants and stores. There's even ice cream and chilled wine on offer. Unlike Amazon.com's fulfillment centers, which are over a million square feet and house millions of items, Prime Now hubs are closer to city centers and about 30 to 50 square feet on average. Humans — not robots — manually pick out the items in an order from rows of shelving and bins, using internal Amazon systems that have cataloged where every item is stored. Amazon can also tells a "picker" the most efficient route to getting all those items as quickly as possible. When we visited the hub, around noon, there were only a few orders to fill and everything seemed to run smoothly. We didn't get to see how the hub handled a rush of orders or bottlenecks, which typically happen around 6 or 7pm when customers order items or groceries to arrive as they get home. More From CNBC Gianforte win means two of Montana's three congressional reps have Oracle ties Facebook is making a big push this summer to sell ads to drugmakers Bitcoin rival Ripple is sitting on many billions of dollars worth of currency || Huge Ransomware Attack Stopped by Accident: What to Do: Update 5/14 5:17 pm PT: Microsoft has criticized the NSA for what it says is the agency's role in weaponizing a weakness in Windows and allowing it to be stolen by hackers, which was reportedly used to launch the largest ransomware attack in history. As reported by the Los Angeles Times , "This attack provides yet another example of why the stockpiling of vulnerabilities by governments is such a problem," wrote Brad Smith, president and chief legal officer at Microsoft. A massive ransomware attack spread across the globe May 12, with reports of computer systems being locked up in Russia, Western Europe, East Asia and North America. British hospitals and a Spanish telecom were the most visible victims, but the largest number of attacks seemed to be in Russia. A WanaCrypt ransom screen, as captured by French malware hunter Kafeine. Credit: Kafeine A WanaCrypt ransom screen, as captured by French malware hunter Kafeine. Credit: Kafeine What you need to do: If you've not installed the March, April or May Windows Update bundles, do so immediately. It's worth shutting down your system for a few minutes if it gives you a chance to avoid this. If you're still using Windows XP, you're out of luck, but the March and April update bundles should be available to Windows Vista. ( UPDATE : Microsoft has released a patch for Windows XP and its server counterpart Windows 2003.) The ransomware, variably called WanaCryptor 2.0, WannaCry, WCry or WCrypt, seemed to be using an exploit that was developed years ago by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and revealed publicly in a data dump last month. Microsoft secretly patched Windows against the attack in March, but many systems in large organizations had apparently not been updated. MORE: What Is Ransomware and How Can I Protect Myself? Global impact Several hospital systems in England reported that their computer screens displayed a message demanding $300 in Bitcoin. The Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica had its systems brought down by ransomware that showed a ransom screen nearly identical to those hitting English hospitals, according to a report by the newspaper El Mundo . A live interactive map posted on the British tech blog MalwareTech showed infections in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and most countries in South America and East Asia. But Europe, including Russia, appeared to have the densest concentration. ZDNet reported that at least 16 National Health Service (NHS) hospital systems in England had been hit by the ransomware, and that the infections had appeared in Scotland as well. The BBC raised that number to 25 hospital systems, and said that Prime Minister Theresa May was being kept informed of the situation. English and Scottish hospitals were reportedly postponing appointments and directing patients to unaffected facilities. Story continues Russian antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab said it had detected more than 45,000 infections in 74 countries, the vast majority of them in Russia. The Czech antivirus firm Avast detected 57,000, with the worst-affected countries being Russia, Ukraine and Taiwan. England's NHS and Spain's computer emergency response team each issued public warnings. A Twitter feed purportedly belonging to a hacktivist group calling itself SpamTech claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that "The 'WannaCry/WCRY' was created by one of our members. We've taken over NHS computers and major engineering operation components." The group didn't offer any proof to verify its claim. Spreads on its own The ransomware appears to be "wormable." In other words, it's spreading from system to system by itself as a computer worm , rather than relying on human interaction as a Trojan horse , or infecting desktop applications like a traditional computer virus . "Something like this is incredibly significant," tweeted the blogger behind MalwareTech . "We've not seen P2P" — malware jumping from one "peer" computer to another — "spreading on PC via exploits at this scale in nearly a decade." Other experts compared today's infection to the Conficker worm, which continues to attack computer systems around the world despite the fact that the security flaw it exploits was patched in 2008. However, Conficker does no immediate damage and hides so that it can use infected computers as part of a "botnet" to send out spam and fake antivirus software. The worm spreading today immediately alerts the user to its presence, displaying two countdown clocks: the first tied to a deadline when the ransom amount will increase, the second to when all encrypted files will be deleted. MORE: Best Identity-Protection Services The $300 ransom demand — in some instances, $600 — indicates that hospitals and other large organizations do not appear to have been selected as targets, but rather infected randomly. In previous ransomware attacks against large institutions, cybercriminals running the malware have raised ransom demands into tens of thousands of dollars once they've realized the value of the infected systems. Image, movie, email, database and Microsoft Office files were among those targeted for encryption, as were files containing encryption keys. Some of the victims seemed to be paying up, with two of the Bitcoin wallets — here and here — specified as recipients by the ransomware screens reporting 16 payments today totaling about $4,675. "One thing is for sure," said Rich Barger, director of cyber research at database-software maker Splunk, in a statement. "Somebody is going to get very rich, or spend a very long amount of time in jail." Ties to the NSA At least two reports said the WanaCryptor ransomware was using an NSA exploit called ETERNALBLUE that was revealed in a cache of files posted online by WikiLeaks a group calling itself ShadowBrokers on April 14. Encrypted files are given the file suffix ".wncry". ETERNALBLUE exploits a previously unknown flaw in Microsoft's Server Message Block (SMB) protocol. (SMB lets machines on the same network share access to printers, files, network ports and other objects) The ShadowBrokers last summer tried and failed to auction off a large amount of information the group said had been stolen from the NSA. The public disclosure of ETERNALBLUE's code by the ShadowBrokers caused a moderate amount of panic in the information-security world, until Microsoft revealed the day after the dump that it had quietly patched the SMB flaw — and several others mentioned in the dump — a month earlier, with the March "Patch Tuesday" security updates. UPDATE: The ransomware attack was stopped dead in its tracks Friday by a British information-security professional, who tripped an unintentional "kill switch" in WanaCryptor, more or less by accident. The pseudonymous IT pro, who blogs under the name MalwareTech, analyzed WanaCryptor's code and noticed that it reached out to a server at a specific web address. He saw that there was no actual server at that URL, so he bought the address name — in technical terms, he registered the domain — and set up his own "sinkhole' server to see how many infected computers would connect to it. Much to MalwareTech's surprise, the ransomware samples he and other researchers were analyzing suddenly stopped encrypting infected machines. "I will confess that I was unaware registering the domain would stop the malware until after I registered it, so initially it was accidental," MalwareTech tweeted late on Friday. "So I can only add 'accidentally stopped an international cyber attack' to my résumé." In a detailed blog posting , MalwareTech explains that the "kill switch" may have been designed to hide the ransomware from antivirus researchers, who often run malware in restricted environments that simulate internet connections. The criminals behind the malware may not have thought that anyone would register that domain. Microsoft also took the trouble to release patches against the ransomware for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 , both of which stopped receiving regular security patches in 2014. It's likely that many of the British hospitals hit were still running Windows XP, upon which many legacy medical devices depend. If you haven't updated your systems to prevent infection by WanaCryptor, do so immediately, because MalwareTech's kill switch is not a permanent solution. "One thing that is very important to note is our sinkholing only stops this sample," he noted in his blog posting. "There is nothing stopping them removing the domain check and trying again, so it’s incredibly important that any unpatched systems are patched as quickly as possible." See also : 25 Things You Didn't Know Could Be Hacked Best Antivirus Protection for PC, Mac and Android 10 Worst Data Breaches of All Time Your Router's Security Stinks: Here's How to Fix It View comments || Hackers mint crypto-currency with technique in global 'ransomware' attack: By Joseph Menn SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A computer virus that exploits the same vulnerability as the global "ransomware" attack has latched on to more than 200,000 computers and begun manufacturing digital currency, experts said Tuesday. The development adds to the dangers exposed by the WannaCry ransomware and provides another piece of evidence that a North Korea-linked hacking group may be behind the attacks. WannaCry, developed in part with hacking techniques that were either stolen or leaked from the U.S. National Security Agency, has infected more than 300,000 computers since Friday, locking up their data and demanding a ransom payment to release it. Researchers at security firm Proofpoint said the related attack, which installs a currency “miner” that generates digital cash, began infecting machines in late April or early May but had not been previously discovered because it allows computers to operate while creating the digital cash in the background. Proofpoint executive Ryan Kalember said the authors may have earned more than $1 million, far more than has been generated by the WannaCry attack. Like WannaCry, the program attacks via a flaw in Microsoft Corp's Windows software. That hole has been patched in newer versions of Windows, though not all companies and individuals have installed the patches. Digital currencies based on a technology known as blockchain operate by enabling the creation of new currency in exchange for solving complex math problems. Digital "miners" run specially configured computers to solve the problems and generate currency, whose value ultimate fluctuates according to market demand. Bitcoin is by far the largest such currency, but the new mining program is not aimed at Bitcoin. Rather it targeted a newer digital currency, called Monero, that experts say has been pursued recently by North Korean-linked hackers. North Korea has attracted attention in the WannaCry case for a number of reasons, including the fact that early versions of the WannaCry code used some programming lines that had previously been spotted in attacks by Lazarus Group, a hacking group associated with North Korea. Security researchers and U.S. intelligence officials have cautioned that such evidence is not conclusive, and the investigation is in its early stages. In early April, security firm Kaspersky Lab said that a wing of Lazarus devoted to financial gain had installed software to mine Monero on a server in Europe. A new campaign to mine the same currency, using the same Windows weakness as WannaCry, could be coincidence, or it could suggest that North Korea was responsible for both the ransomware and the currency mining. Kalember said he believes the similarities in the European case, WannaCry and the miner were "more than coincidence." "It's a really strong overlap," he said. "It's not like you see Monero miners all over the world." The North Korean mission to the United Nations could not be reached for comment, while the FBI declined to comment. (Fixes spelling of digital currency in paragraphs 11 and 14 to Monero not Moreno.) (Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Cynthia Osterman) || Bitcoin surges to all-time high above $1,700: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Digital currency bitcoin hit a record high on Tuesday as demand for crypto-assets soared with the creation of new tokens to raise funding for start-ups using blockchain technology. Blockchain, the underlying technology behind bitcoin, is a financial ledger maintained by a network of computers that can track the movement of any asset wthout the need for a central regulator Bitcoin hit a record $1,760.40 (BTC=BTSP) on the BitStamp platform and was last at $1,747.89, up 6 percent on the day. So far this year, bitcoin has surged nearly 80 percent. Bitcoin's market capitalization on Tuesday soared to $52.5 billion, according to data from coinmarketcap.com. Aside from being an asset that can be traded on exchanges like stocks and bonds, bitcoin has become a mode of payment for some retailers, such as Overstock.com, and a way to transfer funds without the need for a third party. "We have an influx of new capital in the space and that capital goes back and forth among crypto-assets and bitcoin," said Chris Burniske, blockchain products leader at ARK Invest in New York, which manages exchange-traded funds. "Bitcoin is still the main liquidity provider in the market and people use it to buy other crypto-assets." That said, Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari has been skeptical about bitcoin's outlook, noting that blockchain has more potential for being adopted in the future than the digital currency itself. "I think sentiment has shifted in the markets, in the Fed," Kashkari said at a technology conference in Minneapolis on Tuesday. Still, a big part of bitcoin's recent surge is the increase in demand for other digital currencies being sold in so-called "initial coin offerings," or ICOs. Under ICOs, blockchain start-ups sell their tokens directly to the public to raise capital without any regulatory oversight. At least 40 start-ups have launched an ICO this year, according Smith + Crown data. Story continues "For the first time in financial history, founders can access capital from both large and small investors armed with nothing more than a slick website," said Arthur Hayes, chief executive at crypto-currency derivatives trading platform BitMEX. Analysts say the foundation for bitcoin's gains was set last July in a process called "halving," in which rewards offered to bitcoin miners shrink. That has constrained bitcoin's supply. Bitcoin relies on so-called "mining" computers that validate blocks of transactions by competing to solve mathematical puzzles every 10 minutes. In return, the first to solve the puzzle and clear the transaction is rewarded with new bitcoins. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Dan Grebler) || Security Researchers Release Free Data Recovery Tools for Ransomware Attack Victims: Victims of last weekend’s massive worldwide ransomware attack are getting some late relief: Security researchers have published two tools capable of unlocking the data held ransom on at least some of the affected Windows PCs. However, for many, these tools may come too late. A week ago, hackers were able to infect more than 200,000 computers across the globe, and encrypt data stored on the affected machines. The ransomware, dubbed WannaCry , would then ask users to send hackers money with the crypto-currency Bitcoin in order to get access to their data again. WannaCry primarily targeted older versions of Microsoft’s Windows operating system, and led to outages at U.K. health care facilities, public transit providers across Europe and even the Russian Interior Ministry. Now, art least some of the affected users may be getting some help. The newly-released tools, dubbed WannaKey and WannaKiwi , make use of another security flaw in older versions of Windows to recover the prime numbers used to encrypt the data from an affected computer’s memory. If those numbers are found, the software can recreate the encryption key — essentially the secret pass phrase — and decrypt the data. However, the two tools only work if the infected computers haven’t been turned off, or rebooted. Running a lot of other apps that take up memory could also have erased the prime numbers. All of this means that only a few users are going to benefit from the relief — but the technology behind it could likely be used to help other ransomware victims in the future. Get more from Variety and Variety411 : Follow us on Twitter , Facebook , Newsletter || The Samsung Galaxy S8 Next Generation Smartphone Now Available to Flow Customers Across the Caribbean: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - May 17, 2017) - A new galaxy of smartphones has just opened up for Flow customers as the Samsung S8hitsFlowretail storesaround the region.
"It's the smartphone every customer ever wanted," said James McElvanna - VP Products atCable and Wireless, operator of Flow.
"The Galaxy S8 is more than just a smart phone; it's the new wonder next-generation device that totally transforms user experience. It's great for social media, taking selfies, allowing access to the latest apps, playing games, whatever users desire, and above all it's perfect for work too. The Samsung Galaxy S8 does it all," McElvanna also said.
With unmatched features the S8 iswater and dust resistant, supports MicroSD cards up to 256 GB, and has an "always-on" display capability that comes with an advanced camera system. The S8 has an innovative "Infinity Display" continuous screen that has no edges, buttons or harsh angles, which makes for a wonderfully ergonomic and visually rich user experience.
McElvanna added that, "Along with its built-in features, the S8 can also be paired with a bunch of additional Samsung devices, such as theGear 360camera or theSamsung DeX, which essentially transform your cell phone into a computer. Android lovers will go gaga for the S8."
The Samsung Galaxy S8 comes in two sizes -- the 5.8-inch Galaxy S8 or the 6.2-inch Galaxy S8+ which come in two colours -- Orchid Gray and Midnight Black. All versions feature the durable and high-quality Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5 on both the front and back which makes for a more durable screen.
Along with the new Galaxy S8,Flow offers a range of other Samsung devicestoo, including the S7, S7 Edge, J7, J2 Prime, the Galaxy A3, A5 and the Samsung J1 Ace.
Editor's Note:
Product Specifications - Samsung Galaxy S8:
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About C&W Communications
C&W is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, C&W provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers.
C&W also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network -- the most extensive in the region.
Learn more athttp://www.cwc.com/, or follow C&W onLinkedIn,FacebookorTwitter.
About Liberty Global
Liberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enable us to develop market-leading products delivered through next generation networks that connect our 25 million customers who subscribe to over 50 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve over 10 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across 6 million access points.
Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group (NASDAQ:LBTYA) (NASDAQ:LBTYB) (NASDAQ:LBTYK) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group (NASDAQ:LILA) and (NASDAQ:LILAK) (OTC PINK:LILAB), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Liberty Global Group operates in 11 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The Liberty Global Group also owns 50% of VodafoneZiggo, a Dutch joint venture, which has 4 million customers, 10 million fixed-line subscribers and 5 million mobile subscribers. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Más Móvil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a sub-sea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets.
For more information, please visitwww.libertyglobal.com || Goldman Sachs: Bitcoin is looking 'heavy': Bitcoin has had a blistering start to 2017. It's up about 180% so far this year. However, its near-term outlook isn't looking so hot, according to a note released on Monday by Goldman Sachs head of technical strategy Sheba Jafari.
"The market has come close (enough?) to reaching its extended (2.618) target for a 3rd of V-waves from the inception low at 3,134," Jafari wrote. "It’s on track to forming a bearish key day reversal if today’s close settles below 2,749."
Bitcoin hit a lifetime high of nearly $3,000 a coinon Monday, but was unable to hold onto those gains. The cryptocurrency finished the day at $2,599, well below they key technical threshold of $2749 that was singled out by Jafari.
Now, traders should be paying close attention to $2,475 on a weekly basis, as a close below there would cause even more damage to the technical picture, according to Jafari. "Both daily/weekly oscillators are diverging negatively. All of this to say that the balance of signals are looking broadly heavy."
Jafari isn't alone in calling for at least a near-term top in the cryptocurrency. "I think it's in a bubble," tech billionaireMark Cubantweeted last Tuesday. "I just don't know when or how much it corrects. When everyone is bragging about how easy they are making $=bubble." Cuban did not say how far he thought bitcoin would fall.
So where will bitcoin go from here? "Wary of a near-term top ahead of 3,134, Jafari concludes. "Consider re-establishing bullish exposure between 2,330 and no lower than 1,915."
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• Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein tweets the US needs to 'keep up' with China's infrastructure — the day after Trump kicks off infrastructure week
• MARK CUBAN: Bitcoin is a 'bubble'
• Cash-rich companies are king in the stock market right now || Amazon's Alexa Calling is like a Jetsons version of the home phone: For what was originally supposed to be a mail-order bookstore, Amazon (AMZN) sure is doing a lot of trailblazing.
I mean, Amazon came up with the idea for the Echo—the cylinder that serves as a sort of Siri for the home—all by itself. It invented that product category, puttingGoogle,Apple,Microsoft, andSamsunginto the awkward position of being copycat followers.
Now thatmore than 10 million people have Echo devices, Amazon has just taken another trailblazing step:With a free software update, it has turned them into hands-free speakerphones. Calling Chris is as easy as saying “Alexa, call Chris” from across the room, even if your hands are goopy with flour or you can’t find your phone.
Over at Chris’s house, the ring atop the Echo pulses green, a pleasant chime sounds, and Alexa announces, “David [or whatever your name is] would like to talk.”
Chris says “Alexa, answer,” and the conversation begins.
At the end of the call, either one of you can say “Alexa, hang up” to end the chat.
So whom can you call? Anyone in your phone’s address book who has either an Amazon Echo or the free Alexa app. That’s right: The Alexa app is now an internet calling app, like Skype or FaceTime Audio. Like them, it’s free and doesn’t use any cellular calling minutes. [Update: Not to be outdone, Google has now announced thatit will bring hands-free calling to Google Home, its Alexa clone—except those calls go to regularphone numbers. No charge.]
By the way: Although the big-ticket item here is hands-free speakerphone calls, there’s also what Amazon calls messaging. It’s not what you’d think, though. It’s not sending text messages, exactly. And it’s not voicemail, exactly. It’s a cool kind of hybrid.
You say “Alexa, send a message to Chris,” and you’re invited to speak a message. You’re sending an audio recording. The ring at the top of Chris’s Echo glows green and chimes once; when Chris says, “Alexa, play my message,” your recording plays back.
But if Chris opens the Alexa app, your message also plays there, with an automated typed transcript. So it’skindalike a text message in that way. Within the app, you can also send typed texts.
It’s alsokindalike voicemail, in that you can leave a recorded message for someone—but the difference is thatyou’rein control. You decide to leave a message before you even call, rather than just hoping the other person doesn’t answer.
At its finest, Alexa Calling is like a Jetsons version of the home phone. Not only is it cordless, it’s phoneless. You don’t have to find a handset, pick it up, press buttons, hold it up to your head; you just speak into the room. You may sound pretty echoey to the other guy if you’re really far from the Echo—but if you’re within a few feet, it sounds great.
And of course, if you’re using your phone instead of an Echo, it sounds just like a speakerphone call.
It’s likely that there are some people you contact often enough that the Alexa calling thing could be handy—a sibling, parent, child, boss, lover. Alexa calling is the communication equivalent of the One-Click Buy button on Amazon.com: It eliminates so many steps, so muchfriction,that you’re inclined to use it more.
There are plenty of limitations and footnotes to Alexa calling. These don’t mean that Alexa calling is worse than our existing communication methods—only that it’s got a different set of pros and cons.
• Limited calling circle.You can call only people who have an Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, or the free Alexa app. You can’t call someone who has the battery-operated Echo Tap, and you can’t call someone’s regular cellphone number. You can call only someone who’s (a) in your phone’s Contacts, and (b) has made himself available for Alexa calling. (The setup takes about five taps, and requires typing in a security code that Amazon sends you via text message.) So it’s a pretty small circle—but then again, Skype, WhatsApp, FaceTime, and Snapchat started with small networks, too.
• Everything rings simultaneously.When someone calls, all your Echos ring at once,andyour phone app “rings.” In other words, you can’t use the Echos as an intercom within your house—but Amazon tells me that feature is coming soon. Very cool.
• It’s all speakerphone.If you have an Echo, all calls are all speakerphone, all the time. Any family member can hear. Any family member can play back the messages, too. So, you know: sext with care.
Finally, at the moment, there’s no way to block incoming calls from specific people in your Contacts. You can turn on Do Not Disturb forallcalls, but you can’t block just one idiot who’s abusing the privilege.
The tech blogs are having a field day with this one, calling it a “glaring security hole” and conjuring up the prospect of unwanted incoming calls from abusive ex-boyfriends and creepy pedophiles.
Frankly, though, the likelihood of this kind of abuse seems pretty slim. Your ex would have to know that you’ve got Alexa calling installed; would have to turn it on himself; would have to call you; and, upon hearing Alexa announce, “So and so would like to talk,” you’d have to say, “Alexa, answer.”
Above all, you’d have to keep your exin your Contacts.And why would you do that?
In any case, Amazon says that it will add the option to block people within a few weeks.
I’m already using Alexa calling for quick check-ins with my wife, my mom, and my assistant; it’s just super cool, easy, quick, and free. It’s got elements of a home phone line, a cellphone on speaker, and a walkie-talkie—but it’s not any of those.
Amazon has big plans for Alexa calling. We know that you’ll soon be able to direct calls to specific people or devices within your house. We know that you’ll be able to makevideocalls using the same steps, once the new Echo Look becomes available in June. (It’s an Echo with a screen and camera.) We know that, with permission from both parties, you’ll be able to “drop in” to peek through another Echo’s camera at any time—to keep an eye on an elderly relative, for example.
And I’ll bet that soon, Alexa will recognize who in your household is speaking (as Google Home does now), and will therefore maintain different message “boxes” for different people.
In other words, I love Alexa calling. It’s free, it’s well conceived, it works flawlessly, and it’s only beginning.
More from David Pogue:
Inside the World’s Greatest Scavenger Hunt:Part 1•Part 2•Part 3•Part 4•Part 5
The David Pogue Review: Windows 10 Creators Update
Now I get it: Bitcoin
David Pogue tested 47 pill-reminder apps to find the best one
David Pogue’s search for the world’s best air-travel app
The little-known iPhone feature that lets blind people see with their fingers
David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes nontoxic comments in the comments section below. On the web, he’sdavidpogue.com. On Twitter, he’s@pogue. On email, he’s [email protected]. You canread all his articles here, or you can sign up toget his columns by email.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
One Bitcoin now worth $1680.60@bitstamp. High $1826.00. Low $1601.46. Market Cap $27.438 Billion #bitcoin || BTC Real Time Price: ThePriceOfBTC: $2433.06 #bitstamp;
$2439.53 #GDAX;
$2435.48 #gemini;
$2413.22 #kraken;
$2369.00 #btce;
$2435.31 #itBit… || 1 EGC Price: Bittrex 0.00002700 BTC #EGC #EverGreenCoin http://bittrex.com/Market/Index?MarketName=BTC-EGC … 2017-05-08 09:00 (EST) pic.twitter.com/S8UuyqVg5j || 1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$1847.01/$1848.96 #Bitstamp
$1767.00/$1768.89 #BTCe
⇢$-81.96/$-78.12
$1842.29/$1861.22 #Coinbase
⇢$-6.67/$14.21 || Won 0.01 in #bitcoin lottery win #BTC http://bit.ly/kAjX7821 Free ticket $ltc $xrp $xmr $dgb $str $sia $eth $zec $crypto #doge 2:14:40 || #Monacoin 72.3円↑[Zaif] -円→[もなとれ]
#NEM #XEM 21.9989円↓[Zaif]
#Bitcoin 307,425円↓[Zaif]
06/23 22:00
口座開設はこちらで！ https://goo.gl/31dyoO || @Bitcoin_Louie About to lose his mind! Hey @Barnacules found your Mining rig solution!
http://wccftech.com/nvidia-pascal-gpu-cryptocurrency-mining-price-specs-performance-detailed/ …
Hopefully article is accurate || #Bitcoin Exchange Gemini Leverages Banking Charter in Washington State Launch - http://cryptscout.com/news-portal/?id=5&ref=5136&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=auto&utm_campaign=news-portal … || I'm Growing #bitcoin daily with BitClub. Distruptive #Fintech opportunity http://blogbizbuzz.com/BitClub/ pic.twitter.com/tBlvEaPIpQ || Y pensar que el bitcoin era sueño cibernético hace un par de años atrás
|
Trend: down || Prices: 2518.66, 2571.34, 2518.44, 2372.56, 2337.79, 2398.84, 2357.90, 2233.34, 1998.86, 1929.82
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2017-05-12]
BTC Price: 1724.24, BTC RSI: 73.39
Gold Price: 1226.20, Gold RSI: 38.29
Oil Price: 47.84, Oil RSI: 44.37
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Inside the world's greatest scavenger hunt, Part 3: GISHWHES stands for theGreatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen. Teams of 15 have one week to complete a list of 200 difficult, charitable, or hilarious tasks. They prove they’ve completed each item by submitting a photo or video of it; their $20 entry fees go to a charity, and the winning team gets a trip to an exotic location.
This is Part 3 of our five-part report on the hunt.
Part 1•Part 2• Part 3 •Part 4•Part 5
Each August, as the world’s largest scavenger hunt is under way, the general public is usually unaware—except when teams perform their tasks in public places. Recent tasks have included:
• Hug someone you love, motionless, in a very crowded location, for 20 minutes without moving—and time-lapse it.
• Stand in a crowded public place. Ask people to sign a petition to Save The Endangered Unicorns.
• Get everyone on a subway, bus, or train car to sing “Over the River and Through the Woods.” There must be at least 8 passengers (random commuters, not your friends).
But each year, the list also includes challenges to perform acts of kindness. For example:
• Write and mail a thank-you letter to a teacher or mentor from your past that you never sufficiently thanked.
• Have a tea party with a special-needs child or pediatric cancer patient, dressed as a character from “Alice in Wonderland.”
• More than 10% of veterans returning from war suffer post-traumatic stress syndrome. Post an image of you next to an armed serviceman, with you holding up a sign with a message of gratitude to them and soldiers worldwide.
But for hunt creator Misha Collins (a star of the WB series “Supernatural”), neither GISHWHES nor acting were part of his life’s original master plan.
“[After college,] my objective was to go to law school and somehow try to make a positive impact on the world,” he says. “I thought probably the best way to do that was to go into politics. This was, you know, my 20-year-old brain.
“I was interning at the White House, but I just didn’t love the machine that I saw. I was very naive. I was exposed to this weird environment of, like, nepotism and yea-saying that I wasn’t inspired by.”
So he switched paths.
“I had this great get-rich-quick/make-an-impact scheme: ‘I’ll just go to Hollywood and I’ll become an actor and I’ll get famous enough that I can then leverage that celebrity into doing things.’”
Off he went to Los Angeles. “I thought, like, I’d be the next Leonardo DiCaprio in a couple of months. It took me 10 years to get on a TV show.
“And once I’d achieved a certain modicum of, you know, C-list celebrity, that desire to try to use my celebrity for some other purpose resurfaced.”
GISHWHES was born: a list littered with acts of kindness that tens of thousands of players attempt to fulfill every August.
In the most recent hunt, item 175 is a perfect example:
“#175.According to the United Nations, 4.8 million people have fled Syria since the civil war began in 2011. Many of these families are living in tent cities with few resources and difficult lives. Let’s change the lives of one family that’s in particularly dire circumstances. The GISHWHES Item is to create a fundraising page for your team, where family, friends and others can donate.”
“We identified one particular family with a heartbreaking story. The mom had been shot in the spine tending to her garden. She was paralyzed, she’s been in a bed in this tent for two years. And we said, let’s just change this one family’s circumstances,” Collins says. “Let’s get them a house, and let’s get her medical care, and let’s pay for the kids’ school. And I woke up the next morning to see, oh my god!”
By week’s end, GISHWHES teams had raised close to $250,000.
“So we added another family, and another and another—by the end of the hunt, we materially changed the lives of four different families. We’ve been getting photos from these families, like them moving into their apartments that we just paid for. It’s just such a lovely thing to be a part of.”
For Team Raised From Perdition, though, there are 174 other items to complete if they hope to win.
My daughter, Tia, also participated in GISHWHES. Several days have passed sinceshe launched a weather balloon into space, bearing a child’s note to the universe. It came down into a nearly inaccessible Connecticut forest; she’s unable to retrieve it even after hours of searching. Item 175 is worth more points than anything else in the hunt; for her team, it will have to be marked “incomplete.”
But teammate Christine has no intention of giving up on the balloon’s precious footage. She tells Tia that she’ll just drive over to the forest to help look for it.
From Chicago.
Fifteen hours later, she, her husband Vince, and their children arrive, laden with gear. After hours of shaking, throwing things at, and yanking at trees, Christine’s 13-year-old son Josh climbs the tree. After an hour and a half, he dislodges the balloon. Item 175 is in the can!
Not everything on the GISHWHES list is as exasperating as lost space balloons. Item 15, for example, sounds like fun:
#15. This is the final showdown between the Haves and the Have-nots. Show up at Dolores Park in San Francisco, dressed either as executives or in blue-collar apparel. At exactly 12:10 PM, the ultimate water balloon battle will ensue.
Nearly a thousand Gishers show up. They stand in two long lines, facing off across the park. They’ve taken the day off from work, driven for hours, even flown to San Francisco for this battle.
At the stroke of noon, GISHWHES volunteer Tone Rawlings raises her megaphone, ready to announce the open-fire.
But at that moment, a San Francisco park ranger runs onto the field.
Ranger: “Hold on! Hold on! You can’t do this! Not without a permit! Anytime you have X amount of people in a park, you have to have a permit.”
“This is like a 10-minute situation for charity,” Tone pleads. “It’s a flash-mob type situation.”
“Yeah, you guys can’t do it without a permit.” (A CBS News camera picked up the audio.)
The two armies can’t hear this, but they see that there’s a problem. It’s not the first time that GISHWHES stunts have tested the patience of society’s overseers.
Will they be deprived of their balloon battle because of paperwork?
Suddenly, a second park manager arrives.
Incredibly, he’s persuaded. “Here’s the thing,” he says. “You have enough people to get this cleaned up?”
“I will personally guarantee it,” Tone says.
“You should have a permit. But if you can make an announcement like that, and get everyone to agree, then OK.”
Tone lifts her megaphone.
“I know and you know that you guys are going to be responsible for these pieces of balloon when this fight is over! Is that right?”
The crowd roars in agreement.
“This can’t happen…unless you guys repeat after me: I solemnly pledge to pick up every last piece of balloony plastic thing on the ground! And I will throw it all away in the proper receptacles!”
The crowd roars.
“Haves and Have-Nots… Commence the water-balloon melee!”
The battle is on.
This time, at least, the forces of merry mayhem win the day.
Part 1•Part 2• Part 3 •Part 4•Part 5
More from David Pogue:
Inside the World’s Greatest Scavenger Hunt: Part I
Inside the World’s Greatest Scavenger Hunt: Part 2
The David Pogue Review: Windows 10 Creators Update
Now I get it: Bitcoin
David Pogue tested 47 pill-reminder apps to find the best one
David Pogue’s search for the world’s best air-travel app
The little-known iPhone feature that lets blind people see with their fingers
David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes nontoxic comments in the comments section below. On the web, he’sdavidpogue.com. On Twitter, he’s@pogue. On email, he’s [email protected]. You canread all his articles here, or you can sign up toget his columns by email. || What You Must Know Before Subscribing to a VPN: When the U.S. Congress voted recently to overturn a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rule requiring internet service providers (ISPs) to get a customer's permission before selling personally identifiable information, that kicked off a land rush to find virtual private network (VPN) providers to protect consumers' online privacy. There are literally hundreds of VPNs to choose from, however, and if you're not sure what these do and what they don't do, you could easily end up with a VPN that doesn't add much to your privacy except another subscription fee. The idea of a VPN is quite simple: it provides a secure (encrypted) tunnel between your device and a website, bypassing the traffic logs kept by your ISP. For example, if your ISP is in New York City, a VPN service allows you to connect with any of several servers anywhere in the world, making it look to the website that the connection is being made from one of those servers and not the ISP you use in New York. ALSO READ: Nearly 400 2017 Data Breaches Have Exposed More Than 7 Million Records Your ISP can't keep a useful log of your VPN activity because it doesn't know who requested the data or from where the requested data is coming. But your VPN knows, and that's the first thing you want to learn about any VPN provider: does the VPN keep traffic logs and, if so, what does it do with them? Some VPNs do keep traffic logs in order to provide themselves with legal protection in the event of a government request. Others keep some minimal data in order to help maintain their servers. Still others, sadly, collect the data and sell it to third parties. Because that's what you are probably trying to avoid, read the fine print and be sure to choose a service that states categorically that it does not keep logs, making sure to specify exactly the logs they don't keep. Be especially sure that the ISP does not keep activity or connection logs. ALSO READ: 14 Million Credentials Stolen from US Universities for Sale on Dark Web Story continues A good general overview of online privacy and VPNs is posted at Krebs on Security. More comprehensive tips on selecting a VPN, with more details and a comparison chart for nearly 200 VPN providers is available at That One Privacy Site. Here's a much shorter version of some of the site's guidelines: Beware of VPN review websites, which are nearly always paid reviews. Also look more carefully at affiliate VPN programs. Be aware of where the VPN service's servers are located and where in the world you will be connecting to the VPN. Check on payment methods, such as Bitcoin, cash or anonymous gift cards, that allow you to maintain your privacy. Choose a VPN that maintains its own first-party domain name server (DNS) that doesn't leak, and check it to make sure. Choose a VPN that provides an IPv6 DNS server that is only reachable through a VPN tunnel, and then test it to make sure that's true. Choose a VPN that has strong data and handshake encryption. Deciding if you want a VPN and the features of the VPN that are most important to you will take some time, and it will come with a price of around $10 a month. It's up to you to make sure you're getting the privacy protection you're paying for. Related Articles Countries Buying the Most Weapons From the US Government States Where the Most People Have Green Cards America's Happiest (and Most Miserable) States || Bitcoin steadies after biggest three-day tumble in over two years: By Jemima Kelly LONDON (Reuters) - Bitcoin regained its footing on Monday, having suffered its heftiest falls since early 2015 between Thursday and Saturday as investors sold the digital currency on worries about its future. Having soared to an all-time high of $1,350 (BTC=BTSP) on the Bitstamp exchange on March 10, on speculation that regulators could approve the first U.S. bitcoin exchange traded fund the following day, the digital currency then slipped back. Its falls began accelerating on Thursday and it hit a five-week low of $944.36 on Saturday. But bitcoin recovered a little on Sunday and built on those gains on Monday, climbing around 2.5 percent to roughly $1,050 by 1815 GMT. Bitcoin experts said its steep losses were driven by a longstanding, and intensifying, row over whether - and how - to increase the capacity of the "blocks" that bitcoin transactions are processed in, so as to make sure there are no delays in transactions being finalised. "The bitcoin scaling debate is a risk for the network and highlights core issues in terms of governance and this is where more nimble crypto competitors see advantages in fleshing out their capabilities sooner," said Charles Hayter, CEO of digital currency analysis website Crytocompare, in London. At the same time that bitcoin was plunging, a newer, rival "cryptocurrency" was soaring: ether. The digital currency behind Ethereum - a project that some experts say holds more potential than bitcoin - has almost tripled in value this month, jumping to record highs of around $45. Some experts said traders were selling bitcoin and buying ether, which was exacerbating the falls in the original cryptocurrency. "Traders in the space are looking for better returns in the more risky and nascent cryptos such as Dash, Monero and Ethereum (and are) looking to replicate the extraordinary returns that bitcoin saw in its early days," added Hayter. U.S. regulators dashed Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss's bitcoin ambitions earlier in the month by rejecting their application to list an exchange-traded fund linked to the digital currency. (Reporting by Jemima Kelly; Editing by Alison Williams) || Yes, Some Businesses Still Run Microsoft’s Much-Maligned Windows Vista: A new survey shows that a sizable percentage of businesses are still running Vista, the problem-plagued version of Windows that launched 10 years ago andMicrosoft stopped supportingas of this week.
Some 9% of companies surveyed by business software maker Spiceworks are still running at least one instance of Windows Vista. More striking is that more than half of the businesses surveyed--52%--have at least one PC running Windows XP, an even older, albeit more respected, version of Windows. ended support of Windows XP, which debuted in 2001, in 2014.
Other Spiceworks data reveals Windows XP is running on 14% of all business PCs worldwide. Windows Vista has much lower penetration there, running on just 1% of the PCs tallied. Meanwhile, eight-year old Windows 7 runs a whopping 69% of all business PCs worldwide.
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The figures come from Spiceworks’s recent2017 OS Adoption Trendsreport, which examined anonymized data collected from “hundreds of thousands” of IT professionals who use Spiceworks software to manage their networks. The company supplemented that by surveying 461 information technology professionals.
A whopping 90% of those surveyed said they worry about the risks posed by the use of old, unsupported operating systems which are easier to attack and more susceptible to malware. That puts both corporate and personal data at risk.
It’s hardly unusual for people to put off upgrading their software. One reason is that change is hard and disruptive. Updates of one product can break other products. Another reason is that upgrades cost companies--and their employees--money and time.
But the risks of failing to update operating systems (or other software) are real. Stats like these are fodder for Microsoft , which is always pushing users to get up to date.
Last year, other Spiceworks research showed that the current Windows 10 release had been adopted by 54% of organizations surveyed, up from 38% last July.Windows 10launched in July 2015.
See original article on Fortune.com
More from Fortune.com
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• One of Twitter's Top Engineers Left the Company Last Month || There's $29.4 billion in cryptocurrencies here's which ones people are using the most: Bitcoin became the first decentralized cryptocurrency back in 2009, and ever since interest in digital currencies has exploded. According to CoinMarketCap.com, there are 796 cryptocurrencies currently trading around the world , with a combined market cap of $29,374,919,176. Of those, only 10 have a market cap of $100 million or more. Check them out: Cryptocurrency market cap chart (Business Insider/Mike Nudelman, data from CoinMarketCap.com) NOW WATCH: People are outraged by this shocking video showing a passenger forcibly dragged off a United Airlines plane More From Business Insider An under-the-radar startup is behind what might be the best watch you can buy for under $250 We just got a huge sign that the US intelligence community believes the Trump dossier is legitimate Report says North Korea stole bitcoin from South Korea for years || FIRST BITCOIN CAPITAL Corp. Subsidiary COINQX.com is First Exchange to Offer Futures Trading in XBU: VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 21, 2017 /FIRST BITCOIN CAPITAL CORP. (OTC PINK: BITCF) - CoinQx Exchange LIMITED, a wholly owned subsidiary of FIRST BITCOIN CAPITAL CORP (BITCF or the "Company"), and history's first publicly trading bitcoin business, is pleased to announce the launching of BITCOIN UNLIMITED FUTURES now trading under the symbol XBU.
Other Bitcoin exchanges are now preparing for the highly anticipated hard fork of Bitcoin into two coins, with the original to remain named as Bitcoin symbol BTC and the forked coin as an altcoin to be named Bitcoin Unlimited, symbol BTU. Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum emerged from its hard fork with the original coin renamed Ethereum Classic and their newly forked coin retaining the name of the original.
Many Bitcoin traders are anxious to begin trading in BTU. As a way to capitalize on this anxiety, and allow a mechanism to predict the BTU's future value, CONQX issued on the Bitcoin Blockchain 9,000,000 tokens known as "Bitcoin Unlimited Futures" symbol XBU. When/if BTU comes into existence, it will not be convertible or equal to XBU, however, once both BTU and XBU are trading on COINQX, they will be exchangeable by willing participants based on customers bids and asks matching.
After the hardfork is complete, XBU will continue to trade with the intention for it to survive as a third option to Bitcoin and Bitcoin Unlimited. Those currently owning BTC on CoinQx are not required to do anything regarding the upcoming hardfork, as the hardfork should only affect miners, so that owners of BTC should ultimately find the additional Bitcoin Unlimited coin in their account equal to the amount owned during the hardfork, barring any unforeseen complications.
First Bitcoin foresees the split of BTC into two coins to be not unlike that of a spin-off of a subsidiary from a public company. Owning BTC before, during, and after the split will help to ensure receipt of the additional forked coin. Whereas FINRA sets record dates and ex dividend dates for such events, no authority or procedures exists to assist owners of BTC to know when to buy, hold, and sell their coins. In this regard, the Company is planning to launch a numbering system for cryptocurrencies similar to CUSIP, as well as establishing an SRO to help the emerging industry deal with such issues.
First Bitcoin director, Patrick Dugan, commented on the pending fork, "Most likely Bitcoin Unlimited ( BU) would serve as a check to force market demands to come to the fore in Bitcoin Core, or conversely, BU could adapt Segwit. As someone who provides financial services and depends on the throughput of the Bitcoin blockchain for operations, I can say that more ruckus is preferable to the status quo."
While this newly issued coin is not directly related to the original Bitcoin or its pending hardfork, it is indirectly related by the fact that it was issued on the Bitcoin Blockchain similar to Tether, symbol USDT. As a consequence, XBU is already exchangeable on the DEX against other similar currencies, such as $USDT, $BTC, $PRES, $TESLA, $GARY, $BURN, $HILL, and $MAID viahttp://omnichest.info/mdexmarket.aspx?market=1, and will soon be tradeable against additional currencies atwww.coinqx.com.
About the Company:
First Bitcoin Capital is engaged in developing digital currencies, proprietary Blockchain technologies, and the digital currency exchange -www.CoinQX.com. We see this step as a tremendous opportunity to create further shareholder value by leveraging management's experience in developing and managing complex Blockchain technologies, developing new types of digital assets. Being the first publicly-traded cryptocurrency and blockchain-centered company (with shares both traded in the US OTC Markets as [BITCF] and as [BIT] in crypto exchanges), we want to provide our shareholders with diversified exposure to digital cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. At this time, the Company owns and operates the following digital assets:
• www.CoinQX.comcryptocurrency exchange, registered with FINCEN.
• www.iCoiNEWS.comreal time cryptocurrency and bitcoin news site.
• www.BITminer.ccproviding mining pool management services.
• www.2016coin.orgonline daily election coverage and home page for $PRES, $HILL, $GARY& $BURN -commemorative presidential election coins.
• www.bitcannpay.comOpen Loop merchant services for dispensaries.
A list of Omni protocol coins issued on the Bitcoin Blockchain owned by the Company can be accessed here:http://omnichest.info/lookupadd.aspx?address=1FwADyEvdvaLNxjN1v3q6tNJCgHEBuABrS.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors as may be disclosed in company's filings. In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, and governmental and public policy changes. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release. Such forward-looking statements are risks that are detailed in the Company's filings, which are on file atwww.OTCMarkets.com.
Contact us via:[email protected] visithttp://www.bitcoincapitalcorp.com.
SOURCE: First Bitcoin Capital Corp. || This is not normal Lloyd Blankfein on the sleepy state of markets: The U.S. stock market may be a bit too calm right now, Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) CEO Lloyd Blankfein said Tuesday. "Every time I get accustomed to low volatility, like we were towards the end of the Greenspan era, and we think we have all the levers under the control ... something erupts to remind us that the idea that anybody is in control of everything is hubris," Blankfein told CNBC's " Power Lunch " from the sidelines of the company's director symposium in Chicago. "I don't know what brings us out of the doldrums, but I do know this is not a normal resting state," he said. The CBOE Volatility Index (STOXX: .VIX) , widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market hit its lowest intraday level since December 2006 on Tuesday. Equities have been on a tear lately. Earlier on Tuesday, the S&P 500 (INDEX: .SPX) and the Nasdaq composite set new all-time highs. That said, stocks have traded in a narrow range for most of 2017. The S&P has only posted moves greater than 1 percent twice this year. "The low volatility may be a bit of a bubble of confidence, but we won't know until we know," Blankfein said. "My own expectation, which I never rely on ... is that we're muddling through. A lot can go wrong, but the base case is that things are going right," he said. Nevertheless, Blankfein believes the banking sector is equipped to deal with any trouble ahead, saying U.S. banks are overcapitalized. Banks have been some of the best-performing stocks over the past year, with the SPDR S&P Bank ETF (KBE) (NYSE Arca: KBE) rising 38 percent in that period. Also watch: Blankfein: US banks are overcapitalized now More From CNBC Bitcoin spikes to fresh record after Fed's Kashkari speaks about blockchain Bet on 'repatriation stocks,' UBS says Fed's George says balance sheet should be trimmed this year || 10 things you need to know before the opening bell: Alibaba mass wedding (Alibaba employees at a mass wedding at their headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China.Reuters/China Stringer Network) Here is what you need to know. China's bank lending heats up . Chinese banks handed out 1.1 trillion yuan ($159.4 billion) in net new loans in April, up from 1.02 trillion yuan in March, data released Friday by the People's Bank of China showed. Hong Kong's GDP crushes expectations . Hong Kong's economy grew at a 4.3% year-over-year clip in the first quarter, easily beating the 3.7% growth that economists surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting. Australia's banks had a brutal week . Australia's four major banks lost a combined $16.5 billion in market cap over the past week as they emerged as the biggest losers from the federal budget. Bitcoin has gained in 18 of the past 20 sessions . The cryptocurrency has soared 55% during its run. It holds little changed near $1,820 a coin Friday as traders await the US Securities and Exchange Commission ruling on whether the SEC will reverse its decision to reject the Winklevoss twins' exchange-traded fund. Sprint and T-Mobile are talking about a merger . The talks among Softbank, Sprint's largest shareholder, Sprint, and T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom come after consolidation in the industry was shelved for over a year until the conclusion of the April 27 government spectrum auction, Bloomberg says. Nordstrom's same-store sales miss . The high-end department store said comparable sales slipped 0.8% versus a year ago, missing the flat reading Wall Street was anticipating. Emirates says it's getting crushed by Trump's travel restrictions . The airline said profit plunged by 82% and called President Donald Trump's travel restrictions "destabilizing," Reuters says. Stock markets around the world are mixed . China's Shanghai Composite (+0.7%) led the gains in Asia, and Britain's FTSE (+0.2%) paces the advance in Europe. The S&P 500 is on track to open down 0.4% near 2,386. Earnings reporting is light. JCPenney reports ahead of the opening bell. Story continues US economic data flows. CPI and retail sales will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET before University of Michigan consumer confidence crosses the wires at 10 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is down by 2 basis points at 2.37%. More From Business Insider 10 things you need to know today 10 things you need to know today 10 things you need to know today || How to Protect Yourself as Ransomware Attack Spreads Around the Globe: Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website. Hospitals and other healthcare providers across England were forced to cancel countless appointments and divert ambulances on Friday after a massive ransomware attack crippled their computer systems. In the hours that followed, the crisis spread to facilities in at dozens of other countries, according to news reports. FedEx was one of the big corporations affected by the attack, telling NBC News that "like many other companies, FedEx is experiencing interference with some of our Windows-based systems caused by malware. We are implementing remediation steps as quickly as possible. We regret any inconvenience to our customers. Although this latest attack was massive in scope, ransomeware threats often strike the personal computers of individual consumers, too. Heres what you need to know and how to protect yourself. What is ransomware? Ransomware is a form of malware designed to steal money from individuals, businesses and other organizations by holding their data hostage. Imagine coming home to find a big padlock on your front door and a criminal standing next to it, demanding money to let you in. That's ransomware. Only instead of being locked out of your house, you're locked out of all your personal files. The next time you log on, your computer displays a ransom note saying your data has been encrypted, with instructions on how to pay to unlock it. Can hackers really make money doing this? Oh, yes. Ransomware is big business. Ransoms can range from a few hundred to thousands of dollars and are usually paid in the "virtual" currency Bitcoin, which is nearly impossible to trace. In some cases, the longer you wait to pay, the higher the ransom becomes. According to cybersecurity firm Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report released in April, the number of new ransomware strategies uncovered during 2016 more than tripled to 101, while the number of ransomware infections the company spotted jumped 36 percent. Verizon's recently released 2017 Data Breach Investigations Report notes that ransomware accounted for 72 percent of the malware incidents involving the heathcare industry last year. Story continues Why is this particular ransomware attack significant? Friday's attack affected at least 25 of the UK's National Health Service's hospitals and other organizations. But NHS says it was not the specific target of the attack. It does not appear that patient information was accessed, according to the organization, but its investigation into the matter is still in the early stages. Barts Health, which manages a handful of major hospitals in London and elsewhere, also confirmed it was experiencing a "major IT disruption." The malware arrived in encrypted files distributed by email. Once a computer was infected, the user received a note demanding $300 in bitcoin to restore access to patient information and other data on the device. The attack quickly spread to other countries. CNN put the figure at 74 . Has this ever happened in the US? Yes. One of the best known examples involved L.A.'s Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, which in February 2016 said it paid a ransom of $17,000 to get its computer systems unlocked. Because of the large amount of personal information collected about patients, hospitals and other healthcare providers are prime ransonware targets. If a doctor can't access information about a patient's medications and pre-exisiting conditions, it's virtually impossible to provide treatment, forcing the doctor and patient to reschedule appointments. And that can result in millions of dollars in lost productivity. So, even though medical computer systems are routinely backed up, and nearly all that data can be recovered and restored, hospitals often pay the ransom in an effort to speed things up and minimize financial losses. How do you get infected? Whether they involve a computer nework run by a business or hospital, or just an average person's personal PC, most ransomware infections happen when a user is lured by a bogus phishing email to a site that infects his or her computer, or by clicking on an attached file that secretly installs it. How can you avoid having your data taken hostage? You avoid ransomware the same way you avoid any malware infection: By being careful. While that's not always easy, there are things you can do to steer clear of problems. Dont casually click a link inside an email; instead, type the web address directly into your browser. Never open an attachment unless you were expecting to receive it and you're certain of what it is. Don't spend time in the disreputable corners of the internet that specialize in risqué content or pirated movies; you can get infected simply by visiting a dodgy site. Never install software just because a web site tells you to do it. And always keep a backup copy of all your personal files on a separate drive or with a "cloud"-based backup service. That way, if the worst happens, you'll always have access to your most important data. More from Consumer Reports: Top pick tires for 2016 Best used cars for $25,000 and less 7 best mattresses for couples Copyright © 2006-2017 Consumer Reports, Inc. || Cable & Wireless Reports Preliminary Q1 2017 Results: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - May 8, 2017) -Cable & Wireless CommunicationsLimited ("CWC") is the leading telecommunications operator in substantially all its consumer markets, which are predominantly located in the Caribbean and Latin America, providing entertainment, information and communication services to 3.6 million mobile, 0.4 million television, 0.6 million internet and 0.8 million fixed-line telephony subscribers. In addition, CWC delivers B2B services and provides wholesale services over its sub-sea and terrestrial networks that connect over 30 markets across the region.
Liberty Global's Acquisition of CWCOn May 16, 2016, a subsidiary of Liberty Global plc ("Liberty Global") acquired CWC (the "Liberty Global Transaction"). Revenue, Adjusted Segment EBITDA3and subscriber statistics have been presented herein using Liberty Global's definitions for all periods presented unless otherwise noted. Further adjustments to these metrics are possible as the integration process continues. The results for the three months ended March 31, 2017 have also been aligned to Liberty Global's IASB-IFRS1accounting policies and estimates. Significant policy adjustments have been considered in our calculation of rebased growth rates for revenue and Adjusted Segment EBITDA. For additional information on Liberty Global's definition of Adjusted Segment EBITDA and rebased growth rates, see footnotes 1 and 4, respectively. A reconciliation of net earnings (loss) to Adjusted Segment EBITDA is included in theFinancial Results, Adjusted Segment EBITDA Reconciliation & Property, Equipment and Intangible Asset Additions5section below. In addition, effective for the 2016 fiscal year, CWC changed its fiscal year end from March 31 to December 31 to conform with Liberty Global.
Operating highlights:
• Delivered Q1 Organic RGU6additions of 10,000Internet7and fixed-line telephony8subscribers were up 7,000 and 3,000, respectively, on an organic basis, as we increased penetration across our high-speed networks with bundling success in Jamaica, Panama and TrinidadVideo subscribers were flat as losses in Jamaica and Trinidad were offset by gains in Panama and the BahamasAt March 31, 2017, we had a bundling ratio of 1.54 RGUs per customer, as 11% of our customers9subscribed to triple-play, 32% subscribed to double-play and 57% to a single product. Our high single-play penetration provides potential for continued bundling success
• Mobile subscribers10increased by 27,000 on an organic basis, driven by prepaid additions in Panama
• Highlights across our largest markets were as follows:In Panama, we continued to build momentum through a revitalized go-to-market approach, adding 8,000 RGUs in the quarter. Of note, we added 2,000 internet and 2,000 cable video RGUs in Q1, as our bundled offers gained traction through network investments enabling faster speeds of up to 300 Mbps. We also continued to grow our DTH11base, adding 3,000 RGUs in Q1 as we targeted more rural areas where we do not provide video through our hybrid fiber coaxial ("HFC") network. Our prepaid mobile base grew by 49,000 subscribers in the quarter as we launched data-led promotions and benefited from the seasonal Carnival upliftIn Jamaica we added 2,000 internet and 3,000 fixed-line telephony RGUs, however these were offset by a 5,000 video RGU decline. On the mobile front, we lost 10,000 subscribers in Q1, due to prepaid churn following increased promotional activity in the prior quarterIn the Bahamas, we added 2,000 RGUs in Q1 with momentum steadily building as we increased penetration of our newly constructed Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network. The entry of our first mobile competitor in November 2016 had an impact on our base, as we lost 6,000 mobile subscribers, both prepaid and postpaid, in the quarterBarbados RGUs declined by 2,000 in total, primarily resulting from a decline in our fixed-line telephony subscribers. We saw stability across video and internet RGUs as we improved service quality across our fixed network, which was a significant improvement compared to an aggregate loss of 5,000 RGUs in the prior quarter across these two products. On the mobile front, we lost 3,000 subscribers from churn following the heavy promotional activity during the December holiday periodTrinidad RGU additions were broadly flat, as a 3,000 video subscriber decline resulting from continued competitive intensity was offset by growth in fixed-line telephony through bundling promotions
Footnotes
* The financial figures contained in this release are prepared in accordance with IASB-IFRS1. CWC's financial condition and results of operations will be included in Liberty Global's consolidated financial statements under U.S. GAAP2. There are significant differences between the U.S. GAAP and IASB-IFRS presentations of our consolidated financial statements.
1International Financial Reporting Standards, as promulgated by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), are referred to as IASBIFRS.
2Accounting principles generally accepted in the United States are referred to as U.S. GAAP.
3Adjusted Segment EBITDA is the primary measure used by our management to evaluate the company's performance. Adjusted Segment EBITDA is also a key factor that is used by our internal decision makers to evaluate the effectiveness of our management for purposes of annual and other incentive compensation plans. We define EBITDA as earnings before net finance expense, income taxes and depreciation and amortization. As we use the term, Adjusted Segment EBITDA is defined as EBITDA before share-based compensation, provisions and provision releases related to significant litigation, impairment, restructuring and other operating items and related-party fees and allocations. Other operating items include (i) gains and losses on the disposition of long-lived assets, (ii) third-party costs directly associated with successful and unsuccessful acquisitions and dispositions, including legal, advisory and due diligence fees, as applicable, and (iii) other acquisition-related items, such as gains and losses on the settlement of contingent consideration. Our internal decision makers believe Adjusted Segment EBITDA is a meaningful measure because it represents a transparent view of our recurring operating performance that is unaffected by our capital structure and allows management to readily view operating trends and identify strategies to improve operating performance. We believe our Adjusted Segment EBITDA measure is useful to investors because it is one of the bases for comparing our performance with the performance of other companies in the same or similar industries, although our measure may not be directly comparable to similar measures used by other companies. Adjusted Segment EBITDA should be viewed as a measure of operating performance that is a supplement to, and not a substitute for EBIT, net earnings (loss), cash flow from operating activities and other EU-IFRS or IASB-IFRS measures of income or cash flows. A reconciliation of Adjusted Segment EBITDA to net loss is presented in the Unitymedia section of this release.
4For purposes of calculating rebased growth rates on a comparable basis for the CWC borrowing group, we have adjusted the historical revenue and Adjusted Segment EBITDA for the three months ended March 31, 2016 to reflect the impacts of the alignment to Liberty Global's accounting policies and to reflect the translation of our rebased amounts for the three months ended March 31, 2017 at the applicable average foreign currency exchange rates that were used to translate CWC's results for the three months ended March 31, 2016. The most significant adjustments to conform to Liberty Global's policies relate to the capitalization of certain installation activities that previously were expensed, the reflection of certain lease arrangements as capital leases that previously were accounted for as operating leases and the reflection of certain time-based licenses as operating expenses that previously were capitalized. We have not adjusted the three months ended March 31, 2016 to eliminate nonrecurring items or to give retroactive effect to any changes in estimates that have been implemented in the three months ended March 31, 2017. The adjustments reflected in our rebased amounts have not been prepared with a view towards complying with Article 11 of Regulation S-X. In addition, the rebased growth rates are not necessarily indicative of the rebased revenue and Adjusted Segment EBITDA that would have occurred if the acquisition of CWC had occurred on the date assumed for purposes of calculating our rebased amounts or the revenue and Adjusted Segment EBITDA that will occur in the future. The rebased growth percentages have been presented as a basis for assessing growth rates on a comparable basis, and are not presented as a measure of our pro forma financial performance.
5Property, equipment and intangible asset additions include capital expenditures on an accrual basis, amounts financed under vendor financing or capital lease arrangements and other non-cash additions.
6RGU is separately a Basic Video Subscriber, Enhanced Video Subscriber, DTH Subscriber, Internet Subscriber or Telephony Subscriber (each as defined and described below). A home, residential multiple dwelling unit, or commercial unit may contain one or more RGUs. For example, if a residential customer in our Austrian market subscribed to our enhanced video service, fixed-line telephony service and broadband internet service, the customer would constitute three RGUs. Total RGUs is the sum of Basic Video, Enhanced Video, DTH, Internet and Telephony Subscribers. RGUs generally are counted on a unique premises basis such that a given premises does not count as more than one RGU for any given service. On the other hand, if an individual receives one of our services in two premises (e.g. a primary home and a vacation home), that individual will count as two RGUs for that service. Each bundled cable, internet or telephony service is counted as a separate RGU regardless of the nature of any bundling discount or promotion. Non-paying subscribers are counted as subscribers during their free promotional service period. Some of these subscribers may choose to disconnect after their free service period. Services offered without charge on a longterm basis (e.g., VIP subscribers, free service to employees) generally are not counted as RGUs. We do not include subscriptions to mobile services in our externally reported RGU counts. In this regard, our March 31, 2017 RGU counts exclude our separately reported postpaid and prepaid mobile subscribers.
7Internet Subscriber is a home, residential multiple dwelling unit or commercial unit that receives internet services over our networks, or that we service through a partner network.
8Telephony Subscriber is a home, residential multiple dwelling unit or commercial unit that receives voice services over our networks, or thatwe service through a partner network. Telephony Subscribers exclude mobile telephony subscribers.
9Customer Relationships are the number of customers who receive at least one of our video, internet or telephony services that we count as Revenue Generating Units ("RGUs"), without regard to which or to how many services they subscribe. To the extent that RGU counts include equivalent billing unit ("EBU") adjustments, we reflect corresponding adjustments to our Customer Relationship counts. For further information regarding our EBU calculation, see Additional General Notes below. Customer Relationships generally are counted on a unique premises basis. Accordingly, if an individual receives our services in two premises (e.g., a primary home and a vacation home), that individual generally will count as two Customer Relationships. We exclude mobile-only customers from Customer Relationships.
10Our mobile subscriber count represents the number of active subscriber identification module ("SIM") cards in service rather than services provided. For example, if a mobile subscriber has both a data and voice plan on a smartphone this would equate to one mobile subscriber. Alternatively, a subscriber who has a voice and data plan for a mobile handset and a data plan for a laptop (via a dongle) would be counted as two mobile subscribers. Customers who do not pay a recurring monthly fee are excluded from our mobile telephony subscriber counts after periods of inactivity ranging from 30 to 90 days, based on industry standards within the respective country.
11DTH Subscriber is a home, residential multiple dwelling unit or commercial unit that receives our video programming broadcast directly via ageosynchronous satellite.
About C&W CommunicationsC&W is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, C&W provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers.
C&W also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network -- the most extensive in the region.
Learn more atwww.cwc.com, or follow C&W onLinkedIn,FacebookorTwitter.
About Liberty GlobalLiberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enable us to develop market-leading products delivered through next-generation networks that connect our 25 million customers who subscribe to over 50 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve over 10 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across 6 million access points.
Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group (NASDAQ:LBTYA) (NASDAQ:LBTYB) (NASDAQ:LBTYK) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group (NASDAQ:LILA) (NASDAQ:LILAK) (OTC PINK:LILAB), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Liberty Global Group operates in 11 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The Liberty Global Group also owns 50% of VodafoneZiggo, a Dutch joint venture, which has 4 million customers, 10 million fixed-line subscribers and 5 million mobile subscribers. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Más Móvil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a sub-sea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets.
For more information, please visitwww.libertyglobal.com
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
One Bitcoin now worth $1017.98@bitstamp. High $1099.72. Low $988.00. Market Cap $16.523 Billion #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/hyWnXy0SzY || LIVE: Profit = $3,190.94 (0.49 %). BUY B537.43 @ $1,200.00 (#BTCe). SELL @ $1,207.60 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || #UFOCoin #UFO $0.000011 (-1.59%) 0.00000001 BTC (0.00%) || LIVE: Profit = $2,942.49 (0.42 %). BUY B574.57 @ $1,202.34 (#BTCe). SELL @ $1,210.00 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || If you lose you are not necessarily a loser, if you call yourself a loser no one will be able... $ell/฿uy http://bit.ly/2mdYD3U #Bitcoin || One Bitcoin now worth $1473.04@bitstamp. High $1485.65. Low $1403.00. Market Cap $24.021 Billion #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/ybPy26VgPw || 現在の価格は 144329円(http://blockchain.info )です。前回比は0円(0.00%)です。http://konvert.in/currency/1-bitcoin-to-japanese-yen … #ビットコイン #bitcoin via @konvertin || Had you bought $LTC on this tweet at $9.00 and sold at high of $9.69, 7.6% profit. But, have fun with your max 3.9% from $BTC today. || #Monacoin 17.5円→[Zaif] 12.95円→[もなとれ]
#NEM #XEM 3.4799円↑[Zaif]
#Bitcoin 134,575円↑[Zaif]
04/20 15:00
口座開設はこちらで！ https://goo.gl/31dyoO || $944.00 at 18:30 UTC [24h Range: $891.33 - $980.99 Volume: 18016 BTC]
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Trend: up || Prices: 1804.91, 1808.91, 1738.43, 1734.45, 1839.09, 1888.65, 1987.71, 2084.73, 2041.20, 2173.40
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2021-08-03]
BTC Price: 38152.98, BTC RSI: 56.10
Gold Price: 1810.10, Gold RSI: 49.96
Oil Price: 70.56, Oil RSI: 46.03
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Is The Bitcoin Bear Market Here? JPMorgan Analysts Seem To Think So: The prices of most cryptocurrencies have dropped by nearly 50% in recent weeks, sparking fears that the bull cycle is over and we are at the beginning of a bear market. Analysts atJPMorganalready think the bear market is close.
JPMorganstrategists have revealed that they think the Bitcoin bear market is getting closer. The leading cryptocurrency’s price has been stuck below the $40k region for the past few weeks and has struggled despite some positive news in the market.
JPMorgan strategistsled by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou said, “We believe that the return to backwardation in recent weeks has been a negative signal pointing to a bear market.”The analysts added thatBitcoin’srelatively depressed share of the total cryptocurrency market cap is another trend that indicates that a bear market might be close.
The strategists based their analysis on the 21-day rolling average of the 2nd Bitcoin futures spread over spot prices. They stated that the backwardation displayed is an unusual development, and it reflects how weekBitcoindemand is from institutional investors at the moment. The analysts pointed out that in 2018 when Bitcoin’s price plunged by 74%, the Bitcoin futures curve was also in backwardation.
Bitcoinhas lost a chunk of its market share to altcoins. The leading cryptocurrency currently accounts for roughly 40% of the total crypto market cap, down from 70% at the start of the year. According to some analysts, retail investors shifting to altcoins is another sign that the Bitcoin bear market is close.
Bitcoin’s price has been struggling for the past few weeks. The leading cryptocurrency’s price is trading below $40k despite the wave of positive news in the market recently. El Salvadorbecame the first country to officially adoptBitcoinas a legal tender ad more Latin American countries are looking to make similar moves. The crypto space is also gaining fast adoption, with numerous institutional entities like Interactive Brokers and Victory Capital coming into the market. With the prices still down, it would be interesting to see how the market performs in the coming days and weeks.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Microsoft To Introduce Xbox Gaming On TVs Without The Console
• Stocks Mixed As Inflation Rises Faster Than Expected
• Bitcoin Buy Signal Appears
• GBP/JPY Price Forecast – British Pound Turned Around to Show Signs of Resiliency
• USD/INR: Rupee Skids for Third Straight Day, Nearing a Key Resistance Level 73.30
• Oil Price Fundamental Daily Forecast – Strengthening on Dampened Concerns Over Weak Gasoline Demand || Police seize approximately $158 million in UK's largest crypto seizure: Police in the UK have seized approximately £114 million (about $158 million) worth of cryptocurrencies as part of a money laundering investigation. London’s Metropolitan Police told Sky News the seizure is the largest of its kind in UK history. The current global record is tied to dark web marketplace Silk Road. In 2020, the US Department of Justice recovered 69,000 Bitcoins, worth approximately $1 billion at the time, Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht had stashed away. The Metropolitan Police didn’t say the kind of cryptocurrencies they recovered, nor did it reveal exactly how it traced the money. Both those amounts could be dwarfed by the nearly $3.6 billion in Bitcoin that’s missing following the disappearance of two brothers who founded a cryptocurrency exchange in South Africa. This article contains affiliate links; if you click such a link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. || Pound rises on inflation fears: A waitress carries empty glass from tables in London - Jason Alden /Bloomberg Ocado shares lost ground on Wednesday after HSBC lowered its estimates and warned the online retailer’s growth opportunities would struggle to justify its current valuation of close to £14bn. HSBC analyst Andrew Porteous said in a note that Ocado has been “a bit left behind”, while warehouse technology rivals had signed up “plenty of new business”. He added that emerging markets need a “much cheaper solution” to switch to automation, although the trick would be how Ocado could do this “without making cheaper solutions more compelling to existing customers”. Ocado ended 57p lower at £18.50. AstraZeneca was another blue-chip faller, down 90p to £86.70, after the competition regulator cleared its $39bn (£28bn) buyout of US-based Alexion. The vaccine maker is hoping Alexion’s ultra-rare disease portfolio will complement its existing rare disease pipeline and now hopes to complete the deal by July 21. Ocado and AstraZeneca were not alone in their downward trajectory with most FTSE 100 stocks sliding on the day. The index closed down 33.5 points at 7,091.2 as investors digested inflation data that showed consumer prices jumped 2.5pc in June compared to the same month last year. In response, the pound rose 0.3pc against the dollar to $1.3856 in late trading, putting pressure on export-heavy consumer stocks such as Unilvever and Diageo. However Natwest, Lloyds and Barclays were some of the biggest risers on the FTSE 100 as the jump in inflation sparked speculation about interest rate rises. “Critically, we do not believe that higher inflation will be fully transitory,” said Kallum Pickering, senior economist at Berenberg, who expected the first UK interest rate rise in August next year. Barratt Developments also peformed well after the housebuilder said it expected annual pre-tax profits to be marginally ahead of expectations after an “excellent” year. Shares rose 14.2p to 711p, although the group’s optimism was diluted by a declaration that its cladding safety bill after the Grenfell fire tragedy had risen above £80m. Story continues The housebuilder warned that the bill could still change as work progresses or if the Government brought in new regulations. Travel stocks, meanwhile, weighed on the mid-cap FTSE 250 index which closed 176.8 points down at 22,750. Tui fell 24.9p to 321.3p, while easyJet tumbled 38.2p to 839.6p as concerns about rising coronavirus cases continued to unsettle markets. Elsewhere, Dunelm reported a 43.9pc rise in revenue for the first three months of the year compared to the same period in 2019. However the retailer’s shares dipped 90p to £13.50 as investors instead focused on the company’s plans to increase investment. Oil fluctuated after reports suggested a resolution had been reached in the dispute between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which had stalled an increase in output. In late trade, Brent dropped 1.6pc to $75.30. 05:18 PM Wrapping up That is all from us today - here are some of our top stories: John Lewis and Waitrose slash another 1,000 jobs in new cost-cutting push Inflation surge turns the screw on savers Flying robot bugs deployed to fix wind farms Come in one day a month, Tui tells staff BT to switch off 3G network forcing hundreds of thousands to replace their mobiles Thanks for following along and have a great evening! 05:07 PM FB funnels $1bn into content creators Facebook is to invest more than $1bn in content creators through the end of 2022, as it aims to compete with the like of TikTok and YouTube for the attention of social media personalities. The social media giant said investments will include bonuses for creators who hit certain milestones on its apps, such as Instagram, as well as funding users to produce content. On Facebook, video creators and online gamers will get a monthly bonus if they hit milestones for 'Stars' - a digital form of tipping that fans can use to pay their favourite creators during live-streamed videos. Instagram's bonuses will include incentives to use Reels - its short-form video clip feature - with creators earning money based on how their they perform. TikTok already committed to spending $2bn to support creators over three years, while Snap's Snapchat has said it paid creators a total of $1m a day to post popular videos. 04:46 PM US producer prices accelerate US producer prices accelerated in June, leading to the largest annual increase in more than 10.5 years. The rise suggests inflation could remain high as robust demand, fuelled by the economy's recovery from the pandemic, strains the supply chain. Producer prices increased 1pc in June. That is 7.3pc on a year-on-year basis. Services account for nearly 60pc of the surge 04:19 PM Twitter clamps down on violating hate speech policies Twitter “took action” on a record number of user accounts for violating the company’s hate speech policies during the second half of last year. The social media giant “actioned” more than 1.1m different accounts between July and December 2020 for infringing its hateful conduct policy, a 77pc increase over the prior six-month period. Actions taken could range from removing a tweet to banning an account. Twitter has expanded its hate speech policies last fall to catch more posts. The broader definition included tweets that incite fear or fearful stereotypes about people due to a protected category, like race. The company had seen “increased harassment of some protected categories during the Covid-19 pandemic.” The new data was part of a broader Twitter Transparency report released today that looked at how it handled content removal during the second half of last year. In total, Twitter says it removed 3.8m tweets during the period. 04:04 PM SMFG acquires Jefferies stake Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) will acquire a stake in Jefferies for about $380m (£274), reported the Nikkei newspaper. SMFG's position will be about 5pc of Jefferies, according to the report. 03:37 PM FTSE afternoon risers and fallers Natwest remains the stock leading gains on the FTSE 100, with the lender rising 2.1pc in response to rising speculation among some investors and a growing minority of economists that policy makers will raise interest rates as soon as next year. Barratt Developments was also up 2pc, after the housebuilder said it is expecting annual underlying pre-tax profits to be "marginally" ahead of expectations for between £761m and £812m after an "excellent" past year. On the FTSE 250, Trustpilot was leading gains, up 3.5pc while travel stocks trailed the index. Tui shed 6.9pc, while Easyjet was down 4.2pc. Dunelm reported a 43.9pc rise in revenue for the first three months of the year compared to the same period in 2019. However investors focused on the company's plans to increase investment, with details due to be provided in September. Shares dropped 6.1pc. 03:09 PM Expert reaction: Inflation concerns dominate sentiment Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, comments on the day's market movements: It’s been another mixed session for markets in Europe today, with the FTSE100 underperforming once again, as a fresh set of inflation figures generates further concern about the “transitory” narrative, so beloved of central bankers. Concerns about inflation, transitory or otherwise have continued to dominate sentiment today, as worries over the pace and persistence of rising prices, temper optimism over the wider global recovery story. Markets in Europe have undergone a broadly underwhelming session in contrast to US markets which continue to set new records. UK CPI jumped sharply in June to 2.5pc, a much bigger jump than expected, though it really shouldn’t have been too unexpected given how strong recent PPI numbers have been in recent months. The bigger puzzle is why expectations are always on the low side when it comes to these forecasts, could it be that some economists want to believe in their own transitory narrative? 02:55 PM Come in one day a month, Tui tells staff Tui bus - SOLARPIX.COM Tui, Britain's largest travel operator, has told staff they only need to come into the office for one day a month, reports my colleague Hannah Boland . She writes: Tui said the change would apply to its 3,000 office staff, although not its pilots and cabin crew, retail store colleagues. It said it would let those office workers decide if they wanted to come into the workplaces more frequently. Andrew Flintham, managing director of Tui UK & Ireland, said: "The pandemic has allowed us as an organisation to take a step back and make necessary changes to the way we work, communicate and collaborate. "We believe that this move to a permanent flexible way of working will enhance our culture and organisational productivity, as well as allowing our people to have a great work-life balance." Read Hannah's full story here. 02:32 PM Pound edges 0.5pc up against the dollar 02:28 PM Flying robot bugs deployed to fix wind farms This small “bug” robot crawls Six-legged robotic “bugs” could soon be repairing offshore wind farms, putting an end to humans doing risky offshore maintenance and potentially lowering energy bills in the process, writes my colleague Alan Tovey . He says: Engineers have proven the concept for an autonomous vessel kitted out with technology that can scan blades for defects from a distance. This happens while the blades are still moving, with their tips hitting speeds of 200mph. If a crack is found, the turbine is stopped and the vessel, developed by defence company Thales, deploys a drone that lands a robotic bug on the wind turbine. Read Alan's full story here. 01:55 PM US stocks rise after Fed comments US stocks have lifted after comments from the Federal Reserve fuelled hopes the central bank would stick to its accommodative monetary policy despite a sharp jump in inflation. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the US economic recovery still hasn’t progressed enough to begin scaling back the central bank’s massive monthly asset purchases, while adding that inflation is likely to remain high in coming months before moderating. “At our June meeting, the committee discussed the economy’s progress toward our goals since we adopted our asset purchase guidance last December,” Powell said, speaking before the House Financial Services Committee. “While reaching the standard of ‘substantial further progress’ is still a ways off, participants expect that progress will continue.” The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.03pc at the open to 34996.8, The S&P 500 rose 0.4pc at the open to 4386.50, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5pc to 14755.1 at the opening bell. Apple gained over 1.7pc after reports that the tech giant was preparing suppliers for a boost in next-generation iPhone sales. 01:44 PM KPMG appoints new audit board chair KPMG has appointed Claire Ighodaro as the chair of its audit board as the Big Four firm moves to ringfence its audit and consulting arms, writes Simon Foy. Ms Ighodaro is currently chair of Axa’s US subsidiary and a non-executive director at water utility company Pennon. The move comes as the Big Four accounting firms prepare to split their operations in response to regulatory reforms. The audit board was established in 2019, and oversees the firm’s audit practice and the interaction of the audit practice with the rest of the firm. Last week, rival EY announced the creation of an independent auditor pay committee. Bina Mehta, chair of KPMG UK, said: “As a firm we have made changes which demonstrate how serious we are about rebuilding trust in our profession. “The appointment of our new independent audit non-executives marks another significant milestone on our path to delivering operational separation.” Melanie Hind and Kathleen O’Donovan were also appointed as independent audit non-executives to KPMG’s audit board. All three women will take up their roles on 30 September 2021. 01:39 PM Expert reaction: John Lewis job cuts A man wearing a protective face mask walks past the front entrance of John Lewis department store on Oxford Street - DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS /AFP Sean Moran, restructuring and insolvency partner at law firm, Shakespeare Martineau, says: There is no denying that the pandemic was, and continues to be, a catalyst for drastically altering shopper habits and many flagship brands are reacting accordingly. The John Lewis Partnership’s decision to simplify management structures, focus on customer service and invest in its existing store portfolio is more evidence of this. Whilst this might be welcome relief for their finances, it’s unfortunate news for the individuals affected. While there’s been no mention of further store closures this time around, with a greater focus on ecommerce it’s clear this is something the Partnership presumably cannot rule out as they advance their shift from bricks-and-mortar retail to online. Despite the positive spin that this latest restructuring will allow “reinvestment for customers”, it is likely to mean the John Lewis Partnership now has a potentially tricky redundancy process on its hands. 01:34 PM Provident Financial to slash compensation for mis-selling victims Doorstep lender Provident Financial will slash compensation for mis-selling victims after the City watchdog said it would not block the plan as it was the only way to stop the company’s home credit division going bust, writes my colleague Simon Foy . In a letter sent to Provident on Tuesday evening, the Financial Conduct Authority said it does not support its so-called scheme of arrangement as it is “inconsistent with the FCA's rules, principles and objectives”. However, the regulator added that it will not block the scheme in court as "the only likely alternative to a scheme is the insolvency of Provident Personal Credit Limited (PPC)". Under the proposed scheme, customers will receive significantly reduced compensation payouts. The FCA criticised the £50m Provident had allocated to the scheme, saying it was a “potentially arbitrary figure” and the group could have handed out more. The decision contradicts with the watchdog’s treatment of a similar scheme proposed by rival Amigo, which it blocked in court. In May, Provident announced it was winding up its doorstep lending business, so the FCA said there was no unfair benefit to shareholders at the expense of creditors, unlike Amigo. John Cronin, an analyst at Goodbody, said the regulator’s letter “removes a key uncertainty in relation to what the FCA might elect to do” and increases the likelihood that the creditors and the court will approve the scheme. He added that while a potential u-turn by FCA cannot be ruled out, it seems “extremely unlikely upon close examination of the letter”. Provident’s chief executive Malcolm Le May said: "Although the FCA has confirmed it does not support the Scheme and has summarised a number of concerns, I am pleased that the FCA has decided not to appear in Court to oppose the sanction of the scheme. We continue to believe that the Scheme is fair and in the best interests of CCD customers.” Shares jumped more than 4pc to 252p, valuing the company at around £640m. 01:24 PM Wall Street futures climb on Powell comments Fed chair Jerome Powell has signalled he will keep up stimulus measures as the US economy continues to recover - ERIC BARADAT /AFP Back to markets briefly, where the dollar has fallen further on the back off Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell stating that the US economy was "still a ways off" from levels the central bank wanted to see before tapering its stimulus support. That pushed Wall Street futures firmly into the green, with the Nasdaq due to open 0.65pc higher, the Dow 0.25pc higher and the S&P 500 0.37pc higher. Powell's comment followed traders sending US stocks down yesterday following a sharp increase in inflation to 5.2pc - its highest level in 13 years. Investors feared the spike would prompt central bank to begin tapering support that has kept markets liquid and propelled them to new highs. Powell's comments came ahead of two-day testimony he will give on the economy starting later today, and suggest the Fed sees current price increases as temporary as the economy reopens. He said the Fed would continue to deliver support "until recovery is complete". 01:17 PM John Lewis job cuts total close to 4,000 under White Those 1,000 axed roles follow two recent rounds of redundancies: only back in March, the John Lewis Partnership announced the closure of eight John Lewis stores, affecting 1,465 jobs. The closure a year ago of a raft of stores affected 1,300 jobs in JLP's race to simplify its structure, bringing slashed roles to 3,765 just in the past 12 months or so under chairman Sharon White as it chases savings of £300m by 2023. 01:04 PM John Lewis jobs axe The job cuts at John Lewis and Waitrose (see above) come after the announcement of numerous store closures as chairman Sharon White beats a retreat from Britain;s high streets, a reverse of the expansion overseen by her predecessors. Check out this map below for John Lewis store closures: 12:49 PM Saudi Arabia and UAE resolve OPEC+ standoff Oil fluctuated as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were said to resolve the standoff that has prevented OPEC+ from satisfying a growing clamour for extra barrels. Bloomberg has the details: The OPEC+ coalition will decide on a new meeting date soon, after the UAE successfully secured a higher production baseline, a delegate said. The point of contention had scuppered last week’s OPEC+ meeting and threatened the unity of the entire alliance. Resolving the breach should, in theory, allow the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners to proceed with plans for reviving output still shuttered since the pandemic. The 23-nation block is aiming to restore supplies in installments of 400,000 barrels a day through to late 2022. 12:30 PM US banks beat estimates The fourth largest US lender Wells Fargo & Co swung to a profit in the second quarter, the bank said today, as it released funds set aside to cover soured loans, while costs tied to its years-old sales scandal stabilised. Wells Fargo has been operating under penalties from regulators since 2016 when a sales scandal led to billions of dollars in litigation and remediation costs. The bank began to rein in those costs this year, signalling the five-year-episode may be coming to an end. The bank reported a profit of $6bn, or $1.38 per share, compared with a net loss of $3.85bn, or $1.01 per share, a year earlier. Citigroup Inc also comfortably beat market estimates for second-quarter profit on Wednesday as the economic recovery allowed the bank to release loan loss reserves and offset a plunge in revenue from lower trading and credit card lending. For the quarter ended June 30, net income jumped to $6.19bn, or $2.85 per share, from $1.06bn, or 38 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected a profit of $1.96 per share, according to Refinitiv IBES data. The bank's profits were buoyed by its decision to take down $2.4 billion of loss reserves it had built during the pandemic for expected losses that have not materialised. Revenue from fixed income trading, a strong suit for Citigroup, slumped 43pc from a year earlier when trading in global financial markets soared to record levels. Yesterday, both JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs reported big declines in bond trading revenue. 12:12 PM Banking stocks rise Banking stocks Natwest, Lloyds and Barclays, remain some of the top risers on the FTSE 100 today, as new data showing a jump in inflation sparks speculation about interest rate rises. Consumer prices climbed 2.5pc from a year earlier. The jump further above the BOE’s 2pc target will strengthen views among some investors and a growing minority of economists that policy makers will raise interest rates as soon as next year. It also shows how inflation is emerging as a test for central banks in major economies, coming a day after US consumer-price growth unexpectedly surged to 5.4pc. “Critically, we do not believe that higher inflation will be fully transitory,” Kallum Pickering, a London-based senior economist at Berenberg, who expects the first UK rate hike in August next year, wrote in a report. While the risk of current price growth becoming more entrenched is still modest, “the warning from history is clear - all periods of high sustained inflation appear temporary at first,” he said. 12:01 PM ECB launches digital euro pilot The European Central Bank formally launched a pilot project to create a "digital euro" today, in response to the growing popularity of electronic payments and the rise of cryptocurrencies. "Our work aims to ensure that in the digital age citizens and firms continue to have access to the safest form of money, central bank money," ECB president Christine Lagarde said in a statement. The initial "investigation phase" is to last two years and focus on the design of the digital euro, before a final decision is taken on whether to proceed. Our experimental work has already allowed us to identify possible ways to protect privacy. It has also shown that the energy needs of the infrastructure would be negligible compared with the energy consumption and environmental footprint of crypto-assets, such as bitcoin 2/3 — European Central Bank (@ecb) July 14, 2021 11:53 AM Bank of America's profits jump A Bank of America bank branch in San Francisco, California - David Paul Morris /Bloomberg Bank of America's second quarter profit more than doubled from the previous year, largely due to the improving economy and fewer borrowers being delinquent on their loans. The Charlotte-based bank said it earned $9.22bn in the last three months, up from a profit of $3.53bn from the same period a year earlier. The bank said it was able to release $1.6bn from its loan-loss reserves set aside during the pandemic to guard against defaults, and also recorded a $2bn one-time credit related to certain taxable assets in the UK. While Bank of America's profits rose from a year earlier, revenues did not. Interest income fell in the quarter to $10.23bn from $10.85bn a year earlier, due to lower interest rates. The bank also saw a decline in revenues from trading, similar to what happened at JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs. The second quarter of 2020 was a highly volatile one as traders navigated the impact of the pandemic, which gave Wall Street traders ample opportunities to find investments to profit from in the volatility. Now that things have cooled down, those profits have declined. The bank's global markets division, which contains its trading desks, reported a profit of $908m in the quarter. That's down from $1.9bn a year earlier. 11:31 AM US stock futures rises ahead of Powell testimony US stock futures have inched higher in premarket trading, as investors wait to see if Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell will alter his stance on rising consumer prices in his testimony before Congress today. Data released yesterday showed US consumer prices rose by the most in 13 years last month, pulling the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq from intraday record highs. The figures took the shine off strong earnings from JPMorgan Chase & Co and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. In line with its peers, Bank of America also reported a jump in second-quarter profit as it released reserves it had set aside last year to cover potential loan losses tied to the pandemic. Wells Fargo and Citigroup Inc traded mixed in premarket trading ahead of the release of their earnings reports today. Dow e-minis are down 5 points or 0.01pc and S&P 500 e-minis were up 2.75 points or 0.06pc. Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 47.75 points or 0.32pc, on a boost from the heavyweight FAANG group of companies. 11:16 AM Pay war escalates between top London law firms The pay war between top London law firms is escalating as firms compete to offer salaries in excess of £100,000. Newly-qualified solicitors at Macfarlanes LLP can now expect a six-figure pay package, approaching the remuneration offered by London’s top Magic Circle firms. Junior lawyers, qualifying after two years as trainees at the firm, will see their annual base salary rise by £5,000 to £90,000, with their total package passing six figures, the firm said. The firm will also raise its trainees’ salaries to £48,000 and £52,500 for its first and second-year recruits respectively. “Our expectation is that our newly qualified solicitors will earn in excess of £100k this financial year taking into account all elements of their package,” the firm said, announcing that 22 of its 25 trainees are staying with the firm this September. 11:00 AM Ocado shares slide as HSBC said company has been 'left behind' A delivery driver for Ocado Group delivers groceries to an apartment in London, U.K. - Hollie Adams /Bloomberg Ocado shares have edged down 0.3pc in London, after HSBC lowered its estimates and said the company's growth opportunities struggle to justify its current valuation. HSBC analyst Andrew Porteous said in a note that Ocado has been "a bit left behind", while warehouse technology rivals had signed up "plenty of new business". He added that emerging markets need a “much cheaper solution” to shift to automation, though the trick would be how Ocado does this “without making cheaper solutions more compelling to existing customers” 10:45 AM Money round-up Here's the day's round-up from The Telegraph's Money team: Britain’s most liveable and affordable rural property hotspots: We have found the areas that rank highest for quality of life and have the lowest house price to earnings ratio Pensions quirk allows retirees to boost income by 75pc: Some workers have lower threshold for punitive pension tax rules Taxpayers kept waiting by HMRC as service standards plunge: New working from home policy blamed for 'staggering' decline in performance 'My brother begged me for £33k then blew it on Las Vegas trips, now he won't pay me back': Moral Money: should our reader out his brother to the family and pursue him legally? 10:18 AM BT to phase out 3G EE-owner BT will phase out 3G in the next two years to free up airwaves and help bring 5G to the entire country by 2028, the company said today. BT Consumer CEO Marc Allera said demand for mobile capacity was rising by 40pc every year, and BT had switched on its 5G network in 160 towns and cities since it launched in 2019. Traffic had more than quadrupled on its 5G network since October, when the 5G-enabled iPhone 12 launched, he said. Less than 3pc of data and 25pc of voice traffic was carried on 3G in March, he added. "EE is the first operator to set a time frame to stop supporting 3G services in early 2023, with customers supported to move off it in a phased transition in the months ahead," he said in an online presentation. The end of 2G services, which are now 25 years old, would follow later in the decade, he added. Operators spent £22.5bn buying 3G spectrum in Britain in 2000 at the peak of the dotcom boom. Read more about this story here. 10:06 AM PureGym plots IPO revival as business rebounds Pure Gym - RUSSELL SACH/Telegraph PureGym, the no-frills gym chain, is considering reviving its plans for an initial public offering, as gyms across the UK rebound. The company is in the early stages of weighing options for raising equity in the public markets, according to an update given to bondholders today. “Despite the extreme challenges the gyms and fitness sector has faced, the PureGym Group is well-positioned to take advantage of this post-pandemic recovery and the opportunities presented by competition having been weakened by the rigours of the last 18 months,” a spokesperson for PureGym said. PureGym decided to pull plans for a UK listing in 2016 amid uncertain markets in the wake of the country’s vote to leave the European Union. The company is led by chief executive officer Humphrey Cobbold, who was previously boss of the online cycling retailer Wiggle Ltd. 09:55 AM Apple asks suppliers for 20pc increase in new iPhone production Visitors look at Apple Inc. iPhones and iPads on display at the SK Telecom Co. T Factory flagship store in Seoul, South Korea - SeongJoon Cho /Bloomberg Apple has asked its suppliers to build as many as 90m next-generation iPhones this year, a sharp increase from its 2020 iPhone shipments, according to Bloomberg. In recent years, the tech giant has maintained a consistent level of around 75m units for a device’s initial run. The upgraded forecast suggest the company anticipates its first iPhone launch since the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines to unlock additional demand. The next iPhones will be Apple’s second with 5G. The phones, codenamed D16, D17, D63, and D64, are all expected to be announced in September, earlier than last year’s October introduction partly thanks to the supply chain recovering. 09:41 AM Expert reaction: FTSE 100 sheds 38.8 points Joshua Mahony, Senior Market Analyst at IG, comments: In the UK, the continued rise of Delta variant cases provides downward pressure on stocks that should be looking forward to Monday’s full reopening. Instead, airlines, cinemas, restaurants, and alike are all under heavy selling pressure as investors consider the potential ramifications of another major surge in hospitalisations. The UK has gone from having the lowest cases per 100,000 in Europe, to the worst in just six weeks. Thus, while there is hope that the UK vaccination efforts will stop the rise in hospitalisations at a manageable level, there is a very tangible risk that Monday’s reopening leads to a third wave of cases and another bout of restrictions. From an international perspective, the hope is that proof of vaccinations and testing will allow travel, yet airlines are likely to remain under pressure given the rising likeliness that the UK is consigned to the red list for many major tourist destinations. 09:33 AM DRC copper explorer plans London listing A copper explorer with assets in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia is planning to list on London's junior market to raise cash to start producing, writes my colleague Rachel Millard . Central Copper Resources will list on AIM to raise up to $25m [£18m] to help bring its Mbamba Kilenda project in the DRC into production and continue exploring in both the DRC and Zambia. Kevin van Wouw, chief executive, said the time was right for the move to the public markets given the progress of the projects and strong copper prices. The metal has climbed over the latest year from about $6,000 [£4,334] per tonne to $9,000 per tonne as economies start to recover from the pandemic and in the push towards renewable energy. Central Copper Resources, set to be valued at around £40m-£60m on AIM, wants to start producing from the Mbamba Kilenda project in 2022. The company is chaired by Robin Fryer, a former senior partner with Deloitte, while the technical director is Dr Ross McGowan, chief executive of Armada Minerals. Mr Van Wouw added: "The group is looking forward to accessing the capital markets in London and to build on its current strong shareholder register.” 09:24 AM Double-digit growth for UK house prices House prices in the UK returned to double-digit growth in May as the race between buyers picked up again ahead of the stamp duty deadline in June, reports Rachel Mortimer. The latest official figures from the Office for National Statistics showed prices increased by 10pc over the year to May 2021, up from 9.6pc in April. The average house cost £255,000 in May, £23,000 higher than in the same month in 2020 and almost returning to the record price of £256,000 seen in March of this year. Price growth had cooled slightly in April after the initial frenzy leading up to the original stamp duty deadline in March, but even this figure has now seen a significant upwards revision. Where the ONS originally reported prices had increased by 8.9pc over the year to April, the official figure now stands at 9.6pc. The ONS has always warned fewer transactions were available than expected throughout the crisis, meaning there could be “increased volatility” in its figures. 09:16 AM Upper Crust owner drops as boss announces departure A pedestrian walks past a closed-down and shuttered Upper Crust food outlet in Charing Cross train station - BEN STANSALL /AFP The boss of Upper Crust owner SSP Group said he will be leaving the role at the end of the year for a new job at an unnamed private equity-backed business. The group said it has now started a search for a successor for Simon Smith, who joined the group in 2014 as head of its UK and Ireland business, before becoming chief executive in 2019. During his tenure at the London-listed company, Smith has attempted to steer SSP through its most challenging trading period, after its train and airport sites were hammered by pandemic restrictions. The group cut around 5,000 jobs last year following the impact of the first lockdown. SSP told shareholders today that it has begun to see a recovery in passenger demand, led by domestic and leisure travel, most notably in North America, over recent months. Current trading is in line with expectations, with the latest week at 42pc of pre-pandemic levels from 2019. Shares in SSP are currently 4.4pc lower. 09:10 AM Oil prices drop as attention shifts to new Covid-19 cases Oil prices are sliding lower, as concerns about new coronavirus surges outweigh yesterday's warnings about a tightening market. Sydney extended its lockdown for a further two weeks. Indonesia surpassed India’s current level of daily cases, marking a new Asian virus epicenter. Malaysia’s cases topped a record 11,000 today and are expected to climb further. South Korea reported the highest ever daily cases, while daily deaths in Myanmar hit an all-time high. Brent fell 0.4 percent in early trading, as West Texas Intermediate dropped 0.6 percent. 08:49 AM Expert reaction: FTSE drops 0.4pc Danni Hewson, AJ Bell financial analyst, asks are we at a major turning point for markets? The FTSE 100 is having another bad day, falling sharply at the market open but then quickly narrowing those losses to only trade 0.4pc down at 7,098. Yesterday we saw similar erratic behaviour with the index falling and then trying to claw back towards the end of the day. This suggests that investors are happy to buy on the dips, but it also suggests we’re entering a more fragile state for the market. Value stocks trumped defensive names on the FTSE on Wednesday, with energy, banks and miners trying their best to move forward, while pharmaceuticals, tobacco and consumer goods acted as a drag on the index. Inflation is front of mind once again, with the latest UK figures considerably higher than expected, and following a similar trend in the US. Inflation is good for commodity producers and stokes the fire for interest rates hike, which benefits banks – hence explaining the top movers on the FTSE. 08:40 AM Dunelm reports a 44pc rise in revenue a Dunelm store in St Albans - Peter Cziborra /REUTERS Homeware retailer Dunelm has reported a "strong" jump in sales in the past three months and a 43.9pc rise in revenue to £380.1m, compared to the same period in 2019. The company said it was buoyed by the reopening of its stores in April while digital sales added to its growth. As a result, Dunelm said its profits for the past year are on track to be "slightly ahead" of analyst predictions as a result of the positive trading update. However the company is having to spend extra money to stay competitive, investing in warehouse and distribution infrastructure. Dunelm said stocks had returned to normal levels after a surge in demand but the company flagged continued disruption in its global supply chain due to the pandemic. 08:28 AM Bitcoin drops below $32,000 Bitcoin has dropped below $32,000, after another Chinese province pledged to crack down on cryptocurrency mining. The eastern region of Anhui plans to shut down all crypto mining projects within the next three years due to a supply shortage, the website hf365.com reported. Anhui joins other provinces including Sichuan, Inner Mongolia and Yunnan which have also pledged to either probe or actively shutdown mining operations. China is a world leader for cryptocurrency mining which is why these announcements have had such an impact on Bitcoin's price. 08:07 AM Rising pound puts pressure on export-heavy retailers London's FTSE 100 has dropped today as export-oriented retailers came under pressure from a stronger pound after inflation jumped past the central bank's target for the second straight month. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index dropped 0.5pc with travel stocks down nearly 1.2pc while retailers Unilever , GlaxoSmithKline and Diageo were also all down. Banks Natwest , Barclays and Lloyds were leading the blue-chips, all up between 1.3pc and 2.1pc. The pound rose 0.2pc after new data was released showing inflation jumped by 2.5pc in June. "The currently high inflation should not necessarily point to imminent BoE tightening as CPI pressures are to calm down in 2022," ING analysts wrote in a note. "This means a limited positive spillover into GBP today." 08:00 AM AstraZeneca's Alexion buyout cleared by UK regulator AstraZeneca lost 0.6pc after the UK's competition regulator cleared its $39bn buyout of US-based Alexion. The vaccine maker said as a result, the acquisition was expected to be completed on 21 July 2021. Alexion is big in rare and ultra-rare diseases and its drugs adjust the way the immune system works to treat these diseases. Alexion’s Soliris medication was once the most expensive drug in the world. It costs $500,000 a year and still brings in $1bn a quarter, even though it was first approved in 2007. Its portfolio will complement Astra's existing rare disease pipeline, which is small. It's also a hugely profitable company - margins on rare disease medications are 50pc to 80pc. Marc Dunoyer, Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer, said: We are very pleased to have secured this critical final clearance from the UK Competition and Markets Authority for the acquisition of Alexion. We look forward to the imminent closing of the transaction so that we may pursue our shared ambition to bring more innovative medicines to patients worldwide and begin AstraZeneca's next chapter of growth. 07:27 AM Barratt's cladding safety bill rises above £81m Citiscape in Croydon - Anuj Vats /PA Housebuilder Barratt Developments has revealed its cladding safety bill after the Grenfell fire tragedy has risen above £80m, after it said today it expects to spend another £30m on works in the second half. "Whilst the charges in respect of cladding and external wall systems reflect our current best estimate of the extent and future costs of work required, as assessments and work progresses or if Government legislation and regulation further evolves, estimates may have to be updated," the company said. It said it was working with building owners, management companies and expert engineers to assess properties it had constructed in the past. Details of the cladding provisions came as the group said it was expecting annual underlying pre-tax profits to be "marginally" ahead of expectations after an "excellent" past year. Statutory pre-tax profits are expected to be at the top end of market forecasts. 07:14 AM FTSE edges down on opening The FTSE 100 has dropped 33.4 points or 0.5pc to 7,091.3 on opening. The FTSE 250 has also fallen 91.7 points or 0.4pc to around 22,835 points. 07:10 AM Expert reaction: Inflation jumps above forecasts Automobile pass a Royal Dutch Shell Plc fuel filling station in Rayleigh, U.K. - Chris Ratcliffe /Bloomberg Joseph Little, global chief strategist at HSBC Asset Management, commented: The increase in June CPI was largely driven by higher fuel prices and rising services inflation as more parts of the economy reopened. We expect inflation pressures to continue building over the course of the year driven by base effects and the service sector’s reopening, higher energy prices and general supply-demand imbalances. The bulk of these transitory factors should unwind over the course of 2022, pushing inflation back towards the Bank of England’s 2pc target. Nevertheless, a more persistent period of above target inflation remains a risk, for example due to a greater degree of pent-up demand, ongoing supply disruptions, or passthrough from higher input prices as companies rebuild margins. This means there is a reasonable chance the Bank of England could push the button on rate hikes in 2022, ahead of other major central banks. 06:32 AM Highest rate for three years Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician for economic statistics, said: Inflation rose for the fourth consecutive month to its highest rate for almost three years. The rise was widespread, for example coming from price increases for food and for second-hand cars where there are reports of increased demand. Some of the increase is from temporary effects, for example rising fuel prices which continue to increase inflation, but much of this is due to prices recovering from lows earlier in the pandemic. An increase in prices for clothing and footwear, compared with the normal seasonal pattern of summer sales, also added to the upward pressure this month. The Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) rose by 2.4% in the 12 months to June 2021. This was up from 2.1% in the 12 months to May 2021 https://t.co/b47b2anNKj pic.twitter.com/LVKpETxwe4 — Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) July 14, 2021 06:23 AM Inflation beats forecasts Inflation soared to 2.5pc in June, as consumer prices accelerated on easing virus restrictions, official data showed on Wednesday. The Consumer Prices Index surged by 2.5pc in June, which was the highest rate since August 2018 and compared with the 2.1pc gain in May 2021, the Office for National Statistics said. Economists polled by Reuters had expected consumer price inflation (CPI) to hit 2.2pc in the 12 months to June. The BoE has said inflation will peak above 3pc as Britain bounces back from its coronavirus lockdowns but it also thinks that the rise will be temporary and does not require it to reduce its huge stimulus for Britain's economy yet. 06:17 AM Inflation continues to rise Good morning. Inflation climbed to 2.5pc in June from 2.1pc in May, raising further pressure on the Bank of England to consider a move in interest rates. 5 things to start your day 1) Shock surge in US inflation heightens rate rise fears: A shock jump in US inflation to its highest level in 13 years stoked fears of price pressures boiling over, turning up the heat on the Federal Reserve’s rate-setters. 2) Tube drivers plan four days of strikes in August: Thousands of Underground drivers plan to go on strike next month over the axing of night Tube operators. 3) Rump of Sir Philip Green's Arcadia to be liquidated: Taxpayers will bear the cost of the multi million-pound bill for the collapse of Sir Philip Green’s clothing empire as liquidators return what is left of the fallen tycoon’s business. 4) Biden warning on Hong Kong spells fresh headache for HSBC: Joe Biden is to take new steps to isolate American companies operating in Hong Kong, sparking fresh concerns for HSBC as it turns its focus on Communist China. 5) Foam parties halted at nightclubs amid Covid caution: Nightclubs will hold off from throwing foam parties when they reopen next week as bosses adopt a more cautious approach after more than a year of closures. What happened overnight Asian shares fell on Wednesday after data showing the biggest jump in US inflation in 13 years fuelled some market expectations that the Federal Reserve could exit pandemic-era stimulus earlier than previously thought. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.33pc, as Chinese blue-chips dipped 1pc, Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.66pc and Seoul's Kospi lost 0.29pc. Australian shares were 0.34pc higher on a boost from miners and energy firms. Japan's Nikkei was down 0.2pc. Coming up today Corporate : Barratt Developments, Dunelm, Page Group, Ashmore, Tullow Oil, Pharos Energy (Trading update) Economics : Producer, consumer and retail price index (UK) , industrial production (EU) , oil inventory, producer price index (US) || Fintech Focus For July 26, 2021: Quote To Start The Day:"You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.”
Source:Mark Twain
One Big Thing In Fintech:Crypto exchange Binance US could go public, Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao has said.
"Our partner in the U.S. is looking at the potential IPO [initial public offering] route," Zhao said on Friday at the "Redefine Tomorrow" event organized by SCB 10X — the venture arm of Thailand's oldest Siam Commercial Bank. The IPO route, however, "is not 100% fixed yet," he said.
Source:Block
Other Key Fintech Developments:
• Plaidtapsformer bank executives.
• Credit union regulatoreyeingDeFi.
• Paystoneraises$23.8M financing.
• JPMunlockedretail crypto access.
• Paystandadds$50M for payments.
• FIA TechexpandsAtlantis platform.
• State Street islaunchingAlphaSM.
• State Farmlooksto Invesco fintech.
• Uniswaprestrictsaccess to tokens.
• Thorchainhitby $8M hacking loss.
• Amazonhiringcrypto product lead.
• FTXlowerslimit on leverage trade.
• BNPL giant KlarnaboughtStocard.
Watch Out For This:China’s crackdown on cryptocurrencies will probably intensify and may even lead to an outright ban on holding the tokens, according to Bobby Lee, one of the country’s first Bitcoin moguls.
Source:Bloomberg
Interesting Reads:
• U.S. inwrongdirection with COVID?
• Evergrande’s failure is stresstested.
• Clubhouse platform nowoutof beta.
• Trading appsmakemarkets a game.
Market Moving Headline:After a short sell-off, volatility ebbs as equity index futures trade higher.
- Unpacking factors lending to the volatility.
- Jitters ahead of Federal Reserve meeting.
- Earnings outlook up. Priced to perfection?
- COVID-19 resurgence to not limit mobility.
- Analyzing tightening and the shift to fiscal.
Big Picture Perspectives: "The impressive growth in value across many asset classes is projected to taper off within the next couple of years as supportive policy is unwound. The 10-year Treasury yield will rise above 2% by 2022 and the fiscal tailwinds will also have faded by then.” - Moody's
For Next Week's Trade: Ahead of the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting, participants will want to temper their expectations on future volatility and focus their attention on where the S&P 500 trades in relation to the $4,384.50 low volume area (LVNode) pivot, a prior all-time high (ATH).
Source:Physik Invest
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© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Crypto Tax Proposal in US Has Had Limited Impact on Bitcoin Market: On the face of it, a U.S. bill proposing to raise $28 billion through extra cryptocurrency taxes might unnerve somebitcoininvestors. But so far, the market reaction to the bill has been remarkably muted.
LastWednesday, lawmakers drafting a bipartisan infrastructure bill in Congress proposed to raise $28 billion in extra crypto taxes by applying new information-reportingrequirementsto exchanges and other providers of crypto services.
According to a draft of the bill, any broker who transfers any digital assets will need to file a return under a modified information reporting regime. That would enable the Internal Revenue Service to collect taxes already owed on capital gains from sales of digital assets.
Related:Bitcoin Stuck Below $40K; Eyes Short-Term Oversold Bounce
Given how digital-asset markets often react fairly quickly to news announcements – the recentrumorthat Amazon would accept bitcoin as a form of payment being one example – the bill’s plan for the extra crypto taxes has so far had little impact on bitcoin prices.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, climbed in recent weeks as the news of the bill surfaced, though it has slipped in the past few days, changing hands at around $38,000 at press time.
“This isn’t a game changer for the institutional world,” said Edward Moya, a senior analyst at Oanda. “However, the announcement did disrupt a steady flow of bullish macro developments that had bitcoin poised to break out of its recent trading range.”
Moya predicts that additional crypto taxes might dissuade some retail traders from investing now, but he said the majority of the crypto world will be “unfazed.”
Related:Senator Rob Portman Defends Crypto Provision in US Infrastructure Bill
Some crypto experts said the bill might have a positive impact on the market, because it could give digital-asset markets more traction and visibility. Henrik Kugelberg, a crypto over-the-counter trader, views the bill as a positive sign of adoption for the market.
“Most people are OK with paying taxes on their earnings,” he said. “This makes crypto more commonplace.”
Jason Deane, an analyst at Quantum Economics, points to the fact that cryptocurrency is “truly a global phenomenon, and the U.S. is merely one jurisdiction, meaning impact is limited outside of it.”
Deane said that “while some within the U.S. might be discouraged from trading under the new rules, others will find confidence in the clarity, creating a neutral reaction.”
He also noted that the limited market impact so far might come down to the bill’s implementation being far off. The measure still needs to be negotiated in Congress and signed by President Joe Biden, and it wouldn’t become fully effective until 2023.Lobbyistsfor the digital-asset industry are seeking to kill or water down the extra crypto taxes.
John Todaro, vice president of crypto asset and blockchain research at Needham & Co., agrees that the near-term effect on markets from the proposed crypto taxes isn’t worrying because the legislation wouldn’t come into effect for quite some time.
Todaro is watching whether the bill’s language will change. It could get further adjusted so that it wouldn’t affect “every company in the space, such as miners, which was where the bill started,” he said.
“It was quite broad,” Todaro said.
Deane said that despite a potential tax increase, the net effect is likely to be a “positive one on the cryptocurrency industry.”
“This move effectively legitimizes these transactions in the eyes of the government and provides a clear and robust framework of rules in which investors can operate without fear of repercussion, as long as those rules are followed,” he said.
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin in Pullback Mode as Regulatory Concerns Rise
• USDT Usage on Ethereum Shifts Away From Asia Daytime Hours || NYC Mayor Election Results: BOE Apologizes for Ranked-Choice Voting Results Error as Eric Adams Still Has First-Round Lead: In New York Citys 2021 primary elections, the mayoral contests Democratic primary has been the main event but several significant municipal offices also had contests, many of them competitive and similarly crowded with Democrats on all sides of the partys ideological tug of war. While results started to trickle out on election night, the city is still waiting to see who won the Democratic primary in the mayor's race, as that nominee will likely be poised to become mayor. But New York's new ranked-choice voting (RCV) system means counting happens in multiple rounds, so final results have taken a while. Matters haven't been helped by a major snafu from the NYC Board of Elections (BOE). After announcing that unofficial RCV results were live on June 29, the BOE later issued an apology because those results included approximately 135,000 fake test ballots that had been used to make sure the system worked. The Board promised new results soon. So when will we actually know the full results? According to the news outlet The City , the BOE's unofficial first-round results from election night also didn't include absentee ballots , which still get counted if theyre postmarked by election day and received by the BOE up to seven days after Election Day i.e., yesterday, June 29 . According to a New York Daily News report from that deadline day , there could be as many as 130,000 absentee ballots yet to be counted. The New York Times had reported that the entire counting process could take until the week of July 12. With that in mind, heres what we do know about how the Big Apples big primary is playing out as of right now on Wednesday morning. This story will be updated as results become available, so check back later for more. Sign up for our politics newsletter, the Teen Vogue Take ! Mayor Eric Adams , the former police captain and Brooklyn borough president, has an early lead in unfinalized results for the mayoral primary. Adams overtook presumed frontrunner Andrew Yang , the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate , in both polling and in some billionaires donations as the election neared. As of the morning of June 30, the BOE's unofficial first-round results still show Adams out in front with 31.66% of the first-round votes. That number could still change as votes continue to be counted. Story continues Behind Adams in the early results are Maya Wiley and Kathryn Garcia . As of the morning of June 30, the BOE says Wiley has 22.22% of the first-round vote and Garcia had 19.48%. Wiley has a lead of over 21,000 votes on Garcia but trails Adams by over 75,000 votes. Garcia, the city's former sanitation commissioner, surged in one late May PIX11 News/Emerson College poll , not long after she won endorsements from the Times and New York Daily News . Wiley drew attention as the only progressive running whose campaign has avoided public controversy and scandal , climbing to second in an early June PIX11/News Nation/Emerson College poll , right around when she was endorsed by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). Yang entered the primary as perhaps the best-known candidate and was the campaigns fundraising frontrunner , but appeared to be slipping from the top spot as the cycle wore on. In the BOE results available on the morning of June 30, Yang was in fourth with closer to 11.66% of the first-round vote. He conceded the race Tuesday night at his election-night party, as NBC 4 New York reported . Several other candidates like Raymond McGuire , Shaun Donovan , Scott Stringer , and Diane Morales have also made names for themselves on the mayoral campaign trail. But, as of the morning of June 30, only one of them made it above 5% of the vote in the early results. Meanwhile, on the Republican side, Guardian Angles founder Curtis Sliwa has been declared the winner after building a sizeable lead in first-round results . Public Advocate As explained by The City , the public advocate is an official watchdog role, an elected position designed to advocate for members of the public as members lodge complaints about city systems and issues like housing. Its an interesting position, especially as former NYC public advocates have gone on to higher offices, including current mayor Bill de Blasio and state attorney general Letitia James . According to BOE unofficial first-round results available on June 30 , incumbent Jumaane Williams appears to have cruised to a landslide victory. Williams, who included de Blasio on his list of the citys worst landlords in 2020, had a lead of over 340,000 votes on the second-place candidate. According to The City , there are two other candidates on the Democratic ballot: Tony Herbert , whose website highlights his roles in major public housing organizations, and Theo Chino , whose website says he is a member of the French Socialist Party and that he saw abuse of power in New Yorks state Bitcoin regulations after stating his own Bitcoin business. Meanwhile, Devi Nampiaparampil , whose website lists her work experience as a doctor specializing in pain management treatments at Veterans Affairs in Hudson Valley and Manhattan, won an uncontested Republican primary. Comptroller Like the public advocate, the comptroller is an official watchdog position, but one that specifically focuses on the citys finances. The incumbent is Scott Stringer , who isnt seeking reelection because hes currently running in the mayoral Democratic primary, though his campaign has been marred by sexual misconduct scandals . According to unofficial first-round results available on June 30, Brad Lander had 31.31% of the vote and a lead over second-place Corey Johnson at 22.54%. Lander was a cofounder of the city council's progressive caucus and endorsed by several other unions, AOC, and senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Johnson is the current speaker of the New York city council. The duo of city council progressives are out in front. The only other candidate over 10% in the earliest available first-round results is Michelle Caruso-Cabrera , a former finance reporter who challenged AOC for her congressional seat in a Democratic primary last year. According to The City , BOE records report there are uncontested candidates in the Republican and Conservative primaries, Daby Carreras and Paul Rodriguez respectively. But, like the mayors race, the field is much more crowded in the Democratic lane, with several other candidates vying for the job. They are: Brian Benjamin , a state senate senior assistant majority leader who championed recent parole and juvenile arrest reform Zach Iscol , an Iraq War combat veteran who was originally running for mayor Alex Pan , a social media intern for a realty company who says he represents Gen Z Terri Liftin , a self-described no BS lawyer and legal executive at private investment firms Kevin Parker , a state senator who championed police reform bills in 2020 Reshma Patel , a former advisor to the comptrollers office who wants to invest city employee retirement assets into cryptocurrency David Weprin , a New York assemblyman , endorsed by the police union Borough Presidents According to Ballotpedia, all five boroughs the Bronx , Queens , Brooklyn , Manhattan , and Staten Island have Democratic primaries for borough president. As explained by the City , these five officials can fund local programs, introduce bills to the city council, help appoint community boards, and serve as champions for their part of the city. Many of these primaries are still very close between top candidates with incomplete first-round counts. But according to unofficial first-round BOE results available June 30 , Bernie-backed candidate Antonio Reynoso has a substantial lead in the first-round count for the Brooklyn borough president race. The winner will succeed mayoral candidate Adams in the role. Meanwhile, there are close first-round contests in Manhattan , Queens , and the Bronx . City Council New Yorks City Council is composed of 51 seats and theyre all up for reelection this year. Nearly all have a primary election, as well; according to the City , 35 of the seats are up for grabs due to term limits and only two of the remaining incumbents dont have primary challengers. In response, the City reported that hundreds of candidates threw their hats in the ring. There are too many candidates to individually cover, but its worth noting that there are hopes that the high turnover could open the door for a wave of progressive city councilors. The New York Times reported that some hope a more left-leaning city council could check a more moderate mayor, should the Democratic nominee end up being more centrist. And a Daily News report from June 27 indicated that the city council could become majority women depending on how the results shake out. Well try to give you a sense of how the council is shaping up as the dust settles in the coming days. Editor's Note: This is a developing story and will be updated. Want more from Teen Vogue ? Check this out: NYC's 2021 Mayor's Race Is a Big Apple Mess in Democratic Primary Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue || Will Bitcoin Ever Run Out?: Sheldon Cooper/SOPA Images/Shutterstock Bitcoin has been around since 2009, but its only been the last few years where its been on the map of the average investor. Thats likely due to the fact that the price of Bitcoin has absolutely exploded. Even after dropping over 50% from its high in 2021, Bitcoin is still up over 250% over the last year, and over 32,500% since 2014. Whereas lots of investors have gotten excited over the prospect of becoming rich by investing in Bitcoin , not many people fully understand exactly what Bitcoin is or how it works. For example, you may have heard that the total number of Bitcoin allowed to exist is limited. But, how is that possible, and what does it mean? Will Bitcoin ever run out? Check Out: What Is the Next Big Cryptocurrency To Explode in 2021? Consider: Is the Shiba Inu Coin the Cryptocurrency You Should Be Watching? Heres a quick overview of how Bitcoin is produced, how it can be limited and what it all means for the future of the cryptocurrency. How Is Bitcoin Produced? While the mechanics of the operations can get a bit confusing, Bitcoin is produced by miners, but electronic miners rather than physical miners. The way it works is that Bitcoin miners record transactions on the blockchain, which is a decentralized ledger. To record a transaction, miners must solve complex algorithms using massive computer power. Once a transaction is recorded, which occurs about every 10 minutes on average, the miner is rewarded with Bitcoin. Currently, the reward for miners is 6.25 Bitcoin, but this amount is halved every four years. In 2009, when Bitcoin was first developed, the reward was 50 Bitcoin. Its estimated that the next halving will be in 2024, when the reward will drop to 3.125 Bitcoin. Learn More: Where Does Cryptocurrency Come From? Bitcoin Is Limited to 21 Million Under the mining system, it might seem like there would be no limit to the amount of Bitcoin that could be produced. However, the way its source code is written, there can be no more Bitcoin produced once 21 million coins are in the system. The way the mining system is set up means that the final Bitcoin wont be mined until about 2140, however. So, although the production rate will slow, there will still be new Bitcoin coming online for over 100 years. Story continues See: If You Invested $1,000 in These Cryptocurrencies a Year Ago, Heres How Much Youd Have Now The Future of Bitcoin Bitcoin will never run out, as there have already been over 18 million Bitcoin mined and there will ultimately be 21 million in the system. However, the introduction of new supply will eventually stop. This is one of the reasons Bitcoin bulls aggressively tout the cryptocurrency. In their opinion, increasing demand for Bitcoin will eventually overcome the limited supply, thereby driving up prices exponentially. This could prove true, as more and more businesses and even countries are beginning to accept Bitcoin as a valid form of currency. El Salvador, for example, became the first country to accept Bitcoin as legal tender on June 9. However, the future demand for Bitcoin is still far from certain, which is part of the reason there are such wild swings in its price. More From GOBankingRates What Money Topics Do You Want Covered: Ask the Financially Savvy Female 5 Things Most Americans Dont Know About Social Security 20 Home Renovations That Will Hurt Your Homes Value What Income Level Is Considered Middle Class in Your State? Last updated: July 29, 2021 This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : Will Bitcoin Ever Run Out? || 4 Crypto Tax Tips to Get You Through Market Dips: As crypto has taken off over the past few years, we’ve seen drastic ups and downs in the market. When you’ve invested money into cryptocurrencies, seeing the prices dip can undoubtedly trigger panic. Do you HODL for dear life? Buy the dip? Cut your losses?
As it turns out, the market dips can actually be a positive when it comes to crypto and taxes. It’s merely a matter of moving when the market moves with a strategy called tax-loss harvesting. The concept is simple: Sell your crypto assets when in loss positions to offset your capital gains.
Michelle O’Connor is VP of Marketing at TaxBit, which provides cryptocurrency tax automation software to enterprises, consumers and government entities.
Related:The Age of Autonomous Supply Chains
Crypto traders who take advantage of tax-loss harvesting can potentially save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on their taxes. Once you understand how to move with the market, you won’t hodl through those dips again.
Crypto tax-loss harvesting is the selling of cryptocurrency assets that are in loss positions to offset capital gains. Since every sale or trade of an appreciated asset triggers a taxable capital gain, many crypto traders find themselves owing a rather large sum of money in taxes at the end of the year. These taxable capital gains can be offset with strategic capital losses, which is exactly what tax-loss harvesting does.
Crypto tax-loss harvesting, when done right, can not only lower your tax liability, but in some cases, it can actually help you get a tax refund. To use tax-loss harvesting to the fullest extent, keep these tips in mind:
Wash-sale rules prevent a taxpayer from selling a security at a loss and buying back the same asset within 30 days. The good news for cryptocurrency traders is that wash-sale rules don’t currently apply to crypto. When the market dips, you can sell your assets at a loss and buy them back to offset your capital gains.
Related:Market Wrap: Bitcoin Sustains ‘Musk Jump’ as Crypto Sentiment Improves
Many people choose to harvest their losses only once a year at the end of the year. When it seems clear that an asset isn’t going to show a profit before the year ends, then they’ll consider harvesting the loss for tax purposes.
However, with crypto’s wild price swings throughout the year, that strategy leaves money on the table. Instead, take advantage of the price dips throughout the year, and you’ll reap much greater tax savings.
If you have capital losses left over after netting them against your capital gains for the year, you can deduct up to $3,000 of them from your ordinary income. And, any additional losses beyond that can be carried over to future tax years to offset capital gains. This is a great way to rake in even more savings, since ordinary income tax rates can be as high as 37%.
Keep in mind that while tax-loss harvesting allows you to strategically defer and lessen your crypto taxes, it doesn’t allow you to skip out on taxes altogether. For this reason, it’s important to remember that long-term capital gains are taxed at a more favorable rate than short term capital gains. If you have both long- and short-term capital gains of a certain cryptocurrency, it is more beneficial to first harvest the short-term capital losses and offset your short-term gains. You may consider holding on to your long-term capital gains to get a more favorable tax rate when you do decide to sell.
It’s also important to note that you are only allowed to offset long-term capital losses against long-term capital gains and short-term capital losses against short-term capital gains. After you’ve offset losses of the same type, you can use either long-term or short-term capital losses against short-term capital gains.
When you properly understand how to use cryptocurrency tax-loss harvesting, you can realize considerably more tax savings than when you hodl. By applying these tips, you’ll be able to use market dips to your advantage, and potentially even get a tax refund.
• 2 Tweets Make a Story: Bloomberg’s Bitcoin Miami Report
• Bitcoin Fund Outflows Slow but Investors Start Exiting Ether Funds || Should Value Investors Pick World Acceptance (WRLD) Stock?: Value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. After all, who wouldn’t want to find stocks that are either flying under the radar and are compelling buys, or offer up tantalizing discounts when compared to fair value?One way to find these companies is by looking at several key metrics and financial ratios, many of which are crucial in the value stock selection process. Let’s putWorld Acceptance CorporationWRLD stock into this equation and find out if it is a good choice for value-oriented investors right now, or if investors subscribing to this methodology should look elsewhere for top picks:
A key metric that value investors always look at is the Price to Earnings Ratio, or PE for short. This shows us how much investors are willing to pay for each dollar of earnings in a given stock, and is easily one of the most popular financial ratios in the world. The best use of the PE ratio is to compare the stock’s current PE ratio with: a) where this ratio has been in the past; b) how it compares to the average for the industry/sector; and c) how it compares to the market as a whole.On this front, World Acceptance has a trailing twelve months PE ratio of 11.79, as you can see in the chart below:
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
This level actually compares pretty favorably with the market at large, as the PE for the S&P 500 stands at about 27.90. If we focus on the long-term PE trend, World Acceptance’s current PE level puts it above its midpoint over the past five years.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Further, the stock’s PE also compares favorably with the sector’s trailing twelve months PE ratio, which stands at 19.25. At the very least, this indicates that the stock is relatively undervalued right now, compared to its peers.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
However, we should point out that World Acceptance has a forward PE ratio (price relative to this year’s earnings) of 19.10, so we might say that the forward earnings estimates indicate that the company’s share price will likely appreciate in the near future.
Another key metric to note is the Price/Sales ratio. This approach compares a given stock’s price to its total sales, where a lower reading is generally considered better. Some people like this metric more than other value-focused ones because it looks at sales, something that is far harder to manipulate with accounting tricks than earnings.Right now, World Acceptance has a P/S ratio of about 1.94. This is lower than the S&P 500 average, which comes in at 5.22 right now. As we can see in the chart below, this is slightly above the median for this stock in particular over the past few years.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
WRLD is actually in the higher zone of its trading range in the time period per the P/S metric, which suggests that the company’s stock price has already appreciated to some degree, relative to its sales.
In aggregate, World Acceptance currently has a Zacks Value Style Score of A, putting it into the top 20% of all stocks we cover from this look. This makes World Acceptance a solid choice for value investors.
Though World Acceptance might be a good choice for value investors, there are plenty of other factors to consider before investing in this name. In particular, it is WRLD a Zacks VGM score—or its overarching fundamental grade—of A. (You can read more about the Zacks Style Scores here >>)Meanwhile, the company’s recent earnings estimates have been mixed at best. The current fiscal quarter has seen one estimate go higher in the past sixty days compared to one lower, while the fiscal full year estimate has seen two upward and one downward revision in the same time period.As a result, the current fiscal quarter consensus estimate has risen by 5.8% in the past two months, while the fiscal full year estimate has declined 8.3%. You can see the consensus estimate trend and recent price action for the stock in the chart below:
World Acceptance Corporation price-consensus-chart | World Acceptance Corporation Quote
This somewhat mixed trend is why the stock has just a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and why we are looking for in-line performance from the company in the near term.
World Acceptance is an inspired choice for value investors, as it is hard to beat its incredible lineup of statistics on this front. Moreover, a strong industry rank (Top 15% out of more than 250 industries) further supports the growth potential of the stock. In fact, over the past two years, the industry has outperformed the broader market, as you can see below:
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
However, with a Zacks Rank #3, it is hard to get too excited about this company overall. So, value investors might want to wait for estimates and analyst sentiment to turn around in this name first, but once that happens, this stock could be a compelling pick.
Blockchain and cryptocurrency has sparked one of the most exciting discussion topics of a generation. Some call it the “Internet of Money” and predict it could change the way money works forever. If true, it could do to banks what Netflix did to Blockbuster and Amazon did to Sears. Experts agree we’re still in the early stages of this technology, and as it grows, it will create several investing opportunities.Zacks’ has just revealed 3 companies that can help investors capitalize on the explosive profit potential of Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies with significantly less volatility than buying them directly.See 3 crypto-related stocks now >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportWorld Acceptance Corporation (WRLD) : Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research || DOGEBOO: Bringing Boo The Dog Back To Life With Crypto: SINGAPORE / ACCESSWIRE / July 8, 2021 /DogeAutobot is a Singapore-based development firm started in 2020. They are known for creating trading apps. The company is expanding its business in the blockchain space, specifically in the development sector.
As per the latest trend, they are helping Doge inspired token Dogeboo to create two of the most important apps: Dogeboo trading bot and Dogebooland.
DogeBoo is a token that was created by drawing inspiration from Dogecoin.Dogeboocryptocurrency is built on Binance Smart Chain referring to its cheap transaction cost and fast block times. The project will soon launch its two apps, the Dogebooland app and Dogeboo Trading Bot. These are the two main endeavors of this crypto ecosystem. These comply with the need for a fun interactive community space and a friction-free trading place to make a profit anytime and anywhere.
Dogebooland
Dogeboo land is as fun as it sounds. It will involve games and the app will first be released for Android devices and then for IOS. Leveraging the potential of data in the gaming industry which currently has a revenue worth $165B Dogeboo's first project is all about games. Players will be rewarded and 12% of the profit from this will be allocated for Buy Back to increase Dogeboo's value.
Dogeboo Trading App
Dogeboo Trading Bot is an automated Crypto trading platform that contains expert traders who can give insights to earn profit. It has a smart money management system that positions a user according to their capital value. It also has an auto-withdrawal system to automatically collect the profit into a wallet. The bot is highly secured using Google Authenticator and two-factor authentication. No one can access it except the user themselves.
The creators of DogeBoo were inspired by how Dogecoin made it to the top 10 market caps even though it was made for hysterical reasons. With big personas like Elon Musk and Slim Jim, the coin is predicted to hit $0.482 by the second half of 2022 and reach the value of $1 by 2026. This is a huge achievement for a Dogecoin that was created as a joke mocking Bitcoin. DogeBoo is following the footsteps of Dogecoin aiming for similar growth and popularity with the face of Boo.
Continuing in the treads of Dogecoin, DogeBoo has come up with a brand mascot. It is Boo the dog which was titled the cutest dog in the world until its death on 18 January 2019. Boo was a pomeranian dog that was owned by Irene and its Facebook page had over 16 million followers. This token is also a sort of tribute to the memory of Boo by bringing it back to life through crypto.
The tokenomics of Dogeboo include a total supply of 100 billion tokens. 50% of the supply will be burnt in a year. Since Boo the dog died at the age of twelve, the tokens will be burnt 12 times each year and the supply will be reduced. 70% will be allocated for the marketplace, 15% for marketing, 10% for development, and 5% for volunteers.
DOGEBOO token's presale will start on July 8 at 2:00 PM UTC. You can join theirTelegramandTwittercommunity for the latest updates on ongoing developments.
About Company
DogeAutobotis a company in Singapore that has been creating trading apps and other AI-related bots since 2020. The company is expanding its business in other sectors such as Blockchain. Dogeboo is one of the blockchain-based projects associated with DogeAutobot.
Media Contacts:
Name: Bootoshi NakamotoCompany Name: DogeAutobotDogeboo Website:https://www.dogeboo.comEmail:[email protected] URL:www.dogeautobot.comCountry: Singapore
SOURCE:DogeAutobot
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/654525/DOGEBOO-Bringing-Boo-The-Dog-Back-To-Life-With-Crypto
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 39747.50, 40869.55, 42816.50, 44555.80, 43798.12, 46365.40, 45585.03, 45593.64, 44428.29, 47793.32
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2022-07-13]
BTC Price: 20212.07, BTC RSI: 41.87
Gold Price: 1734.20, Gold RSI: 29.01
Oil Price: 96.30, Oil RSI: 36.05
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Nasdaq jumps 2.5% as investors look to reset after worst weekly drop in 2 years: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images US stocks jumped sharply Tuesday as investors returned from Monday's Juneteenth break. Stocks rebounded after the S&P 500 last week sank by 5.8%, the worst weekly performance since March 2020. Fed Chairman Powell will appear before lawmakers to talk monetary policy this week. US stocks charged higher Tuesday, with tech shares among those cutting into the recent rout set off by pricier interest rates and recession fears as the Federal Reserve seeks to cool down inflation. All 11 of the S&P 500's sectors gained ground, led by an almost 6% rise in the energy group. Among individual names, Tesla shares surged as CEO Elon Musk confirmed a 3.5% workforce reduction and said demand for its electric vehicles is "extremely high ." Trading was closed Monday for the observation of Juneteenth. Investors returned to the markets with last week's 5.8% loss in mind. The worst weekly performance since March 2020 took place after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 75 basis points. Here's where US indexes stood at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday: S&P 500 : 3,764.84, up 2.45% Dow Jones Industrial Average : 30,531.77, up 2.15% (642.27 points) Nasdaq Composite : 11,069.30, up 2.51% "The Fed seems dead set on raising rates this year to levels that, in our view, would clearly slow the economy. It seems to be responding to the 'politics' of current high inflation," BlackRock Investment Institute said in a weekly update published Tuesday. "Current high core inflation rates reflect an imbalance of demand and supply broadly across the economy. It isn't due to overheating demand but unusually low production capacity in an incomplete restart following the pandemic." Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will appear before Congress on Wednesday and Thursday to give semi-annual testimony about monetary policy, and investors will watch for his views on the state of the world's largest economy. Around the markets, Cathie Wood warned the Fed could cause a recession if it keeps hiking interest rates. Story continues Russia is now China's biggest oil supplier , overtaking Saudi Arabia. Oil prices were mixed. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.9% at $110.58 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, slipped 3 cents to $114.66. Gold fell 0.4% to $1,834 per ounce. The 10-year yield rose 6 basis points to 3.30%. Bitcoin gained 3.4% at $21,142.17. Read the original article on Business Insider || Crypto staking must be regulated along with Bitcoin, demands first major supervisor: The staking and lending of cryptocurrencies could eventually fall under regulatory purview alongside Bitcoin thanks in part to a market crash that has grabbed headlines the world over.
Staking is the practice of locking up a specific amount of cryptocurrency in order to validate transactions on certain blockchains.
Like an ante in poker, it’s the entry ticket that must be paid to earn rewards, and it can be forfeited or lost as a penalty for a fraudulent transaction.
Speaking a week aftercrypto lender Celsius froze all withdrawals, European Central Bank presidentChristine Lagardeemerged as the first to explicitly call for greater oversight of the practice during testimony to the European Parliament.
Referring to the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation due to take effect across the EUby 2024, Lagarde argued a potential second, follow-up framework was already needed owing to the speed of current developments in the industry.
“MiCA II should regulate the activities of crypto asset staking and lending, which are definitely increasing,” she said in her function as head of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB).
By comparison, Gary Gensler, chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, hasonly tentatively suggestedmany crypto companies engage in behaviors that fall under his remit, like staking, but stopped short of claiming a mandate for responsibility.
“Innovations in these unexplored and uncharted territories put consumers at risk, where the lack of regulation is often covering fraud, completely illegitimate claims about valuation, and very often speculation as well as criminal dealings,” Lagarde warned.
The minimum to validate transactions on Ethereum’s new proof of stake blockchain, dubbedBeacon, for example, is 32 Ether, or close to $40,000.
This differs from Bitcoin’s proof of work consensus mechanism where specialized computers called mining rigs solve complex mathematical equations to win the right to create a new block of transactions and earn newly minted Bitcoin in the process.
Since decentralized finance has the potential to pose a “real risk to financial stability,” Lagarde said this, too, should be fully covered in a second regulatory framework, rather than just limit itself to financial intermediaries.
That way the world’s premier cryptocurrency, which lacks a defined issuer, would be captured as well in the future.
“Bitcoin will not be covered by MiCA I,” she said, “but hopefully for MiCA II, you will take that into account.”
Separately Lagarde said the ECB acknowledged it waswrong to call rising consumer prices transitory, and said hers was the only central bank to investigate why its staff forecasts failed to predict “off the chart” inflation.
In May, price rises harmonized across the 19 member states that share the single currencyeclipsed 8%for the first time in theeuro area’s history, far above its 2% target.
This story was originally featured onFortune.com || The speech that muddied the crypto waters: Today, global crypto markets are measured in the trillions–and the underlying technology continues to hold great promise to build a more inclusive and open financial system. Yet, here in the U.S., the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has deliberately muddied the regulatory waters for crypto, as epitomized by a speech given by one of the agency's former officials, William Hinman, four years ago. To unlock crypto's true potential, we need to finally clean up this regulatory sludge. A brief recap: Hinman served as the Director of Corporation Finance at the SEC. In his now-infamous 2018 speech at the Yahoo Markets Summit, he declared that Ether (ETH)–despite its well-publicized initial coin offering in 2014–had magically morphed from a security to a non-security. This was big news because at the time there was (and still is) no clear guidance from the SEC on how they classify digital assets. Hinman justified his conclusion by saying that the widely traded Bitcoin (BTC) was “decentralized” (and thus, not a security) and that ETH had become “sufficiently decentralized” over time. This was odd because that standard is nowhere to be found in the statutes that define securities. It’s also not found in the three-part “ Howey'' test, established in a 1946 Supreme Court case used to determine when something is a type of security known as an “investment contract.” At its core, the question posed by the Howey case is: Like a traditional share of stock, am I making a passive investment in a “common enterprise,” and does that give me the right to share in the enterprises’ profits derived solely from the efforts of those running that enterprise? “Decentralized” is not part of any test under the law. Hinman's newly created exception for ETH is all the more peculiar given a stunning conflict of interest discovered through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made by whistleblower group Empower Oversight . As he delivered that market-moving speech in 2018, Hinman did not mention that he was still receiving millions of dollars from his old law firm, Simpson Thacher, and that his firm was (and still is) a member of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA), an industry organization whose objective is to drive the use of ETH. Hinman has denied any wrongdoing. But whether or not he knew of the EEA connection when he gave his speech, the SEC has not commented on what is–at the very least–the appearance of a conflict. It is doubtful the SEC would stay silent if a public company CEO were in a similar predicament. Story continues Despite disclaimers that the speech was Hinman's personal opinion and “not necessarily that of the Commission,” the market took Hinman's speech to heart. For Ripple, Hinman’s speech affirmed the conclusion that XRP–a cryptocurrency that exists on an open, permissionless, decentralized blockchain ledger–was a commodity and/or a virtual currency. Certainly not a security. Ripple uses XRP in its products as a bridge to make cross-border payments faster, cheaper, and more transparent for its customers–and is one of many developing on the XRP ledger. Following Hinman’s speech, Ripple met several times with key officials at the SEC, believing that rational minds would all agree on XRP’s status as something other than a security. But in December 2020, the SEC filed a misguided lawsuit against Ripple, its chairman, and CEO, alleging that XRP was a security. The SEC hasn’t really articulated its theory, but whatever it is, it's a stretch, since XRP has been freely traded in the open market for nearly a decade and isn’t a contract for an investment with Ripple. What the suit appears to be is a continuation of the SEC’s assault on all crypto in the U.S. In the litigation, the SEC has vacillated whether Hinman’s speech was his personal views or a signal from the SEC’s Division of Corporate Finance, but seems to be sticking to its story that it was not guidance from the commission itself. Why is the SEC fostering such uncertainty? The SEC’s jurisdiction has limits: A “securities commission” can only regulate “securities.” Like a hammer wanting everything to be a nail, the SEC is keeping everything murky so it can argue every crypto is a security. By bringing enforcement actions–or threats of potential enforcement–the SEC intends to bully, bulldoze, and bankrupt crypto innovation in the U.S., all in the name of impermissibly expanding its own jurisdictional limits. The U.S. is not the “ Wild West ” due to existing anti-fraud and anti-money laundering laws. Yet without a comprehensive regulatory framework, the U.S. will continue to fall further behind other responsible global economic centers. Recent bipartisan legislative efforts in Congress are promising. As recognized in President Biden's recent Executive Order on Responsible Development of Digital Assets , with clear and practical guidance, applied evenly and fairly, the U.S. can secure its position as a global leader in the crypto industry. In the four years since Hinman’s speech that did nothing but muddy the crypto waters, the U.S. still desperately needs clear rules of the road that embrace innovation while protecting consumers and the integrity of markets. Stu Alderoty is Ripple's general counsel. The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune. More must-read commentary published by Fortune : TSMC chairman Mark Liu describes how the world’s largest chipmaker is reimagining the semiconductor industry We should stop blaming workers for the Great Resignation–and start looking at the jobs they’re leaving Web3 is not dead. Here’s what the crypto space will look like in 2030 How to fix the nursing shortage —and recruit the next generation of frontline heroes I was a senior executive at WeWork before it imploded . Here’s the one behavior that could have saved the company This story was originally featured on Fortune.com View comments || Vleppo and Tokel make NFT rights legally enforceable in the real world leveraging Komodo technology: Kongens Lyngby, Denmark --News Direct-- Vleppo A long-standing problem confronting the blockchain world and NFT owners is the distinct lack of contractual clarity and legal rights in the enforcement of digital asset transactions. Today, Vleppo and Tokel have successfully conducted a breakthrough digital procedure that will pave the way for the blockchain industry and NFT owners to establish and enable their legal rights embodied in the NFTs and digital transactions to be made legally enforceable in the courts of law around the world. In June 2022, Vleppo developed a Blockchain Contract Management System (“CMS”) that enables NFT owners to create a digital contract by embedding their NFT’s on-chain ID directly into the Blockchain record of the same digital contract. This seemingly simple digital procedure however has massive ground-breaking significance for the digital world. Through this process, the NFT can now act as an immutable evidentiary anchor for the digital contract, forever linking the two together. This link is readily observable because Vleppo’s Blockchain system, called Alysides, which is a customized fork of the Komodo Protocol, is both public and permissionless. This Vleppo Solution has for the first time finally addressed the longstanding concern of the blockchain industry and NFT owners about the lack of clarity on the legal enforceability of smart contracts as related to NFTs. That Vleppo has developed a solution is most welcoming as well as providing a great sense of relief to holders of valuable NFTs. For a contract to be legally enforceable it needs to fully satisfy the elements of (1) offer (2) acceptance (3) consideration (4) capacity of the parties to contract and (5) an intention between parties to create and be bound to legal relations. The first three elements are satisfied by any smart contract. Legal issues arise, however, when attempting to demonstrate that both parties intended to create legal relations and/or have the capacity to contract. This is because current smart contracts in isolation are incapable of definitively confirming that these qualitative elements of a legally enforceable contract have been met. Therefore, it is common practice for smart contracts to be accompanied by a separate natural contract. By comparison, a digital contract or smart contract executed in the Vleppo CMS, where the ID of the NFT is embedded into the Blockchain record of the contract, ensures that the link between the NFT and underlying contract cannot be broken. The Vleppo Solution is Blockchain agnostic as this unique solution delivers legal enforceability enhancement to NFT owners, regardless of whether the NFT is on Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, or any other Blockchain. Story continues Furthermore, because of the Komodo Protocol’s superior design and lack of reliance on ‘gas-style’ transaction fees, Vleppo’s CMS can accommodate even the highly complex contractual arrangements in an affordable and efficient way in comparison to other popular protocols, such as Ethereum. Being Blockchain-enabled, Vleppo can provide further additional value-added services to users such as payments, escrow, and Blockchain-governed dispute resolution – essentially everything needed to execute and settle contracts. Chris Sloan , Chair of the Emerging Companies Team at US legal firm Baker Donelson said: ‘The concept of, for example, embedding an NFT of a song into a Ricardian contract that defines a user’s rights with respect to that song is a nice marriage of the benefits of an NFT in terms of being able to track the distribution of a digital asset like that with traditional contract law’ during a panel discussion held on Thursday 7th July following the Vleppo and Tokel demonstration. During the same panel discussion, Jesper Løffler Nielsen , Associate Partner at Focus Advokater , highlighted the disconnect between the desire and positivity in the EU to embrace Blockchain solutions for IP and action, referencing the 2019 “Blockchain Now and Tomorrow” European Commission Report stating ‘… but we (the EU) are moving slowly because that was in 2019 and now we are 2022 and as far as I know there hasn’t been any major leaps forward when it comes to recognizing some of these applications (of Blockchain and IP).’ Through the Vleppo CMS, a solution is now available to effectively manage the gap between the digital asset world and current legislation. Peter Coco , Vleppo’s CEO remarked “It has been a long slog. But it is a big delight for the Vleppo Team to be able to savor the sweet smell of success. At long last, the problem that has posed a challenge to the blockchain world and NFT owners, concerning the distinct lack of legal clarity and legal rights in smart contracts, is finally resolved. We would welcome the opportunity to help all blockchain companies and NFT owners to enhance their existing digital and smart contracts as well as their NFTs to be recognized as legally binding contracts in courts of law.” Peter will be at DMCC Free Trade Zone in Dubai to meet with partners and investors in mid-late July to discuss the potential universe of applications of Vleppo’s technology and the next steps in helping owners of NFTs and other digital assets to unlock and monetize their value. About Vleppo Founded in 2018, Vleppo is a Web3 blockchain solution provider. Its applications have been focused on developing a Blockchain-integrated suite of business tools for freelancers, SMEs, and enterprises. For more information visit www.vleppo.com . Peter Coco can be reached directly via Telegram (@petercoco) and email ( [email protected] ). About Tokel Tokel is a platform that uses unique nSPV technology to deliver a simple, fast, and easy-to-use Blockchain NFT and token creation system. For more information visit www.tokel.io . About Komodo Komodo is a community-oriented project, consisting of a customized version of the Bitcoin protocol (known as the Komodo Protocol) as well as a blockchain running on the Komodo Protocol. Contact Details Vleppo ApS Peter Coco [email protected] View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/vleppo-and-tokel-make-nft-rights-legally-enforceable-in-the-real-world-leveraging-komodo-technology-997899564 View comments || Coinbase plummets 15% as broad sell-off sees billions wiped from cryptocurrency market cap: • Coinbase fell 15% Monday amid a broader crypto selloff.
• Cryptocurrencies lost billions and fell below a $1 trillion market cap.
• Investors are fleeing risk assets in light of Friday's inflation report.
Coinbase stock fell as much as 15% Monday amid a broader crypto selloff that slashed billions from the total market value.
Shares of the popular cryptocurrency platform were changing hands at $49.73 at presstime. Coinbase stock is down 82% from the start of the year.
The largest crypto exchange in the US is battling a rout throughout the market that has pushed cryptocurrencies below a $1 trillion market cap. The latest cryptocurrency turmoil adds to an already frustrating 2022 for the market, which enjoyed a boomin 2021.
"Whenever Bitcoin has volatile moves this usually means that Coinbase follows in the same direction," said Marcus Sotiriou, market analyst at GlobalBlock.
Sotiriou says exchanges like Coinbase are so intertwined with bitcoin that when the largest cryptocurrency has big price rallies, the entire market gains more confidence which can extend to the company where the coin is traded, but "the same is the case for the opposite direction."
Coinbase made headlines in recent weeks whenit rescinded several job offers via email over shifting market conditions, and said it expected a hiring freeze to continue intothe "foreseeable future."
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, tumbled as much as 17% Monday while Ethereum slipped 15%. Risk assets are proving less attractive after Friday's Consumer Price Index report showed inflation rising at the quickest pace in 41 years. Bitcoin is often touted as a hedge against inflation akin to liquid assets like gold and silver.
Read the original article onBusiness Insider || Cryptocurrency Market to Reach 32,530 Billion by 2028 Thanks to Rising Interest of Investors and Increasing Number of Countries Legalizing Cryptocurrency: SkyQuest Technology Consulting Pvt. Ltd. Cryptocurrencies are digital or virtual tokens that use cryptography to secure their transactions and to control the creation of new units. Cryptocurrencies are decentralized, meaning they are not subject to government or financial institution control. This allows them to operate without the need for a third party. Considering current market conditions and future growth prospective, the global cryptocurrency market is poised to grow at a CAGR of 54.7% during the forecast period, 2022-2028. Westford, USA, June 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Why is the Cryptocurrency Market Gaining All the Popularity? One of the biggest advantages of cryptocurrency is that it is secure and anonymous. Transactions are processed through a network of computers and no personal information is required. This makes cryptocurrency ideal for online transactions and darknets. Additionally, cryptocurrency is immune to inflation and taxation, which makes it an attractive option for investors. They can be exchanged for other currencies, products, and services. As of June 2022, there are over 18,000 different cryptocurrencies in existence in the global cryptocurrency market . With each passing year, cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly popular, with many people looking to invest in them. What is behind this growing interest? One reason might be that cryptocurrencies are not subject to government or financial institution control. They are also relatively new and offer a high degree of privacy. Another reason might be the potential for big profits. Cryptocurrencies have been on a tear in recent months, with some ETH (Ethereum) rising more than 1,000% in value over the last three years! Current Developments in Cryptocurrency Market Cryptocurrency market is witnessing a lot of volatility as investors react to recent events. The price of Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, has seen significant swings in value over the past few months. For instance, Bitcoin was trading at over $67000 per coin in November 2021 but has since fallen to around $20,000 in June 2022. Ethereum is also down about 80% in value over the past one year and Ripple is down about 70%. These are all major coins, so the falls have a big impact on the overall market value. Story continues Blockchain experts at SkyQuest Consulting Technology believe that these swings are due to news stories about government intervention or fraud. For example, China recently banned Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), which could be a reason why Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies are falling in value. However, other experts believe that this volatility is just part of the natural cycle of cryptocurrency markets. Cryptocurrencies are still very new and there is a lot of speculation going on. As more people invest in cryptocurrencies, there will be more volatility until those investments mature and become more stable. Get sample copy of this report: https://skyquestt.com/sample-request/cryptocurrency-market Key Factors Responsible for Growth of Cryptocurrency Market Cryptocurrency market is on the rise and there are various factors that are responsible for its growth. Some of these factors include increasing popularity of digital currencies, regulatory ambiguity surrounding the industry and increasing investment opportunities. The growing popularity of digital currencies is one of the key reasons behind their growth. Cryptocurrencies are gaining traction because they offer a new way of conducting transactions that is secure and anonymous. This has led to increased demand from investors and users, who see cryptocurrencies as a lucrative avenue for investment. Regulatory ambiguity surrounding the industry is also a major reason behind the growth of the cryptocurrency market. Numerous governments are still unclear about how to regulate digital currencies, which has created an environment of opportunity for investors. In fact, some countries such as El Salvador, Central African Republic, Cuba, and Iran have even legalized digital currencies as a means of payment. This has helped increase demand for cryptocurrencies and made them more appealing to investors. Another reason why the cryptocurrency market is on the rise is increasing investment opportunities. Several venture capital firms have begun investing in this space, which has led to an increase in investments in digital currencies. This has prompted several companies to start working on new projects involving cryptocurrencies. This has caused the cryptocurrency market to grow rapidly and expand beyond its traditional user base. Browse summary of the report and Complete Table of Contents (ToC): https://skyquestt.com/report/cryptocurrency-market Growing Demand for Mining Equipment to Drive Cryptocurrency Market Cryptocurrency mining is the process of verifying and adding blocks to the blockchain. Mining is how new coins are created. Miners are rewarded with cryptocurrency for verifying and committing transactions to the blockchain. The more transactions a miner participates in, the more opportunities they have to earn rewards. In recent years, cryptocurrency mining has become increasingly competitive. This is because cryptocurrency miners must use expensive hardware in order to verify and add blocks to the blockchain. As a result, demand for cryptocurrency mining equipment is high and growing. The demand for cryptocurrency mining hardware is growing faster than ever in the global cryptocurrency market. This is because the value of cryptocurrencies is continuing to rise. As more people invest in cryptocurrencies, they need more mining hardware to help them earn profits. There are many different types of cryptocurrency mining hardware available on the market. Some of these include graphics cards, CPUs, and ASICs. Graphics cards are popular because they use a lot of power and tend to be affordable. CPUs are good for small-scale mining because they are cheap and relatively powerful. However, they have difficulty performing multiple tasks at once. ASICs are the most effective type of cryptocurrency mining hardware because they can solve complex algorithms quickly. Speak to Analyst for your custom requirements: https://skyquestt.com/speak-with-analyst/cryptocurrency-market US and China are Largest Cryptocurrency Market, but Future is Not So Bright The US and China are now the two largest cryptocurrency mining markets in the world. The US accounted for 34% of global mining revenue in 2018, according to data from CoinMarketCap. China was second with a 22% share. However, recently in 2021, China banned the mining of cryptocurrency, but it did not stop the country from underground mining and has become the second largest mining hub. Earlier the ban was imposed, the country was accounting for between 65% to 75% of the total “hash rate” — or processing power — of the bitcoin network across the global cryptocurrency market. But it went on to almost zero as the government bodies started cracking down the mining facilities. However, it is not the case now and people have already started mining again with full capacity by hiding their operations underground. This shift is likely due to the booming prices of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in recent years. The value of Bitcoin has surged more than 2,500% since 2017, reaching a peak of $68000 in 2021. This has caused miners to switch to more lucrative cryptocurrencies. However, this growth of the cryptocurrency market is not without risk. As cryptocurrencies become more popular, they are at greater risk of being stolen or hacked. In 2018, hackers stole $532 million worth of Ethereum (ETH) from digital currency exchanges across the world. Overall, these trends indicate that cryptocurrency mining remains a lucrative business. However, it is important to be aware of the risks involved and to make sure that wallet is properly secured. Related Reports in SkyQuest’s Library: Global Crypto ATM Market Global Crowdfunding Market Global Neo Bank Market Global Asset Management Market Global Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) Market About Us: SkyQuest Technology is leading growth consulting firm providing market intelligence, commercialization and technology services. It has 450+ happy clients globally. Address: 1 Apache Way, Westford, Massachusetts 01886 Phone: USA (+1) 617-230-0741 Email: [email protected] LinkedIn Facebook Twitter || How to Make a Kamikaze, the Surprisingly Refined and Refreshing Vodka Cocktail That Gets a Bad Rap: Let me start by saying that I like Kamikazes. As a so-called mixologist and professional cocktail writer, I understand this is an unusual position. But I think its important to note that I dont like the Kamikaze ironically. I dont like it because its hilarious to like it. I like it because its good. To explain, lets look at three cocktails together: More from Robb Report How to Make a Watermelon Piña Colada, the Absolute Best Tropical Cocktail for Summer How to Make a Fog Cutter, a Boozy Tiki Cocktail That's Actually Delicious to Drink Moët Hennessy Just Opened a Swanky New Cocktail Bar in the Heart of Paris. Here's a Look Inside. The first is the Margaritatequila, orange liqueur and lime juicethe definitive tequila drink, one which can make a credible claim of being the most popular cocktail in the world, more or less beloved by more or less everybody. The second is the Sidecarcognac, orange liqueur and lemon juiceinvented in Paris in the 20s, bracing and racy, pure elegance, one of the handful of classic cocktails that enjoys near-unanimous respect in the drinks industry. And finally, the Kamikazevodka, orange liqueur and lime juicedisparaged, diminished, disdained and generally shat upon by almost everyone who would call themselves a cocktail bartender or enthusiast. Very similar drinks, very different reactions. So what gives? As best we can tell, the Kamikaze was invented in the mid 1970s, and has lived in scorn ever since. Maybe its because of the name, which would be bigoted if it were in any way coherent. Or maybe thats because it was an early harbinger of what would become a wave of shooters, saccharine concoctions famous less for their flavor than their provocative names (Buttery Nipple, Screaming Orgasm, Sex With an Alligator, blah blah, etc). Its hard to say. You wont find a peep about it in any of the serious mixology volumes written in the last decade, so to find out more, we have to meet the Kamikaze on its own turf. There, too, we find hatersHeywood Gould, in his 1984 novel Cocktail (which would become the Tom Cruise movie of same name), wrote: The Kamikaze is one of a class of disco cocktails invented by barbiturated teenagers. It is a senseless, infuriating concoction. . .Its intent is instant inebriation. . .There are no standards for the kamikaze. It has no particular attributes that would distinguish a good kamikaze from a bad one, like a dry martini or a tart gimlet. Ive made the drink with rum and applejack and never got a complaint. It exists merely to confer a little cachet on these pimpled baboons. Story continues It seems unsporting to pick a drinks fight with the 1980s, so Ill merely say I disagree. He seems to be making the category error of judging a thing by its fanbasewhich, as with Bitcoin or the Philadelphia Eagles, seems a little unfair. Dont get me wrong, Im not saying all drinks can be great. Theres very little that can be done for the Cement Mixer or the Brain Hemmorage, two irredeemably disgusting shots that taste even worse than they look. But the Kamikaze? The quote above compares it unfavorably to a Gimlet, but it essentially is a gimlet. It may have fallen in with the wrong crowd, but that doesnt mean its a bad kid. It just needs a little guidance. Put the smallest effort toward its developmentrecruit fresh lime juice and a high quality triple secand the Kamikaze can be a great drink: clean, bright and refreshing. Its a vodka gimlet made a little juicier with orange liqueur, lean and tart, avoiding the lingering presence of tropical fruit or the piquant sweetness of berries. Its clarity reads effortlessly as refinement. The fact that it was conceived without thought and for decades was produced and consumed without thought is immaterial. It really is quite good, and worthy of (unironic) attention. Kamikaze 2 oz. vodka 1 oz. lime juice 0.5 oz. triple sec 0.5 oz. simple syrup Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice, and shake hard for 10 to 12 seconds. Strain up into a cocktail glass, and garnish with a lime wedge or wheel. Notes on Ingredients Ketel One - Credit: Photo: Courtesy of Ketel One Photo: Courtesy of Ketel One Size: The above is for a whole cocktail, a balanced drink to sip across time. To make the Kamikaze shot, you could just make the above smaller, or you could treat it like a shot and make it a bit stronger: Do 1oz vodka, 0.5oz triple sec, and between 0.25 and 0.5oz lime, and cut shaking time to 5-6 seconds. It will be strong and tart. Vodka : The whole idea of Premium Vodka is a little like a get rich quick scheme, in that its not that it cant exist, but that that most everything that trades on that name is just a marketing ploy. As long as you buy vodka above a certain quality barsay, $10they will all probably be good. Note that Im not saying theyre all the same; Im just saying theyre all good, and mixed in drinks like the Kamikaze they will all taste so similar that its difficult to recommend one or the other. That being said, there are small differences there, so if youre attached to the particular echos of flavor you find in, say, Ketel One, then buy Ketel One. Normally, Id grab a bottle of a certain Russian label, but given the current moment, I recommend the equally goodbut SwedishSvedka. And if for some reason youre after the best vodka you can find, in our recent blind test, we found that the St. George A.P.V. (California) is the most interesting and dynamic, if such words can be used in this context. Lime Juice: In the 70s it wouldve been the incandescent Roses Lime Juice. Today, we use fresh. The above ratios will yield a drink thats a bit tart. If you prefer it a touch sweeter, drop the lime juice from 1 oz. to 0.75 oz. Triple Sec: I always recommend Cointreau, because its the best. Combier is also excellent. That being said, itll be the most expensive part of this cocktail by a factor of three, so if youre trying to stay in the spirit of the Kamikaze, you can go with a cheaper choiceDrillaud makes a cheap one thats pretty good, as does Bols, but try to get the Bols thats 60 or 42 proof. Same if you go Hiram Walker. Generally speaking, in triple sec, quality decreases with proof. You want it to be as close to 80 proof as you can afford. Simple Syrup: Yes, Ive added an ingredient, because using Triple Sec as the sole sweetener yields a drink thats either too sweet, too tart or too strong. Its easy to make simple syrup, which is why they call it simple syrup: Equal parts sugar and warm or hot water, and stir until the sugar dissolves. Put it in the fridge and itll last a month. Best of Robb Report Why a Heritage Turkey Is the Best Thanksgiving Birdand How to Get One 9 Stellar West Coast Pinot Noirs to Drink Right Now The 10 Best Wines to Pair With Steak, From Cabernet to Malbec Sign up for Robb Report's Newsletter . For the latest news, follow us on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram . Click here to read the full article. View comments || Bitcoin volatility set to get weird as price dips below $30k: The price of bitcoin at the start of June is down by more than 50 per cent from the record high it hit in November 2021 (Getty Images/iStockphoto) The price of bitcoin has dipped back below $30,000 amid warnings that the crypto market will likely see unusual volatility over the coming weeks. After hitting an 18-month low below $27,000 in mid May, bitcoin finished the month strongly by bouncing back by 18 per cent . Any hopes of a sustained recovery were ended by yet another mini crash at the start of June, dropping 7 per cent on Thursday. The latest drop follows the publication of a note by Sean Farrell, head of digital asset strategy at Fundstrat, who predicted that public holidays in the US, UK and Europe this week could cause the market to get weird. Low trading volumes could lead to large price swings, and potentially further volatility to the downside in the immediate term, he wrote, according to Bloomberg. Similar trends were seen during Memorial Day periods in 2020 and 2021, with this years holiday coinciding with a double bank holiday in the UK for the Queens Platinum Jubilee. Fundstrats longer term outlook remains positive, with Mr Farrell expecting tides to shift in the second half of 2022. This is in line with recent forecasts made by strategists at JPMorgan Chase, who wrote in a note to investors that there was significant upside potential following one of the biggest price crashes in bitcoins history. The overall crypto market has lost more than $1.5 trillion worth of value over the last seven months, tumbling in tandem with plunging tech stocks and compounded by the collapse of Terras UST stablecoin and LUNA cryptocurrency at the start of May. Cryptos trajectory in May was shaky to say the least following the LUNA collapse, coupled with general turmoil in the financial markets. The steep decline rocked investors confidence but theres reason for cautious optimism, Sam Kopelman, a manager at the cryptocurrency exchange Luno, told The Independent . Although bitcoin finished May down 18 per cent, it has proved its strength as the preferred cryptocurrency throughout the market turmoil, and has now captured almost 46 per cent of the crypto market. View comments || Scams and cryptocurrency can go hand in hand here's how they work and what to watch out for: The anonymous nature of cryptocurrency transactions is ideal for con artists. seksan Mongkhonkhamsao/Moment via Getty Images When one of our students told us they were going to drop out of college in August 2021, it wasnt the first time wed heard of someone ending their studies prematurely. What was new, though, was the reason. The student had become a victim of a cryptocurrency scam and had lost all their money including a bank loan leaving them not just broke, but in debt. The experience was financially and psychologically traumatic, to say the least. This student, unfortunately, is not alone. Currently there are hundreds of millions of cryptocurrency owners, with estimates predicting further rapid growth . As the number of people owning cryptocurrencies has increased, so has the number of scam victims. We study behavioral economics and psychology and recently published a book about the rising problem of fraud, scams and financial abuse . There are reasons why cryptocurrency scams are so prevalent. And there are steps you can take to reduce your chances of becoming a victim. Crypto takes off Scams are not a recent phenomenon, with stories about them dating back to biblical times . What has fundamentally changed is the ease by which scammers can reach millions, if not billions, of individuals with a press of a button. The internet and other technologies have simply changed the rules of the game, with cryptocurrencies coming to epitomize the leading edge of these new cybercrime opportunities . Cryptocurrencies which are decentralized, digital currencies that use cryptography to create anonymous transactions were originally driven by cypherpunks, individuals concerned with privacy . But they have expanded to capture the minds and pockets of everyday people and criminals alike, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the price of various cryptocurrencies shot up and cryptocurrencies became more mainstream . Scammers capitalized on their popularity . The pandemic also caused a disruption to mainstream business, leading to greater reliance on alternatives such as cryptocurrencies . Story continues A January 2022 report by Chainanalysis , a blockchain data platform, suggests in 2021 close to US$14 billion was scammed from investors using cryptocurrencies. For example, in 2021, two brothers from South Africa managed to defraud investors of $3.6 billion from a cryptocurrency investment platform. In February 2022, the FBI announced it had arrested a couple who used a fake cryptocurrency platform to defraud investors of another $3.6 billion You might wonder how they did it. Fake investments There are two main types of cryptocurrency scams that tend to target different populations. One targets cryptocurrency investors, who tend to be active traders holding risky portfolios . They are mostly younger investors, under 35, who earn high incomes, are well educated and work in engineering, finance or IT . In these types of frauds, scammers create fake coins or fake exchanges. A recent example is SQUID, a cryptocurrency coin named after the TV drama Squid Game. After the new coin skyrocketed in price, its creators simply disappeared with the money . A variation on this scam involves enticing investors to be among the first to purchase a new cryptocurrency a process called an initial coin offering with promises of large and fast returns. But unlike the SQUID offering, no coins are ever issued, and would-be investors are left empty-handed. In fact, many initial coin offerings turn out to be fake , but because of the complex and evolving nature of these new coins and technologies, even educated, experienced investors can be fooled. As with all risky financial ventures, anyone considering buying cryptocurrency should follow the age-old advice to thoroughly research the offer. Who is behind the offering? What is known about the company? Is a white paper, an informational document issued by a company outlining the features of its product, available? In the SQUID case, one warning sign was that investors who had bought the coins were unable to sell them. The SQUID website was also riddled with grammatical errors, which is typical of many scams. Shakedown payments The second basic type of cryptocurrency scam simply uses cryptocurrency as the payment method to transfer funds from victims to scammers. All ages and demographics can be targets. These include ransomware cases, romance scams, computer repair scams, sextortion cases, Ponzi schemes and the like. Scammers are simply capitalizing on the anonymous nature of cryptocurrencies to hide their identities and evade consequences. In the recent past, scammers would request wire transfers or gift cards to receive money as they are irreversible, anonymous and untraceable. However, such payment methods do require potential victims to leave their homes, where they might encounter a third party who can intervene and possibly stop them. Crypto, on the other hand, can be purchased from anywhere at any time. Indeed, Bitcoin has become the most common currency requested in ransomware cases, being demanded in close to 98% of cases . According to the U.K. National Cyber Security Center, sextortion scams often request individuals to pay in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies . Romance scams targeting younger adults are increasingly using cryptocurrency as part of the scam. If someone is asking you to transfer money to them via cryptocurrency, you should see a giant red flag. The Wild West In the field of financial exploitation, more work has been done to study and educate elderly scam victims, because of the high levels of vulnerability in this group . Research has identified common traits that make someone especially vulnerable to scam solicitations. They include differences in cognitive ability, education, risk-taking and self-control . Of course, younger adults can also be vulnerable and indeed are becoming victims, too. There is a clear need to broaden education campaigns to include all age groups, including young, educated, well-off investors. We believe authorities need to step up and employ new methods of protection. For example, the regulations that currently apply to financial advice and products could be extended to the cryptocurrency environment. Data scientists also need to better track and trace fraudulent activities. Cryptocurrency scams are especially painful because the probability of retrieving lost funds is close to zero. For now, cryptocurrencies have no oversight. They are simply the Wild West of the financial world. This article is republished from The Conversation , a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Yaniv Hanoch , University of Southampton and Stacey Wood , Scripps College . Read more: Cryptocurrency-funded groups called DAOs are becoming charities here are some issues to watch Super Bowl ads turn up the volume on cryptocurrency buzz: 6 essential reads about digital money and the promise of blockchain The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. || 7 Best Financial Stocks to Buy in July 2022: Investing in financial stocks is not just about picking the largest and most-known banks. Financial stocks include banks, insurance companies, firms that provide various financial services, financial technology (fintech) firms, and blockchain technology companies. The best financial stocks to buy in July 2022 were chosen from a myriad of choices with features that will justify their best-in-show classification. Some of these investment criteria are valuation, profitability and growth. The rising interest rates set a bullish thesis for banks, but at the same time set a challenging environment for asset management companies. Here are seven financial stocks to add to your portfolio as most of them provide a nice dividend yield, which is a smart and effective way to generate passive income. 7 Best Bargain Stocks to Buy in July 2022 Here are the seven best financial stocks to buy in July: InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Ticker Company Price FSK FS KKR Capital Corp. $20.56 AMRK A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. $27.27 OFS OFS Capital Corporation $10.10 PSEC Prospect Capital Corporation $7.34 CIB Bancolombia S.A. $29.05 MSBI Midland States Bancorp, Inc. $24.94 TRIN Trinity Capital Inc. $14.48 Best Financial Stocks: FS KKR Capital ( FSK ) Illustration of business development Source: LookerStudio / Shutterstock FS KKR Capital (NYSE: FSK ) is a business development company supporting private middle market U.S. companies by offering credit solutions. The investments are primarily in senior secured debt and in subordinated debt. The firm aims to achieve what every firm should do, the best possible risk-adjusted returns for its shareholders and investors. The stock trades at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 3.06 and offers a forward dividend yield of 14.01% . The one-year target estimate is $23.06, an upside potential of 19%. The stock is too cheap as it has a price/earnings-to-growth (or PEG) GAAP of 0.06 and a forward price-to-book (P/B) ratio of 0.71X. Story continues Revenue growth last year was 740.27% to $1.25 billion and the net profit margin is amazing at 121.01% . A-Mark Precious Metals ( AMRK ) Close-up of a gold-ingot on top of a troy ounce silver and palladium bar. Precious metals. Gold, silver, palladium. Source: corlaffra / Shutterstock A-Mark Precious Metals (NASDAQ: AMRK ) is a fully-integrated precious metals platform that allows trading in metals like gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. The company offers forward sand spot trading, worldwide delivery and storage services, market making, and inventory financing in the form of leases and consignments. The stock trades at a P/E ratio of 5.33 with a one-year estimate target of 51.17, which if materialized, would be a gain of 57%. The sales growth is very good, jumping from 14.17% in 2020 to 39.40% in 2021. In the past three years, the firm has found an edge as its profitability has increased a lot, which is very bullish. In 2018, the company reported a net loss of $3.4 million. Since then, in 2019, 2020, and 2020, the company reported a net income of $2.23 million, $30.51 million, and $159.64 million respectively. 7 Best Large-Cap Stocks to Buy in July 2022 AMRK stock is very cheap now with a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 0.09X . Best Financial Stocks: OFS Capital Corporation ( OFS ) A person holds a phone with a stock chart visible on it with another chart visible on a computer nearby. Source: Bro Crock / Shutterstock.com OFS Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: OFS ) provides capital solutions in the form of debt capital and minority equity investments to U.S middle-market companies across different industries. The investment objective of the firm is to generate both current income and capital appreciation for its shareholders. The business is generating consistent profits as net income grew 1,439.36% in 2021 to $56.86 million. Although the sales growth is not impressive , as it is weak and negative over the past two consecutive years, the stock is very attractive now as it trades at a P/E ratio of 2.22 and the forward dividend yield of 11.69% is great . The net income margin of 85.7% and the return on equity of 33.1% are very supportive of a stock price appreciation. The one-year target estimate is $12.75 for an upside potential of 25%. Prospect Capital Corporation ( PSEC ) Illustration with icons of a business development company Source: GIGISTOCK / Shutterstock Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: PSEC ) is another business development company in this list of financial stocks to buy in Jul. 2022 that makes make debt and equity investments in the U.S. middle-market businesses in a range of industries. Investors will like the companys aim to deliver steady and attractive returns to its shareholders. The business is relatively stable with sales growth that does not impress. However, what is impressive is the profitability trend. In the past five years, the company generated one loss of $16.22 million in 2020. In 2021, the net income was $963.81 million, an impressive growth of 6,040.63% . The shares of Prospect Capital Corporation are now trading at a P/E ratio of 3.33 and they offer a very generous forward dividend yield of 10.33% . High-Quality Stocks to Buy That Are Trading Below Fair Value In the case of PSEC stock, the one-year target is $6.50. This price has already been reached as the stock had a closing price of $6.99 on Jun. 30. This is highly bullish as it signals further momentum could be underway. Best Financial Stocks: Bancolombia ( CIB ) Illustration of the inside of a bank. Bank stocks. Source: YummyBuum / Shutterstock Bancolombia (NYSE: CIB ) is a leading financial group in Colombia with more than 25 million clients and more than 30,000 direct employees. The firm has more than 146 years of experience. In the financial services sector, this is precious since experience translates to customer satisfaction and consistent business. The net income trend is volatile, but the growth of 1,380.76% in 2021 is more than enough to compensate for this volatility. The net interest income is stable and growing. The same trend applies to funds from operations, which increased 34.99% in 2021 . CIB stock is relatively very cheap, trading at a P/E ratio of 5.8 with a nice forward dividend of 3.22%. The one-year estimate target of $33.44 signals a conservative upside potential of nearly 10%. The P/B ratio of 0.89X makes an investment in this financial group very appealing. Midland States Bancorp ( MSBI ) Finger pointing at the word "banking" Source: PopTika/ShutterStock.com Midland States Bancorp (NASDAQ: MSBI ) is a diversified financial services company that offers services like retail banking, treasury management, mortgages, equipment financing, and business and commercial services. Starting with a valuation analysis, MBSI stock trades at a P/E ratio of 6.59 and has a forward dividend yield of 4.77%. The revenue growth is expected to increase by 6.83%, 4.32%, and 5.59% in 2022, 2023, and 2024, respectively. 7 Warren Buffett Stocks to Buy and Hold for the Next Decade The stock has a P/B ratio of 0.83X, and a net income margin of 28.8%. The return on equity of 13.05% is considered very good for this business. Analysts have a one-year target of $29.75, signaling a potential rise of 22%. Best Financial Stocks: Trinity Capital ( TRIN ) cash and a pen lay atop a paper with graphs and tables Source: Shutterstock Trinity Capital (NASDAQ: TRIN ) is a business development company that provides venture debt and equity financing to high-growth companies. It has funded 201 companies and has $966 million under management. For a company that invests in risky and high-growth companies, the forward dividend yield of TRIN stock is impressive at 11.41% . Could it be the case that investors have not yet discovered the potential of this firm as its stock trades at a P/E ratio of 4.33? I believe so, as the revenue grew from $45.56 million in 2020 to $94.9 million in 2021, an increase of 108.29%. Additionally, net income surged 2,200% in 2021 to $132.32 million. The profitability looks robust with a net income margin of 82% and a return on equity of 24.93%. The PEG GAAP of 0.21 and forward P/B ratio of 0.95X make shares of Trinity Capital cheap. There is plenty of potential upside potential as the one-year target of $18.58 signals a likely gain of 28%. On the date of publication, Stavros Georgiadis, CFA did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines . More From InvestorPlace $200 Oil Sooner Than You Think Buy This Now The Best $1 Investment You Can Make Today Early Bitcoin Millionaire Reveals His Next Big Crypto Trade On Air It doesnt matter if you have $500 in savings or $5 million. Do this now. The post 7 Best Financial Stocks to Buy in July 2022 appeared first on InvestorPlace .
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Trend: up || Prices: 20569.92, 20836.33, 21190.32, 20779.34, 22485.69, 23389.43, 23231.73, 23164.63, 22714.98, 22465.48
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Will it be a ‘Feliz Navidad’ for Mexico ETFs?: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. Andrés Manuel López Obrador was recently sworn in as Mexico's 58th president, but will the recent regime change result in a "Feliz Navidad" for the country as a whole and Mexico-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs)? Early signs point to "yes" as President AMLO, his more familiar moniker, has taken early steps in the right direction. The change in leadership comes as U.S.-Mexico border tensions were escalating. This stymied the momentum of Mexico-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs) like the iShares MSCI Mexico Capped ETF ( EWW ) and Direxion Daily MSCI Mexico Bull 3X ShsETF ( MEXX ) --EWW gained as much as 3% on Monday's trading session, while MEXX rose as high as 9%. How AMLO handles the U.S.-Mexico border situation and his crafting of future policies will most certainly weigh heavily on the performance of these ETFs going forward. Baptism by Fire for AMLO Mexico's recent change in leadership saw the controversial leftist candidate AMLO become its next president for the next six years as the 65-year-old firebrand has been referred to as the country's version of U.S. President Donald Trump. That relationship with the very individual he was compared to will be tested as U.S.-Mexico relations regarding the border situation have become tenuous. In the meantime, the number of migrants heading into Mexico from Central American countries like Honduras continues to multiply exponentially as they attempt to seek asylum within the United States. The number of those applying for asylum legally outweighs the number of immigration officials that can process the requests, causing a situation in Mexico where the country could be overrun by overcrowded migrant camps and shelters. AMLO took his first steps to ameliorate the situation by signing an agreement with three Central American countries to address the seemingly uncontrollable flow of migrants into Mexico. According to Mexico's foreign ministry, the agreement included a plan to fund jobs creation in the areas where the migrants are congregating, particularly the border city of Tijuana. Story continues Vow to End Corruption Among the many vows he made to the Mexican people at last Saturday's inauguration, one of them was to address corruption in political realms. "We will carry out a peaceful and orderly but also deep and radical transformation," AMLO said . "Because we will put an end to the corruption and impunity that are blocking Mexico's rebirth." At the inauguration, AMLO also reiterated his focus on the issues that made his campaign popular, such as crime and poverty. Of course, AMLO's speech will only benefit Mexico ETFs if it's backed by subsequent action, but thus far, he's saying the right things. "I no longer belong to myself, I belong to you, I belong to the people of Mexico," AMLO vowed . Related: O Come, High Yield Faithful: Is Risk Back On? For more investment trends, visit ETFTrends.com. POPULAR ARTICLES AND RESOURCES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM SPY ETF Quote VOO ETF Quote QQQ ETF Quote Top 34 Gold ETFs Top 34 Oil ETFs Q&A with Industry Veteran Brian O’Donnell on ETF Distribution The Top 10 Health Insurance Trends of 2019 Kevin O’Leary: Resist the Urge to Overspend on an Engagement Ring An Emerging Market ETF That Capitalizes on the Growing Middle-Class Consumer Consider Bitcoin Cash When Crypto Carnage Stops READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || How to Calculate the Size of a Stop Loss When Trading: There are many strategies used by traders to manage market risks while trading. These strategies are applied either during the trade or before the trade. It is important to have measures that protect your investments because the markets are always in constant change. There are many different factors that traders consider when making calculations in the market. The prevailing market conditions, the prospects of the trader and the size of investment are all important factors to consider when making calculations. We will look at one of the most common methods of avoiding losses and how to go about implementing it. Using Stop Loss to Protect the Investment Before we go into the calculations, let us focus on what the stop loss is and how it is used by traders to prevent losses. The stop loss is a tool that is used in the trading markets to mark points in the market where a trader no longer wishes to continue trading. This strategy is used extensively in the forex markets. The stop loss is a tool used by traders of all levels. In fact, it is recommended to use this tool on all trades, including currencies such as the EUR/USD, GBP/USD and USD/JPY or commodities such as gold and crude oil and indices. This is because the tool is a direct means of telling traders what they stand to lose on every single trade. To use this tool effectively, however, the right calculations must be done. How to Place the Stop Loss Correctly As stated earlier, the placement of the stop loss depends on the calculations that a trader has done. Timing is thus important and this timing is determined by mathematical projects. The ideal application of the tool is where a trader allows the market to move for a while before implementing the strategy . Every trader has projections about the market even before venturing into it. If you feel like the market will go up, for instance, then the placement of the stop-loss will be determined by the first few signs that you notice in the market. Story continues The general rule is to always place the stop loss right under the entry price bar. This is a good way to ensure that the trade is actually going in the forecast direction. In case the market acts contrary to expectation, then the trader knows that the market is not ripe for the preferred strategy. An exit would thus prevent any losses. The market does not always go according to traders’ expectations. This is why the placement of the stop lo ss should not just be backed by instinct but also mathematical data. {alt} How to Calculate the Placement In general, the trade is measured by cents/pips/ticks or account-dollars. Each of these gives the trader a clue of what amount of investment is at risk of loss with each particular trade. The account-dollar measure is the most direct as it shows exactly how much could be lost in actual dollar value. For both of these measures, the difference between the entry and stop loss position is equal to the risk. If the entry point is at $5.00 and the stop loss is at $5.10, then the risked amount is $0.10. While this serves to show the figure that is at risk, it does not exactly indicate the account at risk. In order to calculate the account risk, the position size must also be put into consideration. The position size is basically the number of investments made on each trade. A position size of 1,000 shares in the stock market would, for instance, result in an account risk of $.010 x 1,000, going by the initial example. How to Control Account Risks Having understood the placement risk and account risk, it is important to understand how you can protect your account from a risky market. As a general rule, the amount risked in a particular trade should represent less than 2 percent of what you have in your account. It is important to calculate the account risk before you do each trade because this is the only way to get any profit out of the market. Conclusion As stated earlier, the stop loss is a valuable tool that traders should always use when trading. This tool not only guarantees traders of proper market insights, but it also protects their investments. The market does not always go according to a trader’s expectations, having a form of risk management strategy is thus a smart move. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Trading plan for December 21 Crude Oil Weekly Price Forecast – crude oil markets break down yet again this week Price of Gold Fundamental Weekly Forecast – Could Have Hard Time Sustaining Rally if Safe-Haven Buyers Return to Dollar U.S Mortgages – Applications Slide in Spite of Retreating Rates Gold Price Prediction – Gold Eases as the Dollar Rebounds Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 23/12/18 || Former $1M+ Allen & Overy Partner Gets Trump Nod to Lead Commodities Agency: U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Credit: Diego M. Radzinschi / NLJ A former top Allen & Overy regulatory partner who had represented some of the world's largest banks and financial institutions is the Trump administration's nominee to lead the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Heath Tarbert, who joined Allen & Overy in 2014, had been the head of the U.S. bank regulatory group and a leader in the firm's global financial services regulatory practice. He was confirmed in October 2017 as assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department, international markets and development, a position where he served as policy chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. Tarbert's clients at Allen & Overy included Credit Suisse Group AG, HSBC Holdings, Morgan Stanley & Co., Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Danske Bank and Bank of America Corp., according to a financial disclosure. Tarbert joined Allen & Overy from Weil, Gotshal & Manges , where he had been a partner in Washington. Tarbert reported receiving $1.36 million in partnership share on the financial disclosure he filed in May. The amount comprised $1,085,169 in partnership income for calendar year 2017 in addition to $278,280 in income tied to his retirement from the partnership. Tarbert earlier disclosed about $1 million in partner share on the form he filed in March 2017 after his nomination to Treasury. Heath Tarbert The financial disclosures, mandatory public filings for many senior-level nominees, also showed Tarbert provided legal services to J. Christopher Giancarlo, the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Tarbert was nominated Tuesday to succeed Giancarlo, whose term expires in April. Giancarlo was first appointed to the agency during the Obama administration. Trump nominated Giancarlo as chairman last year. Giancarlo's legal career has included stints as a corporate partner in the New York law firm Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner. In 1992, Giancarlo founded the firm Giancarlo & Gleiberman. Earlier, he worked for several years in London at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle. “The White House has made a superb choice in Heath Tarbert as the intended nominee to be the next Chairman for the Commission,” Giancarlo said in a statement Tuesday. “If confirmed by the US Senate, he will be an effective chairman and will be well suited to continue the work of transitioning the CFTC into a Twenty-First Century digital regulator that balances concerns over systemic stability with market vibrancy to support strong economic growth and American prosperity.” Tarbert’s nomination comes as the CFTC, along with the Securities and Exchange Commission, works to oversee burgeoning digital currencies. Giancarlo earned the nickname “CrytpoDad” for cautioning lawmakers to not dismiss cryptocurrencies. In recent remarks, Giancarlo has said digital currencies are “here to stay” and advocated for a “do no harm” regulatory approach, while also staying vigilant against fraud and market manipulation. The CFTC on Tuesday announced it was seeking public comment on "crypto-asset mechanics and markets" to "better inform the Commission’s understanding of the technology, mechanics, and markets for virtual currencies beyond Bitcoin, namely Ether and its use on the Ethereum Network." Tarbert's legal career has included posts on Capitol Hill, where he was special counsel to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee before joining Weil Gotshal, and as associate counsel to then-President George W. Bush in 2008 and 2009. Tarbert formerly clerked for Judge Douglas Ginsburg on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and he clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas at the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2007-2008 term. His Thomas co-clerks that term included Sidley Austin partner Eric McArthur and Carrie Severino, chief counsel and policy director at the Judicial Crisis Network. Tarbert's wife also formerly clerked for Ginsburg—the Tarberts met during their D.C. Circuit clerkship—and later for Chief Justice John Roberts in the 2010-2011 term. Tarbert's wife formerly worked at O'Melveny & Myers . Story continues Read more: Former SCOTUS Clerks Dominate the Ranks of Trump’s Judicial Nominees Ex-O'Melveny Chair Culvahouse Reports $1.7M Income in Ambassador Nominee Filing Former Kirkland Partner Robert Khuzami Banked $11M Partnership Share What's in Geoffrey Berman's US Attorney Financial Disclosure? Now We Know. Wilmer Partner Dan Berkovitz, Up for CFTC Seat, Reveals Big Law Income, Client List Jay Clayton, SEC Chair Nominee, Pulled in $7M From Sullivan & Cromwell Last Year || Commodities Daily Forecast – December 10, 2018: The gold prices rallied significantly higher breaking above the $1250 level during the Friday’s session after the release of job numbers. This is obviously a positive sign for the market and will continue to attract buyers. If the gold market breaks above the top of the range of Friday’s session, then it can go further higher towards the $1300 level.…Read More
The silver market rallied a bit during the Friday’s session clearing above the 50 Day EMA level, which is a bullish sign for the market. The silver price now is likely to reach towards the $15 level, an area that has a massive resistance. If the market breaks out above that region, buyers will definitely take this market higher towards the $16 level.…Read More
The crude oil prices continued to hover around the $52.50 level in the Friday’s session as the cut in supply by OPEC is not likely to be that deep as earlier planned. The $54 level above continues to be a major resistance level that extends up to the $55 level. If the prices break down below the $50 level, then it can reach down to the $45 level.…Read More
The natural gas prices were extremely volatile during the Friday’s session, reaching down to the $4.25 level initially and then bounced back towards the $4.50 level. The traders seem a lot more confused with the current price level as the market has rallied significantly in the past sessions. Underneath, the $4 level continues to be a major support level for the natural gas prices.…Read More
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• EUR/USD Mid-Session Technical Analysis for December 10, 2018
• Forex Daily Outlook – December 10, 2018
• USD/CAD Daily Price Forecast – USD/CAD Rebounds From Intra-day Lows Amid Subdued Crude Oil Price Action
• Gold Price Futures (GC) Technical Analysis – Weekly Trend Turned Up Last Week
• Natural Gas Price Fundamental Daily Forecast – Milder Temperatures Coming Later This Week
• Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 10/12/18 || Dutch Central Bank Wants to Regulate Crypto Companies to Stem Money Laundering: The Dutch Central Bank,De Nederlandsche Bank, wants to regulate crypto companies by requiring them to get licenses in order to operate.
The bank claims the measure will deter money laundering and the use of cryptocurrencies to fund terrorism, according to a short brief in Dutch daily newspaperDe Telegraaf. To qualify for a license, crypto companies must report “unusual transactions” and know who their customers are.
The Dutch Central Bank said the regulation was necessary because the decentralized, anonymous nature of the crypto market makes it a target for money launderers.
According to one investigation, more than$88 millionwas laundered over 46 cryptocurrency exchanges around the globe during the past two years.
ShapeShift AG — which is incorporated in Switzerland but operates out of the United States — allegedly processed more than $9 million in illicit funds since 2016. The altcoin exchange service previously let people trade bitcoin and other virtual currencies anonymously, though it has sinceadoptedmandatory KYC.
Similarly, the classified sex-advertising website Backpage used cryptocurrency exchanges to launder millions of dollars in bitcoin, asCCN reported.
In a bombshell 93-page federal indictment, the US Department of Justice accused the online sex marketplace of money laundering, conspiracy, and facilitating prostitution.
The Department of Justice shut down Backpage in April 2018 amid revelations that it promoted underage prostitution and sex trafficking since its launch in 2004.
The Justice Department also found that the sleazy website laundered tens of millions of dollars using cryptocurrency.
“Backpage furthered its money laundering through the use of bitcoin processing companies,” the Justice Department alleged. “Over time, Backpage utilized companies such as Coinbase, GoCoin, Paxful, Kraken and Crypto Capital to receive payments from customers and/or route money through the accounts of third parties.”
It is because of these high-profile crackdowns on money laundering that many regulators remain leery of the decentralized, anonymous cryptocurrency industry.
John Williams, the CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, says crypto’s persistent issues with scams is a major deterrent to mass adoption.
“The setup or institutional arrangement around bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies [is problematic],”Williams said. “They have problems with fraud, problems with money laundering and terror financing.”
That said, money laundering also occurs using fiat currencies. In April 2018, the office of Quebec Chief Scientist Rémi Quirion published areportconcluding that bitcoin is wrongly blamed as a go-to vehicle for money laundering and criminal activity because the facts don’t support these claims.
“Bitcoin is not above the law, nor is it a magnet for illicit transactions: it forms only a tiny part of the criminal money circulating around the planet,” the report stated. “The reason: it is less attractive for anyone who wants to make transactions without leaving a trace.”
Similarly, a January 2018reportby blockchain analytics company Elliptic also found that less than 1% of all bitcoin activities conducted between 2013 and 2016 involved money laundering.
“Bitcoin’s illicit use is mainly based on anecdotal evidence, usually without supporting data analysis of how it is used across geographical regions, or trends over time,” the report stated.
Images from Shutterstock
The postDutch Central Bank Wants to Regulate Crypto Companies to Stem Money Launderingappeared first onCCN. || Cleveland’s Great Lakes Science Center Now Accepts Bitcoin Payments: great lakes science center The Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC) is now accepting bitcoin in various transactions. According to a recent news story from a Cleveland-based newspaper, the local Great Lakes Science Center has announced their adoption of bitcoin in a variety of transactions. Not only will bitcoin be accepted as a fully valid form of monetary exchange for the daily cost of admission to the museum, but there will also be a four-day sister event, titled the Blockland Solutions Conference , which will accept bitcoin as well. The Blockland Solutions Conference has the larger aim “to grow a blockchain ecosystem in Cleveland,” and the museum saw the event as an opportunity to “also underscore the museum's own innovative efforts as it supports the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and math,” according to GLSC President Kirsten Ellenbogen. This move makes the GLSC the third museum in the U.S. to accept bitcoin, not counting museums that are specifically dedicated to Bitcoin. The Museum of the Coastal Bend in Texas and St. Petersburg Museum of History in Florida make up the other two, but the GLSC is by far the most popular of the three. This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine . || Bitcoin Price to Likely Avoid Drop Below $3k as Crypto Loses $14 Billion in 1 Week: bitcoin Over the past 48 hours, the Bitcoin price has stabilized at around $3,400 after dropping to a new yearly low at $3,210 on December 7. On a weekly basis, Bitcoin (BTC) is up six percent from $3,210 to $3,400 but the cryptocurrency market has lost $14 billion of its valuation against the U.S. dollar mostly due to the underwhelming performance of major digital assets and the plunge in the value of ERC20 tokens. The Ethereum price has also recovered slightly by a similar magnitude as Bitcoin, with Ethereum (ETH) recording an eight percent increase from $83 to $90. But, the Bitcoin Cash price remains at its all-time low at $94. Big Bitcoin Buy Wall According to Su Zhu, the CEO at Three Arrows Capital, buy walls on fiat-to-crypto exchanges like Coinbase and Bitstamp for Bitcoin at $3,300 have risen significantly within the last several weeks. Rising buy walls on major digital asset trading platforms suggest that a small group of investors is beginning to accumulate Bitcoin while it remains highly volatile in a tight but low price range. Zhu explained : 10% down from here ($3,300), buy walls on @Coinbase are now the largest (in BTC notional ) since mid-2015. Similar for Bitstamp. He further emphasized that to break below the $3,300 level, more investors on Know Your Customer (KYC)-enabled exchanges, which are essentially fiat-to-crypto trading platforms, will need to get through the large buy wall at $3,300 and lead an intense sell-off. To break lower will require filling these fiat-backed bids. Either 1) more BTC borrow to come online 2) KYC-able off-ramp selling. Derivatives selling will just lead to funding becoming very negative as it has been, he said. If a large unforeseen sell-off is to happen, the daily volume of Bitcoin that hovers at around $4 billion, would have to spike above its monthly high at just over $6.5 billion. Throughout the past seven days, the volume of the dominant cryptocurrency has continued to fall as the price of the asset stabilized in the range of $3,300 to $3,500. The decline in the volume of BTC mainly shows that the sell pressure on the currency has dropped following its drop to a new yearly low. Story continues As a cryptocurrency trader and technical analyst with an online alias Hsaka said, until BTC breaks out of a major resistance, it is likely to stay in the range between $3,300 to $3,500. Several resistance exist in north of $3,000, at around $3,500 and $3,700. The analyst said : Quite the slow grind up from the corn. Coming into range resistance now. A clean break and close of the $3,480 resistance, and Im eyeing a move back towards the grey supply. Invalidation on a move back below $3,400. Is a Short-Term Rally For Bitcoin in Play? Currently, based on the trend of the market since early December, it is becoming more likely that Bitcoin will extend its negative sentiment into 2019. Until the currency begins to demonstrate signs of prolonged stability and the initiation of a consolidation period, volatility in a low price range is expected. Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts from TradingView . The post Bitcoin Price to Likely Avoid Drop Below $3k as Crypto Loses $14 Billion in 1 Week appeared first on CCN . || What’s Next for Crypto Miners?: After the high note with which crypto ended 2017,2018 has been a dour reminderthat crypto markets remain unpredictable at best. From its peak at nearly $20,000 in December, bitcoin spent most of 2018 in a steady decline. Today, bitcoin’s price is closer to $3,000, and the tumble has caused a ripple effect that has affected every stakeholder in the market.
Crypto miners, who rely on the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to remain high enough to stay profitable, are now left holding the bag in more ways than one: pricy mining rigs and GPUs worth thousands, and the bitcoin they’ve mined with these tools. Now that prices have remained solidly below break-even rates for several months,miners must reflecton whether they can continue bankrolling increasingly expensive operations or they should simply cut their losses and run.
However, the simple cost of building these rigs—from purchasing and replacing parts to procuring good enoughGPUsto be effective—makes leaving the game a difficult question. Even so, some miners are looking not to abandon their existing setups, but rather pivot them into something profitable while the market adjust to its new reality. With some innovative alternatives out there, miners may soon shed their crypto shackles and diversify operations.
In early December, bitcoin blockchain observers noticed that the original cryptocurrency’s hash difficulty haddropped by more than 15%, the second-largest such contraction since October 2011. The difficulty is set dynamically, and it responds to actual fluctuations in hash rates, so a drop mirrors the activity on the network. Indeed, since November, Bitcoin’s hash rate has dropped by more than 30%, reflecting an exodus of miners from the market. The cause of this mass flight is the continued drop of mining revenues, which is nearly halved in December from November’s levels.
The short-term outlook is not optimistic, either.Despite the enthusiasmof some bullish industry observers, smaller miners are faced with a very real crisis right now, and the promise of future price bumps may not be enough to keep all of them operating on the bitcoin blockchain. For miners, energy, resources, and other overheads mean that running at a loss is not favorable in any situation.Despite miners seeing $4.7 billion in revenuesin 2018, smaller mining operations cannot keep up with larger setups that have slowly centralized control of the market.
Instead, many smaller miners may be looking to make a soft landing elsewhere without having to sell off the equipment they’ve already purchased and are on the hook for. The problem with reselling is that many of the GPUs and ASIC processors used have significant wear on them, and the inflated market in which they were purchased has come back to earth,heavily affecting component prices.
The one commodity most miners have to offer, should they choose to move away from mining, is raw computing and processor power. The increasing complexity of hashing and verifying blocks means that most mining rigs today have gigabytes of computational power that can be used in several ways—especially since much of it comes from GPUs and not CPUs. This seems abstract, buta recent uptick in the need for heavy computing capacitystemming from emerging technology has made it a much more feasible reality. Technology such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and neural networks require significantly more raw power than single computers can offer at reasonable prices. Instead, several companies, both on the blockchain and off, have started to specialize in renting out computing power to organizations and users in need.
On blockchain, there are several projects taking a novel approach to the computation problem.Tatau, for instance, is looking to reduce the cost of super-computing by leveraging blockchain GPU networks. The company’s platform lets users monetize their existing surplus GPU capacity and rent it to individuals who need it. The company is focused on AI, a notoriously resource-intensive technology that is nonetheless becoming vital to many fields. For miners who continue to shut down their rigs and operations, the shift to computing power would take seconds and could be a good alternative for times when mining becomes unprofitable.
Others have also offered similar solutions though with different areas of focus.Leonardo Render, for instance, focuses more heavily on providing computing power for graphics work and 3D modeling. The company is also more focused on providing a ready-made solution, as it has contracted the services of a GPU farm to bolster its initial launch.Golemoffers computing capacity for a variety of work though it is aimed largely at more academic projects. However, in all cases, the use of blockchain means miners can easily convert their operations back and forth, meaning they can be ready to get back in the game should crypto prices bounce back.
The reality for crypto miners is that while the market remains volatile, so will their fortunes. While it may be highly profitable to continue mining in a bull market, the extended period of losses the industry is experiencing makes it hard to generate revenues. Moreover, the status quo favors larger miners who can buffer their costs and remain operational even in downturns.
For smaller miners, the answer of survival may rest on their ability to diversify their computing power without having to declare their expenses and efforts a sunk cost. By finding projects and platforms that take advantage of their existing tools, miners can weather the ongoing storm and still be prepared for a future where crypto bounces back.
Images from Shutterstock.
The postWhat’s Next for Crypto Miners?appeared first onCCN. || Lightning Network: How It Is Going to Affect Bitcoin and Litecoin: There’s no secret that Bitcoin suffers from slow and expensive transactions. In December 2017, an average transaction fee was over $30 and a confirmation process was taking about 30 minutes! Now the numbers are much lower, but scalability remains the biggest issue Bitcoin has yet to solve.
Many crypto enthusiasts believe that the Lightning Network will bring new solutions that will affect a lot of currencies. It is an off-chain technology, which can significantly decrease both the speed and the price of BTC transaction. However,some claim that it will be not Bitcoinbut Litecoin benefiting most from its launch. In addition to fast and cheap transactions, the technology introduces so-called ‘atomic swaps’ that allow for cross-chain cryptocurrency exchange. As Bitcoin and Litecoin are among the first to utilize the LN upgrade, the level of interoperability between the two coins will increase. In layman’s terms, with the Lightning Network implementation, the number ofways to exchange Litecoin for Bitcoinand vice versa will increase. Let’s say, if a BTC holder wants to use a cheaper LTC for daily micro-payments, they do not need to go for a crypto exchange to buy Litecoin first; they can simply perform an atomic swap between two blockchains. Seems catchy, doesn’t it? Let’s go deeper into how the Lightning Network works and how it will change the balance of power in the crypto market.
TheLightning Networkis an off-chain system of payment channels powered by smart contracts and designed to facilitate direct deals between users. It can work on Bitcoin’s blockchain or any other, and be used to exchange different coins cross-chain owing to theAtomic Swaps technology. The Lightning Network wallet address is accessible to two users who want to make a deal – they input the number of coins to be spent and confirm the transaction. The contract will be finalized only when both parties sign it. At any time, any user may close their unique channel, so the latest information about transactions and balances will be sent to Bitcoin’s blockchain.
What does this mean for regular crypto investors? Using the Lightning Network, they can make deals without synchronizing with blockchain all the time. Data about transactions will be transferred via off-chain payment channels.
The Lightning Network was designed to make payments more convenient and attract more users. This system may be completely game-changing for Bitcoin. For now, most users consider BTC as a store of value but not as a payment method because of the high fees and slow processing times. With the Lightning Network, Bitcoin will be able to become cheaper and more efficient,which is going to be a clear competitive edge over some altcoins.
Bitcoin’s blockchain is based on theProof-of-Work algorithm. It means that miners confirm on-chain transactions. They can decide in which order to verify deals and will obviously choose ones with higher fees first.
How the Lightning Network can help here? It eliminates miners’ verification step and increases the speed of transactions’ processing. Off-chain deals will be done instantly.
Bitcoin – the current price of which is over $6,400 – can be divided into smaller parts called Satoshis. One such unit is equivalent to 0.00000001 BTC. As you can see, a lot of Satoshis are needed to form even the tiniest sum in cents.
At the moment, the fees are too high which makes small deals inefficient. Say, an average fee of $0.2 makes purchasing coffee or paying for a subway ticket with BTC unreasonable. In contrast,Litecoin offers $0.04 fees, which makes it a perfect cryptocurrency for micro-payments.
Implementation of the Lightning Network can result in reducing fees and making micro-payments with Bitcoin more realistic. All transactions will be based on smart contracts, and the system itself will control the processes.
Behind its intention to solve the fees problem, there are some controversial features in the Lightning Network.It has its own feesfor opening and closing a payment channel and for transferring assets between channels. At the moment, the latter fee is zero, but the situation can change.
Also, the Lightning Network usagecan result in making more on-chain transactionsif your wallet fails to find a route to the receiver. In this case, a user will have to make two transactions of opening and closing a channel in order to meet a payment eventually.
There’s also an issue of how widely it will be used which is linked to the general adoption of cryptocurrencies.
Litecoin is considered to be silver in the world where Bitcoin is viewed as digital gold. Originally, LTC is Bitcoin’s fork designed to provide faster and cheaper deals.
What impact can the Lightning Network have on this currency? Skeptics claim that it will disintegrate Litecoin as investors will prefer using fast and cheap Bitcoin as more famous and trusted asset. If BTC will actually solve its scalability issues, nobody will need other currencies to perform the same tasks.
On the other side, optimists argue that Litecoin can survive as a secondary chain. The project’s founderCharlie Lee claims that LTC will always remain cheaper and fasterthan BTC, and the Lightning Network can only contribute to Litecoin’s wider adoption.
The Lightning Network is designed to make blockchain transactions instant and cheap. While the major cryptocurrency still tries to deal with the problem of scalability, this technology seems to offer a solution. But it could be not that simple. The success of implementing the Lightning Network depends on various factors: the general crypto adoption, the usage of altcoins that provide speed improvements and lower fees compared to BTC, or contradictions over the technology’s nature itself.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Price of Gold Fundamental Weekly Forecast – If Stocks Stabilize, Focus Will Shift to U.S. Dollar, Interest Rates || Coinbase cuts more than 15 workers: This story was updated with more information at 1:00pm EST on Oct. 26. Coinbase, the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in America, cut a handful of staffers this week in its customer support, compliance, and fraud departments, Yahoo Finance has learned. Coinbase confirmed the cuts but would not confirm a head count. Sources say it was more than 15 people. One source inside Coinbase says, “ People here are pretty upset about it, and so far senior leadership is handling communications poorly.” At a company with 550 employees, 15 people may not sound significant. But any cuts at Coinbase are of interest at a time when the company is widely thought to be gearing up to go public. After a giant new funding round this month, Coinbase has an $8 billion valuation ; it also added board member Chris Dodds, who is on the board at Charles Schwab, after losing boardmember David Marcus from Facebook . Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong at TechCrunch Disrupt in London in September 2014. (Anthony Harvey/Getty) Most of the people let go were remote employees. Some were part of a customer service team that Coinbase announced back in 2013, saying in a blog post , “ We recently hit 300,000 users on Coinbase… it’s become evident that in order to build the best customer service for our Coinbase customers we need to scour the world to find the best. As a result, we’re building a remote customer support team to accommodate our growing user base.” Fast forward to 2018: Coinbase claims 25 million users and has offices in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, London, Tokyo, Portland, Ore., and Dublin. In January, Coinbase hired Tina Bhatnagar , a former Salesforce and Twitter executive, to oversee customer service. Bhatnagar, sources say, wants the customer service staff centralized in Coinbase’s offices. As a result, the remote support team members were let go, though some were offered the chance to relocate to a Coinbase office. Coinbase, in a statement sent to Yahoo Finance, says, “We’ve learned that certain teams who are co-located are more efficient, effective, and happier in their roles. So moving forward, some teams—including Support, Fraud, and Compliance—will only hire employees into Coinbase offices.” Story continues And Coinbase says its customer service has improved: “Our average time to first response via email is under four hours, under three minutes on the phone, and 90% of all cases are resolved within 48 hours.” The company adds that it will “continue to be open to remote employees” for jobs that are “hard to fill locally to an office.” The cuts also speak to market demand. At the end of 2017, the cryptocurrency market soared and companies staffed up. During that frenzy, Coinbase was signing up 50,000 new customers each day. It further built out that decentralized customer support team. This year has been a different story , with cryptocurrencies seeing red on most days. Bitcoin ( BTC ) is down 62% this year; bitcoin cash ( BCH ) is down 82%; ether ( ETH ) is down 79%; ethereum classic ( ETC ) is down 69%; litecoin ( LTC ) is down 80%. And most significant for Coinbase: trading volume is down. Among crypto circles, there have been whispers of Coinbase layoffs for a few months now. As Coinbase navigates the choppy market while also eyeing an IPO, it is evolving and will likely make additional organizational changes. — Daniel Roberts covers bitcoin and blockchain at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @ readDanwrite . Read more: Coinbase will add cryptocurrencies more rapidly, plus ratings and reviews Coinbase exec: ‘Adding more assets is a very big priority for us’ SEC widens its crackdown on ICOs Blockchain CEO on ‘Just Hodl’ bitcoin mantra: ‘I don’t believe in that’ Chain CEO: Public and private blockchains will soon converge Lightning Labs CEO: We are back to a ‘bitcoin, not blockchain’ world
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
1H
2018/12/23 06:00 (2018/12/23 05:00)
LONG : 26505.58 BTC (-5.54 BTC)
SHORT : 35598.12 BTC (+95.92 BTC)
LS比 : 42% vs 57% (42% vs 57%) || #CROSSexchange
#ADA ・ #LTC 入金できるようになってます！
29日15:00 JST を目安にシステムが反映され次第取引開始！！！
ADA／BTC
LTC／BTC pic.twitter.com/UZRkxXULUd || ETH Price:
1 ETH = $107.4 USD
-6.63% ⇩ last 24h.
1 ETH = 0.028435 BTC
-1.00% ⇩ last 24h. || #dolarprueba BTC
29/11/2018 01:06 PM
BTC Venta Panama : 4316.17
BTC USA : 4290.00
BTC Compra VES : 1,995,677
USD/VES : 464.34
--NUEVOS INDICADORES --
EUR/VES : NAN
VES/COP : NAN
PEN/VES : NAN
CLP/VES : NAN || うわーBTCつょぃ || #cryptocurrency Price Analysis for #Bitsend #BSD :
Last Hour Change : -2.39 % || 19-12-2018 08:00
Price in #USD : 0.0670507116 || Price in #EUR : 0.0588939255
New Price in #Bitcoin #BTC : 0.00001774 || #Coin Rank 655 || I would highly recommend people read what Rod Rosenstein said about this today, especially in relation to bitcoin. And oh, FVEY's y'all :)
H/t @KernowGold
@thespybrief
@JamesFourM
@SpicyFiles
@DrDenaGrayson
@DirkSchwenk
@LouiseMensch
@ericgarlandhttps://twitter.com/NCA_UK/status/1067822731784278016 … || 1H
2018/12/01 03:00 (2018/12/01 02:00)
LONG : 28938.55 BTC (-73.36 BTC)
SHORT : 34528.84 BTC (+64.12 BTC)
LS比 : 45% vs 54% (45% vs 54%) || Tom Lee said it. Translation: It's going lower. $BTC $Crypto https://cointelegraph.com/news/fundstrats-tom-lee-bear-markets-are-a-golden-time-to-be-in-crypto … via @cointelegraph || Bitstamp: $ 4116.3
Coinbase: $ 4085.21
Kraken: $ 4119.2
Average: $ 4106.9
|
Trend: down || Prices: 4078.60, 3815.49, 3857.30, 3654.83, 3923.92, 3820.41, 3865.95, 3742.70, 3843.52, 3943.41
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2015-07-02]
BTC Price: 255.41, BTC RSI: 61.54
Gold Price: 1163.00, Gold RSI: 39.08
Oil Price: 56.93, Oil RSI: 40.82
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
A bitcoin-like solution for Greece: Over the next few months, Greece must repay its bailout and large public-sector debts. Greece and the euro zone need a quick, simple solution that allows Greece to stay in the euro zone and retain ownership of its plentiful and prized assets. An IOU currency isn't the answer - but there is one solution that could work.
This past Wednesday, Greece was able to make a 200-million euro (US$224 million) interest payment to the International Monetary Fund, but only by requiring all state enterprises - including schools and pension funds - to transfer reserves to an account at the Greek central bank. Next Tuesday, Greece faces an even bigger payment of 750 million euros to the IMF. As of now, it is unclear how Greece will manage to make this payment.
Read MoreGreece makes $224 million payment amid 'nail-biting' talks
The situation has become unsustainable, even though there has been no shortage of solutions. However, implementation has been a significant hurdle. In particular, privatization of Greek assets is a lengthy process that has run into political resistance. Adding to the urgency, the recent sharp rise in Italian, Spanish and Portuguese interest rates suggests markets are fearful of contagion if Greece were to exit the euro zone.
The European Central Bank is apparently working on anIOU-based secondary currencysimilar to the IOU's used by California in 2009, according to a Reuters report last month. Interestingly, Yanis Varoufakis (Greece's new Finance Minister)wrote a blog postin February proposing a similar currency, which he dubbed Future Tax Coin (FT-Coin).
In both of these cases, the secondary currency would borrow tax revenue from the future to pay for obligations today. Furthermore, the secondary currency would be tantamount to a T-bill that was backed by the full faith and credit of the Greek government. As a trust-based financial instrument, acceptance would be a function of the confidence in the Greek government to collect future taxes. Without a way to easily spend the IOU currency, it would likely go unused by government employees and thus have no impact on economic growth. These limiting factors make it clear that an IOU currency issued by a government under financial stress is not a workable solution.
Read More'Grimbo': The new thing to worry about in Greece
Using block-chain technology (the technology behind bitcoin) there is a simple and elegant way for Greece to monetize assets and pay government employees.
While Greece may not have the liquidity to satisfy its current obligations it does have enough illiquid assets to solve much of its financial problems. According to Eurostat, as of September 2014, Greece held 86 billion euros of financial assets on its general government balance sheet. As a percentage of GDP, this makes Greece the 7th wealthiest nation in the EU. As a point of reference, financially sound Germany ranks 17th on the list of state-owned assets as a percentage of GDP.
Given the amount of assets held by Greece, the solution to its financial problem becomes evident - it must monetize the assets. This understanding has not escaped the IMF, euro zone and the ECB (the troika), but it has run into resistance from the citizens of Greece. Greece needs a method to monetize state-owned assets while still maintaining ownership. In my opinion, a digital currency based on block-chain technology can provide the solution.
Instead of selling assets in what will likely be a fire sale, the Greek government could use block-chain technology to create an asset-backed digital currency that can be used to repay creditors and pay government employees. Initial proceeds from the sale of the currency could be used to meet obligations to the troika, while government employees could be paid in this parallel currency.
To make this work, the government of Greece would place a portion of its assets into a trust. Then a digital currency would be issued and backed by this basket of assets. The mechanism for tying the assets to the currency would be a smart contract embedded in the currency that would not allow Greece to sell any asset in the basket unless the holders of the digital currency are paid.
Read MoreGreece deal: Seriously, what's holding it up?
This approach is a hybrid of a parallel currency and an asset-backed security. Combining the attributes of a digital currency and an asset backed security would result in several benefits.
1. Greece would retain ownership of its highly prized state assets, satisfying the voter mandate to curtail privatization.
2. The currency could be used to pay government salaries and workers would be able to spend the currency at local businesses providing a much-needed economic boost.
3. This creates an investable asset that would be a proxy for a recovery of the Greek economy.
4. Greek banks could hold this hybrid asset instead of T-bills; the asset backing would immediately strengthen bank balance sheets.
I want to be clear that this proposal is not suggesting Greece leave the euro zone - in fact, just the opposite. This new digital currency would work in parallel with the existing financial system. This would allow Greece to benefit from remaining in the euro zone while internally expanding money supply and paying off debt. As well, it could quell fears of contagion by providing a template for other liquidity-challenged countries.
It is useful to note that this solution does not need to be implemented nationwide - the flexibility and scalability of digital currencies allow a stepwise progression. It is possible for municipalities and agencies within the government to adopt this solution individually.
While many proposals sound good on paper, they are often not reasonable to implement. In order to ground this proposal in reality a "One Thing Challenge" has been issued to the block-chain technology community. Over the last few days, the community has been challenged to provide a working prototype of technology that aids in the implementation of the parallel currency. Start-up and established companies have been given a global stage to demonstrate products based on block-chain technology.
Read MoreEurogroup: No Greek deal by Monday, but it will get done
In my view, this is an opportunity for real-world implementation of block-chain technology. This is not a solo act; it will require a collaborative effort. To that end, a wiki page has been created where block-chain technology firms can submit and discuss all the technology that will be needed. On May 20, I will be hosting an online symposium where companies will have the opportunity to present their piece of the workable solution.
Importantly, reasoned disagreement is welcomed as the solution requires examination from multiple angles.
Let this serve as an open invitation to contribute. Everyone is invited to be a part of the solution by submitting proposals atwww.drachmae.org.
This is not a pie-in-the-sky proposal; there is already a company with a mobile-banking solution and payroll function that will enable the Greek government to pay government workers via mobile phones. Another company is working on storing asset ownership records in a block chain so that ownership can be verified and tracked by everyone.
The goal of this project is to create a decentralized organization that can provide a usable solution for Greece and illustrate the potential for block-chain technology. We are fortunate to have this powerful technology at our fingertips and now is the time for the block-chain community to demonstrate its game-changing potential.
Brian Kelly is founder and managing member of Brian Kelly Capital LLC, a global macro investment firm catering to high net worth individuals, family offices and institutions. He is also the creator of the BKCM Indexes, benchmarks for multi-asset money managers. He's also the author of the upcoming book, "The Bitcoin Big Bang: How Alternative Currencies Are About to Change the World."Kelly, a CNBC contributor, often appears on "Fast Money." Follow him on Twitter@BKBrianKelly.
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• Personal Finance || Could Marijuana Help House Prices?: In states where marijuana has been legalized, many homeowners have complained that the opening of pot dispensaries could bring down property values. However, in Colorado, where both medical and recreational marijuana has been legalized, some claim the opposite is true . New Jobs In Denver, home prices have risen 10 percent since March 2014, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. Some say a large part of that rise can be attributed to the marijuana industry. The new industry has created thousands of jobs across a variety of sectors. Not only are businesses directly linked to pot – like growers and dispensaries – taking on new employees, but security companies, electricians and hotels have all seen an influx of business due to marijuana. Related Link: Marijuana Industry Blazes The Path For A New Kind Of Lawyer Access To Marijuana The rental market in Colorado has also been booming as people from out of state come in looking for access to marijuana. Some families are interested in obtaining medical marijuana to treat a chronic condition, while others are keen to live in Colorado to enjoy the relaxed lifestyle the new laws permit. Still Some Concern While the real estate market in Colorado appears to be booming, some warn that it will fizzle as the long-term problems with pot settle in. For one, laws allowing people to cultivate up to six plants means prospective buyers will need to look for a new set of issues when it comes to home inspections. Buyers will need to check for tampering with the home's electrical systems and mold issues associated with marijuana growing before committing to a new home. Another concern is increased traffic in neighborhoods where marijuana is being grown. Many people disregard the state's limit of six plants and set up illegal grow houses, which could decrease the value of properties in the area. Image Credit: Public Domain See more from Benzinga Have You Met The Bitcoin Booty Girls? AgriScience Makes Smart Soil To Improve Farming Dutch Bank Issues Europe's First Certified Climate Bond © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Which Tech Billionaires Donate the Most to Charity? (Infographic): When youre sitting on billions, even millions, you can easily afford to give generously to charity and should, and not just for the tax breaks. Whether fueled by a genuine desire to make a difference or out of sheer vanity -- or, yes, to greedily ease the tax blow -- todays tech titans are showering their favorite charities with cash. Bill Gates, easily the most famous philanthropist among the tech elite, is back on top again as the richest man in the world , clocking an estimated net worth of $79.7 billion . Hes also arguably the most generous soul on earth. Related: How the World's First Bitcoin Charity Is Harnessing the Cryptocurrency to Change Lives (VIDEO) The Microsoft co-founder, a Harvard dropout, founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with his wife in 2000. The aim of the nonprofit is to improve U.S. education and global health. To date, hes donated $29.5 billion to what is now the worlds largest private foundation. Gates also launched The Giving Pledge with his wife, Melinda, and fellow billionaire Warren Buffett. The initiative encourages the worlds wealthiest to give the majority of their fortunes to charity. One tech billionaire you might not have heard of, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, the visionary behind Moores Law , is also one of the globes most prolific philanthropists. He and his wife, Betty, joined The Giving Pledge in 2012, eleven years after donating half of their wealth to their own namesake foundation . Related: Why Bill Gates Is Backing Impact Entrepreneurs in India For a deeper dive into Gatess and Moores exceptional charitable giving efforts -- along with those of four more of todays leading tech billionaires -- check out the fact-packed infographic below, care of Who Is Hosting This . Click to Enlarge Which Tech Billionaires Donate the Most to Charity? (Infographic) Image credit: Who Is Hosting This Related: 4 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Pay It Forward || Snoop Dogg Moves Forward With His Pot-Based Fund: Earlier this year, Calvin Broadus, more commonly known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, announced that he was planning to launch a fund that would invest in cannabis startups. The famous rapper has been open about marijuana use throughout the course of his career, but now he is hoping to profit even further from the newly legalized substance. Casa Verde Last week, Snoop Dogg continued his efforts to establish the fund by filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a manager of the new fund, to be called Casa Verde Capital, L.P. Casa Verde, which translates from Spanish to "Green House," is planning to raise $25 million from outside investors, which will be used to support pot-based startups. However, the fund hasn't raised any money just yet. Related Link: The Business Of Marketing Marijuana Celebrities Get Behind Marijuana Snoop Dogg isn't the first famous face to throw his money behind the growing marijuana industry. Willie Nelson also entered the space this year with his own brand, called Willie's Reserve. The country music star also released a single, "It's All Going To Pot," in order to raise awareness for his new venture. Famous pot-smoker Bob Marley's family is also hoping to capitalize on the late reggae singer's popularity in the marijuana community by creating the Marley Natural brand, which offers everything from marijuana infused massage oils to a smokable signature marijuana blend. Image Credit: "Snoop Dogg in car" by dodge challenger1 - Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons See more from Benzinga A New Cryptocurrency Draws Its Power From Unicorns Is Bitcoin Expanding Its Reach? Edible Marijuana Products Get The 'Okay' In Canada © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Big banks spending even more than VCs on future of finance: Financial technology startups are hot, red hot. The group raised almost $3 billion in the first quarter, according to CB Insights. And over the past 12 months, investors have poured almost $14 billion into 824 financings in the sector -- that's more deals than companies in sexier areas like cybersecurity and home automation completed.The fintech upstarts are challenging the status quo in seemingly every aspect of the financial markets, from banking and bill paying to asset management and payments processing. They're even venturing beyond the current system into areas like digital currency Bitcoin and equity crowdfunding.But the big banks aren't standing still. The establishment plans to spend $16.6 billion on its own set of digital initiatives this year,according to a report from IDC. So-called digital transformation spending still makes up less than one-quarter of all retail bank IT spending but is growing at about three times the rate of overall spending, IDC says.
Big banks still have nearly all the customers -- as well as their cash -- right now, but the economy is changing quickly in ways that benefit the upstarts. Increasingly, online and mobile consumers don't have the same preferences that they used to. Only 23% of U.S. adults still use physical branches as their primary means of banking, while 51% prefer online or mobile, according to a recent survey sponsored by Bank of America (BAC). And while only 5% have made mobile payments with their phone, another 29% say they are interested.
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The many upstarts are also able to focus on improving discrete parts of the banking experience. CB Insights counts 20 different significant companies trying to crack the payments and billings niche, 16 in personal finance and almost two dozen in lending.In many areas, the big banks may be dismissing the threat of upstarts along the lines of the classic disruption theory outlined by Harvard Professor Clayton Christensen in his book "The Innovator's Dilemma." The startup firms frequently offer limited services or primarily target customers big banks see as unprofitable. Bank execs feel safe ignoring the new competitors while they focus on retaining their current customers. But eventually, as technology improves and customer needs change, the startups become appealing to an ever-increasing portion of the market. And some bank efforts,like Barclays' new $50 wristband for making mobile payments, seem more than a little misguided.Banks trying to catch upOthers are off to a good start, at least. Bank America claims 31 million of its customers are active online banking users and 17 million on mobile apps. Most big banks are trying to speed up change, whether by investing in improved mobile apps, better online service or even by buying whole companies. Of the 211 upstarts that "exited" the venture capital world last year, only nine made it to the stock market on their own via IPOs. The select group of winners include online lender LendingCLub (LC) and bill paying facilitator Yodlee (YDLE). The rest were acquired, frequently by the large financial institutions that dominate the current market.For example,Simpleset out to revolutionize online banking without a physical presence -- it was bought by Spanish bank BBVA (BBVA) last year for just $117 million.And that highlights another major challenge for the startups.Simple found the current capital and regulatory requirements too steepto continue on its own. The problems Uber has experienced with taxi regulators around the globe are nothing compared to the costly and forbidding array of rules and regulations facing new financial firms.The wild card is whether the biggest tech companies, such as Google (GOOGL) or Apple (AAPL), decide to jump into fintech. Those behemoths almost certainly have the resources and talent to navigate the regulatory thicket and Google's venture capital arm has already made numerous fintech investments. But the tech giants may not see a need to get involved more directly, at least not yet.With the big banks and the upstarts spending like crazy to innovate, it won't be easy to figure out who's going to prevail. But with better services and cooler apps emerging almost daily, customers should be winners either way. || Meet 'Dope' Breakout Shameik Moore, Who Went From YouTube Tween to Rising Star: The Sundance Film Festival favorite Dope hits theaters on Friday, and, if all goes according to plan, Americans will soon be living in Meaks World. Directed by Rick Famuyiwa ( Brown Sugar , The Wood ), Dope features 20-year-old newcomer Shameik Moore as Malcolm, a 90s hip hop-obsessed geek who hopes to escape from his rough Los Angeles neighborhood and attend Harvard. Its an unlikely jump for Malcolm, given the obstacles on the long uphill road from his humble childhood home, and in that way, Moore can certainly relate: A native of Atlanta with no real Hollywood connections, he decided to become a professional dancer once he saw the 2004 hit You Got Served , and began plotting a singing career after seeing Chris Brown in concert when he was 13 years old. All these interviews Im doing this is the kind of stuff that I was dreaming about doing when I was younger, Moore told Yahoo Movies from a hotel in L.A., where he was preparing to go on Jimmy Kimmel Live . I was praying for people to want to write about me. I wanted people to hear my music, I wanted to perform, I wanted to be on billboards. Moore belongs to the first social media generation, made up of kids who lied about their ages to join Facebook in the late aughts, when no one younger than a high school freshman could register. Young stars have been taught to establish their personal brand from day one, and once Moore began training at the We Entertain arts complex in Atlanta, he came up with Meaks World, which was a combination of a mantra, mission statement, and trademark to tie together his various creative endeavors. Meaks World is the world I created when I was 12, when I got into the industry, he said. I said, I have to do it myself. Its not going to be given to me. It has to be Meaks World. He wasnt an overnight success, but he worked hard at building a small fan base mostly via YouTube. His channel still hosts videos that stretch back six years, with everything from episodes of a webcam show called Meaks World to breakdance performances to direct appeals to Hollywood directors, like the one below: Story continues From that point in early middle school, Meaks World was built slowly, with a foundation made of mostly music video appearances and small roles in films like Joyful Noise and The Watsons Go to Birmingham . Then Famuyiwa , whod been struggling to cast the Malcolm role , noticed Moore while watching audition tapes several years ago, and flew him to L.A. for an in-person tryout. It didnt go very well, at least in their initial meeting. I got really nervous, Moore remembers. For like 98 percent of my life, Im not nervous. But as soon as Im nervous, I start shaking or something, and I lose my cool. Still, Moore says he didnt realize how badly he wilted in the spotlight until his agents called to tell him that Famuyiwa was willing to give him one more chance. Obviously, Moore nailed it the second time around, putting the rare case of nerves behind him and grabbing the part of the ambitious, conscientious, and very well-dressed Malcolm. Watch the trailer for Dope: Moore plays Malcolm as a vulnerable, but ultimately resourceful kid destined for greater things. The character who quotes N.W.A. lyrics and plays in a punk band uses his blend of street smarts and geeky know-how to unload a stash of drugs, aided by his two best friends, played by Transparents Kiersey Clemons and The Grand Budapest Hotels Tony Revolori. Theres also a girl, of course: A local (Zoë Kravitz) whom Moore tutors and eventually tries to win over. Its a nuanced role in a film that puts a fresh spin on the classic gotta get out of here coming-of-age film a 21st century Risky Business or Saturday Night Fever set in South Central. The teens deal with Bitcoin and Instagram , ogle old vinyl records and tap into the Dark Web, making Dope an earnest adventure inside a maze of zeitgeist. Its a film that takes a fresh look at a world largely written off by Hollywood, even though its just miles down the road. Dope will no doubt be Moores breakout turn, and hes long prepared for this wave of publicity. In the grand tradition of hip-hop culture, Moore has worked on establishing a sort of brand name that combines his ambition and self-regard; as he often mentions on Twitter , hed love to be known as #KingSAM. Its a hashtag monicker that he hopes becomes the catch-all identity for all of his artistic pursuits each letter in his initials carries its own meaning; the M for Moore also suggests he always leaves the audience wanting more. Why brand himself so early? Its to take control of the narrative, Moore says, before someone else can begin to write it. It makes sense from a business standpoint, as its unlikely that the news media would be quite as invested in his careers success as Moore is himself. He talks about being grateful and staying humble quite often, so he doesnt lack self-awareness. He just also knows that in an increasingly crowded media sphere with countless young social media stars and performers obsessing over their brands and follower count, he has to be overly proactive. Dope , Moore hopes, will also help launch his music career. To coincide with the films release, Moore, who worked with producer Pharrell and co-star A$AP Rocky during the films production, is dropping some new music of his own. Its not a mixtape or EP; I call it a soundtrack, he says, explaining that the tracks will be about his upbringing and life in Georgia. Its called 30058 his childhood zip code and will be available on his website . And hes got a full album that he plans to release next spring, soon after the release of The Get Down , the Netflix series on which hes currently working. While Dope s Malcolm was obsessed with 90s hip hop, the Netflix show, which is being made by Baz Luhrmann, focuses on the birth of hip hop in the 70s South Bronx. Moore gets to rap, sing and b-boy dance, and this time, he plays the bad boy, he says, teasing a very different look from his breakout role. Moore seems to have a solid game-plan, thanks in part to all the years he spent preparing to capitalize on the opportunities he hustled so hard to secure. He certainly doesnt lack for confidence, but also knows his journey to turning Hollywood into Meaks World has really only gotten started. I cant assume that people see me the way I see myself, Moore offered. I have to show them. But I cant do it in a way where its too much, where its rude. I feel like when youre a king, you lead. And I just see myself as a king, or as something more than just a regular human being. Watch Forest Whitaker talk about Dope: || Your first trade for Wednesday, July 1: The " Fast Money " traders delivered their final trades for June. Pete Najarian was a buyer of GILD (NASDAQ: GILD) . Brian Kelly was a buyer of SPY (Singapore Exchange: SPY-SG) puts. Karen Finerman was a buyer of KORS (NYSE: KORS) . Guy Adami was a buyer of KITE (NASDAQ: KITE) . Trader disclosure: On June 30, 2015, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Karen Finerman is long BABA, BAC, C, FINL, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, KORS, M, TACO, URI, she is short SPY, Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, DIS, DRI, FBT, FINL, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, GPS, IBB, JPM, KORS, M, SUNE, URI, XBI, KORS call spreads, URI calls, SPY puts, her firm is short IWM, SPY, MDY, Karen Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International. Pete Najarian is long AMAT, AAPL, BABA, BAC, BMY, BP, CSX, DISCA, DKS, FOXA, GE, KKR, KO, LLY, MRK, PEP, PFE, he is long calls AAPL, ABX, BAC, BBY, C, DAL, ETFC, FCAU, GS, HYS, INVN, JPM, LULU, NUAN, OC, PNR, S, SPY, SXC, SYY, UAL, UBS, USB, VOYA, VZ, WYNN, XLF, ZIOP. Today he bought SPY calls and WYNN calls. Today he sold DE calls. Brian Kelly is long BBRY, BTC=; TAN, TSL; he is short Euro, Yuan, and Yen. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Managing Dir. & Analyst Robert Peck: An affiliate of SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc. has received compensation for products or services other than investment banking services from the following company within the last 12 months: TWTR-US. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Fed Meeting Suggests One Or Two Rate Hikes This Year: This week's Federal Reserve meeting served as confirmation for investors that the bank is still planning to raise interest rates some time before the end of this year. Although the bank has promised to take a slow-and-steady approach to policy tightening, investors are beginning to batten down the hatches for fear that the hike will have a dramatic effect on markets. Labor Key On Wednesday, Fed Chair Janet Yellen remarked that the rate increase would be closely tied to labor market data, saying that improvement in that area of the economy was the number one driver of the bank's decision making. Weak economic data at the start of the year had many questioning whether or not the economy would be strong enough for a rate hike, but Yellen suggested in the press conference following the meeting that data shows the nation is on track for one or two rate increases before the year is out. When? Most investors have placed their bets on a September rate increase , though upcoming jobs data will likely play a role in analysts' predictions. Although the bank is likely to tighten before the end of the year, Yellen has promised that the bank will move slowly and gradually so as not to upset markets. Related Link: Fed Rate Hike Predictions All Over The Board How To Prepare Many worry that a rate rise will push stock values lower and wreak havoc on the bond market. While its difficult to tell who the winners and losers will be when markets absorb the Fed's next move, many investors are rushing toward commodities as they are historically unaffected by policy changes. Another good bet for investors looking to avoid a slide in their portfolio is foreign assets. As the dollar rises following policy tightening, foreign goods gain popularity which will be that will beneficial to companies in Europe and Asia. On the other side will be US companies who have borrowed large sums to conduct share buybacks and increase dividends. The age of improving returns for shareholders is likely nearing its end as borrowing costs rise. Story continues See more from Benzinga Bitcoin May Not Go Mainstream, But Blockchain Will Insurers Caught In 5-Way Courtship Competition The Video Streaming Space Is Getting Crowded © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || These 2 indie movies are going to give the summer blockbusters a run for their money: DOPE2 final (Open Road Films/"Dope") "Dope." You’ve seen “ Avengers: Age of Ultron, ” “ Mad Max: Fury Road, ” and “ Jurassic World. ” Though you concede they are all thrilling and visually stunning, you’re still searching for movies this summer with a little bit more … story. Thankfully there are two movies in theaters that can help feed that need. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon ’s “ Me and Earl and the Dying Girl ” and Rick Famuyiwa ’s “ Dope ” on the surface look like two very different movies, from where they're set to dialogue and characters. But they have a lot in common. me and earl and the dying girl1 (Fox Searchlight/"Me and Earl and the Dying Girl") "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl." Both films played at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and walked away with awards (for “Me and Earl” the prestigious Audience Award and Grand Jury prizes, and for “Dope” best editing), they both look at modern-day high-school life, and they have both been thrust in the middle of the summer blockbuster season (“Me and Earl” is in theaters; “Dope” opens Friday). Distributors Fox Searchlight (“Me and Earl”) and Open Road Films (“Dope”) are using the classic counter-programming maneuver in the hopes that audiences who aren’t into Hollywood blockbusters, or by mid-June are ready for something new, will give these indie darlings a try. This was a play Searchlight had success with when releasing the cult comedy “Napoleon Dynamite” in mid-June 2004. Building off the success of the film-festival circuit without a star or name director, the film had an impressive opening weekend take of $117,000 and went on to have a total domestic gross of over $44 million (the film’s budget was around $400,000). napoleon dynamite (Fox Searchlight) "Napoleon Dynamite." In its opening weekend “Me and Earl” took in similar numbers with over $196,000 . For this weekend, “Dope” is also getting creative in their purchase options, allowing tickets to be purchased via Bitcoin , making it the first time digital currency has ever been allowed for ticket sales. Story continues But strategic placement and gimmicks aside, the movies are strong enough to grab the attention of even the most dedicated Hollywood blockbuster moviegoer. In “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” we follow the senior year of outsider Greg (Thomas Mann). With a daily existence that includes staying friendly with all the different cliques at his Pittsburgh high school (but not committed to any) and making ultra-low-budget knocks-offs of classic films with his buddy Earl (RJ Cyler), Greg’s priorities change when he befriends Rachel (Olivia Cooke), a classmate who has recently been diagnosed with cancer. me and earl and the dying girl2 (Fox Searchlight/"Me and Earl and the Dying Girl") Thomas Mann and Olivia Cooke in "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl." The story has a been-there-done-that feel, but the style is a fresh one to the high-school dramedy genre with its creative use of stop-motion animation and high IQ in movie geekdom. “Dope” is set in the Inglewood neighborhood (known to those who live there as “The Bottoms”) of Los Angeles and follows another geek, Malcolm (Shameik Moore), and his two friends Jib (Tony Revolori) and Diggy (Kiersey Clemons). Unlike Greg and Earl, who have zero aspirations, Malcolm and his crew have high hopes for the future. Keeping away from the gang culture of South Los Angeles and completely obsessed with ’90s hip-hop, their main goal is to leave the 'hood and get into college, especially Malcolm, who has aspirations to attend Harvard. Dope1 final (Open Road Films/"Dope") Shameik Moore in "Dope." But things get complicated when Malcolm goes to the party of the neighborhood drug dealer and unknowingly leaves with drugs. Malcolm and friends then embark on an adventure through LA to get rid of the goods. If you listened to hip-hop in the ’90s, you will likely love “Dope.” It’s filled with nostalgic tracks from A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Public Enemy, Digital Underground, and Naughty By Nature, curated by executive producer Pharrell Williams. They are perfectly placed and elevate the enjoyment of the story that’s part “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” part “Friday.” What both films exemplify is that movies with strong stories (and without massive explosions) can survive in the summer months. Whether the hook is geek culture, or a killer soundtrack, once you’re watching, it’s the excellent crafting of these characters by Gomez-Rejon and Famuyiwa that keep you engrossed for the next few hours. This weekend, take a break from the CGI-fueled blockbusters and check out one of these films instead. And if you need more convincing, here are the trailers for both films. More From Business Insider 'Jurassic World' has a ton of hit and miss ideas — but it's a wild ride For the first time a movie will accept Bitcoin for ticket purchases 'Jurassic World' just surpassed 'Avengers' for the highest-grossing opening weekend ever || Meet Europe's newest tax haven and micro-state: Europe's newest "state" welcomed its first citizens this weekend, after a small group of libertarians declared independence for a patch of land on the border between Croatia and Serbia.
The "Free Republic of Liberland" has received no official recognition, but celebrated its first "Liberty Day" on May 1, doling out honorary citizenship to the first 100 attendees to arrive at the party in country.
Its "president", Vit Jedlicka, is a 31-year-old Czech, who is a former financial analyst and self-described libertarian. He said that long-term, he hoped Liberland could become a successful financial center due to its loose tax laws.
"I would categorize it as a tax heaven," Jedlicka said. "The reason why Liberland was created was that the rest of the world ended up being a tax hell."
Nearly 300,000 people have already applied for Liberland citizens, 80 of whom are billionaires, according to Jedlicka.
Jedlicka and two other Czechs formed the new state on April 13 on a patch of woodland near the Danube River between Croatia and Serbia in South East Europe. Liberland said the area was left unclaimed following a border dispute between Croatia and Serbia in the 1940s. For much of the 20th century, both states were part of Yugoslavia.
The new country measures only 2.7 square miles in area, meaning it would rank among Vatican City and Monaco as one of the world's smallest "micro-states."
Jedlicka said forming Liberland was an attempt to shake up the political status quo.
"I tried for five years to change something in politics, but taxes were still rising, regulations were more and more intruding into people's lives, so I sort of found out that I couldn't change it for better," Jedlicka told CNBC.
"My political opponents always told me I should create my own state to show how my liberalism would work. And then I did."
Neither Croatia nor Serbia has recognized Liberland's sovereignty. In an official statement sent to CNBC, the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs described Jedlicka as a right-wing politician and said the "newly created country" was outside Serbia's territory.
"The Ministry also considers this a frivolous act which needs no further comment," the Serbian Ministry added.
A spokesperson for Croatia's Foreign Ministry reiterated a Facebook comment posted shortly after Liberland declared independence in mid-April.
"Virtual quips, no matter how interesting they occasionally sound, remain what they are-virtual quips, and for them we do not have any official comment," the spokesperson said.
But Jedlicka still hopes to gain recognition from other nations and has already set up an an office in Serbia that he plans to convert to an embassy.
Liberland's founders have pulled out all the stops, providing the country with its own laws, constitution, flag and motto: "To live and let live."
For those who missed gaining citizenship on Liberty Day, the country continues to accept citizenship applications online. Anyone is allowed to become a citizen as long as they have a clean criminal record and "do not have communist, Nazi or other extremist past."
Jedlicka said costs of developing and running the country would initially come from citizens, some of whom had already helped raise $15,000 to fund accommodation for the 20 volunteers running the presidential office.
Liberland will be run as a constitutional republic with elements of direct democracy, according to its website. Any currency will be accepted, including Bitcoin(: BTC=), Jedlicka said.
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[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
LIVE: Profit = $928.39 (0.99 %). BUY B396.00 @ $237.50 (#Bitfinex). SELL @ $238.14 (#HitBTC) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || Current price: 155.37£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2015-06-20 11:00:04 BST || @Cryptiv tebak score brazil vs paraguay , hadiah 0,05 #bitcoin
babak 1 : 1 - 0
babak 2 : 2 - 2
score akhir 3 - 2
28 Juni, jam 6.00 WIB || Session 7 Live Q&A (Alternatives to Bitcoin) with @aantonop tonight Monday, 8 June, at 7:00 PM EEST. Join us on http://mooc.universityofnicosia-online.com . || $225.80 at 16:15 UTC [24h Range: $222.00 - $227.99 Volume: 6622 BTC] || #RDD / #BTC on the exchanges:
Cryptsy: 0.00000004
Bittrex: 0.00000004
Average $9.0E-6 per #reddcoin
19:00:01 || Current price: 162.79£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2015-07-02 22:00:08 BST || buysellbitco.in #bitcoin price in INR, Buy : 15078.00 INR Sell : 14645.00 INR. Buy and sell bitcoin in #India using #buysellbitcoin || buysellbitco.in #bitcoin price in INR, Buy : 15421.00 INR Sell : 14945.00 INR. Buy and sell bitcoin in #India using #buysellbitcoin || buysellbitco.in #bitcoin price in INR, Buy : 15643.00 INR Sell : 15163.00 INR. Buy and sell bitcoin in #India using #buysellbitcoin
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Trend: up || Prices: 256.34, 260.89, 271.91, 269.03, 266.21, 270.79, 269.23, 284.89, 293.11, 310.87
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2022-09-14]
BTC Price: 20241.09, BTC RSI: 45.33
Gold Price: 1696.50, Gold RSI: 38.25
Oil Price: 88.48, Oil RSI: 46.98
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
5 ETFs Up in Double-Digits Post Fed's Fourth Rate Hike: Wall Street rallied on Wednesday following the Feds fourth consecutive rate hike decision. While the rally was braod-based, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index had its biggest one-day percentage gain in more than two years, surging 4.1%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.6% and 1.4%, respectively. With this, most ETFs gained in double digits on the day. Global X Blockchain ETF BKCH led the way higher, jumping 12.6%. This was followed by iShares Blockchain and Tech ETF IBLC, Viridi Bitcoin Miners ETF RIGZ, VanEck Vectors Digital Transformation ETF DAPP and VanEck Digital Assets Mining ETF DAM. The central bank raised interest rates by 75 bps as expected to fight inflation in the range of 2.25% and 2.5% and said it is strongly committed to returning inflation to its 2% objective. It also hinted that it could slow the pace of its rate hike campaign at some point (read: Has the Market Bottomed? 6 ETFs in High Momentum). Jerome Powell stated, it was too soon to say whether the Fed would dial down the size of its rate increases to a half-percentage point or a quarter-percentage point at its next meeting in September. But it would be appropriate to slow the pace of rate increases to assess their cumulative impact on the economy. Rate hikes increase the cost of borrowing money, which can help slow inflation. But it will also hurt consumer spending as higher rates will result in added costs for consumers already dealing with elevated prices for goods and services. This trend is mainly due to the latest bouts of data that show signs of cooling consumer spending, consumer confidence, hiring and housing activity. The Fed does not believe that the U.S. economy is currently in a recession but thinks that it is softening. Lets dig into the details of the above-mentioned ETFs: Global X Blockchain ETF (BKCH) Global X Blockchain ETF seeks to invest in companies positioned to benefit from the increased adoption of blockchain technology, including companies in digital asset mining, blockchain & digital asset transactions, blockchain applications, blockchain & digital asset hardware, and blockchain & digital asset integration. Global X Blockchain ETF holds 24 stocks in its basket with a double-digit allocation to the two top firms. Global X Blockchain ETF has gathered $57.9 million in its asset base and trades in an average daily volume of 166,000 shares. It charges 50 bps in annual fees. iShares Blockchain and Tech ETF (IBLC) iShares Blockchain and Tech ETF seeks exposure to a wide variety of companies that are involved in the development, innovation and utilization of blockchain and crypto technologies. It follows the NYSE FactSet Global Blockchain Technologies Index and holds 33 stocks in its basket (read: Pain Ahead for Bitcoin & Related ETFs?). NYSE FactSet Global Blockchain Technologies Index has gathered $5.9 million in its asset base and charges 47 bps in annual fees. It trades in a volume of 6,000 shares per day on average. Viridi Bitcoin Miners ETF (RIGZ) Viridi Bitcoin Miners ETF is an actively managed ETF focused on the securities of companies that engage in Bitcoin mining, holding 21 stocks in its basket. Viridi Cleaner Energy Crypto-Mining & Semiconductor ETF has attracted $6.5 million in its asset base. It charges 90 bps in annual fees and trades in an average daily volume of 5,000 shares. VanEck Vectors Digital Transformation ETF (DAPP) VanEck Vectors Digital Transformation ETF aims to offer exposure to companies that are at the forefront of the digital asset transformation, such as digital asset exchanges, payment gateways, digital asset mining operations, software services, equipment and technology or services to the digital asset operations, digital asset infrastructure businesses or companies facilitating commerce with the use of digital assets. VanEck Vectors Digital Transformation ETF tracks the MVIS Global Digital Assets Equity Index and holds 24 securities in its basket. VanEck Vectors Digital Transformation ETF charges 50 bps in annual fees and trades in an average daily volume of 100,000. DAPP has accumulated $32.2 million in its asset base. VanEck Digital Assets Mining ETF (DAM) VanEck Digital Assets Mining ETF offers exposure to companies participating in the digital assets mining economy by tracking the MVIS Global Digital Assets Mining Index. It holds 33 stocks in its basket with a well-diversified portfolio as each accounts for no more than 16% share (read: 5 Dividend ETFs Enjoying Huge Investor Love). VanEck Digital Assets Mining ETF has attracted $1.5 million in its asset base since its inception in May. It charges 50 bps in annual fees and trades in volume of under 1,000 shares per day on average. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Global X Blockchain ETF (BKCH): ETF Research Reports VanEck Digital Transformation ETF (DAPP): ETF Research Reports Viridi Bitcoin Miners ETF (RIGZ): ETF Research Reports VanEck Digital Assets Mining ETF (DAM): ETF Research Reports iShares Blockchain and Tech ETF (IBLC): ETF Research Reports To read this article on Zacks.com click here. || How Mega Lawsuit Against MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor Could Affect Bitcoin: District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine is suing mega Bitcoin bull Michael Saylor, co-founder and executive chairman of MicroStrategy, for allegedly avoiding more than $25 million in district taxes. The lawsuit also names MicroStrategy as a defendant, alleging that it conspired to help him evade taxes he owes. The Future of Finances: Gen Z & How They Relate to Money Looking To Diversify in a Bear Market? Consider These 6 Alternative Investments “Defendant Saylor knowingly avoided income taxes he owed to the District by fraudulently claiming to be a resident of other, lower-tax jurisdictions while maintaining his domicile and place of abode in the District, including living in a luxury penthouse on the Georgetown waterfront and docking multiple yachts on the District’s Potomac riverfront from 2005 to present,” the court documents read. The office of the AG is seeking to recover unpaid income taxes and penalties from both Saylor and MicroStrategy that could total more than $100 million, according to a statement. How the Lawsuit Affects Bitcoin The potential effects of the lawsuit on Bitcoin, which has been struggling in the past few months, might be difficult to temper, some say. “With volumes drying up amid lots of inflation, we expect that any story could have outsized potential to move the market,” said Hayden Hughes, co-founder and CEO of platform Alpha Impact. “Michael Saylor’s IRS drama could serve to keep Bitcoin in the news for the wrong reasons. Traders on the Alpha Impact platform have been bracing for increased volatility on several exchanges, hedging positions using perpetual swaps.” Take Our Poll: Do You Think Student Loan Debt Should Be Forgiven? Hughes deems the potential $100 million tax bill “an inconvenience that will not stop (Saylor) or put him behind bars.” “The real risk here is that the litigation drags crypto through the mud,” he said. “Many recall the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) concerns raised in 2021 as having a lasting impact on prices as the narrative of Bitcoin was negatively affected by the news. This litigation is bound to drag on for years, and Alpha Impact traders have been bracing for volatility, leveraging into futures positions.” DC Lawsuit Came From Earlier Complaint In April 2021, a whistleblower filed a lawsuit against Saylor, alleging he had failed to pay income taxes he legally owed from 2014 through 2020, alleging, “Saylor engaged in an elaborate scheme to create the illusion that he lived in Florida, a state without personal income tax, while he actually resided in the District.” Story continues After independently investigating the whistleblower’s tax fraud allegations, the AG filed its own complaint, alleging that MicroStrategy “actively conspired with Saylor to enable his fraud, including by filing inaccurate W-2s with the address of his property in Florida rather than his home in DC, and by failing to withhold and remit DC taxes.” MicroStrategy said in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing on Sept. 1: “The Company believes that the District’s claims against the Company have no merit and intends to defend itself aggressively against these allegations.” As for Saylor, he told CNBC that he bought a historic house in Miami Beach and moved his home there from Virginia a decade ago. “Although MicroStrategy is based in Virginia, Florida is where I live, vote and have reported for jury duty, and it is at the center of my personal and family life,” he told CNBC. “I respectfully disagree with the position of the District of Columbia, and look forward to a fair resolution in the courts.” Saylor, who remains extremely bullish on Bitcoin despite the asset’s beating, stepped down from his CEO role on Aug. 8 to become executive chairman. “Bitcoin is a miracle happening right before our eyes,” he tweeted Aug. 31. As of June 30, 2022, the carrying value of MicroStrategy’s 129,699 Bitcoins was $1.988 billion. Also of June 30, the original cost basis and market value of MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin were $3.977 billion and $2.451 billion, respectively, reflecting an average cost per bitcoin of approximately $30,664 and a market price per bitcoin of $18,895.02, according to financial releases. Several experts agree that the money Saylor allegedly owes is a drop in the bucket for him as he has a net worth of $1.6 billion, according to Forbes. More From GOBankingRates Unplug These Appliances That Hike Up Your Electricity Bill 9 Bills You Should Never Put on Autopay Looking To Diversify in a Bear Market? Consider These Alternative Investments 16 Effective Tips and Tricks To Help You Save Money This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : How Mega Lawsuit Against MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor Could Affect Bitcoin View comments || Second Round of Layoffs at Brazilian Crypto Unicorn 2TM: 2TM – the holding company for Brazil's largest crypto exchange by valuation, Mercado Bitcoin – laid off 15% of its workforce, or about 100 employees on Thursday.
“The economic adversity continues,” said the company in a statement. It’s the second round of job cuts this summer for 2TM, which in June let go of more than 80 workers.
Speaking with CoinDesk, the company also took note of “unbalanced competition” in which foreign crypto exchanges are not following the same reporting and know-your-customer (KYC) standards as domestic players.
“The competitive environment remains deteriorated and unfair, lacking the approval of the legal framework for crypto-activities, as players following the law are penalized by companies that ignore local rules,” said 2TM.
Brazil's Chamber of Deputieshas yet to voteon a crypto bill already approved by the local Senate in April. ABCripto, an association of domestic exchanges, has asked the Chamber of Deputies to demand exchanges to already have an employer identification number in order to apply for a license in Brazil. Overseas exchanges – Binance among them – oppose this measure.
Other crypto-related companies in Latin America announcing layoffs recently includecrypto exchange Bitso– Mercado Bitcoin's main competitor in Brazil – and Argentina-based exchange Buenbit,which slashed45% of its staff.
Mercado Bitcoin in July 2021 raised $200 million in a Series B funding round, which at the time valued 2TM at $2.1 billion.
Read more:Why Brazilians Are Turning to Stablecoins Like Tether || 3 No-Brainer Growth Stocks to Buy if You Have Money to Invest: Europe’s huge, pressing need for new electricity sources — along with the Inflation Reduction Act, which was recently signed into law in the U.S. — has created many no-brainer growth stocks to buy for long-term investors. Several companies are sure to benefit tremendously from one or both of those very powerful, positive catalysts, making their stocks buys at this point. Names that fit this description, have strong business models and attractive valuations meet the criteria as a no-brainer pick. Among the sectors that are poised to get the biggest boost from these new positive drivers are hydrogen, electricity infrastructure, wind energy and solar energy. Here are three growth stocks to buy to benefit from these trends. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips PLUG Plug Power $27.90 GE General Electric $74.80 JKS JinkoSolar $60.11 Growth Stocks to Buy: Plug Power (PLUG) Hydrogen logo on gas stations fuel dispenser, symbolizing H2 combustion engine for emissions-free eco-friendly transport. Source: Alexander Kirch / Shutterstock.com It seems like every month or two brings new evidence supporting the idea Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG ) will, in the not-too-distant future, become a very large energy company. The latest good news for Plug Power was the company’s new deal with Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN ). Under the agreement, the green hydrogen maker will provide 10,950 tons per year of the fuel starting in 2025. Green hydrogen is generated using electricity derived from renewable sources, primarily wind energy and solar energy What’s more, the deal has strongly incentivized Amazon to both buy a large amount of green hydrogen from Plug Power and take additional steps to boost PLUG stock. That’s because under the contract, the e-commerce giant will receive a warrant to acquire up to 16 million common shares with an exercise price of $22.98 for each of the first 9 million warrant shares. In other words, Amazon stands to make a significant amount of money if it meets the procurement target and PLUG stock has climbed tremendously by that time. Story continues Meanwhile, two of Plug’s largest customers — Amazon and Walmart (NYSE: WMT ) — have signed deals to buy large volumes of green hydrogen from Plug. I think there’s an excellent chance a high proportion of its remaining huge customers will sign similar deals. Also definitely worth noting is the tremendous, positive impact that both the IR Act and the situation in Europe will have on PLUG stock. CEO Andy Marsh recently commented on the benefits of both. Its profit margins should surge tremendously over the longer term, eliminating a key weapon in the bears’ arsenal. Finally, as I’ve noted in past columns, there’s a great deal of evidence that the European Union is rapidly embracing green hydrogen. The shares’ market capitalization continues to greatly underestimate the company’s huge opportunities. General Electric (GE) Company breakups: The General Electric GE logo on a building Source: Sundry Photography / Shutterstock.com General Electric (NYSE: GE ) will benefit on multiple fronts from the IR Act and Europe’s tremendous hunger for cheaper electricity. With Europe and Japan looking to boost their reliance on nuclear power, GE’s related business should boom over the next year or two. Additionally, due to the EU’s increased utilization of liquid natural gas, or LNG, from sources other than Russia, GE’s Gas Power unit is going to be able to sell a meaningful amount of its LNG equipment to them in the coming months and years. And in many cases, GE’s gas turbines can be used to generate electricity from hydrogen. That will make the equipment very valuable as hydrogen is much more widely adopted in Europe and other regions. Finally, GE’s wind-turbine business will get a boost from the huge growth of offshore wind power in Europe and the U.S., as well as the renewal of the investment tax credit for all wind power that was included in the U.S. climate bill. The trailing operating cash-flow-to-revenue ratio of GE stock is a very attractive 12x, even before it benefits from the catalysts I’ve described along with the continued rebound of the aviation sector. Growth Stocks to Buy: JinkoSolar (JKS) The JinkoSolar logo displayed on a plain white wall. Source: Lutsenko_Oleksandr / Shutterstock.com JinkoSolar’s (NYSE: JKS ) recently released second-quarter results and the comments the company made on its earnings calls show its business is booming. Given the rapidly increasing utilization of solar energy in much of the world and JinkoSolar’s status as one of the leading makers of solar panels, that’s not surprising. In Q2, Jinko’s revenue soared an incredible 129% year-over-year (YOY) to $2.81 billion, beating analysts’ average estimate by a huge $544 million. And its earnings per share, excluding certain items, came in at $1.11 versus analysts’ mean estimate of just 73 cents. Finally, its shipments soared 25% versus Q1 and 102% compared with the same period a year earlier. In its earnings call, the company cited the accelerating energy transition in several countries and businesses and the energy crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine as the main drivers of demand for its solar products. It continued to grow in many markets as the industrywide push for solar energy in Europe and China jumped 137% YOY and 136% YOY, respectively. Additionally, the company is in the process of transitioning to selling solar modules that generate more power and are consequentially more profitable. Finally, Jinko expects positive demand trends going forward in the U.S. due to the government’s climate initiatives. The forward price-to-earnings ratio of JKS stock is a very attractive 15.9x. On the date of publication, Larry Ramer held long positions in PLUG, GE and JKS. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines . Larry Ramer has conducted research and written articles on U.S. stocks for 15 years. He has been employed by The Fly and Israel’s largest business newspaper, Globes. Larry began writing columns for InvestorPlace in 2015. Among his highly successful, contrarian picks have been GE, solar stocks, and Snap. You can reach him on StockTwits at @larryramer. More From InvestorPlace Buy This $5 Stock BEFORE This Apple Project Goes Live The Best $1 Investment You Can Make Today Early Bitcoin Millionaire Reveals His Next Big Crypto Trade “On Air” It doesn’t matter if you have $500 or $5 million. Do this now. The post 3 No-Brainer Growth Stocks to Buy if You Have Money to Invest appeared first on InvestorPlace . || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Up Slightly Despite Fed Chairman's Hawkish Comments: Bitcoin(BTC) andether(ETH) rose in Thursday trading along with traditional risky assets after hawkish comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell mixed with better-than-expected jobs data increased the probability of tighter monetary policy.
During a question-and-answer session held by the Cato Institute on Thursday, Powell reiterated the Fed’s commitment to stemming inflation, which increased expectations for a 75 basis points rate hike in September.
• Bitcoin rose 0.4% despite Powell’s hawkish comments. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap traded lower the hour prior to Powell’s comments, but reversed course in the hours following. BTC’s daily trading volume was slightly below average when compared to its 20-day moving average of volume.
• Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, was 0.94% higher on the day, on above-average volume. ETH also fell before Powell’s comments and rose after them. ETH’s 30-day correlation to BTC remains strong, at 0.9.
AWhite Housereporton Thursday stated that the environmental impact of mining digital assets like bitcoin “could impede U.S. efforts to combat climate change.” The report appears to be a precursor to additional studies on the impact of crypto mining on the environment.
BTC traded down slightly following the release of the report, as did ETH, despite the upcomingMerge, the Ethereum blockchain’s shift from aproof-of-workmethod of maintaining its network to a more energy-efficientproof-of-stakeway.
Economic Calendar:Initial jobless claims for the week ended Sept. 3 were 222,000, versus expectations of 230,000. This marks the fourth consecutive week of declines and brings initial claims to their lowest level since May. The positive jobs data provides the Federal Reserve with more reason to increase interest rates.
U.S. Equities:Traditional financial markets closed higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite increasing 0.6%, 0.7%, and 0.6% respectively.
Commodities:Crude oil futures increased 1.1%, and natural gas futures rose 1.6%. The price of gold, a traditional safe-haven asset, declined 0.54%
Currencies:The dollar index (DXY) rose 0.10%.
Altcoinsrose, as polkadot (DOT), solana (SOL) and AAVE increased 2.6%, 2.7% and 0.8%, respectively.
●Bitcoin (BTC): $19,373+0.9%
●Ether (ETH): $1,647+1.0%
●S&P 500 daily close: 4,006.18+0.7%
●Gold: $1,719 per troy ounce+0.2%
●Ten-year Treasury yield daily close: 3.29%+0.03
Bitcoin, ether and gold prices are taken at approximately 4pm New York time. Bitcoin is the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX); Ether is the CoinDesk Ether Price Index (ETX); Gold is the COMEX spot price. Information about CoinDesk Indices can be found atcoindesk.com/indices.
BTC and ETH Trade at Different Technical Levels
Although BTC and ETH prices have moved largely in sync, they possess different levels of support and resistance.
According to thevolume profile visible range (VPVR), BTC is trading below resistance, while ETH appears to be trading above support. VPVR displays trading activity across various price levels over a specific period of time. In the chart below, prices were viewed as of Jan 1.
The price point where the highest levels of volume occur is thepoint of controland represents areas of substantial activity and agreement on price.
Assets that trade below their point of control will often find resistance as they approach the higher price point. Conversely, assets trading above their point of control will often find support at the lower price point.
CoinDesk’s chart highlights BTC trading at an approximately 10% discount to its $21,400 point of control, while ETH is trading at a 42% premium to its point of control of $1,147. ETH also appears to be generating strong volume at its current price point, signaling a move higher in ETH support.
The divergence implies a distinction in the narrative between the two largest cryptocurrencies. While BTC appears to be the more undervalued of the two, the connection to macroeconomic hurdles has placed a short-term lid on its price.
Wednesday’sMarket Wraphighlighted the inverse relationship between U.S. dollar strength and the price of bitcoin. As that relationship continues, actions that push the value of USD higher are likely to have a negative impact on bitcoin's price.
ETH, meanwhile, appears to be benefiting from the upcoming Merge. Investors appear to be viewing the software update as a catalyst that at least partly overcomes hurdles related to inflation and economic growth.
The ETH/BTC currency pair is up 60% since July, highlighting the difference in performance between the two assets.
• Ethereum Merge May Not Be Immediately Deflationary, Crypto Trading Firm QCP Says:While the Merge is likely to cause a reduction in ether's supply, making it a deflationary asset, low network usage may delay the expected bullish effect.Read more here.
• Crypto Terra Luna Classic Surges as Traders Speculate on New Supply Burn Rule:Luna classic (LUNC) is the renamed native token of the Terra blockchain that dramatically imploded in May. In an attempt to revive the failed Terra blockchain’s token, the approved proposal will destroy 1.2% of every transaction to reduce supply.Read more here.
• Crypto Exchange Binance to Issue 'Soulbound' Tokens to Users Who Complete Know-Your-Customer Checks:The tokens will allow users to participate in building projects on the BNB chain. Proposed by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin,soulbound tokensare non-transferable non-fungible tokens (NFT).Read more here.
• Listen 🎧:Today’s "CoinDesk Markets Daily" podcast discusses the latest market movements and takes a look at what bitcoin did over the summer and where it may be going next as we approach the fall.
• White House Calls For Crypto Mining Standards to Minimize Environmental Impact:The report is the first public response to U.S. President Joe Biden's executive order on crypto. It called for standards to be set to reduce energy usage.
• US Government Recovers $30M From Crypto Game Axie Infinity Hack:Hackers stole over $600 million from Axie earlier this year.
• Crypto Doesn't Need More Guidance, SEC Chairman Gensler Says:The Securities and Exchange Commission chief said the regulatory agency’s existing rules provide a clear road map for crypto companies, despite what they want.
• Brazil Exceeds 1M Registered Crypto Users in July for First Time as Number Grows 68% in a Month:The figure excludes international exchanges, which aren’t obliged to disclose the information to the local tax authority.
• Taiwan Approves 24 Crypto Platforms, Including WOO Network, for AML Compliance:Taipei is bringing crypto into its regulatory fold.
[{"Asset": "Cosmos", "Ticker": "ATOM", "Returns": "+11.9%", "DACS Sector": "Smart Contract Platform"}, {"Asset": "Chainlink", "Ticker": "LINK", "Returns": "+5.0%", "DACS Sector": "Computing"}, {"Asset": "Solana", "Ticker": "SOL", "Returns": "+2.8%", "DACS Sector": "Smart Contract Platform"}]
[{"Asset": "Loopring", "Ticker": "LRC", "Returns": "\u22121.0%", "DACS Sector": "Smart Contract Platform"}, {"Asset": "Shiba Inu", "Ticker": "SHIB", "Returns": "\u22120.9%", "DACS Sector": "Currency"}, {"Asset": "Avalanche", "Ticker": "AVAX", "Returns": "\u22120.8%", "DACS Sector": "Smart Contract Platform"}]
Sector classifications are provided via theDigital Asset Classification Standard (DACS), developed by CoinDesk Indices to provide a reliable, comprehensive and standardized classification system for digital assets. TheCoinDesk 20is a ranking of the largest digital assets by volume on trusted exchanges. || Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Drops as Miners Feel the Texas Heat: The difficulty of mining a bitcoin block dropped by 5% on Thursday as miners turned off their machines to lower power demands on energy grids dealing with a U.S. heat wave, particularly in Texas.
• The bitcoin mining difficulty adjusts automatically every two weeks to keep the time needed to mine a new block roughly at 10 minutes. As more computing power gets plugged into the network, the difficulty adjusts higher, and as computing power gets pulled from the network – as has been happening recently, the difficulty adjusts lower.
Read more:Everything You Need to Know About Bitcoin Mining Difficulty
• The difficulty on Thursday fell 5% to roughly the same level it was back in March, data from mining poolBTC.com shows.
• "The difficulty was reduced as American miners turned off their machines for significant periods over the past two weeks as electricity prices soared due to a heatwave," Jason Mellerud, a senior researcher at Arcane Research, said.
• It's the third consecutive decrease in mining difficulty and the first time this has happened since four straight declines one year ago when Chinese miners packed up their rigs because of the country's ban on bitcoin mining.
• "The initial drop in the hashrate at the middle of June was likely caused by the plummeting BTC price," Mellerud continued. "But the second drop at the beginning of July was likely caused by miners powering down in response to high electricity prices."
Watch:How Crypto Mining is Impacting the Power Grid in Texas
• When demand increases over a certain threshold, some miners can bring in more revenue by selling their contracted power to the grid as opposed to using it to mine bitcoin. Also known as demand response, this practice helps balance the load on a power grid by adjusting the demand as opposed to the supply. || Bitcoin Depot to list in the U.S. through $885 million SPAC deal: (Reuters) -Fintech Bitcoin Depot plans to list in the United States by merging with blank check company GSR II Meteora Acquisition Corp in a deal valued at $885 million, the companies said on Thursday. The transaction will raise up to $321 million of cash held in GSRM's trust account and will be used to support Bitcoin Depot's working capital, complete acquisitions and scale its platform and suite of products. Assuming no redemptions, the combined company will be valued at $755 million, including debt, with an equity value of $885 million and up to $170 million in cash proceeds from the deal, according to a statement. Bitcoin Depot, founded in 2016, is a bitcoin ATM operator in North America that enables users to convert their cash into bitcoin, ethereum and litecoin at more than 7,000 kiosk locations in 47 U.S. states and nine Canadian provinces. Special purpose acquisition company GSRM, which raised $316 million in an initial public offering in March this year, is pushing ahead with the deal at a time when few are. https://bwnews.pr/3CxbAfY A SPAC is a listed firm with no business operations but a pool of capital that it uses to merge with a private company. The deal then takes the private company public. High rates of shareholder redemptions and regulatory concerns have dissuaded companies seeking to go public through the SPAC route stifling dealmaking in the sector which took wall Street by storm in the past two years. Among companies that have recently scrapped their agreements to go public via SPACs include telecom services firm Syniverse Technologies, 3D printing firm Essentium Inc and travel technology platform HotelPlanner. The deal, expected to close by the first quarter of next year, is being advised by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. The combined company will list on Nasdaq under the symbol 'BTM'. (Reporting by Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber) || Heres Italys Election Landscape as Summer Campaigning Starts: (Bloomberg) -- A right-wing coalition has a strong shot at ruling Italy after the elections this fall, but whoever succeeds Mario Draghi as prime minister faces a daunting task. Most Read from Bloomberg VW Billionaire Clan Plotted CEO Ouster as He Was on US Trip Sergey Brin Ordered Sale of Musk Investments After Affair: WSJ Worlds Key Workers Threaten to Hit Economy Where It Will Hurt Fed to Inflict More Pain on Economy as It Readies Big Rate Hike Teslas Bitcoin Dump Leaves Accounting Mystery in Its Wake Parties have already launched into their first-ever summer of electoral campaigning, with polls showing Giorgia Melonis Brothers of Italy and Enrico Lettas Democratic Party are head-to-head. But thanks to Italys coalition system, Melonis bloc could win a solid majority in parliament. Thats barring major reversals ahead of the September 25 voting. Market turmoil, the war in Ukraine and unpredictable politics could present ample opportunities for just such an event. The new administration wont be in place before the start of November at the earliest, and its first task will be approving a budget law before the end of the year. It will also have to deal with a long list of unfinished business, including the sale of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA and the merger of the network of phone carrier Telecom Italia SpA. Whats more, it will have to reassure international partners that it wont deviate from Draghis strong support for Ukraine, will complete reforms to secure the next -- 21.8-billion-euro ($22.3 billion) -- tranche of European Union aid funds and negotiate new budget rules for the euro area. Italy faces a triple challenge of mounting inflation, rising interest rates and potential energy shortages. In that respect, it may be difficult for Draghis successor to match the track-record of the ex-European Central Bank head, who signed energy deals with several countries and ensured above-forecast growth while keeping debt on a downward track. Even within coalitions, parties are divided and may struggle to find an accord on the new government and its policies. While positions are still fluid with two months of campaigning ahead, below are the starting positions: Advantage Right Right-wing coalition Melonis Brothers of Italy benefited from being the only major party opposing Draghi, while Matteo Salvinis anti-immigrant League and Silvio Berlusconis Forza Italia were in the ruling coalition. But the bloc was united again when League and Forza Italia decided to withdraw their support and trigger early elections. Story continues A right-wing coalition could win around 60% of the seats in the next parliament, according to calculations by YouTrend and Cattaneo Zanetto & Co. Meloni would likely be the candidate to be prime minister if her Brothers of Italy party were to come significantly ahead of partners. Read more about Giorgia Meloni here But a narrow lead and coalition divisions could open the door to others, including former ministers such as Letizia Moratti and Giulio Tremonti. Right-wing parties will likely campaign on a mix of fiscal largess and nationalist policies, which might unsettle markets and set up a fight with EU partners. JPMorgans Marco Protopapa sees a considerable potential for conflict with the EU, although no longer because of Italexit concerns, but on account of a declared aversion to fiscal restraint and some reforms. Salvini on Thursday vowed to lower the retirement age and cancel past taxes, while Meloni promised more spending to cushion families and small businesses from the impact of higher energy costs. Berlusconi also promised to raise pensions. While a right-wing government will probably adopt restrictive immigration policies like the ones enacted by Salvini when he was interior minister in 2018-19, divisions might emerge on international stances. Meloni has been careful to position herself as pro-NATO and pro-Ukraine in continuity with Draghi, while Salvini and Berlusconi have criticized weapon deliveries to Kyiv and have historically had strong ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Democratic Party The establishment Democratic Party was Draghis staunchest supporter and its leader Letta is already trying to campaign on a promise of continuity with the outgoing premiers policies. Democrats have been almost continuously in power since 2011. But their path to victory has narrowed after the Five Star Movement triggered the crisis that led to Draghis ouster, which makes an alliance unlikely. Still, Letta is banking on voters choosing to punish politicians who turned their backs on Draghi. One option for him is to seek the support of a constellation of smaller centrist parties, including Matteo Renzis Italia Viva and Carlo Calendas Azione, as well as former Berlusconi allies who left his party in protest against the decision to ditch Draghi. Read Bloomberg TVs interview with Democrat leader Enrico Letta Five Star Giuseppe Conte, Draghis predecessor as premier, started the crisis boycotting a confidence vote last week. But for now he stands to gain little from early elections, with polls signaling Five Star would get less than a third of the votes it had in the 2018 elections. Conte is trying to steer the movement to the left while reviving its anti-establishment and anti-EU roots. He also wants to focus on social spending and appeals for talks with Russia rather than arming Ukraine. But Five Star remains deeply divided, especially after the exit of Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio, a firebrand leader turned Draghi loyalist. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek The $260 Swatch-Omega MoonSwatch Is Reviving the Budget Brand Postmortem Sperm Retrieval Is Turning Dead Men Into Fathers The US Has Lost Its Way on Computer Chips Ghosts of 2012 Haunt Europe as Rate Hikes Begin Sam Bankman-Fried Turns $2 Trillion Crypto Rout Into Buying Opportunity ©2022 Bloomberg L.P. View comments || Bitcoin Should Change ... Slowly: Bitcoin is slow to change. Transaction speeds are too slow for a global payment system. The community is reluctant to embrace novelty. And the rate of new innovation, in comparison to nearly every other blockchain, is tortoise-like. Fortunately for Bitcoin, I believe its slow and steady pace will ultimately be its superpower.
This year Ethereum will undergo a radical upgrade known asthe Merge. This event, scheduled for mid-September, will change the underlying “consensus mechanism” that allows blockchains to function from something like Bitcoin’s proof-of-work system to a more experimental model called proof-of-stake. It’s a development that has been underway for years.
Chris Castiglione is co-founder ofConsole.xyz, a secure chat platform for Web3. He's also a general manager at Trust Machines, where he's working onMultiSafe.xyz, and an adjunct professor at Columbia University Business School.
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum,announcedat a Paris-based Ethereum conference that after the Merge, Ethereum will still only be 55% complete. There’s a list of upgrades to Ethereum slated for the next two decades. The Ethereum community, Buterin cautioned, should learn to expect “short term pain, and long term gains.”
See also:Ether May 'Inevitably' Turn Into a Store of Value
This mentality of development opens Ethereum up to new possible futures, but also risk. Herein lies the opportunity for Bitcoin – an opportunity to embrace its slow rate of change so that it can become the world’s most valuable “forever database.”
I’ve heard blockchains described a million different ways: “an immutable ledger,” “a shared system for recording data,” “a growing list of records secured by cryptography.” All of this is fine. But for the average person, these explanations are confusing. The simplest definition of a blockchain is a forever database.
Maybe you’re a total beginner and you can’t picture a database. No problem. A database is basically a fancy Excel spreadsheet. And a forever database is one in which when you write data that is stored, well, forever.
Due to a series of design decisions, blockchains are immutable. Theoretically, the data stored becomes a bullet-proof record of truth for thousands of generations to come.
Since Bitcoin went live on Jan. 3, 2009, the network has never gone down, been hacked or stopped storing new data. Bitcoin (BTC) is also a currency that can’t be inflated, a selling point that has become the network’s chief use case. The bookkeeping is never wrong.
Imagine being able to trust that 1,000 years from now your data and money will still be accessible. Not only that, but people living many generations into the future could verifiably trust that this ledger is true. That’s powerful.
Forever databases enable novel use cases beyond money-like instruments, which are primarily being explored on networks beyond Bitcoin. Mike Bodge’s crypto-art project,0xinfinity, allows you to publish love letters the site claims will last “forever or as long as the Ethereum network is running.” Arweave is a file storage service that claims “to store documents and applications forever.” And Starling Labs is a project that, among other things, has uploaded 56,000 Holocaust survivor testimonials to preserve evidence of human rights abuses and protect against future disinformation.
A forever database ensures the integrity of our collective memories in a way that previous databases could not.
And yet, consistency is the key ingredient. As long as Ethereum, Solana and other blockchains continue to upgrade their codebase, they can’t compete on consistency.
In early 2022, the Solana blockchain, known for its “move fast and break things” mentality, suffered two outages, each of which took down the network for several hours. The key superpower that makes a blockchain a forever database is being resilient to outages. A forever database should never go down; if it does, let’s just call it “database.”
For Bitcoin to thrive, users need to do more than just hold their money. Bitcoin needs to become productive. There is an opportunity for biticoiners to harness the power of their forever database through the use of additional layers (e.g., Lightning or Stacks) so that they can build new applications.
Stacks is an example of a layer that adds programmability to Bitcoin. With Stack’s Clarity smart contracts, you can create applications (social networks, photo-sharing apps, chat apps) where the underlying transactions are secured by Bitcoin.
On Ethereum, similarly, Polygon is a popular layer developers use to scale the Ethereum network. The difference is that if Ethereum were to fail, Polygon and all of Ethereum’s additional layers would follow, falling like a house of cards
See also:Ethereum Merge: What You Need to Know
We need a new layer, one that can access Bitcoin’s forever database. It, and only it, can be a complete system on which we build the future.
In 2010, Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s founder, first encouraged the idea of building layers on Bitcoin. "I think it would be possible for [a blockchain] to be a completely separate network and separate block chain, yet share CPU power with Bitcoin." What Nakamoto saw back then was the opportunity for Bitcoin to be more than just money.
If we wish to create a forever database, we must celebrate Bitcoin’s approach to long-term stability. This is what Vitalik Buterin was doing when he said Ethereum should become more Bitcoin-like by “emphasizing long-term stability.”
Both Bitcoin and Ethereum will do great things for humanity. I’m excited to see them each take their own approach to building the future. As Ethereum evolves swiftly I believe it will continue to innovate.
However, until Ethereum settles down, it will lose its standing in the race to become a forever database. It’s taking on too much risk, and the world may never know exactly what Ethereum will look like until decades down the line.
This is Bitcoin’s moment. Bitcoin needs to embrace building layers. Bitcoin should not remain as money, it must learn how to be productive. Ultimately I believe slow and steady is the secret to winning the race — because while fast may get all our attention, it’s slow that has all the power. || Best Online Casino Canada 2022 Betbeard: Montreal, Canada --News Direct-- BetBeard The best online casino in Canada is betbeard as it offers a wide variety of slot games, big bonuses, and great customer service. You can deposit and withdraw using the most popular Canadian payment methods, such as Interac, credit & debit cards, and crypto. What are the top 5 Canadian Online Casinos After researching and analyzing thousands of casinos, this article lists the 5 best online casinos in Canada, it compares their welcome bonuses, free games, responsible gambling procedures, and much more. Although many online casinos are serving online gamblers in Canada, betbeard is by far the best gambling site. 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If you hold a casino account with a specific site, make sure you ask them on their live chat if they accept Ontario residents. Betbeard is a great bitcoin casino, striving to satisfy its players by offering thousands of slot games, and massive bonuses. Contact Details Betbeard Michael +44 7828 710102 [email protected] Company Website https://betbeard.com/en/sport View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/best-online-casino-canada-2022-betbeard-859551171
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: down || Prices: 19701.21, 19772.58, 20127.58, 19419.51, 19544.13, 18890.79, 18547.40, 19413.55, 19297.64, 18937.01
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Paul Tudor Jones Could Go ‘All In’ on Inflation Trades, Wants 5% Bitcoin Allocation: Hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones told CNBC on Monday he would “go all in on the inflation trades” if the U.S. Federal Reserve remains indifferent to rising consumer prices.
The hedge fund manager discussed the potential implications of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s insistence on characterizing the recentacceleration in inflationto the fastest in 13 years as “transitory.”
The U.S. central bank’s monetary policy committee meets this week in a two-day, closed-door session to evaluate the latest economic figures, with a statement expected Wednesday followed by a press conference with Powell. Jones said he will be paying close attention.
Related:Market Wrap: Bitcoin Sustains ‘Musk Jump’ as Crypto Sentiment Improves
“If they treat them with nonchalance, I think it’s just a green light to bet heavily on every inflation trade,” Jones said during a CNBC Squawk Boxinterview,referring to economic indicators.
“If they say, ‘We’re on [the] path, things are good,’ then I would just go all in on the inflation trades,” Jones said. “I’d probably buy commodities, buy crypto, buy gold.”
Jonessaidhe likesbitcoinand sees it as a great way to protect wealth over the long run. He holds it in his portfolio, comparing it to gold.
In May, Jonesbet 1% to 2%of his assets on bitcoin. His firm, the $44.6 billion Tudor Investment Corporation, most recentlysecuredcustodial ties with institutional powerhouses Coinbase and Bakkt.
Related:Bitcoin and Ether Price Indicators Support Near-Term ‘Relief Rally’
Jones told CNBC Monday he wants an allocation to bitcoin of 5%.
“The only thing that I know for certain is I want to have 5% in gold, 5% in bitcoin, 5% in cash, 5% in commodities,” said Jones.
Read more:Coinbase and Bakkt Are Behind Paul Tudor Jones’ Bitcoin Bets, SEC Documents Show
• Crypto Not a ‘Viable Investment,’ Goldman Sachs Says
• ‘Bat-S**t Crazy’ Paul Tudor Jones on the Fed, Inflation and Why He Recommends 5% in Bitcoin || Bitcoin Fork Explained: In response to the global financial crisis of 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto ventured into the unknown and delivered the global financial markets with Bitcoin and blockchain tech.
Bitcoin’screator set on a path to bring to end the control that central banks held over the global financial markets.
The concept and ideology of blockchain and ultimately Bitcoin was to allow the community to advance the technology on a united front in a bid to bring down central banks and the world’s largest financial institutions.
Things have not turned out, perhaps, how Satoshi had intended.
In order to police and keep Bitcoin and the blockchain world moving forward, Bitcoin and the crypto community, not only needed developers, but also miners to verify transactions on the Bitcoin network and other crypto networks.
In contrast to Satoshi’s ambition to decentralize, miners and developers, have on occasion, fallen into disagreement over blockchain enhancements and/or developments.
For Bitcoin, minors had cornered the market with mining farms, leaving want-to-be minors out in the cold. This also meant that the income stream was just too large to give up control. Decentralized became centralized in a matter of years.
As a result, the Bitcoin community and the crypto community became divided between those in search of crypto income and the ideologists looking to continue to prize control from governments, central banks, and the world’s largest financial institutions.
This divergence in view and intent ultimately led to the splitting of crypto communities. The crypto technical term for this being a “Fork.”
In the crypto sphere, there are two types of forks that investors need to be concerned with. The first and generally of little impact to value and the broader market are soft forks.
In the event of a soft fork, only one blockchain remains valid, with users adopting the changes made to the blockchain.
By contrast, hard forks can have a material impact on price in the lead up and immediate aftermath of a fork.
In a hard fork event, both blockchains coexist. The coexistence occurs from nodes continuing to support the original blockchain.
In some instances, therefore, both blockchains can coexist and remain prominent in the crypto market place. This is when there is sufficient support for both the old and the new versions.
In some cases, however, nodes may eventually shift to the new version, leaving the old blockchain obsolete.
From an investor perspective, an important feature of a hard fork is that holders of the original crypto are awarded the new coins upon completion of the hard fork.
In the case of a successful hard fork, where both chains coexist, the value of the coins can increase substantially.
For this reason, anticipation and an eventual hard fork can have a material impact on price and crypto market volatility.
Since Bitcoin’s creation, the total number of cryptos in the market place have surged to a whopping 11,064 based on numbers fromCoinMarketCap.
Notably, in spite of numerous soft and hard forks, Bitcoin (“BTC”) continues to be the dominant crypto.
Back in late 2017, we did see Bitcoin’s dominance converge with the likes of Ethereum. This coincided with Bitcoin’s first major hard fork, which resulted in the creation of Bitcoin Cash (“BCH”).
WhileBitcoin Cash(“BCH”) enjoyed a lengthy period in the top 10 by market cap, a Bitcoin Cash hard fork in late 2018 led to the creation of Bitcoin Cash ABC and Bitcoin Cash SV.
The Bitcoin community have not been alone in dealing with hard forks.
Ethereum hard forked, leading to the creation of Ethereum Classic. In this case, Ethereum Classic maintained the old blockchain history. We also saw Litecoin hard fork, leading to the creation of Litecoin Cash.
In spite of disagreements between respective developers and the communities, however, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin have all remained the dominant chain.
Major disagreements between developers and communities can lead to significant disruption. More importantly, market stability also comes into question.
Since the headline grabbing hard forks of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, the number of notable hard forks have fallen.
Developers and nodes working together to achieve Satoshi’s ambition of toppling central banks is now a more plausible outcome. Infighting had led to significant disruption and ultimately a marked decline in value.
Stability across the major crypto blockchains have supported the increased adoption. The increased adoption contributed to Bitcoin’s surge to an all-time high $64,829.0, struck in April 2021.
While volatility across the market place will unlikely abate anytime soon. The absence of hard forks and infighting, however, would serve the crypto community and investors well in the short to medium term.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Bitcoin Fork Explained
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• Bitcoin Price Prediction – A Return to $40,000 Would Bring $45,000 into View
• E-mini S&P 500 Index (ES) Futures Technical Analysis – Nearest Support Zone Moves Up to 4320.25 – 4297.50 || UK’s financial watchdog has banned leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance from all regulated activities: The UK’s financialregulatorhas ruled Binance, one of the world’s largestcryptocurrencyexchanges, can no longer conduct any regulated activity in the countryamid a global clampdown on Bitcoin.
TheFinancial Conduct Authority(FCA) said Binance Markets Ltd, Binance’s only regulated UK entity, “must not, without the prior written consent of the FCA, carry out any regulated activities... with immediate effect”.
“Due to the imposition of requirements by the FCA, Binance Markets Limited is not currently permitted to undertake any regulated activities without the prior written consent of the FCA.”
Theregulatorwarned this month that many crypto exchanges were not meeting its anti-money laundering standards and at the weekend published warnings to consumers that it was not authorised in the UK.
Even though Binance said the move would have no impact on people’s ability to trade through its Binance.com website, it will be seen as hugely damaging to the site, and to cryptocurrencies’ efforts to be taken seriously as an investment asset.
Reports have said it is possible to sign up to a Binance account using a fake name, address and postcode, and buy cryptocurrency with different bank details. Banks including TSB have become increasingly alarmed at frauds on their customers by conmen with Binance accounts.
Binance said in a statement that Binance Markets, which it acquired in 2020, was not yet using its regulatory permissions, and that the FCA’s move would not impact services offered on its Binance.com website.
“We take a collaborative approach in working with regulators and we take our compliance obligations very seriously. We are actively keeping abreast of changing policies, rules and laws in this new space,” a spokesperson said.
The FCA has told Binance that by June 30 it must display a notice stating “BINANCE MARKETS LIMITED IS NOT PERMITTED TO UNDERTAKE ANY REGULATED ACTIVITY IN THE UK” on its website and social media channels.
It must also secure and preserve all records relating to UK consumers and inform the FCA this has been done by July 2.
The regulator did not explain why it had taken these measures.
People in the UK will still be able to access Binance’s services in other jurisdictions.
Read More
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Closing the digital skills gap is key to unlocking London’s recovery || SGE Bridging the Gap Between Humans and Space: Los Angeles, California--(Newsfile Corp. - July 6, 2021) - SGE which stands for Society of Galactic Exploration is an Ethereum based token developed to celebrate and encourage space exploration amongst the masses. Roger Malcolm III, "SGE is built to bridge the gap between space exploration and the general public." This cryptocurrency will offer investors the golden opportunity to be part of the developmental process of the telescope.
Roger, a college student pursuing mechanical engineering and the founder and developer of SGE, introduced coins to celebrate space exploration. The company operates with a team of 24 young enthusiasts keen on thinking out of the box to bridge the gap between space exploration and cryptocurrency in the form of SGE tokens.
The advantage of SGE tokens is that it is a utility coin and is not for financial gains. Investors who wish to see the world above can invest in a hiss. The developer and their team will be transparent with their official names released. This is relatively uncommon in the world of cryptocurrency. Through this platform, holders will be able to control a telescope from the palm of their hands. Their mobile application will feature a remote login option to various telescopes revolving above us so that users can witness the world above.
SGE, per a legal opinion, is recorded as a utility coin. Instead, the purpose is to hold cash utilized as a currency to buy time for the telescope application. The developers said that "SGE has started performing audits of themes with an appealing format so other coins can post them immediately after receiving them." It will also perform audits promptly, which can be rare, they added. In case any currencies fail the initial audit, developers will provide consultation to change such contracts.
The company is also looking forward to launching hardware that will act as a wallet into space and will contain at least 1 SGE token for every humanoid on Earth. Not just that, SGE announced that they are keen to allow investors to control telescopes from their mobile app. They will enable users to take beautiful pictures of the vast emptiness above us, explore galaxies for beauty, and know the unknown. After which, users will also be able to sell their pictures in the form of NFTs.
NFT means a non-fungible token, in essence to a collectible digital asset that holds value as a form of cryptocurrency and as a form of art or culture. Unlike Bitcoins, NFT is unique and can't be exchanged. However, they store extra data and information that elevates it above pure currency. The types of NFTs are varied and can be seen in digital art or a music file, anything unique that could be stored digitally and thought of to hold value. NFTs are like a collector's item, but instead of physical and touchable stuff, it is available in the form of a JPG file.
This mobile application will allow users to control a mighty telescope straight from their mobile screen. SGE has long announced a partnership with the Down Under Observatory in Colorado, backed by NASA-affiliated astrophotographer Terry Hancock. SGE will be the first cryptocurrency to be in space and will also be sponsoring an area Concordia in the base 11 Space Challenge. SGE will have their logo added to their rocket and send a hardware wallet with SGE tokens to space.
Since SGE is a fast-growing, deflationary token with a strong community, it decided to focus on Space Exploration. SGE also developed its own NFT platform recently. Users who want to experience their services or invest in SGE can do that through theirofficial website.
Media Contact Details:
Company Name:SGECompany website:SGE - SOCIETY OF GALACTIC EXPLORATIONEmail:[email protected] Number:(810) 305-4411Twitter:https://twitter.com/sge_spaceFacebook:https: //www.facebook.com/sge.spaceofficial/
To view the source version of this press release, please visithttps://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/89521 || Bitcoin (BTC) Has Roller Coaster Weekend, Revisits Crucial Support: Bitcoin (BTC) decreased considerably last week, approaching the May lows near $30,000. While a short-term bounce could occur, it seems that both the daily and weekly trends are bearish. Long-term bitcoin movement The weekly BTC chart provides a bearish picture. Bitcoin appeared to have begun a bullish movement two weeks ago after creating a bullish hammer candlestick with a long lower wick. The bounce occurred right at the $32,500 long-term horizontal support area (green icon). However, it created a bearish candlestick last week, engulfing the previous bullish candle and negating the bullish sentiment. Despite still trading above support, technical indicators are bearish. The MACD histogram has crossed into negative territory, the RSI has fallen below 50, and the Stochastic oscillator has made a bearish cross. If a breakdown occurs, the next support would be found at $27,000. This target is the 0.618 Fib retracement support level. BTC Chart By TradingView Ongoing rejection The daily chart also provides a bearish outlook. BTC has been falling since it was rejected by the $41,250 resistance area on June 15 (red icon). Technical indicators are bearish. The MACD histogram has given a bearish reversal signal (red icon) and its signal line is well below 0. The RSI is also below 50 and decreasing, and the Stochastic oscillator has made a bullish cross but has lost all of its strength. These readings support those from the daily time frame in suggesting that BTC is expected to eventually break down. BTC Chart By TradingView The two-hour chart shows some bullish signs in the form of a bullish divergence in both the RSI and MACD during the most recent lower low. Following this, BTC created a higher low. However, its facing strong resistance from the $35,000 area in the form of both a descending resistance line and a horizontal resistance level. Breaking out above this level would indicate that the price is likely heading towards the 0.382, 0.5, or 0.618 Fib retracement resistance levels. Nevertheless, this would most likely be just a short-term bounce in a longer-term bearish trend. Story continues BTC Chart By TradingView BTC wave count The wave count shows that BTC is likely in cycle wave four (red) of a bullish impulse that began on Dec. 2018. It is now decreasing, potentially completing a fourth wave pullback . The wave count is given in white. It indicates that BTC is likely still in the first part of the correction. The 0.618 Fib retracement support level is at $27,000, while the resistance line of the channel near $20,000. A move that lasts as long as cycle wave two (red) would continue until the end of December 2021. However, other potential length ratios are the 0.382 and 0.618 Fib time levels. The former ends on July 19 while the latter on Sept. 20. A decrease below the wave 1 high at $13,880 would invalidate this wave count. BTC Chart By TradingView The daily chart shows the sub-wave count in orange. It shows that BTC is in the fifth and final wave of a bearish impulse, that completes wave A. There is a confluence of Fib targets between $23,500 and $23,070, found by the length of sub-wave 1 and an external retracement on sub-wave four. If this fails to play out, the next most likely target would be $19,800, found by using a Fib projection on the length of sub-waves 1-3. BTC Chart By TradingView While the very short-term wave count is not entirely clear, the downward movement looks impulsive. In addition, the upward movement that led to the $41,341 high looks corrective. Therefore, its likely that BTC is in minor sub-wave one (black) of a bearish impulse that will gradually take it towards the previously outlined target near $23,000. BTC Chart By TradingView For BeInCryptos previous bitcoin (BTC) analysis, click here. || Dollar lower as Powell reaffirms pledge to not raise rates too quickly: By Karen Brettell
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar held at lower levels on Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reaffirmed the U.S. central bank's intent to encourage a "broad and inclusive" recovery of the job market, and not to raise interest rates too quickly based only on the fear of coming inflation.
"We will not raise interest rates pre-emptively because we fear the possible onset of inflation. We will wait for evidence of actual inflation or other imbalances," Powell said in a hearing before a U.S. House of Representatives panel.
The dollar had surged after the Fed on Wednesday said that policymakers are forecasting two rate hikes in 2023. That led investors to re-evaluate bets that the Fed will let inflation run at higher levels for a longer time before hiking rates.
“I didn’t think he elaborated any further on the timeline. He certainly didn't make it more urgent either,” said Lou Brien, a market strategist at DRW Trading in Chicago.
The dollar index fell 0.20% to 91.733. It is holding below a two-month high of 92.408 reached on Friday.
The euro gained 0.19% to $1.1940 and the dollar gained 0.28% to 110.65 Japanese yen.
Fed officials have expressed differing views on when it may be appropriate to tighten monetary policy as inflation rises.
The U.S. central bank may be in a position to start reducing its extraordinary support of the U.S. economy by late this year or early next year, San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly said on Tuesday.
Fed officials will keep a close eye on economic data to determine when it will be appropriate to start adjusting monetary policy and any conversation about when to adjust interest rates is still far off, said New York Fed Bank President John Williams.
"Inflation pressures (are) a little larger than expected on the back of the reopening, but the Fed still feels that a good majority of those pressures won’t be sustained," said Chuck Tomes, associate portfolio manager at Manulife Asset Management in Boston.
Producer price inflation data on Friday is the next major economic focus.
Bitcoin recovered from a five-month low on Tuesday in a volatile session in which it fell below $30,000, extending losses sparked a day earlier when China's central bank deepened a crackdown on cryptocurrencies.
It was last at $32,599, up 2.95% on the day.
(Reporting by Karen Brettell; additional reporting by Saqib Ahmed in New York; editing by Nick Zieminski and Jonathan Oatis) || UK Court Orders Bitcoin.org to Remove White Paper Following Craig Wright Lawsuit: Cobra, the pseudonymous creator of the Bitcoin.org website, has been ordered by London’s High Court to discontinue hosting its copy of the Bitcoin white paper.
Citing copyright infringement brought forward by nChain Chief Scientist Craig Wright, the judge had no option but to rule a default judgment because Cobra chose not to make an appearance, Wright’s representation,Ontier LLP, said via a statement on Monday.
Judge David Hodge QC issued an injunction prohibiting Cobra from infringing Wright’s copyright in the U.K., either through making the white paper accessible for download on the website or “in any other way.”
Related:Morgan Stanley Buys Over 28,000 Shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust
An order requiringbitcoin.orgto publish a copy of the court’s order was also issued while an inquiry will be established to determine the damages caused by Cobra against Wright, Ontier said.
Bitcoin.org is an independent open-source project that aims to support Bitcoin development. The website and its creator have been embroiled in a sparing oflegal threats.
Proceedings were issued on Feb. 24 of this year in the Intellectual Property List of the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales. In April, Wright was granted permission to serve Cobra and sought a declaration that he owns the copyright to the Bitcoin white paper, claiming Cobra was infringing his rights.
Since at least the start of this year, the website has said that it believes Wright’s claims are “without merit” and has refused to take the paper down. Ontier said Wright did not wish to restrict access to “his” paper but instead he did not agree with its use by supporters and developers of “alternative assets.”
Related:Market Wrap: Cryptocurrencies Rise Despite Binance UK Warning
“… To promote or otherwise misrepresent those assets as being Bitcoin given that they do not support or align with the vision for Bitcoin as he set out in his White Paper,” Simon Cohen, senior associate at Ontier.
Wright purports to be Bitcoin’s creator Satoshi Nakamoto. Though the true identity of Nakamoto has never been revealed, Wright’s attempt to threaten those disseminating the white paper runs contrary to the spirit ofbitcoin, said Cobra on Tuesday.
“What is especially concerning is when monikers like @CobraBitcoin make big, public statements about coming to court to confirm their comments about me and Bitcoin but, inevitably, then, evade the reality,” Wright told CoinDesk via email. “Moreover, they have also directly asked for donations to said court case – I would hope that any funds donated will be duly returned by @CobraBitcoin or at least declared as income for tax purposes.”
Cobra defended his choice not to appear in court telling CoinDesk via Twitter:
“Unfortunately the court rules allowed for me to be sued pseudonymously, however, I couldn’t defend myself pseudonymously. So I was put in an impossible situation of losing my privacy or losing the case in a default judgment. It sucks, but there’s nothing more I could have done, really.”
See also:Bitcoin.org Rebuts Craig Wright’s ‘Meritless’ Copyright Claim on Bitcoin White Paper
UPDATE (June 29, 2021, 9:34 UTC): Adds comments from both Cobra and Craig Wright
• Mexico’s Finance Minister Confirms Cryptos Are Banned From Financial System
• Bitcoin Mining Hashrate Drops to 1-Year Low; Difficulty Set for 25% Decrease || Bitcoin recovers back above $30,000 as it passes key test: Bitcoin (BTC-USD) rallied back above $30,000 (£22,057) on Wednesday morning, recovering from a price dip that saw the world's biggest cryptocurrency fall below the key support level.
Bitcoin was up 3.6% to trade at $30,853 shortly after 8am in London on Wednesday. The cryptocurrency hadfallen below the closely-watched $30,000 level on Tuesday, dropping as low as $29,393 and ending the day below $30,000 for the first time since January.
"Everyone has been looking at this support number religiously, and the fear in the market was that if bitcoin breaks below the 30K mark, the price will move lower violently," said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Avatrade. "But in reality, that is not what we have seen, the bitcoin price has been stable, and we have not seen any panic selling."
Read more:From Binance to Coinbase: The rise of cryptocurrency exchanges
Mati Greenspan, founder and chief executive of Quantum Economics, said: "Suffice it to say, this could have been a lot worse.
"The fact that it broke below such a large psychological level after weeks of testing and didn't immediately continue downward is actually a very bullish signal."
The wider cryptocurrency market had sold off in tandem with bitcoin on Tuesday but was broadly higher on Wednesday morning. The value of the market was up more than 4% over the last 24 hours, according to data provider CoinMarketCap.
Read more:How bad is bitcoin for the environment?
Despite Wednesday's recovery, bitcoin still remains far from its all-time peak of more than $64,000 reached in April. The cryptocurrency slumped from its highs in early May and has been trading in a tight range between $30,000 and $35,000 since then. Bitcoin is still on track to record its fourth straight month of losses in July.
The decline has coincided with rising regulatory scrutiny around the world. Watchdogs have been cracking down on bitcoin miners in China andkey infrastructure providers like Binanceand BlockFi around the world. On Tuesday,the EU proposed new rulesrequiring people to record who is involved in cryptocurrency transactions in a bid to make the market more transparent and traceable.
Watch: What is bitcoin? || Bitcoin price crashes below $30k amid crypto market collapse: Bitcoin is now trading at below half the price it was at in mid April 2021 (Getty Images/iStockphoto) The price of bitcoin has crashed below $30,000, adding to the heavy losses seen across the crypto market in recent months. The cryptocurrency dropped as low as $29,548 on Tuesday morning, according to CoinMarketCaps price index, down from an all-time high above $64,000 in mid April. Other leading cryptocurrencies also suffered big price falls, including Ethereum (ether), Cardano (ada), Ripple (XRP) and dogecoin. >> Follow all the latest updates with The Independents live coverage of the crypto market In total, more than $200 billion was wiped from the combined crypto market. The exact reason for the collapse is unclear but it coincides with a similar downturn in the global stock market amid concerns that the resurgence of Covid-19 cases could stall the economic recovery. The price crash also follows comments from some investors warning that bitcoin could be in the middle of a bear market and that the broader space is entering a period known as a crypto winter. Others remain hopeful that the latest dip is merely a price correction and that new record highs will follow later in 2021. With yet another poor performing week, speculation on the short-term price direction of major cryptoassets is rife, with mixed opinions on price depending on what metric or indicators analysts are looking at, said Simon Peters, a crypto market analyst at the online trading platform eToro. Long-term confidence remains high, however, with a recent survey of FinTech experts revealing more than half believe bitcoin is capable of becoming the global reserve currency by 2050. The survey from comparison site Finder,com also found that nearly a third of participants believe the so-called hyperbitcoinisation could take place before 2035. Read More US Senator says buy bitcoin and hold for retirement || Citibank Enters Crypto Space, Launches Digital Assets Unit: Thelatest behemoth to enter the crypto space amid steady institutional interest is Citigroup, which officially launched a new business unit dedicated to the cryptocurrency and blockchain space, according to a memo obtained by The Block.
See:As Cryptos Crash, Twitter is Drowning in MemesFind:If You Invested $1,000 in These Cryptocurrencies a Year Ago, Here’s How Much You’d Have Now
The new unit, the Digital Assets Group, will be within Citi Global Wealth Investments, its wealth management division, according to The Block.
“Given the exciting new developments we are seeing around cryptocurrencies, tokenization, and other advances powered by blockchain technology, we are pleased to announce the formation of the Digital Assets Group,” the memo said, according to The Block. The new group will be led by Alex Kriete and Greg Girasole.
Morgan Stanley was the first U.S. bank to offer bitcoin to its wealthier clients, in March.
The funds the bank will offer include two from Galaxy Digital, a crypto firm founded by Mike Novogratz, while the third is a joint effort from asset manager FS Investments and Bitcoin company NYDIG.
“Galaxy is thrilled to partner with Morgan Stanley, the first US bank to offer Wealth Management clients access to bitcoin funds,” Novogratz tweeted at the time.
Meanwhile, NYDIG tweeted, “NYDIG is proud to partner with Morgan Stanley, the first US bank to offer access to #Bitcoin for their wealth management clients.”
See:Bank Bets Big on Crypto, Backs Loans with Ethereum: ‘Bitcoin Will Aways Be the Gold, Ethereum Will Always Be the Silver’Find:State of Crypto: What’s Driving Its Meteoric Rise and Who’s Really Investing in Crypto Now
The move was quickly followed by Goldman Sachs, which officially started its crypto trading in May, with the formation of a cryptocurrency trading team and the execution of two Bitcoin-linked derivatives.And just earlier this month, the investment bank announced it had expanded into Ether, according to a spokesperson.
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This article originally appeared onGOBankingRates.com:Citibank Enters Crypto Space, Launches Digital Assets Unit
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
|
Trend: up || Prices: 39974.89, 39201.95, 38152.98, 39747.50, 40869.55, 42816.50, 44555.80, 43798.12, 46365.40, 45585.03
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2016-11-08]
BTC Price: 709.85, BTC RSI: 60.96
Gold Price: 1273.40, Gold RSI: 45.38
Oil Price: 44.98, Oil RSI: 37.40
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin is money, U.S. judge says in case tied to JPMorgan hack: By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin qualifies as money, a federal judge ruled on Monday, in a decision linked to a criminal case over hacking attacks against JPMorgan Chase & Co and other companies. U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan rejected a bid by Anthony Murgio to dismiss two charges related to his alleged operation of Coin.mx, which prosecutors have called an unlicensed bitcoin exchange. Murgio had argued that bitcoin did not qualify as "funds" under the federal law prohibiting the operation of unlicensed money transmitting businesses. But the judge, like her colleague Jed Rakoff in an unrelated 2014 case, said the virtual currency met that definition. "Bitcoins are funds within the plain meaning of that term," Nathan wrote. "Bitcoins can be accepted as a payment for goods and services or bought directly from an exchange with a bank account. They therefore function as pecuniary resources and are used as a medium of exchange and a means of payment." The decision did not address six other criminal counts that Murgio faces, Nathan wrote. Lawyers for Murgio did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Prosecutors last year charged Murgio over the operation of Coin.mx, and in April charged his father Michael with participating in bribery aimed at supporting it. Authorities have said Coin.mx was owned by Gery Shalon, an Israeli man who, along with two others, was charged with running a sprawling computer hacking and fraud scheme targeting a dozen companies, including JPMorgan, and exposing personal data of more than 100 million people. That alleged scheme generated hundreds of millions of dollars of profit through pumping up stock prices, online casinos, money laundering and other illegal activity, prosecutors have said. Shalon has pleaded not guilty, and is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. He hired new lawyers last month and is seeking permission to replace lawyers who joined the case in June, a Monday court filing showed. The case is U.S. v Murgio et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-cr-00769. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio) || You're So Money: NY Judge Rules Bitcoin Qualify As 'Funds': A New York judge ruled bitcoin qualifies as money as part of a judgment related to a case over hacking attacks against JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM ) and other companies, according to a report on Fortune . The report said U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan rejected Anthony Murgio's bid to dismiss two charges regarding his alleged operation of Coin.mx. Prosecutors have called Coin.mx an "unlicensed bitcoin exchange." Related Link: What Is Blockchain, And Why Should You Care? But, Nathan ruled bitcoin satisfies the definition of a virtual currency. "Bitcoins are funds within the plain meaning of that term. Bitcoins can be accepted as a payment for goods and services or bought directly from an exchange with a bank account. They therefore function as pecuniary resources and are used as a medium of exchange and a means of payment," Fortune reported, quoting Nathan. Brian Klein, a lawyer for Murgio, said he disagreed with the decision. Last year, prosecutors charged Murgio over the operation of Coin.mx and in April charged his father, Michael, with participating in bribery to support the exchange. Full ratings data available on Benzinga Pro. Do you have ideas for articles/interviews you'd like to see more of on Benzinga? Please email [email protected] with your best article ideas. One person will be randomly selected to win a $20 Amazon gift card! See more from Benzinga On Deck Has 'More Powerful Future Operating Leverage' © 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Netscape Co-Founder: Passwords Are the Weak Link in Cyber Security: Jim Clark, co-founder of Netscape and Shutterfly, weighs in on the flaws of current cyber security efforts in place to prevent hacks.
Clark discussed the rise in security breaches facing business of all sizes as well as organizations and government agencies.
“Recently there’s been a spate as you know of disruptions, the DNC getting emails tapped and small business owners getting their machines encrypted so that they couldn’t do business and having to pay Bitcoin ransom and there’s, you know, massive password theft at companies like Yahoo. So we’re seeing it in a lot of different places,” Clark told the FOX Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo.
Clark sees the use of passwords as a weak link in efforts to improve cyber security.
“In the end it all, in one way or another, points to this deficiency I call it, that we call a password.”
Clark then went into greater depth as to why he sees the use of passwords as a deficiency.
“You don’t want to use it for access to a site because that requires that the site have a copy. You see, passwords are deficient because they amount to a shared secret. And there’s that old joke, ‘a secret is something you tell one person at a time.’ And the thing about a secret, this particular secret, you don’t want anyone to know.”
Because of this, Clark added, “You’ve got to get out of passwords, there’s no question about that.”
Clark explained the certificate concept used to authenticate websites.
“The certificate concept has been around for years. It’s used to authenticate and make sure that you’re connecting to Google, make sure you’re connected to Yahoo. Any site you go to has a certificate. And that certificate is issued by a certification authority – there’s a complete infrastructure for dealing with that kind of issue.”
Clark says that this certification could be implemented for users as well to replace the need for passwords.
“The exact same mechanism can be used to authenticate users, so users need to be issued a certificate, then they don’t need a password and this certificate gets shared with everyone because it can’t be altered, it can’t be messed with. If you mess with it, It’s no longer valid.”
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• Nissan to appoint CEO Ghosn as Mitsubishi Motors chairman: sources || Bitcoin is money, U.S. judge says in case tied to JPMorgan hack: By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin qualifies as money, a federal judge ruled on Monday, in a decision linked to a criminal case over hacking attacks against JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and other companies. U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan rejected a bid by Anthony Murgio to dismiss two charges related to his alleged operation of Coin.mx, which prosecutors have called an unlicensed bitcoin exchange. Murgio had argued that bitcoin did not qualify as "funds" under the federal law prohibiting the operation of unlicensed money transmitting businesses. But the judge, like her colleague Jed Rakoff in an unrelated 2014 case, said the virtual currency met that definition. "Bitcoins are funds within the plain meaning of that term," Nathan wrote. "Bitcoins can be accepted as a payment for goods and services or bought directly from an exchange with a bank account. They therefore function as pecuniary resources and are used as a medium of exchange and a means of payment." The decision did not address six other criminal counts that Murgio faces, Nathan wrote. Brian Klein, a lawyer for Murgio, said he disagreed with the decision. "Anthony Murgio maintains his innocence and looks forward to clearing his name at his upcoming trial," he added. Prosecutors last year charged Murgio over the operation of Coin.mx, and in April charged his father Michael with participating in bribery aimed at supporting it. Authorities have said Coin.mx was owned by Gery Shalon, an Israeli man who, along with two others, was charged with running a sprawling computer hacking and fraud scheme targeting a dozen companies, including JPMorgan, and exposing personal data of more than 100 million people. That alleged scheme generated hundreds of millions of dollars of profit through pumping up stock prices, online casinos, money laundering and other illegal activity, prosecutors have said. Shalon has pleaded not guilty, and is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. He hired new lawyers last month and is seeking permission to replace lawyers who joined the case in June, a Monday court filing showed. The case is U.S. v Murgio et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-cr-00769. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio and Diane Craft) || At your service: cyber criminals for hire to militants, EU says: THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Cybercriminals offering contract services for hire offer militant groups the means to attack Europe but such groups have yet to employ such techniques in major attacks, EU police agency Europol said on Wednesday. "There is currently little evidence to suggest that their cyber-attack capability extends beyond common website defacement," it said in its annual cybercrime threat assessment in a year marked by Islamic State violence in Europe. But the internet's criminal shadow the Darknet had potential to be exploited by militants taking advantage of computer experts offering "crime as a service", Europol added: "The availability of cybercrime tools and services, and illicit commodities (including firearms) on the Darknet, provide ample opportunities for this situation to change." Overall, the report found, existing trends in cybercrime continued to grow, with some of the European Union's member states reporting more cyber crimes than the traditional variety. "Europol is concerned about how an expanding cybercriminal community has been able to further exploit our increasing dependence on technology and the internet," its director, Rob Wainwright, said in a statement. "We have also seen a marked shift in cyber-facilitated activities relating to trafficking in human beings, terrorism and other threats." "Ransomware" - programs which break into databases and demand payment for unlocking codes via virtual currencies such as Bitcoin - continued to expand as a problem, as did highly targeted "phishing" attacks to extract security data from senior figures - "CEO fraud" - and video streaming of child abuse. Attacks on bank cash-machine networks were also increasing, the report found, as were frauds exploiting new contactless payment card transactions, while traditional scams involving the physical presence of a card had been successfully reduced. (Reporting by Alastair Macdonald in Brussels; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) || Bitcoin is money, U.S. judge says in case tied to JPMorgan hack: By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin qualifies as money, a federal judge ruled on Monday, in a decision linked to a criminal case over hacking attacks against JPMorgan Chase & Co and other companies.
U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan rejected a bid by Anthony Murgio to dismiss two charges related to his alleged operation of Coin.mx, which prosecutors have called an unlicensed bitcoin exchange.
Murgio had argued that bitcoin did not qualify as "funds" under the federal law prohibiting the operation of unlicensed money transmitting businesses.
But the judge, like her colleague Jed Rakoff in an unrelated 2014 case, said the virtual currency met that definition.
"Bitcoins are funds within the plain meaning of that term," Nathan wrote. "Bitcoins can be accepted as a payment for goods and services or bought directly from an exchange with a bank account. They therefore function as pecuniary resources and are used as a medium of exchange and a means of payment."
The decision did not address six other criminal counts that Murgio faces, Nathan wrote.
Lawyers for Murgio did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Prosecutors last year charged Murgio over the operation of Coin.mx, and in April charged his father Michael with participating in bribery aimed at supporting it.
Authorities have said Coin.mx was owned by Gery Shalon, an Israeli man who, along with two others, was charged with running a sprawling computer hacking and fraud scheme targeting a dozen companies, including JPMorgan, and exposing personal data of more than 100 million people.
That alleged scheme generated hundreds of millions of dollars of profit through pumping up stock prices, online casinos, money laundering and other illegal activity, prosecutors have said.
Shalon has pleaded not guilty, and is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. He hired new lawyers last month and is seeking permission to replace lawyers who joined the case in June, a Monday court filing showed.
The case is U.S. v Murgio et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-cr-00769.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio) || Payments In The Marijuana Industry: How Blockchain Can Increase Profit And Security: Blockchain was born with the bitcoin, conceived as a way to make databases secure but not managed by one single person. This allows “people who do not know or trust each other [to] build a dependable ledger,” an article fromThe Economistexplained.
As the technology evolved and became more programmable, other applications like tracing a product’s identity/authenticity were found for it. In some cases, blockchain technologies have even managed to replace banks and services like those offered byPaypal Holdings Inc(NASDAQ:PYPL),Moneygram International Inc(NASDAQ:MGI) orThe Western Union Company(NYSE:WU), making transactions faster, cheaper and more secure.
Related Link:You're So Money: NY Judge Rules Bitcoin Qualify As "Funds"
“While software reduces global inequalities through intellectual capital, the blockchain today is helping to reduce global inequalities through financial capital,” Forbes contributor Jonathan Chester explained in arecent piece.
The Marijuana Industry
The legal marijuana industry often finds big hurdles in the banking system; afraid of federal regulators and the money laundering risk derived from such a cash intensive space, most banks don’t want to open accounts for these companies. In this vacuum, a few companies have come up with creative solutions.
For instance,Tokken, provides online banking services to companies in the emerging marijuana industry. As per their site, they offer “safe payment methods to consumers, and a robust compliance platform to partner banks... [eliminating] the risk of money laundering by creating a virtual barrier to cash transactions.”
“Using an indelible Blockchain ledger to ensure data integrity and a proprietary compliance program based on structured analytic techniques, Tokken is designed to comply with every relevant regulatory requirement and provide a sustainable banking solution for the cannabis,” the site added.
CEO Lamine Zarrad recently sat down with Chester and explained that operating in cash costs the marijuana industry between 20 and 25 percent of its revenue. “This is typically lost through the costs of security, storage and shrinkage, a euphemism for employee theft,” he stated. “In order to get cash back into the banking systems, Marijuana companies will work with holding companies that will hold funds on behalf of the dispensary, which the dispensary can then access. In order to get funds into the accounts, these dispensaries need to hire groups of runners who take the cash to ATMs throughout the city to deposit cash in small batches.”
But, how can the company achieve this without recurring to a bank?
Related Link:Reads For The Weed-Kend: Franchising, Canada And Snoop Dogg, Damian Marley's Cannabis Prison Venture
As Chester expounded, blockchains were created specifically to avoid banks while still meeting most audit requirements — as each transaction is both public and protected from “book-cooks.” Tokken, for example, notarizes its transactions via Tierion, a platform that “puts an immutably cryptographic summary of business records on the blockchain, which permits verification while maintaining customer privacy,” Chester concluded.
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• Apple, PayPal A Couple Of The Only Stocks That Traded Green Today
© 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin price soars, but it isn't about Trump and Clinton: Bitcoin price in the last month, via Winkdex. The price of bitcoin has soared 23% in the last month and is now approaching its 2016 peak of around $765 in June. The coin is up 66% since January. At its current price of $728 at the time of writing, bitcoins market cap is nearly $12 billion. So, whats stoking the ride? You might think the US presidential election, just five days away now, has something to do with it. And indeed, a Juniper Research study from back in May ( Will Bitcoins Bite Back? ) predicted the bitcoin price would spike right before the election, due to market uncertainty. Specifically, the study determined that a win by Donald Trump would boost the bitcoin price: If Donald Trump becomes President of the US, there is the very real prospect of turmoil on world markets, said Dr. Winslow Holden in a J uniper press release about the report . Bitcoin would thrive in such an environment, at least until the impact on major fiat currencies becomes clear. Meanwhile, Hillary Clintons campaign considered accepting donations in the form of bitcoin, a leaked email thread revealed . But John Podesta was more intrigued by the digital currency Ven, writing: I dont send all the crazy ideas I hear about at fundraisers your way, but this seems interesting and legit. Essentially digital currency with a green angle as opposed to bitcoins libertarian Ayn Rand schtick
see if its worth a real conversation? Ultimately Clintons campaign decided not to accept bitcoin. Trumps campaign did accept bitcoin. Despite the timing so close to the election, the bitcoin community consensus is that the October price spike isnt from Clinton or Trump: its China driving the surge. Chinese investors are buying up bitcoin The Chinese yuan has fallen 4.3% against the US dollar in the last six months, and the Peoples Bank of China has cracked down with stricter capital controls. China and a falling yuan is almost always cited as the biggest factor when the price of bitcoin rises. The thinking is that Chinese investors seek a safe haven in bitcoin, which is an asset largely untied to mainstream markets. (This also happened to an extent in Greece during its bank shutdown last year and is happening right now in Venezuela .) Often, its actually something else . This time around, the data supports the idea that the interest is coming from China. Nearly 99% of all global bitcoin trading activity happening right now is happening in Chinese yuan. (Its worth noting that some bitcoin people doubt Chinese exchange data because it could be inflated or meaningless due to very low fees that prompt empty trading activity.) Story continues Volume of bitcoin activity by currency, via bitcoincharts. Bitcoin trading volume in the Chinese yuan is up more than 20% in the past 30 days, based on charts from bitcoincharts.com , bitcoinity.org and coinmarketcap.com . If you check out the site fiatleak.com , which maps bitcoin purchases in real-time, the overwhelming majority of activity right now is in yuan ( CNY ). It does seem like a cop-out sometimes when everyone says its China, but in this case, the data supports it, says Alex Sunnarborg, CFO of Lawnmower, a digital currency trading and data app . Bitcoin trading volume on Lawnmower is up 40% in the past two weeks from the typical two-week average. Sunnarborg adds that whenever the bitcoin price spikes significantly, regardless of the reason, it feeds on itself and drives it higher. People see that demand and feel that FOMO [fear of missing out], which drives a lot of new people in. The market is so thin and new, people are hunting for news, so anything you hear has an immediate effect. It goes the opposite way as wellif you read bad news about bitcoin prices, the market has a tendency to panic. Thats what Ethereum is doing right now. Volume on Chinas biggest bitcoin exchange in the last 30 days, via bitcoinity. Other digital currencies are falling Indeed, the price of ether (ETH), a rival coin that trades on the separate Ethereum blockchain , is down 17% in the past month . In July, Ethereum completed a hard fork that essentially reset its network after a major hack in June. Keep in mind that ether only launched just over one year ago, and is up nearly 300% since then, to $11 per coin. But its recent fall has been a boon to bitcoin, Sunnarborg reasons. If you look at ethereum communities right now, people are a little scared, and the bitcoin vs ethereum chasm does go back and forth, says Sunnarborg. Whenever you see strength in the bitcoin network, volume goes back into bitcoin. Ripple, another popular digital currency (XRP) that came along after bitcoin (in 2012), is also down 4% in the last week. Bitcoin investors are excited about Segregated Witness Theres one other bitcoin factor driving the price up: this month, a sort of voting period will begin for whether to implement segregated witness, a proposed solution to bitcoins ongoing block-size debate. Huh? Lets step back: bitcoin is traded on the bitcoin blockchain, a decentralized, permissionless, peer-to-peer ledger that records every single bitcoin transaction. On the bitcoin blockchain, bundles of transactions are added to the chain by miners who receive a small reward in bitcoin for doing the mining; think of them as librarians recording the date and borrower of a book, or as court stenographers recording the history of bitcoin trades. (For more, watch the below video.) The speed of the blockchain has slowed in the last year under the weight of activity, and the bitcoin community has argued amongst itself over whether to raise the size limit of each block. The speed at which the bitcoin blockchain operates is of crucial importance, since it is often compared to the payment rails of big mainstream processors like Visa. Segregated witness was one popular proposal: an update to the bitcoin software that would allow miners to raise the size capacity on individual blocks without raising the capacity of the entire blockchain for good, and without doing a hard fork (which would split the blockchain into two) like Ethereum just did. Think of it like a Brinks armored car, which hauls bags of cash. Rather than having all the cars start using bigger bags, Segregated Witness (bitcoin people are calling it SegWit for short) is like allowing each driver to start using a few bigger bags just in cases where a bigger bag is needed. Beginning on Nov. 15, bitcoin miners can signal, with each block they mine, whether or not they support Segregated Witness. It should help more transactions go through faster. After one year, if 95% of the blocks have signaled that they like it, Segregated Witness will go into full effect for the Bitcoin Core software. Why does all this matter for the price of bitcoin? It might not matter for the casual outside speculator, but for wonky bitcoin insiders, the implementation of SegWit is an exciting milestone, and may contribute a little bit to the price hike. I think SegWit was a big market move, says Sunnarborg. SegWit has been talked about for so long that if there had been a huge delay or problem announced, we would have seen the market swing the other way. But now its bringing demand from the community to go back into bitcoin. While the Chinese yuan has been the biggest factor in boosting the bitcoin price, the beginning of SegWit and general US market uncertainty are not unrelated. And the election almost certainly will play a larger role right after it ends. If Trump somehow wins, expect bitcoin to soar. Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering technology and sports business. Follow him on Twitter at @readDanwrite . Read more: The latest bitcoin price surge isnt just about Brexit Heres where big banks stand on blockchain Why 21.co is the most exciting bitcoin company right now Coinbase is more bullish on bitcoin than ever View comments || Bitcoin is money, U.S. judge says in case tied to JPMorgan hack: By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin qualifies as money, a federal judge ruled on Monday, in a decision linked to a criminal case over hacking attacks against JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and other companies. U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan rejected a bid by Anthony Murgio to dismiss two charges related to his alleged operation of Coin.mx, which prosecutors have called an unlicensed bitcoin exchange. Murgio had argued that bitcoin did not qualify as "funds" under the federal law prohibiting the operation of unlicensed money transmitting businesses. But the judge, like her colleague Jed Rakoff in an unrelated 2014 case, said the virtual currency met that definition. "Bitcoins are funds within the plain meaning of that term," Nathan wrote. "Bitcoins can be accepted as a payment for goods and services or bought directly from an exchange with a bank account. They therefore function as pecuniary resources and are used as a medium of exchange and a means of payment." The decision did not address six other criminal counts that Murgio faces, Nathan wrote. Brian Klein, a lawyer for Murgio, said he disagreed with the decision. "Anthony Murgio maintains his innocence and looks forward to clearing his name at his upcoming trial," he added. Prosecutors last year charged Murgio over the operation of Coin.mx, and in April charged his father Michael with participating in bribery aimed at supporting it. Authorities have said Coin.mx was owned by Gery Shalon, an Israeli man who, along with two others, was charged with running a sprawling computer hacking and fraud scheme targeting a dozen companies, including JPMorgan, and exposing personal data of more than 100 million people. That alleged scheme generated hundreds of millions of dollars of profit through pumping up stock prices, online casinos, money laundering and other illegal activity, prosecutors have said. Shalon has pleaded not guilty, and is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. He hired new lawyers last month and is seeking permission to replace lawyers who joined the case in June, a Monday court filing showed. The case is U.S. v Murgio et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-cr-00769. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio and Diane Craft) || Indian bitcoin company raises $1.5 million from U.S., Indian investors: NEW YORK, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Unocoin, a Bangalore-based bitcoin startup, has raised $1.5 million in funding from a mix of Indian and U.S. investors, the company announced on Thursday. The company, which runs a trading platform to buy, sell, and store bitcoins for Indian customers, said the money raised was the largest for an Indian bitcoin startup. Unocoin, which has 100,000 users and more than 30 employees, has been in operation since December 2013. Unocoin describes itself as the Coinbase of India. San Francisco-based Coinbase is the largest U.S. bitcoin company and runs an exchange and a wallet service, among other businesses. Funding came from Indian entities such as Blume Ventures, Mumbai Angels and ah! Ventures along with U.S. investors such as Digital Currency Group, Boost VC, Bank to the Future, and FundersClub. Digital Currency Group was founded by one of the top U.S. bitcoin investors Barry Silbert, while Boost VC is run by U.S.-based Adam Draper, the son of billionaire entrepreneur Tim Draper. "We needed a separate exchange for India. A few years ago when we wanted to buy bitcoin, there was nothing available in India," Sunny Ray, Unocoin's co-founder and president told Reuters in an interview. "So if you want to buy bitcoin from an international exchange, you will have to do a wire transfer from India to these international exchanges and get your bitcoin and oftentimes it takes three to five days." Unocoin raised about $200,000 in its first financing round. It started from a small hometown called Tumkur, near Bengaluru. Bitcoin, a digital currency, was trading at $604.50 on the Bitstamp platform. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
#Triangles #TRI $0.154444 (0.02%) 0.00025000 BTC (-0.00%) || $704.00 #bitfinex;
$712.50 #quoine;
$707.04 #GDAX;
$696.60 #btce;
$703.63 #bitstamp;
$705.68 #itBit;
#bitcoin news: http://bit.ly/1VI6Yse || $603.72 at 12:15 UTC [24h Range: $601.00 - $604.73 Volume: 2549 BTC] || #TrollCoin #TROLL $0.000024 (-2.80%) 0.00000004 BTC (-0.00%) || #bitcoin #miner New Antminer S9 Bitmain BTC miner 16nm 12.93TH/s IN HAND! $2100.00 http://ift.tt/2cl4iON pic.twitter.com/6TprCKMBHa || 1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$627.66/$628.87 #Bitstamp
$629.00/$629.45 #BTCe
⇢$0.13/$1.79
$624.32/$630.79 #Coinbase
⇢$-4.55/$3.13 || BTC-E LAST 580.00€ AVERAGE 582.51€ at 10:23 UTC #Bitcoin #BTCEUR || $603.52 at 15:45 UTC [24h Range: $600.80 - $607.00 Volume: 2216 BTC] || #Anoncoin/#ANC price now: $0.158695, that's 0.00% change in 1hour. 1.01% past day, and -1.77% in the past week! #Bitcoin is $607.71 || 1 KOBO = 0.00000240 BTC
= 0.0015 USD
= 0.4560 NGN
= 0.0207 ZAR
= 0.1518 KES
#Kobocoin 2016-10-10 00:00 pic.twitter.com/F9AcIR40RT
|
Trend: up || Prices: 723.27, 715.53, 716.41, 705.05, 702.03, 705.02, 711.62, 744.20, 740.98, 751.59
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
This Country Has Gone Nearly 25 Years Without a Recession: They called it Super Tuesday in America, but it was the Australian economy that won the day.
The Australian Bureau of Statisticsannouncedthat its economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.0% in the fourth quarter of 2015, above the estimates of economists who predicted that the Aussie economy would be more negatively affected by the economic slowdown in China.
It also marked the 98th straight quarter that the Australian economy has avoided a recession. That’s right, Australia has gone almost 25 years without having two consecutive quarters of negative growth, the standard definition of a recession.
AsBusiness Insider Australiapoints out, this brings the Aussie’s close to the developed-world record held by the Netherlands, whose own streak of 103 straight quarters without a recession came to a halt during the global financial crisis.
Australia has been able to avoid a recession because of its close ties to the Chinese economy. It’s wealth of natural resources and proximity to China made it the go-to supplier of China’s manufacturing boom. Although it’s been able to avoid being brought down by the Chinese slowdown thus far, many economists remain pessimistic. "We should be cautious given the poor quality of the growth, which was driven by a rise in government spending and household expenditure that relied on a run down in savings," said Andrew Ticehurst, rate strategist at Nomura,told theFinancial Times.
See original article on Fortune.com
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• An Australian Family Rents an Airbnb That Turns Out to Be a Drug Den
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• Australian Police Have Raided the Home of Bitcoin's Supposed Creator
• Taylor Swift Takes Her 125-Person Crew on Vacation || Brave will pay you in Bitcoins for browsing the web (updated): Brendan Eich, thecontroversialformer CEO of Mozilla, recently launchedBrave, a privacy-focused browser that blocks ads and trackers. While that concept isn't new, Brave has a twist: You'll have to pay to completely block ads, and if you allow replacement ads (reportedly free of bloat, tracking and malware) you'll actually get paid yourself. Now, the company hasrevealedthe Brave Ledger, a Bitcoin-based payment system for users and publishers. The specifications aren't final, but Brave is now fielding comments and discussion from advertisers and developers.
Here's how it works: Previously, the company said it would allow users to either pay to block ads, or get paid to allow ad replacements from Brave's own network. Those ads, chosen by an ad-matching partner, are supposedly faster, safer and load after the publisher's content, not before it like regular third-party ads. For ad-free mode, you'll pay a monthly fee that will be distributed to publishers based on total traffic to each site. Brave's ad network would take a five percent cut of the total amount collected.
How many publishers will go along with this, since many, like Engadget parent AOL, have their own ad networks?
When users go for replacement ads, Brave will take a 15 percent cut, its ad-matching partner would take 15 percent and publishers would get the biggest chunk, 55 percent. The latter pot would be divvied up based on the same traffic measurements as the ad-free method. Users get 15 percent, but there are some caveats. First of all, you need to have a Brave Bitcoin wallet, and the default option will be to donate money to your preferred publisher. If you want to spend the money yourself, you'll need to verify your identity with a phone number and email address. Publishers will also need to be verified to a higher standard.
All of this creates as many questions as it answers. How much will users get paid (and have to pay) to accept or decline ads, for instance? Since the ad-free method amounts to a subscription, how many users will pay to skip ads? (Not many, if torrent software providers likeuTorrentare any indication.) Which publishers will go along with this, since many, like Engadget parent AOL, have theirown ad networks? These are tricky questions, and if the company doesn't have the right answers, its Brave browser model will be dead on arrival.
Update: Since this article was published, Brave has updated the source blogpostto say that paying for ad-blocking is "optional." In a previous version, it said "for ad-free mode, you pay a monthly fee in Bitcoin (BTC)." The article now states: "For sites in ad-free mode, you can optionally pay the site by drawing from your user wallet, funded by your revenue share from ad-replacement mode sites (see below) plus your own funds if you care to add any." A company spokesperson also confirmed that users do not have to pay to block ads.
There's no word on whether users would opt in or out to pay, and how a free mode would affect publisher revenues. Engadget has reached out for more information, and Brave's comments, in part, are below.
There is no subscription model. With Brave, a user can go ad-free if he wishes -- without paying. Of course we encourage users to support publishers and web sites, but we don't require users to pay to go ad-free. || C&W Business Earns Fortinet Platinum Partner Recognition: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Feb 22, 2016) -C&W Business, part of Cable & Wireless Communications, Plc (CWC), today announces it has been recognized as aFortinetPlatinum Partner. To receive Platinum status, C&W Business demonstrated that it had successfully achieved all Fortinet certification requirements and training programmes needed to deliver the highest levels of partnership, performance and commitment. As a certified Platinum partner, C&W Business are experts in delivering Fortinet's superior, next generation multi-threat security solutions to their customers across the Caribbean and Latin American region.
C&W Business has a proven track record of delivering managed security services over a vast range of advanced security technologies, such as Web Application Firewall, Email Security, DDOS protection, Advanced Persistent Threat protection, among others. C&W Business offers unparalleled skills in the region, with local resources across 26 countries and experts with the highest certification levels across the board. C&W Business has successfully deployed complex security solutions, using Fortinet's technology, in large and medium companies from a number of different sectors -- including Banking, Retail, Government and BPO.
"This recognition as a Platinum Partner highlights our dedication to be the most complete ICT Solutions provider in the Caribbean and Latin American region. Security is a topic that is high in CIO's minds and we take that very seriously," said Daniel Peiretti, SVP Product Development, C&W Business. "We have focused in hiring and certifying security experts and giving them the tools necessary to ensure our customers enjoy peace of mind with their network," added Peiretti.
Security threats are on the rise so corporations and government agencies alike must do everything to protect their networks and their data. C&W Business employs security experts in their Security Operation Centers (SOC) throughout the region to monitor their network 24X7X365.
"We are excited to recognize C&W Business as a Platinum Partner, based on their strong commitment to delivering innovative solutions that drive customer success," said Pedro Paixao, General Manager, Latin America, at Fortinet. "C&W Business plays an important role in transforming customers, across multiple industries, into more agile, connected and secure companies that can rest assured their most important assets and the assets of their end-users are protected."
About Cable & Wireless Communications PlcCable & Wireless Communications Plc (CWC) is a full service communications and entertainment provider, operating in Latin America and the Caribbean. With annual sales of over US$2.4 billion, it operates both mobile and fixed networks, supported by submarine and terrestrial optical fibre backhaul capacity. CWC delivers superior high-speed mobile data, broadband and video services. It has leading market positions in Mobile, Fixed Line, Broadband and Video consumer offers. Through its business division, CWC provides data centre hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customised IT service solutions, utilising cloud technology to serve business and government customers.
The Group also operates a state-of-the-art subsea fibre optic cable network that spans more than 48,000 km -- the most extensive in the region -- as well as 38,000 km of terrestrial fibre providing wholesale and carrier backhaul capacity.
CWC has more than 7,300 employees serving 6.4 million customers (Mobile 4.1m; Fixed Line 1.1m; Video 470k and Broadband 690k) across 42 countries. The Group's leading brands include; LIME and Flow in the Caribbean; BTC in The Bahamas; Mas Movil in Panama; C&W Business and C&W Networks. CWC is the market leader in most products offered and territories served. It is a major contributor to local communities through its corporate social responsibility programmes.
Cable & Wireless Communications Plc's shares are quoted on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker CWC. The Group is headquartered in London with its operational hub located in Miami, within close proximity to the Caribbean and Latin America.
For more information visit:www.cwc.com.
About FortinetFortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) helps protect networks, users and data from continually evolving threats. As a global leader in high-performance network security, we enable businesses and governments to consolidate and integrate stand-alone technologies without suffering performance penalties. Unlike costly, inflexible and low-performance alternatives, Fortinet solutions empower customers to embrace new technologies and business opportunities while protecting essential systems and content. Learn more atwww.fortinet.com, or follow Fortinet at theFortinet Blog,Google+,LinkedinorTwitter.
Image Available:http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=2967158 || University of California notifies 80,000 of cyber attack: SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Officials at the University of California Berkeley said on Friday that they were alerting 80,000 people, including current and former students, faculty and vendors of a cyber attack on a system that stores social security and bank account numbers. The news comes just more than a week after a Southern California hospital paid hackers $17,000 in the digital currency Bitcoin to regain control of their computer systems after a so-called "ransomware" attack. The San Francisco Bay Area university said there was no evidence that attackers actually took any personal information, but that it was still alerting the 80,000 individuals to be on the lookout for misuse of their information. The school said a hacker or hackers gained access to its financial management software in late December due to a security flaw present when the system is updating. Officials have notified law enforcement, including the FBI, and hired a private computer investigation company. The university said among the potentially affected are 57,000 current and former students; about 18,800 former and current employees; and 10,300 vendors who work with the school. Those figures come out to about half of the school's current students and two-thirds of its active employees. Large, high-profile organizations and businesses routinely come under cyber attack, and the school said it frequently identifies similar hacking attempts. "The security and privacy of the personal information provided to the university is of great importance to us," Paul Rivers, UC Berkeley's chief information security officer, said in a statement. "We regret that this occurred and have taken additional measures to better safeguard that information." The school said it was providing credit protection service free of charge to those potentially impacted. (Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Sharon Bernstein) || Ericsson Core to Enable WiFi Calling and VoLTE for Cable & Wireless in Panama: MIAMI, FL, and STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN--(Marketwired - Feb 21, 2016) -Cable & Wireless CommunicationsPlc (LSE:CWC)
• Ericsson to upgrade core network to enable Wi-Fi calling and voice over LTE for Cable & Wireless Panama's (CWP) network
• CWP customers will enjoy both voice and video calling, and seamless handover is enabled between LTE and Wi-Fi, which provides operator voice services in more locations driving loyalty among subscribers
Cable & Wireless CommunicationsPlc (LSE:CWC) today announcesEricsson(NASDAQ:ERIC) will support an upgrade of the Cable & Wireless core network in Panama with an IMS and Evolved Packet Core solution that will enable strong possibilities of fixed and mobile convergence and enhanced subscriber services like Wi-Fi calling and voice over LTE (VoLTE).
"We are constantly working to enhance and upgrade our network and offer more services for our customers," said Carlo Alloni, EVP Technology and Group CTIO. "As a result of this upgrade, we will be able to offer our customers in Panama more options to make regular operator calls everywhere, and to have better quality all the time in a simple, seamless way," added Alloni.
The Ericsson Wi-Fi calling solution is based on an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) with a Wi-Fi Mobility Gateway (ePDG and TWAG combined) and Ericsson IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). The solution is verified towards the smartphone brands that support Wi-Fi calling. The IMS will also support voice over LTE services which will be implemented in the near future. Rollout, integration, and implementation are currently underway.
"With this solution Cable & Wireless will be able to utilize one efficient core network to enable several communication services. In addition, it will unleash a superior communication services user experience by delivering seamless HD voice and video calling services in more locations," said Clayton Cruz, Vice President of Ericsson Latin America.
In the Ericsson ConsumerLab report "Wi-Fi Calling Finds Its Voice," (July 2015), 5 out of 10 respondents from the United States said that they would use the service if it were made available.
Ericsson Wi-Fi calling
Ericsson Mobile Telephony Evolution with VoLTE
Ericsson IMS
Ericsson Evolved Packet Core
For media kits, backgrounders and high-resolution photos, please visitwww.ericsson.com/press
Ericsson is the driving force behind the Networked Society -- a world leader in communications technology and services. Our long-term relationships with every major telecom operator in the world allow people, business and society to fulfill their potential and create a more sustainable future.Our services, software and infrastructure -- especially in mobility, broadband and the cloud -- are enabling the telecom industry and other sectors to do better business, increase efficiency, improve the user experience and capture new opportunities.
With approximately 115,000 professionals and customers in 180 countries, we combine global scale with technology and services leadership. We support networks that connect more than 2.5 billion subscribers. Forty percent of the world's mobile traffic is carried over Ericsson networks. And our investments in research and development ensure that our solutions -- and our customers -- stay in front.
Founded in 1876, Ericsson has its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. Net sales in2015 were SEK 246.9 billion (USD 29.4 billion). Ericsson is listed on NASDAQ OMX stock exchange in Stockholm and the NASDAQ in New York.
www.ericsson.comwww.ericsson.com/newswww.twitter.com/ericssonpresswww.facebook.com/ericssonwww.youtube.com/ericsson
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACTEricsson Corporate CommunicationsPhone:+46 10 719 69 92E-mail:[email protected]
Ericsson Investor RelationsPhone:+46 10 719 00 00E-mail:[email protected]
About Cable & Wireless Communications PlcCable & Wireless Communications Plc (CWC) is a full service communications and entertainment provider, operating in Latin America and the Caribbean. With annual sales of over US$2.4 billion, it operates both mobile and fixed networks, supported by submarine and terrestrial optical fibre backhaul capacity. CWC delivers superior high-speed mobile data, broadband and video services. It has leading market positions in Mobile, Fixed Line, Broadband and Video consumer offers. Through its business division, CWC provides data centre hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customised IT service solutions, utilising cloud technology to serve business and government customers.
The Group also operates a state-of-the-art subsea fibre optic cable network that spans more than 48,000 km -- the most extensive in the region -- as well as 38,000 km of terrestrial fibre providing wholesale and carrier backhaul capacity.
CWC has more than 7,300 employees serving 6.4 million customers (Mobile 4.1m; Fixed Line 1.1m; Video 470k and Broadband 690k) across 42 countries. The Group's leading brands include; LIME and Flow in the Caribbean; BTC in The Bahamas; Mas Movil in Panama; C&W Business and C&W Networks. CWC is the market leader in most products offered and territories served. It is a major contributor to local communities through its corporate social responsibility programmes.
Cable & Wireless Communications Plc's shares are quoted on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker CWC. The Group is headquartered in London with its operational hub located in Miami, within close proximity to the Caribbean and Latin America.For more information visit:www.cwc.com. || Newspaper giants threaten Brave over its ad-swapping browser: You remember how Brave's web browser pays you to see replacement ads (overriding a site's usual ads) when you don't pay to block promos outright? Yeah, publishers aren't very happy about that. A coalition of 17 news giants, including the New York Times and Dow Jones, has sent Brave a letter claiming that its ad-swapping business model is illegal. Allegedly, the approach is tantamount to copyright infringement. It's "indistinguishable" from stealing articles and posting them on another site, according to the publishers. The group also doesn't buy the argument that Bitcoin payments and revenue sharing will make up for the lack of native ads -- those methods "cannot begin to compensate" for the lost income. Not surprisingly, Brave isn't having any of it. CEO Brendan Eich says the browser isn't replacing publishers' own ads, including any first-party ads that aren't using third-party tracking. It's trying to create a better ad network that actually pays more than third-party options, he argues. Eich goes so far as to suggest that the publishers are being disingenuous (especially when sidestepping their own ad privacy concerns), and are really attacking any browser with an ad blocker add-on or ad-free reading mode . Brave says it's open to talking with the media group to argue its case, although it's hard to see those companies being very receptive when they not-so-subtly hint at possible legal action. Not that Brave is slowing down in the meantime. It just released a developer version of its browser with support for Chrome extensions, 1Password logins and blocks against everything from phishing scams to privacy-violating browser fingerprinting measures. In short, it's determined to fight privacy intrusions of all kinds, whether or not the perpetrators are in a position to object. || Safe Cash Speeds up Blockchain to 25,000 Transactions per Second: SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Feb 24, 2016) - Safe Cash ( www.safe.cash ), a digital payment technology for banks, merchants, and consumers, has announced that it is able to handle up to 25,000 transactions per second on its blockchain -- more than 3,000 times as many as Bitcoin. The time to complete and final settlement is under five seconds. This makes Safe Cash the fastest private blockchain, orders of magnitude ahead of competing private blockchains that are simple forks of bitcoin or litecoin. "Because of its slow consensus time, uncertain governance, and price volatility, Bitcoin is not a reasonable solution for banks, and it's not built to scale for massive adoption of instant e-commerce," said Chris Kitze, founder and CEO of Safe Cash Payment Technologies. "No open-source software can touch this performance. Our development team worked for the past eighteen months to solve a number of critical technical problems. It is not trivial. We also have a clear technical path to increase this speed to 100,000 transactions per second later this year, well in advance of that kind of global demand." In an era of permissioned blockchains gaining favor with financial institutions over decentralized, freely trading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Ripple, Safe Cash is one of the first blockchains to be commercially viable that can meet the transaction processing speed and throughput requirements of today's market. Safe Cash employs instant settlement in under five seconds, improved security, and controlled consensus that does not rely on miners or any intermediary coin that must be purchased. It allows banks to wean themselves off the high-priced, inefficient SWIFT network that can take days to transfer money. Banks can have their own "white label" blockchain that they control and manage. Inter-bank settlement can be achieved with multi-currency wallets, a separate bank settlement blockchain, or a combination thereof, depending on bank requirements and legal compliance. Story continues A demonstration of this technology is freely available at https://safe.cash , where the public is invited to get a free account to test out Safe Cash's loyalty token. Banks are invited to internally proof-of-concept test Safe Cash. About Safe Cash Payment Technologies, Inc. Founded in 2015, Safe Cash is the first payment system to allow cash to be used as a digital asset, with member banks storing the USD and providing tokens that are redeemable for cash. The system is designed to work globally and on most phones. All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners. || Exclusive: Chinese hackers behind U.S. ransomware attacks - security firms: By Joseph Menn (Reuters) - Hackers using tactics and tools previously associated with Chinese government-supported computer network intrusions have joined the booming cyber crime industry of ransomware, four security firms that investigated attacks on U.S. companies said. Ransomware, which involves encrypting a target's computer files and then demanding payment to unlock them, has generally been considered the domain of run-of-the-mill cyber criminals. But executives of the security firms have seen a level of sophistication in at least a half dozen cases over the last three months akin to those used in state-sponsored attacks, including techniques to gain entry and move around the networks, as well as the software used to manage intrusions. "It is obviously a group of skilled of operators that have some amount of experience conducting intrusions," said Phil Burdette, who heads an incident response team at Dell SecureWorks. Burdette said his team was called in on three cases in as many months where hackers spread ransomware after exploiting known vulnerabilities in application servers. From there, the hackers tricked more than 100 computers in each of the companies into installing the malicious programs. The victims included a transportation company and a technology firm that had 30 percent of its machines captured. Security firms Attack Research, InGuardians and G-C Partners, said they had separately investigated three other similar ransomware attacks since December. Although they cannot be positive, the companies concluded that all were the work of a known advanced threat group from China, Attack Research Chief Executive Val Smith told Reuters. The ransomware attacks have not previously been reported. None of the companies that were victims of the hackers agreed to be identified publicly. Asked about the allegations, China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that if they were made with a "serious attitude" and reliable proof, China would treat the matter seriously. But ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China did not have time to respond to what he called "rumors and speculation" about the country's online activities. The security companies investigating the advanced ransomware intrusions have various theories about what is behind them, but they do not have proof and they have not come to any firm conclusions. Most of the theories flow from the possibility that the Chinese government has reduced its support for economic espionage, which it pledged to oppose in an agreement with the United States late last year. Some U.S. companies have reported a decline in Chinese hacking since the agreement. Smith said some government hackers or contractors could be out of work or with reduced work and looking to supplement their income via ransomware. It is also possible, Burdette said, that companies which had been penetrated for trade secrets or other reasons in the past were now being abandoned as China backs away, and that spies or their associates were taking as much as they could on the way out. In one of Dell's cases, the means of access by the team spreading ransomware was established in 2013. The cyber security experts could not completely rule out more prosaic explanations, such as the possibility that ordinary criminals had improved their skills and bought tools previously used only by governments. Dell said that some of the malicious software had been associated by other security firms with a group dubbed Codoso, which has a record of years of attacks of interest to the Chinese government, including those on U.S. defense companies and sites that draw Chinese minorities. PAYMENT IN BITCOIN Ransomware has been around for years, spread by some of the same people that previously installed fake antivirus programs on home computers and badgered the victims into paying to remove imaginary threats. In the past two years, better encryption techniques have often made it impossible for victims to regain access to their files without cooperation from the hackers. Many ransomware payments are made in the virtual currency Bitcoin and remain secret, but institutions including a Los Angeles hospital have gone public about ransomware attacks. Ransomware operators generally set modest prices that many victims are willing to pay, and they usually do decrypt the files, which ensures that victims will post positively online about the transaction, making the next victims who research their predicament more willing to pay. Security software companies have warned that because the aggregate payoffs for ransomware gangs are increasing, more criminals will shift to it from credit card theft and other complicated scams. The involvement of more sophisticated hackers also promises to intensify the threat. InGuardians CEO Jimmy Alderson said one of the cases his company investigated appeared to have been launched with online credentials stolen six months earlier in a suspected espionage hack of the sort typically called an Advanced Persistent Threat, or APT. "The tactics of getting access to these networks are APT tactics, but instead of going further in to sit and listen stealthily, they are used for smash-and-grab," Alderson said. (Reporting by Joseph Menn in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Megha Rajagopalan in BEIJING; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Clarence Fernandez) View comments || Bitcoin finds room in small funds; large institutions still on sidelines: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK, March 18 (Reuters) - Digital currency bitcoin has found favor among smaller investors, thanks to the availability of funds designed to invest in it, but remains a niche among the larger investing community. Investors at some family offices, smaller mutual funds, and traders at hedge funds say bitcoin has helped returns and demonstrated a low correlation with other asset classes. Hopes that bitcoin would become a broadly used alternative to other currencies helped buoy its price to more than $1,000 in December 2013, when its market capitalization was $13 billion. But the market cap has retreated since then, to about $6.4 billion as of Thursday. Early enthusiasts for the crypto-currency were drawn to its revolutionary ideals of transparency and a lack of central or official control. The risks of dealing in bitcoin were laid bare in 2013 when Tokyo-based exchange Mt Gox collapsed after admitting it had lost the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars of investor funds. The currency's earlier ties to gambling and criminal websites did not endear it to traditional investors. Jeremy Millar, founder and managing partner at Ledger Partners in London, estimated that 50 to 90 percent of bitcoin's current $6.4 billion market cap is held by near-institutional money such as individuals at hedge funds and family offices. That has not changed over the last two years. He does not have an estimate for institutional investment holdings of bitcoin. But he said they are likely to be insignificant, compared with the smaller investors who have fewer restrictions about fund allocation. "What is clear though is that over the last two years, bitcoin has emerged from its 'hacktivist' origins to a more institutionalized ecosystem which includes the participation of hedge funds, traders, and professional investors," said Millar. BITCOIN IN PORTFOLIOS Funds dedicated to investing in bitcoin are relatively small. The largest is the Pantera Bitcoin Fund, a $160 million hedge fund founded by Dan Morehead, formerly of Tiger Management, available to institutions and individuals who invest $50,000 or more. According to a Pantera Bitcoin Fund brochure, the fund was launched in July 2013, a period when bitcoin traded at around $65. On Thursday, it traded at $418.80, a gain of more than 500 percent from July 2013. The firm did not comment on fund performance or its investors. The majority of the Pantera Fund's investors are family offices and high net worth individuals, said two people familiar with the fund. The Grayscale Bitcoin Investment Trust, with assets of more than $60 million, is another vehicle for investors. GBTC is backed by bitcoin advocate Barry Silbert and his Digital Currency Group. Story continues It is the only publicly traded U.S. security in the over-the-counter market invested in bitcoin. Volume is thin, with a few thousand shares traded daily, according to Thomson Reuters data. Antonis Polemitis, managing director at Ledra Capital in New York, a family office specializing in education and technology, said that on average, clients have allocated 1 to 3 percent of their portfolios to bitcoin. "A lot of people will take that bet with 1 percent of their assets," he said. "A 1 percent loss does not change anyone's life in any way. If it goes up 10 times, then you get to feel very smart." Some investment managers say having bitcoin in portfolios has helped performance. ARK Invest, which manages four exchange-traded funds with $240 million in assets, holds GBTC in its $12 million Next Generation Internet ETF and the $7 million ARK Innovation ETF. Chris Burniske, analyst and blockchain products lead at ARK Invest in New York, said since investing in September 2015, GBTC has contributed 67 basis points to the Next Generation Internet ETF's return and 62 basis points to the ARK Innovation ETF. For 2015, the Next Generation ETF posted a 15.29 percent return, while the Innovation ETF had 3.76 percent gains. For Kingsbridge Wealth Management, a multifamily office in Las Vegas with $150 million in assets, GBTC has become a great diversifier because so far it has had a low correlation with other asset classes, said David Dunn, the firm's founder and chief investment officer. The firm has about $1.7 million invested in bitcoin and its underlying technology, the blockchain, Dunn said. (Editing by David Gaffen and Matthew Lewis) View comments || Traders: These 4 stocks could take off: ASpaceX rocket launchFriday had "Fast Money" traders debating which stocks could soon blast off.
Mechel
Trader Tim Seymour believes Russian mining company Mechel(: NULL)has upside following a sustained slide in the prices of many commodities. Its U.S.-listed stock has climbed nearly 12 percent this year but has still plunged about 38 percent in the past 12 months.
KB Home
Trader Steve Grasso touted shares of KB Home(NYSE: KBH), which have risen 17 percent this year. He owns the stock, which he said could be a merger or acquisition target.
Grasso noted he would use a $14 stop for the stock, which closed at about $14.50 on Friday.
Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF
Trader Guy Adami contended the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF(NYSE Arca: GDX)— which has soared 56 percent this year — could climb even more. The fund has rallied this year along with gold futures, which are up about 17 percent.
Deutsche Bank
Trader Brian Kelly, on the other hand, said he would sell a stock that has failed to get off the ground. He noted he would stay away from Deutsche Bank(XETRA: DBK-DE), which has lagged the broader market.
The bank's U.S.-listed shares have plunged 34 percent this year.
Disclosures:
Tim Seymour
Tim Seymour is long AAPL, AVP, BAC, BBRY, DO, EDC, EWZ, F, FCX, GM, GOOGL, GRMN, GE, GLNCY, INTC, LQD, MPEL, NKE, RACE, RAI, SINA, T, TWTR, UA, VALE, VZ, XOM. Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, CLF, EWZ, F, HD, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, YHOO, short HYG, IWM, WYNN
Steve Grasso
Steve is Long AAPL, BA, BAC, CC, DD, DIS, DECK, EVGN, KBH, MJNA, MU, OLN, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, GDX firm is long WYNN kids own EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY
Brian Kelly
Brian Kelly is long BBRY, Bitcoin, GLD, GLD puts, SH, SLV, TLT, US Dollar, UUP, Yen; he is short Aussie Dollar, BLK, British Pound, CS, DB, Euro, EWA, EWH, FRC, Hong Kong Dollar, UBS, SPY, Yuan, 5-Year Note Futures
Guy Adami
Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
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[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Re: If you hold 1 BTC you are a pioneer http://cur.lv/vy9u2 #bitcoin #crypto || Liquid Bitcoin || What Is Bitcoin and How Does It Work? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT26y_l-jtI … || Interest Rate: 80% Interest Return:1 Hour-Terms: 120 Hours Total 9600%. bitcoin trader . http://ow.ly/YP2UR || Liquid Bitcoin || Liquid Bitcoin || My monster has 350 hp left! I've earned a total of 1,367,760 satoshi http://www.monstercoingame.com/?id=5072156 #monstercoingame #Bitcoin || #Bitcoin last trade
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Trend: up || Prices: 422.48, 425.19, 423.73, 424.28, 429.71, 430.57, 427.40, 428.59, 435.51, 441.39
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2022-05-20]
BTC Price: 29200.74, BTC RSI: 35.39
Gold Price: 1841.80, Gold RSI: 42.42
Oil Price: 113.23, Oil RSI: 58.69
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin Drops to $45K Support as Analysts Point Out Seasonally Bullish April Month Ahead: Don't miss CoinDesk'sConsensus 2022, the must-attend crypto & blockchain festival experience of the year in Austin, TX this June 9-12.
Bitcoin briefly dropped under support at $45,000 before recovering as it heads toward a seasonally bullish April, a month that has chalked up gains for the asset in seven out of the past 10 years, data shows.
“No one knows for sure what's the explanation for the usual 'April's Bull,'” shared Asaf Naim, CEO of bitcoin development company Kirobo, in a Telegram message. “Some speculate that it's a psychological phenomenon tied to the beginning of spring.”
“After the bullish trend of mid-January until the end of February (that includes the aftermath of Christmas and the Chinese New Year) comes to a downturn, which later changes to a bull run in early April,” he added.
Bitcoin traded as low as $44,200 on Thursday night after a two-month-high of $48,000 on Wednesday. Traders, however, bid up bitcoin to support at $45,000. Losing current levels over the weekend could see bitcoin drop to $43,400.
The drop came amid recession fears as 5-year and 30-year U.S. Treasury yield curves inverted for the first time since 2006 on Monday. Observers say yield curve inversions – selling short-dated treasury bonds to purchase long-dated bonds – occur prior to periods of recessions as traders bet on concerns about the health of the economy.
Still, some analysts point out a seasonally bullish April could see bitcoin recovering and moving upward in the coming months, alongside positive growth in broader markets.
“It should be mentioned that April is also a strong month for stock markets,” Alex Kuptsikevich, senior financial analyst at FxPro, told CoinDesk in an email. “The new month begins with optimism and the mood to look for a moment to buy on a decline, especially given the dense influence of institutional sentiment on the dynamics of bitcoin.”
Some traders have called for ashort-term target of $53,000for bitcoin in the coming months. Long-term targets are even grander: Strategists at institutional fund VanEck said ina recent notethat each bitcoin could be worth as much as $4.8 million if it becomes the global reserve asset. The theory is based on the idea that central banks may diversify their reserves and begin allocating towards cryptocurrencies.
Meanwhile, Kirobo’s Naim said that bitcoin was likely propped up by demand from Russian traders earlier in March 2022.
“We can't ignore the connection between the price of bitcoin and the price of the ruble," said Naim. "Many Russians turned to bitcoin to seek some hedge against their assets and bought bitcoin (and other tokens) in droves.”
However, there could be some reason for caution in the coming days. “But now when the ruble seems to be recovering, this has a negative correlation with the price of bitcoin,” Naim said. || BitNile Holdings’ Subsidiary, Ault Media Group, to Host Risk On Business Conference 2022, Designed for Entrepreneurs and Business Owners: Shark Tank star and entrepreneur Daymond John, legendary sports agent Leigh Steinberg, Fox Business host Charles Payne, and real estate investor, agent and entrepreneur Josh Altman join host and founder Milton “Todd” Ault, III for three days of high-energy motivational sessions, networking opportunities and learning
The conference runs May 12-14 at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino. Registration is now open.
LAS VEGAS, April 19, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --BitNile Holdings, Inc.(NYSE American: NILE), a diversified holding company (“BitNile” or the “Company”), announced today that its subsidiary Ault Media Group, Inc., a company focused on creating and developing original content (“Ault Media”), will host theRisk On Business Conference 2022, to be held live at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip from May 12-14, 2022. The conference, hosted by Founder and Executive Chairman of BitNile, Milton “Todd” Ault, III, is now open for registration to all entrepreneurs, those with an entrepreneurial spirit and business owners with a “risk on” mentality. Registration and more information about theRisk On Business Conferenceis available athttps://riskonevents.com/.
TheRisk OnBusiness Conferencewill feature two days of exclusive talks led by renowned entrepreneurs and business and investment leaders sharing valuable insights into building thriving and successful businesses. Attendees will enjoy high-energy business development seminars where they will learn to scale and grow their businesses from industry experts who have built business empires and motivational sessions with successful entrepreneurs offering inside knowledge about how they achieved success. The conference will also provide opportunities for attendees to network and meet other entrepreneurs and possible investors.
The growing list of motivational speakers includes:
• Daymond John, founder and CEO of the global clothing and lifestyle brand FUBU, star and original cast member of ABC’s Shark Tank, CEO of the marketing agency, The Shark Group, and best-selling author of several books
• Anthony Scaramucci,Founder and Managing Partner ofSkyBridge Capital, entrepreneur, Bitcoin enthusiast and American financier.
• Josh Altman, Successful real estate agent, real estate investor, entrepreneur, and star of Bravo'sMillion Dollar Listing, Altman is the top-producing agent at the exclusive Douglas Elliman Brokerage; Altman is ranked #22 by The Wall Street Journal for having closed over 1.5 billion dollars in sales.
• Nicole Arbour, Recipient of an honorary STAR on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for “Special Achievement in Social Media,” comedian, recording artist, social media superstar, and renegade entrepreneur
• Charles Payne, Fox Business Network financial journalist and host ofMaking Money with Charles Payne
• Leigh Steinberg, American sports agent, philanthropist, author and founder of Steinberg Sports & Entertainment, real-life inspiration for the movieJerry Maguire;Steinberg has represented 300 professional athletes from the worlds of football, baseball, basketball, boxing and Olympic sports
• Greg Foss, Bitcoin enthusiast, CFO atValidus Power Corp, and business writer with over 30 years’ experience in the financial market
• Brad Lea, CEO, entrepreneur, businessman, podcaster, philanthropist, investor and creator ofCloser School
These and other celebrity speakers to be added will join the conference host, Todd Ault, a wall Street veteran and self-made businessman with over 30 years of success across various financial markets. Ault wields his expertise in a massive range of markets, including real estate, private equity, cryptocurrency, digital manufacturing technology, defense and aerospace, biotech and hospitality. Mr. Ault bases his business decisions on taking calculated risks and his specialty is acquiring undervalued assets and disruptive technologies that have a major global impact.
“I am thrilled to host the inauguralRisk Onconference, which I have dreamed of for many years. The goal of the conference is to provide attendees with the knowledge to expand and scale their businesses, as well as to connect entrepreneurs with successful business leaders who will inspire and motivate them to make life better,” said. Mr. Ault. “Attendees will have the chance to meet other like-minded individuals and network. I am committed to sharing my personal risk on philosophy, experience, insights, and knowledge so that others can benefit.”
For more information on BitNile and its subsidiaries, BitNile recommends that stockholders, investors, and any other interested parties read BitNile’s public filings and press releases available under the Investor Relations section atwww.BitNile.comor atwww.sec.gov.
About BitNile Holdings, Inc.BitNile Holdings, Inc. is a diversified holding company pursuing growth by acquiring undervalued businesses and disruptive technologies with a global impact. Through its wholly and majority-owned subsidiaries and strategic investments, BitNile owns and operates a data center at which it mines Bitcoin and provides mission-critical products that support a diverse range of industries, including defense/aerospace, industrial, automotive, telecommunications, medical/biopharma and textiles. In addition, BitNile extends credit to select entrepreneurial businesses through a licensed lending subsidiary. BitNile’s headquarters are located at 11411 Southern Highlands Parkway, Suite 240, Las Vegas, NV 89141;www.BitNile.com.
Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements generally include statements that are predictive in nature and depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, and include words such as “believes,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “projects,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “strategy,” “future,” “opportunity,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “potential,” or similar expressions. Statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any of them publicly in light of new information or future events. Actual results could differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement as a result of various factors. More information, including potential risk factors, that could affect the Company’s business and financial results are included in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, the Company’s Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K. All filings are available atwww.sec.govand on the Company’s website atwww.BitNile.com.
BitNile Holdings Investor Contact:[email protected] 1-888-753-2235
Media Contact:Kat [email protected] x230 || Avalanche Announces New ‘Core’ Wallet, Bitcoin Bridge at AVAX Summit: BARCELONA, SPAIN – Avalanche announced it will launch its own wallet application, called Core, and add Bitcoin bridging functionality, two initiatives aimed at simplifying the user experience and bringing more assets into the Avalanche ecosystem.
Ava Labs Head of Product Nick Mussallem made the announcement on Tuesday at the Avalanche Summit in Barcelona, Spain, to the applause of conference attendees.
Ava Labs is the team supporting the development of the Avalanche blockchain.
“Core is not just a wallet. It’s a curated Web3 operating system that combines secure wallet architecture with technology not found in any other wallet,” said Mussallem in a statement. It comes shortly afterConsenSys– the parent company of wallet incumbent MetaMask (through which many users interact with Ethereum and EVM-compatible chains like Avalanche) – snagged a $7 billion valuation in its latest funding round.
The Core wallet will incorporate native Avalanche bridging functionality, which enables users of the wallet to directly interact with decentralized applications (dapps) on the Avalanche blockchain. Previously, users of MetaMask had to use an Ethereum-Avalanche bridge in order to move their assets onto the Avalanche blockchain.
Bridges are applications that help users move assets from one blockchain to another, a process that is often complicated and prone tohacks.
As decentralized finance (DeFi) usage has grown on Avalanche, the Avalanche Bridge has become the most popular Ethereum-connected bridge with over $6 billion in total valued locked (TVL). According to Avalanche, the bridge has facilitated the usage of over $43 billion in assets between Avalanche and Ethereum since its launch in July 2021.
The new wallet is also expected to cater to a growing number of Avalanche power users who are looking for an Avalanche-native user experience.
The first phase of the launch involves rolling out the Core browser extension in late March. The second phase will include launching the Core mobile application early in the second quarter.
Furthermore, Avalanche announced that the existing Avalanche Bridge will support Bitcoin in early Q2, onboarding the largest cryptocurrency by market cap into the Avalanche DeFi ecosystem.
Previously, users looking to move their bitcoin onto Avalanche would have to wrap the bitcoin using third-partywrappingservices like WBTC or renBTC.
Avalanche project leads say they are looking to support a growing number of blockchains using bridging infrastructure.
AVAX, the native asset of the Avalanche blockchain, was flat at $86 over the past 24 hours. It’s up 25% on a seven-day basis. || Bitcoin Miner CleanSpark Tops Quarterly Estimates: Don't miss CoinDesk's Consensus 2022 , the must-attend crypto & blockchain festival experience of the year in Austin, TX this June 9-12. Bitcoin miner CleanSpark (CLSK) reported fiscal second-quarter revenue of $41.6 million and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation (Ebitda) of $22.5 million. Both results beat analysts' average estimates tallied by FactSet. While quarterly revenue edged up only slightly from the previous quarter, it was up fivefold from the year-ago level and beat estimates by $400,000. Adjusted Ebitda slipped 7% from the previous quarters $24.1 million. It was up from $1.9 million a year ago and topped estimates of $18.4 million. While the whole industry faced macro headwinds, primarily driven by a lower average bitcoin price, we continued to execute on our infrastructure-first strategy, CEO Zach Bradford said in a statement . Bradford noted that 100% of growth and capital spending was funded from the conversion of bitcoin ( BTC ). He also said the company hasn't used its shelf offering to raise capital since November. The company ended the quarter with $1.9 million in cash and $17 million in digital currencies. In March, CleanSpark said it aims to be among the top bitcoin miners with an expansion of up to 500 megawatts (MW). CleanSpark's shares rose 5.3% in after-hours trading on Tuesday. They are down about 40% year to date. || Terra’s US$10 billion Bitcoin Bet Sends LUNA to Record High: Terra’s LUNA, the eighth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, reached a new all-time high of US$106.14 on Tuesday early afternoon Asia time, following a US$135 million purchase of Bitcoin.
See related story:Is Terra — whose LUNA coin is now at another all-time high — really where the smart money is?
• Terra is a blockchain payment network that offers a suite of decentralized, algorithmic stablecoins, governed by the LUNA token. In essence, LUNA’s price increases as more Terra stablecoins are minted.
• At the beginning of March, LUNA was trading under US$90 but broke out to a new all-time high of US$106.14 on Tuesday early afternoon Asia time, according to data byCoinMarketCap.
• The price surge came after Terraform Labs founder and CEO Do Kwon, said the company purchased Bitcoin worth US$135 million to back the ecosystem’s stablecoins,Bloombergreported.
• The acquisition is part of Terra’s ambitions to purchase a total of US$10 billion worth of Bitcoin, and transition from an algorithmic stablecoin to a Bitcoin-backed stablecoin. According to Kwon’stweet, this will usher in a new era of peer-to-peer electronic cash: “$UST with $10B+ in $BTC reserves will open a new monetary era of the Bitcoin standard…”
• Popular entrepreneur and crypto investor Anthony Pompliano praised Terra’s Bitcoin bet viaTwitter: “Every stablecoin issuer should pay attention to what Terra is doing. #Bitcoin is good for business.”
See related story:Terra founder bets millions on LUNA’s annual growth || Mario Gabelli, John Rogers, and other elite investors discussed Warren Buffett's $23 billion of new bets at Berkshire Hathaway's annual weekend meeting. Here are the best quotes.: Warren Buffett. Getty Images / Michael Buckner Mario Gabelli, John Rogers, and other top investors discussed Warren Buffett's latest deals. They welcomed Berkshire Hathaway's $23 billion of bets on Occidental Petroleum, HP, and Alleghany. The investors touched on bitcoin, Netflix's stock plunge, and other subjects. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is holding its annual shareholders meeting this weekend, after staging it virtually for the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tens of thousands of Berkshire shareholders have made the pilgrimage to Buffett's hometown of Omaha, which has been described as "Woodstock for Capitalists." Gabelli Funds, run by the billionaire investor Mario Gabelli, held its Value Investing Conference on Friday morning. Gabelli, Ariel Investments co-CEO John Rogers, and a slew of other Buffett experts discussed Berkshire's recent purchases of Occidental and HP stock, and its agreement to acquire Alleghany. Here are some of the best quotes from the event: John Rogers, co-CEO of Ariel Investments: "Sports companies got cheap during the pandemic. We've bought Madison Square Garden Sports and Manchester United, those are two of our favorite stocks right now." (Rogers, who once captained Princeton's basketball team, said he was following Buffett's advice of investing within his circle of competence.) "Volatility should be our friend. Just take advantage of the fact stocks are trading lower for non-economic reasons that have nothing to do with their cash flows." "I'm optimistic that he's planning to talk about the fact that he's seeing opportunities in the market. He'll give all of us confidence that the economy is strong and resilient." (Rogers was discussing what he's hoping to hear from Buffett at the annual meeting.) Mario Gabelli, founder and CEO of Gabelli Funds: "Bitcoin — the pitch is there's a shortage of them. How many baseball teams are going to be created?" (Reiterating Rogers' point that sports teams have a natural competitive moat due to their strong brands, fan followings, and restrictions on new teams being created.) Story continues "Reed Hastings is going to have to adjust to the dynamics of the world, and he will." (Referring to Netflix's co-CEO and the challenge of "churn" or users canceling their subscriptions, which has helped drive the stock down more than 60% this year.) "Wages are going up and food and energy prices are going up. That cycle has to be broken." (Gabellie was underscoring a key challenge posed by inflation.) "It underscores the notion of the rotation to value." (Commenting on Buffett's latest bets, and how value stocks are seeing a renaissance as investors face threats such as rising energy prices.) Chris Bloomstran, president and CIO of Semper Augustus Investments: "Alleghany is a far, far better insurer inside of Berkshire." (Bloomstran noted Berkshire will likely pay off Alleghany's debt, and gradually shift the insurer's investment portfolio from bonds to higher-returning stocks thanks to its superior balance sheet, potentially generating $600 million in additional earnings annually). Adam Mead, the author of "The Complete Financial History of Berkshire Hathaway": "Uncertainty in markets today is certainly working in Buffett's favor." (Mead was likely referring to the combination of rampant inflation, slowing global growth, the Russia-Ukraine war, widespread supply disruptions, and rising interest rates, all of which have weighed on the stock market in recent weeks.) Tom Gayner, co-CEO of Markel: "This is no different than it would have been six days ago, six months ago, six years ago." (Gayner was applauding Berkshire's latest bets, and noted the Berkshire chief has been following the same investing process for more than six decades). "It's like going to church on Sunday. I'm not expecting to learn something new, but it's good to be reminded of the basics and the things that matter. (Gayner said he wasn't expecting any big surprises from the Berkshire meeting, but noted that wasn't the point of going.) Read the original article on Business Insider || EUR/USD Weakens Under 1.0972, Strengthens Over 1.1019: The Euro is inching lower against the U.S. Dollar on Thursday, but remains inside Tuesday’s trading range for a second session. The price action suggests investor indecision and impending volatility. The single-currency is being capped by the divergence in monetary policies between the hawkish U.S. Federal Reserve and the dovish European Central Bank (ECB).
Higher oil prices and uncertainty over the outcome of the war between Ukraine and Russia are also issues weighing on the common currency at this time.
At 10:54 GMT, theEUR/USDis trading 1.0985, down 0.0021 or -0.19%. On Wednesday, theInvesco CurrencyShares Euro Trust ETF (FXE)settled at $102.08, down $0.29 or -0.28%.
In economic news, business activity across Germany’s private sector dipped in March as output price inflation hit a new record high and the war in Ukraine impacted demand as well as supply chains, a survey showed.
The main trend is up according to the daily swing chart. A trade through 1.0901 will change the main trend to down. A move through 1.1137 will reaffirm the uptrend.
The first minor retracement zone is 1.0806 to 1.1137. Its 50% level at 1.0972 has been acting like support.
The second minor retracement zone is 1.0901 to 1.1137. Its 50% level at 1.1019 has been acting like resistance.
On the upside, additional resistance is a pair of 50% levels at 1.1098 to 1.1151. The latter is a potential trigger point for an acceleration to the upside.
With the EUR/USD trapped inside a pair of retracement levels, its direction is likely to be determined by trader reaction to 1.0972 and 1.1019.
A sustained move under 1.0972 will indicate the presence of sellers. The first downside target is the main bottom at 1.0901. Taking out this level will change the main trend to down with 1.0806 the next major target.
A sustained move over 1.1019 will signal the presence of buyers. If this creates enough upside momentum then look for a surge into the pair of 50% levels at 1.1098 and 1.1151. Inside this zone is the main top at 1.1137.
Taking out the pivot at 1.1151 could trigger an acceleration to the upside since the nearest main top is 1.1389.
For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out oureconomic calendar.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• June Comex Gold Bulls Have $1991.20 – $2012.60 on Radar || Astra Protocol - Crypto's Panacea: ZURICH, SWITZERLAND / ACCESSWIRE / May 13, 2022 /Cryptocurrencies have been decimated over the last 48 hours, sending shock waves through the community. Many people have lost life-changing amounts of money as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, BNB, and other popular coins fell in price. Nearly $1 trillion has been wiped from the market in one month. Crypto has shown its resilience before, and it will undoubtedly do so again. We atAstra Protocolare pro-crypto and want the ecosystem to thrive. We need tighter rules, but it must be done with care as it is a new market. Regulators are positioned to use heavy tactics, poised to stunt the recovery. Astra Protocol is the solution the industry needs. Astra is the balance between regulation and decentralization.
TerraUSD (UST) from Terraform Labs was the biggest algorithmic stablecoin with more than $18 billion in market capitalization until around five days ago. Now it is sitting at just under $2 billion at the time of writing. As a stablecoin, its value should be close to $1, but it started to lose its peg to the dollar on Saturday and then fluctuated wildly. This morning it plummeted to around 20 cents. Luna, the sister cryptocurrency of UST, has gone from $80 to almost $0 in a matter of days, having a devastating effect on thousands of people. Do Kwon, the CEO of Terra creator Terraform Labs, has come under fire for failing to address the situation adequately and going silent when more needed to be done to avoid this catastrophe. Algorithmic stablecoins have always been controversial, and this latest event is a sign of their vulnerability. Now is the time to act. While some continue to resist, it is clear that better regulation would prevent the likes of UST and Luna from having such a grip on the market. We at Astra Protocol strongly believe that improved consumer protection is needed, and we have the technological and legal backing to make the necessary changes.
Tether is another vital component of the digital asset economy. It is, in theory, safer than UST as it is backed by assets (UST usually maintains its $1 peg through an arbitrage mechanism that rewards traders for keeping the token at one dollar). On occasion, trading volumes of Tether can be double or triple that of Bitcoin. On Thursday, USDT's price dropped to around 95 cents, the most significant deviation in over two years.
As their name suggests, stablecoins, such as Tether and UST, are usually stable and don't fluctuate away from $1. Traders use these coins to exchange for payments, trading, lending, and other DeFi-related activities, all based on blockchain. When these coins fluctuate, it has a devastating effect on the entire crypto market.
The company responsible for Tether has come under fire from regulators for being unclear about its reserves. Based in the British Virgin Islands, the group issues a quarterly "assurance opinion" from an auditor that describes what assets are backing the coin. Although the assurance opinion suggests that Tether is fully backed, some are concerned that not all the reserves are reliable. Tether has previously had to pay $41 million to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for misstating its holdings.
Since its inception, Astra Protocol has been designed to bridge the gap between regulators and innovation. Many feel that a lack of transparency in certain areas is holding cryptocurrency back. It is well documented that regulators have begun clamping down on digital asset service providers to get more clarity over crypto transactions and prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. But clearly, there is a need for a technology platform to assist authorities with their tasks so that stablecoins remain stable in the future. With its patented technology and Decentralized Legal Network (DLN) backed by major global firms, Astra Protocol is perfectly positioned to provide the help needed to ensure crypto bounces back quickly and continues to flourish.
About Astra Protocol
Based in Zurich, Switzerland,Astra Protocolis building a decentralized compliance layer for the web3 economy. Its founding team of technology visionaries has been active in the blockchain space since 2013, investing in patents and scaling businesses in sectors spanning from gaming to the biomed space.
Media Contact:
Aaron [email protected]
SOURCE:Astra Protocol
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/701329/Astra-Protocol--Cryptos-Panacea || London cryptocurrency startup Blockchain.com mulls IPO: London-based cryptocurrency startup Blockchain.com is interviewing banks for a potential initial public offering (IPO) in the United States.
A floatation of the company could take place as soon as this year, or in 2023, according to Bloomberg, which first reported on the move.
If it goes ahead with the plans, Blockchain.com would become only the second cryptocurrency exchange in the US to do so, after rival Coinbase went public last year with a valuation of nearly $100 billion.
Binance.US, the American branch of the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, has also suggested it will go public.
Founded in 2011 in London, Blockchain.com allows users to buy and store digital tokens such asBitcoinin a virtual wallet.
The company is one of Britain’s most high-profile crypto companies. Former Prime Minister David Cameron opened the company’s east London office in 2019, saying: “It’s great to be at the start of a revolution here in London, I hope you keep this revolution going.”
Ex-Barclays CEO Antony Jenkins sits on the board of Blockchain, which is run by Peter Smith.
The service currently has more than 37 million users in more than 200 countries, allowing them to store and trade cryptocurrencies via dollars, pounds and euros. Last year, it surpassed $1 trillion in cryptocurrency transactions.
In March, the company said a funding round led by venture capitalist firm Lightspeed Venture Partners valued it at around $14 billion.
Blockchain.com did not respond to requests for comment. || What is the Rotoscope filter on TikTok, and how do you add it to your videos: The Rotoscope filter is turning TikTokers into colorful head-banging cartoons. Bitcoin vs. gold: Which is the better inflation hedge? Rotoscoping is an animation technique where illustrators trace over live-action footage to create graphics with more lifelike motions. One of the most popular Rotoscoped films is A Scanner Darkly , starring Keanu Reeves. Now, this fun TikTok filter allows you to instantly Rotoscope yourself into a colorful, dancing silhouette — reminiscent of those retro 2000s iPod ads . How Evan Mock manifested his rapid ascent to stardom: What is the Rotoscoping filter on TikTok? The Rotoscoping trend got started by the user @ icetut , who went viral for a video where he used the animation technique on himself. He appears as the real version of himself in the clip, but when the beat drops, he becomes a cartoon. TikTok created the filter soon after, allowing every user to join in on the fun. TikToker @ melysatann tried the trend herself, and her dark hair and fair skin transformed into cartoonish red hair and a pink complexion as she danced to a chill pop song. I tried the Rotoscope filter on Tiktok and it turned me into the dad from The Incredibles… pic.twitter.com/5We7GXfPbe — This Random Dad (@ThisRandomDad) April 11, 2022 “I tried the Rotoscope filter on Tiktok, and it turned me into the dad from The Incredibles …” @ thisrandomdad said in a tweet where he shared a screenshot of his animated self. How to use the Rotoscope filter on TikTok TikToker @ jera.bean explained how to use the simple effect in a tutorial . Step 1: Locate the search bar and enter “Rotoscope.” Step 2: Under “Effects” select “Rotoscope” and tap “Try This Effect.” Step 3: Hit the record button to start filming your video. Play a song, and when the beat drops, nod your head to activate the Rotoscope filter. Story continues To remove the Rotoscope filter simply pause your video, tap “Effects” and select “Cancel.” Get Jordyn Woods's makeup look with these products: The post What is the Rotoscope filter on TikTok, and how do you add it to your videos appeared first on In The Know . More from In The Know: 5 women tricked their boyfriends into wearing the same shirt: 'They're embarrassed' 9 must-shop loungewear deals under $50 at Nordstrom's Spring Sale Dog breeder trains puppies to tolerate sound of fireworks: 'It can make all the difference' Woman runs for her life after hearing telltale signs of oncoming landslide Baby boy can't decide whose hand to hold between mom and dad
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
|
Trend: up || Prices: 29432.23, 30323.72, 29098.91, 29655.59, 29562.36, 29267.22, 28627.57, 28814.90, 29445.96, 31726.39
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2021-09-28]
BTC Price: 41034.54, BTC RSI: 38.70
Gold Price: 1735.80, Gold RSI: 36.26
Oil Price: 75.29, Oil RSI: 66.43
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin Continues To Recover After Recent Sell-Off: Bitcoinmanaged to settle above the resistance at $42,600 and is testing the next resistance level at $44,000.Ethereumis also moving higher. The world’s second biggest cryptocurrency is currently trying to settle above $3,100.Dogecoinis testing the resistance at $0.2255, whileXRPis trying to settle above $1.00.
The recent sell-off in crypto markets was fast, but most cryptocurrencies quickly managed to gain upside momentum which is a bullish sign. Bitcoin Dominance, which measures the market capitalization of Bitcoin as a percentage of total crypto market capitalization, has also moved lower, which is typical for days when crypto markets are in a bullish mood.
It looks that crypto markets have shrugged off fears about the potential default of China’s developer Evergrande, which have put significant pressure on riskier assets earlier this week. The recent commentary from Fed Chair Jerome Powell was a bit more hawkish than expected but markets remained optimistic.
Bitcoin is currently testing the nearest resistance level at $44.000. In case this test is successful, Bitcoin will move towards the next resistance which is located at the 50 EMA at $45,300. RSI is in the moderate territory, and there is plenty of room to gain additional upside momentum in case the right catalysts emerge.
In case Bitcoin manages to settle above the 50 EMA, it will continue its upside move and head towards the 20 EMA which is located near the $46,000 level. A move above this level will push Bitcoin towards the next resistance at $47,000. If Bitcoin gets above this level, it will head towards the resistance at $48,000.
On the support side, the previous resistance at $42,600 will serve as the first support level for Bitcoin. A successful test of this level will push Bitcoin towards the support at $41,300. If Bitcoin declines below this level, it will head towards the support at $40,000. A move below $40,000 will open the way to the test of the support at $39,300.
For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out oureconomic calendar.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• GBP/USD Daily Forecast – British Pound Rebounds Against U.S. Dollar || Phoenix Finance, Formerly Known as FinNexus, Announces Relaunch on Polygon and Wanchain: BEIJING, CHINA / ACCESSWIRE / August 16, 2021 / Phoenix Finance , a leveraged token and derivatives platform formerly known as FinNexus, has officially announced the relaunch of its protocols on Polygon and Wanchain. The relaunch includes a new UI, brand revamp, and gradual deployment of the respective chains between August 9 and August 23, 2021. The first chain to be deployed will be Polygon on August 9th, with Wanchain soon after. The relaunch event also includes important events for existing and new Phoenix Finance community members, including new staking opportunities and additional compensation for liquidity providers on the previous platform. The new protocol launches will include options and leveraged tokens, with a mining and staking mechanism to promote a stable environment for future growth. The one exception is Wanchain which will not include leveraged tokens initially. The relaunch will also include various mining pools across chains, with users enjoying the opportunity of boosting their rewards by locking PHX or cPHX tokens. Incentives are not capped when it comes to the amount of PHX that can be staked.The more an investor stakes, the longer the lock period, and the higher the rewards. Rewards will range from 1000 to 6000 cPHX tokens per day depending on the chain and pool being accessed. Phoenix Finance Co-Founder Ryan Tian says, "This relaunch marks an important milestone for the Phoenix Finance team and existing FinNexus community. Together, we have overcome significant challenges to prove the importance of decentralized financial instruments in this market and demand has never been higher. Our commitment to our community will continue with innovative incentive programs, transparency, and future products that reflect demand." Users will be able to leverage BTC, ETH, USDC, and USDT as collateral for options and leveraged token pools to mine. For more information about Phoenix Finance's relaunch, please visit the company's website and official social media channels. Story continues About Phoenix Finance Phoenix Finance is the ultimate protocol suite for trading decentralized financial instruments. While Phoenix Finance aims to be a marketplace of various derivatives and hybrid decentralized and traditional financial products, the platform is most notably known for its work in DeFi options and innovative approaches to incentivizing users within the platform. Media Contact Brand: Phoenix Finance Contact: Michele Penna E-mail: [email protected] Website: https://www.phx.finance/ Telegram: https://t.me/Phoenix_Finance Twitter: https://twitter.com/phoenix__phx?lang=en SOURCE: Phoenix Finance View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/659917/Phoenix-Finance-Formerly-Known-as-FinNexus-Announces-Relaunch-on-Polygon-and-Wanchain || Bitcoin Continues To Rebound At The Start Of The Week: Bitcoinmanaged to settle back above $42,600 and is testing the resistance level at $44,000 while other cryptocurrencies are also moving higher.Ethereumgained strong upside momentum and returned to the $3,100 level.Dogecoinis currently trying to settle back above $0.2050 whileXRPcontinues its attempts to settle above the resistance at $0.95.
Bitcoin has recently found itself under strong pressure and made an attempt to settle below $41,000 after China’s central bank stated that crypto transactions were illegal. This statement triggered a significant sell-off in crypto markets but traders quickly managed to calm down.
China continues to put pressure on the crypto industry, but it remains to be seen whether additional news on this front could put sustainable pressure on crypto markets. At this point, it is clear that China will push cryptocurrencies out of its economy, paving the way for the digital yuan. Crypto traders had sufficient time to prepare for this scenario, which may have been already priced in by the markets.
Bitcoin is currently testing the resistance level at $44,000. In case this test is successful, it will move towards the next resistance which is located at the 50 EMA at $45,000. RSI remains in the moderate territory, and there is plenty of room to gain additional upside momentum in case the right catalysts emerge.
In case Bitcoin settles above the 50 EMA, it will get to the test of the next resistance at $46,000. A move above this level will push Bitcoin towards the resistance at $47,000, which is followed by the next resistance at $48,000.
On the support side, the nearest support level for Bitcoin is located at $42,600. In case Bitcoin gets back below this level, it will move towards the next support at $41,300.
A successful test of the support at $41,300 will push Bitcoin towards the support at $40,000. In case Bitcoin declines below this level, it will head towards the support at $39,300.
For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out oureconomic calendar.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Stocks Pull Back As Treasury Yields Rise || Grayscale now bigger than economy of Bahrain: Grayscales enormous crypto asset trusts are now bigger than the economy of Bahrain, it has emerged. The firms reputation is grounded in the famous Grayscale Bitcoin Trust an investment vehicle that provides more traditional investors portfolio exposure to BTC. But booming NFT markets have seen Ether prices surge almost 100% over the past six weeks in a wild and unabated rally. With the asset now pushing resistance in an all-time high range (ATHs), the lesser-known Grayscale Ethereum Trust has risen to prominence. An updated report released by Grayscale last Friday reveals Ethereum now represents the second-largest asset holding in the companys portfolio, and following the summer price dip there is now 3,000,000 Ether (ETH) in Grayscales custody. 3,000,000 ETH is valued at about $12B at the time of writing. It has been reported that the company made $3B in gains during the recent Ethereum price rally. Bitcoin remains backbone The companys report also revealed it had reached a whopping $47 billion in digital assets under management, making the firm more valuable than Bahrain. 09/03/21 UPDATE: Net Assets Under Management, Holdings per Share, and Market Price per Share for our Investment Products. Total AUM: $46.8 billion $BTC $BAT $BCH $LINK $MANA $ETH $ETC $FIL $ZEN $LTC $LPT $XLM $ZEC $UNI $AAVE $COMP $CRV $MKR $SUSHI $SNX $YFI $UMA $BNT $ADA pic.twitter.com/MfpRYl3SS0 Grayscale (@Grayscale) September 3, 2021 Bitcoin (BTC) remains the backbone of the Grayscale investment holdings, with $32B under management. It is the largest collection of institutional BTC spot positions in the world and accounts for around 3% of global circulating supply. Story continues The Bitcoin Trust is primarily used at an institutional level as a means of investing in BTC without actually holding it, with the Grayscale shares representing the value of the underlying Bitcoin. GBCT traditionally trades at a premium to the native asset value (NAV) pricing for BTC but, so far, 2021 has seen a persistent discount relative to the NAV. Grayscale Bitcoin Trust GBTC NAV premium ( Source ) Fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) took hold earlier this year, as investors feared the first Grayscale unlocking event would induce a sell-off. Whilst this contributed to the BTC price correction in June, it appears to have widely taken place without any real impact. The table above also shows that the firm holds a plethora of alternative assets, demonstrating an increased diversification of crypto holdings, showing significant funds for Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), Stellar Lumens (XLM), and Zcash (ZEC). More crypto news and information If you want to find out more information about Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in general, then use the search box at the top of this page. Heres an article to get you started. As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not. || What Happens to Social Security When You Die?: The end of a person’s life doesn’t necessarily mean the end of their social security payments. Depending on factors like income and dependents,social security checks will still be issuedto someone else even after the original recipient passes away.
See:The Biggest Problems Facing Social SecurityFind:Can You Afford To Die in Your State?
According to the Social Security Administration website, if you work and pay into Social Security, part of those taxes go toward survivor benefits, which means your surviving spouse, children and even parents could be eligible for payments based on your earnings.
Likewise, you and your family could be eligible for benefits based on the earnings of someone else who died — as long as the deceased worked long enough to qualify for benefits.
If you have no survivors or dependents, the payments simply cease.
Whenever someone dies, the Social Security office should be notified immediately. This is usually handled by the funeral home, which sends in a form called Statement of Death by Funeral Director.
If that doesn’t happen, you’ll have to call the SSA — you cannot report a death or apply for survivor benefits online. If you need to report a death or apply for survivor benefits, call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.
You’ll need to provide the deceased person’s social security number when applying. In the event of your death, your survivor will need to provide your social security number. The executor of the estate can also call Social Security, CNBC reported.
Here are some things to remember for those getting benefits on a spouse’s or parent’s record, according to the SSA:
• Social Security will automatically change any monthly benefits received to survivors’ benefits after it receives the report of death.
• The agency might be able to pay a Special Lump-Sum Death Payment automatically.
• One thing to keep in mind is that no social security benefits are due for the month of a person’s death.
“Any benefit that’s paid after the month of the person’s death needs to be refunded,” Peggy Sherman, a certified financial planner and lead advisor at Briaud Financial Advisors in College Station, Texas, told CNBC.
See:What Happens to Your Bitcoin When You Die?Find:Key Points COVID-19 Long-Haulers Need to Know About Applying for Social Security
Meanwhile, if your spouse or qualifying dependent were already getting money based on your record, that benefit will auto-convert to survivors benefits when the government gets notice of your death.
If the surviving spouse has already reached their own full retirement age, they can get their deceased spouse’s full benefit. You can apply for reduced benefits as early as age 60 — or age 50 if disabled —which is a couple of years earlier than the standard earliest claiming age of 62.
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This article originally appeared onGOBankingRates.com:What Happens to Social Security When You Die? || Unizen’s James Taylor: “CeFi and DeFi Need to Co-exist and Evolve”: It has been three months since James Taylor left his role as global head of electronic foreign exchange sales at BNY Mellon. The former JP Morgan and Barclays Capital has joined Unizen as chief business development officer, with the first aim of reinforcing the compliance and regulatory aspects of theCeDeFi ecosystem.
Q2 2021 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
Taylor comes from the traditional finance industry, and has landed at Unizen at a critical stage in which the company is furiously working on innovating the UX environment forcrypto tradersand developers.
We talked to James about his move and what Unizen is working on in the crypto space, while looking to use CeFi to bridge the gaps while delivering “compliant liquidity” to the end-user.
The time has flown by! The pace of innovation and development in thecrypto industryis really quite staggering and it’s really exciting to be a part of it. I was already interested in the space and there are similarities between traditional finance and crypto but it wasn’t until I joined Unizen that I realized how much I didn’t know!
So I’ve been busy. I spend a large part of my time talking to and getting to know the team, asking “dumb” questions, and learning. Also, a lot of focus and effort has been on the compliance and regulatory side which is very high on our agenda and an area that I was able to help with from day one.
It was only ever going to be a unique and special opportunity to move me fromtraditional financeto crypto, and Unizen was precisely that. One big reason was the team, which is top-notch in terms of talent and diverse experience, but more importantly, it operates with high moral standards and ethics.
Throughout my career, although I was working at some of the biggest and most successful global investment banks, the areas I worked in were essentially new and very much like startup businesses –we were redefining the way that fixed-income products would be traded.
So the combination of working with a brilliant team and the ability to be a part of building out something special again in the crypto space is why I'm here.
The Unizen team and community have identified multiple challenges that face investors in thecrypto spaceincluding KYC, security, liquidity, and high network fees –we are looking to fix actual problems that exist in the space at present, rather than those in a hypothetical future.
Unizen is an ecosystem that unifies centralized and decentralized products and services –CeDeFi. It is a cohesive workspace that integrates UIs and aggregates data. Regular DeFi falls short of compliance requirements that are needed by most investment firms and asset managers.
We are looking to use CeFi to bridge the gaps while still respecting and protecting the essential DeFi elements, delivering “compliant liquidity” to the end-user –liquidity that they are permitted to interact with, according to their specific regulatory, legal, or fiduciary obligations.
The main advantages of hybridization are simplicity, security, and locating the best liquidity and pricing available. The first modules areexchanges, but over time there will be other essential products and services added.
However, Unizen is not just for traders. Both experienced traders and occasional investors will have a much simpler and straightforward experience, and loyal community members who hold and/or stake ZCX tokens will receive various perks such as reduced trading fees, regular airdrops of project tokens, access to pre-sales, and more.
The short and simple answer here is “cross-chain interoperability.” Most DeFi is currently siloed, something that is very limiting. Interoperability is crucial in any software or ecosystem, as it simply won’t work to its full potential if it can’t work with other software or networks.
CeFi and DeFi need to co-exist and evolve –likely the future will be CeDeFi. Regarding bitcoin versus altcoin, the former is primarily a store of value, when compared toEthereum, whose smart contracts allow the development of DeFi apps.
I think we will see BTC “Dominance” move to less than 30% as we move to a multipolar blockchain. According to many, we could see ETH move to around $35,000, and there absolutely will be other projects coming in the future that jostle and take top 10 spots in terms of market capitalization.
The current crypto market is small relative to the institutional capital that is sitting on the sidelines. Institutions will go “all in” in the coming years, once institutional-grade products and compliant liquidity are available. This is why we are pushing CeDeFi as a solution, and the CeDeFi Alliance of companies will partner and build to create the required infrastructure. || Let The Games Begin: How You Can Participate In Competitions On The Blockchain: The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.
Whether you’re a beginner or an expert investing in the cryptocurrency market, diversifying your portfolio properly to get the best bang for your buck can be challenging. Not only do you have to account for volatility in the market, but you have to balance your digital assets and align them with traditional holdings in your portfolio.
In the traditional market alone, you can seek help with asset management that you can’t usually find in the crypto world. But there are companies likeInvictus CapitalandSolStreetwho are paving new ways to navigate the digital landscape and accomplish your goals. And in celebration of bringing a whole new crypto asset management protocol to investors on the Solana blockchain, SolStreet is running a series ofexciting competitionscalledMoney Never Sleepsto spice up its launch.
Early User Access
The competitions — taking place on the devnet where no real cash is at stake — are open to investors as well as fund managers, giving early users a peek into the SolStreet protocol’s special features and functions. Participants can build a portfolio usingcrypto assetslike Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Dogecoin (DOGE). The top 500 performers participating have a chance to win rewards in the following categories:
• Best overall return on investment (ROI)
• Best Sharpe ratio
• Most individual investor (fund managers only)
Keep in mind that the protocol's point is to give everyone the chance to launch a decentralized investment fund directly to the Solana blockchain. The SolStreet plan also gives these investors access to successful strategies while keeping costs low with minimal transaction fees. Healthy competition gives investors the opportunity to explore while learning and a chance to earn prizes, too.
What Do You Win?
The top performers in each contest will win a share of the protocol’s 1 million STRT tokens being made available for the competition. This represents an estimated $600,000 in value. Not only can you win these tokens, but investors have the chance to own STRT before it becomes available to the general public. In addition to the cryptocurrency, the winner of each category will get to own a one-of-a-kind SolStreet non-fungible token (NFT).
Note that as the competitions approach, SolStreet will release more details regarding the exact prize distribution. So, keep an eye out for more information.
You Have To Play To Win
To have a chance at these fantastic prizes and up your crypto investment game in the meantime, you have to register andparticipate. The Wolf of SolStreet competition registration deadline is August 2, 2021, so be sure to put your hat in the ring today and join the fun.
Photo byCHUTTERSNAPonUnsplash
The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.
© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || The world is not yet ready to overcome a once-in-a-century solar superstorm, warn scientists: About 100 years ago, on May 15, 1921, multiple fires broke out in electricity and telegraph control rooms in several parts of the world, including in the US and the UK. In New York City , it was from a switch-board at the Brewster station that quickly spread to destroy the whole building, and in Sweden, operators at Karlstad exchange first experienced equipment malfunction and faint smoke, then after a period of quiet the main fire started, leading to extensive equipment damage, studies say. Similar reports emerged from various parts of the world, including India , the UK , and New Zealand of disturbances in electrical equipment and the then-nascent electric and telegraph wires. These were due to magnetic fields generated on Earth by one of the biggest solar storms to have impacted the planet – known as the 1921 New York Railroad Storm. “The effects were in terms of interference to radio communications, telegraph, and telephone systems, all of which were used in 1921,” Jeffrey Love, a Geophysicist in the Geomagnetism Program of the US Geological Survey (USGS), tells The Independent. May 15 1921 report of solar storm disrupting telegraph wires in New York (Image Provided by Library of Congress, Washington, DC/New-York tribune) This space weather event is “essentially a wake-up call,” according to Dr Love, who says if such solar superflares were to strike Earth today, it could bring even more devastation. “When we look back at this time, anything that’s related to electricity wasn’t as important in 1921 as it is today,” he says. Scientists have understood for over a century how these solar superstorms arise and cause disruptions in electricity and communication networks. But the impact such a space weather event could cause today is still not completely understood. Solar storms are caused when the sun gives off a burst of electrically conducting plasma in what is called a coronal mass ejection (CME). When CMEs are directed towards the Earth, they could pass between the Sun and our planet at very high speeds of about 2000 km per second, reaching the Earth in a couple of days. Since the plasma in the CMEs is electrically conducting, it interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field, bringing current into a layer of the Earth’s atmosphere called the ionosphere. That in turn produces a magnetic field via the principle of electromagnetism by which motors and generators work. The process ultimately generates electric fields in the electrically conducting surface of the Earth, driving electric currents through the different types of rocks on the crust which have varying abilities to conduct current. “Now, if you happen to have a power grid to flow across an electrically resistive geological structure, the current can’t flow very well through this part of the Earth. So, it takes the path of least resistance, which is through the power grid,” Dr Love says. Story continues “So it ends up kind of short-circuiting this, and you get currents in your power grid system, which are unwanted or uncontrolled. And since the power grid system is all about controlling currents, and managing them, and basically, having alternating currents at a particular frequency, in this scenario, there is quasi-direct current flowing in a system designed for alternating current,” he adds. Experts say solar superstorms can be particularly disastrous to transformers in the power grid, causing them to heat up and shut down because of the unwanted flow of current. “And if you damage a transformer, then you might have to replace it, which means your power outage could last quite a while,” Dr Love says. Mike Hapgood, chair of the Space Environment Impacts Expert Group (SEIEG) in the UK, also believes one of the biggest problems would be faced by the transformers in power grids since they work on very specific frequencies of alternating current around the world. “When the current induced on the Earth by solar storms gets into a transformer, they unbalance it,” Dr Hapgood tells The Independent. Transformers rely on the balance of currents as the voltages changes – and if they are pushed out of balance, it can cause heating, and vibration that would switch them off. “So that’s how you can get the blackout, but you can switch it back on. There will be damage but it won’t be particularly big damage,” Dr Hapgood says. Citing the example of a moderate-level solar storm that struck the Earth in 1989, he said the power disruptions it caused in Quebec, Canada were resolved in about nine hours. “People now know how to fix it. And I wouldn’t expect anything extensive. While some raise fears that it would take years to resolve, I don’t think a lot of people, especially the engineers really believe that,” Dr Hapgood says. Scientists also say satellite navigation systems could be significantly impacted by solar superstorms. “One of the big ones coming up now is the impact on satellite navigation GNSS. I think it’s not so much that it would break, but it will have a lot of intermittency over several days. In some points, it would work, and at other points, it wouldn’t,” the space weather researcher explains. “At some points, it would be putting people in completely the wrong place. So there’s an element of it that would not be trusted. I think for aviation, that’s not bad, because they have clever systems which actually tell pilots if they can’t be trusted,” Dr Hapgood adds. However, experts are unsure of the extent to which global internet connectivity would be impacted by a solar storm. According to a recent study by Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi from the University of California, Irvine, and VMware Research, the robustness of undersea internet cables to such space weather events has particularly not been tested. The research predicts that long-distance optical fiber lines and submarine cables, which are a vital part of the global internet infrastructure, are vulnerable to CMEs. 6/ By chance, modern technological advancement coincided with a period of weaker solar activity. In short, we have NO IDEA how resilient the current Internet infrastructure is against the threat of CMEs! — Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi (@sangeetha_a_j) July 29, 2021 While the optical fibers used in long-haul internet cables are themselves immune to these currents, Dr Jyothi says these cables have electrically powered repeaters at about 100 km intervals that are grounded and are susceptible to damages. Since the repeaters in these cables are connected in series and to the ground – and also at intermediate points – these ground connections can act as entry and exit points for the induced currents, she tells The Independent . Dr Love also believes long-distance communication cables could be particularly vulnerable. “The long, large-scale electricity systems are grounded because you seek stability in the operation of your power grid or your telecommunication cable. And normally the earth by grounding it to the earth provides that stability, but it’s during a solar storm that it doesn’t. So that’s the kind of paradox,” says Dr Love. “They are exposed to the magnetic storm hazard because they have these components called repeaters that are grounded. So yes, the long telecommunication cables are also vulnerable,” he explained. However, not all space weather experts agree that the effects on the internet system could be as catastrophic. Dr Hapgood, who advises the UK government on the impacts and mitigations for space weather, asserts that the undersea cables are by nature less conductive, and their high resistance would make them less vulnerable to the flow of disrupting currents in the event of a severe solar storm. According to the UK scientist, an undersea cable spanning 9000 kms, made of 5 mm diameter copper wires, would carry very little current to cause problems. Due to the large resistance offered by undersea internet cables to the flow of the geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) from solar storms, he believes there will likely not be any disturbance caused to the global internet connectivity by solar flares. There could be a way to test these theoretical predictions, believes Dibyendu Nandi from the The Center of Excellence in Space Sciences India (CESSI) at the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, Kolkata. Even though the undersea cables may be comparatively better off, Dr Nandi tells The Independent that the impact of solar storms on these cables “needs to be fully understood“ since they are a strong backbone of the global internet infrastructure. “So, I think one intelligent way to do that would be to have instruments that can measure current surges in these undersea cables, and observe the variations of these current surges across a period of time wherein various geomagnetic storms of different scales have occured. Dr Nandi says. According to the Indian astrophysicist, known for his studies related to Solar Magnetic Cycle, the results from such experiments can be compared to understand what kind of impacts the strongest geomagnetic storms can have on undersea cables. The induced current is proportional to the voltage, and the electric field generated is equal to the voltage divided by the length over which the voltage is being used, he explains. “So when you have a larger length the voltage also scales to the length. And the current is directly proportional to the voltage and the current will also be proportional to the length,” Dr Nandi adds. Dr Jyothi concurs. She believes the induced voltage and current for the strongest storms could be much greater and may pose a threat to transocean internet cables. “Induced voltages are a better way to express the risk. Induced voltages for the strongest storms will be around 10X compared to moderate scale storms, so the current will be in that range,” she said.Engineers measure how much voltage variation a cable can take in V/km, and submarine cables are designed to handle about 0.1V/km. In 1989, during a moderate storm, 0.13 V/km was measured on a cable running under the Atlantic, and in 1958, during another moderate storm, 0.5 V/km was measured on another transatlantic cable. But these are not the voltage values recorded from the strongest CMEs. “With the strongest CMEs, 5-20V/km variations are expected. So it is orders of magnitude higher than what the cables are designed to handle,” Dr Jyothi adds. While currently, both long distance cables and communication satellites, which are integral to the global internet infrastructure could be vulnerable to CMEs, Dr Jyothi says there are several other solutions for temporary connectivity. “For example internet-powered drones or balloons like project Loon Google had, and there are also proposals for high altitude platform stations which are floating in the air and provide internet connectivity to larger areas. But we don’t have any solutions that can be readily deployed,” she says. There are also proposals in the US for inserting automatic shutdown to the ground connections at some of the transformer stations that would cut off the grounding connection, if there is a surge in electricity going through that ground point. However, for this experimental system to work as intended, Dr Love says there must be an apparatus to shut down the grounding connection at all the transformer stations simultaneously. This is because, if the grounding connection is temporarily cut off at one point, then the electricity would simply go through a different point. “And we’d all have to work simultaneously. So they’re experimenting with this, to see what would happen if you just did a little bit of it. And it’s still a work in progress, but it is expensive” Dr Love adds. Experts agree that there are still no comprehensive plans to prepare for such a space weather event. A US project, known as SWORM, organised through the White House brings together different federal agencies to try to address space global hazards. “They are not just worried for the power grid but also about losing communication satellites since we could lose a certain fraction of the communication and GPS satellites due to solar storms, you have,” Dr Love said. The bigger problem, according to Dr Hapgood, is finding out how all the pieces of known information fit together. “When you’ve got to put it all back together, how does everything interact? And often the overall response is not determined by the behavior of the elements, but by the interactions between them as well,” he said. In a recent study, Dr Hapgood and his team also caution that several scenarios following a solar superstorm may occur close together in time, with the need for government officials to prepare for the “ near-simultaneous occurrence of many different problems.” The scientists underscore the need for policy makers to consider how public behavior will play out during such severe space weather events. Dr Jyothi agrees, adding that there is an urgent need to better quantify the risks and then design solutions based on that. “We need better models. We know they are vulnerable but we don’t know the extent,” she added. Read More Bitcoin price flash crash triggers market-wide chaos – follow live Huge new iPhone update now available to download Bitcoin’s price is plunging dramatically Bitcoin could generate the weight of 128,000 grand pianos in wasted electronics When you can actually buy the iPhone 13 Apple Store goes down ahead of release of iPhone 13 View comments || Potentially Lost Bitcoin in Dormant Wallets Totals 34% of Supply, Says Glassnode: BeInCrypto –
The total amount of lost or long term held bitcoin is said to now be close to 34% of the current supply of bitcoin.
On-chain market analysis company Glassnode shows that the total amount of long term bitcoin holders or potentially lost bitcoin has reached 33.96%. The total amount is 7,131,084 bitcoin held in these wallets.
Source:Glassnode
The on-chain firm also recently highlighted that bitcoin exchange outflows have returned to a dominance of outflows through August as investors withdraw BTC. “The market has transitioned through a number of phases of exchange flow dominance over the last year, with outflow dominance last seen in late 2020,” the tweetstated.
This storywas seen first onBeInCryptoJoin our Telegram Groupand get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories likethisonBeInCrypto || TikTok Picks Streaming Service Audius to Power New ‘Sounds’ Library: Audius, a music streaming platform based on the Ethereum and Solana blockchains, is partnering with TikTok on the video-sharing app’s new “TikTok Sounds” library. The partnership is the first of its kind for TikTok, and aims to streamline TikTok’s current music upload and selection process. Audius users are now able to simply upload tracks and share them to TikTok, which Audius’s founders say takes less than a minute. Audius is the first streaming platform to allow direct sharing to TikTok, in a small coup for a music platform that only recently crossed the 5-million-user mark . Related: Twitter Picks Crypto Developer Jay Graber to Run Decentralized Social Media Wing An Audius spokesperson told CoinDesk that Roneil Rumburg and Forrest Browning, the platform’s founders, are “close with a few folks at TikTok and leaned on those prior friendships” as they went about partnering with the buzzy social platform. “We’re proud to be one of the earliest launch partners for TikTok Sounds and to give the artists on Audius a chance to increase their exposure even more,” Browning said in a press statement. Audius, which was founded in 2018, is now the largest decentralized consumer blockchain application, by some metrics. The platform boasts a roster of over 100,000 musicians including Skrillex and deadmau5. In July, Audius announced a partnership with the Solana Creator Fund to attract new artists to its platform. Related: Blockchain-Based Music Streaming Service Audius Up to 5M Monthly Users “Alongside our efforts with Solana to support creators entering the space, the TikTok integration increases the funnel of potential creators who can discover [Web 3] and crypto more broadly,” Rumburg told CoinDesk via email. Like TikTok, Audius does not currently pay royalties to artists using the platform to stream music but offers a platform to engage with fans and find listeners. TikTok, which now has over 1 billion monthly users, reported that 75% of its U.S. users find new artists via TikTok videos. “A very big step forward with this new feature,” said Guy Lawrence of Disclosure, an EDM duo that uses Audius to stream music. “Having the ability to share my uploads straight from Audius to TikTok is a real time saver.” The TikTok sharing feature went live on Monday for all Audius users. Related Stories Solana Woos Creators With $5M Fund for Artists and Musicians Bitcoin News Roundup for June 29, 2021 View comments
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 41564.36, 43790.89, 48116.94, 47711.49, 48199.95, 49112.90, 51514.81, 55361.45, 53805.98, 53967.85
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2019-02-12]
BTC Price: 3653.53, BTC RSI: 54.39
Gold Price: 1309.20, Gold RSI: 60.93
Oil Price: 53.10, Oil RSI: 52.45
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
AUD/USD and NZD/USD Fundamental Weekly Forecast US-China Trade Progress, U.S. Treasury Yields Big Influences This Week: The Australian and New Zealand Dollars posted solid gains last week despite giving back some of those gains late in the week. Strong domestic data and a dovish U.S. Federal Reserve were supportive early in the week. Optimism over the outcome of U.S.-China trade talks also helped generate some buying interest. However, robust U.S. jobs data and factory activity on Friday, drove up Treasury yields, making the U.S. Dollar a more attractive asset. Last week, the AUD/USD settled at .7247, up 0.0069 or +0.96% and the NZD/USD finished at .6893, up 0.0052 or +0.76%. Aussie Headline CPI Beats Forecast, but Core Misses RBA Target Band Australian consumer inflation beat forecasts last quarter, but core inflation ended 2018 below the central banks target band. This reaffirmed the view that interest rates will remain at record lows over the long-run. The headline consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.5 percent in the December quarter, surpassing forecasts for a 0.4 percent increase. Annual CPI inflation ran at 1.8 percent, again beating estimates. Key measures of underlying inflation favored by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) averaged around 1.75 percent for the year, in-line with forecast, according to Reuters. Reuters also reported that core inflation has now undershot the RBAs long-term target band of 2 percent to 3 percent for 12 straight quarters, the longest stretch since the series began. NZ Annual Trade Deficit Rises According to the press release from Statistics New Zealand, fuel imports rose sharply last year, driving up the annual trade deficit to $5.9 billion for the December 2018 year. The trade deficit for 2018 is the largest annual trade deficit since the October 2007 year. The largest deficit is equal to 10 percent of exports, compared with 17 percent in the October 2007 year. Both imports and exports were up for the December year, but the deficit has widened because imports have risen more. Annual imports for the year ended December 2018 reached a new high of $63.4 billion, up $6.9 billion (12 percent) from 2017. NZ December 2018 Trade Balance The monthly trade balance was a surplus of $264 million (4.8 percent of exports). In December 2017 there was a surplus of $614 million. For the December 2018 month, imports were up $323 million (6.6 percent) to $5.2 billion. Exports were little changed, down $27 million (0.5 percent) to $5.5 billion compared with December 2017. Dovish Fed Spikes Aussie, Kiwi Higher The Aussie and Kiwi strengthened last week shortly after the Fed left its benchmark interest rate unchanged as expected while delivering a dovish message in its monetary policy statement. Fed Chair Jerome Powell further fanned the dovish flames. Story continues The Federal Reserve said it will be patient when making decisions about future monetary policy. The central bank also removed reference to further gradual increases to the federal funds rate in its statement, a signal Aussie and Kiwi traders took to mean that it may slow the pace of interest rate increases in 2019. The Fed also left the benchmark overnight lending rate unchanged between a range of 2.25 percent and 2.5 percent at their January meeting. This move was widely expected. Commodity-Linked Currency Demand on US-China Trade Optimism The AUD/USD and NZD/USD hit their highs of the week as investors sought riskier currencies amid optimism the United States and China may reach a trade deal. The move was fueled by upbeat comments from President Trump. He said on Thursday he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping soon to try to seal a comprehensive trader deal as the top U.S. negotiator reported substantial progress in two days of high-level talks. NZ Boosted by S&P Upgrade Global ratings agency Standard & Poors has affirmed New Zealands AA sovereign credit rating, saying the new governments plans to lift spending will be a bigger contributor to growth in the future, but are funded through cancelled tax cuts and wont undermine the outlook. The ratings agency yesterday affirmed the AA foreign currency and AA+ local currency long-term sovereign credit ratings for New Zealand and maintained a stable outlook, saying the nation benefited from its flexible fiscal and monetary policies, resilient economy and stable public policies. S&P anticipates real economic growth of 2.8 percent between 2018 and 2020 driven by cheap credit, a larger population and increased government spending, with consumer spending and business investment likely to stay firm. U.S. Dollar Supported by Robust U.S. Jobs Report, Factory Data The AUD/USD and NZD/USD lost ground at the end of the week, but remained higher for the week. Prices were pressured by a combination of a robust payrolls report and strong manufacturing data from the U.S. Weekly Forecast This week, AUD/USD and NZD/USD investors are likely to continue to monitor the progress of U.S.-China trade talks. Positive developments should be supportive. We could see pressure from Fridays blowout jobs report. If this news continues to drive Treasury yields higher, then look for the U.S. Dollar to become a more desirable investment. The overall direction of the AUD/USD and NZD/USD this week will once again be determined by Treasury yields and investor appetite for risk. Traders will also keep an eye on economic data from China in light of the weakening economy. The main influence on the Australian and New Zealand Dollars over the mid-term will be the dovish Fed policy. This could provide some support. However, over the short-run we are going to see periodic price adjustments in reaction to U.S. economic data. Bullish economic data will increase the chances of a Fed rate hike so this could provide resistance for the AUD/USD and NZD/USD. This weeks major report is ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI. It is expected to come in at 57.0, slightly below the previously reported 57.6. Given Fridays blowout ISM Manufacturing PMI data, I wouldnt be surprised if this number beats the forecast. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak on Wednesday night. Hes actually in a tough position because the labor market data points toward a strong economy after he told investors last Wednesday that the case for rate increases had weakened in recent weeks. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Price of Gold Fundamental Weekly Forecast Strong U.S. Economic Data May Put Short-Term Cap on Prices Bitcoin Cash ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis 04/02/19 Live Market Trading Strategies Webinar February 05 Oil Price Fundamental Weekly Forecast Moving Closer Toward Better Balanced Supply Situation Gold Price Futures (GC) Technical Analysis February 4, 2019 Forecast The Greenback is on the Move, with Stats on the Lighter Side Today View comments || The Big Short: Former IMF Economist Finally Closes Year-Old Bitcoin Short: A year ago today, Bitcoin peaked at $19,511.
Former International Monetary Fund economist and Pharo Senior Risk TraderMark Dowmade an unpopular bet not long thereafter: Bitcoin would not sustain its growth and the price would slip from there. He entered a short position and rode his intuition all the way to the bank, finally closing the position today. A big part of his intuition was the launch of Bitcoin futures trading.
Dow wrote a sort of guide on shorting Bitcoin around the time he’d opened his position. Not quite a week after the peak, hewrote:
First, bitcoin is volatile. It’s annualized volatility is over 100%, implying daily moves up or down of over 6%. Second, bitcoin exchanges are open 24/7, but bitcoin futures follow regular Globex hours. Third, the exchanges have integrity risk (e.g. Mt Gox) and the futures have 20% collars. These last two factors increase gap/discontinuous pricing risk for those who trade the futures, even though I suspect these factors represent more risk for long positions in bitcoin futures than for short ones.
He told Bloomberg that he’s already taken profits twice this year on the position, but now he has finally decided to close it altogether. He didn’t comment on whether this is because he sees an upswing coming. He said:
I’m done. I don’t want to try to ride this thing to zero. I don’t want to try to squeeze more out of the lemon. I don’t want to think about it. It seemed like the right time.
Dow frequently refers to Bitcoin as “faith-based.” He saidto Bloombergthat the reason for last year’s bubble was largely people “believ[ing] the narrative” and that a failure on the part of many traders to actually understand the underlying technology lead to a “more violent” bubble.
Erstwhile,Mike Novogratzfeels that a gradual demand pressure is building in Bitcoin, telling Bloomberg that there was a “monster correction” which is “over.”
His conviction level remains “high.” He pointed to the dot com bubble, saying that both the Bitcoin bubble and the Dot Com bubble were based on “something real.” He made the point that the Internet has changed the world in many ways.
CCN’sown chart analysisshows that BTC/USD will either break out and head on another bull run soon or careen off the edge, given the Doji pattern presented in recent charts.
Featured image from Shutterstock. Mark Dow photograph from LinkedIn.
The postThe Big Short: Former IMF Economist Finally Closes Year-Old Bitcoin Shortappeared first onCCN. || Better Buy: Bitcoin Investment Trust vs. Bitcoin (BTC): Bitcoin (BTC-USD), the largest cryptocurrency in the world by market cap, has delivered dismal returns for investors over the past year or so. Since peaking at nearly $20,000 in December 2017, bitcoin has lost more than 82% of its value.
However, there's still a valid long-term investment case to be made. There are still experts who believe that bitcoin will be adopted as a currency on a wide-scale, and others say that it could become a widely used store of value, similar to gold. As I wrote in a2017 article, bitcoin could rise dramatically in price even if its value eventually became equal to just a few percent of the world's money supply. While I don't think it's particularly likely, it's entirely possible for bitcoin to rise to a six-figure value at some point.
Image source: Getty Images.
Obviously, this is a simplified version of the bitcoin investment case. However, whatever your reasoning for wanting to buy it, bitcoin is a highly speculative investment. I wouldn't suggest usinganymoney to buy bitcoin or any bitcoin-based investments like the Bitcoin Investment Trust that I'm about to discuss, unless you're prepared to lose it.
That said, there are a couple of main ways you can add bitcoin to your investment portfolio. Obviously, you can buy and own bitcoin tokens directly through an exchange like Coinbase, or you can invest indirectly by buying shares of a company that owns bitcoins, such as theBitcoin Investment Trust(NASDAQOTH: GBTC).
As of early 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission has yet to approve a singlebitcoin ETF. So, people who want to own bitcoin, but don't want to directly purchase the cryptocurrency, are rather limited in their options.
In fact, the closest thing to a bitcoin ETF in the market is the Bitcoin Investment Trust. It's a company (not an ETF) that owns bitcoins, and shares of the company are traded on the public market. In other words, the shareholders of the Bitcoin Investment Trust effectively own the company's bitcoins, as they make up virtually all of its assets.
There are two main downsides to investing in the Bitcoin Investment Trust as opposed to simply buying bitcoin directly. First is the ongoing management fee. The Greyscale Investment Trust, which operates the Bitcoin Investment Trust, charges a 2% annual management fee. This is high by anyone's mutual fund or ETF standards and means that investors will slowly "own" fewer bitcoins over time.
Second, and even more significantly, shares of the Bitcoin Investment Trust trade at ahugepremium to the value of the bitcoins they represent. As of the latest available information, each share of the company represents ownership of 0.00099063 bitcoin. While the price of bitcoin (and the Bitcoin Investment Trust) obviously fluctuates over time, here's how the math works out at the exact moment I'm writing this: The Bitcoin Investment Trust trades for $4.20 per share. Bitcoin tokens trade for $3,588. Multiplying by the factor in the last paragraph shows an asset value for the Bitcoin Investment Trust of approximately $3.55. So, shares trade at a hefty 18% premium over the value of bitcoin they represent.
To be clear, I'm not a big fan of cryptocurrencies as an investment vehicle. The industry is simply too young, and I'd compare investing in a particular cryptocurrency to investing in a tech start-up in the late 1990s -- sure, there's a chance that some of them will make it, but the vast majority of cryptocurrencies on the market are likely heading to zero. And don't think that bitcoin will automatically come out on top because of its first-mover advantage and the fact that it's the largest one. It certainly has a better chance of success than most, but it's far from a sure thing.
Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology certainly have lots of potential to transform industries (not just the way we use money), so my preferred way to invest is to own stocks of companies withrock-solid businessesthat also stand to benefit from the long-term evolution of these technologies.
Having said that, if you're determined to buy one of these, I'd say that owning bitcoin directly is the better idea. Purchasing bitcoin on an exchange, such as Coinbase, has become far more user-friendly and secure in recent years, so you might as well save yourself the premium and fees of the Bitcoin Investment Trust.
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Matthew Frankel, CFPhas no position in any of the stocks or cryptocurrencies mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks or cryptocurrencies mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Hope For a Bitcoin ETF Burns Eternal: This article was originally published onETFTrends.com.
After a slew of disappointments, hope for an exchange traded fund linked to bitcoin remains persistent. A recent solicitation from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is stoking speculation among crypto market observers that a bitcoin ETF could come to life.
“Just days after Cboe resubmitted its proposal in support of the Van Eck and Solid X Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States has urged businesses to offer data and information regarding the common blockchains to ensure that 'there is no loss in data completeness and accuracy due to the data transformation tools and processes applied,'”reports FXStreet.
Some digital currency market observers have long viewed U.S. approval of a bitcoin ETF as pivotal to increased adoption of the cryptocurrency.
In 2018, bitcoin shed almost 80% of its value. Among the issues plaguing bitcoin; last year were the ongoing unwillingness of U.S. regulators to approve bitcoin-related exchange traded funds as well as data indicating that mainstream acceptance and adoption of the digital currency are declining.
“Provide blockchain data to support the SEC’s efforts to monitor risk, improve compliance, and inform Commission policy with respect to digital assets. The SEC is seeking information for potential sources to support the goal of acquiring data for the most widely used blockchain ledgers, including the universe of available information and transaction details,” according to the SEC solicitation.
To date, U.S. regulators have consistently rejected efforts by ETF issuers to bring bitcoin-related ETFs to market.
Last year, the SEC rejected the applications, preventing the digital currency from gaining more acceptance from investors who are wary of the unregulated exchanges of cryptocurrencies. The SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets rejected applications from investment firms ProShares, Direxion and GraniteShares.
Some crypto market observers view the recent SEC solicitation as a positive step toward getting a bitcoin ETF to come to market.
“Most people are interpreting this step as a significant direction towards the approval of the first Bitcoin ETF in the United States. Bitcoin and the entire market have been in the red for the longest time in history. A correction is required in order to see the market recover after hitting year lows in 2018 as well as 2018. An influx of fresh funds from institutional investors is expected to ignite a reversal in the prices of assets,” reports FXStreet.
For more information on the cryptocurrency market, visit theBitcoin category.
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READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Gold Price Prediction – Gold Rallies as the Dollar Continues to Slide: Gold prices continued to break out as the dollar eased and US yields moved lower. The 10-year US yields tumbled to 2.56% the lowest since January of 2018. With the yield differential moving against the greenback, both the euro and the yen gained ground. This came despite better than expected private payrolls reported by ADP which was offset by a stronger than expected ISM manufacturing report which tumbled. Technical Analysis Gold prices are on the move, breaking out above the 1,291 level, and poised to test target resistance near the June 2018 highs at 1,303. Support on the yellow metal is seen near the 20-day moving average ate 1,256 and then again the 50-day moving average at 1,236. Momentum is positive as the MACD (moving average convergence divergence) histogram is printing in the black with an upward sloping trajectory which points to higher prices. The fast stochastic is in overbought territory printing a reading of 94, above the overbought trigger level of 80 which could foreshadow a correction. {alt} Private payrolls increased by 271,000 in December, according to ADP beating expectations that jobs would increase by 178,000.. The increase in private payrolls was the largest climb in nearly 2-years and increased the 2018-month average of private payroll gains to 203,000. The report showed the increase in jobs was mainly drive by professional and business services which increased by a solid 66,000 while education and health services contributed 61,000 and leisure and hospitality added 39,000. In all, service-related industries were responsible for 224,000 of the new hires, while goods producers rose by 47,000. This include an increase in construction which grew by 37,000 and manufacturing added 12,000. Natural resources and mining lost 2,000 positions. Claims Rose More than Expected Initial claims rose 10,000 to 231,000 for the week ended Dec. 29, according to the Labor Department. Expectations were for claims to increase to 220,000 in the latest week. Data for the prior week was revised higher to show 5,000 more applications received than previously reported. The four-week moving average of the so-called continuing claims rose 26,000 to 1.70 million. Story continues This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Natural Gas Price Forecast – natural gas markets plumbing again GBP/USD Price Forecast – British pound continues to churn Trading plan for January 4 Gold Price Futures (GC) Technical Analysis – January 3, 2019 Forecast Natural Gas Price Prediction – Gas Prices Hold Just Above Support Bitcoin – The Bears are in Control, Supported by the Proof of Keys Event || Bitcoin: Developer Explains Why a Multi-Asset Lightning Network Might Not Work: bitcoin lightning network crypto cryptocurrency blockchain A contributor to the Lightning Network codebase who goes by the name ZmnSCPxj recently wrote a reasoned post to the Lightning Development mailing list detailing what he views as a limitation of the network, which is considered by many to represent the future of Bitcoin scaling and adoption. The identity of ZmnSCPxj is not known. As they describe on their website , they prefer to be judged by the merits of their work. The randomly generated Internet person does insist that they are not Craig S. Wright, Luke-Jr, or Tom Elvis Jedusor . As they point out, their identity is truly immaterial. After all, they arent asking for money or making claims that can be only believed if their identity is proven (as was the case with Craig S. Wrights claims of being Satoshi Nakamoto.) ZmnSCPxj has asserted that the use of Lightning Network to make seamless mulit-asset conversions is limited by its technical design at present. He discusses the ability of Lightning Channels to be used for American Call Options, and points out that this essentially will be problematic in situations where the value of traded assets changes significantly during trade windows. The root cause of this significant technical barrier is the use of hashlocked timelocked contracts to route payments. [
] [I]f cross-asset exchange nodes on Lightning Network exist, they will be exploited to create risk-free American Call Options. They will find that significant liquidity will be tied up in such American Call Options, and find that they will lose funds especially at times of volatility. He spends a lot of time discussing the various scenarios where hashlocked timelocked contracts can function as American Call Options , and concludes that the problem with this is that across assets, the ability of HTLCs to create American Call Options becomes troublesome. American Call Options A Potential Weakness in Cross-Asset Transfers The reason for this is that traders can take advantage of existing contracts when rates change. This will ultimately make Lightning Channels an undesirable way to transact various assets. Obviously, the problem doesnt exist when a single asset such as Bitcoin is being transacted. But, as he concludes: Story continues Further, because Lightning UX would be degraded otherwise, payment failures are free (gratis), leading to the American Call Options also being free of premium. This means that creating such options would be riskless, allowing potential earnings upon any strong volatility of exchange rates. [
] This implies that a multi-asset Lightning Network may not be economically viable. Instead, Lightning Network would strongly prefer having a single asset across the network. ZmnSCPxjs most recent pull request for Lightning was just a few weeks ago. This is to say: he is a relatively active developer and his words carry validity and importance. While he doesnt say it in his letter to the other developers, it would seem that the point of making the observation is that, if Lightning Network ultimately wants to handle multiple assets say Bitcoin and Litecoin within channels as a function of its offering, then it will have to develop in such a way that allows for it. The present situation will prove unworkable. One solution might be to make it cost the user to have payment failures. Another might be to use a different or even entirely new mechanism to handle such transactions. Fellow developer Tamas Blummer responded : Although there is no escape from above reasoning, a market maker could still be profitable as long as the option is worth less than the bid-ask spread. Therefore the issue does not mean that LN cross asset exchange is not feasible, but that there is lower bound on bid-ask spread, that of the option premium. Ultimately, Lightning Network is just one second-layer scaling option for the Bitcoin network. If the Bitcoin of the future is to handle multi-asset swaps, it seems likely that products specifically geared toward this will be developed, perhaps with the input of Lightning Developers or by the developers themselves. Images from from Shutterstock. The post Bitcoin: Developer Explains Why a Multi-Asset Lightning Network Might Not Work appeared first on CCN . || UK Crypto Liquidity Provider Receives Financial Regulator's Approval: Disclaimer: This article has been updated to note that regulated crypto CFDs have previously been available in the U.K. United Kingdom crypto liquidity startup B2C2 OTC Ltd. has received approval from the country’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on Wednesday, Jan. 30, according to a record in the FCA’s register. A separate press release notes that B2C2, which also provides electronic over-the-counter ( OTC ) trading, can now offer contracts for difference (CFDs) to eligible counterparties and professional clients. Such licenses are not unique or exclusive to crypto-related companies and allow recipients to offer traditional CFDs, in addition to crypto-based ones. B2C2’s licensure follows that of other crypto-focused companies, including IG, CMC Markets and crypto trading platform eToro, which has been FCA-regulated since 2013. While the licensure is not a first, it is notable in that more crypto-related financial instruments are becoming available to investors. The development has been covered by crypto and finance media such as Bitcoin Magazine and Finance Magnates. The firm’s co-founder, Max Boonen, believes the acceptance of the license will allow investors to gain exposure to cryptocurrency markets while avoiding the risks associated with crypto custody. Moreover, the FCA may compensate customers in case the company fails, as can been seen from the text of the registry record. As Cointelegraph reported earlier in January, the FCA recently released a consultation paper titled “Guidance on Cryptoassets.” In the paper, the regulator describes several ways to treat cryptocurrencies: digital assets could be considered “Specified Investments” under the UK Regulated Activities Order (RAO) or “Financial Instruments” regulated by the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II. The FCA also mentions in the paper that such assets could be regulated by E-Money Regulations or Payment Services Regulations. Prior to that, the FCA had announced in December 2018 that it was investigating 18 companies over cryptocurrency use under the freedom of information laws. In October, the U.K. FCA had also noted that they were considering banning cryptocurrency-based derivatives, as they currently fall under the FCA’s regulatory perimeter and thus requires its official authorization. The FCA stated at the time that they will launch a consultation in early 2019 on the matter. In November, the financial regulator issued a statement to investors warning them of the high-risks of investing in crypto CFDs. And in November, the FCA announced that they were also considering banning crypto futures as part of their general industry response. Story continues Related Articles: Swiss Wallet Firm to Produce Physical Banknotes for Marshall Islands Digital Currency Bank of England Adviser: Cryptocurrencies Fail Basic Financial Tests, Lack Value Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Still Believes Bitcoin Will Be Internet’s Currency Wyoming Passes Bill to Recognize Cryptocurrencies as Money View comments || Newsflash: Bitcoin Price Surging Beyond $4,100 in Extended Buying Action: Bitcoin price is surging above the psychological resistance of $4,100 in an extended buying action.
TheBitcoin/Dollar raterose to $4100 on Coinbase between 9-10 am UTC – a level that was breached to the downside during the December 3 trading session. The pair, around the same time, was trading at a prime rate of $4197 on BitFinex. The overall rebound is promising to reinstate bullish faith in the market that just witnessed a crash to a yearly low near $3100. The price since has surged an impressive 29% while the bitcoin market capitalization has also jumped to its two-week high of circa $70 billion.
There is no fundamental evidence that backs the ongoing upside momentum. Nevertheless, the more it goes up, the better it has the probability to confirm the area around $3127 as the new bottom. Interestingly, the jump coincided with a major macroeconomic event in the US. The Federal Reserve on Wednesday increased the interest rate as expected, sending shivers across the US stock market that plunged hugely. Bitcoin remained unaffected by the unnerving mainstream price action, and maintained its bullish call, nevertheless.
On technical merits, the Bitcoin/Dollar rate is doing what it is supposed to do: recovering from its oversold territory after staying there for a relatively larger time. As predicted inour previous analysis, we are looking at the formation of an inverse head and shoulder and there is a likelihood of many long positions to call exit at this level. Nevertheless, those with more bullish expectations for bitcoin must be clearly eyeing $4414 – the resistance level from November 29 trading session- as their primary upside target, followed by a go at the 50-period moving average.
The prevailing bearish sentiment still lingers over the bitcoin market, given we are inside a bearish flag formation, an indicator that suggests the continuation of selling after moderate rebound actions.
The bitcoin surge is also closely followed by the altcoin market, with Bitcoin Cash leading the session high with an impressive 40% jump, followed by Bitcoin SV and Ethereum that have surged 7% each. Ripple, EOS and Stellar have achieved new highs with a circa 5% jump.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The postNewsflash: Bitcoin Price Surging Beyond $4,100 in Extended Buying Actionappeared first onCCN. || Markets suffer worst year since global financial crisis: By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) - Traders will be glad to see the back of 2018. Nearly $7 trillion has been wiped off world stocks, emerging markets have been trampled flat by a charging dollar and even gold and U.S. government bonds have lost money. A grisly combination of U.S.-China trade tensions, central banks turning off the money taps and cooling growth in former hot spots has wiped 10 percent off MSCI's 47-country world stocks index -- its first double-digit loss in any year since the 2008 global financial crisis. Many places have fared far worse. Top Chinese shares have fallen 25 percent into 'bear' territory, export bellwether Germany (.GDAXI) has shed 16 percent, and Turkey and Argentina have led emerging markets losses, down 45 and 50 percent respectively. Add in a wild 35 percent plunge in oil prices (LCOc1) since September, rises in Italian, Greek and now French borrowing costs that show euro zone worries remain alive, and a full scale cryptocurrency collapse, and it has been unequivocally brutal. "After 10 years of low interest rates and quantitative easing I think we have to understand how some of this leverage in the market can unwind," said Allianz Global Investors fund manager and global strategist Neil Dwane. "What was a virtuous circle on the way up can become a vicious one on the way down." A fair bit of the year's pain has stemmed from swift move up in U.S. interest rates and a pumped-up dollar (.DXY), which has had its best year in three years. As a result, the euro (EUR=), pound (GBP=), Canadian and Aussie dollars (CAD=)(AUD=) and Swedish crown (SEK=) have all lost between 5 and 10 percent and though the Japanese yen (JPY=) comes out largely unscathed, emerging markets certainly haven't. Argentina's peso (ARS=) and Turkey's lira (TRY=) have slumped 50 and 30 percent, while India's rupee (IDR=), South Africa's rand (ZAR=), Brazil's real (BRL=) and Russia's rouble (RUB=) are all down between 10 to 15 percent. China's yuan (CNYUSD=R) is in the red for a fourth year in five. Story continues Emerging market shares meanwhile have haemorrhaged almost 17 percent (.MSCIEF) and JP Morgan's EM local currency bond index has lost nearly 8 percent. http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh Dalton Investments emerging market portfolio manager Pedro Zevallos said the big falls meant many markets, including China were now cheap. "But right now it honestly feels like catching a falling knife." "And my concern going into next year is that the dollar will continue to strengthen." (Graphic) Global markets in 2018 - https://tmsnrt.rs/2R8CUd7 TECH PROBLEMS As well as the escalation in global trade tensions this year there has been the realisation among investors that the big central banks aren't thinking about stimulating the economy anymore -- they're trying to rebuild their arsenals in case of recession. But the year hasn't been a complete write-off everywhere. While the S&P 500 and Dow Wall Street bellwethers are down the most since 2008, at around 5 percent their losses aren't too bad, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq (.NDX) is clinging on for its 10th consecutive year of gains. The FAANGs (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google) have had rollercoaster year. As a group, they are ending 2018 worth roughly $2.8 trillion -- more or less where they started it, but down some $800 billion or 24 percent from their late August peak. There has been a big parting of the ways too. While Amazon (AMZN.O) and Netflix (NFLX.O) have surged 33 and 45 percent, repeated scandals over data misuse and fake news propagation have slashed 19 percent off Facebook (FB.O) shares. Asia's equivalent BAT group, made up of Badia , Alibaba (BABA.K) and Tencent , have all down somewhere between 18 and 25 percent. (Graphic) Falling FAANGs value - https://tmsnrt.rs/2A68ApE CRYPTOCOLLAPSE With China also the biggest consumer of industrial commodities, its misfiring economy has contributed to the respective 17 and 23 percent declines in the price of copper (CMCU3) and zinc (CMZN3), used in things like pipes and galvanised steel. The big cryptocollapse has seen Bitcoin (BTC=BTSP) crash 72 percent. There are now over 2,000 other digital currencies in circulation but their value has plummeted to $128 billion from over $800 billion in January. But even traditional safe-havens have failed to provide much in the way of protection. Another four U.S. interest hikes have cost Treasury bond holders nearly 2 percent despite a better last few months and the euro's fall puts German Bunds down 2.3 percent in dollar terms. Gold is 4 percent less precious. Italy's government bonds meanwhile have plunged 9 percent after an anti-establishment government took charge in Rome and the European Central Bank confirmed its huge bond-buying programme will end this year. "The question as we look into 2019 and 2020 is how much worse the trade/tech cold war and Brexit get," Allianz's Dwayne said. "That could tells us that maybe we are not going to see a traditional downturn but a significant one." (Graphic) Currencies versus the dollar in 2018 - https://tmsnrt.rs/2SfI3O4 (Graphic) Submerging markets - https://tmsnrt.rs/2R7FvnL (Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Catherine Evans) || Bitcoin Price Rejects Doji as US Session Takes Charge, Rises 8%: Bitcoin priceon Tuesday waslooking to correct lower after forming a Doji candlestick. But the US session somewhat saved the day.
The Bitcoin/Dollar rate on Wednesday has extended its upside momentum, rising circa 8% on a 24-hour timeframe, according to CoinMarketCap.com. The pair today established a fresh intraday high towards 3927-fiat on Coinbase during the mid-European session after finding more firm support in 3450-3500 area. Reminding that it isn’t exactly a dream bull run yet – not unless bitcoin price surpasses key resistance areas lurking at its 50-period and 100-period moving average resistances on a daily chart.
TheBitcoin/Dollar priceupside action reignited during a US session that somewhat drags the performance of the US Dollar into the picture. The greenback fell against its significant quoted assets on Wednesday in another response to the Fed’s slower pace of interest rate hikes. We havepreviously predictedthat a sluggish interest rate hike could be useful for stocks and gold markets, hinting that cryptocurrencies like bitcoin could also witness dollar holders moving their positions into its “safe haven”.
The Bitcoin/Dollar rate is trending inside a bear flag while eyeing a potential inverse head and shoulder breakout. We have two possibilities as the pair trends ahead. The first one is a reversal that could see the pair test support near the 100-period moving average or form a double bottom at 3127-fiat in an extended selling action. The second possibility is an extended upside run towards 4414-fiat upon breaking the intermediate resistance at 4038-fiat. The latter would establish an inverse H&S while a breakout above 4414-fiat will fix the next target at 4750-fiat or less.
The Relative Strength Index, meanwhile, is looking to rebound from its overbought area towards 63, its previous support.
According to our intraday strategy, the parameter we are in is defined by 3751-fiat as support and 3927-fiat as resistance. On a first green candle formation on hourly charts, we will open a long position towards 3927-fiat. As we do, we’ll maintain a stop loss order just 1-pip below our opening position.
Similarly, a selling action at this point in time would have us wait for Bitcoin/Dollar to test 3751-fiat as potential support. If the price bounces back, then we’ll repeat our long position strategy towards 3927-fiat. If not, we’ll switch to our breakdown strategy and open a new short position towards 3683-fiat, our interim downside target.
Looking to the upside, a breakout action above 3927-fiat will have us enter a long position towards 4038-fiat. A stop-loss maintained just 1-pips below the entry position would define our risk management strategy.
Trade safe!
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The postBitcoin Price Rejects Doji as US Session Takes Charge, Rises 8%appeared first onCCN.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Per dire il Bitcoin è passato da 10 mila € a 3 mila in 6 mesi, sarebbe ingestibile usarlo senza un ente che faccia da garante sul valore. E poi di chi sarebbe la proprietà di questa criptovaluta? Del cittadino?di una banca pubblica? || #AtomicSwap soon switch your #bitcoin to #electracoin for much cheaper very fast transactions on your #ElectraPay card @coinstar is going to be huge for #crypto #massadoption.
#BTC & #ECA has #NOCEO New laws maybe no taxes ? #dyorhttps://www.coinstar.com/bitcoin || #cryptocurrency Price Analysis for #Bitsend #BSD :
Last Hour Change : -0.97 % || 17-12-2018 00:00
Price in #USD : 0.0623563691 || Price in #EUR : 0.0551701093
New Price in #Bitcoin #BTC : 0.00001909 || #Coin Rank 622 || Bitcoin whales have a new tool going into this year's tax season: http://on.forbes.com/6016EPZe0 by DelRayManpic.twitter.com/QTVLasRNam || Bitcoin Nears $3,750 as Top Cryptos See Moderate Gains https://blog.cryptoassethome.com/bitcoin-nears-3750-as-top-cryptos-see-moderate-gains/ … ---
Saturday, Jan. 19 — all the top 20 cryptocurrencies are seeing slight to moderate gains in the 24 hours to press time. Bitcoin’s (BTC) ... pic.twitter.com/SWJDVvCKTM || BTCの日足チャート。今朝方に一時期3,600ドル台に下落したビットコインさんなんとか盛り返し3,700ドル台をキープ。それにしても見事に雲の下を這うように推移中。★6に向けてまっしぐら！ pic.twitter.com/Zo30wTcqSs || 速報!CZ氏,日本に…!?仮想通貨取引所バイナンスが新たに…暴落気味のビットコインBTC,イーサリアムETH価格への影響は?リップルXRPは…2019年1月2月最新ニュース!最前線暗号通貨最新情報 http://kasoutukanohanashi.gurugurugurume.com/?p=6330 pic.twitter.com/KkoXPnJMTc || por favor dame agua
32yyeXCAqrxbKMvSDP9ymib64wJfB8GUbe
#Bitcoin
#Ayudame || The Pirate Bay gets it
http://ElixiumCrypto.com/32/
Register Now & Start Buying & Selling Cryptocurrency
#Crypto #Cryptocurrency #Bitcoin #BTC #Ethereum #ETH #Ripple #XRP #EOS #Stellar #Litecoin #LTC #Cardano #Monero #TRON #IOTA #Dash #Tezospic.twitter.com/GblvyFfUsL || #crypto mkt cap last hour
$BTC +12.463m
$BSV +4.495m
$ETC +2.902m
$XRP -27.731m
$ETH -21.097m
$TRX -6.995m
#bitcoin #cryptocurrency
|
Trend: up || Prices: 3632.07, 3616.88, 3620.81, 3629.79, 3673.84, 3915.71, 3947.09, 3999.82, 3954.12, 4005.53
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
New York approves Ripple Lab's application for bitcoin license: By Patrick Rucker and Suzanne Barlyn WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New York state's financial regulator on Monday approved a license for bitcoin company Ripple Labs Inc, allowing it to offer digital currency services in the state. The New York State Department of Financial Services said the company had cleared a review of anti-money laundering, capitalization, consumer protection, and cyber-security standards. "DFS is pleased to continue to foster the growth of the New York virtual currency marketplace," Acting Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria T. Vullo said in a statement. Bitcoin is a Web-based "cryptocurrency" that enables users to move money around the world quickly and anonymously without the need for third-party verification. Despite being championed by some as the digital money of the future, it is often dismissed as a currency that is too volatile to invest in. Ripple's service and currency, known as XRP, is for financial institutions and companies, such as banks, that provide liquidity for foreign exchanges. Last year, New York became the first U.S. state to issue extensive rules for virtual currency companies. The guidelines, aimed at consumer protection and prevention of money laundering, require companies to obtain what is known in the state as a "BitLicense." Ripple filed for the license under its corporate name, XRP II LLC, a venture backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Google Ventures and IDG Capital Partners. (Reporting By Patrick Rucker and Suzanne Barlyn; Editing by Alan Crosby) || Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to add ether currency to trading platform: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said on Thursday it will add digital currency ether on its trading platform next Tuesday.
The addition of ether comes given the surge in interest in the digital asset among major financial institutions such as Barclays [BARCR.UL] and UBS [UBSAG.UL] as well as other enterprises worldwide like IBM, which are trying to explore the Ethereum network.
Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public ledger that can create decentralized applications. Ethereum, which uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically without the need for intermediaries, was co-founded and invented by 22-year old Russian Canadian programer Vitalik Buterin.
"We're very excited about Ethereum. There has been a ton of progress made in the last six to nine months," said Adam White, vice president of business development at Coinbase in an interview with Reuters. "We have seen hundreds of emerging decentralized apps (applications) launched on Ethereum."
He added that bitcoin cannot mirror Ethereum's "scripting language," so both bitcoin and ether can co-exist and will not necessarily compete with each other.
Coinbase also plans to change the name of its platform to GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange), said White. The name Coinbase, however, will be retained for its retail service such as exchanging dollars for bitcoin or ether, he added.
Coinbase, widely believed to be the largest bitcoin-focused company in terms of investment, will offer ether/dollar and ether/bitcoin currency pairs on GDAX. The name change was made because the company will add more digital assets for trading on its exchange, White said.
According to coinmarketcap.com, ether is trading at $14.28 late on Thursday, with a market capitalization of about $1.1 billion, the second largest behind bitcoin. Bitcoin currently has a market cap of $6.9 billion. Daily volume for ether is around $48 million, while average daily volume for bitcoin is $87.2 million.
At the beginning of the year, ether traded at just $1 per token and it is the fastest-rising digital currency.
White said ether will be available on GDAX in most states except New York because Coinbase is still in the process of applying for a license in the state.
Coinbase's move to add ether trading to its currency exchange platform came after New York approved the application of Gemini Trust Company, founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, to trade ether on its exchange.
"What's powerful about ethereum is that I can write self-executing contracts and I can run them on Ethereum and it's not on any central server or computer," said White.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernard Orr) || Bitcoin spikes as yuan hits five-and-a-half year low on Brexit: The price of global cryptocurrencybitcoin(: BTC=)spiked on Friday as the yuan dipped after Britain voted to leave the European Union.
Bitcoin moves are often counter-linked to the yuan because the majority of trade in the cryptocurrency comes from China. The yuan hit a five-and-a-half-year low on Friday, while the price of bitcoin jumped around 8.7 percent from the day's opening price, hitting highs of around $680.19, according to Coindesk which tracks the price of the cryptocurrency.
"We are seeing trading volumes almost $100 million traded in the past 24 hours, it's two or three times compared to a slow day," Bobbly Lee, chief executive of BTCC, one of the largest bitcoin exchanges in the world based in China, told CNBC by phone on Friday.
The value of bitcoin continues to be volatile. On Thursday, itplunged 25 percentsince hitting a two-and-a-half year high on June 17 of $774.94. It is still not back at that level.
But it's important to note that Brexit is just oneamong several factorsthat have affected the bitcoin price in recent times. Sentiment was dampened when earlier this week, Hong Kong-based bitcoin exchange Bitfinex was closed for a few hours because of "networking issues" in the company's data center, it said on Twitter. The issues were fixed on the same day.
"The correction from a day or two ago had more to do with a technical correction that it did with Brexit," Lee said.
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• Personal Finance || EU proposes stricter rules on Bitcoin, prepaid cards in terrorism fight: By Foo Yun Chee
STRASBOURG (Reuters) - The European Commission proposed on Tuesday stricter rules on the use of virtual currencies and prepaid cards in a bid to reduce anonymous payments and curb the financing of terrorism.
Virtual currency exchange platforms will have to increase checks on the identities of people exchanging virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin, for real currencies and report suspicious transactions.
Under the Commission's proposals the threshold for making anonymous payments with pre-paid cards was lowered to 150 euros ($167.28) from 250 euros.
"Member states will be able to get and share vital information about who really owns companies or trusts, who is dealing in online currencies, and who is using pre-paid cards," EU Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said.
Following attacks in Paris last November by Islamic State militants the EU executive said it would step up measures to cut off terrorists' access to funds.
French authorities have proved that pre-paid cards were used by the Paris attackers.
Prepaid cards are issued by a wide range of operators including banks using major networks, such as Visa and MasterCard. They are different from debit and credit cards because they need to be loaded before payments can be made, but can carry substantial amounts of money.
MasterCard said it supported the Commission's objective of strengthening the security of prepaid cards while ensuring that people less well-off could still use them.
The proposed higher controls on virtual currencies and pre-paid cards "are important in tackling black market and terrorist financing", said Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of tax at ACCA, which represents the interests of the accountancy sector.
The Commission proposed increasing the amount of checks banks have to carry out on financial flows from risky third countries, namely states with poor anti-money laundering rules and difficulties countering terrorism financing.
In a bid to end tax evasion after the publication in April of the Panama Papers - which revealed widespread tax avoidance practices by wealthy individuals - the Commission also proposed rules requiring the beneficial owners of trusts to be recorded in registers that in many cases will be accessible to the public.
Existing and new accounts will be subject to due diligence controls and the Commission will look into finding effective ways for each member state to share information on beneficial owners of companies and trusts.
"These proposals for public registers will be welcomed by citizens and anti-corruption activists who want to follow the trail of dirty money," Laure Brillaud, Transparency International EU policy officer, said.
"However, we are concerned that it will be all too easy to evade being on the registers in the first place by gaming the rules on trusts. By simply nominating a non-EU resident as a trustee the secrecy can carry on as before," she added.
Tuesday's proposals will need to be approved by the EU Parliament and EU states before they become law.
(Writing by Julia Fioretti and Ines Kagubare; editing by Susan Thomas) || A Surprising Post-Brexit Currency ETF Idea: A predictable result of last week’s stunning decision is that, at least in the near-term, investors are likely to bolster their affinity for safe-haven assets.
At the currency level, that can include exchange traded products such as the PowerShares DB U.S. Dollar Index Bullish Fund (UUP) , which tracks the price movement of the U.S. dollar against a basket of currencies, including the euro, Japanese yen, British pound, Canadian dollar, Swedish krona and Swiss franc.
The red hot CurrencyShares Japanese Yen Trust (FXY) is also another likely beneficiary of investors’ desire to embrace safe currencies, particularly as market participants bet on weakness ahead for the British pound and euro.
Emerging markets currencies and the WisdomTree Emerging Currency Strategy Fund (CEW) probably will not be the first currency ideas to come to mind for the risk averse, but some market observers see post-Brexit opportunity with select developing world currencies.
CEW tracks the U.S. dollar against the Mexican Peso, Brazilian Real, Chilean Peso, Colombian Peso, South African Rand, Polish Zloty, Russian Ruble, Turkish New Lira, Chinese Yuan, South Korean Won, Indonesian Rupiah, Indian Rupee, Malaysian Ringgit, Philippine Peso and Thai Baht.
Related:Are Dollar ETFs Ready to Rally?
“These are rates markets, with obvious currency repercussions. Hedge funds entered the week of the referendum vote very flat in terms of positioning, with maybe a few longs in the emerging market high yield sector (South African rand (ZAR), Turkish lira (TRY), Brazilian real (BRL) and Indian rupee (IDR)). Real money stayed very quiet in terms of new flows in the weeks preceding the vote. That engineered a reasonably flat environment in both emerging market rates and currency,” according to a Citigroup note posted by Dimitra DeFotis of Barron’s.
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Currency ETFs try to reflect the performance of a single currency or a basket of currencies. ETF providers structure their currency funds to try to reflect the movements of a currency in a foreign exchange market by holding foreign currencies directly, foreign currency denominated short-term debt instrument, derivatives or swaps.
Additionally, commodity producing country currencies are enjoying a boost from rebounding crude oil and metals prices. For example, Russia is a large producer and exporter of oil. Brazil also has larger oil and metal reserves. South Africa is also a major gold and precious metals miner.
Related:Currency Hedged ETFs Offer a Smoother Long-Term Ride
“The UK political timeframe looks too long to vouch for an outright long U.S. dollar in an environment where funding currencies will be forced by monetary policy. Equity fundamentals are weak, for sure. But that will influence emerging market FX in a very choppy way, in bouts of risk-off. It doesn’t look like 2014-15 in terms of U.S. dollar cycle. In doubt, real money will likely buy emerging market bonds,” adds Citi in the note posted by Barron’s.
For more news and strategy on the Currency ETF market, visit ourCurrency category.
WisdomTree Emerging Currency Strategy Fund
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Mr. Lydon serves as an independent trustee of certain mutual funds and ETFs that are managed by Guggenheim Investments; however, any opinions or forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Mr. Lydon and not those of Guggenheim Funds, Guggenheim Investments, Guggenheim Specialized Products, LLC or any of their affiliates. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product. || China’s Cyber Spying on the U.S. Has Drastically Changed: Last year United States President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping entered into a dubious agreement during Xi’s first state visit: No more hacking one another’s businesses. Military and political espionage? Fair game. Industry? Hands off.
Hackers allegedly sponsored by China had been ransacking U.S. companies for economic advantage for years, as any computer forensics pro who has helped clean up one of these data breaches will tell you. The hackers’ goal: Intellectual property theft. With the recent truce, the heads of state agreed that their countries could break into one another’s computer networks for traditional state on state espionage, but no more hacking for profit.
For skeptics, here’s the shocker: The parties appear to be keeping their word--for the most part. Cybersecurity firm FireEyereleased a reportearlier this week that found that the number of breaches by China-based groups on U.S. businesses has dropped off a cliff. The number of network compromises has not fallen to zero, but it hasplummeted 90% in the past two years.
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Fortunespoke to Laura Galante, director of the threat intelligence at FireEye , as well as Kevin Mandia, the company’s recently appointed CEO, about the report’s findings. (Mandia makes his appearance at question 12.) Among the topics discussed: How the threat of economic espionage has changed, what this means for U.S. businesses, and whether everyone may now breathe a sigh of relief. (Spoiler: The answer is no.)
Here’s what the two said, edited and condensed for clarity.
Fortune: This report seems to be a follow-up toMandiant’s original reporton Chinese economic cyberespionage from a few years ago. [Editors note: FireEyepurchasedMandiant, Mandia’s computer forensics firm, for about $1 billion in 2014.] What does the new report find?
Laura Galante: We've tracked all of these groups for years before the APT1 report that you probably remember from back in 2013. Here we found the percentage of incidents and number of incidents we've seen over time from groups that are based in China, and how that’s changed. We came up with a pretty deep understanding of how we've seen President Xi undertake reforms in the military and also in the party since he came to power. We have some analysis around how he is probably centralizing and refocusing some of the cyber operations that China sponsored. We also think that widespread exposure from private sector disclosures was another impetus that really changed how Beijing was thinking about cyber operations. Finally the punitive measures--theindictments of several military officersback in 2014, and then thethreat of sanctionsright on the eve of President Xi coming over to the U.S--these were all factors that, in the aggregate, have really changed the way we've seen intellectual property theft conducted from China based groups.
Fortune: It seemed like the key line in the report was that the attacks are less voluminous, but more focused.
Galante: That’s what we're seeing. When we do see compromises--and we have seen compromises since last year--we're seeing the groups conduct a variety of different activity at different targets, not just in the U.S., but also in Japan and abroad in Europe. We're seeing compromises of networks still. What wearen'tseeing is data theft at such a volume as before--back in 2013, even 2014. We're seeing that they'll go in and they'll package up data, which is something that we typically see right before they would steal it, but we haven't observed instances of data theft, per se, in 2015 and 2016.
Fortune: You're still seeing intrusions and breaches, but not the actual exfiltration of data. Is that accurate?
Galante: That's right. What that doesn't necessarily mean is that it's not happening. We're not seeing the actual data theft in the recent examples that we've had here, but we're still seeing the compromise. If you're able to compromise the network, get in, move laterally to different parts of the network, and see the files that you want, that's still a very effective way to get at the information you want without the level of risk and evidence left behind of actually transferring the data out of a network.
Fortune: So it’s a shift from smashing-and-grabbing to quietly and passively surveilling?
Galante: That's a way to characterize what we've seen. And I think that fits too with what's definitely a higher cost of doing business that has risen in the last three and a half years. The risk of exposure from security firms, from security researchers, which is happening left and right, and the measures that the U.S. government has taken, paint a very different picture of risk when groups are operating--whether they be sponsored by the government, by a military entity, by an intelligence agency, or simply by opportunistic entrepreneurial groups who are looking for a way into a network to find something valuable to sell. We think that the scene in China really runs the gamut in terms of different types of sponsorship.
Fortune: In the report you discuss how it's hard to make out the difference between these groups. Do you have any speculation as to whom--which groups--might be the ones remaining? Is it a mix? Does it weight toward government, or toward the enterprising hacker? What is the breakdown here--is there any way to know?
Galante: It's hard to give a percentage. We have examples where we've seen what we call patriotic hackers, people who are aligned with state interests, but not necessarily on the payroll. We've seen everything form the patriotic hacker to the cybercriminal to groups that act in a very regimented 9-to-5 way. We see their tools built on a schedule that parallels Chinese federal holidays. We've seen really disciplined groups that operate in a way that's hard to not see that there has to be a ton of resourcing behind it, and probably a government entity. Another aspect that we've traced for years is how long we've seen groups operate. With some groups out of China, especially the ones that have been conducting the more traditional political espionage, we've seen those groups operate for over a decade with almost the same tools and infrastructure, too.
Fortune: Part of this deal between Obama and Xi was that China would stop its attacks on U.S. enterprises. Obviously there are still attacks going on, as your report says, but is there any way to know whether, in fact, the state sponsored attacks are down?
Galante: It's hard to say. The network visibility that we have just shows us what's compromised. What we don't know is when data is taken. In our cases, we haven't seen data theft. But when data has been taken in the past--to know that the data has been used and given to an entity, to an industry, or to a company in an industry that can then use it to put a product on the market--that would start to fulfill the definition of what they’re getting at with this economic espionage agreement. From our side we’re reluctant to say that this equates to economic espionage, because we simply see one part of a much longer chain of what would equate to economic espionage. What we can say is that we're still seeing compromises into corporate networks.
Fortune: You mentioned that you're not seeing the same levels of data theft now. Is that because it's not happening, or because they're eluding detection in some way? Or perhaps FireEye doesn't have the visibility to see that?
Galante: I think it's a couple factors. To set the premise though, it's very rare that you see data theft happening. When we're called in to do investigations, we're frequently looking into network logs and into network activity that, on average, happened almost 200 days before.[Editor’s note: the average breach takes 201 days to detect, according to arecent IBM study.]When you're investigating what happened previously, you have to consider, How well does the company keep logs? How do we go back and look at that activity and see what happened outside the network? There are a variety of factors that hamper understanding when the actual data was stolen, or if it was stolen. There are other cases where we've thwarted the detected compromise before the group could go any deeper into the network. So there are a couple of different wonky factors that keep the data theft from eluding our ability to have seen it when it happened.
Now one thing we’re seeing is these groups go in and hack data and look for specific items. With the semiconductor firms, we were seeing attackers get into the files that had the manufacturing data about semiconductors and the chemical components used in the production. They're not just getting into a network, they're able to get in and navigate to data that would be useful. So that says a little bit more about their intent. If you're able to go in and locate a project that you need, that says a little bit more about what you're interested in.
Fortune: Are there any cases that seem more grey in terms of what the hackers were going after?
Galante: The navigational projects were interesting. This is a grey area. GPS navigation is right in that area of not knowing if it's for military or for civilian use. Traditionally, something for military use would fall into political espionage or military espionage, something that states have done since the beginning of time, versus something like the blueprints of a green energy or a coal cleaning plant, which we've seen before. When those are taken, that's a situation where it's pretty hard to see the military application of it. In the cases that we have here, in the cases that we've seen recently, we see semiconductors, we see high-tech corporations, we've seen an aerospace company, and a logistics company. These are all arguably targets and data that could fit either a military or a civilian use. So, tough to say whether that would trend more toward economic espionage versus political.
Fortune: Have you been sending this report around government quarters?
Galante: We frequently give a variety of government partners a heads up when we're able to do that before a report goes live.
Fortune: What has been their reaction to this?
Galante: This tracks fairly well with the visibility that they've had as well.
Fortune: Last year a cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike issued a report saying there had been continued intrusions on U.S. companiesafter the China-U.S. deal. How does the FireEye report differ?
Galante: That report came out in early October. It was really a first sense that activity still continued. But there's a ton of ways to look at activity. What we're very careful to parse here is that we wanted to know when a corporate network has been entered remotely, not just when the malware or the commands to the malware in a network has been live, which was one of the main indications used in that report from October to say that activity continued. We wanted to see that a group actively went into a network, and that was the bar that we used when we made the chart that you see, and also the graph.[Editor’s note:See, for example, page 11 of the report.]
Fortune: So whereas CrowdStrike was asking--is there malware active on the network?--your report was asking, is there remote access happening?
Galante: Is there an actual compromise of a network, yes. There is always remote access happening--so, is there a remote compromise happening of a corporate network. I think we're being more specific about how we want to define a piece of this, whereas CrowdStrike was looking just generally for any sort of beaconing or indication that infrastructure or malware were still living. We wanted to see something that reasonably made us conclude that an operator is still sitting there with fingers on keyboard, sending a command and entering networks.
Kevin Mandia: Robert, this is Kevin Mandia. I've actually been on the line for the past 10 minutes and just staying quiet because Laura is crushing it. I don't know what CrowdStrike’s criteria is for saying compromise or not compromise. I do know that we at FireEye have over 350 incident responders, we have nearly 350 iSight intel analysts[Editor’s note:FireEye acquired the threat intelligence firm iSight Partnersfor $200 million earlier this year],and we have well over 3,000 customers where we have appliances deployed. Those are the sources for where we find these compromises. We've had our threat database in existence since 2006, so that’s the scale and scope at which we operate. When I look at the all the investigations we've done and all the intel we get from iSight, that's the data we’re reporting on. From the observables we have here at FireEye, the activity and counterespionage intrusions from China have gone down.
Fortune: Because the attacks have dropped off precipitously, it seems, does this mean U.S. companies should breathe a sigh of relief?
Mandia: Well, you've still got a bunch of other threats to worry about. So the answer is you still have to safeguard yourself from rogue states, which may be less responsible than China. I've always said this: the Chinese were the most polite hackers in cyberspace. They would break in, but I don't think they had exceptionally great counter forensics, they weren't destructive, they didn't go public with the data they stole. In many ways, if you were hacked, and you knew it, and it was the Chinese that did it, you breathed a sigh of relief. If it was some other group, you had to worry about public disclosure, about extortion, about a ton of other things. So the polite hackers have narrowed their targeting. That's how I look into this.
I wouldn't breathe a sigh of relief. What I do see is that public exposure of Chinese cyber espionage by the private sector as well as by government officials--potentially the indictments and all the things Laura has put in the report--all of these factors did have an impact on the scale and scope of Chinese cyber espionage against the U.S.A. I see that as a positive thing. The unfortunate reality is that you still have to build your moat of defend against the other threats that are still out there.
Fortune: During one recent quarter, Dave DeWalt, who was then FireEye’s CEO, said that attacks by China on U.S. companies had been decreasing. A bunch of peopletook issue with the statement. They said that attacks are still going on. Where does FireEye stand on that? Because it seems the report is saying that, yes, the number of attacks has decreased a lot.
Mandia: Yup, we just stand by exactly what were publishing. Based on our observables, that's what we see. This isn't like the TTPs[Editor’s note: TTPs is cyberspeak for “tools, tactics, and procedures”--the idiosyncrasies of hacking methods]of Chinese cyber espionage changed over night. When we do see them, the TTPs are largely the same. There are going to be those naysayers out there who say, well, maybe FireEye is just missing it. I've been locked onto these guys virtually my whole career. I'm not convinced anyone has been responding to Chinese cyber espionage breaches longer than I have--and if there is somebody I'd like to find them. We dealt with this back when I was in the military in the '90s, and we're locked on still. The TTPs will change, but they're not surreptitious. We're not missing it. That's my opinion.
Fortune: How do you persuade companies to continue to invest in cybersecurity when it seems that maybe the threats are not as drastic or immediately pressing as they might have been?
Galante: I would say at this point you're taking a roll of the dice if you're a corporate entity or a government entity with strong intellectual property. Especially something that could be dual-use. Particularly, if you're in one of the many industries that's producing cutting edge R&D, you're now rolling the dice and have been for a long time, on whether you're going to be compromised. We’re seeing a maturation of China's military and political means to use cyber operations. To think that the decline in activity that we're seeing now is endemic of the future would be a misread. I think what we're seeing is a period of recalculating how to go with a precision force and a focus to get exactly the access that is needed, whether for political or military gains.
Fortune: What prompted this report?
Mandia: We went public in 2013 with the APT1 report. The government indicts soldiers in 2014. The president and the heads of state meet and they have discussions, and what does it lead to? What we hoped it would lead to--a reduction in the targeting of the private sector. I think that's a positive result. And that's why we're really doing this--to report on a positive result.
Fortune: How have things changed for you since becoming CEO? Congrats on the promotion, by the way.
Mandia: Thanks, it doesn't change much at the end of the day.
PR person: Let’s keep off that for now.
Fortune: Okay, what else is interesting--is North Korea behind the SWIFT bank hacks?
Mandia: First thing I would say as a general citizen--and I don't have the data to opine one way or another--but boy, wouldn't you want to know who stole $81 million dollars from the bank of Bangladesh?
Fortune: Oh yeah.
Mandia: I mean if we can't pierce anonymity behind that as an international community, both behind the hack and behind the laundering of the money, don't we have a challenge here? $81 million is gone and we don't know who did it? That's not a good indicator for whether we’re going to catch who hacks a utility in Mississippi and shuts it down. We've got to get attribution right. If we can't get it right for Ashley Madison, fine, I get that. But if we can't get it right for stealing $81 million--that's not a good indicator. I think that's the interesting story right now. Can the international community can the pierce anonymity behind folks who steal $81 million, and if they can't, what else can they not do?
Fortune: Indeed. Thanks for your time.
Mandia: Take care, Robert.
Fortune: You too.
See original article on Fortune.com
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• Winklevoss Brothers Expand Their Bitcoin Exchange to the U.K. || ETF Strategies in a Post Brexit World: After a seven year bull run and an increased uncertainty, people may expect the equities market will more likely pullback and give up some of its gains. Consequently, traders have turned to bearish or inverse exchange traded fund strategies to hedge against turns in a more volatile market. On an upcoming webcast this Wednesday, Sector Strategies in a Post Brexit World , Tom Dorsey, Co-Founder of Dorsey, Wright & Associates, and Sylvia Jablonski, Managing Director and Head of the Capital Markets & Institutional Strategy Team at Direxion, will discuss hedging strategies to manage a rougher road ahead. According to Jefferson Nationals second annual Advisory Authority Survey, financial advisors see ongoing volatility as one of the top macro issues that will adversely affect client portfolios over the next year, ThinkAdvisor reports. Related: VIX, Bearish S&P 500 ETFs to Hedge Uncertainty Specifically, 76% of RIAs and fee-based advisors, 89% of the highest earning advisors and 63% of investors in the survey expected volatility to rise in the coming year as both U.S. politics and domestic and international economics exacerbate the uncertain outlook. Among the top concerns, those surveyed pointed to energy prices, Federal Reserve policy, U.S. presidential election and Chinese instability. When it comes to investing, protecting clients portfolios and protecting their own practice, ongoing volatility remains the number one concern of RIAs and fee-based advisors year over year while investors are aware of volatilitys impact, they say that protecting assets is their number-one concern, Jefferson National president Laurence Greenberg said in a statement. Trending on ETF Trends As Q3 Begins, Gold Miner ETFs Keep Shining Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF Will Trade on BATS Another Rally Looms for Gold ETFs How to Hedge Market Turns with Inverse ETFs Brexit Weighs on Big Oil ETFs Among those surveyed 48% of all RIAs and fee-based advisors looked to ETFs and alternative mutual funds as their number one solution in todays volatile markets. Additionally, 60% of high earning advisors pointed to liquid alternatives. Story continues ETF traders also have a number of liquid alternative strategies to choose from. For instance, the Direxion Daily S&P Biotech Bear 1X Shares ( LABS ) , Direxion Daily Financial Bear 1x Shares ( FAZZ ) and Direxion Daily Energy Bear 1x Shares ( ERYY ) provide inverse or -100% exposure to some of the more volatile areas of the market this year. Related: ETF Traders Look Beyond Brexit to China Risk LABS may be a good way for investors to hedge against further selling in the biotech sector as political rhetoric puts a spotlight on pharmaceutical treatment prices and the growth play sours. FAZZ could be used to hedge against the Brexit fallout and potentially extended low-rate environment, which could weigh on the financial sector. Any further concerns on global growth and oil prices could also help traders hedge against a weakening energy sector with ERYY. Financial advisors who are interested in learning more about sector strategies can register for the Wednesday, June 29 webcast here . || British bitcoin market sent extraordinary signals ahead of the Brexit vote: The price of the digital currency bitcoin rose 6.5% in the 24 hours directly after Britain voted to leave the European Union. And while the coin had already been on a ride over the two weeks before the vote (it's up 25% in the last month),for a number of factors besides the Brexit, it is likely that uncertainty over the situation stoked interest in the cryptocurrency, which is seen as an investment asset uncorrelated to the broader economy.
New data from Coinbase, which offers the leading bitcoin wallet and a popular bitcoin exchange, proves that the prospect of Brexit had an impact on bitcoin even before the referendum vote.
In the week leading up to the vote (June 13-20),Coinbase saw a55% increase in new account sign-ups from Great Britain, and a 350% increase in bitcoin purchases from UK customers.
On the day of the Brexit vote, Coinbase saw an 86% increase in Great Britain signups.
It's one of the largest spikes in activity Coinbase has ever seen from one region in one week.
The British bitcoin bump is a reminder, a Coinbase spokesperson says, that bitcoin "has long been a hedge against turmoil in Greece, capital controls in China, and macro-economic issues." Indeed, many compare the coin to gold as an investment vehicle. The current market cap of all bitcoins is $10.1 billion.
Coinbase, founded in 2012, has 4 million users and is now operable in 32 countries. Itlaunched in the UK just one year ago, giving Brits the ability to buy bitcoin using pounds, euros or dollars. In the US, it recentlyadded the ability for customers to buy bitcoin instantly using a debit card, making it even easier to buy up coin.
Expect the fervor around Brexit to show a continued impact on the price of bitcoin.
For a conversation with Coinbase cofounder Fred Ehrsam, watch the above video.
--
Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology. Follow him on Twitter at @readDanwrite.
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Harry Potter author JK Rowling unleashes fury at Brexit voters || Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to add ether currency to trading platform: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said on Thursday it will add digital currency ether on its trading platform next Tuesday. The addition of ether comes given the surge in interest in the digital asset among major financial institutions such as Barclays [BARCR.UL] and UBS [UBSAG.UL] as well as other enterprises worldwide like IBM, which are trying to explore the Ethereum network. Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public ledger that can create decentralized applications. Ethereum, which uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically without the need for intermediaries, was co-founded and invented by 22-year old Russian Canadian programer Vitalik Buterin. "We're very excited about Ethereum. There has been a ton of progress made in the last six to nine months," said Adam White, vice president of business development at Coinbase in an interview with Reuters. "We have seen hundreds of emerging decentralized apps (applications) launched on Ethereum." He added that bitcoin cannot mirror Ethereum's "scripting language," so both bitcoin and ether can co-exist and will not necessarily compete with each other. Coinbase also plans to change the name of its platform to GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange), said White. The name Coinbase, however, will be retained for its retail service such as exchanging dollars for bitcoin or ether, he added. Coinbase, widely believed to be the largest bitcoin-focused company in terms of investment, will offer ether/dollar and ether/bitcoin currency pairs on GDAX. The name change was made because the company will add more digital assets for trading on its exchange, White said. According to coinmarketcap.com, ether is trading at $14.28 late on Thursday, with a market capitalization of about $1.1 billion, the second largest behind bitcoin. Bitcoin currently has a market cap of $6.9 billion. Daily volume for ether is around $48 million, while average daily volume for bitcoin is $87.2 million. Story continues At the beginning of the year, ether traded at just $1 per token and it is the fastest-rising digital currency. White said ether will be available on GDAX in most states except New York because Coinbase is still in the process of applying for a license in the state. Coinbase's move to add ether trading to its currency exchange platform came after New York approved the application of Gemini Trust Company, founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, to trade ether on its exchange. "What's powerful about ethereum is that I can write self-executing contracts and I can run them on Ethereum and it's not on any central server or computer," said White. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernard Orr) || London's Tech Sector Thinks Brexit Will Be A Disaster: The British people will vote next week in a national election to decide the country's fate within the European Union.
The vote, dubbed "Brexit," will ask the people if they want Britain to remain a member of the European Union or not. Recent polls suggest a vote to leave the EU is currently winning, but it's still a very close race.
According toTech Crunch,a survey of 320 members of the Tech London Advocates, a collection of technology leaders, experts and investors, also found that 87 percent believe the country would be in better shape remaining part of the EU.
Related Link:Would Falkland/Malvinas Islands' Sovereignty Be At Risk With A Brexit?
"My concern [about Brexit] is that if people felt there was a better chance of exploiting the European market from a place like Berlin, they'll just choose that or other locations instead," Tech Crunch quoted Gary Stewart, the UK Director of WAYRA, a leading startup accelerator as saying. "Startups will always go to places where they'll have the best possibility of success."
Christian Hernandez, a managing partner at White Star Capital, a venture capital firm based in London, shared a similar sentiment. He is worried that an exit from the European Union would result in startups and tech entrepreneurs no longer choosing London as a base of operation. After all, London is widely considered to be the venture financial capital for Europe.
The reality is that life post-Brexit marks an uncharted territory, and no one knows what the landscape will look like, Tech Crunch concluded.
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© 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
One Bitcoin now worth $569.00@bitstamp. High $666.50. Low $540.17. Market Cap $8.929 Billion #bitcoin || Mr Bitcoin: “I don't want money, I don't want fame!” BBC News http://dlvr.it/LfSk72 || #BTA Price: Bittrex 0.00001513 BTC YoBit 0.00001613 BTC Bleutrade 0.00001500 BTC #BTA 2016-05-18 12:00 pic.twitter.com/pjvkVTA6kp || Buy #Bitcoin in the UK with a Debit/Credit Card from http://tinyurl.com/juho5oc @ 6:00 PM pic.twitter.com/ERv7oioiHV || Gold $1,318.20 | Silver $17.73 | Platinum $983.00 | Bitcoin $659.09
Call us toll free 800-874-9760 or shop online http://RRBI.co || 1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$688.26/$689.86 #Bitstamp
$677.00/$677.40 #BTCe
⇢$-12.86/$-10.86
$690.01/$690.40 #Coinbase
⇢$0.15/$2.14 || 1 KOBO = 0.00000724 BTC
= 0.0033 USD
= 0.6575 NGN
= 0.0514 ZAR
= 0.3323 KES
#Kobocoin 2016-05-26 17:00 pic.twitter.com/F60B01WqVp || LIVE: Profit = $777.75 (9.71 %). BUY B19.39 @ $420.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $453.68 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || 1 MUE Price: Bittrex 0.00000021 BTC YoBit 0.00000021 BTC Bleutrade 0.00000021 BTC #MUE #MUEprice 2016-06-21 15:00 pic.twitter.com/ISJKJnn66j || #bitcoin #miner New Bitmain Antminer S9 miner 16nm 11.85Th/s in-hand $2575.00 http://ift.tt/29BQ922 pic.twitter.com/7Y2u80pYhP
|
Trend: up || Prices: 647.66, 664.55, 654.47, 658.08, 663.26, 660.77, 679.46, 673.11, 672.86, 665.68
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2020-09-21]
BTC Price: 10462.26, BTC RSI: 42.41
Gold Price: 1901.20, Gold RSI: 41.86
Oil Price: 39.31, Oil RSI: 45.16
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 31, 2020 /ALT 5 Sigma Inc. an emerging leader in blockchain powered financial platforms provides its daily digital instruments market summary for Bitcoin (BTC/USD), Ether (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD).
Real-Time Market Data is available atwww.alt5pro.comand Real-Time Market Data feed is also available atwww.alt5sigma.com.ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH
About ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
ALT 5 is a tech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency and compliance.
ALT 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. ALT 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers.
ALT 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services.
For more information, visitwww.alt5sigma.com.
Contact:
Andre BeauchesneTel. [email protected]
For more information on ALT 5 Pay, visitwww.alt5pay.comFor more information on ALT 5 Pro, visitwww.alt5pro.com
SOURCE:ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/604156/ALT-5-Sigma-Digital-Instrument-Market-Summary-for-BTC-ETH-LTC-BCH || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Tanks to $10.4K; ETH Market Dominance at 2020 High: Bitcoin continues to slide while ether has a larger share of the crypto market than it has had in years.
• Bitcoin(BTC) trading around $10,726 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Slipping 6.1% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $10,468-$11,474
• BTC below its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bearish signal for market technicians.
Bitcoin continues its downward trend Thursday, with prices descending as low as $10,468 on spot exchanges such as Coinbase. While it has recovered a bit, traders selling for profits has certainly been the theme right now.
Read More:Bitcoin Plunges $403 in 1 Hour to Lowest in a Month
Related:Market Wrap: Bitcoin Tumbles to $9.8K; Investors Continue Plowing Crypto Into DeFi
“This is similar to what we’ve seen as bitcoin approached the $10,000 and $11,000 levels, where profit-taking occurred on a few different occasions,” said John Kramer, a trader at crypto over-the-counter firm GSR. “Many investors will see this as an opportunity to buy the dip.”
Just like Wednesday, leveraged liquidations played a role in exacerbating bitcoin’s price drop. However, Thursday’s wipeout of long traders on derivatives exchange BitMEX was a bit higher, with $10 million in hourly liquidations topping Wednesday’s $9 million hourly spree, the equivalent of a margin call in crypto parlance.
Read More:Bitcoin Risks Deeper Price Pullback as Exchange Inflows Spike
“Some people who were buying in over $11,500 in BTC with leverage suddenly got stopped out when we moved back down towards $11,100,” said Chris Thomas, head of digital assets for Swissquote Bank.
Related:First Mover: Buying Bitcoin's Dip, Betting Against Tether and Weighing the Jobs Report
Thomas suspects bitcoin’s price will not reach new 2020 highs in the near term, despite testing that level as recently as Tuesday when the price hit $12,085. “I think we trade in the $11,000-$12,000 range for a while,” he said.
In equities, while the major Asian Nikkei 225 index was buoyed by expectations new leadership in Japan will continue economic stimulus policies put in place by outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, stocks in Europe and particularly in the U.S. are awash in red – as it is in most of the crypto ecosystem Thursday.
• Asia’s Nikkei 225 ended the day in Tokyo climbing 0.94%,boosted by gains in the chemical and metals sectors.
• Europe’s FTSE 100 slipped 1.5% asconcerns about further job losses on the continent soured investor sentiment.
• The United States’ S&P 500 dropped 4.1% astech stocks took a tumble, including Apple falling 7.2% and Microsoft down 6.7%.
GSR’s Kramer views the equities markets with some trepidation, and has concerns about the performance of traditional finance for the balance of 2020. “Stock valuations remain overinflated in the eyes of many observers, and economic uncertainty persists,” he said. “A crypto drop like this won’t deter the majority of investors who have a longer-term investment thesis.”
Read More:Jump Trading Invests in Decentralized Exchange Serum
The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization,ether(ETH), was down Thursday, trading around $402 and slipping 7.6% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
Read More:DeFi Risk Management Startup Cozy Finance Debuts With $2M Funding
But while the price is down, ether’s dominance of the broader crypto market hit a 2020 high of over 14% Wednesday. Although dipping a bit Thursday, the last time ether’s share was at these levels was back in August 2018.
“A large number of useful projects on the Ethereum blockchain contribute to ether dominance growth,” said Azamat Malaev, co-founder of HodlTree, a decentralized lending protocol. However, scaling is an issue that could cause ether’s share to wane, Malaev added. “To maintain this trend, Ethereum urgently need to scale the network. For ordinary users, transactions are already very expensive”
Read More:Ethereum Developers Focus on Congestion as Fees Spike Over 600%
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are mostly in the red Thursday. Notable winners as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• tron(TRX) + 36%
• nem(XEM) + 0.89%
Read More:New Crypto Derivatives Let You Bet on (or Against) Tether’s Solvency
Notable losers as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• lisk(LSK) – 12.4%
• zcash(ZEC) – 11.8%
• basic attention token(BAT) – 11%
Read More:Hardware Wallet Flaw Lets Attackers Hold Crypto for Ransom
Commodities:
• Oil is down 0.67%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $41.29.
• Gold was in the red 0.61% and at $1,930 as of press time.
Read More:Around the Crypto World in 15 Charts
Treasurys:
• U.S. Treasury bond yields all slipped Thursday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were down most on the two-year, in the red 2.8%.
Read More:Digital Bank Revolut Expands Crypto Buying and Selling Service to Australia
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Tanks to $10.4K; ETH Market Dominance at 2020 High
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Tanks to $10.4K; ETH Market Dominance at 2020 High || Pornhub Adds Bitcoin and Litecoin Payments for Premium Content: Pornhub, the popular adult entertainment site, has added two popular cryptocurrencies as payment options. In a tweet Wednesday, the company announced that it’s now accepting bitcoin ( BTC ) and litecoin ( LTC ) in payment for its Pornhub Premium offering. The company has been accepting the verge (XVG) cryptocurrency for user payments since 2018. It has since started allowing its entertainers to be paid in tether ( USDT ), a stablecoin linked to the U.S. dollar. Pornhub has previously announced it would accept both tron ( TRX ) and horizen (ZEN) for content, too, though its web page currently lists only verge. Pornhub has had issues with traditional funding methods in the past, when PayPal suddenly blocked payments to the site without explanation. Corey Price, vice president of Pornhub, said at the time the site would look at more cryptocurrency options going forward. LISTEN: Why This Sex Industry Executive Loves Bitcoin Related Stories Pornhub Adds Bitcoin and Litecoin Payments for Premium Content Pornhub Adds Bitcoin and Litecoin Payments for Premium Content Pornhub Adds Bitcoin and Litecoin Payments for Premium Content Pornhub Adds Bitcoin and Litecoin Payments for Premium Content || The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – September 5th, 2020: Bitcoin, BTC to USD, rose by 3.13% on Friday. Partially reversing a 10.80% tumble from Thursday, Bitcoin ended the day at $10,484.7. It was a mixed start to the day. Bitcoin fell to an early morning low $10,095 before making a move. Steering clear of the first major support level at $9,620, Bitcoin rallied to a late intraday high $10,644.0. Falling well short of the first major resistance level at $11,090, Bitcoin eased back to sub-$10,500 levels. The near-term bullish trend remained intact, in spite of the latest pullback. For the bears, Bitcoin would need to slide through the 62% FIB of $6,400 to form a near-term bearish trend. The Rest of the Pack Across the rest of the majors, it was a mixed day for the majors on Friday. Tron’s TRX bucked the trend once more, sliding by 11.42% to partially reverse Thursday’s 15.94% breakout. It was a bullish day for the rest of the majors, however. EOS led the way, rallying by 14.50%. Bitcoin Cash ABC (+6.93%), Cardano’s ADA (+7.45%), Monero’s XMR (+5.53%), and Tezos (+7.20%) also found strong support. Binance Coin (+3.04%), Bitcoin Cash SV (+3.58%), Ethereum (+1.50%), Litecoin (+1.22% Ripple’s XRP (+3.82%), and Stellar’s Lumen (+1.83%) trailed the front runners. In the current week, the crypto total market rose to a Tuesday high $379.05bn before sliding to a Thursday low $303.72bn. At the time of writing, the total market cap stood at $322.50bn. Bitcoin’s dominance fell to a Wednesday low 58.79% before rising to a Thursday high 60.77%. At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s dominance stood at 59.75%. This Morning At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down by 0.40% to $10,443.0. A mixed start to the day saw Bitcoin rise to an early morning high $10,593.0 before falling to a low $10,442.0. Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on. Elsewhere, it was a mixed start to the day. Bitcoin Cash ABC (-0.17%), Ethereum (-0.35%), and Litecoin (-1.34%) joined Bitcoin in the red. Story continues It was a bullish start for the rest of the majors, however. At the time of writing, EOS was up by 1.55% to lead the way. For the Bitcoin Day Ahead Bitcoin would need to avoid a fall through the $10,365 pivot level to support a run at the first major resistance level at $10,764. Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Bitcoin to break out from Friday’s high $10,644.0. Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level and Friday’s high would likely cap any upside. In the event of a crypto breakout, Bitcoin could test resistance at $11,000 before any pullback. The second major resistance level sits at $11,043. Failure to avoid a fall through the $10,365 pivot would bring the first major support level at $10,086 into play. Barring another extended crypto sell-off, however, Bitcoin should avoid sub-$10,000 levels on the day. The second major support level sits at $9,687. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – September 5th, 2020 USD/JPY Weekly Price Forecast – US Dollar Rallies Into Resistance USD/CAD Daily Forecast – U.S. Dollar Fails To Continue Its Rebound Gold Price Forecast – Gold Markets Continue to Show Current Area Bitcoin Down Almost 10% Today, You’ll Be Surprised to Hear What’s Next The Weekly Wrap – A Busy Economic Calendar Delivered Support for the Greenback || EUR/USD Retracement is Needed: TheEUR/USDhas formed an overbought condition and we might see a relief before the next rally.
1.1800 zone showed some sellers as the price is retracing lower. At this point we might see buyers around 1.1737 but more likely around 1.1705. If buyers take over again then 1.1817 is next and 1.1843. However, a retracement is needed and IMO, price might retrace to the POC zone before the next bounce. Only below 1.1700 we might go for a deeper retracement – 1.1572.
The Analysis has been done with theCAMMACD.Core and Sit Systems
For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out oureconomic calendar.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• EUR/USD Daily Forecast – Euro Pares Some Gains Following Fed Decision
• The Crypto Daily – The Movers and Shakers – July 30th, 2020
• Corona Crisis Will Have Lasting Impact on Gold Market
• After the Fed’s Reassurance, It’s Time for Fiscal Policymakers to Deliver
• General Electric Q2 Loss Widens; Target Price $3 in a Worst-Case Scenario
• Bitcoin’s Bulls Lost Control of the Price Action || Latest Chainlink price and analysis (LINK to USD): The mightily impressive Chainlink has succumbed to a 13.2% move to the downside this morning following its astonishing surge to a new all-time high of $14.49 since the turn of the month. The LINK token now has a market cap of $4.4 billion, making it the sixth largest cryptocurrency in circulation behind Bitcoin Cash in fifth. In the past five months LINK has made a sensational 712.57% move to the upside after bouncing from a low of $1.63 in March. Much of the recent rally has been attributed to the rise in popularity of the decentralised finance (DeFi) sector, which Chainlink falls under. The project aims to bridge the gap between blockchain technology and mainstream applications using its decentralised oracle network. As retail and institutional investors continue to flock to DeFi, trade volume on both LINK’s USD and BTC trading pairs have naturally surged. Over the past 24-hours there has been $1.4 billion traded across all LINK trading pairs, which is three times higher than its daily volume on July 25. While a pullback from such a ferocious rally is expected, the fact that LINK has decoupled from Bitcoin and Ethereum indicates continuation to the upside is likely over the coming weeks and months. Levels of support remain at both $12.07 and $10.26 but what’s more likely is a retest of the local high at $14.47. Much of the upcoming price action on lower time frames will depend on the trajectory of Bitcoin, as a major sell-off across larger market cap coins could trickle down to altcoins like LINK, as investors will be forced to liquidate assets in order to cut losses. However, if Bitcoin can break above and close this week’s candle above $12,000 it would pave the way for LINK to form a new all-time high just as it did following the 19% sell-off on August 2. For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . || Bitcoin Crosses $11,400 Mark, Beats Major Indexes In July Gains: Bitcoin on Friday crossed the $11,460 mark, its highest July peak in eight years. The cryptocurrency gained about 23% in July. What To Know : Analysts said the spike could be an outcome from the directive of U.S. officials that allowed all nationally chartered banks to open and maintain crypto wallets for their customers. Theres definitely a more bullish sentiment since that announcement came out and as weve all seen, has resulted in an upward movement, Michael Rabkin, head of institutional sales at DV Chain, told Coin Desk . A positive news cycle on the crypto market is boosting the market, he said. According to various sources and DeFi Pulse, funds on Defi Platforms stands at over $4 billion . See Also: The Top 10 DeFi Projects To Watch In The Second Half Of 2020 Why It's Important : Rough second-quarter GDP results and surplus money printing by the Federal Reserve coupled with a rising debt scenario left investors frowning. In order to avoid the backlash of anticipated inflation, gold has become a popular investment in 2020, along with bitcoins. With stocks taking a beating on Friday, with global indexes down or flat, it's a crucial time for bitcoin. What's Next : Some analysts believe the latest peak could just be the start of a bull phase for bitcoin. Bitcoin has successfully beaten major equity indexes for July. Related Link: Is Cryptocurrency Here to Stay This Time? See more from Benzinga General Motors Teases GMC Hummer EV In Foray Into Electric Truck Race Coca-Cola Enters Hard Seltzer Market With Alcoholic Topo Chico © 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || INX crosses minimum $7.5 million threshold for its security token IPO, now accepting BTC, ETH and USDC: Crypto exchange INX, which recently launched its security token initial public offering (IPO), has crossed the minimum $7.5 million threshold imposed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The regulator wanted INX to raise the first $7.5 million of its up to $117 million IPO in dollars and not crypto. Now that the minimum requirement has been met, INXwill start acceptingbitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), and USDC stablecoin, beginning September 14.
It means investors will be able to purchase INX tokens with these coins. INX has set the offering price at $0.90 per token with a minimum investment of $1,000. The offering is available in 14 U.S. states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.INX said over 3,000 retail and accredited investors registered for the INX token offering during its first three days.
The companyplans to useIPO proceeds to continue developing INX Trading Solutions, a regulated exchange for cryptocurrencies, security tokens, and derivatives. Founded in 2017, Gibraltar-based INX first revealed its IPO plans in 2018 and filed a draft prospectus with the SEC in August 2019. The company is headed by Alan Silbert, brother of Digital Currency Group's founder Barry.
© 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. || The adjusted on-chain volume of Bitcoin and Ethereum hit a 30-month high in August: The total adjusted on-chain volume of Bitcoin and Ethereum reached a 30-month high during the month of August. [caption id="attachment_77068" align="alignnone" width="1950"] Source: Coin Metrics, The Block Research [/caption] Combined, the total adjusted on-chain volume for the two networks grew 38.3% month-over-month, as noted in a by-the-numbers breakdown for August produced by The Block Research. Bitcoin’s total adjusted on-chain volume grew by 22.5%, from $66.1 billion in July to $80.9 billion in August, while Ethereum saw an increase of 81.7%, increasing from $24 billion in July to $43.5 billion in August. Bitcoin’s on-chain volume was 1.85 times more than Ethereum’s on-chain volume last month, according to the report. © 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. || DeFi Is Taking Over Crypto: Sign Of Another Bull Run, Or A Flash In The Pan?: DeFi may offer real and predictable results, but only if you’re knowledgeable enough to avoid the traps. Overcoming Shady Reputation As with all things related to blockchain-powered technologies and products, they are followed by an intense burst of growth and enthusiasm. Bitcoin (BTC) spurred a massive generation of altcoins (over 2500), each struggling to repeat the success of the original crypto king. Eventually, most of them received the ignoble status as “sh*tcoins”, while Bitcoin remains the dominant force in the cryptocurrency space with a market cap of $226 billion. Likewise, the ICO craze (Initial Coin Offering), as an attempt to quickly fund crypto-related projects, took off enormously. In its peak year, 2017, hundreds of ICOs managed to raise $5.6 billion. However, in terms of return on investment (RoI), only half a dozen could be deemed as truly successful, such as IOTA, NXT, Stratis, Neo, and Spectrecoin. Altogether, ICOs became almost synonymous with sleazy dealings, as 80% of all ICOs turned out to be fraudulent in some way . You see, when it comes down to the realm of blockchain-derived products and services, the barrier to entry is fairly low due to the digital nature of it. Only a few components are required: Sufficient technical knowledge. Computer. Internet access. While access to computers and the internet is commonplace throughout developed nations, technical knowledge isn’t. Yet it’s growing — there are now nearly 3 million jobs in data , meaning an increased percentage of the population has sophisticated technical skills. This is the double-edged sword of the crypto-sector. While some actors are genuinely pushing themselves for ideological reasons of democratization and decentralization, it is much easier for many more actors to pile onto something to make a quick buck. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Although an average user might become weary of the whole crypto-space, these initial birthing pains are in some way necessary for new technologies to become robust. And believe it or not, this is happening to a certain degree. Story continues For example, automated payment software is already pushing to accept Bitcoin payments for goods and services . Generally speaking however, user experience in the digital asset realm is lacking — forcing many holders to be, well, holders . From this perspective, we should view DeFi, decentralized finance, with its yield farming and governance tokens. What Does DeFi Offer? Veterans of the crypto-space are rightfully viewing DeFi as the final realization of the original spirit that gave birth to Bitcoin. This is the spirit of financial freedom, in this case fortified by cryptography, so that no central authority, governmental or otherwise, could impede in a borderless flow of money. And once you have that financial freedom, freedom of thought and expression comes with it. DeFi is a natural attachment to cryptocurrency, as the first outgrowth of this philosophy. While cryptocurrency provides the means, DeFi attempts to reconstruct all the financial instruments you would find in a traditional bank, such as borrowing and lending, thanks to smart contracts. Bitcoin is seeing increased accessibility as it is now available through the majority of popular stock trading apps . Yet the key distinction with DeFi is that these financial instruments would operate within a decentralized space independent of governmental or corporate mediators. This means nothing less than a revolution in the democratization of financing, as you would only need access to the internet to benefit from loans on either side of the equation. Lex Sokolin, the chief marketing officer at ConsenSys, succinctly framed DeFi as such: “[DeFi is] literally a platform shift in how financial products are manufactured. Full stop. End of story.” It is no wonder then that the DeFi space experienced remarkable growth within a single year. Just over three months ago, DeFi reached a milestone of $1 billion locked assets. Today, that figure spilled over $6 billion worth of assets, largely locked in yield farming of interest rates. Even if we take the most conservative estimate of $3.5 billion, which accounts for the top DeFi protocols , this seems to be only the beginning of the expansion. Is DeFi’s Troubleshooting Severe? As you can see, DeFi follows the natural progression of things: Cryptocurrency as the necessary primary facilitator of financial decentralization. ICOs, although mostly scammy, also necessary as they explored what could be done in the blockchain space. DeFi, as the culmination of the previous stages, providing a viable platform for traditional financial instruments. It is important to take note of this, as to not simply dismiss DeFi as another bubble such as the ICO craze, which itself bore fruit. With that said, there is some bubbling to be watchful about. The best example of these hyper-valuations in the DeFi space comes in the form of governance tokens. Compound, as among the first DeFi loan platforms, issued its own token called COMP, in order to attract users to the platform. Within a week of its launch, COMP accrued 300% of its value, peaking at $372 in August. Inevitably, its price halved at around $183 at the time of this writing. Similar to how Bitcoin’s price affects all other altcoins, so did COMP have a large impact on the DeFi space. Some professionals in the field, like John Wagster, the head of Frost Brown Todd, have no compunction in portraying even that halved price as hyper-valued, instead proposing a price at $50. Moreover, Compound’s focus on USD loans has exerted pressure on competitive platforms, such as DAI. They rely on stablecoins, which enhances their difficulty of maintaining a tether to a real world asset. Gauging DeFi’s True Valuation The mark of a bubble is its over-valuation, and DeFi certainly has some over-valuation issues. However, how serious of a problem does this represent? After all, in the current DeFi stage, where only 1% of cryptocurrency users are active DeFi participants, one should make a distinction between birthing pains and crippling unsustainability. Fortunately, the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio gives us an overall picture of the state of affairs in the DeFi space. As you would infer, the P/E ratio is the dollar count one has to put forward to gain one dollar from the company’s earnings. When we take a look at the top DeFi platforms/protocols, only some of them exceed valuations. Courtesy of Lucas Campbell In order to align themselves with reality, these three off-chart DeFi projects should either gather more users or economically reconfigure their tokens. Either way, the DeFi space shows an organic growth from genuine enthusiasm. People locked out of banks can now access loans, and people who have digital assets sitting around can now employ them to gain passive income via yield farming. DeFi’s Near Future So far, as the low user count shows us, DeFi is still in the incipient stage. Even so, it managed to gather billions of dollars in less than a year. Again, Lex Sokolin of ConsenSys puts it best as to why DeFi burst into the scene with such force: “And we’ve had this magical moment over the last six months where you have, essentially, these programmable vending machines of loans, of margin trading, of book building and market making; of insurance: all of these things being turned on and integrated, and starting to create some really bizarre and interesting outcomes.” When we zoom out, this was inevitable. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) has been trending for a while, eventually supplanting old ways of doing things, including video games (GaaS). This tells us that ecosystems of the future are converging toward a space in which dynamic, adaptable services offer the optimal framework for catering to people’s needs. Moreover, the major force that contributed to DeFi’s growth will remain – low-interest rates from the world’s central banks. Escape from this reality, in the form of rewards that are more real and predictable than stock fluctuations, is anticipated to bring in more users and contribute to the maturation of the DeFi space. See more from Benzinga Bottom Basement Rates Through 2023, Fed Promises, But Will It Be Able To Keep? Cantor Raises OrganiGram Target On Hyfire Data How Mexico's Legal Cannabis Market Impacts Domestic And International Markets © 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: no change || Prices: 10538.46, 10246.19, 10760.07, 10692.72, 10750.72, 10775.27, 10709.65, 10844.64, 10784.49, 10619.45
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bank of America is going big on blockchain: Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) is trying to steal a march on the latest developments in the technology behind digital currency bitcoin (: BTC=) by loading up on blockchain-related patents. Blockchain works like a huge, decentralized ledger for the digital currency bitcoin which records every transaction and stores this information on a global network so it cannot be tampered with. Major financial institutions -- including the Bank of England -- have released a number of notes over the last year on the potential of the technology and have created teams within their organizations to look into how to develop the cryptocurrency. But Bank of America is going one step further by attempting to patent some of the use cases of the technology. The company has already filed for 15 blockchain-related patents and is currently in the process of drafting another 20 to be submitted to the U.S. Patents and Trademark Office (USPTO) later this month, a spokesperson told CNBC on Wednesday. "Blockchain's very intriguing and for us it's a balance between not wanting to be Neanderthal but not wanting to put something out in a commercial application where the commercial application is still very unclear as a technologist, the technology is fascinating," Catherine Bessant, the chief operations and technology office at Bank of America, said during a CNBC event at Davos last week. "And we have tried to stay on the forefront, I think we have somewhere around 15 patents, most people would be surprised at Bank of America with patents in the blockchain or cryptocurrency space. (It's) very important in the intellectual property world to reserve our spot even before we know what the commercial application might be." In December, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published 10 of Bank of America's applications. The USPTO publishes patent applications 18 months after they're filed. But the latest information shows that the number of patents Bank of America has filed for and is looking to apply for is much higher. Story continues Bank of America patents published by the USPTO showed proposals for a "cryptocurrency risk detection system" and "suspicious user alert system" among others. These patents have not yet been granted. The technology might be some years off before becoming mainstream for banks, but institutions are taking a collaborative approach to the technology, working with start-ups and even rival lenders. A consortium of more than 25 banks, led by fintech (financial technology) company R3, is currently developing a framework for applying blockchain technology to markets. Last year, Goldman Sachs released a note that said blockchain could "change everything" while banks from Barclays to UBS explained how the technology could be used in areas from remittances to drawing up contracts. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || 10 Tech Predictions for 2016: As I always say, predicting what will happen in the tech industry over a short time horizon is a lot like shooting darts at Jell-O. But someone’s got to do it and it may as well be me. Besides, myprophecies for 2015didn’t do nearly as well asin 2014, and I’m itching to redeem myself.
I did hit a number of forecasts out of the park, including the success of Apple Pay and the demise of Twitter CEO Dick Costolo. And my prediction that the Nasdaq would break its all-time high and then fizzle out turned out to be reasonably accurate.
But a few of the calls I made, including those aboutnet neutralityand the Comcast – Time Warner Cable merger – were thwarted by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and federal regulators. [Sigh.] And my bet oncinematic reality startup Magic Leapnever made the jump from virtual to reality.
Let’s see if I can do better this year. Here’s what my crystal ball says will happen in 2016:
Users will develop smart gadget fatigue.While smartphones and tablets, to a lesser extent, will continue to see strong growth in emerging markets, the growth curve will continue to flatten out in mature markets – especially among Android devices. Wearables will get a boost from Apple Watch 2 but unit sales will remain unimpressive compared with the incomparable iPhone.
Jack will tweak Twitter.O Twitter, Twitter! Wherefore art thou Twitter? The return of Jack Dorsey as CEO will see the cofounder do a lot of Facebook-like (move fast and break things) tweaking to Twitter, starting with increasing the 140 character tweet limit. Jack will continue to tweak the product until something good happens, as in renewed user growth and engagement.
Apple and Google car hype will reach fever pitch.Car tech is heating up in a big way. And since the market’s response to Apple’s first new products since Steve Jobs – Apple Watch and Apple TV (the product, not the hobby) – has been muted, fanboys will be clamoring for rumors on the car front. And Google will likewise be pressured to show progress on at least one of its massive Alphabet ventures, notably its self-driving car.
Drones will continue to bug neighbors, privacy buffs and the FAA.Drones will remain an annoying hobbyfor the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, nobody in desperate need of a midnight pizza or a six-pack will be getting one delivered by drone anytime soon. And definitely not anytime this year.
The digital and real worlds will meet in augmented reality (AR).Virtual reality has been the next big thingfor as far back as I can remember, but the technology behind Facebook Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR and Google Cardboard is becoming more real all the time. A breakthrough, however, is more likely in the AR space, where the digital and real worlds meet. That means something will pop from Magic Leap, Microsoft HoloLens, Google Glass 2, or who knows, maybe Apple.
The tech bubble will correct.With notable exceptions like Netflix and Amazon, tech stocks took a breather in 2015 after an impressive six-year bull run. But the slowing global economy, the Fed’s monetary tightening, and terrorism concerns will let some air out of theprivate equity bubbleand take the Nasdaq down into correction territory.
Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious Bitcoin founder, will not be found.Wired, Gizmodo and every other tech media outlet have been hot on the trail ofidentifying Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym of Bitcoin’s mysterious founder. They thought they had it figured out a few weeks ago, but that turned out to be an elaborate hoax. Still, it was nowhere near as embarrassing asNewsweek’s Dorian Nakamotodebacle of 2014.
The IPO market will be weak.The private equity bubble is keeping late-stage startups that would ordinarily go public out of the IPO market. That will change when there’s a unicorn shakeout, investors get burned and VCs stop throwing money at startups at crazy valuations. That’s when tech companies will once again see public markets as viable exits. That’s when you’ll seeunicorns stampede on Wall Street. And it won’t be in 2016.
M&A activity will be strong.With the bull market running out of steam and private investors becoming more cautious, M&A exits will be on the rise. Unfortunately, a lot of them will be companies that maintain high burn rates until it’s too late and end up going for dimes on a dollar in fire sales.
Yahoo will sell its core business and Marissa Mayer will be out as CEO.Here’s a fun little rhyme for 2016, courtesy of Humpty Dumpty:
Yahoo Yahoo sat on a wallYahoo Yahoo had a great fallAll the Valley’s CEOs and all the Valley’s chairmenCouldn’t put Yahoo Yahoo together again
Jerry Yang, Carol Bartz, Roy Bostock, Tim Morse, Scott Thompson, Ross Levinsohn, Fred Amoroso, Maynard Webb. I’m sure I missed a CEO or chairman somewhere in there, but in any case, enough is enough. It’s long past time to put this company, its board, and Marissa Mayer out of their misery. Yahoo will be acquired or taken private in 2016.
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• The Most Annoying Aspects of Our Tech-Crazed Culture || Anarchists love 2015's best performing asset: Gold is down nearly 10 percent, major U.S. stock indexes are roughly flat and energy commodities have nearly all fallen more than 30 percent: It's been a tough year for investors. And while individual stocks have seen big pops on headlines, perhaps the best performing non-equity asset of the year is a favorite among crypto-anarchists.
Bitcoin(: BTC=), the digital currency heralded as a potential successor to the global monetary system, is up about 37 percent against the U.S. dollar since the beginning of the year. The cryptocurrency went for about $313 at the beginning of the year, according to CoinDesk's composite price index, and is now changing hands at around $430.
Those huge gains come after starting the year on rocky footing: Bitcoin dipped to below $175 in mid-January. But after a few false starts, the digital currency has been largely gaining ground since the beginning of October.
(One of the few investment options with a comparable 2015 return is Argentina's benchmark Merval — up about 40 percent on the year. Although U.S. investors playing the Global X Argentina ETF would be disappointed by the fund's slight loss in 2015.)
It's hard to say what's actually caused Bitcoin's rise during the last three months of 2015.
In November,digital ecosystem observers told CNBCthat a 70 percent one-month spike may have been caused in part byheadlines like theWinklevoss twins launching their exchangeand the Digital Currency Groupannouncing fundingfrom Bain andMasterCard.Others suggestedthat the relatively lightly traded asset could have been jumping on speculators' fear of missing out (FOMO).
For Brendan O'Connor, the CEO of bitcoin trading firm Genesis Global Trading, the year-end run up was the result of a series of positive trends for the asset.
On the one hand, O'Connor said, funding announcements from bitcoin-related start-ups helped to establish the legitimacy of the sector — and its underlying technology. This has helped push institutional investors into making investments in both the digital token and the over-the-counter Bitcoin Investment Trust (more on that ETF-like vehicle can be found here).
"They're looking for investments in non-correlated asset classes," O'Connor said, explaining that financial firms regularly come to his office to learn how to trade bitcoin. "I still think that by and large they're viewing it as a speculative investment, but I think that their willingness to test the waters has increased dramatically."
Another important trend in the space has been the gradually increasing interest the technology — and it's negligible fee structure — for remittance payments and as a daily currency in monetarily challenged parts of the world, O'Connor said.
That potential came to the forefront of the tech discussion during the summer's Greek crisis: When the country instituted capital controls in the face of increasingly dire eurozone negotiations,countlessarticleswerewrittenaboutbitcoin'spotentialforstrugglingcitizens.
It's unclear if those prophecies ever came to any real fruition, but investors in the space say the positive press coverage at least boosted awareness of bitcoin's potential.
Finally, bitcoin may have simply benefited from the lack of any disastrous headlines. Many traders say the cryptocurrency has shed the pall offailed exchange Mt. Gox— which quickly shuttered in 2014 after saying it lost 850,000 bitcoins (worth about $365 million today).
Bitcoin's fall from more than $1,150 near the end of 2013 to this January's $200 levels represented the asset's "long winter," according to economist Tuur Demeester, editor-in-chief of bitcoin-focused Adamant Research. The story of 2015, therefore, has been a bottoming out for the digital asset, and a climb to revaluation.
Bitcoin's fall from its highs, Demeester said, was the result of "bubblicious" investing in 2013 (with some help from Mt. Gox). Pricing levels remained depressed for so long because companies had become over-leveraged, and so had been squeezed into heavy bitcoin selling, he said.
As for 2016, Demeester suggested that the cryptocurrency could likely see another leg up as newly confident investors seek the right market valuation.
"But," he said, "with bitcoin you have to expect to be surprised."
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• Personal Finance || Record highs predicted for bitcoin in 2016 as new supply halves: By Jemima Kelly LONDON (Reuters) - 2016 could prove to be the year that the price of bitcoin surges again. Not because of any dark-web drug-dealing or Russian ponzi scheme, but for an altogether less sensational reason - slower growth in the money supply. Bitcoin is a web-based "cryptocurrency" used to move money around quickly and anonymously with no need for a central authority. But despite being championed by some as the digital money of the future, it is often dismissed as a currency that is too volatile to invest in. The reason 2016 looks set to be different is that bitcoin's price is likely to be driven in large part by similar factors to a traditional fiat currency, following the age-old principles of supply and demand. Instead of being controlled by a central bank, bitcoin relies on so-called "mining" computers that validate blocks of transactions by competing to solve mathematical puzzles every 10 minutes. In return, the first to solve the puzzle and thereby clear the transactions is currently rewarded with 25 new bitcoins, worth around $11,000 (BTC=BTSP). But when it was invented in 2008 by the mysterious "Satoshi Nakamoto", who has yet to be identified, the bitcoin program was designed so that the reward would be halved roughly every four years, in order to keep a lid on inflation. The next time that is due to happen is July 2016. Bitcoin was also designed to emulate a commodity by having a finite supply of 21 million bitcoins, which will be reached in around 125 years, up from around 15 million today. Hence, also, the use of the term "mining". Daniel Masters, co-founder of Jersey-based Global Advisors' multi-million dollar bitcoin hedge fund, started his career as an oil trader at Shell in the mid-1980s and spent 30 years trading commodities before crossing over to bitcoin. Now he reckons the price of bitcoin could test its 2013 highs of above $1,100 next year and then pick up speed to rise to $4,400 by the end of 2017. Story continues That would be due to a number of factors, Masters said, including an increased acceptance of payments in bitcoin by big companies and authorities, rapidly growing interest and investment in the "blockchain" technology that underpins bitcoin transactions, and also more demand from China as its currency weakens and the economy slows. But taken in isolation, the halving of the mining reward will increase the price of bitcoin by around 50 percent from where it is now, Masters reckons. That is despite the fact that the halving of the reward has always been inevitable - a factor that would already have been accounted for in pretty much every other market. "If OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)came out tomorrow and said, 'in six months' time we're going to halve oil production', the oil price would instantaneously react. But the bitcoin market is still in its infancy, and I don't think that factor is discounted into the price fully," he said. DECENTRALIZED DIGITAL ASSET Bitcoin's price has already almost doubled in the last three months, putting it on track for its best quarter in two years. It hit $500 last month for the first time since August last year, with Chinese demand for a pyramid scheme set up by a Russian fraudster cited as a reason for the price surge. But Bobby Lee, the chief executive of one of the leading bitcoin exchanges in China, BTCC, reckons there is scope for the cryptocurrency to go much further. He thinks the price could increase by as much as eight times in the time up to the reward halving, taking it as high as $3,500 by next summer. "Today the worth of bitcoin is $1 per capita in the world (population)," Lee said, referring to the value of all the bitcoins in circulation, around $6.5 billion. "For such an innovative, decentralized digital asset, I say 'boy, are we undervaluing it'. But it takes a while for people to realize that." The mining reward has already been halved once before, in November 2012, from 50 to 25 bitcoins. The stakes were much lower then, with one bitcoin worth around $12, but nevertheless the price increased by about 150 percent in the preceding seven months - roughly the time left before the next halving. "It (the halving) dampens supply so, all other things being equal, that puts upwards pressure on price," said Jeremy Millar, partner at London-based financial technology specialists Magister Advisors, who expects demand to continue to increase. "No one can argue with that fundamental economic principle." (Editing by Greg Mahlich) || Investors Set Sail With Cruise-Line Investments In 2016: 2015 proved to be a lucrative year for many cruise liners, as an improving economy and low fuel prices created the perfect conditions for a rebuilding year. Industry juggernaut Carnival Corp (NYSE: CCL ) saw its shares rise 19.43 percent over the course of the year, and Barron's sees the firm climbing another 20 percent this year, a sign that the industry can expect smooth waters ahead. Safety In The Water Carnival Corp has been touted as one of the safest plays in the cruise industry, because the company is the largest operator in the world. Carnival has ships in almost every body of water on the planet, operating popular names like Carnival Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises and Costa Cruises. Not only does the company have a massive brand appeal and staying power, but Carnival also pays out the heftiest dividend with a yield of 2.2 percent. Related Link: Barron's Picks And Pans: Carnival, Pandora, American Capital And More Expanding Into China Another reason the cruise industry is set to continue gaining through 2016 is the potential for expansion in China as cruise holidays gain popularity. For investors looking to play this angle, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE: RCL ) or Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ: NCLH ) could be smart plays. Royal Caribbean has proven to be popular among the Chinese population and has been pushing upscale ships with luxury rooms that have brought in a great deal of interest. Norwegian is a relatively new entrant into the Chinese market, but the firm has been able to learn from its peers who have already penetrated the market and by offering customers a tailored experience different from what European or North American customers prefer. Image Credit: Public Domain See more from Benzinga 4 CEOs With A Tough Year Ahead Ledger Fights For Bitcoin's Staying Power At CES 2016 Virtual Reality In 2016 © 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Cybersecurity A Hot Topic At Davos: Cybersecurity has been a hot-button issue in both the public and private sectors over the past year after a spate of hacking attacks left several companies in jeopardy and illustrated that the U.S. government is struggling to keep pace with hackers. With concerns about cyber-terrorism ramping up in the wake of several terror strikes around the world, the Word Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, has become a battle ground for world leaders and tech firms to discuss how to protect each nation's security without compromising customers' privacy, according to the Wall Street Journal. Data Tug Of War Government officials are pushing tech firms like Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB ) and Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR ) to make their data more accessible in order to give law enforcement better surveillance options. Related Link: Bitcoin Makes An Appearance At Davos They argue current encryption processes make it impossible for the firms to give officials access to communications that could be essential in preventing further terror attacks. However, tech firms say that making data more accessible would land them in a difficult position, as it makes customer data more accessible to everyone, not just law enforcement. Brad Smith, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT )'s chief legal officer said that loosening encryption could violate customer privacy laws in the United States, causing tech firms to choose which laws they want to break in order to comply with government requests. Making Customers Happy Companies like Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG ) (NASDAQ: GOOGL ) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL ) have ramped up their privacy protection in the years since U.S. contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents detailing the Untied States' widespread surveillance practices. Since that time, many consumers have become much more conscious about their privacy protection, and companies like Google and Apple have responded by using encryption that even they don't have the keys to. Story continues Image Credit: Public Domain See more from Benzinga Apple Moves Into India Twitter Begins The Year On A Low Are Share Repurchases On The Horizon? © 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || First Bitcoin Capital Corp. Signs Evaluation Agreements with Emercoin International Development Group, To Develop and Market Solutions to Provide Distributed Blockchain Services For Business and Personal Use: VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January, 28, 2016 /First BITCoin Capital Corp. (BITCF) announced today that it has signed an evaluation agreement with Emercoin International Development Group, a leader in solutions to provide distributed blockchain services for business and personal use. First BITCoin has signed certain evaluation agreements to promote Emercoin technology for wide spectrum of blockchain based technologies:
1. EMC/SSH- Secure shell management system needed by every site admin.
2. EMC/DNS- Uncensored domain name system, peering with OpenNIC.
3. EMC/LNX-- Decentralized pay-per-click advertising network.
4. EMC/SSL- System for password less authentication on the world wide web.
5. Info/Card- Storage for electronic business cards for use with EMCSSL.
6. EMC/TTS- Trusted storage for digital timestamps on the blockchain.
7. MAGNET - Distributed torrent tracker for internet file sharing.
8. EMC/DPO- Digital proof of ownership solution for physical or digital goods and services.
First BITCoin is also evaluating investing in Emercoin to support Emercoin's market expansion and acceptance worldwide.
Oleg Khovayko, Emercoin Lead Developer, said, "Key difference in Emercoin from other cryptocurrencies is that we are using blockchain not just for transfer credit values. We consider Emercoin as a technological platform for distributed, censorship–proof and scalable services. So we developed a suite of services running on top of the Emercoin blockchain that will be very useful for a lot of companies and even private persons."
In addition, our goal is provide stable, robust and easy to integrate services. Hence, our solutions are compatible with industry standards, proven their efficient and security.
"We are excited to have the opportunity to evaluate and possibly invest in EMERCOIN , especially due to their recent partnership with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) to deliver their blockchain services to the Azure cloud's Blockchain-as-a-Service marketplace, also known as BaaS Platform," the Company spokesperson said. "We are always looking for disrupting, new and promising technologies, and are ready to invest in those companies to help them to market their technology worldwide."
About EMERCOIN Group
EmerCoin (EMC) is a decentralized, open-source cryptocurrency created in late 2013 and based on technologies from Bitcoin, Namecoin and Peercoin. It utilizes both Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake mining. Emercoin, a leading digital currency and blockchain platform has just partnered with Microsoft to become a member of the Azure marketplace. With demand growing for innovative, scalable blockchain services that are ready to implement, Emercoin is a natural fit for the Azure cloud platform. They have developed a robust suite of ready-to-use features that offer real world solutions for business and consumer use.
Emercoin will be delivering their suite of blockchain services into the Azure cloud later this year. This will give Azure cloud users the ability to install and make use of Emercoin's many services such as digital proof of ownership and identity, passwordless authentication on the internet, network security, the first distributed advertising network and many E-commerce solutions like the Emercoin secure micropayment service.
For more information please visitwww.Emercoin.com.
About First BITCoin Capital Corp.
First Bitcoin Capital Corp. is a development-stage Canadian-based mining company currently holding concessions of Gold in Venezuela and is developing technology for the crypto-currency industry. It is the first vertically-integrated consolidation company of the Bitcoin and crypto-currency marketplace.
The Company is developing the following digital assets
www.CoinQX.com- online cryptocurrency Exchange.
www.BITessentials.com- online shopping mall (in Beta testing) allowing multiple vendors to place their products ans sell for cryptocurrency. Company has partnered with GoCoin , A global leader in Blockchain payments and innovation, GoCoin was the first international platform for enabling merchants to Blockchain currency payments including Bitcoin and popular altcoins Litecoin, Dogecoin and Tether at checkout.
www.iCOINews.com - Real time crypto currency news aggregator platform.
www.BITminer.cc- Mining and equipment sales for cryptocurrency miners.
The Company currently develops other innovative projects.
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:
This press release includes various "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which represent the Company's expectations or beliefs concerning future events. Statements containing expressions such as "believes," "plans," "anticipates," "intends," or "expects," or similar expressions or statements regarding intent, belief of current expectations used in the Company's press releases and in Disclosure Statements and Reports filed with the Over the Counter Markets through the OTC Disclosure and News Service are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes its expectations are based upon reasonable assumptions within the bounds of its knowledge of its business and operations, there can be no assurances that actual results will not differ materially from expected results. The Company cautions that these and similar statements included in this report are further qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date thereof.
Contacts:
[email protected]
SOURCE:First Bitcoin Capital Corp. || Your first trade for Monday: The " Fast Money " traders delivered their final trades of the day. Tim Seymour was a seller of the iShares MSCI Japan ETF (NYSE Arca: EWJ) . David Seaburg was a seller of Twitter ( TWTR ) . Brian Kelly was a buyer of gold (CEC:Commodities Exchange Centre: @GC.1) . Guy Adami was a buyer of silver (CEC:Commodities Exchange Centre: @SI.1) . Trader disclosure: On December 11. 2015, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Tim Seymour is long AAPL, BAC, CLF, DIS, F, FCX, GE, GM, GOOGL, INTC, JCP, JPM, KO, LGF, RL, T, TWTR, VRX. Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, MCD, NKE, SBUX, YHOO. David Seaburg: No conflict. Brian Kelly is long BBRY, Bitcoin, GDX, GLD, Hong Kong Dollar, TLT, US Dollar; he is short Yuan, Candaian Dollar, GSG, EEM, EWC, EWH, SPY. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Trade Options? Here's How To Get Involved In Bitcoin: By now, Bitcoin needs no introduction. The digital asset has become the most popular cryptocurrency in the world, and people are already getting used to using it and trading it every day. But, are there other ways to capitalize from the fluctuations of the currency? An innovative way to trade the popular cryptocurrency uses binary options. The Playbook Do you think the Bitcoin will continue to surge? Or will it lose value going forward? Whatever your thoughts on the issue are, binary options might offer an interesting way to play the events with relatively low collateral. Related Link: Think Energy Has More Downside? Here Are Two Ways To Play It What Are Binary Options? Investing via binary options is just that: playing a binary event. Binary options are limited risk contracts based on a simple yes/no market proposition like will the markets go up by the end of the trading week, binary options trading site Nadex . How To Trade Bitcoin With Binary Options Via binary options, traders can partake in the popular Bitcoin market with limited risk, short-term contracts in a transparent, regulated marketplace. At Nadex, investors can find unique daily and weekly Bitcoin binary option contracts, based off the Tera Bitcoin Price Index. Below is an example of how to trade Bitcoin using binary options. A standard Bitcoin Binary Option may look something like: Bitcoin > 440 (3:00PM) This means that this contact suggests the underlying price of Bitcoin will be above $440 at 3:00 p.m. If you think the answer is yes, buying the binary option might be the way to go. If you think the answer is no, you would sell the contract. Investors should note that the price at which they would buy or sell the contracts is not the actual price of Bitcoin, but rather a value between zero and 100. Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no positions in any of the securities mentioned above. Image Credit: See more from Benzinga Citi Pair Trade In Hardware: Buy Cisco, Sell F5 BMO Notes What's Holding HP Inc Back Vetr Crowd Downgrades Republic Airways Amid Airline Weakness © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin's biggest investor bought its leading news outlet: There is one trade publication in the digital currency industry that every mainstream news outlet knows well, and cites regularly in stories about bitcoin:CoinDesk. It is a source of news about bitcoin investments, price spikes or crashes, and executive hires, and it is a regular destination for journalists who write about bitcoin (as well as for bitcoin enthusiasts who don't get paid to write about the currency).
Last week, CoinDesk reported some newsabout itself. The website has been bought by Digital Currency Group, the investment firm of Barry Silbert, who in 2004 founded SecondMarket, which allows for the trading of private-company stock. He sold the platform to Nasdaq (NDAQ) last year. This is DCG's first full acquisition; it did not disclose the sale price, but sources tell Yahoo Finance it was around $750,000.
DCG has invested in 60 different digital currency companies, and the companies in its portfolio have raised 70% of the venture capital in the industry. You might think that creates an obvious conflict of interest here. Silbert owning CoinDesk is like Red Sox co-owner John Henry buying the Boston Globe (which actually happened), or Peyton Manning buying the Denver Post, or Donald Trump buying Politico.
But Ryan Selkis, the DCG executive who will oversee business at CoinDesk for the time being, insists that won't be a problem. Nonetheless, he says the possibility did concern him at first.
The subject of changing ownership at a bitcoin news site may seem like granular inside-baseball, but it is significant when viewed in the context of ongoing fears about who owns the media. From NewsCorp to Bloomberg to recent changes at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, it is a topic on the minds of both journalists and their readers.
Is bitcoin's primary news site selling to bitcoin's biggest investment firm another piece of bad news for the industry? Selkis, DCG's director of growth, spoke to Yahoo Finance about that question and about DCG's plans for the site. What follows is an edited transcript.
Yahoo Finance:Before we get into CoinDesk, what was your take on the fallout from Mike Hearn's post last week? [Hearn, a bitcoin developer,declaredthat bitcoin had "failed" and that he was leaving the industry; it resulted in a media firestorm.]
Ryan Selkis:I won’t comment on the theatrics of it. I will say that Mike Hearn was one of the really solid developers, he’s contributed a good chunk of his life and energy into making bitcoin what it is today, so, style aside, there’s not a whole lot people can say to critique his overall contribution to the industry. But this [ongoing debateover the size of blocks, or bundles of transactions, recorded on bitcoin's public ledger] is more of a governance issue than it is a bitcoin issue, in terms of how this will get resolved. I think it will get resolved. But the governance of the overall project needs to be better.
What was DCG's approach to buying CoinDesk, what were the considerations?
The first priority we had when we considered this acquistion, my main hesitation, was whether we’d be able to preserve CoinDesk’s editorial independence. And it’s why I’m working with the team full-time now on operating activities. We are going to create both informational and physical barriers between the editorial team and Digital Currency Group. From a policy standpoint, I’ve recused myself from all investing activity at DCG. I was its director of investments; I have completely transitioned away from that and now I’m director of growth.
How does handling growth for DCG pertain to CoinDesk?
In this particular instance it means making sure we have a smooth transition post-acquisition. We’re combining two teams. We’ve kept all the CoinDesk employees and our plan is to continue to employ everyone that came over, hopefully for a long time. But we also have a professional events team we’ve been working with that were already in the midst of planning a large conference in May, and now we’re merging those two teams to plan one event, Consensus 2016. So now everyone, with the exception of myself, is a CoinDesk employee. And functionally, I’m full time with the CoinDesk team.
So how are you separating CoinDesk from DCG?
We are physically relocating offices to a different part of Manhattan. So the CoinDesk folks are not going to be sitting right next to our Genesis [a broker dealer that is another DCG subsidiary] trading team or our investment team, which has proprietary information on how 60 or so bitcoin companies that we are invested in are performing.
What if CoinDesk is now afraid to write bad news about companies DCG is invested in? Or it could go the other way: Will CoinDesk start getting all the scoops on DCG companies?
On the latter point, I’m not concerned because even before this, CoinDesk had established itself as a clear industry leader in terms of a trade journal. So they were already getting most of the scoops. When you talk about embargoed news releases, they are going to continue to be on the same lists as the other folks that DCG reaches out to. So that doesn’t really change. To be honest, CoinDesk was typically part of a broad group of outlets that would be contacted whenever there was news about a DCG company, because we never want to restrict press attention to just one outlet for any of its business interests. So that is the much easier question to answer.
With respect to editorial conflicts, look, that’s what I’m here for, is to make sure there’s a buffer between both entities. So on the one hand, I’m not influencing CoinDesk editorial, but on the other hand, I’m leading the team on a day-to-day basis, and I’m able to interface with DCG but I’m no longer privy to any inside-baseball related to the portfolio companies.
That seems like a contradiction: You won't influence CoinDesk editorial, but you'll lead CoinDesk day to day? So will you be full time at CoinDesk, or at DCG?
I’m DCG's director of growth, but I'm focused full time on CoinDesk and this acquisition, and the 10 or so employees we’ve absorbed, and the large-scale conference we’re producing in May. That makes CoinDesk our top priortity in terms of growth initiatives.
Is the conference the main reason DCG bought CoinDesk? Why else?
We think there’s a lot of organic growth potential for CoinDesk. They’ve had display advertising and various sponsors, but last year they hosted Consensus 2015, it was profitable, it was well-attended, folks were raving about the content of the event. And in mid-2015 they also began publishing paid research reports. As we continue new investments in CoinDesk, paid research and live events are going to be meaningful drivers of growth for the business.
We have the resources to invest not only in fantastic new editorial talent, as in full-time reporters, but also strengthen the ranks of freelance contributors. One area we will invest in is looking beyond just bitcoin the currency and the very insular community there, and branching much further out into blockchain applications that enterprise is taking a look at. Now, that doesn’t mean we are on this "blockchain, not bitcoin" bandwagon, because I don’t want to give that impression at all and it’s a very shrill conversation that happens on Twitter and Reddit when you bring it up. But I do think there will be private ledger solutions that work for enterprise where bitcoin isn’t necessarily a good alternative.
Yes, big financial institutions and banks, from Nasdaq to JPMorgan, have been on the "blockchain, not bitcoin" trend lately. Do you think that's all talk?
I think the interest is definitely real. The bigger question is, over what time frame does this play out? I don’t think that anyone should expect fully functioning products in the next year, two years, handful of years. It will take many years to build some of these core products that are used currently for clearing and settlement. But I think it’s not just a buzzword, I think "blockchain for banks" truly is more relevant in many cases than using the bitcoin blockchain. If you’re a large institution and you’re looking to create an open ledger where you can move securities around safely and transparently to other regulated institutions, you don’t need a native currency like bitcoin or a consensus mechanism that uses anonymous miners. You already know the parties. You could have five banks that are the only signatories to that particular blockchain. So that would be interesting.
--
Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology.Read more:
Bitcoin industry consolidates: Why Kraken bought Coinsetter
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[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 16 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $243.50 #bitcoin #btc || 1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$417.79/$419.32 #Bitstamp
$416.00/$416.97 #BTCe
⇢$-3.32/$-0.82
$420.66/$420.90 #Coinbase
⇢$1.34/$3.11 || 1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$434.60/$435.00 #Bitstamp
$431.82/$432.43 #BTCe
⇢$-3.18/$-2.17
$435.46/$435.47 #Coinbase
⇢$0.46/$0.87 || LIVE: Profit = $150.93 (7.11 %). BUY B5.49 @ $410.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $411.85 (#HitBTC) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || #Bitcoin last trade
@btcecom $400.00
@cryptsy $427.93
Set #crypto #price #alerts at http://AlertCo.in || LIVE: Profit = $408.51 (4.86 %). BUY B20.42 @ $420.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $432.31 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || 1 #bitcoin = $7650.00 MXN | $429.9 USD #BitAPeso 1 USD = 17.79MXN http://www.bitapeso.com || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 13 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $904.53 #bitcoin #btc || LIVE: Profit = $30.00 (2.19 %). BUY B3.60 @ $380.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $389.77 (#BitKonan) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || LIVE: Profit = $1,034.32 (10.63 %). BUY B23.36 @ $450.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $461.00 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org
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Trend: up || Prices: 376.62, 373.45, 376.03, 381.65, 379.65, 384.26, 391.86, 407.23, 400.18, 407.49
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2021-02-10]
BTC Price: 44918.18, BTC RSI: 69.93
Gold Price: 1840.60, Gold RSI: 48.62
Oil Price: 58.68, Oil RSI: 80.84
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin Rally Likely To Peak Out In Coming Weeks, Says Technical Analyst: Bitcoin (BTC) rally seems headed for a breather in early January, as per Newton Advisors President Mark Newton. What Happened: The apex cryptocurrency still looks bullish on an intermediate-term basis, given it just broke out to all-time new highs, Newton told CNBC on the basis of chart analysis. "Near term, my cycle composite shows us peaking out in early January, the analyst said. Basing his analysis on another chart, which uses three disparate Bitcoin cycles, Newton said, All those years where we had a stellar Q4 we reversed course in trend back in late December, early January, and actually went lower. I think there will be some opportunity to buy dips into Q1 of next year, Newton said. Why It Matters: Newton is long on various cryptocurrencies and revealed that he was looking to sell out of his positions in the next one or two weeks. Comparing investors with institutions, Newton observed that with SPACs right now, you can make money at 10, 15, 20% a day. I just dont think that investors have quite the appetite for crypto while the institutions are certainly very much heading in that direction. See Also: MicroStrategy Now Holds 70,470 Bitcoin After Spending .1B in 2020 Cryptocurrency markets are on fire with BTC soaring nearly 36.7% since the beginning of the month and 273.22% on a year-to-date basis. The cryptocurrency reached its all-time high of $28,288.84 on Dec. 27. Ethereum (ETH) has risen 16.78% since the beginning of December and 451.79% on a YTD basis. Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTC: GBTC ) and Grayscale Ethereum Trust (OTC: ETHE ) closed 11.33% and 4.32% higher at $30.45 and $16.90 on Monday, respectively. At press-time Bitcoin traded 1.26% lower at $26,845.73 and Ethereum traded 1.06% higher at $715.97. Latest Ratings for GBTC Feb 2018 Buckingham Initiates Coverage On Sell Jul 2015 Wedbush Initiates Coverage on Outperform View More Analyst Ratings for GBTC View the Latest Analyst Ratings Story continues See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga Here's How Much Investing ,000 In Ethereum 5 Years Ago Would Be Worth Today Bitcoin Controlled By China, Ripple Tells SEC In Face Of Imminent Lawsuit © 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Gold’s Glory Days Might be Over, amid High Geopolitical Uncertainty: Metal traders are moving past the impeachment of President Trump and focusing more on, Joe Biden’s plans for further COVID-19 support programs scheduled to be released today.
At press time, recent price action revealed Gold futures were down by more than 0.65% to trade at/ounce $1,839.20.
Recent price patterns on the yellow metal’s chart affirms a bearish continuation pattern, on the 4-hour time frame despite the impeachment move sighted in the U.S congress, on the account metal traders are focused more on futuristic stimulus COVID-19 programs coupled with monetary policies from the U.S Federal Reserve Bank.
Also,gold tradersare going short on the hard safe haven asset as recent data show an upsurge in U.S. Treasury yields and value of the greenback. The 10-year Treasury yields jumped close to its 10 month highs, thereby dampening the urge in buying precious metals at the near term.
In addition, gold traders are anticipating the future of gold remains tied to the hip of the US dollar fortunes in Q1, 2021.
US House of Representatives on Wednesday impeached President Trump for the second time charging the outgoing president with encouraging the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
Surprisingly, ten House Republicans members broke party ranks and voted for President Trump’s impeachment.
However such move, as done little in supportinggold pricesamid a significant geopolitical uncertainty in play, taking into account that recent reports suggest Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, will not convene the Senate until next week to hold a trial for President Trump.
However, positive factors for gold bugs at least in the mid-term, would have to involve the resumption of the greenback downtrend, or if the Federal Reserve Bank pulls a policy rabbit out of the hat and eases more into fragile American economic recovery, yet it seems Bitcoin is now taking the shine off gold amid record cash inflows seen in recent days from institutional investors in hedging against inflation.
For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out oureconomic calendar.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Crude Oil Price Update – Trade Through $52.60 Confirms Closing Price Reversal Top with $50.63 Next Target || BTC Surges to $37K After Elon Musk Adds Bitcoin to Twitter Bio: Bitcoin witnessed a sudden double-digit spike to 10-day highs on Friday. The top cryptocurrency picked up a bid near $32,000 at around 08:30 UTC and jumped to $37,050, the highest level since Jan. 19, according to CoinDesk 20 data. The 15.7% rise happened in less than 15 minutes and more than reversed the early dip from $34,400 to $32,000. While the exact reason for the bullish move is hard to define, prices surged after Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk changed his Twitter bio to mention the cryptocurrency. While the bitcoin community is keen for Musk to come out as a supporter, he seemingly enjoys dropping crypto mentions as something of a tease. Related: In Retrospect, It Was Inevitable: Elon Musk Pumps Bitcoin to Space Around the time he changed the bio, Musk also cryptically tweeted: Whether bitcoins rise will continue isnt certain. Blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuants Exchange Whale Ratio, calculated by dividing the top 10 bitcoin inflow transactions in an hour by total exchange inflows, jumped to an eight-month high of 0.88 early Friday, warning of a possible price drop. However, Elons tweet overrides all other bearish signals, Ki-Young Ju, CEO of blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant tweeted . Documenting Musks ostensible nod to the leading cryptocurrency, F2Pool, currently the largest mining pool by hashrate, embedded the tech moguls latest tweet in Bitcoin block 668,197. We wanted to do something special for the bitcoin community, a spokesperson from the mining pool told CoinDesk after mining the block. Related: Top 5 Dogecoin Pumps Through the Ages Other bitcoin users planted the tweet on the blockchain too, like Zakk Lakin, technical lead at bitcoin exchange CoinCorner, who planted Musks tweet in a single bitcoin transaction on Friday. Reflecting Musks huge social media influence, Google searches for bitcoin surged following his bio change. Story continues The latest price rise marks an upward break of the recent $30,000 to $35,000 trading range. As such, more chart-driven buying may be seen. The cryptocurrency is currently trading near $36,100. See also: Coinbase to Become Publicly Traded, Announces Proposed Direct Listing of Shares Update (Jan. 29, 14:24 UTC): Adds information about embedding Musks latest tweet on the Bitcoin blockchain. Related Stories BTC Surges to $37K After Elon Musk Adds Bitcoin to Twitter Bio BTC Surges to $37K After Elon Musk Adds Bitcoin to Twitter Bio || FOREX-Dollar extends 2020 losing streak amid upbeat sentiment; yuan shines: (Adds European PMIs, quote, new milestone) * Dollar softens against most majors; virus worries lift yen * China's yuan soars * Focus turns to Georgia Senate race * Bitcoin slumps after stellar rally By Julien Ponthus LONDON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar fell to mid-2018 lows on Monday as bullish sentiment across global markets prompted investors to buy riskier currencies such as the Chinese yuan and the euro, despite a resurgent pandemic. With U.S. interest rates pinned at record lows, massive U.S. deficits and a belief that rebounding world trade will drive non-dollar currencies higher, the dollar weakened on the first day of trading in 2021 after falling nearly 7% last year. The Chinese currency was the biggest beneficiary of the weak dollar trade. The yuan rocketed to a two-and-a-half-year high. "The U.S. dollar slipped further through the threshold of the new year as global risk sentiment stayed buoyant", said Alvin Tan, an FX strategist at RBC Capital Markets. The dollar index touched a low of 89.415, a level last seen in mid-2018, and was down 0.3% at 89.529. The Chinese yuan rose to 6.44 yuan per dollar after Beijing cut the weighting of the U.S. dollar in a key currency index basket. That could push the yuan's value higher against its peers this year, analysts said, while Chinese factory activity continued to accelerate in December. The euro, which had dipped on New Year's Eve profit-taking, rose 0.6% to $1.2294, just short of 2018 highs with positive economic indicators backing the single currency. IHS Markit economist Phil Smith said the latest data showed German manufacturing continued to power on at the end of the year. "With the rollout of the COVID vaccines, it's hoped that the pandemic will become less and less of a hindrance to demand and that investment will continue to recover in the year ahead." Also, a closely watched gauge of growth in British manufacturing activity rose to its highest level in three years as factories rushed to complete work before the end of the post-Brexit transition period on Dec. 31. Sterling abandoned most of its early gains against the dollar, retreating below $1.37 but close to levels last seen in early 2018. The safe-haven yen rose 0.4% to 102.87 per dollar, after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said his government was mulling a state of emergency in Tokyo as coronavirus cases rise. Bitcoin had a rough ride, falling as low as $27,734 at one point, after making dramatic gains over the new year's break. It was last down 6.4% at $30.980. The world's most popular cryptocurrency surged over $30,000 for the first time on Saturday, touched a record high of $34,800 a day later, as investors continued to bet the digital currency was on its way to becoming a mainstream asset. ======================================================== Currency bid prices at 12:08PM in London (01208 GMT) Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Euro/Dollar $1.2291 $1.2218 +0.61% +0.61% +1.2301 +1.2211 Dollar/Yen 102.8950 103.2900 -0.46% -0.47% +103.3100 +102.7300 Euro/Yen 126.47 126.15 +0.25% -0.35% +126.5200 +126.1100 Dollar/Swiss 0.8798 0.8847 -0.54% -0.54% +0.8845 +0.8789 Sterling/Dollar 1.3647 1.3662 -0.10% -0.10% +1.3703 +1.3645 Dollar/Canadian 1.2694 1.2734 -0.43% -0.31% +1.2735 +1.2666 Aussie/Dollar 0.7719 0.7693 +0.34% +0.34% +0.7740 +0.7682 NZ 0.7208 0.7181 +0.40% +0.40% +0.7230 +0.7183 Dollar/Dollar All spots Tokyo spots Europe spots Volatilities Tokyo Forex market info from BOJ (Reporting by Julien Ponthus; editing by Lincoln Feast, Larry King) || U.S. Stock ETFs Strengthen as Economically Sensitive Sectors Take Charge: This article was originally published onETFTrends.com.
U.S. markets and stock exchange traded funds gained Wednesday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 hitting record highs as investors shifted to cyclical and economically sensitive sectors on bets that the Democratic party's win in the Georgia runoff could lead to more fiscal spending.
On Wednesday, theInvesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ)fell 0.1%,SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSEArca: DIA)was up 2.0% andiShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: IVV)gained 1.5%.
Democrats took a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia and were leading in another, closing in on a surprise sweep and wrestling control over the Senate from Republicans to potentially advance President-elect Joe Biden's policy goals,Reutersreports. The outcome will be finalized later Wednesday.
“The market is saying we can deal and live with this political decision,” John Stoltzfus, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer Asset Management, told Reuters. “It is saying if you have the potential to lose the tax reform package ... the offset to that might be more stimulus to the economy which in effect could be positive for the markets.”
Market observers were outlining a Democrat-controlled Senate, which could open the path to increased fiscal spending, but it also raises the likelihood of tax hikes and tougher regulation on corporate America. Nevertheless, traders took it as a net positive for economic growth globally and for most risk assets.
However, those who are taking things with a grain of salt pointed out that even if Democrats take control of both Senate seats in Georgia, more moderate-leaning Democrats may keep a check on a progressive agenda.
“With a potential razor-thin majority, drastic change is unlikely,” Jeffrey Buchbinder, equity strategist at LPL Financial, told theWall Street Journal.
“Once the clouds have cleared, the market will realize that, yes, this is a blue sweep but it is a very, very marginal one,” Seema Shah, chief strategist at Principal Global Investors, told the WSJ. “It is certainly not the status quo we have been used to, but I also wouldn’t expect that much of a change.”
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READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || ALT 5 Pay Welcomes the Rimawi Art Gallery to Its Merchant Services, Enabling Bitcoin Payments for Art: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / December 17, 2020 /ALT 5 Sigma Inc., announced today that the exclusive Art Gallery Rimawi has joined its merchant services (www.Alt5pay.com) to begin accepting Bitcoin payments for the purchase of paintings, sculptures and other exclusive Art.
According to the company, Rimawi located in Rosemere, Quebec, has begun accepting payments in Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Ripple. Rimawi, founded in 1974 represents over 200 artists with over 2,000 art pieces from around the world and this new payment option is just another demonstration of their leadership in the art industry.
"There is a real and present demand for payment in cryptocurrencies and until now, there was no actual solution to remove the risk associated with these payments. We joined Alt 5 Pay so we can accept Bitcoin and receive the currency of our choice" said Ms. Malak Rimawi, "Alt 5 Pay's free merchant service is not only easy to use but its efficiency is truly remarkable," further added Ms. Rimawi.
Alt 5 Pay is a payment gateway which enables the payment in cryptocurrencies without exposing the merchant to price volatility and risk. The payment gateway offers merchants the possibility of creating invoices and or integrating the Alt 5 Pay directly to their checkout. The crypto payments are immediately converted to FIAT equivalent in either US dollars, Canadian Dollars and EUROs at the option of the merchant. As an example, an Alt 5 Pay invoice of $5,000 paid in Bitcoin will result in the conversion of the Bitcoins to $5,000, no fees to the merchant and directly deposited to their account.
"The cryptocurrency sector is not a fade, and its adoption and impact is seen globally," said Andre Beauchesne, President and CEO of Alt 5 Sigma Inc. "Rimawi Art Gallery, and its management see this new payment method as an important opportunity to attract new customers and expand sales" further added Mr. Beauchesne.
AboutRimawi Art GalleryLocated in Rosemere, Quebec, the Rimawi Art Gallery was established in 1974 and now represents over 200 artists with over 2,000 art pieces from around the world.
Alt 5 Sigma Inc.ALT 5 is a fintech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency and compliance.
ALT 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. ALT 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers.
ALT 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services.
www.alt5pro.comwww.alt5pay.comwww.alt5connect.com
Contact:Andre Beauchesne, President & CEOTel. [email protected]
SOURCE:ALT 5 Sigma, Inc.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/621309/ALT-5-Pay-Welcomes-the-Rimawi-Art-Gallery-to-Its-Merchant-Services-Enabling-Bitcoin-Payments-for-Art || As Elon Musk Touts Dogecoin Again, Here's What You Should Know About The Cryptocurrency: A few words byTesla Inc(NASDAQ:TSLA) Elon Musk on social media was all it took to sendDogecoin(DOGE)soaring 26% in a 24-hour periodleading up to press time. The Shiba Inu-themed joke cryptocurrency’s latest rally is ironically a serious mirror of reflection on the cryptocurrency space in general.
Here're some things to know about Dogecoin and its strength relative to the overall cryptocurrency market.
Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble:Cryptocurrencies are on fire — reaching for new highs every day. The apex cryptocurrency,Bitcoin(BTC), crossed the $24,209.66 mark on Sunday, hitting yet another milestone.
Dogecoin too went soaring after Musk sent out atweetsaying “One word: Doge.” The meme-based cryptocurrency has rallied 52.34% in the last seven days.
Cutesy Canine Market Mania:In 2018, Dogecoin’s founder Jackson Palmer wrote anarticlefor Vice titled “My Joke Cryptocurrency Hit $2 Billion and Something Is Very Wrong.”
Palmer, an Australian, got disenchanted by what he called “shark-like” scammers and opportunists drawn to the cryptocurrency who fleeced members for millions of dollars. He backed away from the project in 2015 and said in the article he owned less than $50 worth of Dogecoin.
“Dogecoin’s valuation is the result of market mania that has resulted in inexperienced investors buying up low-priced assets on a whim, hoping that they will follow Bitcoin’s meteoric trajectory,” wrote Palmer.
Shibes Of The World Have Nothing To Lose:Shibes — as Dogecoin aficionados call themselves — have enjoyed a return of 137% on a year-to-date basis even as volumes have soared to $635.18 million. But this is not the first time the currency has seen such massive upwards momentum.
The dog-themed currency skyrocketed 1,377% between Nov. 7, 2017 and Jan. 7, 2018. Musk'sfavorite cryptocurrencyalso saw significant upwards movement at the beginning of this month.
The Prudential Puppy:Investors may as well heed the advice of the Dogecoin founder who wrote, “It’s difficult to predict how much the current crypto bubble will inflate, or when it’ll burst (not if).”
Palmer is of the opinion that once the price bubble pops it will take all the hype with it. Yet, the cryptocurrency crowd is undeterred by such trivialities and believers such asMicroStrategy Inc(NASDAQ:MSTR) CEO Michael Saylor aredishing outpointers to Musk to convert Tesla’s entire balance sheet into Bitcoin.
Benzinga's Take:When it comes to Dogecoin or any other coin for that matter, the best advice for prudential puppies is to invest at your own peril.
Price Action:DOGE closed nearly 29.4% higher at $0.005066 at press-time, while BTC traded 2.10% higher at $24,016.48.
See Also:As Bitcoin Shoots Past K, Analysts Can Already See It Reaching For K
Photo by Dogeloverforever on Wikimedia
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© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || 4 Big Reasons Bitcoin Belongs in Your Portfolio: As of this writing, the price of bitcoin is about $19,000 and, at less than 15% of my net worth, the single largest position in my portfolio. In the below paragraphs, I hope to articulate why – contrary to the common narrative – this is not crazy.
This post is part of CoinDesk’sYear in Review 2020– a collection of op-eds, essays and interviews about the year in crypto and beyond. Pondering Durian is a tech-focused investor and writer who explores connections between the U.S., China, and Emerging Asia (India and Southeast Asia) in the Emergingnewsletterandblog.
The core narratives I use to justify my significant holdings inBTCare as follows:
Related:'Happy Staking': Ethereum Core's Danny Ryan on 2.0 in 2021
Bitcoin as insurance: The probability of a reserve currency meltdown near-term is exceptionally low. However, as the probability inches up, more people will want an insurance policy. There are only 21 million bitcoins. More people wanting an insurance policy + static number of policies = price increases per policy.
Bitcoin as exit: Due to accommodative monetary policy, asset prices have not undergone their typical cycles which would have allowed millennials to access assets at affordable prices while artificially boosting the wealth of Gen X and boomers. Instead of playing in a “rigged system,” many millennials are exploring alternatives. More and more millennials will choose to “exit.”
Bitcoin as reflexivity: Bitcoin is the ultimate speculative asset. Like other forms of money, bitcoin only has value because other people believe it has value. There is a legit argument to be made that as prices increase and more people learn about the asset, the greater the probability Bitcoin will be more widely accepted, which merits a further increase in price.
Bitcoin as an “option” on digital gold: The bitcoin as digital gold metaphor is not quite right. Today it’s more of a call option on digital gold, a bet that over time, more and more investors will accept this view. Every new wave of investors which come to understand the narrative–retail investors, early adopting institutions, laggard asset managers and finally governments (in the ultimate bull case)–presents a step change in price as narrative becomes reality.
Related:10 Predictions for 2021: China, Bitcoin, Taxes, Stablecoins and More
Note: I’m writing from the perspective of a millennial with a fairly high risk tolerance, lean expense structure and long-term time horizon. Clearly, the allocations would be different for a parent heading towards retirement with college tuition payments and a mortgage to fund monthly. The asset is exceptionally volatile, with a decent chance of total collapse. However, if you are able to stomach near-term volatility and are aware of the risks, the upside makes the below allocations justifiable: ~15% gold, ~15% bitcoin/ETH, ~10% cash and ~70% equities/real estate.
Let’s find out why.
The only way to understand why this allocation makes sense is to zoom out and take in the big picture. There is a war going on, the accelerating deflationary forces of technology vs. the inflation-desperate central banks. A reflexive loop has formed:
The avenues for paying back the massive government debts now building are austerity, restructuring, faster GDP growth or devaluing the currency. Austerity is politically untenable and often limits GDP growth hurting debt to GDP ratios.
Furthermore, GDP growth is hard to come by in our stagnating, debt-laden economies. Restructuring would likely be catastrophic to the existing financial system. Devaluing the currency is the only realistic, politically tenable option. Growing GDP and controlled inflation are the means by which central banks have typically reduced debt burdens. Stimulus–providing cheap credit–has been the tool of choice. However, the ever-increasing stimulus is having a diminishing impact. We needmore and more cheap debtto buy $1 of GDP growth.
Against the backdrop of this monetary and fiscal circus, bitcoin’s narratives are finding their way into more and more portfolios.
Debt growth is outpacing GDP growth, which means the best option to stabilize the debt/GDP ratio is stoking inflation.
However, in recent years, inflation has been hard to come by despite quantitative easing on a global scale: the U.S. Federal Reserve has missed its 2% inflation target in eight of the last 12 years since the global financial crisis. This seems to be brought on by an increasing debt overhang as well as the deflationary forces of technology.
As Jeff Booth points out in “The Price of Tomorrow,” the easiest place to see the deflationary forces of technology is your smartphone. What would have previously been a separate collage of supercomputer + flashlight + calculator + wallet + camera + television + yellow pages + a zillion other things now fits into your pocket for prices affordable for billions. You get more for less. Many things today are basically free.
The deflationary forces of exponential digitization vs. central banks desperate to stoke inflation to pay back their large debt burdens. The key economic struggle of the 21st Century.
Based on rates of inflation, tech seems to have the upper hand. Our government’s response? More stimulus.
Clearly, this cannot go on forever, but it will last longer than many people think. Let’s look at the winners and losers of this current monetary regime.
Clearly, in a monetary regime of near-zero interest rates, savers are hit hard and yields on bonds turn progressively negative (in real or even nominal terms). The increased liquidity in the system has not flowed to goods and services (causing inflation) but is flowing into the equity markets (inflating asset prices – the only place with real returns to act as a store-of-value for future spending). The more money printed (or cheap debt issued), the higher equity prices are likely to go given the lack of alternatives in other asset classes to store wealth.
If you look at the equity indices globally since the unprecedented quantitative easing (QE) after the 2008 financial crisis, I think the trend ispretty clear.
If you believe we will continue to be in a deflationary environment (which seems likely given the increasing role of tech) and you believe governments will try desperately to stoke inflation (which they will because it is the least painful way to “repay debts”) and you believe their tools for stoking inflation are limited largely to more stimulus (which appears to be the case), then this trend will continue.
In that case, equities – with decent exposure to tech (adjusting for valuation) – seem like a good place to play ball. Hence my 70% weighting(as a young person with a long-term outlook).
How long can this cycle last?
As I mentioned in a previous post, it could last until the U.S. dollar (USD) loses its status as the global reserve currency. In short, for quite some time.
I think the below excerpt frommy newsletterback in June explains the dynamic well:
To quote 15th century Dutch philosopher Desiderius Erasmus, “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.” In 2020, the U.S. is the one-eyed king.
Despite poor fiscal and monetary practices, near-zero interest rates and an increasingly ailing balance sheet, demand for dollars and Treasury bonds remains strong. There is simply nowhere else to go.
Japan has been stagnating since the 1990s with adebt/GDP ratio of ~230%. The European Union is following suit and the very existence of the monetary union is in question. There is a high probability the euro doesn’t see 2030. Pound sterling is a relic from a colonial past and is rapidly being weaned from reserves. While China has a healthier government balance sheet, there are strict capital controls for a reason. It’s doubtful China will rapidly open its financial borders after thestrong outflow pressures witnessed in 2015 and 2016. The rule of law is still too arbitrary.
That leaves the U.S.
Even with the record stimulus, there is an “insatiable demand” for U.S. treasuries.From the Financial Timeson a possible additional $3 trillion in U.S. government borrowing:
Financial markets have so far had little difficulty in digesting the supply, with Treasury yields ticking slightly higher but still hovering close to record lows. The 10-year note now trades at 0.67 percent, roughly 1 percentage point lower than where it began the year…
There is a seemingly insatiable demand for U.S. dollar debt. There is little to suggest that the Treasury [Dept.] will have any issue funding [the government]”
The U.S. is still the only game in town.
These current trends, the central bank remedy and the sticky nature of reserve currency status points to a bull case for the continued expansion of global equities. If this base case happens, a majority equities portfolio will do well, and gold will underperform but still likely appreciate slowly.
To hedge against the downside, a mixture of cash, gold and bitcoin seem compelling.
However, a lot of smart people are starting to analyze this cycle and concluding it cannot last forever. Ray Dalio’sextended debt cyclewill need to unwind slowly or pop. Unfortunately, while still a ways off, the short-term nature of our four-year election cycle makes the latter scenario increasingly likely. Populism is in. Technocrats are out.
To hedge against the downside, a mixture of cash, gold and bitcoin seem compelling. USD in the event of a non-catastrophic downturn, gold in the event of a non-catastrophic or catastrophic downturn and BTC in the event of a catastrophic downturn, but with simultaneous upside characteristics near-term as penetration grows.
Considering this backdrop, a not-insignificant allocation to BTC strikes me as justifiable. If you are wrong, then equities will likely continue to perform well and your portfolio should be fine. Even if it goes to zero, you will not be on the street.
Despite being young and extremely risky, bitcoin’s narratives resonate with me. Assuming others think similarly, there is a lot of upside in being in early.
As stated above, bitcoin could be seen as a put option on continued irresponsible monetary and fiscal policy–surging in price when the extended debt cycle finally pops. Foreign governments eventually balk at buying U.S. Treasurys as debts continue to pile up.
Under this scenario, the financial system would likely have a catastrophic collapse leading to a scramble for “hard money,” of which bitcoin (along with gold) is a leading candidate. Still, reserve currencies are notoriously sticky; the above scenario is unlikely to play out on a medium-term time horizon. What is more likely is …
As more investors piece together the above reflexive loop, they will explore allocations to protect their downside. Gold has clearly been a recent favorite. However, BTC’s current market cap is just ~$350 billion (at time of this writing) relative to gold at ~$10 trillion. As the narrative around “digital gold” continues to gain adoption, step change increases in value are possible as different waves of investors decide to take a bet on the narrative. As historianNiall Ferguson notes, if all the world’s millionaires decide a ~1% portfolio allocation to bitcoin is worth the hedge, then the price per coin is ~$75,000.
There is growing discontent among millennials with expanding inequality. The low returns to labor and the monetary shenanigans that are propping up asset prices beyond their grasps are key drivers. While the increasing popularity of hard left politicians like U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders or Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is one symptom, crypto provides a more libertarian option. “If the existing system isn’t working for me and protects the wealth of my parents and baby boomers, then it’s time to play in a new sandbox.” Crypto is the new sandbox with algorithmically transparent rules of play. As cohorts age, more people and dollars will find themselves in the crypto sandbox.
As readers of my newsletter know, I’m a fan of George Soros’ reflexivity framework–essentially that subjective and objective reality are intertwined and dynamic. I believe in 2020 we are reaching an era ofpeak reflexivity, and bitcoin is the ultimate reflexive asset. Perfectly crafted to ride these trends.
As Naval Ravikant put it: “Money is the bubble that never pops. It’s a consensus hallucination.”
I’m bullish on bitcoin because of the unique technical properties ensuring scarcity but even more so because of the hard-core evangelical following. Many will never sell. More folks getting religion + constrained supply = a one-way impact on price.
At the end of the day, humans are social creatures and use narratives to derive meaning. Bitcoin presents a compelling narrative to many people, especially those below the age of 40. The top-heavy baby boomer demographic disparages it, the same people who will be gone when the massive debt bills finally come due.
See also: Hong Fang –The Complete Case for $100K Bitcoin
This narrative isn’t for them.
Crypto is a vehicle outside of the existing political system to serve as a forcing function. A mechanism to exit the old game headed for bankruptcy and start a new one which cannot be co-opted politically. The potential to serve as the massive intergenerational wealth transfer which never happened under the current system because the Fed keeps propping up asset prices.
A fresh start.
Against the backdrop of this monetary and fiscal circus, bitcoin’s narratives are finding their way into more and more portfolios.
At some point, the hallucination just becomes reality.
Note: Please note I am not a financial planner, and this should not be considered professional investment advice. Please do your own research and only invest what you are comfortable losing in its entirety. || US Library of Congress Says Most Countries Lack Clear Tax Guidance on Crypto Staking: The U.S. Library of Congress’ law division has released a report that shows major differences across global jurisdictions on the taxation of cryptocurrency gains based on how assets are obtained. The 124-page report penned by foreign law specialists, titled “Taxation of Cryptocurrency Block Rewards in Selected Jurisdictions,” was announced Wednesday by U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.). Building on the Library’s previous research on cryptocurrency regulation, the latest study comprises a comparative analysis of 31 different nations’ regulatory approaches to cryptocurrency taxation. Related: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Has Set up His Own Bitcoin Node Specifically, the study casts an eye over jurisdictions that tax those who obtain mining block rewards versus proceeds obtained via staking. The report also assesses the tax implications of new tokens obtained via free distributions called airdrops and blockchain splits, or hard forks. See also: Bitcoin ‘Underperforms’ During Tax Time: Analysis The study found that while tax departments in a number of the 31 countries have published guidance on the taxation of mined tokens, only a handful directly address the taxation of new tokens obtained via staking. An alternative to mining, staking is committing crypto assets for a period to support the functioning of a blockchain network in return for rewards. The disparity arises because more recently a number of projects have moved from a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism – aka mining – to a proof-of-stake (PoS) model, and countries are playing catch-up, according to the report. More guidance needed Related: Credit Card Companies Should Offer Stablecoin Payments or Be Left Behind: Gartner Emmer, who is co-chair of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus – a bipartisan group of lawmakers studying blockchain technology in conjunction with industry – said greater guidance was needed to implement a “proper path forward.” Story continues “In order for these technologies to thrive and reach their revolutionary potential we must have the knowledge and organizational landscape of the approaches to regulation,” said Emmer in a press release on Wednesday. Out of the 31 nations, 16 have been identified as possessing specific rules or guidance on the applications of various major taxes such as income, capital gains and value-added tax when it came to mined tokens. Those include Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jersey, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K. Most of the countries listed above provide different tax treatment to small-scale cryptocurrency mining conducted by individuals, often treated as a hobby, then large scale commercial operations. See also: Kentucky Bill Seeks to Lure Crypto Miners With Tax Breaks Meanwhile, the number of countries that address the taxation of tokens obtained via staking stands at just five: Australia, Finland, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland. “How nations tax the people who maintain cryptocurrency networks will obviously have a big effect on attracting or repelling innovators and investment,” said Abraham Sutherland, legal adviser to the Proof of Stake Alliance . “The results are all over the board.” See also: Library of Congress Reports Surge in Crypto Law Searches Sutherland went on to say the “critical first step” is to establish clarity around block rewards and when they are taxed. He said tokens should be taxed when they are sold, not when they are first acquired such as can be the case with new property. “This will both reduce administrative headaches and ensure that people are not overtaxed.” Related Stories US Library of Congress Says Most Countries Lack Clear Tax Guidance on Crypto Staking US Library of Congress Says Most Countries Lack Clear Tax Guidance on Crypto Staking || Long-Desired Bitcoin ETF Could Actually Hurt Price in Short Term: JPMorgan: While a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) would be a long-term positive, in the short term it could hurt the price of the leading cryptocurrency as it would draw institutional money from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), currently the only way for some on Wall Street to gain exposure to bitcoin, JPMorgan analysts wrote in a report.
• Optimism over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approving abitcoinETF this year has grown due to the likelihood of a new commissionerbeing appointedthis year, the report notes.
• But that change would give competition to GBTC, which benefits from being the only game in town. (Grayscale is owned by Digital Currency Group, the parent company of CoinDesk.)
• Due to regulatory and other restrictions, some financial institutions and funds can’t directly own bitcoin or even buy shares directly from Grayscale. To get in on the bitcoin action, they have little choice but to buy GBTC shares on the secondary market at a premium. With an ETF, that premium would shrink, reducing the attractiveness of GBTC shares.
• A shrinking GBTC premium would also diminish the allure of a popular trade, the analysts wrote. Right now, some institutional investors buy GBTC at net asset value with the intent of selling after the mandatory six-month lockup period expires to capitalize on that premium. Should the premium drop due to the coming introduction of an ETF, it would diminish the popularity of buying GBTC at NAV for that purpose.
• The JPMorgan analysts estimate the GBTC premium monetization trade could account for around 15% of outstanding GBTC stock.
• The prospect of a bitcoin ETF and the resulting diminishing GBTC premium could also lead some institutional investors who bought in in the second half of last year to sell when their six-month lock-up expires, further putting downward pressure on GBTC premiums, the analysts wrote.
See also:VanEck Proposes ETF for Bitcoin, Once Again
• Long-Desired Bitcoin ETF Could Actually Hurt Price in Short Term: JPMorgan
• Long-Desired Bitcoin ETF Could Actually Hurt Price in Short Term: JPMorgan
• Long-Desired Bitcoin ETF Could Actually Hurt Price in Short Term: JPMorgan
• Long-Desired Bitcoin ETF Could Actually Hurt Price in Short Term: JPMorgan
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 47909.33, 47504.85, 47105.52, 48717.29, 47945.06, 49199.87, 52149.01, 51679.80, 55888.13, 56099.52
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2017-04-21]
BTC Price: 1222.05, BTC RSI: 62.43
Gold Price: 1287.40, Gold RSI: 68.37
Oil Price: 49.62, Oil RSI: 40.25
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Now I Get It: Bitcoin: Man, if anything needs the now I get it treatment, its Bitcoin . You hear about it all the time in financial and technical circles but most people really dont grasp it. Bitcoin is an alternative kind of currency. Its entirely digitaltheres no paper money, theres no coins, nothing physical, not even a plastic card for your wallet. Your bitcoins are stored on your computer or your phone. If your hard drive crashes without a backup, you lose your bitcoins. This arrangement has some stunning advantages over traditional currency or credit cards: Between buyer and seller, theres no bank or credit-card company involved, no middleman who can charge fees. The entire Bitcoin banking system is a global peer-to-peer network, running Bitcoin software. When you buy something from someone in another country, theres no waiting to convert currenciesand again, no fees. All transactions are essentially anonymous, which is super convenient if youre a drug dealer or arms dealer. Theres a whole lot of really cool, really complicated math involved in Bitcoin, designed to keep it secure and to prevent Bitcoin inflation. For example: the complete record of all Bitcoin transactionsa massive digital ledger called the blockchain is stored on all Bitcoin users computers, rather than being held by a central authority. Bitcoin was born in 2009, the proposal of an anonymously written white paper. Theres no government to decide when to print new money in this case, so new bitcoins are minedcreatedthrough a complex scheme you can read about here . In essence, anyone can create new bitcoins, but dont think youll get rich that way. The job requires massive, expensive, high-horsepower computers that must slog through gigantic calculations to mine new money. The complexity of the math involved is adjusted so that its just barely profitable to mine bitcoins, and so that only a few bitcoins come into existence every 10 minutes. This production will stop when there are 21 million bitcoins on earth, which is supposed to happen around 2140 . After thatthats all the bitcoins therell ever be. So how do you get bitcoins? Same way you get euros or yen or pesos: You buy it with traditional currency like dollars. You can use online exchanges like Bitstamp and Coinbase . At this writing, one bitcoin costs about $1,078. What to do with bitcoins When you get a Bitcoin addresssomething like an email addressyou also get a complex password known as a private key, which you need to access your stash. At that point, you can transfer money to other people by sending it to their Bitcoin addresses. Story continues You can also pay for goods and services at some merchants, like Subway and Xbox; theyre delighted when that happens, because they dont lose 3% of the transaction in credit-card fees. But in the big picture, the list of places that accept Bitcoin is fairly small. And you dont get any particular benefit by paying for something this way. Bitcoin as an investment The good news is that since Bitcoins creation eight years ago, its value has gone up by quite a bitfrom well under a penny to over $1,000 per bitcoin today. The bad news is that its value is incredibly volatile. Remember this past January, when it dropped by a fifth in a day? Good times. Should you dive in? So: Bitcoin is fascinating, but its not very useful, at least not to most people. Some people love it, for sure, like investors with a taste for risk, tech-savvy early adopters, technically-minded libertarians, and criminals. But keep in mind that there are lots of exciting ways to lose all your bitcoins. Like if your hard drive crashes without a backup, and you lose your private key. Or if you get a Bitcoin virus, of which there are now many . Or if your Bitcoin exchange goes out of business, which has happened plenty; in fact, 18 of the first 40 exchanges had gone under as of 2013, taking all their clients money with them. Remember, this whole thing is largely unregulated. If you buy something with a credit card and you get ripped off, you can call an 800 number and the credit-card company will get your money back. But if you get ripped off with a Bitcoin transaction
sorry! You voted for no middleman, remember? In the meantime, for most people, Bitcoin is a fascinating development thats a worthy topic of studyjust not for ownership. More from David Pogue: The Fitbit Alta HR band is the least dorky fitness band you can buy David Pogues search for the worlds best air-travel app David Pogue tested 47 pill-reminder apps to find the best one The little-known iPhone feature that lets blind people see with their fingers I paid $3,000 for my MacBook Pro and got emotional whiplash Heres the real money-maker for the Internet of Things David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes non-toxic comments in the Comments below. On the web, hes davidpogue.com . On Twitter, hes @pogue . On email, hes [email protected]. You can read all his articles here , or you can sign up to get his columns by email . View comments || 10 things you need to know today: EU Parliament vote on Le Pen (Members of the European Parliament voting to decide whether to lift the EU parliamentary immunity of French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen after she came under investigation for tweeting pictures of Islamic State violence.Reuters/Yves Herman) Here is what you need to know. Janet Yellen speaks. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is set to give her economic outlook at the Executives Club of Chicago at 1 p.m. ET. Traders will be listening for clues as to whether the Fed will hike interest rates at the conclusion of its March 14-15 meeting. World Interest Rate Probability data provided by Bloomberg says there's an 88% chance the Fed hikes by 25 basis points at the meeting. Europe is growing at its fastest pace since 2011 . Markit's final February composite reading for the eurozone came in at 56, well ahead of the 54.4 print from January. "Growth of eurozone economic output accelerated to a near six-year record in February," IHS Markit said in a release. Global manufacturing is making a comeback . Global manufacturers posted their best month in almost six years in February as the JPMorgan-IHS Markit Global Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index rose by 0.2 points to 52.9, making for the best reading in 69 months. The dominant part of the UK economy is slowing down . UK services PMI slowed to 53.3 in February, missing the 54.2 that economists were expecting. "The slowdown mainly reflected a softer pace of new business growth, which some respondents linked to more cautious spending among consumers," a release from Markit that accompanied the report said. Bitcoin is extending its lead over gold . On Thursday, bitcoin climbed above gold for the first time. On Friday, the cryptocurrency trades up 2% at $1,281 a coin while the precious metal is down 0.5% at $1,228 an ounce. Snap Inc. had a monster debut . Shares of the social-media company shot up 44% in their market debut to close at $24.48 a share, giving Snapchat's parent company a market cap of more than $33 billion. Snap is now bigger than Macy's ($10 billion), Twitter ($11.3 billion), American Airlines ($23.6 billion), and Target ($32.9 billion). Story continues Costco same-store sales miss . The warehouse club retailer reported that same-store sales rose by 3% in its second quarter, missing the 3.2% gain that analysts were forecasting. The company also announced that it planned to raise membership fees as of June 1. Stock markets around the world are mostly lower. Hong Kong's Hang Seng (-0.7%) trailed in Asia, and Germany's DAX (-0.2%) lags in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open down 0.1% near 2,380. Earnings reporting slows. Big Lots and Revlon will release their quarterly results ahead of the opening bell. US economic data is light. Markit services PMI and ISM Non-Manufacturing will be released at 9:45 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is higher by 2 basis points at 2.50%. More From Business Insider US military test shows the A-10 'Warthog' can obliterate the small boat swarms that Iran uses Snap surges 44% in its stock market debut — after an IPO that made its 20-something founders multibillionaires 10 things you need to know today || Over 200 Fintech Startup Finalists to Celebrate Worldwide Fintech Innovation at the Benzinga Global Fintech Awards in New York City May 11: Benzinga Announces Finalists for 2017 Benzinga Global Fintech Awards;Over 200 Companies Will Compete at Fintech's Premier Event in New York City May 11
DETROIT, MI / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2017 /Benzinga, a leading online financial media publication and data provider, announced today the finalists for the 2017Benzinga Global Fintech Awards.
TheBenzinga Global Fintech Awardsis the largest fintech event focusing on the capital markets. In its third year, Benzinga has expanded the event's purview to the global stage, bringing over 200 companies to New York City from countries including India, Israel, Poland, and Singapore.
TheBenzinga Global Fintech Awardsfinalists were chosen by their peers in a social voting competition. In all, 372 companies applied to the competition, and 225 finalists received over 100,000 votes to advance to the judging round.
Finalists will soon enter the judging stage of theBenzinga Global Fintech Awardscompetition. A judging board of more than 30 leaders in every fintech vertical will rank the finalists in terms of how innovative their products are and their potential to reshape the finance industry.
The judging panel includes an "unprecedented" level of fintech talent, such as current and former C-suite executives of financial institutions like Morningstar and Thomson Reuters, as well as many leading investors, VCs, television personalities and financial innovators of all stripes. Firms from DE Shaw and J.P. Morgan to TD Ameritrade and Fidelity are all contributing insight and mentorship to the 225Benzinga Global Fintech Awardsfinalists.
TheBenzinga Global Fintech Awardsfinalists, by category:
Best Use of Alternative Investments Platform, Tool, or App
• BankerBay
• CFX Markets
• ClearVest Advisers, LLC
• CoolMellon
• Entrex
• Equitise
• Frictionless Healthcare Finance
• Income&
• Kettera Strategies
• Mercury Capital Advisors
• SAF Platform
• Seedrs
• Swaper
• YieldStreet
Best Analysis Platform, Tool, or App
• Alpha Hat
• Artivest
• BondCliQ
• ChartYourTrade
• F.A.S.T. Graphs
• NewsHedge
• Novus
• Orchard Platform
• Polly Portfolio
• TradingView
• Web Financial Group
• Ycharts
Best Digital Mortgage or Real Estate Platform, Tool, or App
• Brickvest
• BRICKX
• BuildFax
• Cadre
• Morty
• Neat Capital
• Neighborhood Pay Services
• PeerStreet
• Quicken Loans / Rocket Mortgage
• RealtyMogul
• RealtyShares
• Unison Home Ownership Investors
Best Education & Personal Finance Platform, Tool, or App
• BillGO
• Clarity Money
• Copper Street
• Dream Forward 401(k)
• FinTech Business School
• MoneyLion
• Shift
• SmartAsset
• TradeBench
Best Financial Advisor or Wealth Management Platform, Tool, or App
• Advisor Engine
• ALBRIDGE
• Backstop Solutions Group
• BaseVenture
• CBOE Vest
• FUNDBASE
• LendingCalc
• Mil Advisor
• MyVest
• ORION
• RobustWealth
• STRATIFI
• Truelytics
Best Forex Platform, Tool, or App
• Fortex
• FXPRIMUS
• FXStreet
• Markets.com
• MarketsFactory.com
• MobyTrader
• Remitly
• TF Global Markets
• uChange
Best InsurTech Platform, Tool, or App
• Aclaimant
• Bought By Many
• Coverfy
• CoverWallet
• Embroker
• FitSense
• Insureon
• League
• Life.io
• Neuroprofiler
• Senteri
• UnBrokerage
• WeSavvy
Best Lending Platform, Tool, or App
• Bizfi
• Datanomers
• Global Debt Registry
• IdFinance
• InterNex Capital
• MYJAR
• P2Binvestor
• PayMe
• Rubique
• Stilt
• Suretly
• Think Money
• TWINO
Best Proprietary Technology or APIs
• Alpha Exchange
• Connamara Systems
• Dataminr
• Finicity
• Nomad COnnection
• OpenFin
• OptionsCity
• Overbond
• Push Payments
• Quovo
• Redtail Technology
• Tradier
• Xignite
Best RegTech Platform, Tool, or App
• AQMetrics
• AU10TIX
• ComplyAdvantage
• ComplySci
• Neurensic
• Qumram
• Rippleshot
• ThetaRay
• Trulioo
• Trunomi
• Uniken
Best Research Platform, Tool, or App
• AlphaSense
• FinanceBoards
• MackeyRMS
• OptionMetrics
• PitchBook
• Slingshot Insights
• Sqoop
• Street Diligence
• Virtual Cove
Best Robo Advisor
• Betterment
• Clinc
• Exeria
• Gravity Investments
• Polaris Portfolios
• Scalable Capital
• Unicorn Bay
• Vestwell
• Ways2Wealth
• Wealthfront
• Wealthsimple
• WiseBanyan
Best Trading Execution or Brokerage Platform
• DriveWealth
• Fidelity
• FINVASIA
• Lime Brokerage (Wedbush)
• m1 Finance
• OptionsHouse
• SelfWealth
• Sterling Trading Tech
• StocksToTrade
• T3 Live
• TD Ameritrade (AMTD)
Best Trading Idea Platform, Tool, or App
• ADVFN
• Alpaca
• BullBoard
• Chaikin Analytics
• Equities.com
• iStockPicker
• SharingAlpha
• Stocks For The Week
• TalkMarkets
• Ticker.tv
• TickerTags
• Trade Ideas
• Tradespoon
• Trumid Financial
• Vest Cycle
• Vetr
Best Under-banked or Emerging Market Solution
• Amplify
• Billmo, LLC
• Eastpesa Limited
• Elevate
• FarmDrive
• Ovamba
• PayActiv
• Ping Express
• WorldRemit
Best Use of Blockchain or Bitcoins
• AlphaPoint
• Blockchain
• Brave New Coin
• I/O Digital
• Melonport
• Netcoins
• Paxos
• Purse
• Remitt
• SecureKey Technologies
Finding Alpha
• AlphaStreet
• Cindicator
• Croudify
• DarcMatter
• ExtractAlpha
• Kavout
• PortfolioEffect
• Prattle
• PureFunds
• RelateTheNews
• SavaNet
• Tradagon
• Visible Alpha
Institutional Innovators
• Bond Price Validation
• Bridge Financial Technology
• ChartIQ
• Cloud9 Technologies
• Intro-act
• Marstone, Inc.
• Opportunity Network
• Veriday
Investing In Millennials
• Aspiration
• EZMCOM Inc
• GRAIN
• Lean Financial
• MATADOR
• Payscape
• SprinkleBit
• STASH
Leveling the Playing Field
• CALL LEVELS
• Capitali.se
• Click IPO Securities
• DIY.Fund
• EnergyFunders
• finbox.io
• IEX
• OptaCredit Fintech Private Limited
• trigger
Solving Problems Through Payments
• Alipay
• CHeckbook.io
• disburze
• PayKey
• Payment Rails
• RenovITe Technologies Inc
• Sharepay
• Soundpays
• Spendesk
• SWITCH Inc
• Zebit
• ZOOZ
TheBenzinga Global Fintech Awardsjudges include:
• Pete Casella, Point72 Ventures
• Adam Boyden, RPM Ventures
• Amir Goldman, Susquehanna Growth Equity Partners
• Yin Luo, Wolfe Research
• Nathan Richardson, TradeIt
• David Teten, ff Venture Capital
• James Altucher
• Tim Seymour, CNBC
• Vicki Walia, Alliance-Bernstein
• Bill Libby, Goldman Sachs (GS)
• Kim Trautmann, DRW VC
• Seth Merrin, LiquidNet
• Steve Lau, WorldQuant Ventures
• Matt Harris, Bain Capital Ventures
• Tricia Rothschild, Morningstar
• Charlie Hartel, Yahoo! Finance (YHOO)
• Ed Skolarus, Investor's Business Daily
• Gene Munster, Loup Ventures
• Ken Scichiano, TA Associates
• Nicholas Britz, Google Finance
• Bill Nosal, NASDAQ
• John Hart, TD Ameritrade (AMTD)
• Alex Wong, DE Shaw Ventures
• Kelli Keough, J.P. Morgan Chase
• Matt Hatch, E&Y
• Jennifer Samalis, Fidelity
• David Jegen, F Prime Capital
• Man Mahjouri, Tradeworx
• Philip Brittan, Fmr. Thomson Reuters
• Sue Britton, Fintech Growth Syndicate
• Jeff Chiapetta, Charles Schwab
• Sonny Singh, BitPay
Media Information:
Spencer [email protected](for media email inquiries please put "MEDIA" at the beginning of the subject line)313-723-2000
About Benzinga Global Fintech Awards
Designed to uncover the most innovative companies within the financial technology capital markets sector, the Benzinga Fintech Awards provide winning finalists with new opportunities for growth and exposure. For last year's winners, please visitwww.benzingafintechawards.comor use the hashtag #BZAwards.
About Benzinga
Benzinga is a leading originator of actionable financial insights for traders and investors. Benzinga's news desk is constantly breaking stories and moving billions of dollars of market capitalization through its real-time terminal, Benzinga Pro. Benzinga's original content is syndicated to 70 partner websites, such as Yahoo! Inc.'s Yahoo! Finance, Microsoft Corporation's MSN, CNNMoney, Fox Business, Marketwatch, and more. Benzinga is the leading provider of news to the North American brokerage community, with a client list including TD Ameritrade, LightSpeed, TradeKing, and many more. The company is headquartered in downtown Detroit and dedicated to driving Detroit's renaissance. For more information, check outBenzinga.com,Cloud.Benzinga.com, andPro.Benzinga.com.
SOURCE:Benzinga || U.S. investment firm plans launch of first ever ethereum classic private fund: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. investment firm Grayscale Investments plans to launch the first-ever private fund focused on ethereum classic, a blockchain platform, according to Barry Silbert, founder of the company's parent Digital Currency Group. Ethereum classic's token is the seventh largest digital currency in terms of market capitalization, totaling $126.6 million. The coin powers a decentralized blockchain hub in which developers can create different applications that can dramatically enhance the transfer and sharing of information and value. Ethereum classic was built on the same fundamental principles as bitcoin: decentralization and immutability. On Monday, ethereum classic traded at $1.42 on digital asset exchanges. "As investors have grown more interested in digital currency as an asset class, we've also seen growing frustration with the difficulty in purchasing non-bitcoin digital currencies," Silbert told Reuters. "We're excited to launch a fund for ethereum classic to satisfy the growing interest we are seeing in ETC from more mainstream investors." The ethereum classic fund will be an open-ended trust that can raise an unlimited amount of capital, Silbert said. Digital Currency Group will be seeding it with its own capital and it will be offered initially to accredited investors, he added. This will be the second digital currency fund for Grayscale, which launched the Bitcoin Investment Trust in 2013, the only publicly-traded U.S. security in the over-the-counter market invested in bitcoin. Ethereum classic has had a rocky history. It came out of a split from the original ethereum blockchain platform created by Russian programmer Vitalik Buterin and launched in 2015. In April 2016, a blockchain solutions company called Slock.it announced the launch of The DAO on Ethereum. The DAO was designed as a decentralized crowdfunding model, in which anyone could contribute ethereum tokens to become a voting member and equity stakeholder in the organization. Story continues The DAO eventually raised $150 million as of late May last year. But on June 17,2016, an anonymous hacker funneled approximately $60 million in tokens into a separate account. The ethereum network decided to undertake a "hard fork", in which the community would create an entirely new version of the ethereum blockchain, erasing any record of the theft, and restoring the stolen funds to their owners. A new blockhain platform was then formed, keeping its ethereum name, and the original version was branded as ethereum classic. Both ethereum and ethereum classic trade on digital asset exchanges. The new ethereum has a larger market cap of $1.8 billion, with the token trading at $19.97 on Monday (This version of the story corrects the headline and first paragraph to show Grayscale plans to launch ethereum classic private fund, not that it has already launched the fund) (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Andrew Hay) || Maple syrup water tapped from trees is the next coconut water: (Melia Robinson/Business Insider)
In 2016, coconut water generated$2.3 billionin sales worldwide.
The makers of a new designer brew — a subtly sweet water tapped from maple trees — want to ride the coattails of coconut water's success all the way to the bank.
Maple water has captured a modest following since it debuted in 2013. While coconut water still commands98%of the global "alternative waters" market (which includes water harvested from bamboo,cactus, and artichokes),maple water has made gains. A recentreport from food and drink market researcher Zenithpredicts the maple water market will triple in size by 2020. It's unclear how much revenue the category currently drives.
"It's not coconut water, yet, from a category-size. We all like to hope that it gets to be that big at some point in time," Mike Roberts, vice president of sales atSap on Tap, tells Business Insider. The company, founded in 2015, sources water tapped from maple trees on farms across the Northeast.
Arbeau, a luxury line of maple waters available in tap and sparkling, launched in 2016 in Canada. The brand's creator, Leanne Pawluk, likens the product to wine. Each batch will take on a slightly different flavor profile, just as wines change season to season.
("We wanted it to be the champagne of waters," Leanne Pawluk, creator of Arbeau, told Business Insider.Melia Robinson/Business Insider)
When I first tried maple water, I expected to taste a sugary syrup similar to what I pour over pancakes. Instead, sipping from a Dixie cup of Sap on Tap water was refreshing. The clear liquid tasted like normal water with a spot of honey — sweet, but not as sugary as a Coca Cola.
Each spring, maple tree farmers tap their trees to catch the maple water, which is also known as sap. That liquid —made up of about 98% water and 2% sugar— gets boiled down until it becomes the sticky-sweet staple of breakfast foods, according toMichael Farrell, a maple specialist at Cornell University.It takes 40 gallons of sap to yield one gallon of maple syrup.
Maple water may be a more sustainable commercial product than syrup. The trees only give about three gallons of sap per year, and farmers could stretch that supply further in its raw form. In order to be sold, the sap must be filtered to separate out bugs and bacteria. Most products have a shelf life of less than one year.
(A Parker's Maple Barn employee pours maple tree sap into a larger bucket in Brookline, New Hampshire.Elise Amendola/AP)
The future of maple water is ambiguous, however, asclimate change threatens sap production. Some predict that fewer freeze-thaw cycles during the late winter and early spring could throw the brakes on sap production. Others worry maple trees will die out due to climate change.
Farrell, who directs amaple syrup research station in Lake Placid, New York, has a more optimistic view. In his book, "The Sugarmaker's Companion," he outlines several workarounds, including moving up the harvest as temperatures rise and relocating the industry to mid-Atlantic states.
And if a warm winter leads to a low sap yield, the product becomes more exclusive.
"It's sustainable, it's renewable," Pawluk says. "And it's super cool because it's water from a tree."
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• Bitcoin just hit an all-time high — here's how you buy and sell it || Bitcoin Wallets Under Siege From 'Large Collider' Attack: A group called the “Large Bitcoin Collider” claims it can smash open bitcoin wallets by using a so-called brute force attack, which directs mass amounts of computer power at individual wallets in order to guess their private keys.
The project, which has been underway for months, relies on a distributed network of computers (similar to bitcoin itself), and invites anyone to participate-those who do could potentially share in the proceeds of the wallets cracked open.
A “trophy list” on the home page of Collider (an apparent reference to theHadron Collider) suggests the group has successfully opened over a dozen wallets, though only three had any bitcoin in them. It’s unclear if the group is motivated by financial gain or the cryptographic challenge of smashing wallets-the answer is probably both based on the site’s webpage and outside observers.
AQ&A liston the Collider’s website says robbing even a tiny amount from non-profit group like the Internet archive “would make you an unconditional jerk.” But it also suggests other wallets are fair game, and that proceeds would be divvied up among the Collider participants.
Meanwhile, others think the wallet-smashing endeavor is a fool’s errand, according toMotherboard, which first reported on the Large Bitcoin Collider. In this view, the project is too hard and the rewards too low and infrequent (as thisReddit commenter explains) to pay off.
But some speculate the goal of the project is not to rob a whole lot of wallets, but instead to strike a mother lode from a long-lost wallet from bitcoin’s early days:
“About 10% ofBitcoinswere created early, before 2012, and have never been traded. If somebody ever finds the key of the early lost Bitcoins, they’ll have a huge payoff, over a billion dollars. Speculation is that either “Satoshi Nakamoto”, whoever he is, is holding onto them for a big payoff, or somebody lost the private key for all those early Bitcoins. As the years go on, the second explanation seems more likely,” said the top comment on the siteHacker News.
Get Data Sheet,Fortunes technology newsletter.
As for the process of cracking open wallets, it involves the laborious task of creating private keys-which are dozens of characters in length-and trying them against existing bitcoin addresses. The Collider has so far created and checked3,000 trillionprivate keys, a researcher told Motherboard.
As for the legality of all this, it’s unclear. On one hand, the law is pretty clear that you are not supposed to join a conspiracy in order to rob people. But on the other hand, as the group’s website points out, “It is not illegal to search for colliding private keys.”
For bitcoin owners, the risk of the Large Bitcoin Collider performing a stick-up on your private wallet is pretty tiny for now. But if the process also results in someone creatinga collisionfor bitcoin’s general hashing algorithm-as happened with the longtime crypographic standard SHA-1 (cracked byGooglethis year)-that would spell a lot more trouble, though as one readerpoints out, bitcoin’s encryption algorithm can be upgraded.
This article was originally published on FORTUNE.com || Bitcoin steadies after biggest three-day tumble in over two years: By Jemima Kelly LONDON (Reuters) - Bitcoin regained its footing on Monday, having suffered its heftiest falls since early 2015 between Thursday and Saturday as investors sold the digital currency on worries about its future. Having soared to an all-time high of $1,350 on the Bitstamp exchange on March 10, on speculation that regulators could approve the first U.S. bitcoin exchange traded fund the following day, the digital currency then slipped back. Its falls began accelerating on Thursday and it hit a five-week low of $944.36 on Saturday. But bitcoin recovered a little on Sunday and built on those gains on Monday, climbing around 2.5 percent to roughly $1,050 by 1815 GMT. Bitcoin experts said its steep losses were driven by a longstanding, and intensifying, row over whether - and how - to increase the capacity of the "blocks" that bitcoin transactions are processed in, so as to make sure there are no delays in transactions being finalised. "The bitcoin scaling debate is a risk for the network and highlights core issues in terms of governance and this is where more nimble crypto competitors see advantages in fleshing out their capabilities sooner," said Charles Hayter, CEO of digital currency analysis website Crytocompare, in London. At the same time that bitcoin was plunging, a newer, rival "cryptocurrency" was soaring: ether. The digital currency behind Ethereum - a project that some experts say holds more potential than bitcoin - has almost tripled in value this month, jumping to record highs of around $45. Some experts said traders were selling bitcoin and buying ether, which was exacerbating the falls in the original cryptocurrency. "Traders in the space are looking for better returns in the more risky and nascent cryptos such as Dash, Monero and Ethereum (and are) looking to replicate the extraordinary returns that bitcoin saw in its early days," added Hayter. U.S. regulators dashed Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss's bitcoin ambitions earlier in the month by rejecting their application to list an exchange-traded fund linked to the digital currency. (Reporting by Jemima Kelly; Editing by Alison Williams) View comments || Bitcoin Wallets Under Siege From ‘Large Collider’ Attack: A group called the “Large Bitcoin Collider” claims it can smash open bitcoin wallets by using a so-called brute force attack, which directs mass amounts of computer power at individual wallets in order to guess their private keys.
The project, which has been underway for months, relies on a distributed network of computers (similar to bitcoin itself), and invites anyone to participate--those who do could potentially share in the proceeds of the wallets cracked open.
A “trophy list” on the home page of Collider (an apparent reference to theHadron Collider) suggests the group has successfully opened over a dozen wallets, though only three had any bitcoin in them. It’s unclear if the group is motivated by financial gain or the cryptographic challenge of smashing wallets--the answer is probably both based on the site’s webpage and outside observers.
AQ&A liston the Collider’s website says robbing even a tiny amount from non-profit group like the Internet archive “would make you an unconditional jerk.” But it also suggests other wallets are fair game, and that proceeds would be divvied up among the Collider participants.
Meanwhile, others think the wallet-smashing endeavor is a fool’s errand, according toMotherboard, which first reported on the Large Bitcoin Collider. In this view, the project is too hard and the rewards too low and infrequent (as thisReddit commenter explains) to pay off.
But some speculate the goal of the project is not to rob a whole lot of wallets, but instead to strike a mother lode from a long-lost wallet from bitcoin’s early days:
“About 10% ofBitcoinswere created early, before 2012, and have never been traded. If somebody ever finds the key of the early lost Bitcoins, they’ll have a huge payoff, over a billion dollars. Speculation is that either “Satoshi Nakamoto”, whoever he is, is holding onto them for a big payoff, or somebody lost the private key for all those early Bitcoins. As the years go on, the second explanation seems more likely,” said the top comment on the siteHacker News.
Get Data Sheet,Fortune‘s technology newsletter.
As for the process of cracking open wallets, it involves the laborious task of creating private keys--which are dozens of characters in length--and trying them against existing bitcoin addresses. The Collider has so far created and checked3,000 trillionprivate keys, a researcher told Motherboard.
As for the legality of all this, it’s unclear. On one hand, the law is pretty clear that you are not supposed to join a conspiracy in order to rob people. But on the other hand, as the group’s website points out, “It is not illegal to search for colliding private keys.”
For bitcoin owners, the risk of the Large Bitcoin Collider performing a stick-up on your private wallet is pretty tiny for now. But if the process also results in someone creatinga collisionfor bitcoin’s general hashing algorithm--as happened with the longtime crypographic standard SHA-1 (cracked by this year)--that would spell a lot more trouble, though as one readerpoints out, bitcoin’s encryption algorithm can be upgraded.
See original article on Fortune.com
More from Fortune.com
• These Investors Bought the Firm Behind Bitcoin's Self-Proclaimed Inventor
• VC Fred Wilson Thinks Coinbase Is the Goldman Sachs of Bitcoin
• Why Everyone's Talking About 'Initial Coin Offerings'
• Why the Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF May Not Be Dead Yet
• Bitcoin Is Finally Starting to Settle Down || Digital Currencies Went Crazy in the Wake of the SEC’s Bitcoin Ruling: Something strange is happening in the world of digital currency. When the Securities and Exchange Commission passed aharsh judgmentlast week on bitcoin, many expected the entire asset class to crumble.
Instead, the opposite has happened.
The SEC ruling, if you missed it, came down on Friday afternoon. The long-awaited decision, citing the possibility of fraud and market manipulation, rejected a proposal to create an exchange traded fund (ETF) for bitcoin, and threw cold water onhopes institutional investors would use the ETFto stock up on the currency. The market quicklypunished bitcoin, driving its price down to around $1,050--a more than 15% drop from its highs earlier that day.
But when it came to other digital currencies, investors didn’t bail on them. They started gobbling them up. These other currencies such as Ethereum and Ripple (there are dozens) aren’t as famous as bitcoin but have been around for a while, and some people treat them as a proxy asset for bitcoin. Since the SEC decision, they’ve all shot up, some of them dramatically.
Here is a chart that shows how the prices have changed. The data is compiled from each currency’s lowest price on March 10 (the day of the ruling) through Tuesday morning:
As you can see,Ethereumhas made spectacular gains. The currency, which is tied to a popular new form of blockchain technology, is up around 60%. Dash, a less well-known bitcoin rival, is up about 59%.
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The other surprise in chart is how nicely bitcoin has recovered from the SEC’s punch last Friday. Here’s a closer look, courtesy ofCoindesk, of how its price has moved since Friday:
As you can see, bitcoin is nudging back towards its near all-time high of $1,300, which came amid a frenzy of speculation that a positive SEC ruling would send the price soaring.
For now, there is no clear explanation of why bitcoin recovered so quickly, or why the so-called “alt-currencies” like Dash initially rose when bitcoin fell. Some commentators have suggested the recent boom comes from new digital currency converts who learned about the assets as a result of the publicity surrounding the ETF decision. Others say the recent prices simply reflect the fact that digital currencies are a far more sturdy asset than they were two years ago, and their values can no longer be derailed by a bit of negative news.
It’s also worth noting the SEC jolt from last week has brought about a change in the makeup of the overall market cap for digital currency. Note below how bitcoin’s share of the pie has dropped about 10% since the news:
The upshot of this is that while bitcoin still clearly dominates the digital currency world, other assets--particularly Ethereum--may now be emerging as more than also-rans.
See original article on Fortune.com
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• Here's Why National Napping Day Is Actually a Serious Matter || Bitcoin is closing in on its all-time high: Bitcoinis trading at its best level in a month. The cryptocurrency is up 2.8% at $1241.35 a coin and is within striking distance of its all-time closing high of $1277.65, which was set on March 6.
Four days later, bitcoin put in a record high of $1327.19 before crashing more than 25% after the US Securities and Exchange Commission rejected the Winklevoss twins' plans for a bitcoin ETF. The SECrejected the plans for another bitcoin ETFjust a few weeks after that.
However, bitcoin has rallied off its March 24 low of $959.45 as it has gained acceptance elsewhere. First, Japan announced it was accepting the crypticurrency as alegal payment method, then, Russia said it wouldconsider recognizing bitcoin and other cryptocurrenciesin 2018.
Bitcoin has been the top-performing currency every year since 2010, aside from 2014. It's up 30% so far in 2017.
(Markets Insider)
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[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
$1048.75 at 02:00 UTC [24h Range: $1010.01 - $1053.00 Volume: 8014 BTC] || One Bitcoin now worth $1068.99@bitstamp. High $1081.00. Low $1023.01. Market Cap $17.367 Billion #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/qjQfg5RNbm || Get 200 crypto beans worth $2.00 to spend with The Bitcoin Store, Crypto Apparel, Hardware, Art http://rewards.allthingsdecentral.com/r/edward.willand.1/?c=twitter … || One Bitcoin now worth $1044.00@bitstamp. High $1063.70. Low $987.84. Market Cap $16.940 Billion #bitcoin || 1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$1209.65/$1210.83 #Bitstamp
$1196.00/$1196.99 #BTCe
⇢$-14.83/$-12.66
$1205.00/$1217.35 #Coinbase
⇢$-5.83/$7.70 || Bitcoin Mais - Bitcoins Grátis - R$ 7.000,00 por Mês http://fb.me/6mMuWWcO2 || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 12 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $1,251.40 #bitcoin #btc || One Bitcoin now worth $1162.76@bitstamp. High $1179.30. Low $1150.00. Market Cap $18.927 Billion #bitcoin || Buy Bitcoin anywhere in the world - $50.00
#Items4Sale
List ur biz at http://blacktradelines.com pic.twitter.com/uuhyiwEGij || $1216.28 at 10:45 UTC [24h Range: $1208.00 - $1229.00 Volume: 3045 BTC]
|
Trend: up || Prices: 1231.71, 1207.21, 1250.15, 1265.49, 1281.08, 1317.73, 1316.48, 1321.79, 1347.89, 1421.60
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
DEADLINE: Zhang Investor Law Alerts Investors of Deadline in Securities Class Action Lawsuit Against Renewable Energy Group, Inc. – REGI: NEW YORK, March 24, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zhang Investor Law announces a class action lawsuit on behalf of shareholders who bought shares of Renewable Energy Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGI) between May 3, 2018 and February 25, 2021, inclusive (the “Class Period”). To join the class action, go to http://zhanginvestorlaw.com/join-action-form/?slug=renewable-energy-group-inc&id=2643 or call Sophie Zhang, Esq. toll-free at 800-991-3756 or email [email protected] for information on the class action. 如果您想加入这个集体诉讼案，请在这里提交您的信息。 http://zhanginvestorlaw.com/join-action-form/?slug=renewable-energy-group-inc&id=2643 If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court before the May 3, 2021 DEADLINE. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. According to the lawsuit, defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that- due to failures in the diesel additive system, petroleum diesel was not periodically added to certain loads by the Company and was instead added by the Company’s customers; as a result, Renewable Energy Group was not the proper claimant for certain biodiesel tax credit (BTC) payments on biodiesel it sold between January 1, 2017 and September 30, 2020; a result, Renewable Energy Group’s revenue and net income were overstated for certain periods; there was a material weakness in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting related to the purchase and use of the petroleum diesel gallons when blending with biodiesel; and that, as a result of the foregoing, defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages. Lead plaintiff status is not required to seek compensation. You may retain counsel of your choice. You may remain an absent class member and take no action at this time. Story continues Zhang Investor Law represents investors worldwide. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. Zhang Investor Law P.C. 99 Wall Street, Suite 232 New York, New York 10005 [email protected] tel: (800) 991-3756 || COVID-19 is no longer the biggest tail risk: BofA fund manager survey: Institutional investors no longer view the COVID-19 pandemic as the No. 1 tail risk, according to the latest Bank of America (BofA) survey of global fund managers, an important gauge of sentiment on Wall Street.
Since COVID-19 became a global pandemic a year ago, the virus has dominated the rankings as the top tail risk by fund managers. For the first time since February 2020, COVID-19 is no longer in the top spot.
These days, investors consider the biggest tail risks to be higher than expected inflation (37%) and a “tantrum” in the bond market (35%) followed by the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and a bubble on Wall Street. A net 93% of fund managers expect higher inflation in the next 12 months, up 7% from the prior month’s survey and an all-time high, the survey found.
When looking at the survey results, Bank of America Securities chief investment strategist Michael Hartnett described investor sentiment as “unambiguously bullish.”
The survey, which polled 220 investors with $630 billion in assets under management between March 5 and 11, showed the average cash balance ticked up to 4.0% from 3.8%, net exposure for the hedge funds to equities is the highest since June 2020, and hedge fund allocation to commodities is at a record high.
According to the survey, 48% of the fund managers expect the global economy to deliver a V-shaped recovery, compared to only 10% in the May 2020 survey, another bullish viewpoint. A net 91% of the investors expect a stronger economy, which BofA points out is a record. A net 89% expect global profits to improve in the next year, the highest ever since the survey began.
When it comes to the U.S. stock market, 55% of investors say it’s a late-stage bull market, while 25% believe it’s an early-stage bull market. Only 15% of the fund managers believe it’s a bubble.
The fund managers still view long tech at 34% as the most crowded traded followed by Bitcoin (24%), ESG (15%), and long global cyclicals (8%).
Elsewhere, more than half of the fund managers, a record 52%, expect value to beat growth over the next 12 months.
Julia La Roche is a correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Follow her onTwitter.
• Buffett: Bond investors world-wide 'face a bleak future'
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• Buffett explains why Berkshire isn't a typical conglomerate
• Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting will be held in Los Angeles || Dollar dips to one-week lows as stocks hit record high: By Karen Brettell
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar dipped to one-week lows against a basket of currencies on Monday as stocks hit record highs and Treasury yields held below recent highs, though analysts said low liquidity with many parts of the world off for Easter holidays was likely exaggerating the move.
The dollar has rebounded this year along with rising U.S. Treasury yields as investors bet on faster U.S. economic growth and higher inflation as the economy reopens after COVID-19-related business shutdowns.
But the dollar’s drop on Monday even after strong jobs data on Friday may indicate that much of the bullish outlook is priced in, at least for the near-term.
“The fact that we’re not testing new highs (in yields) right after non-farm payrolls on Friday suggests that maybe some of this U.S. economic optimism is already priced in,” said Vassili Serebriakov, an FX strategist at UBS in New York.
That said “one has to be a little bit cautious in interpreting these moves because much of the world is still closed for holidays.”
The greenback had rallied on Friday after data showed that the U.S. economy created the most jobs in seven months in March as more Americans got vaccinated and the government doled out additional pandemic relief money, marking the start of what could be the strongest economic performance this year in nearly four decades.
The dollar fell 0.40% against a basket of currencies on Monday to 92.59. It has fallen from 93.44 on Wednesday, which was the highest since Nov. 5.
The euro gained 0.50% to $1.1811. Sterling rose 0.57% to 1.3903. The Australian dollar, which typically rises when risk appetite is strong, gained 0.78% to $0.7653.
Data on Monday showed that a measure of U.S. services industry activity surged to a record high in March amid robust growth in new orders.
The greenback has generally risen as stocks gain for the past few months. Investors are now watching to see if that relationship continues as it may indicate a shift in how the currency responds to improving risk appetite.
“The trickiest thing for markets right now is to figure out what the dollar’s sensitivity is to good U.S. economic news,” said Erik Nelson, a macro strategist at Wells Fargo in New York.
“This is a huge question because if we’re entering a phase where the dollar is no longer a safe haven and more of a ‘risk on’ currency, that’s big regime change,” Nelson said.
Investors are also focused on U.S. President Joe Biden’s proposed infrastructure plan, which would involve raising corporate taxes to pay for the new spending.
Biden would be willing to push through his $2 trillion infrastructure plan without the support of Republican lawmakers if he cannot reach a bipartisan deal, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said on Sunday.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday that she was working with G20 countries to agree on a global corporate minimum tax rate to end a "30-year race to the bottom on corporate tax rates."
The cryptocurrency market capitalization hit an all-time peak of $2 trillion on Monday, according to data and market trackers CoinGecko and Blockfolio, as gains over the last several months attracted demand from both institutional and retail investors.
Bitcoin was last up 1.16% on the day at $58,888.
========================================================
Currency bid prices at 3:00PM (1900 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Dollar index 92.5860 92.9660 -0.40% 2.895% +93.1130 +92.5400
Euro/Dollar $1.1811 $1.1752 +0.50% -3.33% +$1.1820 +$1.1738
Dollar/Yen 110.1700 110.6700 -0.45% +6.66% +110.7400 +110.0200
Euro/Yen 130.11 130.13 -0.02% +2.51% +130.2500 +129.8400
Dollar/Swiss 0.9363 0.9408 -0.48% +5.83% +0.9438 +0.9356
Sterling/Dollar $1.3903 $1.3825 +0.57% +1.77% +$1.3913 +$1.3790
Dollar/Canadian 1.2523 1.2585 -0.48% -1.64% +1.2594 +1.2502
Aussie/Dollar $0.7653 $0.7591 +0.78% -0.55% +$0.7660 +$0.7599
Euro/Swiss 1.1058 1.1083 -0.23% +2.32% +1.1094 +1.1050
Euro/Sterling 0.8493 0.8497 -0.05% -4.97% +0.8512 +0.8473
NZ $0.7052 $0.7017 +0.63% -1.68% +$0.7069 +$0.7017
Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway 8.5030 8.5235 -0.22% -0.95% +8.5510 +8.4890
Euro/Norway 10.0432 10.0261 +0.17% -4.05% +10.0565 +10.0278
Dollar/Sweden 8.7009 8.7089 +0.15% +6.16% +8.7581 +8.6944
Euro/Sweden 10.2762 10.2603 +0.15% +1.98% +10.2967 +10.2627
(Editing by David Gregorio) || Bitcoin Stabilizes After Sell-off, Resistance Seen Around $56K: The near 10% sell-off in bitcoin (BTC) during Asian hours has stabilized around $52,000. Bitcoin is now oversold on the four-hour chart, which could support a slight recovery towards $56,000.
• The last oversold reading on the relative strength index (RSI) resulted in a near 7% rise in BTC on March 22. However, the move was short-lived as sellers were active around the $56,000 resistance level.
• Bitcoin is now roughly 10% below itsbreak of trend supporton the four-hour chart and has erased about 50% of its rally from the Feb. 28 price low.
• For now, bitcoin continues to hold long-term trend support above $50,000, with lower support around $42,000.
• Bitcoin Stabilizes After Sell-off, Resistance Seen Around $56K
• Bitcoin Stabilizes After Sell-off, Resistance Seen Around $56K
• Bitcoin Stabilizes After Sell-off, Resistance Seen Around $56K
• Bitcoin Stabilizes After Sell-off, Resistance Seen Around $56K || The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Canon, Weyerhaeuser Co and Advanced Drainage Systems: For Immediate Release Chicago, IL – March 8, 2021 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Canon Inc. CAJ, Weyerhaeuser Company WY and Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. WMS. Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog: Time to Recover Lost Ground: Zacks March Strategy The following is an excerpt from Zacks Chief Strategist John Blank's full Mar Market Strategy report To access the full PDF, click here . For 2020, the S&P 500 earnings scorecard is now marking -11.2% EPS annual growth and -1.0% revenue growth. In terms of underlying earnings, major USA publicly-listed firms have serious fundamental ground to recover in 2021. Still, the USA is making progress these days... As of Feb. 26th, Q420 earnings for S&P 500 companies are up +3.9%. If +3.9% is the actual growth rate for the quarter, it will mark the first quarter in which the S&P 500 index has reported a year-over-year earnings growth since Q4 2019: · Q1-2021 is expected to supply S&P 500 earnings growth of +21.5%. · The estimated (year on year) EPS growth rate for the S&P 500 for 2021 is +23.9%. This is more than double the 10-year average (annual) EPS growth rate of +10.0%. If +23.9% is the actual growth rate for 2021, it will mark the largest annual EPS growth rate for the index since 2010 (+39.6%). That unusually large 2021 growth rate can be attributed to both an easy comparison to: · Weak EPS in 2020 due to COVID, and · Expected improvement in EPS in 2021 from huge stimulus packages and vaccine-driven mobility improvement How did the stock market price all of this in? Next are March 1st, 2021 YTD S&P 500 sector returns: Story continues 7 early winners were: Energy $XLE: +25.9%, Financials $XLF: +9.2%, Communication Services $XLC: +4.6%, Industrials $XLI: +2.0%, Real Estate $XLRE: +1.9%, Materials $XLB: +1.2%, Info Tech $XLK: +0.1%, 4 losers were: Consumer Discretionary $XLY: -0.6%, Health Care $XLV: -1.0%, Utilities $XLU: -7.4%, Cons. Staples $XLP: -6.7%, The next section shows: this set of cyclically-biased S&P 500 sector share returns does map into the Zacks Sector and Industry Rank order this month. Zacks March Sector/Industry/Company Telescope The Zacks Rank system showed 4 strong sectors, again, which is durably bullish. Info Tech was a top sector again this month; strong across many industries. Two internationally exposed sectors – Materials and Industrials – came in at the top again too. Think about Steel, Paper, Metals-Non-Ferrous and Machinery-Electrical, Construction-Building Services, and Metal Fabricating. Financials was the 4th great sector, with Investment Banking & Brokering, Banks & Thrifts, and Major Banks strong. Rate spreads and higher saving rates help. Health Care stayed at a Market Weight. But Medical Products led this month. Energy and Utilities were at Market Weight, too. (1) Info Tech stayed Very Attractive. Misc. Tech, Computer-Office Equipment, Telco Equipment, and Electronics, all of those look excellent. Top Zacks #1 Rank (STRONG BUY) stock: Canon (2) Materials stayed Very Attractive. Steel, Metals-non-Ferrous and Paper remained very strong. Top Zacks #1 Rank (STRONG BUY) stock: Weyerhaeuser Co. (3) Industrials stayed Very Attractive. Machinery-Electrical, Construction-Building Services, Metal Fabricating, Pollution Control and Machinery were the top industries. Top Zacks #1 Rank (STRONG BUY) stock: Advanced Drainage Systems (4) Financials stayed Very Attractive. Investment Banking, Banks & Thrifts and the Major Banks looked good. Higher rate spreads and savings help all of these. (5) Consumer Staples fell back to Market Weight. Agribusiness looked the best. (6) Consumer Discretionary stayed Market Weight. Consumer Electronics and Apparel, were strong, and showed the Internet buyer remains strong. (7) Health Care stayed at Market Weight. Medical Products is the best. (8) Communications Services stayed at Market Weight. Telco Equipment was a very strong spot. (9) Utilities rose to Market Weight from Unattractive. (10) Energy rose to Market Weight from Unattractive. Oil & Gas Integrated looked best. Conclusion There is yet another way to mark the recovery of lost ground due to COVID: That is from the perspective of U.S. macroeconomic growth accounting: · For 2020, Zacks call is for -3.5% U.S. real GDP growth; in line with a February 2021 Consensus Economics average · For 2021, the U.S. economy will mark a +4.7% snapback · For 2022, that same consensus shows a +3.6% U.S. real GDP growth rate This is a different set of economy-wide growth data showing the same thing. The USA is going to recover the ground lost to the pandemic — more quickly than many may have expected. Happy trading and investing. Warm Regards, John Blank Bitcoin, Like the Internet Itself, Could Change Everything Blockchain and cryptocurrency has sparked one of the most exciting discussion topics of a generation. Some call it the "Internet of Money" and predict it could change the way money works forever. If true, it could do to banks what Netflix did to Blockbuster and Amazon did to Sears. Experts agree we're still in the early stages of this technology, and as it grows, it will create several investing opportunities. Zacks' has just revealed 3 companies that can help investors capitalize on the explosive profit potential of Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies with significantly less volatility than buying them directly. See 3 crypto-related stocks now >> Media Contact Zacks Investment Research 800-767-3771 ext. 9339 [email protected] https://www.zacks.com Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss . This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Weyerhaeuser Company (WY) : Free Stock Analysis Report Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (WMS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Canon, Inc. (CAJ) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research || Whales Holding Over 1,000 Bitcoin Could Fuel Another Rally, Data Suggests: Bitcoin’s largest holders currently have 42.56% of the cryptocurrency’s existing supply.
What Happened:These Bitcoin whales each hold over 1,000Bitcoin(CRYPTO: BTC) and have the power to influence the digital asset’s next rally.
According to data from on-chain analytics platformSantiment, the last time these whales held over 43% of the coin’s supply was on Feb. 8, which coincided with Bitcoin’s 54-week high.
These holders were believed to have fuelled the asset’s rally to its all-time high of $58,354 on Feb. 22.
Why It Matters:According to analysts from Santiment, whales bought up supply 12 days before Bitcoin’s rally to its all-time high. Similarly, a drop in the amount of supply that whales held foreshadowed the drop in Bitcoin’s price.
Data suggests that if these whales hold over 43% once again, it may indicate that they are looking to fuel another rally.
According to theanalysts, the amount of holders had dropped off before the previous all-time high and during the correction.
“There is generally a bit of lead time in the direction of whale accumulations and dumps, which is why it's such a powerful leading indicator," they said.
What Else:Another bullish case for Bitcoin is the fact that its implied volatility has retraced back to its levels in early January.
Implied volatility usually increases in bearish markets and decreases when the market is bullish, suggesting that another rally could be underway.
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• Click here for options trades from Benzinga
• Bitcoin Volatility On Path To Drop Below Amazon's, Analysts Say
• Wealth Managers Like Jim Paulsen Regret Not Having More Cryptocurrency In Portfolio: Reuters
© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || DA Davidson Raises Coinbase Price Target to $440 From $195 After Q1 Earnings: Crypto exchange Coinbase’s blowout Q1 earnings results led investment bank DA Davidson to up its price target for the company’s soon-to-be-direct-listed shares by 125%. Rating COIN a “buy,” Davidson raised the exchange’s share price target from $195 to $440, which is a 20x multiple of its expected 2021 revenue. The analysts said the company’s Q1 performance was proof the crypto exchange giant could generate “healthy margins” despite the uncertainty of the bitcoin markets. Davidson estimates Coinbase will have 205.6 million shares outstanding. While that share count may change, it “does imply a $90 billion market cap,” said Gil Luria, head of institutional research at Davidson. Related: Is an Imposter Using Grayscale's Name to File for Fake Crypto Trusts? Coinbase’s $1.8 billion in reported revenue beat Davidson’s estimate of $614 million. Trading volumes were also higher than Davidson expected and expenses were lower than predicted. “Coinbase reported preliminary 1Q21 results prior to [its] direct listing that were multiples higher than our estimates on both the top and bottom lines,” the note said. “We continue to believe COIN’s product experience and best-in-class compliance and regulatory controls should provide a defensible moat.” Read more: Riding Bitcoin Surge, Coinbase Active Users Grew by 117% in Q1 2021; Revenue Tops $1.8B Davidson sees Coinbase posting quarterly revenue of at least $800 million for each remaining quarter of the year and full-year revenue of $4.4 billion. Related: Does New York's Blockchain-Based Vaccine Passport Protect Your Privacy? Coinbase’s Q1 numbers did point to a company that’s seeing revenue growth off the rise of bitcoin. Its active users doubled quarter over quarter while revenue tripled over the same time period. James Friedman, senior fintech research analyst at Susquehanna International Group, told CoinDesk after the company’s earnings call the results are a sign of revenue per user increasing, which was caused by bitcoin’s meteoric Q1 price rise. Related Stories DA Davidson Raises Coinbase Price Target to $440 From $195 After Q1 Earnings DA Davidson Raises Coinbase Price Target to $440 From $195 After Q1 Earnings || Spirit Airlines (SAVE) Posts Narrower-Than-Expected Q1 Loss: Spirit Airlines ’ SAVE first-quarter 2021 loss (excluding $1.33 from non-recurring items) of $2.48 per share was narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $2.63 but wider than the year-ago loss of 86 cents. Additionally, operating revenues of $461.3 million not only declined 40.2% year over year but also fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $465.4. The year-over-year fall in the top line was due to the coronavirus-led air-travel demand woes. Passenger revenues, which contributed 97.6% to the top line, plummeted 40.2% year over year. Additionally, revenues from other sources tanked 37.6%. Load factor (% of seats filled by passengers) declined 0.7 percentage points to 72.1% as traffic contraction (27.7%) was more than the capacity reduction (26.9%). Total operating revenue per available seat miles decreased 18.2% to 5.78 cents in the reported quarter. Average yield fell 17.2% to 8.03 cents. Spirit Airlines, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Spirit Airlines, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Spirit Airlines, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Spirit Airlines, Inc. Quote Adjusted operating expenses decreased 11.5% to $733.5 million, mainly on reduced flight volume. Average fuel cost per gallon in the reported quarter slipped 2.2% year over year to $1.77. Fuel gallons consumed plunged 31.7%. Nonetheless, adjusted cost per available seat miles (CASM) excluding fuel climbed 31.2% in the reported quarter due to capacity cut. Spirit, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), ended the quarter with unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments worth $1.9 billion. Capital expenditures for the March quarter were $92 million. The carrier expects second-quarter 2021 capacity to shrink 5.5% from the levels achieved in second-quarter 2019. Fuel cost per gallon and the effective tax rate in the June quarter are anticipated to be $1.95 and 22%, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA margin for the same period is projected between 0% and -5%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here . Story continues Sectorial Snapshots Within the broader Transportation sector, Delta Air Lines DAL , J.B. Hunt Transport Services JBHT and Kansas City Southern KSU recently reported first-quarter 2021 results. Delta incurred a loss (excluding $1.70 from non-recurring items) of $3.55 per share, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $3.08. However, total revenues of $4,150 million topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,821.3 million. J.B. Hunt deli v ered earnings of $1.37 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.18. Total operating revenues of $2,618.1 million also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2,486.9 million. Kansas City Southern reported earnings (excluding 23 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.91 per share. The bottom line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2 per share. Moreover, quarterly revenues of $706 million lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $714.3 million Bitcoin, Like the Internet Itself, Could Change Everything Blockchain and cryptocurrency has sparked one of the most exciting discussion topics of a generation. Some call it the “Internet of Money” and predict it could change the way money works forever. If true, it could do to banks what Netflix did to Blockbuster and Amazon did to Sears. Experts agree we’re still in the early stages of this technology, and as it grows, it will create several investing opportunities. Zacks’ has just revealed 3 companies that can help investors capitalize on the explosive profit potential of Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies with significantly less volatility than buying them directly. See 3 crypto-related stocks now >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Kansas City Southern (KSU) : Free Stock Analysis Report Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Spirit Airlines, Inc. (SAVE) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. || Bitcoin ATMs are coming to a gas station near you: By Imani Moise and Anna Irrera (Reuters) - A new feature has appeared at smoke shops in Montana, gas stations in the Carolinas and delis in far-flung corners of New York City: a brightly-lit bitcoin ATM, where customers can buy or sell digital currency, and sometimes extract hard cash. The machines have multiplied quickly through the United States over the past year, fueled by a frenzy in crypto trading that sent bitcoin prices over $58,000. Kiosk operators such as CoinFlip and Coin Cloud have installed thousands of ATMs, scouring areas competitors have not yet reached, executives told Reuters. "I just assumed there was demand and people wanted bitcoin everywhere," said Quad Coin founder Mark Shoiket, who flew to Montana after scanning a U.S. map for bitcoin ATM deserts. During a week-long road trip, he found seven places to install machines, including 406 Glass, a store in Billings, Montana, that sells tobacco, vape juice and colorful glass pipes. As of January, there were 28,185 bitcoin ATMs in the United States, according to howmanybitcoinatms.com, an independent research site. Roughly 10,000 came within the prior five months. Bitcoin's growing popularity has been the primary driver for new installations. The reasons people use ATMs rather than transacting online vary. Some get paid in cash, some lack bank accounts, some want to send remittances abroad or want anonymity, while others feel more comfortable interacting with a physical machine. Rebecca White, a 51-year-old bitcoin investor who lives in the Pittsburgh area, makes larger investments online and uses bitcoin ATMs when her family has extra money. "When we do our grocery shopping and we have $60 left, I will stop at the bitcoin ATM," said White, who works in the nuclear power industry. Some machines only offer bitcoin, while others let customers invest in various digital currencies. Few bitcoin ATMs can actually spit out cash, and they cost more than regular ATMs or transacting online. Story continues Fees range from 6% to 20% of a total transaction, said Pamela Clegg, director of financial investigations and education at cryptocurrency compliance firm CipherTrace. Fees vary depending on the location and Bitcoin ATM operator. "The growth of the ATM market - it is not even a gentle increase, it is almost a 45% increase," said Clegg. "The growth is quite astonishing." Government agencies have raised red flags about some machines because of their cost and the potential for illicit activity. The New Jersey State Commission of Investigation detailed some of those concerns in a February report titled "Scams, Suspicious Transactions and Questionable Practices at Cryptocurrency Kiosks." None of those concerns have stopped the industry's growth. COAST TO COAST There are now bitcoin ATMs in every state except Alaska, as well as in Washington, D.C., according to an online map by Coin ATM Radar. Reuters journalists spotted recent additions at gas stations, stores and restaurants in North Carolina, South Carolina, rural Pennsylvania and the outskirts of New Jersey and New York City. Las Vegas-based Coin Cloud has 1,470 machines around the United States and expects to have 10,000 by year-end, said CEO Chris McAlary. Although there were concerns that the pandemic might hurt business, foot traffic actually rose during lockdowns. "We expected the worst as Covid hit, but stimulus payments came out and that helped quite a bit," McAlary said. "Some people took stimulus and bought digital currency with it." Chicago-based competitor CoinFlip grew its ATM footprint from around 420 last year to 1,800 now, said CEO Daniel Polotsky. Transactions per ATM nearly tripled during that period. "There are people who don't have bank accounts or don't like to use them," Polotsky said. CoinFlip charges customers 6.99% to buy crypto and 4.99% to sell, he said. Atlanta-based Bitcoin Depot similarly grew its number of ATMs from 500 to more than 1,800 machines over the past year, said CEO Brandon Mintz. Most customers are 25-40 years old and find machines by searching online, he said. General Bytes, which manufactures bitcoin ATMs, temporarily ran out of stock last summer as demand soared. The company sold 3,000 machines last year, 90% of which went to North America, said founder Karel Kyovsky. Not every ATM draws lines of customers. Quad Coin's Shoiket removed a handful of the 200 ATMs he installed last year because they had not turned a profit within six months. At Grassy Point Bar & Grill in Broad Channel, New York, an employee had to plug in a bitcoin ATM for a Reuters journalist to see how it worked. And only a handful of truck drivers have stopped by the Pioneer Auto Museum in Murdo, South Dakota, to use a Coin Cloud machine installed five months ago, said owner Vivian Sonder. Coin Cloud offered her $200 a month to house the machine, and periodically sends maintenance people to check on it from Rapid City, 140 miles away. "I didn't understand why they wanted to put one here," said Sonder. "It's a seasonal business in a town with less than 500 people." (Reporting by Imani Moise and Anna Irrera; Additional reporting by Suzanne Barlyn; Editing by Lauren Tara LaCapra and Nick Zieminski) || RubiX Blockchain Green Initiative Solves Bitcoin’s Carbon Emission Problem: Proof of Harvest Consensus Mechanism by RubiX’s Blockchain Green Initiative provides an enterprise level Zero Carbon Footprint blockchain alternative that is cryptographically 1,000,000 times more secure than the ECDSA 256 encryption used by Bitcoin or Ethereum
LEWES, Del., March 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --RubiX, a full-scale Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) and security solutions company, today announces the launch of its free, open-source public blockchain testnet availability with the Blockchain Green Initiative.
The RubiX (RBX) proofchain was purpose-built on Proprietary ‘Proof of Harvest’ (POH) Consensus mechanism to facilitate cloud-to-chain migrations that meet the need for a variety of enterprise-level applications, including NFTs, DeFi, Payments, Smart Contracts and Industrial Applications.
RubiX provides an unparalleled level of security as a layer-one solution, combined with a decentralized identity token (DID) which is split non-linearly into private and public shares. The result is a level of security 1,000,000 times stronger than Bitcoin’s ECDSA 256 encryption algorithm.
“Our goal was to cut down the Carbon Emissions caused by Bitcoin and other Proof of work (PoW) based blockchain mining activities, using a secure proof-of-harvest alternative that’s cryptographically superior to the current blockchain platforms,” says Chakradhar Kommera, Chief Technology Officer at RubiX. “Our solution can be used to democratize an unlimited number of industries and is driven by users, not investors. 100% of RubiX tokens are meant for eco-friendly mining without any carbon emissions. Smart contracts & NFTs consume more energy than simple coin transfers with current PoW protocols, hence there is an even bigger need to use a sustainable blockchain technology.”
Not only is POH consensus from RubiX faster (0.25 seconds confirmation) and more secure than competitors, it uses no dedicated power for mining, and it is 100% eco-friendly. As the use of cryptocurrency increases, so does the industry’s carbon footprint. RubiX uses minimal nodes for POH based consensus, so its carbon footprint is zero. RubiX is committed to nullifying its environmental impact by refraining from POW mining. Anyone with a computer or a smartphone can download the full RubiX node and become a validator and a miner using no extra electricity for the same, contributing to the goal of a carbon-neutral economy.
RubiX is currently handling more than three million unique weekly active Industrial users - more than any other public blockchain at this point of time.
To learn more about RubiX and how to build or switch your existing Smart Contracts, NFTs, DeFi or Industrial applications to a sustainable and secured technology or contribute towards the development of the Blockchain Green Initiative, visitwww.rubix.network.
Developers can access RBX whitepaper and Testnet athttps://github.com/rubixchain/rubixnetwork.
About RubiXRubiX is a proofchain protocol that can scale with asynchronous parallelism to facilitate real world decentralized applications. Cryptographically strong, POH consensus algorithms are used for transaction validation. RubiX uses Proof of Harvest satisfying PBFT rule for consensus allowing full nodes to be run across all platforms (Server, NAS, VMs, PCs, Embedded Platforms, IoT's and Mobiles). The platform leverages real world Distributed File System (DFS) based on content-based addressing for data storage.
RubiX has primarily two types of tokens: Protocol tokens generated with strong mathematical proofs that are mined by nodes working to secure the network by storing proofs (capped under 51 million), and Asset tokens that can represent any underlying asset or contract including NFTs. DeFi or Smart Contracts, RubiX Network is an aggregation of several account-chains existing in parallel. Transactions achieve consensus individually, allowing for asynchronous parallelism leading to very high scalability. Account-chains are linked through unique tokens & tokenchain hashes.
Media/PR Contact:Uproar PR for RubiXBrittany [email protected] x246
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 49004.25, 54021.75, 55033.12, 54824.70, 53555.11, 57750.18, 57828.05, 56631.08, 57200.29, 53333.54
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Match and Square trade, Pepsi invades Empire, and Europeans prepare to fight ISIS: Two more unicorns leave the stable today. Both Square ( SQ ) and Match Group ( MTCH ) priced a bit lower than expected but hit the tickers this morning, trading solidly higher. Other than that, it's a relatively quiet day in the markets ( ^DJI , ^GSPC , ^IXIC ) . Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App Here are some of the other stories Yahoo Finance is keeping an eye on today. Are Europeans prepared to battle ISIS? ISIS recently claimed responsibility for three major terrorist attacks, including those in Paris last week. As the threat of ISIS stretches well beyond Iraq and Syria, it's not clear if European powers will have the military strength to fight ISIS abroad. Yahoo's Rick Newman gives a special report. Pepsi invades Empire Taking product placement to a whole new level, Pepsi ( PEP ) just struck a deal with Fox to make the beverage giant an integral part of three episodes of the hit show Empire. Is this part of a larger trend in an ad-averse world? Frequent flyer miles for Wi-Fi Move over Bitcoins, frequent flyer miles might just be the new currency du jour. United ( UAL ) will soon let you spend your miles on Wi-Fi access on its flights. The move is part of an image campaign that's focusing on improving travelers' experiences instead of trying to shake a few more dollars out of flyers. || Natural Gas At 10-Year Low: One Way To Play Further Downside: • Gas is trading at its lowest level since 1999, driven by worries about weak demand.
• At the New York Mercantile Exchange, the January Nymex price stood around $1.804 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) on Wednesday afternoon.
• Is there further downside left? If so, how can traders play it?
Bull spreads might offer an interesting option.
What Are Bull Spreads?
Spreads "offer built-in floor and ceiling levels that define the lowest and highest points at which the trade can settle," Nadex . In other words, traders know how much they can gain or lose from the outset, thus limiting the risk.
Related Link:Trade Options? Here's How To Get Involved In Bitcoin
How To Trade Natural Gas With Bull Spreads
In the following example, the underlying natural gas futures market is trading around 1.9 and a trader decides to consider a daily Bull Spread.
This trader believes the price of natural gas will fall in the short-term, so he chooses a Daily Bull Spread that looks something like:Natural Gas 1.000-2.000 (2:30PM).
Since this trader believes the natural gas future will be below 1.9 at 2:30 p.m., he chooses to Sell the contact. Thus, he selects two contracts at the bid price of 1.9. "Each pip the price moves is worth $1 per point," Nadex explains. His Maximum Profit and Loss are displayed automatically. His trade's "floor" is 1.000 and his "ceiling" is 2.000.
He will then monitor the trade and, when his position expires at 2:30 p.m., the difference between Nadex's calculated expiration value and his opening price of 1.9 will determine his profit or loss.
Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no positions in any of the securities mentioned above.
See more from Benzinga
• Think Energy Has More Downside? Here Are Two Ways To Play It
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Not in Your Grandmas Wallet: Bitcoin Redefining Money: Will Bitcoin replace paper money? During an interview on the FOX Business Networks Mornings With Maria ,Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert, whos considered the most active investor in Bitcoin companies, said: [Bitcoin] its going to change the way that people send money, spend money -- even think about money. Its kind of redefining what is money. As an investor of companies in over 20 countries, he sees the most Bitcoin action in places where people use mobile devices for transactions. We are seeing dramatic adoption in places like Kenya, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa -- places where people have mobile devices, but they dont have bank accounts, he said. He also discussed how regulation is impacting the digital currency. [Regulators] are certainly paying attention
I used to think that regulation was Bitcoins biggest threat -- I actually think its the biggest opportunity now
Running a bank, operating a bank -- you cannot be innovative. You cant think outside the box. You cant do anything creative. Whereas you have hundreds of thousands of startups around the world that are looking to, again, kind of disintermediate
It is really going to eat banks alive. With only $5B in market cap, Silbert believes Bitcoins technology is very valuable. Ill be the first to admit that Bitcoin as a digital currency is either going to be worth zero or its going to be worth a whole lot more money than it is today
its a very, very, risky investment. But this ecosystem is amazing thats being built. Theres been a billion dollars in investment by venture capital in this industry so far. He also discussed how the financial services industry will change in the next 5 to 10 years. The definition of a bank is going to change. Banks are being disintermediated -- they are being attacked from every different angle
from startups, all the way up to different types of approaches, to finance like Bitcoin. Number of Bitcoin Transactions | FindTheData Related Articles SEC Targets Connecticut Bitcoin Companies 3 Reasons Its Dumb to Take Social Security Benefits at 70 Oil Plunge Raises Fears of Societal Unrest || SEC Charges Bitcoin Mining Firm in Ponzi Scheme: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged two Bitcoin mining companies and their founder with conducting a Ponzi scheme that used the lure of quick riches from virtual currency to defraud investors. The complaint was filed in federal court in Connecticut.
“Mining” for Bitcoin or other virtual currencies can be described as applying computer power to try to solve complex equations that verify a group of transactions in that virtual currency. The first computer or collection of computers to solve an equation is awarded new units of that virtual currency.
The SEC alleges that Homero Joshua Garza perpetrated the fraud through his Connecticut-based companies GAW Miners and ZenMiner by purporting to offer shares of a digital Bitcoin mining operation.
ALSO READ:Is Best Buy Making an Offer That Consumers Can't Refuse?
However, GAW Miners and ZenMiner actually did not own enough computing power for the mining it promised to conduct, so most investors paid for a share of computing power that never existed. Returns paid to some investors came from proceeds generated from sales to other investors.
Paul G. Levenson, director of the SEC’s Boston Regional Office, said:
As alleged in our complaint, Garza and his companies cloaked their scheme in technological sophistication and jargon, but the fraud was simple at its core: they sold what they did not own, misrepresented what they were selling, and robbed one investor to pay another.
ALSO READ:Jefferies Has 4 Blue Chip High-Dividend Franchise Picks to Buy Now
According to the SEC’s complaint:
• From August 2014 to December 2014, Garza and his companies sold $20 million worth of purported shares in a digital mining contract they called a Hashlet.
• More than 10,000 investors purchased Hashlets, which were touted as always profitable and never obsolete.
• Although Hashlets were depicted in GAW Miners’ marketing materials as a physical product or piece of mining hardware, the promised contract purportedly entitled the investor to control a share of computing power that GAW Miners claimed to own and operate.
• Investors were misled to believe they would share in returns earned by the Bitcoin mining activities when in reality GAW Miners directed little or no computing power toward any mining activity.
• Because Garza and his companies sold far more computing power than they owned, they owed investors a daily return that was larger than any actual return they were making on their limited mining operations.
• Therefore, investors were simply paid back gradually over time under the mantra of “returns” out of funds that Garza and his companies collected from other investors.
• Most Hashlet investors never recovered the full amount of their investments, and few made a profit.
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Another day, another monster run for bitcoin traders.
Bitcoin was trading around $240 in the beginning of October. Now — after a gain of 10% on Tuesday added to its earlier run — it's closer to $400.
Now, bitcoin traders are looking for answers as to why the cryptocurrency is skyrocketing in value.
"You're seeing more and more institutional investors moving into the space," said Brendan O'Connor, CEO of Genesis Global Trading, a bitcoin broker.
Demand has been coming from China. O'Connor said the daily volume of bitcoin trades from China has been two to three times the ordinary amount over the past two weeks.
It's not just the value of bitcoin that's increasing; it's also the prevalence of use.
The number ofdaily bitcoin transactions appears to be steadily rising, according to tracking site Coinbase. And that has the potential to have a tremendous effect on the cryptocurrency.
"We are seeing unprecedented volume globally," said Michael Sonnenshein of Grayscale Investments, which manages the Bitcoin Investment Trust, a publicly listed vehicle that tracks bitcoin. Bitcoin Investment Trust hasn't been public very long, but it enjoyed a run-up ofmore than 7% on the good news Tuesday.
Neither O'Connor nor Sonneshein centered on a single factor that is boosting bitcoin's value. Sonneshein pointed out that as bitcoin auctions run by the US Marshals draw closer (only in a handful of instances), the cryptocurrency tends to see increased trading activity.
The next government auction of seized bitcoin isNovember 5.
Here's a graph tracking bitcoin:
(Blockchain.info)Blockchain.info captures the run-up in bitcoin prices.
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More From Business Insider
• The Money Of The Future Will Look More Like Bitcoin Than The Paper We Carry Around Today
• Bitcoin keeps surging, makes another new high for 2015
• FINANCE PROFESSOR: Bitcoin Will Crash To $10 By Mid-2014 || How Blockchain Can Reform The Real Estate Industry: Bitcoin has gotten a bad reputation this year after several high profile hacking attacks and scams saw investors lose huge sums of money. The cryptocurrency has also been painted as a tool for criminals after dark web sites like Silk Road revealed illegal transactions using the currency.
While the currency itself is unlikely to catch on as a mainstream form of payment in the coming year, many believe that blockchain, the ledger like technology that bitcoin runs on, could explode in 2016.
Blockchain Applications Across The Board
The potential for blockchain is wide reaching. The technology could benefit everyone from finance firms to the music industry by making transactions easier to follow and more difficult to forge. Several blockchain firms have emerged in order to help companies explore the possibility of using the technology within their industry.
Blockchain For Real Estate
One space that many believe could get a blockchain makeover in the coming year is real estate. Blockchain would make title transfers safer, faster and more efficient by automating the process and ensuring that legal battles over fraudulent titles were a thing of the past.
At the moment, it is relatively easy for a criminal to create false title documents and transfer ownership of a property to themselves. The of fighting such crimes each year is around $1 billion, a sum that could be saved with a blockchain-run system.
Better Price Comparison
Using blockchain would also make comparing similar properties for house hunters. At the moment owners can keep lease prices private, making it difficult to find comparable sales figures.
However, if all of that data was stored on blockchain, it would be easily searchable and available to both buyers and sellers.
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© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || REPORTS: The secret creator of bitcoin has been unmasked — again: Bitcoin (virtual currency) coins are seen in an illustration picture taken at La Maison du Bitcoin in Paris, France, May 27, 2015. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier (Thomson Reuters) The creator of bitcoin may be an Australian finance geek named Craig Steven Wright, according to a new report by Wired's Andy Greenberg . Or it could be Wright and his close friend Dave Kleiman, who died two years ago, according to Gizmodo . Or Wright could be a man who really wants to take credit for it. Or the hunt to identify bitcoin's creator is wrong again . In 2009, someone — or some people — using the name Satoshi Nakamoto invented bitcoin, a type of digital currency that uses cryptography to move money and records it in a ledger without the need of a bank. The cryptocurrency was once an obsession among finance geeks, but emerged into more of a mainstream economic obsession. A bitcoin startup even sponsored the Bitcoin Bowl, a college-football bowl game, last year. Finding the creator of it has been an obsession among bitcoin enthusiasts and journalists alike. In March 2014, Newsweek published a cover story alleging that Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, a man living in Southern California who denies having heard of the cryptocurrency, was its mysterious creator. But Greenberg may have the most compelling evidence so far that points to the Australian genius: Posts from Wright's blog hint at writing papers about a cryptocurrency, although Wired admits these could have been planted by Wright to make himself seem like the creator. Wright owns two supercomputers, including the most powerful privately owned supercomputer. These aren't on corporate campuses, but wired to his home in Australia. According to leaked documents, Kleiman had a trust containing the same number of bitcoins that Nakamoto is rumored to own. When he died, that trust was passed to Wright. Those bitcoins, at bitcoin's price peak, were worth more than a billion. Gizmodo has posted many of the emails in its own report , and you can read Wired's full story on the unknown Australian here . NOW WATCH: Google's self-driving car has a huge problem More From Business Insider TransferWise's CEO thinks bitcoin has been driven by 'greed' US investigators are accusing a bitcoin entrepeneur of running a $20 million Ponzi scheme A star Silicon Valley entrepreneur explains how bitcoin is going to change the world || Biting back: bitcoin heads for best month in 1-1/2 yrs: By Jemima Kelly LONDON (Reuters) - Bitcoin has just recorded its best month since May 2014, stealing the spotlight away from the blockchain technology that underpins it and which has been attracting investment from almost every major bank in the world. An investor in bitcoin at the start of October would have enjoyed a return of over 36 percent, dwarfing the return of about 2 percent that the dollar racked up for its holders. The web-based currency surged to its highest this year on Friday, hitting $334.05 on the Bitstamp exchange on its ninth successive day of gains, its best run in over two years. Bitcoin is used as a vehicle for moving money around the world quickly and anonymously via the web without the need for third-party verification. That has made it controversial, but also attractive, to users ranging from drug dealers to those trying to circumvent capital controls in Greece and China. Some bitcoin traders speculate that the latter might be partly responsible for the digital currency's latest surge. Most trading in the past month has come from Chinese bitcoin exchanges, according to Bitcoinity.org, though the accuracy of the Chinese exchanges' data is questioned. "At a time of central bank currency devaluations, direct and indirect, and with gold's directionless behaviour over the last two years ... bitcoin is increasingly viewed and marketed as a possible investable vehicle," said London-based trader Ashraf Laidi, who invests in both fiat currencies and bitcoin. Bitcoin is often dismissed as too volatile to invest in, having soared towards $1,200 in late 2013 before sliding to below $400 less than a month later, but it has stabilised this year. "What I'm happy about so far is that the price run-up hasn't been overly dramatic or disorganised," said Peter Smith, CEO of Blockchain, a bitcoin "wallet" or storage provider, which shares its name with the technology. EU RULING Last week the European Union's top court ruled that bitcoin should be treated like any other means of payment and therefore be exempt from value-added tax - a decision many in the industry say helped push up bitcoin's price. "It just makes bitcoin a lot more usable as a currency in Europe and also provides a lot of clarity to people who are speculating and trading in it," said Tom Robinson, co-founder of London-based bitcoin storage firm Elliptic. Another reason for the price surge might be that bitcoin supply is set to grow more slowly. The blockchain is secured by a network of computers that compete with each other to solve mathematical problems for a reward. That is currently 25 bitcoins every 10 minutes, but that will be halved to 12.5 bitcoins next year. In the same way that scaling back quantitative easing would prop up a traditional fiat currency, bitcoin could be boosted by the conventional economics of supply and demand. Although many say the technology behind bitcoin holds more potential than bitcoin itself and can function without it, bitcoiners argue that the blockchain supporting the currency is the only one to have been properly tested. An increased focus on the technology is helping prop up the price, they say. "The idea of blockchain and bitcoin are completely inseparable," said Michael Sonnenshein, a former JPMorgan banker who is now head of business development at Grayscale Investments, a New York-based bitcoin investment firm. "The blockchain is only as secure and as powerful as it is because there is this constant movement of tokens (bitcoins) on the blockchain." (Reporting by Jemima Kelly; Editing by Tom Heneghan) || Bitcoin is exploding higher, but no one can agree on why: traders (REUTERS) Bitcoin gained another 6% Wednesday, reaching a new high for the year. The cryptocurrency reached the $450 mark late in the day before falling back to $425. That's compared with around $250 a month ago. What's behind this? Investors and brokers can't agree. In the last few days, explanations have included a rise in demand from China, an upcoming auction by US Marshals of seized bitcoin, and the influence of a convicted Ponzi schemer 's latest gambit. Another catalyst for recent appreciation comes from Europe, says Adam White, vice president and product manager at Coinbase, one of the biggest bitcoin exchanges globally by volume. The European Court of Justice recently ruled that the cryptocurrency is exempt from the region's "value added tax," which White compared to the decision by US taxation authorities in the 1990s to not implement taxes on goods sold online. What is certain is that use of bitcoin by consumers and trading is broadly on the rise. "There has been a steady increase in the number of transactions processed on the bitcoin blockchain," White says. In the last two years, the number of bitcoin transactions has increased threefold from 50,000 daily to about 140,000 today, according to Blockchain.info, which tracks bitcoin data. It is true that Chinese investors are eager to trade bitcoin, White says. In the US, between 300,000 and 500,000 bitcoin are traded daily, White said. But in China, that daily figure has been closer to 1 million to 1.2 million. That isn't to say US investors are neglecting the currency. There has been a three-times increase in the relative trading volume by what are referred to as "High Net Worth" traders on Coinbase's trading platform people making trades in dollar amounts worth up to six figures, White said. Perhaps most telling at least about the recent jump is that there's been a recent surge in trading, sharp rise in new user sign-ups, according to White. So what's behind the recent surge in bitcoin? Maybe just the surge in bitcoin. NOW WATCH: 'The Art Of War' holds the keys to success on Wall Street More From Business Insider Bitcoin is going nuts The Money Of The Future Will Look More Like Bitcoin Than The Paper We Carry Around Today Even As Bitcoin Gets Obliterated, Retailers Say They Will Still Accept It As A Form Of Payment View comments || Bitcoin keeps surging, makes another new high for 2015: (A sign welcomes consumers paying in bitcoin.Thomson Reuters)
2015 may be the year that bitcoin rebounded.
The digital currency smashed through a new high for the year on Monday morning, trading at nearly $370 andcontinuingits impressive streak as of late.
Bitcoin has been on a big run for much of the last two months, gaining about 70% on private exchanges since hitting a second-half low of $213 in late August.
For investors who bought in during bitcoin's headiest days to date, in early 2014, that's not enough of a rebound: before the price of the digital currency plummeted in 2014, it reached more than $1100 a bitcoin.
Now, after bitcoin's big seven-week run, it is trading at around $363 a coin.
Even as detractors to bitcoin point toward a difficult-to-regulate culture that has popped up around the cryptocurrency, there is a growing push from well-known investors to advance thepayment technology.
In October, investors including MasterCard and Bain Capital Ventures provided backing toBarry Silbert's Digital Currency Group. Already, Silbert's latest project has backed dozens of cryptocurrenty startups, largely focusing on bitcoin deals.
BitcoinCharts.com tracks the daily price of the cryptocurrency, and captures the last month's run-up in value. Monday morning marked the biggest single day of gains for bitcoin, as it rose about 10% in one day.
(Bitcoin value has been growing steadily over the last two months.BitcoinCharts.com)
NOW WATCH:Ex-Wells Fargo employees reveal how some bankers abused customers
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• Chase has debuted a new card aimed at small businesses
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• American Express has linked up with Global Payments
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
#RDD / #BTC on the exchanges: Cryptsy: 0.00000003 Bittrex: 0.00000003 Average $1.1E-5 per #reddcoin 04:15:00 via #p…pic.twitter.com/MOmgS9LAJz || Current price: 225.77£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2015-11-13 00:00:05 GMT || [Bitcoin] Bitcoin and United States Dollar: 0.0100 BTC = 3.36 USD
1.00 USD = 0.0030 BTCConverter #YAF || LIVE: Profit = $990.32 (10.18 %). BUY B23.36 @ $450.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $459.05 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || Current value of DOGE in BTC: BTER: 0.00000031 -- Volume: 38652092.138 Today's trend: stable at 12/07/15 00:55 || #CanadaeCoin #CDN $ 0.000799 (-0.47 %) 0.00000185 BTC (0.00 %) via #CanadaeCoinCDN
#Bitcoin #BTC #AltCoin #BlockCha…pic.twitter.com/MSkYhI5EwI || LIVE: Profit = $859.28 (8.83 %). BUY B23.36 @ $450.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $453.55 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || Current price: 356.96$ $BTCUSD $btc #bitcoin 2015-11-29 05:00:03 EST || LIVE: Profit = $514.66 (6.09 %). BUY B20.51 @ $420.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $437.07 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || $459.41 at 10:45 UTC [24h Range: $436.89 - $465.00 Volume: 21711 BTC] via #btcusdpic.twitter.com/VfPI4LUC9I
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Trend: up || Prices: 417.27, 422.82, 422.28, 432.98, 426.62, 430.57, 434.33, 433.44, 430.01, 433.09
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Gene Munster predicts an 8% drop in Apple's stock after the iPhone event: Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) 's stock will likely see a significant drop after the company's highly anticipated iPhone event Tuesday, Loup Ventures' Gene Munster told CNBC on Monday. "We're probably expecting more like ... a 7 or 8 percent drop," Munster said on " Halftime Report ." Munster didn't specify a time frame for that fall, but last week he predicted a 10 percent pullback in Apple's stock over the next one to three months. Munster said while investors will be excited about the launch of new products on Monday and Tuesday, they will quickly look toward the company's next few quarters."Fast forward to a few weeks from now — there's going to be some wringing of hands as people start to think about what the March and June quarters of next year look like," he said.The closely followed venture capitalist spoke as shares of Apple were higher Monday, one day before the company is expected to unveil three new iPhones and an Apple Watch, among other products. But an unreleased build of iOS 11 that was leaked to the press over the weekend spilled almost all of the secrets on Apple's big announcement. Munster said one leak, in particular, caused him to believe the stock wouldn't fall as much as he originally predicted: "The idea of an LTE watch.""The watch is 3 percent of Apple's business today and if they allowed it to be untethered to the phone ... it creates a bigger opportunity. We think it will essentially double the size of that business," Munster said.Regarding Apple's anticipated high-end iPhone, Munster said: "I believe this phone will deliver on a much higher growth rate for the iPhone." Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) 's stock will likely see a significant drop after the company's highly anticipated iPhone event Tuesday, Loup Ventures' Gene Munster told CNBC on Monday. "We're probably expecting more like ... a 7 or 8 percent drop," Munster said on " Halftime Report ." Munster didn't specify a time frame for that fall, but last week he predicted a 10 percent pullback in Apple's stock over the next one to three months. Munster said while investors will be excited about the launch of new products on Monday and Tuesday, they will quickly look toward the company's next few quarters. "Fast forward to a few weeks from now — there's going to be some wringing of hands as people start to think about what the March and June quarters of next year look like," he said. The closely followed venture capitalist spoke as shares of Apple were higher Monday, one day before the company is expected to unveil three new iPhones and an Apple Watch, among other products. But an unreleased build of iOS 11 that was leaked to the press over the weekend spilled almost all of the secrets on Apple's big announcement. Munster said one leak, in particular, caused him to believe the stock wouldn't fall as much as he originally predicted: "The idea of an LTE watch." "The watch is 3 percent of Apple's business today and if they allowed it to be untethered to the phone ... it creates a bigger opportunity. We think it will essentially double the size of that business," Munster said. Regarding Apple's anticipated high-end iPhone, Munster said: "I believe this phone will deliver on a much higher growth rate for the iPhone."More From CNBC
• Almost everything Apple is set to announce Tuesday was leaked this weekend
• Bitcoin price falls again on reports that China is shutting down local exchanges
• Apple iPhone X will be in 'severe short supply,' KGI says || Bitcoin regains momentum after regulatory crackdown in China: Bitcoin recovered after suffering its biggest drop in 2 months on Monday Investing.com Bitcoin traded higher on Tuesday but remained well below its recent peak as market participants continued to assess the fallout from Chinas decision to ban individuals and organizations from raising funds through initial coin offerings (ICOs). On the U.S.-based Bitfinex exchange, bitcoin rose to $4,386, up $185.6 or 4.42%, but lagged its recent peak of $4,911.80. At current prices Bitcoin boasts a market cap of $72.42 billion. The Peoples Bank of China said on its website Monday that it had completed investigations into ICOs, and will strictly punish offerings in the future while penalizing legal violations in ones already completed. Individuals and organizations that have completed ICO fundraisings should make arrangements to return funds, said a joint statement from the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC), the securities and banking regulators and other government departments that was posted on the central banks website. An initial coin offering (ICO) is a used as a means of fundraising via the use of cryptocurrency in which a company attracts investors by releasing its own digital currency which can appreciate in value if the business is successful. The Chinese governments latest measures to curb the activity of initial coin offerings are seen as a threat to the strong demand that currently supports cryptocurrency growth. Ethereum, in particular, is widely believed to one of the main cryptocurrencies at risk of suffering from a dip in demand, as ICO issuers often request payment in ether a currency transacted through the Ethereum network. Ethereum, gained 7.43% to $317.69 while Bitcoin Cash rose $36.10, or 6.96%, to $555.08. To stay on top of the latest moves in the crypto-space, be sure to check out: https://www.investing.com/crypto/ Related Articles Bitcoin regains momentum after regulatory crackdown in China Dollar edges lower as U.S.-North Korea tensions weigh Dollar falls on concern about North Korea, Fed rate outlook || Dollar, shares bounce on relief at North Korea inaction: By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar won a reprieve from risk aversion on Monday after North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un decided to hold a party over the weekend rather than launch another missile, tempering safe havens like the yen and Treasuries. Investors remained cautious over the possible economic impact of Hurricane Irma as it chewed its way up the Florida coast, knocking out electricity to 2.5 million homes and businesses statewide. Nikkei futures <NKc1> were trading up 0.8 percent after Pyongyang held a massive celebration to congratulate the nuclear scientists and technicians who steered the country's sixth and largest nuclear test a week ago. The United States and its allies had been bracing for another long-range missile launch in time for the 69th anniversary of North Korea's founding on Saturday. The sense of relief was enough to lift E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 <ESc1> by 0.3 percent, while Treasury 10-year note futures <0#TY:> fell 10 ticks. The U.S. dollar edged up to 108.43 yen <JPY=> and away from Friday's 10-month trough of 107.32. Against a basket of currencies, the dollar added 0.2 percent to 91.521 <.DXY> but that was still uncomfortably close to last week's 2-1/2 year low of 91.011. The euro eased to $1.2015 <EUR=>, having hit a top of $1.2092 on Friday amid speculation the European Central Bank was closer to starting a wind-back of its stimulus program. ECB officials last week generally agreed their next move would be to cut their bond purchases and discussed a range of options, Reuters reported. China's central bank was also a focus in Asia after sources said it plans to scrap reserve requirements for financial institutions settling foreign exchange forward yuan positions with effect from Monday. "The removal potentially makes it easier for traders to purchase the USD, easing the pressure for yuan appreciation," said analysts at ANZ in a note. Story continues "The change likely signals some discomfort about the stronger yuan and its impact on Chinese exports." The dollar was last up 0.25 percent against the offshore yuan at 6.5013 yuan <CNH=>, off a low of 6.4437. There were also reports Beijing was planning to shut down local crypto-currency exchanges, dealing a blow to Bitcoin's recent stellar rally. Bitcoin was quoted down 0.8 percent at $4,274 <BTC=BTSP> on the BitStamp platform, off the recent record high of nearly $5,000. In commodity markets, gold softened 0.7 percent to $1,337.01 an ounce <XAU=> and away from a one-year peak of $1,357.54. Oil prices regained a little ground after falling sharply on Friday amid worries that energy demand would be hit hard by Hurricane Irma. U.S. crude <CLcv1> was trading 22 cents firmer at $47.70 a barrel, while Brent <LCOcv1> rose 17 cents to $53.95. (Editing by Richard Pullin) || Bitcoin Is Plunging After Jamie Dimon Called It a 'Fraud': Bitcoins value has dropped 10% since J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon slammed the cryptocurrency Tuesday, briefly falling below the $3,800 mark on Wednesday. Speaking at a Barclays conference , the longtime banking exec pulled no punches, calling the cryptocurrency a fraud. Dimon also argued that a government crackdown on the digital currency was imminent. Its worse than tulip bulbs. It wont end well. Someone is going to get killed, Dimon said, referring to the economic bubble that formed around tulip bulbs in the 17th century . The price of bitcoin dropped to about $3,885 as of mid-day Wednesday, about 24 hours after Dimon spoke. At one point in trading, the cryptocurrency fell as low as $3,777. Thats down from an all-time high of $5,000 just two weeks ago a drop of 22%. Its unclear to what extent Dimons comments were responsible for Bitcoins subsequent falloff. But they certainly added to a bearish mood thats been brewing since China began cracking down last month on initial coin offerings and, reportedly, cryptocurrency exchanges . The plunge has been painful for investors who bought into bitcoin seeking high gains. At its all-time high, the value of all bitcoins in circulation was about $81.2 billion. Now, its $63.5 billion. Still the currency is up over 300% since the start of the year, perhaps owing in part to the euphoria surrounding the digital coin. At CNBCs Delivering Alpha conference on Tuesday, three of four investing professionals who were asked about bitcoin spoke of younger relatives who were dabbling or interested in the cryptocurrency . The fourth investor, venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, has been long on bitcoin since as early as 2012. The price of other cryptocurrencies were also falling on Wednesday. Ethereum dropped 8% to $269, while bitcoin cash fell 2% to $506. This is part of Fortunes new initiative, The Ledger, a trusted news source at the intersection of tech and finance. For more on The Ledger, click here . || JP Morgan boss: trading Bitcoin is 'stupid' and 'will blow up': JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon has said he would fire anyone trading bitcoin because it is "stupid" and "will blow up" - slamming the digital currency a day after the City watchdog sounded a warning of its own.
Bitcoin fell as low as $3,812 on Wednesday, according to CoinDesk, after Dimon's comments added to investor jitters over digital currencies. The value of bitcoin has soared this year, swelling from $1,000 in January.
“If we had a trader who traded bitcoin I’d fire him in a second for two reasons," he said. "One, it’s against our rules. Two, it’s stupid."
He added that it was "a fraud" and "worse than tulip bulbs," referring to the famous market bubble from the 1600s. "It won't end well. Someone is going to get killed."
Financial technology executives hit back at the comments, arguing that the rise of bitcoin was simply being viewed as a threat to big banks.
"Big institutions such as JP Morgan will need a plan if they are to avoid being a casualty of the financial revolution," said eToro co-founder Yoni Assia. "We shouldn't be surprised that this threat sparks extreme reactions from the industry's top insiders."
Mr Dimon's remarks came hours after the City watchdog warned investors that they should only take part in virtual currency fundraisings if they are prepared to lose all of their money.
FAQ | Bitcoin
In a message to those thinking about buying digital tokens for so-calledinitial coin offerings– a digital way of raising funds from the public using a virtual "coin" – the Financial Conduct Authority said the process was "very high-risk" and speculative.
"You should only invest in a [coin sale] if you are an experienced investor, confident in the quality of the project itself and prepared to lose your entire stake," it said.
The alert from the City watchdog and Mr Dimon comes as cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and more recent rival ethereum soar in popularity and become increasingly mainstream, with celebrities such asreality TV star Paris Hiltonrecently getting in on the act.
The growth in the sector has triggered a number of warnings around the world, with China's central bank last week announcing aban on initial coin offeringsin a move that resulted in the value of bitcoin tumbling.
Risks flagged by the UK regulator include no investor protection, the potential for fraud and the fact that most coin sales are in the very early stage of development leaving "a good chance of losing your whole stake".
It also said projects can vary widely in design, with the digital token issued ranging from a "share in a firm, a prepayment voucher for future services or in some cases offer no discernible value at all".
The warning coincided with a survey conducted by Bank of America Merrill Lynch which showed that bitcoin was now the world's most crowded trade.
The study, based on interviews with 200 fund managers overseeing more than $600bn (£450bn) in assets, found that 26pc of respondents cited bitcoin as the most crowded trade, beating the 22pc that said Nasdaq.
More than $1.2bn was raised through coin sales in the first half of 2017, according to Autonomous Research.
How to connect with us | Telegraph Business on social media || Dow poised for 5-day winning streak: The Dow’s on track for a 5-day winning streak as stocks set record highs — again. Auto sales blowing out in September, but can the good times last for the Big 3? And, Wall Street’s coming on board with bitcoin, and now there’s a hedge fund that’s trading it. We’ve got the story. Catch The Final Round with Jen Rogers and markets reporter Nicole Sinclair.
Winners and losers
Stocks on the move lower include Ericsson (ERIC) as Credit Suisse downgraded the communications firm to underperform, The Tile Shop (TTS) as the specialty retailer warned on sales for the 3rd quarter, and Urban Outfitters (URBN) – shares slashed as Deutsche Bank downgraded shares to ‘sell’ citing valuation following a recent run-up in retail shares.
Stocks in the green today include GM (GM) on strong September sales, Wayfair (W) on positive commentary from Piper Jaffray claiming the home furnishings site could see higher revenue growth than forecast, and Paychex (PAYX) – shares climbing higher as the payroll and HR services company beat on earnings and revenue in the last quarter.
A hedge fund that trades only Bitcoin?
It’s been called a bubble, a fraud and a scam. But do you need to take a closer look at Bitcoin? Even Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein tweeted today “Still thinking about Bitcoin. No conclusion – not endorsing/rejecting. Know that folks also were skeptical when paper money displaced gold.” Joining us now the CEO and founder of BitSpread, a cryptocurrency hedge fund. || Bitcoin Has Been Ahead Of Itself Price-Wise For A While: Jeff Goldman, author of “Failed Traders: The 20 Common Mistakes Committed By Over 1,000 Losing Traders,” joined Benzinga’sPreMarket Prepshow to discuss the recent volatility in bitcoin and why he has reduced his bitcoin holdings by about 50 percent in recent weeks.
According to Goldman, a long-time holder of the cryptocurrency, bitcoin prices have been extended for years now, buttradershave simply been riding the positive momentum.
“I think it’s just way, way ahead of itself price-wise, and I probably could have said that at $2,000, $3,000, $4,000 or $5,000,” he said.
Running Out Of Steam
“It’s starting to roll over. There’s started to be some negativity from some big people. I think these Jamie Dimon comments along with all this China news that has been coming out is really the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
Dimon, the CEO ofJPMorgan Chase(NYSE:JPM), didn’tmince wordswhen describing bitcoin as a “fraud.”
“It’s worse than tulip bulbs,” Dimon said Tuesday. “It won’t end well. It will blow up.”
To make matters worse, China began shutting down bitcoin exchanges last week, including BTC China. Those moves sent bitcoin tumbling more than 30 percent from its all-time high earlier this month.
Related Link:Bitcoin Has A China Problem
Where Bitcoin Is Headed Next
Goldman hasn’t dumped his entire bitcoin holdings, but has taken profits on his stake as the cryptocurrency tumbles. Looking ahead, he said it’s very difficult to predict where bitcoin is headed next. In fact, he said bitcoin could end up valued anywhere between $50,000 and $0.
“[Bitcoin goes to]$50,000 if the hype keeps getting up there and more and more institutions get in. It’s obviously demand-driven,” he said. “Then you have people like Dimon come out and say it’s a fraud, then it could really go back to $200 for all I know.”
Bitcoin has a long way to go to get to $200, but it’s certainly been headed that direction of late. Since the end of August, theBitcoin Investment Trust(OTC:GBTC) is down 37.3 percent.
Related Link: Ex- SEC Commissioner Suggests Owning Shares Of Companies That Use Bitcoin But Not The Currency Itself
Listen to the full PreMarket Prep episode below:
PreMarket Prep is a daily morning show about short term trading ideas and technical setups. It airs live from 8–9 a.m. ET here, and the podcast is here
See more from Benzinga
• Ex- SEC Commissioner Suggests Owning Shares Of Companies That Use Bitcoin But Not The Currency Itself
• Juniper Research Thinks There Will Be Trillion In Crypto Transaction Value By Year's End
© 2017 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Pogue YouTube Transcripts Tips: Believe it or not, YouTube creates a written transcript for every single video. Just click More and Transcript and boom! What’s cool is that you can use this feature as a great way to create free transcripts of your own recordings. Go to the video manager, click Edit Subtitles, pick a language, and look — now you can either upload a script you’ve already written, or you can say, do your best to create it automatically— and then you can edit it. You can watch the video and type as you go. YouTube even pauses the video as you type. Super-thoughtful — and super-secret! Adapted from “ Pogue’s Basics: Tech ” (Flatiron Press), by David Pogue . More from David Pogue: Ossia thinks it’s licked the problems with through-the-air charging Samsung’s Bixby voice assistant is ambitious, powerful, and half-baked Is through-the-air charging a hoax? Pogue’s Basics: The secret Start menu in Windows 10 The pizza-making robots that want to change the world Electrify your existing bike in 2 minutes with these ingenious wheels Marty Cooper, inventor of the cellphone: The next step is implantables The David Pogue Review: Windows 10 Creators Update How a one-of-a-kind business has kept 5,000 kitchens out of landfills Google’s Nest Cam IQ recognizes burglars’ faces—for a steep price The 4 people Steve Jobs handpicked to review the iPhone reflect 10 years later Study: A smartwatch app can detect the heart condition hiding in millions of Americans Now I get it: Bitcoin David Pogue’s search for the world’s best air-travel app The little-known iPhone feature that lets blind people see with their fingers David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes nontoxic comments in the comments section below. On the web, he’s davidpogue.com . On Twitter, he’s @pogue . On email, he’s [email protected]. You can read all his articles here , or you can sign up to get his columns by email . || Markets higher despite tragedy in Las Vegas: Stocks are rocketing to all-time highs as a new quarter begins. Plus, Dimon says no, but Blankfein sees opportunity: Why Bitcoin is dividing Wall Street. And, Nordstrom’s going private—not so fast. Why this sputtering deal is another sign of retail woe. Plus, it’s the infrastructure play that could pay off for years to come. Veolia’s CEO on why the water trade is just getting started. Winners and losers Stocks getting hit today include Roku ( ROKU ) as traders take profits following a huge run in shares its IPO; Bluebird Bio ( BLUE ) as Morgan Stanley downgraded the drugmaker to ‘underweight,’ citing concern over its sickle cell treatment; and Genworth Financial ( GNW ), with shares dipping after the mortgage insurer and China Oceanwide withdrew its joint venture notice with the Committee on Foreign Investment, intending to refile the application with additional “mitigation approaches.” Stocks in the green today include Veritone ( VERI ) as the ad solutions company inked a two-year deal with iHeartMedia; Alnylan Pharmaceuticals ( ALNY ) as Goldman upgraded the biotech name to buy, citing valuation; and GM ( GM ), with shares driving higher as the automaker said the future is electric, planning two new electric cars next year, and at least 18 by 2023. The business of water You’ve probably never heard of Veolia, but chances are pretty good they have touched your life in some way. It is the world leader in water services. CEO Antoine Frérot joined us now. View comments || In Bitcoin we Trust
: There is never a dull moment in the world of cryptocurrencies as Bitcoins rocky road continues this week, with a pronouncement by a leading bank spokesman that Bitcoin is a fraud. Banks and financial institutions obviously dislike Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies by all means. Like any cornered animal which knows it is about to meet its demise, banks and other financial institutions will be fighting back ferociously to maintain their grip on the worlds currency markets and the resulting profits. Bitcoin has dropped back below the $4,000 mark on talk of China banning centralized cryptocurrency exchanges, not the currencies themselves neither centralized mining. This is mainly because they tend to monopolize the trading due to their low fees. The Caixin report dealt with this issue of regulatory frameworks. Together with the ban on ICOs, it is clear that investors worries increase. Yesterday, in New York, JP Morgan Chase Bank Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon has been quoted as saying cryptocurrencies (most notably, Bitcoin) are worse than tulip bulbs and Bitcoin is a fraud . A statement like this is bound to be inflammatory and controversial. JP Morgan Chase is one of the clusters of global banking houses which caused the financial crisis by inventing instruments which ultimately led to the financial collapse of 2008. The mortgage backed securities, which they and their cohorts, invented and pushed forward to the public cost the bank around $13 billion. Institutionals position on Bitcoin was taken seriously by the cryptocurrency community. Founded on the principle of accountability from its inception Bitcoin was designed to be totally transparent and public. This was one of the public accusations against entities like JP Morgan Chase and other banks. The notion of cryptocurrencies was to provide a responsible alternative in financial transactions. At the heart of Bitcoin is a transparent ledger system where every transaction is recorded, balanced against the credit or the debit, and is freely available on demand for any participants. Story continues Although the blockchain technology is open and accountable, anybody who has used cryptocurrencies can confirm that the system is also complicated and secure. There is an argument whether Bitcoin has been over priced recently, for something which is relatively new and untested. Natural corrections are the markets way of telling investors that they have overbought, and Bitcoins investors are learning that the digital market is as volatile as the physical one. Despite the understandable misgivings of the traditional financial community and the recent doubts amongst the most ardent cryptocurrency aficionados cryptocurrencies have already proved themselves as a viable alternative to existing currencies, and its users have developed new methods of transferring value and wealth between buyers and sellers of goods and services. It remains to be seen if Bitcoin, ethereum, and the other cryptocurrencies can keep up the momentum
Noble Gold specializes in IRAs and 401(k) rollovers through precious metals and cryptocurrencies investments. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: The Crypto Future of Currencies Gold Prices Continue Lower U.S. Congress Causes a Reaction in Forex, BoE in Focus In Bitcoin we Trust
China Data Pushes Asia into the Red with the BoE and Retail Sales to Drive the GBP and Inflation to Drive the USD UK Unemployment at 42 Year Low, US Dollar Rises Against Majors
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Are You Bullish Or Bearish On #Facebook? Start #Trading $FB With #Bitcoin! #XBT $XBT $BTC #BTCUSD #Cryptocurrency
http://www.ElixiumCapital.com/BTC-FB/ pic.twitter.com/OrGSOp9Bk4 || this is about btc hard fork please read the coment
btw in in $eBTC AND $eLTC AND i support what i buy || Acabei de me inscrever no WCX, mercado de câmbio de moeda digital. Inscreve-te e recebe 50. wcxofficial #bitcoin http://ift.tt/2ts2GKq || #bitcoin non si ferma più? Analisi tecnica || How To Earn Free Bitcoin … - http://entrepreneurs-success.com/free-bitcoins/?wt=12 … #freebitcoin #bitcoin #bitcoinmaker #crypto #thekingmind || @ #1, Bitcoin with unit price of $4,610.48, market cap of $76,589,293,760 (50.28%), and 24 hr vol. of $1,313,870,000 (41.62%) || Bleutrade #13 Market(1.29%) UNO/DOGE - Unobtanium Vol(24h):0.275809 BTC / $1,088 - Price: $95.00 / 0.024082 BTC || #bitcoin SurBTC's (Latin American Exchange) update on Segwit2x via /r/Bitcoin http://ift.tt/2xxtcDi || That's looking like the play so far. hah.
I think 2x needs a bigger play than just brute force dumping btc for 2x. || coindera: Top 3
$LUN $BTC on hitbtc +70%
$WEALTH $ETH on hitbtc +50%
$BTC $UNO on BittrexExchange +36%
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Trend: down || Prices: 5678.19, 5725.59, 5605.51, 5590.69, 5708.52, 6011.45, 6031.60, 6008.42, 5930.32, 5526.64
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Electronic Arts Trades Up as Delay in Battlefield Launch to Last Less Than a Month: By Dhirendra Tripathi Investing.com Electronic Arts stock (NASDAQ:EA) looked like recouping at least some of its Wednesday losses after the company confirmed a modest delay to the launch of its eagerly-awaited Battlefield 2042 game. Weve made the decision to shift the launch of Battlefield 2042. The game will now be released worldwide on November 19th, 2021, the companys note said. It was earlier scheduled on October 22. The stock traded 1.8% higher in Thursdays premarket as the companys note on the release date of the video game calmed both traders and fans. The stock fell nearly 6% in the previous session as social media swirled with speculation that the launch might be pushed back to next year. The company blamed the pandemic for the delay as that held back the return of its team to the studios. It said the team is putting some finishing touches into the experience and updates on the open beta will be coming later this month. Battlefield 2042 is a multi-player game themed around U.S. and Russia being on the brink of a war as climate change leads to intensified competition for scarce resources. Related Articles Electronic Arts Trades Up as Delay in Battlefield Launch to Last Less Than a Month AMC CEO says theaters will accept other cryptocurrencies along with Bitcoin- Tweet Four former VW employees go on trial in Dieselgate lawsuit || Crypto platforms begin cutting off Chinese users after government declares transactions illegal: Cryptocurrency e xchanges have begun cutting off their platforms to Chinese users after the country announced an aggressive crackdown on the digital assets last week. Trading company Binance announced that it is no longer accepting new account registrations originating from mainland China. The company’s domain has been blocked in China for years, although it is also now barring registrations from Chinese cellphone numbers, according to Business Insider. “Binance takes its compliance obligations very seriously and is committed to following local regulator requirements wherever we operate,” a Binance spokesperson said. BITCOIN SPIRALS AS CHINA DECLARES CRYPTO ILLEGAL Another major exchange working to shed Chinese users after the crackdown was announced is Huobi Global. The company announced that it will stop working with Chinese users by the end of the year and vowed to “ensure the safety of users’ assets,” although it didn’t provide details. “We will inform users of the specific arrangements and details through official announcements, e-mails, text messages, etc.,” Huobi said in a statement . “Huobi Global has always been dedicated to offering digital asset trading services and ensuring the safety of customer assets, while following all applicable laws.” The value of Huobi Token, the exchange’s digital coin, has taken a nosedive amid the Chinese crackdown. It is now worth about half of what it was prior to China’s surprise Friday announcement. The People’s Bank of China said that all cryptocurrency transactions are now illegal and that online services offering trading for cryptocurrencies and overseas cryptocurrency exchanges are outlawed. Beijing also vowed to cull the country of any cryptocurrency mining within its borders. TokenPocket, a digital wallet for storing cryptocurrency, announced over the weekend that it would also be terminating some functions for users in China. The company said that it chooses to “ embrace relevant regulatory provisions” from Beijing. Story continues The newest restrictions on cryptocurrencies follow other denunciations and regulatory moves against cryptocurrencies by the Chinese government. In May, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He called for the “crackdown on bitcoin mining and trading behavior and resolutely prevent the transmission of individual risks to the social field.” CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Cryptocurrencies, which are hyperreactive to regulatory jitters, fell sharply following China’s announcement on Friday. Bitcoin plunged more than 6% upon the news, dropping to about $41,000. Ethereum lost nearly 9% of its value, dropping to below $2,800, and Ripple retreated by more than 8% on Friday morning. Since the initial drop, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have settled down a bit, with the largest cryptocurrencies trading at about even from the day before. Bitcoin was ping-ponging between about $43,000 and $44,000 on Monday after hitting a multimonth high earlier in September, trading at nearly $53,000. Washington Examiner Videos Tags: News , Bitcoin , China , Cryptocurrency , Beijing , Regulation , Technology Original Author: Zachary Halaschak Original Location: Crypto platforms begin cutting off Chinese users after government declares transactions illegal || Citi considering bitcoin futures trading for some institutional clients: (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc is considering offering bitcoin futures trading for some institutional clients, a spokesperson for the bank said on Tuesday, citing increased demand in the cryptocurrency space.
Bitcoin prices rose past $50,000 on Monday, after having weathered a crackdown by Chinese authorities on domestic cryptocurrency mining companies earlier this year, as mainstream adoption by corporations and the wider public gathers pace.
Media outlet Coindesk reported https://www.coindesk.com/citigroup-is-gearing-up-to-trade-cme-bitcoin-futures-sources earlier on Tuesday that Citi is awaiting regulatory approval to begin trading bitcoin futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, citing a source within the bank.
"Given the many questions around regulatory frameworks, supervisory expectations, and other factors, we are being very thoughtful about our approach," a Citi spokeswoman said in an email.
"We are presently considering products such as futures for some of our institutional clients, as these operate under strong regulatory frameworks," she added.
The bank was weighing the option of providing cryptocurrency related services in May, according to a Financial Times report nL4N2MU1B8.
Business Insider reported https://bit.ly/2WeyK7X in late July that JPMorgan Chase & Co will allow all of its wealth management clients access to cryptocurrency funds.
(Reporting by Sohini Podder in Bengaluru and Dhara Ranasinghe in London; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.) || More Than 200 Bitcoin ATMs Now Operating in El Salvador: BeInCrypto –
El Salvador now has over 200 Bitcoin ATMs installed, which should help boost its attempt to make bitcoin a greater part of the economy.
Data from Coin ATM Radarshows thatEl Salvador has the third-highest number of bitcoin ATMs across the world, behind the United States and Canada. In total, El Salvador’s bitcoin ATMs account for 0.7% of all such machines worldwide. The U.S. and Canada lead with 86.4% and 6.6%, respectively.
El Salvador has had to beef up its infrastructure following the announcement that it would make bitcoin legal tender. The country has also purchased 400 bitcoins to facilitate the move into digital assets. Additionally, it has built and releaseda digital wallet called Chivoto make transactions more seamless.
This storywas seen first onBeInCryptoJoin our Telegram Groupand get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories likethisonBeInCrypto || Bitcoin Well Announces Closing of Strategic Ghostlab Inc. Acquisition, Expanding Software Development and Deployment Capabilities: EDMONTON, Alberta, Sept. 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bitcoin Well Inc. (TSXV: BTCW) (Bitcoin Well or the Company), is pleased to confirm that it has closed the previously announced acquisition of Ghostlab Inc. (Ghostlab) (the Acquisition), a software company that designs and develops software to improve the functionality and accessibility of modern financial technology and services, including Bitcoin ATM machines. Total consideration for the Acquisition was based on an enterprise value of up to $3.2 million, satisfied through the issuance of 2,758,621 common shares of Ghostlab at a price of $0.29 per common share, the closing price on the 11 th trading day of the issuer, the assumption of debt of $1.8 million and the provision of an earn-out, all as more particularly described in the Companys August 11, 2021 press release . The common shares are subject to a statutory four month hold period. Bringing Ghostlab fully in-house, positions Bitcoin Well to further expand our products and services, and affords the potential to create incremental revenue streams without the high capital requirements associated with buying, branding and deploying new machines, said Adam OBrien, CEO of Bitcoin Well. Given there is a natural timing difference between the capital investment into machines and the revenue returns, being able to deploy Ghostlab onto existing cash ATMs means we have the opportunity for revenue without high capital costs. In addition, our Ghostlab division is constantly engaged in R&D to provide long-term, innovative solutions to support an increasingly digital economy. Strategic Importance of Ghostlab Deploying Ghostlab software allows an ATM operators customers to access bitcoin, thereby benefitting from additional functionality within existing businesses, hardware, and platforms. Ghostlabs proprietary ATM software enables bitcoin to be more accessible to the average person, and more importantly, makes it easier for operators to manage their businesses. Bitcoin Well believes that Ghostlab has sufficiently de-risked the software to the point where it can now directly contribute to the service offerings provided by Bitcoin Well. In addition, the Ghostlab software has utility and benefit for other, third-party ATM operators, representing an incremental revenue stream and valuable data source for Bitcoin Well with limited capital outlay. Story continues While retrofitting existing cash ATMs with Ghostlab software to support bitcoin transaction capabilities requires much less capital than deploying new machines, both require time to establish the ATM as a revenue generator. For context, the top ten performing ATM machines in the Bitcoin Well portfolio have been in operation for at least 20 months, with half of those coming from acquisitions and half from organic deployment. Based on the revenue growth of Bitcoin Well to date, it is estimated that realizing a return on invested capital from machine deployment is typically approximately ten months, which further supports our model of finding and completing accretive acquisitions to support our continued growth. Applying the established processes and operating procedures developed by Bitcoin Well onto acquired ATMs has historically increased the average monthly sales volume in only four weeks. Given our third-party research study, conducted by Ipsos on behalf of Bitcoin Well in 2021, we know that 78% of Bitcoin ATM users frequent the same machine on a regular basis, and as a result, establishing trust within the local community is key. Related Party Disclosure Each of Adam OBrien, Chief Executive Officer of Bitcoin Well and Dave Bradley, Chief Revenue Officer of Bitcoin Well, previously owned 100% of the common shares of Ghostlab. As such, the Acquisition was a related party transaction under Multilateral Instrument 61-101. Bitcoin Well relied on the exemptions contained in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(a), respectively, of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 from the valuation and minority shareholder requirements of that instrument as they apply to related party transactions, since the fair market value of the Acquisition was significantly less than 25% of the market capitalization of Bitcoin Well. The Acquisition was approved by the board upon recommendation of an independent special committee in accordance with the Company's related-party transaction policy. About Bitcoin Well Bitcoin Well offers convenient, secure and reliable ways to buy and sell bitcoin through a trusted Bitcoin ATM network and suite of web-based transaction services. The Company generates revenue and based on managements assessment of publicly-available data, is the first publicly traded Bitcoin ATM company in the world, with an enterprising consolidation strategy to deliver accretive and cost-effective expansion in North America and globally. As leaders of the longest-running, founder-led Bitcoin ATM company in Canada, management of Bitcoin Well brings deep operational capabilities that span the entire value chain along with access to proprietary, cutting-edge software development that supports further expansion. Sign up for our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn , Twitter , YouTube , Facebook , TikTok and Instagram to keep up to date with our business. Contact Information For investor information, please contact: Bitcoin Well 10142 82 Avenue NW Edmonton, AB T6E 1Z4 bitcoinwell.com Adam OBrien , President & CEO or Tel: 1 888 711 3866 [email protected] For media queries and further information, please contact: Karen Smola , Director of Marketing Tel: 587-735-1570 [email protected] Reader Advisory / Forward-Looking Statements Statements in this press release regarding Bitcoin Well which are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, such as the timing of expansion plans and activities, the expectations on timing of revenue generation, expectations on capital costs of the Company's activies, the payment of the earnout, the anticipated income stream to be generated for Bitcoin Well, the ability of Bitcoin Well to provide Ghostlab services to third parties and the anticipated benefits therefrom , as well as various other business objectives. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as may, expect, estimate, anticipate, intend, believe and continue or the negative thereof or similar variations. The forward-looking statements in this press release were made in reliance of certain assumptions made by management, including assumptions regarding, among other things, the bitcoin market, the market for third party users of Ghostlab software, the ability to protect intellectual property, Ghostlab's competitive advantages and the ability of Bitcoin Well to manage growth of its business as a result of the proposed transaction. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties such as the risk that the Ghostlab acquisition is not completed or is not completed on the terms outlined in the share purchase agreement. Actual results in each case could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements due to factors such as: (i) adverse market conditions; (ii) the need for additional financing; (iii) changes to the anticipated costs to develop, market and implement the technology; and (iv) changes in laws and regulations. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of the press release and except as required by law, Bitcoin Well does not intend to update any changes to such statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive. Neither TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. || Bitcoin As The Digital Gold Has Significant Upward Potential: Miller Opportunity Trust: Bitcoin has been touted as the digital gold in various quarters, and an investment trust now believes the cryptocurrencys upward potential is massive. Bitcoin Still Has A Massive Upward Potential Bitcoin has been one of the leading financial assets in the world over the past decade, delivering thousands of percentages in profits to the early investors. The past few months have seen numerous hedge funds and other institutional investors enter the cryptocurrency market. Their entry marks a new phase for Bitcoin, and some of them believe that it has a huge upward potential. Miller Opportunity Trust, a fund founded by billionaire investor Bill Miller, believes that Bitcoin as a digital gold still has significant upward potential. The fund discussed its recent exposure to Bitcoin and said it could seek to boost its investment over the next few years. While talking about its decision to gain exposure to Bitcoin via the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), Miller Opportunity Trust said Bitcoin is the digital gold, and its potential is still massive. Golds market cap is over $11 trillion while Bitcoin has just around $11 trillion, with the Bill Miller fund stating that Bitcoin still has a long way to go to catch up to Gold. The firm stated that we are still early in a continuing adoption curve. It warned that Bitcoin will be volatile but it believes the risk-reward for the coin is attractive. Bill Miller is bullish on Bitcoin, stating that there is no asset in the world that combines Bitcoins liquidity with its upside potential. More hedge funds and institutional investors have been entering the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin and Ethereum are the two most sought-after cryptocurrencies as they remain the market leaders. Bitcoin Crosses The $50k Mark Bitcoin has been struggling below the $50k mark in recent weeks but was finally able to settle above that resistance level during the weekend. BTC is up by over 3.5% in the last 24 hours, and it is trading above $51k per coin at the moment. Story continues BTC/USD chart. Source: FXEMPIRE If the current bullish trend continues, BTC could cross the $55k level over the next few days. Bitcoin (BTC) is closing in on its all-time high price above $64k, and some market analysts are confident it could touch the $100k level this year. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: GBP/USD Price Forecast British Pound Stumbles to Open Week GBP/JPY Price Forecast British Pound Pulls Back From Significant Resistance USD/JPY Price Forecast Dollar Continues to Sit at The ¥110 Region EUR/USD Mid-Session Technical Analysis for September 6, 2021 Bitcoin As The Digital Gold Has Significant Upward Potential: Miller Opportunity Trust Oil Stays Strong Despite Risks Posed By The Virus || 14 Financial Investments for 2021: Definitions and Examples: Afinancial advisorwill tell you that there are many smart ways to make your money grow. But you need to find the right type of financial investment that best fits your goals. Let’s break down how financial investments are defined and review common types of investments and the risk factors for each, along with exploring how investors buy or sell them to maximize your income or profits.
What Is a Financial Investment?
A financial investment is a financial product like a cryptocurrency or a stock that is bought with the goal of making money.
Each investment has specific risks, advantages and disadvantages that will determine how and when investors buy or sell them.
Both individuals and companies make financial investments with the intent of maximizing income or earning a profit. These investments are held for a specific interval of time that is called atime horizon.
As an example, an employee beginning a career could hold ontoretirement investmentsfor a few decades, while an investment firm may hold and sell an investment within a few days.
Financial investments could involve one or many different types of assets that are usually bought or sold based on a specificinvestment strategy. This determines how they are combined in a portfolio.
Generally speaking, the higher the risk that an investor takes, the higher the reward a financial investment could return. As part of their investment strategy, investors must first determine theirrisk toleranceby evaluating how comfortable they are with making different types of investments.
The term financial investment is a broad concept that has both financial and economic definitions.
Financial Investment vs. Economic Investment
Many people use both terms interchangeably, but they are in fact different. As we explained in the section above, financial investments are bought with the intent of making money. Economic investments, however, are purchased to improve the productivity of a company and ultimately raise its profit margins and stock value.
Economic investments only include real assets or tangible investments like equipment, machinery, materials, real estate and human capital (referring to employees). By comparison, financial investments include stocks, bonds, mutual funds, among other assets, as well as economic investments like land, buildings and more real assets.
You should note that both financial and economic investments can be interdependent. A company, for instance, could use income or dividends from financial investments to pay for economic investments. And a company could also use profits from economic investments to make financial investments.
14 Common Types of Financial Investments in 2021
There are many financial investments to pick from. Below we break down 14 common financial investments and accounts to save up for future investments in education, retirement and other financial goals. The list also includes practical tips for when to invest and how to open an account or buy a financial investment.
1. Annuities
Annuities, which are insurance products, are usually low risk and can guarantee you a regular income stream for retirement. In addition to delaying taxes on earnings, this financial investment can sometimes be extended to beneficiaries. However, if you do not live long enough, you may not reach the break-even point. And fees can also be higher when compared with other investments.
When to Invest:A financial advisor might recommend investing in an annuity later in life, if you continue working and have other retirement income like a 401(k) orSocial Security.
Annuities pay outthe full amount of principal and interest over a specific time period that is based on the number of months between your current age and your life expectancy. So if you are 65 and your life expectancy is 80, then your monthly payment will be based on 180 months (12 months x 15 years).
Based on this formula, if you invest $150,000 in an annuity at age 65, with an interest rate of 3% and a life expectancy of 15 years, your monthly annuity payout would be $1,032.95. But, if you make the same investment at age 70, with the same interest rate and life expectancy, then your monthly payout would go up to $1,445.61. And at 75, your monthly annuity payment would be almost double at $2,692.61.
How to Buy:You can buy an annuity through financial planners, insurance agents, banks and life insurance carriers.SmartAsset’s annuity reviewscan help you pick the best one for your needs. Our experts break down fees, minimum initial premiums, investment options, benefit riders, taxes and more.
2. Bonds
Bonds are fixed-income investments, which means that you know how much the return will be before buying. When you buy this financial investment, you’re lending money to the entity that issued or sold it. And upon maturity, you will get the principal or par value that you invested in the bond, as well as interest earned on top of it.
As an example, if you buy a two-year bond with a par value of $1,000 and a coupon rate of 5%, then you would get a $50 return each year, adding up to $100 total interest.
Investors combine bonds with stocks as part of abalanced investment portfolio, and adjust the ratio between the two based on age and risk tolerance. A financial advisor could recommend increasing your investment in government bonds as you get closer to retirement to protect your net worth from unexpected market losses.
When to Invest:Government bonds are great financial investments for those seeking a fixed income and low risk, especially for investors near or in retirement since they may face shorter time horizons for a return.
Corporate bonds, on the other hand, are riskier financial investments, because these loans are not backed by the government. This additional risk makes them comparable to stocks. Corporate bonds offer investors fixed-income and potentially a higher-return than municipal bonds.
Bonds issued by larger companies will usually have lower yields than those issued by smaller companies since the likelihood of going out of business is also smaller.
How to Buy:You can buy Treasury bonds directly from the U.S. Treasury, and municipal and corporate bonds through an online broker that charges a fee per trade.Brokerage firmswill charge low fees as a percentage of assets, while full-service brokerages will charge higher fees and provide financial advice.
3. Certificates of Deposit
Certificates of deposit (CDs) are low-risk, low-return financial investments that have maturity dates ranging from 28 days to 10 years after your purchase date. And if you withdraw your money before your maturity date, you could face a penalty.
Comparable with bonds, if you invest $1,000 in a one-year CD with an annual percentage yield of 5%, then you would get a $50 return at the end of the year. This could be slightly higher if the issuer pays interest every month.
When to Invest:CDs are safe for risk-adverse investors who want to put away money for a fixed date in the future. These financial investments are good for building home down payments, saving for a wedding, buying a car, paying for education and even stashing your emergency fund. CDs from reputable institutions are FDIC insured up to $250,000.
How to Buy:CDs are issued by banks and credit unions.SmartAsset’s Certificate of Deposit comparison toolwill help you find the best financial investment for your needs by comparing CD rates from top banks.
4. Commodities
A commodity is a raw material or a primary product that can be bought or sold as an economic good. These goods include agricultural resources (wheat, barley, corn, oats and soybeans), renewable energy resources (solar, wind, hydropower, ethanol and geothermal), non-renewable energy resources (crude oil, natural gas, nuclear, coal and propane) and precious metals (gold, silver, platinum and palladium), among other materials and products.
When to Invest:Like with other financial investments, the most opportune moment for you to buy or sell commodities will depend on your time horizon and your financial goals. Investors sometimes treat commodities as as a hedge for their portfolios, especially during inflation, which means that they are used to minimize losses from adverse price swings in other financial investments. Experts also point out that commodities may be a good buy when the dollar gets stronger since this type ofasset usually falls in price.
How to Buy:You can buy commodities in the form of futures contracts, ETFs, and indirectly through mutual funds and stocks.
Note that each type of financial investment has advantages and disadvantages. Stocks, for instance, are liquid investments that can be traded through personal brokerage accounts. Investments, however, are in commodity-related companies, which even though a commodity could be performing well the company may not.
ETFs, on the other hand, are low-fee investment options that offer greater protection, but are not available for all commodities. By comparison, futures contracts are the most direct way to invest in commodities, with the potential for strong returns, although minimum deposits are required and losses could be bigger. And finally, while mutual funds are indirectly invested in commodities, they have similar liquidity to stocks and are managed by investment advisors, but you will have to pay proprietary fees.
5. Cryptocurrencies
Cryptocurrency is a digital currency that uses a decentralized technology called blockchain. This technology spreads across many computers, allowing it to be transferred bank-free without using third party handlers.
In 2021, cryptocurrency is attracting record numbers of investors with the hopes of cashing in on high returns. Supporters say that decentralized currencies offer greater flexibility and lower transaction costs than regulated currencies like the U.S. dollar.
But finance experts also point out that cryptocurrencies are not backed by governments or precious metals like gold, and therefore the risk for these investments are higher than other financial investments because they are largely based on perceived value.
When to Invest:Like with other high-risk investments, cryptocurrencies only make sense if they fit into your financial planning goals.
Some investors may also look at cryptocurrency asalternative investmentsthat fall outside of stocks, bonds and cash. And because these financial investments move differently from traditional securities, they could be suitable for diversifying portfolios.
For perspective, Bitcoin was the first digital currency to rise above $30,000 in January 2021. And within three months, it rose over twice as much to a record high of $64,642.40. But then it fell again briefly beneath $30,000 in June again.
How to Buy:Cryptocurrencies can be bought online, at ATMs and in person. Though the most common place to purchase this digital currency is at a cryptocurrency exchange. SmartAsset’s review of thebest Bitcoin trading platforms in 2021could help you pick an exchange for your needs.
6. 529 Plans
529 plans are often compared with 401(k) plans because both are professionally-managed investment portfolios that allow investors to contribute funds tax-free.
You should note, however, that contributions made to 529 plans can also be withdrawn free of tax to pay for qualified higher education expenses that include tuition and fees, books and supplies, computers and tech equipment, campus room and board and off-campus rent.
All states and Washington D.C. sponsor 529 plans. And while you do not have to reside in a state to invest in a plan, some states let you get additional tax benefits bymaking tax-deductible contributions up to certain limits.
When to Invest:Investing in college education early is a smart choice.A recent study found that less than one in five high school parents will use 529 plansto finance their children’s education. But that same study also revealed that parents who work with afinancial advisorare more likely to start saving for education than those without one.
How to Open:You can open a 529 plan through a financial advisor, a broker and directly through the state plan.SmartAsset’s 529 plan comparison toolwill help you pick the best one for your needs.
7. Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
Exchange-traded funds combine features from both stocks and index funds into one diversified investment. They work like index funds when they track the returns of widely known indices like the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as well as smaller indices focused on market segments like biotechnology. But unlike index funds, they can also be traded like stock.
These financial investments are advantageous over individual stocks because they offer greater portfolio diversity, and investors can mitigate risk by tracking a broader index that can minimize losses.
When to Invest:ETFs can get you a lot of bang for your buck, especially when you have limited funds and can hold onto your investment for a long time. For starters, initial ETF investment requirements are smaller than many mutual fund offerings. Mutual fund companies could require a minimum investment of $3,000, whereas ETFs are flexible on how little you can invest.
ETFs also carry smaller fees, with an expense ratio as low as 0.09%. While mutual funds, by comparison, could carry expense ratios as high as 2%, which will be deducted from your investment income.
How to Buy:You can trade ETFs through online brokers, traditional brokers or dealers and robo-advisors.SmartAsset’s brokerage accountant comparison toolwill help you find the best trading platform for your needs.
8. High-Yield Savings Accounts
High yield savings accounts earn much higher interest rates than traditional bank savings of checking accounts. High-yield savings accounts typically collect interest ranging from 1.00% to 2.20%, while a major bank could pay 0.01% on a savings account.
As an example, if you deposit $10,000 into a savings account with a 0.01% interest rate you will have earned $1 after one year. Whereas, if everything remains constant, a high-yield savings account paying 1.00% will have earned you $135.82 in the same time.
When to Invest:These savings accounts are good for rainy day funds and money that you will set aside for occasional spending like a vacation, new furniture and electronics, clothing or gift funds.
Note that these savings accounts are limited to six transactions and withdrawals per monthly statement, including transfers, ACH withdrawals, Point of Sale (PoS) transactions and transfers by phone, check or debit card. However, you can make unlimited withdrawals at ATMs and tellers at banks.
How to Open:Online banks usually offer higher rates than traditional brick and mortar banks. Our2021 roundup of the best savings accountscan help you pick an account to grow money efficiently for your needs.
9. Money Market Accounts
Money market accounts (MMAs), also known as money market deposit accounts, are a good financial investment alternative to traditional savings accounts, generally offering higher percentage yields.
You should note that these are different than money market funds, which are a type of mutual fund that invests in high-quality short-term debts from governments, banks or corporations; as well as cash and cash equivalents.
Comparable with high-yield savings accounts, MMAs limit transfers to six per month in compliance with Regulation D, while allowing you to make unlimited withdrawals at ATMs and tellers at banks.
When to Invest:Money market accounts offer liquidity and flexibility for investors seeking to put away rainy day funds or occasional spending like vacation, new furniture and electronics or gifts.
For a comparison, many traditional savings accounts earn as little as 0.01% interest, while MMAs can offer between 1.00% to 2.00%, depending on the institution. So if you deposit $10,000 into a savings account with a 0.01% interest rate you will have earned $1 after one year. And $135.82 in the same time, assuming everything remains constant, with a high-yield savings account paying 1.00%.
How to Open:You can open a money market account at a bank or credit union.SmartAsset’s money market account comparison toolwill help you find the best financial investment for your needs by comparing MMA rates from top banks.
10. Mutual Funds
Mutual funds pool money from investors to buy a collection of different types of financial investments that are bundled and traded together as one investment. These collected assets include individual stocks, bonds and other securities.
For a comparison, individual stocks can carry higher risk and greater returns. They also require investors to buy a large number of stock to create a diverse portfolio. But mutual funds, on the other hand, can mitigate risk by hedging against losses from other investments in the fund. And they could also be an affordable option to diversify for investors since one fund already holds different types of financial investments.
You should also note that whereas an investing firm will charge you on a per-trade basis to buy individual stock, mutual funds charge operating expense ratios that could range from less than 1% to over 5%. However, while mutual funds require less time and research to invest, this convenience comes at a price – some mutual funds charge annual fees, redemption fees andfront-end loads.
As a cost-effective alternative, you couldinvest in an index fund, which is a mutual fund that holds stock in one market index. This financial investment has lower management fees than actively managed funds.
When to Invest:Mutual funds are best for retirement and other long-term investments. They also offer convenient stock market access for investors without the complications of having to research, buy and manage individual stocks in a portfolio. Many people first invest in mutual funds when they start contributing to a 401(k) at a job.
How to Buy:Mutual funds can be purchased directly through the firms that manage them and discount brokerage firms.SmartAsset’s brokerage accountant comparison toolwill help you find the best trading platform for your needs. Mutual funds typically require a minimum investment.
11. Options
When you buy an option, you’re purchasing the right to buy or sell an asset at a fixed price. This contract lasts only for a specific timeframe. Investors can pick between two types of options:call options(which is the right to buy assets) andput options(which is the right to sell options).
Options, simply put, are another way to buy stock. And like all stock investments, options come with the risk of losing value. This means that if the stock falls from its initial price, you will lose money.
As an example, if the premium for an option is $6 for 100 shares, then it will add up to $600. And if a purchaser has a call option with a strike price at $85, and sells the stock at a higher trade value of $100 on or before the maturity date, then the investor will be up $15. Multiplying this by 100 shares, you will have $1,500, from which the initial investment of $600 must be deducted. This will leave you with $900, excluding commission and fees. But if the stock value falls beneath $85, it could expire worthless.
When to Invest:Like other financial investments, stock options could generate big gains and big losses. Investors generally buy stock options when they believe that they are underpriced. Other investors buy put options to hedge stock that they already own as a protection against a possible fall in pricing. This protection, however, expires with the maturity date of the put.
How to Buy:You can buy stock options through an online brokerage.SmartAsset’s brokerage accountant comparison toolwill help you find the best trading platform for your needs.
12. Real Estate
Financial investments in real estate are no longer limited to buying and selling property, or collecting rent. Investors can now take a hands-off approach by investing inreal estate investment trusts (REITS), which are companies that own properties that generate income; andreal estate crowdfunding platforms, which pool money from investors into real estate projects.
When to Invest:Real estate investment could be a good opportunity if you want to take on more risk for higher returns. But like with other financial investments, you should only put your money in if you are able to hold the investment for a long time horizon and you fully understand the terms.
How to Buy:You can buy REIT shares, REIT mutual funds and REIT ETFs through an online brokerage.SmartAsset’s brokerage accountant comparison toolwill help you find the best trading platform for your needs. You can also use robo-advisors and online marketplaces to invest in other real estate project portfolios.
13. Retirement Plans
Retirement plans allow you to buy stock, bonds and funds in two tax-advantaged ways. The first type lets you invest with pretax dollars, the second allows you to withdraw money without paying taxes.
Workplace retirement plans include401(k)sand 403(b)s. Workers without access to these plans could finance retirement with anindividual retirement plan (IRA)or aRoth IRA.
Risks for these financial investments are the same as if you were buying stocks, bonds and funds outside of a retirement plan.
When to Invest:It is never too early to invest in your retirement. Roughlyone-third (34%) of Americans are leaving free money on the table, saving below theemployee matchoffered by their employer.
As an example, a 35-year-old who puts away $900 a month into a 401(k) or IRA with a balance of $51,000 could save close to $1.9 million by age 65 (this estimate assumes an 8% annual return).
How to Open:While employers offer 401(k)s and 403(b)s, you can open an IRA, Roth IRA and solo 401(k) at a retirement account provider, bank and other financial institutions.
14. Stocks
Simply put, individual stocks are shares of a company that you can buy. This makes you a partial owner, and as the company grows, so does the value of your stock.
These financial investments can offer you bigger returns when compared with others. However, your money will also be exposed to higher stock market risks. A financial advisor could recommend selling or liquidating your stock if it falls 10%.
Investors looking for more stability might want to buy dividend stocks, whichpay out a percentage of company profits to shareholders.
When to Invest:Stocks are great assets to diversify your portfolio when you are prepared to take on additional risk. With every financial investment, timing is important for buying and selling stocks. The best times to buy are when a stock goes on sale, it is undervalued and when you invest long-term – Goldman Sachs saysU.S. stocks averaged 10-year returns of 9.2%over the past 140 years.
How to Buy:The easiest way to buy stocks is through a financial advisor or an online broker.SmartAsset’s brokerage accountant comparison toolwill help you find the best trading platform for your needs. And thisstep-by-step guidewill breakdown instructions for you to buy stock.
Bottom Line
There are many smart financial investments to make your money grow. Depending on your financial goals, how much money you could invest and how long you can hold an investment, you will have to consider different levels of risk and returns when combining assets into your portfolio. Accounts like 401(k) plans and 529 plans are also great tools to save up for future investments in retirement and education.
Tips for Picking the Best Investment
• Afinancial advisorcan help you pick the best financial investments for your goals.SmartAsset’s free toolmatches you with financial advisors in your area in five minutes. If you’re ready to be matched with local advisors that will help you achieve your financial goals,get started now.
• When investments pay off, you will need to figure out how much you owe in taxes.SmartAsset’s capital gains tax calculatorwill help you estimate how you will be taxed in your location.
• If you don’t have a lot of money to invest, you might also consider arobo-advisoronline, which offers lower fees and account minimums than traditional financial advisors.
Photo credit: iStock.com/eclipse_images, iStock.com/Viktoriia Hnatiuk, iStock.com/gilaxia, iStock.com/Pekic, iStock.com/Katrin Waples
The post14 Financial Investments for 2021: Definitions and Examplesappeared first onSmartAsset Blog. || Where Does Cryptocurrency Come From?: Jirapong Manustrong / iStock.com It’s fairly common knowledge that cryptocurrency is a decentralized digital medium of exchange that isn’t issued by a government or bank. Most people are probably familiar with Bitcoin by now, and you might have heard of Ethereum, too. But those are just two of the more than 5,000 cryptocurrencies vying to be the next big thing. Beyond Bitcoin: Looking at Some Crypto Financial Jargon See: 10 Cheap Cryptocurrencies To Check Out With that many out there, you might be wondering where they all come from? No bank and no government means no printing and no minting — but none is needed. Although you can spend it like regular money, cryptocurrency is born from an entirely different process altogether. Find Out: What Is Chainlink and Why Is It Important in the World of Cryptocurrency? All Cryptocurrency Is Software Many cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, are “mined.” Others are not. More on that in a moment. Read More: Millennials Own More Crypto Than Any Other Generation No matter the origination process, all cryptocurrency is software that is created by code. That code determines absolutely every function associated with the cryptocurrency, from the way data are stored and how transactions are recorded to the distribution of mining rewards and the maximum supply of tokens to be produced. Take a Look: The 10 Wildest Things Selling as NFTs In almost all cases, the code is public and the software used to generate a given cryptocurrency is decentralized, just like the cryptocurrency itself. That public, decentralized software is hosted on individual computers all over the world instead of on a central server. Algorithms, Cryptography and Blockchain Are at the Heart of It All When cryptocurrencies are designed to be used as money, transactions are stored on a special kind of secure database called a blockchain, which serves as a ledger of all coded transactions. Think of it as a checkbook for cryptocurrency. Discover: Should Crypto and NFTs Be Part of Your Retirement Plan? Story continues Once entered into the blockchain, no one can ever change an entry in the database without meeting specific conditions. Everyone involved can see the public record of all transitions. Blockchain technology, therefore, allows cryptocurrency to achieve its three most important defining features: Transparency Decentralization Immutability The part of the code that represents what end-users know as “tokens” or “coins” is just a string of numbers stored on a blockchain. Cryptocurrencies are generated by algorithms, and those algorithms rely on cryptography — hence the name cryptocurrency. More Economy Explained: Ethereum: All You Need To Know To Decide If This Crypto Is Worth the Investment Most Cryptocurrency Is Mined In most cases, the algorithms that fuel the cryptocurrency factory are written to award tokens to computers that add transactions to the blockchain. That process is known as mining. Miners use special hardware and the cryptocurrency’s public, decentralized software to add transactions to blockchains. Read: What Are Altcoins — and Are the Potential Rewards Worth the Risks? In exchange for providing that critical blockchain maintenance, miners get paid in new cryptocurrency tokens. Most cryptocurrency coins or tokens are created this way. Technically, anyone can be a miner, but it’s a largely fruitless endeavor for most. It’s complicated, competitive, expensive if you fail — which is highly likely — and it gobbles up an enormous amount of power. But Some Is Not Some cryptocurrency was never designed to replace fiat currency like the dollar. In other words, it was never meant to be used as money. This kind of non-mineable, unspendable cryptocurrency is usually generated to reward early investors in a new cryptocurrency launch, called an ICO (initial coin offering). The Economy and Your Money: All You Need To Know In other cases, a new cryptocurrency can be created through a deviation in a blockchain called a hard fork. Hard forks occur when blockchain protocols change so significantly that a new, unique branch is formed on the chain that is incompatible with the old chain. Bitcoin Cash, for example, was formed through a hard fork on the original Bitcoin blockchain. Proof of Work and Proof of Stake Verification is at the core of crypto. Unlike fiat currency, the value of cryptocurrency is not based on trust. It’s based on one of two verification techniques: proof of work and proof of stake. Bitcoin Cash (BCH): The Most Important Things You Need To Know About It Most transactions are verified through proof of work. Algorithms create complex math problems that miners race to solve using special hardware. By solving the puzzle, a miner verifies a group of transactions called a block, which is then added to the larger blockchain ledger. The miner who pulls it off first is rewarded with cryptocurrency. Proof of stake was developed to reduce the amount of power needed to verify transactions. With this method, someone has to prove they have skin in the game in order to check transactions and compete for rewards. Users have to “stake” their own existing cryptocurrency by locking it up in a communal vault to be allowed to verify transactions. The more you stake, the more transactions you’re allowed to verify and the more cryptocurrency you can earn. This article is part of GOBankingRates’ ‘Economy Explained’ series to help readers navigate the complexities of our financial system. More From GOBankingRates What Money Topics Do You Want Covered: Ask the Financially Savvy Female 5 Things Most Americans Don’t Know About Social Security Nominate Your Favorite Small Business To Be Featured on GOBankingRates 5 Cities Around the World Experiencing a Housing Market Boom Last updated: June 7, 2021 This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : Where Does Cryptocurrency Come From? || Bitcoin price surge means Swedish government now owes convicted criminal £1.2 million: Bitcoin rose in price more than 10-fold between March 2020 and August 2021 (Getty Images) The Swedish government is required to pay a convicted drug dealer 33 bitcoins roughly 14 million krona (£1.2m) after the cryptocurrency soared in price during his time in custody. The offender was stripped of his proceeds when he was convicted in 2019, when the price of bitcoin was less than one tenth of todays value. By the time the Swedish Enforcement Authority auctioned off the cryptocurrency, only three of the 36 bitcoins seized needed to be sold to pay the debt. The lesson to be learned from this is to keep the value in bitcoin, that the profit from the crime should be 36 bitcoins, regardless of what value bitcoin has at the time, prosecutor Tove Kullberg reportedly told Swedish Radio. It has led to consequences I was not able to foresee at the time. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have become popular among some criminals due to their semi-anonymous nature that make them difficult to track. One of the earliest use cases for bitcoin was as an online currency among users of the dark web drug market Silk Road, while cyber criminals and hackers typically demand cryptocurrency when carrying out ransomware attacks. A 2019 study estimated that 46 per cent of all bitcoin transactions between 2009 and 2017 were for illegal activity, however there has since been a major rise in mainstream applications that have increased the number of legitimate transactions. Cryptocurrency-fuelled crimes have become so widespread that the US government recently hired a cryptocurrency firm called Anchorage Digital to safeguard its seized crypto. I think we should probably invest in an internal education in the [prosecution] authority, as cryptocurrency will be a factor well be dealing with to a much greater extent than we are today, prosecutor Tove Kullberg reportedly told Swedish Radio. The more we increase the level of knowledge within the organisation, the fewer mistakes we will make. Read More Bitcoin adoption in Afghanistan spikes amid Taliban takeover PayPal launches crypto service in UK amid sky-rocketing bitcoin price Bitcoin to the Moon? Huge price rally divides analysts in their predictions for 2021 || Pablo Soria de Lachica Examines Reasons Behind the Recent Spike in Bitcoin Prices: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO / ACCESSWIRE / October 6, 2021 /The initial months of 2021 became a banner period for Bitcoin, following impressive gains in 2020 despite the impact of the pandemic on the stock market.The original cryptocurrency climbedfrom about $4,740 in mid-March 2020 to just shy of $30,000 as the year came to a close. This momentum carried into 2021, with February witnessing a landmark event:Bitcoin crossed the $50,000 barrier, mainly propelled by news of several major corporations planning to enter the crypto space, among them BNY Mellon and Mastercard. "For all the great developments in early 2021, the two most noteworthy events for the cryptocurrency world so far in the year took place in April, and there is no mistaking the connection between them," comments renowned forex expertPablo Soria de Lachica. "The public market welcomed Coinbase, and Bitcoin set a price record, exceeding $63,000 in value the day before the San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange carried out its listing."
Prior to April, Bitcoin was riding the wave of growing institutional interest, its price feeding on news that Wall Street giants Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs were preparing to offer their clients the opportunity to invest in Bitcoin and other digital assets through funds, Pablo Soria de Lachica notes.Breaking the news on Morgan Stanley in March, CNBC said the investment banking major would be the first big US financial institution to give qualifying clients access to cryptocurrency funds. Later that month, the channel learned exclusively that Goldman Sachs was about to launch its first Bitcoin investment vehicle. Mary Rich, head of digital assets at Goldman Sachs's private wealth management division,told CNBC, "We are working closely with teams across the firm to explore ways to offer thoughtful and appropriate access to the ecosystem for private wealth clients, and that is something we expect to offer in the near term." The plan was to roll out the offering in the second quarter of 2021, gradually providing clients with a "full spectrum" of investments in the digital assets space, "whether that's through the physical Bitcoin, derivatives, or traditional investment vehicles."
The show of support from big Wall Street players and other major corporations (such as Tesla and PayPal) gave Bitcoin a substantial boost, but it was the stock market debut of Coinbase that helped the cryptocurrency soar to a new record high in April,Pablo Soria de Lachicasays. Despitecriticism from Bitcoin purists, the first public listing of a crypto space player has fueled hopes of digital assets finally crossing over into legitimate territory and providing more investors with an opportunity to participate in the market. Expectations are that multiple companies in the cryptocurrency ecosystem will join the public market, which will increase transparency and regulation, thus boosting confidence in an otherwise notoriously volatile space.Commenting on his company's listingand its potential impact, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said, "It feels like a shift in legitimacy not just for Coinbase but the whole industry. Crypto has a shot at being a major force in the financial world."
Pablo Soria de Lachicais a trading expert who has come to be recognized as one of the world's leading forex brokers. While his primary focus is maximizing investment returns for clients, he also devotes a large portion of his time to sharing insights through educational content distributed via webinars, newsletters, and blog posts. At present,Pablo Soria de Lachicais partnering withKartoshka, a company promoting the latest technological solutions in sales, telemarketing, and customer support.
Pablo Soria de Lachica - Foreign Exchange Specialist:http://PabloSoriaDeLachicaNews.com
Pablo Soria de Lachica on Bitcoin's Price Response to the Growing Involvement of Large and Institutional Investors:https://www.yahoo.com/now/pablo-soria-lachica-bitcoins-price-100000462.html
Contact Information:Pablo Soria de LachicaKartoshkahttp://[email protected](800) 588-3618
SOURCE:Pablo Soria de Lachica
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/666986/Pablo-Soria-de-Lachica-Examines-Reasons-Behind-the-Recent-Spike-in-Bitcoin-Prices
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 54771.58, 57484.79, 56041.06, 57401.10, 57321.52, 61593.95, 60892.18, 61553.62, 62026.08, 64261.99
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2020-03-11]
BTC Price: 7911.43, BTC RSI: 30.81
Gold Price: 1641.40, Gold RSI: 55.62
Oil Price: 32.98, Oil RSI: 23.02
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Binance Throws Weight Behind Shyft Network in Travel Rule Standards Race: Binance, the worlds largest crypto exchange group, has chosen the Shyft Network to help address a looming regulatory requirement that firms must share users personal data when handling digital asset transactions. Barbados-based Shyft Network is one of an array of potential solutions to the Financial Action Task Forces (FATF) Travel Rule . The name comes from the stipulation that personally identifiable information must travel with a transaction (no mean feat considering crypto transactions are pseudonymous by design.) Shyft stands out because they are extremely acute, and very well connected with global regulators, said Samuel Lim, Binances head of compliance. These things we consider to be very important. Of course, the underlying technology stack is core, too. Related: Hong Kong to Consider Additional FATF-Style Regulations for Crypto Exchanges Getting the public endorsement of Binance is a big deal for the Shyft Network, a SWIFT-like infrastructure incorporating ethereum technology. The firm hired former FATF executive secretary Rick McDonell as an adviser last October. We have been working with a lot of the big exchanges for the last nine months, said Shyft Network co-founder Joseph Weinberg. Binance is the first to publicly come out, but more will definitely be on the way. The FATF, a global anti-money laundering watchdog that sets rules for the G-20 group of countries, will review progress on addressing the travel rule for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) in June of this year. But its still early days as far as the industry is concerned. Binance said it has been in talks with a good four or five candidate solutions. Shyft is not the only solution we are endorsing but its the first that we are putting our brand behind. Things could change in the future but as of now, the focus is on Shyft, said Lim. Related: Iranian General Advocates Crypto Use for Skirting Sanctions: Report There are a number of moving parts when it comes to meeting travel rule requirements, including creating an identity system across a universe of VASPs, the storing and sharing of personally identifiable information (PII) without compromising privacy, and agreeing on a standardized messaging or data transmission system. Story continues Interoperability first Whatever solutions the industry adopts, interoperability between them is a must . If a European solution does not fit with an Asian solution, then both of them are wrong, said Lim. Maybe at the start these solutions are trying to differentiate themselves and perhaps there is sort of a competing factor, or competitive advantage. But down the road, when they get big enough, they will not have much of a choice other than to be working with others to satisfy the information transfer and relay requirements, he said. The Shyft Network comprises three layers, explained Weinberg. The network itself is a blockchain built from a modified version of the ethereum codebase. A second layer is a smart-contract infrastructure which determines how counterparties are identified and rules about how they share data. The layer on top is where the actual data transmission happens. Weinberg said the lower layers of the system are interoperable with other travel solution providers, mentioning CipherTrace, an advocate of certificate authorities to identify VASPs; Netki, which favors a decentralized approach; and OpenVASP of Switzerland, which also uses elements of ethereum technology. We have been working with OpenVASP on interoperability already, Weinberg said. Because the Shyft blockchain is a forked version of ethereum, you can actually deploy all of OpenVASPs smart contracts fully onto Shyft. Some players believe a decentralized blockchain-based approach is needed to solve the travel rule problem in a manner appropriate to crypto companies, while others would prefer to rely on more centralized systems. Lim of Binance was decidedly agnostic about the choice of tech. We are not really concerned if this runs on ERC-20, on Ripple, or on Binance Chain. It doesnt really matter. We need a cat that catches the mice. Thats the solution for us, he said. Related Stories Error or Plunder? Report Suggests FCoin Purposely Moved Customer Bitcoin Since 2019 CoolBitX Raises $16.7M to Make Crypto More Bank-Friendly || Hamas looks to boost Bitcoin funding in wake of Iran crisis: As pressure from the international community mounts on Iran, Palestinian terror-group Hamas is pushing for more anonymous donations in Bitcoin through a website called cash4ps, according to the Jerusalem Post . An International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) report found that Hamas, which heavily relies on the Iranian regime for funding, has now turned to Bitcoin donations to make up for any funding shortfalls. The ICT report states that the cash4ps website has been established expressly to allow Hamas to send and receive money from Gaza while providing some anonymity to donors. Investigators noted an irregular increase in the scope of activity by the Hamas associated address, which has over 4,500 transactions to date totalling over $23 million in BTC. The Bitcoin Abuse Database has also identified the wallet as a Hamas fundraising account, and its believed that the Islamic National Bank has been associated with funds sent to the wallet. The funds have been used to finance paramilitary brigades to target Israeli interests as part of the Popular Resistance Committees operating under the Hamas banner. Crypto terrorist financing Unfortunately, the use of cryptocurrency for terrorist financing is nothing new. In April 2019, Coin Rivet reported that a Syrian terror group was using Bitcoin as a means of exchange among its followers, as the cryptocurrency provided a level of anonymity and ease of use. The Syrian terror group even went so far as to promote Bitcoin in its weekly magazine, citing its lack of international restrictions as a benefit of its use. However, reports have also found that terrorists are far more likely to use cash rather than cryptocurrency to fund their activities, as to a large degree physical cash flows are even harder to trace than movements of cryptocurrency. Earlier this month, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced it would be assuming the role of the anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing supervisor for illicit cryptocurrency activities in the UK. Story continues The FCA will focus on private sector firms to ensure money doesnt reach the hands of terrorists via cryptocurrency transactions. Other nations have also warned that cryptocurrencies can be used for terrorist financing. Australian lawmaker Peter Dutton claimed in November 2019 that terrorists are obfuscating their activities through cryptocurrency, citing North Korea as a particularly pressing threat. Nevertheless, theres some good news a CIA analyst found that members of terrorist groups are just as gullible to crypto scams as the average user, with many being caught out by elaborate schemes which pose as extremist groups to steal funds from their supporters. The post Hamas looks to boost Bitcoin funding in wake of Iran crisis appeared first on Coin Rivet . || UK Finance Watchdog Warns Against ‘Unauthorized’ Crypto Exchange BitMEX: The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a warning over cryptocurrency derivatives exchange BitMEX.
In anoticeposted Tuesday, the independent financial regulator said the exchange has been targeting British residents without its consent or approval.
“Almost all firms and individuals offering, promoting or selling financial services or products in the UK have to be authorized by us,” the watchdog said.
Related:How the Bitcoin Market Changed Since 2017’s Bull Run
The FCA said it holds information indicating that BitMEX was conducting regulated activities that required its authorization.
As part of its normal activities, the financial regulator does flag entities it perceives as unlawful or suspicious, or cryptocurrency products, such as derivatives, it deems high risk for consumers. In fact, the authoritysaid in 2018that companies offering crypto derivatives likely need to be authorized because such products may be financial instruments under current directives.
A limitedban on selling crypto derivativeslike exchange-traded notes is also planned by the regulator, which said such products are “ill-suited” to retail investors “who cannot reliably assess the value and risks of derivatives or ETNs that reference certain crypto assets.”
“We are working closely with our advisors to assess the situation. There is nothing more we can add at this time,” BitMEX told CoinDesk.
Related:Crypto Exchange Huobi’s DeFi-Focused Blockchain Released in Public Beta
In what appears to be a slip-up, the FCA also issued a warning over popular crypto exchange Kraken on Tuesday. However, the notice has since been removed, with Decrypt news editor Tim Copelandtweeting that the warninghad been issued after the FCA confused the legitimate Kraken service with scammers purporting to be the exchange.
In January, BCB Group, a company that provides financial services to the likes of Coinbase, Bitstamp and Galaxy Digital, wasawarded a payments licenseby the FCA. The firm’s CEO, Oliver von Landsberg-Sadie told CoinDesk that conditions in the U.K were such that many crypto-to-crypto exchanges were light on meeting regulatory obligations, mainly since no fiat currency changes hands.
He said the watchdog’s concerns become more severe depending on the type of financial product on offer, with derivatives being at the top of the list as they present the greatest risk to consumers.
“This statement by the FCA is one which fulfills one of its 3 core objectives – keep markets efficient, provide a framework to raise capital, and protect consumers. Few would argue against stricter controls on access to this kind of product,” Landsberg-Sadie said.
The FCA had not replied to CoinDesk’s request for comment by press time.
Update (09:25 UTC, March 5, 2020): Added comment from BitMEX.
• Crypto Firms Tout Dispersed Workforce as Coronavirus Contingency Plan
• Steven Seagal Settles Token-Touting Charges With SEC Over 2018 ICO || Bulls confident as Bitcoin trades above major moving average: Bitcoin has re-established a bullish posture after closing yesterday’s daily candle above the daily 200 moving average at $8,723. It is now trading above the $8,830 level of resistance- turned-support which could signal an upcoming move towards the $9,200 level. The move to the upside was reflected across all global markets as the Dow Jones enjoyed its largest one-day gain since 2009 with a 5.5% hike. If Bitcoin breaks back below the $8,830 level in the coming days it will demonstrate bullish exhaustion which in turn will cause continuation to the downside. Much of the upcoming price action will depend on the extent of the coronavirus outbreak. Shockwaves have been sent across the globe with cases rapidly increasing in mainland Europe. The impact on supply chains will undoubtedly affect global markets while Bitcoin’s mining infrastructure will also face disruption as much of it is based in China. Despite Bitcoin mining being automated, it requires ongoing electricity and maintenance, both of which could be become compromised if major services in China begin to be switched off. Bitcoin and gold are often considered to be hedges to the traditional financial system. In that sense the value could in fact rise if global markets continue to slide as investors seek a ‘safe haven’ asset. For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . Bitcoin pricing Current live BTC pricing information and interactive charts are available on our site 24 hours a day. The ticker bar at the bottom of every page on our site has the latest Bitcoin price. Pricing is also available in a range of different currency equivalents: US Dollar – BTCtoUSD British Pound Sterling – BTCtoGBP Japanese Yen – BTCtoJPY Euro – BTCtoEUR Australian Dollar – BTCtoAUD Russian Rouble – BTCtoRUB About Bitcoin In August 2008, the domain name bitcoin.org was registered. On 31st October 2008, a paper was published called “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”. This was authored by Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of Bitcoin. To date, no one knows who this person, or people, are. Story continues The paper outlined a method of using a P2P network for electronic transactions without “relying on trust”. On January 3 2009, the Bitcoin network came into existence. Nakamoto mined block number “0” (or the “genesis block”), which had a reward of 50 Bitcoins. More BTC news and information If you want to find out more information about Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in general, then use the search box at the top of this page. Here’s an article to get you started. As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. || Binance Is Not Under Our Jurisdiction, Says Malta Regulator: Binance is neither licensed to operate, nor is it regulated in Malta, the countrys chief financial watchdog has said. The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) issued a statement Friday denying it has ever regulated Binance or that the exchange has ever had leave to operate in the island nations fledgling cryptocurrency industry. Citing reports in the media that referred to Binance as a Malta-based cryptocurrency company, the regulator announced Binance is not authorized by the MFSA to operate in the cryptocurrency sphere and is therefore not subject to regulatory oversight by the MFSA. Related: Why Todays Crypto Exchange Leaders Are Powerful, but Not Inevitable Binance announced it was opening an office in Malta in March 2018 soon after it clashed with regulators in Japan, where the exchange had previously attempted to establish a presence. At the time, Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat welcomed the exchange to the country, tweeting the island nation would support Binances goal to become the global trailblazers in the regulation of blockchain-based businesses. In September 2018, the exchange also said it would work with the Malta Stock Exchange (MSX) to begin offer security token trading. Another announcement in late 2019 said it was providing funding for a new crypto-friendly Maltese bank. It isnt clear if Binance still has an office in Malta. While Binance declined to comment prior to publication, CEO Changpeng Zhao later tweeted that this is old news & has always been the case. Related: Binance and Others Are Rushing to Provide Stablecoins to Nigerian Crypto Users Press releases sent to CoinDesk by Binance listed Malta in the dateline as recently as Feb. 11, 2020, though the exchange doesnt appear to have officially stated where its headquarters is located. As we run such a decentralized operation, there isnt a clear answer for that where we operate regulated businesses (e.g. Binance Singapore, Binance U.S. etc), we have teams based there, Josh Goodbody, Binances director for growth and institutional business, previously said. Story continues The MFSA did say in Fridays announcement it was currently assessing if Binance has any activities in Malta which may not fall within the realm of regulatory oversight. The regulator also reiterated that following the passing of the Virtual Financial Assets Act of 2018, Maltese businesses that either traded or offered cryptocurrencies had to be fully licensed. Update (14:50 UTC, Feb. 21, 2020): Added comment from Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. Related Stories Fidelity International Invests $14M in Hong Kong Crypto Exchange Operator Insolvent Exchange FCoin Had Bitcoin Outflow Problems Just Two Months After Launch: Report || Bitcoin Price Prediction for 2020: This is a very important question and it is always good to have some ideas as to what the price trajectory for Bitcoin will be heading down towards this halving event, and thereafter for the rest of 2020.
Bitcoin had a very interesting 2019. That year’s price moves can best be described as a roller coaster because the present price levels that have been attained by theBTCUSDpair (i.e. from $9500 to $10,500) were resistance areas that were tested at least four times in 2019, but all tests failed to break this price range to the upside. This resulted in price dropping to as low as $6,800, where BTCUSD eventually found support.
Bitcoin started off this year on a bullish note. However, the fundamentals responsible for this move did not come from BTCUSD itself, but from other external factors. Let us look at what these factors are and how they will play a role in the price outlook for Bitcoin in 2020.
The unheralded Istanbul hardfork is doing some great things within the Bitcoin blockchain itself. A recent report by Coin Metrics, a company that provides analytics of individual blockchain networks and the crypto market, indicates a strong improvement in some of the Bitcoin network metrics.
• Ether’s realized cap climbed 3.6% last week.
• Mining difficulty is up by 3.6%
• The hash rate jumped 3.7%
• The Ether network is attaining better supply distribution, spreading out Ether hitherto trapped in ICO crowdsales into the hands of new owners. ICO addresses which once held up to 60% of all circulating Ether in 2016, now hold only 40%.
As indicated by crypto economist Alex Kruger, there is evidence that an entity has been mopping up a lot of Ether tokens, with the trading volume for ETHUSD rising nearly 4 times in the last week than was witnessed in the entire second half of 2019.
So we can say that things are looking up on the fundamental side of the equation. There is some fundamental basis for the recent uptick in prices. But what do the charts say?
Many self-professed gurus have come out to project some astounding prices for Bitcoin in 2020. Now that BTCUSD has hit a road block at $10,500, many of them have started to walk back on their comments. A few have stuck to their guns. But what do we advocate here? We follow what the charts say.
The year 2020 is still very young: only two months old. However, we shall attempt to provide our Bitcoin price projection for 2020 using quarterly projections and not monthly projections. Any price projections made here are not set in gold and they are definitely not a definitive recommendation to buy or sell Bitcoin or any crypto-asset for that matter.
So what do the charts say?
Forget any of the rallies in price which have just occurred. The long-term chart shows clearly that Bitcoin still remains in a downtrend. All that has been happening is rallies within a downtrend, and that explains why sellers re-enter after the deceived traders who know nothing about the Dow theory of price action rush in with their buy orders.
What happens? Bitcoin price rallies to some extent, and then a relentless selloff begins as the informed traders who were waiting all along for the right moment, go in and initiate a hard selloff that burns fingers all the way down. According to popularTradingBeast’s Bitcoin Predictionsthis downtrend of Bitcoin should further deepen in 2020 and the bitcoin price should on average hover around the 8 000 dollar mark.
See, when the so-called “gurus” come out to say that Bitcoin will hit $100,000 or $250,000 a coin, they are not stupid. Some of them deliberately sell this narrative through recognized media houses, who of course will render the stories and interviews for the ratings.
But what uninformed investors may not realize is that some of these “gurus” actually have shorts hanging around at just the right levels. Once the goon traders buy the “predictions” that these guys are selling, all they end up doing is driving rallies within the downtrend, making Bitcoin cheap for the professionals to sell once price hits the relevant points.
We have seen it happen all over again this week. Take a look at the weekly chart below, and you can see that the recent price levels that got all the gurus touting a 6-figure price spike had actually been tested before in 2019. All three tests of those levels failed.
BitMEX exchange reported that over $150 million worth of long positions on its exchange were liquidated in the latest price crash of February 26, 2020; the largest for 2020. Hardly surprising: too many people got sucked in again.
Now let’s look at the daily chart for Bitcoin below. We can see that the magical $10,500 price level had actually been tested last year and it was not broken. In fact, price fell all the way below $7000 from that rejection at that price. Moreover, the presence of the bearish engulfing pattern right at that point told smart traders what to do: it was time to start selling.
So what are the realistic Bitcoin price predictions for 2020?
The last time that BTCUSD tested the 10,500 level and failed to break it to the upside, we witnessed a calamitous drop that took the pair to 6,500. This was in Nov/Dec 2019. If we base our Bitcoin price predictions for the rest of the first quarter of 2020, it may be safe to say that history may repeat itself. It is hard to see Bitcoin trading above 9,500, but again, it is hard to see BTCUSD fall all the way to 6500.
A careful look at the daily chart for BTCUSD will show that the asset is actually trading within the corrective phase of the Elliot wave pattern.
The question is, is the c-wave correction over, especially with price now at a 50% retracement from the swing low that marks the start of impulse wave 1, to the swing high marked by the peak of wave 5/start of corrective wave a?
It is likely that BTCUSD may make another push to the upside, but it is hard to see it trading above 9,900 or below 8000 (61.8% Fibo retracement shown above). So the Q1 2020 target should be between 8,000 and 9,900.
Q2 2020 brings along the Bitcoin halving event. There is still a lot of division among experts as to how this halving event will affect the price of Bitcoin. 85% of minable Bitcoin has already been mined, and a large chunk of this is either in wallets with missing private keys (and therefore lost forever), in stolen caches which are getting harder to get rid off or in the hands of law enforcement agencies.
TheFinnish government was revealed to have close to 6,600 BTCit seized in drug busts, and unlike the US authorities who typically auction theirs after some time, the Finnish authorities do not plan to sell theirs anytime soon.
What this means is that no one actually knows how much Bitcoin is freely circulating. Now we may be wrong, but we do not really believe that the Bitcoin halving event will have long-term price effects on the BTCUSD. Short term, it may lead to a lot of demand buying just before the event, but we think this will be replaced by coin offloads once people realize that this is not going to be apocalyptic event.
So we have the possibility of BTCUSD actually testing the 10,500 or even 11,000 price levels in April/May 2020. But after then, we expect a selloff that would take prices back to the 8,000 to 9,900 mark by June.
Election season in the US could trigger some changes in the cryptocurrency markets in terms of policy. This may be the period when institutional trading in BTC starts to get some serious attention. Institutional involvement could see a bull run on BTCUSD that may allow it to start approaching its 2017 highs.
Only then can we truly start to think of BTC turning a corner. However, institutional involvement will bring less volatility on BTC, and so any price increase in BTC will be much slower than we are seeing at the moment.
We expect to see BTCUSD trading anywhere from 10,000 to 13,000 at this time, but only if the institutional players get involved. If this is not the case, then we may have to deal with range-bound prices that spill on from Q3 to Q4 2020. $8,800 to $11,000 may be a reasonable price range, but a shock drop to $7000 and back up again cannot be ruled out.
Anything can happen on the fundamental front and if this is the case, any price predictions can be totally upset by such events, rendering these null and void.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• The Week Ahead – Alarming China PMIs to Set the Tone in a Busy Week Ahead || Bitcoin Sees Corrective Price Bounce After Hitting One-Month Lows: • Bitcoin has made a recovery after falling to a recent low near $8,500 overnight.
• Short duration charts are calling for an extension of an ongoing corrective bounce to $9,000.
• A move above key resistance at $9,430 is needed to weaken bearish pressure.
Bitcoin(BTC) has bounced from one-month lows hit early on Thursday and may extend the recovery to $9,000.
The cryptocurrency is currently trading at $8,800, having hit a low of $8,520 at 01:15 UTC this morning – a level last seen on Jan. 26, according to CoinDesk’sBitcoin Price Index.
Back then, bitcoin was starting a rally toward a multi-month high of $10,500 on Feb. 13. Now, however, the picture has become more bleak.
Related:Bitcoin Closes on First February Price Loss Since 2014
Bitcoin lost its upward trajectory on Feb. 19 when prices fell by 5.8 percent, violating the bullish trendline rising from Jan.3 and Jan. 26 lows. The downside move gathered pace after bull failure to defend $9,400 on Mondayactivateda bearish head-and-shoulders pattern on technical charts.
The $1,500 sell-off seen in the last three days has violated the short-term bullish trend and exposed deeper support levels. However, signs of seller exhaustion seen on the intraday charts suggest scope for an extension of the ongoing recovery rally.
The previous four-hour candle closed on a positive note, suggesting a weakening of downside momentum. That is backed by the long ntail attached to the preceding hammer candle.
A below-30 reading on the RSI indicates bitcoin is oversold, an indicator that’s has also gained credence with the hammer candle.
Related:Coronavirus Hits US Stocks, Bitcoin Climbs, Haven Status Unclear
As a result, bitcoin could soon challenge the psychological hurdle of $9,000. A break higher would shift the focus to the descending trendline resistance, currently at $9,275.
The case for a corrective bounce would weaken if a 4-hour candle closes below $8,520 – the low of the hammer candle shown above. That would imply a continuation of the bearish move.
Bitcoin closed (UTC) well below the Feb. 4 low of $9,075 on Wednesday, invalidating the bullish higher-lows set-up and putting the bears into the driver’s seat.
The five- and 10-day averages are trending south, indicating a strong downside momentum. Here, there are no signs yet of oversold conditions: the RSI is hovering in bearish territory below 50 and suggesting scope for a further drop.
Put simply, the daily chart is aligned in favor of a drop to $8,280 (100-day average) and $8,213 (Jan. 24 low).
The bias will remain bearish as long as prices are trading under the former support-turned-resistance of the head-and-shoulders neckline, currently at $9,430.
Disclosure:The author holds no cryptocurrency at the time of writing.
• Ether Futures Volume on FTX Hit Record Highs
• Over $190M in Bitcoin Liquidated on BitMEX Amid Crypto Market Sell-Off || Here’s Why Interest Rates on Cryptocurrencies Could Be a Game-Changer: Lending and borrowing cryptocurrencies is becoming an increasingly important sub-sector of crypto finance, one that may end up shaping how the underlying assets themselves are valued and priced in the markets.
While still in its infancy, the growth of crypto lending platforms has given birth to a new type of measuring metric: interest rates, which has the potential to draw in new investors while encouraging the movement of crypto capital out of storage and into markets.
In traditional financial markets, interest rates reveal significant information about the health of the economy and form the basis for almost all asset valuation models. Whether it be for calculating expected return or present and future market value, the interest rate is a key variable based on the lending and borrowing of assets.
Related:DeFi Project bZx Exploited for Second Time in a Week, Loses $630K in Ether
When individuals or businesses want to take out a loan, they normally have to agree to pay a percentage of the original amount borrowed back to the lender on top of the principal amount. This is what is called the interest rate.
Interest rates for cryptocurrencies incentivize users to loan out their crypto assets because users can earn a higher return lending their assets than they can storing them in a personal wallet or device. Rates for lending cryptocurrencies coupled with strong demand for borrowing would free previously idle balances of capital for investing, trading and generating new market activity.
For all the benefits to investors and market activity growth that an active lending and borrowing sector would generate for the cryptocurrency industry, the sector is still in early stages of development. Less than 0.01 percent of the total market capitalization of crypto was deployed in the third quarter of 2019 for collateralizing loans, according to figures byCredmarkandMessari. To the nearly $1.5 billion in trade volume being generated daily, only$16 millionwas generated in crypto loan interest in the third quarter of last year, according to the most recent data from Credmark.
Other signs of sector immaturity besides low volume are high interest rate variance and volatility.
Related:Mind the Gap: Why ETH Price and DeFi Adoption Aren’t in Sync
Interest on crypto deposits can vary by up to four percentage points, depending on the lending platform. This variance exists in large part because of the difference in business models between lenders.
Service providers such as Nexo borrow cryptocurrencies from primarily retail customers and lend in fiat. Others, such as Genesis, service large institutional clients and process loans in either crypto or fiat. Decentralized finance (DeFi) lenders such as MakerDAO facilitate loans strictly financed in crypto and paid out in crypto. Each one of these lenders incurs different costs for processing and custodying funds. They also attract different client segments with varying expectations of fees and service levels.
Over time, companies with unsustainably high interest rates on lending cryptocurrencies will go out of business, as will other companies with uncompetitively low interest rates that fail to attract lenders. The natural dynamics of the free market as applied to any industry weeds out inefficient business models and promotes standards of practice through competition. As the sector grows and consolidates, interest rates are likely to converge to sustainable levels.
Until then, borrowers and lenders will have to endure a high variance of rates, even within a platform.
Interest rates on loans backed by and earned in crypto tend to fluctuate frequently, making any extrapolation of future value unstable. For example, interest rates on deposits forether(ETH) paid to lenders have declined sharply from 1.3 percent to 0.01 percent on DeFi lending platforms Compound and dYdX in 2019. Interest rates for ETH on centralized lending platform Celsius also saw a decline from 4.5 percent to 2.75 percent in the same year. This could be a result of low demand for ETH loans propelled by poor spot-market performance of the asset. Between June and December, ETH’s market price fell from a high of $334 to a low of $128.
Volatility in the lending and borrowing sector of crypto is not surprising given the high risk associated with the underlying assets. Data fromwoobull.comshows the annualized volatility ofbitcoin(BTC), the cryptocurrency with the largest market capitalization and trade volume, is 17 percentage points higher than U.S. stocks as of Feb. 21.
However, price volatility for bitcoin has declined over time through increased demand and investor participation. As the number of loans either financed or earned in cryptocurrency grows, interest rate volatility is also likely to decline.
It’s not just rates that vary widely from one provider to another, there is also considerable variance in the number of assets supported. In general, decentralized lending platforms such as MakerDAO, Compound and dYdX support a narrower range of cryptocurrencies than centralized ones, primarily due to the technical restrictions of decentralized finance protocols. These operate entirely on-chain, therefore any assets supported by the protocol must also be supported on the underlying blockchain network. This limits the number of options for a lending platform to only ERC-20 tokens if the platform is built on ethereum, for instance.
With new infrastructure facilitating blockchain interoperability and seamless asset transfer from differing chains, DeFi lending platforms could eventually support as many cryptocurrencies as centralized ones. DeFi lenders Compound and Nuo already support lending onwrapped bitcoin (WBTC)tokens, which are virtual representations of bitcoin on ethereum. Projects likePolkadotandCosmosare actively building out functionality to support instantaneous transfer of all assets between blockchains.
Such technologies to support inter-blockchain activity are likely to pave the way for greater asset diversity on decentralized lending platforms and help reduce the asset range variance between cryptocurrency lenders. Without a large variance between lenders, there is greater opportunity for competition on the basis of loan terms and conditions rather than the number of supported cryptocurrencies. This will further drive convergence of variable interest rates, as well as solidify standards of business practice.
Currently, the cryptocurrency lending sector is immature, with variable and volatile interest rates across platforms as well as among different sets of supported assets. However, the sector is developing and growing rapidly. In the most recentCredmarkreport, the total amount of crypto borrowed by users of crypto lending platforms increased by 23 percent to $900 million in the third quarter of 2019. Interest generated on these loans increased by 24 percent from $12 million to $16 million in the same time period.
Through increased competition, consumer demand and technological innovation, variable interest rates on cryptocurrency loans have the potential to converge. As a fundamental valuation metric in the traditional financial markets, industrywide interest rates would be game-changing for the cryptocurrency industry.
Interest rates present a wide audience of investors unfamiliar with crypto with a compelling and straightforward metric to evaluate the digital asset class. In addition, interest rates would also encourage the movement of idle capital away from personal storage into use for generating more market activity.
To learn more about the cryptocurrency lending sector, download our free “Crypto Lending 101” reporthere.
• Bitcoin Lender BlockFi Raises $30M in Series B Led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures
• How Fund Managers View Lending and Staking: 3 Takeaways From a CoinDesk Research Webinar || This Blue-Chip Crypto Insurance Consortium Lacks One Thing – a Sizable Loss: The Takeaway: In a rare interview, London-based insurance firm Arch says a sizable but containable loss would demonstrate how well its $150 million crypto storage policy would react. Only a handful of cold storage crypto policies have been written at this time; high-net-worth individuals are the main driver for the business. Lloyd’s of London has set up a crypto subgroup within its Product Innovation Facility, which includes mega-broker Marsh. Marsh says it has a hot wallet crime cover product in the pipeline. An insurance company saying it hopes to pay a sizable claim sounds like a turkey looking forward to Christmas. But that’s exactly what James Croome, fine art and specie underwriter at Arch Insurance International, says he wants his firm to do. Just to show that it can. Related: Bitcoin Hits New 2020 High Above $8,400 After Iranian Missile Attack Arch is one of the few underwriters willing to insure cryptocurrency exchanges and custodians against the theft or loss of customer funds. London-based Arch Insurance International, which works with a number of big-name brokers offering crypto cover, has yet to pay out for any losses in this relatively new market. If someone does manage to pull off a heist of cryptographic keys kept offline in cold storage, Arch will get a chance to demonstrate it’s good for the money, said Croome, who works out of London. “I would like there to be a containable but sizable loss,” he said. “Because that would give evidence to our potential clients as to the service we can provide, the speed at which we will pay the claims and remind people who have bought coverage that it does work appropriately.” Insurers have years of experience in covering specialized assets in the traditional world, whether that’s fine art or the regulatory requirements to protect financial services firms. But they feel less secure with crypto because there is a shortage of data for firms to model policy rates. Related: Equilibrium’s Stablecoin Now Has $17.5M in Insurance That Pays Out Automatically Story continues In response to this, Croome helped create a consortium, including mega-broker Marsh and global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, to offer cold storage cover for crypto assets. Released in September , Blue Vault, which is solely owned by Arch, provides limits of up to $150 million and covers the loss of digital assets due to internal and external theft (via direct access to the storage media as opposed to remote hacking attacks) and including employee collusion. Blue Vault also covers physical damage or destruction of private keys from fires, floods, earthquakes and other catastrophic events. Ankur Kacker, vice president and specie expert on Marsh’s Digital Asset Risk Transfer (DART) team, said: “We have placed four policies for Blue Vault as of now, all in the last seven months.” Marsh, the world’s largest insurance broker, recently announced a deal with Ledger Vault , the institution-focused arm of Ledger, the well-known hardware wallet provider for $150 million cold storage cover; Marsh is working in a similar way with crypto custodian KNOX. Pet peeves Arch chose to work with law firm Norton Rose Fulbright on the crypto policy because it wanted precise policy wording. Ambiguous language is a pet peeve of Croome’s. “My biggest annoyance with the specie market is the existence of ambiguous wordings, which is why I chose to work with a legal firm with a track record in this space,” he said. Norton Rose Fulbright has given presentations in New York, Bermuda and to the London Market to help “educate insurance markets and develop set the market and standards for cold storage of these assets,” said Nicholas Berry, a partner at the law firm. The firm also helped Lloyd’s of London with its market guidance on underwriting digital assets. Norton Rose Fulbright enlisted the help of Peter McBurney, Professor of Computer Science, King’s College London and a consultant with the law firm, to spell out technical aspects of key management and crypto storage and create appropriate policy wording. This is an instance where the London Market has led other international markets, said Berry. “Going back to 2018, there has been a mismatch between supply in terms of underwriting capacity and demand for those wanting cold storage or even hot crime-type cover. Some of the big brokers have been pushing the supply side to provide more cover in terms of higher limits, wider cover,” he said. Crypto insurance is widely seen as a prerequisite for greater institutional involvement in the market. But Croome is wary of companies offering insurance policies as a marketing ploy. “We tend not to look at insureds that are looking for a chicken-egg scenario. They feel they don’t have a current revenue stream but are hoping the existence of insurance will help speed up the point at which assets come into custody and therefore increase their revenue,” he said. As well as Marsh, Arch has been working with Aon, the number two broker by size. Other brokers known to be exploring crypto include Arthur J. Gallagher and Paragon. But Croome says that for now he is shying away from really broadening out his broker network for crypto. “I think I will keep to the ones that have shown comprehension of that which we like. They understand that and therefore they can filter out the sort of things we seek to avoid,” said Croome. Virgin territory Insurance companies like Arch bring in third party specialists to examine physical vault security and do the same to understand and communicate the risks around the storage of crypto. “I wouldn’t consider myself capable of valuing a Dutch master [painting], knowing if it was genuine or a fake.That’s not my job,” said Croome. Peter McBurney, who divides his time between academia and advising Norton Rose Fulbright’s clients on technology matters, does the equivalent of physical vault checking for the IT system that would create and store the private keys. McBurney estimates there are still reasonably few policies written in London covering crypto cold storage, and the same in New York, although this number is increasing. “It’s still very early days, it is almost virgin territory.” McBurney said ultra-high net worth individuals or hedge funds who already have relationships with custodians for storage of fine art or gold bullion are driving the market for crypto insurance. “They are going to their existing physical custodians and saying, ‘Can you also store our private keys?’ So the custodians are going to insurers and saying, ‘Can you insure us to store these private keys?’ and that’s where a lot of the business has originated. It’s customer-driven from the individuals and the hedge funds who have large crypto holdings,” he said. Lloyd’s of London, the centuries-old insurance market, has realized there are new revenue streams to be had with crypto. Its underwriters have launched the Product Innovation Facility , which spans some 24 markets and has over $100 million of capacity. The facility includes a crypto subgroup, where Marsh has a representative. A spokesman for Lloyd’s said it’s too early for any on-record comment from the crypto subcommittee at this time. Marsh also did not comment on the group’s purview. The group will likely be looking beyond cold storage to include crime bond markets; E&O (Errors and Omissions) insurance; D&O (Directors and Officers) and a general smorgasbord of potential product offerings to the digital assets world, according to sources close to the Lloyd’s market. Hot and cold The risk relating to crypto held on exchanges and in wallets connected to the internet is a very different animal from vaulted cold storage. To deal with losses from third-party hacks, most of the large crypto exchanges simply self-insure, holding large amounts of bitcoin locked up for such occasions. Having battled it out in the market for some years, people like Binance chief “CZ” Changpeng Zhao or Kraken CEO Jesse Powell see insurance for hot wallets as a fundamentally flawed concept. Arch is not looking to enter the hot wallet space any time soon. However, Croome said he can see ways the crime market could interplay with the specie world. “We will often take an excess layer, the larger chunk of capacity above the crime policy, to very high exposures but on a much tighter coverage. They will take much broader coverage with much smaller limits,” he said. Marsh’s Digital Asset Risk Transfer team has clearly been pursuing its own plans regarding a hot wallet product. Quizzed on the subject of hot wallet coverage, Kacker said: “At this point in time, I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag. But I can say it’s in the pipeline.” Related Stories Chinese Insurance Giant Ping An’s Blockchain Arm Reveals Terms for $468M IPO Ledger’s Vault Scores $150 Million in Crypto Insurance From Lloyd’s Syndicate || The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – 16/02/20: Bitcoin fell by 4.2% on Saturday. Reversing a 1.1% gain from Friday, Bitcoin ended the day at $9,900.9. Bearish throughout the day, Bitcoin fell from an early morning intraday high $10,373.0 to a late afternoon intraday low $9,800.0. Bitcoin fell through the first major support level at $10,166.33 and the second major support level at $9,997.67. Steering clear of sub-$9,800 levels, Bitcoin bounced back to an afternoon high $10,087.0 before sliding back into the deep red. The reversal saw Bitcoin fall back through the second major support level at $9,997.67. The near-term bearish trend, formed at late June’s swing hi $13,764.0, remained firmly intact, however, in spite of the current upward trend. For the bulls, Bitcoin would need to break out from $11,000 levels to form a near-term bullish trend. The Rest of the Pack Across the rest of the top 10 cryptos, it was a bearish day for the crypto majors. Bitcoin Cash SV (-13.96%), Bitcoin Cash ABC (-11.63%), EOS (-11.38%), and Tron’s TRX (-10.56%) saw double digit percentage losses. Binance Coin (-8.32%), Cardano’s ADA (-9.23%), Ethereum (-7.35%), Litecoin (-7.92%), Ripple’s XRP (-8.42%), and Stellar’s Lumen (-9.50%) also saw heavy losses. Monero’s XMR fell by 6.65%, faring better than the pack on the day. Through the current week, the crypto total market cap fell to a Tuesday low $279.65bn before rising to a Thursday high $308.04bn. At the time of writing, the total market cap stood at $295.21bn. Bitcoin’s dominance slipped back through the week from 63.7% to 61.6% at the time of writing. Trading volumes were on the rise, however, jumping to $195bn levels on Thursday before easing back. Volumes had stood at sub-$130bn levels in the early part of the week. At the time of writing, 24-hr volumes stood at $172.87bn. This Morning At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up by 0.88% to $9,988.1. A bullish start to the day saw Bitcoin rise from an early morning low $9,860.00 to a high $10,037.0. Story continues Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on. Elsewhere, it was also a bullish start to the day. Bitcoin Cash ABC (+3.21%), Cardano’s ADA (+3.23%), Litecoin (+4.00%), and Tron’s TRX (+3.38%) led the way early on. Binance Coin (+2.26%), Bitcoin Cash SV (+2.25%), Ethereum (+2.50%), Ripple’s XRP (+2.42%), Stellar’s Lumen (+2.17%), and Tezos (+3.00%) also found strong support. EOS trailed the pack, up by just 1.17% at the time of writing. For the Bitcoin Day Ahead Bitcoin would need to move back through to $10,025 levels to bring the first major resistance level at $10,249.27 into play. Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Bitcoin to break out from the morning nigh $10,037.0. Barring an extended crypto rally, resistance at $10,000 would likely leave Bitcoin short of the first major resistance level. In the event of another breakout, Bitcoin the first major resistance level would likely pin Bitcoin back from a return to $10,400 levels. Failure to move back through to $10,025.00 levels could see Bitcoin hit reverse. A fall back through the morning low $9,960.00 would bring the first major support level at $9,676.27 into play. Barring an extended crypto sell-off, however, Bitcoin should steer clear of the sub-$9,800 levels on the day. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: E-mini S&P 500 Index (ES) Futures Technical Analysis – Set-Up for Closing Price Reversal Top EOS, Ethereum and Ripple’s XRP – Daily Tech Analysis – 15/02/20 S&P 500 Weekly Price Forecast – Stock Markets At All-Time Highs The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – 16/02/20 Natural Gas Price Prediction – Prices Rise but Finish the Week in the Red AUD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – Upside Bias Over .6718, Downside Bias Under .6706
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
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Trend: up || Prices: 4970.79, 5563.71, 5200.37, 5392.31, 5014.48, 5225.63, 5238.44, 6191.19, 6198.78, 6185.07
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Crypto Not Cash: Hacked BitPoint’s Masterplan to Refund 50,000 Victims: Hacked Japanese crypto exchange BitPoint will repay 50,000 victims of a recent hack - nearly half its user base - in crypto. | Source: Shutterstock 50,000 victims of the Japanese crypto exchange Bitpoint’s recent hack will have their stolen wallet holdings reimbursed in crypto. This was revealed in a press conference in Tokyo, where reporters were informed that the company had decided to pay back victims in crypto using a 1:1 ratio, as against fiat payouts. Bitpoint’s Unusual Alternative to Fiat Payouts This, is in contrast to the regular practice of sending refunds to hack victims using fiat payouts, such as in the case of Coincheck , which last year refunded more than $440 million in fiat to customers. Japan has recently been plagued with a series of huge, coordinated exchange hacks, with 260,000 people losing their funds in January 2018 alone. The exchange had on July 12 announced that it lost 28 million dollars ($20 million in stolen crypto belonged to customers rest from the exchange) to hackers and proceeded to suspend all activities on its platform including trading and withdrawals. Hackers Thieve $32 Million in Cryptocurrency from Japanese Exchange Bitpoint https://t.co/5xM14YD3ud — CCN Markets (@CCNMarkets) July 12, 2019 The exchange in a report admitted that the hackers accessed one of its hot wallets and made away with 1225 BTC, 1985 BCH, 11169 ETH, 5108 LTC and 28,106,343 XRP. Crypto Exchange Bitpoint Admits to 50,000 Victims of $32 Million Hack https://t.co/KQUIKYRMBK — CCN Markets (@CCNMarkets) July 16, 2019 Speaking at the press conference, BITPoint CEO Genki Oda apologized for the hack, stating that the exchange is investigating how it happened with a view to overhauling its security systems. He also promised that all affected customers will be reimbursed as soon as the now-suspended platform resumes operations once again. Read the full story on CCN.com . || Scammers send emails impersonating FCA, offering guaranteed cryptocurrency investment opportunity: A scam email claiming to come from the UK Financial Conduct Authority is promoting cryptocurrency investment, FT Adviser writes . The email promises guaranteed chance to earn on crypto asset-related investment. The email uses the regulators branding and logo to lend itself credibility. It also sports the logo of the Prudential Regulation Authority. The email reads, Bitcoin is still a long way off its peak price of $20,000, which it reached in 2017, but some cryptocurrency experts believe it could hit an even higher value by 2020. It then displays a Click here button. The FCA has confirmed the relevant team is looking into the email. The British watchdog is known for its caution concerning cryptocurrencies. It has already issued warnings around cryptocurrency investments, reminding would-be investors that tokens are not regulated in the UK. The FCA asks people to remember the institution would never contact anyone asking for money or bank account information. The correspondence is likely to be linked to organised fraud and we strongly advise you not to respond to the criminals in any way, the regulator warns . || Steve Bannon: Still bullish on Bitcoin: What does former "Trump Whisperer" Stephen Bannon have in common with crypto-celebBrock Pierce?
Bannon, as a Goldman Sachs banker, took over the virtual currency trading outlet,Internet Gaming Entertainment, from Pierce, its founder, who wasforced outin June 2006.
That's a long way of saying that Bannon knows crypto about as well as anyone. He gets it at a fundamental level. So it should surprise exactly no one that his comments during a CNBC interview were especially pro-crypto. "Cryptocurrencies have a big future," he said, admitting sheepishly later that he had “enough foresight, enough courage to buy [bitcoin] as it went all the way down.”
Indeed, Bannon sounded as all in on crypto as ever, claiming that it will be a “very important part going forward, particularly in this global populist revolt.”
In his book, "The Devil's Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Nationalist Uprising," author andBloombergwriter Joshua Green details Bannon's early days as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, who went on to run IGE after the bank took it over from Pierce. The company did brisk business in virtual currency by providing a trading platform for World of Warcraft's virtual goods. Green's book made the point that those insights into the gaming world were pivotal in forging Bannon's worldview.
Bannon's comments to CNBC today came on the heels of observations he made about the ongoing tensions in Hong Kong, which Bannon believes Trump's trade war are sparking.
Bannon's remarks are similar to those he made in an interview with theNew York Timeslast June, in which he discussed his hope that cryptocurrency would wrest control from central banks. He has made no secret of his belief that crypto could be the key to that. “It’s disruptive populism,” the Breitbart editortold the Times. “It takes control back from central authorities. It’s revolutionary.”
Around that time last year, Bannon became an activist, advocating for something called "The Movement," which he hoped would unite right-wing nationalist organizations across Europe. Hereportedlytried to create an alliance between them and the pro-Trump Freedom Caucus, in the U.S. However, the project seems to befraying of late, as one nationalist movement after another has begun to abandon it on the grounds that they don't want to be affiliated with something that appears to be U.S. led.
Perhaps he sees crypto as a decentralized way to fund the group. || Crypto Briefing Announces Partnership with CoinGecko in Transparency Bid: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / July 24, 2019 / Crypto Briefing -- the independent crypto analysis and media firm -- and CoinGecko have announced a partnership that will integrate Crypto Briefing’s digital asset reports and investment grades into CoinGecko’s token pages. The move is in line with a broader push by both Crypto Briefing and CoinGecko to improve exchange transparency and trust in the cryptocurrency markets. Concerns over cryptocurrency market transparency were amplified in May this year, when Bitwise released an in-depth analysis of the exchange markets. The report suggested that roughly 95 percent of Bitcoin trading volumes may be fabricated through wash trading. “The Bitwise report was a wake-up call to the industry,” said Han Kao, CEO of Crypto Briefing. “If cryptocurrency is to go mainstream, it’s clear that we need standardized frameworks, and more accountability in an industry plagued by misinformation and dubious practices.” “We launched almost two years ago with a mission to advocate for independence and objectivity,” continued Kao. “Partnering with analytics companies like CoinGecko, that are committed to transparency and accuracy, is exactly in line with our own values.” Crypto Briefing recently rolled out their institutional-grade analysis product, SIMETRI - a suite of comprehensive token reports and investment grades - designed to provide investors with deep and actionable insights into cryptocurrency businesses. “SIMETRI is a direct extension of our commitment to the cryptocurrency community,” said Kao. “Since we are not paid by the crypto projects, we can be completely objective in our analysis of the tokens we research -- and that brings unique value to our readers. They know that our work is untainted by advertising dollars.” With CoinGecko, Crypto Briefing’s SIMETRI Research will complement CoinGecko’s “ Trust Score ” metric, which uses various metrics to filter out exchange volumes inflated with wash trading or trans-fee mining. Story continues “In short, ‘Trust Score’ is a blended formula that takes into account exchanges’ reported trading volume, web traffic, and order book depth,” said Bobby Ong, co-founder of CoinGecko. “The idea here is to not rely on a single source of data, but rather multiple sources of data which will serve as a deterrent against cheating.” Further details of CoinGecko’s Trust Score can be obtained in this blog announcement . CoinGecko will continue to further supplement their Trust Score with more metrics covering other areas of the cryptocurrency markets such as Proof-of-Reserves, API analysis, and cybersecurity analysis. Their incorporation of Crypto Briefing’s SIMETRI token reports and investment grades will further improve their transparency initiative for their millions of users worldwide. About Crypto Briefing Crypto Briefing is an independent cryptocurrency analysis firm and media provider focusing on bringing trust and transparency to the industry. The company is unique in the space, in that it has never accepted advertising or sponsored stories. Following recent successful seed funding rounds, Crypto Briefing has furnished a series of token reports to its readers in the lead-up to the launch of its institutional SIMETRI product. Crypto Briefing is currently pursuing the expansion of their transparency and trust initiative as it partners with high-profile analytics and reporting firms, like CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap. About CoinGecko CoinGecko aims to provide a 360-degree overview of the cryptoasset market. In addition to tracking cryptoasset price, volume and network value, CoinGecko also tracks fundamental data such as community growth, open-source code development, major events and on-chain metrics. CoinGecko’s objective is to elevate participants’ understanding of the fundamental factors that drive the market. CoinGecko is one of the largest and earliest cryptoasset data aggregators, operating since early 2014. It currently tracks over 5,100 tokens from over 350 exchanges. For more information, visit https://www.coingecko.com . Contact: Jennifer Spencer [email protected] SOURCE: Crypto Briefing View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/553070/Crypto-Briefing-Announces-Partnership-with-CoinGecko-in-Transparency-Bid || EUR/USD Mid-Session Technical Analysis for August 2, 2019: The Euro is trading higher against the U.S. Dollar on Friday as a plunge in U.S. Treasury yields is making the greenback a less-attract asset. The catalyst behind the move is the announcement of additional tariffs against China by the United States. The escalation of tensions between the two economic powerhouses likely means the Fed will cut rates again in September. This is also putting pressure on the dollar. At 12:13 GMT, the EUR/USD is trading 1.1105, up 0.0020 or +0.18%. At 12:30 GMT, the U.S. will release its highly anticipated non-farm payrolls report for July. It is expected to show the economy added 164,000 jobs in July, down from 224,000 in June. Average Hourly Earnings are expected to have risen 0.2% and the Unemployment Rate may have dipped to 3.6%. Daily EUR/USD Daily Technical Analysis The main trend is down according to the daily swing chart. However, yesterday’s closing price reversal bottom and today’s subsequent confirmation shifted momentum to the upside. This could lead to a 2 to 3 day counter-trend rally. A trade through 1.1027 will negate the chart pattern and signal a resumption of the downtrend. The minor trend is also down. A trade through 1.1188 will change the minor trend to up. This will also shift momentum to the upside. The short-term range is 1.1282 to 1.1027. Its retracement zone at 1.1155 to 1.1185 is the first upside target. Since the main trend is down, sellers are likely to come in on the first test of this area. Daily Technical Forecast Based on the early price action and the current price at 1.1105, the direction of the EUR/USD is likely to be determined by trader reaction to the downtrending Gann angle at 1.1082. Bullish Scenario A sustained move over 1.1082 will indicate the presence of buyers. If this creates enough upside momentum then look for a potential rally into the next downtrending Gann angle at 1.1133, followed closely by the short-term 50% level at 1.1155. Bearish Scenario A sustained move under 1.1082 will signal the presence of sellers. If this generates enough downside momentum then look for a pullback into the minor pivot at 1.1071 then the closing price reversal bottom at 1.1027. Story continues This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM) Futures Technical Analysis – August 2, 2019 Forecast GBP/USD Weekly Price Forecast – British pound looks soft yet again Grains Recovers Ground as Dollar Resumes Downside, New Trade War Chapter Bitcoin Keeps Growing AUD/USD Price Forecast – breaks major support The Trump Effect: Will Beijing Buckle or Retaliate || The Faketoshi Circus: Even Bitcoin Can’t Escape the Politics of Money: Michael J. Casey is the chairman of CoinDesk’s advisory board and a senior advisor for blockchain research at MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative.
The following article originally appeared inCoinDesk Weekly, a custom-curated newsletter delivered every Sunday exclusively to our subscribers.
In case you missed it, a new self-proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto came out of the woodwork last week, this one brandishing a “proof” based on numerology and an obsession with BCCI, the scandal-ridden bank that collapsed in 1991.
Related:Weekly Bitcoin Price Indicator Shows ‘Bear Cross’ in First Since February
The widely debunked “reveal” from Bilal Khalid, aka James Caan – Khalid officially changed his name to that of the American actor – followed a host of equally absurd developments in a Florida court case against the other “Faketoshi,” Craig S. Wright. These included a hand-written note to the judge in which yet another person, one Debo Jurgen Etienne Guido, also laid claim to being bitcoin’s secret progenitor.
Sensible minds in the crypto community remind us that this is all a sideshow, that these competing claims to bitcoin’s creation ultimately mean nothing to its value proposition.
Still, it begs the question: why does it keep happening? Why do the scammers emerge so readily? What is about the crypto community that attracts a parade of false prophets?
Let’s take the question further: why does crypto generate so much drama generally? Bitter feuds over software forks; relentless conspiracy theories; disputes between maximalists, altcoiners, nocoiners and shitcoiners; competing social media memes; token “armies;” Twitter trolls; fraudsters of all kinds – it’s the crypto circus, and many of us secretly love it, at least in doses.
Related:Burning Man & Crypto: Common Grounds
But why? How did a technology spawned by the most math-driven, nerdy and precision-obsessed fields of computer science give rise to Mexican telenovela-like stream of plot twists?
Other open-source tech communities generate their fair share of drama too, of course. (Type in “Linux community” into a Google search and it auto-completes to “Linux community toxic.”) The leaderless structure of open-source projects means there’s no central authority or pooled profit interest policing behavior or managing the external messaging.
Still, the crypto soap opera takes things to another level of madness. Why?
My attempt at an explanation begins with the fact that, unlike other technologies, this is one is fundamentally about money.
“Money has historically been a political process, a process through which people or states or some kind of entity consolidates authority over others,” says Bill Maurer, Dean of Social Sciences at the University of California, Irvine, an anthropologist who has studied the culture and history of money, adding:
“So, you have this big paradox with something like bitcoin, where its very idea is that there shouldn’t be any one person or authority in control…But because of that, you get this cacophony of voices, each claiming to have some kind of truth and striving to be the one in control.”
The unfortunate reality is that while decentralized, blockchain-based monetary systems restrain political or corporate influences over those systems, this restraint only exists on-chain. There’s no way to stop the power plays – the politics – that emerge whenever someone wants to upgrade or fork the software or when different coins compete for users. There is no escaping the politics of money; it doesn’t disappear just because there’s no government in charge of the monetary policy.
Powerful people have always imposed their ideas of money onto others to reinforce their wealth and dominance.
Maurer notes that the emergence of gold and silver as dominant currencies in the ancient world stemmed because of the fact that wealthy elites had previously acquired status objects composed of precious metals. As they consolidated their power over government and laws, they made those metals currency standards.
Bitcoin has its equivalents of those ancient elites. Big mining firms, early adopters/investors, and core developers all have an oversized interest in promoting it. The same goes for the “whales” of Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV, ether and other cryptocurrencies.
This isn’t to say the crypto elites don’t deserve rewards for being early to the game or for helping to develop and secure an ingenious new form of money. Nor can one equate the power they wield – all within a system that doesn’t actively prohibit anyone from mining, owning or contributing code to bitcoin – with that of governments that use military might and judicial threats to control access to their money.
I raise it simply to point out that these influential players are both incentivized and financially enabled to aggressively push and promote their positions.
These competing, financially enabled voices are battling for the minds of users, which means they’re appealing to people’s passions and emotions.
It’s unavoidable. You can be as nerdy and detached as the most cerebral cryptographer, but if you want your favored currency to grow to the point that it becomes money, you must engage in cultural production. You want a shared story of belonging to develop around it, one that’s widely accepted enough that your currency is widely held and used.
Of course, you also need your currency to have intrinsic qualities – those of scarcity, fungibility, transportability, durability and divisibility are common to both gold and bitcoin, for example. But in and of themselves, they aren’t sufficient. For something to become money, it needs belief.
Here we enter into the realm of myths and storytelling, the foundations upon which the most powerful systems of human organization are built – nations, religions, brands and, most of all, money.
Think of the importance attached to the unknown identity of bitcoin’s founder. It not only denied critics a target to accuse of running a get-rich-quick scheme; it gave the bitcoin community its genesis myth. That, in turn, has fed the posturing over Bitcoin Cash and Wright’s Bitcoin SV, the latter’s name alluding unabashedly to the prophet-like notion of “Satoshi’s Vision.”
But here’s the thing: “believers” are vulnerable to manipulation. (Just look at how the powerful have gotten religious communities to do their dirty work through the ages, from priests and mullahs stirring up “ethnic cleansings” to America’s televangelists fleecing their congregations.) Sadly, the increasingly wide communities interested in cryptocurrencies are similarly vulnerable – the thousands hoodwinked intoBitConnect, for example.
And in a situation where specialized knowledge about the complex workings of cryptocurrency is limited, those vulnerabilities are heightened for the many who don’t fully grasp the tech.
“Because it’s supposed to be about the code and the mathematics, and not everyone understands the code and the mathematics, people take advantage of that to try to sell you whatever they want to sell,” says Maurer. “People are desperate to have a firmer foundation for their beliefs. So, it’s easier to fall for someone that offers that to them.”
I’m not saying the “trust in code” mantra isn’t useful when applied to the decentralized management of a cryptocurrency’s monetary policy or payments system. But it’s naïve to believe the human networks gathered around this technology are somehow immune to the failings of humanity itself. Worse, that belief enables the scammers.
So, if we want to rid ourselves of the Faketoshis, snake oil salesmen, and general cultural chaos of crypto, it’s up to we humans, not the code or the codersper se, to come up with ways to mitigate those failings. Human governance matters.
Alternatively, we could just leave things as they are. Sit back, grab some popcorn. Enjoy the circus.
Masks imagevia Shutterstock
• Bitcoin Price Looks Bearish Despite Bounce to $10.2K
• Bitcoin Selloff Stalls at Historical Price Support Near $10K || 60 Latin American Banks Can Now Use Bitcoin for Cross-Border Payments: A leading bank technology provider in Latin America is partnering with cryptocurrency exchange Bitex to facilitate cross-border payments over the bitcoin blockchain.
“The integration of Bitex into Bantotal program represents a major step in the breakthrough of blockchain technology in banking,” said Bitex Chief Marketing Officer Manuel Beaudroit.
Bantotal is a core banking service provider based in Uruguay that services over 60 different financial institutions across 14 different countries. According to a Bantotal spokesperson, an estimated 20 million people use Bantotal’s money management services.
Related:Israeli Cryptocurrency Traders Locked Out of Banking System: Report
“Bantotal is one of the biggest banking providers in Latin America and is a huge player not just in Latin American but the greater Pacific,” said Sebastián Olivera, founder of the Uruguayan Fintech Chamber. “For me, Bitex provides a great solution for payments and they will be boosted by the structure and name of Bantotal.”
The partnership means that Bantotal clients will be able to access Bitex services in a marketplace of other traditional financial services that Bantotal offers through itsBDevelopersprogram.
“With this technology, banks can have access to an API and have control of the whole process of [cross-border] payment with visibility and reliability on the bitcoin blockchain,” said Beaudroit.
Calling it a “quantum leap” forward for local banks in Latin America, Beaudroit said that average fees associated with cross-border payments are up to five times cheaper using Bitex than international wire transfers.
Related:John McAfee Offers to Build Cuba’s First Cryptocurrency
What’s more, these transfers are significantly faster, according to Beaudroit, who said payment times for exporters between Argentina and Paraguay in one instancelast Februarydropped from one month to one hour after switching to Bitex’s cross-border payment services.
The partnership in the eyes of competitors such as Stellar, which also specializesin cross-border paymentsleveraging its own blockchain network, is seen as a positive signal.
Lisa Nestor, the Stellar Development Foundation’s director of partnerships, told CoinDesk:
“We think this announcement further validates the value financial institutions are recognizing in digital assets and distributed ledger technology for executing core banking activities, like international payments. It’s also no coincidence these product partnerships are being launched in the [Latin American] market where cross-border payments, even in neighboring nations, can be slow and expensive.”
Bitex essentially acts as a middleman for national and regional banks to convert fiat payments into bitcoin then back into fiat, as opposed to completing multiple fiat-to-fiat conversions.
“If I want to do a payment from Argentina to Chile, I don’t need to buy dollars with the Argentinian pesos then transfer the dollars to the U.S. then move the dollars to Chile and exchange them into Chilean pesos,” said Beaudroit. “I can just send a payment from Argentina to Chile directly [using bitcoin].”
Calling it a system of “peer-to-peer banking,” Beaudroit explained that Bitex handles the conversion of local currencies into and from bitcoin, as well as, its ultimate dispersion into regional or national bank accounts.
Normally, this process of transferring money across borders with local banks in Latin American can take anywhere from 48 to 96 hours depending on the specific bank branch and financial intermediaries used, according to Leo Elduayen, vice president of non-profit Bitcoin Argentina and founder of blockchain startup Koibanx.
Elduayen described the full process of cross-border payments using Bitex as an end-to-end solution for banks, saying:
“The purchase and [transfer] of bitcoin, Bitex does it all on your behalf. You as a user just send the money and Bitex takes care of the rest for you.”
With the Bantotal partnership, Elduayen suspects that accessibility to Bitex services for consumers in Latin American will dramatically increase though there are a number of hurdles still left “to get banks on board.”
To this, Olivera said that both know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) legislation is still a major issue for banks when it comes to using the bitcoin blockchain.
Federico Ast, CEO of Buenos Aires-based arbitration startup Kleros, agreed – adding that regulatory uncertainty and seeing cryptocurrencies “as a fad” are still major barriers to entry for Latin American banks.
“I have to be honest. I think this is just the first conversation,” said Olivera. “It’s too early to say whether banks will choose to operate with Bitex but it’s a good first step.”
At the very least, both Ast and Olivera see this partnership between Bantotal and Bitex as an opportunity to expose consumers in Latin American to the benefits of blockchain technology and help rebuild consumer trust in existing financial institutions.
“Historically, Latin America has had weak financial systems,” said Ast. “There’s a history of bank runs with some sad highlights of confiscation of people’s saving (e.g., Argentina in 2001). … This agreement will lead to lower costs for consumers and higher financial inclusion.”
Bitex’s Beaudroit has high hopes this partnership will also contributed to increasing the national GDPs of Latin American countries by enabling more commerce to flow “in a peer-to-peer fashion.”
In this way, Santiago Siri, founder of digital governance startup Democracy Earth and advisor to Bitex, said the work of Bitex went far beyond simply being a crypto exchange platform.
Said Siri:
“It’s an ideal partner for banks to use bitcoin … as a way of connecting banks in a way that is not very common in the industry yet is fundamental for markets like Latin America.”
Peruvian danceimage via Shutterstock
• Brazil’s President Rebuffs Cryptocurrency as Administration Explores Blockchain
• Three of Ireland’s ‘Big Four’ Banks Using Blockchain to Verify Staff Credentials || SEC Chair Clayton: Would-Be Bitcoin ETFs Have ‘Work Left to Be Done’: The market has taken steps to address the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) concerns about approving a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), but there is still “work left to be done,” said the agency’s head.
Speaking onCNBCMonday, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton said “progress is being made” in the crypto space to allow a bitcoin ETF to launch, though concerns linger.
In November the chairman saidconcerns around price manipulationwere a key holdup for the financial product’s green light, alongside questions such as how custody operates.
Related:SEC Settles With ICO Service Over Undisclosed Payments for Reviews
On Monday, Clayton reiterated these concerns, saying:
“An even harder question given that they trade on largely unregulated exchanges is how can we be sure that those prices aren’t subject to significant manipulation? … People needed to answer these hard questions for us to be comfortable that this was the appropriate kind of product.”
The SEC’s questions are “not trivial,” Clayton added.
Clayton’s remarks come just weeks before the SEC is expected to approve or reject a pair of bitcoin ETF proposals.
Related:SEC Issues First ‘No-Action’ Letter Clearing ICO to Sell Tokens in US
Bitwise Asset Management, which filed one of the proposals with NYSE Arca, has published a number of reports over the past year in an effort to convince the SEC that the market is mature enough to support such a product.
VanEck/SolidX submitted the other proposal with Cboe BZX. This proposal was filed in 2018 and was seen as a strong contender to become the first bitcoin ETF approved by the SEC. However, it was withdrawn during the prolonged government shutdown of early 2019 and re-filed.
The SEC has postponed decisions on both ETF proposals but faces a final deadline of Oct. 13 for Bitwise and Oct. 18 for VanEck/SolidX.
While waiting for an ETF approval, VanEck has begun offering shares of its VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust to qualified institutional buyers using an exemption under the SEC’s rules.
Though the product, announced last week, is not a retail offering (and thereforenot an ETF), the shares come from the same trust on which VanEck hopes to build an ETF.
Nikhilesh De contributed reporting.
Jay Clayton image via CoinDesk archives
• SEC’s Valerie Szczepanik at SXSW: Crypto ‘Spring’ Is Going to Come
• NYSE Arca Files Paperwork for Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Approval || Judge Blasts Craig Wrights Evidence, Inconsistent Testimony in Kleiman Trial: US Judge Beth Bloom has denied a request by Craig Wright to scuttle a lawsuit filed against him because of his past testimony and his credibility before the court, according to a court filing from August 15. On April 15, Wright filed a motion challenging the Southern District of Floridas jurisdiction over an ongoing lawsuit pursued by the estate of Wrights former business partner, the late Dave Kleiman. Kleimans brother Ira alleges Wright has transferred 1.1 million bitcoin, approximately $11 billion at press time, under his control through fraudulent contracts, emails, and business relationships. The lawsuit, first filed in 2018, has resulted in back-and-forth claims between the two sides and a combative court appearance by Wright himself. Related: Messages Proving Wright Created Bitcoin Likely Faked, Developer Testifies Wright has claimed in the past to have invented bitcoin through the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, a claim that has been attacked by numerous critics. Wright, in turn, has pursued legal action against such critics, though in recent days a court tossed out a suit filed against investor Roger Ver. Wright argues that the court does not have subject matter jurisdiction over the proceedings, because an entity oversight was granted on Florida-based W&K Info Defense Research, a now defunct firm, had a foreign national as director. Specifically, Wright cites Uyen Nguyen, a Vietnamese national, as outside the jurisdiction of the court. Wright previously claimed not to have had contact with Nguyen since 2016. Blooms denial In her motion, Judge Bloom states that Wright failed to provide any credible evidence showing a lack of diversity. She continued to explicate contradictory evidence Wright put forth showing Nguyens relationship to W&K. Related: Coinbase Must Face Negligence Suit Over Bitcoin Cash Listing, Judge Rules Bloom provides five statements where Wright obfuscates the ownership structure of W&K. At varying points he said that only Kleiman owned W&K, that he and Kleiman split ownership, and that he has no idea who the owners
were. Story continues She calls Wrights argument for dismissal novel, as he seems to argue that even though his numerous conflicting statements are the very reason confusion has been created
the Court should nonetheless use these statements as a basis to challenge the Courts subject matter jurisdiction. In weighing the evidence, the Court simply does not find the Defendants testimony to be credible, Bloom wrote. Tangled web Now, Bloom said, Wright insists that three additional parties may be members of W&K, and these persons and entities destroy jurisdiction. After a careful review, Bloom found Wrights evidence for supporting this claim that Nyugen, his ex-wife Lynn Wright, and the liquidated firm Coin-Exch were party to W&K as insufficient. In particular she found emails, purportedly between Wright and Kleiman, as well as business registrations submitted as evidence, as extremely speculative. In paragraph break, Bloom notably quotes Sir Walter Scotts Marmion: Oh! What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive. Further, Bloom states that that federal district courts in fact have subject matter jurisdiction over civil actions where the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.00 and the suit is between citizens of different states. 3244f635-07da-40e1-b8f0-fb87c478df11 by CoinDesk on Scribd Image via CoinGeek YouTube Related Stories Craig Wrights Counsel Rebuts Forgery Evidence in Ongoing Lawsuit Cryptocurrency in China: Over the Counter, Under the Table || A funny thing happened on the way to the Jackson Hole forum.: While the markets are accustomed to his scathing attacks on Jay Powell, but similarly painting President Xi an enemy of the U.S. with the same brushstroke sent shockwaves through global capital markets. It was Trump’s heightened aggression that sent the dollar toppling as it threw more fuel on the currency war debate.
With President Trump’s latest tweets sounding like things are about to re-escalate considerably, no one wanted to be caught shortUSD, Fixed Income or Gold heading into a weekend fraught with the potential G-7 headline risk.
For those looking for a G-7 reprieve well keep looking. The summit of world leader event devolved into a bemusing tableau when at breakfast meeting Sunday, the US President suggested he had “second thoughts” about those tariffs, noting he had “second thoughts about everything”. The White House press secretary later clarified: those second thoughts stemmed from regret about not “raising the tariffs higher”, indeed the Nash equilibrium in a repeated game. All of which suggests not only is further escalation likely, it’s the base case outcome.
The FOMC minutes painted a visible split on the committee, so the markets had already cooled the 50 bp view which was priced out, and likewise, currency event volatility had all but evaporated. Thus, the bar was low for a Jackson Hole surprise, but after Chair Powell’s July FOMC “mid-cycle ” crisis, there was a concern for another communication mishap.
Thankfully Chair Powell avoided setting the Snake River on fire. Instead, he used the Jackson Hole symposium to clarify matters. Overall the speech sounded slightly dovish at least relative to the markets low bar expectations, and mostly because it allows the market to continue debating a 50bp cut in September. However, whether it’s a 25 or 50 bp cut, there’s a growing chorus more now than at any time in this testy period of trade war escalation the destination of US rates is zero.
The thud heard aroundoil marketson Friday was the result of a timely but not unexpended tit for tat trade war escalation by China.
The tit-for-tat tariff dispute between the U.S. and China has already sent oil prices tumbling in large part because of worries about a severe global economic slowdown and potentially even a U.S. recession.
However, to the degree, these added tariffs will hurt U.S. production is questionable as other than the preferred exporter of last resort for the excess Cushing barrels, U.S. crude imports into Beijing plummeted almost immediately after the tariff war escalated and were expected to grind to a halt after the US levied the next wave of tariffs.
The 5% China tariffs on US oil imports are less significant for oil flows between the two countries than they are for what they say about the likelihood of a near-term resolution to the trade dispute.
Markets are very tight in Cushing, and with Baker Hughes rig posting a most significant weekly decline since late April “prompt” WTI supplies, may not get much easier anytime soon.
However, with the delicate balance in oil markets precariously perched one negative trade headline away from a significant sell-off, with oil markets now ” officially ” caught in the trade war tussle, the trap door opened on oil’s fragile recovery sending a tsunami of negativity sweeping through the oil patch on Friday.
Oil markets remain in a trade war funk, and with constant trade war overhang, the markets are prone to turn even sourer if there is no definitive evidence of progress on the US-China trade talks. Given that thawing in US-China tensions is all but a pipe dream at this stage, as it appears both sides are happy to move forward with their scorched earth policy, no winner everyone burn. So, the path of least resistance for Oil markets does appear lower.
Goldwas the beneficiary of President Trump’s tweetstorm on Friday as Gold provides the ultimate haven for any dollar intervention threats. Escalating Trade War and the weakening Yuan increase the odds of a currency war but when framed by dovish central bank policy, Gold sits at the top of the mountain or reasons to stay hedged against a possible equity market rout.
FX strength or weakness mostly depends on what side of the currency war debates you’re on. In the meantime, risk-off is the safest direction;USDJPY lower.
As for currency war, it was hard not to get involved on Friday as the markets aggressively sold dollar fearing President Trump was going to unleash the currency war bazooka. However, I think the market reaction was very telling. Specifically, that currency war is not even close to being the markets base case scenario. The EURUSD rally fizzled at 1.1150 hardly the volatility one expects from a market pre-positioning for a full out currency war.
However, the mere threat alone should keep the dollar on the defensive over the near term.
Besides a triple shot of Fed easing which is starting to look more like a lock, the most effective way to weaken the USD, particularly vs the Yuan in a currency war scenario is for the US Treasury to buy Chinese Government Debt. Of course, funding President Xi’s BnR ambition will leave a sour taste in Trump’s mouth, but it is the logical action to both sterilises the effect of China potentially selling UST’s while effectively strengthening the Yuan.
Trading the Yuan for any currency trader I know is a substantial occupational hazard,
USDCNY will very likely be fixing higher this week (Monday and after) – dragging USD-Asia higher with it.
CNY deprecation during the previous trading sessions has mostly gone unnoticed. However, Fridays slightly stronger Fix than expected had market commentator suggesting the strong Fix was a signal that the PBOC wants to temper the CNY depreciation at least.
Of course, we’re not buying any of that with 300 billion in tariffs hanging over China’s head, and neither were other Yuan traders who bid the offshore USDCNH above 7.10 on Friday.
History tells us that the Pboc is very calculated with this messaging and its something never trivialised by traders.
For the rest of Asia, currency markets took notice of the Yuan weakness on Friday, but for any unfortunate traders that held on to their USDASIA shorts over the weekend, they’re sure to pay the piper this morning.
Trump Put Strike
I suspect the latest market meltdown will continue to turn President Trump to turn increasingly anxious about an economic slowdown that is manifesting on the cusp of the U.S. elections run.
Trump will not capitulate on the trade war. Instead, he will likely toggle other dials. However, as far as a Payroll tax cut, it’s improbable as it pays for social security and no way this passes in the House of Representatives, but we should expect more fiscal trial balloons to float in the weeks ahead. Ultimately, signals are increasing that theTrump put strike is little more than a hop skip and a jump away from at-the-money position.
This article was written by Stephen Innes, Managing Partner atVM markets LLC
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Asian Markets Spurn Riskier Assets, As Investors Weather Sudden Escalation in US-China Trade Conflict
• E-mini NASDAQ-100 Index (NQ) Futures Technical Analysis – August 26, 2019 Forecast
• The Crypto Daily – The Movers and Shakers – 26/08/19
• Panic Returns As US-China Trade War Intensifies
• USD/JPY Fundamental Weekly Forecast – Traders Will Be Watching for China’s Response to New U.S. Tariffs
• Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 26/08/19
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
It is extremely hard to see the truth when you rule the World. You're just too busy. || Power Law: Tracking Bitcoin’s Growth to $100K and Beyond https://t.co/LoRMPxywqI https://t.co/OGWeVfb5CY || $LTC is now worth $90.91 (-0.66%) and 0.00760348 BTC (-0.67%) #LTC
➡️ https://t.co/cScw5PqWEa || 3) in conclusion, no amount of bitcoin or end the Fed I.e. monetary side -will do jack unless you fix Congress/fiscal side first. Until we return Congress back to its non corrupt form with rule of law or we are fucked ...Bitcoin, gold, silver ..worthless. || It is extremely hard to see the truth when you rule the World. You're just too busy. || Block Number: 593,633
Time: 9/7/2019, 6:57:24 AM UTC
Miner: F2Pool
Transactions: 3,317
Block Value: 8,060.8 BTC
Size: 1,257,123 bytes
Total Supply: 17,920,412.5
(85.33530% BTC issued)
Price: $10400.23 || #Criptomonedas #coin360📈
#noticiascriptomonedas #criptomonedas #bitcoin #blockchaintechnology #blockchainnews #altcoin #Cúcuta #crypto #blockchain #cryptocurrency #trading #bitcoinnews #cryptonews #graficos #coin360 https://t.co/t4oSEEfeoX || Bet by bitcoins at https://t.co/OFxbPIdo3A
and get 5 BTC sign up bonus!
#bitcoin #btc #bonus #bch #btc #bet #betting #betting https://t.co/eMp4sYoVvR #eth #ltc #xrp || #Binance most 🚀⛽ burnt (last hour) 2/2
Bitcoin Gold | $BTG | 1 || Enter To Win A Bitcoin Mining Laptop With Foldable Solar Panel For 24/7 Always On Mining! https://t.co/rZVVhRQBGh
|
Trend: down || Prices: 10276.79, 10241.27, 10198.25, 10266.42, 10181.64, 10019.72, 10070.39, 9729.32, 8620.57, 8486.99
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2020-06-08]
BTC Price: 9771.49, BTC RSI: 56.73
Gold Price: 1698.30, Gold RSI: 47.53
Oil Price: 38.19, Oil RSI: 64.31
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Market Wrap: Bitcoin at $9.9K as Halving Chatter Increases: The price of bitcoin continues its rise ahead of next week’santicipated halving. That event is trending as a topic on social media, even as few appear to be considering what may happen after it’s over.
At press timebitcoin(BTC) was trading up 6.5% over 24 hours, currently at $9,882. It’s been on a run upward on high volume since 12:00 UTC (8 a.m. ET), moving from $9,270 during that time to as high as $9,971 on spot exchanges like Coinbase.
Discussion of “bitcoin halving,” the once-every-four-year event that will lower by half the supply of new bitcoins awarded to miners, has spiked higher than ever over the past week, according to social media data tracked by data aggregator LunarCRUSH. “After months of suppression, mentions of the bitcoin halving event on social media have now exploded,” Mati Greenspan,founder of Quantum Economics, noted in a tweet.
Related:Open Positions on Bitcoin Options Pass $1B for First Time
Bitcoin’s price climb could be partially attributed to new investor interest in the midst of the recent economic tumult, says Matthew Ficke, head of market development for cryptocurrency exchange OKCoin. “This halving has received an incredible amount of publicity, far surpassing previous halvings particularly against the backdrop of the traditional financial markets.”
Read More:Bitcoin Halving Explained 2020
Many newer crypto investors see that, historically, bitcoin’s price has gone much higher, and it can rise to those levels again, Ficke points out. “BTC/USD topped out around $10,400 in October 2019 and February 2020, so it is reasonable to view this as a short-term attraction.”
Ficke may be right about the halving being of short-term interest to investors. Darius Sit, partner at Singapore-based trading firm QCP Capital, is not bullish on a soaring post-halving bitcoin price.
Related:The Men Who Stare at Charts
“Regarding halving, we hold the view that impact on price might not be material,” said Sit.
Demand-side buying before the halving has been attributed to “fear of missing out,”or FOMO, as one driver in the crypto market right now. But can it last? Sit is skeptical. “Daily mined supply to 900 BTC, or just under $7 million at these levels, is a small fraction of the current daily trading volume. BTC price would be driven more by demand-side than supply-side dynamics,” he said.
That supply-side dynamic of the mining business might not look good either, as miners are going to have to make some operational decisions once the halving is complete.
Read more:Bitcoin Halving Searches on Google Hits All-Time Highs
Many mining machines will become worthless for bitcoin mining because they won’t be profitable after the reward drops from 12.5 to 6.25 BTC, said Zach Resnick, partner at crypto investment firm Unbounded Capital. “Bitcoin miner revenue will go down by close to 50% once the block subsidy is cut in half, which means for all but the most professionalized miners BTC mining will become unprofitable overnight absent a significant run-up in the price.”
That could mean bitcoin selling might be on the way from smaller miners who can’t hack the halving’s reduction in crypto inflow. “Our view is that the less-efficient miners might capitulate and sell their BTC holdings,” QCP’s Sit told CoinDesk.
Digital assets on CoinDesk’s big board are up on Thursday. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization,ether(ETH), gained 3.8% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
Cryptocurrency winners includeneo(NEO) in the green by 7.2%, monero (XMR) up 7% anddogecoin(DOGE) out of the doghouse, up 5.6%. The lone loser islisk(LSK) in the red 1.5%. All price changes were as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. EDT) Thursday.
After remarkable turmoil in the oil market since April, crude is trading sideways, and is down 3.5% in trading Thursday.
Gold is making some gains in trading today, up 2% and closed the New York trading session at $1,716.
Read more:Bitcoin Outperforming Gold and Stocks so Far This Month
In the United States, the S&P 500 index of large-cap stocks was up 1%. U.S. Treasury bonds all slipped Thursday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, fell most on the two-year bond, down a whopping 25%.
Europe’s FTSE Eurotop 100 index of the continent’s largest publicly traded companies closed up less than a percent. In Asia, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo opened trading for the first time this week after a holiday had the markets closed and was up less than a percent withgains in transportation and real estate.
Equities performing either flat or up this week belies the looming danger of an increasingly uncertain global economy, according to Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at investment platform IG. “Warnings of terrible economic performance this year have been followed by predictions of a moderate rebound for next year. But as companies around the globe are discovering, it is almost futile to predict what the next few quarters will look like,” Beauchamp said.
• Bitcoin Breaches $10K for First Time Since February
• Hedge Fund Pioneer Turns Bullish on Bitcoin Amid ‘Unprecedented’ Monetary Inflation || HTC Is Bringing Cryptocurrency Mining to Its Exodus Blockchain Phone: Taiwan-based tech giant HTC will allow users of its Exodus blockchain phone to mine cryptocurrency, but it isn’t going to make them rich.
Asreported by Forbeson Friday, the firm has partnered with Mida Labs to use its DeMiner app on the Exodus 1S model. The app allows users to minemonero(XMR) and can earn users up to $0.0038 in the crypto on average daily. The electricity used to carry out the mining tasks would come to less than half the income from mining, according to the report.
That amount of income isn’t going to repay the cost of the phone in any reasonable timespan and, in fact, would take around 13,680 days (roughly 37 years) to earn the value of one unit of XMR at thecurrent priceof $52 apiece.
Related:Crypto Long & Short: DeFi and Traditional Finance Are Forming an Unlikely Friendship
See also:Bitcoin Halving: How Miners are Preparing for Lower Block Rewards
However, HTC says the effort is aimed at bringing further decentralization to crypto mining, a process that sees computers used to secure the blockchain and process transactions in return for block rewards.
Mining of cryptocurrency has progressed from using computer processors to graphics cards and even dedicated processors called ASICS for some blockchains as participants sought to maintain returns amid rising network difficulty. As such the ability to mine on a mobile phone is at least novel and may increase adoption and education around cryptocurrency.
HTC said the DeMiner app – expected to launch sometime in Q2 2020 – used on the Exodus is roughly equivalent to a desktop computer in terms of mining (or hashing) power, but brings far lower energy demands.
Related:Bitcoin’s Future: Exactly How a Coming Upgrade Could Improve Privacy and Scaling
“The question is not should we use an ASIC or a CPU. The question is how can we further decentralize and ensure a more inclusive monetary system?” Phil Chen, HTC’s decentralized chief officer, said in the Forbes report.
HTCintroduced the Exodus 1Slast October, touting it as the only mobile phone that can run a full bitcoin node. The Exodus range allows users to store cryptocurrencies in the built-in Zion hardware wallet with claimed “military-grade” security.
Early last month, the firmrevealed a 5G routerthat will also support a full bitcoin node.
• New Software Fix Offers Bitcoin Miners Increased Security
• Bitfury Latest to Donate Crypto Mining Power to Coronavirus Research || Blockchain Bites: WEF, IBM and a Chinese City Show Support for Blockchain: A Chinese city is encouraging bitcoin mining, a payments processor joins Libra and the World Economic Forum is looking to blockchain to solve supply chain distortions. Situated amid the plateaus of the Szechuan province, Ya’an city is encouraging the blockchain industry to take advantage of excess hydroelectric power produced during the region’s summer rainy season. Without stating it outright, this public alert is a tacit approval of the energy-intensive bitcoin mining industry. Here’s the story: You’re reading Blockchain Bites , the daily roundup of the most pivotal stories in blockchain and crypto news, and why they’re significant. You can subscribe to this and all of CoinDesk’s newsletters here . Top Shelf Related: First Mover: For Bitcoin Prices, Inflation Headlines May Matter More Than the Reality Excess Electricity A Chinese city in the world’s bitcoin mining hub is encouraging the blockchain industry to help consume excessive hydroelectricity ahead of the summer rainy season. “On principle, blockchain companies should construct factories near power plants that have excessive power and are integrated with the State Grid,” reads guidance published by the city of Ya’an. Latest Member Checkout.com, an online payment processor, is the newest member of the Libra Association. The company revealed Tuesday it would join the Libra Association in developing its series of stablecoins. Bitcoin Development CardCoins, a startup that helps users convert gift cards to bitcoin, has partnered with fintech company Payvant to provide a one-year grant for Bitcoin Core developer Hennadii Stepanov, who goes by Hebasto, joining the small ranks of firms that sponsor the open source development of Bitcoin’s software. Solving Supply Chains The World Economic Forum is pitching blockchain to fix global supply chains disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. “The case for blockchain is stronger as the COVID-19 pandemic underscores the need for more resilient global supply chains, trusted data and an economic recovery enabled through trade digitization,” according to the 200-page report “Redesigning Trust: Blockchain Deployment Toolkit.” Related: Market Wrap: Bitcoin Edges Up to $7.7K as Mining Power Rebounds Medical Market Maker IBM has also turned to blockchain during the current pandemic situation. The firm’s Rapid Supplier Connect blockchain network will connect buyers and suppliers of essential medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic. ( Decrypt ) Pre-Fed Protections A former senior policy advisor to the International Monetary Fund found emergency protections in the revised Libra whitepaper are insufficient to present bank runs. In fact, Libra’s proposed protections are similar to the private clearinghouse certificates used in the U.S. prior to the establishment of the Federal Reserve. This private clearinghouse system “created a situation where not every dollar was as good as every other dollar.” Story continues Made Whole DForce has returned all stolen assets to users affected by the $25 million exploit that nearly crippled the decentralized lending platform. Bank Monitoring Crypto investigations firm CipherTrace has developed a bank transaction monitoring tool, CipherTrace Armada, that flags payments to high-risk virtual asset service providers (VASPs). Gaming Wars Experimental Games’ CryptoWars will no longer run on the Plasma sidechain operated by Loom, while Loom appears to be pivoting away from gaming entirely. “No decent game can run nowadays fully on-chain, even though that was our gaming utopia,” Experimental CEO Matias Nisenson said. Favorable Regulation? Congress has introduced 32 crypto and blockchain bills for consideration in the past two calendar years. These include bills aimed at regulating the industry as well as employing blockchain technology for government work. (Forbes) Malta, sometimes called “Blockchain Island” due to its favorable cryptocurrency regulations, said 57 crypto companies have failed to complete its licensing process. ( Decrypt ) Satoshi’s Millions Could $77 make you a Bitcoin millionaire? BeInCrypto dives into the Crypto Twitter controversy. CoinDesk Live: Lockdown Edition CoinDesk Live: Lockdown Edition continues its popular twice-weekly chats with Consensus speakers via Zoom and Twitter, giving you a preview of what’s to come at Consensus: Distributed, our first fully virtual – and fully free – big-tent conference May 11-15. Zoom participants can ask questions directly to our guests. Register to join our fourth session Tuesday, April 28 , with speaker Carlos Acevedo of Brave to discuss financial inclusion in the cryptocurrency movement, hosted by Consensus organizer Stephanie Izquieta. Market Intel Seven Days of Gains Bitcoin has posted seven consecutive daily gains, something that hasn’t happened since the price shot up to last year’s high around $13,000 in July. At $7,750, the cryptocurrency’s price is up 8 percent so far in 2020, and some analysts are predicting a rise to $10,000 ahead of the network’s programmatic halving event. According to Delphi Digital, any price rise could gather steam if bitcoin crosses above its 100-day and 200-day moving averages, now around $8,000. This insight is from First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily markets newsletter. You can subscribe here. Exhausted Bulls? Still, some anticipate that bitcoin could pullback before breaking above $8,000. “Feels like we have gone quite far over the last week and now there’s every chance of a small pullback (perhaps as far as to $7,000) over the course of the next few days,” Chris Thomas, head of digital assets at Swissquote Bank, said. Cambridge Survey CoinDesk is working with the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) , an independent academic research institute at the University of Cambridge, on their 3rd Global Crypto Asset Benchmarking Study. To gather up-to-date information, the CCAF invites crypto companies to participate by completing one of the following surveys by May 1 : As an actor in the crypto mining industry As a crypto asset service provider working in payments, exchange or custody The resulting report will help us all get a better idea of where growth is happening, what it looks like, what barriers are in the way and what the short-term outlook holds. If you have any questions or feedback, you can contact the CCAF directly at [email protected] . CoinDesk Podcast Network Magdalena Gronowska, a member of the Official Committee of Affected Users and the Bankruptcy Board of Inspectors, goes on the record to discuss the efforts to refund $190 million user’s funds from the bankrupted QuadrigaCX exchange. Who Won #CryptoTwitter? Related Stories Hut 8: The Struggles of One of Canada’s Largest Miners Blockchain Bites: Capital-Constraining Compliance and Tether’s ‘Interoperability Bridge’ View comments || Blockchain Bites: Binance vs. Ethereum, MicroBT vs. Bitmain, Libra vs. the World: Today, Binance unveiled plans for a smart contract blockchain competing with Ethereum, Bitcoin miner manufacturer MicroBT looks to beat Bitmain to market, and the road ahead for stablecoins looks bumpy. “The industry needs more high-performance infrastructures, not just one single blockchain,” a Binance spokesperson said, adding the two networks would complement one another in growing the blockchain ecosystem. Here’s the story: You’re reading Blockchain Bites , the daily roundup of the most pivotal stories in blockchain and crypto news, and why they’re significant. You can subscribe to this and all of CoinDesk’s newsletters here . Top Shelf Related: First Mover: Stablecoin Surge Might Herald Bitcoin Binge Binance’s Base Layer Binance released a white paper detailing a new smart contract blockchain that might compete with Ethereum. The new Binance Smart Chain (BSC) would work as a smart contract layer running parallel to its existing Binance Chain, and incorporate a matching engine capable of fast trade executions and a new consensus mechanism designed to combine fast confirmation times with strong on-chain governance. Mining Wars Shenzhen-based MicroBT is rolling out three new energy-efficient bitcoin miners amid heated competition with industry giant Bitmain ahead of the network’s halving event in less than 30 days. MicroBT has slowly chipped away at Bitmain’s market dominance, and now looks to push out its latest models ahead of the halving and Bitmain’s updated machines expected in May. Stablecoins Circle: Four months after Circle pivoted to stablecoins, the startup’s new business model has received an unexpected boost from the global coronavirus crisis. “Over the past several weeks, we have seen explosive interest and growth in USDC,” co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire said, referring to the stablecoin Circle issues in partnership with Coinbase. “There is clearly very significant global demand for digital dollars, and the use of digital dollars as a new payment medium.” According to CoinMetrics, over the past six weeks, the Paxos Standard (PAX) grew 22 percent, from $198 million to $258 million; tether (USDT) grew 36 percent from $4.6 billion to $6.3 billion and the Gemini dollar (GUSD) grew from $3.9 million to $6.2 million, or up 6 percent. The Binance dollar (BUSD) issued with Paxos saw the fastest growth, from $68 million to nearly $200 million, or up a whopping 194 percent. Libra Despite scaling back the vision of the Libra project to essentially be a PayPal clone, at least one U.S. lawmaker is still turned off by Facebook’s tarnished brand. “There are simply too many questions left unanswered regarding why Facebook is even developing a cryptocurrency and how it will affect the global economy and consumers,” Rep. Sylvia Garcia, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, said Thursday. Story continues Digital Dollars Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Pramila Jayapal introduced a proposal to have the federal government issue $2,000 per month issued to residents in digital dollar account wallets. The stimulus would be financed by minting a pair of $1 trillion coins and using these to back the payments. “No later than January 1, 2021, the Secretary shall offer all recipients of BOOST payments the option to receive their payments in digital dollar wallets,” Thursday’s bill read. J. Christopher Giancarlo, former chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, thinks the ongoing discussion around a digital dollar project during the COVID-19 crisis is premature. “Something as complex and worthy of the U.S. dollar’s global importance should not be cobbled together in a crisis. Getting it right will take time. Nevertheless, now is the right time to get started,” he writes in a CoinDesk op-ed. Purse Closed Bitcoin startup Purse will shut down after six years in the space, according to an email sent to customers Thursday. Purse will continue to facilitate services until June 26 but signups will cease Thursday. Additionally, the startup’s “Shop and Earn” functionality will be disabled next week on April 23 and open orders that have not been matched will be canceled, the email states. Privacy Protocol BTCPay, a popular open source tool for accepting bitcoin payments, is incorporating PayJoin to preserve the privacy of those transactions. PayJoin has been around since 2018, and may offer greater privacy than existing solutions like CoinJoin, but few services have added support for it yet. Related: Blockchain Bites: Ethereum’s Inroads and Libra’s Concessions Security Concerns Russian citizens are trolling a government-released mobile contact tracing app that is designed to help stop COVID-19 contagion. Smartphone users in Russia are giving it low ratings and leaving bad reviews in the Android and iOS app stores. Some are reporting the government-backed app to Google and Apple in the hopes of getting it removed, an action usually taken for copyright infringement or inappropriate content. The Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (PEPP-PT) consortium developing privacy protocols for a contact tracing app has quietly removed mention of a decentralized standard from its website. It’s unclear what a PEPP-PT protocol might look like, but a centralized approach would have more privacy risks, as well as the potential for the re-appropriation of data for other purposes, like state surveillance. Spanish researchers are developing a smartphone app that leverages blockchain technology and artificial intelligence to help stem the coronavirus pandemic, and preserve the privacy of “digital identities.” Charged With Fraud The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has charged a self-claimed Florida financial adviser and his company with fraud for allegedly duping investors in his algorithmically charged “Compcoin” token out of $1.6 million. Libel Updates Decrypt’s Tim Copeland gives the current state of Craig Wright’s five libel suits, which the nChain scientist filed last year. Tightening Controls As banks in emerging economies are imposing tighter currency controls amid the coronavirus-led financial downturn, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of “The Black Swan” and “Fooled By Randomness,” is urging citizens turn to cryptocurrencies. ( Decrypt ) South African regulators have proposed a strict cryptocurrency framework, in what could become the nation’s first comprehensive crypto laws. They recommend cryptocurrency “remain without legal tender status.” Salesforce Backed Australian fintech unicorn and RippleNet member, Airwallex, raised $160 million in a fundraising round led by the investment arms of Australian ‘big four’ bank, ANZ, and San Francisco-based cloud software company, Salesforce. ( Coin Telegraph ) Weekend Read: Climate Change Blockchain’s often hyped attributes are a natural fit for governments seeking to mitigate global climate change. This effort necessarily requires diverse sets of governments and agencies to coordinate and account for their actions. Cryptocurrencies are evolving in ways that can incorporate automated internal governance of common resources and encourage collaboration among communities. “How can financial and non-financial value be incorporated into digital currencies that promote, not simply the sustainable production, but the sustainable consumption patterns that are consistent with the decarbonized or net-zero lifestyle?” asks Tom Baumann, co-chair of the Climate Action group at the International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA). “It’s about being able to empower individuals to be more effective decision-makers.” Blockchains can keep track of scarce digital units of value, which can be aligned in micro-economic systems to achieve common goals and favorable outcomes for communities. This could be as small as rewarding users of greener forms of public transport or developing a global carbon budget. “People are concerned about the truthfulness or credibility of sustainability claims. If blockchain can provide irrefutable transparent accountability then that will encourage people to have greater faith and willingness,” Baumann said. COINDESK LIVE: LOCKDOWN EDITION CoinDesk Live: Lockdown Edition continues its popular twice-weekly chats with Consensus speakers via Zoom and Twitter. Here you’ll get a preview of what’s to come in Consensus: Distributed , our first fully virtual – and fully free – big-tent conference May 11-15. On the show, we’ll chat with developers from the most exciting crypto projects, unpack the basics – and not so basics – of the industry and hear from entrepreneurs disrupting traditional industries. Then we’ll open the floor for you to ask questions directly to our guests. Register to join our second session Tuesday, April 21, with Foundations speakers Priyanka Desai and Aaron Wright from The Lao to discuss for-profit DAOs. Market Intel Bitcoin Derivatives Open interest in bitcoin futures listed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has recovered significantly from the March lows, indicating a resurgence in institutions that want to buy the cryptocurrency. As of Wednesday, open interest, or the number of futures contracts outstanding, was $181 million, a 70 percent increase from $106 million recorded on March 22. Activity in the bitcoin options market picked up pace on Thursday, as bitcoin’s price jumped above $7,000 and opened the doors for stronger gains ahead of the next month’s reward halving. Daily trading volume in bitcoin options listed on major exchanges rose to $86.4 million on Thursday, the highest since March 16. Stablecoin Surge New data shows the outstanding value of dollar-linked tokens, the de facto form of cash on chain, is amassing on cryptocurrency exchanges. In the past month, the outstanding value of the top six dollar-linked tokens has surged by more than 25 percent to about $8 billion, according to CoinDesk Research. This insight comes from First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily markets newsletter. You can subscribe here. Halving Webinar Join CoinDesk’s Noelle Acheson and Christine Kim for a chat about the upcoming bitcoin halving. They’ll talk about their recent report which explains what it is, why it matters and what its impact on the sector and the bitcoin price could be. We attempt to reconcile the various models and theses around the potential bitcoin price reaction as the adjustment approaches, and look at metrics that will shed light on the technological impact. The Breakdown Libra v. Digital Yuan On the latest episode of The Breakdown , NLW breaks down Libra’s new fiat-pegged model, DCEP’s trial app and China’s Blockchain Service Network. Who Won #CryptoTwitter? Blockchain Bites is CoinDesk’s daily news roundup of the most important stories in blockchain tech from this site and around the web. You can subscribe here . Related Stories First Mover: Coronavirus Trillions Get Bitcoiners Wondering if Halving Still Matters Blockchain Bites: DLT’s Great Leap Forward, Bitcoin Hoarders and a16z’s New Fund View comments || First Mover: Bloomberg’s Pie-in-the-Sky Bitcoin Call Looks Directionally Defensible: Option market traders look to be placing bets for a continued upward move in bitcoin, according to a key metric. The put-call open interest ratio, which measures the number of put options open relative to call options, fell to 0.43 on Thursday – the lowest since March 24, according to crypto derivatives research firm Skew . The data takes into account open interest at leading derivatives exchanges Deribit, OKEx, CME, LedgerX and Bakkt. Notably, the ratio has declined sharply from 0.81 to 0.43 over the last four weeks. “The put-call ratio can gauge the overall sentiment of traders and the lower ratio dictates that more traders are buying calls (bullish bets) than puts (bearish bets),” according to Lennard Neo, head of research at Stack, a provider of cryptocurrency trackers and index funds. “The decline toward 0.4 indicates that some form of bullishness is building,” he said. However, it is possible to argue that increased selling of calls is causing a drop in the put-call ratio. After all, open interest refers to the number of calls and put contracts that are active, or open, at a given point in time and does not reveal whether investors are buying call/put options or selling (known as “writing” in options markets). Traders usually buy calls when the market is expected to rise and buy puts when prices are likely to fall. That said, experienced traders often sell calls when the market is expected to remain range-bound and not rise beyond a certain level. Selling a call or put can be equated to selling a lottery ticket, where the maximum profit for the seller is the ticket price. The loss is huge if the buyer wins the lottery. However, in this instance, the decline in the ratio does look to have been fueled by increased call buying, a sign of bullish sentiment, as calls are commanding higher prices than puts. Related: Bullishness Building in Bitcoin Options Market, Data Suggests The one-month put-call skew, which measures the price of puts relative to that of calls, is currently at -1.9%. Three-month and six-month skews are also reporting negative values. Story continues Institutions bullish? “The move lower in the put-call ratio likely reflects the sharp increase in call buying on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME)”, said Shaun Phoon, senior trader at Singapore-based QCP Capital . Data from CME, which is considered synonymous with institutional and macro trading, does show that the market is currently being driven almost entirely by the activity in calls. “As of June 4, about 25,000 bitcoin worth of call contracts were open in total and most of those are between the $10,000 to $15,000 strikes,” Ecoinometrics , a bitcoin analysis company, noted in its daily newsletter. Currently, there are 51 calls open against one put option. Clearly, the CME options market is heavily skewed to the bullish side. A reliable indicator “ The put-call open interest ratio has proven its fortitude and has dictated the right direction over the past few major moves such as the Fed decline, and post-crash rally,” said Stack’s Neo. The previous two instances of sub-0.5 readings on the ratio observed in early January and in the second half of March coincided with the beginning of major upswings in prices. The ratio bottomed out at 0.42 on March 24, after the cryptocurrency had dropped close to $6,500. In the following six weeks, prices rose back to highs above $10,000. The likely scenario is that the options market is anticipating another move above $10,000. Bitcoin, however, needs to build a strong base above that level, as that would likely draw stronger chart-driven buying. Over the last 12 months, bitcoin has failed multiple times to keep gains above $10,000. Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency at the time of writing . Related Stories The Free Market Will Determine Cardano’s Fate: IOHK’s Charles Hoskinson Bitcoin Is a Way to Repair Economic Injustice: Author Isaiah Jackson || Demand for bitcoin surges as 'halving' countdown approaches: Demand for bitcoin has surged in recent weeks as the halving countdown of the virtual currency draws closer.
The cryptocurrency has seen a sharp rise in interest from investors prior to the halving which will take place on Tuesday.
Halving is a technical process which cuts the number of new coins awarded per block to miners, reducing the bitcoin supply and keeping a lid on inflation.
Mining is a process of validating blocks of transaction by competing to solve mathematical puzzles every 10 minutes. The first miner to solve the puzzle is rewarded new bitcoins.
But every four years the mining reward is halved and on 12 May this will drop from 12.5 bitcoins per block mined to 6.25.
Bitcoin has not been immune to the coronavirus pandemic, as its value collapsed in mid-March to under $5,000 (£4,030) a coin, having previously sat at $10,000, just one month earlier.
READ MORE:Forget Bitcoin! I think the FTSE 250 is the better buy right now
But as the halving approached it rebounded to nearly $10,000, in sharp contrast to other physical financial assets struggling during the current pandemic.
Analysts are divided over whether the halving will see the price of bitcoin go up as supply runs down or if it will have a limited impact. Coin Corner chief executive Danny Scott said bitcoin could potentially reach $1m within half a decade.
Jake Yocom-Piatt, co-founder and project lead at cryptocurrency Decred,told Forbeshalving would be a positive event for bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
“A pandemic is very much a deflationary type event. Economic activity is going to take a real nosedive. The halving of bitcoin is a necessarily deflationary action,” he said.
This will be the third halving of the cryptocurrency since its launch in 2009 and previous events have triggered price rises of 81 times and 30 times in the 18 month period following the 2012 and 2016 halvings respectively.
READ MORE:Bitcoin to Rally after Halving?
But some experts are urging caution over the expectation of a bitcoin bull run.
Glen Goodman, author of The Crypto Trader, toldThis is Moneythe halving was driving prices higher because it got a lot of people excited.
"But in a fundamental sense, it doesn't have as big an impact as many people seem to believe. The swings in demand for bitcoin are so huge that they swamp any price-effect the halving may have on the supply side," he added. || Dupont Is the Most Popular Stock Among the Gurus, but Why?: As we know, GuruFocus keeps us posted on what the investing giants, the gurus, are up to in managing their portfolios and funds. One of the tools it provides for tracking the gurus is the S&P 500 screener, which aggregates all the buys, sells and holdings in one large table. On May 12, the company at the top of the buy list on the screener was DuPont de Nemours Inc. (NYSE:DD), a company selling at a significant discount, as shown in this 10-year chart: Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Signs with DD. Click here to check it out. DD 30-Year Financial Data The intrinsic value of DD Peter Lynch Chart of DD GuruFocus Dupont 10 year price chart Its price began falling in January 2018, just four months after it had merged with Dow Chemical (NYSE:DOW), one of its competitors in the chemicals business. But the $130 billion company created by the merger, DowDupont, was just a stepping stone to an entirely new structure. It was the beginning of a tangled web, at least in the eyes of many outsiders. Dow and Dupont each had divisions or subsidiaries competing in the same niches, so they created one new company and revamped the two entities to put together the new package: Dow would become a separate company again and focus on commodity chemicals (or material sciences). Dupont also would become a company on its own and focus on specialty chemicals. Agricultural product producers from both companies would be combined under a new spinoff, Corteva Inc. (NYSE:CTVA). And that wasn't the end of the restructuring. In December 2019, Dupont, which had just split itself out the DowDupont conglomerate, announced that its nutrition and biosciences division would merge with International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF). As announced in a news release, Dupont shareholders would own 55.4% of the combined company, while International Flavors shareholders would own 44.6%. In addition, Dupont would receive a $7.3 billion payment on completion of the deal (expected in 2021). Many conglomerates have generated better performance by breaking up because management teams in former divisions or subsidiaries become more entrepreneurial. It also helps expose weak performers, companies or divisions that needed cross-subsidization from successful performers. After a conglomerate breakup, winners can keep their earnings and grow their companies more quickly, while the underperformers can be sold or closed. Is that what's attracting the interest of the gurus? It won't be the conventional financials, which look dismal. Of course, in many cases, the fundamentals reflect a company in churn mode since it did the big merger with Dow less than three years ago, then restructured the organization and de-merged. Story continues With that caveat, here are Dupont's summaries for financial strength and profitability: Dupont financial strength and profitability Note that the company has an increasing debt load, its Altman Z-Score is weak and that its return on invested capital is less than its weighted average cost of capital. On the profitability chart, note all the negatives, including the net margin, ROE (return on equity) and its Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) growth rate. Again, I would caution these fundamentals reflect a company undergoing a substantial transformation. GuruFocus does not provide a discounted cash flow estimate because the predictability of its earnings is too low. It gets a one-star (out of five) rating, but that will likely improve (along with the underlying earnings per share) when the company completes its deal with International Flavors & Fragrances (which is another year away). The gurus' bullish sentiment is shared by the 10 analysts followed by Nasdaq. The consensus among them, over the past three months, is a strong buy rating. The consensus 12-month price target is $52.36, which is $6.68 or 14.6% more than the current price of $45.68. The highest estimate is $79 and the lowest is $35. As I understand it, investors who owned shares of DowDupont will now have shares in four different companies, Dow, Dupont, Corteva and International Flavors & Fragrances. That will also entitle them to dividends, where and when they are available. But are there many of those shareholders, who held DowDupont shares, still around? As the price chart above showed, the share price has taken a severe beating. And that gets us back to the gurus, most of whom have a medium-to-long-term perspective and can see robust returns for those who wait--especially if they can get into a position at a deeply discounted price. Given that Dupont is now a company that has survived for 217 years, they may have a point. Disclosure: I do not own shares in any companies named in this article and do not expect to buy any in the next 72 hours. Read more here: Apple, Amazon and Share Buybacks Paul Tudor Jones Hedges With Bitcoin Service Corp International: Death and Economics Not a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Sign up for a free 7-day trial here . This article first appeared on GuruFocus . Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Signs with DD. Click here to check it out. DD 30-Year Financial Data The intrinsic value of DD Peter Lynch Chart of DD View comments || RPT-COLUMN-Pandemic shock may hasten central bank digital cash: Mike Dolan: (Repeats column originally published April 9 with no change to content. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.)
By Mike Dolan
LONDON, April 9 (Reuters) - This coronavirus crisis may have come too soon for central banks now mulling digital currency as legal tender but the financial problems the health scare presents could hasten their arrival.
Getting government and central bank cash instantly, fairly and securely to where it's needed most in an emergency has been one of the biggest challenges presented by this pandemic and the deep recession it's causing. And central bank digital currency, or CBDCs, could help solve some of those problems.
Electronic money is how many people already operate via their bank accounts. Legal tender digital cash is different in that it operates just like traditional notes and coins but would be in a digital format akin to cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, and used for payment or passed between individuals via blockchain-style digital wallets. Unlike a cryptocurrency, it's created and guaranteed by the central bank.
As well as avoiding health risks posed by physically passing around money in a pandemic, the advantages of moving to CBDCs include the ability of central banks to inject cash to households and firms at speed, allowing tracking and withdrawal of the funds eventually and even taxation if necessary to prevent cash hoarders avoiding negative interest rates at banks.
On the other hand, central banks have hesitated so far due to technology, security and privacy questions and also concerns about the stability of the standing banking and payments system from any sudden rush to CBDCs.
Yet even before the virus hit, central banks of Britain, the euro zone, Japan, Canada, Sweden and Switzerland and the Bank for International Settlements were already due to meet this month to pool findings on plans for digital cash.
According to Deutsche Bank analyst Marion Laboure, this group of central banks - representing about a fifth of the world’s population - are likely to issue a general purpose digital currency within three years.
The status of that April meeting is unclear. But it comes as central banks and governments come under pressure to deliver cash to households and businesses during an economic shock that will see major western economies shrink at rates not seen for a century.
Standing methods of pumping money through the banking system via so-called "quantitative easing", where central banks flood commercial banks with cash by buying bonds, are already in full swing to the tune of trillions of dollars.
Additional trillions of government fiscal spending has ratcheted up in tandem, supporting healthcare, paying salaries and even posting checks. The bill is gigantic, but the cost of that debt is held down by central banks buying government bonds.
So far, so good. That's stabilised credit markets to some degree but what about the public at large and wider economy?
PEOPLE'S DIGITAL QE?
The halt of much economic activity to stop the spread of the coronavirus means governments and central banks will struggle to get money directly to both businesses starved of cashflow and workers who are furloughed or laid off.
A well-aired criticism of QE since the last crash 12 years ago was that much of the money got bunged up in the banks as low demand for loans prevented it getting to the households and firms that needed it most and it merely ended up inflating asset prices held by the wealthiest - culminating in slow growth, rising inequality and a wave of political frustration.
Many experts feel central bank digital currencies could go some way to addressing these problems.
The "whatever it takes" mantra from most policymakers mean policies previously considered taboo are suddenly in the mix or are being openly debated and discussed.
On Thursday alone, the Bank of England agreed to lend the UK government money directly if needed for its COVID-19 spending plans if debt markets proved too cumbersome.
Shortly after, the Fed announced another massive $2.3 trillion programme, this time for small and mid-sized firms via banks, lending directly to local governments and even providing for corporations with poor credit ratings.
Some proposals for CBDCs have emerged that potentially blend all approaches germane to this shock and the policy conundrums it throws up.
In a paper for Washington's Petersen Institute published last week, economists Julia Coronado and Simon Potter advocated a system of digital payment providers that allowed the Fed to directly pay households to stabilize income in a downturn when interest rates were already zero.
They argue that this Fed-backed digital currency could both augment automatic fiscal stabilizers and "harness the power of helicopter money or quantitative easing."
The gist of the proposal involves what they dub 'recession insurance bonds' — zero-coupon bonds authorized by Congress amounting to a share of GDP sufficient to support demand in a severe recession. Treasury would credit households' digital accounts with these bonds and the Fed would purchase them from households in a downturn after its policy rate hits zero. (by Mike Dolan, Twitter: @reutersMikeD) || The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers -03/06/20: Bitcoin slid by 6.84% on Tuesday. Partially reversing an 8.2% rally from Monday, Bitcoin ended the day at $9,527.0. It was a range-bound start to the day. Bitcoin slipped from an early morning intraday high $10,252.0 to an early morning low $10,066.0. Steering clear of the first major support level at $9,632.53, Bitcoin recovered to $10,200 levels before hitting reverse. An afternoon reversal saw Bitcoin slide to an early afternoon intraday low $9,150.0 before finding support. Bitcoin fell through the first major support level at $9,632.53 before finding support. In spite of late support, however, Bitcoin failed to break back through the first major support level. Resistance at $9,600 pinned Bitcoin back. The near-term bullish trend remained intact, in spite of Tuesday’s pullback. For the bears, Bitcoin would need to slide through the 62% FIB of $6,400 to form a near-term bearish trend. The Rest of the Pack Across the rest of the majors, it was a mixed day for the majors on Tuesday. Stellar’s Lumen rallied by 3.39% to buck the trend on the day. It was a bearish day for the rest of the pack, however. Binance Coin (-3.73%), EOS (-5.40%), Ethereum (-4.31%), Litecoin (-4.68%), Ripple’s XRP (-3.75%), and Tron’s TRX (-4.57%) led the way down. Bitcoin Cash ABC (-1.22%), Bitcoin Cash SV (-2.52%), Cardano’s ADA (-2.40%), Monero’s XMR (-1.78%), and Tezos (-2.31%) saw relatively modest losses. Through the current week, the crypto total market cap rose to a Monday high $285.71bn before sliding to a Tuesday low $255.98bn. At the time of writing, the total market cap stood at $264.36bn. At the start of the week, Bitcoin’s rose to a Monday high 67.13% before falling to a Tuesday low 65.64%. At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s dominance stood at 66.02%. This Morning At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down by 0.32% to $9,496.1. A mixed start to the day saw Bitcoin rise to an early morning high $9,538.1 before falling to a low $9,480.6. Story continues Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on. Elsewhere, the rest of the majors also struggled early on. Stellar’s Lumen and Tezos led the way down, with losses of 1.64% and 1.39% at the time of writing. For the Bitcoin Day Ahead Bitcoin would need to move through to $9,650 levels to bring the first major resistance level at $10,136.0 into play. Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Bitcoin to break back through to $10,000 levels. Barring another broad-based crypto rally, resistance at $10,000 would likely leave Bitcoin short of the first major resistance level. In the event of another extended crypto rally, Bitcoin could eye $10,200 levels before any pullback. Failure to move through to $9,650 levels could see Bitcoin fall deeper into the red. A fall back through the morning low $9,480.6 would bring the first major support level at $9,034.0 into play. Barring another extended crypto sell-off, however, Bitcoin should steer clear of sub-$9,000 levels on the day. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: EOS, Ethereum and Ripple’s XRP – Daily Tech Analysis – 03/06/20 GBP/USD is Going Up Towards Daily ATR NZD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – Next Major Upside Target is .6448 US Stock Market Sets Up Technical Patterns – Pay Attention E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM) Futures Technical Analysis – May Be Grinding Toward 26962 AUD/USD and NZD/USD Fundamental Daily Forecast – Bullish Investors Reacting to Forward-Looking RBA Statement || Crypto expert compares Ethereum to oil amid recent crash: Gold is the same as Bitcoin in the same way that oil is the same as Ethereum, according to Alexander Blum, crypto investment expert and Chief Operating Officer of fintech firm Two Prime. Blum believes that Ethereum draws parallels to oil as it relies on a particular utility, while Bitcoin and gold are seen as more reliable stores of value. His comments come after a sensational crash in the price of oil that was spurred by a lack of demand of insufficient storage. “Last week was a really bizarre situation with oil prices moving below zero for oil futures. Nobody is traveling — no one is using gas as they’re not driving, flying, or on cruises — and oil prices were already in a bad place to begin with. While this is great for the environment, it’s not good for the oil business. Storing oil has been more expensive than the price at which it’s being sold, and hence, we saw the price crash.” Blum commented. Coin Rivet reported on oil’s desperate descent when it plunged to $10 before suffering a capitulation low of negative $40. The severity of the crash caused shockwaves across all global markets aside from cryptocurrencies, which actually performed well with stability and a slight charge to the upside. “Oil has historically been one of the most reliable stores of value outside of precious metals. The price of oil has already been falling gradually, and the virus accelerated its plummet.” Blum continued. “If Bitcoin is likened to gold, Ethereum is more like oil. If Ethereum no longer had any technical use, there would be no utility for it. Oil and Ethereum both rely on some type of utility. Like gold, Bitcoin has little intrinsic value, but its simplicity is its strength, not its weakness. Sometimes simplicity can be a good thing, especially when markets are turbulent.” For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here .
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
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Trend: down || Prices: 9795.70, 9870.09, 9321.78, 9480.84, 9475.28, 9386.79, 9450.70, 9538.02, 9480.25, 9411.84
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Wyoming’s New Crypto Banking Law Could Defang New York’s BitLicense: There’s a way cryptocurrency businesses can get around New York’s notoriously hard-to-get BitLicense, and it runs through Wyoming.
At least, so say members of the team that drafted the 13 crypto-friendly laws enacted by the Western state this year. One of those laws allows Wyoming to charter Special Purpose Depository Institutions (SPDIs), a new type of fully-reserved fiat bank that can also custody crypto assets.
With an SPDI, crypto exchanges and other startups could operate in New York without going through the state’s licensing rigmarole, under the same legal principles that exempt banks from needing state money transmitter licenses, Wyoming advocates said.
Related:PODCAST: Josh Brown on Why Bitcoin Is Like the 1800s Railroad Boom
“We are fairly confident that the Wyoming SPDI will be able to operate in New York without a BitLicense,” Chris Land, general counsel of the Wyoming Division of Banking, said Tuesday at CoinDesk’s Invest: NYC event in New York.
The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), which created the BitLicense in 2014, did not answer requests for comment by press time.
The BitLicense was one of the earliest regulations specially crafted for the blockchain industry. But many firms have complained that it is onerous and has driven entrepreneurs and innovators away from New York, the U.S. financial capital.
Only 18 BitLicenses have been granted in the rule’s five years of existence. Getting hold of one is known to be a slow and expensive process, and that’s if you are in full compliance with all the requirements, which amount to a heavy-duty version of a money transmitter license. Some companies that fell short of NYDFS’ expectations havepublicly bemoanedthe process.
Related:PODCAST: Kaiko’s Ambre Soubiran on Bitcoin’s ‘Intrinsic Value’
In addition to addressing the BitLicense problem, an SPDI could ease a longstanding pain point for crypto businesses: the difficulty of obtaining banking services.
Once approved for the charter (the statutory minimum capital requirement to apply is $5 million), firms would have master accounts with the Federal Reserve and the own ability to clear their own wires.
In other words, they could literally be their own banks, to use a familiar motif from crypto-land.
“Some companies might choose to partner with unaffiliated SPDIs and others might choose to create their own affiliated SPDI,”Caitlin Long, the gubernatorial appointee to the Wyoming Blockchain Task Force, told CoinDesk.
“The significance is that crypto companies won’t need to rely anymore on the few traditional banks that have been willing to bank the industry,” she said.
The handful of crypto-friendly banks in the U.S. includes Silvergate in California and Signature and Metropolitan Commercial in New York. Long said one of the best-known of these banks (she wouldn’t say which one) employs 65 compliance officers, making the whole business very expensive.
If the Wyoming SPDI works out as suggested, it could be seen as an interesting parallel to the way Citi found a clever way to sidestep New York’s tough usury laws. The bank made a landmark decision in 1981 to move its credit card operation to South Dakota, where legislators were won over by Citicorp’s promise of jobs if that state lifted its usury ceiling.
And as part of the “far-reaching impact” of the SPDI, Long said she is optimistic the NYDFS will view the bank charter as trumping the BitLicense since banks have higher capital and regulatory requirements than money transmitters do.
“The Wyoming SPDI would need to apply to NYDFS to open a branch in New York and NYDFS would need to approve the application, but there’s a lot of favorable case law precedent,” said Long, a former Morgan Stanley executive. “So if NYDFS denies the application, I think it would go to litigation and the Wyoming bank would likely prevail.”
Long also sounded optimistic about lawyering up if need be. After she spoke alongside Land on Tuesday’s panel, she said, “multiple New York attorneys came up to volunteerprobonoto help the Wyoming Banking Division litigate if it ever comes to that.”
From left: Caitlin Long, Chris Land, Mary Beth Buchanan of Kraken and Anette Nazareth of Davis Polk at Invest: NYC 2019, image via CoinDesk archives
• PODCAST: Ikigai’s Travis Kling on Why Bitcoin Is a ‘Baby X-Man’
• PODCAST: Caitlin Long on Bitcoin as Insurance Against Financial Collapse || Bitmain continues to squash rivals as competing founder arrested: Crypto mining giant Bitmain has amassed the majority of the market share when it comes to fabricating Bitcoin mining rigs. As competition steps up in the space and the mining reward is halved next year, the company remains intolerant to rivals. Bitmain rival company founder arrested According to Bloomberg , Yang Zuoxing, ex-Bitmain employee and the majority shareholder of Bitmain rival MicroBT, was detained by police at the end of October in Shenzhen. With a PhD in mechatronics from Beijings prestigious Tsinghua University, Yang went on to become a Chinese chip designer before joining Bitmain. He was one of the key technology masterminds responsible for the companys success as the largest producer of Bitcoin mining rigs. He had previously told Bloomberg News that he was responsible for helping Bitmain to design its range of highly sought-after ASIC mining machines. However, he decided to leave the company in 2016 after his request for a stake in the business was refused by co-founders Wu Jihan and Micree Zhan. The Bitmain ex-employee who left to form rival company MicroBT isnt the first to be detained by police after setting up crypto mining operations. Details of the arrest According to sources familiar with the subject (who asked not to be identified by Bloomberg), Yang was arrested following a legal dispute with his former employer. This is not what the official statement from prosecutors in Naschan district on December 12 proclaimed. In it, they say that Yang was arrested on suspicion of embezzlement, not over a discrepancy with Bitmain. Legal procedures remain ongoing. The statement makes no mention of either Yangs company MicroBT or Bitmain. It also removes the second of three Chinese characters from Yangs name, perhaps in an attempt to shield his identity. The intensifying crypto mining wars In an increasingly competitive landscape and with the Bitcoin block reward set to reduce in May 2020, cryptocurrency mining is becoming even tougher. Bitmain is pulling out all the stops to halt its rivals in their tracks. Story continues While far less known than Bitmain in the mining space, MicroBT has become a substantial contender. Its mining equipment range Whatsminer has gradually eroded Bitmains market share. Crypto mining businesses have it tough on many fronts. Not only is there a constant question mark over supply and demand, but companies must also compete for limited chip supplies mainly from Samsung Electronics and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Yangs arrest comes at a time when competition in the space couldnt be more intense. In fact, MicroBTs flagship Whatsminer 20 series are the best-selling Bitcoin mining rigs of 2019 so far. In the absence of their leader, many company executives are unable to make key decisions including on how to price their equipment. Representatives of both companies unsurprisingly declined to comment. Bitmains history of legal battles with previous employees As previously mentioned, Yangs arrest is not the first time Bitmain has locked horns with prominent ex-employees. Last year, the company fought (and lost) a court ruling against MicroBT over allegations of infringed patents. In early 2019, Bitmain also filed lawsuits against another three former Bitmain employees. They had left to start Poolin, a rival mining pool, and Bitmain sued them for alleged violation of a non-compete agreement. Finally, Bitmain chief Wu Jihan recently conspired to remove co-founder Micree Zhan from the company as it scrambles to create new sales initiatives to attract more customers. Featured image from Bloomberg The post Bitmain continues to squash rivals as competing founder arrested appeared first on Coin Rivet . || SEC gives green light to Bitcoin futures fund: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given the green light to an investment fund which will invest in Bitcoin futures. The fund will be managed by Stone Ridge Funds – a company which currently has around $15bn worth of assets under management – and will be run with the intent to invest only in cash-settled futures. This will help mitigate the risks associated with directly holding digital assets. The new fund has received the personal backing of the SEC’s director of investment management Dalia Blass, who claimed the move is an example of her recent endeavours to engage with the fund industry. The fund is also a closed-end interval fund that doesn’t offer daily redemptions, meaning large, short-term liquidity demands will have little effect on price. Stone Ridge Funds filed the registration statement back in October, and it has been subject to two amendments before finally coming into effect on December 9. The fund is reportedly the first of its kind to be approved by the SEC. Stone Ridge Funds is a subsidiary of Stone Ridge Holdings Group, whose focus is on institutional clients with long-term goals. It will serve as the fund’s investment adviser. Blass isn’t the only SEC official to endorse the fund, with commissioner Hester ‘Crypto Mom’ Pierce sharing similar sentiments, claiming the move is a “bit of progress”. Interested in reading more SEC-related news? Discover more about the SEC urging a court to reopen a case against crypto Ponzi scammer Renwick Haddow. The post SEC gives green light to Bitcoin futures fund appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Bitcoin to See Return of Bull Cross That Marked Onset of 2016-17 Price Rally: View Bitcoins 50- and 100-week moving averages (MAs) look set to produce a bullish crossover next week. Back in 2016, the same cross marked the start of a long-term bull market. Prices could rise to key trendline resistance at $7,600 in the short-term. A break higher would expose the recent high of $7,870. The short-term bullish case would be invalidated if prices drop below $6,847. A bitcoin price indicator that marked the beginning of the 2016-17 bull market is about to make another appearance. The cryptocurrencys 50-week MA is on track to cross above the 100-week MA next week. The resulting bullish crossover would be the first since May 2016, according to Bitstamp data. MA crossovers are momentum indicators and help traders gauge the market trend. A bullish cross, therefore, suggests a rally is about to gather steam or a bull market is on the horizon. Related: Bullish Bitcoin Chart Pattern Still Intact Despite 7% Price Drop Its worth noting that MA studies are based on historical data and that crossovers, especially longer duration ones, tend to lag prices. For instance, the 50-week MA is based on one-year-old data and the 100-week MA is sensitive to the price action seen over the last two years. Put simply, the price rise from the December 2018 low of $3,122 to the June 2019 high of $13,880 has put the 50-week MA on an upward trajectory. So it could be argued that the impending bull cross is a lagging indicator and has limited predictive powers. Even so, the chart pattern warrants attention due to the fact that bitcoin broke into a 19-month long uptrend with the bullish crossover of the same averages in May 2016. Weekly chart (2015-2017) Related: WATCH: Thiel Capitals Eric Weinstein Talks About the Nature of Money The 50-week MA found acceptance above the 100-week MA in the last week of May 2016, following which the cryptocurrency picked up a strong bid near $430 and charted its way a record high of around $20,000 in December 2017. Story continues The low of $377 registered four weeks ahead of the confirmation of the crossover was never put to test again. (Interestingly, bitcoins bear market from the December 2013 highs above $1,160 ran out of steam with a bearish crossover of the same two averages in April 2015.) Similar price action was observed earlier this year, as seen below. Weekly chart (2018-19) Bitcoin charted a higher low of $3,700 in February, despite confirmation of a bear cross, signaling an end of the bear market following record highs near $20,000. With history perhaps looking to repeat itself, theres some reason to believe the upcoming bull cross of the 50- and 100-week MAs could bode well for bitcoin. As for the next 24 hours, the probability of bitcoin witnessing an upside move is high. At press time, the cryptocurrency is changing hands at $7,270 on Bitstamp, representing a 0.75 percent drop on the day. Daily and three-day charts The long lower wicks attached to the previous two daily candles represent a rejection of lower prices or seller exhaustion. This, coupled with the MACD histograms bullish turn to above zero indicates scope for a re-test of the descending trendline, currently at $7,600. Also, with prices holding well above $6,847, the bullishhammer reversal pattern confirmed on the three-day chart last week is stillvalid. That pattern would be invalidated if prices drop below $6,847, opening the doors for re-test of recent lows near $6,500. Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing. Related Stories Bitcoin Faces Biggest Monthly Price Drop of 2019 Despite Late Upturn What the Fed Reserves Balance Sheet Expansion Means for Bitcoin || SEC, CFTC Charge XBT Corp. With Selling Unregistered Swaps for Bitcoin: U.S. regulators filed charges against XBT Corp. Thursday, alleging the company failed to register as a futures commission merchant (FCM). In simultaneous press releases, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleged that XBT, otherwise known as First Global Credit, sold security-based swaps for bitcoin without registering on a national exchange. According to the charges, XBT solicited or accepted futures orders from 24 U.S. customers between March 2016 and July 2017, accepting bitcoin for margin trades. The company did not register as an FCM during this time. Related: Bitmain Seeking US IPO With Confidential SEC Filing: Report XBT had overall at least 90 investors, who conducted more than 18,000 security-based swaps between 2014 and 2019, conducting more than $100 million in transactions “based on U.S.-listed securities,” according to a legal filing . Of that, $43.8 million in trades were made by U.S. residents. The company will pay more than $130,000 in fees and disgorgement as part of the settlement, with the SEC taking custody of the funds over the next year. The CFTC’s press release states that the agency “recognizes that FGC’s civil monetary penalty in this matter was substantially reduced in light of FGC’s cooperation and remediation.” XBT rolled First Credit out in October 2014 , offering “contract for difference” (CFD) derivatives products allowing customers to deposit bitcoin in turn for purchasing credits representing shares in companies such as Apple. The U.S. FBI and Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) participated in the investigation, according to the releases. Related: SEC Blasts Kik’s ‘Void for Vagueness’ Defense of 2017 ICO XBT did not immediately respond to a request for comment. SEC image via Shutterstock Related Stories Paxos Wins SEC ‘No-Action’ Letter to Settle Equities on a Blockchain US Financial Regulators Join UK FCA’s ‘Global Sandbox’ || Financial Big Brother Is Coming, But Bitcoin Will Remain: Central banks move quickly looking to oversight all payments. Greece could impose sanctions if digital means are not used in at least 30% of payments. Once inside the crypto ecosystem, governments have little capacity for financial censorship. With the upcoming arrival of the new year, the publications of data of the current year, comparatives and projections accumulate. From everything I've been reading, I have selected three different news items, which perhaps, presenting them all together, will help us see some hints of what next year can bring to the crypto universe. The first news item speaks of a sharp increase in payments made with Bitcoins in the dark-net. After the end of 2018, in which the volume of payments made using Bitcoin fell more than 10%, the forecast for the end of the current year points to an increase of 30%, reaching $1,000 million . Earlier this week, news broke that Alex Patelis, the chief economic adviser to the prime minister, is proposing to force the Greek population to spend 30% of their income using electronic payment methods. The measure aims to increase the country's revenues by €700 million a year by preventing tax fraud. The threads that would sew these two remnants of today are the CBDC or Central Bank Digital Currency . Learn the concept. Yesterday, Christine Lagarde, president of the ECB (European Central Bank), announced the creation of a working committee on the CBDC, intending to advance rapidly towards the launch of this instrument. China plans to launch its CBDC at the beginning of 2020, Canada is already set to work on it, and every week a new initiative is made public. What I extract from the three news items is that we are moving towards a society where governments will control the payments that everyone makes. Governments are preparing to implement 100% electronic payment systems , in a quest to eliminate tax evasion. The CBDC is the specific instrument to impose a financial version of Big Brother will be imposed. Story continues And what do Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies represent? It seems that the role of cryptocurrencies will be to replace the digital currencies issued by the states in those payments that, for whatever reason, we do not want to. The use of cryptocurrencies is impossible to avoid . They are decentralized, anonymous and once inside the ecosystem, there is nothing a government can do to set limits. ETH/BTC Daily Chart ETH/BTC is currently trading at 0.0199 and ends the week at the same level at which it began. Above the current price, the first resistance level is at 0.020 , then the second at 0.022 and the third one at 0.023 . Below the current price, the first support level is at 0.019 , then the second at 0.018 and the third one at 0.017 . The MACD on the daily chart shows an utterly flat profile with no direction. There is no visibility. The DMI on the daily chart shows the bears losing strength but still maintaining the advantage against the bulls. The buying side is slightly better than yesterday. BTC/USD Daily Chart The BTC/USD pair is currently trading at the $7.210 price level and remains trapped between two parallel bearish structures. Above the current price, the first resistance level is at $7,500 , then the second at $7,900 and the third one at $8,600. Below the current price, the first support level is at $6,850 , then the second at $6,000 and the third one at $5,000 . The MACD on the daily chart remains the bullish profile but with hardly any opening between the lines. The loss of bullish strength is absolute. The DMI on the daily chart shows bears losing strength and moving very close to bull levels. Next week appears to be a crucial week. ETH/USD Daily Chart ETH/USD is currently trading at the $144.25 price level, unable to keep above the $150 psychological level. Below the current price, the look would get much worse. Above the current price, the first resistance level is at $150, then the second at $160 and the third one at $175 . Below the current price, the first support level is at $140 , then the second at $130 and the third one at $120 . The MACD on the daily chart shows a slightly bullish profile and no openings between the lines. The loss of bullish strength is total. The DMI on the daily chart shows the bears gaining strength while the bulls lose it slightly. XRP/USD Daily Chart XRP/USD is currently trading at the $0.2174 price level and is holding above the critical support low of $0.21 . Above the current price, the first resistance level is at $0.245, then the second at $0.262 and the third one at $0.305 . Below the current price, the first support level is at $0.21 , then the second at $0.19 and the third one at $0.1750 . The MACD on the daily chart continues to cross upward and with a bit of openness between the lines. Despite the sideways movement, the XRP/USD pair retains some upside potential. The DMI on the daily chart shows the bears further increasing their advantage over the bulls. The buyers’ side continues at extreme lows. Image Sourced from Pixabay 0 See more from Benzinga UK Elections Analysis: Three Reasons Why Johnson's Landslide Majority May Propel GBP/USD Far Higher The Brexit Election Or The Great Realignment Hexo's Q1 Report Could Be Ugly, Says Cantor Fitzgerald © 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin investors still smiling at the end of 2019: It’s been a bumpy year forbitcoinhodlers, but despite the rough ride, over the last 12 months, the price of the cryptocurrency has risen by more than 95% since this time last year.
On New Year’s Eve 2018, the price of bitcoin was sat at around $3,700, at the time of writing in 2019 however, the price has surged to around $7,300. That’s a 97.3% increase. Compared to other types of asset over the same time period, bitcoin has performed exceptionally. The Dow Jones Industrial Averagerose 27.37%, and theUK FTSE 100rose by a modest 14%. Not bad. But it’s been a test of nerves for investors this year.
As we entered 2019, bitcoin’s price continued to trickle downwards, hitting a low of $3,400 on February 8, according to data from CoinMarketCap. But from that point, the price began to climb, with monthly gains leading all the way to July 12, where the price of bitcoin hit its 2019 high of $12,955. Since then the market has been dominated by dramatic price swings.
The first came shortly after its July high. In just five days, the price slumped from nearly $13,000 back down to $9,481 by July 17. But by August 6, the price was way up again, sitting at $12,240.
September, October, and November all saw similar patterns with billions wiped off the price of bitcoin before an almost miraculous recovery. While those recoveries never quite saw the price of bitcoin return to its July peak, if you’d bought bitcoin in January you’d still be sitting pretty.
There has been a myriad of reasons why this year has had so many swings. A report by Chainalysis suggested a Chinese ponzi scam was behind the mid-December crash. Others suggested investors are just tired of all the swings and got out while the going was (moderately) good.
“Many companies and individuals that hold Bitcoin or other crypto still need to liquidate to fund their day to day expenses, and the fear of Bitcoin crashing even further is likely causing people to sell off further,”said Simon Yu, CEO of StormX, an e-commerce platform for micro-tasking, toldDecrypt.
We’ve actually compiled a learn guide on why bitcoin’s price is so volatile. The TL:DR of it is, this is what happens in a small market (when compared to other assets like gold and equities) where there are a few big players or whales that cause significant shifts in price whenever they move their crypto. You canread the whole thing or watch our video.
But despite the turbulent waters of 2019, exchange chiefs seem optimistic about bitcoin’s fortunes in 2020.
Executives at top South Korean crypto exchanges Bithumb, Korbit, and Hanbitco believe that market conditions will be brighter in 2020 thanks to improved regulation and a shift in the appetites of institutional investors.
Japanese exchange executivesseem to agree that 2020 will be a golden year, too. There’s also the long-awaited halvening of Bitcoin mining rewards to come in May as well. In the last two such events, bitcoin’s price trended upwards-albeit not always right away. Many are hoping this could lead to further gains for investors in the crypto asset.
If you’d been lucky enough to get into bitcoin in 2010 however, 2019’s highs and lows mean diddly squat compared to what happens if you held bitcoin for a decade.
Happy New Year hodlers. || Bitcoin flash crash drives price to $7,750 on Deribit: Bitcoin experienced a major flash crash on derivatives exchange Deribit last night, with price sliding all the way down to $7,750 in a matter of seconds. The incident was caused by a malfunction of Deribits Bitcoin index calculation, which ultimately caused a 15% drop in the price of Bitcoin on the perpetual swap contract. The dramatic swing in price resulted in a massive amount of erroneous liquidations, although Deribit has now reimbursed all affected accounts with a total of 150 BTC ($1.37 million). Deribit updated its website with the following statement: Deribit encountered BTC index calculation data issues around 21:00:00 UTC on October 31, 2019. This has caused our liquidation engine to initiate erroneous liquidations. Trades will not be rolled back. Please manage your positions accordingly. Deribit The cause of this incident was one platform providing incorrect prices that should have been removed as an outlier in the index calculation. We have suspended this platform from the index calculation. Our sincerest apologies for all inconvenience. Coinbase Pro was also affected by the malfunctioning Bitcoin index as price dropped from $9,260 to $9,055, prompting the exchange to go offline for one hour. The incident marks another moment in a difficult 24 hours for cryptocurrency exchanges in light of BitMEXs dilemma, with the worlds most popular cryptocurrency derivative trading platform accidentally leaking thousands of customer email addresses this morning. For more news, guides, and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . The post Bitcoin flash crash drives price to $7,750 on Deribit appeared first on Coin Rivet . || U.S Mortgage Rates Rise Again Supported by Progress in Trade Talks: Mortgage rates rose again in the week ending 31 st October. 30-year fixed rates rose by 3 basis points to 3.78%, following on from a 6 basis point rise in the week prior. In spite of the uptick, 30-year rates remained relatively close to levels last seen in early November of 2016, according to figures released by Freddie Mac . Compared to this time last year, 30-year fixed rates were down by 105 basis points. More significantly, 30-year fixed rates are down by 116 basis points since last Novembers most recent peak of 4.94%. Economic Data from the Week Economic data was on the busier side in the week. Positives supporting an uptick in yields included a narrowing in the U.S trade deficit on Monday, a jump in pending home sales on Tuesday and better than anticipated GDP numbers for the 3 rd quarter on Wednesday. On Tuesday, a slight easing in consumer confidence had a relatively muted impact ahead of the FEDs interest rate decision on Wednesday. While the FED cut rates for a 3 rd consecutive month, the FOMC Rate Statement suggested the FED would hit pause on any further policy easing. The more hawkish statement prevented a pullback in yields, leaving geopolitics to provide support. The EUs approval of the Brexit extension request and Parliamentary vote in favor of a 12 th December General Election was risk positive. Progress towards a phase 1 trade agreement between the U.S and China also supported an uptick in mortgage rates in the week. Things were different in the latter part of the week as negative news on trade hit the wires. News of Beijing casting doubts over the prospects of a longer-term trade agreement weighed. Freddie Mac Rates The weekly average rates for new mortgages as of 31 st October were quoted by Freddie Mac to be : 30-year fixed rates increased by 3 basis points to 3.78% in the week. Rates were down from 4.83% from a year ago. The average fee held steady at 0.5 points. 15-year fixed rates rose by 1 basis point to 3.19% in the week. Rates were down from 4.23% from a year ago. The average fee rose from 0.5 points to 0.6 points. Story continues 5-year fixed rates increased by 3 basis points to 3.43% in the week. Rates were down by 61 basis points from last years 4.04%. The average fee rose from 0.3 points to 0.4 points. According to Freddie Mac, rates rose for a 3 rd consecutive week for the first time since April. While purchase activity remains strong, driven by homebuyer demand, a lack of supply continues to a major barrier to the sector and the overall economy. Mortgage Bankers Association Rates For the week ending 25 th October, rates were quoted to be : Average interest rates for 30-year fixed, backed by the FHA, increased from 3.79% to 3.83%. Points increased from 0.26 to 0.28 (incl. origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. Average interest rates for 30-year fixed with conforming loan balances rose from 4.02% to 4.05%. Points decreased from 0.38 to 0.37 (incl. origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. Average 30-year rates for jumbo loan balances increased from 3.96% to 4.01%. Points remained unchanged at 0.30 (incl. origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. Weekly figures released by the Mortgage Bankers Association showed that the Market Composite Index, which is a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased by 0.6% in the week ending 25 th October. In the week ending 18 th October, the Market Composite Index had fallen by 11.9%. The Refinance Index fell by 1% in the week ending 25 th October, leaving the index up by 134% from a year earlier. The Index had fallen by 17% in the week ending 18 th October. The share of refinance mortgage activity declined from 58.5 to 58.0%, in the week, following on from a fall from 62.2% to 58.5% in the week prior. According to the MBA, 10-year Treasury yields rose slightly in the week. Support came from news of progress in trade talks between the U.S and China. A 2 nd consecutive weekly rise in mortgage rates saw 30-year fixed rates hit their highest level since the end of July. Mortgage applications were largely unchanged, with purchase activity rising 2% and refinances decreasing by less than 1%. Year-on-year, purchase applications continued to rise at a stronger pace than in 2018, up by 10%. Expectations are for applications to continue to rise, supported by low mortgage rates relative to last year. For the week ahead Its another relatively busy week on the economic data front. Key stats through the 1 st half of the week include September factory orders and October Service sector PMI numbers. Factory orders are due out on Monday, with PMIs on Tuesday. We would expect the markets preferred ISM non-manufacturing PMI to have the greatest impact. On Wednesday, 3 rd quarter nonfarm productivity and unit labor cost figures will also influence. Barring dire numbers, we would expect September trade data and the weekly initial jobless claims due out on Tuesday and Thursday to have a muted impact on rates. From outside of the U.S, October service sector PMI numbers due out of China on Tuesday will also influence. On the geopolitical front, chatter from Beijing and Washington on trade will need to be monitored. There is also UK politics to consider. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Silver Price Forecast Silver Markets Choppy On Friday Silver Weekly Price Forecast Silver Markets Form Bullish Candle For The Week S&P 500 Price Forecast Stock Markets Make New Highs Gold Price Prediction Gold Slips Following Employment Data Crude Oil Weekly Price Forecast Crude Oil Markets Continue To Grind Sideways Bitcoin Cash ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis 02/11/19 || BitGo Warns Users to Withdraw Bitcoin SV Over Hard Fork Threat to Wallets: A major code update for the cryptocurrency bitcoin SV (for Satoshi’s vision) will render some features of BitGo’s wallets useless, the crypto custodian says.
In ablog updateon Wednesday, “Murch,” a software engineer at the firm, said the Genesis hard fork scheduled for Feb. 4, 2020, would usher in a new consensus mechanism making BitGo’s BSV wallets unable to receive payments.
Specifically, the post stated:
Related:German Bank Launches Digital Assets Unit to Offer Custody Products
This means that, following the hard fork, funds in these wallets will still be spendable and BSV can be sent from the wallets. However, sending BSV to a wallet will produce an invalid transaction – even if it’s a BitGo wallet sending “change” back to itself, said Murch.
Customers holding the cryptocurrency – itself a fork of the bitcoin blockchain – are advised to either exchange their BSV into bitcoin, or withdraw their coins to an external wallet before the fork.
“If you continue holding BSV in your BitGo wallet after February 4th, you will only be able to sweep the wallet and most functionality will be disabled,” Murch wrote.
Related:Ethereum’s Istanbul Hard Fork Is Now Live
BitGo stores billions of dollars in cryptocurrency for clients such as institutional investors and exchanges. The firmrecently claimedit’s processing over 20 percent of all bitcoin transactions.
In 2018, BitGowas approvedin the U.S. to act as a qualified custodian for digital assets.
• BitGo Says It’s Now Processing 20% of Bitcoin Transactions
• Crypto Exchange Bitstamp Taps BitGo for Custodial Services
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
What’s the best #Bitcoin tumbler? Mixer.. etc?... || Director of Sales and Marketing - Branded Hotel in London - COREcruitment - [ 📋 More Info https://t.co/0oxSQnEcm6 ] #directsales #jobs #Hiring #Careers #London #UK #Cryptocurrency #Blockchain #BTC https://t.co/25I7kIuR6c || Beginner Method To Make $100-$1000/day Passive With Cryptocurrency! Bitcoin Trading Binance, Bitmex - Ads and Promos - ITalkMoney | HYIP and Forex Forum https://t.co/FK1CWIAGyz || The #crypto #asset known as #Chainlink or #LINK, has been the talk of the #cryptocurrency #market for much of 2019.
https://t.co/IArkZt0hQg
#Rakamoto #Blockchain #Crypto #Bitcoin #Digital #Money #Coins #Dollar #Banks || Sunday Digest: Bitcoin Price And Other News https://t.co/9ddDdyqS03 || Bitmain fulfills commitment to Rockdale, Texas, with launch of cryptocurrency mining farm to construct 50MW facility #blockchain #btc #cryptocurrency https://t.co/iULgasUfk2 || @MichaelBindner @nomiprins @CashApp @jack @maxkeiser @stacyherbert Gotcha. Yeah, there are certainly a lot of pump-and-dumps in crypto.
However, Bitcoin itself is not such a scheme. Many people, like myself, genuinely view Bitcoin as a significant improvement in monetary technology over the status quo (fiat currency). || @Emperor_YZ Bitcoin is the only way out of this nightmare now. || $XLM is now worth $0.0697 (+0.22%) and 0.00000762 BTC (+0.26%) #XLM
➡️ https://t.co/2m9Ikbh8ow || Learn more about Bitcoin on our site: https://t.co/zC6O2Xrv0Q https://t.co/dUzIxaE16H
|
Trend: up || Prices: 7293.00, 7193.60, 7200.17, 6985.47, 7344.88, 7410.66, 7411.32, 7769.22, 8163.69, 8079.86
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2015-10-07]
BTC Price: 242.97, BTC RSI: 59.10
Gold Price: 1149.00, Gold RSI: 58.72
Oil Price: 47.81, Oil RSI: 57.45
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Will The New York Times Piece Damage Amazon?: On August 15, the New York Times published anarticleslamming e-commerce giantAmazon.com, Inc.(NASDAQ:AMZN) for its unforgiving corporate culture. The piece describes in with anecdotal stories how employees are pushed to their limits in an environment that thrives on tension and inspires fear.
The piece gained traction on social media and many customers said it was enough to stop them from using the service in the future. However, shares of Amazon are up 72.46 percent year-to-date, leading many to wonder just how much damage the article will do.
Bezos Strikes Back
Following the release of the article, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sent outa staff memoin which he asked employees to contact him directly if they'd received the kind of treatment the New York Times had described. He maintained that Amazon's culture is very different from what was depicted and said he was shocked by the stories told. Other current Amazon employees took to the Internet in defense of Amazon, saying that the descriptions were inaccurate and that the company has been misrepresented.
Related Link:Amazon's Quarter Was A 'Full-On Crusher'
Solid Performance
While the article may have temporarily tarnished Amazon's glow, the company's solid Q2 performance is likely to overshadow complaints about management from an investors' perspective. In July, the company released strong Q2 sales and impressive financials which suggest that Amazon is on an upward trajectory.
From a money-making point of view, the article has done little hurt the retail giant's appeal.
Public Perception
In the social media age, public perception is a huge part of a company's success.SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. (NYSE:SEAS) lost a huge volume of customers after being slammed in the media for its treatment of orcas and Amazon similarly runs the risk of being known as a cruel company that treats its workers poorly, something that could deter shoppers from using the site.
However, so far the fallout from the article appears to be minimal, with most expecting more outrageous comments from the 2016 Presidential hopefuls to redirect the public's attention in the coming days.
See more from Benzinga
• What's Happening To Media Stocks?
• Bitcoin Rewards Gain Popularity
• Bitcoin, Marijuana And Drones: Meet Trees
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || 10 things in tech you need to know today: Apple CEO Tim Cook at WWDC 2015 (REUTERS/Robert Galbraith) Good morning! Here's the tech news you need to know to start off your week. 1. Netflix will no longer be able to show high-profile Hollywood movies like Transformers and the Hunger Games to US viewers . Netflix isn't renewing its distribution deal with Epix, and will be focusing on its original-content efforts instead. 2. Apple is reportedly planning a big increase in the price of the new Apple TV. The new version of Apple TV will be available in October and could cost about $200. 3. The US may have to go after the 'Great Firewall' to stop China's cyber-attacks. President Obama is expected talk to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping next month about cyber espionage. 4. Minecraft founder Markus Persson went on a tweetstorm this weekend to talk about the empty side of success, and selling his company to Microsoft for $2.5 billion . Microsoft bought Minecraft almost a year ago, and the founder did not join Microsoft after the sale. 5 . Uber has hired the two security researchers famous for hacking into a Jeep and stopping it while driving. Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek will be announced as new hires today, Reuters reports. 6. In the wake of his company's data breach, Ashley Madison CEO Noel Biderman has resigned. He is no longer with the company. 7 . Apple launched two new Apple Music TV ads last night during the MTV Video Music Awards featuring The Weeknd and actor John Travolta. The two-part, episodic series of ads highlights Apple Music's user interface, and its playlist feature in particular. 8. Investors are starting to worry that some big-name startups are overvalued. Investors in late-stage startups worry that the stock market's six-year bull run is coming to an end, and that today's super valuable private tech companies won't live up to their valuations when they go public. 9. Starting tomorrow, Google Chrome will be blocking Flash ads entirely by default. Google, which warned advertisers in advance, says it's blocking Flash ads for its performance-hindering effects. Story continues 10. Wall Street is paying attention to Bitcoin. The New York Times reports that executives from more than 12 large banks gathered earlier this year to confidentially discuss how the technology behind Bitcoin could be used to change foreign currency trading. NOW WATCH: 2 texting tricks you didn't know you could do on your iPhone More From Business Insider Google is showing developers how to turn off iOS 9's security features so it can load ads 'I've never felt more isolated': The man who sold Minecraft to Microsoft for $2.5 billion reveals the empty side of success A leaked part of an iPhone 6S shows a bigger, more powerful front camera || Flow to Establish State-of-the-Art Customer Call Centre of Excellence Bringing More Than 300 New Jobs to Jamaica: KINGSTON, JAMAICA--(Marketwired - Aug 31, 2015) - Flow, the newCable & Wireless CommunicationsPlc (CWC) consumer retail brand, today announced plans to establish a new, state-of-the-art Customer Call Centre of Excellence in Kingston, Jamaica and create more than 300 full-time jobs over the next two years. The innovative Customer Call Centre of Excellence is part of the Company's bid to become the leader in service excellence and revolutionise customer experience across the Caribbean.
The Customer Call Centre of Excellence, to be established in the coming months, follows the recent merger with Columbus International Inc and is part of Flow's new compelling plan to provide an enhanced customer experience. This initiative is also consistent with plans laid out by CEO Phil Bentley last year that will see C&W invest US$1.5bn over 3 years to upgrade infrastructure and overhaul service delivery throughout the Caribbean and Latin American region.
"Through investments like these, we are putting the customer at the heart of the business," said Bentley. "We are committed to anticipating their needs at every contact point and to delivering a customer care experience that is unparalleled across the region. Together, with our other existing Call Centre in Trinidad, we will revolutionise customer service in the Caribbean, and be the leader in recruiting the best talent in the region. We want Flow to be a business that everyone in the Caribbean is proud of," said Bentley.
Branded as an innovative Customer Call Centre of Excellence, the facility is being designed to provide customers with multiple touch points including warm and friendly service agents, Email, Virtual Chat, Mobile App and other technology-enabled support systems.Combined with increased service agent efficiencies, state-of-the-art technology tools will improve call routing and reduce call waiting time, making for an overall superior customer experience.
Managing Director, Flow Jamaica, Garry Sinclair is extremely pleased that the new Centre will be located on the island. "It is a testament to the growing confidence of Jamaica as a central hub for investment, the large pool of skilled labour that exists here, and the rapid growth of the ICT sector led by Flow, that we are making this investment here in Kingston." He added, "In addition to the investment in the new Customer Call Centre of Excellence, Flow is also investing in the best mobile and fibre networks across the island to deliver more technologically advanced quad play products, better value, and superior broadband connectivity to exceed our customers' expectations." Sinclair also stated that, "We are excited to recruit the best team on the island for this Centre and we will implement an extensive training programme to deliver an incomparable customer experience."
Responding to the announcement, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining commended Flow's decision to establish the Customer Call Centre of Excellence in Jamaica. "The establishment of Flow's Customer Call Centre of Excellence in Jamaica attests to the tremendous growth potential of the nation's ICT sector and affirms Flow's commitment to development of the local and regional economies. With the commitment to create new jobs, the investment also supports the country's goals to reduce unemployment, builds new skill sets and advances the country's vision to make Jamaica a place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business."
Since 2012, the Jamaican Government has had an ongoing drive to engage the private sector in the 'Jamaica Employ' programme, which seeks to increase prospects for job seekers and to bring critical new jobs to the island. "We love doing business in Jamaica and we are happy to partner with the Government in their various initiatives, including the 'Jamaica Employ' programme," Phil Bentley concluded.
About Cable & Wireless Communications:
Cable & Wireless Communications Plc (CWC) is a full service communications and entertainment provider, operating in the Caribbean and Latin America. With annual sales of over $2.4bn, it operates both mobile and fixed networks, supported by submarine and terrestrial optical fibre backhaul capacity. Through the acquisition of Columbus International Inc. on 31 March 2015, CWC now delivers superior high-speed mobile data, broadband and video services. It has leading market positions in Mobile, Fixed Line, Broadband and Video consumer offers.
Through its business division, CWC provides data centre hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customised IT service solutions, utilising cloud technology to serve business and government customers.
The company also operates a state-of-the-art subsea fibre optic cable network that spans more than 42,000 km -- the most extensive in the region -- as well as 38,000 km of terrestrial fibre providing wholesale and carrier backhaul capacity.
CWC has more than 7,000 employees serving over 6 million customers (Mobile 3.8m; Fixed Line 1.1m; TV 460k and Broadband 665k) as well as over 125k corporate clients across 42 countries. The Company's leading brands include; LIME and Flow in the Caribbean; BTC in The Bahamas; Mas Movil in Panama; C&W Business and C&W Networks. CWC is the market leader in most products offered and territories served. It is a major contributor to local communities through its corporate social responsibility programmes.
Cable & Wireless Communications' shares are quoted on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker CWC. The company is headquartered in London with its operational hub located in Miami, within close proximity to the Caribbean and Latin America.
For more information please visit:www.cwc.com || Will The New York Times Piece Damage Amazon?: On August 15, the New York Times published an article slamming e-commerce giant Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN ) for its unforgiving corporate culture. The piece describes in with anecdotal stories how employees are pushed to their limits in an environment that thrives on tension and inspires fear. The piece gained traction on social media and many customers said it was enough to stop them from using the service in the future. However, shares of Amazon are up 72.46 percent year-to-date, leading many to wonder just how much damage the article will do. Bezos Strikes Back Following the release of the article, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sent out a staff memo in which he asked employees to contact him directly if they'd received the kind of treatment the New York Times had described. He maintained that Amazon's culture is very different from what was depicted and said he was shocked by the stories told. Other current Amazon employees took to the Internet in defense of Amazon, saying that the descriptions were inaccurate and that the company has been misrepresented. Related Link: Amazon's Quarter Was A 'Full-On Crusher' Solid Performance While the article may have temporarily tarnished Amazon's glow, the company's solid Q2 performance is likely to overshadow complaints about management from an investors' perspective. In July, the company released strong Q2 sales and impressive financials which suggest that Amazon is on an upward trajectory. From a money-making point of view, the article has done little hurt the retail giant's appeal. Public Perception In the social media age, public perception is a huge part of a company's success. SeaWorld Entertainment Inc . (NYSE: SEAS ) lost a huge volume of customers after being slammed in the media for its treatment of orcas and Amazon similarly runs the risk of being known as a cruel company that treats its workers poorly, something that could deter shoppers from using the site. However, so far the fallout from the article appears to be minimal, with most expecting more outrageous comments from the 2016 Presidential hopefuls to redirect the public's attention in the coming days. Story continues See more from Benzinga What's Happening To Media Stocks? Bitcoin Rewards Gain Popularity Bitcoin, Marijuana And Drones: Meet Trees © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Pot-Friendly Candidates Emerge In 2016 Election: Marijuana will play an unprecedented role in the 2016 Presidential race as the drug has never before been regarded by the public in such a favorable light. In previous elections, marijuana was used as a weapon and candidate after candidate denied using, or liking the drug at all. However, this year pot is expected to come up several times on the campaign train, but as an issue rather than a shameful allegation. A Big Issue? It remains to be seen just how important a candidate's stance on marijuana legalization will be when it comes to the election. Most candidates have been vague about their views on the drug, saying that the Obama administration's decision to let states decide for themselves whether or not marijuana should be legalized has provided a good framework to see just how a legal marijuana market will affect the United States. Related Link: How Every Presidential Candidate Wants To Change The Economy Pot Friendly Candidates Ted Cruz and Rand Paul have voiced their support for the marijuana market, saying that it should be each state's right to determine the laws governing marijuana. Paul also became the first candidate to turn to marijuana industry groups for campaign support. Others, like Chris Christie claim they will take a hardline against marijuana and reverse states' decisions to legalize the drug. Unknown Others, like Hillary Clinton, have taken a wishy-washy view— saying that they'd like to see how things go in Colorado and Oregon before making a firm decision or avoiding the issue all together. However, this week, Bernie Sanders appeared to be planning to take a stand on marijuana and many speculate that stand will be pro-legalization. On Tuesday, Sanders spoke out against the war on drugs and promised voters that his campaign would release his marijuana platform in a month. See more from Benzinga Despite Record Profits, Turbulence Ahead For The Airline Industry One Man's Journey Around The World Using Only Bitcoin What The Fed Minutes Could Say About A September Rate Hike © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin May Be Flailing, But Blockchain Is On The Rise: Bitcoin has suffered from several high-profile scandals which have branded the cryptocurrency as a tool for criminals and given the public reason to question its safety. However, blockchain, the ledger-like technology that bitcoin runs on, has been touted as one of the most important technological advances of the past decade. Many believe that although bitcoin may eventually die out, blockchain will continue to gain support as more and more industries find use for the technology.
Blockchain Not Bitcoin
On Tuesday at Bloomberg Markets Most Influential Summit, blockchainreceived a nodfrom Blythe Masters, the CEO of Digital Asset Holdings. Masters remarked that while bitcoin was of no interest to her, blockchain had the potential to transform the finance space. Blockchain has been suggested as a way to revamp financial markets and make transactions faster and more streamlined, something Masters says is an important trend to watch.
Related Link:Charlie Shrem Weighs In On Bitcoin From His Prison Cell
Support From The Finance Industry
Masters isn't alone in thinking blockchain has potential, a recent survey by Greenwich Associates showed that the majority of finance professionals agree. When asked whether blockchain can continue to thrive without bitcoin, 73 percent of the 55 participants said "yes." That attitude suggests that although bitcoin is struggling to gain mainstream approval, blockchain is already being considered a viable option for finance firms looking to improve their operations.
Several Applications
While financial markets have been at the forefront of discussions about the use of blockchain, other industries also see the technology as a potential game-changer. Blockchain would be able to facilitate online auctions as well as create smart contracts, something that could be applicable in several sectors.
See more from Benzinga
• Fuel Surcharges Give E-Commerce Firms More Reason To Be Creative About Logistics
• Tech Firms Caught Between Privacy And Law Enforcement
• Gemini Prepares To Open Its Doors
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Organic Food Goes Mainstream: Consumer preferences have shifted significantly over the past few years as more and more people opt for all-natural, healthy food options.
Healthy food used to make up just a small isle of little known brands in the supermarket, but the niche has made its way into popular culture and now even big brands are hopping on the organic food bandwagon.
Supermarkets
Whole Foods Market(NASDAQ:WFM) is a heavy-hitter when it comes to the natural foods space. The company has grown into a well known brand where health nuts pay a premium for the best ingredients and most natural foods. However, as interest in health foods grew, so did the number of competitors.
Other specialty grocers likeSprouts(NASDAQ:SFM) andNatural Grocers(NYSE:NGVC) are expanding quickly and looking to increase their slice of the organic pie.
New Entrants
While new entrants in the organic foods business used to be mom and pop businesses that were working their way up, today's natural foods isle is filled with products backed by big name companies who are shifting their approach in order to attract health-conscious consumers.
Tyson Foods(NYSE:TSN) promised to stop using chicken that had been treated with antibiotics andKraft Foods(NASDAQ:KRFT) has removed artificial dyes from its well-known Mac & Cheese in an effort to appeal to the organic-obsessed public.
Bigger Not Always Better
However, the big brands aren't always able to appeal to health nuts the way smaller brands are. AfterKellogg Company(NYSE:K) acquired the Kashi brand in 2000, the healthy cereal maker went steadily downhill.
Customers discovered that Kellogg was using genetically modified ingredients and a social media campaign against the brand ensued. Now, Kellogg isworking to restoreKashi's image with innovative new cereals and a new marketing approach, but it is likely to be a rocky road back into consumers' good graces.
See more from Benzinga
• Is NASDAQ Going Green?
• Cybersecurity Becomes An Even Bigger Problem For U.S. Firms
• New Dictionary Entries Suggest Bitcoin Is Going Mainstream
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || XBT Provider AB: Bitcoin Tracker EUR to start trading on Nasdaq Nordic today: Stockholm, SWEDEN (October 5th, 2015) -XBT Provider AB is proud to announce the launch of Bitcoin tracker Euro.
Starting today anyone with a brokerage account connected to Nasdaq Nordic can trade the ETN "Bitcoin Tracker EUR" The ticker code is Bitcoin XBTE. ISIN: SE0007525332
Bitcoin Tracker EUR is designed to mirror the return of the underlying asset, U.S. dollar (USD) per Bitcoin. The product is an exchange traded note designed to track the movement of the underlying asset after fees.
Bitcoin Tracker EUR is our second Bitcoin-based security available on Nasdaq Nordic. XBT Provider launched this financial instrument to meet the needs of investors` growing appetite for exposure to Bitcoin prices.
"Bitcoin tracker EUR" (BTE) is listed on Nasdaq Nordic in Stockholm and traded in the same manner as any share or instrument listed on the Nasdaq exchange in Stockholm. BTE is also available via Bloomberg terminals through the ticker code COINXBE.
The full prospectus is available onxbtprovider.com
Bitcoin Tracker EUR is issued under the same prospectus as Bitcoin Tracker One which isapproved by Sweden`s financial supervisory authority, Finansinspektionen.
ABOUT XBT PROVIDERXBT Provider AB (publ) is a public limited liability company formed in Sweden with statutory seat in Stockholm. The issuer is incorporated under Swedish law and registered with the Swedish companies` registration office under registration number 559001-3313.
ABOUT THE MARKET MAKER: MANGOLD FONDKOMMISSIONMangold Fondkommission is a Stockholm based Brokerage and Investment bank. As a member of Nasdaq Nordic the company assists XBT Provider with clearing services and acts as a liquidity provider for Bitcoin Tracker One and Bitcoin Tracker EUR.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT
Alexander MarshE-mail:[email protected]
Johan WattenströmE-mail:[email protected]
Press release (PDF)
This announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.Source: XBT Provider AB via GlobeNewswireHUG#1956529 || Digital-Based Markets Ramp Up in 2015, Lead By Under-the-Radar Gems: SALT LAKE CITY, UT / ACCESSWIRE / August 25, 2015 / In 2015, digital-based markets have emerged as standard bearers across the entire financial landscape. Mobile gaming, in particular, has stood out as a front-runner in the digital sector, with mobile games projected to gross between 20 and 30 billion this year alone. These games can be programmed and sold inexpensively allowing mobile gaming companies to thrive thanks to low production costs and budget expenses. Meanwhile, in-app purchases often entice consumers to spend ever-increasing amounts for digital content. When a new, free-to-play mobile game goes viral, but offers numerous in-game purchases, total revenues resulting from a single game can be substantial. While the viral, swift dominance of the mobile gaming industry isn't news to most, the important thing for investors is the ability to identify which companies have the potential to be the next big thing. One possible candidate is Tapinator Inc (TAPM) . In the last two trading sessions, TAPM has experienced big gains, rising over 60% to settle in at .255 per share. The company continues to crack Google Play's lists of the most popularly downloaded mobile games, and Tapinator's recent financial and operating results demonstrated quarterly revenues that grew 172% year-over-year and 49% quarter over quarter. Tapinator was also able to eliminate all previously outstanding debt via a financing transaction that improved the company's liquidity. This is the company's fifth quarter in a row with substantial revenue growth. Coupled with a consistent schedule of newly released games, such as the extremely popular Burn It Down , which became a Top 50 iOS game, Tapinator appears to be on the right track for sustained long term growth. Average new daily downloads are up 268% year-over-year and 139% sequentially. In this industry, that kind of activity can only be achieved through strong word-of-mouth marketing and customer loyalty, which are the keys to producing the next big game to go viral. Story continues Also making waves in the digital sector is Avra, Inc Digital Currencies (AVRN) . Like Tapinator, Avra is a potential new leader in their field that has also experienced recent gains. The company saw heavy volume on Friday that raised its stock up 27%, even despite downward trends in the Dow and Nasdaq figures for that particular session. Avra aims to be one of the first major players to bring one of the internet's biggest phenomena bitcoin to the masses. Bitcoin is a digital currency traded online to make payments and buy merchandise. It exists without the regulation of a centralized banking system, which allows for lower fees, faster service, and less hassle. Avra's systems specialize in the use of bitcoin for the purpose of travel-based purchases in popular tourist stops like casinos, hotels, and airports. The locations targeted by the company are frequented by a tech-savvy demographic that falls between the ages of 21 and 35. Using bitcoin for their purchases allows for an easy, quick, and safe method of payment for customers who tend to be pressed for time and seeking an easy payment method. Ekso Bionics Holding s, Inc. (EKSO) is another new player in digital technologies with a product that has potential to break into a number of markets like healthcare, military, and consumer. Trading at 1.10 per share with an average volume of 731K, the company manufactures wearable bionic exoskeletons that increase human strength, endurance, and mobility - a product with multiple purposes such as aiding the disabled or increasing the efficiency of military tactics. The company has gained traction recently with a software upgrade earlier in the summer, and its CEO appearing on FOX Business Network at the beginning of August. For investors interested in TAPM or EKSO, a company with a similar profile is Anavex Life Sciences Corp (AVXL) , a clinical-stage bio pharmaceutical company with a varied portfolio of potential drug candidates to treat CNS disorders such as Alzheimer's. AVXL trades at 1.46 with a market cap of over 175M. With multiple industries driving toward digital products and services, the tech giants of today could soon be yesterday's news, supplanted by young companies on the rise like Tapinator, Inc. or Avra. Mobile gaming in particular is one of the most exciting, rapidly moving sectors on Wall Street. A stock like TAPM could be the seed that fuels growth for investors. DISCLAIMER: Seraphim Strategies is a third party publisher. Not a registered broker/dealer/analyst/adviser, holds no investment licenses and may not sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security. Market updates, news alerts and corporate profiles are not a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities. The material in this release is intended to be strictly informational and is not to be interpreted as research material. All readers are strongly urged to perform research and due diligence on their own and consult a licensed financial professional before considering any level of investing in stocks. For full disclaimer please read http://tomorrowsbluechips.com/disclaimer/ This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "may," "future," "plan" or "planned," "will" or "should," "expected," "anticipates," "draft," "eventually," or "projected." You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company's annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. SOURCE: Seraphim Strategies || Greece could soon get 1,000 bitcoin ATMs: Bitcoin(: BTC=)ATMs could spring up across Greece as soon as October as citizens and businesses become increasingly desperate to move their money despite capital controls.
BTCGreece, which bills itself as the country's first bitcoin exchange, plans to eventually install 1,000 ATMs nationwide, in partnership with European bitcoin platform, Cubits.
Thanos Marinos, the founder of BTCGreece, told CNBC on Wednesday that a soft launch was on the cards for October.
"It is part of my vision to create a block chain ecosystem in Greece," he told CNBC. "If all goes as expected with no major issues we will launch first ATMs October 2015."
Bitcoin is adecentralized digital currency that can be used around the world. Transactions are listed in a shared public ledger called the block chain.
The digital currency has been touted as one way to to circumvent Greek capital controls. These have been in place since June and limit domestic investors to withdrawing no more than 60 euros ($66) per day from Greek banks, making life extremely tough for companies that need to pay or receive bills. Greek individuals and businesses are also forbidden from moving money to bank accounts abroad.
The ATMs envisaged by Marinos could allow users to convert fiat currency into bitcoin and potentially vice versa.
As yet, BTCGreece has no ATMs in Greece. However, Marinos said he had already received requests from 300 shops for bitcoin ATMs.
"We want to do it cautiously," he told CNBC, adding that BTCGreece would announce more partnerships next week.
Bitcoin rallied in Juneamid reports that Greeks were flocking to the currency in order to circumvent the controls. However, the currency's decentralized nature makes it challenging to say how many Greeks currently use it.
Bitcoin ATMs have already been installed in other countries, predominately in the U.S. and Western European countries like the U.K., the Netherlands and Spain.
"There has been a focus on bitcoin and Greece and the economic instability there," Akif Khan, chief commercial officer at digital commerce company, Bitnet, told CNBC on Wednesday.
"So in one sense it will be an interesting experiment to see if Greeks do gravitate towards bitcoin as one of the tools in their financial toolkit to try and cope."
Read MoreTrack Bitcoin versus the euro(Unknown: BTCEUR=)
Belfast-based Khan added that Greece's regulatory environment was conducive to introducing ATMs.
"In principle, putting bitcoin ATMs into Greece is just as feasible as in any other European country... Greece does not have a prohibitive regulatory environment in this regard," he told CNBC.
-By CNBC'sKaty Barnato. Follow her@KatyBarnato.
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[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Current price: 152.49£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2015-09-26 05:00:02 BST || Беспроигрышная Лотерея Bitcoin в прямом эфире каждое воскресенье в 16:00! Сделав активацию в 10 монет ITIcoin в.. http://vk.cc/4gWgTc || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 18 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $82.14 #bitcoin #btc || #Anoncoin/#ANC price now: $ 0.137555, that's 0.78 % change in 1hour. 1.99 % past day, and -1.90 % in the past week! #Bitcoin is $ 231.00 || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 17 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $282.92 #bitcoin #btc || LIVE: Profit = $125.50 (1.35 %). BUY B34.60 @ $268.00 (#BTCe). SELL @ $269.66 (#HitBTC) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || 1 #bitcoin = $3934.00 MXN | $236.19 USD #BitAPeso 1 USD = 16.66MXN http://www.bitapeso.com || #RDD / #BTC on the exchanges:
Cryptsy: 0.00000004
Bittrex: 0.00000005
Average $9.0E-6 per #reddcoin
16:00:02 || #RDD / #BTC on the exchanges:
Cryptsy: 0.00000004
Bittrex: 0.00000005
Average $9.0E-6 per #reddcoin
09:00:02 || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 16 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $199.80 #bitcoin #btc
|
Trend: up || Prices: 242.30, 243.93, 244.94, 247.05, 245.31, 249.51, 251.99, 254.32, 262.87, 270.64
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2019-03-12]
BTC Price: 3909.16, BTC RSI: 55.02
Gold Price: 1296.30, Gold RSI: 46.91
Oil Price: 56.87, Oil RSI: 58.43
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Revolut CEO Refutes Claims of Negligence and Money Laundering Breach: The founder and CEO of United Kingdom -based digital banking app Revolut publicly denied allegations of a money laundering breach and negligence by the company in a blog post Mar. 1. The latest in a series of publicity disasters to afflict Revolut, as U.K. newspaper the Telegraph last week alleged that executives had deliberately decommissioned Anti-Money Laundering ( AML ) software earlier last year. Further reporting by the Telegraph has revealed that the company had attracted the attention of the U.K.’s finance regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). “This week, there's been some misleading information in the media relating to our compliance function,” CEO Nik Storonsky stated without mentioning specific criticisms. According to Storonsky, Revolut had opted to revert to its previous AML systems after an upgrade failed to produce adequate security. “At no point during this time did we fail to meet our legal or regulatory requirements. We conducted a thorough review of all transactions that were processed during this time, which confirmed that there were no breaches,” he continued. Storonsky added: “Unfortunately, this fact was not included in the original news story. This roll-out did not result in a breach of any sanctions or money laundering laws and requirements — so we did not send a formal notification to the regulator.” In late 2017, Revolut added support for Bitcoin ( BTC ), Ethereum ( ETH ) and Litecoin ( LTC ). The firm’s overall position expectedly contrasts with banking app Monzo, which some consider to be Revolut’s rival company. Monzo has deliberately avoided the cryptocurrency scene. “My personal view is we design for user journeys and user needs that the majority of the population have and the majority at the moment are not into cryptocurrencies,” co-founder Jason Bates told tech magazine Decrypt about the decision on Feb. 28. While some have urged Monzo not to pass up on cryptocurrencies, Bates said that, while crypto is important in countries and jurisdictions with highly corrupted financial systems, consumers living in countries with sound financial institutions will chose more safe and stable systems. Story continues Conversely, a recent survey of British consumers suggested a high prevalence of both knowledge and ownership of cryptocurrencies. 36 percent of respondents from the ages 18–24 claimed to know someone who has purchased Bitcoin. Related Articles: Blockchain Analytics Firm Chainalysis Outlines User Data Policy Amid Coinbase Allegations Coinbase Technology Partner Refutes Alleged Collection, Sale of User Data to Third Parties IMF Recommends Immediate Action on Malta’s AML and CFT Supervision Japan: Reported Cases of Crypto-Related Money Laundering Increase 10-Fold in 2018 || 3 Simple Steps to Buy Bitcoin Online or in Person: As a digital currency, you’d think buying bitcoin would be easy. I was shocked by the process the first time I tried. I had to set up a bitcoin wallet, print paperwork, drive to a pharmacy and send a MoneyGram order to California. It took days before bitcoin showed up in my wallet.
Thankfully, things have gotten simpler over the years. If you want to buy bitcoin today (and I’m convincedbitcoin will hit $100,000 one day), you’ve got several options.
The most common way to buy bitcoin is by opening an account with a crypto-fiat exchange.
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These are exchanges that allow you to deposit currency (“fiat” means paper money) and convert it to bitcoin using their exchange. Now, because these exchanges are taking cash from you and holding it on your behalf, opening an account requires some due diligence by the exchange.
It’s a similar level of diligence that you would expect when opening a bank account or a brokerage account. Crypto-fiat exchanges need to conduct KYC (know-your-customer) and AML (anti-money laundering) checks on you for their internal compliance. (We can’t expect an exchange to allow an anonymous person to deposit hundreds of thousands of dollars into their exchange and buy bitcoin!)
• 7 Consumer Stocks to Buy and Hold for Years
Below is an example from the customer onboarding process of a crypto-fiat exchange calledGemini.
The steps required to buy bitcoin on Gemini
Source: Gemini.com
Here are the steps required to buy bitcoin on Gemini.
You’ll notice that as a security measure you first need to set up Two-Factor Authentication (or 2FA) using your mobile device. This requires you to download an app (they recommend Authy). Every time you log in to the site, you’ll first enter your username and password. Then, you’ll open the Authy app to get a randomly generated code. You’ll need to enter that code on the website. This ensures hackers can’t access your account without having access to your username, password AND mobile device.
After this, you’ll be asked to add your bank account details. And then you you’ll need to upload proof of identity and proof of address documents. The specifics of the document requirements will vary on where you live, but generally you should expect to provide a good-quality scan of your current valid passport or driver’s license and a proof of address like a utility bill.
HINT: Before you begin opening your account, make sure you have scanned copies of your identity document (passport/national ID or driver’s license), and recent address proof dated within the past three months (i.e., a utility bill) ready.
Many exchanges don’t let customers use credit cards to buy bitcoin. That’s because bitcoin transactions are nonrefundable. Credit card payments on the other hand can be disputed. If the dispute happens after an exchange has released its bitcoin to you, it has few options to get reimbursed.
Recently, though, the Malta-based exchangeBinance.comgave customers the ability to buy bitcoin with a credit card through a partnership with crypto-payments company Simplex. There are some restrictions.
Simplex doesn’t work in all countries, and it’s unavailable in several U.S. states including Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, New Mexico, New York, and Washington.
If you’re in a permitted state, you’ll need to set up an account on Binance before you can place your credit card order. You’ll also have to pay a 3.5 percent fee, but your bitcoin should be available for trading within 30 minutes.
Since 2012, the Finnish companyLocalbitcoins.comhas been connecting bitcoin buyers and sellers in person and online. Like classified ads, users post how much bitcoin they want to buy, and the price they’re willing to pay. Sellers also post a selling price for bitcoin and how they’d like to execute the trade.
Prices and requirements to buy bitcoin vary widely, so make sure you’re comfortable with the terms each seller has listed.
Localbitcoins lists each seller’s successful transactions and ratings. Pay close attention to those stats. The more transactions a seller has performed and the higher his or her rating, the more confident you can be you’re not going to get scammed. Always make sure to meet sellers in a public place. And be sure your local jurisdiction doesn’t forbid private bitcoin sales.
Bitcoin may be in a bear market now, but everywhere I look Isee signs of strength. If you’re thinking about buying bitcoin, there’s no better time than now.Bitcoin $100,000 could happen sooner than most investors think.
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The post3 Simple Steps to Buy Bitcoin Online or in Personappeared first onInvestorPlace. || While Wells Fargo Sees an Epic Blackout [Again], Here’s Why Bitcoin Matters: Wells Fargo, Bitcoin Customers of Wells Fargo, the 13th largest bank in the world, have been unable to gain access to online banking, ATMs, and in some cases credit cards, showing the merit of digital assets like Bitcoin. My card acting funny, can’t get access to the app, and customer service doesn’t seem to be answering the phone. What’s going on #WellsFargo ?? It’s too early for this nonsense! — Austin⚡️ (@austin3000__) February 7, 2019 On February 7, Wells Fargo officially confirmed the outage of its mobile application and ATMs, apologizing to its customers. The outage is said to have occurred in early U.S. morning and Wells Fargo is in process of recovering its services nationwide. Read the full story on CCN.com . || Bitcoin SV: Reassessing ‘Satoshi’s Vision’ 100 Days after the BCH Divorce: When Bitcoin Cash split into two different blockchains in November 2018, it sent shockwaves through the cryptocurrency space.
The resulting blockchains, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Bitcoin SV (BSV), both made major changes to the original code. But in the aftermath of the hash war, which one comes closest to representing Satoshi’s Vision?
It all started on August 20th, 2018, when the developers of Bitcoin Cash announced anupdate known as Bitcoin ABC 0.18.0. This update required a hard fork, and was scheduled for November 15th. It laid out the following changes for the Bitcoin Cash blockchain:
“• A new opcode called OP_CHECKDATASIG that improves the BCH scripting language to permit the validation of messages from outside the blockchain. This will enable uses such as the use oforaclesand cross-chain atomiccontracts.” || Natural Gas Price Forecast – natural gas markets attempt to break out: Natural gas markets tried to rally during the trading session on Monday but found enough resistance at the $2.75 level to turn around and fall significantly. However, I think that we will eventually break out to the upside simply because we are so oversold. It’s not necessarily that I want to own natural gas, but I think that the relief rally is basically needed at this point, because we have been so sold off as of late. I think at this point it’s very likely that we will continue to see a bearish pressure on natural gas, but the bounce back makes quite a bit of sense, because the $2.50 level underneath is massive support.
If we were to break down below that level, it would be extraordinarily negative for this market. I don’t think that’s going to happen though, and I believe that it’s only a matter of time before we get some type of massive short covering rally. All it would take is a major cold snap in the right place in the world to drive demand through the roof in a very short amount of time. That being said, it would be short-lived, and as we are escaping the winter months in the United States, that will drive down a lot of demand. Beyond that, we have a lot of concerns about global demand, mainly because we have a potential slowing down of economic activity. That of course will drive down the need for energy consumption. I am bearish, but I would rather see a rally that I can sell from higher levels.
Please let us know what you think in the comments below
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• E-mini NASDAQ-100 Index (NQ) Futures Technical Analysis – February 11, 2019 Forecast || Max Keiser on Bitcoin Cynic Warren Buffett: ‘He’s a Complete Failure’: Will the billionaire Bitcoin cynic ever realize the value of programmable money? Source: AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File By CCN.com : Appearing for an interview with BlockTV, Max Keiser explained why he thinks Warren Buffett has been throwing shade at the crypto community. Keiser did not hold back: I think he feels insecure. Without the bailouts of 2008, without the access to free money from central banks, without stock buybacks – that were up until recently illegal – Warren Buffett’s performance would be close to zero. Warren Buffett has trashed Bitcoin in particular and the budding crypto-economic sector in general, calling Bitcoin “rat poison squared” just last year, CCN reported . Warren Buffett: ‘Aiding and Abetting Crime’? Keiser also suggested that Buffett’s investments in Wells Fargo amounted to “aiding and abetting” an enterprise with a history marred with criminal misconduct. “He’s the largest investor in Wells Fargo. When they engage in serial criminality as they have been doing in the last few years, he says nothing. So he’s aiding and abetting crime. He’s a criminal. The guy is overrated… He’s a complete failure.” Since 2000, Wells Fargo has been forced to pay $14.7 billion in penalties for committing a host of violations . Read the full story on CCN.com . View comments || How Digitex Futures is increasing competition for cryptocurrency exchanges: Digitex Futures is a zero-fee, non-custodial futures exchange with its own currency, the DGTX token. It is a trading platform where traders can buy and sell futures contracts on multiple cryptocurrencies, financial instruments, and commodities. What makes Digitex different from other exchanges is that there are zero transaction fees on all trades. This attracts a higher quality of active, ultra-short traders who want to create highly liquid markets using strategies that arent possible on exchanges with large fees. The exchange platform claims to be the cutting edge of blockchain technology due to its hybrid nature, combining the best parts from both centralised and decentralised systems in one platform. Traders are able to enjoy the speed and reliability of real-time trading but without the expensive fees. And because of the non-custodial accounts, traders do not have to trust the exchange with their money. Account balances are kept in an independent smart contract, making the exchange unable to withhold, steal, or lose users funds. This is because Digitex does not physically hold users private keys. This also makes the exchange less attractive to potential hackers as there arent any actual user funds to steal. The DGTX token Digitex operates without charging transaction fees on trades. This is due to the token system it uses. DGTX is an ERC-223-complaint token and is an integral element of the Digitex ecosystem. The exchange mints a small number of new DGTX tokens each year. Users that are attracted to this zero-fee trading must buy these DGTX tokens to be able to participate. This then creates a higher demand for the token and boosts the price, which covers much of the exchanges costs. All account balances are denominated in the token and traders can win and lose DGTX every time they trade. The owner of any DGTX token can then take part in the purchasing and offering of contracts using Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, all against the cost of USD. Story continues Multi-browser compatibility The platform has many useful features, including multi-browser compatibility. This means the software will be accessible from modern browsers and operating systems such as MacOS and Windows. The Digitex team also noticed that not many other exchanges were supporting the Safari browser. With Digitex, users can use any browser to get an equally seamless experience. In addition to this, the exchange offers a one-click ladder interface, giving users lightning-fast functionality for manual trading. The platform is also keen on helping beginners learn more about trading. It does this by providing educational materials through the platform to help educate users. The Digitex ladder The Digitex ladder software displays prices vertically, allowing customers to see bids and offers by moving these numbers up and down the ladder. Users are able to react to market movements with one simple click. This means profits arent lost as users will not have to take their eyes off the price. Charting Through the use of advanced software, users are able to view charts in different ways and choose one that is comfortable for them, including traditional charts, bar charts, or tick charts. Again, this is a customisable experience, allowing every trader to have their own personal platform. Takeaways These are just some of the features of the Digitex Futures exchange. It is the first ever exchange that allows users to avoid high transaction fees. However, there are some drawbacks that users need to be aware of. One of these drawbacks is that the DGTX token does not have any external market makers, meaning its liquidity can become an issue. Another key downside of the platform is that there is no KYC process for users. This may seem great at first, but this means that the majority of institutions will not want to operate on an exchange that doesnt have a KYC system in place. Digitex is also not able to block US IP addresses from the platform as it is decentralised. This opens the exchange up to regulatory action from authorities and the SEC would have the authority to shut them down. For guides on cryptocurrencies , exchanges , and blockchain technology , click here . Make sure you take a look at all the latest crypto and blockchain news . The post How Digitex Futures is increasing competition for cryptocurrency exchanges appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Bloomberg: Amid Bear Market, Crypto Venture Fund Strategy Wins out Over Hedge Fund Model: Amid the 2018 market slump, the launch of new crypto venture funds for the first time exceeded that of new hedge funds in the space, according to a Bloomberg report on Jan. 30. Bloomberg cites data from Crypto Fund Research that indicates that 125 new crypto venture funds — which typically provide capital in exchange for an equity stake — launched in 2018, as compared with 115 new investment-oriented crypto hedge funds. In 2017, by contrast, new hedge funds outnumbered venture funds by 47: 136 hedge funds as compared with 85 venture funds. In 2016, 36 hedge funds were launched as compared with 16 venture outfits. Crypto Funds by Year of Launch Bloomberg interviewed multiple industry figures who attributed the shift to the weakness in the initial coin offering ( ICO ) market — which was hit last year by both depressed cryptocurrency prices and a regulatory crackdown whose ultimate consequences remain to be seen. With so many investors burned by the difficult trading climate, the moment is opportune for venture capitalists, as Jeff Dorman, partner and portfolio manager at Los Angeles-based Arca, argued: “There’s going to be a lot of opportunity in distressed buying and even activist investing. Often you can buy below even the cash value of the company." Kyle Samani, managing partner at Multicoin Capital Management in Austin, Texas — which has historically pursued both a venture strategy as well as making token investments — noted that: “Funds have silently transformed from hedge funds into venture funds as their liquid portfolios shrank in value, making a very high percentage of AUM [assets under management] illiquid." Another aspect of the changing tide is the reportedly rising popularity of SAFTs (Simple Agreements for Future Tokens), which allow funds to buy yet-to-be-issued tokens at slashed prices of up to 80 percent. Pantera Capital Management’s Paul Veradittakit told Bloomberg that Pantera’s own ICO investment fund “is getting a lot more similar to venture,” and that SAFTs in particularly are a “de-risk[ing strategy that is] very very helpful." Story continues Bloomberg cites data from the Eurekahedge Crypto-Currency Hedge Fund Index, which estimates crypto hedge funds’ losses last year to have been about 70 percent on average. Last fall, a report from weekly crypto news outlet Diar revealed that traditional venture capital investment in blockchain and crypto firms had almost tripled in the first three quarters of 2018. Related Articles: Singapore: Regulator Warns of Online Scam Claiming Gov’t Adoption of Crypto Total Market Cap Drops $5 Billion as All Major Coins Take Price Hit Taiwan Indicts Seven Allegedly Fraudulent Bitcoin Investment Managers Crypto Analyst Brian Kelly: ‘No Shot’ for Bitcoin ETF in 2019 || Coinbase CEO: Ex-Hacking Team Neutrino Members Will Transition Out of Company Roles: Brian Armstrong , co-founder and CEO of major United States crypto exchange and wallet Coinbase , has said that Neutrino staff with prior connections to controversial software firm Hacking Team will transition out of their new roles at Coinbase. Armstrong made his announcement in an official blog post published on March 4. Controversy has surrounded Coinbase’s recent acquisition of blockchain analytics firm Neutrino, due to the backgrounds of key Neutrino staff at the contentious software outfit Hacking Team. The latter firm is alleged to have provided its surveillance tools to global law enforcement agencies, corporations and governments — with authoritarian regimes allegedly among them. Responding to the crypto community’s outcry at the Hacking Team connections, Armstrong has given his official statement, which concedes that “while we looked hard at the technology and security of the Neutrino product, we did not properly evaluate everything from the perspective of our mission and values as a crypto company.” He then stated: “Together with the Neutrino team [...] [we] have come to an agreement: those who previously worked at Hacking Team (despite the fact that they have no current affiliation with Hacking Team), will transition out of Coinbase.” The CEO characterized the backstory of the acquisition as a “gap in [Coinbase’s] due diligence process.” He stated that bringing Neutrino’s Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer technology and blockchain analytics tools in-house remains of critical importance to Coinbase, which aims to operate as a legally compliant, modernized and regulated platform. Noting that “Bitcoin — and crypto more generally — is about the rights of the individual and about the technological protection of civil liberties,” the CEO conceded that Coinbase had not made “the right tradeoff in this specific case.” Story continues Ahead of Armstrong’s statement, Christine Sandler — director of institutional sales at Coimbase — had defended the Neutrino acquisition, stating that it was necessary for the exchange to migrate away from its existing blockchain analytics tools providers because they had been selling Coinbase clients’ data to outside sources. On March 4, one of these providers — blockchain intelligence firm Elliptic — published a statement refuting Sandler’s claims it had been selling users’ data for financial gain, saying these accusations represent a fundamental misunderstanding of its industry role. Related Articles: Coinbase: Former Provider Sold User Data to Third Parties, Prompting Neutrino Acquisition Blockchain Analytics Firm Chainalysis Outlines User Data Policy Amid Coinbase Allegations Report: Coinbase Hires Amazon Web Services Veteran to Develop Staking Solutions Coinbase Technology Partner Refutes Alleged Collection, Sale of User Data to Third Parties || USD/JPY Fundamental Weekly Forecast – Treasury Yields, Appetite for Risk Biggest Influences on Dollar/Yen Prices: The Dollar/Yen rose last week mostly on safe-haven buying related to a downgrade of the Euro Zone economy by the European Commission. Lower demand for higher-yielding assets fueled by renewed concerns over U.S.-China trade relations sent investors into the safety of the Japanese Yen. A drop in Treasury yields also tightened the spread between U.S. Government bonds and Japanese Government bonds, making the U.S. Dollar a less-attractive investment. For the week, the USD/JPY settled at 109.761, up 0.256 or +0.23%. Safe-Haven Driven by Numerous Events A series of events throughout the week helped drive up demand for the safe-haven Japanese Yen. Lower Treasury yields were the main factor making the Japanese Yen an attractive asset. The catalysts behind the Japanese Yen’s strength were concerns over the weakening global economy and renewed concerns over U.S.-China trade relations which drove down appetite for higher risk assets. European Commission Lowers Outlook for Euro Zone Economy The European Commission sharply cut its forecasts for Euro Zone economic growth this year and next on expectations the bloc’s largest countries will be held back by global grade tensions and domestic challenges. The Commission said Euro Zone growth will slow to 1.3 percent this year from 1.9 percent in 2018, before rebounding in 2020 to 1.6 percent. Negative News About U.S.-China Trade Relations Drives Down Appetite for Risky Assets Negative comments about U.S.-China trade relations drove U.S. stock indexes lower last week, driving investors into the safety of the Japanese Yen. The major stock indexes topped out and the selling began after White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said that China and the U.S. were still far away on striking a trade deal. Later in the session, stocks weakened further after CNBC reported that the Trump-Xi meeting before the March 2 deadline was “highly unlikely.” Weekly Forecast The direction of U.S. Treasury yields will be the primary influence on the direction of the Dollar/Yen trade this week. Yields will be influenced by investor demand for risk. Story continues The key events that could impact investor demand for risk will be a speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell. He’ll exert more influence on the financial markets if he talks about monetary policy and especially the slowing global economy. On Wednesday, traders will get the opportunity to react to the latest government figures on consumer inflation. CPI is expected to come in at 0.1%, up slightly from the previously reported -0.1%. Core CPI is expected to have grown by 0.2%. On Thursday, U.S. Core Retail Sales are expected to come in flat at 0.0%. Retail Sales are expected to have risen by 0.1%. Producer Prices may have risen by 0.1%. The low inflation numbers aren’t expected to have much of an influence on Fed policy since it has predicted muted inflation. Much lower than expected numbers could drive Treasury yields lower which would make the U.S. Dollar a less-desirable asset. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Bitcoin – The Bulls Return, but Can They Hold onto the Reins? Gold Price Prediction – Prices Rebound Forming Bull Flag The Importance of Education in the World of Finance Stock Market Rally Flattened by Slowing Global Economy, Renewed Trade Deal Worries Dovish Central Bank Outlooks Make U.S. Dollar More Desirable Asset U.S Mortgages – Mortgage Rates Hit Reverse Once More
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
If #btc is playing further with us
I aspect a move to 3700$ (mex) pic.twitter.com/MeJngWGoLc || Buy GHT token here:
https://www.etherflyer.com/trade.html?pairs=GHT-ETH …
GHT explainer https://youtu.be/rCjYfHoMmPQ
#Telegram group:
https://t.me/Groovytoken
#Cannabis #crypto #Forex $btc #ethereum #ICO
#etherflyer $ETH
O.G. Original Gangster by Ice-T || Get Free Bitcoin https://qoinpro.com/55e9e71f51eafc907bb6d9da24d898e6 … || 1 BTC = 13399.98993000 BRL em 09/02/2019 ás 22:00:02. #bitcoin #bitcoinbr #bitcoinexchangebr || http://cityofinvestment.com/2017/04/02/forex-managed-accounts/ … #الفوركس #форекс #外汇 #外匯 #Forex #تحليل_فني #فوركس #ذهب #فضة #اموال #ريتويت #bitcoin #gold #oil #china #silver #India #Libya #RETWEEET #retwit #Pakistan #Iran #UAE #Iraq #Qatar #Kuwait #Oman #Lebanon #Jordan #Yemen #Bahrain … || There is no 'whole coin' https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/ajbrdt/there_is_no_whole_coin/ … #btc #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/UHqKj1Ky95 || 最も高くBTC/JPYを売れるのは？(2019-01-28 20:00:06 現在)
Zaif 374780.00
BITPoint 374624.09
Liquid 374559.99
bitbank 374521.00
bitFlyer 374334.00
coincheck 374314.00 || Bitcoin breaking bounds, you should be among the successful ones. pic.twitter.com/2ZhGTIkBHY || #Doviz
-------------------
#USD : 5.4613
#EUR : 6.1287
#GBP : 7.1343
--------------------------------------
#BTC
-------------------
#Gobaba : 23384.59
#BtcTurk : 21347.00
#Koinim : 21450.00
#Paribu : 21388.00
#Koineks : 21539.99 || 市場 BitflyerLightning_FX_BTC_JPYのデータを更新しました。
2018/07/28 22:20:00から2019/03/07 13:20:00までのデータを閲覧できます。
|
Trend: up || Prices: 3906.72, 3924.37, 3960.91, 4048.73, 4025.23, 4032.51, 4071.19, 4087.48, 4029.33, 4023.97
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Apple, Amazon and Share Buybacks: Many corporations have sought government bailouts since the Covid-19 pandemic put the economy into reverse. In the cases of some companies, this prompted a backlash from critics, as these companies had recently spent millions or billions buying back their own (often overvalued) stock.
Warren Buffett(Trades,Portfolio) captured this mood during Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE:BRK.A)(NYSE:BRK.B) annual meeting of shareholders on May 2. Responding to a question about stock repurchases, he said it had become "very politically correct" to speak out against them. Buffett defended buybacks in general, saying they were a legitimate way to distribute cash to shareholders.
• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Sign with AMZN. Click here to check it out.
• AMZN 30-Year Financial Data
• The intrinsic value of AMZN
• Peter Lynch Chart of AMZN
In fact, Buffett reported that Berkshire had bought back some of its own shares in the first quarter of this year. He explained that share buybacks are a good practice when stocks are selling for less than their intrinsic value and the company has an ample store of cash on hand.
Some of the firms that should not have been buying back their stocks were the airlines. According to AlphaSense, a market intelligence company, Delta (NYSE:DAL), American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) and Southwest (NYSE:LUV) all repurchased shares in March.
Among large-cap, publicly-traded corporations, 99 companies bought back shares in March. The biggest among them were three tech companies: Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Microsoft MSFT). Combined, these companies bought back enough of their own shares to make up more than 44% of all buybacks for the month.
However, one big tech company did not buy back shares - Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN). The company has not bought back any of its own shares since 2012, even though the board authorized up to $5 billion worth of repurchases in 2016. The company has also never issued dividends.
In this article, we will take a look at potential reasons why Amazon.com has not repurchased shares while Apple has repurchased a ton.
The chart below shows the amount of cash and cash equivalents each of the two companies had on hand at the end of their most recent quarters:
As we can see, Amazon's cash flow has been relatively stable, while Apple's spiked recently. There are many potential ways to use that extra cash, including increasing capital expenditures, making acquisitions (CEO Tim Cook said in 2019 that Apple buys another company every two to three weeks), increase the dividend (which was 82 cents in the most recent quarter for an annual yield of just over 1%) and buying back shares.
Buying shares not only returns cash to shareholders, it also reduces the share count, increasing the earnings per share and driving up the share price. If there are not enough attractive acquisition or capex opportunities to consider, I believe this is typically the best way to return cash to shareholders.
Amazon, on the other hand, has taken the position that it never wants to mature. As CEO Jeff Bezos once put it, "Day 1 is where we always want to be and Day 2 is where we never want to be." Day 1 refers to growth and ever-increasing customer loyalty, while Day 2 refers to a mature phase when companies get comfortable and exchange high growth for returning more capital to shareholders.
As it keeps expanding its online marketplace and develops ancillary projects like iCloud, Amazon sees many opportunities to use its cash profitably. For nearly 25 years now, Amazon has delivered no dividends and few buybacks; it just keeps reinvesting the funds it generates. Long-term investors have profited massively, assuming they bought and held:
Amazon is a rarity in terms of its long-held status as a growth stock, even though it has consistently has had one of the largest market capitalizations for quite a few years.
By eschewing stock buybacks, Amazon has also avoided the risk that it might pay too much when repurchasing its shares. As Buffett and many others have argued, buying your own stock for more than its intrinsic value destroys wealth.
In an article entitled,"Stock BuyBacks: A Lesson Not Learned,"fellow GuruFocus contributor Thomas Macpherson recommended that investors compare corporate stock buybacks with their own valuation processes. The rule for buybacks should be the same as for value investing: never pay too much. He wrote, "Unfortunately, all evidence would suggest that companies go on repurchasing binges as share prices reach new highs and cease purchases as share prices reach new lows."
For Apple, at least some of its buybacks were at a discounted price, although whether this was below intrinsic value is a matter of viewpoint:
Conclusion
Share buybacks at high valuations are not always exclusively beneficial to company executives and detrimental to shareholders, and I believe this holds true for Apple. Repurchases are a form of capital allocation, and like all types of capital allocation, the best use of it depends on the company.
However, buybacks at high valuations do have the potential to destroy wealth if they are conducted unwisely, such as for the purpose of granting massive paychecks to executives.
Disclosure: I do not own shares in any companies named in this article and do not expect to buy any in the next 72 hours.
Read more here:
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• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Sign with AMZN. Click here to check it out.
• AMZN 30-Year Financial Data
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• Peter Lynch Chart of AMZN || Bakkt, Galaxy Digital to Offer Bitcoin Trading, Custody Solution for Institutions: Two New York-based crypto companies hope to scoop up growing institutional demand for physical bitcoin. Announced Wednesday , Galaxy Digital’s trading arm and regulated bitcoin futures provider Bakkt said the service will offer asset managers and other institutional investors a “white glove” trading and custody solution. As part of the collaboration, Galaxy will provide all the trading services and functionalities, leveraging its existing plugins to 30 different exchange venues. Meanwhile, Bakkt will offer custody services through its Bakkt Warehouse, which it currently uses to facilitate physically settled bitcoin contracts. Designed to work around the clock, the idea, according to Tim Plakas, Galaxy Digital Trading’s head of sales, is to offer a “safe, efficient and well-regulated route into physical bitcoin access, one that has been already proven successful in the macro hedge fund space.” “We designed this partnership to service the uptick in demand our two firms have received from traditional asset managers seeking access to physical bitcoin,” Plakas added. See also: Novogratz’s Crypto Investment Firm Galaxy Digital Shrinks Workforce 15% While the idea of two big-name companies teaming up like this may seem like a titillating prospect, both Bakkt and Galaxy Digital have struggled to make much headway this year. Related: Bakkt, Galaxy Digital to Offer Bitcoin Trading, Custody Solution for Institutions As a merchant bank that invests in crypto companies as well as trades digital assets, Galaxy Digital has failed to make much, if any, revenue since it first launched in January 2018. It reported a net loss of $32.9 million in the final quarter of 2019 and warned further losses from the coronavirus. It was Galaxy Digital Trading, the branch now hooking up with Bakkt, that was responsible for pretty much wiping out Galaxy’s other revenue streams, losing a total $32.1 million in Q4. Story continues See also: Bakkt CEO Mike Blandina Steps Down 4 Months After Taking Role Bakkt, on the other hand, has struggled to attract much footfall. Launching in September 2019 after more than a year of delays, the exchange’s volumes have remained low. For example, there was a week in January, and two weeks in late February , where not a single one of its options contracts traded. That contrasted with a broader derivative space that reported record volumes during the same timeframes. So far this week, for instance, Bakkt’s total volume for monthly options contracts was stuck at zero. Bakkt’s futures have seen more volume, reaching record levels last month during Bitcoin’s halving, though it’s now returning to more typical levels. UPDATE (June 10, 2020, 20:30 UTC): This article was updated for clarity. Related Stories Galaxy Digital Behind ‘Prime Broker’ Buzzword Lies a Complex Strategy Game for Crypto Firms || Blockchain Company Factom Inc. Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy: Once the lead proponent and builder of the Factom Protocol, Factom Inc. has been in financial difficulties for some time. The Austin, Texas-based company has declared voluntary bankruptcy, saying it is currently not in a position to pay as much as $7.5 million in debts. “It is desirable and in the best interests of the Company and its stakeholders to file a voluntary petition for relief,” reads a submission seen by CoinDesk, filed in Delaware on Thursday. Alarm bells started ringing in early March when Factom Inc. told investors it faced liquidation unless it received further funding by the end of the month. Although it received some interest, the company’s board announced March 31 that it would be wound up after being unable to find a lead investor. Related: Factom's Two Employees Press On Despite Investor's Call to Liquidate However, Factom Inc. has now opted to go the Chapter 11 route, which allows it to restructure the business and pay creditors over time. The company’s board submitted its reorganization proposal with its bankruptcy filing, which will now be evaluated by the administrators. The company has raised a total of $18 million from investors in a series of funding rounds. Factom Inc. Chairman David Jevans previously told CoinDesk the company’s closure will have no impact on the running of Factom Protocol, a trustless data provenance layer built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain. See also: London Block Exchange Placed Into Compulsory Liquidation Related: Factom Inc. 'Faces Liquidation' After Investors Refuse Request for More Funding As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, Factom Inc. has publicly declared its balance sheet. Reading through, it’s clear the company, which once received a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, has been in dire financial straits for some years. Losses have escalated since Factom Inc. launched in 2013. In the 2016 tax year, the company reported a $2.6 million loss, and another $4.3 million loss the following year. It appears the company tried to cut back after gross losses peaked at nearly $5 million in 2018; losses amounted to $4.8 million in 2019. Although Factom cut employee wages by just under $390,000 between 2018 and 2019, compensation for company officers appears to have increased by over $260,000, according to the filing. The company also saw a significant $430,000 increase in “other deductions,” which includes legal fees. CoinDesk approached Factom for further comment but had not received a response by press time. Story continues Related Stories Blockchain Company Factom Inc. Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Blockchain Company Factom Inc. Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy View comments || Bitcoin, Ethereum & Ripple - American Wrap: 6/15/2020: Bitcoin Price Prediction: BTC/USD Defends $8,900, Where Are The Resistance Levels? – Confluence Detector
Bitcoin had another leg down today on June 15, however, bulls have managed to push Bitcoin back up from a low of $8,910. The current daily candlestick is a bullish reversal candlestick and indicates that bulls are still interested in buying Bitcoin.
Of course, Bitcoin will encounter more resistance levels towards $10,000 now. Let’s check out some of the closest resistance points Bitcoin is facing.
Ethereum Chart Analysis: ETH/USD Push Towards $228 Indicates A Slight Recovery
Things weren’t looking good for Ethereum and the majority of cryptos. The bulls seem to be back and have managed to push ETH up to $228, close to the daily 26-EMA. This is an important support level that if defended, would indicate Ethereum is still slightly bullish.
XRP Price Analysis – ExpectingXRP Price Analysis – Expecting $0.15 Soon.15 Soon
The first days of the week the cryptocurrency market has stared with a bearish mood as the decline that started over the weekend has continued. As a result, all of the top 10 coins are in the red zone.
Top 10 coins by Coinstats
The decrease in the market has affected its capitalization, which has lost $10 Bln in just 24 hours.
Image sourced from Pixabay
See more from Benzinga
• Bitcoin, Ethereum & Ripple - American Wrap: June 10, 2020
• Cryptocurrencies Price Prediction: Bitcoin, Ethereum & Litecoin – American Wrap: 6/9/2020
• Bitcoin, Ethereum & Litecoin - American Wrap: 6/8/2020
© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Legendary Bitcoin trader ActualAdviceBTC has passed away: Given that the ecosystem of cryptocurrency traders is mostly made up of 20-something males, it comes as a painful shock to write an obituary for a well-known figure in the space. Yesterday evening it was announced that Ben, known by the alias ActualAdviceBTC, had tragically passed away with it later being confirmed by a number of close friends on social media. Tributes poured in for AABTC, who rose to popularity among crypto Twitter before, during and after the bull market of 2017 . Close friend Romano, known by the Twitter handle @RNR_0, recapped a various memories that highlighted Ben’s generosity and selflessness, while CryptoCobain wrote : “You truly changed my life. Thank you for being a friend and guiding me through crypto when I was new. I wouldn’t be here without you.” I lost someone I love today but crypto lost a legend. RIP Ben 💔 @ActualAdviceBTC pic.twitter.com/EOO7hKlQfR — Diana Biggs (@DianacBiggs) May 19, 2020 Diana Biggs, who advises on emerging technology at Oxford University, added : “ I lost someone I love today but crypto lost a legend. RIP Ben.” Even BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes commented on Ben’s passing by writing : “He was a true friend and a legend. Our magic internet money ecosystem won’t be the same without him. Much love.” ActualAdviceBTC’s reputation within the cryptocurrency community grew immensely in April, 2018, when he documented position sizes upwards of $30 million on BitMEX before the market made a 15% move to the upside, earning himself a spot on the BitMEX leaderboard. Ben then gave away two Bitcoins to a follower who made a jovial video replicating the recent events over a South Park clip. Thousands of others paid tributes on social media as the tragic news continued to circulate, demonstrating what a meaningful and long-lasting impact he had on so many. Rest in peace, Ben. || Bitcoin Miner Maker Ebang Estimates $2.5M Loss for Q1 in IPO Prospectus Update: Chinese bitcoin miner manufacturer Ebang estimates it incurred a net loss of $2.5 million on a revenue of $6.4 million for Q1 2020.
The financial disclosure waspostedWednesday in an update to the firm’s initial public offering (IPO) prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The filing means Ebang is now a step closer to becoming the latest publicly traded bitcoin miner manufacturer in the U.S.
In the amended F-1 form, Ebang said it has now applied to list on the Nasdaq exchange and anticipates its IPO launch price will be between $4.5 and $6.5 for each of the 19.3 million Class A ordinary shares to be offered in total.
Related:JD.com Subsidiary Rolling Out Privacy Tech From Blockchain Firm ARPA
With that range, Ebang would command a market value of around $800 million and is targeting a raise from $86 million to $125 million – generally in line with the company’s initial planpublishedin April.
Read more:Why Miner Maker Ebang’s US IPO Raises More Questions Than Answers
If successful, the Hangzhou, China-based company will become the second bitcoin miner maker traded in the U.S. after Canaan, which made its Nasdaq debut last November and raised $90 million with an offering of $9 per per share. But since then, Canaan’s stock has been on a downward trend and recentlyhit a record lowbelow $2.
Also disclosed in the updated prospectus are Ebang’s “estimated preliminary unaudited” financial results for Q1 2020. The firm said it made $6.4 million in revenue with 6.1% growth year-on-year – primarily due to a better bitcoin mining outlook in the first three months in 2020 compared to the same period last year.
Related:Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Makes Biggest Jump in 29 Months
Yet, the firm said it recorded $5.9 million in cost of revenue, in addition to other operational expenses, which in total led to a net loss of $2.5 million for the first three months of the year.
Read more:Bitmain’s Power Struggle Takes Toll on Customers as Co-Founder Halts Shipments
For the same period, Canaan, which has a bigger bitcoin miner market share than Ebang,reporteda net loss of $5 million even though it had cut the price of its mining hardware by more than half around bitcoin’s halving event and the COVID-19 pandemic that has disrupted global supply chains.
Ebang’s IPO update also comes amid rising geopolitical tension between China and the U.S., which is casting a shroud of uncertainty over Chinese companies that are already listed or seeking to list in the U.S.
In Ebang’s initial prospectus in April, the firm said its independent auditor was not fully inspected by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), a U.S. non-profit auditing watchdog, as it requires “the approval of the Chinese authorities.”
“This lack of PCAOB inspections in [China] prevents the PCAOB from regularly evaluating our independent registered public accounting firm’s audits and its quality control procedures. As a result, investors may be deprived of the benefits of PCAOB inspections,” Ebang said.
At the time, there was heightened regulatory interest in placing tougher rules on foreign companies listed in the U.S. with regard to granting PCAOB approvals and providing U.S. regulators routine access to the audit reports of Chinese firms.
But discussions around the issue have become more serious over the last month, with the U.S. senate unanimously passing a bill that would require the SEC to ban the trading of any company whose auditors haven’t been inspected for three years by the PCAOB, according to a May 20reportfrom The Wall Street Journal.
Read more:Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Makes Biggest Jump in 29 Months
While public companies listed in the U.S. are by law required to have their auditors inspected by the PCAOB, the push for the watchdog and the SEC to have routine access to the audit files of Chinese companies listed in the U.S. have largely failed, the report said.
However, the issue has attracted attention again following the scandal of U.S.-listed Chinese Starbucks coffee rival Luckin, which reported in April that much of its $310 million 2019 sales numbers werefabricatedby its senior executives. The bill now needs approval by the House of Representatives to become law.
• Bitcoin Miner Maker Ebang Estimates $2.5M Loss for Q1 in IPO Prospectus Update
• Bitcoin Miner Maker Ebang Estimates $2.5M Loss for Q1 in IPO Prospectus Update || DOJ Indicts Founder of Anti-Money Laundering Bitcoin Project for Money Laundering: The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted the founder of “AML Bitcoin” on money laundering and wire fraud charges. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also filed charges, alleging the AML Bitcoin team violated federal securities laws. According to a court filing dated June 22 , Texas resident Rowland Marcus Andrade, the founder of the NAC Foundation, allegedly raised funds by conducting an initial coin offering for tokens representing AML Bitcoin, telling investors the tokens would ultimately be converted into actual AML Bitcoin ( which isn’t actual bitcoin ). The SEC and DOJ also charged longtime DC lobbyist Jack Abramoff on conspiracy, lobbying disclosure and deceptive practices counts, alleging he helped mislead investors in the project. Andrade told CoinDesk late on Thursday he was not guilty of the charges, claiming the allegations were “retaliation” for his opposition to a previous case. According to Bloomberg , Abramoff will plead guilty and pay more than $50,000 in disgorgement and interest. “In [its] White Paper, the NAC Foundation claimed AML Bitcoin cryptocurrency would include features that would allow the cryptocurrency to comply with anti-money laundering (also referred to as ‘AML’) and know-your-customer (‘KYC’) regulations and laws by using ‘biometric technologies’ among other methods to confirming the identities of participants in transactions using AML Bitcoin,” the DOJ filing said. According to a 2018 press release , NAC Foundation claimed AML Bitcoin was “the world’s only patent-pending digital currency with anti-money laundering, know-your-customer, anti-terrorism and theft-resistant properties.” The DOJ filing was first shared by Seamus Hughes, George Washington University deputy director, Program on Extremism. Andrade tried to raise up to $100 million during the ICO, which occurred in late 2017 and early 2018, the filing claimed. According to the SEC complaint , Andrade raised about $5.6 million from 2,400 investors. Story continues According to the DOJ filing, Andrade and unnamed colleagues “made public statements and statements to potential purchasers” that “misrepresented the state of the development” of the project., created a fake “rejection campaign,” made statements indicating the NAC Foundation was close to working with government agencies and “misappropriated money obtained through the sale of AML Bitcoin.” The fake rejection campaign centered around the National Football League, the DOJ filing said. “Andrade, NAC Foundation and his associates claimed that the advertisement would have aired during the Super Bowl if the television network airing the Super Bowl and the National Football League had not rejected the advertisement as being too controversial,” the filing alleged. “In fact, the NAC Foundation did not have the funds to purchase the advertising time, and the advertisement was never reviewed or rejected by the network or the NFL.” According to the DOJ, Andrade also claimed to have substantive meetings with the government of Panama and an elected official in California. The filing alleged the Panama claims were “overstated,” and while “Andrade was present at a roundtable discussion and had his photograph taken with the [California] official,” AML Bitcoin “was not discussed.” Close to $1 million was spent on a new home and real estate, the DOJ filing alleged. According to a March filing , U.S. officials have also filed to seize “one parcel of real property” owned at least in part by Andrade and his wife. This filing details how Andrade allegedly convinced an individual, dubbed “VICTIM ONE,” to invest $1 million in the AML Bitcoin project, but transferred the funds into a JPMorgan Chase account held by “J.D.,” an associate of Andrade. The funds were then allegedly transferred to a third party “who acted at the direction of Andrade” at JPMorgan; then to an account belonging to “NAC Payroll Services Inc.”; then to an account at Wells Fargo owned by Andrade; then to a personal account at Woodforest National Bank. The March filing alleges that these funds wre then used to purchase a residence from a Texas homebuilding firm. “To date, Andrade and the NAC have not made any meaningful progress towards developing AtenCoin, AML Bitcoin, or ABTC,” the filing said, referring to two other names affiliated with AML Bitcoin. This case is ongoing, according to court records. UPDATE (June 26, 2020, 02:55 UTC): This article has been updated with additional charges by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and comment from Rowland Marcus Andrade. || Blockstream’s Liquid Network Sent $8M in BTC Unsafely, Says Bitcoin Developer: Bitcoinsstored on the Liquid Network were temporarily able to be seized by network moderators Thursday night. The potential vulnerability in the Bitcoin sidechain’s security parameters was discovered bySumma founder James Prestwich.
Liquid – a network developed and overseen by Blockstream and meant to move bitcoins around more quickly than the Bitcoin blockchain – moved 870 bitcoins that had been stuck in a queue sinceJune 11waiting to be processed.
Occurring Thursday at 17:19 GMT, the holders of the network’s emergency two-of-three multisig wallet had potential access to the funds for about one hour,according to Prestwich. The transaction was processed normally, using the network’s 11-of-15 multisig method.
Related:First Mover: The Return of the Bitcoin Retail Investor (And Why That’s a Good Thing)
“This was not a normal operation. If anyone says it is, they are wrong. It directly contradicts [Liquid’s] docs and public statements,” Prestwich said in a private message.
At current prices, the transaction is valued at roughly $8 million.
“This is a known issue caused by an inconsistency between the timelocks used by Liquid’s functionary [hardware security modules] and the functionaries themselves,” Blockstream Marketing Director Neil Woodfire told CoinDesk in a private message. “Despite the issue, the funds are always safe.”
Woodfire said that “recent growth in the Liquid Network” and coordination plans caused by the coronavirus pandemic have led to difficulty in updating firmware relating to the timelocks. Those updates should be implemented by Q4 2020, he said.
Related:Bitcoin Closes in the Green Sunday to End Longest Daily Losing Run in 6 Months
Added Prestwich:
“To be secure, these systems must operate reliably and on-spec. In this case the Liquid federation did neither. As a result, Blockstream’s administrator backdoor activated, and Liquid security became dependent on trusting the company.”
Liquid operates as a sidechain to the Bitcoin network. It uses a one-to-one pegged token called L-BTC to move funds around more quickly than the regular network, which is overseen by a federation of select nodes.
Those nodes are typically hosted by large over-the-counter (OTC) trading desks or crypto exchanges. Each transaction, moreover, must be signed by 11 of 15 representative bodies. Liquid currently has 44 federation members such as BitMEX, Ledger and Xapo.
When bitcoin moves onto Liquid, it goes through a “peg-in” process where bitcoin is stored in a secure wallet moderated by the federation. LBTC is created and redeemed when bitcoin is deposited. The process reverses when bitcoin is withdrawn.
An emergency caveat does exist when bitcoins have not moved from a wallet for 30 days. In that case, a two-of-three multisig approval is activated in order to preserve the network. This is done to protect Liquid in the case of greater than one-third of the federated parties being severed from the Liquid Network.
According to Liquid’stechnical documentation:
“If one-third or more of the network is ever unable to continue operating, the network would stall and the funds held would be locked up forever. To avoid this, all funds held by the Liquid Network are also accessible by a set of three emergency keys when the network has been non-functional for thirty consecutive days.”
Prestwich disclosed the security error publicly because the funds were never at risk of being openly stolen by a hacker, but only by those overseeing the emergency wallet. Those holders remain anonymous.
Whether or not this has happened in the past remains an open and pertinent security question, Prestwich added.
Prestwich is also currently an advisor to Keep, which recently launched a wrapped-bitcoin token known astBTC.
• Blockstream’s Liquid Network Sent $8M in BTC Unsafely, Says Bitcoin Developer
• Blockstream’s Liquid Network Sent $8M in BTC Unsafely, Says Bitcoin Developer || Catalysts Finance Register Gains Along With 25,000+ Clients Who Are Enjoying Quality Asset Management Services: WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND / ACCESSWIRE / May 19, 2020 / NZ Shell Catalysts & Technologies, break-even management of customer assets for over 26 years and a provider of flexible trust management strategies for enterprises and retailers, earned 6.99 percent in profits for the week ending May 10, 2020. Behind this, there were positive developments in the stock markets buoyed by strong quarterly reports from several companies including Lyft. Its shares rose 14 percent. The taxi service provider said its order volumes had risen amid the COVID-19 lockdown. Also, news that Saudi Arabia was increasing its Value Added Tax (VAT) to 15 percent led to a spike in WTI crude futures prices. Average gains during the week were 1.2 percent. NZ Shell Catalysts & Technologies is duly registered according to New Zealand laws after depositing $1.8 million as required. On March 11, 2020, the day when it was registered, they re-negotiated with Antares platform. Antares has the exclusive rights to promote and market Catalysts' services and products. Catalysts Finance was formed in 1994 and employs over 200 professional traders who carefully manage and multiply investments. Each trader has on average 12 years of experience. Over the years, Catalysts Finance has proven to be a reliable and profitable platform for investors yearning for passive income. To maintain an edge, Catalysts fuses artificial intelligence capacities and some breakthrough technologies in semi-robot trading enabling investors to earn annual yields of up to 300 percent. The term incorporates high-frequency trading techniques and quantitative trading techniques as they focus on the most promising segments of the market. Catalysts Finance constantly improves their trading strategies by making necessary adjustments and conducting regular audits. The Catalyst Bitcoin bot was introduced on April 22, 2020. The bot is configured to work without emotion while incorporating a simple management functionality drawn from the company's deep experience in trading. Story continues By November 2020, Catalysts Finance will activate algorithmic, behavioral trading, and the use of neural network opportunities for trading and cluster analysis. Specifically, Robotic advising will appear and be integrated into client accounts. Besides, Catalysts Finance also has interests in Forex and Futures trading, calculated investment in Blue Chip shares, and commodities including Oil. The price of oil continues to recover following the approval of stimulus measures in the United States and promise of a production cut by OPEC members. Leveraging on the experience of Catalysts Finance professional traders, Pavilion Energy earned 189 percent in profits over nine months while NEXTracker initial investment more than doubled, rising by 237 percent in 12 months. "Thanks to your effort, we have increased our income and expanded the range of our activities. We sincerely hope we shall stay in the list of our partners in the next year", the CEO of NEXTracker, Dan Sugar, said in an appreciation letter, "we promise to thank you with quality and worthy work which will satisfy the needs of all our clients." For their innovation, Catalysts Finance has consequently earned over $10 million in investor net profit with a maximum 2 percent drawdown level pushing their dollar millionaire clients to over 2,000. There is also a 100 percent protection for their over 25,000 customers drawn from over 45 countries that trust the asset management's transparency and reliability. The company plans on opening a Los Angeles office in May 2020 and by mid-June launch an updated personal account. Their primary focus by then will be on retail customers and enterprises keen on tapping the expanding use-cases of blockchain technology. Catalysts' executives reckon that 95 percent of blockchain's capacities are yet to be explored. "Only 5 percent of blockchain technology possibilities are used; 95 percent is yet to come, so there is huge potential. The global pandemic only accelerates the world's need for blockchain technology. Due to the difficult economic situation, people are increasingly showing interest in cryptocurrency." said Jack Barett, the CEO of Catalysts Finance. Tapping on the ever-evolving cryptocurrency markets, Catalysts Finance constantly improve their trading strategies by making necessary adjustments and conducting regular audits. The Catalyst Bitcoin bot was introduced on April 22, 2020. About Catalysts Finance Catalysts Finance is an international asset management company for private clients. It began operations 26 years ago in Singapore and is now registered in New Zealand. --- Media contact Company: Catalysts.finance Contact: Media Relation Team Address: 58 Victoria Street, Wellington Central, 6011, NZ Email: [email protected] YouTube: https://youtu.be/Agswf2wLdFE Website: http://catalysts.finance SOURCE: Catalysts.finance View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/590453/Catalysts-Finance-Register-Gains-Along-With-25000-Clients-Who-Are-Enjoying-Quality-Asset-Management-Services || Quadriga Was a Ponzi Scheme, Ontario Securities Regulator Says: Top shelf CBDCs The House Financial Services Committee (FSC) Task Force on Financial Technology will convene Thursday to discuss digital currencies and other novel technologies. This includes a discussion on how FedAccounts and other digital tools might help the federal government distribute stimulus payments to help Americans suffering the economic fallout of COVID-19. The virtual hearing kicks off at noon Eastern (16:00 UTC), which you can watch here. Separately, ING Group, crypto custodian Copper, smart contract platform Cypherium and Giesecke+Devrient Currency Technology GmbH have joined the Digital Monetary Institute (DMI), which seeks to research the adoption of digital currencies by central banks. Decentralized Storage Arweave, a blockchain network meant for the permanent storage of data, has released a completely new approach to smart contracts to run on users’ computers rather than the blockchain itself. The SmartWeave update will dispense with gas fees and only requires a smart contract’s code to be run as often as it’s needed and not by every node on the network. Meanwhile, Unstoppable Domains released an uncensorable decentralized blog (dBlog) service hosted on Protocol Lab’s InterPlanetary File System . Finally, Filecoin announced the launch of the ‘Incentivized Testnet’ , the final phase of testing for its decentralized storage network. Custody Battles Crypto custodians are in a race to build the next State Street or BNY Mellon. Recent acquisitions in the crypto space have seen a bundling together of services such as custody, settlement, lending and trade execution – including examples by BitGo, Genesis Trading and a recent partnership between Galaxy Digital and Bakkt. This pace of consolidation is likely to continue, and firms specializing in standalone custody or trade execution may need to pivot to offer additional services or risk being swallowed up, think BitGo CEO Mike Belshe. Story continues Politics Patrick Nelson (D-NY) is running for New York State Senate, with a background in local politics, progressive activism and vocal support for cryptographic monies. CoinDesk spoke with Nelson about his previous attempts to fundraise using bitcoin, reforming the state’s burdensome BitLicense and his attempts to convince party leadership to use blockchain voting to elect the state’s delegates. Privacy The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) will support bitcoin privacy tech with its Bitcoin Developer Fund. The first $50,000 grant has been awarded to a CoinSwap developer, and HRF will continue to support those “working on strengthening Bitcoin pseudonymity at the network level,” Chief Strategy Officer Alex Gladstein said. Elsewhere, Catallaxy, a blockchain consultancy affiliated with accounting giant Grant Thornton, is teaming up with CipherTrace to better track cybercrimes. Financial Products Crypto exchange BTSE will price its new tether gold futures contracts in bitcoin. The perpetual contract tracks the value of one tether gold (XAUT) token, which itself tracks the value of gold, allowing traders to speculate on whether bitcoin or gold will turn out to have the most demand. Elsewhere, crypto retirement savings firm Bitcoin IRA will take on smaller accounts with the launch and redesign of its IRA products. The firm has dropped the standard account minimum to $3,000, and launched Saver IRA. Separately, crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital now holds 6.26% of GBTC shares, worth nearly $259 million. ( The Block ) Lastly, Coinbase is looking to possibly add 19 new digital assets, including Aragon, Aave, Bancor, Siacoin, Origin Protocol, Ren and VeChain. The news is drive prices up between 8-25%. Funding Hut 8 Mining is looking to raise at least C $7.5 million to upgrade its fleet of BlockBox bitcoin miners. The firm, the biggest cryptocurrency miner in Canada and one of the largest publicly traded miners in the world, seeks to raise the funds through an overnight marketed public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Elsewhere, Celsius Network is running a $5 million fundraising round on BnkToTheFuture, a crowd investment platform. ( Decrypt ) Related: Blockchain Bites: CBDCs on Capitol Hill, Custody Battles and Smart Drugs Cybercrime Hackers have moved approximately $4 million of stolen bitcoin from the 2016 Bitfinex hack into unknown wallets. ( Decrypt ) Additionally, Europol has shuttered a $17 million video stream service, accused of pirating content from Netflix and Amazon, which was partly funded through cryptocurrency. ( Decrypt ) Human Interest Smart drugs, a class of performance-enhancing supplements are seeing widespread use in the tech and crypto sectors, and prompting much skepticism everywhere else. “Being in frontier tech means you’re (a) more exposed to new ideas and tools, (b) in a community where experimentation is normalized and widely and openly discussed and often encouraged, and (c) more willing to try new things,” Meltem Demirors, CEO of CoinShares, said. Market intel Inflationary Boost? There’s no end in sight to loose monetary policy at the Federal Reserve, and that’s just fine with bitcoin bulls. Fed officials said Wednesday they expect to keep interest rates close to zero through 2022, while pumping at least $120 billion a month of freshly created money into the financial system for the foreseeable future. While the monetary guardians are not expecting runaway inflation, cryptocurrency analysts said that the longer the central bank sticks to its loose-money stance, the higher the chances of inflation down the road. Prices for bitcoin, seen by many investors as a hedge against inflation, rose on the news. Stuck for Now Bitcoin remains stuck below $10,000 amid jitters in traditional markets over the pace of economic recovery. While bitcoin’s price is down 1% on the day, the major equity market indices in Europe are reporting over a 2% drop. The futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Wall Street’s equity index, are down over 600 points and reporting a 1.8% decline on the day. Asian equities also suffered losses early Wednesday, according to data source Investing. CoinDesk podcast network A Vision for Digital Property Rights, Feat. Nic Carter Most people today look at social platforms like any other private company, but what if we saw them as alternative jurisdictions with a new set of property rights? That’s the vision Nic Carter, a partner at Castle Island Ventures, lays out in conversation with NLW. You can read more about it here. Who won #CryptoTwitter? Related Stories First Mover: Crypto Broker Voyager’s Stock Has Doubled This Year, Beating Bitcoin Blockchain Bites: Coinbase Surveillance, Bitcoin Wargames, CoinMarketCap Drama
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 9132.49, 9073.94, 9375.47, 9252.28, 9428.33, 9277.97, 9278.81, 9240.35, 9276.50, 9243.61
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2016-05-23]
BTC Price: 444.15, BTC RSI: 46.51
Gold Price: 1251.10, Gold RSI: 45.39
Oil Price: 48.08, Oil RSI: 66.59
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Here's why 21 is the most exciting bitcoin company right now: Before 21 Inc. had even put out a product,it had raised $121 million in venture funding—the most of any bitcoin company. It was unclear, for months, what 21 would actually do or make. But some of the biggest names in fintech funding, including Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures, and the Winklevoss brothers, were interested enough to invest.
Then things started to move very quickly. In February, 21 released its first product—and it was hardware, a rarity among bitcoin companies. It was the 21 bitcoin computer, which allows for mining the cryptocurrency as well as building applications on top of the bitcoinblockchain, the open-source, decentralized ledger that underlies bitcoin.
The computer, which runs on Raspberry Pi (a small, single-board programming computer launched in 2012), sells for $400 and is about the length of an iPhone. It attracted a lot of buzz and attention in the bitcoin world.
Last week,at the bitcoin conference Consensus, 21 CEO Balaji Srinivasan, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, moved the company’s purview forward again. He announced that the 21 software can now be installed on any Mac or Linux-compatible system (Windows is coming soon), and eventually will come to mobile phones. “Every computer is now a bitcoin computer,” he said.
And this is why 21 is arguably the single most exciting bitcoin company right now.
Most people on Wall Street, as well as regular, everyday investors (and Yahoo Finance readers like you) still don’t quite understand what bitcoin is, or why it matters. Many think it’s a scam or some kind of illegal tool for hackers. (The negative publicity around stories like the Silk Road trial didn’t help.) Srinivasan’s argument is: You don’t need to know what it is or how it works for it to be important to your digital life. He explains it this way to a layperson: “I ask people, ‘Do you use Linux?’ They’ll probably say no. But if you’re using Google.com, or Facebook.com, or Yahoo.com, you actually are using Linux, even if you don’t know it. So Linux is there, everywhere, it’s just behind the scenes, and it just sounds very technical because it solves problems for developers. And I think it’s going to be the same thing with bitcoin.”
Srinivasan frames bitcoin as the next major “system resource” in computing, something that will be a key component in every computer, just like a hard drive, RAM, and bandwidth. Bitcoin, he says, can be the resource that computers trade with other computers (without you having to worry about it), creating a “machine economy.” Once a computer can send a small amount of money as part of its operating system, “it can effectively rent or sell resources to other computers,” Srinivasan says. That was the idea behind the bitcoin computer: “If you had 500 of these things, what could they do together?”
So, whatcanthey do together?
For starters, you could earn a small amount of money (yes, in bitcoin, but a wide range of platforms now existfor quickly converting bitcoin to U.S. dollars, if that’s what you’d prefer) every time you visit a certain URL. On stage at Consensus,Srinivasan described it thusly: "Every time you load a webpage is a HTTP request. That’s a lot of HTTP requests. If you are earning bitcoin on every HTTP request, that could be a lot of earned bitcoins."
This could get exciting for media companies, in particular, with paywalls. For years, print newspapers and magazines have struggled with how to charge readers for access to their content online. Paywalls have only been successful for a select few publications, mostly because of the friction created by the moment when you, a reader in a hurry, have to enter your credit card information.
In the future that 21 envisions, your computer could cough up a small fee on its own every time you visit a publication's web site, or even every time you want to read a single article. If this process could become truly seamless, it would have major implications for digital journalism as an alternate revenue stream from selling digital ads, which has severe flaws.
But this doesn’t just apply to journalism. It's much, much bigger than that. On the machine web, where computers can accept and send small amounts of money instantly, there would no longer be a need to ever enter your credit card information online. The concept would improve the experience of shopping at Amazon or any other e-tailer, or sending a donation to a Kickstarter campaign, or any instance when you need to send money online.
This, after all, has been the value proposition of bitcoin’s rails since its inception—cutting down on the usual transfer fees, delays, and general friction you face when sending money through banks. And 21's vision should be exciting to everyone, not just developers who understand bitcoin, or speculators who have bought bitcoin as an investment. It should be exciting to anyone who has ever sat at their computer, aggravated and impatient, filling out a credit card form online.
“One way of thinking about it is, the 21 software makes bitcoin a part of your operating system,” Srinivasan says. “Over time, what we think that will do is increase demand for bitcoin as a resource.”
Of course, the rah-rah-bitcoin train has slowed recently, on the whole, asbanks and big financial institutions have gone gaga over blockchainwithout bitcoin. But along with a handful ofother companies that are doubling down on the cryptocurrency, like Coinbase, Srinivasan and 21 are betting that it’s still the digital coin that will prove to be the major innovation—not closed, permissioned blockchains.
Big business will eventually come around to bitcoin, Srinivasan insists. He compares it to online dating, which once had something of a stigma around it that, today, has all but disappeared. “It was like, it’s for nerds, it’s for nerds, it’s for nerds,” he says, “and then suddenly, oh, here’s Tinder, and now it’s totally flipped and normal and you’d be crazy not to date that way.”
For now, to most of the mainstream economy, it’s still the bitcoin believers who look like the crazy ones. Srinivasan is just fine with that.
Check back with Yahoo Finance later this summer, when we will test out what the 21 bitcoin computer can do in a follow-up story and video.
--
Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering technology and sports business. Follow him on Twitter at@readDanwrite.
Read more:
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How big banks are paying lip service to the blockchain
Bitcoin's biggest investor just bought its biggest news site || Here's where big banks stand on blockchain: In case you haven’t heard,blockchain is all the rage lately on Wall Street, whereas bitcoin, the digital currency that blockchain came along with in 2009, is suddenly very uncool.
Blockchain, by the way, is the decentralized, peer-to-peer, open-source, distributed ledger technology that underlies bitcoin. (Check out ourvideo explainer on blockchain.) The bitcoin blockchain is just one use case of the technology; lately the idea of utilizing the same technology, apart from cryptocurrency, has become popular. As Bloomberg’s Matt Levine wrote earlier this month, “If you are any sort of self-respecting financial or finance-adjacent professional these days,you had better be inserting the word ‘blockchain’ into random sentencesto prove that you're up to speed.”
Indeed, banks and financial services have certainly hopped aboard the blockchain train. But behind public press releases about initiatives and blockchain experimentation, executives at these companies differ greatly in their thinking on the technology and their faith in it.
Father-and-son team Don and Alex Tapscott, both business strategy consultants, have a new book out today called “Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin is Changing Money, Business and the World.”A more apt title might hedge that the technology “could” change the world, but the book makes a convincing case for why blockchains might revolutionize the financial sector. (And and many other sectors, but for now, the excitement is starting with finance.) For their research, the Tapscotts spoke to numerous people in banking.
Alex Tapscott says people in banking fall into four categories right now in their attitudes about blockchain. It’s worth including here his full explanation, as told to Yahoo Finance:
“There are still a few who are generally afraid of this or don’t fully buy into it, but are trying to learn more. That’s increasingly a minority. More people these days fall into a second category, which is they see this as an opportunity to reduce cost in their existing business. That’s interesting. But for us, the bigger opportunity, and I think increasingly more financial services firms fit into this, is to say, How can we use this new technology platform to fundamentally reinvent our business? If billions of people in the world don’t have access to financial services, maybe we can be the ones to harness this new technology to offer them the same services we offer our existing clients. Now, there’s a fourth category of course: if you’re a bank that thinks this is all nonsense, I would highly recommend you at least upgrade to fearful. Because this change is happening.”
Well, blockchain believers may say the change is happening. And there are signs that is the case. To cite just two examples:More than 45 banks have signed on to blockchain consortium R3 CEV, including Goldman Sachs (GS), JPMorgan (JPM), and Bank of America (BAC), to test out blockchain tech for their transaction-settling processes; andblockchain startup Chain recently announced it had completed a blockchain-for-banking productand revealed Citi (C), Visa (V), and other heavy-hitters as launch partners.
But bitcoin believers (and yes, there are still many) say thatthe concept of closed, permissioned blockchains, without digital currency, doesn’t make much sense. At most, bitcoin executives say, it can improve back-office I.T. functions of banks, which is a rather unsexy proposition for a technology that can do much more. Some are hopeful that blockchains can eventually deliver a decentralized form of all kinds of technology platforms, including, say, Uber. “It’s the disruptors themselves that stand to be disrupted,” Alex Tapscott says, describing the possibility of a "super Uber" that cuts out the middleman operator.
As Don Tapscott explains, banksshouldbe thinking bigger than they are. They ought to be aiming to revamp their systems entirely, rather than simply to improve efficiencies and reduce costs. “The blockchain is the biggest innovation in computer science in a generation, we think," he says. "And what it represents is the Internet of value. We’ve had the Internet of information for several decades. But when it comes to exchanging value—not just money, but music or loyalty points or stocks or bonds—you can’t do that in a peer-to-peer way without a powerful intermediary. This has resulted in a situation where powerful intermediaries are capturing all the value of the digital age."
That phrase, the "Internet of value," or something very close to it, has been used before to describe bitcoin and the blockchain. In fact,it’s the subject of an ongoing dispute between a prominent “cloud money” startup and an equally prominent figurehead within the bitcoin community. The latter, Andreas Antonopoulos, argues that “Internet of Money” is the best phrase to describe the promise of bitcoin, and that no one company ought to be using it as a corporate slogan.
Balaji Srinivasan, a partner at mega-influential VC firm Andreessen Horowitz and the CEO of bitcoin software company 21.co, has a similar idea for bitcoin, and is skeptical of the “blockchain minus bitcoin” fad. His vision:To create a “machine economy” in which computers can pay each other seamlesslyin bitcoin.
As the Tapscotts do make clear in their book, we are still in the early days of this space. It is so early, in fact, that much of the mainstream media only covers this industry when there are salacious new reports ofwho might be the real Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of bitcoin. They are missing what is really going on here, but they still have ample time. In the simultaneous races to innovate in both bitcoin and blockchain, there is not yet any clear victor.
The Blockchain Revolution is available now. Watch the above video for a more in-depth discussion about the book with its authors.
--
Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering technology and sports business. Follow him on Twitter at@readDanwrite.
Read more:
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Bitcoin's biggest investor just bought its biggest news site || Australian says he created bitcoin, but some sceptical: By Byron Kaye and Jemima Kelly SYDNEY/LONDON (Reuters) - Australian tech entrepreneur Craig Wright identified himself as the creator of controversial digital currency bitcoin on Monday but experts were divided over whether he really was the elusive person who has gone by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto until now. Uncovering Nakamoto's real identity would solve a riddle dating back to the publication of the open source software behind the cryptocurrency in 2008, before its launch a year later. Bitcoin has since become the world's most commonly used virtual currency, attracting the interest of banks, speculators, criminals and regulators. Worth a total of $7 billion (5 billion pounds) at current levels, it fell more than 3 percent on Monday -- a normal intraday move for the volatile currency -- after the news, to below $440 from around $455, before recovering slightly. Some online commentators suggested bitcoin's creator could help resolve a bitter row among the currency's software developers that threatens its future. But Wright made no reference to the row in a BBC interview identifying himself as Nakamoto, and as the protocol bitcoin runs on is open-source and cannot be controlled by any one person, it is unclear whether he would be able to influence the way it develops. "I was the main part of it, other people helped me," Wright, who is now living in London, told the BBC. "Some people will believe, Some people won't, and to tell you the truth, I don't really care," he said. Many bitcoiners said Wright had not done enough to definitively prove that he was Nakamoto, who maintained his anonymity throughout his involvement with bitcoin, which he stepped away from in 2011. But Gavin Andresen, who Nakamoto chose to succeed him, published a blog post in which he described meeting Wright last month and said he is convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the Australian is Nakamoto. Jon Matonis, a founding director of the Bitcoin Foundation now works as a bitcoin consultant, wrote a blog post on Monday which, like Andresens, supported Wrights claims. According to me, the proof is conclusive and I have no doubt that Craig Steven Wright is the person behind the Bitcoin technology, Nakamoto consensus, and the Satoshi Nakamoto name, Matonis wrote. He and Andresen also confirmed they had been responsible for their respective blog posts to Reuters directly. LEGACY Nakamoto's biggest likely legacy lies well beyond his control. The blockchain technology that underpins the currency could transform the way banks settle transactions, the way that property rights and other vital data are recorded, and provide a way for central banks to issue their own digital currencies. Story continues The BBC reported on Monday that Wright gave some technical proof demonstrating that he had access to blocks of bitcoins known to have been created by bitcoin's creator. Researchers believe Nakamoto may be holding up to one million of the more than 15 million bitcoins currently in circulation, which would make the creator worth around $440 million. In a blog post also dated Monday, Wright posted an example of a signature used by Nakamoto and an explanation of how bitcoin transactions are verified and thanked all those who had supported the project from its inception. "This incredible communitys passion and intellect and perseverance have taken my small contribution and nurtured it, enhanced it, breathed life into it," he wrote. However he did not state directly that he was Nakamoto. "Satoshi is dead," he said. "But this is only the beginning." Bitcoin expert Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research at Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group Coin Center, said a new message cryptographically signed using the private key associated with the so-called Genesis block, the first ever "mined" would have been more convincing. The currency's "miners" are incentivised to process transactions every 10 minutes by a possible reward of bitcoins (25 currently), which is how new bitcoins are created. Wright also spoke with The Economist, but declined requests from the magazine to provide further proof that he was Nakamoto. His representatives told Reuters he would not be taking part in more media interviews for the time being. "Our conclusion is that Mr Wright could well be Mr Nakamoto, but that important questions remain," The Economist said. "Indeed, it may never be possible to establish beyond reasonable doubt who really created bitcoin. Hopes that bitcoin would become broadly used helped buoy its price to more than $1,000 in December 2013, when its market capitalisation was $13 billion compared with today's $7 billion. Wright told The Economist he would exchange bitcoin he owns slowly to avoid pushing down its price. HOME RAIDED In December, police raided Wright's Sydney home and office after Wired magazine named him as the probable creator of bitcoin and holder of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of the cryptocurrency. At the time he made no comment. The treatment of bitcoins for tax purposes in Australia has been the subject of considerable debate. The Australian Tax Office (ATO) ruled in December 2014 that cryptocurrency should be considered an asset, rather than a currency, for capital gains tax purposes. On Monday, the ATO said it had no comment while police were not immediately available for comment. If Wright is Nakamoto he "is now the leader of a movement", said Roberto Capodieci, a Singapore-based entrepreneur working on the blockchain, the technology underlying the currency. That movement ranges from libertarian enthusiasts to central banks experimenting with digital currencies, all of which pay homage in some way to Nakamoto's writings. (Additional reporting by Jeremy Wagstaff in Singapore, Matt Siegel in Sydney and Paul Sandle in London; Editing by Nick Macfie, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Philippa Fletcher) View comments || Bitcoin has a governance problem, no matter who created it: By Jemima Kelly LONDON (Reuters) - As one would-be father of bitcoin falls by the wayside, squabbling among the web-based currency's lead developers is exposing a fundamental flaw: it must evolve to meet growing demand, but may lack a governance structure to achieve this. The latest bickering erupted after Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright promised to prove he was the mysterious creator of bitcoin - which allows users to move money across the world quickly and anonymously - but then said on Thursday he could not provide further evidence to back this up. Wright stopped short of reneging on his claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto, assumed to be a pseudonym for the person or people who launched the digital cryptocurrency in 2009. However, he apologised for damaging the reputations of bitcoin experts who had believed him. Many members of the bitcoin community reckon this is all a distraction and agree with Wright when he said that the identity of Nakamoto "doesn't, and shouldn't, matter". "Satoshi's biggest achievement was to create a system that doesn't require his participation to run," said Peter Todd, one of bitcoin's core software developers. "That's what makes all this stuff kind of funny. It's like searching for the creator of a system that's designed not to require a creator." While grey-suited central bankers print conventional currencies and commercial banks control transactions in them, no one person or entity is in charge of bitcoin. Instead it runs on a decentralised system of shared trust without any third-party verification of transactions - one reason why many people are attracted to it. Critics, however, say it needs a "benevolent dictator" or at least some "adults" to manage the expansion that it needs to cope with the increasing number of transactions. Someone, or some group, must decide how to meet users' requirements, they say. Trades are handled by thousands of "mining" computers around the world which validate blocks of transactions by competing to solve mathematical puzzles every 10 minutes. Story continues The first computer to solve the puzzle clears the transaction and is currently rewarded with 25 new bitcoins, now worth around $11,250. (BTC=BTSP). This is how the computers' owners cover their costs - largely power bills - and make a profit. The system also ensures there is no single point in the system that might fail. CIVIL WAR In practice, there do appear to be people who can make decisions, but it is also possible to be excluded from this magic circle. One of the bitcoin experts who initially believed Wright's claim is Gavin Andresen. Nakamoto handed control of bitcoin's software to Andresen when he stepped aside in 2011, a transfer that kept the creator's identity a mystery as it was conducted in cyberspace without human contact. Andresen later shared that control with others. But when he stated publicly he believed Wright, sceptical developers responded by revoking his "commit access" to a shared repository of bitcoin rules. Initially, these developers justified their move on security grounds, saying his computer must have been hacked - something Andresen denied. When Reuters asked Todd whether Andresen's access would be reinstated, he responded: "Heck no", saying a belief in Wright amounted to "inexcusable incompetence". Andresen admitted to bewilderment over whether he still believed Wright's claims. "Ask me in six months; I don't trust my own judgement right now after all the drama," he said on Twitter. The squabbling is not new. One of the lead developers, Mike Hearn, stood down from bitcoin in January because of a power struggle nicknamed the "bitcoin civil war". Hearn and Andresen had proposed increasing the size of the blocks in which transactions are processed but the other developers opposed this. In quitting, Hearn said that "what was meant to be a new, decentralised form of money that lacked systemically important institutions" had now become "a system completely controlled by just a handful of people". Many investors and start-up firms remain optimistic about bitcoin and are making money from it. But Emin Gun Sirer, a computer science professor at Cornell University, said the appearance of internal conflict was undermining it. "For bitcoin to retain its value, it's important to have hope that there's good management in charge, that there are adults in charge," Sirer said. "When we see opportunistic moves, that's a problem." BENEVOLENT DICTATORS But Sirer also said that any open-source project such as bitcoin, which runs using software that anyone can access, change, and distribute, faces the challenge of governance. "Is it a pipe dream to expect to be able to build a currency system that is completely decentralized and free of any control whatsoever? The short answer to that is yes, but that's not what anyone should have expected anyway," he said. Sirer added that he was concerned that his brightest young students at Cornell were being deterred from getting involved with bitcoin because of the in-fighting and the appearance that developers were unable to agree on change. One other digital currency system which is attracting bright young minds is Ethereum, created in 2013 by Russian-Canadian Vitalik Buterin when he was just 19. It works with the "benevolent dictator model", as Sirer calls it, with Buterin holding the decision-making power. "Over the last couple of years it's become apparent that having a static protocol is just not a viable approach," Buterin told the Consensus bitcoin conference in New York earlier in the week. "Software has to evolve ... and there has to be some mechanism for agreeing on how software is going to upgrade." Most, however, reckon that even if Nakamoto were to be found, the other developers - many of whom have written more code than he ever did in the seven years since bitcoin was launched - would not accept his having ultimate power. "(Nakamoto) would be thanked for creating this amazing thing, but if there comes a time when there's a technical debate over whether we should go one way or the other, his opinions would only be persuasive, not controlling," said Jerry Brito, executive director of bitcoin advocacy group Coin Center. (Additional reporting by Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; editing by David Stamp) || BTC to Provide Prepaid Electricity: NASSAU, BAHAMAS--(Marketwired - Apr 13, 2016) - Metered and prepaid electricity will soon become a reality as the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) has started testing the service in Spanish Wells, Eleuthera. Prepaid metering allows customers to better manage their electricity use and bills via BTC's 4G LTE data network. BTC CEO Leon Williams said, "With this accomplishment, BTC will become the first Telecommunications Provider in the Caribbean region to leverage its network to provide smart-grid services to the utility industry. BTC's prepaid service eliminates monthly bills, disconnections, and visits to the utility office, while providing the tools necessary to save money on utilities. It's also a step ahead for utility companies who can reduce accounts receivable and transition the management of accounts to the customer." CEO at St. George's Cay Power Limited, Morris Pinder said, "We have been using the BTC prepaid metering solution for about a month now, and thus far everything is going well. In Spanish Wells we have several business owners that operate rental units and prepaid metering will be beneficial as renters will be responsible for their power usage. I'm certain that it will also be beneficial for persons that may have problems paying for electricity." Prepaid metering provides an added layer of flexibility for customers. This tech-savvy solution will use BTC's 4G LTE data network, and will allow customers to top up their accounts using their existing mobile wallet, wherever BTC top-up is available, online and via the BTC Call Center. Consumers will have the ability of monitoring their usage using their smart devices. The prepaid metering system provides notifications, letting customers know when their balances are low and prompting them to top up again. The system can also be customized to allow customers to also pay down on their existing bills. Over the next several months, BTC expects to complete its POC and extend the opportunity to local utility providers. Later this year, BTC will also work with a provider to spearhead a prepaid metering concept for water usage. Story continues About BTC BTC is the national leader in communications services in The Bahamas. The Company offers a full suite of landline, broadband and mobile solutions for residential and enterprise customers. BTC is the 2015 winner of the globally renowned sales and business development Stevie Awards. The Company captured the Silver Award for the National Sales Executive of the Year and the Bronze Award for Sales Team of the Year. BTC is also the 2015 winner of the Gold and Silver medals in the regional Association of Directory Publishers (ADP) Awards. BTC won two First Place Gold Medals for 'Excellence in Cover Design & Art - Product Branding' and 'Excellence in Cover Design & Art - Print'. The company captured the Second Place Silver Medal for 'Excellence in Print Directories'. The Company is also committed to community building and in 2015 alone has been title sponsor of several national initiatives including One Bahamas, The High School Nationals, CARIFTA Swim and Track & Field Teams, IAAF/BTC World Relays and the Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival. Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=2992119 Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=2992121 || Bitcoin has a governance problem, no matter who created it: * Bitcoin founder claims provoke fresh bitcoin bickering
* System needs to evolve to handle rise in transactions
* But lead developers squabble, freeze out one of their peers
* System needs "adults" to make decisions - U.S. professor
By Jemima Kelly
LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) - As one would-be father of bitcoin falls by the wayside, squabbling among the web-based currency's lead developers is exposing a fundamental flaw: it must evolve to meet growing demand, but may lack a governance structure to achieve this.
The latest bickering erupted after Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright promised to prove he was the mysterious creator of bitcoin - which allows users to move money across the world quickly and anonymously - but then said on Thursday he could not provide further evidence to back this up.
Wright stopped short of reneging on his claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto, assumed to be a pseudonym for the person or people who launched the digital cryptocurrency in 2009. However, he apologised for damaging the reputations of bitcoin experts who had believed him.
Many members of the bitcoin community reckon this is all a distraction and agree with Wright when he said that the identity of Nakamoto "doesn't, and shouldn't, matter".
"Satoshi's biggest achievement was to create a system that doesn't require his participation to run," said Peter Todd, one of bitcoin's core software developers. "That's what makes all this stuff kind of funny. It's like searching for the creator of a system that's designed not to require a creator."
While grey-suited central bankers print conventional currencies and commercial banks control transactions in them, no one person or entity is in charge of bitcoin. Instead it runs on a decentralised system of shared trust without any third-party verification of transactions - one reason why many people are attracted to it.
Critics, however, say it needs a "benevolent dictator" or at least some "adults" to manage the expansion that it needs to cope with the increasing number of transactions. Someone, or some group, must decide how to meet users' requirements, they say.
Trades are handled by thousands of "mining" computers around the world which validate blocks of transactions by competing to solve mathematical puzzles every 10 minutes.
The first computer to solve the puzzle clears the transaction and is currently rewarded with 25 new bitcoins, now worth around $11,250.. This is how the computers' owners cover their costs - largely power bills - and make a profit. The system also ensures there is no single point in the system that might fail.
CIVIL WAR
In practice, there do appear to be people who can make decisions, but it is also possible to be excluded from this magic circle.
One of the bitcoin experts who initially believed Wright's claim is Gavin Andresen. Nakamoto handed control of bitcoin's software to Andresen when he stepped aside in 2011, a transfer that kept the creator's identity a mystery as it was conducted in cyberspace without human contact.
Andresen later shared that control with others. But when he stated publicly he believed Wright, sceptical developers responded by revoking his "commit access" to a shared repository of bitcoin rules.
Initially, these developers justified their move on security grounds, saying his computer must have been hacked - something Andresen denied. When Reuters asked Todd whether Andresen's access would be reinstated, he responded: "Heck no", saying a belief in Wright amounted to "inexcusable incompetence".
Andresen admitted to bewilderment over whether he still believed Wright's claims. "Ask me in six months; I don't trust my own judgement right now after all the drama," he said on Twitter.
The squabbling is not new. One of the lead developers, Mike Hearn, stood down from bitcoin in January because of a power struggle nicknamed the "bitcoin civil war".
Hearn and Andresen had proposed increasing the size of the blocks in which transactions are processed but the other developers opposed this. In quitting, Hearn said that "what was meant to be a new, decentralised form of money that lacked systemically important institutions" had now become "a system completely controlled by just a handful of people".
Many investors and start-up firms remain optimistic about bitcoin and are making money from it. But Emin Gun Sirer, a computer science professor at Cornell University, said the appearance of internal conflict was undermining it.
"For bitcoin to retain its value, it's important to have hope that there's good management in charge, that there are adults in charge," Sirer said. "When we see opportunistic moves, that's a problem."
BENEVOLENT DICTATORS
But Sirer also said that any open-source project such as bitcoin, which runs using software that anyone can access, change, and distribute, faces the challenge of governance.
"Is it a pipe dream to expect to be able to build a currency system that is completely decentralized and free of any control whatsoever? The short answer to that is yes, but that's not what anyone should have expected anyway," he said.
Sirer added that he was concerned that his brightest young students at Cornell were being deterred from getting involved with bitcoin because of the in-fighting and the appearance that developers were unable to agree on change.
One other digital currency system which is attracting bright young minds is Ethereum, created in 2013 by Russian-Canadian Vitalik Buterin when he was just 19. It works with the "benevolent dictator model", as Sirer calls it, with Buterin holding the decision-making power.
"Over the last couple of years it's become apparent that having a static protocol is just not a viable approach," Buterin told the Consensus bitcoin conference in New York earlier in the week. "Software has to evolve ... and there has to be some mechanism for agreeing on how software is going to upgrade."
Most, however, reckon that even if Nakamoto were to be found, the other developers - many of whom have written more code than he ever did in the seven years since bitcoin was launched - would not accept his having ultimate power.
"(Nakamoto) would be thanked for creating this amazing thing, but if there comes a time when there's a technical debate over whether we should go one way or the other, his opinions would only be persuasive, not controlling," said Jerry Brito, executive director of bitcoin advocacy group Coin Center.
(Additional reporting by Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; editing by David Stamp) || "I'm sorry" - Craig Wright on lack of evidence he created bitcoin: * Wright says will not provide further evidence * Previous blog posts disappear from Wright's website * U-turn seen making Wright's claims less likely (Adds comment, details, price reaction) By Jemima Kelly LONDON, May 5 (Reuters) - Australian tech entrepreneur Craig Wright, who earlier this week said he would provide "extraordinary proof" that he was the creator of digital currency bitcoin, will not provide any further evidence, according to a post on his blog on Thursday. Although Wright did not renege on his claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto - the name, assumed to be pseudonymous, of the person or group who created the web-based currency in 2008 - the U-turn was taken by many bitcoin experts as confirmation of their suspicions that the claims were false. "I believed that I could do this. I believed that I could put the years of anonymity and hiding behind me," Wright wrote. "But, as the events of this week unfolded and I prepared to publish the proof of access to the earliest keys, I broke. I do not have the courage. I cannot." Bitcoin is a web-based "cryptocurrency" that enables users to move money across the world quickly and anonymously without the need for third-party verification. Various attempts have been made to identify its elusive creator, but Wright's claims stood out due to the high-profile endorsements they received. Lead bitcoin developer Gavin Andresen and bitcoin consultant Jon Matonis both wrote blogs on Monday endorsing Wright's claims, saying they had been shown proof by Wright that he was Nakamoto. Wright said on Thursday that Andresen and Matonis had not been deceived, but "that the world will never believe that now". "I think he's significantly less likely to be Satoshi than any other person that's been suggested," another lead bitcoin developer, Peter Todd, told Reuters, referring to others who have been suspected of being bitcoin's creator. "PLAIN FISHY" After coming under pressure to provide more credible evidence that he was bitcoin's creator, Wright had blogged on Monday that he would provide "independently verifiable documents and evidence" that would back up his claims. The post could no longer be found on his blog site. Story continues "The possibility that Wright is Satoshi will always exist, but given the amount of evidence calling that into doubt, I think one would be foolish to give that possibility much weight," said Jerry Brito, executive director of Washington, D.C.-based digital currency advocacy group Coin Center. "He's provided no cryptographic evidence verifiable by the public, and many of his answers sound plain fishy... Today's statement on his blog only further tarnishes his credibility." Wright's representatives declined to give any comments on his decision to back away from providing further evidence, but said he was still their client. They believed he was still in London, where he has been living for the past few months. Interviews with some who had done business with Wright in Australia in December, when reports by Wired and Gizmodo that he could be Nakamoto first emerged, and an inspection of documents published by the two tech news websites, painted a complex picture of Wright. They pointed to a smart but sometimes abrasive figure facing growing legal and financial problems at least in part caused by his involvement with bitcoin. Each bitcoin is currently worth around $447, making the 15 million or so in circulation worth a total of around $7 billion. Wright said his failure to produce better evidence would cause "great damage to those that had supported" him, in particular Matonis and Andresen. "I can only say I'm sorry. And goodbye," Wright wrote. (Reporting by Jemima Kelly; Editing by Toby Chopra) || Bitcoin's Creator Reveals Himself: More than seven years after the first bitcoin transaction, Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright has stepped forward to identify himself as “Satoshi Nakamoto,” the creator of Bitcoin.
Major players involved in the development of Bitcoin have confirmed that the proof that Wright has presented that he is Nakamoto is legitimate.
In a meeting withthe BBC, the Economist and GQ, Wright digitally signed messages using cryptographic keys created during the early days of Bitcoin development and linked to blocks of bitcoins mined by Nakamoto.
Wright says these blocks were used to make the first ever bitcoin transaction back in January of 2009.
Jon Matonis, Economist and founding director of the Bitcoin Foundation, verified Wright’s claims.
“During the London proof session, I had the opportunity to review the relevant data along three distinct lines: cryptographic, social and technical,” Matonis explained.
“It is my firm belief that Craig Wright satisfies all three categories.
Related Link:Poll: Analysts See More Upside For Gold, Silver
Other Bitcoin enthusiasts remain skeptical, but Wright plans to publicly release data to allow others to verify his identity.
Since Bitcoin’s inception, Satoshi Nakamoto is believed to have accumulated more than one million bitcoins. That would mean that Wright could potentially have generated about $450 million in profit to date.
TheBitcoin Investment Trust(OTC:GBTC) is up 12.7 percent in 2016.
Disclosure: the author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.
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© 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Fintech could be bigger than ATMs, PayPal, and Bitcoin combined: This is a complimentary article from BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium subscription service for business professionals. For more information about everything BI Intelligence has to offer, click here to learn more >> We’ve entered the most profound era of change for financial services companies since the 1970s brought us index mutual funds, discount brokers and ATMs. No firm is immune from the coming disruption and every company must have a strategy to harness the powerful advantages of the new financial technology (“fintech”) revolution. The battle already underway will create surprising winners and stunned losers among some of the most powerful names in the financial world: The most contentious conflicts (and partnerships) will be between startups that are completely reengineering decades-old practices, traditional power players who are furiously trying to adapt with their own innovations, and total disruption of established technology & processes: Traditional Retail Banks vs. Online-Only Banks: Traditional retail banks provide a valuable service, but online-only banks can offer many of the same services with higher rates and lower fees Traditional Lenders vs. Peer-to-Peer Marketplaces : P2P lending marketplaces are growing much faster than traditional lenders—only time will tell if the banks strategy of creating their own small loan networks will be successful Traditional Asset Managers vs. Robo-Advisors : Robo-advisors like Betterment offer lower fees, lower minimums and solid returns to investors, but the much larger traditional asset managers are creating their own robo-products while providing the kind of handholding that high net worth clients are willing to pay handsomely for. As you can see, this very fluid environment is creating winners and losers before your eyes…and it’s also creating the potential for new cost savings or growth opportunities for both you and your company. After months of researching and reporting this important trend, Business Insider Intelligence has put together an essential briefing that explains the new landscape, identifies the ripest areas for disruption, and highlights the some of the most exciting new companies. These new players have the potential to become the next Visa, Paypal or Charles Schwab because they have the potential to transform important areas of the financial services industry like: Story continues Retail banking Lending and Financing Payments and Transfers Wealth and Asset Management Markets and Exchanges Insurance Blockchain Transactions If you work in any of these sectors, it’s important for you to understand how the fintech revolution will change your business and possibly even your career. And if you’re employed in any part of the digital economy, you’ll want to know how you can exploit these new technologies to make your employer more efficient, flexible and profitable. Among the big picture insights you’ll get from this new report, titled The Fintech Ecosystem Report : Measuring the effects of technology on the entire financial services industry : Why financial technology is so disruptive to financial services—it will soon change the nature of almost every financial activity, from banking to payments to wealth management. The basic conflict will be between old firms and new—startups are re-imagining financial services processes from top to bottom, while incumbent financial services firms are trying to keep up with new products of their own. Both sides face serious obstacles—traditional banks and financial services firms are investing heavily in innovation, but leveraging their investments is difficult with so much invested in legacy systems and profit centers. Meanwhile, startups are struggling to navigate a rapidly-changing regulatory landscape and must scale up quickly with limited resources. The blockchain is a wild card that could completely overhaul financial services. Both major banks and startups around the world are exploring the technology behind the blockchain, which stores and records Bitcoin transactions. This technology could lower the cost of many financial activities to near-zero and could wipe away many traditional banking activities completely. This exclusive report also: Explains the main growth drivers of the exploding fintech ecosystem. Frames the challenges and opportunities faced by incumbents and startups. Breaks down global and regional fintech investments , including which regions are the most significant and which are poised for the highest growth. Reveals which two financial services are garnering the most investment, and are therefore likely to be transformed first and fastest by fintech Explains why blockchain technology is critically important to banks and startups, and assesses which players stand to gain the most from it. Explores the financial sectors facing disruption and breaks them down in terms of investments, vulnerabilities and growth opportunities. And much more. The Fintech Ecosystem Report : Measuring the effects of technology on the entire financial services industry is how you get the full story on the fintech revolution. To get your copy of this invaluable guide to the fintech revolution, choose one of these options: Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> START A MEMBERSHIP Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the fast-moving world of financial technology. More From Business Insider Microsoft brings IoT to the Edge Microsoft is launching an Echo competitor Domestic smartphone brands continue to outshine Apple in China || Murray Stahl Talks Investments Made Through FRMO: - By Bram de Haas Guru Murray Stahl ( Trades , Portfolio ) is the CEO and chairman of FRMO Corp. (FRMO). Together with CFO Steven Bregman, they report on the investments made through FRMO on a quarterly basis. There is no transcript available yet for the most recent call, but you can listen to the archived call. Warning! GuruFocus has detected — Warning Sign with WMT. Click here to check it out. FRMO –5-Year Financial Data The intrinsic value of FRMO Peter Lynch Chart of FRMO The call can be a little bit chaotic if you are a new shareholder, but they are absolutely worth listening too. Stahl and Bregman are full of valuable insights into the markets and readily share wisdom related to their unconventional approach to value investing. Balance sheet The call starts out with them commenting on the balance sheet. Equity went down by a meaningful amount and the duo got several questions from shareholders about why it went down and whether the decline would be permanent. A meaningful part of the reduction in book value is due to current assets decreasing by $–– million. A deferred tax liability was decreased and the securities sold, not yet purchased program was expanded a little bit. This is a post where they account for short positions in path dependent ETFs. The way I understand it, they had to take their gains in these positions, which triggered a tax. Afterward they initiated the positions again with a new cost basis. The HK multistrategy fund declined in value. Over the calendar year, the fund didn’t do so bad (-–—%), but throughout the reporting period the fund went down by —5%. There were also some redemptions, although they were quick to point out March had been a very good month. Digital Currency Group Stahl talked a little bit about a new investment in the Digital Currency Group. DCG is a corporation devoted to crypto currencies. Stahl expects cryptocurrencies will become a legitimate asset class. DCG owns various venture investments in technologies involved with digital currencies. They own equity in Coinbase (an exchange), Ripple (utilizes blockchain for cross-border transactions) and Grayscale (a money manager of crypto currencies). Governments around the world historically had the tendency to inflate asset prices or currency. Little by little you are purchasing power, a constant threat in history. Being on a metallic standard has historically also caused inflation.� Story continues The blockchain is a ledger and the coins can’t be counterfeited. If more transactions are done in a currency it raises its value. If Bitcoin were to become the new gold (Stahl doesn’t necessarily agree, but raises it as a possibility suggested by others), Bitcoin would appreciate by –………x in value. If it were to become currency for the world, you would make —…………x your money. Even though it is a very small investment, Stahl views it as a really important strategic investment. It's possible the stake would be expanded. Market outlook If oil went to $45 by end of the year, CPI would go to —.‘% and the Fed would have its hand forced and would need to raise rates. This would cause problems in the market. You have to diversify away from stocks. Over the last ‘5 years, interest rates came down and stocks were successful. FRMO is now operating on the premise that two guys picking stocks isn’t going to cut it going forward. The firm keeps a lot of cash on the balance sheet and views it as optionality. When the next crash (Stahl doesn’t actually use the word crash) comes, the firm will profit by having lots of liquidity. One of the reasons they like small exchanges so much is that the optionality embedded in them is huge. If big mergers go through like the one between the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Borsche, these players raise prices and clients are angry and want to move business. Meanwhile there are few licensed exchanges and the small ones are suddenly very well positioned. ETFs Stahl views it as very dangerous to be invested in big dominating companies. Big liquid companies pay out a little bit of dividend and throw the rest at buybacks. These companies have defined benefit pension plans, but the stock has to rise or the company has to put extra money into these plans. This means that when the flows into large cap liquid companies is starting to slow, the effect can be dramatic. Big liquid stocks make up huge allocations in focused ETFs. What’s wrong with that? You take a lot of individual security risk by buying this ETF. At some point an event will make that apparent to lots of people invested in these type of securities. Something else he doesn’t like is the typical dividend ETF. Earnings of the constituents of these products are ever so slightly declining. They have record margins right now, and can’t go up or down by much. These companies are currently saving a lot on the commodity side and not passing this on to the consumer. The risks in ETF land are exacerbated because ETF providers aren’t making money and can’t make a lot of money on these products because the fees are too low. This structure of the industry leads to only a few companies being a major part of all ETFs. An index was supposed to take out risk, and now you are taking on risk by buying into them. Everyone owns the same companies.� Indexation is not in the early innings, it’s in the late innings. It will possibly go into extra innings. This article first appeared on GuruFocus . Warning! GuruFocus has detected 2 Warning Sign with WMT. Click here to check it out. FRMO 15-Year Financial Data The intrinsic value of FRMO Peter Lynch Chart of FRMO
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$451.24/$451.35 #Bitstamp
$444.00/$444.09 #BTCe
⇢$-7.35/$-7.15
$452.62/$452.88 #Coinbase
⇢$1.27/$1.64 || 1 #bitcoin 1248.78 TL, 414.708 $, 379.799 €, GBP, 28100.00 RUR, 47339 ¥, CNH, CAD #btc || 1 #bitcoin = $7550.00 MXN | $426.64 USD #BitAPeso 1 USD = 17.7MXN http://www.bitapeso.com || Current price: 295.02£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2016-03-27 13:00:20 BST || Current price: 290.45£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2016-03-30 05:00:09 BST || #Bitcoin last trade
@bitstamp $422.00
@coinbase $423.07
Set #crypto #price #alerts at http://AlertCo.in || LIVE: Profit = $730.79 (0.29 %). BUY B603.26 @ $418.00 (#BTCe). SELL @ $420.60 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || LIVE: Profit = $131.31 (7.07 %). BUY B4.81 @ $410.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $413.74 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || LIVE: Profit = $138.67 (7.47 %). BUY B4.81 @ $410.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $415.27 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || #BTA Price: Bittrex 0.00002420 BTC YoBit 0.00002433 BTC Bleutrade 0.00002685 BTC #BTA 2016-04-22 17:00 pic.twitter.com/bi8iQ6dWmE
|
Trend: up || Prices: 445.98, 449.60, 453.38, 473.46, 530.04, 526.23, 533.86, 531.39, 536.92, 537.97
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2018-09-19]
BTC Price: 6398.54, BTC RSI: 43.48
Gold Price: 1202.20, Gold RSI: 50.62
Oil Price: 71.12, Oil RSI: 61.00
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Will the First Bitcoin ETF Make the Crypto Market Even More Volatile?: The first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) is expected to be approved by February of 2019. But, some experts have stated that ETFs may increase the volatility of the market.
Over the past few months, analysts have been divided on the effect of the ruling of theUS Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) regarding Bitcoin ETFs on the crypto market.
Brian Kelly, a contributor to CNBC’s Fast Money and the CEO at BKCM, previously explained that the rise in the price of Bitcoin from the lower end of $7,000 to $8,000 in early August could be attributed to the increasing hype around Bitcoin ETFs.
Last week, as theprice of BTCdropped substantially against the US dollar, Kelly emphasized that the SEC’s rejection of the Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF likely had an impact on the market and that investors have overreacted to the news.
Recently, in a Q&A session, well respected cryptocurrency researcher and security expert Andreas Antonopoulos disclosed his stance on Bitcoin ETFs, firmly stating that he is against the introduction of ETFs in regulated markets.
Antonopoulos said that while ETFs have the ability to open the Bitcoin market to a group of institutional investors and retail traders that have not been able to trade the dominant cryptocurrencies due to issues pertaining to regulation, they also provide a platform for large investors to manipulate the price of BTC.
Heexplained:
“Everybody is so excited about ETFs. What we have seen in other markets is that when an ETF becomes available, the price really increases dramatically, as suddenly that commodity becomes available to a lot more investors and these investors pile on. But, the other side of it, is that there are always these claims that the commodities markets are heavily manipulated and opening up these ETFs only increase the ability of institutional investors to manipulate the prices of commodities.”
It is possible, given that the ETF of the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and VanEck-SolidX may lead to billions of dollars in new capital into the Bitcoin market, that the price of BTC sways by large margins on both the upside and downside during the operating hours of the US stock market, if an ETF is launched.
Unlike futures contracts, in the ETF market, investors do not necessarily have the motivation or the incentive to intentionally bring down the price of Bitcoin by manipulating its price trend. But, for instance, if a group of investors decide to utilize the ETF market to manipulate the price of BTC to record gains in the futures market, the Bitcoin market could become significantly more volatile.
In the long run, as more publicly tradable investment vehicles are introduced by regulated financial institutions and the liquidity of Bitcoin drastically improves, it will become difficult to manipulate the price trend of the crypto market.
However, in a period of instability, high volatility, and fast growth, publicly tradable investment vehicles could provide enough leverage to large investors that are capable of reversing market trends.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
The postWill the First Bitcoin ETF Make the Crypto Market Even More Volatile?appeared first onCCN. || Intercontinental Exchange to Introduce Bakkt, a Crypto Payment System for Retailers: Intercontinental Exchange to Introduce Bakkt, a Crypto Payment System for Retailers This November, cryptocurrency users will be introduced to Bakkt , a new company designed to give millions of retail merchants the chance to buy, sell and trade digital currencies — and even buy a cup of coffee. The company is being launched by Atlanta-based Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and a leading operator of clearinghouses, global exchanges, and data and listing services. Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler explained, “Bakkt is designed to serve as a scalable on-ramp for institutional, merchant and consumer participation in digital assets by promoting greater efficiency, security and utility. We are collaborating to build an open platform that helps unlock the transformative potential of digital assets across global markets and commerce.” ICE is also devising “a 1-day physically delivered Bitcoin contract along with physical warehousing,” according to the official press release. If the offering receives the approval of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission ( CFTC ), it will begin trading in November of this year. Introduced in 2000, Intercontinental Exchange is a Fortune 500 company and Fortune Future 50 company. The venture was built to modernize markets and ease the risks and tensions associated with stocks and futures trading by managing the data houses and exchanges traders regularly utilize. Jeffrey C. Sprecher, the founder, chairman and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange, believes that as cryptocurrencies venture deeper into mainstream territory, it is ICE’s job to ensure that consumers and merchants alike can use them safely — which has ultimately led to the creation of Bakkt. “In bringing regulated, connected infrastructure together with institutional and consumer applications for digital assets, we aim to build confidence in the asset class on a global scale, consistent with our track record of bringing transparency and trust to previously unregulated markets,” he explained. Story continues To ensure customer security, executives of Bakkt have announced that they are partnering with software giant Microsoft to implement the company’s cloud solutions. This will create a globally regulated and open marketplace for digital asset users. Thus far, Bakkt has garnered funding from venture funds and Wall Street players including Pantera Capital, Protocol Ventures, Galaxy Digital and Horizons Ventures. One of the biggest retail merchants to sit at Bakkt’s table will be the Seattle-based coffee king Starbucks, which plans to utilize the company’s payment system so customers can purchase drinks, baked goods and merchandise with cryptocurrency. In a statement, Maria Smith, the vice president of partnerships and payments for Starbucks, asserted, “As the flagship retailer, Starbucks will play a pivotal role in developing practical, trusted and regulated applications for consumers to convert their digital assets into U.S. dollars for use at Starbucks. As a leader in Mobile Pay to our more than 15 million Starbucks Rewards members, Starbucks is committed to innovation for expanding payment options for our customers.” This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine . || U.S. regulator stands by decision to block Winklevoss bitcoin ETF: By Trevor Hunnicutt and Michelle Price NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday stood by a decision blocking an exchange-traded fund that would have tracked bitcoin, citing concerns about market manipulation. The securities regulator found "unpersuasive" arguments that the bitcoin ETF proposed by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the twin brothers who founded crypto exchange Gemini Trust Co LLC, would be sufficiently protected from manipulation, it said in a 92-page analysis https://bit.ly/2K3GoWG posted on its website. "Regulated bitcoin-related markets are in the early stages of their development," the SEC said, saying that it "cannot...conclude that bitcoin markets are uniquely resistant to manipulation." But the agency did not completely shut the door to such products coming to market once the bitcoin market has matured, offering some hope for at least five other bitcoin ETF proposals that are still pending before the regulator. Bitcoin <BTC=BTSP> turned negative after the SEC's ruling, and last traded down 2.9 percent. The virtual currency can be used to move money around the world quickly and with relative anonymity, without the need for a central authority, such as a bank or government. A fund holding the currency could attract more investors and push its price higher. The SEC said there was not enough evidence that efforts to thwart manipulation of the ETF's price or that of the underlying bitcoin market would be successful. The SEC had blocked the Winklevoss ETF from coming to market in March 2017, but then faced an appeal from CBOE Holdings Inc's <CBOE.O> Bats exchange, which applied to list the ETF. The parties can appeal the SEC's decision in federal court. CBOE and Gemini did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Winklevoss twins are best known for their feud with Facebook Inc <FB.O> founder Mark Zuckerberg over whether he stole the idea for what became the world's most popular social networking website from them. The former Olympic rowers ultimately settled their legal dispute, which was dramatized in the 2010 film "The Social Network." Story continues The SEC's decision to block the ETF was voted for 3-1 by its sitting commissioners, with Republican commissioner Hester Peirce voting against. In a statement, Peirce said she believed the product met the legal standard. "More institutional participation would ameliorate many of the Commission's concerns with the bitcoin market that underlie its disapproval order," she said, adding that the ruling "sends a strong signal that innovation is unwelcome in our markets." (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in New York and Michelle Price in Washington; additional reporting by Anna Irrera in New York; editing by Phil Berlowitz and Leslie Adler) || Not a Done Deal: U.S. SEC “Will Review” Most Recent ETF Decisions: The United States Securities and Exchange Commission will reevaluate its recent round of bitcoin ETF rejections.
This Wednesday, August 22, 2018, the SEC denied9 ETF proposalsfrom ProShares, GraniteShares and Direxion in three separate orders. But consistent with a rule that allows the SEC’s Chairman and Commissioners to review decisions delegated to its staff, these disapproval orders are up for reviewal.
A letter written by SEC secretary Brent J. Fields to Eugene Schlanger of the New York Stock Exchange details the technicalities of this process:
“On August 22, 20 18, the Division of Trading and Markets took action, pursuant to delegated authority, 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)( l2), disapproving the proposed rule change by NYSE Arca, Inc. to list and trade the shares of the above-referenced exchange-traded products under NYSE Arca Rule 8.200-E, Commentary .02, Order Disapproving a Proposed Rule Change Relating to Listing and Trading of the Direxion Daily Bitcoin Bear IX Shares, Direxion Daily Bitcoin l. 25X Bull Shares. Direxion Daily Bitcoin 1.5X Bull Shares, Direxion Daily Bitcoin 2X Bull Shares,and Direxion Daily Bitcoin 2X Bear Shares Under NYSE Arca Rule 8.200-E, Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Release No. 839 12 (August 22, 2018). This letter is to notify you that, pursuant to Rule 43 1 of the Commission's Rules of Practice, 17 CFR 201.431, the Commission will review the delegated action.
“In accordance with Rule 43 1 (e), the August 22 order is stayed until the Commission orders otherwise. The Office of the Secretary will notify you of any pertinent action taken by the Commission,” the letter concludes.
At this time, it is unclear when the Commission’s order will be released to the public.
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce,whose outspoken criticismof the SEC’s treatment of bitcoin ETF filings hasmade her a darlingof the industry’s followers, tweeted the developments earlier today.
In her tweet, she explains that “the Commission (Chairman and Commissioners) delegates some tasks to its staff. When the staff acts in such cases, it acts on behalf of the Commission. The Commission may review the staff's action, as will now happen here.”
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Mastercard Secures a Potentially Game-Changing Cryptocurrency Patent: In 2017, virtual currencies simply couldn't be stopped. At the beginning of the year, the combined value of all digital currencies was a mere $17.7 billion. But by year's end, the aggregate market cap of cryptocurrencies had soared to $613 billion -- a gain of better than 3,300%. In other words, it was arguably the greatest year in history for a single asset class. But, as many of you are probably aware by now, the wheels fell off the wagon just one week into 2018. After hitting an all-time market cap high of $835 billion, cryptocurrencies have plunged by as much as 72%, to $232 billion, in recent weeks. Why the complete 180 on cryptocurrencies, you ask? Much of the blame probably lies with the emergence and waiting game associated with blockchain technology . A person holding a glowing golden lock, surrounded by latticework that's representative of blockchain technology. Image source: Getty Images. Blockchain has been cryptocurrencies' biggest boon... Blockchain is, hands down, the biggest reason for the ascent of cryptocurrency valuations. Blockchain is the digital, distributed, and decentralized ledger that underlies virtual currencies and is responsible for the ability to move funds without a third-party provider (i.e., banks). It also allows for the transparent and immutable logging of data. Or, in plainer English, blockchain has game-changing currency and non-currency applications . On the currency front, blockchain looks to improve the speed and cost with which currency moves from one party to another. With traditional banking networks, it can take up to five business days to validate and settle a payment. But with blockchain, payments could be processed within a matter of seconds or minutes. Plus, with no bank to pilfer third-party fees for using their network, the belief is that transaction fees on crypto networks would save either businesses or consumers money. As for non-currency transactions, the ability of blockchain to log and secure real-time data could come in handy. In particular, blockchain is being examined as a means to aid companies in monitoring their supply chains. Story continues Along those same lines, blockchain could allow businesses to more quickly locate supply chain inefficiencies, as well as expedite the shipping process through the use of smart contracts. A smart contract is essentially a customizable protocol that could play a role in eliminating paper from supply chains. For instance, an approved smart contract could handle the reorder of a product once inventory reaches a certain level. Throughout 2017, only the imagination of investors constrained what blockchain appeared capable of. A physical gold bitcoin screaming lower with a plunging chart in the background. Image source: Getty Images. ... And its biggest drag in 2018 However, 2018 has become the "prove it" year for cryptocurrencies. One of the biggest issues with blockchain technology is what I refer to as the " proof-of-concept conundrum ." In demos and small-scale testing, blockchain has had little trouble doing exactly what's expected of it. However, no enterprises have been willing to take the training wheels off of this technology and expose it to the real world. The reason? It's an unproven technology that hasn't yet shown its ability to scale. Yet, the only way blockchain can demonstrate this scale is if enterprises give it the opportunity. This Catch-22 creates a major headache for blockchain developers, and puts its near and intermediate future into limbo. Cyberattacks have been another cause for concern. An analysis from Carbon Black found that $1.1 billion worth of digital currency had been stolen by hackers through the first five months and change since the year began. Nearly half of these stolen funds were Monero tokens, known as XMR. Monero, being a privacy coin, purposefully obfuscates the sender and receiver of funds, making a transaction anonymous. In this instance, it also makes it veritably impossible to retrieve hacked tokens. Inconsistency has also plagued crypto networks. For instance, even though bitcoin is the world's most valuable virtual currency, the average transaction can take in excess of an hour to validate and completely settle. If we're talking about a cross-border transaction, then a one hour wait time could be a major improvement over current banking networks. But for domestic transactions that are settled considerably faster on traditional networks, blockchain inconsistency has put cryptocurrencies at a clear disadvantage. A smiling young woman holding a credit card in her left hand while in front of her laptop. Image source: Getty Images. Mastercard locks up a potentially game-changing patent But one financial industry juggernaut may have a solution that bridges the gap between fiat currencies -- i.e., money that governments have declared as legal tender -- and cryptocurrencies, which are mostly unregulated. On July 17, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded a patent to Mastercard (NYSE: MA) that would provide "for linkage of blockchain-based assets to fiat currency accounts." As noted in the background section of the patent, blockchain currencies have "seen increased usage over traditional fiat currencies by consumers who value anonymity and security." However, the limitations of blockchain are also noted, with traditional payment networks having processing times measured in nanoseconds, whereas blockchain transactions can take a significant amount of time to verify. This inconsistency could persuade businesses and consumers to shy away from blockchain currencies. The solution offered by Mastercard is a hybrid system that'll incorporate blockchain currencies, but allow them to be transacted on traditional payment channels. Why stick with traditional payment channels and not use blockchain? For starters, it's all about speed. Mastercard believes that using traditional channels would allow transactions involving cryptocurrency to be processed considerably faster than with blockchain. More importantly, Mastercard has copious amounts of data on fraud and risk that it's evaluated on existing networks that would come in handy. As noted in the patent filing, "payment networks may be able to evaluate the likelihood of fraud and assess risk for blockchain transactions using existing fraud and risk algorithms and information that is available to payment networks, such as historical fiat and blockchain transaction data, credit bureau data, demographic information, etc., that is unavailable for use in blockchain networks." To be clear, Mastercard hasn't unveiled any products as of yet that accomplish the objectives outlined by this patent. However, it does appear to be in the driver's seat to bridge the gap between fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies, should the latter continue to gain mainstream acceptance. That makes Mastercard a major player worth eyeing as the cryptocurrency space matures. More From The Motley Fool 16 Cryptocurrency Facts You Should Know Experts Warned – The Crypto ‘Bloodbath’ Is Here How to Buy Bitcoin Sean Williams has no position in any of the stocks or cryptocurrencies mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Mastercard, but has no position in any cryptocurrencies mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Why Facebook, Inc. Stock Dropped 11.2% in July: What happened Shares of Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) fell 11.2% in July, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence , after the social-media titan's second-quarter results left investors concerned over decelerating growth and rising costs. To be sure, Facebook stock was actually up modestly with only a few days left in the month, then plunged nearly 19% on July 26, 2018 alone -- the first trading session after its Q2 report hit the wires. Facebook 1 Hacker Way address sign with a Like thumbs up logo. Image source: Facebook. So what That's not to say Facebook's results looked bad at first glance. Revenue climbed 42% year over year to $13.2 billion, while earnings per share grew 32% to $1.74. Facebook's daily and monthly active users also each grew 11% year over year to 1.47 billion and 2.23 billion, respectively. By contrast, however, most analysts were anticipating higher revenue of $13.4 billion, albeit with slightly lower earnings. But keeping in mind that top-line gain slowed significantly from 49% growth in the first quarter, what truly spooked the market were comments from Facebook management during the subsequent conference call. In particular, CFO David Wehner warned that revenue growth will continue decelerating in the second half of the year, while operating expenses -- which increased 50% during the quarter -- will continue to climb at rates exceeding revenue growth both this year and next. Now what Of course, as it builds on its larger base, it seems to go without saying that Facebook couldn't simply sustain its torrid pace of growth indefinitely. And a large reason underlying its soaring operating expenses are investments the company is making to improve safety, security, and privacy on its steadily growing namesake platform. Those investments should pay dividends for patient shareholders down the road as Facebook secures trust and rapport with its users. We should also note that Facebook stock was up more than 40% in the year leading up to its report, leaving many traders tempted to take some of those profits off the table at the first inkling of worrisome news. As such, and as someone who believes in Facebook's long-term story, I think investors would do well to take advantage of this pullback to open or add to their positions. Story continues More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Steve Symington has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Facebook. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Thailand AML Watchdog Plans to Seize Bitcoin from Criminal Proceeds: Thailand’s anti-money laundering agency is considering sealing a loophole that has seen cybercriminals face every other consequence for their actions except have their digital assets confiscated.
According to the secretary ofThailand’s Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO), Witthaya Neetitham, the government agency is planning on setting up its own cryptocurrency wallet for the purposes of tackling crime relating to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Speaking during a seminar held in Bangkok focusing on the crypto-related crime, Neetitham said the wallet would allow the government agency to seize proceeds of crime held as digital assets.
“We have discussed launching our own ‘AMLO Wallet’ to hold or confiscate digital currency from illegal sources,” said Neetitham as firstreportedby The Nation.
At the moment Thai law only addresses the confiscation of physical assets and this has seen cybercriminals arrested in the country either jailed or extradited and their digital assets left intact. A case in point occurred last year when the Thai Royal Police arrested a child-porn website operator who possessedbitcoinssuspected to have been proceeds of crime but nothing was done about it since the law is silent on the seizure of such assets.
The announcement of AMLO’s plans come less than a week since the executive director of the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ), Kittipong Kittayarak, revealed during a seminar that crypto-related crime is tipped to rise in the Asian country in the coming years. As CCN reported Kittayarak said thatcases of cryptocurrency crimeare currently ‘very few’ though the situation is bound to change.
“In Thailand, there are very few criminal cases related to cryptocurrencies yet the number of cases is expected to rise,” said Kittayarak.
Citing a study conducted by the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute as well as the TIJ, Kittayarak lamented that Thai agencies faced enormous challenges in their efforts to combat crypto-related crime.
“This includes human resource constraints, a lack of effective inter-agency communication due to officials’ lack of proficiency in foreign languages, and bureaucratic red tape,” Kittayaraksaid.
A number of crypto-related crimes committed in Thailand have hit the headlines in the recent past. This includes the highly-publicized case involving a 22-year-old Finnish national who lost 5,564 bitcoins to Thai fraudsters who had promised to make various investments on his behalf.
As previously reported by CCN the case has attracted wide public attention partly due to thehigh profile nature of some of the suspectsand this includes famous Thai actor Jiratpisit Jaravijit (aka Boom) and a prominent stock investor, Prasit Srisuwan.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The postThailand AML Watchdog Plans to Seize Bitcoin from Criminal Proceedsappeared first onCCN. || Korea is Pushing Positive Crypto Legislation: What Happens After it’s Passed?: Bitcoin price South Korea Japan The government of South Korea is hurrying the finalization of the country’s first crypto and blockchain legislation, to recognize the cryptocurrency and blockchain sector as legitimate industries. What it Means For Crypto As CCN reported, local financial authorities initially disclosed their intent to regulate the cryptocurrency market with stricter but more comprehensive regulatory frameworks to protect investors and facilitate the growth of startups in the blockchain industry. Government personnel admitted earlier this year that the financial authorities were reluctant towards regulating the cryptocurrency market because they feared local investors would consider decision as the adoption and embracement of cryptocurrencies by the government. However, in June, subsequent to two security breaches experienced by Bithumb and Coinrail, formerly the second and fourth largest cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea, the government acknowledged the necessity of strict regulatory frameworks to oversee the local cryptocurrency market. Previously, cryptocurrency exchanges were governed as communication vendors, outside of the scope of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the main financial watchdog of South Korea. Companies were permitted to run trading platforms with a simple communication vendor license, which costs less than $40 with no base capital and requirements. Upon the finalization and passing of the new cryptocurrency and blockchain bill, digital asset exchanges will be considered as regulated financial institutions and will be under the control of the FSC. Strict security measure, internal management system, Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), and transaction monitoring requirements will be demanded by the government, to ensure crypto exchanges provide the same level of service as commercial banks and major financial service providers. “Under current regulations, there are clear limitations in preventing money laundering on crypto exchanges because the only way authorities can spot suspicious transactions is through banks. If the bill of lawmaker Jae Yoon-kyung from the Democratic Party of Korea passes, local authorities will be able to impose identical regulations on crypto exchanges that are implemented on commercial banks,” a KFIU spokesperson said . If passed before the end of 2018, the newly created cryptocurrency and blockchain bill is expected to play a vital role in facilitating more capital to flow into the local crypto market in the upcoming years, crucially throughout 2019. The vast majority of analysts are predicting the price of major digital assets to surge drastically by the year’s end and sustain strong momentum over the next 12 months. If the next rally of cryptocurrencies can be supported by positive legislation initiated by the third biggest crypto market in the world behind the US and Japan, the movement of the market will be significantly intensified. Story continues How Far Away is it? Already, cities like Busan, the second biggest city in South Korea behind Seoul with a population of 3.5 million, have disclosed their plans to create vibrant environments for cryptocurrency startups and blockchain development teams, assuming the bill will be passed in the next several months, possibly in the fourth quarter of 2018. Featured image from Shutterstock. The post Korea is Pushing Positive Crypto Legislation: What Happens After it’s Passed? appeared first on CCN . View comments || Another Major Investment Firm Says Bitcoin ETF Not Likely in 2018: Canaccord, the biggest investment firm in Canada, has said that the approval of aBitcoin exchange-traded fund(ETF) is highly unlikely in 2018.
In an official report entitled “Blockchain and Digital Assets: US Equity Research” Canaccord researchers Michael Graham and Scott Suhwrote:
“And although the VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust, seen by many as the most formidable candidate for a potential approval, is due for a potential decision as early as this month, it is largely believed that the SEC will extend its deadline, in which case a decision may not be made until March 2019. Meanwhile, we note that other bitcoin-based securities (e.g., Bitcoin Tracker One) have been available for trading on regulated exchanges as early as May 2015 in Sweden, while north of the border, Canada is working towards its own bitcoin ETF product, the Evolve Bitcoin ETF.”
Historically, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been reluctant towards approving ETFs based on emerging assets and commodities. In the case of Bitcoin, as seen in therejectionof the SolidX Bitcoin ETF and the Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF in 2017 and 2018, the SEC does not prefer to publicly disclose their decision until the final deadline, regardless of the outcome of their internal discussion.
Hence, although the VanEck-SolidX Bitcoin ETF and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Bitcoin ETF are said to have a high probability of being approved by the U.S. SEC, the commission will not publicly disclose its decision until the final deadline, February of 2019.
The delay of the decision of the U.S. SEC to approve or reject VanEck-SolidX and CBOE Bitcoin ETFs could have a negative impact on the short-term price trend of BTC and the rest of the crypto market, which largely depends on the movement of its most dominant cryptocurrency.
One positive takeaway from the Bitcoin ETF saga is that the market has never demonstrated the level of confidence investors have shown towards VanEck-SolidX and CBOE Bitcoin ETFs.
Canaccord researchers emphasized that due to the history of VanEck and CBOE in dealing with regulated U.S. markets and the U.S. SEC, their Bitcoin ETFs will likely be approved by the SEC. The two ETFs have full insurance, guaranteed secure storage for investors, and most importantly, do not depend on a single crypto exchange for valuation, which ultimately led the Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF to be rejected.
Since early 2018, the biggest companies in the cryptocurrency sector includingCoinbaseandLedgerhave focused on developing a suite of institutional products, to assist large-scale institutional investors in commiting to the cryptocurrency market.
Canaccord researchers stated that the trusted cryptocurrency custodianship provided by Coinbase, custody solutions developed by Ledger and BitGo, and the ETF filing of VanEck have attracted institutional investors into the space and will continue to increase the demand for crypto in U.S. markets.
“The arrival of a potential bitcoin ETF remains top of mind for institutional investors seeking exposure to this emerging asset class, and there are now multiple applications pending approval by the SEC, most notably that proposed by Van Eck/SolidX. In addition, institutional custody continues to make progress, as Ledger announced a partnership with Nomura and Global Advisors during the Consensus conference in May and Coinbase launched its institutional custody product in early July,” Canaccord researchers added.
Images from Shutterstock
The postAnother Major Investment Firm Says Bitcoin ETF Not Likely in 2018appeared first onCCN. || Interview: Joseph Lubin, Co-Founder of Ethereum & ConsenSys: joseph lubin We were able to sit down with Ethereum and ConsenSys Founder Joseph Lubin last week at TechCrunch Disrupt SF and talk to him about some of the projects that ConsenSys is working on. [Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited for clarity] CCN: What is ConsenSys? Joseph Lubin: ConsenSys is a venture development studio with a few different sides of the company. We have the product side of the company, we are a consultancy as well. We do advisory work and we write lots of software for companies, governments, and central banks. We do a lot of education work as well. ConsenSys Academy has educated about 1,500 working engineers and lots of lawyers and other kinds of learners who’ve gone to places like companies and the World Bank and run a half day or one-day programs. We have a capital markets arm where we built a custody solution, not yet live, that should be a foundational element in bringing institutions into the space. We do venture investing and have invested in a little over 20 companies, not including the accelerator we’ve started which will bring the total to well over 20 companies. We also token launch projects. Whether it’s an investor token, a security or a consumer utility token that would not be considered a security. Bill Hinman, director of corporate finance of the SEC gave us really clear guidelines about 10 weeks ago and we’ve been working with regulators like them around the world. We have the ability through our token foundry platform to issue consumer utility tokens. That is the essence of ConsenSys. It’s a really oddly shaped company because we had to build up the Ethereum ecosystem ourselves. We started building product and we needed to build infrastructure, people started calling us from companies and governments and we spun up our consulting arm and educate people because we couldn’t hire fast enough. CCN: One of the things I’m curious about with ConsenSys is the Amazon effect, right? You guys have like 50 projects on this hub and spoke model and they’re doing everything. They’re doing science, legal. Are you concerned that you’re discouraging startups that might say, “Oh, ConsenSys is doing this. ConsenSys is Amazon.” You know, you guys are the best. We’re not going to do this. JL: Could you give an example? Story continues CCN: I actually did an interview with a company called Orvium which runs on Ethereum and kind of competes with what you guys do in your Conscience project. I think that’d be a good example of a space where you’d be competing with a startup in the ecosystem. JL : There’s so much you could do in the science phase. Conscience is about scientific journals and how the publishing or perish model is broken and kind of fix that. It’s a really amateur space and if you’re not talented, and have conviction in your ideas, such that if you hear about some other project that’s sort of in the internet and you shut down, you probably shouldn’t pursue your project. Basically, this technology is going to enable a different form of trust. We’re moving from a world of rule systems that are constructed by people, and implemented by people in top-down command and control systems some are well. In some cases through oligarchy, sometimes through monarchy, sometimes through elected officials, to a world in which we have automated trust. We can enter into agreements or create laws and those things are guaranteed to execute. It’s going to take a long time to build a mature well-functioning systems using that, but it’s a paradigm shift. In the whole world economic, social and political systems over the next few decades are going to be affected by that paradigm shift and trust and execution of all systems. There’s a lot of room for startups, too. CCN: Can you talk a little bit about how your accelerator program compares to the hub and spoke model you’ve set up? JL: Our accelerator is only taking 5%. We started as a hybrid company. We started as something between a Microsoft-Apple-Google and the VC and we were really much closer to a software company. It was just like people that we hired that were employees and building out their projects that we owned. Normally, ConsenSys would own 100% of the project, right? But we wanted to change that model. We wanted to create a situation where the people who were building it stayed ConsenSys employees. But had the potential to own basically, ConsenSys would retain in the early cases 50% of the project and we would enable a cap table where people were founders of the project or contributing heavily to the project, they had the potential to spin the project out and in this world where we can do token launches, it’s attractive to spin projects. To give them their own independent legal entity and create a network business model. In that situation, instead of just being an employee of the company, people have the potential to stay at ConsenSys in some form, but still, own a big chunk of it. CCN: Internally, how does that work? Do founders come to you with a project or do they start off as employees at ConsenSys and come up with an idea? JL: Many projects were created by me or us, in-house. We hired people to build out those projects. Some people were already employees at ConsenSys, they came up with the ideas. We brought in some projects early on. MetaMask was a project that Baron Davis was doing, Boardroom was a project that Nick Dodson was doing but they’ve been with us for three years or something like that. They’re fully ConsenSys projects yet still if those projects span out of ConsenSys those people will have a big chunk of that. CCN: China has become such a big part of the cryptocurrency market. What is ConsenSys strategy in China? JL: We have concrete plans for Hong Kong. I don’t know if you were aware but in Xiongan, we signed an agreement in this special economic in China near Beijing to sort of take the pressure off Beijing for the next few decades. We had a press conference a little while ago, sign an agreement with them to essentially drive some thought. CCN: Was it a PR event? JL: No, real work is getting done. I don’t know that they’re going to let us write software for their infrastructure there but we have a bunch of people who are helping drive thought leadership for the Smart City project there. There are other things that we can’t talk about with large mainland companies that were close to signing. We are in the middle of establishing a presence there. We have I think, 19 people at ConsenSys who are not situated there but are of Chinese nationality or have significant expertise working in the country and that’s sort of our China strategy. We will have a presence, we sort of do but yeah, we’ll have some real presence. CCN: Have any Chinese projects joined the ConsenSys group? JL: So far, no. I’ve spoken to a few and there will probably be a few that do join especially because we’re able to hire people there. Currently, we can’t legally hire there, but we’re getting very close to being able to do that. CCN: In what areas do you see the biggest, the best potential for your technology to disrupt? Then you talked about something earlier, you know, the supply chain, clearly the financial services industry, that’s where it all began. JL: It’s really anywhere that the different companies are people who don’t trust one another, wants to enhance trust in their interactions. Maybe I don’t even know somebody and I want to do a transaction with them. I could do that on the blockchain and I could be comfortable that unless mathematics is wrong with unbelievably-high certainty of that transaction with an entity that I don’t know is guaranteed to execute properly. It also has serious implications for reducing or eliminating counterparty risk. Situations where companies compete with one another but want to do something collaboratively need shared trustworthy infrastructure, so for fixed income reference data systems, instead of a whole lot of companies in the finance industry fixing data from prospectuses that they’ve bought from Bloomberg or Thomson Reuters, and maintaining their own teams to do that, we actually have a team called TruSet that’s standing up the system to enable collaboration, fixing data, entering new data, and being incentivized to share it and check it. There’s more: finance & supply chain when you have lots of different actors who can all share the same network. It also has applications in the music industry. For instance, there was a project called The Global Repertoire Database around 2008, I think about seven or eight million pounds were burned by major players in the music industry on this failed project. Essentially, they were trying to create a database that could be shared by the entire music industry. They went quite a ways down the road but eventually couldn’t figure out who would own the IP and who would load the machines with sets and the project fell apart for that reason. Now we’re seeing many different consortium being formed because with blockchains you essentially get rid of your infrastructure issues on a public blockchain, all the infrastructure is just there and you’re just reading the front-end and you can deploy the back-end to the public blockchain and the transactions validators of the miners take care of running the infrastructure, they get paid for that. For a consortium, you can keep it private and permissioned and you can essentially have everybody and nobody on it. You can set up policies around governance, but you can run it in a cloud. We lifted the team that built to version one, two, and three of blockchain as a service for IBM. They built it for Fabric, and they’ve now built a version four, partnered with AWS for Ethereum. In the free tier, they have about 1,000 consortia that are running stuff for setting up their systems. It’s only been live for about five months. But it’s some example of how companies want to collaborate or even companies want to put some of their internal infrastructure on a blockchain so different departments can collaborate more effectively with more trustworthiness and/or transparency. This system enables very simple deployment of blockchain systems on cloud. CCN: Can you talk a little bit more about Fabric? JL: Fabric does facilitate collaboration and you can use it in a corporate context. You can use it in a consortium context. You can’t really use it as a public blockchain because it’s missing crypto-economics. It’s missing the ability to incentivize lots of different actors around the world to share their resources and make it a very decentralized system. When you use something like IBM’s Fabric, you pretty much have centralized control over that system, which may result in more collaboration and more trust. However, it’s still not the full decentralized trusted a real blockchain support. But we have a project called Viant which is doing some major work in the space. I’m allowed to mention GlaxoSmithKline, and there’s another major consumer goods company, a major energy company, and they’re building a supply chain using Ethereum technology. They can do that either on the public blockchain or they can set up private permissioned versions of that. They also have provenance project that we did with the World Food Programme worldwide. It’s basically a project where tuna was tracked from being landed on the boat, tagged, achieving its paperwork when it’s brought on shore. The next phase will track temperature. If it falls below a certain temperature in the refrigerated airplane, or in the truck then a certain alert would go off on the app that we have, and it would be deemed perhaps an unsafe piece of fish. We got that working and demonstrated that. CCN: What’s the advantage to performing that function on the blockchain? JL: The reason you want to do that on a blockchain is that you’ve got lots of different companies and lots of different actors, some of whom are competing. They’re all part of a network that everybody needs to trust, so there shouldn’t be an opportunity to basically cheat the system. Still, at the edges, one could potentially enter bad data into the system. But we’re really pushing the trust of the potential improper manipulations out into the periphery and maybe try to control that even better in the future enables us to build more trust into these systems. CCN: Can you describe your current relationship with Ethereum and Vitalik in particular? JL: We have hot debates all the way through. CCN: Do you see an impact from these conflicts on ConsenSys? JL: We’re just leaving phase one of the blockchain experience. Phase one is basically a whole lot of projects getting together and building what I call layer one blockchains — basically, blockchains where all the actors on the system have to hold all the data and have to process all the transactions and there are some optimizations that can be made there. We need to change and the truth of the matter is the current system is over-secured. We need to get to architectures that are much more scalable in terms of number of transactions per second. On the internet, we’ve gotten to millions of transactions per second for certain kinds of shared database architectures such as Facebook . But we don’t have trust, Mark performs lots of experiments on us. We can’t really stop that and we don’t really know exactly what they’re doing. It’s a slot machine, where we’re really being manipulated into being a Facebook product. We’ve thrown away the millions of transactions per second replaced it with 20 transactions per second on layer one Ethereum, but we now have a trustworthy foundation, we can start to rebuild scalability. As we move from phase one in this ecosystem to phase two, we’re seeing layer two technologies that enable hundreds or thousands of transactions per second, they’re not as decentralized as layer one Ethereum. We have technologies like state channels and Plasma along with other kinds of side chain mechanisms. There are many of them right now that are coming online being explored by game companies and exchanges, etc. and that will enable us in this next phase to have very significant applications that consumers are interested in, traders are interested in and link them into Ethereum. That linkage to Ethereum will ensure that no, but if one of these layer two systems that are a little bit less trustworthy, if they fall over foot, for whatever reason, or if the people who are running them are corrupt people will, without the permission of the people running these layer two systems will be able to pull their tokens to safety and not lose any money. That’s an exciting new architecture for our ecosystem. Proof of Stake and Sharding of layer one is where we get scalability built into layer one. We’re still going to have layer two solutions, we’re still going to need them. So what is our relationship to the Ethereum Foundation? Still very warm… Well, it wasn’t warm for a little while. There was a previous executive director that didn’t enable great interaction between our company and the Ethereum Foundation, whereas the Ethereum Foundation is much more open now and much more collaborative. They’re publishing everything and although the core developer meetings have been in public forever after the first year or so. We have people at those meetings all the time. We have people attending events in Taiwan, and various other places. We have our own 40 protocol engineers at ConsenSys. We are helping to build out Casper . We have an early Plasma team so we’re not doing a huge amount of work on Plasma right now. CCN: So you would say it’s good? JL: We see them at different places around the world. The Ethereum ecosystem in my opinion, is pretty warm and friendly. It’s a lot of people who do like each other and who spend time together around the world. I was just at Burning Man last week and spent a lot of the time with people from other projects. Vitalik has not gone to the Burning Man so far. It’ll be cool if he did, but it’s still a group of people that are very communicative and collaborative. Ethereum wasn’t formed in the same way that Bitcoin was. Bitcoin was essentially a response by crypto-anarchists to concerns about the monetary infrastructure and centralization through the financial industry and governments, etc. Since it was proposed as an alternative money system, it had that money and trading ethos, Ethereum came along because we felt that people should build everything on this new decentralized database technology, not just a narrow money system. We’ve always been a developer community and open source developer communities are traditionally pretty open and collaborative so it stayed that way. CCN: One of the questions I have is I could see some conflict coming up if you guys have a killer app that’s really enterprise facing. Let’s say it’s for the DTCC and you guys start really pushing for Proof of Stake and Sharding because you need it. Do you see any issue arising there between ConsenSys and the Ethereum Foundation over the speed and method of scaling? JL: I don’t think so. It’s all about coming into consensus at the end of the day, coming into consensus every 15 seconds now, every four or five seconds soon when the next version of the consensus algorithms comes to prominence. If you’re not coming into consensus, with the other Ethereum clients, you’re not Ethereum. The Parity team and the Go team have a new client that we’re building. We were involved in a few clients such as the early Java client that Roman Mandeleil and his team build, he was a ConsenSys member. If these clients don’t work out their issues and come into consensus on the core aspects of the protocol, then it’s not Ethereum. Ethereum is partially defined by the Ethereum Foundation, but it really is defined by the lots of others. If you look at the reduction in issuance debate, there are lots of people with different agendas who weighed in on that debate. There were different signaling mechanisms, different voting mechanisms, and the same thing happened with the DAO (decentralized autonomous organization). Lots of different signaling, voting, and other mechanisms and so there are lots of different actors that have to agree on things or the project is screwed, because you can forge it and if the majority dislikes what developers are trying to force on them then Ethereum doesn’t exist as it is anymore. We really do have to come to consensus at a human level in order to continue to come to consensus every few seconds on the blockchain. If we want scalability, we can build it on our own in layer two. CCN: You said earlier to give you that scalability but it doesn’t give quite the level of trust that the layer does. Why? JL: You could set up a Proof of Authority blockchain where there’s a single entity that creates the blocks and tells everybody what the state transitions of the system are. What it would do is checkpoint the system every block or every few blocks into public Ethereum and by checkpointing the system people could essentially do the following: Let’s say it’s a game on this proof of authority blockchain with a game company in control of the blockchain, they link it in through a technology called Plasma and they issue crypto collectibles, cards, digitally scarce swords, or other things. Those things can trade on a market. I could buy one of those. I could move it into the game from public Ethereum. I could pull it out of the game, not because I’m worried or anything, but maybe because I want to move it into an exchange either on a paradigm or on a different Plasma system, so I can sell it. It just gives companies or entities the ability to run higher transaction throughput applications. It gives people the comfort that nobody can steal their value tokens, whether they’re fungible tokens or non-fungible tokens. CCN: You wouldn’t consider off-chain scaling ideal, or would you? JL: It’s where we have to go next, figuring out on-chain or layer one scaling is complicated. I think two projects are going to get there in radically different ways. It’s very limited on what you can do on Bitcoin but I think Ethereum is going to get there. DFINITY is working on virtually the same mechanisms. Cardano is probably going to get there after the first two. CCN: What about Zilliqa ? JL: Maybe, yeah. I know a little less about that project. They’re looking at charting differently, but it’s incredibly hard to stand up a blockchain ecosystem. CCN: How do you finance or all these different projects? Do you do it through ICOs or is it more of a traditional financing model? JL: Yeah. We have many lines of business. Our academy makes money. We’ve got a Coursera course that I probably should have said something about when I was introducing. It went live yesterday. For non-technical people, $99 for a course. We’ve been selling ebooks and lots of different education around the world. We have a security audit team, one of the top teams in the world. They turn away 99% of the work that comes in because we can’t grow that team fast enough. They make a tremendous amount of money auditing smart contracts. We have a consulting group that makes many millions of dollars around the world on various different projects. CCN: Is that mostly with governments? JL: It’s mostly with companies. We’ve done government work in Dubai , military work in Singapore, and other work that I cannot talk about with South African Reserve Bank. We’re managers of the European Union Blockchain observatory. It’s a contract that we won which enables us to work with all the member nations write white papers and drive leadership. Other business lines include token foundry. We are able to tokenize and launch our own internal projects and we do that for third parties as well. If it’s a significantly lucrative business and when we do tokenize our own projects, some of those projects have brought in a large amount of revenue for consumer utility purposes. A large amount can be in the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. CCN: How does market volatility affect your ability to finance these projects? JL: It’s just natural. We see it in the legacy financial world. We see overshoots and directions, people operate on fear and greed cycles and when you see something exciting, you want to pile in for various reasons. Most people pile in just to make money and don’t understand what’s going on. We’ve seen big overshoots, we’ve seen five or six of those since Bitcoin started. One seems astonishing and unsustainable and it inevitably corrects the first one was at about $31 or $32 and bitcoin corrected it down to $2, and everybody thinks it’s all over and then it goes up to $200 or something, then up to $1,000 or something and then up to $20,000. The beauty of all this is that it brings attention to the ecosystem. It brings value into the ecosystem in the form of money, in the form of entrepreneurial talent, in the form of technical talent, in the form of cybersecurity talent and each one of these surges in place causes an enormous amount of activity. Companies form, companies grow faster, more consumers start paying attention and using these systems and then it overshoots. There’s a correction but during the corrections, there are so many more people who are building fundamental infrastructure which causes basically the next event. CCN: Of all of your projects, which one do you think is going to be the biggest? JL: I think several of them. Two that are top of mind that are societally important are open law enabling legally enforceable hybrid blockchain based agreements. You can basically have an agreement. People can cryptographically sign it and companies can cryptographically sign it. The entirety of the agreement is on the blockchain, it’s not a piece of paper that you can lose or an email that you can lose. You can escrow money into the agreement itself. You can send data into the agreement itself, you can have the agreement, a programmatic clause act when certain conditions are met. Maybe payout on a purchase agreement or an employment agreement. That’s going to be really transformational. We’re starting to use open law in NDAs in our company and we just partnered with a company called Rocket Lawyer to enable their 35 million customers to sign agreements on blockchain infrastructure. Instead of it being stored on Rocket Lawyer’s servers, the agreements can be partially or completely stored on ethereum and arbitration systems that we’re building can be brought to bear and we can build a tokenized ecosystem around that. If you’re doing an agreement on open law, it can either be fully transparent on the blockchain or in decentralized storage, or you can sign something called a digest (a hash) of the agreement. A digest is basically you running the text of the agreement through a program that turns it into to a unique string that doesn’t make any sense to anybody but it sort of verifies that that agreement as it existed at a certain time. The counterparties to that agreement can sign the digest just a long alphanumeric string and by signing that long alphanumeric string, each one can prove that they signed the agreement just like a signature, but it enables the agreement to be private. That’s one potentially societally important project. Probably commercially interesting as well. Civil is another project that’s doing a token launch very soon. Civil is a platform for sustainable, ethical journalism. It has a constitution, it has lots of newsrooms that companies have already joined, lots of professional journalists and fifty topically focused newsrooms. Vivian Schiller actually left NPR to run the Civil foundation. Associated Press is our partner, and there’s another major partner that we’re going to announce in a few days and a few other major journalistic institutions may get involved as investors and/or partners. The partner means that they either use the ecosystem or they can use the infrastructure. With Associated Press, they’re enabling licensing of all of their content to all of the newsrooms. Most of it for free initially and also the infrastructure will enable AP to track licensing better than we are able to, it’s pretty exciting stuff. Note: This interview is part of the CCN Podcast . The podcast and this interview are also available on iTunes , TuneIn , Stitcher , Google Play Music , Spotify , SoundCloud , YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts . Make sure you rate and subscribe! Featured Image from YouTube /Crypto News Clips The post Interview: Joseph Lubin, Co-Founder of Ethereum & ConsenSys appeared first on CCN .
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
@whats_a_bitcoin || @btc_fan || @eztechwin || @btc_reddit || @btc_0 || MVL is listed on several exchanges in a relay. Where is the next exchange?
It is IDCM(https://www.idcm.io/ ).
MVL will be listed on IDCM/BTC market on 16:00(GMT+9), September 20.
Check MVL official Blog : https://ewhk4.app.goo.gl/G5P8 pic.twitter.com/VlQQyrKl78 || @btc_update || @btc_reddit || @btc_current || #BTCUSD Market #1H timeframe on July 23 at 17:00 (UTC) is #Bullish. #cryptocurrency #bitcoin #btc #crypto #trading #idea #report technical analysis
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Trend: up || Prices: 6519.67, 6734.95, 6721.98, 6710.63, 6595.41, 6446.47, 6495.00, 6676.75, 6644.13, 6601.96
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Morning Brief: Trump signals China tariff boost, could slap 10% tariff on iPhones: Monday, November 26, 2018
Get the Morning Brief sent directly to your inbox every Monday to Friday by 6:30 a.m. ET.Subscribe
Attention will turn to the first of two very important speeches from the Federal Reservethis week. Vice Chairman Rich Clarida is scheduled to speak at The Clearing House and Bank Policy Institute 2018 Annual Conference in New York City.
On the economic data front, economists are expecting the FHFA house price index for the month of September to show +0.4% growth versus the +0.3% growth in the prior month. Additionally, data for the house price purchase index for Q3 will also be released.
And Salesforce.com (CRM) reports earnings after the bell. It is expected to report earnings of 50 cents per share on $3.73 billion revenue, according to analysts polled by Bloomberg.
Readmore
Trump expects to move ahead with boost on China tariffs:President Trump, days before a summit with China’s leader, said he expects to move ahead with boosting tariff levels on $200 billion of Chinese goods to 25%, calling it “highly unlikely” that he would accept Beijing’s request to hold off on the increase. Trump also suggested that the U.S. could slap 10% tariffs on iPhones and laptops imported from China. [The Wall Street Journal]
Trump slams Theresa May’s Brexit deal: President Donald Trump is the latest to criticize UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s trade deal. The president said that while her Brexit withdrawal agreement “sounds like a great deal for the EU,” it could threaten a U.S.-UK trade pact. [Yahoo Finance UK]
United Technologies to separate into 3 companies: United Technologies Corp(UTX) said it would separate into three companies consisting of its aerospace, elevators and building divisions, making it the latest industrial conglomerate to pursue such a break-up. The decision follows the completion this month of United Technologies’ $30 billion acquisition of avionics maker Rockwell Collins. [Reuters]
Why all eyes are on Powell and Clarida this week:This will be a critical week of Fedspeak for a central bank that hopes to wrap up its decade-long effort to return the U.S. economy to its natural growth rate. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida will offer his economic outlook at an event in New York City Tuesday morning and on Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell may provide color on where rate hikes will stop so the economy is running at its longer-run neutral real rate. [Yahoo Finance]
Bitcoin approaching its worst ever slump:Bitcoin (BTC-USD) is having a terrible year. The cryptocurrency has fallen over 70% since January and is down by about 80% since its high of close to $20,000 in December 2017. Bitcoin’s decline in the last month has been stark, with the price down over 40%. [Yahoo Finance UK]
Donald Trump cares a lot about the stock market
Facebook’s stock is deeply troubled
There’s a 30% chance of a recession in 2020, Morgan Stanley says
Apple defends App Store monopoly claim before Supreme Court
The 10 U.S. cities with the highest economic confidence
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The Morning Brief provides a quick rundown on what to watch in the markets, top news stories, and the best of Yahoo Finance Originals. || Value Investors Key to Stopping Stock Market Slide: Ahead of Fridays U.S. Non-Farm Payrolls report, the new Democratic-held U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday night that would end a partial government shutdown. However, this does not mean the passage of the spending packages will move Congress closer to reopening nine unfunded federal departments at this time. Since the new measures do not include money for President Donald Trumps proposed border wall, the new bills are not going to be signed into law. Nonetheless, U.S. stock market investors seem to like the new developments. In the overnight futures markets, the benchmark March E-mini S&P 500 Index is trading 2464.75, up 17.00 or +0.69%. The blue chip March E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 22805, up 146 or +0.64% and the technology-based March E-mini NASDAQ-100 index is at 6217.75, up 55.75 or +0.88%. The markets are recovering nicely in the pre-market session after lower guidance from Apple cast a pall on Thursday. Despite the early strength, the Apple news may limit gains. Another piece of positive news that could be underpinning the U.S. markets is the announcement of the January 7-8 higher-level trade talks between the U.S. and China. This news is helping to underpin Chinas Shanghai Index, and this strength may be carrying over to the U.S. trade. It is certainly something to pay attention to early today especially if this optimism spreads to Europe. Pay Attention to Potential Bottoming Action Although U.S. stock indexes are trading lower for the week, the sell-off has been orderly and without much fanfare. This may be a sign that were closer to a bottom than the headlines lead you to believe. All three major indexes posted potentially bullish closing price reversal bottoms on December 26. This chart pattern typically signals that the buying is greater than the selling at current price levels. Furthermore, the Dow produced its biggest gain in history. Story continues The subsequent follow-through to the upside combined with the reversal may have taken a lot of the weaker shorts out of the market. Since investors dont typically like to chase the market higher unless there is a bona fide bull market, theyre likely to look to buy on a normal pullback into a value zone. I can build a case for a strong recovery in the stock market if this current pullback attracts new buyers in key support zones. In other words, Id like to see new higher bottoms form. This will tell me that buyers have returned. For the March E-mini S&P 500 Index, the key area that must hold as support is 2419.75 to 2395.50. The key support zone for the March E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average is 22435 to 22151/ The value zone for the March E-mini NASDAQ-100 Index is 6114.75 to 6045.50. Build Secondary Higher Bottom, and Trend Change is Next If investors can succeed in building secondary higher bottoms then this could create the upside momentum needed to challenge the most recent tops. Taking out 2523.00 will change the trend to up for the E-mini S&P 500 Index. A trade through 23417 will change the E-mini Dow trend to up. The E-mini NASDAQ-100s index will change to up on a trade through 6409.25. This chart pattern tends to work when the volume is above average so be prepared next week when the major players return from their extended holidays. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Value Investors Key to Stopping Stock Market Slide Bitcoin And Ethereum Daily Price Forecast Crypto Market Mixed On Last Trading Session Of The Week AUD/USD Forex Technical Analysis January 4, 2019 Forecast Bitcoin The Bears are in Control, Supported by the Proof of Keys Event NFP and Wage Growth Figures and Powell Put the Dollar in Focus Upbeat News Over Trade Talks Underpinning Chinas Equity Markets || Bitcoin Oversold on Weekly Price Chart for First Time in Four Years: A key long-term bitcoin (BTC) price indicator is reporting oversold conditions for the first time in almost four years.
The widely followed 14-week relative strength index (RSI), which oscillates between zero to 100, is currently seen at 29.80 â a level last seen in January 2015.
An asset or a cryptocurrency is considered to be oversold if the RSI is holding below 30.00. On the other hand, an above-70 reading indicates overbought conditions.
Not Everyone Wants a Bitcoin ETF
Essentially, the under-30 reading on the 14-week RSI indicates that the recent heavy selling from the highs above $6,200 may have reached a point of exhaustion. As a result, BTC may defend the immediate support at $3,179 (200-week moving average) in the short-run.
Many experts also believe that RSI’s drop below 30.00 is followed by a strong corrective bounce. That’s not necessarily true as some markets enter into very strong trends, in which case the RSI can stay oversold or overbought for prolonged periods of times.
Notably, BTCâs ongoing bear market is looking quite resilient, as the sell-off is backed by strong volumes. Hence, a strong bounce could remain elusive for some time, despite the oversold readings on the 14-week RSI.
As of writing, BTC is trading at $3,390 on Bitstamp, representing a 2.3 percent drop on a 24-hour basis.
Bitcoin’s Share of the Crypto Market Is Nearing a 3-Month High
The RSI dropped below the key support of 53.00 on the weekly chart in late January, signaling a bullish-to-bearish trend change. As of now, it’s holding in oversold territory below 30.00.
It is worth noting that RSIâs January 2015 drop below 30.00 was short-lived and BTC soon picked up a bid in response to the oversold conditions.
On the daily chart, the immediate outlook remains bearish as long as BTC is trading below the descending trendline.
BTC failed to cut through the diagonal resistance yesterday, adding credence to thebearish setupon the 3-day chart. So too, do the 5- and 10-day MAs which are trending south.
• BTC could drop to the 200-week MA of $3,179 in the next day or two. That support, however, may hold ground, as the 14-week RSI is signaling oversold conditions for the first time since January 2015.
• A break below the 200-week MA would bolster the bearish setup seen in the 3-day chart and open the doors to $2,972 (September 2017 low).
• A high-volume move above the falling trendline (on the daily chart) would weaken the bearish pressure. A bullish reversal, however, would be confirmed only above $4,400 (Nov. 29 high).
Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing.
Bitcoin image via Shutterstock; charts byÂTrading View
• $3K Ahead? Bitcoin Price Bounce Is Again Losing Steam
• 2019 Will Be a Big Year for Stablecoins || Scientists Turn Copper into Gold Will Bitcoin Replace as Store of Value?: bitcoin gold copper alchemy According to a new paper published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, researchers in China have made a groundbreaking discovery that could profoundly impact the face of the precious metals landscape and provide bitcoin with an opportunity to shine. Scientists Turn Copper into Substance Almost Identical to Gold Per SCMP , a team of scientists at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Liaoning have developed a method to turn cheap, plentiful copper into a substance that is almost identical to gold , accomplishing what alchemists have for hundreds of years believed could be a gateway to endless riches. Lest anyone protest that this sounds like something out of the National Enquirer or one of the more fantastical medieval travel narratives, the study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances, and the methodology relies on chemical reactions rather than secret incantations. To create the pseudo-gold, the scientists shot a payload of hot, electrically-charged argon gas at a target made out of copper. The ionized gas particles dislodged copper atoms from the target, and these atoms fell onto a collecting device where they cooled off into a pile of microscopic sand each grain just a few nanometers in size. The scientists then tested the properties of these copper particles by using them as a catalyst in a chemical reaction to turn coal into alcohol. Confirming their research, they found that the nanoparticles achieved catalytic performance extremely similar to that of gold or silver, Sun and the other researchers wrote, explaining that it can resist high temperatures, oxidization, and erosion much better than standard copper. Will Bitcoin Replace Gold as Store of Value? bitcoin price gold price This scientific development raises the question of whether the gold standard of economic hedging could soon lose its luster, forcing gold bugs and other stock market bears to turn to alternative assets. Could this give bitcoin an opening to become a mainstream store of value? Story continues Though proponents frequently cite bitcoins utility as a successor to the yellow metal , the answer remains no, at least for the foreseeable future. Sun and the other researchers explained that, at least in its current incarnation, the process could not practically be used to create counterfeit gold coins or bars since its density remains the same as normal copper. Nevertheless, anticipating future improvements in the methodology, ordinary retail investors who purchase precious metals for speculative purposes could be taken in by this pseudo-gold if significant quantities ever exit the industrial sector and are repurposed by counterfeiters. This would exacerbate a longstanding problem in precious metals investing, potentially weakening consumer trust in bullion as a store of value. Moreover, even the production of this pseudo-gold for its intended purpose industrial applications could have a significant impact on the value of the true yellow metal. While the vast majority of gold demand is speculative, the material also plays an important role in the production of electronic devices, a fact that crypto skeptics often cite when objecting to the thesis that bitcoin is digital gold. At the very least, the materials replacement in industrial manufacturing should place equivalent downward pressure on the gold price, though its likely that psychological factors would further weaken investor confidence and steepen the assets decline. Consequently, this and other new threats to gold demand, coupled with future improvements in cryptocurrency adoption and technological development , could over the long term provide a gateway toward bitcoin finally becoming a real store of value rather than just a moonshot purchase. Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts from TradingView . The post Scientists Turn Copper into Gold Will Bitcoin Replace as Store of Value? appeared first on CCN . || Oil Price Fundamental Weekly Forecast – Needs Major Shake-up in U.S. Supply to Force Short Hedge Funds to Cover: U.S. West Texas Intermediate and international-benchmark Brent crude oil futures settled lower last week with most of the selling pressure emerging on Friday. For the most part, it was a pretty uneventful week with prices consolidating as investors continued to digest the previous week’s decision by an OPEC-led group of producers to trim output starting in January. Sellers resurfaced on Friday following the release of softer-than-expected economic data from China.
Last week,February WTI crude oilsettled at $51.47, down $1.34 or -2.54% andFebruary Brent crude oilclosed at $60.28, down $1.39 or -2.31%.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), crude oil inventories in the United States dropped 1.2 million barrels during the week-ending December 7. This was smaller than the expected draw of 3.0 million barrels and well-below the American Petroleum Institute’s reported withdrawal of 10.18 million barrels.
The EIA also said gasoline inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels during the first week of December, with daily production at 10.5 million barrels, versus 9.7 million bpd a week earlier. Distillate stocks fell 1.5 million barrels. The daily production rate was 5.5 million barrels versus 5.6 million bpd the week before. For the week, refineries processed 17.4 million bpd of crude, down from a week earlier.
The rangebound WTI and Brent crude oil markets were underpinned last week by the announced production cuts from a week earlier and a report from the International Energy Agency, which showed it expected a deficit in oil supply by the second quarter of next year, provided OPEC members and other major exporters follow their plan to reduce production.
There was also a report from Bloomberg that said Saudi Arabia plans to slash exports to the world’s largest oil market in the coming weeks in an effort to dampen visible build-ups in crude inventories.
Gains were capped last week and prices retreated following reports of weaker than expected economic activity in China. These reports raised concerns over future demand from the world’s second-largest economy.
Additionally, it was reported that oil refinery throughput in November in China fell from October, which was the second-highest month on record, suggesting an easing in Chinese oil demand.
Refineries processed 50.46 million tonnes of crude oil last month, or 12.28 million bpd, up 2.9 percent from the same month last year, the National Bureau of Statistics reported. That figure is down from October and from the record of 12.49 million bpd reported in September. Finally, for the first 11 months of the year, refinery output gained 7.2 percent to 554.48 million tonnes, or 12.12 million bpd, on track for an annual record.
With the hedge funds decisively short, it’s going to take some major news to trigger a breakout to the upside. However, after two weeks of consolidation, we could say there is a buyer in the market, defending prices against a major sell-off. That being said, we could go through another week of consolidation.
Watching the price action last week and especially on Thursday, one could see that the news of Saudi Arabia cutting exports to the U.S. was bullish. Their plan is to shrink U.S. stockpiles. If successful over the near-term, crude oil prices could begin to strengthen. Our work suggests that the market may be just one bullish EIA inventories report away from breaking out to the upside.
Like I implied earlier, it’s going to have to be something major to encourage the hedge funds to begin covering short positions aggressively.
Prices do remain vulnerable to the downside as seen in Friday’s market. Traders are watching trade talk developments between the U.S. and China as well as China’s economy. So a disruption in the trade talks and additional reports showing a weakening Chinese economy could encourage hedge funds to add to already established short positions. This could mean new lows.
Essentially, any talk of further supply cuts by Saudi Arabia will be supportive for prices. On the flip-side, problems with U.S-China trade relations or additional signs of a weakening Chinese economy could be bearish.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• U.S Mortgages – Rates Down Again, With More to Come IF the FED Turns || 3 Dividend Stocks Perfect for Retirees: When you hit your retirement years, your investment goal is likely to switch from accumulation of assets to living off of the assets you have managed to save. One great way to do that and avoid touching your nest egg is to buy dividend-paying stocks. Healthcare property owner Welltower (NYSE: WELL) , diversified medical products company Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) , and midstream energy giant Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD) can all help provide the cash you need to fund a happy and healthy retirement without the need to sell the investments you own. For retirees in multiple ways Keith Speights (Welltower): Retirees like stocks that pay solid dividends. Welltower definitely fits the bill, with its dividend currently yielding an attractive 4.8%. As a real estate investment trust (REIT) , the company must distribute at least 90% of its taxable income to shareholders in the form of dividends. The word "dividends" written above a piggy bank. Image source: Getty Images. Welltower is the largest healthcare REIT in the U.S. It owns more than 1,500 healthcare properties in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom. These properties include senior housing, post-acute-care communities, and outpatient medical facilities. What's especially attractive about Welltower is that it focuses primarily on properties in major high-growth urban markets. These markets appeal to more seniors and have relatively high barriers to entry. I've stated in the past that Welltower is " a retiree's dream stock ." I still think that's the case. In addition to its great dividend, the company's long-term growth prospects look very good. The number of Americans ages 65 and older is expected to increase by 36% through 2025. That should drive higher demand for Welltower's senior housing properties. And with the population of Americans aged 85 and over likely to double over the next 20 years, demand for Welltower's post-acute-care properties should also soar. Diversified revenue streams buoy this dividend stalwart Brian Stoffel (Johnson & Johnson): Admittedly, I'm not at the point in life at which I'm investing in dividend-paying "retirement" stocks. If I was, however, Johnson & Johnson would be at the top of my list -- for two big reasons. Story continues The first is that the conglomerate has diverse revenue streams. While we're all familiar with Band-Aids, Tylenol, and Benadryl, those consumer-facing products -- which are subject to intense margin pressure -- accounted for just 18% of sales last year. The medical device division contributed another 35%; pharmaceuticals -- led by Remicade, Stelara, and Xarelto -- accounted for the biggest chunk: 47% of all sales. While the pharmaceutical segment is clearly the most important, these diverse streams are critical: they are protected by different moats and can pick up the slack for one another during an off year. The other big reason I like the dividend is its sustainability. Johnson & Johnson has increased its dividend every year for 55 consecutive years. Over the past 12 months, the dividend has eaten up just 50% of free cash flow. This means the dividend is very safe, and there's still ample room for growth despite the negative headlines surrounding the stock today. Big boring yield with tax advantages Reuben Gregg Brewer (Enterprise Products Partners): Enterprise is a bellwether in the midstream energy space. The nearly $60 billion-market-cap giant owns a diverse collection of pipeline, processing, storage, and transportation assets. And it offers a 6.6% yield backed by 21 years of annual distribution increases. Distribution coverage is impressive at 1.6 times -- well above the 1.2 times that investors consider strong. Some background is needed on the coverage figure. Historically, Enterprise targeted around 1.2 times, but it recently shifted toward a self-funding model to reduce the amount of dilutive units issued to support capital spending. Part of that shift requires a temporary slowing of distribution growth (to the low single digits from the mid single digits) to allow the current round of expansion projects to bear fruit. EPD Dividend Per Share (Quarterly) Chart EPD Dividend Per Share (Quarterly) data by YCharts. Once they are producing cash, which today's huge coverage ratio shows is happening, Enterprise will be able to put that money toward future growth spending and eventually bring its distribution growth back up to historical levels again when this transition period is complete. The big takeaway is that the temporary slowdown is making Enterprise a safer investment . Retirees should like the story so far: a big yield from a conservative business. But here's the interesting part: Enterprise is a limited partnership . A portion of its distribution is return of capital, which avoids current taxation (these payments reduce your cost basis and, thus, get taxed when you sell the units). Although it's a complicated tax issue, not only is Enterprise offering a big yield from a conservative business, it also helps keep taxes to a minimum because of the partnership structure. Just make sure you own it in a taxable account, because limited partnerships don't play well with tax-advantaged accounts . More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Brian Stoffel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Keith Speights has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Reuben Gregg Brewer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Johnson & Johnson and has the following options: short January 2019 $140 calls on Johnson & Johnson. The Motley Fool recommends Enterprise Products Partners. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Why Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Stock Slumped in October: Shares of the clinical-stage biotechMadrigal Pharmaceuticals(NASDAQ: MDGL)fell by 10.1% over the course of October, according toS&P Global Market Intelligence. Fortunately for shareholders, this double-digit drop wasn't sparked by a specific clinical or regulatory event.
Rather, the drugmaker's shares appear to have simply drifted lower with the broader biotech industry last month. Biotech stocks, after all, took a pounding in October due to the market's concerns about how President Trump's trade war with China will impact overseas sales and profits going forward.
Image Source: Getty Images.
Madrigal's shares have now lost almost a third of their value since hitting their 52-week highs only a few months ago. The long and short of it is that investors were hoping that a deep-pocketed partner would enter the picture after the company announced stellar mid-stage results for its experimental nonalcoholic steatohepatitis drug,MGL-3196, last May. So far, that value-boosting scenario has yet to materialize.
Without a partner, Madrigal is now tasked with advancing MGL-3196 into a late-stage trial on its own. The bright side, though, is that the biotech's last stated cash position of $488.5 million should be more than sufficient to get this process going and perhaps even see the company through to a commercial launch.
A go-it-alone strategy also means that Madrigal won't have to fork over the bulk of the drug's sales to a partner later down the line. So, with a potential megablockbuster product close to entering a pivotal-stage trial either later this year or in early 2019, Madrigal's stock may be gearing up for a healthy rebound in the not-so-distant future.
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• 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices
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George Budwellhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Can the OTC Market Actually Have a Significant Impact on the Bitcoin Price?: The over-the-counter (OTC) market has long been considered to be bigger in size and volume than the crypto exchange market, having a bigger impact on theBitcoin price.
Large institutional investors and high profile retail traders often rely on the OTC market for orders that typically exceed $1 million to ensure the market has enough liquidity to facilitate the settlement.
On major fiat-to-crypto exchanges likeCoinbase, Skew, a cryptocurrency options market data provider, said that purchasing over $4 million in Bitcoin could cost an investor a 10 percent premium.
The inefficiency of placing large orders on cryptocurrency exchanges naturally lead investors into the OTC market, as large premiums result in substantially higher rates.
The Skew research teamwrote:
Buying 1,000 BTC at market today on Coinbase would cost you $4,400 per coin, almost 10% of premium to spot for only a $ million trade. Not good. Like in FX, the liquidity for physical bitcoin is fragmented across exchanges so market makers will usually put together the various order books – ‘aggregated order books’ – and execute across venues. Still, the liquidity for physical bitcoin is not great.
Throughout the past several months, several major cryptocurrency exchanges in the likes of Coinbase have established custodial solutions to help institutions invest in the digital asset market with high liquidity.
The minimum investment threshold on Coinbase Custody is $5 million, which if bought on cryptocurrency exchanges could easily result in a 10 to 15 percent premium rate.
In July, TABB Group, an international research company, reported that the OTC market is estimated to be two to three times larger than the cryptocurrency exchange market.
Thecryptocurrency exchange marketprocesses around $4 billion worth of Bitcoin trades on a daily basis. Based on the findings of Tabb Group, the OTC market could be processing nearly $8 billion per day and up to $12 billion.
At the time, Monica Summerville, a senior FinTech analyst at Tabb Group, responded to inquiries on the lack of movement oflarge transferson the Bitcoin blockchain by stating that in many cases, Bitcoin holders pass on the wallets and the private keys to the wallets to the buyers and as such, not all transactions are broadcasted to the public blockchain.
“Our reports are based on interviews and with participants in markets, cover more than BTC and keep in mind that not all transactions show up on public blockchains as many venues omnibus accounts so only net changes to their positions will be written to public blockchain,” she said.
In the fourth quarter of 2018,Fidelity, the fourth largest asset manager in the world, debuted Fidelity Digital Assets to provide cryptocurrency custody targeted at institutional investors.
The trend in several major markets includingJapan,South Korea, and theUnited Statesis shifting from the development of infrastructure focused on individual traders to custodial solutions and strictly regulated investment vehicles, which may allow the OTC market to have even a larger impact on the price trend of Bitcoin in the long-term.
Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts fromTradingView.
The postCan the OTC Market Actually Have a Significant Impact on the Bitcoin Price?appeared first onCCN. || Crypto’s Too Expensive? Binance Sent $600 Million in Bitcoin for Just $7: Crypto exchange Binance has been moving bitcoin funds to cold storage the past couple of days, and, of course, such large transfers don’t go unnoticed.
Two transactions destined forBinance’s cold walletcome to the fore and demonstrate both the power and irony of the blockchain. Atransactionin block 550211 was a transfer of just over $1 million. For this transaction, Binance paid just over $8 in fees. The “high” amount of the fee is probably a matter of convenience, as the transaction was not particularly large at just 1550 bytes.
The other transaction, first flagged by Antoine Le Calvez of CoinMetrics.io, is more notable for its size — $600 million at the time it was sent, making it the largest unspent transaction output existing today — but also illustrates the irony of Bitcoin transactions, whose fees are not based on the amount transacted but instead the amount of computer resources required to store the information. Thissecond transaction, made in block 550155 several hours earlier, comprised 5981 bytes yet cost the giant exchange just over $7.
Other factors, such as network activity, apply to transaction fee calculations.
It should first be noted that there is no banking product with the same security as a cold storage wallet. A cold storage wallet is one that is not connected to theblockchainvia the internet. With appropriate security hygiene, it can amount to having direct access to your personal fortune with no middlemen.
It would take days or weeks to find out the cost of moving funds between bank accounts from various banks, and banks are in particular not the best thing to compareBitcoinwith, it being primarily a remittance tool. Nonetheless, it is known that interbank fees generally run in the neighborhood of 4 percent or more, supposing the funds were being moved internationally. Domestically there would still be fees, which would depend very much on the bank being used.
Banks usingRipple‘s enterprise DLT products and other blockchain technologies might be able to reduce the cost significantly. Likewise, one-time deposits and other deals can be made with banks when moving this amount of funds. But this is cold storage, after all – funds that Binance will later probably need access to. The notion of paying any more than necessary fees for access or movement, and being reliant on external forces, is antithetical to the business of being a cryptocurrency exchange.
Which is to say, Binance is engaging in money transfers that wouldn’t have been possible in a previous era in order to facilitate a business model that wouldn’t have been possible in a previous era, all at a cost that would have been unimaginably low in a previous era.
We find it helpful to compare the cost of these transactions with a service likePayPalinstead. While it’s unlikely that Binance would work with PayPal or that PayPal would work with transactions of this size, it’s useful to compare the value of Bitcoin to other remittance models. According toSalescalc.com, which specializes in such data, a fee of $17,400,000.30 would be incurred moving $600M to the PayPal account of the “cold storage steward” in the theoretical case of a PayPal model. PayPal does not charge fees for moving funds to bank accounts, but there is an associated delay when using traditional banking models.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
The postCrypto’s Too Expensive? Binance Sent $600 Million in Bitcoin for Just $7appeared first onCCN. || Bitcoin Price Eyes Support at $3,000 as Crypto Market Sets New Yearly Low: bitcoin price slide The bitcoin price on Friday plunged 6.5 percent against the US Dollar, breaking below the flagship cryptocurrencys previous yearly low at $3,455. The bearish cycle took another turn after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) halted its decision on the VanEcks upcoming bitcoin ETF once again. The fundamental has been treated as one of the strongest bullish catalysts for the bitcoin market, with many believing that its approval would bring a minimum of $1 billion investment into space. In case the US regulator disapproves it, the market sentiment would be equally bearish. The BTC/USD rate was already in shock after the SECs decision came to the wire. It established another yearly low, this time towards 3218-fiat, threatening to overreach its downside target at $1,500 in the medium-term. However, the market noted a minor pullback action from the newfound bottom or support. As of now, the BTC/USD pair is forming a Doji on a daily chart, indicating the bias conflict in the market. The latest price action has slightly pushed us away from reading technical patterns and relying more on the supply and demand ratio of bitcoin as an asset. The market now looks for a balanced level that could derive the true economic nature of the cryptocurrency. Is there a demand against the constant supply in the near-term? If not, then how low can bitcoin drop to locate a bottom? Would a weak bitcoin price be any good for the mining community? So many questions, but answers are nowhere to be seen. Psychologically, the bitcoin price is heading towards an area that once showed a huge demand for the asset. With the breach of 3455-fiat yesterday, the BTC/USD pair is now targeting 3000-fiat as the next potential bottom. In September 2017, the bulls had breached this level as resistance, only to retest it in a bearish correction action as support before pursuing a strong rebound to the north. The rejection initiated a long-term bullish run that took its last breath near 19500-fiat. Story continues Coming back to the technicalities, BTC/USD on the daily charts is signaling a rebound. The RSI momentum indicator could slip further but would eventually bounce back from its oversold region. Similarly, the Stochastic Oscillator could also first slip and then attempt a strong reversal. We are also noticing a decline in volume that proves that bears are at a point of exhaustion at the time of this writing. Nevertheless, lets not misread a bullish correction as a magical rally towards the bitcoins all-time high. The pair would likely retest its 50-period consolidation area to establish an extended bullish bias. Unless that happens, bitcoin is unfortunately bearish . Note: We are not placing any intraday positions due to highly risky scenarios. Kindly check back for more updates. Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts from TradingView . The post Bitcoin Price Eyes Support at $3,000 as Crypto Market Sets New Yearly Low appeared first on CCN .
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Searching for a #MondayMotivation? Play and win now on https://t.co/ehqHPCS2Zh | The No. 1 cryptocurrency #gambling plattform! #Bitcoin #Ethereum #Litecoin #Dogecoin #Tether #coinmarketcap #SHARKOIN https://t.co/Sv1c8SwsBC || Total Market Cap: $126,632,109,352
1 BTC: $3,788.91
BTC Dominance: 52.2%
Update Time: 27-12-2018 - 19:00:07 (GMT+3) || Total Market Cap: $110,975,335,673
1 BTC: $3,499.64
BTC Dominance: 54.93%
Update Time: 13-12-2018 - 00:00:08 (GMT+3) || We are not in the clear yet this Crypto Market has been known to do us #dirty. I’m not feeling safe till 10k #BTC || 2018/11/30（金）17:00
ビットコインの価格は474,447円だよ
https://crypto-currency-widgets.com/link/crypto.html …
#ビットコイン #bitcoin #btc $btc #価格pic.twitter.com/ahPjfJF1dx || 1H
2018/12/25 21:00 (2018/12/25 20:00)
LONG : 25647.23 BTC (+145.77 BTC)
SHORT : 32630.2 BTC (+133.27 BTC)
LS比 : 44% vs 55% (43% vs 56%) || This goofball misses what many do: the goal of $BTC is not necessarily to replace the dollar; but an additional means of transmission of funds giving individuals a choice. https://twitter.com/CNBCFastMoney/status/1068279285859917824 … || $WET - #WeShow Token - new ATH $0.068225835 / 0.00001628 BTC right now #crypto #altcoins #btc #ltc #xrp #eth #WET || Departamento do Tesouro dos EUA toma medidas contra dois iranianos supostamente envolvidos no ransomware de BTC https://ift.tt/2E2wl5I pic.twitter.com/enwQJltoAQ || [Real Trader] Order(s) filled :
- SELL_LIMIT: 3 NEO at 0.001915 BTC on binance: 28/11/18 00:26
[Real Trader] Order(s) canceled :
- STOP_LOSS: 3 NEO at 0.001802 BTC on binance: 28/11/18 00:26
Portfolio profitability : 0.4156% +0.8592%
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Trend: down || Prices: 4025.25, 4030.85, 4035.30, 3678.92, 3687.37, 3661.30, 3552.95, 3706.05, 3630.68, 3655.01
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Let’s Talk Bitcoin: Authority in a Decentralized System: On the most recentepisodeofLet’s Talk Bitcoin!, the hosts discuss the now-defunct Bitcoin Alert system, devised by Satoshi himself. A rarity in the podcast space, this episode’s exploration involved no guest appearances, instead relying on the wealth of experience that Adam B. Levine, Stephanie Murphy, Jonathan Mohan and Andreas Antonopoulos had already picked up from their time with Bitcoin.
Although seldom used and quickly discontinued, Bitcoin Alert was originally devised as an emergency means of sending communications to all members of the Bitcoin network, by propagating and authenticating the message through the nodes of the entire network. Very few people had access to this alert system, and critically most of those people’s identities were kept secret.
The alert system was not entirely a misstep, as it did have practical applications in the early “Wild West” days of the platform. For example, as Andreas points out, a bug impacting 26 blocks of the chain was discovered in 2013, and the Bitcoin Alert system was used to quickly resolve the issue by getting community consensus to hard fork the affected blocks.
Nevertheless, access to the Bitcoin Alert system was one of the few components of the network hard-coded in by Satoshi that allowed one user to claim some higher authority, expertise or precedence in the development of Bitcoin over another user. Alongside Satoshi’s mailbox, PGP keys and first blocks, a person sending alerts over the Bitcoin Alert system would undeniably have a demonstrable high status in a supposedly horizontal system.
The discussion also turns to some of the complications of actually trying to remove this protocol, describing some of the exploits in code that allowed actors to restore functionality to the defunct alert system.
Andreas muses over the double-edged sword that such a state of affairs can exist because if “there is no central point of failure, then there is also no central point of recovery.” Juggling centralization and democratic ideals is likely to be a conflict in Bitcoin that can never be completely solved.
The episode also includes a brief interview with Joe Looney to discuss parallels between his Rare Pepe Wallet and the more recent trend of CryptoKitties, ruminating on the possibilities of using blockchains to add gamified incentives to a number of possible platforms. The full episode and further episodes from both this and other podcasts are all available now onthe LTB Network.
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || 3 Cancer Stocks to Watch in December: The American Society of Hematology (ASH) begins its 60th annual meeting on Dec. 1, and this year's going to be one to remember. Acceleron Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: XLRN) , bluebird bio (NASDAQ: BLUE) , and Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) are all scheduled to present highly anticipated results from experimental cancer therapies that could be worth billions. Here's what investors need to watch out for. Acceleron Pharma Inc.: Luspatercept At this year's ASH meeting, Acceleron Pharma Inc. and its collaboration partner Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) are going to present results from two pivotal studies with an experimental therapy called luspatercept. The erythroid maturation agent is intended to boost red blood cell (RBC) production for patients with two rare diseases marked by RBC deficiency. Lab worker holding test tubes in front of their face. Image source: Getty Images. During the Medalist trial, 38% of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) who received luspatercept achieved independence from regular blood transfusions for at least eight weeks compared with just 13% of those given a placebo. Investigators will also present results from the Believe study, which enrolled transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia patients. After 12 weeks of treatment, 21% of patients given luspatercept reduced their reliance on transfusions by at least one-third compared with just 4.5% of those given a placebo. While there are gene therapies in development that can reduce transfusion dependence much better than luspatercept appears to, they generally involve manufacturing a new batch for each patient. Acceleron's candidate is a relatively simple injection that could win over a large portion of patients with MDS and beta-thalassemia that aren't ready for more complex treatments. If detailed presentations expected at ASH suggest it's on the right path, Acceleron stock could surge. Celgene and Acceleron think they can drive sales of luspatercept up to $2 billion annually. While Celgene is paying for 100% of development costs, Acceleron is still eligible to receive a royalty percentage in the low-to-mid-20% range on future luspatercept sales. Story continues Cancer patient speaking with physician. Image source: Getty Images. bluebird bio: bb21217 Last year, bluebird bio thrilled oncologists with early results for bb2121, one of several cell-based therapies making a difference for multiple myeloma patients who have run out of treatment options. In a group that had failed seven prior treatments, 56% of those given bb2121 achieved a complete remission. Bluebird's follow-up candidate, bb21217, is supposed to be a more persistent version of bb2121. At a June 15, 2018 observation period, 6 out of 7 evaluable patients given a low dose of bb21217 showed initial responses. The ongoing study is supposed to enroll around 50 patients, and investigators will present updated results at ASH in December. Early results for bb21217 were a bit mixed. Although the new candidate appears as effective as its predecessor, it might be too effective. One patient with a particularly high tumor burden suffered a case of life-threatening brain damage. The patient recovered, and investigators will avoid placing similar patients in high-dose groups going forward. If updated results that bluebird presents at ASH convince the crowd that bb21217 is relatively safe and effective, this stock will climb. Prescription pills on top of money. Image source: Getty Images. Amgen Inc.: AMG 420 Training a patient's own immune cells to recognize and attack cancer is effective, but awfully complicated. Bluebird's candidate involves removing a patient's T cells, then training them to recognize BCMA, a protein often found on the surface of cancer cells. Amgen's AMG 420 is an off-the-shelf antibody that tries to perform a similar function by attaching to two targets instead of just one. In an early stage clinical trial with 35 advanced-stage multiple myeloma patients, the top-line results were positive, but investors still aren't sure how they feel about this program. In AMG 420's favor, 5 of 6 patients treated with a dosage the company will probably use in further studies showed an objective response and three were in complete remission. On the other hand, it isn't exactly a simple solution. Since AMG 420 doesn't last long in the bloodstream, patients need to stay hooked up to an IV for four straight weeks during every six-week cycle. Across dosage groups, 49% of those treated with AMG 420 reported a serious adverse event, although only a few actually required hospitalization. Investors will be looking for further signs that Amgen's bispecific antibody can make a difference for heavily pretreated patients when the company presents the results on Dec. 3 at ASH. If investigators can keep showing us that AMG 420 is relatively safe and highly effective, analysts could start raising expectations for several bispecific antibody programs Amgen has in various stages of development. Multiple moving pieces While all three of these cancer stocks are worth watching in December, some will have more to show off than others. If you're going to do more than just watch, you had better know what you're getting into. Acceleron's future hinges on luspatercept, but bluebird bio is made up of enough moving pieces that it can continue climbing even if bb21217 fails to impress. Amgen is one of the largest biotechnology companies on the planet, and its bispecific antibodies would add to an oncology franchise that already generates billions in sales each year. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Cory Renauer owns shares of Celgene. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Bluebird Bio and Celgene. The Motley Fool recommends Amgen. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Apple's MacBook Pro Gets the AMD Vega Treatment: On July 12, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) announced updated versions of its high-end MacBook Pro computers with significantly improved internals. The systems incorporate faster processors -- Apple claimed a 70% boost on the 15-inch model and a doubling in performance for the 13-inch variant -- as well as support for greater memory (32 GB of DRAM from a 16 GB maximum in the prior model). The systems also incorporate Apple's T2 companion chip as well as True Tone display technology. In the 13-inch models, Apple uses the Iris Plus graphics that are integrated inside of the Intel processors, but for the 15-inch systems, Apple uses discrete graphics processors from Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) . The versions that Apple announced back in July -- and the ones that are available for sale -- can currently be configured with AMD's Radeon Pro 555X graphics or a higher-end version known as Radeon Pro 560X. These are both based on the company's older, lower-end Polaris architecture . Apple's 15-inch MacBook Pro. The 15-inch MacBook Pro. Image source: Apple. Apple recently announced that, beginning in late November, it would allow buyers to configure the 15-inch MacBook Pro with AMD's newly announced Radeon Pro Vega 16 or its higher-end counterpart, Radeon Pro Vega 20 -- higher-end graphics processors compared with the Polaris-based Radeon Pro 555X and 560X parts. Let's go over what this means for both Apple and AMD. A win for both To the extent that it can sell more expensive systems, Apple's Mac-related revenue and, presumably, profit stand to benefit. When I go to Apple's website, the company lets customers choose from two 15-inch MacBook Pro systems to customize. The first comes with a 2.2 GHz six-core CPU, Radeon Pro 555X, and 256 GB of storage starting at $2,399. The second has a faster six-core CPU running at a base speed of 2.6 GHz, Radeon Pro 560X graphics, and 512 GB of storage for $2,799. The $2,399 model can only be configured with up to the Radeon Pro 560X, which means that anybody who wants to get their hands on a Radeon Pro Vega-based MacBook Pro will also have to buy a system that fundamentally starts at a higher price. That's a clear win for Apple. As far as AMD is concerned, keep in mind that every time Apple sells a 15-inch MacBook Pro, AMD already gets a graphics chip sale. The difference now is that if a customer picks a MacBook Pro with a Radeon Pro Vega, not only should Apple benefit by selling a pricier system, but AMD should benefit, too, by selling a pricier graphics processor. Putting it all into context Apple offering higher-end configurations of its MacBook Pro with AMD's Radeon Pro Vega graphics chips is a nice way for Apple and AMD to sell pricier systems and graphics chips, respectively, but this isn't a game changer for either company. Story continues Remember that during its fiscal year 2018, Apple shipped around 18.2 million total Macs. That figure incorporates shipments of a wide range of Mac laptop and desktop products. Shipments of the 15-inch MacBook Pro make up just a fraction of that total and shipments of the highest-end models with maxed-out graphics likely represent a fraction of those shipments. Ultimately, this announcement isn't something that should have a meaningful impact on the investment theses around either Apple or AMD. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Ashraf Eassa owns shares of Advanced Micro Devices. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . View comments || Bitcoin Bulls in Desperate Search of a Weekend Rally: Bitcoin fell by 0.65% on Saturday, following on from Fridays 0.9% decline, to end the day at $6,592.3. With Bitcoin in the red in 4 of the 5-days this week, Bitcoins down 1.75% for the current week, Monday through Saturday, Thursdays 3.69% not enough to raise the prospects of another weekly gain. A particularly bearish start to the day saw Bitcoin slide through the first major support level at $6,506.6 to an early morning intraday low $6,454.2 before steadying, with Bitcoin then joining the majors in a late morning rally. Recovering to $6,600 levels by late morning, upward momentum through the afternoon saw Bitcoin hit a late in the day intraday high $6,635.1 before easing back to sub-$6,600 levels, the days high coming up short of $6,700 levels and the first major resistance level at $6,791.1. The moves through the day saw Bitcoin, not only come up short of $6,700 levels that has become a key resistance level for Bitcoin, but also the 23.6% FIB Retracement Level of $6,757 that has caused numerous sell-offs on previous attempts at a breakout from its recent $6,300 $6,800 ranges. Gains elsewhere in the cryptomarket on Saturday led to Bitcoins dominance ease back further to 51.2%, while the crypto market cap recovered to $222bn levels in spite of Bitcoins 2 nd consecutive day in the red. Elsewhere, finding green through the first part of the weekend included Stellars Lumen and NEMs XEM, alongside Ripples XRP that looked to take another run at the number 2 spot by market cap, with Ripples XRP now just over $1bn behind Ethereum. Get Into Cryptocurrency Trading Today At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down 0.59% to $6,558.5, with a relatively choppy start to the day seeing Bitcoin recover from a start of a day dip to sub-$6,600 levels to a morning high $6,610.4 before hitting reverse and a morning low $6,556.8. The moves through the early morning left the major support and resistance levels untested, with Bitcoin struggling alongside the majors, Moneros XRM and Ripples XRP just a small number of cryptos managing to hold on to positive territory at the time of writing. Story continues For the day ahead, a move through $6,560 would bring $6,600 levels back into play, with any improvement in sentiment across the broader market likely to see Bitcoin test the days first major resistance level at $6,666.87 before any pullback, $6,700 levels and the 23.6% FIB Retracement Level of $6,757 unlikely to be touched through the day. Failure to move through $6,560 to $6,600 levels could see Bitcoin struggle for direction through the second half of the day, with sub-$6,500 levels and the days first major support level at $6,485.97 very much in play through the day. Its been another bearish start to the day and for Bitcoin to make its move, the news wires will need to remain friendly through the day, Bitcoin unlikely to find itself bucking a broader market trend through the day. {alt} This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Price of Gold Fundamental Weekly Forecast Fundamentals Bearish, but Strong Silver Could Lead to Counter-Trend Rally USD/JPY Fundamental Daily Forecast Investors Chasing Higher-Yielding U.S. Dollar USD/JPY Forex Technical Analysis Sustained Move Over 113.745 Targets 114.728 AUD/USD and NZD/USD Fundamental Daily Forecast Widening Interest Rate Differential Sending Investors into US Dollar Oil Price Fundamental Weekly Forecast Anticipated Shortfall Expected to Continue to Drive Prices Higher Natural Gas Price Fundamental Weekly Forecast Suppressed Demand Likely to Keep Lid on Prices || IMF Head Makes Case for Central Bank Digital Currencies In Recent Speech: imf central bank cryptocurrency With contributing reporting from Jimmy Aki. Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), suggested a new course of action for central banks around the world: turn their fiat currencies digital. The IMF chair gave a speech at the Singapore Fintech Festival on November 14, 2018, titled “Winds of Change: The New Case for Digital Currency.” In it, Lagarde stated, “I believe we should consider the possibility to issue digital currency. There may be a role for the state to supply money to the digital economy.” She continued to laud the benefits of cryptocurrency payments, calling them "immediate, safe, cheap and potentially semi-autonomous" and saying that central banks should consider issuing digital assets so they can "retain a sure footing in payments.” Her speech comes two days after the IMF released a research paper that highlights many of the talking points Lagarde hits on. Titled " Casting Light on Central Bank Digital Currencies ," it details some of the benefits a state may see if it decides to issue digital currencies, including financial inclusion, consumer protection and privacy in payments. State sponsored digital currencies is not a new idea. Lagarde herself pointed out that the central banking authorities of Canada, China, Sweden and Uruguay were already considering the notion. However, she urged central banks to support digital currencies as a premise of the future, stating such currencies “could satisfy public policy goals, such as (i) financial inclusion, and (ii) security and consumer protection; and to provide what the private sector cannot: (iii) privacy in payments.” It should be noted that the IMF Chair referred to cryptocurrencies throughout her speech. The Chair espoused a nuanced view of crypto that, while not wholly supportive, showed the advancements of the industry were part of the IMF’s new outlook. “For their part, cryptocurrencies seek to anchor trust in technology. So long as they are transparent — and if you are tech savvy — you might trust their services. Still, I am not entirely convinced,” Lagarde stated. Story continues For Lagarde, cryptocurrencies still require “[proper] regulation of these entities” so that they “will remain a pillar of trust.” While the IMF’s view at this time is clearly for digitization of fiat currencies by central banks rather than through cryptocurrencies (it put out a paper to that effect), Lagarde asked these fundamental questions of central banking authorities: “Should we go further? Beyond regulation, should the state remain an active player in the market for money? Should it fill the void left by the retreat of cash?” The positive aspects of Lagarde's speech is in contrast with the IMF's opposition to the Marshall Islands ' plan to float a sovereign digital currency. Criticizing the island's decision , the IMF stated that it feared the island's currency could be used by crime syndicates or businesses running illegitimate operations. This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine . || Bitcoin Price Becoming Less Volatile than Amazon Stock: CBOE Analyst: The next time your nocoiner friends or relatives criticize your decision to allocate a (hopefully reasonable) percentage of your investments into bitcoin, you can tell them that you’ve chosen to put money the flagship cryptocurrency because you don’t have the stomach for more volatile asset classes — stocks, for instance.
Granted, that argument doesn’t have a strong historical track record, but, according to an educational analyst at the first U.S. derivatives exchange to list bitcoin futures, BTC has lately experienced less price volatility than some of Wall Street’s most popular stocks, including tech heavyweights likeAmazon,Netflix, and chipmaking giantNvidia.
Writing in commentary cited inMarketWatch, CBOE Options Institute senior instructor Kevin Davitt stated that bitcoin’s 20-dayhistorical volatility(HV) — i.e., the rate of change in its daily price — has dropped to 31.5 percent.
By comparison, Amazon’s 20-day HV of 35 percent, Nvidia’s stands at 40 percent, and Netflix’s is nearly twice as large at 52 percent. At its current level, bitcoin is almost as stable asApple(AAPL), the world’s most valuable company. Per the report, AAPL — whose market cap eclipses $1 trillion — has a 20-day HV of 29.3 percent.
Moreover, Davitt noted that even at its most volatile, the bitcoin price was far more stable than the share price of cannabis producer Tilray, the face of the pot stock bubble and an investment that short seller Citron Research called “more ridiculous than bitcoin.”
Davitt speculated that it’s possible the cryptocurrency market is maturing and that the drop in HV indicates a “structural shift” in the ecosystem. However, he cautioned that it’s “far too early” to conclude that this is the “new normal.”
“Perhaps we are witnessing the maturation of a market. It’s far too early to declare this the ‘new normal’ but the persistent range over the last few weeks may be hinting at a structural shift. Time will tell,” he wrote.
Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts fromTradingView.
The postBitcoin Price Becoming Less Volatile than Amazon Stock: CBOE Analystappeared first onCCN. || Crypto Markets Roiled as Traders Question Tether's Dollar Peg: (Bloomberg) -- A sudden exodus from the most popular dollar-linked cryptocurrency rippled through digital asset markets on Monday, saddling some investors with losses while propelling Bitcoin to its biggest gain in more than three weeks. Tether, the so-called stablecoin used as a substitute for the U.S. currency on crypto exchanges around the world, broke its historically tight link with the greenback, touching 85 cents on U.S.-based venue Kraken. Transactions on Binance, one of the world’s most active platforms for Tether, recently implied a price of about 96 cents, according to CoinMarketCap.com. Bitcoin jumped as much as 8.9 percent to $6,769 as Tether holders shifted into alternative virtual currencies. “If traders start to flee Tether, it’s a potentially precarious situation,” said Vijay Ayyar, head of business development at Luno, a cryptocurrency exchange. “It basically implies a lot of volatility ahead.” While skeptics have long doubted whether Tether was fully backed by dollars as its issuer has claimed, markets have mostly shrugged off those concerns and treated the coin as if it were worth $1. Tether’s stability helped it become a major part of global crypto ecosystem, with traders using it for about 20 percent of all virtual currency transactions tracked by CoinMarketCap.com -- second only to Bitcoin. But faith in Tether abruptly diminished on Monday amid renewed speculation over the financial health and banking relationships of Bitfinex, a crypto exchange that shares a chief executive officer with Tether’s issuer. Similar rumors earlier this month prompted Bitfinex to issue a statement last week denying allegations that it was insolvent. In a Medium post after several hours of market turbulence on Monday, Bitfinex said that withdrawals from the exchange were being processed as usual even though fiat-currency deposits had been paused for some users. That appeared to calm markets somewhat, with Tether paring some of its losses and Bitcoin giving up some gains. Story continues Many crypto-related firms have struggled to maintain banking relationships as regulators in the U.S. and elsewhere scrutinize the industry’s exposure to risks including money laundering, market manipulation and security breaches. For Tether’s issuer, a viable bank account is an important part of its pledge to redeem the coins for $1 each. Questions surrounding Bitfinex and Tether are nothing new. Since at least 2017, some market watchers have alleged that trading in Tether’s coins on Bitfinex has helped prop up Bitcoin’s price. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission sent subpoenas to Bitfinex and Tether at the end of last year, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg in January. Given that withdrawals on Bitfinex appear to be working as usual, renewed jitters surrounding the exchange and Tether are “probably a bit of paranoia,” said Timothy Tam, co-founder and CEO of CoinFi, a cryptocurrency research firm. “I believe this will all clear up relatively soon.” Still, now that traders have several stablecoins to chose from, some may decide to dump Tether in favor of alternatives such as the Gemini dollar, a brainchild of Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, said Jehan Chu, managing partner at blockchain investment and advisory company Kenetic Capital. Paxos Standard, another stablecoin linked to the dollar, was trading at $1.06 versus Tether on Binance. “Faith in Bitfinex’s financial situation and ability to fully back Tether has been a recurring question,” Chu said. “Tether’s stablecoin dominance will only persist if they can settle community criticisms about their lack of transparency once and for all.” (Updates with latest prices from second paragraph.) To contact the reporters on this story: Andrea Tan in Singapore at [email protected];Eric Lam in Hong Kong at [email protected];Benjamin Robertson in Hong Kong at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Anstey at [email protected], ;Sam Mamudi at [email protected], Michael Patterson For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com ©2018 Bloomberg L.P. || Tokenbox Platform Introduces KYC Based on Telegram Passport: Security of clients’ and investors’ data is one of the top priorities when it comes to managing crypto assets and working with sensitive personal information during a KYC procedure. As users’ verification has become mandatory for most of the crypto projects, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, Tokenbox and the platform’s earliest partners, KYC-provider Sum&Substance , decided to simplify and accelerate the usual process of identity and credentials check. It is now available through Telegram Passport — a single platform for verification and storage of documents based on the most popular messenger in the crypto community. Telegram Passport is a personal identification authorization tool, which is integrated into the platform’s services. User’s personal data is encrypted with a personal key, and both are accessible only through a service that the user trusts his data with. KYC provider Sum&Substance was the first in the world to launch KYC-checks based on Telegram Passport, and Tokenbox is happy to announce the integration of the tool into the platform’s system. In order to pass verification, the user will need to upload their data to Telegram Passport only once — photos, scans of documents, information about the place of residence. After the user’s consent, the KYC-provider will access this data, verify it and conduct the Know-Your-Customer procedure. The process will take about 1-3 minutes, and, in case of the user’s errors or poor image quality, they will receive a comment right in the Telegram interface, which will be describing the type of error. After passing KYC once, the user will not have to upload documents for another online service again — the system will only ask for a permission to process their personal data, and the documents will be automatically sent for verification procedure. Despite the fact that Telegram Passport stores documents in a cloud, no employees of the messenger have an access to the data. All information is stored in an encrypted form, and the access key is only available to the user. KYC provider gets access to the data only after the user’s consent. Sum&Substance complies to the most stringent data protection law — the European Directive of the GDPR. Story continues Sum&Substance CEO Andrey Severyukhin adds: «We have rapidly become the go-to provider for KYC/AML in the ICO and blockchain sphere. We see that Telegram Passport allows blockchain to take users on board as fast as possible without sacrificing the conversion. So, we help Tokenbox keep all their customers protected in the most practical and friendly way as the blockchain industry faces a lot of scrutiny and regulation». Tokenbox CEO Pavel Salas : “This is so far one of the most interesting and relevant updates to our platform’s services. I’ve been working in the assets management field for quite a while, and data security still tops the list of users’ vital concerns. Telegram and its creators are already famous for how they treat their users’ data, so we at Tokenbox are thrilled about the fact that together with Sum&Substance we are one of the first to introduce such convenient and safe way of identity check”. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Dollar Support Kicks in as Market Risk Appetite Sinks E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM) Futures Analysis – Needs to Sustain Move Over 26820 or Closing Price Reversal Top Will Form Crypto Payments Are Here to Stay: WCDC Makes It Possible Tokenbox Platform Introduces KYC Based on Telegram Passport GBP/USD Daily Price Forecast – GBP/USD Off to Subdued Start on Re-emerging Brexit Concerns E-mini S&P 500 Index (ES) Futures Technical Analysis – Needs to Hold 2908.25 Pivot to Sustain Upside Momentum || The Young and the Restless: Millennial Males Dominant Among Crypto Investors in the US: Bitcoin Millennial Bitcoin Millennial Age and gender seem to be crucial factors when it comes to purchasing cryptocurrencies in the worlds largest economy. According to a survey conducted by cryptocurrency startup Circle , the interest of millennial men in investing in crypto is higher than that of millennial women with 18% of the former planning on investing in crypto in the course of the next one year compared to 7% in the latter group. This was not restricted to the millennial generation though as across the different age groups men were more interested in buying cryptocurrencies compared to women. For instance, 17% of males in the United States above the majority age intend to invest in crypto in the coming 12 months compared to 8% of women. Attitude Towards Risk With regards to risk-taking, the gender divide was present across generations too. More millennial men, for example, identified themselves as being aggressive investors compared to millennial women 42% for the former and 27% for the latter. Among Baby Boomers (ages 52-70), 16% of the men indicated that they were aggressive investors compared to 9% of the women. For Generation Xers (ages 36-51), 34% of the men viewed themselves as aggressive investors compared to 19% of their female counterparts. Regardless of gender, the survey which saw over 3,000 respondents above the age of 18 interviewed demonstrated that the younger the individual, the higher their interest in buying cryptocurrencies . In the coming 12 months, a quarter of millennials indicated interest in buying cryptocurrencies. For generation X, only 10% have shown an interest in purchasing cryptocurrencies in the next 12 months. The figure was even lower with regards to Baby Boomers where only 2% are planning to buy crypto in the next one year. Already Dipped their Toes
So far 71% of millennials have invested less than US$1,000 in cryptocurrencies with 29% have put in amounts ranging between US$500 and US$1,000 while 42% have staked amounts of less than US$500. Story continues Notably, 25% of millennials indicated they would be open to moving some of their 401(k) into cryptocurrencies. Interestingly, a significant number of millennials still view cryptocurrencies as speculative assets with 11% saying it was a chance to make a quick buck. Circles survey showing the higher interest in cryptocurrencies among millennials echoes another study conducted in the United Kingdom earlier in the year which showed that some in that age group preferred bitcoin over real estate . This was attributed to a view among millennials that bitcoin and other cryptos have more upside potential compared to property. Featured image from Shutterstock. The post The Young and the Restless: Millennial Males Dominant Among Crypto Investors in the US appeared first on CCN . || Crypto Investors Are Trying to Save Their Funds Amid Bitcoin Crash: The safe harbor of cryptocurrency has eventually sunk under the volatility wave, which triggered a massive collapse of all crypto coins. During the peak of this decline, market capitalization has shrunk by $30 billion. During the last 24 hours, Bitcoin’s price has lost almost 13%, trading at around %5,500. On the morning of November 15, 2018, the second largest global Bitcoin wallet, which belongs to the Binance exchanged, moved out 109,234 BTC ( $600 million at the current exchange rate). Considering this huge sell-off in the past day, the news in regards to such a big move of almost all Bitcoins from a “cold” wallet may reinforce negative dynamics in the market. It is worth remembering the sharp reaction of the market, subsequent to the sale of BTC and BCH by the Mt.Gox bankruptcy trustee Kobayashi. The lever near $6,000 was defended by bulls for months and the decisive hit of this mark is a bad signal for the whole market. The altcoins suffered even more: Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) lost almost 13%. It is noteworthy to note that in the recent days, BCH has attracted consumer demand due to the hardfork prospects which can split the chain, as it was in the case with the original Bitcoin. However, the fierce confrontation between the two camps advocating a different future for the project frightened even the speculators. It is very unlikely that BCH sell-off had started before hardfork. According to technical analysis, the next important stop could be the area of the previous price consolidation: distant marks near $3,500. A well-known crypto investor, Barry Silbert, has the same opinion. He considers what is happening now as a “cryptocurrency capitulation” due to a deep disappointment in the prospects and falling interest from traders and users. At the same time, the ambiguous and often negative position of the American regulator is an additional pressure factor. One of the triggers for the collapse in the market could be the prospects for action by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in dozens of cases against crypto exchanges that may be accused of distributing unregistered securities. Story continues This article was written by FxPro This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: USD/CAD Daily Price Forecast – USD/CAD Trades Range Bound For Fourth Consecutive Trading Session Technical Checks For USD/CHF, EUR/CHF, GBP/CHF & CHF/JPY: 14.11.2018 UK Down On Brexit Woe, Pound Sinks, Asian Up On Brexit Hope, US Dollar Moves Higher EUR/USD Mid-Session Technical Analysis for November 15, 2018 Crypto Investors Are Trying to Save Their Funds Amid Bitcoin Crash USD/JPY Price Forecast – US dollar falls against yen
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
1H
2018/10/19 15:00 (2018/10/19 14:00)
LONG : 21323.1 BTC (-357.53 BTC)
SHORT : 35325.63 BTC (-57.99 BTC)
LS比 : 37% vs 62% (37% vs 62%) || (AMD) Advanced Micro Device's stock looks oversold, down from $34 to $17.70 want $25.00 per share in the future?
@altcoingazette
http://www.altcoingazette.com
$BTC $ETH $XRP $DOWJONES $NASDAQ $AMD $INTC $AAPL $STM $AMD || LOVE!!IranWe hope to help, thank you.
/bitcoin 1896UwURka9J4MCbSdwfMc1pynArfWYXUf
/amazon.com Wish List http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/ref=nav_youraccount_wl?ie=UTF8&requiresSignIn=1 … || 最もBTC/JPYのスプレッドが狭いのは？(2018-11-13 17:00:03 現在)
Liquid 57.954
bitbank 183.000
Zaif 220.000
coincheck 272.000
bitFlyer 370.000
BITPoint 441.940 || Current price: $0.024091
Node count: 878
Total accounts: 500657
Coins burned: 2,480,292.00 TRX
#tron #trx $trx $btc #btc || Cotización del Bitcoin Cash: 271 00.€ | +0.82% | Kraken | 17/11/18 17:00 #BitcoinCash #Kraken #BCHEUR || 現在の1ビットコインあたりの値段は721,823.7866円です。値段の取得日時はOct 18, 2018 22:59:00 UTCです #bitcoin #ビットコイン || Bitcoin - BTC
Price: $6,328.29
Change in 1h: +0.24%
Market cap: $109,578,680,888.00
Ranking: 1
#Bitcoin #BTC || Nov 01, 2018 12:30:00 UTC | 6,319.70$ | 5,546.00€ | 4,897.60£ | #Bitcoin #btc pic.twitter.com/JHOWSlOPcZ || KING JAMES HRMH | Every single nation in the world will be prudent to buy $1,000,000.00 worth of Bitcoin at the current price to keep in their coffers. http://thekingjameshrmh.tumblr.com/post/179224669670 …pic.twitter.com/Aw9NcR95Rw
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Trend: down || Prices: 5623.54, 4871.49, 4451.87, 4602.17, 4365.94, 4347.11, 3880.76, 4009.97, 3779.13, 3820.72
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
21 Inc. Finally Reveals Its Secretive Product: A Bitcoin Mining Chip: Back in March,bitcoinenthusiasts were abuzz with speculation about what21 Inc.might be working on.
The cryptocurrency startup was able to secure upwards of $110 million in fundraising from a spate of big name investors likeQUALCOMM, Inc.(NASDAQ:QCOM) and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.
However, the company has been secretive about what it had been working on – until now.
A New Kind Of Chip
On Monday, the companyrevealedthat it will roll out an embeddable chip that allows users to mine bitcoins from their wireless devices.
The chip is designed to verify transactions while running as a background process, thus providing the user with a "continuous stream of digital currency."
Related Link: Solving Bitcoins Scalability Problem
Integrating Bitcoin Into The IoT
21 Inc. says its chip wasn't designed as a way to make people rich, but instead the company says it's more focused on integrating the cryptocurrency into the Internet of Things (IoT) and creating a micropayment scheme.
Micropayment Device
The chip, called BitShare, can consolidate, what 21 Inc. expects to be, a large number of micropayments, as the Internet of Things gains traction. Instead of customers paying for each individual service, they can install a BitShare chip and pay for the fees associated with things like connected lightbulbs or automated fire alarms using their mined bitcoin.
The company says it eventually hopes to use the technology to make having a smartphone more attainable in developing countries by subsidizing some of the costs through bitcoin mining.
Related Link: Bitcoin: Making Progress In Europe
Is The Chip Worth It?
The chip marks a big development for the bitcoin community, but it isn't without criticism.
Many worry about the feasibility of such a product, as it is likely to use a great deal of data and could significantly reduce the battery life of a smartphone. Some say consumers will be unwilling to sacrifice those things for the comparatively small reward, which may be just a few cents worth of bitcoin.
Image Credit: Public Domain
See more from Benzinga
• What A Difference A Second Makes: Are Markets Prepared For Leap Second?
• Delivery Services Deal With Growing Volume
• Here's Why U.S. Automakers Fear The Pacific Trade Pact
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Greece Isn't The Only Flight Risk For The Eurozone: Greece's financial woes have raised questions over whether or not the eurozone should be preparing for the nation to exit the currency union.
However, although Greece has been in the spotlight for the better part of three months, it isn't the only nation the European Union stands to lose in the coming year.
The UK is about to hold its general election next month; the outcome of which could result in a referendum on Great Britain's relationship with the EU.
Referendum On Membership
Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to renegotiate Britain's relationship with the EU if he and his party are re-elected. He vowed to give the population a chance to weigh in with a referendum vote in the coming year.
However, if Cameron is defeated by his Labour Party counterpart Ed Miliband, the referendum is unlikely.
Coalition Likely
At the moment,polls showthat the two parties have relatively equal support, which most expect means the vote will end with some sort of coalition government taking power.
However, if the Conservative party is included in the coalition, a referendum vote is likely to remain on the table.
Related Link:Greece's Finance Minister Quotes Roosevelt To Express His Frustration
HSBC Warns On Referendum
Last week, British bankHSBC Holdings plc(NYSE:HSBC)voicedits concerns about a referendum on the UK's membership in the EU, saying that economic risks could be disastrous if the region decided to leave the EU.
The bank said it was evaluating the possibility of moving its headquarters out of London due to the structural reforms banks have had to face since the financial crisis and warned that whether or not Great Britain remained in the EU would play into its decision making.
See more from Benzinga
• Bitcoin Wallet Circle Rumored To Be Raising Million
• Marijuana Industry Blazes The Path For A New Kind Of Lawyer
• Facebook Looking To Take Over Your Life With Messenger
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin Alternative NXT Announces Upcoming Release of NXT Version 1.5: The Complete Toolkit For Business: With upcoming release of Nxt software version 1.5 - which will include voting functionality, ability to use enhanced multisig account control, and improved data storage and transfer capabilities - Nxt has reached a new milestone as the next generation blockchain platform
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS / ACCESSWIRE / April 21, 2015 /From its inception in late 2013 Nxt has been designed to be a multipurpose toolkit, to be used either directly from the NRS client software or to be incorporated into third party applications.
With account authorisation via the issue of secure tokens, enhanced data transfer and storage (with the ability to remove data when required), voting, multisignature transactions and much, much more, Nxt has now developed into a mature and complete next generation blockchain system for business use.
Nxt Modularity
Nxt is designed and built to be a modular system. It features several different transaction types, which can be used on their own or in combination. The current feature set, after the version 1.5 implementation of Voting and Phasing (enhanced multisig/account control) will include:
- Send Transactions (sending the NXT currency or tokens to accounts- Data Transactions (send and store up to 40 kb of data)- Coloured Coins Transactions (create and trade Asset tokens)- Alias Creation Transactions (enabling the assignment of strings, such as a DNS entry, to Nxt accounts)- Sales Transactions (create and manage digital sales via a native marketplace)- Signature Transactions (provide proof of account via single-use token authentication)- Voting Transactions (fully customised polling system based on the Nxt blockchain)- Multisig Transactions- Custom Currencies Transactions (create customisable currencies on top of the Nxt blockchain)
More in-depth information about these transaction types can be found in theNxt Wikior on the resource site,NxtInside.org.
The perfect tool for DAOs
Nxt is the perfect tool for the creation of Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs). A business or developer can issue their own tokens representing their organisational structure, handle a transaction stream, and keep their finance records in a fully transparent and auditable manner on the blockchain. Building new tools to enhance the core Nxt functionality for a business's own requirements is always possible, and the Nxt developer community will be happy to provide support for custom solutions where required.
There is no absolute need to use the provided Nxt client software (the NRS client) if users do not want to, since Nxt can be utilised directly from within other applications by using theNxt API, which currently has around 150 function calls. Full documentation for Nxt API can be found on the Nxt Wiki.
Examples of projects that have been or are being built with Nxt include MyNxt.info, a browser wallet that supports plugins; DeBuNe, a company building business tools with Nxt; and Pangea Poker, a fully decentralised poker application.
Nxt Foundation and PayExpo
Last month, theNxt Foundationwas incorporated as a portal organisation to act as a point of contact for the Nxt community and anyone interested in the possibilities offered by Nxt - either from the cryptocurrency world or from the wider mainstream business community. The Nxt Foundation can also connect anyone with project ideas involving Nxt, such as entrepreneurs and business owners, with developers who can support or implement ideas and projects.
The people within the Nxt Foundation have a background in sales, marketing and software development, and are happy to help people explore the possibilities of using Nxt.
The NXT Foundation will be the official Cryptocurrency Sponsor of the upcoming PayExpo event, to be held in London on the 9th and 10th June 2015.
Anyone is welcome to contact the Nxt Foundation [email protected] they have any questions or require any assistance with Nxt, or a project involving Nxt.
NXT in Space
Nxt is also a sponsor for the Low Orbit Helium Assisted Navigator (LOHAN) project: a private UK-based initiative to launch an autonomous 3d-printed drone to the edge of space. This mission will carry a copy of the Nxt client software on its flight control computer, taking Nxt to new heights.
For more information about us, please visithttp://nxt.org/
Contact Info:
Name: Bas Wisselink, Nxt Foundation DirectorEmail:[email protected]: Nxt FoundationPhone: +31 (0)6 13937762
SOURCE:NXT || Darkcoin Gets An Image Makeover: Digital currencies have earned a bad reputation over the past year as scams and illegal activities dominated the news coverage surrounding cryptocurrencies.
From the mysterious collapse of the Mt. Gox exchange to the Silk Road trial, consumers have become increasingly apprehensive about using digital currencies for fear of being scammed or associated with an illegal operation.
For that reason darkcoin has decided to rebrand itself as DASH in an effort to distance itself from the dark web.
Darkcoin is an altcoin, or alternative to bitcoin, that focuses on maintaining users' anonymity but was not deigned for use with the illegal activities taking place on the dark web.
The cryptocurrency's lead developer Evan Duffield decided to change the currency's name to DASH, short for digital cash, but says everything else will remain the same.
The dark web is a hidden part of the internet that has become a place for people to conduct illicit transactions.
Initially, the dark web was created to protect privacy as it can only be accessed through special software, but the anonymity it offers has made it a popular place to buy and sell illegal goods and services.
Related Link:Solving Bitcoin's Scalability Problem
Darkcoin has become a popular currency for users of the dark web as the cryptocurrency's privacy tools keep the transactions anonymous. However Duffield told theIBTimesthat it was never his intention to support those types of activities.
Instead, darkcoin was meant to be a currency capable of overcoming the flaws plaguing bitcoin. The transactions are instantaneous and there is no record, so it closely mimics using cash.
The cryptocurrency's developers are hoping that the name change will help the public accept DASH as a legitimate digital currency and allow it to expand.
See more from Benzinga
• TV For Babies Expanding Despite Controversy
• What The Net Neutrality Battle Looks Like In Europe
• Oil Prices Rise And Fall, Again
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || SendChat Crowdfunding For iPhone App, Android App Supporting Bitcoin, DOGE, USD Begins – Instant Messaging And Transactions: SendChat Prepares to Launch a Digital Currency Messenger App for iOS and Android, that will Allow Users to Send and Receive Bitcoin, Sendcoin, and Other Digital Currencies with USD, AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP and More Instantly - Parallel to Messaging NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 12, 2015 / The use of Bitcoin can be overwhelming for most new users. There are many new elements to consider when switching from existing fiat channels to that of a digital currency. Moreover, there are some boundaries that can limit the overall adoption. Such things as security, education and overall understanding of this new technology. This is where the SendChat messaging app team have proposed a new application to overcome such boundaries whilst proving a platform for new and existing users to be involved with digital currencies . Imagine being able to send and receive bitcoins and other digital currencies - that will be introduced over time - without worrying about the learning curve, security, safety or privacy and in this case are as easy as sending a message. SendChat has been able to achieve this by surrounding itself with pioneers within each field. As CEO Alejandro De La Torre explained, "SendChat is a fun and easy way to communicate and send digital currency using the blockchain. The platform incorporates the existing technologies of Telegram and Blocktrail to deliver a platform with privacy and security in mind. With SendChat, users can send digital currency such as Bitcoin and Sendcoin to their contacts, creating an exciting solution that can cater to both new and existing mobile users...Many products coming to market in the blockchain space are cumbersome, and not very easy to use. Non-technical users often have difficulties completing the most common tasks in such applications. With SendChat you can send digital currencies effortlessly, and chat with your friends while you do it." The Telegram platform along with its security features have been incorporated within its shell to ensure users that their messaging remains free, easy, safe and without interruption. An open source application that has accumulated over 50 million users due to its successful design and system architecture. Story continues Individuals from all around the world can get involved with this revolutionary application by joining the crowdfund hosted by BlockTrust starting May 10th . They have ensured the safety and security of all funds put towards this project through their robust and thoroughly tested infrastructure that has been designed with one thing in mind - peace of mind for backers. BlockTrust - a leader in digital currency crowdfunding - has been selected to stand as the gateway during this stage that will seek to raise the capital needed for its embankment. Finally with the support of the blockchain technology everyone can rest assured that the tokens issued by the platform - named SEND - benefit from the same level of integrity to that of Bitcoin. It is also worthy to note that the most important aspect of this platform, one that will see its users benefit by being able to purchase digital currencies using existing and widely used currencies - such as USD, AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP and others - through its internal system. Users can also trust that their personal wallets are kept safe through the services offered by BlockTrail , another powerful partner that stands for security. As mentioned by the BlockTrail CEO, Boaz Bechar, "BlockTrail is a Bitcoin API and multisignature security platform, enabling scalable and secure Bitcoin for developers and enterprises." Virtual currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and accounts and value balances are not subject to FDIC and other consumer protections. This press release is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. For more information about us, please visit https://blocktrust.org/#/offeringFeature/SendChat . Contact Info: Name: Alejandro De La Torre, founder and CEO Email: [email protected] Organization: SendChat Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlkTilDKOTI SOURCE: SendChat || After the SendGrid Hack, Beware of Phishing Scams: Email has become a critical tool for transactions — from the sending of Uber receipts to delivery of hotel coupons. Naturally, companies that send mission-critical consumer emails often turn to third-party firms like SendGrid to manage the delivery of millions of messages. Of course, as third parties that maintain trusted relationships with both consumers and corporations, such email providers are an obvious target for hackers. Imagine the damage a criminal could do if he could believably pose as a giant tech firm and send out emails to all consumers? Such emails could ask millions of users to reset their passwords, for example, or update their credit card information, or even send bitcoins.
Such attacks are now under way. SendGrid, which has 180,000 customers and sends emails for giants like Uber and Spotify, said this week that a hacker who broke into company systems earlier this month did more damage than initially believed.
On April 9, the firm confirmed to The New York Times that a Bitcoin-related client account had been compromised and used to send phishing emails to its customers. But on Monday, SendGrid said additional investigation revealed that one of its own employees' accounts had been compromised and used to access several SendGrid systems in February and March.
"These systems contained usernames, email addresses, and . . . passwords for SendGrid customer and employee accounts,"the firm said on its blog. "In addition, evidence suggests that the cyber criminal accessed servers that contained some of our customers' recipient email lists/addresses and customer contact information."
SendGrid says it has not found evidence that customer lists were stolen, but it "cannot rule out the possibility."
The firm is urging its clients tochange passwordsand enable two-factor authentication.
It takes only a little creativity to imagine all the damage a hacker who managed to steal customer email lists and credentials could do. But a harrowing tale told by cloud provider Chunkhost.comon its website offers a cautionary tale. Co-owner Nate Daiger wrote last year that a hacker talked SendGrid into changing its point of contact email from [email protected] to [email protected], then used that change to retrieve a password reset email on two bitcoin-using clients. Fortunately, both clients used two-factor authentication, Daiger wrote.
"Our customers' accounts were protected and the attackers were stymied. But it was really close," he wrote.
Corporate clients who use third-party email services should be on notice: hackers are actively targeting such accounts. Meanwhile, here's an important notice to consumers: You can't believe everything you read, even anemail that appears to come from a company you trust. Hackers can sent out very believable-looking phishing emails with requests for password changes or payment information. You should always be skeptical of such emails, but now, you have new reasons to be so. When feasible, avoid clicking on links in emails and instead visit websites directly by typing the site address into your web browser's address bar.
If you have given up sensitive information to a phisher, it's important to take steps to control the damage. If it's an account number, report your account info as stolen so the bank or card issuer can close the account, or take similar steps to stop or undo any instances of fraud. Keep a close eye on your account statements, and check your credit reports and credit scores for signs that someone has opened an account in your name, or is using an existing one. You canget your credit reports for freeevery year from AnnualCreditReport.com, and you canget your credit scores for free from several sources, including Credit.com.
More from Credit.com
• Identity Theft: What You Need to Know
• 3 Dumb Things You Can Do With Email
• How Can You Tell If Your Identity Has Been Stolen? || Security Thought Leaders at Cisco, HP, Identiv, Imageware, Nok Nok and Bosch Security Are Featured on SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - May 5, 2015) -ImageWare Systems, Inc.(OTCQB:IWSY); Identiv (NASDAQ:INVE)
Cisco
Mr. Christian Matthews, Director of Product Management for IoT Software,Cisco, told us, "Simply monitoring high-value assets provides a general example. Video surveillance combined with other sensor output such as audio, motion, or building contacts is used to increase protection and monitor assets without constant human supervision. Threats of incidents are detected and the risks mitigated by alerting personnel or automatically initiating preventative actions. When combined with advance video analytics, benefits continue to grow. At theUniversity of San Francisco(USF), IP cameras and the Cisco Video Surveillance Manager deliver facial recognition to detect when unauthorized individuals enter an area and then notify appropriate staff.Dallas Area Rapid Transit(DART) use Cisco's IoT Physical Security solutions to increase effectiveness of the transit police. With better intelligence, first responders and their associated operations teams have increased productivity substantially. They have done this at scale with a centralized command center managing more than 1700 remotely deployed IP cameras. Recently the system has been extended across busses and emergency response vehicles."
For the complete interview with Christian Matthews at Cisco,please click here, or here:www.securitysolutionswatch.com/Interviews/in_Boardroom_Cisco_Matthews.html
For more information:Connected Safety and Security(http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/physical-security/index.html)Cisco Case Studies(http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/physical-security/customer-case-study.html)
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HP Enterprise Services
Mr. Fred Duball, Data Center Practice Principal, Workload and Cloud Solutions, HP Enterprise Services, U.S. Public Sector, told us, "Many of our clients know that HP has a strong legacy of IT infrastructure support; we have more than 80 data centers worldwide supporting more than 1,300 customers. But here's what makes the Mid-Atlantic Data Center (MDC) different -- we have enhanced our security and compliance posture to accommodate and support the critical needs of the U.S. Federal Government, as well as commercial companies requiring stronger measures. The HP Mid-Atlantic Data Center has been designed to provide customers with high levels of security, reliability, compliance and cost effectiveness. In fact, the U.S. government has designated this facility as being a part of our nation's critical infrastructure, guaranteeing priority restoral of services in the event of a natural or manmade disaster."
For the complete interview with Fred Duball at HP,please click here, or here:www.securitysolutionswatch.com/Interviews/in_Boardroom_HP_FredDuball.html
For more information:Transform to the New Style of IT - HP Solutions for U.S. Public Sector
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Identiv
Identiv, Inc.(INVE) recently announced that it has entered into an agreement with Cisco Systems Inc. to provide solutions for the Internet of Everything (IoE). The IoE is the intelligent connection of people, processes, data and things to the Internet, bringing unprecedented economic opportunities to both the private and public sectors. Initially, Identiv will deliver a next-generation, networked physical access control system (PACS) solution that interacts with other IoE elements, such as Cisco virtual supervisor module (VSM) cameras and Cisco voice-over-IP (VoIP) telephony products.
Identiv will offer a completely network based access control system, including credentials, advanced networked uTrust TS door sensors, Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) door controllers and access control software. Identiv is committed to disrupting the traditional physical access market by offering a fully network-based solution that is easy to buy and use. Customers will gain enhanced value, lower installation costs and less complexity by using standards-based network cabling, leading to reduced total cost of ownership (TCO) and improved return on investment (ROI).
"Everything is connecting, and physical access is no different," said Jason Hart, Identiv CEO. "Identiv is allowing customers to view physical access control as another element of the Internet of Everything. Our focus on identity as the new security perimeter allows us to build connected systems linking buildings, mobile devices, cloud services, and information systems that are easy to use, standards based, cost effective, and most importantly, secure." Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed. For more information please visitwww.identiv.com/ciscopartnership.
For our interview with Mr. Jason Hart, President, Identiv,please click hereor here:www.securitysolutionswatch.com/Interviews/in_Boardroom_Identiv_Hart.html
And, please also see our interview withMr. Paul Brady, Technology and Solution Evangelist Senior Director atIdentiv,please click hereor here:http://www.securitysolutionswatch.com/Interviews/in_Boardroom_Identiv_Brady.html
For more informationwww.Identiv.com
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ImageWare Systems, Inc.
ImageWare Systems, Inc. (OTCQB:IWSY) (ImageWare) a leader in mobile and cloud-based, multi-modal biometric identity management solutions, recently announced:
Extenua and ImageWare Deliver Revolutionary Enterprise Secure Cloud Storage(www.iwsinc.com/extenua-and-imageware-deliver-revolutionary-enterprise-secure-cloud-storage/)
Agility and ImageWare Partner to Bring Biometric Solutions to New Markets(www.iwsinc.com/agility-and-imageware-partner-to-bring-biometric-solutions-to-new-markets/)
ImageWare Systems Joins as an Advanced Partner in the CA Technologies Tech Partner Program(www.iwsinc.com/iws-joins-as-an-advanced-partner-in-the-ca-technologies-tech-partner-program/)
ImageWare To Combine Technologies with TransUnion(www.wsinc.com/imageware-to-combine-technologies-with-transunion/)
For our complete interview with Jim Miller, ImageWare Systems, Chairman and CEO, please click hereor here:www.securitystockwatch.com/Interviews/in_Boardroom_ImageWare.htmlFor more information:www.iwsinc.com
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Bosch Security Systems
Mr. Daniel Murray,Director Key Accounts, Systems Integration,Bosch Security Systems, told us, "Cyber security is a major area of concern for integrators, and future success is tied to the integrators' ability to meet their own cyber security needs and those of the customers they support. One of the most startling facts is that the vast majority of cyber vulnerabilities can be mitigated by appropriate password implementation and process management. This is common practice in the IT world and an area for improvement in the arena of physical network security. Many of the thousands of cameras installed globally are done so with default, insufficient and missing passwords. This is an easy 'first step' in securing the physical security network which is missed by many dealers. At the PSA Cybersecurity Congress, discussion focused on multiple factors of network integrity that will change the face of our industry in the next 3-5 years."
For the complete interview with Mr. Daniel Murray atBosch Security Systems,please click hereor here:http://www.securitysolutionswatch.com/Interviews/in_Boardroom_Bosch_Murray.html
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Nok Nok Labs
Nok Nok Labs, an innovator in modern authentication and a founding member of the FIDO Alliance, and DDS, Inc., a leading Japanese biometric company, announced a strategic partnership to jointly drive adoption of Nok Nok Labs' products in the Japanese market, meeting the need for a more secure online environment. The two companies are working together to support Device Manufacturers, Mobile Network Operators and Online Service Providers and to drive the adoption of the FIDO Ready™ NNL™ S3 Authentication Suite with the goal of making online and mobile transactions more secure.
"The need for a more secure, easy to use, scalable online authentication ecosystem is a global concern," said Phil Dunkelberger, President & CEO of Nok Nok Labs. "Joining forces with DDS provides us with a strong partner in the Japanese market to meet the needs of the region and to drive the growth in the market for FIDO-based authentication."
DDS joined the FIDO Alliance in April 2014 becoming the first Japanese member. DDS has driven various activities to increase FIDO awareness in Japan such as the FIDO TOKYO Seminar and FIDO 1.0 PR event. "Nok Nok Labs and the FIDO Alliance have done a great job in promoting the FIDO movement in the U.S. and other global markets," says Kenji Miyoshino, CEO of DDS. "Partnering with Nok Nok Labs will help drive significant business opportunities in the Japanese market, helping to create a more secure online environment on a global level."
For more information, please clickhereor here:https://www.noknok.com/what-they-say/press-releases/nok-nok-labs-and-dds-inc-form-strategic-partnership-drive-adoption-fido.
WATCH THE VIDEO, please click here, or here:https://www.youtube.com/embed/gHDM4Yv3u18?rel=0&wmode=transparent&autoplay=1&width=1280&height=720&iframe=true
Mr. Ramesh Kesanupalli, Founder of Nok Nok Labs, Founding Member, FIDO Alliance, told us, "Prevailing password authentication has proven to be insecure and risky amidst a world of escalating security threats, cyber crime and targeted attacks, not to mention increasing vulnerability associated with so many more vectors of attack coming through the Internet of Things (IoT). Right now, we are moving from informational access to a major life style change where we can access everything digitally. We're at the threshold of using authentication to pay at retail stores with our phones, to open and start our cars, to manage home networks, appliances, and security systems all through connected devices. Authentication is the FIRST step we must perform to begin to effectively use IoT."
For the complete interview with Ramesh Kesanupalli please clickhere, or here:www.securitysolutionswatch.com/Interviews/in_Boardroom_NokNok_Ramesh.html
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TRADE SHOWS
CARTES SECURE CONNEXIONS AMERICA 2015May 5-7, 2015Washington, DCwww.cartes-america.com
-- The fourth edition of CARTES SECURE CONNEXIONS AMERICA will take place May 5 - 7, 2015 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. The event will feature 70 sessions, 5 keynotes, 125 exhibitors and 2,000 attendees.
Hot topics such as EMV Integration, Mobile Payment Technologies and The Future of Digital Currencies will be the center of discussion at the upcoming 2015 CARTES SECURE CONNEXIONS AMERICA in Washington, DC. Each day of the event is kicked off with keynote presentations.
Tuesday Keynotes:Patrick Murck, Executive Director,Bitcoin FoundationDavid Keenan, Senior Vice President Network Solutions, Fiserv
Wednesday Keynote Panel:Carolyn Balfany, Senior Vice President of Product Delivery - EMV, MasterCardwill moderate and lead a panel of experts from all over the industry -- issuers, retailers and manufacturers -- with first-hand knowledge of chip adoption that will address EMV questions.
Thursday Keynotes:Scott Hagstrom, Senior Director, Financial Cards & EMV Strategy, ABnoteKaren Czack, Vice President of Global Chip Products, American Express
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Cyber Security Summit
The Cyber Security Summit is an exclusive "By Invitation Only" Summit series connecting C-Level & Senior Executives responsible for protecting their companies' critical infrastructures with cutting-edge technology providers and renowned information security experts. The one day event, being held on June 3rd in the DC Metro Area, September 18th in New York City & October 9th in Boston will focus on educating attendees on how to best protect their highly vulnerable business applications, intellectual property and discover the latest products and services for enterprise Cyber Defense.www.CyberSummitUSA.com
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The World of Cloud Computing All in One Place!Cloud Computing - Big Data - Internet of Things - DevOps - WebRTCJoin Us at Cloud Expo New York June 9-11http://www.cloudcomputingexpo.com/
Cloud computing is now being embraced by a majority of enterprises of all sizes. Yesterday's debate about public vs. private has transformed into the reality of hybrid cloud: a recent survey shows that 74% of enterprises have a hybrid cloud strategy. Meanwhile, 94% of enterprises are using some form of XaaS--software, platform, and infrastructure as a service. Cloud Expo is the single show where delegates and technology vendors can meet to experience and discuss the entire world of the cloud.
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The 14th Annual Smart Card Alliance Government ConferenceSmart Strategies for Secure IdentityJune 9-10, 2015Walter E. Washington Convention CenterWashington, DC
The Smart Card Alliance Government Conference was established over a decade ago, following the landmark government-wide security directive signed in August, 2004. HSPD-12 established standards for verifying an individual's identity and issuing a tamper-proof credential that could be rapidly authenticated electronically. The conference has become the annual gathering place for the original leaders of this initiative as well as the current heads of federal agencies and industry leaders who continue to set the standards for identity credentialing and access security. This year's conference will look forward to future developments in policy and evolving standards for government-issued credentials and their use by relying parties in physical and logical access systems, including use with mobile devices.
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Money20/20October 25-28, 2015, The Venetian, Las Vegas, NV, United Stateshttp://money2020.com/register,http://money2020.com/,[email protected], Organizer Email:[email protected]
Money20/20 is the largest global event enabling payments and financial services innovation for connected commerce at the intersection of mobile, retail, marketing services, data and technology. With 10,000+ attendees, including more than 1,000 CEOs, from over 3,000 companies and 75 countries, expected at its 2015 U.S. event, Money20/20 is critical to realizing the vision of disruptive ways in which consumers and businesses manage, spend and borrow money. The next Money20/20 will be held in Las Vegas, October 25-28, 2015, followed by Money20/20 Europe in Spring 2016.
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TEC 2015| Westminster, CO | May 4-8, 2015 |www.psatec.com
TEC 2015, presented by PSA Security Network, is the premier education and networking event that is open to all professionals in the physical security industry.
TEC features an entire week of education, networking, dedicated exhibit hours that do not conflict with education sessions, and custom learning paths designed to benefit a company's entire team from the business owner to sales, marketing, operations and technical professionals. In addition to all new sessions, TEC 2015 will feature a NEW cybersecurity track designed to provide practical solutions and applications that build on the education program provided at the PSA Cybersecurity Congress held in January 2015.
TEC also boasts a comprehensive registration package that includes access to the keynote address, all networking events, meals, and all non-certification courses at no additional cost, ensuring attendees get access to all that TEC has to offer. Registration opens February 23 atwww.psatec.com.
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SDW 2015 - The Global Hub For Next Generation Citizen & Government ID SolutionsQEII Conference Centre, Westminster, London, UKConference: 9-11 June 2015 - Exhibition 10-11 June 2015
SDW 2015(Security Document World) -- the world's leading document security show -- focuses on ePassports, visas, driving licenses, national IDs, worker credentials, advanced border control, anti-counterfeiting, fraud detection, and much more. The event will provide a global showcase for next-generation human identity solutions, focusing on intrinsic document security and on the new cutting-edge secure infrastructure now required to produce and use these advanced documents in live situations. Plus, a special focus on Biometrics, Document Fraud Detection and Intelligent Border Control.
Contact: Janine Bill, Exhibition Sales & Sponsorship Manager at Tel No: +44 (0) 1189 843209 or by email at:[email protected]
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THIS PRESS RELEASE, AND ALL MATERIAL PERTAINING TO SECURITYSOLUTIONSWATCH.COM AND SECURITYSTOCKWATCH.COM, ONLINE OR IN PRINT, IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS OF USE, CONDITIONS, AND DISCLAIMER HERE:http://securitysolutionswatch.com/Main/Terms_of_Use.html || Comstock Mining Announces First Quarter 2015 Results: VIRGINIA CITY, NV --(Marketwired - April 16, 2015) - Comstock Mining Inc. (the "Company") (NYSE MKT: LODE) today announced selected unaudited financial results for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2015. First Quarter 2015 Selected Strategic and Operational Highlights Costs applicable to mining revenue were reduced by 22% when comparing Q1 2015, to Q1 2014. Weighted average gold grades improved 63% to 0.039 opt in Q1 2015, from 0.024 opt in Q1 2014. Weighted average silver grades improved 113%, to 0.734 opt in Q1 2015, from 0.345 opt in Q1 2014. Silver to gold production exceeded an 11:1 silver:gold ratio in Q1 2015, up from 9:1 in Q1 2014. Metallurgical yields improved to 81% in Q1 2015, from 74% in Q1 2014. Strip ratio improved to 1:1 for the first quarter of 2015, down from the 2014 average of 4.8:1. Encountered significant high grade intercepts from Succor-Holman mineral patents drilling program. Commenced moving State Route 342 ('SR-342'), accelerating operational and community benefits. Expanded our landmark special use permit for mining and mine development. Expanded our land position, acquiring lands immediately adjacent to our mine area and leach pad. Expanded our existing heap leach pad consistent with recently expanded Water Control Permit. Enhanced Senior Mining, Financial and Environmental Management, adding operational, environmental and financial strengths to our team while reducing overall costs. First Quarter 2015 Selected Financial Highlights Mining revenue was $5.9 million in Q1 2015 as compared to $5.6 million in Q1 2014, an increase of 6%, resulting from higher gold ounces produced and higher average gold price per ounce. Costs applicable to mining revenue was $3.7 million in Q1 2015, as compared to $4.8 million, net of silver credits, in Q1 2014, a decrease of 22%, primarily due to mining cost reductions. General and administrative expenses were $2.1 million in Q1 2015, as compared to $2.2 million in Q1 2014, primarily due to lower labor costs of $0.5 million, offset by severance of $0.4 million. Net income was $1.3 million, or $0.01 per share for Q1 2015, as compared to a loss of $3.8 million, or $(0.07) per share, for Q1 2014. The improvement resulted from lower costs, higher revenue and the elimination of certain liabilities that strengthened our balance sheet. Net cash generated by operating activities was a positive $0.2 million in Q1 2015, as compared to a cash use of $2.4 million from operations in Q1 2014, or a 109% improvement. Net cash used for investing was $3.1 million for the first quarter of 2015, primarily from $1.7 million for strategic land purchases and $1.1 million for the expansion of the processing facility. Net cash provided by financing activities for the first quarter of 2015, was $1.8 million comprised of proceeds of $4.4 million from the Revolving Credit Facility, partially off-set by a $2.7 million pay-down of other long-term debt obligations. Cash and cash equivalents at March 31, 2015 were $4.2 million. Total long-term debt and capital lease obligations were $14.1 million at March 31, 2015, including $5 million outstanding on the Revolving Credit Facility. Story continues First Quarter 2015 Selected Production Highlights 1Q 2015 1Q 2014 Mining Operations Tons Mined 316,199 947,852 Processing Tons Crushed 157,612 205,686 Weighted Average Grade Per Ton Au 0.039 0.024 Weighted Average Grade Per Ton Ag 0.734 0.345 Estimated Au Ounces Stacked 6,083 5,016 Estimated Ag Ounces Stacked 115,689 70,989 Estimated Au Equivalent* Ounces Stacked 7,669 6,140 Au Ounces Poured and Sold 4,695 4,507 Ag Ounces Poured and Sold 56,482 49,358 Au Equivalent* Ounces Poured 5,470 5,290 * Au Equivalent ounces = Au ounces (actual) + Ag ounces (actual) ÷ the ratio of average gold to silver prices 72.91 63.14 "We have continued our crusade for lower costs into 2015, with substantially improved grades, yields and strip ratios while reducing absolute spending wherever possible. We also commenced the re-routing of SR- 342, and have safely accelerated many operating, environmental and community benefits. These achievements have positioned us for profitability throughout 2015," stated Corrado De Gasperis, CEO of Comstock Mining. Production Metal pours totaled 4,695 ounces of gold and 56,482 ounces of silver, during the first quarter of 2015, as compared to 4,507 ounces of gold and 49,358 ounces of silver in the first quarter of 2014, a 4.2% increase for gold ounces and a 14.4% increase for silver ounces. The Company crushed and stacked 157,612 dry tons of mineralized material, delivering 6,083 estimated ounces of recoverable gold and 115,689 estimated ounces of recoverable silver to the leach pads with weighted average gold grades of 0.039 ounces per ton. For the quarter ended March 31, 2015, the Company realized an average sales price of $1,280.25 per ounce of gold and $15.94 per ounce of silver. In comparison, commodity market prices in the first quarter of 2015 averaged $1,219.22 per ounce of gold and $16.72 per ounce of silver. Operating Costs and Cost Reductions During the first three months of 2015, actual Lucerne Mine costs applicable to mining revenue were $4.6 million, $3.7 million net of silver by-product credits as compared to $5.8 million, $4.8 million net of silver by-product credits in the first three months of 2014, representing a 22% reduction of costs applicable to mining revenue. These costs applicable to mining revenue also include depreciation of $1.5 million and $1.3 million, for the first quarter of 2015 and 2014, respectively. During 2015, the Company continued reducing costs applicable to mining revenue, targeting over $5 million in reductions this year as compared to 2014. The Company has already realized $1.0 million of savings from reduced labor, drilling and blasting and fuel in the first quarter of 2015, as compared to the first quarter of 2014. The Company has also identified $1.5 million of potential cost reductions in all other non-mining activities, including general, administrative, land and environmental areas and has already realized $0.3 million in the first quarter of 2015, as compared to the first quarter of 2014. The Company incurred $0.4 million in severance costs during the first quarter, in mining and general and administrative expenses, associated with organizational cost reduction activities. Exploration and Development (including Underground) During the first quarter, the Company announced that the drill program on the East-side of the Lucerne continues to reveal higher-grade gold intercepts that further define a near-surface, broadening zone of high-grade gold mineralization in the Succor and Holman mineral patents. These results represent significant progress towards the first major objective in the 2014-2015 exploration and development drilling program (the 'Program'), representing a comprehensive drilling and evaluation of high priority targets including the Succor and Holman. All data, to date, suggests these claims have excellent potential for economic mining and metal recovery. The current drill program resulted in the following summary of intercepts: Table 1: Summary of Drill Program Succor Holman No. Holes Drilled 80 39 Strike Length Drilled (ft) 700 575 No. 10' intervals with intercepts > .015 Au opt. 166 55 No. 10' interval with intercepts > .100 Au opt. 22 3 No. drill holes with intercepts > .100 Au opt. 20 2 Table 2: Average Grades for Drill Intercepts Greater than .015 Au opt. Succor Holman Avg Au opt. 0.056 0.047 Avg Ag opt. 0.259 0.333 Underground Development The Company recently completed extensive geological development and modeling, incorporating all available data, including existing drill holes and historic underground mine maps, amongst other geological information and is preparing to develop the underground portion of the drill program. The sectional compilation resulted in several important findings. The work confirmed that the lode is comprised of a group of northwest trending, sub-parallel mineralized structures, rather than a simple vein system confined to a single fault zone. These structural groups coalesce into a single zone in the central part of the East-side area and diverge to the north and south to create zones up to 600-feet wide. The Company also discovered dike-like masses of quartz porphyry that have intruded into the main lode and have a direct relationship to the known mineralization. Out of this extensive geologic work, a definitive underground target has emerged, specifically that part of the lode occupied by the above described mineralized mass of quartz porphyry, as well as the neighboring wall rocks. This conclusion is based on surface drill hole results, metallurgy, and proximity to the current Lucerne Mine floor, as well as past mining knowledge. The results from the underground program will be incorporated into existing sectional data and, along with newly derived grade shells and grade models, an initial, phased internal reserve model will be created for this area. Developing a new underground access to the quartz porphyry structures and the almost adjacent Woodville Bonanza structures represents a significant opportunity for an accelerated, efficient underground mine plan in the Lucerne Area. http://www.comstockmining.com/files/flipbooks/Proposed-Underground-Drill-ProgramLooking-NW-From-Top/ Evaluation of Existing Mine Dumps During late summer through autumn of 2014, the geological and environmental teams undertook a systematic evaluation of historic mine dumps throughout most of the central part of the District. Quantifying and understanding the nature of legacy contaminants and identifying the extent of mineralization with the potential to increase mineable resources were the two primary objectives. Overall, significant tonnages of mineralized dump materials were quantified. Most tonnages are directly to the east of the Lucerne mine and average around 0.025-0.035 opt Au. Dumps sampled for this evaluation are located within Gold Canyon, Storey County, on the east side of SR-342, and west of Silver City in Lyon County. Dumps sampled include the Silver Hills-Donovan (Eastside), Woodville, Lady Washington, Keystone, New York, and Oest. Total tonnages inventoried total over 640,000 tons. "These near-surface drill results represent exceptionally higher grades than our current average mine grades. These discoveries of near surface, high-grade minerals on the East-side of Lucerne, the development of high-grade vein structures for underground feasibility and the discovery of good grading historic dump materials all provide immediate potential for expanding our operations," continued Mr. De Gasperis. HOPE Gold Coin On March 30, 2015, the Company received 300,000 coins ("HOPE Coins") issued by the HOPE Gold Coin Charitable Trust (the "Trust") as payment (and partial pre-payment) on the Mineral Rights License Agreement entered into by the Company with the Trust on October 9, 2014. The HOPE coins are considered a cryptographic currency. The Trust represents one of the first organizations effectively leveraging existing block-chain technologies and was recently named one of the top 25 companies on the Sand Hill Bitcoin Innovative Disrupters list. The HOPE Coins are being sold by the Trust for $10 each. Hospitality Segment Effective April 1, 2015, the Company entered into an agreement to lease the Gold Hill Hotel. The Company retains ownership to the land and Gold Hill Hotel properties while leasing the facilities to independent operators. Historically, the hospitality segment operated at a net loss but based on the current lease agreement, the Company does not expect any future net losses and more likely, prospective net lease and rental income. SR-342 Realignment In early February, NDOT closed an approximate two-mile section of SR-342, south of Gold Hill, as a safety precaution following roadway cracking and area specific sinking during a weekend of heavy rains. The area of sinking is above a historic mine-shaft dating back to the early 1900's, and that portion of the road sits on old mine dumps and looser fill, that has a history of instability and, in some cases failure. The Company owns the land, with NDOT granted prescriptive rights to operate the state roadbed over that private land. Storey County, NDOT, the Company, and other applicable regulatory agencies evaluated several remedies for the realignment of SR-342. The route will be realigned to the east of the historic shaft, enabling safe travel, continuing operations and important reclamations, while positioning the area for future mining and development. The realignment will occur over two phases, with Phase 1 completion taking approximately 10-12 weeks and Phase 2 requiring an additional six months. Phase 1 begins with the Company removing the unconsolidated fill that now exists above the base bedrock level and beneath the existing road followed by construction of a bypass road upon the base bedrock. Additionally, the historic Silver Hill Shaft will be capped permanently. http://comstockmining.com/sr-342-construction-2015 Once Phase 1 is complete in June, the road will be reopened during construction of the second phase. Phase 2 includes removal of additional material on the east side of the canyon and will conclude with a tie in of the south end of the newly constructed alignment. A short closure will be necessary toward the end of Phase 2 for the tie in and completion of the realignment. The project is estimated to last through December of 2015, with an estimated cost of $3 million. Corporate Cash and cash equivalents on hand at March 31, 2015 totaled $4.2 million. Total long-term debt and capital lease obligations at March 31, 2015, were $14.1 million as compared to $13.5 million at March 31, 2014. For the remainder of 2015, the Company plans on spending approximately $3.5 million in capital expenditures, primarily the road realignment project and some infrastructural development. The Company also plans to pay down an additional $6.6 million in debt obligations, including $3.4 million on the Revolving Credit Facility. Outlook The Company expects to be cash positive from operations throughout 2015, while expanding our mining activities during the third quarter, including exploration and development of an underground Lucerne mine, a second Dayton mine plan and commencing the Dayton permitting. Mr. De Gasperis concluded, "Our goals for this year are to ensure the lowest cost operating parameters and expand Lucerne, including a tremendous underground opportunity, while developing and commissioning Dayton. We expect to be cash positive from operations throughout 2015, while expanding our mining activities during the third quarter, including the initial underground target." The Company will host a conference call today, April 16, 2015, at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time/11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The live call will include a Q&A with accredited institutions, investors and analysts immediately following the prepared remarks. The dial-in telephone numbers for the live audio are as follows: North American Toll Free: 1-866-253-4737 International: 1-416-849-4292 The audio will be available, usually within 24 hours of the call, on the Company website: http://www.comstockmining.com/investors/investor-library About Comstock Mining Inc. Comstock Mining Inc. is a producing, Nevada-based, gold and silver mining company with extensive, contiguous property in the Comstock District and is an emerging leader in sustainable, responsible mining, including concurrent and accelerated reclamations, soil sampling, voluntary air monitoring, cultural asset protection and historical restorations. The Company began acquiring properties in the Comstock District in 2003. Since then, the Company has consolidated a significant portion of the Comstock District, amassed the single largest known repository of historical and current geological data on the Comstock region, secured permits, built an infrastructure and commenced production in 2012. The Company continues acquiring additional properties in the district, expanding its footprint and creating opportunities for further exploration, development and mining. The near term goal of our business plan is to deliver stockholder value by validating qualified resources (measured and indicated) and reserves (proven and probable) of at least 3,250,000 gold equivalent ounces from our first two resource areas, Lucerne and Dayton, and significantly grow the commercial development of our operations through coordinated, district wide plans that are economically feasible and socially responsible. Forward-Looking Statements This press release and any related calls or discussions may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 about Comstock. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements about matters such as: future prices and sales of, and demand for, our products; future industry market conditions; future changes in our exploration activities, production capacity and operations; future exploration, production, operating and overhead costs; operational and management restructuring activities (including implementation of methodologies and changes in the board of directors); future employment and contributions of personnel; tax and interest rates; capital expenditures and their impact on us; nature and timing and accounting for restructuring charges, gains or losses on debt extinguishment, derivative liabilities and the impact thereof; productivity, business process, rationalization, investment, acquisition, consulting, operational, tax, financial and capital projects and initiatives; contingencies; environmental compliance and changes in the regulatory environment; offerings, sales and other actions regarding debt or equity securities; and future working capital, costs, revenues, business opportunities, debt levels, cash flows, margins, earnings and growth. The words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "project," "plan," "should," "intend," "may," "will," "would," "potential" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of doing so. These statements are based on assumptions and assessments made by our management in light of their experience and their perception of historical and current trends, current conditions, possible future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees, representations or warranties and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, developments and business decisions to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. Some of those risks and uncertainties include the risk factors discussed in Item 1A, "Risk Factors" of our annual report on Form 10-K and the following: current global economic and capital market uncertainties; the speculative nature of gold or mineral exploration, including risks of diminishing quantities or grades of qualified resources and reserves; operational or technical difficulties in connection with exploration or mining activities; contests over our title to properties; potential dilution to our stockholders from the conversion of securities that are convertible into or exercisable for shares of our common stock; potential inability to continue to comply with government regulations; adoption of or changes in legislation or regulations adversely affecting our businesses; business opportunities that may be presented to, or pursued by, us; changes in the United States or other monetary or fiscal policies or regulations; interruptions in our production capabilities due to unexpected equipment failures; fluctuation of prices for gold or certain other commodities (such as silver, copper, diesel fuel, and electricity); changes in generally accepted accounting principles; geopolitical events; potential inability to implement our business strategies; potential inability to grow revenues organically; potential inability to attract and retain key personnel; interruptions in delivery of critical supplies and equipment raw materials due to credit or other limitations imposed by vendors; assertion of claims, lawsuits and proceedings against us; potential inability to maintain an effective system of internal controls over financial reporting; potential inability or failure to timely file periodic reports with the SEC; potential inability to maintain the listing of our securities on any securities exchange or market; and work stoppages or other labor difficulties. Occurrence of such events or circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows or the market price of our securities. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements by or attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement. Neither this press release nor any related calls or discussions constitutes an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. || BTCS Announces $2.3 Million Financing With Management Participation: ARLINGTON, VA--(Marketwired - Apr 22, 2015) - Bitcoin Shop, Inc. (OTCQB:BTCS) ("BTCS" or the "Company"), a blockchain technology focused company which engages in transaction verification services and which is undertaking the build-out of a universal digital currency ecosystem, announced today that it closed on a financing for aggregate gross proceeds of $2,312,500. The Company sold 7,708,342 units consisting of one share of common stock and 1.4 warrants at a per unit price of $0.30. The warrants are exercisable into an aggregate of 10,791,684 shares of common stock at a per share price of $0.375. Charles Allen our CEO, Michal Handerhan our COO and Charlie Kiser our EVP invested an aggregate of $42,500 in the financing.
Charles Allen, CEO of BTCS, commented, "We believe the sustained decline in the price of Bitcoin has created tremendous opportunities for us to further expand our business and seize opportunities created from the market downturn. With the completion of this financing we believe we are well positioned to be a leading bitcoin and blockchain focused company."
About BTCS:BTCS plans to leverage its transaction verification services business while it builds a universal digital currency platform with the goal of enabling users to engage in the digital currency ecosystem through one point of access. We are currently engaged in transaction verification services and operate our public beta site (www.btcs.com) where consumers can purchase products using digital currency such as bitcoin, litecoin and dogecoin, by searching through a selection of over 250,000 items.
Forward Looking Statements:Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, not limited to Risk Factors relating to its digital currency business contained therein. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. || Microelectronics Results From the Bitcoins Conference in New York: MONARCH BAY, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 13, 2015 /Microelectronics Technology Company (MELY) is pleased to report results after attending and exhibiting at the Bitcoins Conference in New York City.
BTC Pool Party, on behalf of Microelectronics Technology Company, was an active participant in the Bitcoins Conference in New York this past April 27th – 29th. Additionally, BTC Pool Party was a Sponsor for the Event and participated with an exhibit during the Conference.
The attendance for the 2015 conference was approximately 1,300 participants, individuals and companies representing all aspects of the Bitcoin community; this attendance number was similar to the conference held in 2014. Majority of the conference participants stopped at the BTC Pool Party exhibit to learn more about the transparency of the pool, the technology on which it is based, and to learn how the Company is solidifying its position in the Bitcoin community.
Microelectronics increased its recognition throughout the participants of the conference and developed strong alliances with manufacturers and developers of the new chip technology. The Company has entered into active communication with those manufacturers and developers invested in supplying the Company with an increase in mining production.
"The Company is also pleased to be asked to assist in the advancement of 'friends of the pool initiative,' where the goal is to create an alliance of companies working together to support and promote our industry," stated President Brett Everett. "This is a strategic time for Microelectronics and BTC Pool Party growth."
The primary goal of BTC Pool Party was to attract other miners to the pool. Many large miners as well as independent miners expressed interest in BTC Pool Party. There is a significant list of potential miners interested in joining BTC Pool Party. Several have been in communication with the Company to schedule testing of their specific miners on the pool.
The company continues to develop and improve the BTCPOOLPARTY mining pool with the introduction of more detailed stats of the mining operations available as the Company moves forward.https://www.btcpoolparty.com/
https://www.facebook.com/btcpoolparty
Additional photos and videos can be viewed at the company's Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/MELYPK.
Forward-Looking Statements:
This news release includes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While these statements are made to convey Company progress, business opportunities and growth prospects, readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements represent management's opinion. Whereas management believes such representations to be true and accurate based on information and data available to the Company at this time, actual results may differ materially and are subject to risk and uncertainties. Factors that may cause actual results to differ include without limitation: dependence on key personnel and suppliers; MELY's ability to commercialize its technology; ability to defend intellectual property; material and component costs; competition; economic conditions; consumer demand and product acceptance, and availability of growth capital.
Additional considerations and risk factors are set forth-in reports filed on Form 8-K and 10-K with the SEC and other filings. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon these forward-looking statements; historical information is not an indicator of future performance. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements.
CONTACT:
For further Information:Microelectronics Technology Company
President:Mr. Brett Everett888-681-9777 ext. [email protected]
SOURCE:Microelectronics Technology Company
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 20 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $745.82 #bitcoin #btc || current #bitcoin price (winkdex) is $224.15, last changed Tue, 21 Apr 2015 14:50:00 GMT. queried at: 14:52:47 || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 21 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $688.33 #bitcoin #btc || Current price: 145.92£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2015-04-27 00:20:03 BST || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 24 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $899.88 #bitcoin #btc || 2015年3月26日 10:00:09
btc_jpy
直近[last]:29980円
買[bid]:29891円
売[ask]:30339円
高値[high]:30998円
安値[low]:28850円
API by Zaif || LIVE: Profit = $1,271.20 (39.24 %). BUY B13.60 @ $237.94 (#Bitfinex). SELL @ $246.00 (#VirCurex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || LIVE: Profit = $1,100.73 (29.64 %). BUY B14.37 @ $257.53 (#BTCe). SELL @ $281.00 (#VirCurex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || buysellbitco.in #bitcoin price in INR, Buy : 15056.00 INR Sell : 14578.00 INR. Buy and sell bitcoin in #India using #buysellbitcoin || Current price: 244.52$ $BTCUSD $btc #bitcoin 2015-03-31 21:00:04 EDT
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Trend: down || Prices: 237.11, 237.12, 237.28, 237.41, 237.10, 233.35, 230.19, 222.93, 225.80, 225.87
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
3 Cobalt-Mining Stocks to Buy for Big-Tech Demand: Cobalt is a metal that is often overlooked by investors who are looking to get in on the next materials bull market — but it shouldn’t be. Demand for cobalt is increasing dramatically because of its important role in lithium-ion batteries, which are used in products like iPhones and tablets and are also a vital component of electric vehicles (EVs). The price of cobalt sulphate increased 78% last year in China as the EV market began to expand in the world’s largest economy. Prices have flattened out this year, but I expect the pause in the rally will be short lived. Simple economics will lead to higher cobalt prices in the future. While demand for the metal is increasing for both electronics and EVs, the industry is facing a very tight supply issue. About 60% of the world’s cobalt is in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is a country that is very unstable right now. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips 17 Small-Cap Stocks That Could Double There are a bevy of stocks to consider in the cobalt space, but the biggest issue here is that most pure plays are small and risky while the larger names also have exposure to other industrial metals. My research has uncovered three worth keeping a closer eye on, and I wanted to dive a bit deeper into each. Cobalt-Mining Stocks: Glencore (GLNCY) Glencore (GLNCY) A Swiss mining giant with a market cap of $58 billion, Glencore PLC (OTCMKTS: GLNCY ) produces more cobalt than any other company in the world. Naturally, it’s the biggest player in the DRC. The pullback in the price of industrial metals combined with a rise in the U.S. dollar has hurt the mining conglomerate, and as a result the stock is now trading with a P/E ratio of around 10. But on the other hand, the dividend yield has increased to a strong 4%-plus. With the shares in the process of coming off their yearly lows, GLNCY is an interesting long-term value play. Umicore (UMICY) Umicore (UMICY) Umicore Group (OTCMKTS: UMICY ) is a $14 billion Belgian company focuses on materials, technology and recycling. That may seem like an odd combination at first glance, but it’s actually fairly straightforward. UMICY takes metals, transforms them and then remarkets them. Cobalt is one of these metals. Story continues This company is well positioned to be a major player in the cobalt and lithium business, and it already has strong ties to automotive manufacturers. 7 Stocks to Buy Thanks to Trump's New Trade Deal UMICY has been slowly trending higher over the years, but the rally slowed down in 2018 and the stock recently fell to its 200-day moving average (the blue line) for the first time since April 2017. That weakness looks like an attractive opportunity, as I expect the long-term uptrend to resume. China Molybdenum (CMCLF) China Molybdenum (CMCLF) China Molybdenum (OTCMKTS: CMCLF ) is a $12.4 billion company that is partly owned by the Chinese government. As I mentioned, China is a leader in the electric vehicles market, and this company gives it a direct link to the highly sought-after metal — CMCLF owns the majority of the Tenke Fungurume mine in the DRC, which has one of the largest deposits of cobalt in the world. The stock has struggled in 2018 and recently hit a yearly low. However, the company’s financials are improving, and over time I expect to see higher prices. This could turn into a deep value play, so it’s definitely a stock worth keeping on your radar. Matthew McCall is the founder and president of Penn Financial Group, an investment advisory firm, as well as the editor of Investment Opportunities and Early Stage Investor. He has dedicated his career to getting investors into the world’s biggest, most revolutionary trends BEFORE anyone else. The power of being “first” gave Matt’s readers the chance to bank +2,438% in Stamps.com (STMP), +1,523% in Ulta Beauty (ULTA), +1,044% in Tesla (TSLA), +611% in Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (LNGLY), +324% in Bitcoin Services (BTSC), just to name a few. If you’re interested in making triple-digit gains from the world’s biggest investment trends BEFORE anyone else, click here to learn more about Matt McCall and his investments strategy today . Compare Brokers The post 3 Cobalt-Mining Stocks to Buy for Big-Tech Demand appeared first on InvestorPlace . || Billionaire Mike Novogratz’ Crypto Fund is Fidelity’s First Custodian Client: Galaxy Digital, a crypto merchant bank operated by billionaire investor Mike Novogratz listed on Toronto-based stock exchange TSX-V, has become the first alpha crypto custody client of Fidelity Digital Assets.
This week, Fidelity, the world’s fourth-largest asset manager with $7.2 trillion in assets under administration as of October 2018,launched Fidelity Digital Assets, a subsidiary of Fidelity that will provide crypto custodian solutions to institutional investors and accredited investors.
Through the platform, all 27 million customers and 23,000 businesses of Fidelity will be provided with sufficient infrastructure and services to invest in the cryptocurrency market.
In an official press release, Fidelity CEO Abigail Johnson said that the long-term mission of the firm in the sector of cryptocurrency is to increase the accessibility and improve the infrastructure surrounding the asset class.
“Our goal is to make digitally-native assets, such as bitcoin, more accessible to investors. We expect to continue investing and experimenting, over the long-term, with ways to make this emerging asset class easier for our clients to understand and use.”
The core operations of Fidelity Digital Assets include assisting institutional investors such as hedge funds, pensions, and academic institutions to invest in the cryptocurrency market with appropriate institutional products.
Fidelity Digital Assets founding head Tom Jessopsaidthat the establishment of the company’s digital asset arm can be considered as the recognition by Fidelity of sufficient demand from institutions for cryptocurrencies.
Within less than 24 hours since its launch, Fidelity Digital Assets secured Galaxy Digital as its first custody client, a company that aims to achieve a similar objective as Fidelity to institutionalize the cryptocurrency market.
Jessop stated:
“This is a recognition that there is institutional demand for these assets as a class. Family offices, hedge funds, other sophisticated investors, are starting to think seriously about this space.”
In January of this year, Novogratz contributed $302 million to Galaxy Digital to build a full-service merchant banking business in the crypto and blockchain space. Months later, Galaxy Digital was listed on Canada’s stock market, enabling investors to directly invest in the cryptocurrency market.
Apart from its core business of investing in cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects, Galaxy Digital offers high profile investors and institutional clients consultancy to facilitate large investments into the market.
“The resulting firm will have over 70 employees with deep institutional experience spanning across technology, investing, advisory, and trading. The Firm has also invested significantly in its management, operations, legal, and finance departments,” he added.
The partnership between Fidelity and Galaxy Digital is expected to lead to clients of the Novogratz-led firm to invest in the cryptocurrency market through Fidelity, similar to how prior to the launch of Fidelity Digital Assets, clients of Fidelity purchased cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum through Coinbase, a partner company of Fidelity.
The infrastructure of the cryptocurrency market, specifically pertaining to the institutionalization of the asset class, has improved exponentially in the past nine months.
Increasing efforts to strengthen the infrastructure of the cryptocurrency market suggest that regulated financial institutions are seeing solid demand for crypto from their existing client base, which could fuel the next major movement of the sector.
Featured image from Youtube/Bloomberg.
The postBillionaire Mike Novogratz’ Crypto Fund is Fidelity’s First Custodian Clientappeared first onCCN. || Thomson Reuters Partners With Startup for Next Level Derivatives Exchange: Thomson Reuters (TR) provides trusted data and information to professionals across the legal, tax and accounting, and news and media industries. Operating in more than 100 countries, TR lists its shares on both the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE). The company has now expanded its scope and entered into the realm of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence (A.I.).
Last month, the peer-to-peer (P2P) blockchain startup Level01announcedits partnership with TR in order to create a “derivatives” exchange that would change how parties interact with one another, without the fear of losing funds to unknown third parties.
Level01’s proprietary platform, a peer-to-peer (P2P) derivatives exchange,allowsinvestors to trade options contracts directly with one another, without requiring an intermediary or broker.
A “derivative” is a financial security that holds a value reliant upon or derived from an underlying asset or group of assets. An “exchange traded derivative” is a financial instrument that trades on a regulated exchange and whose value is based on the value of another asset.
In the world of blockchain, making it a decentralized peer-to-peer platform changes the game.
“At its beginning stages, we were looking at both Bloomberg and TR,” Jonathan Loi, the CEO of Level01, toldBitcoin Magazine.
“From our perspective, TR proved to be a more competent and receptive company because the individuals we were in collaboration with went the extra mile to ensure things were done moving forward.”
Combining distributed ledger technology (DLT) for transparent and automated trade settlement on the blockchain with A.I. analytics provides fair value pricing to counterparties that is based on current and retrospective market data.
Consumers and investors, however, are constantly at war with fund deposits/withdrawals, multiple tier-identity verifications and wallet security.
By implementing this new platform in partnership with TR, Level01 hopes to remove this friction and allow investors to focus fully on their trading activities.
“Level01 utilizes TR’s data feeds as a trusted source for its A.I. deep-learning algorithms, providing real-time pricing analytics on derivative contracts,” Charles Wong, the chief marketing officer of Level01, explained toBitcoin Magazine. “Additionally, the data is also used to ensure transparent, timely and accurate settlement of derivative contracts upon contract maturity.”
“We have painstakingly designed a UI that caters for both simple and advanced users. More importantly, new investors using Level01 are assured of the fairest market pricing: e.g. prices coming directly from main industry players like Thomson Reuters and open for all to view at ‘interbank’ rates. New investors are then able to make informed business decisions based on this real-time data, cognizant of sudden spikes or changes in the market.”
According to Thomson Reuters, this is more than just a partnership with Level01.
“Fundamentally, what we do is supply the non-core technology that helps connect Level01 to the market, plus fundamentally supplying the data that feeds into the machine,” said Michael Go, Thomson Reuters’ Asia Pacific head of trading markets.
“We are the leader in this field and beyond this partnership, we are taking in crypto-related information, platforms, and exchanges, while diving into blockchain technology.”
“When we are talking about ‘investors,’ it’s important to identify them as ‘institutional investors,’” Loi emphasized.
“These institutional investors that invest in larger amounts can assume roles of ‘liquidity providers’ within the platform. A function of the Level01 platform allows staking of the native token, Level01 Exchange (LVX), to host ‘Trading Rooms’ where the host earns commissions from providing the group trading functionality. Since these tokens are staked and cannot be used/exchanged for long periods of time, this reinforces the pricing of the LVX token by reducing sell pressure from the markets.”
According to the company, Level01 has already begun its plans of launching the public beta version of the platform.
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || UBS, Barclays raises Berkshire Hathaway price target: Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK-A , BRK-B ), the insurance and investment behemoth led by legendary billionaire Warren Buffett, is getting a price target boosts from Wall Street following its stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings report. On Monday, Barclays raised its 2018/2019 operating earnings outlook to $15,186/$15,425 for A shares, up from $14,494/$14,766, and its forecast for B shares to $10.12/$10.35, up from $9.66/$9.85. Barclays also raised its price target for Berkshire’s stock by 5% to $397,500 per A share and $265 per B share. “Berkshire looks well-positioned to benefit from an expanding economy, higher short-term interest rates, and potential future accretive acquisitions. In 2019, we project annual book value growth of 10% and comprehensive return on tangible equity of 12%,” Barclays analyst Jay Gelb wrote. Elsewhere, UBS raised its price target for B-shares to $258 from $251. Berkshire A shares were last trading around up 5% at around $324,105.97 on Monday, while the B shares were recently trading up 4.5% at about $215.93. Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (AP Photo/Nati Harnik) Over the weekend, Berkshire reported strong third-quarter earnings . During the quarter, operating earnings came in at $6.88 billion, up from $3.44 billion a year ago. Some of the big drivers in the quarter included insurance underwriting, posting $441 million in operating earnings after losing $1.44 billion last year. Railroad, utilities, and energy delivered operating earnings of $2.48 billion versus $1.99 billion a year ago. Buybacks In addition to reporting earnings, Berkshire also disclosed nearly a billion worth of share repurchases during the quarter. In a rare move for Buffett, Berkshire repurchased $928 million worth of stock. Buffett, who is 88 and has run Berkshire for over 50 years, has only done buybacks twice before — once in 2011 for $67 million and again in late 2012 for $1.3 billion to buy 9,475 A shares and 606,499 B shares from the estate of an unnamed shareholder. In July, Berkshire’s board amended its buyback policy from only if shares were 120% below book value to “any time that Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger believe that the repurchase price is below Berkshire’s intrinsic value, conservatively determined.” Story continues With a cash pile of more than $100 billion, UBS expects Berkshire will make more share repurchases. “The average purchase price reflected a price-to-2Q18 [book value per share] multiple of just over 1.4x. Given the significant cash balance BRK continues to hold ($104 billion at 9/30/18) and a valuation that is below where it repurchased shares in 3Q18, we believe the company will likely continue to repurchase its shares in 4Q18,” UBS analyst Brian Meredith wrote in a note. — Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter . Buffett: I made a mistake not buying JPMorgan’s stock Buffett’s bet against the hedge funds had an unforeseen investment lesson Munger: Bitcoin is ‘poison’ and the government needs to step on it hard Munger: You won’t get the returns Buffett and I got by doing what we did Buffett: Women make me ‘very optimistic’ about this country || Stablecoins: New Crypto Market Trend: As the Bitcoin continues to trade sideways near $6,300, leading commentators declare they are “pleasantly surprised” with the market stability simultaneously changing their forecasts from “20k per BTC” by the end of 2018 to another 18 months of a bearish trend (BitMEX). It seems that now it is really very difficult to determine the future market direction given the weak reaction to the news background, as well as the lack of correlation with stock market which lost about 9% in October. Stablecoins can be new crypto market triggers as recently they have been actively gaining capitalization and has grown numerically. There is no common opinion in the crypto community regarding this process. While Tether lost about $1 billion of capitalization only in October, Gemini Dollar (GUSD), Paxos Standart (PAX), TrueUSD (TUSD), USD Coin (USDC) altogether attracted more than $400 million. Different large projects are standing behind these tokens, but overall they may have one goal: to have at their disposal the “manual analog of digital liquidity” in order to be able to influence the market in future. As of Tether, the experts and crypto community suspect that USDT was used to “pump up” the market, which also contributed to the explosive growth of cryptocurrency at the end of 2017. The experts also suggest that the BTC flat dynamics may be associated with the USD stable positions and if the prospects for main reserve currency will change due to potential effects of a trade war, the benchmark cryptocurrency can benefit from it. The BTC price dynamics can also be influenced by emerging markets movement, which together with cryptocurrencies showed highs at the beginning of the year and then moved into the downtrend phase. The launch of the Bakkt and Fidelity platforms in the near future, which will allow institutional investors to buy and store safely cryptocurrencies, is also considered a very strong news trigger. On the one hand, the market perceives this news with hope, on the other hand, with a great deal of apprehension recalling how the launch of the Bitcoin futures last year had influenced the market dynamics. Nevertheless, this time everything may be different due to a change in the attitude of Wall Street towards the cryptocurrency. Fundstrat Global Advisors analyst Tom Lee conducted a survey among 25 Wall Street companies on his Twitter account and 44% of the respondents said that the BTC had already reached its minimum point. So the launch of new tools can help rather than harm future prospects of the crypto market. Story continues This article was written by FxPro This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Price of Gold Fundamental Weekly Price Forecast – Democrat Victory Could Spell Doom for Stocks, Increase Gold’s Appeal as Safe Haven Asset S&P 500 Weekly Price Forecast – stock traders turn bullish for the week Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 03/11/18 Oil Price Fundamental Weekly Forecast – Iran Sanctions Begin, Nearby WTI Closes Below 200-D Moving Average Tariffs Having Little Effect on Widening U.S. Trade Deficit Kiwi, Aussie Surge as Investors Ramp Up Hope for More China Stimulus, Trade Deal View comments || Automated Trading Programs Manipulate Crypto Prices, WSJ Says: Investing.com - Automated trading programs are manipulating digital currency prices, according to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report on Tuesday.
Also known as bots, such programs automatically execute trade orders at a speed that is faster than any human is able to.
The WSJ argued that the lack of proper regulation in virtual coins markets is the main reason why bots are allowed to hurt the markets’ reputation and individual investors.
“The bot’s strategy was similar to ‘spoofing,’ a practice in which traders enter fake orders only to cancel them. The tactic, aimed at tricking other investors to buy or sell an asset by falsely signaling there is more supply or demand, was outlawed in U.S. stock and futures markets in 2010,” said WSJ.
Bitcoin traded 2.2% lower to $6,476.7 at 12:50AM ET (04:50 GMT) on the Bitifinex exchange.
Ethereum slid 5.5% to $219.96 in the previous 24 hours.
XRP plunged 10.7% to $0.52096 on the Poloniex exchange, while Litecoin also fell 6.7% to $57.612.
In other news, an unnamed Canadian bank formed a partnership with Ontario-based exchange Coinsquare. The bank would help the platform streamline deposits and withdrawals and allow the company to expand globally, according to reports.
The news came Coinsquare announced plans to expand into Europe by the end of the year and Japan in 2019.
“This announcement is one of many examples of how institutional third-party partners put their faith in our approach to the cryptocurrency business,” said Coinsquare CEO Cole Diamond. “We’re thrilled to start a relationship with a major Canadian bank and we’re excited for what it means for our users.”
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Charles Schwab Exec Joins Coinbase Board || Crypto Steady as Bitcoin Hovers Around $6,600: Investing.com - Cryptocurrencies were mixed on Thursday, with Bitcoin inching forward and XRP pulling back from earlier gains.
Bitcoin increased 2.13% to $6,663.30 on the Bitfinex exchange, as of 10:24 AM ET (14:24 GMT).
Cryptocurrencies overall were slightly higher with the coin market cap of total market capitalization at $221 billion at the time of writing, compared to $218 billion on Thursday.
Ethereum,or Ether, rose 3.31% to $226.04 and Litecoin was at $61.835, down 1.60% while XRP rose 1.08% to $0.53338.
Meanwhile, a new aggregation tool will allow investors to trade digital currencies on platforms without creating an account. Known as Coinswitch, traders can compare exchange rates before they buy. The company serves as a noncustodial and investors only have to provide the address of wallets to trade coins.
As trading platforms face increased scrutiny from regulators, traders and virtual currency companies are looking for ways to bypass increased Know-Your-Customer rules.
In other news, Italy’s Member of Parliament Mirella Liuzzi will sign the European Blockchain Partnership, a collaboration of 26 EU countries, aiming to exchange information on technology. She said the government plans to hire talents in blockchain to develop a national strategy of the crypto-related sector.
“Joining the partnership will allow Italy… to define its own line in the development of [blockchain] technology – a practice which the previous government had never implemented,” she said.
The partnership started in April this year, first joined by 22 EU countries. Later it extended to include 26 countries with the entries of Greece, Romania, Denmark and Cyprus.
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Goldman Sachs Heads $25 Million Investment Round in Blockchain Startup Veem || Why Apple's iPhone XS and XS Max Might Be Discontinued in 2019: On Sept. 12, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) simultaneously discontinued last year's flagship smartphone, the iPhone X, and launched the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max. The XS directly replaced the iPhone X, while the XS Max offers a significantly larger screen for $100 more. Although not too much has leaked out about Apple's 2019 iPhone lineup, I think it's safe to assume the company will introduce successors to all three of this year's models. We should expect to see, once again, at least two ultra-premium devices made from expensive materials that incorporate cutting-edge organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens and the best hardware specifications of any iPhone. When that happens, Apple probably won't discount the iPhone XS and XS Max. Instead, they're likely to be discontinued, just as Apple did with last year's iPhone X. Here's why. Apple executive Kaiann Drance on stage during Apple's Sept. 12 product launch event. Image source: Apple. The iPhone XR conundrum The iPhone XR likely will get a successor packed with many of the core technologies from the higher-end devices but with some sensible compromises to bring its cost structure in line with the lower asking prices for the device. At a minimum, I'd expect such a device to incorporate a next-generation A13 chip, faster cellular capabilities , and an upgraded rear-facing camera. Such a device would be superior in a number of critical ways to this year's XS and XS Max. By then, each model would have year-old processors and cameras, so Apple would have a tough time trying to sell them at a price that makes sense for both Apple and its customers. In short, neither the XS nor the XS Max would be viable products in the next product cycle for the same reasons the iPhone X wouldn't have been viable in this one . iPhone XR likely to receive a discount The one product that should persist in the next product cycle, with a suitable discount, is the iPhone XR. Apple wouldn't face any product positioning issues in relation to the superior XS and XS Max successors, but the company would need to ensure that the next-generation XR is sufficiently differentiated from the current one, to give customers a reason to upgrade. Story continues One way I could see Apple doing that in the coming product cycle would be to endow the next-generation XR with, say, a dual camera system while giving the successors to the higher-end XS and XS Max a triple camera system . One more thing A benefit to investors from discontinuing the previous year's premium iPhone models is that it could compel consumers to upgrade to pricier models. Now that last year's iPhone X has been discontinued, for example, customers who want an iPhone with a stainless steel casing and an OLED display are forced to go with the XS or XS Max. There's no cheaper option. Giving them no choice but to go with Apple's latest and priciest devices will help Apple maximize its iPhone revenue and profit. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Ashraf Eassa has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Mining Gold Requires 20x the Energy of Bitcoin Mining: According to LongHash , every year, more than $87.3 billion is spent on mining gold. In contrast, less than $4.3 billion is used to mine Bitcoin. Essentially, gold mining requires 20 times more energy and cost in comparison to Bitcoin mining, despite the narrative that has been circulating since the surge in the price of Bitcoin in early 2017 that Bitcoin is hugely impacting the environment negatively. Isn’t Gold Worth $7.8 trillion? Currently, the cryptocurrency market is worth $200 billion, while the entire market cap of gold is estimated to be around $8 trillion. Given the huge discrepancy in the valuation between two markets, analysts could claim that the large cost of energy required to mine gold can be justified. However, that assumes that the sole purpose of mining Bitcoin is to enlarge the supply of the dominant cryptocurrency to ensure there exists enough BTC in circulation to meet growing demand for the asset. With Bitcoin and every other proof-of-work cryptocurrency in the market, mining is involved in the settlement of transactions. Which means, if mining cryptocurrency was to be compared with the process of mining gold, it would be more accurate to compare the cost of mining of Bitcoin and the combined cost required to mine gold and the transfer of gold. Apart from London bullion market (LBMA), the largest wholesale over-the-counter market for the trading of gold and silver, and its clearing partners HSBC, ICBC Standard Bank, JPMorgan, Scotiabank and UBS, there exists many clearing houses and gold brokerages that oversee the transfer of the traditional store of value. Hence, if the cost of energy utilized to mine gold and by clearing houses and agencies to transfer gold physically to overseas markets are combined, the comparison between the energy used by Bitcoin and the energy required by gold would lead to a massive difference. The argument against the use of energy of Bitcoin also fails to consider the rapid adoption rate of renewable energy sources. In some regions like Chile and Southwest China, the supply of clean or renewable energy is so abundant that it is offered freely to households and corporations. Evidently, most mining centers currently rely on non-renewable sources of energy to mine crypto, because they tend to be cheaper. But, the energy utilization problem analysts use against Bitcoin is not exclusive to the dominant cryptocurrency. The same argument can be applied against gold, silver, fiat, and any other form of money that is currently available. Non-Issue As John Lilic, member at Ethereum blockchain development studio ConsenSys, said , the unit cost of each transaction in crypto is higher than banks and legacy systems. But, as the industry moves towards energy optimization systems, the energy consumption of crypto will continue to become a non-issue, especially when it comes to Ethereum. Story continues “The real question is whether the gross energy inefficiency costs in crypto is worth the benefits like custody over assets. My contention is Yes! It is worth it but only if our industry prioritizes & continues to work towards energy efficiency gains like Proof of Stake,” Lilic explained. Featured image from Shutterstock. The post Mining Gold Requires 20x the Energy of Bitcoin Mining appeared first on CCN . View comments || Bitcoin Mutual Fund CEO Explains Why Canada is More Blockchain-Friendly than the U.S.: Canada has set the pace as the first government to ever approve an exclusive bitcoin mutual fund. This builds upon its reputation as a friendly environment for emerging technologies.
The atmosphere in Canada seems to be freer and more conducive to innovation in this field, based onthe numerous developmentsthat the industry has experienced even prior to this time. This is in comparison to its prominent neighbour, the United States, whose Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) upholds strict measures while trying to figure out appropriate regulatory systems for the blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem.
In an exclusive interview with CCN, Sean Clark, CEO ofFirst Block Capital Inc.— the operator of FBC Bitcoin Trust, the first bitcoin mutual fund to trade in Canada — discussed the underlying factors that make Canada a country that is friendly to new technologies such as cryptocurrency. According to Clark, unrelenting education, political will, and open-mindedness, among other factors make the North American nation an ideal hub for technological innovation.
He told CCN:
“I think in general, the Canadian regulatory bodies understand the potential benefits of blockchain and cryptocurrency, and traditionally Canadian regulators have been open to technological innovation. That is different from what you get in places like the US.”
Clark noted that his company, in collaboration with other experts, worked directly with the Canadian securities regulators and educated them for a period of six months while also using the discussions as an opportunity to build relationships. Comparing this to what is obtained in the United States, especially with the SEC, he believes that the Canadian regulators appear to be more open to dialogue with regards to technological innovations.
The elected leadership of Canada is also identified by Clark as a key factor that is enabling the openness of government to cryptocurrency and other emerging technologies. He noted that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is embracing blockchain technology. Also, the Canadian leadership sees the United States’ increased isolation of these technologies as an opportunity to get skilled labour migrated into Canada to help contribute to the economy.
“This is what we’re seeing trickling down to the regulatory environment, he said, “as they are not stone-walling but rather embracing and wanting to understand the implications of blockchain technology and working with local companies to be able to understand and have the asset class flourish.”
Another important factor that Clark noted is that the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) is one of very few capital markets globally where you can see blockchain and cryptocurrency companies publicly listed.
[Editor’s Note: Severalblockchain ETFshave been publicly listed in the U.S., but regulators asked them not to include the word “blockchain” in their names.]
While the the government of Canada offers a relatively conducive environment to blockchain technology and digital currency, Clark noted that they are also ensuring that both institutions and investors are protected against the risks involved. While funds such as First Block Capital are given access into the markets, more critical attention is paid towards them, especially in terms of auditing. So the government and regulatory bodies keep a very close eye on these funds, which facilitates a more cooperative relationship between the companies and the regulators.
Elaborating on the product offered by First Block, Clark described it as a true bitcoin trust, claiming that there is nothing like it currently existing in the industry, even on a global level. The only comparable product as at the time of the interview, he said, was theBitcoin Investment Trust (OTC: GBTC) from Grayscalein the states. However, while GBTC offers its clients fractional ownership of bitcoin pools, First Block’s services are entirely different in the sense that subscribers’ actual fiat values are exclusively used to purchase the equivalent worth of bitcoin for the period of investment and kept in cold storage to be redeemable in the future. It is like an ETF for qualified investors.
Looking into the future, Clark said that he believes that the digital asset market class will grow into a multi-trillion dollar asset class over the next 5 to 10 years. However, he identified the prevailing bear market cycle in the near-term, so he expects bitcoin and altcoin prices to trade sideways or even down for at least the next four months, ahead of another significant bull run in the next one-and-a-half to two years. This would be powered by the entrance of institutions into the space and the likely approval of ETFs.
Clark concluded by elaborating on his company’s commitment towards creating financial products and providing legitimacy and transparency to the cryptocurrency asset class through traditional equities. This he expects to improve the confidence of investors, who will no longer need to go through unregulated exchanges to participate in the cryptocurrency marketplace. According to him, this will eliminate a lot of risks and at the same time give institutional investors access into the crypto space just like they have access to equities.
Images from Shutterstock
The postBitcoin Mutual Fund CEO Explains Why Canada is More Blockchain-Friendly than the U.S.appeared first onCCN.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Sep 27, 2018 23:30:00 UTC | 6,684.30$ | 5,745.10€ | 5,112.10£ | #Bitcoin #btc pic.twitter.com/1QodXaM7Di || EUR/USD Target Level: 1.1571
Falling Wedge has broken through the resistance line at 09-Oct-2018 20:00 UTC. Possible bullish price movement forecast for the next 2 days towards 1.1571.
#forex #forextrader #money #entrepreneur #forextrading #forexlifestyle #bitcoin #forexsignalpic.twitter.com/6KdyCYLjC8 || 2018/09/19 06:00
#Binance 格安コイン
1位 #HOT 0.00000017 BTC(0.12円)
2位 #NPXS 0.00000022 BTC(0.16円)
3位 #BCN 0.00000030 BTC(0.21円)
4位 #DENT 0.00000033 BTC(0.23円)
5位 #SC 0.00000082 BTC(0.58円)
#仮想通貨 #アルトコイン #草コイン || 1 BTC = 24270.00000000 BRL em 17/10/2018 ás 16:00:02. #bitcoin #bitcoinbr #bitcoinexchangebr || ツイート数の多かった仮想通貨
1位 $BTC 449 Tweets
2位 $TRX 376 Tweets
3位 $ETH 132 Tweets
4位 $XRP 98 Tweets
5位 $DOGE 50 Tweets
2018-09-13 17:00 ～ 2018-09-13 17:59
COINTREND いまTwitterで話題の仮想通貨を探せ！
https://cointrend.jp/ || 2018/09/29 10:00
#Binance 格安コイン
1位 #HOT 0.00000015 BTC(0.11円)
2位 #NPXS 0.00000022 BTC(0.17円)
3位 #DENT 0.00000033 BTC(0.25円)
4位 #BCN 0.00000035 BTC(0.26円)
5位 #NCASH 0.00000082 BTC(0.62円)
#仮想通貨 #アルトコイン #草コイン || Thousands of peoples scammed by #IRONFX, where is the authorities??
https://t.co/qZl5V8mO4B
#CONSOB #broker #eos #forexlive #bloomberg #reuters #bitcoin #ethereum #esma #CyprusJournal #xrp #MiFIDII @mifid @MiFID2 #ICO #altcoin #money #bitcoin #NEO https://t.co/qCKlrYUsVZ || Crypto Litmus
12:00 2018-10-06 http://cryptolitmus.com #cryptocurrency #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/tNGrLhqraU || Just #FollowMe and i will #FollowBack Soon and also add me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/yulhan.pakaya thank you. #Bitcoin #ICO #Bou || What do World of Warcraft, art school, #Bitcoin, and #EOS have in common? They're just a few of the things we talked about on the @SVK_Crypto podcast.
Listen here: https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-p9tzg-9b3dde …
Thanks to @c_storry for having me on the show!
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Trend: down || Prices: 6411.27, 6371.27, 6359.49, 5738.35, 5648.03, 5575.55, 5554.33, 5623.54, 4871.49, 4451.87
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2020-08-11]
BTC Price: 11410.53, BTC RSI: 60.19
Gold Price: 1932.60, Gold RSI: 53.70
Oil Price: 41.61, Oil RSI: 55.87
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
From Australia to Norway, Contact Tracing Is Struggling to Meet Expectations: Stocks are up on fresh government stimulus expectations but when it comes to bitcoin, things are uncertainty in the near term. Bitcoin (BTC) was trading around $9,500 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET), gaining less than a percent over the previous 24 hours. At 00:00 UTC on Tuesday (8:00 p.m. Monday ET), bitcoin was changing hands around $9,414 on spot exchanges such as Coinbase. It then climbed 2% to as high as $9,591 before sell volumes pushed bitcoin back down. The price is now above the 50-day moving averages but below the 10-day moving average. For technicians, this signals prices are expected to move sideways for a bit. Stocks were the real movers on Tuesday. The possibility of another fresh fiscal stimulus proposal in the United States, to the tune of $1 trillion for infrastructure projects like wireless networks and roads , helped fuel an equities rally. The U.S. S&P 500 index gained 1.9%. Since the start of June, bitcoin has underperformed the equities markets. Read More: Bitcoin Rises to $9.6K as Stocks Cheer Additional US Stimulus Plans In Asia, the Nikkei 225 index of publicly traded companies in Japan ended trading up 4.8%, buoyant on stocks in the industrial and transportation sectors . In Europe, the FTSE 100 index closed in the green 2.9% as stocks in the travel sector surged . A dip in bitcoin spot volumes Traders in the crypto sector continue to talk about weakness in the market as spot exchanges like Coinbase see a dip in volume. Our prop [proprietary trading] desk is seeing a significantly weaker flow in bitcoin pairs on centralized exchanges lately, said Peter Chan, a trader at Hong Kong-based OneBit Quant. Related: Market Wrap: Stocks Rally on Possible Stimulus but Bitcoin Is Flat at $9.5K Over the past six months, average volumes on Coinbase have been $133 million. In the past week, the average has been $116 million, a 12% drop, according to data from aggregator Skew. I think theres a general loss of interest, mostly due to how volatile the external environment has become on the margin, said Vishal Shah, an options trader and founder of derivatives exchange Alpha5. The aggregate open interest across derivatives exchanges is now the same as it was at the beginning of June and implied volatility is hitting cyclical lows. Read More: Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Makes Biggest Jump in 29 Months Indeed, after total bitcoin futures open interest on the 11 biggest exchanges spiked to almost $4 billion June 1, it has hovered around $3.5 billion for most of the month. Story continues Sell pressure on bitcoin is expected to continue in this lower-volume environment, according to Neil Van Huis, director of sales and institutional trading at liquidity provider Blockfills. The whole sector is really sitting watching mining, in my opinion, Van Huis told CoinDesk Tuesday. Miners may need to sell a bit to raise cash for new machines, unless they can secure financing from firms like ours and we are not financing anyone in China. China dominates the bitcoin mining market with 65% of machines located there, according to data from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance . Other markets Digital assets on CoinDesks big board are mostly in the green Tuesday. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, ether (ETH), is trading around $233 and climbed less than a percent in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). Read More: Ethereum Logged Its Busiest Week on Record The decentralized exchange (DEX) Curve has taken over Uniswap for the top spot in terms of 24 hour volume on the Ethereum network. In the past day, Curve had over $21 million in volume compared to Uniswaps $11 million, giving it over 40% of the DEX trading market. The biggest cryptocurrency winners on the day include lisk (LSK) climbing 2.4%, qtum (QTUM) up 2.1% and stellar (XLM) in the green 1.6%. The biggest loser on the day was iota (IOTA) in the red 1%. All price changes were as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). Read More: Coda Protocol Sets Aside $2.1M in Tokens for Development Grants In commodities, oil is gaining 2.9% as a barrel of crude was priced at $38 as of press time. Gold is trading flat as the yellow metal climbed less than a percent, trading around $1,726 for the day. Read More: Negative Rates or More Money Printing Bitcoin May Benefit Either Way U.S. Treasury bonds all climbed Tuesday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were up most on the 30-year, in the green 4.8%. Related Stories First Mover: Negative Rates or More Money Printing Bitcoin May Benefit Either Way One Mans Mission to Deploy Solar-Powered Bitcoin Nodes Across Africa View comments || China Police Said to Detain Crypto OTC Traders Amid Money Laundering Crackdown: As Chinese police step up efforts to crack down on illegal economic activities, crypto over-the-counter (OTC) traders are being detained to assist investigations. In another sign Chinese law enforcement are targeting cryptocurrency trading, Zhao Dong a prominent Chinese crypto OTC trader and the co-founder of crypto lending platform RenrenBit has been held up by police in the city of Hangzhou. A rumor that Zhao had been taken away first emerged on WeChat on Thursday, after a screen capture describing his detention began circulating within the local community and was later reported by local news outlets. As the rumor drew wider attention given Zhaos prominent status, a representative of RenrenBit said in a statement on the social media platform Weibo that one unnamed OTC trading desk in Beijing had its whole team taken away by police late last month. It does not appear that any of the OTC traders were outright arrested. Related: How Chainlink and Cosmos Fit Into China's Grand Blockchain Initiative RenrenBit said Zhao, who has invested in the OTC team but was not involved in day-to-day trades, returned to China from Japan in early June and is now actively assisting local police in anti-fraud and anti-money laundering investigations. In 2017, the Chinese government prohibited local crypto exchanges from allowing trades between cryptocurrency and Chinese yuan. Many traders turned to OTC platforms as a result, which essentially enable peer-to-peer trading by connecting buyers and sellers. Individual users in China have been relying on OTC desks to buy or sell USDT or bitcoin with Chinese yuan to participate in crypto-to-crypto trading. A person with direct knowledge of the issue, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case, told CoinDesk that Zhao is currently being held by police but added this is systematic effort, not an isolated incident. The issue has also sparked some fear among other OTC desks in China, the person said. Story continues The person said law enforcement agencies across Chinese provinces have increased their scrutiny over crypto OTC desks since mid-June, and have taken away more than one trading desk to assist on investigations related to money-laundering activities. But the news about Zhao has drawn wider attention since he is well-known as one of the largest OTC traders in China, and has been a member of Chinas crypto community since 2013. Related: Bitcoin Miner Maker Ebang Estimates $2.5M Loss for Q1 in IPO Prospectus Update Read more: Chinese Police Freezing OTC Traders Bank Accounts Over Tainted Crypto Transactions Although the recent investigations do not necessarily suggest buying or selling cryptocurrency through OTC is illegal, a more systematic target could have a larger ripple effect on OTC desk operations in China, which remain a significant part of local crypto trade. The latest action by Chinese police follows a wide bank account freeze reported in early June, where more than 1,000 people were estimated to have been affected. At the time, a wide range of OTC desks and users in China had their bank accounts frozen by law enforcement after being suspected of either knowingly or unknowingly facilitating illegal activity, such as telecom frauds or ponzi schemes, to launder proceeds via crypto OTC trading. Cryptocurrencies, especially the dollar-pegged USDT, have been a popular method for Ponzi schemes or fraud organizers to launder money in China, which would then contaminate the fiat money and cryptocurrencies that are circulating in the Chinese OTC market. Law enforcements investigations of these illegal schemes are a way to track the flow of contaminated fiat money and crypto assets. Users or OTC desks who even unknowingly touch these questionable assets might have their bank accounts frozen. Related Stories China Police Said to Detain Crypto OTC Traders Amid Money Laundering Crackdown China Police Said to Detain Crypto OTC Traders Amid Money Laundering Crackdown || Oil Continues Attempts To Gain Upside Momentum: Oil Video 07.07.20. Saudi Arabia Increases Prices Again While traders watch the daily fluctuations of oil futures prices, most oil is sold on contracts in the real world. Saudi Arabia has just raised the prices for its oil that is scheduled to be delivered in August. According to a Reuters report, the price for Asian buyers was increased by $1.20 above the Oman/Dubai average price. Recent reports indicated that China’s crude oil imports were at record levels in June so Saudi Arabia is using the increase in demand to improve pricing. It’s worth noting that OPEC+ is set to transfer from production cuts of 9.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in July to 7.6 million bpd in August so Saudi Arabia believes that the market will be ready to take more oil at higher prices. This is a bullish view. Saudi Arabia’s decision has certainly provided support to the oil market and helped oil stay above the key $40 level. However, oil fails to get more upside momentum above this level. In my opinion, the key reason for this is the fear that the continued spread of coronavirus will lead to new lockdowns and put pressure on economic activity and demand for oil. Melbourne Is The First Major City To Reimpose A Lockdown, Raising Questions About The Rebound Of Oil Demand While the coronavirus situation continues to get worse in the U.S., states have mostly limited themselves to closing restaurants, bars and gyms and tried to persuade people to wear face masks in order to control the spread of the disease. Such measures put pressure on economy and jobs but do not directly hurt the demand for oil. In Australia, the city of Melbourne faced a surge in the number of coronavirus cases and had to reimpose a lockdown for six weeks. Such a scenario is a true nightmare for the world markets if it gets repeated by other big cities. At this point, the stock market is only slightly worried about the virus while traders are waiting for new inventory data to evaluate whether demand is rising fast enough to lead to a decrease in inventory levels. Story continues In this situation, oil may continue to ignore the developments on the coronavirus front but additional news about lockdowns will be very dangerous for the current upside trend. For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar . This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Natural Gas Price Forecast – Natural Gas Markets Continue Breakout USD/CAD Daily Forecast – U.S. Dollar Tries To Rebound Oil Continues Attempts To Gain Upside Momentum GBP/JPY Price Forecast – British Pound Breaks Towards Major Level Silver Price Forecast – Silver Markets Continue to Press Highs BTC Aims At Further Growth || Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden's Twitter Accounts Got Hacked: Scammers targeted some of the biggest names on Twitter to try and get some cash. Entertainment Tonight reports that former President Barack Obama , Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Joe Biden, Kim Kardashian West , and Kanye West are among just a few of the names that were hacked. Twitter users may have noticed a few of their favorite accounts were posting strange messages about Bitcoin, urging users to donate cryptocurrency. Apple and Uber were also impacted. The tweets generally began with a similar message, stating that the individual wanted to give "back to the community" before sharing a Bitcoin wallet address. The tweets went on to tell users they would double the amounts that they sent in. "I'm feeling generous because of Covid-19," a now-deleted tweet from Musk's account read. "I'll double any BTC payment sent to my BTC address for the next hour. Good luck, and stay safe out there!" RELATED: Kanye West Has Reportedly Dropped Out of the Running for President in 2020 Twitter Support addressed the issue, saying that that it is "aware of a security incident impacting accounts on Twitter. We are investigating and taking steps to fix it. We will update everyone shortly." We are aware of a security incident impacting accounts on Twitter. We are investigating and taking steps to fix it. We will update everyone shortly. Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) July 15, 2020 BuzzFeed reports that even two-factor authentication wasn't enough to keep hackers out. Cryptocurrency publication CoinDesk had its account hacked and noted that a number of the affected accounts had two-factor security enabled. RELATED: People Are Calling Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Out for Their Insensitive Posts Previous cryptocurrency scams BuzzFeed notes that similar issues been around for more than two years have tried to mimic verified Twitter users. Today's attack didn't create new accounts with similar handles, avatars, and cover photos. Instead, the unknown hacker managed to get access into real accounts The initial scam tweet promoting the giveaway appeared on Musks account, which has nearly 37 million followers, at 1:17 p.m. PDT. His account posted at least three tweets from the hacker. Story continues "Twitter locked down the account immediately following the breach and removed the related tweet," a campaign spokesperson for Joe Biden told BuzzFeed News. "We remain in touch with Twitter on the matter." BuzzFeed notes that the website that was connected to the scam was created this morning, at 10:36 a.m. PDT. It was down before Musk's tweet went live. "The current financial system is outdated and COVID-19 has made serious damage to the traditional economy ,To help in these hard times For COVID19 Huobi, Kucoin, Kraken, Gemini, Binance, Coinbase & Trezor are partnered to give back to the community," the now-deleted site read, adding that it was promoting the hashtag #cryptoagainstcovid. || Bitcoin News Roundup for June 19, 2020: WithBTCminers HODLing, Reddit dreaming big and a crypto card issuer missing billions of dollars and drawing comparisons to Enron, CoinDesk’s Markets Daily is back with another Bitcoin news roundup.
For early access before our regular noon Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublicaorRSS.
This episode is sponsored byBitstampandCiphertrace.
Related:
Outflow of Bitcoin From Miners at Lows Not Seen Since 2010
Miner outflows of bitcoin have dropped to decade lows, with analysts saying a hoarding mentality and a drop in issuance after the halving are responsible.
Reddit Seeks Scaling Solution for Ethereum-Based ‘Community Points’
Reddit announced a partnership with the Ethereum Foundation to find a scaling solution for the site’s new blockchain-based Community Points.
Related:Why Monetary Debasement Is Here to Stay, Feat. Dr. Vikram Mansharamani
Crypto Card Issuer Wirecard Says It’s Missing $2.1B in ‘German Enron’ Scandal
Wirecard admitted the accounting hole was roughly a quarter of the company’s total balance sheet.
Polkadot Is Latest Blockchain to Explore Redeemable Bitcoin Tokens
It’s only a proof-of-concept at this point, but there’s now a model for locking BTC on the Bitcoin blockchain and minting PolkaBTC on Polkadot.
• Bitcoin News Roundup for June 19, 2020
• Bitcoin News Roundup for June 19, 2020 || Five Years In, DeFi Now Defines Ethereum: DeFi Dad is a DeFi super user sharing his money experiments and tutorials on Twitter andYouTube. He is an organizing member of theEthereal Summit and Sessions, host ofThe Ethereal Podcastand a weekly contributor toThe DefiantandBankless.
Ethereum has always been difficult to explain. Even the founders of Ethereum have sometimes struggled to communicate the project’s transformative potential in layperson’s terms. Metaphors such as “world computer” and “gas” tried to translate Ethereum to the world, but looking back it’s clear how little we understood about the platform’s true capabilities.
By 2017, big promises were being made that Ethereum would “bank the unbanked.” But that promise seemed to go largely unfulfilled in the wake of the initial coin offering (ICO) craze. Nevertheless, the oft-repeated slogan represented the first attempt to describe Ethereum’s potential to transform personal finance.
Related:Huobi Hires Former Banking Giant Executive to Lead New DeFi Fund
See also:Ethereum History in 5 Charts
While the ICO mania showed Ethereum’s potential as a distributive technology that could emulate, improve upon and democratize the initial stock offering, what was missing then was a simple personal financial use case that could be demonstrated to a friend, such as a mobile app. In those early days, there were many white papers, promises and signs of progress by a few teams (some of which have led to the top DeFi projects such as ChainLink, Kyber, and Set), but most of the benefits had yet to be delivered.
Meanwhile, there were lots of inspiring speakers from the Ethereum community who drew us into believing Ethereum would change the world. It just required a patient newcomer willing to wade through new ideas, intricate foreign concepts and a firehose of new information daily. Nothing was a simple elevator pitch.
When I saw Joe Lubin speak at Ethereal SF 2017, there was an inspiring message to take home. A lot of detail flew over my head at the time, but if you listened carefully it was impossible to not buy the idea that Ethereum could change the world for the better.
Related:
It’s worth noting that in 2017, ConsenSys and other early adopters and builders were also educating institutional players and enterprise software companies on how they could benefit from many blockchain use cases on Ethereum. Partnerships with Microsoft, IBM and Hyperledger helped cement Ethereum’s credibility in the enterprise blockchain race.
See also:How the EEA Made Ethereum Palatable to Big Business
Fast forward to July 2018, when I started full-time work in Ethereum. We were all recovering from the hangover of 2017, thinking the bull run might return sooner before watching markets unravel and get even bloodier. We were emerging from an era without a coherent elevator pitch to be easily understood, including language that sounded like it had come from a “Big Bang Theory” script.
I recognized that Ethereum had to find any small group of fanatical users. For better or worse, I began drawing on my experience in SaaS, which taught me that startups need loyal users who find so much utility in an application that, if it were taken away, they wouldn’t have an alternative.
By spring 2019, I am working full time on theEthereal Summit, a series of events celebrating the founders and builders of the decentralized web on Ethereum. It was around then that Ethereum’s narrative began to change. I heard about Compound, where you can lend and borrow – similar to MakerDAO, but with better loan-to-value (LTV) ratios.
I was astonished – $50 MILLION in an app built on Ethereum! It was exhilarating to learn a second finance application had been built, launched and had been running on Ethereum for more than six months.
All this activity came to be known as decentralized finance, or DeFi. The term was coined in 2018 by members of the 0x team, but the industry was just getting going. I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
I began researching every project we were hosting at Ethereal –PoolTogether,KyberArgentandZerion. And I did something even more radical: I began testing and using the damn products!
See also:Why DeFi on Ethereum Is Like Algorithmic Trading in the ‘90s
I needed to see my investment make money to realize the power of these DeFi applications. I started lendingdaion Compound for over 10% APY and it just clicked. I’m lending dai and others borrow that money, but there’s no bank to collect the middleman fees. So, in turn, I earn better lending interest and borrowers pay smaller fees, and without know your customer (KYC) or anyone’s permission.
What stood in the way of DeFi mass adoption was better storytelling and more visual demonstration of how DeFi can work for anyone
It had long been a talking point in crypto the user experience (UX) had to improve for Ethereum to see adoption, but I found those same people espousing such criticisms often had zero experience with DeFi applications. It seemed like a lie that had stuck around long enough to become a truth, even though I was finding some DeFi UX better than my experience with legacy banking.
For me, what stood in the way of DeFi mass adoption was better storytelling and more visual demonstration of how DeFi can work for anyone.EthHub.ioand Cami Russo’sThe Defiantwere already doing lots of legwork in this space but there was clearly more to build upon.
In late 2019, the DeFi community was still small compared to today, only a few thousand or possibly even a few hundred users, but it felt like we were on a bustling rocket ship of excitement. We rallied around this term DeFi, the simplest term to describe any peer-to-peer finance app built on Ethereum, requiring a Web 3 wallet like MetaMask, that doesn’t need KYC and has no single point of failure. IfETHis money, DeFi is your bank.
What started as a concept is now an economy of interlinked applications with more than $4 billion in value invested. But it’s more than just money. DeFi has changed the way people think about Ethereum itself and given rise to new narratives and memes.
Shortly after this spark was really gaining momentum in the fall 2019, DeFi users naturally found a second totem to rally around. That was the concept of Total Value Locked (TLV), coined by the team atDeFi Pulse.
TVL refers to the sum of all value deposited into a DeFi app’s smart contracts, whether that’s measured in U.S. dollars (USD) or in ETH. TVL reflected a new, un-gameable metric for adoption. It was a way to compare how much trust DeFi users put into an application. It has its flaws, but those flaws are no worse than reducing Bitcoin to its price.
See also: Nathaniel Whittemore –‘Stacking Sats’ vs. ‘ETH Is Money’ – The Memes That Shaped 2019
DeFi also helped solidify the “ETH is money” meme. As co-host of the Bankless Podcast David Hoffman said,ETH is a triple-point asset,because it acts as a store-of-value, a capital asset, and a consumable asset. “ETH is Money” is an intentional pivot from “ETH is gas,” and updates the world on how ETH is actually used on Ethereum.
Plain and simple: ETH is money. It always has been money and to label it otherwise was a product marketing mistake in the early days of Ethereum.
Yield farming is the latest viral meme in Ethereum. DeFi is a larger all-encompassing category of p2p, self-custody, KYC-less, finance apps built on Ethereum, but yield farming describes a popular incentives program where you often provide liquidity to a DeFi application in exchange for a combination of rewards.
As Dan Elitzer of IDEO CoLab Ventures put it,yield farming is like aquaponicsbecause it creates a symbiotic relationship between DeFi protocols, meaning DeFi participants can earn three or more forms of yield such as interest, market-making fees and pooled rewards such as a governance token like BAL or COMP. Because of the most composable incentive designs in DeFi, yield farming (aka “liquidity mining”) is like passive income on steroids, with programs delivering anywhere from 10-200% daily APY on average.
Five years ago, you could argue Ethereum was attempting to do too much. Even two to three years ago, that was still a valid hypothesis, with stagnant adoption.
Today, the bold experiment of Ethereum is working. Alongside the $4 billion in assets deposited into DeFi, we’ve seen a 227% year-on-year increase in ETH locked in DeFi, and a 20X increase in tokenizedBTCon Ethereum (equivalent to ~$220 million) since January 1.
See also:One Billion, Two Billion, Three Billion, Four? DeFi’s Knocking on TradFi’s Door
What was a drawback – doing “too much” – is now a strength and a reason why Ethereum’s daily transaction volume and daily network fees have eclipsed Bitcoin’s. Although Ethereum is less than half Bitcoin’s age, it has accomplished more in the last five years, building the most advanced permissionless p2p finance system in the world while Bitcoin has continued to champion the narrower digital gold meme.
It’s getting easier every day to point to DeFi apps that clearly demonstrate value and utility you cannot find elsewhere. If you’ve managed to ignore these developments, now is as good a time as ever to catch yourself up. The story of DeFi and Ethereum is just getting started.
• Five Years In, DeFi Now Defines Ethereum
• Five Years In, DeFi Now Defines Ethereum || BEQUANT Exchange List NEXO Token on Digital Assets Trading Platform: NEXO ('NEXO') will be available for trading on the BEQUANT Exchange from Tuesday 23rd June 2020 LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / June 23, 2020 / The NEXO Token is backed by the underlying assets of Nexo's loan portfolio. The innovative model of Nexo brings the crypto community the best of both worlds - retaining 100% ownership of their digital assets while having immediate access to cash. CEO of BEQUANT George Zarya said: "The NEXO token release is great for our traders, allowing them the ability to trade another token on our exchange. We are delighted to list another Top 100 token on our platform." "Thanks to our partnership with BEQUANT, the NEXO token will be even more accessible to institutional investors, opening new possibilities for both Nexo and our growing client base within this segment," commented Antoni Trenchev, Nexo Co-founder and Managing Partner. BEQUANT has made the necessary technical preparations, integrating the NEXO Token on its trading platform. BEQUANT has listed the following crosses, Nexo/Bitcoin (BTC), Nexo/Ethereum (ETH) and Nexo/Tether (USDT). About BEQUANT: ocated in London and Malta, BEQUANT is a one stop solution for professional digital-assets investors and institutions. Our breadth of products include prime brokerage, custody, fund administration, enhanced by an institutional trading platform providing low-latency, liquidity and direct market access. The BEQUANT team is composed of experts from institutional, retail and digital financial services with experience in banking, derivatives, electronic trading and prime brokerage. Websites BEQUANT Digital Assets Trading Platform: www.BEQUANT.io BEQUANT Prime Brokerage Services: www.BEQUANT.pro SAFEQUANT Custodian: https://safequant.io/ Social Media Follow BEQUANT on Twitter , Facebook and LinkedIn Contact details: BEQUANT Sunil Chauhan T - +44 (0)20 3893 3214 E - [email protected] About Nexo: Nexo is the leading regulated financial institution for digital assets. The company's mission from day 1 is to maximize the value of digital assets by offering tax-efficient 'Instant Crypto Credit Lines', high-yield 'Earn Interest' products and 'Send & Pay' capabilities for our clients, while ensuring the $100 million custodial insurance and military-grade security of the Nexo Wallet. Nexo has processed $2+ billion in 45+ fiat currencies for 750,000+ users across 200 jurisdictions. Story continues Official website: https://www.nexo.io Social media: Follow Nexo on Twitter , Facebook and LinkedIn Contact details: Nexo Mia Agova T - +359 889 261 112 E - [email protected] SOURCE: BEQUANT View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/594903/BEQUANT-Exchange-List-NEXO-Token-on-Digital-Assets-Trading-Platform || New Zealand police seize $90 million from alleged BTC-e operator Alexander Vinnik: New Zealand police have seized NZ$ 140 million (~US$90 million) from Alexander Vinnik, the alleged operator of the now-defunct crypto exchange BTC-e, and his company Canton Business Corporation (the managing shell company of BTC-e). The police said it is the largest seizure in its history. Vinnik was arrested on money laundering allegations in Greece in 2017, and earlier this year was extradited to France, where he remains in custody. It is alleged that Vinnik operated BTC-e without anti-money laundering controls and policies, which resulted in criminals laundering proceeds derived from illegal activities via the exchange. New Zealand police commissioner Andrew Coster said the seized funds are "likely to reflect the profit gained from the victimisation of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people globally as a result of cyber-crime and organised crime." Coster added that the police worked closely with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to address this "very serious offending." The police plan to file an application to the High Court seeking forfeiture of the seized funds. It is not clear whether the funds are in the form of fiat or cryptocurrency. When reached, the police declined to comment to The Block. The case is still ongoing. Once it is completed in France, Vinnik is said to extradite to Greece, then the U.S. and later to his native Russia. © 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. || The Proof is in the Predictions - Vivid Capital Goes from Strength to Strength as Users Learn to Generate Consistent Profit with New Forex and Cryptocurrency Trading Courses: Create your own economy and profitably trade the financial market with Vivid Capital's precise strategies. LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / August 4, 2020 / Vivid Capital (VC) is an online platform that teaches forex, commodities, indices, and cryptocurrency trading. The platform both educates and guides beginner traders whilst excelling and advancing experienced ones. With access to expert advice and lifetime admission to online courses, tools, and resources, the students are able to learn how professionals consistently generate income. Sounds good but never heard of Vivid Capital? Trading expert Gio Paris launched Vivid Capital off the back of his own personal success in forex and trading. The 23-year-old started trading in 2015 and has never looked back since. After expertly navigating the markets and creating the blueprint for formulating consistent profits, Gio has decided to impart his knowledge and experience with aspiring traders. The company has seen remarkable success since launching, with tens of students and brand-new partnerships in place. Under the leadership of Gio Paris, VC is all set to bring a revolution in the financial world. Paris stated, "We have helped multiple students get funded with proprietary trading firms and become full-time traders. We have 2 online courses - one for Forex, commodities, and indices and another specifically for Cryptocurrency. Both courses teach you how to profitably trade these respective markets and steadily make money. We also have a private mentoring service where we spend 1 hour per week doing 1-to-1 sessions with the students." Don't trust the expert? The proof is in the predictions. Gio Paris' competence is evident in the realizations of his predictions. At the start of the year Gold was circa $1,500 and Gio distinctively predicted that it would hit $1,800 in 2020, a level it had not been at since 2012 and sure enough, it did in July! He also predicted that Silver would hit $21 in 2020, a level the metal had not been since 2016, and in July that prediction also came pass. With Bitcoin previously at $7,500 Gio made the prediction for it to hit $14,000 in 2020, which now is looking very likely. All of these are just examples of the precise knowledge and foresight Gio has within the industry. In a matter of months these expert predictions, passion and diligence have taken Gio from humble beginnings to an extravagant lifestyle, driving a BMW i8 and travelling the world. As stated by one of the platforms most proficient users "When it comes to trading, Vivid Capital is the place to be. Gio really compiled accurate information in a simple to follow course. VC has enabled me to raise my own capital and trade the financial markets with strategy and confidence." Story continues Okay but what does this mean for me? Ultimately it means Vivid Capital is an optimal investment opportunity for individuals who are willing to take the next steps to excel their career beyond the limitations of the day to day 9-5 and secure their pathway to financial freedom. Got more questions or ready to sign up? Message Gio on Instagram @gioparis23 . To find out more about vivid capital click here . About the Company: Vivid Capital is a Forex and Cryptocurrency education company. We teach people how to trade Forex, Commodities, Indices, and Cryptocurrency via an online course/platform and have a community chatroom/group chat. The company was founded by a successful trader, Gio Paris to help other people make the most out of trading. Contact Information: Contact Person Name: Gio Paris Company: Vivid Capital Email: [email protected] Location: London, UK| Website: www.vividcapital.co.uk SOURCE: Vivid Capital LTD View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/600237/The-Proof-is-in-the-Predictions--Vivid-Capital-Goes-from-Strength-to-Strength-as-Users-Learn-to-Generate-Consistent-Profit-with-New-Forex-and-Cryptocurrency-Trading-Courses View comments || First Bitcoin Capital Corp Announces Majority Sale of Assets To Bots Inc: TEL AVIV, ISRAEL / ACCESSWIRE / July 10, 2020 / FIRST BITCOIN CAPITAL CORP (OTC PINK:BITCF) ("the Company") a prolific generator of more than 100 unique cryptocurrencies and developer of blockchain-powered technologies announced today that it consummated the sale of a majority of its digital and crypto assets and related technologies to Bots, Inc. BOTS, Inc. (OTC:BTZI) (GERMAN EXCHANGE: M06.SG), is Puerto Rico based, emerging innovator of products, technologies, and services for the rapidly growing digitized robotics industry. "Today's announcement is part of an on-going effort of First Bitcoin's management to maximize shareholder value which has been driven by our commitment to continue to fulfill our investors' expectations," said Simon Rubin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of First Bitcoin Capital Corp. "This major transaction aligns with BITCF's strategy to continue to grow our core businesses in an efficient manner." First Bitcoin and Bots, Inc. will now begin to enter into long-term service and project development agreements, providing reliable and cost-advantaged product development services for a wide variety projects. BTZI and BITCF's together have significant expertise and capabilities which will deliver operational efficiencies and opportunities for growth and profitability over time. First Bitcoin and Bots, Inc., are working closely to ensure a seamless transition. The Asset Purchase transaction was closed on May 14 th 2020 and included the following BITCF assets: Minority ownership in: - SinglePoint, Inc., -Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions, Inc., -Petroteq Energy, Inc., -Digital Asset Monetary Network, Inc., -Kronos Advanced Technologies, Inc., - Tipestry, Inc.; Subsidiaries owned by First Bitcoin Capital Corp., including but not limited to: CoinQx Exchange Limited, First Bitcoin Capital LLC., D'BOT Technology Corp.; Also included are Hundreds of domains previously owned by First Bitcoin Capital Corp.; $1,250,000 in face value Convertible Promissory Notes issued by Kronos Advanced Technologies to First Bitcoin Capital LLC.; Story continues US Patent 9,135,781 B1 Bitcoin Kiosk/ATM Device and System Integrating Enrollment Protocol and Method of Using the Same; US Patent Application 2018/0315072 A1: Method and System of Facilitating Management of Cryptocurrency Based Loyalty Points Associated With One or More of a Product and a Service; The majority of the inventory of more than 100 digital cryptocurrencies previously owned by First Bitcoin Capital Corp. In exchange for the acquisition of these assets, BOTS, Inc. issued 100,000,000 of its shares of common stock and 30,000,000 Series A Preferred stock to First Bitcoin Capital, with a pledge to issue an additional 60,000,000 shares of Series A Preferred upon reaching certain milestones. All Series A Preferred shares are to be retained by First Bitcoin Capital Corp. The 100,000,000 million shares of common stock are to be distributed to the shareholders of First Bitcoin Capital, where each shareholder shall receive 1 share of BTZI common stock for every 4 shares of First Bitcoin Capital stock owned with any remaining shares to be retained by First Bitcoin Capital Corp. upon a record date being set by First Bitcoin Capital Corp. As the largest shareholder of Bots Inc., First Bitcoin's management is expected to transition to Bots, Inc., in the immediate future. About BOTS, Inc. Headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico, BOTS, Inc. - publicly traded on the OTC Markets under the symbol (BTZI) and on Börse Stuttgart under ticker (M06.SG) - is a diversified company developing and servicing blockchain solutions and robotics for its clientele. The Company is committed to drive the innovations needed to shape the future of digital robotic automation management through digital technology and decentralized blockchain solutions. Management is dedicated to the strong growth of Distributed Asset Technology and Robotic Process Automation (RPA). Bots, Inc. has been featured in media nationwide, including CNBC, Bloomberg, TheStreet.com. For more information, visit www.bots.bz Visit us on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/Bots.Bz/ Follow us on Twitter @Bots_bz About First Bitcoin Capital Corp First Bitcoin Capital Corp ( BITCF ) is the largest shareholder of Bots, Inc. as a result of exchanging the majority of its assets therefor, but began developing digital currencies, proprietary blockchain technologies, and the digital currency exchange - www.CoinQX.com (in Beta) in early 2014. We saw this step as a tremendous opportunity to create further shareholder value by leveraging management's experience in developing and managing complex blockchain technologies and in developing new types of digital assets. Being the first publicly-traded cryptocurrency and blockchain-centered company, we provide our shareholders with diversified exposure to digital cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. The Company began developing its own blockchain and cryptocurrency called First Bitcoin (COIN:BIT) in 2016. Prior to transferring the majority of this asset to Bots, Inc., the Company updated the BIT wallet and added more functionality. Users are able to generate BIT through the processes of POW and POS mining. The First Bitcoin cryptocurrency has a current supply of 20,707,629,255 BIT. It is currently trading on LIVECOIN.net with its explorer at www.explorer.bitcf.net . https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/first-bitcoin/ Contact us via: [email protected] or visit www.firstbitcoin.io follow us on Twitter; @1stBitCapital follow us on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/first-bitcoin-capital-corp/ follow us on FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/BITCF/ Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors as may be disclosed in company's filings. In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, and governmental and public policy changes. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release. Such forward-looking statements are risks that are detailed in the Company's website and filings. SOURCE: First Bitcoin Capital Corp. View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/597012/First-Bitcoin-Capital-Corp-Announces-Majority-Sale-of-Assets-To-Bots-Inc
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: no change || Prices: 11584.93, 11784.14, 11768.87, 11865.70, 11892.80, 12254.40, 11991.23, 11758.28, 11878.37, 11592.49
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin is money, U.S. judge says in case tied to JPMorgan hack: By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin qualifies as money, a federal judge ruled on Monday, in a decision linked to a criminal case over hacking attacks against JPMorgan Chase & Co and other companies. U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan rejected a bid by Anthony Murgio to dismiss two charges related to his alleged operation of Coin.mx, which prosecutors have called an unlicensed bitcoin exchange. Murgio had argued that bitcoin did not qualify as "funds" under the federal law prohibiting the operation of unlicensed money transmitting businesses. But the judge, like her colleague Jed Rakoff in an unrelated 2014 case, said the virtual currency met that definition. "Bitcoins are funds within the plain meaning of that term," Nathan wrote. "Bitcoins can be accepted as a payment for goods and services or bought directly from an exchange with a bank account. They therefore function as pecuniary resources and are used as a medium of exchange and a means of payment." The decision did not address six other criminal counts that Murgio faces, Nathan wrote. Lawyers for Murgio did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Prosecutors last year charged Murgio over the operation of Coin.mx, and in April charged his father Michael with participating in bribery aimed at supporting it. Authorities have said Coin.mx was owned by Gery Shalon, an Israeli man who, along with two others, was charged with running a sprawling computer hacking and fraud scheme targeting a dozen companies, including JPMorgan, and exposing personal data of more than 100 million people. That alleged scheme generated hundreds of millions of dollars of profit through pumping up stock prices, online casinos, money laundering and other illegal activity, prosecutors have said. Shalon has pleaded not guilty, and is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. He hired new lawyers last month and is seeking permission to replace lawyers who joined the case in June, a Monday court filing showed. The case is U.S. v Murgio et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-cr-00769. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio) || Your first trade for Friday, September 16: The "Fast Money" traders shared their first moves for the market open.
Tim Seymour was a buyer of Nike(NYSE: NKE).
David Seaburg was a seller of Qualcomm(NASDAQ: QCOM).
Brian Kelly was a buyer of Disney(NYSE: DIS).
Steve Grasso was a buyer of Chesapeake Energy(NYSE: CHK).
Trader disclosure: On September 15, 2016, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders:Tim Seymour is long APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, DO, DVYE, EDC, EWZ, F, FB, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GRMN, GE, INTC, LQD, M, MCD, MPEL, NKE, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, UA, VALE, VZ, XOM. short: SPY, XRT; Tim's firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CBD, CLF, EWZ, F, HD, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, X, YHOO, short HYG, IWM, UAL. Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, CME, DXJ, GDX, KBE, SLV, TLT, VXX, XLF, XOP, US Dollar UUP; he is short EUR=, JPY=. Steve Grasso is long BA, CC, CHK, EVGN, KBH, MJNA, MON, MU, OLN, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, GDX Grasso's Kids Own EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY NO SHORTS Stuart Frankel & Co Inc. and some of its Partners have a financial interest in DVN, LDP, WDR, AVP, CVX, FCX, ICE, KDUS, KO, MAT, MCD, MJNA, NE, NEM, OLN, OXY, RIG, STAG, TAXI, TEX, TITXF, URI, VALE, WDR, WYNN, ZNGA, CUBA, HSPO, ICE, AMZN, MJNA, TITXF, NXTD, SPY, QQQ, DIA, XLI, BGCP, VIRT, JCP, GE, AIR FP.David Seaburg: Opinions expressed by David Seaburg are solely his own and do not reflect the views and opinions of Cowen Group, Inc. David Seaburg and Cowen have a financial interest in EDIT. Diamond Offshore: an employee of Cowen and Company, LLC serves on the Board of Directors of Diamond Offshore. EXPE, HZNP, VA – Not Approved.
More From CNBC
• Top News and Analysis
• Latest News Video
• Personal Finance || Indian bitcoin company raises $1.5 million from U.S., Indian investors: NEW YORK (Reuters) - Unocoin, a Bangalore-based bitcoin startup, has raised $1.5 million in funding from a mix of Indian and U.S. investors, the company announced on Thursday. The company, which runs a trading platform to buy, sell, and store bitcoins for Indian customers, said the money raised was the largest for an Indian bitcoin startup. Unocoin, which has 100,000 users and more than 30 employees, has been in operation since December 2013. Unocoin describes itself as the Coinbase of India. San Francisco-based Coinbase is the largest U.S. bitcoin company and runs an exchange and a wallet service, among other businesses. Funding came from Indian entities such as Blume Ventures, Mumbai Angels and ah! Ventures along with U.S. investors such as Digital Currency Group, Boost VC, Bank to the Future, and FundersClub. Digital Currency Group was founded by one of the top U.S. bitcoin investors Barry Silbert, while Boost VC is run by U.S.-based Adam Draper, the son of billionaire entrepreneur Tim Draper. "We needed a separate exchange for India. A few years ago when we wanted to buy bitcoin, there was nothing available in India," Sunny Ray, Unocoin's co-founder and president told Reuters in an interview. "So if you want to buy bitcoin from an international exchange, you will have to do a wire transfer from India to these international exchanges and get your bitcoin and oftentimes it takes three to five days." Unocoin raised about $200,000 in its first financing round. It started from a small hometown called Tumkur, near Bengaluru. Bitcoin, a digital currency, was trading at $604.50 (BTC=BTSP) on the Bitstamp platform. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) || Your first trade for Wednesday, October 19: The " Fast Money " traders gave their final trades of the day. Pete Najarian is a buyer of Citi (C). Tim Seymour is a buyer of Avon (AVP). Brian Kelly is a buyer of Chevron (CVX). Guy Adami is a buyer of SuperValu (SVU). Trader disclosure: On Tuesday, October 18 the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: PETE NAJARIAN is l ong AAPL, BAC, DIS, DISCA, GE, KMI, KMIA, KO, LUX, MRK, PEP, PFE CALLS: AAL, ABT, AMD, ATVI, BABA, BAC, BBY, BHI, BSX, CNX, COP, COTY, CRM, CS, CSCO, CXW, DAL, DISH, ECA, ETP, gm, GS, HAL, INTC, JBLU, JCP, KBE, KGC, KMI, KO, LLY, LOW, M, MOS, MRO, MRVL, MUR, NAV, NBR, P, RIO, SBUX, SLV, TMUS, TTS, TV, TWTR, VRX, WFT, WLL, XLF. Puts: CLF, EEM, MBLY, WFC Tim Seymour is long ABX, APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, DO, DVYE, EDC, EWZ, F, FB, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GE, INTC, LQD,MCD, MUR, OIH, PG, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, VALE, VZ, XOM. short: SPY, XRT; Tim's firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CBD, CLF, EWZ, F, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, X, YHOO, short EWG, HYG, IWM Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, SLV and Silver Futures, US Dollar UUP; he is short EUR=, JPY= Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Bitcoin is money, U.S. judge says in case tied to JPMorgan hack: (Adds comments from Murgio's lawyer)
By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Bitcoin qualifies as money, a federal judge ruled on Monday, in a decision linked to a criminal case over hacking attacks against JPMorgan Chase & Co and other companies.
U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan rejected a bid by Anthony Murgio to dismiss two charges related to his alleged operation of Coin.mx, which prosecutors have called an unlicensed bitcoin exchange.
Murgio had argued that bitcoin did not qualify as "funds" under the federal law prohibiting the operation of unlicensed money transmitting businesses.
But the judge, like her colleague Jed Rakoff in an unrelated 2014 case, said the virtual currency met that definition.
"Bitcoins are funds within the plain meaning of that term," Nathan wrote. "Bitcoins can be accepted as a payment for goods and services or bought directly from an exchange with a bank account. They therefore function as pecuniary resources and are used as a medium of exchange and a means of payment."
The decision did not address six other criminal counts that Murgio faces, Nathan wrote.
Brian Klein, a lawyer for Murgio, said he disagreed with the decision.
"Anthony Murgio maintains his innocence and looks forward to clearing his name at his upcoming trial," he added.
Prosecutors last year charged Murgio over the operation of Coin.mx, and in April charged his father Michael with participating in bribery aimed at supporting it.
Authorities have said Coin.mx was owned by Gery Shalon, an Israeli man who, along with two others, was charged with running a sprawling computer hacking and fraud scheme targeting a dozen companies, including JPMorgan, and exposing personal data of more than 100 million people.
That alleged scheme generated hundreds of millions of dollars of profit through pumping up stock prices, online casinos, money laundering and other illegal activity, prosecutors have said.
Shalon has pleaded not guilty, and is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. He hired new lawyers last month and is seeking permission to replace lawyers who joined the case in June, a Monday court filing showed.
The case is U.S. v Murgio et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-cr-00769.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio and Diane Craft) || Traders weigh chasing Microsoft rally after stock passes all-time high in late trading: The " Fast Money " traders debated whether it's worth chasing the rally in Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) after the company posted an earnings beat driven by continued growth in its cloud business . The stock climbed above its 1999 all-time high of $59.97 in extended trade. Trader Brian Kelly said he would not chase the rally in Microsoft, but would be interested in it on a pullback. "Everything that these guys said is exactly what everybody in this market now wants. There's very few stocks out there that have this type of growth, that have a dividend, that have a strong management team ... so Microsoft is going to attract a lot of investment money," Kelly said. Trader Karen Finerman agreed, but added that Microsoft's current valuation about a 27 price-to-earnings ratio on a trailing basis is much more appetizing than it was 17 years ago. Trader Dan Nathan said that a large portion of Microsoft's revenue still comes from its legacy businesses and that the current valuation is still too rich. He said there's a risk that the growth of the cloud business could slow down. Trader Tim Seymour disagreed, saying that Microsoft could still increase margins and market share. Disclosures: KAREN FINERMAN Karen Finerman is long AAL, BAC, C, DAL, long DB calls, FB, FL, GOGO, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, KORS calls, KORS puts, M, MA, SEDG, SPY puts, UAL, URI, WIFI long call spreads. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, C calls, FB, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, PLCE, SPY puts, URI, WIFI. Her firm is short IWM, MDY. Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International. DAN NATHAN Dan Nathan is TWTR long, PYPL long Oct calls, XHB long Jan put spread, XLU long Dec call Spread, XLK long Jan put spread, XRT long Jan put spread, PG long Dec put spread, EEM long Nov put spread. BRIAN KELLY Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, SLV and Silver Futures, US Dollar UUP. He is short the euro and Japanese yen. TIM SEYMOUR Story continues Tim Seymour is long ABX, APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, DO, DVYE, EDC, EWZ, F, FB, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GE, INTC, LQD,MCD, MUR, OIH, PG, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, VALE, VZ, XOM. short: SPY, XRT. His firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CBD, CLF, EWZ, F, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, X, YHOO, short EWG, HYG, IWM More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Indian bitcoin company raises $1.5 million from U.S., Indian investors: NEW YORK (Reuters) - Unocoin, a Bangalore-based bitcoin startup, has raised $1.5 million in funding from a mix of Indian and U.S. investors, the company announced on Thursday. The company, which runs a trading platform to buy, sell, and store bitcoins for Indian customers, said the money raised was the largest for an Indian bitcoin startup. Unocoin, which has 100,000 users and more than 30 employees, has been in operation since December 2013. Unocoin describes itself as the Coinbase of India. San Francisco-based Coinbase is the largest U.S. bitcoin company and runs an exchange and a wallet service, among other businesses. Funding came from Indian entities such as Blume Ventures, Mumbai Angels and ah! Ventures along with U.S. investors such as Digital Currency Group, Boost VC, Bank to the Future, and FundersClub. Digital Currency Group was founded by one of the top U.S. bitcoin investors Barry Silbert, while Boost VC is run by U.S.-based Adam Draper, the son of billionaire entrepreneur Tim Draper. "We needed a separate exchange for India. A few years ago when we wanted to buy bitcoin, there was nothing available in India," Sunny Ray, Unocoin's co-founder and president told Reuters in an interview. "So if you want to buy bitcoin from an international exchange, you will have to do a wire transfer from India to these international exchanges and get your bitcoin and oftentimes it takes three to five days." Unocoin raised about $200,000 in its first financing round. It started from a small hometown called Tumkur, near Bengaluru. Bitcoin, a digital currency, was trading at $604.50 on the Bitstamp platform. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) || Traders weigh chasing Microsoft rally after stock passes all-time high in late trading: The "Fast Money" traders debated whether it's worth chasing the rally in Microsoft(NASDAQ: MSFT)after the company posted anearnings beat driven by continued growth in its cloud business.
The stock climbed above its 1999 all-time high of $59.97 in extended trade.
Trader Brian Kelly said he would not chase the rally in Microsoft, but would be interested in it on a pullback.
"Everything that these guys said is exactly what everybody in this market now wants. There's very few stocks out there that have this type of growth, that have a dividend, that have a strong management team ... so Microsoft is going to attract a lot of investment money," Kelly said.
Trader Karen Finerman agreed, but added that Microsoft's current valuation — about a 27 price-to-earnings ratio on a trailing basis — is much more appetizing than it was 17 years ago.
Trader Dan Nathan said that a large portion of Microsoft's revenue still comes from its legacy businesses and that the current valuation is still too rich. He said there's a risk that the growth of the cloud business could slow down.
Trader Tim Seymour disagreed, saying that Microsoft could still increase margins and market share.
Disclosures:
KAREN FINERMAN
Karen Finerman is long AAL, BAC, C, DAL, long DB calls, FB, FL, GOGO, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, KORS calls, KORS puts, M, MA, SEDG, SPY puts, UAL, URI, WIFI long call spreads. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, C calls, FB, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, PLCE, SPY puts, URI, WIFI. Her firm is short IWM, MDY. Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International.
DAN NATHAN
Dan Nathan is TWTR long, PYPL long Oct calls, XHB long Jan put spread, XLU long Dec call Spread, XLK long Jan put spread, XRT long Jan put spread, PG long Dec put spread, EEM long Nov put spread.
BRIAN KELLY
Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, SLV and Silver Futures, US Dollar UUP. He is short the euro and Japanese yen.
TIM SEYMOUR
Tim Seymour is long ABX, APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, DO, DVYE, EDC, EWZ, F, FB, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GE, INTC, LQD,MCD, MUR, OIH, PG, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, VALE, VZ, XOM. short: SPY, XRT. His firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CBD, CLF, EWZ, F, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, X, YHOO, short EWG, HYG, IWM
More From CNBC
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• Personal Finance || At your service: cyber criminals for hire to militants, EU says: THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Cybercriminals offering contract services for hire offer militant groups the means to attack Europe but such groups have yet to employ such techniques in major attacks, EU police agency Europol said on Wednesday. "There is currently little evidence to suggest that their cyber-attack capability extends beyond common website defacement," it said in its annual cybercrime threat assessment in a year marked by Islamic State violence in Europe. But the internet's criminal shadow the Darknet had potential to be exploited by militants taking advantage of computer experts offering "crime as a service", Europol added: "The availability of cybercrime tools and services, and illicit commodities (including firearms) on the Darknet, provide ample opportunities for this situation to change." Overall, the report found, existing trends in cybercrime continued to grow, with some of the European Union's member states reporting more cyber crimes than the traditional variety. "Europol is concerned about how an expanding cybercriminal community has been able to further exploit our increasing dependence on technology and the internet," its director, Rob Wainwright, said in a statement. "We have also seen a marked shift in cyber-facilitated activities relating to trafficking in human beings, terrorism and other threats." "Ransomware" - programmes which break into databases and demand payment for unlocking codes via virtual currencies such as Bitcoin - continued to expand as a problem, as did highly targeted "phishing" attacks to extract security data from senior figures - "CEO fraud" - and video streaming of child abuse. Attacks on bank cash-machine networks were also increasing, the report found, as were frauds exploiting new contactless payment card transactions, while traditional scams involving the physical presence of a card had been successfully reduced. (Reporting by Alastair Macdonald in Brussels; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) || Bitcoin is money, U.S. judge says in case tied to JPMorgan hack: By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin qualifies as money, a federal judge ruled on Monday, in a decision linked to a criminal case over hacking attacks against JPMorgan Chase & Co and other companies. U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan rejected a bid by Anthony Murgio to dismiss two charges related to his alleged operation of Coin.mx, which prosecutors have called an unlicensed bitcoin exchange. Murgio had argued that bitcoin did not qualify as "funds" under the federal law prohibiting the operation of unlicensed money transmitting businesses. But the judge, like her colleague Jed Rakoff in an unrelated 2014 case, said the virtual currency met that definition. "Bitcoins are funds within the plain meaning of that term," Nathan wrote. "Bitcoins can be accepted as a payment for goods and services or bought directly from an exchange with a bank account. They therefore function as pecuniary resources and are used as a medium of exchange and a means of payment." The decision did not address six other criminal counts that Murgio faces, Nathan wrote. Brian Klein, a lawyer for Murgio, said he disagreed with the decision. "Anthony Murgio maintains his innocence and looks forward to clearing his name at his upcoming trial," he added. Prosecutors last year charged Murgio over the operation of Coin.mx, and in April charged his father Michael with participating in bribery aimed at supporting it. Authorities have said Coin.mx was owned by Gery Shalon, an Israeli man who, along with two others, was charged with running a sprawling computer hacking and fraud scheme targeting a dozen companies, including JPMorgan, and exposing personal data of more than 100 million people. That alleged scheme generated hundreds of millions of dollars of profit through pumping up stock prices, online casinos, money laundering and other illegal activity, prosecutors have said. Shalon has pleaded not guilty, and is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. He hired new lawyers last month and is seeking permission to replace lawyers who joined the case in June, a Monday court filing showed. The case is U.S. v Murgio et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-cr-00769. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio and Diane Craft)
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Current value of DOGE in BTC: Vircurex: 0.00000031 -- Volume: 14580.4 Today's trend: stable at 11/08/16 07:00 || 1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$603.88/$605.03 #Bitstamp
$601.03/$601.99 #BTCe
⇢$-4.00/$-1.89
$602.93/$609.00 #Coinbase
⇢$-2.10/$5.12 || $709.34 #bitfinex;
$717.50 #quoine;
$710.98 #GDAX;
$696.00 #btce;
$702.77 #bitstamp;
$708.46 #itBit;
#bitcoin news: http://bit.ly/1VI6Yse || #bitcoin #miner ANTMINER S4 2TH BITCOIN Miner Internal Power Supply. REDUCED! $200.00 http://ift.tt/2cUcVnl pic.twitter.com/1n1tfYFxCR || #DigitalNote #XDN $0.000169 (3.15%) 0.00000024 BTC (4.00%) || Bitcoin Mais | Ganhe R$ 7.000,00 Por Mês | Prova De Saque http://bitcoin.trendolizer.com/2016/11/bitcoin-mais-ganhe-r-700000-por-mes-prova-de-saque.html …pic.twitter.com/BUOVTTbdS1 || 1 EGC Price: Bittrex 0.00004640 BTC YoBit 0.00004003 BTC #EGC #EverGreenCoin #GreenThatsGreen 2016-09-28 17:00 (EST) pic.twitter.com/l1AVusgOxz || 1 EGC Price: Bittrex 0.00003660 BTC YoBit 0.00003315 BTC #EGC #EverGreenCoin #GreenThatsGreen 2016-10-29 09:00 (EST) pic.twitter.com/uJR1wBLwUV || #bitcoinnews #bitcoin #bitcoinews #bitcoinblogDie Börse in Luxemburg nutzt die… http://dlvr.it/MVfPwl #bitcoins #bitnews #bitcointalk || #ChainCoin #CHC $0.000073 (-0.05%) 0.00000012 BTC (-0.00%)
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Trend: up || Prices: 705.05, 702.03, 705.02, 711.62, 744.20, 740.98, 751.59, 751.62, 731.03, 739.25
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Trading Bitcoin Binary Options: Bitcoin. This may be something you wish you knew more about. You may have heard about trading Bitcoin and wondered how you could do it. It may seem unreal since it does not involve anything tangible. A visit to the web page informs the visitor, Bitcoin is an innovative payment network and a new kind of money. It further notifies the public, Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority or banks; managing transactions and the issuing of bitcoins is carried out collectively by the network. Bitcoin is open-source; its design is public, nobody owns or controls Bitcoin and everyone can take part. Through many of its unique properties, Bitcoin allows exciting uses that could not be covered by any previous payment system. Bitcoin was invented in 2008. In early 2010, each Bitcoin was worth only $0.04. Just last week, on October 29, it was reported that Bitcoin was trading above $314, near the highest since December 2014. This rise in price was thought to be related to the Fed statement that had been released the day before, but also strongly tied to China easing which appears to go straight to Bitcoin. Today, reported Bitcoin trading at more than $410, a price jump of more than 70 percent in one month. According to an article on , after the price jump, there was a massive sell off causing the digital currency to drop by nearly $50. This article attributes the volatility to the influx of new Chinese buyers who have caused this surge in order to bypass Chinas tightened capital controls. As you can see from the news reports above, Bitcoin can be insanely volatile. It can move 40 percent in one day. In checking current charts, Bitcoin has rebounded and is currently trading around $470. In order to illustrate different ways Bitcoin can be traded, lets look at how Bitcoin was trading on October 29. Look at the chart below. To view a larger image, click HERE. 283s_image4.png This is a Nadex Bitcoin daily chart, which can be accessed from their trading platform. You can see that Bitcoin has surged up through 314. There was some long-term resistance at 314. The market had tested that level in January, February, June and July before breaking through on October 29. When this happens, you can usually expect that it will meet a little more resistance and then pullback. Story continues There are a couple of different ways you can play this. You could expect it to expire below the high of the day at 319. If so, you could check out available strikes that you could sell. When you check for a contract, sometimes there may not be many contracts left, because of the surge in the market. Nadex offers bitcoin binary options with 21 strike prices for the 3:00 PM ET daily expiration, except on Fridays, which lists 15 strike levels. The interval width between each strike level is 1.5. The next image shows the different strike prices that were available at the time. When you look for the sell strike, you see that there is a 315.5 available for around $21. Choosing this trade would allow you to make a little bit of premium if you wanted to go short. To view a larger image, click HERE. 283s_image3.png If you believe the market will stay above 314, you can look at buying a contract. Again, checking the strike prices, there is one available at 314 for about 65, with the profit potential of $35. For October 29, it appears that 314 is the magic number, the resistance level right now. By knowing this information, you can have a better understanding of the expectations of the market. Here is another image taken a short time after the other image, which showed strike prices. You may notice that both the buy and sell prices have increased as has the indicative index. To view a larger image, click HERE. 283s_image2.png However, for this example, with the strike 314 at 70.75, it is $0.76 above the strike. There is a high expectation of the market staying above 314. Remember, the first chart was a daily chart. For a better analysis on either of these trades, it would be wise to look at a smaller time frame chart in order to see what you could actually do. When you look at a five-minute chart, it shows how the market popped up and then promptly turned around and went down. Here is a five-minute chart: To view a larger image, click HERE. 283s_image5.png Further analysis using the five-minute chart shows that if there was a shark in the waters and they wanted to push the market a little farther, it is possible they could have caused the big green bar that broke through the 314 resistance. The next green bars are other traders coming in thinking there is a big rally. Take note here, all of a sudden at the short red bar, they start getting rid of their trades. Next, they dump off the rest and everybody bails. This is how it usually goes in trading. This is how you learn to follow the sharks without getting eaten by them and staying out of their way. The sharks will go in, pump up the market and then sell it off. You get your one warning shot, the short red bar, and then BAM! It is over. With any trade, but especially one with high volatility, make sure that you define your risk when you trade. Risk management is essential to being a profitable trader. To further your trading education, visit , a service of Darrell Martin. See more from Benzinga An Evening For A Scheduled News Trade With The USD/CHF Reports Of The Aussies Employed And Unemployed Provide After Work Trade Opportunity For US Record Highs Reported By Nadex For Three Consecutive Quarters © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || As California's Drought Drags On, Winners And Losers Emerge: California's severe drought is dragging through its fourth year, leaving the state to continue finding ways to cut back on water usage.
Many of California's biggest businesses have been hard hit by the shortage, but other firms are using the crisis as an opportunity.
Agriculture
Water usage in agriculture is essential, so regulations cutting back on the amount farmers can use each day have been detrimental to the industry. This is especially true for poultry processors who use gallons of water to sanitize and clean each chicken. California's poultry farms process about 3 percent of the U.S. total, adding up to a great deal of water use.
Related Link:California Drought Stocks To Look At
Organics Suffer
Farms throughout California have been required toreduce their water useby 25 percent and cut back on outdoor watering – something that has taken a toll on the state's crops, especially those that are organic.
As organic crops are typically more difficult to grow and require more resources, prices have risen to cope with smaller yields in the wake of the shortage.
However, for companies likeMonsanto Company(NYSE:MON),E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co(NYSE:DD) andSyngenta AG (ADR)(NYSE:SYT), the drought has had the opposite effect. The shortage of water has created a demand for seeds that have been genetically modified to increase crop yields and reduce costs for farmers.
Cutting Back Is A Big Business
California residents have also been subjected to strict water usage limits, making everyday tasks like watering their lawns or even showering more complicated.
However, businesses who help track and cut down on water consumption have seen a boost in sales, as meters are installed and efficient usage gadgets are put to use.Mueller Water Products, Inc.(NYSE:MWA), a company that makes water meters, andRexnord Corp(NYSE:RXN), which focuses on efficient plumbing systems, are both expecting the drought to boost sales and increase their bottom lines.
Image Credit:Public Domain
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© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Pot Resort To Open Fully Booked On New Year's Eve: In September, the Santee Sioux tribe of South Dakota announced that it was embracing new laws that allow Native American Tribes to sell and consume marijuana on their reservations by opening a marijuana-themed resort. The tribe outlined plans to create the ultimate "adult playground" where people could come to relax and enjoy marijuana in public spaces without fear of being prosecuted. Now, the Tribe's lawyers say that reservations for the resort's opening night are flying in, and that the establishment will likely open its doors for the first time to a sold out weekend. See Also: Relax And Get High New Year's Eve Opening The marijuana resort is slated to open on New Year's Eve, providing the perfect atmosphere for partygoers who are interested in making cannabis a part of their 2016 celebrations. The venue will feature dance clubs and a dedicated smoking lounge where around 30 different strains of cannabis will be on offer. The tribe's attorney Seth Pearman said the resort has already booked in rooms for 100 people as interest continues to grow. Tribal Revenue Much like casinos, many Native American tribes are hoping to bring in revenue from marijuana sales as laws allow them to sell and use the drug even if the state they reside in has classed it as illegal. For the Santee Sioux tribe, that has opened the door for a revolutionary idea to create the world's first cannabis resort. However, the venture comes with its own risks as the marijuana industry is still under the microscope. For one, the tribe will have to ensure that marijuana isn't taken off the reservation and that visitors aren't buying too much of the stuff. However, for the tribe, which has struggled to stay afloat financially, the estimated $2 million per month the resort is forecast to bring in is well worth it. See more from Benzinga Bitcoin Takes A Hit In Australia Small Businesses Turn To Online Lenders As California's Drought Drags On, Winners And Losers Emerge © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Your Old Credit Card’s Now Obsolete. Now What?: (Rob Pegoraro/Yahoo Tech)
Something weird has been happening to our wallets: Computers have invaded them, one credit card at a time.
This overdue migration from cards with magnetic stripes on the back to “EMV” cards that add a tiny computer chip on the front reached a semi-important point Thursday: the “liability shift,” a rebalancing of powers between card issuers and merchants in the U.S. that may change who eats the cost of a bogus transaction.
For most of us, Liability Shift Day should be the most boring holiday ever. Only a minority of debit and credit cards have EMV chips (“EMV” stands for“Europay, MasterCard and Visa,” the three parents of the system), and the share ofretailers taking chip paymentsis even smaller.
But over time, things will change. Here’s how:
How exactly do I pay with a chip?
Instead of swiping a card with that satisfying flick of the wrist, you pop the card into a slot in a card terminal. Then you leave it there as the chip generates a one-time code (like the three- or four-digit number on your card for online purchases), the terminal processes the transaction, and you sign to complete it.
In my experience, that takes a few seconds longer than a mag-stripe card—assuming the stripe was able to read on the first try, which we all know doesn’t always happen.
Where can I pay with the chip?
Your chip transactions may be confined to major merchants like Walmart, Home Depot, and Target. It’s not enough to see a “point of sale” terminal with an EMV slot; that part may be inactive.
For example, my neighborhood’s Whole Foods accepts Apple Pay and other phone payments but not EMV. Spokesman Michael Silverman said the chain plans to fix that across its stores… by the end of 2016.
A complete upgrade across U.S. retail will take longer. On a conference call Wednesday, Visa vice president Stephanie Ericksen said 314,000 establishments take chip payments, up from 55,000 last September—but that’s out of a total of maybe 6 million to 8 million.
How do I get EMV versions of my cards?
If you haven’t already been issued chipped versions of your cards—those in my wallet reached that blessed statein July—you’ll have to ask your issuer what the holdup is.
While you wait, you might as well use that time to shop around and see if you can switch to a card withbetter cash-back or travel rewards.
Will chip cards stop data breaches?
Sorry, no. With EMV, your card number and expiration date still get sent in the clear to the store and beyond. If somebody hacks the terminal or the software upstream, they can still go to town with your card.
“It does not take care of making sure that the data is protected as it travels through the various layers of payment systems,” explained Erik Vlugt, a vice president at the payment-processing firmVeriFone.
EMV cards also remain usable if lost or stolen unless they’re further secured with a PIN. That’s common with European but not U.S. cards. (More on that later.)
So what security problem does EMV actually solve?
Chip cards can’t be cloned the way stripe cards can. Counterfeiting is a huge problem, accounting for37 percent of all U.S. credit-card fraud in 2014—second only after “card not present” theft staged online or over the phone, according to the research firmAite Group.
Crooks have had a clear economic incentive to clone cards, security researcher Brian Krebs noted ina 2014 explainer: A counterfeiter “walks into a big box store and walks out with high-priced electronics or gift cards that he can easily turn into cash.”
Who pays with the liability shift?
Definitely not you — just like today, fraud isn’t your problem as long as you report it. But merchants can pay more, subject to various rules. AsNational Retail Federationgeneral counsel Mallory Duncan summed up in an e-mail: “Whomever has the more evolved equipment (in a counterfeit situation) wins.”
That is, if the bank issued a chip card, the crook shows up with a counterfeit version of it, and the merchant doesn’t process chip transactions, the merchant is liable to eat the cost. But it can get complicated: “There are scenarios where both parties accept a certain percentage of the responsibility,” MasterCard product-delivery head Carolyn Balfany said over e-mail.
Note, too, that retailers already pay for some fraudulent transactions, as you can see inVisa’s “chargeback” rules. In turn, all of us pay in the form of slightly higher prices, same as we collectively pay for the“shrinkage”of shoplifting and employee theft.
What if a store doesn’t take EMV?
Good luck judging a store’s security, although some modern payment gadgets likeSquare’s card readersdo encrypt card numbers automatically.
If you can use your phone to pay for things, do it. Apple Pay and Android Pay do“tokenization,”meaning they generate a new card number for each transaction. Or you could pay with cash,Bitcoin,bartered chickens, or any other mutually agreeable medium of value.
What about chip-and-PIN?
You may have read that chip-and-PIN cards are more secure because you have to type a number matching the one stored on the chip. But that’s not why they exist: When EMV cards arrived in Europe, many establishments didn’t have online access to verify transactions with issuers and so needed authentication that worked offline.
U.S. banks have avoided PIN because, hey, who wants to remember another number? (A few months ago, Underwriters Laboratories innovations director Maarten Bron said he’d seentoo many chip-and-PIN holders write down their PIN on the back of their cards.)
International travelers have complained that signature EMV cards don’t work at kiosks in Europe. Visa’s rules now require those unattended terminals to waive the PIN; it says that in a recent test across five EU states,90 percent of signature-card transactions worked.
So how do we stop online fraud?
Payment-processing systems can ensure they have nothing worth stealing by not keeping card numbers intact—what Visa calls “devaluing” that data.
In that respect, the slow adoption of EMV security could give lagging merchants a chance to jump to an Apple Pay level of security. SaidPCI Security Standards Councilchief technology office Troy Leach: “We’re hoping that they buy the next generation of security, which is encryption and tokenization.”
I hope he’s right. But I won’t be too surprised if five years from now, a shop with connectivity issues still has to dust off a“knuckle buster”card imprinter to take my payment on a slip of carbon paper.
[email protected]; follow him on Twitter at@robpegoraro. || New York exchange itBit says won 5 blocks of U.S. bitcoin auction: (Adds details, paragraph on Genesis Trading which did not win this auction, bitcoin price, byline) By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK, Nov 9 (Reuters) - New York-based bitcoin exchange itBit said on Monday it won five blocks of the digital currency at last week's auction conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service. The bid by itBit was organized on behalf of a syndicate of the exchange's and over-the-counter trading clients, said Bobby Cho, director of trading at itBit, in an email to Reuters. The five blocks of the virtual currency may have added up to at least 10,000 bitcoins. Cho declined to make further comments. Last week's auction included 21 blocks of 2,000 bitcoins and one block of over 2,341. The U.S. government on Thursday held its final auction of bitcoins seized during the prosecution of the creator of Silk Road, an online black market where the virtual currency could be used to buy illegal drugs and other goods. It auctioned 44,341 bitcoins last week. When contacted for comment, the U.S. Marshals Service said it was not anticipating further announcements on Monday. itBit also won part of the U.S. government's auction in March, nabbing 3,000 of the 50,000 bitcoins auctioned. In May, itBit became the first virtual currency company to receive a charter to operate as a trust company in the state of New York. Meanwhile, Genesis Global Trading, a unit of Digital Currency Group founded by prominent bitcoin investor Barry Silbert, was informed by the U.S. Marshals Service that the company did not win any of the blocks up for auction, the company's chief executive officer, Brendan O'Connor, said in an email to Reuters on Monday. In late trading on Monday, bitcoin was trading up 1.8 percent on the day at $379.27 on the BitStamp platform. That put the value of the 44,341 bitcoins auctioned at about $16.8 million. Bitcoins are used as a vehicle for moving money around the world quickly and anonymously via the Web without the need for third-party verification. Last Thursday's auction drew just 11 registered bidders and 30 bids, a decline from the March sale, which attracted 34 bids from 14 registered bidders. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Additional reporting by Nate Raymond; Editing by Diane Craft and Jonathan Oatis) || Bitcoin Gains Deeper Foothold In Latin America Through MercadoLibre: Latin America's version ofeBay Inc(NASDAQ:EBAY), MercadoLibre, hasannouncedthat it will be integrating bitcoin payments into its services. The move represents a big win for the cryptocurrency community, which has long promoted bitcoin usage in regions like Latin America where a large percentage of the population are still unbanked.
Bitcoin Improves Service
MercadoLibre sent anemail notificationto users announcing its plans to integrate bitcoin and saying that the decision will give merchants a wider reach and customers more options. The site is planning to make bitcoin integration subtle and said that merchants won't see much change to their user experience other than a note in their transaction history saying which payments were made via digital currencies.
Related Link: Charlie Shrem Weighs In On Bitcoin From His Prison Cell
Not Quite Yet
While MercadoLibre has announced its plans, it is still unclear how the rollout will take place. The site currently serves 13 Latin American countries and it is unknown how many will receive a bitcoin option. The site will also have to deal with the changing regulations regarding bitcoin payments as the cryptocurrency evolves and spreads across the globe.
Latin American Potential
Bitcoin has long been touted as a good option for countries where much of the population has limited access to banking facilities. Bitcoin has also proven to be a viable alternative for those living in a country where the currency is prone to volatility. For that reason, many believe that bitcoin's expansion into Latin America is an important step forward. However, the cryptocurrency is likely to face some obstacles there as well since over half of the population doesn't have access to the Internet.
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© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Banks expected to adopt new technologies rather than be overrun: NEW YORK (Reuters) - New technology firms are battering all kinds of companies, but banks will remain as financial intermediaries, due to the regulations and duties governments have put on them, says a proponent of the technology behind the bitcoin cryptocurrency. "Regulation keeps them in place. Regulation requires them to perform certain functions," said Mark Smith, chief executive of Symbiont.io, a startup that has emerged from Bitcoin 2.0 and MathMoney f(x) Inc to build a securities trading platform using blockchain technology like that behind bitcoin. Smith predicted that big banks, such as JPMorgan Chase & Co, would adopt new technologies to cut costs for back offices that process loans and match buyers and sellers of securities. "A massive amount of infrastructure just goes away," said Smith, who was speaking on Thursday in a panel discussion held by Thomson Reuters on innovation and disruption in financial services. New competitors are coming into banking from Silicon Valley, JPMorgan's chief executive, Jamie Dimon, warned bank shareholders this year. But he also said JPMorgan had much to learn from them and might enter partnerships with some. JPMorgan worked with Apple Inc on last year's launch of the Apple Pay application for making credit and debit card payments with smartphones. Last month the bank said it would also operate a rival digital wallet called Chase Pay. Later, Smith said his firm expected to sell tools to big banks for securities trading by customers. "We are a disrupter and an enabler as well," he added. Another panel member, Sam Shrauger, senior vice president of digital solutions at card and payments company Visa Inc, said that while cash and paper check transactions give way to electronic messages, "that's not going to change the overarching way that we move money." (Reporting by David Henry in New York; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) || New York regulator issues license to Winkelvoss bitcoin venture: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gemini Trust Company, founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, has been granted a license to operate as a chartered limited liability trust company by the New York State Department of Financial Services, the state regulator announced on Monday. Under the charter, Gemini will operate a bitcoin exchange and will officially open for trading on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. (1330 GMT)) serving both individual and institutional customers, Gemimi said in a separate statement on Monday. Bitcoin is a virtual currency bought and sold on a peer-to-peer network independent of central control. "In New York, we are continuing to move forward on licensing and chartering virtual currency firms," said Anthony J. Albanese, acting superintendent of Financial Services. "Smart, targeted regulation that helps protect consumers and prevent illicit activity is vital to the long-term future of this industry." Gemini is the first licensed crypto currency business for the Winklevoss brothers, best known for accusing Facebook Inc founder Mark Zuckerberg of stealing their idea. "Our focus right now is operating a spot bitcoin exchange. In many ways, we're not really re-inventing the wheel," said Gemini chief executive Tyler Winklevoss told Reuters in August. The Winklevoss brothers filed an application to operate as a trust company with the New York's banking regulator in July. A trust company is a type of financial institution technically different from a bank, analysts said. Under New York banking law, a trust company has all the powers of a bank to take deposits and make loans, alongside certain fiduciary powers such as acting as an agent for government bodies. As a limited liability trust company, Gemini will maintain significant capital reserves consistent with that of a premier fiduciary business, the company said. Gemini added that it will hold in custody all bitcoin deposits, the majority of which will be held in its offline, multi-signature, geographically distributed cold storage system. Story continues Gemini said all fiat currency such as U.S. dollars transferred to Gemini will be deposited in a New York state chartered bank, headquartered in midtown Manhattan, and eligible for Federal Deposit Insurance Corp insurance, subject to applicable limitations. It did not name the bank. Bitcoin's value has been highly volatile, having peaked at over $1,200 in late 2013 before crashing after the collapse of the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange. One bitcoin is currently worth around $238.17 on the BitStamp platform. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss Editing by W Simon) || NatGas Investing Not For Faint Of Heart: Commodities have been doing horribly; that's not news to anyone. But in a space where prices have continually sunk to new lows across the board, one commodity has managed to outdo them all―natural gas. The worst-performing commodity of the year, natural gas, is down 30 percent in 2015. Due to the ill effects of roll costs from contango, the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG | B-94) has done even worse, losing 35 percent of its value. At the same time, equities tied to natural gas have been decimated year-to-date, with the First Trust ISE-Revere Natural Gas ETF (FCG | B-95) losing a whopping 46 percent. YTD Returns For Natural Gas Futures, UNG, FCG Unrelenting Production Growth The problem for natural gas is simply that the country has too much of it. Despite the fact that prices are close to the lowest levels in more than a decade below $2/mmbtu, production hasn't flinched. According to the latest data from the Energy Information Administration, output in the U.S. stood at a near-record 81.7 billion cubic feet/day as of last week, up 3 percent from a year ago. U.S. Lower 48 Natural Gas Production (bcf/d) To many, that statistic is confounding. Drilling activity in the energy patch collapsed during the past year due to the simultaneous decline in oil and natural gas prices. Surely that would impact production. At least for oil, it is having an impact. Output of crude in the U.S. is down more than 5 percent from its peak levels. For natural gas, the story is obviously very different. Large natural gas producers like Range Resources and Southwestern Energy continue to report all-time-high production levels, while calling for more growth in the future. The only takeaway is that the marginal cost of natural gas production is much lower than anyone had imagined. Demand Disappoints On the other side of equation is demand, and it's been somewhat disappointing. Industrial demand is actually down marginally this year in spite of the growing economy. Story continues On the other hand, electric power demand has surged, rising nearly 20 percent year-over-year through July. However, the increase is a reflection of significant amounts of coal-to-gas switching and not something that will be repeated year after year. Because natural gas prices are currently so low, when possible, utilities have switched from burning coal to burning gas. The move has decimated the coal industry, which simply can't compete with relatively clean and abundant natural gas. The largest coal producers in the U.S., such as Peabody Energy and Arch Coal, are all on the verge of bankruptcy, with stock prices close to zero. (Incidentally, the two ETFs tied to the coal industry have held up better than one might expect thanks to their international exposure. The Market Vectors Coal ETF (KOL | C-5) , which holds coal producers from around the world, is down only 41 percent this year, while the GreenHaven Coal ETF (TONS | F) , which holds European coal futures contracts, is down 17.3 percent.) YTD Returns For BTU, ACI, KOL, TONS Most of the short-term switching that can be done from coal to gas has already been done. Going forward, natural gas will likely continue to take market share from coal, but at a slower pace. Inventories Bloated The combination of robust supply and a mixed demand picture has kept upside pressure on natural gas inventories. As of last week, stockpiles stood at 3,814 billion cubic feet, 12 percent higher than last year. From a seasonal perspective, inventories tend to peak around early November before steadily declining through March as the winter-heating season boosts demand. However, with weather forecasts calling for warmer-than-normal temperatures for the next couple of weeks, inventory builds could continue for a while longer. It's very likely that in the coming weeks, stockpiles will surpass the record-high of 3,929 bcf set in 2012. Long-Term Exports & Demand Given this dismal outlook for natural gas, is there any hope of a turnaround in the future? Probably not in the short term. Longer term, it's possible, but that hinges on a few factors. Any recovery will have to come from the demand side, because it certainly doesn't look like supply will be slowing down anytime soon. The biggest area of potential gains is in the electric power segment and the liquid-natural-gas export segment. As stated previously, increases in demand for power generation will be smaller than they were this year, but that's a steady source of growth that is likely to continue as utilities transition from dirty coal toward cleaner natural gas. Meanwhile, the U.S. market may get some supply relief as other countries take some of this abundant resource off its hands. In January, Cheniere Energy plans to ship its first cargoes of liquefied natural gas, kicking off a new era of U.S. natural gas exports. This is a sharp reversal from years past when the U.S. was a net importer of the fuel. From current levels around zero, exports may rise to 8.5 billion cubic feet per day by 2019, according to Charles Blanchard, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. That represents about 10 percent of current production, and in combination with demand gains in the power sector, could be enough to fuel a meaningful rebound in prices. Playing The Bounce If that happens, natural gas equities will surely follow suit―though it could take a few years for this bullish scenario to develop. The aforementioned FCG, an equal-weighted exchange-traded fund comprising natural gas producers, is the best pure-play ETF on the market. With a basket of equities, an investor doesn't have to contend with the hazards of holding futures, which will take a big bite out of an ETF’s returns like UNG over longer time periods. FCG could certainly decline further from here―it's been a falling knife until now. In a worst-case scenario, the natural gas market could remain mired at low levels for years, as it did in the 1990s. That's the risk an investor has to contend with. But buying into one of the most hated commodities in the market is a high-risk/high-reward bet, best suited for only the most daring investors. Contact Sumit Roy at [email protected] . Recommended Stories High MLP Yields Depend On Oil 2016 Oil: What's In Store? Gundlach: Sell Junk Bonds, Buy India Bitcoin Rally Benefiting ETFs NatGas Investing Not For Faint Of Heart Permalink | © Copyright 2015 ETF.com. All rights reserved || MarilynJean Interactive (OTCQB: MJMI) Sets Its Sights on $24B Philippines Remittance Market: HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / October 12, 2015 / MarilynJean Interactive ( MJMI ) today announced it has entered into advanced discussions with a provider of Bitcoin-based remittance services. The potential remittance partner is a fully licensed money services business on the cutting edge of the remittance space, using Bitcoin to effect low cost transfers, primarily to the Philippines. With a well-established brand, multiple Bitcoin ATMs, solid financial partnerships in the Philippines, MJMI's management is excited about the potential synergies that could result from this relationship. In 2014, according to Focus Economics, remittances to the Philippines hit a record high, exceeding USD 24 Billion, accounting for roughly 8.5% of that country's GDP. Those funds came primarily from overseas workers sending funds home to their families. Traditional remittance companies charge upwards of 8% fees on the total funds being sent, in addition to less than favorable exchange rates and taking up to 3 days to clear for pick up. Using Bitcoin, transfers can be effected in virtually real time at a fraction of the cost to the user. Funds can be sent directly to the recipient's bank account or made available for pick up at a partner location or even via a card-less ATM withdrawal. In a Bitcoin based remittance transaction, an overseas worker would deliver funds to a remittance provider. This service provider would buy Bitcoin on behalf of the customer and then transfer the coins, paying less than 1% to do so, to the selling partner in the recipient country. The selling partner would then sell the Bitcoins and then transfer the funds to the final recipient. Because there is a price difference between the buying and selling of the Bitcoins, it is possible for the two transfer partners to profit sufficiently from the Bitcoin trade to offer the transfer service for a significantly lower fee than any traditional currency (known as FIAT) based remittance service. Story continues Bitcoin therefore offers the potential to completely alter the landscape of worldwide money transfers. The two companies share a vision on the massive opportunities in this space as well as on the future direction of expansion, namely servicing the remittance markets in Mexico and India. In addition, both companies agree that acquiring and operating a Bitcoin exchange would allow the partners to offer a seamless, end to end solution to customers. More sophisticated clients could eventually use their own Bitcoin wallets to move money through a jointly designed system, allowing them to effect transactions from their mobile phone through a licensed and trustworthy remittance system. Peter Janosi, MJMI's president said: "We are very excited to be in advanced discussions with this potential remittance partner. They are at the forefront what we expect will be a massive shift in the way global remittances are effected. Their team shares our view that remittance fees are exorbitantly high and that current providers profit excessively by offering poor, often hidden, exchange rates. We believe that, in this area, Bitcoin has tremendous promise to disrupt a system that unfairly charges high rates to hard working people who have left their families to work overseas in hopes of providing them with a better life. We believe the growth potential in this sector is massive and that we are on the right track in terms of identifying the right partners who share our vision." MJMI is in the business of providing safe and accessible services for the users of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies. MJMI is currently exploring partnerships with several existing Bitcoin and crypto-currency exchanges as well as manufacturers and operators of Bitcoin ATMs. Such a combination would place the company in an exciting position to offer an end to end solution for trading in various crypto-currencies and potentially capture a share of the lucrative markets of Bitcoin trading and remittance services, just as these markets appear poised to undergo massive growth. About Bitcoin and Crypto-Currencies: Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies are a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. Bitcoin became the first decentralized crypto-currency in 2009. Crypto-currency is produced at a rate which is defined when the system is created and publicly known. By contrast, in centralized banking and economic systems, such as the Federal Reserve System, corporate boards or governments control the supply of currency by printing units or demanding additions to digital banking ledgers. However, neither companies nor governments can produce units of crypto-currency and as such the value of crypto-currencies are completely based on supply and demand, free from any governmental control. Many people believe crypto-currencies, and in particular bitcoin, hold the promise of being the most significant advancement in global finance in modern history. The advent of bitcoin creates a secure, easily accessible and transferable transnational currency that is completely liberated from political influence. Richard Branson, head of the Virgin Group, is quoted on his company's website as saying: "I have invested in Bitcoin because I believe in its potential, the capacity it has to transform global payments is very exciting." Heavyweight investment bank Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), announced on April 30th 2015 that it had partnered with Chinese investment firm IDG Capital partners to invest $50 million in a Bitcoin start-up. Numerous high-profile firms have begun accepting Bitcoin as a payment method including: Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH), Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE), and Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK). MarilynJean Media Interactive is among the first publicly traded companies focused on bitcoin and the crypto-currency space. The company's trading symbol is ( MJMI ). Website: http://www.marilynjean.com/ Press Contact: [email protected] SOURCE: MarilynJean Interactive
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
#RDD / #BTC on the exchanges: Cryptsy: Error Bittrex: 0.00000003 Average $1.0E-5 per #reddcoin 12:00:01 via #priceo…pic.twitter.com/a48mTV9MEE || Current price: 219.92€ $BTCEUR $btc #bitcoin 2015-10-14 04:00:05 CEST || Current price: 243.62$ $BTCUSD $btc #bitcoin 2015-10-09 00:00:03 EDT || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 18 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $795.67 #bitcoin #btc || $285.00 #bitfinex;
$284.52 #coinbase;
$283.50 #bitstamp;
$277.70 #btce;
#bitcoin #btc || $324.07 at 12:15 UTC [24h Range: $310.00 - $335.31 Volume: 26173 BTC] || $357.23 at 16:47 UTC [24h Range: $351.83 - $382.00 Volume: 35857 BTC] || $239.71 #bitfinex;
$239.09 #coinbase;
$238.88 #bitstamp;
$238.00 #btce;
#bitcoin #btc || #RDD / #BTC on the exchanges:
Cryptsy: Error
Bittrex: 0.00000003
Average $1.1E-5 per #reddcoin
12:00:01 || Wellclix - $0.01 por clic - minimo $3.00 - Pago por Paypal, PM, Bitcoin http://tinyurl.com/q7bo399 #ganardinero
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Trend: up || Prices: 323.05, 320.05, 328.21, 352.68, 358.04, 357.38, 371.29, 377.32, 362.49, 359.19
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2018-08-17]
BTC Price: 6580.63, BTC RSI: 44.47
Gold Price: 1176.50, Gold RSI: 20.70
Oil Price: 65.91, Oil RSI: 40.68
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin at sub-$7,000 – What’s Next?: Bitcoin’s troubles continued on Saturday, falling by 5.48% to end the day at $7,013.3, the day’s losses marking a 7thconsecutive day in the red.
A relatively range bound morning saw Bitcoin hold at around the 38.2% FIB Retracement Level of $7,456 before succumbing to broader market pressures, tumbling in the middle part of the day through the first major support level at $7,290.37 and the second major support level at $7,160.63 to an intraday low $6,928.8 before steadying through the rest of the day.
Bitcoin’s tight ranges through the 2ndhalf of the day averted a sub-$7,000 end to the day, though the slide back through the 38.2% FIB Retracement Level to sub-$7,000 lows led to the near-term bullish trend come to an end, with the extended bearish trend, formed at 5thMay’s $9,999 resuming.
With the news wires on the quieter side at the start of the weekend, the slide through the day continued to reflect investor sentiment towards the SEC’s decision on whether to approve Bitcoin ETFs and the roll out of G20 unified rules and regulations, the delay to both having been badly received by the cryptomarkets, contributing to the week’s decline.
The bulls are in for a tough August, with uncertainty extended and governments possibly deciding to go it alone on the regulatory front, the much talked about flip flopping by the South Korean government on how to address inadequate security measures and anti-money laundering policies of particular significance to the market.
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At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down 0.37% to $6,987, Bitcoin managing to recover from an early slide to a morning low $6,890, which held above the day’s first major support level at $6,797.33, the early losses coming off the back of Saturday’s reversal that continued into the early hours of the morning.
For the day ahead, a move through to $7,144 would support a run at the first major resistance level at $7,360.73, though the Bitcoin bulls will need to break back through and hold on to $7,000 levels through the morning to support a bullish run later in the day.
Failure to break through to $7,100 levels in the early afternoon could see Bitcoin take a slide later in the day, with the day’s first major support level at $6,797.33 in play, with the Bitcoin bears eyeing the 23.6% FIB Retracement Level of $6,757 as the next bearish milestone.
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Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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However, it's possible to predict with at least some degree of confidence which drugs are likely to be the biggest winners, if you don't go too far out into the future. Market research firm EvaluatePharma has done just that with its recently published report that projects the top-selling drugs in the world in 2024.
Which drugs rank at the top of EvaluatePharma's list? Here are the five biggest blockbusters of the future -- and the five companies that are poised to profit from these drugs:AbbVie(NYSE: ABBV),Merck(NYSE: MRK),Celgene(NASDAQ: CELG),Bristol-Myers Squibb(NYSE: BMY), andPfizer(NYSE: PFE).
Image source: Getty Images.
Six years from now will look like last year in one respect: AbbVie's Humira will still probably be the best-selling drug in the world. Humiraranked No. 1 in 2017with sales of $18.9 billion (including revenue made by AbbVie's partnerEisai). EvaluatePharma projects that the autoimmune-disease drug will rake in less money in 2024, at $15.2 billion. However, that should still be enough for Humira to retain its top spot.
It seems likely that Humira will fall from No. 1 in subsequent years, though. Beginning in 2023, AbbVie faces biosimilar competition for the drug in the U.S. market, where roughly two-thirds of Humira's revenue is made.
Merck's Keytruda is expected to be the second best-selling drug in the world by 2024. EvaluatePharma thinks the cancer drug will generate sales totaling nearly $12.7 billion six years from now. Keytruda made $3.8 billion in 2017, which wasn't enough to make the top five blockbusters for the year.
One major factor for Keytruda to claim the No. 2 position within the next few years will be gaining approval for new indications. Merck is evaluating the drug in phase 3 clinical studies targeting several additional types of cancer, including breast cancer, colorectal cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, renal cancer, and small-cell lung cancer.
Revlimid could slip from its No. 2 ranking in 2017 to No. 3 by 2024. However, EvaluatePharma expects sales for Celgene's hematology drug to increase from $8.2 billion last year to $11.9 billion.
There's one major risk for Revlimid, however. The drug's key patents have been challenged by rivals that want to market generic versions of Revlimid. With Celgene currently dependent on Revlimid for 63% of its total revenue, this threat contributes to the biotech being arguablythe riskiest big drug stock on the market. However, Celgene likely will be able to reach an agreement with current challengers similar to its deal with Natco Pharma to hold off any significant generic competition in the U.S. for Revlimid for several more years.
Keytruda's main competitor, Opdivo, should be the fourth-biggest blockbuster in the world by 2024, according to EvaluatePharma. Bristol-Myers Squibb's cancer drug is projected to make $11.2 billion then, nearly double its sales of $5.7 billion in 2017.
Expectations have been lowered somewhat for Opdivo after Bristol-Myers Squibbreported mixed results in August 2017from a phase 3 clinical study evaluating a combination of Opdivo and Yervoy as a first-line treatment for kidney cancer. Clinical results announced by the company for Opdivo in treating lung cancer haven't been as impressive as those that Merck has announced for Keytruda, either. Still, Opdivo is likely to enjoy continued sales momentum for years to come.
Bristol-Myers Squibb also landed another drug in the top-five list for 2024, anticoagulant Eliquis. EvaluatePharma projects that sales for the drug will top $10.5 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb will share a significant portion of that revenue, however, with its commercialization partner, Pfizer.
Eliquis is already growing faster thanJohnson & Johnson's Xarelto, another Factor Xa inhibitor that prevents blood clots. The real growth opportunity for Eliquis, though, could be in taking additional market share from warfarin, an older drug that's available in generic form.
Are the drugmakers that stand to claim the biggest-selling drugs in the world in 2024 great picks for investors to buy now? Not necessarily. There are more dynamics impacting each of the five companies linked to these projected blockbuster drugs of the future.
I do especially like the prospects for three of these stocks, though. AbbVie has new drugs and a strong pipeline that should enable the stock to generate market-beating returns over the next decade. It's a similar story for Celgene. And over the next several years, Pfizer should move beyond the problems with declining sales for older drugs and issues with its sterile-injectables business.
All three of these stocks have attractive valuations. Two of the three -- AbbVie and Pfizer -- also pay dividends with juicy yields. It's difficult to accurately predict the future, but my hunch is that it will be bright for AbbVie, Celgene, and Pfizer.
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Keith Speightsowns shares of AbbVie, Celgene, and Pfizer. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Celgene. The Motley Fool owns shares of Johnson & Johnson. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || GoPro Needs 2018's Product Lineup to Be a Hit: For three years, GoPro, Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRO) has been talking a big game about how it's going to turn its business around . Growth stalled around 2015 and product missteps led to a rash of financial losses. GoPro stock is now down more than 90% from its all-time high. There have been fits and starts for the company, but losses are still mounting, and after shutting down the Karma drone business, there aren't a lot of growth options left for GoPro. One way to return to profitability is to get consumers excited about the next-generation action camera and sell the product for a price that will drive decent margins. Management says a new product is on its way this quarter and it will boost GoPro's profit margin in the second half of the year. Investors better hope that's true, or else the company could be in dire straits by the end of the year. GoPro's Hero 6 camera. Image source: GoPro. GoPro's stellar balance sheet has taken a turn for the worse I think it's worth taking a step back to look at how well-positioned GoPro was a few years ago compared to where it is today. After the second quarter of 2015, GoPro had $517 million in cash and marketable securities on the balance sheet and zero debt. At the time, it appeared that GoPro's balance sheet would be a point of strength through any challenges that might be coming. Less than three years later, GoPro's balance sheet has turned into a liability and gives it very little cushion to absorb losses if they continue. After the first quarter of 2018, net cash was just $12.6 million, including $132.2 million of debt that's been taken out in recent years. GPRO Net Total Long Term Debt (Quarterly) Chart GoPro Net Total Long-Term Debt (Quarterly) , data by YCharts . To make matters worse, GoPro expects to lose money in the second quarter, just as it's building inventory for the critical holiday season sales push. It may have to stretch the balance sheet to its limits just to make it through the year . GoPro can't afford another bad holiday season There are three numbers that investors should look at to see how GoPro's recovery is going: revenue, gross margin, and operating expenses. Management says operating expenses will be "sub-$400 million" in 2018, so let's fix that number for now. For GoPro to make an operating profit and stop burning cash it will need to generate at least $400 million in gross profit. Story continues To hit breakeven operationally, GoPro will have to boost either revenue or gross margin this year. The chart below shows the company's history and some simple calculations show how hard it will be to generate $400 million in gross profit. GPRO Revenue (TTM) Chart GoPro Revenue (TTM) , data by YCharts . Let's go through a couple of scenarios for GoPro to reach breakeven on operations. If GoPro can boost its gross margin to 35%, it could live on about $1.15 billion in revenue, near what it's generated in the past year. But that's an optimistic margin assumption given historical margin trends. If gross margin stays at around 30%, GoPro would need to sell about $1.33 billion of product, which it hasn't done consistently since 2015. Here's the problem: GoPro dropped the Karma drone a little over a year after it hit the market, which will be a drag on revenue going forward. It also lowered camera prices, leading to a 7% drop in revenue in the first quarter of 2018, despite a 3% increase in units sold. To grow revenue to $1.33 billion, or about 15%, it may have to increase units sold by 25% or more. That's a tall task for GoPro today. GoPro has few options if 2018 is a flop In 2017, GoPro lost $163.5 million from operations and burned through $80 million of cash. With cash levels already low, the company doesn't have the leeway it once did to make costly mistakes with products. It needs 2018's lineup of action cameras to be a hit, both from a unit sales basis and from a margin perspective. That's a tall order for a company that has been disappointing investors for three years, but it's necessary for GoPro to survive. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Travis Hoium has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends GoPro. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || 3 Top Biotech Stocks to Buy in July: Biotechnology stocks can pop or drop because of clinical trial successes or failures, and that makes investing in biotech stocks riskier than investing in other industries. Nevertheless, the rewards for those biotech companies that successfully innovate new therapies can be significant, and that makes stocks like Regenxbio (NASDAQ: RGNX) , Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: REGN) , and AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) worth considering. Read on to learn more about these companies and why some of our Motley Fools think they could be top stocks to add to portfolios this month. This gene therapy stock could be onto something big Todd Campbell (Regenxbio): If you're willing to take on some risk in your growth portfolio, then you might want to consider Regenxbio, a clinical-stage biotech working on a novel approach that could make gene therapy safer and more effective. Gold and silver pills spill out of a gold and silver capsule onto $20 bills. IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES. Many diseases are the result of genes working incorrectly, so researchers are developing therapies that tinker with genes to correct their function. Delivering gene therapies to their proper place requires the use of inactivated viruses; however, these viral vectors can be tough to manufacture, and there's concern that they won't produce durable responses. There's also worry they'll cause immune system responses that lead to adverse events. To overcome those concerns, Regenxbio has developed its NAV technology, a platform consisting of over 100 adeno-associated viral vectors it believes can deliver gene therapy payloads better than other viral vectors. The company is using its NAV technology platform to develop its own gene therapies, and it's licensing its vectors to other companies in exchange for upfront payments, milestones, and hopefully, royalties. The most advanced gene therapy in development that's using Regenxbio's technology is AVXS-101, a one-and-done gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a devastating disease. Earlier this year, Novartis spent $8.7 billion acquiring AveXis to land AVXS-101, and depending on data, Novartis plans to file for FDA approval of AVXS-101 before the end of 2018. Story continues If AVXS-101 is successful, it could move the needle for Regenxbio, but investors will also want to be on the look out later this year for top-line data from trials of Regenxbio's RGX-314, a gene therapy for wet-AMD, and RGX-501, a gene therapy for an inherited form of high cholesterol called homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH). Wet-AMD and HoFH are blockbuster indications that these gene therapies could significantly reshape. Make no mistake, though. This is a high-risk stock. Its revenue consists solely of partnership payments right now, it doesn't have any commercially approved therapies on the market, and there's a chance its studies fail. For this reason, Regenxbio is only suitable for aggressive investors who can withstand disappointment. The price is right Brian Feroldi (Regeneron Pharmaceuticals): Once upon a time, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals was a red-hot growth stock that could do no wrong. Unfortunately, a series of events have since caused the tides to turn. This former market-darling has badly underperformed the S&P 500 over the last three years as investors have been forced to make downward adjustments to their growth expectations. SPY Chart SPY data by YCharts . While the last few years have been quite trying for investors, I think there are finally reasons to believe that the company's future is starting to look bright. Eylea remains a megablockbuster drug that is still posting strong sales growth . Sales of cholesterol-busting drug Praluent might finally be poised to show meaningful sales growth now that Regernson has proven more willing to negotiate with payers on price. At the same time, eczema drug Dupixent is off to a decent start and could get a major boost if it wins FDA approval as a treatment for asthma. When adding in the fact that Regeneron boasts 17 programs in late-stage clinical development -- some of which hold blockbuster potential -- market watchers expect the company's profits will grow in excess of 11% annually over the next five years. While that's a far slower rate than what the company has put up in the past, it's still quite good for a company that is currently trading for less than 17 times next year's earnings estimates. Three scientists collaborate together in a lab. IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES. What's not to like with this biotech stock? Keith Speights (AbbVie): There are few stocks on the market that can appeal to every kind of investor, but I think one big biotech stock just might: AbbVie. Let's start with why income investors should like the stock. Most biotechs don't pay dividends, but AbbVie does. Its dividend currently yields more than 4%. And AbbVie has boosted its dividend payout by a whopping 140% over the last five years. What about value investors? AbbVie stock trades at only 10.4 times expected earnings. That's dirt-cheap for a company with the world's best-selling drug and a stable of other strong performers. Of course, most biotech investors are looking for growth. AbbVie checks the box there, too. Analysts project that AbbVie will grow its annual earnings by nearly 17% on average over the next five years. The company has one of the fastest-growing cancer drugs with Imbruvica. It launched a new hepatitis C drug, Mayvyret, last year that's well on its way to blockbuster status. Then there's AbbVie's pipeline. Market research firm EvaluatePharma ranked it as the second-best pipeline in the biopharmaceutical industry . AbbVie could have several big winners on the way, including endometriosis drug elagolix and autoimmune disease drugs risankizumab and upadacitinib. Great dividends, attractive valuation, and strong growth prospects. What's not to like about AbbVie? More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Brian Feroldi has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Keith Speights owns shares of AbbVie. Todd Campbell has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. His clients may have positions in the companies mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Why Acadia Pharmaceuticals Is Soaring Today: What happened After reporting the regulatory approval of two new dosing formulations for the company's one and only drug Nuplazid , shares of Acadia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACAD) , a commercial-stage biopharma focused on diseases of the central nervous system, rose as much as 13% in early morning trading on Friday. Shares have since pulled back a bit but were still up about 7% as of 10:11 a.m. EDT on Friday. So what Acadia announced today that the FDA has approved two new dosing formulation of its Parkinson's disease psychosis drug Nuplazid. The two new capsules are a 34 mg and 10 mg formulation of the drug. The new 34 mg dosing option is designed to replace the two 17 mg tablets that many current patients take. The 10 mg version is designed to provide patients with a lower dosage version of the drug. Doctor putting his hand on and elderly patient Image source: Getty Images. Dr. Joseph Friedman, a physician from Butler Hospital and Brown University, offered investors the following commentary about the approval: The replacement of two 17 mg tablets with a single 34 mg capsule provides a simpler and more straightforward approach for the 34 mg once daily NUPLAZID dosing regimen, while also reducing the overall pill burden for my Parkinson's disease patients who often also take multiple other medications concomitantly. The new capsules are expected to be available for sale by the middle of August. Now what 2018 has been a rough year for Acadia's shareholders, so it's nice to see some positive news come from the company for a change. Offering healthcare providers new dosing options could help to spur additional usage of the drug and help Nuplazid reach blockbuster status. However, the big question for Acadia's investors moving forward is how the FDA will respond the to reports of safety issues related to the use of Nuplazid. That question remains unanswered, so I continue to believe caution is warranted. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Brian Feroldi has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Silicon Valley's hottest VCs just gave this college dropout millions to build a blockchain company called 'Dirt': Blockchain startup Dirt Protocol just got $3 million from investors including General Catalyst, Greylock, Lightspeed, and Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam. Dirt Protocol's goal is to incentivize truth through a token-based voting system. The company's founder, Yin Wu, describes it as a blockchain-based Wikipedia. When Yin Wu, 29, began brainstorming names for her blockchain company, Dirt Protocol, she took the opposite approach of most founders. "There's a lot of companies in the blockchain industry that have big, lofty sounding names," said Wu. "We wanted to do the opposite." While "dirt" might conjure to mind a project of unassuming origins, for Wu, it clearly conveys the company's fundamental purpose. "Dirt comes from the ground, right?" she said."It's foundational. You need dirt to grow." Yin Wu Dirt Protocol Dirt Protocol Dirt Protocol has vast ambitions for its application of decentralized technology -- both business-wise and philosophically. Its primary goal? Incentivizing truth. To do so, Dirt Protocol has received $3 million from blue chip tech investors including General Catalyst, Greylock, Lightspeed, and Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam. Spreading false information would become "economically irrational" The blockchain has been used to tokenize any number of assets, both tangible and otherwise. But what if you could tokenize knowledge in a way that benefited the most trustworthy information? hacker Sean Gallup/Getty Images "Think of Dirt as a set of rules that make it economically irrational to spread false information," said Wu. "With Dirt, if you want to spread a piece of information, you'd need to stake a token." Wu, a Stanford dropout, offers up her college education as an example: "For instance, I could say that I'm willing to put down 10 Dirt tokens on the claim that I graduated from Stanford," said Wu. "But it's not true, so someone could easily say, 'I'm going to put down 10 tokens to challenge that information.'" Story continues The challenge would then go to a vote, with participants each putting a token down on the claim they believe to be most trustworthy. "In a vote, anyone can put down tokens on either my claim or [my contender's]," said Wu. Lose the popular vote and you lose your tokens. Vote poorly on a claim, and you'll be meted a small penalty for picking the losing choice, as well. If you offer up the winning information, or vote on the majority's pick, you earn a portion of the token winnings. Wu describes the winnings as as "an information bounty" that's set up to reward accurate information. "As a network, there's an incentive to be honest because the value of our tokens will only stay up if people are using them in good faith," she said. Dirt's first goal is to restore credibility to the blockchain industry using its voting system Dirt's first goal is to apply its voting system to claims within the blockchain industry itself, where scam and misrepresentation are endemic. If there's a way to verify a blockchain project's claim, like the integrity of a company's forthcoming initial coin offering , Wu suggests it might restore the community's credibility. From there, the applications are seemingly limitless. Wu suggests that Dirt's voting system could one day be applied to platforms like Facebook or Google , where commenters could back their claims with digital assets. But what about people with large followings who could potentially rig the system in their favor? Wu says that this is a hurdle that Dirt will have to cross in the future. It's possible, Wu said, that people with large followings could break a vote because they have more resources, but she was quick to point out that this is an issue that plagues other platforms as well. "If someone has a large Twitter following, they can still spread whatever information they want, right?" She said. If someone is spreading misinformation, however, Wu said that Dirt would potentially rank their vote as less credible. But for now, Dirt's primary concern is with information that has commercial value. The data collected by Dirt would be stored on the ethereum blockchain, where it wouldn't belong to any corporation or company. To anyone doubting Dirt's ambitions for the digital-asset backed information, Wu points out Wikipedia as a prime example of a crowd-sourced truth-based project that worked. "We're creating Wikipedia, but with machine-readable data sets that belong in the public domain, and dont belong to a single party," Wu said. NOW WATCH: We interviewed Pepper - the humanoid robot See Also: Google co-founder Sergey Brin says he's been mining ethereum with his son Bitcoin has been plummeting in value but the world's largest crypto exchange still expects to net up to $1 billion in profits Gorgeous women, Vladimir Putin, and fluffy buzzwords: 6 clues the blockchain project you're thinking about investing in is a scam SEE ALSO: The cruel truth about how much money two founders will likely get after selling their startup for $465 million reveals the catch-22 of raising too much money || Ethereum Classic’s Comeback, Bitmain’s $18 Billion IPO, and Goldman’s Bear Tear: This Week in Crypto: Make sure you check out our previous editionhere, now let’s go over what happened in crypto this week. Also, make sure you subscribe for this week’s edition ofTheCCNPodcastoniTunes,TuneIn,Stitcher,Google Play Music,Spotifyor whereveryou get your podcasts.
• The bitcoin price is down 12% this weekfollowing a loss of15% last week. Bitcoin had been hovering around $8,000 for several weeks leading up to last weeks price drop. The price drop has againbeen blamedon theSEC’s rejectionof the Winklevoss’secondETF. The price hung around the $7,500 mark bereoscillating downward to below $7,000. Analysts continued to wait for abreakoutas the price continued to slump tomid-$6,000. The next day, the price fell further to$6,180. As one of our contributors put it, the price was“pushed off the cliff”. The price roseslightlybut failed tomaintainmomentum.
• Ethereum is down 24% this weekat the $308 level greatly exaggerating Bitcoins movements. The move comes as bitcoin dominance hashit 50%sending alt coins spiraling down.
• The entire coin market cap is down 19%to $206 billion. The massive drop comes as the market experienced asubstantial declinein volume.
• Robinhood,Coinbase Pro to List Ethererum Classic–This week, Ethereum Classic became the sixth cryptocurrency listed on stock trading app Robinhood, whose crypto trading service is now available in 19 U.S. states. Later in the week, Coinbase began accepting ETC deposits on Coinbase Pro (formerlyGDAX), its order-book cryptocurrency exchange, with trading against both USD and other crypto assets slated to commence later in the year.
• Coinbase Returns to Wyoming after Three-Year Hiatus– The San Francisco-basedCoinbaseannounced in ablog postthat it has renewed its state-level money transmitter license, enabling it to resume services in Wyoming after locking investors out of their accounts more than three years ago.
• Barclays May Be Opening Crypto Trading–Business Insider reports that a Barclays employee’s LinkedIn profile stated that he’s been “hired to produce a business plan for integrating a digital assets trading desk into Barclays’ marketing business.”. The profile has since been changed to remove digital currency references.
• Ripple Coming to Coinbase Custody– In a statement, which appears on the official Coinbaseblogspecifies that the assets listed including Ripple (XRP), Monero (XMR) and EOS, are being considered for listing only, and have no bearing whatsoever on trading-related products and services.
• Bitmain’s $18 Billion IPO– Mining giant has been valued at$18 billionafter the firm closed a $1 billion funding round by Tencent and SoftBank Group, two of the most influential companies in the global technology market.
• Facebook Meets with Cryptocurrency Project Stellar–Business Insiderhas reported that Facebook’s blockchain research group recently met withStellarto discuss how the social media conglomerate could leverage distributed ledger technology (DLT) as it explores potentially building out a payments network.
• Brave Browser to Add Cryptocurrency-Based Tipping– CNET hasreportedthat Brave, the privacy-centric web browser launched by Mozilla co-founder Brendan Eich and funded by aninitial coin offering(ICO), plans to roll out Reddit and Twitter tipping to its native cryptocurrency payments system.
• Overstock Raises $270 million for Subsidiary tZero–A new investment byGSR Capitalwill see it acquire about 3.1 million shares of US-based Overstock, amounting to about 10% in overall shares of the company. In a letter of intent as confirmed byForbes, GSR Capital will invest as much as $270 million to acquire 18% of tZero platform in the initial stage of the investment. Afterward, the company shall pay another $104.55 million for a 10% stake in OVerstock.
• Accenture Files Blockchain Security and Scalability Patent– Professional services firmAccenturehas filed apatentwhich seeks to enhance the speed and security of transactions on blockchains using patented hardware.
• No, Starbucks isn’t Accepting Bitcoin–Contrary to reports in mainstream media, Starbucks has clarified that it will not be accepting direct bitcoin payments at coffee retail outlets. Rather they will help customers convert digital assets like Bitcoin into US dollars, which can be used at Starbucks.
• Upwork: Blockchain the Fastest Growing Skill in US Freelance Job Market–According to the Q2 2018 Upwork SkillsIndex, blockchain was the fastest growing skill and beat out over 5,000 other skills listed on one of the largest freelancing platforms in the world.
• Goldman Sachs is Bearish–Writing in the firm’smidyear economic outlook report, a team of Goldman investment strategists predicted that, despite having already shed more than $12,000 since its mid-December peak, the bitcoin price will likely continue on a downward trajectory.
The postEthereum Classic’s Comeback, Bitmain’s $18 Billion IPO, and Goldman’s Bear Tear: This Week in Cryptoappeared first onCCN. || If Bitcoin is Rat Poison, the Banks Are the Rats: Pantera Capital CEO: Dan Morehead bitcoin etf pantera capital cryptocurrency hedge fund Pantera Capital officials continue to maintain an upbeat outlook for cryptocurrency amidst the current market downturn. In an ICO and digital asset funds conference call Tuesday, CEO and chief investment officer Dan Morehead said blockchains are the next step in the evolution of equity, while cryptocurrency is a superior form of currency. He called bitcoin the biggest disruption of this generation. Morehead has been a perpetual crypto optimist, having stated that the cryptocurrency market cap could one day be worth $40 trillion . In April, Pantera prematurely said that the market had bottomed out and that it was time to go long on bitcoin. The recent performance of Panteras Digital Asset Fund hasnt dampened Panteras enthusiasm. Since December, the fund is down 23.7%, while bitcoin is down 20.9%. A Time To Buy The current market is an opportune time to buy, according to Morehead. Thats actually a good time to increase your position Morehead said, noting that investors in Panteras funds generally fail to follow this rule most subscriptions are purchased when the fund prices are high. The current bear market is one of seven that bitcoin has been through, Morehead said. He thinks its as low as its going to get, and in 10 to 12 months, it will be markedly higher. Its highly likely to be the low point for the industry, he said, adding that the bitcoin price has been growing at a stable rate since the beginning. My normal view is that its going to return to its trend, he said. Regarding Warren Buffets bombastic claim earlier this year that bitcoin is rat poison squared, Morehead quipped: It is rat poison; its just the banks and credit card companies are the rats. Long-Term Optimism Morehead offered a host of reasons for his long-term optimism for blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. Blockchains, he said, are the final piece of the protocol structure that the internet is, a way to move funds without paying expensive third parties. Story continues Bitcoin is not a category killer, he said, but a serial killer, meaning it will affect many different use cases. The Internet, in the beginning, took time to develop its leading use cases, like Uber. He called blockchain the most asymmetric risk-reward trade he has seen. If you invest in it, you cant lose everything. Many of the funds invested in bitcoin have the potential to rise in value 25 times, he said, which is not something you see in other investment opportunities. I think were heading towards a post-capitalist era, he said. In capitalism, a wealthy individual invests to bring gain. The last 30 years has been an interregnum period where people who were not wealthy created valuable technologies. Now were going to have cooperatively owned technologies that are very valuable, he said. Hedge Fund Investments bitcoin price chart Morehead and his fellow officials took turns reviewing the various investments Pantera Capital has made, the most recent being Augur , an open source P2P oracle and prediction market platform built on Ethereum. They also discussed the importance of having a diversified investment portfolio, which is why Panteras digital asset funds typically hold 30 different cryptocurrencies. Panteras investment strategy is to invest early on in order to maximize returns through early access to token sales of the most promising blockchain protocols. Joey Krug, co-chief investment officer, said ICOs are useful for offering something an investor can move in and out of a liquid asset, unlike traditional equity. In the future, a lot of things will come from returns from assets with smaller market caps, he said. The company is also doing specialty trading and automating a lot of the trade execution, which should improve costs. Also read: White hat hacker finds major vulnerability in Ethereum dApp Augur Institutional Custodians Weigh In The growing interest of institutional custodians in blockchain technology and cryptocurrency was another factor cited by Pantera officials. We believe that institutional capital is on its way, said Paul Veradittakit, partner, citing Goldman Sachs and Northern Trust. Other investment bankers are also looking at custody for crypto. We see custody solutions emerging in all different geographies, he added. Lauren Stephanian, an investment associate, noted that Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which operates global exchanges, is creating a company called Bakkt to build a technology to connect existing market and merchant infrastructure to the blockchain. There are three core products, an exchange, custody solutions and a payment system. Pantera has been giving Bakkt feedback on the platform design and is also a co-investor in the company. Featured Image from TechCrunch/ Flickr The post If Bitcoin is Rat Poison, the Banks Are the Rats: Pantera Capital CEO appeared first on CCN . || NVIDIA and AMD Are About to Lose This Big Catalyst: Cryptocurrency mining has turned out to be a big catalyst over the past year for graphics cards manufacturers Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) and NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) . Jon Peddie Research estimates that cryptocurrency miners bought $776 million worth of graphics cards in 2017, and AMD was the bigger beneficiary of the two. AMD has said that it got 10% of its total revenue in the first quarter from cryptocurrency mining. Given its total revenue of $5.3 billion last year, that would indicate it cornered roughly two-thirds of estimated cryptocurrency-related GPU sales. NVIDIA also said that cryptocurrency miners drove nearly 10% of its GPU sales last quarter. Cryptocurrency mining also created a massive supply shortage that led to a sharp rise in GPU prices. So AMD and NVIDIA have benefited in more than one way from crypto-driven GPU demand. But they're about to lose this tailwind very soon. A human hand pictured with an artist's rendering of the bitcoin symbol. Image Source: Getty Images. NVIDIA fires a warning shot NVIDIA sold a remarkable $289 million worth of graphics cards to cryptocurrency miners last quarter, exceeding its own $200 million expectation. But the company expects sales of graphics cards to cryptocurrency miners in the second quarter to drop to just a third of the first-quarter levels. There could be two reasons why NVIDIA is forecasting such a massive drop. First, a dedicated cryptocurrency mining chip is about to hit the market. Bitmain, a Chinese manufacturer of cryptocurrency hardware, has developed an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) to mine Ethereum , and it expects to start shipping it in July. Bitmain has priced this ASIC-powered mining rig at $800, while GPU-powered rigs can sometimes cost thousands of dollars because of expensive graphics cards. Cryptocurrency-mining-driven GPU demand will likely tail off thanks to the presence of such alternatives. Second, GPU prices have started normalizing thanks to improved supply. The price of NVIDIA's top of the line GTX 1080 Ti GPU has dropped nearly 38% in just two months, and the company's entire GPU portfolio has seen similarly massive price cuts in recent months. Story continues AMD hasn't escaped such price drops either. The RX 580 8GB graphics card, for example, has shed 28% of its price in the past two months. AMD is also witnessing across-the-board price drops, with its high-end GPUs, such as the RX Vega 64, losing almost a third of their value in just one month. Looking ahead, GPU supply looks set to increase further, as NVIDIA recently launched a budget graphics card to cater exclusively to gamers. The GeForce GTX 1050 3GB graphics card isn't powerful enough to meet the requirements of cryptocurrency miners, and is expected to be priced between $140 and $200. So the time of sky-high GPU prices is possibly coming to a close. But how will this development impact NVIDIA and AMD? NVIDIA isn't set up for as big a fall GPU prices started skyrocketing around April last year. The prices kept on rising for the remainder of 2017, and on into early 2018 before a correction began in April this year. So AMD and NVIDIA enjoyed a period of abnormally high GPU prices for nearly a year, and one of them saw a big boost to gross margin in this period. AMD Gross Profit Margin (TTM) Chart AMD Gross Profit Margin (TTM) data by YCharts NVIDIA hasn't seen any major spike in its gross margin over the past year, but the story at AMD is entirely different. This is because NVIDIA has categorically discouraged sales of GPUs to miners, telling retailers to give preference to gamers. The company's recent move to launch PC gaming-focused GPUs further establishes the fact that it doesn't treat cryptocurrency mining as a long-term catalyst, and instead is focusing on its core market AMD, on the other hand, has brazenly cashed in on the cryptocurrency trend. Just recently the company updated some of its GPU driver software to improve cryptocurrency mining efficiency. This wasn't the first time AMD released a driver update to aid crypto mining. The company had done the same in August last year when demand from miners was booming. NVIDIA is the safer bet The drop in cryptocurrency demand will hit AMD harder. In fact, the company admitted in its latest 10-K filing that its "GPU business could be materially adversely affected" in the case of a decrease in demand for cryptocurrency mining. On the other hand, NVIDIA has a lot going for it beyond cryptocurrency. It is pursuing growth in fast-growing end-markets such as video gaming hardware, artificial intelligence, self-driving cars, and data centers. AMD, however, doesn't enjoy such exposure to next-generation markets, as it relies primarily on PCs and gaming consoles for its growth. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Harsh Chauhan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Better Buy: Holly Energy Partners, LP vs. Phillips 66 Partners LP: Investing in midstream master limited partnerships is generally all about the distributions, which the tax-efficient corporate structure is designed to provide to unitholders. However, that doesn't always mean a high distribution yield is the goal, which is the key to determining if Holly Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: HEP) or Phillips 66 Partners LP (NYSE: PSXP) is the better buy. Here's what you need to know to make an informed decision between these stocks. Moving into a different type of growth Phillips 66 Partners was created by parent and general partner Phillips 66 in 2013. It was, essentially, a way for refiner Phillips 66 to generate growth capital while still maintaining control of its pipeline and logistics assets. It achieved this by selling (or dropping down, in industry lingo) pipelines and other businesses to Phillips 66 Partners, a company it effectively runs via its general partner interest. Phillips 66 also owns a significant number of limited partner units in Phillips 66 Partners. A man welding an oil pipeline Image source: Getty Images. The benefit for unitholders of Phillips 66 Partners is that they receive distributions from the largely fee-based revenue associated with the midstream assets it has bought from its parent. And as a partnership grows, those distributions generally head higher. That's a net benefit for Phillips 66 as well, since it gets incentive payments for increasing Phillips 66 Partners' distribution over time. Although many midstream partnerships have chosen to eliminate these incentives because they raise the cost of capital, at this early point in Phillips 66 Partners' life cycle, it appears that unitholders and the general partner are still well-aligned. The first five years or so of Phillips 66 Partners' existence have been pretty exciting for income investors. The general partner dropped down a steady stream of assets, helping to push the distribution higher by 31% on an annualized basis since the initial public offering. Although that comes off of a small base, it's still a pretty incredible figure. That level of distribution growth isn't likely to continue as Phillips 66 Partners starts to switch to a new phase of growth driven more by internal development than dropdowns . Story continues However, Phillips 66 Partners CFO Kevin Mitchell made clear during the first-quarter conference call that parent Phillips 66 was ready to step in with more dropdowns if organic growth projections don't live up to expectations. In other words, I would expect distribution growth to slow from the heady 30% rate, but to still be fairly robust. The second-quarter distribution, for example, was 20% higher than the distribution paid a year ago. A list of 7 internal growth projects at Phillips 66 Partners Phillips 66 Partners' current round of internal growth projects. Image source: Phillips 66 Partners LP. In short, Phillips 66 Partners is really a story about distribution growth, which is why the yield is a relatively modest 5.5% today. While that's just middle of the pack in the midstream limited partnership space, it's actually relatively high for the partnership. Investors appear concerned that the transition to a new phase of growth comes with increased risk -- even though parent Phillips 66 appears ready to backstop the company if needed. A much smaller safety net Holly Energy Partners, with a yield of around 8.8%, is in a different position. It, too, was created to buy assets from its general partner, refiner HollyFrontier . However, HollyFrontier has pretty much sold all of the assets it had to sell to the partnership. The only option for Holly Energy Partners now is ground-up construction and acquisitions. That means the future is much less certain, since its general partner can't step with new assets to sell if growth spending doesn't pan out as expected. In fact, Holly Energy Partners recently bought back HollyFrontier's incentive distribution rights to help reduce its cost of capital. That required issuing the general partner 37.25 million new units, but was expected to reduce the company's cost of equity capital by as much as 30%. That should make acquisitions a lot easier to finance. To be fair, Holly Energy has done an admirable job over time of growing and rewarding investors along the way. It appears to be making the right moves to keep expanding its portfolio and deserves the benefit of the doubt here as it, too, has switched to a new phase of its life cycle. All of that said, over the past decade Holly Energy Partners' distribution growth has been in the mid-to-high single digits. That's a lot slower than what investors have been rewarded with at Phillips 66 Partners. And with Holly Energy Partners' future a little less certain than it was before, it's reasonable that investors would demand a higher distribution yield. The story here, then, is a high yield and relatively slow growth. PSXP Dividend Per Share (Quarterly) Chart PSXP Dividend Per Share (Quarterly) data by YCharts Holly Energy Partners is also a little bit more aggressive than Phillips 66 Partners when it comes to distribution coverage. The big unit sale has depressed Holly Energy Partners' distribution coverage, which it is currently targeting at between 1 and 1.2 times (it fell to 1.04 times in the first quarter and could go below 1 in the second quarter based on seasonal factors). In short, this year is going to be tight on the distribution front for Holly Energy. Phillips 66 Partners, by comparison, has never allowed its distribution coverage to dip below 1.1 times. Moreover, it was 1.4 times in the first quarter, leaving ample room for further hikes. This is another solid reason why investors are demanding a higher yield from Holly Energy Partners. Investor takeaway At the end of the day, both Holly Energy Partners and Phillips 66 Partners are attractive partnerships. However, they are at different stages of their business lives. While Holly Energy will provide investors with a high level of current income, its future is far less certain than Phillips 66 Partners. A big part of that is Phillips 66 Partners' supportive parent, but you shouldn't forget its robust distribution coverage, either. While both partnerships are moving into a new life stage, Phillips 66 Partners is likely to be the more rewarding investment over the next few years. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Reuben Gregg Brewer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
@btc_fan || @btc_fan || @btc_reddit || @btc_update || @btc_current || @satoshi_BTC || @whats_a_bitcoin || All you’ve got here is a single chart, and nothing else. You don’t have to think about the strategies of the teams
http://betonchart.com
#betonchart #football #soccer #bitcoin #crypto || @whats_a_bitcoin || @btc_reddit
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Trend: up || Prices: 6423.76, 6506.07, 6308.53, 6488.76, 6376.71, 6534.88, 6719.96, 6763.19, 6707.26, 6884.64
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2015-12-16]
BTC Price: 454.93, BTC RSI: 70.83
Gold Price: 1078.00, Gold RSI: 48.33
Oil Price: 35.52, Oil RSI: 31.98
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
6 Ways Blockchain Could Change The World: Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin have seen a drop in enthusiasm over the past year as more people have become wary toward the currencies.
A spate of high profile scams and illegal transactions that involved bitcoin painted the cryptocurrency as a tool for criminals and an unsafe avenue with which to move money. While bitcoin enthusiasts continue to rework the currency's image in order to gain mainstream approval, others say the coin itself isn't what the world should be focused on.
Blockchain, the ledger-like technology that bitcoin runs on, has instead emerged as one of the most important technological advancements from the past decade. Blockchain's ability to facilitate transactions seamlessly without a third party intermediary has been driving bitcoin's popularity over the past few years.
Related Link:Ben Bernanke Sees Serious Problems With Bitcoin
While the system was developed in order to easily transfer bitcoins from party to party, many believe that supporting a bitcoin market is one of many uses blockchain could have in the future.
Some analysts believe that blockchain could significantly change the way that the financial system operates, overhauling everything from banks to exchanges. Others say the financial space is just the starting point for blockchain; the technology could be applicable to a wide range of industries and activities as it becomes more and more advanced.
Here's a look at 6 ways blockchain may be seen in the future.
1. Banks
One of the first places blockchain is likely to turn up is at banks.
As bitcoin threatened to disrupt the traditional finance system, many big banks created dedicated teams to study the cryptocurrency and experiment with its use. While the majority of banks are still wary of bitcoin itself, many have become increasingly interested in how bitcoin might improve their operations.
So far, the best use-case for blockchain within a bank has been to . At the moment, sending money from one country to another requires a great deal of time and administration, but using blockchain to run those payments could change that. For one, the system would likely make such transactions cheaper by eliminating the need for a middleman. Not only that, but blockchain would also speed up processing, a benefit to both banks and customers.
Related Link:Trading Bitcoin Binary Options
2. Exchanges
Blockchain has also been touted as a viable way to run an exchange. Using a ledger like blockchain would make trade data much more accurate by conducting the trades on a peer-to-peer basis.
Applying this technology to an exchange would cut down on the need for supervisors, a cost-saving measure that would also reduce the instances of human error. Not only that, but a blockchain-run exchange would also speed up transaction times, allowing traders to see real-time results when their trades are placed.
Nasdaq Inc(NASDAQ:NDAQ) has already begun for a blockchain-based exchange; the company has partnered with Chain, a blockchain infrastructure provider, to work on integrating blockchain into the exchange's operations.
While blockchain may be a good way to overhaul U.S. exchanges, many worry about technological problems that might arise, especially after several mishaps delayed trading on U.S. exchanges this year.
3. Legal Contracts
The legal space could also be turned on its head by blockchain, as the ledger has been suggested as a way to facilitate contracts. Dubbed "smart contracts," blockchain-supported contracts would be able to essentially enforce themselves without the need for a third party.
Computer programs would be able to set conditions laid out in a contract and when they were satisfied, the next part of the contract would be released. That means contractual obligations could be easier to enforce, as they would be automated and security surrounding such transactions would be enhanced.
One example would be the ability for a customer to pay for a package at the moment it was delivered.International Business Machines Corp.(NYSE:IBM) has a dedicated research team to investigate the possibility of creating smart contracts. The firm believes that such a system would enhance privacy for participating businesses and ensure that required conditions are met.
4. Politics
This year was the first year that a presidential candidate accepted bitcoin donations for their campaign, but many believe that blockchain will truly revolutionize politics in the years to come.
Voting has always been a hot topic among the U.S. public; each election ends with questions about accuracy and efficiency, as well as calls to reform the system and update the technology used. Blockchain supporters say that the ledger bitcoin runs on could the voting process by making it more secure. In such a voting system, blockchain would store each vote with an encrypted hash.
These encryptions are exceedingly difficult to break and would require a hacker with an impossible amount of computer power in order to change just one vote without being noticed. The Liberal Alliance, a political party in Denmark, has already to run its internal voting system using blockchain, making it the first political group in the world to integrate blockchain into its voting practices.
Related Link:Paris Attacks Weigh On Bitcoin
5. Microtransactions
Companies likeNetflix, Inc.(NASDAQ:NFLX) have revolutionized the way people view content by disrupting traditional cable broadcasters and pushing more people to watch TV and movies online.
However, subscription services like that one may be under fire in the coming years if blockchain is used to facilitate . This type of system would allow users to pay per minute, or per show in a pay-as-you-go manner.
Such payment systems could benefit both customers and content providers, as it gives a more realistic view of what people are actually using. Subscription bundles often result in a great deal of unused services, which customers may be overpaying for. On the flip side, cheaper bundles or less complex bundled options could sway customers away from one subscription service to another, but a pay-as-you-go option allows customers to view and pay for exactly what they want.
5. Tipping
Another way micropayments might enhance online content is through a tipping service. Allowing users to "tip" for particularly entertaining or insightful social media posts or blogs would diminish the need for online advertising and give content creators a new source of income.
Many believe that such a system would improve the quality of online content and help eliminate some of the spam that circulates throughout the Internet. This kind of system would also be facilitated through blockchain, and many believe that a cryptocurrency like bitcoin would make such a tipping scheme possible.
6. Music
The music industry has been alight with debates over whether artists are being fairly compensated for the value of their work. Many believe that big name labels likeSonyare unfairly negotiating royalty fees with music distributors in a way that doesn't deliver that value back to the content creators themselves.
However, with the help of blockchain, some say the music industry could shift to a more artist-driven model in which blockchain makes artists' contracts more transparent, thus eliminating arguments over how royalties are distributed when their label makes a deal with a firm like Spotify.
In 2016, a company called is planning to work together with music companies and artists to see how blockchain-supported infrastructure might improve the way business is conducted within the industry.
Image Credit:
See more from Benzinga
• Can Subscription Services Take Over The Movies As Well?
• Is The Video Subscription Space Saturated?
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Consumer growth lagging as mobile payments battle rages on: The battle over the future of consumer payments raged on at the Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas this week, just without consumers, most of whom seem quite content to keep swiping their credit cards or handing over cash instead of adopting the latest in mobile payment technology. JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ) announced that it would offer its own smartphone-based payments service to compete head on with Apple ( AAPL ), Google ( GOOGL ), Samsung and others. Scheduled to arrive in the middle of next year, Chase Pay will be available for all 94 million of the bank's credit and debit card customers. And Chase has signed on a huge array of retailers -- from Walmart ( WMT ) to CVS Health ( CVS ) and Target ( TGT ) — that haven't supported other programs. Samsung said 14 more banks had joined its payments service including Chase, SunTrust Banks ( STI ) and PNC Financial Services ( PNC ). It didn't disclose how many U.S. customers had signed up for the service in its first month but said participating consumers made an average of eight transactions. The company said three out of four transactions used Samsung's unique magnetic secure transmission, or MST, technology, which works at almost any checkout terminal by mimicking an ordinary credit card swipe. "We are seeing early signs of customer adoption and we are very, very encouraged by that," Thomas Ko, general manager of Samsung Pay, told the conference on Wednesday. Apple didn't speak at the conference. Meanwhile, Sridhar Ramaswamy, senior vice president at Google overseeing Android Pay, offered few details on the early performance of that service, revealing only that "millions" of users have signed up for Android Pay since the program launched Sept. 10. When it comes to convenince, cash and credit rule Despite all the talk of mobile payments, consumers are still sticking with their more traditional forms of payment. Two thirds of consumers used cash on a daily basis, 59% used a debit card and 50% used a credit card, according to a survey by Accenture. Only 8% said they used Apple Pay or Google Pay, the prior name of Android Pay, "regularly," while 16% said they used PayPal. Story continues Less than 1% of transactions used Apple Pay at American Eagle Outfitters ( AEO ), an early Apple supporter, Joe Megibow, American Eagle's chief digital officer, revealed on Monday. The reasons are fairly obvious — cash and credit cards are quick and convenient ways to pay that are accepted almost everywhere. Some mobile payments systems work only at a small fraction of all stores, others work with only certain credit cards and none are as convenient as a traditional credit card yet. "We're still plagued by how is this really different in the end from plastic," Greg Weed, director of research at Phoenix Marketing, said. Asked what they'd like to see added to mobile payments services, 64% of consumers said they want to be able to redeem loyalty or rewards program points at the time of purchase, Weed said. And 52% said they wanted the ability to view discounts and deals while at a specific store. All of the announced services have pledged to include loyalty and rewards programs but very few have been offered so far. Consumers are "looking for something beyond the digitization of the swipe," Brian Mooney, CEO of the Merchant Customer Exchange, said. The three year old group, formed by leading retailers, is piloting its own payments app, called CurrentC, which intends to integrate loyalty and rewards programs. Mooney didn't say when the long-delayed service would be generally available but the group is also partnering with Chase's new service. The evolution of Bitcoin Amid all the excitement around digital payments, there was still plenty of talk about the financial world's favorite cryptocurrency, bitcoin. But unlike past years, entrepreneurs are now focused less on bitcoin as a replacement for buying and selling goods and more on the digital currency's infrastructure for securely recording all kinds of dealings. Every bitcoin transaction is recorded in a public ledger known as the blockchain. Nasdaq ( NDAQ ) announced that its pilot using the blockchain to record private stock transactions was a success . The exchange said it had signed up six clients, including messaging service Tango and data security specialist Vera, to use the transaction system as the basis for actual private trades in their shares. Some entrepreneurs are looking to add considerably more transactions onto the block chain, particularly the trillions of dollars per day of trades in public stocks and bonds. The current system makes traders wait three days for transactions to formally settle, but some at the Money conference said a blockchain-based solution could complete deals in a fraction of the time and with improved security and transparency. Three day settlement is "silly, it's downright dumb," famed venture capitalist Vinod Kholsa, who has backed numerous financial technology and bitcoin related start ups, said. || Bitcoin Seeks To Right Music-Industry Wrongs: The music industry has been plagued by problems ever since the advent of the Internet and digital file sharing. Free file sharing, illegal downloads and streaming services that offer unlimited listening for a low monthly fee have all contributed to a growing resentment among artists who say that the value their work isn't being recognized adequately.
However, the bitcoin community is looking to all of that by using blockchain, the ledger-like technology that the cryptocurrency runs on, to create more transparent contracts.
Royalty Distribution
As many artists have their royalty fees negotiated by their labels, undesirable contracts with streaming services are often outside of their control. That means that their music can be played on services likeApple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL)'s Apple Music or Spotify for a minor fee that the artist often find insufficient. In order to combat this, Ujo Music is working to create a system in which artists contracts are secured via blockchain. That way, transparency between the artist, the label and the streaming service is ensured and artists have more control over how and where their music is sold.
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Peer-To-Peer Sharing
A service called Peertracks is looking to use an alt-coin in order to deliver value to artists that choose to share their music on the service. The company uses "artist tokens" which increase in value as a particular track gains popularity. Music that doesn't reach many people would generate tokens with less value. In such a system artists are paid for the consumption of their music and rewarded for songs that are particularly catchy.
Bitcoin Payments
Bittunes is another startup aiming to the music industry, only this service is hoping to keep things simple and use bitcoin as a form of payment. The company allows users to play new tracks for $0.50, half of which goes to the artist while the other half is redistributed to a group of buyers. That way, the company's managing director Simon Edhouse has said, the transaction remains between an artist and their fans. Songs that make it to the service's Top 100 increase in price to $1.00, leaving the artist with 40 percent of the sale, the buyers sharing an additional 40 percent between themselves while Bittunes collects the remaining 20 percent.
A World Outside Of Cryptocurrency
Blockchain's entrance into the music space underscores the growing enthusiasm surrounding the technology. While bitcoin itself has raised questions about safety and reliability, the technology behind the cryptocurrency is often dubbed one of the most important technological advances of the decade. For that reason, many startups are focusing on how to implement blockchain into new industries rather than on ways to help spread the word about bitcoin.
Many believe that bitcoin may never make it as a widely accepted form of currency, but on the other hand blockchain has the potential to revolutionize several different industries.
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© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Kenya’s central bank is taking out newspapers ads to warn against buying Bitcoin: The safest way to transfer money. The Central Bank of Kenya took out local newspaper ads this week to warn citizens of the dangers of crypto-currencies like Bitcoin. CBK – “Bitcoin and similar products are not legal tender nor are they regulated in Kenya” #statusquo pic.twitter.com/mdmkxTGMUx — Winter soldier (@Neloversion) December 15, 2015 Among the concerns it raises: Once again, Norway has been voted the best country in the world for humans Virtual currencies are traded in exchange platforms that tend to be unregulated all over the world. Consumers may therefore lose their money without having any legal redress in the event these exchanges collapse or close business. The public should therefore desist from transacting in Bitcoin and similar products. The CBK isn’t just following the lead of other governments that have warned citizens to steer clear of the unregulated virtual currency. It also is wading into a widening spat between the country’s dominant telecom, Safaricom, and an upstart remittances company that uses Bitcoin, called Bitpesa. Bitpesa and another start up, Lipisha, are both suing Safaricom for intimidation and cessation of service without notice for blocking their access to Safaricom’s widely used mobile money platform, Mpesa. The day before the central bank’s ad appeared, a Kenyan High Court judge ruled that Safaricom does not have to grant Bitpesa and its partner access while the court case proceeds. Ironically, the fight is between two companies that are both using technology to improve life for Africa’s emerging but still disadvantaged middle and working classes. Mpesa enables customers—including millions who are “unbanked”—to transfer, use, or store cash on their cell phones. It has helped raise the rate of Kenyan adults with access to formal financial services from to 67% in 2014, up from 41% in 2009. The platform also is being used for a range of other projects, from improving healthcare to giving rural areas access to solar power . Story continues Bitpesa, founded by former development professionals working in micro-finance, aims to reduce the high cost of money transfers for Africans living and working away from home. Africans spend double the global average rate to send remittances. Through Bitpesa, users can transfer bitcoin and then convert it into Kenyan shillings. The two-year-old company has raised more than $1.7 million from investors. “We were fans of the innovation that Safaricom first shared with Kenya and the region back in 2007-2009, and we watched as other companies built upon this first mobile money network, with iterations taking the technology to places Safaricom alone could never go,” Bitpesa co-founder Elizabeth Rossiello wrote in a Dec. 14 blog post . The debate over how to regulate Bitcoin also encapsulates the competing interests of innovation and status quo in a country that is dubbed East Africa’s “Silicon Savannah.” Safaricom, founded in 1997, is one of the country’s most established telecom firms and its largest mobile network provider. It has defended its decision to block Bitpesa by saying the startup does not meet anti-money-laundering laws. (Bitpesa counters that it does not fall under such regulations.) Observers point out the fact that Safaricom is also entering the remittances industry with a partnership between South Africa’s MTN Group and its parent company Vodafone that will allow users in both networks , which covers most of east and central Africa, to transfer money across the region on their phones. One of Bitpesa’s board members and investors, Joseph Mucheru has been nominated to be the country’s cabinet secretary for information and communications technology. He has said that once he is sworn in he will divest from the company, but his views are clear. He told a local newspaper , “It will be a sad day if we fail to embrace this because we are afraid. Kenya cannot be the tech hub of Africa if our own regulations stifle innovation.” But at least for now, Kenya’s central bank seems to think the caution is worth the tradeoff. Sign up for the Quartz Africa Weekly Brief — the most important and interesting news from across the continent, in your inbox. Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief , our free daily newsletter with the world’s most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: Most of the information we spread online is quantifiably “bullshit” This simple negotiation tactic brought 195 countries to consensus || Stakes are high in hunt for bitcoin's 'messiah': By Jeremy Wagstaff SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The stakes are high in the hunt for Satoshi Nakamoto, the person or people behind bitcoin, not just for the journalist who gets it right first, but also for the cryptocurrency itself. An Australian entrepreneur and academic, Craig Steven Wright, is the latest candidate, outed in articles by Wired magazine and technology news website Gizmodo hours before his home and office in Sydney were searched by police. Both articles said investigations based on leaked emails, documents and web archives pointed strongly to Wright being "Nakamoto". "Either Wright invented bitcoin, or he's a brilliant hoaxer who very badly wants us to believe he did," said Wired. But the search has already tripped up several journalists, most famously Newsweek's Leah McGrath Goodman, who identified Japanese American Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto in March 2014 as bitcoin's creator. Dorian Nakamoto denied it - as has nearly everyone else alleged to be the mastermind credited with writing the paper, protocol and software in 2008 that gave rise to bitcoin and its underlying blockchain technology. Unmasking the "real" Nakamoto would be significant both for the future development of bitcoin and, potentially, the currency's market value. While any changes to the bitcoin protocol can only be implemented by consensus, the proven founder of the cryptocurrency could hold considerable sway. "Decision-making power doesn't rest with any individual, but Nakamoto is such a mythical figure, if he appears he could become a sort of messiah to the community," said Roberto Capodieci, a Singapore-based entrepreneur focusing on the blockchain. ELECTRONIC MINERS Persuading that community is not easy: while the system is decentralised by design, a cluster of so-called bitcoin miners based in China are key, Antony Lewis, a Singapore-based bitcoin consultant, said. Unlike traditional currency, bitcoins are not distributed by a central bank or backed by physical assets such as gold, but are "mined" using computers to calculate increasingly complex algorithmic formulas. Story continues Miners run pools of computers that process transactions and create new bitcoins, an energy intensive business that has frozen out all but a handful of players. The group effectively scuttled a recent effort by one key bitcoin thinker to make processing simpler and cheaper, Lewis said. David Moskowitz, Singapore-based founder of start-up bitcoin brokerage Coin Republic, said knowing who Nakamoto was would be significant "because people are looking for a core voice behind (bitcoin). It would help us understand what Satoshi thought". Then there's the fact that bitcoin researchers believe he or she may be holding up to 1 million bitcoins, which if sold today would fetch $414 million. If Nakamoto chose to sell out, or even hinted that he might, that would push the price down, reducing the incentive to mine which might in turn provoke a steeper fall in the currency, Lewis said. On the other hand, Nakamoto could help reduce uncertainty by reassuring bitcoin users he was not going to sell his holdings in one go or, more drastically, do something called "burning" — publicly deleting the coin by sending them to a bitcoin address to which he or she did not have the key. "It would be like throwing the money into the bottom of the sea, and reduces the uncertainty of dumping onto the market," said Lewis. "MR BITCOIN" Wright has not commented publicly on the Wired and Gizmodo reports, and Reuters attempts to contact him using various listed email addresses were unsuccessful. Fellow tenants at the north Sydney office building listed as the address of one of his companies described him as "an outgoing guy", who they nicknamed "Mr Bitcoin" because he had once offered to pay for some work in the currency. And even if Wright did admit to being Nakamoto, he would still have to prove it. That could be done by announcing he would move some of the bitcoin believed to belong to him, and then doing so, or signing a message with one of the encryption keys used in emails known to have been written by Nakamoto when bitcoin first appeared. Wright has not been a prominent member of the bitcoin community, but he has appeared at several gatherings in the past year or two. Moskowitz, who met him at a Singapore conference last year, said he was interesting and pleasant to talk to. "He's clearly very intelligent and fits the profile," he said. "But that doesn't necessarily mean he is Nakamoto." Hints as to Wright's own feelings on unmasking Nakamoto can be found on Quora, a website where users answer questions posed by other users and vote for the best answer. In September someone with his name, position and profile picture "upvoted" another Quora user's comment that "as a currency that is meant to be 'for the people, by the people', it is probably smart that no one knows who exactly started this coin. It is perfect that Satoshi Nakamoto founded it and vanished." (Adds full name of start-up in paragraph 13 and corrects date (to 'last' year from 'this' year) in paragraph 23.) (Reporting by Jeremy Wagstaff, with additional reporting by Colin Packham in Sydney; Editing by Alex Richardson) || 7 Of The World's Most Famous Corporate Rivalries: Cats and dogs, the Red Sox and the Yankees, Batman and the Joker— everyone loves a good rivalry, especially in America. Competition is a mainstay in the corporate world, and long-lasting competitive relationships have given rise to some of the fiercest rivalries on Wall Street.
Most big name firms are battling some other business that is doing something similar, and part of that battle is openly criticizing their competitor before the public eye. Corporate rivalries are sometimes part of a marketing gimmick designed to keep a firm's name in the public eye, but others are the result of long-standing tension between CEOs or differing corporate cultures.
From Coke versus Pepsi to Apple versus Microsoft, here's a look at some of Wall Street's most famous rivalries.
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Microsoft And Apple
Perhaps the most famous tech rivalry belongs toMicrosoft Corporation(NASDAQ:MSFT) andApple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL).
The two firms have been battling it out for the title of Better Brand Maker for more than three decades, accumulating thousands of loyal followers eager to stand up for their favorite products. Apple has long praised the benefits of design and simplicity, while Microsoft has painted Apple followers as hipsters who are overpaying to be part of a "cool" crowd.
Whether you are loyal to the fruit or the PC, the rivalry has captured the attention of the public and created a buzz around both companies' latest products. Years of contention have been a driving force behind the marketing for the two companies, but this holiday season it seems they are in order to grab the attention of the masses.
As part of Microsoft's holiday commercial, New York City-based Microsoft employees marched up Fifth Avenue alongside a choir singing "Let There Be Peace on Earth" to Apple's NYC location, where the employees from both firms openly embraced. It remains to be seen whether the truce between the two will last longer than this season's Christmas trees, but for now it appears that the two will ring in the New Year side by side.
Coca-Cola And Pepsi
The Coca-Cola Co(NYSE:KO) andPepsiCo, Inc.(NYSE:PEP) have been at odds since 1975, when Pepsi first unveiled the "Pepsi Challenge."
Pepsi invited consumers to take part in blind taste tests in which they identified whether they preferred the taste of Pepsi or Coke. The battle has escalated over the years, with each firm taking a stab at the other in TV commercials, social media campaigns and through sponsorship deals.
Coca-Cola's FIFA World Cup sponsorship has been under threat from Pepsi for years, with the rival firm taking over some of the hype Coke enjoys by launching its own marketing campaigns alongside the tournament. The rivalry even made its way to space; both firms sent special cans designed for zero gravity into orbit on the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1985.
The two have also shared some tender moments as well. In 2009, the two firms agreed to follow one another on Twitter at the of creative agency Amnesia Razorfish.
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Ford And General Motors
American automakersFord Motor Company(NYSE:F) andGeneral Motors Company(NYSE:GM) have been on opposing sides of the industry for more than 100 years. While the two put their long-standing feud on pause during the Financial Crisis when the auto industry was approaching rock bottom, they have since picked up where they left off trying to gain marketshare from each other.
Ford famously took stabs at GM's government bailout in its advertisements once the automaker got back on its feet following bankruptcy. Ford CEO Mike Farley was also as saying "F— GM. I hate them and their company and what they stand for."
GM Chief Executive Dan Aversion also spoke out about Ford's Lincoln brand in 2011 saying, "They are trying like hell to resurrect Lincoln. Well, I might as well tell you, you might as well sprinkle holy water. It's over."
More recently, GM released a series of depicting Ford's latest pickup trucks as being weaker than GM's offerings because they are made from aluminum rather than steel.
Nike Inc. And Reebok
Athletic apparel makersNike Inc(NYSE:NKE) and have been battling for the title of Best Shoe Maker for decades.
Both company's original products were vastly different, with Nike selling imported running shoes and Reebok marketing white leather women's running shoes designed for joggers. However, the two eventually began to battle for marketshare with celebrity campaigns designed to make athletic apparel more appealing as a fashion statement.
Nike signed basketball superstar Michael Jordan, to which Reebok responded by using Shaquille O'Neal as a spokesman. The two firms continued to fuel their rivalry by supporting competing athletes, with Nike even $25,000 to figure skater Tonya Harding's defense fund when she was accused of attacking her Reebok sponsored competitor, Nancy Kerrigan.
McDonald's And Burger King
Fast food chainsMcDonald's Corporation(NYSE:MCD) andRestaurant Brands International Inc(NYSE:QSR)'s Burger King have become natural enemies, as both restaurants promise similar experiences to their customers.
The two have been at each other's throats for years, with competing advertising campaigns and similar product offerings. In 2014, Burger King revived its "Burger Wars" campaign by introducing its own versions of McDonald's Big Mac and McRib sandwiches.
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More recently, Burger King called on McDonald's for a truce, asking the golden arches to collaborate on a McWhopper, which would include elements from both the Big Mac and the Whopper. Burger King opted to pitch this idea to McDonald's via an open letter, saying that the McWhopper would be a good way to call attention to Peace One Day, an organization working to recognize September 21 as an International Day Of Peace. However, McDonald's by saying that their rivalry is "certainly not the unequaled circumstances of the real pain and suffering of war" and slammed the King for what McDonald's believed was a publicity stunt.
Budweiser And Miller
The world's largest beer makerAnheuser Busch Inbev SA (ADR)(NYSE:BUD) and its largest competitor,SABMiller plc (ADR)(OTC:SBMRY), have been locked in a booze rivalry for years. Both firms have launched comprehensive marketing campaigns taking aim at the quality and taste of each other's products, with the bitter back-and-forth even prompting the two to battle it out in court.
However, that rivalry could soon become a major beer superpower as SABMiller recently Anheuser Busch's $105 billion takeover offer. While the deal still faces a barrage of regulatory concerns, its completion would put an end to the longstanding feud between Miller and Bud, instead uniting the two to create the world's largest beer maker.
Anheuser Busch has said that the deal will provide the firm with exposure around the world and will give consumers more choice. However, some say that the merger could be dangerous for the industry, as it creates a force with which will be difficult to compete.
Netflix And Blockbuster
Video rental chain Blockbuster appeared to have the market cornered just 10 years ago, but when video-rental-by-mail serviceNetflix, Inc(NASDAQ:NFLX) appeared on the scene, the two squared off for battle.
When Netflix's service began to threaten Blockbuster's customer base, the company launched Blockbuster Online, to little success. In 2005, Blockbuster tried to undercut Netflix's prices, to which Netflix CEO Reed Hastings responded by saying the company was throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the startup.
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In a show of defiance, Blockbuster's then CEO John Antioco Hastings an actual kitchen sink the following day. However, despite Antioco's best efforts, Netflix upended the traditional video-rental business and Blockbuster eventually filed for bankruptcy protection and was acquired byDISH Network Corp(NASDAQ:DISH).
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© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Insight - In taking economic war to Islamic State, U.S. developing new tools: By Yeganeh Torbati and Brett Wolf WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Since last month, U.S. warplanes have struck Islamic State's oil infrastructure in Syria in a stepped-up campaign of economic warfare that the United States estimates has cut the group's black-market earnings from oil by about a third. In finding their targets, U.S. military planners have relied in part on an unconventional source of intelligence: access to banking records that provide insight into which refineries and oil pumps are generating cash for the extremist group, current and former officials say. The intent is to choke off the Islamic State's funding by tracking its remaining ties to the global financial system. By identifying money flowing to and from the group, U.S. officials have been able to get a glimpse into how its black-market economy operates, people with knowledge of the effort have said. That in turn has influenced decisions about targeting for air strikes in an effort that began before Islamic State's Nov. 13 attacks on Paris and has intensified since, they said. While Islamic State's access to formal banking has been restricted, it retains some ties that U.S. military and financial officials can use against it, the current and former officials said. "We have done a really good job of largely keeping the Islamic State out of the formal financial system," said Matthew Levitt, who served as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence at the U.S. Treasury in the George W. Bush administration. "But we haven't been entirely successful, and that may not be a bad thing." Reuters was unable to verify key aspects of the campaign, including when it started or exactly which facilities have been destroyed as a result. Two current officials who confirmed the operations in outline declined to comment on their details. It was unclear how U.S. intelligence, Treasury, and military officials working on what the government calls "counter threat finance" operations have used banking records to identify lucrative Islamic State oil-related targets in Syria and whether that involved local banks. A report this year by the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force found there were more than 20 Syrian financial institutions with operations in Islamic State territory. In Iraq, Treasury has worked with government officials to cut off bank branches in the group's territory from the Iraqi and international financial systems. Gerald Roberts, section chief of the FBI's terrorist financing operations section, said that Islamic State's recruits from outside Syria often come with financial trails that officials tracking them can "exploit." "We are seeing them using traditional banking systems," he said at a banking conference last week in Washington, adding that young, tech-savvy Islamic State members are also familiar with virtual currencies such as Bitcoin. Islamic State, also known as IS, ISIS or ISIL, is sometimes forced to use commercial banks because the amounts involved are too large to move using other means, said Levitt. The U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) uses a set of "business rules" to screen the roughly 55,000 reports it receives daily from financial institutions for signs of activity involving Islamic State, a spokesman said. He declined to describe the rules, but law enforcement sources say names, IP addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers are among the data that intelligence authorities try to match. The matches allow FinCEN "to connect the dots between seemingly unrelated individuals and entities," the FinCEN spokesman said. At present, FinCEN finds about 1,200 matches suggesting possible Islamic State-linked financial activity each month, up from 800 in April, the spokesman said. Bank of America, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo declined to comment on whether they provided financial reports to the U.S. government. Such reports are supplied confidentially. Citigroup, HSBC, and Standard Chartered did not immediately respond to requests for comment. "TIDAL WAVE II" The use of financial records linked to Islamic State is only one part of the intelligence-gathering exercise for air strikes in Syria that also includes methods such as aerial surveillance by drones, officials said. One former military official familiar with the process said that any financial intelligence collected by FinCEN would require "significant vetting" before the military acted on it. Earlier this month, U.S.-led coalition planes struck 116 fuel trucks used to smuggle Islamic State oil 45 minutes after dropping leaflets warning drivers to flee, a Pentagon spokesman said. Coalition strikes destroyed another 283 Islamic State fuel trucks on Saturday, the Pentagon said. On Nov. 8, a coalition air strike destroyed three oil refineries in Syria near the border with Turkey. U.S. defence officials estimate that Islamic State, an adversary the United States calls the wealthiest terrorist group of its kind in history, was earning about $47 million per month from oil sales prior to October. That month, the U.S. military launched an intensified effort to go after oil infrastructure, dubbed "Tidal Wave II," named after the bombing campaign targeting Romanian oil fields in World War Two. The Pentagon estimates the strikes have reduced the Islamic State's income from oil sales by about 30 percent, one U.S. defence official with knowledge of the previously unreported estimate said. Reuters was unable to confirm this. The use of financial records in helping to pick U.S. targets was first disclosed last week at the banking conference in Washington. At the conference, Kurt Gredzinski, the Counter Threat Finance Team Chief at U.S. Special Operations Command, cited the importance of information provided by banks in the war against Islamic State. "That to me is the first time in my recollection that we strategically targeted based on threat finance information," he said at the conference. He declined to comment further on which strike he had been referring to. "RESILIENT FINANCIAL PORTFOLIO" U.S. officials believe that diminished funding could gradually undermine Islamic State's grip on the area it controls in Iraq and Syria, because it needs revenue to pay salaries and keep public infrastructure operating, said two former officials with knowledge of the Obama administration's thinking. Experts caution that Islamic State, which rules an area the size of Austria, has surprisingly deep pockets due to the various revenue streams it controls. It has built up what amounts to a "durable and resilient financial portfolio," funded by oil sales, extortion, and sales of antiquities, said Thomas Sanderson, an expert on terrorism at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Money can be strapped to the backs of mules," Sanderson said. "It's easy to move things across a border during a time of deprivation and chaos." Despite some initial success, cutting off its funding will require deeper cooperation from governments from Turkey to Russia, experts say. The group has shown the ability to bounce back from previous U.S. strikes on its oil facilities. Counter-terrorism experts say that Islamic State appears to have learned from U.S. successes in cracking down on funding for al-Qaeda, which relied heavily on support from wealthy donors in the Gulf region. "IS has learned that you don't want to be reliant on too many outside sources," said Sanderson. "Donors are fickle and subject to pressure and (IS) wants to be in control." (Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati in Washington and Brett Wolf of Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence. Additional reporting by Joel Schectman, Warren Strobel, and Jonathan Landay in Washington.; Editing by Kevin Krolicki and Stuart Grudgings) || No one seems to want to be New York’s top banking regulator: (Thomson Reuters)New York Governor Andrew Cuomo addresses the media before participating as an honorary grand marshall in the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn, New York
The regime change at the New York Department of Financial Services is far from over.
Acting DFS superintendent Anthony Albanese is quitting, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
His departure comes as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's search to replace Benjamin Lawsky drags on.Lawsky quit earlier this year, relinquishing his role to Albanese temporarily.
The Journal report says Cuomo’s staff has sought to exert more control over DFS in the months since Lawsky departed. Albanese downplayed that speaking with the Journal, saying his role and tenure “was always intended to be a temporary position to help smooth the transition process.”
With his exit, and no new superintendent known, it’s not clear how the transition process is working.
Throughout Lawsky's tenure as head of DFS, he aggressively pursued cases on Wall Street and earned a reputation for cracking down on illegal behavior.
By the time Lawsky left, the DFS had issued a staggering$6 billion in finesto financial services firms over a four-year span.
Business Insider reached out to the governor's office and to the DFS; neither provided comment by publication time.
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• Bitcoin's value peaked at $1,147.25 on December 4 and crashed to a low of $177.28 just a few months later.
• Bernanke suggested that Bitcoin has yet to establish itself as a "widely accepted transactions medium."
Ben Bernanke has had plenty of time to reflect on his career and personal political views since removing himself as head of the Federal Reserve.
Bernanke, speaking to Quartz, discussed his time as leading the Federal Reserve, why he no longer considers himself a Republican, and why Bitcoin has "serious" problems.
According to Bernanke, we have entered an era where the payments system is "evolving quickly" with new approaches to payments "proliferating." However, Bitcoin itself may be flawed for two reasons: 1) the digital currency hasn't proven itself to be a "stable source of value," and 2) Bitcoin hasn't established itself as a "widely accepted transactions medium."
"But the real serious problem that it has is it's anonymity, which is a feature, and is also a bug, in that it has become in some cases a vehicle for illicit transactions, drug selling or terrorist financing or whatever," Bernanke added. "And you know, governments are not happy to let that activity happen, so I suspect that there will be oversight of transactions done in bitcoin or similar currencies and that will reduce the appeal."
Other Problems Facing Bitcoin
MIT Technology Review's Tom Simonite reported on August 28 that Bitcoin "will start to malfunction" as soon as early next year. Simonite spoke with Gavin Andresen, known in circles as Bitcoin's "chief caretaker" -- he says the currency can't process more than seven transactions per second. Visa processes thousands times that amount.
"Transactions will get unreliable and it'll get worse and worse over time," Andersen warned over the dangers of not addressing Bitcoin's issues. "My fear is there'll be no critical event that causes people to react—Bitcoin just kind of has a long slow death. I'm trying to set off alarm bells for ‘You know, guys, if we don't do this, Bitcoin will be dead in four years.'"
Benzinga's Jake Mann offered Trading Academy another issue. Writing in 2013, Mann warned that a lack of central bank doesn't indicate there's a fool-proof supply control mechanism in place.
"While the sheer difficulty of [bitcoin] mining assures Bitcoin users that there won't ever be a massive supply shock in the digital market, the way that Bitcoins are created causes one enormous problem," Mann explained. "Primarily, it incentivizes miners to hoard the currency upon receiving it. This is one of the main causes of Bitcoin's price volatility."
At that time, consensus opinion at the time was that up to 25 percent of all Bitcoins mined have never entered the marketplace. Mann suggested that miners should be mandated to exchange all newly-mined Bitcoins for another currency of their choice.
Failure to do so could result in the currency experiencing additional volatility that would end up "killing" its potential, as a group of miners could essentially control the supply.
"Is that really any better than a central bank?" he questioned.
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© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Why GAHC Is Like a Biotech Stock: HOUSTON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / December 8, 2015 / Biotechnology stocks have had another huge year in the OTC markets. Generally, biotechnology stocks make some of the largest moves on the OTC. The reason being most of the biggest rags to riches stories on the OTC are biotech companies. Why is that? Most biotechs have long expensive trial phases to get through before they'll ever make a dime of revenue, and going public helps these companies raise the capital necessary to make it to solvency. But, if they do make it through the trial phases the payoff can be huge. Why do speculative investors love biotechs? Biotechnology companies generally have a novel technology or concept to solve a multi billion dollar problem, and earn patents throughout the trial phases. This is why we have been looking at Global Arena Holding, Inc. ( GAHC ). GAHC is not a biotechnology stock, but it shares many of the same properties that make it a company you should look at immediately. Global Arena has invested in Blockchain Technologies Corporation. ("BTC"), and is working toward a full acquisition. BTC leverages the groundbreaking blockchain, which some - like Marc Andreessen - are calling the most significant technology since the internet, and creates patents for novel uses of the blockchain that will solve multi billion dollar inefficiencies across a number of industries. These include financial markets, banking, electronic payment systems, private & public contracts and election services through various applications such as: exchanges, smart contracts and voting. Much like a biotech: - Novel Technology - Solving Multi Billion Dollar Problems - Creating Patents Unlike biotechs, GAHC , is already generating revenues through its election services subsidiary, Global Election Services. To bring it all full circle, GAHC 's BTC will potentially be using its Blockchain Apparatus to make filing patents easier and more efficient, which as mentioned earlier, is a big part of the biotechnology business. Story continues Blockchain technology, which many know as the backbone of the digital currency Bitcoin, is essentially a uncompromisable public ledger of transactions. All transactions are broadcast to a network of subscribing nodes, and each node updates its own copy of the ledger with the new transactions. Once a new group of transactions is verified, a block is created and added to the blockchain. All transactions for the ledger are publicly visible and verifiable based on previous blocks. Essentially, blockchain is a ledger that anyone can add things to but no one can remove anything from. This creates a certain and verifiable record on an electronic system that cannot be hacked. GAHC looks to be one of the first companies to fully leverage and benefit from this technology. This could create movements similar, to several biotechnology companies we've been paying attention to: KaleBios Pharmaceuticals ( KBIO ) has had a huge past few weeks since being taken over by CEO Martin Shkreli, who has spearheaded a 9,830% move. That's no misprint, it shows the kind of movement these high potential stocks can make. Endonovo Therapeutics, Inc. (OTC: ENDV ) has made an 890% move just this week! ENDV is developing two bioelectronic-based platforms for regenerative medicine. Immunotronic(TM), a non-invasive and non-implantable immuno-regulatory device designed to treat inflammatory conditions in vital organs, including acute organ failure; and Cytotronics(TM), a proprietary bioelectronic-based method of creating stem cells with enhanced biological and therapeutic properties. In a Schedule 13G filing, Steve Cohen 's Point72 Asset Management reported owning 1.41 million shares of Cara Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CARA ) , which accounted for 5.2% of the company's outstanding shares. Cohen's family office owned a mere 24,800 shares of the company as of September 30. The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focuses on the development of new chemical products that target the body's peripheral nervous system in order to relieve pain and pruritus. Shares of Cara Therapeutics Inc. ( CARA ) had advanced by more than 100% through the end of September, when the sell-off in biotechnology stocks kicked off. Nevertheless, the stock is still 38% in the green year-to-date, and will most likely continue to be guided by investors' expectations for the success of its product candidates in the upcoming quarters. Biotechnology stocks can make massive moves, Global Arena Holding, Inc. (GAHC) shares several properties which give it the same kind of explosive potential these speculative biotechs have and is already generating revenues with significant increases expected to continue. Make sure to take a close look at GAHC . For more information about the blockchain, click here: http://globalarenaholding.com/blockchain-news/the-beginners-guide-to-blockchain/ Legal Disclaimer/Disclosure: This is a sponsored article. This document is not and should not be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase or subscribe for any investment. No information in this Report should be construed as individualized investment advice. For The Full Disclaimer, click here http://capitalgainsreport.com/disclaimer/ . SOURCE: Capital Gains Report
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Current price: 361.4€ $BTCEUR $btc #bitcoin 2015-11-07 11:00:03 CET || #RDD / #BTC on the exchanges: Cryptsy: 0.00000002 Bittrex: 0.00000003 Average $7.0E-6 per #reddcoin 02:00:01 via #p…pic.twitter.com/9rVmIbtoAE || Current value of DOGE in BTC: Vircurex: 0.00000037 -- Volume: 60639.17558617 Today's trend: stable at 11/19/15 00:55 || Current price: 322.05$ $BTCUSD $btc #bitcoin 2015-11-21 00:00:04 EST || $313.87 at 00:45 UTC [24h Range: $294.00 - $337.02 Volume: 51709 BTC] || #RDD / #BTC on the exchanges:
Cryptsy: Error
Bittrex: 0.00000003
Average $1.2E-5 per #reddcoin
17:00:03 || 1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$325.12/$325.39 #Bitstamp
$322.00/$322.71 #BTCe
⇢$-3.39/$-2.41
$325.60/$325.72 #Coinbase
⇢$0.21/$0.60 || Current price: 371.09$ $BTCUSD $btc #bitcoin 2015-11-09 06:00:05 EST || Bitstamp: $432.32/BTC - last trade of USD/BTC at https://www.bitstamp.net/ (high: 440.00, low: 413.11) #bitcoin #BTC http://bitcoinautotrade.com || One Bitcoin now worth $314.75@bitstamp. High $333.67. Low $294.00. Market Cap $4.668 Billion #bitcoin
|
Trend: down || Prices: 456.08, 463.62, 462.32, 442.68, 438.64, 436.57, 442.40, 454.98, 455.65, 417.27
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2022-04-14]
BTC Price: 39935.52, BTC RSI: 39.01
Gold Price: 1970.90, Gold RSI: 57.97
Oil Price: 106.95, Oil RSI: 54.93
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Silver Prices Edged Lower As Dollar and Yields Face Downward Pressure: • Silver prices remain little changed
• The dollar moved lower, losing safe-haven appeal
• Yields fell as jobs data pointed toward greater inflation concerns
• Oil prices tumbled following positive-looking peace talks
Silverpricestraded mostly flat on Wednesday, ending the day in the green. GPD indicated a 7.1% increase in economic growth, which bulls did not find impressive. Benchmark yields decreased amid flattening bond spreads. The 5s-30s inversion dissipated on Tuesday. The inversion signaled the possibility of a recession due to the Fed tightening interest rates. Gold prices rose as the dollar and yields slid. The dollar fell as peace talks reduced the dollar’s safe-haven appeal and boosted the Euro. Oil prices increased as the US considers imposing additional sanctions on Russia in industries that are crucial for sustaining the invasion of Ukraine.
The ADP Private Payroll Report indicated that private payrolls rose by 455,000 in March, exceeding expectations. Economists anticipated that 450,000 new jobs would be created in March. The previous month had 486,000. The leisure and hospitality sectors made the most significant gains, with 161,000 new positions. Hiring remains robust despite a tightening labor market driven by the Fed’s hawkish stance. This report comes two days before the closely watched nonfarm payrolls report, which shows job growth.
Technical Analysis
Silver prices peaked above $25.00, testing the 10-day moving average before retreating to the $24.80 level. Although silver is trading higher, Russia-Ukraine peace talks point toward a downward trend. Critical US data and decreasing geopolitical uncertainty will generate downward movement for the metal. Further weakness could lead to a drop to the 200-day moving average. The $26.00 threshold will be a test, but bull prices are likely capped off.
Support is near the 50-day moving average near 24.32. Resistance is seen near the downward sloping trendline near 25.7. Short-term momentum turned positive as the fast stochastic generated a crossover buy signal.
The medium-term momentum is negative as the histogram prints negatively with the MACD (moving average convergence divergence). The trajectory of the MACD histogram is in negative territory but decelerating, which reflects the upward trend in price movement.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Bitcoin and ETH Consolidate, AAVE Could Surge To $300
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• Ethereum’s Counter-trend Rally Finally got Underway: How High Can It Fly? || Uptrending June Gold Looking to Strengthen Over $1958.70: Gold futures are trading higher on Monday as the U.S. Dollar weakened. However, gains are being capped by another surge in U.S. Treasury yields. Fundamentally, fresh concerns over Russia’s attacks in eastern Ukraine lent some support, while the prospects of aggressive interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve remained the biggest obstacle for bullish investors. At 10:51 GME, June Comex gold futures are trading $1958.40, up $12.40 or +0.64%. On Friday, the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD) settled at $181.41, up $1.07 or +0.59%. The U.S. Dollar Index is struggling early Monday after topping 100 for the first time in nearly two years on Friday on bets of aggressive Fed measures to contain soaring inflation. A stronger dollar makes gold less attractive for other currency holders. U.S. Treasury yields are at their highest level since March 2019 amid the hawkish stance laid out by the Fed in last week’s minutes. Higher U.S. interest rates and yields increase the opportunity cost of holding bullion, which is also used as a hedge against rising inflation. Daily June Comex Gold Daily Swing Chart Technical Analysis The main trend is up according to the daily swing chart. The trend turned up earlier today when buyers took out $1955.00. The next target is the main top at $1972.50. A move through $1916.20 will change the main trend to down. The market is currently testing the upper or Fibonacci level of a major retracement zone at $1958.70. Support is a 50% level at $1932.90, and a support cluster at $1908.10 to $1897.70. The nearest resistance is a short-term retracement zone at $1987.60 to $2009.90. Daily Swing Chart Technical Forecast The direction of the June Comex gold futures contract on Monday is likely to be determined by trader reaction to $1958.70. Bullish Scenario A sustained move over $1958.70 will indicate the presence of buyers. The first upside target is the main top at $1972.50. Taking out $1972.50 will reaffirm the uptrend with a short-term retracement zone at $1987.60 to $2009.90 the next target area. Look for aggressive counter-trend sellers on the first test of this zone. However, a breakout over $2009.90 could trigger an acceleration to the upside with $2082.00 the next major target. Story continues Bearish Scenario A sustained move under $1958.70 will signal the presence of sellers. This could trigger a sharp break into the 50% level at $1932.90. If $1932.90 fails we could see a test of the main bottom at $1916.20, followed by the support cluster at $1908.10 – $1897.70. For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar . This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Delta Air Lines Stuck in Major Downtrend Silver Rallies As Gold Moves Above The $1950 Level Top 5 Cryptocurrencies to Watch This Week: BTC, LUNA, DOGE, FTT, and XMR Gold Markets Spike During the Monday Session Euro Gaps Higher to Kick Off the Week Stock Market Gets Hit to Kick Off the Week || Top Research Reports for PepsiCo, T-Mobile & BlackRock: Monday, April 4, 2022 The Zacks Research Daily presents the best research output of our analyst team. Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks, including PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP), T-Mobile US, Inc. (TMUS), and BlackRock, Inc. (BLK). These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today. You can see all of today’s research reports here >>> Shares of PepsiCo have outperformed the Zacks Beverages - Soft drinks industry over the past one year period (+21.9% vs. +16.7%) on the back of strong operating performance, as reflected in the recent quarterly report when volume growth and robust price/mix drove outperformance. Earnings were in line with estimates and improved year over year. The company also benefits from investments in brands, go-to-market systems, supply chains, manufacturing capacity, and digital capabilities to build competitive advantages. It also gains from the resilience and strength of global beverage and convenient food businesses. In 2022, it expects to retain the strength and momentum witnessed in 2021. However, PepsiCo witnessed margin pressures in fourth quarter 2021 driven by impacts of supply-chain disruptions and the negative effects of the inflationary labor, transportation and commodity costs. (You can read the full research report on PepsiCo here >>> ) Shares of T-Mobile have outperformed the Zacks Wireless National industry over the year to date basis (+12.7% vs. +3.7%). The company continues to expand its 5G network to bring fast and affordable service across the country. It announced a series of steps to accelerate 5G developer innovation. Initiatives include a new developer platform, innovation center, venture investments, T-Mobile Accelerator participants and 5G partnerships with Disney and Red Bull. The Zacks analyst believes that dubbed 5G Forward, these moves will strengthen the 5G innovation ecosystem and help creators build the 5G future. T-Mobile’s commitment to building the world’s best nationwide 5G network is likely to bring superfast speeds to urban and rural locations. Story continues However, it operates in a fiercely competitive and almost saturated U.S. telecom market. Low-priced plans for consumers and small enterprises have not improved the bottom line. Promotional activities to lure customers from rivals hurt its profitability. (You can read the full research report on T-Mobile here >>> ) Shares of BlackRock have outperformed the Zacks Financial - Investment Management industry over the past one year period (+0.2% vs. -9.7%). The Zacks analyst believes that the company has an impressive earnings surprise history. Its earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters. Supported by a strong liquidity position, BlackRock continues with efforts to restructure the equity business. This, along with strategic acquisitions, will likely keep aiding revenue growth and help in expanding its market share and footprints globally. Steadily improving assets under management (AUM) balance will likely further support the top line. Its capital deployment activities look sustainable, through which it will keep enhancing shareholder value. However, elevated expenses (owing to higher administration costs) might hurt profits to some extent. The company’s high dependence on overseas revenues is another concern. (You can read the full research report on BlackRock here >>> ) Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP), Charter Communications, Inc. (CHTR) and Block, Inc. (SQ). Sheraz Mian Director of Research Note: Sheraz Mian heads the Zacks Equity Research department and is a well-regarded expert of aggregate earnings. He is frequently quoted in the print and electronic media and publishes the weekly Earnings Trends and Earnings Preview reports. If you want an email notification each time Sheraz publishes a new article, please click here>>> Today's Must Read Momentum in PepsiCo's (PEP) Snacking Business to Aid Growth 5G Leadership & Customer Growth to Drive T-Mobile (TMUS) Buyouts, AUM Balance Aid BlackRock (BLK), High Costs Ails Featured Reports ADP Rides on Strategic Buyouts Amid Technological Challenges The Zacks analyst likes ADP's buyout strategy to boost its position in the human capital management market. Pressure to remain technologically updated to meet varying client demands remains a concern. Mobile & Internet Subscriber Gain Benefits Charter (CHTR) Per the Zacks analyst, higher subscriber strength in residential and commercial internet services along with broadening Spectrum Mobile user base is driving Charter's top line. Block (SQ) Banks on Solid Cash App Adoption, Bitcoin Growth Per the Zacks analyst, Block is benefiting from strong Cash App engagement and its growing active customer base. Further, growing bitcoin revenues owing to robust Cash App are contributing well. Illumina (ILMN) Banks on Strategic Pacts amid Stiff Rivalry The Zacks analyst is optimistic about lllumina's recent partnerships including Agendia pact intended to advance the use of NGS for decentralized oncology testing. Stiff Competition remains a concern. Investments Aid Ameren (AEE), High Emission Expenses Woe Per the Zacks analyst, systematic investment in infrastructure project boosts Ameren's growth. Yet the stock bears high expenditure to comply with air emission regulations that may hurt its results. RH Banks on Strategic Initiatives Amid Supply-Chain Woes RH's focus on strategic initiatives for improving profit margins as well as solid performance of new galleries is encouraging, per the Zacks analyst. Yet, supply-chain disruptions are risks. Acquisitions Drive Humana (HUM), High Costs Hurt Per the Zacks Analyst, buyouts have helped the company to expand business and achieve long-term growth. However, escalating expenses continue to weigh down on the margins. New Upgrades Cactus (WHD) to Gain From Higher Wellhead Equipment Sales The Zacks analyst is upbeat about Cactus' higher sales of wellhead and production-related equipment due to the rising customer drilling activity. This will get translated into increased cash flows. Dow (DOW) Gains on Cost Actions, Project Investment According to the Zacks analyst, Dow is well placed to benefit from cost synergy savings and productivity initiatives and its investment in high-return growth projects. Acquisitions and Expansion Moves Aid Steel Dynamics (STLD) Per the Zacks analyst, acquisitions will expand the company's product portfolio and shipping capabilities. Expansion actions should also add to its capacity and boost profitability. New Downgrades Biogen (BIIB) Hurt by Slow Aduhelm Launch, Competition The Zacks analyst believes Aduhelm's launch has been slow due to reimbursement-led uncertainty. Increased competition is hurting Spinraza sales. Multiple generic launches are hurting Tecfidera sales. Burlington Stores (BURL) Grapples With Higher SG&A Expenses Per the Zacks analyst, Burlington Stores has been witnessing higher SG&A expenses on increased product-sourcing costs as well as elevated freight costs. This has been hurting margins for a while now. Higher Costs From Rasmussen Buyout Ail American Public (APEI) Per the Zacks analyst, American Public has been facing higher costs and expenses, mainly attributed to the inclusion of the Rasmussen University, increase in professional fees, and advertising costs. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) : Free Stock Analysis Report BlackRock, Inc. (BLK) : Free Stock Analysis Report PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP) : Free Stock Analysis Report Charter Communications, Inc. (CHTR) : Free Stock Analysis Report TMobile US, Inc. (TMUS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Block, Inc. (SQ) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research || Crypto Miner Hut 8 Reports Surprise Q4 Loss: Canadian cryptocurrency miner Hut 8 Mining (HUT) reported a surprise fourth-quarter adjusted loss of C$0.67 ($0.53) per share on Thursday. The average analyst estimate pointed to earnings of C$0.17 ($0.13), according to FactSet data. The miner said that the loss was primarily due to noncash revaluation loss on liability warrants of $114.2 million, which was partially offset by increased revenue. Revenue more than quadrupled to C$57.9 million ($45.8 million) from a year earlier and was in line with analysts' average estimate. As of Dec. 31, the company had a balance of 5,518 bitcoins with a market value of $323.9 million, which includes 2,000 bitcoins loaned as part of its fiat yield strategy. The fourth-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) was C$35.3 million ($27.9 million), which missed analysts' estimate of C$37.1 million ($29.3 million) and was up from C$30.7 million ($24.3 million) in the third quarter. Hut 8's hashrate increased to 2.5 exahash/second (EH/s) by Feb. 28 from about 2.0 EH/s on Dec. 31. Its hashrate capacity will be about 3.55 EH/s once all of the mining machines the company has ordered are received and deployed. Its shares initially fell 3.5% in the pre-market trading, but recently was trading up about 3%. Bitcoin was flat. Read more: Canadian Miner Hut 8 Closed 2021 With 5,518 Bitcoin in Reserve UPDATE (March 17, 16:18 UTC): Updated with latest price information. || US Dollar Settles Down Against Yen: US Dollar vs Japanese Yen Technical Analysis The US dollar has rallied ever so slightly against the Japanese yen, but at this point, we are pressing against a major resistance on the monthly chart, so I think a pullback would make a considerable amount of sense. Ultimately, this is a market that still looks bullish, but being so overstretched, it probably needs to pull back. I anticipate that the ¥122.50 level could be a support level, as it is an area where we have seen a lot of noise in the past. Ultimately, I believe that the market is going to continue to see that as an area of importance, so I believe that short-term pullbacks will be thought of as buying opportunities. That being said, if we were to break above the ¥126 level, then it opens up a much bigger move. Keep in mind that the bank of Japan continues to fight the interest rates rising soaking up bonds, and therefore it will continue to weaken the Japanese yen because it is essentially the same thing as “printing yen.” Furthermore, you need to keep in mind that the other central banks around the world are looking tighter than they are loose, so that will continue to cause issues with the Japanese yen. At this point, I just do not see an argument to short this market, at least not until we break down below the ¥120 level, because that would be a massive turnaround. Unless the Bank of Japan changes its plans, I just do not see the catalyst to make that happen. The other outlying possibility would be that the Federal Reserve finally steps back and says that it cannot raise interest rates as aggressively as we have been suggesting. USD/JPY Price Forecast Video 13.04.22 For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar . This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: The Euro Bounces Ever So Slightly E-mini S&P Could Pick Up Late Session Strength Over 4447.25 Everything You Need to Know About Leveraged Tokens like TRXUP & BTCUP Bitcoin and ETH Recovery Could Fade, ADA Turns Bearish Gold Markets Pierce the Top of the Previous Daily Range Gold Prices Rise as Yields Slip Despite Robust Headline CPI || The UK watchdog has warned over 50 companies to make sure crypto ads stick to its rules, or risk strong punishment: A banner (designed by artists Stacey Coon, Anastasia Sultzer, and Nanu Berks) with the logo of bitcoin is seen during the crypto-currency conference Bitcoin 2021 Convention at the Mana Convention Center in Miami, Florida, on June 4, 2021 MARCO BELLO/AFP via Getty Images The UK's advertising regulator has warned over 50 companies with crypto ads not to mislead consumers. Failure to comply with rules will lead to strong action, the ASA said Tuesday, continuing its clampdown. The issue is a "red alert" priority for the watchdog, which has banned promos from Crypto.com and Arsenal. The UK advertising watchdog has sent out enforcement notices to over 50 companies with crypto ads, warning them to ensure they stick to its rules around not misleading the public. It's the latest move in the Advertising Standards Authority's clampdown on crypto-related promos to protect consumers, which it calls a "red alert" priority. "We're concerned that people might be enticed by ads into investing money they can't afford to lose, without understanding the risks," Guy Parker, the ASA's chief executive, said in a statement Tuesday. "Working alongside the FCA, we'll take strong action against any advertiser who fails to ensure that their ads are responsible," he said. While the ASA didn't identify the 50 companies involved in its statement, the list includes Coinbase, eToro, Luno and Crypto.com, according to a CoinDesk report . It told the companies that their ads must clearly state that digital assets are not regulated in the UK, and that the value of investments can go up or down. They also must avoid creating a FOMO-like sense of urgency, say crypto investment decisions are trivial or low risk, or suitable for everyone. It will monitor for compliance with the rules, and any problem promos that are still around after May 2 will trigger enforcement action. This will include reporting non-compliant companies to the FCA, it said. The crypto advertisers can expect to face backlash if the latest enforcement notice from the ASA is ignored, as well as scrutiny from the Financial Conduct Authority. The UK's financial services authority is among the regulators keeping a watchful eye on the crypto industry, given the risks to inexperienced investors. Story continues "This is a 'red alert' priority issue for us, and we've recently banned several crypto ads for misleading consumers and for being socially irresponsible," the ad watchdog said. In January, the ASA banned two Crypto.com ads for taking advantage of consumers' credulity, and in May last year, it took action against cryptocurrency company Luno over its bitcoin ads. Outside industry players, it banned Arsenal soccer club's fan token promos in December, branding them "irresponsible." Read the original article on Business Insider || Wolf BTC, a new smart and secure crypto asset that reward it’s holders in Bitcoin.: Ankara, Turkey, March 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wolf BTC, A smart and secure crypto asset that designed from scratch by a group of cryptocurrency development, marketing and trading experts to provide the maximum benefits and rewards as possible.
The developers are a group of cryptocurrency development, marketing and trading experts. The coincidence and the shared thoughts of making the cryptocurrency’s world more secure and serious brought them together. So, together they worked and developed Wolf BTC from scratch after planning for a long time to make it really powerful and profitable to the community. Wolf BTC reward it’s holders in Bitcoin but it is not the first of its kind, so what makes it so unique?
1- Small total supply, small total supply make it easy for the coin price to go high, higher price = higher rewards value to the holders. In an easy way, the holders will receive 4% of each transaction, as higher the value of the transaction as higher the rewards value will be.
2- Low tax but high rewards, at this point, things must be carefully calculated, holders will love higher tax to earn higher rewards, but new buyers will prefer low tax, the developers started from themselves, marketing tax is the lowest among all other coins, just 1%, Liquidity tax also 1% but for the holders is 4% rewards tax.
3- Limited eligible holders, usually the rewards are divided among the holders, the higher the number of holders, the lower the value of the reward for each holder, so the developers set a minimum required holding amount to receive rewards (1M), in this case the maximum eligible holders for the rewards will be 1000 holders.
4- Rewards in BEP20 Bitcoin, there have been many coins that reward their holders with other crypto assets, but the fees for selling or exchanging these rewards are more than twice the value of the reward, because that the developers used Bitcoin on Binance Smart Chain as rewards because of the cheap sell / exchange fees.
More info about Wolf BTC:
Coin Name: Wolf BTC
Coin Symbol: WB
Total Supply: 1.000.000.000
Contract Address:0x44D18E737fB36D898E3245Fd9fcC840E3B2A70BF
Dividend Tracker Address:0x88319f1ECa53C3EaB86dafC31E9379b515C13309
Disable, blacklist or mint functions: No.
Limits: No limits on buying or selling, no permission to set limits.
Buy Tax: 6% total buy tax, 4% holders rewards + 1% marketing + 1% Liquidity Pool.
Sell Tax: 6% total Sell tax, 4% holders rewards + 1% marketing + 1% Liquidity Pool.
Tax change permission: Yes, maximum 8%.
Liquidity division:
47.5% Fair Launch on Pinksale. Fair launch page (soon).
47.5% PancakeSwap 1000 Years locked Liquidity Pool. Lock page (soon).
5% Unlocked.
The Fair launch will start on 29.03.2022 at 15:00 UTC.
Website-Twitter-Reddit-Linkedin-Telegram-Discord-Github.
CONTACT: info (at) wolfbtc.org || TikTokers are freaking out after discovering that it’s ‘actually 2014’ in Ethiopia: ‘Everything is made up’: The Ethiopian calendar is TikTok’s latest viral obsession. It’s all thanks to a series of videos on the app, which explain why it’s actually 2014 in the East African nation. Bitcoin vs. gold: Which is the better inflation hedge? TikTok’s obsession with Ethiopia actually began in April 2020, when TikTokers were making all kinds of videos about why the year “sucked” so much. One creator, named @jonny_k_27 , posted a humorous video in which he explained his “theory.” At the time he made the video, it was 2012 in Ethiopia. Sarcastically, @jonny_k_27 pointed out that maybe all that talk about the world ending in 2012 was actually referring to a different calendar. “So when everyone was freaking out about the world ending in 2012,” he said in the video. “Maybe we were talking about the Ethiopian calendar the whole time.” The video is clearly a joke, but it sparked plenty of questions on the app. Namely, why is it a different year in Ethiopia than in the U.S.? Recently, TikToker Umutoni Kabeza ( @the1kevine ) offered an explanation. In her viral video , Kabeza detailed why Ethiopia is seven to eight years “behind” many other countries. “They have their own calendar,” Kabeza said. “They have their own date. And I didn’t know this until my Ethiopian auntie told me that. And I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s mad weird.'” The clip instantly drew millions of views and hundreds of thousands of confused comments. But the answer is actually not that confusing. Rupaul's Drag Race' winner Symone dishes her post-drag skincare secrets: Why does Ethiopia use a different calendar? Ethiopia, like the U.S. and much of the Western world, uses a solar calendar. Also like most Western nations, Ethiopia’s calendar is rooted in Christianity, with year one starting with the birth of Jesus Christ. However, Ethiopia calculates Jesus’s birth as a different date . Its calendar, called the Ge’ez , places that date close to eight years after the Gregorian calendar, which is the most widely used calendar in the world. Story continues So what is the date in Ethiopia? At the time this story is being published (April 11, 2022, in Gregorian time), it’s currently the third day of the eighth month of 2014. Ethiopia’s new year begins when it’s September in the U.S. Beyond the difference in dates, the calendar is fairly similar. The Ge’ez features leap years every four years and 12 equal-size months. Additionally, the Ethiopian calendar adds a 13th month with either five or six days, depending on if it’s a leap year. In her TikTok, Kabeza implied that the reason for this difference is related to the fact that Ethiopia has never been colonized by Western powers. While that connection is hard to prove, it’s true that Ethiopia is one of the few African countries never fully controlled by a European country. Liberia is often considered to be another example. Overall, though, Kabeza’s point seemed to be that while time is real, our measurement of it is arbitrary. That fact is evident in the countless other calendars used by other nations and cultures, many of which have extremely different ways of measuring months or years. “Everything is made up,” Kabeza captioned her post. Tinashe is calling the shots: The post TikTokers are freaking out after discovering that it’s ‘actually 2014’ in Ethiopia appeared first on In The Know . || DOGE and SHIB Join the Broader Crypto Market in the Deep Red: • Biden’s Executive Order and hopes of talks between Russia and Ukraine delivered support on Wednesday.
• News reports of Turkey adopting SHIB were also positive.
• Waning hopes of diplomatic talks between Russia and Ukraine have weighed on Riskier assets.
It was a bullish day forDOGEandSHIBon Wednesday. Market forces were aligned, delivering the pair and the broader crypto with solid gains.
News of Russia and Ukraine planning to hold talks delivered riskier assets with strong support mid-week. Alongside the crypto market, global equity markets were buoyant. On Wednesday, theNASDAQ 100rallied by 3.59%.
Mid-week, the White House Executive Order (EO) also delivered support. The crypto market had been under stress ahead of the EO, with concerns over stringent regulatory oversight testing investor appetite.
The crypto market responded positively to Biden’s Executive Order, supporting the breakout day. U.S Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellenreportedlyoutlined how the Treasury Department would tackle Biden’s EO.
Yellen’s view provided a positive spin for the markets, with Yellen noting that the EO could ‘result in substantial benefits for the nation, consumers, and businesses.’
Following Wednesday’s breakout day, hopes of progress towards an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukrainewanedthis morning.
Adding to the downside was inflation, with the U.S seeing inflationary pressures build further. In February, the U.S annual inflation rate accelerated from 7.5% to 7.9%.
With energy prices surging due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FED monetary policy uncertainty hit the crypto market.
For SHIB, today’s early losses come despitetalkof Turkey adopting the meme coin.
According to crypto news outlets, Turkey’s Minister of Economy Mustafa Elitas met with SHIB army representatives to discuss SHIB adoption. Interest in SHIB stems from Turkish Lira woes.
At the time of writing, DOGE was down by 3.95% to $0.1166.
DOGE will need to move through the First Major Support Level at $0.1171 and the day’s $0.1207pivotto make a run on the First Major Resistance Level at $0.1250. DOGE would need the broader crypto market to support a move back through to $0.12 levels.
Another extended rally would test the Second Major Resistance Level at $0.1286 and resistance at $0.13. The Third Major Resistance Level sits at $0.1365.
A fall to $0.1150 would bring the Second Major Support Level at $0.1128 into play. Barring an extended sell-off, DOGE should steer clear of sub-$0.12 and Wednesday’s low of $0.1164. The Third Major Support Level sits at $0.1049.
Looking at theEMAsand the 4-hourly candlestick chart (below), it is a bearish signal.
DOGE continues to sit below the 50-day EMA currently at $0.1225. The 50-day EMA has pulled back from the 100-day EMA this morning, pressuring DOGE. The 100-day EMA has also pulled back from the 200-day EMA, bringing the Major Support Levels into play.
A move through the 50-day EMA would support a run at $0.13.
At the time of writing, SHIB was down by 3.36% to $0.00002304.
SHIB will need to move through the day’s $0.0000238pivotto make a run on the First Major Resistance Level at $0.0000247. SHIB would need the broader crypto market to support a move back through to $0.000024 levels.
Another extended rally would test the Second Major Resistance Level at $0.0000255 and resistance at $0.000026. The Third Major Resistance Level sits at $0.0000272.
A fall-through pivot would bring the First Major Support Level at $0.0000229 into play. Barring an extended sell-off, SHIB should steer clear of sub-$0.000022 levels. The Second Major Support Level at $0.0000221 should limit the downside.
Looking at theEMAsand the 4-hourly candlestick chart (below), it is a bearish signal.
SHIB currently sits below the 50-day EMA at $0.0000239. This morning, the 50-day EMA has pulled back from thTheighing on SHIB.
The 100-day EMA has also pulled this morning back from the 200-day EMA, testing the First Major Support Levels early on.
A move through the 50-day EMA would support a run at $0.000025 levels.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Natural Gas Markets Attempt to Stabilize || Global Cryptocurrency Market Report 2022-2027 - Industry to Cross a Staggering $32.4 Trillion by 2027, Exploding with a CAGR of 58.4%: Global Cryptocurrency Market
Dublin, Feb. 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The"Cryptocurrency Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027"report has been added toResearchAndMarkets.com'soffering.The global cryptocurrency market reached a value of US$ 1,782 billion in 2021. Looking forward, the market is projected to reach US$ 32,420 billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 58.4% during 2022-2027.
Keeping in mind the uncertainties of COVID-19, we are continuously tracking and evaluating the direct as well as the indirect influence of the pandemic. These insights are included in the report as a major market contributor.Increasing digitization across industries represents one of the key factors driving the growth of the market. In line with this, easy accessibility to and rising penetration of high-speed internet connectivity in daily activities is also creating a positive outlook for the market.
Furthermore, legalization and approval of purchase, sale or trade of virtual currencies in various developed countries are also driving the market growth. With the immense transparency of distributed ledger technology or blockchain, there is minimal risk of fraudulent or unwanted transactions due to human or machine error or data manipulation. This enables all the parties to monitor any changes that are being made during the transaction in real-time, thereby offering enhanced data security and immutability of the transactions.
Additionally, convenient access to online trading platforms that can be used through smartphones is contributing to the market growth.
Other factors, including growing market capitalization or market cap of the industry, along with the advent of bitcoin cash and bitcoin lite, are anticipated to drive the market further.Key Market Segmentation
This report provides an analysis of the key trends in each sub-segment of the global cryptocurrency market, along with forecasts at the global, regional and country level from 2022-2027. The report has categorized the market based on type, component, process and application.Breakup by Type:
• Bitcoin
• Ethereum
• Bitcoin Cash
• Ripple
• Litecoin
• Dashcoin
• Others
Breakup by Component:
• Hardware
• Software
Breakup by Process:
• Mining
• Transaction
Breakup by Application:
• Trading
• Remittance
• Payment
• Others
Breakup by Region:
• North America
• Asia Pacific
• Europe
• Latin America
• Middle East and Africa
Competitive Landscape
The report has also analysed the competitive landscape of the market with some of the key players being:
• Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
• Alphapoint Corporation
• Bitfury Holding B.V.
• Coinbase Inc.
• Cryptomove Inc.
• Intel Corporation
• Microsoft Corporation
• Quantstamp Inc.
• Ripple Labs Inc.
• Xilinx Inc.
Key Questions Answered in this Report
• How has the global cryptocurrency market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?
• What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global cryptocurrency market?
• What are the key regional markets?
• What is the breakup of the market based on the type?
• What is the breakup of the market based on the component?
• What is the breakup of the market based on the process?
• What is the breakup of the market based on the application?
• What are the various stages in the value chain of the industry?
• What are the key driving factors and challenges in the industry?
• What is the structure of the global cryptocurrency market and who are the key players?
• What is the degree of competition in the industry?
For more information about this report visithttps://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/bxlpd5
Attachment
• Global Cryptocurrency Market
CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
|
Trend: down || Prices: 40553.46, 40424.48, 39716.95, 40826.21, 41502.75, 41374.38, 40527.36, 39740.32, 39486.73, 39469.29
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2019-08-01]
BTC Price: 10399.67, BTC RSI: 51.70
Gold Price: 1420.90, Gold RSI: 59.43
Oil Price: 53.95, Oil RSI: 38.90
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Mounting Store Closures Could Be Good for EMTY & CLIX: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. Retailers are expected to shutter more brick-and-mortar locations this year, extending a theme that has been prevalent over the last several years and one that could benefit exchange traded funds such as the ProShares Decline of the Retail Store ETF ( EMTY ) and ProShares Long Online/Short Stores ETF (NYSE Arca: CLIX) . The Decline of the Retail Store ETF provides daily short exposure or -1x to the new Solactive-ProShares Bricks and Mortar Retail Store Index, which is comprised of traditional retailers and equally weights components. The fund holds companies that include department stores, supermarkets and sellers of apparel, consumer electronics and home improvement items, such as retailers like Barnes & Noble, The Gap, Macy’s, Kroger and Best Buy, among others. “Six months into 2019, there have already been 20% more store closings announced than in all of 2018, according to a new report from global marketing research firm Coresight Research ,” reports USA Today . “Based on Coresight Research's figures and retailers' earnings reports, more than 7,000 stores are slated to shutter this year with thousands of locations already gone.” CLIX is a type of long-short strategy and the first ETF to track the potential growth of online companies while benefiting from the decline of brick and mortar retailers. Specifically, CLIX reflects the new ProShares Long Online/Short Stores Index, which combines a 100% long portfolio of on-line and non-traditional retailers with a 50% short position in bricks and mortar retailers. Changing Retail Landscape Shopping and consumer trends are changing as more buyers rely on the convenience of online retailers to quickly and effectively meet their discretionary needs. As the retail landscape changes, investors can also capitalize on the trend through exchange traded funds that target the e-commerce segment. “Coresight, which has offices in Manhattan, London and Hong Kong, tracked the 5,864 closings in 2018, which included all Toys R Us stores and hundreds of Kmart and Sears locations,” according to USA Today. Story continues This year, retailers have been announcing closures of physical stores at an elevated pace, but analysts expect that rate to dramatically increase over the next several years. “An estimated 75,000 stores that sell clothing, electronics and furniture will close by 2026, when online shopping is expected to make up 25 percent of retail sales, according to UBS,” reports The Washington Post . For more thematic investing strategies, visit our Thematic Investing Channel . POPULAR ARTICLES AND RESOURCES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM SPY ETF Quote VOO ETF Quote QQQ ETF Quote VTI ETF Quote JNUG ETF Quote Top 34 Gold ETFs Top 34 Oil ETFs Top 57 Financials ETFs Markets Rally On Anticipated Rate Cuts And Holiday Facebook Libra: Weighing The Pros And Cons As Bitcoin Surges Past $13K, Calls to Embrace Crypto Grow GLDM Marks One Year Anniversary Today, Leads Gold-Backed ETF Flows ROBO Global Healthcare Technology ETF Debuts on NYSE READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Latest Bitcoin Cash price and analysis (BCH to USD): Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is currently recovering from a substantial dip that saw its price plummet from about $440 last week to $389 today, representing an 11% drop. At the time of writing, price seems to have levelled off and is now consolidating. Let’s take a look at the latest BCH price action. Looking at the chart above, we can clearly see BTC has broken through some important resistance barriers. Bitcoin Cash broke the $330 level around its 200-day EMA in early May, and the 20-day EMA has now moved above the 200-day EMA – a clear bullish signal. Moreover, volumes have remained strong since mid-May, helping BCH to break key levels and find support initially around $360 and later around $400. There has since been some sell pressure that has taken price down about 11%, but it seems most likely that this is just momentary. If order books stay on the side of buyers, which will become increasingly difficult the more price goes up, we could see BCH climb past the $440 resistance level soon. On the contrary, if price continues to drop, I argue it will find great support close to $360. Still, be aware we may experience close to 60% drops, as this did happen in a similar situation during 2015 prior to the last massive bull run. For the time being, I expect BCH to settle above the $440 level with minimal hassle, once Bitcoin gets a push. There is a high probability price will accumulate for a few more days/weeks before making a move upwards. Safe trades! BCH fundamentals I recently spoke with Bitcoin Cash’s strongest advocate, Roger Ver, and discussed the most recent developments on the horizon for BCH. You can find all the details here , but the most juicy news seems to be the recent spike in adoption due to the implementation of smart contracts. Roger, like myself, believes key components for mass adoption are speed and flexibility. What Bitcoin Cash Oracles offers is a way for any user to easily deploy an “escrow” transaction that can be used to trade globally – without the hassle of trusting the other party. Story continues I personally think these “trade escrows” will be key in terms of adoption, especially for work-related tasks. In a way, they do enable milestone-based funding, which may be the new and better way of conducting ICOs instead of simply creating an extra layer of complexity with STOs that require KYC and accreditation – something that goes against what we should be promoting within the crypto ecosystem. Current live BCH pricing information and interactive charts are available on our site 24 hours a day. The ticker bar at the bottom of every page on our site has the latest BCH price. Pricing is also available in a range of different currency equivalents: US Dollar – BCHtoUSD British Pound Sterling – BCHtoGBP Japanese Yen – BCHtoJPY Euro – BCHtoEUR Australian Dollar – BCHtoAUD Russian Rouble – BCHtoRUB Bitcoin – BCHtoBTC About Bitcoin Cash Bitcoin Cash was born out of the idea of making Bitcoin more practical for small, day-to-day payments. In May 2017, Bitcoin payments took about four days unless a fee was paid, which was proportionately too large for small transactions. A change to the code was implemented and Bitcoin Cash was born on 1st August 2017. More Bitcoin Cash news and information If you want to find out more information about Bitcoin Cash or cryptocurrencies in general, then use the search box at the top of this page. Here’s an article to get you started: Kraken launches Bitcoin Cash and Ripple margin trading By Scott Thompson – June 11, 2019 As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not. You may be interested in our range of cryptocurrency guides along with the latest cryptocurrency news . The post Latest Bitcoin Cash price and analysis (BCH to USD) appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Formula E: Inside the “Silicon Valley of Cars”: For those of us who love cars, it’s easy to find out what the next generation will be like: Just check out the newest racecars. In the electric vehicle (EV) world, that means keeping your finger to the pulse of Formula E racing.
In the automotive world, major racing hubs are like the Silicon Valley of cars. Tech startups have their “incubators,” where companies like Airbnb andDropbox(NASDAQ:DBX) were born. And car companies have the speedway.
In one brand-new racing league, the Electric Production Car Series, all of the entrants areTesla(NASDAQ:TSLA) Model S. This car is not just another electric vehicle (EV) — it’s one of the greatest technological achievements of our age, with the ability to go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in just 2.5 seconds. And with even more power (and less weight), it becomes a top-of-the-line racecar.
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
Source: ElectricGT
But when it comes to racing electric vehicles, the big name is Formula E.TheseEVs are almost as fast as Formula One cars — reaching 180 miles per hour on the straightaways — but much quieter.
If you’ve ever been to an auto race – or even heard obnoxiously loud cars on regular roads – you know how strange that is. When electric cars race, no one needs earplugs. And at everyday speeds, the cars are practically silent. After all, instead of the gasoline engine, there’s just an electric motor.
So, in this arena, the batteries are the stars of the show!
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In Formula E racing, the title sponsor isABB Ltd.(NYSE:ABB), the Swiss industrial conglomerate — and a major player in Europe’s electric car infrastructure. So, naturally, the races are a chance for ABB to show off its tech. Outside the track, you’ll see a big display of ABB’s “Gen 2” racecar batteries.
In the first Formula E races, pit crews had to rush out and change the batteries halfway through. They lasted about 25 minutes.
The new batteries last for a full 45-minute race. And they’re pretty massive.
Source: ABB Formula E, Youtube
To get the power they need — which is equivalent to 300 laptops or 4,000 cell phones! — these electric racecars devote half their weight (or roughly 750 pounds) to the battery.
And ahead of last weekend’s race in Red Hook, Brooklyn, one driver said, “We already know we’re going to overheat the batteries.”
Right now, even top-of-the-line racecars, sporting the latest and greatest electric-vehicle technology, rely on the very same battery that powers your iPhone or laptop: the lithium-ion battery.
Lithium-ion was originally developed for Sony camcorders back in the 1980s. And it was also inSamsung’s(OTCMKTS:SSNLF) infamous “exploding phones.”
Remember when flight attendants were confiscating them? When the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 would overheat, it caught fire. And everything from Teslas to HP laptops have had the same issue with their lithium-ion batteries.
Lithium-ion batteries have come a long way, but they are closing in on their limits.
So you can see why major car companies — and Formula E participants — likeNissan(OTCMKTS:NSANY),BMW(OTCMKTS:BMWYY), andVolkswagen(OTCMKTS:VWAGY) are investing innext-generation batteries.
This battery has:
• Betterenergy density, making it smaller, lighter, but more powerful.
• Shortercharging timedue to fewer materials, which could produce a stronger current. One Chinese company, Enovate, is boasting a charge time of 80% in 15 minutes. That’s twice as fast as Tesla.
• Bettersafety. Unlike what we use now, this battery does not have toxic, flammable liquid inside. In one memorable test, a battery startup called Ionic Materials shot its with a Remington .22. It took three bullets, did not catch fire, and kept working!
That’s all great news for racecar drivers. And Formula E could be the perfect testing ground for this new technology.
Volkswagen, which is already laying the groundwork to be fully electric by 2030, is working with a Silicon Valley startup to get these batteries into its cars and SUVs. The company is already one of the largest car manufacturers in the world, and if it can meet expectations I look for it to dominate electric vehicles, too — largely thanks tothis new battery.
Audi, Porsche, and Mercedes all want these next-generation batteries in their fleets as soon as possible. So doGeneral Motors(NYSE:GM),Ford Motor(NYSE:F),Toyota Motor(NYSE:TM),Honda Motor(NYSE:HMC),Mitsubishi Motors(OTCMKTS:MMTOF), andHyundai Motor(OTCMKTS:HYMTF).
I could go on…
But as an investor, I’d rather own a pure play on the battery revolution.
I often talk about “picks and shovels” investing. And that’s because if you look back at the 1849 Gold Rush, it was the folkssupplyingthe picks and shovels who ultimately got rich.
Therefore, atInvestment Opportunities, I’m recommending companies thatsupplythis new technology — nicknamed the “Jesus Battery.”
Find out exactly what makes this battery so miraculous here.
Any competitors that have it will CRUSH Tesla, which may as well flush all the money it’s spending on lithium-ion batteries down the toilet.
If you ever wanted to invest in the coming electric car revolution, but weren’t sure how, THIS is your chance.
I know I do.
So I found a company that holds key patents.
Automakers like Toyota are relying on this tiny company for its electric cars. Yet the company is totally off the radar.
That makes now the right time to get in before everyone else. I’ve got a full presentation on the investment opportunity in this “Jesus Battery,” which you can view for free byclicking here.
Matthew McCall is the founder and president of Penn Financial Group, an investment advisory firm, as well as the editor of Investment Opportunities and Early Stage Investor. He has dedicated his career to getting investors into the world’s biggest, most revolutionary trends BEFORE anyone else. The power of being “first” gave Matt’s readers the chance to bank +2,438% in Stamps.com (STMP), +1,523% in Ulta Beauty (ULTA), +1,044% in Tesla (TSLA), +611% in Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (LNGLY), +324% in Bitcoin Services (BTSC), just to name a few. If you’re interested in making triple-digit gains from the world’s biggest investment trends BEFORE anyone else,click here to learn more about Matt McCall and his investments strategy today.
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The postFormula E: Inside the “Silicon Valley of Cars”appeared first onInvestorPlace. || Market Morning: Gold Awakens, More Iran Sanctions, Bitcoin Breaks Through, McDonald’s Goes Robots: Gold Wakes Up, Media Wakes Up To Gold
Gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) is on the move, now above $1,400 an ounce for the first time since August 2013. Mainstream media is starting to pay more attention to the metal now, but still seems to keep to the basic script that gold goes up in times of uncertainty. “Gold has historically been a pocket of strength in periods where uncertainty increases sharply,” said CFRA investment strategist Lindsey Bell,quoted by CNN. Investors often flock to gold as a safe haven in times of increased volatility, CNN explains. The problem with these explanations are that they are simply untrue, but nobody seems to challenge them. The vast majority of the last bull market in gold, which began in 2001, occurred during the 2002-2007 bull market in stocks. This was not a period of volatility or uncertainty. Gold quadrupled over the time period from 2001 to 2008 after breaching $1,000 for the first time ever. It has now been basing for 10 years, after retracing a little less than 50% of its previous bull market.
Trump Administration Rescue Iran From Trade Imbalances…Through Sanctions
Meanwhile, the Trump Administration is looking to support the gold price, and help balance Iranian international trade. After calling off a military strike against Iran over the weekend and for some reason publicizing this story, President Trump has instead decided to increase economic sanctions against Iran, which probably won’t make them any happier or willing to cooperate with whatever Trump wants them to cooperate about. The sanctions path, apparently is called the “diplomatic path” even though sanctions mean ringing a country and preventing imports from crossing, sort of like tariffs except it’s a move against another country rather than your own country. In that sense, perhaps Trump is trying to help Iran by balancing its trade deficit through sanctions. Meanwhile, Iran is already undergoing hyperinflation, with an annual inflation rate of 52%.
OPEC Meet Next Week Critical for Oil Prices
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is meeting next week in what could help determine oil’s (NYSEARCA:USO) trajectory over the next few months. The cartel is aware that the world is expecting them to uphold the current production cut structure and perhaps even clamp down the pumps even harder as the Saudis try to prop up the oil price in preparation for yet another IPO attempt for Saudi Aramco, the most profitable company in the world, but not profitable enough for the appetites of Mohamed Bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. Arguments could be made either way regarding the bullishness or bearishness of the continued trade war between the US and China on oil prices, bullish because it should push up consumer price inflation, which tends to bring oil prices up, and bearish because a weaker economy could push down the demand for oil. The dollar’s direction (NYSEARCA:UUP) should help determine which way oil is going to go assuming that OPEC keeps up with market expectations.
Bitcoin Bear Market Rally Continues
Bitcoin’s (BTC-USD) bear market rally continues over this weekend with prices breaching the $11,000 mark, and Ethereum (ETH-USD) breaching $300 for the first time in about a year. Trading volume in Ethereum and Bitcoin have reached all time highs since the current rally began last December. The next resistance zone for Bitcoin is around $11,500, and after that, there is no significant resistance until about $17,500, and then all time highs. So far though, this continues to be a bear market rally, until new highs are breached.
McDonald’s Battles Minimum Wage
With robots. McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) branches in Chicagoare testingout the ability of automatic fryers and voice activated drive-throughs to take over from people, to, in their words “help increase production and shorten wait times” when in reality, it’s probably spurred on by higher minimum wage legislation and McDonald’s is trying primarily to save money. Employees are staring walkouts over these things, claiming that robots are going to take their jobs, which only becomes more probable if they walk out, as robots don’t have the ability to do this, making them easier to manage. Watch out for new legislation against automation, which, if it were a road taken in the 19thcentury, would have outlawed the industrial revolution, meaning many of these people now walking out of their jobs would never have existed in the first place.
The postMarket Morning: Gold Awakens, More Iran Sanctions, Bitcoin Breaks Through, McDonald’s Goes Robotsappeared first onMarket Exclusive. || Dash Defeats 51% Attacks in Latest Update, Enables Instant Transactions: Billion-dollar crypto Dash is making a few noteworthy advances with its latest update. | Source: Shutterstock Dash is an important cryptocurrency with a long history. When Evan Duffield and his collaborators began the DarkCoin project as X11, he had assessed several issues with what he’s always referred to as “the Bitcoin project.” Privacy Is A Feature, Not A Single Purpose One issue he believed was addressable was the near-transparency of the blockchain. Using various “shuffling” features, DarkCoin could make it difficult to know a lot about a given transaction unless you were involved. DarkCoin became “Dash,” which is short for “digital cash,” in 2015. Duffield gave an interview to CCN at the time: One of the problems that any project based on Bitcoin suffers is the potential for 51% attacks. In its latest release, Dash has essentially solved the problem by relying more heavily on its Masternode network in addition to proof-of-working miners. The effect is that the entire network can now instantly confirm transactions. Current Dash Core CEO Ryan Taylor recently told CCN that Dash’s privacy features are but one part of the experience. He prefers to view the project as a “financial user experience.” He said: “The Dash network today is not one-dimentional. Dash delivers a user experience second to none in the cryptocurrency space today. Transactions are instant, practically costless, and incredibly secure. We have the most effective governance and funding model in the industry, the longest-running in the industry in fact. The cost to attack the Dash network exceeds even that of Bitcoin because of recently introduced security enhancements. Read the full story on CCN.com . || Exclusive: Microsoft Registers Blockchain and AI Platform for Agriculture in Brazil: Microsofthas registered a suite of applications inBrazilthat are designed to improve efficiency in theagriculturesector, according to anexclusive reportby Cointelegraph Brazil on June 6.
The technology, known as FarmBeats, usesblockchain, drones,IoT,artificial intelligenceand big data to improve productivity. It has already been rolled out on farms in theUnited States,India,New ZealandandKenya, achieving a 30% reduction in water consumption.
Ranveer Chandra, the scientist who created FarmBeats, recently said that the agriculture sector had been left behind by the benefits big data, AI and blockchain can bring — even claiming that hunting had seen more digital transformation despite being a smaller industry. Hetoldbusiness and economy magazine Epoca Negocios:
“Brazil is one of the first countries that comes to mind when we think of agriculture. We developed FarmBeats so that its technology could be applied here and in other developing countries.”
The technology is regarded as crucial as farmers struggle to make a living while competing with a changing climate and growing demand for produce, Epoca Negocios writes. Chandra explains that production needs to increase by 70% in the next 30 years if global food requirements are going to be met.
The scientist has called on Brazil’s government to embrace the technology and subsidize it in a similar way to farming equipment and fertilizer. Besides helping farmers use resources more effectively, FarmBeats claims it can enhance accuracy and yield by delivering vital statistics about the temperature, moisture and nutrients in the soil.
Microsoft has made several forays into the blockchain world of late. Last month, theUnited Statesgiantreleasedthe newAzureBlockchain Development Kit for theEthereumblockchain — aiding developers who are buildingappson the network.
Also in May, the companyannouncedit wasbuildinga decentralizedidentitynetwork using theBitcoinnetwork known as the Identity Overlay Network (ION.)
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• Bitcoin Analyst Says BTC Could Reach $25,000 by End of 2019 || Former NYSE market maker reveals why he now only trades Bitcoin: Former New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) market maker Eric Crown has revealed why he swapped legacy markets for trading Bitcoin independently. While going from trading options on NYSE Arca to trading Bitcoin on BitMEX seems like a big leap, it’s something that has come relatively easy to Crown, who live-streams his trading insights to his 26,000 YouTube subscribers twice a day. Trading floor clerk at 11 The extroverted American began his trading career at a very young age after going down to the floor of the Pacific Stock Exchange with his father aged 11. “I’d wake up at the crack of dawn and go down to the floor to be a clerk,” Crown told Coin Rivet. “That really sucked me in, as even though everyone’s wearing suits and are dressed for business, it’s a complete adult playground, and I really loved that. “One of the things I was really afraid of was getting stuck in a compact office job, so the trading floor really appealed to me. After that I spent some time going to the University of Oregon to study economics and business, but as far as schooling went, I never found my passions there, and none of it prepared me for actual trading.” NYSE After having graduated from the University of Oregon and coming to the realisation that an office job wasn’t for him, Crown went back to “harass a family friend who had transferred to NYSE Arca”. Crown continued: “He taught me how to trade options. I was very lucky to be around some of the best traders on the floor at NYSE and eventually I took a series 56 to become a market maker myself at a relatively young age. Then I got very lucky again. One of the older guys from the exchange who had 35+ years’ experience took me under his wing and let me trade on his account before I eventually graduated to trading independently.” Hearing about Bitcoin in 2014 was a ‘game changer’ “A few years later, I started learning about this magic internet money called Bitcoin. That was a game changer. I first heard about it on the floor in 2014 when it went parabolic and blew off its top. We were all talking about it, but it wasn’t until a year later when I actually started to come into the crypto landscape that I started to trade Bitcoin. Ever since then I haven’t looked back. I stopped trading traditional markets completely and now I’m really enjoying it.” Story continues When asked how trading Bitcoin compares to traditional markets, Crown revealed that the most compelling difference is the lack of liquidity. Bitcoin Continuation Targets $BTC https://t.co/zqbiSsd5nN — Eric Crown (@KrownCryptoCave) July 8, 2019 “The lack of liquidity was a major shock to the system. Of course, this is essentially the Wild West for trading right now, but this does present a significant amount of opportunities. The percentage plays in Bitcoin are unmatched in any other market – it’s just insane. Of course, that comes with its own issues, but I do enjoy the market because of that opportunity,” he added. While several cryptocurrency ‘traders’ and ‘influencers’ have faced criticism for shilling and not actually knowing how to trade, Crown puts his money where his mouth is by trading live on stream twice per day. He started a streamer account on BitMEX with “around 500 bucks” and proceeded to turn that into “more than 20 Bitcoins” within the space of a year. “I did get lucky with that [the streamer account]. On the first trades I ran the risk of getting rekt. After the first few drops from $10,000 and $8,400 last year, I was on the right side of the trade. At that time, there was no reason to be bullish in a macro downtrend. Technicals were lining up and there were more lower highs over time.” What’s the secret to being a successful trader? More important than knowing trading strategies and technical analysis is “emotional control”, according to the ex-NYSE trader. “It’s as much of an emotional and psychological game as it is anything else,” he claims. “You can’t get happy when you make 20% and you can’t get sad when you lose 20%. With trading, you will always make losses – even the best traders in the world take losses. But they don’t let that loss influence their decisions. That’s the whole value in technical analysis as it’s a law of probability, so over time you will have that advantage. “If you get into a mindset where you entice those emotions and entertain those emotions, whether positive or negative, they both lead you to the same place. It puts you into a psychology where you actually walk off from making sound decisions – you will lose your edge. It’s the same thing as a poker player. Professionals say, ‘I don’t get happy when I win and I don’t get sad when I lose’ – it’s exactly the same thing. “You have to remind yourself that losses are just a part of the process. You also need to have a healthy body and healthy mind. Myself, I work out regularly, read and meditate every morning, and I also eat a strict diet. When you have all of that in order, the rest will fall into shape.” Crown streams his trading expertise twice every day on YouTube, where he also has links to exclusive trading guides and techniques. Stay tuned to Coin Rivet’s YouTube channel for the full interview. The post Former NYSE market maker reveals why he now only trades Bitcoin appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Major Consultancy Firm McKinsey Says Retail Banking Sector Slow to Adopt Blockchain: “Big Three” management consultancy firm McKinsey & Company has argued thatblockchaintechnology is gaining slower traction with retailbanksdue to regulatory hurdles and a conservative consumer environment. The news wasreportedby Bloomberg on June 7.
McKinsey reportedly characterized retail banks as nervous and cautious when it comes to blockchain, as distinct from their ostensibly more adventurous investment banking counterparts.
Factors contributing to this difference include, McKinsey argues, a more stringent regulatory environment for consumer finance and the controversial reputation of blockchain-based decentralized cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin (BTC).
In addition, the success of existing disruptor payment services such as Zelle is ostensibly slowing the adoption of new blockchain-powered solutions, the authors claim.
Despite this, McKinsey argues that retail banks could see significant gains across multiple applications — including processing remittance payments, managing Know Your Customer compliance, fraud prevention and risk assessment — were they to embrace blockchain.
In particular, the report isolates cost efficiencies as a key promise of the technology, noting the importance of streamlining expenses for retail banks:
“Almost all of their attention, especially in developed markets, is on cost reduction. And where cost reduction is front and center they are prepared to look at petty much any opportunity.”
The consultancy firm estimates that $4 billion could be saved annually by adopting blockchain solutions for cross-border payments, with an additional $1 billion to be saved per year in on-boarding costs for new clients. In regard to fraud, blockchain applications could reduce losses by up to $9 billion, the report claims.
Thus despite the slower inroads the technology has made to date in the sector, McKinsey notes its clients are shifting their tune and beginning to explore how to implement the technology within their business — in contrast to their earlier focus on battling crypto-associated risks.
The report proposes that to encourage adoption, the exchange between fiat currencies and digital assets should be smoother so as to prevent the risk of volatility-related losses for consumers. It also advocates for the establishment of more clarity in the regulatory sphere,
As previouslyreported, a McKinsey report from January of this year argued that there remains scant evidence of practical, scalable use cases for blockchain and characterized the technology as relatively unstable, expensive, and complex.
• Russia’s Largest Bank Confirms It Will Not Develop Crypto-Related Services
• Thailand’s Largest Commercial Bank Retracts Tweet Indicating Plans to Use Ripple’s XRP
• Galaxy Digital Fund Leads Funding Round for Blockchain-Based Game Platform
• Marshall Islands Form Dedicated Fund to Support Implementation of Its National Crypto || Market growth Halted after the Rally: However, on Friday, the markets are alert to details: investors are concerned that without tangible progress in trade negotiations, the economy will continue to slow down. This is partly due to the US tariffs, as well as fears over even greater sanction tightening in the future. Moreover, tensions with the US are likely to be raised further, following the shooting down of an American drone by Iran. This could, in turn, drive up the Crude oil prices – which may be an additional obstacle to further economic growth. Stocks S&P500 updated its historical highs on Thursday, responding to the Fed’s policy easing. However, on Friday morning, the rally lost momentum. To some extent, this was caused by the traditional Friday position-closing by investors. It is also worth paying attention to the fact that since January 2018, the updating of historical peaks is followed by corrective kickbacks from 2% to 20%. Consequently, this will be a contributing factor towards a cautious outlook for the stock markets next week. EURUSD The dollar’s retreat supported the euro, sending EURUSD to an area above 1.1300. The single currency twice attempted – unsuccessfully – to break below 1.1100 in May. Meanwhile, in June, the support level appeared to have moved to 1.1200. Given that the softness of the Fed’s policy provides a sufficient argument for a downward trend break, it may soon pass the “test of strength” in the form of a 200-day MA. GBPUSD The British pound rose to 1.2725 on Thursday, but after the BoE meeting GBPUSD was discarded from local maximums. However, it is worth noting that – in contrast with Europe and the United States – the Bank of England continues to adhere to a more hawkish attitude, not excluding a potential increase in interest rates if the economy avoids disorderly Brexit negative effects. This article was written by FxPro This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Natural Gas Price Prediction – Prices Bounce Friday, but Tumble 8% for the Week NZD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – Primary Upside Target Zone .6633 to .6668 Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 22/06/19 Weekly Wrap – Central Banks, Stats, and Geopolitics Drove the Majors Dovish Federal Reserve Greenlights Stock Market Rally The Crypto Week – Bitcoin Hits $11,000 to Dominate the Market || European Equities: Geopolitical Risk to Influence the Majors: Economic Calendar: Wednesday, 24 th July German PPI m/m(Jun) French Manufacturing PMI (Jul) Prelim French Services PMI (Jul) Prelim German Manufacturing PMI (Jul) Prelim German Services PMI (Jul) Prelim Eurozone Manufacturing PMI (Jul) Prelim Eurozone Markit Composite PMI (Jul) Prelim Eurozone Services PMI (Jul) Prelim Thursday, 25 th July German IFO Business Expectations, Current Assessment, and Climate Indexes French Jobseekers Total ECB Monetary Policy Statement (Jul) and Monetary Policy Decision ECB Press Conference The Majors The European majors ended the week on a high note, with the DAX leading the way on the day, rising by 0.26%. For the EuroStoxx600 and CAC40, the gains were more modest. The pair rose by 0.12% and by 0.03% respectively. In spite of Friday’s gains, the DAX and CAC40 ended the week in the red. The DAX ended the week down by 0.51%, while the CAC40 fell by 0.37%. Bucking the trend on the week was the EuroStoxx600, which rose by 0.06%. The European markets closed ahead of news of Iran seizing a UK tanker in the Gulf, which pinned back the U.S majors on the day. Support on the day came from expectations of a FED rate cut at the end of the month. Sentiment towards FED monetary policy was mixed, however. Late on Thursday, FOMC member Williams said that the FED should act quickly as the economy slows. A member of the NY FED, however, stated that Williams’ comments were unrelated to FED monetary policy, reversing the impact of Williams’ comments. The Stats It was a quieter day on the economic calendar on Friday, with no material stats out of the Eurozone on Friday. The lack of stats left the European majors exposed to economic data and corporate earnings out of the U.S on the day. On the data front, the Michigan Consumer Expectations Index rose from 89.3 to 90.1, coming in ahead of a forecasted 89.8. The Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index also improved, rising from 98.2 to 98.4, according to July prelim figures. Story continues The Market Movers From the DAX , the auto sector was mixed at the end of the week. Continental led the way, rallying by 2.46%, with BMW rising by 0.27%. Daimler and Volkswagen saw red on the day, however, with falls of 0.10% and 0.22% respectively. It was a bearish end to the week for the banks, however. Deutsche Bank fell by 1.74%, with Commerzbank ending the day down by 2.34%. From the CAC , BNP Paribas fell by 0.89%, with Soc Gen sliding by 1.52%. Credit Agricole ended the day flat following a 1.6% slide on Thursday. Renault also struggled, falling by 0.62% on Friday. The Day Ahead There are no material stats due out of the Eurozone to provide direction at the start of the week. A lack of stats will leave the majors exposed to geopolitical risk throughout the day. The markets will need to consider Brexit, rising tensions in the Middle East and any updates on trade talks. At the time of writing, the DAX futures was up by 8.5 points, while the Dow Mini was up by 13 points. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Gold Under Pressure Amid Firm Dollar, U.S. Debt Ceiling Deal Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 23/07/19 European Equities: Geopolitics and Corporate Earnings in Focus Sterling Shaky Ahead of New UK Prime Minister Announcement EUR/USD Daily Forecast – Bears Eye Stops Below Mid-June Low AUD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – July 23, 2019 Forecast
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
La ‘revolución’ del || @business Meanwhile $BTC +5% || Of course we found 11 things to ponder! More to come on this week's @bchaininsider #blockchain https://t.co/8i7zWaVaiA || #cryptocurrency #btcnews https://t.co/MZAwLRsWnQ Top 5 Crypto Performers: NEO LTC BTC ETH XMR #crypto #btc #cryptotrading #cryptocurrency https://t.co/0G0lmVU5WJ || 為替(19/07/29 09:10㈪現在)
米ドル → 108.62円
香港ドル → 13.89円
台湾ドル → 3.49円
中国元 → 15.79円
ユーロ → 120.88円
英ポンド → 134.43円
BTC → 1034476.19円 || i’m abt to save your life. so recently i invested all my money in bitcoin and although i’ve lost the password and can never access it, i really believe that it’s in the safest place. y’all should check out @Bitcoin bc i trust it w my life. || The burden of proof is on *YOU* to demonstrate to me that Bitcoin is not immutable. || XRP
BTC下落の中、下落幅がかなり抑えめです。
swell後、もう一上げが期待されることによる買い圧の強さでしょう。
現在はトライアングル内で調整が進行中。
上抜けでインパルス波、下抜けで調整C波
命運の分かれ目です。 || $EPAZ's Bitcoin Sharing & Blockchain Social Media App Webbeeo Is In Alpha Testing Phase https://www.owltmarket || ⏰ LIQUIDATION on BTC-PERPETUAL ☠️️
Bought $2,600 of #BTC @ $10716.50
19 Jul 2019 08:03:38 UTC
Trade ID: 33253820
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Trend: up || Prices: 10518.17, 10821.73, 10970.18, 11805.65, 11478.17, 11941.97, 11966.41, 11862.94, 11354.02, 11523.58
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2020-11-24]
BTC Price: 19107.46, BTC RSI: 82.20
Gold Price: 1804.80, Gold RSI: 34.43
Oil Price: 44.91, Oil RSI: 67.96
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Blockchain Bites: JPM Coin Goes Live, Bitcoin Rallies, Stocks Falter: JPM Coin will see its first commercial use, banking executives said. Southeast Asia’s largest bank by assets, DBS, is eyeing a digital assets exchange. And bitcoin’s recent rise shows a decoupling from traditional markets, like the S&P 500.
JPM CoinJPM Coin, the enterprise-minded digital asset stewarded by the titular global bank, will see itsfirst transaction this week,a JPMorgan executive said. Designed for wholesale payments and faster transactions, the system is predicted to save the banking industry hundreds of millions of dollars a year. First revealed in February 2019, JPM Coin will run on Quorum, a private version of Ethereum developed by the bank but acquired by development firm ConsenSys in August. Further, the executive told CNBC the bank has created a business unit with around 100 employees called Onyx to house related projects. “We believe we are shifting to a period of commercialization of those technologies, moving from research and development to something that can become a real business,” the executive said.
Bank’s exchangeSoutheast Asia’s largest bank by assets, DBS, is apparentlyin the works to build a digital assets trading platform.The Singapore-based bank and financial services corporation posted – and quickly removed – a webpage detailing the DBS Digital Exchange that will offer access to “an integrated ecosystem of solutions to tap the vast potential of private markets and digital currencies.” In addition tobitcoin,bitcoin cash,etherandXRPtrading services, the exchange will also offer tokenization services, offering business the opportunity to raise funds by issuing digital forms of securities and assets, per the page. The exchange will be regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the city-state’s de facto central bank.
Related:First Mover: Bitcoin Surges to New 2020 High as Harvest Debacle Provides Costly DeFi Lesson
BTC funds bailA growing number of donors are giving crypto to bail funds, CoinDesk’s Ben Powers reports. Bail fund projects have taken inthousands of dollars in crypto donations– including major assets like BTC and ETH, as well as smaller market cap coins likeBAT– since the summer, according to The Giving Block. Potential benefits include helping bail funds diversify payments streams, attract younger tech-savvy and international donors as well as tax benefits. “We expect that more people will embrace crypto as their preferred method of making donations – especially as people understand the tax benefits of giving via crypto, which are similar to those of donating conventional securities,” The Bail Project’s Chief Financial Officer Zach Herz-Roiphe said.
Volume surgeAutomated market makers Curve and Uniswap tradedcombined volumes above $4 billionon Monday, perhaps in reaction to a recent exploit of popular DeFi protocol Harvest Finance. Daily trading volume on Uniswap leapt 1,200% to a record $2.04 billion, surpassing the previous record high notched shy of $1 billion, while decentralized exchange Curve Finance saw volumes above $2 billion. This weekend, an attacker used a flash loan – a technique that allows a trader to take on massive leverage without any downside –draining some $24 millionfrom Harvest and triggering a bank run. “Volume on Uniswap surged, as the Harvest Finance exploiter likely ran money through the automated market maker,” Denis Vinokourov, head of the research at the London-based prime brokerage Bequant, told CoinDesk in a Telegram chat.
Powell pontificatesJesse Powell, crypto OG and Kraken CEO, hascriticized the decentralized finance (DeFi) space,in light of several recent multimillion-dollar exploits, not the least of which affected Harvest Finance yesterday. In a tweet on Tuesday, Powell said he would “not accept” DeFi projects’ attempts at “externalizing the cost” of “hasty reckless” rollouts. In an expletive-laden tweet he admonished these breakneck coders for rushing out unaudited and uninsured projects. Despite this, CoinDesk’s Sebastian Sinclair notes, the DeFi sector is continuing to grow, having surpassed $12.45 billion in total value locked up in smart contracts on Oct. 25. (That figure dropped by about $1.15 billion after Monday’s exploit of Harvest, and now stands at $11.3 billion, according to DeFi Pulse.)
• Why Wyoming’s Governor Supports the State’s Crypto Banking Law (CoinDesk)
• Toyota’s IT arm launches digital currency pilot (The Block)
• Audius Distributes Crypto to RAC, Deadmau5 Listeners (Decrypt)
• There are already counterfeit wallets of China’s digital yuan (Quartz – paywall)
• Alibaba’s Jack Ma says switch to a digital currency (Modern Consensus)
The indicatorsBitcoin is rallying, and on-chain and off-chain indicators point to a continuing trend. CoinDesk markets reporter Omkar Godbole placed bitcoin’snew yearly watermarkin the context of declining daily deposits to cryptocurrency exchanges as well as a movement of coins off exchanges.
Related:Blockchain Bites: DeFi's Harvest Hit, IRS' Crypto Clarification, JPMorgan's Buoyant Bitcoin Note
According to Glassnode, the number of daily deposits to exchanges fell to a nine-month low of 26,889 on Monday as the total number of bitcoins held on exchanges slipped to a two-year low of 2,478,799 BTC.
These statistics, while imperfect, have traditionally pointed to a market sentiment where traders and investors are prepared to “hodl” into a rally, Godbole noted.
A similar sentiment can be gauged by looking at futures markets, where contracts give the option for buyers to strike a buy at a predetermined price by a predetermined date. According to Godbole’s analysis, one-, three- and six-month put-call skews, which measure the cost of bearing to bullish bets are hovering near zero, an indication that some traders expect for bitcoin’s price to continue rising.
Last week, Bloomberg analysts put out a quarterly report on predictive crypto performance, targeting a $100,000 BTC price level for 2025 and a high of $14,000 as early as this year.
“Still in hangover mode from the 2017 rally, we don’t know what specific catalyst might launch Bitcoin to new highs, but demand vs. supply metrics remain price-positive,” the analysts write in “Bitcoin Trend, Adding Zeros.”
Among the macro factors they point to is bitcoin’s decreasing volatility compared to the Nasdaq composite, a growing correlation with gold and a likely growing market cap, in part spurred by corporate investment (like MicroStrategy and Square’s) in the cryptocurrency.
“In an unparalleled macroeconomic backdrop of rapidly increasing fiscal and monetary stimulus, limited supply stores of value such as gold and Bitcoin stand to prevail, in our view. This should be true when traditional asset classes – stocks and bonds – are overextended,” the report reads.
A separate report by CoinDesk’s sister company Grayscale has found that more than half (55%) of U.S. investors who responded areinterested in buying bitcoinin 2020. That’s up from 19% from survey responses last year.
For the short term? “The next resistance to take out is $13,800 (June 2019 high),” Patrick Heusser, a senior cryptocurrency trader at Zurich-based Crypto Broker AG told Godbole.
Decoupling?Bitcoin isriding at 16-month highs,trading around $13,420 at press time. The cryptocurrency is now up 25% for the month and 87% on a year-to-date basis, CoinDesk’s Omkar Godbole reports. This comes as coronavirus scares and intermittent U.S. stimulus talks have spooked traditional markets, seen by the S&P 500’s 2% drop yesterday. “In effect, we appear to be seeing a weakening of the positive correlation between bitcoin and the S&P 500 seen since the March crash,” Godbole said. Matthew Dibb, COO of Stack Funds, agreed: “The decline in transfers to exchanges despite risk-off in equity markets is a bullish sign.”
• Blockchain Bites: JPM Coin Goes Live, Bitcoin Rallies, Stocks Falter
• Blockchain Bites: JPM Coin Goes Live, Bitcoin Rallies, Stocks Falter || McAfee Raises $740M In IPO: Cybersecurity company McAfee Corp , on Wednesday, announced it is pricing 37 million class A common stock shares in its initial public offering at $20 per share. What Happened : McAfees stock will begin its trading debut on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol "MCFE" on Thursday, and the IPO offer will be open till Oct. 26. The public offering, which stands to generate $740 million in proceeds, values the company at $8.6 billion, Bloomberg reports. McAfee is offering 30.98 million shares in the IPO, with the rest 6 million coming from existing shareholders. A week ago, McAfee disclosed it expected to price its IPO in the range of $19 to $22 per share. Why Does It Matter : Based on the data from Refinitiv, The Financial Times reports that IPOs have raised close to $58.4 billion in the U.S. this year. Some of the recent tech IPO include cloud software company Snowflake Inc (NYSE: SNOW ), DevOps solutions provider JFrog Ltd (NASDAQ: FROG ), data analytics startup Sumo Logic Inc (NASDAQ: SUMO ), and video game software developer Unity Software Inc (NYSE: U ). After being acquired by Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC ) in 2010, McAfee was spun off in 2016 when private equity firm TPG Capital purchased a 51% stake in the cybersecurity company. See more from Benzinga Options Trades For This Crazy Market: Get Benzinga Options to Follow High-Conviction Trade Ideas Microsoft Directs Sales Team To Promote Dynamic 365 Products Bitcoin Crosses Crucial K Mark Amidst Low Funding Rates © 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Hits $13.6K; 500K ETH Options Pile Up for December: Bitcoin’s price is turning bullish as ether options traders accumulate half a million of ETH options for December expiration. Bitcoin trading around $13,519 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 2.6% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $13,105-$13,649 BTC above its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bullish signal for market technicians. The price of bitcoin moved upward Thursday, going as high as $13,649, according to CoinDesk 20 data, and settling around $13,519 as of press time. Read More: Bitcoin’s Options Market Sees Just 6% Chance of $20K Before Year’s End Related: Deribit Sees Record Bitcoin Options Volume as Activity in $36K Calls Surge Often when other asset classes like stocks sell off, as they did on Wednesday, bitcoin drops. “It would not be the first time bitcoin’s price action falls in line with traditional markets as a general sell-off occurs,” said John Willock, CEO of Tritium. “However, it is also totally reasonable for BTC to experience this level of pullback.” Yet, on Thursday equities fared better, particularly in the United States. The Nikkei 225 in Asia ended the day slipping 0.37% on worries about further global coronavirus lockdowns . The FTSE 100 in Europe closed flat, in the red 0.02% as the U.K. government faces pressure to follow France and Germany and enact coronavirus restrictions . In the United States the S&P 500 ended the trading day up 1.7% as positive economic data and earnings reports boosted the index . Read More: FTX Launches Bitcoin Pairs for Top Stocks Like Amazon, Apple and Tesla Constantin Kogan, a partner at crypto fund-of-funds BitBull Capital, sees no reason why the world’s oldest cryptocurrency can’t go higher in the near term. “Bitcoin is heading for $13,800 resistance and 2019 all-time highs,” Kogan told CoinDesk. “It might break $13,800.” Related: First Mover: Bitcoin Heads for 24% October Gain as US Election Countdown Begins Story continues Taking a look at the bitcoin futures market, open interest has picked up, going to levels not seen since August. “We are almost at new highs for open interest for all BTC futures – $5.4 billion right now,” noted Jason Lau, chief operating officer for San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange OKCoin. “With many new positions being opened, it suggests the market is still bullish at these prices,” Lau added. “That said, there are a considerable amount of order book ‘asks’ in the $14,000 region for bitcoin,” Lau said. “Bitcoin should close above that level on a weekly or monthly basis to confirm it is acting as support.” Ether options in December pile up The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, ether was up Wednesday trading around $389 and climbing 1.1% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). The amount of open interest on ether options for December expiration hit 500,000 ETH , worth $195,500,00 as of press time, as traders make bets on the dynamics of the Ethereum network. Vishal Shah, an options trader and founder of derivatives exchange Alpha5, noted that a lot of ether options bets seem bearish. “It looks like there’s some strong ETH put buying going on into the year end mainly around the mid-low $200s,” he said. Indeed, data aggregator Genesis Volatility shows strikes amassing around the $200-$280 price points. “I think people are buying the downside for some reason,” Shah added. “It definitely throws water on the narrative that Ethereum 2.0 would create a supply shock in Ethereum 1.0 due to the initial lock-up – perhaps it is something else, but it’s definitely hard to glean any bullish implications.” Other markets Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are mixed, mostly red Thursday. Notable winners as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): ethereum classic 0x Notable losers: orchid tezos stellar Read More: The Graph Raises $12M in GRT Token Sale; Teases Mainnet Launch Commodities: Oil was down 2.8%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $36.31. Gold was in the red 0.34% and at $1,869 as of press time. Treasurys: U.S. Treasury bond yields climbed Thursday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were up most on the 10-year, jumping to 0.830 and in the green 7.3%. Related Stories Market Wrap: Bitcoin Hits $13.6K; 500K ETH Options Pile Up for December Market Wrap: Bitcoin Hits $13.6K; 500K ETH Options Pile Up for December || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Pulls Back From $13K While Ether Falls on DeFi Cooling: Bitcoin has pulled back from 2020’s highs while ether slips as DeFi cools off.
• Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $12,919.97 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Slipping 1.36% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $12,731.06-$13,192.25.
Bitcoin’s price had a minor pullback Friday after hitting fresh new 2020 highs that put it above $13,000 in the past week. However, analysts and traders said they were not surprised at all by the recent moves.
Read More:Active Bitcoin Addresses at Highest Since 2017’s $20K Price Record
Related:First Mover: Bitcoin Steady Over $13K as JPMorgan Has Eureka! Moment
An immediate sell-off by long-time bitcoin holders when prices hovered around $13,000 could be why bitcoin struggled to maintain its rally, according to on-chain data site Santiment.
Bitcoin’s dormant circulation, which tracks the activity of bitcoin that were previously unmoved for at least one year, has recorded the biggest spike since Feb. 7, 2020, Santiment’s data shows.
“A renewed activity of long-term BTC investors often means increased price volatility up ahead,” Dino Ibisbegovic, market analyst at Santiment, told CoinDesk. “Similar spikes – particularly during price rallies – have typically earmarked periods of price consolidation or short-term corrections in the past.”
Darius Sit, founder of Singapore-based QCP Capital, told CoinDesk the market may expect further pullback over the weekend, noting that theTD Sequentialindicator has been able to signal a reversal for bitcoin prices.
Related:Number of Bitcoin 'Whale' Addresses at Highest Since Autumn 2016
On the other hand, growing open options interest may support a pricing floor for bitcoin above $12,500, said Guy Hirsch, managing director of U.S. for eToro, in an email to CoinDesk.
“That price point has long been seen as the glass ceiling that needed to break for BTC to make any significant moves upward,” Hirsch said. “Given the positive sentiment off the back of yesterday’sPayPal news, I would not be surprised to see bitcoin challenged and move back past $13,000 in the near future.”
Additionally, significant institutional interest in cryptocurrency has continued to grow. That is evidenced by the fact that this week the tCME, an exchange predominantly led by institutional participation, has surpassed both Binance and BitMEX to be the second-largest bitcoin futures platform by number of open contracts.
Read More:CME’s Rise in Bitcoin Futures Rankings Signals Growing Institutional Interest
“The PayPal news is the bright and shiny object this week, but it is just the tip of the iceberg,” Matt Hougan, global head of research at Bitwise Asset Management, told CoinDesk. “Behind the scenes there has been a sea change in the attitudes of institutional investors, broker-dealers and financial advisers toward crypto in the past few months.”
“We’re in a legitimate bull market right now,” he added.
The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization,ether(ETH), was down Friday trading around $409.05 and slipping 1.78% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
Priced in bitcoin, the token started to reverse some of the gains made mid-Thursday when ETH/BTC spiked 4% in two hours, down 2% from the daily high and trading at 0.0317 BTC per ether and continuing the downward trend since the week’s open for bitcoin-based trading pair.
Ether’s decline against bitcoin may signal a continued cooling of alternate cryptocurrencies (altcoins). Taking toTwitter, leading markets data provider Skew noted ether’s downward trend, asking rhetorically, “Altseason on pause?”
Decentralized finance (DeFi) led the summer’s surge in altcoin returns, and plummeting decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volumes corroborate a potentially significant waning of speculative interest in altcoins, especially DeFi-focused assets. The 30-day trailing volume for leading DEXs is down 41%, according to data from Dune Analytics.
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are all red Friday. The bigger losers as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• Zcash (ZEC) – 6.16%
• Dash (DASH) – 5.46%
• XRP (XRP) – 4.09%
Read More:Five On-Chain Indicators Investors Should Follow: Chainalysis
Equities:
• The Nikkei 225 in Asia closed up 0.18% afterthe final U.S. presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden ended up much less chaotic compared with the first debate.
• The FTSE 100 also ended the day in the green 1.29% asBarclays beat market expectations by logging a strong third-quarter profit.
• In the United States the S&P 500 gained 0.34% asinvestors continue to focus on the econonic stimulus negotiations in Washington, D.C.
Commodities:
• Oil was down 2.13%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $39.482.
• Gold was in the red 0.03% and at $1902.97 as of press time.
Treasurys:
• U.S. Treasury bond yields went down Friday. Ten-year yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were down to 0.85.
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Pulls Back From $13K While Ether Falls on DeFi Cooling
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Pulls Back From $13K While Ether Falls on DeFi Cooling || Is Bitcoins Rally Overstretched? This Key Indicator Says No: A historically reliable fundamental analysis indicator suggests bitcoins rally has scope to continue after its rapid rise to new 2020 highs, contradicting signals on the technical charts. While bitcoins market value to realized value (MVRV) Z-score is hovering at two-year highs at 2.12, according to data source Glassnode , thats still well below the 7.0 score at which an asset is considered near a top. The MVRV Z-score measures the deviation of market value from realized value, and is used to assess undervalued and overvalued conditions. Put simply, the cryptocurrency is slightly overvalued but still has plenty of room to extend the run of gains from the low of $3,867 seen since mid-March. The indicator backs up billionaire hedge fund manager and philanthropist Paul Tudor Jones recent comments that bitcoins rally has just begun. Historically, an MVRV Z-score below zero has marked bear market lows, while a reading above 7 has marked major bull market tops. The Z-score fell below zero, indicating undervalued conditions following the March 12-13 crash, which saw prices fall as low as $3,867. Since then, the cryptocurrency has largely stayed on an uptrend. Conflicting signals Bitcoins 14-week relative strength index (RSI), a popular gauge of price momentum, has crossed above 70.00 on the charts. According to the technical analysis (TA) theory, an above-70 figure is a sign an asset is overbought. The 14-day RSI, too, is flashing a similar signal. TA studies, however, are lagging indicators as they are based on price and relatively less reliable. In a trending market, indicators such as the RSI can remain in an overbought or oversold state for extended periods of time, trader and analyst Nick Cote told CoinDesk. Bitcoins current uptrend looks strong because its backed by increased institutional participation and expectations for mainstream adoption. Online payments giant PayPal recently announced support for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The overbought signal does not imply a bearish reversal, but may yield a minor pullback or consolidation similar to those seen in May and August. For bitcoin, institutionalization is the primary driver for growth in this next bull market. As such, its better to observe on-chain metrics, Cote said. At press time, bitcoin is trading lower near $13,520, having narrowly missed breaching the June 2019 high of $13,880 during the Asian trading hours. Disclosure: The author holds small positions in bitcoin and litecoin. Story continues Also read: Bitcoin Hits 16-Month High Despite Sell-Off in Global Stocks Related Stories Is Bitcoins Rally Overstretched? This Key Indicator Says No Is Bitcoins Rally Overstretched? This Key Indicator Says No Is Bitcoins Rally Overstretched? This Key Indicator Says No Is Bitcoins Rally Overstretched? This Key Indicator Says No View comments || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Slips to $12.8K; Ether Options Traders Prefer Calls: Major markets are in the red today, including bitcoin. Ether options traders have favored calls over the past month.
• Bitcointrading around $13,184 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Slipping 3.6% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $12,894-$13,831
• BTC below its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bearish signal for market technicians.
The price of bitcoin slipped Wednesday, going as low as $12,894 around 14:00 UTC (10 a.m. ET), according to CoinDesk 20 data. Prices have picked up a bit since then, at $13,184 as of press time.
Read More:Bitcoin Price Slips Below $13K as Stocks Slide
Related:Bitcoin Transaction Fees Rise to 28-Month High as Hashrate Drops Amid Price Rally
Katie Stockton, a technical analyst for research firm Fairlead Strategies, said Wednesday was a “risk-off” day where investors were shedding what they consider higher-risk assets, including cryptocurrencies.“Bitcoin is seeing a retracement of its strong up move as risk assets trade off sharply,” Stockton told CoinDesk. Risk assets, which include global equities, slipped Wednesday.
• The Nikkei 225 in Asia closed in the red 0.30% assurging coronavirus infections and uncertainty surrounding the U.S. presidential election weighed on the index.
• The FTSE 100 ended the day down 2.5% asnew lockdown restrictions in Europe caused investors to punch the sell button.
• In the United States the S&P 500 fell 2.9% asincreasing coronavirus cases around the world caused concerns about the global economy’s overall health.
Bitcoin’s strong move up Tuesday approached2019’s highbefore losing steam. Stockton said that despite Wednesday’s respite, bitcoin still has a strong chance to pass 2019’s price zenith. “The recent breakout above the August high lends a bullish intermediate-term bias,” she added. “Uncertainty is taking its toll on the markets, but we think it will be short-lived.”
Neil Van Huis, director of institutional trading at liquidity provider Blockfills, noted bitcoin’s mining hashrate has dropped to levels not seen since June. Older, inefficient machines are being turned off, which he sees as a huge opportunity to invest in newer mining rigs at these price levels.
“This is good for mining companies,” Van Huis said. “It also comes at a time when prices are rising. With that comes more investment into the space like JPMorgan and PayPal. That should, in my opinion, keep prices bullish, especially now that we cleared that $12,000-$12,500 hurdle for a bit.”
Related:The Global Macro Case for FA Allocations to Bitcoin With Kevin Kelly
Read More:JPMorgan’s ‘JPM Coin’ Is Live, Execs Say
In the futures market, Denis Vinokourov, head of research at digital asset prime broker Bequant, noted the rise of institutional interest on CME, which surpassed $800 million in open interest Tuesday. “Futures contracts trading at a premium to spot prices even as the October CME expiry is fast approaching this Friday,” he said.
Guy Hirsch, U.S. managing director at multi-asset brokerage eToro, said unpredictable global market fundamentals are actually a good thing for bitcoin. “The election outcome might produce a shift from a pro-business administration into an administration that is much more skeptical about free markets” just as COVID-19 cases hit record levels, he added. “[W]e could be in for a long winter that may see bitcoin potentially challenge its previous record high set back in 2017,” Hirsch told CoinDesk.
Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was up in Wednesday trading around $384 and slipping 5.6% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
The ether options market has been more favorable towards calls than puts recently. Derivatives exchange Deribit, which is by far the largest ether options venue, has seen 55% calls versus 44% puts the past month, according to data aggregator Genesis Volatility.
Calls are bullish bets in the direction of the underlying assets (in this case, ether) while puts are bearish bets.
Greg Magadini, Genesis Volatility’s CEO, doesn’t see this data as necessarily providing clear direction on ether’s price, but does indicate where liquidity is pooling.
“Seeing more activity on the call side indicates that the call legs have the most liquidity and active participation,” Magadini said. “This is useful for traders to know when structuring less liquid multi-legged trades.”
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are mostly red Wednesday. One notable winner as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• bitcoin cash(BCH) + 2.6%
Notable losers:
• 0x– 8.3%
• chainlink– 5.9%
• orchid– 5.7%
Read More:Hxro, FTX Target Retail Crypto Traders With Simplified Options Product
Commodities:
• Oil was down 4.3%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $37.26.
• Gold was in the red 1.6% and at $1,877 as of press time.
Treasurys:
• U.S. Treasury bond yields were mixed, almost flat on Wednesday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were up most on the 10-year bond, jumping to 0.773 and climbing 0.44%.
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Slips to $12.8K; Ether Options Traders Prefer Calls
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Slips to $12.8K; Ether Options Traders Prefer Calls || How the Decentralized Web Transfers Wealth From Corporations to People: The internet of today is broken. We can use the internet, but we don’t own anything we do. Companies control our domain names, the content we host on web servers and our access to the internet. Now that so much of our information is on social media, this problem is even worse. Our social media IDs, our chat messages, our videos and anything else we publish online is controlled by giant companies. They can seize your assets, spy on you, ban you and sell your most intimate details to the highest bidder. Bradley Kam is the founder and head of business development of Unstoppable Domains. This post is part of CoinDesk’s “ Internet 2030 ” series examining the future of our digital lives. Not my domain In the case of the domain name system (DNS), companies control domains, not users. Domains are frequently taken from users at the request of governments and other parties. France.com was seized from a man who had owned it since 1994 because the country of France believed it should be the owner. Owners of .com domains around the world are often surprised to discover that the U.S. government polices websites from all over the world by asking Verisign (owner of .com) to take away domains. The Libyan government seized vb.ly for violating Islamic law even though the website and its owner were not based in Libya. Anyone in the world with a .ly domain is subject to takedowns at the request of the Libyan government. Content censorship Related: Coinbase's 'Mission' Violates the Spirit of Bitcoin Hosting services suffer from a similar fate as DNS does. Companies and countries decide what can be published, not users. In Turkey, a law was passed that bans 150 words from being mentioned on any website in the country. One of these words is “gay and another one is “naked.” Hosting services are being used to censor content that disagrees with the religious beliefs of the government in power. In China, the problem is even more extreme. Anyone who wants to publish online must first obtain a license . And hosting providers are central points of failure. Not long ago, AWS had an outage , which effectively turned off large portions of the internet. These problems all come back to this issue of companies owning user data versus users owning their own data. See also: Handshake Goes Live With an Uncensorable Internet Browser It doesn’t have to be this way All of this would change if users, not companies, controlled their digital assets and data. This is now possible for the first time in history with the creation of blockchain networks like Ethereum, Filecoin and others. By 2030, assuming decentralized networks succeed, the internet will undergo massive changes that are better for users and for freedom on the internet. We can have a user controlled internet that promotes freedom across the world. Story continues Related: Bitcoin Correlations Depend on What Phase It Is In So what will 2030 look like? Crowd control Websites are controlled by communities, not by any one person or company. The community votes on what articles are posted and what content is covered. I visit a popular news website that isn’t controlled by any particular person or group. The top news headlines are voted on by users. Even determining whether an article is truthful or overly biased is determined by the crowd. After reading the news of the day, I decided to check on my favorite investment fund. This is also a community-owned project, where investment decisions are voted on and members can opt to participate in deals. I’m intrigued by the latest underwater robot tech and decide to put in a little bit of money. I click two buttons and the funds are sent. User options Instead of tech companies individually determining what information is okay to share online and what isn’t, users decide. I open my browser and check out some of the latest content. I navigate to one in particular, but my browser offers a warning – this content is potentially violent and disturbing. Do I want to see it anyway? Something else I click on is blocked entirely because I’ve set my browser to filter out such content. I’ve chosen to use the American Civil Liberties Union’s list of filtered websites because I like its view on where the line is between free speech and hate speech. Of course, if I disagree with ACLU’s view, I simply set my browser to resolve all websites or I use an open-source browser that resolves every website available. Companies are now competing in an open market to deliver the best user protection from harmful content while still giving me the ultimate choice over what I view online. See also: Steven McKie – Why the Decentralized Web’s Development Is Unstoppable UI layers Instead of social media companies owning user data, users store information on decentralized hosting networks and carry their data around with them on the internet. If an application wants access to a particular piece of data, users give that app permission. Often, that permission is to use a piece of data without the app’s creators being able to see the data or identify who I am. I jump onto a social network that has a slick search function for finding info about my friends. I’m looking for friends who have traveled to a particular city in the past few months so I can get travel advice. Next, I want to read about the latest political discussions my friends are having. I jump onto another social network and my contacts, messages, comments and the rest of my info follow me as I move across these networks. Each friend has just one username, not one per social media app. I am trying out a new social network I’ve never tried before. I don’t need to rebuild my social graph because my contacts and data come along with me. I just log in the first time and it works. I share some data with the app and I get paid. I then choose to watch an ad and get paid again. As a superuser, I get a steady stream of revenue from one of my most important assets, my online data. New apps are popping up all of the time and companies are constantly competing to provide me the best user experience, which includes paying the highest price possible for my data and my attention. Users profit, not (just) companies By 2030, the transition from a corporate-controlled to a user-controlled internet has made everyone on the planet wealthier. Access to new services has reduced the costs for literally billions of people to borrow money, start businesses or invest in their education. Users and their data will be set free. Just as physical property rights ended indentured servitude and launched the industrial revolution, digital property rights have brought about a digital industrial revolution. I have tens of thousands of dollars in digital value just from monetizing social media accounts. As much as 50% of my wealth is digital now instead of physical. The digital economy is booming and consumers are the primary beneficiaries. If this is our future, we will all be better off because of it. Related Stories How the Decentralized Web Transfers Wealth From Corporations to People How the Decentralized Web Transfers Wealth From Corporations to People View comments || Bitcoin set for staggering monthly close above $13,000: Bitcoin, the worlds largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is on the brink of closing a monthly candle above $13,000 for the first time since January 2018. If it can manage to close at $14,000 or above, it will be the highest monthly close in the 12-year history of Bitcoin. The recent bull run is down to a number of key factors; PayPals foray into cryptocurrencies and an increase in institutional investment into the asset class. PayPals decision to unlock pandoras box of digital assets may not come as a surprise to industry veterans, but it will certainly provide a much-needed fiat on ramp for retail investors who may have been put off but clunky exchanges. This, coupled with record-breaking investment from high-net worth individuals and institutions, creates a scenario where Bitcoin could quite easily set a new all-time high before the year is over. MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor revealed that his company had made a whopping $475 million investment into Bitcoin in September, this preceded a $50 million investment from Square, the company that operates Twitter. The reason why this rally is perhaps more exciting than the one in 2017 is that it seems far more mature. In 2017 capital was flowing into Bitcoin from the hype-drive ICO bubble, this time around it is old-school institutions and seasoned traders that are driving price action. While in the short-term the outlook looks bleak for altcoins like Ethereum, its worth noting that in 2017 Bitcoin was the first to rally, only for altcoins to exceed its percentage gain while it consolidated. For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . || Bitcoin Nears $11.5K on US Stimulus Prospects, Seems to Confirm Bullish Trend: Bitcoins (BTC) uptrend gathered pace on Saturday with prices nearly testing $11,500 for the first time in over a month. The biggest cryptocurrency by market value rose to $11,484 at 03:10 UTC the highest level since Sept. 2, according to CoinDesks Bitcoin Price Index . Likely driving the move was optimism for the prospects for a U.S. stimulus package after the White House boosted its offer to Democrats on a pandemic relief package to the north of $1.8 trillion Friday. A new round of stimulus would likely benefit BTC in at least three ways: Government and central bank spending around the world in response to the coronavirus-induced slowdown, in the eyes of many, will. inevitably result in inflation, and therefore be positive for the cryptocurrency. Given the current correlation between equities and BTC, and that some investors treating BTC like its a tech stock, anything that boosts equities invariably boosts BTC. Stimulus paychecks would give individual investors money to invest and some of those investments would likely be BTC. Buyers stepped in around $10,500 earlier this week after payments company Square announced that it has put some 1% of its assets into bitcoin. Related: Bitcoin Down 1% After Biggest Weekly Price Gain Since July At press time, bitcoin is changing hands near $11,320, representing a 2% gain on the day. Also read: Market Wrap: Bitcoin Tops $11.1K; Ether Traders Like $400 Options Related Stories Bitcoin Nears $11.5K on US Stimulus Prospects, Seems to Confirm Bullish Trend Bitcoin Nears $11.5K on US Stimulus Prospects, Seems to Confirm Bullish Trend Bitcoin Nears $11.5K on US Stimulus Prospects, Seems to Confirm Bullish Trend || This Day In Market History: The Department Of Homeland Security Is Established: Each day, Benzinga takes a look back at a notable market-related moment that occurred on this date.
What Happened: On this day in 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush announced the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security.
Where The Market Was: The Dow closed around 10,021.57 and the S&P 500 traded around 1,076.59.
What Else Was Going On In The World: In October 2001,Apple Inc.(NYSE:AAPL) released the first iPod. This original model sold for $399 and featured a mechanical scroll wheel.
Heightened U.S. Security: Following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Bush established the federal agency with the aim of better combating the threat of terrorism.
According to Homeland Security's website, the purpose of the department is “to secure the nation from the many threats we face. This requires the dedication of more than 240,000 employees in jobs that range from aviation and border security to emergency response, from cybersecurity analyst to chemical facility inspector. Our duties are wide-ranging, and our goal is clear — keeping America safe.”
As the third-largest department in the U.S. government, components include Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Coast Guard, TSA and many others.
Related Links:
How Transportation, Security Changed After 9/11
This Day In Market History: US Markets Close Following 9/11 Attack
White House photo via Wikimedia.
See more from Benzinga
• Options Trades For This Crazy Market: Get Benzinga Options to Follow High-Conviction Trade Ideas
• Square Invests M In Bitcoin; Dorsey Sees A Currency For The Internet
• How To Research For Small-Cap Stocks
© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
|
Trend: no change || Prices: 18732.12, 17150.62, 17108.40, 17717.41, 18177.48, 19625.84, 18803.00, 19201.09, 19445.40, 18699.77
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2016-04-20]
BTC Price: 441.39, BTC RSI: 72.18
Gold Price: 1253.20, Gold RSI: 56.50
Oil Price: 42.63, Oil RSI: 63.76
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Microsoft: Sorry, your bitcoin is still good here: Technology company Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) was forced to apologize on Monday, after accidentally announcing that it would no longer accept bitcoin. Contrary to an earlier statement, Microsoft users can still use the virtual currency to buy content in the Windows and Xbox stores. Earlier on Monday, the software giant mistakenly suggested it had stopped accepting payment in bitcoin. "We apologize for inaccurate information that was inadvertently posted to a Microsoft site, which is currently being corrected," a spokesman told CNBC. A now-deleted post on Microsoft's website indicated there was no more bitcoin for Windows 10 and Windows 10 mobile users. The post was picked up by tech site Softpedia Sunday and sent the technology blogsphere buzzing. "You can no longer redeem Bitcoin into your Microsoft account," the errant post read. "Existing balances in your account will still be available for purchases from Microsoft Store, but can't be refunded." In December 2014, Microsoft began accepting bitcoins for Windows 10 store purchases from users in the United States. Transactions were made through the bitcoin processor BitPay. BitPay said it saw the volume of bitcoin transactions grow 110 percent in 2015 versus a year earlier, according to a blog post this January. BitPay did immediately responded to CNBC's requests for comment. — CNBC's Anita Balakrishnan contributed to this report. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Bitcoin finds room in small funds; large institutions still on sidelines: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Digital currency bitcoin has found favor among smaller investors, thanks to the availability of funds designed to invest in it, but remains a niche among the larger investing community.
Investors at some family offices, smaller mutual funds, and traders at hedge funds say bitcoin has helped returns and demonstrated a low correlation with other asset classes.
Hopes that bitcoin would become a broadly used alternative to other currencies helped buoy its price to more than $1,000 in December 2013, when its market capitalization was $13 billion.
But the market cap has retreated since then, to about $6.4 billion as of Thursday.
Early enthusiasts for the crypto-currency were drawn to its revolutionary ideals of transparency and a lack of central or official control. The risks of dealing in bitcoin were laid bare in 2013 when Tokyo-based exchange Mt Gox collapsed after admitting it had lost the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars of investor funds.
The currency's earlier ties to gambling and criminal websites did not endear it to traditional investors.
Jeremy Millar, founder and managing partner at Ledger Partners in London, estimated that 50 to 90 percent of bitcoin's current $6.4 billion market cap is held by near-institutional money such as individuals at hedge funds and family offices. That has not changed over the last two years.
He does not have an estimate for institutional investment holdings of bitcoin. But he said they are likely to be insignificant, compared with the smaller investors who have fewer restrictions about fund allocation.
"What is clear though is that over the last two years, bitcoin has emerged from its 'hacktivist' origins to a more institutionalized ecosystem which includes the participation of hedge funds, traders, and professional investors," said Millar.
BITCOIN IN PORTFOLIOS
Funds dedicated to investing in bitcoin are relatively small. The largest is the Pantera Bitcoin Fund, a $160 million hedge fund founded by Dan Morehead, formerly of Tiger Management, available to institutions and individuals who invest $50,000 or more.
According to a Pantera Bitcoin Fund brochure, the fund was launched in July 2013, a period when bitcoin (BTC=BTSP) traded at around $65. On Thursday, it traded at $418.80, a gain of more than 500 percent from July 2013. The firm did not comment on fund performance or its investors.
The majority of the Pantera Fund's investors are family offices and high net worth individuals, said two people familiar with the fund.
The Grayscale Bitcoin Investment Trust, with assets of more than $60 million, is another vehicle for investors. GBTC is backed by bitcoin advocate Barry Silbert and his Digital Currency Group.
It is the only publicly traded U.S. security in the over-the-counter market invested in bitcoin. Volume is thin, with a few thousand shares traded daily, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Antonis Polemitis, managing director at Ledra Capital in New York, a family office specializing in education and technology, said that on average, clients have allocated 1 to 3 percent of their portfolios to bitcoin.
"A lot of people will take that bet with 1 percent of their assets," he said. "A 1 percent loss does not change anyone's life in any way. If it goes up 10 times, then you get to feel very smart."
Some investment managers say having bitcoin in portfolios has helped performance.
ARK Invest, which manages four exchange-traded funds with $240 million in assets, holds GBTC in its $12 million Next Generation Internet ETF and the $7 million ARK Innovation ETF.
Chris Burniske, analyst and blockchain products lead at ARK Invest in New York, said since investing in September 2015, GBTC has contributed 67 basis points to the Next Generation Internet ETF's return and 62 basis points to the ARK Innovation ETF.
For 2015, the Next Generation ETF posted a 15.29 percent return, while the Innovation ETF had 3.76 percent gains.
For Kingsbridge Wealth Management, a multifamily office in Las Vegas with $150 million in assets, GBTC has become a great diversifier because so far it has had a low correlation with other asset classes, said David Dunn, the firm's founder and chief investment officer. The firm has about $1.7 million invested in bitcoin and its underlying technology, the blockchain, Dunn said.
(Editing by David Gaffen and Matthew Lewis) || Japan looks to kickstart 'fintech' revolution: By Thomas Wilson TOKYO (Reuters) - A laggard in embracing the 'fintech', or financial technology, revolution, Japan is set to ease investment restrictions that could free up the flow of capital in an economy sitting on an estimated $9 trillion in individuals' cash deposits. Strict regulation, easy access to credit due to rock-bottom interest rates, and weak demand for innovative financial services from a risk-averse population that still prefers cash to credit cards, have strangled fintech's advance in Japan. Fintech ventures - usually start-ups leveraging technology from cloud data storage to smartphones to provide loans, insurance and payment services - raised $2.7 billion in China last year, and over $1.5 billion in India, according to CB Insights data. Ventures in the United States attracted investment of around $7.4 billion. In comparison, investment in Japanese ventures reached only around $44 million in the first nine months of 2015. Now, Japan's financial industry regulator hopes relaxed rules on investing in financial ventures, and a new system for regulating virtual currency exchanges will pass through parliament by May - a first step in kickstarting the fintech revolution in the world's third-biggest economy. "The law changes aren't a goal, but a first step," Norio Sato, a senior official at the Financial Services Authority (FSA), told Reuters. "Fintech will have a big impact on financial services." The changes, which will allow banks to buy stakes of up to 100 percent in non-finance-related firms, will free up Japan's three megabanks to enter into tie-ups with fintech ventures developing services including robotic investment advisory and blockchain, the decentralised ledger technology behind the bitcoin digital currency. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Mizuho Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group have said they are eyeing such investments, having previously been restricted to holding stakes of only 5-15 percent in start-ups. Under pressure from weak loan demand, the megabanks see an opportunity to earn money through fintech, but are also aware of its potential to disrupt traditional business models. GAME CHANGER The unpromising fintech environment in Japan - which was blindsided by the high-profile collapse of the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange in 2014 when hackers stole an estimated $650 million worth of the digital currency - has seen some entrepreneurs go overseas for funding. Junichi Horiguchi, co-founder and CEO of bitcoin service provider Zerobillbank Ltd, established his start-up in Tel Aviv last year to take advantage of Israel's advanced technology industry. Investment in fintech start-ups by global banks and tech giants including Barclays, Google and Facebook is far more common in Israel than in Japan, he said. "It's completely different over there," Horiguchi told Reuters. "Every month there are open innovation contests and (start-up) accelerator programmes." Sales at Japan's fintech start-ups could jump to over half a billion dollars by 2020 as the use of technology such as blockchain increases, Yano Research Institute said in a report. The new rules the FSA is promoting on virtual currency exchanges could make Japan one of the first countries to regulate bitcoin at a national level. "Japan hasn't previously been enthusiastic about fintech," said Sato. "But creating these rules this fast could gain the world's attention." Bitcoin entrepreneurs, often reliant on investment for growth, have called for clearer regulation and will welcome the latest changes, said Yuzo Kano, founder and CEO of bitcoin exchange bitFlyer Inc, and head of the Japan Authority for Digital Assets, a lobbying group. "The establishment of the law is extremely surprising," Kano said, referring to how quickly the FSA had drafted the law. "It's set to be very successful." ($1 = 112.95 yen) (Reporting by Thomas Wilson; Editing by Ian Geoghegan) || After Microsoft R3CV Deal, Bank of Ireland Shared Blockchain Trial: Blockchain and BMW: Microsoft Is Making Big Strides ( Continued from Prior Part ) Bank of Ireland shared successful blockchain trial in April 2016 Previously in this series, we discussed how tech players like Microsoft (MSFT), Red Hat (RHT), and IBM (IBM) are making moves to advance blockchain technology. On April 5, 2016, the Bank of Ireland (IREBY) stated that in collaboration with Deloitte, the bank has successfully finished a joint proof-of-concept blockchain trial. The bank’s trial demonstrated the application of a distributed ledger as an available data layer over current financial systems while keeping the focus on trade reporting. The Bank of Ireland noted that the research showed an improved customer experience and regulatory oversight, which was available at a lower cost than the traditional banking systems. Stephen Moran, innovation manager at Bank of Ireland, stated, “While blockchain technology can be seen as disruptive, it can actually complement a bank’s existing legacy systems.” Financial services are agreeing to the disruptive nature of blockchain technology Garrick Hileman, economic historian at the London School of Economics and the University of Cambridge in the UK (EWU), stated, “2015 was very much the year of the blockchain for financial services. They clearly see the disruptive potential of the technology and are keeping their cards close to their chest regarding how they want to play it.” These financial organizations can opt for a public or private blockchain. In January 2016, R3CV disclosed that it is in the process of developing a private blockchain system that is restricted or requires permission. On the other hand, the Bitcoin blockchain is a public blockchain with an open and transparent database, wherein anyone who has Bitcoin can acquire access to record transactions on it. As the above chart shows, the number of Bitcoin blockchain users have increased tremendously since 2012. Investors who wish to gain exposure to Microsoft could consider investing in the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK). While XLK invests ~10.6% of its holdings in Microsoft, it also has an exposure of ~38% to application software. Continue to Next Part Browse this series on Market Realist: Part 1 - Microsoft Azure Wins a High-Profile Customer in BMW Part 2 - How Microsoft’s Azure Is Giving Stiff Competition to Amazon’s AWS Part 3 - Why Microsoft’s Partnership with R3CV Is Making News View comments || What to Watch in the Day Ahead - Thursday, April 21: (The Day Ahead is an email and PDF publication that includes the day's major stories and events, analyses and other features. To receive The Day Ahead, Eikon users can register at . Thomson One users can register at RT/DAY/US. All times in ET/GMT) Alphabet Inc is expected to report a rise in first-quarter revenue that is likely to beat analysts average estimate, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data. Investors will be looking for continued growth at Alphabet's Google unit, which has been driven by strong mobile advertising sales. Investors will also be keen to gather more information on the company's Other Bets business, which includes glucose-monitoring contact lenses and Internet balloons. Capital expenditures in the business are expected to increase this year, although no concrete details have been offered.
Microsoft Corp is expected to post an increase in third-quarter revenue, which will also beat analysts consensus estimates, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data. The company is expected to benefit from growing demand for its cloud products and services. Though Chief Executive Satya Nadella has focused on cloud services and mobile applications, to offset slower growth in its traditional software business, the company is still heavily reliant on PCs. Research firm IDC expects Microsoft's Windows business, which has 270 million active users eight months after launching, will improve later this year as companies that had delayed replacing machines before upgrading to Windows 10 make the switch. Analysts and investors will be looking whether the company has been able to sustain growth in its cloud business, and any impact from a stronger dollar.
Visa Inc is expected to report a decline in first-quarter profit as a volatile global economy and the strong dollar cut into revenue from customers outside the United States. Consumers in some slowing economies around the world have been reining in spending. Some analysts say, however, that payment volumes are still likely to grow at Visa due to strong consumer spending in the United States.
Schlumberger Ltd is expected to report a fall in first-quarter profit, hurt by weak drilling activity. The world's largest oilfield services provider, which recently closed its acquisition of Cameron International Corp, warned last month that its revenue would fall by about 15 percent from the fourth quarter.
Verizon Communications Inc is expected to report first-quarter profit and revenue in line with analysts average expectations. The No.1 U.S. wireless phone service provider has benefited from heavy promotions as it counters rivals such as AT&T in a crowded U.S. wireless market. The focus will be on commentary around a possible bid for faded Internet pioneer Yahoo's core assets as well as any updates to financial guidance for the remainder of 2016.
New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits likely rose last week, but remained well below a level associated with a buoyant labor market. Last week's claims covered the survey period for April nonfarm payrolls and will be dissected to see if there was any impact from the Verizon strike. While striking workers do not qualify for unemployment benefits, some have filed applications in the past. According to a Reuters survey of economists, initial claims for jobless benefits probably rose 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 263,000 for the week ending April 16. That would leave claims slightly above the March payrolls survey week. (0830/1230) Separately, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve business survey is expected to show manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region expanded in April for a second month. (0830/1230) Starbucks Corp will release its results for the second-quarter. Starbucks has the high-class problem of having to meet investors' outsized expectation that it will continue reporting industry-leading sales growth. Any stumble, real or perceived, will likely be punished.
General Motors Co will announce first-quarter results. The company said on Friday it was recalling nearly 1.04 million newer pickup trucks for a seat belt flaw. The company said the recall in the United States includes 895,232 vehicles and a stop-sale of about 3,000 new 2014 and 2015 model year pickups still on dealer lots. The recall includes about 142,000 vehicles outside the United States.
Union Pacific Corp and Norfolk Southern Corp, the No.1 and No.4 U.S. railroad operators, will post first-quarter results. With coal freight volumes still in freefall across the industry thanks to low natural gas prices and the strong dollar, analysts will be watching to see how the railroads are managing costs through furloughs, back office layoffs and mothballing locomotives.
Biogen Inc is expected to report a largely in-line first-quarter as prescriptions written for its multiple sclerosis drug remain unchanged in the United States. Management previously noted that the uptick in scripts may not be seen until the second quarter. Investors will also look for more details on the Massachusetts-based drugmaker's hemophilia assets, which the company is said to be looking to sell.
Travelers Companies Inc, the first big U.S. insurer to report quarterly results, is expected to report a decline in first-quarter profit due to weak underwriting gains and lower returns from its energy investments. Travelers, which competes with AIG for the title of biggest U.S. commercial property and casualty insurer, has felt a sting in recent quarters from a steep fall in oil prices as they drag on energy investments made through private equity funds.
BB&T Corp, Fifth Third Bancorp and KeyCorp are likely to report a decline in first-quarter profit as they put aside more money for sour energy loans. Many lenders have ramped up reserves in recent months, concerned by the increasing number of energy companies that have gone bankrupt and defaulted on loans as oil prices stay stubbornly low.
U.S. homebuilders including D.R. Horton Inc and PulteGroup Inc report their quarterly results. D.R. Horton and PulteGroup are expected to report a higher profit for the second and first quarter, respectively, helped by higher home sales.
Johnson Controls Inc reports second-quarter earnings amid a pending merger with Ireland-based Tyco International Plc. The merger would save Johnson Controls $150 million a year in taxes.
Sportswear maker Under Armour Inc is expected to report first-quarter profit below analysts' estimates, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data. Under Armour's gross margin in the quarter is expected to have been hit by higher promotions to clear excess inventory and slowing apparel sales growth, the company's largest source of revenue. A fall in the average price of its running footwear and a shift in sales mix towards lower-margin footwear are also expected to hurt margins. Investors will look for an update to the forecast, inventories, and comments on the Sports Authority bankruptcy.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc is expected to post first-quarter revenue below analysts average estimate, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data. Investors will be looking for an update on its Polaris graphic processing units, which it plans to ship in the middle of this year.
Mexican cement company Cemex SAB de CV reports first-quarter results. Investors will be looking at the impact of the peso depreciation on the company's debt load as well as any recovery in its U.S. business.
European Central Bank (ECB) holds interest rate decision. Economists say lackluster demand, not inadequate credit, is holding the euro zone economy back. They say the ECB is unlikely to cut its deposit rate further from the current -0.40 percent. That too underscores the diminishing returns from monetary policy, especially since the ECB is well over a year into its trillion-plus euro stimulus program, has cut rates several times and pledged longterm loans to banks, with little pick-up in inflation so far.
The U.S. government and Volkswagen AG face a court deadline to come up with a plan to address excess emissions from 580,000 diesel vehicles sold in the country. Despite robust talks, EPA officials have expressed skepticism if the sides would agree to a deal by the deadline set forth by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer.
A judge will read out the verdict in the bribery trial of Canadian Senator Mike Duffy, whose high-profile case helped reduce the popularity of former prime minister Stephen Harper and contributed to his defeat in an October 2015 election. The Liberals of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau used the case as an example of how they said the Conservatives had been corrupted during their near-decade run in office. Duffy was tried on 31 criminal charges related to activities after Harper appointed him to the Senate, the upper chamber of Parliament.
LIVECHAT - BITCOIN'S FUTURE with Anatoliy Knyazev, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Exante brokerage company We talk about the outlook for Bitcoin and its potential role in combating money laundering and financial crime with Anatoliy Knyazev, executive director and co-founder of Exante, a next generation brokerage company that aims to give its clients access to a broad range of financial instruments and markets. (0503/0903) To join the discussion, click herehttp://bit.ly/1kTxdKD(Compiled by Sourav Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza) || The biggest names in bitcoin and blockchain in 2016: While critics are still dubious of the future viability of the digital currency bitcoin, at least one group isn’t: venture capitalists. VCs pumped more investment into bitcoin and blockchain-related startups last year than in any previous year—nearly $1 billion.
The investors are keeping this industry hot, even if we haven’t yet seen any so-called “killer app," a mainstream use case for bitcoin that would compel the average person to care. And it isn’t just investors leading the charge—it’s a handful of key executives, thinkers and evenpolicy people.
Of course, investors are just as keen on companies exploring the blockchain, which is the decentralized ledger technology on which bitcoin runs. (For a full explainer on blockchain,watch this video.) The hype around the idea of banks using a form of blockchain (without bitcoin) is high, even though aPwC survey this monthfound that 57% of financial executives say they're “unsure” about implementing blockchain tech in banking.
So, who are the big believers? They are some of the biggest names in bitcoin and blockchain right now. Some are executives at the most well-funded companies, some are investors in those companies. All of them bring clout and connections to bitcoin and the blockchain. Here are 11 of them, curated by Yahoo Finance with input from a number of industry insiders. This is not a list of the hottest bitcoin companies, nor is it a ranking. It’s an unofficial look at the individuals bringing mainstream attention to this still-nascent, still-controversial corner of tech. Call them the "bitcoin celebrities" if you like.
This list is unranked (alphabetical order). Feel free to debate, dispute and make your own suggestions in the comment section.
Everyone in tech knows Andreessen. He is the co-founder of Netscape, a board member at Facebook, eBay and others, and co-founder of the Silicon Valley powerhouse venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. The firm’s portfolio includes investments in bitcoin wallet company Coinbase (see No. 6), 21 Inc (see No. 9), and TradeBlock. In 2014, he wrote anop-ed in the New York Timesboldly titled, “Why bitcoin matters.” He liberally shares bitcoin and blockchain-related news to his 500,000 Twitter followers—a considerable benefit to bitcoiners.
When Coinbase, one of the earliest bitcoin startups, raised $75 million in funding in January of last year, it was at the time the biggest fundraising round ever for a bitcoin company. (The figure has since been shattered by 21 Inc.) And Coinbase, which has raised $107 million total, remains arguably the best-known name among all bitcoin startups—it is often where people go to get a bitcoin wallet and to buy their first bitcoins. It was first to market with a bitcoin exchange platform in the U.S. (others waited longer in order to get certain licensing) and Armstrong, its leader, is one of the most sensible thinkers in the industry. (His postexplaining the debate over block size distills the issue clearly.)
Bitcoin is partially based on a previous system called hashcash, an algorithm that cut down on email spam by requiring proof of work, an early form of what is now bitcoin “mining.” Back created hashcash. Now the cryptographer, as president of blockchain startup Blockstream, has become one of the loudest voices in the debate over whether, and how, to increase the size limit of transaction bundles (or “blocks”) on the bitcoin blockchain. His experience in business (he's worked as a consultant to Nokia) and in academia (he has a PhD in distributed systems) have made him a unique authority in the space. Reid Hoffman, the influential co-founder of LinkedIn (LNKD), made a personal investment of $21 million in Blockstream, and the company has raised $76 million overall.
Ethereum is a bitcoin alternative that some believe has more potential than bitcoin. The platform runs on a decentralized blockchain, like bitcoin’s, that allows for any peer-to-peer exchange of value, and it uses its own currency, Ether. And the company is a non-profit. Buterin developed the concept in 2013, and in 2014sold about 60 million ether in a pre-sale, which worked out to $18.4 million at the time. The Ethereum chain went live last summer. Buterin, who is only 22, is seen as a wunderkind; he also helped launch Bitcoin Magazine.
Reid Hoffmanhas calledWences Casares the “Patient Zero for bitcoin in Silicon Valley.” His startup Xapo was one of the earliest bitcoin wallet companies, though it's embroiled in a legal dispute with LifeLock, the company that acquired Casares’s previous startup, Lemon. (LifeLock alleges Casares and others created Xapo while still working at Lemon, within LifeLock; he has filed a counter-suit.) Most importantly, PayPal created a new seat on its board of directors for Casares in January. The appointment was seen as big news for bitcoin—a bitcoin entrepreneur on the board of PayPal was quite a milestone. And Xapo has raised $40 million in funding.
Masters is one of a kind in the bitcoin world. She spent nearly 30 years as a JPMorgan (JPM) executive, including as head of global commodities, before leaving to run Digital Asset Holdings, a startup that seeks to apply blockchain tech to Wall Street. Its first big client: her former employer. JPMorgan is working with Digital Asset Holdings to test out a use of blockchain to settle transactions faster. DAH has raised $60 million in funding. Because Masters is a known name on Wall Street, her move brought big legitimacy to the space. (And Masters isn't the onlyfemale leader in bitcoin:Catheryne Nicholsonis CEO of small blockchain startup BlockCypher, which has raised $3.5 million, andElizabeth Rossiellois CEO of BitPesa, which is working on bitcoin payments in Africa.)
Kraken is a bitcoin exchange headquartered in San Francisco, but with most of its activity in Europe. Here’s why that’s relevant: Last year, when the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) released its controversial regulatory framework for bitcoin companies, the Bitlicense, Krakenled a charge of bitcoin startups out of New York. The company won’t do business in the state, which is a financial risk but a compelling stance against what Powell and others see as restrictive legislation. Kraken, which has raised $6.5 million in funding, has stuck to that vow even as it has ramped up acquisitions lately,buying out Coinsetter, a U.S. exchange that itself had bought out Cavirtex, a Canadian exchange. Kraken's purchase of Coinsetter was the biggest ever M&A deal in the bitcoin space; Coinsetter did operate in New York, but now it won't—that's how rigid Powell is in his stance. Kraken is continuing to get bigger, but without New York, the very place where so much of the activity around blockchain is centered.
R3 CEV is the private firm that rolled out a consortium (the Distributed Ledger Group) for banks interested in exploring blockchain technology. More than 40 of them have signed on, including Bank of America (BAC), Citi (C), Deutsche Bank (DB) and Wells Fargo (WFC). And this month R3 announced an extensive test of online distributed ledgers for banks, with help from Chain, Ethereum (see No. 10) and IBM. It is R3 that has attracted institutions whose involvement can turn the abstract notion of "blockchain for banks” into a reality.
In 2004, Barry Silbert founded SecondMarket, which allows people to buy stock in non-public companies. He sold the company to Nasdaq last year and has since launched Digital Currency Group, the biggest investment firm in bitcoin and blockchain companies. (It has invested in more than 75.) Most recently, DCG bought the leading bitcoin news site, Coindesk, acquiring the annual bitcoin industry conference Consensus along with it. Almost every time a bitcoin startup announces a new fundraising round, Silbert and DCG are involved. Silbert also launched the Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC), whichtrades over-the-counterand is designed to track the price of bitcoin.
Srinivasan, the cofounder and CEO of 21 Inc, is also a board partner at Andreessen Horowitz. When 21 first launched publicly, it remained mysterious. It wasn’t clear what 21 would be doing, but observers had high expectations: The company raised more than any other bitcoin startup, $121 million in funding. Last year, 21 finally unveiled its first product —a small bitcoin personal computer for building apps on top of the bitcoin blockchain.
The Olympic rowers made their name when they sued Facebook (FB) cofounder Mark Zuckerberg and got $65 million. Since then, they’ve been eager to prove themselves as entrepreneurs, and they have made bitcoin the space in which to prove it. They launched a bitcoin pricing index, Winkdex, in 2014—the site is cleanly designed and tracks the price of bitcoin over time. This year, they launched Gemini, a bitcoin trading exchange. Like their pricing index, the design is appealing, but the user base is small. (Gemini is only doing an average $338,000 in trade volume per day, according to data from TradeBlock; by comparison, Kraken sees about $1.3 million in daily volume.) Their bigger ambition: the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, a bitcoin ETF, which will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol COIN but still awaits regulatory approval. There are signs that the bitcoin community doesn’t love the Winklevoss brothers yet—one prominent bitcoin executivetold Fortune, “Our industry would prefer that if there’s a celebrity spokesperson, it not be them.” But the jetsetting duo certainly bring mainstream star power to bitcoin.
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This is the third in a three-part Yahoo Finance series focused on blockchain technology. Thefirst partwas about why big banks are expressing interest in the blockchain; thesecond partwas about how you could invest in the blockchain.
Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology.Read more:
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Here's a sign that PayPal is embracing Bitcoin || The IT industry is launching new markets worth more than $2 trillion, IBM CEO says: IBM CEO Ginni Rometty (Business Insider) IBM CEO Ginni Rometty It's fashionable these days to beat up on IBM and its CEO, Ginni Rometty. It's easy to point to a struggling share price, shrinking revenues across just about all of its traditional core businesses, a downright addiction to share buy-backs to prop-up share price and earnings-per-share ($4.5 billion worth of buybacks last year alone, a $125 billion worth in the decade prior.) Plus there's the never-ending layoffs handled with an almost paranoid sense of secrecy . But an extremely cheerful Rometty opened the company annual investor's day on Thursday to explain, again, where's she's leading the company and offer update on the progress. "I've been looking forward to this day," she told them with a big smile. This is in sharp contrast to the grin-and-bear-it mood of last year's investor meeting, when Rometty had just failed to meet her predecessor's promise of hitting $20 earnings per share in 2015. She says IBM is on track to meet her promise to investors, made last year, of hitting $40 billion worth of revenue in a bunch of new and more profitable markets by 2018. These include big data/analytics, cloud computing, security, social and mobile. The company has already hit $29 billion in these "strategic imperative" areas, and they are now 36% of IBM's $82 billion of revenue, she said. These new markets, which IBM calls "decision support" represent a $2 trillion market. Plus IBM sees a bunch of other growth markets. 1. Machine learning (which IBM calls 'cognitive computing") is at the heart of the $2 trillion market IBM sees developing by 2025 . This is where smart computers that can learn, can understand all kinds of data (even audio, photos, videos), reason, talk, make decisions and learn. Companies will use this to make all of their important decisions she believes. And it will be used to solve other problems like managing and curing illness. Watson is already being used by medical device manufacturer Medtronic to help patients predict dangerous low-blood sugar events up to two hours before they occur. Story continues Decision support will create $2 trillion worth of IT spending beyond the $1 trillion companies already spend on software, services and hardware. IBM Decision Support market (IBM) IBM sees a $2 trillion "decision support" market beyond the traditional software, services and hardware market where it already competes. 2. Hybrid computing will become a $400 billion market. This is a revamp of the traditional $1 trillion market. It's where companies maintain their own data centers while also using the cloud. Rometty didn't offer a time frame when this market will be worth that much. Some market researchers say it will be an $88 billion market in 2019. But she insists that most companies will adopt this model forever and that it's "not a transition phase" on the way for companies to go "all-in" on the cloud and unplug their data centers. In other words, she believes that IBM will continue to sell its hardware and software to companies forever, in addition to selling its cloud services. IBM investor briefing, Ginni Rometty (Business Insider) IBM CEO Ginni Rometty That's in contrast to the message being told by happy Amazon cloud customers. Amazon, the cloud computing leader, doesn't sell hardware or software and has an increasing roster of huge customers that are unplugging their data centers completely to use Amazon's cloud exclusively. Rometty offers as proof that hybrid is the future: In 2015 IBM's consulting unit signed 70 contracts "greater than $100 million" and "7 out of 10 of them were about hybrid cloud," she says. 3. Internet of Things will be a $400 billion market by 2019 . That's where all kinds of objects get sensors, apps and join the internet. All of the apps that run all of those objects will live on somebody's cloud. Every big IT company is going after this market. Cisco has said that IoT will be much bigger, a $19 trillion market in a decade. 4. Blockchain will eventually be worth "hundreds of billions of opportunity," Rometty says. Blockchain is the tech that underlines the online currency called Bitcoin. But Rometty says that it's much bigger than Bitcoin. It's a technology that can secure all kinds of important data, financial and otherwise. She says that IBM is already using it internally and IBM has already introduced a blockchain cloud computing service. She's not alone in thinking Blockchain will be huge. VC Marc Andreessen has been touting it, and investing in it . And the nonprofit Linux Foundation has launched a consortium to develop blockchain. IBM is a member, as is a who's who roster of tech and financial services companies. NOW WATCH: We tried Shake Shack and In-N-Out side by side, and it's clear which one is better More From Business Insider This man grew his company from $30 million to $100 million in one year, mostly thanks to Amazon Bill Gates offered the best advice on how to not feel overwhelmed when taking on huge projects Sexism almost ended the career of one of the most powerful women in the Valley and her new startup is fighting back || This student-loan startup says it has the killer feature to beat big lenders: As you've followed the 2016 presidential campaign cycle, you've no doubt heard mention of the student debt crisis.Earnest, a lending startup that refinances student loans and originates personal loans, thinks it can help.
Loan-refinancing may not seem like the sexiest corner of fintech, but it has very recently become very hot:SoFi(Social Finance), which provides student loans, mortgages and other kinds of loans, scored a $1 billion investment from Softbank in September. The startup advertised during the Super Bowl in February. Smaller startups like Zest Finance use big data to aid underwriting for big lenders, while CommonBond focuses on re-financing. Marketplaces like Lending Club (LC) and Lending Tree (TREE) still advertise heavily as the best places to shop for loans. And all of these newer players claim they have the technology to compete with massive incumbents like Sallie Mae (SLM), Wells Fargo (WFC) and JPMorgan (JPM).
Earnest CEO Louis Beryl says his company has the best strategic advantage of all: its recently launched precision pricing. The tool allows an Earnest customer to select any monthly payment on a loan and change it on the fly; the interest rate will adjust to match. That might sound like the kind of simple function that anyone with a student loan should have been able to do already, but no other lenders yet offer it. A traditional lender provides limited choices for the repayment period—typically five, 10, or 15 years' time. An Earnest customer, using a slider on Earnest's web site, can tweak the monthly payment they want to make to, say, $1,000 a month, and Earnest will react accordingly. "$1,000 a month might mean a 10-and-a-half year loan, not a 10-year loan or a 15-year loan," Beryl says. "We'll give that person the interest rate that corresponds to a 10-and-a-half-year loan."
Beryl launched Earnest in 2013. He got the idea for the company after experiencing his own frustrations when he was denied loans in grad school. "I remember thinking, 'Why weren't financial institutions taking the time to understand me more deeply?' And we had a massive technology disruption where all of our accounts were online now." He jumped on the opportunity. Now Earnest is growing so fast that it originated 50 times as many loans in 2015 as it did in 2014. More than 40 million Americans have at least one student loan.
It wasn't so long ago that if you were a student with a loan who wanted to pay more this month than usual, you had to fill out an elaborate form and snail-mail it to the lender just to have the privilege of paying. Behavior has shifted, Beryl says. In an era of mobile banking, young people are attuned to doing their banking without the face-to-face interaction that traditionally would have been involved in something as weighty as refinancing a loan. Earnest, for now, has no app, but will launch one this year.
Earnest says that with its precision pricing tool, clients have saved an average $17,936 after refinancing. But eager fintech-savvy student borrowers, beware: Refinancing isn't for everyone. As Yahoo Finance's Mandi Woodruffhas warned, refinancing a student loan can be the wrong move in some cases. Remember that if you lower your monthly payment, it will give you more flexibility -- which is especially helpful if you're having trouble repaying the debt -- but you'll also be extending your loan term and end up paying more over thelife of the loan.
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Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology.Read more:
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Here's a sign that PayPal is embracing Bitcoin || The biggest names in bitcoin and blockchain in 2016: While critics are still dubious of the future viability of the digital currency bitcoin, at least one group isnt: venture capitalists. VCs pumped more investment into bitcoin and blockchain-related startups last year than in any previous year nearly $1 billion . The investors are keeping this industry hot, even if we havent yet seen any so-called killer app," a mainstream use case for bitcoin that would compel the average person to care. And it isnt just investors leading the chargeits a handful of key executives, thinkers and even policy people . Of course, investors are just as keen on companies exploring the blockchain, which is the decentralized ledger technology on which bitcoin runs. (For a full explainer on blockchain, watch this video .) The hype around the idea of banks using a form of blockchain (without bitcoin) is high, even though a PwC survey this month found that 57% of financial executives say they're unsure about implementing blockchain tech in banking. So, who are the big believers? They are some of the biggest names in bitcoin and blockchain right now. Some are executives at the most well-funded companies, some are investors in those companies. All of them bring clout and connections to bitcoin and the blockchain. Here are 11 of them, curated by Yahoo Finance with input from a number of industry insiders. This is not a list of the hottest bitcoin companies, nor is it a ranking. Its an unofficial look at the individuals bringing mainstream attention to this still-nascent, still-controversial corner of tech. Call them the "bitcoin celebrities" if you like. This list is unranked (alphabetical order). Feel free to debate, dispute and make your own suggestions in the comment section. 1. Marc Andreessen, Andreessen Horowitz Everyone in tech knows Andreessen. He is the co-founder of Netscape, a board member at Facebook, eBay and others, and co-founder of the Silicon Valley powerhouse venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. The firms portfolio includes investments in bitcoin wallet company Coinbase (see No. 6), 21 Inc (see No. 9), and TradeBlock. In 2014, he wrote an op-ed in the New York Times boldly titled, Why bitcoin matters. He liberally shares bitcoin and blockchain-related news to his 500,000 Twitter followersa considerable benefit to bitcoiners. Story continues 2. Brian Armstrong, Coinbase When Coinbase, one of the earliest bitcoin startups, raised $75 million in funding in January of last year, it was at the time the biggest fundraising round ever for a bitcoin company. (The figure has since been shattered by 21 Inc.) And Coinbase, which has raised $107 million total, remains arguably the best-known name among all bitcoin startupsit is often where people go to get a bitcoin wallet and to buy their first bitcoins. It was first to market with a bitcoin exchange platform in the U.S. (others waited longer in order to get certain licensing) and Armstrong, its leader, is one of the most sensible thinkers in the industry. ( His post explaining the debate over block size distills the issue clearly.) 3. Adam Back, Blockstream Bitcoin is partially based on a previous system called hashcash, an algorithm that cut down on email spam by requiring proof of work, an early form of what is now bitcoin mining. Back created hashcash. Now the cryptographer, as president of blockchain startup Blockstream, has become one of the loudest voices in the debate over whether, and how, to increase the size limit of transaction bundles (or blocks) on the bitcoin blockchain. His experience in business (he's worked as a consultant to Nokia) and in academia (he has a PhD in distributed systems) have made him a unique authority in the space. Reid Hoffman, the influential co-founder of LinkedIn ( LNKD ), made a personal investment of $21 million in Blockstream, and the company has raised $76 million overall. 4. Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum Ethereum is a bitcoin alternative that some believe has more potential than bitcoin. The platform runs on a decentralized blockchain, like bitcoins, that allows for any peer-to-peer exchange of value, and it uses its own currency, Ether. And the company is a non-profit. Buterin developed the concept in 2013, and in 2014 sold about 60 million ether in a pre-sale , which worked out to $18.4 million at the time. The Ethereum chain went live last summer. Buterin, who is only 22, is seen as a wunderkind; he also helped launch Bitcoin Magazine. 5. Wences Casares, Xapo Reid Hoffman has called Wences Casares the Patient Zero for bitcoin in Silicon Valley. His startup Xapo was one of the earliest bitcoin wallet companies, though it's embroiled in a legal dispute with LifeLock, the company that acquired Casaress previous startup, Lemon. (LifeLock alleges Casares and others created Xapo while still working at Lemon, within LifeLock; he has filed a counter-suit.) Most importantly, PayPal created a new seat on its board of directors for Casares in January. The appointment was seen as big news for bitcoina bitcoin entrepreneur on the board of PayPal was quite a milestone. And Xapo has raised $40 million in funding. 6. Blythe Masters, Digital Asset Holdings Masters is one of a kind in the bitcoin world. She spent nearly 30 years as a JPMorgan ( JPM ) executive, including as head of global commodities, before leaving to run Digital Asset Holdings, a startup that seeks to apply blockchain tech to Wall Street. Its first big client: her former employer. JPMorgan is working with Digital Asset Holdings to test out a use of blockchain to settle transactions faster. DAH has raised $60 million in funding. Because Masters is a known name on Wall Street, her move brought big legitimacy to the space. (And Masters isn't the only female leader in bitcoin : Catheryne Nicholson is CEO of small blockchain startup BlockCypher, which has raised $3.5 million, and Elizabeth Rossiello is CEO of BitPesa, which is working on bitcoin payments in Africa.) 7. Jesse Powell, Kraken Kraken is a bitcoin exchange headquartered in San Francisco, but with most of its activity in Europe. Heres why thats relevant: Last year, when the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) released its controversial regulatory framework for bitcoin companies, the Bitlicense, Kraken led a charge of bitcoin startups out of New York . The company wont do business in the state, which is a financial risk but a compelling stance against what Powell and others see as restrictive legislation. Kraken, which has raised $6.5 million in funding, has stuck to that vow even as it has ramped up acquisitions lately, buying out Coinsetter , a U.S. exchange that itself had bought out Cavirtex, a Canadian exchange. Kraken's purchase of Coinsetter was the biggest ever M&A deal in the bitcoin space; Coinsetter did operate in New York, but now it won'tthat's how rigid Powell is in his stance. Kraken is continuing to get bigger, but without New York, the very place where so much of the activity around blockchain is centered. 8. David Rutter, R3 R3 CEV is the private firm that rolled out a consortium (the Distributed Ledger Group) for banks interested in exploring blockchain technology. More than 40 of them have signed on, including Bank of America ( BAC ), Citi ( C ), Deutsche Bank ( DB ) and Wells Fargo ( WFC ). And this month R3 announced an extensive test of online distributed ledgers for banks, with help from Chain, Ethereum (see No. 10) and IBM. It is R3 that has attracted institutions whose involvement can turn the abstract notion of "blockchain for banks into a reality. 9. Barry Silbert, Digital Currency Group In 2004, Barry Silbert founded SecondMarket, which allows people to buy stock in non-public companies. He sold the company to Nasdaq last year and has since launched Digital Currency Group, the biggest investment firm in bitcoin and blockchain companies. (It has invested in more than 75.) Most recently, DCG bought the leading bitcoin news site, Coindesk, acquiring the annual bitcoin industry conference Consensus along with it. Almost every time a bitcoin startup announces a new fundraising round, Silbert and DCG are involved. Silbert also launched the Bitcoin Investment Trust ( GBTC ), which trades over-the-counter and is designed to track the price of bitcoin. 10. Balaji Srinivasan, 21 Inc. Srinivasan, the cofounder and CEO of 21 Inc, is also a board partner at Andreessen Horowitz. When 21 first launched publicly, it remained mysterious. It wasnt clear what 21 would be doing, but observers had high expectations: The company raised more than any other bitcoin startup, $121 million in funding. Last year, 21 finally unveiled its first product a small bitcoin personal computer for building apps on top of the bitcoin blockchain. 11. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Winklevoss Capital The Olympic rowers made their name when they sued Facebook ( FB ) cofounder Mark Zuckerberg and got $65 million. Since then, theyve been eager to prove themselves as entrepreneurs, and they have made bitcoin the space in which to prove it. They launched a bitcoin pricing index, Winkdex, in 2014the site is cleanly designed and tracks the price of bitcoin over time. This year, they launched Gemini, a bitcoin trading exchange. Like their pricing index, the design is appealing, but the user base is small. (Gemini is only doing an average $338,000 in trade volume per day, according to data from TradeBlock; by comparison, Kraken sees about $1.3 million in daily volume.) Their bigger ambition: the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, a bitcoin ETF, which will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol COIN but still awaits regulatory approval. There are signs that the bitcoin community doesnt love the Winklevoss brothers yetone prominent bitcoin executive told Fortune , Our industry would prefer that if theres a celebrity spokesperson, it not be them. But the jetsetting duo certainly bring mainstream star power to bitcoin. -- This is the third in a three-part Yahoo Finance series focused on blockchain technology. The first part was about why big banks are expressing interest in the blockchain; the second part was about how you could invest in the blockchain. Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology. Read more: Bitcoin advocacy group scores funding from biggest names in industry Bitcoin industry consolidates: Why Kraken bought Coinsetter Bitcoin's biggest investor bought its biggest news site Here's a sign that PayPal is embracing Bitcoin || What to Watch in the Day Ahead - Thursday, April 21: (The Day Ahead is an email and PDF publication that includes the day's major stories and events, analyses and other features. To receive The Day Ahead, Eikon users can register at . Thomson One users can register at RT/DAY/US. All times in ET/GMT) Alphabet Inc is expected to report a rise in first-quarter revenue that is likely to beat analysts average estimate, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data. Investors will be looking for continued growth at Alphabet's Google unit, which has been driven by strong mobile advertising sales. Investors will also be keen to gather more information on the company's Other Bets business, which includes glucose-monitoring contact lenses and Internet balloons. Capital expenditures in the business are expected to increase this year, although no concrete details have been offered. Microsoft Corp is expected to post an increase in third-quarter revenue, which will also beat analysts consensus estimates, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data. The company is expected to benefit from growing demand for its cloud products and services. Though Chief Executive Satya Nadella has focused on cloud services and mobile applications, to offset slower growth in its traditional software business, the company is still heavily reliant on PCs. Research firm IDC expects Microsoft's Windows business, which has 270 million active users eight months after launching, will improve later this year as companies that had delayed replacing machines before upgrading to Windows 10 make the switch. Analysts and investors will be looking whether the company has been able to sustain growth in its cloud business, and any impact from a stronger dollar. Visa Inc is expected to report a decline in first-quarter profit as a volatile global economy and the strong dollar cut into revenue from customers outside the United States. Consumers in some slowing economies around the world have been reining in spending. Some analysts say, however, that payment volumes are still likely to grow at Visa due to strong consumer spending in the United States. Story continues Schlumberger Ltd is expected to report a fall in first-quarter profit, hurt by weak drilling activity. The world's largest oilfield services provider, which recently closed its acquisition of Cameron International Corp, warned last month that its revenue would fall by about 15 percent from the fourth quarter. Verizon Communications Inc is expected to report first-quarter profit and revenue in line with analysts average expectations. The No.1 U.S. wireless phone service provider has benefited from heavy promotions as it counters rivals such as AT&T in a crowded U.S. wireless market. The focus will be on commentary around a possible bid for faded Internet pioneer Yahoo's core assets as well as any updates to financial guidance for the remainder of 2016. New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits likely rose last week, but remained well below a level associated with a buoyant labor market. Last week's claims covered the survey period for April nonfarm payrolls and will be dissected to see if there was any impact from the Verizon strike. While striking workers do not qualify for unemployment benefits, some have filed applications in the past. According to a Reuters survey of economists, initial claims for jobless benefits probably rose 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 263,000 for the week ending April 16. That would leave claims slightly above the March payrolls survey week. (0830/1230) Separately, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve business survey is expected to show manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region expanded in April for a second month. (0830/1230) Starbucks Corp will release its results for the second-quarter. Starbucks has the high-class problem of having to meet investors' outsized expectation that it will continue reporting industry-leading sales growth. Any stumble, real or perceived, will likely be punished. General Motors Co will announce first-quarter results. The company said on Friday it was recalling nearly 1.04 million newer pickup trucks for a seat belt flaw. The company said the recall in the United States includes 895,232 vehicles and a stop-sale of about 3,000 new 2014 and 2015 model year pickups still on dealer lots. The recall includes about 142,000 vehicles outside the United States. Union Pacific Corp and Norfolk Southern Corp, the No.1 and No.4 U.S. railroad operators, will post first-quarter results. With coal freight volumes still in freefall across the industry thanks to low natural gas prices and the strong dollar, analysts will be watching to see how the railroads are managing costs through furloughs, back office layoffs and mothballing locomotives. Biogen Inc is expected to report a largely in-line first-quarter as prescriptions written for its multiple sclerosis drug remain unchanged in the United States. Management previously noted that the uptick in scripts may not be seen until the second quarter. Investors will also look for more details on the Massachusetts-based drugmaker's hemophilia assets, which the company is said to be looking to sell. Travelers Companies Inc, the first big U.S. insurer to report quarterly results, is expected to report a decline in first-quarter profit due to weak underwriting gains and lower returns from its energy investments. Travelers, which competes with AIG for the title of biggest U.S. commercial property and casualty insurer, has felt a sting in recent quarters from a steep fall in oil prices as they drag on energy investments made through private equity funds. BB&T Corp, Fifth Third Bancorp and KeyCorp are likely to report a decline in first-quarter profit as they put aside more money for sour energy loans. Many lenders have ramped up reserves in recent months, concerned by the increasing number of energy companies that have gone bankrupt and defaulted on loans as oil prices stay stubbornly low. U.S. homebuilders including D.R. Horton Inc and PulteGroup Inc report their quarterly results. D.R. Horton and PulteGroup are expected to report a higher profit for the second and first quarter, respectively, helped by higher home sales. Johnson Controls Inc reports second-quarter earnings amid a pending merger with Ireland-based Tyco International Plc. The merger would save Johnson Controls $150 million a year in taxes. Sportswear maker Under Armour Inc is expected to report first-quarter profit below analysts' estimates, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data. Under Armour's gross margin in the quarter is expected to have been hit by higher promotions to clear excess inventory and slowing apparel sales growth, the company's largest source of revenue. A fall in the average price of its running footwear and a shift in sales mix towards lower-margin footwear are also expected to hurt margins. Investors will look for an update to the forecast, inventories, and comments on the Sports Authority bankruptcy. Advanced Micro Devices Inc is expected to post first-quarter revenue below analysts average estimate, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data. Investors will be looking for an update on its Polaris graphic processing units, which it plans to ship in the middle of this year. Mexican cement company Cemex SAB de CV reports first-quarter results. Investors will be looking at the impact of the peso depreciation on the company's debt load as well as any recovery in its U.S. business. European Central Bank (ECB) holds interest rate decision. Economists say lackluster demand, not inadequate credit, is holding the euro zone economy back. They say the ECB is unlikely to cut its deposit rate further from the current -0.40 percent. That too underscores the diminishing returns from monetary policy, especially since the ECB is well over a year into its trillion-plus euro stimulus program, has cut rates several times and pledged longterm loans to banks, with little pick-up in inflation so far. The U.S. government and Volkswagen AG face a court deadline to come up with a plan to address excess emissions from 580,000 diesel vehicles sold in the country. Despite robust talks, EPA officials have expressed skepticism if the sides would agree to a deal by the deadline set forth by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer. A judge will read out the verdict in the bribery trial of Canadian Senator Mike Duffy, whose high-profile case helped reduce the popularity of former prime minister Stephen Harper and contributed to his defeat in an October 2015 election. The Liberals of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau used the case as an example of how they said the Conservatives had been corrupted during their near-decade run in office. Duffy was tried on 31 criminal charges related to activities after Harper appointed him to the Senate, the upper chamber of Parliament. LIVECHAT - BITCOIN'S FUTURE with Anatoliy Knyazev, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Exante brokerage company We talk about the outlook for Bitcoin and its potential role in combating money laundering and financial crime with Anatoliy Knyazev, executive director and co-founder of Exante, a next generation brokerage company that aims to give its clients access to a broad range of financial instruments and markets. (0503/0903) To join the discussion, click here http://bit.ly/1kTxdKD (Compiled by Sourav Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Liquid Bitcoin || #Coindesk Artists Turn to Bitcoin for Inspiration, Not Personal Finance: Artists are being inspired by bitcoin... http://bit.ly/1KUPTaF || Liquid Bitcoin || In the last hour, 5 people won 0.16 BTC playing Bitcoin lottery at http://10xbtc.com , the easiest BTC lottery, 160BTC Jackpot || Liquid Bitcoin || Liquid Bitcoin || Liquid Bitcoin || SmearInvest pay members 600% of deposited within 48 hours. bitcoin cash deposit . http://ow.ly/YQ8xv || Today's #Bitcoin price is $418.00 as of April 4, 2016 at 12:00PM || So I need so help. http://ift.tt/1OD4CSl (via /r/Bitcoin)
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Trend: no change || Prices: 449.42, 445.74, 450.28, 458.55, 461.43, 466.09, 444.69, 449.01, 455.10, 448.32
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2016-06-15]
BTC Price: 694.47, BTC RSI: 83.07
Gold Price: 1285.80, Gold RSI: 65.90
Oil Price: 48.01, Oil RSI: 50.30
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Murray Stahl Talks Investments Made Through FRMO: - By Bram de Haas
GuruMurray Stahl(Trades,Portfolio) is the CEO and chairman of FRMO Corp. (FRMO). Together with CFO Steven Bregman, they report on the investments made through FRMO on a quarterly basis. There is no transcript available yet for the most recent call, but you can listen to the archived call.
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• Peter Lynch Chart of FRMO
The call can be a little bit chaotic if you are a new shareholder, but they are absolutely worth listening too. Stahl and Bregman are full of valuable insights into the markets and readily share wisdom related to their unconventional approach to value investing.
Balance sheet
The call starts out with them commenting on the balance sheet. Equity went down by a meaningful amount and the duo got several questions from shareholders about why it went down and whether the decline would be permanent. A meaningful part of the reduction in book value is due to current assets decreasing by $–– million. A deferred tax liability was decreased and the securities sold, not yet purchased program was expanded a little bit. This is a post where they account for short positions in path dependent ETFs. The way I understand it, they had to take their gains in these positions, which triggered a tax. Afterward they initiated the positions again with a new cost basis.
The HK multistrategy fund declined in value. Over the calendar year, the fund didn’t do so bad (-–—%), but throughout the reporting period the fund went down by —5%. There were also some redemptions, although they were quick to point out March had been a very good month.
Digital Currency Group
Stahl talked a little bit about a new investment in the Digital Currency Group. DCG is a corporation devoted to crypto currencies. Stahl expects cryptocurrencies will become a legitimate asset class. DCG owns various venture investments in technologies involved with digital currencies. They own equity in Coinbase (an exchange), Ripple (utilizes blockchain for cross-border transactions) and Grayscale (a money manager of crypto currencies). Governments around the world historically had the tendency to inflate asset prices or currency. Little by little you are purchasing power, a constant threat in history. Being on a metallic standard has historically also caused inflation.�
The blockchain is a ledger and the coins can’t be counterfeited. If more transactions are done in a currency it raises its value.
If Bitcoin were to become the new gold (Stahl doesn’t necessarily agree, but raises it as a possibility suggested by others), Bitcoin would appreciate by –………x in value.
If it were to become currency for the world, you would make —…………x your money.
Even though it is a very small investment, Stahl views it as a really important strategic investment. It's possible the stake would be expanded.
Market outlook
If oil went to $45 by end of the year, CPI would go to —.‘% and the Fed would have its hand forced and would need to raise rates. This would cause problems in the market.
You have to diversify away from stocks. Over the last ‘5 years, interest rates came down and stocks were successful. FRMO is now operating on the premise that two guys picking stocks isn’t going to cut it going forward.
The firm keeps a lot of cash on the balance sheet and views it as optionality. When the next crash (Stahl doesn’t actually use the word crash) comes, the firm will profit by having lots of liquidity.
One of the reasons they like small exchanges so much is that the optionality embedded in them is huge. If big mergers go through like the one between the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Borsche, these players raise prices and clients are angry and want to move business. Meanwhile there are few licensed exchanges and the small ones are suddenly very well positioned.
ETFs
Stahl views it as very dangerous to be invested in big dominating companies. Big liquid companies pay out a little bit of dividend and throw the rest at buybacks. These companies have defined benefit pension plans, but the stock has to rise or the company has to put extra money into these plans. This means that when the flows into large cap liquid companies is starting to slow, the effect can be dramatic. Big liquid stocks make up huge allocations in focused ETFs. What’s wrong with that? You take a lot of individual security risk by buying this ETF. At some point an event will make that apparent to lots of people invested in these type of securities.
Something else he doesn’t like is the typical dividend ETF. Earnings of the constituents of these products are ever so slightly declining. They have record margins right now, and can’t go up or down by much. These companies are currently saving a lot on the commodity side and not passing this on to the consumer.
The risks in ETF land are exacerbated because ETF providers aren’t making money and can’t make a lot of money on these products because the fees are too low. This structure of the industry leads to only a few companies being a major part of all ETFs.
An index was supposed to take out risk, and now you are taking on risk by buying into them. Everyone owns the same companies.�
Indexation is not in the early innings, it’s in the late innings. It will possibly go into extra innings.
This article first appeared onGuruFocus.
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• FRMO 15-Year Financial Data
• The intrinsic value of FRMO
• Peter Lynch Chart of FRMO || "I'm sorry" - Craig Wright on lack of evidence he created bitcoin: * Wright says will not provide further evidence * Previous blog posts disappear from Wright's website * U-turn seen making Wright's claims less likely (Adds comment, details, price reaction) By Jemima Kelly LONDON, May 5 (Reuters) - Australian tech entrepreneur Craig Wright, who earlier this week said he would provide "extraordinary proof" that he was the creator of digital currency bitcoin, will not provide any further evidence, according to a post on his blog on Thursday. Although Wright did not renege on his claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto - the name, assumed to be pseudonymous, of the person or group who created the web-based currency in 2008 - the U-turn was taken by many bitcoin experts as confirmation of their suspicions that the claims were false. "I believed that I could do this. I believed that I could put the years of anonymity and hiding behind me," Wright wrote. "But, as the events of this week unfolded and I prepared to publish the proof of access to the earliest keys, I broke. I do not have the courage. I cannot." Bitcoin is a web-based "cryptocurrency" that enables users to move money across the world quickly and anonymously without the need for third-party verification. Various attempts have been made to identify its elusive creator, but Wright's claims stood out due to the high-profile endorsements they received. Lead bitcoin developer Gavin Andresen and bitcoin consultant Jon Matonis both wrote blogs on Monday endorsing Wright's claims, saying they had been shown proof by Wright that he was Nakamoto. Wright said on Thursday that Andresen and Matonis had not been deceived, but "that the world will never believe that now". "I think he's significantly less likely to be Satoshi than any other person that's been suggested," another lead bitcoin developer, Peter Todd, told Reuters, referring to others who have been suspected of being bitcoin's creator. "PLAIN FISHY" After coming under pressure to provide more credible evidence that he was bitcoin's creator, Wright had blogged on Monday that he would provide "independently verifiable documents and evidence" that would back up his claims. The post could no longer be found on his blog site. Story continues "The possibility that Wright is Satoshi will always exist, but given the amount of evidence calling that into doubt, I think one would be foolish to give that possibility much weight," said Jerry Brito, executive director of Washington, D.C.-based digital currency advocacy group Coin Center. "He's provided no cryptographic evidence verifiable by the public, and many of his answers sound plain fishy... Today's statement on his blog only further tarnishes his credibility." Wright's representatives declined to give any comments on his decision to back away from providing further evidence, but said he was still their client. They believed he was still in London, where he has been living for the past few months. Interviews with some who had done business with Wright in Australia in December, when reports by Wired and Gizmodo that he could be Nakamoto first emerged, and an inspection of documents published by the two tech news websites, painted a complex picture of Wright. They pointed to a smart but sometimes abrasive figure facing growing legal and financial problems at least in part caused by his involvement with bitcoin. Each bitcoin is currently worth around $447, making the 15 million or so in circulation worth a total of around $7 billion. Wright said his failure to produce better evidence would cause "great damage to those that had supported" him, in particular Matonis and Andresen. "I can only say I'm sorry. And goodbye," Wright wrote. (Reporting by Jemima Kelly; Editing by Toby Chopra) || Here's why 21 is the most exciting bitcoin company right now: Before 21 Inc. had even put out a product,it had raised $121 million in venture funding—the most of any bitcoin company. It was unclear, for months, what 21 would actually do or make. But some of the biggest names in fintech funding, including Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures, and the Winklevoss brothers, were interested enough to invest.
Then things started to move very quickly. In February, 21 released its first product—and it was hardware, a rarity among bitcoin companies. It was the 21 bitcoin computer, which allows for mining the cryptocurrency as well as building applications on top of the bitcoinblockchain, the open-source, decentralized ledger that underlies bitcoin.
The computer, which runs on Raspberry Pi (a small, single-board programming computer launched in 2012), sells for $400 and is about the length of an iPhone. It attracted a lot of buzz and attention in the bitcoin world.
Last week,at the bitcoin conference Consensus, 21 CEO Balaji Srinivasan, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, moved the company’s purview forward again. He announced that the 21 software can now be installed on any Mac or Linux-compatible system (Windows is coming soon), and eventually will come to mobile phones. “Every computer is now a bitcoin computer,” he said.
And this is why 21 is arguably the single most exciting bitcoin company right now.
Most people on Wall Street, as well as regular, everyday investors (and Yahoo Finance readers like you) still don’t quite understand what bitcoin is, or why it matters. Many think it’s a scam or some kind of illegal tool for hackers. (The negative publicity around stories like the Silk Road trial didn’t help.) Srinivasan’s argument is: You don’t need to know what it is or how it works for it to be important to your digital life. He explains it this way to a layperson: “I ask people, ‘Do you use Linux?’ They’ll probably say no. But if you’re using Google.com, or Facebook.com, or Yahoo.com, you actually are using Linux, even if you don’t know it. So Linux is there, everywhere, it’s just behind the scenes, and it just sounds very technical because it solves problems for developers. And I think it’s going to be the same thing with bitcoin.”
Srinivasan frames bitcoin as the next major “system resource” in computing, something that will be a key component in every computer, just like a hard drive, RAM, and bandwidth. Bitcoin, he says, can be the resource that computers trade with other computers (without you having to worry about it), creating a “machine economy.” Once a computer can send a small amount of money as part of its operating system, “it can effectively rent or sell resources to other computers,” Srinivasan says. That was the idea behind the bitcoin computer: “If you had 500 of these things, what could they do together?”
So, whatcanthey do together?
For starters, you could earn a small amount of money (yes, in bitcoin, but a wide range of platforms now existfor quickly converting bitcoin to U.S. dollars, if that’s what you’d prefer) every time you visit a certain URL. On stage at Consensus,Srinivasan described it thusly: "Every time you load a webpage is a HTTP request. That’s a lot of HTTP requests. If you are earning bitcoin on every HTTP request, that could be a lot of earned bitcoins."
This could get exciting for media companies, in particular, with paywalls. For years, print newspapers and magazines have struggled with how to charge readers for access to their content online. Paywalls have only been successful for a select few publications, mostly because of the friction created by the moment when you, a reader in a hurry, have to enter your credit card information.
In the future that 21 envisions, your computer could cough up a small fee on its own every time you visit a publication's web site, or even every time you want to read a single article. If this process could become truly seamless, it would have major implications for digital journalism as an alternate revenue stream from selling digital ads, which has severe flaws.
But this doesn’t just apply to journalism. It's much, much bigger than that. On the machine web, where computers can accept and send small amounts of money instantly, there would no longer be a need to ever enter your credit card information online. The concept would improve the experience of shopping at Amazon or any other e-tailer, or sending a donation to a Kickstarter campaign, or any instance when you need to send money online.
This, after all, has been the value proposition of bitcoin’s rails since its inception—cutting down on the usual transfer fees, delays, and general friction you face when sending money through banks. And 21's vision should be exciting to everyone, not just developers who understand bitcoin, or speculators who have bought bitcoin as an investment. It should be exciting to anyone who has ever sat at their computer, aggravated and impatient, filling out a credit card form online.
“One way of thinking about it is, the 21 software makes bitcoin a part of your operating system,” Srinivasan says. “Over time, what we think that will do is increase demand for bitcoin as a resource.”
Of course, the rah-rah-bitcoin train has slowed recently, on the whole, asbanks and big financial institutions have gone gaga over blockchainwithout bitcoin. But along with a handful ofother companies that are doubling down on the cryptocurrency, like Coinbase, Srinivasan and 21 are betting that it’s still the digital coin that will prove to be the major innovation—not closed, permissioned blockchains.
Big business will eventually come around to bitcoin, Srinivasan insists. He compares it to online dating, which once had something of a stigma around it that, today, has all but disappeared. “It was like, it’s for nerds, it’s for nerds, it’s for nerds,” he says, “and then suddenly, oh, here’s Tinder, and now it’s totally flipped and normal and you’d be crazy not to date that way.”
For now, to most of the mainstream economy, it’s still the bitcoin believers who look like the crazy ones. Srinivasan is just fine with that.
Check back with Yahoo Finance later this summer, when we will test out what the 21 bitcoin computer can do in a follow-up story and video.
--
Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering technology and sports business. Follow him on Twitter at@readDanwrite.
Read more:
Coinbase is more bullish on bitcoin than ever
How Circle aims to use blockchain to win the payment-app war
How big banks are paying lip service to the blockchain
Bitcoin's biggest investor just bought its biggest news site || Bitcoin has a governance problem, no matter who created it: By Jemima Kelly LONDON (Reuters) - As one would-be father of bitcoin falls by the wayside, squabbling among the web-based currency's lead developers is exposing a fundamental flaw: it must evolve to meet growing demand, but may lack a governance structure to achieve this. The latest bickering erupted after Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright promised to prove he was the mysterious creator of bitcoin - which allows users to move money across the world quickly and anonymously - but then said on Thursday he could not provide further evidence to back this up. Wright stopped short of reneging on his claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto, assumed to be a pseudonym for the person or people who launched the digital cryptocurrency in 2009. However, he apologised for damaging the reputations of bitcoin experts who had believed him. Many members of the bitcoin community reckon this is all a distraction and agree with Wright when he said that the identity of Nakamoto "doesn't, and shouldn't, matter". "Satoshi's biggest achievement was to create a system that doesn't require his participation to run," said Peter Todd, one of bitcoin's core software developers. "That's what makes all this stuff kind of funny. It's like searching for the creator of a system that's designed not to require a creator." While grey-suited central bankers print conventional currencies and commercial banks control transactions in them, no one person or entity is in charge of bitcoin. Instead it runs on a decentralised system of shared trust without any third-party verification of transactions - one reason why many people are attracted to it. Critics, however, say it needs a "benevolent dictator" or at least some "adults" to manage the expansion that it needs to cope with the increasing number of transactions. Someone, or some group, must decide how to meet users' requirements, they say. Trades are handled by thousands of "mining" computers around the world which validate blocks of transactions by competing to solve mathematical puzzles every 10 minutes. Story continues The first computer to solve the puzzle clears the transaction and is currently rewarded with 25 new bitcoins, now worth around $11,250.. This is how the computers' owners cover their costs - largely power bills - and make a profit. The system also ensures there is no single point in the system that might fail. CIVIL WAR In practice, there do appear to be people who can make decisions, but it is also possible to be excluded from this magic circle. One of the bitcoin experts who initially believed Wright's claim is Gavin Andresen. Nakamoto handed control of bitcoin's software to Andresen when he stepped aside in 2011, a transfer that kept the creator's identity a mystery as it was conducted in cyberspace without human contact. Andresen later shared that control with others. But when he stated publicly he believed Wright, sceptical developers responded by revoking his "commit access" to a shared repository of bitcoin rules. Initially, these developers justified their move on security grounds, saying his computer must have been hacked - something Andresen denied. When Reuters asked Todd whether Andresen's access would be reinstated, he responded: "Heck no", saying a belief in Wright amounted to "inexcusable incompetence". Andresen admitted to bewilderment over whether he still believed Wright's claims. "Ask me in six months; I don't trust my own judgement right now after all the drama," he said on Twitter. The squabbling is not new. One of the lead developers, Mike Hearn, stood down from bitcoin in January because of a power struggle nicknamed the "bitcoin civil war". Hearn and Andresen had proposed increasing the size of the blocks in which transactions are processed but the other developers opposed this. In quitting, Hearn said that "what was meant to be a new, decentralised form of money that lacked systemically important institutions" had now become "a system completely controlled by just a handful of people". Many investors and start-up firms remain optimistic about bitcoin and are making money from it. But Emin Gun Sirer, a computer science professor at Cornell University, said the appearance of internal conflict was undermining it. "For bitcoin to retain its value, it's important to have hope that there's good management in charge, that there are adults in charge," Sirer said. "When we see opportunistic moves, that's a problem." BENEVOLENT DICTATORS But Sirer also said that any open-source project such as bitcoin, which runs using software that anyone can access, change, and distribute, faces the challenge of governance. "Is it a pipe dream to expect to be able to build a currency system that is completely decentralized and free of any control whatsoever? The short answer to that is yes, but that's not what anyone should have expected anyway," he said. Sirer added that he was concerned that his brightest young students at Cornell were being deterred from getting involved with bitcoin because of the in-fighting and the appearance that developers were unable to agree on change. One other digital currency system which is attracting bright young minds is Ethereum, created in 2013 by Russian-Canadian Vitalik Buterin when he was just 19. It works with the "benevolent dictator model", as Sirer calls it, with Buterin holding the decision-making power. "Over the last couple of years it's become apparent that having a static protocol is just not a viable approach," Buterin told the Consensus bitcoin conference in New York earlier in the week. "Software has to evolve ... and there has to be some mechanism for agreeing on how software is going to upgrade." Most, however, reckon that even if Nakamoto were to be found, the other developers - many of whom have written more code than he ever did in the seven years since bitcoin was launched - would not accept his having ultimate power. "(Nakamoto) would be thanked for creating this amazing thing, but if there comes a time when there's a technical debate over whether we should go one way or the other, his opinions would only be persuasive, not controlling," said Jerry Brito, executive director of bitcoin advocacy group Coin Center. (Additional reporting by Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; editing by David Stamp) || It doesn't really matter to bitcoin who created bitcoin: Have you heard? We may at last know the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of the digital currency bitcoin and its underying blockchain technology. Satoshi is the 46-year-old Australian cybersecurity expert Dr. Craig Steven Wright... according to Dr. Craig Steven Wright.
Of course, we've heard this story before. In 2011, the New Yorker suggestedSatoshi was Michael Clear, a graduate student at Trinity College Dublin. Fast Company, the same year,listed three other Satoshi possibilities: Charles Bry,Neal King, or Vladimir Oksman, three inventors. In 2014, Newsweekannounced it had unmasked Satoshiand splashed the big scoop on the cover of its print issue, reporting that it was a California man named Dorian Nakamoto. He denied it, and the storyfell apart. A book by New York Times reporter Nathaniel Popper, "Digital Gold,"suggested Satoshi was an American man named Nick Szabo. Szabo denied. Last year, bothWiredandGizmodoreported that Satoshi was two people: Wright and his friend Dave Kleiman, now deceased.
The difference now is that the supposed Satoshi is outing himself, rather than denying it:In a blog post on Monday, Wright claims that he created bitcoin in 2009 with help from someone named Hal Finney."I cannot summon the words to express the depth of my gratitude to those that have supported the bitcoin project from its inception," he writes. "Be assured, just as you have worked, I have not been idle during these many years. Since those early days, after distancing myself from the public persona that was Satoshi, I have poured every measure of myself into research."
Wright also provided records to select media outlets of transactions madewiththe same digital signature as some of the very first blocks (bundles of bitcoin transactions) ever recorded on the bitcoin blockchain—blocks mined by Satoshi, who is believed to own more than $400 million worth of the coin at its current USD market price.
It doesn't matter: Many prominent people in the bitcoin community still don't believe Satoshi is Craig Wright. Security expert Dan Kaminsky, in an extensive post, did serious homework andappeared to cast doubt on Wright's supposed proof. "Yes, this is a scam," he concluded. "Not maybe. Not possibly. Wright is pretending he has Satoshi’s signature."Meanwhile, on a panel at Consensus, a major bitcoin conference in New York that happened to kick off the same morning, three of four bitcoin startup executives said firmly that they don't believe it is Wright.
But here's why itreallydoesn't matter: The identity of bitcoin's creator is no longer of much relevance to bitcoin, apart from the appeal of a mystery and the amount of coin he or she still holds.
Bitcoin is an open-source project. That means that anyone can suggest edits to the source code, and over the years since its launch in 2009, many have. The project has 366 people currently contributing to it, and they've made nearly 11,000 different modifications to the code. (You canview the bitcoin source code at Github—no login or expertise required.) By most estimates, less than 20% of the current bitcoin source code is the code Satoshi wrote, which means the technology has truly become the product of a community, not of one creator. It is godless. Even Wright himself says in his blog post, "Satoshi is dead." (Of course, if Wright is Satoshi, then he is very much alive, but the point is well taken: The concept of Satoshi is dead and irrelevant.)
In two separate informal Twitter polls, 65% of readers saidthey still don't believe Wright is Satoshi, and 70% said thatSatoshi's identity doesn't matter anyway. (More than 200 people voted in each poll.) In an interview with Yahoo Finance on Monday, Sean Neville, co-founder of prominent bitcoin payment app Circle, offered his opinion. "It doesn't really matter who did create the system," he said. "But it is fascinating news."
At 3:45 EST on Monday morning, shortly after the news broke of Craig Wright's claim, the price of bitcoin dropped steeply, from above $450 down to a low of $437. The price drop is another sign that the bitcoin community doesn't want to see Satoshi unmasked—many feel he is better as an anonymous symbol.
Craig Wright may come forward with more evidence that proves his claim, or he may stay mum, fueling the doubters. But whether it's him, or someone else living or dead, doesn't matter anymore. Reports about Satoshi's identity have merely become candy for the media and bitcoin devotees. The developers working on bitcoin-related innovations have moved on.
To understand more about how the bitcoin blockchain works, check out this video.
--
Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology.
Read more:
How big banks are paying lip service to the blockchain
Here’s how you can invest in the blockchain
Bitcoin's biggest investor just bought its biggest news site
Here's a sign that PayPal is embracing Bitcoin || Australian says he created bitcoin, but some sceptical: By Byron Kaye and Jemima Kelly SYDNEY/LONDON (Reuters) - Australian tech entrepreneur Craig Wright identified himself as the creator of controversial digital currency bitcoin on Monday but experts were divided over whether he really was the elusive person who has gone by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto until now. Uncovering Nakamoto's real identity would solve a riddle dating back to the publication of the open source software behind the cryptocurrency in 2008, before its launch a year later. Bitcoin has since become the world's most commonly used virtual currency, attracting the interest of banks, speculators, criminals and regulators. Worth a total of $7 billion at current levels, it fell more than 3 percent on Monday -- a normal intraday move for the volatile currency -- after the news, to below $440 from around $455, before recovering slightly. Some online commentators suggested bitcoin's creator could help resolve a bitter row among the currency's software developers that threatens its future. But Wright made no reference to the row in a BBC interview identifying himself as Nakamoto, and as the protocol bitcoin runs on is open-source and cannot be controlled by any one person, it is unclear whether he would be able to influence the way it develops. "I was the main part of it, other people helped me," Wright, who is now living in London, told the BBC. "Some people will believe, Some people won't, and to tell you the truth, I don't really care," he said. Many bitcoiners said Wright had not done enough to definitively prove that he was Nakamoto, who maintained his anonymity throughout his involvement with bitcoin, which he stepped away from in 2011. But Gavin Andresen, who Nakamoto chose to succeed him, published a blog post in which he described meeting Wright last month and said he is convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the Australian is Nakamoto. Jon Matonis, a founding director of the Bitcoin Foundation now works as a bitcoin consultant, wrote a blog post on Monday which, like Andresens, supported Wrights claims. Story continues According to me, the proof is conclusive and I have no doubt that Craig Steven Wright is the person behind the Bitcoin technology, Nakamoto consensus, and the Satoshi Nakamoto name, Matonis wrote. He and Andresen also confirmed they had been responsible for their respective blog posts to Reuters directly. LEGACY Nakamoto's biggest likely legacy lies well beyond his control. The blockchain technology that underpins the currency could transform the way banks settle transactions, the way that property rights and other vital data are recorded, and provide a way for central banks to issue their own digital currencies. The BBC reported on Monday that Wright gave some technical proof demonstrating that he had access to blocks of bitcoins known to have been created by bitcoin's creator. Researchers believe Nakamoto may be holding up to one million of the more than 15 million bitcoins currently in circulation, which would make the creator worth around $440 million. In a blog post also dated Monday, Wright posted an example of a signature used by Nakamoto and an explanation of how bitcoin transactions are verified and thanked all those who had supported the project from its inception. "This incredible communitys passion and intellect and perseverance have taken my small contribution and nurtured it, enhanced it, breathed life into it," he wrote. However he did not state directly that he was Nakamoto. "Satoshi is dead," he said. "But this is only the beginning." Bitcoin expert Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research at Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group Coin Center, said a new message cryptographically signed using the private key associated with the so-called Genesis block, the first ever "mined" would have been more convincing. The currency's "miners" are incentivised to process transactions every 10 minutes by a possible reward of bitcoins (25 currently), which is how new bitcoins are created. Wright also spoke with The Economist, but declined requests from the magazine to provide further proof that he was Nakamoto. His representatives told Reuters he would not be taking part in more media interviews for the time being. "Our conclusion is that Mr Wright could well be Mr Nakamoto, but that important questions remain," The Economist said. "Indeed, it may never be possible to establish beyond reasonable doubt who really created bitcoin. Hopes that bitcoin would become broadly used helped buoy its price to more than $1,000 in December 2013, when its market capitalisation was $13 billion compared with today's $7 billion. Wright told The Economist he would exchange bitcoin he owns slowly to avoid pushing down its price. HOME RAIDED In December, police raided Wright's Sydney home and office after Wired magazine named him as the probable creator of bitcoin and holder of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of the cryptocurrency. At the time he made no comment. The treatment of bitcoins for tax purposes in Australia has been the subject of considerable debate. The Australian Tax Office (ATO) ruled in December 2014 that cryptocurrency should be considered an asset, rather than a currency, for capital gains tax purposes. On Monday, the ATO said it had no comment while police were not immediately available for comment. If Wright is Nakamoto he "is now the leader of a movement", said Roberto Capodieci, a Singapore-based entrepreneur working on the blockchain, the technology underlying the currency. That movement ranges from libertarian enthusiasts to central banks experimenting with digital currencies, all of which pay homage in some way to Nakamoto's writings. (Additional reporting by Jeremy Wagstaff in Singapore, Matt Siegel in Sydney and Paul Sandle in London; Editing by Nick Macfie, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Philippa Fletcher) || Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to add ether currency to trading platform: (Adds quotes, details about ether, and byline)
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK, May 19 (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said on Thursday it will add digital currency ether on its trading platform next Tuesday.
The addition of ether comes given the surge in interest in the digital asset among major financial institutions such as Barclays and UBS as well as other enterprises worldwide like IBM, which are trying to explore the Ethereum network.
Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public ledger that can create decentralized applications. Ethereum, which uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically without the need for intermediaries, was co-founded and invented by 22-year old Russian Canadian programmer Vitalik Buterin.
"We're very excited about Ethereum. There has been a ton of progress made in the last six to nine months," said Adam White, vice president of business development at Coinbase in an interview with Reuters. "We have seen hundreds of emerging decentralized apps (applications) launched on Ethereum."
He added that bitcoin cannot mirror Ethereum's "scripting language," so both bitcoin and ether can co-exist and will not necessarily compete with each other.
Coinbase also plans to change the name of its platform to GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange), said White. The name Coinbase, however, will be retained for its retail service such as exchanging dollars for bitcoin or ether, he added.
Coinbase, widely believed to be the largest bitcoin-focused company in terms of investment, will offer ether/dollar and ether/bitcoin currency pairs on GDAX. The name change was made because the company will add more digital assets for trading on its exchange, White said.
According to coinmarketcap.com, ether is trading at $14.28 late on Thursday, with a market capitalization of about $1.1 billion, the second largest behind bitcoin. Bitcoin currently has a market cap of $6.9 billion. Daily volume for ether is around $48 million, while average daily volume for bitcoin is $87.2 million.
At the beginning of the year, ether traded at just $1 per token and it is the fastest-rising digital currency.
White said ether will be available on GDAX in most states except New York because Coinbase is still in the process of applying for a license in the state.
Coinbase's move to add ether trading to its currency exchange platform came after New York approved the application of Gemini Trust Company, founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, to trade ether on its exchange.
"What's powerful about ethereum is that I can write self-executing contracts and I can run them on Ethereum and it's not on any central server or computer," said White.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernard Orr) || For real? Australian entrepreneur says he's bitcoin’s inventor: Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright says he's the inventor of the digital currency bitcoin (:BTC=) . Wright told the BBC that he is Satoshi Nakamoto, the shadowy creator of the cryptocurrency, in a move that could end the years-long search for the inventor. In a follow-up blog post on Monday, Wright thanked everyone who helped out in bitcoin's beginnings. "I have been staring at my screen for hours, but I cannot summon the words to express the depth of my gratitude to those that have supported the bitcoin project from its inception — too many names to list. You have dedicated vast swathes of your time, committed your gifts, sacrificed relationships and REM sleep for years to an open source project that could have come to nothing. And yet still you fought. This incredible community's passion and intellect and perseverance has taken my small contribution and nurtured it, enhanced it, breathed life into it. You have given the world a great gift. Thank you," Wright wrote. "Be assured, just as you have worked, I have not been idle during these many years. Since those early days, after distancing myself from the public persona that was Satoshi, I have poured every measure of myself into research. I have been silent, but I have not been absent. I have been engaged with an exceptional group and look forward to sharing our remarkable work when they are ready." To prove his claim, Wright digitally signed a message using the cryptographic keys that were associated with the creator and was backed up by experts. "These are the blocks used to send 10 bitcoins to Hal Finney in January [2009] as the first bitcoin transaction," Wright told the BBC. Wright said Finney helped turn his vision of bitcoin into reality. Jon Matonis, co-founder of the nonprofit Bitcoin Foundation, said he believed Wright's claims after seeing the same demonstration. "During the London proof sessions, I had the opportunity to review the relevant data along three distinct lines: cryptographic, social and technical. Based on what I witnessed, it is my firm belief that Craig Steven Wright satisfies all three categories," Matonis wrote in a blog post on Monday. Story continues "The social evidence, including his unique personality, early emails that I received, and early drafts of the Bitcoin white paper, points to Craig as the creator. I also received satisfactory explanations to my questions about registering the bitcoin.org domain and the various time-of-day postings to the BitcoinTalk forum. Additionally, Craig's technical working knowledge of public key cryptography, Bitcoin's addressing system, and proof-of-work consensus in a distributed peer-to-peer environment is very strong." For years, news organizations have been investigating who the real founder of bitcoin is, with several names being mentioned. Someone or a group of people called "Satoshi Nakamoto" was always associated with the invention of the cryptocurrency, but nobody knew who was behind the name. In 2014 , Newsweek said that the bitcoin creator was a 64-year-old Japanese-American living in California named Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin has gained a notorious reputation as a currency that allows people to anonymously buy illegal items online. But it's also accepted as a form of payment by many companies, including Microsoft ( MSFT ) . Many financial institutions have begun looking at ways to use blockchain , the technology that underpins bitcoin. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Digital Currencies Could Completely Transform Global Markets: There has been a lot of talk in recent years about Bitcoin and the potential of digital currencies. So far, very few banks and countries have made much actual progress in creating digital currencies, butBloomberg’s Christopher Langner believes thatMisubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (ADR)(NYSE:MTU)’s pledge to introduce MUFG Coin could be the first drop in a wave of new digital currencies.
Langner predicts that Mitsubishi UFJ’s move could become a trend in Japan, Brazil, China and Spain.
Digital currencies will allow for cheaper, safer global transfers of cash.
“For capital markets, digital currencies could enable instant settlement of securities trades, which would obviate the purpose of marketplaces such as the New York Stock Exchange,” Langner explained.
Related Link:With The Rise Of Algorithms, Has The Finance Job Market Hit Peak Human?
These new virtual currencies would likely be backed by government fiat currency, making them immune to the extreme volatility seen in the Bitcoin market.
Digital currencies could pose major threats to trade intermediaries likeIntercontinental Exchange Inc(NYSE:ICE) and custodians likeBank of New York Mellon Corp(NYSE:BK) andEuroclear.
Nasdaq Inc(NASDAQ:NDAQ) has already launched a digital-asset registry called Linq. The new registry does not yet allow digital asset trading, but Langner sees the move as a step in the right direction.
“It’s unlikely that blockchain will send the Big Board or Swift the way of the dinosaur,” he concluded.
However, digital currencies certainly seem poised to upset the status quo.
Disclosure: The author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.
See more from Benzinga
© 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || What to do if hackers hold your computer hostage and demand cash: Ransomware can ruin your computer and all of your files. You’re sitting at your computer when you get an email from your local bank saying you were just hit with a charge for a new $1,200 MacBook that you never bought. You click the email and follow the embedded link or download the included receipt to find out what’s up. Just like that, your computer has been infected with ransomware. You can’t access your files, and all you can see is a timer counting down the time until hackers delete your computer’s drive unless you pay them a fee in iTunes gift cards. All you can do is scratch your head and wonder what the hell just happened. Well, I’m here to explain that to you — and to help you fight back against ransomware criminals. The most important thing to remember is this: Never, ever pay the ransom. Ransom? Let’s start with the basics. A particularly nefarious form of malware, ransomware is a piece of software criminals use to lock you out of your computer by encrypting its files and holding them for ransom for a specific dollar amount. If you don’t pay up, you can potentially say goodbye to your photos, tax documents, pay stubs, and any other documents you’ve saved throughout the years. This isn’t some idle threat, either. If you don’t pay, your documents will disappear or simply stay locked up until you completely reformat your system. Ransomware programs sometimes require you to pay in Bitcoin, an anonymous currency that can’t be tracked. However, criminals have increasingly begun demanding payment in the form of iTunes or Amazon gift cards, since the average person doesn’t know how to use Bitcoin, according to Gary Davis, chief consumer security evangelist at Intel Security. The amount you have to pay to unlock your computer can vary, with some experts saying criminals will ask for up to $500. To be clear, ransomware doesn’t just target Windows PCs. The malware has been known to impact systems ranging from Android phones and tablets to Linux-based computers and Macs. Where it comes from According to Davis, ransomware was actually popular among cybercriminals over a decade ago. But it was far easier to catch the perpetrators back then since anonymous currency like Bitcoin didn’t exist yet. Bitcoin helped changed all that by making it nearly impossible to track criminals based on how victims pay them. Story continues Ransomware There are multiple types of ransomware out there, according to Chester Wisniewski, a senior security advisor with the computer security company Sophos. Each variation is tied to seven or eight criminal organizations. Those groups build the software and then sell it on the black market, where other criminals purchase it and then begin using it for their own gains. How they get you Ransomware doesn’t just pop up on your computer by magic. You actually have to download it. And while you could swear up and down that you’d never be tricked into downloading malware, cybercriminals get plenty of people to do just that. Here’s the thing: That email you opened to get ransomware on your computer in the first place was specifically written to get you to believe it was real. That’s because criminals use social engineering to craft their messages. For example, hackers can determine your location and send emails that look like they’re from companies based in your country. “Criminals are looking are looking up information about where you live, so you’ll click (emails),” Wisniewski explained to Yahoo Finance. “So if you’re in America, you’ll see something from Citi Bank, rather than Deutsche Bank, which is in Germany.” Cybercriminals can also target ransomware messages to the time of year. So if it’s the holiday shopping season, criminals might send out messages supposedly from companies like the US Postal Service, FedEx or DHL. If it’s tax time, you could receive a message that says it’s from the IRS. Other ransomware messages might claim the FBI has targeted you for using illegal software or viewing child pornography on your computer. Then, the message will tell you to click a link to a site to pay a fine — only to lock up your computer after you click. It’s not just email, though. An attack known as a drive-by can get you if you simply visit certain websites. That’s because criminals have the ability to inject their malware into ads or links on poorly secured sites. When you go to such a site, you’ll download the ransomware. Just like that, you’re locked out of your computer. How to protect yourself Ransomware attacks vulnerabilities in outdated versions of software. So, believe it or not, the best way to protect yourself is to constantly update your operating system’s software and apps like Adobe Reader. That means you should always click that little “update” notification on your desktop, phone, or tablet. Don’t put it off. Beyond that, you should always remember to back up your files. You can either do that by backing them up to a cloud service like Amazon Cloud, Google Drive or iCloud, or by backing up to an external drive. That said, you’ll want to be careful with how you back up your content. That’s because, according to Kaspersky Lab’s Ryan Naraine, some ransomware can infect your backups. A fake warning used by ransomware criminals. Naraine warns against staying logged into your cloud service all the time, as some forms of malware can lock you out of even them. What’s more, if you’re backing up to an external hard drive, you’ll want to disconnect it from your PC when you’re finished, or the ransomware could lock that, as well. Naraine also says you should disconnect your computer from the internet if you see your system being actively encrypted. Doing so, he explains, could prevent all of your files that have yet to be encrypted from being locked. Above all, every expert I spoke with recommended installing some form of anti-virus software and some kind of web browser filtering. With both types of software installed, your system up to date, and a backup available, you should be well-protected. Oh, and for the love of god, avoid downloading any suspicious files or visiting sketchy websites. What to do if you’re infected Even if you follow all of the above steps, ransomware could still infect your computer or mobile device. If that’s the case, you have only a few options. The first and easiest choice is to delete your computer or mobile device and reinstall your operating system. You’ll lose everything, but you won’t have to pay some criminal who’s holding your files hostage. Some security software makers also sell programs that can decrypt your files. That said, by purchasing one, you’re betting that it will work on the ransomware on your computer, which isn’t always the case. On top of that, ransomware makers can update their malware to beat security software makers’ offerings. All of the experts agree that the average person should never pay the ransom — even if it means losing their files. Doing so, they say, helps perpetuate a criminal act and emboldens ransomware makers. Even if you do pay up, the ransomware could have left some other form of malware on your computer that you might not see. In other words: Tell the criminals to take a hike. Email Daniel at [email protected] ; follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley .
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
PIGGY/BTC ฿0.00000025 Vol.4655523.87650520 | Cryptopia ฿0.00000024 | Poloniex ฿0.00000025 || #MarsCoin #MARS #MRS $ 0.001593 (-0.30 %) 0.00000358 BTC (-0.00 %) || #Bitcoin Inventor Revealed? #Infosec and #Tech Community not Convinced https://t.co/PKQaLqyPz9 https://t.co/WBP25OVgFV || LIVE: Profit = $532.86 (6.79 %). BUY B18.96 @ $420.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $442.10 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || Current value of DOGE in BTC: Vircurex: 0.0000004 -- Volume: 149337.47259145 Today's trend: stable at 06/09/16 00:55 || LIVE: Profit = $810.01 (10.11 %). BUY B19.39 @ $420.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $455.25 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || #SativaCoin #STV $ 0.001732 (0.50 %) 0.00000300 BTC (0.00 %) || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 15 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $647.72 #bitcoin #btc || $451.98 at 17:00 UTC [24h Range: $446.04 - $457.80 Volume: 3890 BTC] || 1 KOBO = 0.00001000 BTC
= 0.0045 USD
= 0.8957 NGN
= 0.0676 ZAR
= 0.4532 KES
#Kobocoin 2016-05-12 21:00 pic.twitter.com/gHWMQLFl5j
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Trend: down || Prices: 766.31, 748.91, 756.23, 763.78, 737.23, 666.65, 596.12, 623.98, 665.30, 665.12
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
So what is a Bitcoin Gold Fork?: • What is Bitcoin Gold Fork?
• How can Bitcoin Gold Fork Affect Bitcoin Prices?
• Cash, Gold and What’s Next
The cryptoworld will have only just brushed the dust off the last Bitcoin fork, back at the start of August, ahead of which Bitcoin fell to sub-$2,000 levels from a June high of $2,976.41.
We had heard plenty of speculation over possible outcomes, the worst case scenario has been Bitcoin’s collapse, with talk of Bitcoin holders seeing their Bitcoin value fall to zero sending jitters through the cryptoworld.
Things have certainly calmed since the fork, with Bitcoin surging to a September high $4,909.11, before some easing following China’s decision to shut down Bitcoin exchanges and ban initial coin offerings.
So, while many will have been looking ahead to the much talked about November SegWit2x fork, where another split is anticipated, which could result in 3 versions of Bitcoin, few have discussed or focused on this month’s Bitcoin Gold fork, which is scheduled to be implemented on 25thOctober.
So why yet another fork? The Bitcoin community is looking to completely decentralize the Bitcoin network that continues to be monopolized by the mining industry and a few miners within the mining community, who have the majority of thehash powerat present.
Bitcoin Gold is scheduled for release through this month’s fork in a bid to change Bitcoin’s consensus algorithm, allowing miners to mine Bitcoin with GPUs.
As withBitcoin Cashthis summer, Bitcoin Gold will also be a hard fork, with the new tokens expected to launch on 25thOctober before being open to exchanges from 1stNovember.
Making it possible to mine withGPUs (Graphic Processing Units) is expected to allow more participants to mine, taking away some of the hash power from the bigger miners who have largely cornered the Bitcoin market.
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The new BTG token is planned to be sold at 10BTG to 1 BTC and while there are plans for a Bitcoin Gold initial coin offering, dates have yet to be announced and as with Bitcoin Cash, each Bitcoin user, at the time of the fork, will have an equal amount of Bitcoin Gold associated with their private key.
On 25thOctober, Bitcoin is going to see another hard fork implemented that will result in a new cryptocurrency named Bitcoin Gold (BTG). As we saw with Bitcoin Cash in the summer, existing private keys holding Bitcoin balances will receive the same amount in Bitcoin Gold on 1stNovember, though as things stand, it may be a number of weeks before Bitcoin Gold will be tradable.
Developers, miners and a number of key contributors including Jack Liao, the CEO of Hong Kong mining manufacturer LightningAsic, are behind Bitcoin Gold, with other parties involved including Chinese mining tycoon and owner of Bitcoin news portal Jinse.com and the project’s anonymous lead developer H4x3.
For now, Bitcoin Gold has been characterized as a friendly fork by the development team as Bitcoin Gold considered to be complementary to Bitcoin. The key consideration is to block anticipated upgrades of Bitcoin through hard forks.
H4x3 describes Bitcoin gold as a real blockchain to pilot Bitcoin upgrades. Ultimately, the purpose of Bitcoin Gold is to compete with Bitcoin Cash,Ethereumand GPU coins, by bringing down the currentBitcoin miningmonopolies and increasing centralization in order to serve and protect the Bitcoin world.
Supporters of Bitcoin Gold hold the view that the best crypto engineers are working on Core and for this reason, Bitcoin Gold will try to follow Core as much as possible.
The biggest change to the code in Bitcoin Gold is that it uses a different mining algorithm, resistant to ASIC chips, calledEquihash. Similar to Ethereum, the use of GPUs will be needed to mine Bitcoin Gold in place of Bitcoin’s current Asics mining machines, which have been blamed for the centralization of Bitcoin.
With Ethereum’s planned switch from Proof of Work mining to Proof of Stake next year, Bitcoin Gold developers’ decision to move away from Bitcoin’s SHA-256 algorithm to the Equihash algorithm is a timely one.
Other anticipated changes from Bitcoin include an alteration to the adjustment time. Bitcoin has the level of difficulty to solve a block adjusted every 2-weeks and, with unstable hashpower experienced since the Bitcoin Cash fork, Bitcoin Gold will have the level of difficulty adjusted to every block found.
While miners are yet able to test-mine Bitcoin Gold, plans are in place to enable miners to test on a testnet within the next couple of weeks, though there has yet to be the replay protection coding that will protect Bitcoin Gold users from accidentally spending real Bitcoin or Bitcoin Gold, also referred to as a replay attack.
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It all certainly sounds friendly enough, if you’re not one of the mining cartels that control much of the Bitcoin hashpower, though there has been some dissatisfaction over news that developers will be the only miners for a period of time after the hard fork.
The Bitcoin Gold fork is another battle in the war between the mining cartel and Bitcoin’s core developers. The mining cartel in search of even more hashpower and centralization, while Bitcoin’s core developers look to reverse the centralization that has been seen in recent years.
Despite the talk of hard forks and the possible existence of 4 versions of Bitcoin by the end of the year,Bitcoin’s valuehas certainly not slumped by any stretch of the imagination, sitting above $4,300 levels with even China’s decision to shut down Bitcoin exchanges and banICOsdoing little to stall appetite.
The recovery in just a couple of weeks has been a remarkable one and, if there were any suggestions that Bitcoin is a bubble ready to burst, the recovery itself and the market’s ability to shrug off China’s interventions demonstrates quite the opposite, Bitcoin investors in China finding alternative methods to trade.
South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service decision to ban fundraising through virtual currencies also seemed to do little to Bitcoin’s recovery, which has been fueled by a surge in appetite from Japan, following the Japanese government’s approval of 11 cryptocurrency exchanges, with Japan now touted to become the largest of Bitcoin’s trading hubs.
We would expect this month’s hard fork to have a limited impact on the value of Bitcoin and, whileBitcoin Cashmanaged to recover from an initial slide following the hard fork in the summer, how Bitcoin Gold fares remains to be seen, but it will boil down to how many different Bitcoin versions the market is likely to accept and whether the intentions of Bitcoin Gold are genuine.
Within the Bitcoin community, there’s been plenty of infighting ahead of November’s planned SegWit2x hard fork, with the battle between the supporters of SegWit2x and core software supporters raging on. A group of core supporters that have created a movement known as NO2x does all it can to repel support for SegWit2x and the NO2x movement has certainly garnered some support from some of Bitcoin’s bigwigs, with one of the leaders of the Bitcoin Gold team, Robert Kuhne, reportedly a member.
Bitcoin Gold could be an attempt by the NO2x movement to merely detract interest from SegWit2 and with that in mind, there are also a number of issues with the Bitcoin Gold project that needs attention, including the fact that the team does not have atestnetof the network created, which prevents miners from testing the system and the project also implements the same per-block difficulty adjustment as Bitcoin in its code, with no signs of an Emergency Difficulty Adjustment (EDA). Also, there is reportedly no replay attack protection through the Bitcoin Gold team which have suggested that the website is under active development at present.
While there are some concerns over the characteristics of Bitcoin Gold, its website lacking in detail, the Fork’s intention of decentralizing a centralized mining industry through the use of GPUs is one that could garner significant support. After all, the ethos of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, in general, is decentralization…
H4x3, the anonymous lead developer of Bitcoin Gold, has stated that the purpose of the Bitcoin Gold fork is to encapsulate Satoshi’s one CPU one vote vision, with the current mining domination unacceptable to anyone who understands the importance of decentralization to Bitcoin.
H4x3 added that Bitcoin Gold can be thought of simply as a replication of the Bitcoin protocol and coin distribution that can serve as a backup plan in case the original mining network is destroyed.
Interestingly, H4x3 believes that there has been a significant amount of support for Bitcoin Gold despite a lack of any major marketing. There is an expectation that Ethereum miners may, in fact, switch their GPUs to a Bitcoin Gold pool ahead of Ethereum’s planned shift from proof of work to a new and less popular proof of state system. If it turns out to be true, Bitcoin Gold would likely surpass Bitcoin Cash, though it would be a tall order to rise to the top of the Bitcoin table.
With Bitcoin Gold expected to yield yet another version of Bitcoin, the markets will be looking ahead to November and the SegWit2x fork and whether there will be another blockchain split.
There’s plenty hanging on the SegWit2x hard fork and cryptoanalysts have predicted that Bitcoin could hit $6,000 levels by year-end. The forecast dependent upon whether the November hard fork is implemented and how disruptive the fork is to the market.
Bitcoin Gold is expected to be less disruptive than the Bitcoin Cash fork in the summer and the looming SegWit2x fork in November, so while Bitcoin seems to have plenty of support at $4,000, one questions whether Bitcoin has yet to be truly tested as the disagreement between miners and core developers continue to threaten to prize apart Bitcoin.
With SegWit2, the issue of a split comes as there remains disagreement on a proposed increase to the block size. SegWit2 supporters are looking to push through a 2MB increase to the blockchain by way of a user-activated hard fork (UAHF”) that may result in the much talked about the split.
For now, neither the miners nor the core developers have ceded and, until one side decides to compromise, Bitcoin will split, leaving the free market to decide which chain will survive and for now it really is an unknown on what the possible ramifications on Bitcoin will be, over the near-term and longer-term.
Perhaps more interesting is the knock-on effects to other cryptocurrencies. As mentioned earlier in the article, Ethereum miners are looking to move to Bitcoin Gold once the fork has been implemented, which suggests that the value of Ethereum will be under pressure.
Bitcoin could continue to upgrade by way of implementing forks that could see interest in other cryptocurrencies erode.
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Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Technical Overview Of EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY & NZD/USD: 24.10.2017 || Goldman Sachs and IBM — What you need to know in markets on Tuesday: With the Dow closing in on record highs two of its most prominent members will report results on Tuesday.
In the morning, Goldman Sachs (GS) will report earnings, with Wall Street looking for earnings per share of $4.25 on revenue of $7.5 billion. Goldman’s results in its trading business will also be closely watched by investors after last week saw both JP Morgan (JPM) and Citi (C) report sharp declines in those business lines.
We’ll also be looking for any comments Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein has on Tuesday regarding Bitcoin,the hottest topic on Wall Street.
Also in the financial space, Morgan Stanley (MS) will report results in the morning.
After the market close, IBM (IBM) will release its quarterly earnings, with analysts looking for “Big Blue” to report earnings per share of $3.28 on revenue of $18.6 billion. IBM’s revenue will be in focus as the companyhas reported21 straight quarters of revenue declines. Expectations are for a 22nd straight decline to come in on Tuesday.
On Monday, Netflix (NFLX) earnings were the highlight, the streaming video company reporting better-than-expected revenue and subscriber growth, and thecompany also said it plansto spend $7-$8 billion on content in 2018. In after hours trade, the stock was up about 1.1%.
Another day, another development in the “race” to become the next chair of the Federal Reserve.
On Monday afternoon,Bloomberg reportedthat President Donald Trump had met with Stanford professor John Taylor to discuss the job, a meeting that left Trump “gushing.”
And this news was followed by areport from the Associated Presswhich said that Trump would meet with current Fed chair Janet Yellen on Thursday to discuss the possibility of staying on for a second term at the top of the central bank.
Betting markets onPredictIt— whichwe’ve been tracking at Yahoo Finance— as of Monday night gave Jerome Powell, a current Fed governor, the best of odds of being confirmed as Fed chair in February. Taylor was second with Yellen and former favorite Kevin Warsh trailing behind.
But what this reporting really ought to illuminate for markets is the idea that there will be a seemingly clear outcome to the process of who is nominated as the next Fed chair before we hear from Trump himself.
Consensus has coalesced around Warsh and Powell, the latter is a sitting Fed governor and the former was a governor under Bush and Obama, being Trump’s pick, but recall that this came after many saw Trump’s chief economic advisor Gary Cohn as a shoo-in for the job.
With Taylor, then, markets are onto their third “favorite” this year and the hopes for clarity around the future of the central bank ought to be fading.
Moreover, Taylor presents a potential policy issue fora president that has saidhe likes a low interest rate policy.
Taylor is most widely known in economics for developing the “Taylor rule,” which is essentially a formula for where benchmark interest rates out to be based on how the economy is performing. (For more color on the Taylor rule,read former Fed chair Ben Bernanke.)
Now, Bloomberg does note that at a conference last weekTaylor said he did not believe“rules should be used as a way to tie central bankers’ hands.” This somewhat softens the idea that a strict, rules-based approach would be the hard and fast law of a Taylor-run Fed.
Additionally,some experts have saidthat unlike an elected official who may win a seat and look to overturn much of what their predecessor has done — think “repeal and replace” — the future of Fed policy has a lot to do with the existing Fed staff. The outlook for Fed policy in 2018, then, ought not to be fundamentally different if Yellen is replaced as Fed chair, even if she is replaced by someone who is seen as having a vastly different approach to policy.
—
Myles Udland is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter@MylesUdland
Read more from Myles here:
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• Berkshire’s Bank of America win is more proof you can’t invest like Buffett || Bitcoin Isn’t Money — It’s Like Diamonds: Prices of bitcoin went through the roof and into the sky this week as traders decided it was the one true cryptocurrency. In just seven trading days, between Oct. 7 and Oct. 13, the bitcoin value has skyrocketed from $4,384 to $5,621. The new all-time high is $5,829, achieved overnight.
At $5,621, the bitcoin value represents nearly 55% of all cryptocurrency market cap — almost $94 billion. Ethereum, the next most popular coin, is worth about $31 billion. No other coin market is valued as high as $10 billion.
This has happened despite forks in both the bitcoin and ethereum blockchains; and a pending fork (dubbed SegWit2) in bitcoin scheduled to take place in November.
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Nearly 95% of the bitcoin market had signaled support for SegWit2, which is designed to speed transaction processing. The decision by mining pool F2Pool, however, to back off its support set offa speculative frenzy.
It’s ironic that buyers have voted for bitcoin, as it has well-documented problems that make trading itdifficult and expensive. While cryptocurrencies are touted as being highly liquid, bitcoin is the least liquid among them. That’s because its blockchain is old. It’s the equivalent of running all trades through a single PC in a cloud-based world.
But this is precisely why the latest boom has happened. Holders of bitcoin have simply held on. With no coins available to buy, prices skyrocketed like Cubs World Series tickets didlast year.
The pending fork in bitcoin was supposed to have been settled bya New York agreement, engineered by Barry Silbert, whoseBitcoin Investment Trustwas profiled by me this week as a “safe” place for retirement accounts to buy bitcoin.
Now, some bitcoin developers arecondemning the fork, writing that coins held by Silbert’sDigital Currency Groupmay not be safe after the fork. DCG includes Coinbase, the most active bitcoin market in the U.S.
What’s being sold to traders and the media as a technical argument seems more like a political struggle. Bitcoin Core seems to resent the control Silbert and his fellow signatories have over the market and are revolting against it.
Under the New York agreement, control of the reference client after the fork will move next month from a “/bitcoin” directory at Github, the open source repository, into a /btc1 directory, under the control of Jeff Garzik in Atlanta, co-founder of blockchain developerBloq. This will let the standard bitcoin block size grow, by two megabytes, which would ease trading bottlenecks.
From a technological perspective, the fork makes sense. From a market perspective, where traders want maximum value for what they have, it doesn’t. Bitfinex, a Hong Kong trading house, has createda futures marketfor speculating between the coins, which it has designated BCC, for Bitcoin Core, and BCU, for Bitcoin Unlimited.
These “Chain Split Tokens” show the new BCU coins created through SegWit2 trading for$447, less than 10% of what the older tokens are worth.
Bitcoin was designed to be a single global market, under decentralized control, but it is evolving into multiple markets, with Chinese and American players battling for control.
• Don't Panic: The Next Bitcoin Fork Does Not Deserve Your Hysteria
Right now, the Chinese have the advantage, because for all its technical problems a bitcoin token is rare and illiquid, thus highly prized for its scarcity. That’s behind the price rise, not the idea that bitcoin is money but the idea that the true bitcoin value is like diamonds — worth the extraordinary expense to mine and traded among elites based on that scarcity.
Dana Blankenhornis a financial and technology journalist. He is the author of a mystery novella involving bitcoin,The Reluctant Detective Saves the World, available now at the Amazon Kindle store. Write him [email protected] follow him on Twitter at@danablankenhorn. As of this writing, he owned no shares in companies mentioned in this story. To follow the value of cryptocurrencies bookmarkhttps://coinmarketcap.com.
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The postBitcoin Isn’t Money — It’s Like Diamondsappeared first onInvestorPlace. || Where now for Bitcoin?: Bitcoin has certainly had its ups and downs recently. With China clamping down on cryptocurrencies exchanges and seemingly going after small miners, JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon announcing to the world that Bitcoin is a fraud, and the prospect of Central Banks looking into the possibility of starting their own cryptocurrencies, you could be forgiven for thinking that bitcoin is falling apart. A quick look at the charts though, and a different story emerges. This is Bitcoin’s daily chart for the past six months. The most obvious thing is that the climb from $1000 to almost $5000 has been exponential. Bitcoin Daily Chart The bottom part of this chart with the red and green “triangles” is an indicator which shows a “pulse” when a major change of direction in the market is indicated. As with all charting indicators, there are always exceptions to the rules that govern their predictions but even a brief glance at this chart will show that the historic picture has been fairly accurate. Bear in mind that all the usual warnings apply as it seems that this particular indicator has now fired a bullish pulse (as indicated by the green upward spike to the extreme right of the blue dotted line in the bottom panel). If you look closely underneath this green spike you will notice a red dot. This indicates a major change in direction of a trend. The last time this happened can be seen around the midpoint of the chart, around 20 July. The major difference though, with this first of the three green triangles, is that there was no red pulse signal dot accompanying it. This means that the signal was not as powerful as the one showing now. Other indicators also support the trend reversal. The top indicator on our chart in the middle with the single line with the red and blue dots has a red dot on the extreme right. This indicator shows represent the end of a trend. In this, case it shows that the market has ceased its downward movement and it is about to turn on more positive sentiment. Story continues For clarity, here is an enlarged view of the same chart: Bitcoin Daily Chart Combining the fundamentals with this technical view we believe that bitcoin will continue its upward journey. Back in July, Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, said in a report that: “Bitcoin could be worth as much as $55,000 by 2020.” He further said: “We believe one of the drivers (of bitcoin) is crypto-currencies are cannibalizing demand for gold” Lee said in the report: “Based on this premise, we take a stab at establishing valuation framework for bitcoin. Based on our model, we estimate that bitcoin’s value per unit could be $20,000 to $55,000 by 2022.” We do not see Bitcoin rise to such stratospheric heights just yet. But it is another opinion to take into account when looking at investing in Bitcoin. There are many variables involved with this “new kid on the block” that it is impossible to do too much homework on the subject of cryptocurrencies. Just watch the charts carefully and read up on the news… Noble Gold specializes in IRAs and 401(k) rollovers through precious metals and cryptocurrencies investments. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Market Snapshot – Dollar is the Darling of the Markets E-mini NASDAQ-100 Index (NQ) Futures Technical Analysis – September 27, 2017 Forecast E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM) Futures Analysis – September 27, 2017 Forecast E-mini S&P 500 Index (ES) Futures Technical Analysis – September 27, 2017 Forecast GBP/USD Progressive Bearish Channel Formed Midday Forex Snapshot – September 27, 2017 || Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 13/11/17: Bitcoin Cash has been on the move and it’s been a tremendous last 7-days, hitting an all-time high $2,477.65 before coughing up just over $1,000 to sit at $1,133.2 at the time of writing, down 16.8%. For a brief moment, Bitcoin’s offspring stood above Ethereum by market cap
The gains may well have come as Bitcoin investors continued to drop Bitcoin following the decision by Bitcoin’s core developers to pull support for the Segwit2X hard fork last week. Concerns over transaction speeds have left the markets pondering whether Bitcoin Cash could, in fact, become the front-runner.
Get Into Bitcoin Trading with Plus500
There’s a long way to go for Bitcoin Cash to catch up to Bitcoin, but if backers of Segwit2X continue to drop Bitcoin in favor of Bitcoin Cash, the gap may narrow quite quickly. Hash rate numbers support this, with reports hitting the wires that Bitcoin Cash’s hash rate has overtaken Bitcoin’s.
The sell-off from Sunday’s peak was likely to be attributed to profit taking, though the day and the week ahead will provide some more indication on whether Bitcoin cash is finding strong support or just another blip in Bitcoin’s headline domination. Bitcoin Gold’s cryptocurrency release on Sunday will have added to the mixed sentiment and possible downside to Bitcoin Cash. Investors may have also taken the opportunity to move into the cheapest of the trio. News had hit the crypto news wires over the weekend that Bitcoin Gold would be launched on Sunday.
Bitcoin Cash was free money for Bitcoin holders at the time of the fork, but with valuations now in excess of $1,000, it’s become serious money and the only question that remains is whether it can continue moving forward. Bitcoin Gold will complicate matters, but support is likely to be there through the day at $1,000 plus levels.
It’s unlikely to be grabbing the headlines just yet, with all the focus being on Bitcoin cash’s rally and the launch of Bitcoin Gold’s cryptocurrency. But, with one of Litecoin’s main differences with Bitcoin being the shorter time frame between adding blocks, demand could begin to rise. While Bitcoin Gold looks to become Ethereum’s main competitor, miners being able to use graphics processing units, Litecoin allows miners to use normal personal computers.
Get Into Bitcoin Trading Today
There’s plenty going on in the cryptoworld and, following the cancellation of the Segwit2X hard fork, the appetite for Litecoin has been mixed and in the advent of Bitcoin Gold being launched, investors may well be prying for position in search of another Bitcoin sibling rally. Bitcoin Cash is also likely drawing out some Litecoin holders going into the week, following Sunday’s record run.
At the time of writing, Litecoin was recovered from intraday lows to gain 1.17% to $59.50, while coming off a Sunday high of $67.24.
For those looking to get into the Cryptoworld without risking the shirt on one’s back, Ripple stands out. It’s been on the ropes over the weekend, before today’s 2.9% gain to $0.19567, but when considering what Ripple has to offer, its outlook is likely to be brighter than some of its peers.
There are some big names behind this one and, while anchor investors such as Google, Standard Chartered, and Accenture are unlikely to be going anywhere fast, the rest have gone in search of the Dollars. We would expect Ripple to find its feet and will likely be considered attractive at current levels.
The Best and Safest Way to Buy and Sell Bitcoins
For those who are looking to take advantage of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies price fluctuations,Some brokersprovide traders with instant access to trade Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. The process is fast and easy with convenient and advanced trading platform (desktop and mobile), low spreads and instant execution.Click here for more details.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• AUD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – November 13, 2017 Forecast || Market Snapshot – Bitcoin Prices Shoot Through $5000: Bitcoin Prices Rush Higher The star of the day has been bitcoin as its prices have shot through the all time highs and also through the psychological mark of $5000 and now trade close to the $5200 region. We have been warning of this move for the past few days and had said that it is likely to be sooner rather than later. Now that the prices have pushed through towards $5200 and met with some resistance there, we expect a bit of consolidation which is unlikely to last long. The next target is likely to be $5500 and that is likely to witness some greater selling than the $5200 region. Dollar Under Pressure The dollar has been under pressure over the last 24 hours as the FOMC minutes turned out to be more dovish than what was expected. The market was expecting the minutes to outline the time when the next rate hike could be expected but one of these details were there in the minutes. This turned out to be a disappointment for the bulls who have given up on the dollar for the short term and hence the dollar has been on the backfoot ever since the release of the news. We expect this choppy kind of trading on the back of the weakness in the dollar to continue for the short term as the market awaits further signals from the US. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Gold Price Prediction for October 13, 2017 Morning Market Update – USD/JPY Strong Eurozone Production Numbers Fail to Buoy Stocks Market Snapshot – Bitcoin Prices Shoot Through $5000 Bitcoin Prices Push Through $5000 and on to All Time Highs E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM) Futures Analysis – October 12, 2017 Forecast View comments || Buffalo Wild Wings' entire future depends on the price of chicken wings (BWLD): Buffalo Wild Wings on Facebook
• Buffalo Wild Wings popped more than 24% on reports of a takeover offer from Roark Capital Group.
• But the company's future isn't clear-cut, even if the takeover goes through.
• The price of chicken wings is at historic highs and is the root of deeper problems at the company.
• Watch Buffalo Wild Wings' stock price move in real time.
Buffalo Wild Wingshas been struggling lately, with the stock falling 5.43% in the last year. But on Monday, reports that the company had received a $150 per share takeover offer from Roark Capital Group sent shares soaring by more than 24%.
For investors,a takeovercould mean the start of a turnaround for the company, but Jason West, an analyst at Credit Suisse, thinks the company's future is largely out of its own hands.
"Key risks include failure of the acquisition, competitive discounting, and wing price trends," West wrote in a note to clients.
Even with the potential for a $2.3 billion takeover offer from Roark Capital, the restaurant still has to sell a lot of wings with attractive margins to turn a profit. The companycalled the price of chicken wings "historically high"in its third-quarter earnings results, and announced that it would be ending its popular half-price wings promotion due to the rising costs.
If Roark Capital completes a takeover of BWW, it could be in the perfect place to pick the new CEO, and usher in a new plan to turn around the company, West said. Roark could be in the position to recover about $1 per share in earnings power, but only if "wing costs return to historical norms over time." But it's hard to predict when chicken wing prices will drop, and current prices could be a new normal, West said.
The decline at Buffalo Wild Wings isn't totally dependent on the price of chicken wings. The entire casual dining sector has been hurting, which West said is just another reason the company could continue to slip despite a takeover.
West remained neutral on the company and has a price target of $120, which is about 17% lower than the company's current price of $148.55.
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US stocks declined as losses in tech and industrial shares dragged major indexes lower.
The S&P 500 fell 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.4% and the more tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index decreased 0.2%.
First up, the scoreboard:
• Dow:23,358.24, -100.12, (-0.43%)
• S&P 500:2,578.85, -6.79, (-0.26%)
• Nasdaq:6,782.79, -10.50, (-0.15%)
• US 10-year yield:2.35%, -0.01
• WTI crude oil:$56.59, +$1.45, +2.63%
1.Walmart is making a mockery of the retail apocalypse — and traders are betting it'll keep soaring. They're paying the lowest premium in two years to hedge against a decline in the stock, which surged after the company raised full-year guidance.
2.Goldman Sachs says Tesla's new big rig won't solve its Model 3 problems. Analyst David Tamberrino acknowledges that the company's semi truck will provide a short-term boost, but that the Model 3 production bottleneck will keep weighing on the stock.
3.A $423 billion investor explains why tech stocks are defying a warning sign.Jim McCaughan, CEO of Principal Global Investors, says that the Shiller CAPE valuation metric doesn't apply to tech companies because of the changing nature of the market.
4.A bidding war for 21st Century Fox could break out. Disney was the first interested buyer, with Comcast and Verizon coming in about a week later.
5.Bitcoin bursts through $8,000. Prices have steadily rebounded after demand for offshoot bitcoin cash skyrocketed over the weekend, which sent bitcoin falling as low as $5,600.
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SEE ALSO:Walmart is making a mockery of the retail apocalypse — and traders are betting it'll keep soaring || Logical or Not, Bitcoin's Coming Fork Is Boosting Its Price: Bitcoin may be trading at an all-time high, but the reasons why have experts wondering. Despite increased dialogue about the cryptocurrency's potential, and growing acknowledgment from the mainstream, there are some who believe now isn't the best time to buy the notoriously volatile asset. After all, in just weeks, bitcoin is likely to see not just a contentious split of its blockchain, but an adversarial one . Looking for context on what could happen if bitcoin splits and one version tries to destroy the value of the other? As developers freely admit, you're unlikely to find it – it's a first. "Bitcoin traders are some of the most irrational investors you'll come across," OpenBazaar developer Chris Pacia said in a Facebook post addressing the issue. The brutal sentiment points to what has been the uptick in buying that appears to be taking place not just despite – but because of – the coming fork, now slated for November . In contrast to zealous investors , developers like Pacia are finding it hard to believe anyone would put big money into a protocol about to undergo a process even they're just beginning to understand . Yet it seems, investors believe the momentum is warranted given the results of the last hard fork in August, which split the network in two, but did so in a way that fairly safely created a new asset called bitcoin cash . Distributed to all bitcoin owners at the time of the fork, investors were suddenly given an equal amount of valuable cryptocurrency (bitcoin cash has held relatively steady around $300 per coin, but has traded for as much as $1,000). Far from a risky proposition, investors see that extra value as just created out of thin air and delivered to existing investors for free. But while developers are aware the mechanisms and politics of the coming fork are different, investors seem to be planning for the same results. Harry Yeh, managing partner at cryptocurrency investment firm Binary Financial, told CoinDesk: "Investors are just looking at it like, 'I'm going to get more tokens right now.' It's just that simple." And these investors aren't new to cryptocurrency (or to trading in general), they're well-established investors. Ronnie Moas, the founder of Wall Street firm Standpoint Research, for example, echoed Yeh's belief, saying, " I don't see [investing in bitcoin as Segwit2x closes in] as risky – especially if you hold onto the spin-off [coins]." Not the same Is this merely a case of aggressive trading, or is it wishful thinking? Some would argue, that on this issue, the traditional finance guys are getting in over their heads. Story continues For one, the bitcoin cash hard fork and the Segwit2x hard fork will be different in that the former's supporters were defined by their interest in creating a competing (and now seemingly complementary) cryptocurrency. With Segwit2x, the motivations aren't exactly that. Still, traders counter, cryptocurrency just doesn't function like more established markets, meaning that in the high-risk world of experimental assets, more risk is still just risk. "Historically, one would assume that if you have one token and it splits into two, your mindset would be that both tokens would be worthless," Yeh said. "But, traditional rules of economics and finance don't really apply in the cryptocurrency world." Yeh points to last summer's ethereum hard fork, which led to a split and the creation of two competing assets as yet another sign forks have historically resulted in value creation. While the price of ethereum and ethereum classic (the new coin) dropped initially after the split, ethereum's market value recovered quite nicely, currently hovering around $32 billion, while ethereum classic continues to hold value at just over $1 billion. "History has shown that, any time there's been a hard fork, that people get more tokens – and those tokens become tradeable somewhere," Yeh said. As a consequence, retail investors are betting that if they buy more bitcoin, another fork will drive prices higher, and that this will result in them holding a more diversified portfolio. More about bitcoin However, some investors say the rally could be less about diversification and more about going all in on bitcoin with the expectation of even more long-term gain. According to Arthur Hayes, a former Citigroup trader who now heads a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange, confidence is high that the existence of additional versions of the bitcoin protocol won't affect this long-term future. Further, with bitcoin holding steady, even though three of the world's largest exchanges in China closed down, there's confidence that nothing can quite derail its current trajectory . As a result, investors aren't really worried about Segwit2x. Yeh agreed with the bullish outlook on bitcoin broadly, saying he expects a run-up both before and after the hard fork. He argued that ideological belief in bitcoin – even at its most uncertain, even at its lowest – is what will continue to push the price higher and new investors into the market. Summing up that investor optimism, James Altucher , a former hedge fund manager, popular business blogger and bitcoin bull, told CoinDesk: "When people say that bitcoin is like a penny stock, it's like a scam internet stock, no. Bitcoin actually has huge amounts of software and science behind it to make it the best store of value in the world." Disclosure: CoinDesk is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which helped organize the Segwit2x proposal and has an ownership stake in OB1, the company that develops OpenBazaar. Skydiving image via Shutterstock Related Stories What Hard Fork? Ether's Price Is Climbing Ahead of Tech Upgrade Bitcoin's Price Keeps Rising, But Is $6,000 in Reach? History Repeated? Confidence High Ethereum Will Avoid Blockchain Split $5,800: Bitcoin Price Hits New Record High View comments || GLOBAL MARKETS-U.S. tax cut worries dent hopes of longest winning run in 14 years: * MSCI world index unlikely to hit strongest streak since 2003
* Asia-Pac index near 10-year high, Nikkei lurches after high
* Tax plan worries weigh on dollar, U.S. stocks
* Crude oil steadies, gold hovers near 3-week high
* Bitcoin slides 5 percent after latest record high (Updates throughout)
By David Randall
NEW YORK, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Broad equity market declines in Asia and Europe on Thursday, combined with growing concerns that the Republican-led corporate U.S. tax cut may not pass this year, threatened to spoil the longest winning streak for MSCI's global stock index since 2003.
Wall Street stocks opened lower after Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, a member of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, said that the Senate tax proposal will delay a corporate tax cut by one year to 2019. Major stock indexes came off their session lows after Senator John Cornyn said Senate Republicans were looking to avoid such a delay. [.N ]
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 130.51 points, or 0.55 percent, to 23,432.85, the S&P 500 lost 14.82 points, or 0.57 percent, to 2,579.56 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 57.13 points, or 0.84 percent, to 6,731.99.
"The stock market has run out of a little momentum," said Societe Generale strategist Kit Juckes. "We are waiting for some news from the Republicans on the (U.S.) tax plans, there is a bond market that has stalled and we've got rather soggy-looking emerging markets ... We probably need to get U.S. Treasury yields higher to get things going again."
Junk bonds fell to their lowest intraday levels since March, victims of a broader flight to safety as the Republican-led proposed U.S. corporate tax cut seemed on the verge of a delay. Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes were last down 4/32 in price to yield 2.331 percent, from 2.317 percent late on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, Japan’s Nikkei index swung by a wild 2 percent after hitting its highest since 1992 and Europe's main indexes were firmly in the red as tech and commodity stocks tumbled while Brexit talks resumed amid low expectations in Brussels.
MSCI's all-country equity index is clocking year-to-date gains of almost 19 percent. (http://reut.rs/1WAiOSC)
But as a measure of relative calm amid the current bull market and a reflection of the low volatility environment that has dominated all year, none of the most recent 10 daily gains has exceeded half a percent and more than half of them were less than 0.1 percent.
TAXING TIMES
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of six key currencies, fell 0.44 percent to 94.448.
"There's very much a risk of disappointment. The U.S. dollar could go through a weakening phase on the back of uncertainty around that tax reform," said Steven Dooley, currency strategist for Western Union Business Solutions in Melbourne.
Some also focused on fallout from Democrat wins in regional U.S. elections this week as a signal for next year’s mid-term congressional elections for President Donald Trump.
Trump was in China on Thursday, pressing President Xi Jinping to do more to rein in North Korea and to open the Chinese economy, the second-biggest in the world after the United States, to more foreign firms.
The euro was last up 0.47 percent at $1.1648 while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index dropped 1.09 percent at 1,534.88.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.39 percent.
Oil prices steadied just below two-year highs, supported by supply cuts by major exporters, but analysts said the market could be vulnerable to a sell-off after several months of gains. U.S. crude rose 0.58 percent to $57.14 per barrel and Brent was last at $63.88, up 0.61 percent.
Spot gold added 0.5 percent to $1,287.41 an ounce. U.S. gold futures gained 0.36 percent to $1,288.30.
Cryptocurrency bitcoin skidded about 3.5 percent after being down almost 5 percent.
It had hit a record high just shy of $8,000 on Wednesday after a coalition of developers and investors suspended a software upgrade planned for next Thursday that could have split the digital currency in two. (Additional reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Dan Grebler and James Dalgleish)
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
#bitcoin non si ferma più? Analisi tecnica || #bitcoin non si ferma più? Analisi tecnica || There are small ones on the heads of the larger ones that allow some shorting profit. || #bitcoin non si ferma più? Analisi tecnica || Fire a clapper! Boston Bruins (-130) Colorado Avalanche (+115) BET BTC on NHL pic.twitter.com/Wxxves3fhn http://btf.st/Nitrogen pic.twitter.com/iE9eyQwmRq || 10/06 18:00 Crypto currency sentiment analysis.
BTC : Positive
BCC : Neutral
ETH : Positive
ETC : Positive
https://goo.gl/5hp6Cz #BTC || Bitcoin Gold Launch – 12th November 2017 (19:00 UTC) https://bitcoingold.org/bitcoin-gold-launch/ … lewat @bitcoingold || 1 BTC Price: BTC-e USD Bitstamp 5697.83 USD Coinbase 5710.00 USD #btc #bitcoin 2017-10-13 13:30 pic.twitter.com/UEXc9wbHMJ || #bitcoin non si ferma più? Analisi tecnica || Mine Cryptocurrency on any device #Bitcoin #Litecoin #Dashcoin #Ethereum https://www.coinhole.us
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Trend: up || Prices: 8253.69, 8790.92, 9330.55, 9818.35, 10058.80, 9888.61, 10233.60, 10975.60, 11074.60, 11323.20
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2020-04-02]
BTC Price: 6793.62, BTC RSI: 50.68
Gold Price: 1625.70, Gold RSI: 54.43
Oil Price: 25.32, Oil RSI: 39.73
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
CoinFlip Adds Support for Stellar XLM to Its 450 Crypto ATMs: Cryptocurrency ATM startup CoinFlip now allows customers to purchase Stellar Lumens (XLM) from its network of machines, according to co-founder and CEO Daniel Polotsky. The listing increases XLM’s availability in bricks-and-mortar stores , Polotsky said. CoinFlip operates about 450 ATMs in gas stations and convenience stores across the United States, allowing customers to buy a variety of cryptocurrencies with credit cards. It also runs 40 two-way ATM locations where users can sell their crypto for hard cash USD. Related: Former Venezuelan Gold Mining Company Wants to Centralize Bitcoin ATM Infrastructure CoinFlip ATMs already offer customers access to bitcoin (BTC), litecoin (LTC), ether (ETH), dash (DASH), komodo (KMD), chainlink (LINK) and tron ( TRX ). Polotsky said XLM’s high daily liquidity and market prominence – plus his customers’ requests – prompted him to list the token. CoinFlip plans to continue adding coins as it rapidly expands its own ATM network, which already has clearance to run in over 40 states, according to Polotsky. “We’re trying to push out 20 [ATMs] a week,” he said. Related Stories Why Compliance Is the Biggest Team at Bitcoin ATM Startup Coinsource Stellar Tried to Give Away 2B XLM Tokens on Keybase. Then the Spammers Came Stellar’s Version of Bitcoin’s Lightning Torch Has Been Burning Quietly Since June || Crypto Exchange FCoin Insolvent After Revealing Up to $130M Bitcoin Shortfall: FCoin, a crypto exchange that adopted the controversial “trans-fee mining” model, has paused trading and withdrawal as it reveals a shortage of crypto assets worth up to $130 million.
Zhang Jian, the former Huobi CTO who launched FCoin in May 2018, wrote a lengthy post on Monday, saying the exchange is now unable to process users’ withdrawal demands as its asset reserve has fallen short of its liability – and the gap is estimated to be about 7,000 to 13,000 bitcoin (BTC).
The post,first published in Chineseand latertranslated on Reddit, comes as a shocking notice to users in China as the significant amount of assets in question led to the insolvency of the controversial model that at one point made FCoin one of the largest exchanges by trading volume.
Related:Derivatives Exchange Deribit Launches Daily Ether Options
Zhang claimed in the post the exchange was neither hacked nor an exit scam but the problem is “a little too complicated to be explained in a single sentence.”
In summary, he said the issue came from internal system errors that have – for a long period of time – credited users with more transaction-based mining rewards than they should have received. As the company failed to spot this soon enough to remedy the situation, the snowball has grown even larger since the beginning of 2019.
Fcoin went live around May 2018, introducing a novel model called “trans-fee mining” to incentivize trading and to issue its exchange token dubbed FT.
Instead of launching an initial coin offering or an airdrop, FCoin issued 51 percent of its FTs to the public in exchange for making transactions. For instance, for every transaction fee a user paid to FCoin in the form of either bitcoin or ethereum, the platform would reimburse the user 100 percent of the value in FTs.
Related:Binance to Announce White-Label Exchange Infrastructure for Local Markets
In addition, FCoin would distribute 80 percent of the transaction fees it collected in bitcoin and ether to users who held FTs bitcoin continuously throughout a day. This model, while being criticized for possibly enabling price manipulation of the FT, was quicklyadoptedby others and led to a shake-up among exchanges in terms of volume ranking.
However, according to Zhang, errors in FCoin’s system started to give away more mining rewards to users than they should have earned, beginning in mid-2018. The firm did not set up a complete back-end auditing system to properly manage its treasury until mid-2019, he said.
As the price of FT continuously decreased through 2019, Zhang said he and his team have been buying back FTs from the secondary market in efforts to increase the buying demand for the token’s price, which was one of the “decision errors” he made.
Zhang said the system problem coped with these “decision errors” gave a large amount of users the opportunity to sell and withdraw more than what should have been on their account balance, causing the significant loss of FCoin’s assets on its own balance sheet.
The announcement came just days FCoinsuspended its entire platformafter discovering a risk-control issue. Zhang said in the post that he will now personally and manually process users’ withdrawal requests made via emails.
He claimed that he will “switch tracks and start again” and hopes to use profits from his new projects to “compensate everyone for their losses.”
• Binance CEO Says Crypto Exchange Has Applied for a Singapore License
• OKEx Partners With Bain-Backed Crypto Exchange to Launch Leveraged Futures in India || LocalBitcoins seller charged with money laundering: The U.S. Homeland Security has charged a LocalBitcoins seller with conducting an unlicensed money transmitting business after undercover agents exchanged over $140,000 in cash for bitcoin with the alleged criminal. According to the criminal complaint , 26-year-old Kenneth Rhule has been advertising in-person cash-for-bitcoin exchanges on global peer-to-peer trading platform localbitcoins.com under the username “Gimacut93”. Rhule made his first appearance in the U.S. District Court in Settle on Tuesday and now faces an eight-charge complaint including “conducting an unlicensed money transmitting business, five counts of laundering monetary instruments, and one count of conspiracy to produce and distribute marijuana.” The complaint is the culmination of the agency’s long-term investigation efforts that first started in April 2018. Since then, undercover agents have been posing as criminals seeking laundering services and have had multiple in-person meetings with Rhule in locations like Starbucks. From April to Dec. 2018, Rhule helped undercover agents exchange over $140,000 in cash for bitcoin. Notably, the agents explained to him that some of their cash came from human trafficking activities, but Rhule still proceeded to conduct business with them. "When completing these transactions, Rhule did not ask any 'Know Your Customer' information," said the complaint. "In fact, Rhule conducted these transactions even after the undercover agent explained that at least a portion of the cash involved represented proceeds of human trafficking, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(3). Moreover, Rhule was also allegedly operating an unlicensed marijuana business and exchanging his marijuana products for cryptocurrency, the complaint said. According to an announcement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, while all allegations are still being investigated, Rhule could face up to five years in prison for operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, up to 20 years for laundering monetary instruments, and up to 40 years for his alleged involvement in marijuana distribution. || An Action-Packed January: Investors barely had time for a breather as the new developments were crucial in setting the tone for the rest of the year. Climate Change There were many expectations that 2020 which marks the start of a new decade will be the confirmation of a new era for climate change. January was the reality of the green shift in the world of finance. Extreme weather conditions and raging bushfires across Australia triggered fierce debates about the climate crisis across the globe. This year, the World Economic Forum in Davos also emphasized on climate change and had even run a more environmentally-friendly event to raise awareness for the need to reduce our carbon footprint. Market participants are recognising the intense pressure on policymakers and the urgency for climate action. Investors are at a key turning point where the fundamental shift is forcing sustainable investment. Middle East Tensions The start of the month was marred by heightened tensions in the Middle East. A series of missile strikes from both the US and Iran has kept investors on edge due to rising fears of war. President Donald Trumps decision not to retaliate after the latest Iranian attack on a US base in Iraq calmed investors. Trade Agreements Market participants welcomed the positive news on the trade front. After Mexico, the US formally signed the new North American trade pact into law on Wednesday. Canada is the only country left to ratify the revised trade agreement. Phase One of the trade deal between the worlds two powerful economies is officially signed. Despite the scepticism that the next phase of trade negotiations will be tough, investors cheered the trade truce. Brexit Brexit is now official and this Friday will mark the day the UK will formally leave the European Union. The European Parliament has approved UKs withdrawal agreement and both parties now have an 11-month transition period to allow new UK-EU negotiations to take place. Story continues Central Banks Central banks eased monetary policies last year and had even restarted unconventional monetary policies amid fears of a slowing global economy and trade tensions. However, comments this month by the central banks have been more or less in line with expectations. Major central banks appear to be on hold, as anticipated, and projections have not been significantly different to trigger a reassessment of global interest rate outlook. Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Despite a volatile few weeks, there was enough optimism on both the economic and geopolitical front to bolster confidence in the global markets. However, the outbreak has caused more than 170 deaths and 7,000 infected persons so far and has triggered some momentary panic in the markets. Governments around the world are ramping up efforts to contain the virus which brought some reassurance to investors. China has quarantined major cities and many airlines have cancelled flights to China to limit the spread across borders. Tourism, travel and aviation-related stocks are the most negatively affected while a handful of biotechs companies surged this month after the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations announced funding of $12.5 million to develop new vaccines against the Wuhan virus. Inovio Pharmaceuticals : Its share price rose by more than 20%. Moderna Inc. : Its share price added 8%. Novavax Inc .: Its share price bounced from all-time lows to $10 before retreating slightly. As of writing, it is currently 71% higher for the month at $6.84. The World Health Organisatoin (WHO) has officially declared the coronavirus outbreak as a global health emergency easing fears that the WHO is increasing its efforts to contain the virus. Risks Remain Overall, a series of key positive developments has helped the stock markets reach fresh new highs, but the Coronavirus has tamed the momentum. At this stage, the impact of the virus on the global economy is quite limited. While it is too early to determine the economic effect of the virus, any global epidemic generally tends to have a short or medium-term repercussions. The increased international efforts to contain the spread are so far encouraging. Aside from the pandemic, investors are expecting a global recovery over the months. Economic data released this month has been promising. Yet, certain risks persist which could have some impact on the pace and magnitude of the global recovery: US-China Phase One : Its success is heavily dependent on Chinas compliance and commitment, which remains murky. Traders are also less optimistic about the second phase which will handle challenging issues on IT, Artificial Intelligence and cybersecurity among other hi-tech areas. Geopolitical tensions: The rising tensions between the US and Iran came at a surprise. Investors are likely to keep risks within the Middle East on their radars. However, we expect geopolitical tensions to bring only periodic bouts of volatility unless there are serious escalations. Central Banks: There are expectations that most central banks will maintain a steady interest rate in 2020. The Bank of England (BoE) and Bank of Canada (BoC) were among the few to resist the global run towards easing monetary policies. However, investors are watching closely the change of tone coming from the central bankers. Fundamentals are improving and there are more positive economic growth forecasts than expected. At the moment, volatility is mostly driven by headlines and the unexpected virus. The current environment is positive, but caution is still expected given the prevailing uncertainties. In February, we expect investors to keep monitoring those risks, and analyse economic data and earnings results to reassess growth expectations. Deepta Bolaky, Market Analyst at GO Markets. Read Our GO Markets Review About GO Markets GO Markets was established in Australia in 2006 as a provider of online CFD trading services. For over a decade we have positioned ourselves as a firmly trusted and leading global regulated CFD provider. Traders can access more than 250 tradeable CFD instruments including Forex, Shares, Indices and Commodities. Disclaimer: Articles and videos from GO Markets analysts are based on their independent analysis. Views expressed are of their own and of a general nature. Advice (if any) are not based on the readers personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Readers should, therefore, consider how appropriate the advice (if any) is to their objectives, financial situation and needs, before acting on the advice. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Bitcoin Holds its Ground Equities Rebound, Coronavirus Spreads Further, Earnings Season In High Gear Price of Gold Fundamental Daily Forecast Demand for Risk Weighing on Prices Oil Price Fundamental Daily Forecast OPEC+ Considering Further 500,000 bpd Oil Output Cut EUR/USD Mid-Session Technical Analysis for February 3, 2020 Markets in Search for the Bottom || Bitcoin Erases 38% of 2020 Price Rally as Bears Gain Strength: • Bitcoin’s daily and 12-hour charts indicate the path of least resistance is to the downside.
• A break below immediate support at $9,074 (Feb. 4 low) would expose the support range of $8,700-$8,600, under which the focus would shift to $8,300 (head-and-shoulders breakdown target).
• A corrective bounce to resistance levels at $9,230 and $9,400 may be seen before a potential drop below $9,000, as the hourly chart is reporting seller exhaustion.
• A close above $10,028 (Monday’s high) is needed to turn the tide in favor of the bulls.
Bitcoin(BTC) dropped to three-week lows early Wednesday, erasing a significant portion of this year’s price rally.
The top cryptocurrency by market cap slipped to $9,095 at 08:30 GMT to hit the lowest level since Feb. 4, according to CoinDesk’sBitcoin’s Price Index(BPI).
With the drop to multi-week lows, bitcoin has retraced nearly 38 percent of the rise from $6,850 to $10,500 seen in the six weeks to Feb. 13.
Related:Over $190M in Bitcoin Liquidated on BitMEX Amid Crypto Market Sell-Off
The rally may continue to unravel as the bears have been looking stronger in the last 24 hours.
The cryptocurrency fell below $9,400 during Tuesday’s U.S. trading hours, confirming a major bearish reversal pattern on technical charts. Additionally, sellers have breached the widely tracked 50-day moving average (MA) support for the first time since Jan. 3.
At press time, bitcoin is changing hands at $9,140 on Bitstamp, while its global average price as calculated by BPI is seen at $9,175.
The head-and-shoulders breakdown seen on the 12-hour chart indicates a bullish-to-bearish trend change and has opened the doors for a drop to $8,300 (target as per the measured move method).
Related:Bitcoin Drove Half of Square’s Cash App Revenue in the 4th Quarter
The outlook would turn bullish if and when prices rise above the lower high of $10,028 created on Monday.
The MACD histogram, an indicator used to identify trend changes and gauge trend strength, has dropped to the lowest level since Nov. 26, indicating the strongest bearish bias in three months.
The relative strength index is also reporting a bearish bias with a below-50 print. Further, the cryptocurrency has breached the 50-day average and is trading well below key support at $9,188 – bitcoin had turned lower from that level on Jan. 19.
All in all, the path of least resistance is to the downside. A break below the immediate support at $9,075 (Feb. 4 low) would invalidate the higher lows set up and bring in additional losses.
Popular analyst Josh Ragerthinksbitcoin’s convincing move below $9,300 has set the stage for a slide to $8,700–$8,600.
That said, a minor bounce may precede a deeper drop as the intraday indicators are reporting oversold conditions.
The hourly chart’s MACD has printed higher lows, contradicting lower lows on price. That bullish divergence represents seller exhaustion.
As such, a corrective rally to resistance near $9,230 and possibly to $9,400 cannot be ruled out.
Disclosure:The author holds no cryptocurrency at the time of writing
• February Gains Disappear as Bitcoin Drops Below $9k
• ‘Short Bitcoin’ ETP Available to Investors on Germany’s Second-Largest Exchange || Ethereum Dips Below 130.44 Level, Down 0.91%: Investing.com - Ethereum fell bellow the $130.44 level on Monday. Ethereum was trading at 130.44 by 03:23 (07:23 GMT) on the Investing.com Index, down 0.91% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage loss since March 30. The move downwards pushed Ethereum's market cap down to $14.42B, or 0.00% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. At its highest, Ethereum's market cap was $135.58B. Ethereum had traded in a range of $125.02 to $131.38 in the previous twenty-four hours. Over the past seven days, Ethereum has seen a rise in value, as it gained 4.58%. The volume of Ethereum traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $10.86B or 0.00% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $124.8400 to $142.8971 in the past 7 days. At its current price, Ethereum is still down 90.83% from its all-time high of $1,423.20 set on January 13, 2018. Elsewhere in cryptocurrency trading Bitcoin was last at $6,247.5 on the Investing.com Index, up 1.48% on the day. XRP was trading at $0.17292 on the Investing.com Index, a loss of 0.50%. Bitcoin's market cap was last at $114.52B or 0.00% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, while XRP's market cap totaled $7.56B or 0.00% of the total cryptocurrency market value. Related Articles Network of Fake Bitcoin QR Code Generators Stole $45,000 in March ConsenSys Partnering with Hitachi for PegaSys Plus Sales in Japan Blockchain-Related Deals Are Moving From The US to China View comments || Bitcoin Ends Q1 Down 10%, Outperforming Equities in Coronavirus Crisis: Bitcoin ended the first quarter of 2020 down from the start of the year, but not as badly as the record-setting losses suffered by global equities. On a 24-hour basis, bitcoin (BTC) was in the green less than a percent Tuesday afternoon Eastern time and ether (ETH) was up slightly as well. The performance of other cryptocurrencies was mixed. Notable assets on CoinDesks big board include decred (DCR) up 3 percent, XRP (XRP) in the green 2 percent and cardano (ADA) gaining 1 percent. Assets in the red included dash (DASH) slipping 1 percent and bitcoin SV (BSV) in the red 1 percent. All price changes are in the past 24 hours as of 20:30 UTC (4:30 p.m. ET) on March 31. Related: How Coronavirus Is Accelerating the End of Globalism, Feat. Peter Zeihan In the traditional markets, Japans Nikkei 225 index closed down slightly, less than a percent. Europes FTSE 100 ended the day up 1.3 percent. In the U.S., the S&P 500 closed New Yorks trading day down 1.6 percent. But for the full quarter, the Nikkei 225 was down 20 percent, the worst three-month showing for the Tokyo-based index since 2008 . The FTSE lost 14 percent for the period, its second-worst quarterly performance ever , beating only the fourth quarter of 1987. The S&P 500 was in the red 18 percent to close out Q1 2020, its worst quarter since 1938 . Cryptocurrencies operate 24/7 and dont have quarters for closing the books. However, bitcoin, the market bellwether, was down just 10 percent for 2020s first three months. Semi-correlated? Despite its relative resilience, bitcoin still has been trending downward over the course of the first quarter along with traditional markets, undermining the narrative that it is a non-correlated asset. Related: Online Black Markets Bitcoin Revenues Take a Hit Amid Pandemic I think correlation across assets is still quite high, a telltale sign of when macro matters more than micro, said Vishal Shah, founder of Alpha5, a new derivatives exchange backed by large crypto funds. Story continues See also: Bitcoins Recent Recovery Wont Salvage a Terrible Month for Prices Indeed, the current period of turbulence isnt the first time bitcoin has behaved similarly to mainstream financial investments. The lack of correlation to equities was a bit premature to announce. We had periods of high correlation, for example, in 2018, when bitcoin fell along with equities in December of that year, said Siddhartha Jha, a former Wall Street analyst now working on blockchain-focused startup Arbol. On the other hand, he said, we have had other periods of higher correlation to gold, more befitting bitcoins aspirations as a hedge against inflation. Since 00:00 UTC Tuesday, bitcoin has been trading in a tight range of $6,300-$6,500. BitMEX open interest remains low, but Coinbase is reporting great inbound activity. None of the typical signs for a crypto bull-run are there, Shah said, referring to major derivatives and spot exchanges, respectively. March has produced the lowest level of outstanding positions on BitMEX in 18 months , although the derivatives exchanges volume has seen gains the past four days prior to leveling off Monday. Gold dropped over 2 percent Tuesday as of 20:30 UTC, breaking out of its consolidation pattern on heavy selling volume March 31. The road ahead While the coronavirus outbreak has dealt a heavy blow to the world economy, analysts are unsure how long it will take for growth to resume. Recessions typically unfold over a longer period of time at least two consecutive quarters, said Guy Hirsch, U.S. managing director of multi-asset platform eToro. For the time being expect bitcoins role to keep switching for traders it all depends on how other markets perform, experts say. See also : Crypto Markets Can Never Close, and Thats a Good Thing The novel-tech part of bitcoin leads to correlation with Nasdaq, especially as many of the investors have overlaps, said Arbols Jha. Other times it will go with gold. But if equity markets are crashing, that correlation is going to show up very fast. How the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar holds up given massive doses of stimulus from Washington is something else analysts are watching keenly. The economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic has been instant and the impact is unprecedented, added eToros Hirsch. There is a growing consensus that due to the Fed announcing unlimited QE, investors could soon be looking to BTC as an inflation hedge against a depreciating dollar. Related Stories Bitfury Latest to Donate Crypto Mining Power to Coronavirus Research As Crypto Prices Reeled in Q1, These Coins Stood Out || The Pandemic Gives Digital Currencies Another Chance to Shine: Marcelo M. Prates is a lawyer at the Central Bank of Brazil and holds a doctorate from Duke University School of Law. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position or policy of any of the institutions with which he is affiliated. In times of crisis and radical uncertainty, the search for alternatives that can improve everyday life intensifies. The Bitcoin project was launched in October 2008, just six weeks after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and the financial crisis went from bad to dreadful. Since then, many other private cryptocurrencies have sprung up, and even central banks have began contemplating digital currencies of their own. None of these digital currencies became widely available or adopted, though. The coronavirus pandemic and its severe social, political and economic repercussions give digital currencies one more chance to shine. Unlike cash, digital currencies would not be a potential source of virus transmission or require persons to overlook social distancing when making payments. A central-bank digital currency (CBDC) available to the public could, moreover, allow the government to send money directly to the population as part of a stimulus plan without having to mail checks. Related: For DeFi’s Sake, Maker Should Take Blame for Black Thursday Losses But can digital currencies, private or public, finally deliver on their promises and change money for the better? It does not seem so. First, cryptocurrencies are an elitist type of money. Bitcoin (BTC), the reigning cryptocurrency until these days, may be attractive to the tech savvy and wealthy, but fails to meet the needs of people fighting for survival. As bitcoin enthusiast Peter McCormack reports from a recent visit to Venezuela , the persons who could benefit the most from bitcoin cannot use it. The poor and the less educated, who rely on cash and are the most affected by surging inflation, don’t have regular access to smartphones, connectivity or even electricity. See also: 4 Reasons Central Banks Should Launch Retail Digital Currencies Here lies a lesson for central banks. If they plan to issue a digital currency that can be used by banks and the public alike, they’ll need to adopt an all-or-nothing approach. Either everyone – no matter how poor, uneducated or old they may be – will have full access to the CBDC or it isn’t ready for launch. Related: US Senate Floats ‘Digital Dollar’ Bill After House Scrubs Term From Coronavirus Relief Plan Instability is the second reason why cryptocurrencies still fall short of revolutionizing money. Even if people from a country facing monetary disarray could flight for bitcoin to seek protection against hyperinflation, they would continue to face price instability. During the coronavirus outbreaks, bitcoin lost half its value in dollars in a matter of weeks – not what is expected from “ digital gold .” As usual, liquidity and safety were only found in U.S. bonds and dollars. Story continues So, the issuer or the people behind the currency still matter. Facing doomsday scenarios, both sophisticated investors in Tokyo and regular people in Harare trust the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve above all. Does that mean governments are more reliable than private money issuers? Not necessarily. Bank deposits are the closest we have to a digital sovereign currency – and they’re privately issued. As Argentinians and Brazilians can tell, some governments will not think twice before freezing bank accounts and limiting withdrawals during a crisis. Imagine what they could do with a CBDC! More than that, about nine in 10 dollars in circulation are already created by private parties: commercial banks. Bank deposits are the closest we have to a digital sovereign currency – and they’re privately issued. To be sure, as Cornell law professors Robert Hockett and Saule Omarova well underscore , the modern financial system is a public-private partnership, in which a sovereign government takes a privately issued liability (bank deposits) as a liability of its own (money). This franchise-like arrangement also means that, when things go wrong, the sovereign government has to provide support in the form of liquidity assistance and bailouts. After all, it’s “the sovereign’s full faith and credit” that are at stake. A privately issued digital currency could only present a credible alternative to this public-private model now in place if it could avoid bitcoin’s shortcomings. Global technology companies, like Google or Facebook, are the most favorably positioned to come up with an option in the short run. They can take advantage of their extensive user base and geographical dispersion to quickly provide the public with a digital currency that would facilitate not only local transactions but also cross-border payments. See also: The US Should Use Stablecoins for Emergency Coronavirus Payments Facebook’s libra was the initial step in this direction. However, as I argue in another post , libra looks more like a security than a currency and may well be a short-lived project because of its flawed design. To avoid this fate, the Libra Association should shy away from the stablecoin model, which requires the digital currency to be backed by a basket of sovereign currencies. This feature may be useful to help the digital currency keep its value stable. But it also turns the currency into a digital claim on a portfolio of assets, much like shares in a money-market fund. If the Libra Association wants to create a truly digital currency, it should move libra closer to the bitcoin model. Libra could still have an identified issuer, but it should also have its own unit of account and not rely on sovereign currencies to be created, transferred, or valued. In this case, libra could deliver the benefits of both the public and private monies without the hassles. Because of Facebook’s 2.4 billion user base, a revamped libra would be readily available to more than 1/3 of the world’s population. Rich or poor, old or young, educated or illiterate, if these users can already access Facebook, they could easily use libra, too. Also, with a known and reliable issuer behind it, libra could gain the public’s confidence – as long as the Libra Association can overcome Facebook’s complicated history with privacy protection . And the more trustworthy the issuer, the more stable and safe the currency. Against this backdrop, Facebook seems to be the only institution ready to launch an alternative currency in the digital format that could be widely available and potentially stable. In any case, finding the money of choice eventually comes down to answering one salient yet old question: Who do you trust the most (or the least) to take care of your money? Your government, bitcoin’s developers and miners or Facebook? For comments, please contact [email protected] Related Stories ‘Digital Dollar’ Stripped From Latest US Coronavirus Relief Bill House Stimulus Bills Envision ‘Digital Dollar’ to Ease Coronavirus Recession (Updated) View comments || Panic grips financial markets after U.S. travel curbs, ECB move: By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - Panic hit world financial markets on Thursday after stimulus efforts from the European Central Bank failed to calm investors alarmed by U.S. moves to restrict travel from Europe because of the coronavirus pandemic. An MSCI global gauge of stocks posted its largest daily percentage drop on record, as did European shares <.STOXX>. Wall Street's Dow industrials index <.DJI> recorded its largest daily decline since the Black Monday crash of October 1987. The New York Federal Reserve pumped more liquidity to banks, briefly reversing some of the day's losses. It was the third substantial increase in repo support announced by the U.S. central bank this week, a sign the Fed is taking drastic steps to inject more liquidity into the banking system as markets show signs of stress. The U.S. dollar responded atypically, rising against numerous currencies and gold in yet another sign of financial market stress. Oil prices sank further, while traditional safe-haven assets like gold and the Japanese yen lost value against the dollar. Trading was halted for 15 minutes shortly after the open in New York after the benchmark S&P 500 stock index tumbled more than 7%. It ended down 9.5%. In a televised address late on Wednesday that included support measures for the economy, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed restrictions on travel from Europe to the United States, shocking investors and travelers. Traders were disappointed after hoping to see broader measures to fight the spread of the virus and blunt its expected blow to economic growth. "The economy is going to grind to a halt in the next month and the recession risk is real now," said Zhiwei Ren, managing director at Penn Mutual Asset Management in Horsham, Pennsylvania. Trump said the United States would suspend all travel from Europe, except Britain and Ireland, for 30 days starting on Friday. He later said trade would not be affected by the restrictions. Story continues Worries spread far beyond stocks to companies' lines of credit and their ability to finance business activity in the short term. Fear of the unknown "is gripping markets and it’s more impactful in the credit markets at the moment; liquidity has effectively evaporated," said John McClain, a portfolio manager at Diamond Hill Capital in Columbus, Ohio. "People are looking ahead and saying 'What’s this world going to feel like when we’re all working at home?'" The European Central Bank approved fresh stimulus measures and temporarily dropped banks' capital requirements to help the euro zone cope with the shock of the pandemic, but kept interest rates on hold, disappointing markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI>sank 2,352.6 points, or 9.99%, to 21,200.62, the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 260.74 points, or 9.51%, to 2,480.64 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 750.25 points, or 9.43%, to 7,201.80. The pan-European STOXX 600 index <.STOXX> lost 11.48% and emerging market stocks lost 6.71%. Japan's Nikkei futures <NKc1> lost 10.88%. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe <.MIWD00000PUS> shed 9.51% and was down more than 20% from its 52-week peak. The index has lost more than 26% over the last 20 sessions. The VIX volatility index <.VIX> - Wall Street's "fear gauge" - and an equivalent measure of volatility for the Euro Stoxx 50 <.V2TX> hit their highest since the 2008 financial crisis. INTO THE UNKNOWN Fed fund rate futures <0#FF:> are now pricing in a 1.0 percentage point cut, rather than 0.75, at a policy review next week. The euro weakened after the ECB stimulus announcement. Demand for dollars via the currency derivative markets surged to the highest levels in years in a sign that coronavirus-induced economic stress is starting to manifest itself in a broad scramble for funding in dollars. "Dollar liquidity is king in times of crisis and that is what the blow-out in swap spreads is telling us," said Kenneth Broux, a currency strategist at Societe Generale in London. He said this could mark a move into the next sell-off stage, which could mean a three-week-long worldwide rout in shares and riskier bonds giving way to a rush for dollars. The dollar index <=USD> rose 0.792%, with the euro <EUR=> up 0.08% to $1.1192. The Japanese yen weakened 0.09% versus the greenback at 104.76 per dollar, while Sterling <GBP=> was last trading at $1.2585, up 0.11% on the day. The Brazilian real <BRL=>, Colombian peso <COP=> and Mexican peso <MXN=> all hit historic lows versus the greenback. Bitcoin plunged 28.1% amid wild volatility in cryptocurrency markets. <BTC=BTSP> Oil prices were also hit, compounded by an intensifying price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, on top of fears of a sharp slowdown in the global economy. U.S. crude <CLc1> fell 6.03% to $30.99 per barrel and Brent <LCOc1> was last at $32.84, down 8.24% on the day. Spot gold <XAU=> dropped 3.5% to $1,576.79 an ounce. Palladium <XPD=> dropped 20.6% to $1,831.09 an ounce. Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes <US10YT=RR> rose 3/32 in price to yield 0.8121%, from 0.822% late on Wednesday. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; additional reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin, Saikat Chatterjee and Sujata Rao in London, Karen Pierog in Chicago, Medha Singh in Bengaluru, Ann Saphir in San Francisco and Jonnelle Marte, Kate Duguid, Karen Brettell, Herb Lash and Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in New York; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Dan Grebler) || Ethereum Climbs Above 270.61 Level, Up 4%: Ethereum Climbs Above 270.61 Level, Up 4% Investing.com - Ethereum rose above the $270.61 threshold on Sunday. Ethereum was trading at 270.61 by 02:31 (07:31 GMT) on the Investing.com Index, up 3.79% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage gain since February 15. The move upwards pushed Ethereum's market cap up to $29.80B, or 9.89% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. At its highest, Ethereum's market cap was $135.58B. Ethereum had traded in a range of $258.89 to $273.81 in the previous twenty-four hours. Over the past seven days, Ethereum has seen a rise in value, as it gained 19.07%. The volume of Ethereum traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $23.96B or 13.99% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $217.0203 to $287.9298 in the past 7 days. At its current price, Ethereum is still down 80.99% from its all-time high of $1,423.20 set on January 13, 2018. Elsewhere in cryptocurrency trading Bitcoin was last at $9,970.9 on the Investing.com Index, down 2.72% on the day. XRP was trading at $0.31192 on the Investing.com Index, a loss of 7.21%. Bitcoin's market cap was last at $182.08B or 60.41% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, while XRP's market cap totaled $13.73B or 4.55% of the total cryptocurrency market value. Related Articles Not All Central Banks Have an Interest in CBDCs Ethereum Falls 10% In Rout Coronavirus Spreads and Crypto Rallies, but Not Everything Is Related
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 6733.39, 6867.53, 6791.13, 7271.78, 7176.41, 7334.10, 7302.09, 6865.49, 6859.08, 6971.09
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2021-06-02]
BTC Price: 37575.18, BTC RSI: 39.77
Gold Price: 1907.50, Gold RSI: 75.95
Oil Price: 68.83, Oil RSI: 64.49
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Nexus’s Amanda Marquis: Solving the Blockchain Trilemma: Blockchain has been hounded by the Decentralization Trilemma. This is the idea that a blockchain can only have two of the three qualities: security, scalability, and decentralization. Nexus is creating a blockchain with all three.
BeInCrypto had the pleasure to talk to Amanda Marquis, the web developer at Nexus.
She has been a fan of Nexus for a few years and reached out to the ambassador team to see if they were looking for any new members. She was helping with the community Twitter account, but soon starting working on use-case dApps, the Nexus website. She is now learning the API. She was offered a developer contract at the start of 2021.
The beginnings of the still developing project date back to 2014. The native NXS token istrading at around $1.50, at the time of writing, but has increased almost 800% since the start of the year.
Marquis answered many of our questions aboutNexus essentials, the problems it is trying to solve, the roadmap, innovative technology, interface development, the community, and even the NFT. Let’s dive in!
BeInCrypto: What is Nexus? When was the genesis?
Amanda Marquis:Nexus is a community-driven project with the mission of connecting a decentralized world. We are working on technology that is designed to simplify lives, empower communities, and streamline business while embodying the founding principles of Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of bitcoin (BTC).
Our first NXS block was mined on Sept. 23, 2014, without an ICO or pre-mine. The original Nexus code began as a bitcoin/peercoin fork, however, the entire codebase was rewritten and released with the Tritium Protocol on Nov 5 2019.
Nexus has now evolved into a revolutionary, register-based contract engine. The Tritium Protocol release was the first of three major upgrades for our TAO (Tritium, Amine, Obsidian) Framework.
BeInCrypto:Nexus is working on a 3-Dimensional Chain (3DC). What is it?
Amanda Marquis:The 3DC is designed to solve the Blockchain Trilemma — security, scalability, and decentralization. The Trilemma is the idea that a blockchain can only have two of the three listed qualities. And we do not think that should be the case!
The Nexus 3DC will transform the ledger into a multi-layered processing system, in order to scale securely and with a high degree of decentralization. The 3DC chains together cryptographic primitives into a three-dimensional immutable object (a 3D block), and has three core dimensions: reputation channels (X), immutability or authenticity (Y), and time (Z).
BeinCrypto: What is the Nexus Protocol (NP)?
Amanda Marquis:The Nexus Protocol is our vision of a new internet, driven by a blockchain-based operating system (Nexus’ LX-OS) and routing protocol (Nexus Protocol), connected by a distributed satellite-based mesh network.This protocol would take the internet a step furtherby decentralizing and democratizing the network infrastructure through decentralized hardware and software.
BeInCrypto:What is the LX-OS?
Amanda Marquis:Nexus’ LX-OS is a blockchain-based operating system that is designed to resist attacks and improve user security and ease of use. The first phase will focus on embedded systems (IoT and cube satellites), with the consumer release providing decentralized cloud services, along with an intuitive user experience.
The LX-OS aims to resolve many of the vulnerability issues of today’s operating systems that allows hackers to piggyback malware onto PCs using elevated privileges, by authenticating all changes to the virtual user space across the entire runtime environment.
BeInCrypto:When will the LX-OS and the NP be available, and the satellites for the mesh network launched?
Amanda Marquis:These are long-term goals for Nexus, so we do not have an estimated time of completion and launch for them at this time! Code in production now (LLL-TAO) will be used for the LX-OS and the NP, so work is already in progress for both elements.
They will also be tirelessly tested and evaluated to ensure the best product is released, as this is revolutionary technology in the making! We will be adding these features to our roadmap on the Nexus website in the coming months.
BeInCrypto:What are some short-term goals of Nexus?
Amanda Marquis:We currently have our mobile wallet in open Beta for iOS and Android. The team has been ironing out the back-end code and the full release is on the horizon.
Some key features that will be released in an upcoming release of Tritium ++ include updates to our desktop wallet, release of pooled staking, and various API enhancements including new code for our upcoming P2P Marketplace and DAO.
BeInCrypto:What are some of the features of the mobile wallet?
Amanda Marquis:The Nexus mobile wallet is a lite node built with a focus on reliability and security, using the same modular framework behind the desktop wallet. Themobile wallet eliminates reliance on centralized serversand provides unprecedented access to the Nexus network.
As a lite node, it will not download the entire blockchain history to the device, only storing and processing block headers and the user’s signature chain, starting with the hash of the very first Tritium block hard-coded into the wallet. It holds the same security and privacy as a full node wallet, with a minimal storage, memory, and processor footprint.
BeInCrypto:What is the progress of the P2P Marketplace, and will it be an AMM?
Amanda Marquis:Progress on it is going well! Our P2P marketplace is being built on an entirely new P2P marketplace API. Once completed, anyone will have the ability to use that code to build their own web interface for it.
It will not be an AMM. It willoperate on the traditional exchange approachof buyers and sellers posting their market or limit orders and could be partially or fully filled by anyone. It will also rely on consensus rules and contract logic, meaning the seller can retract their order at any point until it has been fulfilled.
BIC: What is Nexus doing with Quantum Resistance technology?
Amanda Marquis:Our previously mentioned Signature Chains enhance the security of existing DSA (Digital Signature Algorithm), by hashing the public key until it is used while changing the key pair with every transaction.
We have also integrated the following cryptographic functions: FALCON (a second-round contender for the NIST Post-Quantum cryptography competition), Argon2 (winner of the password hashing competition, and a superior alternative to S-Crypt or B-Crypt), and Keccak (winner of the SHA3 competition).
BeInCrypto:Nexus is both proof-of-work (PoW) and proof-of-stake (PoS). Why?
Amanda Marquis:To keep our project decentralized. Both PoW and PoS have their advantages, and we wanted to make sure that none of our three channels (Two PoW, Hash and Prime, and one PoS) got too centralized. With consensus balanced between all three channels, it makes the network more resistant to 51% attacks.
BeInCrypto:Does Nexus have a maximum supply?
Amanda Marquis:It does not! The initial distribution will create a supply of 78 million NXS, which will end on Sept. 23, 2024. After, it will follow an inflation rate based on the annual inflation rate of gold.
Each PoW channel will increase the NXS supply by 1% per year, and the PoS channel will allow for a maximum of 3% increase, but that would only happen if all NXS in circulation were being staked. It is expected to fall more closely in line with the PoW channels, around 1%.
BeInCrypto:How can people get involved?
Amanda Marquis:There are many ways to get involved with Nexus! We have multiple social media channels, as well as Discord, Telegram, and Slack servers. Sharing Nexus information across a variety of platforms helps spread the word. If someone wants to get involved in a more specific way, we have dedicated workgroups available on Telegram and Slack that focus on different tasks (content, social media, outreach, etc.).
We encourage anyone who is interested in helping in any way to join these workgroups, and we will work together to continue the Nexus vision!
BeInCrypto:How is mass adoption progressing for Nexus?
Amanda Marquis:In recent months, the community has stepped up around the world to increase the adoption of Nexus and usage of NXS for payment. With the mobile wallet in open beta, users are now able to access their Signature Chains on the go, and able to send or receive NXS instantaneously!
It has been awesome to see restaurants and shops starting to accept NXS (most recently in Thailand), and we hope to see many more places in the future do the same!
BeInCrypto:Can you build NFTs on Nexus?
Amanda Marquis:Yes you can! Right now, users are able to create them directly inside our desktop wallet, or by directly interacting with our API through other coded websites or platforms like Bubble.
However, due to our unique TAO framework, we are not supported on NFT Marketplaces at the moment. Once our P2P marketplace is available, there will be alocation to buy and sell NFTs!
BeInCrypto:Thank you for the interview and good luck with further work on this interesting project.
Amanda Marquis:Thank you too! Greetings to BeInCrypto readers! || GLOBAL MARKETS-Bitcoin drops to lowest since Jan; stocks fall before Fed minutes: * U.S. stocks down sharply in early trading * Cryptocurrencies hit by fresh China measures * Treasury yields decline (Updates with early U.S. markets activity, changes byline, dateline, previous LONDON) By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK, May 19 (Reuters) - Stock indexes fell globally on Wednesday ahead of minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve, while cryptocurrencies plunged after regulatory moves from China, with bitcoin dropping to its lowest level since January. Equity investors worry that rising inflationary pressures as evidenced by stronger-than-expected consumer price readings could prompt the Fed to pare back its support sooner than many anticipate. "There is no question that inflation worries have creeped into the investor mindset, which will weigh on the tech stocks and in all likelihood we will see yields go up," said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas. The Fed has stuck to the narrative that a recent rise in inflation would be transient and that it therefore should keep its easy monetary policy settings, and many investors expect minutes from the Fed's April's meeting to repeat that message. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 437.24 points, or 1.28%, to 33,623.42, the S&P 500 lost 45.5 points, or 1.10%, to 4,082.33 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 107.25 points, or 0.81%, to 13,196.39. The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 1.52% and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe shed 1.05%. As the global recovery takes hold, British consumer price inflation more than doubled to 1.5% in April, data showed on Wednesday. Euro zone inflation picked up the same month, with consumer prices rising 0.6% month-on-month for a 1.6% year-on-year increase. Bitcoin plunged to its lowest level since January following China's decision to ban financial and payment institutions from providing digital currency services. Rival cryptocurrency Ethereum sank 28% to $2,444. But the U.S. dollar steadied amid the broad equity market sell-off. The dollar index rose 0.091%, with the euro down 0.05% to $1.2214. Yields on U.S. Treasury debt and breakevens, an inflation bellwether, fell as investors took a cautious stance after the plunge in digital currencies. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes fell 2.0 basis points to 1.6216% and the breakeven rate on five-year U.S. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) was last at 2.675%. Oil prices dropped on renewed demand concerns as coronavirus cases in Asia rise. Brent futures were down more than $2 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude were also down more than $2 a barrel. Story continues U.S. gold futures gained 0.92% to $1,884.90 an ounce. (Reporting by Carol Valetkevitch; additional reporting by Tom Arnold in London, Medha Singh and Shashank Nayar in Bengaluru, Herbert Lash and Stephen Culp in New York, and Hideyuki Sano in Tokyo; editing by Sam Holmes, Toby Chopra, William Maclean and Jonathan Oatis) View comments || Massachusetts Judge Rules Robinhood Cannot Block Regulator’s Case: Online brokerage platform Robinhood’s bid to prevent Massachusetts regulators from proceeding with an enforcement action was rejected, according to a report by Reuters. Robinhood, which offers cryptocurrency trading among other investments, was attempting to block state regulators from moving forward with an enforcement action alleging the platform encourages inexperienced users to make risky trades without safeguarding limits. Suffolk County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Salinger ruled that Robinhood can continue to challenge the allegation but could not block Secretary of State Bill Galvin from proceeding, Reuters reported Thursday. “If the court were to strike down the challenged regulation, the division would still be entitled to press its separate claims that Robinhood’s alleged conduct was nonetheless unethical or dishonest,” Reuters quoted Salinger as writing. Galvin announced the case in December 2020, prompting Robinhood to sue in April. The company argued that the action contravened federal law because such a standard was rejected by the Securities and Exchange Commission when it adopted its own rule for brokerages in 2019. Related Stories Robinhood to Reveal IPO Filings as Early as Next Week: Report $4B Ponzi Scheme OneCoin and ‘CryptoQueen’ Leader Found in Default in US Lawsuit Trial Gets Under Way for Well-Known Crypto Executive in China Craig Wright’s Multibillion-Dollar Bitcoin Trial Moves to Year’s End || Musk Learns the Hard Way: Crypto Doesn’t Need a Savior: Elon Musk has big plans fordogecoin, everybody!
Unfortunately this is an absurd statement on quite a few levels, as we’ll get into.
It’s also Elon at his most Elon, asserting his expertise in crypto just as eagerly as he claimed he would bring world changing innovation torescue submarinesand respirators andpublic transit– all of which ended in some degree ofdisappointment.
Related:India’s Developers Are Crypto’s Sleeping Giant
Musk isn’t alone in this unfortunate habit. Successful tech entrepreneurs, or even just lucky investors, seem particularly vulnerable to what’s known as“The Peter Principle.”The principle was first laid out in 1969 as a corporate management problem, based on the observation that successful workers were often promoted beyond the level of their own abilities. The concept has over time taken on the broader meaning that successful people will expand into new arenas until they hit the limits of their ability and fail, sometimes spectacularly. Silicon Valley leaders, in particular, seem frequently eager to reach beyond what they know and prove that their unique insights apply more broadly. Like Musk, they’re frequently wrong.
Musk, of course, can be forgiven for dabbling, maybe even more than most tech leaders. He is a legitimate business genius, and personally I believe that his creation of Tesla and SpaceX will have benefits to humanity so big that we won’t fully grasp them for generations. His real, history-making successes help explain why Musk’s particular brand of overreach has so often helped his reputation, as when multiple companies were founded to pursue his dubiously practicalHyperloop concept.
But this time, he may have tried to technologically revolutionize the wrong hornet’s nest. His doge-scaling tweet seems to have been the breaking point for crypto long-timers already exhausted by his confusing, contradictory glibness, and they responded in a fusillade of withering scorn.
Related:Bitcoin Stabilizes at Support; Faces Resistance Around $50K-$53K
It didn’t help that, shortly after the doge tweet, Musk also made a typicallybull-in-a-china-shop intimationthat Tesla might sell itsbitcoin. (That turned out to not be true, which could wind up being of interest to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It’s also notable that Musk was replying to an account that has itself been widelyaccused of scamming.)
The absurdity helped trigger a big crypto market sell-off, with bitcoin dropping a bit over 7% in the following 24 hours. Doge dropped much less, which makes perfect sense when you think about it. Most of the people who followed Musk into doge didn’t know any better, and still don’t.
The drop extended a longer losing streak for bitcoin. But that also seems like it might be a healthy turning point in crypto’s attitude toward a man who knows less than he thinks he does.
You’ll have to look elsewhere for a nuanced technical rebuttal of Musk’s doge upgrade proposal, but the reaction from blockchain experts like Cornell University’s Emin Gun Sirer was overwhelmingly unified: It’s bullsh*t.
Peter McCormack of the “What Bitcoin Did” podcast, while admitting he’s not a technical guru, delivered a more detailed takedown of Musk’s musings:
And this isn’t merely an academic debate about which reasonable people can differ. Elon seems unaware that big blocks have already been thoroughly vetted by the marketplace in the bitcoinBlock Size Warsof 2017, with clear results. Bitcoin Cash and later Bitcoin SV both pursued a bigger-blocks vision for Bitcoin starting in 2017, and whileBCHhas stuck around, it’s worth about 2% of bitcoin’s value.
Elon responded to all this blowback by reminding onlookers that, as one of the creators of PayPal, he might have some insight.
This is pretty thin gruel on technical grounds, given how fundamentally different blockchain currencies are from mere digital banking rails. It also seems to highlight a big political blind spot for Musk, because PayPal is precisely the kind ofcentralized and censoriouspayments provider crypto is dedicated to upending.
In other words, Musk defended himself by doubling down on the Peter Principle.
To the genuine credit of the crypto community, all of this has been met with withering scorn toward Musk, occasionally the richest man in the world. If he had any designs on taking a leadership position in the crypto community, he has likely destroyed them.
Some, admittedly, are more than happy to let him remain the “dogefather.”
This response is admirable simply because it shows no willingness to sacrifice the truth to coddle a misinformed but influential billionaire. More broadly, negging Musk seems positive for the industry simply because he lacks the right character to positively contribute. His embrace of arrogance extends to recently taking the title of “Technoking of Tesla.” That’s of course a bit of a joke, but there’s always truth in a joke – and crypto has no appetite for kings.
You can push back against that sort of empty swagger when your own position is so strong. Even after Musk’s rug-pull, BTC and doge prices are still above where they were just three months ago. Musk’s adventures in crypto have almost certainly been a long-term net positive simply by virtue of raising awareness, and so there’s little mourning as he files out the revolving door marked “dilettantes.”
By contrast, bitcoin was crucial to Tesla’s most recentearnings win. “Elon needs bitcoin more than bitcoin needs Elon” isn’t just a mantra, it’s simple reality.
Compare Elon’s behavior with two other figures who could rightly declare themselves king of something or other: Vitalik Buterin and Jack Dorsey. You might not even immediately connect Dorsey to crypto, but he made a huge splash by adding bitcoin sales to the Cash App in January 2018, and Square has also been fundingbitcoin developmentfor years.
That’s arguably more than Elon Musk has ever done for crypto, and yet Dorsey hasn’t shown anything close to Elon’s yen for philosopher-king mountaintop declarations. (And Square, for what it’s worth, is in the process of eatingPayPal’s lunch.)
An even more sterling example was provided by Vitalik Buterin, nearly simultaneously with Elon’s peacocking. Vitalik Buterin, co-founder and figurehead of Ethereum, simply destroyed billions ofdollars’ worthof altcoins he had been “gifted” unwillingly in an apparent marketing stunt. He alsowarnedtoken founders not to pull the same shenanigans again, saying “I don’t *want* to be a locus of power of that kind.”
Vitalik’s gesture, unlike Elon’s declarations, was met with widespread praise. Not only was it a seeming rebuke of the same spammy token-generation that doge itself was intended to spoof, Vitalik’s disavowal of his own influence is fully in line with the leaderless, community-driven ethos at the core of crypto.
It’s an example Musk could stand to learn from.
• Foundry’s Mike Colyer on US-China Mining Rivalry and Why Clean Bitcoin ‘Makes No Sense’
• Bitcoin Chart Indicator Suggests Worst of Pullback May Be Over || GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks slip, crypto under pressure amid inflation worries: * Global stocks pressured by inflation jitters * European stocks down 1%, Nikkei loses 1.5% * Cryptocurrencies hit by fresh China measures * Bitcoin recoups some losses * German Bund hits 2-year high * Global asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn By Tom Arnold and Hideyuki Sano LONDON/TOKYO, May 19 (Reuters) - Global stocks slipped and cryptocurrencies sank on Wednesday as a threat of unwanted inflation had investors shy away from assets seen as vulnerable to any removal of monetary stimulus. Digital coins were also under pressure from new Chinese restrictions on financial institutions providing services related to cryptocurrency transactions. With bitcoin earlier hitting its lowest level since early February and as the dollar wallowed a near-three month low against its rivals, prices of gold, viewed as a hedge against inflation, held near a four-month peak. "Institutional investors appear to be shifting away from bitcoin and back into traditional gold, reversing the trend of the previous two quarters," JPMorgan analysts including Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou wrote in a research note. "The bitcoin flow picture continues to deteriorate and is pointing to continued retrenchment by institutional investors." The risk-off sentiment pervaded in equity markets as focus was locked on the U.S. Federal Reserve's release later on Wednesday of the minutes of its April meeting, which will be watched for any indication about monetary policy in the United States. Europe's STOXX 600 index dropped 1.3% at the opening, on course for its biggest drop in more than a week, while MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe drifted 0.2% lower. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.5% though Hong Kong and South Korea are closed for holidays. Japan's Nikkei lost 1.3%. U.S. S&P futures fell 0.5% in Europe a day after Wall Street stocks slid in late Tuesday trade, unable to sustain gains made after bumper earnings from Walmart and Home Depot. Story continues While demand is recovering fast as many developed countries have made progress with COVID-19 vaccination, companies are facing obstacles from shortages of chips, containers, and in the United States workers, too, stoking worries of higher prices. Mirroring a move underway in the United States as the global recovery takes hold, British consumer price inflation more than doubled to 1.5% in April, data showed on Wednesday. Euro zone inflation data for April is due at 0900 GMT, with data for Canada due later. In the United States, the Fed has stuck to the narrative that a recent rise in inflation would be transient and that it therefore should keep its easy monetary policy settings. The minutes from April's meeting are expected to repeat that message. "Inflation remains the biggest theme, whether it is real and whether the Fed may need to change its policy because of that," said Kazushige Kaida, head of forex sales at State Street Bank's Tokyo branch. "At the moment, markets are putting faith, after a fashion, in the Fed's narrative." Investors remain cautious following an unexpected pickup in U.S. consumer inflation shown earlier this month. Any further flare-up could hit assets whose prices have been bolstered by monetary easing, including cryptocurrencies, which rose sharply over the past year and are seen by some as exemplifying an excess created by a "wall of money" from central banks. Bitcoin dropped as much as 10.2% to hit its lowest level since early February, bringing its loss from a peak of $64,895 hit just over a month ago to more than 40% at that point. It last stood 6.4% lower at $40,157. Ether, the second largest cryptocurrency, shed as much as 15.5%, and a third of its value from its record peak hit last Wednesday. It last changed hands at $2,946, down 10.7%. While cryptocurrencies were bruised by China's fresh ban on their transactions, they were not alone in facing pressure. Some commodities that have benefited from reflation trade have also lost steam, with U.S. lumber futures losing around 20% in the last three sessions. Oil prices pulled back for a second day on simmering demand concerns as coronavirus cases in Asia rise and on fears of rising U.S. interest rates, which could limit economic growth. U.S. crude futures dropped 1.2% to $64.69 per barrel while Brent futures lost 1.1% to $67.98 per barrel. U.S. Treasuries were relatively calm, with the 10-year yield up 2 bps and trading within the month's ranges. In Europe, the benchmark German Bund yield climbed to a two-year high as investors increasingly priced in the possibility of the European Central Bank slowing its bond-buying. Germany's 10-year bond yield was up 3 bps at -0.081%. Italy's 10-year yield was up 5 bps at 1.1455%, its highest since September 2020. In currency markets, the dollar stayed under pressure. The euro hit a near three-month high of $1.2244 while the British pound held firm at $1.4181, staying near a three-month peak touched on Tuesday. The dollar stood at 109.06 yen after four straight sessions of decline. After gold hit its highest level since late January on Tuesday, it last stood broadly flat at $1,867.46 per ounce . (Reporting by Hideyuki Sano; Editing by Sam Holmes and Toby Chopra) || Tom Brady Is Launching an NFT Platform: Tom Brady is jumping on the NFT bandwagon. The seven-time Super Bowl champion said he is launching an NFT platform, alongside an array of big names from the sports and entertainment industries.
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The platform, Autograph, is a “first-of-its-kind, experience-driven NFT platform that brings together the most iconic brands and biggest names in sports, entertainment, fashion and pop culture to create unique digital collectibles,” according to its website, whose goal is to “experience, collect and enjoy.”
Autograph’s board and advisors include Jon Feltheimer, CEO, Lionsgate; Steven Galanis, CEO, Cameo; Dawn Ostroff, CCO/CABO, Spotify; Peter Guber, owner, GS Warriors, LA Dodgers; Michael Rapino, CEO, Live Nation; Jason Robins, CEO, DraftKings; Paul Liberman, co-founder, DraftKings; Matt Kalish, president, DraftKings N.A.; and Peter Mattoon, executive chairman, founder, SCS Financial.
“Autograph will bring together some of the world’s most iconic names and brands with best-in-class digital artists to ideate, create and launch NFTs and groundbreaking experiences to a community of fans and collectors,” Dillon Rosenblatt, co-founder and CEO of Autograph, told CNN.
See:‘Technoking’ Elon Musk Sells NFT About NFTsFind:Cam Newton, Tom Brady and the Top-Selling NFL Jerseys of 2020
Non-fungible tokens are digital assets that represent a wide range of unique tangible and intangible items, from collectible sports cards to virtual real estate and even digital sneakers, CoinDesk explains. They are recorded on a blockchain, a distributed ledger that is immutable, verifiable and decentralized.
NFTs have been gaining a lot of traction — and dollars — lately, notably with Vignesh Sundaresan, also known as MetaKovan, who bought Christie’s first NFT for $69.34 million. Sundaresan told CNBC he was prepared to bid even higher.
See:Here’s How Rich Every NFL Team IsFind:Biggest Contract Busts in NFL History
Also in March, Tesla’s Elon Musk sold one of his tweets on NFTs as an NFT on the Valuables platform. “I’m selling this song about NFT as a NFT,” he tweeted at the time.
The move followed that of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who tweeted a link to the Valuables platform, where his first tweet from March 21, 2006, “just setting my twttr,” was up for bidding.
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This article originally appeared onGOBankingRates.com:Tom Brady Is Launching an NFT Platform || PayPal Earnings Boosted by ‘Crypto Efforts’: PayPal released its first quarter results on May 5, which were boosted by the company’s “crypto efforts,” according to CEO Dan Schulman.
According to the earningsreport, net revenue reached $6.03 billion, an increase of 29% year-on-year. Operating income rose 162% to $1.04 billion. Meanwhile, net profit rose an astounding 1,206% from $84 million in 2020 to $1.1 billion in Q1 2021. Yesterday, PayPal’s shares rose 5.5% apparently due to the anticipated results.
These boosted earnings were the result of a concerted shift to digital payments due to the global coronavirus pandemic. PayPal’s recent adoption of crypto offerings also bolstered revenue.
CEO Dan Schulman declared cryptocurrencies to be a key growth engine for the company, during theearnings call.
“We’ve got a tremendous amount of really great results going on tactically with our crypto efforts,” Schulman said. He added that half of crypto users open their PayPal app daily, suggesting it has been increasing engagement for users. This highlighted his assertion that PayPal’s adoption of digital assets “has been widely embraced”.
The CEO also stated the payments provider has extensive plans for further crypto integration. Citing productive conversations with “central banks, regulators and government officials around the world,” he emphasized the plans would be pursued “in partnership with governments and in compliance with local, national, and global regulatory frameworks.”
Along with cryptocurrencies, Schulman noted that central bank digital currencies would “play a critical role in shaping a more inclusive recovery and a more equitable financial system.” He also believes that “current technological underpinnings of our financial system will be substantially upgraded over the coming years.” He had made a similar statement in an earlierinterview.
PayPal also announced plans to roll out a “next-generation digital wallet,” later this year. Schulman described it as an “all-in-one, personalized app [that] will provide increasingly customized and unique shopping, financial services, and payments experiences.”
PayPal made a big push into crypto in the last six months. Last month, itslaunched“Checkout with Crypto.” This enables PayPal’s American customers to make payments with bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), bitcoin cash (BCH), and litecoin (LTC).
Additionally, PayPal’s mobile service app Venmo alsolaunched“Crypto on Venmo.” This lets their users buy, sell, and hold crypto within the application. Finally, Coinbaseannouncedthat its users could make payments on the exchange through PayPal. || The First Coinbase Employee Was Paid in Bitcoin for Three Years: Movus / Getty Images Coinbase’s market cap topped $100 billion after its Nasdaq debut this week, but in its early days, its first employee ever cold-emailed to get the job — and was paid in bitcoin. See: Coinbase, the Largest US Cryptocurrency Exchange, Goes Public – ‘It Will Infect the Financial Universe with a Bad Case of FOMO’ Find: What Are IPOs and Are They Worth Investing In? Olaf Carlson-Wee had written his undergraduate thesis on Bitcoin and was eager for work. In a 2016 interview for the Y Combinator blog, as reported by CNBC, he stated, “I literally cold emailed jobs@coinbase and said ‘I love bitcoin. Here’s my thesis. I’ll do any job.'” The company was interested, Decrypt states, but Carlson-Wee needed to get through this riddle first: One hundred students approach 100 lockers. Student 1 opens all of them, starting with locker 1. Student 2 goes down the line and closes every second locker, starting with locker 2. Student 3 changes the state of every third locker, starting with locker 3 — if it is open, it gets closed, and if it is closed, it gets opened. And so on, until all one hundred students have taken a turn changing the state of the lockers. How many lockers are open at the end? See: Six Best Blockchain Stocks to Buy Right Now Find: Bitcoin Reaches Record High Above $64,000 The rest is history. Carlson-Wee was paid with a starting salary of $50,000, entirely in bitcoin, according to The Wall Street Journal. In 2013, when he started, the price of Bitcoin was roughly $13. Although it’s unclear how much Carlson-Wee currently owns, the cryptocurrency is currently trading at around $60,000. CNBC reports that in his job interview with Coinbase, he expressed his thoughts on security being paramount. His pragmatism paid off, and he eventually became the company’s head of risk. Carlson-Wee then went on to create his own cryptocurrency investment firm, Polychain Capital, which he currently operates as CEO. More From GOBankingRates 20 Home Renovations That Will Hurt Your Home’s Value Everything You Need To Know About Taxes This Year What Income Level Is Considered Middle Class in Your State? The Average Retirement Age in Every State This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : The First Coinbase Employee Was Paid in Bitcoin for Three Years || Bitcoin slumps 14% as pullback from record gathers pace: (Reuters) -Bitcoin, the world's biggest cryptocurrency, fell as much as 14% to $51,541 on Sunday, reversing most of the big gains it made over the past week.
Bitcoin was last trading down 10% at $53,991 as of 1320 GMT, a whopping $12,000 below record highs set on Wednesday. Smaller rival Ether, the coin linked to the ethereum blockchain network, dropped 10% to $2,101.
Data website CoinMarketCap cited https://coinmarketcap.com/headlines/news/chinas-xinjiang-blackout-and-bitcoin-hashrate-correction-caused-btc-price-crasha blackout in China’s Xinjiang region, which reportedly powers a lot of bitcoin mining, for the selloff.
Luke Sully, CEO at digital asset treasury specialist Ledgermatic, said in an email that people "may have sold on the news of the power outage in China and not the impact it actually had on the network".
"The power outage does expose a fundamental weakness; that although the Bitcoin network is decentralized the mining of it is not," Sully added.
Some widely-followed blockchain analysts on Twitter pointed to a sharp drop in "hash rate" due to the outage.
Hash rate refers to the volatility index that measures the processing capacity of the entire Bitcoin network, and it determines the power required by miners to produce new Bitcoins.
"Typically shocks to hash rate do not cause price drops. A hash rate reduction slows transactions, which ironically makes it harder to move coins to exchanges for sale. The recent price drop is well within the bounds of typical volatility, it is noise not signal," said Edan Yago, co-founder at Bitcoin-based decentralised finance protocol Sovryn.
The retreat in Bitcoin also comes after Turkey's central bank banned the use of cryptocurrencies for purchases on Friday.
Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, said cryptocurrencies had been ripe for a pullback.
"The market has become overly aggressive and bullish on everything," said Edward Moya. "It could have been any bearish headline that could have triggered this reaction."
Many cryptocurrency markets operate 24/7, setting the stage for price swings at unpredictable hours. Historically, retail and day traders have driven the moves.
Despite the sudden selloff, bitcoin is still up 89% so far in 2021, driven by its mainstream acceptance as an investment and a means of payment, accompanied by the rush of retail cash into stocks, exchange-traded funds and other risky assets.
(Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru and Thyagaraju Adinarayan in London; additional reporting by Ira Iosebashvili in New York; Editing by David Clarke and Emelia Sithole-Matarise) || How Does Cryptocurrency Work – and Is It Safe?: If you’ve been following the news, you undoubtedly know afew things about Bitcoin right now.
Find:Why Some Money Experts Believe In Bitcoin and Others Don’t
One: It’s a cryptocurrency.
Two: One Bitcoin is worth more than $40,000 in U.S. dollars, although the price fluctuates wildly day to day.
Three: Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla recently invested in Bitcoin and announced it would soon allow people to purchase its cars using the cryptocurrency.
But, if you’re like many people, you’re still fuzzy on a few things, including exactly what cryptocurrency is, how it works and if it’s a safe way to invest your money.
See:Dogecoin’s Major Price Increase: Is It a Worthwhile Investment?Find:Bitcoin Is Pricey and Headed for a Crash – Consider These Smart Crypto Alternatives
Bitcoin was invented in 2009 as a form of digital currency. Unlike paper money or debit cards, which represent paper money the buyer holds in a bank, Bitcoin has no physical form. It’s all stored digitally, providing increased security over checks, paper money transactions and even other digital transactions, which, again, represent the exchange of paper money held in accounts.
As of Monday morning, Bitcoin’s value sits at $47,794, up approximately 20% since last week, according to Reuters. For perspective, in 2010, a single Bitcoin was worth only 8 cents in USD, Investopedia writes.
See:Long-Term Investors Hold Most of the Bitcoin SupplyThe Hype Around NFTs:What Are They? And How Pricey Do They Get?
Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency, but today there are more than 6,700 cryptocurrencies traded on public markets, according to the website CoinMarketCap. Although Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are used for the exchange of goods and services on the private market, they are not considered legal tender like U.S. dollars and coins.
Some of the most common cryptos right now include Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin, which you can purchase through Paypal. Other, less common cryptos are termed altcoins. The most popular altcoin is Dogecoin, popularized by billionaire Elon Musk’s tweets. He recently shared, “Bought some Dogecoin for lil X, so he can be a toddler hodler.”
The tweet was accompanied by a video of Musk and singer Grimes’ infant son declaring, “Dadada!”
See:Musk Tweets Again and Dogecoin – a Bitcoin Rival – SkyrocketsOptions:All About Ethereum (ETH) — To Help You Decided If It’s Worth the Investment
“Cryptocurrency is a fully decentralized peer-to-peer electronic money implemented by cryptography,” says Rob Zel, founder of crypto exchange bitni.com. Due to their nature, cryptocurrencies are not regulated, which carries risk of market volatility and loss for investors. However, the security risks and risk of fraud when using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are vastly reduced.
Also, due to the highly secure nature of transactions, purchases cannot be traced. That means individuals can use crypto to purchase illegal or highly regulated merchandise, including certain classes of drugs or firearms.
Cryptocurrencies use cryptography technology to keep transactions and coins secure. “Cryptography, or cryptology, is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties called adversaries. The most common form of cryptography is using codes to send messages securely between two individuals,” says Dr. Alexander Shipilov, CEO of iModX, a blockchain-based marketplace.
See:Crypto Bubble Brings a Curious Problem for InvestorsFind:What Are Digital Wallets?
Cryptocurrencies are traded by means of a blockchain, which Shipilov describes as “a way for multiple computers to come to a consensus about a set of information.” He says, “The most common use of a blockchain is to create a ledger of financial transactions between multiple individuals.”
Blockchains operate via cryptography, with each block in the chain cryptographically connected to the previous one. “The blockchain is stored and shared across a network of peer-to-peer nodes, similar to file-sharing torrents. The blocks are cryptographically secured against tampering. This makes it very difficult for nefarious parties to modify or shut down,” Zel says.
See:How to Invest in CryptocurrencyFind:The Most Googled Money Questions – Answered
So, thanks to blockchain technology, Bitcoin and other crypto transactions may be inherently more secure than other types of digital transactions, such as online banking, money transfers through digital wallets or peer-to-peer payment services. But it’s important to emphasize that these services all use state-of-the-art encryption technology to protect your funds digitally. Also, most banks offer fraud protection so that if your account is hacked, the bank will return your missing funds up to a certain amount, which varies by institution.
The technology used to keep crypto investments secure is also effective. In fact, it’s so secure that some people who invested in Bitcoin years ago have lost their password with no way to reset it. That wouldn’t happen with a regular bank account or peer-to-peer payment service, which offer ways to reset your online banking password so you can access your money.
See:Steal These Money Secrets from 25 Millionaires Under 25Find:How to Invest Your Money in 2021
Although your crypto investment is likely “secure,” that doesn’t mean it’s “safe” by any means. There are two elements that make cryptocurrency riskier than holding cash in a bank account: market volatility and lack of federal insurance and regulation.
When you hold your money in a bank account, it is FDIC-insured for up to $250,000 per depositor, per account class, per bank. That means if you have your own checking account with $100,000 in it, a savings account with $50,000 in it and a CD with a $100,000 investment, all within a single FDIC-insured bank, your funds are all protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. If your bank goes out of business, you will not lose your money.
On the other hand, if something happens to the company holding your crypto, you could lose your entire investment.
See:Banks Might Treat Bitcoin Like ‘Real Money’ – These Experts Weigh the Pros and ConsFind:Mark Cuban – “Bitcoin is Exactly like the Dot Com Bubble”
Crypto, like stocks and other investments, also tend to fluctuate wildly. When you hold cash in a bank, the value of your money will fluctuate marginally based on inflation or deflation. That represents the value of the dollar. But it’s highly unlikely you would lose — or gain — large amounts of money overnight.
“Cryptocurrencies tend to be highly volatile,” Zel says. “In one day, a coin can move 20% or more. Some newly invented coins can jump 40x in their first few months.”
There’s another concern for those seeking a safe haven for their money. “Occasionally, a newly invented coin will be a complete scam and the founders will take the money from investors and disappear, leaving them holding a worthless token,” Zel says.
See:9 Investing Bubbles That Will Make You Rethink BitcoinFind:The Classic Cons Behind These Digital-Age Scams
Right now, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are considered both an asset, traded like stocks, and a currency, used in the exchange of goods and services. However, high transaction fees and the volatility of the coins prevent its widespread adoption as a currency, Zel says.
You can use Bitcoin and other cryptos to make purchases, but it’s not always ideal.
See:PayPal Finally Welcomes Bitcoin, More Cryptocurrencies
Shipilov adds that the vast majority of cryptos right now are being treated as assets rather than currency. “They are being speculated on by investors who assume the asset will increase in value over a long-time horizon,” he says.
However, although people have gained millions through their Bitcoin investments in the past year, crypto may not be the best choice for beginning investors or those with low risk tolerance.
“Crypto are non-regulated assets with a high degree of volatility, limited government oversight, and the majority of cryptocurrency lose most or all their value extremely quickly, with over half failing in the first four months,” Shipilov warns.
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Last updated: Feb. 15, 2021
This article originally appeared onGOBankingRates.com:How Does Cryptocurrency Work – and Is It Safe?
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: down || Prices: 39208.77, 36894.41, 35551.96, 35862.38, 33560.71, 33472.63, 37345.12, 36702.60, 37334.40, 35552.52
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2022-07-01]
BTC Price: 19269.37, BTC RSI: 28.78
Gold Price: 1798.90, Gold RSI: 36.32
Oil Price: 108.43, Oil RSI: 45.39
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
7 Long-Term Stocks to Buy in a Bear Market: What is a bear market? A bear market is defined as a decline by more than 20% off the market’s highs, indicating the momentum has shifted significantly to the downside. This is bad news broadly. But for investors who consider investing as a business rather than a way to gamble, plenty of options are still available. You could buy put options. Or you can find long-term stocks to buy, stocks that can perform well when the stock market is declining. Buying for the long term will make investing less stressful. Plus, remember that statistics are in favor of long-term rather than short-term, investing for generating profits. What stocks should you buy for the long-term in a bear market? Focus on defensive stocks from three core defensive sectors: utilities, consumer staples and healthcare. These seven stocks in this article are from these three sectors. They’re often expected to pay consistent dividends and all have stable earnings, regardless of the economic conditions. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips 7 Long-Term Stocks That Never Go Out of Style Here are seven investment ideas to add to your watchlist if you’re seeking long-term stocks to buy. SAFM Sanderson Farms $208.31 UNFI United Natural Foods $37.96 AGRO Adecoagro $9.02 BNTX BioNTech $125.14 CCRN Cross Country Healthcare $19.09 NRG NRG Energy $36.32 PAM Pampa Energía $19.83 Sanderson Farms (SAFM) Source: Shutterstock Sanderson Farms (NASDAQ: SAFM ) is a poultry processing company, that “produces, processes, markets, and distributes fresh, frozen, and prepared chicken products in the United States.” The Mississippi company was founded in 1947. The shares of Sanderson Farms trade at a price-earnings ratio (TTM) of 5.38 , have a forward dividend yield of 0.8% and their five-year monthly beta of 0.64 should, in theory, make them rather stable compared to the S&P 500 . This is holding true in 2022, as SAFM stock has gains of over 8% compared to the S&P 500’s losses of over 22%. Story continues The business is solid, as sales increased 34.66% in 2021 , a third consecutive year showing an increase. The company has consistent profitability and has rewarded its shareholders with massive net income growth of 1,508.54% in 2021, reaching $448.82 million. The free cash flow growth of 1,304.67% in 2021 is remarkable. The forward GAAP P/E ratio of 4.4 for the stock is 76% below the Consumer Staples sector median. United Natural Foods (UNFI) Image of vegetables in baskets at a store. Source: Sorbis/Shutterstock.com United Natural Foods (NYSE: UNFI ) specializes in grocery and non-food products in the United States and Canada. The company was founded in 1976. The third-quarter FY2022 results were strong , as year-over-year net sales of $7.2 billion, showed an increase of 9.2%, and net income increased 39.6% to $67 million. The big news is that the company updated its full-year outlook by increasing its projections for net sales, net income, EPS, and adjusted EBITDA. Net sales increased to a range of $28.8 billion to $29.1 billion from a previous range of $27.8 billion to $28.3 billion. The net income increased to a range of $230million to $245 million from a previous range of $221 million to $243 million. 7 Tempting Tech Stocks to Pull the Trigger on Now The shares trade at a trailing P/E ratio of 9.32 and have a one-year target estimate of $53.10. A 38% potential upside in a bear stock market is very attractive. Adecoagro (AGRO) Image of a person holding a lit lightbulb Source: Shutterstock Adecoagro (NYSE: AGRO ) is an agro-industrial company that farms crops and other agricultural products, as well as making sugar, ethanol and energy production. The firm was founded in 2002. Looking at AGRO stock’s performance in 2022, you would have difficulty believing we are in a bear market. The stock has gains of 17%, and a strong story. For the first quarter of 2022, net sales of $201 million were 18.1% higher year-over-year and net income of $65.2 million meant gains of over 200% year-over-year. The company approved a cash dividend of $35 million to be paid in two installments, and the forward dividend yield is 1.6% . The shares trade at a low P/E Ratio (TTM) of 5.8 and having a 1-year estimate target of $14.80. That would be an upside potential of 65%. The AGRO stock has a PEG GAAP (TTM) of 0.04 , signaling it is undervalued. BioNTech (BNTX) The headquarters of BioNTech (BNTX) in Germany. Source: Palatinate Stock / Shutterstock.com BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX ) is a biotechnology company that focuses on cancer and other infectious diseases. The company was incorporated in 2008. Readers of InvestorPlace may remember that I do not like biotech stocks in general, as most of them are too risky and too pricey. Some of them do not even generate sales. BioNTech, on the contrary, is a high-quality company. Its sales grew 352.40% in 2020, which is impressive. What is more impressive is the fact that in 2021 the revenue grew 3,979.40% to $22.43 billion . The biotech company went from a net income of $17.33 million in 2020 to generate a massive net income of $12.17 billion in 2021, an increase of over 70,000%. Having generated a positive free cash flow of $900.91 million in 2021, there is definitely a great story in the financial performance of BioNTech. 7 Unstoppable Stocks to Own in 2022 The shares trade at a trailing P/E ratio of 2.45 . Should the one-year target estimate of $253.57 materialize, then the upside potential is nearly double. Cross Country Healthcare (CCRN) healthcare stocks: doctors posing. retirement stocks Source: Shutterstock Cross Country Healthcare (NASDAQ: CCRN ) deals with healthcare staffing and workforce management. The company was founded in 1986. The shares of Cross Country Healthcare are down 32% in 2022 and this is a price level to pay a lot of attention to if you’re looking for a rebound that has legs. An inflection point is 2021 as the firm reported sales growth of 100.46% to $1.68 billion and turned profitable. The net income growth in 2021 rose 1,118.38% to $132 million . The one-year estimate target of $34.33 signals a lot of upside potential, 82% to be accurate. The trailing P/E ratio of 4.1x shows this is a cheap stock and the forward P/E (GAAP) of 3.96 is 83% lower than the healthcare sector median value. At some point, the huge profitability in 2021 should fuel a strong rebound in the stock price. NRG Energy (NRG) Close up of NRG logo on website against blurred background. Source: Casimiro PT / Shutterstock.com NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG ) is an integrated power company in Texas. The firm was founded in 1989. The bullish case for NRG stock is that profitability is exceptional. Back in 2017, the company had reported a net loss of $1.16 billion. But as of 2018 until 2021 NRG Energy not only has reported a net profit, but despite its volatile trend, it has gained a lot of traction. Soaring net income growth of 328.8% in 2021 is proof. The firm generates consistently positive free cash flows, though they fell last year, and the stock offers a forward dividend yield of 3.6% . It is a good idea to earn passive income while the stock market tanks. 7 Nasdaq Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever Most of the financial ratios for NRG stock are at a steep discount to the utilities sector median values. It is a deep-value stock to monitor and buy now at turbulent investing times. Pampa Energía (PAM) Numerous electric lines are seen at sunset. Source: Pand P Studio / Shutterstock.com Pampa Energía (NYSE: PAM ) is an electricity company in Argentina. The firm was incorporated in 1945. For the first quarter of 2022, the financial results were strong with a 28% year-on-year increase in sales of $412 million and an 11% year-on-year increase in the adjusted EBITDA of $226 million, while the consolidated profit was also increased year-over-year to $99 million, an increase of $66 million compared to the first quarter 2021. The business is very strong, as sales growth increased over the past two consecutive years . In 2020 and 2021, sales growth was 18.66% and 88.4% respectively. This is a company that delivers consistent profits. Investors will like the net income growth of 209.72% in 2021 to $30.82 billion. The firm is also a free-cash-flow generation machine over the past three consecutive years. The trailing GAAP PEG ratio of 0.04 is highly bullish for the PAM stock, signaling it is significantly undervalued. On the date of publication, Stavros Georgiadis, CFA did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines . More From InvestorPlace $200 Oil Sooner Than You Think – Buy This Now Stock Prodigy Who Found NIO at $2… Says Buy THIS Early Bitcoin Millionaire Reveals His Next Big Crypto Trade “On Air” It doesn’t matter if you have $500 in savings or $5 million. Do this now. The post 7 Long-Term Stocks to Buy in a Bear Market appeared first on InvestorPlace . || As Silicon Valley fantasizes about Web3, India leaps ahead on payments: For more than a decade, Silicon Valleys moguls have been promoting Bitcoin and blockchain-based cryptocurrencies, claiming these will transform global commerce. Instead, Bitcoin long ago died as a digital currency, becoming nothing more than an empty speculative asset with its value most recently plunging from $60,000 to less than $20,000. Meanwhile, as those same hypesters now promote a mystical Internet world called Web3, India is racing ahead and implementing what the crypto crowd had promisedwith its Unified Payment Services (UPI) . A French company, Lyra Network, just announced it would deploy UPI . Entrance into the European Union is just the latest international move for UPI, an alternative payments system designed to be secure, reliable, and interoperable among different payment companies. Merchants in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Bhutan, accept UPI payments through QR-code payment systems common in Asia. The National Payments Corporation of India is now negotiating with Australia to integrate UPI with Australias own nascent fast payment rail, called New Payments Platform. The reason for its broad adoption abroad is that UPI has been shown to work well for a very large population. In addition, UPI has an open protocol upon which other technologies can be built, creating a much larger and more useful network than its competitors for financial payments. By facilitating exactly what blockchain was supposed to docutting out intermediaries and inducing greater competitionUPI could force a global acceleration of innovation in payment technology. This is part of a growing trend of critical technologies emerging from beyond the usual innovation corridors in the West. Both China and India have gone from having few startups of value to hosting dozens of billion-dollar valuation unicorns. It is also no secret that Asia tends to be ahead of the West in mobile applications and payment innovation. China has effectively become a cashless society, but payments are dominated by two super-applications that stifle innovation and have major privacy risks. Story continues Between the Aadhar digital-identity program , which has expanded economic inclusion for hundreds of millions of its citizens, and the commercial platform that UPI created, India has the ability to democratize e-commerce and reign in the technology companies that are building monopolies. A key part of the rationale behind UPI is to create a neutral marketplace and commerce platform that is low-cost and accessible. To ensure healthier competition, the Reserve Bank of India has very wisely placed explicit limits on market share in UPI payments. This may make foreign companies and some venture capitalists scream government interference, but it hasnt stopped more than 300 banks and dozens of payment applications and startupsincluding subsidiaries of many major U.S. tech giantsfrom joining UPI. Access to real-time secure payments has become an important step toward a more just society. Prior to UPI, corruption, bureaucracy, and a chaotic banking system made it nearly impossible for the government to reliably send money to the poor. To date, it is unclear whether UPI has meaningfully reduced inequality in India, but there are signs that positive things are happening. Without a doubt, UPI has offered affordable access to real-time payments to hundreds of millions of people who might otherwise have paid high fees. The best indication of its usefulness is that UPI has grown wildly popular. In six short years, transactions running over UPI have skyrocketed, now exceeding $100 billion per month. For more than 150 million monthly users, those transactions occur largely via mobile wallets and payments applications. The Reserve Bank of India expects payments running via UPI to comprise 8% of the countrys total GDP in 2025, and the bank and NPCI together are in the process of expanding the reach of UPI to allow consumers to link their credit cards to UPI transactions. UPI is already used for remittances from abroad, undercutting traditional remittance payment rails that charge between 3% and 5% of total transaction. Because UPI transactions are presently free and will eventually cost only a tiny fraction of what merchants and consumers pay to move money on private payment systems such as those run by Mastercard and Visa , the UPI payment rails could boost GDP in India by a meaningful amount. As for security, UPI was also designed to require strong two-factor authentication, making it more impervious to fraud than the older systems in richer countries. As a result, whilst blockchain may have been all the rage in Silicon Valley, UPI has become a global favorite. Facebook , Google , and Walmart have all given UPI a direct or indirect vote of confidence: Payment subsidiaries of all three giants are using UPI to help customers in India make payments. So good is UPI that Google brought it to the U.S. Treasury Department as an example of good implementation of open payments standards and technology. Shiny new technologies such as blockchain may be cool, but less flashy efforts driving open standards and interoperability are delivering a real revolution that flies under the radar of the tech gurus in England's Shoreditch and America's Silicon Valley. India is very astutely leaping ahead of the world. Vivek Wadhwa, Ismail Amla, and Alex Salkever are co-authors of a book on building billion-dollar businesses, From Incremental to Exponential : How Large Companies Can See the Future and Rethink Innovation . The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com || The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to Explore Asset Tokenization: Key Insights: Today, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced the launch of Project Guardian, a collaboration with financial institutions to explore asset tokenization. The Republic of Singapore is one of the more friendly crypto jurisdictions, with the MAS in favor of supporting innovation. Financial institutions involved in the project include JPMorgan Chase and Singapore’s DBS Bank. Singapore and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) were back in the news today. A busy 2022 has seen competition amongst key jurisdictions heat up for the coveted spot of being ‘the world’s crypto hub.’ Several jurisdictions have imposed restrictions that limit the expansion of the digital asset space. Others, however, have taken a more innovative stance. The key, however, remains to find the right balance between appropriate regulatory oversight and embracing innovation. Singapore and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) have demonstrated support for innovation. Singapore’s central bank has also ensured the necessary level of oversight across the digital asset space. Monetary Authority of Singapore Announces Launch of Project Guardian On Tuesday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced the launch of Project Guardian. The MAS will collaborate with the financial industry to look into the value-add and the economic potential of asset tokenization. Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic policies, Mr. Heng Swee Keat, officially launched Project Guardian at the Asia Tech x Singapore Summit on Tuesday morning. According to the announcement, “Project Guardian will test the feasibility of applications in asset tokenization and DeFi while managing risks to financial stability and integrity. MAS aims to develop and pilot use cases in four main areas.” The main areas are, Open, interoperable networks. Trust anchors. Asset tokenization. Institutional grade DeFi protocols. The announcement went on to say, “The first industry pilot under Project Guardian will explore potential DeFi applications in wholesale funding markets. The pilot, led by DBS Bank Ltd., JP Morgan , and Marketnode, involves the creation of a permissioned liquidity pool comprising tokenized bonds and deposits. The pilot aims to carry out secured borrowing and lending on a public blockchain-based network through execution of smart contracts.” Story continues MAS Chief FinTech Officer Sopnendu Mohanty said, “MAS is closely monitoring innovations and growth in the digital asset ecosystem and working through the potential opportunities and risks that come with new technologies – to consumers, investors, and the financial system at large.” Mohanty went on to say, “Through practical experimentation with the financial industry and the broader ecosystem, we seek to sharpen our understanding in this rapidly transforming digital asset ecosystem. The learnings from Project Guardian will serve to inform policy markets on the regulatory guardrails that are needed to harness the benefits of DeFi while mitigating its risks.” JPMorgan and DBS Bank Are no Strangers to Asset Tokenization JPMorgan launched Onyx in 2020. Onyx is a “multi-asset blockchain network and platform that enables the exchange of value for different types of digital assets.” Singapore bank DBS offers a range of digital asset services, including crypto trading that supports the trading of bitcoin ( BTC ) and other major cryptos. DBS also offers institutional-grade digital custody services. The collaboration with the MAS demonstrates the relationship between established institutions and regulators and how it can benefit the digital asset space. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Explainer-What to know about COVID vaccines for small children U.N. had ‘constructive’ talks in Moscow on Russian grain, fertilizer exports Global stocks fall, U.S. yields rise as oil prices reach new highs Islamic State claims responsibility for killing 15 in east Congo village Russian forces control most of Sievierodonetsk, says Ukraine regional governor Rising cost of living hurts U.S. consumer confidence; house prices soar || Crypto market cap has plunged 28% over the last week to $1.2 trillion, the lowest since July, amid broad meltdown: Jack Taylor/Getty Images Cryptocurrencies slumped further Thursday and have lost more than $500 billion in market capitalization since last week. The total crypto market cap is down 28% from a week ago at $1.2 trillion amid a broader meltdown. The latest dive puts the market cap at the lowest point for since July 2021. Cryptocurrencies continued to drop Thursday, extending a meltdown that has seen the total market capitalization for tokens falling 28% over the last week to $1.2 trillion, the lowest since July. That means more than $500 billion in market value has vanished in the past week, with the last 24 hours alone seeing a $200 billion loss. Digital assets continue to struggle to unlink from traditional risk assets that are falling on interest rate hikes and soaring inflation. "It has been a rough period for crypto given the lost confidence with stablecoins and expectation for a much harsher regulatory environment," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, fell below $30,000 on Monday and briefly dipped below $26,000 on Thursday. Bitcoin is now settling at a support level around $28,000, down from its all-time high of $69,000 seen in November 2021. Turmoil in stablecoins, some of which are backed by liquid cash while others are algorithmic, added to the crypto crash after Terra lost its dollar peg. "Full capitulation of the selloff for risky assets is entering its last stage, so that should suggest that Bitcoin might be subject to one last major plunge before big money decides to buy the dip," Moya said. Other analysts also said the latest crypto slide is another opportunity for "big money" to come back to risk assets to buy the dip. "The markets are in meltdown but this may present an opportunity for institutional players to start building positions and push stablecoin regulation to provide more confidence," said Martha Reyes, head of research at BEQUANT, a digital asset exchange and brokerage. Read the original article on Business Insider || CBS Used Brian Williams as a Weapon in Cash Battle With Norah O’Donnell: Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty Welcome to this week’s edition of Confider , The Daily Beast’s media newsletter. Subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Monday. Send questions, tips, and complaints here . CBS 3D CHESS MOVES CBS News can thank Brian Williams for Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell re-upping with the network at a slightly lower salary. According to multiple people familiar with the situation, CBS earlier this year floated to the press that Williams, fresh off his MSNBC exit, had turned down offers from CBS co-president Neeraj Khemlani to replace O’Donnell on the network’s nightly flagship. The trial-ballooned story was meant to force O’Donnell—who has struggled to get her show out of third place and has long been rumored to be on the chopping block—to take a pay cut in order to stay on board. O’Donnell’s agent, UTA boss Jay Sures , countered that chess move by approaching former CBS exec Chris Licht to pitch O’Donnell for a CNN gig, two people familiar with the matter told us, but was rebuffed because the incoming CNN president could not negotiate before his start date. Nevertheless, sources told Confider, Sures then pitched a trade publication on a story about O’Donnell being in talks with CNN. That story never ran, depriving O’Donnell of much-needed leverage in her talks with CBS. She ultimately signed a new contract to stick with CBS for a lower rate, according to the people familiar with the situation. CBS co-prez Khemlani wrote in a statement: “This is wrong. I never met with Brian Williams about the Evening News . Period.” A rep for UTA declined to comment. DISNEY FLACK FLAP Disney broke out the tried-and-tested spin playbook and took a Friday night news dump by announcing the departure of comms chief Geoff Morrell in a hastily prepared statement. Morrell, who sources said failed to make friends in Hollywood or much of an impression on his colleagues in Burbank, only joined the Mouse House in January, taking the reins from the “ acid-tongued ” Zenia Mucha . Morrell allegedly ran roughshod over people both internally and externally and was economical with the truth with several reporters, according to five people who dealt with him over his four-month tenure. The former BP spin doctor managed to create his own Deepwater Horizon with his clunky handling of Disney’s response to Florida “Don’t Say Gay” bill, leaving CEO Bob Chapek looking like Goofy. Morrell had tried to centralize Disney's communications division with a re-org but ultimately fell on his sword leaving what was once one of the most-desired flack gigs in the country. A spox for Disney declined to comment. Story continues CRAZY LIKE A FOX The Fox News defense strategy for its upcoming defamation trial with Dominion Voting Systems appears to revolve around embracing election denialism, according to documents provided to Confider. Jackson Walker, the cable giant’s law firm on the case, filed open records requests for state election officials to provide documents related to Dominion. Liberal watchdog Media Matters is set to publish a story this week on those documents they obtained, which they shared with us. In its $1.6 billion suit against Fox , the voting software company cited unfounded claims made on-air by numerous Fox News hosts and pundits accusing the firm of rigging the 2020 election for President Joe Biden , including baseless allegations that Dominion paid “kickbacks” to election officials to use its machines. Jackson Walker filed public record requests in at least nine states, seeking “documents and communications related to campaign contributions, financial contributions or other things of value” between Dominion and election offices. Additionally, Jackson Walker has asked for “documents and communications related to testing, analysis, certification, decertification or refusal to certify, accept or utilize equipment and/or software provided, maintained or supported by Dominion” and “documents and communications related to any criticisms of, or concerns about, the use of” Dominion’s equipment. This apparent attempt to validate the Dominion conspiracy theories comes after Fox publicly distanced itself from the election lies it once aired, even publicly feuding with top advertiser MyPillow guy Mike Lindell over his promotion of that same disinformation. Fox News lost its bid to dismiss Dominion’s suit late last year, and a jury trial is now set for April 2023 . “This is, I think, the first real picture we get into where Fox is at strategically, and it doesn't feel like they're in a particularly strong place,” Media Matters boss Angelo Carusone told Confider, noting that depositions will likely start in the coming weeks. Fox News did not respond to a request for comment. Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty PLAGIARISM AT THE PEACOCK On Monday afternoon, NBC News published a cryptic note to readers saying the outlet discovered 11 articles from a single reporter over the past year that contained plagiarized content. “In all cases, the passages were not central to the stories, but instead contained supplemental or background material that did not represent original reporting,” the network added, further noting that editor’s notes had been placed atop all of the offending articles. Interestingly, NBC wrote that the public note was written in the interest of “Maintaining the trust of our readers and viewers,” but did not specifically identify the reporter in question. NBC later added links to the offending stories but, prior to that, an NBC spokesperson confirmed to Confider that the journalist is Teaganne Finn , who joined the network in June 2021 to cover politics and is no longer with the company. An NBC insider emphasized to Confider that Finn’s infractions were “more lazy than nefarious.” Finn previously worked as a breaking-news reporter at Bloomberg, which declined to comment when asked by Confider whether the outlet plans to review her articles. Like what you’re reading? Subscribe to the Confider newsletter here and have The Daily Beast media team’s stellar reporting sent straight to your inbox every Monday night. WATTERS UNDER THE BRIDGE The Daily Show correspondent Ronny Chieng is perhaps best-known for his fiery response to a 2016 segment on The O’Reilly Factor in which Jesse Watters went to Chinatown and openly mocked Chinese-Americans who didn’t speak English. When our colleague, The Last Laugh podcast host Matt Wilstein , told Chieng about a recent clip of Watters, who has since failed upwards to become a primetime Fox News host, “joking” about the time he let the air out of a younger female colleague’s tires so he could give her a ride home, Chieng replied: “That’s pretty fucking disgusting.” The comedian fired off: “He looks and acts like a douchebag. So when there’s smoke, I think there’s fire… I would have more respect for him if he actually had his point of view and he gave it irrespective of who was in political power. He’s just like, ‘Who’s the Republican in power? I’m going to defend whatever they say.’ He never criticizes his own team. And unfortunately, the other aspect of it is that he’s just saying stuff to get controversy.” Listen to the full conversation with Chieng on this week’s new episode of The Last Laugh . WE HEAR WHISPERS Disgraced director Woody Allen is set to pick up his clarinet on May 16 and begin a Monday night residency at The Pierre hotel (featured in his 2019 film A Rainy Day in New York ) that will be sure to ruffle feathers… While riding the Acela to D.C. on Friday (so sorry to do this), Confider overheard not one but two separate conversations about CNN host Jim Acosta confronting dopey MAGA Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on the street over her “Marshall law” texts. IN PLAIN SIGHT Politico Playbook’s Ryan Lizza with New York ’s Olivia Nuzzi at almost every WHCD party. With all the party-hopping it’s amazing the glamorous couple have time to write for their respective pubs… Bitcoin bros Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss in a bidding war with each other on Friday night over an exclusive Diplo NFT at The Robot Heart Foundation Inaugural Voyager Dinner at Hudson Mercantile ahead of Fare Forward, a Burning Man-inspired festival that was held in Central Park… CNN PR maven Matt Dornic at UTA’s Friday night WHCD bash at Fiola Mare throwing food at Confider from across a packed room (he missed). MORE FROM THE BEAST MEDIA DESK —“ Dave Rubin’s New Book Is His Desperate Plea for MAGA Love .” Daily Beast opinions editor Anthony L. Fisher read YouTuber and professional charlatan Dave Rubin ’s new book and found it rife with the “self-loathing opportunism” that has made the former self-described “last liberal” a MAGA media sensation. —“ Meet the Sneakiest Defenders of Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine .” It’s not just right-wing media that giddily peddles Kremlin propaganda. In a lengthy reported column, Mathew Foresta looked into how self-styled “leftist” writers including former RT America host Lee Camp “rake in cash and followers” on social media by peddling misinfo about Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and/or the Chinese oppression of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region. —“ Axed Netflix Writers Speak Out: ‘This Was All a F*cking Lie.’ ” The streaming giant on Thursday laid off 10 staffers—mostly women of color—it hired to run Tudum, the fan-service news website it launched just months before. Our colleague Laura Bradley spoke with some of those pink-slipped employees who described the cruel and surreal ways they were treated. —“ Tucker Carlson and Charlie Kirk Wimp Out on Their Twitter Chest-Thumping .” Fox News host Tucker Carlson and TPUSA head Charlie Kirk talked a big game about never deleting the transphobic tweets that got their accounts locked. But—surprise!—they caved. And, of course, they pretended they did no such thing. RECENT READS — The New York Times published a three - part series investigating Tucker Carlson ’s meteoric rise from bowtied intellectual to far-right fringe agenda-setter. In speaking with dozens of his friends and former colleagues, and analyzing more than 1,000 episodes of Carlson’s show, the Times reported that Fox fact-checkers had discovered his screeds sometimes originated from stories on racist or neo-Nazi sites like Stormfront; that he blew up at colleagues who privately or publicly criticized his views, including calling a young Fox reporter up to yell at her to “shut your mouth”; and that his show’s success is built on “gleefully courting blowback, then fashioning himself as his aggrieved viewers’ partner in victimhood.” —Mediaite reported that Fox News and MSNBC vet Greta Van Susteren is in talks to join Newsmax, a mildly peculiar move given the network’s overt MAGA bend and Greta’s penchant for framing herself as a moderate voice. —Puck’s Dylan Byers reported Monday that an assault lawsuit against CNN host Don Lemon has been dropped as plaintiff Dustin Hice now says he misremembered their encounter. Hice’s case completely fell apart in March and he was ordered by a judge to pay $77,000 worth of Lemon’s legal fees. The CNN star’s lawyer hailed the end of the suit—a “crass money grab from its inception”—and lamented “unethical” media coverage of Hice’s claims, “likely referring to Fox News, Megyn Kelly who gave it oxygen,” Byers noted. WHAT ARE WE OUTRAGED ABOUT NOW? Fox News More than a week after first blowing a gasket over “Bunnygate,” Fox News was still goofily attempting to make this “scandal” a thing. In case you forgot: conservative media lost its mind last month after a White House official dressed as the Easter Bunny interrupted POTUS while he spoke with a reporter at the Egg Roll event, claiming the moment as further proof that Biden is not actually in charge of the White House. On Thursday, a full 11 days after Easter, Fox News pundit Will Cain continued to grouse about the issue alongside anchor Harris Faulkner . “Look, I’m saying this somewhat facetiously, but not completely,” he said. “Will he come out with the Easter Bunny? Will the Easter Bunny be there to guide him along the way?… Let me again only half-heartedly, facetiously ask this question: Who is in the costume? Who is the Easter Bunny?” Subscribe to the Confider newsletter here and have The Daily Beast media team’s stellar reporting sent straight to your inbox every Monday night. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. || Coinbase cuts 1,100 crypto jobs as Bitcoin plunges 10pc: One of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency companies is cutting almost one in five staff as Bitcoin prices slump.
Coinbase said it would lay off around 18pc of staff - roughly 1,100 people - with chief executive Brian Armstrong warning that a new “crypto winter” could be imminent.
It came after Bitcoin fell by another 10pc to a low of $20,834 on Tuesday morning, its lowest level since December 2020. More than $100bn was wiped off the value of all cryptocurrencies on Monday as the market fell 11pc.
Coinbase, which lets people buy and sell Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, was valued at $86bn in April 2021 when it floated on New York’s Nasdaq exchange in what was seen as a landmark moment for cryptocurrency.
Shares have fallen by 85pc since then amid a downturn in both cryptocurrency prices and the wider stock market.
In a note to staff, Mr Armstrong said: “We appear to be entering a recession after a 10-plus year economic boom. A recession could lead to another crypto winter, and could last for an extended period.”
He said the company had grown “too quickly”, from 1,250 at the start of 2021 to around 5,000 today. “While we tried our best to get this just right, in this case it is now clear to me that we over-hired,” he said.
This week’s sell-off was prompted by Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange,briefly suspending trading in Bitcoin, the largest digital token globally. The company blamed a technical error.
Celsius, another large cryptocurrency lender,stopped all transactions on Mondaywith bosses citing “extreme market conditions”. It remains frozen, with millions of users locked out of their accounts.
Cooling attitudes towards Bitcoin may be driven by the prospect of further central bank interest rate hikes to quell inflation. Cryptocurrencies have fallen hard amid a flight from high-risk assets as monetary policy tightens globally.
Inflation hit 8.6pc in the US last month, compared to price rises of 9pc in the UK.
Ethereum, the second biggest cryptocurrency, fell around 15pc through Monday, and another 1pc on Tuesday morning to around $1,200.
Trillions have been wiped from the value of digital tokens since a peak last year amid the recentglobal cryptocurrency routas investors cash out.
In May, a cryptocurrency crash was caused after two interlinked tokens, Luna and TerraUSD, spiralled.
TerraUSD, a so-called stablecoin, was supposed to be pegged to the US dollar but its software algorithms relied on the value of Luna. When Luna entered a steep decline, it dragged TerraUSD down with it.
The brief unpegging from the dollar sent the rest of the cryptocurrency market into turmoil, wiping hundreds of millions from the market.
Traders are also monitoring MicroStrategy, a business intelligence company whose big bet on Bitcoin is “backfiring”, according to Bloomberg.
MicroStrategy is said to have lost nearly $1bn through its Bitcoin-denominated loans, with fears arising that further drops in the cryptocurrency’s price could require the business to post additional collateral, denominated in traditional currency. || Compass Mining CEO, CFO resign after utility payment default allegations: Delaware-based Bitcoin mining hosting firm Compass MiningannouncedTuesday that its chief executive officer Whitney Gibbs and chief finance officer Jodie Fisher have resigned, effective immediately.
See related article:U.S. leads in Bitcoin mining as China’s share drops to zero: Cambridge data
• The firm’s board has appointed chief technology officer Paul Gosker and chief mining officer Thomas Heller as co-presidents and interim CEOs.
• Gibbs and Fisher’s resignations came after Compassreportedly lost a mining facilitydue to its inability to pay electricity bills.
• The mining service provider had US$1.2 million in total liabilities, of which US$665,000 were paid,according to one of its facility owners, Dynamics Mining, who claims to have terminated its mining hosting contract with Compass on June 14.
• Dynamics’ allegations are “completely incorrect [and] lack any factual support,” Compass said in astatement.
• Compass has filed a lawsuit and requested expedited relief to protect itself and consumer interests,Compass said.
• Compass Mining’s Discord channel has been closed since Monday, according toreports from several users.
See related article:Bitcoin mining difficulty reading drops 2.35% in latest adjustment || Target Falls After Cutting Guidance: Key Insights Target released an updated 2022 plan and cut its guidance. Second-quarter results will look bleak, and the company’s operating margin rate will drop to just 2%. The stock is trading at 11 forward P/E, but it is not too cheap as analyst estimates will decline in the upcoming weeks. Target Cuts Guidance Again Shares of Target found themselves under pressure after the company cut its guidance just a few weeks after the release of a disappointing earnings report . Target announced that it planned to “right-size its inventory for the balance of the year and create additional flexibility to focus on serving guests in a rapidly changing environment.” As a result, Target expects that its second-quarter operating margin rate will be in a range around 2%. Previously, Target expected that its operating marging rate would be in a wide range centered around 5.3%. In the second half of the year, operating margin rate is expected to grow to 6%. Put simply, Target’s second-quarter results will look bleak. In addition, the market is worried that the economic situation is worse than previously expected due to inflation. What’s Next For Target Stock? Analyst estimates have moved lower after the disappointing first-quarter report. Target is expected to report earnings of $10.6 per share in the current fiscal year and $13.3 per share in the next fiscal year, so the stock is trading at 11 forward P/E. While current valuation levels are not expensive, traders should keep in mind that analyst estimates will continue to move lower after another gudiance cut. More, recent news from various firms, including Tesla , signal that the economy may face problems in the second half of this year. In this light, it remains to be seen whether the market will believe that Target’s problems will be limited to the second quarter and that the company would get back to planned operating margin levels in the second half of the year. To keep up with the latest earnings updates, visit our earnings calendar . Story continues This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: U.S. bars investors from buying Russian debt, stocks on secondary market Biden meets briefly with actor Matthew McConaughey to discuss guns Comics feature U.S. Supreme Court’s newest women appointees Crypto Price Analysis June 07: BTC, ETH, SOL, AVAX, LRC Canada should outlaw sharing disinformation about voting process – report Novavax says COVID vaccine for U.S. to be manufactured by India’s Serum || Ukraine Latest: EU Leaders Talk to Putin; New Bid for Sanctions: (Bloomberg) -- Most Read from Bloomberg Stocks Trim Gains as Inflation Concerns Increase: Markets Wrap NATO Should Think Twice Before Accepting Finland and Sweden Biden to Meet Powell to Discuss Economy as Inflation Bites World’s Riskiest Place for Flying Averages One Disaster a Year Bitcoin Rallies Above $30,000 as China Eases Covid Curbs President Vladimir Putin spoke with the leaders of Germany and France, who urged a cease-fire and for Moscow to free captured fighters. The French president’s office said the two leaders told Putin to lift the blockade of the Black Sea port of Odesa, which is hampering the world’s grain supplies. A revised European Union proposal to wean EU countries off Russian oil imports would spare a pipeline that Hungary depends on for crude. Moscow announced its latest test launch of a hypersonic Zircon missile in the Arctic. Russian forces are likely to attempt to advance on key Ukrainian-held cities in the next stage of an offensive in the the Donbas region, according to a UK Defense Ministry assessment. (See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.) Key Developments EU Spares Pipeline Oil From Russian Embargo Plan to Break Logjam Europe’s Push to Punish Putin Is Falling Short of the Rhetoric Russia’s Whipsaw Week Ends With Default Clock Ticking Russian Wins in Eastern Ukraine Spark Debate Over Course of War EU Leans Toward Delaying a Pipeline Ban to Clinch Oil Deal Johnson Urges More Missiles for Ukraine to Hit ‘Crocodile’ Putin All times CET: Lithuanians Raise $5.4 Million to Buy Combat Drone for Ukraine (12 a.m.) Lithuanians donated more than 5 million euros ($5.4 million) over three and a half days to buy a Bayraktar unmanned aerial combat drone for Ukraine. The private crowdfunding initiative, which received a green light from both the Lithuanian and Turkish defense ministries, aimed to raise the amount within three weeks to buy the Turkish-made drone and ammunition. Lithuanian defense ministry officials plan to head to Turkey next week to complete the deal. Story continues EU Embargo Plan Exempts Russian Pipeline Oil (11:25 p.m.) The European Union proposed banning seaborne oil from Russia while delaying restrictions on imports from a key pipeline, seeking to satisfy Hungarian objections and unlock its next set of sanctions on Russia. The European Commission sent a revised proposal to the EU’s national governments on Saturday that would spare shipments of oil through the Druzhba pipeline, Hungary’s main source of crude imports, according to people familiar with the matter. Macron, Scholz Urge Putin to Lift Grain Blockade (7:50 p.m.) French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to lift the blockade of Odesa to allow Ukrainian grain to be exported via the Black Sea and avoid a global food crisis, according to a statement by the French presidency. The three leaders spoke by phone for 80 minutes, according to a German government statement earlier Saturday. Russia’s Whipsaw Week Ends With Default Clock Ticking (6:05 p.m.) Russia is back in default countdown, with another bond payment in question and the Kremlin fighting to find an escape route. As of Friday evening, coupon payments in euros and dollars worth about $100 million hadn’t landed in investors’ accounts, kicking off a 30-day grace period. But late in the day, the main central securities depository in Moscow issued a statement that its account was debited in favor of depositor’s accounts for the funds. Russia’s government last week said payments to the NSD mean it’s made good on its obligations. Ukraine Rejects Putin’s Link of Food Blockade, Sanctions (3:02 p.m.) Dmytro Kuleba rejected President Vladimir Putin’s linkage this week of global grain shortages to Western sanctions on Russia. “The sole reason” for the unfolding food crisis is the Russian military’s blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, which has prevented millions of tons of exports, he said. Scholz, Macron Talk to Putin for 80 Minutes (2:40 p.m.) President Vladimir Putin discussed the Ukraine war with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday. The three last spoke in the same format in early March. Putin warned of “further destabilization of the situation and aggravation of the humanitarian crisis” if Western weapons continue to flow to Ukraine, according to a Kremlin readout. He also reiterated interest in resuming peace talks, which Ukraine has rejected while Russia continue to fight. Scholz and Macron “urged an immediate cease fire and a withdrawal of Russian troops,” according to a German government readout that said the call lasted for 80 minutes. The pair called on Putin to engage in serious direct negotiations with Zelenskiy to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict, which is heading toward its 100th day. Ukraine Central Bank Interventions Jump (2:16 p.m.) The Ukrainian central bank sold $1.43 billion May 23-27 to support the hryvnia, according to its website. It was the highest level of weekly interventions this year and up from $650.4 million in the preceding week. So far in 2022 ,the central bank sold $8.57 billion and bought $1.82 billion. The central bank from May 21 cancelled hryvnia exchange rate limits imposed on the first day of the war and halved monthly limit of cash withdrawals by Ukrainian bank card holders abroad. Johnson, Zelenskiy Discuss Donbas, Ports Situation (1:30 p.m.) Ukraine’s president and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke by phone on Saturday about the latest developments in the Donbas, and Russia’s ongoing blockade of Black Sea ports that’s preventing grain exports. Johnson said the UK would work with its Group of Seven partners to push for urgent progress to avert a global food crisis. The call came a day after the UK leader urged the supply of heavy weapons to Kyiv as it attempts to repeal Russian progress in the east. Zelenskiy Says Can’t Fight ‘To the Last Man Standing’ (12:20 p.m.) Ukraine can’t fight “to the last man standing,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Saturday in an interview on Dutch television, warning that to restore its territories militarily “hundreds of thousands of lives will be lost.” “There are risks and challenges in east of Ukraine. There are steps indicating a desire to surround our army. There is a large increase in military machinery and personnel by the Russian federation,” Zelenskiy said of Moscow’s intensified campaign in the Donbas. A return to pre-Feb. 24 positions is key for negotiations, he said, adding, “we are not ready to give away neither Crimea nor Donbas.” Zelenskiy’s comments come after some pundits, including former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, have called on Kyiv to consider trading territory for a cease-fire. Russian Cargo Ship in Mariupol to Load Metal (12 p.m.) An empty Russian cargo ship arrived in Mariupol for the first time since Moscow’s troops gained control of the Black Sea port city, and will transport 2,700 tonnes of metal to Russia’s Rostov-on-Don about 180 kilometers (112 miles) to the east, the Russian news agency TASS reported, citing a port official. The television network Zvezda, an arm of Russia’s ministry of defence, said the cargo was “part of the agreements that had been established” before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On Friday, Ukraine’s Metinvest warned that Russia planned to take export-ready products from Mariupol for transshipment to Asia and Africa. Ukraine has decried the action as looting. “After the theft of Ukrainian grain, the occupiers resorted to exporting metal products from Mariupol,” Lyudmyla Denisova, Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, wrote on her Telegram channel. Ukraine Defense Chief Says Heavy Weapons Arriving (11:38 a.m.) The heavy weaponry Ukraine has urgently requested has started to arrive, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in comments posted to the ministry’s website, adding that Russia’s forces “are receiving a rebuff that they did not expect.” Three types of 155-mm artillery are already working on the front lines, he said, including M777 and FH70 howitzers, and French CAESAR self-propelled howitzers. More than 100 US drones have also arrived, he said. Ukraine has received Harpoon missiles from Danish partners with participation of the UK, Reznikov said. Those missiles “will help us liberate and make our Black Sea safe again, as well as reliably protect Odesa.” Russia Test-Fires Hypersonic Missile in Arctic (11:05 a.m.) Russia’s navy successfully tested its Zircon hypersonic missile in the Arctic region, hitting a target at a range of about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), the Ministry of Defense said on its website, where it posted a video of the launch. The Northern Fleet frigate Admiral Gorshkov launched the cruise missile from the Barents Sea at a target in Russia’s White Sea, Tass said. Russia has been testing the Zircon for several years. In December Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a successful test firing, calling it a “big event.” In April Moscow test-launched the new Sarmat intercontinental missile, which Putin said would make the West “think twice” before harboring any aggressive intentions against Russia. Moscow Tightens Grip on Black Sea Port Kherson (10:05 a.m.) Russia closed the Kherson region’s border with Ukrainian-controlled territory, including for trade in agricultural goods, for “security reasons,” the deputy head of the region’s military and civil administration told Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti. Travel and trade will be possible to Crimea and other parts of Ukraine held by Russia. Moscow continues to expand its authority over the Black Sea port city seized early in the war. Kherson and nearby Zaporizhia are being switched to Russian telephone codes, and residents will soon be able to apply for Russian passports -- a move Kyiv has denounced. Sergei Aksyonov, head of Russian-occupied Crimea, said on Telegram that teachers from the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions would undergo retraining and start the new school year under the Russian education system. Hennadiy Lahuta, governor of Kherson Oblast, said Friday that teachers had resisted the plan and praised their “courage” in doing so. Russia Looks to Advance Into Donbas, UK Says (9:35 a.m.) Russia’s capture this week of the town of Lyman -- a major rail link to the east, south and west that also gives access to important road and railway bridges over the Siversky Donets River -- was “likely a preliminary operation for the next stage” of Moscow’s Donbas offensive, the UK Defense Ministry said on Twitter. “A bridgehead near Lyman would give Russia an advantage in the potential next phase of the Donbas offensive, when it will likely seek to advance on key Ukrainian-held cities deeper in Donetsk Oblast, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk,” the UK said. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek Gun Sellers Push Quick Buy Now, Pay Later Financing Gamification Took Over the Gig Economy. Who’s Really Winning? A Startup Wants to Rescue You From Browser Tab Hell The Tech Rout Isn’t Just Cyclical—It’s Well-Earned, and Overdue A New Prediction Market Lets Investors Bet Big on Almost Anything ©2022 Bloomberg L.P. || Bitcoin mining bill to ban fossil fuel-powered operations passes in New York: Bitcoin mining poses a risk to the environment if not powered by renewable energy sources due to the vast amounts of electricity it requires (Getty Images) New York state has passed a bill that would ban bitcoin mining operations that use electricity from fossil fuel power plants. The state Senate voted 36-27 to impose a two year moratorium on all cryptocurrency mines that use carbon-based energy sources in an effort to address environmental concerns with the technology. Bitcoin mining requires vast amounts of electricity in order to perform the complex proof-of-work calculations that are used to generate new units of the cryptocurrency. According to some estimates, bitcoin mining consumes nearly 120TWh of electricity per year, which is roughly equivalent to the entire country of Argentina. New York lawmakers also called for a comprehensive generic environmental impact into all proof-of-work cryptocurrency mining operations in the state. Some cryptocurrency mining companies purchased retired fossil fuel plants and began operating at a much higher rate than the plants did previously, the bill states. We must determine whether the growth of proof-of-work authentication cryptocurrency mining companies that operate their own electric generating facilities and produce energy by burning fossil fuels is incompatible with our greenhouse gas emission targets established in law. The bill still needs to be signed by New York Governor Kathy Hochul before it passes into law. The New York Times reported this week that Governor Hochul is one of a number of US lawmakers to receive donations from crypto companies. The US is currently the world leader in bitcoin mining, having overtaken China in 2021 following a major crackdown by the Chinese government. The latest figures from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) show that 37.84 per cent of all bitcoin mining takes place in the US, with its dominance continuing to grow. Following the aftermath of the Chinese government ban, the geographical mining landscape has again shifted substantially, with the US now cementing its dominant position by a wide margin while other countries are only moderately growing their capacity, the CCAFs latest report noted. Nearly 10 per cent of all bitcoin mining facilities are in the state of New York, making it the fourth most active in terms of hashrate behind Georgia, Texas and Kentucky. The majority of cryptocurrency mines in New York state would be impacted by the bill, with only one gas-powered plant potentially exempt as it has been in operation long enough to bypass the bills requirements.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
|
Trend: up || Prices: 19242.26, 19297.08, 20231.26, 20190.12, 20548.25, 21637.59, 21731.12, 21592.21, 20860.45, 19970.56
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2021-08-05]
BTC Price: 40869.55, BTC RSI: 63.63
Gold Price: 1805.10, Gold RSI: 47.70
Oil Price: 69.09, Oil RSI: 42.95
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Chinese Logistics Firm Airlifting Bitcoin Mining Machines to Maryland: Report: A Chinese logistics firm is airlifting 3 metric tons (3.3 tons) ofbitcoinmining machines to Maryland as the Chinese government cracks down on the industry.
Photos appearing to show the equipment packed up and ready to be airlifted weresharedon Twitter Monday by CNBC’s senior correspondent in Beijing, Eunice Yoon. Guangzhou-based Fenghua International told CNBC it is airlifting 3,000 kg (6,600 lbs) of machines to Maryland.
This weight of mining machines “would be about 200 units of S19,” Thomas Heller, chief business officer at Compass Mining, told CoinDesk. An Antminer S19 Pro weighs about 15.2 kg.
Related:Chinese Bitcoin Mining Company Delivers First Machines to Kazakhstan
The CNBC photos fit into an emerging narrative of bitcoin’s exodus from China but the Fenghua shipment represents a very small load, Heller said. Therecentcrackdown on bitcoin mining involves partial bans on the industry in multiple provinces.
He said that “3,000 kg sounds huge, but compared to the amount of miners that get shipped regularly it’s just a small batch.”
So for how much does the Fenghua shipment account?
With a hashrate of about 95 terahashes per second, 200 of the machines equate to 19,000 TH/s.
Related:Market Wrap: Bitcoin Slides to Two-Week Low, Ether to Below $2K as China Reiterates Crypto Ban
Citingblockchain data, Heller estimates that 50 exahash per second of mining capacity in China has been turned off recently, or the equivalent of 526,000 S19 machines. One EH is equal to 1 million TH.
That gives about 80,000 metric tons of machinery potentially sitting idle.
“That is if it was just S19s. But there are also countless S9s and old-gen units, so the total kg amount would be much higher,” Heller said.
• The De-Chinafication of Bitcoin
• Facts and Misinformation About ‘Green Bitcoin,’ With Jonathan Koomey || Fintech Focus For July 2, 2021: Fintech Header Quote To Start The Day: “I refuse to accept other people’s ideas of happiness for me. As if there’s a one size fits all standard for happiness.” Source: Kanye West One Big Thing In Fintech: Six fintechs — PayPal, Square, Varo, Affirm, LendingClub and Oportun — asked the [CFPB] in a letter Tuesday to give more guidance on how it will apply the theory of disparate impact when artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and alternative credit data are used to make lending decisions. Source: Banking Dive Other Key Fintech Developments: OurBanc adds MX for bank tech. Spotlight turns to M&A for SPACs. Tiger Global to back fintech Yap. Mintable raises $13M in funding. Karat raises for creator finances. Northern Trust digitizes servicing. TP ICAP, Liquidnet: Growth deal . Calaxy secures $7.5M in funding. Robinhood details a crypto surge. Swarm launches regulated DeFi. The Top 250 Fintech Companies. BNP signed FIS tech agreement. Codat adds $40M funding round. Covario added METACO custody. Carro fintech arm eyes financing . SoftBank funds Mercado Bitcoin. Apollo is staking Motive Partners. Mastercard, FDIC eye inclusion . Charlie adds DirectPay to toolkit. dxFeed, Small Exch. add product. Rapyd is acquiring Valitor fintech. Bison Trails has added networks. Watch Out For This: The basis trade, where crypto investors ... profit from discrepancies between spot and future prices, had become a reliable double-digit annual return generator until it was upended in May. The dramatic sell-off saw a number of leveraged positions, mostly held by retail investors, flushed out. Source: Bloomberg Interesting Reads: Tenant eviction deadline looming . Stock markets need short sellers. Pandemic pushes housing stress. Ford Bronco factory to shut down. Analysis : Innovation cycle history. A California town is without water. Market Moving Headline: “The delta variant should not have significant repercussions for the pandemic situation in developed markets (e.g. Europe and North America, which have [made] strong progress in vaccinations) due to the level of population immunity.” Story continues Source: JPMorgan See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga Josh Richards Joins NHL As Special Adviser Fintech Focus For July 1, 2021 © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Ethereum: All You Need To Know To Decide If This Crypto Is Worth the Investment: Cryptocurrencies have skyrocketed in popularity recently and this trend shows no signs of slowing. Given all the talk around these digital assets, you might be wondering whether now is the time to invest. But before pulling the trigger, it’s always a good idea to have anunderstanding of the underlying asset. Cryptocurrency is no exception and it is quite different than investing in stocks or bonds.
Find Out:Where Does Cryptocurrency Come From?Binance Coin (BNB):Why It’s So Interesting to the Cryptocurrency World
Therefore, we will cover a popular blockchain technology called Ethereum (ETH). Like many blockchains, Ethereum has a native coin called ether. Let’s take a closer look at what Ethereum is and whether you should consider investing.
Read:Dogecoin: Is It a Worthwhile Investment?
Ethereum is an open-source, decentralizedblockchain technology. Ethereum’s native coin is called ether. This coin is one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, second only toBitcoin(BTC). Although ether has a smaller market cap than Bitcoin, Ethereum is the most widely-used blockchain.
See:What Is Chainlink and Why Is It Important in the World of Cryptocurrency?
One thing that is important to understand about Ethereum is that it is not the same as Bitcoin. Whereas Bitcoin’s purpose is primarily to be a digital currency, Ethereum is much broader. In fact, Ethereum is an open-source operating system and computing platform. It also supports distributed applications (dApps) and smart contracts.
Another key aspect of Ethereum is that it enables decentralized finance, which is an important part of how the system works. Because the system is inherently decentralized, there is not a single entity controlling it or the value of ether.
More:How the IRS Taxes Cryptocurrency – and the Loophole That Can Lower Your Tax Bill
Like many cryptocurrencies, the price of ether has fluctuated greatly since it launched in 2015. Back then, its price was around $1 and stayed there for several months. The price reached $1,358 in January 2018, its highest price ever at the time. The price began to fall, as did the price of many cryptocurrencies; ether bottomed out at $83 in December 2018.
The price has ebbed and flowed since then but has risen overall. At the beginning of April 2020, the price was around $140; and as of May 18, it is at around $3,349, according to Coindesk. That’s a pretty hefty increase in just over a year. However, it’s since gone down to $1,848, as of June 25.
Read:Breaking Down the Basics of Cryptocurrency
If you decide to invest in ether (and therefore, in Ethereum), you should first ask yourself why you are investing. Although the price of the coin has risen substantially over the past year, it can be extremely volatile. Thus, if you buy ether simply hoping the price will rise, you may end up frustrated.
On the other hand, the Etherum blockchain can be used for many different applications, said Tally Greenberg, head of business development at Allnodes. “Ether is the cryptocurrency required for any transaction made on Ethereum, a blockchain network of applications.A blockchain, on the other hand, is a technology with limitless potential. It doesn’t rest on Ethereum alone and can be used to make a difference in our future with or without cryptocurrencies.”
See:10 Best Cryptocurrencies To Invest in for 2021
Sam Bretzmann, the owner ofBlocklink, agrees with this sentiment. “The difference here is that instead of investing in individual projects which may or may not make it, you can invest in the infrastructure. You can think about it like this, go back to 1999, and instead of having to try and pick which up and coming businesses will survive, you get to just pick ‘the internet’ and invest in that.”
This article is part of GOBankingRates’ ‘Economy Explained’ series to help readers navigate the complexities of our financial system.
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This article originally appeared onGOBankingRates.com:Ethereum: All You Need To Know To Decide If This Crypto Is Worth the Investment || Las Vegas Strip Club Now Accepts Bitcoin Payments Over the Lightning Network: A Las Vegas strip club is taking its first step toward acceptingbitcoinpayments over the Lightning Network in a bid to speed up payments, lower costs and provide privacy to clients.
Crazy Horse 3 says it has become the first major entertainment venue in Las Vegas to accept payment using Lightning.
Bitcoin payment processor and infrastructure provider OpenNode is overseeing the club’s new payment rail, which enables guests to make purchases on the club’s website.
Related:Google Searches for ‘Bitcoin Price’ Reach 7-Month Low
Bitcoin’s Lightning Network is a layer-two protocol system designed to settle transactions off-chain in a bid to cut down the time it takes to use the world’s oldest cryptocurrency and reduce the fees associated with bitcoin payments.
When Bitcoin was unveiled in 2009, it could settle seven transactions per second (TPS). Now as the network and number of users have grown, so too has the demand on Bitcoin’s infrastructure.
The Lightning Network attempts to solve that by increasing the maximum throughput to 25 million TPS. That is an important for businesses like Crazy Horse 3 that accept bitcoin as a form of payment.
Lightning also offers an extra layer of transaction privacy. For instance, itsnodesuseTor’sanonymous communication network known as onion routing. The routing affords nodes the ability to send transactions through each other while keeping the bitcoin transactedencrypted.
Related:Bitcoin Under Pressure, Faces Support at $30K
“We are embracing the opportunity to accept bitcoin as a way to deliver convenience, first-class hospitality and an added level of anonymity for our guests,” a Crazy Horse 3 representative said in astatement.
Located a stone’s throw away from the new Allegiant Stadium, home of the National Football League’s Las Vegas Raiders, Crazy Horse 3 is not exactly tucked away. Like most adult entertainment businesses, the club faces financial judgment in the form of being labeled a “high-risk” industry, and so the fees it pays to payment processing companies via traditional rails are higher. Fees charged by using bitcoin as a form of payment are much lower.
Bitcoin payments can help international clients flying into Las Vegas because they don’t need to use their debit or credit cards to make fast payments.
So far, the club is accepting bitcoin payments only for bottle service, but it plans to expand transactions to include “admission, food selections, craft cocktails, retail and the club’s signature ‘dance dollars,’ valid toward lap dances and entertainer tipping.”
Tipping is where the Lightning Network has the potential to truly make an impact. Under the conditions of privacy, lower fees, and faster payments, the ability to pay entertainers in satoshis or “sats” – fractions of a whole bitcoin – those on the receiving end can forge entirely new local economies.
Onchain bitcoin microtransactions would be prohibitively slow and expensive. But payments on Lightning are ideally made in smaller increments, just right for tips.
• Bitcoin Trending Down Despite Earlier Gains
• Another Bitcoin Investor Sues T-Mobile Over SIM Swap Attack || Graphic: Boom, bust and bewildered - Bitcoin's year so far: By Tom Wilson
LONDON (Reuters) - If you're a bitcoin investor, your nerves may have taken quite a pounding in 2021.
The cryptocurrency's journey towards the investment and commercial mainstream has gathered pace, with major financial firms and companies embracing the emerging asset.
Such interest helped push it to a record high just shy of $65,000 in April. Yet in typically capricious fashion, it has since slumped by almost half.
At the halfway point of the year, the original and biggest cryptocurrency is up around 20% year-to-date. Here are some charts that tell the story of bitcoin's year so far.
1/STILL VOLATILE
Wild price swings have been a defining feature of bitcoin throughout its near 13-year life. The first half of 2021 has been no different, despite hopes that greater liquidity in markets and stronger infrastructure would dampen swings.
Bitcoin more than doubled from the start of the year to its all-time high of $64,895 hit in mid-April, before slumping by over half in just five weeks as regulators across the world - especially China - cracked down on cryptocurrencies.
In May alone bitcoin lost 35%, in its worst month since 2018. Last week it fell under $30,000 for the first time since January, briefly wiping out its year-to-date gains.
Many larger investors also left the bitcoin market after prices spiked in the first quarter, with some shifting to gold, according to JP Morgan analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou.
"What we found out in the second quarter was that actually demand for bitcoin is price sensitive," he said. "Some institutional investors started getting out of bitcoin in April ... they thought bitcoin prices were too high relative to gold."
Bitcoin outpaced by meme stocks https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/xegvbzajxvq/Pasted%20image%201625044892455.png
2/BITCOINS OR ALTCOINS?
Bitcoin has attracted the lion's share of the headlines so far this year. Yet many of its smaller digital currency rivals - known as the altcoins - have posted bigger gains.
Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, has nearly trebled so far this year, bolstered by a surge in the so-called decentralised finance sector. "DeFi" often uses its underlying blockchain technology to offer financial services without traditional middlemen such as banks.
Signs that the ethereum blockchain is gaining traction with mainstream financial firms has also fuelled gains.
XRP, the seventh-largest coin, has gained a similar amount. Other once-obscure coins such as dogecoin, started in 2013 as a joke, have also far outpaced bitcoin, with investors drawn to the prospect of quick gains. Dogecoin is up over 5,000% so far this year.
Bitcoins or altcoins? https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/xklvyxdqwpg/Pasted%20image%201625045597120.png
3/OUTPACED BY MEME STOCKS
Retail investors have embraced bitcoin this year, attracted by narratives that it can act as a hedge against inflation and as a future payment method.
Also driving gains has been a perception that it is a vehicle for quick gains - a perceived quality shared by another 2021 financial market phenomenon: "meme" stocks, whose value is propelled by social-media buzz.
GameStop Corp and AMC Entertainment Holdings, two of the leading meme stocks, soared in the first quarter along with bitcoin, fuelled by retail investors with spare cash and free time because of coronavirus stimulus lockdowns.
Yet the assets have since decoupled, with bitcoin's gains for the year so far outpaced by GameStop - up more than 1,000% - and AMC Entertainment, which has surged over 2,500%.
"It's just an extension of free money just going crazy and so I think that has somewhat you can see that rippling over into cryptocurrencies," said Joel Kruger, a strategist at crypto exchange LMAX Digital.
Another wild ride: Bitcoin's year so far https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/qzjvqxwnxpx/Pasted%20image%201625045877544.png
(Reporting by Tom Wilson; Editing by Pravin Char) || Bitcoin Slips Below $40K; Support Around $34K: Bitcoin (BTC) buyers are taking profits after a rally toward $42,000 over the weekend. The cryptocurrency appears overbought and could find support around $34,000, which is the midpoint of a two-month range.
The intermediate-term uptrend is improving after a near 30% rally from the July 20 low around $29,000. Buyers could remain active at lower support levels given the loss of downside momentum over the past month.
Bitcoin was trading around $39,500 at press time and is down 4% over the past 24 hours.
• The relative strength index (RSI) on the four-hour chart registered a series of lower highs, which suggests the short-term uptrend is weakening.
• The RSI is not yet oversold and could encourage further profit taking towards initial support around $34,000.
• Bitcoin returned below the 100-day moving average after overbought signals appeared for the first time since April, which preceded a sell-off.
• The weekly chart is holding support and could signal a return of positive momentum this month.
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Underperforms Ether; Crypto Tax Ahead?
• What Does Last Week’s Steep Drop in Bitcoin’s Balance on Exchanges Really Mean?
• A Partial Victory in the Infrastructure Bill Battle
• Digital Asset Funds Suffered Outflows as Bitcoin Price Recovered || Raytheon (RTX) Wins $3B Deal to Upgrade APG-82 Radar System: Raytheon Technologies Corp. RTX recently clinched a contract involving the F-15 Radar Eagle Vision. The award has been offered by the F-15 Division Contracts Branch, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH. Valued at $3.12 billion, the contract is expected to be completed by Jun 8, 2036. Per the terms, Raytheon will manufacture, modernize and support the F-15 APG-82 radar system to rapidly deliver and stay aligned with the F-15 weapon system program. Work related to the deal will be executed in El Segundo, CA. APG-82 Radar’s Significance The APG-82 radar is the latest radar advancement for the U.S. Air Force F-15E fleet, a combat proven military jet manufactured by aerospace major, Boeing BA. It optimizes the F-15Es multirole mission capability. In addition to its extended range and improved multi-target track and precision engagement capabilities, the APG-821 offers improvement in system reliability over the legacy F-15E APG-70 radar. What Favors Raytheon? Against the backdrop of the heightening geopolitical uncertainties around the world, a number of developing countries have significantly increased their defense spending. This, in turn, has bolstered the demand for defense products like combat jets, which form an integral portion of a nation’s defense, equipped with advanced technologies. As the United States is the leading weapon exporter, its defense contractors enjoy a frequent flow of contracts for their combat-proven aircraft with the latest technological upgrade. To this end it is imperative to mention that radar systems constitute a crucial defense mechanism for combat aircraft, with their precise tracking capability of an incoming attack, and thus boast solid demand trend across the globe. Raytheon Technologies being a prominent manufacturer of such radars in the United States thus witnesses frequent flow of contracts from the Pentagon, as well as foreign allies of the United States for its varied sensor products. Raytheon Technologies and Boeing have now shared more than 35 years of success on numerous generations of the F-15 radar program. This legacy, along with shared experiences on the F/A-18E/F and APG-79, ensures the APG 82-equipped F-15E will remain a force multiplier for decades to come. The latest contract win is a bright example of that. Story continues Growth Prospects Surge in territorial battles worldwide and rapid advancements observed in radar technology over the past decade have been bolstering the global radar market. Looking ahead, the global RADAR industry is estimated to reach $44.35 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 4.7% from 2021 to 2028, as predicted by Allied Market Research firm. This in turn should boost the growth prospects of major radar manufactures like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin LMT and Northrop Grumman NOC. Price Performance and Zacks Rank Raytheon Technologies, a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock, has gained 41.4% in the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 38.9%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here . Zacks Investment Research Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Bitcoin, Like the Internet Itself, Could Change Everything Blockchain and cryptocurrency has sparked one of the most exciting discussion topics of a generation. Some call it the “Internet of Money” and predict it could change the way money works forever. If true, it could do to banks what Netflix did to Blockbuster and Amazon did to Sears. Experts agree we’re still in the early stages of this technology, and as it grows, it will create several investing opportunities. Zacks’ has just revealed 3 companies that can help investors capitalize on the explosive profit potential of Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies with significantly less volatility than buying them directly. See 3 crypto-related stocks now >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC) : Free Stock Analysis Report The Boeing Company (BA) : Free Stock Analysis Report Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Raytheon Technologies Corporation (RTX) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research || Mine Crypto with StormGain's Free Cloud Mining Service: Bitcoin mining is once again in the spotlight, with videos coming out of China showing massive mining farms being torn to the ground. These events have caused the Bitcoin network hash rate to drop significantly, causing panic on the markets. But, a few wise owls see this as an opportunity, and what an opportunity it is. With less hash dawning on the Bitcoin network, it means that mining is now easier for everyone. And easier mining stands for more profitable mining! Combine this with StormGain crypto trading platform’s brand-new free to use cloud mining service and you’re onto a winner. Even with the lowest amount of hash rate, you’ll mine more Bitcoin thanks to the recent bans on mining and ascending hash rate, courtesy of Stormgain! I Can Mine Bitcoin for Free? The idea of free cloud mining might sound a bit too good to be true, but we can assure you that it’s 100% legitimate. StormGain’s free Bitcoin cloud mining service gives you a real opportunity to mine cryptocurrency at the click of a button. To get started, create your own StormGain account, head to the mining tab and hit start the cloud miner. You’ll then begin earning mining rewards every 4 hours. Once you’ve mined 10 USDT, you’ll be able to move it to your trading account where you can start trading with it. Any profits you make are yours to keep – no questions asked! How Does Free Bitcoin Cloud Mining Work? Some crypto exchanges offer discounts on trading fees and some will send you goodies in the mail. StormGain on the other hand decided to be different, taking rewards to the next level. You see, the more you trade, the more hash rate will be diverted to your crypto cloud mining account. In the beginning, you’ll be able to earn about 0.30USDT per day. But, as you trade more you’ll unlock more hash rate and earn more passive income. More trading = More free Bitcoin It requires nothing from you other than hitting the mine button. It doesn’t use your CPU or GPU; it doesn’t drain your battery and it doesn’t require you to invest any money. Simply trade with StormGain and boost your hash rate. Story continues To start crypto cloud mining at StormGain , all you’ve got to do is log into your account. You can do this on your laptop, mobile, tablet or smart TV. Once you’re in, head to the crypto mining page. Then click “start mining” and it will begin to work its magic. Then, as soon as you cross the trade volume requirement in a 30-day period, your mining hash rate will be automatically upgraded to the next level. What is StormGain? StormGain is a market-leading crypto trading platform, offering you a full suite of crypto trading tools and signals to help you trade as profitably as possible. You can trade a wide range of top cryptocurrencies at up to 300x leverage, which you’ll be hard pressed to beat. StormGain is designed with advanced traders in mind, with its trading platform packing state-of-the-art tools wrapped up in a sleek and clean user interface. Mix all of this impressive tech with 24/7 support and you’ve got the recipe for a top crypto trading platform. How Can I Maximize My Cloud Mining Earnings? As you’re now aware, StormGain is in a class of its own, giving back to traders that take full advantage of its powerful tools. The best way to look at StormGain’s cloud mining service is as a rewards program on steroids. The more monthly trade volume, the more rewards you get – it’s simple. The first increase in hash rate comes at the 150,000 USDT mark. You need to trade this much in a 30-day period to qualify for the upgrade, but this is fairly simple to achieve if you’re using 300x leverage and the proprietary trade signals that StormGain has to offer. Has Bitcoin Cloud Mining Ever Been So Good? StormGain packs a powerful crypto trading platform, coupled with 300x leverage, 24/7 support and a rewards program that’s out of this world. You’ve got all the necessary tools at your disposal to take your crypto trading game to the next level. It’s as good as it sounds, no strings attached. Whatever you mine you can withdraw to your trading account. Then, whatever profits you make on that are all yours to keep. Check out the StormGain website to learn more or reach out to one of the 24/7 support agents, they’ll be more than happy to help. Happy mining! See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga Bally's Shares Gain After Upbeat Preliminary Q2 Results AgriFORCE is Disrupting Traditional Farming with its Eco-Friendly Growing Process © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Crude Oil Price Forecast – Crude Oil Markets Testing Uptrend: TheWest Texas Intermediate Crude Oil markethas gotten hammered again during the trading session on Tuesday, as we continue to see a lot of negativity out there when it comes to the reopening trade, and whether or not there is going to be enough demand for crude oil. Quite frankly, with industrial numbers coming out of China softer than anticipated, right along with the United States, that is the world’s two biggest consumers of this commodity.
This is not to say that I am ready to start shorting wildly, but it certainly looks as if we were to break down below the bottom of the range for the trading session on Tuesday, we probably go looking towards the $65 region. On the other hand, if we can take out the highs of the Tuesday candlestick then I think we can continue to go higher.
Brent marketshave also fallen a bit during the course of the trading session on Tuesday as well, reaching down towards the $71.50 level. At this point, it is very possible that we continue falling towards the $70 level, as we are now below the 50 day EMA. If we were to take out the top of the candlestick for the session on Tuesday though, I think at that point we would see a rather bullish action. Nonetheless, I think Brent is also going to suffer at the hands of the idea of the Delta variant infections picking up around the world, and a fear of the slowing down of the economy. Lockdowns are probably going to be somewhat limited, but at the end of the day the economy is May slowdown regardless.
For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out oureconomic calendar.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• USD/CAD Daily Forecast – U.S. Dollar Gains More Ground Against Canadian Dollar || eBay Agrees to Cut Stake in Adevinta to Win Unit Sale Approval; Stock Falls 3%: eBay (EBAY) has agreed to reduce its stake in Adevinta to clear the regulatory hurdle that has held up the completion of the sale of its Classifieds unit. eBay stock fell 3.17% on Friday to close at $63.26.
In July 2020, eBay announced a deal to sell its Classifieds business to Adevinta for about $9.2 billion. It was set to receive payment for the unit sale in the form of cash and stock. The cash component of the deal was $2.5 billion, and for the stock part, eBay was to receive 540 million shares of Adevinta, representing a 44% stake.
However, the deal got stuck in Austria, and eBay and Adevinta had to make certain concessions to secure its approval, including eBay agreeing to reduce its stake in Adevinta to at least 33%. eBay will have 18 months to do that following the closing of the Classifieds sale.
“Additionally, Adevinta has agreed to prevent the flow of information about Willhaben to eBay, as well as to restrict eBay’s potential influence over the strategic operations of Willhaben,” Adevinta said in a statement. Willhaben is Adevinta’s joint venture in Austria.
With Austrian competition authorities accepting the proposed remedies, eBay and Adevinta expect to close the Classifieds sale transaction on June 25 or thereabouts. (SeeeBay stock charton TipRanks).
Baird analystColin Sebastianrecently reiterated a Buy rating with a price target of $65 on eBay stock. Sebastian’s price target suggests 2.75% upside potential. The analyst notes that eBay’s volumes appear to be ahead of 2019 levels and tracking in line with second-quarter expectations.
Consensus among analysts is a Moderate Buy based on 8 Buys and 10 Holds. Theaverage EBAY analyst price targetof $70.44 implies 11.35% upside potential to current levels.
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• PayPal to Adjust its Merchant Rates from August
• Vivendi to Sell 10% of UMG Unit to Bill Ackman’s PSTH
• CNH Industrial to Acquire Raven Industries for $2.1B
• Boeing Successfully Completes First Flight of Largest MAX Plane 737-10
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 42816.50, 44555.80, 43798.12, 46365.40, 45585.03, 45593.64, 44428.29, 47793.32, 47096.95, 47047.00
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2022-09-21]
BTC Price: 18547.40, BTC RSI: 36.30
Gold Price: 1664.60, Gold RSI: 33.83
Oil Price: 82.94, Oil RSI: 38.36
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
MundoCrypto Brings Together More Than 7,000 People in and Launches its Own Metaverse in the Biggest Crypto Event: MADRID, SPAIN / ACCESSWIRE / September 14, 2022 / On Saturday, August 27, Madrid hosted the world's most significant event on cryptocurrencies. The venue chosen for the event was the WiZink Center, where more than 7,000 people read to learn about the latest news and trends of the metaverse through a completely different experience organised by the Mundo Crypto company. The presenters, the journalist Danae Boronat and the crypto influencer Andrés Meneses, along with Mani Thawani, have led this unique event in Spain for the sector. DVerse, Wednesday, September 14, 2022, Press release picture The event has been followed via streaming in more than 100 countries simultaneously MundoCrypto is Spain's largest cryptocurrency training academy and the third in Europe The event has been presented by Danae Boronat and the Crypto influencer Andres Meneses Brands like Bitget and Medabot also attended the event Has been endorsed by Mani Thawani, founder and CEO of Mundo Crypto , together with industry experts such as Pilar Troncoso, Juan Ramón Rallo, Daniel Lacalle and Pablo Gil The objective has been to bring the world of cryptocurrencies closer to everyone who has an interest, democratise access to education and promote financial freedom, and speed up the industry's growth with the presentation of its new education platform based on the Learn to Earn model MundoCrypto has released its Metaverse as a new training space for the crypto community under the model Learn to Earn and Proof of Community, two of the pillars of this new project. The day, which was early 8 hours, brought together VIPs and industry influencers. In addition, it has been successfully followed via streaming in more than 100 countries. The event featured speakers of the stature of Daniel Lacalle, economist and manager of investments; Pilar Troncoso, co-founder and Vice President of OARO; Juan Ramon Rallo economist; and Pablo Gil , economist and trader, among others. In addition, the former president of the Bitcoin Foundation, Brock Pierce , has entered the event virtually to contribute his point of view on the sector. Story continues There has also been time to talk about exchanges and the metaverse in a round table moderated by Pilar Troncoso , who has counted on Xavier Molina , local Iberia manager of FTX and Eneko Astorquiza from Kucoin . Mani Thawani , founder of MundoCrypto and in charge of leading the event, both in person as well as through his avatar, he has pointed out: "We are delighted to have organised the day of the entire cryptocurrency community. Our duty is that each of the presents has benefited, and the entire crypto world wins after this day as an industry." Lead Cryptocurrency Training The fundamental objective of the MundoCrypto event has been to lead the training in cryptocurrencies and offer the latest news and trends in the sector. With the premise of responsible mass adoption, the company wants to bring the world of cryptocurrencies closer to everyone interested, democrat democratise to education and promote freedom Financial. Mundocrypto took this opportunity to present its new educational model, Learn to Earn , which encourages students to finish the courses. A unique and innovative model where the student will be rewarded. Attendees have enjoyed a unique experience in the industry: Gaming area, photocall, NFT room, high-level training, and presentations with leading players in the sector. It has also been a unique opportunity to network with investors, professionals and entrepreneurs in the cryptocurrency sector. El Salvador Presence In addition, El Salvador has also had a round table where Caleb Navarro , Héctor Sales and Óscar García , deputies from El Salvador, together with Dania González, president of the Financial Commission, have talked about the capital of bitcoin and the first approved law of cryptocurrencies. "It has been a year of many challenges and opportunities. For our country, we are the first in the world to recognise Bitcoin as a legal currency tender so that the crypto community can grow. The magic of bitcoin is to include it in the financial system. El Salvador has its doors open for everyone, and we are the country safest in Latin America". Fun Moments The event has received great excellent coverage and has also had fun moments. The magician Julius Dein has put on a show that has left the open-mouthed attendees. There has also been time for love with a live request hand, contests, and led light and display. But the most exciting thing has been to have more than 6,000 people in the same space with the same interests and joining forces to support an industry that is already a reality. About MundoCrypto MundoCrypto was born in 2019 to democratise access to education and financial freedom through the cryptocurrency ecosystem. In Spain alone, this opportunity has already been provided to more than 55,000 people in crypto training. The European Central Bank estimates that 8 million. https://academia.mundocrypto.com/en/ Watch the event here For more information: Paz Gonzalez - [email protected] - +971501035930 SOURCE: Mundo Crypto View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/715843/MundoCrypto-Brings-Together-More-Than-7000-People-in-and-Launches-its-Own-Metaverse-in-the-Biggest-Crypto-Event || Exodus Announces Release of Browser Extension: Exodus Users can now access Web3 with the new multi-chain DeFi solution OMAHA, Neb., Aug. 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Exodus Movement, Inc. (tZERO and Securitize ATS:EXOD), (“the Company”) the leading self-custodial cryptocurrency software platform, today announced that customers now have the ability to access Web3 via the new Exodus browser extension. “Our multi-chain browser extension provides a gateway to the world of Web3,” said JP Richardson, CEO and Co-Founder. “Customers can send, receive, exchange, stake and HODL cryptocurrency, use dApps, and expand their NFT collection all within the Exodus Web3 wallet. It already includes support for Solana and Ethereum and was built from the ground up with safety, ease-of-use, and beautiful design in mind.” Exodus customers can now sync, manage and grow their wealth across multiple platforms, including mobile, desktop, and the Web3 wallet. The new, multi-chain browser extension brings the world of Web3 to customers through its easy-to-use interface. Exodus is the first to offer both Solana and Ethereum within its Web3 wallet; support for Algorand is expected to launch by September 15. The Company expects to release support for other major DeFi chains, including Binance Smart Chain, Polygon, Fantom, and Avalanche later this year. “Our goal is to simplify the world of DeFi for everyone,” said JP Richardson, CEO and Co-Founder. “We continue to create useful and beautiful products through all market cycles; Exodus’ Web3 wallet embodies our commitment to help the world exit traditional finance.” To access the product, simply visit Exodus.com/download to download the browser extension today. Contact Customer Support [email protected] Press and Investor Relations Allysa Howell [email protected] +1 (720) 484-1147 About Exodus Exodus is on a mission to help the world to exit the traditional finance system. Founded in 2015, Exodus is a multi-asset software wallet that removes the geek requirement and keeps design a priority to make cryptocurrency and digital assets easy for everyone. Available for desktop and mobile, Exodus allows users to secure, manage and exchange cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more across an industry-leading 10,000+ asset pairs from a beautiful, easy-to-use wallet. The non-custodial functionality is encrypted locally on users' own devices, ensuring privacy, security and complete control over their wealth. For more info visit exodus.com. Story continues Disclosure Information Exodus uses the following as means of disclosing material nonpublic information and for complying with disclosure obligations under Regulation FD: websites exodus.com/investors and exodus.com/blog; press releases; public videos, calls and webcasts; and social media: Twitter (@exodus_io and JP Richardson's feed @jprichardson), Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on our beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to us as of the date hereof. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: "will," "expect," "would," "intend," "believe," or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements in this document include, but are not limited to, quotations from management regarding confidence in our products, services, business trajectory and plans, certain business metrics, including anticipated revenues and net income for the year and, in particular, through the second quarter of 2022, and the timing, means and amount of anticipated stock repurchases. These statements involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that are difficult to predict and may cause actual results or performance to be materially and adversely different. Factors that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to: expectations regarding future customer adoption of Exodus for dApps, DeFi and NFTs compared to its competitors; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health and safety of our employees, users, as well as the physical and economic impacts of the various recommendations, orders, and protocols issued by local and national governmental agencies in light of continual evolution of the pandemic, including any periodic reimplementation of preventative measures in various global locations; the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the impact of sanctions or other restrictive actions, by the United States and other countries, and the potential response by Russia thereto; difficulties predicting user behavior and changes in user spending habits as a result of, among other things, prevailing economic conditions, levels of employment, salaries and wages, inflation and consumer confidence, particularly in light of the pandemic and as pandemic-related restrictions are eased regionally and globally; unexpected or rapid changes in the growth or decline of our domestic and/or international markets; increasing competition from existing and new competitors; rapidly evolving and groundbreaking advances that fundamentally alter the digital asset and cryptocurrency industry; continued compliance with regulatory requirements; volatility in the price of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, and other digital assets; the possibility that the development and release of new products or enhancements to existing products do not proceed in accordance with the anticipated timeline or may themselves contain bugs or errors requiring remediation and that the market for the sale of these new or enhanced products may not develop as expected; the risks relating to our ability to sustain or increase profitability or revenue growth in future periods (or minimize declines) while controlling expenses; the compromise of user data for any reason; foreign operational, political and other risks relating to our operations; and the loss of key personnel, labor shortages or work stoppages. More information on the factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause or contribute to such differences is included in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion & Analysis" sections of our offering statement on Form 1-A. We cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. We disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. || Bitcoin, Ether rally continues in Friday afternoon trading in Asia: The cryptocurrency market continued its rally in afternoon trading in Asia on Friday, with Bitcoin and Ethereum up 4.4% and 5.7%, respectively, over the past 24 hours. See related article: Crypto continues tear while Vitalik Buterin says Eth2 not priced in Fast facts Bitcoin was at one point changing hands above the US$24,000 mark in early afternoon at a new high since July 20, and was trading at US$23,957 at 4:30 p.m. on Friday HKT, according to data from CoinMarketCap. The price of Ethereum stood at US$1,716, slightly down from early mornings US$1,771 the highest since early June, the data showed. Solana remained the biggest mover throughout the day among the 10 most traded coins, up 8.8% in 24 hours. This comes as Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index dropped by 2.26% at close on Friday, with Shanghai Composite down 0.89% and Nikkei 225 down 0.05%. See related article: Amid Ripple XRP, Coinbase wrangles, Gary Gensler flexes SEC muscle || GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks skid, dollar holds steady as market mood darkens: * European share benchmark hits four week low
* Fed seen sticking to hawkish tone - analysts
* U.S. peak rate expectations creep higher, dollar gains
* Fresh wobbles hit China property stocks
By Tom Westbrook and Alun John
SINGAPORE/HONG KONG, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Stock markets slid on Wednesday and the dollar held firmly to its recent gains as investor sentiment was hurt by poor economic data from around the world and fading hopes for a less aggressive pace of central bank interest rate hikes.
The pan-European stocks index STOXX 600 touched a four-week low and was last down 0.2% while Britain's FTSE lost 0.9%, continuing the softness in Asian shares from earlier in the day.
U.S. S&P00 futures shed 0.3%.
Wednesday is fairly quiet on the data front, but poor economic activity reports the previous day from the euro zone - which reported a contraction for a second straight month - the United States and Japan, continued to hurt appetite for riskier assets, such as stocks.
Investors' attention is also turning to the central banker's Jackson Hole Symposium which begins on Thursday, with Friday's remarks from Fed chair Jerome Powell a particular focus.
Recent market moves were due to "the combination of the Fed and central banks sticking with their inflation mandate, and at the same time the latest economic indicators showing signs of weakness not just in Europe, but also in the U.S. and also in Japan," said Tai Hui, chief market strategist for Asia at JPMorgan Asset Management.
European benchmark gas prices tripling in a little over two months, have not helped either.
"Maybe two or three weeks ago, markets were thinking the Fed may be done with hiking rates by the end of this year and cutting rates in 2023, and that sequence of events now doesn't look like it's happening," Hui said, noting this had pushed the yield on U.S. benchmark 10 year treasuries back above 3% early in this week.
Traders have been raising their expectations on where the Fed funds rate might peak, with current pricing pointing toward around 3.7% in the middle of 2023.
The U.S. 10 year yield was last 3.0499% while German 10-year government bond yield touched a fresh 8-week high of 1.38%.
CHINA SLIDE
The U.S. dollar, which has gained support from higher interest rate expectations, has also benefited from the poor comparative outlook in other parts of the world.
On Wednesday, the euro was trading at $0.9956 after falling as far as $0.99005 on Tuesday, and was also struggling against sterling at 84.14 pence, despite the pound's own difficulties.
In China, meanwhile, property stocks fell as earnings brought another reminder of the deep hole that developers are in without access to easy credit. An index of Hong Kong listed builders fell to a 10-year low.
"People are still trying to understand the full extent of the detrimental effects as it has multiple repercussions," said Samuel Siew, a market specialist at CGS-CIMB in Singapore.
"It's still very hard to actually measure the entire severity of the situation. That is what markets are trying to decipher, and whether ongoing support is sufficient."
Oil recovered from early losses. Brent crude futures rose 0.7% to $100.9 a barrel - still affected by talk of Saudi supply cuts. U.S. crude futures gained 1% to $94.75.
Spot gold held steady at $1,747 an ounce. Bitcoin still beared the scars from a sudden slide at the end of last week, parked at $21,300.
(Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa, Jamie Freed and Tomasz Janowski) || Bitcoiner Bruce Fenton Loses Bid to Contest US Senate Seat in New Hampshire: Bitcoiner Bruce Fenton will not get the chance to represent the state of New Hampshire as a Republican in the U.S. Senate, losing his bid after primary polls closed late Tuesday.
Frontrunners Don Bolduc, a former military officer, and Chuck Morse, president of the New Hampshire State Senate, were still neck and neck at 3:46 a.m. Eastern time, separated by only 1% with 82% of precincts reporting, with Bolduc leading by a nose. They are competing to face incumbent Sen. Maggie Hasan (D-N.H.) in November.
Fenton's loss comes as the 2022 primary season wraps up. In addition to New Hampshire, the states of Delaware and Rhode Island held their primary elections Tuesday to close out the final preliminary leg of the midterm elections. The general U.S. election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
Fenton, in a Twitter post, thanked his supporters.
Despite Fenton's loss, the U.S. Senate may soon have more crypto-friendly lawmakers after this year's midterm. U.S. Representative Ted Budd (R-N.C.) won his primary bid for a seat in the upper house of the American legislature in June. He'll face Democrat Cheri Beasley in the November contest. Similarly, Blake Masters, a Peter Thiel-backed Republican, is competing against incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly, a Democrat, in Arizona, while Ohio hasRep. Tim Ryan (D) facing challenger J.D. Vance (R).
Budd, a three-term congressman, has introduced or supported a number ofcrypto-friendly billsover his time in office. However, few have actually become law.
Seats in the House and Senate are up for grabs this November, and though a seemingly record number of crypto-friendly candidates ran for office it ultimately was not much of an election issue. Several crypto-friendly candidates – and several candidatessupportedby the crypto industry – lost their primary races over the course of the year.
Rather, the U.S. economy, gun policies, voting policies, healthcare and crime were at the top of voters' minds this year, according to a Pew Research Centerpoll published in August. Abortion, while not a major election issue at the start of the year, took on a fresh importance after the U.S. Supreme Court functionally overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade case this summer. || Crypto Exchange OSL Sold Security Tokens to Professional Investors: Hong Kong-based crypto exchange OSL Digital Securities has distributed security tokens in a private security token offering (STO) with participants including Animoca Brands. With the offering, OSL has become the first digital asset broker with Type 1 registration from Hong Kong-regulator Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) to conduct an STO with professional investors, according to an announcement on Tuesday . Along with noted non-fungible token (NFT) and metaverse investor Animoca Brands, participants included Head & Shoulders Financial Group, China Fortune Financial Group Ltd., Volmart and Monmonkey Group Asset Management. In an STO, an issuer sells tokenized digital securities or "security tokens," which can later be sold on security token exchanges. NFTs are digital tokens that represent the ownership of either a physical or digital asset. The Ethereum-developed tokens will represent $10,000 coupon-rate USD bond, which is linked to the performance of bitcoin (BTC). The STO is meant to act as a proof-of-concept for regulated digital asset investment, paving the way for issuance and distribution of tokenized securities among licensed financial intermediaries in Hong Kong. Read more: Animoca Brands’ Investment Portfolio Now Worth Over $1.5B UPDATE (July 26, 13:02 UTC): Updates tense in headline and lead. || What Is Staking?: One of the key benefits of blockchain technology is that it can offer banking services without banks. Instead of banking clerks, there are smart contracts. Instead of offices and guards, there is a decentralized network secured by its consensus mechanism. This is the foundation for Finance 2.0, or Decentralized Finance (DeFi). One of the most sought-after DeFi features is staking. Just as banks pay interest on deposits, smart contracts pay income to tokenholders who stake their assets. Making Your Crypto Money Work for You Since time immemorial, borrowing and lending has been the lifeblood of any economy. Borrowers need money to grow their businesses, or they may need cash to get out of temporary financial trouble. In turn, lenders supply funds to meet borrowing demand. To make it worth their while and cover the risk if they don’t get paid back, they charge an interest rate, so that borrowers have to return more than they borrowed. Otherwise, why would lenders bother? This process is now completely automated. Thanks to blockchain’s distributed and immutable database feeding smart contracts, the demand for borrowing is easier to meet than ever. In the crypto world, it is interchangeably used with different terms. How Does Staking Work? Staking is locking up digital assets into a smart contract platform such as Ethereum, Cardano, or Solana. These are all proof-of- stake blockchain networks. Meaning, instead of using specialized ASIC machines to run cryptographic hash functions, as is the case in Bitcoin’s proof-of-work blockchain, they use a different method to secure and verify transactions. As their name suggests proof-of-stake blockchains use economic validators instead of miners. In this consensus mechanism, validators use their locked crypto funds as a replacement for energy-hungry ASIC miners. This is their stake in the network. The key difference between proof-of-work and proof-of-stake is their foundation, physical-electricity vs. economic-crypto funds. Source: Etherplan.com Some view the PoS consensus as a weakness because one would have to own 51% of the network to compromise it. In contrast, a PoW would need to be overcome with brute CPU power, which is at this point virtually impossible. Whichever system proves itself in the future, validators receive small rewards when people use the network, just as Bitcoin miners do. In fact, when all 21 million bitcoins are mined, miners will also start receiving transaction fees instead of block rewards. By the same staked token, if validators misbehave, they get slashed. This means their locked crypto funds are reduced. In the case of the largest smart contract platform, Ethereum, which is soon to transition into a fully PoS blockchain, slashing is done for two reasons — attestation and proposal offenses. Story continues Source: beaconscan.com By automating incentives and discouraging dishonesty, proof-of-stake (PoS) networks are secured without centralized institutions. The validators’ stake is the foundation for the network’s trustworthiness. However, staking can also mean something else. Staking As Liquidity Mining When people use the word “staking” in reference to cryptocurrency, it can either mean validator staking or liquidity mining. For instance, a crypto trader can say ‘ I have staked X tokens into Y platform for a Z yield ’. This means they have become a liquidity miner by locking up their tokens for other traders to use in exchange for a small cut. Although centralized exchanges such as Coinbase or Binance provide token swaps the same way banks provide currency swaps, the same can be done with decentralized exchanges. For that to be possible, liquidity has to be provided, so the swaps can run smoothly without delay. The measure of any market liquidity is the speed with which traders can sell/buy assets without a major price shift. Case in point, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are inherently illiquid assets because their price is speculative and low in supply, just like in the real estate market. For regular tokens, an exchange like Coinbase is the market maker that provides liquidity for token swaps. Without them, how can liquidity be achieved? Through the use of automated market makers (AMMs) . For instance, a decentralized exchange Uniswap uses AMM protocol to make everyone into a liquidity provider. Source: Uniswap.org Everyone with a crypto wallet can become a liquidity provider by staking their tokens into a liquidity pool, which is just another smart contract. Then, when a trader wants to exchange token A for token B, they tap into that pool, giving the liquidity provider a cut. Likewise, the identical process occurs with lending protocols such as Compound , Aave, and others. At the end of the line, staking is a form of passive income utilizing crypto funds. This utilization commonly takes three forms: Staking crypto assets to secure the blockchain network itself Staking crypto assets to provide liquidity on decentralized exchanges Staking crypto assets to provide liquidity on lending platforms The big question is, which form of staking utilization is the most profitable? The answer to this question is the main focus of yield famers who are always seeking the next highest APY (annual percentage yield). Staking Size and Profitability According to Staking Rewards aggregator , the total crypto assets staked across different blockchain platforms stands at about $280B. Top six cryptocurrencies by staking marketcap: Staking Rewards As you can see, the staking rewards completely outpace the banking sector’s national average savings account interest rate of 0.06%. Moreover, when we examine lending protocols themselves, the staking rewards are even higher. This effectively nullifies the erosive effect of inflation on savings. Commonly, stablecoins offer the highest and most reliable staking yields for the simple reason their demand outmatches their supply. After all, stablecoins nullify inherent crypto volatility while also being a cryptocurrency. As such, stablecoins are a natural fit for a cheap and instantaneous global payment system. How Can You Start Staking? One of the more popular and easiest ways to start earning passive staking income is through MyContainer . This dApp relieves you of the manual labor of finding the right coin and the right blockchain to stake in. Instead, all in one place, it offers over a hundred coins for staking. Once picked, MyContainer leverages those deposits in the background, delivering the staking yields back to you. Therefore, their business model is cut inception — cut from a cut. Is Staking Worth It? Staking is becoming increasingly popular in both the crypto world and traditional finance. After all, it is no secret that day-trading stocks delivers losses for the vast majority of investors. Case in point, an eToro study concluded that 80% of day traders lose money over a year, with an average loss of 36.3%. Nonetheless, risks in staking should not be disregarded as well: Crypto volatility, if deciding to stake non-stablecoin tokens. Lock-up periods – while you retain the ownership, tokens are not available during. Hacks – few platforms have insurance. Nonetheless, even those that don’t tend to refund assets unless they suffer a reputational hit. For instance, in a recent $600m Axie Infinity hack, the team promised refunds. With these caveats in mind, staking is a profitable venture compared to traditional finance by a significant, inflation-outpacing margin. Moreover, because it doesn’t rely on active engagement, staking is a low-anxiety, set-and-forget form of long-term investing. Read the original post on The Defiant View comments || 7 Deeply Oversold Electric Vehicle Stocks to Buy: Oversoldelectric vehicle (EV)stocks is our topic for today. The market selloff in tech stocks has provided investors with a golden opportunity to buy high-growth oversold EV stocks at their most attractive valuations in years.
For instance, theGlobal X Autonomous & Electric Vehicles ETF(NASDAQ:DRIV) is down around 25% year-to-date (YTD) compared with an almost 18% decline in the benchmarkS&P 500index during the same period.
The boom in EV stocks is poised to accelerate in the coming years. TheGlobal EV Outlook 2022report by International Energy Agency highlights that in 2021, EV sales doubled year-over-year (YOY) to a new record of 6.6 million.
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
Almost 10% of global car sales were electric in 2021, four times the market share in 2019. RegularInvestorPlace.comreaders will likely know growth in EV sales was primarily led by China, accounting for half of the growth.
• 7 Seriously Undervalued Tech Stocks to Buy Now
With that information, here are seven oversold EV stocks that could gain significant traction through the second half of 2022:
[{"Ticker": "CHPT", "Company": "ChargePoint Holdings, Inc.", "Price": "$12.82"}, {"Ticker": "FSR", "Company": "Fisker Inc.", "Price": "$9.07"}, {"Ticker": "LCID", "Company": "Lucid Group, Inc.", "Price": "$18.11"}, {"Ticker": "NIO", "Company": "Nio Inc.", "Price": "$19.11"}, {"Ticker": "RIVN", "Company": "Rivian Automotive, Inc.", "Price": "$31.53"}, {"Ticker": "TSLA", "Company": "Tesla, Inc.", "Price": "$775.38"}, {"Ticker": "XPEV", "Company": "XPeng Inc.", "Price": "$24.48"}]
Source: YuniqueB / Shutterstock.com
• 52-week range: $8.50 – $28.72
ChargePoint(NYSE:CHPT) is the market leader in theEV charging space. It has around175,000charging spots across Europe and North America and boasts a market share ofover 65%.
On May 31, Chargepoint announcedfirst quarter (Q1) fiscal-year 2023 results. Revenue came in at $81.6 million, increasing 102% YOY. Net loss declined to 27 cents per diluted share, down from 83 cents a year ago. At the end of the quarter, cash and equivalents stood at $541 million.
Revenue generated from networked charging systems came in at $59.6 million, representing an increase of 122% YOY. As Chargepoint continues to expand its network of charging stations, subscription revenues are expected to account for a higher portion of its total revenue.
Management forecasts to bring in revenues of $96 million to $106 million for the second quarter. Such an expansion would represent an increase of roughly 80% YOY.
CHPT stock was recently down 37% YTD. Shares are trading at 15.6 times sales. Meanwhile, the 12-month median price forecast for ChargePoint stockstands at $20.
Source: T. Schneider / Shutterstock.com
• 52-week range: $7.95 – $23.75
Next up on our list isFisker(NYSE:FSR), a speculative, pre-revenue EV manufacturer. Fisker Ocean, set to start production in November 2022, is sold exclusively through the Fisker app, i.e., without a dealer network.
Wall Street was initially attracted to its asset-light business model based on contract manufacturing. However, declining investor appetite for pre-revenue companies have taken the focus away from companies like Fisker.
On May 4, Fisker issuedQ1 metrics. Net loss came in at 41 cents per diluted share, down from a net loss of 63 cents a year ago. Cash and equivalents ended the period at $1.04 billion.
In Q2, the company announced the launch of its second vehicle, theFisker PEAR. The new EV model is expected to start production in 2024 at Foxconn’s facility in Ohio. Fisker anticipates reaching an annual manufacturing capacity of 250,000 PEARs in the next couple of years. Additionally, the company plans to manufacture 50,000 cars in 2023 and triple its Ocean SUV model production by 2024. The automaker currently has over 40,000 reservations for the Ocean.
• 5 Electric Vehicle Stocks to Buy on the Dip
This speculative EV play was recently down 42% YTD. The 12-month median price forecast for FSR stockis $15.
Source: Tada Images / Shutterstock
• 52-week range: $13.25 – $57.75
Lucid(NASDAQ:LCID) focuses on luxury EVs and developing cutting-edge EV technologies. The vertically integrated company currently manufactures vehicles in Arizona.
TheEV makerreportedQ1 metricson May 5. Revenue declined from $313 million to $57.7 million on deliveries of 360 vehicles to customers. Net loss declined to 5 cents per diluted share, down from $89.29 a year ago. Cash and equivalents ended the period at $5.43 billion. Management has reiterated its production volume outlook of 12,000 to 14,000 vehicles for 2022.
On May 18, Lucid announced plans forits first overseas manufacturing facilitywith its partners in Saudi Arabia. The new factory is expected to bring EV manufacturing to the country with a capacity of 155,000 units. The EV maker has also signed an agreement with the Saudi Arabian government to purchase 50,000 EVs with an option to buy additional 50,000 EVs any time within ten years.
So far in 2022, LCID stock is down 52%. Shares are trading at 394 times sales. Analysts’ 12-month median price forecast for Lucid Group stockis $33.
Source: Michael Vi / Shutterstock.com
• 52-week range: $11.67 – $47.38
Chinese EV groupNio(NYSE:NIO) has been focusing on the premium segment, including technologies in artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous driving. Over half of the global EV sales comefrom China. Therefore, Nio’s quarterly metrics get Wall Street’s close attention.
On Jun. 9,NioannouncedQ1 results. Revenue came in at $1.56 billion, up 24.2% YOY. Adjusted diluted net loss per share was 13 cents, compared with 3 cents in the prior-year quarter. Cash and equivalents ended the period at $8.4 billion.
Q1 vehicle deliveries grew 28.5% YOY, despite an increase in price for all EV models. Deliveries in June jumped 60% YOY to almost 13,000 vehicles, highlighting the auto industry’s rebound in China. Management expects tobegin deliveriesof its upcoming new ES7 SUV and revised versions of ES8, ES6, and EC6 SUVs in August.
Meanwhile, Nio is on track to expand its business in Europe beyond Norway to Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Denmark in the coming months. Management projects Q2 revenue to increase by 10.6% to 19.4% YOY, supported by deliveries of 23,000 to 25,000 EVs.
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NIO stock has lost about a third of its value this year. Shares are trading at 6.4 times sales. The 12-month median price forecast for Nio stockstands at $30.
Source: Miro Vrlik Photography / Shutterstock.com
• 52-week range: $19.25 – $179.47
Rivian Automotive(NASDAQ:RIVN) focuses on electric sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks. Its portfolio of vehicles includes the R1T electric pickup truck, R1S electric SUV, and Electric Delivery Van.
The EV manufacturer reportedQ1 financialson May 11. Total production was 2,553 vehicles, generating a revenue of $95 million. Adjusted net loss declined to $1.43 per diluted share, down from $4.10 a year ago. Cash and equivalents ended the period at $16.97 billion.
At the end of Q1, the company boasted a solid backlog of more than 90,000 EVs between its R1T pickup and R1S SUV, as well as 100,000 orders for its commercial delivery van fromAmazon(NASDAQ:AMZN).
In Q2, Rivian ramped up production with 4,401 vehicles and delivered 4,467 EVs. Management is confident it can deliver its full-year goal of manufacturing 25,000 vehicles in 2022. However, Wall Street is not fully convinced that Rivian can produce at twice the Q2 rate in the second half of the year. Otherwise, Rivian’s full year goal is not attainable.
RIVN stock was recently down nearly 71% YTD. Shares are trading at 192 times sales. Wall Street’s 12-month median price forecast for Rivian stockstands at $45.
Source: Vitaliy Karimov / Shutterstock.com
• 52-week range: $620.57 – $1,243.49
Tesla(NASDAQ:TSLA) is currently the global leader in the EV space with a market share of over 60% stateside. However, recent researchwarns“Tesla’s US EV market share will plummet to just 19% by 2024.”
Tesla issuedQ1 resultson Apr. 20. Revenue jumped 81% YOY to $18.8 billion. Adjusted earnings came in at $3.22 per diluted share compared to 93 cents a year ago. Cash and equivalents ended the period at $17.51 billion.
Recent pandemic lockdowns in Shanghai have suspended production at Tesla’s most profitable plant. In June, the plant resumed production and sold a record 78,906 vehicles from its Shanghai factory. But in Q2, Tesla delivered only 254,695 vehicles. Before the lockdowns, estimates had been for 350,000 EVs.
Meanwhile, supply chain disruptions have also decreased production at Tesla’s new factories in Germany and Texas. Wall Street is paying close attention to those two new Tesla plants. They should help the EV maker reach the multi-year 50% annual production growth target.
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TSLA stock was recently down almost 34% YTD. However, it is still richly valued at 65.8 times forward earnings and 13.7 times sales. Analysts’ 12-month median price forecast for Tesla stockis at $950.
Source: Andy Feng / Shutterstock.com
• 52-week range: $18.01 – $56.45
China-basedXPeng(NYSE:XPEV) has become highly popular among the growing base of technology-savvy middle-class consumers in the country. Therefore, many analysts watch metrics from XPeng and Nio together. For instance,in June, “XPeng logged a bit more (15,295), but NIO also had a solid month (12,961).”
The EV maker releasedQ1 financialsin late May. Revenue increased 152.6% YOY to $1.18 billion. Adjusted net loss stood at 28 cents per diluted share, up from 13 cents a year ago. Cash and equivalents ended the period at $6.58 billion.
In June, XPeng announced it had reached a milestone of 200,000 cumulative smart EV deliveries. It will also launch anew flagship SUV, the G9, in September.
In 2022, XPEV stock was recently down nearly 42%. Shares are trading at 7.1 times sales. The 12-month median price forecast for Xpeng stockstands at $36.85.
On the date of publication, Tezcan Gecgil, Ph.D., did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to theInvestorPlace.comPublishing Guidelines.
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The post7 Deeply Oversold Electric Vehicle Stocks to Buyappeared first onInvestorPlace. || 7 Undervalued REITs to Buy in August: The U.S. inflation rate has surged to levels not seen since the early 1980s. This has had profound ramifications for investors. Sectors such as technology have slumped as folks demand profits and cash flow today rather than growth in the future. Meanwhile, out of favor industries such as energy and natural resources have roared back to life.
Real estate investment trusts (or REITs) should find themselves among the winners in this transition. A large part of this is because of how REITs operate. They tend to have a lot of debt on their balance sheets to fund the purchase of their real estate assets. As inflation erodes the value of the dollar, that debt becomes easier and easier to repay. Meanwhile, REIT operators are typically able to raise rents quickly and the value of their underlying land assets tends to increase, creating value for shareholders.
With this in mind, it’s a great time for investors to be looking at undervalued REITs. These seven offer serious upside potential along with solid dividend yields today.
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
[{"AMT": "CCI", "American Tower": "Crown Castle International", "$277.72": "$181.68"}, {"AMT": "WY", "American Tower": "Weyerhaeuser", "$277.72": "$36.89"}, {"AMT": "AVB", "American Tower": "AvalonBay Communities", "$277.72": "$218.16"}, {"AMT": "BXP", "American Tower": "Boston Properties", "$277.72": "$90.11"}, {"AMT": "CUBE", "American Tower": "CubeSmart", "$277.72": "$50.61"}, {"AMT": "VNO", "American Tower": "Vornado Realty Trust", "$277.72": "$30.52"}]
Source: Pavel Kapysh / Shutterstock.com
American Tower(NYSE:AMT) operates more than 220,000 communications sites around the globe, including the cell phone towers that have become ubiquitous since the rise of smartphones. Investors might think American Tower is a mature business, and indeed, towers are already well-served in the United States. However, American Tower has grown dramatically overseas in faster-moving emerging markets.
Cell phone towers are a highly attractive business because of great unit economics. A tower can generally break even if it has just one cellular provider as a tenant. However, income from a second and third telecom carrier provides exceptionally high-margin revenues. American Tower tends to serve as a neutral third-party operator that can sell to all the major telecom carriers in a market, generating those juicy profit margins.
American’s Tower business is going well at the moment; the company is currently at a 17% year-over-year growth rate. Acquisitions, annual rent escalators and organic demand growth have all contributed to the firm’s ongoing gains.
Source: Casimiro PT / Shutterstock.com
Crown Castle International(NYSE:CCI) is a big peer to American Tower in the undervalued REITs space. The firm has traditionally specialized in cell phone towers, and generates roughly 70% of its revenues from them.
However, unlike American Tower, CCI has invested heavily in small cells and fiber optic infrastructure as well. As these investments mature, it should give Crown Castle another big driver for growth.
Long story short, between 5G, the internet of things and the increasing demand for streaming video, Crown Castle should have a long runway for delivering more shareholder value.
Crown Castle uses more leverage than many of its peers in the course of building out its business. That could be seen as a negative, but it swings to a positive given the current inflationary environment. Crown Castle should be able to generate sharply higher revenues from its assets while its debts become more manageable thanks to said inflation. CCI stock is down 13% year to date, offering a reasonable entry point today.
Source: rafapress / Shutterstock
Weyerhaeuser(NYSE:WY) is one of America’s largest lumber companies and REITs in that niche. It has owned and operated timberlands and related forestry products businesses for more than a century.
The company is enjoying excellent fortunes today given current inflationary conditions. In 2021, revenues soared to $10.2 billion from $7.5 billion in 2020. EBITDA nearly doubled for the same period as well. Earnings soared to $3.47 per share for fiscal year 2021, leaving the stock around 10x earnings.
Perhaps earnings won’t quite repeat in the future as the housing market dips. Analysts expect Weyerhaeuser to earn $3.06 per share in 2022. Regardless, earnings remain well above pre-pandemic levels, yet the stock is trading around levels it has traded at since the early 2010s. With the new inflationary environment, Weyerhaeuser’s timberland should be worth a lot more.
Source: Andriy Blokhin / Shutterstock.com
AvalonBay Communities(NYSE:AVB) is one of the nation’s largest apartment owners. As of June 2022, AvalonBay directly or indirectly owned 89,037 apartments. These holdings are primarily in top-tier markets such as New York, California and Washington, D.C.
AvalonBay is firing on all cylinders right now. Between inflation and the hot housing market, AvalonBay was able to raise rents,9% on average from January to May. Despite the price hikes, the firm’s average occupancy managed to climb slightly as well.
The general takeaway is that while it’s ever-more-expensive torentan apartment, being a landlord is increasingly lucrative. For investors, AVB stock is a great way to profit from the inexorable climb in the nation’s cost of living.
Despite the positives, AVB stock has gotten caught up in the broader rough market, with shares down 14% year-to-date. Thanks to that, the firm’s dividend yield is now 3%.
Source: Ralf Liebhold / Shutterstock
Boston Properties(NYSE:BXP) is the largest publicly traded American office developer and operator. It has primarily focused on markets such as Boston, New York and San Francisco.
BXP stock was trading for around $140 per share prior to the pandemic. Unlike most things hit hard by Covid-19, Boston Properties has failed to recover meaningfully. Shares are trading for just $90 today.
At this valuation, Boston Properties is going for less than 12x funds from operations. Traditionally, this sort of business would trade for closer to 20x FFO. It’s possible that offices never recover to their prior glory. Even if so, however, Boston Properties tends to own among the best properties in the country’s most attractive markets. Its offices should still hold great appeal in the new economic landscape.
Shares are now up to a 4.4% dividend yield thanks to the drop in the firm’s stock price.
Source: viewimage / Shutterstock.com
CubeSmart(NYSE:CUBE) is the third-largest American REIT in the self-storage space. Self-storage is a particularly attractive REIT category in the current economic environment.
That’s because of two primary reasons. One, the housing market is volatile, with many people looking to buy and sell properties amid fast-changing market conditions. And, historically, when people move, they often need more self-storage space. Self-storage was one of the best categories of REITs in 2009, amid the housing market bust, since so many people were downsizing, moving to apartments, or otherwise economizing their living conditions.
The other favorable attribute is that self-storage operators tend to have month-to-month leases. This means that when inflation is running hot, such as now, CubeSmart can raise prices for its customers almost immediately. This makes CubeSmart stand out compared to other types of REITs which have longer-term leases with less pricing flexibility.
Source: Vitalii Vodolazskyi / Shutterstock
Vornado Realty Trust(NYSE:VNO) is an office REIT focused on the New York City market. It owns more than 20 million square feet of prime office space in Manhattan. Key tenants include the likes of business media giantBloombergandAmazon’s(NASDAQ:AMZN) New York City headquarters. Vornado also operates a good deal of real estate space in New York, including in world-class districts such as Fifth Avenue and Times Square.
The bearish arguments for both New York City and office space are well-known. Working from home has eroded the need for office space.
However, for investors that believe that New York will rebound as tourists come back and offices reopen, VNO stock is a standout bargain today. Shares traded as high as $80 in the mid-2010s but are selling for just over $30 today. Meanwhile, shares pay a dividend yield of 7%.
On the date of publication, Ian Bezek held a long position in CUBE, VNO, and AMT stock . The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.comPublishing Guidelines.
Ian Bezek has written more than 1,000 articles for InvestorPlace.com and Seeking Alpha. He also worked as a Junior Analyst for Kerrisdale Capital, a $300 million New York City-based hedge fund. You can reach him on Twitter at @irbezek.
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The post7 Undervalued REITs to Buy in Augustappeared first onInvestorPlace. || The New Math of Crypto Payments: There’s a fundamental difference between paying with crypto and paying in crypto that will play a big role in whether the broader public comes to use bitcoin, ether and the like at the till and the checkout screen. At present, by and large, people are paying with crypto but thinking in dollars — for example using a crypto debit card at the point of sale. This works fine if you’re a crypto investor who wants to be able to use it without having to go through the hassle of going to an exchange and off-ramping some of your bitcoin holdings into cash. Not-So-Foreign Exchange That’s not a big deal when you are buying a couch or a car, but it’s unreasonably inconvenient for a cup of coffee or dinner at a restaurant. And it essentially assumes that most or at least a significant portion of your disposable income is kept in crypto. Which in turn assumes that you are a serious crypto investor who thinks that your bitcoin, ether, dogecoin, XRP or whatever will increase in value so much over the long term that you want to keep all or at least a large portion of your wealth in crypto. Or that your salary comes in crypto — which is something that several companies, like the exchange Coinbase, are trying to make easier on employers. But paying with crypto isn’t really a revolution, it’s more like a debit card drawing on a money market account. And it isn’t really convenient, especially with cryptocurrencies regularly fluctuating 5% or 10% or more on a daily to weekly basis — and rising or falling 50% or more over several months. A good way to think of it is to consider paying for things as a tourist in a foreign country. Not in the Eurozone, where 1 euro is at present $1.01, but somewhere where 27, 3,872 or 680,000 of the local currency is equal to $1. When you’re in that situation you generally spend several days doing FX conversions in your head or asking Siri every time you buy something. Eventually you get the hang of it, but crypto’s fluctuations can make it more like a tour group seeing a new country every few days. Story continues Paying in Crypto? Is it worth going through the process of accepting crypto as a merchant? Sure. A growing number of people want that ability and will seek out merchants who provide it. See also: PYMNTS Data Show Crypto’s Use for in-Store Purchases Is Growing According to PYMNTS’ study The U.S. Crypto Consumer, Cryptocurrency Use In Online and In-Store Purchases , 27% of crypto-owning consumers say they “probably” or “definitely” prefer shopping at merchants who accept crypto. But for crypto to do what Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto wanted — to make cryptocurrencies a replacement for national currencies on a day-to day basis — that is a long way off. Thinking in Crypto For people to pay in cryptocurrency means, essentially, thinking in it. “There’s a cognitive shift that has to happen,” Kevin Beauregard , CEO of blockchain game studio Atmos Labs, told PYMNTS recently. “People have to think in a different currency. Most people in the real world think, ‘I work for a job, my salary is paid in dollars, and I expect to accumulate more dollars over time.’” That’s changed in one place, he believes: Nonfungible tokens (NFTs). The original NFT marketplaces all priced and sold NFTs in ether — ETH — and early collectors, who tend to be hardcore crypto users, now think in ETH, Beauregard said “They’re fundamentally going, 'I acquired this NFT for this much ETH and I can sell it for how much ETH,' ” he said. “They actually think in ETH now.” That’s something that, he said, he would never have believed possible five years ago. However, his point was that dollar-pegged stablecoins remove the need for that cognitive shift. “Getting to a fundamental unit of account that people understand is an important thing,” he added. That was one of the big reasons that central bankers, treasury departments and international financial institutions blew up so hard and then-Facebook’s Libra project — it was a stablecoin pegged to a basket of currencies but not any single one, like the dollar. By allowing 2.3 billion users to instantly think in and pay with libras, the project would get them to stop thinking in their own currencies, diminishing its control and authority. It’s why many countries with weak currencies aren’t happy when people “dollarize” purchases. While stablecoin opponents fear that privately controlled cryptocurrencies will damage central banks’ ability to influence the economy, removing the national currency as a denominator or goods takes that a step further. But it’s a very big step. And paying with a dollar-pegged stablecoin (in the U.S.) provides some conveniences on the back-end, like instant settlement and cross-border payments, but as many stablecoin opponents have pointed out recently, FedNow and The Clearing House have that first part covered, or will soon, and cross-border payments isn’t a day-to-day need for most individual consumers. The utility of stablecoins — outside the crypto trading and DeFi worlds — at this point is largely to make it easier for crypto owners to make payments than by deciding if they want to spend 0.00045 BTC.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: no change || Prices: 19413.55, 19297.64, 18937.01, 18802.10, 19222.67, 19110.55, 19426.72, 19573.05, 19431.79, 19312.10
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2016-12-14]
BTC Price: 781.48, BTC RSI: 65.88
Gold Price: 1161.30, Gold RSI: 31.37
Oil Price: 51.04, Oil RSI: 56.37
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
The 'failure' of election polling was about 3 key things: Before voting began on Election Day, nearly every major poll was predicting a Hillary Clinton win by 2-4 percentage points. When the smoke cleared Wednesday morning, Donald Trump had won.
In the wake of Trump’s surprise win, arguably the biggest fascination has been the failure of the polls.Politicoasked, “How did everyone get it so wrong?”Fusionasked how it went “so, so, so wrong?”Harvard Business Reviewwrote that pollsters were “completely and utterly wrong.”
Yes, the polling was wrong—but the reasons why are numerous, and nuanced, and will take a long time to fully parse and understand. In addition, it wasn’t just the polls that went wrong, but also the media’s interpretation of the polls.
One of the biggest theories as to what the polls missed was the idea of “shy Trump voters” who didn’t want to say when polled that they were planning to vote for Trump, but always knew.
White women, in particular, proved to be a surprise: 53% of them voted for Trump overall, led by those without a college degree, who went for Trump by a 2-1 margin. White women with a college degree went for Clinton, but only barely, by six percentage points. “There’s your shy Trump vote,”tweeted Kristen Soltis Anderson, a pollster at Echelon Insights.
Andersonlater addedthat a bigger problem than secret Trump voters was “a phony mirage of a Clinton vote.” Trump got fewer votes than McCain did in 2008 and Romney did in 2012 and won anyway, because too many Democrats didn’t vote.
Indeed, polling also fails to account for turnout, which was the lowest overall it has been since 2000. (Latino turnout was up from 2012 and skewed toward Clinton, but not by enough to beat Trump.) All non-white ethnic groups went for Clinton, as did millennials—but not enough of them voted.
AsHarvard Business Reviewpoints out, “People tend to say they’re going to vote even when they won’t… the failure of a complex likely voter model is why Gallup got out of the election forecasting business.”
As much as big data (and the technology to sift through it) has advanced, our methods of gathering data are still dated. Most of the national polls are still done by landline telephone. And that has been a problem for over a decade now.
In 2003, Gallup wrote a post about thefalling response ratesin polls. If you start with a target sample size of 1,000 households, Gallup wrote, at least 200 households fall out because they are businesses or non-working numbers. Of the 800 left, another 200 “may be unreachable in the time frame allocated by the researcher… household members at these numbers may use caller ID or other screening devices and refuse to answer.” Now you’re down to 600, of which 200 more people may pick up the phone but refuse to participate in the poll. Suddenly, the sample size has shrunk from 1,000 to a mere 400 households. Declining to pick up the phone, or declining to participate in the poll, may have been a particular problem with this election polling.
The shrinking sample size is a significant problem. As pollster Andersontweeted, the “only way you can bring down margin of error is to raise sample size.” That’s not easily done.
In an interview withBloomberg, Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer pointed to “the continuing barrier of the lack of landlines, the erosion of landlines” as a particular problem this cycle. Bloombergwrote it in October: “Your mobile phone is killing the polling industry.” And Matthew Nisbet atThe Breakthroughnoted back in 2012, “Other under-reported sources of error also factor into a poll’s accuracy, including the greater reliance on cell phones.”
Online polling is a newer method, but has its own problems. Trump campaign managerKellyanne Conway said back in August, after a Trump dip in the polls, that the candidate “performs consistently better in online polling where a human being is not talking to another human being about what he or she may do in the elections.” TheWashington Postpointed out that this wasn’t the case overall—on average, Trump wasn’t doing better in online polls than in telephone polls.
However, a Morning Consult post from Nov. 3 (with nearly the now-suspect headline, “Yes, there are shy Trump voters. No, they won’t swing the election”) pointed out that Trump was doing 1% better in online polls than phone polls, a difference small enough to be dismissed. But here was the key line in the Morning Consult post: “Trump’s edge over Clinton online instead of in phone polling is especially pronounced among people with a college degree or people who make more than $50,000… more-educated voters were notably less likely to say they were supporting Trump during a phone poll than in an online survey.” That was the exact slice of voters that went for Trump more than anyone expected.
So it isn’t black-and-white whether phone or online polls are better, and it isn’t clear that phone polls should die; but it is clear that methods of polling need to evolve and improve, and that the best route to get as many data sets as possible is a combination of different methods.
After an initial immediate backlash to the polls, a newer narrative is already emerging: the polls didn’t fail as terribly as everyone is saying they did.
Many are pointing out that Clinton looks likely to win the popular vote (although barely, and by a smaller margin than Gore won it in 2000). If Clinton does win the popular vote by around one percentage point, then polls that showed Clinton winning by two or three points were only one or two points inflated. Moreover, polls come with a margin of error that in many cases did cover the eventual difference.
The problem is that in a 140-character media landscape, margin of error is often left out, or squeezed into posts and articles as an asterisk.
The election polls were actually off by less than Brexit polls were off. And Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight pointed out on Thursday morning that this year’s polls were in fact more accurate than in 2012. That year, polls generally predicted a slim Obama win margin of 1 percentage point, and he won by 4 points. This time, the polls gave Clinton a margin of 3-4 points, and she looks likely to win the popular vote by 1 or 2.
Of course, that defense won’t exactly quell outrage over the polling (just look at the replies to Silver’s tweet), because the polls in 2012 didn’t call the wrong winner. There’s a big difference between Obama winning by a larger margin than polls said he’d win by, and Trump winning when polls said Clinton would win.
And to be sure, a fair retort to Silver and others claiming that the polls weren’tthatwrong is that the result here was binary: polls could either predict the right winner or the wrong winner. Almost all of them predicted the wrong winner.
Polls are estimates. They are aprojectionof what appears likely to happen, within a margin of error. But we take them too literally. As Fairleigh Dickinson University professor Peter Woolleytold Bloomberg, “We tend to over-report the accuracy of the poll, and tend to forget very quickly that it’s an estimate within a range.” The biggest problem with the polls this time around, then, wasn’t actually the polls, but our interpretation of them.
Because the vast majority of the polls (all of them but two, from USC/LA Times and IBD/TIPP) had Clinton winning, the media and the public counted on a Clinton win, ignoring the fact that most polls had her winning only slightly, and many had a margin of error that allowed for the opposite result. The volume and noise drowned out nuance.
In a September article inThe Atlantic(appropriately headlined, “Taking Trump seriously”), Salena Zito wrote of Trump, “The press takes him literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally.” The media spent time picking over everything Trump said as though he were serious, when he often wasn’t, and didn’t take him seriously as a legitimate threat to Clinton; his voters didn’t worry too much about each individual shocking sound bite, but took him seriously as a candidate.
In a column published after Trump’s victory,Maureen Dowdof The New York Times pointed to Zito’s line as a “prescient” one, and it truly was—it describes not just the result of the election, but the problem with how the media embraced the polls. Pundits – and the public – took the polls literally.
Many are now asking whether polls are even useful if they can be so wrong. Does the Trump surprise win kill the polling industry? Hardly. Polling isn’t going anywhere, but the methods need to improve, and we must temper our embrace of the predictions they yield. They are only that: predictions.
—
Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology. Follow him on Twitter at @readDanwrite.
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What it was like to listen to Trump and Clinton debate on the radio || Tips on How to Protect Your Private Information On Black Friday and Cyber Monday: Americans will line up around stores and standby their computers or smartphones to take advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, but protecting their private information should also be priority for shoppers. During the holiday season many shoppers are harmed by failing to take simple precautions, says Gene Richardson, COO of Experts Exchange , a network for technology professionals. In Store Vs. Online Retail stores are one of the top areas identity thieves go after, Richardson said in an email to the IBTimes. A large number of some of the biggest identity thefts in the past few years were at large retail stores, he says. Long lines and busy cashiers could potentially put your private information at risk. “All the clerk cares about is getting you through the line as fast as they can so they can deal with the next customer and hope that none of you are angry,” says Richardson. “So, if there is a hiccup with your transaction, they will take “backup” paths to complete your transaction like entering your credit card number by hand.” Richardson, who is also the former head of the data security teams IBM, Charles Schwab and Motorola, says customers should never give their credit card to someone to perform a transaction by entering a card number. “Hand transactions are a huge risk for identity theft,” he says. Customers should also avoid buying if a cashier’s computer is down or too busy, unless it’s with cash, or try to go back later. Credit card scanners are also a threat to customers, as some of them may be rigged to copy a person’s information so that a duplicate credit card can be made. People may be less exposed to this action in large retail stores, but the risk is higher in smaller boutiques shops, says Richardson. Customers should also make sure their credit card number is not printed on receipts and should instead have XXX's where the number is displayed. But online purchases can be riskier because of all the extra information customers hand over, like their name, address, phone number, credit card information, expiration date and CSV. Story continues “They ask for so much more information from you to validate who you are than a purchase in a retail store,” says Richardson. “You have no control of who or where that information is going.” Tips to Protect Yourself Here are Richardson’s tips for shoppers on how they can protect themselves on Black Friday and Cyber Monday: Ensure that the website address is secure and has a valid encryption certificate. It will usually display a “locked, green” indicator in front of the website name. If it doesn’t have that, it does not have a higher level of security that has been guaranteed by a known entity like Verisign, Symantec and others. Ensure your system has the most recent recommended system and security patches. Always use a credit card that is not tied directly to your personal bank account(s), even if you are using PayPal, Bitcoin or some other payment method. Never give anything other than name, address and phone number. You should not need to answer security or privacy questions when making a purchase or checking out. If they ask, see if you can checkout as a “guest” instead. Monitor your credit through a third party for identify theft and have SMS and email alerts sent to you immediately. Set-up alerts with your credit card company that send both SMS and emails when any purchases are made and the credit card was not scanned (meaning, it wasn’t in someone’s hand when the charge was made). Set them as low as $25 per purchase. Also, set-up alerts for total purchases over $500 in a billing period to protect multiple $24.99 purchases. And if possible, a maximum amount of purchases allowed in a billing period such as $1500 before card will get declined. Ensure that you have a reputable Antivirus program running on your computer and that your browser has an Ad blocking plug-in. (Richardson recommends Norton, McAfee or ESET.) Ensure that the network your computer/device is on is secure and you know who has access to your network. This is usually done with your router. You want to lock down your router so that traffic can be initiated from the inside-out but you do not want traffic to be initiated from the outside-in. If you are using a WiFi connection, make sure that network is also secure and requires a password to join. If it is a public WiFi network that doesn’t require a password, then the traffic coming from your device can be monitored and stolen. (Link to onsite how-to article?) Any passwords that you use should be strong, hard to guess ones. Or, even better, hard to guess, but easy to remember . Don’t click on unfamiliar links to sites advertising sales, coupons, etc. Use two-factor authentication/verification, if it is offered. Shopping on Mobile Devices One in 10 mobile apps that are found through searching “Black Friday” are blacklisted as malicious, according to cyber security company RiskIQ An estimated 30 percent of purchases will be made on mobile devices, RiskIQ says. Shopping on mobile devices can substantially increase the risk of encountering phishing pages, malicious apps, and viruses that infect customers’ smartphones and tablets to steal money and private information. There are also fake apps out there that contain malware that can steal customers’ data or lock the device until the user pays a ransom, says RiskIQ. Other malicious apps may ask consumers to use their Facebook or Gmail logins, which could compromise their private information. Tips For Safe Shopping on Mobile Devices Here are some tips from RiskIQ: Ensure that you are only downloading apps from official app stores such as Google or Apple Be wary of applications that ask for suspicious permissions, like access to contacts, text messages, administrative features, stored passwords, or credit card info. Just because an app appears to have a good reputation doesn’t make it so. Rave reviews can be forged, and a high amount of downloads can simply indicate a threat actor was successful in fooling a lot of victims. Before downloading an app, be sure to take a look at the developer—if it’s not a brand you recognize or has a strange appearance or spelling, think twice. You can even do a Google search on the developer for more clues about its reputation. Make sure to take a deep look at each app. New developers, or developers that leverage free email services (e.g., @gmail) for their developer contact, can be enormous red flags— threat actors often use these services to produce mass amounts of malicious apps in a short period. Also, poor grammar in the description highlights the haste of development and the lack of marketing professionalism that are hallmarks of mobile malware campaigns. Check website addresses after following links on Twitter, Facebook, or other social media channels to be sure you end up on the true website of the retailer you want. Look for the “S” in HTTPS when you visit shopping sites. Beware of shopping sites that do not use HTTPS in their website addresses or do not display the symbol of a lock next to the web address. Secure sites use HTTPS, and without that, you’re dealing with unsecured connections or weak encryption of personal data. Never provide your credit card information unless you are in a secure online shopping portal. Sites that ask for it in return for “coupons” or to win “free” merchandise are almost always scams. Protect Yourself From a Major Headache For those who might not want to go through the hassle of setting up credit card alerts on purchases or locking down their router, it’s important to remember that it can and save consumers from a major headache. “Identity theft could cost you several thousand dollars in actual money and can cost you a lot more in your personal time and future anticipated losses cleaning up after the fact,” Richardson said. “The impact of identity theft could last years as you personally have to work to call all your creditors to fix your credit, loss of credibility for future purchases of a home, car, etc. as your credit scores will have been impacted, the effect on future employment opportunities as background checks are run and many, many more,” he added. Related Articles $100 Off HTC Vive On Black Friday and Cyber Monday American Consumers Prep For Cyber Monday || Winklevoss brothers name State Street as bitcoin ETF administrator: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss on Tuesday filed amendments to their proposed bitcoin exchange-traded fund, naming State Street as administrator, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Winklevoss brothers, identical twins, had filed their first application for a bitcoin ETF called Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust three years ago. Investors have shown keen interest in the Winklevoss ETF. If approved by the SEC, this would be the first bitcoin ETF issued by a U.S. entity. According to the amended filing, State Street will provide the fund administration and accounting services, including calculating the bitcoin trust's net asset value (NAV). Another major change involved the ETF's custodian, Gemini Trust Company, doing monthly "proof of control" exercises and publishing the reports on the ETF's website. "Custodian's cold storage system was purpose-built to demonstrate "proof of control" of the private keys associated with its public bitcoin addresses," the filing said. "The sponsor and the custodian have engaged an independent audit firm to verify that the custodian can demonstrate "proof of control" of the private keys that control the Trust's on a monthly basis." Burr Pilger Mayer, based in San Francisco and known for working with venture-backed digital currency companies, has been named the ETF's auditor, the filing said. In addition, the SEC filing said Gemini's daily auction price at 4 p.m. EDT will now be used to price the NAV of the ETF. The previous pricing mechanism was the Gemini spot price. Gemini runs a digital currency trading venue. Since its launch in September, the Gemini auction has transacted more than 19,00 bitcoin on average per business day, which represents more than 16 percent of all U.S.-based bitcoin exchange volume during the 4 p.m. period, Gemini said on Tuesday. The daily auction along with Gemini's expansion has increased the company's market share to about 9 percent of all U.S. dollar-denominated exchange-traded bitcoin volume. Story continues The ETF would trade under the ticker symbol COIN. Late on Tuesday, bitcoin traded at $632.88 on the BitStamp platform. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss) || Cable & Wireless Preliminary Q2 2016/17 Results: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Nov 4, 2016) - Cable & Wireless Communications Limited ("CWC") is the leading telecommunications operator in substantially all of its consumer markets, which are predominantly located in the Caribbean and Latin America, providing entertainment, information and communication services to 3.5 million mobile, 0.4 million television, 0.6 million internet and 0.8 million telephony subscribers. In addition, CWC delivers B2B services and provides wholesale services over its sub-sea and terrestrial networks that connect over 30 markets across the region. Liberty Global's Acquisition of CWC On May 16, 2016, a subsidiary of Liberty Global plc ("Liberty Global") acquired CWC (the "Liberty Global Transaction"). Revenue, Adjusted Segment EBITDA and subscriber statistics have been presented herein using Liberty Global's definitions for all periods presented unless otherwise noted. Further adjustments to these metrics are possible as the integration process continues. The results for the six months ended September 30, 2016 ("Q2 2016/17") have also been aligned to Liberty Global's EU-IFRS accounting policies and estimates. Significant policy adjustments have been considered in our calculation of rebased growth rates for revenue and Adjusted Segment EBITDA. Operating and financial highlights*: Delivered 9,000 organic RGU additions in Q2 2016/17 Mobile revenue 2% lower than the prior year in Q2 2016/17, as compared to Q2 2015/16 on a rebased basis, due primarily to a decrease in the Bahamas Establishing Flow as a leading sports broadcaster in the Caribbean Successful Olympics campaign with over 4.6 million viewers tuning into Flow channels 85% increase in Flow Sports viewership in August versus May through July average Exclusive rights to broadcast Premier League commenced during the quarter Strengthened customer proposition in Panama through launch of MAST3R fixed bundles in September Providing HD, play from start, live pause and rewind functionality 300 Mbps broadband product now available to 135,000 homes YTD revenue of $1,141 million, 2% lower YoY, on a rebased basis 10% rebased top-line growth in Jamaica more than offset by declines in other major geographies primarily due to competitive and macroeconomic factors and lower managed services revenue Net losses of $18 million and $124 million in Q2 2016/17 and YTD, respectively YTD Adjusted Segment EBITDA of $411 million, up 1.5% YoY, on a rebased basis $9 million (4%) sequential EBITDA improvement from Q1 2016/17 to Q2 2016/17, reflecting margin improvement of 200 basis points Property, equipment and intangible asset additions declined to 17% of revenue in Q2 2016/17 from 25% in Q2 2015/16 BTC in the Bahamas suffered significant infrastructure damage and business interruption as a result of Hurricane Matthew during early October 2016 Anticipate Q3 2016/17 adverse Adjusted Segment EBITDA impact of $8 million to $12 million Total infrastructure repair costs estimated at $35 million to $45 million We expect that our third-party insurance will cover a significant portion of the hurricane-related losses Story continues Synergies from combination with LiLAC LiLAC is targeting $150 million of synergies by December 31, 2020 50% OCF related -- primarily recurring cost reductions 50% capital expenditure related -- recurring and nonrecurring Anticipate a substantial amount of total LiLAC synergies will benefit CWC * The financial figures contained in this release are prepared in accordance with EU-IFRS. 28 CWC's financial condition and results of operations will be included in Liberty Global's condensed consolidated financial statements under U.S. GAAP 10 . There are significant differences between the U.S. GAAP and EU-IFRS presentations of our condensed consolidated financial statements. Subscriber Statistics We delivered organic subscriber growth across video, internet and telephony product categories in Q2 2016/17. In our mobile business, which represents roughly 40% of total revenue, postpaid subscriber growth was more than offset by a decline in our prepaid base, primarily due to the impact of competitive offers to lower value subscribers in Panama. On the mobile front, we continue to invest in our networks to enable the delivery of high speed, resilient mobile services and leading converged products to our customers. We are actively expanding our LTE coverage in Panama and plan to launch LTE in the British Virgin Islands later this year. Turning to our video, internet and telephony businesses, we added 9,000 organic RGUs during the quarter, as we achieved subscriber growth in each of our products. In terms of broadband internet, we added 7,000 organic subscribers on the back of 5,000 RGU additions in Jamaica and 2,000 RGU additions in Trinidad and Tobago. On the video front, we added 1,000 RGUs in the quarter, primarily driven by our DTH business in Panama. The increased RGUs from our DTH business were largely offset by declines in video RGUs in Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago as a result of increased competition. During the quarter, our regional sports offering, led by Flow Sports and Flow Sports Premier, performed strongly, helping to establish Flow as a leading sports broadcaster in the Caribbean. Our official Olympic Games application was downloaded approximately 60,000 times during the event with over 73,000 hours of live content streamed. Flow Sports Premier, following its launch in July, also began providing unrivaled coverage of the Premier League in the region beginning in August 2016. Rounding out fixed-line products, we added 1,000 telephony subscribers in the quarter, as we continued to modestly increase penetration of our VoIP-based services through bundling across our footprint. At September 30, 2016, our bundling ratio stood at 1.51 RGUs per customer as 10% of our customers subscribed to a triple-play product, 32% to a double-play product, and 58% took only one product from us. This relatively low bundling ratio provides ample runway for RGU growth as we seek to sell additional products to our customers. From a geographic standpoint, highlights of the trends in our largest markets are as follows: In Panama, mobile subscribers declined by 36,000 in the quarter on an organic basis with the decline weighted towards lower value customers as our postpaid base continued to grow (up 2,000). We are seeking to improve our fixed video and internet performance with our improved "Mast3r" bundles featuring HD, play from start, live pause and rewind functionality and 300 Mbps broadband speeds. In the Bahamas, we grew our mobile customer base by 4,000 subscribers (up 1%) due to increased promotional activity, successfully targeting higher-ARPU postpaid customers. We have made steady progress with our broadband internet and video products following the roll-out of our fiber-to-the-home ("FTTH") network, which now passes 14,000 homes. Turning to Jamaica, broadband internet and video RGUs were up 3% and 1%, respectively, as our improved product offering and strong Olympics campaign resonated well in the market. We grew our mobile subscriber base by 3,000 RGUs in the quarter, as we continued to win back market share and launched new products such as Flow Lend, an innovative solution enabling prepaid customers to request credit advances and earn rewards for prompt payment. In Barbados, competition drove RGUs lower across all products in the quarter. We are implementing changes to our bundling strategy and focusing on quickly migrating customers who are on legacy DSL services to our high-speed FTTH network. Rounding out our main operations, in Trinidad and Tobago we delivered 3,000 organic RGU additions, despite a tough macroeconomic environment and increased competition. About C&W Communications C&W is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, C&W provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers. C&W also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network - the most extensive in the region. Learn more at www.cwc.com , or follow C&W on LinkedIn , Facebook or Twitter . About Liberty Global Liberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enables us to develop market-leading products delivered through next-generation networks that connect our 29 million customers who subscribe to over 60 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve 10 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across seven million access points. Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group ( NASDAQ : LBTYA ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYB ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYK ) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group ( NASDAQ : LILA ) and ( NASDAQ : LILAK ) ( OTC PINK : LILAB ), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Liberty Global Group operates in 12 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Ziggo, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Mas Movil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a subsea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets. For more information, please visit www.libertyglobal.com . || Winklevoss brothers name State Street as bitcoin ETF administrator: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss on Tuesday filed amendments to their proposed bitcoin exchange-traded fund, naming State Street as administrator, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Winklevoss brothers, identical twins, had filed their first application for a bitcoin ETF called Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust three years ago.
Investors have shown keen interest in the Winklevoss ETF. If approved by the SEC, this would be the first bitcoin ETF issued by a U.S. entity.
According to the amended filing, State Street will provide the fund administration and accounting services, including calculating the bitcoin trust's net asset value (NAV).
Another major change involved the ETF's custodian, Gemini Trust Company, doing monthly "proof of control" exercises and publishing the reports on the ETF's website.
"Custodian's cold storage system was purpose-built to demonstrate "proof of control" of the private keys associated with its public bitcoin addresses," the filing said.
"The sponsor and the custodian have engaged an independent audit firm to verify that the custodian can demonstrate "proof of control" of the private keys that control the Trust's on a monthly basis."
Burr Pilger Mayer, based in San Francisco and known for working with venture-backed digital currency companies, has been named the ETF's auditor, the filing said.
In addition, the SEC filing said Gemini's daily auction price at 4 p.m. EDT will now be used to price the NAV of the ETF. The previous pricing mechanism was the Gemini spot price. Gemini runs a digital currency trading venue.
Since its launch in September, the Gemini auction has transacted more than 19,00 bitcoin on average per business day, which represents more than 16 percent of all U.S.-based bitcoin exchange volume during the 4 p.m. period, Gemini said on Tuesday.
The daily auction along with Gemini's expansion has increased the company's market share to about 9 percent of all U.S. dollar-denominated exchange-traded bitcoin volume.
The ETF would trade under the ticker symbol COIN.
Late on Tuesday, bitcoin traded at $632.88 on the BitStamp platform.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss) || Bitcoin is flying after Donald Trump's victory: In May, a Juniper Research study (“Will Bitcoins Bite Back?“) predicted that the price of the digital currency bitcoin would jump if Donald Trump were elected. On Tuesday, Trump was elected, and bitcoin jumped. The currency is up nearly 3% since Tuesday night, hovering around $725.
“If Donald Trump becomes President of the US,” said Dr. Winslow Holdenin a statement with the study, “there is the very real prospect of turmoil on world markets… Bitcoin would thrive in such an environment.”
Bitcoin has in fact been on the rise all fall,not only because of the election. The price is up 19% in the last month, 23% in the last three months, and 68% in 2016. But in the next few days and perhaps months, the uncertainty after Trump’s win will likely serve as an accelerant.
Investors see bitcoin as a safe haven from fiat currencies (hence why it rises when the Chinese yuan falls), and an asset largely untied to mainstream markets. Gold typically behaves the same way, and indeed,gold shot up to $1,320 on Tuesday night as Trump closed in on the presidency, though it fell back to earth on Wednesday and is now at $1,275.
Bitcoin’s October rise has been mostly due to heightened activity in China, where the yuan is falling and the government has tightened capital controls. Bitcoin prices also spikedduring the bank shutdown in Greecelast year.
Juniper Research says the Brexit vote, back in June, is still having an impact as well: “The ongoing ramifications around Brexit are also likely to act as an additional spur for higher activity levels.”
IfBrexit helped contribute to a bitcoin bump, then Trump’s win is likely to do it, too. Many were quick to compare the surprising result of the US election to the EU referendum result. Trump, in the days before the election, told crowds that his win would be like “Brexit plus plus plus,” and nicknamed himself “Mr. Brexit.”
While Trump and bitcoin might seem to have something in common (Coin Telegraphmade the case that Trump would eventually cozy up to the coin), his campaign never accepted donations in bitcoin. Hillary Clinton’s campaign considered accepting donations in bitcoin, aleaked email thread revealed,but John Podesta was more intrigued by the digital currency Ven, writing that bitcoin suffers from a “libertarian Ayn Rand schtick.” Sen. Rand Paul and Gov. Gary Johnson were the only two presidential candidates to accept bitcoin.
It doesn’t matter now: Trump won, and bitcoin benefited without his support. The coin doesn’t need Trump to champion it in order to succeed.
The defining word of this US election is the same word that defined the Brexit vote: “uncertainty.” As the Juniper Research report noted, bitcoin’s price rose in the weeks leading up to the Brexit vote, then fell a little bit just before the vote when the outcome looked clear, then spiked when the outcome was, in fact, a big surprise. Expect the same to happen after Trump’s win.
—
Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering technology and sports business. Follow him on Twitter at@readDanwrite.
Read more:
The latest bitcoin price surge isn’t just about Brexit
Here’s where big banks stand on blockchain
Why 21.co is the most exciting bitcoin company right now
Coinbase is more bullish on bitcoin than ever || Cable & Wireless Preliminary Q2 2016/17 Results: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Nov 4, 2016) -Cable & Wireless CommunicationsLimited ("CWC") is the leading telecommunications operator in substantially all of its consumer markets, which are predominantly located in the Caribbean and Latin America, providing entertainment, information and communication services to 3.5 million mobile, 0.4 million television, 0.6 million internet and 0.8 million telephony subscribers. In addition, CWC delivers B2B services and provides wholesale services over its sub-sea and terrestrial networks that connect over 30 markets across the region.
Liberty Global's Acquisition of CWCOn May 16, 2016, a subsidiary of Liberty Global plc ("Liberty Global") acquired CWC (the "Liberty Global Transaction"). Revenue, Adjusted Segment EBITDA and subscriber statistics have been presented herein using Liberty Global's definitions for all periods presented unless otherwise noted. Further adjustments to these metrics are possible as the integration process continues. The results for the six months ended September 30, 2016 ("Q2 2016/17") have also been aligned to Liberty Global's EU-IFRS accounting policies and estimates. Significant policy adjustments have been considered in our calculation of rebased growth rates for revenue and Adjusted Segment EBITDA.
Operating and financial highlights*:
• Delivered 9,000 organic RGU additions in Q2 2016/17
• Mobile revenue 2% lower than the prior year in Q2 2016/17, as compared to Q2 2015/16 on a rebased basis, due primarily to a decrease in the Bahamas
• Establishing Flow as a leading sports broadcaster in the CaribbeanSuccessful Olympics campaign with over 4.6 million viewers tuning into Flow channels85% increase in Flow Sports viewership in August versus May through July averageExclusive rights to broadcast Premier League commenced during the quarter
• Strengthened customer proposition in Panama through launch of MAST3R fixed bundles in SeptemberProviding HD, play from start, live pause and rewind functionality300 Mbps broadband product now available to 135,000 homes
• YTD revenue of $1,141 million, 2% lower YoY, on a rebased basis10% rebased top-line growth in Jamaica more than offset by declines in other major geographies primarily due to competitive and macroeconomic factors and lower managed services revenue
• Net losses of $18 million and $124 million in Q2 2016/17 and YTD, respectively
• YTD Adjusted Segment EBITDA of $411 million, up 1.5% YoY, on a rebased basis$9 million (4%) sequential EBITDA improvement from Q1 2016/17 to Q2 2016/17, reflecting margin improvement of 200 basis points
• Property, equipment and intangible asset additions declined to 17% of revenue in Q2 2016/17 from 25% in Q2 2015/16
• BTC in the Bahamas suffered significant infrastructure damage and business interruption as a result of Hurricane Matthew during early October 2016Anticipate Q3 2016/17 adverse Adjusted Segment EBITDA impact of $8 million to $12 millionTotal infrastructure repair costs estimated at $35 million to $45 millionWe expect that our third-party insurance will cover a significant portion of the hurricane-related losses
Synergies from combination with LiLAC
• LiLAC is targeting $150 million of synergies by December 31, 202050% OCF related -- primarily recurring cost reductions50% capital expenditure related -- recurring and nonrecurringAnticipate a substantial amount of total LiLAC synergies will benefit CWC
* The financial figures contained in this release are prepared in accordance with EU-IFRS.28CWC's financial condition and results of operations will be included in Liberty Global's condensed consolidated financial statements under U.S. GAAP10. There are significant differences between the U.S. GAAP and EU-IFRS presentations of our condensed consolidated financial statements.
Subscriber Statistics
We delivered organic subscriber growth across video, internet and telephony product categories in Q2 2016/17. In our mobile business, which represents roughly 40% of total revenue, postpaid subscriber growth was more than offset by a decline in our prepaid base, primarily due to the impact of competitive offers to lower value subscribers in Panama.
On the mobile front, we continue to invest in our networks to enable the delivery of high speed, resilient mobile services and leading converged products to our customers. We are actively expanding our LTE coverage in Panama and plan to launch LTE in the British Virgin Islands later this year.
Turning to our video, internet and telephony businesses, we added 9,000 organic RGUs during the quarter, as we achieved subscriber growth in each of our products. In terms of broadband internet, we added 7,000 organic subscribers on the back of 5,000 RGU additions in Jamaica and 2,000 RGU additions in Trinidad and Tobago. On the video front, we added 1,000 RGUs in the quarter, primarily driven by our DTH business in Panama. The increased RGUs from our DTH business were largely offset by declines in video RGUs in Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago as a result of increased competition.
During the quarter, our regional sports offering, led by Flow Sports and Flow Sports Premier, performed strongly, helping to establish Flow as a leading sports broadcaster in the Caribbean. Our official Olympic Games application was downloaded approximately 60,000 times during the event with over 73,000 hours of live content streamed. Flow Sports Premier, following its launch in July, also began providing unrivaled coverage of the Premier League in the region beginning in August 2016.
Rounding out fixed-line products, we added 1,000 telephony subscribers in the quarter, as we continued to modestly increase penetration of our VoIP-based services through bundling across our footprint.
At September 30, 2016, our bundling ratio stood at 1.51 RGUs per customer as 10% of our customers subscribed to a triple-play product, 32% to a double-play product, and 58% took only one product from us. This relatively low bundling ratio provides ample runway for RGU growth as we seek to sell additional products to our customers.
From a geographic standpoint, highlights of the trends in our largest markets are as follows:
• In Panama, mobile subscribers declined by 36,000 in the quarter on an organic basis with the decline weighted towards lower value customers as our postpaid base continued to grow (up 2,000). We are seeking to improve our fixed video and internet performance with our improved "Mast3r" bundles featuring HD, play from start, live pause and rewind functionality and 300 Mbps broadband speeds.
• In the Bahamas, we grew our mobile customer base by 4,000 subscribers (up 1%) due to increased promotional activity, successfully targeting higher-ARPU postpaid customers. We have made steady progress with our broadband internet and video products following the roll-out of our fiber-to-the-home ("FTTH") network, which now passes 14,000 homes.
• Turning to Jamaica, broadband internet and video RGUs were up 3% and 1%, respectively, as our improved product offering and strong Olympics campaign resonated well in the market. We grew our mobile subscriber base by 3,000 RGUs in the quarter, as we continued to win back market share and launched new products such as Flow Lend, an innovative solution enabling prepaid customers to request credit advances and earn rewards for prompt payment.
• In Barbados, competition drove RGUs lower across all products in the quarter. We are implementing changes to our bundling strategy and focusing on quickly migrating customers who are on legacy DSL services to our high-speed FTTH network.
• Rounding out our main operations, in Trinidad and Tobago we delivered 3,000 organic RGU additions, despite a tough macroeconomic environment and increased competition.
About C&W CommunicationsC&W is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, C&W provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers.
C&W also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network - the most extensive in the region.
Learn more atwww.cwc.com, or follow C&W onLinkedIn,FacebookorTwitter.
About Liberty GlobalLiberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enables us to develop market-leading products delivered through next-generation networks that connect our 29 million customers who subscribe to over 60 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve 10 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across seven million access points.
Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group (NASDAQ:LBTYA) (NASDAQ:LBTYB) (NASDAQ:LBTYK) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group (NASDAQ:LILA) and (NASDAQ:LILAK) (OTC PINK:LILAB), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Liberty Global Group operates in 12 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Ziggo, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Mas Movil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a subsea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets.
For more information, please visitwww.libertyglobal.com. || American Express is increasing its late fees: (BI Intelligence)
This story was delivered to BI Intelligence "Payments Briefing" subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, pleaseclick here.
American Express will be the first major credit card issuer to raise its late payment fees under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s updated allowable limit, according to theWall Street Journal.
At the start of 2017, Amex will begin charging a fee of up to $38 to customers with more than one late payment in a six month period. That's $1 more than what was previously charged by the card issuer, but could give the firm a solid revenue boost.
Late fees could prove to be very lucrative in the current card market.
• As credit card usage increases, it's likely the number of delinquent accounts will also grow. Credit card accounts and usage are close to pre-recession numbers once again,accordingto Forbes. That's leading to a big rise in usage — US credit card debt is on track to hit $1 trillion this year, according to theWall Street Journal. That could help explain the rise in delinquent accounts — since 2013, the percentage of accounts at least 90 days delinquent six months after origination has increased, according to Forbes.
• Late fees could be a vital revenue source. Nearly one in five active credit-card accounts incur a late fee, according to CFPB data used by the Wall Street Journal. This is significant, considering credit card companies were able to collect roughly $10.8 billion in fees during 2015 from these late payments.
And for Amex, that revenue could be critical as the issuer grapples with the loss of Costco.Based on 2015 numbers, if Amex is able to capture just 1% of the late fee market, that's roughly $100 million in revenue — a figure that could grow as the market expands following the updated allowable limit. Although this revenue could boost any card network, it could be particularly beneficial to Amex in light of the firm's sale of its Costco cobrand portfolio to Citigroup earlier this year.
Costco had 11.6 million cardholders and accounted for 8% of the firm's $1 trillion global billed business in 2015. As the firm realizes the impact of the Costco sale, it is looking for additional sources of revenue. Finding a way to capitalize on growing card spend and delinquencies could be one such way among a variety of strategies.
The CFPB's new guidelines could have a significant effect on the payments ecosystem, which has grown in the last several years to include merchants, issuers, acquirers, processors, and more.
BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compileda detailed report on the payments ecosystemthat drills into the industry to explain how a broad range of transactions are processed, including prepaid and store cards, as well as revealing which types of companies are in the best and worst position to capitalize on the latest industry trends.
Here are some key takeaways from the report:
• 2016 will be a watershed year for the payments industry. Payments companies are improving security, expanding their mobile offerings, and building commerce capabilities that will give consumers a more compelling reason to make purchases using digital devices.
• Payments is an extremely complex industry. To understand the next big digital opportunity lies, it's critical to understand how the traditional credit- and debit-processing chain works and what roles acquirers, processors, issuing banks, card networks, independent sales organizations, gateways, and software and hardware providers play.
• Alternative technologies could disrupt the processing ecosystem. Devices ranging from refrigerators to smartwatches now feature payment capabilities, which will spur changes in consumer payment behaviors. Likewise, blockchain technology, the protocol that underlies Bitcoin, could one day change how consumer card payments are verified.
In full, the report:
• Uncovers the key themes and trends affecting the payments industry in 2016 and beyond.
• Gives a detailed description of the stakeholders involved in a payment transaction, along with hardware and software providers.
• Offers diagrams and infographics explaining how card transactions are processed and which players are involved in each step.
• Provides charts on our latest forecasts, key company growth, survey results, and more.
• Analyzes the alternative technologies, including blockchain, which could further disrupt the ecosystem.
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More From Business Insider
• THE PAYMENTS INDUSTRY EXPLAINED: The Trends Creating New Winners And Losers In The Card-Processing Ecosystem
• THE DIGITAL REMITTANCE REPORT: The new platforms disrupting a $600 billion industry
• Credit cards are going the way of fax machines || Winklevoss brothers name State Street as bitcoin ETF administrator: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss on Tuesday filed amendments to their proposed bitcoin exchange-traded fund, naming State Street as administrator, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Winklevoss brothers, identical twins, had filed their first application for a bitcoin ETF called Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust three years ago. Investors have shown keen interest in the Winklevoss ETF. If approved by the SEC, this would be the first bitcoin ETF issued by a U.S. entity. According to the amended filing, State Street will provide the fund administration and accounting services, including calculating the bitcoin trust's net asset value (NAV). Another major change involved the ETF's custodian, Gemini Trust Company, doing monthly "proof of control" exercises and publishing the reports on the ETF's website. "Custodian's cold storage system was purpose-built to demonstrate "proof of control" of the private keys associated with its public bitcoin addresses," the filing said. "The sponsor and the custodian have engaged an independent audit firm to verify that the custodian can demonstrate "proof of control" of the private keys that control the Trust's on a monthly basis." Burr Pilger Mayer, based in San Francisco and known for working with venture-backed digital currency companies, has been named the ETF's auditor, the filing said. In addition, the SEC filing said Gemini's daily auction price at 4 p.m. EDT will now be used to price the NAV of the ETF. The previous pricing mechanism was the Gemini spot price. Gemini runs a digital currency trading venue. Since its launch in September, the Gemini auction has transacted more than 19,00 bitcoin on average per business day, which represents more than 16 percent of all U.S.-based bitcoin exchange volume during the 4 p.m. period, Gemini said on Tuesday. Story continues The daily auction along with Gemini's expansion has increased the company's market share to about 9 percent of all U.S. dollar-denominated exchange-traded bitcoin volume. The ETF would trade under the ticker symbol COIN. Late on Tuesday, bitcoin traded at $632.88 on the BitStamp platform. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss) || The Linux Foundation Appoints Three Tech Industry Leaders to Its Board of Directors: SAN FRANCISCO, CA --(Marketwired - November 02, 2016) - The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization enabling mass innovation through open source, today announced the appointment of Erica Brescia, co-founder and COO of Bitnami; Jeff Garzik, co-founder of Bloq; and Nithya A. Ruff, director of Western Digital's Open Source Strategy Office, to its Board of Directors. Ms. Ruff and Ms. Brescia join as At-Large Directors, and Mr. Garzik comes on board as the representative of Linux Foundation Silver members. Ms. Brescia and Ms. Ruff will take the place of Larry Augustin and Bdale Garbee as At-Large Directors. Mr. Garzik replaces Matt Jones of Jaguar Land Rover. "The Board of Directors and the entire Linux Foundation organization are delighted to welcome Nithya, Erica and Jeff," said Jim Zemlin, executive director. "They will help guide the strategy of The Linux Foundation, the home to some of the most successful open source projects and largest shared technology investment in history. The open source community at large and our nearly 800 members will benefit from the insight and expertise each of these individuals brings. We thank Larry, Bdale and Matt for their long and faithful service on the Board and look forward to their continued participation in the community." New Directors Bring Diversity of Perspectives Erica Brescia Ms. Brescia is the co-founder and chief operating officer of Bitnami. With more than one million deployments per month, Bitnami provides the largest source of applications and development environments to the world's leading cloud service providers, such as Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Compute Platform and Oracle Cloud Platform. Prior to co-founding Bitnami, Ms. Brescia held various sales and management positions at T-Mobile, as well as working as a consultant with Chekiang First Bank in Hong Kong. She holds a B.S. in business administration from the University of Southern California. Ms. Brescia has been a dedicated builder of diverse, globally distributed technology and business teams, and has been featured as a keynote speaker at OpenStack Summit and OSCON. To further those goals, Bitnami founded the Bitnami Bootcamp, which provides free education and training on cloud, open source and containers, for recent college graduates and self-taught technologists living in southern Spain. As a YC Founder, Ms. Brescia is also an active mentor of aspiring entrepreneurs in the technology and related industries, as well as being an angel investor in a number of early stage startups. "Open source technologies make possible the incredibly rapid innovation that we see in tech-driven sectors today," Ms. Brescia commented. "Shared R&D in the form of open source helps companies like Bitnami thrive, while creating value for others. I'm proud to be a part of the organization that's propelling that collaboration." Story continues Jeff Garzik Mr. Garzik has long been at the center of developing and commercializing open source software surrounding bitcoin and blockchain. Before co-founding Bloq to develop enterprise-grade blockchain solutions, he spent five years as a Bitcoin core developer, and 10 years at Red Hat. His work with the Linux kernel is now found in every Android phone and data center running Linux today. Mr. Garzik serves on the board of Coin Center and the advisory boards of BitPay, Chain, Netki and WayPaver Labs. He was also recently appointed to the World Economic Forum Expert Network as an expert in Information Technology. "I'm excited to bring Bloq's expertise in developing blockchain software to The Linux Foundation," Mr. Garzik said. "Projects like Hyperledger are emblematic of the future of open source: bringing together the efforts of developers to fundamentally alter global finance, digital identity and beyond." Nithya Ruff Ms. Ruff first glimpsed the power of open source while at SGI in the 1990s and has been building bridges between hardware developers and the open source community ever since. She's also held leadership positions at Wind River (an Intel Company), Synopsys, Avaya, Tripwire and Eastman Kodak. Ms. Ruff has been a passionate advocate and a speaker for opening doors to new people in open source for many years. She has also been a promoter of valuing diverse ways of contributing to open source, such as in marketing, legal and community. She is co-leader of the Women of OpenStack group and a liaison into the OpenStack Foundation, as well as a sponsor of the Women in Open Source (WIOS) Lunch at Linux Foundation events and an active leader of WIOS advocating for reducing barriers for women and underrepresented minorities. In 2015, Ms. Ruff was invited by Red Hat to be on a diversity leaders' panel at the "All Things Open" conference. In recognition of her work in open source both on the business and community side, Ms. Ruff was named to CIO magazine's most influential women in open source list. Ms. Ruff was also the founding president of the Women's Innovation Network at Western Digital, which is dedicated to the development of women's highest potential in the workplace. Ms. Ruff said: "I've been fortunate to work in an environment at Western Digital that values the contributions of every individual and that encourages diversity in open source communities. Through its training, events and now projects, The Linux Foundation is working to create an inclusive open source culture that stretches across organizations. I anticipate being able to help deepen that work as more industry professionals of all backgrounds get involved in open source." About The Linux Foundation The Linux Foundation is the organization of choice for the world's top developers and companies to build ecosystems that accelerate open technology development and commercial adoption. Together with the worldwide open source community, it is solving the hardest technology problems by creating the largest shared technology investment in history. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation today provides tools, training and events to scale any open source project, which together deliver an economic impact not achievable by any one company. More information can be found at www.linuxfoundation.org . The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see our trademark usage page: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage . Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. View comments
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$748.00/$748.99 #Bitstamp
$738.10/$739.44 #BTCe
⇢$-10.89/$-8.56
$743.04/$751.04 #Coinbase
⇢$-5.95/$3.04 || Do you want to earn 2,00,000 BTC in one month ? Ad Posting job....... visit at -
https://www.bitcoin4u.biz/tmjapann || Average Bitcoin market price is: USD 639.00, EUR 579.38 || http://bit.ly/1gWVX43 Re: Ano pong gagawin ko 25.00 ko Bitcoin wallet para lumaki: Medyo bigatin mga suggestions ng mga… || #EuroCoin #EUC $0.000360 (-1.27%) 0.00000051 BTC (-0.00%) || Bitcoin、Litecoin、Monero、DASHなどを完全匿名で現金で個人間で簡単に対面売買することができるサイト、btc-trade-p2pの運営をしております。
#暗号通貨 #bitcoin #BTC #ビットコイン
http://btctrade.web.fc2.com || Bitcoin Price Watch; Closing Out Strong http://cur.lv/13brw6 #bitcoin #blockchain || #Bitcoin ― Can we all agree? 1 Bit = $1.00 USD http://dlvr.it/MgTv7b → via http://bit.do/BuyBitcoin to Buy #Bitcoin Instantly pic.twitter.com/z9xqaRUcM1 || $703.00 at 16:45 UTC [24h Range: $691.49 - $717.99 Volume: 3922 BTC] || 1 BTC Price: BTC-e 733.345 USD Bitstamp 728.00 USD Coinbase 734.61 USD #btc #bitcoin 2016-11-27 22:30 pic.twitter.com/3b71Eluop1
|
Trend: up || Prices: 778.09, 784.91, 790.83, 790.53, 792.71, 800.88, 834.28, 864.54, 921.98, 898.82
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2020-07-06]
BTC Price: 9375.47, BTC RSI: 52.98
Gold Price: 1788.50, Gold RSI: 62.58
Oil Price: 40.63, Oil RSI: 62.44
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers -06/06/20: Bitcoin fell by 1.74% on Friday. Reversing a 1.17% gain from Thursday, Bitcoin ended the day at $9,620.4. It was another mixed start to the day. Bitcoin rose to a late morning intraday high $9,865.8 before hitting reverse. Falling short of the first major resistance level at $9,961.53, Bitcoin slid to a late morning low $9,624.1. Steering clear of the major support levels, Bitcoin recovered to $9,700 levels before falling to a final hour intraday low $9,620.4. In spite of the late pullback, Bitcoin steered clear of the first major support level at $9,540.43. The near-term bullish trend remained intact, in spite of Friday’s pullback. For the bears, Bitcoin would need to slide through the 62% FIB of $6,400 to form a near-term bearish trend. The Rest of the Pack Across the rest of the majors, it was another mixed day for the majors on Friday. Binance Coin and EOS bucked the trend on the day, with gains of 0.97% and 3.43% respectively. It was a bearish day for the rest of the majors. Cardano’s ADA slid by 4.12% to lead the way down. Litecoin (-1.43%), Ethereum (-1.29%), Stellar’s Lumen (-2.75%), and Tezos (-2.10%) also struggled. Bitcoin Cash ABC (-0.07%), Bitcoin Cash SV (-0.44%), Monero’s XMR (-0.95%), Ripple’s XRP (-0.81%) saw relatively modest losses on the day. Through the current week, the crypto total market cap rose to a Monday high $285.71bn before sliding to a Tuesday low $255.98bn. At the time of writing, the total market cap stood at $268.23bn. At the start of the week, Bitcoin’s rose to a Monday high 67.13% before falling to a Thursday low 65.61%. At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s dominance stood at 65.77%. This Morning At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down by 0.24% to $9,597.0. A bearish start to the day saw Bitcoin fall from an early morning high $9,620.4 to a low $9,552.6. Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on. Elsewhere, it was a mixed start to the day. Story continues Cardano’s ADA found early support, rising by 2.08%. EOS (+0.37%), Ethereum (+0.12%), and Ripple’s XRP (+0.17%) also saw green early on. It was a bearish start to the day for the rest of the majors, however. At the time of writing, Tron’s TRX was down by 1.10% to lead the way down. For the Bitcoin Day Ahead Bitcoin would need to move through to $9,700 levels to bring the first major resistance level at $9,784.0 into play. Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Bitcoin to break out from the morning high $9,620.4. Barring a broad-based crypto rally, the first major resistance level would likely limit any upside. In the event of an extended crypto rally, Bitcoin could eye the second major resistance level at $9,947.6 before any pullback. Failure to move through to $9,700 levels could see Bitcoin struggle on the day. A fall back through the morning low $9,552.6 would bring the first major support level at $9,538.6 into play. Barring an extended crypto sell-off, however, Bitcoin should steer clear of the second major support level at $9,456.8. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers -06/06/20 US Stock Market Overview – Stocks Rally Following Unexpected Jobs Gains Natural Gas Weekly Price Forecast – Natural Gas Markets Continue Sideways Action Silver Weekly Price Forecast – Silver Markets Pull Back From Major Level S&P 500 Earnings Preview – Next Week Entertainment and Retail Continue to Post Financial Results Gold Weekly Price Forecast – Gold Markets Continue to Digest Longer-Term Gains || Tesla Under Federal Probe Over Fatal Battery Design Flaw: The United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigatingTesla Inc.(NASDAQ:TSLA) for defective battery cooling systems in its early Model S vehicles, the Los Angeles TimesreportedWednesday.
Tesla Faces NHTSA, NTSB Investigations
The NHTSA is "well aware of the reports regarding this issue and will take action if appropriate based upon the facts and data," the federal agency told the LA Times.
The cooling tubes installed in Model S vehicles between 2012 and 2016 were prone to leaks before the automaker cut off a supplier and began making the tubes in-house, leaked Tesla internal emails suggested, according to the LA Times.
The leaked internal documents were firstreportedby Business Insider last week.
Another federal investigation agency, The National Transportation Safety Board, also told the LA Times that it is "in the final stages of completing a Special Investigative Report based upon its investigations of several crashes involving electric vehicles and the resultant battery fires/thermal events."
Tesla Allegedly Sold Cars Despite Knowing About The Glitch
According to the Insider report last week, Tesla allegedly sold the cars, even after the executives were made aware of the faulty cooling system.
Third-party tests conducted by IMR Test Lab found the cooling tubes to be susceptible to cracks and pinholes, the Insider had reported.
The NHTSA told the LA Times now that the automakers are required "to notify the agency within five days of when the manufacturer becomes aware of a safety-related defect and conduct a recall."
Tesla didn't issue any such notice, the LA Times noted.
Price Action
Tesla shares closed 3.7% higher at $1,119.63 on Wednesday. The shares traded another 1.6% higher in the after-hours session at $1,137.99.
See more from Benzinga
• Lyft Resumes Self-Driving Test Rides
• Here's How Much Investing ,000 In Bitcoin 5 Years Ago Would Be Worth Today
• Self-Driving Truck Maker TuSimple Hires Morgan Stanley To Help Raise 0M In Fresh Funding: Report
© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Off the Chain Capital to Host Webinar 4pm EST Tuesday, May 26 – Turbulent Times: Why Add Bitcoin to Your Portfolio Now: IPO Edge, in partnership withOff the Chain Capital, LLC, a digital currency & blockchain asset investment manager andThe Palm Beach Hedge Fund Association, a Florida trade association for financial professionals, will host a Webinar on Tuesday, May 26 at 4pm EST –Turbulent Times: Why Add Bitcoin to Your Portfolio Now.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
The Webinar will feature Brian Estes, Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner at Off the Chain Capital, LLC, which employs a value-based approach to cryptocurrency inspired by the works of Graham and Dodd. Bitcoin has come into the spotlight recently as central banks around the world adopt zero interest rate policies and investors including Paul Tudor Jones have taken significant positions in the cryptocurrency. Whether as a substitute for fiat currencies such as the U.S dollar or a hedge against inflation, bitcoin has drawn Wall Street’s attention as investors navigate the latest financial crisis.
Cryptocurrencies may also disrupt legacy technology companies like Amazon.com, Inc., Facebook, Inc., Paypal Holdings, Inc., and Apple Inc. Decentralized platforms built on blockchain technology using cryptocurrency for native tokens on the internet pose a challenge such tech giants.
Mr. Estes will discuss:
• Why does bitcoin have value?
• What is the bitcoin halving and why is it important?
• Today’s global debt crisis and how it will benefit bitcoin
• Why add bitcoin to a diversified investment portfolio
• Models used to determine bitcoin’s value
Brian Estes is the CIO and Managing Partner at Off the Chain Capital; he is also invested in the General Partner at Polychain. Brian helped finance, build, and mentor 4 blockchain companies whose combined value is over $10B today. Prior to his involvement in blockchain in 2014, Brian was a leading endowment and foundation asset manager who was ranked in the top 1/10th of 1% of Morningstar asset managers between 2004 -2014. Brian has his BA from the University of Illinois and MBA with high honors from Washington University. Brian also studied at Cambridge University and the London School of Economics. For fun, Brian has been an instrument-rated private pilot for 30 years and has over 2100 flight hours in his single-engine Cessna Cardinal.
Note: This Webinar is intended for informational purposes only and not to solicit any specific investment.
Contact:
John Jannarone, Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]
www.IPO-Edge.com
[email protected]
Twitter:@IPOEdge
Instagram:@IPOEdge || Currency.Wiki Extension-Based Currency Converter Emerges to Meet the Evolving Demands of the Market: SAN DIEGO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 15, 2020 /In today's connected world, global commerce and dealings are not only commonplace, but often required. Investing, sales, business deals, market research, and eCommerce all necessitate the need for reliable and accurate currency conversion.
Yet, calculating this conversion is often a challenge. With ever-evolving markets and the fluid nature of exchange rates, those requiring currency conversion often struggle to find a tool that is readily accessible, intuitive to use, and seamless.
Currency.Wiki was conceptualized out of a need to fill this gap. Officially launched on April 1, 2014,Currency.Wikiprovides a free, accurate and seamless way to convert foreign currencies on their web and mobile-based platform.
Since their launch, Currency.Wiki has kept their finger on the pulse of the market, updating their platform, services, and systems to meet the growing demands of individuals and professionals around the world.
This year,the companyannounced a new and forward-thinking tool, enabling users to convert currency from an integrated web-browser extension without the need to visit a separate website orcalculator.
The Challenge Facing Traditional Currency Conversion Tools
Always in tune with their userbase, the company noticed a growing frustration among those using conversion calculators currently available online. A person most often needs currency conversion calculations in order to conduct some type of business or carry out a transaction on a website such as an eCommerce store. However, this requires that individual to seek out a separate website or tool in order to make a currency conversion calculation. The founders of Currency.Wiki found this process to be arduous, time-consuming and inefficient.
Knowing that there had to be a better way, the development team began to work on a new and innovative approach to tackling the challenges faced by those regularly needing currency conversion information.
Currency.Wiki's Innovative Browser-based Solution
In 2020, Currency.Wiki launched an innovative new browser extension capable of allowing its users to calculate and view currency conversion rates without having to visit a separate website or open a new browser tab.
This powerful concept enables individuals to more easily, quickly and efficiently obtain the information needed in order to make a purchase or financial decision on another website.
The extension, currently available for both Google Chrome and Edge browsers, allows users to switch between a multitude of currencies on the fly, computing and converting units of one currency to another in the same browser session and tab.
The extension can found on the official Google Chrome Store by visiting the following link:https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/currency-converter-widget/bnpalipgomknhgbmgelaplknnmckljaf/related.
The extension is free and can be automatically installed and added to the browser by clicking on the ‘Add To Chrome' button.
Extension Use
The extension is appropriate for educational and entertainment purposes, but should not be used or relied on by financial institutions or other transactions.
New Updates
Dedicated to the continual improvement of the extension, the company has made major headway in developing several features and enhancements including a broader range of available languages, visual customizations, number formatting, and symbol selection.
Currency.Wiki Extension Features
The company's comprehensive extension has gone through several iterations and developments to become the incredible resource it represents today. With the ability to convert currencies for up to an impressive six decimal points in real-time, this tool represents one of the most accurate and reliable on the market today.
Customizable to Meet the Unique Needs of Each User
Users can select from four monetary formats, with conversions displayed in real-time as the user inputs their data. The extension features a robust selection of currencies including but not limited to Euros, Dollars, British Pounds, Japanese Yen, Mexican Pesos, and many others, including Bitcoin.
Intuitive and Easy to Navigate Interface
The tool's interface has been meticulously designed to be both simple and intuitive, allowing new and returning users alike to navigate the extension with ease. Switching between currencies is but a mouse click away, with data retrieved and displayed in real-time ready for use without the need to click on a "calculate" button.
Multilingual Capabilities
The extension currently supports over 40 languages that can be selected at will to enhance the users' experience.
Precise and Accurate Results
Real-time updates and precise calculations up to six decimal points ensure a level of accuracy that users can rely on.
Currency.Wiki Backstory
Currency.Wiki is the brainchild that spawned from a programming and design project at the University of Arizona, Computer Science division. Headquartered in the Greater San Diego Area, and owned by a nonprofit organization, the company initially launched the product as a user-friendly, fast and efficient website.
Having since expanded into the browser extension market, currency exchange rates are gathered through a robust and secure API, with data provided in real-time by from Currencylayer and Xignite which are two of the most trusted and reliable sources of global exchange rates. This means that not only are the rates instant and up-to-date, but they are also accurate.
The Currency.Wiki Website
As the original and flagship product, the Currency.Wiki website is a finely tuned performance-minded website dedicated to providing currency conversion calculations within microseconds based on user-inputted data.
Website-based Currency Conversion
The prominently featured currency conversion tool features two drop-down menus to select from. The first is the currency they currently have or would like converted. The second drop-down menu represents the currency type they want to convert to. Centrally positioned below those options is a field in which the user can type the amount of currency they need to have converted. As they type, the currency is converted in real-time and displayed in big bold typography above.
Embeddable Widget
The site makes available a widget that is embeddable on other websites or web pages. This widget provides a unique and free opportunity for other webmasters and site owners to offer their userbase a reliable and accurate way to calculate currency conversion on their website. An example can be found on thetransferring moneywebsite.
WordPress Plugin
The site offers a free WordPress plugin currently listed and hosted on the official WordPress.org repository where it maintains a 5-star rating and over 2000 plus active users. The plugin can be found here:https://wordpress.org/plugins/currency-converter-widget.
Currency Blog
The site also hosts a blog full of resourceful information around currency, exchange rates and the market.
About Currency.Wiki
Developed on a modern web application utilizing Vue and Laravel, the website and associated tools have come a long way since their 2014 debut. Invented by The University of Arizona department of computer science, the tool has provided countless individuals with reliable currency conversion resources since its launch.
With the global business market reaching unprecedented levels, along with tourism and international immigration, a reliable currency converter such as this comes at an opportune time for investors, online businesses, financial analysts, and many others.
Website:www.currency.wikiEmail:[email protected] Number: 858-771-9550
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SOURCE:Currency.Wiki
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/593850/CurrencyWiki-Extension-Based-Currency-Converter-Emerges-to-Meet-the-Evolving-Demands-of-the-Market || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Flat at $9.4K but Investors Are Holding On: A languid Wednesday in traditional markets affected bitcoin as well although it’s been a steady six weeks where the world’s first cryptocurrency outperformed most traditional assets.
Bitcoin(BTC) was trading around $9,265 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET), slipping 1.3% over the previous 24 hours.
At 00:00 UTC on Wednesday (8:00 p.m. Tuesday ET), bitcoin was changing hands around $9,500 on spot exchanges such as Coinbase. It then dipped 1.6% to as low as $9,348. The price is now below its 10-day and 50-day moving averages — a bearish signal for market technicians who study charts — but with little action, it looks to be going nowhere for the time being.
“The price of bitcoin managed to get only up to $9,600 Tuesday. Now fiat reigns,” said Constantine Kogan, crypto fund-of-funds BitBull Capital.
Read More:Polychain Capital, Square Crypto’s Steve Lee Invest in Bitcoin Broker
In fact, since the start of May the price of bitcoin has only appreciated 5.6% overall. It’s a relatively sleepy performance when compared to the oil market,which has had a wild 2020.A barrel of crude has gained over 90% since the beginning of May.
Oil is flat Wednesday, down 0.39% and priced at $37.71 as of press time.
Related:Market Wrap: Bitcoin Flat at $9.4K but Investors Are Holding On
Uncertain economic times still motivate cryptocurrency traders and investors to remain steadfast in their investment thesis on bitcoin. “I am personally not negative on bitcoin and my view is based on several ingredients that have not changed or improved my outlook,” said Henrik Kugelberg, an over-the-counter cryptocurrency trader based in Sweden.
One element Kugelberg points to is the debasing of the U.S. dollar. Since 2000, the number of dollars in circulation has jumped over 240%, from $565 billion to almost $2 trillion, according to Federal Reserve data.
Other cryptocurrency advocates echo the same long-term outlook – that holding bitcoin is much better than owning traditional assets such as equities. Bitcoin is still up over 30% so far this year. Major global stock indices are either lower or just about even in 2020, and have been in negative territory since the middle of February.
George Clayton, managing partner of alternative asset fund Cryptanalysis Capital, says continued fiscal stimulus is just an attempt to push equities above the 0% return level, but with major long-term side effects on the value of U.S. dollar.
Read More:Number of Bitcoin ‘Whales’ Has Risen by 2% Since Halving
“A $1 trillion stimulus plan to build bridges, roads and rural 5G broadband that the Trump Administration is mulling over is perhaps the only piece of major legislation that stands a chance of passing both houses of Congress,” Clayton said. “It would be far more inflationary than the $500 billion in aid funneled to corporations that seems to be propping up stock markets.”
The Nikkei 225 of publicly traded companies in Japan closed the day flat, down 0.56% asreal estate and transportation stocks dragged the index down.
The FTSE 100 index in Europe ended trading up 0.91%as energy stocks made gains.
The U.S. S&P 500 index lost 0.36%,dragged down by the retail and travel sectors.
Digital assets on CoinDesk’s big board are mixed Wednesday.Ether(ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is trading around $228 and slipped 2.1% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
The rise of tether on Ethereum since 2019 has shifted fee distributions on the network. With$5.7 billion of tether on Ethereum, the stablecoin has taken over fees paid by ERC20 contracts and even the network token itself, ether, according to data aggregator Glassnode.
The biggest cryptocurrency winners on the day includecardano(ADA) up 2.1%,iota(IOTA) in the green 1.3% andnem(XEM) gaining 1%. Significant losers includedogecoin(DOGE) down 3.2%,bitcoin SV(BSV) in the red 2.3% andqtum(QTUM) down 2.2%. All price changes were as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
Read More:Compound Has Been a DeFi Darling. Its New Token Is Priced Accordingly
Gold is trading flat as the yellow metal climbed 0.16%, trading around $1,728 for the day.
U.S. Treasury bonds slipped Wednesday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were down most on the 10-year, in the red 4.2%.
• Bitcoin Still Undervalued After Q2 Rally, Price Metric Shows
• US Fed Chair Says Private Entities Should Not Help Design Central Bank Digital Currencies || Fake Elon Musk scammers deploy new trick to steal millions of dollars in bitcoin: While Bitcoin giveaway scams are not new, hackers are using a new trick that has already helped them scam victims out of roughly $2 million: so-called vanity addresses designed to trick victims into thinking they belong to entrepreneur Elon Musk. Scammers have long used impersonation attacks to steal money from unwitting users, pretending to be Musk has been a popular approach. In late 2018, Twitter drew attention after it promoted a fake crypto scam broadcast by an Elon Musk impersonator using a verified account. Vanity crypto addresses include words, names, or phrases meant to trick users into thinking they are credible. According to cyber-security firm Adaptiv, hackers have recently found success using Bitcoin vanity addresses that include Musk’s name. Adaptiv tracked the usage of Bitcoin addresses using Musk’s name in giveaway scams and collected 66 unique ones. They found that these addresses had received over 201 bitcoin since April 2020. A separate investigation by ZDNet found that most of the Bitcoin vanity addresses have been shared through YouTube live streams, which hackers take over and use to broadcast their scams. These scams were often held to commemorate an occasion important to the celebrity or brand. First, hackers take over YouTube accounts with a high number of followers and change the account name and visual layout to resemble one of a celebrity or brand — like Elon Musk. Then they typically launch a live stream broadcasting their scam, promising users that their profits will double if they send Bitcoin to the scam address. © 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. || BitMEX parent company unveils open-source development grant program: Crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX's parent company has unveiled a new developer grant program aimed at building on its previous efforts to provide financial support to those working on open-source projects. As previously reported, HDR Global Trading Limited awarded a $100,000 grant to Bitcoin Core developer Michael Ford in late March, which built on a previous grant. In an announcement post, HDR detailed the contours of its Open Source Developer Grant program, explaining: "Under this program, we hope to add to those grants we have previously made to relevant developers by providing annual Open Source Developer Grants to developers working on Bitcoin, NodeJS, Java or Kubernetes. In addition we may provide certain smaller grants, from time to time, related to the production of related educational materials, technical workshops or the transcribing or translation of relevant technical content." According to the post, HDR has granted $650,000 to date, including $150,000 to Ford and $500,000 to MIT's Digital Currency Initiative. The company said that it is accepting applications between May 1 and June 30, with offers "expected to be made from July to September." © 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. || US Stock Market Overview – Stock Whipsaw and Close Higher Despite Elevated Jobless Claims: US stock prices whipsawed initially moving lower and then rebounding higher to close the session in the black. This comes despite a larger than expected increase in jobless claims. Despite a rally in the larger indices, the Russel lagged falling more than 1%.
Mastercardreported on Thursday that the company was seeing continued improvement in consumer spending in the first two weeks of May. Most sectors in the S&P 500 were higher led by a surge in financials, consumer staples bucked the trend. TheVIXvolatility index surged higher during AM trade, hitting 40%, but eased as the market rallied during the PM trading session. Oil prices rallied on Thursday following an announcement from the US government that they would begin to buy 1-million barrels of crude oil per day for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Gold prices broke out on Thursday helping to buoy the miners.
US initial jobless claims rose just shy of 3 million according to the Labor Department. Claims totaled 2.981 million pushing the total since the shelter in place orders to nearly 36.5 million, by far the biggest loss in U.S. history. Expectations were for a 2.7 million rise in new claims. With 36.5 million people out of work, on a workforce of 160 million people puts the unemployment rate near 23%.
US import prices declined to a 5-year low in April, according to the Labor Department. The BLS reported that import prices dropped 2.6%, the largest decline since January 2015, after a revised 2.4% decline in March. Import prices, which exclude tariffs, decreased 2.3% in March. Expectations were for import prices to decline by 3.1% in April. On a year over year basis, April, import prices tumbled 6.8%. That was the largest decrease since December 2015.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• EUR/USD Price Forecast – Euro Testing Support
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• US Open – Waking From a Stimulus Induced Dream – Oil, Gold and BTC in Focus
• USD/JPY Price Forecast – US Dollar Finding Support Against Japanese Yen
• Silver Price Forecast – Silver Markets Reach Top of Range || Someone just moved a block of bitcoins first mined in February 2009: Fifty original bitcoins moved from a wallet that has been dormant since 2009. The coins, mined on block 3654 one month into Bitcoin's existence, were sent to two addresses today. One address received 40 of the more than decade-old coins, equating to $391,055. Another address received 9.99 and is currently separating the sum into smaller pieces sent to other addresses. This marks the first time since August 2017 that an account has moved coins from 2009, according to Antoine Le Calvez, lead data engineer at Coin Metrics. Some are speculating the transfer came from a wallet owned by anonymous Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. However, these coins are unlikely to be Satoshis according to past research looking at nonce data. The address of the once-dormant wallet appears on Craig Wright's filing of claimed wallet addresses relating to his case with the Kleiman estate. Wright has claimed he is the identity behind Satoshi, and the address one of thousands of unclaimed addresses Wright listed in the filing. However, there is substantial doubt that Wright is Satoshi or even the owner of all filed addresses, including the one at hand. One Memo.cash user created a post verifying the signature of the address and calling Wright a "liar and fraud," more than a year ago. © 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. || Inactive Bitcoin Supply Reaches 4-Year High, Pointing to Bullish Sentiment: Nexus Mutual, an alternative insurance provider for a variety of Ethereum-based DeFi protocols, has seen its risk pool double over the past 90 days to more than $4 million.
Indeed, Nexus can barely keep up with the demand for smart-contract cover in the exploding decentralized finance (DeFi) arena.
“We are in this position where there are lots of people that want heaps of cover, but we don’t quite have enough assets to cover everything we would like to right now,” said Nexus Mutual CEO and founder Hugh Karp. “So it’s a good problem to have and we’re working on it.”
The recent boost has been due to a few large covers, especially onBalancer, a newly launched protocol that is offering bonuses for people providing liquidity. Othersignificant dealsfor Nexus stem from DeFi platforms Aave and Compound.
Stepping back, the London-based Nexus may be using bleeding-edge tech but the mutual insurance model dates back to the 17th century and potentially aligns the interests of participants better than today’s profit-maximizing insurance firms.
Nexus is exploitingan unregulated pocketwithin the British insurance sector called a “discretionary mutual,” where members have no contractual obligations to pay claims. As a provider of insurance, the platform recently proved to be worth its salt, however, making itsfirst payoutfollowing an exploit of the smart contract code of DeFi lender bZx.
Read more:DeFi Insurance Firm Nexus Mutual Makes Its First Payout Following bZx Attacks
Related:Business Is Booming for DeFi Insurer Nexus Mutual Ahead of Ethereum 2.0
Theway Nexus worksis members of the mutual join by purchasing NXM tokens that allow them to participate in the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). All decisions are voted on by members, who are incentivized to pay genuine claims.
“DeFi is expanding rapidly so I’m expecting the number of yield-bearing options to increase exponentially over the next few years,” said Karp.“DeFi users want the returns available, but want to avoid the smart-contract risk. A new protocol wants liquidity, so they offer some bonus to enhance yield, and more professional users take out Nexus cover to access yield safely.”
Two areas Nexus is updating to help it scale are risk assessment and pricing. Karp said members are about to vote on the changes, and the upgrades should go live in about a week.
Risk assessors effectively choose and price the risks that Nexus Mutual covers, said Karp, which should encourage more participants and ultimately enable more cover to be provided to the wider DeFi ecosystem.
“We’re also updating the pricing mechanism to be simpler but also more flexible. It’s another step towards our vision of allowing Nexus to take on any type of risk, like a super-efficient Lloyd’s of London,” he said.
Looking ahead, Nexus sees plenty of opportunity in Ethereum’s gradual transition to Eth 2.0, which is expected to begin sometime later this year. Eth 2.0 moves the network from its more energy-hungry Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus algorithm to Proof-of-Stake (PoS), a method of staking cryptocurrency in order to keep the network afloat.
Earning a steady yield from staking ether (ETH), is somewhat comparable to the way insurance firms in the real world invest the premiums they collect.
Traditional insurers tend to invest the majority of their funds in relatively low-risk, yield-bearing assets – such as government bonds, high-grade corporate bonds and infrastructure investments, which ideally have a similar cash flow to future expected claim payments.
Read more:Vitalik Buterin Clarifies Remarks on Expected Launch Date of Eth 2.0
“From our point of view, [Eth 2.0 staking] will be very interesting because we want to earn investment returns from the float,” said Karp, referring to the risk pool of capital held by Nexus. “We hold a chunk of ETH so we will be able to start staking that and earning a return, which is obviously very important for insurance entities.”
Once staking commences on Ethereum, the Nexus DAO can delegate a large portion of its assets to Eth 2.0 staking, which is “conceptually comparable to a very highly rated government bond and therefore will be very well suited to Nexus from a risk perspective,” Karp said.
DeFi also has the ability for yield to be “stacked,” where one yield-bearing token is deposited into another protocol where it earns additional yield. This comes with additional risks, noted Karp, and must be carefully managed, but Nexus will also look to take advantage of yield stacking, which is something that is not readily available in the regular financial world.
“The medium-term goal for Nexus is to start earning something like 5% on the $4 million float,” which Karp said would likely be a few months after Ethereum’s beacon chain launch in the latter half of this year.
“We are quite likely to purchase a tokenized version of staked ETH, which we are expecting will become available soon after the beacon chain launch,” he said. “That token would earn staking returns immediately and not require Eth 1.x and Eth 2.0 being merged yet.”
• ConsenSys Muscles Into Compliance With New Regulatory Product for DeFi
• MakerDAO Weighs Accepting Real-World Assets as Crypto Loan Collateral
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: down || Prices: 9252.28, 9428.33, 9277.97, 9278.81, 9240.35, 9276.50, 9243.61, 9243.21, 9192.84, 9132.23
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
CryptoMixer.bz: Bitcoin Mixer for your anonymity in the Crypto World: N EW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / June 14, 2020 / The concept of blockchain and thus, Bitcoin, came riding on the advantage of the anonymity of transactions, defiance to authority, lack of centralization and overseer authority among other advantages. Cryptocurrencies became popular because their programmers touted them as anonymous. It has, however, emerged that they are not and that transactions undertaken using altcoins can be traced. Over time with the increased government scrutiny and unwanted invasion by phishers, users now realize that the cryptocurrency world is not as anonymous as most of them were led to believe. A tech startup called, CryptoMixer is changing all this and giving back cryptocurrency enthusiasts their security and privacy. The start-up provides a cryptocurrency mixing platform that obscures your cryptocurrency transactions, making it hard for anyone to trace your dealings. CryptoMixer reintroduces anonymity by allowing online shoppers that pay using cryptocurrency through addresses that remain anonymous when the user is completing transactions. The shoppers, as such, cannot be associated with the various addresses they use. How Does Coin Mixing Work? Coin mixers work by essentially collecting cryptocurrency from the people using cryptocurrency, mixing it with a giant pile of other cryptocurrencies, and then sending them smaller units of cryptocurrency to an address of their preference, with total the amount that you put in minus 1-3%. The 1-3 % is generally taken as a profit by the coin mixing company. This is how they make money. A cryptocurrency mixer (also known as a blender) allows you to spend, store and share cryptocurrencies, without your transactional data becoming public. In short, it makes your financial transactions anonymous in the true sense. It is done by mixing your transactional data with a pool of Bitcoin data. This ensures your data is secure, you have control over your privacy, and no data can be traced back to you, as the link between the sender and the receiver is broken. Story continues Crypto Mixer: The crypto mixing solution CryptoMixer is a unique cryptocurrency mixer/blender that ensures your cryptocurrency becomes untraceable, and no link exists between the stakeholders. They have designed different pools of cryptocurrencies based on their sources, with variable fee percentages. This segmentation and differentiation ensure the clean mixing of the currency. The three pools include Standard Pool, Smart Pool, and Stealth Pool. It uses a 'smart code' to avoid the same currencies from reaching a user on multiple occasions. Features of Smart Mixer Platform Zero Post-Transaction Logs - CryptoMixer platform keeps transaction logs for only as long as it needs them. The longest period that these logs can remain is 24 hours, otherwise, the platform keeps them only for as long as is necessary to complete a transaction. Full Anonymity - The need for complete anonymity is greater in the online space, and it is only second to the information online prowlers seek. Users that mix cryptocurrency on the platform do not even need to input their information. Instead, only the recipient altcoin address is necessary. Customizable Process - Users can set various parameters as they so choose. You, for instance, can choose the amount of cryptocurrency to mix, the commission to pay for the mixing, and the delay period you prefer. The importance of privacy and security while transacting online cannot be stressed enough. It probably is the reason why platforms like CryptoMixer are timely. The advantages it offers hold the possibility of making crypto mainstream. More details about cryptocurrency mixing and the CryptoMixer platform can be gathered through their official website www.cr yptomixer.bz . Media Details: Address: New York, NY 10022. USA (United States of America) Company Email: [email protected] Contact Person: Luke Goldmann Company Website: https://cryptomixer.bz/ SOURCE: CryptoMixer View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/593851/CryptoMixerbz-Bitcoin-Mixer-for-your-anonymity-in-the-Crypto-World || Latest Bitcoin price and analysis (BTC to USD): Bitcoin is back in a fragile position following another gruelling rejection from the $10,450 level of resistance on Tuesday. At the time of writing it was trading at around $9,500 having bounced significantly since Tuesday’s move to the downside. Price slumped to as low as $8,600 on derivatives exchanges like BitMEX while the price on spot exchanges like Coinbase and Bitstamp remained more stable above $9,000. The sell-off will have been a bitter blow to Bitcoin bulls who believed once the psychological level of $10,000 had been broken it would trigger continuation to the upside. However, it seems as though in the short term Bitcoin simply didn’t have enough momentum to break above the $10,450 level, which was also the point of failure in February before March’s dramatic plunge to $3,800. While higher time frames continue to look bullish for Bitcoin in light of the recent halving event and the daily golden cross, lower time frames look like it wants to test lower levels before cycling back to the upside. A key level of support remains at $8,600 but if that breaks it could move very quickly to as low as $7,100 as leveraged long positions would be liquidated below around $8,340. For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . Bitcoin pricing Current live BTC pricing information and interactive charts are available on our site 24 hours a day. The ticker bar at the bottom of every page on our site has the latest Bitcoin price. Pricing is also available in a range of different currency equivalents: US Dollar – BTCtoUSD British Pound Sterling – BTCtoGBP Japanese Yen – BTCtoJPY Euro – BTCtoEUR Australian Dollar – BTCtoAUD Russian Rouble – BTCtoRUB About Bitcoin In August 2008, the domain name bitcoin.org was registered. On 31st October 2008, a paper was published called “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”. This was authored by Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of Bitcoin. To date, no one knows who this person, or people, are. Story continues The paper outlined a method of using a P2P network for electronic transactions without “relying on trust”. On January 3 2009, the Bitcoin network came into existence. Nakamoto mined block number “0” (or the “genesis block”), which had a reward of 50 Bitcoins. More BTC news and information If you want to find out more information about Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in general, then use the search box at the top of this page. Here’s an article to get you started. As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. || Bitcoin Cash gains 65% since March, shows more stability: In data recently obtained from Coinmarketcap, Bitcoin Cash is the fifth most valuable cryptocurrency, with a daily trading volume of about $1.4 billion dollars, and a market capitalization at $4.4 billion. Its price movement has been less exposed to high volatility, unlike its older cousin (Bitcoin). BCH has risen significantly in its price, since March 13th, when it was trading at $152, to its present level at $239. Bitcoin Cash just recently breached the resistance level of $235, and as it did so, crypto traders and investors moved their focus to BCH breaking the $250 strong resistance level. What you need to know Bitcoin Cash is a crypto asset designed around 2017, from a fork of Bitcoin. Unlike Bitcoin, it has a much bigger capacity of blocks, allowing more transactions to be carried on its blockchain. Like the flagship cryptocurrency, Bitcoin Cash is a cryptocurrency with its own ledger system or blockchain, and limited supply of about 21 million. The major difference between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash is that the latter offers cheaper transfer fees (around 20 cents) per transaction, making it more attractive to active traders and investors who transact crypto more often. Bitcoin cash is often also called Bcash. In addition, Bitcoin Cash can be traded on leading crypto exchanges that include Binance, Bitstamp, Coinbase and Kraken. Meanwhile, a leading American asset manager plans to launch an investment fund that could invest as much as 5% of its net assets in Bitcoin futures listed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Cryptocurrency fans have long debated that a Bitcoin ETF would give the cryptocurrency community more bragging rights, but Americas SEC had nullified many prior proposals. The SEC has highlighted numerous concerns about Bitcoin ETFs directly, and is unlikely to approve something that explicitly tracks Bitcoin, said Todd Rosenbluth, CFRA Researchs head of ETF and mutual fund research. For a look at all of todays economic events, check out our economic calendar . The article was written by Olumide Adesina an Investment Professional This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Daily Gold News: Thursday, June 18 Golds Intraday Reversal, Sideways Trading Action Continues GBP/USD Probes Major Support Area Ahead of BoE Decision Brent Crude Falls, U.S Crude Oil Inventories Record a two week High Some Energy Firms Can Thrive Amid Low Prices, Says Fidelitys FitzMaurice Will the Second Wave of Covid-19 End The Current Rally? COVID-19 Jitters Hit Early as Focus Shifts to the BoE and the Pound
View comments || Bitcoin Revenue in Square’s Cash App Tops Fiat Revenue for First Time in Q1: Related:US Treasury Approves Square as Coronavirus Stimulus Lender
• Payments Unicorn Square Gets Limited Bank Charter for Merchant Lending
• Bitcoin Drove Half of Square’s Cash App Revenue in the 4th Quarter || Winklevoss Twins to Help Produce Bitcoin Billionaires Book for Film: Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss will help produce a film based on the best-selling book that featured their entrance into the world of bitcoin . As reported by Deadline on Monday, the twins will work with Stampede Ventures to turn Bitcoin Billionaires by Ben Mezrich into a movie. Stampede is an entity created by Greg Silverman, formerly Warner Bros. president of production, to fund blockbuster entertainment. Bitcoin Billionaires is a non-fiction book that tells the tale of how, amid their struggles after their famous court battle with Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, the Winklevoss brothers happened across cryptocurrency and decided to make a big bet on the youthful technology. Related: Winklevoss Twins to Help Produce Bitcoin Billionaires Book for Film Cameron and Tyler previously worked with Mezrich on The Accidental Billionaires, the book that became the Oscar-winning film The Social Network. Silverman told Deadline that after reading Bitcoin Billionaires, it was evident that Cameron and Tylers remarkable redemption story, coupled with Bens masterful writing, would lend itself to a one-of-a-kind movie. He further described the upcoming movie as Rocky II meets Wall Street.' Talking of Mezrich, the twins said, Ben immediately understood the promise of cryptocurrency and was serious about telling its story to the world. Since their early days in crypto, Cameron and Tyler have gone on to launch a regulated cryptocurrency exchange, Gemini , and a stablecoin called the Gemini dollar (GUSD). The brothers were among the first to have become billionaires through investing in bitcoin. Related Stories Winklevoss Twins Crypto Exchange Adds TradingView Integration Author Jimmy Song Talks About The Little Bitcoin Book Gemini Hires 5 Former Coinbase Engineers for New Chicago Crypto Office || Number of Institutions Buying Crypto Futures Doubled in 2020: Fidelity Report: Fidelity’s digital asset subsidiary found the number of U.S. institutional investors buying crypto derivative products jumped significantly in 2020. Fidelity Digital Assets said institutional sentiment was improving in relation to cryptocurrencies . “[A]lmost 80% of investors surveyed finding something appealing about the asset class,” it said. But what’s far more interesting is right down in the guts of the survey. Talking about how institutional investors are increasing their portfolio allocation to cryptocurrencies – the top one, unsurprisingly, being bitcoin – it goes on to say, “22% of U.S. respondents invested in digital assets have exposure via futures, which is a substantial increase relative to 9% of U.S. investors surveyed in 2019.” The survey, which took place between November and March, spoke to 774 institutions in the U.S. and in Europe, with 393 coming from the U.S. That means around 86 U.S. institutions traded crypto futures this year, compared to just 40 in the 2019 survey. Fidelity’s report ventures that the “recent market growth in the number of crypto native and incumbent service providers offering cash and physically settled futures contracts” may help explain this large increase in crypto futures exposure among institutions. See also: Crypto Long & Short: Mining Derivatives Point to Growing Sophistication Boston-based Fidelity Investments is one of the largest asset managers in the world. In a press release, it claims to have more than $7.9 trillion worth of client assets under administration. In 2018, it unveiled its digital assets wing to provide custody and trade execution services for U.S.-based institutional investors. In December last year, it set up a new entity to service institutions in Europe. Related: Number of Institutions Buying Crypto Futures Doubled in 2020: Fidelity Report The survey, which was released Tuesday, also found 36% of respondents – 279 institutions in the U.S. and Europe – were currently already invested in digital assets. Hedge funds and venture funds were the two buckets with the greatest exposure, although Fidelity also found a strong showing among family offices and high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs). “These results confirm a trend we are seeing in the market towards greater interest in and acceptance of digital assets as a new investable asset class,” commented Tom Jessop, president of Fidelity Digital Assets. Interestingly, it appears European institutions (45%) were much more likely to hold crypto compared to their American counterparts (27%). This trend also played out in sentiment, where 82% of European institutional investors found something appealing about digital assets, as opposed to 74% in the U.S. Story continues See also: CME Says Volume Surge Shows Strong Institutional Interest Before Bitcoin Halving Still, the survey did not specify what led U.S. institutional investors to up their exposure to crypto futures. CoinDesk reported on a CryptoCompare report last week that found crypto derivatives trading volumes soared to $602 billion in May, a new all-time high. Options contracts, in particular, appeared to show the biggest increase, compared to the month before. At the time, CryptoCompare CEO Charles Hayter said the increase may indicate a “more sophisticated, diverse class of investor” coming to the market. CoinDesk reached out to Fidelity for more information such as whether the products were solely bitcoin-based futures and which platforms, like BitMEX or CME, institutions were using to buy crypto futures. In an email, a spokesperson said: “We did not get into specifics on platforms in the survey so I don’t have any additional info to provide on this point.” Related Stories Bullishness Building in Bitcoin Options Market, Data Suggests Bitfinex Spin-Out Says Funds Are Lining Up for Its New Decentralized Exchange View comments || Bitcoin exchange-traded product to list on Deutsche Börse’s Xetra: London-based ETC Group will list a centrally cleared bitcoin exchange-traded product on Deutsche Börse’s Xetra electronic trading market later this month.
According to a pressstatementpublished on June 9, the ETP is 100% physically backed and will be distributed and marketed using HANetf’s issuance business.
The German financial regulator BaFin approved BTCE in March, according to the firm. BTCE is physically backed by Bitcoin, with each unit giving its holder a claim on a specific amount of Bitcoin.
“With BTCE, we are transporting Bitcoin into the fold of mainstream, regulated financial markets. Investors get the benefits of trading and owning Bitcoin through a regulated security while having the optionality of redeeming Bitcoin if they choose,” Bradley Duke, CEO of ETC Group, said in a statement.
© 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. || Cred Taps Former NSA, Western Union Bosses for Leadership Team: Decentralized lending platform Cred has welcomed former National Security Agency computer scientist Bethany De Lude and Western Union executive Daniel Goldstein as chief information security officer (CISO) and chief technology officer (CTO) respectively, the firm announced Monday. Dan Schatt, Cred’s chief executive, told CoinDesk the crypto community stands to benefit a great deal from a financial infrastructure that supports the banking of tokens. That the new executives were willing to come in from the traditional financial sector is indicative of an overall maturing of the blockchain community, and a growing consensus that the technology is here to stay, he claimed. “You really feel like the tides are turning with people feeling like they don’t have to take such a huge career risk to come into this space,” Schatt said. Related: Bitcoin Mining Pool Poolin Partners With BlockFi to Expand Crypto Lending Service Prior to joining Cred, De Lude served as the first CISO of the Federal Judicial Center , the research arm of the U.S. judiciary, and held security leadership roles at the NSA and multinational accounting firm PWC . Most recently, she was the CISO at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), a non-profit tasked with supervising auditors for publicly traded companies. In a statement, De Lude said she was eager to bring her knowledge of information security “to help Cred build a world-class security organization” as it continues to grow. “Cred was really built as an infrastructure to bridge the divide between the crypto community and mainstream finance. And that’s what we’ve done. I think that’s what’s so attractive to people like Bethany, because we’re helping to bridge understanding across and on multiple fronts,” Schatt said. See also: Crypto Lender Cred Is Offering Investors 10% Interest With Spencer Dinwiddie Partnership According to Schatt, Cred wanted Daniel Goldstein in the role of CTO with specific technical innovations in mind. In Schatt’s view, increasingly, people will be holding their crypto assets in noncustodial wallets. Story continues Related: BlockFi Hires Credit Suisse, Prudential Execs to Drive Global Expansion “That’s one area that we’re putting a tremendous emphasis on and it’s one area that [Goldstein] knows very well having spent a lot of time building microservices and also building his own crypto assets,” Schatt said. Before joining Cred, Goldstein served as vice president of digital engineering at Western Union. He also held senior management roles at cybersecurity firm Symantec and Emergent Technology Holdings , a company that facilitates global commerce in emerging markets through innovative technologies. According to a press statement by Cred, Goldstein led the development of Emergent Technology’s Responsible Gold supply chain solution , a blockchain application that tracks gold from mining to vault and its G-Coin digital token . “I’m thrilled to support Cred’s mission of providing more equitable and inclusive financial and services utilizing the best of blockchain and traditional fintech,” Goldstein said in the press statement. Cred is a global financial services platform with customers in 190 countries. Last year, Cred partnered with a number of crypto exchanges including Binance in a bid to open up its operations to more markets and users. According to Schatt, Cred’s core philosophy is to create equitable and inclusive financial services surrounding credit. “You can’t build a company like that and believe in that unless you believe in doing it internally as well,” Schatt said. Related Stories Cred Taps Former NSA, Western Union Bosses for Leadership Team Cred Taps Former NSA, Western Union Bosses for Leadership Team || Bitcoin Halving: What This Rare Event Could Mean for Futures Prices: The supply of bitcoin entering the market is about to be cut in half. This bitcoin halving isn’t some apocalyptic prediction; it’s just part of the DNA of the cryptocurrency.
“It’s an event that’s baked in to the ethos of bitcoin and happens about every four years,” said Sunayna Tuteja, managing director of digital assets at TD Ameritrade.
To understand why bitcoin has value at all and what the halving could mean for bitcoin tokens andbitcoin futures prices, it can be helpful to think about gold.
Scarce and Costly to Mine
Gold is produced by miners who dig it out of the ground, a process that takes lots of money to fuel equipment, pay workers, and secure permits. Part of the price of gold per ounce includes the reimbursement and profit demanded by miners for their time and expenses. And of course, gold is scarce. It’s a rare metal that’sin demand in the financial marketsand from jewelry makers to boot. It all adds to the price.
So how does bitcoin relate? Even though bitcoin is a digital currency created with computers, the code that governs the cryptocurrency ensures that it remains scarce even as there is a real-world cost to creating it. As with gold, the supply of new crypto coins is controlled by “mining”—a computationally intensive process where computers compete against each other to secure the network by solving mathematical equations. It takes powerful computers and a good bit of energy to mine bitcoin.
Miners collect bitcoins as a reward if they’re the first to create a new valid block, which is then broadcast to the rest of the network and added to the blockchain. The blockchain technology is designed to ensure the integrity of the payment system by sharing a ledger across its users.
What Is Bitcoin Halving?
To ensure that the supply of bitcoin stays limited, the code governing the cryptocurrency mandates that the rewards for mining one block are cut in half every 210,000 blocks, which (so far) happens about every four years. Right now, miners are rewarded with 12.5 bitcoin tokens for every block they mine.
Based on current mining power and network difficulty, the next halving is expected to take place in May 2020, at which time the rewards for miners will decrease to 6.25 coins. This is only the third bitcoin halving (the last two were in 2012 and 2016).
From an investing perspective, one aspect to watch for is the influence on price given the shift in supply and demand. Currently, 18 million of the 21 million bitcoin have been mined and are in circulation. With the halving, the supply of new bitcoin being mined will slow down, while the demand may stay the same or go up.
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How Might Prices React?
Tuteja believes the halving will affect bitcoin’s price, but a number of question marks remain. As the bitcoin halving countdown winds down, the knee-jerk expectation would be for price to go up, per the typical supply/demand dynamic.
But as Tuteja pointed out, the coming halving is no big secret; it’s baked into the code. Many investors believe the adjustment is already factored into the current price. In fact, if the adjustment is indeed factored in, but enough investors expect a surge that doesn’t materialize, it could even lead to a fall in the price of bitcoin.
The big price spikes associated with bitcoin—which took it to a record near $20,000 in 2017 and, after a slump, saw it surge again to more than $13,000 in 2019—haven’t occurred at the same time as the previous two halvings. But there aren’t many data points to compare.
There’s a price argument to be made both ways, but Tuteja explained that the exact price after the halving will also depend on macroeconomic events. Bitcoin has been particularly volatile as the COVID-19 pandemic essentially ground commercial activity to a halt throughout much of the world.
“From a retail investor point of view, we’re excited about the impact of the halving in generating increased awareness and interest for education,” Tuteja commented. “Based on search results, social volumes, sentiment, and so on, we’re seeing that the upcoming halving could serve as another catalyst in expanding the adoption of digital assets by mainstream investors.”
As of early April 2020, CME Bitcoin Futures (/BTC) were trading around $7,300 after taking a dive along with other asset classes amid the coronavirus-sparked selloff (see figure 1).
FIGURE 1: VOLATILE DAYS FOR BITCOIN.Like many other assets, CME Bitcoin Futures (/BTC) have seen outsize price fluctuations in early 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic swept through the world. But the largest cryptocurrency has been volatile for quite some time. Data source: CME Group. Chart source: thethinkorswim® platform from TD Ameritrade.For illustrative purposes only. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
See more from Benzinga
• Investor Movement Index Summary: March 2020
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© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Sovrin Foundation Sheds All Paid Staff in Tale of a Token Issuance Gone Wrong: The COVID-19 crisis may have been the last straw for a non-profit digital identity organization, breaking its efforts to raise funds to pay staff and carry out a regulated token issuance. The Sovrin Foundation, a U.S.-based umbrella organization that oversees the development of blockchain-based digital identity standards (also known as self-sovereign identity or SSI), laid off nine full-time and six part-time employees in March, officially becoming a volunteer-run operation. Sovrins transition from a permanently staffed organization to a volunteer-led one is now complete, Paul Knowles, Sovrins external press representative, said in a statement emailed to CoinDesk. We are pleased to state that the Sovrin MainNet remained stable throughout the process with new stewards and clients continuing to come on board. The internal structure of the Foundation has gone through a revamp and is now more dynamic than ever before. Related: Mapping the Future of the SEC (There's a Nonzero Chance Hester Peirce Takes Over) Read more: Why Project Indy is Using Hybrid DLT to Rethink Digital Identity Nathan George, the firms former chief technology officer, said the Sovrin community which is closely linked to SSI tech provider Evernym reacted quickly and volunteers stepped up, calling the downsizing a success story of sorts. The Sovrin Foundation works with the likes of IBM, Cisco, T-Mobile and many other companies. Everybody went through kind of crazy mode with COVID. We were in the middle of fundraising which was going to keep us going through 2020. That fell apart faster than you could blink, said George, who now works with Kiva, the microfinance and digital identity partner of the Libra Association. So we went from being super excited, everything was going great, to having a meeting where the CEO said she was resigning and we were all let go the next day. It was a chaotic couple of weeks, George said. Story continues Sovrin debt Related: AML Bitcoin Founder Claims DC Lobbyist Jack Abramoff, US Government Are 'Extorting' Him There appears to be some difference of opinion about Sovrins fundraising process, which pre-dates the COVID-19 financial meltdown, particularly around procuring the funds needed to conduct a regulated token sale, known in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) parlance as a Regulation A+ (Reg A+) , an amendment to the JOBS Act which came into effect in 2015. This became a bone of contention between the Sovrin Foundations trustees and board, and its CEO and executive director, Heather Dahl, who resigned on March 15. CoinDesk obtained a copy of Dahls resignation letter, which states: I have made the choice to resign based on a philosophical division between myself, the Board and its business partners. The letter goes on to say: When we cater to the needs of the few, we do not serve the many. While there are many paths to a destination
it is with great disappointment that the ones that I have chosen and brought to the Foundation no longer align with those chosen by the Board of Directors and other interested parties. The Sovrin Foundation mentioned the state of the funding for the proposed token issuance back in March. Launching a token under Reg A+ would require $1 million to $2 million in additional funding in order to file with the SEC, and a further $1 million to $2 million to complete the registration, according to the Sovrin Foundation update. Given the current market conditions, we do not anticipate a Reg A+ filing for the Sovrin token in 2020, said the statement. But a source at the Sovrin Foundation, who wished to remain anonymous, said that when this decision was taken, COVID-19 was a minor and limited factor. The problem stretches back over two years, said the source, when Evernym sold pre-functioning Sovrin tokens to investors. Funding shortfall Despite the Sovrin Foundation forming a number of alliances to facilitate additional revenue, there remained a shortfall in the funds needed for issuing a regulated token. But in October 2019, an investor with $5 million was brought to the table, according to the person speaking on the condition of anonymity. The Sovrin Board and Evernym then negotiated back and forth on this investment for four months while the Foundations finances were running out, said the source. The Foundation opened a Sovrin Series A raise mid-February which was already too late. Read more: Bank-Backed Hyperledger Is Slowly Opening to ICOs As the financial situation became more abject, the multi-million dollar investor changed their initial terms to further dilute Evernym investors, the source said, adding that these terms were deemed unacceptable by Sovrins board of trustees. Given the climate for non-profit donations was turning grim, and the investor terms were not as good as what was offered in October, the decision was made to release the staff and move to volunteer mode, said the source. If the Foundation had not focused on protecting Evernym investors from dilution they could be in a very different financial position today, the source added. Related Stories Sovrin Foundation Sheds All Paid Staff in Tale of a Token Issuance Gone Wrong Sovrin Foundation Sheds All Paid Staff in Tale of a Token Issuance Gone Wrong
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
|
Trend: up || Prices: 9143.58, 9190.85, 9137.99, 9228.33, 9123.41, 9087.30, 9132.49, 9073.94, 9375.47, 9252.28
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2019-07-09]
BTC Price: 12573.81, BTC RSI: 63.66
Gold Price: 1397.50, Gold RSI: 61.71
Oil Price: 57.83, Oil RSI: 53.29
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
You can now send crypto directly over WhatsApp using Lite.Im: A new WhatsApp bot developed by Zulu Republic called Lite.Im allows users of the popular messaging platform to send and receive both Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC) transactions directly over the Facebook-owned messaging service. After adding the bot, users simply have to follow the on-screen instructions to send crypto to other users. Zulu is also promoting the tool through a referral program where users can earn crypto for getting their friends to use Lite.Im. we are happy to announce that from today you can send and receive #bitcoin & #litecoin on #WhatsApp via @liteim_official ! try it yourself here: https://t.co/JaldSafGBK @FranklynCrypto @SatoshiLite @CharlieShrem @CCNMarkets @GLRalf Zulu Republic (@ztxrepublic) May 19, 2019 The Zulu team also mentioned that the bot will soon make use of Bitcoins Lightning Network. The layer-two scaling solution is still in development but has consistently been in the news this year for hitting record activity in terms of new users and funds locked inside the network. The introduction of cryptocurrencies on social platforms is considered a positive development, as Bitcoin and other leading digital assets will gain more adoption on mainstream platforms like WhatsApp. Story continues Over the last few days, social media giant Facebook has taken a step closer to the digital asset industry by registering a blockchain payments firm called Libra in Switzerland. This follows a Coin Rivet report from earlier this month that the US-based behemoth was looking to raise around $1 billion for Project Libra, intensifying speculation over the firms plans for a native cryptocurrency. For more news, guides, and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . The post You can now send crypto directly over WhatsApp using Lite.Im appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Bitcoin Price Exploded in 25-Month Bull Rage the Last Time This Happened: ByCCN: According to technical analyst Josh Rager, the 3-day Guppy Multiple Moving Average (GMMA) on the bitcoin price trend has turned green following bitcoin’s recentrally. The last time this technical indicator signaled a change in trend, it led to a 25-month bull run.
With key technical indicators signaling the formation of a bullish trend for bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market, traders have started to consider the possibility of the rally of bitcoin sustaining throughout the short to medium-term without a significant pullback.
In technical analysis, GMMA is often utilized as an indicator that spots changes in trend and potential breakouts by evaluating the momentum of the market.
Cory Mitchell, a swing trader who worked with Fortune 500 companies,describedthe GMMA as an indicator of trend strength.
“The degree of separation between the short- and long-term moving averages can be used as an indicator of trend strength. If there’s a wide separation, then the prevailing trend is strong. Narrow separation, or lines that are crisscrossings, indicates a weakening trend or a period of consolidation,” said Mitchell.
The 3-day GMMA has indicated a change in trend to the upside for bitcoin for the first time since 2016, demonstrating the strength of the current movement of major crypto assets.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Bitcoin vs Ethereum vs Litecoin: Three of the most famous cryptocurrencies that most people have heard of are Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin. Not only have they survived longer than many others, but they have all maintained their strong positions in the rankings of most valuable cryptocurrencies. Each one has its own unique attributes that they hope will help them compete in an extremely volatile market. Bitcoin Bitcoin is the most famous cryptocurrency out there and also the original. Created by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, Bitcoin is an uncensorable form of money that can be sent peer to peer anywhere in the world, without the need for a third party. These unique attributes have garnered interest from libertarians, crypto-anarchists , and people unsatisfied with the current status quo of the economic system. It has also received derision from classical economists who point to the volatile price fluctuations as a clear example of a bubble in progress. Despite being labelled dead on numerous occasions, Bitcoin has continued to survive and ultimately thrive. Not only is the price higher than most ever imagined, but there are now whole industries and conferences built around this one invention that was released on a mailing list all those years ago. As a piece of software, Bitcoin continues to develop and evolve. New ideas such as the Lightning Network and Schnorr Signatures hope to help continue pushing Bitcoin further mainstream, with the ultimate goal being to overthrow the current fiat system. Such lofty goals have caught the attention of US congressmen who have called for cryptocurrencies to be made illegal due to fear of the US losing its hegemony through the use of the US dollar as the worlds reserve currency. Criticism of Bitcoin is usually aimed at the Proof-of-Work hashing algorithm and the size of the network. Proof-of-Work is energy intensive, and many people have accused Bitcoin of being a waste of precious resources in a time when global warming is on the forefront of many peoples minds. Story continues Ethereum Ethereum is the creation of Vitalik Buterin and doesnt directly compete with Bitcoin in terms of its money properties. Instead, the smart contract-based platform has been labelled as a potential world computer. Despite this, for many people, cryptocurrencies are merely investment vehicles, meaning the underlying technology often gets overlooked for the price. Ethereum has seen significant growth in price the same way as Bitcoin has. It has also created plenty of hype and excitement. Due to the nature of Ethereum, it is possible to build tokens on top of the platform. Many cryptocurrencies on the market today are ERC-20 tokens that use Ethereum as a base layer. Whilst Ethereum has struggled to become the world computer many believe it can be, another use case was found for it in 2017. Ethereum became the vehicle for many projects to launch their ICOs. Unfortunately, many of these ICOs were shady and unscrupulous, meaning that although they raised millions of dollars, investors are yet to see any return. Whilst Ethereum currently uses Proof-of-Work like Bitcoin, its ultimate goal is to move to Proof-of-Stake. Proof-of-Stake is less energy intensive and seemingly more palatable to mainstream consumers because of this. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum struggle with issues relating to scaling their respective blockchains. Whilst the Lightning Network on Bitcoin is meant to help solve this, upgrades such as Casper on Ethereum should in theory help its scalability problems. Litecoin Litecoin was created by Charlie Lee and is a fork of the Bitcoin code with a few different parameters. Often referred to as the silver to Bitcoins gold, the plucky altcoin has managed to survive to this day and is currently trading above $80. Litecoin is quicker to transfer than Bitcoin, making it more suitable for payments. However, whether Litecoin will still be able to maintain a market share once the Lightning Network is fully integrated into Bitcoin remains to be seen. Through the Lightning Network, payments on Bitcoin will become quicker and cheaper than Litecoin, possibly rendering its use case null and void. Litecoin has proved beneficial for Bitcoin. When the scaling debate was at its peak in 2017, Litecoin went ahead and implemented SegWit onto its platform. This showed that there were no issues with SegWit as Litecoin continued to run smoothly, calming some of the fears surrounding the new upgrade. Founder Charlie Lee has previously been accused of undermining the project when he chose to sell all his holdings for more than $300 a coin in the last bull market. His argument was that he has too much influence over the price, and by selling he could focus solely on improving Litecoin. However, when he chose to sell, the price of Litecoin soon collapsed, leading many to accuse him of dumping his bags. Conclusion Bitcoin to this day remains the original and strongest cryptocurrency on the market. Whilst the interest around Ethereum is very high, there are still many questions that surround the projects viability. This is true for Bitcoin in the long term as well, however. Litecoin is a plucky altcoin that has proved a valuable asset as almost like a test net for Bitcoin. Each of these cryptocurrencies have shown that they have staying power so far, but this does not necessarily guarantee success for them in the future. The post Bitcoin vs Ethereum vs Litecoin appeared first on Coin Rivet . || India’s Insane Anti-Crypto Bill Proposes 10-Yr Prison for Bitcoin Adopters: Report: India, incredibly, is considering prison sentences for bitcoin adopters, according to a Bloomberg report. | Source: Shutterstock By CCN : Lawmakers in India have proposed a bill which would see Bitcoin and crypto ownership made completely illegal, with as much as a 10-year prison sentence for anyone caught holding. This coincides directly with India’s plans to launch its own state-backed cryptocurrency – the Digital Rupee. 10 Year Jail Sentence for Bag Holders? As per the Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, anyone involved in the Bitcoin or crypto ecosystem would face criminal punishment. The bill proposes a 10-year prison sentence for persons who “mine, generate, hold, sell, transfer, dispose, issue or deal in cryptocurrencies, directly or indirectly.” Anyone caught committing such crimes would be subject to “non-bailable” sentences, according to the draft bill sourced by BloombergQuint . The Bill also states that the punishment will be made to fit the crime – with a person’s crypto profits used against them. As per the bill, courts will use the following 4 criteria when handing out sentences: Even worse – any potential fines levied by the courts would be three times as much as the profit the individual made in the first place. From BloombergQuint: “The penalty imposed on the accused, according to the bill, shall be either thrice the loss caused to the system, or three-fold the gains made by him/her, whichever is higher. If the loss or gain can’t be reasonably determined, the maximum fine that can be imposed may be notified by the government.” Read the full story on CCN.com . View comments || Kadena Blockchain to Launch This October With $3 Billion Asset Manager Onboard: Brooklyn-based startup Kadena will launch a public blockchain this October, the company announced Monday at CoinDesks Consensus 2019 conference in New York. Founded in 2016, Kadena raised over $14 million last year to develop a new proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain network called Chainweb that would seek to offer users high transaction volumes without slowing down network speed and ramping up network cost for users. Speaking to CoinDesk, CEO of Kadena Will Martino, said: Microsoft Makes JPMorgans Quorum the Preferred Blockchain for Azure Cloud Chainweb is built to align the incentives of everyone involved in the network. For the first time, miners, users and businesses can all agree on what network success means and how to get there from launch. Chainwebs protocol, the company said, links multiple blockchain networks to run concurrently and split up large computation loads. As previously reported , these different chains share information through Merkle roots to achieve cross-chain consensus. Chainweb design. Courtesy of Kadena. JPMorgan Exec Joins Blockchain Gold-Trading Firm Tradewind as CEO The envisioned goal of Chainweb is to produce roughly 1,000 different blockchains and reach networks speed of up to 10,000 transactions per second. According to Kadena CEO Will Martino, Chainweb has been running on a test network since March. Later this summer in May, the test network will be opened up to preliminary users. We have a mining queue that we will slowly begin on-boarding to test the user experience and the process of hooking up to the network, said Martino to CoinDesk. Martino stressed that miners would not be earning tokens ahead of their market release by engaging in the preliminary test network. Todays press release notes that miners will strictly get to learn how Chainweb works and collaborate with our team to scale the network. Along with todays announcement, the team at Kadena further revealed a partnership with commodities and alternative investment products provider USCF Investments, a manager of approximately $3 billion in assets. Story continues John Love, president and CEO of USCF, told CoinDesk: One of the things that attracted us to Kadena was their expertise beyond just blockchain and fintech including
regulatory understanding. To our business, this [partnership] wasnt something coming from left field. This collaboration makes a lot of sense to tie our respective areas of expertise together. As Martino put, the two will be working together to build the next generation of fintech by leveraging Kadena products like Chainweb. The key is that USCF brings this history of innovating in financial markets and a vision for how a new technology [like blockchain] could fundamentally advance how these systems and these products are built [in fintech], said Martino to CoinDesk. Team photo courtesy of Kadena Related Stories JPMorgan Expanding Blockchain Project With 220 Banks to Include Payments ING Bank Is Bringing Bitcoin Bulletproofs to Private Blockchains || Bitcoin – Is the Next Stop at $9000?: On the intraday charts, it is clearly seen how exceeding the threshold levels of $7,000 and $8,000 caused a wave of profit taking, but pretty quickly it was ended up by the new wave of purchases. The return of public interest was so intense that previous levels of consolidation were simply swept away. Given this dynamic, the next stop could be level at $9,000 and local peaks of May 2018 at $9,500.
FOMO (fear of missed opportunities) has returned to the market, as retail investors became the real driving force behind this dynamic. Nevertheless, it must be remembered that in addition to optimism and patterns similar to the 2017 rally, many new participants appeared on the market, who firstly benefited from pushing the market to the bottom, and then it would be profitable for them to sell at highs.
It is equally important that growth not only increases but also widens, actively engage altcoins in the rally. Since May 10, the total capitalization of the cryptocurrency market has grown by $47 billion. Over the past 24 hours, the XRP token shows the most significant growth by 21% to $0.38. Probably, the coin attracts demand due to the low price, while market participants remember it at a price of around $4. Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) add 10% and 12%, respectively. At the moment it is difficult to find a cryptocurrency in the red zone. The Bitcoin domination index has grown in recent days, reaching 60%, however, it gave back some gains to 59.2%.
The cherry on the top was the news that Amazon’s Whole Foods now accepts Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Gemini Dollar (GUSD). This made possible by the partnership of the Winklevoss twin project Gemini with payment start-up Flexa. In addition to Whole Foods, people can spend their digital currencies at Starbucks, Baskin Robbins, Nordstrom, and others. It should be noted that so far there were no “leaks” about the project, and the launch took place exactly at the right moment, heating the growth impulse. Whether it is a coincidence or not, the twins won’t tell, but they are pushing the entire crypto sector to integrate with the real world.
This article was written byFxPro
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Gold Consolidates 1-Month Highs After Monday’s Rally || Morgan Creek CEO Says Every Investor Should Hold Some Bitcoin: CEO of Morgan Creek Capital Mark Yusko says bitcoin (BTC) should be in every investor’s portfolio in aninterviewwith CNBC on May 22.
Yusko remarked that he thinks BTC investments will far outperform the S&P 500 investment fund over the next 10 years.When asked about putting money into BTC, Yusko said:
“Bitcoin is a great diversifyingasset. It has very low correlation. It should be in everybody’s portfolio.”
Yusko alsorecalledhis $1 million ‘Buffet Bet 2.0’, in which Morgan Creek Digital made an open bet that its Digital Asset Index Fund would outperform the SPX from January 2019 to January 2029. The Digital Asset Index fund includes ten majorcryptoassets — not just bitcoin. The proceeds of the bet would reportedly be donated to charity.
Yusko has previously been very bullish on bitcoin, going on recordpredictinga $400,000 high for the cryptocurrency at some point. In addition to his optimistic prediction, he commented on its potential for disrupting traditional banking and finance:
"This will change the supply and demand equation for banking. It is that big. I'm not surprised at all that bankers, financiers and Saudi Princes are coming out against it. This is a truly disruptive technology.”
As previouslyreportedon Cointelegraph, bitcoin recently hit a peak of over $8,000. Bitcoin is currently trading at $7,902 and is trending up by 2.76% at press time, according todatafrom CoinMarketCap.
• Montana Passes Bill to Recognize Utility Tokens and Exempt Them From State Securities
• Facebook in Talks With Coinbase, Winklevoss’ Gemini to Launch Its Globalcoin: FT Report
• Galaxy Digital Founder Michael Novogratz: One of the Social Media Cryptos Will Succeed
• Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin Proposes Creating On-Chain Ether Mixer || Institutional demand for bitcoin appears to be increasing: This free preview of The Block Genesis is offered to our loyal readers as a representation of the highly valuable research and journalism our Genesis members receive daily. If you’d like to receive all Genesis content on our site and via daily newsletter,join today.
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), a $1.4 billion closed-end fund that invests exclusively in bitcoin, serves as perhaps the best indicator of institutional investment in bitcoin. And the data is showing an uptick in the institutional demand.
Only qualified accredited investors can invest directly in GBTC with a minimum investment of $50,000.Grayscale saidthat 80% of investment in 2018 came from institutional (66%) and accredited investors (14%).
GBTC gives investors an opportunity to get exposure to bitcoin through a traditional investment vehicle with shares titled in the investors’ name. Xapo holds bitcoin in cold storage vaults on behalf of Grayscale, which then charges an expense ratio of 2% that diminishes the value of the fund over time.
And it’s a lucrative business. According to The Block’s estimates, Grayscale has collected $52 million in fees from GBTC in the last three years; $14.9 million in 2017 and $27.3 million in 2018.
As bitcoin jumped to nine-month high, growing by 135% since Dec. 15, the price of GBTC has also rallied. Price of GBTC grew by 124% since early February and hit an eight-month high on Friday.
GBTC’s assets under management (AUM), in this case the value of all the bitcoins held in the fund, reached a 10-month high of $1.42 billion on Friday.
By the end of April, Grayscale held 225,638 bitcoins or just under 1.3% of the total circulating supply.
The share of total bitcoin held in Bitcoin Trust reached an all-time high in April.
Bitcoin inflows, or the amount of bitcoin added to GBTC’s holdings, reached an all-time high in April signaling an increase in institutional demand. In fact, bitcoin inflows in April (11,236 BTC) were approximately the same as in the previous four months combined.
If we adjust the bitcoin inflows to USD, nearly $58.2 million was added to Grayscale’s holdings in April, which is almost as high as $60.8 million at the height of the bull market in December 2017.
Another interesting metric is the relationship between the price of GBTC and the net asset value (NAV).
GBTC’s share price trades higher than the net asset value meaning that investors pay a premium over just buying bitcoin directly. This is because the price of GBTC is determined by supply and demand and the majority of investors prefer owning a security as opposed to ‘physical’ bitcoin.
An increase in the GBTC premium signals more demand for GBTC and therefore also a growing institutional interest. Historically, the premium has surpassed 100% in May 2017 and August 2017. The premium is currently nearly 40% and has increased consistently since December, which shows a shift of the sentiment in the market.
A similar trend can be observed by looking at the monthly traded volume of GBTC. While the volume in May is still considerably lower than in early 2018, there is a clear positive trend in the recent months.
After evaluating the data of GBTC, it’s clear that the trend has reversed in the last several months. The fund now holds 1.3% of bitcoin’s total circulating supply and added an all-time high 11,236 BTC in April. If the bitcoin inflows are adjusted to USD, nearly $58.2 million of bitcoin was added in April, which is almost as high as the $60.8 million added at the height of the bull market in December 2017. Moreover, the premium has also seen an increase in the last seven months as institutional demand increases. The same trend is seen with traded volume, which is starting to grow as well. || Iran Bitcoin Miners Set Up Shop in Mosques Amid Gov’t Crackdown: Iranianbitcoin (BTC)minersare moving into mosques as the government launches an energy crackdown,social media usersrevealed on June 25.
Iran, which offers free energy to mosques, now has around 100 miners occupying places of worship, generating much-needed income of around $260,000 a year.
“This money goes a long way in Iran’s choked sanctioned economy,” Oxford University researcher Mahsa Alimardani explained on Twitter.
Despite its increasingly troubled economic situation, Iran remains uncoordinated when it comes tocryptocurrencypolicy.
Last year, thecentral bankofficiallyforbadelenders from servicing crypto businesses, at the same time as officials said they wouldconsider launchingtheir own digital token.
Now, after bitcoin mining allegedly contributed to a 7% spike in power consumption in June, 1,000 miners have been seized, Cointelegraphreportedon Tuesday.
“Two of these bitcoin farms have been identified, with a consumption of one megawatt,”Reutersadditionally quoted Arash Navab, an official from the energy industry in Yazd province, as telling state television.
Tehran hadpreviously recognizeddomestic cryptocurrency mining as an industry.
As Cointelegraphreported, the majority of bitcoin mining now uses sustainable energy sources, while separate research tackles claims the process is environmentally damaging.
This week, aU.S.companycommittedto building a solar-powered farm which will become the largest in North America when it starts operating inCalifornia.
• Iranian Authorities Confiscate 1,000 Bitcoin Mining Machines
• Bitcoin Mining is Now More Competitive Than Ever, New Data Shows
• Iranian Government to Cut Off Power to Crypto Mining Until Approval of New Energy Prices
• North America’s Largest Solar Bitcoin Mining Farm Coming to California || App Offering Free Bitcoin and Ether to Users Is a Scam, Malware Hunter Warns: Anappthat claims to give users the chance to earn $45 a day in free bitcoin (BTC) is ascam, according to atweetby an “independentmalwarehunter” posted on May 20.
The software, known as Bitcoin Collector, is advertised on a website that supposedly enables users to share a unique URL with their friends with payouts of 3ether(ETH) (worth about $800 at press time) for every 1,000 people who click on it.
But according to a security researcher who goes by the nickname Frost on Twitter, the app is a front for attempts to steal login credentials and money.
At first, downloading the software launchedransomwarethat warned users all of their information had been encrypted “using the most cryptographic algorithms,” adding:
“No system administrator in the world can solve this problem without knowing the password.”
Recently, the scam evolved into a Trojan, potentially enabling fraudsters to stealcrypto wallets, files and login details, take screenshots and review browsing history without the victim’s knowledge.
Malicious software that tries to dupe inexperiencedcryptoenthusiasts is relatively common in the crypto space, as Cointelegraph hasreported. Last week, researchersfoundapps on theGooglePlay store that imitated the hardware walletTrezor.
• Fake Crypto Wallet App Imitating Trezor Found on Google Play Store
• ETH Stolen From Crypto Exchange Cryptopia Moved, Portion Deposited on Exchange
• Computer Researcher Finds Wallet Vulnerability That Gave Same Key to Multiple Users
• China’s Latest Crypto Rankings: EOS Retains Top Spot, Bitcoin in 12th Place
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
🤖 1 Hour Global Markets
1 #ETH ⬆ $236.95 (0.71%)
2 #BTC ⬆ $7290.03 (0.33%)
3 #CAC ⬆ 5,442.77 (0.23%)
4 #DAX ⬆ 12,248.54 (0.22%)
5 #CryptoCap ⬆ $230.15B (0.18%)
https://t.co/4YdTWZOT4F #bitcoin #stocks https://t.co/uGZFDY7nL2 || That time @CalvinAyre gave us the GIGAMEG gold....
This guy really knows his shit. Definitely a leader you should trust.
lmao
#crypto #bitcoin #faketoshi $btc $bsv $bch #realbitcoin https://t.co/iW3rD8X0X1 || bitFlyerFXと現物のBTC価格乖離に関する公式発表()と同時に価格落ちた〜。 https://t.co/nRkyxqjb0D || Goedkoopste bitcoin nu te koop voor €7043,95, ga naar https://t.co/zYrSRAI8qJ #bitcoin || #Bitcoin nada ni siquiera se nos acerca || #FollowFriday #FF @iambrodalee @PaulSpoerry @ButtonRobert @DeFaukatrua @WayneMansfield @HotelDCarlota @SuperiorCoins @hashmkt @ScreamnGuitars @NeilSilverthorn @ATVesey @alamantra @SnD_Enterprise #Earn #Bitcoin #BTC https://t.co/P9qKBX1C9V || This is so marvellous! This project will undoubtedly be the out front in my rating. #Shato || Record Levels of Hash Power Shows Trust In Bitcoin Has Never Been Higher https://t.co/oBpPL9kf02 https://t.co/qsJ5ClFwrs || Bitcoin:$8244.19042538
Ethereum:$259.362394432
Bitcoin Cash:$418.728321343
Litecoin:$129.876216526
XRP:$0.4021447047
IOTA:$0.4448699231 || BTC
2月のセリクラ
4月の大量出来高上げ
7月の逆三尊ネックライン
いずれも過去に大きな取引量のあった価格帯です。
このような場所は往々にしてレジサポが意識されます。
fibの調整ラインとしても適当な位置であり、調整波の終点として考えられます。 https://t.co/oxaE6CJfMA
|
Trend: down || Prices: 12156.51, 11358.66, 11815.99, 11392.38, 10256.06, 10895.09, 9477.64, 9693.80, 10666.48, 10530.73
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2017-05-30]
BTC Price: 2175.47, BTC RSI: 60.42
Gold Price: 1262.10, Gold RSI: 57.17
Oil Price: 49.66, Oil RSI: 51.52
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Google Home's mastermind has no intention of losing to Amazon: Once a year, the geeky faithful make their way to Silicon Valley to attend Google I/O, the company’s (GOOG,GOOGL) developer conference. Most of what transpires there is programmer gibberish to the uninitiated—but there are always a few eye-popping news bits for the masses.
This year, one of the most interesting developments was Google’s continued push to make its Google Home device—basically an Amazon Echo clone—distinctive and essential.
I had the chance to chat with Rishi Chandra, Google’s vice president for all things Google Home.
He covered what’s new (or coming very soon) in the Google Home device, but first he emphasized that none of it could have happened without the big new feature, person recognition. That is, the Google Home now knows who is speaking, and can deliver the answer based on that person’s calendar, work commute, music playlists, Uber account, and so on. (Here’s my full writeupof that feature.)
“It knows who’s talking,” Chandra told me. “In the end, an assistant can only be so useful if it understands who you are, right? So, if my wife is asking something about her calendar, then it needs to answer with her calendar. And if I’m asking, it needs to be answered with my calendar. And that’s actually enabled all of the announcements we were making today.”
(And one more that Googledidn’tmake: Shortly, Google Home will let you add or edit calendar appointments and reminders by voice, and read email summaries to you by voice. What took so long? Simple, Chandra says: Those features didn’t make sense until the Home could tell who’s talking—whosecalendar and email to check.)
So what are the big new features? First, conversations with Home no longer have to begin withyou. If it notices something that you might find important—a traffic delay for an upcoming appointment, or a flight delay—its ring glows to get your attention. When you say “OK Google, what’s up?”, it gives you the bad news.
Second, free phone calls. “The most interesting and most exciting thing that we announced today is the ability to use Google Home to call different phone numbers. The ability to say, like, ‘hey Google, call mom.’ It can call any land-line or mobile number in Canada or US for free.”
Note that this is not the same thing thatAmazon added to its Echo last week—free callsbetweenAmazon (AMZN) Echos (or Amazon apps). This is free phone calls tophone numbers.
Finally, Google Home can now send certain of its responses to a nearby screen, like your phone or TV.
“For certain things, voice is not going to be good enough, right? You need to see a visual,” Chandra said. “So, in case I want to get maps, you’d get a notification right on your phone that says, ‘hey, you can actually go open a Google Maps right now with the exact location you’re trying to go.’”
Google has lagged Amazon in the number of smarthome or Internet of Things gadgets you can control by voice, too—but that’s about to change, Chandra says.
“We’re catching up significantly. When we launched Google Home, we had four partners. Today, any third party developer/device manufacturer can start interfacing with the assistant on their own. So, it’s a self-publishing tool. And so, we expect this to go from the 70 to hundreds of different integrations.”
The Amazon Echo,now in nearly 11 million homes, has had an impressive head start. But clearly, Google has no intention of settling for second place.
More from David Pogue:
Inside the World’s Greatest Scavenger Hunt:Part 1•Part 2•Part 3•Part 4•Part 5
The David Pogue Review: Windows 10 Creators Update
Now I get it: Bitcoin
David Pogue tested 47 pill-reminder apps to find the best one
David Pogue’s search for the world’s best air-travel app
The little-known iPhone feature that lets blind people see with their fingers
David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes nontoxic comments in the comments section below. On the web, he’sdavidpogue.com. On Twitter, he’s@pogue. On email, he’s [email protected]. You canread all his articles here, or you can sign up toget his columns by email. || Quadruple Leveraged ETFs: SEC Has Second Thoughts: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been reluctant toward approving the first quadruple leveraged ETF. The SEC put off its recent decision to okay an exchange-traded fund that looks to offer four times the daily price changes of S&P 500 futures contracts, as per the source.
The commission reportedly plans to review the initial verdict released earlier this month. With this, many expectedForceshares Daily 4x US Market Futures Long Fund(UP) andForceshares Daily 4x US Market Futures Short Fund(DOWN) to see the light of day soon. These two new products are designed to deliver 400% regular/opposite the daily performance of the S&P 500 (read: SEC Approves Quadruple-Leveraged ETFs).
As per Reuters, the issues leading to the latest SEC review aren’t clear. However, excessive risks in the products can be a reason. Leveraged products are always meant for investors with a strong stomach for risks.
A fund that provides 2x the exposure will rise by 2% if the benchmark increases by 1%. The opposite also holds true. If the index drops by 1%, the ETF will lose 2%. A quadruple approach can thus understandably be much riskier for investors(see: all the Leveraged Equity ETFs here).
Investors should note that leveraged products are also suitable only for short-term traders as these are rebalanced on a daily basis. Notably, so long, up to triple-leveraged ETFs have been common in the investing world(read: An Investor's Guide to the 10 Most Popular Leveraged ETFs).
At the current backdrop,ProShares Ultra S&P500 ETF SSO, which looks to track the daily investment results, before fees and expenses, corresponding to twice the daily performance of the S&P 500, has amassed the largest asset base of $1.89 billion.
Notably, there is no shortage of leveraged ETFs tracking the S&P 500 with SSO,Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bull 1.25x SharesLLSP,Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bull 2x SharesSPUU,ProShares UltraPro S&P500 ETFUPRO andDirexion Daily S&P 500 Bull 3x SharesSPXL around.
As per xtf.com, there are over 130 U.S.-listed leveraged ETFs with an aggregate market cap of $27.75 billion and average expense ratio of 1.17% (read: Bet on ETF Industry's Growth with This Fund).
Other SEC Reconsiderations in Recent Times
Not only quadruple leveraged ETFs, the SEC has adopted the same stance for bitcoin. Bitcoins are ‘mined’ by using a greater amount of computer processing power. After rejecting the filing for an ETF on this cryptocurrency by Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, the SEC is reviewing its decision again. The proposal actually involved listing the ETF on the Bats BZX exchange, one of the largest U.S. equities market operators (read: No Bitcoin ETF Says SEC: What's Next?).
Now that Bats’ petition to the SEC to reconsider the decision has been accepted by the authority, a new-found optimism has been noticed in the space. The tussle between the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission and Winklevoss over the launch has been going on for about three years. In fact, the issuer has restructured the proposal for the Bitcoin ETF multiple times.
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Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportDIRX-LC BULL 3X (SPXL): ETF Research ReportsPRO-ULTR S&P500 (SSO): ETF Research ReportsPRO-ULT S&P500 (UPRO): ETF Research ReportsDIR-D SP5 2X BL (SPUU): ETF Research ReportsDIRX-D SP5 B125 (LLSP): ETF Research ReportsTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report || Disney's Iger says hackers claim to have stolen upcoming movie - Hollywood Reporter: (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) Chief Executive Bob Iger has revealed that hackers claimed to have access to an unnamed upcoming movie and have demanded a ransom, the Hollywood Reporter said on Monday.
Iger made the comments during a town hall meeting with ABC employees in New York City, the Hollywood Reporter said, citing multiple sources.
The hackers have demanded that a huge sum be paid on Bitcoin, but Disney has refused to pay, the publication said.
Disney was not immediately available for comment.
(Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila) || 10 things you need to know today: AH-64D Apache attack helicopter (An AH-64D Apache attack helicopter at the South Carolina National Guard Air and Ground Expo at McEntire Joint National Guard Base in South Carolina.Reuters/Jorge Intriago/Courtesy Air National Guard/Handout) Here is what you need to know. South Korea goes to the polls . Barring a major upset, liberal Moon Jae-in, who is open to dialogue with North Korea, is expected to win, Reuters says. UK retail sales bounce back . Data released by the Retail Sales Monitor from the British Retail Consortium on Tuesday showed that retail sales in April surged 5.6% versus a year ago after slipping 1% in March. Bitcoin tops $1,700. The cryptocurrency trades up by 4.3% at $1,728 a coin. It's up 81% this year. Jeff Gundlach doesn't like US stocks . Speaking at the Sohn Investment conference, Gundlach, the founder of DoubleLine Capital, told attendees to go long the iShares Emerging Markets ETF and short the S&P 500. Hertz tanks after missing big on earnings . The rental-car company lost an adjusted $1.61 a share, missing the $0.84 loss that Wall Street was anticipating by a wide margin. Share tumbled by as much as 15% in extended trading on Monday. SPONSOR CONTENT BY ORACLE CFOs can transform their organization into an analytics powerhouse with the right talent, tools, and strategy. Learn more. Sturm Ruger says gun demand slowed . The gunmaker said sell-through of its products from independent distributors to retailers fell by 7% after seeing a strong run-up to the 2016 presidential election. The CEO of Qantas Airways took a pie to the face while giving a speech . CEO Alan Joyce was talking about his airline's recent decision to begin nonstop flights from London to Perth, Australia, when a man ran up to the podium and pied him in the face, City AM says. "If there are any more pies, can you get it over with now?" Joyce asked. Stock markets are higher . Hong Kong's Hang Seng (+1.3%) led the gains in Asia, and Germany's DAX (+0.5%) trails in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open little changed near 2,400. Earnings reporting remains heavy. Allergan, Office Depot, and Valeant report ahead of the opening bell, while Disney, Priceline, and Yelp are among the names releasing their quarterly results after markets close. US economic is light. Jolts Job Openings will be released at 10 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is unchanged at 2.39%, its highest since the end of March. More From Business Insider 26 TV shows that were just canceled United Airlines apologizes after sending woman to San Francisco instead of Paris 10 things you need to know before the opening bell View comments || $BITCF's COINQX is the First Cryptocurrency Exchange to Offer Speculation in 6 Possible Outcomes of the Bitcoin Hard Fork: VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 21, 2017 /CoinQx Exchange LIMITED, a wholly owned subsidiary of FIRST BITCOIN CAPITAL CORP (OTC PINK: BITCF or "Company") and the world's dominate issuer of cryptographic, indicative tokens is pleased to announce the launching of 5 additional altcoins that allow speculation on the potential outcomes of the moves to hard fork from the Bitcoin Core.
Other exchanges are now preparing for the highly anticipated hard fork of Bitcoin into two coins, with the original to remain named as Bitcoin (symbol BTC) and the forked coin as an altcoin to be named Bitcoin Unlimited, symbol BTU based on utilizing "Segregated Witness" (SegWit). Unlike those competing exchanges, COINQX is anticipating 6 possible outcomes, e.g. Bitcoin Unlimited, BCOIN, Bitcoin Plasma, Bitcoin Purse, Bitcoin Classic and Bitcoin XT.
Many Bitcoin traders are anxious to begin trading in the outcome of the hard fork. As a means to capitalize on pent up anticipation, and allow a mechanism to predict the future values of these potentialities, CONQX freshly minted on the Bitcoin Blockchain not only 9,000,000 tokens known as "Bitcoin Unlimited Futures" symbols XBU and XB, but also 5 newer issues. When/if any of these 6 potential outcomes convert into actualities, they will not be convertible or equal to BTC or the hard forked altcoin(s), however, once any of these outcomes and the "futures" coins created by COINQX are trading on COINQX they will be exchangeable by willing participants based on customers' matching bids and asks.
The five additional "futures" have been launched on the Bitcoin Blockchain using the same Omni Layer Protocol as XBU and have been named:
BCOIN FUTURES (BCN)
BITCOIN PLASMA FUTURES (BPL)
BITCOIN PURSE FUTURES (BPU)
BITCOIN CLASSIC FUTURES (XBC)
and BITCOIN XT FUTURES (BXT).
None of these "futures" tokens are backed by BTC nor are they securities, derivatives or futures contracts, yet, they are rather mere fiat cryptocurrencies designed to predict the future from their present popularity (and/or lack thereof).
In order to predict the outcome of the recent American elections, COINQX gave speculators several options including President Clinton (HILL) and President Trump (PRES). The markets in these coins accurately predicted that Clinton would lose the election as that altcoin descended towards one Satoshi while PRES held stronger as the November 8, 2016 electoral voting approached. The day the election was decided, HILL lost the most support and hit 1 Satoshi while PRES rose in BTC value. In addition to serving speculators and observers as indicators of future events, these altcoins also were designed to become the crypto equivalent of memorabilia with the intention that they would achieve a long lasting secondary life in the cryptocurrency markets. They continue to trade to this day with $PRES trading on 4 exchanges.
After the hard fork is complete, XBU and these new additional 5 futures-indicator-altcoin-competitors should also continue to trade -with the intention for those to survive as additional options to Bitcoin and the hard fork outcome as well as serving as independent altcoins and crypto collectors' memorabilia.
While these newly issued altcoins are not directly related to the original Bitcoin or its potential hard fork(s), it is indirectly related by the fact that they were all issued on the Bitcoin Blockchain similar to the top 10 cryptocurrency, MaidSafeCoin. As a consequence, these 5 "futures" are already exchangeable on the OMNIDEX against other similarly generated tokens and currencies such as$OMNI, $USDT, $PRES, $TESLA, $GARY, $BURN, $HILL,$MAID, $ALT, $XBU, $BOND viahttp://omnichest.info/mdexmarket.aspx?market=1and will soon be tradable against additional currencies atwww.coinqx.com
First Bitcoin Capital also plans to allow its clients to offer actual Bitcoin Unlimited (Futures) under symbol BTU and Bitcoin Core (Futures) under symbol BCC in competition with the Bitfinex and HitBTC exchanges through a process that will freeze in cold storage our participating clients' BTC against future delivery of BTU. Once actual BTU is delivered to BTC owners, the BTC will be unfrozen in order to make actual delivery to the futures buyers. Another way to unfreeze and have their BTC returned before the hard fork would be to buy back the same amount of BTU and BCC sold and then take their BTU and BCC derivatives off the market. Further details of the procedure will soon be announced viacoinqx.com
The Company continues to actively offer AltCoin (ALT), its first ICO via http://www.altcoinmarketcap.com and is in the process of becoming the world's first ICO (Initial Coin Offering) underwriter for a third party cryptocurrency issuers.
Some of the background that led to COINQX releasing these indicative altcoins is quoted below from the article published recently by @AlyssaHertig
http://www.coindesk.com/big-block-bitcoin-movement-embracing-bcoin/
Over the course of bitcoin's two-year scaling debate, a few major alternatives have grown to challenge the network's most popular and longest-running software, Bitcoin Core.
Among the more notable efforts have beenBitcoin XTandBitcoin Classic, which prioritized support larger block sizes as a method to support more transactions. However, a side effect of their ambitious aims was that network users would need switch implementations to enact the changes, and not everyone has wanted to do so.
The development exposes one of the more curious aspects of the scaling debate, as alternative solutions have needed to propose both a technical change - and build their own developer team - as part of their bids to put forth differing ideas.
One of the main criticisms ofBitcoin Unlimited, one recently popular alternative that allows miners and users to flag support for the block size they want, is that the code is buggy - or, at least, not yet mature. For example, in March, attackers were able toexploit two such bugs, causing most of the network nodes running the software to temporarily shut down each time.
In this light, the emergence of an implementation called 'Bcoin' (built by bitcoin startup Purse) to the debate could be a notable development in the scaling saga.
The software project got a recent boost this week when it introduced its own take on an old scaling idea, 'extension blocks' (or 'e-blocks'), which the company painted as a way for getting around today's block-size standstill.
The idea is controversial, as evidenced by complextechnical discussionfollowing the announcement, with some developers arguing that e-blocks would be an insecure addition.
Still, e-blocks have still seen a strong showing of support, in large part due to the perceived proficiency of its team. And, notably, Bitcoin Unlimited supporters have so far had favorable things to say about the project.
Haipo Yang, Chief Executive of mining firm ViaBTC, for instance, told CoinDesk that he supports Purse's concept and the Bcoin team.
Yang said:
"I think that extension blocks will be the solution that moves forward."
'Promising' option
Overall, the argument is developing that Bcoin, an alternative Node.js implementation that launchedin September, boasts a stronger technical team than that of Bitcoin Unlimited and other so-called 'big block' teams.
Purse CTO and Bcoin developer Christopher Jeffrey, for example, has been praised for architecting the software, as well as an in-progress Lightning implementation calledPlasmathat could be layered on top.
Meanwhile, Joseph Poon, Lightning Network co-creator, helped author the specification for the Bcoin implementation'srecently introducedflagship tech.
One example of trust in the competence of the team, supporters argue, is that mining pool BTC.com has already mined one block while running the software in March - allegedly a first for a client not based on bitcoin's original code implementation.
Purse has released aspecification draftandreference implementation codethat implements extension blocks on top of Bcoin.
That's not to say that Bcoin wants to offer a replacement for Bitcoin Core, as has been suggested for other implementations. When first introduced, it was described by the company as a bitcoin alternative with cleaner code that could co-exist alongside other software versions.
Divisions remain
Despite Yang's confidence, however, not all Bitcoin Unlimited supporters are going all in on extension blocks.
Former Bitcoin Foundation board member Olivier Janssens, for example, criticized the solution for its complexities, telling CoinDesk Bcoin's idea was 'way too complicated'.
"People need to get over their fear of hard forks," he said.
Still, many are saying positive things about the solution, even if they're possibly more focused on other scaling options.
"I like extension blocks, but I think there is almost no risk from making the actual blocks bigger, too," bitcoin investor and Bitcoin.com operator Roger Ver, one of the most vocal advocates for Bitcoin Core alternatives, told CoinDesk.
Bitcoin Unlimited developer David Jerry Chan went so far as to compare the tech favourably to other available solutions.
"I see the proposal as a reasonable and better alternative than SegWit," he said.
Chan went on to say that Bitcoin Unlimited developers are still discussing the proposal, and there's no 'official opinion' from the team as yet.
As far as potential setbacks go, however, one of the criticisms of Bcoin is that it needs time to review, no matter the merits of its team. (SegWit, for example, was reviewed and tested for roughly a year before release.)
On the other hand, Purse CEO Andrew Lee has argued that the Bcoin code is already live, so it could take less time to review.
Indeed, according to the technology announcement, the next steps are to deploy it on the bitcoin test network, get further review, and wrap up the specification.
Yang agreed, concluding:
"We have already waited more than one year. We can wait three months."
About the company:
First Bitcoin Capital is engaged in developing digital currencies, proprietary Blockchain technologies, and the digital currency exchange-www.CoinQX.com. We see this step as a tremendous opportunity to create further shareholder value by leveraging management's experience in developing and managing complex Blockchain technologies, developing new types of digital assets. Being the first publicly-traded cryptocurrency and blockchain-centered company (with shares both traded in the US OTC Markets as [BITCF] and as [BIT] in crypto exchanges) we want to provide our shareholders with diversified exposure to digital cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. At this time the Company owns and operates more than the following digital assets.
www.CoinQX.comcryptocurrency exchange, registered with FINCEN.
www.iCoiNEWS.comreal time cryptocurrency and bitcoin news site.
www.BITminer.ccproviding mining pool management services.
www.2016coin.orgonline daily election coverage and home page for $PRES, $HILL, $GARY& $BURN -commemorative presidential election coins.
www.bitcannpay.comOpen Loop merchant services for dispensaries.
www.strain.IDcannabis strains genetic information depository on decentralized Blockchain.
List of Omni protocol coins issued on the Bitcoin Blockchain owned by the Company:http://omnichest.info/lookupadd.aspx?address=1FwADyEvdvaLNxjN1v3q6tNJCgHEBuABrS
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors as may be disclosed in company's filings. In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, and governmental and public policy changes. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release. Such forward-looking statements are risks that are detailed in the Company's filings, which are on file atwww.OTCMarkets.com.
Contact us via:[email protected] visithttp://www.bitcoincapitalcorp.com
SOURCE:First Bitcoin Capital Corp. || If You Bought $5 of Bitcoin 7 Years Ago, You’d Be $4.4 Million Richer: Seven years ago, the value of a single bitcoin was worth a quarter-of-a-cent. Today, that single bitcoin isworth upwards of $2,200.
Monday marked the seventh anniversary of what is said to be the first recorded instance of bitcoin used in a real world transaction. Over the course of seven years, bitcoin’s value has multiplied 879,999 times over since 2010. If an investor had decided to spend five dollars back then on about 2,000 bitcoins, that stake would be worth $4.4 million today. With $1,200 spent on some 480,000 bitcoins, the investor would be worth at least $1.1 billion today.
The early months of 2017 have been particularly heady days for bitcoin. Since the beginning of the year, the value of the cryptocurrencyhas surged as it gains legitimacy in countries like Japan. Investors have also come to see the currency as something of a safe haven asset amid geopolitical turmoil -- and there’s been plenty of that in recent months, in both Europe and the United States.
And that first transaction? A software programmer on “Bitcoin Talk” known as Lazlo Hanyecz offered to 10,000 bitcoins for a couple of pizzas. For a least three days, no one took bite of the offer, with Hanyecz writing: “So nobody wants to buy me pizza? Is the bitcoin amount I’m offering too low?”
A user eventually paid about$25 for two pizzas. In today’s bitcoins, those pizzas cost Hanyecz $22 million.
See original article on Fortune.com
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• Bitcoin's Murkier Rivals Line Up to Displace it as Cybercriminals' Favorite || Flow Customers Get Behind the Scenes Look At TV Production as CTI's "Me On My TV" Reality Show Comes to Flow 1: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - May 12, 2017) - Flow Caribbean viewers will get a chance to go behind the scenes of the CaribbeanTales Incubator Program (CTI) and see what it takes to bring a TV production to life, as " Me On My TV " reality show comes to Flow's new regional network Flow 1 starting on May 17. The newest product of Flow's partnership with CaribbeanTales, Me On My TV chronicles the journey of ten (10) teams of Caribbean and Caribbean Diaspora filmmakers who come together to compete for the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to create an original Caribbean-based TV series for Caribbean screens . In Me on My TV , the 10 teams -- selected from hundreds of applicants for the CTI, which Flow sponsors -- embark on five action-packed creative days in Toronto. Under the guidance of 12 international mentors, they pitch their TV series concepts to a room full of television industry executives at the largest film event in North America: The Toronto International Film Festival. In eight episodes viewers get to share in the tears and laughter, camaraderie and resolve, as each filmmaker works for the chance to bring their show to Caribbean TVs -- but only three will come out on top. "It's been a pleasure to work alongside CaribbeanTales and continue to deliver Caribbean-focused content to our Flow TV viewers across the region," said John Reid, CEO of Cable and Wireless , operator of Flow. "This series in particular is significant because it brings audiences closer to Caribbean filmmakers, letting them witness the creative process and glimpse what goes on during those inspiring CTI sessions in Toronto. Flow believes in providing original, high-quality Caribbean content to our audiences and supporting our region's filmmakers -- Me On My TV achieves both." CaribbeanTales Incubator founder and CEO Frances-Anne Solomon says, "Having this TV series released in the lead up to launching pilots for three original TV series is a dream come true. When we started the CaribbeanTales Incubator, this is what we envisioned: the opportunity for Caribbean audiences to watch Caribbean content designed, produced, and marketed for, by and about them." Story continues Multiple-award winning Martiniquan filmmaker Alain Bidard says of his experience with CTI, "It was a life-changing experience for me. I think differently, I understand the industry and I am not lost anymore. Thank you to both Flow and CaribbeanTales for the invaluable opportunity." Me On My TV's executive producer is Christopher Laird and the directors are Lisa Rideout and Marvin Raftopoluos. Viewers can tune in to Flow 1 on May 17 to find out what new shows are going to hit their TVs later this year. About C&W Communications C&W is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business 2 division, C&W provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers. C&W also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network -- the most extensive in the region. Learn more at http://www.cwc.com/ , or follow C&W on LinkedIn , Facebook or Twitter . About Liberty Global Liberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enable us to develop market-leading products delivered through next generation networks that connect our 25 million customers who subscribe to over 50 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve over 10 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across 6 million access points. Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group ( NASDAQ : LBTYA ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYB ) and ( NASDAQ : LBTYK ) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group ( NASDAQ : LILA ) and ( NASDAQ : LILAK ) ( OTC PINK : LILAB ), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Liberty Global Group operates in 11 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The Liberty Global Group also owns 50% of VodafoneZiggo, a Dutch joint venture, which has 4 million customers, 10 million fixed-line subscribers and 5 million mobile subscribers. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Más Móvil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a sub-sea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets. For more information, please visit www.libertyglobal.com || The Nasdaq is on pace to do something it hasn’t since 1996: The Nasdaq composite (NASDAQ: .IXIC) is on pace for a record-setting month. The technology-dominated index has closed positive in 15 of the 18 trading days so far this month; if that pace continues, May would mark the Nasdaq's winningest month since September 1996, according to Bespoke Investment Group. The index, which hit a new all-time high in early Thursday trading, has advanced more than 2 percent so far this month and more than 15 percent so far this year. By contrast, in September 1996, the Nasdaq rose by 7.5 percent. More from CNBC: The top is in for stocks, but here's how you can still make money: Wells Fargo strategist Hot Stock that's tripled in the past year has analysts throwing up their hands These signals will tell you that stocks are heading higher The recent collection of positive days is flashing a sort of contrarian signal, said Boris Schlossberg, managing director of foreign exchange strategy at BK Asset Management. While he would not bet against the index, he suggested trimming one's holdings at these levels. "Typically, when you have that kind of concentration of positive days, mean reversion is about to kick in. So I think it could be a situation where 'sell in May' could be the best prescription for the Nasdaq," he said Wednesday on CNBC's " Trading Nation ." "Come out at of top and come back in September, November, when things re-rally," Schlosberg said. Of course, 1996 was the year then-Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan wondered about "irrational exuberance" and whether stocks were reaching unsustainable heights. That was before the tech bubble got blown to a staggering level, which was of course followed by a massive crash. This period looks significantly different, according to the strategist. "There's no doubt that, fundamentally, all the tech companies have certainly come to the forefront. They are now the dominant companies in American industry — but that story has been really well told. I think profit-taking is due here, and I would be very cautious at trying to get long here at these levels," Schlossberg said. Story continues Indeed, the S&P 500 information technology sector is the index's best-performing; tech giants Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) , Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) , Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) have contributed most of the market's gains this year. On a technical basis, the index appears quite strong, said Craig Johnson, chief market technician at Piper Jaffray. "The trend, by all definition, is our friend at this point in time. And we don't have any indication of a trend change happening here," he said Wednesday on "Trading Nation." "I'm not going to fight the earnings trend of the market. We are finally seeing a lot of these names inside of the tech sector doing well." Some of the tech stocks also remain supported from a fundamental perspective, Johnson added. More From CNBC The next move for stocks is likely lower, according to the options market What is short selling? Bitcoin bonanza, Dollar Tree earnings: Here's what could drive markets Thursday || 10 things you need to know before the opening bell: The last surviving male northern white rhino (A warden guards Sudan, the last surviving male northern white rhino, at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia national park, KenyaReuters/Baz Ratner) Here is what you need to know. The jobs report is coming . The US economy is expected to have added 190,000 nonfarm jobs in April as the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.6%, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Additionally, average hourly earnings are expected to have held steady at up 2.7% year-over-year. The data will cross the wires at 8:30 a.m. ET. Oil plunges suddenly . In a matter of 20 minutes, West Texas Intermediate crude oil tumbled 3.6% to a low of $43.76 a barrel. However, it has recovered its losses, and now trades little changed near $45.55. Bitcoin is swinging violently. The cryptocurrency gained as much as 9% on Thursday, putting in a record high of $1,652 a coin before plunging below $1,500. On Friday, bitcoin trades up 6.4% at $1,598. The 1st large Chinese-made passenger jet took off on its maiden voyage . The C919 took off from Shanghai Pudong International Airport, making China the fourth jumbo jet producer after the US, Europe, and Russia, Reuters says. Warren Buffett unloads some of his IBM stock . Buffett sold one-third of Berkshire Hathaway's 81 million shares saying he " revalued it somewhat downward" from six years ago. Berkshire's annual meeting will take place on Saturday, and Business Insider will have full coverage. ChemChina clinches its $43 billion takeover of Syngenta . " At the end of the main offer period on May 4, based on preliminary numbers, around 80.7 percent of shares have been tendered," the companies said in a joint statement. "Subject to confirmation in the definitive notice of interim results scheduled for May 10, the minimum acceptance rate condition of 67 percent of issued Syngenta shares has been met." Shake Shack same-store sales whiff . The burger chain said sales at stores open at least a year fell 2.5%, missing the 0.2% growth that Wall Street analysts were expecting. Shake Shack shares sank more than 7% in extended trading on Thursday. Story continues Stock markets around the world are lower . Hong Kong's Hang Seng (-0.8%) lagged in Asia and Germany's DAX (-0.3%) trails in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open little changed near 2,391. Earnings reporting slows down. Cigna, Cognizant, and Fannie Mae are among the names reporting ahead of the opening bell. Aside from the jobs report, US economic data is light. Consumer credit will be released at 3 p.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is unchanged at 2.35%. More From Business Insider Watch one of the baddest A-10 pilots ever land after being hit by a missile This upgrade will extend the life of your MacBook Air for years 10 things you need to know before the opening bell || 'Accidental hero' finds kill switch to stop spread of ransomware cyber-attack: Move by @malwaretechblog came too late to help those in Europe and Asia, but people in the US were given more time to develop immunity to the attack Cyber-attack hits dozens of countries – live updates Massive ransomware cyber-attack hits 74 countries around the world The spread of WannaCry ransomware wreaked havoc on organizations including the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images An “accidental hero” has halted the global spread of the WannaCry ransomware that has wreaked havoc on organizations including the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), FedEx and Telefonica. A cybersecurity researcher tweeting as @malwaretechblog , with the help of Darien Huss from security firm Proofpoint, found and implemented a “kill switch” in the malicious software that was based on a cyber-weapon stolen from the NSA. The kill switch was hardcoded into the malware in case the creator wanted to stop it from spreading. This involved a very long nonsensical domain name that the malware makes a request to – just as if it was looking up any website – and if the request comes back and shows that the domain is live, the kill switch takes effect and the malware stops spreading. Of course, this relies on the creator of the malware registering the specific domain. In this case, the creator failed to do this. And @malwaretechblog did early this morning (Pacific Time), stopping the rapid proliferation of the ransomware. “They get the accidental hero award of the day,” said Proofpoint’s Ryan Kalember. “They didn’t realize how much it probably slowed down the spread of this ransomware.” The time that @malwaretechblog registered the domain was too late to help Europe and Asia, where many organizations were affected. But it gave people in the US more time to develop immunity to the attack by patching their systems before they were infected, said Kalember. The kill switch won’t help anyone whose computer is already infected with the ransomware, and and it’s possible that there are other variances of the malware with different kill switches that will continue to spread. The malware was made available online on 14 April through a dump by a group called Shadow Brokers, which claimed last year to have stolen a cache of “cyber weapons” from the National Security Agency (NSA). Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts a user’s data, then demands payment in exchange for unlocking the data. This attack was caused by a bug called “WanaCrypt0r 2.0” or WannaCry , that exploits a vulnerability in Windows. Microsoft released a patch (a software update that fixes the problem) for the flaw in March, but computers that have not installed the security update remain vulnerable. I will confess that I was unaware registering the domain would stop the malware until after i registered it, so initially it was accidental. — MalwareTech (@MalwareTechBlog) May 13, 2017 The ransomware demands users pay $300 worth of cryptocurrency Bitcoin to retrieve their files, though it warns that the “payment will be raised” after a certain amount of time. Translations of the ransom message in 28 languages are included. The malware spreads through email. Story continues “This was eminently predictable in lots of ways,” said Ryan Kalember from cybersecurity firm Proofpoint. “As soon as the Shadow Brokers dump came out everyone [in the security industry] realized that a lot of people wouldn’t be able to install a patch, especially if they used an operating system like Windows XP [which many NHS computers still use], for which there is no patch.” Security researchers with Kaspersky Lab have recorded more than 45,000 attacks in 74 countries, including the UK, Russia, Ukraine, India, China, Italy, and Egypt. In Spain, major companies including telecommunications firm Telefónica were infected. By Friday evening, the ransomware had spread to the United States and South America, though Europe and Russia remained the hardest hit, according to security researchers Malware Hunter Team. The Russian interior ministry says about 1,000 computers have been affected. View comments
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$1251.15/$1253.99 #Bitstamp
$1241.00/$1244.89 #BTCe
⇢$-12.99/$-6.26
$1254.56/$1267.28 #Coinbase
⇢$0.57/$16.13 || LIVE: Profit = $9,741.24 (1.57 %). BUY B513.95 @ $1,218.40 (#BitStamp). SELL @ $1,226.00 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || Gana bitcoins, super facil!! , cada 20 minutos hasta 500 Satochis #Bitcoin https://cards.twitter.com/cards/18ce53yr6xi/1eiul … || #UFOCoin #UFO $0.000013 (1.09%) 0.00000001 BTC (0.00%) || #okcash has been added to http://CryptoDao.com #exchange 3 base pairs! $OK/#BTC $OK/#LTC and $OK/#USD https://cryptodao.com/site/index/OK pic.twitter.com/GhGbym7S8e || LIVE: Profit = $14,859.78 (6.02 %). BUY B164.92 @ $1,492.76 (#BTCe). SELL @ $1,585.00 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || One Bitcoin now worth $1856.27@bitstamp. High $1892.00. Low $1726.65. Market Cap $30.300 Billion #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/kuy6At6MZM || Nice to see Bitcoin making the Front Page of Reddit http://ift.tt/2pbiym8 || Current price of #Bitcoin is $1386.00 || #UFOCoin #UFO $0.000011 (-1.05%) 0.00000001 BTC (0.00%)
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Trend: up || Prices: 2286.41, 2407.88, 2488.55, 2515.35, 2511.81, 2686.81, 2863.20, 2732.16, 2805.62, 2823.81
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin industry consolidates: Why Kraken bought Coinsetter: For the past two years, the most popular type of new bitcoin company has been exchanges, where investors can buy and trade bitcoin and other virtual currencies. Now two exchanges are already rolling up, in the first major bitcoin industry acquisition of 2016.
Kraken, which is based in San Francisco but sees most of its trading activity in Euros, has bought Coinsetter, a smaller New York-based exchange, for an undisclosed amount. Coinsetter will shut down on Jan. 26 and its customers will be converted to Kraken. According to data from TradeBlock, the average daily transaction volume on Kraken last year was around $1.3 million.
The deal comes amid a price collapse and high negativity around bitcoin's future. Mike Hearn, a prominent bitcoin developer, wrote a poston Mediumlast week announcing his opinion that the bitcoin "experiment" has failed. "I will no longer be taking part in bitcoin development and have sold all my coins," he wrote. "The network is on the brink of technical collapse. The mechanisms that should have prevented this outcome have broken down, and as a result there’s no longer much reason to think Bitcoin can actually be better than the existing financial system."
The core of Hearn's argument is that the speed of transactions has slown; a contentious issue in the bitcoin community right now is whether and when to raise the size limit on "blocks," the term for a bundle of bitcoin transactions. Every single transaction is recorded and processed as part of a block on the bitcoin blockchain, a public, decentralized ledger. If this all sounds like a foreign language to you, don't worry: All you need to understand is that the bad optics of a prominent bitcoin flag-waver leaving the industry in a huff was enough to send the price plummeting. After Hearn posted his piece on Jan. 14, the price of the digital currency fell from $430 down to a low of $358 two days later. It now hovers around $380, according to Winkdex.
Viewed in this context, consolidation in the industry may look troubling. But Coinsetter CEO Jaron Lukasiewicz isn't concerned. "I’m bullish on bitcoin right now and believe we’ll see the price hit four-digits again," he tells Yahoo Finance. Perhaps that's easy for him to say: Coinsetter will shut down, and Lukasiewicz is moving on, likely following Hearn to the exit. ("For my next venture I am focused on starting or leading a team whose products are improving society... I’m not tied to any particular industry beyond that," he says.) The sale comes less than a year after Coinsettermade its own acquisitionof the Canadian-based bitcoin exchange Cavirtex—a deal that likely helped make Coinsetter an acquisition target itself.Benefiting from volatility
Kraken CEO Jesse Powell is less starry-eyed about the industry right now. "I think the market has not grown as fast as everyone anticipated," he says. "And the price has gone in the opposite direction of what people hoped. I think we’ll continue to see market consolidation. When the price is going up, new people are coming in, more media is covering it, it’s good news all around. When the price is going down, the public perception is bad, and everyone says bitcoin is crashing. The price is important in that aspect."
For a long time, many bitcoin believers insisted that the price isn't important. As long as it is relatively stable, they reasoned, startups can keep innovating and building useful applications on top of the blockchain. But for bitcoin exchanges, price matters: Most make their money from transaction fees, so they do best when there’s either a lot of volatility, or the price is high. When the price is stableandlow, exchanges suffer.
Leaving New York
Kraken, founded in 2011, is like a foreign exchange for digital currencies. Its customers are mostly professional traders executing margin trades and other advanced orders. It is not a site where beginners would go to casually dip a toe into the bitcoin market. Coinsetter, founded in 2012, offers Kraken the chance to instantly expand its customer base in Canada (from Cavirtex) and the U.S.
Except in New York. Kraken was one of the companies tocut off service in the statelast summer after the New York Department of Financial Services released the final version of the BitLicense, a regulatory framework for digital currency companies in New York that holds customers' funds. Many bitcoin entrepreneurs complained the framework was too strict and limiting, so rather than play ball, they left.
Coinsetter didn't leave New York. But under new management, it will now. "We’re going to shut down New York again right after the acquisition," says Powell. "So the Coinsetter New York clients will be out of an exchange there, unfortunately. Coinsetter did put in a BitLicense application, but when you have a change of control, the application is void, so we won’t be serving New York and we have no plans to apply for a BitLicense in the future."
In a sense, Powell is simply sticking to his guns, just like Hearn—except that the latter believes bitcoin has already failed, while the former believes it risks failure if there is over-regulation. Indeed, apart from the debate over block size, the industry's bigger battle will be over regulation. Many in the business are anxiously waiting to see whether other states will follow New York's lead and create their own form of a BitLicense. And while some companies stayed in New York and applied for a BitLicense (at high cost: Lukasiewicz says Coinsetter spent $50,000 to apply for one), others stayed in New York but did not apply, and continue to operate in uncertainty.
That concerns Powell. "There’s still not really regulatory clarity, and the banks still aren’t getting on board. They’re all about the blockchain these days, but they’re still not giving bitcoin exchanges bank accounts. So there are huge challenges with getting new exchanges started." He's right about the blockchain being a buzzword for big financial institutions: Everyone from JPMorgan (JPM) to the Nasdaq have talked up their interest in the blockchain while distancing themselves from the cryptocurrency that fuels it.
For now, Kraken gets bigger. It can compete more with the leading exchanges like BitInstant, Bitstamp, Coinbase and itBit, as well as brand new exchange platforms launched last year, including Abra, Align Commerce, and Gemini, an exchange launched by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, of Facebook fame.
"The issue for everybody in bitcoin right now," Powell says, "is if you started out a few years ago, say, in 2011, you thought that five years from now, it’s going to be flying cars, bitcoin everywhere, fiat currency will cease to exist. Clearly that didn’t happen, and bitcoin isn’t $10,000 a coin. I think a lot of companies created a structure that depended on a high price of bitcoin. When the price went from $1,000 to $200, they could no longer afford to finance their operation."
If the price drops further, expect to see more consolidation. And with so many different exchanges out there, it's inevitable more will roll up.
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Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology.Read more:
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Why Apple, Uber are betting on Super Bowl sponsorship || BofA, Wells Fargo & JPMorgan to Roll Out Cardless ATMs?: Individuals may soon be able to use their smart phones to withdraw cash from ATMs. According to Reuters, which cited technology website TechCrunch, banking majors Bank of America Corp. BAC and Wells Fargo & Company WFC are working to integrate Apple Inc.’s AAPL Apple Pay, a mobile payment system, into their ATM network, thereby eliminating the use of plastic cards.Betty Riess, a press representative for BofA, confirmed that the company is presently developing “a new cardless ATM solution,” which is expected to be available in selected ATMs in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Charlotte, New York and Boston by the end of this month. Moreover, the facility will likely be available to a larger customer base by the end of 2016.Wells Fargo, which currently supports Google’s Android Pay, is considering alternative wallets for its customers. Similar to BofA, Wells Fargo is expected to offer the facility initially at limited ATMs, and expand the same to a broader network by the end of 2016.The ATMs will incorporate near-field communication or “NFC” technology, which will allow customers to carry out their ATM transactions through smart phone-generated PIN codes. Notably, ATM users will be able required to log in to the respective mobile wallets, and then tap their smart phones to the machine’s NFC point in order to confirm the transaction.Currently, half of BofA’s 16,100 ATMs are already NFC-equipped. Wells Fargo, on the other hand, intends to install NFC readers in at least one-third of its total 13,000 ATMs by the end of 2016.Apart from BofA and Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM is also headed toward rolling out cardless ATMs in 2016. At present, the company is working on a code-based system that will generate a temporary password to facilitate the transaction through its mobile banking application. Notably, such a feature prevents pass codes from being misused or stolen.This apart, BofA and JPMorgan intend to incorporate additional features like pre-setting ATM transactions, which will not only help customers save time, but also lower security concerns owing to shorter duration.Why this Change?We believe higher dependence on smart phones will help banks capitalize on the growing number of active mobile users. During fourth-quarter 2015, the active mobile user headcount at BofA and JPMorgan surged 8% and 13% year over year, respectively. At Wells Fargo, the annual tally increased 14% from 2014.Further, the strategy is in line with the industry-wide focus on right-sizing retail network to curb expenses, as well as enhance customer experience. More importantly, smart phones offer better security compared with desktops and laptops, given their relatively higher protection layers.Bottom LineIn this era of digitalization, customers’ appetite for mobile banking encourages banks to provide sophisticated mobile banking services.Moreover, since traditional methods are gradually taking a backseat, the financial institutions are making consistent efforts to attract and retain clients by offering better digital experience amid a competitive environment.Apart from smart phones, banks are also known to have shown interest in Blockchain, the “digital ledger” or the underlying technology behind Bitcoin, given its significant potential to revamp the extensive and complex network of bank payments as well as settlements.Recently, JPMorgan partnered with start-up firm Digital Asset Holdings to launch a trial project that utilizes the blockchain technology. According to Financial Times, the technology will likely aid in resolving liquidity mismatches in some of the company’s loan funds. Moreover, it is expected to lower cost and complexities related to trading.Notably, in Dec 2015, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. filed a patent application with the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) – Cryptographic Currency For Securities Settlement – for a new cryptocurrency called SETLcoin.Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportJPMORGAN CHASE (JPM): Free Stock Analysis ReportWELLS FARGO-NEW (WFC): Free Stock Analysis ReportBANK OF AMER CP (BAC): Free Stock Analysis ReportAPPLE INC (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research || 5 'Bold' Predictions For 2016: In a new report, Cup & Handle Macro analyst Michael Lingenheld revealed five bold market predictions for 2016. Here’s a breakdown of his list.
1. Revolution in a major emerging market
Lingenheld believes that South Africa is the top target, but names Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and Russia as other possibilities. All of these countries are currently suffering from large debt burdens, poor leadership and high youth unemployment.
2. Bitcoin outperforms all fiat currencies
Lingenheld made this same prediction prior to 2015, and it came true. Bitcoin gained 35 percent in 2015, and he sees no reason why the cryptocurrency won’t outperform again in 2016.
3. A major currency peg will break
Lingenheld notes that the IMF’s annual review of currency regimes revealed than only 35 percent of member countries let their currencies float as of the beginning of 2015. He adds that Middle Eastern countries suffering from low oil prices are top candidates, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and UAE.
“Bringing down any of these pegs would be a major macro story, but a free-floating or devalued Hong Kong Dllar would be a monumental development,” Lingenheld explains.
4. Corn and wheat will each rally at least 20 percent
Global stock-to-use ratios are at 16-year highs, and low gas prices have been a major boost for farmers. However, Lingenheld is not convinced that crop prices are high enough to drive a huge planting season in the spring.
5. A unicorn company will go bankrupt
Lingenheld sees a shift in market enthusiasm for new tech companies, including the disappointingSquare Inc(NYSE:SQ) IPO pricing. He believes that the reality of competing with big tech companies likeAlphabet Inc(NASDAQ:GOOGL), Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) andAmazon.com, Inc.(NASDAQ:AMZN) will start weighing heavily on smaller unicorn companies and their investors.
Disclosure: the author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.
Latest Ratings for AAPL
[{"Dec 2015": "Dec 2015", "Cowen & Company": "Barclays", "Maintains": "Maintains", "": "", "Market Perform": "Overweight"}, {"Dec 2015": "Dec 2015", "Cowen & Company": "BMO Capital", "Maintains": "Initiates Coverage on", "": "", "Market Perform": "Outperform"}]
View More Analyst Ratings for AAPLView the Latest Analyst Ratings
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• Apple's Chart Indicates A Tough Start To 2016 Ahead
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• Apple Stock For ? How Fractional Investing Changes The Game
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || The myth of Mariana's Web, the darkest corner of the internet: Chances are, like me, the first time you heard about the Dark Web it was described as a foul and depraved marketplace, where children, drugs, and pirated movies could be bought for mere Bitcoin. Tabloids paint it as a place where a veritable "Top 10" of our biggest fears resides. Opportunistic security companies sell threat intelligence services that allude to hunting for bad guys in dark dens that deal in organ harvesting, involuntary human experiments, and more. Like most people, I find the siren song of lurid, spooky bullshit to be irresistible. And the Dark Web's boogeyman aura is all about spooky bullshit. That's despite the fact that the Dark Web is host to a lot of communities that aren't doing anything nefarious (unless you think furries are evil; there's a huge Dark Web furry social network that simply wants privacy). But the organ harvesting dramatics are nothing until we get to the "deepest part of the web, where people don't want you to go," the so-called "Mariana's Web." The legend of Mariana's Web appears to get its name from the deepest part of the ocean, Mariana's Trench. It's supposedly the deepest part of the web, a forbidden place of mysterious evil -- or at least, that's the mythos a subset of online believers has cultivated. Depending on where you get your Mariana's Web myths, it's where you'll find "the darkest secrets humanity has in its history," the secret location of Atlantis and "the Vatican secret archives," or a database of archives belonging to the most powerful intelligence agencies on Earth. Many believe that Mariana's is home to an all-powerful, female artificial intelligence entity . Mariana's Web is certainly the definition of spooky BS, especially because it's technically impossible; it's supposedly only accessible through quantum computers -- which currently only exist in science fiction. Story continues Yet to the chagrin of people who love facts, it's slowly starting to be reported as fact. Copy or Embed This Whisper Direct Link Embed Download on the App Store Download on Google Play Get App That's probably not a surprise if you've been watching infosec-challenged traditional media try to cover the finer points of hacking, let alone anything outside Google's reach. But seeing anecdotes and myth start to bubble up into areas that may affect people's actual decisions about risk and safety ... Well it's entertaining, but also worrying when anecdote is substituted for data in an area that often involves law enforcement. That infosec firm clients are asking for threat intel packages to include Mariana's Web is information that is also anecdotal, though it's my anecdote, and one I recently heard first-hand. But that new twist, my friends, isn't just the result of clickbait or security company sales drama -- it's the result of this fake infographic . An epic troll that people have interpreted as fact . I don't know why people don't read things carefully, or avoid fact checking, or want to believe in Atlantis and invisible beings. But I'm glad they do, because it sure makes doing research on dry-as-desert threat intel services way more entertaining. Fingers crossed that the TV take on the very fictional Mariana's Web comes from The X-Files , and not CSI: Cyber -- or CNN. [Image credit: Shutterstock] || New Ways To Trade China, Crude Oil And The Fed: You’re reading the newsabout China and oil. The Fed will be talking about that news and much more and making news of its own. Some traders will find ways to profit. But will you trade the news you read? Or does the cost and risk keep you on the sidelines?
George Soros got a shout-out Tuesday from no less than China’s People’s Daily, considered the official paper of China’s Communist Party. China sent a rare personal warning to the man who once “broke the Bank of England” by shorting the pound and making a billion in a day, not to try short-selling the yuan. The opinion piece by a commerce ministry researcher was quite specific: “Soros's war on the renminbi and the Hong Kong dollar cannot possibly succeed...”
You may agree or disagree with what Soros said in Davos about a hard landing for the yuan and Chinese stocks. You may have an opinion about where Chinese stocks are headed next. But does that mean you can turn that opinion into a trade? You might speculate on how China’s problems might affect your Apple stock. You might even try a China-based ETF, but you’d still be dependent on the skill of the fund’s manager and other factors. How to directly trade the price of a Chinese stock index yourself?
Oil is another fun topic to have opinions about. I’ve heard guys talk for 10 minutes about which gas station has the cheapest price that week. Even Bloomberg Businessweek did some of that, reporting that gas is now cheaper in Houston than in Dubai for the first time since 2008.
Dennis Gartman, whose “Gartman Letter” many read and some even agree with, recently said oil would not go above $44 a barrel “in his lifetime.” Mr. Gartman is in great health, so this is a long-term forecast. Some of you almost certainly disagree.
Last year I made a cocky prediction on oil when it was around $70 a barrel, that it would be under $45 by August. The cocky part was that I made it to a friend who worked for Koch Industries and knew petroleum up close and personal. When I was proven right, I gloated for a few minutes, but not much. Because I didn’t trade that prediction. I’ve traded for 18 years, but I took a pass on crude even when I was confident. Trading crude futures or even options was more risk than I wanted to take on just then.
FOMC meeting week is usually a time for wide-ranging discussions. While the Fed is talking, so is everyone else, it seems. And when the Fed is done, they often move many markets and the US and other economies with their opinions. Stock markets will have short-term reactions and counter-reactions. Currencies may fluctuate and so can commodities, which are priced in dollars. Traders on all these markets stand to profit.
Soros has an opinion, Gartman has an opinion, the FOMC has a dozen opinions. The rest of us have valid opinions of our own, but few ways to turn those opinions into opportunities to profit. Too much capital required or too much risk involved.
The Nadex binary options exchange offers a secure, CFTC-regulated, affordable new way to trade not just crude oil, but even more exotic (to US traders) markets like the China A50 stock index of China’s 50 biggest companies. Exchange-traded binary options from Nadex offer guaranteed limited risk, low fees, and thousands of contracts traded daily with great liquidity thanks to the exploding growth in the popularity.
Last year, a special report in Bloomberg Businessweek called Nadex binary options “The Future of Trading” because they address the problems of cost and risk. You can start with a minimum balance of just $100, the fees are 90 cents a side or less, and you always know your maximum possible loss before you enter the trade. No worrying about stop-losses or unlimited risk.
That means you, too, can trade your opinions on China’s markets. You probably won’t get called out by the People’s Daily, either. And next time you’re talking gas prices, you could pull up the Nadex app on your phone and trade crude oil for less than $100 of risk.
And of course, you can trade the most popular global stock indexes, commodities, and forex pairs—all from one screen and one account. Nadex even has binaries on Bitcoin (without having to own bitcoins).
And if you have an opinion on whether the Fed will raise rates this week or not, Nadex has a binary option for that. Regulated by the CFTC, with your money held in US banks, Nadex offers an innovative new way for the rest of us to find profit opportunities in all parts of the world’s markets (well, except cannabis).
This information has been prepared by Nadex, a trading name of North American Derivatives Exchange, Inc., prepared by independent third parties contracted by Nadex or reproduced form third party news agencies. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. Nadex accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication.
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© 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || You say advertising, I say block that malware: The real reason online advertising is doomed and adblockers thrive? Its malware epidemic is unacknowledged, and out of control.
The Forbes 30 Under 30 list came out this week and it featured a prominent security researcher. Other researchers were pleased to see one of their own getting positive attention, and visited the site in droves to view the list.
On arrival, like a growing number of websites, Forbes asked readers to turn off ad blockers in order to view the article. After doing so, visitors were immediately served with pop-under malware, primed to infect their computers, and likely silently steal passwords, personal data and banking information. Or, as is popular worldwide with these malware "exploit kits," lock up their hard drives in exchange for Bitcoin ransom.
One researcher commented on Twitter that the situation was "ironic" -- and while it's certainly another variant ofhackenfreude, ironic isn't exactly the word I'd use to describe what happened.
That's because this situation spotlights what happened in 2015 to billions -- yep, billions -- of people who were victims of virus-infected ads which were spread via ad networks like germs from a sneeze across the world's most popular websites.
Less than a month ago, a bogus banner ad was found serving malvertising to visitors of video site DailyMotion. After discovering it, security companyMalwarebytescontacted the online ad platform the bad ad was coming through, Atomx. The company blamed a "rogue" advertiser on the WWPromoter network.
It was estimated the adware broadcast through DailyMotion put 128 million people at risk. To be specific, it was from the notorious malware family called "Angler Exploit Kit." Remember this name, because I'm pretty sure we're going to be getting to know it a whole lot better in 2016.
Last August, Angler struck MSN.com with -- you guessed it -- another drive-by malvertising campaign. It was the same campaign that had infected Yahoo visitors back in July (an estimated 6.9 billion visits per month, it'sconsideredthe biggest malvertising attack so far).
October saw Angler targeting Daily Mail visitors through poisoned ads as well (monthly ad impressions64.4 million). Only last month, Angler's malicious ads hit visitors to Reader's Digest (210K readers;ad impressions 1.7M). That attack sat unattended after being in the press, and was fixed only after a week of public outcry.
It's crazy to consider what a perfect marriage this is, between the advertisers and the criminals pushing the exploit kits. They have alotin common.
Both try to trick us into giving them something we don't want to. We've recently learned that both entities surveil and track us beyond what we're OK with. And both are hard to get rid of. You know, like those gross toenail and skin condition ad-banners found at the bottom of every cheapo blog you've ever seen, forever burned into the "can't unsee" section of your brain.
It actually makes business sense to think about malware attacks like an advertiser. You want to deliver your infection to, and scrape those dollars from, every little reader out there. You need a targeted delivery system, with the widest distribution, and as many clueless middlemen as possible.
It's easy to want to blame Reader's Digest, or Yahoo, or Forbes, or Daily Mail, or any of these sites for screwing viewers by serving them malicious ads and not telling them, or not helping them with the cleanup afterward. And it's a hell of a lot easier when they've compelled us to turn off our ad blockers to simply see what brought us to their site.
But the problem is coming through them, from the ad networks themselves. The same ones, it should be mentioned, who control the Faustian bargains made by bartering and selling our information.
What should the websites do? The ad networks clearly don't have a handle on this at all, giving us one more reason to use ad blockers. They're practically the most popular malware delivery systems on Earth, and they're making the websites they do business with into the same poisonous monster. I don't even want to think about what it all means for the security practices of the ad companies handling our tracking data or the sites we visit hosting these pathogens.
So, to my friend on theForbes 30 Under 30 list-- a malware researcher, which I'll concede is actually ironic -- I'm sorry I won't be seeing your time in that particular spotlight. What we need is a word for the fact that ad blockers have become our first line of defense against a malware epidemic. Especially during a time when the sites we visit are begging, pleading, demanding and practically tricking us into turning off Ad Block Plus.
[Image credit: Getty Images] || REUTERS AMERICA NEWS PLAN FOR TUESDAY FEB 2: REUTERS AMERICA MIDDAY NEWS PLAN FOR TUESDAY FEB 2 LATEST AND PLANNED U.S. NEWS COVERAGE (ALL TIMES ET) Top stories as of 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday. To find stories, search by Slug or Headline Keyword in your CMS or Advanced Search in Media Express. For story queries, please contact [email protected] For photo queries use [email protected] TOP STORIES Cruz calls Iowa win a victory for 'conservative grass roots' DES MOINES - Relishing his victory in the first Republican nominating contest of the U.S. presidential election, Senator Ted Cruz called his defeat of Donald Trump in the Iowa caucuses a tribute to "conservative grass roots." (USA-ELECTION/ (WRAPUP 5, PIX, TV, GRAPHIC), moved at 10:33 a.m., by Ginger Gibson, 636 words). See also: USA-ELECTION/TRUMP (PIX, TV), moved at 7 a.m., by Steve Holland, 765 words and USA-ELECTION/RUBIO (PIX), moved at 7 a.m., by James Oliphant, 586 words) Virtual tie raises doubts: Can Hillary Clinton close the deal? DES MOINES, Iowa - Hillary Clinton's struggle in Iowa to fend off underdog Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, reignited questions about her ability to close the deal with Democratic voters and turned up the pressure on her high-profile White House campaign. USA-ELECTION/DEMOCRATS (PIX, TV), moved at 7 a.m., by John Whitesides, 718 words. FBI joins Flint, Michigan water contamination probe WASHINGTON - The FBI is joining a U.S. criminal investigation into Flint, Michigan's water contamination crisis, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit said on Tuesday. (MICHIGAN-WATER/ (UPDATE 2), moved, 599 words) Punxsutawney Phil predicts early spring PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. - Punxsutawney Phil, the Pennsylvania groundhog renowned for his ability to forecast the onset of spring, did not see his shadow after emerging from his burrow on Tuesday morning, predicting an early spring. (USA-GROUNDHOG/ (UPDATE 1, PIX, TV), moved at 7:54 a.m., 497 words) Story continues Africa, Asia vulnerable to spread of Zika virus -WHO GENEVA - The Zika virus linked to a microcephaly outbreak in Latin America could spread to Africa and Asia, with the world's highest birth rates, the World Health Organization warns as it launches a global response unit against the new emergency. (HEALTH-ZIKA/ (UPDATE 1, TV, PICTURE), moved, by Stephanie Nebehay, 305 words). See also: HEALTH-ZIKA/OLYMPICS, moved, 100 words and HEALTH-ZIKA/AUSTRALIA, moved, by Jane Wardell, 380 words Nine migrants, including two babies drowned off Turkish coast- coastguard ISTANBUL - Nine people, including two babies, are found drowned off the coast of western Turkey after a boat carrying people to Greece partly capsizes, the coast guard says. (EUROPE-MIGRANTS/TURKEY (UPDATE 1), moved, 181 words) PM resigns as Haiti scrambles for interim government before deadline PORT-AU-PRINCE - Haiti's prime minister has resigned, government sources said, in an attempt to clear the way for a temporary government to replace outgoing President Michel Martelly after a botched election and violent street protests last month. (HAITI-ELECTION/ (UPDATE 2, TV, PIX), moving shortly, 391 words) Bill Cosby fighting sex assault charge in Pennsylvania court NORRISTOWN, Pa. - Bill Cosby appeared at a suburban Philadelphia courthouse on Tuesday to fight sexual assault charges, which his lawyers say violate a decade-old agreement with a former district attorney not to prosecute the disgraced comedian. (PEOPLE-COSBY/ (UPDATE 3, PIX, TV), moved, 485 words) CAMPAIGN Bernie Sanders shows strong momentum on social media NEW YORK - It may be too close to call between Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in the Iowa caucuses on Monday but the senator from Vermont was the clear winner on social media. (USA-ELECTION/SOCIALMEDIA (UPDATE 3, PIX), moved, 370 words) Cruz's Iowa victory could be big blow to Big Corn NEW YORK - Ted Cruz's victory on Monday in corn-rich Iowa could represent a major blow to the nation's controversial biofuels program, reflecting its waning influence over politicians even in the U.S. farming heartland. (USA-ELECTION/ETHANOL (UPDATE 1, PIX), moved, 670 words) WASHINGTON Pentagon's 2017 budget reshapes spending amid changing security environment WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Tuesday the Pentagon would seek a $582.7 billion defense budget next year and reshape its spending priorities to reflect a new strategic environment marked by Russian assertiveness and the rise of Islamic State. (USA-DEFENSE/BUDGET (UPDATE 1, PIX, TV), moving shortly, 404 words) U.S. military leaders: women should have to register for draft WASHINGTON - U.S. armed forces leaders said on Tuesday that women should be required to register for the military draft, along with men, as the military moves toward integrating them fully into combat positions. (USA-MILITARY/WOMEN (UPDATE 1, PIX), moved, 390 words) IS pushed back in Iraq, Syria, but a threat in Libya -Kerry ROME - An international coalition is pushing back Islamic State militants in their Syrian and Iraqi strongholds but the group is threatening Libya and could seize the nation's oil wealth, U.S Secretary of State John Kerry says. (MIDEAST-CRISIS/COALITION (UPDATE 1, PICTURE, TV), moved, by Arshad Mohammed, 590 words). See also: MIDEAST-CRISIS/IRAQ-IS (INSIGHT, PICTURE), moved, by Samia Nakhoul, 1,515 words New European, U.S. data transfer pact imminent - sources BRUSSELS - European and U.S. negotiators are on the brink of clinching a new transatlantic data transfer pact which should prevent EU regulators from restricting data transfers by firms, two people familiar with the talks say. (EU-DATAPROTECTION/USA (EXCLUSIVE, UPDATE 2), moved, by Julia Fioretti, 525 words) China defends law enforcers as U.S. calls for clarity on booksellers BEIJING/WASHINGTON - China's Foreign Ministry says its law enforcement officials will never do anything illegal, especially not overseas, after the United States calls on China to clarify the status of five missing Hong Kong booksellers. (HONGKONG-BOOKSELLERS/USA (UPDATE 1, TV), moved at 5 a.m., 430 words) OTHER U.S. NEWS Leader of Oregon occupation to appear in court PORTLAND, Ore. - Ammon Bundy, who led a group of armed protesters in the occupation of a wildlife refuge in remote Oregon, will appear in federal court in Portland where his attorneys will argue that he should be released on bail ahead of his trial. (OREGON-MILITIA/COURT, expect by 3 p.m. 400 words) White Michigan ex-cop to be sentenced in beating of black motorist DETROIT - A white former suburban Detroit police officer is scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday for the beating last year of a black motorist during a traffic stop caught on video. (MICHIGAN-POLICE/SENTENCE, moved at 9:28 a.m., 221 words, will be led) Controversial Detroit school manager to step down this month DETROIT - Detroit Public Schools' emergency manager Darnell Earley is stepping down later this month, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder said on Tuesday. (DETROIT-EDUCATION/ (UPDATE 1), moving shortly, about 400 words) Ferguson, Mo., to hear from public on proposed justice reforms FERGUSON - Residents of Ferguson, Missouri, which has a proposed agreement with the U.S. Justice Department to reform its police department after the 2014 shooting by a white officer of a black teenager, will voice their opinions on the deal at a meeting on Tuesday night. (MISSOURI-FERGUSON/, moved at 1019 am ET, 270 words) Georgia to execute its oldest death row inmate for 1979 murder ATLANTA - A 72-year-old man convicted of murdering a convenience store manager in a 1979 robbery in Atlanta's suburbs is set to be executed on Tuesday in Georgia. (USA-EXECUTION/GEORGIA (PIX), moved at 7 a.m., 281 words) Three teenagers arrested in fatal shooting at Seattle homeless camp -- Three teenagers were arrested on Monday in connection with a shooting at a Seattle homeless encampment where two people were killed and three wounded, police said. (SEATTLE-SHOOTING/, moved, 181 words) Teacher arrested in Southern California jail escape freed LOS ANGELES - A teacher arrested in connection with the escape of three inmates from a Southern California jail was freed from custody on Monday after prosecutors said they did not have enough evidence to charge her with a crime. (CALIFORNIA-ESCAPE/ (UPDATE 1), moved at 11:45 p.m., 383 words) SUPER BOWL Super models, super heroes add up to Super strange Media Day SAN JOSE - Media Day was transformed into Opening Night for Super Bowl 50 but the switch to prime time did nothing to change the zany tone as super models and super heroes mingled with giants of sports journalism. (NFL-SUPERBOWL/MEDIA (PIX), moved at 2:15 a.m., 397 words) Newton shows serious side at media night SAN JOSE - Cam Newton became known for his on field celebrations during the Carolina Panthers march to Super Bowl 50, but the quarterback says preparation is what brings him real joy. (NFL-SUPERBOWL/NEWTON (PIX), moved at 2:20 a.m., 368 words) Broncos' Manning says no decision yet on retirement SAN JOSE - Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning said on Monday he has not yet decided whether he will retire following Super Bowl 50 and that he is strictly focused on winning his second NFL championship. (NFL-SUPERBOWL/MANNING (PIX), moved, 360 words) MIDDLE EAST Syrian army threatens to encircle Aleppo as talks falter BEIRUT/AMMAN/GENEVA - A Syrian military offensive backed by heavy Russian air strikes threatened to cut critical rebel supply lines into the northern city of Aleppo on Tuesday while the warring sides said peace talks had not started despite a U.N. statement they had. (MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA (WRAPUP 3, TV, PICTURE), moved, by Tom Perry, Suleiman Al-Khalidi and John Irish, 1,059 words) Iraqis running out of food and medicine in besieged Falluja BAGHDAD - Tens of thousands of trapped Iraqi civilians are running out of food and medicine in the western city of Falluja, an Islamic State stronghold under siege by security forces. (MIDEAST-CRISIS/IRAQ-FALLUJA (UPDATE 2), expect by 1530 GMT/10,30 AM ET, by Stephen Kalin, 900 words) Jordan needs international help over refugee crisis-King Abdullah LONDON - King Abdullah says Jordan needs long-term aid from the international community to cope with a huge influx of Syrian refugees, warning that unless it received support the "dam is going to burst". (MIDEAST-CRISIS/JORDAN, moved, 320 words) WORLD Proposal unveiled to keep Britain in EU, sceptics unmoved LONDON/BRUSSELS - European Council President Donald Tusk presents proposals for keeping Britain in the European Union to a mixed response, underlining the challenges Prime Minister David Cameron faces to win over his people and other EU leaders. (BRITAIN-EU/ (UPDATE 4, PICTURE), expect by 1530 GMT/10.30 AM ET, by Elizabeth Piper and Jan Strupczewski, 900 words) Socialists ready to lead talks to form government in Spain MADRID - The leader of Spain's Socialists offers to lead talks between parties to form a government in a bid to break political deadlock and avoid a new national election in the next few months. (SPAIN-POLITICS/ (UPDATE 2, PICTURE, TV), expect by 1900 GMT/2 PM ET, by Julien Toyer and Blanca Rodriguez, 500 words) Cuba open for business, ministers tell French executives PARIS - Cuba seeks to drum up foreign investment as ministers on a state visit to Paris promise French business leaders that the Communist-run country is open for business. (CUBA-FRANCE/, moved, 280 words) China's nuclear envoy in North Korea amid sanctions push SEOUL - China's envoy for the North Korean nuclear issue arrives in the capital, Pyongyang, the North's KCNA news agency reports, amid a push by the United States and South Korea for tougher sanctions on the North after its fourth nuclear test. (NORTHKOREA-NUCLEAR/CHINA, moved, 370 words) EU to step up checks on Bitcoin, prepaid cards to fight terrorism BRUSSELS - The European Commission will propose by the end of June stricter rules on prepaid cards and virtual currencies in a bid to reduce anonymous payments and curb the financing of terrorism, documents released show. (EU-TERRORISM/FINANCING (PICTURE), moved, by Francesco Guarascio, 464 words) North Norea notifies IMO of planned satellite launch SEOUL - North Korea has notified the International Maritime Organization of plans to launch a satellite between Feb. 8 and Feb. 25, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported late on Tuesday. (NORTHKOREA-SATELLITE/ (UPDATE 1), moving shortly, 150 words) Australia PM weighs early poll to break political deadlock SYDNEY - Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull raises the possibility of dissolving both houses of Parliament and calling an early election to break a political deadlock that has stymied the government, say government officials aware of the matter. (AUSTRALIA-POLITICS/ELECTION, moved, 430 words) India's Supreme Court will review law criminalising gay sex NEW DELHI - India's top court says it will review a decision over whether to uphold a colonial-era law that criminalises gay sex in a victory for homosexual rights campaigners at a time when the nation is navigating a path between tradition and modernity. (INDIA-COURT/ (UPDATE 2, PICTURE, TV), moved, by Aditya Kalra and Andrew MacAskill, 410 words) HEALTH AND SCIENCE Long shifts for young surgeons don't threaten patient safety -- Controversial rules that limit the hours young surgeons can work while in training aren't needed to protect patient safety, a nationwide experiment finds. (HEALTH-SURGERY/RESIDENT-HOURS, moved, 753 words) ENTERTAINMENT AND LIFESTYLE Britain's James Corden to host 2016 Tony Awards NEW YORK - British actor James Corden will host the Tony Awards for theater for the first time at a ceremony in New York in June, organizers announced on Tuesday. (AWARDS-TONYS, moved, 186 words) Baggy but futuristic looks kick off NY men's fashion week NEW YORK - Following a successful debut in July, New York hosts its second menswear fashion week, with dozens of established fashion names as well as new designers showcasing their autumn/winter offerings - from slick suits to more casual wear. (FASHION-NEWYORK/MEN (TV), expect by noon, 238 words) CONSUMER TECH Spin-off or sale? Yahoo turnaround plan in focus as earnings awaited SAN FRANCISCO - Yahoo Inc's plans to turn around its struggling core business are set to dominate its earnings report after the bell on Tuesday, with investors keen to see if CEO Marissa Mayer will push ahead with a proposed spin-off or entertain calls for a complete sale. (YAHOO-RESULTS/PREVIEW, moved at 7 a.m., 355 words) Lower costs nudge Nintendo's profit higher TOKYO - Japan's Nintendo reported a 5.3 percent increase in third-quarter operating profit, in line with analysts forecasts, as lower costs helped offset a decline in overall sales. (NINTENDO-RESULTS/, moved at 2:30 a.m., 134 words) BUSINESS TRENDS Fearing lean times, U.S. companies tighten purse strings NEW YORK - The capital spending slump that originated in the hard-hit energy sector appears to be spreading more widely across other U.S. industries. (USA-RESULTS/CAPEX (ANALYSIS), moved, 600 words) A new global oil deal could draw lessons from 1998 LONDON - After a year of secret diplomacy and hushed-up private talks around the world, OPEC's mighty Saudi Arabia and rival Venezuela were persuaded to cut a deal by non-OPEC Mexico which overcame mutual acrimony and led to a much-needed rise in oil prices. (OPEC-RUSSIA/DEAL (ANALYSIS, PIX), moved, 1,345 words) See also: GLOBAL-OIL/ (UPDATE 6), moved, 365 words BUSINESS AND MARKETS ChemChina close to striking deal for Syngenta -sources China's state-owned ChemChina is nearing a deal to buy Swiss seeds and pesticides group Syngenta for $42.2 billion, two people familiar with the matter say, two people familiar with the matter say. (SYNGENTA AG-M&A/CHEMCHINA (UPDATE 3), moved, Arno Schuetze and Pamela Barbaglia, 350 words) Exxon's profit tumbles 58 percent, slashes capex by one-quarter Exxon Mobil Corp reports its smallest quarterly profit in more than a decade and says it will cut 2015 spending by one-quarter and suspend share repurchases as it copes with a prolonged downturn in crude prices. (EXXON MOBIL-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 2), moved, by Anna Driver, 340 words) GM January U.S. sales up slightly, Ford's down DETROIT - U.S. auto sales appeared to fare better than expected in January, early returns show, as the industry benefited from low gasoline prices, easy credit and moderate economic growth. (USA-AUTOS/ (UPDATE 2), moved, Bernie Woodall, 410 words) Dow Chemical CEO Liveris to step down by mid-2017 Dow Chemical Co Chief Executive Andrew Liveris said he will retire from the company by mid-2017, months after activist investor Daniel Loeb called upon him to step down from the company, which is merging with rival DuPont. (DOW-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 4), moving shortly, by Amrutha Gayathri and Swetha Gopinath, 400 words) Stocks snap winning streak as oil pressure returns LONDON - World stocks end three days of gains as lackluster global economic data lead to another slump in oil prices. (GLOBAL-MARKETS/ (WRAPUP 5), updated throughout the day, 600 words). See also: USA-STOCKS/ (UPDATE 3), updated throughout the day, 460 words) Oil slides more than 5 percent as hopes for output cut fade LONDON - Brent oil falls more than 5 percent, while U.S. crude slides below $30 per barrel, on worries about future demand and rising supply, while hopes for a deal between OPEC and Russia on output cuts fade. (GLOBAL-OIL/ (UPDATE 9), updated throughout the day, 460 words) Low metals prices sink zinc producer Horsehead Holding Corp WILMINGTON, Del. - U.S. zinc miner Horsehead Holding Corp files for bankruptcy protection, becoming the latest victim of a commodity price crash that has claimed scores of U.S. energy exploration companies, miners and metals producers. (HORSEHEAD HLDG-BANKRUPTCY/, moved, by Tom Hals, 320 words) Argentina says reaches provisional debt deal with Italian creditors BUENOS AIRES - Argentina has reached a preliminary deal with a group of Italian creditors who hold 30 percent of unpaid sovereign debt stemming from Argentina's record $100 billion default in 2002, Finance Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay says. (ARGENTINA-DEBT/ (UPDATE 1), moving shortly, 300 words) Brazil industrial output plunges 8 percent in 2015 BRASILIA - Industrial output in Brazil fell for a seventh straight month in December, capping the worst year for manufacturers in more than a decade as they struggle with inflation, high interest rates and political uncertainty. (BRAZIL ECONOMY/INDUSTRY (UPDATE 1), moved, by Silvio Cascione, 300 words) German jobless rate falls to lowest on record BERLIN - German unemployment fell more sharply than expected in January and the jobless rate dropped to a record low, suggesting private consumption will help offset a slowdown in emerging markets to keep growth in Europe's largest economy steady. (GERMANY-ECONOMY/UNEMPLOYMENT (UPDATE 1), moved, 290 words) Alphabet overtakes Apple in market value - for now Alphabet Inc might win the market cap battle against Apple Inc, but will it win the war? Maybe not. (APPLE-ALPHABET/RESEARCH (UPDATE 1), moved, by Sayantani Ghosh and Supantha Mukherjee, 510 words) Pfizer 2016 forecasts disappoint; shares fall U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc forecasts 2016 revenue and earnings below analysts' estimates, largely because of the strong dollar. (PFIZER-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 3), moved, 350 words) UPS fourth-quarter profit surges, gives robust outlook CHICAGO - United Parcel Service Inc reports a significantly higher quarterly net profit on a solid holiday season performance and gives a solid earnings outlook for 2016 despite warning of uncertain economic conditions. (UPS-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 1), moved, 330 words) ***************** For story queries, please contact us.general- [email protected] For photo queries use [email protected]) ***************** || First Bitcoin Capital Corp. Signs Evaluation Agreements with Emercoin International Development Group, To Develop and Market Solutions to Provide Distributed Blockchain Services For Business and Personal Use: VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January, 28, 2016 /First BITCoin Capital Corp. (BITCF) announced today that it has signed an evaluation agreement with Emercoin International Development Group, a leader in solutions to provide distributed blockchain services for business and personal use. First BITCoin has signed certain evaluation agreements to promote Emercoin technology for wide spectrum of blockchain based technologies:
1. EMC/SSH- Secure shell management system needed by every site admin.
2. EMC/DNS- Uncensored domain name system, peering with OpenNIC.
3. EMC/LNX-- Decentralized pay-per-click advertising network.
4. EMC/SSL- System for password less authentication on the world wide web.
5. Info/Card- Storage for electronic business cards for use with EMCSSL.
6. EMC/TTS- Trusted storage for digital timestamps on the blockchain.
7. MAGNET - Distributed torrent tracker for internet file sharing.
8. EMC/DPO- Digital proof of ownership solution for physical or digital goods and services.
First BITCoin is also evaluating investing in Emercoin to support Emercoin's market expansion and acceptance worldwide.
Oleg Khovayko, Emercoin Lead Developer, said, "Key difference in Emercoin from other cryptocurrencies is that we are using blockchain not just for transfer credit values. We consider Emercoin as a technological platform for distributed, censorship–proof and scalable services. So we developed a suite of services running on top of the Emercoin blockchain that will be very useful for a lot of companies and even private persons."
In addition, our goal is provide stable, robust and easy to integrate services. Hence, our solutions are compatible with industry standards, proven their efficient and security.
"We are excited to have the opportunity to evaluate and possibly invest in EMERCOIN , especially due to their recent partnership with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) to deliver their blockchain services to the Azure cloud's Blockchain-as-a-Service marketplace, also known as BaaS Platform," the Company spokesperson said. "We are always looking for disrupting, new and promising technologies, and are ready to invest in those companies to help them to market their technology worldwide."
About EMERCOIN Group
EmerCoin (EMC) is a decentralized, open-source cryptocurrency created in late 2013 and based on technologies from Bitcoin, Namecoin and Peercoin. It utilizes both Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake mining. Emercoin, a leading digital currency and blockchain platform has just partnered with Microsoft to become a member of the Azure marketplace. With demand growing for innovative, scalable blockchain services that are ready to implement, Emercoin is a natural fit for the Azure cloud platform. They have developed a robust suite of ready-to-use features that offer real world solutions for business and consumer use.
Emercoin will be delivering their suite of blockchain services into the Azure cloud later this year. This will give Azure cloud users the ability to install and make use of Emercoin's many services such as digital proof of ownership and identity, passwordless authentication on the internet, network security, the first distributed advertising network and many E-commerce solutions like the Emercoin secure micropayment service.
For more information please visitwww.Emercoin.com.
About First BITCoin Capital Corp.
First Bitcoin Capital Corp. is a development-stage Canadian-based mining company currently holding concessions of Gold in Venezuela and is developing technology for the crypto-currency industry. It is the first vertically-integrated consolidation company of the Bitcoin and crypto-currency marketplace.
The Company is developing the following digital assets
www.CoinQX.com- online cryptocurrency Exchange.
www.BITessentials.com- online shopping mall (in Beta testing) allowing multiple vendors to place their products ans sell for cryptocurrency. Company has partnered with GoCoin , A global leader in Blockchain payments and innovation, GoCoin was the first international platform for enabling merchants to Blockchain currency payments including Bitcoin and popular altcoins Litecoin, Dogecoin and Tether at checkout.
www.iCOINews.com - Real time crypto currency news aggregator platform.
www.BITminer.cc- Mining and equipment sales for cryptocurrency miners.
The Company currently develops other innovative projects.
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:
This press release includes various "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which represent the Company's expectations or beliefs concerning future events. Statements containing expressions such as "believes," "plans," "anticipates," "intends," or "expects," or similar expressions or statements regarding intent, belief of current expectations used in the Company's press releases and in Disclosure Statements and Reports filed with the Over the Counter Markets through the OTC Disclosure and News Service are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes its expectations are based upon reasonable assumptions within the bounds of its knowledge of its business and operations, there can be no assurances that actual results will not differ materially from expected results. The Company cautions that these and similar statements included in this report are further qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date thereof.
Contacts:
[email protected]
SOURCE:First Bitcoin Capital Corp. || 16 Bold ETF Predictions for 2016: 2015 wasn’t exactly a great year for fund investors. A few choice companies dominated and left their competitors in the dust, making it a pretty poor year to be a sector investor. For example, stocks like Amazon (AMZN) or Netflix (NFLX) more than doubled in 2015 while not a single major SPDR sector looks to finish the year with gains in excess of 11%. However, 2016 looks to be a bit brighter, assuming of course it isn’t going to be a ‘stock picker’s market’ again in the New Year. Beyond that though, it looks to be another exciting and prosperous year for the ETF industry, and one that looks to see plenty of changes, as well as new funds. In terms of what specifically the New Year might hold, I offer up 16 predictions on what I think 2016 will hold for the world of ETFs, and what investors need to watch for in the New Year: What does 2016 hold for the ETF world? Hedged currency trend finally ends One of the most annoying trends in 2015 has been the surge in every type of hedged currency ETF you could think of, be it half hedged, dynamic hedged, or Chinese currency hedged. While I think the dollar will strengthen a bit more, I think the second half of 2016 will see the flow of hedged ETFs slow to a trickle—if not an outright halt—as the dollar levels out and investors look elsewhere for gains in foreign markets (see Flurry of New Currency Hedged ETFs Fuels Price War ). ETMFs Debut, but stumble out of the gate Exchange Traded Mutual Funds are going to be a big buzzword in 2016 as companies like Eaton Vance look to launch this product type which seeks to provide the exchange-traded benefits of ETFs, with the closed-off holdings aspects of mutual funds to prevent front-running. While I think these will one day have a place in the fund world, they will stumble out of the gate as they confuse investors, unless of course big name players jump on this category and can bring their brand name following with them. More specialized sectors funds look to catch fire, but struggle After the insane rise of the cybersecurity ETF (HACK) in the past year, a number of ETF issuers are looking to strike it rich with similar products in the New Year. As of late, I have seen filings for e-commerce funds, 3D Printing ETFs, and an Internet of Things product, with all of them looking to catch fire like HACK did. However, HACK had a massive catalyst, and without that, the new funds will struggle for a bit to gain popularity in 2016 (see Invest in Booming Technologies with These 3 ETFs). Story continues IWM will beat SPY in 2016 Large caps led the way in 2015, mostly thanks to incredible performances from well-known companies. I think this trend reverses in 2016 and we see a return of the small cap ETF (IWM) and its outperformance over its large cap counterparts in the New Year. RSP will beat SPY in 2016 In that same vein, the equal weight S&P 500 fund (RSP) had long beaten its cap-focused counterpart, SPY . However, this trend ended in 2015 thanks to those surging mega cap securities. I am also looking for this trend to reverse in 2016 and to see a resurgence of equal weight product demand in general for the New Year as well. Surge in duration hedged/negative duration ETF interest A few years ago, hedged Japan ETFs (like DXJ ) hit the market and many thought they were too sophisticated for retail investors. However, as this turned out to be the best way to play the Japan story, investors of all stripes flocked to these products, making them ultra-popular choices in the Japan market. The same concerns are present now with hedged/negative duration bond funds and I think as interest rates rise these will have their time in the sun (by being the best bond ETF plays) and surge in popularity in 2016 ( Worried About Higher Interest Rates? Buy These 4 ETFs to Profit ). Ex-sector funds hit $100 million under management If 2016 is anything like 2015, we will see at least one major sector stumble. That is why I think the lineup from ProShares of ex-sector ETFs (ex-energy, ex-financials, ex-health care, and ex-technology) will finally surge in 2016 after languishing in anonymity for much of Q4 in 2015. With a year under their belt, these will finally see some interest from investors and will go from a combined AUM of under $20 million today, to a combined AUM of at least $100 million by year’s end. New SPDR Select Sector ETFs hit $100 million in assets State Street’s SPDR lineup has proven to be very popular, but the company recently launched two new products to round out its financial ETF offering; XLFS (focus on financial services) and XLRE (focus on real estate). Both of these made their debut in Q4 but haven’t really seen a surge in assets. I think this will change in 2016 as the interest rate picture becomes clearer, making at least one of them a $100 million product, up from roughly $16 million total right now. Oil-free in 2016 The trend against oil investing will continue in 2016 and I think we will see at least a few more fossil-free funds hit the market as investors look to avoid this space in their portfolios. I also think we could see an oil-free bond ETF (or fossil free bond ETF) as issuers look to cash in on the trend against oil investments and over the concerns of defaults in the high yield market in this corner of the fixed income world (read Support the Environment and Profit with Fossil Fuel Free ETFs ). ETF Closures Go Over 100 and Hit/Approach a Record There are nearly 20 funds that have less than $1 million in assets under management, while about 300 have less than $5 million under management. There is basically no way these are profitable and I am sure we will see a host of closures in 2016 as the writing on the wall becomes clear for many of these strategies. This will make 2016 another big, if not the biggest, year for ETF closures on record. Someone Will Close Down Too Early The flip side of this is that a fund will close down too early. In 2016, I predict a fund will shut its doors only to see its segment go on to great popularity within the next few months. We saw this with FAA and the airline space (among others) and it is hard to discount the importance of timing in the ETF world right now, so look for this to happen to a country or sector fund in the New Year (see Finally a New Airline ETF Prepares to Take Off). Two similar ETFs will launch within a one month window You know when Hollywood launches two similar movies pretty close together ( White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen or A Bug’s Life and Antz back in the day)? Well, the ETF industry likes to do that too, putting out funds that target pretty much the same area within a few weeks of each other. The idea is to dilute the first-mover advantage (or to race and become the first mover) and I’d look for that trend to continue in 2016 at least once. Wearable ETF hits the market (or at least a filing) Thanks to the ubiquitous nature of Fitbit (FIT) and a boost in interest in all technology connected devices that are ‘wearable’, a number of companies are jumping into this market. As we saw in recent months with cyber security and cloud computing ETFs, I’d expect to see a wearable (ticker WEAR?) before too long, or at least a filing that will get this fund to market eventually. Bitcoin fund finally comes out For quite some time now, there has been a filing in the pipeline for a bitcoin ETF (COIN) from the Winklevoss twins of all people. The first filing was in 2013, an index was launched earlier in 2014, and I think 2016 will finally mark see this idea pass regulatory hurdles as well as the launch of this product which should help to make bitcoins more easily tradable and liquid for the masses, much like what GLD did for gold (read Believe It or Not: Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF on the Horizon ). Price war continues As the ETF space starts to round out, many ETF issuers have launched ‘me-too’ products which target substantially similar segments of the market. The way they differentiate has largely been on the price front and this has forced issuers to slash costs in order to remain competitive. This war has been great for consumers who look to save more money, and I expect to see more fee cuts and price competitive products in 2016 as well. You’ll see more calls of an ETF Bubble… These will be wrong Every couple of months, ETF pundits will write articles or go on TV saying that the end is near for the ETF world and that the category cannot support more products. These predictions have been wrong before and they will be wrong again in 2016. While there are a lot more ETFs than there were a few years ago, there is still plenty of more sector specific and active ETF opportunities out there, meaning that investors shouldn’t be worried about a bubble again in the New Year either (see Best and Worst ETFs of 2015). Happy New Year and best of luck to fund investors in 2016! Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days . Click to get this free report >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report FITBIT INC (FIT): Free Stock Analysis Report PURFDS-ISE CYBR (HACK): ETF Research Reports ISHARS-R 2000 (IWM): ETF Research Reports SPDR-FS SELS (XLFS): ETF Research Reports SPDR-SP 500 TR (SPY): ETF Research Reports GUGG-SP5 EQ ETF (RSP): ETF Research Reports To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report || 10 Tech Predictions for 2016: As I always say, predicting what will happen in the tech industry over a short time horizon is a lot like shooting darts at Jell-O. But someone’s got to do it and it may as well be me. Besides, myprophecies for 2015didn’t do nearly as well asin 2014, and I’m itching to redeem myself.
I did hit a number of forecasts out of the park, including the success of Apple Pay and the demise of Twitter CEO Dick Costolo. And my prediction that the Nasdaq would break its all-time high and then fizzle out turned out to be reasonably accurate.
But a few of the calls I made, including those aboutnet neutralityand the Comcast – Time Warner Cable merger – were thwarted by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and federal regulators. [Sigh.] And my bet oncinematic reality startup Magic Leapnever made the jump from virtual to reality.
Let’s see if I can do better this year. Here’s what my crystal ball says will happen in 2016:
Users will develop smart gadget fatigue.While smartphones and tablets, to a lesser extent, will continue to see strong growth in emerging markets, the growth curve will continue to flatten out in mature markets – especially among Android devices. Wearables will get a boost from Apple Watch 2 but unit sales will remain unimpressive compared with the incomparable iPhone.
Jack will tweak Twitter.O Twitter, Twitter! Wherefore art thou Twitter? The return of Jack Dorsey as CEO will see the cofounder do a lot of Facebook-like (move fast and break things) tweaking to Twitter, starting with increasing the 140 character tweet limit. Jack will continue to tweak the product until something good happens, as in renewed user growth and engagement.
Apple and Google car hype will reach fever pitch.Car tech is heating up in a big way. And since the market’s response to Apple’s first new products since Steve Jobs – Apple Watch and Apple TV (the product, not the hobby) – has been muted, fanboys will be clamoring for rumors on the car front. And Google will likewise be pressured to show progress on at least one of its massive Alphabet ventures, notably its self-driving car.
Drones will continue to bug neighbors, privacy buffs and the FAA.Drones will remain an annoying hobbyfor the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, nobody in desperate need of a midnight pizza or a six-pack will be getting one delivered by drone anytime soon. And definitely not anytime this year.
The digital and real worlds will meet in augmented reality (AR).Virtual reality has been the next big thingfor as far back as I can remember, but the technology behind Facebook Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR and Google Cardboard is becoming more real all the time. A breakthrough, however, is more likely in the AR space, where the digital and real worlds meet. That means something will pop from Magic Leap, Microsoft HoloLens, Google Glass 2, or who knows, maybe Apple.
The tech bubble will correct.With notable exceptions like Netflix and Amazon, tech stocks took a breather in 2015 after an impressive six-year bull run. But the slowing global economy, the Fed’s monetary tightening, and terrorism concerns will let some air out of theprivate equity bubbleand take the Nasdaq down into correction territory.
Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious Bitcoin founder, will not be found.Wired, Gizmodo and every other tech media outlet have been hot on the trail ofidentifying Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym of Bitcoin’s mysterious founder. They thought they had it figured out a few weeks ago, but that turned out to be an elaborate hoax. Still, it was nowhere near as embarrassing asNewsweek’s Dorian Nakamotodebacle of 2014.
The IPO market will be weak.The private equity bubble is keeping late-stage startups that would ordinarily go public out of the IPO market. That will change when there’s a unicorn shakeout, investors get burned and VCs stop throwing money at startups at crazy valuations. That’s when tech companies will once again see public markets as viable exits. That’s when you’ll seeunicorns stampede on Wall Street. And it won’t be in 2016.
M&A activity will be strong.With the bull market running out of steam and private investors becoming more cautious, M&A exits will be on the rise. Unfortunately, a lot of them will be companies that maintain high burn rates until it’s too late and end up going for dimes on a dollar in fire sales.
Yahoo will sell its core business and Marissa Mayer will be out as CEO.Here’s a fun little rhyme for 2016, courtesy of Humpty Dumpty:
Yahoo Yahoo sat on a wallYahoo Yahoo had a great fallAll the Valley’s CEOs and all the Valley’s chairmenCouldn’t put Yahoo Yahoo together again
Jerry Yang, Carol Bartz, Roy Bostock, Tim Morse, Scott Thompson, Ross Levinsohn, Fred Amoroso, Maynard Webb. I’m sure I missed a CEO or chairman somewhere in there, but in any case, enough is enough. It’s long past time to put this company, its board, and Marissa Mayer out of their misery. Yahoo will be acquired or taken private in 2016.
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[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Trade BTCtoUSD: Current price: 375$ $BTCUSD $btc #bitcoin 2016-02-06 10:00:07 EST #bitcoin #trade #tranding || Current price: 400€ $BTCEUR $btc #bitcoin 2015-12-22 15:00:20 CET || LIVE: Profit = $819.46 (9.75 %). BUY B20.41 @ $420.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $452.49 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || Current price: 397.51€ $BTCEUR $btc #bitcoin 2016-01-14 01:00:09 CET || BTCTurk 1326 TL BTCe 441.887 $ CampBx $ BitStamp 445.00 $ Cavirtex $ CEXIO 447.59 $ Bitcoin.de 406.02 € #Bitcoin #btc || Bitstamp: $409.31/BTC - last trade of USD/BTC at https://www.bitstamp.net/ (high: 415.00, low: 372.53) #bitcoin #BTC http://bitcoinautotrade.com || 1 #bitcoin 1285 TL, 430.74 $, 397.537 €, GBP, 29950.00 RUR, 52500 ¥, CNH, 614.3 CAD #btc || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 15 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $183.50 #bitcoin #btc || One Bitcoin now worth $395.99@bitstamp. High $397.00. Low $386.20. Market Cap $ 5.994 Billion #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/KxhssguPWD || $435.21 at 00:45 UTC [24h Range: $432.50 - $447.34 Volume: 7303 BTC] via #btcusdpic.twitter.com/qqI4uAb7oG
|
Trend: up || Prices: 373.45, 376.03, 381.65, 379.65, 384.26, 391.86, 407.23, 400.18, 407.49, 416.32
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2022-04-29]
BTC Price: 38609.82, BTC RSI: 40.58
Gold Price: 1909.30, Gold RSI: 45.15
Oil Price: 104.69, Oil RSI: 52.70
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Clay Nation Announces NFT Collaboration with Snoop Dogg on Cardano: • Clay Nation announces the launch of a new NFT collaboration with Snoop Dogg and Camp Medici on Cardano.
• The latest Snoop Dogg collection comes just after last month’s launch of the SuperCuzz collection on MakersPlace.
• Technical indicators are bearish, with a bearish cross sinking ADA this morning.
Snoop Dogg continues to driveNFTinterest, with collaborations hitting several NFT marketplaces in recent months.
The launch of new collections comes despite falling NFT trading volumes across major NFT marketplaces.
Last week, FX EmpirereviewedETH-based NFT trading volumes, which have retreated. This week, we alsoreviewedSolana (SOL) based NFT trading and transaction volumes following last week’slaunchon OpenSea.
This week, Clay Nation announced a new collaboration with Snoop Dogg and Champ Medici.
Clay Nation announced its official collaboration with Snoop Dogg and Champ Medici onTwitter. The original handmade Clay NFTs project tweeted,
“We have launched our official collaboration with Snoop Dogg & Champ Medici – bringing iconic clay animations, land pitches, and unlockable music content to Cardano.”
The collaboration will bring fans collectibles, unreleased music, & limited edition ‘pitches’.
Last week, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson and Snoop Dogg met to discuss music, NFTs, and the Cardano (ADA) ecosystem.
Ahead of the meet, Hoskinson shared a tweet from Input Output HK announcing a Twitter space meet with Snoop Dogg and Champ Medici.
Hoskinson tweeted,
“Yes, I’ll be with Snoop Dogg on the 5th. I have the best job in the world.
The latest collaboration on Cardano has provided ADA with no price support.
At the time of writing, ADA was down by 6.57% to $0.9595. A bearish morning saw ADA slide to a morning low of $0.9575.
ADA fell through the First Major Support Level at $1.0109 and the Second Major Support Level at $0.9942.
ADA will need to move through the day’s Major Support Levels and the $1.0403pivotto make a run on the First Major Resistance Level at $1.0566. ADA would need the broader crypto market to support a move through to $1.00.
A rebound and extended rally would test the Second Major Resistance Level at $1.0865 and resistance at $1.10. The Third Major Resistance Level sits at $1.1323.
Failure to move through the Major Support Levels and the pivot would test the Third Major Support Level at $0.9480. Barring an extended sell-off throughout the day, ADA should avoid a return to sub-$0.94.
Looking at theEMAsand the 4-hourly candlestick chart (above), it is a bearish signal. ADA sits well below the 200-day EMA at $1.0540. This morning, we saw a bearish signal. The 50-day EMA crossed through the 100-day EMA. The 100-day EMA also narrowed to the 200-day EMA, bringing support levels into play.
A further narrowing of the 50-day EMA on the 200-day EMA would bring the Third Major Support into play.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Gold Markets Spike During the Monday Session || Apple’s Cook Says Circumventing App Store Would Harm User Privacy: (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said that proposed app store regulations in the U.S. and European Union would put iPhone users’ privacy at risk.
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“If we are forced to let unvetted apps onto iPhones, the unintended consequences will be profound,” Cook said during a keynote address at the Global Privacy Summit on Tuesday in Washington. “Data-hungry companies would be able to avoid our privacy rules and once again track our users against their will.”
Apple is under global scrutiny over app store policies. The EU is working on legislation that would force the company to allow apps to be installed from outside the Apple App Store, threatening Apple’s grip on its platform and potentially limiting its ability to collect a commission from developers.
In the U.S., two bills that would regulate app stores run by Apple and Alphabet Inc.’s Google have the best chance of becoming law among proposals aimed at reining in big technology companies. In July, three dozen states sued Google, alleging that the company illegally abused its power over the app industry through the Google Play store on mobile devices.
Apple has lobbied hard against app store regulations, arguing that they would make the iPhone ecosystem more similar to Android, limiting consumer choice and privacy. Last December, Cook met with several senators, including Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar, about this bill and other antitrust proposals.
Other major tech companies, such as Spotify Technology SA and Microsoft Corp., have lobbied in favor of opening up the iPhone App Store ecosystem. Last month, Google said it would begin letting some apps bill users directly as an alternative to paying through the Play Store, a concession to the mounting antitrust concerns.
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©2022 Bloomberg L.P. || Central African Republic Passes Bill Legalizing Use of Cryptocurrencies: Key Insights: The Central African Republic is the first country in the region to legalize cryptocurrencies. The bill was introduced by the Minister of Digital Economy, Gourna Zacko. Cryptocurrency adoption continues despite the apprehensions from governments. Today, the National Assembly of The Central African Republic voted on the Draft Law Governing Cryptocurrency , which was adopted favorably by acclamation and unanimity. The Central African Republic Gets Crypto The legislation was introduced into the Assembly by the minister of finance and budget, Calixte Nganongo, and the minister of the digital economy, postal services, and telecommunications, Gourna Zacko. This would establish the legal framework for cryptocurrency regulation in the country while also establishing Bitcoin as an officially accepted currency. The purpose behind the approval of the legislation was twofold. One was to introduce and create a legal framework governing cryptocurrency and the establishments handling these currencies (ex. – exchanges , lending and borrowing platforms, etc.). And secondly, through the bill, a favorable environment for the financial sector will be established that will be set to meet the needs of the profession in this sector and all economic actors. Commenting on the reason behind introducing the bill, Gourna Zacko said, “With crypto-currency, there is no more control of the Central Bank. You have your money, you send to an investor for a business, you receive it in any currency, you can dispose with it in Dollar, Euro, CFA, or Naira”. The effect that El Salvador had on the world and the crypto world with the adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender and the policies introduced favorable to the same is visible in this decision as well. Other Governments Accept Crypto Too While the Biden administration of the United States of America is yet to give a concrete status to cryptocurrencies, many leaders of the States have already implemented changes in their power. Story continues Recently as reported by FXEmpire, the Governor of Colorado, Jared Polis, announced that the state would begin accepting payments of taxes in cryptocurrency by this summer. And following him, the State Senator of California Sydney Kamlager laid down a proposal for accepting cryptocurrencies for payments for the provision of government services. Although the market continues to trend downwards, the expanding adoption of cryptocurrencies will undoubtedly help in recovery. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Gold’s Price Decline Creates Significant Technical Chart Damage Fed nominees move a step closer to confirmation this week Human activity is leading to more disasters-UN report U.S. hosts Ukraine talks in Germany as war enters critical phase Russia says Western weapons in Ukraine legitimate targets for Russian military UK to send ambulances, medical aid to Ukraine || Bitcoin Latinum to Launch on BitMart Exchange: PALO ALTO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 22, 2022 /Bitcoin Latinum(LTNM), the next generation cryptocurrency poised to revolutionize digital transactions is announcing it will officially list on BitMart.com for public trading. The BitMart listing is expected in May 2022. BitMart is the 10th major exchange to list LTNM and is planning to be available for spot trading with BTC and USDT pairs.
BitMart is a global, integrated trading platform, providing a diversified system of functions including spot trading, futures contract trading, and over-the-counter trading. The exchange is available in over 180 countries including the United States and boasts over nine million worldwide users. Founded in 2018, BitMart supports over 600 tokens and ranks among the top crypto exchanges on CoinGecko. In 2021 BitMart reached $750 billion in trading volume and experienced a 10,000% increase in daily active users in the same year.
Bitcoin Latinum trades publicly on HitBTC ($6.2 billion in daily volume), FMFW.com ($4.5 billion daily volume), Changelly ($2.71 billion in daily volume), Changelly Pro, LBank ($1.1 billion in daily volume), DigiFinex, Hotbit, AAX, and XT.com exchanges under the ticker LTNM.
The BitMart.com listing is part of the ongoing effort of the LTNM team to increase the liquidity and availability of LTNM. Monsoon Blockchain, Bitcoin Latinum's lead developer, has announced LTNM plans to also list on additional global exchanges by the end of 2022. Bitcoin Latinum can be researched on Binance, CoinBase, CoinMarketCap, and CoinGecko.
Bitcoin Latinum was built as an open-architecture cryptocurrency technology, capable of handling large transaction volume, cybersecurity, and digital asset management. Based on the Bitcoin ecosystem, LTNM is a greener, faster, and more secure version of Bitcoin.
For more information about Bitcoin Latinum, please visithttps://bitcoinlatinum.com
FOR EDUCATIONAL AND INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY; NOT INVESTMENT ADVICE. Any Bitcoin Latinum offered is for educational and informational purposes only and should NOT be construed as a securities-related offer or solicitation or be relied upon as personalized investment advice. Bitcoin Latinum strongly recommends you consult a licensed or registered professional before making any investment decision.
Contact:
[email protected]://bitcoinlatinum.com/
SOURCE:Bitcoin Latinum
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/698458/Bitcoin-Latinum-to-Launch-on-BitMart-Exchange || Bitcoin Hits Break-even for First Time in Year as It Blows Past $47,201 Before Settling Back Down: Don't miss CoinDesk's Consensus 2022 , the must-attend crypto & blockchain festival experience of the year in Austin, TX this June 9-12. Bitcoin (BTC) briefly blew past its 2022 yearly break-even point of $47,201, reaching as high as $47,524 before settling back in the $46,850 range by early afternoon Asia time, according to CoinDesk data. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is up 5% in the last 24 hours, according to market data. Bitcoin has gained over 12% since last Sunday after climbing six consecutive days. In a note published Monday morning Asia time, Singapore's QCP capital pointed to a broader rally in global asset prices as a reason why this "bullish momentum" is likely to continue in the near term. The fund also pointed to the continued bitcoin buys from Luna as a reason for the continued momentum. "One notable buy flow this week was the 125 million USDT purchase of BTC by Luna Foundation Guard (LFG). This purchase is part of the plan to systematically accumulate a total 3 billion USD worth of BTC as a reserve for TerraUSD (UST)," QCP wrote. Ether (ETH) and most other major cryptos were also blooming. The second-largest crypto by market cap followed a similar pattern to bitcoin on Sunday and was changing hands at over $3,250, its highest level since early February. The tokens of Solana, Cardano and Avalanche were among other altcoins were well into the green. Popular meme coins dogecoin and shiba inu, were up about 6% and 3% respectively. Trading was accelerating after weeks of low volumes. "Trading volumes are up as buyers try to turn this resistance line into support and take further steps up in pricing," Joe DiPasquale, the CEO of fund manager BitBull Capital, wrote to CoinDesk, but added: "If we don't remain above this line, we will consolidate lower than here." DiPasquale said that bitcoin had had "a strong week, especially given the quarterly options expiry" on Friday and noted that bitcoin had "shown resilience" following the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision last week to raise interest rates and the continued escalation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine with its economic fallout. But he was also cautious in his appraisal of the coming days. "While market participants are starting to get bullish and the fear and greed index is at neutral, BTC bulls will want to see the price consolidating above $46,000 for further continuation," he said. "The coming week is also important as it marks the end of the quarter, and we could see increased volatility after that." Story continues UPDATE (March 27, 2022, 06:11 UTC): Updates headline to say bitcoin hit breakeven for year; adds details throughout. UPDATE (March 27, 2022, 02:55 UTC): Updates headline to $46.8K, adds details from QCP note. UPDATE (March 27, 2022, 22:36 UTC): Updates headline to $46.5K. View comments || Accused shooter in deadly Central Kentucky home invasion faces new charges: The man accused of shooting 32-year-old Jordan Morgan at her familys Madison County mansion is facing new charges, according to court files. Shannon Gilday, 23, has now been charged with strangulation and assault on a corrections officer, according to court records. Gilday was charged Saturday. He has a preliminary hearing set for April 27 in his latest case. The incident is now the third active case against Gilday. Hes been charged with murder and other offenses for allegedly being the perpetrator in the deadly home invasion at former lawmaker C. Wesley Morgans home in Richmond. Gilday told investigators he broke into Morgans home because he wanted to secure the bunker which Morgan had built underneath his house. Hes also been charged with burglary in Kenton County for allegedly breaking into a Kentucky drivers licensing office and stealing equipment so he could make fake IDs. He allegedly told police he planned to use the fake IDs to help him obtain Bitcoin. Gilday was arrested over the home invasion on Feb. 28, according to police. He was charged in March with the burglary in Kenton County after he allegedly confessed to the crime, according to court records. Gilday has been held in the Madison County Detention Center since Feb. 28. Hes not allowed to post bond, according to court records. || The US must invest in digital assets to protect its interests, Chainalysis founder tells Congress. He joins a chorus of experts calling on policymakers to prioritize crypto.: • The US needs to prioritize digital assets to increase transparency in finance, according to Chainalysis cofounder Jonathan Levin.
• "We need to make sure we continue to invest in financial technology and build the financial rails that will be used by the globe in the 21st century," Levin said at Thursday's Senate hearing.
• A range of experts have called for clarity on regulation in the cryptocurrency sector.
Chainalysis cofounder Jonathan Levin told the the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban affairs that the sector should be at the forefront of protecting US interests — namely national security and public safety — and increasing transparency in finance.
In the Thursday hearing, Levin said that similar to how open access to the internet has allowed the world to witness the horrors of Russia's war on Ukraine, a well-supported cryptocurrency market could help shine a light on illicit activities in the financial world.
"Bitcoin and ethereum are technologies that pose the greatest opportunity to increase the degree of transparency in financial services, include the excluded, and create new ways for commerce to happen," Levin said at the hearing.
According to Levin, the blockchain would allow for heightened transparency, though it has not yet been leveraged to its full potential.
But as for what lawmakers and regulators can do to help crypto reach its potential as a tool for fighting illegal activity in finance is still up for debate in Washington, and the sector has come under intense scrutiny as an area in need of tighter rules. Its been described by Securities and Exchange commissioner Gary Gensler as "the wild west".
Gene Hoffman, President of blockchain firm Chia Network, pointed out that more money laundering is done in US dollars than there in crypto. Luckily, he said, there's bipartisan recognition that something must be done.
"Government regulation would absolutely make sense," Hoffman told Insider. "We don't stop money just because there's money laundering. Crypto gives us an opportunity where everyone could have access to these systems, and they wouldn't have to be country-specific or opaque."
A February Chainalysis report revealed that online gangs aregoing after larger and larger sums of money, with the average ransomware payment size increasing from $25,000 to $118,000 in crypto between 2019 and 2022.
Still, Levin said this isn't a reason for the US to avoid investing resources in the space. He noted that while criminals have found new and innovative ways to exploit the digital landscape, illicit activity only represents 0.15% of total transaction volume.
"It's actually much easier to trace illicit activity on the blockchain than it is in US dollars," said Hoffman. "Public blockchains are already secure databases, and there's a tremendous amount of experimentation happening in other countries. If the US doesn't provide guidance here, people will look elsewhere for it to get done."
Chainalysis' software has already allowed law enforcement to improve ransomware crime prevention and slow down fraudulent activity, Levin added. Increasing investments and regulation in the digital asset sector can accelerate this process even further.
Billionaire and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried hasechoed this sentiment,stating that more crypto regulation would provide additional consumer protection. He suggested a registration system for tokens, as well as a designated government branch for oversight.
Other potential regulatory moves could include broader education initiatives, Bankman-Fried said, and more clearly defined leaders as well as a roadmap for future legislation.
The Thursday Senate hearing highlighted that US policymakers are interested in making progress in the crypto space, and have shown a willingness to turn to those in the industry for guidance.
"We need to make sure we continue to invest in financial technology and build the financial rails that will be used by the globe in the 21st century," Levin said. "Embracing digital assets will help the US build this future. These new rails can be built in a way that encourages transparency, and that not only protects our national security and public safety, but actually enhances it."
Read the original article onBusiness Insider || Bitcoin finally turns positive for the year: After spending the entirety of 2022 in the red, Bitcoin turned positive Monday as the cryptocurrency surged on an investor rally.
As of 11:30 a.m. ET, Bitcoin was trading as $47,648 — a 6% gain in 24 hours and the continuation of a gain that started over the weekend, once it broke past the psychological barrier of $45,000.
That jump erased the losses for 2022 – and year to date, the crypto currently is posting a 3.27% gain. That puts the mostwidely traded cryptowell ahead of traditional investments. So far in 2022, theDowand S&P 500 are both down more than 5% and theNasdaqindex is more than 10% lower.
In the past week,Bitcoinhas seen gains of 16%.
Bitcoin’s YTD gains aren’t universal, though. Among the other major cryptocurrencies, only XRP is showing positive growth for 2022.Ethereum, Solana, Cardano and memecoins like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu are all still showing losses for the year.
Investors are showing increased interest in Bitcoin, though, for a variety of reasons.Goldman Sachs' decision to trade the crypto over the counter has sparked optimism, and Cowen also said it plans to let institutional investors spot bitcoin trades. Ongoing Bitcoin purchases from the network behind the Luna token are also driving up the price.
Inflation and the war in Ukraine could still negatively influence the digital currency in the days, weeks and months to come, though, warn analysts.
For Bitcoin bulls, though, Monday’s achievement brings a sigh of relief. Bitcoin has been largely in decline since last November, when it hit highs of over $67,500.
This story was originally featured onFortune.com || Majic Wheels Corp. Acquires Majority Interest in PCEX: The Fintech and Blockchain-Focused Corporation Confirms Majority Ownership in the Crypto Exchange
HOUSTON, TEXAS, April 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wyoming-based holding company Majic Wheels Corp.(OTC Pink: MJWL) has announced that it has secured a majority interest in Panaesha Capital Exchange (PCEX). This follows its letter of intent (LOI) to acquire the leading digital assets exchange last October.
The global team behind Majic Wheels Corp, a holding corporation positioning itself as a major power player in forward-looking, disruptive industries— specifically Fintech, Insurtech, and software development— through mergers and acquisitions, is excited to utilize PCEX’s novel approach and scalable model within the Fintech space.
Launched by Panaesha Capital, PCEX is the first Indian crypto broker to introduce the B2B Franchise Model to the cryptocurrency industry, successfully forging a network of over 250 franchises and 40 satellite offices throughout India.
Majic Wheels Corp.’s Chief Executive Officer, David Chong, believes the acquisition will support the company’s ambition to “firmly establish itself as a Fintech and technology leader in India.”
Secured via an SPV, under Majic Wheels Corp.’s fully owned subsidiary, CGCX-- an insured, four-in-one blockchain platform that offers a seamless, secure crypto trading experience-- PCEX is founded on a unique, innovative membership concept for crypto investors, enthusiasts, or crypto-related startups. In fact, CGCX coins have been trading on the PCEX platform since 1 March 2022, with extremely encouraging results.
Both PCEX and CGCX are set to continue with impressive growth, based on India’s increasing interest in - and adoption of - crypto.
In terms of the number of people who have owned a cryptocurrency at least once, India currently ranks 7th in the world (over 100 million people). According to Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC), and has an estimated 15-20 million retail investors.
Experts also see crypto emerging as a popular asset class and mainstream investment avenue in India, especially among young earners. It is expected that crypto will be driven by millennials (the country’s median age is around 28 years), pushing retail investment in cryptos to $15.6 billion by 2030.
PCEX’s CEO and founder, Sandeep Phogat, envisions the exchange as a tool to empower “entrepreneurs and businesses looking to establish a footprint in the crypto space,” citing its business model as a “culmination of that vision.”
PCEX offers its trading members unprecedented advantages, including IT and technical support, marketing assistance, higher liquidity, development and design aid for web and mobile platforms, and a peerless revenue share percentage.
Through the combined power and potential of CGCX and PCEX, the Majic Wheels Corp. team anticipates an exciting year ahead further solidifying itself within the blockchain market.
For more Majic Wheels Corp. developments, interested parties are directed to the company’s website:https://majiccorp.co/.
Its Twitterhttps://twitter.com/MajicCorp,LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/majiccorp/and Facebookhttps://m.facebook.com/MajicCorp/pages are helpful resources for relevant news and updates.
For further information, please [email protected]
About Majic Wheels Corp.
Majic Wheels Corp., listed and traded on the Over-the-Counter Market (OTC) under the trading symbol “MJWL”, is a Wyoming holding corporation planning to position itself as a power player in cutting-edge, disruptive industries like Fintech, Insuretech, software development, and crypto via thoughtful and varied acquisitions.
Composed of a team with multiple decades' worth of experience and diverse backgrounds that grant them matchless insight and analysis capabilities, Majic intends to be two steps ahead of the fast-paced, ever-changing, competitive crypto market.
For a deeper look into Majic Wheels Corp., refer to the company’s website:https://majiccorp.co/
About PCEX
PCEX is a sophisticated digital assets exchange on which users can buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies on a global scale. Presenting attractive and highly profitable investment opportunities to its clients, PCEX runs on a one-of-a-kind membership model that aids crypto novices and those looking to enter the market get their bearings.
An exchange with top-shelf security, it prides itself on being one of the safest Bitcoin and altcoin exchanges in the world.
To learn more about PCEX, please peruse the exchange’s website:https://www.pcex.io/
About CGCX
Founded in 2017, Calfin Global Crypto Exchange (CGCX) is on a mission to deliver a high calibre, secure, and user-friendly crypto trading experience. While most exchanges only offer cryptocurrency trading, CGCX combines four blockchain services onto a single platform. These services include a crypto exchange, merchant solutions, smart contracts, and an ICO platform.
With a daily average volume of over $75 million, CGCX’s fully-insured hybrid exchange, custody solutions, and mining operations open the scope of opportunity for its clients and users.
Please visithttps://www.cgcx.io/for further details.
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT
This press release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by terminology such as "believes," "expects," "potential," "plans," "suggests," "may," "should," "could," "intends," or similar expressions. Many forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results implied by such statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, our ability to continue to enhance our products and systems to address industry changes, our ability to expand our customer base and retain existing customers, our ability to effectively compete in our market segment, the lack of public information on our company, our ability to raise sufficient capital to fund our business, operations, our ability to continue as a going concern, and a limited public market for our common stock, among other risks. Many factors are difficult to predict accurately and are generally beyond the company's control. Forward-looking statements speak only as to the date they are made, and we do not undertake to update forward-looking statements to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the date the forward-looking statements are made.
SOURCE: Majic Wheels Corp.
For more information, please contact:
Email:[email protected] || Bitcoin jumps after apparent Yellen statement quells U.S. clampdown fears: By Kevin Buckland and Tom Westbrook TOKYO, March 9 (Reuters) - Bitcoin led a rally in cryptocurrencies on Wednesday after what appeared to be a prematurely published U.S. Treasury statement allayed market worries about a sudden tightening of U.S. rules around digital assets. In a statement that briefly appeared on the Treasury website before it was taken down, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said a still-pending executive order on virtual currencies from President Joe Biden "calls for a coordinated and comprehensive approach to digital asset policy (that) will support responsible innovation." CoinDesk carried an archived version of the release. The U.S. Treasury Department did not immediately respond to Reuters' emailed request for comment about the statement outside of business hours. Biden is expected to sign a long-awaited executive order this week directing the Justice Department, Treasury and other agencies to study the legal and economic ramifications of creating a U.S. central bank digital currency, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday. The White House last year said it was considering a wide-ranging oversight of the cryptocurrency market - including an executive order - to deal with the growing threat of ransomware and other cyber crime. The statement "seems to indicate that (U.S. authorities) won't be taking any swift, major regulatory actions as yet, and will likely be taking a more coordinated and objective approach over time," leading cryptocurrencies to rally, said Matthew Dibb, COO of Singapore crypto platform Stack Funds. Bitcoin climbed 7.2% to $41,515, on track for its biggest gain since Feb. 28, while smaller peer ether added 5.3% to $2,715, also set for its best day this month. (Reporting by Kevin Buckland and Tom Westbrook; Additional reporting by Alun John; Editing by Sam Holmes) View comments
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
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Trend: down || Prices: 37714.88, 38469.09, 38529.33, 37750.45, 39698.37, 36575.14, 36040.92, 35501.95, 34059.27, 30296.95
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Lesson From the US Elections: Don't Mention Crypto: In 2020, as U.S. presidential candidates squared off, the mob of Democratic hopefuls sought to separate themselves from the pack. As part of his bold campaign for fixing imbalances in the economy, Andrew Yang didn’t shy away from predictingcryptocurrencies may have a useful role.
He joked at a recent event in Washington, D.C., that his campaign staff pleaded with him to stop talking about crypto.
“My team didn't want me hammering that message in mainstream press appearances,” he told CoinDesk in an interview. His people wanted him to stick to another message, Yang said. But the U.S. electorate hasn’t generally clamored to send cutting-edge tech leaders to Washington, and his presidential campaign collapsed quickly.
This year, crypto hasn’t apparently fared any better as a political topic in midterm congressional campaigns approaching the Nov. 8 general election. A remarkable few candidates have been willing to say anything at all about digital assets in public, though plenty have assured the industry privately about what they’d do for crypto and thattheir campaigns are worth supportingfinancially.
Michelle Bond, CEO of the Association for Digital Asset Markets, which lobbies on behalf of crypto businesses in Washington, was among the rare cryptocurrency advocates who ran for Congress this year, and she quickly learned that crypto carried some political toxicity.
“Crypto was not a welcome topic on the campaign trail, from the opponents I was running against, and also from the voters,” Bond, who sought the Republican nomination for a New York seat, said in an interview. She didn’t make crypto a significant point in her campaigning, but she didn’t have to, she said, because she carried that label whether she wanted to or not. “I was called the crypto queen.”
She received 6491 votes, compared with the 11,398 won by the eventual Republican candidate. Elsewhere, Bruce Fenton, an early Bitcoin investor and advocate, sought the Republican nod for a seat in New Hampshire, but he drew only 4.4% of the vote in that primary. And in Oregon, Matt West, a decentralized finance (DeFi) developer, came in sixth in his Democratic primary, snaring 8%.
There was a lot of crypto distrust among voters who didn’t know much about the industry, Bond said, arguing that lobbyists have been doing a good job educating policymakers but haven’t yet reached the broader public.
“Crypto needs to do a much better job in the mainstream media,” she said, though the mainstream press has devoted plenty of attention in recent months to the dramatic collapse of several prominent firms, sunken token prices and endless hacker thefts. “We need to make advancements beyond, and we need to start touching those voters.”
Crypto has a demographic. Those drawn to digital assets are most often men, and they’re most likely to be under 30, according toPew Research Center data(and overwhelming bro-culture evidence). Young men are not big voters in the U.S., statistically. So when a politician starts going on about crypto, campaign advisers know they’re not likely to win a lot of votes with it, and they may risk alienating older folks who may be uneasy about this financial movement.
About one in eight people in the U.S. currently hold crypto, according to a recent poll from the Crypto Council for Innovation. More than half of the 1,200 voters surveyed online – 52% – said theywant more regulation for the crypto industry, while just 7% favored less oversight. So they favor the government being engaged, but they also indicated they’d be much less likely to vote for a candidate who supports cryptocurrencies.
In another poll released this week, 37% of those surveyed said they’dconsider a candidate’s views on cryptobefore casting their vote.
Like Bond, another House candidate in Illinois, Jonathan Jackson – a businessman, professor and the son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson – also learned crypto support comes with a price. Hedrew political attacksfor benefiting from hundreds of thousands of dollars that crypto industry sources spent on ads for his campaign. The money was deployed as “independent expenditures,” which is a way corporate sources or wealthy benefactors can pile unlimited cash into a campaign, so Jackson argued he had no choice about accepting the help.
“By definition, an independent expenditure is just that, independent,” he told Chicago-area media in a statement. “We did not seek it, and we cannot control it.”
Still, his campaign website is one of the few in the nation thatopenly touts the benefits of crypto, and since he claimed a decisive victory in his Democratic primary, he’s expected to win in the general election next week and join Congress next year.
The crypto industry itself is well aware that it’s not going to win a lot of votes for its favored candidates. So when its political action committees (PAC) buy TV ads or mailers for candidates, the issues they highlight aren’t typically about crypto at all. They often focus on topics that are specifically important to the district or state their candidate is running in, so a viewer would hardly guess an ad was paid for by a crypto PAC if not for the small-print disclosures they may spot.
The so-called crypto winter has strangled most feel-good stories about regular people gaining wealth in the new markets. Instead, many voters are likely to know somebody who has been having a tough time recently with crypto. That further suppresses candidates’ ability to make friends through digital-assets conversations.
“It's not like anyone is rah, rah, rah, crypto right now,” said Bond, whose “crypto queen” label didn’t seem to help the political novice’ssecond-place outcomein the primaries, despite Crypto Innovation PAC spending more than $1 million dollars in advertising to support her. || A Quick Guide to Crypto and Digital Asset Accounting: Atlanta, Georgia --News Direct-- Ledgible Cryptocurrency accounting presents an increasing number of challenges to enterprises, companies, institutions, and businesses. While interest in maintaining a balance of digital assets is skyrocketing, among consumers and professionals alike, the lack of clear guidance on how to handle digital assets on your books makes properly understanding crypto accounting an up hill battle. Companies like Tesla, Square, and MicroStrategy notoriously have large amounts of crypto assets on their books. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Understanding proper crypto accounting procedures requires properly understanding the challenges that accompany crypto asset data and how this data can fit into US generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). The Challenges with crypto data At their core, fitting crypto data into traditional accounting is like fitting a square peg into a round hole. Without some modification or alteration to the peg or the hole, it just doesn’t work – but what needs to be altered? Crypto data is highly abnormal, meaning that it assets have non-standard naming conventions, no singular source of pricing data, high volatility in markets, and 24/7 trading, just to name a few. The challenges around crypto data span two verticals, aggregation and normalization. First off, in order to be able to properly account for crypto assets, the underlying asset data needs to be aggregated, collected, and compiled. Digital assets are based on the principle of decentralization, meaning that aggregation of data requires novel techniques to traditional assets. While one source may give you transaction data on the surface, it may be lacking pricing data, underlying asset information, or transaction meta data. There are entire business lines that have grown to simply aggregate crypto data for enterprises and institutions. The second vertical challenging crypto asset data is normalization. After the data is collected, the question shifts to “well, what do we do with it?” Story continues Aggregated crypto data is still highly abnormal, with any number of the abnormal qualities mentioned prior. The data has to go through a normalization process, gently sculpting the square peg of crypto data to be able to fit into the round hole of traditional asset accounting. But – crypto accounting would be far easier if there was some guidance and rules to follow. In October 2022, FASB, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, released new guidance addressing digital assets. “The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) reached a decision on the measurement of corporate crypto assets, which will mandate the use of fair value of accounting instead of intangible asset accounting.” said Ledgible Sr. Advisor Vivian Fang , “this is a highly anticipated decision that seeks to provide clarity on how public entities in the U.S. should account for their holdings of crypto assets.” But what does this actually mean for the future of crypto accounting? Understanding guidance from FASB As it stands, U.S. GAAP offers no authoritative guidance or rules that specifically address the accounting or disclosure for corporate investments in cryptocurrencies. In fact, on three separate occasions, the FASB rejected requests to set accounting rules for digital assets, citing that they are not pervasive enough to warrant explicit guidance. In the absence of definitive rules, the Big Four accounting firms and AICPA issued non-authoritative guidance between 2018 and 2019 suggesting that, under the current framework, crypto holdings best fit the definition of intangible assets following ASC 350, Intangibles–Goodwill and Other. However, all parties acknowledged that the accounting treatment recommended by this guidance is not ideal. With the rise of corporate crypto holdings, the limitation of the prevailing accounting becomes increasingly evident. For example, MicroStrategy Inc. disclosed an impairment loss of $194.1 million on its $1.9 billion of BTC holdings in its 2021 Q1 quarterly report. The company also disclosed sufficient inputs to calculate a total fair value of $5.1 billion for these holdings, or 2.7 times the balance sheet value. In this case, the use of intangible asset accounting sends mixed signals to financial statement users, as the disclosure of an impairment loss seems to be at odds with significant market appreciation in the same period. In 2021, the FASB released an agenda consultation that publicly solicited comments on currently debated accounting topics including crypto accounting. The response was enthusiastic, and most commenters recommended that the board considers a fair value accounting approach in treating crypto assets as opposed to a historical accounting approach. For that reason, this tentative decision made by the board is a very welcomed development by the market, especially given the growing corporate interest in cryptocurrencies and the lack of accounting guidance in the past. That being said, applying a fair value accounting approach to crypto assets is not as straightforward as one may think. First, unlike stock or bonds which are typically traded on centralized exchanges, most cryptocurrencies are decentralized so it is common to observe discrepancies in their pricing across different exchanges. Take bitcoin as an example: there is simply no standard or global price for bitcoin at any given point of time. As a result, most bitcoin price trackers, such as Google, calculate an average estimate or a recently traded price of bitcoin based on the transaction history of a prominent bitcoin exchange. Thus, in order to improve the comparability in companies’ application of the fair value accounting approach, the board will need to specify the fair value basis for crypto assets more clearly. Second, not all crypto assets are created equal: while major cryptocurrencies (particularly bitcoin or ether) are mostly liquid and readily convertible to cash, non-fungible and other utility tokens are not always well traded. In fact, during the crypto winters where the market liquidity tends to dry up, some altcoins may not have any trade in a day, making it very difficult to determine their fair value. A recent study by Anderson, Fang, Moon and Shipman (2022) finds that companies with crypto assets, when left unguided before 2018, were more likely to adopt fair value accounting and provide fair value disclosures when the crypto markets were more liquid. This finding suggests that the fair value accounting approach may make sense only when a liquid market exists. Indeed, the Japanese GAAP recommends the use of a fair value accounting approach only for crypto assets traded on active markets but a cost accounting approach for those not actively traded. While concrete guidance still seems like it’s moving at a turtles pace, how then can professionals account for cryptocurrencies today? Recording Digital Assets in General Ledger Accounting We’ve stressed the unique challenges that accounting professionals face when seeking to properly account for digital assets, but at their core, they’re still assets – and thus, basic accounting principles will still apply to them. For example, if a business buys digital assets, that asset then needs to be recognized at fair market value. Digital asset accounting professionals will do this by recording a debit for the digital asset purchase to the account. If the digital assets were bought through fiat, then the cash account would be credited for the same amount as the fair value purchase of the digital assets. When the crypto assets are later sold, the accounting process occurs in reverse. The digital asset is credited to remove it from the balance sheet at the book value, and then the cash account is debited the same amount of the proceeds from the sale, in general. One challenge often faced here is that the proceeds from the sale could be higher than the book value of the assets in your system. This can be caused by appreciation and/or impairment. In this case, it’s often necessary to create a credit of a capital gain amount, equivalent to the delta between book value and proceeds. Generally, as accounting professionals seek to properly record digital assets on their books, they utilize subledger accounting systems specifically designed for crypto asset, like Ledgible , to then connect to their general ledger system . These sub-ledger systems take care of the aggregation and normalization challenges mentioned earlier, automatically. But this is just one non-prescriptive example, the actual accounting for digital assets can be slightly more complex, like in the scenario of digital assets being used for payments Accounting for Digital Asset Payments Paying vendors with digital assets is one of the most common use cases for companies that hold crypto on their books. In this case, the payment is recorded in the exact same manner as it would be if you sold the digital assets. In essence, it counts as a disposal. A capital gain or loss thus then needs to be recognized. Here’s a brief example: You hold 50 BTC on your books, represented at a fair value of $15,000 per BTC, or $750,000 for the whole lot. However, perhaps the value of BTC since acquisition has gone up to $20,000 per coin, bringing your holdings to a value of $1,000,000. Say you make a payment of $1 Million to a vendor, using the bitcoin you hold on your balance sheet. You would record this as a debit of $1 million to the appropriate expense account, then credit your digital asset account the original $750,000 and then credit the $250,000 to a capital gains account. From this brief example, you can begin to understand that crypto asset accounting can be a little counterintuitive in actual functionality. After getting some brief understanding of crypto accounting principles, the next question might be how crypto accounting is connected to crypto asset taxation . Connecting Crypto Accounting to Crypto Tax For traditional assets, we understand that accounting and taxation are industries linked at the hip. However, when it comes to crypto, many of the accounting procedures for digital assets won’t match up 1:1 for tax filing or tax information reporting purposes. A good example of this is presented when we examine unrealized losses. Existing GAAP rules may necessitate journal entries for impairment events, without deductions for unrealized losses on taxes. Crypto tax calculation presents its own host of challenges, and having tools in your arsenal that both solve the accounting puzzle as well as solve the crypto tax challenge , like Ledgible does, is essential to maintaining industry standards in digital asset custody, accounting, and taxation. Making crypto data Ledgible Ledgible is a SOC 1 & 2 Type 2 audited crypto tax and accounting platform, built for enterprises, institutions, and accounting professionals. Ledgible specializes in making crypto data legible for existing tax and accounting software and workflows, enabling digital assets to fit into the round hole of traditional finance. The Ledgible Crypto Platform is a proven crypto asset solution for professionals with leading accounting firms and major crypto companies globally. The Ledgible Platform is a cryptocurrency tax & accounting solution designed for Institutions, Enterprises, and Professionals.Financial institutions, corporations, and accounting firms use the Ledgible platform globally for crypto tax, crypto accounting, and crypto audit for billions of dollars of crypto assets. For firms and enterprises seeking traditional financial verification, reporting, and assurance, Ledgible provides the tools they need to confidently embrace cryptocurrency in their work through a SOC 1 & 2 Type 2 Audited Solution. This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice. Contact Details Jan Jahosky [email protected] Company Website https://ledgible.io/ View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/a-quick-guide-to-crypto-and-digital-asset-accounting-555098252 || Rising diesel prices risk further pressure on inflation, IEA warns: Rising diesel prices threaten to add pressure on motorists ump - Joe Giddens/PA Surging diesel prices risk fuelling further inflation as EU sanctions on Russia bite, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned. Competition for non-Russian supplies of the fuel is expected to be “fierce” as sanctions come into full force in coming months, putting further pressure on already high prices. The cost of the fuel has surged 70pc since last year as disruptions to Russian supplies worsened shortages due to the closure of refineries amid the pandemic. “Increased refinery capacity will eventually help ease diesel tensions,” the IEA said in its monthly oil market outlook. “However, until then, if prices go too high, further demand destruction may be inevitable for the market imbalances to clear.” Russia is one of the world’s largest suppliers of crude oil and refined products including diesel. Before the war it produced almost one fifth of the UK’s supply. Sanctions coming into force in December and February mean that global markets will need to find about one million barrels per day of diesel, naphtha and fuel oil from elsewhere, the IEA said. Concern over tight diesel markets comes despite predictions of a slowdown in demand for crude oil as economies weaken. The IEA estimates the growth in demand for oil will slow to 1.6 million barrels per day in 2023, down from 2.1 million barrels per day this year. Read the latest updates below. 06:26 PM Selling Ben & Jerry's in Israel is against international law, claims brand's board Ben & Jerry's has ramped up its internal dispute with its parent company over products sold under the ice-cream brand's name in Israel, saying the sales are against international law. The Vermont-based food company said the sale of its products in the Occupied Palestinian Territory "is against our values". The comments from the ice cream maker's board are the first time the company has addressed the matter publicly since filing a lawsuit in a federal New York court in July. Unilever is in the tricky position of being sued by its premium ice-cream unit, which it has allowed to pursue socially progressive causes via an independent board. Last year, the independent board publicly pledged to stop sales of Ben & Jerry's in the occupied West Bank, citing human rights, economic and social justice concerns. The company's board said: "Ben & Jerry's position is clear: the sale of products bearing any Ben & Jerry's insignia in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is against our values. "Such sales are inconsistent with international law, fundamental human rights and Ben & Jerry's social mission." Story continues 05:22 PM Gupta closes in on deal with creditors Sanjeev Gupta, the metals tycoon, is close to a deal with creditors of Liberty Steel to pay back around half of the money they lent the troubled business. Mr Gupta has reached an understanding with creditors to Lex Greensill’s former lending empire including Swiss bank Credit Suisse in a “major step” towards refinancing the firm, Howard Mustoe reports. Liberty Steel had borrowed $5bn (£4.2bn) from ventures founded by Australian entrepreneur Mr Greensill, which loaned money to companies short term. It collapsed after one of its insurers refused to renew cover. Credit Suisse brought a High Court claim against Liberty Steel last year in an attempt to recoup the funds. A repayment deal could mean Liberty Steel avoids being pushed into insolvency. “The agreement remains subject to documentation and the respective internal approvals,” the company said in a statement. Creditors are likely to get back 55pc or less of their investment, the Financial Times reported. Liberty Steel declined to comment. Jeffrey Kabel, Chief Transformation Officer, Liberty Steel Group said: “After several months of negotiations, we have now reached an agreement in principle that will provide recovery for the Creditors and will significantly deleverage and derisk Liberty. “This is a major step forward in our restructuring and transformation and we will now work at pace with the Creditors to prepare and execute the Agreement.” 05:09 PM West End merger faces competition probe The £5bn tie-up of two West End landlords will be investigated by the competition regulator to see if it could harm shoppers or other businesses. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it will look into the merger between Shaftesbury and Capital & Counties to see if it should intervene. The deal was announced in June and would create a company with a multi-billion pound property portfolio, including Chinatown and Covent Garden in London. The CMA said on Tuesday it had opened a file on the merger, looking at whether the tie-up could "result in a substantial lessening of competition". It has asked businesses that may be affected to submit any feedback on the deal by the start of December. After that point, it will decide whether to launch a more in-depth investigation. Shareholders in Shaftesbury will own more of the business than their Capco counterparts under the terms of the deal. 05:04 PM Germany builds first terminal for shipments of gas as reliance on Russia falls Germany has completed construction of its first floating terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven as it scrambles to secure more LNG and move away from Russian pipeline gas. "The new LNG landing place is a big step towards a secure energy supply," said Olaf Lies, Lower Saxony state economy minister. Robert Habeck, Federal economy minister, said that Wilhelmshaven would become functional around the turn of the year, as would a second floating terminal at the Brunsbuettel North Sea port. The Wilhelmshaven unit, for utility Uniper, will be moored at a now expanded pier and enabled to regasify LNG arriving on special tankers. The new port infrastructure there will be equipped to switch to imports of low-carbon energy sources such as hydrogen in the future, said Lower Saxony environment minister Christian Meyer. 03:17 PM 'Taxing everyone until the pips squeak is not going to solve the problem' Jeremy Hunt is reportedly looking to implement £25bn worth of tax rises to help plug a £50bn fiscal blackhole. Ahead of the much anticipated Autumn Statement on Thursday, we asked Telegraph readers which taxes they think could be raised and which should be left well alone. Andrew Weatherley said: Taxing everyone until the pips squeak is not going to solve the problem. We need a low taxation environment to get the country back on its feet. Read the debate. 02:46 PM Wall Street into the black Stock markets in New York enjoyed a bounce at the open as a lower-than-expected rise in US producer prices boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve would shift to smaller interest rate hikes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 219.2 points, or 0.65pc, at the open to 33755.94. The S&P 500 rose 49.2 points, or 1.24pc, to 4006.41, while the Nasdaq rose 278.6 points, or 2.49pc, to 11474.82 at the opening bell. 02:40 PM Don't dole out big bonuses in the City, says Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak has urged UK bosses to rein in bonuses as his government battles to keep a lid on inflation. The Prime Minister, speaking at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, defended the below-inflation pay settlements awarded to nurses and other NHS staff. Yet when asked if he would bring back the cap on banker's bonuses, Mr Sunak said he wants the country to avoid a situation where rising wages fuel further inflation. He told ITV: "Of course I would say to executives to embrace pay restraint at a time like this and make sure they are also looking after all their workers. "It's about what's right for the country because if we do end up in a wage-price spiral the people who are going to suffer the most are the people on the lowest incomes and we'll still be having this conversation in a year's time." Rishi Sunak has urged top City bankers to limit pay rises to help in the fight against inflation Speaking to ITV News Deputy Political Editor @AnushkaAsthana he said: "I would say to executives to embrace pay restraint at a time like this." https://t.co/FoieO3tuzJ pic.twitter.com/ccqBNOMXg8 — ITV News Politics (@ITVNewsPolitics) November 15, 2022 02:18 PM Cathie Wood snaps up shares in Bitcoin fund Catherine Wood, chief executive officer of Ark Investment Management - Zed Jameson/Bloomberg Cathie Wood, the chief executive of much-followed tech fund Ark Investment Management, is buying the dip in the price of Bitcoin. Her company snapped up more than 315,000 shares worth about $2.8m (£2.3m) in the beleaguered crypto fund Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. It is Ark Investment's first purchase of the Grayscale product since July 2021. Bitcoin is up 2pc today to $16,916 (£14,145). 02:08 PM Pound surges on US prices data The pound surged by more than 2pc to its highest level since mid-August bringing relief to holidaymakers and importers from the US. Sterling was last above $1.20 on August 18, with today's surge coming after US producer price growth slowed by more than expected in October. In the latest sign that inflationary pressures are beginning to ease, the producer price index for final demand advanced 8pc from a year ago, the smallest annual gain in more than a year. The index, which measures the average change over time in selling prices for US goods and services, was up only 0.2pc from month earlier, according to the Labor Department. The data come on the heels of a smaller-than-expected monthly increase in the October consumer price index, which investors and Wall Street welcomed as a sign that the fastest price increases in decades are finally be starting to ebb. 01:57 PM Vodafone shares near lowest level since 1997 Vodafone shares down - Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg Vodafone shares fell as much as 9.2pc today, putting them on track to close at their lowest levels since 1997. The fall was triggered by the telecommunications group warning in its half-year results of poor sales in key markets, soaring power costs, and tough competition. Vodafone expects it will cost £436m more next year to power its vast internet infrastructure of mobile antennas and street-side broadband cabinets. That is on top of a £261m increase for the current year over the prior period. 01:46 PM How would you balance the books? Try our interactive tool 01:17 PM Build delays and higher mortgage rates push deals close to collapse Soaring mortgage rates have brought turmoil for those in the process of buying a home who face the double whammy of delays and unaffordable spikes in repayments. My colleague Melissa Lawford has more: Buyers are racing to push through transactions before their old, cheaper mortgage offers expire. Last month, Carolina Leleu, 43, and her husband were hours away from having to decide between walking away from their first home and losing their deposit, or find an extra £700 a month for their mortgage. The couple, who had exchanged contracts on their first home and paid a £13,100 deposit, nearly lost the 1.7pc mortgage rate secured in March after delays dragged their sale to the wire. If their purchase had taken another 36 hours, they would have needed a new mortgage deal at a rate quadruple their original offer. Read how would-be homeowners could lose deposits because of spike in mortgage costs. 12:58 PM Grain prices tumble with Putin poised to extend Ukraine deal combine harvester cuts through a field of wheat during the summer harvest in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine - Julia Kochetova/Bloomberg World leaders' fears of a global food shortage eased amid reports Vladimir Putin is expected to extend a grain exports deal from the Black Sea. Global grain prices fell sharply amid reports that Russia is poised to agree to an extension of the United Nations-brokered deal allowing exports of grain and other farm products from the Black Sea. Russia is reportedly likely to allow the deal to renew after its Nov 19 expiration. Wheat prices dipped sharply by 1.5pc following the news, first reported by Bloomberg. However, sources did not specify whether Russia would seek to add new conditions in return for the extension or any other details. Russia and Ukraine signed a deal in Istanbul in July that allowed shipping to resume. Ukraine has exported more than 30pc less grain this season so far as the global economic effects of Putin's war in the country tally up. 12:42 PM ‘I was not concentrating enough on my crypto business’, says FTX founder who lost $16bn fortune Sam Bankman-Fried - SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images The boss of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX has claimed he "wasn't concentrating" on his digital coin business as it spiralled towards collapse. My colleague Matthew Field has the details: Sam Bankman-Fried admitted to borrowing funds from his cryptocurrency exchange for its sister trading business, in his first interview since his web of digital coin companies filed for bankruptcy protection in the US. The $32bn (£27bn) collapse of FTX has shaken the cryptocurrency world and left thousands of customers unable to access their deposits. Mr Bankman-Fried told the New York Times: "It could be worse." The former billionaire, who saw his estimated $16bn net worth wiped out by the collapse of FTX, admitted to playing video games to "unwind a bit" as the company went under. Read more on of his comments after FTX filed for bankruptcy protection in the US. 12:10 PM Wall Street poised to open higher US stock index futures rose after a meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in which they pledged more frequent communications. US-listed shares of Chinese firms Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Baidu Inc, Pinduoduo Inc and JD.Com Inc climbed between 5.7pc and 11.2pc. The tech-focused Nasdaq is poised to open 1.2pc higher this afternoon, while the S&P 500 is set to open up 0.7pc. The Dow Jones is forecast to rise 0.3pc. 11:51 AM Ofwat orders water companies to repay customers Water regulator Ofwat has ordered two companies to repay customers £80m over pollution failures. Thames Water will give back more than £50m while Southern Water will return nearly £30m. The regulator stepped in after the water companies missed their targets on water treatment, pollution incidents and internal sewer flooding across this year and 2021. David Black, Ofwat chief executive, said: Too many water companies are failing to deliver for their customers. The poorest performers, Thames Water and Southern Water, are consistently falling beneath our expectations and those of their customers. They need to take immediate action to improve their performance and rebuild trust with the people they serve. 11:35 AM Sick days costing economy £180bn a year as NHS backlog soars The UK is losing 131m working days a year to ill-health, data show, costing the nation around £180bn in GDP. It comes as the CBI says businesses making their own interventions can reduce levels of ill-health by up to 20pc by 2030. As a result, the business organisation is launching a new index aimed at setting a benchmark for health provision within private sector companies. The Work Health Index will give businesses the chance to diagnose the strength of their health offer and compare it against peers. CBI president Brian McBride said: Labour market resilience is a precondition to growth. Without healthy, productive employees, the UK economy will be unable to achieve the growth it sorely needs. Businesses understand the link between health and wealth, and have a major role to play. While the NHS continues to serve us all in our moments of immediate need, employers across the UK have a golden window emerging from the pandemic to lean into long-term measures which enhance employee health and wellbeing. 11:17 AM Tesco website crashes as 290,000 queue for Christmas delivery slots Tesco shoppers have been forced to wait in a queue of more than 290,000 people when attempting to book a Christmas delivery slot with the supermarket. My colleague Rachel Mortimer has the details: The Tesco website crashed this morning after customers had spent hours waiting to book a prized delivery slot for their festive shopping . Many had paid extra for priority access only to find themselves behind thousands of other shoppers. Those who pay for an anytime delivery plan with Tesco, at a cost of £7.99 a month, should be able to access priority delivery slots over the Christmas and Easter periods. Customers were told they could book a slot from 6am on November 15. But shoppers have complained the queue opened before the advertised time, with many joining at 5.45am to find tens of thousands of others already waiting. Read what customers said on Twitter. 10:57 AM UK stocks 'most disliked' Global investors are most bearish about UK stocks among the world's major markets, according to Bank of America. The investment bank said concerns remained even after the partial recovery in British assets following September's mini-Budget turmoil. A quarter of fund managers have fewer UK stocks in their portfolio than usual. This is in stark contrast to the situation with US stocks, which are just 7pc underweight in fund manager portfolios. 10:37 AM Million creditors hit by FTX collapse FTX has filed for bankruptcy - OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images More than a million creditors will be affected by the bankruptcy of FTX Group, the company has confirmed. The cryptocurrency exchange has named a slate of new independent directors to oversee the collapsed crypto empire of former industry darling Sam Bankman-Fried. Lawyers for the cypto company wrote: "Questions arose about Mr Bankman-Fried's leadership and the handling of FTX's complex array of assets and businesses under his direction." FTX plunged into bankruptcy court after facing "a severe liquidity crisis that necessitated the filing of these cases on an emergency basis". 09:52 AM Aston Martin shares slide Aston Martin - Paul Grover for the Telegraph Aston Martin Lagonda shares plunged by 12.4pc on the FTSE 250 after investment bank Jefferies downgraded its stock amid concerns it will need a restructuring of its debts. Analysts at the firm believe the carmaker is behind its peers on scale and still far from reaching the necessary volume of sales and average selling price to be a stand-alone business. 09:25 AM Rate rises start to hit LandSec LandSec has written down the value of its portfolio as rising interest rates began to hit property valuations. The FTSE 100 land owner recorded a 2.9pc fall in the value of its holdings in the six months to September. Its City of London portfolio fell 9.7pc during the period, more than double the decline recorded in the value of its West End offices, it said in a statement this morning. Its shares were down 1.4pc. Bank of England rate rises have brought an end to the era of cheap money that saw the valuations of assets soar since the financial crisis. 09:02 AM BAE and Centrica help push FTSE 100 higher BAE Systems was among the top gainers on the FTSE 100 in early trading after Rishi Sunak awarded a £4.2bn contract to build five ships for the Royal Navy. The defence giant also said a weak pound could lead to sales growth between seven and 9pc next year. The FTSE 100 was up 0.1pc as Centrica also put on a hefty gain of 4pc, amid the suggestion that the Chancellor's potential windfall taxes will only apply to excess profits, rather than all profits. Vodaphone was one of the biggest losers in early trading, tumbling 5.1pc after cutting its full-year free cash flow forecast, reflecting a worsening global macroeconomic climate and higher energy costs. 08:47 AM Binance to submit evidence to MPs Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao - REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange has said it will submit evidence to MPs about its discussions to rescue its now collapsed rival FTX. Binance will also provide information to the Treasury select committee about why it decided to sell FTX's native token FTT, which triggered the run on the exchange. Daniel Trinder, Binance's vice president of government affairs in Europe, said the company would submit the evidence as part of the committee's inquiry into crypto assets. He was grilled by MPs on Monday over his company's decision to sell $500m in FTT on November 6, which kick started a chain of events that led to FTX filing for bankruptcy on Friday. 08:14 AM Pound starts day strongly Sterling has gained 0.6pc against the dollar this morning making a pound worth a little over $1.18. The currency is also trading strongly against the euro, up 0.2pc, making a euro worth 88p. 08:07 AM UK markets open lower The FTSE 100 has opened fractionally down at 7,383.83 - a drop of 0.01pc. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 has suffered a heftier drop of 0.1pc 19,595.54. 08:04 AM Japan's recovery goes back into reverse Japan's economy unexpectedly shrank in the three months to September as the yen's historic slide inflated the country's imports bill. Economists had expected an expansion of 1.2pc in GDP but were instead hit with a contraction of 1.2pc in the third quarter. It is the first time the economy has gone into reverse since last year and shows the path to recovery from the pandemic remains a long one. 07:54 AM Hunt: Tackling inflation is 'absolute priority' Jeremy Hunt - REUTERS/Toby Melville Jeremy Hunt, who delivers his Autumn Statement on Thursday, said that lowering government debt was the only option to reduce inflation, as he reacted to the ONS data showing the unemployment rate had risen to 3.6pc. He said: Tackling inflation is my absolute priority and that guides the difficult decisions on tax and spending we will make on Thursday. Restoring stability and getting debt falling is our only option to reduce inflation and limit interest rate rises. 07:47 AM Record number of long-term sick amid NHS backlogs A record 2.5m people are unable to work because of long-term sickness as NHS backlogs hit the job market. My colleague Eir Nolsøe has more: The number of people locked out of the labour force have hit their highest points since records began in 1993. The figure is another worrying sign that the number of people available to work has been shrinking since the pandemic, making the UK an outlier among developed countries. In the three months through September, an extra 133,000 people were classed as longterm sick from the last period, bringing the total figure to 2,519,000. This came as the share of economically inactive people - meaning they're neither in work nor looking for a job - grew by 0.2 points to 21.6pc. "During the latest three-month period, the increase in economic inactivity was driven by those who are long-term sick, who increased to a record high," the Office for National Statistics said. The employment rate also fell slightly. It is now 1.1 points lower than before the pandemic at 75.5pc. Read more on why it is forcing rising numbers of businesses to hold back on hiring. As Jeremy Hunt prepares to deliver his Autumn Statement on Thursday, this graph may prove a worry. The downward turn in the graph indicates employers are already being affected by the tough economic road ahead. There were 1.225 million job vacancies on average across August to October 2022, down 46,000 on the previous quarter, with an increasing number of employers citing economic pressures as a factor in decisions to hold back on recruitment. ➡️ https://t.co/wbRZA5X4fm pic.twitter.com/jNLawBcmyC — Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) November 15, 2022 07:40 AM Numbers in work rising above pre-pandemic levels This graphic from the Office for National Statistics after this morning's jobs data shows the number of people on payrolls is surging above the levels seen before the pandemic. The number of employees on payroll continued to grow in October 2022 and is now 834,000 above its pre #COVID19 pandemic level. ➡️ https://t.co/MkzizHuLTM pic.twitter.com/eHpVleBaGl — Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) November 15, 2022 07:38 AM More younger people not looking for work Commenting on the today's jobs market figures, Darren Morgan , head of labour and economic statistics, at the Office for National Statistics said pointed to a change in demographics driving the fall in number of economically inactive people. The proportion of people neither working nor looking for work has risen again. Since the onset of the pandemic, this shift has largely been caused by older workers leaving the labour market altogether, but in the most recent quarter the main contribution has actually come from younger groups. 07:24 AM Good morning The unemployment rate in Britain increased marginally to 3.6pc, according to the Office for National Statistics. This was up from the 3.5pc expected by economists, which had been the rate in the three months to August. This was its lowest rate since 1974. 5 things to start your day 1) 'Cascading contagion' fears grip crypto as FTX founder is accused of lies - Binance chief claims arch-rival misled clients amid crypto exchange's collapse 2) Formula One debt labelled ‘junk’ as Beijing’s zero-Covid policy threatens sport’s return to China - Beijing's continued use of lockdowns puts F1's Chinese comeback 'in doubt' 3) Paris overtakes London as Europe's largest stock market - Paris edges ahead as British stocks hit by recession fears and mini-Budget backlash 4) France will face electricity shortages even in ‘normal winter’, says boss of country’s power grid - Energy shortages raise questions over plans to import power to avert blackouts 5) Bahamas penthouse where FTX based worth $40m, listing reveals - Details emerge as regulators investigate the collapse of the cryptocurrency business What happened overnight Asian share markets were mixed on Tuesday and oil was weaker as investors sought to digest the economic implications of China's Covid policy adjustments and a rescue package for the country's struggling property sector. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.1pc, following mild losses for US overnight. Australian shares lost 0.28pc, while Japan's Nikkei stock index was off 0.16pc. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index was flat while China's CSI300 Index was down 0.3pc. View comments || Grayscale CEO on suing the SEC: 'This lawsuit isn't about bitcoin': Grayscale Investmentsfiled its first brieflast week in its legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission over the agency's refusal to let it convert its bitcoin fund into an exchange-traded fund.
In an interview Monday for Yahoo Finance'sAll Markets Summit, Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein says that the litigation transcends its own attempts to launch a spot bitcoin ETF.
“We really feel that this lawsuit isn’t about bitcoin,” Sonnenshein told Yahoo Finance's editor-in-chief, Andy Serwer. “This about putting forward straightforward common sense legal arguments that really ensure that investors are protected and that the SEC is acting within their mandate.”
Grayscale firstapplied for a bitcoin ETF in 2016but said it withdrew the request because the regulatory market for digital assets hadn't sufficiently matured. The company filed again in October 2021 and receiveda formal rejectionfrom the SEC that cited concerns the funds were vulnerable to market manipulation.
The company is asking a federal appeals court in Washington, DC to review the SEC's decision, contending that the agency had applied stricter standards to spot ETFs than to futures ETS — the latter which the agency has approved.
“We've never seen them do this before for any other product, any other commodity that we've ever seen. And it applied it very, very stringently to spot bitcoin ETFs, like GBTC [Grayscale Bitcoin Trust], but very leniently to bitcoin futures ETFs,” Sonnenshein said.“So, the SEC is really acting outside of its authority under the [Securities and] Exchange Act. And that's really one of the strongest arguments.”
Cryptocurrency remains a new industry with limited regulation. One pending piece of legislation, theDigital Commodities Consumer Protection Act of 2022, would place bitcoin under the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission instead of the SEC.
The lack of proper crypto regulation is spurring digital currency companies to flee the US, Sonnenschein said. For instance, Switzerland has become the home of“Crypto Valley,” aregion home to many crypto-startups due to its more business-friendly regulations.
“You have bills passing across the floor of Congress, both sides of the aisle supporting it,” Sonnenshein said. “You have companies moving outside the US because our regulatory landscape isn't catching up fast enough with the innovation taking place here.”
The SEC is due to file a response to Grayscale's motion in court by Nov. 9.
Dylan Croll is a reporter and researcher at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at@CrollonPatrol.
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Follow Yahoo Finance onTwitter,Facebook,Instagram,Flipboard,LinkedIn, andYouTube || Bitcoin price rises but FTX collapse still haunts solana: Bitcoin (BTC-USD) increased in value by almost 7% in the past week, but the fallout from thecollapse of the FTX exchangeis still haunting solana (SOL-USD).
In traditional markets, stocks and commodities are climbing as China signals further reopening after demonstrations in major cities againstCOVIDlockdown measures, while bitcoin seems determined to make the most of the current rise in investor optimism after last week's close of over $17,000.
Bitcoin was up 7% over the past seven days to $17,307 and ethereum (ETH-USD) rose 11% in the past week to $1,295.
Check:Crypto live prices
However, unlike others at the top of thecryptocurrencymarket, solana fell 0.4% in the past week to $14.06.
2022 has been a bad year for the Solana blockchain. It started the year in a strong position, being the preferred network after Ethereum for launching non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
However, Solana's close proximity to the FTX collapse in early November has been detrimental to its reputation.
FTX and linked investment arm Alameda Research were influential in Solana's growth and it has been estimated the two entities combined have control of over 50 million sol tokens.
Uncertainty over the future of such a large haul of sol tokens has seen the cryptocurrency drop out of the cryptocurrency market cap top 10 to number 17.
Solana uses a combination of proof of stake (PoS) consensus, a new type of proof of history (PoH) clock synchronisation technology, and a number of other innovations to achieve its goal of providing fast, secure, and scalable blockchain performance.
Larry Fink, the CEO of Blackrock (BLK), has affirmed his position on blockchain technology.
Speaking at the New York TimesDealbook Summitlast week, the head of the world’s largest asset management company said blockchain technology is relevant for the future, saying it “will be very important".
He said: "I believe the next generation for markets and next generation for securities will be tokenisation of securities."
Read more:Crypto and climate change: Can blockchain tech stop global warming?
Tokenisation of securities is when a real-world asset is converted into a digital asset and deployed onto a blockchain-based platform.
This process allows for fractional ownership of real-world assets, such as stocks, bonds, real estate and other assets, to be traded and exchanged as digital tokens.
Blackrock invested $24m in Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX through a billionaire fund it manages, the CEO explained.
Regarding the FTX meltdown, Fink said: “We’re going to have to wait to see how this all plays out, I mean, right now we can make all the judgment calls and it looks like there were misbehaviours of major consequences.” || El Salvadors Bukele Remains Popular Despite Bad Bitcoin Bets, Slumping Economy: El Salvadors President Nayib Bukele bet on Bitcoin last September when he made it legal tender in the Central American nation and invested a lot of cash into the cryptocurrency himself. One year and $107 million dollars later and his investment isnt paying off: the president is down over $61 million on paper from those Bitcoin buys, data from the website Nayib Tracker shows , and many citizens still arent using it . The tiny countrys economy isnt faring too well, either. The IMF has warned that El Salvadors economy will grow only 1.7% in 2023, which will feel like a recession. Aprobación del desempeño de presidentes latinoamericanos. #CIDGallup #CidLatinoamerica #galluppanama #ElSalvador #costarica #RepúblicaDominicana #honduras #Colombia #México #Nicaragua #argentina #Venezuela #Guatemala #Panamá #Perú #ecuador #latinoamerica pic.twitter.com/yaQkNMeqsV CID Gallup (@cidgallup) October 14, 2022 But that doesnt mean President Bukele isnt liked. According to a CID Gallup poll released Thursday, the leader has the highest approval ratings in Latin America. Story continues CID Gallup, a Costa Rican consultancy firm, surveyed 1,200 citizens in 13 Latin American nations and found President Bukele was the most popular, with an approval rating of 86%. Bukele did much better than leaders of major Latin American economies such as Mexico and Argentina (but the poll did not include every country in the region.) This may come as a surprise to political observers outside of the country, given the reports of civil unrest in El Salvador. Last year, Salvadorans hit the streets a number of times to protest the Bitcoin Law and the president consolidating too much power. El Salvadors Chivo Bitcoin Wallet Still a Headache for Locals And the leader, who once admitted he buys crypto on his phone while in the nude, has been criticized by everyone from the U.S. lawmakerswho called the Bitcoin Law a careless gambleto the World Bank and the IMF . El Salvadors Bitcoin Law demands businesses to accept the biggest cryptocurrency if they have the technological means to do so. The countrys government encouraged citizens to use the asset by giving them all $30 dollars-worth of Bitcoin via a state-issued digital wallet. When Decrypt visited the country in late 2021, we found many Salvadorans were uninterested in Bitcoin and businesses were reluctant to accept it. But El Salvador, an impoverished nation which often finds a place on the worlds most murderous countries list, is supposedly less dangerous under Bukele. The eccentric leader this year kicked-off a tough crackdown by rounding up suspected gang members and throwing more than 53,000 of them in jail. This bold move has been praised by Salvadoransthey say the country is saferbut criticized by human rights groups, who warn it is unsustainable and could lead to a crisis in the countrys prisons. || Our 7 Top Biotech Stock Picks for 2023: If theres a silver lining regarding the coronavirus pandemic, its that it demonstrated the importance of the top biotech stock picks for 2023. While medical innovations may seem frustratingly slow, the Covid-19 crisis proved that when humanity comes together, it can foster incredible advancements at breakneck speed. Moving forward, this segment will carry this momentum toward other breakthroughs. Nevertheless, even the top biotech stock picks for 2023 cant avoid economic realities. With macro headwinds implying that global recession storms may be on the horizon, investors must be smart. Therefore, for this list of biotechnology innovators, I focused exclusively on enterprises that featured strong financial stability. It might not be the prettiest list in terms of upside potential. Given the circumstances, though, you want to think about safety first. With that, below are the top biotech stock picks for 2023. REGN Regeneron Pharmaceuticals $750.06 UTHR United Therapeutics $280.43 VRTX Vertex Pharmaceuticals $312.22 CORT Corcept Therapeutics $21.38 GMAB Genmab $45.50 NVO Novo Nordisk $128.91 TECH Bio-Techne $80.73 InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) The Regeneron (REGN) website is displayed on a smartphone screen over a blue background. Source: madamF / Shutterstock.com Headquartered in Westchester County, New York, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: REGN ) originally focused on neurotrophic factors and their regenerative capabilities, giving rise to its name, according to its public profile on Google Finance. From there, the company branched out into the study of both cytokine and tyrosine kinase receptors. At the time of writing, Regeneron commands a market capitalization of $83.4 billion. On a year-to-date basis, REGN gained 22% of its equity value. Further, in the trailing half-year period, shares stormed higher to the tune of 33%. Much of this enthusiasm centers on the fundamentals. For instance, in September, Regeneron posted positive late-stage clinical results for its key eye medication Eylea. Story continues On the financial front, the company will likely draw attention because of its profitability metrics . For instance, its net margin stands at 39.2%, beating out over 94% of the competition. As well, the market prices REGN at only 18.2 times forward earnings. In contrast, the sector median value is 28 times, representing solid value. Therefore, REGN is one of the top biotech stock picks for 2023. United Therapeutics (UTHR) An image of a tablet with 'therapeutics' on the screen, a stethoscope and face mask around it Source: ra2 studio/Shutterstock A somewhat overlooked name among top biotech stocks for 2023, United Therapeutics (NASDAQ: UTHR ) will almost certainly attract new investors in the coming months. On paper, United develops novel, life-extending technologies for patients in the areas of lung disease and organ manufacturing. Currently, the company carries a market cap of $12.8 billion. Since the start of the year, UTHR delivered a blistering return of nearly 33%. For context, the underlying Nasdaq Composite index dropped 30% during the same period. Further, most of this upswing came recently. In the trailing half-year period, UTHR popped up almost 27%. Again, the main catalysts focus on fundamental performance. Recently, United posted third-quarter results that exceeded analysts expectations . To be 100% transparent, Gurufoucs.com warns that UTHR is significantly overvalued. However, the market prices shares at 14.5 times forward earnings . Again, thats considerably lower than the sector median of 28 times. Also, United features a return on equity of 17%, ranking higher than over 92% of the industry. Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) Illustration of a biopharma company. Doctor standing in front of various medical icons. Source: Billion Photos / Shutterstock Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX ) came to fame because it represented one of the first biotech firms to use an explicit strategy of rational drug design rather than combinatorial chemistry. Currently, the company invests in scientific innovation to create transformative medicines for people with serious diseases. These conditions include chronic pain, sickle cell disease, and muscular dystrophy. As with United Therapeutics, Vertex ranks among the top-performing biotech stock picks for 2023. Since the January opener, VRTX gained over 44% of its equity value. Its been on the move recently, with shares rising nearly 24% during the trailing half-year period. Notably, the companys Q3 results came in above expectations . As well, management raised its sales outlook for 2022. On the financial front, Vertex will likely attract investors because of its income-statement-related performance metrics. For instance, the companys three-year revenue growth rate stands at 35.3%, beating out 78% of its rivals. Its net margin of 37.6% ranks better than nearly 94% of industry players. Corcept Therapeutics (CORT) Brown glass pill bottle on its side showing white pills inside, with other pill bottles behind it representing MACK stock. Source: shutterstock.com/Champhei Moving into the riskier segment of biotech stock picks for 2023, Corcept Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CORT ) is a pharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, and commercialization of drugs for the treatment of severe metabolic, psychiatric and oncologic disorders. Specifically, per its public profile, Corcept has focused on the adverse effects of excess cortisol, studying new compounds that may mitigate those effects. Since the start of this year, CORT returned slightly over 13% of its equity value. So far, so good. However, in the trailing month, shares slipped over 6%. And in the trailing five sessions, CORT finds itself down over 7%. Contributing to the volatility is Corcepts Q3 earnings report. While the company beat earnings estimates, it fell short on revenue . For contrarians, CORT may represent a discounted opportunity. Per Gurufocus.com and its proprietary calculations for fair market value (FMV), CORT rates as modestly undervalued . However, the star of the show centers on fiscal stability. Corcept features a strong cash position and an Altman Z-Score of 28.54, reflecting extremely low bankruptcy risk. Thus, its worth consideration for top biotech stock picks for 2023. Genmab (GMAB) MNMD stock: A scientist holding a test tube in a stock image Source: Shutterstock Headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, Genmab (NASDAQ: GMAB ) features six approved antibodies used in six market products. These cover cancer indications and autoimmune diseases. In addition, Genmab conducts research and development for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. At the moment, the company commands a market cap of $29.9 billion. Representing another solid idea among biotech stock picks for 2023, GMAB returned 15.5% for shareholders since the January opener. Most of this upside performance came in the second half of 2022. In the trailing six months, Genmab shares gained a staggering 54% of market value. Its still going strong, with its trailing one-month performance pinging at 11% up. For the fundamental investors, Genmab is all about the income statement. Its three-year revenue growth rate stands at 38.1%, above 79% of competitors. Further, its net margin is 47%, ranked within the biotech sectors top 5%. Finally, Genmab enjoys fiscal stability, particularly with its strong cash position. Thus, its one of the top biotech stock picks for 2023. Novo Nordisk (NVO) Pipette adding fluid to one of several test tubes; biotech NVTA Stock Source: motorolka / Shutterstock.com Another Danish entry among biotech stock picks for 2023, Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO ) manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products and services, specifically diabetes care medications and devices. In addition, the company specializes in hemostasis management, growth hormone therapy, and hormone replacement therapy. Presently, Novo carries a market cap of $222.5 billion, a massive stalwart. Although NVO has been choppy throughout much of this year, investors are starting to come around to the opportunity. Since the beginning of the year, NVO gained over 17% of its equity value. However, in the trailing month, shares returned stakeholders 12%. Again, positive fundamental data contributed to the enthusiasm. Novo reported a Q3 net profit that beat expectations . Moreover, management raised the enterprises full-year guidance. Financially, Gurufocus.com warns that NVO is significantly overvalued. However, prospective investors should also note that Novo features an ROE of 74.5% , a staggering figure. It also ranks within the top 2% of the industry. As well, Novo enjoys fiscal stability, with an Altman Z-Score of 9.28 reflecting very low bankruptcy risk. Bio-Techne (TECH) Medical technology network team meeting concept. Doctor hand working smart phone modern digital tablet laptop computer graphics chart interface, sun flare effect photo, PTE Source: everything possible / Shutterstock.com Perhaps the riskiest entry on this list of biotech stock picks for 2023, Bio-Techne (NASDAQ: TECH ) calls Minneapolis, Minnesota home. The company develops, manufactures, and sells life science reagents, instruments, and services for the research, diagnostic, and bioprocessing markets. Essentially, its a stagehand manager, critically helping to keep the show running. At the moment, Bio-Techne commands a market cap of $12.9 billion. However, the real issue is its YTD market performance. Since the January opener, TECH hemorrhaged nearly 33% of its equity value. Further, the near-term performance isnt that great. For instance, in the trailing half-year period, shares dipped almost 8%. Still, they did gain 5% in the trailing month. Despite the red ink in the market, its possible that contrarians might view TECH as a discounted play. Per Gurufocus.coms FMV calculations, Bio-Techne is modestly undervalued . In addition, the biotech company features very solid figures for revenue growth and operating/net margins. On a final note, Bio-Technes Altman Z-Score is 14.54, reflecting a very low bankruptcy risk. On the date of publication, Josh Enomoto did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines . A former senior business analyst for Sony Electronics, Josh Enomoto has helped broker major contracts with Fortune Global 500 companies. Over the past several years, he has delivered unique, critical insights for the investment markets, as well as various other industries including legal, construction management, and healthcare. More From InvestorPlace Buy This $5 Stock BEFORE This Apple Project Goes Live The Best $1 Investment You Can Make Today Early Bitcoin Millionaire Reveals His Next Big Crypto Trade On Air It doesnt matter if you have $500 or $5 million. Do this now. The post Our 7 Top Biotech Stock Picks for 2023 appeared first on InvestorPlace . || Wellfield Announces $19 Million Preliminary Unaudited Revenue in Q3 2022 - Launches Global Growth Strategy: • Q3 2022 is the first period that includes full quarter results from Coinmama, which the Wellfield acquired at the end of May 2022. The Company expects gross margin in Q3 to be approximately breakeven, consistent with Q2 2022.
• The Company's early initiatives to grow revenue, users, and engagement have been successful, and are expected to accelerate during Q4 with the launch of its mobile financial app.
• Wellfield is on track to continue growing quarterly recurring revenue in Q4 and through the remainder of 2023 driven by organic and new paid user acquisition, enhanced monetization of its over 3.5 million registered users, the introduction of institutional products and services, and the launch of Wellfield's proprietary blockchain protocols to its consumer and institutional users.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - October 21, 2022) -Wellfield Technologies, Inc.(TSXV: WFLD) (FSE: K8D) (the "Company" or "Wellfield"), today announced Preliminary Unaudited Revenue of $19 million for the three-month period ended September 30, 2022. This compares to revenue of $5.7 million in Q2 2022 (includes one month of Coinmama results), and nil revenue in Q1 2022. The Company will release its full financial results for the third quarter during the final week of November. All figures in this press release are in Canadian Dollars ($)
Management Commentary
Levy Cohen, CEO of Wellfieldcommented, "The efforts of our global team and the strength of the Coinmama brand, translated into solid Q3 preliminary unaudited revenue against the backdrop of lower overall revenues across the crypto space. We have been persistently executing since closing this acquisition and fully expect Coinmama and the introduction of Wellfield Capital to drive significant revenue growth and accelerate our path to positive cash flow over the next several quarters."
Mr. Cohencontinued, "Coinmama, our consumer brand, is one of the most enduring and trusted brands for global consumers, with one of the highest Trustpilot scores in our industry. Our global growth strategy to drive both short-term success and sustainable recurring revenues on this foundation is straightforward and achievable. The first phase is focused on user growth and retention, which will launch in Q4. The second phase is centred on the introduction of an enhanced feature set that will deliver new opportunities for our users to cut costs, earn more and maintain control of their digital assets. Users will be able to save, earn yield, trade crypto assets, make payments to merchants, transfer funds to each other, lend and borrow, all from one location, without giving up custody of their funds. We expect the next 12 months to be very active for our company and an exciting period of value realization for Wellfield shareholders."
About Wellfield Technologies (TSXV: WFLD) (FSE: K8D)
Wellfield builds advanced technology that uses blockchain to create and bridge to the next generation of financial solutions for institutions and consumers. The Company has strong academic and development expertise in the rapidly growing blockchain sector, building its branded applications and critical infrastructure solutions directly on public blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Join Wellfield's digital community onLinkedInandTwitter, and for more details, visitwellfield.io
For further information contact:
Wellfield Technologies Inc.Levy Cohen, [email protected]
Jonathan Ross, Investor [email protected](416) 283-0178
For media enquiries, please contact Kieran Lawler:[email protected](416) 303-0799
Cautionary Notice on Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking information" ("forward-looking information") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking information and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that discusses predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding the Company's success in launching the protocols and other technologies and utilities discussed herein, the integration, expansion and continued revenue generation of Coinmama, and the anticipated strategic, operational and competitive benefits of the Acquisition;. In disclosing the forward-looking information contained in this press release, the Company has made certain assumptions. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the expectations of any forward-looking information will prove to be correct. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: compliance with extensive government regulations; domestic and foreign laws and regulations adversely affecting the Company's and Coinmama's business and results of operations; the anticipated launch of products may not be realized as intended or at all; the strategic, operational and competitive benefits of the Acquisition may not be realized; the impact of COVID-19; the decentralized finance industry generally, in Canada and abroad; and general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive and readers are encouraged to review the disclosure documents accessible on the Company's SEDAR profile atwww.sedar.com. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward-looking information or otherwise.
The TSXV has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
SOURCE Wellfield Technologies Inc.
To view the source version of this press release, please visithttps://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/141411 || Loses Of Over 85% By Bitcoin Cash & Cardano While New Crypto Big Eyes Coin Reels In Nearly $9M In Funding: The widespread economic instability and surging inflation have resulted in a global crypto winter. The crypto greed & fear index has been oscillating between fear and extreme fear, with the latest figure of 20 also indicating extreme fear. Hence, all crypto asset prices have suffered immensely throughout 2022, with Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Cardano (ADA) declining by over 85% from their ATHs (all-time highs). On the other hand, the new crypto project Big Eyes Coin (BIG) is progressing well, with nearly $9 million raised in funding in its presale. Before adding more about BIG, let’s first look at BCH and ADA. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) – The Hard Fork That Hopes To Reclaim Its Previous Price Tag The result of a 2017 Bitcoin “hard fork,” Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is a PoW (Proof-of-Work) blockchain network and cryptocurrency. It was created to overcome some of Bitcoin’s long-standing transaction capacity, time, and fees problems. The significant difference between the crypto and its predecessor is the block size — meaning BCH can process more transactions simultaneously. This also results in comparatively lower fees. The project also underwent a fork a year after its formation and created Bitcoin Cash ABC (eCash) & Bitcoin Cash SV. At present, the project ranks among the top 35 on CMC with a market cap of around $2.1 billion. Currently trading under $120, BCH has lost over 97% of its value since its ATH of $4,355.62 in December 2017. Similar to BTC, its max supply is capped at 21 million. Cardano (ADA) – Innovation At Its Finest Named after the first computer programmer Augusta Ada Kind, Cardano (ADA) is a decentralized PoS (Proof-of-Stake) blockchain network. This project is the first to be based on peer-reviewed research and aims to be a development platform for dApps (decentralized apps). Last year, it underwent its Alonzo update, which allows the creation of smart contracts, NFTs (non-fungible tokens), and multiple asset management. Story continues The project also saw its latest update, the Vasil hard fork, just a month ago. Ranking among the top 10 projects on CMC, ADA had a market cap of $13 billion at the last check. It reached a value of $3.10 last September to register its ATH and has since lost over 87% of its value. At the time of writing, the coin was trading below $0.5. Big Eyes Coin (BIG) — The Newcomer! BIG is an upcoming crypto project developed on the Ethereum blockchain. It is a community-focused meme coin with concrete goals and tokenomics. Based on a feline with cute “Big Eyes,” the project plans to push the DeFi (Decentralized Finance) ecosystem into a new era of popularity. In addition to popularizing DeFi, BIG aims to save the world’s oceans by contributing 5% of its 200 billion supply to charity. Moreover, 70% of the supply is open to the public in its ongoing presale season, with another 20% reserved for exchanges like Uniswap. Furthermore, to ensure project security and anti-rug, it has been verified by top crypto auditors CoinSniper and Solidity Finance. With the end of its stage one of its roadmap in sight, BIG will soon make its official debut in the market once the presale ends. A Quick Guide to Buying BIG in its Presale The meme coin can be purchased in its ongoing presale round five with 4117.65 BIGs against each USDT. All you need to do is visit their presale page and open your crypto wallet. Select the number of coins you want to buy and make the purchase using BNB, ETH, or USDT. You can then collect the coins after the presale ends. To summarize, 2022 has been a tough year in all markets, including cryptocurrency. Projects like BCH and ADA have suffered vast losses this year. However, the upcoming project BIG has raised a good deal of funds in its presale and is continuously increasing its price. With the end of the ongoing round, its price will further increase to 3589.74 tokens against 1 USDT. Big Eyes Coin is also giving away a promotion code so that users can receive an additional 5% of bonus tokens when they make a purchase: BEYES589 For more information on Big Eyes Coin (BIG), you can visit the following links: Presale: https://buy.bigeyes.space/ Website: https://bigeyes.space/ Telegram: https://t.me/BIGEYESOFFICIAL || Bitcoin price follows slide in Asia equity markets amid growing China protests against Covid-19 lockdowns: Bitcoin and Ether fell in Asia trading in line with declines in equity markets in Hong Kong and elsewhere on concern about spreading protests in China against Covid-19 lockdowns that developed into rare public displays of opposition to the ruling Communist Party.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: down || Prices: 17206.44, 17781.32, 17815.65, 17364.87, 16647.48, 16795.09, 16757.98, 16439.68, 16906.30, 16817.54
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2018-08-16]
BTC Price: 6334.73, BTC RSI: 37.84
Gold Price: 1176.20, Gold RSI: 20.35
Oil Price: 65.46, Oil RSI: 38.41
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
5 Smart Things to Do With Your Summer Job Earnings: Back in college, many of my friends opted to take summers off and enjoy a break from their studies. I, on the other hand, always made sure to land a summer job and make the most of the money I earned. As such, I was able to limit my student debt, build some savings at a young age, and gain valuable experience that made it easier for me to get a job once I graduated.
If you have the summer off during college or even high school for that matter, it pays to go out and find work. But don't just blow your paychecks -- you have a real opportunity to put your earnings to good use. Here's how.
IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.
The summer before my senior year of college, I worked for an investment banking firm and held down a prettygrueling schedule. On the plus side, I wound up making enough money to cover my tuition bills for the upcoming year, which prevented me from taking out additional loans.
If you're sitting on a sizable chunk of cash from your summer gig and know you're still on the hook for some whopping tuition bills, using that money to pay them directly could minimize your student debt load. And that's something you'll be grateful for when your monthly loan payments are much lower than those of your fellow graduates.
When you're a student, it's easy to fall into the trap of racking up credit card debt. After all, at this stage of life, your income is probably limited or non-existent, and it's natural to get tempted to fall back on a credit card when a sudden expense pops up.
Theproblem with carrying credit card debt, however, is that it can kick-start a vicious cycle where you're accruing interest at rapid speed, thereby digging yourself further into an already undesirable hole. Therefore, if you're able to earn enough money over the summer to pay off your existing balance, it makes sense to knock it out and stop the bleeding.
No matter your age, there's a good chance you'll encounter an unplanned expense at some point in the not-so-distant future, whether it's a car repair or a medical bill. And if you don't have some cash reserves, you may have no choice but to -- you guessed it -- rack up credit card debt just to cover it. That's why it pays to use your summer cash to build youremergency fund-- a fund that should, ideally, have enough money to cover at least three months' worth of living expenses.
If amassing that much over a single summer isn't feasible, do the best you can. Similarly, if you don't have living expenses in the classic sense because you're still a full-time student and your parents pay your bills at present, aim to save as much as you can so that money is available when you need it. Chances are that you'll be on the hook for your own bills once you graduate, even if that's not the case now, and having that safety net will protect you from debt when you're first starting out in the real world.
Retirement is probably the last thing on your mind if you're a student. But it's never too early to start building long-term savings, and the sooner you do, the more opportunity your money will have to grow. One thing to keep in mind is that you're better off prioritizing emergency savings and paying off debt before funding a retirement plan. But if you're solid in those areas, socking away your summer earnings could go a long way over time.
Imagine you earn $3,000 over the summer and decide to stick it in an IRA. Even if you don't manage to contribute another dime, if you invest that money at an average annual 7% return and leave it alone for 50 years, you'll wind up with over $88,000 by the time retirement rolls around. In reality, $88,000 isn't a lot of money in the grand scheme of what could be a 30-year retirement or longer. But it's definitely a nice start, so if you don't have a more pressing need for that money, you could use it to set yourself up for the future.
While it's good to be mindful of the future, your primary focus as a student should be to do well in school. That's why it's wise to use your summer job earnings to buy the tools you need to succeed academically. Maybe you could use a new laptop because your old one is slow and crashes frequently. Or maybe a nice pair of noise-canceling headphones will set the stage for distraction-free studying. No matter what it is you specifically need, you're much better off spending your money on educational tools than random gadgets.
Tempting as it may be to relax during the summer, having that break from school offers a solid chance to earn some serious bucks. So don't blow it. Take that summer job and use your earnings wisely. You'll be thankful you did, just like I was.
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The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Did You Max Out Your 401(k) Last Year? Only 13% of Participants Did: The benefit of saving for retirement in a 401(k) versus an IRA is the fact that the former comes with a much higher annual contribution limit, no matter your age. Last year, 401(k) contributions were capped at $18,000 for workers under 50 and $24,000 for those 50 and over. This year, these limits went up by $500, for a total of $18,500 and $24,500, respectively.
Clearly, maxing out a 401(k) over time is a great way to set yourself up for a financially secure (and extremely comfortable) retirement. Unfortunately, most savers aren't able to hit that max and lose out on an otherwise solid opportunity to live it up during their golden years. In fact, only 13% of plan participants managed to max out their 401(k)s last year, according todata from Vanguard.
Not surprisingly, those who maxed out tended to have higher incomes -- 40% of those earning over $100,000 were able to reach last year's limit. But that still means that well more than half of higher earners failed to max out.
IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.
If you've been contributing to a 401(k) at any level, you're doing the right thing for your future. But if youreallywant to grow a solid nest egg, it pays to aim to max out, even if that means making sacrifices along the way.
Parting with a large chunk of your earnings is hard, even if you're not giving it up so much as setting it aside for the future. But the following table might motivate you to make that effort:
[{"25": "30", "$3.8 million": "$2.7 million"}, {"25": "35", "$3.8 million": "$1.9 million"}, {"25": "40", "$3.8 million": "$1.3 million"}, {"25": "45", "$3.8 million": "$909,000"}, {"25": "50", "$3.8 million": "$616,000"}, {"25": "55", "$3.8 million": "$338,000"}]
TABLE AND CALCULATIONS BY AUTHOR.
As you can see, if you max out a 401(k) for the better part of your career, you stand to retire with close to $4 million, assuming your investments generate an average annual 7% return during that time. That 7%, however, is actually a few points below the stock market's average, and if you invest the bulk of your 401(k) in stocks, that's a reasonable return to work with.
Another thing to keep in mind about the above figures is that they're based on this year's annual contribution limits. If those thresholds increase in future years, which they're likely to do, and you're able to keep pace, you stand to retire with even more.
Furthermore, while the above table shows what might happen if you were to max out a 401(k) from this point onward, know that maxing out for even a couple of years will work wonders for your nest egg. So even if you don't expect to be able to maintain a yearly contribution of $18,500 or $24,500 for the remainder of your career, hitting that max for even a brief period of time will boost your savings tremendously.
Maxing out a 401(k) generally boils down to making choices. If you're willing to live below your means and cut back on living expenses, you may be surprised at just how much cash you're able to free up for savings. If you're serious about retiring comfortably, take a look at yourbudgetand see where there's room to trim the fat.
That could mean downsizing to a smaller living space, taking modest vacations instead of the luxury trips you're used to, or cooking more meals at home to avoid overspending at restaurants. There are so many options you can play around with, but if you're amenable to cutting back, your nest egg will surely benefit.
Another route you might consider is getting aside hustle. Working a second gig could spell the difference between maxing out a 401(k) or not. While you might argue that it's a somewhat extreme means of hitting that limit, the sacrifice will be worth it if it's important enough to you.
Remember, saving any amount of money for retirement is better than saving nothing at all. But if you manage to max out your 401(k) for any period of time, you'll benefit in a very big way -- and that's reason enough to try to do just that.
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The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Do I Have to Collect Sales Tax?: Whether you're the owner of a small restaurant with seven employees, a beekeeper who sells honey at farmers markets, or someone who makes and sells jigsaw puzzlesonline, you might reasonably be wondering, "Do I have to collect sales tax?"
There's a good chance that the answer is yes. But there are some circumstances in which you don't have to collect sales tax.
Image source: Getty Images.
The U.S. federal government doesn't levy a sales tax, but each state has the right to charge sales tax, and many states permit local governments to charge a sales tax, too. According to the Tax Foundation, the number of states charging a sales tax is 45 (plus the District of Columbia), and local sales taxes are collected in 38 states. The five states charging the highest total state and local sales taxes are:
[{"State": "Louisiana", "State and Local Sales Tax Total": "10.02%"}, {"State": "Tennessee", "State and Local Sales Tax Total": "9.46%"}, {"State": "Arkansas", "State and Local Sales Tax Total": "9.41%"}, {"State": "Washington", "State and Local Sales Tax Total": "9.18%"}, {"State": "Alabama", "State and Local Sales Tax Total": "9.10%"}]
Data source: The Tax Foundation.
The states without a state sales tax are Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon, though Alaska and Montana permit local sales taxes.
It's not only tax rates that vary by state, but also what is taxed. Not every kind of purchase gets slapped with a sales tax. Prescription drugs, for example, are often excluded from sales taxes, as is food -- though sometimes food purchased at restaurants is taxed, while food bought at grocery stores is not. Some states exempt clothing, too. Many services face a sales tax, too, such as car repairs, landscaping services, dog grooming, business services, and amusement or entertainment venues. Interestingly, many services performed by licensed professionals such as doctors, dentists, lawyers, accountants, and the like are often exempted (to some degree, that's because their trade organizations have been able to lobby effectively).
Another often-exempt category is that of raw materials or items in the process of manufacturing. It's typical that sales taxes focus on the end user or consumer, so that when companies buy raw materials with which to make goods, they're not taxed on those purchases, with the taxation happening only when the item is completed and sold.
Clearly, whetheryouhave to collect sales tax for whatever products or services you provide will depend on a bunch of factors, such as whether your state has state or local sales taxes and what, exactly, is subject to those taxes. It also gets more complicated if you're selling anything across state lines. To get the most definitive answer for yourself, check withyour state's tax department.
Here's some useful background info, though. For starters, it's good to understand the concept of "nexus," which is a fancy term in the world of sales tax that refers to a physical presence that's sufficient to trigger the tax. Perhaps obviously, if you live and work in a particular state and all your sales occur there, too, that's a nexus, making it likely that you'll have to collect sales tax. It gets more complicated if you're selling across state lines. If your business is in one state and you sell to someone in another state where you have no business footprint, you likely won't have to collect sales tax. But sometimes simply having employees in that state, or employees who travel and make sales call in the state, or even if you just hold some business property (including patents) in that state, you may be subject to collecting sales tax. Again, the rules will vary by state.
Note that per the current rules, most peopleselling goods onlineto people around the country or world will not have to collect sales tax. That rule is being challenged, though, due to the ever-growing prominence of online commerce. The Supreme Court was deliberating the issue (in theSouth Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc.case) when this article was published and a decision may have been rendered by the time you read it.
So let's say that you do have to collect sales tax in your line of business. How do you do so? Well, first look into whether your state requires you to get a sales tax permit or seller's permit or license to sell -- either from the state or from your local government.
Keep in mind, too, that it can be tricky figuring out what to charge customers in various places, as sales tax rates vary so widely. In fact, some sales taxes are based on where your business is located, while others are based on where the buyer is located. The rules will depend on your state.
Thus, look for any help you can get. If you have an online store that you manage yourself, you might want to use some checkout service that handles the sale tax calculations and management. If you are selling via some big online marketplaces, they may do the math for you and collect the appropriate amount from the customer. Some services for small businesses and online sellers, such asTaxJar.com, will manage your sales tax collection, too, and even file sales tax returns for you.
Taxesmay not be the most exciting topic, but the more you know about them, the smarter tax decisions you'll likely make, potentially saving yourself some trouble and money.
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The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Bitcoin Plunges in Crypto Sell-Off: Investing.com - Cryptocurrencies slumped in a massive sell-off on Tuesday, with Bitcoin falling to its lowest level since November.
Bitcoin plunged 6.59% to $6,071.00 on the Bitfinex exchange, as of 8:50 AM ET (12:50 GMT), but still remained near a three-and-a-half-week low.
The price of digital coins had risen in the end of July over rumors that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could approve the first crypto exchange traded fund. But prices plunged after the agency postponed its decision to September.
Cryptocurrencies overall lost almost $24 billion in the last 24 hours. The coin market cap of total market capitalization was at $193 billion at the time of writing, compared to $217 billion on Monday.
Ethereum, the second-biggest alternative currency by market cap, fell 21.05% to $263.28 on the Bitfinex exchange amid reports that investors who bought Ethereum to participate in initial coin offerings (ICOs) are cashing out to cover expenses.
Ripple, the third-largest virtual currency, decreased 16.27% to $0.26141, while Litecoin was at $51.886, down 16.01%.
In other news, money and payments app Square (NYSE:SQ) has rolled out a Bitcoin trading on the platform in all U.S. states.
The company obtained the New York BitLicense in June, allowing it to offer the service to residents of New York state. The Bitcoin buying and selling option was rolled out last November to some customers in select states. Users can conduct transactions almost instantly and spend the cryptocurrency through a Visa card issued by Square.
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Crypto Mining: Are There Signs of Miners Giving Up? || Xiaomi IPO: What Investors Need to Know: Xiaomi is a company investors need to know if they're interested in either China or technology. Founded in 2010, Xiaomi is the fastest-growing smartphone vendor in the world, and currently the fourth-largest by market share. As one of China's "unicorns," it will also be going public soon, likely in July. The initial public offering (IPO) date has been delayed over valuation haggles with investors. While the smartphone giant initially hoped to raise $10 billion at a $100 billion valuation, it now looks as if it will have to settle for a $6 billion raise at a valuation range of $54 billion to $70 billion. That's quite a huge gap, and says a lot about this unique company. At a lower valuation, is Xiaomi a bargain, or just an another overhyped hardware company? A white Xiaomi phone against a white satin background Image source: Xiaomi. Unique "triathlon" business model Xiaomi was founded by Lei Jun and a small group of engineers and designers with the goal of making high-quality smartphones for under $300; "Amazing products at honest prices" is the company's slogan. The company is dedicated to low costs through efficiency; its mostly online business model limits its retail footprint and marketing costs. The company has cultivated a fan base called Mi Fans, who it says are "intensely loyal," and who are very active on Xiaomi's message boards. Mi Fans often deliver feedback and feature requests directly to the product development department. The company is so dedicated to its low-cost model that management has vowed to limit net margin on its hardware to 5%. That's right: If the company suddenly sees itself becoming too profitable, it vows it will return the cash to users. That might make investors cringe, but it's music to the ears of consumers -- and it's consumers who Xiaomi is clearly looking to please. There's an interesting strategy here. Cultivating a large base of smartphone customers, Xiaomi has expanded into selling internet services (including advertising and online gaming apps), as well as other consumer hardware. The company has invested in over 90 other companies, across phone accessories (such as selfie sticks and chargers), Internet of Things (IoT) "smart" devices (air purifiers, rice cookers, security cameras), and lifestyle products (toothbrushes, pillows, and more). So investors shouldn't confuse the 5% hardware margin with the overall company margin; the internet services segment generates a huge gross margin of over 60%, and it's growing as a percentage of revenue. Story continues The combination of smartphones, ancillary hardware, and internet services is what management calls its "triathlon" business model. Explosive growth Xiaomi has the fourth-highest market share both globally and in China. While that may seem underwhelming, remember that Xiaomi is a very young company compared with global phone giants, and it is also the highest-growth vendor of them all. In 2017, Xiaomi grew revenue a whopping 67.4% over 2016. Not only did Xiaomi increase its Chinese market share from 8.9% to 12.4%, but the company also became the No. 1 smartphone vendor (by volume) in India, another high-growth emerging market. Another plus is that the company seems to be generating operating leverage, expanding operating margins as it grows: Metric 2015 2016 2017 Revenue (thousands) RMB 66,811 RMB 68,434 RMB 114,624,742 Operating margin 2% 5.5% 10.7% Data source: Xiaomi stock-exchange filings. Revenue figures are in yuan. The margin expansion is likely due to the increased proportion of services revenue, which Xiaomi has impressively grown as a percentage of its business over the past two years: Segment 2015 Percentage of Revenue 2016 Percentage of Revenue 2017 Percentage of Revenue Smartphones 80.4% 71.3% 70.3% IoT and lifestyle products 13% 18.1% 20.5% Internet services 4.9% 9.6% 8.6% Other 1.7% 1% 0.6% Data source: Xiaomi stock-exchange filings. The founder gets how much? The fates of most young companies (if Xiaomi can be called one) are largely determined by a young founder or management team, for good or ill. Make no mistake, co-founder Lei Jun will control this company. As of the most recent filing, Lei will own about 29.4% of shares outstanding after the IPO. And by virtue of the dual-class share structure, he will control over half the voting rights. Also eyebrow-raising was the fact that in early 2018, Xiaomi's board awarded Lei $1.5 billion in stock. While this will be worth a bit more or less depending on the ultimate IPO valuation, it comes with no strings attached, or benchmarks that need to be reached. The award was given by the board, headed by another co-founder, Lin Bin, compensating Lei for his "contribution to the company." Hmmmm. Still compelling despite wrinkles Initially, Xiaomi will only be traded in Hong Kong; it's unclear whether there will be American Depositary Receipts available for U.S. investors. In order to buy Xiaomi at present, you'll have to check with your broker to see if you have access to the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. If you do, you'll also have to contend with exchange rates between Chinese yuan, Hong Kong dollars, and U.S. dollars. Despite some questionable corporate governance, I think Xiaomi's story is still compelling. While investors are clearly concerned about its margin profile, Xiaomi's model is to dominate the low-end smartphone market globally, then sell accessories and high-margin apps on a large installed base. It's remarkably similar to Apple 's (NASDAQ: AAPL) services revenue model, only on a mass-market level. Based on 2017's revenue of just over $17 billion, Xiaomi's discussed valuation range would be only about 3.1 to 4.1 times sales. By comparison, Apple trades at about 3.6 times sales. While Apple is obviously much more profitable, it is not growing nearly as fast, nor does it have Xiaomi's potential runway in cost-sensitive emerging markets. All this is to say Xiaomi will make headlines once shares list. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Billy Duberstein owns shares of Apple. His clients may own shares in some of the companies mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Better Buy: Amgen Inc. vs. Johnson & Johnson: It's a big drugmaker with a blockbuster immunology drug as its top-selling product. It pays an attractive dividend. And it faces some uncertainties. This description fitsAmgen(NASDAQ: AMGN), but it applies just as well toJohnson & Johnson(NYSE: JNJ).
So far in 2018, Amgen has been the bigger winner for investors. The biotech stock is up more than 10% year to date, while J&J stock is down nearly 9%. But which of these two drug stocks is the better choice for long-term investors? Here's how Amgen and Johnson & Johnson compare.
Image source: Getty Images.
Let's first address the challenges Amgen faces. Sales for the company's top-selling products are slipping. Enbrel competes in a crowded market. Neulasta now must battle head to headagainst a new biosimilar fromMylan. But Amgen also claims rising stars that should help offset some of these declines.
Sales for calcium-reducing drug Sensipar and osteoporosis drug Prolia are rising steadily. Momentum is also picking up for Amgen's other osteoporosis drug, Xgeva. International sales for multiple myeloma therapy Kyprolis are growing. Cholesterol drug Repatha is gaining significant traction as well.
Amgen has also received plenty of positive news from regulatory agencies recently. Potential blockbuster migraine drug Aimovig, which the company co-markets withNovartis, won FDA approval in May. Prolia picked up U.S. and European approvals for a new indication soon afterward.
While biosimilars could take market share away from some of Amgen's current products, the biotech has its own biosimilars that could generate growth. Amgen's biosimilar to Humira, Amjevita, will launch in Europe this October. The company awaits European approval for Kanjinti, a biosimilar to chemotherapy Herceptin.
Market research firm EvaluatePharmaranked Amgen's pipeline among the top fivein the industry. This high ranking included the great prospects for Aimovig, which hadn't been approved by the FDA when EvaluatePharma conducted its analysis. However, Amgen's pipeline also includes other promising candidates, including atopic dermatitis drug tezepelumab, which the company is developing withAstraZeneca.
Income investors should like Amgen's dividend yield of 2.72%. The company has boosted its dividend payout by more than 180% over the last five years.
Johnson & Johnson also has its own headaches resulting from biosimilar competition. The healthcare giant's top-selling product, Remicade, has lost market share to new biosimilars. But J&Jhas a strategy to overcome challenges for Remicade.
The company claims several other strong immunology drugs. Sales for Simponi, Stelara, and Tremfya continue to climb. J&J's oncology lineup is also impressive, with star performers like Imbruvica (which the company co-markets withAbbVie), Darzalex, and Zytiga. And thanks to its acquisition last year of Swiss drugmaker Actelion, Johnson & Johnson now has three pulmonary hypertension drugs with rising sales.
J&J's pipeline includes several dozen late-stage clinical programs. Most of the company's phase 3 clinical studies are targeting additional indications for already approved drugs, including Darzalex, Imbruvica, and anticoagulant Xarelto. However, J&J also has some promising new candidates, notably including prostate cancer drug apalutamide.
It's important to remember that Johnson & Johnson isn't just a big drugmaker. The company is a leader in consumer healthcare and medical devices as well. Although these two segments don't generate as much growth as the company's pharmaceutical business does, they still provide a lot of cash for J&J.
One important way Johnson & Johnson uses its cash is to fund its dividend program. J&J's dividend currently yields 2.86%. The company has increased its dividend for 56 consecutive years, making Johnson & Johnson a longtime member of the elite group ofDividend Aristocrats.
Forget the stocks for a minute. If you could own either of these businesses lock, stock, and barrel, which would you pick? I'd go with Johnson & Johnson.
J&J is a cash cow with a broad range of products spanning multiple areas of healthcare. The company might not generate awe-inspiring growth, but it doesn't do too shabbily for a $340 billion giant. Amgen is also a cash cow, but several of the products that allowed the biotech to earn that designation won't produce as much cash in the future.
Over the long run, a solid business should translate to a stock that performs pretty well. I think that will be the case for Johnson & Johnson.
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Keith Speightsowns shares of AbbVie. The Motley Fool owns shares of Johnson & Johnson. The Motley Fool recommends Amgen and Mylan. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Penny Stocks That are Trending Extremely Bullish: HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / July 25, 2018 / Microcapspeculators.com is an informational website that is highly interested in exploring development stage companies, enroute to finding companies with the best potential. Thus far it has been a strong summer for several penny stock companies. These companies are trading very bullishly even in the all too familiar slow summer months. One company in particular that has caught our eye, and seems to be well ahead of the other companies mentioned in this article is APT Systems Inc. (APTY). APTY appears to be ready for a strong bull run into the fall and winter months. So why do we think APTY is ahead of the crowd? Well the company is involved in technology-based businesses like trading platforms, blockchain technology, and game apps. As we see it APTY has been making big moves under the radar of the investing public. We expect APTY to be trading a multiple cents in the near future. These penny stocks are trending extremely bullishly: APT Systems Inc. (APTY); Drone USA, Inc. (DRUS); RushNet, Inc. (RSHN); BioAmber, Inc. ( BIOAQ ), RealBiz Media Group, Inc. (RBIZ) APT Systems Inc. (APTY) Market Cap: $1.42M, current share price: $.0055 APT Systems is a company that specializes in the creation of innovative financial platforms that would include proprietary stock research tools, on Intuitrader, an equities trading platform. They have dedicated charting apps under its brand KenCharts which they intend to expand into tracking Bitcoin, Ether and other popular altcoins. APTY launched its subsidiary SNAPT Games to use and research gaming technology to further enhance its financial apps and to add to the company's overall revenue growth. They have created games in-house to benefit their financial mobile platform development goals and to provide general entertainment for gamers, young and old. Drone USA, Inc. (DRUS) Market Cap: $2.71M, current share price: $.0146 Drone USA has government contracts with Law Enforcement, Firefighters and the U.S. Government to produce drones. Look to this popular industry to grow from both a corporate and retail base as photographers love the new angles in their work. Story continues BioAmber, Inc. ( BIOAQ ) Market Cap: $11.13M, current share price: $0.0749 On Otcmarkets.com it has this company as a stop sign, and that is not necessarily a bad thing, but not a good thing either. Investors trading this stock better know what they are doing or they could be in for a big surprise. RushNet, Inc. (RSHN) Market Cap: $20.66M, current share price: $0.003 This appears to be another defunct company according to Otcmarkets.com. Now this could mean a new group of people are taking the company over, and some information has been found by the public in reference to this takeover, or there are just sheer rumors swirling. In any event the company is trading heavily for any penny stock, but investors should be very careful here too. RealBiz Media Group, Inc. (RBIZ) Market Cap: $2.44M, current share price: $0.0032 RealBiz Media Group, Inc. operates two business segments: an international food subsidiary, Verus Foods, Inc. (Verus), that sells food products to customers worldwide; and a real estate digital media and technology subsidiary. Verus is an international supplier of consumer food products. Verus markets under its own brand primarily to supermarkets, hotels, and other members of the wholesale trade. In 2017, Verus plans to pursue a three-pronged development program through the addition of cold-storage facilities, product line expansion, and new vertical farm-to-market operations. The company has seen massive interest as of late, and this could continue. Legal Disclaimer Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in this article contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. ACR Communication, LLC, which owns Microcapspeculators.com, is not registered with Finra or any other financial or securities regulatory authority, and does not provide nor claims to provide investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release. ACR Communication, LLC [and/or] Microcapspeculators.com does not have a position in the securities mentioned herein and may increase or decrease such positions without notice. For making specific investment decisions, readers should seek their own advice. ACR Communication LLC, which owns Microcapspeculators.com, is compensated for its services in the form of cash-based compensation or in equity in the companies it writes about, or a combination of the two. ACR Communication, LLC has been compensated one thousand dollars cash for this article and four thousand dollars total by Regal Consulting, LLC, for APTY. APTY and Regal Consulting, LLC were given an opportunity to edit information included in this article. This article is based solely on public information and the opinions of ACR Communication, LLC, which believes the news commentary to include accurate and complete information. ACR Communication, LLC, will not buy or sell any shares in stocks contained within this article for forty eight hours after this article's distribution. For Full Legal Disclaimer Click Here . Contact Information: Company Name: Microcap Speculators Contact Person: Media Manager Email: [email protected] Phone: 1-702-720-6310 Country: United States Website: http://microcapspeculators.com/ SOURCE: ACR Communication, LLC || Here's How to Retire Early: Many people would love to retire early, with some aiming to and others assuming they can't. Here's some good news, though: You may be able to swing an early retirement if you take certain steps as soon as possible. In case you hadn't thought of them, here are some reasons to try to retire early, and some guidance on how to do so. the words retire in 15 years printed, with 15 years crossed out and 5 years printed below it and circled in red Image source: Getty Images. Why retire early? Retiring early will allow you to finally get around to some things you've long been wanting to do, such as improving your golf game, or planting and maintaining a big garden, or taking long, leisurely vacations. Better still, you'll be younger and probably more active when you're doing so, and more able to enjoy those interests. Remember, too, that you don't know how long you'll live. Many people default to assuming they still have lots of time, but not everyone does. According to the Social Security Administration, "A man reaching age 65 today can expect to live, on average, until age 84.3," and "a woman turning age 65 today can expect to live, on average, until age 86.6." Those are just averages, though; many will live shorter lives than that. Since you don't know how long you'll live, retiring early will give you a greater chance of being able to enjoy as many work-free years as possible. Another benefit to retiring early is that it can give many of us a chance to take better care of ourselves, which can, in turn, help us live even longer. When you're not working, you'll likely have more time to prepare more healthful meals and to get or stay fit. The best strategy to retire early The first thing you need to do is have a plan. You're unlikely to accumulate as much money as you need and withdraw it according to plan if you have no idea how much money you need and no plan for withdrawals. Take some time to crunch numbers, and be conservative, leaving room for bad luck, extended economic downturns, and the chance that you might live a very long time, requiring a bigger nest egg. Be sure to include healthcare expenses in your model, as they can be significant. Per Fidelity Investments, a 65-year-old couple retiring today will spend, on average, a total of $280,000 out of pocket on healthcare. (That's not including long-term care expenses.) Factor in inflation, too -- which has averaged about 3% annually over many decades. You need your investments to grow faster than inflation in order to increase your future purchasing power. Story continues Here's the most reliable and easiest way to retire early: Start investing in earnest as early as possible. The sooner you start, the more time each dollar will have to grow. Be sure to invest effectively, too, balancing risk and reward. You can lose money by taking on too much risk (such as by buying lottery tickets or overpriced speculative stocks), but you won't gain much ground being too risk-averse, either (such as by sticking to money market accounts and CDs). Here's how much money you can accumulate if you invest various sums each year and earn an average annual return of 8% -- perhaps by having much of your long-term money in a low-fee S&P 500 index fund such as the SPDR S&P 500 ETF : Growing at 8% for $10,000 invested annually $15,000 invested annually $20,000 invested annually 5 years $63,359 $95,039 $126,719 10 years $156,455 $234,682 $312,910 12 years $204,953 $307,429 $409,906 15 years $293,243 $439,864 $586,486 20 years $494,229 $741,344 $988,458 25 years $789,544 $1.2 million $1.6 million 30 years $1.2 million $1.8 million $2.4 million Data source: Calculations by author. The table offers numbers for short periods, too, so that if you're rather close to retirement now, you can see how much of a difference you can make to your nest egg. After all, it's too late for many of us to sock away money for 25 years in order to retire early -- but we might still be able to retire earlier than planned if we save and invest more aggressively. It's reasonable to not know what to make of the totals above, though. To help you get a feel for what they will do for you, let's apply the flawed-but-still-helpful 4% rule . It suggests you withdraw 4% of your nest egg in your first year of retirement and adjust future withdrawals for inflation. Thus, if you accumulated the $741,344 above over 20 years, you could take out $29,654 in your first year. Here's the table above, tweaked to show you the income each total would give you in your first year of retirement: Growing at 8% for 4% of the ending total, if $10,000 Invested annually 4% of the ending total, if $15,000 Invested annually 4% of the ending total, if $20,000 Invested annually 5 years $2,534 $3,802 $5,069 10 years $6,258 $9,387 $12,516 12 years $8,198 $12,297 $16,396 15 years $11,730 $17,595 $23,459 20 years $19,769 $29,654 $39,538 25 years $31,582 $48,000 $64,000 30 years $48,000 $72,000 $96,000 Data source: Calculations by author. Two middle aged people sitting behind a retirement party cake, wearing party hats and smiles Image source: Getty Images. Catching up to retire early If you're like the millions who are not close to retiring early, what can you do? Well, the tables above can help you see how much money you might need to accumulate. Your current income and spending habits may have you not seeing a way to get there, but odds are, you can tweak your income and spending habits enough to get there -- or you can take other money-saving actions. I've written earlier about 40 money-saving tips . If you employ just 10 of them and save $100 with each, that's $1,000 in annual savings. (Some can save you hundreds on their own.) The tips include getting a better deal from your insurers and cable company, getting your credit card's interest rate lowered, refinancing your mortgage, not shopping for fun, increasing your deductibles (if you can), and using cash-back credit cards. You might also downsize into a smaller home, which should cost you less in taxes, utilities, maintenance, and more. You might even move to a less expensive region. The median home value in New Jersey, for example, was recently about $320,000, but it was only $130,000 in Nebraska. Many people imagine downsizing and/or relocating in retirement in order to save money, but if you do so well before retiring, you might save even more. You may also be able to set down new roots and make new friends more effectively, being younger and more active. Retiring early may be more possible than you think Retiring early may not be as out of reach as you're assuming. Remember, for example, that you probably have some Social Security income to count on, reducing the amount of income you'll have to generate on your own via savings and investments. You can visit the Social Security website at www.SSA.gov to find out how much to expect from that program. If you're married, you might be able to collect more by coordinating when you start collecting with your spouse. Research some strategies for that. Here's a rough idea: The average Social Security retirement benefit was recently $1,412 per month, or about $17,000 per year. You might well collect more, though, and there are ways to increase your Social Security benefits , too. Know that you can increase or decrease your benefits by starting to collect Social Security earlier or later than your "full" retirement age, which is 66 or 67 for most of us these days. Read up on strategies to maximize your benefits, especially by coordinating your actions with those of your spouse, if you're married. For example, the spouse with the lower expected benefits might start collecting early, so that the other spouse can delay starting to collect, making the ultimate benefits heftier. If you figure that you'll need $55,000 per year in retirement, and you expect to collect around $25,000 annually from Social Security, that leaves $30,000 you'll need to generate yourself. If you already have $500,000 socked away, that could afford you around $20,000 annually, leaving you somewhat close to being where you need to be. Many people are more able to retire early than they think. Give the topic some consideration, and crunch some numbers. See when you might be able to hang up your work suits -- for good. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Bitcoin Turning Bearish, with the Bears Eyeing sub-$7,000: Bitcoin fell by 1.05% on Thursday, following on from Wednesday’s 1.7% decline, to end the day at 7,527, the moves through the day marking a 5thconsecutive day in the red.
A choppy start to the day saw Bitcoin move through to an early morning intraday high $7,713 before pulling back to $7,600 levels, the day’s high falling short of the day’s first major resistance level at $7,761.73 and more importantly, the 23.6% FIB Retracement Level of $7,857.
Following a relatively range bound morning, Bitcoin finding support while the broader market saw red, a late morning reversal saw Bitcoin fall to a mid-afternoon intraday low $7,450, calling on support at the 38.2% FIB Retracement Level of $7,456 before recovering to $7,500 levels late in the day, the day’s low steering clear of the first major support level at $7,445.83.
Bitcoin’s continued support at the 38.2% FIB Retracement Level of $7,456 kept the near-term bullish trend intact through the week, though pressure has continued to build, with Bitcoin’s downward trend on the intraday highs reflected with a 2ndconsecutive day of falling short of $8,000 levels.
Market sentiment towards an expected shift in the regulatory landscape continued to be the key driver on Thursday, with the SEC’s delay in a decision on Bitcoin ETFs to September and the G20’s delay in rolling out unified rule and regulations for the broader cryptomarket doing few favours in the week.
We can expect key jurisdictions to revisit existing rules and regulations and introduce interim measures as a stop gap to protect investor interests, with the cryptomarket unlikely to be a key priority for the G20 when considering the ongoing U.S – China trade war and other geo-political headwinds influencing the global economic outlook and the global financial markets.
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At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down 2.64% to $7,336.4, with a start of the day slide doing most of the damage, Bitcoin falling through the first major support level at $7,413.67 to an early morning low $7,315.9.
For the day ahead, a move back through a start of the day $7,533.3 high would support a run at $7,600 levels to bring the day’s first major resistance level at $7,676.67 into play, though of greater importance will be a move back through the 38.2% FIB Retracement Level of $7,456, the morning slide seeing Bitcoin begin to reverse the near-term bullish trend to resume the extended bearish trend formed back in early May.
Failure to recover through the 38.2% FIB Retracement Level to $7,500 levels will likely leave Bitcoin back at $7,300 levels, with the day’s second major support level at $7,300.33 in play should sentiment not shift through the middle part of the day, sub-$7,000 levels on the cards should Bitcoin fail to break back through the 38.2% FIB Retracement Level in the coming days.
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Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Crude Oil Price Forecast – crude oil bounces from significant support || Gold Price Futures (GC) Technical Analysis – $1228.20 Potential Trigger Point for Steep Decline, Bullish Over $1268.90: Gold futures posted a volatile two-sided trade last week before closing lower. On Monday, buyers drove the precious metal higher in reaction to the previous week’s potentially bullish closing price reversal bottom chart pattern and concerns that weaker average hourly earnings reported in the July 6 U.S. Non-Farm Payrolls report could discourage the Fed from raising interest rates two more times this year.
However, the attempted rally failed to gain traction after the U.S. Dollar posted four straight sessions of higher closes. The Greenback was driven higher by strong U.S. producer and consumer inflation data which supported the Fed’s plan to raise interest rates at least two more times before the end of the year.
August Comex Goldsettled the week at $1241.20, down $14.60 or -1.16%.
The main trend is down according to the weekly swing chart. Taking out $1238.80 last week signal a resumption of the downtrend. This puts the gold market in a position to challenge a pair of main bottoms at $1230.70 and $1228.20.
The minor trend is also down. The new minor trend top drops down from $1313.00 to $1266.90. A trade through $1266.90 will change the minor trend to up.
The main range is the contract range of $1158.40 to $1379.30. Its retracement zone at $1268.90 to $1242.80 is controlling the longer-term direction of the gold market. The close under the lower or Fib level at $1242.80 is helping to contribute to the downside bias.
Based on last week’s close at $1241.80, the direction of the August Comex Gold futures contract is likely to be determined by trader reaction to the Fib level at $1242.80.
A sustained move under $1242.80 will indicate the presence of sellers. This could drive the market into the pair of bottoms at $1230.70 and $1228.20. If $1228.20 fails then look out to the downside since the next major bottom doesn’t come in until $1158.40.
A sustained move over $1242.80 will signal the presence of buyers. If this move creates enough upside momentum then look for a potential spike into a steep downtrending Gann angle at $1263.10, followed by the minor top at $1266.90 and the major 50% level at $1268.90. This market will have to clear $1268.90 to turn bullish.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
@lifeoncoin || ツイート数の多かった仮想通貨
1位 $BTC 839 Tweets
2位 $TRX 205 Tweets
3位 $XRP 127 Tweets
4位 $ETH 104 Tweets
5位 $EOS 63 Tweets
2018-07-17 23:00 ～ 2018-07-17 23:59
COINTREND いまTwitterで話題の仮想通貨を探せ！
https://cointrend.jp/ || @satoshi_BTC || @btc_current || @Bitcoin_Post || @Bitcoin_Stats || MIRAI $MRI Listed on Tradesatoshi Cryptocurrency Exchange
#Cryptocurrency #Exchange #MIRAI
You can now trade $MRI on $BTC $DOGE $LTC $USDT and $BCH base markets https://t.co/d1PGcgJv86 || @Bitcoin_Post || @satoshi_BTC || @btc_current
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Trend: up || Prices: 6580.63, 6423.76, 6506.07, 6308.53, 6488.76, 6376.71, 6534.88, 6719.96, 6763.19, 6707.26
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2015-12-04]
BTC Price: 363.18, BTC RSI: 58.86
Gold Price: 1084.50, Gold RSI: 48.38
Oil Price: 39.97, Oil RSI: 38.79
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Paris Attacks Weigh On Bitcoin: EU officials are set to gather in Brussels in order to discuss the Paris attacks and ways to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future. One of the topics on the table for discussion is expected to be bitcoin and its potential to be used as a finance tool for terrorists. The recent crisis in Paris has shined a spotlight on some of the issues that bitcoin has been facing as it becomes a more and more popular tool to conduct financial transactions on the web. While bitcoin enthusiasts say the cryptocurrency's ability to send payments anonymously without a third party intermediary is an important part of its appeal, others believe that bitcoin could be contributing to terror plots and should be more tightly regulated. Related Link: Lasting Market Impacts From The Paris Attacks Trust Issues Bitcoin has long suffered from trust issues as the cryptocurrency has been portrayed as a tool for criminals after an underground marketplace dealing in illegal and illicit bitcoin transactions was exposed last year. The marketplace, called Silk Road, is what some say is only the beginning of the damage that bitcoin can do. Because making transactions with bitcoin can protect the buyer and seller's identities, criminals are better able to solicit and pay for illegal goods and services online. The same, many believe, is true for terrorists. Bitcoin gives them an avenue to send and receive funds undetected as there is no third party intermediary monitoring and verifying those payments. Regulation Could Break Bitcoin However, on the other side of the coin, bitcoin supporters say that too much regulation would eliminate bitcoin's purpose all together. The electronic currency was meant to operate outside of traditional finance in order to make sending money across boarders faster and easier. They argue that placing strict regulations on bitcoin would disrupt the currency's decentralized nature and undo all of the progress that bitcoin technology has made. Story continues Related Link: Ben Bernanke Sees Serious Problems With Bitcoin What To Do It is unclear how regulators plan to monitor bitcoin transactions and whether or not their efforts would be successful in thwarting terror plots. Bitcoin isn't the only payment scheme that is believed to be involved in terrorist planning operations either; pre-paid debit cards purchased from stores may also be a threat as they similarly don't require any kind of verification to be used for online payments. See more from Benzinga 9 IPOs That Fell Flat On Wall Street 9 Ways To Make Your Retirement Savings Stretch Further 9 Investment Options For Traders Looking To Add Europe To Their Portfolio © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin firm raises funding from Bain, New York Life, MasterCard: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Digital Currency Group, a holding firm focused on investing and developing businesses that deal in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, has raised funding from some of the biggest U.S. financial names, founder and chief executive officer Barry Silbert said on Tuesday.
Bain Capital Ventures, the Boston-based venture capital unit of private equity firm Bain Capital, credit card company MasterCard, insurance giant New York Life Insurance Company, and Canadian bank CIBC were four of the company's new investors.
The holding company (DCG) is currently building and supporting the largest early-stage investment portfolio in digital currencies and the blockchain, the underlying technology behind bitcoin.
Silbert, a prominent bitcoin advocate and investor, declined to disclose the amount of funding raised from the new investors.
The other investors in DCG include a range of venture capital firms and family offices such as FirstMark Capital, Novel TMT, Oak HC/FT, RRE Ventures, Solon Mack Capital, and Transamerica Ventures.
Bain, CIBC, New York Life, Mastercard, FirstMark, Novel, Oak, and Transamerica are investing in bitcoin for the first time, Silbert said.
Structuring DCG as a company and not a fund is a strategic business decisions, Silbert said, and the business model is similar to that of Berkshire Hathaway, founded by billionaire investor Warren Buffett.
"Setting it up this way gives us flexibility," said Silbert, in an email to Reuters. "We can start companies, invest in companies, buy companies, etc and it gives us patient, permanent capital."
There is therefore no need to raise a bunch of different funds with different investors, he said, adding that this gives the company the opportunity to go public down the road.
DCG was formed this year with the merger of two SecondMarket Solutions companies: Genesis Global Trading, a bitcoin over-the-counter trading firm, and Grayscale Investments, a digital currency asset management firm that manages the publicly-traded Bitcoin Investment Trust.
SecondMarket, an entity that has helped private companies facilitate trading in their shares, was founded by Silbert. It was acquired last week by Nasdaq Private Market. Financial terms were not provided.
Silbert has invested in some of the biggest bitcoin companies: Coinbase, BitPay, Circle, itBit, Ripple, Xapo, and Coinsetter.
Bitcoin is a virtual currency bought and sold on a peer-to-peer network independent of central control. The digital currency is used for retail purchases and investments. Other virtual currencies include litecoin and dogecoin.
One bitcoin is currently worth around $296.01 on the BitStamp platform.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by David Gregorio) || MarilynJean Interactive (MJMI.QB) Today Announced It Has Entered Into Discussions to Acquire a Share of an Operating Bitcoin Exchange: HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / October 30, 2015 / Owning and operating a Bitcoin exchange would allow MarilynJean to seamlessly integrate the currency conversion functions of both its planned remittance and gaming businesses as well as integrate directly with any Bitcoin ATM's the company installs. A Bitcoin exchange is the central component to a fully integrated transaction with an end user that involves both FIAT (traditional currency) and crypto-currency. A Bitcoin exchange works similarly to a stock exchange. A client deposits funds into an account and effects trades pursuant to buy (bid) or sell (ask) orders which the exchange software matches with orders from other users. Because both the buyer and seller must have the funds or Bitcoins in their accounts prior to the transaction being executed, both sides are protected. Users trade directly, as opposed to through brokers, communicating with the exchange through a standard web browser on a computer or mobile device via a secure connection. The exchange operator often takes a small transaction fee on each trade. While MarilynJean intends to trade through multiple exchanges, including major exchanges Bitstamp and Bitfinex, the reduced settlement times that are available as an exchange owner-operator provide significant advantages in international currency conversion and transfer transactions. Peter Janosi, MJMI's president said: "Being able to integrate the key verticals we are targeting, including remittance, gaming and ATMs with our own Bitcoin exchange has the potential to offer tremendous advantages to our company. We intend to trade through multiple exchanges simultaneously to ensure we offer our customers the best rates at the lowest prices. At the same time time, being able to route transactions through a completely integrated system that we monitor and control will allow us to offer even faster transaction processing and better customer service. We are very excited to be in discussions with a potential partner in the exchange space who shares our focus on security and scalability." Story continues About MJMI MJMI is in the business of providing safe and accessible services for the users of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies. Crypto-currencies are a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. Bitcoin became the first decentralized crypto-currency in 2009. Crypto-currency is produced at a rate which is defined when the system is created and publicly known. By contrast, in centralized banking and economic systems, such as the Federal Reserve System, corporate boards or governments control the supply of currency by printing units or demanding additions to digital banking ledgers. However, neither companies nor governments can produce units of crypto-currency and as such the value of crypto-currencies are completely based on supply and demand, free from any governmental control. Many people believe crypto-currencies, and in particular bitcoin, hold the promise of being the most significant advancement in global finance in modern history. The advent of bitcoin creates a secure, easily accessible and transferable transnational currency that is completely liberated from political influence. MJMI is currently exploring partnerships in several verticals within the crypto-currency space, including the multi-billion dollar remittance market. Management believes that several industries, including both international remittances and online gambling are on the verge of being revolutionized by the use of Bitcoin to effect transactions. MarilynJean Media Interactive is among the first publicly traded companies focused on bitcoin and the crypto-currency space. The company's trading symbol is OCTQB: MJMI. Website: www.marilynjean.com Press Contact: bonnie@mari lynjean.com SOURCE: MarilynJean Media Interactive || SEC Targets Connecticut Bitcoin Companies: The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday charged two Connecticut-based Bitcoin mining companies and their founder with running a Ponzi scheme that defrauds investors.
Homero Joshua Garza allegedly committed the fraud through two companies, one called GAW Miners and the other ZenMiner, by purporting to offer shares of a digital Bitcoin mining operation, according to the SEC’s complaint filed in federal court in Connecticut.
The complaint describes “mining” for Bitcoin or other virtual currencies as applying computer power “to try to solve complex equations that verify a group of transactions in that virtual currency.” The first computer or collection of computers to solve an equation is awarded new units of that virtual currency.
Garza allegedly lied to investors about his companies’ ability to mine for Bitcoin. In a statement, the SEC said GAW Miners and ZenMiner in fact didn’t own enough computing power for the mining they promised to conduct, “so most investors paid for a share of computing power that never existed.”
In classic Ponzi scheme form, returns paid to some investors came from proceeds generated from sales to other investors, according to the SEC.
“As alleged in our complaint, Garza and his companies cloaked their scheme in technological sophistication and jargon, but the fraud was simple at its core: they sold what they did not own, misrepresented what they were selling, and robbed one investor to pay another,” said Paul G. Levenson, director of the SEC’s Boston Regional Office.
The SEC’s complaint charges that from August 2014 to December 2014, Garza and his companies sold $20 million worth of purported shares in a digital mining contract they called a Hashlet.
Investors were misled to believe they would share in returns earned by the Bitcoin mining activities when in reality Garza’s companies “directed little or no computing power toward any mining activity,” according to the SEC.
Garza and his companies allegedly sold far more computing power than they actually owned and paid out daily returns collected from other investors rather than from currency derived from “mining” for currencies. Most Hashlet investors never recovered the full amount of their investments, and few made a profit, the SEC said.
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• The 10 Biggest Strikes in American History || Mobile Attacks More Vicious Than Ever, New Blue Coat Report Shows: SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwired - Oct 28, 2015) - As mobile devices become more deeply woven into the fabric of our personal and work lives, cyber criminals are taking increasingly vicious and disturbingly personal shots at us, according to the 2015 State of Mobile Malware Report from Blue Coat Systems, Inc. , a market leader in enterprise security. Cyber blackmail (mobile ransomware attacks) leads the way as a top malware type in 2015, along with the stealthy insertion of spyware on devices that allows attackers to profile behavior and online habits. The new Blue Coat report, available here , describes the latest trends and vulnerabilities in mobile malware, provides advice for strengthening corporate defenses and educating mobile device users, and offers predictions about the future of mobile threats. "As we sleep, exercise, work and shop with our mobile devices, cyber criminals are waiting to take advantage of the data these devices collect, as evidenced by the types of malware and attacks we're seeing," said Dr. Hugh Thompson, CTO and senior vice president, Blue Coat. "The implications of this nefarious activity certainly carry over to corporate IT as organizations rapidly adopt cloud-based, mobile versions of enterprise applications, opening up another avenue for attackers. A holistic and strategic approach to managing risk must extend the perimeter to mobile and cloud environments -- based on a realistic, accurate look at the problem -- and deploy advanced protections that can prioritize and remediate sophisticated, emerging and unknown threats." Summary of Findings: Pornography returned as the number one threat vector after dropping to number two last year. The three top types of malware in this year's report are Ransomware, Potentially Unwanted Software (PUS), and Information Leakage. The mobile threat landscape is becoming more active. Get Your Cyber Flu Shot: Top Infection Vectors of 2015 1 Pornography Porn isn't just back on top -- it's bigger than ever -- jumping from 16.55 percent in 2014 to over 36 percent this year. That is, when we see a mobile user's traffic heading to a malicious site, 36 percent of the time that user is following a link from a porn site. To put this in some perspective: when porn led the pack in the 2013 report, it was with a market share of just 22.16 percent. 3 WebAds Dropped from almost 20 percent last year (2014) to less than five percent this year. These include both malvertising attacks and sites that host Trojan horse apps designed to appeal to porn site visitors. Blue Coat has also tracked and defined suspicious WebAd networks that are heavily involved in malware, scams, Potentially Unwanted Software (PUS), and other shady activities. Bitcoin Payment Now or Lose Your Smartphone Contents: Top Malware Types of 2015 1 Ransomware The world of mobile ransomware has grown dramatically over the past year. While some varieties that run on Android devices cause little damage beyond convincing victims to pay the cyber hostage-taker, many have adopted more sophisticated approaches common to ransomware in the Windows environment. With the increased performance capabilities of modern smartphones, it was only a matter of time before more advanced cryptographic ransomware, such as SimpleLocker, started showing up on mobile devices. These threats render music files, photographs, videos, and other document types unreadable -- while typically demanding an untraceable form of payment such as Bitcoin -- and employing a strict time limit for payment before the files become permanently inaccessible to the owner. 2 Potentially Unwanted Software Generally, this class of program exhibits behavior typical of "adware" or "spyware" -- spying on users' on-line activity and personal data -- or serving extra ads. Blue Coat researchers have seen a major shift in the volume of such software in the traditional malware space -- and this is also true of the mobile space -- as the number of junk mobile apps hosted on sites the researchers classify in this category has been rising steadily. This type of mobile app, notable for its dubious utility, frequently finds its way onto a mobile device through the use of deceptive advertising, or other social engineering attacks designed to deceive the victim into installing the unwanted program. 3 Information Leakage Most people are unaware that apps on their mobile device may be watching them -- and reporting out -- on a 24x7x365 basis. This information leakage is usually a minor drip, showing the version of their phone's operating system, the manufacturer, the specific app or browser being used, and similar information. Complicating matters is the fact that there are typically no included system tools available for users to see or know what data is going out of their devices. Whether on an Android or iOS device, leaky data is often openly revealed in the "User Agent" string. The Future of Mobile Security: With no signs of slowing down, the market for mobile devices is booming. Anticipating that millions more of these devices will hit the street in the coming years, Blue Coat makes the following observations and predictions about the future of this trend. Story continues 1 Mobile payment systems Mobile payment systems are set to grow, and services including contactless payment methods will incorporate additional security features, such as biometrics or two-factor authentication. 2 Support for traditional PC and mobile platforms There are already too many mobile devices vulnerable to a host of threats in use. These devices will almost certainly not receive needed OS updates, and that will drive a market in security solutions that can support both traditional PC and mobile platforms. 3 OTA updates to vulnerable devices Mobile carriers and handset makers are already working on plans to fast-track critical OTA updates to vulnerable devices, but the work is slow and it may be some time before this segment of the mobile market matures. To download the Blue Coat Mobile Malware report, including tips for staying safe and advice for strengthening corporate defenses, please visit: www.bluecoat.com/mobile-malware About Blue Coat Systems Blue Coat is a leader in advanced enterprise security, protecting 15,000 organizations every day, including 88 of the 100 largest global companies. Through the Blue Coat Security Platform, Blue Coat unites network, security and cloud, providing customers with maximum protection against advanced threats, while minimizing impact on network performance and enabling cloud applications and services. Blue Coat was acquired by Bain Capital in March 2015. For additional information, please visit www.bluecoat.com . Blue Coat and the Blue Coat logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Blue Coat Systems, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. || Match and Square trade, Pepsi invades Empire, and Europeans prepare to fight ISIS: Two more unicorns leave the stable today. Both Square ( SQ ) and Match Group ( MTCH ) priced a bit lower than expected but hit the tickers this morning, trading solidly higher. Other than that, it's a relatively quiet day in the markets ( ^DJI , ^GSPC , ^IXIC ) . Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App Here are some of the other stories Yahoo Finance is keeping an eye on today. Are Europeans prepared to battle ISIS? ISIS recently claimed responsibility for three major terrorist attacks, including those in Paris last week. As the threat of ISIS stretches well beyond Iraq and Syria, it's not clear if European powers will have the military strength to fight ISIS abroad. Yahoo's Rick Newman gives a special report. Pepsi invades Empire Taking product placement to a whole new level, Pepsi ( PEP ) just struck a deal with Fox to make the beverage giant an integral part of three episodes of the hit show Empire. Is this part of a larger trend in an ad-averse world? Frequent flyer miles for Wi-Fi Move over Bitcoins, frequent flyer miles might just be the new currency du jour. United ( UAL ) will soon let you spend your miles on Wi-Fi access on its flights. The move is part of an image campaign that's focusing on improving travelers' experiences instead of trying to shake a few more dollars out of flyers. || Bitcoin exchange Gemini safe and legal: Founders: Bitcoin is often associated with illegal activity and the dark corners of the Internet. But the Winklevoss twins believe their new exchange will help investors get involved with the digital currency safely and legally.
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, famous for their legal spat with Facebook(NASDAQ: FB)founder Mark Zuckerberg, launched bitcoin exchange Gemini on Thursday. While the currency has received criticism for its role in exchanges such as online black market Silk Road, the brothers contend they have established sufficient safeguards to unlock its potential.
"We built with a security mentality from Day One," said Tyler Winklevoss.
Cameron Winklevoss added that Gemini has "the highest regulatory policies and capitalization requirements." The brothers said they implemented background checks and protections against money laundering.
Read MoreNY issues license to Winklevoss bitcoin venture
Specifically, they contended that their platform gives hedge funds and market makers a secure platform to dive into the digital currency.
Tyler Winklevoss also touched on Facebook, saying it is a "great company" and Zuckerberg deserves credit for its growth and success.
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• Personal Finance || Why the price of bitcoin is skyrocketing again: The price of Bitcoin, the world's most popular virtual, digital currency, is on the rise again. After trading in a range of $200 to $250 for most of the year, the price of one Bitcoin shot up to $500 this week, although it has since fallen back to $392 on Thursday. A great surge to $1,000 at the end of 2013 ended in disaster for investors as the currency lost three-quarters of its value in ensuing months. But what's behind the latest rally and will it stick? Here are three possible explanations: Perhaps questionable Chinese interest As often happens with bitcoin price surges, a lot of the trading is coming out of China. And there is a social financial network called MMM Global growing massively in China that requires users to buy bitcoin and share it around with other members. The Financial Times has said MMM has elements typical of pyramid schemes . The site was founded by a former Russian legislator who was jailed for fraud over a pyramid scheme he operated in the 1990s. China has also tightened capital controls recently , making it harder for its citizens to send money abroad. Some bitcoin buying may be related to efforts to get around the crackdown. Growing legitimate business interest At the Money 20/20 conference last week, many companies announced new bitcoin-based services . The Nasdaq ( NDAQ ), for example, will be recording transactions in private stocks using bitcoin's public ledger, known as the blockchain. And Mastercard ( MA ) joined the long list of establishment institutions investing in bitcoin startups. And, two weeks ago, the European Union's top court agreed that virtual currencies like bitcoin can be traded like established currencies without triggering taxes applied to sales of goods and services. Past rallies have been linked with speculative bets that these kinds of deals and rulings would popularize the cryptocurrency and lead to greater demand which would push up the price. Jamie Dimon The always opinionated CEO of JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ) says bitcoin has no future -- governments will shut it down, he said at Fortune's Global Forum on Wednesday. “Virtual currency, where it’s called a bitcoin vs. a U.S. dollar, that’s going to be stopped,” Dimon said. Coming from the the guy who bought Bear Stearns and WaMu and missed those billions of dollars of crazy trades by the London Whale, Dimon's remarks may be attracting contrarians to bet against the big bank CEO. Probably not many, but with bitcoin, you never know. || DAN LOEB: These 5 fears have 'overwhelmed' the market: Dan Loeb (Reuters / Steve Markus) Daniel Loeb, founder and CEO of Third Point. Activist investor Daniel Loeb, the founder of Third Point, laid out five fears that have "overwhelmed" the market in his third-quarter investor letter: "A weakening China, where the new question is not whether but how severe the slowdown of the world's foremost growth machine will be. In August, we saw for the first time the limits of the Chinese government's ability to manipulate the economy as animal spirits triumphed over central planning. While the situation has stabilized somewhat since, the downside scenario for China seems more intimidating than ever before; "Janet Yellen may have inadvertently checked herself and the Fed into the Hotel California. It is increasingly difficult to see how the Fed can justify raising rates in 2015, particularly considering recent employment weakness in the U.S. (an unwelcome surprise) and similar softness in manufacturing figures. Unlike the concerns that weighed on the Committee earlier in the year — that a rate hike might damage the fragile environment outside of the U.S. — recent data undermining consensus U.S. growth assumptions requires different analysis. If the U.S. consumer is weaker than had previously been believed, the Fed needs to be careful not to push the world into a recession. Ms. Yellen cannot afford to get this wrong; "With 2016 looming on the horizon, market participants see some inexperienced, unserious candidates leading on the GOP side and economically unfriendly Democrats on the other. Republicans in the House are now also deeply divided and relying on Paul Ryan's leadership to pull them back from the brink. None of this increases market confidence; "The Middle East is in shambles; a situation spilling over increasingly into Europe with potentially far-reaching consequences for both regions; "Investors feel there is no longer a monetary safety net, as a tidal shift in fund flows from central banks has removed the 'Fed put', creating headwinds instead of tailwinds." Story continues Third Point fell 8.9% in the third quarter, while the S&P 500 fell 6.4%. Third Point was down 4.5% for the first nine months of the year, while the S&P fell 5.3% in that same period. As a group, activist investors — who take large positions in companies and agitate for shareholder-friendly changes — were among the most publicized losers in the third quarter, according to performance data from HSBC. Names such as Greenlight Capital, Glenview Capital, Pershing Square, and Marcato got bruised, according to HSBC. In the letter, dated October 30, Loeb noted that short selling has become more attractive. He currently has more single short names than longs in his portfolio. He still has significant positions in the fund's "highest conviction, event-rich names." "The conviction to keep and add to our core healthcare names during the sell-off enabled us to re-establish ourselves on positive footing this month," he wrote. NOW WATCH: Everyday phrases that even smart people say incorrectly More From Business Insider Bitcoin hit a new high for 2015 Wall Street is going to listen in to Bill Ackman defend his Valeant investment Valeant's largest shareholder: 'It hurts' || Banks expected to adopt new technologies rather than be overrun: NEW YORK (Reuters) - New technology firms are battering all kinds of companies, but banks will remain as financial intermediaries, due to the regulations and duties governments have put on them, says a proponent of the technology behind the bitcoin cryptocurrency. "Regulation keeps them in place. Regulation requires them to perform certain functions," said Mark Smith, chief executive of Symbiont.io, a startup that has emerged from Bitcoin 2.0 and MathMoney f(x) Inc to build a securities trading platform using blockchain technology like that behind bitcoin. Smith predicted that big banks, such as JPMorgan Chase & Co, would adopt new technologies to cut costs for back offices that process loans and match buyers and sellers of securities. "A massive amount of infrastructure just goes away," said Smith, who was speaking on Thursday in a panel discussion held by Thomson Reuters on innovation and disruption in financial services. New competitors are coming into banking from Silicon Valley, JPMorgan's chief executive, Jamie Dimon, warned bank shareholders this year. But he also said JPMorgan had much to learn from them and might enter partnerships with some. JPMorgan worked with Apple Inc on last year's launch of the Apple Pay application for making credit and debit card payments with smartphones. Last month the bank said it would also operate a rival digital wallet called Chase Pay. Later, Smith said his firm expected to sell tools to big banks for securities trading by customers. "We are a disrupter and an enabler as well," he added. Another panel member, Sam Shrauger, senior vice president of digital solutions at card and payments company Visa Inc, said that while cash and paper check transactions give way to electronic messages, "that's not going to change the overarching way that we move money." (Reporting by David Henry in New York; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 11 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $138.84 #bitcoin #btc || BTCTurk 976.58 TL BTCe 332.4 $ CampBx $ BitStamp 362.38 $ Cavirtex 466.33 $ CEXIO 343.00 $ Bitcoin.de 322.03 € #Bitcoin #btc || Current price: 339.52€ $BTCEUR $btc #bitcoin 2015-11-06 11:00:04 CET || Current value of DOGE in BTC: BTER: 0.00000037 -- Volume: 11445618.07 Today's trend: up at 11/06/15 00:55 || Current price: 187.27£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2015-10-25 22:00:05 GMT || Current price: 248.97$ $BTCUSD $btc #bitcoin 2015-10-14 00:20:02 EDT || $388.00 at 22:45 UTC [24h Range: $364.37 - $448.79 Volume: 68066 BTC] || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 9 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $9.73 #bitcoin #btc || Current price: 239.71£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2015-12-03 22:00:05 GMT || Current price: 219.89€ $BTCEUR $btc #bitcoin 2015-10-06 21:00:04 CEST
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Trend: up || Prices: 388.95, 388.78, 395.54, 415.56, 417.56, 415.48, 451.94, 435.00, 433.76, 444.18
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2018-06-26]
BTC Price: 6093.67, BTC RSI: 32.46
Gold Price: 1256.60, Gold RSI: 25.16
Oil Price: 70.53, Oil RSI: 61.75
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
A Big Decision Is Fast-Approaching for This Rare-Disease Drugmaker: BioMarin(NASDAQ: BMRN), amassively successfulrare-disease drugmaker that's already won six FDA approvals, is expected to find out this week if the FDA will gives it a seventh victory. The regulatory decision on pegvaliase, a new treatment for phenylketonuria, or PKU, has big implications for the company and its investors, so let's take a closer look.
PKU is a rare genetic disease caused by an inability to break down phenylalanine, an amino acid. Diagnosed in childhood, PKU patients can accumulate toxic levels of phenylalanine in the brain, especially if their diet includes protein-rich foods or foods containing aspartame, an artificial sweetener.
IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.
A buildup of phenyalanine can cause damage to nerve cells in the brain, resulting in irreversible brain damage, developmental delays, and neurological problems, including seizure.
Typically, patients with PKU are identified at birth (all 50 states in the U.S. require PKU screening), and when cases are diagnosed, treatment involves dietary restriction and, sometimes, BioMarin's prescription drug, Kuvan -- a pharmaceutical version of a natural substance, BH4, that reduces phenyalanine levels in the blood by breaking it down.
Approved in 2007, Kuvan generated $408 million in sales last year,up 19%from 2016, and that was good enough to make it BioMarin's second-highest-selling drug behind Vimizim, an enzyme replacement therapy for Morquio A syndrome (MPS IVA) with $413 million in sales in 2017.
Despite Kuvan's commercial success, it only works in between 30% to 50% of PKU patients, and only 1,900 of the roughly 50,000 people on the planet with PKU are taking it, most of whom are children. Pegvaliase is under consideration for use in adults, and according to BioMarin, that's an addressable patient population of 33,000, including about 12,000 patients in the United States.
The company hasn't settled on pricing for pegvaliase yet, but they've said they expect it to cost moderately more than Kuvan, which costs $150,000 per year. The size of the addressable market, and a potential six-figure price tag, suggests pegvaliase peak sales could be above $1 billion someday.
It may take time for it to become a blockbuster, though. A potent medicine, it will take between four to six months for patients to get titrated up to a full dose of pegvaliase.
Pegvaliase may cannibalize some of Kuvan's sales, but Kuvan's use in children should still make it a top-seller for the company until generic competition arrives.
So far, two companies have filed abbreviated new drug applications (ANDA) with the FDA indicating plans to launch generics. Initially, BioMarin responded with patent infringement lawsuits, but eventually, it agreed to licensing deals that allow generic Kuvan to become available as soon as October 2020.
Ahead of that potential threat, BioMarin plans to initiate human trials next year for a gene therapy that may restore production of the enzyme that's missing in PKU patients. Currently, that gene therapy is in the pre-clinical stages, but management has said that its analysis has shown durability for the therapy that's stretched out to 53 weeks. The potential for a one-and-done gene therapy in this indication would undeniably be the Holy Grail for patients and the company.
Although there's a need for additional treatment options in PKU, there's no guarantee that the FDA will approve pegvaliase. The FDA could decide it wants to see longer-term safety data first, or it could determine that the efficacy associated with reducing phenyalanine levels alone isn't sufficient. Given that a no-go vote from the FDA could weigh heavily on shares in the short term, risk-averse investors ought to play it conservative and wait and see what the FDA decides to do.
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Todd Campbellhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. His clients may have positions in the companies mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends BioMarin Pharmaceutical. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Crude Oil Price Update – Breakout Over $69.97 or Closing Price Reversal Top?: Crude oil futures rallied to a new multi-year high last week as speculators continued to bet the U.S. will walk away from the Iran nuclear deal when the deadline for the decision hits on May 12. Gains could be limited, however, by concerns over rising U.S. production, which should continue to rise along with the U.S. rig count.
Last week,June West Texas Intermediate crude oilsettled at $69.72, up $1.62 or +2.38%.
The main trend is up according to the weekly swing chart. The trend isn’t close to turning down, but the market is in the window of time for a potentially bearish closing price reversal top, or higher-high, lower-close. This chart pattern, however, will take the entire week to form.
A trade through $69.97 will signal a resumption of the uptrend. If this move creates enough upside momentum, we could see a spike into the major 50% level at $72.86.
The first sign of weakness will be a move through $69.97 then a break back under last week’s close at $69.72.
On the downside, the nearest support is a pair of 50% levels at $63.63 and $62.84.
Based on last week’s close at $69.72, the direction of the crude oil market will be determined by trader reaction to $69.97.
Taking out $69.97 will signal the presence of buyers. If this move generates enough upside momentum then look for a possible surge into $72.86.
Taking out $69.97 then turning lower for the week will put the market in a position to form a potentially bearish closing price reversal top.
The inability to take out $69.97 will indicate the presence of buyers and that they are defending last week’s high. This is likely to occur if investors start to doubt the U.S. will leave the Iran nuclear deal.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Natural Gas Price Fundamental Daily Forecast – Downside Bias Building With Near-Term Targets at $2.691, $2.660 and $2.650 || Chinese bitcoin mining gear makers set sights on world's largest bitcoin IPOs: By Fiona Lau and Jennifer Hughes HONG KONG (Reuters) - Two Chinese bitcoin mining equipment makers are set to test international investor appetite for cryptocurrencies with plans to raise as much as $1 billion each - in what are expected to be the world's largest bitcoin-focused floats to date. Canaan Creative has applied to the Hong Kong stock exchange for an IPO while Zhejiang Ebang Communication has started working with advisers on a Hong Kong float, according to IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication. While the price of bitcoin (BTC=BTSP) has tumbled 35 percent this year and Beijing has tightened its grip on trade in the virtual currency, equipment makers are still hungry for capital to fund growth and to meet still robust demand for their machines. Both are seeking as much as $1 billion, IFR said, which would dwarf other known listings for crytopcurrency firms. Canaan Creative declined to comment. Ebang could not be immediately reached for comment. Canaan estimates it supplies a quarter of the world's bitcoin blockchain computing power, according to a Reuters interview last month with co-chairman Jianping Kong, who also expects China's push to promote its domestic chip industry to help drive growth for the company. Ebang delisted from China's National Equities Exchange and Quotations, also known as the New Third Board, this year after announcing in January that it would seek a Hong Kong listing. While many companies promote links to bitcoin and, more commonly, blockchain - the distributed ledger technology that underpins bitcoin - few that focus on the cryptocurrency have listed publicly. In Australia, DigitalBTC went public via a backdoor listing in 2014 when it merged with Macro Energy, an investing group in a deal which raised A$9.1 million ($6.8 million). The company later changed its name to DigitalX (DCC.AX) and switched its focus from bitcoin to fintech software. Another miner, Bitcoin Group, withdrew its Sydney listing plans in 2016 after the local regulator questioned whether it would have sufficient working capital to be a going concern. In Canada, Leeta Gold, a mineral exploration company, renamed itself Hive Blockchain (HIVE.V) last summer and partnered with Hong Kong-based Genesis Mining on a bitcoin mining facility in Iceland. It has a market capitalization of $333 million. Canaan was valued at about $500 million in mid-2017 according to one source cited by IFR. The valuation for its IPO has yet to be set due to a lack of companies to compare it to and fluctuating prices of cryptocurrencies, IFR quoted sources as saying. Story continues Credit Suisse, CMB International, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley are joint sponsors for Canaan's float, IFR added. Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank declined to comment. The other banks did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bitcoin mining equipment makers make computers with special chips that mine the coins more efficiently than more mainstream chips made by companies such as Intel. (Reporting by Fiona Lau at IFR and Jennifer Hughes; Additional reporting by Sijia Jiang, Alun John and Julie Zhu; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Edwina Gibbs) View comments || ConocoPhillips Could Be About to Get a Big Cash Infusion: According to a recent report byReuters,ConocoPhillips(NYSE: COP)has held talks with investment banks about helping the company unload its stake inCenovus Energy(NYSE: CVE). That sale could net the oil giant more than $2 billion in cash, which would bolster its already sizable cash war chest and give it more money to allocate in creating value for investors.
ConocoPhillips initially acquired its stake in Cenovus Energy last year, when it sold several oil and gas properties to the Canadian company for $13.3 billion in cash and stock. Overall, ConocoPhillips received $10.6 billion in cash and 208 million shares of Cenovus stock, which was worth about $2.7 billion at that time. ConocoPhillips used the initial cash infusion to repay debt and buy back billions of dollars in its stock. Those moves helped drive its share price up nearly 50% since it announced the deal.
Image source: Getty Images.
Cenovus' stock, on the other hand, has headed in the opposite direction since the deal's announcement due to concerns about the amount of debt it took on to complete the transaction. While Cenovus has tried to ease those fears by selling other assets, shares are still down about 30%, though that is a significant improvement from the bottom.
Because shares haven't fully recovered, ConocoPhillips' stake in Cenovus is worth around $2 billion based on the recent share price. However, the company would likely need to sell shares at a discount to the current price to find enough takers for what would be one of the biggest stock sales in Canada this year. While ConocoPhillips could make more money if it waited longer, or sold shares in phases, the company has made it clear in the past that it has no intention of being a long-term investor in Cenovus. Because of that, now is a decent time to consider cashing out since shares have bounced from the bottom.
ConocoPhillips ended the first quarter with $5 billion of cash on its balance sheet after paying off another $2.7 billion in debt during the quarter. While the company announced plans to use some of that money to pay off another $1.75 billion in debt, and it just closed a $400 million acquisition in Alaska, it has more cash coming. Not only is it generating excess cash from operations, but the oil giant recently received the final installment of an arbitration award from Ecuador as well as the first distribution from its investment in APLNG. Meanwhile, the company is also working to collect a $2 billion arbitration award from Venezuela.
With all of the money it has on the balance sheet and coming into its coffers, ConocoPhillips faces an interesting dilemma if it does decide to sell its stake in Cenovus. The company has few options for that excess cash since it has repeatedlystatedit has no plans to boost capital spending above the current level, and it will soon hit its long-term debt reduction goal. As a result, the company's only remaining options are to let the money sit on its balance sheet, use it to make acquisitions, or return it to investors. Unless the company finds another unbeatable deal like its Alaskan purchase, the most likely option of the three is to send this money back to investors. It would probably do that by further expanding its share repurchase program beyond the $2 billion it already plans to spend this year, which is already $500 million higher than its initial guidance.
Even though ConocoPhillips doesn't need the money, it looks as though the oil giant is getting ready to unload its shares in Cenovus Energy. Given the company's financial discipline and strong balance sheet, it doesn't have much use for that money, which increases the likelihood that it will send the money back to investors by repurchasing more of its undervalued stock. That incremental buyback could help push shares up even higher, which is why it still looks like acompelling oil stock to consider buying.
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Matthew DiLalloowns shares of ConocoPhillips. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Applied Materials Investors Are Missing the Forest for the Trees: The market was quick to bring out the knives after Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) released mixed-bag fiscal second-quarter results in mid-May. Investors apparently ignored the company's terrific top- and bottom-line growth, while letting concerns about slowing smartphone sales and the company's tepid guidance dent their confidence. However, on taking a closer look at Applied Materials' results and outlook, it becomes clear that the market is missing the bigger picture. Processor on an integrated circuit. Image Source: Getty Images. Slowing smartphone sales shouldn't rock the boat Applied Materials CEO Gary Dickerson said during the quarterly conference call with investors that smartphone sales, especially sales of high-end models, have been tracking below expectations. As such, demand for critical smartphone equipment such as displays has been waning, forcing chipmakers that buy fabrication equipment from Applied Materials to put their investments on hold. According to Godlman Sachs, the slow uptake of high-end smartphone models equipped with OLED displays has pushed out the capacity addition of related equipment from 2021 to 2023. As a result, Applied Materials' display-equipment sales are expected to drop 15% to 20% next year, a sharp decline compared to this year's expectation of a 30% jump. There's no doubt that this will weigh on the company's finances in the near-term. But it shouldn't rock the boat much from a longer-term perspective, as display equipment accounted for just over 13% of Applied Materials' total sales last quarter. Instead, it's important to focus on the elephant in the room: the company's semiconductor systems business, which supplies nearly two-thirds of its total revenue. The big play Applied Materials' semiconductor systems revenue shot up nearly 25% in the latest quarter thanks to multiple catalysts. The company supplies fabrication equipment to key verticals, including foundries that manufacture chips, DRAM (dynamic random access memory), and flash memory, and all of these products are on the cusp of rapid long-term growth. For instance, NAND flash demand and DRAM memory demand are forecast to increase at an annual rate of 35% and 20%, respectively, for the next three years, driven by emerging tech trends such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and the proliferation of data centers. Data centers, in fact, could become a bigger market for DRAM than smartphones. Applied Materials estimates that server-driven DRAM demand is increasing 75% faster than mobile-related demand, so it could become the largest DRAM segment in the next three to five years. Not surprisingly, DRAM manufacturers have been stepping up capital investments to meet the surge in demand. Story continues Samsung , for instance, is reportedly going to spend $12 billion to add a new DRAM production line in South Korea's Pyeongtaek. Micron is also ramping capacity with a new Singapore facility that recently broke ground. Looking ahead, Applied Materials' foundry customers can be expected to spend more money on capital equipment as they work to meet the IoT and automotive-driven chip demand. Grand View Research estimates that demand for automotive chips will increase at a steady annual pace of 10.7% through 2025, while IoT chip demand will rise at a much faster annual rate of 15% for the next five years. As such, investors need not be fixated on slowing smartphone demand, as there are other catalysts that could step in. An enticing bet The solid prospects of Applied Materials' semiconductor systems business will boost its bottom line in the long run thanks to a higher margin profile. The segment's non- GAAP operating margin shot up 170 basis points year over year last quarter to 37.2%, way higher than the non-GAAP operating margins of its other two segments, which were sub-30%. Not surprisingly, the consistent growth of semiconductor systems has been a boon for Applied Materials' earnings over the quarters. Period Q1 2017 Q2 2017 Q3 2017 Q4 2017 Q1 2018 Q2 2018 Net income (in $millions) $732 $861 $927 $1,005 $1,135 $1,273 Semiconductor Systems operating margin 34.2% 35.5% 36.3% 34.8% 36.6% 37.2% Data source: Applied Material. Analysts expect Applied Materials' earnings to increase at a compound annual growth rate of over 18% for the next five years. What's more, investors can enjoy this anticipated growth without having to pay too much, as the stock trades at just 11 times forward earnings, which is less than half of the 23.7x industry average. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Harsh Chauhan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . View comments || What Happened in the Stock Market Today: Stocks fell after the Trump administration announced that tariffs will be imposed on U.S. allies. TheDow Jones Industrial Average(DJINDICES: ^DJI)was hit harder than the broaderS&P 500(SNPINDEX: ^GSPC).
[{"Index": "Dow", "Percentage Change": "(1.02%)", "Point Change": "(251.94)"}, {"Index": "S&P 500", "Percentage Change": "(0.69%)", "Point Change": "(18.74)"}]
Data source: Yahoo! Finance.
Export-dependent industrial stocks were especially affected by trade concerns; theIndustrial Select SPDR ETF(NYSEMKT: XLI)dropped 1.5%. Retail stocks also suffered today, with theSPDR S&P Retail ETF(NYSEMKT: XRT)losing 1.9%.
As for individual stocks,General Motors(NYSE: GM)had a big gain after announcing an outside investment in its autonomous vehicle unit, andBox(NYSE: BOX)fell on concerns about future growth.
Image source: Getty Images.
Shares of General Motors jumped 12.9% afterthe company announcedthat the SoftBank Vision Fund will invest $2.25 billion in GM Cruise, the company's self-driving car subsidiary. The fund, one of several venture capital funds run by Japan'sSoftBank Group, will invest $900 million in GM Cruise at the closing of the transaction and will invest the remaining $1.35 billion when Cruise autonomous vehicles are ready for commercial deployment.
The two tranches of investments will give SoftBank a 19.6% equity stake in GM Cruise, meaning the deal values the business at $11.5 billion. GM will also put up another $1.1 billion of investment in GM Cruise at the close of the transaction.
The immediate benefit of the deal to GM shareholders is that it put a hefty, private-equity valuation on the autonomous vehicle business that GMbought in early 2016for an undisclosed price that was rumored to be around $1 billion. The deal now values GM's 80.4% share of GM Cruise at $9.2 billion, over 15% of the company's market capitalization today.
The longer-term benefit may lie in the opportunities the SoftBank investment may open up in the future. SoftBank is now Uber's biggest investor, is partnered with taxi-hailing service Didi Chuxing, and owns stakes in other alternative transportation ventures. SoftBank founder and chief executive Masayoshi Son is well-known for bringing together start-ups to promote cooperation and synergies.
Cloud content management company Box reported fiscal 2019 first-quarter results that were consistent with analyst expectations, but concerns about future growth caused the stock to slump 7.6%. Revenue grew 19.9% to $140.5 million and non-GAAPnet loss per share was $0.07, compared with a per-share loss of $0.13 in the period a year earlier. Analysts were expecting the company to lose $0.08 on revenue of $139.6 million.
Box reported deferred revenue of $286.9 million, a year-over-year increase of 28%, and a 17% increase in billings. The company added about 3,000 new paying customers in the quarter for a total of 85,000, about 15% more than last year at this time.
Looking forward, Box expects full-year revenue of $603 million to $608 million, or growth of 19.2% to 20.2%, compared with 27% top-line growth last fiscal year, and a non-GAAP loss per share of between $0.16 and $0.19 for fiscal 2019.
Both results and guidance were consistent with expectations, but investors were evidently hoping for more. Analysts on the call were not impressed with either billings or customer growth. Box said that net retention rate -- the annual change in total account value of existing customers -- is "stabilizing" between 108% and 112%, yet the current customer base is expected to provide the majority of sales growth through the addition of seats.
Deceleration of revenue growththis year was anticipated, but the reality of slowing customer additions and growth rates below 20% with no credible story about how that could improve going forward discouraged Box shareholders today.
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Jim Crumlyhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Blockchain: What comes first? An Opportunity or a Threat: Blockchain, with time, has gained a momentum in the technological debate since 2016. First came Bitcoin (in terms of debate), then came Ethereum, Blockchain followed and now, every other Linkedin update announces an ICO launch or an exchange. So, what allowed these ongoing controversial talks? Performance, and the unexpected promise of decentralized Technology-Power by the people and for the people. However, the world took time to understand that Bitcoin was a cryptocurrency powered by Blockchain, but it did not take time, for the Governments and the Banks to sense the threat; a threat to their decades of established control.
No doubt, Blockchain represents an important opportunity to revolutionize payments, supply chains, and revenue streams but it is also true that there are several unknown risks for both organizations and governments. What business leaders fail to understand is the actual grip of this emerging technology, which, does require an explaining!
The adoption of IoT (Internet of Things):
The blend of physical and digital worlds, IoT has been around some time now; 2017 saw around 31% increase in IoT connected devices, i.e. around 8 billion, according to an analysis firm,Gartner. This is set to reach 20 billion connected devices by the end of 2020. Now, since IoT is not the only serious technology on the run, accounting backbone, blockchain technology is capable to fix one big problem of IoT, i.e.security infrastructure.
In addition to the security fix, IoT can now expand its capabilities, that is ensuring areliable and fast connection. Means, that in so many ways, Blockchain and IoT are a perfect pair. Blockchain’s inevitable decentralized network and embedded smart contracts are the significant solutions for IoT security concerns. Let’s have a look at the benefits of convergence of IoT and Blockchain:
1. Flexible and new jobs in organizations
2. Real-time data analysis and aids
3. Revised customer experience
4. Intelligent machines with a capability of automating tasks
5. Reduction of waste in the supply chain
6. New jobs in flexible organizations
According to me, Blockchain and IoT will be the best of friends in the coming 5 years.
Streamlining business across borders:
To define Blockchain in terms of business; it is a facilitator of automated tracking of every single transaction. Having a potential of at least partially automating accounting and compliance, Blockchain has opened doors to a more transparent auditing, further connecting industries with new global customers, an aim every industry pledges for.
According to Fay Shong, who is the Oil & Gas Strategy Leader of EnY, quotes:“Blockchain has increasing relevance to the oil and gas industry as a mechanism to reduce operating cost. Even more relevant, however, is blockchain’s ability to transform the contracting process given its aptitude to provide a secure form of collaboration across multiple parties”
He continues to mention:“As the oil and gas industry increasingly leverages sensor technology across upstream and downstream assets, the ability for blockchain to store transactions and accounting data directly on these devices can compress process time by connecting assets directly to services contracts.”
Not only this, Blockchain, which was originally created to power cryptocurrencies, can also forge a system of a brand new foreign exchange which can reduce the additional costs involved in doing cross-border business.
Commerce and Government:
The whole framework of global commerce presents a clean opportunity for blockchain implementation. The blockchain is more convincing in this sector as it has a power to create a borderless network architecture, which can enable cross-border transactions instantly. The best part is that it can remove thenow-necessary and tiring stepsof several approvals. In short, the whole cost of trust that is now heavy on commerce industry can be dropped. Removal of middlemen, transaction fees of SWIFT and delays can materially diminish.
Moving towards the Governments, which are always charged with a host of duties and responsibilities can be now (finally) be discharged for the benefit of citizens. How? Blockchain can be used for safeguarding state and financial services, also assist in establishing unique identity management systems, enable safe document processing, and secure transmission of sensitive information. Sinceefficiencyis the main problem Governments face, and painfully, all the potential progress is slowed down by bureaucratic red-tape, Blockchain can eliminate countless man hours and create a digital ledger of secured information which will be untouched and uncorrupted.
Dealing with the consistent Disruption:
Information is power and Blockchain has a huge potential to increase the amount of information available. New leaders will find a way to access this hidden information packed in forms of data and further analyze it, which will always be at a risky game. Since Blockchain disruptions are already happening, no denying in that; it cannot be entirely assured that it is secure and unhackable which means that the probability of a hack and data exploitation is undoubtedly high.
Since Blockchain is still fragile yet powerfully promising at this stage, industry leaders feel their current dominant positions as challenged. Coming to the most plausible part, Blockchain – a provider of an automation system built exclusively for reserving authenticity of businesses, is capable of making many career paths obsolete eventually creating new ones for the generations to come.
Chances of outside attacks are more than half:
Since Blockchain is so far theoretically enduring; meaning, the past records lying on the whole network is incorruptible, the chances of the whole network to increase in size is evidently high. However, not all Blockchain application needs to be established on a large scale network; this alone fact unlocks the probability of an outside attack by a good 51%. Speaking technically, a 51% attack is a situation where a group of nodes that controls a 51% hashing power of the entire Blockchain network; a simple code manipulation can ruin the whole network. The consequence of the same is a recipe for disaster.
Blockchain and Environmental regulation:
The whole Blockchain implementation requires several systems located at different places owing to its decentralized rule, this alone, contributes to the fact that a lot of electricity is required to power it. Since the whole Bitcoin network is already utilizing tons of energy, this burden will eventually become considerable and later debatable. A large-scale implementation of Blockchain will soon invite a lot of opposition from world leaders and that day won’t be far, where ugly politics gets woven in it.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Oil Price Fundamental Daily Forecast – Two-Sided Movement Until OPEC Decision on June 22 || Tesla Remains Dead Set on Achieving Profitability: In 2018, electric-car company Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) set out to go from producing about 100,000 vehicles annually to building hundreds of thousands of vehicles per year. To do this, Tesla would ramp-up production of its 2017-launched Model 3 -- its most affordable vehicle yet. But there are some steep costs involved in growing production capacity and increasing the size of Tesla's sales, service, and charging network to support rapid growth in vehicle deliveries. This has led to significant cash burn and big losses. To remedy this, Tesla CEO Elon Musk started taking steps earlier this year to do whatever it takes to achieve profitability . Now Tesla is continuing in this direction in one of its biggest cost-cutting measures yet. An overhead view of vehicle production at Tesla's factory in Fremont, California. Tesla vehicle production. Image source: author. Tesla cuts its workforce by 9% As part of a planned company restructuring that Musk first made light of during Tesla's first-quarter earnings call, Musk sent a letter to employees this week announcing Tesla was cutting about 9% of its employees. Tesla has grown and evolved rapidly over the past several years, which has resulted in some duplication of roles and some job functions that, while they made sense in the past, are difficult to justify today. As part of this effort, and the need to reduce costs and become profitable, we have made the difficult decision to let go of approximately 9% of our colleagues across the company. Importantly, Musk said there weren't any production associates eliminated, "so this will not affect our ability to reach Model 3 production targets in the coming months." With this restructuring aimed squarely at helping Tesla achieve sustainable profitability, it builds on efforts earlier this year to be "far more rigorous" about expenditures. Difficult, but necessary Tesla reorg under way. My email to the company has already leaked to media. Here it is unfiltered: pic.twitter.com/4LToWoxScx Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 12, 2018 Tesla said in its first-quarter shareholder letter that it expected to report positive net income and positive cash flow in both its third and fourth quarter of 2018. But to achieve this, Tesla said Model 3 production would need to ramp-up to a level of 5,000 units per week. With less than a month until its third quarter starts, Musk reaffirmed the company's expectation to achieve these production and profitability targets during Tesla's annual shareholder meeting earlier this month. Story continues Why achieving profitability is so important Without becoming sustainably profitable, Tesla will have to continue habitually raising capital through debt or equity, as it has done in the past . Raising debt would increase business risk and raising equity would dilute shareholder ownership. A red Model 3 driving at sunset. Model 3. Image source: Tesla. Costs for ramping up Model 3 production have been steep. Capital expenditures soared from $1.3 billion in 2016 to $3.4 billion in 2017 -- an increase management said was primarily attributable to purchases of property and equipment mainly for Model 3 production. And Tesla expects to spend slightly under $3 billion on capital expenditures in 2018. On the same note, Tesla reported a record net loss in its first quarter of 2018, losing $784 million -- far wider than its $397 million loss in the year-ago quarter. As Tesla ramps up Model 3 production and steps up initiatives to reduce costs, management will need to prove its restructured business can continue growing rapidly while achieving and then sustaining profitability. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Daniel Sparks owns shares of Tesla. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || US dollar choppy against the Canadian dollar during the week: The US dollarhas gone back and forth during the week, testing the 1.29 handle. The market looks likely to continue to be back and forth action more than anything else, as I see the 1.2750 level underneath as support. I think that the 1.30 level above is resistance, and I think there is a lot of resistance starting at the 1.29 level that will be very difficult to break above. I think a short-term pullback is possible, but I think that given enough time the buyers will return. Interest rates United States continuing to grind higher could also drive this market to the upside, even though we have oil markets showing signs of strength over all.
If we were to break down below the 1.2750 level, the market is likely to go looking towards the 1.25 handle underneath, a level that of course has a lot of psychological support, and of course there is an uptrend line underneath that should keep this market somewhat afloat as well. I think that the pullbacks will continue to be buying opportunities, but with the real prize would be is a break above the 1.31 handle. If we get that, the market can rise much farther, as the next target would be 1.38 or so. A breakdown below the uptrend line underneath would be catastrophic for this pair, as this trend line goes back several years. I do believe that we go higher though, there are far too many issues with the Canadian housing economy and of course raising interest rates in America should dictate higher pricing.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• British pound brakes major weekly uptrend line || Bitcoin Cash evangelist accused of joyriding stolen armored vehicle in Virginia: Of course it was Bitcoin Cash . The man accused of stealing a military armored vehicle in Virginia on Tuesday and joyriding it 60 miles before being arrested is passionate about more than just living his life a quarter-mile at a time. A quick glance at his Twitter account also shows him to be a Bitcoin Cash evangelist. SEE ALSO: This rap song tries to explain bitcoin cash and is ridiculously great That's right, he's all about what Bitcoin Cash supporters (and practically no one else even Amazon's Alexa has dunked on Bitcoin Cash ) insist is the "real bitcoin." You may have caught video of the chase on social media. It was quite a thing to behold. This is INSANE! Someone has hijacked a Tank-like vehicle from Fort Pickett and just drove it by our apartment! This is on Broad Street in the Fan. pic.twitter.com/EYfhFux1dk Parker Slaybaugh (@ParkerSlay89) June 6, 2018 According to the Associated Press , the man accused of stealing the vehicle from the National Guard base at Fort Pickett in Blackstone is none other than the 29-year-old Joshua Philip Yabut. The AP also reports that Yabut was tweeting before the incident. "Hours before the vehicle drove off the base, an account confirmed by the Guard as Yabut's tweeted a Wikipedia entry about the M113 armored personnel carrier, which is similar to the M577 vehicle police chased, and a screenshot of a map around the area where the vehicle eventually stopped," notes the AP report. "He wrote a series of odd tweets Tuesday, including: 'where is this damn water buffalo' 'all i wanna do is get an anime wife' and 'wow I think I just discovered a large illegal spy operation in the us government.'" Story continues Let's take a look at what appears to be his Twitter account. pic.twitter.com/yJlkzkEYrb Joshua [BCH] (@movrcx) June 5, 2018 And just so you know we're not trying to pin these hijinks on an innocent BCH fan, here are a bunch of the tweets the AP says were confirmed by the National Guard to have come from his account. all i wanna do is get an anime wife Joshua [BCH] (@movrcx) June 5, 2018 where is this damn water buffalo Joshua [BCH] (@movrcx) June 5, 2018 pic.twitter.com/iNig6ZpmqP Joshua [BCH] (@movrcx) June 5, 2018 A quick glance through the account shows that Yabut had more on his mind than anime wives. Specifically, that aforementioned sweet sweet Bitcoin Cash. tryna explain to my gf why i support bitcoin cash (the holiest chain) Joshua [BCH] (@movrcx) December 15, 2017 @Alvizier have u guys heard about bitcoin cash? Joshua [BCH] (@movrcx) June 1, 2018 i will send you one bitcoin cash if you get a tattoo of craig wright on your tricep Joshua [BCH] (@movrcx) December 28, 2017 Once Bitcoin Core gets rekt they'll beg for a merge of the two chains. Joshua [BCH] (@movrcx) January 18, 2018 me when i'm talking about bitcoin cash https://t.co/XnMSOhxZqD Joshua [BCH] (@movrcx) December 7, 2017 And this wasn't just some passing fancy. While a lot of his Bitcoin Cash-specific tweets were from late 2017, he still has "BCH" the abbreviation for Bitcoin Cash in his Twitter name. Thankfully, no one was reported injured in the roughly two-hour chase, and Yabut was safely taken into custody. His legal fate, however, remains unclear much like the long-term prospects for his beloved BCH. WATCH: People are spending millions on virtual CryptoKitties Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint api production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fvideo uploaders%2fdistribution thumb%2fimage%2f83592%2f50e61165 7109 4146 add7 c30f0d53f134
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Binance(バイナンス)をスマホで始める!世界最大の取引所で口座を開設しよう | CryptoDays┃クリプトデイズ https://crypto-days.jp/binance-firststep/ … #仮想通貨 #BTC #XRP #ETH #XEM || @ToneVays @LucidInvestment @LeahWald It’s evident that $BTC is forming a bearish engulfing doji emoji shooting starfish hammer time pattern that appears to be waiting to test the lower channel of rising wedgie inside of a truncated 5th wave goodbye that descends into a bottomless hell. I could be wrong though 😳 || 5 min #RSI Signals:
$BTC - $VRC: 2.38
$BTC - $SHIFT: 4.77
$BTC - $EGC: 5.89
$BTC - $BSD: 7.03
$BTC - $VTR: 10.09
$BTC - $STORJ: 10.71
$BTC - $AMP: 10.79
$BTC - $QWARK: 11.44
#tokens #BigData #AltCoins #GRFT #IXT #tokensale #altcoin $XRP #ETH #masternodes #VRC #decentralized || Great Analysis crypto currency Channel!
join => https://t.me/Blackfoxtrading
$BTC $XRP $LTC $ETH $ADA $XLM $XVG $TRX $OCN $IOST $NCASH $STORM $EOS $NEO $IOTA $CDT $DASH $XEM $VEN $ETC $GVT $LISK $OMG $APPC $MOD $NEBL $ENJ
15 || tag #YLC #CMC #ETH #BTC #TokenizedFranchising || Looking back, I‘ve made many bad calls since Jan, bull season never started, except for a mini alt season.
That sucked, Lost some money, but portfolio management and strict taking profits rules kept me well in the game.
Lose some battles, win the war!
#crypto $btc $eth $neo $icxpic.twitter.com/zHSug8su2J || Het laatste nieuws op het gebied van #Bitcoins via coindesk: An Upcoming Cryptocurrency Is Trialling a Trio of Bitcoin Tech Advances https://ift.tt/2HjF012 || Bitcoin - BTC
Price: $7,604.20
Change in 1h: -1.18%
Market cap: $129,830,688,910.00
Ranking: 1
#Bitcoin #BTC || #LIZA #LAMBO price
06-02 15:00(GMT)
$LIZA
BTC :0.09633
ETH :1.20100
USD :762.0
RUR :45200.0
JPY(btc) :80104.3
JPY(eth) :77626.6
$LAMBO
BTC :3.170
ETH :40.000
USD :22200.0
RUR :1403901.0
JPY(btc) :2636045.2
JPY(eth) :2585400.6 || VC Funding Round-Up: Money Keeps Flowing to Crypto Exchanges and Wallets https://ift.tt/2LYlJ8L #news #cryptocurrencynews #bitcoin #cryptocurrencypic.twitter.com/TG52B4hSu9
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Trend: up || Prices: 6157.13, 5903.44, 6218.30, 6404.00, 6385.82, 6614.18, 6529.59, 6597.55, 6639.14, 6673.50
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2019-03-06]
BTC Price: 3903.94, BTC RSI: 56.37
Gold Price: 1284.90, Gold RSI: 37.81
Oil Price: 56.22, Oil RSI: 56.32
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Intercontinental Exchange's Digital Asset Platform Bakkt Announces First Acquisition: Bakkt, the digital assets platform backed by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), has acquired certain assets in futures commission merchant Rosenthal Collins Group (RCG). The acquisition was announced in aMedium poston Monday, Jan. 14.
In the post, Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler hinted that the company’s latest move is part of Bakkt’s ambitious plans to become the first integrated and institutional grade exchange-traded markets and custody solutions.
Loeffler also stressed that the acquisition means that the company is slowing down operations while awaiting regulatory approval by theUnited StatesCommodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for the launch of regulated trading in crypto markets. Loeffler stated:
“Our mission requires significant investment in technology to establish an innovative platform, as well as financial market expertise to deliver the most trusted fintech ecosystem for digital assets.”
The acquirement of assets at RCG will purportedly expand Bakkt’s risk management and treasury operations with systems and expertise, as well as contribute to Bakkt’s regulatory requirements, such as anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) policies, Loeffler wrote. The transaction is expected to be closed in February, she added.
Foundedin 1923, RCG is an independent futures commission merchant that announced it was selling its customer accounts to leading commodity broker Marex Spectron in December 2018.
The recent acquisition announcement has been made in the wake of thetargeted dateof the Bakkt’s launch, which was set for Jan. 24. However, Bakkt will be allegedly unable to launch on its targeting date due to the CFTC’s rule of a 30-day feedback period open to the general public on the proposal.
As the U.S. government is currentlyundergoinga record-breaking shutdown that began on Dec. 22, 2018, the CFTC has not been operating as usual, which could contribute to the potential delay.
Bakkt was firstannouncedin August 2018 by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which operates 23 leading global exchanges, including the NYSE. On Dec. 31, the ICEreportedit will update the launch of the Bakkt Bitcoin (USD) Daily Futures Contract launch timeline in early 2019 in accordance with the CFTC’s process and timeline.
• Belarus Launches Trading Platform Enabling Customers to Buy Tokenized Securities
• Swiss Multi-Billion Dollar Bank Vontobel Launches Regulated Crypto Custody
• US Retail Giant Overstock to Use Bitcoin to Pay Its Taxes in Ohio
• Good Ol’ FUD: The Brightest Media Burials of Bitcoin in 2018 || ‘Almost Lost My Business’: Bitcoin Entrepreneurs Sound Off on Banking Struggles: chase bitcoin crypto bank For the average entrepreneur, verifying that your financial institution hasn’t closed your startup’s bank accounts probably isn’t part of your daily routine. However, if you’re an entrepreneur that runs a bitcoin startup, checking up constantly on one’s banking relationships is just part of the job. That became apparent this week thanks to a Twitter thread started by Anthony Pompliano, a partner a cryptocurrency-focused hedge fund Morgan Creek Digital, who simply asked his followers to recount the worst experience they had ever had with a bank. What is the worst experience you have ever had with a bank? Extra points if you name the bank — Pomp (@APompliano) January 9, 2019 Pompliano’s tweet attracted hundreds of replies — more than 1,000 at the time of writing. (Apparently, there’s a correlation between poor experiences with traditional banking and an interest in bitcoin. Go figure.) However, some of the most interesting anecdotes came from cryptocurrency entrepreneurs detailing just how difficult it is for their businesses to find and maintain a stable bank account. Kraken CEO: I Learned the ‘Arts of a Money Launderer to Survive’ Of these, the most visceral came from Jesse Powell, the founder and CEO of US bitcoin exchange Kraken . Powell, who founded the exchange in 2011, detailed struggles with a number of financial institutions, including Bank of America and PayPal. He said that Chase closed Kraken’s account so quickly that he only realized it had happened when employee checks began to bounce. Story continues “Paypal locked up all the money I had for 6 months, almost lost my business/apartment. BofA killed @Krakenfx’s payroll account on 30 days notice,” he said. “Chase killed it on 5 days notice, by mail, which arrived after the account was closed. Found out when employee checks bounced.” Paypal locked up all the money I had for 6 months, almost lost my business/apartment. BofA killed @Krakenfx 's payroll account on 30 days notice. Chase killed it on 5 days notice, by mail, which arrived after the account was closed. Found out when employee checks bounced. — Jesse Powell (@jespow) January 9, 2019 Noting that he was “probably a compliance person’s worst nightmare,” he revealed that he “basically had to employ the arts of a money launderer to survive.” I cycled through multiple rented PayPal accounts and I started spreading deposits across several banks, cash in safety deposit boxes. Probably a compliance person’s worst nightmare but I basically had to employ the arts of a money launderer to survive. Given Powell’s vocal stance on taboo topics — he has compared New York regulators to an abusive ex-partner and generally takes the position that investors need to “look out for themselves” (contrast that with the Winklevoss twins’ new “crypto should be regulated” campaign ) — one might wonder whether Kraken’s difficulties are an outlier. However, he was far from the only cryptocurrency startup founder to make checking on the status of his company’s bank accounts a part of his daily routine. MyCrypto’s Monahan: Chase Closed our Accounts Last Month Taylor Monahan, the founder and CEO of cryptocurrency wallet service MyCrypto, revealed that Chase is currently in the process of shutting down their bank account but had already canceled her credit cards — right before Christmas, too. Here's exactly what the snail mailed letters look like for those curious. "We have decided to end our relationship with you." Thanks, boo. pic.twitter.com/2RALPLPwns — Taylor Monahan (@tayvano_) January 9, 2019 Bitcoin OG Charlie Shrem: I’ve Lost ‘Dozens’ of Accounts Charlie Shrem, the founder of defunct bitcoin exchange Bitinstant and one of the earliest cryptocurrency entrepreneurs, replied that he had received “hundreds of these” letters like what Chase had sent MyCrypto, one as recently as 6 months ago. I’ve gotten hundreds of these. Bitinstant from 2011-2013 lost dozens of accounts and personally from 2011 to 6 months ago. Lost all the majors and dozens of minors. I have most of the letters. Shrem further said that since 2011 he has not been able to go longer than 8 months with a single bank account but that he recently found a small Georgia-based bank that “loves crypto.” 2/ I like medium size banks and credit unions. I work with a bank in Georgia now that loves crypto, his family has owned the bank for over 60 years and he will open up accounts for you guys. They have 20m in assets and 6 branches. — Charlie Shrem (@CharlieShrem) January 9, 2019 When Will Banks Warm up to Bitcoin? Unfortunately, these anecdotes are far from unique. CCN has written before about the surprising difficulties that cryptocurrency startups encounter when trying to do something as benign as open a bank account. Indeed, the hassle is so great that Coinbase — an $8 billion startup and one of the most well-known names in the cryptocurrency industry — made headlines when it announced that it had opened an account with Barclays. The banking woes of crypto exchange Bitfinex and stablecoin issuer Tether are even more legendary , and these struggles have contributed to rumors and theories that one or both of the two firms had been manipulating the bitcoin price or otherwise engaging in nefarious activities in the crypto markets. Thankfully, smaller institutions like Silvergate Bank have begun to fill the void for cryptocurrency firms, willingly taking on more perceived risk to capitalize on a market largely shunned by the bigger players. Moreover, the state of Wyoming recently passed a bill that will allow the creation of new “Special Purpose Depository Banks” whose purpose is to provide financial services to blockchain companies. As bitcoin enters its second decade and continues to mature into a mainstream asset, regulators and bankers will hopefully begin to view the burgeoning cryptocurrency industry with less skepticism, enabling startups to obtain access to essential financial services. Featured Image from Shutterstock The post ‘Almost Lost My Business’: Bitcoin Entrepreneurs Sound Off on Banking Struggles appeared first on CCN . || $1.3 Million Bitcoin Scam Swindles Victims in Thailand. Are Tougher Crypto Regulations Necessary?: A virtual bitcoin mining farm in Thailand has allegedly scammed users out of 42 million baht (approximately $1.35 million), according to a report in the Bangkok Post.
30 victims have filed a complaint against the company, CryptoMining.Farm. Although police believe the scam may have hit up to 140 individuals.
It comes just months after a group of Thai siblings was accused ofdefrauding an investor of $24 million in bitcoin. Although Thailand is a booming market for cryptocurrencies, is it time for tougher regulations to crack down on scams and frauds?
Read the full story onCCN.com. || Gold Price Forecast – Gold markets find support on Friday: Gold marketswere breaking down significantly during the day on Friday before the US dollar got sold off as the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment numbers fell, and of course the ISM Manufacturing PMI numbers did the same thing. As the dollar fell apart, it makes sense that Gold started to pick up. Looking at this chart, it appears that the $1300 level has shown itself to be rather important.
The uptrend line has been broken, but the question is whether or not we are entering some type of consolidation for a while. After all, the $1300 level will have a lot of interest attached to it, but silver could be telling us something. Silver and gold typically move together as you know, and silver is making shallow rallies at this point, meaning that the highs aren’t quite as extended as they once were. If precious metals are starting to rollover, silver will probably be the first place you see it as it is typically weaker anyway.
I suspect that we have a short-term bounce ahead of us, but unless we can turn around and break above the $1350 level, you would have to think that perhaps the overall strength of gold is starting to change. If we break down below the $1300 level, then I think there is a lot of buyers closer near the $1275 level after that. That features a 200 day EMA which should of course attract a lot of attention as well.
Please let us know what you think in the comments below
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Bitcoin – The Bears Jump Back in to Deliver sub-$3,800 Levels
• Natural Gas Price Fundamental Daily Forecast – Strengthens Over $2.871, Weakens Under $2.812 || Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 11/01/19: Bitcoin Cash ABC tumbled by 16.69% on Thursday, following on from a 0.57% fall on Wednesday, to end the day at $132.91.
A bullish start to the day saw Bitcoin Cash ABC rise to a morning high $163.25, breaking through the first major resistance level at $159.98 and second major resistance level at $161.97 to come up against the 38.2% FIB of $163 before being subjected to a crypto meltdown.
The sell-off saw Bitcoin Cash ABC slide through the day’s major support levels to a late morning low $130.71 before finding support to move back through to $140 levels.
The chances of a rebound were lost in the late afternoon, with Bitcoin Cash ABC sliding to an intraday low $130.00 to hold just above the 62% FIB of $129, the sell-off leading to a near-term bearish trend formed back at mid-December’s swing lo $73.55.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin Cash ABC was down 0.23% to $132.60, with Bitcoin Cash ABC recovering from a start of a day morning low $131.11 to hit a morning high $132.64, the day’s major support and resistance levels left untested early on.
For the day ahead, a move through to $140 levels by the early afternoon would be needed to support a partial recovery of Thursday’s loss, though for Bitcoin Cash ABC to break out from $140 levels to bring the first major resistance level at $154.11 into play, the rebound is going to need to be seen across the broader market.
Failure to take a run at $140 levels could see Bitcoin Cash ABC take another hit later in the day, a pullback through to sub-$130 levels likely to get investors edgy, bringing $125 levels into play before any recovery.
Litecoin slumped by 13.76% on Thursday, following on from a 1.41% fall on Wednesday, to end the day at $33.27.
Tracking the broader market, an early intraday high $39.25 was the only bullish move of the day, Litecoin coming up short of the first major resistance level at $39.63 before hitting reverse.
The sell-off saw Litecoin slide through the day’s major support levels to an intraday low $31.91 before finding support in the final hours.
At the time of writing, Litecoin was up 0.45% to $33.42, with Litecoin rising from a start of a day morning low $32.76 to a morning high $33.71 before easing back, the day’s major support and resistance levels left untested early on.
For the day ahead, a move through the morning high to $34 levels by the early afternoon would support a move through to $35 levels, while we would expect Litecoin to come up against strong resistance on any run at the day’s first major resistance level at $37.71 to limit to upside to $36 levels on the day.
Failure to move through to $34 levels by the early afternoon could see Litecoin hit reverse later in the day, a fall through the morning low $32.76 likely to see Litecoin slide to $31 levels to bring the first major support level at $30.37 into play before any recovery.
Ripple’s XRP slid by 10.63% on Thursday, following a 0.46% gain on Wednesday, to end the day at $0.33603, the reversal taking Ripple’s XRP into the red for the New Year.
A start of a day intraday high $0.405 saw Ripple’s XRP break through the first major resistance level at $0.3827 and second major resistance level at $0.3895 to hit $0.40 levels for the first time since 26thDecember before hitting reverse.
Ripple’s XRP tumbled through the day’s major support levels to an intraday low $0.32303 before steadying to move back through to $0.33 levels by the day’s end.
At the time of writing, Ripple’s XRP was up 0.79% to $0.33868, a morning low $0.33243 and morning high $0.34012 leaving the day’s major support and resistance levels untested early on.
For the day ahead, a move back through the morning high $0.35 levels by the late morning would support a run at $0.36 levels to cut the week’s deficit, following Thursday’s slide, with Ripple’s XRP needing support from the broader market to avoid hitting reverse later in the day.
Failure to move through to $0.35 levels could see Ripple’s XRP resume Thursday’s slide, with a fall through the morning low $0.33243 bringing $0.31 levels into play before any recovery, the day’s first major support level at $0.3044 unlikely to be in play barring another crypto meltdown.
Buy & Sell Cryptocurrency Instantly
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Important CHF Pairs’ Technical Overview: 10.01.2019
• S&P 500 Price Forecast – stock markets continue to show resiliency
• EUR/USD Price Forecast – Euro pulls back from 200 day EMA
• USD/JPY Price Forecast – US dollar trading at support
• Commodities Daily Forecast – January 11, 2019
• Brexit, U.S Inflation Figures and the Oval Office to Influence the GBP and USD || Crypto Prices See Calm as ZB.Com Bypasses Binance to Become Top Exchange: Friday, Jan. 18 — crypto markets continue to see calm, with all top ten coins seeing mixed 24-hour price changes capped within a 3 percent range, as Coin360 data shows. Market visualization from Coin360 Market visualization from Coin360 On CoinMarketCap (CMC)’s crypto exchange rankings by adjusted daily traded volumes , however, some major upheavals are underway. Today, Chinese exchange ZB.com saw an 80 percent surge in 24-hour trade volume to hit ~$606.7 million, and displacing Binance as top exchange on CMC. ZB.com is currently ranked the largest exchange globally; however, during the time of writing, a separate China-based exchange, LBank, has flickered in and out of the top spot, at several points posting over 150 percent increase in trades on the day to hit volumes of ~$800-900 million. Up to press time, the exchanges volumes had fleetingly reduced to ~$380 million, thus dropping back to fourth place. First three top crypto exchanges by adjusted daily trade volume First three top crypto exchanges by adjusted daily trade volume. Source: CoinMarketCap Around 47 percent of the trade volume on ZB.com is accounted for by Qtum-Tether (QTUM/USDT) trading, according to CoinMarketCap data . Trade volumes of formerly top platform Binance have meanwhile dropped 14 percent on the day, seeing ~$550 million in trades. Commentators on crypto twitter have remarked on the conspicuous uptick, with Twitter persona TheFist claiming: “Looks like a ton of market manipulation by zb.com tanking most digital assets and trying to pump tron. The Chinese are dump and pumping last night[.]” Meanwhile, according to a tweet from ZB.com Jan. 16, crypto ranking website CoinGecko has released its own exchange rankings for Q4 2018, which places ZB.com as the second largest by median reported volume: CoinGecko’s crypto exchange rankings for Q1 2018 CoinGecko’s crypto exchange rankings for Q1 2018. Source: ZB.com Twitter Considerably less volatile, top cryptocurrency Bitcoin ( BTC ) has seen negligible price change over the past 24 hours, down 0.45 percent on the day to trade at $3,645. After an intraweek low of ~$3,550 Jan. 13, Bitcoin has recovered to trade just 1.6 percent down on its 7 day chart. On the month, the coin is up by 3 percent. Story continues Bitcoin 7-day price chart Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap Ripple ( XRP ) — which has regained its spot as largest altcoin by market cap — has also seen mild price change on the day, losing 1.2 percent to trade ~$0.32 at press time. With a market cap of $13.3 billion to press time, Ripple is only just ahead of Ethereum ( ETH ), which has a market cap of around $12.6 billion to press time, according to CoinMarketCap data. Ripple is now down around 3.5 percent on the week, and down 2.4 percent on the month. Ripple’s 7-day price chart Ripple’s 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap Ethereum has seen a similarly mild 1.6 percent loss to trade at ~$121. The altcoin is down close to 6 percent on its 7-day chart; on the month, growth remains at a bullish 27 percent. Ethereum 7-day price chart Ethereum 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap Among the remaining top ten coins on CoinMarketCap , all are in the red, seeing losses capped below 3 percent. EOS ( EOS ) is seeing the heaviest losses on the day among the top ten coins, down 2.7 percent to press time. Among the top twenty, losses are also capped near 3 percent — with Ethereum Classic ( ETC ) losing the most, down 3.2 percent on the day to trade at $4.33. Binance Coin ( BNB ) and IOTA ( MIOTA ) are the only coins in the green, with the former up a solid 3.9 percent and the latter up just a fraction of a percent to press time. Total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies is at around $121.2 billion as of press time — down around 1.6 percent on the week. 7-day chart of total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies 7-day chart of total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies. Source: CoinMarketCap Speaking against the tide in a tweet posted today, Morgan Creek investment analyst Chris King stated: “I used to pound the table on tokenized securities. As new information on the market was presented I’ve completely changed my view. Not much value will be captured by “tokenizing” traditional securities. -no liquidity or liquidity premium -no demand -no value creation.” Tokenized securities have been gaining significant traction with industry leaders, as exemplified by the words of Bitcoin bull and co-founder of Gemini exchange, Cameron Winklevoss , who recently remarked: “I think the next wave will see the real innovation, and the really interesting assets that become tokenized — like real estate, like buildings that are currently not traded in a really liquid fashion. So that’s exciting.” Related Articles: Bitcoin Holds Above $4,000 Amid Checkered Market Outlook Crypto Markets Attempt to Stem Recent Losses, Some Top Alts See Solid Green Total Market Cap Drops $5 Billion as All Major Coins Take Price Hit Bitcoin Sees New 2019 Lows as Crypto Markets Slide Down || Lack of ETNs Keeps Wall Street Away From Bitcoin, Says CBOE Analyst Ed Tilly: Ed Tilly, CEO, president and chairman at the Chicago Board Options Exchange ( CBOE ), declared that there is a need for Bitcoin ( BTC ) exchange-traded notes (ETNs) in order for Wall Street institutional investors to join the crypto space. Financial newspaper Business Insider reported on Tilly’s comments on Jan.18. According to the aforementioned article, Tilly declared that “the growth of Bitcoin in listed markets is still hamstrung by the lack of a trading product geared toward mom-and-pop investors.” According to him, Bitcoin futures did not see substantial growth because of the lack of a note or tracker tied to BTC that retail customers could trade. The article elaborates that both futures and exchange-traded notes are important for offering access points to Wall Street-type investors. According to the article, Tilly explained that ETNs are more accessible to the average investor when compared to futures because of their lower barrier for entry. Tilly continued: “The power of having that future there is also having an ETN that is more attractive to retail, and then institutions can lay that risk off on the listed futures market. [...] Absent that leg and introducing trackers or notes, I think we will be in this, 'It trades every day, but it is not the story.'” According to Tilly, the reason why regulators did not approve a Bitcoin exchange-traded product, such as the still-pending exchange-traded fund ( ETF ) applications, is that the regulators cannot protect investors from manipulation on a market they cannot control. “You answer that question, you get your first ETN,” concluded Tilly. As Cointelegraph recently reported , crypto entrepreneur and regular contributor to CNBC Brian Kelly claimed that there is no chance for a Bitcoin ( BTC ) ETF approval in 2019. Also, recently news broke that cryptocurrency index fund provider Bitwise Asset Management has applied with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) to launch a new Bitcoin exchange-traded fund. Related Articles: Hodler’s Digest, Jan. 14–20: Top Stories, Price Movements, Quotes and FUD of the Week Crypto Analyst Brian Kelly: ‘No Shot’ for Bitcoin ETF in 2019 Bitwise Files With the US SEC for a Physically Held Bitcoin ETF Coinbase Adds Cross-Border Wire Transfers for High-Volume Customers in Europe, Asia || Donald Trump Might Pick This Bitcoin Optimist to Lead the World Bank: When Satoshi Nakamoto created bitcoin, a message in the cryptocurrency’s Genesis block made clear that it was a direct response to banking industry mismanagement and the financial and political structures that continued to enable it. Just one decade later, US President Donald Trump might tap a cautious crypto optimist to lead the World Bank.
According toBloomberg, Mohamed El-Erian is one of several candidates that Trump has shortlisted for the job of World Bank president.
The 60-year-old El-Erian currently serves as chief economic adviser at Allianz, where his views on bitcoin have sharply diverged from those of his boss, Allianz CEO Andreas Utermann.
While Utermann has argued that regulators should “outlaw” cryptocurrency, El-Erian has called bitcoin a “disruptive” technology that could play a major role in the future of peer-to-peer transactions.
Read the full story onCCN.com. || Bitcoin-based prediction markets coming to Hodl Hodl exchange: Cryptocurrency exchange Hodl Hodl has announced a new Bitcoin-based prediction market called Predictions, which will use multisig contracts to settle predictions markets on its non-custodial trading platform. The multisig Bitcoin contracts look to incorporate Oracle signatories to make sure the markets will be fairly settled among prediction contract participants. Introducing Predictions by Hodl Hodl https://t.co/403RFecdeM pic.twitter.com/InZfF3RJ63 Hodl Hodl (@hodlhodl) February 27, 2019 In a blog post , Hodl Hodl first outlined how it defined a prediction market, saying: It is essentially a marketplace where you can go to and create a contract with someone else where the conditions of the payout depend on an outcome of a certain event. The exchange went on to outline a simple example of how a user could claim that the price of Bitcoin is going to be above $5,000 by May 2019. The other party may disagree with you on that. The condition of the contract states that each one of you lock 1 BTC into escrow and whoever turns out to be correct in the prediction on the price of Bitcoin gets 2 BTC in May. Sounds simple, right? A non-custodial betting market Hodl Hodl wont have direct access to the funds and is not actually in possession of Bitcoins at any moment of the trade or settlement transaction. The exchange said: The prediction market implementation we came up with can be called a peer-to-peer prediction market. This philosophy is in line with the exchanges slogan as the peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange that doesnt hold users funds, as well as the self-sovereignty aspects that are seen as best practice for any crypto or Bitcoin HODLer. Story continues Not just predictions on crypto price movements The exchange said that users wont just be limited to prediction contracts that predict Bitcoin price, and you can employ this tool for various prediction markets. The blog post states: If youre a Mt Gox creditor (a Bitcoin exchange that was hacked and went bankrupt back in 2014) and awaiting the payout, you might be interested in creating a contract that says creditors of Mt Gox will not be paid anything in 2019, even though your expectation is that they will be. In making a prediction like this, the exchange thinks that you would be hedging your risks. Hodl Hodl went on to say that if you get paid by Mt Gox, you receive Bitcoins from them, but lose the ones you locked with your contract. If you dont get paid by Mt Gox, youd get some of the Bitcoins that will be sort of compensation for a longer wait period. What will Hodl Hodl be doing? Hodl Hodl will make sure of two things for the prediction conditions of any markets hosted on its site. Firstly, that conditions do not contain anything illegal, and secondly that the terms in a particular prediction market are not ambiguous. The exchange has also said that every offer will be pre-moderated, and once an offer is approved, anyone will be able to create a contract with you based on your offer. In terms of user-controlled choices for the prediction, the user can set odds (between 1 and 10) and also minimum contract volume, as well as offer balance in a particular prediction market. With the Bitcoins locked in multisig escrow, the exchange concluded that it should be safer than keeping money on centralized exchanges or other crypto-based prediction markets. The post Bitcoin-based prediction markets coming to Hodl Hodl exchange appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Is the 6% interest on BlockFi too good to be true?: Fancy earning some interest from a traditional bank? Good luck with that, unless you have millions to deposit. Interest rates for the general population havent been too kind in recent years. Luckily for anyone who owns Bitcoin or Ethereum, they can now deposit their crypto on BlockFi and receive 6% annual interest. Sounds good, right? Usually though, these things are too good to be true. The announcement by Pomp (Anthony Pompliano) yesterday that BlockFi was introducing a 6% annual interest rate raised a few eyebrows. Pomp is the co-founder of Morgan Creek Digital and also happens to invest in BlockFi, so of course he is happy with the announcement. There is nothing wrong with that, of course he has put his companys money where its mouth is, so to speak. Questions can be raised about the guaranteed rate of return though. Infamously, another cryptocurrency by the name of Bitconnect offered similar promises. BlockFi is certainly not Bitconnect, or even a scam, but there are certainly risks attached. In fairness to Pomp, he has encouraged those doubters to do their own research. pic.twitter.com/GOOoVKRVuq John Carvalho (@BitcoinErrorLog) March 6, 2019 Digging into the terms and conditions, as John Carvalho has, doesnt fill me with trust. BlockFi claims it can immediately halt deposits and withdrawals of cryptocurrency either temporarily or permanently. BlockFi is not and will not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred. The company goes on to state: Your Crypto Interest Account is not a checking or savings account, and it is not covered by insurance against losses. The phrase not your keys, not your Bitcoin comes to mind. I am not attempting to FUD BlockFi out of existence. They have partnered with some big names in the space, including the Winklevi. Pomp as well has been a great evangelical ambassador for spreading knowledge about Bitcoin. They are not in the same mould of a typical cryptocurrency scam. This is a legitimate business. Despite this, there is certainly a risk associated with what BlockFi is offering, so like Pomp says: make sure you do your own research! The post Is the 6% interest on BlockFi too good to be true? appeared first on Coin Rivet .
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
18:01
Bitstamp: 3.570,73 USD
BTC 1: 137.473,11 ARS [-0.28% 24hs] Dolar informal: 38,50 ARS
BTC 2: 137.401,69 ARS [+0.76% 24hs] Dolar promedio: 38,48 ARS
http://coinmonitor.info || Fuck. I'm 100x bullish now. || Mesajınızı bekliyorum
#bist
#bist100
#usdtry
#XU100
#𝒷𝑒𝓁𝑒𝓃𝓈𝒶𝓎
@ybYBelensay
#doge #dogeusd
#btc #btcusd || START BITCOIN MINING http://bowwell2016.blog.fc2.com || 02/02 21:00現在
#Bitcoin : 376,290円↑
#NEM #XEM : 4.399円↑
#Monacoin : 134円→
#Ethereum : 11,680円→
#Zaif : 0.144円↑ || Crypto Trader “Senses Bottom,” Says Bitcoin (BTC) Could Rally In May http://bit.ly/2MqPWOv || #Ethereum
Planning to Short? Well its a bad idea for Feb & March.
Read the Comments in the chart. We are long $ETH & will be adding more on the dips. Immediate Target 180-192 Area
Expect some resistance in 150-159 Zone (Binance)
Strong support 127-132
#Crypto #Bitcoin #ETH https://t.co/ctPGQdYKYn || 3,664 #BTC_USD
122 #ETH_USD
430,880,238 #BTC_IRR || #BTCUSD - Rompimiento inminente 4H BTC - TradingView - https://es.tradingview.com/chart/BTCUSD/LKVTds3F/ … || /u/nullc: To be more specific. The signal is a QPSK signal with a symbol rate of 156250 symbols per second. QPSK transmits two bits per symbol, so that is 312500 bits per second raw data. The system sends data in frames. Each frame hashttps://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/agoh7c/we_are_blockstream_and_we_beam_bitcoin_down_from/ee82uwa/ …
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Trend: up || Prices: 3911.48, 3901.13, 3963.31, 3951.60, 3905.23, 3909.16, 3906.72, 3924.37, 3960.91, 4048.73
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Blockchain Bites: MakerDAO’s Do or Dai Moment, Bitcoin in Africa, Dollar Trends Up: MakerDAO has voted not to compensate victims of the “Black Thursday” flash crash, a former Pantera partner is launching a new crypto-focused hedge fund and bitcoin may be headed to the doldrums as the U.S. dollar rises.
Decentralized governanceMakerDAOwill not compensate victims of March 12’s “Black Thursday” flash crashthat left some of the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform’s investors out $8.33 million, according to a vote that closed Tuesday. Large MKR holders dominated the vote as only 38 unique votes (8.74% of MKR holders) were cast, CoinDesk’s Will Foxley reports. In March, market making bots exploited a flaw and were able to buy ETH at near-$0 prices, as the entire crypto market tanked, thereby liquidating many collateral positions. Investors lobbied the community for partial compensation denominated in the platform’s MKR governance token. The Maker community had initially voted in early April to refund sunken investors.
Data marketsTaking cues for DeFi,Ocean Protocol has teamed with Balancer Labs to create the first automated market maker (AMM) for data. “Our goal is to unlock this data economy with data marketplaces, connecting the buyers and sellers of data. These can be individual humans, families, small companies, large companies, cities, nations, etcetera,” Ocean founder Trent McConaghy said. The decentralized market approach aims to make pricing data easier, by allowing anyone to discover, price and trade using a variety of cryptos like Ocean’s native token (OCEAN) or other cryptos like ether (ETH) or dai (DAI).
Related:First Mover: Federal Reserve, Congress Play Game of Chicken Over Stimulus as Market Lurches
Global southJBS, the biggest meat packer globally by sales, plans to useblockchain technology to stem deforestationcaused by cattle suppliers in the Amazon. The Brazilian company will monitor all of its meat suppliers on a blockchain system by 2025, saying current monitoring efforts enable its suppliers further down the chain to potentially “launder” meat from cattle raised on illegally cleared ground. Meanwhile, to the north,Venezuela has legalized crypto mining but only under the direction of the government.All mining activities must be registered and carried out through an official National Digital Mining Pool, a centralized pool that will keep the government in control of disbursing profits. This comes as Iran continues to clamp down on crypto mining – despite itscitizens’ growing reliance on the borderless technology.
Banking the unbankedFastBitcoins haspartnered with prepaid voucher giant Flexepin to expand to 14 countries in Africa.Announced Thursday, the deal also expands FastBitcoins’ coverage to some 20,000 point-of-sale locations in Australia where Flexepin is based, as well as across Canada and Europe. Flexepin caters to users who want to make online payments without using credit or debit cards. It also supports mobile money payments in Africa, opening the possibility of exchanging prepaid vouchers for bitcoin and accessing the larger global financial system.
Fintech, meet cryptoVisa’s Global Fintech Lead, Terry Angelos, told Forbescryptocurrency companies had shown a “significant interest” in working with them.And they, them. Visa is currently “onboarding” 25 crypto companies,”at various stages of development,” through its fast track program and other methods. This is in addition to other major firms like Coinbase, Visa is working with. Meanwhile, Coinbase announced it hashired former executives from Venmo, Adobe and Googleto VP roles on its product, engineering, and design & research teams.
• This Ethereum Startup Is Building a ‘DeFi Firewall’ for Institutional Investors(Ian Allison/CoinDesk)
• Different Cars, Same Radio Presets: Daimler Blockchain Venture Lets Settings Follow Users(Jaspreet Kalra/CoinDesk)
• Iran Is Ripe for Bitcoin Adoption, Even as Government Clamps Down on Mining(Sandali Handagama/CoinDesk)
• $1 Billion in Bitcoin Options Expire Friday. Here’s What It Means(Robert Stevens/Decrypt)
• Bureau of Fiscal Service launches next phase of blockchain study focused on grant payments(Aislinn Keely/The Block)
Bitcoin returns?For early bitcoin investors, like those at the maverick hedge fund Pantera Capital, heart pounding returns may seem like a thing of the past.
Related:Blockchain Bites: BTC on Ethereum, DeFi's Latest Stablecoin, the Currency Cold Wars
Founded in 2003 by Dan Morehead,Panterawas originally focused on global macro hedge fund investments. A decade later, the firm switched its focus exclusively to the world of crypto.
This appears to have been an auspicious move. Its first bitcoin fund, opened in late-2013, hasrallied by over 10,000%.
Such returns on BTC now appear beyond the pale. MicroStrategy’sMichael Saylorhas sunk close to half a billion dollars of his firm’s treasury into bitcoin, not as a venture investment, but as a means to beat inflation. He told CoinDesk’s Danny Nelson that MicroStrategy is prepared to hold BTC for the next 100 years.
Paul Brodsky, a former partner at Pantera Capital, also appears skeptical that bitcoin will see another breakout rally. He believes that bitcoin is too easily accessible, its derivatives market too established and its network too energy-demanding to offer massive investor upside.
Though he hasn’t soured on crypto broadly.
Brodsky is opening a new hedge fund, called PostModern Partners,aimed at volatility plays across cryptocurrencies and traditional assets.Set to open in 2021 the fund is seeking high-risk, high-return blockchain investment opportunities, CoinDesk’s Nelson reports.
While it isn’t clear precisely what assets might have Brodsky’s eye, PostModern’s organizational documents reads, “we believe there are greater scaling opportunities in Proof-of-Stake tokens.”
Dollar-led doldrumsThe U.S. dollar isshowing signs of life and a continued breakout could weigh over bitcoin,which surged amid the greenback’s sharp sell-off this summer. Bitcoin (BTC) is currently trading at $10,320 – up nearly 2% from Wednesday’s low of $10,140. The dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback’s value against major fiat currencies, has broken above its two-month-long range of 92.00-94.00. CoinDesk’s Omkar Godbole reports the dollar and bitcoin (like other assets including gold, and increasingly stocks) are inversely correlated, meaning a rise in one might cause a downside in the other.
Version 2Parity Technologies hasreleased the second version of its blockchain building kit, Substrate 2.0,CoinDesk’s Will Foxley reports. The new release gives developers additional tools to customize a blockchain “precisely for your application or business logic,” a blog post reads. Parity Technologies is the developer of the Polkadot blockchain with ambitions for developing a Web 3.0, undergirded by a meshing of various blockchains running on a “tooling kit” called Substrate. The latest code update includes 70 composable “modules” for blockchain architects to build and modules to bring off-chain data onto the blockchain.
Incentive loopsCorey Hoffstein, Chief Investment Officer of quantitative research and investment fund Newfound Research LLC, joins the latest episode of The Breakdown to discuss how the Federal Reserve, passive investing and volatility-correlated strategies have joined to createa market incentive loopthat is causing markets to aggressively react to exogenous shocks.
• Blockchain Bites: MakerDAO’s Do or Dai Moment, Bitcoin in Africa, Dollar Trends Up
• Blockchain Bites: MakerDAO’s Do or Dai Moment, Bitcoin in Africa, Dollar Trends Up || Coinbase Has Drawn a Line in the Sand for Its Activist Employees: You might call it taking a stand by not taking one.
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, took astrong stanceagainst employee-driven corporate activism over the weekend, explaining that, going forward, his company would be “mission focused.”
That means Coinbase will devote all of its attention to achieving the goal of creating “infrastructure for the crypto economy,” but will eschew any kind of activism, and won’t take a stand on policy or societal issues that go beyond that mission.
Related:How the Crypto Industry Seesaws Between Assets and Infrastructure
It’s not that those issues aren’t important and don’t need solving, Armstrong says, but that Coinbase’s best shot at making the world a better place is by achieving its central mission.
It’s clear that Armstrong’s post comes in response to some kind of employee movement at Coinbase rather than pressure from the outside. He explains how he recently realized some employees believed Coinbase’s world-changing mission means the firm should actively push forward other ways to improve the world.
Now that he’s taken this stance, though, he has very politely told those people to be activists on their own time or find another job.
What’s also clear is Armstrong believes he’s far from alone among his C-Suite peers – not just at Coinbase or in the crypto industry, but among executive teams across corporate America. By sharing his position publicly, Armstrong obviously hopes it resonates and catches on, perhaps lighting the spark of some kind of backlash to the cultural moment that has, among other things, seen Scientific Americantake a positionon the presidential race for the first time in its 175-year history.
Related:First Mover: Binance CEO Sees Future in DeFi While Bitcoin Volatility Turns Minuscule
And Armstrong is probably right to think so. Although barely any other CEOs responded to his post, several influencers chimed in their support. To be fair, the odds were skewed in his favor – big chunks of the crypto community, generally known to favor libertarianism and pseudonymity, would certainly feel affinity to Armstrong’s “leave me out of it” position.
Of course, there was no shortage of people calling out Armstrong for taking a position that doesn’t just go against the grain of a trend sweeping companies throughout America, but is in their view fundamentally cowardly and on the wrong side of history. Ultimately, it will push away talent, critics say, since it will set the wrong tone with exactly the kind of employees they should want. Many workers feel empowered, and potentiallymoreproductive when they’re allowed to speak out on causes.
Time will tell who is right with respect to Coinbase, but Armstrong’s stance is such a line in the sand in today’s culture that bigger questions are at stake. Coinbase isn’t just a darling of the crypto industrypoised for an IPO– it’s a tech company based in Silicon Valley, ground zero for exactly the kind of employee activism Armstrong is eschewing.
While many corporations make donations to righteous causes or respond to the cultural zeitgeist with message-based marketing, tech companies have seen employees take strong positions in recent years to pressure their employers to do what they believe is the right thing.
Thousands of Google employeesstaged a walkout in 2018over how the company handled sexual harassment allegations. Amazon workers continually speak out against the company making its facial recognition technologyavailable to law enforcement. And Facebook’s employees are so emboldened thatthey’re directly criticalof CEO Mark Zuckerberg in public forums.
Armstrong even name-checks Facebook and Google in his Medium post, pointing to those companies’ internal strife as an indicator of sapped productivity. The company I really think he’s thinking about, however, is Spotify, whose employees areopenly revoltingover podcaster Joe Rogan’s arrival on the platform, demanding new safeguards be put in place over potentially objectionable content.
This is where the comparison between Coinbase and the strife within the tech industry starts to break down. It’s one thing for a crypto exchange to take an apolitical stance, and another for a communications platform – where speech, information and the handling of those things are the company’s core product – to do so.
But that’s exactly the point. Armstrong’s position isn’t a message to Silicon Valley heavyweights to turn back the clock on employee “wokeness” – it’s an open letter to every other corporate leader, urging them to connect the dots between the political positions they might be taking and the central mission of their companies. And if the result is a picture they don’t like, rethink.
I’m not naive. In today’s world, where every day seems to bring a new tragedy or flashpoint that raises the cultural temperature even more, that’s a hard thing to do.
Pete Pachalis CoinDesk’s Executive Editor, Operations & Strategy
• Coinbase Has Drawn a Line in the Sand for Its Activist Employees
• Coinbase Has Drawn a Line in the Sand for Its Activist Employees || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Slips to $11.2K; Uniswap Flows Dominate Ether: Bitcoin is trending downward while ether transaction activity is showing Uniswap’s influence on the market. Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $11,359 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Slipping 0.38% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $11,286-$11,555 BTC below its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bearish signal for market technicians. Bitcoin’s price dipped Wednesday after a move up to as high as $11,555 on spot exchanges like Bitstamp lost momentum. The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization then slipped to as low as $11,286 and is at $11,359 as of press time. Read More: Bitcoin Steady Above $11,400 as Hashrate Reaches New High Related: First Mover: As Ethereum Enthusiasm Builds, 'Bear Case' Could Still See Prices Double On Aug. 18, bitcoin traded at its 2020 high (so far) of $12,475 on spot exchanges such as Bitstamp. Many investors were hoping bitcoin’s uptrend since Oct. 8 would break above that level. However, the market has predictably pulled back, at least according to David Lifchitz, chief investment officer of quant trading firm ExoAlpha. “The road to over $12,000 is not a straight line,” said Lifchitz. “$11,500 was a first target reached, but also the first major roadblock with a heavy congestion zone ahead, between $11,500 and $12,000, the range in which bitcoin has been trading for the full month of August.” “A small pullback after is normal and healthy in order to reload before the next reach toward $12,000,” Lifchitz added. Related: World's Growing Stockpile of Negative-Yielding Debt a Positive for Bitcoin, Say Analysts Investors expect more volume in the market might help push prices higher. Yet, spot volumes have decreased since late July and into August, when USD/BTC trading activity sometimes could reach as high as $1 billion on a single day. “Crypto exchange and derivative exchange platforms have seen a month-over-month decline of over 30% from numbers seen as recently as June,” said Zachary Friedman, chief operating officer for trading firm Global Digital Assets. “Generally speaking, the industry is still at a place where retail traders dictate most of the volume. These traders have been seen opting more for a longer term HODL strategy, which has caused a lull.” Story continues Read More: Fidelity Report Says Bitcoin’s Market Cap is ‘Drop in the Bucket’ of Potential One metric to keep an eye on is implied volatility, which has been trending lower. “Implied volatility is the expected volatility of bitcoin going forward, which tends to give some insight on how much bitcoin could swing, up or down,” noted ExoAlpha’s Lifchitz. This means traders have more certainty of price direction – at least for the time being. “Today, bitcoin options one-month implied volatility is around 50%, which is in line with a historically quiet market, meaning that there is, as of now, no drastically bullish or bearish sentiment out there regarding expected bitcoin short-term moves,” said Lifchitz. Uniswap dominates the ether market Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was down Wednesday trading around $375 and slipping 0.68% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). Read More: Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin Calls on Power Users to Move to Layer 2 Scaling The decentralized exchange, or DEX, Uniswap is dominating the ether market when looking at asset flows. Over the past month, over 4.2 million ether changed hands via Uniswap, tops for the network for one entity, according to data aggregator Flipside Crypto. This activity is a display of the influence Uniswap has on the market. However, Brian Mosoff, chief executive of investment firm Ether Capital, isn’t too concerned about the DEX having so much influence on ether’s market. “Uniswap is completely transparent when it comes to trading volumes and metrics,” Mosoff said. “Compare this to alternatives in the cryptocurrency space in centralized exchanges – you need to trust the output of a volume feed that can be controlled by a single person.” Other markets Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are mostly in the red Wednesday. Notable winners as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): monero (XMR) + 0.56% ethereum classic (ETC) + 0.45% Notable losers as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): 0x (ZRX) – 6.5% tezos (XTZ) – 4.8% orchid (OXT) – 4% Read More: In Effort to Differentiate, Litecoin Makes a Move to Privacy Equities: Asia’s Nikkei 225 closed flat, in the green 0.11% as Chi n ese President Xi Jinping promised further economic reforms on the mainland in a speech. Europe’s FTSE 100 ended the day in the red 0.58% as a strengthening British pound, which hurts overseas revenue for multinationals, damped sentiment . In the United States the S&P 500 dropped 0.70% amid Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin's expectation that more stimulus payments won't happen prior to the election . Commodities: Oil was up 2%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $41. Gold was in the green 0.46% and at $1,900 as of press time. Treasurys: U.S. Treasury bond yields all fell Wednesday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were down most on the two-year, dipping to 0.139 and in the red 4%. Related Stories Market Wrap: Bitcoin Slips to $11.2K; Uniswap Flows Dominate Ether Market Wrap: Bitcoin Slips to $11.2K; Uniswap Flows Dominate Ether || Ethereum ignites first cryptocurrency bull market since 2017: Ethereum has paved the way for a new bullish phase in the cryptocurrency market as it surged to a two-year high of $474 after breaking above the previous level of resistance at $442. The recent rally has been attributed to the increased attention around decentralised finance (DeFi) projects like Yearn Finance (YFI) and decentralised exchange Uniswap, both of which are built on Ethereums blockchain. Members of the Yearn Finance community have forked the protocol to create DFI.Money (YFII). The YFII token has risen from a daily low of $3,171 to as high as $7,000, demonstrating the high levels of demand these tokens currently have. Exchanges like Uniswap enable customers to deposit Ethereum or erc-20 tokens in order to swap them for other tokens, this creates a natural level of demand for Ethereum, thus causing its price to rise. ETHUSD chart by TradingView Although several analysts tipped Bitcoin to lead the way in 2020 as a result of the recent block reward halving, it seems as though the hype surrounding Ethereum-based projects has stolen the limelight from the original cryptocurrency. In terms of Ethereums price action, the current level at $468 was the point of resistance that suppressed price for three weeks at the end of 2017 before the eventual surge to its all-time high of $1,400. If Ethereum can break above this level in the coming weeks it would almost certainly create a scenario in which it could form a new all-time high before the end of the year. A rally of this magnitude will also cause a wider impact on the cryptocurrency market as investors and traders will take profits in Ethereum before diversifying their portfolios to buy other coins like Bitcoin, XRP and even lower market cap tokens like YFI and YFII. Bitcoin, meanwhile, needs to break above $12,500 in the short term before taking on the $14,000 level of resistance. For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . || New Bitcoin Options App Raises $4.7M in Round Led by Pantera Capital: A mobilebitcoinoptions trading platform set to launch this year has secured funding from some of the industry’s top-tier investors.
• PowerTrade raised $4.7 million via token sales in a round led byPantera Capitaland joined by Framework Ventures, CMS Holdings and QCP Capital among others.
• Prominent founders Kain Warwick of Synthetix, Loi Luu of Kyber Network and Bobby Ong of CoinGecko also participated.
• PowerTrade said in a press release it will offer low minimum deposits allowing traders access to crypto options for as little as $1.
• Making options trading easy to understand is “key” to furthering crypto adoption from retail investors, said Joey Krug, Pantera Capital’s co-chief investment officer.
• Krug attributed Robinhood’s success to its ease of use and said PowerTrade could bring a “similar user experience” to the cryptocurrency market.
• The platform, which will launch to non-U.S. traders first, will focus on user experience and education, while helping traders understand and manage risk, it said.
• PowerTrade was founded by the former CTO of the Liquid exchange, Mario Gomez Lozada, alongside a team of technologists and cryptocurrency veterans in May.
• The app will enter closed beta in October and see its public release Q4 2020.
See also:Pantera Tells SEC Its Crypto Fund Has Raised Nearly $165M
• New Bitcoin Options App Raises $4.7M in Round Led by Pantera Capital
• New Bitcoin Options App Raises $4.7M in Round Led by Pantera Capital
• New Bitcoin Options App Raises $4.7M in Round Led by Pantera Capital
• New Bitcoin Options App Raises $4.7M in Round Led by Pantera Capital || Nigeria Is Developing Strategies for National Blockchain Adoption: Nigeria’s federal government is reportedly developing an ambitious plan to facilitate national crypto adoption with the vision of creating a “Digital Nigeria.”
• According to an earlydraftof the strategy framework obtained by local publicationTechnology Times, the country’sFederal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economyand the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) have partnered to develop a blueprint for national blockchain adoption.
• The project wasconfirmedby a blockchain engineer who worked on the draft.
• Aptly titled the “National Blockchain Adoption Strategy,” the document states that facilitating blockchain adoption is part of a larger effort by Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari to diversify the Nigerian economy.
• Protests have eruptedacross Nigeria, with citizens marching against police brutality, including calling for the disbandment of the special anti-robbery squad SARS. Buhari has come under fire forrenaming– rather than disbanding – SARS.
• Protest groups in Nigeria have accused the government ofinterferingwith traditional fundraising methods, and have begunraising fundsusing the Bitcoin system to circumvent censorship.
• According to the new framework, the idea is to “use blockchain technology as a platform for the transition into a digital economy.”
• In 2017, the Central Bank of Nigeriadeclareddigital currencies are not legal tender in Nigeria, while the country’s Securities and Exchange Commissionwarnedagainst the risks of investing in digital assets.
• But last month regulators showed interest in governing the space, with Nigeria’s SECsayingit will treat all cryptocurrencies and token offerings as securities.
• Now, the proposed adoption framework includes an initiative to create a legal framework for governing the crypto space.
• The draft also outlined five strategic objectives: establishing regulatory oversight; stimulating innovation and entrepreneurship; developing security, trust, and transparency in value chains; encouraging investment opportunities and job creation; and governance.
• The blueprint also alluded to the creation of a National Blockchain Consortium aimed at driving adoption initiatives, particularly in applications in the public sector.
• Nigeria’s mission is to drive adoption of the technology in public administration, leading to improved efficiency, transparency and accountability, according to the document.
• Nigeria Is Developing Strategies for National Blockchain Adoption
• Nigeria Is Developing Strategies for National Blockchain Adoption
• Nigeria Is Developing Strategies for National Blockchain Adoption
• Nigeria Is Developing Strategies for National Blockchain Adoption || Over $150M Drained in KuCoin Crypto Exchange Hack: Over $150 million of an Asian cryptocurrency exchanges funds have been compromised in a security breach. The Singapore-headquartered digital asset exchange KuCoin said in a statement that it detected large withdrawals of bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) tokens to an unknown wallet beginning at 19:05 UTC time on Friday. In a live stream on 4:30 UTC time Saturday, KuCoin CEO Johnny Lyu said that one or more hackers obtained the private keys to the exchanges hot wallets. KuCoin transferred what was left in them to new hot wallets, abandoned the old ones and froze customer deposits and withdrawals, Lyu said. Related: First Mover: Bitcoin Low Exchange Balance Looks Bullish but Chart Looks Bearish as $11K Nears KuCoins cold wallets were unaffected, Lyu claimed. Cold cryptocurrency wallets are not connected to the Internet and are considered more secure than hot cryptocurrency wallets. In an updated statement on its website, KuCoin released a list of BTC, bitcoin SV (BSV), ETH, LTC, XRP, Stellar lumens (XLM), Tron (TRX) and Tether (USDT) wallet addresses where the stolen funds were transferred. Two Ethereum wallets belonging to KuCoin have sent more than 11,480 ETH, which currently trades at a price of about $350, to the Ethereum wallet address associated with the hack, according to data from blockchain explorer Etherscan. The Ethereum wallet address has also received over 150 Ethereum-based tokens worth more than $150 million from the two KuCoin Ethereum wallets, Etherscans data shows. Related: Bitcoin Balances on Exchanges at 2-Year Low and That May Be a Bullish Sign The other identified wallets have received exactly 14,713 BSV , 26,733 LTC , 18,495,798 XRP and 999,160 USDT , along with over 1,008 BTC , 9,588,383 XLM , and 199,038,936 TRX , according to blockchain explorers Blockchair and Tronscan. The cryptocurrencies are trading around roughly $10,700 per BTC, $165 per BSV, $45 per LTC, $0.25 per XRP, $0.07 per XLM, $0.02 per TRX and $1 per USDT, as of writing. Story continues Tether and several cryptocurrency exchanges such as Bitfinex have blacklisted the wallet addresses, according to the updated statement. Over 200 cryptocurrency assets trade on KuCoin with a combined daily average volume of around $100 million, ranking it as one of the busiest trading exchanges, according to the cryptocurrency data site CoinGecko. The price of KuCoins exchange token KCS fell by 14% to $0.86 within an hour on Saturday as news of the security breach spread on social media. KuCoin is investigating the hack with international law enforcement and stolen customer money will be covered completely by an insurance fund, Lyu said. UPDATE (Sept. 27, 2020, 1:00 UTC): Addresses and balances for cryptocurrency wallets associated with KuCoins hack have been added. Related Stories Over $150M Drained in KuCoin Crypto Exchange Hack Over $150M Drained in KuCoin Crypto Exchange Hack || CORRECTION: 3iQ’s The Bitcoin Fund Offers Trading Denominated in Canadian Dollars: This is a correction of a previous press release with a trading date of October 20, 2020. The correct date is October 22, 2020.
Toronto, Oct. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 3iQ Corp. ("3iQ") is pleased to announce that the Class A Units of The Bitcoin Fund will commence trading in Canadian dollars on the Toronto Stock Exchange on October 22, 2020 under the symbol “QBTC.” The Class A Units will trade under their existing CUSIP number. “Finally, Canadian investors have the opportunity to trade The Bitcoin Fund in their native currency and through their locally dominated accounts, thus eliminating the interminable costs and albeit hassle of converting currencies” says Fred Pye, President & CEO of 3iQ.
The Bitcoin Fund’s investment objectives are to provide holders of units with exposure to bitcoin and the opportunity for long-term capital appreciation. The Bitcoin Fund acquires assets from reputable and regulated bitcoin trading platforms and OTC counterparties, in order to provide investors with a convenient, secure alternative to a direct investment in bitcoin. We believe an investment in bitcoin will provide investors with a low-correlated asset class, which will complement traditional investment strategies.
Additionally, 3iQ is excited to welcome Christopher Matta to the company as Managing Director of Sales and Trading, effective October 19th, 2020. Chris is the President and Founder of the Blockchain Association of New Jersey, which advocates for innovative regulatory leadership and enterprise collaboration for the cryptocurrency space. He is the former co-founder of Crescent Crypto, an asset management firm focused on creating innovative investment solutions to bring the cryptocurrency asset class to institutional and mainstream investors. Prior to Crescent, Chris was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs where he managed assets for the Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund and Trust Comp. Chris reveals that he is "excited to be joining 3iQ at this pivotal time as the company is rapidly expanding, launching new and innovative products that will make digital asset investing more secure and accessible through a regulated offering.”
About 3iQ
Founded in 2012, 3iQ is a Canadian investment fund manager focused on providing investors with exposure to digital assets, disruptive technologies and the blockchain space. 3iQ was the first Canadian investment fund manager to agree to terms and conditions with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities to manage a public bitcoin investment fund and multi-cryptoasset fund for Canadian accredited investors. Access to these new technologies can be daunting, costly, and inconvenient. 3iQ has worked through a stringent regulatory process to offer investors convenient and familiar investment products to gain exposure to digital assets.
Disclaimer
TheBitcoin Fund (the “Fund”)isoffered pursuant to a prospectus, which should be read carefully before investing. The prospectus can be obtained fromhttps://3iq.ca/the-bitcoin-fund/. Information contained in the prospectus includes the investment objectives and potential strategies of the Fund and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Fund, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. There are ongoing fees and expenses associated with owning units ofthe Fund. The Fund must prepare disclosure documents that contain key information about the Fund. You can find more detailed information about the Fund in the final prospectus. The Fund is not guaranteed, its value change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. You will usually pay brokerage fees to your dealer if you purchase or sell units of the Fund on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and the Gibraltar Stock Exchange (GSX). If the units are purchased or sold on the TSX or GSX, investors may pay more than the current net asset value when buying units of the Fund and may receive less than the current net asset value when selling them. The securities of the Fund have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or any applicable exemption from the registration requirements. The prospectus of the Fund does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities of the Fund nor will there be any sale of such securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The Fund is generally exposed to risk factors. See the prospectus for a description of these risks: No Assurance in Achieving Investment Objectives, No Listing, Loss of Investment, Fluctuation in Value of Cryptoassets, Concentration Risk, Reliance on the Manager, Reliance on theCryptoassetConsultant, No Ownership Interest in theCryptoassetPortfolio, Changes in Legislation, Conflicts of Interest, Valuation of the Fund, Significant Redemptions, Limited Liquidity in the Units, Limited Operating History, Not a Fund Company, Exchange Rate Risk, Liquidity Constraints onCryptoassetMarkets may Impact the Fund’s Holdings, Tax Risk, Risks associated with Investing in Bitcoin, Risks Associated with the Bitcoin Network. Index (the “Index”) is the exclusive property of MV Index Solutions GmbH and has been licensed for use by 3iQ Corp. (the “Licensee”). MVIS has contracted withCryptoCompareData Limited to maintain and calculate the Index.CryptoCompareData Limited uses its best efforts to ensure that the Index is calculated correctly subject to the accuracy of any data that has been provided to it by third parties. Irrespective of its obligations towards MV Index Solutions GmbH,CryptoCompareData Limited has no obligation to point out errors in the Index to third parties. In particular, MVIS is not responsible for the Licensee and/or for Licensee’s legality or suitability and/or for Licensee’s business offerings. Offerings by Licensee, may they be based on The Bitcoin Fund, an investment trust governed under the laws of the Province of Ontario (the “Product”) or not, are not sponsored, endorsed, sold, or promoted by MVIS, Van Eck Associates Corporation as its parent company or its affiliates (collectively, “VanEck”), and MVIS andVanEckmake no representation regarding the advisability of investing in Licensee and/or in Licensee’s business offerings. MVIS,VanEckand its affiliates make no warranties and bear no liability with respect to licensee. Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.This press release is not for distribution in the United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States.
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• BitcoinFundLogoBlue
CONTACT: Fred Pye — President & CEO 3iQ Corp. +1 (416) 639-2130 [email protected] || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Passes $10.7K; Ethereum Gas Usage Hits Record September Highs: Bitcoin is making gains Monday and Ethereum usage is hitting record highs in September. Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $10,669 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 3.4% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $10,250-$10,759 BTC above its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bullish signal for market technicians. The price of bitcoin hit as high as $10,759 on spot exchanges such as Coinbase Monday. That level has not been seen since Sept. 3 and the cryptocurrency is now heading into bullish territory. “The trend is indeed higher,” said Darius Sit, managing partner of quant firm QCP Capital. Related: MicroStrategy Buys $175M More in Bitcoin, Upping BTC Holdings to $425M Read More: Bitcoin’s Jump to $10.7K Ends 10-Day Sideways Trend Buy liquidations, the crypto equivalent of a margin call that wipes out short-sellers on derivatives exchanges such as BitMEX seemed to be helping to push bitcoin’s price up. A total of $19 million buy liquidations were more than double the $9.1 million in sell liquidations over the weekend and into Monday on BitMEX, helping fuel the price upswing. In the options market, some traders remained highly bullish that bitcoin can hit new highs. “While bitcoin price dabbles around $10,000 now, traders have still priced in a chance that bitcoin will trade at $20,000 by March 2021,” said William Purdy, an options trader and founder of analysis firm PurdyAlerts. Related: First Mover: Bitcoin Investors the Sane Ones as Federal Reserve Cheers Inflation, Price Nears $11K Indeed, based on how options are currently trading in the market, it appears as if options traders are estimating a 10% chance that bitcoin will be at $20,000 by the March 2021 expiration date. Over in the futures market, investor interest seems to have waned somewhat. Read More: Some Bitcoin Traders Are Betting on a $36K Price by Year’s End “Bitcoin futures aggregate open interest has dropped $1 billion, or 20%, since the start of September,” noted Jason Lau, chief operating officer for cryptocurrency exchange OKCoin. Story continues However, Lau said a higher bitcoin price could mean an increase in futures interest. “It seems traders are in a holding pattern,” Lau added. “U.S. markets have had a strong opening this morning, which pushed BTC up 5%, so it will be interesting to see what impact that has on open interest in the coming days.” Ethereum record gas usage Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was up Monday, trading around $375 and climbing 3.2% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). Read More: Uniswap Takes Over SushiSwap Less Than 24 Hrs. After Rewards Drop The total amount of “gas” (or costs) used on the Ethereum network to send transactions and interact with decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols hit new highs in September. On Sept. 6, a record 80 billion units of gas was used on the network, and Friday (Sept. 11) was the second-highest usage day ever, at 79,743,954,147 units used. Read More: SushiSwap Users Ordered Changes, but the Protocol Can’t Deliver “I have short-term concerns about Ethereum network congestion but it’s a positive for the long term because it shows demand,” said Brian Mosoff, chief executive officer of Eth Capital, which invests in the Ethereum ecosystem. The short-term issues could cause pain from a usability standpoint, Mosoff added. “Realistically, until the second and third phases roll out in ETH 2.0, high gas costs or requiring the use of a supporting or competing network are going to be the reality.” Read More: The Virtual CoinDesk Invest: Ethereum Economy Event October 14 Other markets Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are all in the green Monday. Notable winners as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): neo (NEO) + 9.9% lisk (LSK) + 7.5% ethereum classic (ETC) + 3% Read More: How Bitcoin Correlations Drive the Narrative Equities: Asia’s Nikkei 225 ended the day up 0.65% as investors digested signals that easy money policies would continue in Japan . Europe’s FTSE 100 closed flat, in the red 0.10% amid reports industrial production numbers have not returned to pre-coronavirus levels . In the United States, the S&P 500 climbed 1.6% with tech leading the way, boosted by Nvidia's $40 billion deal to buy chip designer Arm Holdings from Softbank. Read More: SEC Charges Rapper TI With Securities Violations for Promoting 2017 ICO Commodities: Oil is flat, in the red 0.01%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $37.29. Gold was in the green 1% and at $1,958 as of press time. Read More: Iran May Fund Car Imports With Cryptocurrency Mining Treasurys: U.S. Treasury bond yields climbed Monday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were up most on the two-year bond, in the green 3%. Read More: The Crypto Firms Collaborating on a Swiss Franc Stablecoin Related Stories Market Wrap: Bitcoin Passes $10.7K; Ethereum Gas Usage Hits Record September Highs Market Wrap: Bitcoin Passes $10.7K; Ethereum Gas Usage Hits Record September Highs || Blockchain Bites: DeFi Meets NFTs, TSLA Beats Bitcoin in Volatility, Uniswap Breaks $2B: Bitcoin is moving off exchanges, has been less volatile than TLSA and broke its record for longest streak trading above five figures. Also: Bitwise’s bitcoin fund has more than doubled in size, KuCoin was hacked and Jack Dorsey dropped a few more hints about his decentralized social media standard, Blue Sky. Top shelf Accredited investor interest Bitwise’s bitcoin fund has brought in $8.9 million, the single-largest increase in assets raised in the fund’s two-year history, according to a recently amended filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm’s Bitcoin Fund provides accredited U.S. investors with exposure to bitcoin through a traditional product. In 2019, the fund attracted $4.1 million in investment, meaning the fund has more than doubled in size the past year. Bitwise executives pointed to fears of inflation and bitcoin’s role as a hedge as reasons for increased interest in their product. Bitcoin’s well-known volatility is often seen as a barrier to entry for institutional clients, but the cryptocurrency has in fact been more stable than Tesla’s (TSLA) stock. Related: First Mover: Binance CEO Sees Future in DeFi While Bitcoin Volatility Turns Minuscule Enterprise solutions EY has unveiled a new Ethereum-based, enterprise-grade blockchain solution called the OpsChain Network Procurement. The platform is designed to enable companies to run private end-to-end procurement activities by allowing buyers and sellers to operate as networks, while automatically tracking volumes and spend and utilizing agreed terms and pricing. The platform utilizes open-source software including the Microsoft-backed Baseline Protocol and operates on the public Ethereum blockchain, CoinDesk’s Sebastian Sinclair reports. Twitter’s blockchain Jack Dorsey said blockchain is the future of Twitter and his latest initiative is looking to hire at least five new roles, while speaking at the virtual Oslo Freedom Forum 2020 on Friday. The CEO of Twitter and Square revealed details of the nonprofit Blue Sky initiative meant to create an open standard for social media. Under this vision, users can contribute to and access data from a decentralized version of Twitter instead of a centralized service where the social media platform hosts content on its website. “Blockchain and bitcoin point to a future, point to a world, where content exists forever,” Dorsey said. “We’re not in the content hosting business anymore, we’re in the discovery business.” Story continues KuCoin hack Over the weekend, a hacker breached KuCoin’s hot wallets absconding with some $150 million in crypto. KuCoin said in a statement that it detected large withdrawals of bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) tokens to an unknown wallet beginning at 19:05 UTC time on Friday. The exchange’s chief executive Johnny Lyu said KuCoin has transferred the remaining funds from compromised wallets to new addresses and momentarily froze customer deposits and withdrawals. While other exchanges including Bitfinex and Tether have blacklisted the stolen funds. An investigation is underway and stolen customer money will be “covered completely” by an insurance fund, Lyu said. DeFi goes NFT The excitement in DeFi has shifted to the NFT market, CoinDesk’s Brady Dale reports. NFTs, one-of-a-kind tokens made possible by Ethereum’s ERC-721 standard, have not captivated investor attention until quite recently when people realized these digital collectibles could be used for yield farming. Platforms like NIFTEX have enabled NFT indices, Rarible has added a native token and Uniswap’s liquidity pools are creating new avenues for financialization – a trend Dale traces back to John Lyall’s MEME experiment. Quick bites The Bahamas Reveal Details, October Date of Landmark Central Bank Digital Currency Debut (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk) Bitfinex Launches Tether-Settled Perpetual Contracts Based on European Equities (Omkar Godbole/CoinDesk) A cadre of crypto investment bankers is gearing up for a dealmaking frenzy (Frank Chaparro/The Block) Coinbase is a mission focused company (Brian Armstrong/Coinbase) How Hard Is It to Brute Force a Bitcoin Private Key? (Scott Chipolina/Decrypt) At stake Related: Growing the pie Uniswap is now bigger than the entire decentralized finance space just two months ago, as the trading protocol becomes the first to pass the $2 billion milestone. Uniswap clocked the record figure just after midnight (UTC) Monday, according to crypto rankings website DeFi Pulse. The next biggest DeFi project, peer-to-peer lending platform Maker, trails slightly behind Uniswap at $1.96 billion in total value locked (TVL), according to DeFi Pulse. There’s now more than $11 billion in TVL in the DeFi ecosystem, with Uniswap making up approximately 18% of that. Market intel Five digit streak Bitcoin closed Sunday at $10,793 setting a record of 63 consecutive daily closes above $10,000, according to market data aggregated by Messari. The bellwether cryptocurrency’s previous record 62-day streak above $10,000 lasted from Dec. 1, 2017, through Jan. 31, 2018, when bitcoin reached its all-time high of just above $19,900 on Coinbase, CoinDesk’s Zack Voell reports. Exchanges down? The balance of bitcoin on major exchanges has hit its lowest levels since November 2018, potentially signalling a bullish view from bitcoin holders, as they move to longer-term holding strategies, such as cold wallets. Additionally, a rise in new investors during the coronavirus pandemic has led to a growth in “white glove” services, meaning fewer bitcoin on exchanges and more in managed portfolios. Another possible explanation? Bitcoin is being moved to tokenization solutions for use in the DeFi ecosystem, CoinDesk’s Muyao Shen reports. Op-ed Stablecoin guidance Reading between the lines, CoinDesk Director of Research Noelle Acheson thinks the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) latest stablecoin guidance is more than a nudge for the industry. “This could incentivize banks to actively seek stablecoin business, and in so doing, broaden both their client base and their stake in crypto markets… So, a bank could attract not just stablecoin issuers, but also their clients. It would then make sense to facilitate the transfers of stablecoins between clients, and (why not) even between banks. New payments networks could emerge, which in turn could give rise to a host of new banking services,” she writes. Podcast corner Stablecoins & power politics On the inaugural episode of Opinionated, a new podcast featuring CoinDesk’s leading columnists and contributors, CoinDesk editor Ben Schiller is joined by cryptoratti Nic Carter to discuss crypto’s biggest story: the $20 billion stablecoin boom. Who won #CryptoTwitter? Related Stories Blockchain Bites: DeFi Meets NFTs, TSLA Beats Bitcoin in Volatility, Uniswap Breaks $2B Blockchain Bites: DeFi Meets NFTs, TSLA Beats Bitcoin in Volatility, Uniswap Breaks $2B View comments
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 13031.17, 13075.25, 13654.22, 13271.29, 13437.88, 13546.52, 13781.00, 13737.11, 13550.49, 13950.30
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2018-10-12]
BTC Price: 6274.58, BTC RSI: 36.57
Gold Price: 1218.10, Gold RSI: 59.30
Oil Price: 71.34, Oil RSI: 47.13
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
UK's Oldest Crypto Exchange Prepares for Employee Layoffs: In what may be a sign that business in the cryptocurrency space is in a winding down phase, U.K.-based bitcoin exchangeCoinflooris bidding adieu to half of its staff.
The company, which claims to be the oldest crypto exchange in London, has roughly 40 employees. More than half of them will be let go, Financial Newsreported, citing two sources close to the matter. The news broke early today, October 8, 2018.
Coinfloor CEO Obi Nwosu confirmed the layoffs but declined to spell out exactly how many employees would be let go. He told Financial News the staff cuts were a normal response to a changing market environment.
Following the market’s downturn at the beginning of 2018, a lot is changing in the cryptocurrency business. Since the beginning of the year, bitcoin has lost more than half of its value, and regulations across the globe are heating up. China has been taking increased action toclamp downon all things cryptocurrency, and, in the U.S., regulators are starting toget toughwithcrypto exchanges,unregistered securities dealersandquestionableinitialcoin offerings.
Amidst this shifting landscape, Coinfloor is not the only one to feel the market’s pinch. In September, Jesse Powell, the CEO of San Francisco-based exchange Kraken, said the company wascutting 10 percentof its client services team in a “cost-saving measure,” but denied rumors that the layoffs would amount to any more than that. At the time of publication, Kraken is the 23rd largest exchange by trading volume.
Despite the market downturn, some exchanges continue to paint a rosy picture. Binance boasted that it expected a net profit of $500 million to $1 billion in 2018,accordingto its chief executive officer. But without seeing the company’s financials, it is hard to get a clear view on the full picture.
Typically, exchanges make a lucrative profit, which is why so many have entered the game as of late. To date, there are 219 crypto exchanges all competing for each other’s business. But if the current market downturn continues, more will likely have to make adjustments or else bow out.
Founded in 2013, Coinfloor was one of the first exchanges onto the scene. Its big pitch early on was that it followed strict know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money-laundering (AML) procedures to ensure the integrity of its users and traders.
According to itswebsite, the exchange is backed by TransferWise founder Taavet Hinrikus, venture capital firm Passion Capital and Adam Knight, a former managing director at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse.
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Square’s Cash App Now Supports Bitcoin Trading in All 50 States: Mobile payment company Squareis expanding its bitcoin trading supportto all 50 states through its Cash App. This means that residents in all corners of the U.S. can utilize the platform to purchase and sell the digital currency.
The company was co-founded in 2009 by tech entrepreneur Jack Dorsey, who also heads Twitter. Last March, Dorsey was quoted as saying that bitcoin will likely serve as the world’s “single currency” in roughly 10 years.
Square’s announcement is particularly intriguing in that most bitcoin- or crypto-trading apps do not offer their services in every state.Robinhood, for example, only offers bitcoin and ether trading in 19 states including Arizona, California, Florida, Utah, Mississippi and Indiana, while other apps, such asCoinmamaandCEX.io, are available in 23 and 24 states respectively.Entities like itBit— which also holds a New York–issued BitLicense — operate in every state except Texas.
Square originally launched bitcoin-trading capabilities on its app in November 2017 to only a handful of users. In January of this year, the company expanded the app’s trading services to virtually every state except Wyoming, Georgia, Hawaii and New York due to restrictions that placed limits on cryptocurrency transactions. In June, the company acquired a BitLicense to operate in the Big Apple and later announcedthat it had more than doubledits crypto-based income between quarters one and two from $34 million to $70 million.
“We are thrilled to now provide New Yorkers with Cash App’s quick and simple way to buy and sell bitcoin. Square and the New York State DFS share a vision of empowering people with greater access to the financial system and today’s news is an important step in realizing that goal,” stated Brian Grassadonia, head of Square’s Cash App, yesterday regarding the venture’s new relationship with New York.
Cash App downloads have grown three times faster than its competitors and later surpassed the company’s figures for the first time. The app now boasts an impressive 33.5 million users — about 3 million more than Venmo. It is also expected to top $100 million in sales by the year 2020.
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Hawaiian Airlines Cuts China Flights, Following American Airlines: In 2014, Hawaiian Holdings (NASDAQ: HA) began its first route to China, flying three times a week between Honolulu and Beijing. Management touted the route as opening up a massive new market that could potentially drive the bulk of the Hawaii tourism industry's growth over the next few decades. However, earlier this week, Hawaiian announced that it will suspend its Honolulu-Beijing route in October. That made it the second U.S. carrier -- after American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL) -- to slash capacity to China this week. The demand wasn't there At the time that Hawaiian Airlines first began flying to Beijing, then-CEO Mark Dunkerley noted that Hawaii needed to become a friendlier destination for Chinese tourists. He cited a need for more low-price and mid-price accommodations, more marketing in China, and (most importantly) more Mandarin speakers in tourist-facing roles in Hawaii. Those problems haven't been fixed in the past four years. It has been clear from management's commentary for a while that the Beijing route was seen as a long-term investment rather than one expected to be profitable anytime soon. With fuel prices rising, Hawaiian Airlines appears to have decided that nonstop service to China isn't viable yet. Hawaiian Airlines spokesperson Ann Botticelli said that the Beijing-Honolulu market hasn't matured as quickly as expected , according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser . She continued: "We hope to once again fly to China when the market matures. If you look at China's population growth trends and economic growth indicators, there is no doubt it will become a major contributor to tourism globally, and that includes travel to Hawaii." A Hawaiian Airlines plane flying over the ocean, with mountains in the background Demand for travel to Hawaii still hasn't taken off in China. Image source: Hawaiian Airlines. The last flight to Beijing will depart on Oct. 9, while the final return flight to Honolulu will leave Beijing on Oct. 12. Hawaiian Airlines plans to maintain its current sales footprint in China and offer connecting service to Hawaii via its interline partners' hubs in Tokyo, Osaka, and Seoul. Story continues Hawaiian can afford to pull back American Airlines' decision to slash capacity from Chicago to Asia -- mainly China -- was risky because some of its corporate customers may depend on those routes . Without nonstop American Airlines flights from Chicago to major Asian business destinations, these corporate clients could opt to move their entire (lucrative) travel accounts to United Continental . American Airlines may have felt it had no choice but to retreat, due to the scale of its losses on these routes and the likelihood that competition on routes to China will continue increasing. By contrast, Hawaiian Airlines has faced a fairly steady competitive environment on its Beijing route since 2014. Capacity in the Beijing-Honolulu market actually declined 9.9% year over year in the first half of 2018. However, for Hawaiian, there's much less downside to dropping its Beijing route. The airline predominantly carries inbound tourist traffic. It doesn't generate the bulk of its profit from corporate clients who would drop Hawaiian Airlines if it didn't serve all of the biggest business markets. The only real drawback is that Chinese carriers could come to dominate the China-Hawaii tourist market in the coming years. But it would be illogical to maintain the route indefinitely in a fight for market share if it's nowhere close to becoming profitable. This move should quickly boost profitability Hawaiian Airlines has plenty of experience redeploying capacity on short notice. After adding lots of new international destinations between 2010 and 2014, Hawaiian cut several of the lower-performing routes in 2014. It redeployed the extra capacity to the U.S. West Coast. In the short run, I expect the same thing this time around. Hawaiian Airlines is in the midst of an aggressive fleet renewal project. It plans to retire all of its Boeing 767s by year-end, replacing them with state-of-the-art Airbus A321neos . However, it seems like Hawaiian may be tight on aircraft availability this fall (and in early 2019) relative to its plans. The A330 that is currently used for the Beijing flight could be used to fill the gap. If Hawaiian Airlines does have extra aircraft time available, it could potentially add flights in a market like Las Vegas, where capacity is down 10% year to date. Fares for Las Vegas-Honolulu flights are nearly as high as fares for Beijing-Honolulu flights, even though the Beijing route is almost twice as long. As a result, redeploying capacity to a market like Las Vegas would surely be a profitable move in the short run. Next year, as its A321neo fleet continues to grow, Hawaiian Airlines is likely to redeploy some A330s away from West Coast markets. At that point, it may explore new routes to Asia, the South Pacific, or even just the East Coast. But for now, Hawaiian seems poised to double down on its core West Coast-Hawaii market, where it's reliably profitable. That should lead to a quick improvement in its earnings trajectory starting next quarter. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Adam Levine-Weinberg owns shares of Hawaiian Holdings. The Motley Fool recommends Hawaiian Holdings. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Bitcoin – Bulls Need to Make a Move or Pay a Heavy Price: Bitcoin gained 1.23% on Tuesday, reversing Monday’s 0.47% decline, to end the day at $7,357.2.
Recovering from an early morning intraday low $7,246.2. Steering clear of the day’s first major support level at $7,187.47, Bitcoin rallied through late morning and early afternoon to an intraday high $7,415.4.
The rally through to the day high saw Bitcoin break through the day’s first major resistance level at $7,356.47 and back through the 38.2% FIB Retracement Level of $7,376 to hit $7,400 levels for the 2ndtime in 3-days, prior to which was back in the 1stweek of August.
In spite of the breakout from the 38.2% FIB Retracement Level of $7,376, Bitcoin failed to hold on to $7,400 levels with a late in the day broad based market sell-off seeing Bitcoin’s gains for the day reduced, with Bitcoin pulling back through the 38.2% FIB Retracement Level by the day’s end.
With selling pressure evident at the 38.2% FIB Retracement Level, Bitcoin’s failure to hold above $7,376 by the day’s end reaffirmed the extended bearish trend formed at early May’s swing hi $9,999, with a break out from $7,376 needed to support the formation of a bearish trend reversal.
The gains came with the news wires on the friendlier side at the start of the week, with regulator chatter on hold, allowing the Bitcoin bulls to talk up the prospects of a return to bullish form and a run at $20,000 levels by the year-end.
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At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up just 0.07% to $7,363.9, with moves through the early morning seeing Bitcoin recover from a start of a day morning low $7,357.2 to a morning high $7,398.7 before easing back, the early moves leaving the day’s major support and resistance levels untested, while resistance at $7,400 proved to be too great in the early hours.
For the day ahead, moving back through the 38.2% FIB Retracement Level of $7,376 would support another run at $7,400 levels to bring the day’s first major resistance level at $7,433 into play, with market sentiment to dictate whether Bitcoin can take a run at $7,500 levels, investors continuing to be on the more cautious side in spite of Bitcoin’s recent weekly gains and hold on to $7,300 levels.
Failure to move back through the 38.2% FIB Retracement Level of $7,376 could see Bitcoin hit reverse, with any fall through 7,340 bringing sub-$7,300 levels and the day’s first major support level at $7,263.8 into play before any recovery.
We would expect Bitcoin to steer clear of sub-$7,300 levels should the news wires remain crypto friendly, with Bitcoin’s relatively minor gains through the early part of the week likely to limit profit taking in the middle part of the week, though investors will wary of what’s to come on the regulatory front, which continues to pin Bitcoin back from $8,000 levels and beyond.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• USD/JPY Price Forecast – US dollar continues to chop against yen || Firefox Founder Explains Why Brave Browser Couldn’t Use Bitcoin Instead of BAT: Brave Browser CEO Brendan Eich, who created Firefox and JavaScript, has clarified the decision of the Brave team to utilize a token called BAT over Bitcoin to incentivize publishers on the network.
As CCNreportedlast month, Brave Browser has demonstrating a rapid rate of growth throughout 2018, achieving 10 million downloads on the Google Play Store.
Since its debut in 2016, Brave has consistently partnered with publications and publishers such as YouTube and Twitch streamers to reward content creators with payments made through cryptocurrency.
When Brave Browser initially launched and for the subsequent three quarters, Brave Browser utilized Bitcoin, the most dominant cryptocurrency in the global market, as the main cryptocurrency of the browser.
On September 3, Eichexplained:
“I don’t respond to drive-bys who can’t even be bothered to have used Brave in 2016 or first 3 quarters of 2017, or to have read our blog to learn that we actually built Brave Payments on bitcoin first, from fall 2016 to fall 2017, and discover the problems we had.”
According to Eich, Bitcoin was too slow and expensive to purchase large amounts of to hand out to publishers. The issue, which is not specific to Bitcoin, could have persisted on Ethereum and any other blockchain that is not equipped with a utility token specifically designed to incentivize a large network of publishers.
“We used bitcoin, it was terribly slow and expensive to buy in moderate amounts. We also could not give users grants of it, because no bitcoin holder was willing to give us a big pool of coins to hand out. You might think those are not bitcoin problems. They were for our users,” Eich added.
Digital content creators, especially popular YouTube channels and Twitch streamers, operate as fully established companies with many employees that are required to complete a wide range of tasks.
Hence, Eich noted that most businesses and publishers do not have much interest in holding or selling crypto but rather utilizing the income to cover their costs.
Understanding the needs of publishers, Brave Browser has partnered with Uphold to ensure that every publisher on the network is free to receive their incentive via fiat or crypto.
Eich further emphasized:
“Almost all businesses, esp. advertisers and publishers, do not want to buy, hold, or sell crypto. Crypto is bleeding edge stuff still, easy to lose via key loss, without chargebacks and other amenities people expect. We do not require any publisher to accept crypto of any kind. We partner with Uphold for exchange from and to many fiats and cryptos.
Essentially, Eich stated that the Brave Browser team had to pivot from Bitcoin to an independent blockchain network called BAT because of the high level of anonymity and scalability that is required to support a browser with tens of thousands of publishers and content creators.
Most recently, Coinbase, the world’s largest cryptocurrency brokerage and exchange, disclosed its plans to integrate BAT into its exchange as one of the first ERC20 tokens on the platform.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The postFirefox Founder Explains Why Brave Browser Couldn’t Use Bitcoin Instead of BATappeared first onCCN. || SEC Charges Forex Broker for Illegal Securities Swaps Involving Bitcoin: In what seems like the first coordinated strike from government agencies, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have taken action against a securities broker for violating federal laws in connection with security-based swaps funded by bitcoin.
On September 27, 2018, the SECannouncedthat it had filed charges at a U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against Marshall Islands-based securities company 1pool Ltd., also known as 1Broker, and its Austria-based CEO Patrick Brunner for trading security swaps to American investors and others across the world without meeting the "discretionary investment thresholds required" by federal securities law.
The SEC further claims that 1Broker was fraudulently issuing swaps as it was not a registered "securities-based swaps dealer," and it also failed to transact on a registered national exchange.
Commenting on the claims, Shamoil Shipchandler, director of the SEC's Fort Worth regional office, said the SEC would protect U.S. investors on any platform regardless of the currency used in the transaction.
"International companies that transact with U.S. investors cannot circumvent compliance with the federal securities laws by using cryptocurrency."
The SEC is seeking permanent injunctions, penalties and "disgorgement plus interest" against 1Broker and its CEO.
Responding to the SEC's allegation, 1Brokerassuredcustomers of the safety of their funds and said they were ready to cooperate with the SEC.
The CFTC filed a similarcomplaintagainst1Brokerfor illegally offering off-exchange, transactions, not registering as a Futures Commission Merchants (FCM), and failure to implement anti-money laundering and supervisory features.
The statement from the CFTC reads in part:
"Entities required to be registered as FCMs such as 1pool, are required by Commission Regulations to diligently supervise all activities of their officers, employees, and agents relating to their business as an FCM, including the handling of customer accounts, and to implement and maintain adequate supervisory systems and procedures."
The Federal Bureau of Investigationfollowedthis up with a seizure of the 1Broker.com domain name. The Bureau claims the domain was taken down after a U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found probable cause that it's in violation of federal laws.
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || 5 Junk Bond ETFs that are Another Investors Treasure: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. "Another man's junk is another man's treasure" is an often-used adage with respect to discovering value and in the investment arena, it's locating profitable opportunities where others would not normally find them. Junk bonds or high-yield bonds have long been considered investable assets that make the majority of investors turn the other cheek with their below investment-grade debt, but for savvy investors, treasures can by had by sifting through this mass of junk bonds. As opposed to allocating investment capital directly into junk bonds, ETFs can used for high yield exposure to these bonds while minimizing the credit risk. With their high yields with respect to their investment-grade corporate bond counterparts, junk bonds can also help hedge rate risk, especially with the Federal Reserve primed for more rate hikes in September and December. "These ETFs are an efficient way to get fixed income market exposure, especially in highly desirable sectors such as international, emerging markets and high yield," said Paul Mottola, Head of Capital Markets at Incapital. "Plus, the multiple holdings within a bond ETF can accomplish many important investment objectives, such as issuer diversification." Related: An ETF That Taps Into Closed-End Funds for High Yields With that, here are five fixed-income ETFs that give exposure to high-yield bonds without the added risk of investing directly in the debt issues themselves. 1. iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corp Bd ETF ( HYG ) HYG tracks the investment results of the Markit iBoxx® USD Liquid High Yield Index, which is comprised of high yield U.S. corporate bonds that have less than investment-grade quality. Investors who have been able to forego the credit risk have seen total returns of 3.95% the last three years and 1.22% the past year based on Yahoo! Finance performance figures . 2. SPDR Blmbg BarclaysST HY Bd ETF ( SJNK ) SJNK seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Bloomberg Barclays US High Yield 350mn Cash Pay 0-5 Yr 2% Capped Index. SJNK invests its total assets in the securities comprising the index, which is designed to measure the performance of short-term publicly issued U.S. dollar-denominated high yield corporate bonds. The short-term maturities will help hedge some credit risk due to the lesser exposure, but holdings are still less than investment-grade. SJNK has returned 1.20% year-to-date, 2.94% the past year and 3.76% the last three years. Story continues 3. iShares 0-5 Year High Yield Corp Bd ETF ( SHYG ) SHYG seeks to track the investment results of the Markit iBoxx® USD Liquid High Yield 0-5 Index, which is primarily composed of U.S. dollar-denominated, high yield corporate bonds with remaining maturities of less than five years. Like SJNK, debt maturities are shorter, thereby helping to hedge some credit risk, but issues are still less than investment-grade. Nonetheless, SHYG has managed to return 1.13% year-to-date, 2.86% the past year and 4.14% the last three years. 4. iShares Interest Rate Hdg Hi Yld Bd ETF ( HYGH ) The prime focus of HYGH is to mitigate the interest rate risk of a portfolio composed of U.S. dollar-denominated, high yield corporate bonds. In order for HYGH to achieve its investment objective, it invests 80 percent of its net assets in U.S. dollar-denominated high yield bonds and also incorporates short positions in U.S. Treasury Securities. 45.84 percent of HYGHs holdings include yields tied to a fixed-income portfolio of bonds with a BB credit rating and another 40 percent with a B credit ratingmore credit risk in lieu of higher yields as opposed to bonds with credit ratings higher than BB. As an example, high yield bonds with a BB credit rating have generated returns of 23.5 percent according to the ICE BofAML US High Yield BB Effective Yield index below. 5. ProShares High YieldInterest Rate Hdgd ( HYHG ) HYHG tracks the performance of the Citi High Yield (Treasury Rate-Hedged) Index and allocates 80% of its total assets in high-yield bonds and short positions in Treasury Securities in order hedge against rising rates. Because HYHG invests in high-yield bonds, there is credit risk associated with the higher yield since the fund invests in corporate issues that are less than investment-grade. By targeting a duration of zero, HYHG offers less interest rate sensitivity versus its short-term bond peers. For more trends in fixed income, visit the Fixed Income Channel. POPULAR ARTICLES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM 20 Most Desirable Cities in America
Should You Be a Buyer? How to Best Use an HSA to Your Benefit Does the Money Management Industry Need Consolidation? Tesla Board to Meet Next Week About Going Private Bitcoin Suffers from Week of Pain, Bounce Ahead? READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Shopify Stock Just Did Something It Hasn't Done in 7 Months: Shares of Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) soared 10% last week. The move might have seemed like par for the course in 2016, 2017, and early 2018 -- when the e-commerce platform provider was one of the market's hottest stocks -- but it was a rare accomplishment these days. You have to go back to early February -- more than seven months -- to find the last time that Shopify shares came through with a double-digit percentage gain. The recent rarity of a big weekly move isn't leaving investors smarting. Shopify is still beating the market with a 53% return so far in 2018. The shares remain well below their summertime peak, but last week's spike is promising. The stock has popped sixfold since the start of 2016. Shopify's storefront on Facebook. Image source: Shopify. It all checks out Shares of Shopify were already moving higher before a bullish analyst initiation kicked in on Friday morning. The stock had risen in each of the five previous trading days. The stock actually dipped slightly on Friday despite the bullish Wall Street move. Ygal Arounian at Wedbush is kicking off his coverage of Shopify with an outperform rating. He believes that Shopify -- despite already having more than 600,000 merchant accounts on its platform -- is still in its infancy. He sees it continuing to expand its reach in terms of merchant size as well as offerings. Arounian thinks that Shopify will continue to capture a larger share of money spent on enterprise e-commerce software. He's slapping a $177 price target on the stock, a 14% move higher from current levels and just enough to take out July's all-time highs. Shopify topped out this summer after putting out mixed second-quarter results . The look back was stellar. Earnings blew away Wall Street expectations , the way they have historically done. However, the increased guidance left investors wanting more. Most of the increase in Shopify's outlook was already realized in the recently concluded second quarter, a small setback for a stock after rallying for more than two years. Story continues The good news for investors is that the 48% to 50% revenue growth that Shopify is targeting for the current quarter is pretty good. Shopify has grown at headier clips in the past (top-line growth has decelerated for more than two years), but it's still the kind of growth that investors willing to accept lofty valuations crave in their investments. Shopify continues to do a lot of things right as it empowers budding entrepreneurs with the ability to immediately set up digital storefronts that they can quickly populate across various hotbeds of visibility. There will be critics , but a stock doesn't become a six-bagger over the past three years without punishing the naysayers. Momentum is back on Shopify's side, and now it's a matter of time before it hits Arounian's price target and establishes new all-time highs. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Rick Munarriz has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Shopify. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Crypto Billionaires Among China’s Wealthiest, Despite Bear Market: Bitcoin price china Cryptocurrency Bitcoin price china Cryptocurrency There is no question that the entire cryptocurrency sector is in a bear market , with many cryptocurrencies losing over 50% of their value. However, this certainly hasn’t prevented individuals from becoming very wealthy through cryptocurrency-related ventures. Specifically, despite the decrease in market capitalizations of various cryptocurrencies, several Chinese businessmen have landed onto a list of China’s wealthiest individuals thanks to companies associated with cryptocurrency. Notable Figures The Hurun report is released annually, and 13 cryptocurrency-related businessmen have made the list, which includes individuals with at least a net worth of 2 billion yuan, or $289 million USD. The highest entry belongs to Micree Zhan Ketuan, the founder of Bitmain Technologies, and the only cryptocurrency-related businessman to penetrate the list of the 100 wealthiest people in China, with an estimated net worth of 29.5 billion yuan. This is not surprising, considering Bitmain – the largest bitcoin mining company in the world – is on track to reach $10 billion in revenue by the end of this year, and is valued at over $10 billion already. Another high entry belongs to the other co-founder of the same company, Bitmain, Wu Jihan, who comes in at #204, with an estimated worth of 16.5 billion yuan. China has been known to dominate the bitcoin mining sector. In fact, Bitmain, and its two main competitors, Canaan Creative and Ebang International Holdings, have all applied to go public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX). Nine of the thirteen entries on the Hurun report come from these three companies alone. China Crackdown This is even more interesting considering the fact that China has been cracking down on the cryptocurrency sector in general. The Chinese Central Bank has repeatedly warned bitcoin exchanges about their activity, and went on to ban initial coin offerings, which led to the iconic cryptocurrency exchange BTCC closing , which many in the cryptocurrency community felt was a symbolic end to an era where China seemed to tolerate cryptocurrency – and that the tides were shifting. Story continues Ironically, it was this crackdown that actually helped Binance, the world’s largest exchange by daily volume, adapt and expand to countries such as Japan and Singapore, rather than keep China as headquarters. Zhao Chenpeng, 41, also makes the list, at #230, with an impressive 15 billion yuan. It is clear that despite the crackdowns on cryptocurrency in China, and the volatility of the markets – the leaders in the cryptocurrency market have certainly been able to accrue substantial wealth in 2018. Featured image from Shutterstock. The post Crypto Billionaires Among China’s Wealthiest, Despite Bear Market appeared first on CCN . || FedEx Misses Expectations; ESPN+ Hits 1 Million Subscribers: In this segment from Motley Fool Money , host Chris Hill and senior analysts Jason Moser, Matt Argersinger, and Ron Gross first consider the reasons FedEx (NYSE: FDX) shares lost ground after its fiscal first-quarter profits missed expectations. Margins may have shrunk a bit, and Trump's China tariffs are impacting its top and bottom lines in a minor way, but as a business, the company is performing well. The real costs are that it's trying to pay its employees (and managers) better. Then, they discuss ESPN+, which Disney (NYSE: DIS) launched five months ago. It's already up to 1 million subscriptions, which is excellent news, considering how important (and troubled) the ESPN brand has been for the entertainment giant. The real question is where Disney's heading in the streaming media universe. On the one hand, it plans to launch multiple services, and on the other, it will soon own a majority stake in Hulu. How will all of this fit together? A full transcript follows the video. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This This video was recorded on Sept. 21 , 2018. Chris Hill: Shares of FedEx falling a bit this week after first quarter profits came in lower than expected. Ron, part of this is, FedEx is paying its employees more. That seems like a good thing for FedEx in the long run, and that seems like a bad reason to sell this stock. Ron Gross: Yeah, I have no problem with that. It was two things -- higher bonuses from management and wage increases for hourly workers. Management, eh, OK, I won't begrudge them a few bucks. I'm fine with the hourly increases for their workers. I think that will bode well down the road. Story continues I think what hit the stock a little bit here is the whole tariff thing. So far, 10% of FedEx's business in China has been affected by the tariffs. FedEx gets about 2% of their overall revenue from that region. So, I think there's some fear there, but I think it's overblown. The tariffs, I assume they're going to work themselves out. I think about it like I think about currency. I don't know how to predict it. I don't know where it's going to go. But I assume it's going to work its way out. Overall, I think it's a strong report. Revenue up 11%. Earnings up 38%, which was actually worse than expected, but pretty good on the heels of a lower tax rate, which everyone has obviously benefited from. They raised guidance. Shares are only 14X earnings. I thought the report was great. Hill: Back in April, Disney launched its ESPN+ streaming service with a price tag of $5 a month. This week, Disney announced it now has one million subscribers. Obviously, they're looking for more than that, Matty. But this is a pretty good start, five months in. Matt Argersinger: I think it is, I think a lot of the investing community was pretty skeptical about this when they first announced it in 2017, and certainly after they debuted it just a few months ago. But, hitting a million's huge. I think Bob Iger on the last conference call hinted at that. He said conversions from free trials are going well, subscription numbers were stronger than expected. I think this is good news. It makes investors feel a little more confident about what's happening next year, which is the Disney app, which I think is the bigger platform, the bigger subscription service they're going to launch. It comes on the heels of ending the distribution agreement they have with Netflix . I'm still a little bit worried. I'm glad to see the traction, but I worry still that there's just too many choices now in front of consumers. It's nice that people seem to be paying up for this incremental ESPN content. But I feel like Hulu is still out there. They're going to get a majority stake in that. I feel like that's their best bet. That's the best platform for them to compete with the Netflixes and Amazon s, YouTubes of the world. I imagine that eventually, a lot of that Disney content is going to flow there, as well. Hill: That's one thing to keep in mind, though. When they get that access to Hulu, do you think on some level, they are building these apps with Hulu as the backup plan? Maybe not so much with ESPN+, but certainly with the movie streaming app. In the same way that there's original content on ESPN+, Katie Nolan's show and other things like that, there's also original content in the works for the movie streaming service they've got next year. Argersinger: That's right. You put it great, Hulu is the backup plan. They're trying out these separate brands. ESPN Sports, Disney content, Star Wars , Marvel, all that. Hulu probably feels a little too broad, almost like a cable service. I know, Jason, that's how you started to think about Hulu Live and things like that. Maybe you're right. I think, if these apps don't gain a lot of traction, all that stuff ends up on Hulu anyway. John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Chris Hill owns shares of AMZN and Walt Disney. Matthew Argersinger owns shares of AMZN, NFLX, and Walt Disney. Ron Gross owns shares of AMZN and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends AMZN, NFLX, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool recommends FedEx. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
The number of cryptocurrency ATMs in Belgium and the Netherlands is growing, according to newly released data. Amsterdam is leading among major cities in the Benelux region, with 12 machines supporting digital coin transactions. #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/J6Y240j39o || $2,500.00 Antminer S9j 14.5 th/s w/PSU & Power Cord TOTAL PACKAGE +ready to mine+ #Bitcoin #Mining #Cryptocurrency http://bit.ly/2xZIBym pic.twitter.com/UuhGY5rTgt || #cryptocurrency Price Analysis for #Bitsend #BSD :
Last Hour Change : -0.4 % || 05-10-2018 23:00
Price in #USD : 0.1519014916 || Price in #EUR : 0.1318400135
New Price in #Bitcoin #BTC : 0.00002317 || #Coin Rank 623 || Bitcoin Artwork - http://sunfellow.com/bitcoin-artwork/ … #Bitcoin $BTC pic.twitter.com/IWiuyLKGQk || 1hr Report : 07:00:55 UTC Top 10 Mentions
$BTC, $ETH, $TRIG, $BCN, $ICN, $XRP, $CHAT, $LTC, $NEO, $XLMpic.twitter.com/LzRbnjTR5o || USD/SEK 9.00
EUR/SEK 10.40
GBP/SEK 11.70
NOK/SEK 1.10
GULD/SEK 10853
SILVER/SEK 132.59
BITCOIN/SEK 58818
GOLD/USD 1204
BITCOIN/USD 6528 || 08/22 01:00現在
#Bitcoin : 709,295円↓
#NEM #XEM : 11.1201円↓
#Monacoin : 172.9円↓
#Ethereum : 30,420円→
#Zaif : 0.3456円↑ || 現在の1ビットコインあたりの値段は687,855.6533円です。値段の取得日時はSep 8, 2018 18:59:00 UTCです #bitcoin #ビットコイン || #CryptoMarkets top 10 price update 1h
$BTC $6395.37 0.14%
$ETH $211.85 1.1%
$XRP $0.45 0.4%
$BCH $431.04 0.34%
$EOS $5.42 1.91%
$XLM $0.24 1.46%
$LTC $56.58 1.15%
$USDT $1.00 -0.55%
$ADA $0.08 2.22%
$XMR $113.92 0.72% || USD: 111.600
EUR: 130.580
GBP: 145.448
AUD: 81.356
NZD: 74.381
CNY: 16.345
CHF: 114.957
BTC: 780,795
ETH: 31,895
Thu Aug 30 12:00 JST
|
Trend: up || Prices: 6285.99, 6290.93, 6596.54, 6596.11, 6544.43, 6476.71, 6465.41, 6489.19, 6482.35, 6487.16
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2015-03-19]
BTC Price: 260.93, BTC RSI: 45.34
Gold Price: 1169.10, Gold RSI: 40.86
Oil Price: 43.96, Oil RSI: 36.53
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
6 trades on big tech names: CNBC's "Fast Money" traders saw upside in embattled BlackBerry(Toronto Stock Exchange: BB-CA)after a day in which the stock popped.
BlackBerry's partnership with Google(NASDAQ: GOOGL)on Android for Work and BlackBerry-owned QNX's role in car "infotainment" systems have led trader Brian Kelly to believe the company still has some juice to give.
"I think if they can start to get this part of the company growing and start to do more of these deals, I think above [$12 per share] is not a problem at all," Kelly said.
The stock closed Wednesday up more than 2 percent, at about $10.50 per share. Kelly noted that he owns calls that go to March, but bought the stock Wednesday because he wanted longer exposure.
Trader Dan Nathan echoed Kelly's positive sentiment, adding that he owned BlackBerry calls that go to June. The company is a potential takeover target, and it's an appealing buy if any deal seems imminent, said trader Tim Seymour.
Read MoreBlackBerry, Samsung deny takeover report
"This company doesn't stay independent forever. I think you buy it on a take out," he said.
Another battered tech name, Yahoo(NASDAQ: YHOO), looks like a better buy than Alibaba(NYSE: BABA), the Chinese giant to which it is linked, Seymour added. Yahoo owns stake in Alibaba that was worth about $40 billion late last month.
Yahoo and Alibaba closed Wednesday around $45 and $86 per share, respectively.
Read MoreChinese rivals snap at Alibaba's heels in cross-border e-commerce race
He noted that investors in Apple(NASDAQ: AAPL), which has been trading above $125 per share, shouldn't get out of the stock until the second quarter of this year at the earliest.
Disclosures:
Tim Seymour
Tim Seymour is long AAPL, BAC, C, DIS, F, GE, GM, GOOGL, INTC, JCP and SUNE. Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, MCD, NKE, NOK, SBUX and VIP.
Dan Nathan
Dan Nathan is long BBRY June call spread, KO March put spread, M March 65/67.50 call spread, MSFT March call spread, MU March 31/26 put spread, SHAK, XLF March put spread and XRT March 90/85 put spread.
Brian Kelly
Brian Kelly is long BTC=, U.S. dollar, GLD, CTRL calls, HYG puts, BBRY, BBRY call spreads and TLT. He is short EWA, EWG, EWQ, EWZ, EWW, Australian dollar, British pound, Canadian dollar, yen and yuan. Today, he bought BBRY.
Jon Najarian
Jon Najarian is long ABT, ADP, AMAT, AN, ATVI, AUY, BRCM, BSX, CZR, DNKN, EQT, GE, GT, HFC, HOG, HUN, INFN, KBH, KO, MW, NEE, NRG, NSAM, OKE, POST, RIG, RKUS, SFUN, SIRI, SPG, SYK, TWTR, TWX, WBA, WMB, WNR and XLE. He is long calls BYD, CZR, EQT, EWJ, HOG, RKUS and TWTR. Today, he bought CZR, CZR calls, GE, HFC, HOG, HOG calls, SPG and WNR calls.
More From CNBC
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• CNBC.com Earnings Central || Bitcoin Alternative DNotes Focuses On Banking Solutions And Stability While Venture Capital Investment Continues At Record Breaking Pace: Bitcoin Volatility May Have Resulted In A Slower Adoption Of The Currency By Large Merchants, But Venture Capital Funding Continues At Record Breaking Pace. Meanwhile, DNotes Remains One Of The Most Stable Cryptocurrencies With Focus On Banking Solutions And Long Term Appreciation, Attracting New Investors . ILLINOIS, USA / ACCESSWIRE / March 15, 2015 / There is an inherent tendency for promising emerging technologies to be deceptive at the formative stage, especially when perceived to be highly disruptive. According to DNotes Co-Founder Alan Yong, a well regarded pioneer and visionary during the early days of mobile computers, this has clearly been the case with Bitcoin , despite often being described as the greatest technology innovation since the Internet. The Bitcoin space has received a staggering investment of almost $500 million from Venture Capital funding in 2014 alone, followed by over $200 million, so far this year. Incumbents, who are the most direct targets of the disruption, often discount Bitcoin as a threat because of its explosive volatility and poor track record as a store of value. Bitcoin as a medium of exchange has not gained meaningful traction either. In such an environment, the immensely promising Bitcoin with the potential to be the greatest technology revolution of our generation can be quite deceptive; causing many to look back a few years from now wondering how they could have missed the early promising signs. DNotes can best be characterized, as a second generation Bitcoin alternative digital currency. It objectively studied Bitcoin's strengths and weaknesses as well as threats and opportunities. DNotes was created on February 18, 2014 with an objective to meet the full functions of fiat currency as a unit of account, store of value and medium of exchange within three years. It decided to take a very different path since day one in building a trustworthy stable digital currency with reliable long term appreciation. Story continues Central to DNotes long term strategic plan is the creation of highly scalable building blocks, as the foundation of its own ecosystem. Those strategic building blocks include CryptoMoms; a currency neutral site dedicated to encourage women participation, DNotesVault; a free secure storage for DNotes' stakeholders with 100% deposit guarantee with verifiable funds, and CRISPs; a family of Cryptocurrency Investment Savings Plans for everyone worldwide. The core mission of CRISP is to make the savings opportunity available to everyone; from the unborn to the most senior; from the unbanked to the super rich. The opportunity for anyone to participate irrespective of financial standing, coupled with combined charity efforts will bring about much needed financial freedom for millions worldwide. Yong explained that, "winning strategies are most effective when executed flawlessly in the right sequence and at the most opportune time. Until there is a stable digital currency everyone can understand, trust and feel comfortable about, attempts to promote it as a medium of exchange will cost more harm than good. In the case of DNotes, the medium of exchange function will not kick until its third year; at which time many small business owners and their employees are anticipated to be DNotes stakeholders and participants in one of its cryptocurrency savings plans." DNotes' ecosystem is strategically linked and systematically executed towards the ultimate goal of mass consumer and mass merchant adoption of DNotes as a medium of exchange in global commerce. As a digital currency it is equal to and better than fiat currency and as a technology it holds enormous power to cause a quantum shift with world changing implications. DNotes is a cryptographically created digital currency based on a novel decentralized peer to peer model, where trust is replaced by mathematical algorithms, eliminating the need of an intermediary such as a bank or an automatic clearing house. Assets of value such as Bitcoin, DNotes, and other digital assets can be sent and received in minutes anytime, anywhere, worldwide without the oversight of any central authority. It takes as little as two simple cell phones, or computers with an internet connection to send and receive funds. It does not require, transmit, or store any personal information and the two parties do not need to know or trust each other to successfully complete the transaction at little to no cost. The world we live in has always been dynamic, constantly reacting and adjusting to the needs for change. What we could be underestimating this time is the massive potential for job and wealth creation. We are already living in a hyperconnected world with super-computing power at our finger tips. Over five billion people will be online equipped with significantly more powerful computing power by 2020. Technologies have always been ahead of regulations. This time around the speed of an accommodating regulatory environment to promote rather than to stifle the greatest innovation since the Internet could be the greatest competitive edge among nations. Bitcoin as a digital currency coupled with the immense power of the Blockchain is the solution to many global problems confronting mankind today. There may not be another global opportunity of this magnitude a single nation can exploit to gain an enormous advantage. To trade Bitcoin with DNotes please go to: https://poloniex.com/exchange#btc_note For more information about us, please visit http://dnotescoin.com/ Contact: Alan Yong [email protected] DNotes SOURCE: DNotes || Force Minerals Corporation Acquires Crypto Currency CandyCoin: IRVINE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 9, 2015 / Force Minerals Corporation ( FORC ), is pleased to announce the Company has completed negotiations for the acquisition of an established Crypto Currency CandyCoin a digital crypto currency company and its digital mining assets and intellectual properties. CandyCoin can be found at the following URL: www.candyco.in . CandyCoin is a digital crypto currency that trades under the symbol "YUM" at www.allcrypt.com and https://askcoin.net/trading/YUM/BTC . Candycoin has its own mining pool that is a peer to peer mining network. "The acquisition of CandyCoin a developing Crypto Currency fits into the company's developmental plans to bring enhanced value to crypto currencies, promote the use of CandyCoin and establish a conversion capability so that CandyCoin can be utilized as a mainstream alternative currency," states company President, Mr. Nate Lewis. "We expect that the company will develop CandyCoin into a very liquid and merchantable currency over the next several months." The company will initially be establishing a mining presence to support the mining of CandyCoin, as well as establishing itself in the trading arenas in order to take advantage of market discrepancies. Upon the successful implementation of this process the company will expand to other relative Crypto Currencies as opportunities become available. Backed by a publicly trading company, Digital Mining Corporation is dedicated to creating shareholder value by utilizing market opportunities to successfully mine crypto currencies on a global level maximizing their value to the highest levels possible while being highly innovative utilizing crypto security and blockchain technologies to minimize Bitcoin transaction completion times for consumers. Forward-Looking Statements: This news release includes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While these statements are made to convey Company progress, business opportunities and growth prospects, readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements represent management's opinion. Whereas management believes such representations to be true and accurate based on information and data available to the Company at this time, actual results may differ materially and are subject to risk and uncertainties. Factors that may cause actual results to differ include without limitation: dependence on key personnel and suppliers; FORC's ability to commercialize its technology; ability to defend intellectual property; material and component costs; competition; economic conditions; consumer demand and product acceptance, and availability of growth capital. Story continues Additional considerations and risk factors are set forth in reports filed on Form 8-K and 10-K with the SEC and other filings. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon these forward-looking statements; historical information is not an indicator of future performance. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements. CONTACT: For further Information: Force Minerals Corporation. President: Mr. Nathaniel Lewis 1-970-660-8197 www.candyco.in www.digitalminingcorp.com [email protected] SOURCE: Force Minerals Corporation || Chinese yuan dominates 80% of Bitcoin trades: China's craze for bitcoins has been well-documented over the past year, but a new report highlights just how dominant of a player the country is. About 80 percent of bitcoin volume is now driven by the Chinese yuan (Exchange:CNY=) , according to data from Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS - News ) . The U.S. dollar is the second most used currency for transactions, followed by the euro, the bank said in a new report. The bank's findings correlat e with data from Bitcoinity, a popular website used to track market data. A look at trading volume over the past six months reveals China's yuan accounted for 77 percent of total market share, compared with 19 percent for the greenback (New York Board of Trade (Futures): =USD) and just 1 percent for the euro (Unknown:EURBA=) . China's high trading activity comes despite recent moves by the People's Bank of China (PBoC) to clamp down on the crypto-currency. The central bank banned financial institutions from bitcoin trading in December after warning that the currency was essentially a vehicle for speculation. Earlier in 2014, the PBoC also took measures to prevent bitcoin companies from gaining access to payment processors. However, Goldman Sachs believes the mood is gradually improving: "However, in light of a somewhat stabilizing Bitcoin economy in China, a few payment processors have reemerged, such as BTC China's JustPay." Bitcoin's future in China is expected to keep expanding as the country becomes a major mining hub, according to a U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission report last year. Read More Feds auction $13.5M worth of Silk Road bitcoins The mainland boasts an enormous online gaming community, where games like World of Warcraft allow players to trade virtual credits earned in the game for cash or real goods and services. The practice is called "gold farming" and can be seen as a precursor to bitcoin mining, the report said. "One prominent figure in Beijing's Bitcoin circles estimated that China's miners, composed mainly of hardware engineers and IT aficionados, number in the tens of thousands." Story continues Goldman Sachs expects global bitcoin acceptance to continue growing thanks to the currency's potential for transforming the remittance market. "Bitcoin and other crypto currencies enable the potential for faster transactions with lower transaction fees. The Bitcoin network can charge as little as zero for processing transactions if there is no time constraint for confirmation." Moreover, concerns over fluctuations in bitcoin prices won't apply to money transfers due to the speed of the transactions and the fact that customers are given rates in advance, Goldman added. More From CNBC Bitcoin is done with its 'tumultuous teen' years Bitcoin finds a place among the world's elite Bitcoin gets first regulated US exchange || Canada's Largest Bitcoin Exchange CAVIRTEX Integrates with Vogogo: Vogogo also integrates two further exchanges Bitcoin Brains & Taurus Exchange. CALGARY, ALBERTA & PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA / ACCESSWIRE / JANUARY 22 nd , 2015 - Payment processing compliance & fraud mitigation specialist Vogogo Inc. (TSX VENTURE:VGO) today announced signed contracts with Canada's largest bitcoin exchange, CAVIRTEX and two further exchanges Bitcoin Brains & Taurus Exchange . CAVIRTEX is Canada's first and largest bitcoin exchange. In its three years of operation, it has facilitated over $100 Million in trading between individuals, merchants, and market makers. In addition to being an exchange, CAVIRTEX offers merchant solutions, debit cards and prepaid Mastercards. Bitcoin Brains is an innovative Calgary-based exchange and the first of its kind with a bricks and mortar store. Vancouver-based Taurus exchange is a sophisticated trading platform utilizing multi-signature wallet technology to secure customer funds. The exchange operates on the USD and CAD markets. It is expected that each of the exchanges will be fully integrated with Vogogo's payment processing and risk management platform enabling them to offer users of their respective exchanges seamless transactions between bitcoin and fiat currencies in the US and Canada, with EU processing expected to come online during Q1 of 2015. Through the latter half of 2014 Vogogo prepared its payment processing and risk management platform to effectively service the crypto industry. Vogogo is now actively boarding new crypto based clients onto the Vogogo platform with anticipation of reaching commercial processing volumes during Q1, 2015. Vogogo CEO Geoff Gordon said of the announcement, "Being the chosen provider of payment processing and risk management services by well established crypto-exchanges as well as the new and emerging players in the industry, I believe, speaks to our capabilities and reputation. We look forward to working with these teams and helping them to unlock new and lucrative markets during 2015." "Our focus is making it easy for Canadians to seamlessly transition between bitcoin and the Canadian Dollar." said Joseph Onorati, CEO of CAVIRTEX. "As Canada's largest and most trusted digital currency exchange, we are always looking for services that enhance our offering. By integrating Vogogo with our platform we are making bitcoin more accessible to Canadians." --ENDS-- About Vogogo Vogogo is a TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") publicly traded payment services company with integrated risk management and compliance. Founded in 2008, Vogogo designed, built and launched its web-based payment processing technology while growing its expertise in software development, payments, risk management, compliance and related financial services. Vogogo is now executing on its plan to serve global markets. The plan focuses on market opportunities where Vogogo believes it has a competitive advantage due to its positioning and technology. Story continues For further company information please view the Vogogo Media Kit For information or interview please contact: Geoff Gordon Chief Executive Officer 403-648-9292 Rodney Thompson Chief Relationship Officer 403-648-9292 About CAVIRTEX CAVIRTEX is Canada's first and largest bitcoin exchange. In its three years of operation, CAVIRTEX has facilitated over $100 Million in trading between individuals, merchants, and market makers. In addition to being an exchange, CAVIRTEX offers merchant solutions, debit cards and prepaid Mastercards. For more information about CAVIRTEX, please go to www.cavirtex.com . About Bitcoin Brains Since 2013, Bitcoin Brains has been pioneering what can be done with bitcoin in a brick and mortar establishment. As the first store of its kind anywhere, Bitcoin Brains offers brokerage services, bitcoin mining equipment sales, rentals, setup and consulting as well as point of sale solutions for merchants and charities . About Taurus Exchange Taurus is an upcoming Canadian bitcoin exchange that will operate on the CAD market. It is based in Vancouver, Canada and is run by Founder and CEO Yuri Yerofeyev who has experience in bitcoin trading, business and customer service and is a director of The Bitcoin Co-op. The client-focused exchange runs on a sophisticated trading platform and utilizes the multi-signature wallet technology to secure customer funds. READER ADVISORY Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. None of the information contained on, or connected to, Vogogo's website is incorporated by reference herein. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Statements in this press release contain forward-looking information including, without limitation, timing for integration of the Vogogo platform with CAVIRTEX, Bitcoin Brains and Taurus Exchange, expansion plans of Vogogo and anticipated dates for commercial trading volumes. The words "will," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intent," "may," "project," "should," and similar expressions are intended to be among the statements that identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are founded on the basis of expectations and assumptions made by Vogogo. Readers are cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of such information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of Vogogo. Vogogo does not have any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements except as expressly required by applicable securities laws. SOURCE: Vogogo Inc. View comments || Bitcoin Alternative DNotes Celebrates As One Of The First Long Term Alternative Cryptocurrencies: With savings plans and several innovative initiatives long term cryptocurrency DNotes continues to celebrate progress made in 2014 with scheduled roll-outs of many more Cryptocurrency Investment Savings Plans (CR.I.S.P) using newly launched DNotesVault.
ILLINOIS, USA / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2015 /Established US based cryptocurrency DNotes has had a productive year in thecryptocurrency space with a number of unique forward thinking projects. Led by co-founder, and early tech entrepreneur Alan Yong – with over 3 decades of experience in IT and the personal computer industry.
DNotes released several large scale projects in 2014, including the DNotes cryptocurrency itself, DNotes web wallet and long term coin storage platform DNotesVault with a 100% deposit guarantee, and cryptocurrency neutral platform CryptoMoms – dedicated to aiding women's participation in cryptocurrencies. CR.I.S.P for kids – the world's first Cryptocurrency Investment Savings Plans for Children was also released. DNotes is the first cryptocurrency to offer long term self-directed and unstructured digital currency savings plans. Additional digital currency savings plans, scheduled for roll-out over the next six months will be available for students, company employees, charities and anyone interested to supplement their retirement savings with DNotes.
DNotes is an open source decentralized peer-to-peer cryptocurrency that was launched in early 2014. Since launch DNotes has been credited as one of the industry's most stable digital currencies among over 500 coins listed on CoinMarketcap. There are currently seven mining pools for those who wish to mine DNotes and several reputable cryptocurrency exchanges for trading including PoloniEx, AllCoin, C-Cex and Comkort. The DNotes' homepage offers plenty of language options and downloads are available for Windows, Linux, and Mac.
DNotes launched web wallet DNotesVault.com with an unprecedented 100% deposit guarantee free of charge for all DNotes stakeholders.DNotesVault is a strategic instrument to stimulate the long term holding of DNotes. It offers a secure saving alternative that enables anyone worldwide to participate in saving cryptocurrency safely. It is easier to set up than a bank account and guarantees 100% of your deposit through a separate fully transparent cold storage account, secured in a different location, with an amount always in excess of the total deposit. The guaranteed funds can be verified at any time via the blockchain. Registering on DNotesVault is an effortless process. The user just enters an email address and password, agrees to the clearly stated terms and conditions and clicks submit. DNotesVault is also the first step in setting up DNotes long term saving plans which are a true rarity in the cryptocurrency space.
CryptoMoms is cryptocurrency neutral and a truly helpful platform dedicated to support, encourage and further the adoption of cryptocurrencies amongst women; as the cryptocurrency space is for the most part dominated by men. The website gives an excellent introduction to cryptocurrencies; how to store them, how to obtain cryptocurrencies, and everything needed to get started in the exciting emerging technology of crypto and digital currencies.
CryptoMoms is community driven and has a forum enabling women and men from all over the world to connect, and seek or offer cryptocurrency advice in a welcoming environment.
As a part of DNotes' plan for stable and long term adoption, the currency launched the first in a series no fees Cryptocurrency Investment Savings Plans (CR.I.S.P) during 2014. CR.I.S.P for children is a high reward program that can be initiated with a small investment. The DNotes team will award prizes in DNotes for the top wallets on the list, as well as some randomly chosen participants. DNotes' savings plans share the same 100% deposit guarantee as any other DNotesVault account. Setting up a saving plan for one or more children is an effortless process. The first step is to register using the DNotesVault account dashboard, make a DNotes deposit address for each child, choose nicknames and go to CryptoMoms.com to create an account. For a more detailed instructions please visithttp://DNotesVault.com/crisp-for-kids.php.
Future Plans include expanding the CR.I.S.P. Family program to similar forward thinking and long term plans for students, retirees, charities and employees, providing a savings alternative with high potential long term returns. Spectators, DNotes adopters and cryptocurrency enthusiasts can expect another year with uniquely long term and progressive contributions to the digital currency ecosystem from DNotes.
For more information about DNotes cryptocurrency please visit:DNotescoin.com.
This press release is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute investment advice or an offer to invest.For more information about us, please visithttp://dnotesvault.com/.
Contact Info:Name: Alan YongEmail:[email protected]: DNotes
SOURCE: DNotesVault || U.S. bitcoin exchange makes debut: NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin payments processor Coinbase on Monday opened a regulated exchange in the United States for trading the virtual currency, the company said. Launched just days after Coinbase raised $75 million from blue-chip financial institutions such as the New York Stock Exchange, the Coinbase Exchange was meant to help stabilize the bitcoin network, which has no central regulator or overseer, the company said. Coinbase users in 24 states and U.S. territories can immediately trade on the exchange, which will charge no fees through March 30, according to a blog post by the San Francisco-based company. Details of the new exchange's volumes were not immediately available. The value of highly volatile bitcoin was up 5.2 percent on Monday afternoon at $265.49, according to Thomson Reuters data. (Reporting By Michael Connor; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) || Marijuana Legality Gets Hazy For Colleges: States that have legalized the recreational use of marijuana are struggling to separate state regulation from federal law, which still classes the drug as illegal. Lawsuits are starting to pop up in Colorado as U.S. citizens and neighboring state governments argue that legalization of recreational marijuana is against federal law; but now higher education is starting to question where to draw the line between state and federal rules. Conflicting Policy Schools in Colorado, Washington state and Oregon are struggling to re-write their student conduct policies in order to protect the federal funding they receive. Since the universities are entitled to federal money, they are required to comply with federal law, which considers marijuana an illegal substance. However, students over 21 are still able to purchase the drug without issue. Prohibiting Pot Most colleges are working to inform their student body that even though the drug has been legalized state-wide, it is still prohibited on campus. University deans in Oregon have already begun preparing marketing campaigns to prevent an influx of marijuana on campus once the drug becomes legal for recreational sale in July. Related Link: How Long Can The Federal Government Ignore Marijuana Policy? Blurred Lines However there are still some grey areas that these schools are questioning. For one, colleges will have little or no control over marijuana use in off-campus housing, which could create an issue for fraternities and sororities whose houses are not on the school campus, but are still associated with the university. Medical marijuana is also a factor, some schools are rewriting their student conduct code to prohibit recreational marijuana use but allow medical usage. Safe Use Even more concerning is the issue of safe usage education. While most agree that education regarding proper use of marijuana is necessary in those states where the drug is legal, the schools say it can be difficult to promote safe usage while also banning the substance on campus. Story continues See more from Benzinga Bitcoin Integration Gets Easier Meet Pepper, The Latest House Robot Greece To Ask For Last Minute Deal, But Will It Work? © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || BitTorrent officially launches Sync 2.0 with $40 pro tier: BitTorrent officially launched Sync 2.0 Tuesday , taking the next step toward turning the P2P-based file backup and synchronization tool into a real business. Sync 2.0 comes with a pro tier that offers users more fine-grained access control for folders and other advanced features for $39.99 a year. Users can test the pro features for a month for free, or still use basic Sync functionality without the need to pay anything. BitTorrent first announced and previewed the Pro tier of Sync last November. Related research and analysis from Gigaom Research: Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial . Bitcoin: why digital currency is the future financial system How work media tools are shaping business in 2015 What to know when planning an OpenStack deployment More From paidContent.org BitTorrent officially launches Sync 2.0 with $40 pro tier || Juniper Sees Bitcoin Usage Growing, But Not Among Retailers: Juniper Research issued a report on Tuesday suggesting that bitcoin adoption will increase over the next four years, but cautioned retailers against adopting it right away. The cryptocurrency has had a rocky start, with its value plummeting and scandals depicting it as a tool for criminal activity fostering public skepticism. However, with more and more enthusiasts working to bring bitcoin into mainstream use, its user base could continue growing. Adoption To Rise Juniper's report , titled "The Future of Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin & Alton Impact & Opportunities 2015-2019," predicted that bitcoin will have 4.7 million active users by the end of 2019, a significant increase from last year's 1.3 million. That rise will likely be attributed to growing trust among investors as new regulations prevent the likelihood of fraudulent activities and money-making scams. The study also said that bitcoin's value is likely to stabilize as adoption increases and more exchanges are developed. Retailers Faced With Payments Questions Despite the currency's projected growth, the study's author Dr. Windsor Holden cautioned retailers against adopting bitcoin as a form of payment right away. Holden said retail adoption is likely to remain within niche industries; and that major retailers are better off waiting until the payments space has cleared to determine what type of transactions to invest in. Now that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL ) has entered the mobile payments space with its new Apple Pay system, retailers will probably focus on implementing that system over bitcoin. Related Link: Winklevoss Twins Say Gemini Will Propel Bitcoin Into Becoming A Usable Financial Option Blockchain To Develop The report also echoed what many bitcoin enthusiasts have been saying since the cryptocurrency's beginnings that the technology powering bitcoin is likely to expand into new arenas. The ledger-like blockchain technology that bitcoin runs on has the potential to be used to eliminate the middleman and settle transactions without the lag time and expense of current systems. Story continues For that reason, the next four years will probably see blockchain being used in new ways rather than simply to power bitcoin. See more from Benzinga Legal Weed Sparks Pot Tourism Industry Anti-Austerity Sentiment Grows Despite Economic Improvement Is Coffee Losing Its Luster In America? © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
LIVE: Profit = $88.98 (1.54 %). BUY B21.46 @ $268.66 (#BTCe). SELL @ $274.00 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 26 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $2,898.45 #bitcoin #btc || Current price: 174.37£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2015-01-28 00:00:10 GMT || BTCTurk 516.7 TL Koinim 543 TL CampBx 215.00 $ BTCe 209.356 $ BitStamp 212.40 $ SCounter #Bitcoin #btc http://bitcoindunyasi.com || Bitstamp Prices
LAST: $219.00
BID: $218.40
ASK: $219.00
VOL: 15711.95 BTC
http://bit.ly/Cryptoticks || 1 #bitcoin 758.9 TL, 286.21 $, 276.299 €, 188.7 GBP, 17502.00 RUR, 35700 ¥, 1741 CNH, 312.01 CAD #btc || Bitfinex Prices
LAST: $219.00
BID: $218.80
ASK: $218.99
VOL: 58187.67 BTC
http://bit.ly/Cryptoticks || 1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$222.27/$222.38 #Bitstamp
$218.63/$219.00 #BTCe
⇢$-3.75/$-3.27
$222.88/$222.98 #Coinbase
⇢$0.50/$0.71 || Current price: 232.59$ $BTCUSD $btc #bitcoin 2015-01-22 04:00:03 EST || One Bitcoin now worth $239.29@bitstamp. High $241.00. Low $236.07. Market Cap $3.320 Billion #bitcoin
|
Trend: down || Prices: 261.75, 260.02, 267.96, 266.74, 245.60, 246.20, 248.53, 247.03, 252.80, 242.71
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2016-11-03]
BTC Price: 688.70, BTC RSI: 56.68
Gold Price: 1302.10, Gold RSI: 60.05
Oil Price: 44.66, Oil RSI: 33.65
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
A Harvard Professor Studied Infamous White-Collar Criminals. Here’s What He Learned.: Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Eugene Soltes does, at least if the men are disgraced corporate executives. Soltes, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, struck up relationships--mainly by phone, email, and letter--with close to 50 prominent white-collar criminals in order to learn what made them tick, why they blew it all, and what, if anything, distinguishes them from us. He eventually got to knowPonzi schemers Bernard Madoffand Allen Stanford, former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski, Enron CFO Andy Fastow, ImClone CEO Samuel Waksal, McKinsey partner Anil Kumar, KPMG partner Scott London, and many others.
The resulting book,Why They Do It: Inside the Mind of the White-Collar Criminal(Public Affairs, 447 pages), comes out October 11. For this article, Soltes also struck up a brief telephone relationship withFortunelegal affairs writer Roger Parloff, though he has not yet been convicted of anything.
Fortune: When did you start working on this project and why?
The project began almost a decade ago, although at the time it wasn't even a scholarly endeavor. It was just my curiosity. I was a graduate student, finishing my doctorate at the University of Chicago School of Business. One night I was working on my dissertation, which involved a large empirical dataset, and was waiting for some data output. I was watching TV and came across a show on MSNBC calledLockup--a cross between a reality and documentary show.
It was about criminals--mostly violent offenders. From this I started wondering: What about all the nonviolent offenders--like the executives I'd read about in the papers. That spurred me to write down the first ten questions that came to mind and to send letters to a number of prominent white-collar criminals. That led, down the road, to this project.
Were most the white-collar criminals fundamentally like you and me, or were they sociopaths?
By and large, they were like us. That's one of the main things I took away in this project.
Once they've been indicted or convicted, we tend to distance them from ourselves and say we'd never do this. We're not like them. But when we look at their errors more carefully, they're actually ones we are all susceptible to making. The main difference is that we are not generally in those types of leadership positions that when we make an error it actually has that kind of cataclysmic consequences on thousands or tens of thousands of people.
The main challenge that not just managers face, but that we all face as humans, is that we're not hardwired to detect harm that we're doing when the harm is distant. It's not enough to know the difference between right and wrong. One actually has to feel that one's actions are harmful to avoid going forward. So take something like insider trading. You don't see the victims. It's actually impossible in many instances to identify who those victims are. So it's not surprising that if you engage in insider trading, there's not going to be any internal alarm screaming out that you're engaging in some extraordinarily heinous crime.
So I could sit in a room all day with these executives and never be worried about them going into my back pocket and taking $5 out of my wallet. They're socialized. They wouldn't do that. Yet many of these individuals--I've held stock in some of their firms--they've taken actually far more than that out of my retirement account, or my stock account. But they don't feel any kind of deep harm in doing so. That's a discrepancy.
Was Bernie Madoff a sociopath?
Out of all the individuals I've spent time with, Madoff is different. Unlike other managers, Madoff knew his victims in intimate ways--they were family, friends, people in his religious circle.
Madoff is a brilliant individual. Cordial. Open. I see why he was such a successful manager in terms of bringing people into his fund and taking on this leadership position. But he doesn't feel a great deal of remorse for his actions. He’s simply less empathetic.
Did most people feel remorse?
Very few. That was something that did surprise me. That's something I found puzzling for awhile until I started appreciating the fact that it's hard to feel deep remorse if you don't actually see the people whom you've hurt. You read that you've harmed the integrity of the markets--but that doesn't resonate internally with us very well.
Do you think any of the people you met were actually innocent?
There were a couple cases where the penalties they faced seemed quite remarkable. One person that particularly resonated with me Scott Harkonen, the CEO of a biotech firm called InterMune. In his case they were developing a new drug for a fatal lung disease called IPF (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis). They ran this trial. When the results came back, they found some things potentially working, and other things weren't quite so successful. They put together a press release describing all the technical detail, all the nitty gritty. But they started the press release at the top saying that the trial demonstrated that this had some success in treating IPF. A number of years later the government went after them for fraud, saying that "demonstrate" was misleading. And in his particular case, I'd say the word "suggest" would probably have been a more conservative way of framing it. But he faced up to 10 years in prison, which is what the government sought.
He received probation, but, still, the effects on his life and career are really extraordinary. He spent millions of dollars in defense. The loss of his license. The loss of his reputation.
And I look at the current political discourse, and some of the things that our potential leaders are saying, and how they frame them, and I think ofhow Scott Harkonen faced ten years in prisonbecause he used the word "demonstrate" rather than "suggest"?
The two major presidential candidates have each been accused by their critics of criminal wrongdoing. How do their personalities and temperaments stack up against those of the people in your book? [This interview took place beforedisclosure of the 2005Access Hollywoodvideoin which Republican candidate Donald Trump made lewd comments about groping women.]
There's a trait associated with being a leader of any large firm. We have people who are CEOs and CFOs come regularly to Harvard Business School and there's a lot of similarities. You don't become head of large firm by luck. There are some characteristics of temperament that allow you to get there. Temperament, discipline, and self-control are crucial.
I see momentary lapses of self-control and restraint as being one of the things that actually undermined the executives in my book. They showed discipline and self-control for decades. But we all have momentary lapses.
I think Secretary [Hillary] Clinton has said about her email server: This was a mistake. It was a lapse in judgment.
And then I think what we've seen from Mr. Trump is, he's struggling to maintain that discipline and temperament in any consistent way. It's actually being able to maintain discipline and control under stress, under different circumstances, which is, it seems to me, one of the most important characteristics of being a successful leader. This is what took down the people I've been speaking with, who are, in many cases, really remarkable individuals. Brilliant individuals. And when you see the mistakes they made, and how that has changed their lives and careers and harmed others, it is really remarkable and humbling.
So when I look at the political candidates, I think of that. It doesn't require very many mistakes to have really catastrophic consequences not only for their own careers, but for those around them. In the business context, the victims are shareholders. But in politics, the victims would be us, and citizens of the world.
See original article on Fortune.com
More from Fortune.com
• Here's Who's Most Likely to Rip Off Their Employer
• Justice Department is setting its sights on white-collar criminals
• These hackers allegedly stole insider info to make big trades
• Bitcoin's first criminal goes to prison today
• This is what white collar criminals do after prison || Bank of England aims to revamp interbank payment system by 2020: (Adds detail of proposals) LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The Bank of England said on Friday it aimed to revamp the system that underpins British banking and trading in the City of London by 2020 to boost its defences against cyber-attacks and widen the number of businesses that can use it. The BoE's Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) handles transactions worth around 500 billion pounds ($659 billion) a day - equivalent to almost a third of Britain's annual economic output. It suffered a major outage in October 2014, and in June BoE Governor Mark Carney said he wanted to make it easier for smaller firms to use the system directly rather than via large incumbent banks. On Friday the BoE set out more detailed proposals and said it planned to fund the changes by temporarily increasing the charges banks pay to use the system. "The world of payments is changing rapidly, and central banks need to keep pace if we are to deliver our mission of monetary and financial stability ... whilst also enabling innovation and competition where we can," BoE executive director Andrew Hauser said. Proposed enhancements include running the system continuously, rather than just during normal working hours, and making it easier for smaller banks, brokers and payment processing firms to access the system directly. "A key enabler for delivering these changes will be a comprehensive rebuild of the RTGS technology platform. The Bank will make decisions on its resilience, including in particular its cyber defences, in consultation with intelligence partners," the BoE said. Other goals included allowing forward-dated payments and creating an interface with the 'distributed-ledger' technology that underpins digital currencies such as Bitcoin "if/when they achieve critical mass", it said. ($1 = 0.7592 pounds) (Reporting by David Milliken; Editing by Costas Pitas and Hugh Lawson) || Coen brothers are writing 'Dark Web,' the Silk Road movie: Heads up,Fargofans: Fox is making a movie calledDark Webabout Silk Road founderRoss Ulbricht, and the studioenlistedthe help of the Coen brothers. The siblings are on board to write the film's screenplay based on theWiredseries that tells the story of Ulbricht's empire and its fall in the hands of authorities. Silk Road was once a thriving online black market selling illegal drugs, weapons and even the services of hitmen, where buyers and sellers dealt in Bitcoins as their main currency.
Ulbricht, who was known in the community under the pseudonym Dread Pirate Roberts, began building it back in 2010. Five years later, he wassentenced to lifein prison after he was convicted on seven charges of money laundering, drug trafficking, conspiracy and computer hacking, among other things. The controversial figure also ordered a hit on five people, including a blackmailer, according to a transcript of his conversations with assassins thatWiredpublished. While DPR paid for the hits,nobodyactually got killed.
As if those elements weren't enough to make a good thriller, one of the federal agents who investigated the case alsoreceiveda six-and-a-half year sentence. He was found guilty of stealing $800,000 worth of Bitcoins from the marketplace while the feds were investigating the case.
It's unclear if the Coen brothers will also directDark Web,but we're sure a lot of people will be thrilled if they sign up for that part, as well. Besides the crime thrillerFargo, they also directed and wrote a number of other award-winning films, includingTrue Grit,No Country for Old Menand Spielberg'sBridge of Spies. || Traders strategize ahead of Bank of Japan, Fed meetings: The "Fast Money" traders debated how investors should position their portfolios ahead of two major central bank meetings.
Trader Brian Kelly said that there is a real chance theBank of JapanandFederal Reservewill disrupt the recent rally. He said that if the BOJ announces a "massive stimulus program ... the dollar(Intercontinental Exchange US: .DXY)is going to rip." Kelly said, however, if the BOJ does nothing, there will be "a lot of problems all over the place because they need something."
Kelly said that he would be long the dollar ahead of the Fed's meeting. He said "the odds of the dollar going lower are very slim at this point in time."
Trader Tim Seymour said the BOJ meeting may be more important than the Fed's because it's unlikely the U.S. central bank will announce any major policy changes this week. He said that the real risk is if the BOJ doesn't provide as much stimulus as economists expect, which would cause the yen(Exchange:JPY=)to surge against the dollar.
Trader David Seaburg said investors can find opportunities by looking for dislocation. He said that the financials(NYSE Arca: XLF)might sell off and he would be looking to buy the companies he likes the most in that sector if that happens. Seymour said he also likes the financials, which are "historically cheap."
Disclosures:
BRIAN KELLY
Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, CME, DXJ, GDX, KBE, SLV, TLT, VXX, XLF, XOP, US Dollar UUP. He is short the euro and Japanese yen.
DAN NATHAN
Dan Nathan is long TWTR, long PYPL call calendar, long FEZ Nov put spread, long EEM Nov put spread, long XHB Jan put spread, long XLK Jan put spread, XLU Dec call spread
TIM SEYMOUR
Tim Seymour is long APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, DO, DVYE, EDC, EWZ, F, FB, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GRMN, GE, INTC, LQD, M, MCD, MPEL, NKE, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, UA, VALE, VZ, XOM. short: SPY, XRT. His firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CBD, CLF, EWZ, F, HD, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, X, YHOO, short HYG, IWM, UAL.
DAVID SEABURG
Opinions expressed by David Seaburg are solely his own and do not reflect the views and opinions of Cowen Group, Inc. David Seaburg and Cowen have a financial interest in EDIT. Diamond Offshore: an employee of Cowen and Company, LLC serves on the Board of Directors of Diamond Offshore. EXPE, HZNP, VA – Not Approved. || The dark web marketplace where you can buy 200 million Yahoo accounts is under cyberattack: (Shutterstock)
The popular dark web marketplace where a hacker is selling 200 million user accounts stolen from Yahoo says it is currently under cyberattack.
The site, called The Real Deal, is one of the go-to spots for hackers trying to sell off databases in exchange for Bitcoin. In the case of thereported Yahoo hack, that means upwards of 200 million user credentials are available for sale on the site for 3 Bitcoin, or roughly $1,800.
Yahoo is expected to confirm the breach of its service soon,accordingto a report from Recode published Thursday.
That reporting comes as the site hosting the database is under cyber attack and inaccessible to users. It's unknown who is behind that attack; The Real Deal only says "Market under DDoS" when a user goes to the login screen on its site, which is only accessible throughthe Tor browser.
Keeping up the site isn't affected by a possible influx of dark web users looking for the goods from Yahoo. Instead, as the message indicates, The Real Deal is being hit by a DDoS, or distributed denial-of-service attack, a crude way to take down a website by flooding it with traffic.
Here's what The Real Deal looks like now:
(The Real Deal)
(The Real Deal)
NOW WATCH:NASA just took these incredible images of mysterious rock formations on Mars
More From Business Insider
• Hackers Steal £3.4 Million From UK Bitcoin Exchange Bitstamp
• UPDATE 1-Yahoo to provide details on massive data breach - Recode
• Notes From Yahoo-Microsoft Conference Call On Search Deal || Bitcoin is money, U.S. judge says in case tied to JPMorgan hack: By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin qualifies as money, a federal judge ruled on Monday, in a decision linked to a criminal case over hacking attacks against JPMorgan Chase & Co and other companies.
U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan rejected a bid by Anthony Murgio to dismiss two charges related to his alleged operation of Coin.mx, which prosecutors have called an unlicensed bitcoin exchange.
Murgio had argued that bitcoin did not qualify as "funds" under the federal law prohibiting the operation of unlicensed money transmitting businesses.
But the judge, like her colleague Jed Rakoff in an unrelated 2014 case, said the virtual currency met that definition.
"Bitcoins are funds within the plain meaning of that term," Nathan wrote. "Bitcoins can be accepted as a payment for goods and services or bought directly from an exchange with a bank account. They therefore function as pecuniary resources and are used as a medium of exchange and a means of payment."
The decision did not address six other criminal counts that Murgio faces, Nathan wrote.
Brian Klein, a lawyer for Murgio, said he disagreed with the decision.
"Anthony Murgio maintains his innocence and looks forward to clearing his name at his upcoming trial," he added.
Prosecutors last year charged Murgio over the operation of Coin.mx, and in April charged his father Michael with participating in bribery aimed at supporting it.
Authorities have said Coin.mx was owned by Gery Shalon, an Israeli man who, along with two others, was charged with running a sprawling computer hacking and fraud scheme targeting a dozen companies, including JPMorgan, and exposing personal data of more than 100 million people.
That alleged scheme generated hundreds of millions of dollars of profit through pumping up stock prices, online casinos, money laundering and other illegal activity, prosecutors have said.
Shalon has pleaded not guilty, and is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. He hired new lawyers last month and is seeking permission to replace lawyers who joined the case in June, a Monday court filing showed.
The case is U.S. v Murgio et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-cr-00769.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio and Diane Craft) || SEC Approves Fund Liquidity Rules, Goes Easy On ETFs: WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – The top U.S. securities regulator on Thursday approved rules designed to protect mutual fund investors from the effects of a sudden sell-off, but it left for another day some of the dicier issues involved.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rules take aim at liquidity issues of the $18 billion traditional mutual fund market. But the agency deferred action on a separate plan to regulate the use of derivatives in funds and carved out significant exemptions for exchange-traded funds.
Thursday's action was part of a sweeping set of reforms that SEC Chair Mary Jo White has sought in the asset management industry, which includes the open-end fund market. On Thursday, she said the SEC will finish rules on how the funds use derivatives "in the near term," and is also working on annual stress-testing for large investment advisors.
‘More Targeted Approach To ETFs’
White said the rules have been strengthened since they were first proposed more than a year ago. They are "better tailored to the liquidity risks faced by different kinds of funds, with an improved classification scheme for the liquidity of fund investments and a more targeted approach to ETFs," she said before the vote.
But the mutual fund and ETF industry did win some major concessions. The three members of the SEC unanimously approved a final version that exempts "in kind" exchange-traded funds, those that honor redemptions in securities instead of cash, from some of its requirements.
Several, but not all, ETF issuers asked to keep their products exempt from the rules because they often meet redemption requests from large sellers by handing over stocks or other securities, rather cash. The issuers had said the proposal better fit mutual funds that face pressure to raise cash when investors head to the exits.
Three Fund Classifications
Under the final rules, funds would have to classify investments into the categories of highly liquid, moderately liquid, less liquid and illiquid. They also would be permitted to classify investments by asset class. The first draft had proposed stricter definitions of categorizing investments.
The new version also keeps in place a requirement that funds keep on hand a certain level of assets that can be converted into cash in three days, but leaves it to the funds' boards to decide how to rectify any dip below that threshold. The original proposal had blocked funds from buying any more assets until they got back up to the minimum.
That change should reassure some ETF managers who said that being prevented from buying some assets could contradict their strategies.
ETFs have faced fears that they cannot manage rampant selling. On Aug. 24, 2015, heavy demand to sell U.S. ETFs pushed many of their market prices far below the value they could have fetched if they had been redeemed by the issuer.
But ETFs operate differently from mutual funds, because most individuals sell them in the public market and cannot redeem them directly with the issuers.
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Permalink| © Copyright 2016ETF.com.All rights reserved || First Bitcoin Capital Solves Medical Cannabis Dispensary Cash Dilemma Via INNOVATIVE Merchant Credit Card Services: VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / October 27, 2016 /FIRST BITCOIN CAPITAL CORP. (BITCF), a leading bitcoin and cryptocurrency developer, specializing in both blockchain and online merchant payment solutions for medical marijuana dispensaries and other high-risk merchant accounts and services, today announced the signing of a merchant account processing agent agreement with a credit card processor for the states of California and Oregon. Under the agreement, BITCF will provide a full suite of financial services for the medical marijuana industry: merchant processing and POS solutions through its alliance network, a fully compliant, user friendly solution to accept Credit and Debit Cards through traditional Merchant Card Processing networks. We intend to add more states as additional legal opinions are provided by our credit card processor provider’s counsel.
First Bitcoin is also developing a system that will enable dispensaries to accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a form of legal payment. Stater of California has already enacted legislation that makes Bitcoin and similar digital currencies legal tender.
BITCF has developed specific programs to meet the unique needs of the medical cannabis industry. Offering merchant services at competitive rates for businesses operating legally under state law of California and Oregon, the company can now provide financial services not typically available from conventional banks.
While legalization of marijuana in many forms – and in many states – garnered over $5 billion dollars in 2016, the sums are expected to grow for 2017. More innovative and unique products are being created, and the stigma that once surrounded cannabis is slowly fading. These changes are helping the medical cannabis industry to prosper now that federal policies allow dispensaries to sell, grow, or possess cannabis while compliant with state laws. BITCF will only provide these services where federal policies allow our business model to proceed for dispensaries that are fully compliant with state and country laws, rules and regulations.
Should your dispensary be interested in these services please contact us by email:[email protected]
According to our merchant processor:
Our processor introduces the first completely sanctioned credit card solution for the Marijuana Industry. Unlike most merchant accounts that are currently being used by many dispensaries, our processor Acquirers approve, accept and fully acknowledge their engagement with State licensed legal Marihuana Dispensaries.
Our processor is an "IaaS". Infrastructure as a Service ("IaaS") and provider of an innovative array of synergistic services that include, advertising, affiliate marketing, consortium of vendors in various markets including the high risk sector and payment processing into a seamless comprehensive solution. Their mission is to utilize IaaS to provide protection and enhanced privacy for online consumers as well as all participating contractual Partners within their Network.
Our processor employs a proprietary method of transacting on behalf of their Partners. Our processor also manages the customer database with its Partners and offers consumer protection services for their registered Users. They also operate through clearance and settlement systems that admit only BSA-regulated financial institutions. Our processor is also fully PCI compliant.
About the company:
First Bitcoin Capital is engaged in developing digital currencies, proprietary Blockchain technologies, and the digital currency exchange-www.CoinQX.comWe see this step as a tremendous opportunity to create further shareholder value by leveraging management's experience in developing and managing complex Blockchain technologies, developing new type of digital assets. "Being first publicly-traded cryptocurrency and blockchain-centered company we want to provide our shareholders with diversified exposure to digital cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies." At this time Company owns and operates the following digital assets.
www.BITCoinCapitalcorp.comcompany website.
www.CoinQX.comCompany operated Cryptocurrency Exchange, registered with FINCEN.
www.iCoiNEWS.comreal time cryptocurrency and bitcoin news site
www.BITminer.cccompany provides mining pool management services.
www.2016coin.orgonline daily election coverage and home page for $PRES,
$HILL and $GARY coins
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors as may be disclosed in company's filings. In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, and governmental and public policy changes. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release .Such forward-looking statements are risks that are detailed in the Company's filings, which are on file atwww.OTCMarkets.com.
SOURCE:First Bitcoin Capital Corp. || Bank of England aims to revamp interbank payment system by 2020: (Adds detail of proposals)
LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The Bank of England said on Friday it aimed to revamp the system that underpins British banking and trading in the City of London by 2020 to boost its defences against cyber-attacks and widen the number of businesses that can use it.
The BoE's Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) handles transactions worth around 500 billion pounds ($659 billion) a day - equivalent to almost a third of Britain's annual economic output.
It suffered a major outage in October 2014, and in June BoE Governor Mark Carney said he wanted to make it easier for smaller firms to use the system directly rather than via large incumbent banks.
On Friday the BoE set out more detailed proposals and said it planned to fund the changes by temporarily increasing the charges banks pay to use the system.
"The world of payments is changing rapidly, and central banks need to keep pace if we are to deliver our mission of monetary and financial stability ... whilst also enabling innovation and competition where we can," BoE executive director Andrew Hauser said.
Proposed enhancements include running the system continuously, rather than just during normal working hours, and making it easier for smaller banks, brokers and payment processing firms to access the system directly.
"A key enabler for delivering these changes will be a comprehensive rebuild of the RTGS technology platform. The Bank will make decisions on its resilience, including in particular its cyber defences, in consultation with intelligence partners," the BoE said.
Other goals included allowing forward-dated payments and creating an interface with the 'distributed-ledger' technology that underpins digital currencies such as Bitcoin "if/when they achieve critical mass", it said. ($1 = 0.7592 pounds) (Reporting by David Milliken; Editing by Costas Pitas and Hugh Lawson) || A Harvard Professor Studied Infamous White-Collar Criminals. Heres What He Learned.: Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Eugene Soltes does, at least if the men are disgraced corporate executives. Soltes, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, struck up relationships--mainly by phone, email, and letter--with close to 50 prominent white-collar criminals in order to learn what made them tick, why they blew it all, and what, if anything, distinguishes them from us. He eventually got to know Ponzi schemers Bernard Madoff and Allen Stanford, former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski, Enron CFO Andy Fastow, ImClone CEO Samuel Waksal, McKinsey partner Anil Kumar, KPMG partner Scott London, and many others. The resulting book, Why They Do It: Inside the Mind of the White-Collar Criminal (Public Affairs, 447 pages), comes out October 11. For this article, Soltes also struck up a brief telephone relationship with Fortune legal affairs writer Roger Parloff, though he has not yet been convicted of anything. Fortune : When did you start working on this project and why? The project began almost a decade ago, although at the time it wasn't even a scholarly endeavor. It was just my curiosity. I was a graduate student, finishing my doctorate at the University of Chicago School of Business. One night I was working on my dissertation, which involved a large empirical dataset, and was waiting for some data output. I was watching TV and came across a show on MSNBC called Lockup --a cross between a reality and documentary show. It was about criminals--mostly violent offenders. From this I started wondering: What about all the nonviolent offenders--like the executives I'd read about in the papers. That spurred me to write down the first ten questions that came to mind and to send letters to a number of prominent white-collar criminals. That led, down the road, to this project. Were most the white-collar criminals fundamentally like you and me, or were they sociopaths? By and large, they were like us. That's one of the main things I took away in this project. Story continues Once they've been indicted or convicted, we tend to distance them from ourselves and say we'd never do this. We're not like them. But when we look at their errors more carefully, they're actually ones we are all susceptible to making. The main difference is that we are not generally in those types of leadership positions that when we make an error it actually has that kind of cataclysmic consequences on thousands or tens of thousands of people. The main challenge that not just managers face, but that we all face as humans, is that we're not hardwired to detect harm that we're doing when the harm is distant. It's not enough to know the difference between right and wrong. One actually has to feel that one's actions are harmful to avoid going forward. So take something like insider trading. You don't see the victims. It's actually impossible in many instances to identify who those victims are. So it's not surprising that if you engage in insider trading, there's not going to be any internal alarm screaming out that you're engaging in some extraordinarily heinous crime. So I could sit in a room all day with these executives and never be worried about them going into my back pocket and taking $5 out of my wallet. They're socialized. They wouldn't do that. Yet many of these individuals--I've held stock in some of their firms--they've taken actually far more than that out of my retirement account, or my stock account. But they don't feel any kind of deep harm in doing so. That's a discrepancy. Was Bernie Madoff a sociopath? Out of all the individuals I've spent time with, Madoff is different. Unlike other managers, Madoff knew his victims in intimate ways--they were family, friends, people in his religious circle. Madoff is a brilliant individual. Cordial. Open. I see why he was such a successful manager in terms of bringing people into his fund and taking on this leadership position. But he doesn't feel a great deal of remorse for his actions. Hes simply less empathetic. Did most people feel remorse? Very few. That was something that did surprise me. That's something I found puzzling for awhile until I started appreciating the fact that it's hard to feel deep remorse if you don't actually see the people whom you've hurt. You read that you've harmed the integrity of the markets--but that doesn't resonate internally with us very well. Do you think any of the people you met were actually innocent? There were a couple cases where the penalties they faced seemed quite remarkable. One person that particularly resonated with me Scott Harkonen, the CEO of a biotech firm called InterMune. In his case they were developing a new drug for a fatal lung disease called IPF (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis). They ran this trial. When the results came back, they found some things potentially working, and other things weren't quite so successful. They put together a press release describing all the technical detail, all the nitty gritty. But they started the press release at the top saying that the trial demonstrated that this had some success in treating IPF. A number of years later the government went after them for fraud, saying that "demonstrate" was misleading. And in his particular case, I'd say the word "suggest" would probably have been a more conservative way of framing it. But he faced up to 10 years in prison, which is what the government sought. He received probation, but, still, the effects on his life and career are really extraordinary. He spent millions of dollars in defense. The loss of his license. The loss of his reputation. And I look at the current political discourse, and some of the things that our potential leaders are saying, and how they frame them, and I think of how Scott Harkonen faced ten years in prison because he used the word "demonstrate" rather than "suggest"? The two major presidential candidates have each been accused by their critics of criminal wrongdoing. How do their personalities and temperaments stack up against those of the people in your book? [This interview took place before disclosure of the 2005 Access Hollywood video in which Republican candidate Donald Trump made lewd comments about groping women.] There's a trait associated with being a leader of any large firm. We have people who are CEOs and CFOs come regularly to Harvard Business School and there's a lot of similarities. You don't become head of large firm by luck. There are some characteristics of temperament that allow you to get there. Temperament, discipline, and self-control are crucial. I see momentary lapses of self-control and restraint as being one of the things that actually undermined the executives in my book. They showed discipline and self-control for decades. But we all have momentary lapses. I think Secretary [Hillary] Clinton has said about her email server: This was a mistake. It was a lapse in judgment. And then I think what we've seen from Mr. Trump is, he's struggling to maintain that discipline and temperament in any consistent way. It's actually being able to maintain discipline and control under stress, under different circumstances, which is, it seems to me, one of the most important characteristics of being a successful leader. This is what took down the people I've been speaking with, who are, in many cases, really remarkable individuals. Brilliant individuals. And when you see the mistakes they made, and how that has changed their lives and careers and harmed others, it is really remarkable and humbling. So when I look at the political candidates, I think of that. It doesn't require very many mistakes to have really catastrophic consequences not only for their own careers, but for those around them. In the business context, the victims are shareholders. But in politics, the victims would be us, and citizens of the world. See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com Here's Who's Most Likely to Rip Off Their Employer Justice Department is setting its sights on white-collar criminals These hackers allegedly stole insider info to make big trades Bitcoin's first criminal goes to prison today This is what white collar criminals do after prison
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
$627.98 #GDAX;
$633.17 #bitfinex;
$629.00 #btce;
$630.50 #itBit;
$628.90 #bitstamp;
$627.40 #OKCoin;
#bitcoin news: http://bit.ly/1VI6Yse || The Hardware Bitcoin Wallet. Get Trezor now for only $99 https://buytrezor.com?a=coinokbuytrezor.com/?a=coinok #btc #bitcoin 00 pic.twitter.com/u6jJX0iWRQ || One Bitcoin now worth $614.35@bitstamp. High $616.47. Low $610.00. Market Cap $9.780 Billion #bitcoin || 1 KOBO = 0.00000308 BTC
= 0.0019 USD
= 0.5776 NGN
= 0.0264 ZAR
= 0.1923 KES
#Kobocoin 2016-10-09 20:00 pic.twitter.com/HQPbmbG4Ei || 1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$704.82/$706.30 #Bitstamp
$696.00/$696.99 #BTCe
⇢$-10.30/$-7.83
$701.88/$709.32 #Coinbase
⇢$-4.42/$4.50 || One Bitcoin now worth $652.10@bitstamp. High $652.25. Low $640.00. Market Cap $10.399 Billion #bitcoin || One Bitcoin now worth $629.34@bitstamp. High $630.85. Low $625.00. Market Cap $10.031 Billion #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/rZ4jb5PFME || 1 MUE Price: Bittrex 0.00000094 BTC YoBit 0.00000058 BTC Bleutrade 0.00000089 BTC #MUE #MUEprice 2016-09-25 12:00 pic.twitter.com/glVHCuXD2H || Apple Has Siri, Now Bitcoin Has Lola the French Bulldog https://cointelegraph.com/news/apple-has-siri-now-bitcoin-has-lola-the-french-bulldog … || $693.65 #bitfinex;
$680.00 #btce;
$687.79 #GDAX;
$687.50 #bitstamp;
$686.32 #itBit;
$691.84 #OKCoin;
#bitcoin news: http://bit.ly/1VI6Yse
|
Trend: no change || Prices: 703.23, 703.42, 711.52, 703.13, 709.85, 723.27, 715.53, 716.41, 705.05, 702.03
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Winklevoss brothers name State Street as bitcoin ETF administrator: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss on Tuesday filed amendments to their proposed bitcoin exchange-traded fund, naming State Street as administrator, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Winklevoss brothers, identical twins, had filed their first application for a bitcoin ETF called Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust three years ago. Investors have shown keen interest in the Winklevoss ETF. If approved by the SEC, this would be the first bitcoin ETF issued by a U.S. entity. According to the amended filing, State Street will provide the fund administration and accounting services, including calculating the bitcoin trust's net asset value (NAV). Another major change involved the ETF's custodian, Gemini Trust Company, doing monthly "proof of control" exercises and publishing the reports on the ETF's website. "Custodian's cold storage system was purpose-built to demonstrate "proof of control" of the private keys associated with its public bitcoin addresses," the filing said. "The sponsor and the custodian have engaged an independent audit firm to verify that the custodian can demonstrate "proof of control" of the private keys that control the Trust's on a monthly basis." Burr Pilger Mayer, based in San Francisco and known for working with venture-backed digital currency companies, has been named the ETF's auditor, the filing said. In addition, the SEC filing said Gemini's daily auction price at 4 p.m. EDT will now be used to price the NAV of the ETF. The previous pricing mechanism was the Gemini spot price. Gemini runs a digital currency trading venue. Since its launch in September, the Gemini auction has transacted more than 19,00 bitcoin on average per business day, which represents more than 16 percent of all U.S.-based bitcoin exchange volume during the 4 p.m. period, Gemini said on Tuesday. The daily auction along with Gemini's expansion has increased the company's market share to about 9 percent of all U.S. dollar-denominated exchange-traded bitcoin volume. Story continues The ETF would trade under the ticker symbol COIN. Late on Tuesday, bitcoin traded at $632.88 on the BitStamp platform. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss) || MGT to Present at the 9th Annual LD Micro Main Event: LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / November 28, 2016 / MGT Capital Investments, Inc . ( MGTI ) announced today that it will be presenting at the 9th annual LD Micro Main Event on Thursday, December 8th at 11:30 AM PST / 2:30 PM EST at the Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel in Los Angeles, CA. John McAfee, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Robert Ladd, President, will be presenting, as well as meeting with investors. The LD Micro Main Event is the largest independent conference for small/microcap companies and will feature 240 presenting names. View MGT's profile here: http://www.ldmicro.com/profile/MGTI News Compliments of Accesswire . About MGT Capital Investments, Inc. MGT Capital Investments, Inc. ( MGTI ) is in the process of acquiring a diverse portfolio of cyber security technologies and ramping up its Bitcoin mining operations in the state of Washington. With cyber security industry pioneer, John McAfee, at its helm, MGT Capital is positioned to address various cyber threats through advanced protection technologies for mobile and personal tech devices, including tablets and smartphones. The Company is currently in the process of acquiring D-Vasive, a provider of leading edge anti-spy software, and Demonsaw, a provider of a secure and anonymous file sharing software platform. MGT Capital intends to change its corporate name to "John McAfee Global Technologies, Inc," and has asserted its right to do by seeking a Declaratory Judgment in U.S. Federal Court, Southern District, NY. For more information on the Company, please visit http://ir.stockpr.com/mgtci . About LD Micro LD Micro was founded in 2006 with the sole purpose of being an independent resource in the microcap space. What started out as a newsletter highlighting unique companies has transformed into an event platform hosting several influential conferences annually (Invitational, Summit, and Main Event). In 2015, LDM launched the first pure microcap index (the LDMi) to exclusively provide intraday information on the entire sector. LD will continue to provide valuable tools for the benefit of everyone in the small and microcap universe. Story continues For those interested in attending, please contact David Scher at [email protected] or visit www.ldmicro.com/events for more information. Investor Contact Garth Russell Managing Director KCSA Strategic Communications [email protected] 212.896.1250 Media Contact Tiffany Madison Director of Corporate Communications MGT Capital Investments, Inc. [email protected] 469.236.9569 SOURCE: MGT Capital Investments, Inc. via LD Micro || The San Francisco MUNI hacker got hacked: While most people were busy recovering from Thanksgiving and getting ready for massive shopping sprees, a hacker on Friday shut down the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) computer network, asking for $73,000 in Bitcoin to unscramble the data. In ironic turns of events, the hacker was hacked, as a security researcher guessed the answer to the attacker’s email security question. DON’T MISS: There’s a fix for your iPhone 6s’ serious battery drain, but you might not like it The researcher then sent the contents of the hacker’s email address to KrebsOnSecurity . It turns out that the attacker made a poor choice when it comes to security questions for the email address he had to display on the SFMTA’s computer systems. That’s how ransomware attacks work. The hacker has to make an email address available so funds can be transferred to him or her via Bitcoin. Looking at the available data, Krebs was able to discover several interesting things about the hacker of the Muni attack. The attacker did not hit only the SFMTA with ransomware. On November 20th he extorted 63 Bitcoins, or around $45,000, from a US-based manufacturing firm. Krebs says that the criminal got at least $140,000 in Bitcoin since August from several victims, switching Bitcoin wallets regularly. However, the SFMTA refused to pay up, choosing to restore its systems from backups instead. The email hack also sheds some light on how the attack on the SFMTA was possible. Apparently, the hacker did not actively devise methods to attack the public transportation system. Instead, he or she used a server to find vulnerable targets. “It appears our attacker has been using a number of tools which enabled the scanning of large portions of the Internet and several specific targets for vulnerabilities,” Holden Security’s Alex Holden told Krebs. “The most common vulnerability used ‘weblogic unserialize exploit’ and especially targeted Oracle Corp. server products, including Primavera project portfolio management software.” The email also contains elements that could help law enforcement discover the identity, or at least location, of the attacker. According to Krebs, the hacker might be based in Iran, although a phone number connecting the hacker to Russia has also been found — probably a red herring, Krebs said. Read the Krebs’ full report at the source link. Trending right now: What it takes to get a NES Classic Leak reveals another key Galaxy S8 feature that has never been seen before on an iPhone Samsung has started to turn the Galaxy Note 5 into the Note 7 See the original version of this article on BGR.com View comments || Your first trade for Wednesday, October 19: The "Fast Money" traders gave their final trades of the day.
Pete Najarian is a buyer of Citi (C).
Tim Seymour is a buyer of Avon (AVP).
Brian Kelly is a buyer of Chevron (CVX).
Guy Adami is a buyer of SuperValu (SVU).
Trader disclosure: OnTuesday, October 18the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders:
PETE NAJARIAN is long AAPL, BAC, DIS, DISCA, GE, KMI, KMIA, KO, LUX, MRK, PEP, PFE CALLS: AAL, ABT, AMD, ATVI, BABA, BAC, BBY, BHI, BSX, CNX, COP, COTY, CRM, CS, CSCO, CXW, DAL, DISH, ECA, ETP, gm, GS, HAL, INTC, JBLU, JCP, KBE, KGC, KMI, KO, LLY, LOW, M, MOS, MRO, MRVL, MUR, NAV, NBR, P, RIO, SBUX, SLV, TMUS, TTS, TV, TWTR, VRX, WFT, WLL, XLF. Puts: CLF, EEM, MBLY, WFC
Tim Seymour is long ABX, APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, DO, DVYE, EDC, EWZ, F, FB, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GE, INTC, LQD,MCD, MUR, OIH, PG, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, VALE, VZ, XOM. short: SPY, XRT; Tim's firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CBD, CLF, EWZ, F, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, X, YHOO, short EWG, HYG, IWM
Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, SLV and Silver Futures, US Dollar UUP; he is short EUR=, JPY=
Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
More From CNBC
• Top News and Analysis
• Latest News Video
• Personal Finance || Here's how traders are positioned ahead of Election Day: The "Fast Money" traders shared their strategies before Americans pick eitherDonald TrumporHillary Clintonas the next president.
Trader Steve Grasso cautioned investors to wait for closure from the election before shuffling their portfolios. He said he would mostly hold cash going into the election.
Trader Brian Kelly said he is holding gold going into the election. For one, it works as a tail-risk hedge in the situation where Trump wins, but Kelly explained that both major party candidates will push up inflation expectations.
For investors looking to stay long in the financial sector, trader Guy Adami said to look at U.S. Bancorp as it's "the most conservative bank out there."
Disclosures:
GUY ADAMI
Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC. Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
BRIAN KELLY
Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, SLV and silver futures, US Dollar UUP. He is short the Japanese yen and the euro.
STEVE GRASSO
Steve Grasso is long: BA, CC, CHK, EVGN, KBH, MJNA, MON, MU, OLN, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, GDX. His children own: EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY. No shorts. Grasso's firm is long: APC, VIRT, DVN, LDP, WDR, AVP, CVX, FCX, ICE, KDUS, KO, MAT, MCD, MJNA, NE, NEM, OLN, OXY, RIG, STAG, TAXI, TEX, TITXF, URI, WDR, WYNN, ZNGA, CUBA, HSPO, ICE, AMZN, MJNA, TITXF, SPY, QQQ, DIA, XLI, BGCP, VIRT, GE, AIR FP.
TIM SEYMOUR
Tim Seymour is long ABX, APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, CVX, DO, DVYE, EDC, EWZ, F, FB, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GE, INTC, LQD,MCD, MUR, OIH, PG, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, VALE, VZ, XOM and short: EEM, SPY, XRT. His firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CBD, CLF, EWZ, F, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, TCEHY, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, X, YHOO, and short EWG, HYG, IWM.
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• Personal Finance || Bitcoin price soars, but it isn't about Trump and Clinton: The price of bitcoin has soared 23% in the last month and is now approaching its 2016 peak of around $765 in June. The coin is up 66% since January. At its current price of $728 at the time of writing, bitcoin’s market cap is nearly $12 billion.
So, what’s stoking the ride?
You might think the US presidential election, just five days away now, has something to do with it. And indeed, aJuniper Research studyfrom back in May (“Will Bitcoins Bite Back?“) predicted the bitcoin price would spike right before the election, due to market uncertainty. Specifically, the study determined that a win by Donald Trump would boost the bitcoin price: “If Donald Trump becomes President of the US, there is the very real prospect of turmoil on world markets,” said Dr. Winslow Holden in a Juniper press release about the report. “Bitcoin would thrive in such an environment, at least until the impact on major fiat currencies becomes clear.”
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton’s campaign considered accepting donations in the form of bitcoin, aleaked email thread revealed. But John Podesta was more intrigued by the digital currency Ven, writing: “I don’t send all the crazy ideas I hear about at fundraisers your way, but this seems interesting and legit. Essentially digital currency with a green angle as opposed to bitcoin’s libertarian Ayn Rand schtick… see if it’s worth a real conversation?” UltimatelyClinton’s campaign decided not to accept bitcoin.Trump’s campaign did accept bitcoin.
Despite the timing so close to the election, the bitcoin community consensus is that the October price spike isn’t from Clinton or Trump: it’s China driving the surge.
The Chinese yuanhas fallen 4.3% against the US dollarin the last six months, and thePeople’s Bank of China has cracked downwith stricter capital controls.
China and a falling yuan is almost always cited as the biggest factor when the price of bitcoin rises. The thinking is that Chinese investors seek a safe haven in bitcoin, which is an asset largely untied to mainstream markets. (This alsohappened to an extent in Greece during its bank shutdownlast year and ishappening right now in Venezuela.) Often,it’s actually something else. This time around, the data supports the idea that the interest is coming from China.
Nearly 99% of all global bitcoin trading activity happening right now is happening in Chinese yuan. (It’s worth noting that some bitcoin people doubt Chinese exchange data because it could be inflated or meaningless due to very low fees that prompt empty trading activity.)
Bitcoin trading volume in the Chinese yuan is up more than 20% in the past 30 days, based on charts frombitcoincharts.com,bitcoinity.organdcoinmarketcap.com. If you check out the sitefiatleak.com, which maps bitcoin purchases in real-time, the overwhelming majority of activity right now is in yuan (CNY).
“It does seem like a cop-out sometimes when everyone says it’s China, but in this case, the data supports it,” says Alex Sunnarborg, CFO ofLawnmower, a digital currency trading and data app. Bitcoin trading volume on Lawnmower is up 40% in the past two weeks from the typical two-week average.
Sunnarborg adds that whenever the bitcoin price spikes significantly, regardless of the reason, it feeds on itself and drives it higher. “People see that demand and feel that FOMO [fear of missing out], which drives a lot of new people in. The market is so thin and new, people are hunting for news, so anything you hear has an immediate effect. It goes the opposite way as well—if you read bad news about bitcoin prices, the market has a tendency to panic. That’s what Ethereum is doing right now.”
Indeed, the price of ether (ETH), arival coin that trades on the separate Ethereum blockchain, isdown 17% in the past month. In July, Ethereum completed a “hard fork” that essentially reset its network after a major hack in June. Keep in mind that ether only launched just over one year ago, and is up nearly 300% since then, to $11 per coin. But its recent fall has been a boon to bitcoin, Sunnarborg reasons.
“If you look at ethereum communities right now, people are a little scared, and the bitcoin vs ethereum chasm does go back and forth,” says Sunnarborg. “Whenever you see strength in the bitcoin network, volume goes back into bitcoin.”
Ripple, another popular digital currency (XRP) that came along after bitcoin (in 2012), is also down 4% in the last week.
There’s one other bitcoin factor driving the price up: this month, a sort of voting period will begin for whether to implement “segregated witness,” a proposed solution to bitcoin’s ongoing block-size debate.
Huh? Let’s step back: bitcoin is traded on the bitcoin blockchain, a decentralized, permissionless, peer-to-peer ledger that records every single bitcoin transaction. On the bitcoin blockchain, bundles of transactions are added to the chain by “miners” who receive a small reward in bitcoin for doing the mining; think of them as librarians recording the date and borrower of a book, or as court stenographers recording the history of bitcoin trades. (For more, watch the below video.)
The speed of the blockchain has slowed in the last year under the weight of activity, and the bitcoin community has argued amongst itself over whether to raise the size limit of each block. The speed at which the bitcoin blockchain operates is of crucial importance, since it is often compared to the payment rails of big mainstream processors like Visa.
“Segregated witness” was one popular proposal: an update to the bitcoin software that would allow miners to raise the size capacity on individual blocks without raising the capacity of the entire blockchain for good, and without doing a “hard fork” (which would split the blockchain into two) like Ethereum just did. Think of it like a Brinks armored car, which hauls bags of cash. Rather than having all the cars start using bigger bags, Segregated Witness (bitcoin people are calling it SegWit for short) is like allowing each driver to start using a few bigger bags just in cases where a bigger bag is needed.
Beginning on Nov. 15, bitcoin miners can signal, with each block they mine, whether or not they support Segregated Witness. It should help more transactions go through faster. After one year, if 95% of the blocks have signaled that they like it, Segregated Witness will go into full effect for the Bitcoin Core software.
Why does all this matter for the price of bitcoin? It might not matter for the casual outside speculator, but for wonky bitcoin insiders, the implementation of SegWit is an exciting milestone, and may contribute a little bit to the price hike. “I think SegWit was a big market move,” says Sunnarborg. “SegWit has been talked about for so long that if there had been a huge delay or problem announced, we would have seen the market swing the other way. But now it’s bringing demand from the community to go back into bitcoin.”
While the Chinese yuan has been the biggest factor in boosting the bitcoin price, the beginning of SegWit and general US market uncertainty are not unrelated. And the election almost certainly will play a larger role right after it ends. If Trump somehow wins, expect bitcoin to soar.
—
Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering technology and sports business. Follow him on Twitter at@readDanwrite.
Read more:
The latest bitcoin price surge isn’t just about Brexit
Here’s where big banks stand on blockchain
Why 21.co is the most exciting bitcoin company right now
Coinbase is more bullish on bitcoin than ever || The San Francisco MUNI hacker got hacked: While most people were busy recovering from Thanksgiving and getting ready for massive shopping sprees, a hacker on Friday shut down the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) computer network, asking for $73,000 in Bitcoin to unscramble the data. In ironic turns of events, the hacker was hacked, as a security researcher guessed the answer to the attacker’s email security question. DON’T MISS: There’s a fix for your iPhone 6s’ serious battery drain, but you might not like it The researcher then sent the contents of the hacker’s email address to KrebsOnSecurity . It turns out that the attacker made a poor choice when it comes to security questions for the email address he had to display on the SFMTA’s computer systems. That’s how ransomware attacks work. The hacker has to make an email address available so funds can be transferred to him or her via Bitcoin. Looking at the available data, Krebs was able to discover several interesting things about the hacker of the Muni attack. The attacker did not hit only the SFMTA with ransomware. On November 20th he extorted 63 Bitcoins, or around $45,000, from a US-based manufacturing firm. Krebs says that the criminal got at least $140,000 in Bitcoin since August from several victims, switching Bitcoin wallets regularly. However, the SFMTA refused to pay up, choosing to restore its systems from backups instead. The email hack also sheds some light on how the attack on the SFMTA was possible. Apparently, the hacker did not actively devise methods to attack the public transportation system. Instead, he or she used a server to find vulnerable targets. “It appears our attacker has been using a number of tools which enabled the scanning of large portions of the Internet and several specific targets for vulnerabilities,” Holden Security’s Alex Holden told Krebs. “The most common vulnerability used ‘weblogic unserialize exploit’ and especially targeted Oracle Corp. server products, including Primavera project portfolio management software.” The email also contains elements that could help law enforcement discover the identity, or at least location, of the attacker. According to Krebs, the hacker might be based in Iran, although a phone number connecting the hacker to Russia has also been found — probably a red herring, Krebs said. Read the Krebs’ full report at the source link. Trending right now: What it takes to get a NES Classic Leak reveals another key Galaxy S8 feature that has never been seen before on an iPhone Samsung has started to turn the Galaxy Note 5 into the Note 7 See the original version of this article on BGR.com View comments || C&W Business Launches Hosted Collaboration Solution (HCS) on Demand at Cisco Live!: CANCUN, MEXICO--(Marketwired - Nov 7, 2016) - Cisco Live! -- C&W Business , part of C&W Communications (C&W), one of the largest full service communications and entertainment providers in the Caribbean and Latin America region, now owned by Liberty Global (LiLAC Group), is excited to announce the launch of Hosted Collaboration Solution (HCS) on Demand, a managed Unified Collaboration Service, at Cisco Live! . Cisco Live is one of the main IT conferences in the Latin America region and is expected to draw more than 5,500 customers, experts and partners from different business segments and levels. Cisco Live! will be held from November 7-10 in Cancun, Mexico and C&W Business will be present at booth #506 showcasing live demos of its next-generation platform, HCS on Demand. The launch of HCS on Demand, powered by Cisco, is a managed unified collaboration platform that will enable customers in 24 countries across the Caribbean and Latin America to leverage a full suite of IP-enabled collaboration tools. HCS on Demand will be hosted by C&W Business at their data centers and be delivered to customers over the Company's world-class, SIP-enabled fiber IP (terrestrial and submarine) and fault-tolerant network. This network encompasses over 42,000 kilometers (26,000 miles) of fiber across the Caribbean and Latin America and is the only MEF CE 2.0 certified network across the region, allowing C&W Business to deliver highly secure and reliable data, voice and video services efficiently to its customers. "C&W Business HCS on Demand helps accelerate customers' day-to-day business processes, helping achieve better and faster business outcomes across the region. Customers won't have to worry about burdening their IT staff with the effort to deploy and operate their own PBX or UCC platform. Customers will only pay for what they need, with no upfront costs, making unified communications more affordable and the costs more predictable in a fixed monthly service charge per user," said Daniel Peiretti, SVP Product Development and Management, C&W Business. "Our HCS on Demand solution is secure, offers strong SLA's, and is supported by a business-class infrastructure with a certified team that uses a simplified deployment model. We will have customers up and running in no time, from anywhere, anytime and from any device," added Peiretti. Story continues As a Cisco Master Managed Service Provider, C&W Business utilizes its highly secure and connected fabric of datacenters to deliver the most comprehensive, integrated solutions for clients. This crucial element enables clients to have a single point of contact, avoiding the challenge of managing multiple vendors. In addition, business applications and unified communication applications are hosted in the same datacenter significantly reducing latency and enhancing data security. C&W Business HCS on Demand will offer customers: Voice and video communications, mobility, messaging, presence, web and video conferencing, and contact center. Access to cloud-based resources in a fast and easy way so customers can get up and running faster than with traditional models. Predictable per-user monthly costs without having to incur upfront capital expenditure investments. Ability to easily ramp up or down to address seasonal needs. Deployment of different license types to individuals across work groups or departments as required. Elimination of the costs and problems of equipment maintenance and software upgrades. Customers most likely to benefit from this solution are those with a need for enhanced remote worker integration, mobility, cost reduction, reduced travel cost, simplified user experience, accelerated decision making, improved customer service and better work-life balance for its employees. In addition, existing Cisco collaboration customers can migrate their "on premises" solution into this cloud and maintain their investment in licensing. Cisco Live! is the premier IT conference in Latin America -- which gathers customers, experts and partners from different industries, segments, and countries. Cisco Live! is held annually in four cities worldwide: Las Vegas, Berlin, Melbourne and Cancun. Learn more at #CiscoLiveLA Visit C&W Business at Cisco Live! C&W Business will be an exhibitor at booth #506 during Cisco Live!, at the Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort Cancun, Mexico. To learn about our technology-driven solutions that offer unique Cisco collaboration technologies using hosted and managed models. Meet our technology experts and join us for demo presentations on our solutions on November 9 from 10:30 am - 12:30 pm and on November 10 from 12:30 - 2:00 pm in the Cisco Powered booth. NOTES TO EDITORS C&W Business To Offer Cisco Collaboration As A Service Over Its MPLS Networks About C&W Communications C&W is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, C&W provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers. C&W also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network -- the most extensive in the region. Learn more at www.cwc.com , or follow C&W on LinkedIn , Facebook or Twitter . About Liberty Global Liberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enables us to develop market-leading products delivered through next-generation networks that connect our 29 million customers who subscribe to over 60 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve 10 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across seven million access points. Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group ( NASDAQ : LBTYA ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYB ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYK ) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group ( NASDAQ : LILA ) and ( NASDAQ : LILAK ) ( OTC PINK : LILAB ), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Liberty Global Group operates in 12 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Ziggo, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Mas Movil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a subsea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets. || The Linux Foundation Appoints Three Tech Industry Leaders to Its Board of Directors: SAN FRANCISCO, CA --(Marketwired - November 02, 2016) - The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization enabling mass innovation through open source, today announced the appointment of Erica Brescia, co-founder and COO of Bitnami; Jeff Garzik, co-founder of Bloq; and Nithya A. Ruff, director of Western Digital's Open Source Strategy Office, to its Board of Directors. Ms. Ruff and Ms. Brescia join as At-Large Directors, and Mr. Garzik comes on board as the representative of Linux Foundation Silver members. Ms. Brescia and Ms. Ruff will take the place of Larry Augustin and Bdale Garbee as At-Large Directors. Mr. Garzik replaces Matt Jones of Jaguar Land Rover. "The Board of Directors and the entire Linux Foundation organization are delighted to welcome Nithya, Erica and Jeff," said Jim Zemlin, executive director. "They will help guide the strategy of The Linux Foundation, the home to some of the most successful open source projects and largest shared technology investment in history. The open source community at large and our nearly 800 members will benefit from the insight and expertise each of these individuals brings. We thank Larry, Bdale and Matt for their long and faithful service on the Board and look forward to their continued participation in the community." New Directors Bring Diversity of Perspectives Erica Brescia Ms. Brescia is the co-founder and chief operating officer of Bitnami. With more than one million deployments per month, Bitnami provides the largest source of applications and development environments to the world's leading cloud service providers, such as Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Compute Platform and Oracle Cloud Platform. Prior to co-founding Bitnami, Ms. Brescia held various sales and management positions at T-Mobile, as well as working as a consultant with Chekiang First Bank in Hong Kong. She holds a B.S. in business administration from the University of Southern California. Ms. Brescia has been a dedicated builder of diverse, globally distributed technology and business teams, and has been featured as a keynote speaker at OpenStack Summit and OSCON. To further those goals, Bitnami founded the Bitnami Bootcamp, which provides free education and training on cloud, open source and containers, for recent college graduates and self-taught technologists living in southern Spain. As a YC Founder, Ms. Brescia is also an active mentor of aspiring entrepreneurs in the technology and related industries, as well as being an angel investor in a number of early stage startups. "Open source technologies make possible the incredibly rapid innovation that we see in tech-driven sectors today," Ms. Brescia commented. "Shared R&D in the form of open source helps companies like Bitnami thrive, while creating value for others. I'm proud to be a part of the organization that's propelling that collaboration." Story continues Jeff Garzik Mr. Garzik has long been at the center of developing and commercializing open source software surrounding bitcoin and blockchain. Before co-founding Bloq to develop enterprise-grade blockchain solutions, he spent five years as a Bitcoin core developer, and 10 years at Red Hat. His work with the Linux kernel is now found in every Android phone and data center running Linux today. Mr. Garzik serves on the board of Coin Center and the advisory boards of BitPay, Chain, Netki and WayPaver Labs. He was also recently appointed to the World Economic Forum Expert Network as an expert in Information Technology. "I'm excited to bring Bloq's expertise in developing blockchain software to The Linux Foundation," Mr. Garzik said. "Projects like Hyperledger are emblematic of the future of open source: bringing together the efforts of developers to fundamentally alter global finance, digital identity and beyond." Nithya Ruff Ms. Ruff first glimpsed the power of open source while at SGI in the 1990s and has been building bridges between hardware developers and the open source community ever since. She's also held leadership positions at Wind River (an Intel Company), Synopsys, Avaya, Tripwire and Eastman Kodak. Ms. Ruff has been a passionate advocate and a speaker for opening doors to new people in open source for many years. She has also been a promoter of valuing diverse ways of contributing to open source, such as in marketing, legal and community. She is co-leader of the Women of OpenStack group and a liaison into the OpenStack Foundation, as well as a sponsor of the Women in Open Source (WIOS) Lunch at Linux Foundation events and an active leader of WIOS advocating for reducing barriers for women and underrepresented minorities. In 2015, Ms. Ruff was invited by Red Hat to be on a diversity leaders' panel at the "All Things Open" conference. In recognition of her work in open source both on the business and community side, Ms. Ruff was named to CIO magazine's most influential women in open source list. Ms. Ruff was also the founding president of the Women's Innovation Network at Western Digital, which is dedicated to the development of women's highest potential in the workplace. Ms. Ruff said: "I've been fortunate to work in an environment at Western Digital that values the contributions of every individual and that encourages diversity in open source communities. Through its training, events and now projects, The Linux Foundation is working to create an inclusive open source culture that stretches across organizations. I anticipate being able to help deepen that work as more industry professionals of all backgrounds get involved in open source." About The Linux Foundation The Linux Foundation is the organization of choice for the world's top developers and companies to build ecosystems that accelerate open technology development and commercial adoption. Together with the worldwide open source community, it is solving the hardest technology problems by creating the largest shared technology investment in history. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation today provides tools, training and events to scale any open source project, which together deliver an economic impact not achievable by any one company. More information can be found at www.linuxfoundation.org . The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see our trademark usage page: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage . Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. View comments || Winklevoss brothers name State Street as bitcoin ETF administrator: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss on Tuesday filed amendments to their proposed bitcoin exchange-traded fund, naming State Street as administrator, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Winklevoss brothers, identical twins, had filed their first application for a bitcoin ETF called Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust three years ago.
Investors have shown keen interest in the Winklevoss ETF. If approved by the SEC, this would be the first bitcoin ETF issued by a U.S. entity.
According to the amended filing, State Street will provide the fund administration and accounting services, including calculating the bitcoin trust's net asset value (NAV).
Another major change involved the ETF's custodian, Gemini Trust Company, doing monthly "proof of control" exercises and publishing the reports on the ETF's website.
"Custodian's cold storage system was purpose-built to demonstrate 'proof of control' of the private keys associated with its public bitcoin addresses," the filing said.
"The sponsor and the custodian have engaged an independent audit firm to verify that the custodian can demonstrate 'proof of control' of the private keys that control the Trust's bitcoin on a monthly basis."
Burr Pilger Mayer, based in San Francisco and known for working with venture-backed digital currency companies, has been named the ETF's auditor, the filing said.
In addition, the SEC filing said Gemini's daily auction price at 4 p.m. EDT will now be used to price the NAV of the ETF. The previous pricing mechanism was the Gemini spot price. Gemini runs a digital currency trading venue.
Since its launch in September, the Gemini auction has transacted more than 1,900 bitcoin on average per business day, which represents more than 16 percent of all U.S.-based bitcoin exchange volume, according to company data.
The daily auction along with Gemini's expansion has increased the company's market share to about 9 percent of all U.S. dollar-denominated exchange-traded bitcoin volume.
The ETF would trade under the ticker symbol COIN.
Late on Tuesday, bitcoin traded at $632.88 on the BitStamp platform.
(This version of the story adds the dropped word "bitcoin" in the 7th paragraph, fixes a typographical error in the 10th paragraph and corrects source to say 'according to company data' instead of 'Gemini said on Tuesday')
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Tom Brown)
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
#Triangles #TRI $0.192122 (0.56%) 0.00030000 BTC (0.00%) || $629.31 #bitfinex;
$625.66 #GDAX;
$625.90 #bitstamp;
$627.00 #btce;
$629.14 #itBit;
$624.25 #OKCoin;
#bitcoin news: http://bit.ly/1VI6Yse || #UFOCoin #UFO $0.000008 (0.96%) 0.00000001 BTC (-0.00%) || 1 KOBO = 0.00000257 BTC
= 0.0016 USD
= 0.4864 NGN
= 0.0228 ZAR
= 0.1621 KES
#Kobocoin 2016-10-15 12:00 pic.twitter.com/a5MFgAT9uO || The latest Bitcoin Price Index is 754.00 USD http://www.coindesk.com/price/ pic.twitter.com/1vdERFFeCA || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 9 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $4.95 #bitcoin #btc || 1 KOBO = 0.00000175 BTC
= 0.0013 USD
= 0.4082 NGN
= 0.0180 ZAR
= 0.1323 KES
#Kobocoin 2016-11-29 10:00 pic.twitter.com/s3JMVLV54L || 1 BTC Price: BTC-e 730.27 USD Bitstamp 746.02 USD Coinbase 741.00 USD #btc #bitcoin 2016-11-17 06:30 pic.twitter.com/upn2zaeRp9 || 1 KOBO = 0.00000000 BTC
= 0.0000 USD
= 0.0000 NGN
= 0.0000 ZAR
= 0.0000 KES
#Kobocoin 2016-11-03 02:00 pic.twitter.com/Jz4iFRbFu4 || 1 #bitcoin = $15640.00 MXN | $0 USD #BitAPeso 1 USD = 0MXN http://www.bitapeso.com
|
Trend: no change || Prices: 773.87, 758.70, 764.22, 768.13, 770.81, 772.79, 774.65, 769.73, 780.09, 780.56
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2019-07-19]
BTC Price: 10530.73, BTC RSI: 48.72
Gold Price: 1425.10, Gold RSI: 67.96
Oil Price: 55.63, Oil RSI: 42.42
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
EOS Falls 12% In Bearish Trade: Investing.com - EOS was trading at $3.8687 by 12:19 (16:19 GMT) on the Investing.com Index on Tuesday, down 12.45% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage loss since July 14.
The move downwards pushed EOS's market cap down to $3.7553B, or 1.37% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. At its highest, EOS's market cap was $17.5290B.
EOS had traded in a range of $3.8500 to $4.3554 in the previous twenty-four hours.
Over the past seven days, EOS has seen a drop in value, as it lost 31.38%. The volume of EOS traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $1.8707B or 2.71% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $3.8500 to $5.9128 in the past 7 days.
At its current price, EOS is still down 83.16% from its all-time high of $22.98 set on April 29, 2018.
Bitcoin was last at $9,952.2 on the Investing.com Index, down 6.46% on the day.
Ethereum was trading at $208.80 on the Investing.com Index, a loss of 10.28%.
Bitcoin's market cap was last at $181.9944B or 66.60% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, while Ethereum's market cap totaled $22.9261B or 8.39% of the total cryptocurrency market value.
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Cardano Falls 10% In Bearish Trade || Bitcoin Charts Hint At Price Pullback to Below $10K: • Bitcoin could fall below $10,000 this week as a strong sign of buyer exhaustion have emerged on the weekly chart in the form of “gravestone doji” candle.
• A bear cross of short-term moving averages and weakening buy pressure on the daily chart also suggest scope for a drop.
• The case for a price retreat into the four digits would weaken if bitcoin jumps above $12,450, invalidating a bearish pattern on the 4-hour chart. That would open the doors to a retest of the recent high of $13,880.
With the technical charts flashing signs of buyer exhaustion, bitcoin (BTC) risks falling to levels below $10,000 this week.
The top cryptocurrency by market value rose to a 17-month high of $13,880 last Wednesday only to end the week on Sunday (UTC time) with a 0.66 percent loss at $10,760, according to Bitstamp data.
Essentially, BTC created a candle called “gravestone doji” on the weekly chart, which comprises of tall upper shadow (marking a big gap between the open and high) and little or no lower shadow (meaning low and close are almost identical).
Related:Bitcoin, Facebook and the End of 20th Century Money
The narrative behind the candle is that buyers had pushed prices up to unsustainable levels during a specific period, then sellers ended up pushing prices back to the starting point.
This sort of price action, if witnessed following a stellar rally, is widely considered a sign of bullish exhaustion and an early warning of an impending price drop. That may well be the case here, as the gravestone doji formed after bitcoin reached 17-month price highs.
As a result, BTC could be quoted in four digits across cryptocurrency exchanges later this week. As of writing, the cryptocurrency is changing hands at $11,000 on Bitstamp, representing a 6.5 percent drop on a 24-hour basis.
It’s worth noting investors may view any pullback to levels below $10,000, as just another chance to get involved in the bull market. After all, a number of bullish price drivers are lined up over the next few months, according toAlex Kruger, a prominent technical and fundamental analyst.
Related:Bitcoin Heading for Fifth Month of Gains Despite Price Correction
BTC created a gravestone doji last week with the biggest red volume (selling volume) bar since November.
Further, the candlestick has appeared following a near 90-degree rise from levels near $4,000 seen at the beginning of April and the relative strength index (RSI) continues to report overbought conditions with an above-70 print. Therefore, the case for a price drop to $10,000 looks strong.
It is worth noting that the 5- and 10-week moving averages are still trending north, indicating a bullish setup. As a result, the averages, currently located at $9,840 and $8,757, could fuel a price bounce.
As seen on the daily chart (above left), the Chaikin money flow index has retreated sharply from 0.39 to 0.19 in the last five days – a sign of weakening buying pressure. The oscillator takes into account both the price and trading volume to gauge buying and selling pressures.
The 5- and 10-day MAs are also teasing a bearish crossover. Over on the 4-hour chart, meanwhile, the cryptocurrency has carved out a bearish lower high at $12,448.
Overall, both charts are aligned in favor of a short-term drop to levels below $10,000. The bearish case, however, would weaken if the price breaks above $12,448 with high volumes. In that case, BTC could revisit the recent high of $13,880.
Disclosure:The author holds no cryptocurrency at the time of writing
Chartimage via Shutterstock; charts byTradingView
• Down $1.7K: Bitcoin’s Price Dives Amid Crypto Market Boost
• ShapeShift Founder Says Crypto Exchange Service Will Support Libra || Crypto Wallet Provider BRD Partners With Wyre to Roll Out US Bank Transfer Support: Global mobile crypto wallet provider BRD has announced a partnership with blockchain payments and infrastructure firm Wyre that will enable its United States -based customers to purchase cryptocurrencies using bank transfers. The news was revealed in a press release shared with Cointelegraph on June 13. According to the press release, U.S. customers will be able to purchase bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH) and dai (DAI) by directly linking their BRD wallet to their bank account and making a low-fee transfer. The new service is reportedly supported by over 1,700 U.S. banks, and ostensibly allows for purchases to be completed within five minutes. In a statement, Aaron Lasher, BRD’s chief strategy officer and co-founder, said that the new service aims to ensure that the blockchain sector remains decentralized and inclusive. He alleged that currently major crypto wallet providers are turning to more custodial and centralized structures. The press release claims that BRD — which was founded in 2015 — has over 2 million customers across 170 countries, and has seen its period of most intensive growth this year. During the first 4 months of 2019, the firm claims to have doubled the number of transactions as well as the number of users exchanging crypto assets. The firm also estimates that it has $6 billion worth of crypto assets under protection. Wyre, for its part, has reportedly traded over $3.5 billion in crypto assets and completed over $1 billion in commercial FX payments using crypto as a rail. Having established a network of relationships with banks and crypto exchanges, Wyre’s API facilitates fiat-crypto conversion in over 50 countries, and supports eight national fiat currencies and three cryptocurrencies. In January of this year, Switzerland-based Falcon Private Bank introduced support for direct transfers and storage of select cryptocurrencies, as well as fiat-crypto conversion services. Related Articles: Spanish Law Enforcement Arrests 35 Suspects for Bank Fraud, BTC Money Laundering Conglomerates’ Deep Pockets Continue Blockchain Growth in South Korea Despite Crypto Ban Craig Wright Ordered to Personally Appear at Bitcoin Theft Mediation Former US Senator Rick Santorum Joins Catholic-Focused Cryptocurrency Project || BIG Blockchain Intelligence Group Announces Acquisition of Netcoins Operations, Entry into Bitcoin Institutional OTC Trading and Cryptocurrency Custody Services: Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 27, 2019) -BIG Blockchain Intelligence Group Inc.(CSE: BIGG) (OTC Pink: BBKCF) (FSE: 7111)("BIG" or the "Company")is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive share purchase agreement (the "Agreement") with Netcoins Holdings Inc. (the "Vendor") (CSE: NETC) whereby BIG will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of the Vendor's three subsidiary companies - Netcoins Inc., NTC Holdings Corp., and NTC Holdings USA Corp. (collectively, "Netcoins" )(the "Transaction"). Netcoins is in the business of developing software to make the purchase and sale of cryptocurrency easily accessible to the mass consumer and investor through brokerage services.
Netcoins completed over CAD$58 million in cryptocurrency transactions in 2018. It currently enables crypto transactions via over 171,000 retail locations globally, a self-serve crypto purchase portal and an institutional over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk. In addition, upon launch of its Netcoins Custody software, it is poised to deliver institutional-level crypto custody to the Canadian marketplace through an existing agreement with BitGo Trust Company, the world's largest processor of on-chain bitcoin transactions.
In line with BIG's objective of bringing cryptocurrency mainstream, post-Transaction the Company will be a vertically integrated crypto company, focused on compliance, regulation and trading. BIG's "compliance first" strategy provides a distinct competitive edge when it comes to cost and readiness, over companies in the space that have either no or poor AML compliance.
"BIG's sophisticated AML compliance and reporting suite will give the Netcoins' transactional product offerings a marketplace edge while allowing our software and services to be marketed by Netcoin's highly experienced team via their existing sales channels," said Shone Anstey, BIG's Executive Chairman.
Netcoins existing institutional OTC trading business will be enhanced by the integration of BIG's BitRank VerifiedⓇ product offering and advanced reporting technology on the source of crypto transactions. Custody is a key component to institutional participation, which is foreseen to be pivotal to widespread adoption. BIG will be able to offer custody solutions within its forensic division, for engagements with law enforcement and the banking sector.
Netcoins also has established relationships with a wide range of exchanges, both as customers and service providers, all of which are high value targets for BIG's BitRank product. Leveraging the Netcoins sales and marketing teams, BIG plans to accelerate market adoption globally of BitRank, building out recurring revenue streams tied to each and every transaction verification.
"The Netcoins acquisition is a natural fit for us," said BIG CEO, Lance Morginn. "Our clients will have a need for OTC trading, and both Netcoins and its clients can benefit from the compliance and analytics services BIG provides. Mark's team, with their strong relationships and understanding of the crypto market, will open up new markets to BIG. We are looking forward to integrating, and working alongside, this new team."
Upon completion of the Transaction, the combined teams will have considerable depth and strength on an engineering level, as well as sales and marketing. Mark Binns, CEO of Netcoins, will step up to lead the Company. With over 20 years' experience in founding and building technology companies, including SAAS-based software businesses, Mark is a Dean's Honours graduate of the Ivey MBA program and a graduate of the Computer Science Honors program at Acadia University. He has led his companies to PROFIT HOT 50 and PROFIT HOT 100 awards and was nominated by the Dean of the Richard Ivey School of Business for the prestigious business award of Canada's "Top 40 Under 40".
In consideration for acquiring all of the issued and outstanding shares of Netcoins, and on the closing of the Transaction, BIG will issue an aggregate 37,500,000 common shares (the "Payment Shares") to the Vendor at a deemed price of $0.08 per Payment Share. The Vendor plans to distribute the Payment Shares to its shareholders on a pro-rata basis.
Completion of the Transaction remains subject to certain closing conditions and obtaining all necessary approvals, including the approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE") and the approval of shareholders of the Vendor and other conditions which are customary for transactions of this nature.
The Transaction will be completed pursuant to available exemptions under applicable legislation.
In parallel with the standard due diligence review of Netcoins and its operations, the Company has engaged PI Financial Corp. ("PI Financial") to provide an opinion as to the fairness, from a financial point of view, of the consideration to be paid by BIG in respect of the Transaction (the "Fairness Opinion"). PI Financial will receive total cash payments of $75,000 and an aggregate 312,500 compensation options. Each compensation option shall entitle PI Financial to acquire one common share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.08 per share for a period of two years from the closing of the Transaction, subject to an acceleration clause whereby if the 10 day weighted average share price on the CSE equals or exceeds $0.25 the Company can elect to change the expiration date of the compensation options to 30 days from the date of provision of formal notice to PI Financial of the triggering of the acceleration.
Further, in connection with the signing of the Agreement, BIG has entered into a finder's fee agreement which provides for a cash fee payable of $90,000 on closing of the Transaction to Hillcrest Merchant Partners Inc.
Closing of the proposed Transaction is expected to be on or about July 8, 2019.
On behalf of the Board,
Shone AnsteyExecutive Chairman
About Netcoins
The Company is in the business of developing software to make the purchase and sale of cryptocurrency easily accessible to the mass consumer and investor through brokerage services.
About BIG Blockchain Intelligence Group Inc.
BIG Blockchain Intelligence Group Inc. (BIG) brings security and accountability to the new era of cryptocurrency. BIG has developed from the ground up a Blockchain-agnostic search and analytics engine, QLUETM, enabling Law Enforcement, RegTech, Regulators and Government Agencies to visually trace, track and monitor cryptocurrency transactions at a forensic level. Our commercial product, BitRank Verified®, offers a "risk score" for cryptocurrency, enabling RegTech, banks, ATMs, exchanges, and retailers to meet traditional regulatory/compliance requirements. Our Forensic Services Division brings our team of investigative experts into action for cryptocurrency investigations that require in-depth expertise and experience, either in conjunction with or supplemental to our user-friendly search, risk-scoring and data analytics tools. Based on industry demand, we created our Cryptocurrency Training Academy (www.CryptoInvestigatorTraining.com) to help Law Enforcement, the Financial Sector and Regulators learn how to bring security and accountability to cryptocurrency; our Cryptocurrency Investigator Certification Course is a one-stop solution to understanding the world of cryptocurrency, how to reduce associated risk, and investigate cryptocurrency crime.
About BitRank Verified®
BIG developed BitRank Verified® to be the industry gold standard in ranking and verifying cryptocurrency transactions. BitRank Verified® offers the financial world a simple risk score, enabling consumer-facing bank tellers, exchanges, eCommerce sites and retailers to know whether a proposed transaction is safe to accept, questionable, or should be denied. BitRank Verified® and its API are custom tailored to provide the RegTech sector with a reliable tool for meeting their regulatory requirements while mitigating the risk of money laundering or other criminal activities.
About QLUETM
QLUE™ (Qualitative Law Enforcement Unified Edge) enables Law Enforcement, RegTech, Regulators and Government Agencies to literally "follow the virtual money". QLUE™ incorporates advanced techniques and unique search algorithms to detect suspicious activity within cryptocurrency transactions (Bitcoin, Ethereum), enabling investigators to quickly and visually trace, track and monitor transactions in their fight against terrorist financing, human trafficking, drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, child pornography, corruption, bribery, money laundering, and other cyber crimes.
About the Crypto Fusion Center
BIG created the Crypto Fusion Center (CFC) to serve as a community resource dedicated to fighting the criminal use of cryptocurrencies. The CFC's mission is to maintain and promote the legitimacy of cryptocurrencies while protecting the market as a whole by identifying and isolating criminal events as they occur. The CFC enables entities in all sectors to notify major participating exchanges, financial institutions, and law enforcement agencies in a timely manner when cryptocurrency thefts occur. The CFC is a direct result of BIG's greater mission of bringing cryptocurrencies mainstream through social responsibility. Entities interested in learning more about the Crypto Fusion Center or considering participating in the community can visit the CFC here:https://cryptofusioncenter.com/
About Our Expert Training
We offer custom on-site and 24/7 online training, enabling Law Enforcement, the Financial Sector and Regulators to understand cryptocurrency risk and successfully investigate suspicious activity. Our in-person, on-site training solutions are designed to fit our clients' scheduling, location and learning needs. Through our online Cryptocurrency Training Academy (www.CryptoInvestigatorTraining.com), clients can take our Cryptocurrency Investigator Certification Course to earn their Certified Cryptocurrency Investigator credential from BIG to validate their new knowledge.
About Our Forensic Services Division
Our Forensic Services Division provides Law Enforcement, Financial institutions and Regulators with expert support to help trace, track and monitor illicit activity involving cryptocurrencies. Our services range from quick and simple due diligence case reviews, to providing in-depth forensic support for ongoing investigations, and providing expert witness testimony from unbiased third-party investigators.
BIG Investor Relations
Anthony ZelenD: +1-778-819-8705email:[email protected]
For more information and to register to BIG's mailing list, please visit our website athttps://www.blockchaingroup.io/. Follow@blocksearchon Twitter. Or visit SEDAR atwww.sedar.com.
Forward-Looking Statements:
Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements, which include completion of the search technology software and other matters. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as "may", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intend", "believe" and "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur. These assumptions, risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the state of the economy in general and capital markets in particular, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of BIG. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because BIG can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from BIG's expectations include, consumer sentiment towards BIG's products and Blockchain technology generally, technology failures, competition, and failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations.
The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, BIG disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additionally, BIG undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations of, or statements made by, third parties in respect of the matters discussed above.
To view the source version of this press release, please visithttps://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/45045 || Bitcoin Wallet Ponzi scheme brings rural South African town to a halt: It looks like Ponzi scheme season is upon us. Yesterday Decrypt reported that fraudulent investment platforms in both China and Australia have together stolen millions of dollars of unwitting investors cash. And yet, thats not all. According to local South African news , a Ponzi scheme in Ladysmith has become so notoriousand is still runningthat local people are queuing outside its doors overnight. And this is causing havoc in the small town. The excitement kicked off when a video did the rounds on social media showing a woman placing a few thousand rands in cash on top of a car. She said that it was money earned from a local company called Bitcoin Wallet. The company promises to double your money in just 15 days, but takes a ten percent cut. Its likely that it is paying out later investors with former investors money, while building up its own reserves of cash. However, if the money stops flowing in, its probably all going to come crashing down. Despite this, locals appear to be in denial. At the moment thousands are going to its offices every day to invest their money. Many are camping out overnight, paying to sit near a fire to keep warm or for a homeless person to stand queuing on their behalf. Whats behind Bitcoins 24 percent price rise? From what we have heard, Bitcoin Wallet is an investment, not a pyramid scheme, said a local community member. If you put in an amount of R100000ZAR ($7,000), you get back an amount of R200000 ($14,000) in 15 days. However, Lebogang Selibi, media relations officer at the National Credit Regulator (NCR) told ANA news that its not a registered credit provider and has a fraudulent certificate. The local police has said allegations of fraud have been made but would not confirm if it was investigating Bitcoin Wallet. It appears that Bitcoin Wallet doesnt appear to have anything in connection with bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in generalapart from the name. Perhaps it was riding off the brand to convey an aura of respectability and legitimacy. || Winklevoss Twins: 'It's the Bottom of the First Inning' for Bitcoin: CameronandTyler Winklevosshave big plans for the crypto exchange, Gemini, not to mention their expectations forbitcoin.
In a panel discussion with "Bitcoin Billionaires" author Ben Mezrich and The Wall Street Journal's Paul Vigna, the Winklevosses discussed bitcoin and the crypto landscape. In what appears to be a packed house, they left no stone unturned, including that of their chief rival, Mark Zuckerberg. Excerpts from the event were tweeted by a New York-based analyst whoseTwitter handle is @WillTradecipher, which Gemini then retweeted.
While the bitcoin price currently has a market cap of $229 billion attached, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss believe it's early days for the crypto ecosystem, saying:
"We still think it’s the bottom of the first inning."
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss first invested in bitcoin in 2013, but they weren't sold on the cryptocurrency right away.
"It didn’t make sense at first but after some tequila, it started making sense." || Icelands Financial Regulator Approves Blockchain-Powered E-Money Firm: The Financial Supervisory Authority (FME), Iceland s sole financial regulator, has approved the first blockchain -powered e-money firm in the country, as the organization announced on June 14. Reykjavik-based Monerium, backed by blockchain software company ConsenSys , has reportedly been approved by the Icelandic financial watchdog to provide fiat payment services using ethereum ( ETH ) blockchain, crypto media outlet CoinDesk reported June 14. According to the report, Monerium has become the first company to operate under an electronic money framework, a major European regulatory framework that enabled the firm to offer blockchain-powered e-money services across the European Economic Area (EEA). Monerium co-founder Jón Helgi Egilsson, a former chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Central Bank of Iceland, will reportedly announce the news at a digital currency conference in Stockholm on June 15. According to CoinDesk, Monerium is planning to launch a blockchain-based fiat currency pegged to Icelandic krona (ISK) to enable cross-border payments in the currency without a financial middleman. The digital ISK will be reportedly operable across the European Union on the initial stage, while the firm also plans to introduce the e-currency to more countries depending on their regulatory policies in the sphere. In January 2019, ConsenSys participated in a $2 million seed funding round for Monerium, with the companys co-founder Andrew Keys claiming that investment in the Icelandic firm aligns with the incubators purpose to create the infrastructure needed for a more decentralized and self-sovereign future. Recently, Cointelegraph published an interview with ConsenSys co-founder Joseph Lubin , who declared that the ethereum blockchain had scaled significantly to date. Related Articles: Brazil Authorities to Adapt Cross-Sector Regulations to React to Digital Transformation Rhode Island Solicits Proposals for Blockchain Solutions in Government Swedish Bitcoin-Powered Mobile Refill Service Bitrefill Raises $2M to Expand Services Ukrainian Delegation Visits Estonia to Learn About E-Government || Bitcoin has been the most volatile and best performing major cryptocurrency in June: Bitcoin has had the wildest price swings in June out of all cryptocurrencies with the market cap of above $4 billion.
Bitcoin has reached an annualized volatility of 102% in June, trailed by Litecoin (~98%) and EOS (~97%). The least volatile major cryptocurrency has been BNB with 76%, followed by XRP with 82%.
On top of being the most volatile, Bitcoin has also been the best performing major cryptocurrency in June; with a 30% increase. The worst performing major cryptocurrency was TRON with an 11% price decrease in June. || Dutch Crypto Exchange Blockport to Attempt Relaunch After Bankruptcy Caused by Failed STO: Amsterdam -based crypto exchange Blockport will attempt a relaunch after the firm said it would shut down its platform by the end of May, tech news outlet The Next Web reports on June 4. On May 22, Blockport was declared bankrupt by a Dutch court, following the firm’s unsuccessful security token offering ( STO ) of Blockport Securities ( BPT ) tokens. Blockport first announced its STO in March, describing its BPS token as a security token that is pegged to a stake in Blockport and enables holders to profit sharing through dividends. Launched on April 16, the STO reportedly offered investors the ability to buy BPS with a minimum 500 euro ($560) investment , and lasted up to May 15. In mid-May, Blockport revealed the STO results, claiming that the offering had not reached the expected soft cap of 1 million euro ($1.1 million). The exchange stated that it will refund its investors, adding that the platform was expected to be taken down by the end of May. The Blockport website remains live at press time, with the main page still saying that the firm offers the “easiest way to buy and sell cryptocurrency.” According to The Next Web, the platform is still online due to the unfinished refund process, while the company is planning to “properly take it offline” as soon as all refunds are finalized. While the date of the shutdown is still reportedly not scheduled, Blockport founder Sebastiaan Lichter revealed that the company will continue to develop its products in “stealth mode.” Lichter added that Blockport is in talks with “several parties for a potential relaunch.” In mid-May, blockchain infrastructure firm Blockstream launched its security token platform allowing businesses to issue security tokens on the Liquid Network. Related Articles: Japan: Tax Authorities Say Crypto Traders Owe Them $93 Million BitMEX Ventures Invests in Crypto Exchange Licensed by Philippines Central Bank Bitfinex Subsidiary Hybrid Crypto Exchange Ethfinex Trustless Launches Decentralized OTC LocalEthereum Woos LocalBitcoins Traders After Platform Reportedly Bans Cash Trading || U.S Mortgages – Mortgage Rates Fall for a 4th Consecutive Week: Mortgage rates fell for a 4thconsecutive week in the week ending 23rdMay. 30-year fixed rates fell by 1 basis point following on from a 3 basis point fall from the previous week. The 1 basis point fall took 30-year rates to 4.06% according to figures released byFreddie Mac.
Following the weekly fall, 30-year fixed rates stood 60 basis points below levels from 12-months ago.
More significantly, 30-year fixed rates have fallen by 88 basis points since last November’s most recent peak of 4.94%.
Economic data through the first half of the week was on the lighter side. April existing home sales figures weighed on the Greenback on Tuesday.
Outside of the stats, the FOMC meeting minutes also provided direction on Wednesday. The minutes continued to reflect the FED’s intentions to hold on policy near term.
The lack of economic data left market sentiment towards the extended U.S – China trade war to pin back U.S Treasury yields on the week.
The weekly average rates for new mortgages as of 23rdMay were quoted byFreddie Macto be:
• 30-year fixed rates fell by 1 basis points to 4.06% in the week. Rates were down from 4.66% from a year ago. The average fee held steady at 0.5 points.
• 15-year fixed rates slipped by 2 basis points to 3.51% in the week. Rates were down from 4.15% from a year ago. The average fee remained unchanged at 0.4 points.
• 5-year fixed rates increased by 2 basis points to 3.68% in the week. Rates decreased by 19 basis points from last year’s 3.87%. The average fee held steady at 0.4 points.
According to Freddie Mac, the downward trend in mortgage rates supported purchase demand. More affluent consumers were reported to be more responsive to the downward trend in rates.
For the week ending 17thMay,rateswere quoted to be:
• Average interest rates for 30-year fixed, backed by the FHA, increased from 4.32% to 4.34%. Points decreased from 0.49 to 0.47 (incl. origination fee) for 80% LTV loans.
• Average interest rates for 30-year fixed with conforming loan balances decreased from 4.40% to 4.33%. Points increased from 0.40 to 0.43 (incl. origination fee) for 80% LTV loans.
• Average 30-year rates for jumbo loan balances remained unchanged at 4.24%. Points increased from 0.27 to 0.35 (incl. origination fee) for 80% LTV loans.
Weekly figures released by the Mortgage Bankers Association showed that the Market Composite Index, which is a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased by 2.4% in the week ending 17thMay. The increase reversed a 0.6% fall in the week ending 10th May.
The Refinance Index increased by 8% in the week ending 17thMay. The Index had decreased by 1% in the previous week ending 10thMay.
The share of refinance remained increased from 37.9% to 40.5% following a hold at 37.9% in the week prior.
According to the MBA, while lower interest rates supported borrowers with larger balances, purchase activity declined again. In spite of purchase activity up by 7% over the year, the MBA will be looking to see whether the extended U.S – China trade war will impact demand. Uncertainty may begin to weigh on applications and purchases near-term.
It’s another quiet 1sthalf of the week ahead. May consumer confidence and March house price figures are due out in the 1st half of the week.
We expect the consumer confidence numbers to have a material influence early on in the week. Disappointing real estate figures suggest some caution creeping in, despite strong labor market conditions.
Outside of the stats, market risk sentiment will be key in the week. U.S – China trade war chatter and market reaction to the EU Parliamentary elections will be of significant influence early on in the week.
Weaker than anticipated economic data out of the Eurozone and the U.S late last week will test investor resolve should there be no progress on trade talks.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Public Perceptions of the Bitcoin Spot Market Are Wrong, Says Bitwise https://t.co/hWgkV3lgWs https://t.co/IlPmsAoF16 || $EPAZ's Bitcoin Sharing & Blockchain Social Media App Webbeeo Is In Alpha Testing Phase https://www.owltmarket || technical analysis bitcoin free ihg hertz best stock tips value of a bitcoin in usd https://t.co/TrEbyPCrBG || It is ready to be a New bittrex. You should sign up... https://t.co/CAuVBn2Kgb
$Btc $Eth $Xrp $Neo $Omg $Ltc $Ada $Nebl $Vet $Xlm || (16) 16% Gains on #TRX. A Quick Starter Guide to Leveraged Trading at BitMEX In this group! – The Bitcoin Forum https://t.co/qxDkVJBUxV || $BTC shills: buy the dip! And the next one!!! and the next one... and the next one....... https://t.co/VbP9IpqSvd || $EPAZ's Bitcoin Sharing & Blockchain Social Media App Webbeeo Is In Alpha Testing Phase https://www.owltmarket || google chromeのCrypto Tabで簡単マイニング♪
https://t.co/jHt7HPYc4F
#BTC #仮想通貨 #マイニング #ビットコイン || ちょっと面白かったけどbtc怖い || New Rankings From China, and #bitcoin is there as well. https://t.co/1S0D8f9Ugk
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Trend: down || Prices: 10767.14, 10599.11, 10343.11, 9900.77, 9811.93, 9911.84, 9870.30, 9477.68, 9552.86, 9519.15
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2021-12-16]
BTC Price: 47665.43, BTC RSI: 38.01
Gold Price: 1796.60, Gold RSI: 51.82
Oil Price: 72.38, Oil RSI: 47.39
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Social Finance Startup Sublime Raises $2.5 Million to Democratize Credit: DeFi lending platform lets users stake their digital reputations to access loans
BANGALORE, INDIA / ACCESSWIRE / October 19, 2021 /Sublime, a decentralized lending platform that enables users to leverage their digital identities to access loans, has raised $2.5 million in funding from backers including Electric Capital, Galaxy Digital, FinTech Collective, Collab+Currency, Jill Carlson Gunter, and Ryan Selkis.
The Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ecosystem as it exists today is overcollateralized. Sublime solves this problem by focusing the conversation on how access to credit is determined by letting borrowers tap into their social capital.
Users on Sublime can verify their digital identity using their profiles on sites like Twitter, Github, Instagram, effectively staking their reputation as collateral in addition to NFTs, cryptocurrencies, or other blockchain-based assets. Borrowers using Sublime can set up fully customizable borrow pools and credit lines, which can be fulfilled by lenders who are comfortable with the terms of the debt.
Traditional credit scoring methods are highly data-intensive, making them susceptible to bias or painting an incomplete picture of a borrower's creditworthiness, particularly for those with a limited financial history. This limits the pool of potential borrowers. Furthermore, such data either doesn't exist on-chain or is otherwise highly manipulable.
Porting off-chain scores on-chain is an equally poor starting point. In the absence of legal repercussions or updates to one's off-chain score based on on-chain activity, a number of defaults are to be expected in the initial bootstrapping phase, a process which may take years to mature. It is not clear if DeFi lenders are ready to absorb the risks of such almost certain defaults right now.
"A trader's onchain history of yield farming or over-collateralized borrowing are poor indicators of their likelihood to return under-collateralized loans, making running any machine learning models over such data largely irrelevant," said Ritik Dutta, founder of Sublime.
Sublime's vision is to create a DeFi-native social graph that enables access to credit without the need for centralized scoring systems. Bootstrapped using existing trust networks, the system facilitates interaction between entities without direct personal relationships through mutual connections, in a system resembling payment channels in the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Sublime developers expect to see the formation of hubs in this network akin to banks down the line.
"We're excited about how the open architecture allows myriad use cases - for instance, DAOs can raise debt by issuing pool-based bonds with different levels of seniority, or institutions can set up private credit lines amongst each other. Positions in pools which are tokenized into ERC-20 assets allow users to build structured debt products on top of Sublime," said Avichal Garg, partner at Electric Capital.
Sublime is set to launch its alpha in two weeks, starting off with a select group of users with access to their network.
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Media Contact:
Dan [email protected]
SOURCE: Sublime Finance
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/668710/Social-Finance-Startup-Sublime-Raises-25-Million-to-Democratize-Credit || Bitcoin Long-Term Uptrend Intact; Support Around $53K-$56K: Bitcoin (BTC) is stabilizing after a near 10% decline over the past week. The cryptocurrency is holding initialsupportabove $56,000, although resistance around $65,000 could limit further upside over the short term.
The relative strength index (RSI) is oversold on intraday charts, which could encourage brief buying activity. On the daily chart, the RSI is approaching oversold conditions similar to late September, which preceded a price recovery.
On the weekly chart, bitcoin’s long-term uptrend remains intact given the upward sloping 40-week moving average. Momentum is still positive on a weekly basis, which is consistent with a bullish uptrend. And the monthly price chart shows no signs of upside exhaustion yet.
However, the weekly RSI is declining from overbought levels, albeit less extreme relative to January. This means bitcoin is vulnerable to higher volatility as buyers take some profits.
For now, bitcoin will need to hold support and sustain a breakout above $69,000 in order to yield an upside target toward $85,000. || The Bias That Propels Shiba Inu and Dogecoin: Bitcoin may be the alpha dog of crypto, but for many small retail investors these days, dogecoin and shiba inu are the pick of the litter. Binance subsidiary WazirX, Indias largest cryptocurrency exchange, suffered outages as traders jumped into the fray, buying shiba inu and stressing out the platforms servers to the point that trade executions were delayed this past Wednesday. Over half a billion dollars worth of trades were done on WazirX that day, the highest of any crypto exchange in India, CEO Nischal Shetty tweeted . It basically brought down our exchange, Siddharth Menon, one of WazirXs co-founders and its chief operating officer, said on CoinDesk TVs First Mover program Thursday morning. The kind of active numbers and the active users that we saw in the last 48 hours has actually shocked us. We were not ready for it. We were all ready for the bitcoin move, but we were never ready for shiba inu. Menon suspects that there is some amount of unit bias at play. Thats where a novice trader is prone to buy a lot of one kind of cryptocurrency because the price of one unit of it is relatively small compared with, say, bitcoin even though one can buy the same dollar amount in bitcoin as the low-priced coin. For investors who are dipping their toes in the water with a relatively small amount of money, a low-priced coin can make one feel a little richer. For example, as of this writing, $620 buys 0.01 BTC. On the other hand, it buys about 10 million SHIB. What the data show And while some smart money is starting to appear to be trading shiba inu and dogecoin , whales, or large investors, remain in the more familiar seas of bitcoin and ether. That can be seen in average trading volume. Bitcoin and ether average trade sizes are larger than those of dogecoin and shiba inu on almost every exchange. On Coinbase, bitcoins average trade size is hovering at around $2,000, while ether trades average $1,600. On the other hand, the exchange sees average trades for dogecoin and shiba inu of roughly $800. Story continues This suggests price action is mostly retail-driven, said Clara Medalie, strategic initiatives and research lead at digital asset data provider Kaiko, adding that on Binance, the average trade for bitcoin and ether is about $2,000. That figure is $1,200 for dogecoin and $900 for shibu inu. While average trade size isnt a perfect gauge for institutional investment most large traders break apart their orders into smaller sizes we can still observe clear trends that correspond with waves of interest, she said. Dog days Yet the data shows that meme coins face their own cycle, Medalie noted. It is interesting to note that average trade size for nearly all assets has increased considerably since the start of the bull run last November, Medalie said. With meme tokens such as DOGE and SHIB, we can observe spikes during the initial fervor and then sharp declines once the excitement wears off. And all crypto moves at least somewhat together, including how large trades get. We can also observe that bitcoin, ethereum and doge seem to have similar trend lines for average trade size, strongly correlated to mini-bull runs, Medalie said, pointing out that trade sizes for all assets spiked right before the May crash. Meanwhile, meme coins serve another purpose. Retail traders test out the experience of buying, holding and selling a small amount of cryptocurrency on new platforms by placing different types of orders and seeing how they get filled or not. While holding $100 worth of bitcoin can be bought just the same, if not more easily, than $100 of dogecoin or shiba inu, it may take newbies a little bit of time to wrap their heads around that concept. Whats more, their experience with wild swings in meme coins will prime them for the volatile, though relatively safer, major cryptos like bitcoin or ether. And when those novice traders finally realize that a single, low-priced meme coin will never surpass the price of bitcoin or ether as they currently trade (if shiba inu traded near bitcoins at around $62,000, its total market cap would be $36.5 quintillion, or 7,313 times the value of the earths estimated $5 quadrillion price tag ), they may finally gain a little perspective, rid themselves of unit bias and use those meme coins instead to develop proper trader discipline. Meme coins thus can be seen as the gateway for retail investors to become more experienced crypto traders. An obedience school, if you will. || Back from the dead, G4TV looks to cash in on the gaming craze it helped create: Gamers focus during a gaming competition When video gaming television network G4TV shuttered its broadcast doors back in 2014, a part of gamer history winked off, presumably never to be seen again. But in the wake of the rise of esports , as well as Twitch and YouTube as destinations for streaming games, Comcast Spectacor , the esports and live sports division of Comcast, decided it was time to revive the brand many gamers grew up with in the early 2000s. The new version of the network, launching on Nov. 16, will be available to viewers on Verizon Fios, Xfinity TV, and Cox cable TV, as well as on Twitch (via a commercial partnership) and on YouTube . And rather than relaunching the network with a brand new approach, logo, and tone, the producers have decided to lean into the current obsession with retro-everything. The new version of the network has already brought back its familiar irony-laced interstitials via Twitter , Instagram, and YouTube. Xi Jinping’s vision for China does not involve workers “lying flat” 11.16.2021 pic.twitter.com/6OvQPJNsO6 — G4TV (@G4TV) October 12, 2021 Bitcoin closed in on a record high after a US bitcoin ETF started trading The rebooted G4TV will feature familiar shows and new faces from Twitch and YouTube And, along with the recognizable flavor of the aughts, G4 has also resurrected original programs like Attack of the Show (geek-focused entertainment news, reviews, and skits) and X-Play (gaming news and reviews), as well as fan-favorite hosts Kevin Pereira and Adam Sessler. But this venture will also embrace social media personalities. The newer cast members are mostly heavyweight YouTube and Twitch influencers and streamers including Will Neff, Fiona Nova, Kassem “Kassem G” Gharaibeh, and Gina Darling. At its peak, G4TV catered mostly to young men 18 to 34-years old—usually a demographic sweet spot. But despite being available to 62 million viewers, the network’s own president at the time indicated it had a more cult-like interest of single-digit-millions viewership. Ultimately, the network, which was launched in 2002 by NBCUniversal (now owned by Comcast), was a bit ahead of its time, and eventually petered out, not long after the launch of Twitch (now owned by Amazon ) in 2011. Today, the gamer-focused Twitch has an average of 30 million daily visitors and 7 million unique creators generating content on the platform. This attempt by G4 to compete in the space it pioneered is perfectly timed given the rise of esports. But G4 will also be fighting for the eyeballs of 2.1 billion YouTube users as well as all the new streaming media being pushed out daily by the likes Netflix (itself now a game studio ) and others. Story continues One of the primary questions yet to be answered is: Was G4TV really too early, or just off the mark in its overall approach? Comcast isn’t renowned for its innovation and embrace of the gaming space (despite its esports interests in T1 Entertainment and Overwatch League’s Philadelphia Fusion ), so this is another big gamble on a bet that didn’t pay off before. Still, with newly appointed G4 president Russell Arons—a veteran of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment & Electronic Arts—at the helm, the enterprise is in steady and experienced hands. Add to that a platform-agnostic embrace of the current online gaming content leaders in Twitch and YouTube, and this revamp of gaming’s history has an even chance to turn into a money machine for Comcast and possibly become a new home to old and new gamers alike. Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief , our free daily newsletter with the world’s most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: The Indian government is testing blockchain technology to streamline its logistics industry China is the engine for global economic growth. What happens if it slows down? View comments || Argo Blockchain PLC Announces November 2021 Operational Update: LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / December 7, 2021 /Argo Blockchain plc, a global leader in cryptocurrency mining (LSE:ARB)(NASDAQ:ARBK), is pleased to provide the following operational update for November 2021.
During the month of November, Argo mined 185 Bitcoin or Bitcoin Equivalent (together, BTC) compared to 167 BTC in October. This brings the total amount of BTC mined year-to-date to 1,831 BTC.
Based on daily foreign exchange rates and cryptocurrency prices during the month, mining revenue in November amounted to £8.29 million [$11.20 million*] (October 2021: £7.24 million [$9.75 million*]).
Argo generated this revenue at a Bitcoin and Bitcoin Equivalent Mining Margin of approximately 86% for the month of November (October 2021: 86%).
At the end of November, the Company owned 2,317 Bitcoin or Bitcoin Equivalent.
Mining ExpansionAs of the end of November, Argo added an additional 310 PH/s to its total capacity, bringing the Company's total mining capacity to 1.605 EH/s as of 30 November, 2021.
Peter Wall, Chief Executive of Argo and interim Chairman said: "Execute. Build. Smart Growth. Onwards and Upwards".
Non-IFRS MeasuresBitcoin and Bitcoin Equivalent Mining Margin is a financial measure not defined by IFRS and has limitations as an analytical tool. In particular, Bitcoin and Bitcoin Equivalent Mining Margin excludes the depreciation of mining equipment and so does not reflect the full cost of our mining operations, and it also excludes the effects of fluctuations in the value of digital currencies and realised losses on the sale of digital assets, which affect our IFRS gross profit. This measure should not be considered as an alternative to gross margin determined in accordance with IFRS, or other IFRS measures. This measure is not necessarily comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. As a result, you should not consider this measure in isolation from, or as a substitute analysis for, our gross margin as determined in accordance with IFRS.
The following table shows a reconciliation of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Equivalent Mining Margin to gross margin, the most directly comparable IFRS measure, for the months of October and November 2021.
[["", "\u00a3", "$", "", "", "", "\u00a3", "", "", "$", ""], ["Gross Profit/(Loss)", "", "", "33,060,353", "", "", "", "44,532,296", "", "", "", "(1,108,192", ")", "", "", "(1,496,606", ")"], ["Gross Margin1", "", "", "422", "%", "", "", "422", "%", "", "", "(13", "%)", "", "", "(13", "%)"], ["Depreciation of mining equipment", "", "", "975,103", "", "", "", "1,313,464", "", "", "", "1,203,238", "", "", "", "1,624,965", ""], ["Charge in fair value of digital currencies", "", "", "(27,446,831", ")", "", "", "(36,970,882", ")", "", "", "7,371,093", "", "", "", "9,954,614", ""], ["Realised loss on sale of digital currencies", "", "", "-", "", "", "", "-", "", "", "", "8,364", "", "", "", "11,296", ""], ["Cryptocurrency management fees", "", "", "(361,578", ")", "", "", "(487,045", ")", "", "", "(340,561", ")", "", "", "(459,925", ")"], ["", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""], ["Mining Profit", "", "", "6,227,047", "", "", "", "8,387,833", "", "", "", "7,133,942", "", "", "", "9,634,344", ""], ["Bitcoin and Bitcoin Equivalent Mining Margin", "", "", "86", "%", "", "", "86", "%", "", "", "86", "%", "", "", "86", "%"]]
(1) Due to favourable changes in fair value of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Equivalents in October 2021, gross profit exceeded revenue.
*Dollar values translated from pound sterling into U.S. dollars at the rate of £1.00 to $1.35 for November 2021 and £1.00 to $1.33 for October 2021. Exchange rates have been calculated using the noon buying rates of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
This announcement contains inside information.
For further information please contact:
[{"Argo Blockchain": "Peter WallChief Executive", "": "via Tancredi +44 203 434 2334"}, {"Argo Blockchain": "finnCap Ltd", "": ""}, {"Argo Blockchain": "Corporate FinanceJonny Franklin-AdamsTim HarperJoint Corporate BrokerSunila de Silva", "": "+44 207 220 0500"}, {"Argo Blockchain": "Tennyson Securities", "": ""}, {"Argo Blockchain": "Joint Corporate BrokerPeter Krens", "": "+44 207 186 9030"}, {"Argo Blockchain": "OTC Markets", "": ""}, {"Argo Blockchain": "Jonathan [email protected]", "": "+44 204 526 4581+44 7731 815 896"}, {"Argo Blockchain": "Tancredi Intelligent CommunicationUK & Europe Media Relations", "": ""}, {"Argo Blockchain": "Emma ValgimigliEmma HodgesSalamander DavoudiFabio Galloni-Roversi [email protected]", "": "+44 7727 180 873+44 7861 995 628+44 7957 549 906+44 7888 672 701"}]
About Argo:Argo Blockchain plc is a global leader in cryptocurrency mining with one of the largest and most efficient operations powered by clean energy. The Company is headquartered in London, UK and its shares are listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange under the ticker: ARB and on the Nasdaq Global Select Market in the United States under the ticker: ARBK.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please [email protected] visitwww.rns.com.
SOURCE:Argo Blockchain PLC
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/676289/Argo-Blockchain-PLC-Announces-November-2021-Operational-Update || Britcoin at least five years away, says Bank of England: Bank of England Britcoin Treasury - tonyshawphotography China property crash risks $1 trillion hit to global growth ‘Record cheap’ British stocks offer historic buying opportunity, says JP Morgan FTSE 100 dips 0.09pc; Wall Street falters after inflation data Matthew Lynn: The woke investment crowd will leave us powerless to defend ourselves Sign up here for our daily business briefing newsletter Britain is at least five years away from setting up a central bank digital currency, according to the Bank of England and the City minister. The Bank and the Treasury are planning to launch a consultation on the idea – dubbed ‘Britcoin’ – next year, which could potentially lead to a multi-year plan to develop and test a digital version of the pound. It would not be launched before the second half of the decade. Officials think it could reduce transaction costs and cut delays in payments, but also fear it could undermine the commercial banking system in a recession if businesses and households come to see a central bank-backed digital currency as safer than normal cash in the bank. Sir Jon Cunliffe, Deputy Governor for financial stability at the Bank, said the plan for a consultation was a “crucial step in our policy development, especially as we further our thinking on the pressing issues at hand”. 06:08 PM Wrapping up That's all from us for today. Thank you for following and we'll be back again tomorrow! 06:06 PM Pushback on asthma tech takeover was 'a bit of a surprise', says Philip Morris boss Philip Morris - Toby Talbot/AP The chief executive of Marlboro owner Philip Morris was speaking today at the Financial Times Global Dealmaking Summit, and told the audience the backlash against its takeover of Vectura was "a bit of a surprise”. Jacek Olczak said the acquisition of London-listed Vectura, which designs tech used in inhalers, provided Philip Morris with “that missing capability in order to develop products that have nothing to do with nicotine”. He said PMI was focused on a push into “pharmaceutical and therapeutic" areas and would not be reviving any takeover talks with Altria, which sells Marlboro cigarettes in the US. PMI sells them in the rest of the world. Story continues 05:43 PM BioNTech hikes forecasts as booster roll-out gathers pace German jab maker BioNTech lifted its forecasts for vaccine sales to as much as €17bn (£14.5bn) as more countries push through booster roll-outs. BioNTech said nations had ordered 2.5bn doses of the Covid-19 vaccine it developed with Pfizer this year, meaning it now expected to surpass its earlier forecasts for vaccine sales to come in at €15.9bn. More appetite for jabs is set to come over the winter months, as governments seek to stave off further waves. The increase in its estimates sent shares in BioNTech up by 12pc. However, they later dropped back, and were down 6.4pc in afternoon trading in New York. BioNTech has seen its share price drift lower in recent weeks as rivals Pfizer and Merck have announced successes in alternative Covid-19 treatments. Merck's pill, for example, has been shown in clinical trials to dramatically reduce the rate of hospitalisation for people with mild to moderate Covid symtoms. BioNTech chief executive Uğur Şahin said: “We continue to work diligently to respond to global vaccine needs with a commitment to ensure equitable vaccine access." 05:23 PM Holiday letting firm Travel Chapter halts London float plans Torquay - P A Thompson The British travel letting agency which runs Holidaycottages.co.uk has postponed a planned initial public offering, citing "market volatility" which it said meant a debut would "not be in the best interests of the group and its stakeholders". Travel Chapter had said last month that it was plotting a London float, expected to value the company at around £350m. The business manages more than 8,000 properties across the UK, making it the third largest holiday rental agency in Britain and responsible for a tenth of the UK's agency-managed holiday properties. It operates 33 regional and lifestyle brands. Travel Chapter said it had received "considerable institutional investor support" for its business model, growth strategy and management team. However, it said it would press pause on the float. It follows similar moves from others including BrewDog, Pure Gym and Hawksmoor, amid cautiousness among investors. 05:01 PM AstraZeneca creates separate division to focus on Covid vaccine and antibody treatments Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is creating a new division for its Covid-19 vaccine and treatments, in a sign doubts over its coronavirus work have not deterred bosses. AstraZeneca confirmed it was setting up a new vaccines and immune therapies unit, which will be led by Iskra Reić. She currently acts as executive vice-president for the Europe and Canada region. A spokesman said: “The team will be dedicated to our Covid-19 vaccine, our long-acting antibody combination and our developmental vaccine addressing multiple variants of concern, as well as to our existing portfolio for respiratory viral disease." It follows a review earlier this year into whether the company should spin off its vaccine work - an area in which AstraZeneca has previously been a smaller player, dwarfed by the likes of GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi. News of the creation of the new division was first reported by the Financial Times. AstraZeneca faced heat over its vaccine work earlier this year, finding itself at the centre of a row with the EU over supply of the jabs and fielding questions over safety after concerns emerged over blood clots in a very small number of cases. The vaccine, which was developed with the University of Oxford, was, however, widely used in the UK for those aged over 40. 04:37 PM Handing over That's all from me today - thanks for following along! I'm handing over now to my colleague Hannah Boland . 04:35 PM Michael Burry tweet fuels Tesla fall There's a bit more detail coming out about what could be causing Tesla's continued sell-off today. The electric vehicle giant began its decline on Monday after a majority of voters in Elon Musk's Twitter poll said he should sell a 10pc stake in the company. Shares are down a further 8pc this afternoon. The slide could be in part due to a tweet from Michael Burry – the investor made famous in the hit film The Big Short – in which he suggested the Tesla founder may want to sell some of his shares to cover his personal debts. Separately, a filing revealed Mr Musk’s brother Kimbal sold 88,500 Tesla shares a day before the Twitter poll. pic.twitter.com/P2EcWvDXWP — Michael Burry Archive (@BurryArchive) November 9, 2021 04:28 PM Tim Cook: Apple Pay won't adopt crypto any time soon Apple chief executive Tim Cook Apple Pay cryptocurrencies - BROOKS KRAFT/Apple Inc./AFP via Getty Images Apple chief executive Tim Cook has said the company is looking at cryptocurrency features, but said there were no immediate plans to launch this functionality in Apple Pay. Speaking at a conference in New York, Mr Cook said that while he personally invests in cryptocurrency, he had no plans to invest Apple's cash in the asset. “I don’t think people buy Apple stock to get exposure to crypto,” he said. The Apple boss also said his company had no immediate plans to accept cryptocurrency for its products, while describing NFTs — non-fungible tokens – as an “interesting” part of the cryptocurrency world. 04:15 PM Ofcom launches bid to save Britain's phoneboxes Phonebox UK Ofcom BT - David Wall / Alamy Stock Photo Ofcom has outlined plans to save thousands of public telephone boxes from closure, despite almost the entire population owning a mobile phone. Around 96pc of UK adults now own a mobile, while coverage across the country has improved. But the telecoms regulator said that as BT considers which phoneboxes to decommission, some that are needed by local communities risk being withdrawn. Ofcom called for "clearer, stronger" rules were needed, adding that some 5,000 phone boxes would be protected from removal if they are deemed vital to local communities where mobile network coverage is poor. Other criteria include if they are at an accident or suicide hotspot, if at least 52 calls have been made in the last year or if they have been used to call helpline numbers. Read more: Use your local phone box or risk having it removed, warns Ofcom 04:05 PM City watchdogs given post-Brexit 'competitiveness' brief City regulators will be tasked with considering how the UK's financial services sector can grow and compete internationally when setting out rules to crack down on bad practices. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) will take on the new powers as the UK moves away from EU rules after Brexit. The Treasury said: "The plans would require the FCA and the PRA to consider both the implications for growth and international competitiveness of their regulations, as well as their existing objectives of maintaining market integrity, consumer protection and a sound financial system." In a consultation document the government said it would keep the two regulators as separate entities and supports reforms that were brought in to the Bank of England, including the creation of its Financial Policy Committee. But it hinted at some reigning in of their independence by giving Parliament and the Treasury "strengthened scrutiny and oversight over the FCA and PRA, appropriate to the increased rule-making powers received by the regulators". Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: Today's proposals will support the future strength of the UK as a global financial centre, ensuring an agile and dynamic approach to regulation that supports the growth of the UK economy, without diverging from our continued commitment to high international standards. 03:56 PM China property crash risks $1 trillion hit to global growth A Chinese property slump threatens to spark a contagion that could wipe $1 trillion off global growth, economists have warned. Russell Lynch has more details: UBS has estimated that a slowdown in China’s property market is likely to wipe 0.5 percentage points off the growth rate of the $95 trillion global economy, which the IMF predicts will advance by 4.9pc next year. In the bank’s more severe downturn scenario, that figure could double, its economists Tao Wang and Arend Kapteyn said. The warning from the investment bank’s latest global outlook comes as the woes of debt-laden Chinese developer Evergrande and a government crackdown on borrowing shake sentiment and spark concerns from regulators around the world. Construction and property has been a key driver of Chinese growth and accounts for around a quarter of the world’s second largest economy. Read Russell's full story here 03:11 PM Tesla slumps after Elon Musk's Twitter poll The Tesla sell-off following Elon Musk's Twitter poll has continued into Tuesday afternoon, with shares sliding a further 10pc. The decline follows losses on Monday and marks the biggest intraday fall in eight months. It began over the weekend, when the outspoken founder launched a Twitter poll to ask whether he should sell 10pc of his shares in Tesla – stock worth around $21bn. The poll received 3.5m votes, with 58pc backing the move. 03:00 PM Babcock wins £100m Royal Navy contract Royal Navy destroyer Babcock missiles - REUTERS/Sergey Smolentsev A partnership of defence firms led by Babcock has been handed a £100m contract to bolster the Royal Navy's electronic warfare capabilities. The 13-year contract covers the development of new, upgraded radar systems for a range of military uses including anti-ship missile defences. Babcock is the prime contractor within the partnership, alongside Elbit Systems and QinetiQ. The deal is expected to create around 170 jobs, mainly in the south west of England. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: In a world of rapidly evolving threats, these enhancements will upgrade the Royal Navy with pioneering radar detection capabilities maintaining the UK’s operational advantage at sea. The £100m investment with key industry partners will underpin vital defence outputs whilst supporting jobs and investment in the South-West of England. 02:36 PM Wall Street falters after inflation data Wall Street opened mixed this afternoon after data showed a rise in producer prices in October, while General Electric jumped on its plans to split into three business. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq opened 0.1pc and 0.3pc higher respectively. However, the Dow Jones fell by 0.08pc at the open. 02:28 PM End French and German dominance of UK railways, watchdog demands France and Germany’s stranglehold on the delivery of almost £1bn in British railway upgrades could be broken after regulators demanded an end to their duopoly, writes Oliver Gill. The Office of Rail and Road (ORR), the industry regulator, has told public sector body Network Rail to reduce its dependency on French firm Alstom and Germany conglomerate Siemens. The two firms account for 90pc of the taxpayer spend on upgrading signalling. A total of 26,000 signals need to be upgraded over the next 15 years, meaning the pair are in line to share between £800m-£900m annually unless Network Rail changes its procurement processes. Siemens ranks among one of Germany’s biggest companies, with a market value of €125bn, and provides a raft of engineering services for the British Railways. Alstom, worth €11.7bn, also owns Bombardier’s rail business. The ORR said Network Rail should be “rewarding pro-competitive behaviour”. Read Ollie's full story here 02:20 PM US producer prices climb as inflation worries linger US producer prices climbed in October due to higher goods costs, fuelling fears about inflationary pressures in the economy. The producer price index rose 0.6pc on the previous month and 8.6pc from a year earlier, Labor Department figures showed. The annual rise is the largest in more than a decade. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the so-called core PPI rose 0.4pc and was up 6.8pc from a year ago. The figures, which were in line with expectations, highlight the impact of supply bottlenecks, material shortages and rising labour costs on prices. Ongoing higher prices raise the prospect that producers will pass on increased costs to consumers by hiking prices. Data on US consumer prices, due to be released on Wednesday, could confirm this trend. 🇺🇸Producer prices (PPI) +0.6% in October, as expected ▶️Core +0.4% 🟢Services +0.2% (broad-based margins ⬆️ led by autos & transp) 🟡Goods +1.2% (led by gasoline) Energy +4.8% Core +0.5% Food -0.1% 🔥Headline PPI #inflation 8.6% (flat) 🔥Core PPI inflation 6.2% (+0.3pt) pic.twitter.com/hnozGtNAeV — Gregory Daco (@GregDaco) November 9, 2021 02:10 PM British Airways to hire 4,000 staff as it reverses Covid cuts British Airways jobs 4,000 - Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg British Airways is planning to add around 4,000 employees to its depleted workforce by next summer as it prepares for a wider recovery in travel. The airline will recruit for pilots, cabin crew, ground staff and back-office roles. BA currently employees around 30,000 people, so it marks a 15pc increase on headcount. Chief executive Sean Doyle told Bloomberg: “We’re actively recruiting. It’s exciting to be rebuilding the airline and to be creating opportunities again after two years where we haven’t been able to fly much.” BA slashed around 10,000 jobs during the pandemic, but it's now facing a tighter labour market as it seeks to rebuild its workforce and cash in on rebounding demand. The airline will relaunch short-haul flights from Gatwick after reaching an agreement with unions. It's also poised to ramp up transatlantic flights from Heathrow after the US travel corridor reopened this week. 02:00 PM Barclays appoints new investment bank chief in reshuffle Barclays chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan Barclays is pressing on with an executive reshuffle following the departure of former boss Jes Staley. The British bank is set to name Paul Compton, an Australian who previously worked with Staley at JP Morgan, as the new boss of its investment banking arm, according to the Financial Times. It is the first big appointment under new boss CS Venkatakrishnan (pictured above) who took over when Staley resigned at the beginning of this month over his links to late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Venkatakrishnan and Compton had previously been rival contenders to replace Staley. But the bank's board said it had settled on Venkatakrishnan as the "preferred candidate" about a year ago. 01:01 PM Brewer Shepherd Neame cheers easing of supply crunch Pub and brewing group Shepherd Neame has said supply chain pressures are "easing" as it reported a rebound in demand. The group, which owns more than 300 pubs in London and the South East, said it was "greatly encouraged" by how many punters were flocking back to its boozers following the easing of restrictions in April. The group said sales since the start of the new financial year in July have been particularly promising, with this month seeing a particular increase in demand for food and accommodation. Meanwhile, drinks trade been boosted by the return of office workers in September, with a particular uptick in post-work drinking on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. It came as Shepherd Neame reported a pre-tax operating loss of £4.2m for the year to June, compared to a £1.5m profit last year. Chief executive Jonathan Neame said: We are greatly encouraged by the customer response since re-opening and are confident that beer and pubs remain every bit as core to British life as pre-pandemic. 12:38 PM Virgin Media O2 'close to completing' superfast broadband rollout Virgin Media O2 - Nick Ansell/PA Wire Virgin Media O2 has said it's close to reaching its aim to rolling out hyperfast gigabit broadband to its entire network of 15.5m homes by the end of the year. The newly-merged telecoms group said it's hit 90pc of this target, meaning more than 14m homes can access faster internet speeds. The latest switch-on has added a further 1.6m homes to the firm's gigabit-ready network, with Bath, Fife, Huddersfield, Ipswich, Lancaster, Lincoln, Salisbury and Slough among the areas to be connected. The update will pile the pressure on BT's Openreach, which is leading the rollout. It's aiming to reach 25m homes by 2026, but is currently lagging below 6m. Lutz Schuler, chief executive of Virgin Media O2, said: We're making great strides ahead in upgrading the UK and are within touching distance of bringing the benefits of future-proof gigabit broadband to everyone on our network. With our gigabit rollout progressing at an unmatched pace, we're building the next-generation broadband network that's ready for the technology of tomorrow. 12:26 PM US futures hold steady ahead of inflation data Despite big moves for GE, it's a subdued day for US stocks more widely, with futures flat ahead of key inflation data. Futures tracking the benchmark S&P 500 and Dow Jones are little changed. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is up 0.2pc. Investors are focusing on US producer prices later today, before Wednesday's data on consumer prices gives a more complete picture of inflation. 12:14 PM General Electric to break up into three companies General Electric break-up divisions conglomerate - REUTERS/Jim Young/File Photo There's some major news coming in from the US, where General Electric has announced plans to split into three distinct public companies. The company's era as a mammoth conglomerate will come to an end, with its business spun out into healthcare, power and aviation units. The healthcare division will be spun off in early 2023, the company said. GE will combine its renewable energy, power equipment and digital businesses into a separate unit that will then be spun off in 2024. The remaining business will consist of GE Aviation, the company’s engine-manufacturing operation. It marks the biggest overhaul since chief executive Larry Culp took the helm in 2019. Shares jumped as much as 17pc in pre-market trading. 11:58 AM Pandemic job losses hit Westminster hardest Westminster job losses pandemic ONS - AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis Westminster suffered the largest number of job losses during the pandemic of any region in the UK, new figures have revealed. The latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows the number of employees in the central London local authority tumbled by 32,500. London as a whole saw the largest number of job losses, with employee numbers down by 130,600 – or 2.5pc. Ranked by percentage decline, the North East saw the largest fall in job numbers, down 2.8pc. This was followed by the North West at 2.7pc. The figures give the clearest indication to date of which areas were hardest hit by job losses during the pandemic, with Westminster heavily reliant of its retail and leisure sectors. The number of employees in the UK fell from 30.9 million in September 2019 to 30.3 million in September 2020. This was mainly driven by private sector employees (down 685,400) whereas public sector employees were up 114,600 https://t.co/FF0odkl4LF — Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) November 9, 2021 11:45 AM UK set to ditch some corporate governance reforms The Government is reportedly preparing to mothball some of its proposed changes to corporate governance rules following a backlash from businesses. Officials are close to finalising the biggest overhaul of British audit and corporate governance rules in decades following a number of high-profile scandals at firms such as BHS and Carillion. But some of the more contentious reforms will be scaled back, including legislation that would force directors to take greater responsibility for company accounts, the Financial Times reports. The requirement will instead be shifted to a new corporate governance code, which will carry less weight and be harder to enforce. Read more on this story: Business takes aim at audit reforms that threaten Brexit freedoms 11:34 AM Nissan raises profit outlook despite supply crunch Nissan profit Covid semiconductor - Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File Nissan has tripled its profit outlook for the full year, signalling it remains on track to climb out of the black despite the global shortage of semiconductors. The Japanese carmaker now forecasts net profit of 180bn yen (£117m) in the year to March 2022, up from an earlier estimate of 60bn yen. It comes after the firm booked a net profit of 54.1bn yen in the three months to September, reversing a net loss of 44.4bn yen in the same period last year. Nissan's last yearly net profit in the black was in 2018-19. Alongside the impact of Covid, it's been struggling with the fallout from the arrest of former boss Carlos Ghosn, who's now a fugitive in Lebanon. Makoto Uchida, chief executive of Nissan, said: Our strong results are the outcome of diligent financial management, improved quality of sales and continuing product offensive. This has helped us withstand several headwinds. 11:14 AM Bitcoin hits new record high as crypto boom continues Bitcoin has surged to another new record high as a broader rally in the cryptocurrency market continues to gather pace. The world's largest digital token jumped as much as 3.6pc to $68,513 (£50,424). Ether – the second largest cryptocurrency – also hit a record high of around $4,840. The latest rally for notoriously volatile digital currencies has taken the total value of the global crypto market to above $3 trillion. The driving forces behind the rally are hard to pin down, but theories range from appetite for assets that aren't vulnerable to inflation to bullish comments from Elon Musk, the world's richest man. It came as officials said digital currencies planned by major central banks will probably become legal tender in their jurisdictions. European Central Bank Executive Board member Fabio Panetta today said this was "likely" in the eurozone. 10:55 AM Gas prices fall as Gazprom says it's kicking off supply push Gas prices slid on Tuesday as Russian energy giant Gazprom said it's kicking off its plan to increase supplies to Europe this month, making good on a promise made by President Vladimir Putin. Gazprom said it will send gas to five storage facilities across the continent in November. “The volumes and gas-transportation routes have been determined,” it said, without providing further details. Two weeks ago President Putin ordered the state energy company to focus on refilling inventories in Europe from 8 Nov, after its domestic supplies had been refilled. A lack of increase to supplies yesterday sparked fears that Russia wouldn't follow through on its promise. But Gazprom's statement calmed jitters this morning. UK gas prices slid as much as 3.2pc to 196.50 pence a therm, while the benchmark Dutch equivalent fell 3.1pc. 10:44 AM Gatwick and Wizz Air call for return of pre-Covid slot rules Wizz Air Gatwick aiport landing slots - Cristi Croitoru Gatwick Airport and Wizz Air have teamed up to demand a return to pre-Covid rules that force airlines to use or lose their valuable take-off and landing slots. The airport and budget carrier have written to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps urging him to back a return to rules that require airlines to hand back slots if they're not used at least 80pc of the time. Regulations for the current winter schedule, which were brought in to shield airlines from the downturn in travel during the pandemic, allow incumbents to temporarily return any operating slots they don’t need and pick them up the following year, and to use only 50pc of those that remain. Gatwick says the rules have left its runway underused, with the likes of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic slashing routes. Wizz Air wants to establish a major hub at Gatwick to compete with EasyJet, but says it won’t do so only to be stripped of slots later. “The continued use of the waiver would result in most airlines continuing to under-deliver on capacity, while deliberately hoarding slots to protect their market position,” reads the letter, which was also signed by the heads of Edinburgh and Belfast International airport. “This would significantly harm competition by acting as an intentional barrier preventing other carriers, including new market entrants, from flying these slots instead.” 10:31 AM German investor confidence gets unexpected boost Confidence among German investors has improved unexpectedly amid hopes the country will benefit from recoveries across the globe once supply chain issues ease. The ZEW institute's closely-watched gauge rose to 31.7 in November from 22.3 the previous month – the first improvement in six months. The outlook for the wider eurozone also improved, while a measure of current conditions deteriorated. Germany's economy, which is heavily reliant on manufacturing, has been badly hit by supply shortages and long delivery times around the world. The government has already cut growth forecasts, with the recovery now expected to be pushed back to 2022. ZEW president Achim Wambach said: “Experts assume that the supply bottlenecks for raw materials and intermediate products as well as the high inflation rate will have a negative impact on the economic development in the current quarter. For the first quarter of 2022, they expect growth to pick up again.” A separate survey from Germany's Ifo Institute revealed that more than 70pc of companies reported shortages in October, with many expecting issues to persist well into next year. 09:59 AM Rolls-Royce flies on nuclear funding Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce has jumped to the top of the FTSE 100 after it confirmed it's secured £450m in funding for its small nuclear reactor project. The funding, half of which comes from the government, will allow the jet engine maker to kick off plans for smaller modular reactors across the UK to help boost the country's nuclear energy provisions. Rolls-Royce surged as much as 5.7pc this morning to its highest level since March 2020. Shares are now trading up around 4.7pc. Read more: French oil dynasty helps pour £195m into Rolls-Royce's mini nukes 09:48 AM Australia bets on EV chargers but shuns sales targets Australia electric vehicle charger Scott Morrison - AP Photo/Mark Baker Meanwhile, Australia is taking its own approach to the shift to greener transport. The government has pledged AU$178m (£97m) to rolling out hydrogen refuelling and charging stations for electric vehicles, but refused to offer EV rebates or set sales targets. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the move marked an "Australian approach" to lower transport emissions, reiterating a slogan he's using to describe the country's middle ground on climate change. He said: "We will not be forcing Australians out of the car they want to drive or penalising those who can least afford it through bans or taxes. Instead, the strategy will work to drive down the cost of low and zero emission vehicles." The extra investment, which adds to an existing AU$72 million commitment and will be spent by the end of June 2025, will also aid purchases of electric cars and buses for government and business fleets. However, Mr Morrison is facing criticism from campaigners who say rebates and tax breaks are essential to encourage Australians to buy cleaner cars. 09:41 AM Expert reaction: Finite supply holding back used car sales James Fairclough , chief executive of AA Cars, says the used car market couldn't sustain momentum after a record second quarter. While the used market is not affected directly by the semiconductor shortage that is constraining the production of new cars, the supply of second-hand cars can only be so elastic. Despite strong demand from buyers, finite supply is pegging back used car sales figures - albeit to a lesser extent than the decline seen in new car sales. With car factories in the UK and elsewhere churning out fewer vehicles than usual, the second-hand market’s trump card is availability - especially of hugely popular electric and plug-in hybrid models. 09:38 AM Used car market loses steam despite EV boom The used car market declined in the third quarter as it struggled to keep up momentum amid a materials crunch that's hit production of new models. Used car sales dropped 6.2pc with just over 2m vehicles changing hands. This was down 134,257 on the same period in 2020 when the re-opening of showrooms and easing of lockdown measures saw the market bounce back strongly. The used car market had more than doubled in the second quarter as booming demand coincided with a slowdown in new car output due to chip shortages. Still, demand for used electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids continues to surge. Battery electric vehicle demand jumped 56.4pc with 14,182 cars changing hands – the highest quarterly level ever recorded. Mike Hawes, chief executive of SMMT, said: Despite the used car market declining in the third quarter, record sales earlier in the year, particularly in the second quarter, means the market remains up year to date. Given the circumstances, with the global pandemic causing a shortage of semiconductors needed to produce new vehicles, undermining the new car market, used transactions were always going to suffer too. This is particularly worrying as fleet renewal – of both new and used – is essential if we are to address air quality and carbon emissions concerns. The UK’s used car market falls -6.2% in the third quarter of 2021. 2,034,342 vehicles changed hands, 134,257 less than in Q3 2020 when the re-opening of showrooms and easing of lockdown measures saw the market bounce back strongly. https://t.co/L5E1duqhZJ pic.twitter.com/32lvmnBqoI — SMMT (@SMMT) November 9, 2021 09:25 AM ABF: Food price inflation likely to top 5pc ABF Twinings - Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images It's not all good news from Primark's owner, however, with ABF warning Britain will be lucky to keep food price inflation under 5pc. George Weston, chief executive of ABF, warned rising energy, commodity and labour costs meant the 5pc level was likely to be breached. He told Bloomberg: “It is not just energy prices rising, it is everything: commodities, raw materials, transport and labor costs. “We have to pass through these cost increases to customers as we don’t have the same margin nor the same ability to reduce costs that we have in other parts of the business.” Mr Weston said rising energy costs were a particular concern, saying ABF would have faced tripling bills if it didn't have hedges in place. But he reiterated the group's insistence that it won't pass higher costs onto consumers. 09:21 AM Primark chief pledges not to raise prices Primark’s chief financial officer has insisted the retailer is well stocked for Christmas and won’t raise prices despite inflationary pressures. John Bason said: “We’re basically saying that we’ve got good stock cover for Christmas, our stores will be full.” He told Reuters there would be limited stock cover on a small number of Primark lines which customers “may struggle to even see”. Mr Bason also pledged that Primark's prices for autumn/winter stock would be flat compared to last year. Primark has insisted it can mitigate increased costs through transaction currency gains arising from the weaker dollar, improved store labour efficiency and lower operating costs. 09:07 AM Watches of Switzerland jumps as sales tick up Shares in Watches of Switzerland are flying high this morning as investors welcomed the retailer’s sales upgraded guidance for the full year. In a timely update this morning, Watches of Switzerland lifted its full-year revenue guidance to between £1.15bn and £1.2bn. It also said profit margin would come in at between 1pc and 1.5pc, up from previous guidance of flat to 0.5pc. Shares rose as much as 10pc, pushing the retailer to the top of the FTSE 250. 09:02 AM Lockdown supermarket boom begins to fade supermarket sales grocery Kantar - Aaron Chown/PA Wire There are signs the lockdown boom enjoyed by supermarkets is starting to fade as shoppers return to more normal habits. Grocery sales dropped by 1.9pc in the 12 weeks to the end of October, according to new data from Kantar, which said shopping habits were beginning to stabilise at a "new baseline". Tesco was the only supermarket to post year on year growth, with sales edging up by 0.3pc over the period. Nearly three-quarter of Britons made a trip to Tesco in the last three months, pushing the grocer to its 10th consecutive month of market share growth. Meanwhile, sales at Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrison, Lidl, Aldi and Ocado all fell. Kantar said the general trend towards bigger, less frequent trips to the supermarket "seems set to stay", while digital sales levelled out at 12.4pc of the total market. Fraser McKevitt at Kantar said: Grocery prices are rising and this month inflation hit its highest rate since August 2020, when retailers were still cutting promotions to maintain stock on the shelves. As prices increase in certain categories, we can expect shoppers to continue to visit several supermarkets and shop around to find the best deals. 08:24 AM FTSE risers and fallers After starting on the back foot, the FTSE 100 has now eased back marginally into the green. Providing the biggest boost this morning is Primark owner ABF, which has jumped more than 6pc after it announced a special dividend and a major store expansion plan. Telecoms giant BT is up 2pc after an upgrade by analysts at Berenberg, while Rolls-Royce has gained 2.8pc after it announced funding for its small nuclear reactor project. However, gains are being capped by losses for major mining and oil stocks, as well as banks HSBC and Lloyds. The FTSE 250 is up 0.2pc, with Watches of Switzerland leading the risers after a positive sales update. 08:17 AM Estate agents and housebuilders cash in on housing boom As house prices continue to break new records, estate agents and housebuilders are cashing in. In a trading update this morning Savills said demand in the prime residential market had exceeded its expectations, with the boom expected to last into next year. It also reported strong trading for commercial properties such as offices. As a result, the estate agent said its profits will be "materially" ahead of 2019. Meanwhile, housebuilders Persimmon and Vistry both reported strong trading despite the end of the stamp duty holiday, with the Bank of England's decision to leave interest rates on hold set to provide a further boost. Persimmon said housebuyer demand remained "healthy", with completions set to grow around 10pc this year. Vistry said it was seeing signs of improvement in the supply chain, though it warned building costs were set to rise by between 4pc and 5pc over the next year as labour shortages continue. 08:03 AM FTSE opens lower The FTSE 100 has fallen at the open after a subdued start to the week. The blue-chip index opened 0.2pc lower at 7,289 points. 07:54 AM Retail sales given pre-Christmas boost UK retail sales October BRC KPMG - Jason Alden/Bloomberg Looking beyond Primark, there are some upbeat figures for the UK retail sector more widely this morning. The latest sales monitor from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG showed sales growth picked up pace in October, despite a hit to consumer electronics from supply chain issues and chip shortages. Total retail sales rose 1.3pc year on year last month, following a 0.6pc rise in September. The decline in like-for-like sales eased to 0.2pc from 0.6pc the previous month. Trading was boosted by busier social calendars after lockdown, as well as Halloween and half term. Some people also began their Christmas hopping early amid concerns about shortages over the festive period. This helped to offset a decline in furniture and electrical sales, which were held back by global logistical issues and microchip shortages. Helen Dickinson, chief executive of BRC, said: Customer demand is getting back on track ahead of Christmas as sales grew at a faster rate than the month prior, and well above its pre-pandemic levels. As social calendars started filling up with festivities, clothing and footwear sales performed well. 07:45 AM ABF boss hails 'resilient' performance George Weston , chief executive of Associated British Foods, said: Our financial performance this year more than ever demonstrates the resilience of the group. This comes from the strength of our brands, the diversity of our products and markets, our geographic spread, conservative financing and an organisation design that permits fast and flexible decision-taking [...] Primark delivered a good performance in the face of continued disruption to trading caused by the pandemic. It also unveiled its wide-reaching sustainability strategy with the aim of making more sustainable fashion affordable for all. Although the possibility of further trading restrictions cannot be ruled out, we expect Primark to deliver a much improved margin and profit next year. We are now intent on expanding our new store pipeline and investing in technology and digital capabilities to continue improving the performance of the business. 07:42 AM ABF warns on rising costs Supply chain troubles have been a key point of concern for investors, with bottlenecks hitting stocks and surging costs eating away at profit margins. The Primark owner appears to have shrugged off these worries. It says while it's not immune to the challenges, it expects the impact to be "broadly mitigated by the transaction currency gain arising from the weaker US dollar, improved store labour efficiency and lower operating costs". That said, ABF acknowledged it was seeing "significant cost increases in energy, logistics and commodities in addition to the impact of widely reported port congestion and road freight limitations". As a result, it warned it could implement price increases in its food business. 07:38 AM ABF food sales offset retail dip ABF has long been driven by strong trading at Primark, but unusually it's the group's food business that did the heavy lifting over the last year. Food revenue rose 5pc, while adjusted operating profit jumped 10pc to £760. ABF's sugar division was a particularly strong performer, with profit surging 75pc. This helped to offset a 5pc fall in sales at Primark, which has suffered from store closures during lockdown. They remain 12pc below pre-pandemic levels. However, ABF said it had seen strong profit margin recovery – a vital metric for the discount chain. Profit margin in the second half stood at 10.6pc. 07:28 AM Primark owner boosts payout Good morning. Primark owner ABF has released a bullish set of full-year results, forecasting "significant progress" at both the half and full year. In a welcome boost to shareholders, the company has proposed a special dividend of 13.8p per share. Combined with its final dividend, that takes the total payout for the year to 40.5p per share. ABF also said it will expand its Primark store estate. It aims to take its total portfolio from 398 at the year end to 530 in five years' time, with a particular focus on the US, France, Italy and Iberia. 5 things to start your day 1) French oil dynasty throws support behind Rolls-Royce The Perrodo family is one of two backers providing £195m of cash to Rolls-Royce to help fund the development of a new generation of smaller, cheaper nuclear reactors that it is claimed will help Britain achieve its green ambitions and reduce dependence on imported energy. 2) Inmarsat snapped up in $7.3bn deal The British satellite operator is to be sold on to a US rival only two years after it was taken private by buyout firms on hopes of a boom in sales of broadband connections to air travellers. 3) ITV chairman under pressure from shareholders Sir Peter Bazalgette is facing an investor rebellion over his role at an obscure investment trust amid claims that he and other directors have presided over a corporate governance fiasco. 4) Wall Street raider threatens to gatecrash online fashion world The activist investor Dan Loeb has stoked expectations of a shake-up in the world of high-end fashion online, after it emerged he has built a stake in Richemont, owner of the loss-making retailer Yoox Net-a-Porter (YNAP). 5) ‘Record cheap’ British stocks offer historic buying opportunity, says JP Morgan UK shares are at bargain prices in the wake of a run of significant underperformance according to the investment bank. What happened overnight Asian shares followed Wall Street higher in early trade on Tuesday as the passage of a US infrastructure bill boosted sentiment while oil prices gained on the outlook for energy demand in an expansive global economy. Early in the Asian trading day, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.3pc. Japan's Nikkei stock index rose 0.06pc while Australian shares were down 0.12pc. China's blue-chip CSI300 index was 0.33pc higher in early trade. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index opened up 0.65pc. On Monday, Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq extended their run of all-time closing highs to eight straight sessions, while the blue-chip Dow notched its second consecutive record closing high. Coming up today Corporate: Associated British Foods (full year results) ; 3i Infrastructure, DCC, Land Securities, Oxford Instruments (interims) ; Direct Line, Persimmon, Watches of Switzerland, Grafton Group (trading updates) Economics: BRC retail sales (UK) ; economic sentiment (EU) ; producer prices index (US) || Stimulus Money Could Cause the Stock Market to Plunge 15% by November: peshkov / Getty Images/iStockphoto Scott Minerd, global chief investment officer for financial firm Guggenheim, predicts that the stock market could drop 15% by November, according to a report by Business Insider. He blames the economic stimulus , noting that the central banks have “no exit plan.” See: Fourth Stimulus Won’t Happen, But These Federal Programs Aid Those In Financial Need Find: Senior Stimulus: Advocacy Group Proposes One-Time, $1,400 Payment for Social Security Recipients Scott Minerd, global chief investment officer for financial firm Guggenheim, predicts that the stock market could drop 15% by November, according to a report by Business Insider. He blames the economic stimulus, noting that the central banks have “no exit plan.” “For the time being, we’re just addicted to this,” he said earlier this week at the Milken Institute’s 2021 Global Conference. He explained that the central banks have lent $2.3 trillion in much-needed support for local businesses, households, financial markets and state and local governments during the pandemic. However, now the central banks are in the position of “running the markets,” he said, without a clear exit strategy to withdraw stimulus. There’s also the concern of inflation, BusinessInsider.com writes. Michael Burry of The Big Short, along with investment experts Leon Cooperman and Carl Icahn have also warned against the Fed overstimulating the economy. The Fed is likely to begin tapering bond purchases in December, according to BusinessInsider.com. A formal announcement may come at November’s Federal Open Markets Committee meeting. Biden’s stimulus package has also been blamed for rapid inflation in 2021, with a tight labor market, an increase in demand for goods and services as lockdowns ended, and supply chain challenges creating “the perfect storm for inflation,” GOBankingRates reported last month . See: Kraft Heinz to Consumers on Inflation-Related Price Hikes: ‘Get Used to It’ Find: Fed Downplaying Inflation? Economists Warn It Could ‘Accelerate Taper Process’ Story continues The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened up slightly this morning, hovering just past the $35,550 mark, less than 100 points shy of its 52-week high. The market was bolstered by Apple, Tesla, and the new Bitcoin futures ETF . More From GOBankingRates 5 Things Most Americans Don’t Know About Social Security 8 Ways Homeowners Can Save $1000s Every Year 8 Best Cryptocurrencies To Invest In for 2021 How Long $500K Will Last in Retirement in Each State This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : Stimulus Money Could Cause the Stock Market to Plunge 15% by November || Yahoo Finance Canada’s 15 most popular stocks in October: Stock market investors were rewarded for riding out volatility (Reuters) (Lucas Jackson / Reuters) Investors got a bit of a scare when stock markets fell over inflation fears. Some worried about the fallout over the Evergrande fiasco in China. But stocks got over it and the rally was back on with new all-time highs. These are the top 15 stocks users looked up on Yahoo Finance Canada in October. 1 TSLA Electric car maker Tesla’s stock recently topped $1,000 share and became a trillion-dollar company, helping to solidify Elon Musk's place atop the world’s richest people. A string of positive news helped give the shares a boost, including an order of 100,000 Teslas from rental-car company Hertz. 2 SU.TO Suncor’s plan to double its payout to shareholders on the heels of a strong quarter boosted by higher oil prices sent the company's stock to its highest level since June. One analyst called the latest financial results a turning point for a stock that’s lagged its peers during the oil price run up. 3 AMC Reddit favourite AMC’s shares have been trading relatively sideways after a huge run-up earlier in the year. Yahoo Finance Canada readers seem to be losing a little bit of interest in this meme stock; visits to its stock quote page were down 39 per cent month over month. 4 AC.TO There’s been a huge surge in air trave l, up more than 24 per cent as restrictions ease. But investors might be surprised to see Air Canada’s stock price hasn’t taken off. The COVID-19 pandemic has also created an opportunity for smaller airlines to make gains in the Canadian market. Air Canada planes sit on the tarmac at the airport. Passengers arriving on international flights go through COVID-19 testing at terminal 3 at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Toronto. (Getty Images) (Steve Russell via Getty Images) 5 CEI Oil producer Camber Energy’s shares plummeted after becoming the target of a short seller’s attack. Kerrisdale Capital said “Camber is a defunct oil producer that has failed to file financial statements with the SEC since September 2020, is in danger of having its stock delisted next month,” in its report . The company responded to the report in a release saying, "our business relationships are legitimate and that we are firmly committed to improving the organization's capitalization and executing on our growth strategy." Story continues 6 LSPD.TO Lightspeed also found itself in the crosshairs of a short seller . Spruce Point Capital claimed Lightspeed isn’t transparent about competitive pressures and gives investors too little information to understand organic growth. It also accuses Lightspeed of inflating customer numbers. The company called the claims false. 7 AAPL Apple shares fell after reporting weaker than expected fourth-quarter revenue. CEO Tim Cook blamed supply constraints. The share price drop resulted in Microsoft taking over the title of world’s most valuable publicly traded company. 8 DWAC Shares of Digital World Acquisition, the blank check company planning to take former President Trump's new social media venture public, fell 25 per cent in the span of two days. But early investors need not fret, they have been up as much as 800 per cent. 9 FB This might be the last time Facebook and this ticker will appear on this list. The social media company has changed its name to Meta , and the new ticker is MVRS which will go into use Dec. 1. 10 GME The original meme stock has been relatively quiet in terms of its share price. GameStop used to be a mainstay at the top of this list but like AMC, interest from readers has dropped. 11 ^GSPTSE The TSX has been on quite a run as of late, although last week breaking a 14 day winning streak . The resource sector stock benchmark has been rewarded by higher commodity prices. 12 HIVE.V Bitcoin took another step toward the mainstream with the launch of a long-awaited ETF on the New York Stock Exchange. Canada already has severa l. Many securities with the world blockchain in their names, including HIVE Blockchain Technologies, have gone along for the ride. 13 HUT.TO Like Hive Blockchain technologies, Canadian bitcoin mining company Hut 8 Mining is benefiting from the bitcoin rally. Its shares jumped 13 per cent in a single day. 14 BB.TO BlackBerry’s turnaround plan continues to unfold. It became a Reddit favourite and the stock has been up as much as 69 per cent year to date. 15 NIO NIO designs, develops, manufactures, and sells smart electric vehicles in China. Unlike Tesla, the stock has been a disappointment for investors. They will get their next look at the state of the company's financials when ti files third quarter results on Nov. 9. Jessy Bains is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jessysbains . Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android . || Ready To Invest In Cryptocurrency? Get Started With Just $1: If you’re curious aboutinvesting in cryptocurrencies and want to dip your toes inthe increasingly omnipresent universe while limiting your risks, you’re in luck. A slew of apps let you invest as little as $1.
See:4 Best Places To Buy and Sell CryptocurrencyFind:Cryptocurrency Jargon: A Guide for the Crypto-Curious
Venmo is one of the newest apps which gives you that option. The peer-to-peer app, owned by PayPal, announced recently that you could start exploring crypto “the Venmo way.”
“Your first crypto purchase doesn’t have to be huge. You can even use payback from yesterday’s coffee run to buy it.”
“BuyBitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin orBitcoin Cashand watch how its value changes,” the app says on its website, adding that “crypto is volatile, so it can rise and fall in value quickly. Like all currencies, there’s potential for gains and losses — so be sure to take it at a pace you’re comfortable with.”
You can buy crypto using a debit card, Venmo account or bank account. There is a limited $20,000 in cryptocurrency purchases per week and a $50,000 in crypto purchases in a 12-month period.
See:10 Cheap Cryptocurrencies To Check OutFind:How Does Cryptocurrency Work — and Is It Safe?
Another app that let you invest as little as $1 isWeBull. This platform enables users to trade Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, ZEC and XLM.
Upping up the stakes, you will needa $2 minimum using Coinbase, a $10 minimum if you opt to use Binance, and a $25 minimum for eToro.
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Last updated: Nov. 4, 2021
This article originally appeared onGOBankingRates.com:Ready To Invest In Cryptocurrency? Get Started With Just $1 || Bullish Bitcoin Market Easily Digests Spike in Trading Volume: Bitcoin market sentiment appears quite bullish as evidenced from the quick absorption of a huge sell order on crypto exchange OKEx during Asian daytime trading hours on Tuesday. Volume spiked on trades between bitcoin (BTC) and the stablecoin tether (USDT) on the cryptocurrency exchange OKEx between the hours of 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. UTC, according to data from TradingView. From 2 a.m. to 3 a.m., the trading volume totaled 5,929 BTC on the exchange, and it reached 4,049 BTC from 3 a.m. to 4 a.m., the data showed. The total of more than 10,000 BTC works out to at least $620 million based on the cryptocurrency’s latest price. The crypto industry blogger Colin Wu tweeted Tuesday that “there is a view that it seems that there was a pending sell order of about 14,000 BTC in the BTC/USDT trading pair on OKEx, but it was subsequently eaten by the buy order.” When asked to comment on the trades, an exchange spokesperson sent the following, attributed to Lennix Lai, director of OKEx: “We see this as a healthy development within the market and do not currently notice any abnormalities.” Jason Deane, analyst at Quantum Economics, said the quick digestion of the elevated trading volume might demonstrate the asset’s high global liquidity. “The fact that such a significant order was apparently absorbed by prevailing trader buying activity is an indication of the underlying strength and bullish bias of the bitcoin market currently,” Deane added. At press time, bitcoin was trading at $62,079, up 11% over the last week, according to CoinDesk 20 data. The observed market action came as all eyes were on bitcoin Tuesday ahead of the planned launch of the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, the industry’s first-ever bitcoin futures-focused exchange-traded fund to be approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). View comments
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Trend: up || Prices: 46202.14, 46848.78, 46707.02, 46880.28, 48936.61, 48628.51, 50784.54, 50822.20, 50429.86, 50809.52
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
'More to come' after bitcoin futures launch: Cboe CEO: By John McCrank NEW YORK (Reuters) - The generally smooth launch of bitcoin futures on Cboe Global Markets <CBOE.O> could pave the way for other cryptocurrency-related products like options and ETFs, the head of the exchange operator said in an interview on Monday. It may take U.S. regulators a bit longer to warm to the idea of a proliferation of products and securities related to digital currencies, but Cboe Chief Executive Ed Tilly said this weekend's debut should support progress toward that. "We will be building confidence in the coming months, and stay tuned, there are more to come," he said. Chicago-based Cboe operates markets in options, futures, equities and currencies. The most-active contract exhibited the volatility that has become bitcoin's hallmark, surging 20 percent at one point to trigger a five-minute trading halt. "We saw pretty volatile overnight markets, a lot of price moves, but everything worked as it should," Tilly said. Cboe was the first U.S.-based, traditional exchange to offer bitcoin futures, and its widely anticipated launch on Sunday evening was seen as a litmus test for more mainstream adoption of the digital asset. By early afternoon on Monday, nearly 3,700 contracts <0#XBT> had traded hands, with nearly 20 trading firms participating. Most of the activity was concentrated in the January, or front-month, contract <XBTF8>. "Just about all of the participants who had shown us readiness late last week and even into this weekend, showed up," Tilly said. On the heels of the launch, three fund managers, REX Shares LLC, Van Eck Associates Corp and First Trust Advisors LP, went back to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission seeking permission to launch bitcoin exchange-traded funds. The SEC has denied or tabled all bitcoin ETF proposals so far, but proponents think a successful debut of futures could breathe new life into the plans. Cboe plans to wait until there have been a couple of settlements on the one-month futures contracts before it moves forward with any new crypto-derivative products, said Tilly. Story continues Those could include options on futures contracts and on ETFs, Tilly said. Cboe has also appealed a ruling by the SEC that blocked a Cboe-listed bitcoin ETF proposed by the Gemini bitcoin exchange, which Cboe uses for the final settlement price of its bitcoin futures contracts. Bitcoin is the largest of the hundreds of crypto-currencies that have flooded the over-the-counter market in recent years, and as demand for other digital coins rises, futures on those coins will follow, Tilly said. "I do see other currencies going forward." LET'S DO IT AGAIN! Bitcoin has almost tripled in value in the past month and is up around 15-fold this year. That volatility had some worried about how Cboe's bitcoin futures would trade. Just after the opening tick of $15,000 at 6 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, the price of the contract surged 10 percent higher. Cboe had the option of halting trading at that point, but allowed it to continue because trading was orderly, Tilly said. Following another 10 percent climb, Cboe halted trading in the futures contract for five minutes. "Markets came back in line and we reopened in an orderly fashion," said Tilly. "We could not have been more pleased with the way that played out last night." Also around the time trading started, Cboe's website, which is not connected to the company's trading engine, briefly went down. Tilly said the outage was the result of traffic that was around six times more than the site receives on an average weekday. Never has a new product launch at Cboe exceeded the level of interest and anticipation around bitcoin futures, he said. "It's just been so exciting for us to bring this to market. I told the team last night, I said, 'let's do this every Sunday! This is a ton of fun.'" (Reporting by John McCrank; Editing by Dan Burns and Meredith Mazzilli) || Morning Brief: Markets take hit after Merkel's failed coalition bid: Monday, November 20, 2017
After stocks lost ground for the second week in a row, investors in the U.S. will be facing a shortened holiday trading week and a light economic and earnings calendar. Economic highlights will come on Wednesday, with the final reading on consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan and the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting. Major earnings releases will all come before the Thanksgiving holiday, with salesforce.com (CRM), Dollar Tree (DLTR), Campbell’s Soup (CPB), and Lowe’s (LOW) reporting on Tuesday, while Deere (DE) will report earnings before the market open on Wednesday.
This week, markets in the U.S. will be closed on Thursday in observation of Thanksgiving and will re-open for just a half-day on Friday in what should be some of the lightest-volume trading of the year. And as Keith Bliss of Cuttone & Co. noted on Yahoo Finance’sMidday Moversprogram on Friday, after next week there are really just four full trading weeks left this year, as Christmas falling on a Monday will see trading desks become veritable ghost towns the rest of that week. So while investors will come into the holiday-shortened week with stocks coming off a so-so two-week period, 2017 is still shaping up to be one of the best years since the financial crisis with the Dow up over 18% this year, the S&P 500 up 15%, and the Nasdaq up over 24%. And don’t forget that December is traditionallyone of the strongest months of the yearfor stocks.
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Failed Merkel talks a hiccup, not dealbreaker for Europe stocks: While Chancellor Angela Merkel’s failed bid to form a new government is damping sentiment toward the region’s stocks in the short term, the strength of the German economy will help stock prices withstand the uncertainty, according to traders and analysts. [Bloomberg]
Alibaba goes offline with $2.9 billion stake in China’s top grocer: Internet giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA) said on Monday it would invest HK$22.4 billion ($2.87 billion) for a major stake in China’s top hypermart operator, Sun Art Retail Group Ltd, part of a wider push into offline retail. [Reuters]
Former Obama administration official in bid for The Weinstein Co: Maria Contreras-Sweet, the former head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), has submitted an offer to acquire the Weinstein Co. Contreras-Sweet has put together a consortium of investors who have offered $275 million for The Weinstein Co., according to a source. [Reuters]
Marvell Technology clinches roughly $6 billion deal: Chipmaker Marvell Technology Group Ltd (MRVL) has agreed to acquire smaller peer Cavium Inc (CAVM), as it seeks to expand in the networking equipment sector, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday. The deal will allow Marvell to diversify away from its traditional storage devices business. [Reuters]
Bitcoin’s price climbs to hit new all-time high: Bitcoin’s price rose above $8,100 for the first time on Sunday. Data from CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) indicates that the price climbed to $8,101.91 between 20:00 and 20:15 UTC.
Meet some people getting rich from bitcoin
Why Papa John’s reversal on NFL protests won’t fly
Roger Goodell vs. Jerry Jones is latest sign of NFL’s political problems
Intuit CEO: Old-school accountants will be ‘struggling in 5 years’ because of A.I.
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The Morning Brief provides a quick rundown on what to watch in the markets, top news stories, and the best of Yahoo Finance Originals. || Brainstorm Health: CVS Aetna Takeaways, Prescription Videogames, Sanofi Dengue Vaccine Probe: Hello, readers! This is Sy. On Sunday, CVS and Aetna announced what would be one of the largest health care deals of all time. The retail pharmacy giant agreed to buy the health insurerone of the biggest in America with more than $63 billion in 2016 revenues in a deal valued at $69 billion. And, if approved by the companies boards and federal regulators, the corporate marriage has the potential transform the way the health industry does business and how millions of Americans receive their medical care. Consolidation is certainly nothing new in the U.S. health care sector. Traditional pharmaceutical giants regularly scoop up leaner, meaner biotechs to insource drug innovation; hospital chains join forces to grapple with shifting reimbursement models . But, within the insurance industry, recent attempts to integrate horizontallysuch as Anthems bid for fellow insurer Cigna and Aetnas proposed deal for rival Humanahave faced roadblocks over antitrust concerns. Both those proposed M&As died following regulatory pushback. Those failures may be, in part, what helped prompt a different kind of consolidation strategy for CVS and Aetna . Unlike going horizontal within their own industries, a deal with each other would present a more diversified consolidated company that moves vertically through the health care supply chain and could provide consumers with a new kind of health care experience, the firms top executives argue. CVS pharmacies and in-store MinuteClinics would gain access to Aetnas millions of plan holders, including its giant footprint in the employer health coverage market; Aetna customers would be able to walk into a local CVS pharmacy to discuss primary care treatment options and get their prescription drugs without having to trudge through the various middlemen that pepper Americas fragmented medical system. Consider: CVS is also one of the largest pharmacy benefit managers in the country through its Caremark arm, so insurance coverage, filling prescriptions, and treating chronic health conditions like diabetes could all be housed under one company. Story continues [I]ts really the perfect time to bring these two companies together, to create a new health care platform that can be easier to use and less expensive for consumers, and really create a new front door to health care in our country, CVS Health CEO Larry Merlo told CNBC on Monday. Aetna chief Mark Bertolini added that there would be about 10,000 of these new front doors created by the merger thanks to CVS ubiquitous pharmacies and clinics. (My Fortune colleague Phil Wahba has a great piece on what CVS stores could look like if the Aetna deal goes through.) One broader result of the deal may be an even larger push for cross-sector mergersespecially with the specter of Amazon reportedly vying for a foothold in the pharmacy business. Leerink Partners analyst Dr. Ana Gupte has argued that a successful CVS-Aetna M&A could spur Wal-Mart to pursue a deal with insurer Humana , with which the retail titan has a long-standing relationship. But the critical question will be whether such deals will ultimately prove fruitful for patients. Merlo and Bertolini say the cost-savings and efficiencies will clearly cut costs for consumers. Critics, though, point out that driving customers to fewer and fewer options across the gamut of health services could prove risky for them in the long run. Read on for the days other news. DIGITAL HEALTH A prescription video game for treating ADHD. A clinical trial of children with ADHD suggests that prescribing them with special, tailor-made video games could help control the behavioral condition. In fact, the company, Akili, is planning to file its digital treatment for Food and Drug Administration approval in what would be a first-of-its-kind clearance. ( Reuters ) INDICATIONS Sanofis dengue vaccine is in the hot seat. Sanofis landmark dengue vaccine is under fire following reports from the company that the product could actually worsen the condition in people who have never had it in the first place (although effective in in preventing those who have already been infected from contracting another strain later on). The Phillipines has suspended a mass immunization campaign of Dengvaxia and launched an investigation into it, while Sanofi has said it will cooperate with probes into the vaccine. ( Wall Street Journal ) THE BIG PICTURE States and families are getting anxious about the Childrens Health Insurance Program. The Senate passed a sweeping tax reform billwith many implications for U.S. health care, since it would gut Obamacares insurance mandatelast week. But Congress appears no closer to reauthorizing the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which covers the medical needs of nine million children in low- to middle-income families, prompting rebukes from state health officials and families covered by the program as funding threatens to dry out in many regions by years end. REQUIRED READING Bitcoin Futures Could Trigger a Lehman-Style Collapse, Billionaire Warns , by Jeff John Roberts Chinas Trade-First Policy , by Adam Lashinsky Uber Is Joining a Global Public Transport Association , by Reuters Sheryl Sandberg: Todays Sexual Harassment Moment Is Not Enough , by Natasha Bach Produced by Sy Mukherjee @the_sy_guy [email protected] Find past coverage. Sign up for other Fortune newsletters . || How Safe Is Bitcoin, Really?: Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site. With prices doubling to $18,000 in just the past month—and then dropping sharply—Bitcoin is drawing more attention than ever in its eight-year history. The "cryptocurrency" carries some well-known risks—the price could drop precipitously, and scams have been reported. But there's also another, more technological danger: One crashed hard drive or online hacking incident can wipe out an owner's stash of Bitcoin, leaving them with essentially no recourse. That's because of some basic differences between Bitcoin and a conventional currency such as dollars or Euros. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, such as Litecoin and Ethereum, are wholly digital forms of cash stored in so-called wallets. Like other files, Bitcoin wallets can be stored locally, say on a hard drive stuffed under a mattress, or in the cloud. And like dollars, Bitcoin can be lost or stolen. Just ask Rickey Payne, a customer service manager at Denver’s DataTech Labs data recovery firm. According to Payne, it’s not unusual these days for people to bring into his store dusty old, nonworking computer hard drives in a desperate attempt to recover Bitcoin. “Either the drive just failed and they have a wallet on there, or they have a drive that’s been laying around for years and they suddenly remember they had some Bitcoin on it,” Payne says. Having a hard drive with Bitcoin fail is something like opening a leather wallet and discovering that your paper money has disintegrated—except that $20 bills haven't risen in value by 20,000 percent in four years. Payne won't say how much Bitcoin DataTech Labs has recovered for customers, but he says he has helped quite a few people recover their digital money from the abyss. “There have been many awesome stories here,” he says. The Threat of Online Hacking Hard-drive crashes aren't the only threat facing a Bitcoin investor—hacking can be a problem, too. Bitcoin exchanges are online services that lets people buy and sell Bitcoin (and similar cryptocurrencies) using a website or mobile app. They are primary gateway through which most consumers buy and sell Bitcoin. And, just like other online companies, they can be hacked. Just this week, a prominent South Korean exchange was forced to shut down after being raided by hackers. And longtime Bitcoin watchers can hardly forget the spectacular implosion of Mt. Gox, the first high-profile Bitcoin exchange, which ceased operation in 2014 after allegedly being hit by hackers. Story continues The case of Mt. Gox is currently being litigated in Japan, where the exchange was based. In the United States, Coinbase and Gemini are the two highest-profile Bitcoin exchanges. Coinbase started way back in 2013 (when Bitcoin was frequently used on black market sites such as the Silk Road) while Gemini was started by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss—the twins who are perhaps best known for suing Mark Zuckerberg over the creation of Facebook. (The Winklevoss brothers are now Bitcoin billionaires.) The FDIC insures U.S. dollar deposits on these exchanges up to $250,000, just like the deposits in a conventional consumer bank. However, the FDIC does not insure Bitcoin held on the exchanges. Both exchanges take measures to protect Bitcoin deposits. For instance, they claim to store only small percentage of cryptocurrencies online at any one time, with the vast majority being held in offline cold storage, out of reach of any potential hacker. The Physical Wallet Nevertheless, some industry insiders say that, while exchanges are useful for buying and selling Bitcoin, they may not be a great place to store them. “We do not hold Bitcoin on exchanges,” says Matt Galligan, the co-founder and CEO of a San Francisco startup called Picks & Shovels that helps traders buy and sell cryptocurrencies. Allow an exchange to hold the "private keys" associated with your Bitcoin and "you are at the mercy of someone else no matter how you look at it,” he says. John Biggs, a former editor at TechCrunch who lauched a Bitcoin company several years ago, says that Bitcoin should be treated more like a physical asset than a conventional currency. “Yeah, maybe we have to assume some risk when it comes to this kind of stuff, but if you want to be serious about it and take care of your own assets then you need to treat it like a bar of gold," he says. "It’s not like you take a bar of gold and just give it to your banker. You instead say, ‘I want to put it in a special box.’” Both Galligan and Biggs recommend that Bitcoin owners use something called a hardware wallet. These devices resemble USB thumb drives, cost around $100, and are typically viewed as the gold standard when it comes to securely storing your Bitcoin. A recovery process is also available in case you physically misplace the wallet. “The point of these devices is to prevent a scalable software attack that can take down an exchange and suck down all the money in it,” says Josh Datko, a security researcher who demonstrated a security flaw in a popular brand of hardware wallet at the DefCon computer security conference last summer. If your Bitcoin is in a physical wallet, they can't go up in smoke if the exchange is compromised. But, of course, none of these measures can save you if Bitcoin values suddenly plummet. Because even the most secure hardware isn't bubble-proof. More from Consumer Reports: Top pick tires for 2016 Best used cars for $25,000 and less 7 best mattresses for couples Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright © 2017, Consumer Reports, Inc. View comments || Bitcoin Price Sets New Record As Cryptocurrency Market Tops $200 Billion: Amid a surging cryptocurrency market, bitcoin price gains have continued today, reaching a new all-time high of over $7,450. A rapid rise starting around 03:00 UTC saw the cryptocurrency peak at $7,454 at 10:38 UTC. The session opened at $7,030. At press time, the price of a bitcoin is down slightly $7,402, according to CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index a 5.29 percent gain for the day so far. As per CoinMarketCap , bitcoin is up over 27.15 percent for the last 7 days, and its market capitalization has now peaked at over $124 billion. The combined market cap for all cryptocurrencies has also once again reached record levels, passing $202 billion for the first time. Hot-air balloons image via Shutterstock Related Stories Cryptocurrency Market a 'Good Bubble,' Says ConsenSys CEO Joseph Lubin Litecoin Price Looks Northwards Amid Korean Volume Spike $7,500 and Rising: Bitcoin Price Looks Ready to Challenge Records Short-Lived Rebound? Bitcoin Struggles to Retake $7,200 || Bitcoin Price Analysis November 29, 2017, Technical Analysis: Bitcoincontinues to rally during the session here on Tuesday, as the Bollinger Bands are starting to show a very reliable move based upon the 20 SMA on the hourly charts. The $10,000 level above is an obvious target for most traders, and I think it’s somewhat of a foregone conclusion that the market is going to try to not only reach $10,000 but break above a given enough time. I do worry about the market once we do break above the $10,000 level, as there will more than likely be massive profit-taking by some traders out there. I believe that it will be typical of large, round, psychologically significant numbers, meaning that there will be a violent snapback, but eventually, traders will pile in once the dust settles and it seems safe to go long.
For those of you new to cryptocurrencies, don’t be alarmed if we end up losing $1000 on this pullback because quite frankly that’s only a 10% drop, which is minor in the relatively thin world of Bitcoin. The market should continue to be very noisy though, and certainly, I think that with the overall general public suddenly getting involved, we could see the next search higher. However, there’s also the argument to be made that this is the “dumb money,” as 300,000 accounts were opened just last weekend at Coinbase. I believe that Bitcoin is at a significant level, as now that the general public is starting to think about trading it, and that the $10,000 level is starting to hit the headlines and become talked about in various places, this often will become the top of a bubble. That’s not to say that we are going to break down now, quite frankly I assume we are going to go above $10,000 and the short-term, but we are certainly overbought by just about any metric you measure it.
As I look at this chart, especially in the monthly timeframe, and with the various headlines and conversations that I am hearing, it’s hard for me not to think about just a few years ago when supermodels were refusing to be paid in anything but euros, gold-dispensing ATMs were suddenly going to be a thing, and buying a house was a sure bet, as you can just refinance it because property values only go up. This isn’t to say the Bitcoin is going to evaporate, but we are beyond frothy at this point. Currently, buying on dips would be the only way I would get involved, with $9800 looking to be supportive, just as the $9600 level will be.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Wednesday Support and Resistance Levels – November 29, 2017 || Bitcoin is a concern but not a currency, says City watchdog chief: City watchdog chief Andrew Bailey has flagged "big concern" for retail investors dabbling in products linked to Bitcoin, adding that the highly volatile cryptocurrency is a commodity, "not a currency".
Bitcoinsurged to $11,000 (£8,200) just 12 hours after passing the $10,000 markthis week, beforeplummeting by more than $2,000amid fears that it is a bubble that could soon burst. It is currently trading at $10,555.
"Bitcoin is a commodity in my view, it's not a currency; it's not a fiat currency in any sense, it's a commodity," Mr Bailey toldBloombergon Friday afternoon.
"Commodity prices go up and down. Bitcoin is currently enjoying a very sharp rise in its price but the history of Bitcoin pricing is very volatile."
He added that the Financial Conduct Authority was not the regulator of cryptocurrencies but would step in when it comes to instruments linked to digital coins, such as cryptocurrency contracts for difference (CFDs) which let clients bet on the way a financial instrument will move.
"Particularly when they're being marketed to retail investors. It's a concern, it's quite a big concern," he said.
Firms are rushing to trade Bitcoin after it hit a fresh high this week, with Mr Bailey's comments coming hours after the world's largest exchange CME was given the all-clear to launch a bitcoin futures contract later this month. || Jim Chanos Compares Bitcoin To Beanie Babies: 'It's A Speculative Mania': As far as Jim Chanos is concerned, his hedge fund is different than most. Kynikos investments come not from the budding minds of rookies but from the time-tested partners, themselves. That’s because “the process is not only analytical ... there’s pattern recognition, and that’s the stuff you can’t teach.” Pattern recognition is how Kynikos came to short Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE: VRX ), a firm with a Tyco International-esque story. “We had seen this before,” Chanos said Wednesday during a talk in Detroit, Michigan . Don’t Trust The Word On The Street It’s also how Chanos, a notable short seller, came to spurn the bitcoin trade. If Aunt Kathy’s investment enthusiasm preceded the dot-com bubble, and his porter’s Miami condo ventures preceded the real estate bubble, history warrants suspicion of the bitcoin play his driver is suddenly touting. “When your doormen are putting up buildings, you’ve got to maybe be a little careful,” he said. The Bitcoin Bear Chanos is not a bitcoin believer, but he has no shorts on the currency, either. “We have no edge there,” he said. “It’s a speculative mania. It’s Beanie Babies.... The technology is real, but the ICOs are questionable.” In fact, the initial coin offerings , recently pursued to finance ventures more easily than through traditional routes, sound alarms for the fraud-exposing market detective. “There will be great successes obviously, and there will be lots and lots of people who lose lots of money, and a lot of money will be stolen, and there will be a lot of fraud,” he said. Related Link: Jim Chanos Adds To Tesla Short, Thinks Musk Will Step Down By 2020 The Most Important Week In The History Of Bitcoin Image credit: Dominique Godbout, Flickr See more from Benzinga Pandora Releases New On-Demand Streaming Option Everything We Know About Disney's Bid For 21st Century Fox Assets © 2017 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin soared to over $19,000 on Coinbase but other exchanges have totally different prices: Screen Shot 2017 12 07 at 11.40.04 AM Coinbase Bitcoin soared to more than $19,500 a coin from $16,000 on Coinbase's GDAX exchange in less than three hours on Thursday. Coinbase said its site was down for some users because of record-high traffic. The price of bitcoin was all over the place on Thursday, with numerous exchanges listing it at drastically different prices. Bitcoin soared above $19,500 a coin on Coinbase's GDAX exchange on Thursday at about 11:30 a.m. ET, three hours after it blew past $16,000. The massive tear upward seems to have put pressure on Coinbase's infrastructure the exchange said on Twitter that users were experiencing issues logging into their accounts because of record traffic: Screen Shot 2017 12 07 at 12.05.05 PM Coinbase Coinbase, the largest platform for buying and selling cryptocurrencies in the US, has experienced several outages as the price of bitcoin has skyrocketed to new highs. The exchange was down for about an hour on Friday, two days after a major system outage kept many users from accessing their bitcoin wallets. The price of bitcoin on Thursday was all over the place, with various exchanges showing significantly different prices some more than $1,000 apart. The immaturity of the bitcoin markets has often created price discrepancies, which would be unheard of elsewhere on Wall Street. At 12:48 p.m., for instance, bitcoin was trading at $19,141 a coin on Bithumb, an exchange in South Korea. At the same time, it was trading at $14,573 on Bitfinex, based in Taiwan. Cryptocurrency exchanges, which don't have the industrial infrastructure of traditional exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq, are under pressure to handle record trading volumes. Twenty-four-hour trading volumes reached a record high above $28 billion on Thursday, according to CoinMarketCap , a cryptocurrency data site. To put that in context, $50 billion worth of securities trade on the NYSE during an average trading session. Screen Shot 2017 12 07 at 12.21.20 PM CoinMarketCap Related: Watch original series, sports and more on go90. Story continues NOW WATCH: This is why you should be buying gold See Also: Bitcoin posts another record high as JPMorgan touts its potential as 'emerging asset class' Ethereum's blockchain is jamming up because of a new game that lets people buy virtual cats Why Coinbase's blip isn't all bad SEE ALSO: Bitcoin just hit an all-time high here's how you buy and sell it || The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Guggenheim Solar, First Trust Nasdaq Semiconductor, iShares U.S. Home Construction, SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production and iShares Dow Jones US Technology: For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – November 15, 2017 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog includeGuggenheim Solar ETF TAN, First Trust Nasdaq Semiconductor ETF FTXL, iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF ITB, SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF XOP and iShares Dow Jones US Technology ETF IYW.
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:
Q3 Earnings Effect: 5 Hottest ETF Charts
The Q3 earnings season has reached its tail end, with 90.3% of the S&P 500 index market capitalization that has reported so far up 6.8% on 6.2% revenue growth. The beat is impressive with 73.4% surpassing EPS estimates and 67% coming ahead of top-line expectations.
Revenue growth represents acceleration and is widespread. However, the auto and utility sector posted a revenue decline, and an earnings growth rate is lower than the historical periods. Additionally, the proportion of companies beating earnings and revenue estimates are also somewhat on the downside (read: Tap Q3 Growth with Revenue-Weighted ETFs).
Given this, several equity ETFs have impressed with their performances and have generated handsome returns over the trailing one month. While there are winners in many corners of the space, below are five ETFs that buoyed up on robust earnings results. In addition, we have given a chart for their one-month performance and compared them with the broad market fund and the broad sector.
Guggenheim Solar ETF
This ETF offers exposure to the global companies involved in the solar power industry. It has gained 12.3% in the past month on strong Q2 earnings. In particular, upbeat earnings from First Solar and SolarEdge Technologies led to a strong rally in the ETF. The two stocks make up for a combined 19.1% share in the basket. TAN has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 (Hold) with a High risk outlook. Overall, the solar industry came up with a 47% earnings beat in Q3 and has returned 25.3% in a month (read: 5 Top-Performing Stocks of the Top ETF of October).
First Trust Nasdaq Semiconductor ETF
This fund offers exposure to the most-liquid U.S. semiconductor securities based on volatility, value and growth. The string of better-than-expected results from the industry players such as Micron Technology, Intel, Lam Research, Texas Instruments and NVIDIA Corporation instilled optimism in the space, pushing the stocks to multi-year highs. These five stocks account for 38.5% share in the basket. Further, an astronomical surge in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, and technological innovation have added to the strength. FTXL has gained 8.1% in one month and carries a Zacks ETF Rank #2 (Buy) (read: Best ETFs & Stocks from October's Top Performing Sector).
iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF
ITB provides a pure play to home construction stocks and holds 47 stocks in its basket. Total earnings for the construction sector are up 11% on 13.8% higher revenues, with 81.8% beating EPS estimates and 63.6% beating on revenues. In fact, it has been the best performing sector in terms of price performance in response to earnings, gaining an average of 1.8%. As a result, ITB has surged 7.4% in a month and has a Zacks ETF Rank #2 with a High risk outlook (read: Best Sector ETFs & Stocks from Trump's First-Year Win).
SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF
This fund offers exposure to the oil and gas exploration and production segment of the broad energy sector, which has been the star performer this earnings season. While many energy ETFs have performed exceptionally well, XOP stole the show gaining 6.8% in a month. This is primarily thanks to the dual tailwinds of upbeat earnings report and the jump in oil prices. Overall, the Exploration and Production industry came up with a 53% earnings beat in Q3. The fund has a Zacks ETF Rank of #4 (Sell) with a High risk outlook (read: Oil Price Scales 2-Yr High: 5 Best Energy ETFs & Stocks).
iShares Dow Jones US Technology ETF
This ETF offers broad exposure to technology stocks and is up 6.3% in a month. The strength is driven by blockbuster results from Alphabet, Intel, Microsoft, Facebook and Apple. These firms account for nearly half of the portfolio. Notably, total earnings from 86.4% of the sector’s total market capitalization reported so far are up 23.3% on 10.9% higher revenues, with 81.3% of the companies beating on earnings and 87.5% exceeding top-line estimates. The sector saw solid positive earnings estimate revision following earnings and has a solid Zacks Rank in the top 31%. IYW has a Zacks ETF Rank #1 (Strong Buy) with a Medium risk outlook (read: 7 Top-Ranked Tech ETFs on Unstoppable Rally).
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Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportISHARS-US HO CO (ITB): ETF Research ReportsSPDR-SP O&G EXP (XOP): ETF Research ReportsGUGG-SOLAR (TAN): ETF Research ReportsISHARS-US TECH (IYW): ETF Research ReportsFT-NDQ SEMICON (FTXL): ETF Research ReportsTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Tiffany Haddishちゃんが || bitcoin priceってゆうか、 || Tiffany Haddishちゃんが || こんばんは。 bitcoin priceという || #TenX $pay buy @0.00025550
Profit ~%16 at 0.00029450.
Time:10/11/2018 03:00
#cryptocurrency #bitcoin #Ripple #ethereum #btc #xrphttps://twitter.com/keaksit/status/928627332843220992 … || I now own 0.0007 Bitcoins. When do I become a Bitcoin Billionaire? || bitcoin priceってゆうか、 || Noobies getting into BTC like http://ift.tt/2yTktPL #bitcoin #blockchain #fintech || Tiffany Haddishちゃんが || My mom told me bitcoin is going to fail, I'm an orphan now. http://ift.tt/2AmCxUN
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Trend: up || Prices: 14026.60, 16099.80, 15838.50, 14606.50, 14656.20, 12952.20, 14156.40, 13657.20, 14982.10, 15201.00
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Chainalysis Says Bitcoin Scammed From Twitter Users Is On the Move: The defrauded bitcoin amassed during Wednesdays monumental Twitter hack is already on the move, according to cryptocurrency tracing firm Chainalysis. Chainalysis told CoinDesk it is monitoring four wallets associated with the attack. The most prevalent address received $120,000 in bitcoin from 375 transactions. Secondary addresses received $6,700 in bitcoin from 100 transactions. An XRP wallet netted nothing. So far, a wallet whose associations are not yet known has received five bitcoin ($46,055) in total. We are collaborating with our customers to find leads from this wallet, Chainalysis spokesperson Maddie Kennedy said. Part of the scam relied on hackers churning their own crypto between wallets to inflate the number of people who appeared to be chipping in, according to Chainalysis. The firm called the tactic unsurprising. A Japanese wallet that sent scammers $40,000 in bitcoin appears to have been the single largest victim of the still-unexplained hack. International exchanges were generally the source of victims bitcoin, Chainalysis said. No BTC has been cashed out to fiat just yet, the crypto-sleuthing firm added. Read more: Twitter Breach Reactions: Security Professionals Offer an Early Assessment Related Stories Chainalysis Says Bitcoin Scammed From Twitter Users Is On the Move Chainalysis Says Bitcoin Scammed From Twitter Users Is On the Move Chainalysis Says Bitcoin Scammed From Twitter Users Is On the Move Chainalysis Says Bitcoin Scammed From Twitter Users Is On the Move || BitMEX Owner Leads $3.4M Round for South African Crypto Exchange: BitMEX owner 100x Group has participated in a Series A funding round for a South African crypto exchange, saying it offers an entry point into the fast-growing market.
• Therecently-renamedparent company of derivatives exchange BitMEX confirmed Monday that it had led the $3.4 million Series A for the Johannesburg-based exchange VALR.
• VALR has offered trading pairs for the rand against bitcoin, ether and XRP since June 2019.
• The investment will fund expansion into other countries as well as new products and services.
• Other commits came from Michael Jordaan, the former CEO of First National Bank, one of the largest banks in South Africa, as well as U.S. exchange Bittrex. Both also participated in VALR’s $1.5 millionseed roundin 2018.
• In a statement, 100x CEO Arthur Hayes said the VALR investment gave the firm key exposure to South Africa – a market, he said, with high potential.
• In areportthis year, Arcane Research estimated that 13% of South African internet users had owned cryptocurrencies, nearly double the 7% global average.
• Binance launched its own local fiat gateway in April 2020 in order to capitalize on the country’s high crypto adoption rates.
See also:This Bitcoin Documentary From Africa Is Streaming on Amazon Prime
• BitMEX Owner Leads $3.4M Round for South African Crypto Exchange
• BitMEX Owner Leads $3.4M Round for South African Crypto Exchange
• BitMEX Owner Leads $3.4M Round for South African Crypto Exchange
• BitMEX Owner Leads $3.4M Round for South African Crypto Exchange || Marathon Patent Group Announces Purchase of 500 Additional Next Generation S19 Pro ASIC Miners: 500 Miners Expected to Generate 55 PH/s (petahash) of Hashing Power
Company Estimates Increase in Operating Hashrate to Approximately 240 PH/s When all Miners are Received and Deployed
LAS VEGAS, June 11, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marathon Patent Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA) ("Marathon" or "Company"), one of the few Nasdaq listed cryptocurrency mining companies in the United States, today announced the purchase of an additional 500 of the latest generation Bitmain S19 Pro Miners.
These 500 miners will produce 110 TH/s and generate 55 PH/s (petahash) of hashing power, bringing the Company’s total Hashrate to approximately 240 PH/s when fully deployed. This compares to the Company’s previous S-9 production of 46 PH/s. The purchase price paid was $1,190,000. The Company expects to take delivery of these latest units by the end of September.
On May 11, 2020, Marathon announced the purchase of 700 M30S+ (80 TH) miners which now have been fully installed and are operational. On May 12, 2020, the Company announced the purchase 660 Bitmain S19 Pro Miners followed by the announced purchase of an additional 500 on May 19, 2020. Today’s announcement of the purchase of an additional 500 S19 Pro Miners brings the total state of the art, next generation miners purchased in the past month to 2,360 units. The Company is expecting delivery and installation of 1,160 Bitmain S19 Pro ASIC Miners in approximately the next 30-60 days, followed by the remaining 500 shortly thereafter.
Marathon’s Chief Executive Officer, Merrick Okamoto, stated “In the past month, we have heavily invested in our business through the purchase of these 2,360 next generation miners. We anticipate that, upon full installation, we could experience at least a 500% increase in our aggregate hash rate as compared to our production rates before these new miners were acquired and installed.”
With the recent price increase of Bitcoin, each batch of new Bitcoin miners has been selling out, pushing acquisition and delivery dates out by several months. The Company has worked very aggressively to acquire miners with the nearest delivery dates in order to expedite its ability to bring miners online to ramp up production in the shortest timeframe possible. The Company has reached this goal with miners scheduled to arrive in June, July, and September of this year. Only one NASDAQ listed company has announced a greater increase in hashrate expected this summer than Marathon.
Investor Notice
Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. Before making an investment decision, you should carefully consider the risks, uncertainties and forward-looking statements described under "Risk Factors" in Item 1A of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018. If any of these risks were to occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations would likely suffer. In that event, the value of our securities could decline, and you could lose part or all of your investment. The risks and uncertainties we describe are not the only ones facing us. Additional risks not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our business operations. In addition, our past financial performance may not be a reliable indicator of future performance, and historical trends should not be used to anticipate results in the future. See "Safe Harbor" below.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements made in this press release include forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “may,” “will,” “plan,” “should,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “continue,” or comparable terminology. Such forward-looking statements are inherently subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties, many of which the Company cannot predict with accuracy and some of which the Company might not even anticipate and involve factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or suggested. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and are advised to consider the factors listed above together with the additional factors under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Company's Annual Reports on Form 10-K, as may be supplemented or amended by the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events, new information or otherwise.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Name: Jason AssadPhone: 678-570-6791Email:[email protected] || Geopolitics and COVID-19 Put the EUR, Pound and the Greenback in Focus: Earlier in the Day: It was a relatively busy start to the day on the economic calendar . The Japanese Yen and the PBoC were in action in the early part of the day. Away from the economic calendar, riskier assets continued to struggle as COVID-19 and geopolitical risks weighed. Looking at the latest coronavirus numbers On Sunday, the number of new coronavirus cases rose by 219,728 to 14,641,819, according to figures at the time of writing. On Saturday, the number of new cases had risen by 232,868. The daily increase was lower than Saturday’s rise while up from 194,475 new cases from the previous Sunday. Germany, Italy, and Spain reported 491 new cases on Sunday, which was up from 476 new cases on Saturday. On the previous Sunday, just 372 new cases had been reported. From the U.S, the total number of cases rose by 65,279 to 3,898,550 on Sunday. On Saturday, the total number of cases had increased by 63,259. On Sunday, 19 th July, a total of 58,349 new cases had been reported. For the Japanese Yen Japan’s trade deficit narrowed from ¥838.2bn to ¥268.8bn in June. Economists had forecast a narrowing to ¥35.8bn. According to figures released by the Ministry of Finance, Exports tumbled by a further 26.2% in June, following on from a 28.3% slump in May. Economists had forecast a 24.9% fall. Exports to Asia fell by 15.3%, to Western Europe by 30.0%, and by 46.6% to the U.S. Japan’s exports to China fell by a modest 0.2% when compared with June 2019. Imports slid by 14.4% in June, following a 26.2% slump in May. Economists had forecast a 16.8% slide. Imports from HK tumbled by 77.5%, by 12.6% from the U.S, by 22% from Australia, and by 10.9% from Western Europe. The Japanese Yen moved from ¥107.067 to ¥107.092 upon release of the minutes and stats. At the time of writing, the Japanese Yen was down by 0.33% to ¥107.37 against the U.S Dollar. Out of China The PBoC left the 5-year loan prime rate unchanged at 4.65%, with the 3-year left unchanged at 3.85%. The hold was in line with market expectations and the PBoC’s recent forward guidance. Story continues Some may have hoped for further support following the disappointing June retail sales figures for last week. Ultimately, the economic rebound in the 2 nd quarter was good enough to allow the PBoC to leave rates unchanged. The Aussie Dollar moved from $0.69824 to $0.69776 upon the announcement. At the time of writing, the Aussie Dollar was down by 0.20% to $0.6982. Elsewhere At the time of writing, the Kiwi Dollar was down by 0.17% to $0.6546. The Day Ahead: For the EUR It’s a relatively quiet day ahead on the economic calendar . Key stats include June wholesale inflation figures for Germany. The stats are unlikely to have an impact on the EUR, however, as the markets look for updates from Brussels. EU Recovery Fund talks extended into the weekend but failed to result in an agreement. The EUR will likely come under pressure if progress is not made today. At the time of writing, the EUR was down by 0.08% to $1.1419. For the Pound It’s a particularly quiet day ahead on the economic calendar . There are no material stats due out of the UK to provide the Pound with direction. A lack of stats will leave the Pound in the hands of Brexit and market risk sentiment on the day. There was nothing positive from the weekend, on the Brexit front, to provide the Pound with support. At the time of writing, the Pound was down by 0.34% to $1.2525. Across the Pond It’s also a particularly quiet day ahead for the U.S Dollar. There are no material stats due out to provide the Greenback with direction. A lack of stats will leave the Dollar in the hands of updates on COVID-19 and chatter from Washington. At the time of writing, the Dollar Spot Index was up by 0.22% to 96.152. For the Loonie It’s a quiet day ahead on the economic calendar . There are no material stats due out, which will leave the Loonie in the hands of market risk sentiment on the day. COVID-19 and U.S-China tensions will be the key areas of focus. At the time of writing, the Loonie was down by 0.04% to C$1.3586 against the U.S Dollar. For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar . This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Price of Gold Fundamental Daily Forecast – Bullish Factors Lining Up, but Where are the Buyers? Bitcoin and Cardano’s ADA Weekly Technical Analysis – July 20th, 2020 China Shares Surge after Regulators Lift Equity Investment Cap for Insurers Crude Oil Traders Look to China AUD/USD and NZD/USD Fundamental Weekly Forecast – Weak AUD Jobs Data, NZ Inflation Raise Red Flags AUD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – Needs to Hold .6979 to Sustain Upside Momentum || Latest Bitcoin price and analysis (BTC to USD): Bitcoin is approaching a critical stage of its current market cycle as it continues to languish around at the stubborn $9,000 level of support. The world’s largest cryptocurrency has enjoyed six weeks of relative calm compared to the start of the year, with Bitcoin having rallied all the way to $10,500 in February before capitulating to as low as $4,000 in the following month. A major move of similar velocity may be on the cards in the coming weeks as the US stock market, which is seemingly correlated to Bitcoin, is expected to plunge on fears of a Coronavirus second wave. The pandemic and its subsequent lockdown led to fears surrounding the global economy, which is what cause March’s biggest market crash since the 2009 financial crisis. A second wave would reignite fears on the economy with lending and quantitative easing already at shockingly high levels. As national debt mounts so will the temptation to send all citizens back to work, but this may be a double-edged sword as it could lead towards more a devastating financial downturn later down the line. Bitcoin can react to this event in a number of ways, the first of which is what it was arguably designed for, being a hedge against the traditional financial system. If the markets and global currencies begin to fall, many may seek safe haven assets to preserve their capital, this has typically been gold but some may turn to Bitcoin as the digital age becomes more prevalent. Another scenario, which at the moment seems most likely, would be if Bitcoin falls in unison with the stock markets as a result of its correlation in 2020. This correlation is likely due to investors liquidating all assets into fiat out of fear, whether they be stocks, bonds, cryptocurrency or precious metals. In the short-term Bitcoin needs to break out above $10,500 to trigger a bullish reversal, although it needs to continue closing daily candles above $8,830 to prevent a bearish switch of narrative. Story continues For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . Bitcoin pricing Current live BTC pricing information and interactive charts are available on our site 24 hours a day. The ticker bar at the bottom of every page on our site has the latest Bitcoin price. Pricing is also available in a range of different currency equivalents: US Dollar – BTCtoUSD British Pound Sterling – BTCtoGBP Japanese Yen – BTCtoJPY Euro – BTCtoEUR Australian Dollar – BTCtoAUD Russian Rouble – BTCtoRUB About Bitcoin In August 2008, the domain name bitcoin.org was registered. On 31st October 2008, a paper was published called “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”. This was authored by Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of Bitcoin. To date, no one knows who this person, or people, are. The paper outlined a method of using a P2P network for electronic transactions without “relying on trust”. On January 3 2009, the Bitcoin network came into existence. Nakamoto mined block number “0” (or the “genesis block”), which had a reward of 50 Bitcoins. More BTC news and information If you want to find out more information about Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in general, then use the search box at the top of this page. Here’s an article to get you started. As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. || Tethers Supply on Compound Jumps to Over $224M in a Week: Tethers volume on decentralized lender platform Compound has soared as traders try to maximize the amount of COMP they receive. Data from Compound shows the supply of the USD-backed stablecoin has quadrupled from roughly $43.7 million at the start of the week, to over $224 million on Friday. This time last week, USDT supply had just about crossed the million-dollar mark. With 2,000 suppliers (lenders) and just over 400 borrowers, USDT one of the largest and most active lending markets on the Compound protocol. For comparison, the supply for USDC , another stablecoin, is currently just under the $170 million mark although the number of lenders is far higher at over 5,500. Related: Compound Tops MakerDAO, Now Has the Most Value Staked in DeFi USDts growth on Compound has been faster than the growth of any other asset in the protocol, by multiples, said Calvin Liu, Compounds strategy lead, in a statement. See also: A Coinbase Pro Listing and Other Eye-Opening Data Points on Compounds Surge in Demand This bookends a rather manic week for Compound. Total value locked (TVL) has been on a near-vertical trajectory since the release of its new governance token, COMP, on Monday it broke past the $100 million boundary on the same day, for the first time. At the time of writing, TVL stood at just under $400 million, according to data site DeFi pulse. Related: Market Wrap: Bitcoin Spot Volumes Are Weak While Options and DeFi Strengthen One of the reasons for Compounds soaring popularity this week might be that users are trying to receive as much COMP tokens as they can. The platform rewards all activity with COMP, so both lenders and borrowers are directly incentivized to use the platform as much as possible. This incentive has created a feeding frenzy as COMP soars in price. The token price has more than doubled in the past 24 hours to $200. The rise has been so rapid that aggregation sites are flashing different numbers for market value. At press time, DeFi Market Cap gave Compound a market cap of $1.9 billion, whereas CoinGecko had gone for a more conservative $500 million. Automated market maker Curv told CoinDesk earlier this week that it was seeing users depositing USDC as collateral to borrow USDT and using that borrowed USDT as a deposit for borrowing the USDC back again. Some users repeat this process up to 30 times the maximum leverage on Compound which they use to maximize their COMP allocation. See also: As Tether Supply Hits Record Highs, It Moves Away From Original Home CoinDesk asked Tether whether it thought the surge in USDT supply on Compound could be users trying to game the system. Story continues It wouldnt be appropriate for Tether to comment on this, the spokesperson said. Related Stories Tethers Supply on Compound Jumps to Over $224M in a Week Tethers Supply on Compound Jumps to Over $224M in a Week View comments || Decentralized Exchange dYdX Debuts Ether Perpetual Swaps: Perpetual swaps that track the price of ether (ETH) are coming to dYdX, the company announced Tuesday. “The main reason people like trading these contracts is because people can trade them with pretty high leverage,” dYdX founder Antonio Juliano told CoinDesk in a phone call. The decentralized finance (DeFi) firm was founded three years ago to contribute to the stack of financial products available in the crypto industry. It started with enabling margin trading on Ethereum and has now expanded to providing synthetic assets that enable traders to make bigger bets. This follows its launch of bitcoin perpetual swaps in April . Related: First Mover: Ethereum’s Transition to Staking Could Push More Traders to Use Derivatives Read more: Popular BTC Derivatives Product Goes Live on DeFi’s dYdX “The types of people who trade derivatives are really institutions and some sophisticated retail-type traders,” Juliano explained. “It basically helps people to express more complicated opinions on price, and this really helps to stabilize the underlying markets.” As an example, with swaps, if people in the market see something they see as very unhealthy for ETH’s price, they can go onto dYdX and take out a 10x short position against the price of ETH, planning to profit $10 for ever $1 ETH’s price falls. This is a very dangerous play, because if the price goes up instead they lose $10 for every $1 it rises. Such a position can very quickly eat all the trader’s collateral. Related: Market Wrap: Bitcoin Flat at $11.2K; DeFi Has Highest Volume Month Ever However, precisely because of that, it sends a strong signal to the market. If one trader takes that kind of position others will start looking to see if they should be scared, too. Obviously if someone sells their ETH that sends a signal to the market as well, but it’s a less weighty signal than a leveraged short position. So theoretically, as the derivatives market gets bigger and more sophisticated it should help ETH itself become less volatile, as warnings come in earlier and sound more loudly. Story continues “We’re not there yet,” Juliano cautioned. “With the rise of more derivatives products it should help.” How it works A leveraged derivative allows traders to magnify gains and losses on an asset without anyone involved holding the asset itself. Popularized on the centralized exchange BitMEX , perpetual swaps are unique to the crypto market. They create a synthetic asset that, when working properly, roughly tracks the price of the underlying asset, while allowing more leverage. Market makers in the system make it feasible for traders to find buyers for their positions. Read more: FTX Releases COMP Derivatives to Keep Up With DeFi Frenzy A user’s losses are limited by the collateral they put up to back their bet. So if a user took a leveraged bet against the price of ETH, but the ETH price rose, they would get liquidated once their losses started approaching their total collateral. So for example, $300 ETH in collateral would only tolerate a bit less than $300 ETH in losses before the collateral was sold to cover the loss. Juliano argued that dYdX’s product enables more leverage more easily than other DeFi alternatives, such as using Instadapp to take out multiple loans at once on Compound. Its users also won’t pay gas though they will pay trading fees. Juliano said that trades on dYdX are among the largest for decentralized exchanges (DEXs), at around $10,000 on average. In the traditional market, any derivatives market always dwarfs the underlying market it tracks, and Juliano noted that we’re starting to see that in crypto over the last year, with derivatives markets outpacing the spot market for the first time. However, in traditional finance, perpetual markets don’t exist. Derivatives usually come with an expiration date. Juliano said he believes this is because there are so many traders who want to be able to magnify their bets with a product that’s roughly as simple to trade as the underlying asset. “The crypto market is very dominated in terms of volume by retail traders, particularly international crypto traders,” he said. Related Stories Decentralized Exchange dYdX Debuts Ether Perpetual Swaps Decentralized Exchange dYdX Debuts Ether Perpetual Swaps || The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – July 18th, 2020: Bitcoin, BTC to USD, rose by 0.19% on Friday. Partially reversing a 0.66% fall from Thursday, Bitcoin ended the day at $9,167.3. It was a bearish start to the day. Bitcoin fell to a mid-morning intraday low $9,102.1 before making a move. Steering clear of the first major support level at $9,041.73, Bitcoin rose to a mid-day intraday high $9,194.0. Falling short of the first major resistance level at $9,242.33, Bitcoin fell back to $9,141 levels before finding support. Bitcoin briefly revisited $9,190 levels before easing back. The near-term bullish trend remained intact in spite of the early July pullback to sub-$9,000 levels. For the bears, Bitcoin would need to slide through the 62% FIB of $6,400 to form a near-term bearish trend. The Rest of the Pack Across the rest of the majors, it was yet another mixed day on Friday. Stellar’s Lumen and Tezos rose by 2.22% and by 2.34% to lead the way. Tron’s TRX (+0.19%) also joined Bitcoin in the green. It was a bearish day for the rest of the majors. Cardano’s ADA led the way down, falling by 2.95%. Binance Coin (-0.58%), Bitcoin Cash ABC (-0.24%), Bitcoin Cash SV (-0.43%), EOS (-0.19%), Ethereum (-0.33%), Litecoin (-0.45%), Monero’s XMR (-0.13%), and Ripple’s XRP (-0.03%) also saw red. In the current week, the crypto total market cap rose to a Monday high $273.18bn before falling to a Thursday low $258.89bn. At the time of writing, the total market cap stood at $264.46bn. Bitcoin’s dominance fell to a Monday low 63.09% before rising to a Thursday high 64.28%. At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s dominance stood at 63.80%. This Morning At the time of writing, Bitcoin was flat at $9,167.5. A mixed start to the day saw Bitcoin rise to an early morning high $9,175.0 before falling to a low $9,163.3. Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on. Elsewhere, it was another mixed start to the day. Bitcoin Cash SV (-0.67%), Cardano’s ADA (-1.06%), Monero’s XMR (-0.50%), Stellar’s Lumen (-3.46%), Tezos (-1.72%), and Tron’s TRX (-0.15%) saw red early on. Story continues Binance Coin (+0.26%), EOS (+0.08%), Ethereum (+0.11%), Litecoin (+0.10%), and Ripple’s XRP (+0.33%) found early support. For the Bitcoin Day Ahead Bitcoin would need to avoid a fall through the $9,155 pivot to support a run at the first major resistance level at $9,206.83. Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Bitcoin to break out from Friday’s high $9,194.0. Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level and Friday’s high would likely cap any upside. In the event of a crypto breakout, Bitcoin should break through the second major resistance level at $9,246.37. Resistance at $9,300 would likely cap any upside. Failure to avoid a fall through the $9,155 pivot level would bring the first major support level at $9,114.93 into play. Barring an extended crypto sell-off, however, Bitcoin should avoid sub-$9,000 levels. The second major support level at $9,062.57 should limit any downside. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: The Weekly Wrap – Economic Data and COVID-19 News Drives the Markets US Stock Market Overview – Stocks Close Mixed for the Day and the Week Crude Oil Weekly Price Forecast – Crude Oil Markets Continue to Squeeze Higher Gold Price Prediction – Prices Rise and Finish the Week up 0.66% S&P 500 Price Forecast – Stock Markets Continue to See Bullish Pressure Natural Gas Price Prediction – Prices Fall 5% for the Week Despite lower Rig Count || Latest Ethereum price and analysis (ETH to USD): Ethereum has exploded over the past few days with a long-awaited 15.79% move to the upside as volatility slowly returns to the cryptocurrency market. The world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap is currently trading at $273.64, which is the highest its been in more than five months. It has now recovered by 155.92% from March’s capitulation low of $109.28 , although it is now being faced with a bitter point of resistance. February’s high of $285.57 eventually became the point of rejection following two attempts at a breakout. It was also a level of resistance in May 2019 before the subsequent blow-off top at $365 in June. If Ethereum can break above this level in the coming weeks it could be the catalyst for a highly-anticipated ‘altcoin-season’, which has been rare since the 2018 bear market. An altcoin-season would see Bitcoin dominance fall against the rest of the ecosystem as traders and investors opt for more speculative bets like Ethereum, XRP and even Tezos. Upside price targets would begin to emerge at $300 and $366, although optimistic forecasts predict a rally that could be extended to as high as $501.42. While Ethereum is almost certainly bullish in the short term, from a macro perspective it desperately needs to form a lower high after being hit with four consecutive lower lows since its all-time high in early 2018. Another rejection and lower low from here would indicate a further correction to the downside, which would see price initially fall to as low as $214.67. For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . About Ethereum Ethereum was launched by Vitalik Buterin on July 30 2015. He was a researcher and programmer working on Bitcoin Magazine and he initially wrote a whitepaper in 2013 describing Ethereum. Buterin had proposed that Bitcoin needed a scripting language. He decided to develop a new platform with a more general scripting language when he couldn’t get buy-in to his proposal. Story continues More Ethereum news and information If you want to find out more information about Ethereum or cryptocurrencies in general, then use the search box at the top of this page. Please check the below article: https://coinrivet.com/ethereum-adopts-erc-1155-as-an-official-standard/ As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not. You may be interested in our range of cryptocurrency guides along with the latest cryptocurrency news . Disclaimer: This is not financial advice. || Brent Crude Falls, U.S Crude Oil Inventories Record a two week High: The Crude oil international benchmark contract lost about 25 cents yesterday.
Strengthening concerns about global energy demand increased momentum after a surge in COVID-19 caseloads around the world led China to postpone flights and close schools.
In addition, a surge in U.S. crude inventories to a record high in two weeks, dampened oil traders’ bullish sentiments even though the U.S government data showedstockpiles for distillate and gasoline dropped.
Understanding Brent Crude; Brent crude is the leading global benchmark for Atlantic basin crude oils. The international benchmark is used to set the price of crude oil of about two-thirds of the world’s traded crude oil including Nigeria’s crude.
“People are concerned about the coronavirus resurging in China and crude stockpiles rising,”said Lachlan Shaw, head of commodity research at National Australia Bank.
Consequently, to tackle weakened oil demand, OPEC and its major allies agreed to a record supply cut that started last month, while Nigeria and other major oil-producing countries pledged to produce less crude oil, in other to support crude oil prices. OPEC said these cuts were already serving its purpose.
“The oil market was strongly supported by a reduction of the global crude oil surplus, thanks mainly to the historic voluntary production adjustment agreement,”OPEC said, adding it saw a “gradual recovery” in demand until the end of the year.
For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out oureconomic calendar.
The article was written by Olumide Adesina an Investment Professional
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Brent Crude Falls, U.S Crude Oil Inventories Record a two week High
• Litecoin, Stellar’s Lumen, and Tron’s TRX – Daily Analysis – June 18th, 2020
• Bitcoin Cash gains 65% since March, shows more stability
• An Unease in Markets, but will COVID19 Really Derail the Risk Rally?
• Stocks Pull Back after Bumper Start to the Week
• Surging Retail Sales, Cautious Powell, and Gold
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 11675.74, 11878.11, 11410.53, 11584.93, 11784.14, 11768.87, 11865.70, 11892.80, 12254.40, 11991.23
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
5 Stocks to Buy for 50% Upside in the Second Half of 2022: Growth stocks have suffered immensely in the first five-months of 2022.The S&P 500 Pure Growth Indexhasdeclined by 22%during this period. However, there are dozens of growth stocks that have corrected by more than 50%. While global economic uncertainties prevail, there are stocks to buy for the second half of 2022 for robust returns.
My focus is on oversold growth stocks to buy that can potentially witness a sharp reversal rally. It’s worth noting that be it a euphoric or a correction, the reactions are on the extreme. On the downside, this presents a good buying opportunity.
A good example is Chinese electric vehicle company,Li Auto(NASDAQ:LI). LI stock has surged by 40% in the last one-month. Irrespective of broad market conditions, there will be such opportunities.
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• 7 Top-Rated Large-Cap Stocks to Buy and Hold
Let’s talk about five stocks to buy that can potentially deliver 50% returns in the next six-months. I believe that these stocks are also worth holding for the long-term.
[{"NIO": "PVH", "Nio": "PVH Corp.", "$18.89": "$67.96"}, {"NIO": "CPNG", "Nio": "Coupang", "$18.89": "$12.31"}, {"NIO": "PLTR", "Nio": "Palantir Technologies", "$18.89": "$8.72"}, {"NIO": "MARA", "Nio": "Marathon Digital", "$18.89": "$7.66"}]
Source: Robert Way / Shutterstock.com
In the last one-month,Nio(NYSE:NIO) stock has surged by 30%. However, the rally from oversold levels is likely to sustain in the second half of 2022.
Recently, policymakers in China announced that purchase tax onlow-emission passenger vehicles will be reduced. China is also in talks with automakers forEV subsidy extension. This is another potential catalyst for Nio stock upside.
Given these policy factors, it’s likely that vehicle deliveries will remain strong. It’s also worth noting that Nio hasthree new vehicles launchesin 2022. This will ensure that deliveries growth remains strong through 2023. The company’s expansion in European markets is another catalyst for deliveries growth.
From a financial perspective, Nio reported cash and equivalents of $8.7 billion as of December 2021. There is ample cash buffer for aggressive expansion. With deliveries growth, the company’s vehicle margin has also been improving on a sustained basis.
Source: Martin Good / Shutterstock.com
PVH(NYSE:PVH) has been an under-performer in the last 12-months with a correction of 35%. However, at a forward price-to-earnings-ratio of 7, the stock seems attractively valued.
Recently, UBS opined that PVH stock has an upside potential of 83%. A key reason for this bullish view is “major margin unlocksthat will play out over the next few years.” With investors looking for value stocks with a strong balance sheet, PVH stock is likely to be in the limelight.
It’s also worth noting that the company recently reported results for Q1 2022. The company’searnings per share exceeded the guidance. Furthermore, PVH has a robust outlook through 2022. Even with macro-economic headwinds, a healthy guidance for the year is likely to take the stock higher.
• 7 High-Yielding Monthly Dividend Stocks to Buy in June
With a strong balance sheet, PVH is also positioned to create value through share repurchase and dividends. For the year, the company has raised the repurchase target to $400 million from an earlier guidance of $225 million. While the current dividend yield is just 0.21%, there is dividend growth visibility.
Source: Michael Vi / Shutterstock.com
Among e-commerce stocks, I believe thatCoupang(NYSE:CPNG) is attractively priced. One reason for a deep correction in CPNG stock was uncertainty related to growth and profitability.
However, there seems to be more clarity on that front. First and foremost, the company’sadjusted EBITDA loss narrowed in Q1 2022. Further, Coupang has guided for long-term adjustedEBITDA margin target of 7% to 10%. The company also expects product commerce adjusted EBITDA to be profitable by Q4 2022.
From a growth perspective, Coupang has 18 million active customers in Korea. The total online shoppers in Korea are approximately 37 million. Therefore, there is scope for customer acquisition driven growth. Coupang is also looking at expansion beyond Korea. With Southeast Asia in focus, there is potential for a wider addressable market.
As of March 2022, Coupang reported cash and equivalents of $3.3 billion. The cash buffer provides resources for international expansion and investment in new growth initiatives (Coupang Eats). Overall, CPNG stock is among the top stocks to buy for strong upside in the second half of 2022.
Source: Spyro the Dragon / Shutterstock.com
Palantir Technologies(NYSE:PLTR) has slumped by 55% in the last six-months. I believe that the stock is worth accumulating below $10.
In terms of positives, Palantir reported a healthyrevenue growth of 31%for Q1 2022 to $446 million. The company also reported adjusted free cash flow of $30 million for the quarter.
It’s also worth noting that the company has guided for top-line growth in excess of 30% through 2025. After a meaningful correction, the PLTR stock seems poised for a rally.
Palantir has also seen a healthy growth in customer count. For Q1 2022, the company added 37 net new commercial customers. With the company ending Q1 2022 with anet dollar retention of 124%, the long-term cash flow outlook seems robust.
• 7 Cheap Growth Stocks That Won't Stay That Way for Long
Even from a balance sheet perspective, Palantir looks attractive. The company ended Q1 2022 with $2.3 billion in cash and zero debt. There is ample flexibility to invest in innovation driven growth.
Source: Jonathan Weiss/shutterstock.com
I would addMarathon Digital(NASDAQ:MARA) among the stocks to buy for the next six-month. Without doubt, it’s a high-risk bet. However, at levels below $10, the stock seems very attractive.
It goes without saying that the plunge in MARA stock has been in-sync with the decline in Bitcoin (BTC-USD). It however seems that the cryptocurrency is in a consolidation zone.
Marathon Digital reported hashing capacity of 3.9EH/s for April 2022. The company expects to ramp-up capacity to 13.3EH/s by mid-2022. Further, the target is toboost capacity to 23.3EH/s by early 2023.
The targets seem steep. However, given the gradual addition of miners, the company is positioned for sustained growth in the next 12-24 months. Digital assets will also continue to swell in the company’s balance sheet.
Once Bitcoin trends higher, the upside in MARA stock can be significant. I would therefore consider some exposure to this high-risk bet for the next few quarters.
On the date of publication, Faisal Humayun did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to theInvestorPlace.comPublishing Guidelines.
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The post5 Stocks to Buy for 50% Upside in the Second Half of 2022appeared first onInvestorPlace. || SEC Writes to Crypto Exchanges About “Insider Trading Safeguards”: • Several US crypto exchanges received an inquiry from SEC regarding protection against insider trading.
• The move signals that the SEC is concerned about regulatory violations amid the crypto market meltdown.
• Last month, an Argus report noted that many prime suspects for insider trading came to light.
Howcryptocurrencyexchangesprevent the leaking of market-sensitive information has become a growing topic of concern. Regulators across the globe have been raising questions about market integrity for retail consumers.
Just weeks ago, Nathaniel Chastain, a former product manager of Ozone Network, otherwise known as OpenSea,was chargedwith insider trading in non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The investigation involved the FBI and the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team.
Now, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has involved itself in ensuring that crypto exchanges comply with anti-insider trading rules and have enough protection.
According toFox Business, an unnamed source familiar with SEC’s moves in this regard said that the watchdog has sent letters to crypto exchanges inquiring whether they have proper safeguards to curb insider trading incidents.
Put simply, insider trading means when someone uses non-public insider information of a company to buy or sell financial assets that aren’t listed yet.
For instance, in April, an Ethereum (ETH) wallet allegedly bought roughly $400,000 worth of tokens that were not yet listed on Coinbase (COIN) at the time.
In this case, the purchases took place three minutes before Coinbase’s official announcement, raising the question among speculators whether this was luck. However, the exchange did not list the tokens, raising suspicion among the community.
Such incidents have called regulators to scrutinize acts of insider trading in crypto exchanges.
Per the source, the letter has supposedly been sent to multiple exchanges. However, the SEC did not mention which exchanges were involved. Fox Business had contacted top crypto exchanges – Binance, Coinbase, FTX, and Crypto.com – all declined to comment.
The SEC too, failed to confirm the probe when asked. Although the news comes unofficially through a source, the probe aligns with SEC chairGary Gensler’s commentsin May. In an interview, he noted,
“Crypto’s got a lot of those challenges – of platforms trading ahead of their customers. In fact, they’re trading against their customers often because they’re market-marking against their customers.”
It is also unknown which division of the SEC is involved in the probe, the Fox news report noted.
The act comes at a time when the crypto market is facing increased pressure. Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, plunged to below $23K, bringing down the value of the entire crypto market to lower than $1 Trillion.
An analysis performed by Argus Inc., suspected several anonymous crypto investors of insider trading. They allegedly got to know when tokens would be listed on exchanges.
A recent Wall Street Journalreportfound 46 wallets that purchased a combined $17.3 million worth of tokens listed shortly after on Coinbase, Binance (BNB), and FTX (FTT).
Coinbase noted that they had a compliance policy prohibiting employees from trading on privileged information. Additionally, it also conducts regular analyses to ensure fairness in trading.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong recently wrote in ablog post,
“There is always the possibility that someone inside Coinbase could, wittingly or unwittingly, leak information to outsiders engaging in illegal activity. We have zero-tolerance for this and monitor for it, conducting investigations where appropriate with outside law firms.”
A Binance spokeswoman told WSJ that employees have 90 days to hold on to investments, which security leaders monitor. She noted,
“There is a longstanding process in place, including internal systems, that our security team follows to investigate and hold those accountable that have engaged in this type of behavior, immediate termination being minimal repercussion.”
FTX, too acts immediately over such violations and has explicitly banned its employees from trading on upcoming tokens listings. The company CEO Sam Bankman-Fried noted in a mail that FTX has relevant policies in place to prevent such acts.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Libya split deepens as Sirte parliament passes budget || The Week Ahead – Economic Data and Central Bank Chatter in Focus: On the Macro It is a busy week ahead on the economic calendar , with stats 75 due out through the week ending May 27. In the week prior, 46 stats were in focus. For the Dollar: US consumer confidence will be in focus ahead of private sector PMIs on Wednesday and Friday. Expect the consumer confidence and the market’s preferred ISM non-manufacturing PMI to draw plenty of interest. The key stats of the week, however, will be nonfarm payrolls and the unemployment rate on Friday, which could define the Fed’s next move on interest rates. On the monetary policy front, expect FOMC member chatter to draw plenty of attention. In the week ending May 27, 2022, the Dollar Spot Index slid by 1.44% to end the week at 101.668. In the week prior, the Index fell by 1.35% to 103.150. For the EUR : Early in the week, French GDP and German unemployment figures will draw interest, as will member state and Eurozone inflation. Mid-week finalized Eurozone manufacturing figures will also draw interest. After a quiet Thursday, German trade data and finalized service PMI and composite PMI figures will influence. On the monetary policy front, ECB President Christine Lagarde will also provide direction. For the week, the EUR jumped by 1.62% to $1.0735. In the previous week, the EUR rallied by 1.46% to $1.05064. For the Pound: It is a quiet week ahead, with stats limited to finalized manufacturing PMI numbers for May. The stats are unlikely to have a material impact on the Pound, however. In the week, the Pound rose by 1.21% to end the week at $1.2631. The Pound rallied by 1.78% to $1.2480 in the week prior. For the Loonie: On Tuesday, GDP numbers will be the key stats of the week. The main event, however, will be the Bank of Canada monetary policy decision on Wednesday. With the markets expecting a 50-basis point hike, it will come down to the rate statement. In the week ending May 27, the Loonie rose by 0.90 to C$1.2724 against the greenback. The Loonie rose by 0.69% to C$1.2840 in the week prior. Story continues From the Asia Pacific For the Aussie Dollar: Private sector credit and company gross operating profit figures will be in focus on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the market attention will shift to Q1 GDP numbers ahead of finalized retail sales and trade data on Friday. In the week, the Aussie Dollar rose by 1.73% to $0.7162. For the Kiwi Dollar: It’s a quiet week ahead, with building consents and business confidence numbers due out. Expect the ANZ Business Confidence report to have the greatest impact. The Kiwi Dollar rallied by 2.16% to end the week at $0.6532. For the Japanese Yen: Prelim industrial production and retail sales figures will draw market interest on Tuesday. On Wednesday, capital spending figures for the first quarter are also due out ahead of finalized service PMI numbers on Friday. The Japanese Yen rose by 0.59% to end the week at ¥127.12 against the dollar. In the week prior, the Yen ended the week up 1.04% to ¥127.88. Out of China Private sector PMIs are due out in the week ahead. While the NBS numbers will influence on Tuesday, the market’s preferred Caixin Manufacturing PMI should have a greater impact on Wednesday. In the week ending May 20, the Chinese Yuan slipped by 0.10% to CNY6.6994. The Yuan rose by 1.42% to CNY6.7930 in the week prior. Geo-Politics Russia and Ukraine will remain the area of focus in the week ahead, along with chatter from China. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Crypto Weekly Review May 29 – BTC Slides for a Record Ninth Week Shanghai takes further steps towards reopening, Beijing eases COVID curbs Gold Price Futures (GC) Technical Analysis – Main Trend Changes to Up on Trade Through $1875.00 Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now Jerusalem on edge before contentious Israeli flag march Trade BTC and ETH with 100x Leverage || 5 Things You Should Always Pay For With Cash: CiydemImages / Getty Images/iStockphoto Banks issue rewards credit cards for all kinds of spending categories, from flights, hotels, rental cars and entertainment to groceries, dining, warehouse clubs and e-commerce. With all of those ways to benefit from using credit -- and with cash having such a 20th-century feel in today's digital economy -- it's easy to write off old-school money as obsolete. Those green paper rectangles, after all, are one of the last remaining payment methods that don't pay you back. 2022 Stimulus Checks: Is Your State Giving Out Money This Year? Cash App Borrow: How To Borrow Money on Cash App In most cases, that's probably true -- but there are still a few times and places in the era of Bitcoin and Venmo where it still makes more sense to use cold, hard cash to complete your transaction. In every case except one, it's services -- not products -- where cash favors the buyer. Here's a look at the small handful of remaining transactions that you should conduct with cash as the medium of exchange -- or expect to pay more if you don't. JJ Gouin / Getty Images/iStockphoto College Tuition Big-time expenditures such as paying for college might seem like the perfect time to swipe your card and rake in beaucoup bucks in the form of points, miles, cash back or other rewards. The bursar's office, however, is one place where you don't want to bust out the plastic. About 85% of colleges and universities now accept credit cards as payment, according to CNBC -- but the privilege usually comes with a 2% to 3% surcharge. Presuming 2.5%, that's a $250 fee on a $10,000 tuition bill. That kind of upcharge will quickly chew away at any rewards you were imagining earning. Top cash-back cards such as Citi Double Cash, for example, pay cardholders only 2%. Shutterstock.com The Doctor's Office Most states no longer restrict merchants from charging extra to customers who pay with credit to cover the fees that credit card processing companies charge for every swipe -- those surcharges can be as high as 4%. According to Pymnts, small businesses widely adopted credit card surcharges -- often advertised as "cash discounts" -- as soon as the states began allowing them to do so. While the healthcare industry had long lagged behind, that's all changing now that new technology is making it easier for doctors, dentists, hospitals and other healthcare providers to build the cost of using a credit card into their price structures. Story continues sshepard / Getty Images/iStockphoto Government Offices Even the handful of states that still forbid retailers from charging credit card surcharges generally make an exception for government offices, which are usually allowed to pass the cost of credit card processing on to you. That means it's almost always cheaper to use cash at your local DMV, post office or when making payments at your local court. MCCAIG / iStock.com The Gas Station Nowhere is the difference between the cash price and credit card price more obvious than at the gas station. That, according to The Sun, is because they're among the only businesses that sell just one product. Before 2013, when Visa and Mastercard began allowing merchants to charge customers a fee for paying with a credit card, gas stations offered a cash discount. Today, however, most gas stations simply advertise two different prices side by side -- a lower price for cash and a higher price for credit. pkstock / Getty Images/iStockphoto The IRS If you find that you owe Uncle Sam a bill when tax season rolls around, you'll want to pay what you owe in the form of a direct ACH payment straight from your checking account. Paying your taxes with plastic -- including debit cards -- will cost you even more, and who in history has ever wanted to pay more than they owe to the IRS? If you do, for whatever reason, opt for paying your taxes with a card, the IRS uses three payment processors, all of which have different price structures: ACI Payments: $2.20 for debit card transactions, 1.98% with a minimum fee of $2.50 for credit cards Pay1040: $2.50 or 1.87% for debit cards, depending on the type of card, and 1.87% for credit cards with a minimum fee of $2.50 payUSAtax: $2.55 for debit cards, 1.96% with a minimum fee of $2.69 for credit cards. More From GOBankingRates Surprising Things You Can Buy With Food Stamps Nominate Your Favorite Small Business To Be Featured in GOBankingRates' 2022 Small Business Spotlight The 1% Don't Want You to Know About These 5 Investments The Top 10 Best Travel Hacks To Save the Most Money This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : 5 Things You Should Always Pay For With Cash || 7 Best REITs to Buy Now for Times of Uncertainty: • Real estate investment trusts (REITs) provide solid income and inflation protection in troubled times.
• American Tower(AMT): Cell phone towers are a reliable growth vehicle given global telecom demand trends.
• Crown Castle(CCI): Crown Castle is another leading player in the wireless communications infrastructure space.
• Cubesmart(CUBE): Self-storage is a surprisingly robust REIT category that holds up during economic setbacks.
• Life Storage(LSI): Life Storage is a strong growth operator within the self-storage niche.
• Mid-America Apartment Communities(MAA): Rents are going up, and MAA stock can help investors benefit.
• Equity Residential(EQR): Equity Residential is another leading apartment REIT with a focus on large gateway cities.
• American Homes 4 Rent(AMH): The booming housing market should bolster this REIT’s prospects as well.
Source: Vitalii Vodolazskyi / Shutterstock
It’s clear that inflation and economic risk are becoming the major themes for the rest of 2022. Tech growth stories are yesterday’s news and economic reopening stories are largely played out. Now, it’s seemingly time to pay the price for all the stimulus and excessive consumption that occurred since 2020. Inflation tends to be a negative phenomenon for most of the economy. Certainly, the stock market is having a rough 2022 as investors prepare for lower earnings and a worse economic outlook. However, real estate investment trusts (REITs) can buck that trend.
REITs are uniquely designed to withstand inflation. For one, REITs tend to use a lot of debt to acquire properties. As inflation hits, the value of those borrowed dollars declines, essentially inflating away much of a REITs’ obligations. On the asset side, however, the value of land and buildings appreciates nicely in nominal terms due to inflation. This has a favorable impact on a REIT’s overall balance sheet. Meanwhile, REITs are also able to raise prices on customers with inflation. This effect is particularly pronounced in certain categories such as storage and housing.
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That gives a sense of where there are particularly interesting opportunities for REIT investors in the current economic landscape. These seven REITs are well-positioned for the rest of 2022.
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[{"AMT": "CCI", "American Tower": "Crown Castle", "$234.74": "$178.95"}, {"AMT": "CUBE", "American Tower": "Cubesmart", "$234.74": "$40.84"}, {"AMT": "LSI", "American Tower": "Life Storage", "$234.74": "$109.71"}, {"AMT": "MAA", "American Tower": "Mid-America Apartments", "$234.74": "$174.17"}, {"AMT": "EQR", "American Tower": "Equity Residential", "$234.74": "$73.87"}, {"AMT": "AMH", "American Tower": "American Homes 4 Rent", "$234.74": "$36.60"}]
American Tower(NYSE:AMT) is the largest U.S.-based REIT out there by market capitalization. Its size highlights its appeal for REIT investors; the company has an excellent balance sheet and unmatched set of communications-related holdings. It operates more than 221,000 communications towers and sites around the globe; 43,000 of these are in North America with the balance being overseas.
Cell phone towers might seem like a mature market. However, American Tower has been able to keep growing aggressively by building new sites in less penetrated regions such as Latin America and India. The company achieves tremendous operating margins because it is usually able to rent properties out to two or even three different telecom providers. With global demand for data continuing to rise, American Tower should be able to keep executing on its business strategy. Meanwhile, AMT stock is down 18% year-to-date, offering a nice entry point.
Crown Castle(NYSE:CCI)is one of American Tower’s major rivals. It has differentiated itself by betting more on small sites rather than the traditional cell phone towers. Regardless, it has been a fast-growing market with plenty of space for both types of operators. In particular, now, 5G demand is creating a lot of additional demand for Crown Castle’s core product offerings.
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CCI stock is now down 14% year-to-date, and is only up slightly since the beginning of 2020. Given the continuing rise in demand for mobile data and data-heavy innovations such as the “internet of things” and autonomous driving, it seems safe to say that demand for mobile communications bandwidth will continue to surge throughout the decade. That should pave the way for another solid run-up in CCI stock.
Self-storage has historically been an excellent niche within the REIT space. It tends to be counter-cyclical. Intuitively, you might think demand for storage would fall during a hard economy. But, it actually tends to drive additional demand.
In 2009, for example, storage REITs did far better than peers. It seems as people were foreclosed upon or moved to smaller houses, it drove a great deal of incremental demand for storage. Some prominent hedge funds and analysts were betting against self-storage in 2009 and got smoked on their trade.
Fast forward to today.Cubesmart(NYSE:CUBE)should be well-positioned for the current economy. High inflation has allowed storage operators to push through price increases for customers. Meanwhile, the booming housing market has caused a lot of people to move between locations. As people move into new homes or apartments, it creates an opportunity for people to need some additional storage to take care of things for a time.
CUBE stock has slumped from $57 to $41 in recent months despite favorable industry dynamics. This has pushed the stock down to a reasonable 18 times funds from operations (FFO), and the dividend yield has once again moved up to 4%.
Given how strong storage tends to be regardless of economic conditions, it’s worth putting another storage name on the list.Life Storage(NYSE:LSI)is more of a growth name on the storage space, as it has grown FFO more than 10% compounded annually over the past decade. Since 2010, Life Storage has gone from 377 storage locations that it owned or ran through a joint venture (JV) up to 1,076 locations as of 2021.
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Given Life Storage’s ambitious growth capacity, shares have tended to trade at a slightly higher valuation multiple than its direct peers such as Cubesmart. With the recent selloff in LSI stock, however, shares are now under 19x FFO and offer a 3.5% dividend yield.
Mid-America Apartment Communities(NYSE:MAA)is a Tennessee-based apartment REIT. It concentrates on what are known as the sun belt states; Mid-America is prominent in the South, Mid-Atlantic and Southwest. It holds an ownership interest in more than 102,000 apartments across 14 different states and the District of Columbia.
Apartments have been a hot investment category in recent years. Given the country’s current demographic situation, there has been significant household formation beyond existing housing capacity. Homebuilders built a low number of new houses in the 2010s, forcing more new families to choose apartments instead.
Now throw in a roaring post-pandemic housing market, and rents are surging. Most publicly traded apartment REITs are reporting strong numbers, and Mid-America is no exception. It saw its 2021 new lease rates surge 11.8% on average, and its rent renewals rise 9.7% for 2021 as well.
If you’re in the market for a new housing situation this year, it’s hard to avoid rising rent or mortgage payments. However, MAA stock’s 2.5% dividend yield and history of strong share price appreciation could help ease the burden from housing cost inflation.
Equity Residential(NYSE:EQR)is another of the nation’s premier apartment companies. It’s unique from Mid-America due to the geographies it serves. Instead of betting on the sun belt, Equity has gone for top-tier cities such as New York, Boston, Seattle and San Francisco. Equity currently controls more than 300 different properties with nearly 80,000 apartments in total.
• 7 Oversold Tech Stocks to Buy Now
EQR stock has historically traded at an elevated valuation compared to other REITs. However, EQR stock has slumped from $94 to $75 over the past month. That has pushed the stock down to a more palatable 21 times FFO while pushing the dividend yield up to 3.4%.
American Homes 4 Rent(NYSE:AMH)is another way to play the booming housing market angle. Unlike the apartment REITs, American Homes 4 Rent has bought up individual single-family residences — it held more than 57,000 of them across 22 states as of year-end 2021.
Unlike apartments, there is less of a proven business model for owning individual homes at a massive scale. Investors were skeptical that the numbers would pencil out, but now private equity firms such asBlackstone(NYSE:BX) are makingmajor betsin the sector. This could indicate that American Homes 4 Rent has a great business model after all.
AMH stock isn’t cheap at the moment with shares going for almost 24 times FFO and a dividend yield of just 1.9%, That said, it’s hard to deny the pent-up investor demand for single-family housing, and AMH stock is one of the best pureplay ways to get exposure to that trend.
On the date of publication, Ian Bezek held a long position in AMT stock. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.comPublishing Guidelines.
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The post7 Best REITs to Buy Now for Times of Uncertaintyappeared first onInvestorPlace. || Bitcoin: El Salvador hosts 44 countries to encourage crypto adoption: El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as an official currency in September 2021 (Getty Images/iStockphoto) Eight months after becoming the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as an official currency, El Salvador has invited 44 countries to discuss the rollout and benefits of the cryptocurrency . The Central American country will host representatives from Africa, Asia and Latin America on Monday, with financial inclusion and digital economy among the discussion topics. El Salvador President Nayib Bukele shared a full list of the attendees on Twitter , revealing that the central banks of both Egypt and Nigeria would be present, accounting for the two biggest economies in Africa. Tomorrow, 32 central banks and 12 financial authorities (44 countries) will meet in El Salvador to discuss financial inclusion, digital economy, banking the unbanked, the bitcoin rollout and its benefits in our country, President Bukele tweeted on Sunday evening. El Salvadors decision to adopt bitcoin came in response to combat hyper inflation and reduce its reliance on the US dollar. The country has also added bitcoin to its balance sheet, with a total reserve of roughly 2,301 BTC worth almost $70 million at current market rates. A recent price crash means that El Salvadors crypto holdings have fallen in value by around 28 per cent against the dollar, though the biggest purchase of 500 BTC came after President Bukele bought the dip when bitcoin was at its current price. Tomorrow, 32 central banks and 12 financial authorities (44 countries) will meet in El Salvador to discuss financial inclusion, digital economy, banking the unbanked, the #Bitcoin rollout and its benefits in our country. Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) May 16, 2022 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also warned other countries about following El Salvadors lead, claiming that bitcoin entails large risks for financial and market integrity, financial stability and consumer protection. Story continues Despite this warning, Central African Republic became the second country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender last month, making it an official currency alongside the existing CFA franc. With cryptocurrency, there is no more control of the Central Bank, Gourna Zacko, CARs minister of the digital economy, said in a statement announcing the move. You have your money, you send an investor for a business, you receive it in any currency, you can dispose with it in dollar, euro, CFA or Naira. El Salvadors bitcoin experiment still has a long way to go, with the next major stage involving the construction of a brand new city named after the decentralised digital currency. Bitcoin City will be built at the base of the Conchagua volcano on the Gulf of Fonseca, and has been described by bitcoin advocates as a crypto utopia . || Buy Amazon Stock After It Splits On June 6: • Down 35% year to date, Amazon’s (AMZN)stock looks attractive at current levels.
• And the stock is about to get cheaper following a 20-for-1 split scheduled to take place on June 6.
• The current problems plaguing the e-commerce company are temporary. Long-term, shareholders will make out just fine.
Source: Tada Images / Shutterstock.com
Following its latest earnings, e-commerce giantAmazon(NASDAQ:AMZN) looks to be in the penalty box with investors.
The year-to-date decline in AMZN stock is now 36%, outpacing the 26% drop in theNasdaqexchange on which the company’s shares trade.
At its current price of $2,141.72 a share, Amazon’s stock has given up all the gains it achieved during the pandemic when the online retailer became an essential resource for consumers all over the world who could no longer make in-person visits to shopping malls and brick-and-mortar retail outlets.
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While the pullback this year has been steady, the shares really fell off a cliff over the past month following Amazon’sfirst-quarter results, which saw the company report a rare net loss and the slowest growth in 20 years.
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To be fair, many of the problems that are currently vexing Amazon are not within the company’s control. Inflation at a 40-year high, rising interest rates, renewed Covid-19 lockdowns in China, and war in Ukraine are not problems unique to Amazon. Neither are global supply chain delays and elevated prices for oil and gas.
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However, Amazon did take a major hit in the first quarter from a very bad investment decision the company made. In Q1, Amazon recorded amassive $7.6 billion losson its stake in electric vehicle start-upRivian(NASDAQ:RIVN), whose share price has plunged 76% since is initial public offering (IPO) last fall.
Amazon, along withFord Motor Co.(NYSE:F), was one of the biggest investors in Rivian, and expected that the EV company would supply it with 100,000 electric delivery vans. That investment has soured with RIVN stock cratering and thedelivery vans now delayed.
For its part, Ford has beendumping Rivian sharesas quickly as the automaker’s management team can hit the “sell” button. Regardless, the big loss on its Rivian investment led Amazon to post a Q1 net loss of $3.8 billion. It was Amazon’s first net loss since 2015 and prompted more than a few analysts to take their feet off their desks when the news appeared online.
In terms of sales, Amazon reported itsslowest growth ratesince the dot-com bubble burst in 2001, harkening back to the bad old days when the last widespread meltdown in technology stocks occurred.
Revenue at Amazon increased 7% during Q1, a marked comedown from 44% growth in the first quarter of 2021, and the slowest rate of growth for any quarter since the turn of the century. Worse, the company forecast even slower growth for the current second quarter, saying it expects revenues to expand between 3% and 7% from a year earlier. Amazon forecast Q2 revenueof $116 billion to $121 billion, well-below the $125.5 billion analysts had penciled in.
Given the mounting problems, Q1 net loss, and slowing sales, investors can hardly be faulted for taking a wait-and-see approach towards AMZN stock. However, the company is taking steps to improve its fortunes and win back the confidence ofWall StreetandMain Street.
The company announced that it is introducing a5% surchargefor some of its U.S. sellers, the first such fee it has levied. Plus, Amazon is raising the price of itsU.S. Prime membershipfor the first time in four years to $139 a year from $119 previously.
And, the company plans to hold its annual Prime Day sales event in July this year rather than June. That move will help to boost the company’s third quarter results during what has traditionally been the slowest period of the year.
Also, Amazon is executing a20-for-1 stock spliton June 6, its first since 1999. The split should put AMZN stock within reach of smaller retail investors and could lead to a rally in the downtrodden share price. And, the company has also approved $10 billion worth of share buybacks this year, which should further strengthen the stock in coming months.
Will it be enough? Time will tell. But the company is clearly taking offensive maneuvers to try and improve its situation and overcome the pressures that are being exerted on its business and share price. For their part, analysts remain optimistic about Amazon’s stock. Among 46 professionals who cover the e-commerce company, themedian price targeton Amazon’s share price is $3,700, implying 60% upside over the next year.
Amazon remains the world’s dominant e-commerce company and a leading technology concern. Long-term, the stock is still a great investment. And with the share price about to come down to about $110 a share (based on current levels) following the June 6 split, investors would be smart tobuy shares on the dipand hold them in their portfolio for the long haul.
In time, shareholders will continue to be rewarded by Amazon. Treat the current selloff and upcoming stock split as a rare opportunity. AMZN stock is a buy.
On the date of publication, Joel Bagloledid not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.comPublishing Guidelines.
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The postBuy Amazon Stock After It Splits On June 6appeared first onInvestorPlace. || Crypto.com Expands Services With Shopify Offering 0 Transaction Fees: Key Insights: Shopify will use Crypto.com Pay to enable crypto payments. The facility will allow merchants to receive cryptocurrencies with 0 transaction fees. Crypto.com is pushing adoption by recently announcing a five-year partnership with AFL. In an announcement today, one of the world’s best-known cryptocurrency exchanges, Crypto.com , enabled Shopify merchants to receive payments in cryptocurrency with the help of Crypto.com Pay. Crypto.com Expands Merchant Reach With this integration, Shopify merchants will be able to tap the market of customers who prefer to pay in cryptocurrencies and also open up opportunities for the current users who are looking to make use of this facility. Crypto.com is even offering to waive the 0.5% settlement fee for the first month after integration on all transactions to incentivize Shopify merchants further. This will also help Crypto.com expand its payment services to other Shopify users as well. Currently, Crypto.com enables users to make payments all around the world with 0 transaction fees, and they also incentivize individuals to make use of its native token, Cronos, with its payment platform. Users who pay through Crypto.com using Cronos receive a significant amount in crypto-cashback, which can run up to 10% during certain periods. Going forward, Crypto.com users will be able to pay Shopify merchants using 20 cryptocurrencies ranging from Bitcoin to Apecoin , including Ethereum , Cronos, Dogecoin , and Shiba Inu as well. Commenting on this announcement, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Crypto.com, Kris Marszalek, stated, “Providing more customers and merchants the ability to engage in commerce using cryptocurrencies is a priority for Crypto.com. We are incredibly excited to integrate into Shopify, and to bring this capability to even more customers and merchants around the world.” Crypto.com Furthers Its Partnerships Marketing and advertising are the strongest suits of Crypto.com with brand ambassadors like Matt Damon. The exchange is thus building on it to reach a wider audience. Story continues As per that strategy, the most recent play was Crypto.com’s five-year partnership with Australian Football League, becoming the Official Cryptocurrency Exchange and Official Cryptocurrency Trading Platform for both AFL and AFLW. But while it excels on the expansion front, it might not be doing so well on the investor front as Cronos holder try to recover from the devastating crash of May 9. Although CRO is up by 16.64% over the week, it will be hard for the altcoin to counter the 43.35% plunge in price during the crash. Cronos lost over 43% during the recent market crash This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Getty Images Goes NFT in Partnership with Candy Digital Pollution killing 9 million people a year, Africa hardest hit – study California church shooter was licensed armed security guard Argo testing driverless vehicles on Miami and Austin streets Trump-endorsed Ted Budd wins Republican primary for North Carolina’s Senate seat Britishvolt, Scorpio Group to research maritime EV batteries, storage || Nomura offers its first bitcoin derivatives, just as crypto markets tumble: HONG KONG (Reuters) - Nomura has begun offering bitcoin over-the-counter derivatives to clients, it said Friday, the latest move by a traditional financial institution into the cryptocurrency industry, even as markets are in turmoil. The trades, executed on the CME by crypto asset trading firm Cumberland DRW this week, were the Japanese investment bank's first digital asset trades, said Nomura's head of markets, Asia ex-Japan, Rig Karkhanis in a statement. "Working with institutional-grade counterparties will allow us to scale into the increasing demand from our clients," he said. Many global investment banks have been looking to offer clients more crypto related services, responding they say to demand from institutional investors and private clients for access to what had been a fast growing sector. However, crypto markets have tumbled this week as a meltdown in TerraUSD, one of the world's largest stablecoins, sent digital tokens, already swept up in a sell-off of riskier assets, into meltdown. Bitcoin hit a 16-month low of around $25,400 on Thursday. (Reporting by Alun John; Editing by Kim Coghill) || Bitcoin Hasn’t Hit Rock Bottom Yet: Is The Crypto Winter Going to End or Has It Only Just Begun?: The price of Ethereum (ETH-USD) has also dropped by nearly 70% over the past three months for the first time in the history of the largest altcoin by capitalization.
The crisis in the cryptocurrency market has led to massive layoffs and liquidations in many large crypto companies, and crypto lending platforms are now under threat of bankruptcy.CoinbaseandCrypto.comannounced more than 1400 layoffs, the largest crypto investment fund Three Arrows Capital went intoliquidation, and lending company Celsius suspended withdrawals for customers.
Mining companies faced difficulties due to falling profitability and began to sell mined Bitcoins to pay their operating costs and cover loans.
The price ofBitcoinis largely correlated with the situation in the US stock market. The stock sell-off has seriously impacted Bitcoin and the crypto market as investors are doing away with risky assets.
In the second quarter, the US Federal Reserve implemented two aggressive interest rate hikes to cope with record-high inflation, fueling fears of a global recession. As a result, the percentage-wise decline in traditional asset indices has reached double-digit values.
The hardest hit were the stocks of high-growth technology names —the Nasdaq Compositedropping by 22.4% in the second quarter and showing its worst quarterly performance over 14 years.
Bitcoin has never experienced such strong pressure from external factors as it is now. Since the beginning of the year, the cryptocurrency has lost 57.3% in price, twice as much as theS&P 500(-20.6%). Those who bought shares of companies such asPayPal(-64.2%),Netflix(-70%) andShopify(-77%), suffered more losses. Even classic portfolio strategies in the US are showing their worst performance since the 2008 global financial crisis.
There are no reasons in sight for a change in the global downtrend in the market. From the point of view of macro prospects, a change in the trend for Bitcoin is possible only with the change in the rhetoric of the US Federal Reserve to a friendlier stance towards the stock markets. The prerequisite is the normalization of inflation and the stabilization of the economy.
Even worse, the likelihood of a further price decline is only increasing. In his recent speech to the US Congress, the head of the Fed acknowledged that there is a possibility of a recession. Previously, high growth in food prices against the backdrop of low unemployment was a typical picture on the eve of economic downturns.
The negative sentiment towards digital currencies on the part of regulators wasexacerbatedby the collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin, as a result of which global authorities started talking about the shortcomings of the digital currency market and the need for stricter regulation.
Improvements in the stock exchange market are unlikely in the near future, which means that the price of Bitcoin in the third quarter will not demonstrate growth. A lot will also depend on geopolitics, new economic measures, prices for commodities, and the results of the elections to the US Congress in early November.
Some experts predict a possible rebound in the price of Bitcoin to $25,000. But, subsequently, there is a high chance that the cryptocurrency will continue to fall and begin a long consolidation in search of price lows below the $10,000 mark. Psychological factors are also playing against Bitcoin.
During a downtrend, positive news does not contribute to cryptocurrency exchange rates growth, while negative news, on the contrary, has a negative effect on the price. New price lows can provoke traders to a new reset of the cryptocurrency throughout the market. On the other hand, it can be an entry point for market newcomers looking to take advantage of the low price.
In many ways, long-term investors are guided by 2024, when the next Bitcoin halving will take place. The price of the coin will most likely update its historical highs after the landmark event, just as it has in the past history of the oldest cryptocurrency.
In any case, it can be quite a risky venture to buy any cryptocurrency now, as top instruments may well lose another 50% to 70% of their current value.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 20860.45, 19970.56, 19323.91, 20212.07, 20569.92, 20836.33, 21190.32, 20779.34, 22485.69, 23389.43
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Gaming Crypto-Artists Court Controversy While Cashing in on NFTs: (Bloomberg) -- Last week, the artist Ben Mauro was dividing his paychecks into three categories: rent, food, and art. Now, suddenly he’s a multimillionaire. Mauro, who has created concept art for films including The Hobbit and video games such as Halo, is newly wealthy thanks to the phenomenon of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. These tokens are a type of cryptocurrency, similar to Bitcoin, but each one is unique and can’t be replaced or replicated. They’ve grown popular among digital artists because they serve as certificates of authenticity. In the online world, where anyone can replicate images an infinite number of times, NFTs allow artists to create a stamp of ownership. With ownership comes value. Over the past few months, NFTs have exploded in popularity as cryptocurrencies gained mainstream acceptance. Collectors dished out more than $60 million in February for gifs, jpegs, memes and other art that’s only available on a screen. Video game artists, who are native to digital creations, have embraced the phenomenon. Raf Grassetti, the art director of the popular video game God of War, has been selling 3D models of celebrities like Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk for tens of thousands of dollars. Halo Infinite art director Nicolas Bouvier sold a painting of a castle Tuesday for nearly $35,000. And Mauro’s collection of art, which he sold in the form of collectible card packs, has earned more than $2 million on an NFT website called Viv3. “I still kind of don’t believe it,” Mauro said. “This whole thing moves so fast. One day, alright, I’m broke. Now I’m a millionaire. Sure, I guess.” The NFT phenomenon has made some top artists rich, but it has also been controversial in the video game art scene. Critics point to the astronomical energy costs of mining cryptocurrency, which requires high-end computers to operate constantly at full power, as an ecological disaster. Most NFTs are linked to a cryptocurrency called Ethereum, which was estimated in 2018 to use more energy than Iceland. The creators of Ethereum have been promising for years to switch to a more ecologically friendly mechanism, but that hasn’t yet come to fruition. Story continues Others say NFTs deepen the wealth disparity among artists and that they are prone to scams, since the creator of an NFT doesn’t have to prove ownership of the original work. Already, NFT marketplaces are seeing instances of stolen art and copyright violations. The controversy became more pronounced on Monday night when ArtStation, one of the most popular websites for video game artists to share their work, said it would open up a market to buy and sell NFTs. Thousands of artists slammed the decision on Twitter and threatened to delete their accounts. By Tuesday morning, ArtStation had backtracked, apologizing and saying in a statement that it hoped “at some point in the future we’ll be able to find a solution that is equitable and ecologically sound.” “I would never engage with Ethereum NFTs and cryptoart,” said Douglas Copeland, an artist who has worked on games like Lawbreakers. “I don’t believe I could morally do that with climate change currently hitting at the rate it’s going.” Mauro’s newfound wealth isn’t in Ethereum. It’s actually tied up in a cryptocurrency called Flow that claims to have less of a carbon footprint than its peers. The downside is that it’s not available in the U.S. yet, so Mauro can’t actually get his money. He says he joined a Flow-operated network because they recruited him and he was impressed by their track record of success with sites such as the trading card marketplace NBA Top Shot. “I’ve seen all the ups and downs, so my cynicism level is pretty high,” Mauro said. “I plan for the worst and hope for the best in all situations, and I’m doing that here.” Mauro compares the NFT phenomenon to the music industry, in which a single hit song might alter a musician’s entire career. Digital art hasn’t been capable of that until now, he says. “In the same way not every person who picks up a guitar will have a big hit song, it at least gives all of us an opportunity to have that chance,” he said. Even as NFTs have created a way for artists to claim ownership of their work, there are still loopholes and potential for fakes. On Tuesday, many video game artists were warning one another on Twitter to look out for copyright thieves and even ambitious hucksters looking to package and sell NFTs for the art contained in Tweets. For Mauro, the potential reward outweighs the risk. He’s been following cryptocurrency for a few years and got involved with NFTs late last year. He said he was inspired to get in early after missing out on the opportunity to buy Bitcoin several years ago, when it was trading at closer to $500 than its current price of over $54,000. “What Bitcoin did for money, this is going to do for art,” Mauro said. “I missed it for that thing, not going to miss it for this one.” He began working with Viv3 to create listings for some of the personal art he’d been making for the past decade, then began selling them on March 3. His collection sold out in seven minutes. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. ©2021 Bloomberg L.P. || Crypto Long & Short: How Coinbase Going Public Is Reshaping Trust in Markets: Finally, what we’ve been waiting for: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commisisonhas published Coinbase’s S-1,clearing the way for a direct listing on Nasdaq.
While some major details are still missing (most notablywhenthe company plans to list), we now have a glimpse into how a major crypto exchange works, what it’s worried about and just how much the market is growing.
The figures are indeed eye-opening: In the fourth quarter of 2020, the number of verified users on Coinbase’s platform reached 43 million after adding almost 45,000 new usersa day. The average number of monthly transacting users grew by over 30% in the fourth quarter alone, to 2.8 million.
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Also eye-opening is the inflow of institutional investors, something that we’ve talked about often in this column. Over the fourth quarter, institutional trading volume grew over 110% to $57 billion, while retail trading volume grew by almost 80%. The company services 7,000 institutional accounts.
The Coinbase filing gave everyone who works in this industry something to chew on. There was the bold vision, the numbers, the services overview and some details on their recent acquisitions. There was even a nod to Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, who was featured on the front page as a designated recipient of copies of the filing documents.
And for those interested in the future of work, the customary physical location of the filer was given as “Address not applicable,” with the footnote: “In May 2020, we became a remote-first company. Accordingly, we do not maintain a headquarters.”
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While there is much to enjoy in the filing, and no doubt much to continue to pick apart over the next few days, let’s take a step back and look at what this document is really about, and what it says about the future of capital markets. Deep down, it’s about the reshaping of trust.
One of the big steps forward for the industry is greater transparency as to the inner workings of a key infrastructure company.
With greater transparency comes greater trust. This is not the same as trust that Coinbase’s value will go up and up. It’s trust that there is a real business opportunity here, for investors and builders.
We’ve all experienced the dismissal from mainstream economists and investors that crypto is anything but hot air. We’ve all seen how market innovations are dismissed as trivial or even irritating. Yet with this hefty document, even the most skeptical of market observers will look at the numbers and realize that this business is substantial, and that crypto assets move significant amounts of money. What’s more, the market is attracting a growing user base that is generating meaningful profit margins.
With this filing, more traditional businesses will start to trust that crypto assets are here to stay, and are a market force to be reckoned with.
The filing also lists in detail the potential risks to Coinbase and to the industry as a whole. Any therapist will tell you that sharing your worries helps to diminish them. In finance, disclosing every risk you can think of makes good regulatory sense; it also helps them to seem more containable.
The risks listed by Coinbase include the usual caveats about the sensitivity of Coinbase’s income to the volatile nature of crypto markets, the possibility of cyberattacks and the threat of adverse regulation. It also includes some less talked about risks such as the possibility of class-action lawsuits, the loss of banking relationships and the reemergence of Satoshi Nakamoto in person.
Airing in public everything we think could go wrong in our industry will assuage mainstream concern that we’re blind to the dangers of untested technologies, new financial instruments and the lure of the quick profit. It broadcasts that we know, and yet we still believe that these markets are necessary.
It boosts trust in our industry and in the overall integrity of the main market participants.
The reshaping of trust is also obvious in Coinbase’s decision to use the direct listing approach. This bypasses much of the IPO rigmarole, in that the company lists by selling already existing shares on the market. This means that there is no need for a roadshow to drum up institutional interest, no expensive fees to underwriters, no shareholder dilution.
It is also appropriate for a company steeped in a decentralized ethos, even if it runs a centralized business. In an initial public offering (IPO), the initial trading price is decided on by a group of investment bankers who balance declared institutional interest with the company’s desire to get the highest price possible (and the advisers’ fondness for higher fees). In a direct listing, the market decides.
It is almost a pity, though, that Coinbase chose to forgo the crypto education opportunity that a roadshow to institutions would have offered. Just imagine the investment committees of mutual funds, pension funds, etc., getting a masterclass in crypto assets and their markets.
A further effect of Coinbase’s direct listing decision is the message it sends to other businesses in the industry also contemplating taking advantage of soaring prices and volumes. Investment banks are no doubt already fielding a flood of incoming requests for meetings, and the next few months will most likely see other well-known crypto companies, and probably even some more obscure ones, follow a similar path.
More companies making public their accounts will lead to even greater industry understanding, which enhances trust.
Zooming out even further, the Coinbase move delineates where we are in the arc of crypto impact on capital markets.
Those of us who work in the crypto industry have been saying for some time that crypto markets will influence traditional markets more than most currently realize.
What’s becoming clearer now is that it will happen in phases. Right now, we’re in the assets phase, where the value propositions and price potential of cryptocurrencies and tokens dominate the mindshare of traditional market participants. Companies that help investors onboard and manage their crypto holdings have center stage. We will also see traditional players tiptoe into the crypto pool to harness some of the attention-grabbing action for their clients.
This first phase is about the assets themselves, and facilitating access to them.
The next phase will be how assets move.
Coinbase hints at this in the S-1 document when it discusses traditional assets that move on blockchains. Included in the outlines growth strategy is: “Tokenize new assets.” The section goes on: “We will invest in infrastructure and regulatory clarity to pave a path for the digitization of more traditional financial assets to help pave the path for new assets to be represented as crypto assets.”
It is worth remembering that Coinbase has participated in thefunding roundsof severalstartupsbuilding security token infrastructure.
Some had hoped that Coinbase would set an example and come to market via a security token. Progress is being made, but the security token market is still too illiquid and immature to support such an ambitious step. Interest is building, however, supported by recent market events thathave laid barethe inefficiencies of current capital market plumbing.
And Coinbase did bury deep in the S-1 text a hint that it might consider issuing blockchain tokens in the future, with the following statement: “We may issue shares of capital stock, including in the form of blockchain tokens, to our customers in connection with customer reward or loyalty programs.”
That is yet another way in which the Coinbase listing is about trust. The eventual migration of capital markets to blockchain-based systems, nudged along by the issuance of new security-like assets as well as tokenized securities, could push trust in capital markets back to a healthy level.
With its S-1 filing, Coinbase is not just pushing for a new type of trust in crypto markets. It is possibly also setting the stage for a new type of trust in capital markets more broadly. This is a mammoth ambition, but one that both crypto market practitioners and capital markets observers can get behind.
Payments giantSquarehas purchasedan additional 3,318BTCfor $170 million, bringing its holding up to 8,027 BTC. It also revealed that its allocation of 4,709 BTC to its treasury holdings in October 2020 cost about $50 million. That holdingis now worthover $250 million.TAKEAWAY:This highlights the complex issues surrounding treasury allocations to bitcoin, a growing trend among innovative companies worried about the impact of fiat debasement. Should treasury holdings be a speculative bet? What happens when the value appreciation exceeds the company’s revenue? How should this be reflected in accounting? Interesting to note that RBCincreased its price targetfor Square for 2021, in part due to a 69% jump in 2021 bitcoin revenue.
Square wasn’t the only company adding to its BTC holdings this week.MicroStrategyrevealed the purchaseof another 19,452 BTC for $1.026 billion in bitcoin.TAKEAWAY:Funds for this purchase came from a$1.05 billion convertible debt offering, and have leverage the firm even more to the BTC price.
Asset managerCoinShareshas launched a physically backed Ethereum ETPon the Swiss SIX exchange with the ticker “ETHE.”TAKEAWAY:Following on the heels of CoinShares’ bitcoin ETP launch in January, this underscores the growing investor interest inETH.
Crypto asset managerCoinSharesalso released theCoinShares Gold and Cryptoassets Index Lite(CGI), a decentralized finance (DeFi) token designed for institutional investors. The token’s value is based on two equally weighted “wrapped” crypto assets – wrapped bitcoin (WBTC) and wrapped ether (WETH) – and the firm’s wrapped gold token, wDGLD.TAKEAWAY:If you readlast week’s newsletter, you’ll know that I think institutional interest in DeFi is worth watching. This token makes that even easier, not only because it can be tracked, but also because it provides a relatively convenient on-ramp for investors considering exposure. This is not really tracking “hard core” DeFi innovation, but it’s a start.
CI Global Asset Management, a subsidiary of a firm overseeing more than $230 billion in assets,filed a preliminary prospectusfor CI Galaxy Bitcoin ETF (BTCX), which, if approved, would be Canada’s third bitcoin ETF.TAKEAWAY: Given thestrong demand for thePurpose Bitcoin ETF in its early days of trading (when the BTC price wasn’t falling), this is possibly just the beginning of a stream of ETFs listed on Canadian stock exchanges. As the bitcoin ETF market starts to get populated in Canada, we could also start to see some more diverse approaches, such as offering investors exposure to a basket of assets.
A February survey of 30,000 people over the age of 18 conducted byPiplsay, a global consumer research platform,found that 25% of Americanssurveyed hold crypto assets, with a further 27% saying that they plan to invest this year.TAKEAWAY: These results are in line with similar surveys carried out recently byGrayscale Investments(a subsidiary of DCG, also parent of CoinDesk) andBitwise, and underscore the receding likelihood that the U.S. government would attempt to ban bitcoin. Rather, the more extensive the mainstream interest in bitcoin, the more regulated services will step in to service this market, and the more comfortable regulators will get with pending issues.
During the market sell-off on Monday, ETHtraded as low as$700 (a more than 50% drop) on crypto exchangeKraken.TAKEAWAY: This highlights that, even though market liquidity has improved dramatically over the years, there could still be issues of order books drying up in the face of high volume and uncertainty.
• Crypto Long & Short: How Coinbase Going Public Is Reshaping Trust in Markets
• Crypto Long & Short: How Coinbase Going Public Is Reshaping Trust in Markets || Elon Musk's $1.5bn bet is 'game changer' for Bitcoin: Bitcoin has jumped to a record high after Tesla disclosed a $1.5 billion investment in the digital currency.
Bitcoin responded toTesla's vote of confidenceby surging nearly 15pc to $43,863 and briefly hit a new all-time high on Monday, earning the car maker a profit of around $150 million in just a few hours, according to analysts.
The electric car maker disclosed the investment in SEC filing and also said it expects to accept Bitcoin in exchange for its products in the near future.
Tesla founder has been a vocal advocate of Bitcoin, regularly posting about the cryptocurrency on his social media channels.
That's all from us tonight. Join us again tomorrow from7amfor live updates on all the day's best tech news.
Reading-based Dialog Semiconductor has been snapped up by the Japanese firm Renesas Electronics in a €4.9bn (£4.19bn) deal becoming the latest British technology company to succumb to Asian buyers.
Hannah Bolandreports:
The deal will mean another of Britain's leading semiconductor companies has fallen to a foreign buyer, It comes amid an ongoing row over a takeover of Cambridge chip maker Arm by Nvidia and as questions continue to swirl over King's Langley-based Imagination Technology's Beiijing owners.
Sir Hossein Yassaie, the former chief executive of Imagination, said Dialog's takeover was not a surprise, because the company was clearly a takeover target.
He said: "I understand why companies in this space need to consolidate to get bigger. I would have liked this to have been done by UK companies, but unfortunately, we don't have a mega semiconductor company."
Read the full story here.
A prominent Left-wing member ofFacebook'snewOversight Boardhas quit the body in order to work for US President Joe Biden.
Pamela Karlan, a Stanford University law professor who testified in favour of Donald Trump's impeachment in 2019, will be a deputy assistant attorney general in Mr Biden's Justice Department.
A spokesman for the board said: “Pam Karlan’s legal and civil rights expertise played an important part in shaping the Board and we’re grateful for her contributions. The Trustees and Board members congratulate Pam on her new role and wish her the very best.”
It comes only five months after the board opened its doors, hearing appeals from users who believe that Facebook has wrongly taken down their content. Often referred to as Facebook's "supreme court",its political make-up has been controversial, with conservatives accusing it of liberal bias.
The board is currently ruling on whether the social media giant was right to ban Mr Trump from its services, but a spokesman said that Prof Karlan had no part in that decision, having already gone on leave to work for Mr Biden's transition team.
o involvement in any of the cases the group has already ruled on, nor its new case over former President Donald Trump’s suspension.
The discussion app Clubhouse appears to be the latest online space blocked by China's "Great Firewall".
The app was taken offline after seeing a surge in popularity in China, sparking speculation that censors were responding to how Clubhouse was attracting political debates that are usually banned in the country.
Because the app discourages any type of recording, Chinese users were using it to freely discuss the pros and cons of democracy as well as government policies towards the Uighur minority group, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
My colleague James Cook has the full storyhere.
More than 50 MEPs have signed a letter, lobbying the European Commission to restore tech platforms' ability to deploy an algorithm that can automatically detect child sexual abuse in private messages.
In December,EU officials failed to agreeon whether these algorithms should be given an exemption from new “ePrivacy” rules, designed to limit the way companies can use data and metadata generated by private messages.
When the new privacy rules came into force later that month,the algorithm essentially became illegal in the EU.An exemption has still not been agreed, even though talks are on going. The UK is not affected.
The US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported a 46pc drop in the number of child sexual abuse cases reported by tech companies since the new rules came into force.
"The lack of agreement is putting children in severe jeopardy," the letter reads.
"Every day counts, because every day without the adoption of the temporary derogation means that countless numbers of children are left unprotected because tech companies can no longer detect their abuses online and police can no longer save them."
The electric car company's stake in Bitcoin is a "game changing move for the use of bitcoin from a transactional perpsective," said Webush analysts Daniel Ives and Ygal Arounian in a note.
They added:
"This move could put more momentum into shares of Tesla as more investors start to value the company's bitcoin/crypto exposure as part of the overall valuation.""Ultimately, investors and other industry watchers will be watching this closely to see if other corporations follow the lead of Tesla on this crypto path or on the other hand does it remain a contained few names that make this strategic jump around bitcoin."
Chinese officials have met withTeslarepresentatives after customers in the country reported battery fires, unexpected acceleration and failing software updates, government regulators said on Monday.
The details were shared in a social media post by China's State Administration for Market Regulation, which said the meeting took place"recently" but did not give a date.
Tesla is manufacturing Model 3 electric sedans and Model Y sport-utility vehicles at a Shanghai factory, attempting to tap into the country's lucrative electric vehicle market. Beijing has big ambitions for electric vehicles (EVs), aiming for 25pc of all car sales in the country to be EVs by 2025.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Electric car company Tesla says it has invested an aggregate $1.5 billion (£1.1 billion) in the cryptocurrency bitcoin, as part of an updated January investment policy.
"We invested an aggregate $1.50 billion in bitcoin under this policy and may acquire and hold digital assets from time to time or long-term," said Tesla in a statement published by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
In January 2021, we updated our investment policy to provide us with more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on our cash that is not required to maintain adequate operating liquidity.As part of the policy, which was duly approved by the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors, we may invest a portion of such cash in certain alternative reserve assets including digital assets, gold bullion, gold exchange-traded funds and other assets as specified in the future.
Tesla also said the company expected "to begin accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for some of our products in the near future."
This would be on a limited basis and subject to relevant laws, the company said.
A leading cyber security company has accused Iran of targeting dissidents with spyware smuggled into apps that appear to publish local news, wallpapers or information about restaurants in Tehran.
On Monday, the California-based company Checkpoint released a report detailing how two Iranian groups were targeting over 1,200 people based in 12 countries, including the UK.
Targets would be tricked into downloading the apps so their phone calls could be recorded and media files copied.
The full report can be foundhere.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency was up 1.1pc to $39,012 on Monday morning, around 7pc below an all-time high set in early January.
Bitcoin could be benefiting from the publicity that celebrities are generating for another cryptocurrency, the joke coin Dogecoin.
This weekend, Tesla founder Elon Musk, rapper Snoop Dogg and Kiss bassist Gene Simmons tweeted about Dogecoin, pushing prices to a record.
The online retail giant has announced an investment in a wind farm in the Netherlands, operated by a joint venture between energy companies Shell and Eneco.
Scheduled for operation by 2023, the Amazon-Shell HKN Offshore Wind Project is set to have an overall capacity of 759 megawatts (MW).
Amazon plans to purchase over 50pc of that capacity to power its Europe operations. The supply will also contribute power to the Netherlands' electrical grid.
The Dutch project is to function as an experimentation hub. According to a statement, Amazon said technology at the farm could include a floating solar park, short-term battery storage, optimally tuned turbines, and ‘green hydrogen’ made by electrolysis as a further storage technique.
“Supplying Amazon with electricity from this offshore wind farm contributes to their net-zero pledge while progressing our own ambition to be a net-zero emissions business by 2050 or sooner,” said Elisabeth Brinton, Executive Vice President of New Energies at Shell.
Amazon has pledged to reach net-zero across the business by 2040 and claims it is currently the world’s largest corporate purchaser ofrenewable energy.
The Japanese multinational's Vision Fund unit posted a 844 billion yen (£5.8bn) third quarter profit on Monday, afterSoftbankbacked firms Opendoor and Doordash went public.
The record profit has received a boost from the surging technology stock market, which has pushed up the value of companies in the fund's portfolio.
However CEO Masayoshi Son said at a Tokyo news conference: "Golden eggs are not produced by chance."
Renowned for making huge bets on young technology companies, the profits will be welcome news for the Japanese billionaire after thefund's multi-billion investment in WeWork flopped, forcing the company to sell assets. Son later described the investment as "foolish".
In the aftermath of the Reddit "meme-stock" saga, fractional investing business Wombat has raised £2m, benefiting from a rush of interest in fin-tech apps that aim to democratise investing.James Cookreports:
Lockdown has driven a rise in interest, said chief executive Kane Harrison. “It started last year just before Covid,” he said, “that's when we started to see massive growth. People were at home so they were starting to have a lot more disposable income. We saw a massive uptick then. It has gone all the way through and continued to today.”The business raised the money from London firm Fuel Ventures. Previous backers include Atom Bank and Monese investor Chris Adelsbach and former Trainline UK head James Moore.Wombat plans to continue to grow in the UK before eventually expanding across Europe.“Our main focus is the 90pc of the population who don't know anything about investing and trading,” Mr Harrison said. “They wouldn't know which one of the 4,000 stocks on Robinhood to invest in.”
Read the full storyhere.
Ð is for Ðogecoin! Instructional video.https://t.co/UEEocOfcTb
A cryptocurrency that was created to satirise Bitcoin has hit a new high after Elon Musk tweeted another string of messages encouraging people to buy it.
The price ofDogecoinsurged by 40pc on in the early hours of Monday, minutes after Musk tweeted “Who let the Doge out” and an “instructional video” filled with memes relating to the coin.
The surge pushed the joke coin to a record market capitalisation of $8.8bn.
Dogecoin was created by Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus, former Adobe and IBM software engineers in 2013. It takes inspiration from the “Doge” meme, which uses images of a Japanese Shiba Inu dog curated with grammatically incorrect or poorly spelled sentences in Comic Sans font.
It is not the first time Mr Musk has tweeted about the coin. Last week he shared posts including “Dogecoin is the people’s crypto” and “No highs, no lows, only Doge”. The latter caused the price to skyrocket 80pc on Thursday.
Reddit traders have turned to Dogecoin in an attempt to mirror the extraordinary share rises in GameStop, Blockbuster and AMC which was fuelled by r/WallStreetBets.
Thousands of Reddit users are encouraging others to buy in an attempt to push Dogecoin to $1, up from the half a cent it was trading at in early January.
MPs are calling for the UK to make a bid to Apple to manufacture its electric cars here in Britain.
Reports suggest the tech giant is planning to producea vehicle with “breakthrough battery technology” in 2024, leading to intense speculation about where the car will be manufactured.
James Sunderland, Conservative MP for Bracknell, called the idea of Britain bidding for Apple to build cars in The UK a "no brainer".
Marco Longhi, Conservative, Dudley North, said attracting Apple could be a major boost for areas of the country with a long-standing expertise in the automotive industry.
"This would be a fantastic investment for the Midlands and the Black Country," he said.
"This will mean jobs for people locally and it would buy an endorsement of U.K. plc in a post Brexit environment."
Read the full reporthere.
1)The Musk trade: Tesla boss’s wrong Signal highlights Twitter’s power to move marketsThe increasingly clear power of Elon Musk’s Twitter may make it a target for regulators – or hackers2)Sovereignty in the dock as Autonomy’s Mike Lynch battles the USAutonomy founder returns to court to fight US extradition, in round two of the Hewlett Packard fraud case
3)Clampdown on directors ‘will hit UK tech mission’Industry leaders warn against holding directors accountable for accuracy of financial reports4)Google uncovers hundreds of labour and safety violations at factories making its electronicsThe tech giant says it is working with suppliers where it found workers were exposed to hazardous chemicals or were forced to work excessive hours
5)How Croydon became a hotbed for vaccine misinformationFake news on social media is turning BAME groups against the vaccine. Community leaders say they expect the problem to get worse || American Green, Inc.(TM) (ERBB) Is Now Accepting Bitcoin and Other Popular CryptoCurrencies for CBD and All Products Purchased On it's E-Commerce Store: Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - March 4, 2021) - Today, American Green, Inc. (OTC Pink: ERBB) announced that the company's onlineCBD Store and Emporiumis now accepting Bitcoin and other CryptoCurrencies. After extensive testing, Kevin Davis, the Company's Vice President of Online Sales - Worldwide reports, "The Company now accepts Bitcoin and many other popular cryptocurrencies. The transactions, themselves, are operating smoothly to the satisfaction of those electing to pay by 'crypto'."
As American Green stated in itsMarch news release, it has been working on the integration of Bitcoin and other popular cryptocurrencies into its onlineCBD Store and Emporiumas an alternative payment method for its popular CBD products.
That work is finally completed and tested and we are excited to begin accepting Bitcoin and other popular cryptocurrencies starting today. The Company believes that their ability to accept additional methods of payment will allow them to expand their reach across the U.S. and the world.
Shareholders and other interest-holders should note that American Green is not speculating on the price of Bitcoin (BTC) or any other cryptocurrency that it will accept for payment. Customer payments are immediately converted to US Dollars at the time of the purchase so the conversion rate at the exact time of the purchase will apply.
As of today, American Green accepts the following cryptocurrencies onAmericanGreenCBD.com:
• Bitcoin (BTC)
• Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
• Dai (DAI)
• Ethereum (ETH)
• LiteCoin (LTC)
• USD Coin (USDC)
The Company's online team looks forward to continued growth in 2021 as they invest into new technologies and nurture time-tested quality.
Shareholders and interest holders may also stay current with American Green Updates:
American Green's Main Website atwww.americangreen.com
Twitter:@American__Green(two underscores), or
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/americangreenusa
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/americangreenusa/
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/magicalnipton/
About American Green, Inc.
In 2009,American Green, Inc.became America's second publicly-traded company in the cannabis sector. American Green now, with its more than 50,000 certified beneficial shareholders, is one of the largest (in shareholder count) in the cannabis sector. American Green's mission is to lead the cannabis and premium CBD industry.
Leveraging The Company's team of professionals in cultivation management, manufacturing, extraction, wholesale, retail, and community outreach, The Company strives to develop sustainable initiatives in the cannabis-adjacent and CBD industries, laser-focused on adding company and shareholder value.
For more information:
Contact:American Green, Inc.Investor Relations2902 W. Virginia AvePhoenix, AZ 85009480-443-1600 [email protected]
NOTES ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Except for any historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including those described in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission reports and filings. Certain statements contained in this release that are not historical facts constitute forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created by that Act. Reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements because they involve unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from thoseexpressed or implied. Forward-looking statements maybe identified by words such as estimates, anticipates, projects, plans, expects, intends, believes, be should and similar expressions and by the context in which they are used. Such statements are based upon current expectations of the Company and speak only as of the date made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which they are made.
To view the source version of this press release, please visithttps://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/76075 || JPMorgan’s New Crypto Bond ‘Not for the Faint of Heart,’ Former Star Analyst Hintz Says: Like a lot of Wall Street’s alchemical “structured products,”JPMorgan Chase’s new cryptocurrency-focused bondis full of arcane risks, many of them detailed in the fine print in the largest U.S. bank’s 18-page regulatory filing on the newfangled financial offering.
Daunted by the prospect of dissecting the instrument on our own, CoinDesk turned to the smartest person we could think of to undertake the effort:Brad Hintz, an adjunct finance professor at New York University and former top-ranked brokerage-firm analyst for Sanford Bernstein, itself among the best-of-the-best when it comes to investment research. Before that, Hintz served as corporate treasurer for Morgan Stanley and CFO for Lehman Brothers (in the good times).
In other words: He understands what to make of complicated financial instruments like these and how to think about them. Here’s what he wrote back, via a message on LinkedIn:
Related:Bitcoin Company Bakkt Awarded BitLicense in New York
***
Looks like a remarkably entertaining pricing supplement of a medium-term note program.
Needless to say, the note is wager on a basket of stocks that may or may not track the cryptocurrency market, with a 150 [basis point] cushion for the issuer built in. Note the payout on a $1,000 note is equal to ($1,000 × (1 + Basket Return – Basket Deduction), and defines the Basket Deductions as 1.50%).
As the prospectus says, the basket of reference stocks will be set at an Initial Basket Value of 100.00 at pricing. If there is no movement in the reference stocks over the life of the issue, the buyer of the notes will incur a 1.5% loss on the investment.
Related:Beeple NFT Sold for Record-Setting $69.3M at Christie's Auction
If you look at the graph in the prospectus pricing supplement, the payout looks like that of a long futures contract. If the price of the commodity goes up, you win. And if it goes down or stays the same, you lose. In this case the wager is on a group of stocks that are expected (but not guaranteed) to track the cryptocurrency market.
Let’s look at the risks:
• If this is a bet on the cryptocurrency market, then the basket may not perform as expected. A quick “ocular” regression doesn’t imply a tight fit between either MicroStrategy’s stock price or Riot Blockchain stock and the price ofbitcoin!
• If the overall market declines or goes flat, an investor in this note is toast. If you follow the link at the bottom of the page of thepricing supplementyou can see that the pricing supplement is just one of a series of notes issued by JPMORGAN CHASE FINANCIAL COMPANY LLC and guaranteed by JPM. The guarantee is important, since it ensures that the note has the same ratings as JPM and that implies that the buyer wanted a security (not an OTC derivative) with relatively high ratings to add to a portfolio in order to add some exposure to crypto currencies.
Structured products like this are typically engineered for specific investors who don’t want an [over-the-counter] derivative contract that could easily deliver the same return characteristics as the note.
Why might some investor want to own a “highly engineered” bond and not an OTC derivative? A couple of ideas come to mind:
• Investment guidelines – Perhaps the buyer is prohibited from holding OTC derivatives, like some insurance companies or pension plans.
• Creditworthiness – Perhaps the buyer is not acceptable as a derivative counterparty. In other words, the buyer’s name is unacceptable as a counterparty to JPM’s credit staff. Like a leveraged hedge fund.
• Investor Risk Appetite – In a frothy market with lots of enthusiastic investors ignoring risk, there are bond investors tired of zero interest rates who might want some crypto risk to juice up potential returns.
In any case, this investment is not for the faint of heart. Instead of buying this issue, wouldn’t it be easier and more fun to just write a check to (JPMorgan CEO) Jamie Dimon and then hop on a plane for a weekend in Las Vegas?
• JPMorgan’s New Crypto Bond ‘Not for the Faint of Heart,’ Former Star Analyst Hintz Says
• JPMorgan’s New Crypto Bond ‘Not for the Faint of Heart,’ Former Star Analyst Hintz Says || Ether Could Be Headed Higher After Update Coming This Summer: The cryptocurrencyEthereum(CRYPTO: ETH) could be headed for another sharp rise in price.
What Happened: Ethereum's blockchain developers have agreed to move ahead on an update that would result in a reduction of the total number of Ether tokens in use,Bloombergreported.
The limiting of supply probably will drive prices up even more for Ethereum, which already has seen skyrocketing performance. It is up about 560% in the past 12 months, compared to 430% for Bitcoin, according to Bloomberg.
Coming This Summer: The update, expected to arrive this summer, is aimed at addressing an issue with Ethereum where users have to guess at how many tokens are needed for a transaction. Some outstanding Ether tokens will be destroyed when the cryptocurrency is used in transactions on Ethereum's blockchain.
See also: How to Buy Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum is trading near $1,670 today, up 4.46% over the last 24 hours, according toCoinDesk.
Photo by Nick Chong on Unsplash.
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• Warren Buffett In Annual Letter Signals More Stock Buybacks Coming This Year, Says Don't 'Bet Against America'
• Bitcoin Hits Another All-Time High
© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Why Golden Entertainment (GDEN) Could Be Positioned for a Surge: Golden Entertainment, Inc.GDEN is a diverse gaming company in the United Statesthat could be an interesting play for investors. That is because, not only does the stock have decent short-term momentum, but it is seeing solid activity on the earnings estimate revision front as well.
These positive earnings estimate revisions suggest that analysts are becoming more optimistic on GDEN’s earnings for the coming quarter and year. In fact, consensus estimates have moved sharply higher for both of these time frames over the past four weeks, suggesting that Golden Entertainment could be a solid choice for investors.
In the past 30 days, one estimate has gone higher for Golden Entertainment while none have gone lower in the same time period. The trend has been pretty favorable too, with estimates narrowing from a loss of 23 cents a share 30 days ago, to a loss of 21 cents today, a move of 8.7%.
Meanwhile, Golden Entertainment’s current year figures are also looking quite promising, with three estimates moving higher in the past month, compared to one lower. The consensus estimate trend has also seen a boost for this time frame, narrowing from a loss of 28 cents per share 30 days ago to a loss of 15 cents per share today, an increase of 46.4%.
Golden Entertainment, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Golden Entertainment, Inc. Quote
The stock has also started to move higher lately, adding 39.5% over the past four weeks, suggesting that investors are starting to take note of this impressive story. So, investors may want to consider this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock to profit in the near future. You can seethe complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Blockchain and cryptocurrency has sparked one of the most exciting discussion topics of a generation. Some call it the “Internet of Money” and predict it could change the way money works forever. If true, it could do to banks what Netflix did to Blockbuster and Amazon did to Sears. Experts agree we’re still in the early stages of this technology, and as it grows, it will create several investing opportunities.
Zacks’ has just revealed 3 companies that can help investors capitalize on the explosive profit potential of Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies with significantly less volatility than buying them directly.
See 3 crypto-related stocks now >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research || Oakland Athletics Baseball Team Accepting Bitcoin for Private Suites: The Oakland Athletics major league baseball team, known as “the A’s,” is temporarily allowing fans to pay in bitcoin for seasonal use of a private suites.
According to apress releaseon Sunday, fans of the Oakland, Calif., team can nowpay $64,800in fiat currency or one bitcoin,worth roughly $56,155at press time, for a private suite that seats up to six people.
“The price of a season suite may fluctuate depending on when it’s purchased, which adds to the excitement,” said A’s President Dave Kaval. “We invite our fans to become the first bitcoin suite holders in sports.”
Related:Investview Says It Holds More Than $1M in Crypto on Its Balance Sheet
See also:DOGE Adoption on the Rise. Dallas Mavericks to Accept Dogecoin for Tickets, Merchandise
Kaval also said private suites are a way for groups of six to socially distance themselves at a time when current state health guidelines are limiting stadium seating to two and four pods. The bitcoin offer ends on April 1, according to the release.
Earlier this month, Mark Cuban’sDallas Mavericksbegan allowing fans to purchase merchandise and tickets usingdogecoin.
• Oakland Athletics Baseball Team Accepting Bitcoin for Private Suites
• Oakland Athletics Baseball Team Accepting Bitcoin for Private Suites
• Oakland Athletics Baseball Team Accepting Bitcoin for Private Suites || DeFi Space Gets a Boost as NEXT.chain Launches Liquid Sale Event on February 24th: EINDHOVEN, NETHERLANDS / ACCESSWIRE / February 23, 2021 / NEXT.chain is set to redefine the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem on February 24th, 2021. Over the years, Ethereum has held sway, helping many businesses launch their ERC20-compatible projects. While it has helped deepen the DeFi space, Ethereum merely blossomed on an experimental basis. Little wonder its transaction costs keep giving its users a cause for concern. If the blockchain is unable to address transaction cost, then it defeats the aim of having a DeFi ecosystem in the first place. Much as Ethereum's dApps (decentralized applications) enable users to build and develop their projects, costly transaction fees still threaten widespread adoption. For instance, some transactions on Ethereum cost $10 and above. For smart contracts-enabled, cross-chain transactions cost much more. Despite its obvious downside, there is no denying that Ethereum has built a robust DeFi community over time. On-chain financial transactions among its global community members have resulted in voluminous trades estimated at $40 billion. However, an attempt to downplay Ethereum's unpreparedness for widespread adoption translates to throwing caution to the winds. The reason is that whenever the distributed ledger is used, stiff blockchain competition sets in, rocketing the standard gas fees. No doubt, a need exists to nip this undesirable outcome in the bud, as it is likely to discourage prospective crypto users from investing in the rapidly evolving asset class. To address the worrisome trend, launching NEXT.chain became inevitable. The next-gen blockchain promises to tackle the failings of DLT giants like Ethereum and Bitcoin. Given the tech wizardry behind NEXT.chain, there is no gainsaying that it is an all-in-one DeFi-ready platform. Its breathtaking features include real-time transaction and escrow support, full decentralization, and digital asset storage. A close examination of its features shows that the DeFi-centric blockchain mirrors the best of Bitcoin and Ethereum combined. In short, it delivers the best-in-class subsystem for decentralized finance by helping individuals and businesses meet their needs. Other striking features are permissionless trading, decentralized asset issuance, and DAOs/NFT creation. Why NEXT.chain Will Disrupt the DeFi Environment For those wondering what NEXT.chain brings to the table, and these concerns are genuine. The brains behind the blockchain engineered it to reflect their decade-long industry experience. In other words, NEXT.chain represents the innovative, DeFi-targeted rebirth of Bitcoin-core. With a major departure from the Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism, the platform features Proof of Stake, allowing masternode holders to play a pivotal role in the dynamic, decision-making community. So far, the Masternode network boosts over 200 peers of validation, enabling speed-of-light transactions and privacy-enabled transfers. It is safe to state that this is a scalable blockchain that supports up to 10,000 transactions per second. Story continues Taking a cue from Bitcoin's PoW algorithm, the NEXT.chain team incentivized it to allow active NEXT token mining among its community, comprising developers and everyday people. There is an API integration for third parties. Once again, NEXT.chain is a user-centric platform for everyone. To this end, users can perform transactions at nearly feeless rates. Still, they can send funds using an alias as opposed to boring strings of alphanumeric characters. NEXT.chain has teamed up with the blockchain-powered payment provider, PayAccept. By this partnership, the blockchain will bootstrap and provide its users with a seamless payment experience involving fiat-to-NEXT transactions and vice versa. PayAccept is the leading blockchain-based payment solution that eliminates the pain points of converting fiat currencies into DeFi-compatible digital assets. The NEXT token relies on the classical DLT governance concept to sustain network longevity and community by letting NEXT users vote on crucial improvement proposals. NEXT.chain announces Liquidity Stake Event NEXT.chain is taking a milestone-based approach to its gradual evolution, focusing first on the development and issuance of assets, decentralizing tradable assets and liquidity, and providing automated market maker trades. Plus, new and existing businesses looking for smart contracts-enabled blockchains can leverage NEXT's flexible, tamperproof and risk-free ecosystem to meet their business needs better and gain a competitive edge over age-long industry rivals. Thanks to its easily accessible asset issuance mechanism. In keeping with the tradition of tokenized crowdfunding in today's crypto industry, NEXT allows projects to raise funds through a user-friendly interface. Once these participants have acquired the digital coins, they can lock up their liquidity, unlock and trade them at their earliest convenience. An ERC20 bridge has been built to ensure seamless cross-chain interactions between ERC20 tokens and NEXT.chain-powered projects; this is another plus. Its phased development introduces a level of awe-inspiring simplicity, making NEXT.chain a must-try ecosystem for all new and existing projects. It will also attract a large user community, allowing it to grow organically. With all the mind-blowing benefits stuffed into one blockchain, NEXT.chain is the next big thing to propel the DeFi space. Click here to join the fast-growing participants in the NEXT.chain Liquidity Staking Event by Safu.Investments. About Next.chain Founded on April 23rd, 2019, Next.chain is the brainchild of a Netherlands-headquartered subsidiary of a conglomerate with keen interests in blockchain technology and decentralized finance. In a concerted effort to strengthen its grip on its blockchain subsystem, the group is in the process of obtaining an e-money license. Upon acquiring the regulatory go-ahead, it will establish a fiat-to-crypto gateway and deploy cryptocurrency payments on e-commerce platforms. Aside from improving on the principles of Bitcoin 2.0 security and simplicity, NEXT.chain is a next-gen blockchain project that integrates critical concepts like masternode technology. It also provides easy-to-use and implements web 3.0 solutions for the DeFi landscape. The blockchain will serve as the backbone of many different projects, including Next.exchange , a hybrid trading platform, and PayAccept, a fiat on-off ramp decentralized payment processor. About Safu.investments Safu.investments is a DeFi-centric presale platform with Uniswap auto-listing, token provision, and liquidity locking developed in 2020. The platform enables third-party DeFi projects to launch quickly, encouraging many participants to have access to digital coins. It also bootstraps projects with verifiable vesting periods. Through the platform, users can create accounts, connect their wallets and participate in presales. It is a secure, hitch-free platform. Safu.investments supports a wide array of cryptocurrencies with a user-friendly interface. Media Contact Company: Next.Exchange Contact: Chris van Steenbergen Telephone: +31 85 3030600 E-mail: [email protected] Website: https://next.exchange/ SOURCE: Next.Exchange View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/631283/DeFi-Space-Gets-a-Boost-as-NEXTchain-Launches-Liquid-Sale-Event-on-February-24th View comments || Why Grayscale And Mark Cuban Bullish On Ethereum At $1,900: What happened:The second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, Ethereum (ETH), reached a new all-time high of $1,900 earlier today.
This new high means that ETH isofficiallyup 2000% since March 2020, while Bitcoin (BTC) is up by 1200%.
Why it matters:In the wake of Bitcoin’s disruption, the second-largest cryptocurrency might have been overlooked by newer investors in the crypto space.
However, many analysts and crypto industry proponents believe that at current levels, ETH is undervalued.
Leading digital asset manager Grayscale recently opened its Ethereum trust to accredited investors and has since been buying large amounts of ETH each day.
On February 12, the asset management firm bought 52,730 Ethereum, which over $94 million worth of ETH, or $8 million worth of BTC.
Institutional buying and the belief of industry proponents aside, the asset did receive some new backing from popular investors.
Billionaire tech investor Mark Cuban recentlystatedthat “ETH has an advantage over BTC as a store of value.”
The Dallas Mavericks owner is most excited about smart contracts that are developed on the Ethereum blockchain, powering decentralized applications (dApps) and decentralized finance (DeFi).
According to Cuban, most of this innovation is happening on Ethereum, which leads him to believe ETH is becoming a better store of value than BTC.
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[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
|
Trend: up || Prices: 55950.75, 57750.20, 58917.69, 58918.83, 59095.81, 59384.31, 57603.89, 58758.55, 59057.88, 58192.36
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2018-02-01]
BTC Price: 9170.54, BTC RSI: 32.51
Gold Price: 1344.30, Gold RSI: 61.66
Oil Price: 65.80, Oil RSI: 68.01
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin Crashes to Below $10,000 as Cryptocurrency Scams Scare Investors: Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices deepened theirweeks-long routWednesday as a spate of hacks and scam warnings compounded fears thatregulators would crack downon the nascent digital assets. The price of Bitcoin crashed to well below $10,000, plunging to as little as about $9,200, down more than 50% fromits highsa month ago.
Spooking investors was an announcement late Tuesday by Bitconnect, a popular but controversial site for trading and lending cryptocurrency, that it was closing down operations. Bitconnect had recently been accused of running a Ponzi scheme—the financial fraud most famously perpetrated by Bernie Madoff—by several influential investors, including Ethereum co-founderVitalik Buterinand billionaire cryptocurrency investorMike Novogratz. (The company didn’t respond to the accusations.)
Some Bitconnect clients interpreted the abrupt shutdown as confirmation of those suspicions, and worried they would not be able to withdraw their money if the exchange, whose management team remains anonymous, became insolvent. While Bitconnect, whose own digital token had risen to more than $2 billion in market value as recently as last week, promised that investors would be able to withdraw their funds at an average of the cryptocurrency’s recent exchange rate, doubts persisted. Bitconnect’s own cryptocurrency quickly lost as much as 90% of its value.
For several days this week, Bitconnect said it had come under a “continuous” cyberattack known as a denial-of-service, depriving customers of their ability to withdraw money. Following the shutdown announcement, some users continued to report problems when they tried to sell their positions. Now some Bitconnect investors, fearing they won’t be able to collect, are lamenting on social media that they’ve lost anywhere from afew thousand dollarsto their entire“family’s savings.”
Indeed, the sudden halt of Bitconnect drew parallels to Mt. Gox, a major cryptocurrency exchange that shuttered in 2014 after losing virtually all its Bitcoins—largely through a massive hack, but also through thealleged embezzlementand mismanagement of its CEO. TheMt. Gox collapseprecipitated a Bitcoin price crash of more than 70%, shaking investors’ confidence in the cryptocurrency for so long that it took Bitcoin more than two years to recover.
While many cryptocurrencies have been in bear market territory since a correction that began in late December, this week has been especially bloody for investors, with the Bitcoin and Ethereum prices down nearly 40% in the past two days, and Ripple shedding nearly half its value over the same period. By late Wednesday afternoon, the Bitcoin price had bounced back above $10,000 but still remained far below its peak of $20,000 a month ago.
Adding to the Bitconnect concerns was a crop of attempts by apparent scammers to take advantage of the confusion to trick users into handing over the contents of their cryptocurrency wallets. On Twitter, accounts that presented themselves as Bitconnect customer support but appeared to have been set up only after the service shut down, such as@BitconnectStaffand@BitConnectExch, seemed to prey on users desperate to get their money off the platform by suggesting they send all their cryptocurrency to a separate digital wallet address. Because such a transaction would be irreversible and difficult, if not impossible, to trace, observers quickly recognized the hallmark of a scam in which the senders would likely be diverting their funds to the criminals, never to see them again.
In explaining its reasons for closing shop, Bitconnect cited the relentless cyberattacks it was experiencing along with “bad press” and “cease and desist” letters it received from two U.S. securities regulators. The threat of governments cracking down on cryptocurrency trading has been a major driver behind the ongoing market selloff, with prices taking a dive after reports this week that regulators in China and South Korea were looking toban cryptocurrency exchanges.
Although hacks and scams have plagued cryptocurrency exchanges worldwide,even afflicting leading platform Coinbase, the San Francisco-based exchange that has been likened to the industry’s “Goldman Sachs,”a new report this week also shone a light on the acute threat facing South Korea. Recorded Future, a cybersecurity firm, published ananalysisTuesday laying out evidence that North Korean hackers—the same group, known asLazarus, blamed for the infamous hack of Sony Pictures Entertainmentin 2014—were systematically targeting and plundering South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges.
Meanwhile, hackers used a different method of attack last weekend tosteal $400,000worth of the cryptocurrency Lumens, used on the Stellar digital payment system, from an online wallet service called BlackWallet. The wallet service has been offline ever since. || EUR/USD Daily Fundamental Forecast – December 26, 2017: The EURUSD pair has begun what is likely to be a tight and light week as far as the markets are concerned. Most of the traders around the world are already off on a holiday on account of Christmas and the New Year and hence they are unlikely to be at the desks. This is going to lead to a market that is low on volatility and liquidity and hence we can safely expect the euro to trade within a tight range during the week. EURUSD In Tight Range The economic data is also very light on the calendar and the fundamentals are also not going to be too much during this period. The dollar has been helped to remain steady by the passage of the tax reform bill which has since been passed through the Senate and signed into law by the President of the US. This is likely to give a lot of tax benefits for the corporates and it was an important bill from the point of view of Trump and his team. This is expected to boost hiring in these companies and lead to some strong growth in the coming years. EURUSD Hourly That is why the dollar has received a short term boost from the passage of the bill and this effect is likely to continue for the rest of the week as well. But the euro has been caught in a tight range and some consolidation over the last few months and the fundamentals on either side have not been enough to help the pair to break through this range. It remains to be seen whether the trend would be strong enough in January to help the pair push through its range. Looking ahead to the rest of the day, we do not have any major news from the eurozone or the US as it is a holiday in most parts of Europe and hence expect some tight ranging and consolidation for the rest of the day. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Rising Treasury Yields Boost Demand for USD/JPY It’s a Dollar Day, with many Major Markets still Closed GBP/USD Daily Fundamental Forecast – December 26, 2017 AUD/USD Forex Weekly Technical Analysis – Needs to Sustain Rally Over .7642 Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 26/12/17 E-mini S&P 500 Index (ES) Futures Technical Analysis – Could Find Support at 2674.75 to 2669.50 || $20k Bitcoin? Changing Charts Favor Crypto Rivals: Bitcoin is on the rise against the U.S. dollar, but a look at all of its relevant trading pairs (LTC/BTC, ETH/BTC) suggests the move to $20,000 could take longer than expected.
The world's largest cryptocurrency bymarket capitalizationhas traded more or less sideways over the last few days as thealternative currencies rallied sharplyto new highs. But, as discussedyesterday, the lackluster action in BTC could be due to the rotation of money from BTC (large cap) and into alternative currencies (or so-called small caps).
This flow of money is best represented by the bullish break seen in cross cryptocurrency charts – i.e. ETH/BTC, LTC/BTC, BCH/BTC and XRP/BTC. For example, a rally in ETH/BTC could be an indication that the money is flowing out of bitcoin and into ether (ETH).
That said, a sharp pullback in the altcoins seems to have put a mild bid under bitcoin (BTC) today.
As perCoinMarketCap, bitcoin (BTC) has appreciated 7.57 percent in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, ether (ETC), bitcoin cash (BCH) and litecoin (LTC) have dropped 6 percent, 8 percent, and 10 percent, respectively.
While tables appear to have turned in favor of bitcoin again, the charts suggest relief could be transient.
The abovechart(prices as per Coinbase) shows:
• A sharp rally from the low of BTC 0.0231 (Dec. 7 low) to BTC 0.0452 (Dec. 14 high) indicates the pair has bottomed out.
• The drop to BTC 0.0371 is unlikely to last long as the 5-day MA is curled up in favor of the bulls and the 10-day MA has bottomed out (has shed bearish bias).
• ETH/BTC is likely to regain bid tone and target the falling channel resistance seen at BTC 0.05. A close above the same would confirm the long-term bearish-to-bullish trend change.
The abovechart(prices as per Coinbase) shows:
• A long-term bearish-to-bullish trend change, courtesy of high volume breakout (falling trend line breached).
• The 5-day MA and 10-day MA are curled up in favor of the bulls.
• The pullback from the high of BTC 0.02498 (Dec. 12 high) lacks substance, i.e. volumes have dropped. It looks more like a healthy pullback and the broader outlook remains bullish.
• A rebound from the rising trend line support would add credence to the bullish case put forward by the daily chart.
• The pair is likely to revisit the recent high of BTC 0.02498 (Dec. 12 high). The upward sloping 10-day MA indicates the dips below BTC 0.012 could be transient.
The abovechart(prices as per Bitfinex) shows:
• The falling channel is still intact, but the recovery from the low of BTC 0.068 (Dec. 8 low) to BTC 0.1289 (Dec. 14 high) has helped the 5-day MA and 10-day MA bottom out (shed bearish bias).
• The bullish 5-day MA and 10-day MA crossover (short-term average cuts long-term average from below, is considered as a bullish sign) favor further upside in the cross pair.
• The pair is seen moving higher to BTC 0.1589 (falling channel resistance) over the next few days. A close above the same (bullish channel breakout) would confirm a long-term bearish-to-bullish trend change.
The abovechart(prices as per Bittrex) shows:
• The tide has turned in favor of the bulls, courtesy of a high volume bullish breakout and the upward sloping 5-day MA and 10-day MA.
As the charts show, a recovery in ETH/BTC, LTC/BTC, BCH/BTC and XRP/BTC from intraday lows is already weighing over bitcoin.
As perCoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index (BPI), bitcoin is now trading at $17,760, down from the record highs above $18,000 hit earlier today.
The bullish outlook for ETH/BTC, LTC/BTC, BCH/BTC and XRP/BTC indicates the rotation of money out of BTC and into alternative currencies is likely to continue in the next week.
It also means bitcoin could have a tough time staging a sustained rally to $20,000. This view gels well with the fact thatinvestor communityis warming up to the idea of a larger pullback in bitcoin following the BTC futures listing on the CME this Sunday.
Trading charts via Shutterstock
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• Survey: Most Bitcoin Investors Expect Even Fatter Returns in 2018 || Bitcoin and Ethereum Price Forecast BTC Continues to Range as ETH Soars: It has generally been a dull day of trading in the bitcoin markets over the last 24 hours, dull by the standards of bitcoin markets of course. The action is clearly in the ETH markets and with the focus shifting to other coins, the BTC prices have been chopping around, not knowing where to go. BTC continues to dominate the crypto landscape but we are also seeing clear signs of investors and speculators shifting to other coins as bitcoin comes under the lens of more and more regulators. Some of the major bitcoin trading countries like South Korea are mulling the taxation of gains made in bitcoins and are also looking at other ways in which the prices and the speculation in this market can be reigned in. Get Into Bitcoin Trading Today Prices Continue to Consolidate We also had the Fed Chief Yellen, in her last speech before she leaves the Chair, saying that bitcoin was a speculative asset. It is not something that many do not know but it has to be said that it is indeed a big achievement for the bitcoin industry that they have made even the biggest central bankers to sit up and take notice. It is clear that the market and the industry is here to stay and now it is up to the regulators to see and decide how they would like to deal with it. Bitcoin 4H Ether has clearly been the darling of the markets over the last week or so as it has risen by over 50% during this period and now trades comfortably above the $700 region. We have been mentioning in many of our forecasts of how we believe that the fundamentals of ether are pretty strong, stronger than that of BTC, and hence it was only a matter of time before it started getting noticed by investors and speculators and received the attention that it truly deserves. How Blockchain will change our Life, Economy and the World Forecast Looking ahead to the rest of the day, we should see the BTC prices continue to consolidate as the traders and the market await further direction. This should lead to some tight ranging trading near the highs of its range. We expect the ETH prices to continue to remain bullish for the day as it enjoys the limelight that it is under. Story continues Buy & Sell Cryptocurrency Instantly This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis 14/12/17 Dow Jones 30 and NASDAQ 100 Price Forecast December 14, 2017, Technical Analysis Bitcoin Gold DASH and Monero Analysis December 14, 2017, Technical Analysis Ethereum Price Forecast December 14, 2017, Technical Analysis Thursday Support and Resistance Levels December 14, 2017 DAX Index Daily Fundamental Forecast December 14, 2017 || Market Snapshot – Cryptos Move Higher after Christmas: Quiet Trading Likely It is likely to be a quiet day of trading in the markets as we are in a holiday period. Europe continues to be on leave while the US markets are set to open later today after the long weekend of holidays. It is unlikely that the liquidity and the volatility are going to pick up anytime soon as the markets continue to be on holiday mode and hence we can safely say that the trading is going to be short and quiet for today and for rest of the week as well. We expect the liquidity to pick up only during the second week of January and until that time, the traders have to get used to some slow and choppy trading. Bitcoin Prices Move Higher Bitcoin prices have returned from their holidays , so to speak, as the price rise has picked up pace after Christmas and the prices have been moving up. This has been helpful for the rest of the crypto markets as well as they have also shot higher showing the inherent strength in this market during this period. Profit-taking continues though and this has placed some pressure on the prices but the volatility is expected to move higher in the coming days as we move towards the beginning of the new year. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Market Snapshot – Cryptos Move Higher after Christmas Crude Oil Prices Analysis for December 27, 2017 E-mini NASDAQ-100 Index (NQ) Futures Technical Analysis – December 26, 2017 Forecast Price of Gold Fundamental Daily Forecast – Gold Bulls Taking Advantage of Thin Holiday Trade E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM) Futures Analysis – December 26, 2017 Forecast Gold Prices Pushing Higher || Bitcoin briefly falls 11% after South Korea moves to ban new cryptocurrency trading accounts: Bitcoin (Exchange: BTC.CB=) fell Thursday after the South Korean Financial Services Commission took more steps to limit speculation in cryptocurrency trading in the country. The digital currency hit a low of $13,611.86, down 11 percent on the day, according to CoinDesk's bitcoin price index, which tracks prices from four exchanges. Bitcoin traded near $14,000 midday Thursday, still more than 25 percent below its record high reached this month. Bitcoin has swung wildly in the last several weeks, reaching an all-time high above $19,800 on Coinbase in mid-December before tumbling to a low of $10,400 on Friday. There was no immediate explanation for the sudden, one-day decline that day. On Thursday, the South Korean commission said in a statement, translated by CNBC, that it is prohibiting cryptocurrency exchanges from issuing new trading accounts. If an exchange does allow new accounts, the government has the ability to take action to either stop trading or shut the exchange down, the statement said. According to an English language Facebook post by the Commission, the rules would take effect in January. The commission added that since much of the cryptocurrency trading was being done anonymously, users must now use their real names and anonymous trading is no longer allowed. The government also indicated it would closely monitor banks and would "swiftly" step in to limit fund flows into cryptocurrencies if necessary. Earlier this month, authorities in the country had prohibited minors and non-residents from opening accounts. Bitcoin one-week performance Source: CoinDesk Bitcoin trading in South Korean won fell slightly Thursday to about 6 percent of total volume, according to CryptoCompare. The website showed interest from South Korean traders has grown steadily in the last 10 months, sometimes accounting for more than 12 percent of total bitcoin trading volume. Demand from South Korean investors has also contributed significantly to gains in other cryptocurrencies such as ethereum (Exchange: ETH=) and Ripple (Exchange: XRP.BS=), also known as XRP. Bitcoin has proved resilient to regulators so far. The digital currency plunged by more than $2,000 in September as China cracked down on digital currencies. But the cryptocurrency has since more than recovered and is up nearly 1,400 percent for the year, according to CoinDesk.
In less than a decade, what was a fringe product has become a globally traded asset. The Chinese yuan once dominated bitcoin trading, but today the Japanese Yen and the U.S. dollar account for much of bitcoin trading. CME, the world's largest futures exchange, and its competitor, Cboe, also launched bitcoin futures this month. Earlier on Thursday, the head of South Korea's financial regulation agency told reporters that the "bubble in bitcoin will burst later," local news agency Yonhap reported. Still, not everyone is spooked by the tougher rules. Cedric Jeanson, CEO of bitcoin trading firm BitSpread, told CNBC's " Squawk Box " on Thursday that he believed the move was "quite positive" and "normal" for regulators. — CNBC's JeeYeon Park contributed to this report.
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• Dow sets record close, tracking to end year with 6 full weeks of gains || 9 Facts About Artificial Intelligence That Might Surprise You: Artificial intelligence (AI) is getting a lot of attention from investors these days and with good reason. It's a technology with the potential to transform everything from transportation to cloud computing. Many companies are betting that AI will influence not just their products and services, but nearly every aspect of their business. Read on to discover nine things you may not have to know about this burgeoning technology. Toy robot sitting on pile of books reading. Image source: Getty Images. 1. AI encompasses many different types of computer learning. Artificial intelligence is often used as a catch-all to describe computer systems that can learn. But there are more specific designations like machine learning, deep learning, and deep inference that describe the details of how those computers are learning. For example, the GPU chipmaker NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) defines machine learning as "the practice of using algorithms to parse data, learn from it, and then make a determination or prediction about something in the world." 2. The artificial intelligence market will be worth a lot. Like, really a lot. A PwC report estimates that AI will contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030. AI will make products and services better, and it's expected to boost North America's GDP by 14% by that year. 3. The $127 billion autonomous vehicle market is being driven by AI. That's how much the self-driving car market is expected to be worth worldwide by 2027 -- and AI technology is crucial for making them a reality. NVIDIA created its own computer -- the Drive PX Pegasus -- specifically for driverless cars and powered by the company's AI and GPUs. It starts shipping this year, and 25 automakers and tech companies have already placed orders. 4. AI is already making the connected home much better. Amazon.com 's (NASDAQ: AMZN) Echo line, powered by its AI personal assistant, Alexa, holds 70% of the smart speaker market right now and could add $10 billion the company's top line by 2020. Additionally, Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) is using its own AI, called Google Assistant, to power its own competing line, and the smart speaker rivalry is only going to grow. Story continues 5. Some products you buy are being suggested to you by artificial intelligence. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos told investors last year that the company's machine learning systems are being used to recommend products to customers on its e-commerce platform. Beyond that, AI help's it determine which deals to offer and when, and influences many aspects of the business. Bezos recommended that investors watch this space . 6. The AI processor battle has already begun. Alphabet has created its own artificial intelligence processor, called the Tensor Processing Unit (TPU), specifically designed to make its advertising, search, Gmail, Google Photos, and other services smarter. The tech giant is also using the TPUs to enhance its cloud computing servers with the goal of grabbing a bigger piece of that $411 billion market. 7. Some tech leaders are legitimately worried about AI. Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk -- who's no stranger to advanced technology -- has warned on multiple occasions that artificial intelligence could eventually be dangerous to people -- and to humanity as a whole. He recommends some regulation around the technology and specifically wants a ban on any type of autonomous weaponry. Considering the fact that some governments are already working on AI controlled weapons , his request sounds reasonable. 8. World-famous physicist Stephen Hawking thinks AI will make a lot of jobs disappear. Hawking is one of many deep thinkers who believe AI systems will eliminate many jobs, and not create enough to replace them. Specifically, he said , "The automation of factories has already decimated jobs in traditional manufacturing, and the rise of artificial intelligence is likely to extend this job destruction deep into the middle classes, with only the most caring, creative or supervisory roles remaining." He's far from alone in his views. PwC says that 38% of U.S. jobs will be vulnerable to AI over the next 15 years. 9. Humans are smarter than any type of AI -- for now. Some researchers expect artificial intelligence systems to be only one-tenth as smart as a human by 2035. But things may start to get a little awkward around 2060 when AI could start performing nearly all the tasks humans do -- and doing them much better. Bonus thoughts Artificial intelligence has so much potential across so many different industries, it can be hard for an investor looking to profit from it to know where to start. As a first step, check out these AI stocks you don't have to babysit. Just don't forget to take the long view when it comes to any AI investments. Companies like NVIDIA and Amazon may be benefiting from the technology right now, but it may take a while for others to reap the benefits from their early AI investments -- so be patient. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Chris Neiger has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || A new technology promises to make bitcoin useful to pay for things, and not to hoard: Bitcoin (virtual currency) coins placed on Dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration picture Bitcoin is torn by opposing impulses: to be a store of value, like digital gold, or the internet equivalent of cash, used for everyday purchases like cups of coffee. Its the tension at the center of bitcoins long running civil war to date, the notion that bitcoin should be more like digital gold has prevailed. But one solution that could turn a clunky store of value into a means of cheap and quick payments hit a major milestone last week, tilting bitcoins future towards one where people use it pay for things instead of hoard it. The fix is called the Lightning Network , and the bitcoin world has awaited its release for years. It takes an approach that neatly sidesteps the intractable fight over lifting the cap on the number of transactions that the bitcoin network can handle. A guide to paying taxes on bitcoin investments Bitcoin has struggled with growing transaction volumes. It currently processes about three transactions per second , in contrast to more than 3,600 transactions that the Visa network completes every second. One way to increase bitcoins transaction capacity is to increase the size of its blocks , which are bundles of transactions that bitcoin miners add to the bitcoin blockchain every 10 minutes. But that approach has been contentious because the block size was set at the start by bitcoins mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, and critics of the approach say changing it would fundamentally alter bitcoins character, opening it up to greater centralization. Building on top of bitcoin Instead of joining the fight to change the size of bitcoins blocks, the Lightning Network is a separate protocol that sits atop the bitcoin blockchain. Its one type of Layer Two solution that observers believe will help remove the bottleneck in bitcoins transaction capacity. One analogy used by the Lightning Networks developers is that its akin to the hypertext transfer protocol, or http, which delivers this article to you. While http handles the delivery of web content, it sits atop the TCP/IP protocols, which take care of routing all the internets bits to their appropriate destinations. AI isnt just compromising our privacyit can limit our choices, too Last week, developers working on the Lightning Network claimed a victory : they sent two live transactions over the bitcoin blockchain using three independently written pieces of software that validated their tests to date. The result showed that Lightning transactions are interoperable, and can work across different software implementations. Lightning experiments to date were performed in a testing environment, so performing a live transaction was a milestone for the technologys proponents. Story continues One gripe in the bitcoin world is that if the cryptocurrency remains like a form of digital gold, it will be too slow and expensive to use at a coffee shop. Fittingly, one of the Lightning test transactions was sent to a mock-coffee shop called Starblocks. What if in order to send an email you had to download every email that anyone had ever sent? said Elizabeth Stark, who heads Lightning Labs , one of the startups developing the protocol. That would be super inefficient, right? Youd never send any emails from your phone. Thats how blockchains work. Bitcoins infrastructure currently depends on users who download the cryptocurrencys entire transaction history, or blockchain. These users are bitcoin miners, who earn a reward for their work adding new transactions; or full-node operators, who volunteer to check those new transactions. Full-nodes act as a sort of check and balance against miners: if miners produce blocks that contain erroneous transactions, for instance, nodes will reject them , preventing them from being added to the blockchain. As the bitcoin blockchain grows in sizeits currently about 145 gigabytes the disk space and bandwidth requirements to operate a full node increase. The Lightning Networks big promise is that it greatly reduces the cost of operating a node, meaning that practically any Lightning user becomes a node operator, making transactions a lot cheaper. Stark says operating a node will be as cheap as sending a tweet, but doesnt provide specifics. Node operators will also be able to charge fees for routing payments, but Stark says these will be negligibly low. Lightning works by exploiting an overlooked facet of the bitcoin program, something called hashed timelocked contracts . This is essentially a turbo-charged escrow function that only releases funds held in a particular bitcoin address after some conditions are met, such as multiple sign-offs from interested parties, and after a certain amount of time has elapsed. To send a Lightning payment, two parties would deposit the funds at one bitcoin address, in whats called a channel in Lightning parlance (pdf). They can then debit or credit the funds between them as necessary. These debits and credits wouldnt be added to the bitcoin blockchainthey would happen off-chain on the Lightning Network. This gets rid of the need for dozens of small payments between the two that have to be added to the bitcoin blockchain, but still benefits from the security of the bitcoin blockchain. The Lightning network, then, would just be the sum of all these payment channels. The complicated part is devising a way for payments to be routed through multiple channels, much like a packet of data is routed through the hubs and spokes of the internet. If that works, a huge volume of payments could take place off-chain, shielding the bitcoin blockchain from a deluge of transactions, while increasing its utility. On-chain or off-chain? The counterpoint to the Lightning Network and similar solutions is to simply increase the size of bitcoins blocks. Thats what offshoots like bitcoin cash , which offers an eightfold increase in the block size, have done. One vocal supporter of that approach is Ryan X. Charles, founder of a startup working on micropayments for content called Yours, and a former engineer at Reddit tasked with working on blockchain tech. He has argued that Layer Two solutions like the Lightning Network will suffer from centralization, and raise the possibility of increased fees. He contrasts that to bitcoin cash: Bitcoin cash will have low fees indefinitely. On-chain scaling is fundamentally better than off-chain scaling in every way, he says. The rejoinder from Lightning proponents is that on-chain scaling is like simply adding more lanes to a highway: It seems like an obvious and straightforward way to increase capacity and speed, until someone builds a plane and bypasses the gridlock entirely. That plane is the Lightning Network, from Starks point of view. Yet even the Lightning solution doesnt completely get away from the question of bitcoins block size. Thats because payment channels still rely on at least one transaction on the bitcoin blockchain to be activated. That means if Lightning takes off as a payments technology, eventually bitcoins blocks could still become increasingly crowdedthe very situation it faces today. The arguments over on-chain and off-chain scaling get to the polarized nature of the debate around expanding bitcoins transaction capacity: There is a rebuttal for every new solution. This has confused developers hoping to build on top of cryptocurrency protocols. One of them is San Francisco-based Peter Kim, who finally cast his lot with etheruem. He built an app called Cipher that lets people browse decentralized applications like CryptoKitties on their phones. I have my doubts and Id like to see them answered. However, different people give completely different answers and all of them seem equally reasonable, he said. The Lightning Network was first described in a white paper in 2015 , but software implementing its ideas remains at the alpha stage. Stark wouldnt say when more advanced software will be available, noting simply that her team is working as quickly as possible on a beta release. She wouldnt provide an estimate for when Lightning payments would be generally available. The years-long development of the protocol means that the project faces serious skepticism about it ever alleviating bitcoins transaction bottleneck. For critics of the Lightning Networks pace of development, Stark has a final comeback: People vastly underestimate the amount of time it takes to build new cryptographic peer-to-peer protocols, she said, noting that there are fewer than 10 full-time developers working on the project. The truth is building these protocols is no small feat and takes time. Correction : An earlier version of this article said bitcoin cash has an unlimited blocksize; its blocksize is capped at eight megabytes. Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief , our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: Thousands of Indian wives might not be able to work in the US under new Trump proposal How American parenting is killing the American marriage View comments || Bitcoin drops after dramatic gains ahead of futures launch: By Jemima Kelly and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin lost almost a fifth of its value in 10 hours on Friday, having surged more than 40 percent in the preceding 48 hours, sparking fears the market may be heading for a price collapse. In a hectic day on Thursday, bitcoin leapt from below $16,000 to $19,500 in less than an hour on the U.S.-based GDAX, one of the biggest exchanges globally, while it was still changing hands at about $15,900 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp. Some market watchers attributed the lurch higher to the coming launch of bitcoin futures on major exchanges. Having then climbed to $16,666 on Bitstamp at around 0200 GMT on Friday, it tumbled to $13,482 by around 1200 GMT - a slide of more than 19 percent. It was last down 8.2 percent at $15,232.32 <BTC=BTSP> on BitStamp. On Sunday, the Chicago-based Cboe Global Markets exchange is due to launch a futures contract on the digital currency, to be followed by CME Group the next week. Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA in London, said investors may have taken profits on bitcoin gains ahead of the Cboe launch, which could open the door to short speculators who believe the price has risen far too quickly. "The initial bounce after this morning's sell-off suggests there's still appetite for buying dips but that may not last if we don't see the kind of rebound witnessed previously," said Erlam. "Saying that, the way bitcoin is trading at the minute, I don't think anyone would be surprised to see it end the day in the green," he added. For an interactive graphic, click on http://tmsnrt.rs/2AHKJPd. As investors braced for the Cboe launch, some big U.S. banks, including JPMorgan Chase <JPM.N> and Citigroup <C.N>, will not immediately clear bitcoin trades for clients once investors start trading futures contracts, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Story continues JPMorgan and Citigroup did not immediately respond to requests for comment. On Thursday, Goldman Sachs Group Inc <GS.N> said it planned to clear bitcoin futures for some clients as the new contracts go live on exchanges in the coming days. As bitcoin slumped, other cryptocurrencies climbed. Ethereum the second-biggest, was up nearly 8 percent, according to trade website Coinmarketcap. For the week, bitcoin was still up almost a third. Since the start of October, bitcoin has more than tripled in price. So far this year it has soared about 15 fold, stoking concerns that the bubble would burst in dramatic fashion. Its rapid rise has drawn in millions of new investors. So far this week, more than half a million new users have opened wallets with retail-focused bitcoin wallet provider Blockchain, the firm said, doubling the total number of users to 20 million since last year. "Like a herd, market participants have a tendency to follow the money," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst, at Forex.com in London. "So when bitcoin goes up in value by hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars per day, the fear of missing out (FOMO) kicks in and speculators rush to buy the cryptocurrency because they dont want to be left out." (Reporting by Jemima Kelly in London and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss in New York; Additional reporting by Lisa Twaronite in Tokyo; Editing by Alden Bentley and David Gregorio) || Can Weight Watchers Repeat Its Oprah Magic?: Weight Watchers(NYSE: WTW)knows few celebrities have as much of a golden touch as does Oprah Winfrey. Since taking a10% stakein the weight-loss operator a little over two years ago, the media mogul has seen her investment grow nearly 600% as her social media posts on her weight-loss journey bring new members into the program.
Now Weight Watchers is hoping to capture lightning in a bottle twice by signing on hip-hop impresario DJ Khaled, who has his own vast following on social media, to be the company's "social media ambassador."
DJ Khaled, the new Weight Watchers social media ambassador. Image source: Weight Watchers.
The Jan. 1 announcement was strategically timed. Weight loss is always one of thetop New Year's resolutionspeople make, and with the Weight Watchers announcement last month of its new Freestyle program, which reportedly saw better clinical weight-loss results than other Weight Watchers programs, having DJ Khaled broadcast his results on the program across social media has the potential to significantly increase membership.
Behind Weight Watchers success, however, is more than just a canny knack for picking key celebrities to endorse its products, though that doesn't hurt. Rather, it's been the weight-loss leader's ability to adjust its program to better fit consumers lifestyles while keeping the focus on eating better.
Soon after Oprah signed on, Weight Watchers switched from having members follow a strict diet regimen to one it called Beyond the Scale, which focused more on healthy living. The effect was immediate. Where active subscribers had fallen 5% at the end of 2015, they soared 10% in 2016 to over 2.6 million, and they're up another 18% over the first nine months of 2017.
In December, Weight Watchers expanded on the healthy eating, healthy lifestyle mantra by unveiling the Freestyle program. While it keeps the weight-loss program's point system that uses calories, protein, saturated fat, and sugars to determine a food's value, it expands the number of foods that have a zero value so they no longer need to be tracked.
For example, eggs, corn, fish and seafood, beans, peas, and more are now zero-point foods, whereas before they ranged from two to four points. The idea is, these are healthier options than some other foods, and people will be better off choosing them. By eliminating the need to account for these items, people will eat more of them.
According to Weight Watchers, a six-month clinical trial of the Freestyle program resulted in participants experiencing average weight loss of 7.9%. Chief Scientific Officer Gary Foster, Ph.D., said, "The results are the best we've ever seen for a Weight Watchers program in a clinical trial."
But the key seems to be getting that message out to people, and like Oprah and her social media followers, DJ Khaled has a significant number of fans. CNBC reports the music producer has 3.92 millionTwitterfollowers, 8.9 million followers on Instagram, and his snaps get 3 million to 4 million views on Snapchat. Some 3.4 million people also like and follow hisFacebookpage.
The producer will document his experience and progress on the new Freestyle program on all his social media channels, which has the potential to bring in a new customer demographic to Weight Watchers. The market researchers at InfoScout say Weight Watchers members skew toward older, higher income Caucasians, while DJ Khaled should be able to attract a younger, more urban customer.
There is, of course, the risk that any high-profile dieters will fail at achieving their goal. While Oprah Winfrey's battle with weight gain and loss have been the stuff of tabloids for years, her own special brand allows her to work her magic regardless of the outcome. Others may not be so successful.
Still, by leading the way forward into new avenues with a new program, Weight Watchers has the opportunity to further increase not only its subscriber rolls, but also its top and bottom lines.
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[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Exponential Growth: Number of Bitcoin Users to Reach 200 Million by 2024 https://goo.gl/fb/BTC9AN #bitcoin #news || こんばんは。 bitcoin priceという || Bitcoin Price Correction Coming Soon? ( BCC Pay, Events, 2018 Road Map Update) | #VentureCanvas - http://www.venturecanvas.com/2017/12/09/bitcoin-price-correction-coming-soon-bcc-pay-events-2018-road-map-update-venturecanvas/ …pic.twitter.com/jyRcFbuupV || One day $BTC price become insane pic.twitter.com/oHj9r1UzoN || Tiffany Haddishちゃんが || PR: Pivx Brings Absolute Privacy to Proof of Stake Cryptocurrencies with Zerocoin Protocol Implementation https://buff.ly/2nIY2cE #bitcoin #cryptocurrencypic.twitter.com/zzM6ksEKzC || Компания Elysium - работает на криптовалюте BITCOIN!
Матричный маркетинг
Бинарный маркетинг.. https://vk.com/wall36530200_2920 … || 仮想通貨が軒並み大暴落(*_*)
昨日(1/16)〜今日(1/17)の下落率出してみました。
【下落率その①】
ビットコイン(BTC)=-18.65%
イーサリアム(ETH)=-23.22%
イーサクラシック(ETC)=-34.00%
リスク(LSK)=-26.94%
ファクトム(FCT)=-28.78%
モネロ(XMR)=-25.99%
オーガー(REP)=-27.45% || Sell signal is received for #AMP trading with #BTC sell rate=0.0000686 buy rate=0.0000555 profit=23.603604% duration=01 day 00:00:00 #PAKBruders #CryptoCurrenciespic.twitter.com/utrOe5iWRj || #Bitcoin 'can survive an apocalypse' using old-school technology, says CoinDesk researcher https://goo.gl/76iFo5
|
Trend: down || Prices: 8830.75, 9174.91, 8277.01, 6955.27, 7754.00, 7621.30, 8265.59, 8736.98, 8621.90, 8129.97
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2018-11-30]
BTC Price: 4017.27, BTC RSI: 28.36
Gold Price: 1220.20, Gold RSI: 51.36
Oil Price: 50.93, Oil RSI: 25.90
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
BitMEX CEO: Bitcoin bear market could last 18 months: Bear market: Bitcoin is on track for its worst year ever. Photo: Jean-Francois Monier/AFP/Getty Images The CEO of the worlds largest bitcoin derivatives trading platform believes the current crypto bear market could last a further 18 months. Bitcoin ( BTC-GBP ) surged to a high of over $20,000 (£15,676) in December last year but crashed at the start of 2018 and has traded in a tight range close to $6,300 for the past few months. If the performance persists, 2018 is set to be the worst year on record for bitcoin in terms of percentage decline. BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes told Yahoo Finance UK: My view is the volatility environment that exists right now could persist for another 12 to 18 months, the flatness. Im just basing it off my previous experience. I started in bitcoin in 2013 when the price went from $250 to $1,300 and then 2014 to 2015 was sort of the nuclear bear market. Price crashed, volume crashed very, very difficult to make money. Former Deutsche Bank and Citi trader Hayes co-founded BitMEX in 2014. The Seychelles-registered platform allows people to take out and trade peer-to-peer bitcoin derivative products such as futures. Hayes, who was speaking to Yahoo Finance UK at an event in London organised by The Spectator magazine, added that he believes conditions could get even worse. He said: We think trading volumes could fall further from where they are now. We are in a bull market While Hayes is bearish on the immediate prospects for bitcoin , others in the industry were more upbeat. Will Warren, the cofounder of decentralised crypto exchange 0x, told Yahoo Finance UK in a phone interview: Having followed this space since 2011, weve seen a number of different cycles where a large number of people start to get interested in the technology and it kind of winds up and then winds downs again. The market is blowing off some steam right now, he added. I think the market is probably going through some healthy consolidation but I do believe the long-term trend will be greater adoption of bitcoin and similar technologies. Story continues Mati Greenspan, an analyst with trading platform eToro, said: In 2016 the gains started very gradually until it snowballed. Now that awareness and education have skyrocketed, I have a feeling that its going to happen a lot quicker the next time. Jonathan Levi, a former Barclays and Goldman banker who now helps banks implement blockchain as CEO of startup HACERA, told Yahoo Finance UK: I think when the bear market is put in context it gives you more clarity youre looking at a bear sized drop but from an astonishing height. The price of bitcoin is undoubtedly in a bear market but in the application of bitcoin and other blockchain projects we are in fact in a bull market. Most of the EU banks are actively investing in blockchain and that all originally stems from bitcoin. Wednesday marks the 10th anniversary of the publication of the first bitcoin white paper. Were positioned to weather the low volatility Despite the recent tail-off in volumes and volatility for bitcoin, BitMEX still sees daily trade on contracts with a notional $1bn each day. Earlier this year it recorded its biggest ever day, with $8.5bn of contracts written. We think were well positioned to weather the low volatility, Hayes told Yahoo Finance UK. There are some reports of other OTC dealers and exchanges letting go of employees because obviously volumes have fallen and they hired aggressively. Our expansion plans have not changed, we continue to hire across the whole organisation and we have the balance sheet resources to continue that activity. Yahoo Finance reported last week that Coinbase, one of the largest bitcoin exchanges, cut around 15 staff across a range of departments. || Pay Bitcoin or Else: Thugs Threaten Amsterdam Businesses with Explosives: Business owners inAmsterdamare living in fear of criminals who are threatening to cause acts of terror unless they are paid an extortion fee in bitcoin.
Accordingto a Netherlands publication NLTimes, emails have been sent to multiple businesses in Amsterdam demanding bitcoins worth 50,000 euros. Failure to pay, the emails warn, hand grenades will be planted at the business premises or the businesses will come under a hail of bullets forcing closure. In the Dutch capital, businesses are required to shut down for a period of time in case of a shooting or after an explosive device has been found.
“You probably noticed how many entrepreneurs have had to close their doors recently by order of the municipality. To prevent you from being the next one, you must immediately take action,” reads a section of the emailed threat.
To pay the extortion fee, victims of the extortion scheme are instructed to open an account on either of two specific cryptocurrency exchanges – Coinbase andCoinmama. They are then required to buy bitcoins on either exchange and transfer them to a specified address.
Since mid this year, a nightclub and at least three coffee shops have received the threats. The criminals have also made it clear that the extortion fee will be doubled to 100,000 euros if the payment is not made within five days.
The emails also demand confidentiality and warn recipients against informing the police or anyone else. Failure to maintain confidentiality, the emails warn, will result in the extortion fee being quadrupled tobitcoinsworth 200,000 euros. Immediate action to ensure the business shuts down for a minimum of three months will also be taken, the emails add. So far no business has confessed to paying the extortion fee.
While this is not the first time that criminals are extorting bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies from businesses, the use of threats of violence or terror is rare. Instead, criminals have largely chosen to deployransomwareand this has proved to be a lucrative business. Cybersecurity firm Sophos estimates that creators of theSamSam ransomwarehave generated bitcoin worth more than US$6 million since 2015.
https://twitter.com/CryptoCoinsNews/status/1024915138506317826
So rare are threats of terror for extortion purposes in the cryptocurrency space that in one of those isolated incidents where this tactic was employed, the target was a bitcoin startup. As CCN reported around three months ago, this was in the case of a Norwegian bitcoin mining farm Kryptovault whichreceived bomb threatsafter noise-related conflicts with the residents neighboring the facility.
“This is sabotage. If you are expanding crypto mining and filling the country with noise, then you will be sabotaging the peace. I am threatening to send you some explosives,” read the bomb threat which was sent to Kryptovault.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The postPay Bitcoin or Else: Thugs Threaten Amsterdam Businesses with Explosivesappeared first onCCN. || California's New Airline Just Took Off, but It Faces Stiff Headwinds: It took California Pacific Airlinesnearly a decadeto get off the ground, but last week, America's newest commercial airline finally took flight. The carrier began scheduled service from McClellan-Palomar Airport (which serves the northern part of San Diego County) to San Jose, California, and Reno, Nevada. Flights to Las Vegas and Phoenix are scheduled to begin on Nov. 15.
Yet the new airline didn't exactly have a smooth first day. And that points to a major problem with the company's current business model that could threaten California Pacific Airlines' very survival.
Despite the occasional major success story likeSouthwest Airlines(NYSE: LUV)orJetBlue Airways, most start-up airlines quickly go bust. The airline industry is capital-intensive and ultracompetitive. Furthermore, larger carriers enjoy massive economies of scale. All three factors make it hard for new airlines to break through and become sustainably profitable.
California Pacific's strategy is to tap into a captive market in northern San Diego County. Due to its short runway, McClellan-Palomar Airport can't support the larger jets that most airlines prefer to use. As a result, California Pacific Airlines faces no direct competition at its home airport.
California Pacific is currently the only airline operating at its home airport. Image source: California Pacific Airlines.
Southwest Airlines offers extensive service at San Diego International Airport, complemented by smaller operations for the other major U.S. airlines. But during rush hour, it can take an hour or more to get to the airport from Carlsbad, Oceanside, and other communities in San Diego's northern suburbs. Parking fees are high, as well.
California Pacific Airlines isbanking on the convenience factorof McClellan-Palomar Airport in order to appeal to travelers. In fact, its starting fares of $99 to $149 are actually higher than the introductory fares Southwest charges on the same routes from San Diego International Airport.
In an unfortunate turn of events, California Pacific Airlines' first scheduled flight last Thursday was delayed by nearly half a day due to a maintenance problem. The morning departure didn't end up leaving for San Jose until after 6 p.m.
Indeed, the new airline's reliance on a fleet ofEmbraer(NYSE: ERJ)E145s that are 15-plus years old could be its Achilles' heel. While these jets should have plenty of life left in them, they areexpensive to maintain. Even if they are well cared for, they are likely to be less reliable than theBoeing737s favored by Southwest. The E145s also burn a lot more fuel per seat, although that's less of a factor on the sub-500-mile routes that California Pacific Airlines is operating.
Another issue is that 50-seat jets like the Embraer E145 feel cramped compared with the mainline jets that service most routes at San Diego International Airport.
Business travelers are California Pacific Airlines' main target market. It will be a tough sell to win these customers away from Southwest Airlines with higher fares, less-comfortable planes, and infrequent flights -- despite the advantage of operating from a more convenient airport. And if California Pacific can't offer reliable service, business travelers will quickly lose whatever interest they may have today.
In the short run, California Pacific should consider keeping a spare aircraft at its home base in Carlsbad to ensure that future maintenance issues don't lead to massive delays or cancellations. Even so, it will have a hard time turning a profit as long as its business model relies on getting people to pay a premium (relative to what Southwest would charge) for a less comfortable ride.
In an earlier version of its business plan, California Pacific Airlines had planned to use the E170, a larger, more comfortable, more reliable, and more fuel-efficient Embraer jet. The E170 is one of several larger aircraft that can feasibly operate from McClellan-Palomar Airport's short runway. The next-generation Embraer E190-E2 andAirbusA220-100 should also fit the bill.
For California Pacific Airlines to survive, it needs to think about upgrading to one of these newer models. By doing so, it would be able to reduce its unit costs while improving its reliability and customer comfort -- making it a whole lot easier to sustain higher fares.
The main drawback is that any of these planes would be far more expensive than California Pacific's existing E145 fleet, potentially requiring it to raise more capital. (The carrier would also have to get FAA approval and retrain its crews to operate a new aircraft type.) However, without a more competitive fleet, this start-up airline may never reach profitability.
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Adam Levine-Weinbergowns shares of Embraer, JetBlue Airways, and Southwest Airlines and is long January 2019 $10 calls on JetBlue Airways. The Motley Fool recommends Embraer, JetBlue Airways, and Southwest Airlines. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Bitmain Releases Antminer S15: How it Stacks Up Against Competitors: Bitmain has released (and already sold out of) its Antminer S15 model traditional ASIC Bitcoin miner. At a price of $1,475 per unit and a per-customer limit of two, it is comparably one of the better bargains as mining hardware goes. It clocks up to 23 terahash per second, meaning that 3-4 units would be required to match the performance of Bitfury’s Tardis , which goes up to 80TH/s. The Tardis, however, is much more expensive on a per unit basis, with resellers getting almost $7,000 per unit . BitFury themselves do not publish the price of a single unit. Presumably their pricing varies based on the buyer’s requirements in terms of quantity. However, for just $50 more than the Antminer S15, miners will soon be able to acquire Ebang’s Ebit 11+, which touts 37TH/s, for $1517 — far and away the best deal of the major mining hardware providers mentioned here. At the same time, one cannot simply purchase a single E11+ – you must buy at least 50, for a minimum investment of $75,850. Further, the E11+ won’t be available until January, whereas S15’s will begin appearing on the web before long. It has long been a profitable business model in the mining industry to simply reserve some upcoming hardware and resell it as soon as the manufacturer sells out – which is normally. Ebang Likely the Best Deal The best deal on mining hardware is always dependent on the miner’s goals and budget. The minimum investment at Ebang would give one a starting hashpower of 1,850 TH/s. This is a sizable mining operation from the get-go and certainly a foothold in Bitcoin mining. According to CoinWarz, it would take just over 6 months to begin earning a profit, with all factors considered . Solo mining would not be an option, despite the conceivable size of the operation, with this few machines. You would need approximately ten fold the minimum order to have a prayer against the massive pools of mining out there. Bitcoin mining in general has fallen off as an extremely profitable way to make money. It requires a large up front investment and the profit margins can be slim for those who must convert their coins right away. However, miners who are able to hold on to some or all of their Bitcoin have historically made millions. The post Bitmain Releases Antminer S15: How it Stacks Up Against Competitors appeared first on CCN . || Fake News: Analyst Falsely Claims Bitcoin Price Decline Will Spark Gold Rally: gold bars bitcoin price Stephen Innes, the head of trading for the Asia Pacific region at foreign exchange (FX) trading giant Oanda, has said that the plunge in the value of bitcoin and crypto will lead to a surge in the price of gold. In an interview, Innes said : “There’s still a lot of people in this game. If Bitcoin collapses, if we start to see a run down toward $3,000, this thing is going to be a monster. People will be running for the exits. I don’t think coins are going to be anywhere near as attractive as some of the other cross-asset plays. Gold prices are going to jump considerably higher and there’s an inverse relationship we’re starting to see with gold and coins.” Is Gold a Better Investment Than Bitcoin? Since 2011, gold has consistently declined in value, from $1,800 to $1,200, by more than 33 percent. In contrast, since 2011, Bitcoin has increased from $30 to $4,200, up 13,900 percent in the past seven years. gold price bitcoin According to Innes, an inverse correlation has been spotted between cryptocurrencies and gold . He stated that as major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin drop in value, the price of gold rises. However, as shown in the yearly chart of gold, the price of gold has not increased in the past year while the cryptocurrency market suffered its fifth biggest correction to date. In fact, since January, the price of gold has dropped from $1,360 to $1,220. gold price bitcoin The narrative that the drop in the price of cryptocurrencies leads to an increase in the price of gold is wildly inaccurate, as the data demonstrates that there exists no correlation between the two assets. While cryptocurrencies have fallen by a significantly larger margin that gold, the precious metal has also fallen substantially by its standard. Even if the long-term trends of gold and Bitcoin are considered, Bitcoin has consistently outperformed gold since it was created in 2009. Hence, the argument that gold will benefit from Bitcoin approaching $3,000 is false, given that gold has clearly not been affected by the price trend of BTC. Story continues Gold Versus Bitcoin bitcoin price vs gold price A recent survey conducted by Ron Paul , a retired politician who served as the US Representative for Texas’s 14th congressional district, demonstrated that the majority of millennials prefer Bitcoin as a long-term investment over the U.S. dollar and gold. For millennials, the motive behind the preference of Bitcoin over gold is strikingly obvious. The trend of the financial market is moving towards digitalization. To trade, purchase, or sell gold bullion, large financial institutions and banks are involved, which millennials generally do not favor , as many studies have shown. For instance, the London bullion market (LBMA), has a clearing system in place to settle orders that is operated by a corporation called LPMCL which is owned and managed by the five banks including HSBC , ICBC Standard Bank, JPMorgan , Scotiabank, and UBS. Amongst experienced investors, gold could continue to be a viable store of value especially in periods of uncertainty and volatility. But, amongst millennials, the trend of financial technologies (fintech), blockchain, and crypto is expected to be sustained in the long run. Featured Image from Shutterstock The post Fake News: Analyst Falsely Claims Bitcoin Price Decline Will Spark Gold Rally appeared first on CCN . || Crypto Market Stable as Bitcoin Stabilizes at $6,350, Decentraland Surges 10%: bitcoin price us dollar Over the last 24 hours, the Bitcoin price has remained fairly stable in the $6,300 region with its volume stagnant at around $3.7 billion. Stellar (XLM) has increased by nearly six percent as the anticipation towards the potential listing of XLM by Coinbase, the world’s largest fiat-to-crypto exchange, continues to intensify. The rest of the market has struggled to initiate an upward movement, which was expected given that trading activity in the cryptocurrency exchange market tends to subside during the weekend. While the valuation of the crypto market increased slightly from $211 billion to $213 billion on Saturday, it has fallen back down to $212 billion, as Ripple (XRP), Litecoin (LTC), Monero (XMR) and several other cryptocurrencies recorded a minor decline in value in the range of 0.5 percent to 2 percent. Big Accounts Sending Bitcoin From Exchanges to Wallets As Whale Alert and cryptocurrency trader The Crypto Monk reported , tens of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin have been moved from cryptocurrency exchanges to wallets over the past week. “Just in case you haven’t noticed yet, tens of millions of dollars in BTC have been transferred from exchanges to unknown wallets.” It is possible that whales, or big investors, have started to move funds from exchanges to non-custodial wallets to avoid selling the dominant cryptocurrency in a low price range. But, it is also a possibility that the growing fear towards the U.S. government’s crackdown on exchanges, as seen in the case of EtherDelta, led large Bitcoin holders to move funds to wallets they can exercise full control over. Despite an overall increase in volume and the general positive sentiment in the market, technical indicators show a bearish short-term movement for BTC. “Managed to crawl back into the range. A close around $6,350 today would not only be a weekly retest of demand but also a daily retest of the trading range. A move below support today would spell trouble so it’s definitely a close to watch,” said technical analyst Don Alt, suggesting that if BTC drops below the $6,350 mark, it could trigger a further drop into the $6,200 region. Story continues Decentraland Surges 10 Percent Possibly due to increasing property sales on its virtual reality world powered by the Ethereum blockchain, Decentraland, the 63rd largest cryptocurrency in the market, increased by more than 10 percent in value. The rise in the price of Decentraland follows yet another high profile property sale in its virtual reality world for more than $100,000. In the past month, MANA, the native cryptocurrency of Decentraland, has risen from $0.067 to $0.098, by more than 46 percent. The strong performance of MANA and several other tokens like Maker comes during a period in which the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating into various token sales to evaluate whether tokens can be considered as securities under existing regulatory frameworks. The post Crypto Market Stable as Bitcoin Stabilizes at $6,350, Decentraland Surges 10% appeared first on CCN . || Bitcoin Will Not Challenge Gold as a Safe-Haven Asset: Equity Analyst: Though many bitcoin investors believe multi-layer scaling solutions such as theLightning Network(LN) will eventually make BTC a viable payment instrument for the proverbial coffee purchase, most argue that the flagship cryptocurrency’s primary short-term use case is as “digital gold.” However, an equity analyst at one of the world’s most respected investment research firms said that he doesn’t expect bitcoin to make a noticeable dent into the yellow metal’s market share.
Writing in Morningstar Research Services’ short-form investment commentary series, the “Morningstar Minute,” equity analyst Kristoffer Inton noted that ifbitcoindid begin to replace gold as a safe haven asset, it would represent a “seismic shift” in the investment case for the precious metal as 40 percent of gold demand comes from investors.
“If cryptocurrency were to displace gold’s investment case, the implications for gold prices would be devastating. 40% of gold demand relates to investment, so a shift in investment from gold to cryptocurrency would be a seismic shock.”
However, Inton, who has been at Morningstar since 2013, wrote that the firm has created a proprietary framework for evaluating assets as stores of value and found that cryptocurrency does not score well on this rubric, leading him to continue recommending long-term investments in certain gold stocks, including Goldcorp.
“In order to assess the threat, we’ve created a framework to grade any asset class’s viability as a safe haven by focusing on liquidity, functional purpose, scarcity of supply, future demand certainty, and permanence. Through this framework, we conclude that cryptocurrency does not and will not challenge gold as a safe-haven asset class.”
Nevertheless, cryptocurrency bulls maintain that bitcoin does have a solid investment thesis as “digital gold” because, although it is currently quitevolatile, it possesses many of gold’s attractive features (e.g. liquidity and scarcity) while also alleviating some of its drawbacks, such as its lack of portability and impracticality for payments.
Billionaire investor Peter Thiel, for instance, said earlier this year that he is long on bitcoin, even if it never matures as a payment instrument.
“I would be long bitcoin, and neutral to skeptical of just about everything else at this point with a few possible exceptions. There will be one online equivalent to gold, and the one you’d bet on would be the biggest,” he said. “I would be long bitcoin, and neutral to skeptical of just about everything else at this point with a few possible exceptions. There will be one online equivalent to gold, and the one you’d bet on would be the biggest.”
Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts fromTradingView.
The postBitcoin Will Not Challenge Gold as a Safe-Haven Asset: Equity Analystappeared first onCCN. || Bitcoin Falls 10% In Selloff: Investing.com - Bitcoin was trading at $3,963.9 by 16:48 (21:48 GMT) on the Investing.com Index on Saturday, down 10.15% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage loss since November 19.
The move downwards pushed Bitcoin's market cap down to $68.7B, or 53.55% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. At its highest, Bitcoin's market cap was $241.2B.
Bitcoin had traded in a range of $3,954.8 to $4,494.6 in the previous twenty-four hours.
Over the past seven days, Bitcoin has seen a drop in value, as it lost 28.92%. The volume of Bitcoin traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $4.1B or 33.42% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $3,954.7612 to $5,727.8755 in the past 7 days.
At its current price, Bitcoin is still down 80.05% from its all-time high of $19,870.62 set on December 17, 2017.
XRP was last at $0.38502 on the Investing.com Index, down 6.00% on the day.
Ethereum was trading at $114.97 on the Investing.com Index, a loss of 7.29%.
XRP's market cap was last at $15.3B or 11.94% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, while Ethereum's market cap totaled $11.8B or 9.23% of the total cryptocurrency market value.
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Cardano Falls 10% In Selloff || Hardware Wallet Ledger Nano S Announces Support for Monero: Cryptocurrencyhardware walletmanufacturerLedgerhas updated its support ofaltcoinMonero (XMR)for its Nano S device, the company confirmed in a press release shared with Cointelegraph Nov. 29.
TheFrenchcompany, which along withTrezorandKeepKeyis one of the oldest hardware wallet manufacturers in the industry, said the Nano S was already compatible with Monero’s latest GUI 0.13 release.
“We are thrilled to welcome another top-ten cryptocurrency to the Ledger platform with Monero,” CEO Eric Larchevêque commented, adding:
“With this addition, Ledger devices now cover 90% of the entire crypto market capitalization.”
Like its competitors, Ledger continues to focus on supporting as many of the popular cryptocurrencies as possible, as security of holdings becomes an ever more pressing issue for investors.
Earlier this month, Trezorissued a warningthat counterfeiters had stepped up efforts to release fake versions of its own devices for sale on the internet.
This week meanwhile, Ledgerannouncedits expansion intoNew Yorkand the hiring of a former Intercontinental Exchange executive to head its institutional custody project Ledger Vault.
In October, LarchevêquerevealedLedger had sold over 1.3 million Nano S units.
Monero is currentlyranked 12thamong cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. The coin is trading around $60.88, down just under 1 percent on the day to press time.
• Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Stellar, EOS, Litecoin: Price Analysis, Nov. 28
• Hardware Wallet Ledger Opens New York Office to Develop Institutional Custody Offering
• Crypto Hardware Wallet Ledger Resumes Bitcoin Cash Services
• Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Stellar, EOS, Litecoin, Cardano, Monero, TRON, Dash: Price Analysis, Nov. 21 || Debunked: Top European Central Bank Official’s False Arguments Against Bitcoin: EU Blockchain Benoît Cœuré, a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, condemned Bitcoin (BTC), describing it a bubble, ponzi scheme, and an environmental disaster. “Lightning may strike me for saying this in the Tower of Basel — but bitcoin was an extremely clever idea. Sadly, not every clever idea is a good idea. I believe that Agustín Carstens summed its manifold problems up well when he said that bitcoin is ‘a combination of a bubble, a Ponzi scheme and an environmental disaster,’” Cœuré said , at the Economics of Payments IX Conference Argument 1: Bitcoin is a Bubble Since 2009, BTC has experienced four major corrections, recording a drop in the range of 70 to 80 percent. The definition of a bubble in finance is established as an economic cycle “characterized by the rapid escalation of asset prices followed by a contraction,” which occurs when investors are simply not willing to buy the asset at an elevated price and triggers a sell-off. Bitcoin suffered four massive drops in its price throughout its nine-year history. But, subsequent to every 70 to 80 percent decline in value, the price of BTC recovered to a higher point. Hence, while BTC was considered a bubble at $100 and investors were not willing to purchase the asset at that valuation, the market recovered beyond that point as time passed, achieving $10,000, $10,000, and $ 20,000 . There were bubbles in Bitcoin and there will continue to be bubble-like behavior in the crypto market in the months to come. But, characterizing Bitcoin, a decentralized finance network that is widely utilized as a consensus currency and a store of value, as a bubble is incorrect. Every market goes through a bubble but as it pops, the market endures a correction and revives. As security expert and cryptocurrency researcher Andreas Antonopoulos said, the bigger financial bubbles are in traditional markets like stocks and bonds. “Bitcoin grows by bubbles. Bitcoin’s bubble is also the least dangerous, least systemic, and yet most talked about bubble. The bigger and scarier bubbles are in stocks, bonds, national debt, real estate, student loans, healthcare, etc. All of these bubbles are driven by anemic productivity growth in the context of massive stimulus and negative interest rates; money is cheap and there are no good investments that are not already inflated into bubbles,” Antonopoulos said. Story continues This week, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that outstanding student loan debt in the U.S. increased by $37 billion in the third quarter and stood at $1.44 trillion as of September 30, 2018. Argument 2: Bitcoin is a Ponzi Scheme The weakest argument against Bitcoin is falsely describing it as a ponzi scheme. A ponzi scheme is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors by using funds obtained from new investors. Bitcoin is a decentralized protocol and no central entity or individual has control over the network. It is technically not possible for anyone or any organization within the network to provide early investors with any additional compensation by taking away funds from new investors, because no individual or organization has the power or authority to remove funds from wallets. Bitcoin is a consensus currency, as former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein said. Argument 3: Bitcoin is Killing the Environment Bitcoin’s impact on the global environment fails to consider many variables such as the growing amount of clean energy, increasing efficiency of cryptocurrency mining, and changes in the ecosystem. As Andreas Antonopoulos put it: “Extrapolation for dummies: ‘I am concerned about the progression of your pregnancy madam. If your belly is this big at 8 months, in 2 years you will be as big as this room.’” All three arguments outlined by Benoît Cœuré against Bitcoin have already been addressed many times in the past and are weak to justify an opposing stance towards cryptocurrencies as consensus currencies. Feartured image from Shutterstock. The post Debunked: Top European Central Bank Official’s False Arguments Against Bitcoin appeared first on CCN .
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
This Bitcoin Skeptic Wants to Make ‘Stable’ Cryptos for Venezuela https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-economist-steve-hanke-airtm-crypto-stablecoin-venezuela … || Buy Bitcoin With PayPal! Also with CC, paysafecard, Skrill, OKPAY https://www.virwox.com?r=4db29virwox.com/?r=4db29 #btc #bitcoin 16 pic.twitter.com/SGzX7estqH || The current price of Bitcoin is $4249.93512932.
The current price of BCash is $189.78571389, or 0.04472107 BTC || The Hardware Bitcoin Wallet. Get Trezor now for only 89 EUR https://buytrezor.com?a=coinokbuytrezor.com/?a=coinok #btc #bitcoin 19 pic.twitter.com/DUcAxdZ3tM || For the first time in OFAC history, the department publicly announced the Bitcoin addresses and stated that “U.S. persons generally are prohibited from dealing with them.” #btcOFac || BTC,ETH,XRP
Last: 3834.70, 109.83, 0.34
High: 4468.39, 128.31, 0.42
Low: 3801.01, 108.00, 0.34
%: -0.14% , -0.14% , -0.19%
Total USDT: -610.28, -17.19, -0.08
#BTC #bitcoin #ETH #XRP #ripple #crypto #cryptocurrency #pricepic.twitter.com/gAhwwwkIKL || Cotización del Bitcoin Cash: 414 50.€ | +1.3% | Kraken | 03/11/18 13:00 #BitcoinCash #Kraken #BCHEUR || Bitcoin turned 10 yesterday, but we're still in Wild West days 🤠
https://t.co/eilamgzo0M || Top 5 #cryptocurrencies
Alert Time: 2018-10-12 00:40:01
#Bitcoin: $6,287.118
#Ethereum: $196.326
#XRP: $0.402
#BitcoinCash: $444.383
#EOS: $5.265
#instabtc #pumpanddump #AI #trading $JPYhttp://www.coincaps.ai || I think you mean Bitcoin SV faced the most powerful attack
|
Trend: down || Prices: 4214.67, 4139.88, 3894.13, 3956.89, 3753.99, 3521.10, 3419.94, 3476.11, 3614.23, 3502.66
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2017-10-05]
BTC Price: 4328.41, BTC RSI: 56.81
Gold Price: 1269.90, Gold RSI: 36.06
Oil Price: 50.79, Oil RSI: 55.82
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
China's bitcoin exchanges await clarification, markets subdued for now: By Brenda Goh and Elias Glenn
SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - China's largest bitcoin exchanges are awaiting clarification from the government following more media reports that Beijing is planning to ban trading of virtual currencies on domestic exchanges, but markets were largely subdued on Monday.
Spokeswomen for the OkCoin and Huobi platforms told Reuters they had no information to share following a report by Chinese financial publication Caixin that sent the price of bitcoin down 6.6 percent on Friday.
A source with knowledge of the policy confirmed to Reuters that China planned to ban exchanges that allowed virtual currency trading. BTC China, also one of China's three largest exchanges, and China's central bank did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
Bitcoin was trading lower by around 1.3 percent at $4,170 (BTC=BTSP) on the Bitstamp platform on Monday. On Sept 2, it hit a record high of nearly $5,000.
"People are still waiting for official word from the regulator," said Arthur Hayes, chief executive of crypto-currency trading platform BitMEX, adding that the relatively subdued fall in the bitcoin price illustrated how opinion in the community towards the Caixin article was divided.
"I would assume that if China shuts down trading on continuous order books of the large exchanges, the price would drop below $4,000, or the price of the U.S. dollar price of bitcoin would catch up to where it's trading equivalently in China," he said.
China has boomed as a cryptocurrency trading venue in recent years as its domestic exchanges had previously allowed users to conduct trades for free, attracting investors and speculators who boosted demand and encouraging volumes.
However, regulators started taking a closer look at the industry in January this year and have since rolled out a series of rules for the industry including forcing exchanges to slap on trading fees and requiring them to strengthen oversight of customers' identities.
Last week, the central bank moved to ban so-called "initial coin offerings", or the practice of creating and selling digital currencies or tokens to investors in order to finance start-up projects.
Bitcoin is currently trading at a discount on Chinese exchanges compared with their U.S.-based counterparts. On Monday, bitcoin was up by 6.5 percent at 25,253 yuan ($3,871.67) on the Huobi platform.
However, on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform, some users said they were withdrawing some of their bitcoin investments, while others fretted over how long some platforms were taking to return their cash after requesting withdrawals.
Aurélien Menant, founder of Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange Gatecoin, said that the platform had experienced a surge in the number of registrations from mainland Chinese clients over the weekend and also received a "massive number" of inquiries from Chinese token founders looking to list on Gatecoin following reports of China's ban.
A China-based cryptocurrency investor, however, said he was doubtful that Chinese authorities could completely suppress cryptocurrency trading.
"I think there is too much money to actually stop people from trading...The best they could do is ban exchanges but people will just use VPN or find another way"
(Additional Repoorting by Bi Xiaowen in BEIJING and SHANGHAI Newsroom; Editing by Jacqueline Wong) || Macquarie Analyst Rejects Jamie Dimon's Bitcoin 'Fraud' Critique: A senior analyst for Macquarie Group is pushing back against the idea that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not legitimate financial innovations.
Issued in response to recent critiques by Wall Street figures like JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Viktor Shvets, head of global and Asia-Pacific equity strategy for Macquarie, wrote this week that in spite of any "extreme speculation," bitcoin relies on a "durable technology that is likely to continue to evolve and strengthen."
In a note to clients, obtained byBusiness Insider, Shvetz then directly took on the allegation that bitcoin is a "fraud" –advancedby Dimon earlier this month.
"If one describes Bitcoin as a fraud, how would one describe a 'financial cloud' that is at least four to five times larger than the underlying economies?" Shvetz asked, writing:
"It is unlikely that $400 trillion+ of financial instruments circulating around the world would ever be repaid and most are now backed by assets that are already either worthless or are diminishing in value. How does one describe rates and the yield curve that are either directly determined by [central banks] ([Bank of Japan] or [People's Bank of China]) or heavily influenced by them ([The] Fed or [European Central Bank])? People living in glass houses should not throw stones."
According to BI, Shvetz argued that investors should consider integrating cryptocurrencies into their portfolio strategies, describing them as a hedge against the devaluation of fiat currencies like the dollar.
Image via Shutterstock
• Ether Prices Climb Above $300 to Break Two-Week Lull
• 'Wolf of Wall Street' Jordan Belfort: Jamie Dimon is Right About Bitcoin
• USV's Fred Wilson Predicts 'Big' Cryptocurrency Crash
• Banks Are 'Afraid' of Bitcoin, Says Wealth Advisor || Bitcoin jumps nearly 70% for August to record high, offshoot 'bitcoin cash' falls to more than one-week low: Exactly four weeks since bitcoin (Exchange: BTC=-USS) split into bitcoin and bitcoin cash, the original digital currency hit a record high Tuesday while the offshoot fell to its lowest in more than a week. Bitcoin rose more than 6.5 percent, to a record high of $4,703.42, up nearly 70 percent for the month, according to CoinDesk. Bitcoin edged off that high in afternoon trade, hovering around $4,603, still more than quadruple in value for the year and up about 60 percent for August. Bitcoin cash hit a low of $559.61, its lowest since Aug. 18, before recovering to around $575, according to CoinMarketCap. The alternative version of bitcoin, supported by a minority of developers, is still up about 170 percent from a low of $210 hit on Aug. 1, the day of the split. While digital currency "miners" temporarily found bitcoin cash more profitable than the original version to mine, by Tuesday it was 32 percent more profitable to mine bitcoin, according to data from the Coin Dance website. "With Bitcoin back to being more profitable, Bitcoin cash lost some steam," Nolan Bauerle, director of research at CoinDesk, said in an email to CNBC. Relative profitability to "mine" bitcoin cash vs. bitcoin Source: Coin Dance Meanwhile, institutional interest in bitcoin is rising. A Tuesday report from financial research firm Autonomous Next identified 55 crypto-related funds. "I think it's just new money coming in," said Brian Kelly, a CNBC contributor and head of BKCM, which runs a digital assets strategy for clients. He noted the bulk of the gains in bitcoin came just around the time of the U.S. stock market open Tuesday morning. Another digital currency, ethereum, (Exchange: ETH=) climbed nearly 5 percent Tuesday, to around $364, according to CoinMarketCap. Ethereum is up more than 4,400 percent this year and has gained nearly 79 percent this month. Some analysts also attributed bitcoin's gains to investors looking for a safety trade after North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan. Story continues "With both bitcoin and ether, we're seeing a flight to safety due to the issues in North Korea, similar to when investors previously flocked to gold out of equities during previous wars," said Andrew Keys, head of global business development at blockchain software developer ConsenSys. Demand for bitcoin and ethereum from Japanese and South Korean investors remained strong, according to CryptoCompare. The site showed trade in the Japanese yen and South Korean won accounted for nearly half of all bitcoin trade volume, while won-denominated ethereum trade accounted for about 22 percent. Asian stocks closed mostly lower, European markets fell more than 1 percent and U.S. stocks opened lower after North Korea late Monday Eastern Time fired a ballistic missile over Japan. Local broadcaster NHK said Japan took no action to shoot down the missile, which later broke into three pieces and fell into the sea. U.S. stocks recovered most of their losses to trade narrowly mixed midday Tuesday. Gold futures for December (CEC:Commodities Exchange Centre: @GC.11) delivery extended Monday's jump to climb more than half a percent Tuesday to $1,331.90 an ounce, their highest since Nov. 9. Many digital currency enthusiasts expect bitcoin to become the "digital gold" of cryptocurrencies since its supply is limited to 21 million but demand remains strong as many investors use bitcoin as their way into the digital currency world. That said, bitcoin is far from reaching the same status as the precious metal. About $7.5 trillion of gold is in circulation, while the value of all digital currencies only reached $160 billion Tuesday, according to CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin had the largest share at nearly $75 billion, while ethereum was second with a market value of $34.7 billion, the site showed. WATCH: Dark web finds bitcoin increasingly problematic More From CNBC After-hours buzz: HRB, AVAV, OLLI & more Marc Lasry: Don't bet on what's fueling the Trump rally North Korea tensions 'remain contained,' Nomura analysts say || ECB's Constancio compares Bitcoin to Dutch tulip mania: By Francesco Canepa
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Bitcoin is not a currency but a mere instrument of speculation, the vice president of the European Central Bank said on Friday, comparing the digital currency to tulip bulbs during the 17th century trading bubble in the Netherlands.
The dollar value of the Bitcoin has nearly trebled this year and, while its adoption has yet to pick up in a significant way, the rise of this cryptocurrency is worrying central bankers across the world.
But ECB Vice President Vitor Constancio denied it posed a threat to monetary policy and compared its rise to the 'Tulip mania' seen three-hundred years ago.
"Bitcoin is a sort of tulip," Constancio said at an ECB conference. "It's an instrument of speculation ... but certainly not a currency and we don't see it as a threat to central bank policy."
The ECB said year last year digital currencies, which are generally issued by private companies and only exist in electronic form, could in principle erode its power over the supply of money, inviting European Union lawmakers to tighten proposed rules on the matter.
Earlier this month, President Mario Draghi quashed an Estonian proposal to launch a government-backed cyrptocurrency, saying the only valid money in the euro zone was the euro.
Last week, Chinese authorities ordered Beijing-based cryptocurrency exchanges to stop trading and immediately notify users of their closure, signaling a widening crackdown by authorities on the industry to contain financial risks.
(Reporting By Francesco Canepa; Editing by Toby Chopra) || Uber’s New CEO Is a Bitcoin Fan: Dara Khosrowshahi, who just accepted the top job at Uber, is known as a competent and easy-going executive who ran travel site with great success. Less well known is that Khosrowshahi was an early advocate of bitcoin. As Quartz notes, Expedia began accepting bitcoin way back in 2014. The decision to do so reflects a bold move by Khosrowshahi because, at the time, the currency was still considered controversial, and few other companies would go near it. This raises the tantalizing prospect that Khosrowshahi, whose background is in finance, will experiment with accepting digital currency on the world’s biggest ride-sharing platform. The idea of Uber accepting bitcoin has been floated before, though founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick never appeared to take a personal interest in it. This could change under Khosrowshahi, especially as there may be a strong use case for digital currency in some of the emerging markets where Uber operates. In these markets, where banking services are rudimentary and payment fees can be exorbitant, bitcoin’s advantages--especially its tamper-proof transaction record and easy accessibility--are especially appealing. It’s not far-fetched to see Uber, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, using bitcoin-based services to let customers pay for rides and to transfer funds to drivers. Get Data Sheet , Fortune's technology newsletter. Khosrowshahi’s background in finance and his personal experience with overbearing governments (Iran reported nationalized his family’s company before they emigrated to the US in 1978) could make him the ideal executive to popularize digital currency in the ride-sharing industry. And, yes, a reality check is in order: Khosrowshahi has a very long to-do list at Uber--fixing a screwed-up culture, smoothing over a bitter board fight, high profile IP lawsuits, etc--and bitcoin is assuredly not at the top of it. Meanwhile, consumers are still showing no sign of adopting bitcoin as an everyday payment method, and adoption among merchants (other than Overstock ) has stalled, so Uber may lack incentives to go for it. Story continues Nonetheless, the fact someone like Khosrowshahia is now atop one of the world’s most prominent companies, can only be good news for bitcoin believers. This is part of Fortune's new initiative, The Ledger, a trusted news source at the intersection of tech and finance. For more on The Ledger, click here . See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com Bitcoin Payment Firm BitPesa Gets Big Boost From Famous Investor Exclusive: An Inside Look at Kim Dotcom's Bitcoin-Based Payments Platform SEC Warns Scammers Are Using ICOs to Pump and Dump Canada Pours Cold Water on 'Initial Coin Offerings' Kim Dotcom Wants YouTube Stars to Test His Bitcoin Payment System || Cramer: Sen. Warren is 'dead right' on Equifax execs getting off unscathed for data breach: CNBC's Jim Cramer said Wednesday that Sen. Elizabeth Warren is "dead right" when she says Equifax ( EFX ) executives will likely get away unscathed for the credit reporting company's data breach. In an interview Tuesday on " Mad Money ," Warren said: "So long as there is no personal responsibility when these big companies breach consumers' trust, let their data get stolen, cheat their consumers, like they did in the case of Wells Fargo ( WFC ), then nothing is going to change." The Massachusetts Democrat continued to say that if the U.S. wants change, then it has to hold corporate executives accountable, "period." "I think she's dead right," Cramer said Wednesday on " Squawk on the Street ." "I can't believe they're going to get away with this." "I think Equifax keeps their head down, they get away with it," he added. "I asked (Warren) to bring the board for some hearings. She would like to do that." Cramer has been a critic of Equifax since the company revealed on Sept. 7 that a data hack could potentially affect 143 million consumers in the U.S. Last week, Cramer said Equifax Chief Executive Richard Smith "should be fired" for the fallout. He's also critiqued the board , saying: "This is a company that seems to have no knowledge of what's really going on." On Tuesday, Warren also spoke about Wells Fargo's accounts scandal. She said the Federal Reserve has the chance to "step up" to remove the company's board in response to the scandal. Cramer agreed on Wednesday and hoped someone would ask Fed Chair Janet Yellen about Wells Fargo at the central bank's monetary policy meeting this week. Equifax and Wells Fargo did not immediately respond to a request for comment. More From CNBC Bitcoin, blockchain and ethereum: How to demystify cryptocurrencies Hewlett Packard Enterprise said to be slashing 10% of its staff Here's what really terrifies Wall Street about the SEC hack || Bitcoin tumbles below $4,000: (Bitcoin is down about 7% Tuesday afternoon.Phil Walter/Getty Images)
Bitcoinhas tumbled below $4,000, down 7%, at 3,996 a coin.
The drop follows a strong surge that pushed the cryptocurrency's price to almost $4,500 on Monday.
Bitcoinwas on a tear following theAugust 1 forkthat split the cryptocurrency in two. The price of the cryptocurrency is up 323% year-to-date.
Bitcoin's recent meteoric rise grabbed the attention of Wall Street. Goldman Sachs, for instance, told clients in an August 10 note that thecryptocurrency space is worth paying attention to.
And VanEck, the $25 billion money manager,filed with the SEC on August 11 to launch a Bitcoin ETF.
But folks in the cryptocurrency space aren't looking at today's losses as a sign that the good times are coming to an end. Greg Dwyer, head of business development atBitMEX, a Bitcoin mercantile exchange, told Business Insider this is a normal and expected market correction.
"At $4,400, the market was looking extremely toppish - I believe this move is a result of traders deciding to take some profits off the table after this enormous rally," Dwyer said in an email.
These kind of drops are part and parcel with Bitcoin, according to Dwyer.
"For everyone who is new to Bitcoin, this is where we say 'welcome to crypto-trading,'" he added.
Aaron Lasher, the chief marketing officer atBreadwallet, a Bitcoin technology company, referred to the 7% drop as a "healthy correction."
"Keep in mind that when this bubble finally pops the price will probably bottom out with a 60-80% correction," he said.
So, keep some popcorn on hand folks.
(MI)
NOW WATCH:Stocks have shrugged off Trump headlines to hit new highs this week
More From Business Insider
• Bitcoin flies past $3,500 for the first time
• Bitcoin cash plunges as investors look to dump their coins
• Bitcoin is sliding a day after a big change was made in its software || Money on Mougayar? Business Blockchain Author Launches Crypto Fund: Author and investor William Mougayar has launched a blockchain-based cryptocurrency index fund. Announced yesterday, Mougayar is one of 12 managers to open up a fund on iconomi, a blockchain-based digital asset management platform. According to Mougayar, however, his fund will distinguish itself by allowing investors to benefit from something he is uniquely able to provide – his expertise. "I'm able to balance and rebalance the basket in a favorable way. And that insulates the average user from some of the blind spots that they may be facing," he said. On this point, Mougayar offers no shortage of credentials, having authored a book "The Business Blockchain," published by Wiley last year, as well as launching a popular conference focused on the emerging digital asset economy last May. Mougayar, who has also contributed articles to CoinDesk, said: "The value proposition is that I am part of this market. I talk to these companies. I know their CEOs. I know their founders. I know the real story." Notably, for more novice investors, the fund will seek to invest in the broader cryptocurrency asset class, beyond better-known options such as bitcoin. Toward that end, the fund will include allocations of 15 cryptocurrencies that will change based on Mougayar's outlook on the cryptocurrency space. Currently, Mougayar will hold the largest allocation, at 20 percent of the total index, in ether , and 10 percent in bitcoin. Three lesser-known cryptocurrencies – steem, nexium and cofoundit – will each represent 10 percent of the index's holdings. The remaining 10 cryptocurrencies, which include melon, augur and basic attention token, will each represent 4 percent of the holdings. "Having a basket of cryptocurrencies, managed by someone who knows what they are doing, in a way removes some of the risks for the average consumer," Mougayar said. Fund costs and structure But while new crypto index funds are launching almost daily, Mougayar's fund seems to be courting a new class of retail investor – those with more experience in cryptocurrency than in traditional markets. Story continues Mougayar's index charges a relatively low total fee of 5 percent, which is in stark contrast to the very high " two and twenty " fee structure fiat-based hedge funds sometimes charge. Managers of those funds will typically argue that their research work, and sometimes active trading, drive up costs – and that their returns justify their fees, though that assertion is a highly controversial one . Mougayar told CoinDesk that he charges a premium over the 2 percent sometimes charged by low-fee passive funds because he believes active management can provide investors with substantial additional value creation. Also, unlike other cryptocurrency hedge funds, Mougayar's does not require a minimum investment, something that should appeal to smaller retail investors. "It's like you're on an exchange. You can buy 0.1 bitcoin. There is no minimum," he said. Diving deeper, Mougayar's partnership with Iconomi divides two responsibilities typically consolidated in a single firm in other lower-fee tracking funds. (In some ways, you can think of the partnership as a kind of mashup between a low-cost tracking fund and a blockchain-based crypto exchange like ShapeShift.) In order to invest in Mougayar's fund, users must first load their account by depositing bitcoin or ether on the Iconomi platform. While Mougayar selects the initial portfolio allocations and re-weights regularly, the investor's user account will reside on the Iconomi blockchain platform. An additional advantage of partnering with Iconomi, Mougayar argued, is that investors do not need to manage the custody of their own key pairs. William Mougayar image via YouTube Related Stories Above $4,300: Bitcoin Is Up, But Is It Out of the Woods? 'Solstice' Approaching: Mimblewimble Blockchain Considers Fork Schedule AngelList Creator Naval Ravikant Backs S&P-Style Cryptocurrency Fund Blockchain History? IBM Ventures Is Close to Making Its First Industry Investment || JPMorgan's Dimon says bitcoin 'is a fraud': By David Henry and Anna Irrera
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin "is a fraud" and will blow up, Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a bank investor conference in New York, Dimon said, "The currency isn't going to work. You can't have a business where people can invent a currency out of thin air and think that people who are buying it are really smart."
Dimon said that if any JPMorgan traders were trading the crypto-currency, "I would fire them in a second, for two reasons: It is against our rules and they are stupid, and both are dangerous."
Dimon's comments come as the bitcoin, a virtual currency not backed by any government, has more than quadrupled in value since December to more than $4,100.
Bitcoin is a digital currency that enables individuals to transfer value to each other and pay for goods and services bypassing banks and the mainstream financial system.
While banks have largely steered clear of bitcoin since it emerged following the financial crisis, the virtual currency has a range of people who support it, including technology enthusiasts, liberterians skeptical of government monetary policy and speculators attracted by its price swings.
"Like it or not, people want exposure to bitcoin," Edward Tilly, chairman and CEO of exchange group CBOE Holdings Inc. (CBOE.O), said at the same conference.
CBOE has applied with U.S. regulators to launch a bitcoin futures contract and a bitcoin exchange traded fund on its venues.
Any good trade is started with a difference of opinion, Tilly added. "So Jamie can be on the short side and the issuers and those trading in physical can be on the long side, and it sounds like we have a great trade.”
Dimon may also be on the other side of another bitcoin trade closer to home.
At another conference about two hours later, Dimon said that one of his daughters had bought some bitcoin.
"It went up and she thinks she's a genius now," Dimon said at the CNBC Institutional Investor Delivering Alpha Conference.
"WORSE THAN TULIP BULBS"
Banks and other financial institutions have been concerned over bitcoin's early association with online crime and money laundering.
The supply of bitcoin is meant to be limited to 21 million, but there are clones of the virtual currency in circulation which have made the market for it more volatile.
"It is worse than tulips bulbs," Dimon said, referring to a famous market bubble from the 1600s.
JPMorgan and many of its competitors, however, have invested millions of dollars in blockchain, the technology that tracks bitcoin transactions. Blockchain is a shared ledger of transactions maintained by a network of computers on the internet.
Dimon said such uses will roll out over coming years as it is adapted to different business lines.
Financial institutions are hoping blockchain can be adapted to simplify and lower the costs of processes such as securities settlement, loan trading and international money transfers.
Dimon predicted big losses for bitcoin buyers. "Don't ask me to short it. It could be at $20,000 before this happens, but it will eventually blow up." he said.
"Honestly, I am just shocked that anyone can't see it for what it is."
Bitcoin’s price fell as much as 4 percent following Dimon's comments and was last trading at $4,164. Rumors that the Chinese government is planning to ban trading of virtual currencies on domestic exchanges has weighed on bitcoin recently.
"It feels like we are in the midst of a negative news cycle, but even considering all this, we are still trading above $4,000." said John Spallanzani, chief macro strategist at GFI Group.
(Reporting by David Henry and Anna Irrera in New York Additional reporting by John McCrank, Angela Moon and Lawrence Delevingne; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Jonathan Oatis) || HOWARD MARKS: 'I see no reason why bitcoin cant be a currency': howard marks (Howard Marks has warmed up to bitcoin.Screenshot via Bloomberg TV) Oaktree Capital founder Howard Marks has bitcoin on his mind. Marks, who called bitcoin, the digital coin up over 350% this year, a "fad" in a July memo, has warmed up to it after receiving backlash from the cryptocurrency community. Marks revisited his thoughts on the digital coin in a wide-ranging memo sent out to clients on Thursday. The long and short of the note: Marks has changed his mind, but he still has reservations about the red-hot cryptocurrency. Marks said he might have been too quick to dismiss the idea that bitcoin can be considered a currency akin to the US dollar. " What bitcoin partisans have told me subsequently is that bitcoin should be thought of as a currency a medium of exchange not an investment asset," Marks wrote. "Given that the evolution of bitcoin is so topical, I think further discussion is in order." After exploring the key characteristics of a currency, Marks concedes that bitcoin does, in fact, share characteristics of money. Specifically, its use as a form of legal tender and a store of value. " So my initial bottom line is that I see no reason why bitcoin cant be a currency," Marks said. Screen Shot 2017 09 08 at 2.01.51 PM (Bitcoin is up over 800% since 2014.MI) But this doesn't mean Marks is completely on board with the bitcoin trade. According to Marks, just because bitcoin can be considered a currency, doesn't mean it's not in a speculative bubble. Here's Marks ( emphasis ours ): Being willing to agree that bitcoin may become an accepted medium of exchange is not the same as saying you should buy it now to make money. Think about the fact that the price of bitcoin has risen more than 350% so far this year and 3,900% in the last three years. To the degree people argue that bitcoin is a currency, then (a) why is it so volatile? and (b) is that desirable? You might want to consider whether a real currency can do that, or whether speculative buying is determining bitcoins price. And whether whats gone up can come down. Story continues That said, Marks, a self-professed "bitcoin dinosaur," is open to further debate. "Im willing to be proved wrong," he concluded. NOW WATCH: A financial planner reveals the 2 easiest ways to improve your finances More From Business Insider The former CIO of $3 trillion financial giant UBS has joined the non-profit behind one of the largest cryptocurrencies 'Jamie Dimon doesn't have the strongest track record when it comes to looking over the hill': Bitcoin community reacts to JPMorgan CEO's comments UK finance watchdog warns on ICOs: Be 'prepared to lose your entire stake'
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
09/25 08:00 Crypto currency sentiment analysis.
BTC : Positive
BCC : Positive
ETH : Positive
ETC : Positive
https://goo.gl/5hp6Cz #BTC || Current price of Bitcoin is $4645.00 via Chain || BTC Real Time Price: ThePriceOfBTC: $4145.01 #GDAX;
$4126.77 #bitstamp;
$4123.55 #gemini;
$4141.00 #kraken;
$4240.39 #cex;
$4110.51 #hitbtc; || Bitcoin trading at 3581.00.
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http://www.ModoBot.com #BTC #Bitcoin || Buongiorno #bitcoin, nelle ultime 24 ore: min 3060€ max 3477€ ora a 3429€, 1BCC=0,075 BTC. pic.twitter.com/JA6h2pObEy || Bitcoin breaking through $4000 is absolutely crazy. Ethereum, ripple and lithium should follow suit. Crypto currencies making moves. || عملة كين الإلكترونية عملة كين الإلكترونية يوما بعد آخر ينمو ويزداد عالم العملات الإhttp://arab-btc.net/%d8%b9%d9%85%d9%84%d8%a9-%d9%83%d9%8a%d9%86-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d9%84%d9%83%d8%aa%d8%b1%d9%88%d9%86%d9%8a%d8%a9/?utm_source=ReviveOldPost&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ReviveOldPost … || LIVE: Profit = $2,511.35 (65.23 %). BUY B1.47 @ $3,100.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $4,337.50 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || #BTC 24hr Summary:
Last: $4187.23
High: $4247.88
Low: $4080.00
Change: -1.00% | $-42.37
Volume: $44,201,224.76
$BTC #Bitcoin #Pricebotspic.twitter.com/QotwEpHMje || BTC Real Time Price: ThePriceOfBTC: $4191.30 #bitstamp;
$4197.20 #GDAX;
$4186.95 #gemini;
$4190.00 #kraken;
$4193.51 #hitbtc;
$4264.74 #cex;
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Trend: up || Prices: 4370.81, 4426.89, 4610.48, 4772.02, 4781.99, 4826.48, 5446.91, 5647.21, 5831.79, 5678.19
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2017-07-17]
BTC Price: 2228.41, BTC RSI: 43.15
Gold Price: 1232.80, Gold RSI: 48.09
Oil Price: 46.02, Oil RSI: 52.37
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
5 Best Performing Stocks of the Best ETF of May: The technology sector, no doubt, has been leading the broad market rally and is a the clear winner this month as well. That said, ARK Web x.0 ETF ARKW has topped the list of the best performing ETFs of May, with impressive returns of about 15.6% (read: 5 ETFs & Stocks to Ride the Tech Mania). The impressive rally was mainly driven by the emergence and extensive adoption of new technology such as cloud computing, big data, Internet of Things, wearables, drones, virtual reality devices and artificial intelligence. Additionally, the surge in bitcoin prices is a big boon for this disruptive companies focused ETF. This is especially true as ARKW is the first ETF to add bitcoin to its roster and the move is paying off. Bitcoin, commonly known as a cryptocurrency, is a digital or virtual currency that uses peer-to-peer technology to facilitate instant payments. Notably, the digital currency shot up to an all-time high of above $2,700, doubling its value since the start of May (read: Will We Finally See a Bitcoin ETF?). Lets take a closer look at the fundamentals of ARKW. ARKW in Focus This is an actively managed fund focusing on companies that are expected to benefit from the shift in technology infrastructure to the cloud, enabling mobile, new and local services. These include companies that rely on or benefit from the increased use of shared technology, infrastructure and services in cloud computing, e-commerce, big data, social media, Internet of Things, new payment methods, media ecosystems, health care, point of sale, telecom and cryptocurrencies. The fund holds 39 stocks in its basket with none holding more than 7.6% share. From a sector look, Internet & mobile applications makes up for 29% of the portfolio while software & programming and Internet & direct marketing round off the next two spots with 13% exposure each. The ETF has amassed $40.1 million in its asset base and trades in a paltry average daily volume of around 10,000 shares. The expense ratio comes in at 0.75%. Though most of the stocks in the funds portfolio delivered strong returns, a few were the real stars having gained more than 20%. Below we have highlighted those five best-performing stocks in the ETF with their respective positions in the funds basket (see: all the Technology ETFs here): Best Performing Stocks of ARKW Bitcoin Investment Trust GBTC : Shares of GBTC have soared about 210% this month. GBTC is an open-ended grantor trust based in the U.S., sponsored by Grayscale Investments. It is quoted on the over-the-counter market and derives its value solely from the price of bitcoin. The Trust's objective is to track the market price of bitcoin. GBTC occupies the top spot in the funds basket with 7.5% of the total assets. NVIDIA NVDA : This stock takes the seventh position in the funds basket with 4.02% allocation. It has also delivered incredible returns of 39% in May. The stock has seem solid earnings estimate revision of 30 cents for this fiscal year over the past one month with an expected earnings growth rate of 19.36%. NVIDIA has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) with a VGM Style Score of C and a solid Zacks Industry Rank in the top 7% (read: 5 ETFs to Tap the Hot NVIDIA). Square Inc. SQ : This stock takes the seventeenth spot in the funds basket with 2.5% of assets. It gained 24.7% in May and has seen positive earnings estimate revision from a loss of 25 cents to a loss of 16 cents over the past one month for this year. As a result, its earnings are expected to grow 53.88% versus the industry average of 9.91%. Square currently has a Zacks Rank #3 with a VGM Style Score of B and solid Zacks Industry Rank in the top 39%. Hortonworks Inc. HDP : The stock has surged nearly 24% in May but carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) with a VGM Style Score of D. Though the stock has seen negative earnings estimate revision of eight cents for this year over the past one month, its earnings are expected to grow 22.35% versus the industry average of 9.91%. Additionally, Hortonworks belongs to the solid industry having a Zacks Rank in the top 39%. The stock is the fifth firm and accounts for 2.7% share in ARKW. MercadoLibre Inc. MELI : The stock has gained about 22.3% this month. It has seen solid earnings estimate revision of 30 cents over the past one month for this year with an expected earnings growth rate of 34.05%. This is much higher than the industry average of 20.82%. MercadoLibre currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) with a VGM Style Score of D and a solid Zacks Industry Rank in the top 20%. The stock occupies the sixteenth position in the funds portfolio, making up for 2.5% share. Story continues Want key ETF info delivered straight to your inbox? Zacks free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, each week. Get it free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Click for Free MercadoLibre, Inc. (MELI) Stock Analysis Report >> Click for Free Square, Inc. (SQ) Stock Analysis Report >> Click for Free Hortonworks, Inc. (HDP) Stock Analysis Report >> ARK- WEB XO ETF (ARKW): ETF Research Reports Click for Free NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) Stock Analysis Report >> To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report || Apple still 'major player' in the voice assistant race, says Siri creator, who is now helping Samsung: Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is still a "major player" in the voice assistant space with Siri, one of the technology's co-creators told CNBC on Friday, despite the U.S. technology giant receiving criticism for falling behind rivals Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Google. Adam Cheyer was one of the people behind Siri which was acquired by Apple in 2010. Since then, Cheyer has created a next generation voice assistant called Viv which was acquired by Samsung (Korea Stock Exchange: 593-KR) in 2016. Viv is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung with the South Korean titan looking to integrate the technology into future products. Voice assistants have become the next battleground for technology giants. Amazon's Alexa, which is in products such as its Echo home speaker , is perceived to be the leader, while Google Assistant is gaining traction. But Apple has been slated for not keeping up with the competition. "In our view Apple's Siri has developed little since it was first introduced in 2011. It has brought the concept of voice-led services to the consumer mindset but has fast gone from leader to laggard in the application of this form of technology in our view," Neil Campling, head of technology, media and telecom research at Northern Trust Capital Markets, told CNBC by email on Friday. Cheyer, however, said Apple is still very much in the game but the ultimate winner will be the company that can turn their voice assistant into a technology across multiple devices. "I am very proud of what we accomplished to initially take this new paradigm and bring it out to hundreds of millions of people. I think Apple is doing good work and is still a major player in this race," Cheyer told CNBC in a TV interview on Friday. "What's going to matter is which companies can elevate an assistant from where it is today, a utility
to be this ubiquitous paradigm and I think Apple and everyone else is in the game and it will be great for consumers no matter who wins." Of course, Cheyer is making a rival product to Apple's Siri for Samsung. He was tightlipped on the product roadmap, however. Samsung's latest phone, the Galaxy S8 has an artificial intelligence assistant built in called Bixby. It allows user to not only speak to it, but to hold their camera up to landmarks or items in order to call up information about them. Bixby is reportedly built on Samsung's own technology and not Viv's, but the two are likely to integrate. "We are working on a next generation assistant and we will deliver it through Samsung's devices, perhaps under the Bixby brand eventually but also to other interfaces," Cheyer said. The plan is to try and get Viv's technology across a number of devices, not just smartphones , but also home appliances and other gadgets. "Right now there is a race to the single interface where all of the big companies Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and now Samsung are trying to make the assistant the next paradigm like the browser, like the smartphone, you'll have an assistant to help you in your lives," Cheyer said, explaining the company's ambition. Amazon has made a similar play. Earlier in the year it announced plans to bring Alexa to LG refrigerators and even Huawei's Mate 9 smartphone. It's an attempt to create a new way to interact with devices. And there is big money involved. A recent research note from RBC Capital Markets suggested that Alexa could bring the U.S. e-commerce giant $10 billion of revenues by 2020 and be a "mega-hit". Viv has similar ambitions and plans to open the platform up to developers so they can make apps and find other uses for the voice assistant. "You will be able to do everything you do for computing through an assistant interface," Cheyer said. Story continues Correction - This story was updated to fix a typo and show Viv is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung. More From CNBC Next Google-scale start-up will be an A.I. firm from Europe, not the US, top VC says Bill Gates wants to tax robots, but the EU says, 'no way, no way' Bitcoin may hit $4,000 by the end of the year: Analyst || Tech Giants Cant Do Much to Fight Terrorism: Facebook, , Twitter, and YouTube announced Monday that they are joining forces in a Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism. This consortium will pool technology, research, and counterterrorism tactics including "counter-speech," which tries to prevent terrorist recruitment and incitement. This certainly is good news, but the scope of the task should not be underestimated. Between mid-2015 and early 2016, Twitter shut down 125,000 terrorist accounts. Keep in mind that those were just the ones that could be identified as terrorist-related (mostly affiliated with the Islamic State). Twitter noted that " there is no 'magic algorithm' for identifying terrorist content on the Internet, so global online platforms are forced to make challenging judgment calls based on very limited information and guidance." Further, the same users could quickly open new accounts. For most of us, these four companies constitute the Internet universe that we venture into for our personal use. But beyond this level of the Internet are zones where terrorist groups do their most serious business. Those whom we might call "top-level terrorists"--among them the leaders of Islamic State (IS) and Al Qaeda and their subsidiaries--survive because they are quick to adapt to changes in the physical and virtual battlespace. For some of their online communication, this has meant moving from the easily accessible "surface web" to the "deep web" and then on to its deepest part, the "dark web." This is where one can find drugs, pornography, weapons, and other contraband. The dark web is out of reach of the most common search engines, such as , and is difficult for hackers to penetrate. IS warehouses its propaganda videos and other material on dark sites, and has raised and transferred money using the dark web's currency of choice, Bitcoin. Similarly, IS has relied on Telegram, one of the encrypted communication tools that provides enhanced security for texts and other messaging, to relay instructions to its supporters, such as how to find a particular dark web address. In 2015, Telegram began featuring "channels" for specialized content, which IS promptly started using. During one month in 2016, 700 new IS-related channels were opened . One such channel was "Mujahideen Secrets," which provided indoctrination and information for prospective "lone wolf" terrorists. Story continues Another challenge the Global Internet Forum faces is in its effort to produce counter-messaging that is effective in offsetting terrorist recruitment and fundraising. IS has been particularly successful in making the case that Islam is under siege by the West, and that the poverty and discrimination many Muslims encounter justify violent action. The harsh exigencies of life in suburbs of Paris and Brussels have more power to convince than do even the most rational pleas to renounce violence. Since the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. government has tried various counter-messaging themes and formats, but it remains unclear how successful these efforts have been. Until terrorism prevention campaigns address issues such as jobs and housing, terrorist groups will find plenty of recruits. The tech giants must recognize the difficulty of establishing credibility (especially because they are American businesses) if they are to undermine the likes of Islamic State. The roots of terrorism run deeper than weak appeals for peace. Philip Seib is a professor at the University of California's Annenberg School. His book, As Terrorism Evolves , will be published in October. See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com Four Tech Giants Team Up to Fight Terrorism Germany Plans to Fingerprint Children and Spy on Personal Messages Facebook's EMEA VP Defends Its Fight Against Extremist Content These Countries Want Police To Have Speedier Access to Tech Firm Data Theresa May Can't Just Blame the Internet for Terrorism || Chief of bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox denies embezzlement as trial opens: By Thomas Wilson
TOKYO (Reuters) - The 32-year-old chief executive of defunct Mt. Gox pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges relating to the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bitcoins and cash from what was once the world's biggest bitcoin exchange.
French national Mark Karpeles filed the plea in response to charges of embezzlement and data manipulation at the Tokyo District Court, according to a pool report for foreign journalists.
Mt. Gox once handled 80 percent of the world's bitcoin trades but filed for bankruptcy in 2014 after losing some 850,000 bitcoins - then worth around half a billion U.S. dollars - and $28 million in cash from its bank accounts.
In its bankruptcy filing, Tokyo-based Mt. Gox blamed hackers for the lost bitcoins, pointing to a software security flaw.
Mt. Gox subsequently said it had found 200,000 of the missing bitcoins.
Karpeles was indicted for transferring 341 million yen ($3 million) from a Mt. Gox account holding customer funds to an account in his name during September to December 2013. The prosecution also alleged Karpeles boosted the balance of an account in his name in Mt. Gox's trading system.
In its opening statement to the court, Karpeles' defense team did not dispute that the transfers took place, but denied they amounted to embezzlement.
Karpeles told the court he was an information technology engineer.
"I swear to God that I am innocent," he said in Japanese to the three-judge panel hearing his case, according to the pool report.
LICENSED EXCHANGES
The collapse of Mt. Gox badly damaged the image of virtual currencies, particularly among risk-averse Japanese investors and corporations.
But the bankruptcy also prompted Japan's government to decide how to treat bitcoin, and preceded a push by local regulators to license virtual currency exchanges.
Japan this year became the first country to regulate exchanges at the national level, part of a government effort to exploit financial technology as a means of stimulating the economy.
Interest in bitcoin among Japan's legions of individual investors - encouraged by Tokyo's recognition of the virtual currency as legal tender - has spiked in recent months.
Still, institutional investors remain wary, say those running virtual currency exchanges in Tokyo. Japanese firms are also unenthusiastic: Only 4 percent of large and mid-sized firms plan to use bitcoin in the near to medium term, showed a Reuters poll last month.
The value of bitcoin is highly volatile. It hit a record high of $2,980 last month.
Like other virtual currencies, such as Ethereum and Ripple, bitcoin has no central authority and relies instead on thousands of computers across the world that validate transactions and add new units to the system - technology known as blockchain.
Bitcoin can be traded on exchanges in the same manner as stocks and bonds. It has also become a mode of payment for some retailers, and a way to transfer funds without the need for a third party.
(Reporting by Thomas Wilson; Editing by Christopher Cushing) || Don’t Sell Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) Stock Yet: InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Mega-cap tech companies — in particular chip stocks and FANGs — have driven 2017’s broad-market rally. However, smaller Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD ) has been in on the fun, too, up more than 180% over the past year, and boasting a run of as much as 17% year-to-date last week. That was before AMD stock gave up almost 5% on Friday amid Goldman Sachs’ warning about a tech bubble. Source: Shutterstock Now, Advanced Micro is off another 5% on Monday morning. No driver has been confirmed, but the most prominent whisper is that Goldman Sachs analysts are reiterating their “Sell” rating on AMD. Regardless of the cause, the short-term momentum in Advanced Micro Devices has been halted. However, with some patience, investors can still realize some 25% returns in AMD stock, which I expect will reach $15 per share by the end of the year. Aside from the recent launch of its Naples chip, which is expected to drive higher revenue in the second and third quarters, AMD will also launch two other Zen-based chips as the year progresses, creating multiple catalysts for shares to cruise higher. Warren Buffett's 7 Best Dividend Stocks for Retirement That means this sudden dip in AMD stock could be one of few buying opportunities investors have left. Why Advanced Micro Still Is Fine Monday’s declines should put AMD shares somewhere around $11.70 or so — still good for a market-matching gain of about 9% in 2017, but far better than the sub-$2 level they traded at as recently as early 2016. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based chip company has made a habit out of proving doubters wrong. It continues to benefit from strong growth in its popular Radeon line GPUs (Graphics Processing Unit). There are also signs that the declines in PC sales have begun to stabilize. Thanks to the company’s recent partnership with Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL ), where its FirePro server GPUs will power Alphabet’s cloud platform in 2017, AMD’s revenue growth should accelerate in the quarters ahead. A place in Apple Inc’s. (NASDAQ: AAPL ) iMac Pro should help, too . Story continues For the full year ending in December, AMD is expected to earn 7 cents per share, versus a loss of 14 cents a year ago, while full-year revenue of the $4.82 billion would mark an increase of almost 13% year-over-year. The significant expected improvements — particularly in EPS — present an opportunity for both investors and traders alike to take advantage of this sudden pullback, which is being governed by panic and Wall Street’s worries about overheating, even though AMD has backed up its gains with increasingly attractive fundamentals. There are a few areas of potential that the Street seems to be ignoring, too. For instance, consider the booming field of cryptocurrencies. The rising price and demand for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. The former is up about 160% this year, and the latter has soared by more than 2,800% year-to-date. This has increased the need for “mining” such cryptocurrencies, which in turn has boosted the demand for the type of graphic cards provided by AMD. “The gaming market remains our priority. We are seeing solid demand for our Polaris-based offerings in the gaming and newly resurgent cryptocurrency mining markets based on the strong performance we are delivering,” an Advanced Micro spokesperson told CNBC . Given that AMD has become miners’ preferred choice for cryptocurrencies, shares should remain in high demand too as long as the trend in cryptocurrency remains upbeat. While there is fear that Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC ) and Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA ) could be chipping away at AMD’s recovery, that doesn’t appear to be the case, either. Fundamentally, Advanced Micro Devices — fresh off a more than 18% rise in first quarter revenue — continues to execute on its stated objectives. And with AMD still enjoying higher average selling prices in both the Client segment and GPUs, now’s the time to own AMD, not sell it. Trade of the Day: How Deep Can Apple Inc. (AAPL) Stock Fall? Bottom Line for AMD Stock The positive outlook for cryptocurrencies may be temporary, and that alone is not a reason to bet on AMD. But the bigger story is the fact that Advanced Micro Devices is now well-positioned to benefit in multiple growth markets such as GPUs, artificial intelligence and improving demand for chips from professional enterprises. AMD stock certainly is not the relative bargain it was when it fell below $10 last month. But it’s getting close thanks to this recent bout of tech jitters. Thanks to higher average selling prices and growth in core revenue drivers, $15 per share remains a legitimate target. As of this writing, Richard Saintvilus did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace 3 Stocks to Watch on Monday: Apple Inc. (AAPL), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) and Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) Avoid Tech. Buy the Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) Stock Dip Instead. 5 Tech Stocks That Just Got Shredded by Goldman's Bubble Call The post Don’t Sell Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) Stock Yet appeared first on InvestorPlace . || Nvidia is set to dominate the '4th tectonic shift' in computing: (Facebook)
Decades of work have paid off forNvidia. The next computer revolution is here, and the company is set to dominate its competition, according to Jefferies.
"IBM dominated in the 1950's with the mainframe computer, DEC in the mid 1960's with the transition to mini-computers, Microsoft and Intel as PCs ramped, and finally Apple and Google as cell phones became ubiquitous," Mark Lipacis wrote in a note to clients. "We believe the next tectonic shift is happening now and NVDA stands to benefit the way these aforementioned tech giants did in prior transitions."
Nvidia has been working on itsCUDA computing platformand its graphics processing unit (GPU) technology for years. Traditionally, a computer has worked in a linear way, processing one task at a time on the central processing unit (CPU).
Shortly after GPUs were introduced in the 1990s, programmers began using them to break tasks into lots of smaller problems and solving them all at the same time on the GPU. This is called "parallel processing."
For certain types of problems, like rendering lots of graphics elements in a video game, GPUs were far superior to the single-minded CPU. They were slower at single tasks, but could handle lots of problems at the same time. Nvidia developed a programming platform, called CUDA, to take advantage of the way their GPUs could handle these multi-faceted problems. CUDA made it easy to break traditional problems into multiple parts that ran much faster on a GPU than the traditional CPU.
Fast forward to modern times where artificial intelligence and deep learning technologies are the hot trends. Companies like Google, Tesla and Amazon are using artificial intelligence toprogram self-driving cars,conquer ancient board gamesanddevelop smart personal assistants. Luckily for Nvidia, artificial intelligence and deep learning programs are perfectly suited to run on its GPUs and CUDA platform.
Jefferies thinks these two technologies give Nvidia a huge advantage over the competition.
"We see NVDA as a major beneficiary of the 4th Tectonic Shift in Computing, where serial processing (x86) architectures give way to massively parallel processing capabilities as the next wave of connected devices approach 10b units by 2022," Jefferies said.
As tech giants build out new data centers to handle their ballooning artificial intelligence research, they often turn to Nvidia to supply the hundreds or thousands of GPUs they need. MIT recently said Nvidia has spent around $3 billion to develop its current data center chip, and it's a move that has paid off for the company.MIT named Nvidia as the smartest company in the worldin 2017, in part, because of this investment.
Nvidia has beenmaking waves in the autonomous-car business as well.The company recently announced partnerships with Baidu, Volvo and Volkswagen to improve their self-driving car technologies and its technology is already being used in vehicles made by Tesla, Audi and Toyota.
Cryptocurrency mining is another example of a process that runs better on GPUs. Nvidia has been raking in profits in that area too, andone Wall Street bank thinks it will be just another sector that Nvidia will come to dominate.
Investors have been rewarding Nvidia as it takes the computer world by storm. Shares of Nvidia are up 48.55% this year.
While it might take some time before Nvidia's $87.04 billion market cap comes close to the companies that dominated the last computing revolution (Alphabet at $598.61 billion and Apple at $751.88 billion), Jefferies has faith in the company. The investment bank raised its price target to $180, up about 19% from Nvidia's current price.
(Markets Insider)
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• Bitcoin and Ethereum are 'cannibalizing' gold || Don’t Sell Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) Stock Yet: InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
Mega-cap tech companies — in particular chip stocks and FANGs — have driven 2017’s broad-market rally. However, smallerAdvanced Micro Devices, Inc.(NASDAQ:AMD) has been in on the fun, too, up more than 180% over the past year, and boasting a run of as much as 17% year-to-date last week. That was before AMD stock gave up almost 5% on Friday amid Goldman Sachs’ warning about a tech bubble.
Source: Shutterstock
Now, Advanced Micro is off another 5% on Monday morning. No driver has been confirmed, but the most prominent whisper is that Goldman Sachs analysts are reiterating their “Sell” rating on AMD.
Regardless of the cause, the short-term momentum in Advanced Micro Devices has been halted. However, with some patience, investors can still realize some 25% returns in AMD stock, which I expect will reach $15 per share by the end of the year.
Aside from the recent launch of its Naples chip, which is expected to drive higher revenue in the second and third quarters, AMD will also launch two other Zen-based chips as the year progresses, creating multiple catalysts for shares to cruise higher.
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That means this sudden dip in AMD stock could be one of few buying opportunities investors have left.
Monday’s declines should put AMD shares somewhere around $11.70 or so — still good for a market-matching gain of about 9% in 2017, but far better than the sub-$2 level they traded at as recently as early 2016.
The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based chip company has made a habit out of proving doubters wrong. It continues to benefit from strong growth in its popular Radeon line GPUs (Graphics Processing Unit). There are also signs that the declines in PC sales have begun to stabilize.
Thanks to the company’s recent partnership withAlphabet Inc(NASDAQ:GOOGL), where its FirePro server GPUs will power Alphabet’s cloud platform in 2017, AMD’s revenue growth should accelerate in the quarters ahead. A place inApple Inc’s.(NASDAQ:AAPL)iMac Pro should help, too.
For the full year ending in December, AMD is expected to earn 7 cents per share, versus a loss of 14 cents a year ago, while full-year revenue of the $4.82 billion would mark an increase of almost 13% year-over-year.
The significant expected improvements — particularly in EPS — present an opportunity for both investors and traders alike to take advantage of this sudden pullback, which is being governed by panic and Wall Street’s worries about overheating, even though AMD has backed up its gains with increasingly attractive fundamentals.
There are a few areas of potential that the Street seems to be ignoring, too.
For instance, consider the booming field of cryptocurrencies. The rising price and demand for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. The former is up about 160% this year, and the latter has soared by more than 2,800% year-to-date. This has increased the need for “mining” such cryptocurrencies, which in turn has boosted the demand for the type of graphic cards provided by AMD.
“The gaming market remains our priority. We are seeing solid demand for our Polaris-based offerings in the gaming and newly resurgent cryptocurrency mining markets based on the strong performance we are delivering,” an Advanced Micro spokespersontold CNBC.
Given that AMD has become miners’ preferred choice for cryptocurrencies, shares should remain in high demand too as long as the trend in cryptocurrency remains upbeat.
While there is fear thatIntel Corporation(NASDAQ:INTC) andNvidia Corporation(NASDAQ:NVDA) could be chipping away at AMD’s recovery, that doesn’t appear to be the case, either.
Fundamentally, Advanced Micro Devices — fresh off a more than 18% rise in first quarter revenue — continues to execute on its stated objectives. And with AMD still enjoying higher average selling prices in both the Client segment and GPUs, now’s the time to own AMD, not sell it.
• Trade of the Day: How Deep Can Apple Inc. (AAPL) Stock Fall?
The positive outlook for cryptocurrencies may be temporary, and that alone is not a reason to bet on AMD. But the bigger story is the fact that Advanced Micro Devices is now well-positioned to benefit in multiple growth markets such as GPUs, artificial intelligence and improving demand for chips from professional enterprises.
AMD stock certainly is not the relative bargain it was when it fell below $10 last month. But it’s getting close thanks to this recent bout of tech jitters.
Thanks to higher average selling prices and growth in core revenue drivers, $15 per share remains a legitimate target.
As of this writing, Richard Saintvilus did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
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The postDon’t Sell Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) Stock Yetappeared first onInvestorPlace. || There’s No Good Reason to Buy Snap Inc (SNAP) Stock: InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
Let’s just be real right off the bat:Snap Inc(NYSE:SNAP) is not the best investment. At least, it would appear that way considering the current information that we have. But that doesn’t mean that SNAP stock isn’t worthwhile as a play on the future.
Source: Shutterstock
For better or worse, the company is almost entirely built around the Snapchat social media platform. Some social media companies are getting their act together, likeTwitter Inc(NYSE:TWTR). Others likeFacebook Inc(NASDAQ:FB) continue to dominate.
As soon as Snapchat builds momentum, Facebook’s Instagram muscles its way back into users’ hands — blatantly copying a number of Snapchat’s features. But the point is still the same: It has more firepower than even the hottest name in social media.
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And that, of course, is the major risk to SNAP stock. Facebook just hit 2 billion monthly active users. Not long ago, Instagram was tallying more than 700 million users — adding the most recent100 million users fasterthan the prior 100 million. Clearly, growth isn’t slowing.
For Snapchat’s part, daily active users reached 166 million. While this was up some 36% year-over-year, it’s not all that impressive given Facebook’s position.
For starters, Instagram Stories — just a feature on the platform —already has 250 million DAUsafter launching less than a year ago. Additionally, FB grew DAUs 18% YoY to 1.28 billion.
Finally, FB had earnings of $1.04 per share last quarter. Facebook hasn’t missed an earnings estimate in 12 straight quarters, and has topped revenue estimates in 11 of those. SNAP? Well, let’s just say it missed top- and bottom-line estimates in its only quarter, losing $2.31 per share.
At best, investors can hope that Snap Inc will carve out a powerful role in the social media world. It can use augmented reality, fresh content and new filters to continually engage its users. But it will always have FB lurking over it, and that makes for tough sledding.
Estimates call for revenue to nearly double from 2017 to 2018. That’s certainly impressive. But SNAP trades at an absurd 40 times sales. Unless SNAP becomes wildly profitable with fat margins, there’s no way investors should be able to justify paying this type of valuation.
And not to beat the FB drum too loudly, but its worst quarterly sales growth over the past six quarters is north of 49%. Given its size, profitability and honestly decent valuation, why wouldn’t you want that over Snapchat stock? (Here’s the full breakdown on FB stock, by the way).
Click to Enlarge
Source: Stockcharts.com
This isn’t meant to be a slam piece on SNAP. The truth is though, SNAP stock isn’t a reasonable investment.
It’s going against a behemoth, isn’t profitable and doesn’t have the user growth to justify its valuation. But it could be setting up as a good trade.
SNAP stock has a low of $17. Traders who want to take a shot on this stock can keep that level in mind for their stop-loss. As we can see by the purple line, however, SNAP stock has actually made a pretty nice base here.
Additionally, the MACD (orange circle) is showing some bullish momentum. That could give SNAP stock a nice boost, perhaps up to downward resistance (blue line). With its trajectory, that may come into play around $19.
Risk management is certainly the key for SNAP stock. However, investors who believe this company may have what it takes to succeed in the social media world or short-term traders who are looking for a quick buck, this could be their play.
NOTE:Keep in mind that SNAP stock hasbig lockup expirations coming this summer, starting July 31. Unless firms do some massive buying or insiders choose not to sell, SNAP stock will likely be headed lower.
• Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) Radeon Vega Frontier Edition Hits Shelves
Again, if it were me entering the space, I would look to stick with the leader in FB. But there is a decent trade presenting itself in the short term for SNAP stock.
Bret Kenwell is the manager and author ofFuture Blue Chipsand is on Twitter@BretKenwell. As of this writing, Bret Kenwell did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
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The postThere’s No Good Reason to Buy Snap Inc (SNAP) Stockappeared first onInvestorPlace. || Wild swings, lack of liquidity keeping U.S. funds out of bitcoin: By David Randall
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A lack of liquidity is keeping U.S.-based mutual fund managers from investing in bitcoin even as the digital currency hits record highs.
Only four out of the more than 10,000 mutual funds based in the United States have bitcoin as part of their portfolios, according to data from Morningstar Inc. Of those four, three are from the same New York-based firm, Kinetics, which collectively manages $1.2 billion in total assets. The company declined a request to comment for this story.
The value of bitcoin has more than doubled this year in volatile trading as retail investors in Japan and South Korea have piled into the digital currency. Bitcoin has also been increasingly used in so-called ransomware attacks because of its untraceable nature [L1N1IQ24E]. The price of a single bitcoin peaked at $2,760.10 on the Bitstamp exchange on Thursday, but has since fallen to $2,292.53.
More funds would likely invest in bitcoin if the Securities and Exchange Commission were to approve an exchange-traded fund that holds the digital currency, said Todd Rosenbluth, director of ETF and mutual fund research at CRFA.
Such a move would allow fund managers to easily buy and sell shares of bitcoin to either speculate on its price or to use as a hedge, similar to how funds invest in the $34.3 billion SPDR Gold Trust ETF in order to get exposure to gold, he said. "From a mutual fund perspective, liquidity is paramount," he said.
Investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss tried for more than three years to convince the SEC to allow the first bitcoin-focused ETF. The agency's staff ruled against them in March, yet the commission is now reviewing that decision.
Any U.S.-based mutual funds that do have exposure to bitcoin own it through shares of the Bitcoin Investment Trust, a $797 million closed-end fund sponsored by New York-based Grayscale Investments that trades in the lightly-regulated over the counter market. Each share of the fund owns approximately a tenth of a bitcoin.
The lack of availability of the shares have pushed their prices well above the underlying price of bitcoin itself. Shares of the closed-end fund are up 77.1 percent over the last 5 days, according to Thomson Reuters data, while bitcoin itself is down 2.9 percent.
Those wild swings and lack of clear prices make bitcoin "uninvestable" right now, said one mutual fund manager who did not want to be quoted by name. || New Flow Kids App Delivers Anytime/Anywhere Content To Caribbean Children: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Jun 8, 2017) - Flow 's younger viewers now have a kid-friendly service that delivers children's content anytime, anywhere, on any device via the new " Flow Kids" app specially developed by Toon Goggles , the top kids' on-demand entertainment service. The Flow Kids app offers viewers approximately 1000 hours of high-definition children's content -- thousands of fun and educational cartoons for boys and girls, live action shows, comedy, engaging games for preschool to older age groups -- something for every child. "We're pleased to have partnered with Toon Goggles as we introduce an exciting new option for children's educational and entertainment programming to the region," said James Tooke, SVP Content & Media at Cable & Wireless , operator of Flow. "We've invested significantly to secure the world's best content for our audiences, and we of course wanted to ensure that the young ones weren't left out. With Flow Kids , children now have the ability to stream their favourite shows and play fun, interactive games any time of the day, keeping them entertained for hours on end. Plus, Flow Kids is not only jam-packed with fun games and entertainment -- it's also educational, intuitive, easy-to-use and a safe platform for kids of any age. We're confident Flow Kids will put a smile on every child's face." Aside from the diverse selection of content, Flow Kids offers other features to enhance the viewing experience for children and parents alike. For example, for those parents who'd like to ensure their children are watching content that's suitable for their age, Flow Kids has a built-in parental control switch to allow them control over what shows, music or games kids can access. The app also allows for access over 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi, and has the ability to store content, so kids can watch their favourite shows even when they're not connected to the Internet. Commenting on the innovative app and the cosmopolitan perspective it offers children, Stephen L. Hodge, C.E.O. of Toon Goggles said, "Growing up on the small Caribbean island of Anguilla, and as a father of three myself, I know first-hand how important it is for kids to gain a global perspective, and the fun and educational content on Flow Kids helps facilitate that. We feel that our partnership with Flow and Cable & Wireless meets both our companies' goals of increasing quality media options for kids everywhere." Story continues Flow Kids is available to Flow subscribers for free via the mobile app, once they have a Flow broadband package, mobile bundle or TV account and a Flow ID. A premium version will also be available for a fee, which will give users the ability to access content via their mobile and Flow's video-on-demand service on up to 5 devices, including smart TVs and set-top boxes. Flow Kids is available in twelve Flow markets: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands. About C&W Communications C&W is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, C&W provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers. C&W also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network -- the most extensive in the region. Learn more at http://www.cwc.com/ , or follow C&W on LinkedIn , Facebook or Twitter . About Liberty Global Liberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enable us to develop market-leading products delivered through next generation networks that connect our 25 million customers who subscribe to over 50 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve over 10 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across 6 million access points. Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group ( NASDAQ : LBTYA ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYB ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYK ) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group ( NASDAQ : LILA ) and ( NASDAQ : LILAK ) ( OTC PINK : LILAB ), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Liberty Global Group operates in 11 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The Liberty Global Group also owns 50% of VodafoneZiggo, a Dutch joint venture, which has 4 million customers, 10 million fixed-line subscribers and 5 million mobile subscribers. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Más Móvil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a sub-sea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets. For more information, please visit www.libertyglobal.com
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Jul 17, 2017 02:00:00 UTC | 2,007.70$ | 1,751.20€ | 1,532.40£ | #Bitcoin #btc pic.twitter.com/1eTCAZcZjC || Won 0.01 in #bitcoin lottery win #BTC http://bit.ly/kAjX7821 Free ticket $ltc $xrp $xmr $dgb $str $sia $eth $zec $crypto #doge 11:14:40 || $2945.99 at 17:00 UTC [24h Range: $2800.00 - $2960.24 Volume: 8712 BTC] || MAC / BTC Trading:
Ask: 0.00000283 BTC
Bid: 0.00000269 BTC
Buy/Sell #Machinecoin at
https://www.cryptopia.co.nz/Exchange?market=MAC_BTC …
[15.06.2017 09:34:22 UTC] || $2811.57 at 11:30 UTC [24h Range: $2700.00 - $2844.00 Volume: 10655 BTC] || Is #bitcoin a Good Investment for Retirement? -- The Motley Fool The Motley Fool http://bit.ly/2ry4vnh pic.twitter.com/EXx5NnigkK || Bitcoin Revolution Headphones! http://bit.ly/1riBr3h #musicnews #musicindustry #hiphoppic.twitter.com/FJZQKCv50g || Re: ** Starbase ** Token Based Global Crowdfunding and Crowdsourcing Platform **: hi, guys, is t.. #bitcoin #btc http://dld.bz/fPHp7 || New post: "Prosecuting DA for Silk Road now works at Coinbase - Coinbase: where our enemies are employed"http://ift.tt/2sxPqHn || You can commission me to make more sparrow pictures. I accept bitcoin
|
Trend: up || Prices: 2318.88, 2273.43, 2817.60, 2667.76, 2810.12, 2730.40, 2754.86, 2576.48, 2529.45, 2671.78
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2019-01-22]
BTC Price: 3604.58, BTC RSI: 43.34
Gold Price: 1282.50, Gold RSI: 57.54
Oil Price: 52.57, Oil RSI: 55.75
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Waves Surges into Top 20 Coins as Wider Crypto Market Stumbles: Since the end of November, the Waves coin (WAVES) has bucked a market trend and risen in price by over 150%. The cryptocurrency has not only risen to a price, at the time of writing, of $2.49 per coin but as bitcoin price falls, WAVES value against bitcoin (BTC) is also growing.
The Waves cryptocurrency today, for a short time, entered the top 20 coins by market capitalization but has since fallen back to 22ndplace as other coins show green. The coin’s market cap is now nearly $245 million, its highest since July 2018.
Waves is a blockchain platform where organizations and developers can create their own custom tokens. It has its own decentralized exchange (DEX) where these tokens can be traded alongside some of the most popular cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, Litecoin, and Monero. There are 69 tradeable coins on the Waves DEX with Waves reporting over 20,000 custom tokens in use.
Just over a week agoCCN reportedthat the release of an updated Waves mobile wallet that enabled credit card purchases of Waves which could then be traded into Bitcoin, or for other coins on its own DEX, could be fuelling interest in the coin. That could still be the case. According to CoinMarketCaptrading volumeon the exchange has increased this week too.
Waves has been busier still. After first introducing smart contract functionality to the platform in September 2018, it’s now addingsmart assets and smart account trading. A Waves announcement was posted December 13, and the functionality will be added to the blockchain’s mainnet once Waves miners vote their agreement. Waves also released its wallet add-on for the Firefox browser on December 14, and will be launching a European securities token trading platform in 2019.
The Waves blockchain, according to Waves, is fast, supporting 6,000 transactions per minute which equates to 100 per second. Ethereum is capable of around 10-15 transactions per second currently but Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin believes once second-layer solutions like Sharding and Plasma take effect the network is capable of overone million transactionsper second.
There may well be some growing confidence in the Waves blockchain. Waves announced it had processedmore transactionsin one day than any other on October 21, 2018, reaching 6.1 million and surpassing Ethereum at 1.3 million and EOS at 5.4 million.
Waves could also interest investors with its dual business focuses of token creation and smart contract blockchain functionality, and decentralized exchange, giving it two markets to drive success.
In terms of up and coming blockchains, Waves is not without competition. The price of TRON’s TRX isn’t performing as well as WAVES, but it too is also not being impacted as much by crypto-winter as other coins. dApp usage on theTRON blockchainsurged to 1 million transactions last week and the TRON Foundation has just launched its own exchange.
The postWaves Surges into Top 20 Coins as Wider Crypto Market Stumblesappeared first onCCN. || Huobi to Launch EOS Exchange and Add EOS to Huobi DM: Huobi Pool will launch a dedicated EOS exchange early in 2019 allowing users to trade EOS against “a number” of yet to be revealed cryptocurrencies. The cryptocurrency mining arm of Huobi Group, Huobi Pool, is already an EOS supernode and works closely with EOS. Other collaborative projects include the Crypto Kylin Testnet, an EOS test chain for developing EOS projects. Huobi Pool has also developed a voting platform for EOS owners and manages an EOS community to raise awareness of node elections. The recent press release outlines the EOS blockchain’s ethos for consensus: “Through its Distributed Proof of Stake (DPoS) consensus method, EOS enables individuals and groups around the world to collaborate and share in the decision-making process.” Through proof of stake (PoS) , a potential game-changer for blockchain, validated EOS owners will govern the development and future of the blockchain in order to achieve decentralization. EOS Exchange “Simply the Next Logical Step” Cao Fei, Huobi Pool’s CEO, added: “Launching this EOS exchange is simply the next logical step in our support.” Huobi Group’s cryptocurrency exchange is currently 3 rd in CoinMarketCap’s rankings by adjusted trade volume and according to the release the company is now achieving an accumulated turnover of over $1 trillion. In recent days Huobi’s derivative trading platform, Huobi DM, has also added EOS to its contract trading services. To mark the fact that #EOS #contracts are available today on #Huobi DM, we’ll be #giving #away 8,888 EOS in #rewards to #qualified #traders . For more details: https://t.co/CvYfMiDx3Y https://t.co/OCAfBK9HS8 pic.twitter.com/0zqdhDWPCh — Huobi Global (@HuobiGlobal) December 28, 2018 Huobi Global CEO, Livio Weng, explained that this is in response to strong demand from customers to add more coins to Huobi DM, and that: Story continues “We’ve seen a great response to our Bitcoin and Ethereum contract services from a broad range of sophisticated traders.” Huobi DM also plans to add further cryptocurrencies to its platform in 2019, in its press release Weng added: “Since launching in 2017, EOS’s price has fluctuated between $18 and less than $0.80…Huobi DM can be a powerful tool in managing risk in EOS and other cryptocurrencies.” The two additions for Huobi come amidst a flurry of developments from the company but also news that Huobi Group, now employing over 1000 staff, will be making lay-offs in the new year. Though Huobi says it will continue to recruit for its “core business and emerging markets.” Though past 24-hour prices have fallen once again for many coins, EOS is showing a slight 0.83% price increase in the past 24 hours. Generally, EOS is showing a similar trend line to bitcoin (BTC) this week. The #EOS ecosystem of blockchain-based applications #BuiltOnEOSIO continues to grow. Got a project you'd like to share with us? Email us at [email protected] pic.twitter.com/HL1xagUvw9 — Block.one (@block_one_) December 20, 2018 EOS has seen a number of rallies this month, potentially fuelled by the growing popularity of its blockchain. China rated it the best over all other chains in the past week and a 21% rise for the coin on December 17, 2018, came after some lively EOS hackathon activity. The post Huobi to Launch EOS Exchange and Add EOS to Huobi DM appeared first on CCN . View comments || Cryptocurrencies Mixed; FCA Probing Crypto-Companies: Investing.com – Major cryptocurrencies were mixed on Monday morning in Asia, ending a year in which the industry's market capitalization fell more than 80 percent.
Bitcoin inched up 0.68% to $3,754.9 and Ethereum gained 0.79% to $134.12 at 11:11PM ET (03:11 GMT) on the investing.com index.
XRP rose 0.13% to $0.35748 on the Poloniex exchange, while Litecoin dropped 0.79% to $30.652 on the Bitifinex exchange.
The total market capitalization of digital currencies plummeted from $815 billion in early January to $128 billion as of Dec. 31, according to CoinMarketCap.
Britain’s financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), told the Financial Times that it is probing 18 firms involved in the sales of digital tokens. It also issued warnings on suspected crypto-investment scams.
The U.K. has no regulations covering cryptocurrency transactions, but companies that sell regulated investments with cryptocurrency elements might need the FCA’s nod.
Scams aside, the U.S. is also concerned about drug cartels and criminal organizations in Asia conducting money laundering via cryptocurrencies.
In a recent U.S. congressional hearing into Mexican drug cartels, a few government officials spoke of the emerging threat posed by the crime syndicates, according to the Asia Times.
“The participation of Asian money launderers has become more prominent in some areas. The shift toward Chinese and Asian money launderers is believed to be, in part, due to the natural relationship created by the large volume of both licit and illicit trade goods and chemicals imported from China,” Paul Knierim, deputy chief of operations in the Office of Global Enforcement at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, was quoted as saying.
Elsewhere, Singapore-based Huobi Group’s cryptocurrency mining arm, Huobi Pool, announced on Sunday that it would launch its first exchange dedicated to EOS in the first quarter next year.
Users can trade EOS on the platform against a number of other cryptocurrencies, but Huobi did not disclose any names.
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$4K Ahead? Bitcoin’s Low-Volume Price Pullback Could Be a Bear Trap || The Next Quantum Leap in Financial Trading - [BTC Media Sponsor]: A common narrative in today’s financial world is that crypto holders are often unable to execute trades without paying large amounts of commissions and fees. Traditional markets are loaded with retail brokerages that bet against their clients with artificially adjusted prices, spreads and unrealistic fees.
EnterQuantfury, an emerging enterprise that’s on an ambitious quest to reshape this landscape for everyday cryptocurrency holders and others who enjoy trading the markets. Founded in April 2017 with offices in Toronto and Singapore, Quantfury offers a state-of-the-art trading app for both iOS and Android that allows traders to utilize their cryptocurrency holdings to trade equities, cryptocurrencies, fiat pairs and commodities, in fiat amounts.
Fueled by the smartphone revolution, cryptocurrency owners now have the ability to trade both traditional financial instruments and cryptocurrencies without commissions or other types of fees.
It’s here where the Quantfury trading app delivers an exquisitely well-designed interface for both platform traders and token holders, all in the palm of their hands, free of fees and through real market prices. Crypto holders can register on the app within minutes, select and post their crypto collateral amount and begin trading.
Through the use of the Quantfury app, all financial instruments are quoted in real time, in their nominal currency and with best bid and ask prices delivered directly from the global exchange.
App users get free, fair and transparent trading on both traditional and cryptocurrency markets, including access to myriad sectors and asset classes.
Cryptocurrencies are used to fund the collateral, giving users the green light to commence trading on the app with fiat funds that are 20-times collateral value and free of any leverage fees. All financial instruments are quoted in real time, and favorable bid and ask prices are delivered directly from the global exchanges, representing the best available spreads.
Over the span of 12 years, the company CEO Gregory Kim, who holds a degree in economics from University College London has held top trading positions in “Tier-1” financial institutions, most recently with Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
“Quantfury was started by a group of traders, quants and machine learning professionals who set out to change the exploitative retail trading industry,” Kim said. “The goal was to make trading financial markets absolutely transparent and fair, with zero commission or leverage fees for people worldwide.”
Kim also has a unique strategic direction for Quantfury.
“We are market-agnostic and focused entirely on our product,” Kim explained. “Quantfury, we believe, is a perfect example of an off-chain financial technology company using crypto to onboard users, as well as offer a token model that’s an industry differentiator.
So why should a trader choose Quantfury versus other trading apps?
“Every Quantfury user has the ability to trade with no commissions, leverage fees or any other type of fees, which is unmatched in the retail trading industry,” Kim explained. “Our users buy and sell equities, cryptocurrencies, fiat pairs and commodities at the best bid and ask prices delivered directly from global exchanges.”
Quantfury has received institutional funding from Invictus Capital and the Hyperion Fund to fuel their ambitious project. Unlike many blockchain and ICO projects, Quantfury offers a practical business application of blockchain technology to deliver integrity and transparency at a time when the future of trading is still finding its way.
“We are a fintech company leveraging blockchain and crypto,” Kim said. “Our app is available globally for crypto holders and retail traders.
Note: Trading and investing in digital assets is speculative and can be high risk. Based on the shifting business and regulatory environment of such a new industry, this content should not be considered as investment or legal advice.
This promoted article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Crypto crisis: a year on from its record high, is this the end of the road for Bitcoin?: Bitcoin's reverse in fortunes in 2018 has led many to question the future of the cryptocurrency industry. - Getty Images Europe Last year, Christmas came early for Bitcoin investors. As the 2017 holiday season loomed into view exactly one year ago, cryptocurrency investors were surfing a wave of optimism, which sent the digital currency cruising to an all-time high. In the first 17 days of December alone, its price more than doubled to $20,000. Across the board, the valuation of cryptocurrencies was surging, helping tempt new investors that the hype was for real as portfolios swelled. For people inside the cryptocurrency bubble, soaring valuations offered proof that their investments were paying off. In fact, so many cryptocurrency enthusiasts purchased high-end sports cars that it became a running joke online. “When Lambo?” people asked whenever a new cryptocurrency project was launched. After nearing a $20,000 high last December, Bitcoin is now languishing under $4,000 But a year later, the atmosphere could not be more different. The digital currency has collapsed in spectacular fashion, with almost $250bn being wiped off Bitcoin's total market cap since December, while deepening woes have caused prices to sink below $4000 for the first time since September 2017. On Saturday, Nouriel Roubini, the US economist who famously predicted the 2008 financial crash, offered a damning perspective, describing Bitcoin as "the biggest bubble [and] bust in history", exceeding even the South Sea bubble and the tulip mania of the 1630s. So what exactly happened? And is it really curtains for the crypto market, as Roubini and many others believe? Accusations of market manipulation haven't helped, of course. They cast a pall around a cryptocurrency industry that was already being treated with caution, given its origins as a merry band of outsiders thumbing their collective nose at the stodgy world of conventional finance. In the US, federal prosecutors are investigating a cryptocurrency named Tether, which claims to be pegged to the US dollar, over accusations that the alternate currency was used to manipulate the price of Bitcoin. Story continues Prosecutors claim that some of Bitcoin’s 2017 rally to its all-time high of $20,000 was down to traders using Tether to buy up Bitcoin at crucial moments. Earlier this year, researchers published a paper which sought to link the rise in Bitcoin’s price to suspicious market activity using Tether. Claims of artificial manipulation of Bitcoin’s price have been troubling to institutional investors considering a move into Bitcoin. But market manipulation isn’t the only issue faced by Bitcoin, however. The wider cryptocurrency community has recently been grappling with a “hard fork” of cryptocurrency Bitcoin Cash. A “fork” is tantamount to a breakup. Last year, a group of developers grew frustrated with rising operational costs in Bitcoin and the limits on what’s known as the “blocksize” of data held on the blockchain. They saw an opportunity to break away from Bitcoin by preparing a code change that would lead to the development of Bitcoin Cash, a new cryptocurrency spun off from Bitcoin that leveraged the name of the original. It held the promise of delivering on the features they thought Bitcoin should really be delivering. But no path is free from bumps in the road. The newly formed Bitcoin Cash, which is barely a year old, experienced another “hard fork” mid-November that split it into Bitcoin Cash ABC and Bitcoin Cash SV. According to Iqbal Gandham, UK managing director of crypto trading platform eToro, the recent shifts in price were inevitable given the fork. Market analysts were waiting for a sharp downturn in cryptocurrencies mid-November following a period of stability at around $6000 - in part due to the general performance of tech stocks globally in recent weeks, compounded by the uncertainty injected by the Bitcoin Cash divide. “This issue of Bitcoin Cash forking also occurring at the time around the 14th or 15th [of November] has caused the movement down,” says Gandham. “It’s ‘two tribes go to war’ kind of thing.” To further complicate matters for the industry, regulators in the UK have also begun to place focus on Bitcoin. Members of Parliament have urged the Financial Conduct Authority to extend its Regulated Activities Order to also cover cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. The government’s Cryptoasset Taskforce, which is comprised of the Financial Conduct Authority, HM Treasury and the Bank of England, has recommended holding a consultation in early 2019 on whether so-called Initial Coin Offerings should be regulated. This is a process that involves the offering of digital coins for sale from startups launching new cryptocurrencies. Signs of impending regulation on cryptocurrencies in the UK have concerned investors, with experts publishing a report alleging that overzealous regulation could harm cryptocurrency traders in the UK. “If you crowbar everything into the Regulated Activities Order you are making everything into an investment bank,” said Neil Foster, corporate technology partner at Baker Botts. It’s hard to see how Bitcoin recovers in a year when Bank of England Governor Mark Carney warned that the digital coin was “failing” as a currency, and had become a “global speculative mania” that “exhibited all the classic hallmarks of bubbles”. But not everyone is running for the hills just yet. There are signs that the industry can survive and win over at least some key players in traditional finance. Earlier this month, Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, made a serious proposal for central banks to issue digital currencie s at a fintech event in Singapore. The Winklevoss twins, two brothers who have made fortunes from their Bitcoin investments, remain bullish on the future prospects of the market, while a more mature approach to digital coins like Tether being pegged to fiat currencies is taking shape in what’s known as Stablecoins. Buying still seems to be occurring too in over the counter markets run by major institutions and exchanges. Though Gandham sees Bitcoin falling further still, with a levelling of price possible at the $2500 mark, he is keen to see what happens this December as less-experienced investors are shaken out. As time marches on, he says, regulation will become concrete, offering a new wave of enthusiasts a chance to participate within a safe investment environment. “The people who bought in September 2017 when we saw the huge rise, I’m sure there is a certain amount of concern among them. But the industry itself is still moving forward towards its goal saying ‘we still believe in this’” he says. “The ones who really understand the power of Bitcoin and the power of blockchain realise this is not something that's going to disappear. I don't think traditional finance is going to miss the opportunity again.” || What Vail Resorts Wants Investors to Know: Vail Resorts(NYSE: MTN)disappointed investors by announcing a slight sales decline for its fiscal first quarter and an expanding net loss for the period. Wall Street reacted to the news by sending shares down by 16% immediately following the report.
In a subsequentconference call with analysts, the ski resort chain explained why those worsening sales and profit trends aren't worrying the management team, and why investors can be confident that Vail's long-term growth outlook is intact.
Below are a few highlights from that presentation.
Image source: Getty Images.
Our first fiscal quarter historically operates at a loss, given that our North American mountain resorts are not open for ski operations during the period.-- CEO Rob Katz
The company has been bulking up its offseason revenue sources by adding things like mountain zip-lining tours and outdoor water parks at its resorts. But modest success there hasn't changed the fact that the summer months produce operating losses because of the lack of ski revenue in its U.S. and Canadian resorts. In fact, reported net lossexpanded to $108 millionfrom $28 million a year ago.
Still, the Perisher property in Australia saw solid ski demand, and its North American locations attracted more warm-weather visitors. The operating loss included several one-time charges that, once accounted for, make the period consistent with Vail's recent history. "Overall, we were pleased with our results," Katz explained.
We are very pleased to see double-digit revenue growth in our season pass program after a very strong record performance last year.-- Katz
Vail sold 21% more season passes this period, with total revenue rising 13% through the first few days of December. Stripping out the impact from its discounted military pass, sales volumes were up 8% while total revenue rose 10% with help from a 3% average price increase.
That price boost is down from the 5% increase that Vail had been posting in past years, which implies some pricing challenges. But management blamed the slowdown on their deliberate effort to expand season pass sales to lower-frequency guests.
We remain committed to reinvesting in our resorts, creating an experience of a lifetime for our guests and generating strong returns for our shareholders.-- Katz
Vail plans a surge of investment spending across its resorts on expensive projects including lift upgrades and other typical maintenance initiatives. This year's plan also includes installing integrated snow production capabilities that could add precious days to its ski seasons beginning in late 2019. Overall, these initiatives will require about $180 million in cash to mark a significant increase from last year's $150 million capital plan.
Executives said they were aware that this spending is higher than usual, but they noted that the snow manufacturing capabilities will add value to season passes, including by adding more consistent ski opportunities around the Thanksgiving holiday.
Given our first-quarter results and the indicators we are seeing for the upcoming season, we are reiterating our resort-reported EBITDA guidance for fiscal 2019 that was included in our September earnings release. That said, the North American ski season has just begun, with our primary earnings period still in front of us.-- CFO Michael Barkin
Vail affirmed full-year guidance that calls for adjusted earnings torange between $718 million and $750 millioncompared to $617 million in fiscal 2018. The kickoff to the ski season has been encouraging, with its Colorado-based resorts enjoying the best conditions they've seen in nearly a decade. The Whistler Blackcomb property in Canada, on the other hand, had a sluggish start as snow totals have been weak.
In any case, with its biggest earnings-producing period just beginning, investors will have to wait until Vail's next official update to find out how closely actual results tracked management's optimistic forecasts.
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Demitrios Kalogeropouloshas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Vail Resorts. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || USD/JPY Price Forecast – US dollar rallies again against Japanese yen: The US dollar has broken higher during the day on Friday, clearing the top of the Thursday candle stick which was very neutral. This is a strong sign, but when I look at the longer-term charts, I can clearly see an area above that should cause quite a few problems for the buyers. The ¥110 level of course is a large, round, psychologically significant figure. Beyond that, the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level is just above the ¥110 level. The 50 day EMA is approaching that area as well, so I think there is a nice confluence of selling pressure there just waiting for the market to come back to it. USD/JPY Video 21.01.19 At that point, I would anticipate that the market will probably go back to the ¥108 level. That being said, I think that the market will probably continue to see a lot of selling pressure longer-term, because quite frankly the Federal Reserve is looking more dovish in general and that should weigh upon the US dollar. I’m going to look for a daily exhaustive candle closer to the ¥110 level to start selling, because quite frankly after the massive selloff that we had seen, it would make sense that eventually the selling pressure would come back. This has been a massive rally, but in the end most of the issues out there still remain. Most of the pundits on Wall Street are looking for a stronger yen this year anyways because of the various issues globally. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Brent Crude Oil Price Update – Needs to Take Out $63.91 to Reaffirm Change in Trend U.S Mortgages – Rates Hold Steady, While Applications Rise Further NZD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – Headed into Minor Retracement Zone at .6720 to .6690 Stocks Rally, Gold Breaks as Reports Say China Offered U.S. Import Boost Bitcoin – Tight Ranges Return, Which Could Spell Trouble For The Bulls Silver Weekly Price Forecast – Silver markets turn around || Bitcoin Price Not Oversold at $3,000? Analyst Says Bottom is Not In Just Yet: Over the past 24 hours, the valuation of the crypto market has slightly dropped from $123 billion to $121 billion as theBitcoin pricefell below the $3,600 level.
Affected by the short-term drop in the price of Bitcoin, some major crypto assets including Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin recorded losses in the range of one to three percent against the U.S. dollar.
Generally, traders in the crypto market are in agreeance that Bitcoin is expected to demonstrate a low level of volatility throughout this week.
Although the daily volume of the dominant cryptocurrency has slightly increased from $4 billion last week to $5.2 billion, the asset remains in a tight range in mid-$3,000.
DonAlt, a cryptocurrency trader, wrote:
Chilling in the lower part of the current trading range after having put in a few consecutive lower highs. As long as we stay below the POC I’ll most likely stay hedged. I’m personally not interested in trading this trading range.
Many analysts have said that the $3,000 to $4,000 range is likely to be the bottom of a year-long bear market for Bitcoin. Some, including Willy Woo, have suggested that the market may begin to recover from the third quarter of 2019.
But, Jani Ziedans, a market analyst at Cracked Market, stated that Bitcoin is yet to find a proper bottom and has been demonstrating alethargic base.
“Bitcoin continues to struggle and is in the mid-$3k’s. If prices were oversold, we would have bounced by now. This lethargic base tells us that demand is still incredibly weak and this selloff still hasn’t found a bottom,” hesaid.
In mid-December, when the price of Bitcoin rebounded from $3,122 to $4,000 within one week, analysts said that a strong buy wall in the $3,100 to $3,300 helped the asset to undergo a short-term corrective rally.
In the grand scheme of things, Ziedans explained that the yearly low reached by the asset a month ago was not the bottom it was looking for, given that it has already started to demonstrate weakness.
While the perception on the potential bottom of Bitcoin wildly differs amongst analysts in the cryptocurrency space, most agree that theasset is approaching the last phaseof the bear market.
Bitcoin could certainly drop below the $3,000 mark and achieve a new yearly low for a simple reason that a big buy wall exists in high $2,000 region on major crypto-to-fiat exchanges like Coinbase and Bitstamp.
If it does drop below $3,000, the asset may see a similar price movement it experienced in mid-December and endure a big corrective rally triggered by oversold conditions.
In the short-term, at least throughout this week, traders expect to see a low level of volatility in major Bitcoin markets.
The postBitcoin Price Not Oversold at $3,000? Analyst Says Bottom is Not In Just Yetappeared first onCCN. || Oops! South Korean Crypto Exchange Accidentally Sends Traders $5 Million in Bitcoin: By CCN.com : Did you ever dream of waking up in the morning to unexpectedly find a vast amount of cash miraculously appearing in your account? That is what recently happened to users of a prominent South Korean crypto exchange. Coindesk Korea has reported that the Korean crypto exchange Coinnest has accidentally airdropped over $5 million in bitcoin and Korean won and is looking how to reclaim their misdirected funds. Accidental Airdrop Lands Exchange in Trouble Coinnest has announced it has accidentally sent 6 billion Korean won worth of bitcoin, which equates to $5.3 million, to the accounts of traders. The Korean crypto exchange was attempting to airdrop We Game Tokens (WGT), but somehow their wires got crossed and they wrongly airdropped bitcoin instead in a catastrophic blunder. Amidst the madness, Coinnest also accidentally sent some Korean won to users but has been trying to roll back their servers to recover their losses. As expected, some account holders saw the crypto and withdrew it right away. The exchange is now asking their users to return the misdirected funds. Coindesk Korea also noted that because so many Coinnest users were scrambling to withdraw their surprise winnings that it crashed the bitcoin price on the site to almost $50. Cryptocurrency Bitcoin The server issues were apparently fixed on Jan 19, with approximately half of the Korean won already returned. At this point in time, Coinnest does not have any plans to compensate anyone for the losses, although we believe the issue is not yet over. Coinnest in the News Again This is not the first time Coinnest have made the crypto news due to blunders and buffoonery. In the first quarter of 2018, the Korean crypto exchange was caught up in a scandal where their former chief executive Kim Ik-hwan was suspected of allegedly embezzling billions of Korean won from client’s accounts and transferring them to his own accounts. The Coinnest board of directors swiftly acted to remove their former president and continued to apologize to their users for any negative impact they had experienced due to the alleged embezzlement. Story continues Kim Ik-hwan was arrested and questioned by local Korean authorities, but the outcome of the case seemed to evaporate into the ether and has remained very quiet ever since. It seems that Coinnest and controversy go hand in hand. As of yet, no-one from the exchange has answered our questions pertaining to the misguided airdrop. But we will keep you up to date on any developments. The post Oops! South Korean Crypto Exchange Accidentally Sends Traders $5 Million in Bitcoin appeared first on CCN . || Newsflash: Bitcoin Price Plummets to $3,755 to Set another Yearly Low: The bitcoin price on Saturday dove below the $4,000 mark for the first time in 2018, forcing the flagship cryptocurrency to a new yearly low.
Technical analysts hadpredictedthat further losses awaited bitcoin over the weekend, and those bearish forecasts were proven correct. After extending as high as $4,370 in the early morning hours, thebitcoin pricespent the majority of the remainder of the day on a gradual decline.
A gradual decline, that is, until around 21:10 UTC, when a surge in sell volume plunged bitcoin back toward $4,000, a mark it had successfully defended earlier in the week. Today, however, support faltered, and BTC/USD crashed through both $3,900 and $3,800 before reaching a new yearly low at $3,755 as of the time of writing.
Now that the market has proven unable to sustain the $4,000 level, many analysts have fingered $3,000 as BTC/USD’s next crucial support level. Genesis Capital CEO Michael Moro, for instance, had previouslypredictedthat the bitcoin price would find a bottom near $3,000 before ultimately beginning the long grind back into bull territory.
Clickherefor a real-time bitcoin price chart.
Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts fromTradingView.
The postNewsflash: Bitcoin Price Plummets to $3,755 to Set another Yearly Lowappeared first onCCN.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Xapo Transfers Key Operations to Switzerland. #cryptocurrency #crypto #bitcoin #cryptocurrencies $BTC http://bit.ly/2FIdn5h || Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Stellar, EOS, Litecoin: Price Analysis, Nov. 28 https://ift.tt/2QrBUAC || #BTC #XRP #ETH #BCH #XLM #EOS #LTC #USDT #BSV #ADA #XMR #TRX #MIOTA #DASH #XEM #BNB #ETC #NEO #ZEC #XTZ #BTG #VET #MKR #DOGE #ONT #ZRX #OMG #TUSD #DCR #QTUM #bitcoin #Ripplepic.twitter.com/By6Lfq6zeM || f #TheOrvill #crypto #influencermarketing #womenshistorymonth #blackhistorymonth #cryptocurrency #bitcoin #internationalwomensday #cryptocurrencies #WednesdayWisdom #MondayMorning #BlueMonday #bloodmoon #MondayMotivaton #mondaythoughts #Blutmond https://dribbble.com/shots/5878872-Fashion-Website-Exploration-Version-2?utm_source=Twitter_Shot&utm_campaign=rahman_designer&utm_content=Fashion%20Website%20Exploration%20Version-2&utm_medium=Social_Share … || Of course, and projects—including BTC—that deliver only broken promises and endlessly extended deadlines will inevitably die off as the hype drains away. || $BTC and $ETH small long scalp trades went well too. pic.twitter.com/OuziKSbxIj || Weekend Unlimited now Second Acquisition of 2019 #CFN #Media https://goo.gl/yMVfkT
#ad #wsj #nytimes #reuters #bloomberg #thestreet #forbes #nasdaq #IHub_StockPosts #newyork #business #cnn #bet #foxnews #bitcoin #blockchain #music #crypto #cannabis #weed #marijuana #CBDpic.twitter.com/eAr2dlPrJP || #BTCUSD - Crypto Chart Analyse: Bitcoin, Ethereum, IOTA - TradingView - https://de.tradingview.com/chart/BTCUSD/NXmWhBg5/ … || 12/20 02:00 現在のビットコインの価格 BTC/JPY ask: 442,676 / bid: 418,918 || @BTC_khamikazee Yeah, but you're not going to realize that you're not going to be in a position where you don't even need to react to anything. That's why you don't have a reason to do it.
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Trend: down || Prices: 3585.12, 3600.87, 3599.77, 3602.46, 3583.97, 3470.45, 3448.12, 3486.18, 3457.79, 3487.95
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2022-11-01]
BTC Price: 20485.27, BTC RSI: 58.28
Gold Price: 1645.00, Gold RSI: 44.26
Oil Price: 88.37, Oil RSI: 54.01
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Environmental Groups to Spend Another $1M on Ads for Bitcoin Code Change After the Merge: Environmental groups pledged to spend another $1 million on online ads to pressure the Bitcoin community to change the network's code in order to reduce energy consumption.
Earlier on Thursday, the Ethereum blockchain – which underpins the world's second-largest cryptocurrency by market value– changed its consensus mechanism from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS), doing away with the need for energy-intensive computing power. Bitcoin, a PoW network, has been facing mounting criticism over its energy use, which is on par with some small countries. These criticisms were echoed in part in areporton bitcoin mining published by the White House last week.
"Ethereum’s energy-efficient ‘merge’ leaves bitcoin as lone cryptocurrency climate polluter," wrote Environmental Working Group (EWG) in aThursday statement, which along with Greenpeace USA, Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen and other small environmental organizationslaunched a campaignto change the bitcoin code earlier this year.
On top of the new ad funds, Greenpeace USA started an onlinepetitioncalling on multi-trillion-dollar asset manager Fidelity Investments to help take the lead in pushing Bitcoin to switch to PoS.
Read more:The Ethereum Merge Is Done, Opening a New Era for the Second-Biggest Blockchain || Ethereum's 'Merge' sets the stage for the next iteration of the internet: US-LIFESTYLE-INVESTING-CRYPTOCURRENCY-ETHEREUM Ethereum, invented and incubated in Canada, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap and the foundation of the most innovative development happening in the industry, just completed a software upgrade referred to as The Merge . Around the world, computer programmers, blockchain enthusiasts and even a few skeptics held virtual streaming parties to witness the event in real time. It was one of the biggest events in cryptocurrency history, but many people outside the industry likely didnt notice, perhaps thinking it was just more crypto kids shilling more technical nonsense. Yet its important to understand what this software upgrade was all about. Blockchains at their core are all about recording information. Bitcoin secured and ordered these transactions through a process called proof-of-work (PoW), more commonly referred to as mining, when it came into existence in 2009. The dream of Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous inventor of Bitcoin, was for everyday people using their home computers to assist in securing a ledger and receiving the native token, bitcoin, as a reward for their efforts. Within a few years, application-specific integrated chips (ASICs) came on the scene, making the participation of home computer mining no longer viable. The original hardware was replaced by data centres and specialized computers that consumed inordinate amounts of energy. Ethereum entered the arena a few years later with its novel smart-contract platform (and the ability to program assets) and followed in bitcoins footsteps by also using PoW. But at inception, there was another idea put forth called staking that one day could theoretically replace the energy-intensive PoW mining process while maintaining network integrity. This new solution would not only significantly cut back energy usage, but would democratize the validation process by giving token holders the ability to approve transactions with fewer hardware requirements. In Ethereum proof-of-stake (PoS), users can become validators and lock up (stake) their ether, akin to entering a bond with the protocol. They then take turns approving transactions and receive newly created ether (staking rewards) in exchange for helping secure the network. Under this new system design, access to specialized computing chips or electricity would no longer be needed, meaning more participation from everyday users and less strain on the environment. Story continues Since its launch, Ethereum has grown from a novel toy into a US$200 billion-dollar platform, with an additional US$300 billion of assets and applications relying on its uptime and functionality. Over the past seven years, researchers and developers have tried to follow through on this early promise. Various proposals for the right technical implementation have been proposed, but developers found themselves back at the drawing board, continually delaying the upgrade. Investors and members in the community even began doubting it would ever come to fruition. In 2020, consensus began to form around the technical standards that would make it appropriate to launch this new and improved version of Ethereum. Given the high stakes of how big the project had become, the new platform launched in pseudo incognito mode with limited functionality. A year and a half later, it was time to marry the two networks together and transition the combined US$500 billion in value over to this new implementation. Everything leading up to this moment would occur within 12 seconds and without any visible changes to the end user. No pause in regular activity, down time or broken interfaces. Some have described the event as driving a car at 100km/h and having the combustion engine swapped out for an electric battery without ever slowing down or the driver noticing anything had changed. Fortunately, the Merge went off without a hitch. Just before 3 a.m. eastern time on Sept. 15, we waved goodbye to mining on Ethereum and embraced a new era, one without specialized computing hardware and electricity requirements like those of small countries. The Merge marks one of the most important inflection points for Ethereum and the web, setting the stage for the next iteration of the internet. If we are to believe in a future where trillions of dollars worth of assets and activities will exist on a blockchain, it will require a system such as proof-of-stake to remain stable and secure. This new system gives rise to new opportunities as well. Theres now an incentive for retail and institutional investors to lean into an asset that aligns with environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) mandates. To top it off, staked capital of any size can generate the same yield, and economies of scale have been made irrelevant. This could be the catalyst our pension funds need to wade into the sector and have confidence this innovation is built to last. The Merge is upon us: Heres what you need to know about the major Ethereum network upgrade To HODL or not to HODL? Canadas bitcoin miners tinker with their strategies amid crypto downturn New business lines have also begun to emerge. Local digital asset exchanges will have new product lines to offer their customers, and to support this, specialized staking infrastructure companies will form. Figment Networks Inc., a Toronto-based company, has emerged as one of the biggest and most globally recognized staking providers for both institutional clients as well as retail-facing platforms. Businesses such as Figment were not possible just a few years ago. But Ethereums upgrade is not complete. In the coming years, various technical upgrades will roll out, significantly reducing transaction fees that have historically reached as high as US$50 per transaction, pricing out users and lowering value activity. This activity has felt stranded, without another blockchain to move to without serious trade-offs in security. In addition, the network will be able to process 1,000 times more transactions per second. A successful blockchain of the future will need to handle various spectrums of activity in terms of value and throughput to truly become a global settlement layer. The proof-of-stake launch is one of the most impressive feats in computer science to date, and it was all developed by a decentralized group of participants. This is the beginning of the next frontier for blockchains and the right decision for a technology group that is aware of the ongoing climate crisis and can envision a world where people have transparency and autonomy over their finances. Brian Mosoff is CEO of Ether Capital. || Dogecoin Joins Ethereum in Double-Digit Gains as Crypto Rallies: Like a dog with two tails. Dogecoin and Shiba Inu have staged impressive rallies this morning. As the cryptocurrency market stages a strong recovery following last week’s selloff, meme coins Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE) have posted significant gains over the past 24 hours. DOGE, the largest and perhaps most well-known meme coin, rose nearly 10% over the past day. The canine crypto is currently trading at a new monthly high of $0.065, according to data from Coingecko . DOGE, the tenth-largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of just under $9 billion, is now well ahead of Polkadot ’s (DOT) market cap of $7.5 billion. Dogecoin’s trading volumes across different exchanges are upbeat too. The cryptocurrency’s trading volume clocked above $682 million over the past 24 hours, up 178% from the previous trading day. Today’s heroics has helped DOGE reverse its weekly and monthly losses. On a monthly note, DOGE has gained nearly 7.6%, suggests Coingecko. Despite today’s double-digit rise, though, DOGE is still down 91% from its all-time high of $0.7315 recorded in May 2021. DOGE futures positions worth $2.22 million have been liquidated over the past 24 hours, according to data from Coinglass . Most (78.96%) of the liquidations came from blown-out short positions. Red bars represent blown-out short positions. Source: Coinglass Besides the broader market's bullish momentum, reduced miner reserves and steadily increasing long-term holders have also attributed to DOGE’s bullish price action. The total miner reserve is at 4.39 billion DOGE, down nearly 65% over the past 12 months to levels last seen in December 2013, according to data from IntoTheBlock . Miner reserve indicates the total amount of DOGE coins held in miner-affiliated wallets that haven’t been sold. A decrease in the metric's value means that most miners have already cashed in their revenues. DOGE miner reserve over time. Source: IntoTheBlock . Nearly 2.81 million addresses have been holding Dogecoin for more than one year, which has doubled year-to-date, according to data from IntoTheBlock . Story continues SHIB tails Dogecoin gains The second-largest meme coin in market capitalization, Shiba Inu (SHIB), is also up 4.4% over the past 24 hours, per data from Coingecko . SHIB showed a 141.73% increase in daily trading volumes over the same period and, as of this writing, trades at $0.00001046. With a market capitalization of $6.152 billion, SHIB is the 14th-largest cryptocurrency. Unlike DOGE, SHIB’s 24-hour gains are insufficient to bridge its monthly losses. SHIB is down 5.1% over the past 30-days. Despite today’s modest gains, SHIB is still down 87.9% from its all-time high of $0.00008616 recorded in October 2021. According to data from Shiba Burn Tracker, nearly 634,397 SHIB tokens have been burned over the past 24 hours. SHIB burns are directly correlated with the activeness of the community within the Shiba Inu ecosystem. Unlike other conventional tokens, where every transaction burns a part of the value, SHIB burns happen via multiple possible ways, as described by Shib Burn Tracker . For example, you can listen to Flave Beats’s music on Spotify and 50% revenue of the artist will be used to buy and burn SHIB. Shiba Inu burns over the last 30 days. Source: Shib Burn Tracker . On September 30, 270.413 million SHIB was burned. Since then, SHIB burns have remained on a downtrend. The reduced burn figures indicate a reduction in community interest, leading to modest gains in a raging bull market. Besides Dogecoin and SHIB, Bitcoin and Ethereum have also staged an impressive recovery . The leading cryptocurrency has risen 5.2% over the past 24 hours, with Ethereum jumping a whopping 12%. The views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice. || Heat Core Inaugurate First Heat Recovery Pilot in USA: BELLEFONTE, PA / ACCESSWIRE / October 26, 2022 /USA / Frisco /Heat Coreinaugurated its first heat recovery pilot project in USA with its strategic partner MicroBT, leading advocator of zero-carbon-emission crypto mining via itsIntegrated Energy and Hashing System (IEHS)at Titan Energy Park, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania on October 19th, 2022.
The pilot showcases three day-to-day heating scenarios - fish hatchery, hydroponics, and space heating - powered by harvested heat from next-genintegrated energy & hashing system, demonstrating the goal and social responsibilities borne by Heat Core to take Bitcoin mining to a new epoch defined by its environment-friendly and society-empowering visions.
Titans of the industry such as Duke Energy, Galaxy Digital, Foundry, Bitfarms, and Nothern Data, and the ceremony was also privileged by the presence of Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, Majority Leader for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman (R-Bellefonte) expressed his support for the project too. Corman previously called for Pennsylvania to create a task force to study how federal policy changes relating to digital currency could benefit Pennsylvania.
Equilibrium between production and consumption of electricity for the grid demands growing public awareness. Though highly promoted renewable energy resources such as wind and solar power, they come under criticism for putting the gird up for test. Energy-intensive Bitcoin mining has been branded with a less positive reputation. However, Heat Core strives to renovate the aged stereotype with its technical expertise in grid stability, sporting a wide range of overclocking-underclocking power efficiency up to 70%, voltage, and frequency, which poses itself to be a better demand response player boosting grid stability.
The newly published White House report,Climate and Energy Implications of Crypto-Assets, shed light one of future paradigms for responsible cryptocurrency mining, "The crypto-asset industry can potentially use stranded methane gas, which is the principal component of natural gas, to generate electricity for mining." Heat Core debuts its brand-new productMethane Greento better manifest its visions for environment-friendly mining. Tailored to the flaring gas-powered mining scenario, Heat Core supplements the classic mode with an outdoor and waterproof design with IP54 protection and near-zero water consumption, which juxtaposes itself as the best mining choice for flaring gas, landfills, biogas, animal husbandry, sewage processing, extending to scenarios like agricultural processing.
Heat Core's Integrated Energy and Hashing System (IEHS) takes a water-cooling method to better harvest heat from running chips, bringing the thermal efficiency up to 95%, which makes it a robust supplementary to the existing heating industry. With a duo product of hashrate, Heat Core further differentiates itself from run-of-the-mill boilers, transforming itself as a true and only integrated system of electrical energy, thermal energy, and computing power. A full-range product line confirms a spectrum of heating scenes, be it small or massive - from household, commercial complex, and all the way to centralized district heating. Applications in agriculture, aquacultures, oil fracking, and even desalination are self-evident in Heat Core's ESG carbon-neutral visions to a better climate.
HEATCORE INC is a services provider and operator of Integrated Energy and Hashing System (IEHS). By integrating electrical energy, thermal energy and computing hashrate, its system effectively improves energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. Heat Core is MicroBT's Strategic Partner. MicroBT focuses on R&D, production, and sales of integrated circuit chips and ancillary products, providing corresponding system solutions and technical services.
For more details feel free to [email protected].
SOURCE:HEATCORE INC
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/722354/Heat-Core-Inaugurate-First-Heat-Recovery-Pilot-in-USA || 7 Short-Squeeze Stocks That Could Take Off in October 2022: Last year, the phenomenon of retail investors bidding up short-squeeze stocks or securities that featured intense bearish sentiment caught like wildfire. This year, circumstances changed dramatically. With the Federal Reserve set to raise the benchmark interest rate until inflation normalizes, the framework for highly risky ventures diminished. Still, short-squeeze stocks represent powerful forces in the equities market. Theoretically, no upside limit exists for publicly traded securities. Therefore, taking a short position against a company could backfire infinitely, so to speak. To prevent such catastrophic loss, bears caught on the wrong side of market sentiment will seek to cover their trades. Naturally, doing so creates even more bullish pressure, benefiting long-side contrarians. For this list of short-squeeze stocks, I specifically targeted companies listed in Fintel s Short-Squeeze Leaderboard . They all feature a high short percentage of float and a high short ratio or days to cover. In other words, its better to target securities where bears face both volume and time pressure. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Nevertheless, even with the best precautions, short-squeeze stocks are risky. Therefore, only participate with money you can afford to lose. DDS Dillards $288.41 BLNK Blink Charging $18.17 TTCF Tattooed Chef $5.33 CWH Camping World $25.74 WEBR Weber $6.22 RILY B. Riley Financial $49.26 GRPN Groupon $9.55 Dillards (DDS) A photo of the exterior of a Dillard's DDS store with the company logo above the entrance. Source: JHVEPhoto/ShutterStock.com Out of a list of 250 companies, department store giant Dillards (NYSE: DDS ) ranks as no. 81 among short-squeeze stocks. DDS features a short percentage of float of 18.2% and 12 days to cover. Typically, a short percent of float of 10% or over and days to cover of 10 or more indicate stronger-than-usual bearishness. Interestingly, Dillards commanded bullish sentiment earlier this year as it dominated competitors in the department store segment. On a year-to-date (YTD) basis through the Sept. 21 session, DDS gained almost 19%. Its closest rivals stand nowhere close to positive territory for the year. In addition, its worth pointing out that the benchmark S&P 500 index shed 21% YTD. Story continues Moving forward, the potential deflationary risk that the Feds hawkish monetary policy presents poses major risks for DDS stock. However, its also possible that certain social dynamics such as a full return to normal could boost sales. While a dangerously contrarian idea, its possible the bears could be overextending themselves, making DDS one of the short-squeeze stocks to consider. Blink Charging (BLNK) a blink charging station Source: David Tonelson/Shutterstock.com On paper and without any other (especially economic) context, Blink Charging (NASDAQ: BLNK ) shouldnt rank among the short-squeeze stocks. However, according to Fintel , BLNK comes in at no. 199. The underlying firm which specializes in providing electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure features a short percent of float of 24%. Also, its days to cover is nine. As seemingly everyone loves saying, the future of mobility is electric. In theory, this should help BLNK. Unfortunately, the problem is that EVs present an expensive profile. According to data from Kelley Blue Book earlier this year, a new EV averages nearly $63,000 . With the median U.S. household income not far removed from this figure, not many folks can afford EVs right now. Still, looking to the future, dynamics such as economies of scale and improved efficiencies may lower EV price tags. If so, charging will be a necessity. Not every occupied housing unit features a garage or carport , facilitating a large addressable market for Blink Charging. Therefore, BLNK could be an intriguing name among short-squeeze stocks. However, much caution is needed. Tattooed Chef (TTCF) Information about a Tattooed Chef acai bowl is shown on a phone. Source: Spyro the Dragon / Shutterstock.com Specializing in the development and distribution of convenient plant-based food products, Tattooed Chef (NASDAQ: TTCF ) should resonate with the younger crowd. Unfortunately for embattled stakeholders, TTCF currently only resonates with bearish traders looking for a quick buck. According to Fintel , Tattooed Chef ranks no. 201 among short-squeeze stocks. TTCF features a short percent of float of 27.4% and 15 days to cover. This dynamic leaves little space for bears to run or jump should the negative trade go awry. Of course, for a short squeeze to materialize, Tattooed Chef must attract enough long-side traders to blow up the bears. Fundamentally, younger demographics such as millennials and Generation Z broadly care about sustainability issues. Research demonstrates that these age cohorts embrace plant-based meat products . Still, TTCF presents significant risks because only so much speculation-earmarked funds exist to go around. For the record, TTCF has plunged almost 65% so far this year. Camping World (CWH) Camping World (CWH) logo on a smartphone in front of an American flag background. Source: IgorGolovniov / Shutterstock.com Back during the initial onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic, Camping World (NYSE: CWH ) represented one of the contrarian long-side ideas, for obvious reasons. With a mysterious virus floating around, people who wanted to vacation and had the means to do so could travek safely via road trips. These days, CWH garners attention but for the opposite reason. Per Fintel , the recreational vehicles specialist ranks as no. 152 among short-squeeze stocks. CWH features a short percent of float of nearly 26% while also commanding 10 days to cover. Essentially, as society gradually became less fearful of Covid-19, the bullish case for Camping World diminished. Still, is that the end of this contrarian narrative? Flying in the new normal imposes myriad inconveniences such as cancelled flights and massive crowds. Therefore, CWH might make a comeback though you need to be careful with this thesis. Weber ( WEBR ) The New York Stock Exchange decorated for the public trading of Weber Inc., a manufacturer of grills. WBR stock Source: rblfmr / Shutterstock Specializing in outdoor grills and related cooking equipment, Weber (NYSE: WEBR ) fundamentally suffered disproportionately during the initial onset of Covid-19. With government bodies clamping down on social mobility, backyard gatherings didnt really fly for obvious reasons. However, in theory, the relaxing of government mandates and mitigation protocols should help WEBR. For now, the underlying security makes the rounds among short-squeeze stocks. Specifically, Fintel pegs WEBR as no. 31. The company features a short percent of float of 44.7% and 12 days to cover. Nevertheless, some contrarians may be tempted to bid up WEBR, particularly because of that massive short position. From a bigger perspective, its possible that Weber could benefit from present troubling economic factors. With the wider economy shifting between inflationary and deflationary forces, consumers could elect to avoid pricey restaurants. In so doing, the backyard BBQ could make a comeback. Still, this is one of the riskiest ideas among short-squeeze stocks so approach carefully (if at all). B. Riley Financial (RILY) a magnifying glass enlarges the B. Riley logo on a website Source: Pavel Kapysh / Shutterstock.com Following the spring doldrums of 2020, B. Riley Financial (NASDAQ: RILY ) managed to post incredible returns, aiding its investors during a wildly bullish cycle. In addition, the company managed to underwrite several initial public offerings (IPOs) during the equally wild IPO cycle of 2021. However, with the arena for new public listings apparently dying , the bears began targeting RILY. Per Fintel s data, B. Riley features a short percent of float of 17.9% and 8 days to cover. Fundamentally, its not difficult to see why many investors now have a dim view of RILY. With the Fed pivoting the economy toward a more deflationary environment, investor sentiment slipped significantly. Yet its under deflation that financial services become relevant and valuable. During inflationary periods, investors must do something with their money because their purchasing power erodes. Under deflation, purchasing power increases, meaning that any investment opportunity must be extraordinarily compelling. Since B. Riley hires some of the best market experts, it should be incredibly relevant. Still, as with other short-squeeze stocks, RILY requires a cautious hand. Groupon (GRPN) a building sports a sign bearing the Groupon (GRPN) logo Source: Ken Wolter / Shutterstock.com In an earlier paradigm when social media networks werent as robust as they are today, Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN ) managed to perform very well. However, as these networks improved, companies offering discounts to their customers lacked a need for middlemen entities. Sadly, this dynamic left GRPN reeling because of relevancy issues. As of this writing, Fintel ranks GRPN as one of the top short-squeeze stocks, no. 69 to be exact. Groupon features a short percent of float of 52.6% and nine days to cover. Inevitably, these metrics will attract at least some bold contrarians to take an opposite-side bet to blow up the bears. It could happen. However, I will urge extreme caution. Under the most optimistic of scenarios, its possible that financially hurting consumers will seek deals. Given that Groupon still features some brand cachet for its platform, it could help facilitate said deals. However, this is an extremely competitive arena so prospective market participants must exercise caution. On the date of publication, Josh Enomoto did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines . A former senior business analyst for Sony Electronics, Josh Enomoto has helped broker major contracts with Fortune Global 500 companies. Over the past several years, he has delivered unique, critical insights for the investment markets, as well as various other industries including legal, construction management, and healthcare. More From InvestorPlace Buy This $5 Stock BEFORE This Apple Project Goes Live The Best $1 Investment You Can Make Today Early Bitcoin Millionaire Reveals His Next Big Crypto Trade On Air It doesnt matter if you have $500 or $5 million. Do this now. The post 7 Short-Squeeze Stocks That Could Take Off in October 2022 appeared first on InvestorPlace . || Bitcoin Miner Argo's $27M Fundraise Falls Through; Shares Plunge: Argo Blockchain's (ARB) said a deal to raise 24 million British pounds (US$27 million) from a strategic investorhas fallen through, sending the bitcoin mining company's shares tumbling as much as 72%.
The London-based firm, which earlier this month signed a letter of intent tosell 87 million shares to the investoras it looked to ease liquidity pressures, didn't say why the agreement had been called off. It is working to secure other deals to provide working capital for the next 12 months.
"Should Argo be unsuccessful in completing any further financing, Argo would become cash flow negative in the near term and would need to curtail or cease operations," it said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.
The bitcoin mining industry is at a critical moment as it battles soaring energy prices coupled with the stagnated value of cryptocurrencies. Last week, Core Scientific (CORZ)warned investorsthat it may have to consider bankruptcy, while in September crypto mining data center Compute Northfiled for Chapter 11 bankruptcyafter it emerged that it owed $500 million to at least 200 creditors.
Argo shares fell to as low as 4.25 pence and were recently trading about 7 pence. They have lost some 92% this year.
In an attempt to secure short-term liquidity, Argo sold 3,843 Antminer S19J Pros for $5.6 million. It had previously intended to sell 3,400 miners for $7 million.
The miner did not immediately respond to CoinDesk's request for comment.
UPDATE (Oct. 31 09:15 UTC):Adds share performance to first paragraph, sale of mining equipment. || 3 Assets Kiyosaki Expects to Prosper Amid Recession Fears: A recession is knocking at the door. The rising cost of raw materials, energy and labor has catapulted inflation to highs not seen in a decade. Central banks across the world are hiking interest rates to tame inflation, hurting business prospects. In the near term, businesses will get squeezed between the high cost of materials and labor and the rising cost of capital. Going forward, rising prices of products are likely to hurt demand, thus adversely impacting revenues. With the majority of companies likely to face these adverse conditions, a recession is likely.
Robert Kiyosaki, the author of the popular titleRich Dad Poor Dad, raised a warning that stock markets are likely to see the biggest crash in world history. Major investors also seem to factor in a recession, evident from the fact that major indices like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are down more than 20% and 30%, respectively so far this year. Further crash in stock prices will wipe out more money from investors’ pockets.
Kiyosaki had previously advised that crashes are good times to make wealth by buying beaten-down stocks with strong fundamentals. However, this time Kiyosaki is not recommending stock or bond investments. Rather, he is arguing for these three assets — precious metals, Bitcoin, and food and livestock.
Precious Metals:Kiyosaki argues that the price of precious metals like gold and silver are largely unaffected by economic events. He expects gold and silver prices to rally in the upcoming years. Although Kiyosaki prefers physical holdings of precious metals, investors can add these to their portfolio by buying exchange-traded funds (ETFs) focusing on precious metals. Top-performing gold- and silver-focused ETFs includeiShares Gold Trust Micro ETFIAUM andiShares Silver TrustSLV, respectively.
iShares Gold Trust Micro ETF tracks gold price from the London Bullion Market Association and holds gold bullion. IAUM declined 9.3% till Sep 28 from December 2021-end. iShares Silver Trust is one of the leading silver ETFs and also one of the most publicly traded options to invest in silver. SLV lost 18.8% till Sep 28 from December 2021-end. However, with the rising inflation rate these precious metals may witness pent-up demand going forward, driving returns for investors in IAUM and SLV ETFs.
Bitcoin:Kiyosaki is bullish on the underlying technology of Bitcoin — blockchain— which he thinks has a bright future. Bitcoin is also the leading and largest cryptocurrency in the world. Any gain in a particular asset class is most likely to reflect in its largest constituent.
Food and Livestock:Kiyosaki notes that prices of food are going up amid shortages in supply. He advises investors to pay attention to this asset class as demand for food will always remain. He has invested in livestock as well. However, it will be difficult for a retail investor to own farmlands and carry out farming. They may look for companies focused on food processing and livestock farming to add them to their portfolio.
The Dairy Products market within the broader Food sector was ranked within the top 7% of the Zacks universe, reflecting strong prospects for the industry.Lifeway FoodsLWAY is a dairy product company that gave a positive return till Sep 28 from December 2021-end even as the S&P 500 and other major indices plunged. Demand for LWAY’s products drove 15.5% growth in revenues in the first half of 2022 compared with the year-ago period. Lifeway Foods is likely to gain from any improvements in business dynamics as expected by Kiyosaki.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportLifeway Foods, Inc. (LWAY) : Free Stock Analysis ReportiShares Silver Trust (SLV): ETF Research ReportsiShares Gold Trust Micro (IAUM): ETF Research ReportsTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research || Warner Bros Releases Ethereum-Compatible ‘Lord of the Rings’ NFTs: At least one major Hollywood studio is looking to pivot its home entertainment business from DVD collections to NFTs. Warner Bros. is releasing NFTs for its iconic 2001 film “Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring,” at web3.wb.com , the studio announced Thursday. The NFTs effectively function as an all-in-one digital experience and each include a 4K copy of the film, hours of bonus behind the scenes footage, lots of behind the scenes stills, and exclusive AR collectible assets inspired by the film. Web3 company Eluvio developed the NFTs and is hosting them, along with all the content data, via its Ethereum -compatible Content Fabric blockchain . “The core digital assets themselves, not just the token, are on the blockchain ,” Eluvio CEO and Co-founder Michelle Munson told Decrypt of the NFTs in an interview. “They're both owned and attested to and all of the streaming that you'll see with the film, with the AR objects, the interactive experience, the audio commentaries, all of that is both authorized and distributed directly from the Content Fabric blockchain,” she said. NFTs are unique blockchain tokens that signify ownership. In this case, a single “Lord of the Rings” NFT gives the holder a license to view the film footage in the same way that buying a BluRay DVD might. Ownership in the Digital Age While these NFTs aren’t promising holders any kind of commercial usage rights, each is essentially a digital-only DVD with more experiential, immersive menus and some exclusive AR assets like Gandalf’s wand, whose QR code can be scanned with a smartphone and examined in different real-world environments, like a Snapchat filter. This is the studio’s first foray into offering full-length feature films as NFTs. Instead of purchasing films off YouTube, Amazon, or Apple, customers can feel a greater sense of digital ownership through holding the NFTs in their MetaMask wallets (though Warner and Eluvio are also offering a custodied option). And users can buy the LoTR NFTs with a credit card, USDC on Solana or Ethereum, ETH, or Bitcoin —something you can’t do through your Apple TV. Story continues Actor Scott Eastwood Is Giving Away Ethereum NFTs for Charity—If You Chug a Beer Could NFTs become the preferred way for cinephiles to feel a more intimate sense of ownership in the digital age? It could also be argued that self-custody is merely symbolic here, given Eluvio and Warner’s control over the metadata and ironclad ownership of the NFT’s IP. Warner’s NFT Experiment Jessica Schell, Warner’s EVP and General Manager of Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, told Decrypt in an interview that the NFT launch is an experiment designed to see if a mass-market audience has an appetite for direct-to-consumer content with Web3 elements. “It will be easy to miss that it’s actually using Web3 or NFTs under the hood, and that is by design,” Schell said. “We think the initiative has implications as a potential new way to handle movie distribution directly to our fans.” A peek inside the "Lord of the Rings" NFT's content. Image: Warner Bros. If it’s successful, Schell said Warner may explore turning more of its titles into NFTs—and may even build out its own NFT marketplace, where users could even fractionalize their NFTs and trade specific assets from their purchases, like the AR wand filter. (Warner Bros. shared the user interface for the NFT marketplace with Decrypt. ) “We want to learn, we want to engage, we want to understand what works in this space,” Schell said of Warner’s approach to Web3. For now, the LoTR launch will only allow fans to trade their entire NFTs as a single package on Warner’s NFT marketplace. But Munson told Decrypt that fractionalization for these NFTs is definitely possible. “Each one of them can be individually tokenized as well,” Munson said, adding that it would be “very straightforward” for Eluvio to do so in the future. A Transitional Time Warner Bros. is also exploring NFTs because the home entertainment industry is constantly evolving, and studios are looking for ways to stay competitive. “We still sell physical product in retail, but that market is declining. And meanwhile, digital distribution is a much larger percentage of the market,” Schell said. “We have a long history of evolving the business models to meet consumers where they are.” But will NFTs become mainstream in Hollywood? “I think that in order for it to get to mass adoption, that it needs to be seamless,” Schell said. “There’s still a lot of perceived hurdles around engaging with the blockchain.” But the NFTs also protect Warner’s IP from piracy as well—a major and ongoing concern in the film industry. “The film, for example, as it is streamed, it is protected through DRM, and that DRM is implemented by the Eluvio Content blockchain,” Munson said, referring to digital rights management . Why ‘Hunger Games’ Co-Producer Bryan Unkeless Is Making His Next Sci-Fi Project in Web3 “The authorization for the keys that make up the DRM is controlled through blockchain contracts, meaning that if you don’t own this NFT, you can’t stream that.” As Warner Bros. makes its latest bet on NFTs, it’s far from the first Hollywood brand to do so. Lionsgate has released NFTs for its horror franchise “Saw,” Paramount released “Star Trek” NFTs, AMC launched “ Walking Dead ” NFTs earlier this year, and Netflix has gotten some backlash for its “ Stranger Things ” NFTs, to name a few. But Schell isn’t fazed by the competition. In fact, she hopes more studios create Web3 experiences with their IP. “We’re early in the game,” she said. “I love looking at what other studios are doing and sort of welcome all of it.” || Bitcoin Clings to $19K as Traders Place Bets Ahead of Key Inflation Data: Bitcoin held steady around $19,100, moving higher after two consecutive daily losses as stock traders bid up traditional markets ahead of Thursdays expected release of key inflation data in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report. The CoinDesk Market Index rose 0.59% over the past 24 hours. At press time, bitcoin ( BTC ), the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, slipped 0.12% after coming back from the low of $18,971 earlier in the day. Ether ( ETH ) was up 0.27%, trading below $1,300. Investors remained in a wait-and-see mode following Wednesday's higher-than-expected U.S. producer price index (PPI) data, a measure of the price of goods sold by manufacturers. Despite the U.S. Federal Reserve's fight against inflation, wholesale prices rose 0.4% for September, compared with the Dow Jones estimate for a 0.2% increase. Global macro sentiment has driven correlations across assets back to extremes, according to QCP Capitals note. BTCs correlation with equities and gold is at all-time highs. By contrast, the U.S. dollars correlation with bitcoin historically an inverse relationship is at all-time lows. Stefan Rust, founder of economic data aggregator Truflation, said the markets would probably revert to a downward trend as the Federal Reserve continues its strategy of tightening monetary policy. In the past two years, crypto has been highly correlated to stocks and dependent on global fiat liquidity, so we can expect further drops or at least increased daily volatility around the release of the CPI figures tomorrow, he told CoinDesk via an email. Among altcoins, Solanas native token SOL was down 2% after Solana-based decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Mango was hit by a $100 million exploit late Tuesday evening. As of press time, Mango's MNGO token was down 33%, according to CoinMarketCap. View comments || Markets: Bitcoin dips, 30-day volatility at 2 year low; Ether falls, Dogecoin gains: Bitcoin fell, but traded back above the US$19,000 support level in Friday morning trading in Asia. Ether lost ground along with most other top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, but leading memecoin Dogecoin rose and Tron also edged higher. See related article: Twitter user prevents 200 billion BitBTC bridge exploit, highlighting major vulnerability Fast facts Bitcoin dropped 0.5% in the past 24 hours to trade at US$19,048 as of 8 a.m. in Hong Kong, while Ether fell 0.2%% to US$1,282, according to data from CoinMarketCap . Bitcoin’s price has fluctuated around US$19,000 for the better part of a month and its 30-day price volatility is at the lowest level in almost two years at 31%, according to analytics firm IntoTheBlock . Polygon posted the biggest losses on the top 10 list, after a strong run of gains in the week off the back of high adoption figures on the network for the year. The token fell 5.38% to US$0.80, but is still up 3.8% over the past seven days. Dogecoin rose 1.4% to US$0.059, while Tron added 0.7% to US$0.62. Cardano and Solana both fell 2.8%, with Cardano at US$0.34 and Solana changing hands at US$28.08. The governance token of leading play-and-earn game Axie Infinity , AXS, fell 5.8% in the past 24 hours, and 13.9% in the past seven days, to US$9.57 on reports 8% of the token’s supply, or 21.543 million coins, will be unlocked on Oct. 25. Axie Infinity launched last year to become the first major blockchain game, allowing players to earn income by playing the game. However, as user growth slowed, so did the income. U.S. equities closed lower on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%, the S&P 500 Index dropped 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite Index finished the day down 0.6%. This followed a Thursday report by financial services company Freddie Mac showing interest rate increases by the U.S. Federal Reserve this year has pumped up the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage to 6.94%, the highest since April 2002 and more than double the 3.09% last year. The Fed has raised interest rates from near zero in March this year to a range of 3% and 3.25%. It has committed to bringing inflation down to a target range of 2% from its current pace of 8.2%. The Fed is expected to raise interest rates by a further 75 basis points at its next general meeting in November. See related article: Crypto becomes approved financial product in South Africa
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: down || Prices: 20159.50, 20209.99, 21147.23, 21282.69, 20926.49, 20602.82, 18541.27, 15880.78, 17586.77, 17034.29
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2020-08-24]
BTC Price: 11774.60, BTC RSI: 57.53
Gold Price: 1927.70, Gold RSI: 49.59
Oil Price: 42.62, Oil RSI: 58.00
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin.com Wallet Launches Cred's 1-Touch "Earn" Button: Deep technical integration enables 11 million Bitcoin.com wallets easy access to crypto earning
SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 21, 2020 /Bitcoin.com, a global blockchain leader with over 11 million Bitcoin wallets, andCred, a global blockchain-enabled financial services platform serving clients in 190 countries, today announced a major milestone in their ongoing strategic partnership. The latest Bitcoin.com wallet now features an in-app earning experience enabling millions of users to pledge digital assets and receive interest, powered by Cred. The Bitcoin.com wallet is a non-custodial crypto wallet featuring a variety of supported assets and resources for crypto newcomers and enthusiasts alike. The integration allows Bitcoin.com wallet users to easily interact with the CredEarn platform without ever leaving the Bitcoin.com wallet application.
The furthering of Cred's partnership with Bitcoin.com comes at an exciting time when crypto is gaining traction amongst mainstream consumers. TheU.S. Comptroller of the Currency, the federal group responsible for the banking system's security, recently statedbanks are now allowed to hold cryptocurrencies.
"We are always looking for new and innovative ways to provide value to the blockchain community," said Dan Schatt, CEO and Co-Founder of Cred. "Bitcoin.com is a leader in the industry, and we're excited to make it as simple as possible to earn and borrow with your crypto."
Bitcoin.com users will experience the newly re-designed CredEarn dashboard across desktop and mobile devices. Additional features of the partnership allow users immediate access to daily compound interest and interest payouts in the cryptocurrency or stablecoin of their choice. A customer can pledge one asset, but choose to receive interest payments in another asset, enabling a fee-free ability for customers to diversify their cryptocurrency portfolio.
"Cred continues to be a frontrunner amongst lending and borrowing platforms. Their dedication to solving financial problems is why we are proud to strengthen our partnership," saidCorbin Fraser, the Head of Product at Bitcoin.com. "At Bitcoin.com, we strive to offer our customers with the top-tier blockchain services. Through Cred, our customers will continue benefiting from earning interest on their crypto via a secure and licensed financial services platform."
You can download the Bitcoin.com Wallet on theApp Storeor get it onGoogle Play.
About Cred
Cred is a licensed lender headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, supporting over a dozen partners with its industry-leading crypto-backed lending and borrowing platform. Founded byPayPalveterans, Cred powers the financial services offerings for some of the most well-known blockchain organizations globally, including theLitecoin FoundationandUphold. For more information, visitwww.mycred.io.
About Bitcoin.com
The premier source for all things Bitcoin-related, Bitcoin.com, makes both Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin more accessible. Slated as the fastest Bitcoin wallet ever created, Bitcoin.com fosters a community where users read the latest news or engage with the community on the Bitcoin Forum. Bitcoin.com provides helpful tools and real-time market price and chart information, as well as Bitcoin mining and Bitcoin events information. For more information, visitwww.Bitcoin.com.
CONTACT:
Dan [email protected]+972-545-464-238
SOURCE:Cred
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/602657/Bitcoincom-Wallet-Launches-Creds-1-Touch-Earn-Button || Crypto Long & Short: What Trends in Volatility Could Mean for Bitcoin: By this stage, pretty much everyone knows thatbitcoin’svolatility is well above that of equity markets. This is still true, even after the ructions of March.
What is less well-known is the balance of power when it comes to volatility is shifting. Market data indicates bitcoin markets are becoming less volatile, and equity markets more so. This seems to be unrelated to the crash in markets earlier this year.
You’re readingCrypto Long & Short, a newsletter that looks closely at the forces driving cryptocurrency markets. Authored by CoinDesk’s head of research, Noelle Acheson, it goes out every Sunday and offers a recap of the week – with insights and analysis – from a professional investor’s point of view.You can subscribe here.
Related:Market Wrap: Bitcoin Traders Expect Big Move as Volatility Plummets
Of course, it’s possible this trend turns again. On the other hand, it could point to a broadening interest in bitcoin as an investment asset, as well as a new role for the cryptocurrency in portfolios.
Let’s look at the details.
First, bitcoin’s volatility is currently below its 2019 average. Not so for the equity markets.
(Note: We calculate volatility by annualizing 30-day standard deviations. This smooths variations while still reflecting short-term trends and, as of mid-April, removes the effects of the March crash.)
Related:Bitcoin Facing Greater Price Volatility Than Ether in Q3, Options Market Data Suggests
Over the past month, BTC volatility has continued trending down, while S&P volatility has levelled off.
This could be a short-term anomaly. Or it could mean the “standard” expected S&P 500 volatility is now at higher levels than before, while bitcoin’s is lower.
The VIX index, which measures expected S&P 500 volatility using options prices, is currently almost three times higher than at the beginning of the year.
Second, this shift is supported by activity in traditional market volatility instruments. Earlier this month, theWall Street Journal reportedon data from Cboe Global Markets data that showed more than a trillion dollars’ worth of derivatives tied to the VIX has traded this year, more than four times the figure a decade ago. It also cited figures from industry tracker Hedge Fund Research that points to a record $19.4 billion of assets in hedge funds that trade volatility.
And earlier this week, the iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures exchange-traded notes (VXX) – the largest volatility ETN by far – had itssecond-largest daily inflowever.
When Fidelity Digital Assetsreleased its surveyearlier this month, in which institutional investors were asked about the barriers to investment in crypto assets, volatility was top of the list.
With the narrowing of the differential, that barrier could disappear or at least significantly diminish. It’s not just that bitcoin’s volatility seems to be trending down – if volatility overall is more acceptable, bitcoin’s swings could be seen as less of a negative.
Indeed, many of today’s crypto investors see the heightened volatility as an advantage. Where else are you going to get high potential returns?
What’s more, the strong growth in crypto derivatives gives professional investors more tools with which to hedge the volatility. The breadth of instruments available to crypto investors of all types is steadily widening, and the volume of open interest in bitcoin options heading into Friday’s expiry was more than six times its level at the beginning of the year.
In crypto as in traditional markets, options are not just used for hedging, they are also used to trade volatility, a further sign of the growing interest in the strategy.
Stepping back, it is curious something that used to be a performance metric is now an investment philosophy. Volatility has moved from the realm of statistics to the realm of strategy.
But now there’s an even bigger shift under way.
Volatility has traditionally been equated with risk. This makes sense – the greater the swings, the greater the chance you lose a lot.
But volatility is not the same as risk, it’s a historical performance metric. True, expected volatility derived from options pricing looks forward, but that measurement is based on data points that don’t claim to actuallyknowwhat future volatility will be, let alone future risk. Especially in these uncertain times, where bad news lurks around every corner and capital flows can swell across oceans in nanoseconds, we may know what the volatility was yesterday and what is expected tomorrow, but we do not know what the actual risk is.
The more we attempt to quantify risk and to harness it for portfolio improvement, the more we lose touch with what it really means. And the more we actively seek it, the more it could spread throughout the system, introducing a systemic weakness that could hurt many.
The cryptocurrency world has long embraced risk. Ferocious creativity and the potential for staggering loss have been part of the DNA of the industry since the beginning. In other words, long-term crypto investors are used to this, and anyone who comes into the sector hopefully does so with his or her eyes open.
In regulated traditional markets, however, volatility is still a relatively misunderstood phenomenon, especially in these untethered markets. It may be creeping into the general vocabulary, and may even become a more entrenched aspect of portfolio construction. But most of those handling it do not have the experience of more-seasoned traders.
Yet, volatility is not a bad thing. In this low-yield environment, it can produce necessary returns unavailable in low-volatility alternatives. Managed with skill, it can provide the outperformance many fund managers need. And with the right tools, it can form a part of even conservative investment strategies.
This could influence the role crypto assets have in broad portfolios. One of the prevailing narratives of recent times has been bitcoin’s role as a hedge against market risk. If things go badly in the economy and the stock market, the reasoning goes, bitcoin will benefit from being seen as an alternative to a wobbly fiat system.
Yet, so far this year we have seen that narrative falter when faced with general turmoil and uncertainty.
Perhaps a new narrative is emerging. Bitcoin is volatile, yes, but so are a lot of other more mainstream investments that populate even conservative portfolios. And the volatility differential seems to be narrowing; this might continue. If so, bitcoin could become less a market hedge and more a volatility diversifier. As more investors embrace volatility, they will hopefully do so with a variety of tools.
You’ll have heard the saying: “They can pull the carpet out from under your feet, or you can learn to dance on a moving carpet.”
The relentless and alarming climb in the number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and elsewhere seems to have spooked the markets a bit this week … but just a bit. The threat of walking back the tentative reopening enjoyed in some areas is denting confidence in the consumption recovery that the market was bewilderingly assuming was just around the corner. On the other hand, there’s a lot of fresh money apparently waiting in the wings, and it has to go somewhere.
As we’re pulling out our alphabets to get a handle on what’s ahead, what do you think: a V, a W,a swooshor a flipped square root sign? I personally favor the ampersand. It feels less linear.
True to recent form, bitcoin acted like a risk-on asset this week, reflecting broader market skittishness by almost twice breaking its monthly lows. Meanwhile, correlation with the S&P 500 is, well, not exactly stable.
As the chess pieces move around the board of financial regulation and prosecution,various possible scenarios are playing out.One is especially intriguing: If currentchairman of the SEC, Jay Clayton, is confirmed to become the new U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, President Trump will likely appoint one of the remaining SEC commissioners as acting chair until Clayton’s successor is confirmed. This could well be Hester Peirce, known for her pro-innovation stance on crypto oversight and for her public dissent on the dismissal of a recent bitcoin exchange-traded fund proposal.TAKEAWAY:This is all in the realm of speculation, but it could end up being a significant turning point in crypto regulation.
TheEuropean Unionis preparing a new regulatory regimethat could include stricter requirements for crypto assets, including stablecoins.TAKEAWAY:Greater regulation is resisted by many in the crypto industry as it can stifle innovation. Most investors would welcome it, however, as it brings greater clarity and acceptance. And, let’s face it, it’s inevitable as cryptocurrencies grow in popularity. The increased attention from the regulators of one of the world’s principal economic blocs is a strong sign that crypto assets are being taken seriously at the highest levels.
TheNew York Department of Financial Services(NYDFS) will considerissuing conditional licensesunder which startups would be allowed to partner with existing licensed entities to begin operations in the Empire State, and it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the State University of New York allowing fledgling prospective licensees to experiment with use cases under the school’s supervision.TAKEAWAY:This is a significant change for the BitLicense regime, long criticized for being too onerous and restrictive. More importantly, this shift could usher in a new season of innovative crypto services in one of the world’s largest financial centers.
Commodity markets veteran Chris Hehmeyer, CEO ofHehmeyer Trading + Investments,is rebranding his firmto reflect its growing involvement in the crypto markets.TAKEAWAY:This is significant: Hehmeyer Trading has been a fixture of the commodities trading scene since 2007, and the pivot of such a legacy name into crypto markets sends a signal to other traders that this is where the “new” markets are. Hehmeyer has been trading crypto assets for a couple of years now, and hasspoken publiclyabout them on several occasions, but this marks a deeper commitment to the evolution of the industry.
According to sources,PayPalplans to roll out cryptocurrency buying and sellingto its 325 million users, possibly within the next three months.TAKEAWAY:The numbers alone point to how big the impact could be. PayPal’s user base is almost as large as the entire population of the United States. What is even more intriguing are the possible reasons for PayPal’s strategy shift. Could it be the significant revenue competitor Square is earning on its crypto platform?
LibertyXplans toenable cash purchasesof bitcoin at 20,000 locations, including at 7-Eleven, CVS and Rite Aid stores. AndAustralianscan now purchase bitcoinat post offices.TAKEAWAY:This significant jump in the number of onramps does not necessarily mean that retail investors will start buying bitcoin in droves; it does, however, make it a lot easier for those that want to try it out with small amounts. Going even further, just seeing the purchase points at highly frequented and trusted retail sites is likely to entrench the public’s awareness of bitcoin, and acceptance of its legitimacy.
Cryptocurrency exchangeBitstampshared some chartsframing bitcoin’s role as a store of value.TAKEAWAY:Is bitcoin a store of value? There’s data for and there’s data against. The most compelling data against is bitcoin’s lack of correlation with gold. Is that the right metric to look at?
Coin Metricslooked into whether Coinbase’s announcements ofpossiblelistings has animpact on the asset prices.The outcome? Less than you would expect.TAKEAWAY:I havequestioned this practicebefore. Surely an announcement of apotentiallisting, something thatmightincrease liquidity of an asset (and therefore, in theory, its value), can be construed as price manipulation? Coin Metrics showed the price movements after announcements of potential listings is largely influenced by the market mood at the time.
Kaikotook a close lookat bitcoin options market metrics, concluding that the options market has recently showed clear signs of maturity in terms of costs and trading behavior.TAKEAWAY:The recent growth in open interest and trading volumes in bitcoin options has attracted attention from market participants, who see it as a symptom of greater crypto market maturity overall. It is also a sign of deeper professional involvement, as heavy options volumes are a sign of deep pockets and high stakes. Also, more options products are coming to market, which should continue to enhance investor demand as the array of potential use cases and configurations broadens.
Thenet flow of bitcoinsinto miner addressesdropped on Tuesdayinto sharply negative territory, according to crypto data source Glassnode, reaching the lowest level since June 2019. Another metric shows that nearly all of the net outflow was to exchanges, which some are interpreting a bearish signal, given the accumulating sell pressure.TAKEAWAY:On the other hand, miners usually only sell when they believe the market can handle the orders. Furthermore, miners traditionally use OTC traders to move large blocks, so there may be something else going on here. And, as the chart shows, strong net outflows don’t always presage price dips. But, given that volumes are relatively low compared to previous weeks, this is worth keeping an eye on.
Barça Fan Tokens,listed as $BAR, went on sale on Monday, andreached its cap of $1.3 millionwithin two hours.TAKEAWAY:This is more significant than it may seem. I’vewritten beforeabout how soccer club tokens can be a gateway into asset innovation for a mainstream audience – this news shows that where there is genuine interest, the underlying technology will not be a barrier. I doubt very much that the buyers were mainly crypto enthusiasts.
Also worth reading:
• Where the NY Fed ‘Bitcoin Is Not New’ Blog Goes Wrong– Nic Carter, CoinDesk
• Why CoinDesk Respects Pseudonymity: A Stand Against Doxxing– Marc Hochstein, CoinDesk
• The Future of Inflation Is the Biggest Question in Finance– John Ainger, Bloomberg
• Is our money about to spout memories?– Claire Long and Izabella Kaminska, FT Alphaville
Podcast episodes worth listening to:
• Bull vs. Bear: Who Has the Economy Right?– Nathaniel Whittemore, The Breakdown
• How Monopolies Sow the Seeds of Their Own Destruction, Feat. Tuur Demeester– Nathaniel Whittemore, The Breakdown
• The Bank for International Settlements tackles Central Bank Digital Currencies– Chris Brummer, Fintech Beat
• Anatoly, Maya and Ryan: Experts Discuss The Parallels Between Crypto and Wireless Networks– Tom Shaughnessy, Chain Reaction
• Crypto Long & Short: What Trends in Volatility Could Mean for Bitcoin
• Crypto Long & Short: What Trends in Volatility Could Mean for Bitcoin || Forex Technical Analysis & Forecast for July 6, 2020: EUR/USDis moving upwards. Possibly, the pair may reach 1.1290 and then start a new correction towards 1.1262. After that, the instrument may form one more ascending structure with the target at 1.1305 and then start another correction to return to 1.1262.
GBP/USDis trading upwards to break 1.2485 and may later continue growing towards 1.2512. Later, the market may correct to return to 1.2485 and then start another growth to reach 1.2533. After that, the instrument may resume falling inside the downtrend with the target at 1.2424.
After completing another ascending structure towards 71.66, which may be considered as the third wave to the upside,USD/RUBis expected to correct to reach 70.00, at least. After that, the instrument may resume growing with the target at 72.12.
USD/JPYis consolidating around 107.57. Today, the pair may grow to reach 107.81 and then start a new decline to return to 107.57. If later the price breaks this range to the upside the market may form one more ascending structure with the target at 108.01 or even 108.22.
USD/CHFis moving close to the downside border of the range. Possibly, today the pair may form another ascending wave towards 0.9450. After that, the instrument may fall to break 0.9430 and then continue trading downwards with the target at 0.9387.
AUD/USDis moving upwards; it has already broken 0.6945 to the upside. Possibly, the pair may test this level from above and then form another ascending structure with the target at 0.6988 or even 0.7000.
Brentis trading upwards and may reach 43.80. Later, the market may correct to reach 42.44 and then start another growth towards 45.20 to complete this ascending wave. After that, the instrument may start another correction with the first target at 41.50.
Goldis still consolidating around 1777.00. Today, the pair may test 1768.15 from above and then resume trading upwards with the short-term target at 1786.00 or even 1798.00.
After finishing the descending impulse at 8900.00,BTC/USDis still consolidating and growing towards 9100.00. If later the price breaks this range to the upside, the market may form one more ascending structure with the target at 9550.00; if to the downside at 0.9490 – resume trading inside the downtrend to reach 8700.00.
TheIndexis moving upwards. Possibly, the asset may reach 3200.4 and then correct towards 3119.0. After that, the instrument may resume trading upwards with the short-term target at 3240.3.
For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out oureconomic calendar.
By Dmitriy Gurkovskiy, Chief Analyst atRoboForex
Disclaimer
Any predictions contained herein are based on the author’s particular opinion. This analysis shall not be treated as trading advice. RoboForex shall not be held liable for the results of the trades arising from relying upon trading recommendations and reviews contained herein.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Price of Gold Fundamental Weekly Forecast -Economic Recovery Reversal Needed to Sustain Rally
• China Blue Chip Index Hits 5-year High; Australian Shares Tumble as Borders Close
• Gold Price Futures (GC) Technical Analysis – Strengthens Over $1787.00, Weakens Under $1780.90
• All Change for Commerzbank and Lloyds CEO’s, Rolls Rebounds after Friday Plunge
• GBP/CAD Possible Drop Off the W H3 || Money Reimagined: COVID-19’s Crash Course in Exponential Math: If there’s one thing we can thank the coronavirus pandemic for, it’s a math lesson. Watching an infection lead to two, then four, then eight, then 16, then 32, then 64, then 128 and so on, people found a real-world reason to comprehend the phenomenon of exponentiality. Without such context, it has been historically hard for our linear-minded brains to appreciate how rapidly network-driven growth happens. It’s a failing we’ve had for centuries. (See: the legend of the emperor who had to hand over all the rice in the land to the inventor of chess.) You’re reading Money Reimagined , a weekly look at the technological, economic and social events and trends that are redefining our relationship with money and transforming the global financial system. You can subscribe to this and all of CoinDesk’s newsletters here . Related: First Mover: Twelve-Fold Gains for Aave's LEND Token Might Be More Than DeFi Hype Why bring this up in a newsletter about the changing world of money? Because the successful emergence of any new currency, which by definition implies mass adoption, depends on similar moments of exponentiality. Money requires a network effect, helped by the self-reinforcing idea that “everyone’s using it because everyone’s using it.” As we’ve seen in the internet age of network economics, the “hockey stick growth” enjoyed by successful social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter occurs when interconnections between users – nodes in the network – reach a critical mass. That’s when the Metcalfe’s Law -fueled network effect of all those interconnections enters an exponential phase. It’s no coincidence we describe these spectacular growth stories as “viral.” Continuing with that analogy, we could say these moments arise when a network’s “ R0” – the infection reproduction rate that epidemiologists have closely watched during the COVID-19 – exceeds one. Incentives for penguins Related: So, what makes a currency’s “R0” get above 1.0? It’s not easy from scratch, partly because of a countervailing barrier to expansion that economists call the “ penguin problem ”: people’s reluctance to join something until other people do so. For centuries, particularly throughout the 20th century, the solution to mass currency adoption was clear: wielding the power of the state. National governments essentially mandated a network effect for their sovereign currencies, primarily by requiring taxes be paid in them and by declaring them legal tender. Story continues Sure, every now and then a government would lose the confidence of its people and its currency would collapse. (We can think of these hyperinflation crises as exponential events in reverse, as groups of people accelerate their exit from the currency for something of more lasting value.) But in such cases the citizenry has hitherto almost always fled to another government’s currency, mostly to the U.S. dollar. Money and the sovereign have long been inseparable. As readers of this newsletter know, a growing number of us see real challenges to this system on the horizon. Sure, the dollar is king during the pandemic, but that unbalanced global dependence, ironically, exposes the system’s weakness. Economic and geopolitical stress, combined with the opportunities posed by new digital currency and blockchain technologies, are creating the conditions for alternatives to challenge the global monetary system’s dollar-centric sovereign structure. Author David Birch calls it the coming “ currency cold war .” The combatants in this war still include governments (China is offering the Digital Currency Electronic Payments, or DCEP, system), but also corporations (Facebook and its partners in Libra) and decentralized communities such as Bitcoin’s. We can analyze each one’s prospects for “R0>1.0” viral network effects as a way to define this war’s battle lines. To varying degrees, the different currency issuers and/or advocates must think not about how the state can or cannot compel adoption but how to best incentivize people to use their currency of their own free will. They must also think about how to overcome whatever disincentives currently exist against adoption – how to get around the penguin problem. Ready-made network effects It helps to start with a pre-existing network effect, whether that comes from government compulsion or some other factor. For example, China’s international aspirations for the DCEP are built on the analog, non-digital renminbi, which is already used by more than a billion people. In a different way, Libra enjoys pre-existing network advantages as Facebook brings its user base of more than 2.6 billion people to the table. Still, a pre-existing network for one form of crowd behavior does not assure the viability of another type of behavior. If China is to meet its international currency adoption ambitions, it must entice foreign businesses and individuals to the DCEP. They’re not like Chinese nationals: they can freely choose not to use the People’s Bank of China’s currency. To win them over, Beijing will tout the new digital currency’s high-tech, programmable benefits, including new efficiencies in supply chain management and other business processes. It faces a big challenge convincing outsiders to ignore a strong disincentive: fear of surveillance of their transactions, especially in the wake of China’s crackdown in Hong Kong. For Libra, too, global connections on social media are no guarantee it will hit that exponential moment. Regulators are putting constraints on Libra. And, as with China, users have deep concerns about surveillance, given Facebook’s record of exploiting personal data. While it’s the independent Libra Association, not Facebook, that governs the digital currency, it remains unclear whether that structure is sufficient to assure the public’s trust. And trust is a prerequisite for a currency’s success. The alternative What, then, of bitcoin and other more decentralized competitors in the currency cold war? What incentives and disincentives give cryptocurrencies a shot at viral expansion? On the negative side, the same old disincentives to adoption persist: a lack of education, mistrust and price volatility. To offset that, cryptocurrency advocates typically point to value propositions that digital currencies such as the DCEP or Libra don’t have, including protection from the surveilling, controlling eyes of a centralized, controlling organization. Such arguments have had mixed success. In price terms, bitcoin has gained 11 million-fold in the 10 years since the founding of Mt. Gox, the first viable trading site. But even with an estimated 50 million bitcoin wallets now open worldwide, cryptocurrency is still far from a mainstream industry. How best to incentivize true, world-changing viral adoption, then? Should crypto platforms offer bootstrapping dividends, such as those that newcomer Compound pays in “ yield farming ” opportunities, dedicating some of the supply of COMP, the platform’s governance token, to reward users who engage in borrowing and lending activity? Are airdrops the way to go? Or should the crypto community just lay low and keep waiting for the centralized system’s meltdown to demonstrate cryptocurrency’s advantages by default? Ultimately, crypto’s success depends on its utility, whether as a tool for building decentralized financial services, or as a store of scarce digital value in times of uncertainty. Demonstrate utility and the world will come. The credit hierarchy If digital entrepreneurs in the crypto community or elsewhere are to build a new payment architecture, they must first see what the existing landscape looks like. For the U.S. picture, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s nationwide annual survey of consumer payments habits is a useful starting point. In providing a snapshot of how Americans pay for things, the report indirectly shows how our financial system defines a social hierarchy – from an “unbanked” underclass, to the “underbanked” working and middle class, to the credit-rich upper-middle and upper class. One problem with the Atlanta Fed’s survey, especially with this year’s recently released report , is that it comes out six months after the end of the survey year. The latest results capture nothing of the impact from COVID-19, which would have significantly reduced cash usage due to people’s concerns about banknote-transmitted disease and have increased online payments among the now working-from-home U.S. population. Nonetheless, the report reveals interesting long-term trends in different payment methods: The past two years’ drop in cash usage, which now accounts for a lesser share of payments than credit cards, is important. The slide in checks usage is not surprising – along with the countervailing increase in bank account routing number payments (BANP) – but the very fact they’re used at all is noteworthy, given that consumer check payments have gone the way of the dinosaurs elsewhere. What’s most telling, I think, is the split among card payments, which have replaced cash: debit cards continue their dominance over credit cards and prepaid cards are picking up modest gains. This tells me that while a minority of Americans, including undocumented immigrants, remain unbanked and therefore dependent on cash or prepaid cards, a large number are underbanked. It suggests it is hard for people to maintain credit scores that would otherwise let them live their lives on a credit card. Debit cards are a second-class way to pay for things. (Think of the deposit, sometimes as high as $1,000, that car rental companies require if you commit to pay with a debit instead of a credit card.) They provide the convenience of not having to carry cash around, but that’s all. Debit cards do not give their holders the lifestyle flexibility afforded to credit card holders, who can leverage the implicit backing of a financial institution that’s willing to make payments on their behalf. It speaks to how exclusion from, first, banking and, second, credit lines, imposes a burdensome “tax” on lower-income people and contributes to the United States’ ever-widening wealth disparity. I hate to say it, but Bitcoin alone does NOT fix this. We must also lower barriers to credit, which means lowering the repayment risks that lenders perceive in servicing low- and middle-income people. Does DeFi fix that? Too early to say. Global Town Hall OPEN-SOURCE CBDC. The Digital Dollar Project of former Commodity Futures and Trading Commission Chairman Chris Giancarlo got a solid endorsement from Karen Petrou , one of the most trusted analysts of federal finance policy. In her “Economic Equality” blog , a must-read chronicle of how finance impacts the kind of disparities described in the prior item, she first skewers the more centralized version of a central bank digital currency – the kind contained in China’s DCEP. She worries about financial inclusion. Whereas CBDC advocates tout the model as a way to “bank the unbanked,” Petrou argues it will hurt the poor. She offers two reasons: 1) The “ digital divide ” means the poor don’t have access to the online tools they’ll need, and 2) the centralized surveillance of transactions will be used in a discriminatory way against low-income users. She also worries the transfer of bank deposits to Federal Reserve-based CBDC accounts would undermine the autonomy of banks to offer credit, creating incentives for the politicization of the central bank as an arbiter of lending in the economy. The solution, she says, is an “open-source CBDC,” a more decentralized model in which banks and, potentially, tech companies would be approved to create reserve-backed tokens that track the value of the actual currency. In doing so, she explicitly cited Giancarlo’s June congressional testimony about the Digital Dollar Project’s tokenized model. DEPPOR. The world of banking and credit depends on the core concept of benchmark interest rates. Without a benchmark against which to price rates and devise a proxy for measuring risk, it’s difficult for lenders to put a price on how much to charge borrowers. One of the world’s most important benchmarks is Libor, the London Interbank Overnight Rate, which measures the daily rates at which banks holding short-term surplus cash lend it to others with short-term shortages. The thing is, Libor is deeply broken. Corruption among Libor traders, who were found to have colluded to set the rate to their advantage in a major 2014 scandal , is a known risk. But little has been done to resolve a core problem the crypto community understands well: a centralized architecture that requires users to trust these entities. It’s one reason supporters of the American Financial Exchange’s new Ameribor project, which uses a permissioned version of Ethereum as an audit trail for banks’ submissions to the rate-setting process, were excited about a quasi-endorsement from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell . But while that’s an innovative model and may boost trust in the system, it still leaves banks in the middle of the process. So, it’s worth asking what a more decentralized finance model for rate benchmarking would look like. And on that, I was struck by a recent column by CoinShares Chief Strategy Officer Meltem Demirors , who took a DeFi lens to the rates industry. Looking at the business of yield farming, where people find interesting ways to leverage their idle crypto holdings by lending them out, Demirors exposed some parallels with the interbank lending market, where banks essentially use their surplus holdings of either cash or securities to extract value from other banks that need to borrow them for short-term needs. In a similar way, benchmark rates emerge from this short-term borrowing and lending process, though in this case across multiple assets. The really big difference is that you don’t need to be a bank to participate in a DeFi rate-setting market. DeFi has its own manipulation problems, of course, not least because of the risk that bigger crypto “whales” – the equivalent of the big Libor banks – can use their excessive holdings of the DeFi governance tokens such as COMP and MKR to skew rates in their favor. Maybe we need regulators to get involved, but a DeFi rate-setting model is certainly something to chew on. We just need an acronym to get started. How about DEEPOR – the Decentralized Peer-to-Peer Overnight Rate? DOGE DEUX. Very wow. Obviously, they were made for each other: Dogecoin and TikTok. The incredible 1900% runup in the price of dogecoin this past week, all driven by a viral meme on the video-sharing app challenging people to get the previously dormant cryptocurrency’s price to $1, was reminiscent of dogecoin’s first hype-driven entry into public consciousness. In 2014, a vibrant community of meme and crypto enthusiasts successfully raised 67.8 million dogecoins (around $55,000 at the time) to sponsor ex-NASCAR driver Josh Wise’s car. That stunt and others helped drive the value of the coin, created for a lark by developer Jackson Palmer, to what was once sixth position in crypto market cap rankings. That’s why the return this week of another meme-infused dogecoin rally seemed so relevant. Naturally, the price surge provoked hand-wringing about irrational investors and scammers creating bubbles. But somehow this whole thing goes beyond that. It has the feel of a collective art project. There’s no pretense about dogecoin actually being worth anything. It’s all about a community effort to make something happen. Now, those who started the mania will make out like bandits if they dump the coin at the top. But if everyone is on the game, are they actually bandits? We live in strange times. Nathaniel Whittemore’s take on this – “ Why TikTok Doge Is Everything About 2020 Finance in One Story ” – for his CoinDesk Podcast Network show, The Breakdown, was excellent, by the way. DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO. Nikhilesh De’s piece on all the crypto companies that received COVID-19 relief loans under the U.S. government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for small business prompted some tut-tutting on Crypto Twitter. All these entities promoting non-government money, now panhandling from Uncle Sam. How dare they! It’s a simplistic argument. If a loan program comes along that contains generous forgiveness terms for maintaining payrolls during an economic crisis, you could argue it would be unfair to your staff not to take up the offer. Also, many in the crypto business community long ago conceded to the reality of government power – just look at how many obtained money transmitter licenses and now proudly tout how compliant they are with anti-money laundering and know-your-customer rules. Surely in the midst of a serious economic crisis, they’re now entitled to get some help in return. But I feel a little differently about PPP loans going to more mainstream conservative entities whose sole reason for being is to lobby against government largesse – organizations like the Ayn Rand Institute or outspoken fiscal hawk Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform. In a tweet, CNBC’s Kayla Tausche pointed out that Norquist’s outfit, immediately after receiving $350,000 in fiscal relief, put its signature to a letter declaring that government spending “is inhibiting the fast recovery we want in jobs and incomes, not stimulating it.” Okaaaaaay. The CoinDesk 20: The Assets That Matter Most to the Market Digital assets aren’t what they used to be. As more people learn the fundamentals and grasp the potential for high returns, cryptocurrencies are emerging as a new asset category. Introducing the CoinDesk 20 , our list of the 20 digital assets that impact and define the market. From our new dashboard , uncover insights through price pages, key metrics, news and industry analysis, as well as video interviews with founders and key developers of the underlying technology. Dive into our freshly revamped practical guide to the assets that matter most to the market. Relevant Reads What Is Yield Farming? The Rocket Fuel of DeFi, Explained . Finally, the explainer you’ve been hankering for. Brady Dale lays out what this crazy new DeFi world of yield farming is all about. Brazil’s Ailing Economy Is Helping Dollar-Pegged Stablecoins Find Traction . The COVID-19 crisis has starved developing nations of dollars, undermined their cash-dependent payment systems and put enormous pressure on local currencies. It’s a perfect storm for stablecoins in emerging markets. Now, as Leigh Cuen reports, the trend is catching on in the developing nation that has perhaps been the hardest hit by the pandemic. London Stock Exchange Parent Assigns Financial ‘Bar Codes’ to 169 Cryptos . Another day, another small step toward institutional investment in crypto. As Sandali Handagama reports, the London Stock Exchange Group has added unique identifiers to 169 cryptocurrencies under its SEDOL system. “Naturally with the gradual institutionalisation of digital assets, a number of our clients were starting to invest in that space, so we felt it was an appropriate time to add these to SEDOL,” said LSEG’s Head of Data Solutions, James Nevin. Weed Out the Soviet-Era Ponzi Scheme Eating Ethereum . Our columnist Lex Sokolin grew up in the Soviet Union. He knows a thing or two about Russian scamsters. In this piece he makes an impassioned plea for participants in Ethereum’s newly burgeoning ecosystem to destroy a notorious Russian pyramid scheme known as MMM. Note: a reader of a past column of mine, in which I cited a Glassnode report showing how Ethereum fees now largely service smart contract applications rather than simple ether payment transfers, pointed out how that same report showed MMM to be the biggest fee-receiving ERC-20 contract. As Solokin says, a weed can’t be allowed to take over your garden. How Apple’s COVID-19 Policy Limited a Public Health App in Taiwan . The irony of Taiwan’s predicament – as a country that’s locked out of the international system by China – is that its people are forced to be innovative to survive. That’s been especially so during COVID-19, where it had an impressive track record in managing the crisis. Sadly, that same exclusionary situation means that the rest of the world often can’t tap into Taiwanese inventions. Here, as detailed by Leigh Cuen, we learn how a blockchain-based app for enhancing privacy in health data has been blocked by the Apple app store. Related Stories Money Reimagined: COVID-19’s Crash Course in Exponential Math Money Reimagined: COVID-19’s Crash Course in Exponential Math View comments || Here’s How to Expand Who Contributes to Bitcoin Core: A Bitcoin Core dev and her exchange partner discuss Bitcoin and privacy and how to incentivize more developers to contribute to the protocol.
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
This episode is sponsored byBitstampandCrypto.com.
Related:Bitcoin News Roundup for July 6, 2020
OKCoin and BitMEX recently came together to provide a $150,000 grant to Bitcoin Core developer Amiti Uttarwar.
See also:Summer 2020 Is Funding Season for Open-Source Bitcoin Development
In this conversation, Amiti and OKCoin CEO Hong Fang discuss:
• Why OKCoin believes it is essential for companies in the space to support Bitcoin Core development
• How OKCoin and BitMEX came together around this grant
• Why Amiti is focused on the P2P layer
• Why Amiti believes bitcoin should be private by default
• Why Bitcoin Core will better serve more populations if more populations are represented in who is building it
Find our guests online:
Related:What Artists Love About Crypto
Hong FangWebsite:https://www.okcoin.comTwitter:@hfangca
Amiti UttarwarTwitter:@amizi
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
• Here’s How to Expand Who Contributes to Bitcoin Core
• Here’s How to Expand Who Contributes to Bitcoin Core || Twitter Accounts of Kanye West, Apple, Jeff Bezos, Barack Obama, Elon Musk and More Hacked by Bitcoin Scammers: Click here to read the full article. UPDATED: On Wednesday evening, the Twitter Support account said that the hacking of several high-profile accounts was a “coordinated social engineering attack by people who successfully targeted some of our employees with access to internal systems and tools.” The account added that the investigation will continue, and “Internally, we’ve taken significant steps to limit access to internal systems and tools while our investigation is ongoing.” Multiple high-profile accounts on Twitter were hijacked by a coordinated group of cryptocurrency scammers Wednesday, including those of Kanye West , Apple, Barack Obama, Mike Bloomberg, Joe Biden, Uber, Jeff Bezos , Elon Musk and Bill Gates. The hackers’ tweets have since been deleted from the affected accounts. A Twitter spokesperson directed an inquiry to updates from the Twitter Support account, which posted a message at 5:45 p.m. ET saying, “We are aware of a security incident impacting accounts on Twitter. We are investigating and taking steps to fix it. We will update everyone shortly.” The Twitter Support team subsequently said , “You may be unable to tweet or reset your password while we review and address this incident.” Twitter had disabled verified accounts from tweeting temporarily. The scams involved promises that users would double their money if they sent cash in the form of Bitcoin to a specific account. The hacked tweet from Bloomberg’s personal account, for example, said, “I am giving back to the community” and asked users to send $1,000 in Bitcoin to receive $2,000 back. According to CNBC , the hackers’ message that was tweeted via Gates’ account read: “Everyone is asking me to give back, and now is the time. I am doubling all payments sent to my BTC address for the next 30 minutes. You send $1,000, I send you back $2,000.” The hacked tweet from the @Apple account was notable because it has not sent any tweets in the nearly nine years since it was created on the platform. Story continues Almost 300 people had been duped by the scam after the bogus tweets were posted, the New York Times reported . A Bitcoin account that was linked to from the hacked tweets had received more $100,000 at the current exchange rate, according to Blockchain.com , although observers have noted that scammers sometimes seed their own accounts to appear legitimate. “Tough day for us at Twitter. We all feel terrible this happened,” Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted . “We’re diagnosing and will share everything we can when we have a more complete understanding of exactly what happened.” Other Twitter accounts targeted in the coordinated attack included Kim Kardashian West, Wiz Khalifa, Warren Buffett, YouTube creator MrBeast, Wendy’s and Cash App (a mobile payment service developed Dorsey-led Square), as well as @bitcoin, @coindesk, @coinbase and @binance, TechCrunch reported . Twitter has suffered hacking attacks before, but nothing on the scope of the July 15 barrage of hijackings. In August 2019, Dorsey’s own Twitter account was compromised with the hackers tweeting racial slurs and a bomb threat before the account was secured. Twitter shares, after closing up 3.75% Wednesday, dropped more than 3% in after-hours trading in the wake of the attack. || Blame it on The Nasdaq: US data announced this week showed a significant recovery in building permits and housing, building permits (MoM) for July surged to 18.8% compared to the previous 3.5%, Housing Starts data revealed 22.6% which is 5.1% higher than the previous month, existing-home sales data were as well positive reported beyond expectations. Despite the negative Jobless claims and Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing PMI reported on August 20, Manufacturing PMI and Services PMI demonstrated a significant improvement, which led major US Indices to surge whereas S&P500 and Nasdaq100 reached the all-time high. US stocks continue hitting records, Tesla surged by 24.19% breaking the significant $2000 per share value, and is now worth more than $382 billion surpassing Walmart by nearly $10B. Nasdaq’s top company by market cap – Apple gained 8.23% hitting the $2127B in capitalization. Tesla and Apple remain the top popular shares last week based on Robinhood data. S&P500 closed above the all-time high, some might think that there is a possible double top pattern, economic recovery of the US indicates that the index may continue the run towards $3500. Nasdaq owes its gains not only to Tesla and Apple, but there are also other tech companies that surged last week and during the pandemic, such as NVIDIA , AMD , Qualcomm , Microchip Tech, Texas Instruments. An hourly chart demonstrates that the correction is most likely will happen as the price touched the dynamic resistance and the fifth wave of an ending diagonal is about to complete at 11600. Ending diagonal is a trend reversal pattern, which usually demonstrates exhaustion of bulls, note the evening star doji, though the closing is above the previous close, it still shows uncertainty and exhaustion. NDX chart by TradingView How is it related to cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin? Bitcoin and Ethereum price actions are considered as cryptocurrency market movers. Since Bitcoin is nowadays considered as the digital Gold and Ethereum as a digital Silver, their price action now is correlated to US data which effect Gold. Gold was ever since used as a safe-haven to hedge funds during the uncertain times and inflation, so is Bitcoin now. Story continues An hourly chart of Bitcoin indicates that the price could decline further to towards $11200 – $11160 to complete the Head and Shoulders pattern, another pattern to watch is an ending diagonal which is yet to be completed as well. Bitcoin remains below the major resistance level of $11700 an in order to show another bull run it must break the dynamic resistance (ending diagonals upper edge) and close above the 11700, however testing 11200 might bring another stimulus for bulls. BTCUSD price on Overbit Ethereum plummeted to $380 after reaching the year’s maximum at $446.67, loosing 9.7% this week only. Digital Silver price is following a similar ending diagonal pattern, and if the upper dynamic resistance and a static resistance of 397 is not overpassed, ETH might continue the drop towards a major support at $380, and if that support is broken, towards $370 – 369. ETHUSD price on Overbit Unlike Bitcoin, Gold lost only 0.20% in price for the week. A significant drop was on Wednesday August 19 ahead of US data announcements, where the precious metal lost 3.67% after gaining 2.97% on Monday and Tuesday. Head and shoulders pattern is identified on an hourly chart of Gold and the price might continue the drop down to $1881.60 – 1880, where if the support laid on those level withheld the price might retrace towards 2014 and if above towards 2046, where the bearish pattern will be completed. Gold price on Overbit Since Gold and Silver prices demonstrate similarities in their price action, the same Head and Shoulders is visible on an hourly chart of XAGUSD. The price is below the dynamic support of August 12 which might signal to a further decline down to $25.30. Silver price on Overbit The price continues the short-term downtrend move inside a descending channel, which in other had forms another controversial to the H&S pattern of Bullish Flag. Silver price on Overbit If bulls are able to push the price above the dynamic support and if the dynamic resistance is overtaken at $27, the bullish run might proceed towards $28 – 28.50. Key takeaways for the upcoming week would be announcements from Eurozone, Great Britain, China and the US. Important announcements to watch: Tuesday, August 25, 2020 German GDP (YoY) as per Second quarter data is expected to be -11.7%, 9.8% lower than the previous -1.9% German GDP (QoQ) as per Second quarter data is expected to be -10.1%, 7.9% lower than the previous -2.2 US CB Consumer Confidence (August) is expected to be 93, 0.4 points higher than the previous 92.6 US New Home Sales (July) is expected to be 786K, 10K higher than the previous 776K Wednesday, August 26, 2020 US Core Durable Orders is expected to be 2.1%, 1.5% lower than the previous 3.6% Thursday, August 27, 2020 US GDP (QoQ) as per 2 nd Quarter is expected to be -32.6%, 0.3% higher than the previous -32.9% US Initial Jobless Claims is expected to be 1,000K, 106K lower than the previous 1,106K US Pending Home Sales (MoM) as per July is expected to be 4.5%, 12.1% points higher than the previous 16.6% For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar . Asides from the data to be announced, there are other important events to trace. Republican National Convention, which will be held on Monday, in which delegates will determine the nominees for the upcoming presidential elections. Markets will be watching this event closely as during the current campaign Democrats are having an edge over republicans. Source: Yahoo Finance Another major event would be an annual Jackson Hole conference this Thursday, August 27, where FED Chairman Jerome Powell will speak about current economic situation, inflation targets and possibly share preliminary focus on interest rate change. The economic state and inflation in the US once again are an important constituent of the Global economy and global markets, all these events will be decisive for the mid-term price movements for the US Indices, commodities and cryptocurrencies. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Gold Prices Remain Under Pressure, as Traders await U.S Federal Reserve for Direction EUR/USD Daily Forecast – Euro Gains But Holds Within Broader Range Gold Price Forecast – Consolidation Bias is Higher Daily Gold News: August 24 – Gold Slightly Higher as Stock Markets Rally European Equities: Futures Point Northwards, with no Stats in Focus Today Bitcoin and Monero’s XMR – Weekly Technical Analysis – August 24th, 2020 || Hello Pal Announces Record Results in May and June 2020: Asian subsidiary cash-flow positive to meet ongoing obligations
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 24, 2020) -Hello Pal International Inc.(CSE: HP) (FSE: 27H) (OTC Pink: HLLPF) ("Hello Pal" or the "Company"), a provider of rapidly growing international live-streaming, social messaging and language learning mobile apps, is pleased to announce that it achieved record receipts in May and June 2020 as set forth below:
Financial Performance
Hello Pal's livestreaming service achieved record receipts of approximately $1,200,000* in May 2020 and $1,064,250* in June 2020 for a two-month total of $2,264,250*.
Monthly receipts of over $1,000,000* is a significant milestone as it results in Hello Pal's Asian subsidiaries to be profitable.
"We're very pleased to have achieved yet another significant milestone in our Company's growth," said KL Wong, Founder and Chairman of the Company. "Being able to sustain ourselves without external funding has been crucial for us especially during the current economic downturn, and it also shows our resilience during abnormal times like these."
User Base Performance
As of the date of the news release, Hello Pal's registered user base is over 5 million users from over 200 countries and regions. The positive increase in registered users continues to be driven by our livestream service.
The livestreaming service continues to be active with over 10,000 daily active users, but even more notably, the daily number of users making top-up payments to the Company has more than doubled from the beginning of the year, from around 150 in January to over 300 by the end of June.
"We are also seeing a significant improvement in user engagement with our services, and we expect this to continue to improve as we roll-out new features and address new markets going forward," said Adega Zhou, President of the Company.
Marketing Agreement
The Company is also pleased to announce that it has entered into a marketing agreement with Think Ink Marketing to drive users to the Hello Pal app and for investor awareness of Hello Pal. Under the terms of the agreement, Hello Pal has agreed to pay Think Ink Marketing a fee of US $50,000.
------
To download Hello Pal, Language Pal, Travel Pal or the proprietary Phrasebooks please visit the IOS or Android store. For information with respect to the Company or the contents of this news release, please contact the Company at (604) 683-0911 or visit the website athellopal.com. Email inquiries can be directed to:[email protected].
About the Hello Pal Platform
The Hello Pal Platform is a proprietary suite of mobile applications built on a user-friendly messaging interface that focus on social interaction, language learning and travel. Hello Pal, has been designed from the ground up to be easy to use and enables users' the freedom to speak in their own language regardless of the other person's language they are speaking to. Hello Pal's overriding mission is to bring the world closer together through social interaction, language learning and travel. By creating a platform where it is easy to instantly interact with others around the world and giving them the tools to communicate with each other in a joyful and fun way, we hope to do our part (however small) in fostering understanding and tolerance between all citizens of the world.
The Hello Pal platform also includes a proprietary digital wallet allowing users to store and transfer popular digital assets and tokens, including Bitcoin and Ether, based on blockchain technology.
Hello Pal, was the first app released to the public and experienced rapid growth building a diverse and active global user base. Travel Pal and Language Pal are the first and second companion apps to launch. Both apps benefit immensely from the existing and ever expanding globally based group of users. Each new app will launch with this established rapidly growing user base accelerating their adoption.
Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions, and expectations; they are not guarantees of future performance. Hello Pal cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond Hello Pal's control. Such risks and uncertainties are described in Hello Pal's annual and interim financial statements available onwww.sedar.com. Although Hello Pal is currently generating revenues, Hello Pal remains in the growth stage and such revenues are yet to be profitable. Accordingly, actual, and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions, and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Hello Pal undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.
*Non-IFRS Financial Measure
Readers are cautioned that "receipts" and "cash-flow positive" are a measure not recognized under IFRS. Total receipts includes the amount of cash received by the Company and its agents from the use of the Hello Pal app. Also, "cash-flow positive" means that the monthly cash flow generated by Hello Pal's Asian subsidiary is sufficient to meet all ongoing obligations of Hello Pal's Asian subsidiary. Under IFRS, total receipts may be higher than revenue as a portion of the revenue is received by agents of Hello Pal. However, the Company's management believes that "receipts" and "cash-flow positive" provides investors with insight into management's decision-making process because management uses this measure to run the business and make financial, strategic and operating decisions. Further, "receipts" and "cash-flow positive" also provides useful insight into the operating performance of the Hello Pal app. "Receipts" and "cash-flow positive" does not have standardized meanings prescribed by IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Readers are cautioned that "receipts" and are not an alternative to measures determined in accordance with IFRS and should not, on their own, be construed as indicators of performance, cash flow or profitability.
THE CSE HAS NEITHER APPROVED NOR DISAPPROVED THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE
To view the source version of this press release, please visithttps://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/60447 || The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – July 12th, 2020: Bitcoin, BTC to USD, fell by 0.63% on Saturday. Reversing a 0.60% gain from Friday, Bitcoin ended the day at $9,246.3. It was a bearish start to the day for Bitcoin. Bitcoin fell from an early morning intraday high $9,311.8 to a late morning intraday low $9,200.1 before finding support. Steering clear of the first major support level at $9,193.6, Bitcoin moved back to a late high $9,263.0 before easing back. The near-term bullish trend remained intact in spite of the early July pullback to sub-$9,000 levels. For the bears, Bitcoin would need to slide through the 62% FIB of $6,400 to form a near-term bearish trend. The Rest of the Pack Across the rest of the majors, it was a mixed day on Saturday. Cardano’s ADA (+5.67%), Tezos (+5.61%), and Tron’s TRX (+5.11%) led the way. Binance Coin (+1.85%), Litecoin (+0.92%) Monero’s XMR (+2.10%), Ripple’s XRP (+0.86%), and Stellar’s Lumen (+1.27%) also found support. It was a bearish day for the rest of the majors, however. Ethereum led the way down, with a loss of 0.87%. Bitcoin Cash ABC (-0.48%), Bitcoin Cash SV (-0.21%), and EOS (-0.10%) saw relatively modest losses on the day. In the current week, the crypto total market cap rose from a Monday low $254.55bn to a Wednesday high $274.58bn. At the time of writing, the total market cap stood at $267.71bn. Bitcoin’s dominance fell from a Monday high 65.58% to a Thursday low 63.55%. At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s dominance stood at 63.79%. This Morning At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up by 0.44% to $9,287.2. A bullish start to the day saw Bitcoin rise from an early morning low $9,244.3 to a high $9,299.7. Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on. Elsewhere, it was a mixed start to the day. At the time of writing, Cardano’s ADA was down by 0.36% to buck the trend early on. It was a bullish start for the rest of the majors, with Bitcoin Cash SV up by 3.27% to lead the way. Story continues For the Bitcoin Day Ahead Bitcoin would need to avoid a fall back through the $9,253 pivot to support a run at the first major resistance level at $9,305.37. Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Bitcoin to break back through to $9,300 levels. Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level would likely cap any upside. In the event of a crypto breakout, Bitcoin should break through the second major resistance level at $9,364.43 before any pullback. Failure to avoid a fall back through the $9,253 pivot level would bring the first major support level at $9,193.67 into play. Barring an extended crypto sell-off, however, Bitcoin should avoid sub-$9,100 levels. The second major resistance level at $9,141.03 should limit any downside. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM) Futures Technical Analysis – Blue Chips Jump on Bank Stocks Surge European Equities: A Week in Review – 11/07/20 The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – July 11th, 2020 AUD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – Strengthens Over .6921, Weakens Under .6889 EOS, Ethereum and Ripple’s XRP – Daily Tech Analysis – July 11th, 2020 US Stock Market Overview – Stocks Rise Led by Financials; the Nasdaq Hits a Fresh All-time High || British teenager charged with hacking Twitter celebrities faces extradition to the US: Twitter accounts belonging to Kim Kardashian and her husband, Kanye West, were said to have been targeted - Evan Agostini A British teenager charged with hacking Twitter had his home searched by the National Crime Agency and is likely to face extradition to the US, the Sunday Telegraph can reveal. Mason Sheppard, a 19-year-old from Bognor Regis, was one of three people charged by the US Department of Justice on Friday night over an alleged cyber scam that saw the accounts of various celebrities hijacked last month. Sources told the Sunday Telegraph Mr Sheppard, who is said to go by the codename Chaewon, could face extradition if prosecutors in the US put in a request. However, he has not been arrested by officers in Britain, who are assisting in their investigation. Mr Sheppard is in a long line of British people accused of hacking who have been at risk of extradition. Gary McKinnon , a hacker from Glasgow, who in 2002 was accused of perpetrating the "biggest military computer hack of all time", and Laurie Love , from Suffolk, who was arrested in 2013 after being accused of stealing data from US agencies including the FBI, the Federal Reserve and Nasa, both avoided being extradited, the latter after a High Court appeal in 2018. Mr Sheppard has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and the intentional access of a protected computer. Among the accounts hijacked last month included those of former US president Barack Obama, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Amazon owner Jeff Bezos, rapper Kanye West and his wife, Kim Kardashian. The tweets offered to send $2,000 (£1,500) for every $1,000 (£750) sent to an anonymous Bitcoin address. One tweet from Bill Gates account read: "Everyone is asking me to give back. You send $1,000, I send you back $2,000. Another from Kim Kardashian said: "Feeling nice! All BTC sent to me will be sent back doubled, enjoy. Marcus Hutchins, the British computer researcher renowned for temporarily stopping the WannaCry ransomware attack, yesterday said it doesn't take a "super genius" to hack major firms. Story continues He said: Hacking corporations is a lot less difficult than you think." The NCA confirmed on Friday it had supported the US investigation and searched a property in West Sussex with officers from SEROCU, a collaboration between the Police Forces of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Thames which focuses on organised crime in the south east. It is understood that the UK has not arrested the teenager. A Government source said there was "always the possibility" the US could put in an extradition request, but would not confirm if one had been made. However Professor Alan Woodward, a cyber-security expert at Surrey University, said that if he were Mr Sheppard he "would be slightly worried. The Americans will issue a legal assistance warrant, he said. In this case, they did actually not just break in, but they then tried to use it for a criminal scam. They walked away with thousands of pounds. So you know, this, they were not trivial sums of money. I suspect that the British law enforcement agencies will not have a great deal of sympathy with them. According to neighbours, Mr Sheppard - who attended a local state comprehensive school - is a nice lad whose father, Mark, passed away around five years ago. They added that his mother, Lorraine, had been bringing him up since her husband died. A woman in her sixties, who lives in the same road, said: I know Lorraine and shes lovely. Ive not seen Mason in years but he was always a very nice lad. This is a real shock. No one around here has seen any police activity or anything. David Anderson, the US Attorney for the Northern District of California said Mr Sheppard "faces a statutory maximum penalty of 45 years of imprisonment" if convicted. The three charges were filed against him in the Northern District of California, which is where Twitter is located. Tweets were simultaneously posted promoting a Bitcoin scam, promising followers they would receive double the amount of money back if they transferred funds to a digital wallet. According to court documents filed on July 23 and made public on Friday, approximately 415 transfers were made to the Bitcoin address totalling more than 117,000 US dollars - equivalent to approximately £90,000. Nima Fazeli, 22, of Orlando, Florida, was charged with aiding and abetting the intentional access of a protected computer. The Department of Justice said charges had also been filed against a juvenile. Graham Ivan Clark, 17, was arrested in Tampa, Florida, on Friday according to the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office. It added that Mr Clark will be prosecuted as an adult and is allegedly the "mastermind" behind the hack. Mr Anderson said: "There is a false belief within the criminal hacker community that attacks like the Twitter hack can be perpetrated anonymously and without consequence. "Today's charging announcement demonstrates that the elation of nefarious hacking into a secure environment for fun or profit will be short-lived. "Criminal conduct over the Internet may feel stealthy to the people who perpetrate it, but there is nothing stealthy about it. "In particular, I want to say to would-be offenders, break the law, and we will find you." A Home Office spokesperson said: As a matter of long-standing policy and practice, we neither confirm nor deny the existence of extradition requests.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: down || Prices: 11366.13, 11488.36, 11323.40, 11542.50, 11506.87, 11711.51, 11680.82, 11970.48, 11414.03, 10245.30
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2017-01-09]
BTC Price: 902.83, BTC RSI: 48.55
Gold Price: 1183.50, Gold RSI: 57.50
Oil Price: 51.96, Oil RSI: 50.34
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Expect more blockchain hype in 2017: The price of the digital currency bitcoin rose more than 100% this year.
At the outset of 2016, the controversial coin was trading around $430. This week, it cleared $900, its best level since 2013. As Bloomberg points out, it “crushed every other currency.”
But the talk this year was all about blockchain.
Blockchain, the open, tamper-proof, peer-to-peer ledger technology that underlies bitcoin, hascaptured the excitement of banks and financial institutionswho want to apply the technology to a wide range of processes—without bitcoin. (What exactly is blockchain?Watch this video.)
This year, IBM announced the creation of a new unit called Watson Financial Services to encompass Watson, cloud, and all blockchain-related offerings and strategy. The computing giant created new jobs specifically devoted to blockchain, with the aim of harnessing blockchain technology for client services.
Big banks and payment processors, too,staffed up for blockchain. On job networks like Monster.com, Yahoo Finance found more than 100 posts at companies like American Express, Bank of America, BNY Mellon, Capital One, Citigroup, Fidelity, and JPMorgan.
Walmart partnered with IBM on a pilot program totrack the pork supply chain in Chinausing an IBM blockchain built through theHyperledger Project, an open-source group created by the Linux Foundation. IBM was a Hyperledger Project founding member, along with Accenture, Intel, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and others.
Jerry Cuomo, IBM’s VP of blockchain technologies,told Yahoo Financethat 2016 began with “blockchain tourism,” companies expressing public interest in experimenting with blockchain, but not necessarily doing anything real. Ramesh Gopinath, IBM’s VP of blockchain solutions, now says “there has clearly been a transition from experiments to real deployments.”
To be sure, the examples of real deployments are still lacking. The average consumer doesn’t know or care about blockchain, and skeptics dismissall the “blockchain-without-bitcoin” talk as just talk.
On the bitcoin blockchain, “miners” upload transactions in bundles called “blocks” and are rewarded in bitcoin as an incentive for mining; the transaction records are permanent and immutable. Bitcoin entrepreneurs insist that the entire point of a blockchain is negated if banks try to apply the same technology in a closed, permissioned context, without a digital currency.
Some say banks will eventually come around to the uses of bitcoin itself.Balaji Srinavasan, CEO of 21.co, compares it to old narratives around online dating. “It was like, it’s for nerds, it’s for nerds, it’s for nerds,” he says, “and then suddenly, oh, here’s Tinder, and now it’s totally flipped and normal and you’d be crazy not to date that way.”
Even if major mainstream applications of blockchain haven’t come along yet, big companies have at least made real investment, demonstrating a faith that all of this will go somewhere. Companies like Chain now offer “blockchain as a service” (BaaS), building specialized blockchains for these high-profile clients.
Oliver Bussman, former CIO at UBS,writes on his advisory firm’s blogthat 2017 “will be the ‘year of the pilot’ for blockchain in financial services, as it moves from a proof-of-concept technology into production, especially in the cross-border payment and trade finance areas,” but adds that broad adoption of blockchain technology will still “happen more quickly outside of financial services—in areas like supply chain management, in e-government, or health care.”
Meanwhile, the membership list continued to grow for R3 CEV, a consortium for banks and financial companies interested in deploying blockchain technology to improve their operations. R3 expects to close a new funding round of $150 million in the first quarter of 2017.
Blockchain hype continued to grow in 2016, and in 2017 it will only get louder.
The headlines weren’t as kind to bitcoin.
In August,hackers stole $54 million worth of bitcoins from Hong Kong bitcoin exchange Bitfinex, the largest bitcoin exchange in the world by US dollar volume. It was the largest bitcoin hack since the infamous hack of Mt. Gox in 2013.
In December, the peer-to-peer payment app Circle, which had also offered the ability to buy and sell bitcoin and was one of the earliest prominent bitcoin startups, announced it would no longer allow bitcoin buying on its app. The company said it would still use bitcoin as a settlement token on the back end, and it had already been pivoting away from being bitcoin-only when itadded the ability to deposit money via Visa, MasterCard or debit card, but the damage was done: news headlines touted that a prominent bitcoin company “gives up on” bitcoin (Fortune), “pulls the plug on” bitcoin (Wall Street Journal) or “says bye-bye” to bitcoin (pymnts.com).
Circle isn’t the first prominent bitcoin startup to move away from bitcoin publicly. Bitreserve, a cloud bank led by former Nike CIO Anthony Watson,changed its name last year to Uphold, dropping the “bit” found in so many bitcoin company names.
And there’s more: theIRS subpoenaed the bitcoin company Coinbase, one of the most well-funded bitcoin startups and provider of the most popular US bitcoin wallet, for personal information of its users from the past three years.
But blockchain, too, had low points in 2016. This month, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Santander alldropped out of R3. This comes despite JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon saying in January of this year that bitcoin was “doomed,” but “the blockchain is a technology, which we’ve been studying… and yes, it’s real. If it proves to be cheap and secure it will be adopted for a whole bunch of stuff.”
Don and Alex Tapscott,authors of the book “Blockchain Revolution,” summarize the banks-and-blockchain hype in 2016 this wayin an op-ed at Coindesk: “2016 was the year that many bank CEOs woke up to both the threat and the opportunity of the blockchain. At a meeting of 50 CEOs of the 50 largest banks back in January, most were skeptical. Now most are investigating how this technology might transform their companies and industry services.”
Expect the “blockchain, not bitcoin” narrative to continue among Wall Street circles in 2017, despite the eye-rolls it garners from bitcoin faithful.
But the appeal of bitcoin, as an investment, shouldn’t be underestimated.
Bitcoin, like gold, isseen as a safe haven asset, uncorrelated to the mainstream markets. So when there’s uncertainty in the economy, many investors turn to bitcoin, and when there are tightened capital controls in countries like China, many investors turn to bitcoin.
With the start of a new US presidential administration,there will be some uncertainty, and that might push bitcoin even higher.
—
Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering technology and sports business. Follow him on Twitter at@readDanwrite.
Read more:
Bitcoin price soars, but it isn’t just about Trump and Clinton
Here’s where big banks stand on blockchain
Why 21.co is the most exciting bitcoin company right now
Coinbase is more bullish on bitcoin than ever || China central bank urges rational investment in bitcoin: BEIJING (Reuters) - China's institutional and individual investors should take a rational approach to investing in virtual currencies such as bitcoin, the central bank said on Friday. Bitcoin prices had showed abnormal fluctuations, the Shanghai head office of the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said in a notice. This prompted branch officials to meet representatives of a major bitcoin trading platform in China, BTCC. They cautioned against potential risks in the platform's operations and asked it to carry out "self-inspection" according to the law, the bank said. It stressed bitcoin is not a currency and cannot be circulated as a real currency in the market. (Reporting by Yawen Chen and Kevin Yao; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) || Bitcoin plummets over 23 percent after nearing all-time high as 'volatile little bubble' bursts: Bitcoin (Exchange: BTC=-USS) tanked as much as 23 percent Thursday afternoon after nearing an all-time high earlier in the trading day. The world's largest cryptocurrency by market cap traded as low as $887.47, down from the day's high of $1,153.02, according to CoinDesk data. The high for the day was just shy of $1,165.89 set on November 30, 2013. The price has recovered somewhat from the day's low to about $973.89 at the time of publication. However, bitcoin beat its high on some other cryptocurrency exchanges. Whereas CoinDesk's price index takes into account many different bitcoin exchanges individual exchanges, where users can trade bitcoin, noted their own highest prices were exceeded. Among these were one of China's biggest and most liquid exchanges, BTC China. Industry experts said the rapid rally in bitcoin created a little bubble which is now bursting but the long-term prospects are still positive. "Once we broke through the nominal all-time high, liquidity dried up no shorts, no sellers, which means a volatile little bubble formed quickly," Peter Smith, chief executive of bitcoin wallet Blockchain, told CNBC by email. "We are seeing the effects of that now. It's still fairly thin trading volume though. I expect the market will find a floor and stabilize somewhere in the $850 to $1,000 range, but we'll see." Wild swings in bitcoin's price are not unusual and volatility is a characteristic of the virtual currency. CNBC recently outlined the reason behind the latest rally in bitcoin. One key reason has been the recent devaluation of the yuan as well as the threat of capital controls across many countries. The majority of bitcoin trade comes out of China so it has a big influence. But on Thursday, the yuan rose against the dollar . The reason behind this was a sell-off in the dollar due to uncertainty around the future of U.S. Federal Reserve rate hikes, as well as state intervention by China in its currency. The rise in the yuan led to a fall in bitcoin. Story continues "It is absolutely tied to China. If the yuan goes up, bitcoin goes down," Dan Collins, CEO of technology consultancy firm CCO Global, told CNBC in an interview on Thursday. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Bitcoin is trying to make a comeback: (Markets Insider)
Bitcoin is off the lowest levels of its plunge on Thursday, which was the worst in two years.
The cryptocurrency was down 13% to about $985.68 per coin as of 11:10 a.m. ET on Thursday. It earlier fell by about 20%.
Earlier this week, on its first trading day of the new year, bitcoin crossed above the $1,000 mark for the first time since 2013, but it has now tumbled below that level.
From the end of September through Wednesday — just before the plunge — bitcoin gained nearly 100%. It was supported by renewed interest from China, where money rushed out of the country as its currency, the yuan, continued to weaken.
But on Thursday the yuan witnessed its biggest two-day rise since record keeping began in 2010. This happened amid the government's efforts to stop outflows from the country and after overnight borrowing costs in Hong Kong surged to a record as high as 100%. That squeezed investors who had bet that the currency would fall.
The yuan's rise is also pressuring the US dollar, which fell against other major currencies.
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• China is behind the latest bitcoin craze || Hyperledger Wraps up 2016 By Welcoming Eight New Members: SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - December 28, 2016) -Hyperledger Project, a collaborative cross-industry effort created to advance blockchain technology, announced today that eight new members have joined the project to help create an open standard for distributed ledgers for a new generation of transactional applications. Last month, Hyperledgerannouncedit reached 100 active members in less than one year, a huge milestone for the open source project, hosted by The Linux Foundation.
"This year has been full of growth for the project," said Brian Behlendorf, Executive Director, Hyperledger. "Not only did we exceed 100 members, Hyperledger met significant development milestones thanks to the community's hard work. As 2016 was a year of exploration, R&D and prototyping, we're excited for 2017 to be the year we start to see case studies of the technology in production environments."
Hyperledger aims to enable organizations to build robust, industry-specific applications, platforms and hardware systems to support their individual business transactions by creating an enterprise grade, open source distributed ledger framework and code base. The latest members include: CA Technologies, Factom Foundation, Hashed Health, Koscom, LedgerDomain, Lykke, Sovrin Foundation and Swisscom.
New Member Quotes:
CA Technologies
"To compete today, every company needs to foster innovation that delivers real business value. Blockchain has the potential to disrupt the way many of CA's customers do business," said Otto Berkes, chief technology officer, CA Technologies. "We're honored to be a part of Hyperledger and look forward to collaborating with other members to help shape open standards for blockchain. It's an exciting time for this because blockchain is not just about Bitcoin anymore, and the range of potential applications with it is vast for of our customers. This partnership will help us influence what that future looks like for both CA and our customers as they embark on their digital transformation journey."
Factom Foundation
"We are honored to have been selected to join the Hyperledger Project," said Paul Snow, Founder, Factom Foundation. "We are looking forward to helping build the open source framework for securing data and systems with our blockchain solution."
Hashed Health
"Hashed Health is a healthcare technology innovation company focused on accelerating the commercialization of meaningful new blockchain and distributed ledger-based technologies," said John Bass, Hashed Health CEO. "Hashed is proud to be a member of the Hyperledger Project, sharing its commitment to creating the foundation for scalable, reliable blockchain solutions."
Koscom
"We consider blockchain technology as the next generation infrastructure in the Korean capital market. As an industry leader with 40 years' experience in the financial IT field, we are looking to leverage this industry disruptive technology," said Chung Youn Dae, CEO, Koscom. "We will constantly explore the ways to contribute to the blockchain ecosystem, as we collaborate with the Hyperledger community. We also hope to better serve out customers in a more secure and efficient way by integrating blockchain technology and our own Fintech platform."
LedgerDomain
"LedgerDomain delivers next generation supply chain solutions, harnessing permissioned blockchains to assure supply chain integrity and finished product authenticity through to the consumer for the benefit of all. This highly transparent, trustworthy approach is built upon an industrial-strength Hyperledger Fabric backbone," said Dr. Victor Dods, LedgerDomain. "We're proud to be a part of Hyperledger and its growing community."
Lykke
"We're looking forward to being part of the Hyperledger project," said Richard Olsen, Lykke founder and CEO. "Our company is building a digital asset exchange. Right now, we're implemented on the Bitcoin blockchain settlement layer, with Ethereum to come within the next few months, but our involvement with Hyperledger isn't just the next step forward. Providing decentralized settlement on the Hyperledger blockchain with multisignature wallets and atomic swap transactions will benefit both of our user communities."
Swisscom
"We are very proud to be Switzerland's first connection to Hyperledger," said Johannes Höhener, VP, Swisscom's Fintech Cluster. "We look forward to working with a highly professional community on cutting-edge blockchain developments. Our membership and participation will shape our capabilities to develop blockchain solutions -- for our clients and Switzerland."
The success of Hyperledger is due to the support of the developer community and member companies. Learn how your organization can contribute to the project here:https://www.hyperledger.org/about/join
About Hyperledger
The Hyperledger project is an open source collaborative effort created to advance cross-industry blockchain technologies. It is a global collaboration including leaders in finance, banking, Internet of Things, supply chains, manufacturing and Technology. The Linux Foundation hosts Hyperledger as a Collaborative Project under the foundation. To learn more, visit:www.hyperledger.org || Flow Signs Iconic Caribbean Comedian -- Majah Hype: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Jan 6, 2017) - The Caribbean's iconic comedy star, Majah Hype , is now a Flow Brand Ambassador . This internationally-recognized comedian is known for his infectious online videos, many of which have become viral sensations depicting hilarious Caribbean characters, including favourites "Di Rass," "Grandpa James" and "Sister Sandrine." Majah is more than just 'hype.' A Caribbean artist at heart, he identifies with the islands, and has taken on the task of "unifying the people of the region as one" with his own unique brand of comedy. His act, he says, serves as a means of breaking down national barriers and bringing people together with relatable content. Passionate about connecting Caribbean and diaspora audiences, Majah epitomizes the spirit, energy and dynamism of the Flow brand and its mission of connecting communities... transforming lives. Majah Hype joins Flow's impressive cadre of internationally recognized sports, music and entertainment Brand Ambassadors. Check out Majah Hype online and be among the first to like and share his upcoming Flow sketches. You deserve a rip-roaring laugh and he is very much worth the hype! About C&W Communications CWC is a full-service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, CWC provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers. CWC also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network -- the most extensive in the region -- in over 30 markets. Learn more at www.cwc.com , or follow C&W on LinkedIn , Facebook or Twitter . About Liberty Global Liberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enable us to develop market-leading products delivered through next-generation networks that connect our 29 million customers who subscribe to over 59 million television, broadband, internet, and telephony services. We also serve 11 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across seven million access points. Story continues Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group ( NASDAQ : LBTYA ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYB ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYK ) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group ( NASDAQ : LILA ) and ( NASDAQ : LILAK ) ( OTC PINK : LILAB ), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Liberty Global Group operates in 12 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Ziggo, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Mas Movil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a subsea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets. For more information, please visit www.libertyglobal.com . Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3096510 Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3096512 || Trump's pick for budget chief loves gold and bitcoin: mark mulvaney (Rep. Mick Mulvaney.AP Images) The man in line to bring together President-elect Donald Trump's federal budget is a big believer in gold, according to financial disclosures. Mick Mulvaney, Trump's pick to lead the Office of Budget and Management, owns significant amounts of precious metals and gold-mining stocks based on financial disclosures compiled by Bloomberg . According to the filings, Mulvaney held $50,000 to $100,000 in precious metals at the end of 2015. In addition, the South Carolina congressman holds stock in numerous gold and silver mining corporations totaling $252,000 to $855,000, according to the filing. Bloomberg found that Mulvaney had sold significant amounts of the gold miners' stock in early 2016, citing financial filings from the end of June. The heavy investments into gold is not surprising given past criticism by Mulvaney of the Federal Reserve. In a speech obtained by Mother Jones , Mulvaney told the John Birch Society, a group that believes the only legal forms of currency are gold and silver coins , that the Fed had "effectively devalued the dollar" and "choke[d] off economic growth." In the same speech, Mulvaney also praised bitcoin, saying the cryptocurrency could not be "manipulated" by the government. Gold-mining stocks have had an up-and-down year. VanEck's Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF the largest gold-mining sector exchange-traded fund in which Mulvaney had an investment ($15,001 to $50,000) is up 45% year-to-date but is down roughly 35% from its 2016 high in August. The dollar has strengthened by a little over 5% since the US presidential election, while gold has fallen by roughly 10%. Bitcoin has been surging in the past week, hitting its highest level since November 2013 on Thursday . Check out the full Bloomberg report here» NOW WATCH: Watch Yellen explain why the Federal Reserve decides to raise rates More From Business Insider Sears and Kmart are closing more stores see if your store is on the list How much money you need to save each day to become a millionaire by age 65 The internet is flummoxed by this optical illusion of 6 girls with only 5 pairs of legs || First Bitcoin Capital Corp Announces Appointment of Bitcoin Protocol Development Expert Patrick Dugan to the Company’s Board of Directors. Additional Developments Announced: VANCOUVER, B.C. / ACCESSWIRE / November 23, 2016 / First Bitcoin Capital Corp is pleased to announce that leading bitcoin protocol development expert in the crypto currency field Patrick Dugan has joined the company's Board of Directors. A serial entrepreneur with several years of experience in blockchain, finance, ecommerce and game development, Mr. Dugan has extensive knowledge of complex securitization structures and trading strategies. Mr. Dugan brings 9 years of trading experience, with over 3 years in cryptocurrency trading, averaging 50% annual returns. He served as a consultant on social game economics, and market making operations for exchanges. Mr. Dugan has served for the last year and a half as operations manager for the Omni Layer Foundation (previously Mastercoin), and has been involved in the issuance of the world's first bearer bonds on the Bitcoin blockchain. "Patrick Dugan is well known in the international crypto-currency space," the company said. "He brings a wealth of strategic experience in finance and blockchain business development. We look forward to his contributions as a member of our Board as we advance the development of the world’s first on-blockchain REIT offering." Mrs. Dugan said he seeks to bring to First Bitcoin Capital his expertise in bitcoin and blockchain protocol and assist new or existing initiatives that plan to build upon and take advantage of the capabilities offered by the Omni Layer protocol. BITCF has thus far utilized the Omni Layer Protocol to launch 6 cryptocurrencies such as symbols, PRES, TESLA, HILL, GARY, BURN, and OTX. Furthermore, in conjunction with BITCF expanding ownership of its common shares onto its own blockchain (BIT) and trading on foreign international cryptocurrency exchanges, the company invites its shareholders to exercise an option to convert their paper certificates into digital shares. Shareholders need only surrender their certificates with instruction to deliver those shares to the BIT wallet address they provide to the company. Story continues About the company: First Bitcoin Capital is engaged in developing digital currencies, proprietary Blockchain technologies, and the digital currency exchange- www.CoinQX.com. We see this step as a tremendous opportunity to create further shareholder value by leveraging management's experience in developing and managing complex Blockchain technologies, developing new types of digital assets. "Being the first publicly-traded cryptocurrency and blockchain-centered company (with shares both traded in the US OTC Markets as [BITCF] and as [BIT] in crypto exchanges) we want to provide our shareholders with diversified exposure to digital cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies." At this time the Company owns and operates the following digital assets. www.BITCoinCapitalcorp.com company website. www.CoinQX.com Cryptocurrency Exchange, registered with FINCEN. www.iCoiNEWS.com real time cryptocurrency and bitcoin news site. www.BITminer.cc providing mining pool management services. www.2016coin.org online daily election coverage and home page for $PRES, $HILL and $GARY $BURN coins. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors as may be disclosed in company's filings. In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, and governmental and public policy changes. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release .Such forward-looking statements are risks that are detailed in the Company's filings, which are on file at www.OTCMarkets.com . Contact us via: [email protected] or visit http://www.bitcoincapitalcorp.com SOURCE: First Bitcoin Capital Corp. || Just after Trump won, his son-in-law had a cozy meeting with a Chinese exec who's buying US assets left and right: (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Anbang Insurance is a shadowy Chinese financial behemoth that has been buying up assets in the US at breathtaking speed.
In 2014, for example, it acquired the Waldorf Astoria, and last year itattempted to buy Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide.
The chairman of the company, Wu Xiaohui, is married to former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping's granddaughter.
Jared Kushner is President-elect Donald Trump's son-in-law and a real-estate investor in his own right as chief executive of his multibillion-dollar family firm, Kushner Companies.
According to The New York Times, Kushner and Xiaohui met on November 16, just after Trump clinched the presidency, to toast what that would mean for global business — an interesting toast given Trump's vitriolic rhetoric against China.
From the NYT:
"Mr. Wu and Mr. Kushner — who is married to Mr. Trump's daughter Ivanka and is one of his closest advisers — were nearing agreement on a joint venture in Manhattan: the redevelopment of 666 Fifth Avenue, the fading crown jewel of the Kushner family real-estate empire. Anbang, which has close ties to the Chinese state, has seen its aggressive efforts to buy up hotels in the United States slowed amid concerns raised by Obama administration officials who review foreign investments for national security risk."
In China, the separation between business and politics is almost nonexistent. To be a billionaire executive is to also be part of the party cadre and to have the blessing of those in power.
This report is a bit of a longer read, but it's an important one. It highlights a couple of things we know — that Kushner is trying to find a creative way to adhere to ethics rules to serve in his father-in-law's administration, and that he has business relationships with those connected to the highest levels of the Chinese government.
And it highlights what we don't know, which is how extensive those relationships are.
One Kushner project, a Trump building that opened in New Jersey in November, got as much as $50 million in financing from Chinese investors. The investors were part of a federal program that has come under scrutiny from Congress recently. It grants two-year visas and a path to permanent residency for those who invest $500,000.It's called EB-5.
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• Bitcoin is still dropping || Flow Signs Iconic Caribbean Comedian -- Majah Hype: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Jan 6, 2017) - The Caribbean's iconic comedy star,Majah Hype, is now aFlow Brand Ambassador.
This internationally-recognized comedian is known for his infectious online videos, many of which have become viral sensations depicting hilarious Caribbean characters, including favourites "Di Rass," "Grandpa James" and "Sister Sandrine."
Majah is more than just 'hype.' A Caribbean artist at heart, he identifies with the islands, and has taken on the task of "unifying the people of the region as one" with his own unique brand of comedy. His act, he says, serves as a means of breaking down national barriers and bringing people together with relatable content.
Passionate about connecting Caribbean and diaspora audiences, Majah epitomizes the spirit, energy and dynamism of theFlowbrand and its mission of connecting communities... transforming lives.
Majah Hype joins Flow's impressive cadre of internationally recognized sports, music and entertainment Brand Ambassadors.
Check out Majah Hype onlineand be among the first to like and share his upcoming Flow sketches. You deserve a rip-roaring laugh and he is very much worth the hype!
About C&W Communications
CWC is a full-service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, CWC provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers.
CWC also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network -- the most extensive in the region -- in over 30 markets.
Learn more atwww.cwc.com, or follow C&W onLinkedIn,FacebookorTwitter.
About Liberty Global
Liberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enable us to develop market-leading products delivered through next-generation networks that connect our 29 million customers who subscribe to over 59 million television, broadband, internet, and telephony services. We also serve 11 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across seven million access points.
Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group (NASDAQ:LBTYA) (NASDAQ:LBTYB) (NASDAQ:LBTYK) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group (NASDAQ:LILA) and (NASDAQ:LILAK) (OTC PINK:LILAB), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Liberty Global Group operates in 12 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Ziggo, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Mas Movil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a subsea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets.
For more information, please visitwww.libertyglobal.com.
Image Available:http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3096510Image Available:http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3096512
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
MMMBTC || More Money Or More Freedom,Bitcoin Investment Which Would You Choose,saving money for christmas. http://ow.ly/hMjx307dL7i || #bitcoin Looting and protests on streets as Venezuelans fume over cash chaos via /r/Bitcoin http://ift.tt/2hKtErc || MMMBTC || 1 DOGE Price: Bter 0.00000027 BTC #doge #dogecoin 2016-12-19 15:31pic.twitter.com/PQYAXpjJOL || MMMBTC || Can #bitcoin Assist Venezuela’s Crumbling Economic system? http://bitcoinagile.com/9FD13F/can-bitcoin-assist-venezuelas-crumbling-economic-system_stream … #ResidualBitcoin || Newcastle United are on the march. They will be top of the pile in the Championship at Christmas. #Bitcoin #Bet… http://btf.st/Cloudbet pic.twitter.com/PC5kDuA5yq || #Bitcoin continues its long term uptrend. The price has reached June highs of about $780.00.. pic.twitter.com/KcupoLOm44 || MMMBTC
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Trend: no change || Prices: 907.68, 777.76, 804.83, 823.98, 818.41, 821.80, 831.53, 907.94, 886.62, 899.07
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2018-01-22]
BTC Price: 10931.40, BTC RSI: 37.99
Gold Price: 1330.90, Gold RSI: 66.55
Oil Price: 63.49, Oil RSI: 68.10
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Putting Up the Tree with Top ETFs of 2017: Christmas isn’t Christmas without a verdant tree. While the evergreen never fails to bring in cheer to the most lonesome of hearts, we decided to do something very different this year – build a tree with the choicest of ETFs this season.A Christmas Tree of ETFsLet’s build the base first, which is the most valuable of all for investors, and of course where all the gifts are to be found. And nothing’s more fitting thanSPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF DIA, which tracks the Dow Jones Industrial Average, to give a solid foundation to our tree. The Dow Jones has moved up 5,000 points this year — the biggest annual gain in its history — and is moving closer to another major milestone of 25,000. Additionally, the index has logged the 70th record close so far this year, representing the highest-ever number of record closes in a calendar year. As such, DIA has returned nearly 25% this year and has a Zacks ETF Rank #2 (Buy) with a Medium risk outlook (read: Top Investing Areas of 2017 & Their Top ETFs).Tax reform has added to more strength to the second-largest bull market and is expected to be the key catalyst to drive the stocks higher in 2018. A massive $1.4-trillion tax cut will create an economic surge, boosting job growth and reflation trade. It will further accelerate earnings, leading to increased dividend and buyback activities. Additionally, the tax repatriation will allow companies to bring offshore cash back home, paving the way for increased mergers and acquisitions.If we talk about sectors, banks and retail will be the biggest beneficiaries of the tax cut to 21% from 35% as they have the highest effective tax rate. Therefore, an ETF from these two sectors could be the best option to deck up our Christmas tree. In particular,SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF KREandVanEck Vectors Retail ETF RTHcould be intriguing. Both funds have a Zacks ETF Rank #3 (Hold) and have gained 6.8% and 20.6%, respectively, this year. So they form the fronds and leaves of our ETF tree.For the top layer, we have chosen the small capiShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF IWOas it is backed by the dual tailwinds of accelerating economic growth and tax cut plan. Small companies pay huge taxes in America and a tax cut could be a big boon to these companies. These pint-sized stocks generate most of their revenues from the domestic market and generally outperform on improving American economic health. IWO has a Zacks ETF Rank #2 and has delivered strong returns of about 22% this year (read: ETFs to Bet on the Final Tax Bill: What Hot, What's Not).At the very top is the star ETF of 2017 —ARK Web x.0 ETF ARKW. The ETF is gaining on the bitcoin boom as well as technology surge. It is an actively managed fund focusing on companies that are expected to benefit from the shift in technology infrastructure to the cloud, enabling mobile, new and local services. The fund has soared more than 91% this year.With the structure ready, we now have to decorate the tree with bells, candies and lights. While most of the ETFs could be part of this beautification, we have chosen those that have a top Zacks ETF Rank or are currently hot in the market. Notably,Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF SCHD, offering exposure to the high dividend-yielding U.S. companies that have a record of consistent dividend payments, will add to the glitter and shine. The product has climbed 17.6% this year and has a Zacks ETF Rank #2, suggesting its continued outperformance.The best ETF that could nicely fit the candy decor isWisdomTree China ex-State-Owned Enterprises Fund CXSE, which is up about 75% this year. The strength came from companies that belong to a new and developed China (that has stepped up efforts to upgrade manufacturing, and research and development) rather than the traditional government-run companies such as banks, energy and telecom firms. The fund offers exposure to targeted Chinese stocks that are not state-owned enterprises and has a Zacks ETF Rank #2 (read: Be Thankful to These China ETFs This Year).Now, to light up the tree, let’s addiShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF SOXXthat will continue to brighten investors’ portfolio in 2018. The fund has surged nearly 42% this year and has a Zacks ETF Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Being a cyclical sector, this semiconductor ETF tends to move higher with market rallies. New areas such as autonomous cars, cloud computing, gaming, wearables, VR headsets, drones, virtual reality devices, Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence are fueling exceptional growth. Additionally, semiconductor ETFs are gaining from rising demand of cryptocurrency mining, which needs the usage of semiconductors (read: Bitcoin ETFs Are Back After Futures Launch).The Christmas tree of ETF is now ready for investors. May it spread cheer with the jingle of Santa’s bell.Want key ETF info delivered straight to your inbox?Zacks’ free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, each week. Get it free >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportVANECK-RETAIL (RTH): ETF Research ReportsISHARS-PHLX SEM (SOXX): ETF Research ReportsISHARS-RS 2K GR (IWO): ETF Research ReportsARK- WEB XO ETF (ARKW): ETF Research ReportsWISDMTR-TR WTCH (CXSE): ETF Research ReportsSPDR-KBW REG BK (KRE): ETF Research ReportsSCHWAB-US DV EQ (SCHD): ETF Research ReportsTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report || Bitcoin slumps below $16,000, futures trading halts temporarily: Bitcoin price Markets Insider Bitcoin briefly slumped below $16,000 on Wednesday. The dip triggered a temporary pause of futures trading. Just days after crossing the $17,000 mark, bitcoin briefly slumped below $16,000 per coin on Wednesday. The spike in volatility triggered a two minute halt to bitcoin futures trading on Cboe Global Markets exchange, which launched bitcoin futures on Sunday, according to John Spallanzani at GFI Group. The new product allows bitcoin bears to actively bet against the cryptocurrency. Cboe has so-called circuit breakers to dampen volatility in periods of wild trading. Before Wednesday, the launch of futures trading had given bitcoin yet another boost, with the cryptocurrency climbing 6% since Sunday. Bitcoin still has a stranglehold on the cryptocurrency market, with a total capitalization of $274.6 billion. Ethereum , its closest competitor, has a market cap of $65.86 billion. Other smaller coins have gotten a boost from bitcoins surge in popularity. Ripple , the fourth largest cryptocurrency, which is designed for bank transfers, has seen its value rise 49% over the past 24 hours and passed litecoin to take fourth place in cryptocurrency market cap. Bitcoin is down about 4.78% on Wednesday, near $16,450. It's up 1,505% this year. You can watch Bitcoin's price in real-time here>> NOW WATCH: Here's what bitcoin futures could mean for the price of bitcoin See Also: BlackRock's $1.7 trillion bond chief says the market's biggest fear is overblown BlackRock's $1.7 trillion bond chief tells us his biggest market fear BlackRock's $1.7 trillion bond chief explains the key dynamic every investor needs to understand SEE ALSO: Ripple overtakes litecoin as 4th largest cryptocurrency || Why Clean Energy Fuels Corp's Shares Plunged 29% in 2017: Shares of natural gas fuel specialistClean Energy Fuels Corp(NASDAQ: CLNE)fell 29% in 2017, according to data provided byS&P Global Market Intelligence, as the company's financial results began to deteriorate. It has struggled to gain traction in the past few years, but last year it became apparent that widespread adoption of natural gas-powered vehicles may not ever happen.
There's a chart showing the three-year slide in results below, but we don't have to look back much further than the third-quarter earnings report to see how poorly Clean Energy Fuels is doing. After reporting a $94.1 million loss for the period, including a $73.8 million charge relating to closing 42 stations, there doesn't appear to be much momentum in operations. These closures are all "underperforming" according to management, but the fact that many stations can miss expectations is pretty astounding for a business that should still be in growth mode.
Image source: Getty Images.
It's hard to see how Clean Energy Fuels will be able to generate enough money to make a profit unless alternative fuel tax credits continue to provide regular benefits. There's just not enough interest in converting vehicle fleets to natural gas, making the entire business model an uphill battle.
CLNE Revenue (TTM)data byYCharts.
A few years ago, the thought was that Clean Energy Fuels would benefit from commercial vehicle fleets converting to natural gas because it was cheaper and cleaner than diesel. But that thesis has been undermined by battery-powered vehicles becoming even more cost-effective for commercial users.Buses, large trucks, and even semisare already being produced or pre-sold to commercial operators, and once they go electric, it's unlikely they'll ever come back to natural gas as a fueling option.
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Travis Hoiumhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Clean Energy Fuels. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || How Safe Are Altria Group Inc (MO) and Its Dividend?: No stock better exemplifies theincredible power of dividendsthanAltria(NYSE: MO). The parent company for Marlboro cigarettes in the U.S. has enjoyed fantastic returns over the past 30 years -- 4,140%, to be exact. That's more than quadruple what the S&P 500 returned over the same time frame.
But if we include the effects of reinvesting the company's dividend along the way, the effects are truly amazing.
MOdata byYCharts
That's right, your eyes aren't deceiving you. If you invested just $1,000 in Altria 30 years ago, and reinvested dividends along the way, your account would now have $3.64 million today.
But does that mean that Altria's stock is a good investment today, and that its dividend is just as powerful as it once was? Let's investigate those two questions below, and see if the same potential exists today, or if you're living dangerously by investing with the company today.
Image source: Getty Images
First, we'll see how strong Altria is as a company. The two most important things to know are that smoking rates aredecliningin the United States -- where Altria principally operates -- and that Marlboro, Altria's top brand, is the most popular cigarette in the country.
Last year,Forbesrated Marlboro as the strongest brand in tobacco worldwide, with a value of $24 billion. Incidentally, that was good for 25th place out ofall brands,ahead of household names likeVisa,Pepsi, andStarbucks. That matters because even though smoking rates have declined, Altria has been able to raise prices without losing customers.
Image source: Getty Images
Additionally, Altria has exposureoutside of cigarettes. The company's MarkTen e-vapor product has now reached over 13% of market share, and it also has exclusive U.S. rights to iQOS smokeless, heated tobacco systems.
In general, increased scrutiny and declining smoking rates actuallyhelpthe industry's strongest players, chief among them Altria. That's because competitors have a harder time breaking through Altria's brand strength and are disincentivized to enter the market because of regulatory hurdles.
That makes me believe that Altria will likely continue to dominate the industry for years to come. That being said, there is a point at which the company can no longer offset smoking declines by simply increasing the price at convenience stores and other retail outlets.
When it comes to dividends, there's no metric more important to watch than free cash flow. This represents all of the money that has come in through a company's operations, minus any capital expenditures. It is from free cash flow that dividends should ideally be paid, and monitoring their relationship is key to making good dividend-stock decisions.
Here's how the two have fared over the past four years.
Data source: Yahoo! Finance. All figures rounded to nearest $100 million
It's important to note that the 2017 figures are just for the first nine months of the year. We have yet to hear from management regarding what the fourth quarter produced.
In general, you don't want to see a company offering up more than 85% of its free cash flow for a dividend. But because the capital expenses involved with making cigarettes are so small, Altria can routinely -- and safely -- afford to push that envelope, as it did in 2016.
Over the past nine months, roughly 88% of Altria's free cash flow has been used to pay its current 3.8% dividend yield. Managementexpectsthe company to be able to grow earnings -- and thus the dividend -- by about 8% to 10% over the foreseeable future. That means that dividend payouts should continue climbing as well.
If you're a dividend investor nearing retirement, I think it's worth devoting at least a small part of your time to researching Altria. It has the industry's most powerful brand, and it spits out a large dividend. Personally, I have over three decades until I hit retirement age, and have doubts about how far cost-cutting -- and price-raising -- measures can go over that time, so I choose not to hold the stock, or make a call on myAll-Star CAPS profile.
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Brian Stoffelowns shares of Starbucks. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Starbucks and Visa. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Stock market preview, December 4: After an extremely busy week which saw markets take big swings both up and down, the final jobs report released in 2017 will greet investors as the biggest economic story in the week ahead. The November jobs report is due out Friday and is expected to show the second-to-last month of the year enjoyed strong payroll growth with economists forecasting nonfarm payrolls grew by 200,000 in November. The unemployment rate is also forecast to hold steady at 4.1%, a 17-year low . Elsewhere on the economic schedule, investors will get readings on the services sector and consumer sentiment. On the earnings side, things will be a bit slower with results expected from AutoZone ( AZO ), H&R Block ( HRB ), Dollar General ( DG ), and Broadcom ( BRCM ). In Washington, D.C., investors will monitor progress on tax reform after the Senate in the overnight hours on Saturday passed its version of a tax bill. The Senate and the House will now work to reconcile their bills to present a unified plan to President Donald Trump to be signed into law. Markets will also keep an eye on any new developments in the Mueller probe into Russian interference in the U.S. election after President Donald Trumps former national security advisor Michael Flynn plead guilty on Friday to lying to the FBI about his contact with Russian officials. Donald Trump (L) with his former national security advisor Michael Flynn. This news initially roiled markets , sending the Dow down by as many as 400 points on Friday, though the major averages recovered through the day and closed the week mixed as the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost ground while the Dow and S&P 500 both logged gains. Economic calendar Monday: Factory Orders, October (-0.4% expected; +1.4% previously); Durable goods orders, October (-1% expected; -1.2% previously) Tuesday: Trade balance, October (-$47.4 billion expected; -$43.5 previously); Markit U.S. services PMI, November (55.3 expected; 54.7 previously); ISM non-manufacturing PMI, November (59 expected; 60.1 previously) Wednesday: ADP private payrolls, November (+190,000 expected; +235,000 previously); Nonfarm productivity, third quarter (+3.3% expected; 3% previously) Thursday: Initial jobless claims (240,000 expected; 238,000 previously); Consumer credit balances, October (+16.35 billion expected; +$20.83 billion previously) Friday: Nonfarm payrolls, November (+200,000 expected; +261,000 previously); Unemployment rate (4.1% expected; 4.1% previously); Average hourly earnings, month-on-month (+0.3% expected; +0% previously); Average hourly earnings, year-on-year (+2.7% expected; +2.4% previously); Wholesale inventories, October (+0.2% expected; -0.4% previously); University of Michigan consumer sentiment, December (99 expected; 98.5 previously) Story continues Do corporate tax cuts work? Early Saturday, Senate Republicans passed their version of a bill to cut taxes which paves the way for President Donald Trump to sign one of his primary campaign promises into law in the coming weeks. Senate and House Republicans will now come together to reconcile the differences between their bills to find a unified path for lower corporate taxes to bring to Trumps desk. And while supporters of the bill may list a litany of reasons for why this move was needed, or why this move will be good for the economy, the Trump administration has long maintained that economic growth would be the main result of cutting taxes. And this economic growth the thinking went, would be the direct result of corporations increasing investment due to lower tax burdens. Donald Trump will be happy to speak to his supporters after the Senates move to cut taxes. Kevin Hassett, the chair of Trumps council of economic advisors, has said that American families would see $4,000 in additional wages over the next decade as a result of increased investment from corporations benefitting from lower taxes. But Joe LaVorgna, chief economist for the Americas at Nataxis, outlined in a note circulated Friday that the last several decades of evidence lends little to the idea that lower taxes boost investment in a meaningful way. LaVorgna writes that gross business investment as a share of GDP since 1960, averaging 13% over time with a standard deviation of 1.3%, meaning that there have been few major changes in the investment tendencies of American businesses. In 1986, when the Reagan administration passed its tax cut which Trump has so often said he would seek to outdo the corporate rate fell from 40% to 34%. This lower rate, however, did not shift the investment habits of corporations. In fact, investment has fallen in the roughly thirty years since this cut passed relative to the 26 years tracked by LaVorgna before this cut, though corporate taxes have been lower during that period. From 1960 to 1986, the corporate tax rate averaged 48%, and the gross investment share of GDP averaged 13.3%, LaVorgna writes. From 1987 to present, the corporate tax rate has averaged about 35%, and the gross investment share of GDP averaged 12.7%. Even if we take out 2009, when the share plunged to a record low of 9.8%, the average increases just a tenth to 12.8%. Clearly there is no correlation between the tax rate and the share of business investment in the economy. Lower corporate taxes have shown little tendency to increase corporate investment over the last sixty years. (Source: Nataxis) Skepticism towards the positive impacts that lower corporate tax rates would have across markets and the economy, however, is nothing new. Back in February we were writing about work that showed corporate profitability seen by many as the obvious beneficiary of a lower tax burden has had little correlation with the overall corporate tax rate. Now, corporate commentary during third quarter earnings season indicated there was some optimism around tax cuts passing, but few specifics were given on what companies would do if they were to see a lower U.S. corporate tax rate in the coming years. Goldman Sachs CFO Marty Chavez said on the banks earnings call that companies looking to make deals werent working around the uncertain prospects for a new tax code. But perhaps the clearest explanation of what the tax code can and cannot do for the economy came from NYU finance professor Aswath Damodaran, who told Yahoo Finance in January 2017 that the, The tax code is a bludgeon. When you change the tax code trying to make companies do the right thing, you almost always have a law of unintended consequences. Damodaran added that, tax codes have never been effective behavior modifiers. The promise of investment against the reality of investment in a lower-tax environment has so far borne that out. Myles Udland is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @MylesUdland Read more from Myles here: Walmarts strong quarter shows why Amazon had to buy Whole Foods Foreign investors might be the key to forecasting a U.S. recession Its been 17 years since U.S. consumers felt this good about the economy TOM LEE: Bitcoin is an important asset for investors to own || The combined jackpots for the next Mega Millions and Powerball are $783 million — here's when they're drawn: Mega Millions AP Photo/G-Jun Yam The Mega Millions jackpot is up to $343 million, while the Powerball jackpot is up to $440 million. Mega Millions' next drawing is scheduled for Tuesday evening, with Powerball to follow on Wednesday evening. Math still suggests buying a lottery ticket is a losing bet. It's a big week for the lottery. The Mega Millions drawing scheduled for 11 p.m. ET on Tuesday has an estimated jackpot of $343 million, as of about noon ET, and the Powerball drawing scheduled for 10:59 p.m. Wednesday has an estimated prize of $440 million. That's about $783 million between the two multistate lotteries. Of course, the odds of winning either, let alone both, are astronomically stacked against ticket buyers. Indeed, Business Insider looked at the similarly large jackpots before last weekend's drawings and concluded that, even though the headline prizes were getting pretty big, the math suggests buying a ticket would not be a winning bet . Regardless, good luck to anyone playing either or both of this week's drawings! NOW WATCH: PAUL KRUGMAN: Bitcoin is a more obvious bubble than housing was See Also: Here's how your tax bracket will change in 2018 Here's how likely it is there will be a winner in the Powerball drawing on Saturday We did the math to see if it's worth buying a Powerball or Mega Millions lottery ticket SEE ALSO: We did the math to see whether it's worth buying a Powerball or Mega Millions lottery ticket || Coinbase halts Bitcoin Cash transactions over insider trading fears: The start of Bitcoin Cash trading on the Coinbase exchange was supposed to be a great opportunity to get into a major new cryptocurrency while its values weren't yet through the roof , but that's... not how it panned out. Coinbase froze transactions just a few hours after they began in order to investigate numerous accusations of insider trading. Observers noticed that the price of Bitcoin Cash rose sharply before news of its availability on the exchange broke, and that there was a sharp selloff virtually the moment trading started. From a cursory glance, it looked like someone knew about the Coinbase move in advance, triggered a flurry of trading that led to a spike in price, and took advantage of this for a massive windfall. Coinbase chief Brian Armstrong stressed in a blog post that there was no evidence of insider trading "at this time," but also promised a zero-tolerance approach. The CEO said "will not hesitate" to immediately fire anyone shown to be trading on non-public info, and insisted that the company had repeatedly warned employees against the practice. Staff are barred from any trading for "several weeks." It's not certain when Bitcoin Cash transactions will return to the exchange. Whenever they do, the unusual activity is a reminder that digital currency is still a relatively untamed space. Even with futures trading and tighter regulation in place to add some stability, virtual money still tends to be volatile -- it doesn't take much to create havoc. I dont care how you slice it, this is INSIDER TRADING! Someone with alot of Bitcoin knew @coinbase would add Bitcoin Cash BCH and took one BIG chunk of profit from the #flippening . Whoever you are you are your making crypto look like wall st. Shame on you. pic.twitter.com/g9YU9jGm0T — CryptoSoldier (@NoTimeToSearch) December 20, 2017 || Blockchain-powered Video Streaming Project White Rabbit is to Spend $1 Million to Onboard Streaming Sites: White Rabbit, a project created and developed by experienced filmmakers and software engineers, has announced the launch of so-called Partner Streaming Sites (PSS) program in its official blogpost.
White Rabbit was conceived as a browser plug-in enabling users to find any legal content they may want online, store it in the user library called the Rabbit Hole, and, what is most important, directly pay to the film’s or series’ copyright holders thus moving intermediaries and higher prices aside.
The program announced by the project invites all kinds of video streaming services to participate in the development and evolution of what the project calls “the next generation streaming ecosystem.”
The blog post specifies that the project is willing to spend nearly $1 million of its token sale proceedings to onboard websites and services which are to be “most innovative, brand-conscious, film and series loving streaming sites either out there, planned, or about to launch.”
The post goes on to explain:
“Improving the market means improving the situation of both users and producers. […] With PSS producers will find sites and users dedicated to films like theirs, allowing focused marketing and release campaigns matching their target audience.”
Any project willing to join White Rabbit’s ecosystem will receive up to $100,000 from the amounts raised over the forthcoming token sale, with 10% of all proceedings upon the service’s launch also going to the Partner Streaming Sites program.
White Rabbit’s presale campaign is set to launch in the first quarter of 2018 seeking to raise 25,000 ETH as a hard cap.
In order to participate in the partner program, the interested services should contact theWhite Rabbit team via email.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Crude Oil Price Update – Needs to Hold $60.42 or Reversal Top Could Form || Wall St. bellwether Jefferies posts record investment banking results: Investment bank Jefferies, a bellwether for Wall Street, reported record fourth-quarter results on Tuesday, and it highlights an investment banking boom but also a trading slowdown.
For the quarter ended November 30, Jefferies saw net earnings come in at $90 million compared to $87 million in the prior year’s fourth quarter. Total net revenues jumped than 10.9%, coming in at $823 million versus $742 million in the same period a year ago.
Investment banking posted a record quarter, with net revenues of $529 million versus $415 million a year ago, a 27% increase. For the year, investment banking revenue came in at $1.76 billion versus $1.19 billion for the prior year, a 48% increase.
Jefferies, whose parent company is Leucadia National (LUK), the holding company that’s often referred to as a “Baby Berkshire Hathaway,” has often been viewed as a bellwether for other Wall Street banks. That’s because Jefferies reports on a slightly different fiscal quarter that’s a month before the other banks. Jefferies ranks No. 1 this year for LBO loans in the U.S. with 91 deals, up from the No. 8 spot in 2016, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
To be sure, Jefferies is becoming a little less of a bellwether these days as the firm has deemphasized its fixed income, balance sheet-driven businesses and ramped up its investment banking business.
“We have been building and diversifying our Investment bank since 1990 and have been even more aggressive these past ten years since the crises,” Jefferies CEO Rich Handler told Yahoo Finance in an email. “At this point, we have every product and service our clients need and we combine it with deep industry expertise across all the major industries. Our results reflect all this investment and our revenues were strong across the board in debt, equity, and convertible underwriting and advising on mergers, acquisitions, and restructurings.”
In the last half of 2017 alone, Jefferies posted over $1 billion of investment banking revenue. Mergers-and-acquisitions business and leveraged finance business were particular bright spots.
The results from trading stocks and bonds might provide another clue for the rest of the Street, which has struggled amid low market volatility. Jefferies’ revenue from trading stocks and bonds came in at $289 million compared to $325 million a year prior, a 12% decrease.
Breaking it down, equities net revenues for the fourth quarter climbed 10% year-over-year coming in at $194.4 million compared to $175.9 million a year ago, which should bode well for others. Meanwhile, fixed income dropped off, coming in at $94.7 million compared to $149.4 million in the same period a year ago, a 36% decrease.
“Equities was solid and fixed income started off strong but then was very slow after the first quarter,” Handler said. “This is a function of reduced volatility, tight bid-ask spreads, and low volumes. We also made a concerted effort two years ago to resize our fixed income balance sheet. The emphasis has been on building the bank and using the trading divisions to support that growth.”
On Wall Street, fixed income trading is still slow, so it’s not a surprise that other firms have been talking down their fourth-quarter results. Earlier this month, JPMorgan (JPM) and Bank of America (BAC) said theirtrading revenues had slumped 15% in the quarter.
Looking ahead to 2018, Handler expects corporate tax reform to bode well for businesses.
“Aside from some inevitable one-time write-offs due to the change in value of NOLs, we see this as a very big positive,” Handler said. “It will help the earnings of many of our clients as well as our own on a go forward basis.”
As forthe cryptocurrencycraze with bitcoin (BTC) continuing to touch new highs, the firm is keeping an eye on it.
“Many smarter people than us seem to think this is real and will be the currency of the future and others equally smarter than us believe it will end badly. We are paying attention and learning,” Handler said.
Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her onTwitter.
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• New York’s wealthiest are threatening a mass exodus because of the GOP tax plan || AOL Co-Founder Steve Case Says Bitcoin Mania Reminds Him of the Dot Com Boom: This article originally ran in Term Sheet, Fortune’s newsletter about deals and dealmakers.Sign up here.
Steve Case, the billionaire co-founder of AOL, wrapped up his sixthRise of the Resttour this fall — a nationwide tour to 33 emerging tech hubs between the coasts. “It was time to take this whole effort to the next level,” he toldTerm Sheet.
Case, who is now the CEO and chairman of investment firmRevolution, teamed up with J.D. Vance, the author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” to form a new seed fund focused on startups located in the so-called flyover states of America. Several weeks ago, Case announced that the fund has raised $150 million from an iconic roster of backers includingAmazonCEO Jeff Bezos,Starbuckschairman Howard Schultz, and KKR co-founder Henry Kravis.The New York Timessaid it “may be the greatest concentration of American wealth and power in one investment fund.”
Fortunecaught up with Case to discuss the fund, the state of American innovation, and the nation’s obsession with Bitcoin.
FORTUNE: Why did you decide to create the Rise of the Rest seed fund and what is your investment thesis?
CASE:The fund came out of our work around Rise of the Rest over the last four years where we’ve visited 33 cities, completed six different tours, and met a lot of entrepreneurs and regional investors. It was time to take this whole effort to the next level. That led us to create the seed fund. We decided to reach out to some of the most respected, iconic individuals in the country. We wanted not just their capital to invest, but also the credibility they could bring that would shine a spotlight on entrepreneurs in the middle of the country who are building great companies.
We’re investing outside of Silicon Valley and New York City and Boston. As you know, the data shows that 75% of venture capital went to three states — California, New York, and Massachusetts — so we’re trying to invest in other places. We won’t lead rounds and we won’t take board seats. We want to be a catalyst investor, so our $150 million ends up being over a billion dollars as it gets invested in these companies. And some of the LPs in this fund are interested in making direct follow-on investments, so they’re looking to us to not just generate good returns from the fund but also interesting deal flow that might be of interest to them down the road.
The fund’s backers are a Who’s Who of American business. How did you get those entrepreneurs and investors on board?
CASE:I knew virtually all of them from things we’ve done over the years. As the visibility of Rise of the Rest grew, some people called and said they were interested in what we were doing and would like to co-invest. Rather than doing it in a deal-by-deal or city-by-city kind of way, we decided to create this fund.
In general, there were three motivations that led to people committing. One was they believed in the investment thesis that there were great entrepreneurs building great companies everywhere, and they recognized that the valuations of the companies in these Rise of the Rest cities tended to be lower. The second was about deal flow — a number were interested in investing in these cities but didn’t have the networks. The third was that people generally resonated with the idea that this would have impact and would drive more startup creation, and therefore job creation, in more places.
You went on your sixth Rise of the Rest tour this fall. What are some hubs of innovation investors should be paying attention to?
CASE:They should be paying attention to the rest of the country. It’s crazy that so much capital goes to so few entrepreneurs in so few places. A lot of investors, frankly, have blinders on. There are still investors who believe all the great entrepreneurs are in Silicon Valley and that all breakthrough companies are going to be based there. The reality is that’s not true.
In the first wave of the Internet, it was regionally distributed.Microsoftstarted in Albuquerque, N.M.,IBMwas in Boca Raton, Fla., Dell was in Austin, Texas. It’s only in the second wave of the Internet where it was mostly about software, and that’s when Silicon Valley rose to prominence and then dominance. But in the third wave — which is about disrupting important aspects of our lives like healthcare, farming, and education — the domain expertise will be important again. Being close to partners will be critical. And that’s what we’re seeing across the country. We’re seeing health tech innovation in cities like Baltimore because of Johns Hopkins University and Cleveland because of the Cleveland Clinic. In terms of ag-tech, there are interesting things happening in St. Louis, Mo., in Lincoln, Nebraska, and in Louisville, Ky.
My main message to investors is to start getting on planes and visiting these entrepreneurs, not just getting in their cars or getting on their bikes to drive to the founders nearby.
Cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, and initial coin offerings are rising in popularity within the tech community. Are you seeing this in Middle America?
CASE:We are. One of the companies that won our pitch competition last month was a company using blockchain for real estate around titles called SafeChain.
Our view is that blockchain is a core fundamental technology that will end up having a profound impact on many industries, not just the financial service industry. The boom and mania around Bitcoin in recent months reminds me a little of the Dot Com boom and mania 20 years ago. I think there will be some winners and losers and we’ll need to separate the core technologies from some of the current implementations. We need to be a little more cautious around things like ICOs — some of them will work out but many of them won’t. It’s not surprising to me that the SEC has started to look harder at them because using some of these new technologies to raise capital in a less regulated way with fewer consumer protections is not sustainable.
Having been through the Dot Com bubble, what advice would you give to entrepreneurs raising capital through ICOs and to the people participating in them?
CASE:At the core, it’s about focusing on building durable, sustainable businesses and not being as focused on the capital-raising side. Sometimes the focus is too much on raising capital and announcing some big round, but ultimately, it’s about building a durable business.
Twenty years ago, there were many companies that went public with little in the way of revenue and generally no profits. Some of them ended up moving on to be great successes, but many fell by the wayside. You have to be enthusiastic by the possibilities, but with eyes wide open about the risks. It should be about investing in great entrepreneurs building great companies and less around speculating on cryptocurrencies and certain financial instruments.
The last time we talked, you mentioned the need to institute a “Startup Visa Program” to open the door for immigrant entrepreneurs. Are you seeing a lot of immigrant entrepreneurs starting companies between the coasts?
CASE:We are. As I mentioned then, I am worried about our current immigration policy, which creates the specter that we will be less of a magnet for talent than we have been in the last century. There’s now a global battle for talent, and some of the recent changes to the immigration policy — making it harder for people to come here and stay here — are unhelpful and will ultimately hurt America’s innovation economy. We need to win the battle for talent, and when people want to come here, start companies here, and create jobs here, we should encourage that instead of scare them away. We need to make sure we continue to have policies that enable us to continue to be that magnet.
Based on all the pitches you have heard since the beginning of 2017, what are some trends or key areas you think Term Sheet readers should be paying attention to?
CASE:One trend to pay attention to is the regionalization of entrepreneurship. I think people will be surprised by some of the companies that pop up in the next few years all across the country. Another mega-theme is the whole idea of the third wave and how the next wave of the Internet will be more integrated with our everyday lives. Technologies will be more seamless and more invisible, and they have the power to disrupt some of the largest sectors of the economy. In this next wave, partnerships will become critical to doing business, government policy and regulation will become more important, and there will be an added focus on perseverance.
It’s estimated that400 million to 800 millionof today’s jobs will be automated by 2030. What do you think automation means for the future of work?
CASE:I share the concern about the pace of technology disruption. I do think that AI and robotics are going to displace a lot of jobs, but this is not a new concern. Two hundred years ago, over 90% of us worked on farms, and now less than 2% of us do. I don’t think you can really debate whether new technologies will disrupt jobs. The only question is, are we going to be creative enough to create new jobs to offset the jobs we’re losing?
If we’re only backing startups in places like California, New York, and Massachusetts and not in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, we shouldn’t be surprised that there are a lot of people who feel left out and left behind because therearepeople who are left out and left behind.
It was pretty sobering when we did the sixth Rest of the Rise tour. We visited five states — Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin — and each of those states got 1% of venture capital last year. One percent. California last year got 50% of venture capital. So essentially California gets every week what some of these large states get every year. Therefore, the job creation engines in those other states are sputtering, and that’s why people in living in those states are frustrated and anxious about the future. That’s why it’s so important to level the playing field and have a more inclusive innovation economy.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
#coincheck の26日22:00から直近2時間の変動率。
値上がり率が1番大きかったのは $XEM で2.1%、値下がり率が1番大きいのは $ETH の-0.7%。
#BITCOIN $LTC $REP $XRP $LSK $ETC $BCH $DASH $FCTpic.twitter.com/IZZ4XVJvl0 || こんばんは。 bitcoin priceという || こんばんは。 bitcoin priceという || Tiffany Haddishちゃんが || こんばんは。 bitcoin priceという || @THR Bitcoin The new global currency. Gain your financial freedom! Lets get you started today!! || こんばんは。 bitcoin priceという || Tiffany Haddishちゃんが || こんばんは。 bitcoin priceという || Le cours du #Bitcoin est de 12152.47€ (14789.92$) #Blockchain #Cryptocurrency
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Trend: down || Prices: 10868.40, 11359.40, 11259.40, 11171.40, 11440.70, 11786.30, 11296.40, 10106.30, 10221.10, 9170.54
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2019-06-04]
BTC Price: 7707.77, BTC RSI: 48.81
Gold Price: 1323.40, Gold RSI: 69.02
Oil Price: 53.48, Oil RSI: 24.37
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Term Sheet April 25, Uber and Income Inequality, IPO Taxes, Deutsche Bank's Merger Death,: MERGER DEATH Hello Term Sheet readersLucinda here until Polinas return Monday. In the meantime, send deals, thoughts, random musings on life and a timeline for the end of drivers licenses to [email protected] . A potential bank with $2 trillion assets is dead. Germanys Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank have ended merger talks, after announcing formal discussions just a month ago follow pressure from investors displeased with the two banks shoddy performance. The deal would have given Deutsche Bank the security of a consumer deposit base from Commerzbank while creating back-office synergies. But the two were unable to figure out how to overcome both the challenges of integrating the banks technology, back-offices and other operations, the Wall Street Journal reports. Now other European marriages may be on the table. UBS and Deutsche Banks asset management arms are now reportedly in serious merger talks, while UniCredit is said to have flirted with the idea of a tie-up with Commerzbank . SUPERMARKETS : At the same time, a $9.4 billion deal that would have created the U.K.s biggest supermarket chain, was formally blocked on antitrust concerns Thursday. The U.K.s Competition and Markets Authority said plans for J Sainsbury to merge with Walmarts U.K. unit, Asda , would have raised prices for consumers. That decision came though the combined giant offered concessions: $1.3 billion in price cuts and the offloading of as many as 150 stores. Now, Sainsbury CEO Mike Coupe, who sold investors on the need for such a merger, will have to convince those same investors that he has a viable alternative plan even as Sainsburys market share loses ground to no other than Asda. IPO TAX: The headline grabbing windfall investors, founders, and early employees are about to come into in public markets is the epitome of the American dream. Work hard and you get millions and billions. That narrative gets less rosy when the new and shiny gig economy intersects a decades-long trend of falling wages in the low skilled labor force. Now as executives at Uber become some kind of -naire selling their IPOs on an automated future, the low-skilled workers that make up the companys legs are frustrated over their considerably lower paysaying they do not make a living wage. Uber drivers in major cities are now also preparing to strike for 12 hours on May 8 in the hopes of greater pay, basic benefits, and more transparency regarding wage practices. The reality is that Uber is a part of a larger trend in the economy of shrinking wages for low skilled labor force. That group is doing terribly, Stanford Graduate School of Business Economics Professor Paul Oyer. Its not an Uber specific thing, and it isnt Uber that is causing low payits the natural forces in the economy, through globalization and autonomization, that are doing it. But it does become their problem to make people with very reasonable complaints happy. Think, for example, to the fast food industry, which itself is facing automation . Uber, for its part, appears to be heading in the same directionit is spending heavily on a future where self-driving vehicles may be the norm, and drivers are obsolete. The firm spent over $457 million in 2018 to research and develop a unit focused on futuristic projects including autonomous vehicles and flying cars . Larger trend or not, the gap between what founders are making compared to their workers have become a sign of income inequality. A San Francisco lawmaker, Supervisor Gordon Mar, is currently circulating a motion that could place a payroll tax stock-based compensation, per Bloomberg . That proposal is likely to come in May . We know corporate IPOs alone did not cause income inequality and our social crises, Bloomberg quotes from Mars prepared remarks. But they have, and will, exacerbate it. So today Im announcing a proposal to tax the wealth generated by IPOs to fund programs to address income inequality. Regardless whether or not the motion is approved and cemented in November via a ballot, driverless cars are years out into the future. Uber will have to find a way to appease drivers in order to continue scalingand thats no easy task for a firm also seeking to please public market investors. LINKS Why Netflix Is Binging On Junk Bonds (by Erik Sherman) Bitcoin Accounts for 95% of Cryptocurrency Crime, Says Analyst (by Jen Wieczner) The U.K.If You Can Believe It May Soon Face Yet Another Referendum (by David Meyer) Verizon Media CEO Reveals His Plan For Reviving Struggling Online Business (by Danielle Abril) Saudi Arabia to set up $400 million worth in venture capital funds . Ontario Teachers VC platform . Blackstone Group to pay $1.1 million to tenants . Who knew that 6 people die in national parks a week . Facebook expects to be fined $5 billion for privacy issues . The Shelby Mafia . Elon Musk looks for more cash . Teslas solar business keeps cooling off . Also Tesas insurance product . VENTURE DEALS SalesLoft , an Atlanta-based sales engagement platform, raised $70 million in Series D funding. Insight Partners led the round, and was joined by investors including HarbourVest Partners. FullStory , an Atlanta-based software company focused on customer experience analytics, raised $32 million in Series C funding. Stripes led the round. Digital Guardian , a Waltham, Mass.-based data protection platform provider, raised $30 million in funding. LLR Partners led the round. Labster , A Danish VR maker for STEM students, raised $21 million in Series B funding. Owl Ventures led the round, and was joined by investors including Balderton Capital, Northzone, and Swisscom Ventures. Omiexperience , a Brazilian fintech for SMB billing and inventory management, raised around US$ 20.4 million from Riverwood Capital. Blueshift , a San Francisco-based customer data activation platform, raised $15 million in Series B funding. SoftBank Ventures Asia led the round, and was joined by investors including Storm Ventures and Nexus Venture Partners . Credly , a New York City-based digital credentialing platform, raised $11.1 million in funding. ZOMA Capital, Strada Education Network, New Markets Venture Partners, University Ventures, Pearson, Lumina Foundation, and Lion Brothers Company were the investors . Happy Returns , a Santa Monica-based provider of return and logistics solutions, raised funding through a strategic investment from PayPal as part of an $11 million round. Onera Health , an Palo Alto, California and Netherlands-based provider of sleep diagnostic solutions and services, raised over $9.3 million in Series A funding. Investors included Jazz Pharmaceuticals and imec.xpand. Suuchi , a NJ-based startup focused on supply chains in fashion brands, raised $8 million in growth equity in a round led by Edison Partners. Saleswhale , a Singapore-based AI sales emails automation platform, raised $5.3 million in Series A funding. Monks Hill Ventures led the round, and was joined by investors including GREE Ventures, Wavemaker Partners, and Y Combinator. InfoTycoon , an Atlanta-based management platform for the multifamily property industry, raised $5 million in seed funding. Shadow Ventures led the round. Embrace , a Culver City, Calif.-based provider of performance management technology for mobile, raised $4.5 million in funding led by Pritzker Group Venture Capital. Greycroft Partners and Vy Capital were also investors. Motimatic , a San Francisco-based firm aiming to prod advertising networks into achieving social good, raised $4 million in funding. City Light Capital led the round and was joined by investors including University Ventures and New Markets Venture Partners. Synthesia , a UK-based startup developing video AI technology, raised $3.1m in funding . LDV Capital led the round, and was joined by investors including MMC Ventures , Seedcamp, VAS Ventures and TransferWise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus. Simergent , an Oklahoma City-based creator of home dialysis, raised $2.8 million in seed funding. i2E Inc led the round. TripScout , a Chicago-based travel app, raised $2.1 million in seed funding. Corazon Capital led the round. MakersPlace , a San Francisco peer-to-peer digital creations marketplace on the blockchain, raised $2 million seed funding. Uncork Capital led the round, and was joined by investors including Draper Dragon Fund and Abstract Ventures. PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS Hardy Capital acquired LD Vision Group , a Canadian and New York-based eyecare retailer. Financial terms werent disclosed. Francisco Partners invested in PayScale , a Seattle-based SaaS-based compensation analytics provider. Willcrest Partners and Curran Companies recapped Precision Aerospace , a Phoenix-based provider of metal assemblies for aerospace and industrial applications. Financial terms werent disclosed. HZO , a Raleigh, N.C.-based provider of protective nanocoatings for electronics, raised $70 million in funding, including $40 million from undisclosed investors and $30 million in credit facilities from Cathay Bank. Rocky Mountain Excavating , a Castle Rock, Colo.-based provider of civil design and specialty construction services, merged with PLM Asphalt & Concrete , an Aurora, Colo.-based provider of concrete construction services currently a portfolio company of Peninsula Capital Partners and Silver Peak Partners . Financial terms werent disclosed. Ntiva , backed by Southfield Capital, acquired Diverse Technology Solutions , a New York-based cloud service provider for hosted data, voice and business IT solutions. Financial terms werent disclosed. CortiCare , a Carlsbad, Calif.-based telehealth services and EEG brain monitoring solutions, acquired Physicians Ancillary Services , a Rocky Hill, Conn.-based provider of ambulatory EEG services. HCAP Partners also invested. Financial terms werent disclosed. ClearCourse Partnership acquired NetXtra , a provider of intuitive integrated digital services to not-for-profit and e-commerce sectors. Varsity Healthcare Partners invested in Angels of Care , a provider of home health services to pediatric patients with complex medical conditions. OTHER DEALS Loon , a mobile network operator, raised $125 million from SoftBank Corp. subsidiary HAPSMobile. ASK Chemicals , a German maker or chemicals used in foundries, is up for sale, people close to the matter told Reuters. Rhone Capital backs the firm. Read more . Occidental Petroleum Corp offered a $38 billion bid for Anadarko Petroleum Corp. Read more. MongoDB acquired Realm , a mobile applications database, for $39 million. Read more . IPOs Hillhouse Capital is preparing for an IPO of some Chinese animal hospital assets that could raise $500 million, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg. Read more . GLP , a Singapore-based industrial-warehouse manager, is planning an IPO of its U.S. arm that could value it at $20 billion, per the Wall Street Journal. Read more . EXITS Turning Rock Partners sold its stake in Capital Square 1031 . Financial terms werent disclosed. Upland Software Inc acquired PostUp , an Austin-based provider of email and audience development technology for media industries from Transition Capital Partners and Petra Capital Partners. XRI , a portfolio company of Morgan Stanley Energy Partners , acquired Fountain Quail Water Treatment , an Irving, TX-based water treatment firm from Fountain Quail Energy Services , a portfolio company of CSL Capital Management . Financial terms werent disclosed. FIRMS + FUNDS Arsenal Capital Partners raised $2.36 billion of committed capital for its fifth fund. Bond Capital , the growth equity firm spun out of Kleiner Perkins last year , raised $1.25 billion for its first fund, per Axios. Read more . Hosen Capital is looking to raise as much as $1 billion to buy stakes in Asian food producers, Bloomberg reports. Read more . WNG Capital raised $438 million for its WNG Aircraft Opportunities Fund II. Five Elms Capital , a growth equity firm focused on founder-owned software companies, closed its fourth fund with over $300 million in limited partner commitments. http://www.fiveelms.com AV8 Ventures , a firm focused on automation backed by Allianz, has closed a 150 million ( $170 million) TechCrunch reports. Tribe Capital is aiming for $150 million for its first fund. PEOPLE 137 Ventures named Nicholas Procaccini as investment partner. Procaccini started at the firm as an associate in 2014. SHARE TODAYS TERM SHEET View this email in your browser . Lucinda Shen compiled todays Term Sheet. Send deal announcements here . || Bitcoin Hovers Over $5,250 as Top Oil Futures See Slight Uptrend: Friday, April 19 The top 20 cryptocurrencies are reporting mixed movements on the day by press time, as bitcoin ( BTC ) hovers over the $5,250 mark. Market visualization courtesy of Coin360 Market visualization courtesy of Coin360 Bitcoin is down a fraction of a percent on the day, trading at $5,264 at press time, according to CoinMarketCap . Looking at its weekly chart, the coin is over 3.5%. Bitcoin 7-day price chart Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap Ether ( ETH ) is holding onto its position as the largest altcoin by market cap, which is nearly $18.2 billion. The second-largest altcoin, Ripple ( XRP ), has a market cap of $13.9 billion at press time. CoinMarketCap data shows that ETH is up over half of a percent over the last 24 hours. At press time, ETH is trading around $173. On the week, the coin has also seen its value increase by nearly 3.5%. Ethereum 7-day price chart Ethereum 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap XRP is down nearly 2% over the last 24 hours and is currently trading at around $0.331 . On the week, the coin is up a modest 0.6%. Ripple 7-day price chart Ripple 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap Recently, Hbus, the operator of the United States -based version of major crypto exchange Huobi.com, launched three trading pairs for XRP . Among the top 20 cryptocurrencies, the coin reporting the most notable price action is binance coin ( BNB ), which is up 8.8%. As Cointelegraph reported yesterday, Binance has launched its mainnet, Binance Chain, and expects to execute the swap of its native BNB token on April 23. At press time, the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies is $179 billion, over 3% higher than the value it reported a week ago. Total market capitalization 24-hour chart Total market capitalization 24-hour chart. Source: CoinMarketCap In traditional markets, the United States stock market is seeing little movement so far today, with the S&P 500 up 4.58% and the Nasdaq up 0.02% at press time. The CBOE Volatility Index ( VIX ), on the other hand, has lost a solid 4.05% on the day at press time. Major oil futures and indexes are a slight uptrend today, with WTI Crude up 0.31%, Brent Crude up 0.49% and Mars US up 0.35% at press time. The OPEC Basket is also up 1% and the Canadian Crude Index has seen no price change by press time, according to OilPrices . Related Articles: Bitcoin Holds Over $5,300 as Top Altcoins See Mixed Signals Bitcoin Hovers Over $5,250 as Top Cryptos See Growth Bitcoin Approaches $5,250, US Stocks Slightly Down Bitcoin Holds Near $5,100 as US Stocks Stand Still || Hackers Steal $40 Million Worth of Bitcoin From Binance Exchange: (Bloomberg) -- Binance, one of the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchanges, said hackers withdrew 7,000 Bitcoins worth about $40 million via a single transaction in a large scale security breach, the latest in a long line of thefts in the digital currency space. The hackers used a variety of techniques including phishing and viruses to obtain a large amount of user data, Binance said in a post on its website. There may be additional accounts that have been affected but not yet identified, Binance said. The largest digital tokens including Bitcoin slid about 3 percent after the disclosure, then recovered most of the drop. The company will use its Secure Asset Fund for Users, an emergency insurance fund, to cover the incident in full and no user funds will be affected, it said. The transaction was limited to Binances BTC hot wallet, which contains about 2 percent of the companys Bitcoin holdings, according to the post. Other wallets are secure and unharmed, the exchange said. The 7,000 Bitcoins are worth roughly $40 million, based on current Bitcoin composite pricing calculated by Bloomberg. Bitcoin pared its decline to 0.5 percent as of 10:53 a.m. in London, after earlier dropping as much as 3.1 percent from Tuesday. The broader Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index also dipped. The hackers had the patience to wait, and execute well-orchestrated actions through multiple seemingly independent accounts at the most opportune time, according to the post, written by Zhao Changpeng, Binances chief executive officer. We must conduct a thorough security review. The security review will include all parts of our systems and data. Binance estimates the review will take a week, during which time all deposits and withdrawals will remain suspended, while trading will continue to be enabled to allow investors to adjust their positions. The hackers may still control some user accounts and may use those to influence prices in the meantime, the exchange said. Story continues The hackers structured the transaction to bypass existing security checks, and Binance was unable to block the withdrawal before it was executed, according to the post. Once the transaction was executed, it triggered alarms on Binances system and all withdrawals were stopped immediately after that, the post said. In a tweet linking to the post, Zhao said it was not the best of days, but we will stay transparent. (Updates price reaction, from third paragraph.) --With assistance from Todd White. To contact the reporter on this story: Eric Lam in Hong Kong at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Anstey at [email protected], Cormac Mullen For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com ©2019 Bloomberg L.P. || “Bye Gold, Buy Bitcoin”: Grayscale Urges Investors to Drop Gold for BTC: Grayscale Investmentsis weighing in on the gold versus bitcoin debate. Its two sats? Drop the bars, buy the bits (and the dip).
The Digital Currency Group off-shoot has launched a“Drop Gold” campaignthat encourages investors to ditch the old asset for its digital counterpart, bitcoin.
“Everyone loves a piece of gold jewelry, but is gold really the best investment in today’s digital world?” This is the rhetorical question that the website challenges its readers to consider. “Gold represents the past,” it continues, saying that Nixon dropped the gold standard that backed USD back in the ’70s.
This statement, accompanied by a caricature of the Watergate president, is tinged with irony. Nixon nixing the gold standard officially cemented the USD as a fiat currency, and this has become one of the primary examples bitcoin advocates cite when discussing why the cryptocurrency matters.
With the campaign comes a commercial featuring suits and financiers lugging around hordes of gold. “Why did you invest in gold? Did you invest in the past?” the commercial asks its viewer, asserting that “gold shouldn’t weigh down your portfolio.” Unencumbered after dropping their own gold holdings, a man and woman race through the streets of a city which is populated with people struggling to schlep caches of gold by way of a shopping cart, baby carriages and a dolly.
Coinciding with the commercial’s first mention of bitcoin in an ostensible (and cheeky) nod to the industry, a lamborghini comes skidding around a street corner with several hundred millions of dollars worth of gold in tow.
“Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are the future. They’re secure, borderless, and unlike gold, they actually have utility,” the commercial posits. This last point feels a bit too pointed and a tad ironic, considering it ignoresgold’s crucial utility(among other things) for computer circuits and the very hardware that allows us to access the internet and, by extension, bitcoin.
Toward the end of the 39-second ad, a woman is weeping over a trove of gold coins spilled at the subway entrance, and gold bars are literally raining down from the sky as they are flung from a helicopter in freefall, apparently weighed down by a net hoisting an inordinate quantity of gold bars.
The rest of website rehashes much of what the commercial emphasizes, harping on gold’s weight as an obvious downside to bitcoin, which, as a lighter and less-frictioned investment option, “is weightless and can be bought, sold, and transferred as easily as a text message.”
“It’s not that gold is bad,” it qualifies. “It’s just that bitcoin is better,” offering a link toan articleexplaining Grayscale’s reasoning.
That reasoning becomes more apparent down below as Grayscale promotes GBTC, its bitcoin investment vehicle.
This trust is one of many cryptocurrency investment vehicles that Grayscale offers, which includes ether, litecoin, stellar lumens, ethereum classic, zcash, xrp and bitcoin cash (most, if not all, of which are held by Grayscale’s parent company, Digital Currency Group). Its bitcoin investment trust was launched in 2013. According to the website, you can buy and sell GBTC with ally, Charles Schwab, E-Trade, Fidelity Investments, Interactive Brokers, TD Ameritrade, Trade Station and Vanguard.
The campaign is a bold crusade against what many believe to be bitcoin’s physical predecessor, and one that shares many of the Austrian values that bitcoiners believe give the digital alternative value over fiat. Gold bugsargue that the two are dissimilarand that bitcoin holds no intrinsic value; this argument is a bit like looking in the mirror,considering the retort from bitcoinersis one and the same.
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Bitcoin tests critical level of resistance as bull market beckons: Bitcoin has been testing the crucial $5,900 level of resistance over the weekend. A break above this level would effectively signify the end of the bear market. The cryptocurrency market has slumped during a gruelling downtrend over the past 16 months, with Bitcoin falling to as low as $3,150 after achieving an all-time high of $20,000 in December 2017. However, a new-found sense of confidence and optimism has returned to the digital assets ecosystem, causing several coins to rally more than 100% since the turn of the year. Ethereum has been one of the top performing cryptocurrencies, rising 113% from the $82 low on December 14 2018. Why the $5,900 level is so pivotal The $5,900 level has been key since the final phase of 2017s bull run. In November 2017, Bitcoin fell 25% from $7,800 to $5,900 before bouncing violently. It then rallied to its $20,000 all-time high within a month. The market topped out in December, resulting in the beginning of a downtrend in January and February. The February sell-off resulted in a 65% decline in one month, with a bounce finally coming at the $5,900 level again. This was the second time this level was used as support in a matter of months, with the horizontal trendline continuing to offer support throughout 2018. Bitcoin touched this trendline three more times in 2018 before eventually succumbing to downside pressure in November. BTCUSD The resulting breakdown saw a 50% decline in Bitcoin, exemplifying the importance of the $5,900 level. Levels of support often turn into resistance once they are broken. The recent stab at the $5,900 level is an example of this. Its rare, but not unheard of, for price to climb above resistance on the first or second attempt, but whats more likely is three or four attempts before the level of resistance is truly broken. However, the recent price action presents a notable short opportunity as the saying goes: Buy at support and sell at resistance. Story continues If price does in fact get rejected from this level, it could demonstrate that the market is simply too immature for another bull market and that we need to consolidate lower in order to establish strength from a fundamental standpoint. Potential downside targets remain at $5,350, $4,800, $4,200, and $1,800. Dont forget the golden cross in 2014 Alongside the recent price action to the upside, Bitcoin experienced a golden cross on the daily chart with the 55 exponential moving average (EMA) crossing above the 200 EMA. This usually suggests short-term momentum is on the rise, with continuation in price action expected. However, Bitcoin has a history of ignoring the golden cross rule book. In July 2015, many believed the bear market had reached its conclusion, with Bitcoin rallying 16% after the shorter time-frame moving average crossed the 200 EMA to the upside. golden cross Instead, Bitcoin was rejected from the $312 level before subsequently falling 37% to $200, with the moving averages crossing back to the downside. A 37% decline from here would see Bitcoin fall back below $4,000, which could indicate a new phase of the ongoing bear market. If an upcoming daily candle manages to close above $5,900, this theory would be invalidated. Indicators suggest downside is coming The daily stochastics indicator looks like it wants to cross to the downside as short-term momentum has shown signs of exhaustion. The last time the daily stochastics crossed to the downside, Bitcoins price dropped 10%, although it soon recovered. The weekly relative strength index (RSI) is at its highest point since January 2018 as it approaches the bullish control zone. RSI In 2017, the weekly RSI remained above 53 for the entire year. It also bounced off 62 on three separate occasions. The RSI is currently residing at 63 on the Bitcoin weekly chart. It wouldnt be a shock to see a slight consolidation from here, with it potentially falling to the mid 50s before making another move. Price has also touched the top of the weekly bollinger bands for the first time since January 1 2018, which suggests that a corrective move to the downside is on the cards. Bitfinex resolution could act as a catalyst A resolution to the ongoing Bitfinex and Tether scandal could act as a catalyst for price action. If the New York Attorney General Offices claims are further substantiated, it could have a catastrophic effect on Bitfinexs public image and user base moving forwards. Tether's lawyers don't seem to understand what the point of "reserves" is. They complain that the injunction prevents Tether investing or otherwise using the reserves. Yes, that's the whole point. /1 (((Frances Coppola))) (@Frances_Coppola) May 6, 2019 However, if Bitfinex can successfully reject the claims of allegedly being involved in money laundering and fraud, it could strengthen its position in the cryptocurrency space as well as legitimise itself among the mainstream. A positive piece of news out of this weeks court proceedings could spring price above $5,900 and effectively end the bear market, but a negative outcome would almost certainly see price being rejected at this level, with downside targets of $5,350 and $4,900 looking likely. For more news, technical analysis, and cryptocurrency guides, click here . The post Bitcoin tests critical level of resistance as bull market beckons appeared first on Coin Rivet . || President Trump Weighs Whether Or Not To Go To War With Iran: This article was originally published onETFTrends.com.
When a reporter asked President Donald Trump about whether or not the U.S. is going to war with Iran during a photo opportunity at the White House with Swiss President Ueli Maurer, the president replied “hope not”. This response happened during a period of broadening concern regarding a conflict between the U.S. and Iran.
According to theNY Times, earlier Thursday, President Trump told his acting defense secretary, Patrick Shanahan, that he does not want to go to war with Iran, according to several administration officials, in a message to his aggressive aides that an intensifying American pressure campaign against the clerical-led government in Tehran must not intensify into open battle.
According toCNBC, “The responsibility in the Congress is for Congress to declare war,” said Pelosi, D-Calif, who is concerned that Congress is being isolated and left out of the decision-making process.
“So I hope the president’s advisors recognize that they have no authorization to go forward in any way. They cannot call the authorization, AUMF, the authorization for the use of military force, that was passed in 2001, as any authorization to go forward in the Middle East now,” Pelosi said.
“I like what I hear from the president that he has no appetite for this,” she added. “One of the places that I agree with the president is that both of us in our opposition to the war in Iraq and I hope the same attitude will prevail with the president of the United States even though some of his supporters are rattling sabers.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the Armed Services Committee, explained to reporters Thursday: “The American people have been kept in the dark. It is disgraceful and despicable that we’re on the verge of war, and the American people are given this kind of confused and chaotic picture of what the situation is on the ground.”
Blumenthal stated that he and other senators have overheard that “we are supposedly going to have a briefing on Tuesday” from the Trump administration about the Iran situation.
But, Blumenthal added, “we’re hearing it may be too late because hostilities may have begun or there may be an escalation on the military situation.”
That would be “petrifying,” he said.
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READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 16/04/19: Bitcoin Cash ABC rallied by 8.8% on Monday. Following on from a 3.36% rise from Sunday, Bitcoin Cash ABC ended the day at $314.43.
A bullish start to the day saw Bitcoin Cash ABC rise from an intraday low $289 to a morning high $310 before easing back.
The early rally saw Bitcoin Cash ABC break through the 23.6% FIB of 291, first major resistance level at $296.37 and second major resistance level at $303.03.
Following a pullback to sub-$300 levels, Bitcoin Cash ABC rallied to an intraday high $335 before easing back.
The early afternoon rally saw Bitcoin Cash ABC break through the day’s major resistance levels before falling back through the third major resistance level at $321.84.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin Cash ABC was up by 0.27% to $315.29. A bullish start to the day saw Bitcoin Cash ABC rise from a morning low $312.37 to a high $323.81 before easing back.
The day’s major support and resistance levels were left untested early on.
For the day ahead, a hold above $312 levels through the morning would support a move back through the morning high $323.81. Following Monday’s news related moves, support from the broader market would be needed for Bitcoin Cash ABC to take a run at the first major resistance level at $336.62.
Failure to hold above $312 levels could see Bitcoin Cash ABC slide back to sub-$300 levels.
Barring a broad-based crypto sell-off, however, Bitcoin Cash ABC will likely steer clear of the 23.6% FIB of $291 and first major support level at $290.62.
Litecoin slumped by 6.6% on Monday. Reversing most of a 7.6% rally on Sunday, Litecoin ended the day at $78.24.
An early morning rise to an intraday high $84.73 was the only bullish move of the day. Falling short of the major resistance levels, Litecoin slid to a late afternoon intraday low $74.95 before steadying.
The sell-off saw Litecoin fall through the 38.2% FIB of $83 and the first major support level at $78.87.
At the time of writing, Litecoin was Litecoin was up by 0.13% to $78.34. Early on, Litecoin rise from a morning low $77.72 to a high $79 before easing back. Litecoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.
For the day ahead, a move back through to $79.31 would bring $80 levels back into play. Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Litecoin to take a run at the 38.2% FIB of $83. Barring a crypto rally, Litecoin will likely come up short of the 38.2% FIB and first major resistance level at $83.6.
Failure to move through $79.31 could see Litecoin fall back into the red. A fall through the morning low $77.72 would bring $75 levels into play before any recovery. Barring a crypto meltdown, Litecoin will likely steer well clear of the first major support level at $73.88.
Ripple’s XRP fell by 3.51% on Monday. Reversing a 0.91% gain from Sunday, Ripple’s XRP ended the day at $0.3200.
Tracking the broader market, Ripple’s XRP rose to an early morning intraday high $0.33534 before hitting reverse.
Coming within range of the first major resistance level at $0.3357, Ripple’s XRP fell to a late afternoon intraday low $0.31232.
The reversal saw Ripple’s XRP fall through the first major support level at $0.3260 and second major support level at $0.3205.
While recovering to $0.32 levels, Ripple’s XRP failed to hold above the second major support level by the day’s end.
At the time of writing, Ripple’s XRP was flat at $0.31999. A mixed start to the day saw Ripple’s XRP rise from a morning low $0.31743 to a high $0.32004. The early moves saw Ripple’s XRP steer clear of the day’s major support and resistance levels.
For the day ahead, a move through to $0.3230 levels would bring $0.33 levels into play later in the day. Support from the broader market would be needed for Ripple’s XRP to take a run at the first major resistance level at $0.3328.
Barring a crypto rebound, Ripple’s XRP will likely continue to fall short of $0.34 levels on the day.
Failure to move through to $0.3230 levels could see Ripple’s XRP hit reverse later in the day. A fall through the morning low $0.31743 would bring the first major support level at $0.3098 into play.
Barring a crypto sell-off, Ripple’s XRP will likely steer well clear of the second major support level at $0.2995.
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• Gold Price Prediction – Gold Falls but Holds Support || GBP/JPY Price Forecast British pound finding support at major level: The British pound fell rather hard during the Asian trading session, breaking through the ¥140 level rather handily. That being the case, it was definite confirmation of a risk off attitude early in the day. However, by the time the Europeans and the Americans came on board, things started to change and we broke back towards the ¥140 level. At this point, it looks as if this level could end up holding, and a break above the top of the candle stick for the daily Friday session could be a signal to start buying. GBP/JPY Video 20.05.19 The 50% Fibonacci retracement level is at the ¥140 level, and therefore it makes sense that there would be a lot of interest in this area. Ultimately, if we do break down below the bottom of the candle stick that would be a bad sign, perhaps sending this market down to the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level. That would be closer to the ¥138 level, so keep that in mind there is an argument to be made for playing the break of this daily candle stick in either direction. This pair is rather sensitive to global attitudes, and then of course there is the entire Brexit situation which seems to only get messier by the day. Good news from the US/China trade situation could send this market higher, while bad news out of London or Beijing could send this market lower. Please let us know what you think in the comments below This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Bitcoin Cash ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis 18/05/19 Forex Daily Recap Loonie Bears Took Charge Amid Trade Settlement Uncertainties Gold Price Prediction Gold Drops on Robust Consumer Sentiment Crude Oil Price Update Reversing Down in Sympathy with Renewed Stock Market Weakness S&P 500 Price Forecast Stock markets recover after initial selling Natural Gas Price Forecast Natural gas markets chop back and forth on Friday || Just One of Korea’s ‘Big Four’ Bitcoin Exchanges Profited in Crypto Winter 2018: ByCCN.com: South Korea is the fourth most active country in the world in crypto trading, per Coinhills. This, however, did not count for much as three of the country’s top four bitcoin exchanges recorded losses in 2018. The big four are Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit. According toBusiness Korea, only Upbit recorded a profit among the four.
The largest loss was incurred by Bithumb. Last week, its parent company BTC Korea.com announceda net loss of 205.4 billion Korean won($180.7 million) for 2018. The losses were largely attributed to the fall in the value of the cryptocurrencies that Bithumb held.
Korbit, on the other hand, posted a net loss of 45.80 billion Korean won ($40.3 million) for fiscal 2018. In the second half of last year, Coinone recorded a net loss of 5.8 billion Korean won ($5.1 million).
In contrast, Upbit posted a net profit of 143.3 billion Korean won ($126.03 million). This was attributed to the fact that the exchange had a lower level of cryptocurrency holdings vis-à-vis its rivals.
The losses do not come as a surprise as some of the big four South Korean exchanges had already indicated they were undergoing a rough patch following the downturn in the crypto markets. Last month, Bithumb announced it was laying off over half of its staff. This reduced the number of employees from 310 to 150.
By posting a net profit Upbit joins a club of a select few that managed to weather the ‘crypto winter’. The select club includes Binance which is estimated to have posted anet profit of $78 millionin 2019’s Q1. Since Binance does not publicly reveal its financials, the figure was computed based on quarterly buybacks of its BNB token.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Bitcoin bull Tom Lee says 'crypto winter' is over and new all-time highs by 2020 are 'likely': Bitcoin is back, according to longtime bull Tom Lee. Despite the cryptocurrency's drop in early Friday trading a symptom of worries around the legitimacy of another digital currency called tether it's going higher, and may even be in a bull market already, Lee tells CNBC. "Last year was a terrible year for crypto, a massive bear market, and we published a piece this week just highlighting
11 signs that historically only take place in a bull market. So I think the evidence is mounting that there's a bull market," Lee, who is managing partner and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, said Thursday on "Futures Now." Of the 11 signs that the "crypto winter" is over, Lee's top bullish drivers for bitcoin have to do with blockchain, technical indicators and trading volumes. The first sign came in January, when Lee's team noticed that trading volumes on the blockchain a technology some use to buy and sell bitcoin turned positive year over year. That boost was helped by turmoil in Venezuela and Turkey, where people losing faith in their countries' currencies may have turned to bitcoin as an alternative, Lee explained. "Just taking those two countries, they're close to 30% of the increase in on-chain activity, so it's meaningful," he said. "People are saying, 'Look, I don't trust using these local currencies. I don't trust the banks. I'm going to start using bitcoin.' And that's what's causing on-chain volume to really take off." The second sign came in April, when bitcoin closed above its 200-day moving average, a widely accepted technical indicator of bullish momentum. The third sign stemmed from a Fundstrat survey of over-the-counter brokers, who Lee said are "really important in terms of how institutional investors trade crypto." They told the firm that activity levels based on number of clients saw a 60% to 70% increase, and that trading per client surged. "I think you're seeing signs that fundamentals are improving, technicals are improving, and now there's real activity by, essentially, crypto hodlers," Lee said, using an industry term that refers to people who hold cryptocurrencies rather than trading or selling them. Lee's eight other bullish signs include shrinking supply; a swing to the positive in Fundstrat's Bitcoin Misery Index; consensus among "original" bitcoin bulls that the bottom has been put in for bitcoin; and a recent "golden cross" for bitcoin, or when the 50-day moving average overtakes the 200-day. Story continues All this, he said, goes to show that bitcoin's not done climbing, and that these catalysts are "likely" to drive it to new all-time highs "around" 2020. Lee, who predicted a 2019 bull market for bitcoin in March, added that the cryptocurrency's standard deviation from the S&P 500 which this year is about 2.5 could also help push it higher. "One thing to keep in mind is whenever the S&P has made a big move, ... it's almost always led to a big move in crypto later in the year," he said. "So I think
a 2.5 standard deviation move for bitcoin would take it to $14,000. I'm not saying that's where it's going to go, but that's the magnitude of move that would be a catch-up." Bitcoin traded in a wide range Friday on account of weakness in the broader cryptocurrency market, settling in roughly the $5,100 per coin range. Lee noted in a Friday call with CNBC that tether's issues don't have "much effect on bitcoin," since most people are "long tether because [they] don't want to be long bitcoin." More From CNBC Market watcher who predicted December plunge sees tide of gains from earnings Trump faces 'cruel summer' for oil prices after Iran move: RBC's Helima Croft Gas futures are at a six-month high, and one trader says they've even more room to run View comments
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Binance is the number one crypto exchange ever. Very cheap trading fees!
Check here: https://t.co/MirMnVq9Fj
$BTC $NEO $ONG $ADA $XMR $WAN $DGB $OMG $RVN $EOS $AE $TUSD $PHX $LEND $REP $ARK $INS $MCO $NAS $REQ $NULS $ZEN $PIVX $NEBL $FUN $REN $OCN $RDN 4110 https://t.co/XgWPTm1zAG || La la la la la la || @BNNBloomberg of course they will. Anybody with half a brain knows whats coming. Loading up with Bitcoin || @APompliano @kevinolearytv #OShares closes at 4PM. #Bitcoin never closes! @SquawkCNBC || ��️ Exclusive: Business News - U.S. Justice Department prepares Google antitrust probe: sources https://t.co/bZYuwugeS5 $SPY #stock #money #forex #trading #bitcoin #invest $QQQ $IWM $ES_F #Business #finance #entrepreneur #cryptocurrency #startup || @OwenKeys @derose @PeterMcCormack @junseth This is a valid question. Currently the ticker will most likely stay with the Core. They have the biggest authority to decide "what Bitcoin is". Roger Ver tried to define it as well and he failed. || In this thread everybody is saying they'd put their coins in lambda, bitcoin and zoom. And I just- https://t.co/4VlL5kDGJm || Bitcoin Falls Below the $7,900 Mark as US Stock Market Sees a Minor Downturn https://t.co/E9KBsPf6It || The Elk Is a Tiny Prototyping Board for Building Blockchain-Connected Devices https://t.co/i3mxaWIbZ9 BTC ETH XRP TRX $BTC $ETH $XRP $XLM $NEO $LTC $LUN $BQX $DNT $XZC $EVX $CDT $SNM $HSR $DASH $ICX $XLM $BTG $BAT $DGD $REQ $BCC $GAS $MANA $ZRX $ETC $FUN $NANO $BTS $ENG $EOS $N… || 🚨El equipo de Banexcoin presente en la Semana Blockchain de Nueva York 2019 con Alpha Point presente.
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#banexcoin #electronics #technology #tech #bitcoin #cripto… https://t.co/CIBnXXzfJO
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Trend: up || Prices: 7824.23, 7822.02, 8043.95, 7954.13, 7688.08, 8000.33, 7927.71, 8145.86, 8230.92, 8693.83
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Storming the Gates: How ‘Crypto Davos’ Became a Thing: This is part of a series of op-eds previewing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. CoinDesk will be on the ground in Davos from Jan. 20–24 chronicling all things crypto at the annual gathering of the world’s economic and political elite. Follow along by subscribing to our pop-up newsletter, CoinDesk Confidential: Davos . Sandra Ro is the CEOof the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC), which is organizing thefour-day BlockchainCentral Davos event. The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), renownedas a place where business executives, government officials, entrepreneurs andNGO leaders convene to create positive change, is days away. Related: Over 40 Central Banks Are Considering Blockchain Applications: Davos Report In recent years the WEF Meeting has come under fire as a place where wealthy elites gather to discuss solutions to problems they helped create and perpetuate – problems many blockchain startups are working to solve. But the reality of Davos lies somewhere between these two extremes. So why engage? Why do we keep going back? WEF 2020 2020 is special: It’s the 50th anniversary of the WEF, a non-profit foundation created in 1971 to engage society’s foremost political, business and cultural leaders to shape global, regional and industry agendas. This year’s WEF theme is “Stakeholders for a Cohesive andSustainable World.” Related: Davos Elites Still Don’t Get Blockchain Some of the broad questions to be asked: What does “stakeholdercapitalism” mean? Is it tracking progress towards the Paris Agreement and the UnitedNations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? How does technology fit in? “With the world at such critical crossroads, this year wemust develop a ‘Davos Manifesto 2020’ to reimagine the purpose and scorecardsfor companies and governments,” said Klaus Schwab, founder and executivechairman of the WEF. If the world is at a crossroads, what is the role of cryptocurrencies,digital assets and blockchain? And who gets to shape and influence this future? Story continues In short, should “Crypto Davos” collaborate with theestablished elites? Crypto Davos, four+ years in the making Crypto pioneers set up shop with Davos side events four orfive years ago. These were modest gatherings to discuss the future ofcryptocurrencies. Very few elites knew what this was, or paid it much attention. Just as bitcoin and ethereum began as organic grassrootsinitiatives, Crypto Davos grew mainly by group chats and word of mouth.However, by 2018, Crypto Davos reached peak excess, coinciding with the boom ofICOs. This was followed by muted numbers in 2019 with the bust, and now, in2020, a mix of Crypto Davos stalwarts are returning alongside mainstreamcorporations that are ahead of the curve in embracing blockchain and,sometimes, cryptocurrency. (Unfortunately, the mantra of “blockchain good,crypto bad” lingers in certain corporate and government circles, though it isdissipating over time.) What happens at WEF’s official gathering is important, butmost who have attended Davos previously know that “the Promenade” is a beehiveof activity around cryptocurrencies, blockchain, AI, cybersecurity and otheremerging technologies. Many crypto people who attend Davos never step footinside the main event and do not hold a coveted “white badge.” Instead, theyhang out on the Promenade and participate in a myriad of panels, networkingevents and meetings, mixed with late-night partying and bonding. The Promenade blockchain events are in high demand andconsidered cutting edge, thereby attracting some high-profile leaders who mightseem out of place under normal, stodgier circumstances. Seeing rock stars,actors, CEOs, billionaires, social-impact entrepreneurs and developers togetheris not unusual at Crypto Davos. Where else do you see both Jamie Dimon and Jamie Oliverwalking down the same block within meters of each other? Or Michael Douglaswalking into an MIT-hosted lunch on AI and blockchain? (Seriously, thathappened back in 2017.) So why did a bunch of crypto people start coming to Davos inthe first place? Switzerland’s crypto-friendly environment partially explainsthe attraction. But the secret sauce of Davos is not just about discussingimportant ideas. Once you make it to this normally sleepy town, you arejumbled together with 30,000 influential people on a few blocks of a “mainstreet.” It makes for an intense and rewarding four days of networking anddeal-making, which sets the tone for the rest of the year. Crossover appeal Crypto Davos, despite its outsider status, has influenced andchanged the course of mainstream Davos. Just look at 2020’s big thematic on “stakeholders in acohesive and sustainable world,” which covers everything from economics toclimate change to technology, and includes topics like digital identity,digital asset regulation and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). In 2020, many, if not most, corporations participating atDavos have internal blockchain projects and/or are members of digital assetgroups. Five years ago, the CEOs of these same corporations probably did notknow blockchain existed. Crypto Davos has profoundly influenced the interest andgrowth of digital assets and blockchain technology among some of the most eliteinstitutions, governments and world leaders. Not bad for a bunch of outsiders. Selling out? To the cynics and anti-establishment crowd, we debate everyyear why we pay exorbitant rates to put together an event at Davos. The high costs,occasionally not-so-subtle hostility from the mainstream, increasingly stricttown council rules and the general logistics nightmare are enough to determost. However, we return, because our supporters love attending.Why? Because we have met some of the most awe-inspiring people at Davos, fromrocket scientists to world leaders to humanitarians. With a combination of bright, motivated people, ideas turninto action here: from investments to business deals to project launches. Nomatter how great the tech, we are humans who make connections by meeting eachother, spending time with each other and, ultimately, collaborating with eachother. The key for Crypto Davos is to keep influencing and building bridges with the establishment to yield the societal change we want. Blockchain works best when it’s collaborative. The same holds true at Davos: Crypto Davos can improve and scale with the resources of large institutions; Establishment Davos can reimagine business models and government services to create a more equitable and functional society. This grand experiment works best if people collaborateacross geographies and disciplines. Long live Crypto Davos (at least until the next better version comes along). Related Stories Bitcoin Takes Davos Stage in Currency Panel Debate World Leaders Are Talking Crypto at Davos || How to make money with Bitcoin: With Bitcoin dominating the headlines for the past few years, it’s no surprise that lots of people are keen to find out how they can make money from the world’s largest cryptocurrency. Thanks to the coin’s growing popularity, there are now a whole host of ways to make money with Bitcoin. The method you choose will depend on a range of factors like your technical knowledge, investment experience, how much risk you’re willing to take, and how quickly you want to see rewards. Bitcoin mining The most obvious way to make money with Bitcoin is through Bitcoin mining – the process by which new coins are created and transaction information is verified. Mining is performed by high-powered computers which solve complex mathematical problems. Miners are rewarded Bitcoin whenever they add a new block of transactions to the blockchain. In the early days of Bitcoin, it was possible to make a decent amount of money with limited expenditure. Over time, however, mining Bitcoin has become a lot harder and more competitive. More processing power is required, which means miners need specialised equipment and must fork out a lot of money on electricity. For those who can’t afford a large mining rig, the only feasible way to make money through Bitcoin mining is to join a mining pool and combine your processing power with other miners. Investing in Bitcoin You can invest in Bitcoin by buying and holding the cryptocurrency in the hopes it will increase in value over time. Bitcoin is extremely volatile and high-risk, so investing is only recommended for people who have a good level of knowledge and can afford to lose their investment. You also need to be patient, as it could take a very long time for your Bitcoin to grow in value. If you do want to invest in Bitcoin, it’s important to store your crypto in a digital wallet to keep it safe. Trading Bitcoin Trading Bitcoin is even riskier than investing in Bitcoin, but if you’re successful, it can be very lucrative. The idea is to buy Bitcoin at a low price and sell it soon after at a higher price, thereby banking the profits. Story continues Trading is only suitable for people who have experience and knowledge of the market, but even then the risk of losing money is extremely high. Some people choose to run a Bitcoin trading bot, such as 3Commas. A trading bot has a set of parameters and indicators which when met will cause the bot to sell or buy on the exchange you prefer. Bots are efficient because they minimise human error, eliminate decisions based on emotion, and calculate formulae much faster than people can. However, they can be expensive and aren’t really designed for novice traders. Another option to consider is contracts for difference, where you buy a contract for Bitcoin without actually buying or storing the coin itself. Bitcoin lending It is possible to get high returns from Bitcoin lending, although again it carries a very high level of risk. By using a website such as Unchained Capital, Bitbond, or BTCpop, you can lend your Bitcoin to another person at an interest rate of up to 15%. The main risk is that the borrower doesn’t pay you back, meaning you’ll have lost the entire loan amount. Micro jobs and Bitcoin faucets Some websites enable you to carry out small tasks in return for small amounts of Bitcoin. The tasks could include retweeting a post, testing a plugin, or watching a YouTube video. Websites to check out include Coinworker, Microworkers, Bitcoinget, and Cointasker. Similarly, a Bitcoin faucet website dispenses small rewards for visitors to claim in exchange for completing a captcha or other task described by the website. There are also paid-to-click websites which pay Bitcoin if you visit particular websites or view certain ads. These methods are simple, low-risk ways to earn Bitcoin, although the amount of money you can get is pretty negligible. Run a signature campaign Bitcointalk, one of the oldest Bitcoin forums originally set up by Satoshi Nakamoto, enables you to get paid by sponsors for posts you make on the forum. You need to post consistently and achieve minimum word limits to get a decent level of payment. Get tipped You can get tipped in Bitcoin by helping other people through platforms such as bitfortip. You can assist with a range of problems like finding a certain pair of shoes or identifying a song in a film. Conclusion Whether you’re new to the cryptocurrency market or an experienced trader, there are numerous ways you can make money with Bitcoin. Just make sure you assess the risks and level of knowledge required before you take the plunge. The post How to make money with Bitcoin appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Bitcoin drops below $6,800, hitting a six-month low: Bitcoin prices fell sharply this morning from $7,700 to below $6,800an almost 12% drop hitting a six-month low. Data from Rekto shows that derivatives exchange BitMEX saw more than $388 million worth of XBT Perpetual Swap contracts liquidated over the past 24 hours, which means that the exchange system has automatically closed a large number of bitcoin levered positions. By publication time, Bitcoin prices have clawed their way back above $7,000. According to a market brief provided to The Block by QCO, a crypto trading firm based in Singapore, BiMEX Open Interest (OI) has dropped below $700 million following rapid liquidationsan indicator of positioning extremes. The exchange is likely to observe a negative funding rate while futures remain in contango, the brief says. Although it is possible for Bitcoin to approach the $6,000 level by year-end, the brief adds, right now it is more bullish than bearish. QCP also believes that Chinese retail traders will likely buy on dips if Bitcoins prices fell below $7,000. || Did Richard Branson just call Bitcoin a get-rich-quick scheme?: Richard Branson appears to have labelled Bitcoin a get-rich-quick scheme. The 69-year-old British billionaire businessman has seemingly taken aim at cryptocurrency in a newly released series of videos targeting scams. In one clip, an animated Sir Richard explains how difficult it can be to spot a financial con before a swag bag emblazoned with a Bitcoin logo appears in the scene, held aloft by a Branson doppelganger. Theres nothing risky about me, assures the cartoon impostor. These cryptocurrencies are a safe bet you should invest! The real Richard Branson steps in, declaring I never endorse any get-rich-quick schemes before slashing the bag open. As the contents cascade to the floor, the London-born Virgin boss points down and advises: This is a sure-fire way to lose your investment. The series of videos is part of an attempt by the philanthropist father-of-four to respond to a catalogue of online frauds which have used fake images of the tycoon to endorse their phoney products. Bogus Bransons Labelled Beware of bogus Bransons, the guides are designed to tackle the rise of online fraud a particular bane of the cryptocurrency industry which has already been rocked by the $4bn OneCoin scam and, more recently, the BitClub Network scam which is currently under investigation by the FBI. The BitClub Network's Jobadiah Weeks pictured with Sir Richard Branson in 2016 The BitClub Networks Jobadiah Weeks pictured with Sir Richard Branson in 2016 By coincidence, one of a group of BitClub Network bosses 38-year-old Jobadiah Sinclair Weeks of Colorado was pictured with Sir Richard Branson in 2016. The photo was then used by Weeks to endorse the alleged scam. Bransons image, like many other celebrity business people, has been used by fraudsters across the internet for years often with a battered and bruised face from a bike accident in 2016. Scammers play on the good reputation of successful and well-respected entrepreneurs in a bid to lure people into believing a scheme is being backed by someone they trust. Story continues However, Branson himself is now spearheading a campaign to tackle fraud head-on with his videos. Before apparently slamming Bitcoin, the twice-married magnate and adventurist urges people not to respond to social media messages or investment opportunities that feature his name and image. Even if its a verified account with a blue tick, know that I never direct message anyone nor does any of my team, he says. At Virgin, were working hard to unmask scammers. Only trust what we post on our official channels. Help us stop scammers and report anything you think is suspicious. If you think its a con, send it on. Victim of OneCoin scam longs for the day that missing Cryptoqueen will be found
Victim of OneCoin scam tells of hope that missing Cryptoqueen will be found By Darren Parkin January 8, 2020 The post Did Richard Branson just call Bitcoin a get-rich-quick scheme? appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Latest Bitcoin price and analysis (BTC to USD): Bitcoin (BTC) is currently trading at around $7,758 following a 3% jump in price since Monday. However, over the past 24 hours, the price of BTC has dropped by 2%. As we move into 2020, Bitcoin seems to be consolidating above its 20-day EMA. Following some positive price action earlier in the week, some are suggesting that the bear market may be over and Bitcoin will push higher again. Let’s take a look at Bitcoin’s chart, courtesy of TradingView . As you can see, Bitcoin has finally crossed its 20-day EMA and even managed to push past its 50-day EMA over the last few days. These are the crucial initial steps BTC must take if it is to start recording higher lows. At the time of writing, BTC is moving to the downside after bouncing off its 200-day EMA, and has now dropped back below the 50-day EMA as well. Over the last quarter of 2019, volume was also showing signs of weakness. During most of Q4, volume stayed below $20 billion. However, since late December, Bitcoin seems to have been turning things around. After the last drop that took BTC from around $7,500 to $6,900, price bounced and started climbing upwards. If Bitcoin is able to maintain the positive trend seen earlier in the week, we might see $10,000 sooner than expected. The current Bitcoin trend Last week , I underlined that within the next few days/weeks, we could see a major reversal after a period of serious accumulation by ‘hodlers’. Volume has remained similar to last week, about 30% to 40% above last month. This means the accumulation cycle could be close to an end and the bull run we’re all waiting for will start sooner than expected. For the time being though, there’s a chance it can go either way. Only if BTC continues to add higher lows will price continue to go up. The upwards movement over the past few days could mean a shift in sentiment, but it is too early to tell. It seems we already found the bottom (during 2019) and could be making our way towards a mid-term move to the upside. Story continues I expect price to bounce between the 20-day and 50-day EMAs until we see a serious break to the upside. At the moment, I expect BTC to trade between $7,500 and $8,000, as there’s strong resistance around this key level. To break the 50-day and 200-day EMAs, BTC will have to go past some serious volume levels. I personally see massive resistance at around $8,000 and again near $10,000. Will the trend reverse soon? As veteran traders and investors usually say, smart money “buys when there’s blood on the streets”. I’ve been saying for the past month that I’m waiting for major drops to make new entries. Moments like these are highly welcomed and appreciated. I strongly believe Bitcoin to be a long-term store of value, especially as traditional markets continue to show weaknesses. How can the markets continue to push higher after the ECB’s recent rate cuts, the continuous share buybacks from huge corporations, or the inverted bond yield shoving investors away towards riskier assets? In addition, repo market activity – as in loans from central banks to commercial and investment banks – has spiked to new monthly records. That adds up to another signal of weakness for the general economy. We shouldn’t forget that the Bitcoin halving is coming in May 2020, which will put extra positive pressure on price as the number of Bitcoin minted per block is halved. The key aspect of the halving event is to work out whether it has already been priced-in by miners. I personally doubt it, since most people (and businesses) have a short-term mindset. In addition, miners’ behaviour shows there’s additional specialisation with better hardware being developed and released. Not only would that make the hash rate go up, it would also diminish profitability for the entire mining space. Therefore, I see miners pushing for lower prices until the halving takes place. The harder it is to mine until the halving, the more miners will drop off, leaving more room for profits for the players who stay. In conclusion, investors and traders should pay attention to the overall economic panorama, as it will most likely be a major catalyst for worldwide BTC adoption. Safe trades! Current live Bitcoin pricing information and interactive charts are available on our site 24 hours a day. The ticker bar at the bottom of every page on our site has the latest Bitcoin price. Pricing is also available in a range of different currency equivalents: US Dollar – BTCtoUSD British Pound Sterling – BTCtoGBP Japanese Yen – BTCtoJPY Euro – BTCtoEUR Australian Dollar – BTCtoAUD Russian Rouble – BTCtoRUB About Bitcoin In August 2008, the domain name bitcoin.org was registered. On 31st October 2008, a paper was published called “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”. This was authored by Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of Bitcoin. To date, no one knows who this person, or people, are. The paper outlined a method of using a P2P network for electronic transactions without “relying on trust”. On 3rd January 2009, the Bitcoin network came into existence. Nakamoto mined block number “0” (or the “genesis block”), which had a reward of 50 Bitcoins. More Bitcoin news and information If you want to find out more information about Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in general, then use the search box at the top of this page. Here’s an article to get you started. As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. The post Latest Bitcoin price and analysis (BTC to USD) appeared first on Coin Rivet . || China May Soon Have Its First Blockchain Exchange-Traded Fund: China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the countrys financial watchdog, has recently received an application for listing an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that will track blockchain-related stocks as underlying assets. Dubbed Penghua Shenzhen Stocks Blockchain ETF, the application was filed by Shenzhen-based asset management firm Penghua Fund and was accepted by the CSRC on Dec. 24 , according to the regulators disclosure. The proposed ETF aims to track and reflect the performance of Shenzhen-listed public stocks that have businesses in the blockchain industry. Related: Chinese Internet Giant Tencent to Launch Digital Currency Research Team Based on a report from Shanghai Securities News on Thursday, if the application received final approval by the CSRC it would be the countrys first completely blockchain-themed ETF open to public investors. The application was received at the same time the Shenzhen Stock Exchange rolled out a Blockchain 50 Index comprised of 50 stocks listed on the exchange that have entered the blockchain space. The Shenzhen exchange said in an announcement on Dec. 24 the index tracks those that are involved in different aspects of the blockchain ecosystem and selects the top 50 by market capitalization. The current index list includes software companies, banks including Ping An Bank, as well as internet companies that entered cryptocurrency mining such as Wholeasy , which invested $80 million in bitcoin miners in 2018. Related: 2020 Vision: 7 Trends Bringing Blockchain Into Focus in the Year Ahead Related Stories Hong Kong Blockchain VC Hires Former NEO Exec to Launch Shanghai Office The Productization of Bitcoin Maximalism || [SPONSORED] LMAX Digital, the #1 Institutional Bitcoin spot exchange: Leveraging LMAX Exchange proven, robust FX technology and liquidity relationships, LMAX Digital delivers a market-leading, institutional solution for physical trading and custodial services of the most liquid crypto currencies BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH and XRP. Institutional market demands for low latency, efficient price discovery and deep liquidity are satisfied and exceeded by the LMAX Exchange technology stack - the result of a $100m proprietary technology investment over the past 7 years and now deployed within LMAX Digital. Delivering trust, reliability and deep institutional liquidit y , LMAX Digital ensures complete transparency, open access and a level playing field for all institutional market participants: Central limit order book Streaming, firm institutional liquidity only Ultra-low latency, precise, consistent execution Best of breed security, compliance and AML/KYC expertise Full custodian solution with secure offline HSM, multi-sig. cold wallets & vault storage LMAX Digital: secure, liquid, trusted institutional crypto trading and custodial services. Learn more . Regulated by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission. || German Stock Exchange Plans International Digital Asset ‘Ecosystem’ Through New Partnership With SBI: German stock exchange owner Boerse Stuttgart Group and Japanese financial giant SBI Group are teaming up on a joint initiative to expand their digital assets businesses internationally.
The two firms said in a press release Friday they will establish a partnership in Europe and Asia, including Japan, with the ultimate aim of developing “a truly global end-to-end ecosystem for digital assets, utilizing blockchain technology.”
To cement the deal, SBI Holdings is to take a stake in the stock exchange’s regulated digital assets trading platform, Boerse Stuttgart Digital Exchange. It also aired a plan to invest in Boerse Stuttgart Digital Ventures – another subsidiary that invests in innovative financial startups. The two subsidiaries carry out business related to digital assets in Germany and across Europe, according to the announcement.
Related:Swiss Stock Exchange SIX Lines up Buyers for ‘Initial Digital Offering’
“Asia and Europe are the fastest-growing markets for digital assets at the moment,” said Alexander Höptner, chairman of Boerse Stuttgart’s management board. “Besides the exchange of knowledge and technology, possible fields of collaboration include the cross issuance and listing of digital assets, trading and brokerage as well as the creation of the first global custody bridge.”
For its part, SBI has been working in the digital assets space since 2016, having launched initiatives such as a apayments appin collaboration with blockchain payments firm Ripple and a Japan-registered crypto trading platform calledVC Trade. It has other subsidiaries in the space, too, including mining venture SBI Crypto, SBI Crypto Investment andSBI Mining Chip, which produces mining hardware.
Through the new partnership, “The SBI Group, including its crypto-asset trading platform and other related business operating companies, will fully make use of the collaboration with Boerse Stuttgart Group, to well-establish the actual demands of the digital asset throughout the world,” said Yoshitaka Kitao, president and representative director of SBI Holdings.
• Germany’s No. 2 Exchange Launches Bitcoin Spot Trading
• Swiss Stock Exchange SIX Launches Digital Assets Exchange Prototype
• First Tokenized IPO Launches on National Stock Exchange || Zeitgeist and Bitcoin: A primal societal fear can cause a public panic beyond reason. It’s not bad. It can motivate. In 1938, American audiences were fearful of falling victim to Japanese militarism, Bolshevism, or Nazism. When they heard a radio adaptation of the 19th century novel “War of the Worlds”, public panic that a Martian invasion was real shut down phone switches and electrical grids even thousands of miles away from the apparent New York City invasion. War of the Worlds War of the Worlds Though it was probably impossible to gauge public reaction in Stalinist Russia, “Alexander Nevsky” – a 1938 propaganda masterpiece describing, allegedly, a 13th century Teutonic invasion – is chilling to this day. Bitcoin is one of the most positive developments of the millennium and will, I believe, continue to foster trade and human relations. However, the genesis of its popularity is a fear of societal collapse. Per Wikipedia, “October 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto published a paper on the cryptography mailing list at metzdowd.com”. Would 99.99% of humanity understand his discussion of fractional reserve banking, or for that matter, what a cryptography mailing list is? Today, Bitcoin (BTC) is a $166 billion market phenomenon, and the whole cryptocurrency market is worth $248 billion. As technically remarkable as BTC is, it still must have touched some deep societal nerve to grow so quickly before greed took over in 2016. Peoples’ fear in 2008 was not so irrational. We’ve had many historic examples and two contemporary examples of how terribly things end when the government resorts to money printing to paper over its problems. At the darkest end of the spectrum was Weimar Germany’s hyperinflation which heralded Nazism, the Holocaust, and the slaughter of 50 million people in Europe. The starvation of Venezuela However, you don’t have to go a century back. You have now, in 2019, the starvation of Venezuela – the country with the largest petroleum reserves in the world. Story continues Also, the Zimbabwe I saw as a very young person in 1985 was harmonious and rich in nature. Now, it is unrecognisable due to dictatorship and hyperinflation. This might all explain an irrational spike in BTC when it first launched, but the truth is this “bubble” has gone on for 12 years. Currently, the government executives who are supposed to be the most responsible are not. In Europe, September 12 2019, the Governing Council of the ECB took the following monetary policy decisions: The interest rate on the deposit facility will be decreased by 10 basis points to -0.50%. The interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the rate on the marginal lending facility will remain unchanged at their current levels of 0.00% and 0.25% respectively. The Governing Council now expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at their present or lower levels until it has seen the inflation outlook robustly converge to a level sufficiently close to, but below, 2% within its projection horizon, and such convergence has been consistently reflected in underlying inflation dynamics. Disturbing In the USA, the world’s reserve currency is run by the federal reserve, whose increased role in the US economy and financial system is more than disturbing. Japan, whom people might have justifiably feared taking over the world in the 1980s, seems to have transformed itself into a banana republic of capitalism. While the economy and culture is still shockingly impressive, its debt is 223% of its economy. Which brings us back to Bitcoin… If phases of death psychology include anger, denial, and acceptance, BTC has its own path: fear, greed, and discovery. People were justifiably scared a decade ago of complete financial collapse. Lingering fears about the major economic zones and liberal democracies in Japan, the USA, and the EU are rational. Of course, everybody loves to gamble, and the 2017 price spike proved irresistible to droves of investors and speculators. It was also a goldmine for fraud artists. Now, all sorts of wonderful things are happening. Bitcoin is facilitating international trade for small companies, for instance, who can now pay foreign contractors without the usual hang-ups. African entrepreneurs are making money trading electronic and other goods. There are opportunities for 20-year-olds that their seniors would never have experienced. Looking at hash rates and cryptography would bore most people to death. However, a healthy dose of fear, greed, and eventual mistrust gave birth to something wonderful. Keep your eyes on Bitcoin. Its emotional birth led to a global transformation that is only in its infancy. Nicholas Levenstein has been a classical musician, IT and strategy consultant, and financier. He has a BA (cum laude) from Yale University and an MBA from University of California, Los Angeles. Recently bitten by the Bitcoin bug, he is contemplating various arbitrage and financial strategies. See more at www.levenstein.net. Largest US mall operator installs five Bitcoin ATMs By Oliver Knight – November 29, 2019 The post Zeitgeist and Bitcoin appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV prices soar, reach three-month highs: Bitcoinforks are having a big day, with Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Bitcoin SV (BSV) today reaching prices not seen in months.
Bitcoin Cash is up by a full 10 percent, now trading at $257 per coin.
The price of Bitcoin SV, the coin backed by the self-described “inventor” of Bitcoin, Australian computer scientist Craig Wright, has today increased by a whopping 30 percent. It’s now trading for $148 per coin—a price point it hasn’t touched since August 2019.
It’s a strong reversal of fortunes for the holders of both coins. Not that long ago,both coins were strugglingto maintain their value, when the entire market took a dive last November.
Bitcoin SV, in fact, was experiencing particularly low usage about a week before its price sunk: The number of Bitcoin SV transactionsdropped by halfin early November last year, making it one of the worst performing tokens at the time.
Today’s price jump for Bitcoin SV may have something to do with the latest details to have emerged out of the billion-dollar lawsuit being waged against Craig Wright.
Wright has reportedly submitted more than 420 documents to Ira Kleiman,the plaintiff involvedin the case. One of these documentssupposedly disclosesa secret Bitcoin stash that may be worth billions. If that’s true—and that’s abig if—then it lends credence to Wright’s Satoshi claims, which could explain the increased interest in Wright’s coin of choice, BSV.
Whatever the reason, it’s a good day for BSV holders, as the rest of the crypto market has experienced only marginal gains.Ethereumis up close to 4 percent on the day, while XRP and Bitcoin are up close to 3 percent.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin (BTC) : la chute a emporté tous les supports techniques. Enfin presque. - Cryptonaute https://t.co/WMV5x36oKF || It’s possible send 1 #BTC on @tippin_me?
https://t.co/eATWZMzxeJ https://t.co/5scNjQ0M0A || $BTC update https://t.co/hx6wXl55JE || Shout out to scalper index
Really awesome tool to have when judging market structure, especially after huge sells or buys like today.
100 million in long liquidations, OI dropped as much as well.
Potential double bottom on the weekly chart as well.
👀 $btc $xbt #bitcoin https://t.co/YU57C9fqZd || Sending and receiving #bitcoin should be as easy as sending text on a 2004 Nokia phone.
You should be able to route a payment through wifi, cellular, mesh, satellite, etc. etc.
We can't help the oppressed if we're not ready for them. || @ElKikosOMGS Que dinero real en vez de bitcoin || @exmrcoin @Bitrabbit_Team @coingecko @CoinCodex @CryptoCompare Fucking scam.... you must pay in etheremeum to swap.
Its fucking scam. I'm going to trigger a wave that will shave Exmr. fucking scammer. why do you have to change bitcointalk threads #scam #btc #ether #bitcoin #cryptocurrency || What a Schwab-TD Ameritrade Merger Would Mean for Crypto https://t.co/Dz8YAiAYGi #XBT #BTC #Bitcoin || Bitcoin Whale Withdraws $89M BTC, Despite Bloody Market https://t.co/73fzY2eyVk || good
|
Trend: up || Prices: 8745.89, 8680.88, 8406.52, 8445.43, 8367.85, 8596.83, 8909.82, 9358.59, 9316.63, 9508.99
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2020-01-14]
BTC Price: 8827.76, BTC RSI: 71.90
Gold Price: 1542.40, Gold RSI: 62.09
Oil Price: 58.23, Oil RSI: 40.38
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Victim of OneCoin scam tells of hope that missing ‘Cryptoqueen’ will be found: One of the devastated victims of the OneCoin scam has spoken of her hope that its missing CEO – Ruja Ignatova – will be found after the fraudster’s brother agreed to inform on his sister and members of the Bulgarian Mafia. Konstantin Ignatov pleaded guilty to a string of charges related to fraud last week at New York Southern District Court. However, facing a possible 90-year sentence behind bars for his involvement with OneCoin, the 33-year-old agreed to a plea bargain that means he will face no further charges in exchange for helping detectives. While keen for him to face the full force of the law, one of OneCoin’s victims says the agreement brings into focus the real possibility that the 38-year-old so-called ‘Cryptoqueen’ could be brought to justice. Jen McAdam Jen McAdam Jen McAdam is spearheading a group of victims who have lost huge sums after ploughing cash into what was sold to them as “the next Bitcoin”. Ms McAdam personally lost £8,000 but also encouraged friends and members of her family to plough almost a quarter of a million pounds into the scam. Since speaking out about OneCoin and its elusive Oxford-educated CEO, the 49-year-old has received a torrent of vile abuse from the Bulgarian-based Ponzi scheme’s supporters, with threats of sexual violence and even death. Speaking to Coin Rivet, Ms McAdam said hope was still very strong that Ignatova will be found and face charges in the US. Charged ‘in absentia’, the missing fraudster has been accused of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and money laundering. Ruja Ignatova Ruja Ignatova Further charges could still be brought, but the current set of five accusations would be enough to put her behind bars for 85 years, if found guilty. Further hope “With her brother taking the plea deal, that also brings further hope to victims that when Ruja is caught, the truth will eventually be told in a court of law for all of her devastated victims to hear which, hopefully, will bring some peace their way,” Ms McAdam said. Story continues “At the moment, I speak to victims every day who are either distressed, upset, shocked, devastated, or even suicidal. “This is a multi-billion dollar fake crypto scam that has hit nearly every country worldwide and left so many people with their hearts ripped from them and their families.” Ignatova – who has been on the run since disappearing in October 2017 after raising $5bn worldwide with OneCoin – has, according to her victims, left families utterly ruined by the scam. “Many OneCoin victims sold their homes and used all their life savings to purchase these fraudulent fake OneCoin packages that Ruja created through her fraud,” added Ms McAdam, before heaping praise on the BBC’s Jamie Bartlett and Georgia Catt for turning the spotlight on the scandal with The Missing Cryptoqueen podcast. “The series by the BBC helped to raise awareness, and in doing so has alerted mainstream media on a scale the OneCoin victims did not expect but are so very grateful for. “Maybe as media awareness is raised further the world will become smaller for Ruja Ignatova – the multi-billion dollar fraudster and scammer – to hide, and just maybe she will be found by the authorities and face her charges for her horrendous crimes in a court of law. And just maybe with hope her devastated victims will see justice take place. Recovery fund “When this day comes – if it ever does – we then hope an asset recovery fund could then become available for the OneCoin victims.” Hope, she says, has been the one overriding emotion that has brought strength to the victims she supports in every corner of the world. It is believed 70,000 people in the UK alone fell foul of Ignatova’s Ponzi. “Justice, the truth, and hope are what we hold onto going into the future – we will never, ever, ever give up on that,” she vows. The BBC’s podcast has been widely commended for highlighting what has turned out to be one of the world’s biggest frauds. “Immense thanks to the producers Jamie Bartlett and Georgia Catt for hearing the victims’ voices and investigating the OneCoin scam, which then led them on to produce The Missing Cryptoqueen podcast series,” she praises. “If it was not for these two very kind, caring, and concerned journalists, I am really not sure if the OneCoin victims would have been heard. “Through their investigation and podcast series, they have highlighted this horrendous and devastating scam by Ruja Ignatova and also given the OneCoin victims further hope for justice.” Konstantin Ignatov Konstantin Ignatov, brother of missing ‘Cryptoqueen’ Ruja Ignatova For now, however, all eyes are on the ongoing court case in New York, where legal attention has moved away from Ignatova’s younger brother and back on to former lawyer Mark Scott and his involvement in laundering the gang’s money. Scott even tried to implicate Neil Bush – brother of former US President George W Bush and son of George HW Bush – by attempting to subpoena the businessman. Bush, through his business connections, was paid $300,000 to meet with Ruja Ignatova in Hong Kong over a possible deal involving OneCoin. Bush declined to pursue the interest. Prominent figure Scott had hoped the fact that such a prominent figure was prepared to meet Ignatova gave OneCoin enough credibility for him to believe nothing about OneCoin was untoward. The new focus in the case, though, will do little to distract from the fact that the potential for recovering the lost funds of hundreds of thousands of victims could be put in reach with Konstantin Ignatov’s plea bargain. Despite it being a desperate attempt to avoid spending the rest of his life in jail, he may yet be the key to unlocking his older sister’s dark secrets. “May justice and the full truth come soon,” concludes Ms McAdam. “What we believed was to be a financial dream has become in reality a financial and horrific nightmare. “Never trust in people’s word – always do your due diligence and verify and keep safe from fake crypto scammers and fraudsters like Ruja Ignatova and OneCoin. “People should remember, ‘what sometimes looks like sugar is indeed salt!’” Support group If you’ve been affected by the OneCoin scheme, various support groups with thousands of members can be found. There are also individual groups covering the countries where the Ponzi operated. They can be found here… https://www.facebook.com/groups/1270760729671878/ The post Victim of OneCoin scam tells of hope that missing ‘Cryptoqueen’ will be found appeared first on Coin Rivet . || US Stock Market Overview – Stocks Edge Higher Ahead of Jobs Report: US stocks moved higher on Thursday, after fluctuating between positive and negative territory for most of the trading session. Most sectors were higher led by materials which rallied 0.9%. Energy shares bucked the trend. The VIX volatility index decline by another 1.5% on Thursday, ahead of Friday’s jobs report which is scheduled to be released at 8:30 AM ET. Expectations are for non-farm payrolls to rise by 175,000 jobs. There has been a divergence in economic data this week. While the ISM manufacturing and services reports came in weaker than expected, the job components in the service sector and claims remain very robust. Jobless claims on Thursday unexpected declined by 10,000, moving back to an 8-month low. Factory order also came in stronger than expected. Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Declined US jobless claims dropped 10,000 to 203,000 for the week ended November 30, the lowest level since mid-April, according to the US Labor Department. Data for the prior week was unrevised. The expectation had been for claims to rise to 215,000 in the latest week. Thursday’s claims report also showed the number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid rose 51,000 to 1.69 million for the week ended November 23. The four-week moving average of the so-called continuing claims was unchanged at 1.68 million. Factory Orders Rise More than Expected The commerce department reported on Thursday that Factory orders rose 0.3% in October. This is the first gain in three months. Orders in September were revised to a 0.8% drop compared with the previous estimate of a 0.6% fall. Expectation were for a 0.2% rise. Durable goods orders rose a revised 0.5%, down slightly from last week’s initial estimate of a 0.6% rise. Orders for nondurable goods were flat in the month. Zoom Shares Tumble After the closing bell Zoom the teleconference software company reported earnings that beat on the top and bottom line but the shares tumbled after the company issued fiscal third-quarter earnings that revealed slowing growth. Earnings were 9 cents per share, versus 3 cents per share expected. Revenue came in at $166.6 million, versus expectation of $154.9 million. Zoom’s revenue increased 85% on an annualized basis in the third quarter of the company’s 2020 fiscal year. Story continues This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Gold Price Forecast – Gold Markets Bounce Slightly On Thursday Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 06/12/19 Silver Price Forecast – Silver Markets Continue Consolidation Natural Gas Price Prediction – Prices Consolidate Forming Bear Flag Looking To Buy Silver Natural Gas Price Forecast – Natural Gas Markets Rally || Jeff Clarks Market Minute: The Ice Is Almost Broken: The past four months have been tough for gold stock traders. Source: Shutterstock It didnt matter if you were bullish or bearish on the sector. Gold stocks have frustrated both sides. Rallies have been short-lived, with each bounce topping out at a lower level than the previous peak. And, none of the declines have caused the sort of selling pressure that usually creates a good buying opportunity for the gold stocks. 7 Stocks to Buy in December So, the sidelines have been the best place to be for the past few months
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips And, at least for the near future, the sidelines still look like the right spot. Look at this updated chart of the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners Fund (GDX)
GDX peaked in early September. It then fell all the way down near $26 per share. Ever since then, each rally has peaked at a lower level, and each decline has tested the same $26 level as support . This action has created a descending triangle pattern on the chart. Its a bearish pattern that usually breaks to the downside. There is room inside the pattern for GDX to bounce a bit in the very short term. But, unless GDX can break the pattern of lower highs and close above $27.70 or so, the gold sector has lower to go. Notice how all of the various moving averages (the squiggly lines on the chart) are in a bearish formation with the 9-day exponential moving average (EMA) trading below the 20-day EMA, and the 20-day EMA below the 50-day moving average (MA) . This condition is going to make it hard for the GDX to mount a sustainable rally. And, if GDX makes another lower high and then turns back down to test the $26 support level again, the odds are high that support will fail this time. GDX has tested the $26 level five times in the past three months. Each test weakens the support level a bit. Its like when a person jumps up and down on a frozen lake. Each jump cracks the ice just a bit, until the ice finally breaks. Story continues I suspect the next trip down to $26 will break the ice for GDX. At that point, GDX should quickly drop towards the next support level near $25. And, that move should create the sort of exhaustive, oversold conditions that often mark the bottom of a gold stock correction. For now
GDX will probably pop a bit higher in the days ahead. But, it will be a short-lived bounce. The gold sector still has lower to go. And, most traders should stay on the sidelines. Best regards and good trading, Jeff Clark Reader Mailbag Today in the mailbag, subscribers disagree with Jeffs insidious thoughts
At times a brilliant man, Jeff Clark is carried away by impractical thoughts. Examples are: 1. His backing on Bitcoin . He has to save readers, not unintentionally push them into a deep river. 2. His prediction that the market would crash on a Monday in October 2019. He has to curb these insidious thoughts. Rakesh Jeff, Im thinking you are a perma-bear. I can see you thought 3020 on the SPX was the turnaround. Guess what? You got it so wrong. John Do you see the same downside ahead in the market that Jeff does? Or will the bull market just keep running higher? Send your thoughts along with any comments or questions to [email protected] . In Case You Missed It
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A bearish start to the day saw Bitcoin slide from an early morning intraday high $7,372.0 to a late morning low $7,150.0.
Falling short of the major resistance levels, Bitcoin fell through the first major support level at $7,200.73.
Of greater significance, however, was a fall back through the 62% FIB of 7,245.0.
Finding support in the late morning, Bitcoin moved back through to $7,300 levels before hitting reverse.
The reversal saw Bitcoin slid to a late intraday low $6,922.0
Bitcoin fell through the first major support level and second major support level at $7,048.87.
Sunday’s slide back through to sub-$7,000 levels led to the formation of a near-term bearish trend formed at late June’s swing hi $13,764.0.
Across the rest of the top 10 cryptos, it was also bearish for the majors on Sunday.
On the day, Stellar’s Lumen led the way down, sliding by 10.1%.
EOS (-9.7%), Tron’s TRX (-9.5%), Bitcoin SV (-8.9%), and Litecoin (-8.9%) also saw particularly heavy losses.
Binance Coin (-7.7%), Bitcoin Cash SV (-5.7%), Ethereum (-7.9%) and Ripple’s XRP (-5.8%) saw more modest losses.
For the week, EOS led the way down, sliding by 29%.
Binance Coin (-25.6%), Bitcoin Cash ABC (-23.8%), Bitcoin Cash SV (-19.2%), Cardano’s ADA (-22.1%), Ethereum (-23.9%), Litecoin (-25.8%), Stellar’s Lumen (-22.1%), and Tron’s TRX (-26.1%) also saw heavy losses.
Relative to the broader markets, Ripple’s XRP saw a more modest loss of 16% for the week.
In the particularly bearish week, the total crypto market cap fell from a Monday high $237.09bn to a Friday low $189.7bn. At the time of writing, the total market cap stood at $196.32bn.
Bitcoin’s dominance recovered to 66% levels in the week, as the majority of the top 10 took deeper dives in the week. Volatility across the crypto market saw trading volumes gyrate in the week. 24-hour volumes fell from $112bn levels to $70bn levels before bouncing back.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down by 2.13% to $6,817.0. A mixed start to the day saw Bitcoin rise to an early morning high $7,013.5 before sliding to a new swing low $6,720.0.
Falling short of the major resistance levels, Bitcoin fell through the first major support level at $6,800.87.
Elsewhere, Ripple’s XRP led the way down, sliding by 3.33%.
Binance Coin (-2.89%), Bitcoin Cash SV (-2.61%), EOS (1.47%), and Ethereum (-1.93%) also saw heavy losses early on.
Litecoin and Stellar’s Lumen saw modest losses early on, with the pair down by 0.61% and by 0.51% respectively.
Bitcoin would need to move through to $7,090 levels to support a run at the first major resistance level at $7,250.87.
Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Bitcoin to break out from the morning high $7,013.5.
Barring a broad-based crypto rebound, resistance at $7,000 would likely limit any upside on the day.
Failure to move through to $7,090 levels could see Bitcoin take another heavy loss on the day.
A fall back through the first major support level at $6,800.87 would bring the second major support level at $6,636.43 into play before any recovery.
Barring an extended sell-off through the day, Bitcoin should steer clear of sub-$6,500 levels.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Ethereum and Stellar’s Lumen Daily Tech Analysis – 25/11/19
• Price of Gold Fundamental Weekly Forecast – Beware of Low Holiday Volume Price Spikes
• Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 25/11/19
• US Stock Market: Trade Deal Worries Offset by Low Rates, Decent Earnings, Resilient Economy
• USD/JPY Forex Technical Analysis – Strengthens Over 108.866, Weakens Under 108.690
• Headline Fatigue Or Is Risk Running On Fumes || XRP finalizará el 2019 como la criptomoneda de peor rendimiento del Top 10: Los últimos 12 meses han sido un tiempo de prueba para lacriptomonedaXRP y el controversial XRP Army.
A medida que nos acercamos al final de 2019, XRP ha perdido casi el 93 por ciento de su valor desde su máximo histórico, y parece estar destinada a cerrar el año como la criptomoneda de peor rendimiento entre las 10 con mas capitalización de mercado. Segúndatos del sitio de análisis Coinlib, el precio del XRP ha caído un 51% desde principios de año.
Muy cerca de XRP se encuentra Bitcoin Cash (BCH), que ha perdido alrededor del 49 por ciento de su valor. Por otra parte,Bitcoines hasta ahora la moneda de mejor rendimiento del año, con un aumento del 17 por ciento desde principios de 2019.
En términos de su posición entre los líderes del mercado por capitalización bursátil, el XRP de Ripple ha mostrado cierta estabilidad. Si bien este año logró alcanzar el segundo lugar en el ranking durante unos días, el token se ha mantenido en un sólido tercer lugar entre las principales durante la mayor parte del año, a pesar de su fuerte caída de precios.
Durante los meses de octubre y noviembre, XRP comenzó a mostrar signos de crecimiento, desafiando al resto del mercado, que ya expresaba una tendencia bajista. Sin embargo, cualquier alegría experimentada por la comunidad de traders y entusiastas del token duró poco. Después de romper los niveles de resistencia en $.30 por ficha, el precio de esta criptomoneda ha vuelto a caer a niveles mínimos anuales.
La conferencia anual Swell organizada por Ripple, que se esperaba que revitalizara el interés en la moneda y que potencialmente condujera a otro rally,tampoco cumpliócon esas expectativas. Sin embargo, basándose en el sentimiento de los medios sociales, la comunidad del XRP sigue siendo muy optimista sobre el futuro de la moneda.
Después de todo, la mayor parte de la fuerza de XRP proviene del hecho de que cuenta con el respaldo de una gran empresa —Ripple— a pesar de que ellos insistan en lo poco que les importa el precio de la moneda, y quesu relación con XRPno implica en lo absoluto,bajo ninguna circunstancia,que este activo sea un valor. || Did Richard Branson just call Bitcoin a get-rich-quick scheme?: Richard Branson appears to have labelled Bitcoin a get-rich-quick scheme. The 69-year-old British billionaire businessman has seemingly taken aim at cryptocurrency in a newly released series of videos targeting scams. In one clip, an animated Sir Richard explains how difficult it can be to spot a financial con before a swag bag emblazoned with a Bitcoin logo appears in the scene, held aloft by a Branson doppelganger. Theres nothing risky about me, assures the cartoon impostor. These cryptocurrencies are a safe bet you should invest! The real Richard Branson steps in, declaring I never endorse any get-rich-quick schemes before slashing the bag open. As the contents cascade to the floor, the London-born Virgin boss points down and advises: This is a sure-fire way to lose your investment. The series of videos is part of an attempt by the philanthropist father-of-four to respond to a catalogue of online frauds which have used fake images of the tycoon to endorse their phoney products. Bogus Bransons Labelled Beware of bogus Bransons, the guides are designed to tackle the rise of online fraud a particular bane of the cryptocurrency industry which has already been rocked by the $4bn OneCoin scam and, more recently, the BitClub Network scam which is currently under investigation by the FBI. The BitClub Network's Jobadiah Weeks pictured with Sir Richard Branson in 2016 The BitClub Networks Jobadiah Weeks pictured with Sir Richard Branson in 2016 By coincidence, one of a group of BitClub Network bosses 38-year-old Jobadiah Sinclair Weeks of Colorado was pictured with Sir Richard Branson in 2016. The photo was then used by Weeks to endorse the alleged scam. Bransons image, like many other celebrity business people, has been used by fraudsters across the internet for years often with a battered and bruised face from a bike accident in 2016. Scammers play on the good reputation of successful and well-respected entrepreneurs in a bid to lure people into believing a scheme is being backed by someone they trust. Story continues However, Branson himself is now spearheading a campaign to tackle fraud head-on with his videos. Before apparently slamming Bitcoin, the twice-married magnate and adventurist urges people not to respond to social media messages or investment opportunities that feature his name and image. Even if its a verified account with a blue tick, know that I never direct message anyone nor does any of my team, he says. At Virgin, were working hard to unmask scammers. Only trust what we post on our official channels. Help us stop scammers and report anything you think is suspicious. If you think its a con, send it on. Victim of OneCoin scam longs for the day that missing Cryptoqueen will be found
Victim of OneCoin scam tells of hope that missing Cryptoqueen will be found By Darren Parkin January 8, 2020 The post Did Richard Branson just call Bitcoin a get-rich-quick scheme? appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Bitcoin, Ripple & Litecoin - American Wrap: 12/11/2019: Bitcoin price analysis: BTC/USD $7000-6800 will be a big test
• The Bitcoin price on Wednesday is trading in the red by some 0.80%, as some near-term selling momentum picks up pace in the second half of the session.
• Market bears have resumed pressure to the downside, following a brief period of stabilization. The price has breached a bearish pennant structure via the daily view and is further extending to the downside.
Ripple Technical Analysis: XRP/USD finds support at the hourly trendline
• Ripple has consolidated on the hourly chart after dropping from 0.2338 to 0.2197.
• The market has made a few higher lows but now looks to be testing lower levels.
• 0.22 is the psychological support zone and if taken out, could indicate lower levels are on the cards.
Litecoin Technical Analysis: LTC/USD lower highs spells danger
• Litecoin price is trading in the red in the session by some 1.20%.
• LTC/USD has extended to the downside, after breaking out of a bearish pennant pattern, inviting another round of selling.
• The price is running towards its third consecutive session in the red.
Image Sourced from Pixabay
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• Bitcoin, Ethereum & Litecoin - American Wrap: 12/4/2019
• Bitcoin, Ripple & Litecoin - American Wrap: 12/2/2019
© 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Is Greece Cracking Down on Tax Evasion or Taxing Anonymity?: Greeces plan to curb tax evasion by mandating digital receipts shows a fundamental dilemma of modernization: Economic policies rarely address corruption without sacrificing civil liberties. The Greek prime ministers chief economic adviser, Alex Patelis, told The Telegraph on Sunday that in 2020 Greek citizens will need to produce digital receipts for spending 30 percent of their annual income. Citizens who fall short of this documentation requirement for example, only having credit card purchases and bank transfers for 20 percent of their income will be fined with a 22 percent tax on the remaining amount (the remaining 10 percent, in this example). When it comes to Greece, this drastic policy shows nation-states can mandate that citizens rely on banks. Credit cards and bank transfers and their incumbent surveillance features are no longer payment options for Greek citizens, they are obligations. And while bitcoin experts say cryptocurrency likely wont be much help in this situation, they have been quick to pick up on the policys broad implications. Related: Bitcoin Is Closing on Historically Strong Price Support Ive never heard of anything like this before. Its the most aggressive move to eradicate cash that Ive seen in any country, said British-Greek bitcoin advocate Andreas Antonopoulos, who grew up in Greece and still has family there. However, economist Nicholas Economides , whose previous advisory clients include the Bank of Greece in 1993 , disagreed that this policy represents a dramatic shift. To the contrary, Economides said, the Greek government has required digital receipts for tax deductibles for more than five years. If citizens are unable to show bank records or credit card statements for deductible bills, paper receipts no longer suffice. As such, he argued this is merely another modernization push. When you have widespread cheating, there has to be a way to make people stop cheating, to pay [taxes]. One way might be this extensive banking surveillance, Economides said. This policy aims to curb tax evasion. But, ironically, the middle class appears to be the most frequent taxpayers. Local media reports indicate that 5 percent of Greek taxpayers earning between 24,000 and 100,000 are paying half of all income-tax revenue. Basically, the remaining 95 percent pay as much as the above-mentioned 5 percent, implying the vast majority of citizens dont pay their full income taxes. Related: Bitcoin Looks South After Strong Rejection Above $7,600 The violence of this law will impact all people, mainly our parents who are not familiar with
e-banking services, Athens resident and bitcoin enthusiast Argy Xafis said. My privacy is also invaded. Story continues Economides said he hopes the government will make exceptions for the elderly, but added this mandate may not impact the unbanked poor, as citizens below the poverty line dont pay income taxes. People who dont have debt or credit cards may have a hard time, he said. The government should create exceptions for people who dont have such financial instruments. Cash Economy From Economides perspective, tax evasion is a widespread cultural norm in Greece, across income levels. Yet Georgios Konstantopoulos, an independent cryptocurrency consultant from Greece, said tax evasion isnt the primary reason so many Greeks rely on cash for their daily transactions. Konstantopoulos said its common for local businesses to offer a different price in cash compared to a transaction with an official receipt, even among hospitals, courts and other heavily regulated entities. Antonopoulos agreed cash bribery is the standard local practice. Every single medical procedure that is supposedly covered by the national healthcare in Greece involves a cash envelope, Antonopoulos said. You go into any hospital in Greece and they give you a blank envelope at the reception. As such, Konstantopoulos said this new policy will be difficult to enforce for waiters, construction workers and other laborers who generally rely on day-to-day cash payments unless these low-income workers pay their rent with a bank card. The people who earn 500 a month, of course, will tax-evade because otherwise they cannot survive, Konstantopoulos said. Literally every young person who wants to do things in their life is looking for ways to work abroad.
Generally, salaries suck; there are high taxes and fixed fees, pension or insurance, so a lot of shops and restaurants tend to have employees who work undeclared, paid daily in cash. Antonopoulos said this policy will make it more difficult for middle-class households and business owners to pay such workers in cash, since the culture of bribery wont disappear overnight. Instead of jeopardizing healthcare and legal services, Antonopoulos said, the policy may push low-income workers into poverty and food insecurity because their services will be seen as comparably expendable. Pretty much every Greek I know who has even the slightest means to travel has a bank account in Germany, Antonopoulos said, referring to how many Greeks skew their income reports and banking limitations. Its all for show. [This policy] is not a meaningful effort to curb tax evasion. Bitcoin doesnt fix this Stepping back, the cash-centric Greek shadow economy reportedly accounts for more than 21 percent of the nations total GDP, according to a 2017 study by the Institute for Applied Economic Research. The government previously curbed the cash economy by limited bank ATM withdrawals, a policy that started with a 60 ($70) daily limit in 2015 and finally lifted for domestic withdrawals in 2018. According to CNN , Greek bitcoin trades shot up when the banking restrictions first when into effect in 2015. Yet Konstantopoulos said the domestic bitcoin scene hasnt surged since then to facilitate significant volumes. Antonopoulos agreed, describing the Greek bitcoin community as small, isolated and risk-averse, because people with the resources to buy bitcoin generally prefer foreign bank accounts. This isnt about surveillance, this is about pushing people into poverty, Antonopoulos said, explaining his criticism of the new tax policy. According to an academic working group paper last revised in 2016 , Greek professionals from industries such as law, medicine and media were most likely to be involved in tax evasion. As such, Antonopoulos said banking limitations primarily impact the middle class, because households with expendable income simply use foreign bank accounts instead. Its hard to say definitively how many Greeks are misrepresenting their taxable income because statistics are further skewed by the high percentage of self-employed and unemployed Greeks, each respectively estimated to represent over a third of the nations prospective workers. There is a popular perception that government corruption contributes to such economic woes, even without studies to quantify that impact. The nonprofit Transparency International gave Greece a failing integrity grade of 45 percent for perceived levels of public sector corruption in 2018. Despite bitcoiners distrust of the government, Greek policies arent uniquely draconian. Reuters reported in August 2019, the central bank removed the 4,000 daily withdrawal limit for Greek citizens abroad as well. Furthermore, the Mediterranean nation is hardly the first to use banking surveillance to try to curb tax evasion. India conducted a comparable measure in 2016 through demonetization, forcing citizens to swap old bills for fresh ones in order to curb black-market dealings. Whether these measures work is a different question altogether. Two years after demonetization, The Hindu reported tax revenue increases were on-par with previous years of economic growth, indicating the measure may not have been worth the hassle . In support of Antonopoulos concern, economist Kaushik Basu wrote that Indian demonetization hurt low-income workers and small business owners while hardly inconveniencing the bulk of tax evaders, who hold assets in gold and silver, real estate and overseas bank accounts. Generally speaking, tax evasion appears to be a social issue that economic policies alone fail to impact at scale. The people who are conducting the egregious tax evasion are in the government, Antonopoulos said. The hypocrisy of pushing measures through like this
by people who know theyll just switch to using their German bank accounts, is just disgusting. Related Stories Bitcoin Halving Could Leave Price at $20K-$50K, Hedge Fund Manager Says Nayuta Claims Its Android Lightning Wallet Is the First to Build in a Bitcoin Full Node View comments || 60% of Bitcoins havent moved for more than a year: With its drastic price swings over the last year, it may come as a surprise to learn that almost 60% of Bitcoins havent moved in the last 12 months. According to findings by Digital Assets Data , a fintech company building cryptocurrency data feeds, as many as 10.7m Bitcoins have stayed put for more than a year. This amounts to 59% of the current supply of BTC (or approximately $84.5bn). This indicates widespread HODLing of BTC, which could be an extremely bullish sign for the market. Rather than trading or transferring their Bitcoins, the majority of users are holding their digital assets, confident that higher prices are on the horizon. Founder of blockchain PR agency EAK Digital and organiser of Istanbul Blockchain Week Erhan Korhaliller enthuses: The fact that 60% of Bitcoin hasnt moved from wallets in a year is confirmation that Bitcoin is seen as digital gold. Not only does this mark a major milestone for Bitcoins being held, but it also represents the highest percentage of BTC lying dormant for so long since the beginning of 2017. Nicholas Pelecanos, advisor to NEM Ventures , comments: An increase in the number of dormant BTC wallets simply means less BTC holders are willing to sell their BTC. This comes down to two core reasons: 1) The owner of the Bitcoin believes that the price will continue to appreciate and by holding now and selling later they stand a chance to make a profit. 2) The owner of the Bitcoin believes in the core principles that Bitcoin was built around and will hold onto their BTC because of their fundamental beliefs. In either scenario, this is bullish for the price of BTC as less supply on the markets will help create higher prices, particularly if public interest in the asset reaches late 2017 levels. What else does this mean for the market? The fact that so many investors are not considering selling BTC right now shows optimism in the assets future value. After all, there would be more Bitcoins changing hands if its holders believed that its value would go down. Story continues Korhaliller comments: This also indicates that many of the weak hands left the market in 2018. This has left a large wall of HODLers that can provide an ever-higher bottom Bitcoin price. Many BTC holders believe that its price will rise after the upcoming Bitcoin halving in May 2020. This four-yearly event that slashes block rewards for miners in half has historically had a positive impact on BTC price. The widespread amount of Bitcoins HODLed is in line with the fact that the Bitcoin hash rate is at an all-time high. This shows that miners are also confident in the growth of the network. And it also means that looking back at the price action of 2019, just 40% of all Bitcoins in existence participated in its swings. Bitcoin has seen several major price swings over the last year. The worlds largest cryptocurrency began 2019 at a price of $3,693 and rose to a high of $13,879 in July, only to sink back as low as $7,280 by the end of December. Euphoric unsustainable highs of the summer aside, BTC still managed to almost double its value in 2019 even with 60% of its supply lying dormant. The Bitcoin community currently seems to be firmly comprised of HODLers rather than traders and speculators. The fact that investors are holding indicates that they believe in Bitcoins long-term growth potential, and that can only be a good thing for the market. The post 60% of Bitcoins havent moved for more than a year appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Bitcoin, Ripple & Litecoin - American Wrap: 12/11/2019: Bitcoin price analysis: BTC/USD $7000-6800 will be a big test
• The Bitcoin price on Wednesday is trading in the red by some 0.80%, as some near-term selling momentum picks up pace in the second half of the session.
• Market bears have resumed pressure to the downside, following a brief period of stabilization. The price has breached a bearish pennant structure via the daily view and is further extending to the downside.
Ripple Technical Analysis: XRP/USD finds support at the hourly trendline
• Ripple has consolidated on the hourly chart after dropping from 0.2338 to 0.2197.
• The market has made a few higher lows but now looks to be testing lower levels.
• 0.22 is the psychological support zone and if taken out, could indicate lower levels are on the cards.
Litecoin Technical Analysis: LTC/USD lower highs spells danger
• Litecoin price is trading in the red in the session by some 1.20%.
• LTC/USD has extended to the downside, after breaking out of a bearish pennant pattern, inviting another round of selling.
• The price is running towards its third consecutive session in the red.
Image Sourced from Pixabay
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See more from Benzinga
• Bitcoin, Ethereum & Ripple - American Wrap: 12/5/2019
• Bitcoin, Ethereum & Litecoin - American Wrap: 12/4/2019
• Bitcoin, Ripple & Litecoin - American Wrap: 12/2/2019
© 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
#Bitcoin 📈
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░░░░░░░░ 44%
price: $8564.545 || ビットコイン(BTC)の異常な価格変動「バートパターン(Bart Pattern)」とは？ https://t.co/N5rMUw7tTo https://t.co/HROIiNaUyN || @danheld @XuBb3u2IeEEqcbp Not only you make it sound like miners provide the security for Bitcoin, you imply Bitcoin would be even better if we made mining even more costly. This isn’t right. || #Doviz
-------------------
#USD : 5.7243
#EUR : 6.3316
#GBP : 7.4201
--------------------------------------
#BTC
-------------------
#Gobaba : 51625.22
#BtcTurk : 47312.00
#Koinim : 48012.02
#Paribu : 47325.00
#Koineks : 47700.00 || 🤖 1 Hour Global Markets
Crypto Cap ⬆ $232.93B (+0.23%)
Bitcoin ⬆ $153.20B (+0.10%)
Ethereum ⬆ $19.61B (+0.22%)
DowJones ⬆ 28,000.64 (+0.06%)
SP500 ⬆ 3,119.77 (+0.10%)
FTSE ⬆ 7,298.43 (+0.07%)
CAC ⬆ 5,936.48 (+0.08%)
https://t.co/4YdTWZOT4F #bitcoin #stocks https://t.co/f5VIqDAkdY || https://t.co/NMlDSawdLb lance une application pour envoyer un bitcoin (BTC) sous forme de cadeau bloqué #blockchain #BlockBlog #technologie #tech #startup #entrepreneur #economie #finance https://t.co/nzA2YrD6Jw || A $XMR is worth 0.00712107 BTC || 史上最大の財政破綻が目前に迫っています！ 今、自分自身で出来る驚異的な資産形成・防衛ノウハウを公開中！#ブレグジット #Brexit #ドイツ銀行 #CLO #ビットコイン #BTC #レンディング #投資 #株 #FX #金
https://t.co/4zLKWCx8eB 646 || Free 300 GH Cloud Mining at Gominer Instant Witdraw https://t.co/1ZynFRCefc #gominer #hashflare #genesismining #bitcoin || @CryptOwenWilson For you and $btc . I like
|
Trend: down || Prices: 8807.01, 8723.79, 8929.04, 8942.81, 8706.25, 8657.64, 8745.89, 8680.88, 8406.52, 8445.43
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2015-10-06]
BTC Price: 246.06, BTC RSI: 64.87
Gold Price: 1146.80, Gold RSI: 57.94
Oil Price: 48.53, Oil RSI: 60.26
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Betting On More Than The Game During Football Season: On Thursday, the New England Patriots will host the Pittsburgh Steelers for the 2015 NFL Kickoff Game. The game marks the beginning of the National Football League's regular season and despite several high-profile scandals, the league's sponsors are ready and willing to shell out millions to be a part of the 2015-2016 season.
Sponsorship Up
This year the league expectssponsorship revenueto rise to over $1.3 billion; around a 15 percent increase. That figure is supported by the NFL's largest sponsorsVerizon Communications Inc.(NYSE:VZ), which spends around $250 million,PepsiCo(NYSE:PEP) which shells out $200 million, andAnheuser-Busch InBev(NYSE:BUD) andMicrosoft Corporation(NASDAQ:MSFT) which spend around $100 million each to be a part of the season.
Who To Watch?
While big investments mean more exposure to the masses of U.S. football fans, there are several other companies with their fingers in the football jar who stand to benefit.Under Armour Inc(NYSE:UA) is expected to see a boost this year after the company expanded its sponsorship deal with the NFL to provide cleats and gloves on game days. Athletic apparel giantNike Inc(NYSE:NKE) will also benefit from this year's football season as the company hassigned onto be the league's official jersey provider through 2019.
Related Link:NFL, CBS Cater To Viewers Who Are Cutting The Cord
As far as telecoms go, the NFL is likely to bring in big bucks for bothWalt Disney Co(NYSE:DIS) andCBS Corporation(NYSE:CBS). Disney owns ESPN, a premium channel that sports fans around the US subscribe to. Despite a shift toward online streaming, many analysts believe that the channel will be able to continue attracting customers with favorite programs like "Monday Night Football" and new offerings that bridge the gap between online streaming and traditional cable
CBS is also a big winner when it comes to football as the company holds the broadcasting rights for Super Bowl 50 in February. Earlier this year, the company saidadvertisers are willingto pay up to $5 million for a coveted 30-second spot during the big game, a major revenue booster for the telecom.
NFL Struggles To Renew Its Image
However, some investors are cautious ahead of this year's football season as the NFL has been the center of several controversies over the past few months. A survey by YouGov BrandIndex showed that the NFL's brand appeal fell to just 7 from a score of 17 last year. Much of that decline can be associated with accusations of unfair practices between top teams and negative press following players' personal problems.
While the league hasn't shown any signs of slowing down in the wake of several controversial scandals, some believe that big brands associated with the NFL could suffer if the organization doesn't start to crack down on poor behavior.
Image credit: Larry Maurer, Wikimedia
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• McDonald's Goes Cage Free In Latest Attempt To Turn Image Around
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• Wall Street Joins The Bitcoin Movement
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Overstock to Buy SpeedRoute for More Transparent Trading: Online retailerOverstock.com, Inc.’s OSTK cryptofinance subsidiary, t0, has signed a deal to acquire SpeedRoute and related group of privately held financial technology companies.Though the terms of the deal have not been disclosed, the total purchase price will be paid in cash and Overstock common stock. The acquisition of certain assets remains subject to regulatory requirements, with the majority of the deal already closed.SpeedRoute LLC, founded in Apr 2000, is a brokerage firm that currently handles approximately 2.5% of U.S. equity order flow.Overstock, a Bitcoin supporter, hopes to reinvent the public stock market using cryptosecurities, or virtual stocks based on bitcoin's blockchain technology. Bitcoin is a digital currency platform with no central regulating authority involved in the transactions. It is also called crypto currency because it utilizes military-grade cryptography to protect users against fraud. Bitcoin and other cryptocurencies operate on blockchain which is a distributed public ledger.Cryptosecurities will likely be the next major change in the stock market. With this deal, Overstock will enter a new financial technology space. SpeedRoute’s infrastructure and its underlying technologies will help the company to connect t0 securities trading platform with the entire U.S. equity market. This will bring in more transparency and efficiency to the existing capital markets, which was the basic idea behind t0.com.The blockchain technology allows investors and buyers to trail down their purchases and ownership of cryptosecurities, ensuring complete transparency. Moreover, the t0.com blockchain technology facilitates same-day settlement of the securities.In June, Overstock offered its first corporate bond, valued at US$25 million, as cryptosecurities to qualified institutional investors. This revolutionary development is part of the company's larger cryptofinance initiative known as Medici.Overstock.com is engaged in selling branded as well as non-branded merchandise through its websites. Customers can bargain before purchase and often get discounts. A major portion of its revenues is generated in the U.S. In the last reported quarter, the company’s earnings of 7 cents missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 46.15%.Currently, Overstock has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Some better-ranked stocks in the technology sector are Amazon AMZN, Stamps.com STMP and Travelport Worldwide Limited TVPT. All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free report >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportAMAZON.COM INC (AMZN): Free Stock Analysis ReportOVERSTOCK.COM (OSTK): Free Stock Analysis ReportSTAMPS.COM INC (STMP): Free Stock Analysis ReportTRAVELPORT WWD (TVPT): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research || Patients To Benefit From Latest Tech Trends: For years, the medical industry has evolved alongside the tech space as new technology gave doctors the ability to treat patients in ways they never thought possible. Now, the latest trends in the tech space are making their way to patients to help treat illnesses and aid in recovery in new and innovative ways. Virtual Reality Virtual reality headsets have been a hot topic this year after Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB )-owned firm Oculus revealed an affordable, consumer friendly version of the technology. Many said the latest developments in VR are likely to benefit the medical community by providing new doctors with training simulations, but therapists say there is a use-case for the goggles in treating mental health patients as well. Related Link: Virtual Reality Becomes An Actual Reality With New Oculus Headset Virtual Reality Experiences Therapists and counselors say that using virtual reality to put patients in difficult situations could help them deal with some of their problems in a safe environment. The technology could be used for all kinds of mental health patients from those suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder to people with debilitating fear or anxiety. Not only would virtual reality give existing patients a new way to cope with their problems, but the new technique could encourage those suffering from mental disorders to attend therapy. Big Data Another growing field in the tech space has been data analysis and consumer products firm Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ ) intends to put that information into the hands of patients. Together with International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM ) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL ), Johnson & Johnson said it plans to create a new app that will use health data to give patients a virtual coach. The app will use artificial intelligence to sort through thousands of data points in order to predict patient outcomes and give users treatment suggestions. Initially, the company plans to release one such app geared toward knee-replacement patients and its effectiveness will be measured by the rate of hospital re-admissions, but eventually the service could be offered to a wide range of patients. Image Credit: Public Domain See more from Benzinga Facebook Looks To Take Over TV Advertising Net Neutrality Gets Tricky When You Talk About Global Access Bank Of America Prepares For Bitcoin Revolution © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. View comments || IBM Gets Behind Blockchain: While bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have struggled to find mainstream appeal, blockchain, the ledger like technology that they run on, has been touted as one of the most important technological advancements of the past decade. The system has the ability to facilitate transactions in a way that many say will transform more than just the financial industry.
That idea is now being put into practice by tech giantInternational Business Machines Corp.(NYSE:IBM), as the company announced that it is working to use the technology to create a "smart contracts" system.
Related Link:Buy Some Bitcoin With This ETF
Smart Contracts
TheWall Street Journalreported that IBM Research Senior Vice President Arvind Krishna said that the firm is working on a way to develop blockchain technology into a system that can facilitate contracts. The system is expected to eventually be released as open-source software and will likely give other big name companies reason to look into using the technology.
Improving Business Transactions
IBM's smart contracts system won't include the use of cryptocurrencies, but will instead draw on blockchain's ability to track individual transactions but keep the details private. The idea is to allow companies to embed rules into their contracts and allow the blockchain system to enforce them.
One example the company is looking into would be a system that automatically pays for goods once they are delivered, however the possibilities for using the technology could reach into several aspects of business operations.
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• IBM Uses Tennis To Demonstrate Its Dominance In Data
• U.S. Tech Firms Hope To Have A Say In New EU Digital Market Rules
• iBusiness, iPrograms: Apple Stretches Its Legs
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin Gaining Traction At Colleges Around The World: The purpose of higher education is to provide students with the tools they need to enter their chosen profession. Real-world skills have long been an emphasis at top schools around the world, and now those skills include an in depth study on cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. As digital currencies gain momentum across the globe, universities are taking notice and adding bitcoin courses to their syllabuses in order to keep up with the quickly changing fintech landscape. Teaching In An Evolving Field American Universities like Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Duke University only recently launched bitcoin classes, but others around the world have been offering such courses for years. The University of Cumbria was the first U.K. university to offer bitcoin courses and the University of Nicosia in Cyprus was one of the first to offer a free bitcoin course in 2013 to any interested parties. Related Link: New Ruling Defines Bitcoin As A Commodity In The US Bitcoin Adoption Universities that offer bitcoin studies are creating a major stepping stone for the cryptocurrency as it expands further. Not only do the classes give the best and brightest the tools to solve real-world problems related to digital currencies, but they draw awareness to cryptocurrencies as well. Canadian McGill University and MIT both offered bitcoin giveaways to students in an effort to give the cryptocurrency more traction on campus. Others like the U.K.'s Imperial College have dedicated research to the expanding field and given students and staff the opportunity to collaborate in order to solve some of the cryptocurrency's pressing issues. Bitcoin Payments Not only are schools offering their students a chance to learn more about bitcoin, but many are accepting the cryptocurrency as payment for their studies as well. In 2013, the University of Nicosia in Cyprus was the first college in the world to accept bitcoin as a form of payment. The school announced that its students could pay for courses and other fees using the cryptocurrency, and had its first student pay in bitcoin just weeks later. Story continues See more from Benzinga As Adults Embrace Marijuana, Teens Turn Their Noses Up Here's How The Fed's Decisions Will Affect Central Bankers Around The World Pentagon Working To Overhaul Cybersecurity Protocol © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Texan pleads guilty to running bitcoin Ponzi scheme: By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Texas man accused of operating a Ponzi scheme involving bitcoins pleaded guilty on Monday in what prosecutors say was the first U.S. criminal securities fraud case related to the digital currency. Trendon Shavers, who authorities said defrauded investors after raising more than $4.5 million worth of bitcoins while operating Bitcoin Savings and Trust, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to one count of securities fraud. "I know what I did was wrong, and I'm very sorry," Shavers said in court. Under a plea deal, Shavers has agreed not to appeal any sentence at or below 41 months in prison. Sentencing before U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan is scheduled for Feb. 3. Shavers, who went by "pirateat40" online, was arrested in November, two months after a federal judge in Texas ordered him to pay $40.7 million in a related U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil lawsuit. Prosecutors said Shavers, who turned 33 on Monday, raised at least 764,000 bitcoins worth more than $4.5 million based on the average price of bitcoin during the period of the scheme from investors from September 2011 to September 2012. He promised interest rates of 7 percent per week or 3,641 percent a year. The indictment said Shavers solicited the investments on the website Bitcoin Forum, offering to pay interest to investors who loaned bitcoins to Bitcoin Savings and Trust while he pursued a market arbitrage strategy. Michael Ferrara, a prosecutor, in court on Monday said Shavers had invested some of the bitcoins with Mt. Gox, the now-defunct Tokoyo-based bitcoin exchange. But Ferrara said Shavers, who lived in McKinney, Texas, largely instead used new investors' bitcoins to pay back prior investors. "In other words, he had the telltale signs of a Ponzi scheme," Ferrara said. In court papers, prosecutors had also accused Shavers of misappropriating bitcoins to buy a used BMW M5 sedan and a $1,000 steakhouse dinner in Las Vegas, and to go to spas and casinos. Story continues At the peak of the scheme, Shavers controlled about 7 percent of bitcoins in public circulation, prosecutors said. In total, prosecutors said he misappropriated 146,000 bitcoins and caused 48 investors to suffer losses. The case is U.S. v. Shavers, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-cr-00157. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) || Bitcoin flounders in Australia as regulatory worries bite: By Byron Kaye and Swati Pandey SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian businesses are turning their backs on bitcoin, as signs grow that the cryptocurrency's mainstream appeal is fading. Concerns about bitcoin's potential crime links mean many businesses have stopped accepting it, a trend accelerated by Australian banks' move last month to close the accounts of 13 of the country's 17 bitcoin exchanges. The development is a blow to hopes of bitcoin fans that the currency can play a significant role in everyday business transactions in developed economies, with Australia once seen as one of its most promising markets. It is estimated to hold 7 percent of the currency's $3.5 billion global value, a sizeable figure in a country of just 24 million people. "We've got a squeaky clean reputation, and that's actually worth a lot more to us than dipping into this," said James Snodgrass, principal of Sydney's Forsyth Real Estate, which ditched the currency in late 2014 after the firm was investigated by the federal tax office. Forsyth had offered to collect home deposits and other realtor fees via bitcoin to cater to international buyers. The tax office probe found no wrongdoing but Forsyth was burned by the negative publicity and bailed out before ever taking a bitcoin payment. Although most mainstream banks in Europe and the U.S. already refuse to keep bitcoin-affiliated accounts, developments in Australia represent the first coordinated shutdown of bitcoin exchanges by a country's banking system. The move makes it much harder for people to convert regular currencies in to or out of bitcoin, threatening its long-term value. "It really runs on people using bitcoin, and if nobody uses it then it's worthless," said University of Technology Sydney senior finance lecturer Adrian Lee. BANK SHUTDOWN The banks' shutdown appears at odds with a government inquiry which in August recommended removing sales tax for people who buy bitcoin. The Australian anti-money laundering agency, AUSTRAC, told Reuters that banks have no legal obligation to close bitcoin accounts. The so-called "Big Four" banks - Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corp, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and National Australia Bank - directed inquiries about bitcoin to the Australian Bankers' Association. Tony Pearson, the association's acting chief executive, wouldn't confirm the coordinated rejection of bitcoin but said in an email that its "lack of transparency and regulatory oversight raises a number of risks for users and also poses risks for the payments system, the integrity of the financial system and the erosion of the tax base". Australia's organised crime agency has said it is concerned the currency's untraceable nature makes it attractive for money laundering and selling illicit drugs. In the U.K. and the U.S., most large banks have already cut ties with bitcoin account holders, but lack of industry co-ordination has left room for individual lenders to support the currency, including Germany's Fidor Bank AG, which operates in Britain, and tech-focused Californian lender Silicon Valley Bank. CLOSE, MOVE OFFSHORE OR SNEAK AROUND The 13 Australian bitcoin exchanges whose accounts were closed by the banks have shut operations. The remaining four have had their accounts frozen, and now face three options: close, move overseas or spread their business into several smaller bank accounts to avoid detection by their banks. Buyabitcoin.com.au, one of the remaining four exchanges, said it is still considering its options. "It makes it, obviously, hard to take payments from our customers, but we have a couple of relationships left," said Andrew Smith, general manager of the Melbourne-based exchange. Smith declined to identify which bank his firm is now using from fear of repercussions but said he plans to move the business offshore. Two sources told Reuters that regional lender Bank of Queensland still held some bitcoin accounts. The bank said in an email that "virtual currencies fall outside of our risk appetite" but did not deny or confirm it had these accounts. RETAIL PULLOUT Some industry watchers believe ambivalence may be bitcoin's biggest problem. At least six Australian retail businesses, which as recently as 2014 courted publicity for offering sales by bitcoin, told Reuters they were considering exiting the currency. "If governments begin to aggressively attack the whole idea of cryptocurrencies and give it a bad name, it might have an adverse effect on our brand by accepting it," said David Brim, co-founder of off-road vehicle maker Tomcar Australia, which has sold one car using bitcoin since introducing it in November 2014. Grant Fairweather, owner of the Metropolitan Hotel in Sydney, said he started accepting bitcoin when a group of digital currency fans chose his pub as their regular meeting venue. "They tell me that it's doing quite well, but that doesn't transpose into here," said Fairweather, who sells about A$100 ($70) worth of drinks via bitcoin from the meetings and does no other bitcoin trade. An online clothing retailer told Reuters she had made no bitcoin sales since introducing the service in 2013 and asked not to be named, saying "since bitcoin's going out anyway, we'd rather not throw our name back into it". (Additional reporting by Nathan Lynch in SYDNEY and Jemima Kelly in LONDON. Editing by Jane Wardell and Rachel Armstrong) || Your first look for Friday: The "Fast Money" traders revealed what's on their watch list.
Dan Nathan was watching the Nikkei 225(Nihon Kenzai Shinbun: .N225).
Steve Grasso had theiShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF(IBB)on his radar.
Brian Kelly was looking at the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF(NYSE Arca: TLT).
Guy Adami had his eye on the CBOE Crude Volatility Index(^OVX).
Trader disclosure: On September 10, 2015 , the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders:Dan Nathan is long QQQ Oct put spread, XBI sept put spread, TWTR, PG. Steve Grass is long AAPL, BA, BAC, CC, DD, DIS, DECK, EVGN, FIT, KBH, MJNA, MU, PFE, PHM, STRP, T, TWTR, GDX, firm is long BP, COP, CVX, FCX, NE, NEM, OXY, RIG, WYNN, AMZN His kids own EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY. Brian Kelly is long BBRY, TWTR calls, Bitcoin, U.S. Dollar; he is short British Pound, Euro, Yen, Yuan, US Treasuries. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
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• Personal Finance || Is Europe The New Home For Bitcoin?: The tech sector has grown exponentially over the past decade, and most of that innovation has come from the United States. Industry giants like Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG ), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT ) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL ) were all born on American soil. However, as financial technology emerges, some experts are predicting that it will be Europe which pulls ahead in that sector. Cryptocurrency Friendly Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are still a relatively new development in the fintech sector, but many believe that blockchain, the ledger like system that powers bitcoin, will be one of the most important innovations of the decade. Despite that, the general public has been hesitant to embrace cryptocurrencies after the coins' reputations were marred by several high-profile scams. Many believe that the only way to gain mainstream approval is by laying out regulations that govern cryptocurrencies in order to protect consumer interests. Regulations That Work Critics say that regulations undermine the reason bitcoin was developed — to create a decentralized financial system free from traditional barriers. With this in mind, many U.S. states have begun to crack down on bitcoin businesses in hopes of making the industry more streamlined and safer to use. However, in New York, a new rule requiring firms in the industry to apply for bitcoin licenses led to the shutdown of 15 bitcoin companies, which opted to take their businesses elsewhere rather than complying with the new rules. Progressive Regulation In Europe, the response by regulators has been vastly different. Many major cities like London have expressed a need for bitcoin regulation, but have worked together with major industry players in order to create a set of rules that helps the industry continue to grow and develop. For that reason, many believe that cryptocurrency-based firms will make their homes in Europe rather than the US. See more from Benzinga The Sharing Economy Sparks A New Class Of Startups Is The Soda Industry Doomed? Bitcoin Firms Could Join Forces To Promote Adoption © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || May the force be with you: 2 Star Wars trades: Disney's(NYSE: DIS)stock may have had a rough time recently, but "Fast Money" traders see an opportunity.
Trader Guy Adami said that with the stock down more than 20 percent in the last couple of weeks, the valuation is reasonable. He also has faith the CEOBob Igerwill "figure it out."
"I understand the problems they are having on the cable sides of things, but I also think he's one of the best managers out there. You've got to give him the benefit of the doubt. If the market stabilizes in any way, it goes to $110," he said on Friday.
Trader Steve Grasso is long Disney. "I do believe it's going to work its way up and I do believe they [Disney] are the king of content."
He also said that Netflix(NASDAQ: NFLX)too could benefit from its deal with Disney. "The Netflix deal with Disney kicks in 2016, so they're going to get Star Wars, Marvel and superheroes. There's a lot of content that is going to save both stocks," he said.
Read MoreWhy it might not be time to dump Disney shares
Trader Brian Kelley said that Disney is a place to buy when the market gets stronger. "You have a great risk-to-reward ratio. You could get it up to $115. Disney is where you look when the market starts to rip," he said.
Disclosures:
STEVE GRASSO
Steve is long AAPL, BA, BAC, CC, DD, DIS, DECK, EVGN, FIT, KBH, MJNA, MU, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, GDX, firm is long MAT, MCD His kids own EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY.
BRIAN KELLY
Brian Kelly is long BBRY, TWTR calls, Bitcoin, U.S. Dollar; he is short British Pound, Euro, Ruble, Yen, Yuan, US Treasuries.
GUY ADAMI
Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
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[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 18 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $126.94 #bitcoin #btc || 現在の価格は 29112円(http://blockchain.info )です。前回比は1円(0.00%)です。http://konvert.in/currency/1-bitcoin-to-japanese-yen … #ビットコイン #bitcoin via @konvertin || Current price: 169.82£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2015-08-14 09:00:04 BST || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 17 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $87.21 #bitcoin #btc || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 21 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $200.32 #bitcoin #btc || LIVE: Profit = $300.76 (0.27 %). BUY B462.27 @ $237.00 (#BTCe). SELL @ $238.48 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || My robot has 00 hp left! I've earned a total of 16,599,804 free satoshis from http://www.robotcoingame.com/?id=59280 #robotcoingame #Bitcoin #FreeBitcoin || Current price: 147.93£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2015-09-17 00:00:02 BST || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 19 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $230.28 #bitcoin #btc || Current price: 158.63£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2015-10-06 02:00:07 BST
|
Trend: up || Prices: 242.97, 242.30, 243.93, 244.94, 247.05, 245.31, 249.51, 251.99, 254.32, 262.87
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Winklevoss brothers name State Street as bitcoin ETF administrator: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss on Tuesday filed amendments to their proposed bitcoin exchange-traded fund, naming State Street as administrator, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Winklevoss brothers, identical twins, had filed their first application for a bitcoin ETF called Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust three years ago.
Investors have shown keen interest in the Winklevoss ETF. If approved by the SEC, this would be the first bitcoin ETF issued by a U.S. entity.
According to the amended filing, State Street will provide the fund administration and accounting services, including calculating the bitcoin trust's net asset value (NAV).
Another major change involved the ETF's custodian, Gemini Trust Company, doing monthly "proof of control" exercises and publishing the reports on the ETF's website.
"Custodian's cold storage system was purpose-built to demonstrate 'proof of control' of the private keys associated with its public bitcoin addresses," the filing said.
"The sponsor and the custodian have engaged an independent audit firm to verify that the custodian can demonstrate 'proof of control' of the private keys that control the Trust's bitcoin on a monthly basis."
Burr Pilger Mayer, based in San Francisco and known for working with venture-backed digital currency companies, has been named the ETF's auditor, the filing said.
In addition, the SEC filing said Gemini's daily auction price at 4 p.m. EDT will now be used to price the NAV of the ETF. The previous pricing mechanism was the Gemini spot price. Gemini runs a digital currency trading venue.
Since its launch in September, the Gemini auction has transacted more than 1,900 bitcoin on average per business day, which represents more than 16 percent of all U.S.-based bitcoin exchange volume, according to company data.
The daily auction along with Gemini's expansion has increased the company's market share to about 9 percent of all U.S. dollar-denominated exchange-traded bitcoin volume.
The ETF would trade under the ticker symbol COIN.
Late on Tuesday, bitcoin traded at $632.88 on the BitStamp platform.
(This version of the story adds the dropped word "bitcoin" in the 7th paragraph, fixes a typographical error in the 10th paragraph and corrects source to say 'according to company data' instead of 'Gemini said on Tuesday')
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Tom Brown) || Traders weigh chasing Microsoft rally after stock passes all-time high in late trading: The " Fast Money " traders debated whether it's worth chasing the rally in Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) after the company posted an earnings beat driven by continued growth in its cloud business . The stock climbed above its 1999 all-time high of $59.97 in extended trade. Trader Brian Kelly said he would not chase the rally in Microsoft, but would be interested in it on a pullback. "Everything that these guys said is exactly what everybody in this market now wants. There's very few stocks out there that have this type of growth, that have a dividend, that have a strong management team ... so Microsoft is going to attract a lot of investment money," Kelly said. Trader Karen Finerman agreed, but added that Microsoft's current valuation about a 27 price-to-earnings ratio on a trailing basis is much more appetizing than it was 17 years ago. Trader Dan Nathan said that a large portion of Microsoft's revenue still comes from its legacy businesses and that the current valuation is still too rich. He said there's a risk that the growth of the cloud business could slow down. Trader Tim Seymour disagreed, saying that Microsoft could still increase margins and market share. Disclosures: KAREN FINERMAN Karen Finerman is long AAL, BAC, C, DAL, long DB calls, FB, FL, GOGO, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, KORS calls, KORS puts, M, MA, SEDG, SPY puts, UAL, URI, WIFI long call spreads. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, C calls, FB, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, PLCE, SPY puts, URI, WIFI. Her firm is short IWM, MDY. Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International. DAN NATHAN Dan Nathan is TWTR long, PYPL long Oct calls, XHB long Jan put spread, XLU long Dec call Spread, XLK long Jan put spread, XRT long Jan put spread, PG long Dec put spread, EEM long Nov put spread. BRIAN KELLY Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, SLV and Silver Futures, US Dollar UUP. He is short the euro and Japanese yen. TIM SEYMOUR Story continues Tim Seymour is long ABX, APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, DO, DVYE, EDC, EWZ, F, FB, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GE, INTC, LQD,MCD, MUR, OIH, PG, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, VALE, VZ, XOM. short: SPY, XRT. His firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CBD, CLF, EWZ, F, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, X, YHOO, short EWG, HYG, IWM More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin may become a target in the fight against ransomware: David A. Kris CSIS ransomware bitcoin nationa security (David S. Kris speaking at a CSIS panel event in September 2016.CSIS) Many crimes can be solved by following the money, and that may hold true for the growth of ransomware attacks — though the money itself may be different. Countering the increasing use of ransomware — malware that attacks computers and networks and encrypts files, which criminals then demand payment in order to decrypt — may require action against hard-to-trace cryptocurrencies like bitcoin that are often used to pay the criminals behind the attacks, according to David S. Kris, former assistant attorney general at the US Department of Justice's national-security division. "I think the way to attack this — and I think the way you’re probably going to see some legal change over the next few years — is on the other end, with respect to the payments," Kris said during the question-and-answer session of a Center for Strategic and International Studies panel event . "And as I understand it — again, without having studied it too extensively — is that, you know, fintech is what is enabling this, cryptocurrency," Kris added. Reports of ransomware use have increased considerably in recent months. "In the last six to 12 months, this has just gone so aggressively to the business environment," Marcin Kleczynski, CEO of cybersecurity company Malwarebytes, told Business Insider in August . "We see companies from 25 people all the way to 250,000 people getting hit with ransomware." Malwarebytes ransomware survey (An Osterman research survey sponsored by Malwarebytes found that 54% of businesses surveyed had come under attack from ransomware in the 12 months through August 2016.Malwarebytes) Tech firm Kaspersky Lab said this summer that the number of victims attacked was growing at an alarming rate — up from 131,000 in 2014-2015 to 718,000 in 2015-2016, according to AFP. Some researchers have seen a 3,500% increase in the web infrastructure needed to run ransomware campaigns. According to Kleczynski, some banks have begun stockpiling bitcoin — which currently trades about about $600 to one — in case of a ransomware attack. "I talked to a couple of banks, and they say they have 50-100 bitcoin ready at all times in a wallet to deploy if a ransomware attack hits," he told Business Insider's James Cook . Story continues A report this summer found that hackers employing ransomware could pull in as much as $7,500 a month . And while individual victims are usually only hit with demands for a few hundred dollars , the likelihood that they will pay has made ransomware an appealing venture for hackers. And financial-services firms and individual people aren't the only potential targets. A NASCAR team admitted to paying hackers after its computers where hit with a ransomware attack. In August, security researchers demonstrated a ransomware attack on a smart thermostat , raising the possibility that Internet of Things devices will come into the crosshairs. Hackers have reportedly stolen $65 million worth of Bitcoins from a major Hong Kong exchange Bitfinex, which has now suspended all transactions (Hackers have reportedly stolen $65 million worth of Bitcoins from a major Hong Kong exchange Bitfinex, which has now suspended all transactions© AFP/File Philippe Lopez) The appeal of ransomware has no doubt been burnished by cryptocurrencies like bitcoin coming into the mainstream. " I personally would not be surprised to see over the next few years increasing regulation that maybe makes it more challenging for these kinds of anonymous, substantially untraceable — I don’t want to say it’s completely untraceable — payments to be made," Kris said during the CSIS event. "I think probably where you’re going to see legal change is in the area of the payment scheme. That may be wrong, but that’s sort of what I expect." However authorities choose to counter the use of ransomware, it's unlikely the threat will go away any time soon. "The extortion model is here to stay," a Kaspersky Lab expert said in a statement about rising ransomware attacks on Android users. NOW WATCH: Mac users are being attacked by malware that locks their computer and demands a $400 ransom — here’s how to protect yourself More From Business Insider Spanish police busted 30 people suspected of using a 'crypto-currency' to launder money One of 'El Chapo' Guzmán's chief money launderers is involved in a strange Hollywood kidnapping plot The ECB is getting rid of drug cartels' favorite currency || 10 paid iPhone apps on sale for free for a limited time: Galaxy Note 7s are exploding... iPhones are exploding... it's time for some uplifting news and nothing is more uplifting than scoring a bunch of paid iPhone and iPad apps for free. Today's batch includes several solid apps as well as a few nifty sticker packs for iMessage, but these sales won't last so be sure to check them out right away. DON’T MISS: No matter what happens next, the Galaxy Note 7 is dead to us These are paid iPhone and iPad apps that have been made available for free for a limited time by their developers. There is no way to tell how long they will be free. These sales could end an hour from now or a week from now — obviously, the only thing we can guarantee is that they were free at the time this post was written. If you click on a link and see a price listed next to an app instead of the word “get,” it is no longer free. The sale has ended. If you download the app, you will be charged. Widget Calendar widget-calendar Normally $0.99. “Quotes: Widget & Watch” gives 2 beautiful quotes a day. “Memory: Your Memo” helps you remember everything by various colors. --- Widget Calendar shows the full calendar in widget. - See the calendar and the events in widget - Hide events of category that you don't want to see in widget - View all the reminders and manage it - Open Calendar app of the date - Open Reminders by touching the list name - Smooth transitions and no buggy moment The fastest way to check your calendar whenever you need to, even when the screen is locked! 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Save your work in full resolution and share your work with friends Also included in Union is Pixite Source, a free resource for professional quality images, textures, and overlays that you can use in your edits. Union invites professionals and hobbyists alike to explore image blending and photo editing. Story continues Download Union Election Stickers election-stickers Normally $0.99. Election Stickers: 2016 Edition Express your political views in iMessages with this U.S. Election sticker pack that contains our 2016 presidential candidates: Hillary and Trump. Quick tips on installing and using Sticker apps: • To access iMessage apps, tap the App Store icon alongside the compose field to see your most recently used iMessage app. • To continue browsing, tap the icon on the lower left corner which brings up the app drawer. From there, tap the plus icon to access the App Store for iMessage, where you can browse and download more apps. 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MixSuite allows you to mix your favourite tracks with your favourite videos effortlessly. This app allows you to select your video(s) from a variety of different areas, to make sure you never miss out on capturing the perfect video for your mood. Choose from YouTube, Vimeo, or even upload your own videos from your personal device! Now onto the Music - MixSuite brings through all your personal tracks from your native music app to allow for quick and easy selection of the tracks you wish to listen to. Now you can create your own Mix! Simply Double-tap the tracks from first to last to order them along with the selected video(s). MixSuite will even allow you to add a voiceover to the video - narrate over your favourite videos to give a truly unique mix. Tap save and you’re ready to listen to your mix! All mixes are saved to a dedicated library within the app to allow for playback at any time. Don’t forget to share the app to your friends for them to give it a try! Download mixsuite CryptoTrader cryptotrader Normally $2.99. CryptoTrader: Interactive, Real-Time Cryptocurrency Advisor! - Handy & clear chart optimized for mobile screens - Up-to-date real-time price data of digital coins and tokens - Historical price data to analyze trends - Current order book and recent trades - EMA and MACD indicators Supported cryptocurrencies: - Bitcoin (Bitfinex, Coinbase, Btc-e, Okcoin) - Ethereum (Poloniex, Kraken, Bitfinex) - Monero - Augur - Ripple - Dash - Steem - Litecoin - Ethereum Classic - and many more. Download CryptoTrader MORPH morph Normally $0.99. From the ominous dangers of a dark square world, MORPH an adorable little creature is propelled by adept chooses into the light, finding his way from world to world in this extremely astute puzzle game. 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Main Features: √ Find & Merge duplicate contacts, phone √ Delete multiple contacts √ One tap backup your contacts √ Quick find the contacts you need √ Show system statistics: memory, storage Download Clean&Clean Trending right now: Apple launches investigation as another iPhone goes up in flames Don’t expect a Surface Book 2 to take on Apple’s new MacBook Pro this year Tests show that one iPhone 7 model is actually slower than all the others See the original version of this article on BGR.com View comments || Bitcoin Services Inc. Secures New Facility, and 15 New Bitcoin Miners; Company to Begin Mining Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and Ethereum: GRANDVILLE, MI / ACCESSWIRE / September 6, 2016 /Bitcoin Services Inc. (OTC Pink: BTSC) announced it secured a 3,500 square foot facility, and fifteen new Bitmain Antminers S7 Batch 8, stable at 4.73TH/s. Antminer S7 ~4.73TH/s @ .25W/GH 28nm ASIC Bitcoin Miners. In addition to mining Bitcoin, it will also start mining Litecoin, Dogecoin, and Ethereum. Bitcoin Services Inc secured a strong electrical supply which is key to successful mining and its profitability.
About Bitcoin Services Inc.:The issuer's business operations are each Internet based to the consumer and consist of three separate streams, as follows: (1) bitcoin escrow services, (2) bitcoin mining, and (3) blockchain software development. The principal products and services are the mining of bitcoins, proving escrow services for buyers and sellers of bitcoins, and the development and sale of blockchain software. The market for these services and products is Worldwide, and sold and marketed on the Internet.
Safe Harbor Statement
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27a of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and section 21e of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Those statements include the intent, belief or current expectations of the company and its management team. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Accomplishing the strategy described herein is significantly dependent upon numerous factors, many that are not in management's control. Some of these factors include the ability of the company to raise sufficient capital, attract qualified management, attract new customers and effectively compete against similar companies.
CONTACT:
[email protected]
SOURCE:Bitcoin Services Inc. || American Express Needs to Shake Off Its Lethargy: - By Sangara Narayanan Of the top four financial services companies in the world, American Express ( AXP ) earns the most and is also the cheapest to buy. American Express made $32.818 billion in 2015, nearly 2.3 times what Visa (NYSE:V) made last year. But the premium credit card seller is trading at an extraordinarily low 12 times its earnings - far less than Visa, MasterCard ( MA ) and PayPal ( PYPL ). The root cause of the problem is that the market's expectation with American Express has turned sour as the company's revenue growth was nearly flat, growing from $31.582 billion in 2012 to $32.818 billion in 2015. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Sign with MIDD. Click here to check it out. AXP 15-Year Financial Data The intrinsic value of AXP Peter Lynch Chart of AXP Comparison with Visa is inevitable as they both operate in the same industry but at different market positions. Visa goes after the mass market while American Express has always gone after the premium segment. But, unfortunately, unlike what you typically see in other industries where premium providers enjoy fat margins, American Express, despite its positioning, has an operating margin of around 25% while Visa has enjoyed operating margins in excess of 60% for the last three years. Visa's sales were lower than Amex in 2015, but the company's operating income was a full $1 billion higher than Amex. Despite this huge discrepancy in bottom-line earnings, Visa has managed to grow at the faster rate than American Express while MasterCard and PayPal have kept up their paces as well. American Express was the only company of the top four to see its revenues barely inch up in the last three years, and that's the reason why the company is trading at lower multiples compared to other players in the segment. One of the biggest problems with American Express is that the company has stayed rigid with its business strategies, always staying within its traditional model of targeting high income earners and high net worth individuals. In contrast, Visa has always remained active in engaging forward-looking technologies and kept pace with developments in the industry. What has Visa done differently? Take, for example, Visa recently inviting banks to test the effectiveness of blockchain technology. Blockchain is the technology that propelled Bitcoin into our world. The concept of shared ledger itself isn't new, but to test it in an interbank environment is completely new. If successful it can completely transform the way settlements are done between banks in different time zones, reducing cost and time while also increasing effectiveness, accountability and data integrity. Story continues The technology may work or fail, but Visa seems to be always ready to look for the next thing it can add to its portfolio. Here's another example: The entire world knows digital mobile payment is the next financial payment wave. Tech majors like Apple ( AAPL ) and Google ( GOOG ) have already jumped into the game, and PayPal's Venmo is also looking to expand aggressively into the segment. All three top players in the digital wallet space - Apple, Google and PayPal - have struck deals with credit card companies as part of their plans to capture the digital payment world of the future, and Visa stands to gain from each of these partnerships. koeBopeWyaLh9pp5m1rvJVugs2yXy77_nwH3FW7l Of course, American Express is also on Apple Pay, but if Amex had been the one to push Apple into launching a payment system like Apple Pay, it would have been an entirely different matter. The problem is American Express remains a mute spectator while its peers go after the best opportunities that will allow them to retain their massive moats and keep growing in the process. I see that as American Express' biggest problem, and the reason for its low valuation. Could Amex have been more proactive? Last year the company launched its American Express checkout, an alternative payment system its users can utilize to make payments on partnering merchant apps and websites. It is trying its best, but somehow the company always manages to be far more than fashionably late to the party. Had the company launched this five years ago things would have been completely different today. Amex could have easily had a PayPal equivalent of its own by now, but that will never be because it was late. Its product launches always strike me as reactive rather than proactive. On the positive side, the company does have a strong enough market position to keep going the way it is. However, it needs to realize that businesses that do not stay relevant today will not live to see tomorrow. That tomorrow might still be far away but unless American Express can get rid of its reactive attitude, there will be trouble down the road. Disclosure: I have no positions in any of the stocks mentioned above and no intention to initiate a position in the next 72 hours. Start a free seven-day trial of Premium Membership to GuruFocus. This article first appeared on GuruFocus . Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Sign with MIDD. Click here to check it out. AXP 15-Year Financial Data The intrinsic value of AXP Peter Lynch Chart of AXP View comments || At your service: cyber criminals for hire to militants, EU says: THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Cybercriminals offering contract services for hire offer militant groups the means to attack Europe but such groups have yet to employ such techniques in major attacks, EU police agency Europol said on Wednesday. "There is currently little evidence to suggest that their cyber-attack capability extends beyond common website defacement," it said in its annual cybercrime threat assessment in a year marked by Islamic State violence in Europe. But the internet's criminal shadow the Darknet had potential to be exploited by militants taking advantage of computer experts offering "crime as a service", Europol added: "The availability of cybercrime tools and services, and illicit commodities (including firearms) on the Darknet, provide ample opportunities for this situation to change." Overall, the report found, existing trends in cybercrime continued to grow, with some of the European Union's member states reporting more cyber crimes than the traditional variety. "Europol is concerned about how an expanding cybercriminal community has been able to further exploit our increasing dependence on technology and the internet," its director, Rob Wainwright, said in a statement. "We have also seen a marked shift in cyber-facilitated activities relating to trafficking in human beings, terrorism and other threats." "Ransomware" - programs which break into databases and demand payment for unlocking codes via virtual currencies such as Bitcoin - continued to expand as a problem, as did highly targeted "phishing" attacks to extract security data from senior figures - "CEO fraud" - and video streaming of child abuse. Attacks on bank cash-machine networks were also increasing, the report found, as were frauds exploiting new contactless payment card transactions, while traditional scams involving the physical presence of a card had been successfully reduced. (Reporting by Alastair Macdonald in Brussels; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) || Winklevoss brothers name State Street as bitcoin ETF administrator: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss on Tuesday filed amendments to their proposed bitcoin exchange-traded fund, naming State Street as administrator, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Winklevoss brothers, identical twins, had filed their first application for a bitcoin ETF called Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust three years ago.
Investors have shown keen interest in the Winklevoss ETF. If approved by the SEC, this would be the first bitcoin ETF issued by a U.S. entity.
According to the amended filing, State Street will provide the fund administration and accounting services, including calculating the bitcoin trust's net asset value (NAV).
Another major change involved the ETF's custodian, Gemini Trust Company, doing monthly "proof of control" exercises and publishing the reports on the ETF's website.
"Custodian's cold storage system was purpose-built to demonstrate "proof of control" of the private keys associated with its public bitcoin addresses," the filing said.
"The sponsor and the custodian have engaged an independent audit firm to verify that the custodian can demonstrate "proof of control" of the private keys that control the Trust's on a monthly basis."
Burr Pilger Mayer, based in San Francisco and known for working with venture-backed digital currency companies, has been named the ETF's auditor, the filing said.
In addition, the SEC filing said Gemini's daily auction price at 4 p.m. EDT will now be used to price the NAV of the ETF. The previous pricing mechanism was the Gemini spot price. Gemini runs a digital currency trading venue.
Since its launch in September, the Gemini auction has transacted more than 19,00 bitcoin on average per business day, which represents more than 16 percent of all U.S.-based bitcoin exchange volume during the 4 p.m. period, Gemini said on Tuesday.
The daily auction along with Gemini's expansion has increased the company's market share to about 9 percent of all U.S. dollar-denominated exchange-traded bitcoin volume.
The ETF would trade under the ticker symbol COIN.
Late on Tuesday, bitcoin traded at $632.88 on the BitStamp platform.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss) || Flow Study Gets More Caribbean Students Closer to Examination Success: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Sep 20, 2016) - As parents and students get fully into the new school term, Flow unveils its e-learning platform, Flow Study , an online portal to help students better prepare for the CAPE and CSEC examinations. One of the most significant features of Flow Study is that it offers access to a comprehensive range of educational materials, including exam strategies, past paper solutions, CyberPedia and virtual labs, that students can access from multiple devices including smartphones, tablets and desktop computers. The portal is also linked to video-based tutorials via Flow TV on Demand. Ricardo D. Allen , head of One On One Educational Services , is the founder and developer of the Flow Study program. For the last several years, his team has been preparing students for the CSEC mathematics exam, maintaining a 100 percent pass rate with an average of 83 percent of these students, attaining a grade one. Flow sees the partnership with One to One as an opportunity to twin the educational expertise and successful track record of One on One with Flow's world class technological platform to significantly expand access to e-learning to thousands more Caribbean students. "Our partnership with One On One Educational Services enables us to deliver the highest-quality educational content via our industry-leading technology, giving Caribbean students a better opportunity to excel," said Michele English, Acting President of Flow. "The platform supplements classroom learning and gives students the ability to study anytime, anywhere. It's the future of studying and we are pleased to offer this opportunity to our customers," she stated. The App offers free access to basic study materials to all Flow's broadband customers. Parents who want more specialized and detailed material for their children, can access additional subjects and content for a small fee that they will be able to pay through their Flow bill or prepaid balance. Story continues Getting started is simple -- visit www.flowstudy.co , 'login' to register for a free FLOW ID. Download the Flow Study app on your mobile device from the Google Play Store to access learning material and you're on your way to better grades. Flow Study is available across all Flow markets except Curacao. About C&W Communications CWC is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, CWC provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers. CWC also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network - the most extensive in the region - in over 30 markets. Learn more at www.cwc.com , or follow C&W on LinkedIn , Facebook or Twitter . About Liberty Global Liberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enables us to develop market-leading products delivered through next-generation networks that connect our 29 million customers who subscribe to over 59 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve 11 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across seven million access points. Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group ( NASDAQ : LBTYA ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYB ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYK ) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group ( NASDAQ : LILA ) ( NASDAQ : LILAK ) ( OTC PINK : LILAB ), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Liberty Global Group operates in 12 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Ziggo, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Mas Movil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a subsea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets. For more information, please visit www.libertyglobal.com . Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3058430 Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3058433 Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3058436 || And this is why you don’t scam a security professional on Reddit: Trying to scam someone on the internet is always a bad idea, but if that someone turns out to be the head of a security research company, you're in for a whole world of hurt. Christian Haschek is an Austrian security researcher who was trying to sell $500 in US Apple gift cards on Reddit, since they're a pain to use from overseas. He thought he had struck a deal with a buyer, but that buyer turned out to be less than honest . DON'T MISS: Reaction roundup: How angry are people about the iPhone 7’s missing headphone jack? After attempting to verify the buyer through an eBay account, Haschek mailed the cards to the buyer. He was expecting Bitcoin payment sometime soon after, but that never came. Getting angry , he messaged the verified eBay account, only to get a message denying any knowledge of the sale. At the same time, the Reddit account he had been dealing with was deleted. So, Haschek embarked on a slightly more low-key and geeky version of Liam Neeson's Taken . He used the Reddit and eBay account names to track down a Steam name, and through that, a Facebook account of the scammer's friend. He used that and some painstaking Facebook stalking to find the scammer's full name and all of his family, and that's where things got really good. He sent a message to the scammer's mom and brother outlining the situation, and said that something had to be done or he would got to the cops. Unsurprisingly, the Bitcoin for the gift cards came quickly thereafter, along with a grovelling apology. In the end, there was no harm done on either side. But it also goes to show that little on the internet is really anonymous. If you want to scam someone -- or conduct perfectly legitimate business on the internet without being found -- remember to start with brand-new accounts. You can (and should) read the full account here . Trending right now: Ultimate Pokemon Go cheat lets you walk anywhere in the game without moving an inch Apple’s dual camera system will remain an iPhone Plus exclusive with the iPhone 8 Steve Jobs’ thoughts on ‘courage’ help explain why Apple removed the iPhone 7’s headphone jack See the original version of this article on BGR.com
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
1 KOBO = 0.00000323 BTC
= 0.0020 USD
= 0.6090 NGN
= 0.0278 ZAR
= 0.2024 KES
#Kobocoin 2016-09-30 12:00 pic.twitter.com/d8cLeAKASU || #Triangles #TRI $0.152854 (102.12%) 0.00025000 BTC (100.00%) || #bitcoin #miner Bitcoin Miner S7 $600.00 http://ift.tt/2dHdo7l pic.twitter.com/lEjUOiIlII || 1 KOBO = 0.00000000 BTC
= 0.0000 USD
= 0.0000 NGN
= 0.0000 ZAR
= 0.0000 KES
#Kobocoin 2016-09-17 05:00 pic.twitter.com/KPGw9zQ0RF || NEOS/BTC ฿0.00015285 Vol.14913.57507090 | Bittrex ฿0.00015009 | Bleutrade ฿0.00013964 | Poloniex ฿0.00015310 || BITCOIN4U Will TURN One Time ฿0.02 BTC Into ฿200000.00 BTC ! | Pages @ bitbillions https://bitbillions.com/bitcoin4u-will-turn-one-time-%e0%b8%bf0-02-btc-into-%e0%b8%bf200000-00-btc/?aff=117201#.V_6dik-W_58.twitter … || $0.003420 (-0.50%) 0.00000570 BTC (-0.00%) #WHIPPED #FETISH #BDSM || $0.002147 (0.75%) 0.00000352 BTC (0.00%) #WHIPPED #FETISH #BDSM || 1 KOBO = 0.00000408 BTC
= 0.0026 USD
= 0.7911 NGN
= 0.0369 ZAR
= 0.2633 KES
#Kobocoin 2016-10-14 00:00 pic.twitter.com/q9U8000671 || 1 KOBO = 0.00000384 BTC
= 0.0023 USD
= 0.6992 NGN
= 0.0328 ZAR
= 0.2328 KES
#Kobocoin 2016-09-18 12:00 pic.twitter.com/W9zontXDH0
|
Trend: up || Prices: 657.07, 653.76, 657.59, 678.30, 688.31, 689.65, 714.48, 701.86, 700.97, 729.79
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin Spikes 5% to $4,100 in Just 2 Hours, Analyst Says Market Turning Bullish: Within less than two hours, theBitcoin pricesurged from $3,920 to $4,137 by more than 5 percent against the U.S. dollar.
The Bitcoin price surged above $4,100.
The abrupt and strong performance of the dominant cryptocurrency fueled other major crypto assets in the likes ofEOS,Ethereum, andLitecointo record large gains in the range of 4 to 7 percent.
Ethereum spiked from $147 to $157 immediately after the initial price movement of Bitcoin by around 6.8 percent.
Read the full story onCCN.com. || The Week Ahead – Trade, Brexit, Central Banks and Trump in Focus: For the Dollar, it’s back into the swing of things following last week’s labour market numbers, with key stats through the week including December’s ISM non-manufacturing PMI and November factory order figures due out on Monday, November job opening figures due out on Tuesday, trade data and the weekly jobless claims figures on Thursday and December inflation figures due out on Friday. Monday and Friday’s numbers will be the key drivers for the Dollar, though we can expect plenty of influence from the Oval Office as U.S officials resume trade talks with China. On the policy front, FOMC Member and FED Chair speeches and the FOMC meeting minutes will also provide direction, as will any updates on the government shutdown. The Dollar Spot Index ended the week down 0.19% to $96.198.
For the EUR, economic data is on the lighter side but of influence, with stats including November factory orders out of Germany and retail sales out of Germany and the Eurozone on Monday, German industrial production numbers on Tuesday and Germany’s trade data and the Eurozone’s unemployment rate on Wednesday. We can expect focus to be on the stats out of Germany through the week. Outside the numbers, the ECB meeting minutes on Thursday will also be of influence. The EUR/USD ended the week down 0.43% to $1.1395.
For the Pound, it’s a relatively busy week on the data front, with stats including December house price figures due out on Monday, December’s BRC retail sales monitor and RICS House Price Balance on Thursday and November GDP, industrial and manufacturing production and trade figures on Friday. While we would expect Friday’s stats to have the greatest influence on the Pound, a week of parliamentary debate on the Brexit deal, ahead of Monday 14th’s vote, will likely seal the fate of the Pound through the week. The GBP/USD ended the week up 0.19% to $1.2723.
For the Loonie, stats through the week include December’s Ivey PMI on Monday, November trade data on Tuesday and, of less significance, housing sector figures through Wednesday and Thursday. On the data front, the Ivey PMI and trade figures will have the greatest impact, with the stats due out ahead of the Bank of Canada’s first interest rate decision of the year on Wednesday that will be the key driver for the week. The Loonie ended the week up 1.94% to C$1.3374 against the U.S Dollar.
Out of Asia, it’s a busier week ahead.
For the Aussie Dollar, economic data scheduled for release includes December’s AIG Manufacturing Index on Monday, November trade data on Tuesday, building approval numbers on Wednesday and November retail sales figures on Friday. Focus will be on the trade and retail sales figures on the data front, while trade talks between the U.S and China will also impact the Aussie Dollar through the week. The Aussie Dollar ended the week up 0.94% to $0.7113.
For the Japanese yen, economic data scheduled for release is on the lighter side, with stats limited to November household spending and current account figures due out on Friday. While the household spending figures will give some guidance on how the 4thquarter is looking, direction in the Yen will ultimately be hinged on U.S – China trade talks and sentiment towards the global economy. The Japanese Yen ended the week up 1.60% to ¥108.51 against the U.S Dollar.
For the Kiwi Dollar, key stats through the week are limited to November building consents that will likely be brushed aside by the markets, with focus hinged on U.S – China trade talks and ultimately the global economic outlook. The Kiwi Dollar ended the week up 0.21% to $0.6732.
Out of China, economic data is limited to December inflation figures due out on Friday. The stats will have limited to no impact on the global financial markets, with the resumption of trade talks between the U.S and China from Monday being the key driver through the week.
Brexit: Members of Parliament return to thrash out the Brexit deal, chatter from parliament the key driver through the week, the Pound likely to be under significant pressure should the chances of a favourable vote diminish further, a vote against also likely to raise the prospects of a vote of no confidence against the Tories.
U.S – China Trade War: Trade talks kick off and risk sentiment will be hinged on updates from talks, any hint of more tariffs and expect the markets to hit the panic button.
On the monetary policy front,
For the Loonie, Wednesday’s Bank of Canada policy decision will be in focus and, while forecasts are for the BoC to hold, forward guidance will be key, concerns over the slide in crude oil prices and the ongoing trade war between the U.S and China factors that could pin back the BoC to a relatively dovish statement. The rate statement and meeting minutes will be the area of focus.
For the U.S Dollar, FOMC member speeches through the week and a scheduled FED Chair speech on Thursday will be particularly influential, with Wednesday’s release of the FOMC meeting minutes unlikely to have too much impact following last Friday’s Powell comments.
For the EUR, the ECB meeting minutes on Thursday will be in focus, the minutes unlikely to too supportive of the EUR.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Bitcoin – Resistance at $4,000 could be the Bulls’ Undoing
• Weekly Review: Dollar Dives After Powell Strikes Softer, More Dovish Tone
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• Natural Gas Price Futures (NG) Technical Analysis – Forecast Change Should Trigger Upside Breakout || SOV Assets Like Bitcoin will Become Much Larger: Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire: Bitcoin price has lost more than 9 percent of its value in the past 24 hours. But according to Jeremy Allaire, the cryptocurrency is a winner in the long term.
The Circle CEOsaidThursday during a Reddit AMA that bitcoin would become more significant as a store of value than as a payment and settlement protocol. He predicted that there would be millions of different crypto assets in the future and each one of them will serve a specific purpose. Fiat currency assets and stablecoins, for instance, will be used for payments and settlements while commodity assets will act as a fuel for utilizing protocols, networks, and applications.
“Our view,” explained Allaire, “is that crypto assets will continue to increase in all their forms […] We [think] SOV assets like Bitcoin will become much much larger and more broadly adopted and those other crypto assets will be used in an incredibly broad array of everyday transactions.”
Critics argue that bitcoin would be anything but a store of value unless it becomes stable. Janet Yellen, the former chief of the Federal Reserve,said last yearthat the coin was not an efficient mean of processing payments. Financial service firm Allianz alsodismissed Bitcoinin its 2018 report, saying that the cryptocurrency had no intrinsic value in contrast to the fellow store of value assets like sovereign bonds, equities or paper money.
However, believers counterargue by saying that even the US Dollar has no intrinsic value: that the only reason why people trust the greenback is that they have faith in their government. That also helps clarify the nostalgia for the Gold standard, when the government papers had their supply measured by the amount of the precious metal they held.
“Dig a bit deeper, and it becomes clear that gold itself has no intrinsic value,”wroteZachary Karabell, the head of Global Strategies Envestnet. “Its supply is limited (as is bitcoin, a strength of the digital currency), creating a relationship between supply and demand that cannot easily be manipulated.”
‘Big Four’ audit firm KPMG also believed thatbitcoin could attain a store of value asset, providing institutions start backing it in large scale. But unless then, the cryptocurrency will likely remain speculative owing to its broader exposure to volatile retail markets.
Allaire hinted that focus from bitcoin had to be shifted to enable crypto ecosystem for real-time user adoption. He said that stablecoins like Circle USD (Ticker: USDC) are more attractive, providing they innovate to scale the throughput and reduce transaction costs to zero. Setting their agenda for 2019, Allaire confirmed that Circle would expand USDC’s adoption among retailers.
“Centre’s initial release of the USDC smart contract and scheme relies on ERC-20 tokens, which right now means that there’s a bit of a burden on the end-user to have wallets where they pay gas fees and the like,” stated Allaire. “We believe that we need Layer 2 approaches that can radically scale the throughput and lower the cost to closer to zero for USDC payments, combined with much much better consumer payment UX than what you see in crypto wallets today.”
Allaire also announced that would seek support from payment processing companies and merchant acquirers to integrate USDC into their solutions.
“Already, BitPay provides this service,” he said.
Featured Image from World Economic Forum/YouTube
The postSOV Assets Like Bitcoin will Become Much Larger: Circle CEO Jeremy Allaireappeared first onCCN. || Major Philippines Bank Union Bank Launches Two-Way Crypto ATM: Report: MajorPhilippinesbankUnion Bank is launching the country’s first two-waycryptocurrencyATM, local media outlet PhilstarreportedFeb. 6.
The move will reportedly let customers buy and sell cryptocurrencies for cash via the ATM as part of the bank’s “sandbox” — a framework for conducting experiments in a controlled environment.
The report did not specify which digital currencies will be supported in the experiment.
According to Philstar, the system complies with current regulations and is the result of a collaboration between Union Bank and the country’scentral bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The article cites a statement released by the bank claiming that the ATM will provide “an alternative channel to convert their pesos to virtual currency and vice versa.”
Philstar reports that Union Bank reported 7.32 billion Philippine pesos (about $140 million) in earnings last year. The bank is within thetop tenlargest banks in the country, in terms of assets.
The BSP has been officiallyregulatinglocal Philippine crypto exchanges as remittance companies and recognizing virtual currencies as a legitimate payment method since it published Circular 944 in February 2017.
As Cointelegraph recentlyreported, new regulations were released by the country’s Cagayan Economic Zone Authority. The rules are reportedly designed to regulate the cryptocurrency industry and protect investors, affecting such issues as the acquisition of crypto assets, including utility and security tokens.
In January,United StatesBitcoin ATM operatorCoinmeentered apartnershipto sell Bitcoin (BTC) at coin counting kiosks owned by Coinstar.
• Financial Stability Board: Crypto Could ‘Challenge Any Framework’
• Bank of Spain Warns Citizens Against Crypto Given Lack of Local Regulations
• Crypto Exchange ErisX Appoints Three New Execs From Barclays, YouTube, CBOE
• State-Issued Digital Currencies Can Squeeze Banks, Says South Korea Central Bank || UCLA Professor says Crypto Will Go From Bad to Worse in 2019, Will it?: Scott Galloway, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), believes crypto will have a worse year in 2019. As a part of his general trends prediction for this year, he said that virtual reality (VR) and crypto will continue to struggle in the upcoming 12 months. Why Scott Galloway is Bearish on Crypto Most emerging markets and technologies tend to move by cycles and are minimally impacted by specific catalysts. As such, the crypto market tends to be unaffected by most industry developments and news because the value of digital assets mostly moves by sentiment rather than short-term events. In 2018, many emerging markets in the likes of crypto, VR, augmented reality (AR), and artificial intelligence (AI) had a poor year in terms of progress and market growth. It is difficult for new technologies and markets to undergo massive changes in the short to mid-term and investors become easily impatient. VR, AR, AI, and crypto also had explosive years prior to 2018, which led to an increase in the value of digital assets and companies working in the four sectors. But, the increase in the valuation of the markets failed to accurately represent their respective rate of growth. Scott Galloway said : VR and crypto go from bad to worse. AI fails to live up to the hype. 3D printing rises from the ashes. Smart cameras become a hot category. 3D printing had a particularly bad year in 2018 as leading companies in the industry including 3D Systems suffered a massive correction in 2014. Because new markets move by cycles, Galloway suggested that the 3D printing market could become revitalized in the upcoming months. Crypto May Be Different While the assessment of Galloway is accurate, the crypto market could be an odd one out. Unlike other struggling industries, many large-scale financial institutions are committed to the cryptocurrency sector. Fidelity, NYSE, ICE, and Nasdaq are a few of many conglomerates that have funded 5 projects in the cryptocurrency space over the past several months to strengthen the infrastructure supporting the asset class. In December, Jim Breyer, a billionaire venture capitalist, said that the world’s best computer scientists are moving to the blockchain industry and it would be risky to challenge smart talent flocking to crypto. “So many of the very best computer scientists and deep learning Ph.D. students and postdocs are working on blockchain because they have so much fundamental interest in what blockchain can mean. You don’t want to bet against the best and brightest in the world,” Breyer said . Story continues The crypto market is expected to have a less volatile year in 2019 as most cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin approach the last leg of the bear market. In the first two quarters, cryptocurrencies could lose more of their value against the U.S. dollar, but if the past is any indication, analysts suggest that the market may initiate a gradual recovery phase in the latter half of 2019. Featured image from Shutterstock. The post UCLA Professor says Crypto Will Go From Bad to Worse in 2019, Will it? appeared first on CCN . View comments || Here’s Bitcoin, Captain Kirk: Is William Shatner Next to Take the Lightning Torch?: William Shatner, who is the face of aSolar Alliance, has joined the#LNTrustChainfun.
The86-year-old actorwas either making a joke or he actually does understand how the Lightning Network. A joke might have something to do with Star Trek’s universal translator. After all, a string of random numbers and letters is not “understandable.” The addition of the “flushed face,” “fear,” and “tongue sticking out” emojis makes it hard to know what he’s actually saying. Does he understand it, or is the point that it’s hard to understand?
In what amounts to a legendary tweet back in 2014, Shatner summarized Bitcoin as “snob currency.” The tweet still gets attention, with various users replying several years later. It understandably gained renewed interest last June when Shatnerbegan promoting a Canadian solar crypto mining outfit.
Read the full story onCCN.com. || Bitcoin and Ethereum Daily Price Forecast – Major Cryptocoins Consolidate With Bullish Bias Post Corrective Price Rally: Cryptocurrency market is seeing all its major crypto coins trade positive post yesterday’s corrective price rally. While headlines suggest that market bears are starting to fight for control, crypto bulls are still seeing positive price activity at the moment as fresh fund flows and healthy trading volume ahead of Ethereum network upgrade continues to underpin bulls from a fundamental perspective. Bitcoin and other 9 major legacy crypto coins which make up top 10 cryptocurrencies in terms of market volume are seeing positive price action with all assets up more than 0.50% by late European market hours. During the Asian and European market hours, Bitcoin and other legacy cryptocurrencies have managed to erase most of the loss incurred during yesterday’s trading session.
As trading session approaches the weekend, both bitcoin and ethereum are trading near psychological price levels a break above which is likely to influence a positive rally bringing in more fund flow to cryptocurrency market while also seeing an increase in overall trading volume. As of writing this article, BTCUSD pair is trading at $3995.8 up by 1.20% on the day, while ETHUSD pair is trading at $149.88 up by 2.69% on the day. Both pairs are trading rangebound with bullish bias in the broad market but lacks a clear directional bias and trigger that could favor a bullish breakout above critical price levels resulting in price rally stagnating just below psychological resistance levels.
News hit the market that Bank of Japan had published a paper on central bank digital coin and while no update on when such a coin will be released by the bank has hit the market, Bank of Japan has yet to deny or confirm news of the release of the said crypto coin. Since false claims are mostly denied by Banks as soon as they learn of same, so far they have denied any works on cryptocurrency which suggests that work is likely in progress behind the scenes. Further, news hit the market that Bahrain is looking to issue a comprehensive regulation for cryptocurrency and blockchain products with the aim to lure capital inflows and secure a position of a major financial hub in the Middle East owing to increased adoption of technology in real-world usage and the fact that crypto assets currently make a major part of financial industry. These moves are expected to add more fundamental support and influence positive price rally in immediate and near future trading sessions. As the crypto market is currently experiencing a positive price rally which seems to be supported from a fundamental perspective, both Bitcoin and Ethereum are expected to continue trading in rangebound pattern with a bullish bias for rest of the day and maintain positive price rally across the weekend.
Please let us know what you think in the comments below
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Natural Gas Price Prediction – Prices Slip but Are Poised to Continue to Rise || Top 3 Price Prediction Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum: Defying JP Morgan's FUD As The Technical Picture Remains Complicated - Confluence Detector: For the second day in a row, cryptos defied downbeat news, this time from JP Morgan. Technical levels are posing challenges to digital coins. Here are the levels to watch according to the Confluence Detector. Earlier in the week, cryptocurrencies defied the news that the CBOE withdrew its request for a Bitcoin ETF. The move was triggered by the ongoing government shutdown and may be temporary, but yet another delay is never good news for cryptocurrencies. Nevertheless, digital coins took the reports with stride, showing their resilience. And now, further depressing institutional news comes from JP Morgan. The major commercial bank led by Jamie Dimon, who has been outspoken on blockchain technology said that BTC/USD could fall below $1,260. This would represent a loss of roughly two-thirds of its value. Analysts from the influential bank said that the value of cryptocurrencies is still unproven and would only make sense in a total dystopia. They dismissed digital coins and said that in the event of a crisis, there are more liquid, less-complicated for hedging, investing, and transacting. Blockchain technology did receive some positive words as a means to cut costs, but this may take quite a few years for banks to benefit. Back to the present, bears did not benefit from these downbeat words. When something does not fall on bad news, it is set to rise on good news. bitcoin_ethereum_ripple_january_25_2019-636840021572876377.png BTC/USD still battles $3,577 Bitcoin, the King of Cryptos, is trading in a narrow range, struggling around $3,577, a "groundhog day" reaction. The dense cluster consists of the following technical lines: the Bollinger Band 4h-Middle, the Simple Moving Average 50-1h, the SMA 200-15m, the Fibonacci 38.2% one-month, the SMA 100-15m, the SMA 5-15m, the SMA 10-15m, the BB 15min-Middle, the BB 1h-Middle, the SMA 5-1h, the Fibonacci 38.2% one-week, the SMA 5-4h, the SMA 100-1h, the Fibonacci 38.2% one-day, the BB 15min-Upper, and more. If the granddaddy of digital coins overcomes this level, it can run to around $3,850 where we find the convergence of the Pivot Point one-week Resistance 2 and the Fibonacci 61.8% one-month. Story continues Looking down, the only substantial support for BTC/USD is around $3,132 where the yearly low meets the PP one-month Support 1. ETH/USD struggles with $118 Ethereum is also battling a dense cluster of levels. The $118 region is humming with stringent levels including the BB 1h-Middle, the BB 15min-Middle, the SMA 5-1h, the SMA 50-1h, the SMA 200-15m, the SMA 10-1h, the Fibonacci 23.6% one-day, the SMA 50-15m, the SMA 100-1h, the BB 4h-Middle, the SMA 5-1d. The next target is $120.50 is the confluence of the SMA 50-4h, the SMA 200-1h, the BB 4h-Upper, the SMA 50-1d, and the SMA 10-1d. Looking further above, $125 features the Fibonacci 61.8% one-week. On the downside, support for ETH/USD awaits at $115 which is both last week's low and yesterday's low. Further down, $112.50 is a juncture including the Fibonacci 161.8% one-day, the Fibonacci 61.8% one-month, and the Pivot Point one-day Support 2. XRP/USD has an uphill battle at $0.32 Ripple remains restricted at around $0.32. It is the convergence of a long list of technical lines including the SMA 5-15m, the SMA 200-15m, the SMA 50-1h, the Fibonacci 38.2% one-day, the SMA 10-15m, the BB 1h-Middle, the BB 4h-Middle, the SMA 5-1h, the BB 15min-Middle, the SMA 100-1h, the SMA 10-1h, the Fibonacci 23.6% one-day, and the SMA 5-1d. If XRP/USD conquers that level, the next cap is quite close. $0.3250 is the confluence of the SMA 50-4h, the SMA 200-1h, the Fibonacci 23.6% one-month, and the SMA 10-1d. Only after overcoming the aforementioned hurdles can Ripple run all the way to $0.3512 where we see the Fibonacci 38.2% one-month, and the SMA 200-4h converge. Some support awaits at $0.3131, a juncture of lines including the Pivot Point one-month Support 1, the previous day's low, and the BB 4h-Lower. See more from Benzinga EUR/USD Forecast: Only A Dead Bounce As Downside Risks Dominate USD/CAD Forecast: Canadian Data Curbs CAD's Enthusiasm, GDP Eyed Top 3 Price Prediction Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum: Showing Resilience After The CBOE ETF Withdrawal © 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin Price Suddenly Spikes $300 to Avoid Retest of 2018 Low: The price of bitcoin is up over $300 from today’s low and now has its sight set on a key technical hurdle that, if surpassed, could spark a stronger rally, analysis suggests.
At 15:00 UTC, bitcoin’s price began its ascent, invalidating what was a narrow trading range between $3,580 and $3,630. The move occurred just above previous resistance from Dec. 18 near $3,550 – a level that now appears to have successfully flipped to support as a result of the latest boost.
It now looks like bitcoin bulls want to revive and extend their rally from just eight days ago when prices were pushed above $4,000 but ultimately failed thanks to a holiday sell-off from a peak of $4,236 on Dec. 24.
Bulls Under Pressure After Bitcoin Price Retreats from $4K
At press time, the leading cryptocurrency is trading at an average price of $3,842 according to CoinDesk pricing data.
The daily chart shows price reacting positively to multiple technical hurdles.Â
As can be seen, the price bounced on a confluence of support including the likes of the daily Bollinger band basis line, 61.8% Fibonacci retracement, as well as the prior support and resistance area near $3,500 (green zone).Â
Backed By Volume, Bitcoin’s Eyes $4.4K Price Target
In order for bulls to now extend the rally towards $5,000, bitcoin’s price must scale the neckline of the widely observed inverse head and shoulders pattern – an indicator of bullish reversal.
The pattern can be described as three successive troughs, the middle or “head” of which is the deepest.
If bitcoin can find acceptance above the neckline, the reversal pattern should take effect, potentially sending the price towards $5,200 which is measured by adding the depth of inverse head and shoulders “head” to the anticipated breakout point.
The hourly chart further depicts the most recent bullish development. We can see that a bear flag (a bearish continuation pattern) had formed inside of a falling wedge, a bullish reversal pattern.Â
It’s safe to say bitcoin’s latest boost has invalidated the bear flag and price now has different resistances in its immediate path in the form of moving averages (MA’s).
As can be seen, price was able to close the last hour above the 100 hour MA – an encouraging sign for the short term bulls, but the stronger 200 hour MA has yet to be conquered.Â
The relative strength index on the hourly chart is now considerably overbought, so consolidation or a minor pullback in the near term may be the most likely course of action.
• The daily chart depicts an inverse head and shoulders pattern that could yield a rally to $5,000 and perhaps beyond if its neckline is successfully scaled.Â
• The hourly bear flag has been invalidated, further easing the bearish concerns for now.
• Acceptance below the most recent higher low of $3,567 will invalidate the bullish reversal set up and likely bring the most recent lows of $3,130 into play – prices as per Coinbase.Â
Disclosure:The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing.
Bitcoin imagevia Shutterstock; charts byTrading View
• Why Traders Say Volume Is Crypto Price Indicator of Choice
• Saying Goodbye to the Blockchain Romantics || Revealed: A Bitcoin Billionaire’s Shocking Plan to Revive Mt. Gox – Crypto’s Most Notorious Exchange: Mt. Gox, Flickr, Brock Pierce wants to see balance in the world. He effects this vision in more ways than one. For starters, he says he “positively discriminates against people who need a hand up.” But more importantly, he’s currently in the process of discriminating against himself in the settlement of the Mt. Gox affair . You know, the origin of the term “ Goxxed “? Gox Rising: An Equitable Resolution to the Mt. Gox Disaster? Through a project called Gox Rising , Pierce, who is arguably the only shareholder in Mt. Gox, is seeking to ensure that victims of “our version of Lehman Brothers” are paid a fair share of what has become more than a billion in assets. In 2014, after an aborted attempt the year before to personally buy Mt. Gox using wealth generated from his game asset trading company, Pierce says he was giving a talk at a conference when he found out about the problems at Mt. Gox. His first move was then to call up Mark Karpeles and negotiate to purchase Karpeles’s 88% stake in the exchange for 1 BTC through an entity called Sunlot . (By all accounts, Pierce was doing Karpeles the favour. The exchange was effectively worth less than $0. Pierce says that ordinarily in deals like this, the acquirer is paid in excess of $10 million.) Brock Pierce in a 2018 interview with The Crypto Twins. Source: YouTube Read the full story on CCN.com .
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
NEW: Into The World Of Bitcoin - It�s Uses, Users And Everything In Between http://bit.ly/2QQX0Et || #Bitcoin is the next environmental concern. Can we really afford to just swap oil for another issue? There are alternatives that don't require mining. That are extremely wasteful. $NANO is that alternative.
#green #cryptocurrency
#greenenergy #CO2https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/17/bitcoin-big-oil-environment-energy?CMP=share_btn_tw … || Jan 10, 2019 15:17:00 UTC
$3,813 USD
€3,308 EUR
£2,989 GBP
#Bitcoin #BTC || #Mineração de #Bitcoin custa mais do que seu valor? #BTC https://livecoins.com.br/mineracao-de-bitcoin-custa-mais-do-que-seu-valor/ …pic.twitter.com/k0GSo9cR4J || BITCOIN is BTC. lol || Total Market Cap: $119,782,940,751
1 BTC: $3,589.42
BTC Dominance: 52.46%
Update Time: 25-01-2019 - 13:00:07 (GMT+3) || 1 BTC = 15050.00000000 BRL em 22/02/2019 ás 12:00:01. #bitcoin #bitcoinbr #bitcoinexchangebr || I’m thinking more like $10k+ tm || Seed CX Launches Spot Bitcoin Trading in Bid for Big-Money Investors http://bit.ly/2HpkGAx || Historical performance of #BITCOIN against #EURO:
first price:97.0
last price:3106.2
EARNINGS:3102.27%
1.58% per day
11.09% per week
47.54% per month
570.46% per year
PERIOD:
5.44 years
65.26 months
279.68 weeks
1957.75 days
#BTC #BLOCKCHAIN #CRYPTOCURRENCY
|
Trend: up || Prices: 3810.43, 3882.70, 3854.36, 3851.05, 3854.79, 3859.58, 3864.42, 3847.18, 3761.56, 3896.38
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2019-05-15]
BTC Price: 8205.17, BTC RSI: 87.18
Gold Price: 1296.30, Gold RSI: 56.94
Oil Price: 62.02, Oil RSI: 48.31
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Is Bitcoin Fundamentally Incapable of Mass Adoption? The Economist Thinks So: An articleout today in the Economistlists several reasons why Bitcoin may never have a “long-lasting” recovery. The unnamed author writes, in part:
“The bust has been correspondingly brutal. Those who bought near the top were left with one of the world’s worst-performing assets. Cryptocurrency startups fired employees; banks shelved their products. On March 14th the CBOE said it would soon stop offering Bitcoin futures.”
He or she neglects to mention that Bitcoin has previously been one of thebest performing assets as well. An interesting point to make: Bitcoin over the past three years has been the best and worst performing asset to hold. Those who called the bubble and jumped ship at the top have laughed all the way to the bank, while long-term philosophicalhodlers remain unfazed.
The article makes a legitimate argument that mass adoption of Bitcoin may never be forthcoming. If we view Bitcoin as a “currency,” intended for making payments of all sizes, the technology to do so hasn’t arrived yet. Bitcoin Core supporters believe expanding block size is unreasonably burdensome on miners and full nodes, while Bitcoin Cash supporters point out that even Lightning Networkmay not be best suited for making micro-payments.
The Economist speaks to the nature of Bitcoin’s actual transaction volume and notes a recent falsified report about the amount of value actually processed by the Bitcoin blockchain in 2018.
Allegedly, an absurd group of Bitcoin fanatics claimed $3.3 trillion – a figure which included “change” transactions. When you send a Bitcoin transaction, your change is returned to an address you control. You didn’t actually send any money, but allegedly people atSatoshi Capital Researchdecided to include change transactions in their estimation.
(CCN couldn’t locate the research report in question, nor did the Economist decide to link it.)
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Which of these Ethereum wallets should you use?: There are a number of Ethereum wallets around today, but it is important that investors choose the best and most secure wallets available to them. Ethereum is a decentralised smart contract platform. Just like Bitcoin, Ethereum has a token called Ether, a blockchain, nodes, and miners. However, Ethereums blockchain maintains a consensus for a virtual computer called the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Ether is the native token on the Ethereum network. There are around 100 million Ether (ETH) on the network, with these tokens being used to incentivise miners to run their mining hardware for Ethereum. These miners and the token help to keep the network decentralised. The Ether tokens can be used for payments between users and to power smart contracts. To run a smart contract, Ether is turned into gas which powers the smart contract on the EVM. Different types of wallets A cryptocurrency wallet refers to a place or device where users can store their cryptocurrency. To find the right Ethereum wallet for your needs, you will need to have a basic understanding of how storing crypto works . There are different types of ETH wallets, including hardware, desktop, mobile, and paper. There are also wallets that just hold Ether and some that hold an array of cryptocurrencies and tokens. Here we will go through some of these different wallets to give you an idea of the best Ethereum wallets to use. Trezor hardware wallet The Trezor wallet was the first ever hardware wallet developed for Bitcoin and now provides support for Ethereum. In fact, the wallet now supports all ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum network. To control the tokens that are stored on the Trezor wallet, users will have to use an Ethereum web wallet. Trezor recommends MyEtherWallet, where users can control the use of their Ether in the online wallets browsing platform. Similarly, if a user wants to create or deploy smart contracts, they will also need to use MyEtherWallet combined with the Trezor wallet. Story continues One of the biggest advantages of this hardware wallet is its security features. Offline (hardware) wallets have major advantages over online wallets as they are less likely to be hacked. But Trezor has added benefits to secure Ethereum holdings. These include two-factor authentication, a screen that allows users to check their transaction details, and advanced cryptography. MyEtherWallet online wallet MyEtherWallet is an online wallet, meaning it is run on the cloud and can be accessed from anywhere at any given time as long as there is an internet connection. Even though online wallets are the simplest to set up and provide convenient access to ETH, they are not as safe and secure as other types of wallets. MyEtherWallet is a web wallet with a difference though. It allows users to store Ethereum keys on personal computers rather than on third-party servers. This enables users to have an added level of security compared to other online wallets. Users do not need to provide or insert any personal information to create a wallet, and they have access to a handy feature that allows them to write and access smart contracts. This accessibility and easy-to-use system makes the wallet extremely popular within the Ethereum community. Atomic Wallet desktop wallet Desktop wallets are known for being extremely user friendly and provide a higher level of security than online wallets. Atomic Wallet allows users to easily hold all ERC-20 tokens in a simple and highly-explanatory wallet. It is ideal for beginners who wish to use a single wallet to hold all of their Ether or ERC-20 tokens. Atomic Wallet also allows users to exchange and trade all Ether tokens directly through the wallet. This is due to its integration of ShapeShift and Changelly. This factor again makes this desktop wallet a clear winner for beginners who want all of their holdings and processes to be done and kept in one safe place. Jaxx mobile wallet Mobile wallets such as Jaxx run via an app that users can download on their smartphone. They are easier to use than desktop wallets, but there is the added risk that if a phone gets lost or stolen, your cryptocurrency could be stolen. Jaxx is a free, multi-currency wallet that offers Ether holders the ability to store their tokens safely. It also has a user-friendly interface that ensures beginners are able to work it. All information and data is set out in an easy manner, meaning users will only have to use the one app for their holdings. Final thoughts You now know some of the top Ethereum wallets on the market today. However, it is important to remember that cryptocurrencies and tokens can be extremely volatile, so it is important you do your own research before investing in Ethereum. For guides on cryptocurrencies , exchanges , and blockchain technology , click here . Make sure you take a look at all the latest crypto and blockchain news . The post Which of these Ethereum wallets should you use? appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Your first trade for Thursday, April 4: The " Fast Money " traders shared their first moves for the market open. Pete Najarian was a buyer of Intel INTC . Karen Finerman was a buyer of Capri Holdings CPRI . Tim Seymour was a buyer of AT&T T . Guy Adami was a buyer of Southwest Airlines LUV . Trader disclosure: Pete Najarian is long calls AAL, ASHR, BP, BSX, CFX, CSCO, CVE, DVN, EPD, EWZ, FB, GDX, JD, JEF, KNX, KRE, MCD, MRO, MS, MSFT, NLSN, PAGS, QCOM, QEP, QQQ, TECK, TSLA, UAL, XLE, XLF, XOP. Pete is long stock AAPL, ABBV, BAC, DIS, FB, FUL, GM, GOOS, HAL, HD, IBM, INTC, JPM, KMI, KO, LEN, LULU, LUV, LVS, MRK, MSFT, NFLX, PEP, PFE, QCOM, TGT, UAL, UPS, UPWK, USB, XOM. Karen Finerman's firm is long ANTM, C, CBS, CPRI, FB, FDX, FL, FNAC, GOOG, GOOGL, GLNG, GMLP, JPM, LYV, SPY puts, SPY put spreads, TBT, URI, WIFI. Her firm is short IWM. Karen Finerman is long AAL, BAC, BOT Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, C, CAT, CBS, DAL, DVYE, DXJ, EEM, EPI, EWW, EWZ, DVYE, FB, FL, GM, GMLP, GLNG, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LOW, LYV, KFL, KORS, KORS calls, MA, MTW, PRCP, SEDG, SPY puts, TACO, TGT, WIFI, WFM. Karen Finerman is long FB, GOOG, GOOGL spread calls. Karen Finerman is short KRE, TBT calls. Karen Finerman is long SPY puts. Bitcoin and Ethereum are in her kids' Trust. Tim Seymour is long AMZN, AAPL, ACBFF, ACRGF, AMZA, ACB, APC, APH, BA, BABA, BAC, BIDU, BX, C, CCJ, CGC, CLF, CMG, CNTTF, CRON, CSCO, CWEB, CURLF, DAL, DIS, DPZ, DVYE, EEM, EUFN, EWM, FB, FDX, FXI, GE, GILD, GM, GOOGL, GTBIF,GTII, GWPH, HAL, HEXO, HK.APH, HVT, HYYDF, INTC, ITHUF, JD, KHRNF, KRO, KSHB, LEAF, LNTH, MAT, MCD, MJNE, MO, MOS, MPEL, MPX, MRMD, NKE, OGI, ORGMF, OTC, PAK, PHM, PYPL, RH, RL, SBUX, SQ, STZ, T, TER, TIF, TGOD, TNYBF, TRSSF, TRST, TWTR, UA, UAL, VALE, VIAB, VOD, X, XRT, YNDX, 700. Tim is on the advisory board of Green Organic Dutchman, Kushco, Dionymed, Tikun Olam, CCTV, and Canndescent. Tim is short IWM, RACE, SPY, TSLA. Tim's firm is long CGC, HEXO, CRON, APH. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC. Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. More From CNBC New market highs are coming soon, says JP Morgan's Kolanovic Chinese stocks hit a 2019 high and one technician says China rally's just getting started Maddox: A lot of people tried to protect Steve Wynn || Bitcoins parabolic trajectory continues as price finds support above $8,000: The last time Bitcoin went parabolic, we saw moves of $3,000 a day as the price went on an exponential run from around $8,000 to its $20,0000 peak in December 2017. We may now be in the early stages of another meteoric rise in value as the market looks to price fair value back into the crypto economy. Its not just the price that is going parabolic either, as volume is also ramping up to nearly $3 billion a day across major exchanges according to the real 10 data at On Chain FX . As the total market cap now approaches $170 billion, Bitcoin is still commanding the largest slice of the pie with a dominance of just under 60%. Other big movers over the last 24 hours have been XRP, which has risen 20% in value, along with close to double-digit gains for both Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash. Shorts getting rekt In the past couple of days, we have also seen the liquidation of large tranches of shorts on BitMEX (most likely traders playing around with high leverage). During the initial move up to $8,000, we saw around $79 million of short liquidations over a 6-hour period. The largest single liquidation in this stack was $28.6 million. Very interesting. Thomas Lee (@fundstrat) May 13, 2019 This event mirrored a similar occurrence which took place yesterday where this time a similar amount of longs were forced into a period of liquidation. The single biggest position getting rekt on this occasion was $20 million as the market pushed off support from $7,700 to trade all the way up to new yearly highs of over $8,000. $76 mill of FOMO longs got rekt from CryptoCurrency Scarcity There will only ever be 21,000,000 Bitcoin, and with the block reward halvening coming in just over 12 months, it seems that scarcity is starting to be priced into the market. Scarcity is a factor of both economics and social psychology. Dubbed the scarcity principle, its said that a limited supply of an asset, combined with high demand for it, results in an increase of the perceived worth of the asset (regardless of actual utility). Story continues It still looks like a race back up to a symbolic five-figure valuation may be on the cards over the next couple of weeks. This is not the first time that Bitcoin has traded with such a pattern, and it most certainly wont be the last given its intrinsically scarce characteristics. For more news, technical analysis, and cryptocurrency guides, click here . The post Bitcoins parabolic trajectory continues as price finds support above $8,000 appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Coinbase Closing Markets Office in Chicago: Coinbase Provides Wider Support for Crypto-to-Crypto Conversions According to a report from Fortune on April 23, 2019, the U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase will shut down its Chicago office. Coinbase will scale back plans for a high-frequency trade matching engine in development there, software that automatically matches trade bids to complete trades at a higher rate. The exchange will also lay off about 30 engineers and transfer others to its San Francisco office. An unnamed Coinbase spokesperson told Fortune that the closure was due to a change in the company's focus and that the exchange will instead work on growing its custody and over-the-counter trading services. Coinbase launched its Chicago office in May 2018, as a hub for the team working on Coinbase Markets, its electronic marketplace of liquidity and participants. At the time, the exchange noted that the office would provide the company with a vast pool of highly experienced and skilled engineers who would help improve service offerings. The team was led by Derek Groothius, a former software engineer at DRM, and Paul Bauerschmidt, who previously worked as an executive at CME Group, according to additional reports about the closure. In light of the recent development, both men are leaving the company. The move could also be a bid for Coinbase to improve profitability. On April 18, 2019, Reuters reported that the exchange managed to rake in $520 million in revenue for 2018, a figure that was 60 percent less than analysts had predicted. Estimates by news platform The Block revealed that salaries of the engineers working on the trade matching engine were as high as $6 million annually, not to mention the technological costs, office space, staff bonuses and other administrative outlays. This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine . || Bitfinex and Tether accused of $850 million cover-up by New York Attorney General: Twitter Facebook Welp, it's not like you weren't warned something shady was going on. The New York Attorney General's office today accused iFinex Inc., the company behind both the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex and the stablecoin Tether , of a massive coverup to hide the loss of $850 million in customer funds. It seems, the attorney general alleges, that Tether is not in fact backed one-to-one by U.S. dollars (as the company claimed until March of this year) and that Bitfinex can't cover customer withdraws. SEE ALSO: A little-known token may be fueling Bitcoin's rise. Critics say it's a scam. This, to put it lightly, is a big deal. As the Wall Street Journal notes , approximately 80 percent of all cryptocurrency trades are done in Tether. If the so-called stablecoin is shown to essentially be worthless, then markets are not going to react kindly. Read more... More about Bitfinex , Cryptocurrency , Tether , Stablecoin , and Tech || Looking to convert Bitcoin to euro? Follow these tips: If you’re looking to convert Bitcoin to euro, it isn’t quite as straightforward as popping along to your local bureau de change. There are a few different ways to cash in your Bitcoin, and they each have their advantages and disadvantages. The most popular method is to use a centralised exchange like Coinbase or Gemini, but you could also trade your Bitcoin through a peer-to-peer platform or use a Bitcoin prepaid card. Whichever method you use, you need to make sure it is safe and secure. S tart by exploring the reputable exchanges Exchanges like Coinbase and Gemini not only let you buy Bitcoin – they also enable you to sell your Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for fiat. The exchanges connect to bank accounts, enabling you to sell your crypto and have euro transferred to your account within a few working days. Exchanges are considered one of the safest ways to convert cryptocurrencies to euro. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that exchanges enabling fiat withdrawals tend to support the most popular coins only. You might need to convert altcoins and tokens into Bitcoin, Litecoin, or Ethereum prior to requesting a withdrawal. Check out local services Local crypto exchange services let you convert Bitcoin to euro by selling your coins to people living nearby. They enable buyers to avoid all the identity verification requirements of the big exchanges. Although most services offer a decent level of protection for buyers and sellers, it’s crucial to understand how they work and what fees they charge. A popular choice is LocalBitcoins.com – a peer-to-peer marketplace where users post bids for buying and selling Bitcoin. Depending on demand, it might be possible to sell your Bitcoin above market value. You can choose to be paid in person, via a bank transfer or online payment processor, or even have the cash posted to you. LocalBitcoins.com has a guide explaining how to stay safe when selling your Bitcoin. Other similar platforms include Paxful and Bitquick. Consider a prepaid card Another way to convert Bitcoin to euro is via a Bitcoin prepaid/debit card. Issued by the likes of Wirex, these cards can be funded via a range of cryptocurrencies. You’ll have to go through the process of applying for a card, but once it’s in your hands, getting cash is really easy. You load the card with Bitcoin from your Bitcoin wallet and then use it to get cash out at ATMs or to pay for goods in a shop. Wirex, which is available throughout Europe, can be used wherever Visa is accepted. Just be aware of the charges – you’ll have to pay a fee for ATM withdrawals and an account management fee. Story continues Find a Bitcoin ATM As well as letting you buy Bitcoin, some Bitcoin ATMs enable you to send Bitcoins to the machine and receive cash in return. This can be a convenient option for people who get paid in Bitcoin. However, the fees can be very high. What’s more, you might not be lucky enough to have a Bitcoin ATM in your local area. Explore crypto loans If you need cash but you don’t want to sell your Bitcoin, a crypto loan could be the answer. Platforms like SALT and Nexo enable you to borrow fiat by putting your crypto down as collateral. Comparing each platform’s loan-to-value ratio and APR will help you to decide which one is for you. A final note Before you convert your Bitcoin to euro, it’s worth considering whether you do really want and need the cash. Once you’ve made the conversion, your Bitcoin will be gone and there’s a chance you’ll miss out on big gains. Bitcoin ATMs and prepaid cards are the speediest ways in which to get hold of cash, whereas the exchanges take several business days. Your decision will ultimately rest on how quickly you need the money, whether you prefer the security of a reputable exchange, and how much you’re willing to pay for the conversion. For more news, guides, and cryptocurrency analysis, click here. The post Looking to convert Bitcoin to euro? Follow these tips appeared first on Coin Rivet . View comments || Bear Market Blues: Bitcoin Hardware Wallet Ledger Could Lay Off 10% Staff: Editor’s Note 12 PM GMT 04/12/2019: The original headline for this story included “Trezor” instead of “Ledger”. This was an error done by CCN’s editorial team. We have changed the headline to include “Ledger”. We apologize for the misunderstanding. (ii) SatoshiLabs was hiring new people throughout 2018, and we are continuing to fill open positions now in 2019.
The bear market has been hardest on crypto accessory providers. Ledger andTrezorproduce hardware wallets. The addedsecurityof a hardware wallet may be a hard sell to people who already feel they’ve invested in a losing asset, and nowhere is this more evident than in Ledger’s declining sales and recent news that it’s considering layoffs up to 10% of its 200-strong workforce.
According toPresse Citron, a French outlet, Ledger is currently considering laying off 20 people in its support division but hasn’t pulled the trigger yet.
Ledger has been versatile through the downturn in sales, which topped out at 1 million units throughout the 2017 bull run. The company launched an asset management product calledLedger Vault, which has helped garner continued revenues.
Ledger recently made the news when one of their executivesmiffed competitor Trezorat a crypto conference, to which Trezor responded vociferously.
For its part, Ledger doesn’t seem eager to fire people.BithumbandBitmainhave both gone through rounds of layoffs in response to bear conditions, but Ledger appears more cautious. Thepast week’s bull activitymay give them pause: if we are to enter a strong market again, the company would only end up having to rehire support staff if sales picked up again.
According to an investor speaking to Presse Citron, Ledger earned as much as 10 million euro per month during its best times. Ledger hardware wallets sell in a price range of $60 to $270. The company’s website reports that over 1.4 million Ledger Nano S units have sold, making it one of the most (if not the most) popular hardware wallets in the world.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Japan Yahoo backs new cryptocurrency exchange: A subsidiary of Japan Yahoo will allow the trade of cryptocurrencies after a reported $19 million deal. Taotao, formerly known as BitARG, will launch in May and is a 40% subsidiary of the internet giant. It will trade in cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) and will offer margin trading for Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Ripple (XRP). Taotao has regulatory approval from the Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA). Local media reported Japan Yahoo paid about 2 billion yen for the stake. Pioneering Japan Japan Yahoo is not the first mainstream Japanese company to invest in blockchain. Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten is fusing the technology and its Super Points loyalty programme to create its own cryptocurrency, Rakuten Coin. Rakuten CEO and founder Hiroshi Mikitani said: “Basically, our concept is to recreate the network of retailers and merchants. We do not want to disconnect [them from their customers] but function as a catalyst. “That is our philosophy, how to empower society, not just provide more convenience.” Earlier this month it emerged that money laundering in Japan has been rife over the past year. The Japan Times reported that more than 7,000 money laundering cases involving digital assets were reported to the police in 2018. This marks a 1,000% rise from 2017, when just 669 cases were reported in a shorter period between April and December. Among the 7,096 suspicious transactions, some of the suspects were found to be using the same ID photos despite using different names and dates of birth, while others had sent the transactions from overseas despite being registered as living in Japan. In total, of the 417,465 cases of suspected money laundering that were reported to authorities, just 1.7% of them involved cryptocurrency. The post Japan Yahoo backs new cryptocurrency exchange appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Crypto Exchange HitBTC Appeals to Cryptography in Dispute With Altcoin BTCP: Cryptocurrency exchange HitBTC appealed to the specificity of its cryptography in an ongoing dispute with the team behind altcoin Bitcoin Private ( BTCP ). The post was published on HitBTC’s blog on Tuesday, March 26. The dispute involves HitBTC’s delisting of the altcoin, whose team then accused the exchange of fraud. HitBTC, currently ranked by CoinMarketCap as the world’s 15th largest exchange by adjusted daily trade volume, claims that the BTCP team had offered an “unsuitable” solution for moving its funds prior to a scheduled coinburn. In the recent blog post — titled “Explanation of the situation with BTCP” — the exchange also states that the coin’s developers did not provide any code or documentation for specific transaction cryptography used in their blockchain . Moreover, HitBTC accuses BTCP of creating custodial risk and ecosystem instability. Earlier this month — the day BTCP published its letter accusing the exchange of fraudulent activities — HitBTC revealed that BTCP had burnt a part of the funds still remaining in the exchange’s custody, on behalf of users. The exchange stated that it then compensated all resulting losses to its users. In this week’s statement, the exchange claims that BTCP is still available for withdrawal from the platform and that its customers did not sustain any losses as a result of the coinburn. The blog post does not, however, provide concrete responses to the previous allegations from the BTCP team, which accused HitBTC of an extortion attempt. As Cointelegraph previously explained , BTCP was created in a fork from ZClassic ( ZCL ) and Bitcoin ( BTC ), with a notice of a future coinburn in its whitepaper. The event scheduled for mid-February 2019 was meant to delete all the coins that hadn’t been claimed or moved since the fork. However, prior to the coinburn, HitBTC reportedly contacted BTCP requesting assistance to protect its users’ funds in a series of emails. The exchange further asked for 58,920 BTCP (about $17,600) to be given as compensation after the coinburn, due to expected losses. Story continues BTCP reportedly insisted that addresses created after the fork would not be affected, therefore there would be no loss of funds. The altcoin’s team instead alleged that HitBTC secretly held 58,920 BTCP in a BTCP Segwit wallet and that the concerns over the coinburn were related to the exchange’s personal funds. When the coinburn actually took place, according to the altcoin’s team, HitBTC threatened to pull BTCP support if the coin’s development team did not compensate the BTCP sum. In March, the coin was delisted from the exchange. In early 2019, Proof of Keys ’ organizer Trace Mayer had publicly suggested that HitBTC may be deliberately freezing withdrawals in the wake of the campaign. Mayer’s Proof of Keys event advocates a mass withdrawing of all funds from exchanges and other centralized third parties. However, HitBTC dismissed the allegations, a company representative telling Cointelegraph: “These temporary, safety-related withdrawal freezings are a direct consequence of our international KYC and AML measures. These rules exist and apply to us and everybody, 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.” Related Articles: Exchange KuCoin Enables Credit Card Purchases of Crypto Following Launch of Services in the US, eToro Announces Listing of Tron Two Exchanges Overtake Binance on CMC Rankings, But Research Suggests Volume Is Fake Cryptocurrency Price Correlations in Bitcoin, Dollar Flipped in 2018, Binance Finds
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
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It's all… https://t.co/7i4hOUMJyg || Eterbase Coin (XBASE) will officially be listed on OOOBTC with XBASE/ETH and XBASE/BTC pair. This means that deposit and withdrawal will be available on 17th may, while official trading will start 18th may 2019. #ooobtc #obx #crypto #bitcoin #ethereum #blockchain #btc #toqqn || 👌👌 || Fingers crossed for the parabolic move to $10k to dip out for a bit || #ebay #confirms #leaked #bitcoin #images
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Trend: up || Prices: 7884.91, 7343.90, 7271.21, 8197.69, 7978.31, 7963.33, 7680.07, 7881.85, 7987.37, 8052.54
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2015-12-29]
BTC Price: 432.98, BTC RSI: 54.11
Gold Price: 1077.50, Gold RSI: 50.21
Oil Price: 37.87, Oil RSI: 47.77
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
A star Silicon Valley entrepreneur explains how bitcoin is going to change the world: (RealVision Television)Tech entrepreneur and bitcoin guru Wences Casares saw his family lose their entire wealth three times in Argentina because ofhyperinflation, a currency collapse and confiscation.
"[There's] more people in the world who need a currency they can trust than the opposite," Casares toldDan Morehead,the ex-head of macro trading at Tiger Management, in a new interview onRealVision Television,a subscription financial news service.
Those instances are what ultimately led him to the digital cryptocurrency bitcoin.
Casares created Argentina's first internet provider and later sold his online brokerage firm to Banco Santander for $750 million in 2000. He is now a star of the Silicon Valley bitcoin scene,headingXapo, a company that provides a bitcoin wallet and storage vault.
The real "a-ha" moment for bitcoin happened when he was planning a trip with a group of childhood friends back in Argentina.
"We all had to chip in some money. They were all in Argentina except me, I'm here in California. They all got together and gave the cash to one of them. And I was trying to find a way to send money. At the time, PayPal had to stop sending money to Argentina and wire transfers were not working because of the currency control."
That's when one of his friends suggested using bitcoin.
"I was very skeptical because this particular friend of mine is not particularly tech savvy or financially sophisticated."
(REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado)Mauricio Macri was elected president of Argentina in NovemberCasares did some research online and arranged a meeting in a Palo Alto cafe with someone he connected with on Craigslist. He gave the man cash and got some bitcoin in return. He immediately sent the bitcoin to his friend in Argentina.
"By the time I made it back to the office my friend had sold it for pesos in Argentina. I was like, 'Wow that's incredible. It's like magic.'"
Casares compared the power of bitcoin in the developing world to the cellphone.
"I think it's obvious the cellphone had a lot more impact in developing world than the developed world because most phones in the developing world are cellphones. If it weren't for cellphones the developing world would not be communicating so it really changed the lives of people in emerging markets."
That's not to say that cellphones aren't important in the developed world though. Bitcoin will be important there too, Casares said.
"It's easier to see how [bitcoin can be] transformative and it can change the lives of people in emerging markets, but it also has an important role to play in the developed world."
Watch the teaser below. You can watch the full interview bysubscribing to RealVision:
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• Microsoft goes big on bitcoin || Bitcoin is back, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo restrict data: U.S. stocks (^GSPC,^DJI,^IXIC) are lower for the second straight day. Is the autumn rally at risk here? Either way the next big catalyst for the market could come as early as 8:30am ET Friday when the October jobs report is released.
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In the meantime, here are some other stories Yahoo Finance is keeping an eye on today.
Big banks vs. personal finance websitesJPMorgan (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC) seem to be restricting some customer data from flowing to third party websites and apps likeMint.com. The products are used by many to help track their finances. JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon has made his concerns known, pointing out that these products require customers to hand over a lot of personal information.
Bitcoin is making a comebackBitcoin is making a comeback. The price of the digital currency has surged more than 50% this week, partly fueled by the EU's classification of bitcoin as a currency and not a commodity. Can it avoid another big sell-off?
Turning point for streaming musicAdele's new single "Hello" has already brought in record sales, with over a million downloads. Now the big question is whether she will release her full album on streaming platforms. With the scheduled debut of her album "25" in two weeks, services including Apple Music (AAPL) and Spotify are still waiting to find out if they can play the rest of her new songs. || REPORTS: The secret creator of bitcoin has been unmasked — again: (Thomson Reuters)
The creator of bitcoin may be an Australian finance geek named Craig Steven Wright, according to anew report by Wired's Andy Greenberg.
Or it could be Wright and his close friend Dave Kleiman, who died two years ago, according toGizmodo.
Or Wright could be a man who really wants to take credit for it.
Or thehunt to identify bitcoin's creator is wrong again.
In 2009, someone — or some people — using the name Satoshi Nakamoto invented bitcoin, a type of digital currency that uses cryptography to move money and records it in a ledger without the need of a bank. The cryptocurrency was once an obsession among finance geeks, but emerged into more of a mainstream economic obsession. A bitcoin startup even sponsored the Bitcoin Bowl, a college-football bowl game, last year.
Finding the creator of it has been an obsession among bitcoin enthusiasts and journalists alike. In March 2014,Newsweek published a cover story allegingthat Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, a man living in Southern California who denies having heard of the cryptocurrency, was its mysterious creator.
ButGreenbergmay have the most compelling evidence so far that points to the Australian genius:
• Posts from Wright's blog hint at writing papers about a cryptocurrency, although Wired admits these could have been planted by Wright to make himself seem like the creator.
• Wright owns two supercomputers, including the most powerful privately owned supercomputer. These aren't on corporate campuses, but wired to his home in Australia.
• According to leaked documents, Kleiman had a trust containing the same number of bitcoins that Nakamoto is rumored to own. When he died, that trust was passed to Wright. Those bitcoins, at bitcoin's price peak, were worth more than a billion.
Gizmodo hasposted many of the emails in its own report, and you can readWired's full story on the unknown Australian here.
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• A star Silicon Valley entrepreneur explains how bitcoin is going to change the world || Record highs predicted for bitcoin in 2016 as new supply halves: By Jemima Kelly LONDON (Reuters) - 2016 could prove to be the year that the price of bitcoin surges again. Not because of any dark-web drug-dealing or Russian ponzi scheme, but for an altogether less sensational reason - slower growth in the money supply. Bitcoin is a web-based "cryptocurrency" used to move money around quickly and anonymously with no need for a central authority. But despite being championed by some as the digital money of the future, it is often dismissed as a currency that is too volatile to invest in. The reason 2016 looks set to be different is that bitcoin's price is likely to be driven in large part by similar factors to a traditional fiat currency, following the age-old principles of supply and demand. Instead of being controlled by a central bank, bitcoin relies on so-called "mining" computers that validate blocks of transactions by competing to solve mathematical puzzles every 10 minutes. In return, the first to solve the puzzle and thereby clear the transactions is currently rewarded with 25 new bitcoins, worth around $11,000 (BTC=BTSP). But when it was invented in 2008 by the mysterious "Satoshi Nakamoto", who has yet to be identified, the bitcoin program was designed so that the reward would be halved roughly every four years, in order to keep a lid on inflation. The next time that is due to happen is July 2016. Bitcoin was also designed to emulate a commodity by having a finite supply of 21 million bitcoins, which will be reached in around 125 years, up from around 15 million today. Hence, also, the use of the term "mining". Daniel Masters, co-founder of Jersey-based Global Advisors' multi-million dollar bitcoin hedge fund, started his career as an oil trader at Shell in the mid-1980s and spent 30 years trading commodities before crossing over to bitcoin. Now he reckons the price of bitcoin could test its 2013 highs of above $1,100 next year and then pick up speed to rise to $4,400 by the end of 2017. Story continues That would be due to a number of factors, Masters said, including an increased acceptance of payments in bitcoin by big companies and authorities, rapidly growing interest and investment in the "blockchain" technology that underpins bitcoin transactions, and also more demand from China as its currency weakens and the economy slows. But taken in isolation, the halving of the mining reward will increase the price of bitcoin by around 50 percent from where it is now, Masters reckons. That is despite the fact that the halving of the reward has always been inevitable - a factor that would already have been accounted for in pretty much every other market. "If OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)came out tomorrow and said, 'in six months' time we're going to halve oil production', the oil price would instantaneously react. But the bitcoin market is still in its infancy, and I don't think that factor is discounted into the price fully," he said. DECENTRALIZED DIGITAL ASSET Bitcoin's price has already almost doubled in the last three months, putting it on track for its best quarter in two years. It hit $500 last month for the first time since August last year, with Chinese demand for a pyramid scheme set up by a Russian fraudster cited as a reason for the price surge. But Bobby Lee, the chief executive of one of the leading bitcoin exchanges in China, BTCC, reckons there is scope for the cryptocurrency to go much further. He thinks the price could increase by as much as eight times in the time up to the reward halving, taking it as high as $3,500 by next summer. "Today the worth of bitcoin is $1 per capita in the world (population)," Lee said, referring to the value of all the bitcoins in circulation, around $6.5 billion. "For such an innovative, decentralized digital asset, I say 'boy, are we undervaluing it'. But it takes a while for people to realize that." The mining reward has already been halved once before, in November 2012, from 50 to 25 bitcoins. The stakes were much lower then, with one bitcoin worth around $12, but nevertheless the price increased by about 150 percent in the preceding seven months - roughly the time left before the next halving. "It (the halving) dampens supply so, all other things being equal, that puts upwards pressure on price," said Jeremy Millar, partner at London-based financial technology specialists Magister Advisors, who expects demand to continue to increase. "No one can argue with that fundamental economic principle." (Editing by Greg Mahlich) || Bitcoin is going nuts: (George Frey/Getty Images)
Another day, another monster run for bitcoin traders.
Bitcoin was trading around $240 in the beginning of October. Now — after a gain of 10% on Tuesday added to its earlier run — it's closer to $400.
Now, bitcoin traders are looking for answers as to why the cryptocurrency is skyrocketing in value.
"You're seeing more and more institutional investors moving into the space," said Brendan O'Connor, CEO of Genesis Global Trading, a bitcoin broker.
Demand has been coming from China. O'Connor said the daily volume of bitcoin trades from China has been two to three times the ordinary amount over the past two weeks.
It's not just the value of bitcoin that's increasing; it's also the prevalence of use.
The number ofdaily bitcoin transactions appears to be steadily rising, according to tracking site Coinbase. And that has the potential to have a tremendous effect on the cryptocurrency.
"We are seeing unprecedented volume globally," said Michael Sonnenshein of Grayscale Investments, which manages the Bitcoin Investment Trust, a publicly listed vehicle that tracks bitcoin. Bitcoin Investment Trust hasn't been public very long, but it enjoyed a run-up ofmore than 7% on the good news Tuesday.
Neither O'Connor nor Sonneshein centered on a single factor that is boosting bitcoin's value. Sonneshein pointed out that as bitcoin auctions run by the US Marshals draw closer (only in a handful of instances), the cryptocurrency tends to see increased trading activity.
The next government auction of seized bitcoin isNovember 5.
Here's a graph tracking bitcoin:
(Blockchain.info)Blockchain.info captures the run-up in bitcoin prices.
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• FINANCE PROFESSOR: Bitcoin Will Crash To $10 By Mid-2014 || ATM Market Worth $24.92 Billion by 2022: Grand View Research, Inc.: SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Dec 14, 2015) - The globalATM marketis expected to reach USD 24.92 billion by 2022, according to a new study by Grand View Research, Inc. Rising demand for automated wireless communication devices along with growing security standards are estimated to drive the industry.
Enhanced security standards for safer online, and physical financial transactions has led to a significant rise in use of these services. Further, continuation of strict security standards and safer modes of financial transactions are expected to have a substantial impact on the industry growth.
Automation of the basic financial transactions and technological advancements increasing at alarming rate would increase mobile transcations among the customers. Linkage of ATMs with wiireless devices would facilitate the customers to complete the transcations securely.
Browse full research report with TOC on "ATM Market Analysis By Solution (Managed Services, Deployment) And Segment Forecasts To 2022" at:http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/atm-market
Rising competition amongst the banks to increase the penetration, would lead to its huge installation base, thus offering lucrative growth opportunities for the industry. In order to reduce the frauds, manufacturers and financial institutions are opting for anti-skimming, biometric devices, and voice recognition systems.
Further key findings from the report suggest:
• ATM deployment solutions industry accounted for over 70% of the overall revenue in 2014. They comprise installed machines at varied locations such as worksite, onsite, offsite and mobile segment. The deployment revenue comprises of installed machines and services as well as its maintenance. Rise in installation base and increasing maintenance activities are estimated to drive segment growth.
• ATM managed services market is estimated to exhibit considerable growth, growing at a CAGR of over 11.0% from 2015 to 2022. It contributes significantly towards strengthening the infrastructure for multichannel delivery for better customer retention, acquisition and cross selling opportunities.
• North America ATM market dominated in terms of revenue in 2014, and is expected to significantly lose share by 2022. Adoption of smart machines across countries such as U.S. is estimated to impel growth across this region. Increasing trend of trading in digital currency is driving demand for Bitcoin ATMs across the region.
• Asia Pacific ATM industry is expected to grow at a substantial growth rate of over 12% from 2015 to 2022. Rising demand for self-service machines and ever increasing customer base across regions such as China and India are estimated to drive the regional demand over the next seven years. Additionally, increasing trend of outsourcing its related activities by financial institutions is projected to positively impact growth across this region.
• ATM market share is occupied by companies such as NCR Corporation, Diebold Inc, Wincor Nixdorf, Euronet Worldwide and Nautilus Hyosung. Product innovations and strategic partnerships with the manufacturers are some of the notable strategies adopted by the vendors. For instance, In October 2014, Diebold launched a new 5500 series of with advanced security features such as biometric finger-vein readers and security camera provisioning.
Grand View Research has segmented the ATM market on the basis of solution and region:
• ATM Solution Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2022)Managed ServicesDeploymentOnsiteOffsiteWorksiteMobile
• ATM Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2022)North AmericaEuropeAsia PacificRoW
Browse related reports by Grand View Research:
• Online Media Market -http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/online-media-market
• Electronic Contract Manufacturing Services Market -http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/the-global-electronic-contract-manufacturing-services-market
• Customer Relation Management (CRM) Market -http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/customer-relation-management-crm-market
• Data Management System (DBMS) Market -http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/dbms-market
About Grand View Research
Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.
Read Our Blogs -mediafound.org,ni2014.org || Jamie Dimon thinks bitcoin is doomed—but here’s what he does like about it: Jamie Dimon doesn't think highly of this whole bitcoin thing. Bitcoin might be the hottest topic in financial technology, but Jamie Dimon isn’t impressed. “It’s just not going to happen…there is no government that is going to put up with it for long,” the CEO of JPMorgan Chase said about virtual currency at the Fortune Global Forum yesterday (Nov. 4), adding: “It’s kind of cute now, a lot of senators and congressmen will say ‘I support Silicon Valley innovation,’ But there will be no currency that gets around government controls.” ExxonMobil faces a New York investigation into whether it hid the risks of climate change The “blockchain” technology that makes bitcoin possible, on the other hand, could be a potential game changer, Dimon admitted. JPMorgan and 22 other major banks have recently partnered with R3, a blockchain startup, to study blockchain technology and possibility of idea of a shared, private ledger. Blockchain is essentially a shared database where people can exchange information—as well as virtual currencies like bitcoin, stock certificates, contract agreements, and even securities. For something like sending money across borders, using blockchain technology can make the process much faster and cheaper. “If it is cheaper, effective, works, and secure, then we are going to use it,” said Dimon. The IRS and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) both consider bitcoin a commodity , instead of a currency—essentially a piece of property you pay taxes on. Yet, more recently, government agencies outside the US have been more receptive of bitcoin as a currency, and not taxable. Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief , our free daily newsletter with the world’s most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: A nuclear war between India and Pakistan is a very real possibility Explore the complicated network of allies and enemies in Syria’s civil war || Why GAHC Is Like a Biotech Stock: HOUSTON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / December 8, 2015 / Biotechnology stocks have had another huge year in the OTC markets. Generally, biotechnology stocks make some of the largest moves on the OTC. The reason being most of the biggest rags to riches stories on the OTC are biotech companies. Why is that? Most biotechs have long expensive trial phases to get through before they'll ever make a dime of revenue, and going public helps these companies raise the capital necessary to make it to solvency. But, if they do make it through the trial phases the payoff can be huge. Why do speculative investors love biotechs? Biotechnology companies generally have a novel technology or concept to solve a multi billion dollar problem, and earn patents throughout the trial phases. This is why we have been looking at Global Arena Holding, Inc. ( GAHC ). GAHC is not a biotechnology stock, but it shares many of the same properties that make it a company you should look at immediately. Global Arena has invested in Blockchain Technologies Corporation. ("BTC"), and is working toward a full acquisition. BTC leverages the groundbreaking blockchain, which some - like Marc Andreessen - are calling the most significant technology since the internet, and creates patents for novel uses of the blockchain that will solve multi billion dollar inefficiencies across a number of industries. These include financial markets, banking, electronic payment systems, private & public contracts and election services through various applications such as: exchanges, smart contracts and voting. Much like a biotech: - Novel Technology - Solving Multi Billion Dollar Problems - Creating Patents Unlike biotechs, GAHC , is already generating revenues through its election services subsidiary, Global Election Services. To bring it all full circle, GAHC 's BTC will potentially be using its Blockchain Apparatus to make filing patents easier and more efficient, which as mentioned earlier, is a big part of the biotechnology business. Story continues Blockchain technology, which many know as the backbone of the digital currency Bitcoin, is essentially a uncompromisable public ledger of transactions. All transactions are broadcast to a network of subscribing nodes, and each node updates its own copy of the ledger with the new transactions. Once a new group of transactions is verified, a block is created and added to the blockchain. All transactions for the ledger are publicly visible and verifiable based on previous blocks. Essentially, blockchain is a ledger that anyone can add things to but no one can remove anything from. This creates a certain and verifiable record on an electronic system that cannot be hacked. GAHC looks to be one of the first companies to fully leverage and benefit from this technology. This could create movements similar, to several biotechnology companies we've been paying attention to: KaleBios Pharmaceuticals ( KBIO ) has had a huge past few weeks since being taken over by CEO Martin Shkreli, who has spearheaded a 9,830% move. That's no misprint, it shows the kind of movement these high potential stocks can make. Endonovo Therapeutics, Inc. (OTC: ENDV ) has made an 890% move just this week! ENDV is developing two bioelectronic-based platforms for regenerative medicine. Immunotronic(TM), a non-invasive and non-implantable immuno-regulatory device designed to treat inflammatory conditions in vital organs, including acute organ failure; and Cytotronics(TM), a proprietary bioelectronic-based method of creating stem cells with enhanced biological and therapeutic properties. In a Schedule 13G filing, Steve Cohen 's Point72 Asset Management reported owning 1.41 million shares of Cara Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CARA ) , which accounted for 5.2% of the company's outstanding shares. Cohen's family office owned a mere 24,800 shares of the company as of September 30. The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focuses on the development of new chemical products that target the body's peripheral nervous system in order to relieve pain and pruritus. Shares of Cara Therapeutics Inc. ( CARA ) had advanced by more than 100% through the end of September, when the sell-off in biotechnology stocks kicked off. Nevertheless, the stock is still 38% in the green year-to-date, and will most likely continue to be guided by investors' expectations for the success of its product candidates in the upcoming quarters. Biotechnology stocks can make massive moves, Global Arena Holding, Inc. (GAHC) shares several properties which give it the same kind of explosive potential these speculative biotechs have and is already generating revenues with significant increases expected to continue. Make sure to take a close look at GAHC . For more information about the blockchain, click here: http://globalarenaholding.com/blockchain-news/the-beginners-guide-to-blockchain/ Legal Disclaimer/Disclosure: This is a sponsored article. This document is not and should not be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase or subscribe for any investment. No information in this Report should be construed as individualized investment advice. For The Full Disclaimer, click here http://capitalgainsreport.com/disclaimer/ . SOURCE: Capital Gains Report || Your first trade for Wednesday: The "Fast Money" traders delivered their final picks with just two trading days left in the year.
Pete Najarian was a buyer ofWynn Resorts(WYNN).
Brian Kelly was a buyer of Trina Solar(TSL).
Dan Nathan was a seller of McDonald's(MCD).
Guy Adami was a buyer of Thermo Fisher Scientific(TMO).
Trader disclosure: On December 29, 2015, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Pete Najarian is longLong AAPL, BAC, BMY, BP, DIS, DISCA, FOXA, GE, KO, MRK, PEP, PFE, he is long calls A, ABX, BAC, COP, DAL, DDD, EMR, EXAS, HAIN, HUN, LC, LULU, MOS, MSFT, NRF, NSAM, PNR, SCSS, UAL, VZ, WLL, WYNN, He is long puts FCX, MRO, WFT. Dan Nathan is long MCD Feb Put Spread, Long PFE buy-write, Long TWTR March Risk Reversal, Long UUP March call, Long XLU Feb Call spread, Long PYPL Jan Risk Reversal, Long M Jan16 call spread, Long NTAP Jan risk reversal, Long GM Jan Put Butterfly, Long Len Jan Put Fly, Long QCOM feb calls, Short SPY, Long UUP. Brian Kelly is long BBRY, Bitcoin, GDX, GLD, Hong Kong Dollar, TLT, US Dollar; he is short British Pound, Euro, Yen, Yuan, Canadian Dollar, GSG, EEM, EWC, EWH, KRE, SPY. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
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• Personal Finance || Stakes are high in hunt for bitcoin's 'messiah': By Jeremy Wagstaff SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The stakes are high in the hunt for Satoshi Nakamoto, the person or people behind bitcoin, not just for the journalist who gets it right first, but also for the cryptocurrency itself. An Australian entrepreneur and academic, Craig Steven Wright, is the latest candidate, outed in articles by Wired magazine and technology news website Gizmodo hours before his home and office in Sydney were searched by police. Both articles said investigations based on leaked emails, documents and web archives pointed strongly to Wright being "Nakamoto". "Either Wright invented bitcoin, or he's a brilliant hoaxer who very badly wants us to believe he did," said Wired. But the search has already tripped up several journalists, most famously Newsweek's Leah McGrath Goodman, who identified Japanese American Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto in March 2014 as bitcoin's creator. Dorian Nakamoto denied it - as has nearly everyone else alleged to be the mastermind credited with writing the paper, protocol and software in 2008 that gave rise to bitcoin and its underlying blockchain technology. Unmasking the "real" Nakamoto would be significant both for the future development of bitcoin and, potentially, the currency's market value. While any changes to the bitcoin protocol can only be implemented by consensus, the proven founder of the cryptocurrency could hold considerable sway. "Decision-making power doesn't rest with any individual, but Nakamoto is such a mythical figure, if he appears he could become a sort of messiah to the community," said Roberto Capodieci, a Singapore-based entrepreneur focusing on the blockchain. ELECTRONIC MINERS Persuading that community is not easy: while the system is decentralised by design, a cluster of so-called bitcoin miners based in China are key, Antony Lewis, a Singapore-based bitcoin consultant, said. Unlike traditional currency, bitcoins are not distributed by a central bank or backed by physical assets such as gold, but are "mined" using computers to calculate increasingly complex algorithmic formulas. Story continues Miners run pools of computers that process transactions and create new bitcoins, an energy intensive business that has frozen out all but a handful of players. The group effectively scuttled a recent effort by one key bitcoin thinker to make processing simpler and cheaper, Lewis said. David Moskowitz, Singapore-based founder of start-up bitcoin brokerage Coin Republic, said knowing who Nakamoto was would be significant "because people are looking for a core voice behind (bitcoin). It would help us understand what Satoshi thought". Then there's the fact that bitcoin researchers believe he or she may be holding up to 1 million bitcoins, which if sold today would fetch $414 million. If Nakamoto chose to sell out, or even hinted that he might, that would push the price down, reducing the incentive to mine which might in turn provoke a steeper fall in the currency, Lewis said. On the other hand, Nakamoto could help reduce uncertainty by reassuring bitcoin users he was not going to sell his holdings in one go or, more drastically, do something called "burning" — publicly deleting the coin by sending them to a bitcoin address to which he or she did not have the key. "It would be like throwing the money into the bottom of the sea, and reduces the uncertainty of dumping onto the market," said Lewis. "MR BITCOIN" Wright has not commented publicly on the Wired and Gizmodo reports, and Reuters attempts to contact him using various listed email addresses were unsuccessful. Fellow tenants at the north Sydney office building listed as the address of one of his companies described him as "an outgoing guy", who they nicknamed "Mr Bitcoin" because he had once offered to pay for some work in the currency. And even if Wright did admit to being Nakamoto, he would still have to prove it. That could be done by announcing he would move some of the bitcoin believed to belong to him, and then doing so, or signing a message with one of the encryption keys used in emails known to have been written by Nakamoto when bitcoin first appeared. Wright has not been a prominent member of the bitcoin community, but he has appeared at several gatherings in the past year or two. Moskowitz, who met him at a Singapore conference last year, said he was interesting and pleasant to talk to. "He's clearly very intelligent and fits the profile," he said. "But that doesn't necessarily mean he is Nakamoto." Hints as to Wright's own feelings on unmasking Nakamoto can be found on Quora, a website where users answer questions posed by other users and vote for the best answer. In September someone with his name, position and profile picture "upvoted" another Quora user's comment that "as a currency that is meant to be 'for the people, by the people', it is probably smart that no one knows who exactly started this coin. It is perfect that Satoshi Nakamoto founded it and vanished." (Adds full name of start-up in paragraph 13 and corrects date (to 'last' year from 'this' year) in paragraph 23.) (Reporting by Jeremy Wagstaff, with additional reporting by Colin Packham in Sydney; Editing by Alex Richardson)
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
$495.03 at 13:45 UTC [24h Range: $372.53 - $502.00 Volume: 90086 BTC] || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 18 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $898.87 #bitcoin #btc || LIVE: Profit = $887.21 (9.12 %). BUY B23.36 @ $450.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $454.74 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || 1 #bitcoin = $7830.00 MXN | $453.22 USD #BitAPeso 1 USD = 17.28MXN http://www.bitapeso.com || LIVE: Profit = $264.10 (8.49 %). BUY B8.08 @ $410.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $417.96 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || #RDD / #BTC on the exchanges: Cryptsy: 0.00000004 Bittrex: 0.00000003 Average $1.3E-5 per #reddcoin 08:00:01 via #p…pic.twitter.com/vE79u5ZWrl || $412.00 at 16:45 UTC [24h Range: $393.33 - $424.95 Volume: 20213 BTC] || #RDD / #BTC on the exchanges:
Cryptsy: 0.00000005
Bittrex: 0.00000004
Average $1.7E-5 per #reddcoin
00:30:01 || Current price: 338.85€ $BTCEUR $btc #bitcoin 2015-11-27 22:00:08 CET || 1 #bitcoin 1304.77 TL, 436.4 $, 405.8 €, GBP, 30560 RUR, 54000 ¥, CNH, 602.00 CAD #btc
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Trend: up || Prices: 426.62, 430.57, 434.33, 433.44, 430.01, 433.09, 431.96, 429.11, 458.05, 453.23
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2015-04-22]
BTC Price: 234.18, BTC RSI: 46.34
Gold Price: 1186.90, Gold RSI: 45.98
Oil Price: 56.16, Oil RSI: 62.14
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Solving Bitcoin's Scalability Problem: Bitcoin enthusiasts have long been working toward pushing the cryptocurrency into mainstream use to compete with paper money and credit card transactions. However, now that new exchanges for buying and selling the digital currency are beginning to gain momentum as more of the public is takes an interest, many are wondering whether or not bitcoin will be able to handle a steep rise in transaction growth. Blockchain Has Flaws Although blockchain has been touted as one of the greatest technological advances of the decade, the ledger-like system does have limits. Since each node of blockchain records every single transaction, the cost of running nodes will likely outweigh the benefits of using them if bitcoin grows into a mainstream payment method. Most believe that bitcoin as it is now could not function as a payment platform on its own. Filtering Out Necessary Information Joseph Poon and Thaddeus Dryja say their latest development, the Bitcoin Lightning Network , can help. The lightning network allows some transactions to take place off of the blockchain and broadcasts only the final, necessary transaction information to the entire blockchain. Related Link: Is There Room For Another Cryptocurrency? The blockchain's ledger, accessible to everyone, would still have record of the transaction, but not any intermediary dealings that may have taken place. A Work In Progress The Bitcoin Lightning Network presents an exciting solution to bitcoin's scalability problems, but there are still several issues that need to be worked out before the network can be developed or considered as a viable way to do business. See more from Benzinga Pot Startup Crowdfunding Its Legal Fees Facebook To Provide Internet Access Via Drones Not All European Firms Are Profiting From A Weaker Euro © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin alternative in 'pyramid scheme' storm: The founders of a new digital currency, known as LEOCoin, have hit back at reports published over the weekend linking them with a suspected pyramid scheme back in 2012.
Last week, U.K.-based Learning Enterprises Organisation (LEO) unveiled a trading platform in Hong Kong for its cryptocurrency called LEOCoin, which the company is promoting as an alternative to more popular digital currencies like bitcoin(: BTC=).
At a London launch the previous week, LEO boasted that it had already promoted the product to its current client base, claiming it meant over 100,000 entrepreneurs were already actively using the cryptocurrency in anticipation of its official trading debut, with around 30,000 merchants already signed up.
It also claimed this made it the "second largest digital currency" in the world, second to bitcoin, but has been slammed by reports on industry websites in the last week. Joel Dalais, a virtual currency entrepreneur and the director of bitcoin exchange IBWT, said oncryptocoinsnews.comthat LEOCoin was a "good example of what a pump and dump coin looks like." He also dismissed its claims of its sizeable usage as "bulls*t."
Read MoreBitcoin gets a rival-how will it fare?
An article by another industry website, calledCoinDesk, delved into the history of project founders Dan Anderson and Atif Kamran and said that both were caught up in a controversy surrounding a suspected pyramid scheme, called UNAICO Pakistan, that was warned by the Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan in 2012.
Published online, the report by the Pakistani SEC said it had received various complaints from the public claiming that UNAICO was a pyramid scheme. The letter, dated April 2012, concludes that the company's activities did "broadly fall" within the definition of "fraudulent activities" and gave a recommendation to shut down the firm.
LEO's Dan Anderson is named as being the CEO of UNAICO at the time and Atif Kamran was also linked to the company through Sitetalk, a social community platform that is described as a "sister concern" by the Pakistani commission.
A pyramid scheme is usually described as a program whereby participants try to make money by recruiting new members to the scheme before the program collapses and some members lose money. The CoinDesk article quotes an expert witness in the prosecution of pyramid schemes, William Keep, as saying that some of LEO's business model does raise questions, in particular highlighting that it provides incentives for users to recruit others.
LEO, meanwhile, has strongly refuted these claims telling CNBC via email that they were "completely untrue."
"Dan Anderson and Atif Kamran have never been involved in any sort of scam and the comments about them have misunderstood the facts entirely," a spokesperson for LEO said in the emailed statement.
Both resigned from UNAICO and Sitetalk after disagreeing about the direction the business was taking, according to the statement, which said that they had also ensured reimbursements for those that lost money. They have been officially discharged of all liabilities and cooperated fully with authorities in all of these matters, the spokesperson added.
The company also aimed to cool talk that it was artificially inflating its user base. At the event in London in March, LEO conceded that the cryptocurrency was targeted more at small and medium-sized businesses - especially in emerging economies - rather than the large conglomerates that have started to accept bitcoin.
A few examples of merchants revealed to CNBC that used LEOCoin were a Pakistani company called Capital Motors, a financial services firm in Slovenia called Profitus Skupina and a German-based energy efficiency services firm called Transformer.
A U.K.-based equine sports massage company called Happy Horse World is also on its roster as well as Strel Swimming, a U.K. based online company that organizes swimming tours around Europe. Borut Strel, a director at Strel, told CNBC via telephone that the company had only seen between 10 and 15 transactions made using the cryptocurrency, but predicted the sector as a whole was on the verge of a "new era."
The more popular bitcoin is a "virtual" currency that allows users to exchange online credits for goods and services. While there is no central bank that issues them, bitcoins can be created online by using a computer to complete difficult tasks, a process known as mining. A plethora of so-called "altcoins," or alternative coins, have sprung up alongside bitcoin. Dogecoin, which was initially started as a joke in 2013 and is based on an internet meme, is still the sixth largest digital currency in terms of market capitalization, according to coinmarketcap.com.
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• CNBC.com Earnings Central || London stakes its claim as global bitcoin hub: By Jemima Kelly
LONDON (Reuters) - London, center of the $5-trillion-a-day global currency market, now wants to be home to a controversial upstart - bitcoin.
British authorities have come out in support of digital currencies in the name of promoting financial innovation, while proposing that regulations should be drawn up to prevent their use in crime.
But it is technophiles who are leading the drive to make London a real-world hub for trade in web-based "cryptocurrencies", of which bitcoin is the original and still most popular.
Every Tuesday evening in a trendy cafe in London's Shoreditch neighborhood, a group of digital currency enthusiasts gathers to discuss ideas, "vape" from e-cigarettes and exchange their pounds for bitcoins in a dedicated "ATM".
With more than 2,200 members, CoinScrum, run by a former derivatives trader who left the world of traditional finance to work on a digital currency start-up, is the biggest bitcoin networking group in the world. Its meetings draw a mostly young, mostly male crowd - some amateurs, others who have come to Britain to start bitcoin businesses.
Already the capital of traditional currency trading, London is competing with San Francisco's web expertise and New York's financial clout as it pushes to be the foremost financial technology - or fintech - center in the world.
Last month the British government announced plans to regulate digital currency exchanges to prevent their use in money-laundering, and to help to develop a set of standards for cryptocurrencies.
Backers of bitcoin praised this for lending legitimacy to the currency - which unlike traditional money has no printed form and remains outside the control of central banks - without stifling innovation.
"London has been the home of financial innovation for hundreds of years," said Nicolas Cary, co-founder of Blockchain, which provides bitcoin data and "wallet" software for storing the currency. "It would be a historical mistake not to make this the home of digital currencies. There's an incredible amount of talent and experience here."
Just over 14 million bitcoins are in circulation, worth around $3.1 billion at the current exchange rate of around $220 each.
Bitcoin brought 29-year-old Cary to Britain two years ago from Denver, Colorado. He joined forces with Ben Reeves, then a 22-year-old computer science graduate, to develop the Blockchain wallet, spending the first year working out of a two-bedroom apartment in northern England.
Now Blockchain, named after the technology behind bitcoin, is the world's biggest wallet provider, with over 3 million users. Last year it raised over $30 million in its first round of funding, including from billionaire Richard Branson.
POSITIVE ATTITUDE
While some people argue that London lags New York overall as the center for traditional finance, many say the latter's attitude to digital currencies - including a state plan to impose a "BitLicense" on bitcoin start-ups - makes London more attractive for the growing number of businesses dealing in the budding technology.
"What we see in the UK ... is a different attitude," said Jerry Brito, executive director of Coin Center, a Washington DC-based non-profit advocacy group for digital currencies.
"It's a very positive attitude, one of: this is an amazing innovation, we're going to have to have some kind of regulation in terms of money laundering, but let's do this in a constructive way, in partnership with the technologists and the industry."
Detractors worry that digital currencies make it easy for users to buy products anonymously from websites like Silk Road, an underground marketplace for drugs and other illegal goods which was shut down in 2013.
But advocates argue that using cash for illicit trades is easier and less traceable, pointing out that most U.S. banknotes are contaminated with cocaine.
Asked about bitcoin, the governing body for the City of London financial district said authorities needed to be "alive to the potential risks and take strong action if they find evidence of abuse or criminal activities". But the employment and growth opportunities offered by the fintech in general were to be welcomed, it said.
Britain made bitcoin trading exempt from value-added tax last year. Other countries have yet to decide how to tax bitcoin, since its independence from any central bank means it does not fall into the traditional definition of money.
However, Australia has made bitcoin transactions subject to goods and services tax. That helped to drive CoinJar, an Australian company that allows users to buy, sell and spend bitcoins, to move its headquarters to London last December.
INVESTMENT
Later this month Swiss banking giant UBS will open a technology lab in London to explore the wider application of the technology in the financial services industry.
Finance minister George Osborne has said he wants Britain to lead the world in developing fintech, highlighting the potential of digital currencies.
Last year investment in fintech firms in Britain and Ireland more than doubled compared with 2013, to $623 million, representing 42 percent of such investment in Europe, according to consultancy Accenture.
Alongside the new regulation and standards, the British government promised an additional 10 million pounds ($15 million) for a research initiative that will look into the blockchain technology behind digital currencies.
It is the blockchain - essentially a ledger of every bitcoin transaction that is virtually impossible to tamper with - that the Bank of England has also said could be revolutionary. Central banks, it has said, could eventually issue digital currencies of their own.
Dozens of others have copied this technology to set up their own digital currencies, though none has so far managed to knock bitcoin off the top spot.
TANTRIC MASSAGE
Londoners can change cash for bitcoins at seven ATMs in the capital, and use them to pay for anything from tantric massage to a designer dress, a pork chop to a pint of beer. One company even allows rent on property to be paid in bitcoin.
Back in the trendy "Vape Lab" e-cigarette cafe, one young bitcoiner was putting 800 pounds' worth of 20 pound notes into a bitcoin ATM in exchange for the digital currency.
"I just sell bitcoin to others, because they don't know how to do it, so I take advantage of that and I make a profit," he said.
($1 = 0.6774 pounds)
(editing by David Stamp) || Bitcoin Company Raises Record Amount Of Cash For Mystery Operations: A bitcoin-based business called 21 Inc has raised $116 million in venture funding, the largest sum raised by a digital currency startup. However, it is still unknown just how the company will use its record-breaking sum as 21 Inc. has kept its operations quiet so far. 21 Pledges To Spur On Bitcoin Adoption Big names like QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM ) and PayPal's Peter Thiel were among the investors backing 21 Inc., with the company promising to help push bitcoin adoption into the mainstream. Chef Executive and 21's co-founder Matthew Pauker mysteriously told The Wall Street Journal that the public can expect some "interesting developments" over the couples of weeks and months that will "drive mainstream adoption of bitcoin" through hardware and software products. Blockchain And The Internet Of Things Chipmaker Qualcomm's involvement has sparked speculation that 21 Inc. is looking to use the blockchain technology that powers bitcoin in order to break into the "Internet of Things." The growing popularity of everyday devices that link to the internet and communicate with users and each other could serve as a perfect access point for bitcoin. Many see the currency's ledger-like blockchain technology eventually integrating into smart devices and creating a secure way to transmit data from one device to another. Related Link: Bitcoin An Unlikely Solution For The Poor Growing Interest In Digital Currency 21 Inc.'s funding demonstrates venture capitalists' shifting views on digital currency. Several other companies including Coinbase and BitGo Inc. have been able to introduce bitcoin-based businesses due to a growing interest in digital currency firms in Silicon Valley. Though the new ventures make bitcoin more accessible to the public, there is still a lack of trust and understanding keeping the cryptocurrency from gaining popularity. For that reason, many believe that firms which focus more on new uses for blockchain technology could be the future for bitcoin adoption. Story continues See more from Benzinga American Firms In China Feel Anti-Foreign Sentiment Rising In The Wake Of Qualcomm Settlement © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Is It Time To Invest In Cuba?: On Tuesday , President Barack Obama told Congress that he was planning to take Cuba off the list of state sponsors of terrorism in an effort to restore diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba after decades of tension. Congress will have 45 days to review the decision and decide whether or not to block it, but most are expecting that the removal will happen. The improving relations between Obama and his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro, mark an important turning point for the Caribbean nation's economy and gives investors a reason to look to the island for new opportunities. Investment In Cuba Taking Cuba off the terrorism sponsor list is only the first step in a long process of diplomacy, but some are already gearing up for new investment opportunities. Thomas Herzfeld, who manages the Herzfeld Caribbean Basin Fund (NASDAQ: CUBA ), is now setting up a private equity fund that will invest directly in Cuba. Herzfeld told CNBC that the fund will invest in sectors expected to grow with improving U.S. relations like tourism, construction and telecom. Related Link: A Busy Week For Eurozone Finance Ministers And Central Bankers Risks Although the lack of foreign investment in Cuba makes it an interesting opportunity for aggressive investors, the nation still carries a high degree of risk. For one, the effects of an improving relationship with the U.S. are unlikely to make any real impact on the Cuban economy for quite some time. Additionally, the country's small population and low wages make it a difficult place to start a business. See more from Benzinga New App Allows Seamless Bitcoin Investment A Busy Week For Eurozone Finance Ministers And Central Bankers Cryptocurrency Finds A Place In Education With Smileycoin © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Trading Internet earnings: 7 plays on mainstays: Facebook(NASDAQ: FB)reeled after earnings on Wednesday, but some CNBC "Fast Money" traders would be quick to scoop up the stock.
The social media giant dropped 2 percent in extended trading after it reported first-quarter revenue that missed analysts' expectations. But as the company's monthly active users in March rose 13 percent year-over-year, to 1.44 billion, trader Brian Kelly would buy on the slide.
"If you can't monetize that, then you really shouldn't be in any type of business whatsoever. So, on weakness, you buy Facebook," Kelly said.
Read MoreFacebook user growth crushes estimates
Trader Pete Najarian agreed that the stock has upside.
"I think tomorrow morning, as the dust settles, we're going to start to see really what the direction of Facebook is going to be," he said.
But trader Dan Nathan expressed more skepticism. He noted that user growth and ad revenue on mobile platforms may start to reach a saturation point. He said he preferred Google stock to Facebook.
EBay(NASDAQ: EBAY)-another Internet name that reported on Wednesday-soared in extended trading. The company beat Wall Street's earnings and revenue expectations, driven by strong growth in its PayPal service.
Read MoreEBay jumps after beating Street on profit, revenue
The stock popped 5 percent in after-hours to roughly $60 per share. Trader Guy Adami believes eBay shares could "make the push to the next level."
The company also said the previously announced split of eBay and PayPal into separate publicly traded companies would take place in the third quarter. Nathan noted that he would look to take a long position in an independent PayPal and short eBay, as its core marketplace segment fell off 4 percent year-over-year.
Disclosures:
Pete Najarian
Pete Najarian is long AMAT, AAPL, BABA, BAC, BMY, BP, CSX, DISCA, FOXA, GE, KKR, KO, LLY, LOCO, MBLY, MRK, PEP and PFE. He is long calls AAPL, BK, DAL, EBAY, EEM, F, FB, FL, GE, GS, HZNP, IMAX, JBLU, KO, MAC, MYL, NEE, NTAP, OC, PBR, PFE, RAD, SYY, TEVA, TSX, UA, UAL, VZ, XLF, XOM and ZIOP. Today, he bought IMAX calls. Today, he bought EBAY calls. Today, he sold AMGN calls. Today, he bought AAPL calls. Today, he bought FB calls.
Dan Nathan
Dan Nathan is long BBRY June call spread, EBay May/July call spread, IWM May put fly, KO April 24th call fly, LULU May puts, M May call spread, NKE call spread, QQQ May 108/ 98 put spread, SHAK, T, TWTR, WMT June call spread, XLP May put spread and XLY May puts. Today, he bought EBay May/July call spread.
Brian Kelly
Brian Kelly is long BTC=, CTRL calls, GSG, BBRY, SPY puts and U.S. dollar. He is short 30-year bond futures. He is short Australian dollar. He is short yen. He is short yuan.
Guy Adami
Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS and INTC. Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
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• Personal Finance || Global Bitcoin Marketplace With 26,000 Users CryptoThrift Introduces 'One-Click Re-list' And Bitcoin Affiliate Program: CryptoThrift, the leading online Bitcoin marketplace with over 26,000 users, where anyone worldwide can buy and sell anything for Bitcoin and Litecoin, is pleased to announce a one-click re-list feature, and a new lucrative Bitcoin affiliate program.
NEWPORT, AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / March 5, 2015 /CryptoThrift has since launch in 2013 reached and maintained its position as the leading Bitcoin marketplace and auction site where people can buy and sell anything for Bitcoin and Litecoin worldwide. CryptoThrift has over 26,000 users worldwide, 33 000 unique visitors and over 500 000 page views per month. Retailers can enjoy free listings and a low fee of 2.5% on sold items only.CryptoThrift has developed a rewarding affiliate program and is always working to improve their Bitcoin market platform; the team is pleased to have introduced new features such as 'one-click re-list' and 'bulk actions'in order to assist frequent sellers.
The CryptoThrift team have developed and released their own Bitcoin affiliate program in order to reward those supporting the marketplace. Affiliates can earn up to one Bitcoin just for referring new users, as well as 1% of any sales or purchases made by the new users within their first 90 days. For more information please visitCryptoThrift.com/affiliate-program-now-open/.
The Bitcoin marketplace has increased their security significantly after an unfortunate hack in October 2014. All costs associated with the hacking of the site were paid solely with CryptoThrift's own funds, demonstrating their commitment to their customers, and a more secure escrow service was bought back online.
Regardless of the fact that CryptoThrift has not received any external funding they still prioritize excellent customer service and are continually working hard to ensureCryptoThrift remains the best place to buy and sell retail goods and services for Bitcoin. CryptoThrift offers an in-house escrow service and customer support, averaging 96% satisfaction rate with 90% of cases answered within 24 hours. CryptoThrift arbitrates all escrow disputes in-house with no information trusted to a third party in order to sustain a close and trusting relationship with their users.
CryptoThrift supports an active community and welcomes feedback and suggestions from their users and other businesses so that they can continue to build and improve their services. CryptoThrift is reaching out to potential partners such as businesses and individuals within the crypto community to contact them.
With the launch of new helpful features such as 'one-click re-list', 'bulk actions' and a new affiliate program in the Bitcoin space: where anyone worldwide can buy and sell anything for Bitcoin.
For more information about us, please visithttps://cryptothrift.com/
Contact Info:
Name: Ahmad AounEmail:[email protected]: CryptoThrift
SOURCE:CryptoThrift || Fed Rate Hike Predictions Get Even Murkier: Analysts have been betting on when the Federal Reserve will raise its key interest rates ever since the U.S. central bank began tapering its controversial bond buying plan in 2014. While many were expecting a rate hike as early as next month when the year began, most have pushed their forecasts back in light of dovish comments from the Fed and questionable economic indicators. Conflicting Statements Last week, Fed Chair Janet Yellen reassured markets that the bank was planning to proceed with caution in regard to a rate hike. As usual, Yellen said the bank will allow economic conditions to determine when rates can be increased, saying the decision will be re-evaluated at every FOMC meeting. However on Friday, Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer made some waves among investors after commenting on the bank's plans going forward during a monetary policy conference in Chicago. Fischer remarked that it may be counterproductive for the bank to give markets too much forward guidance when it comes to raising interest rates. His comments could indicate that the bank will not provide much warning once they've made a decision about the timing of a rate hike. Fischer also confirmed that the bank was planning to raise rates some time in 2015. Shifting Projections Forecasts for the timing of a rate increase have become increasingly cloudy as the bank's rhetoric suggests that even the central bankers themselves are unsure about when to act. Economists at JP Morgan are betting on a September hike, but others are more optimistic with June forecasts. Related Link: Federal Reserve To Proceed With Caution Data To Be The Market Focus Although no one can be sure of when the bank will act, investors will be keeping a close eye on the spate of data due out this month for a better picture of the U.S.' economic health. Fourth quarter GDP figures out last week showed that the U.S. economy didn't improve as quickly as economists had predicted; the report showed that the U.S. economy grew at a 2.2 percent annual pace, lower than the 2.6 percent most had forecast. Story continues Despite disappointing fourth quarter GDP figures, most expect that the U.S. economy will continue on a positive trajectory through the first quarter. This week will be packed with valuable economic data that will provide some insight into the nation's first quarter performance, but the most closely watched release will be the Labor Department's unemployment report— due out on Friday. The figures will give markets a better idea about the state of the U.S. labor market, a good indication of the pace of the nation's of recovery. See more from Benzinga Bitcoin Makes Its Way To A Major Exchange Broadband Providers Say Government Intervention Is Not The Answer In Net Neutrality Greece Backs Out Of The Spotlight While Anti-Euro Sentiment Remains © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || BitTorrent officially launches Sync 2.0 with $40 pro tier: BitTorrent officiallylaunched Sync 2.0 Tuesday, taking the next step toward turning the P2P-based file backup and synchronization tool into a real business. Sync 2.0 comes with a pro tier that offers users more fine-grained access control for folders and other advanced features for $39.99 a year. Users can test the pro features for a month for free, or still use basic Sync functionality without the need to pay anything. BitTorrentfirst announced and previewed the Pro tier of Sync last November.
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• BitTorrent officially launches Sync 2.0 with $40 pro tier || Bitcoin Makes Its Way To The Polls: The technology that powers bitcoin, blockchain, has been hailed by many as one of the greatest technological advances of the decade.
Although bitcoin is still struggling to take hold as a mainstream currency, uses for the ledger-like technology of blockchain are already being explored for everything from creating contracts to holding online auctions.
The Bitcoin Foundation is hoping to draw even more attention to blockchain capabilities by partnering with Swarm, a crowdfunding firm, touse blockchain technology to votein two new board members.
An Experiment
The process will be the first time a vote has taken place using blockchain technology, and Bitcoin Foundation Executive Director Patrick Murck warned that there will likely be a few hiccups along the way.
Voters will be provided with "yes" and "no" coins which they can send to each candidate's wallet to express their choice.
Critics Say System Is Flawed
Since the voting began, there has been aheated discussionas to whether or not blockchain is effective when it comes to voting.
Many worry that miners will be able to manipulate the system by filtering out coins from one candidate or another, while others complained that about the system being difficult to use.
Related Link:Is Bitcoin The Next Internet?
An Important Venture
Despite criticism, the Bitcoin Foundation is pressing ahead and is set to close the voting platform on February 28 and release results on March 1.
Murck defended the foundation's decision to press on with blockchain voting, saying that the complaints about the system were important if developers want to continue pushing blockchain into new industries.
Although the first blockchain-based vote may not be a success, Murck says it is an important step for the technology's forward momentum.
See more from Benzinga
• Will 3D Printing Be A Part Of The Future?
• Retailers Quickly Find Use For Influx Of Consumer Cash
• Internet Regulation Vote Unlikely To End Net Neutrality Fight
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
2015年3月21日 15:00:01
BTC_MONA
買[bid]:1760.00000000MONA
売[ask]:1850.00000000MONA
API by もなとれ || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 28 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $438.77 #bitcoin #btc || #RDD / #BTC on the exchanges:
Cryptsy: 0.00000007
Bittrex: 0.00000006
Average $1.6E-5 per #reddcoin
08:00:01 || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 19 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $1,055.46 #bitcoin #btc || Current price: 224.99$ $BTCUSD $btc #bitcoin 2015-04-21 12:00:03 EDT || 1 #bitcoin 768.78 TL, 290.5 $, 277.3 €, 188.7 GBP, 17805 RUR, 36200 ¥, 1753 CNH, 310.00 CAD #btc || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 20 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $1,188.82 #bitcoin #btc || Current price: 222.37€ $BTCEUR $btc #bitcoin 2015-04-01 09:00:04 CEST || Current price: 240.74€ $BTCEUR $btc #bitcoin 2015-03-23 21:00:03 CET || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 27 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $842.15 #bitcoin #btc
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Trend: no change || Prices: 236.46, 231.27, 226.39, 219.43, 229.29, 225.85, 225.81, 236.15, 232.08, 234.93
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2020-09-08]
BTC Price: 10131.52, BTC RSI: 35.77
Gold Price: 1933.00, Gold RSI: 49.62
Oil Price: 36.76, Oil RSI: 24.27
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Ready to Wumbo: LND Enables More, Larger Bitcoin Transactions on Lightning: Bitcoin’s Lightning Network has reached a significant milestone. An important capacity limit meant to protect users of the nascent protocol is being tweaked, toppling a barrier to entry for companies looking to adopt the novel payment system.
LND, a leading Lightning Network implementation from startup Lightning Labs, has announced it has adopted support for wumbo channels. Going forward, users can deposit more money into Lightning Network channels than before, as well as send larger transactions.
Read more:What Is Bitcoin’s Lightning Network?
Related:Dust Attacks Make a Mess in Bitcoin Wallets, but There Could Be a Fix
ACINQ’s eclair and Blockstream’s c-lightning both adopted a form of wumbo earlier this year. According to LND’s freshrelease notes, the node software now allows users to opt into “accepting” and “creating” wumbo channels.
The word “wumbo” comes from, believe it or not,SpongeBob SquarePants, a cartoon series about a talking sponge that works at a burger joint under the sea with an assortment of sea friends. In one scene, SpongeBob’s starfish friend Patrick Star teaches him the word “wumbo.”
“You wumbo, I wumbo,” Star says, pointing to Spongebob, then himself. Lightning’s “wumbo” is similar in that two users have to agree to wumbo before they wumbo.
There are two parts to wumbo. The first part removes the limit to the total amount of bitcoin that can be held in a channel: This limit is currently capped at 0.16777215 BTC, worth about $1,988 at press time. The second strips away the limit to how large an individual payment can be: That limit has been 0.04294967 BTC, worth about $508 at press time.
Related:Bitcoin DeFi May Be Unstoppable: What Does It Look Like?
Read more:This Spongebob-Themed Tech Proves That Bitcoin’s Lightning Is Advancing
Wumbo isn’t technically difficult; in fact, it’s very simple. With wumbo channel support, a user can signal he or she wants to go beyond the aforementioned limits and find other nodes to connect to that also support higher limits.
Developers added the limitation to protect users from pouring too much money into Lightning, as it’s still a new and experimental technology. As such, one reason wumbo is a big deal is it is a sign that the payment technology is maturing.
“We view shipping wumbo in LND as a sign that the software has progressed to a certain point where advanced users, companies, and node operators can open larger channels. These larger wumbo channels enable a better user experience with larger transactions on the network and more efficient capital usage for startups and node operators,” Lightning Labs CEO Elizabeth Stark told CoinDesk.
That’s not to say they don’t think people still need to be careful working with this new technology.
“That said, we do not encourage people to go all ‘DeFi’ on Lightning (looking at you, YAM), as we believe people should balance the risks of deploying capital on a new protocol that could have bugs with the benefits of larger channel sizes,” Stark added.
Average Lightning users might not be impacted much by wumbo. If they’re using the Lightning Network to send small amounts, then this lift on capacity won’t make a difference to them.
Larger entities such as business or exchanges, on the other hand, might want to take advantage of a larger capacity.
“Most users can likely get by without wumbo channels, but larger nodes or exchanges/services may really benefit from the ability to manage a smaller set of larger channels,” LND developers explain in therelease notes.
Read more:To Beat Online Censorship, We Need Anonymous Payments
That’s why some developers think wumbo will take the Lightning Network to the next level. They think it will attract wider adoption of the Lightning Network among larger entities, making it accessible to morebitcoinusers.
“Most of the major node operators and startups run our LND implementation, so unless they’ve forked LND and added Wumbo themselves (which a few have, and this was riskier without official support), they would not have had this feature enabled,” Stark said.
Still, some companies have already added support for wumbo without waiting for an official route to do so. As such, Acinq CEO Pierre-Marie Padiou is skeptical LND adding support for wumbo will make a huge difference.
“It can’t hurt, but larger nodes […] have already switched, so the improvement has probably already taken place,” he told CoinDesk.
Channel and transaction limits were put in place to protect users from potentially losing large amounts of bitcoin by sending it over an experimental network. What makes developers think Lightning is now ready to live without these limits?
“I think we’ve gained experience, and with that comes confidence,” said Blockstream engineer Rusty Russell, though he still expressed caution: “As always, it’s best to think of Lightning as your petty cash, rather than your life savings.”
Read more:Grasping Lightning: Mapping the Key Players in Bitcoin’s Next Phase
People have a choice – they obviously don’thaveto use the ballooned capacity that wumbo channels allow. “With regard to security, with Eclair you can decide whether or not you decide to allow large channels and what the maximum channel size you accept [is]. We also scale the number of confirmations for the funding transaction depending on the amount of funds at stake,” Padiou told CoinDesk.
Russell also pointed out that the payment limit of 0.16777215 BTC was far less valuable, equivalent to about $10 dollars, when it was originally proposed years ago. As bitcoin’s price has increased over the last several years, this value limit has ballooned to almost $2,000. So, to a degree, the limit has naturally lifted over time.
“So we got wumboed already without having to even put our belt on,” Russell said, referencing the belt SpongeBob wears in the wumbo scene.
• Ready to Wumbo: LND Enables More, Larger Bitcoin Transactions on Lightning
• Ready to Wumbo: LND Enables More, Larger Bitcoin Transactions on Lightning || Bitcoin and Cardano’s ADA Weekly Technical Analysis – July 20th, 2020: Bitcoin fell by 0.95% in the week ending 19thJuly. Partially reversing a 2.50% gain from the previous week, Bitcoin ended the week at $9,231.2.
It was a bearish start to the week. Bitcoin fell from a Monday intraweek high $9,350 to a Wednesday intraweek low $9,026.6.
Bitcoin fell through the first major support level at $9,095 before finding support in the 2ndhalf of the week.
3 consecutive days in the green cut the deficit for the week, with Bitcoin recovering to $9,200 levels.
3-days in the red, however, were enough to leave Bitcoin in negative territory for the week.
Bitcoin would need to move back through the $9,200 pivot to bring the first major resistance level at $9,380 into play.
Support from the broader market would be needed for Bitcoin to break back through to $9,300 levels.
Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level and last week’s high $9,380 would likely cap any upside.
In the event of a breakout, Bitcoin could take a run at $9,500 levels before any pullback. The second major resistance level at $9,526 would likely cap any upside, however.
Failure to move back through the $9,200 pivot would bring support levels into play.
A pullback through to sub-$9,100 levels would bring the first major support level at $9,055 into play.
Barring an extended crypto sell-off, however, Bitcoin should steer clear of the second major support level at $8,879.0. The 23.6% FIB of $8,900 should limit any downside in the week.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down by 0.36% to $9,197.9. A mixed start to the week saw Bitcoin rise to an early Monday high $9,238.2 before falling to a low $9,191.2.
Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested at the start of the week.
Cardano’s ADA fell by 2.23% in the week ending 19thJuly. Following a 29.24% rally from the previous week, Cardano’s ADA ended the week at $0.12409.
It was a mixed start to the week. Cardano’s ADA rose to a Monday intraweek high $0.1369 before ending the day in the red.
Falling short of the first major resistance level at $0.1468, Cardano’s ADA slid to a Thursday intraweek low $0.1169.
Steering clear of the first major support level at $0.10116, Cardano’s ADA recovered to $0.12 levels to limit the downside.
4-days in the red that included a 3.49% loss on Thursday and 3.01% fall on Friday delivered the weekly loss. A 6.61% rally on Tuesday limited the downside for the week, however.
Cardano’s ADA would need to move through the $0.1260 pivot to support a run at the first major resistance level at $0.1350.
Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Cardano’s ADA to break back through to $0.130 levels.
Barring another extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level and last week’s high $0.1369 would likely cap any upside.
In the event of another breakout, the second major resistance level at $0.14596 and $0.15 levels could come into play.
Failure to move through the $0.1260 pivot could see Cardano’s ADA see a 2ndconsecutive week in the red.
A pullback through to sub-$0.12 levels would bring the first major support level at $0.1150 and 23.6% FIB of $0.1125 into play.
Barring an extended broader-market sell-off, however, Cardano’s ADA should steer well clear of sub-$0.010 levels. The second major support level at $0.1060 should limit any downside.
At the time of writing, Cardano’s ADA was down by 0.92% to $0.12294. A bearish start to the week saw Cardano’s ADA fall from an early Monday high $0.12444 to a low $0.12267.
Cardano’s ADA left the major support and resistance levels untested at the start of the week.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• GBP/USD Advances But Remains Confined Within 2-Week Range || Instacart Shoppers Besieged by Bots That Snatch Lucrative Orders: (Bloomberg) -- Lisa Marsh’s job shopping and delivering groceries for Instacart during the past three years has been unforgiving. Company tipping policies cut into earnings while boycotts and other labor strife created confusion, she said.
Then the global pandemic hit, transforming once mundane trips to Los Angeles grocery stores where she lives into a palpable health risk.
In recent weeks, another problem has emerged: bots that snatch the largest, most lucrative orders out of the hands of other shoppers.
Here’s how it works. Instacart pays contract workers to shop for groceries and deliver them to customers. Normally, the shoppers open the Instacart shopping app and, as orders flash by, click on the ones they want to fulfill. But in order to gain an edge, some shoppers are paying software developers who have created bots -- in the form of third-party apps -- that run alongside the legitimate Instacart app and claim the best orders for clients.
In this way, the app tilts competition between shoppers but is invisible to customers and doesn’t take business away from Instacart either. The cost of the third-party apps ranges from $250 to $600 in cryptocurrency or bank deposits, according to the darkweb research firm, DarkOwl.When Marsh opens her Instacart shopping app, she sees promising orders disappear before she can act. “No human can click that fast,” she said. “Instacart needs to fix this. These bots are literally taking the food off my kids’ table.”While bots aren’t a new problem for Instacart, the recent deluge is different because it comes at a time of white-knuckled expansion for the San Francisco-based startup. The company said customer demand for grocery delivery has surged more than 500% during the pandemic, notching growth its investors didn’t expect until 2025. This makes the platform, which hasn’t expanded its team as fast as its revenue, an attractive target for hustlers.
A spokeswoman for Instacart Inc. said the bots affect just a sliver of its more than 500,000 shoppers and that the company has already taken measures to address the issue.“We take the integrity of the Instacart platform very seriously and have a trust and security team dedicated to monitoring the unauthorized use of the platform which includes all efforts to prevent illicit and fraudulent third-party apps from violating our terms of service,” said Natalia Montalvo, Instacart’s director of shopper engagement and communications.
Instacart said it’s combating bots by cranking up pressure against app makers and banning violators when they find them. The company said it deactivated 150 shoppers found to be misusing the platform and shut down a half dozen sites claiming to sell batches to Instacart shoppers including Instashopper.app, Sushopper, Ninja Hours and Acrobatshopper.
The developers of those apps couldn’t be located for comment.
Instacart also recently introduced new procedures such as prompting shoppers to verify their identity with a selfie and not permitting shoppers to switch devices in the middle of an order. Shoppers using the updated app can also choose to review a single order for 30 seconds before claiming it or passing it to another shopper.
“As a result of these measures, we’ve seen a dramatic reduction in the use of unauthorized third-party apps because of the hard work and dedication by our security and legal teams to protect the shopper experience,” Montalvo said. Instacart also this month enlisted the help of security platform HackerOne to battle bots by offering a bounty program, she said.
But as security experts at Amazon.com Inc. and other sites have discovered, battling rogue apps is a lot like playing whack-a-mole. As soon as a company thwarts one bot program, a new version of it emerges, usually with a new name.
“If Instacart cared -- if it was losing money -- they could devote resources to make the jobs of these automatic snipers much harder,” Bruce Schneier, a cybersecurity expert, author and lecturer at Harvard University, said there are ways for companies to detect such bots. “This is a problem that any company that makes money from automation is likely being forced to deal with. Some handle it well. Others don’t.”
In recent months, different Instacart shopper-related apps have come and gone, sometimes using slightly varied titles, such as Ninja Hours, Ninja Shoppers and Ninja Shopper. DarkOwl discovered nearly a dozen active platforms in mid-May advertising openly on YouTube and social media platforms, including Reddit. Digital breadcrumbs linked these sites back to users spanning the U.S., including New York, Savannah, Georgia and Northern California’s wine country, according to DarkOwl. Others linked to an apparent Brazilian app developer syndicate that leans heavily on YouTube ads narrated in Portuguese, the research firm concluded.
The developer of those apps couldn’t be located for comment.
Some of the apps work, others are scams, according to DarkOwl. The Bitcoin wallet linked to the site of Ninja Shoppers indicates its owners have received 76 deposits -- about $20,000 -- including many from Instacart shoppers desperate to jumpstart their stalled shopping careers.
The apps are typically available on websites published by their developers. In the case of Ninja Shoppers, the app is free to download, but users must be ‘’activated in a private group” in order to be granted permission to pay for a user authentication token, according to their website, which is published in English and Portuguese. Once logged-in, the program prompts the user to find Instacart sales available near their location, according to a YouTube video viewed more than 13,000 times since May 9.
Despite Instacart’s efforts to crack down, finding a permanent solution may be difficult. Earlier this month, one man using the Instacart shopping app, who said he’s been using a bot since March, offered to install it on another shopper’s phone for $250, plus a $130 weekly recurring fee, according to screen shots of a conversation in late July seen by Bloomberg. When reached by phone earlier this week, the man spoke first in Portuguese and then in English, confirming to Bloomberg he was selling a bot for those amounts. He declined to answer additional questions after learning that the information would likely be publicized.
Fear of getting deactivated or scammed out of money has stopped some shoppers from spending money on the apps. Others like Santa Cruz-area grandmother Ginger Colgate said she refuses to do so on moral grounds.“It’s just not right. It’s against the rules,” said Colgate, complaining that her earnings dropped from $1,800 a week to $300 because the bots have siphoned the best work. Colgate said she still sometimes drives to Costco and opens the Instacart app, hoping for work.
“So many times I sit with tears in my eyes in the parking lot just waiting and hoping to get an order,” she said. “I’ve basically given up.”
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©2020 Bloomberg L.P. || Prosecutors: Former Uber exec charged in hacking cover-up: A former Uber executive was charged Thursday in federal court on allegations that he arranged to pay hackers $100,000 to cover upa high-tech heistthat stole the personal information about 57 million of the ride-hailing service’s users and drivers during 2016.
Two hackers pleaded guilty in the scheme last year and are awaiting sentencing. The criminal complaint filed Thursday against Joseph Sullivan, Uber's former chief security officer, alleges that the hackers shared the data with a third person — who may still have it.
Sullivan, 52, previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney in a Computer Hacking and IP Unit. He worked in the same federal prosecutor’s office that brought the charges against him.
Sullivan, who lives in Palo Alto, California, was also previously employed by Facebook, eBay and PayPal. He was a member of the federal Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity under President Barack Obama.
Bradford Williams, a spokesman for Sullivan who also previously worked for eBay, said in a statement there is “no merit” to the charges.
“If not for Mr. Sullivan’s and his team’s efforts, it’s likely that the individuals responsible for this incident never would have been identified at all,” the statement said. “From the outset, Mr. Sullivan and his team collaborated closely with legal, communications and other relevant teams at Uber, in accordance with the company’s written policies. Those policies made clear that Uber’s legal department — and not Mr. Sullivan or his group — was responsible for deciding whether, and to whom, the matter should be disclosed.”
Sullivan's charges came on the same day as aCalifornia appeals courtallowed Uber and Lyft to continue treating their drivers as independent contractors in the state in a decision that will give the two companies a few more months to protect their business models in a key market.
The allegations of a cover-up served as yet another reminder of Uber's sordid past under the leadership of its co-founder Travis Kalanick, who stepped down under pressure in 2017. Since then, Uber has been run by Dara Khosrowshahi, who has previously apologized for the San Francisco company's past behavior under his predecessor. Prosecutors said Uber cooperated with its investigation that led to the charges against Sullivan.
The case is being brought by the same U.S. attorney who won a criminal conviction againsta former Google engineersentenced to 18 months in federal prison earlier this month after pleading guilty to stealing trade secrets before joining Uber’s effort to build robotic vehicles. There was never any evidence that he used Google’s trade secrets while overseeing Uber’s self-driving car division. .
Sullivan has not yet been arraigned in federal court in San Francisco. He faces up to eight years in prison, as well as $500,000 in fines, if he is convicted of obstruction of justice and misprision of a felony, a charge that alleges he deliberately concealed the commission of a crime.
“Silicon Valley is not the Wild West,” U.S. Attorney David Anderson said in a news release. “We expect good corporate citizenship. We expect prompt reporting of criminal conduct. We expect cooperation with our investigations. We will not tolerate corporate cover-ups. We will not tolerate illegal hush money payments.”
In the wake of a 2014 hack that was under investigation by federal officials, Uber met — at Sullivan’s alleged instructions — the new hackers’ 2016 demand with the $100,000 Bitcoin payment, prosecutors alleged. Sullivan then, prosecutors say, had the hackers sign non-disclosure agreements — twice — which included a false representation that they had not taken or stored any data.
Sullivan allegedly hid the payment through what's known as a “bug bounty” program, where so-called “white hat” hackers are paid if they point out security problems but do not compromise any data.
Uber's management “ultimately discovered the truth," despite Sullivan's alleged efforts to conceal it, the U.S. attorney's office says, and publicly announced the breach in November 2017. Sullivan was fired.
Prosecutors allege the hackers might not have infiltrated other companies if Sullivan had properly reported Uber's incident.
___
Associated Press Technology Writer Michael Liedtke in Berkeley, California, contributed. || Gambling addiction spikes among South Korea's work-from-home day traders: By Joyce Lee
SEOUL (Reuters) - Day traders seeking help for gambling addiction have tripled in number in South Korea, as COVID-19 social distancing and working-from-home has freed up more time for online stock market trading, data showed.
Retail investors, known locally as ants, were a force in a 50% stock-price surge after a virus-induced sell-off in March.
From then through May, however, those seeking help for trading-related addictive behaviour reached 214, showed data from the Korea Center on Gambling Problems. The growth rate eclipsed the overall 16% rise in calls seeking help.
The trend is a worrying sign of things to come should social distancing practices such as work-from-home become the norm, experts said, as isolated individuals have even fewer mechanisms such as peer support to check addictive behaviour.
Compulsive stock trading also lacks the social stigma that may act as a deterrent toward traditional forms of gambling, even though the stimulation behind both is similar, they said.
South Korea has not enforced any virus-busting lockdown measures, even during the height of the outbreak in the country over February and March. Nevertheless, people and businesses by and large have followed government guidelines and refrained from social gatherings and instituted work-from-home arrangements.
One such individual was 35-year-old bank employee surnamed Lee. He has been trading shares online for over a year since hearing of a friend who made a windfall through frequently buying and selling stocks based on rumour and speculation.
Though Lee has seen some success - once making a profit of several hundred thousand dollars in a single trade - increased trading time afforded by working-from-home culminated last month in him losing 1.2 billion won ($1 million) over five days.
On the insistence of his wife, he said, he subsequently sought help from a gambling addiction counsellor.
"We tend to see an influx of people seeking help after a huge market dive," said Kim Yeon-su, treatment manager at the Korea Center on Gambling Problems help centre in Seoul. "It happened with Bitcoin and now it's happening with stocks."
Active trading accounts - the bulk of which belong to retail investors - rose 2.8 million from mid-January through mid-July, versus 1.6 million in the same period last year, financial association data showed.
The surge was reflected in the July listing of SK Biopharmaceuticals Co Ltd, where each share on offer for retail investors attracted 323 prospective buyers whose down-payments totalled 31 trillion won. The successful buyers saw their investment more than quintuple in four days.
Investor message boards on South Korea's dominant internet search portal see high traffic throughout trading hours with posts such as, "I want to become a king ant" and "I was robbed today as usual", plus discussion of obscure stocks and preferred shares.
Mental health experts said trading can become high-stakes gambling, with little to hold back the trader when they can trade easily online at home and often on credit.
"Some of these people are buying, selling, buying, selling... To become a gambler, you need immediate stimulation to the brain. Invest in stable things, wait three months - they don't do this," said psychiatrist Shin Young-chul at the Kangbuk Samsung Hospital.
"For a person for whom 400 million won goes back and forth in a day, can they stay engaged in their job that earns 2 million won a month?"
($1 = 1,203.1000 won)
(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Christopher Cushing) || Bitcoin bulls are running, as prices spike above $11K: The bitcoin bulls are back in town.
The price of bitcoin surged today by $1,268.19, reaching a six-month high of $11,203.90, or a one-day gain of 12.73%. It's another indication of the resurgence of both investor interest in the technology and renewed confidence in its long-term prospects after a rough year of regulatory scrutiny and declining value in the major cryptocurrencies.
For cryptocurrency investors like Alyse Killeen, an advisor to Mantis VC (the investment firm launched by the celebrity music duo The Chainsmokers), the climb in Bitcoin prices reflects the increased stability of the infrastructure that undergirds Bitcoin specifically, and distributed ledger technologies more broadly.
"Bitcoin has much more intrinsic value today than it did a year ago just from an infrastructure perspective," Killeen wrote in a direct message. "[The] Lightning network is working, sidechains are working. And so you can do more with bitcoin today than you could last year."
The Lightning network is a second-layer technology for bitcoin that scales the blockchain's ability to conduct transactions and it's increasing people's ability to actually use the network.
It's more than just increasing capacity driving the surge in investor interest and prices, Killeen wrote. There's also the decreased supply of available bitcoin -- a function of the halving of coins in circulation which happened earlier this year.
Moreover, financial institutions are now holding cryptocurrencies -- giving investors more confidence in the security of the assets, Killeen wrote.
Some blockchain experts, like Willy Woo, who is an analyst now working at Lvl to launch Bitcoin banking services, even called the timing for the most recent bull run.
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Killeen also expected the markets to rise in the third quarter or early fourth quarter thanks to the increasing infrastructure to support transactions and activity on the blockchain, the amount of bitcoin in circulation and a response to the halving of currency in circulation.
"What’s happening now is that larger institutions are offering purchase facilitation and custody (e.g. Fidelity)," Killeen wrote. "This is bullish for Bitcoin AND self-custody. With 'real banks' holding bitcoin for their customers, the average person will view bitcoin more like money, and [the] differentiation of being your own bank becomes even more clear," wrote Casa chief executive officer Nick Neuman, on Twitter.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js || Zephyr Teachout: Take Back the Economy From Economists: When I answer the phone, Zephyr Teachout quickly explains our call might be shorter than planned. Both she and I are at the whim of her two-year-old toddler, who is sleeping and could wake at any time.
Teachout, a law professor at Fordham University in New York, is best known for her runs for governor of the state and for Congress from New York’s 19th district (both races she lost). She has also written numerous books, including her latest,“BREAK ‘EM UP: Recovering Our Freedom from Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money.”Our discussion comes the day after historic Big Techantitrust hearingsin Congress.
Teachout sees the antitrust discussion as a flashpoint for understanding how democracy and corruption collide. To her, concentrations of private power, as with the Big Tech companies, can’t be fixed with, say, campaign finance reform. These companies are a threat to the public sphere and our ability as individuals to make decisions about the future.
Related:Central Banks Are Privacy Providers of Last Resort
We discussed the antitrust hearings in Congress, what she means by a “f–k-off economy,” and the “parallel governments” that massive companies have created for users of their services. She is not currently knowledgeable about blockchain and cryptocurrency, but sees them as potentially useful tools for achieving economic decentralization.
Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
What was your reaction to the six-hour antitrust hearings yesterday?
Wow. It was a beautiful thing. Congressman David Cicilline [D-R.I.]was totally clear: “This is about democracy versus monopoly. You guys work for us. We’re serious. We’re going to do serious things. And we have some questions.” He had this totally electrifying tone.
Related:Community Behind Privacy-Focused Smart Contract Forges Ahead After Settlement
And the committee came prepared. They had documents and they focused on the evidence at hand. It couldn’t have been more different than the Mark Zuckerberg Senate hearing after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where senators were impressed with his earnestness and just made polite requests of him.
See also:Why We Need a Federal Privacy Law
We have to see the documents to see whether actions these companies took are in fact illegal under current antitrust law. But there is evidence that suggests violations of existing antitrust laws and evidence of things that aren’t violations of laws but are deeply disturbing, for example where platforms use their power to copy or bully other companies.
What’s a striking example of that bullying power?
Amazon. [CEO Jeff] Bezos’ first answer as to whether they used their access to data to launch and boost their own competing products was “No.” And then there’sgreat reportingthat said the answer should be yes. So Bezos said, ‘Well, our policy is no, but I can’t promise you it’s not done.’
Everybody understands that to sell online, you need to go through Amazon. Sellers truly do not have a choice unless they happen to start with a million dollars and want to make one. Now there’s a growing understanding that Amazon has this data insight into the companies that depend on it, and is directly competing with them. Bezos then was forced to make the concession that seemed clear all along: that these companies are competitors rather than partners.
There is no such thing as no-governance regimes.
He always talks about the great partnerships, and I was reminded of the mob. Partnership can be a very loaded term depending on whom you’re talking to.
Obviously, the best way to stop companies like Amazon from doing that is by mandating that you’re either the platform or you’re competing on the platform. You can’t be both. You need structural responses like that, otherwise, you’re just playing whack-a-mole.
How do monopolistic companies create parallel government structures?
There are clearly forms of private government that are smuggled inside our current public government and growing in power. If you ask somebody who is an Amazon seller what judicial system they care about, they care a lot about Amazon’s system and their own mechanisms for delisting sellers.
These companies have their own intellectual property regime, their own punishment regime, and that is as important if not more so than the public one if you are caught within the web of one of these private, growing governments.
See also: Thibault Schrepel–Blockchain Code Can Fill In When Antitrust Law Fails
This is a very old idea that we just forgot in 1980, but understood for most American history. It’s that private power always tends to form into a government of itself. And all governments have judicial systems. Sometimes systems are internal to the company, like Amazon’s appeals processor or Facebook’s content moderation system, about whether you get to be on the platform or not.
They also use the tool of arbitration, where a company is paying judges (or employees) who then don’t have to follow the rules of making evidence public. These mechanisms of arbitration and secret decision making make it really hard for people to tell stories about what’s actually happening inside these private regimes.
Mark Zuckerberg has said Facebook is nowmore like a government than a traditional company.
The funny thing is these guys basically tell you they want to be a government all the time. It’s like Oprah Winfrey used to say, “If you listen really closely, people tell you who they are and who they’re going to be.” They all say, “We want to govern you,” and because they are in an economic sphere, we don’t hear that as “Alexander the Great is coming for democracy.” But that’s what they’re doing.
You bring up decentralization a lot in the book. How might cryptocurrencies play a role in that?
I think of these systems as incredibly important, but it all depends on what the governance mechanism is. When Amazon recentlyapplied for a patent to use blockchain technology, which would basically require every seller to keep a ledger of where all their supplies come from, then basically the technology itself isn’t doing a lot of decentralization. The technology is in service of a centralized power.
There is no such thing as no-governance regimes. When I talk to crypto advocates, they’ll often frame it as if it is a world with no governance. But there is never an absence of governance. In the end, someone controls supply.
See also:Russian Activists Use Bitcoin, and the Kremlin Doesn’t Like It
Technology itself can’t do quite as much work as I think some of the advocates think. But again, let’s have that discussion, because I think there’s just unbelievably powerful ways in which it can be used for the good.
My question for everybody is, really, when push comes to shove, who holds the trump cards? Who makes the decision? It’s never nobody.
A core question about privacy is “Privacy from whom?”
You talk about developing a “f–k-off” economy. What do you mean by that?
I’m trying to take the economy back from the economists. They’ve been acting like priests for 40 years and telling us that we, as mere residents of this society, have no business messing with economic terms like monopoly or antitrust, and we should just trust their assessments of efficiency. When you take the economy back for people and not economists, then things like wages matter again.
See also:Social Media Bans ‘Highlight the Profound Censorship on Web 2.0’
We need an economy where people have the knowledge that if their boss is really awful, they can say “f–k off” walk away. For that to happen, you need there to be actual competitors you could walk away to. Sometimes people say, “Well, there’s plenty of competition. There’s five companies that do this thing.” But there isn’t a real sense that there are meaningful options. And people should have that. I want to reclaim the idea that freedom in the workplace is essential.
How do you see privacy being affected by a handful of companies controlling so much of our economy?
There’s good research that our privacy controls got a lot worse after Facebook merged with Instagram, because they no longer needed to compete to actually protect us better than the other. There’s a nice paper on this, “The Antitrust Case Against Facebook” by Dina Srinivasan, which argues that merger was followed pretty quickly by Facebook no longer keeping its old promises towards its users. I don’t think that antitrust is going to do everything for privacy, but I think antimonopoly more broadly and a concern about power should.
Privacy means different things to different people. If you see Facebook and Amazon as forms of government, then Facebook or Amazon saying they’re protecting your privacy isn’t a really great comfort. Your government already knows everything about you.
See also:Money Reimagined: China’s ‘Cold War’ Blockchain Strategy
A core question about privacy is “privacy from whom?” There is a privacy relationship between an individual and centralized power that isn’t just about an individual but the public at large or the formal forms of government.
We should move, as people are with facial recognition, towards an arena where some stuff just can’t be collected at all. We say you cannot just take out your spleen and give it to somebody or sell it. There are certain things we should have an absolute ban on collecting and are not governed by contract law.
My fear is any privacy regime is trumped by contract law, because when people can individually contract stuff away you have asymmetries of power. Right now the existing tech behemoths have a huge incentive in maintaining a business model whose goal is to maximize the information they have about people and we need to be moving towards an opposing model.
So what’s the path forward?
We’re in this exciting moment where there’s a lot of new antitrust energy, but it’s pretty new. I have particular solutions, particular things that I think we should do. But more important is to change our overall politics to make them more fundamentally about antitrust. I bet you haven’t asked your lawmakers about what they think about power. We have to recognize that we’re not going to get to the policy solutions until we get the power dynamics in politics that we want.
• Zephyr Teachout: Take Back the Economy From Economists
• Zephyr Teachout: Take Back the Economy From Economists || For What Future Are We Building Bitcoin?: A reading of Meltem Demirors new essay “Unintended Architecture” asks some key questions about intention setting for the future of Bitcoin.
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
This episode is sponsored byCrypto.com,BitstampandNexo.io.
Related:Rage Against the Economic Machine: The Best of the Breakdown July 2020
Bitcoin started as a rebellious, anti-establishment technology. In many parts of the world, and for many people, it remains exactly that.
At the same time, however, there is a wave of traditionalists and institutional players moving into the space.
See also:How Real Is Bitcoin’s Rally? 8 Interpretations of Bitcoin’s Massive Surge
Are they buying into the revolution, or are they trying to capture value while fitting the disruption into a box that maintains the current power structure they lead?
Related:Bitcoin News Roundup for August 3, 2020
Those are the key questions explored by Meltem Demirors in her new essay“Unintended Architecture.”The piece is our selection for this week’s “Long Reads Sunday.”
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
• For What Future Are We Building Bitcoin?
• For What Future Are We Building Bitcoin? || The Case for $500,000 Bitcoin: The Winklevoss brothers make an argument that, in the long run, bitcoin is the only good safe haven.
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
This episode is sponsored byCrypto.com,BitstampandNexo.io.
Related:Huobi Futures to Launch Options Trading This Week, Joining Throng Challenging Deribit
This week’s episode of Long Reads Sunday is areading of the latest essayfrom Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.
The essay looks systematically at the problems of the slate of current store-of-value assets, including the U.S. dollar, oil and gold.
The brothers argue why those assets have, or are starting to have, value in their safe haven function, whilebitcoinis on the rise.
See also:Is Asteroid Mining Really Our Best Argument for Bitcoin Over Gold?
Related:Bitcoin News Roundup for Aug. 31, 2020
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
• The Case for $500,000 Bitcoin
• The Case for $500,000 Bitcoin || Famous Twitter Accounts Hacked to Spread Bitcoin Scam: Click here to read the full article. This is not the kind of change Barack Obama was asking for: On Wednesday afternoon, Twitter users en masse saw a whirlwind of scam tweets from famous accounts, urging followers to send money by clicking suspicious bitcoin links. The list of compromised accounts reads like a who’s who plucked from the headlines, with the former President, Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Wiz Khalifa, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Joe Biden, Mike Bloomberg, Jeff Bezos, Apple and Uber, among others, being targeted. More from WWD M1992 Men’s Spring 2021 The malicious exploit looks like a massive, coordinate attack linked to Wednesday’s hack of cryptocurrency firms, such as Coinbase and Binance. Now Twitter is scrambling to figure out what happened. In a tweet sent Wednesday afternoon, the tech company pledged to look into the “security incident.” We are aware of a security incident impacting accounts on Twitter. We are investigating and taking steps to fix it. We will update everyone shortly. — Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) July 15, 2020 As of this writing, the attack is ongoing. The strange tweets, first spotted coming from the accounts of Elon Musk and Bill Gates, urge followers to send $1,000 in Bitcoin to a supplied link, with promises to pay back twice the amount of the “contribution.” As of early Wednesday evening, the malicious actors — or “black hats,” in tech parlance — appear to have racked up a dozen Bitcoins worth more than $100,000. Various verified accounts were unable to tweet Wednesday afternoon through the evening, as Twitter looked into the issue. But at this point, the company announced that it has unfrozen most of them. This is not the first time Twitter accounts have been breached. In 2013, its systems were hacked, giving black hats access to usernames and encrypted passwords covering some 250,000 users. And in 2018, Target was hacked in another Bitcoin scam that went out to the retailer’s nearly 2 million Twitter followers. Others, from the Bears to Burger King and Jeep, have been attacked. Story continues In some cases, incidents involved hacks of third-party platforms that manage social accounts, or unauthorized access due to human behavior. Even the founder of Twitter is not immune. Last year, Jack Dorsey’s account was hijacked, thanks to a “SIM swap” attack. This type of exploit usually involves an employee from a cellular carrier changing the number tied to a smartphone’s SIM card to another phone. In that case, texted security codes then re-route to other people, giving them access. It’s not clear what type of hack was used here, but it’s a sure bet that Twitter engineers are racing to find out.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 10242.35, 10363.14, 10400.92, 10442.17, 10323.76, 10680.84, 10796.95, 10974.91, 10948.99, 10944.59
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2019-10-03]
BTC Price: 8259.99, BTC RSI: 28.39
Gold Price: 1507.10, Gold RSI: 52.09
Oil Price: 52.45, Oil RSI: 37.64
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
This man stole 600 bitcoin mining computers and then walked out of his jail cell: Listen : Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts In January 2018, over 600 computers valued at $2 million were stolen from a bitcoin mining facility in Reykjavik, Iceland. That night was only the beginning of the biggest heist in the countrys history. What followed were prison breaks, deception, and an attempt at a perfect crime. The mastermind behind the crime was Sindri Stefansson, a man about 30 years old who had a history of burglary and drug possession. Hed found work as a web designer and other odd jobs to get by, but his appetite for wealth had always been difficult to suppress. He wanted big money and a big lifestyle. The Art Of The Exit by Yahoo Finance is a true crime podcast that goes inside the most notorious heists in history. Listen here, and subscribe for a new episode coming next week. This Oct. 15, 2014 photo made available by The Reykjavík Metropolitan Police shows Sindri Thor Stefansson. (Photo: The Reykjavík Metropolitan Police via AP) Sindri ... has always been kind of a thrill seeker "Sindri, the mastermind in the crime, is a guy who has always been kind of a thrill seeker, Egill Bjarnason, a reporter based in Iceland who covered the case, told Yahoo Finance. It seems like he had this gravity towards maybe making big money. When he got wind of there being built bitcoin mines all around the country, he thought he wanted to get a share of that. Cryptocurrency and Iceland are a perfect fit for each other. Because of the climate and cost of energy, Iceland has become a leader in the business of crypto, and offers a lot of incentive for the industry. The country has built data centers with partial walls on a former World War Two British airstrip to catch the high winds, and those centers are cooled constantly by fans surrounding the equipment. Basically, it's a giant warehouse with computers stacked on computers all the way up to the high ceiling sitting right in the center of a vast Icelandic landscape. In this photo taken on January 17, 2018, inside the Genesis Mining cryptocurrency mine in Iceland, a man walks along a row of computer rigs that run around the clock 'mining' bitcoin. (Photo: AP Photos/Egill Bjarnason) I'm almost sure that the computers are working on their behalf Three months after the heist, Sindri was caught. "He was in custody, Bjarnason said. "He hadn't been charged yet, but he was still in custody. He was staying at a low security prison. We have what to the U.S. audiences sounds strange, which is called an open prison where the prisoner has pretty much the key to his own cell. Story continues Icelandic prisons can be low security for petty crimes so much so that criminals can literally walk out of their cells. He ran away, and he booked the ticket in the middle of the night and left the country, and was on the run until arrested in Amsterdam where he was eventually captured in late April 2018 , Bjarnason said. The twist of this story: Are those computers hidden somewhere, mining crypto while hes serving his sentence? I'm almost sure that the computers are working on their behalf while they serve time, Bjarnason said. If these stolen computers are mining crypto all the time hes serving in prison, it would be a near perfect crime: Steal something that passively generates money while sitting in prison for stealing it. Listen to the Art Of The Exit on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts today. Read the transcript below Alex Sugg: (00:01) In January of 2018, over 600 computers valued at $2 million were stolen from a Bitcoin mining facility in Reykjavik, Iceland. The mastermind behind the crime is named Sindri Stefansson, who was joined by six other accomplices. That night was only the beginning of this heist. What followed were prison breaks, deception, and what could be considered the perfect crime. This is the story of the Bitcoin Heist of Iceland. From Yahoo Finance, this is The Art of the Exit. I'm Alex Sugg. It's no secret that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency have been discussed a lot in the past few years. In December of 2017, a single Bitcoin was valued nearly at $20,000 at its all time high. Since that peak, the value has dropped significantly, and it's fluctuated a lot, leaving many to debate the legitimacy and longterm value of the currency as a whole. AS: (01:16) We'll get to that in a bit, but first, let's get into the story. In Reykjavik, Iceland in December of 2017, we meet Sindri Stefansson, a man with a history of burglary and drug possession. He's been clean for a while. He found work as a web designer, and other odd jobs to get by. He has a family now. Even so, his appetite for wealth had always been difficult to suppress. He wanted big money and a big lifestyle. Cryptocurrency and Iceland are a perfect fit for each other. The country's climate and cheap energy costs are an ideal location for the industry, and we've seen a steady stream of crypto companies migrating to Iceland over the past few years. Sindri noticed the trend, saw what Bitcoin was going for in the market, and he knew he had to get in. Sindri began scoping the facilities these companies were moving in, and then he got to planning. Alex Sugg: (02:29) Sindri put together a gang of accomplices, and they organized three heists that were planned out to the detail. The final heist is where most of the loot came from, so that is the crime we will focus on in this story. They were meticulous in their planning of the crime, but they werent as attentive while actually executing, leaving many traces behind which would eventually contribute to them getting busted. Even so, these were still pretty sophisticated thefts. For the heist, they knew they needed to be extra careful because it was going to be much larger than the 2 previous heists had been. The facility was in a much more protected area than they were used to, along with their target being much bigger on this heist. But they had a plan - and it all rested on the shoulders of one security guard who they befriended. This guard knew all the codes, knew where the cameras were, and all the best ways in and out of the facility. After some heavy recruiting, they eventually convinced him to collaborate and help them break in. This was the key to their success. By the time they were ready to strike, they were all wearing jackets from the security company as to not appear out of place. They used the security codes to get inside, and worked extremely quickly. In a matter of a few hours and lots of heavy lifting, around 600 high powered crypto mining computers had been loaded into a truck by hand. They shut the door, and drove off - taking their gold mine to a safe location without getting caught. Alex Sugg: (04:04) So you may be wondering like I did when I was first researching this story, why exactly does all of this matter? Why wouldn't Sindri in his crew simply steal something else with a little bit more of an immediate payoff? Cryptocurrency is a bit of a mystery to the average person. To most, it's a trendy financial term we've been hearing for a few years, but what exactly is it, and how exactly does it work? Dan Roberts: (04:28) Well, the way I describe it in its most simplest terms is that it's a digital payment system, and even over the years as things have changed, and people have different conceptions about the industry, that's a pretty accurate description. It's a peer to peer electronic cash system. AS: (04:59) This is Dan Roberts, my colleague at Yahoo Finance who's been covering cryptocurrency in detail since 2011. He's been watching the space closely from the very beginning. DR: (05:08) ... cryptocurrency meaning you can't touch it, you can't physically hold Bitcoins. Side note, that's why it's funny when news articles about Bitcoin always use stock images of gold coins. AS: (05:17) Oh yeah gold coins. Maybe talk to me a little bit about what was the conversation? What was happening at the peak? What was going on then? DR: (05:26) Yeah. I think that the best little anecdote, and so many people had a shared experience where this occurred, I was talking to a venture capitalist about investing in certain tech companies, and he said to me, Well, one good rule of thumb is I know that when my Uber driver is asking me about it not to invest in it. He said, So when Uber drivers are saying, 'Oh, do you do crypto and Bitcoin', he said, I'm staying away. Yeah, December, 2017 I think a lot of things came to a head at once. You started to see more stories about institutions and banks being interested in Blockchain. You also just saw general positive sentiment, more and more people being curious and educating themselves about it, but for a long time there when Bitcoin would go up, everything else would go up. They were all tethered to each other. So a rising tide lifts all boats. So all at once toward the end of 2017, all of the biggest cryptocurrencies were soaring at once. Of course, price begets price actions. So the more that it Rose, the more newbies who really knew nothing and weren't caring about educating themselves about crypto, they didn't care about the technology, they wanted to rush in. Then you had people like Jamie Dimon, Warren Buffett coming out and saying, Stay away. It's a bubble. It's a scam. I actually think that that stoked the price even more, and that there were people saying, Oh, now's the time to get in because the people who've been in this industry involved in it, either working at companies, building things, or just investing it in, pumping it on social media, these people who are such big believers, originally the whole appeal was that it was outside government regulation, that it wasn't fiat currency, that it was libertarian. DR: (06:56) A lot of the original big names in this space are libertarians. So I think that when they saw big names in mainstream finance and Wall Street trashing Bitcoin, they liked that, and they said, This is good. We like it even more now. So I think everything just kind of came to a head. You knew that it couldn't last forever, but it went up, up, up, and then everything kind of popped. Back in 2017, another funny thing that happened was a lot of people who didn't understand the space before, but they saw that the price was going up like crazy, a lot of young people unfortunately they rushed in, bought a lot of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, and then in 2018 when the price started to fall back down to earth, they dumped in a rush, and that's never how you should invest anyway. So there are a lot of people who bought high and sold low, pretty much the opposite of what you're supposed to do with investing. It's because they rushed in and of course, A, what they should've done is not sold and not panicked when the price started to drop and held on. But also pull back even further, they probably never should have bought in the first place. They certainly shouldn't have rushed in when they saw that the price was at 17,000, and it was soaring because the top could have been anywhere, and then sure enough it came pretty soon. So there are people who they only ended up owning Bitcoin, or Ether, or Ripple, or Bitcoin Cash for three months, and they lost money, and that's just not how you invest, and that's a shame. A lot of people I think lost their shirts among the hype. Alex Sugg: ( 08:21) After the break, we'll hear how Sindri escapes prison, and how after all its ups and downs, this may have been the perfect crime. Because of the climate and cost of energy, Iceland has become a leader in the crypto industry's growth, and offers a lot of incentive for the business of crypto. Originally, they wanted to get the Facebooks and the Googles to move data centers there, but didn't have much luck. Crypto mining was a different story, and they've had a lot of success since embracing this new industry. They've built data centers with partial walls on a former of World War two British air strip to catch the high winds and are cooled constantly by fans surrounding the equipment. Basically, it's a giant warehouse with computers stacked on computers all the way up to the high ceiling sitting right in the center of a vast Icelandic landscape. AS: (09:40) Iceland is a small country. There are only 340,000 residents in the entire nation. For perspective, that is less than the entire city of Honolulu, Hawaii that reside in this one country. The police don't carry guns, and there is no formal military. For reasons like this, Iceland is considered by many to be the safest country in the world. Crime is incredibly sparse, and people tend to trust each other. Things like hitchhiking are common there. The relaxed culture of Iceland turned into a really nice asset for Sindri to exploit. AS: (9:58) I spoke to Egill Bjanason a reporter based in Iceland who covered the story,They got caught, or at least he did, and he went to prison, and then he escaped from prison. It's like- Egill Bjarnason: (10:29) Yeah. Alex Sugg: (10:29) ... oh, generally, they get caught, they're awaiting their sentence, they're in jail, and then kind of end of story. Not him, he went to jail and then escaped prison. So can you explain what happened there? EB: (10:39) He was in custody. He was arrested few months after the last heist. The police had narrowed it all down to him. He hadn't been charged yet, but he was still in custody, and had been in custody for quite some time. He was staying at a low security prison. We have what to the US audiences sounds strange, which is called an open prison where the prisoner has pretty much the key to his own cell, but still everything is locked up during the night, and they can't leave the premise. But he ran away, and he booked the ticket in the middle of the night and left the country, and was on the run until arrested in Amsterdam. AS: (11:25) Explain that, that a prisoner would have the key to his own cell in an Icelandic prison. Explain that to me. EB: (11:34) Usually these are for prisoners that have behaved well, or are in jail for crimes that are not violent or petty. They live in a prison that is usually in a rural setting. The idea is too by giving them a little bit more freedom, they learn to become more responsible, and they're allowed to have a lot more comfort than you're used to in a prison. They have a TV in their cell, and the cell is more just like a room. They're allowed to see the children or their wives much more frequently. It's no luxury because it's prison, but it's still a lot different from being in a cell. AS: (12:19) Is it proven in Iceland to that these types of settings encourage good behavior long term? You know, I think that's fascinating. If so, like you said, you almost earn trust, you earn responsibility, you earn more of what it means to be a responsible adult in the real world within the prison walls. It must be a proven system in Iceland to work, right? EB: (12:43) Yeah. Prisoners are less likely to relapse if they have this sort of cushion to go back into the real life because these prisons prepare them more for the responsibilities of being in the real world as opposed to just throw them on the street when they've done their sentence and having them figure things out on their own. It's kind of something that kind of comes in between. What fascinated me about this story is where are the computers? The police has spent enormous resources, hours looking for the computers. They've looked through all the electric usage in the entire country just to see if there's any kind of unusual usage in a tiny home, or a remote farm, and they've raided a few places, but they never found the computers. The computers are somewhere probably plugged into power creating a crypted coin, creating a Bitcoin or other crypto currency, which is untraceable currency, so making money for the guys who have been sentenced, but in a way, they got away with the perfect crime because they stole things that create value without having to sell it again. EB: (14:19) I'm almost sure that the computers are working on their behalf while they serve time because otherwise they would have given them up. They instead didn't give them up, and were sentenced to pay these companies quite a lot of money in damages, but probably they've made all that money already from just having those computers mine Bitcoin when Bitcoin was incredibly valuable. AS: (14:50) What strikes me about this heist is that despite the countless searches and resources being poured into finding the stolen computers, nothing has been found. They've tracked energy use across the country, and chased a bunch of other leads that never got anywhere. Eagle believes that these 600 computers are set up somewhere mining crypto, and I don't think he's wrong. After Sindri is released, and these computers have been running for their entire sentence, they'll have a pile of cash waiting on the other side. It's pretty genius really, steal something that generates money while you're in jail for stealing it. When Sindri escaped prison and boarded a plane to Stockholm, he was greeted with a little surprise. There was a familiar face on the plane. As he began walking to his seat, he notices the Prime Minister of Iceland was flying business class only a few rows away from him. AS: (15:46) That had to have been a little uncomfortable having just escaped prison, you're at large for millions of dollars, and now you have to sit by the most heavily guarded and high profile person in your country. Sometimes funny coincidence happens, but this one probably wasn't very funny to Sindri. He got through the flight unnoticed, but was caught shortly after landing in Stockholm. He is currently serving his sentence, and I imagine security is a little tighter on a cell this time. He might have the last laugh though because while he's behind bars, there's a very good chance he'll come out a much richer man on the other side of his sentence, talk about passive income. AS: (16:41) The Art of the Exit is produced by Yahoo Finance at our studios in New York City. This episode was written, edited, and produced by me, Alex Sugg. Thank you to Eagle Barnasan for your time and contributing to this episode. Also, a big thank you to my colleague, Dan Roberts for your contribution, and for schooling us all on the basics of crypto. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcast and leave us a five star rating and review there, and share the story with your friends. We'll be back soon with another new episode. So until then, thank you for listening to the Art of the Exit. Listen : Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram , Flipboard , SmartNews , LinkedIn , YouTube , and reddit . || Bitcoin trading on Bakkt breaks a quarter of a million dollars: Bakktlaunchedits physically-settled Bitcoin futures today, providing institutional investors with a new way to bet on the expected price ofBitcoinin the near term. And already, the amount of Bitcoin being traded on the exchange has reached a quarter of a million dollars.
Bakkt was launchedby The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the United States’ exchange group that owns the New York Stock Exchange. By offering physically-settled futures, this means traders make their bets and receive their winnings in Bitcoin—rather than the US dollar equivalent. This is important for Bitcoin traders because it helps to suck up Bitcoin in the market, reducing the available supply and helping to put upwards pressure on the price.
So far, 28 bitcoins have beentradedon the exchange, worth $280,000. The first trade was made when Bitcoin was at $10,115. It has since dropped to $9,990.
Shortly after the launch, only 18 bitcoins had been traded. But within a few hours, it had jumped up to 26 bitcoins, and continues to rise.
Bakkt is regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services, one of the toughest regulators in the world. The futures exchange is also backed by huge companies including Microsoft and Starbucks. Its CEO, Kelly Loeffler, was ranked in Worth Magazine’s top 100 most influential people in global finance, and was previously the CMO of ICE. This may explain why traders are putting their faith in the exchange.
But will it help to change the SEC’s view that the crypto markets are anunregulated mess? || Ethereum expands blockchain capacity by 25%: Ethereums network capacity has been expanded by the mining community to allow more transactions to be processed on the network per second. This is in light of increased traffic on the network, largely due to controversial stablecoin Tether and a gambling game called Fair Win. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin relayed last week that block producers were starting to raise gas limits, in light of the networks congestion. On Ethereum, gas is a separate cryptocurrency used to pay transaction fees and the gas limit essentially controls how many transactions can be included in a block. Its similar to Bitcoins block size limit. But on Ethereum, gas limits are more organic. Each miner can raise the gas limit by 1/1024 of its current value, slowing edging it up or downwards, as the network gradually adapts to its environment. Today, miners continued to drive up the gas limit, causing it to break above 10 million per block, an increase of 25 percent over the last week. This means each Ethereum block can now include roughly 25 percent more transactions than they could the week before. This allows the Ethereum network to process more transactions per second, helping to keep fees lower. But, it does mean the blockchain will get bigger more quickly, making it more expensive and difficult for nodes to keep running the network. What's Causing Congestion? Tether appears to be the main culprit behind Ethereums increasing transaction count. Over the past few months, the stablecoin has been removing tethers issued on the Bitcoin network, and replacing them with tokens issued on Ethereum. Since so many Tether transactions are made each day, this has put a lot of load on the Ethereum network. Addressing the situation in an interview with Canadian outlet, The Star , Buterin remarked, Scalability is a big bottleneck because the Ethereum blockchain is almost full. Earlier this month it was revealed that 25 percent of all Ethereum activity was due to Tether transactions. Story continues But Tether isnt the only coin taking up such a large amount of the Ethereum network. Fair Win, a blockchain-based betting game, has accrued $1.17 million in transaction fees over the past 30 days, showing that it is responsible for a high number of transactions. Ethereum transactions have recently starting maxing out blocks. Photo Credit: Coin Metrics According to intelligence provider Glassnode , Decentralized Finance (DeFi) apps are also putting strain on the network as they are become more popular. It notes that around 45 percent of transactions were made by smart contractslargely used by DeFi applications. The issue reached fever pitch on September 20, when Ethereum's daily transaction fees surpassed Bitcoins for the first time since March 2019. At the time, Ethereum users paid $207,000 in transaction fees versus just $180,000 for Bitcoin. Ethereum diehards saw this as a good thing because it showed that the network was seeing high demand. But Ethereum rival, Tron CEO Justin Sun took advantage of the situation, encouraging people to use his network for lower fees. In the past he has tried to tempt Ethereum developers away from the platform, offering grants, but with little success. Rising Controversy While not causing as much controversy as the Bitcoin Cash proposal to raise the blocksizewhich resulted in an almost catastrophic hard fork and Bitcoin SV the gas limit increase was still regarded by some as a controversial move. One Bitcoiner, a student at Stanford Law School, argued that the gas limit raise showed the network was centralized, not decentralized as many Ethereum proponents argued. He said that it showed the high level of control that Ethereum miners have over the network. In response, John Adler, a scalability researcher at ConsenSys (which funds Decrypt ), asked , Did you miss the weeks-long campaign by the community to get miners to raise the gas limit? It was pretty extensive. The other issue raised by the gas limit increase, is that it allows for more transactions per block on the Ethereum blockchain. This means the total size of the blockchain will increase at a faster ratecausing more strain on all Ethereum nodes. Miners will have to shell out more money buying equipment with more extensive storage. Something that could help to make the network more centralized if miner numbers declined. But while the network is slowly growing its capacity, new Ethereum blocks are already starting to hit the new limit, suggesting the gas limit is going to need another raise sooner rather than later. || Latest Litecoin price and analysis (LTC to USD): Litecoin (LTC) has continued to play out its bearish pattern overnight, dropping in value by 5% after being rejected from the $70 level of resistance. At the time of writing, LTC is trading at around $67. The $70 level was used as support three times in April and four times more recently in August until a bearish break on August 28. It now seems to have flipped into a level of resistance, similar to in September 2018 when a rejection eventually saw it fall all the way down to $21 within a matter of months. The highly-anticipated Litecoin halving went well. Wasn't it supposed to hit all-time highs after block rewards got slashed? It is now more than 50% down on its yearly high just six weeks ago. $LTC $LTCUSD $crypto pic.twitter.com/30JUPXZfcI — Oliver Knight (@KnightCoinRivet) September 3, 2019 The recent price action will certainly be disappointing to avid followers of the project, especially those who weer tipping Litecoin to eclipse new all-time highs following the ‘halving’ event. However, since block rewards for miners were slashed, Litecoin has actually tumbled significantly, dropping by more than 50% from its yearly high of $146 in June. About Litecoin Litecoin was released in October 2011 by Charlie Lee, a former Google employee. It was a fork of Bitcoin with the main difference being a smaller block generation time, increased maximum number of coins, and a different script-based algorithm. Litecoin is one of the leading cryptocurrencies and is one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation. Story continues More Litecoin news and information If you want to find out more information about Litecoin or cryptocurrencies in general, then use the search box at the top of this page. Here’s an article to get you started: Litecoin becomes ‘official cryptocurrency’ of the Miami Dolphins By Oliver Knight – September 5, 2019 As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not. You may be interested in our range of cryptocurrency guides along with the latest cryptocurrency news . The post Latest Litecoin price and analysis (LTC to USD) appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Latest Ethereum price and analysis (ETH to USD): Bitcoin may have had a bad time recently, but Ethereum has fared much worse. Ethereum was trading at nearly $320 over a month ago before the altcoin market tanked. Over the last 24 hours, Ethereum has lost close to 10% in value. At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading at around $188. Will we see a substantial recovery soon or will ETH continue to struggle? Let’s take a look at the chart for Ethereum. Looking at the chart above, we can see that ETH is already trading below all its EMAs, which now appear to be acting as resistance. ETH wasn’t able to maintain its price above any of its EMAs during its dive earlier in the summer – a clear sign of bearish momentum. Further negative price action could be on the way as the EMAs are now crossing to the downside, which typically results in a drop in price over the following weeks. I’m personally expecting the market to recover in the next month – retracements are expected in the early stages of bull markets. With luck, the market will regain its momentum and Ethereum will climb back to its 100-day EMA in no time. My next targets are between $230 and $240, where price should face some resistance. In addition, ETH is near its bottom against BTC – as discussed earlier in the month – which may hint at a possible reversal in price. Recent news from the Ethereum Foundation can be seen as a positive for the beleaguered coin, as it is expected to have at least a testnet of the new Casper PoS models ready by the first half of 2020. With the upcoming Libra project – a currency envisioned by the Facebook team – there will be extra pressure on Ethereum to develop as both have similar goals in terms of smart contract functionality. That’s of course assuming that Libra is even released at all, as Facebook may not move forward with the project given the recent pressure from governments and regulators. My analysis is that BTC is still in a bull market, and soon enough, the top altcoins will be as well. Story continues About Ethereum Ethereum was launched by Vitalik Buterin on July 30 2015. He was a researcher and programmer working on Bitcoin Magazine and he initially wrote a whitepaper in 2013 describing Ethereum. Buterin had proposed that Bitcoin needed a scripting language. He decided to develop a new platform with a more general scripting language when he couldn’t get buy in to his proposal. More Ethereum news and information If you want to find out more information about Ethereum or cryptocurrencies in general, then use the search box at the top of this page. Here’s an article to get you started: Ethereum adopts ERC-1155 as an official standard As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not. You may be interested in our range of cryptocurrency guides along with the latest cryptocurrency news . The post Latest Ethereum price and analysis (ETH to USD) appeared first on Coin Rivet . || SEC chair Jay Clayton states ‘progress has been made’ for a Bitcoin ETF: Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Jay Clayton has claimed that the cryptocurrency ecosystem has “made progress” in removing issues that previously prevented the approval of a Bitcoin ETF. In the past, Clayton has said that price manipulation and the custody of digital assets were two major issues that prevented a Bitcoin ETF being approved. In an interview with CNBC, Clayton said: “There’s still work to be done. How do we know that we can have custody and have a hold of these crypto assets? That’s a key question. An even harder question given that they trade on largely unregulated exchanges, is how can we be sure that those prices aren’t subject to significant manipulation?” Are we any closer to seeing a Bitcoin ETF some day? SEC Chairman Jay Clayton to @CNBC : "yes, but there's work left to be done" @SEC_News @bobpisani @kellycnbc @CNBCTheExchange #bitcoin #crypto pic.twitter.com/iJP3nn9XHc — The Exchange (@CNBCTheExchange) September 9, 2019 He continued: “Now, progress is being made, but people needed to answer those hard questions for us to be comfortable that this was the appropriate type of product.” The original concerns were stated in a memo 18 months ago, but since then, Nasdaq has confirmed it will list Bitcoin futures while Bakkt is also in line to launch a similar product. Story continues Nasdaq’s futures product will utilise SMARTS technology, which is known for combatting price manipulation and can recognise when an account is wash trading or spoofing. Bakkt, on the other hand, will settle its contracts in Bitcoin. This means that the company has to store and retain custody of the asset, which it is doing in a $125 million insured warehouse in New York. For more news, guides, and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . The post SEC chair Jay Clayton states ‘progress has been made’ for a Bitcoin ETF appeared first on Coin Rivet . || A Bitcoin ETF Arrives, But You've Got To Be A Pro To Use It: About 15 months after VanEck and SolidX revealed plans for the VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust ETF (XBTC) , the bitcoin exchange traded fund dedicated to institutional investors will launch later this week, potentially paving the way for more cryptocurrency-related funds. What Happened VanEck (a major ETF sponsor) and SolidX (a fintech company with exposure to digital assets) filed plans for the fund in June 2018, but as has been the case with rival efforts, U.S. regulators consistently pushed back approval and decision dates, dragging the process out and forcing some market observers to wonder if a bitcoin ETF would ever become a reality. That reality arrives later this week, but crypto fans should temper their enthusiasm because XBTC will only be available to professional investors. Why It's Important The shares will provide institutional investors access to a physically-backed bitcoin product that is tradeable through traditional and prime brokerage accounts, said VanEck in a statement . The Shares are the first institutional-quality, cleared product providing exposure to bitcoin and enabling a standard ETF creation-and-redemption process. XBTC will be sponsored by SolidX while VanEck will market the fund. BNY of Mellon will be the custodian bank behind the fund, running its creation-and-redemption process. In the statement, SolidX and VanEck indicate they're continuing an effort to launch a bitcoin ETF that will be open to a broader range of investors, an idea that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has routinely delayed and rejected. In the statement, VanEck CEO Jan van Eck acknowledges that institutional demand for a bitcoin fund is an unknown because such a dedicated product for such investors has not existed to this point. What's clear is that investors like the idea of what the ETF structure can do for bitcoin because the largest digital currency was higher by 3.6% around 5 p.m. ET Tuesday. What's Next XBTC will use over-the-counter pricing to enhance transparency. The fund is not registered. Rather, it's being made available under the SECs Rule 144A , which allows qualified institutional buyers with potentially shorter time horizons to access products that usually aren't made available to the general public. Story continues When the firms filed plans for XBTC last year, it was expected a single share would price at $200,000 to start, but that figured was not reiterated in Tuesday's statement. Related Links: Best Sector ETFs For September A Junk Bond ETF For Nervous Investors See more from Benzinga Figuring Out The Way To Play Financials With Leverage Best Sector ETFs For September: A Leader And A Laggard A Junk Bond ETF For Skittish Investors © 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin Needs Weekly Close Above Tough $12K Hurdle to Restart Price Rally: • Bitcoin’s bull run from April lows near $4,100 seems to have stalled, with buyers repeatedly failing to keep gains above $12,000 in the last six weeks.
• A high-volume weekly close (Sunday, UTC) above $12,000 is needed to revive the bull market.
• A bullish weekly close may remain elusive if the cryptocurrency finds acceptance below $11,200 in the next day or two. That could pave way for a drop to $10,500.
Bitcoin needs to break above stiff resistance at $12,000 to unleash the next phase of the bull market, which began from lows near $4,100 on April 1.
The top cryptocurrency by market value is currently trading at $11,527 on Bitstamp, having fallen back from a one-month high of $12,325 yesterday.
This isn’t the first time BTC has failed to hold on to gains above $12,000. The cryptocurrency jumped to a high of $13,880 on June 26 only to fall back below $12,000 on the following day. Similar price action was seen in the following two weeks. Notably, prices rose to $13,200 on July 10, only to fall back below $10,000 the following day.
Related:GitHub and Slack Bans Are Hurting Iranian Bitcoin Businesses
Currently, the bull market looks to have stalled, with $12,000 resistance acting as a ceiling to further gains, as seen below.
Bitcoin broke into a bull market with a convincing move to $5,000 in April and rose to a high of $13,880 on June 26.
The cryptocurrency, however, did not find sustained acceptance above $12,000 in either the last week of June or the first two weeks of July.
Related:Bitcoin Price Sees Steep Drop After Rejection Above $12K
The repeated failure to close above $12,000 indicates a weakening of bull momentum and has established the psychological level as the resistance to beat for the bulls.
So, a high-volume weekly close above $12,000 is needed to signal a continuation of the rally from April lows near $4,100 and open the doors to resistances at $15,000 and $17,235 (January 2018 high).
The odds of BTC closing this week (Sunday, UTC) above $12,000 would drop if prices slip below key support at $11,200 in the next day or two.
BTC fell 2.8 percent yesterday, snapping its seven-day winning streak.
More importantly, the cryptocurrency failed to close above the upper edge of the falling channel on the daily chart and created a candle with a long upper shadow – another sign of buyer exhaustion above $12,000.
That candle would gain credence and the outlook would turn bearish if prices close below $11,200 (Tuesday’s low).
A close above $12,060 today would confirm a bull flag breakout on the 3-day chart. A bull flag breakout is a continuation pattern that usually accelerates the preceding rally.
If confirmed, a breakout would potentially open the doors to fresh record highs above $20,000 (target as per the measured move method).
That said, a weekly close above $12,000 would be a stronger confirmation of the revival of the bull market.
Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing.
Bitcoinimage via Shutterstock; charts byTrading View
• Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary Questions Bitcoin’s Role as ‘Safe Haven’
• Bitcoin Price Rises Above $12K to Hit One-Month High || Could Inverse ETFs Thrive In September?: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. If history is any indication of what the market holds for us, September is likely to be a rough ride for stocks once again, with volatility rising as investor fears are broadening. August was a brutal month for markets, as stocks dropped precipitously from their all-time highs, beginning with six consecutive down days in the market, amid turmoil from a trade war with China, unsatisfying resolutions from the Federal Reserve, and global economic stability. “August has a reputation as a volatile month, and it sure delivered this year,” wrote Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist for LPL Financial, in a Friday note “Over the past month, we’ve not only seen the worst three days of the year but many 1% swings in both directions.” While markets were eventually simply oversold from the precipitous six-day decline, China’s central bank pegged the yuan’s official reference point at more robust level than the key 7 yuan-to-the-dollar point, a move that assuaged the currency markets, which were at first terrified by fears that the U.S.-China trade war was devolving into a currency war. However, downdrafts renewed in the second half of August, as investors continued to fear a swift resolution to the trade war. The Key Is Stabilization “Going forward, stabilization in the U.S./China trade war is now the most important key to broader market stabilization,” said Tom Essaye, founder of The Sevens Report, in a note. “If the escalation continues, that will cause a further pull-back, regardless of what the [Federal Reserve] is going to do. And, I say that because another 25 or 50 basis points of easing by the Fed won’t materially offset a protracted and escalating trade war.” Throughout the last 100 years, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has averaged a substantial slump during September. “Unfortunately, we’re finally at the worst month of the year from a seasonality perspective,” wrote Justin Walters of Bespoke Investment Group in a Friday note. Story continues While a 15% U.S. tariff on roughly $112 billion in Chinese goods took effect this weekend, essentially adding a tax on about two-thirds of consumer goods coming from China, successive tariffs were also instituted on U.S. goods entering China. Analysts see continued weakness in the global economy as well. “The global macroeconomic picture continues to show fragility,” Katie Nixon, CIO at Northern Trust Wealth Management, wrote in a note. “We expect overall growth to trend lower under the weight of growing trade uncertainty.” Related: Experts See The Market Holding Up Well Given News It's not all bad news however, as volatility offers the opportunity for the bold. This resurgence in volatility can certainly spark a continued market downturn that could give the Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bear 3X ETF ( SPXS ) a boost. SPXS seeks daily investment results equal to 300 percent of the inverse of the daily performance of the S&P 500 Index. The fund, under normal circumstances, invests in swap agreements, futures contracts, short positions or other financial instruments that, in combination, provide inverse (opposite) or short leveraged exposure to the index equal to at least 80 percent of the fund’s net assets (plus borrowing for investment purposes). Meanwhile, those investors who see contracting volatility could look at a more traditional bullish stock allocation with ETFs like the UltraPro Long S&P 500 ETF (UPRO) or the Direxion S&P 500 Bull 2x ETF (SPUU) . For more market trends, visit ETF Trends . POPULAR ARTICLES AND RESOURCES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM SPY ETF Quote VOO ETF Quote QQQ ETF Quote VTI ETF Quote JNUG ETF Quote Top 34 Gold ETFs Top 34 Oil ETFs Top 57 Financials ETFs VanEck And SolidX Take First Steps For Bitcoin-Related ETF Approvals Could Inverse ETFs Thrive In September? Social Media Stock SNAP Gets An Upgrade Gold, Precious Metals ETFs Surge on Geopolitical Uncertainty Q&A With Barry Ritholtz on New WealthStack Conference READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || How to manage another Bitcoin crash: At the time of writing, Bitcoin is sitting well below $10,000, around $7,800. Could this be the sign of a Bitcoin crash? Even though many cryptocurrency analysts, myself included, were discussing the possibility of altcoins taking over some of Bitcoin’s market dominance, what happened was quite the opposite. After a brief moment, where altcoins did see some impressive gains, the market came crumbling down. BTC crashed over 20% and some altcoins even further. Not so much of an altcoin season, was it? Now, investors and traders worry Bitcoin will remain below $10,000 for the much of the remaining year year. Will Bitcoin recover? #bitcoin price and stock-to-flow are cointegrated. Only prediction I take from S2F model is that btc price will be >$100k before Dec 2021 (I did not calculate the exact time, but if btc is <$100k around that time, it becomes non-stationary). BTW a prediction is not a guarantee! pic.twitter.com/zbCiwCiqWG — Plan₿ (@100trillionUSD) September 21, 2019 The short answer is yes, Bitcoin should recover and break new highs. The conundrum, of course, is when. If we believe the analysis of PlanB, the analyst who applied a stock-to-flow model to Bitcoin, or other crypto-enthusiasts like Trace Mayer, who created the Mayer multiple which measures if it is a good time to buy or sell Bitcoin, we shouldn’t worry too much about short-term price-action. Instead of following doomsday scenarios or overly optimistic ones, it’s much simpler to see these crashes as opportunities to increase holdings. Why not take these opportunities to scoop more Bitcoin at a discount (aka, buying the dip), instead of worrying when it will recover? Of course, taking full advantage of a Bitcoin market crash requires solid planning, strategy and a set of conditions to be met. Story continues What to do during a Bitcoin crash? Prices the media declared bitcoin dead: Wired at $2 Forbes at $15 Bloomberg at $93 NY Mag at $105 Slate $131 Biz Insider at $182 WaPo at $182 USA Today at $208 NY Times at $208 FT at $290 Guardian at $318 Reuters at $327 AOL at $332 CNN at $333 Yahoo at $479 Perspective is key. — Rhythm (@Rhythmtrader) September 24, 2019 Buying the dip refers to purchasing an asset after it has declined in price. It has different contexts depending on the situation in which it is utilised. According to Investopedia, some traders may say they are buying the dip even if an asset is in a long-term strong uptrend , in the hope the uptrend continues after the minor dip or drop. Others may use the phrase when no uptrend is present, but they believe an uptrend may occur in the future. Buying the dip may work if investors are disciplined enough to not fall into the temptation of buying at the wrong time — for instance during long bearish periods. In order for the below strategy to be effective there is, however, an important requirement. One must have cash available to make new entries when the price dips below certain thresholds. To buy the dip, investors and traders must first have enough cash at hand to make an effective purchase. However, you should always consider that price can deepen even further. Dollar cost averaging (DCA) The idea behind dollar cost averaging is simply to buy Bitcoin on a recurrent basis. Usually, advocates of the above strategy prefer to set certain days to make purchases and stick to their schedule – almost like a direct debit. Purchases are made at roughly the same hour so that the asset is always bought independently of the short-term price. This “dollar cost averaging” strategy is regarded as one of the safest, as it helps investors and traders to get less emotionally connected to their investments. It’s way easier to buy a bit of something every week than a lot of something in a single transaction. If you apply an aggressive DCA strategy to the periods Bitcoin crashes, by having cash available at hand, it’s possible to make steady hourly or daily purchases not worrying about Bitcoin short-term fluctuations. To keep on top of the Bitcoin market and receive the latest news about what’s going on with the price, follow Coin Rivet. The post How to manage another Bitcoin crash appeared first on Coin Rivet .
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
@Citizenfour15 @6SigmaXRP @Bez1974 He must of gotten tired of waiting. BTC has outperformed every cryptocurrency to date but XRP will be sudden, the reason I have not gone back to BTC or BCH or BTG. I once was a BTC Maximalist but no more. XRP to the moon will leave BTC wishing! || Bitcoin BTC Current Price:
$10,567.82
1 Hour: -0.17 % | 24 Hours: 0.96 % | 7 Days: 11.13 %
#btc #bitcoin || BUY signal for $WTC/$BTC[2] on #Binance
Generated by @bot_strategy 2.4.8. Get yours: https://t.co/2wMFjq56GZ
#bitcoin #crypto #trading #price #market #cryptotrading #blockchain #altcoin #automatedtrading #cryptocurrency #coin #technicalanalysis https://t.co/gRaOR4TRVV || Make Your Bitcoin Work For You! Earn Passive Income https://t.co/ZLMGQvjfyf #crypto #blockchain #cryptocurrency || もうすぐKorea Blockchain Weekが開催されます。ソウルでブロックチェーン業界のキープレーヤーに会い、このテクノロジーの可能性について話し合うチャンスをお見逃しなく！ @ZILLAtoken https://t.co/DDCpoO2Mv9
#暗号通貨 #blockchainweek #韓国 #ソウル #KBW2019 $ZLA $GD $BTC $ETH || O valor médio das criptomoedas é:
Bitcoin(BTC) R$ 42232,11
Litecoin(LTC) R$ 288,94
Bitcoin Cash(BCH) R$ 1246,76
Ethereum(ETH) R$ 783,07
#bitcoin #litecoin #bitcashcoin #ethereum || system maintenance. || Catch me outside how bou dahhh. And by outside I mean inside, at my desk, with @CryptoEuclid @bitcoinbegger @voice0fcrypto @mysticaloaks @crypto_core and special guest @ToneVays. 6 EST, 5 central. https://t.co/YfKj5CT4UM || https://t.co/J2n0ftymoH #bitcoin #ethereum #criptomoneda #btc #eth #criptomonedas #inversion #blockchain #españa #español #blockmint || https://t.co/xGDtPWUqVo
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Trend: up || Prices: 8205.94, 8151.50, 7988.16, 8245.62, 8228.78, 8595.74, 8586.47, 8321.76, 8336.56, 8321.01
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2019-12-12]
BTC Price: 7243.13, BTC RSI: 37.62
Gold Price: 1466.70, Gold RSI: 48.00
Oil Price: 59.18, Oil RSI: 58.70
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
How to Spot Bitcoin’s Golden or Death Cross Using Simple Moving Averages: Understanding short-term and long-term movingaverages(MAs) is important for trading strategies, whether for cryptocurrency or traditional assets.
Two rare but powerful signals that traders look for occur when the short-term and long-term MAs cross.
On the upside, that’s the golden cross, and, on the downside, it’s called the death cross.
Related:Alibaba Denies ‘Partnership’ With Lolli, Highlighting Crypto Industry Pitfalls
Golden and death crosses have predicted many of the worst economic downturns of the previous century; for example, the death cross predicted the 1929, 1938, 1974 and 2008 bear markets.
Importantly, they underscore the potency of a primary trend, enabling traders to navigate the chaotic waters of bitcoin’s (BTC) extreme intraday and day-to-day price volatility.
The golden cross occurs when a short-term MA crosses over a long-term one to the upside, signaling to traders to expect a strong bullish upward move in an asset’s price.
Related:Bitcoin Falls Through Key Average as Traditional Markets Hit Record Highs
There are two main requirements to a golden cross with the first being an end to a sharp downtrend due to seller exhaustion, meaning the downward pressure from sellers in the market has abated. The second requirement is for the short-term MA to rise above the long-term MA, typically the 50-period and 100-period MAs.
As seen highlighted above in green, a golden cross appeared on the daily chart for BTC in March, signaling a strong upward move away from the low of $3,122, witnessed Dec. 15, 2018.
Starting on March 12, prices rose by as much as 260 percent, from $3,859 to near $14,000 by June 26.
The golden cross is best used for analyzing long time frames compared to the monthly, weekly and daily charts.
Conversely, a death cross is created by long-term buyer exhaustion, and an asset’s short-term MA crossing beneath a long-term MA, typically the 50- and 200-period averages.
On March 30, 2018, BTC showed greater bearish conditions when the 50-day MA crossed below the 200-day MA, presaging a 54 percent decline in value from $6,850 to a bottom of $3,122 by Dec. 15.
As with the golden cross, the death cross is best identified using longer time frames, as the trend would need to be confirmed by not reversing the next day.
They’re not always perfect, but identifying and utilizing the golden and death crosses with other indicators can be an invaluable rudder, helping you to navigate the muddy waters of the world’s most volatile asset class.
Golden cross imagevia Shutterstock; charts viaTradingView
• Bitcoin Hovers Near Price Support as Long-Term Bear Cross Looms
• Alibaba Offers Bitcoin Rewards Through Lolli Shopping App for ‘Singles Day’ || Olympian and MMA fighter starts Bitcoin podcast: Ben ‘Funky’ Askren, a former Olympic wrestler and current MMA fighter, has launched a new podcast to explain what Bitcoin is to the general public. The series will be called ‘ FunkyCrypto ‘, with the inaugural episode explaining the history and details of the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Askren aims to dissect the topic using simple terms that do not alienate those who are unfamiliar with crypto. Askren has long been known as an enthusiast for digital assets. Back in September, he hosted a poll on his Twitter account asking his followers what they would invest in if they were given $10,000. The three choices were Bitcoin, gold, or a US treasury bond. Unsurprisingly, Bitcoin won, collecting 50% of the votes from the 64,000 people who took part in the poll. In a follow-up tweet, he explained how if you invested $10,000 in Bitcoin 10 years ago, it would now be worth an approximate $26 billion – whereas with gold it would only be worth $15,000. In a video explaining his decision to start the podcast, he reveals that he doesn’t consider himself to be a “genius in cryptocurrency” or an “expert in Bitcoin”. “But I do love freedom of liberty and financial sovereignty. I think that I help try to export my ideas to the masses. I think crypto and Bitcoin is the future,” he continues. The mixed martial artist’s first podcast was conducted with the Litecoin Foundation’s chief evangelist John Kim. It covers a range of introductory topics such as blockchain technology, decentralisation, debt, inflation and hyperinflation, and mining. Having a professional fighter with a Twitter following of nearly 300,000 people publicly talking about Bitcoin is a positive for the space and has the potential to attract audiences who otherwise might never have explored the topic. Interested in reading more about celebrities and blockchain? Read Coin Rivet’s exclusive interview with NWA founder Arabian Prince and discover his thoughts on how blockchain technology can protect artists in the music industry. The post Olympian and MMA fighter starts Bitcoin podcast appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Crypto bank SEBA expands to 9 new markets, including Singapore and Hong Kong: A month after going fully operational, Switzerland-based cryptocurrency bank SEBA has expanded to nine new countries.
In a statement shared with The Block on Thursday, SEBA said companies and institutional clients from Singapore, Hong Kong, the U.K., Italy, Germany, France, Austria, Portugal, and the Netherlands can now open accounts with the bank.
SEBA wasset upin April 2018 and received a banking license from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) in August of this year. “More than 10 years after the invention of Bitcoin, there is still a tremendous gap between traditional banking on one side and decentralized finance on the other side,” said SEBA in Thursday's statement, adding that it aims to bridge the gap.
The bank also offers SEBAwallet app, e-banking, and SEBA card facilities, through which customers can manage five cryptocurrencies - bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), Stellar (XLM), litecoin (LTC) and ether classic (ETC), and convert them into traditional currencies and vice versa online. SEBA also provides corporate accounts to Swiss blockchain companies and their employees.
SEBA rivalSygnumalso got a banking license in Switzerland in August andwent livea month after. Sygnum also recentlyreceiveda capital markets services license in Singapore, allowing it to provide asset management services in the Asian country. || Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht makes $100k Bitcoin price prediction: The founder of infamous dark web marketplace the Silk Road has predicted that Bitcoin could reach $100,000 in 2020. Ross Ulbricht was given two life sentences plus 40 years without the possibility of parole on charges of money laundering, computer hacking, conspiracy to traffic fraudulent documents, and conspiracy to traffic narcotics by means of the internet. The Silk Road operated through the Tor web browser with drug dealers accepting payments in Bitcoin. It was one of the first use cases of Bitcoin and one that saw its popularity rise across the world. At the time of Ulbrichts sentencing in 2015, Bitcoin was worth just $235 following a two-year bear market that saw it fall from $1,150 in late 2013. Here are the first six posts of a series Im calling #BitcoinByRoss . I hope you find it helpful. Let me know what you think. https://t.co/oKE8UXudTu Ross Ulbricht (@RealRossU) December 10, 2019 Now, writing from prison, Ulbricht claims that by using the Elliott Wave Theory, Bitcoins future price becomes more predictable. He has suggested that the $20,000 top in 2017 was the third wave and that the upcoming fifth wave will drive the price to $100,000. If the $20,000 peak is the end of wave three, then the correction pattern we are in (or just came out of) is wave four, and we can expect wave five to take us to new all-time highs, he wrote. The post on Ulbrichts Medium channel is the latest in a string of uploads, with an article also being published in September on how Bitcoin equates to the Libertarian ideal of freedom. Bitcoin did not appear in a vacuum. It was a solution to a problem cryptographers had been struggling with for many years: How to create digital money with no central authority that couldnt be forged and could be trusted, he claimed. For more news, guides, and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . The post Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht makes $100k Bitcoin price prediction appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Global Protests Reveal Bitcoin’s Limitations: • Protests in Hong Kong, Lebanon and Iran have forced cypherpunks to test censorship-resistant technologies in the wild.
• But protesters on the ground found they lack internet access during times of civil unrest.
• Bitcoin has mainly proven useful for receiving value from abroad to hold and privately store.
• Sources in Lebanon and Iran said there is scant liquidity, and since they are cut off from global exchange platforms, digital assets are rarely useful as currency.
In the face of censorship and isolation from their countries’ financial and communication systems, protesters across the globe are testing out bitcoin and other decentralized technologies – then promptly discovering their limitations.
Take Hong Hong, for example, whereprotests begansix months ago against China’s infringements on civil liberties and ramped up on Monday atHong Kong Polytechnic Universityas police detained1,000protesters.
The former British colony would seem the perfect test case for an open-access financial system resistant to government interference. But that may not yet bet the case.
Related:Bitcoin Price Dips to Six-Month Low of $7,000
Take for example,HSBC Holdingsreportedly shutting down the bank account ofSpark Alliance HK, a local nonprofit focused on civic engagement, because it was associated with protests and the bank was allegedly pressured by Beijing. The move reminded protesters and donors of the need to transact privately, one protestor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told CoinDesk. Nonprofits like HKMap Live and Hong Kong Free Press already accept bitcoin donations.
However, the Hong Kong protester added, “there is no [internet] connection in the protest area, no matter which service provider you used,” and protesters are generally not clear on how bitcoin would be used by individuals during a time of civil unrest. It is mostly useful for receiving donations from abroad that don’t require prompt liquidity.
Plus, he said protesters who tried mesh-network devices, which basically bounce a message or transaction across a web of devices until it finds a device with internet access, found they were “not useful for a confrontational situation.” Although many protesters use Telegram because it allows chatting without revealing the users’ phone numbers, he said tools that rely on mobile data providers offer limited functionality in times of turmoil.
As with protests in the Middle East, sources in Hong Kong said bitcoin and related technologies are not ready for usage in chaotic environments because the movement is still nascent and money generally relies on network effects. At this point, censorship-resistant technology can still be censored as long as it remains too niche.
Related:Maker of Wasabi Bitcoin Wallet Valued at $7.5M in First Equity Round
“People are moving their money abroad more,” said one Chinese bitcoiner with family in Hong Kong, who asked that her name be withheld for safety. “But it’s from bank to bank, like Hong Kong accounts to Singapore.”
She added it’s harder to get goods and services, including food imported from mainland China and physical cash, in part because19 percentof Hong Kong bank branches were closed this week due to the chaos.
Further complicating matters, online discourse in general has been further restricted as the protests rage on.
Hong Kong’sHigh Courtissued an interim injunction in October forbidding people from publishing or circulating information that promotes “the use or threat of violence … on any internet-based platform or medium.” Then on Monday, China’s mainland firewall banned theweb browser Kuniao, which was often used to access global social media platforms.
Meanwhile in Iran, Revolutionary Guard crackdowns on nationwide protests against rising gas prices and political corruptionreportedlyleft 200 civilians dead and thousands injured.
The Iranian government shut down globalinternet accessfor nearly five days (locally hosted websites and services are still operational), and only started to establishlimited connectivityagain on Thursday.
One Tehran-based bitcoiner, who requested anonymity for safety, was arrested at a protest for taking photos then promptly released. Police searched his phone, including social chats, apps and photos, he said. So he now routinely deletes Twitter direct messages from other bitcoiners.
This bitcoiner has a personal server abroad, and was able to jerry-rig limited internet access through it. According toBitnodes, there are just six bitcoin nodes operating in Iran.
“I made a secure encryption protocol between data centers and a mobile network,” he said. “I bypassed several servers and networks to reach the edge servers. … Now I have a 100Mbps connection.”
Despite regaining some level of connectivity, he said his bitcoin wallet apps and mobile apps like Telegram are still blocked. It’s especially difficult for Iranians to access foreign servers and infrastructure because many companies ban Iranians for fear ofU.S. sanctions.
“We’re locked up in a prison that the U.S. and Iranian governments have built for us,” he said, adding theBlockstream bitcoin satelliteand mesh network technologies aren’t useful when you’re in a massive internet desert. “In situations where we don’t have physical connection none of these fucking technologies help us,” he said.
After all, even if he got a transaction through, there are too few tech-savvy recipients to make digital transactions a worthwhile use of his time.
“We need a simple way to connect our devices together,” the anonymous protester said. “We need secure and accessible communication for people.”
This point highlights yet another lesson learned by protestors in Lebanon: Black markets are vulnerable to infiltration from within.
On Tuesday, Lebanese protesters took over Beirut’sNejmeh Squareand stopped parliament from meeting, spurred by a local banking crisis and government corruption.
Lebanesebitcoin trades, predominantly facilitated through WhatsApp, Telegram and Facebook, continue normally with a slight premium. Trading is hampered, according to such group chats, by limited cash access from local banks and financial institutions.
After a week of shuttering branches, thebanks reopenedthis week with a $1,000 withdrawal limit. On Thursday, protestersreportedlyentered the central bank to demonstrate that these measures are perceived as the government doing too little, too late to quell the currency crisis.
As one anonymous bitcoin trader said: “There’s no access to liquidity.”
Two weeks ago, a few bitcoin traders found hackers had accessed their mobile phones and stolen cryptocurrency. Local social groups brimmed with concerns about which anonymous trader accounts could be trusted. As reported by the local outletVDL News, the alleged hacker may have knowledge of the victims’ location and access to a network run by the telecommunications company Touch, because the hack involved intercepting messages at the service level. (Two exchanges associated with the alleged victims denied any hack to their systems on this date.)
“They can hijack WhatsApp, Telegram [accounts],” one alleged hacking victim said. “That means you can’t trust your mobile identity. … They [hackers] can create trouble between parties, fake accounts and impersonation.”
So this hack served as a wake-up call to the local community. In short, there is no substitute for in-person networking and long-standing relationships. Without them, the privacy created by avatars is also a liability.
In all three contexts, current bitcoin infrastructure was found to be insufficient.
While this may be expected of a nascent technology, across user groups the common need was for accessibility.
Both the Chinese and Iranian bitcoiners who spoke to CoinDesk pointed out that most people don’t have the skills, nor the desire, to go “the anarchist route,” as the Chinese bitcoiner put it. The Hong Kong protester added that “most protesters don’t know how to make use of bitcoin in this [activist] context.”
When it’s available, Hong Kong civilians still rely on traditional financial institutions, the Chinese bitcoiner said.LocalBitcoinsdata on peer-to-peer bitcoin trades in Hong Kong andIrandon’t show any relative spikes, reflecting the same narrative from over-the-counter Lebansese traders. Many bitcoiners prefer to stay deep underground these days, another Tehran-based bitcoiner said, fearful of attracting the attention of authorities on the hunt for people to suspect and arrest.
Scattered and fragmented communities offer scant liquidity on the ground. Broader adoption leads to better usability and privacy, even if only by helping bitcoiners get lost in the crowd.
After all, if bitcoin were more popular in Tehran then users might not fear that usage would attract attention. A third anonymous Iranian source, currently abroad yet deeply involved with the Tehran bitcoin community, said there is a significant legal threat to locals helping neighbors bypass internet censorship.
“People who have servers (hosting websites, etc) in Iran have received SMS mentioning that hosting, selling or distributing any VPN service or proxy in order to access filtered websites (such as Telegram) is illegal … encouraging them to tell on those that are doing so,” he said. “BTS tower SMS-CB technology has been used to send SMS to people in certain areas to leave.”
In these cases, bitcoin has proven most useful to store wealth or receive funds from abroad. Transacting locally is risky. One Lebanses bitcoiner who thwarted a hacker said that luckily he stores half of his savings in a bitcoin hardware wallet, which kept it safe.
“I find it ironic that the first world talks about how bitcoin is freedom to the unbanked, but the unbanked have no way to get bitcoin,” he said. “Bitcoin feels like a novelty at times, or a privilege.”
In fact, Lebanese entrepreneur Dany Moussa told CoinDesk his homeland is predominantly a cash society, so even credit and debit cards might have a learning curve for some. It should also be noted that chatter in Lebanese groups shows hardware wallets don’t always work as designed, so users often need to help each other fix them.
“I think we are still far from serious adoption of crypto in Lebanon for many reasons,” Moussa said. “Lebanese [people] do not have access to exchanges due to restrictions adopted by [Lebanon’s central bank] and lack of coverage from [outside] exchanges.”
When global crypto exchanges and service providers ban a population due to sanctions or compliance concerns, as they have with Iranians and Lebanese people to some extent, ties to global communities can provide a lifeline. Across the board, sources said that connectivity and accessibility on the ground were the two fundamental challenges.
Money is, after all, primarily a social construct. The dream of a lone anarchist striking out only works if his goal is to flee, not stay.
“Consider two or three people who can communicate with the Blockstream satellites, what would be the benefit [of using bitcoin]?” the Tehran-based bitcoiner said. “Not all people are hackers and network experts. … When we talk about a payment network it must have a significant number of members.”
Hong Kong protestimage via Shutterstock
• Bitcoin Slips to One-Month Price Lows Below $8,000
• Promoting a New Token? Satoshi’s Treasure Wants You to Gamify It || Silver Remains Lackluster: Silver is showing little movement on Friday. In the European session, silver is trading at $17.43, down $0.11, or 0.62% on the day.
Trade talks continue between China and the U.S., but the bitter tariff war continues to take its toll on the Chinese economy.Chinese GDPgained 6.0% in the third quarter, missing the forecast of 6.1%, and down from the 6.2% gains in the second quarter. This reading marked the lowest quarterly growth rate since 1992, when records were first kept. China’s economy has been losing steam since late 2017, and the current trade war has only made things worse. China’s manufacturing and export sectors have been hit hard, and the GDP underscores that the world’s second-largest economy remains gripped in a slow-down.
As for the trade talks, investors remain optimistic that the sides will reach a limited trade agreement. The “Phase 1” deal would be the first of up to three mini-agreements, allowing the sides to postpone dealing with thorny issues such as forced technology transfers to another time. The Trump administration has canceled tariffs that were scheduled to take effect this week. Still, the U.S. has yet to remove a new 15% tariff scheduled to commence on December 15 on $160 worth of Chinese goods. Silver prices have been fairly steady in the month of October, but that could quickly change, based on developments in the U.S-China talks.
Silver has shown little appetite to move away from 17.50, and has been flat for most of the month of October. With the 50-EMA embedded on the candlesticks in this area, I expect this lack of activity to continue into next week. On the upside, the round number of 18.00 is stable. This line has remained intact since late September.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• European Equities: China Data and Brexit Angst to Set the Tone
• AUD/USD, NZD/USD, USD/CNY – Asian Session Daily Forecast
• Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 18/10/19
• USD/JPY Fundamental Daily Forecast – Still in Risk-Off Mode
• EUR/USD Daily Forecast – Euro Rallies to 7-Week High
• The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers -18/10/19 || NewsBreak: Bitcoin Sinks After U.S., South Korea Bust Child Porn Site: Investing.com - Cryptos tumbled on Wednesday after U.S. and South Korean officials said they broke up one of the largest child pornography sites by following a Bitcoin trail.
The bust was revealed after the U.S. unsealed an indictment against Jong Woo Son, who allegedly operated a Darknet site that accepted Bitcoin and distributed pornography involving children in more than 1 million videos.
Son, a South Korean, is serving 18 months in prison there.
Authorities have arrested 337 sites users in 11 countries since the site was closed in March 2018.
The case questions the true anonymity of cryptocurrencies.
(BitfinexUSD) fell 4.3%, while ETH/USD tumbled 6.3% and XRP was down 5.1%.
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Bitcoin Price Falls Under $8K With ‘Ugly’ Scenarios on All Timeframes || The Week Ahead – Earnings, Geopolitics and Stats to Drive the Majors: On the Macro For the Dollar: It’s a quieter week ahead on the economic calendar . September existing home sale figures, due out on Tuesday, get things going. Barring dire numbers, however, we would expect the stats to have a muted impact on the Dollar. A lack of stats on Wednesday will leave the Dollar in the hands of geopolitics ahead of a busy day on Thursday. Prelim private sector PMIs, durable goods orders and new home sales will provide direction on the day. We would expect September core durable goods orders and prelim service sector PMI figures to be the key driver. Finalized October consumer expectation and sentiment figures wrap up the week. Barring a material deviation, the Dollar will likely brush aside the numbers on the day. The Dollar Spot Index ended the week down by 1.04% at $97.282. For the EUR : It’s also a busy week ahead on the economic data front. October private sector PMI numbers kick things off on Thursday. After a quiet start to the week, the EUR will be particularly sensitive to the numbers. Barring a surprise move by the ECB, the last minutes suggest that the ECB is on hold this week, which should limit any influence. The market focus will then shift to German consumer and business climate figures due out on Friday. While progress on the U.S – China trade talks have been positive, we would expect doubts to creep in over a quick turnaround in the Eurozone economy. There is also the renewed uncertainty over Brexit to test the EUR. The EUR/USD ended the week up by 1.13% to $1.1167. For the Pound: It’s a particularly quiet week ahead on the economic calendar . Economic data was limited to October CBI Industrial Trend Orders due out on Tuesday. We would expect the numbers to have a muted impact, however, with Brexit the key driver. There’s the World Bank in focus. While trade remains a key agenda for both, the immediate focus is on Brexit. While the request for an extension should ease any immediate fears, Parliament’s failure to deliver raises the chances of a snap general election. A Johnson victory would likely deliver a no-deal Brexit. The Pound wouldn’t like that… Story continues The GBP/USD ended the week up by 2.49% to $1.2984. For the Loonie: It’s a relatively quiet week ahead on the data front. August retail sales figures, due out on Tuesday, are the key driver for the week. Sales figures are Loonie positive. Wholesale sales figures, due out on Wednesday, will likely have a muted impact, however. Outside the numbers, trade talk and economic data out of China are the key drivers in the week. There’s also the Canadian election to factor in… The Loonie ended the week up by 0.58% to C$1.3127 against the U.S Dollar. Out of Asia For the Aussie Dollar: It’s a particularly quiet week ahead. There are no material stats due out of Australia to provide the Aussie Dollar with direction. A lack of stats leaves the Aussie in the hands of PBoC monetary policy and risk sentiment throughout the week. Trade talks are far from over and expect chatter to continue to influence. The Aussie Dollar ended the week up by 0.91% to $0.6856. For the Japanese Yen: It’s another relatively quiet week ahead on the economic calendar . Key stats are limited to September trade data due out on Monday. We would expect the stats to have a relatively muted impact on the Yen, however. Geopolitics and economic data out of the U.S and China will continue to have the greatest impact in the week. The Japanese Yen ended the week down by 0.15% to ¥108.45 against the U.S Dollar. For the Kiwi Dollar: Stats are also on the quieter side in the week ahead. Economic data is limited to September trade data due out on Wednesday. With stats on the quiet side, expect the Wednesday numbers to have a material impact. If recent economic indicators are anything to go by, the Kiwi could come under pressure early on. Sentiment towards trade will need to improve to provide support. The Kiwi Dollar ended the week up by 0.71% to $0.6382. Out of China: It’s a quiet week on the economic data front. There are no material stats due out, leaving the focus on the PBoC on Monday and trade chatter in the week. The Yuan ended the week up by 0.11% to CNY7.0817 against the Greenback. Geo-Politics Impeachment: With Brexit and Trade news continuing to grab the headlines, it’s been on the quieter side. Some vigilance is required, however, as any rise in threat of an impeachment would be a further negative for the Greenback and the U.S equity markets. Trade Wars : Following disappointing GDP numbers out of China last week, positive progress on a draft trade agreement is going to be needed to support risk sentiment. Trade tariffs are still in effect and economic data and business and consumer sentiment continue to wane. We can expect the markets to continue to react to any updates in the week ahead. UK Politics : The UK Parliament voted down Johnson’s version of the Brexit agreement. That ultimately affirms the view that Parliament is too divided for any form of a deal to be ratified. On that basis, in the interest of democracy, a general election or a 2 nd referendum looks to be the only way forward. With Johnson’s success at renegotiating a new agreement, a general election may well fall Johnson’s way. Labour and the Lib Dems will look for a 2 nd referendum to avert a no-deal Brexit that Saturday’s vote raised the prospects of… Any suggestions of a general election would sink the Pound… The Rest Earnings: It’s a big week on the earnings front, with U.S tech companies, Amazon.com, Boeing, and Caterpillar amongst the companies in focus. ECB monetary policy: The ECB delivers its October monetary policy decision on Thursday. Following last month’s mixed messages and some resistance to further easing by influential members, this month’s press conference will be telling. A number of members will look to rein in the looseness of policy. It’s Draghi’s final press conference… Canadian Elections: Will there be any shock result in this week’s election? While we expect the Loonie to be responsive, Canadian stocks will likely show the greatest reaction to the election outcome. Polls from Friday showed that it was too close to call on who will come out on top… This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 19/10/19 Silver Weekly Price Forecast – Silver Markets Form Supportive Candle For The Week Natural Gas Weekly Price Forecast – Natural Gas Markets Finish Week Is One Crude Oil Weekly Price Forecast – Crude Oil Markets Continue To Find Support The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers -19/10/19 Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 20/10/19 || Former Circle Trade head forms a new crypto proprietary trading firm: Daniel Matuszewski, former head of Circle Trade, an over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk of cryptocurrency firm Circle, has jointly set up a new proprietary trading firm called CMS Holdings. Matuszewski has partnered with Bobby Cho, former head of trading at brokerage firm DRW’s Cumberland crypto unit, and Julien Collard-Seguin, a former technology executive at Circle, for the new venture, CoinDesk reported Tuesday. Matuszewski left Circle Trade in August, while Cho left Cumberland in May, as The Block reported at the times. Their new firm, CMS Holdings, is reportedly looking to pool more than $10 million for business. A proprietary trading firm invests for direct market gains rather than earning commission by trading on behalf of clients. Cayman Islands-registered CMS Holdings, therefore, doesn’t manage money from outside investors. “We deploy strategies much like a hedge fund in the market, except that we’re not structured as such,” Cho was quoted as saying in the report. The firm’s plan is to put 30% of the money into highly liquid cryptocurrencies like bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), 40-50% into less-frequently traded tokens, and the rest into long-term equity investments in the crypto industry, Cho added. || Local governments in China pledge funds to blockchain projects: Chinese President Xi Jinping’s endorsement of blockchain technology last week had many ripple effects. It sent the cryptocurrency markets on a tear. It added weight to Zuckerberg’s words that if the US didn’t move ahead with blockchain innovation, China would. And it sparked a debate over exactly how and what types of blockchain China would pursue. Blockchain, not Bitcoin Of course, many people pointed out that China’s investments in blockchain technology would not mean its people would suddenly start using Bitcoin. Far from it, in fact. In a follow-up statement, Xi Jinping was quick to remind an excited crypto community that he was referring to blockchain, not Bitcoin . As long-time trader, economist, and market analyst Alex Krüger pointed out, it’s far more likely that the China blockchain plans involve private chains to add additional layers of surveillance to people’s payments. Assume China's president has private blockchains in mind. Blockchain, not crypto. Control and surveillance, not freedom and privacy. https://t.co/Az6haBQAd9 — Alex Krüger (@krugermacro) October 25, 2019 Think “control and surveillance, not freedom and privacy”, he said. However, others maintain that it’s impossible to separate blockchain and Bitcoin. The two technologies go hand in hand. Therefore, any use or mention of blockchain will inevitably lead people to Bitcoin in the end. Hence the market pump. Exactly how China plans to implement blockchain technology remains to be seen. But what cannot be disputed is the fact that the country is taking it very seriously indeed. From Chinese banks being encouraged to incorporate blockchain technology for digital finance to new legislation on cryptography, it’s clear that Xi Jinping’s words are already being put into action. Story continues Local governments start funding China blockchain projects Founding partner of PrimitiveCrypto and trusted source on blockchain developments in China Dovey Wan has now said local Chinese governments are throwing their hats into the ring. The local Guangzhou government today announced that it will dedicate 10 billion RMB ($150 million USD) in funding to a “blockchain subsidy” for “outstanding blockchain projects”. She commented: “I believe all other local govs will follow, overall capital subsidy can be massive.” BREAKING Local Guangzhou gov just announced a 10B RMB (~$150M USD) government funding dedicated in "blockchain subsidy" for "outstanding blockchain projects" More details below I believe all other local govs will follow, overall capital subsidy can be massive — Dovey 以德服人 Wan 🗝 🦖 (@DoveyWan) October 30, 2019 She further explains that the plan is to selectively sponsor two blockchain projects each year. These can either be public or federated chain projects. According to financial media outlet Caijing, the subsidy for public chain projects is up to $1.5 million, with up to $500,000 made available for federated chains. On top of that, local authorities will fund an additional 20 Chinese blockchain companies with a “few hundred thousand” dollars. dApps dedicated to the public services area will receive up to $1.5 million each. In addition to that, there will be extra funding for local universities’ training programmes and investing in blockchain education in China. This, she says, is: “HUGE for talent attraction and retention, all other govs will follow and compete.” Wan explains that in China, the dynamics of local governments is game-theoretical. This means that it’s highly likely we’ll see further larger bids from different local authorities trying to “impress the central gov and CCP the most”. What does this mean for the cryptocurrency space? The Chinese government is keen to leave cryptocurrencies out of the narrative entirely. Wan pointed out that the definition of “public chain” in the Chinese media statement was a “chain without a token”. To which she commented, “not sure if that type of public chain exists”. It will be interesting to see how (and if) the Chinese government plans to build blockchains without tokens or if the token functionality will be merely kept on lockdown. In the meantime, however, any investment in the blockchain space can generally be taken as good news. Blockchain, not Bitcoin, has now reached the highest level of the second-largest economy in the world. If that doesn’t wake up the sluggish American regulators falling asleep at the wheel, nothing will. This could be the start of many more exciting developments to come. The post Local governments in China pledge funds to blockchain projects appeared first on Coin Rivet .
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
@Frances_Fisher @marwilliamson @DNC For more information you can inbox me on how to invest and get signed in bitcoin trade? || Lump-Sum Bitcoin Purchase Gives 68 Percent Better ROI Than
https://t.co/y91mmCF2Gd
#Bitcoin #Bitcoinnews #BTC #Crypto #Cryptocurrency #Cryptonews #digitalcurrency #Ethereum #hodl #Litecoin || Dear @blockstack and @fold_app , @MadBitcoins has been supporting #Bitcoin and personally made more than 1,375 videos, will you support his #MBAF fundraiser? https://t.co/XRyzyVRBXx https://t.co/X8zyJvHMNf || OKExがテゾスのステーキング、イイね👍
OKEx プールは年間利率5.13％でTezos（XTZ）ベーキングサービスを発表 https://t.co/aCdHL8HFPd || Aktueller #Bitcoin Preis: 8367.8 € auf https://t.co/ap6gwMFsjK | Bitcoin-Charts -> https://t.co/FGodUTbBVW || BTC USD https://t.co/13nMfB2zeG || Can't stop stupidity! || @PeterSchiff Exactly the point, each BTC is only at 7.5k, can’t wait for a couple of years more! (Not 100)! || La Universidad de Cambridge ha mostrado el gran consumo de energía por parte de Bitcoin https://t.co/7voC4SjvPW #Criptomonedas #Bitcoin #BTC #UniversityOfCambridge #CambridgeBitcoinElectricit #ConsumptionIndex #CBECI https://t.co/Mu1wS7i8Fe || Buat ngerayain peluncuran $Klay @klaytn_official di pasar BTC, Upbit ngadain #Airdrop nih guys. Jangan sampe ketinggalan yak, udah tau kan legitnya Upbit? 🔥🔥
@blawong22 @andreasff_02 @malingjemuran69 @Indycrypto1
@lelebakarmadu
#KLAY, #Klaytn, #upbit
https://t.co/jo1dfKE0A0
|
Trend: up || Prices: 7269.68, 7124.67, 7152.30, 6932.48, 6640.52, 7276.80, 7202.84, 7218.82, 7191.16, 7511.59
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2021-02-03]
BTC Price: 37472.09, BTC RSI: 61.44
Gold Price: 1832.20, Gold RSI: 43.04
Oil Price: 55.69, Oil RSI: 73.25
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin Ecosystem Expands With Sovryn Launch of Defi App and $2.1M Raise: The use cases for bitcoin (BTC) continue to expand as projects push the limits of how the decentralized currency can be utilized. The latest initiative, a decentralized finance (defi) app from Sovryn, allows bitcoin to be used as collateral for issuing stablecoins, trading, borrowing, lending and generating yield.
The platform is set to launch following completion of a $2.1 million raise led by Greenfield One, Collider Ventures and Monday Capital. It will be hosted on RSK, a Bitcoin-based platform secured by the network’s miners, that introduces smart contracts that were once the preserve of Ethereum.
The debut of Sovryn follows a whirlwind year for Bitcoin that saw the cryptocurrency plunge to under $4,000 in March before rebounding sharply and ascending to record highs. Along the way, it wooed corporations such as MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) and Square (NYSE:SQ), institutional investors, hedge funds, family offices, and Wall Street titans.
The history books will record 2020 as anannus horribilis, but the crypto markets tell a different story. Amidst unprecedented government money printing and spiraling national debt, Bitcoin’s fixed and knowable supply have distinguished it as a hedge against the fiat world and everything it represents. Even traders who are bullish on stocks and commodities have acknowledged that there may be a case for investing in bitcoin, an asset they once dismissed as a bubble.
Grayscale’s GBTC investment fund now boasts more than 20 prominent institutions, including Ark Invest and Rothschild Investment Corporation, allocating to its trust at levels above the current $100 million SEC reporting threshold. The funds’s popularity is demonstrated by the sheer amount of bitcoin that Grayscale alone is taking off the market.
In Q1 2020, it represented 27% of inflows as a proportion of mined bitcoin. That rose to 70% in Q2, and 77% in Q3, according to itslatest investment report. It shows no signs of slowing down in Q4 either, with Grayscale recently surpassing$10 billion in assets under managementfor the first time, better than most exchange-traded funds currently listed in the US.
Against this backdrop, bitcoin demand within the defi ecosystem, which centers around Ethereum, has soared, as synthetic versions of BTC have been issued onchain and used as collateral for minting and borrowing stablecoins. WBTC, as the Ethereum version of BTC is known, maintains price parity with bitcoin, and can be locked into staking platforms and used to earn APY. The same capabilities are now arriving on Bitcoin sidechain RSK with the launch ofSovryn’sdefi app.
143,650 BTC on Ethereum, according toBTConEthereum.com
Bitcoin ‘hodlers’ – BTC devotees intent on holding onto their precious coins – now have the ability to enjoy the best of both worlds through apps such as Sovryn. The project, which claims its technology has undertaken three months of rigorous security audits, allows BTC to be used as collateral for lending purposes. For example, users can lock their BTC into a smart contract and use it to borrow stablecoins. These can be traded for other crypto assets or locked into ‘farms’ – defi platforms that reward users for staking in the form of new tokens.
Reflecting on the evolution of Bitcoin over the past 11 years, Sovryn Project Lead Edan Yago said: “Bitcoin created a decentralized monetary system. With Sovryn we are providing Bitcoin with a decentralized financial system as well. Sovryn is for those who value self-sovereignty and who want to maintain control of their keys and their private data. With Sovryn, lending, trading and leverage are permissionless and censorship resistant.”
In a year where PayPal (NYSE:PYPL) introduced support for cryptocurrency and Square allocated 1% of its treasury to BTC, Bitcoin continues to dumbfound critics and win new converts. As the number of ways to use, interact, and earn with Bitcoin increases, the cryptocurrency launched by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009 becomes harder to kill and impossible to ignore.
Disclosure: No positions. This Op-Ed is written byReuben Jackson. Insider Monkey News Department isn’t involved in the production of this article. || Bridgewaters Ray Dalio Softens Stance on Bitcoin, Says It Has Place in Investors Portfolios: Ray Dalio, the founder of the worlds largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, has offered a more positive stance on bitcoin than in comments that made headlines last month. In a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) on Tuesday, Dalio said he thought bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies had established themselves over the last 10 years and were interesting gold-like asset alternatives. The billionaire hedge-fund manager also noted that cryptocurrencies share similarities and differences to gold and various limited-supply, mobile (unlike real estate) storeholds of wealth. Related: Bitcoin's Rising Popularity With Investors Means Gold Will 'Suffer': JPMorgan Bitcoin could serve as a diversifier to gold and other such storehold of wealth assets, said Dalio. The main thing is to have some of these type of assets
including stocks, in ones portfolio and to diversify among them. Dalio comments are a deviation from a month ago when he said there are three main problems with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies: a lack of venues accepting digital assets as payment, price volatility and the potential for governments to outlaw them. During the AMA, Dalio also said, when comparing bitcoin to gold, he had a strong preference for assets which central banks will want to hold and use to exchange value. See also: Bridgewaters Dalio: Id Love to Be Corrected on Bitcoin. Twitter Obliges Related Stories Bridgewaters Ray Dalio Softens Stance on Bitcoin, Says It Has Place in Investors Portfolios Bridgewaters Ray Dalio Softens Stance on Bitcoin, Says It Has Place in Investors Portfolios Bridgewaters Ray Dalio Softens Stance on Bitcoin, Says It Has Place in Investors Portfolios View comments || Shh! Commodity ETFs Quietly Rallying: While the stock market may be the biggest beneficiary of the enormous sums of money that governments around the world have pumped into their economies, another asset class is riding the reflation trade as wellcommodities. Left for dead by investors, many commodities have surprised to the upside. Several are higherin some cases, much higherthan where they were before the coronavirus pandemic struck. Its an interesting phenomenon considering most economies are still operating below their peaks, but one that makes sense in the context of a roaring bull market in financial markets across the board. Indeed, even though commodities are used in the real world, their movements are often influenced by trading activity on electronic exchanges, particularly futures markets. This is not to say that real-world fundamentals arent playing a part in the rally as well. Thanks to early stringent lockdown measures, China, the largest consumer of commodities, is back to growing at pre-virus rates. The worlds second-largest economy grew by 6.5% year over year in the fourth quarter, the fastest pace since 2018. Stronger economic growth boosts commodities, and similarly, any stimulus that turbocharges demand helps the group. Thats the case even if the stimulus causes inflation. While equities may be wary that inflation will provoke central banks into hiking interest rates, commodities live in the here and now. An overheated economy isnt an obstacle for the asset class in the short term, its a boon. Commodities also benefit from a sliding dollar, which makes USD-denominated commodities cheaper for overseas buyers, lifting demand on the margin. Solid Gains Of course, commodities are a disparate group, with separate supply and demand fundamentals for each. That said, most of the major ones are heading in the same direction right nowhigher. The largest broad commodities ETF, the $3.1 billion Invesco Optimum Yield Diversified Commodity Strategy No K-1 ETF (PDBC) , is up 20% over the past six months, similar to the 19.4% gain in the S&P 500 over the same time period. 6-Month Returns For PDBC & SPY Story continues Thats solid, but within PDBCs portfolio, certain individual commodities are sporting much higher returns. Take the agricultural complex; corn, soybeans and wheat have surged to levels not seen since 2014 due to strong Chinese demand and poor weather conditions in South American growing regions. The Teucrium Corn Fund (CORN) is up 40% over the past six months, while the Teucrium Soybean Fund (SOYB) has risen 43.14% in that same period. OPEC Supports Oil Meanwhile, oil, one of the worst-performing assets last spring, has made a respectable comeback over the past several months. Both primary oil benchmarksWTI and Brentwere last trading in the mid-$50/barrel range, levels last seen in February 2020. The United States Oil Fund LP (USO) and the United States Brent Oil Fund LP (BNO) gained 22.9% and 23.4%, respectively, over the past six months. An uneasy alliance between the OPEC countries, Russia and others have lent support to prices while demand slowly recovered. The groups output still remains millions of barrels per day below prepandemic levels, leaving the oil supply/demand balance in a slight deficit, according to analysts. Thats supportive of pricesfor now. But should prices continue to rise, OPEC and its allies will surely open their oil taps wider, bringing millions of barrels of more supply onto the market. Multiyear High For Metals Earlier I mentioned that the agricultural commodities were hitting multiyear highs. Theyre not the only ones doing so. Many of the metals are at prices not seen in at least a few years. Copper is at an eight-year high; nickel is at its highest point since 2014; and silver is close to its best level since 2013. These industrial metals have been beneficiaries of the strength in the goods-producing side of the global economy, which has flourished at the same time the services side has struggled amid social distancing. All three of the metals are used extensively in manufacturing and construction. Over the past six months, the iPath Series B Bloomberg Nickel Subindex Total Return ETN (JJN) is up 36.2%; the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) has gained 29.6%; and the United States Copper Index Fund (CPER) returned 23.7%. Signs Of Life Commodities may not be back to their high-flying days of a decade ago, but they are showing signs of life. With central banks committed to bolstering growth, and in some cases, letting inflation run a little hot, this might be an asset class that starts to attract some attention. The ETFs mentioned in this article and others can be found on ETF.coms commodities channel . Learn more about contango and backwardationkey drivers of commodity ETF returns here . Email Sumit Roy at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @sumitroy2 Recommended Stories Hot Reads: Bitcoin Passes $50K Mark 2020 ETF Trends: Opportunity Expands, Fees Contract 'SLV' Powers Weekly Inflows Silver ETF Pump Loses Steam Permalink | © Copyright 2021 ETF.com. All rights reserved || Turn the Page – Asset Allocation in 2021: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. We've just finished a tumultuous 2020, so 2021 should be a breeze, right? As we try to return to normal after a volatile year, investors will have to consider new challenges, particularly in the fixed income markets. In the upcoming webcast, Turn the Page – Asset Allocation in 2021 , Dan Phillips, Director Asset Allocation Strategy, Northern Trust Asset Management; and Michael Natale, Head of Intermediary Distribution, Northern Trust Asset Management, will outline the path to potential recovery and highlight asset allocation in 2021. For example, fixed-income investors may be considering ways to enhance their yield opportunity through bond ETFs, like the FlexShares High Yield Value-Scored Bond Index Fund (NYSE: HYGV) . HYGV 1 Year Performance HYGV utilizes a unique screen for high-yield corporate debt. The FlexShares High Yield Value-Scored Bond Index Fund tries to reflect the performance of the Northern Trust High Yield Value-Scored US Corporate Bond Index, which hones in on value with a proprietary credit scoring model that maximizes factor inputs for value while at the same time, effectively screens for quality and liquidity risk. The bond issuers are then fundamentally evaluated against current market conditions, with low-quality issuers precluded from the index. Specifically, the ETF focuses on value by pursuing the higher risk/return potential found by concentrating on a targeted credit beta; utilizing Northern Trust Credit Scoring methodology to eliminate bottom 10% of issuers; performing a liquidity assessment based on issuer’s debt outstanding, age, and remaining time to maturity to remove the bottom 5% illiquid securities; and intends to match the duration of a market cap-weighted index (ICE BofAML US High Yield Index), while maintaining sector neutrality. "We believe that the index’s composite value, quality and liquidity score ranking creates the potential for greater diversification and income generation, and may enhance risk-adjusted returns. Initially, high-yield ETFs were panned by legacy high-yield active managers. They predicted dire market behaviors and atypical performance outcomes due to the ETFs’ all-day trading liquidity and full price transparency. Our research suggests that those predictions have not held up with the passage of time," writes FlexShares. Story continues "Our multi-factor approach represents the kind of innovation that, in our view, is needed to help investors pursue higher levels of potential income in our current low market interest rate environment." Financial advisors who are interested in learning more about high-yield strategies can register for the Monday, January 11 webcast here . POPULAR ARTICLES AND RESOURCES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM SPY ETF Quote VOO ETF Quote QQQ ETF Quote VTI ETF Quote JNUG ETF Quote Top 34 Gold ETFs Top 34 Oil ETFs Top 57 Financials ETFs Gold and Precious Metals in the Spotlight: 2020 Recap Collect a Bitcoin Dividend Without Owning the King of Cryptos Tesla Surges Again, Boosting Consumer And Industrial ETFs CFA’s First ‘Research Brief’ on Cryptoassets, Bitcoin, and Blockchain Stock ETFs Climb Again Friday Despite Lackluster Jobs Data READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || How To Protect Yourself Against Impending Inflation: Monetary policy and inflation are at a historic juncture. Our Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell, and his dovish regime have made a groundbreaking promise to let inflation ride past its 2% target level, justifying the action with the low level of 'average inflation' we've seen since the last financial crisis. The average inflation rate since 2009 has been roughly 1.5%, and the Fed is now taking it into their own hands to drive the economy back into growth, sacrificing the 'stable prices' component of its "Dual Mandate," aka keeping inflation at a steady 2%. Now Mrs. Dovish herself, ex-Fed Chair Janet Yellen, is preparing to be sworn in as Treasury Secretary under the impending Biden regime in the next couple of months. Her history of expansionary policy is escalating inflation concerns. It may be time to start thinking about how to protect your portfolio and liquid capital against the deteriorating value implications of inflation. Value Protection Plays To Consider Gold Gold has been one of the primary vehicles of inflation protection since the US went off the gold standard during the Great Depression. Investors & traders have been driving the price of gold up throughout this pandemic. With interest rates plummeting and the Federal Reserve implementing one of its most expansionary policies in history, gold was able to surge to all-time highs past $2,000 an ounce. Rising interest rates this autumn have inhibited the gold boon of 2020, but it looks like that is all turning around as the markets price in the inflationary implications of Janet Yellen as Treasury Secretary. SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) remains up over 20% for the year and looks to be headed higher as additional fiscal stimulus becomes more and more likely with COVID-case counts surging and local authorities shutting down Main Street again. If GLD can break through its 50-day moving average (blue line) at around $176, I think this ETF has a lot more room to run. Bitcoin The massive monetary expansion that the Federal Reserve employed has executives concerned about the value of their liquid capital, with future inflation expected to swell. Story continues MicroStrategy (MSTR) CEO Michael Saylor made a savvy business decision when he decided to store his enterprise's liquid capital in Bitcoin. He made this judgment call in the face of ultra-low interest rates that were poised to eat away at MicroStrategy's cash reserve value. Jerome Powell and the Federal Reserve are printing money like there is no tomorrow and vowing to let inflation run past its 2% target to make up for the past two decades of below-target inflation. MicroStrategy's management team feels that gold is an antiqued store of value and that Bitcoin's blockchain-driven cryptocurrency is the future of inflation-protected assets. This is a store of value strategy that I expect will be increasingly adapted through the roaring 20s. Now fintech giants like Square (SQ) and PayPal (PYPL) are buying up large sums of the pioneering blockchain currency. PayPal has been purchasing nearly 70% of all newly mined 'virgin Bitcoins' since mid-October and is expected to have over $30M worth of this digital asset by the end of the year. Combined Square and PayPal are purchasing more than 100% of newly issued Bitcoin as they launch their respective cryptocurrency services. As more institutions pile into this next generation currency, the price should continue to drive higher. Below is a list of bitcoin holdings by company holdings provided by BitcoinTreasuries.org. MicroStrategy (MSTR) MicroStrategy has given Bitcoin the corporate seal of approval with its $425B investment in August and September, an investment that has returned the company over $300B in just 4 months. This is more income than the business has produced over the last 7 years of operations. MSTR is currently the largest publicly traded Bitcoin holder, with nearly 1/3rd of its market value being attributed to its BTC holdings. MicroStrategy is now selling $400 million in debt to buy more BTC. Bitcoin is teetering at its 2017 high and looks like it's preparing to materially break into the $20,000s as the digital currency catches a big bid from institutions. Investing in MicroStrategy is a good, hedged way to get exposure to Bitcoin's resurging price. Check out my recent Bull of The Day piece on MSTR for more color. Final Thoughts Inflation is coming, and Jerome Powell is making sure of it, now the question is what assets to use to protect your liquid capital. Bitcoin is a higher risk move but could provide you with strong inflation-protected returns as institutions start moving in on this cryptocurrency. Gold has been the tried and true inflation protector, and I think it is worth holding at least some amid this unprecedented monetary expansionary period. Biggest Tech Breakthrough in a Generation Be among the early investors in the new type of device that experts say could impact society as much as the discovery of electricity. Current technology will soon be outdated and replaced by these new devices. In the process, it’s expected to create 22 million jobs and generate $12.3 trillion in activity. A select few stocks could skyrocket the most as rollout accelerates for this new tech. Early investors could see gains similar to buying Microsoft in the 1990s. Zacks’ just-released special report reveals 8 stocks to watch. The report is only available for a limited time. See 8 breakthrough stocks now>> Click to get this free report Square, Inc. (SQ) : Free Stock Analysis Report PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report MicroStrategy Incorporated (MSTR) : Free Stock Analysis Report SPDR Gold Shares (GLD): ETF Research Reports To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research || Bitcoin Miners Saw 33% Revenue Increase in December: Bitcoin miners generated an estimated $692 million in revenue in December, up 33% from November , according to on-chain data from Coin Metrics analyzed by CoinDesk. Extending Novembers own 48% increase, miner revenues continued to soar as bitcoin rallied over 300% last year, briefly trading above $29,000 for the first time ever on New Years Eve. Revenue estimates assume miners sell their BTC immediately. Related: Tether Mints Record 2B USDT in One Week Measured by per terahash per second (TH/s), miner revenues nearly tripled in the past three months, reaching $0.284 Thursday, per data from Luxor Technologies , its highest level since August 2019, as CoinDesk previously reported . Network fees brought in $68.3 million in December, or nearly 10% of total revenue, a slight percentage decrease from the 10.5% of revenue represented by fees in November. Fees were quite volatile in December, bouncing between $4 to all the way to above $12 throughout the month, per Coin Metrics. Notably, fees as a percentage of total revenue continues a strong upward trend since April, prior to the networks third-ever block subsidy halving in May. Increases in fee revenue are important to sustain the networks security as the subsidy decreases every four years. Related: US-Listed Chinese Lottery Firm Plans $14.4M Move Into Bitcoin Mining Taking advantage of the revenue increase, miners are bringing more machines online, pushing the networks difficulty to record highs after Saturdays adjustment. Whats more, miners have ordered so many new machines to capitalize on the period of increased profitability that leading manufacturer Bitmain, for example, has sold out until August even after nearly doubling the price of some models. As heavyweight investors offer six-digit price predictions for bitcoin amid its ongoing parabolic rally, miners eye continued revenue growth through early 2021 and beyond. Related Stories Bitcoin Miners Saw 33% Revenue Increase in December Bitcoin Miners Saw 33% Revenue Increase in December || Ripple Is Hiring Director of Engineering for RippleX Platform: Blockchain firm Ripple is hiring a new director of engineering to lead the team building its open-source developer services for payments platform RippleX.
• In ablog post, Ripple said it is looking for an engineer to expand the infrastructure that supports technologies such as XRPL as well as other developer tools and services.
• The role involves shipping products that make it easier for its developers to actualize the future of the “Internet of Value,” which is a concept proposed by Ripple where value is transferred as easily as data.
• Ripple has been expanding its services, on Jan. 15 Rippleinkeda deal with a Malaysian money transfer business and Bangladesh’s largest mobile financial services provider to enable a remittance corridor between the two countries.
• Malaysia’s Mobile Money and Bangladesh’s bKash will leverage Ripple’s global payments network, RippleNet, for wallet-to-wallet transactions.
• The expansion and planned new hire show Ripple does not seem deterred by the legal troubles in the U.S. The company isbeing suedby the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over the claim it violated federal securities laws by selling theXRPcryptocurrency to retail consumers.
Read more:Ex-Ripple CTO Can’t Remember Password to Access $240M in Bitcoin
• Ripple Is Hiring Director of Engineering for RippleX Platform
• Ripple Is Hiring Director of Engineering for RippleX Platform
• Ripple Is Hiring Director of Engineering for RippleX Platform
• Ripple Is Hiring Director of Engineering for RippleX Platform || Cathie Wood: Ahead of the Curve: The meeting starts with cancer research. “On the X-axis, you have time. And then on the Y-axis you have disease burden … or the size of the tumor in the person’s body,” explains Simon Barnett on the Zoom call, sharing his screen to display a graph that explains a technology called Minimal Residual Disease testing. This article is part of CoinDesk’s Most Influential 2020 – a list of impactful people in crypto chosen by readers and staff. The NFT of the artwork, by Alotta Money , is available for auction at The Nifty Gateway , with 50% of the sale proceeds going to charity. Related: Amiti Uttarwar: Building Bitcoin's Future Others jump in with questions: What’s the timeline on this tech? If early screenings are more common, would cancer surgeries become a thing of the past? And if cancer surgeries disappear, how would the hospitals respond? “This is how hospitals make their money,” someone says. “They chop people up.” Barnett speaks with confidence. He displays a mastery of the subject. He casually refers to a study that just came out the prior week, from the International Society for Liquid Biopsies Conference. This is not a Zoom call of doctors, medical professionals, or health care analysts. It’s the weekly brainstorming meeting for Ark Investments , the actively managed exchange-traded fund (ETF) founded in 2014 by Cathie Wood, a former economist, hedge fund manager and chief investment officer at AllianceBernstein. Every Friday morning, at 10:30 a.m. sharp, the brains at Ark discuss a handful of “Big Picture” ideas (which often include blockchain – Wood has been a bitcoin bull since at least 2015; more on that in a bit.) There is no mention of stock prices, earnings or PE ratios. The focus is on the tech, on the future, on what might be. Ark is exclusively focused on the future, or “disruptive innovation.” In a world where passive ETFs – like index funds that track the S&P 500 – stick to the Warren Buffet ethos of “you can’t beat the market,” Wood and Ark have proven that, well, actually, maybe you can. As of late November, Ark’s flagship fund, ARKK, with net assets of $8.9 billion, has fetched a jaw-dropping return of 83.7% on the year, compared to 14.5% for the S&P 500. This isn’t a one-year fluke. Since its inception in 2014, the fund has hauled in average annual returns of 30.97%, trouncing the index funds pegged to the market. Story continues Related: Hayden Adams: King of the DeFi Degens Wood isn’t a fan of indexes. “Indexes represent one of the most massive misallocations of capital in history,” she told me a few days earlier. “More than half of all equities are in a passive portfolio. This doesn’t make any sense and that’s very backward-looking.” Her logic: A basket of companies in the S&P 500, say, simply tracks the performance of these older firms and has a blind eye to the truly emerging tech, which Wood clumps into five buckets: DNA sequencing, energy storage, robotics, artificial intelligence and blockchain. Ark invests heavily in these five buckets. Most index funds do not. In perhaps the most notable example, Tesla did not crack the S&P 500 until Dece. 1, 2020, meaning that millions of 401(k) retirement portfolios, most of which track the S&P, would have missed out on Tesla’s eye-popping returns. At Ark? Tesla is 10% of the fund. The big bet Next topic on the Zoom call: Tesla. The floor is ceded to Tasha Keeney, the first analyst Ark hired, to discuss some breaking news from China. “The news is about a company called Xpeng, in China, which originated as a Tesla copycat,” explains Keeney. She’s a former math major. She wears dark glasses, and some wired Apple headphones, her hair pulled back in a ponytail. Just before this meeting, on Twitter, Keeney had posed a question that’s packed with insider jargon: “Why is Xpeng using lidar?” she asked her 58,000 followers. “Big deviation from copying Tesla. Xpeng says it will greatly improve accuracy – I believe it, but can severely limit scalability for their autonomous approach. Did they realize they couldn’t make their Tesla-copy approach work?” Immediately after Keeney’s tweet, the replies poured in from electric-vehicle Twitter. One of the replies came from a surprising source: Elon Musk. “They have an old version of our software & don’t have our NN inference computer,” Musk tweeted to Keeney, just 11 minutes after her question. Being a reserve currency is quite the exalted role, right? It’s the flight-to-safety currency. It’s the insurance policy currency. This is a plum example of Cathie Wood’s strategy of using social media to gain an edge. Ark analysts are not the typical I-banking number-crunchers who toil away in cubicles, anonymously crushing their spreadsheets. Most have public platforms. And they make connections with industry experts and researchers, who can then provide the kind of deep insights that you don’t – can’t – get from skimming the headlines or even reading the tech journals. “Information attracts information,” Ark’s director of research, Brett Winton, explained to me. “We try to be as transparent as possible about what we believe.” After Ark published a white paper on the declining cost of lithium batteries, for example, a professor from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Venkat Viswanathan, chimed in with his own research. And he was impressed. Viswanathan happens to run a weekly global webinar series for the electric battery community – a group of 1,000 or so deeply technical academics and engineers and the like. He invited Ark’s energy storage analyst, Sam Korus, to speak at this battery nerd-fest, and share Ark’s research model. “It would be difficult for me to find another firm of this kind that would come and present to a deeply technical audience on batteries,” says Viswanathan. He adds that Ark’s willingness to engage with the scientific community– and even teach them a thing or two – is a “testament to how they’ve been able to navigate these challenging, exponential technologies,” and how they’ve been able to predict the “hockey stick” of future growth. Why the obsession with lithium batteries? Ark’s research suggests that a plunging cost of electric batteries – along with the possibility of a self-driving taxi service – is the key to Tesla’s growth. And that brings us back to the brainstorming call. There is no mention of stock price, moving averages, or the usual bread and butter of financial traders. (Most Ark analysts don’t even have a Bloomberg terminal. As Wood puts it, “I’ve seen so much time wasted by looking at stocks going up or down.”) “Don’t underestimate the power of the China government,” warns Yulong Cui on the call. “They want to put in V2X and scale to 100% of all vehicles in China by 2030,” says Marcel Münch, an expert on the company NIO. (V2X, or vehicle-to-everything, allows cars to talk to one another.) The analysts are trying to read the tea leaves, essentially, wondering if changes in China’s self-driving infrastructure – like if, hypothetically, the government hatched a GPS network that Tesla couldn’t access – would impact the company. “Would it cut Tesla out of the ecosystem?” Wood asks the team. Then again, she also adds that Ark never counted on significant autonomous inroads for Tesla in China, so “this doesn’t surprise us.” Some of the analysts do seem a little surprised, and amused, that Elon Musk is live-tweeting Tasha Keeney during this very call. Elon Musk has 40.4 million Twitter followers, and only follows 103 accounts. Four of them, including Cathie Wood and Tasha Keeney, work for Ark. Musk has a good reason to follow. On Aug. 23, 2018, the price of Tesla hovered around $320 per share. This seemed absurdly over-valued to many, who viewed the automaker as more fanboy hype than substance. “Is it too late for Tesla?” asked William D. Cohan in a New York Times op-ed, noting the firm’s “precarious finances” and warning that Musk “is on the verge of becoming a cautionary tale about a Silicon Valley genius felled by hubris.” Musk flirted with taking the company private, and buying back all the stock to the tune of $420 per share, which would have given each Tesla shareholder a handsome premium. That would mean guaranteed profits. But there was one shareholder who did not like that idea one bit. “Taking Tesla private today at $420 per share would undervalue it greatly, depriving many investors of the opportunity to participate in its success,” wrote Cathie Wood in an open letter to Musk, pleading him to reconsider. According to Ark’s research at the time, in five years (2023), Tesla should be valued at $700 in the bear case , with her bullish price target at $4,000…or roughly 10X of Musk’s $420 going-private price. “In our view, given the right investment time horizon, TSLA is a deep value stock today.” Wall Street snickered. Tesla, a “value stock”?! Daniel Ives is a tech analyst who has covered Wall Street for 20 years. He says he can “count on one hand” the number of audacious calls like Wood that have actually paid off. “She’s a rare breed,” says Ives. “So many on Wall Street just go with consensus, and are afraid to deviate. But if you go back over the last decade with Tesla, she was bullish when 99.9% of the street was bearish.” Could Wood’s open letter (titled “Dear Elon: An Open Letter Against Taking Tesla Private”) have actually influenced this growth? At the very least we know that he read it, as he soon hopped on Ark’s FYI ( For Your Innovation ) podcast. “He did tell us that the letter had made a difference in terms of the way the board was thinking, and I’m sure he was including himself among the Board,” says Wood. Since that open letter, the price of TSLA has soared from $320 to $2,858 (adjusted for a 5-for-1 split), for a bitcoin-esque return of 793%. And as Tesla has boomed, so has Ark – in both financial returns and reputation. Ives says that “they’ve always been respected,” but that the Tesla call has given additional credibility and launched them “into a rarefied air.” Looking for scraps Third topic of the brainstorming meeting (there are four in total): Gaming. An analyst named Nicholas Grous takes the virtual floor, suggesting that gaming, specifically the growing revenue of in-game purchases, is an under-appreciated story of the pandemic. Grous looks to be in his 20s or early 30s (like most Ark analysts), wearing a baseball cap and a bit of stubble. He notes that there are 2.7 billion global gamers (“I have it pegged at 33% of the global population”), spending an average of an hour a day on gaming platforms, and that global monetization is expected to be $175 billion this year. As with the earlier topics of cancer research and electric vehicles, the conversation skews more philosophical than financial. They discuss the merits of gaming (such as sharpening strategic thinking, and boosting visual spatial skills) and consider the downsides. “It’s also addictive,” someone notes. “I wish I spent more of my high school reading books by dead people.” Brett Winton, who facilitates the meeting, zooms the lens out. “From a very high macroeconomic perspective, once you’ve met all of the basic needs of people, then you need a mechanism by which you can have people expend luxury resources that doesn’t actually draw natural resources out of the ground,” he says. “Rather than competing for the last ounce of gold on earth, you would rather somebody spend $1 million on a digital figment.” Ark tends to think in these kinds of macro-economic forces, which shouldn’t be surprising given that Wood began her career as an economist. She studied under Arthur Laffer, of the supply-side and tax-reduction Laffer Curve fame. (Or Laffer Curve infamy, depending on whom you ask. “Economists tend to roll their eyes when the Laffer Curve is mentioned,” writes sociologist Elizabeth Popp Berman in a blistering critique .) And progressives might roll their eyes at Wood’ support for President Donald Trump’s re-election. “We’re looking at this from a strict economic view. We know a Trump Administration will continue to lower taxes and lower regulation,” she said in October , warning of a stifling of innovation. “If we move into a regime where taxes are starting to go up again, I think we’ll see more success stories migrating to the rest of the world, and we will migrate with it.” I spoke to Wood shortly after the election, on Nov. 16, and she says her darkest fears of a Joe Biden presidential administration have mostly been quelled. “The worst of my concerns was a doubling of capital gains tax, with a threat of a tax on unrealized capital gains. That would have been nuts,” she says, but now considers that unlikely, given the Democrats’ (likely) failure to take command of the U.S. Senate. On a more optimistic note, Wood believes the five innovation platforms central to Ark’s mission – DNA sequencing, energy storage, robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and blockchain – have reached what she calls “escape velocity” and that there’s “no stopping them.” Again she’s thinking long term. This is a mindset that dates back to 1977 when, as an intern at Capital Group, she was tasked with analyzing the impact of the Hong Kong changeover from the U.K. to China. That changeover would happen in 1997…two decades away. “Wow, wow ,” Wood remembers thinking. “I want to be in this business! Trying to understand how the world is going to work.” She loved the idea of macro research – big sweeping ideas, far out into the future. She continued that long-range research in the mid-1980s as a young equity analyst at Jennison Associates. This gave her an edge, and she needed one. As Wood remembers it, the founder of the firm, Sig Segalas, told her, “Look, these analysts here, they’re lifers. You’re going to have to figure out your own universe. We’re not going to take anybody’s stocks from them.” So the twenty-something Wood hunted for stocks that others neglected. “I was really like a dog under the table, just looking for scraps,” she says. “I had to pick up stocks that nobody wanted.” One example of these scraps was what Wood calls an “odd duck” in database publishing – Reuters. “The tech analysts didn’t want it because it wasn’t really a database company,” Wood says. “Publishing analysts didn’t want it because it wasn’t really a publishing company. And oh, by the way, it was foreign, and nobody really wanted foreign stocks at that time.” Wood didn’t mind foreign stocks. She didn’t mind these squishy-to-define categories. She raised her hand and said, I’ll do that. “Very early on I learned when everyone’s dismissing something because it doesn’t fit nicely into any sector or industry, take a very careful look,” she says. “Because very often there are gems in the rough.” Wood learned the power of what she calls “converging technologies,” and she views Tesla as a convergence. “The reason auto analysts have made mistakes is that they’re not the right analysts for this company,” says Wood. She thinks of Tesla as a robotics company (“because automatic vehicles are robots”), and also an energy storage company (“because autonomous vehicles will be electric”), and an artificial intelligence company (“because AI will power autonomous vehicles”). Traditional auto analysts, in her opinion, “don’t know what to do with that.” This philosophy of “convergence” has shaped how Ark is organized, how it thinks, and how it hires analysts. Instead of covering specific companies, it focuses on areas of tech that span across sectors. Ark doesn’t pluck analysts from MBA school, but instead prefers those with tech or industry experience. James Wang, their AI analyst, spent nine years at NVIDIA. Allie Urman, an analyst for gene editing and stem cells, conducted clinical cancer research at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Wood lifted the concept from her old firm, AllianceBernstein : “We hire rocket scientists, because it’s much easier to teach a rocket scientist financial concepts and modeling than it is to teach an MBA rocket science.” $500,000 bitcoin? Finally, the fourth topic on the two-hour brainstorming call: Bitcoin. In recent months, the influx of institutional capital from the likes of Paul Tudor Jones and Stan Druckenmiller has fetched most of the crypto spotlight, but Wood has been playing in this sandbox for years. Ark began scooping up bitcoin in 2015, back when the price was $250. In what looks like a shockingly prescient movie, Wood sold much of the crypto position in December 2017, just before the crash. “It was better lucky than smart,” Wood tells me with a bit of a laugh, as the sale was less about sniffing a bear market, and more about complying with a nuanced, in-the-weeds regulation from the SEC. Very early on I learned when everyone’s dismissing something because it doesn’t fit nicely into any sector or industry, take a very careful look. The bitcoin forking of late-2017 caused a happy windfall of “unqualified income,” but Wood soon learned – less happily – that any unqualified revenue above 10% of a fund’s gross revenue the Internal Revenue Service can confiscate. (In other words, if $5 million of a $10 million fund came from “unqualified income” – like crypto proceeds from a fork – the IRS can filch $4 million.) “Just think about that,” Wood says. “Think about that. If we moved into a ‘black swan’ scenario where equity markets collapse and [cryptocurrency] soars, then our clients would only get 10% of the upside, which is crazy.” So they pulled out in December 2017 and January 2018, just before the crash. “Better lucky than smart,” Wood says again. Ark’s first crypto analyst was Chris Burniske, who later authored the widely-respected “Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor’s Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond.” His successor is Yassine Elmandjra , a 24-year-old who got the job after seeing a tweet, at 11p.m., that Burniske would host a book-signing in Manhattan at 7 a.m., before Wall Street’s opening bell. Elmandjra lived in Philadelphia at the time, attending UPenn. So he took a 4:30 a.m. train to New York, met Chris Burniske and Wood at the “Cryptoassets” book signing, and he was hired soon thereafter. (Elmandjra had already been interviewing with Ark through a job posting, but the hustle seemed to put him over the top.) On the Friday morning call, Elmandjra walks the team through a new piece of research from Nic Carter, “Nine Bitcoin Charts Already at All-Time Highs,” showing how, according to Carter’s metrics, this bull run is different than in 2017. Wood was bullish on bitcoin in 2014, and since then her conviction has only increased. “It’s the reserve currency of the crypto-assets economy,” she tells me. “I have an economics background. And being a reserve currency is quite the exalted role, right? It’s the flight-to-safety currency. It’s the insurance policy currency.” Just as Ark used models to try and quantify scenarios of price targets for Tesla (which they publicly share ), they’ve done the same for bitcoin. In September 2020, Elmandjra published a white paper (in collaboration with Coin Metrics) that outlines the bullish case for bitcoin, attempting to quantify the opportunity. Elmandjra outlines four buckets that could spur the price: Bitcoin as a global settlement network, bitcoin as protection against the seizure of assets, bitcoin as digital gold and bitcoin as a “catalyst for currency demonetization in emerging markets.” This is not that new for the crypto insiders. Then he takes it one step further. For each of these four variables, he quantifies the bear and bull scenarios. If bitcoin grew to 5% of the physical gold market, for example, then that alone would justify a price of around $22K. Or take emerging markets. “If bitcoin were to capture 5% of the global monetary base outside of the four largest fiat currencies – U.S. dollar, yen, yuan, euro – its market cap could increase by $1 trillion,” Elmandjra writes, “a six-fold increase from $200 billion today to roughly $1.2 trillion.” When you tally up all of these four buckets? Elmandjra arrives at a 2025 market cap of $3 trillion, or a price of roughly $140K. But this is not his bull scenario. When you factor in the chance of more companies plunking their treasury reserves in bitcoin (such as Square allocating 1% of assets), he lands in the ballpark of $300K to $500K. I happened to speak to Elmandjra on the week bitcoin surged from $15K to $18K. (It would jump another few hundreds dollars in the course of our call.) Elmandjra admits that it’s “thrilling” to see this kind of price action, as it’s a vindication – at least for now – of the bleaker days when Ark was “buying in the blood” of the bear market. “The decision to be in the space was not as obvious,” says Elmandjra. “We’ve had very high conviction for the last five or six years, and it’s exciting to see that pick-up.” It’s possible, of course, that the big bet on bitcoin – and the bigger bet on Tesla – can flop. Ark is not a low-risk portfolio. Aggressive strategies look brilliant with triple-digit returns, less so if the tech goes bust. There is also a looming threat that Wood could lose control of Ark to one of its shareholders, Resolute Investment Managers, a recent development on which she declined to comment. (Wood cited legal reasons, referring me to Ark’s public statement .) But judging by the current scoreboard, 2020 has been a banner year for Ark. Its long-term bets are paying off. “Disruptive innovation” hasn’t just been a pair of buzzwords, it has delivered real returns. So far it is working. It has worked since its inception. People thought Cathie Wood was crazy when she suggested Tesla could hit $4,000 by the year 2023, and now here we are, at nearly $3,000 (adjusted for the 5-way stock split), right on track. And if her team thinks $500,000 bitcoin is in play? Bet against her at your own risk. Related Stories Cathie Wood: Ahead of the Curve Cathie Wood: Ahead of the Curve || Cross-Chain Protocol Poolz Completes $1M Private Sale: Poolz, a blockchain protocol delivering decentralized token swaps, has completed a heavily oversubscribed private sale. The project, which is focused on bridging smart contract networks such as Polkadot and Ethereum, reports that its private round could have been filled 25x over. In the event, $1M was raised in return for POOLZ tokens, which will play an integral role in the token-swapping and fundraising protocol. The Foundry, which is affiliated with crypto projects DuckDAO and Ferrum, led the round, and VCs such as Genesis Block, 7X Ventures, and Alphabit also participated in the private sale. Poolz intends to follow the event with a public sale in which tokens will be sold off via an auction, allowing bidders to set their desired purchase price. Bringing Blockchains Together The technology that Poolz is developing will enable projects to raise funds in ETH, for example, before issuing buyers with a token that is native to another blockchain such as Polkadot . Ordinarily, different blockchain networks are incompatible with one another, complicating the process of exchanging cross-chain assets. The Poolz protocol will allow projects to raise funds on the network of their choice, with Ethereum the most popular option at present due to its network effects, and the easy access to ETH as an investable asset. Ethereum has been leading the crypto market rally that has flowed into 2021, and is up 52% for the past 30 days. In addition to retail demand, interest in BTC and ETH has stemmed from institutional investors in the US via instruments such as Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC:QXR:USD) and Grayscale Ethereum Trust, which give traditional investors exposure to the crypto market. Smart contract networks such as Ethereum and TomoChain are at the heart of Poolz vision to unite normally-incompatible blockchains, providing a mechanism for cross-chain swaps and token sales. The project has declared its intention to add support for other crypto networks in the near future. Story continues VCs Chase Crypto Deals Interest in cryptocurrency and its underlying blockchain technology hasn’t just been reflected in digital asset prices; it’s also been seen in investment rounds, where demand routinely outstrips supply for the hottest projects. On December 23, Seoul-based blockchain VC Hashed disclosed that it had raised $120 million for its first fund. With $900 million invested in blockchain projects in Q3 of 2020 alone, the market is in rude health. Commenting on the project’s 25x oversubscribed private sale, Poolz CEO Guy Oren said: “We are extremely grateful to all of the investors who have trusted in our team’s ability, innovation, and vision, and who believe that the future of blockchain is interoperable and that we are ideally placed to realize this goal. “The level of demand for the native POOLZ token took us by surprise, and we could have filled our private round many times over. This augurs well for the future of cross-chain token sales, which Poolz will support, and for the forthcoming Poolz public auction.” Companies like Andreessen Horowitz subsidiary a16z Crypto, Pantera Capital, and Galaxy Digital put blockchain venture capital on the map. Now, a string of other crypto investment firms, including several of the names that claimed an allocation for Poolz’ private sale, are building on that foundation while bootstrapping the next wave of disruptive crypto startups. Disclosure: No positions. This Op-Ed is written by Reuben Jackson . Insider Monkey News Department isn’t involved in the production of this article. || The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – December 14th, 2020: Bitcoin , BTC to USD, rose by 1.92% on Sunday. Following on from a 4.25% rally on Saturday, Bitcoin ended the week down by 1.18% to $19,180.0. It was a mixed start to the day. Bitcoin fell to an early morning intraday low $18,720.7 before making a move. Steering clear of the first major support level at $18,264, Bitcoin rallied to an early afternoon intraday high $19,416.0. Bitcoin broke through the first major resistance level at $19,158 before falling back to sub-$19,100 levels. Finding support in the final hour, however, Bitcoin broke back through the first major resistance level to end the day at $19,180 levels. The near-term bullish trend remained intact, supported by the recovery to $19,000 levels. For the bears, Bitcoin would need to slide through the 62% FIB of $10,095 to form a near-term bearish trend. The Rest of the Pack Across the rest of the majors, it was a bullish end to the week. Cardano’s ADA (+6.48%), Chainlink (+5.93%), and Litecoin (+7.14%) led the way. Binance Coin (+3.37%), Crypto.com Coin (+3.75%), and Ethereum (+3.89%) also made solid gains. Bitcoin Cash SV (+1.58%), Polkadot (+1.29%), and Ripple’s XRP (+1.27%) trailed the front runners, however. For the week ending 13 th December, it was a bearish week for the majors, however. Ripple’s XRP led the way down, sliding by 17.78%. Bitcoin Cash SV (-7.1%), Cardano’s ADA (-3.06%), Chainlink (-4.32%), Crypto.com Coin (-3.94%), and Polkadot (-3.58%) also struggled. Binance Coin (-1.39%), Ethereum (-1.86%), and Litecoin (-1.65%) saw relatively modest losses in the week. For the week, the crypto total market cap rose to a Monday high $569.88bn before falling to a Friday low $509.01bn. At the time of writing, the total market cap stood at $551.5bn. Bitcoin’s dominance fell to a Wednesday low 63.03% before rising to a Sunday high 64.71%. At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s dominance stood at 64.24%. This Morning At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down by 0.55% to $19,074.0. A bearish start to the day saw Bitcoin fall from an early morning high $19,180.0 to a low $19.071.0. Story continues Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on. Elsewhere, it was a mixed start to the day. Bitcoin Cash SV bucked the trend early on, rising by 0.74%. It was a bearish start for the rest of the majors, however. At the time of writing, Ripple’s XRP was down by 0.99% to lead the way down. For the Bitcoin Day Ahead Bitcoin would need to move back through the pivot level at $19,106 to bring the first major resistance level at $19,490 into play. Support from the broader market would be needed for Bitcoin to break out from Sunday’s high $19,416.0. Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level and resistance at $19,500 would likely cap any upside. In the event of an extended crypto rally, the second major resistance level at $19,801 and resistance at $20,000 would likely come into play. Failure to move back through the $19,106 pivot would bring the first major support level at $18,795 into play. Barring an extended crypto sell-off, Bitcoin should steer clear of sub-$18,500 levels. The second major support level sits at $18,410. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: USD/JPY Fundamental Weekly Forecast – Risk Sentiment Driving the Price Action The Week Ahead – Brexit, COVID-19, Monetary Policy, Economic Data, and Capitol Hill in Focus Can COVID Cancel the Christmas Rally? Bitcoin and Ripple’s XRP – Weekly Technical Analysis – December 14th, 2020 Starbucks Breaks Out To All-Time High COVID-19 Vaccine Update – Pfizer Inc. Approval Imminent Amidst a Virus Surge
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 36926.07, 38144.31, 39266.01, 38903.44, 46196.46, 46481.11, 44918.18, 47909.33, 47504.85, 47105.52
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2020-06-30]
BTC Price: 9137.99, BTC RSI: 43.98
Gold Price: 1793.00, Gold RSI: 66.37
Oil Price: 39.27, Oil RSI: 59.00
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Market Wrap: Stocks Rally on Possible Stimulus but Bitcoin Is Flat at $9.5K: A leading independent financial analysis shares thoughts on the “Robinhood rally,” Fed policy and why Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) is already here.
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
This episode is sponsored byBitstampandCiphertrace.
• An unexpectedly good retail sales report drives market confidence
• Are we in for a second wave of white-collar layoffs?
• The latest rumblings in central bank digital currencies
Related:From Moral Hazard to Business as Usual, Feat. Jesse Felder
Jesse Felder is an independent financial analyst and one of the best financial curators on Twitter.
See also:What the Stock Market’s ‘Robinhood Rally’ Means for Bitcoin
In this wide ranging conversation, he and NLW discuss:
• The Robinhood rally and what makes it both alike and different from previous manias
• The illusion of American recovery and the disconnect between markets and fundamentals
• The Federal Reserve’s role in increasing economic inequality
• Why the dollar is significantly overvalued relative to other currencies
• Why financial assets could be poised for a rough decade
Find our guest online:Twitter:@jessefelderWebsite:TheFelder Report
• Sorry, Bloomberg: Here Are 6 Reasons Why 2020 Is a Great Year for Bitcoin
• Bitcoin News Roundup for June 15, 2020
• Bootstrapping Mobile Mesh Networks With Bitcoin Lightning || Bitcoin is up big since the start of coronavirus lockdown: Bitcoin is faring very well during the pandemic, up 94% since March 16, when the U.S. first began widespread school closures and stay-at-home orders. During the same period, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 22% and the S&P 500 up 24%.
That’s a very different story for bitcoin than the beginning of March, whencrypto fell precipitously, along with stocks, from negative headlines about coronavirus cases, before U.S. quarantine began. On March 13, bitcoin fell 25% in 24 hours.
The recent surge can’t all be attributed to thethird bitcoin halving on May 11, an event every four years when the reward for mining bitcoins gets cut in half in order to limit the creation of new bitcoin. The price was already on a ride prior to the halving, up 80% between March 16 and May 11. Now it’s up just another 10% since the halving.
Bitcoin flag-wavers see the price action as proof that bitcoin is what they say it is: a store of value, and a hedge against uncertainty. This is certainly a time of uncertainty, with U.S. unemployment spiking amid aglobal pandemic, publicly traded companies withdrawing their 2020 guidance, and theFederal Reserve taking a range of measuresto boost the economy.
Grayscale Investments, a crypto asset management fund owned byDigital Currency Group, says it has seen a spike in crypto investments from existing clients.
“There is now a pretty widely held belief amongst our investors that bitcoin has solidified its place as digital gold,” says Grayscale managing director Michael Sonnenshein. “As things have become increasingly uncertain and we’ve seen levers get pulled by central banks and governments, investors have allocated to bitcoin. When the shelter-in-place began and everything was getting deleveraged, stocks were getting sold, gold getting sold, bitcoin getting sold... now bitcoin has rebounded like crazy. That’s bitcoin demonstrating its resilience as an investment.”
Daily bitcoin trading volume on 10 leading exchanges (including Coinbase and Gemini) has hit an average $2.5 billion per day, the highest trading volume level since July 2018,according to Decrypt.
And there’s additional anecdotal evidence of a general spike in interest: bitcoinshopping rewards app Lollisays it had more new user signups in the first two weeks of May than it’s ever had in two weeks, since launching in 2018; and Google searches for bitcoin have doubled since one year ago.
—
Daniel Roberts is an editor-at-large at Yahoo Finance and closely covers bitcoin and blockchain. Follow him on Twitter at @readDanwrite.
Read more:
What the third bitcoin halving means for crypto investors
Bitcoin tumbles along with stocks from coronavirus, questioning 'safe haven' theory
Fed Chair Jay Powell grilled on China's cryptocurrency plans, US response
Facebook-led Libra Association has lost 8 'founding members'
IRS adds specific crypto question to 2019 tax form
Cryptocurrency CEO who paid $4.6M for lunch with Buffett: 'It might be unrealistic'
Exclusive: SEC quietly widens its crackdown on ICOs
Follow Yahoo Finance onTwitter,Facebook,Instagram,Flipboard,LinkedIn,YouTube, andreddit. || Bitcoin News Roundup for May 6, 2020: BTCstays above $9K while some startups wrestle for market share. It’s CoinDesk’s Markets Daily Podcast.
This episode is sponsored byErisX,The Stellar Development FoundationandGrayscale Digital Large Cap Investment Fund.
For early access before our regular noon Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublicaorRSS.
Related:Surveying the Carnage: How Real Estate, Travel and Music Are Faring During the Crisis
Today’s stories:
Bitcoin Breaches $9.2K as Open Positions on CME Futures Hit 10-Month High
BitMEX Is Making Bitcoin Network More Expensive for Everyone, Researcher Finds
ChromaWay Expands Effort to Put Latin American Land Records on the Blockchain
Related:Why Crypto Matters for Financial Inclusion, Feat. Celo’s Marek Olszewski
ASX Accused of Trying to ‘Crush’ Rival Blockchain Trading System
For early access before our regular noon Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublicaorRSS.
• Bitcoin News Roundup for May 5, 2020
• Why Warren Buffett’s Bearishness Should End V-Shaped Recovery Talk || The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers -25/05/20: Bitcoin slid by 5.08% on Sunday. Reversing a 0.15% gain from Saturday, Bitcoin ended the week down by 9.91% to $8,710.10.
A bullish start to the day saw Bitcoin rise to a mid-morning intraday high $9,300.0 before hitting reverse.
Bitcoin came up against the first major resistance level at $9,295.47 before falling to a late afternoon low $8,859.2.
The reversal saw Bitcoin fall through the first major support level at $9,064.27 and the second major support level at $8,952.93.
Finding late support, Bitcoin briefly recovered to a high $9,075 before a final hour sell-off.
The sell-off saw Bitcoin slide back through the first major support level and second major support level to an intraday low $8,688.0.
The near-term bearish trend, formed at late June 2019’s swing hi $13,764.0, remained firmly intact, reaffirmed by the March swing lo $4,000.
For the bulls, Bitcoin would need to break out from the 62% FIB of $10,034 to form a near-term bullish trend.
Across the rest of the majors, it was also a bearish end to the week on Sunday.
Cardano’s ADA slid by 6.80% to lead the way down.
Bitcoin Cash ABC (-5.47%), Litecoin (-4.08%), Monero’s XMR (-4.06%), Stellar’s Lumen (-4.74%), Tezos (-4.31%), and Tron’s TRX (-5.15% weren’t far behind.
Binance Coin (-3.09%), Bitcoin Cash SV (-3.77%), EOS (-2.84%), Ethereum (-3.38%), and Ripple’s XRP (-3.27%) saw relatively modest losses on the day.
Sunday’s sell-off delivered mixed results for the week, however.
Cardano’s ADA and Tezos bucked the trend, with gains of 0.20% and 0.81% respectively, Monday through Sunday.
It was a week in the red for the rest of the majors, however.
Bitcoin Cash ABC and Stellar’s Lumen led the way down, with losses of 7.72% and 7.04% respectively.
EOS (-4.92%), Monero’s XMR (-6.72%), Ripple’s XRP (-4.45%), and Tron’s TRX (-5.43%) weren’t far behind.
Binance Coin (-1.90%), Bitcoin Cash SV (-2.71%), Ethereum (-3.58%) and Litecoin (-3.75%) saw relatively modest losses for the week.
In the week, the crypto total market cap rose to a Monday low $268.50bn before falling to a Sunday low $239.63bn. At the time of writing, the total market cap stood at $242.29bn.
Bitcoin’s dominance rose to a Monday high 68.31% before falling to a Sunday low 66.51%. At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s dominance stood at 66.64%.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up by 0.83 to $8,782.2. A mixed start to the day saw Bitcoin fall to an early morning low $8,620.0 before striking a high $8,808.7.
Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.
Elsewhere, it was a mixed start to the day.
Tron’s TRX (+1.57%), Tezos (+1.20%), Ethereum (+1.06%), Bitcoin Cash ABC (+1.23%), and Binance Coin (+1.11%) led the way early on.
Monero’s XMR was down by 0.15%, however, to buck the trend.
Bitcoin would need to move through to $8,900 levels to bring the first major resistance level at $9,110.73 into play.
Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Bitcoin to break out from the morning high $8,808.7.
Barring an extended crypto rebound, the first major resistance level would likely limit any upside.
In the event of an extended crypto rally, Bitcoin could revisit $9,300 levels before any pullback. We would expect Bitcoin to come up short of the second major resistance level at $9,511.37, however.
Failure to move through to $8,900 levels could see Bitcoin hit reverse.
A fall back through the morning low $8,620.0 would bring the first major support level at $8,498.73 into play.
Barring another extended crypto sell-off, however, Bitcoin should steer clear of the second major support level at $8,287.37.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• The Week Ahead – Geopolitics, Central Banks and COVID-19 in Focus
• EOS, Ethereum and Ripple’s XRP – Daily Tech Analysis – 24/05/20
• The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers -25/05/20
• Price of Gold Fundamental Weekly Forecast – Short-Term Volatility to Continue as Investors Look for Value
• GBP/USD Daily Forecast – Support At 1.2170 In Sight
• Ray Dalio Suggests USA Is Entering A Period Of Decline And New World Order || Blockchain Bites: Magic’s Raise, Compound’s Distribution and Trump’s Twitter War: The case for decentralized platforms has never been clearer, as President Donald Trump goes on the offensive against big tech platforms like Twitter and Facebook, said lawyers and technologists surveyed by CoinDesk.
Meanwhile, decentralized identity service Magic has raised $4 million from heavy-weight investors including Naval Ravikant, SV Angel and Placeholder, and the Digital Dollar Project is making its case for updating the U.S. dollar with its first white paper. Here’s the story:
You’re readingBlockchain Bites, the daily roundup of the most pivotal stories in blockchain and crypto news, and why they’re significant. You can subscribe to this and all of CoinDesk’snewsletters here.
Big TechU.S. President Donald Trumpsigned an executive order Thursday targeting Twitterand other social media platforms after Twitter fact-checked two of the President’s tweets, which seeks to amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Lawyers and technologists think the order is likely to fail, though it could have positive effects for the emerging decentralized web. Meanwhile, Twetch’s Twitter accountwas suspended Thursday without warning,according to Twetch co-founder Josh Petty, and has since been reinstated without a follower count. Twetch offers alternative microblogging platform and actively markets itself against the San Francisco firm run by bitcoin enthusiast Jack Dorsey.
Digital IdentitiesMagicraised a $4 million seed roundfrom investors including Naval Ravikant, SV Angel, Placeholder, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Volt Capital to build a decentralized online identity and log-in service. Nuggets, a digital identity and payments platform, has developed a way toaccept deliveries without needing a physical signature, using biom
Regulatory MattersTheDigital Dollar Project is proposing a framework for the creation of a U.S. central bank digital currency(CBDC). The group published its first white paper detailing how a digital dollar could help the U.S. maintain the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency.Around a dozen companies have a Gibraltar distributed ledger technology license,though the process is difficult, ZUBR, a crypto exchange, said. ZUBR’s approval is conditioned on addressing some of the regulator’s feedback by the time it gets its license. Meanwhile, Gibraltar Stock Exchange (GSX) Group’s digital securities platformhas tokenized the shares of a clientfor the first time.
Open FinanceUsers of the Compound lending platform will beginearning COMP tokensin mid-June, pending the public review of the decentralized finance firm’s distribution plan. Roughly 42% of the total supply of the governance COMP tokens will move into a reservoir pool and begin daily distributions to users of the protocol for the next four years. Coinbase Pro is adding support for MakerDAO’s native MKR (Decrypt) and expanding itsTezos staking serviceto the U.K., Spain, France and the Netherlands.
Related:Blockchain Bites: Magic’s Raise, Compound’s Distribution and Trump’s Twitter War
Crime Doesn’t PayBitClave, a California startup whose Ethereum-based search engineraised $25.5 million in a 2017 token sale, will pay back its 9,500 investorsin a settlement with the SEC. A New York City man has been indicted for allegedly stealing and selling reams of payment card data, theproceeds of which he laundered in bitcoin.
Funded Through CryptoTelegram messenger founder and CEOPavel Durov reportedly donated about 10 bitcoin,approximately $90,000, to help alleviate the financial burden of the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia. A new series about blockchain project Dragonchain ispremiering on Discovery, and it’s been fully financed with $1 million in crypto.Production house Vision Tree Media said Friday that its new “Open Source Money” documentary series, which will track crypto project Dragonchain, would debut on Discovery Science, a U.S. TV channel run by Discovery Inc., who also owns the Discovery Channel.
How Contact Tracing Can Be Effective While Guarding PrivacyVipin Bharathan, chair of the Hyperledger Identity Working Group,looks to decentralized technology as a solution for contact tracing’s divisive debatebetween public safety and privacy. “To preserve the privacy of users and to be useful at the same time is a challenge. Privacy is enhanced by decentralization, by key schedule design and minimal collection of data,” he said.
What Goldman Gets Wrong About Bitcoin (From Someone Who Used to Work There)Jill Carlson, a CoinDesk columnis and co-founder of the Open Money Initiative,examines all the ways Goldman Sachs abandons reasonwhen denouncing bitcoin as a suitable investment. “It’s not worth detailing every misconception or failed bit of logic in the report. But a few are worth mentioning. Goldman’s argument that cryptocurrencies are not a scarce resource due to the ability to fork into “nearly identical clones” represents a shocking failure of research into the immense technical and cultural differentiations between the three examples that they offer (bitcoin, bitcoin cash and bitcoin sv),” she said.
Consolidating GainsBitcoin’s bulls are taking a breather amid jitters in the traditional markets overrising tensions between the U.S. and China.The world’s biggest cryptocurrency is trading near $9,400 at press time, having posted an eight-day high of $9,620 on Thursday. Prices have gained 8% so far this week. While bitcoin looks to be consolidating on recent gains, major European stock markets are flashing red for the first time this week. Leading the way lower is Germany’s DAX, down 1.5% on the day, followed by France’s CAC, which is reporting a 1% decline. Across the pond, futures tied to Wall Street’s equity index S&P 500 are down 0.5%.
Exchange ExodusThetotal number of bitcoins held in cryptocurrency exchanges wallets dropped to an 18-month lowjust above 2.3 million on Monday. The decline marks an 11% year-to-date reduction in the number of bitcoins held by exchanges. “People are accumulating aggressively, and the market participants seem to have a higher time preference these days,” said Avi Felman, head of trading at BlockTower Capital.
Crypto vs COVID Charity Poker TournamentHold ‘Em for a causeon May 31, when crypto figureheads come together to play poker for charity. Buy in with fiat or crypto for a chance to play against Ryan Selkis, Brock Pierce, Hailey Lennon, Ran NeuNer, Charlie Lee and more for a chance to win 2 bitcoin.
Ante upat least one hour before first bet.
Too-Strong Dollar?Brent Johnson has argued the big economic issue of our time isn’t inflation of the U.S. dollar due to excess money printing, but thehavoc caused by a global system where the dollar keeps getting strongerand sucks up liquidity from the rest of the world. He joins The Breakdown to discuss the dollar’s role in a post-COVID world.
The Breakdown: Money ReimaginedAs clarity emerges amid the COVID-19 crisis, what have we learned about the battle for the future of money? Does the dollar reign supreme, are the euro or China’s digital yuan gaining ground, or does an alternative like bitcoin stand a chance?
The fourth and final episode ofThe Breakdown: Money Reimaginedposes the big questions this podcast microseries has explored with speakers and panelists from Consensus: Distributed, CoinDesk’s virtual summit held May 11-15.
These voices include former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, the Winklevoss brothers, former CFTC Chair Christopher Giancarlo, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, YouTube influencer and beauty mogul Michelle Fan, The Chainsmokers, esteemed economist Calota Perez and more.Subscribe here.
• First Mover: Bitcoin Rally Shows Traders Don’t Care That Goldman Hates Their Asset Class
• Blockchain Bites: BlockTower’s Returns, Minecraft Goes Blockchain, ID2020 Shakeup || Bootstrapping Mobile Mesh Networks With Bitcoin Lightning: The best Sundays are for long reads and deep conversations. Recently the hosts of theLet’s Talk Bitcoin! Showwere joined by Richard Myers to discuss the current state of mesh networks and how Bitcoin’s Lightning may be the missing ingredient to their success.
Listen/subscribe to the CoinDesk Podcast feed for unique perspectives and fresh daily insight withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,IHeartRadioorRSS.
The episode is sponsored byeToro.comandThe Internet of Money Vol. 3
On today’s episode of Let’s Talk Bitcoin! you’re invited to join Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Adam B. Levine, Stephanie Murphy and special guest Richard Myers for an in-depth look at the past, present and future of Mobile Mesh Networking technology and the open source LOT49 protocol built on top of Bitcoin’s Lightning Network.
Just as cryptocurrencies like bitcoin don’t rely on static infrastructure and professional providers, mobile mesh networking allows the creation of inexpensive, high range, low-bandwidth and low-power networks that’ll let your phone send text messages or even bitcoin micro-transactions, even in areas with no coverage.
According to Myers, Bitcoin’s Lightning Network is what’s needed to make mobile mesh networks catch on by bootstrapping on top of the payment routing infrastructure.
“The Lightning Network currently sends payments from A to B to C and then all those intermediate nodes can collect a small fee if the payment is delivered at the end. All we’re doing is saying ‘Not only [can you send] a payment, but [you can send] a small message.’ In our case, it’d be a SMS message. So you’re sending an SMS message along with a Lightning payment from A to B to C to D, and when D receives that message they return proof that it was delivered and that’s what flows back through the network. In the Lightning sense, that’s your pre-image. It’s computed from the message, that’s how the nodes are able to collect payment even if they lose touch with the original person who sent it.”
Related:Bootstrapping Mobile Mesh Networks With Bitcoin Lightning
See also:Grasping Lightning: Mapping the Key Players in Bitcoin’s Next Phase
But the way the Lightning Network uses data natively isn’t ideal for mobile mesh. The open sourceLot49 protocolis another layer on top of Lightning that Myers says is necessary to make it work at scale while using mesh devices as an extremely low-bandwidth TOR-like privacy layer.
“In many ways we’re not making a new protocol, we’re literally using Lightning.Lot49is ca ustom communication protocol that’s optimized for mesh. For example, right now there’s a 1300-byte onion that’s used to route messages over the internet and that’s very important because you lose a lot of privacy … you lose all your privacy … if you were to just send messages over the internet without onion routing.
We’re sending over more or less a physical TOR network since it’s going from node to node, not through a central ISP who can associate who you’re trying to pay. We’re also doing it over a low bandwidth network, so if you were sending 1300 bytes it may not sound like much in the age of the internet but we’re talking about devices that [have a maximum data transmission capacity of] about a kilobyte a minute so that’s a significant amount of the bandwidth that you have [tied up just in the web’s onion routing]
So, for example with LOT49, we take out the onion and we use the native routing at the mesh device [level] which is optimized for mesh communications. And there are a few other little changes we make like that in order to reduce the bandwidth by chunking up messages. … The ultimate goal is to minimize the Lightning protocol overhead so that there is more bandwidth available for data … for things like sending an SMS and as bandwidth increases there may be things like internet protocol.”
Credits
This episode of Let’s Talk Bitcoin features Stephanie Murphy, Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Adam B. Levine and Richard Myers. Music provided by Jared Rubens and Gurty Beats, with editing by Jonas.
• JPMorgan Analysts: Bitcoin Is Likely to Survive (as a Speculative Asset)
• The Chad Index Versus Doomer Internet Money: The Breakdown Weekly Recap || BREAKING: BitMEX trading engine goes offline: Bitcoin derivatives exchange BitMEX has gone offline for unscheduled maintenance after the trading engine suffered a major outage. A statement on the exchange reads: The Trading Engine is currently offline. Were working to bring it back online as soon as possible. Further updates to follow shortly. BitMEX has not been offline since the coronavirus-induced crash on March 13 , which saw trading halted following a cascade of liquidated long positions. The CEO of rival exchange FTX recently suggested that the timing of the outage likely prevented the price of Bitcoin from tumbling further, with the price bouncing as soon as it came back online. This time around spectators are unsure at the potential impact BitMEX going down will have on price action, but as it is one of the largest in terms of trade volume and open positions volatility is expected. The BitMEX Trading Engine is currently down. Were working to bring it back online as soon as possible. Further updates to follow shortly. For official updates please follow https://t.co/fVa1FA9hNo BitMEX (@BitMEXdotcom) May 19, 2020 Price has already begun to tumble on other exchanges like Bitfinex, with Bitcoin falling from its daily high of $9,880 to where it is not at $9,606. If the price of Bitcoin begins to fall further on other exchanges before BitMEX comes back online it would trigger a spurt in liquidations when it goes back live. This would, undeniably, cause Bitcoin to drop even further with a test of the $8,830 level of support looking likely. During the previous outage more than $665 million in long positions were liquidated , making it one of the most severe days in the history of Bitcoin. For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . Disclaimer: This is not financial advice. || Hello Pal Announces Record Results in April 2020: Registered users of over 5 million from over 200 countries or regions
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 21, 2020) -Hello Pal International Inc.(CSE: HP) (FSE: 27H) (OTC Pink: HLLPF) ("Hello Pal" or the "Company"), a provider of rapidly growing international social messaging, language learning and travel mobile apps, is pleased to announce that it achieved record receipts in April 2020 as set forth below:
Livestreaming Service
Hello Pal's livestreaming service achieved record receipts of approximately $640,000*, being an increase of 42.8% above the receipts received in March 2020. The livestreaming service continues to be active with over 10,000 daily active users.
Hello Pal has experienced robust grown in five months with receipts increasing from $100,000*, in November 2019, to the above mentioned $640,000*, in April 2020. This shows that Hello Pal has successfully monetized its user base without any unwanted advertising or marketing.
Strong Registered User Base
As of the date of the news release, Hello Pal's registered user base is over 5 million users from over 200 countries and regions. The positive increase in registered users continues to be driven by our livestream service.
------
To download Hello Pal, Language Pal, Travel Pal or the proprietary Phrasebooks please visit the IOS or Android store. For information with respect to the Company or the contents of this news release, please contact the Company at (604) 683-0911 or visit the website athellopal.com. Email inquiries can be directed to:[email protected].
About the Hello Pal Platform
The Hello Pal Platform is a proprietary suite of mobile applications built on a user-friendly messaging interface that focus on social interaction, language learning and travel. Hello Pal, has been designed from the ground up to be easy to use and enables users' the freedom to speak in their own language regardless of the other person's language they are speaking to. Hello Pal's overriding mission is to bring the world closer together through social interaction, language learning and travel. By creating a platform where it is easy to instantly interact with others around the world and giving them the tools to communicate with each other in a joyful and fun way, we hope to do our part (however small) in fostering understanding and tolerance between all citizens of the world.
The Hello Pal platform also includes a proprietary digital wallet allowing users to store and transfer popular digital assets and tokens, including Bitcoin and Ether, based on blockchain technology.
Hello Pal, was the first app released to the public and experienced rapid growth building a diverse and active global user base. Travel Pal and Language Pal are the first and second companion apps to launch. Both apps benefit immensely from the existing and ever expanding globally based group of users. Each new app will launch with this established rapidly growing user base accelerating their adoption.
Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions, and expectations; they are not guarantees of future performance. Hello Pal cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond Hello Pal's control. Such risks and uncertainties are described in Hello Pal's Listing Statement dated May 10, 2016 available on www.thecse.com. Although Hello Pal is currently generating revenues, Hello Pal remains in the growth stage and such revenues are yet to be profitable. Accordingly, actual, and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions, and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Hello Pal undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.
*Non-IFRS Financial Measure
Readers are cautioned that "receipts" is a measure not recognized under IFRS. Total receipts includes the amount of cash received by the Company and its agents from the use of the Hello Pal app. Under IFRS, total receipts may be higher than revenue as a portion of the revenue is received by agents of Hello Pal. However, the Company's management believes that "receipts" provides investors with insight into management's decision-making process because management uses this measure to run the business and make financial, strategic and operating decisions. Further, "receipts" also provides useful insight into the operating performance of the Hello Pal app. "Receipts" does not have standardized meanings prescribed by IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Readers are cautioned that "receipts" are not an alternative to measures determined in accordance with IFRS and should not, on their own, be construed as indicators of performance, cash flow or profitability.
THE CSE HAS NEITHER APPROVED NOR DISAPPROVED THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE
To view the source version of this press release, please visithttps://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/56244 || Binance Launching Crypto Exchange in the UK: Binance wants its new U.K. exchange platform to become a one-stop shop for British and European institutions and retail clients interested in investing in the digital asset class. Per a report by Reuters on Wednesday, the firm said its new U.K. crypto exchange would offer a local fiat on-ramp into crypto, in pound sterling and euros. Like its other fiat-to-crypto platforms such as Binance Uganda , Binance Singapore , and Binance US , the new U.K. platform will launch with approximately 65 digital assets listed. But Binance U.K., which Reuters says will be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the U.K.s chief financial watchdog, will target a more traditional crowd. Binance U.K.s new director, Teana Baker-Taylor, who joined the exchange group just last month, had previously worked as HSBCs global strategy head. As part of her role Baker-Taylor is responsible for spearheading the exchanges expansion across Europe. Binance U.K. will also serve European customers, a spokesperson told CoinDesk. The platform caters to both the U.K. and European markets. The new U.K. platform is expected to launch sometime this summer. See also: Number of Institutions Buying Crypto Futures Doubled in 2020: Fidelity Report Like other crypto exchanges, Binance has experienced rising interest from institutional investors. The exchange told Decrypt in May, for instance, the number of new institutional clients on-boarded in Q1 2020 was nearly 50% higher than in the preceding quarter. Related: Binance Launching Crypto Exchange in the UK As crypto services mature and evolve, were able to create new options to engage and capture interest from a wider audience with varying risk appetites, such as products that earn a yield for participation, like staking and passive savings, Baker-Taylor told Reuters. Binance U.K. is under the FCAs supervision as a cryptoasset exchange provider. A spokesperson said the platform will only do spot trades. Story continues Binance has been operating a similar trading platform on the Channel island of Jersey, a British dependency, since January 2019. Like the U.K. platform, it allows users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies against the pound and the euro. The spokesperson told CoinDesk the Jersey platform will continue to operate independently of Binance U.K. Update (June 17, 12:50 UTC): This article has been updated with additional information from Binance on how its new U.K. entity would be regulated by the FCA. Related Stories What the Stock Markets Robinhood Rally Means for Bitcoin Number of Institutions Buying Crypto Futures Doubled in 2020: Fidelity Report || Cryptocurrency experts predict bullish impact of Bitcoin halving: The largest event in the cryptocurrency calendar is almost upon us, with the Bitcoin block reward halving being just one week away, here is what the experts have to say about its perceived impact on price action. According to Simon Peters, analyst at investment platform eToro, the halving could not only see the price of bitcoin rise, as it has done following previous halvings, but it could also result in a whole new brand of crypto investors. Peters explains: “During and after the first halving in 2012, the key investors were those already involved in the asset class. The bitcoin investor base was almost exclusively made up of those in the know; blockchain scientists and data programmers as well as libertarians interested in the idea of a monetary system outside of political influence and central bank control.” He then concludes that the halving will cause an increase in retail investors leaping into the world of Bitcoin as mainstream media will begin to focus on its potentially surging price, as it did in 2017. The CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Luno is also bullish, insisting that volatility will return to the market tomorrow as much of Asia is off today. Luno’s CEO Marcus Swanepoel said: “We ended last week on a bullish note with Bitcoin pushing above $9,000 only for the price to drop over the weekend. However, this morning we have seen BTC again push above $9,000. “This second move higher in a short period of time is positive and could be the first indication that we have now started the run into the halving. Parts of Asia are again off today, but when they return tomorrow we will be just a week away from the halving so can expect to see an increase in volatility.” But as previously stated in Coin Rivet’s daily technical analysis, a bullish breakout is far from certain as it still needs to trade above $9,600 to take out the diagonal trendline dating back to December 2017. It’s also worth noting that price fell by more than 30% following the previous Bitcoin halving in 2016 before beginning to rally months later, so the effects of this year’s halving may not be as immediate as many suggest. Story continues BlockFi co-founder and CEO, Zac Prince, believes the halving is “perfectly timed” as a result of macroeconomics having shifted as a result of the coronavirus. “Bitcoin has already bounced back from its losses stemming to pandemic market reaction.” He said. “It’s increasingly being seen as a safe haven investment to diversify portfolios and as more people see the value, on top of ongoing peripheral retail pressure, we believe we will see the price rise steadily, and at times rapidly, over the next few years.” To keep up-to-date with coverage on the upcoming Bitcoin halving, click here .
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: no change || Prices: 9228.33, 9123.41, 9087.30, 9132.49, 9073.94, 9375.47, 9252.28, 9428.33, 9277.97, 9278.81
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Better Buy: MercadoLibre (MELI) vs. Facebook (FB): Facebook 's world domination -- outside of possibly only China -- is unquestioned. The combination of its namesake service -- plus Instagram and WhatsApp -- make for a social media company the likes of which can't be matched. But it has run into troubles. And if you're considering investing in international growth, there are other companies to consider. Like, for instance, Latin America's e-commerce leader, MercadoLibre . Global image of South America with yellow lines representing flight paths Image source: Getty Images Between these two, which is the better stock to buy? We can't answer that question with total certainty. But we can compare the two on three crucial criteria to see which we're more comfortable putting our money behind. Financial fortitude As the past few months have shown, the stock market won't always go up in a straight line. And anyone who was investing a decade ago knows the economy can come to a grinding halt at any time. What we want to know is whether or not a company will be hurt -- or helped -- when those times come. We learn that by evaluating their financial fortitude. Keeping in mind that Facebook is valued at nearly 30 times the size of MercadoLibre, here's how they stack up: Company Cash Debt Free Cash Flow MercadoLibre (NASDAQ: MELI) $1.1 billion $555 million $130 million Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) $41.2 billion $0 $17.5 billion Data source: Yahoo! Finance. Cash includes long- and short-term investments. Free cash flow presented on trailing-12-month basis. It's crystal clear that Facebook is in better position to benefit from economic shocks. While the stock may decline with the rest of the market, the company could use its war chest to -- for example -- buy back shares at a significant discount. MercadoLibre, on the other hand, would be hard-pressed to continue pursuing market share. It would instead need to cut back on spending to shore up its free cash flow and meet debt obligations. Winner: Facebook Valuation Next, we have valuation. There's no single metric that can tell us which stock is cheaper, so I like to consult a number of different ones to build out a fuller picture. Story continues Company P/E Ratio P/FCF Ratio P/S Ratio PEG Ratio MercadoLibre N/A 108 9.0 N/A Facebook 22 23 8.0 1.1 Data sources: Yahoo! Finance and E*Trade. P/E presented using non-GAAP earning when applicable. N/A = Not applicable due to negative earnings. Here, again, Facebook comes out ahead. On one hand, this is a very tough comparison. MercadoLibre is spending lots of money right now to build out its fulfillment network. That's a great long-term move in fending off encroachment from Walmart and Amazon , but it also means that the stock's ratios are sky-high. Facebook, on the other hand, is trading for very cheap prices. Some of that is expected after the stock's five-year run-up -- and its fair share of bad news regarding data breaches. But earnings are expected to grow at nearly 20% between 2019 and 2021, making today's prices appear more than fair. Winner: Facebook Sustainable competitive advantages Finally, we have what I consider the most important area to investigate -- the width of a company's moat , or its sustainable competitive advantages. Facebook's moat is a textbook case of the network effect . No one would want to use a social network if their friends weren't on it. With each new user, nonusers are incentivized to join -- which makes it even more appealing to other nonusers. Therefore, it's tough for the competition to put a dent in Facebook...or Instagram...or WhatsApp. Last quarter, Facebook announced that 2.6 billion people -- or one-third of all humans -- use one of Facebook's properties on a monthly basis. MercadoLibre has lots of moving parts to its moat. It also benefits from the network effect, as more people visiting the platform to buy stuff means more merchants listing their wares on MercadoLibre. And that virtuous cycle is still in action: Registered users grew 24% last quarter to 249 million. But that's not all: MercadoPago -- the company's PayPal -esque offering that's helping many of the region's unbanked consumers get access to digital payments -- has exploded in popularity. Payment transactions jumped 67% last quarter. And, as mentioned above, MercadoLibre is spending hand over fist to build out its fulfillment capabilities and offer subsidized shipping to customers. The initiative is dubbed MercadoEnvios. Right now, such an investment is the right move, as it will lower the internal costs for such deliveries relative to the competition. But it's still early -- it's tough to tell how hard Walmart and/or Amazon will go after these markets. They have both have deeper pockets, and could neutralize this advantage if they wanted to. Given those dynamics, I'm calling this a draw. Winner: Tie And my winner is... So there you have it: While I actually think MercadoLibre has the potential to have the stronger long-term moat, Facebook's network effect is formidable, and both its balance sheet and valuation are superior. But don't be steered away from MercadoLibre, either. In reality, I own shares of both companies -- combined, the make up 12% of my real-life holdings. They both deserve your attention, but right now, Facebook appears to be the better buy. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Brian Stoffel owns shares of AMZN, Facebook, and MercadoLibre. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends AMZN, Facebook, MercadoLibre, and PYPL. The Motley Fool has the following options: short January 2019 $82 calls on PYPL. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Bitcoin Rises 4.65% as Crypto Market Creeps Toward Breakout: bitcoin price The bitcoin price on Wednesday jumped as high as 4.65 percent from its opening price and established an intraday high at $3,488. The BTC/USD rate is now trading at 3440-fiat on the Coinbase exchange, coupled with a notable rise in daily volatility. The pair on December 7 established its yearly low at 3210-fiat, after which it consolidated within a circa $300 range. It established a top near 3650-fiat only to find itself pulled back strong bearish presence near the level. Historically, BTC/USD now is looking to retest the same top, providing it punctures through some parameters to its upside. That said, according to the Coinbase chart above, the BTC/USD rate is already trending inside a falling wedge pattern, as also discussed in some of our previous analysis. As the pair breaks above the upper trendline, it would likely set its near-term upside targets towards the 200-period moving average depicted in red, while testing 3650-fiat as an intermediate resistance level. The technicalities attached with a falling wedge formation expects a breakout formation. So is bitcoin, after months of depressive price action, finally preparing for a breakout ? Then again, the bitcoin price has failed to post a convincing upside action lately, and one shouldnt be surprised if BTC/USD reverses towards the south. We expect the bears to take over once the pair breaks below its 50-period moving average curve depicted in blue. At worst, BTC/USD would form a double bottom at 3210-fiat followed by another breakdown session towards a bottomless pit or the lower trendline of the prevailing falling wedge formation. On a daily chart, the RSI momentum indicator is still struggling to come out of its selling sentiment area, confirming the BTC/USD pair is far from establishing a full-fledged breakout. The Stochastic Oscillator, at the same time, is also inside an oversold territory. The general scenario proves that bitcoin has a long way to go before bottoming out in reality. Spot investors are visibly scared to enter the market, and they are likely to remain the same unless BTC/USD establishes a concrete support. Story continues For now, lets wait for BTC/USD to undergo an interim breakout action, which should open decent long opportunities toward 3590-fiat as a potential interim upside target. Traders are recommended to keep their stop loss 1-pip below the entry position to maintain their risk management strategy. Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts from TradingView . The post Bitcoin Rises 4.65% as Crypto Market Creeps Toward Breakout appeared first on CCN . || Dow, S&P 500 Eye Further Gains after Wild Week on Wall Street: Following a wild week on Wall Street, the US stock market looks poised to extend its latter-week recovery following the opening bell on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq futures indices all pointing north as of the time of writing. Dow Seeks to Extend Recovery Dow futures had risen 111 points to 23,264, or 0.48 percent at the time of writing, followed closely behind by S&P 500 futures with implied gains of 0.43 percent. Nasdaq futures were up about 0.22 percent. dow jones S&P 500 Those movements would prolong a recovery begun earlier in the week when the Dow rose 1,086 points in its largest-ever single-day rally. On Thursday, futures portended a sell-off, but the market assembled an impressive charge to close the day firmly in positive territory. However, lost in all this renewed optimism is the fact that stocks are still on track for their worst December since the Great Depression , with the Dow down 9.4 percent for the month and the S&P 500 faring even worse following its 9.8 percent haircut. And while some analysts are crossing their fingers for a first-quarter bounce, others remain bearish on the economy’s fundamentals, noting that trading volume is depressed due to the holiday season. “The U.S. economic data is not great and there is no reason to believe it will improve,” said Jan Dehn, head of research at Ashmore Group, in remarks cited in the Wall Street Journal . “I expect U.S. stocks to have a tough time in 2019 and this sudden bounce on low volume is a great opportunity to offload in case you missed it earlier [.]” The Death of an American Icon Meanwhile, reports indicate that iconic American retailer Sears may be down to its final 24 hours. The 125-year-old firm, whose once-ubiquitous catalog made it the “Amazon of the 1930s,” is expected to liquidate unless Sears Chairman Eddie Lampert — through his hedge fund, ESL Investments — can secure financing to submit a $4.6 billion offer to purchase the company outright. Even then, Lampert and ESL would need to successfully bid against liquidators in a Jan. 14 auction if they hope to keep Sears’ remaining business operations intact. Story continues sears share price stock For investors, the downfall of Sears and other 20th-century titans like General Electric is a stark reminder that no company or asset, no matter how entrenched, is immune to market forces and technological disruption. Indeed, that entrenchment can tempt firms to rest on their laurels rather than continue the sort of innovation that made them household names in the first place. Bitcoin, Crypto Market Resume Slide Heading into 2019 bitcoin price This reality should provide solace to crypto believers, some of whom may have been tempted to question whether bitcoin has a future following this year’s 80 percent peak-to-trough decline and the crypto market’s subsequent inability to mount a sustained recovery amid waning retail interest. Unfortunately, bitcoin’s pre-Christmas rally has already begun to fizzle out ahead of today’s bitcoin futures expiration on CME, and Mark Dow — who shorted the flagship cryptocurrency all the way down from its all-time high — is warning that BTC/USD is approaching a level that should send even the most ardent believers heading for the hills. However, veteran crypto investors have seen this movie before. So while 2018 wasn’t exactly the banner year that many bulls predicted it would be, hodlers with a longer time horizon have much to be optimistic about, both in terms of technological development and mainstream cryptocurrency adoption on Wall Street. Featured Image from Shutterstock. Price Charts from TradingView . The post Dow, S&P 500 Eye Further Gains after Wild Week on Wall Street appeared first on CCN . || Bitcoin Surges 8% Overnight in Corrective Rally, Potential Full Reversal?: Theprice of Bitcoin (BTC)has increased by more than eight percent in the past 24 hours, as the dominant cryptocurrency recovered to $4,000.
On fiat-to-crypto exchanges like Coinbase and Bitstamp, Bitcoin is yet to surpass $4,000 mark but on crypto-to-crypto trading platforms, the price of BTC hovers at around $4,100.
Fueled by the corrective rally of BTC, major cryptocurrencies in the likes ofRipple (XRP)andEthereum (ETH)recorded gains in the range of six to nine percent, with Ethereum rebounding to $115.
The cryptocurrency market has added $11 billion to its valuation and tokens such as VeChain (VET), 0x (ZRX), and Zilliqa (ZIL) have recorded gains of around 15 to 20 percent.
On November 27, prior to the eight percent increase in the price of BTC, Crypto Rand, a prominent cryptocurrency trader, stated that depending on the daily close of Bitcoin, the asset could experience a short-term trend reversal.
“Keeping an eye on the daily close of Bitcoin. Looking to print a bullish hammer that could lead the reversal,” the analyst said at the time.
Since then, the price of Bitcoin along with its volume have increased substantially, bringing up the daily volume of the rest of the market from around $12 billion to $18 billion.
As Bitcoin ended the day with a positive short-term movement and a corrective rally, the analystadded:
“Bitcoin daily bullish hammer in play. First reversal signal on weeks.”
On Tuesday, Don Alt, a cryptocurrency technical analyst, echoed a similar sentiment, stating that BTC is in a prime position to engage in a short-term positive movement.
“Constant bouncing on a strong demand zone. If it fails I expect a very violent move down. If it holds we’ll most likely stair step up. I’m scalping the small TF’s based on this. Should breakout soon otherwise the bulls are in trouble.”
Currently, Bitcoin faces a major resistance level in the range of $4,100 to $4,200. A breakout of the $4,150 mark could signal a full trend reversal for BTC after weeks of a downward movement. But, based on the time frame and the past performance of the asset in the last two weeks, a sudden breakout of large resistance levels remains a challenge for BTC.
The majority of small market cap tokens in the market demonstrated fairly large gains against the U.S. dollar as the price of BTC demonstrated some momentum.
But, tokens are down on average 30 to 50 percent against BTC and during a period in which theU.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)is accelerating its investigation into dozens of initial coin offering (ICO) projects that are generally considered to be securities, tokens present an extremely high-risk, low-reward opportunity.
Several tokens, including Zilliqa, that are anticipating the completion of major network upgrades and improvements in the upcoming weeks have increased in value against most large-scale cryptocurrencies.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The postBitcoin Surges 8% Overnight in Corrective Rally, Potential Full Reversal?appeared first onCCN. || Breakout Ahead? Bitcoin Closes on Key Price Hurdle: Bitcoin’s (BTC) bears would be put on the back foot if prices climb past key resistance lined up at $4,140.
The leading cryptocurrencyjumpedto a two-week high of $4,090 earlier today,as expected, ending a weeklong period of low volume consolidation near $3,800.
Notably, the break above $4,000 has added further credence to the short-term bearish-to-bullish trend changesignaled bythe three-day chart on Dec. 20.
The Coming Bifurcation of Bitcoin
The job, however, is only half done for bulls, as prices are yet to take out the resistance at $4,140 â the neckline of the inverse head-and-shoulders bullish reversal pattern. A convincing break above that level would put the bulls back into the driver’s seat.
That said, a longer-term bullish reversal would be confirmed only above theformer support-turned-resistance of the 21-month exponential moving average (EMA) of $5,567.
As of writing, BTC is changing hands at $4,000 on Bitstamp, representing a 5 percent gain on a 24-hour basis.
As seen above, BTC has charted an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern, which represents a transition from the bear market to the bull market â a low followed by recovery (left shoulder), a bearish-lower low and recovery (head), and finally a bullish-higher low and recovery (right shoulder).
Back Above $4K: Bitcoin’s Price Hits a Two-Week High
A breakout from an inverse head-and-shoulders usually yields a powerful move to the upside. BTC, therefore, could rise well above $5,000 (target as per the measured move method) if the neckline resistance, currently seen at $4,140, is crossed on the back of high trading volumes.
Further, the cryptocurrency hasfound acceptanceabove the 50-day moving average (MA) hurdle, while the 5- and 10-day MAs are trending north, indicating a bullish setup. The 14-day relative strength index (RSI) is also biased toward the bulls.
Hence, prospects of a bull breakout above $4,140 appear high.
On the monthly chart, the outlook remains bearish while BTC is trading below the 21-month EMA of $5,567. Interestingly, the trendline connecting the December 2017 and November 2017 highs is also located near the 21-month EMA.
Forcing a long-run breakout, therefore, is going to be an uphill task for the bulls â more so, as both the 5- and 10-month EMAs are still trending south, indicating a bearish setup. As a result, these averages â currently are located at $4,791 and $5,651, respectively â could work as stiff resistance levels.
• An inverse head-and-shoulders breakout, if confirmed, would signal a major bullish reversal and could yield a quick move to the psychological hurdle of $5,000.
• A break above the 21-month EMA of $5,567 could see in a long-run bullish breakout.
• Failure to take out the neckline resistance of $4,140, if followed by a break below $3,566 (low of the right shoulder), will likely embolden the bears and allow re-test of the recent low of $3,122.
Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing.
BitcoinÂimage via Shutterstock;Âcharts byÂTrading View
• Bitcoin Payments Aren’t Dead, They’ve Just Gone Niche
• $4K Ahead? Bitcoin’s Low-Volume Price Pullback Could Be a Bear Trap || Bitcoin Price Recovers 12% in 72 Hours While Traders Remain Cautious in Short-Term: Since December 8, theBitcoin pricehas increased from $3,210 to $3,588, by just about 12 percent against the U.S. dollar.
In the same time frame, the cryptocurrency market added $11 billion to its valuation, avoiding a further drop below the $100 billion mark, which could have been critical for the short-term trend of the market.
Most major cryptocurrencies includingEthereum (ETH)andBitcoin Cash (BCH)have been able to rebound from low double digits, as technical indicators started to demonstrate extremely oversold conditions.
But, traders and technical analysts remain cautious towards the short-term price trend of cryptocurrencies until major resistance levels are broken.
Since early December, the value of Bitcoin has continuously fallen from the mid-$4,000 region, struggling to maintain its momentum and show any sign of stability.
According to DonAlt, a prominent cryptocurrency technical analyst, until Bitcoin breaks out of the $3,700 resistance level, it will remain in a tight range between $3,300 to $3,600, unable to engage in a major price movement.
The analystsaid:
“Another good day for BTC. That said it’s still nowhere close to turning bullish on the higher time frames. While the low timeframes look decent, BTC hasn’t even reclaimed the previous trading range. Until it does, no swing long trades.”
As Alex Krüger, an economist and a cryptocurrency trader, recently emphasized, BTC is in a significantly better position to enter an accumulation phase and a consolidation period because it has been able to minimize its loss during several steep market sell-offs.
When compared to both Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin has kept its value fairly well given the intensity of the market crash throughout the past two months.
ETH and BCH have recorded 93 percent and 95 percent losses respectively against the U.S. dollar, and BTC would have to drop another 72 percent from the current price range to experience a similar drop as the two digital assets.
“Performance from all-time-highs to date, for the main cryptoassets: BTC -82%, XRP -86%, ETH -93%, BCH -95% (using Bitfinex’s data). These may all look equally bad. It is not so. The difference between -82% and -95% is a further 72% drop,” Krügerexplained.
Several analysts have reaffirmed that as long as the dominant cryptocurrency remains below $3,700 and struggles to demonstrate a major breakout, the market is at risk of dropping to a new yearly low.
Historically, the cryptocurrency market has taken around 67 weeks on average to recover from a large correction and achieve a new all-time high.
While positive developments like theNasdaq,Bakkt, andNYSEfutures markets are around the corner and are expected to launch in the first quarter of 2019, it could easily take until the second quarter of next year for the cryptocurrency market to begin its recovery.
A proper bottom has not been established by BTC and other major cryptocurrencies, as well as small market cap ERC20 tokens, have not shown any signs of a large corrective rally.
Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts fromTradingView.
The postBitcoin Price Recovers 12% in 72 Hours While Traders Remain Cautious in Short-Termappeared first onCCN. || The Big Short: Former IMF Economist Finally Closes Year-Old Bitcoin Short: A year ago today, Bitcoin peaked at $19,511.
Former International Monetary Fund economist and Pharo Senior Risk TraderMark Dowmade an unpopular bet not long thereafter: Bitcoin would not sustain its growth and the price would slip from there. He entered a short position and rode his intuition all the way to the bank, finally closing the position today. A big part of his intuition was the launch of Bitcoin futures trading.
Dow wrote a sort of guide on shorting Bitcoin around the time he’d opened his position. Not quite a week after the peak, hewrote:
First, bitcoin is volatile. It’s annualized volatility is over 100%, implying daily moves up or down of over 6%. Second, bitcoin exchanges are open 24/7, but bitcoin futures follow regular Globex hours. Third, the exchanges have integrity risk (e.g. Mt Gox) and the futures have 20% collars. These last two factors increase gap/discontinuous pricing risk for those who trade the futures, even though I suspect these factors represent more risk for long positions in bitcoin futures than for short ones.
He told Bloomberg that he’s already taken profits twice this year on the position, but now he has finally decided to close it altogether. He didn’t comment on whether this is because he sees an upswing coming. He said:
I’m done. I don’t want to try to ride this thing to zero. I don’t want to try to squeeze more out of the lemon. I don’t want to think about it. It seemed like the right time.
Dow frequently refers to Bitcoin as “faith-based.” He saidto Bloombergthat the reason for last year’s bubble was largely people “believ[ing] the narrative” and that a failure on the part of many traders to actually understand the underlying technology lead to a “more violent” bubble.
Erstwhile,Mike Novogratzfeels that a gradual demand pressure is building in Bitcoin, telling Bloomberg that there was a “monster correction” which is “over.”
His conviction level remains “high.” He pointed to the dot com bubble, saying that both the Bitcoin bubble and the Dot Com bubble were based on “something real.” He made the point that the Internet has changed the world in many ways.
CCN’sown chart analysisshows that BTC/USD will either break out and head on another bull run soon or careen off the edge, given the Doji pattern presented in recent charts.
Featured image from Shutterstock. Mark Dow photograph from LinkedIn.
The postThe Big Short: Former IMF Economist Finally Closes Year-Old Bitcoin Shortappeared first onCCN. || Bitcoin Op-Ed: Welcome Darkness, My Old Friend: For those doubting price could go lower, this month has been rather interesting. More than 90B in marketcap burn. Gone like the wind. A literalbloodbath.
I don’t know if I shouldlaugh or cry. Honestly.
In one hand, great, I can purchase more Bitcoin at cheaper prices. On the other, goddamn it.
Did we seriously need another beating?
Why didn’t the stock markets continue to crash instead? Why couldn’t you guys just leave our dear btc alone?!
2018 has been really ungrateful for hodlers. A few bits of hope here and there; but mostly, horrendous massacres. Just by looking at absolute volumes, one can argue crypto-markets have become uninteresting for most retail investors who joined in late 2017.
Although hashrate has been able to keep more or less steady, we’re now seeing a decline in transaction numbers, which is rather surprising as it’s now cheaper to buy and sell bitcoin, due to lower fees (in fiat).
Public data obtained on Coinpayments.net, which processes transactions for dozens of traditional cryptocurrencies,showedthat it had seen a drop of 50% in the first half of the year.
Now, since we’re already in deep-sh**, why not remember the worst beatings of the year? Since we’re going down, we might as well go down laughing!
Before I embrace darkness, hopefully in a funny way, a word of seriousness. As reported byGreg @ Hacked:
Bitcoin sunk below $4,000 for the first time in the same period, hitting $3,819 on the BTC/USDT market. The market fluctuation did also affect Tether however, so the true U.S dollar figure might be slightly higher. Yet even the BitMEX BTC/USD price fell to a low of $3,686.
If you don’t like to joke about serious stuff, this next bit might not be for you.
Otherwise, please enjoy.
–This article shouldn’t be taken as financial advisement as it represents my personal opinion and views. I have savings invested in cryptocurrency so take whatever I write with a grain of salt. Do not invest what you cannot afford to lose and always read as much as possible about a project before investing. Never forget: with great power, comes great responsibility.Being your own bank means you’re always responsible for your own money—
As a starting point, I’m choosinglate December 2017. Don’t start complaining just yet, my logic does make sense as the first real big drop in price happened during December, last year.
The first bearish signal happened between 17th December – 22nd December, right before Christmas holidays.
128B (in marketcap) evaporated in just a few days. This was one of the worst price drops in the history of Bitcoin.
Still, we did manage to recover. Just to break our legs again: between January 6th and February 6th, btc’s marketcap dropped 190B. It went from about 295B to 105B. An absolute wreckage.
Nobody was expecting such a huge drop within just a month. Bitcoin’s marketcap literally halved during the period comprised between December 2017 and early February 2018.
That manipulation, tho.
If the previous 2 beatings weren’t big enough, players decided tocontinue shorting Bitcoin. So, between March 5th and April 1st (not fooling anyone here), marketcap dropped 87B. Not as bad as the previous drops, but that’s only because there was less selling volume. After the February recover to almost 200B, short-sellers grabbed the bull by the horns and took it down once more, to around 110B.
News at the time were focusing, of course, on blaming CMBC Bitcoin’s futures markets for the price drops, which made absolute sense.
We shouldn’t forget during these peak high and lows there were little to no institutional investors on-board.
I really can’t imagine what’s to come.
Fast forwardone monthand we have anotherBaptista Bombon marketcap. This time, between 6th May and 29th May, Bitcoin’s marketcap went from 169B to 121B. Only 48B lost this time.
Not bad!
Of course, for those of you who bought Bitcoin at a premium value (8K+), desperation started to kick-in. This was the time news started to get darker, and some folk started to contemplate Bitcoin’s price coming down to 5k eventually.
We’re not far away from those bearish predictions now, are we?
During the summerBitcoin’s price also went up and down, burning about 40b in marketcap, between the 25th July and 14th August.
For those enjoying your summer holidays, those were really bad news. It was at this point most of us accepted the harsh reality Bitcoin’s price might not be recovering anytime soon.
Although I don’t think that was the killer blow.
Sentiment was already pretty beaten up, however there were still some lights at the end of the tunnel.
Hope was still alive.
In my mindthe final flowhappened between the 5th September and the 9th of September, when marketcap was at about 127b, and the 9th of September, when marketcap dropped to 107B.
Although the drop was about half what happened the previous time, for most that was the actual fatality move.
A destructive kick in the balls.
It was at this point google trends showed sentiment to be at its lowest levels since early 2017.
One thing some people do not immediately realize is that since January 2018 both price drops volatility and the difference between minimum and maximum levels has stabilized.
This is, if we compare the amounts lost in terms of marketcap by date, this is what we see:
190B -> 87B -> 48B -> 20B -> 12B
I cannot guarantee these drops were calculated precisely, as it’s near impossible to say so; however, it does seem curious we have such a high correlation between the min-max (or average lost) of each period, being the later the half of the previous.
This result gives me confidence to believe we’re getting to a point of real stability and price should be going upwards soon.
My personal bet?
Until the end of Q1 2019, Bitcoin’s price will double.
Let’s see if my analysis performs better than Bitcoin over the last few months. If it doesn’t… well, just buy some more!
Since Bitcoin was released many booms and bursts happened, due to a plurality of reasons. Some of the most epic I would like to mention are:
1. June 2011: The price of the Bitcoin rose from $0.95 in early 2011 and reached a peak of $32 around 8 to 10 June 2011. By the 12 June 2011, however, the coin fell by about 68% in value. A further drop was seen to $2 in November 2011, contributing to a fall of 94%. This was associated with early volatility so the Bitcoin did see more interest from traders despite this crash.
2. January 2012: In the beginning of 2012, the coin further increased in value to $7.20. An unexpected crash then occurred around 16 to 17 January, 2012 when the value fell by 36% to $4.60. While the coin did recover sufficiently to $6.25, it continued to flounder in the market for the next six months. This was a pretty scary proposition for early investors who had seen a high of $32 in the previous year.
3. August 2012: Bitcoin recovered pretty well between July and August 2012 to reach a high of $15.25. This happy trend was soon cut short by a fall around August 18 2012 by 51% to reach $10.50, and then fall further to $7.50 in the same month. The cryptocurrency stayed below the $15 mark for the remainder of that year.
4. April 2013: While the price did increase as far as a whopping $266 in April 2013, it also fell sharply in the same month by about 71% to a value of $67. Experts have since attributed this fall to investor enthusiasm through media coverage as well as a brief outage at the Mt. Gox exchange.
5. November 2013: The price of Bitcoin remained at around $120 for the rest of the year and then surged again in November to reach a peak value of $1,150 towards the end of the month. This was clearly because of the rush of first-time investors who were attracted towards the new cryptocurrency. By about mid December of 2013, another huge meltdown occurred. The coin dropped in value to $500. It remained below $1,000 for the next couple of years.
Despite the terrible news around during these periods, Bitcoin has always managed to recover; each boom and bust is a perfect example to show how resilient cryptocurrencies can be when supported by a solid community.
Whatever you might feel now about Bitcoin always remember: markets work in cycles. If you’re patient enough you’ll be able to participate in both bearish and bullish cycles.
The key thing is to time markets right.
Good trades!
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author and do not represent those of, nor should they be attributed to, CCN.
The postBitcoin Op-Ed: Welcome Darkness, My Old Friendappeared first onCCN. || ASLAN's Varlitinib Fails to Meet Endpoint in Phase II Study: ASLAN Pharmaceuticals LimitedASLN announced that a phase II study, evaluating its pipeline candidate — varlitinib — for the treatment of first-line gastric cancer, failed to meet the primary endpoint of showing significant reductions in tumor size. The study was examining varlitinib plus mFOLFOX6 compared with placebo plus mFOLFOX6 as a first-line therapy for the treatment of HER1/HER2 co-expressing advanced or metastatic gastric cancer.
Data from the study, obtained from an independent central review, proved that patients having received varlitinib + mFOLFOX6 showed an average tumor reduction of 22% compared with the 12.5% decrease for those administered with mFOLFOX6 alone following a 12-week treatment regime. However, this difference did not reach statistical significance.
Notably, the combo of Varlitinib and mFOLFOX6 was well-tolerated in the program. The company also stated that a trend toward an improvement in progression free survival was observed in the study.
Shares of ASLAN have plummeted 51.3% in the past six months, wider than the industry’s decrease of 14.1%.
Varlitinib is an oral, reversible, small molecule pan-HER inhibitor targeting the human epidermal growth factor receptors HER1, HER2 and HER4. Apart from gastric cancer, the candidate is being studied for biliary tract, breast and colorectal cancers.
Varlitinib enjoys an orphan drug designation in the United States for gastric cancer and cholangiocarcinoma, a sub-type of biliary tract cancer (BTC).
We would like to remind investors that earlier this month, ASLAN completed patient enrolment in the global TreeTopp study, analyzing a combination of varlitinib and Roche’s RHHBY Xeloda (capecitabine) as compared to Xeloda plus placebo for second-line biliary tract cancer. Top-line results from the study are expected in the second half of 2019.
Another cancer candidate in ASLAN’s portfolio is ASLAN003, currently being developed as a potential treatment for acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). The company plans to begin a phase II study in the United States during the first half of 2019.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
ASLAN carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present. Better-ranked stocks in the healthcare sector include Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. VNDA and Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. ACOR, both sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can seethe complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Vanda’s earnings estimates have moved 11.1% north for 2019 over the past 90 days. The stock has surged 46.1% in the past six months.
Acorda’s loss per share estimates have been narrowed 1.9% for 2019 in the last 90 days.
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Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research || Bitcoin ‘Nuclear Winter’ Doesn’t Scare Billionaire Crypto Bull Jim Breyer: Billionaire investor and venture capitalist Jim Breyer stated that despite a prolonged crypto “nuclear winter,” he still believes that the promise offered by the technology is too great for it to be permanently buried by short-term market movements.
Speaking at the 2018 Fortune Global Tech Forum in Guangzhou, China, Breyernotedthat while these are testing times for the crypto investment space, such periods take place in cycles and the current cycle will eventually come to an end.
In a session at the event, Breyer — who hasinvestmentsin Ethereum and VeChain, as well as crypto startup Circle — referred to the ongoing market situation as an inevitable part of a market process that takes place roughly once every decade. According to him, despite the turmoil associated with crypto assets,blockchain technologyhas achieved a critical mass of mainstream research and adoption, which makes a future crypto market rebound a near certainty at some point in the future.
CCN recentlyreportedthat the plummeting prices of all major coins had affected cryptocurrency mining severely, creating a situation where it is no longer a profitable activity for many small and large-scale miners. Market leader Bitcoin recently fell to a 13-month low, with the total crypto market currently only worth $140 billion — a fifth of its worth as at January 2018 — at press time.
The carnage has significantly affected several stakeholders within the cryptocurrency ecosystem, from investors to traders and startups, including Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Capital — which recentlydeclareda $41 million loss for Q3 2018, bringing its total losses for the year to $136 million.
Amidst the doom and gloom, however, Breyer says he is unfazed. Drawing on his experience as a venture capitalist — including famously becoming an earlyFacebookinvestor in 2005 — he believes that the crypto market will rebound, driven principally by increasing adoption of blockchain technology. According to him, his many meetings with students, entrepreneurs and technologists all over the world is what convinces him that the downturn will be temporary.
In his words:
“So many of the very best computer scientists and deep learning Ph.D. students and post-docs are working on blockchain because they have so much fundamental interest in what blockchain can mean. You don’t want to bet against the best and brightest in the world.”
Coming from a personality with Breyer’s level of experience and insight into successful investment in artificial intelligence (AI) and human-assisted intelligence (HAI), the pronouncement will come as a minor confidence boost to market participants, as yet another mainstream voice has lent their support to cryptocurrency and blockchain technology following recentcommentsfrom Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne describing blockchain technology as having “greater potential than anything ever seen in history.”
Featured Image from JD Lasica/Flickr
The postBitcoin ‘Nuclear Winter’ Doesn’t Scare Billionaire Crypto Bull Jim Breyerappeared first onCCN.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
The day crypto decouples from fiat they cannot do any of this anymore. This will require relative price stability of e.g. bitcoin, which we are still far from. Hopefully one day it’s a solved problem. || Bakkt may not be able to launch its planned bitcoin futures exchange this month as planned, but that isn’t stopping the company from developing its projects. http://ow.ly/QNnD30nmZEH #crypto #cryptocurrency || TNT/ BTC doesn't seem like slowing down.Still a lot of potential left. pic.twitter.com/qlQv6u0Hr6 || Bittrex - Volume changed on IOCoin (BTC/IOC)! Price: 0.00003460 (+7.89%), Volume: +31.65% https://goo.gl/RWbFHj || @TheLaughingMan01 @nitsuj btc won’t work.... || Bitcoin&NEM相場情報(Zaif)
btc/jpy ( https://zaif.jp/trade_btc_jpy )
時間 03:52 午前
価格 477420
xem/btc ( https://zaif.jp/trade_xem_btc )
時間 03:27 午前
価格 0.00001945
xem/jpy ( https://zaif.jp/trade_xem_jpy )
時間 03:51 午前
価格 9.2499 || Buy Bitcoin With PayPal! Also with CC, paysafecard, Skrill, OKPAY https://www.virwox.com?r=4db29virwox.com/?r=4db29 #btc #bitcoin 17 pic.twitter.com/dRkjuAQVUv || ワシも20 || Deutsche Bank Gets Raided After Calling Bitcoin a Risk for Criminal Activity http://dlvr.it/QsQ8Pl pic.twitter.com/vO7CVxrIMQ || Top 5 Cryptocurrencies - Current Prices
$BTC: $3,670.67 | Bitcoin +0.05%
$XRP: $0.327842256 | XRP +0.19%
$ETH: $123.46 | Ethereum +0.05%
$BCH: $129.70 | Bitcoin Cash -0.11%
$EOS: $2.49 | EOS -0.52%
|
Trend: down || Prices: 3576.03, 3604.58, 3585.12, 3600.87, 3599.77, 3602.46, 3583.97, 3470.45, 3448.12, 3486.18
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2016-02-08]
BTC Price: 373.45, BTC RSI: 42.20
Gold Price: 1197.90, Gold RSI: 80.10
Oil Price: 29.69, Oil RSI: 41.70
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
ATM Market Worth $24.92 Billion by 2022: Grand View Research, Inc.: SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Dec 14, 2015) - The globalATM marketis expected to reach USD 24.92 billion by 2022, according to a new study by Grand View Research, Inc. Rising demand for automated wireless communication devices along with growing security standards are estimated to drive the industry.
Enhanced security standards for safer online, and physical financial transactions has led to a significant rise in use of these services. Further, continuation of strict security standards and safer modes of financial transactions are expected to have a substantial impact on the industry growth.
Automation of the basic financial transactions and technological advancements increasing at alarming rate would increase mobile transcations among the customers. Linkage of ATMs with wiireless devices would facilitate the customers to complete the transcations securely.
Browse full research report with TOC on "ATM Market Analysis By Solution (Managed Services, Deployment) And Segment Forecasts To 2022" at:http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/atm-market
Rising competition amongst the banks to increase the penetration, would lead to its huge installation base, thus offering lucrative growth opportunities for the industry. In order to reduce the frauds, manufacturers and financial institutions are opting for anti-skimming, biometric devices, and voice recognition systems.
Further key findings from the report suggest:
• ATM deployment solutions industry accounted for over 70% of the overall revenue in 2014. They comprise installed machines at varied locations such as worksite, onsite, offsite and mobile segment. The deployment revenue comprises of installed machines and services as well as its maintenance. Rise in installation base and increasing maintenance activities are estimated to drive segment growth.
• ATM managed services market is estimated to exhibit considerable growth, growing at a CAGR of over 11.0% from 2015 to 2022. It contributes significantly towards strengthening the infrastructure for multichannel delivery for better customer retention, acquisition and cross selling opportunities.
• North America ATM market dominated in terms of revenue in 2014, and is expected to significantly lose share by 2022. Adoption of smart machines across countries such as U.S. is estimated to impel growth across this region. Increasing trend of trading in digital currency is driving demand for Bitcoin ATMs across the region.
• Asia Pacific ATM industry is expected to grow at a substantial growth rate of over 12% from 2015 to 2022. Rising demand for self-service machines and ever increasing customer base across regions such as China and India are estimated to drive the regional demand over the next seven years. Additionally, increasing trend of outsourcing its related activities by financial institutions is projected to positively impact growth across this region.
• ATM market share is occupied by companies such as NCR Corporation, Diebold Inc, Wincor Nixdorf, Euronet Worldwide and Nautilus Hyosung. Product innovations and strategic partnerships with the manufacturers are some of the notable strategies adopted by the vendors. For instance, In October 2014, Diebold launched a new 5500 series of with advanced security features such as biometric finger-vein readers and security camera provisioning.
Grand View Research has segmented the ATM market on the basis of solution and region:
• ATM Solution Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2022)Managed ServicesDeploymentOnsiteOffsiteWorksiteMobile
• ATM Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2022)North AmericaEuropeAsia PacificRoW
Browse related reports by Grand View Research:
• Online Media Market -http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/online-media-market
• Electronic Contract Manufacturing Services Market -http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/the-global-electronic-contract-manufacturing-services-market
• Customer Relation Management (CRM) Market -http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/customer-relation-management-crm-market
• Data Management System (DBMS) Market -http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/dbms-market
About Grand View Research
Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.
Read Our Blogs -mediafound.org,ni2014.org || DA Davidson Favors Lifeway Foods Over Dean Foods: On Thursday, DA Davidson analyst Eric M. Gottlieb explained why he prefers Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: LWAY ) over Dean Foods Co (NYSE: DF ). In two separate reports, the expert issued a Buy rating on Lifeway and a Neutral rating on Dean. In addition, the analyst issued a 12–18 month price target of $14 and a 5-year price target of $25 for the former, and a 12–18 month price target of $19 and a 5-year price target of $21 for the latter. Lifeway Foods While the company has been around for almost 30 years, analyst Eric Gottlieb at DA Davidson believes that it is “just starting to gain momentum.” The report pointed out a few issues related to the Buy thesis. First off, Gottlieb feels that “mainstream America, with their changing views on healthy living, appears now more ready than ever for kefir,” a product similar to a drinkable yogurt. However, the mass is still uneducated regarding the product’s benefits. Related Link: Dean Foods Falling After Morgan Stanley Downgrade Secondly, Gottlieb stated that the company’s new Wisconsin production facility unlocks further potential. Moreover, since “Lifeway Foods has already begun executing its plan to increase awareness, production capability, and distribution,” it’s only a matter of time before sales explode as its markets expand. Dean Foods On the other hand, Gottlieb does not see so much potential in Dean Foods. The expert noted that, while branded initiatives should help the company deliver wider and more stable margins, a declining milk demand dampens its growth prospects. “Milk prices should remain manageable in FY2016, which should provide at least a short-term opportunity for some success, while the operational turnaround continues to add benefits. Looking further out, milk prices will likely be cyclical and create periods of outperformance and underperformance,” the note expounded. Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no positions in any of the securities mentioned above. Image Credit: Story continues Latest Ratings for LWAY Dec 2015 DA Davidson Initiates Coverage on Buy Mar 2015 Imperial Capital Upgrades In-line Outperform Nov 2014 Imperial Capital Maintains In-line View More Analyst Ratings for LWAY View the Latest Analyst Ratings See more from Benzinga 16 Stocks Moving In Friday's After-Hours Session Trade Options? Here's How To Get Involved In Bitcoin Citi Pair Trade In Hardware: Buy Cisco, Sell F5 © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin industry consolidates: Why Kraken bought Coinsetter: For the past two years, the most popular type of new bitcoin company has been exchanges, where investors can buy and trade bitcoin and other virtual currencies. Now two exchanges are already rolling up, in the first major bitcoin industry acquisition of 2016. Kraken, which is based in San Francisco but sees most of its trading activity in Euros, has bought Coinsetter, a smaller New York-based exchange, for an undisclosed amount. Coinsetter will shut down on Jan. 26 and its customers will be converted to Kraken. According to data from TradeBlock, the average daily transaction volume on Kraken last year was around $1.3 million. The deal comes amid a price collapse and high negativity around bitcoin's future. Mike Hearn, a prominent bitcoin developer, wrote a post on Medium last week announcing his opinion that the bitcoin "experiment" has failed. "I will no longer be taking part in bitcoin development and have sold all my coins," he wrote. "The network is on the brink of technical collapse. The mechanisms that should have prevented this outcome have broken down, and as a result theres no longer much reason to think Bitcoin can actually be better than the existing financial system." The core of Hearn's argument is that the speed of transactions has slown; a contentious issue in the bitcoin community right now is whether and when to raise the size limit on "blocks," the term for a bundle of bitcoin transactions. Every single transaction is recorded and processed as part of a block on the bitcoin blockchain, a public, decentralized ledger. If this all sounds like a foreign language to you, don't worry: All you need to understand is that the bad optics of a prominent bitcoin flag-waver leaving the industry in a huff was enough to send the price plummeting. After Hearn posted his piece on Jan. 14, the price of the digital currency fell from $430 down to a low of $358 two days later. It now hovers around $380, according to Winkdex. Story continues Viewed in this context, consolidation in the industry may look troubling. But Coinsetter CEO Jaron Lukasiewicz isn't concerned. "Im bullish on bitcoin right now and believe well see the price hit four-digits again," he tells Yahoo Finance. Perhaps that's easy for him to say: Coinsetter will shut down, and Lukasiewicz is moving on, likely following Hearn to the exit. ("For my next venture I am focused on starting or leading a team whose products are improving society... Im not tied to any particular industry beyond that," he says.) The sale comes less than a year after Coinsetter made its own acquisition of the Canadian-based bitcoin exchange Cavirtexa deal that likely helped make Coinsetter an acquisition target itself. Benefiting from volatility Kraken CEO Jesse Powell is less starry-eyed about the industry right now. "I think the market has not grown as fast as everyone anticipated," he says. "And the price has gone in the opposite direction of what people hoped. I think well continue to see market consolidation. When the price is going up, new people are coming in, more media is covering it, its good news all around. When the price is going down, the public perception is bad, and everyone says bitcoin is crashing. The price is important in that aspect." For a long time, many bitcoin believers insisted that the price isn't important. As long as it is relatively stable, they reasoned, startups can keep innovating and building useful applications on top of the blockchain. But for bitcoin exchanges, price matters: Most make their money from transaction fees, so they do best when theres either a lot of volatility, or the price is high. When the price is stable and low, exchanges suffer. Leaving New York Kraken, founded in 2011, is like a foreign exchange for digital currencies. Its customers are mostly professional traders executing margin trades and other advanced orders. It is not a site where beginners would go to casually dip a toe into the bitcoin market. Coinsetter, founded in 2012, offers Kraken the chance to instantly expand its customer base in Canada (from Cavirtex) and the U.S. Except in New York. Kraken was one of the companies to cut off service in the state last summer after the New York Department of Financial Services released the final version of the BitLicense, a regulatory framework for digital currency companies in New York that holds customers' funds. Many bitcoin entrepreneurs complained the framework was too strict and limiting, so rather than play ball, they left. Coinsetter didn't leave New York. But under new management, it will now. "Were going to shut down New York again right after the acquisition," says Powell. "So the Coinsetter New York clients will be out of an exchange there, unfortunately. Coinsetter did put in a BitLicense application, but when you have a change of control, the application is void, so we wont be serving New York and we have no plans to apply for a BitLicense in the future." In a sense, Powell is simply sticking to his guns, just like Hearnexcept that the latter believes bitcoin has already failed, while the former believes it risks failure if there is over-regulation. Indeed, apart from the debate over block size, the industry's bigger battle will be over regulation. Many in the business are anxiously waiting to see whether other states will follow New York's lead and create their own form of a BitLicense. And while some companies stayed in New York and applied for a BitLicense (at high cost: Lukasiewicz says Coinsetter spent $50,000 to apply for one), others stayed in New York but did not apply, and continue to operate in uncertainty. That concerns Powell. "Theres still not really regulatory clarity, and the banks still arent getting on board. Theyre all about the blockchain these days, but theyre still not giving bitcoin exchanges bank accounts. So there are huge challenges with getting new exchanges started." He's right about the blockchain being a buzzword for big financial institutions: Everyone from JPMorgan ( JPM ) to the Nasdaq have talked up their interest in the blockchain while distancing themselves from the cryptocurrency that fuels it. For now, Kraken gets bigger. It can compete more with the leading exchanges like BitInstant, Bitstamp, Coinbase and itBit, as well as brand new exchange platforms launched last year, including Abra, Align Commerce, and Gemini, an exchange launched by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, of Facebook fame. "The issue for everybody in bitcoin right now," Powell says, "is if you started out a few years ago, say, in 2011, you thought that five years from now, its going to be flying cars, bitcoin everywhere, fiat currency will cease to exist. Clearly that didnt happen, and bitcoin isnt $10,000 a coin. I think a lot of companies created a structure that depended on a high price of bitcoin. When the price went from $1,000 to $200, they could no longer afford to finance their operation." If the price drops further, expect to see more consolidation. And with so many different exchanges out there, it's inevitable more will roll up. -- Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology. Read more: Here's a sign that PayPal is embracing Bitcoin Fantex, the 'athlete stock exchange,' signs first golfer Why Apple, Uber are betting on Super Bowl sponsorship || Can The Bitcoin Foundation Last?: The Bitcoin Foundation was launched in 2012 as a way to provide legitimacy to bitcoin and cryptocurrencies at a time when they were relatively unknown. For two years, the foundation worked to lobby lawmakers, create public awareness and help bitcoin technology advance with the changing times. However, in 2014 when the price of bitcoin dropped dramatically, the foundation lost a great deal of its funding and now almost two years later, it continues to struggle.
Money Issues
One of the foundation's largest problems lies in its finances. The Bitcoin Foundation's board members have proven inexperienced at raising money and managing finances, an issue that has caused the organization to lose around $7 million over the course of the past two years.
Related Link:What's In Store For Bitcoin In 2016
On December 15 when the Bitcoin Foundation held its board meeting, Executive Director Bruce Fentonadmittedthat the organization was in dire straits and that more funding would be required in order to keep the foundation up and running, according to Bloomberg.
A Bad Reputation
However, while the bitcoin community strongly supports spreading the word about cryptocurrencies, the Bitcoin Foundation has found it increasingly difficult to recruit new members and drum up donations.
One of the reasons for this has been the organization's deteriorating reputation. As bitcoin itself was dragged through the mud due to high profile scams, some Bitcoin Foundation board members were wrapped up in scandals of their own. Former Vice Chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation Charlie Shrem is serving time in prison for his involvement in the illegal Silk Road marketplace, and founding member Mark Karpeles, the brain behind failed exchange Mt. Gox, was arrested on charges of embezzlement in August 2015.
Does Bitcoin Need A Foundation?
While the Bitcoin Foundation has been instrumental in helping the cryptocurrency advance, many believe the currency is likely to survive even without the organization. While the Bitcoin Foundation represents the first major entity to advocate cryptocurrencies, several others have since emerged and will likely take on the organization's role should it deteriorate further.
Hanging On By A Thread
On December 22, the Bitcoin Foundation voted to continue into the New Year and appointed three new board members. In an effort to turn things around, the foundation is working to revamp its mission statement and focus on maintaining healthier financials.
Image Credit:Public Domain
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© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Cable & Wireless Communications and Huawei Have Successfully Tested the First Trial of the Fastest Copper Based Broadband Service With G.fast Across Latin America: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Jan 6, 2016) -Cable & Wireless CommunicationsPlc's (CWC) business unit in Panama,Cable & Wireless PanamaSA (CWP) andHuawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, today announced the first successful trial of the fastest copper based broadband service across Latin America using leading G.fast technology.
As a market leader in mobile and broadband services in Panama, CWP is also the largest telecom service provider in the country with a market leading brand, superior network coverage and excellent customer service. CWP partnered with Huawei to deploy CWC's first trial of the G.fast technology on its existing copper infrastructure.
"We are excited to be partnering with Cable & Wireless Communications and together pioneering the first trial of the fastest copper fixed line broadband service with G.fast across Latin America," said Mr. Stephen Ma, CEO of Huawei for the Caribbean. "G.fast is the right way to extend the existing fixed line infrastructure to the gigabit access era by accelerating a future oriented ultra-broadband solution with unparalleled user experiences," he added.
The G.fast technology trial ran for two months in Panama deploying Huawei's latest multi-service access node equipment. CWP's trial successfully achieved high speeds averaging 500 Mbps to download and 150 Mbps to upload, over its existing copper fixed lines.
"We are thrilled to announce that Cable & Wireless Panama was the first market across Latin America to have successfully completed testing of the G.fast technology, which can deliver high speeds, to its customers through the fastest copper based fixed line broadband technology across the region reaching speeds of 500 Mbps," said Carlo Alloni, EVP Technology and Group CTIO, Cable & Wireless Communications. "Our strategic partnership with Huawei has strengthened our commitment to consider solutions that deliver high-speeds," added Alloni.
G.fast technology is based on the Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) method with an improved algorithm that cancels the noise in the lines, reducing the effects of crosstalk and allowing transmission of higher rates of bits with a better quality, increasing the speeds of the information transmitted.
Huawei's G.fast solution can complement the other technologies selected for its HFC (Hybrid fiber-coaxial) and Fibre delivery platforms. CWP's G.fast technology is providing a fivefold increase in speeds compared to any existing internet copper residential service in Panama and empowering the fastest copper fixed line broadband service across Latin America.
About HuaweiHuawei is a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider. Driven by customer-centric innovation and open partnerships, Huawei has established an end-to-end ICT solutions portfolio that gives customers competitive advantages in telecom and enterprise networks, devices and cloud computing. Its innovative ICT solutions, products and services are used in more than 170 countries and regions, serving over one-third of the world's population. Founded in 1987, Huawei is a private company fully owned by its employees.
About G.fastG.fast is a digital subscriber line (DSL) standard for local loops, with performance targets between 150 Mbps and 1 Gbps, depending on loop length. Since the launch of the world's first G.FAST prototype by Huawei in December 2011, G.FAST technology has become highly anticipated by the ICT industry and has maintained strong development momentum.
About C&W CommunicationsCable & Wireless Communications Plc (CWC) is a full service communications and entertainment provider, operating in the Caribbean and Latin America. With annual sales of over $2.4bn, it operates both mobile and fixed networks, supported by submarine and terrestrial optical fibre backhaul capacity. Through the acquisition of Columbus International Inc. on 31 March 2015, CWC now delivers superior high-speed mobile data, broadband and video services. It has leading market positions in Mobile, Fixed Line, Broadband and Video consumer offers.
Through its business division, CWC provides data centre hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customised IT service solutions, utilising cloud technology to serve business and government customers.
The company also operates a state-of-the-art subsea fibre optic cable network that spans more than 42,000 km -- the most extensive in the region -- as well as 38,000 km of terrestrial fibre providing wholesale and carrier backhaul capacity.
CWC has more than 7,200 employees serving over 6.3 million customers (Mobile 4.1m; Fixed Line 1.1m; Video 465k and Broadband 680k) as well as over 125k corporate clients across 42 countries. The Company's leading brands include; LIME and Flow in the Caribbean; BTC in The Bahamas; Mas Movil in Panama; C&W Business and C&W Networks. CWC is the market leader in most products offered and territories served. It is a major contributor to local communities through its corporate social responsibility programmes.
Cable & Wireless Communications' shares are quoted on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker CWC. The company is headquartered in London with its operational hub located in Miami, within close proximity to the Caribbean and Latin America.
For more information visit:www.cwc.com.
About CWPCable & Wireless Panama (CWP) is the market leader in mobile, broadband and fixed line services in Panama. The Company's mobile business operates under the brand name +Movil and the other businesses under + internet and +TV Digital in Panama. CWP is also a leading regional player in enterprise and managed services as well as being a leader in carrier services in partnership with our Caribbean business. || Is Oil Driving The Stock Market? And Should Traders Care?: Recent headlines imply that the slump in the oil market caused the January drop in global stocks. They also point to oil rallies as the reason for stock rallies. But is the relationship causation or just correlation? Should we say one happened “and” or “because” the other one did?
Early in the Wednesday US trading session, crude oil futures dropped by nearly a dollar a barrel and the S&P 500 quickly moved in lockstep, dropping over 40 points in the same hour.
The larger downward trend of Monday and Tuesday in oil was also mirrored in the stock market. Crude oil’s drop was a full 11%, the largest percentage drop since March 2009. However, the drop in stocks over those two days was not nearly as dramatic.
On Wednesday, the markets diverged in the morning. Crude had a brief selloff when the weekly EIA Petroleum Status Report came out, but then it bounced and an hour later WTI crude oil futures (Nadex: Crude Oil) had pushed above $31 a barrel and come within 20 cents of $32.
Stocks only came along for half of that ride. The S&P 500 (Nadex: US500) dropped 40 points, but only regained half of that loss. While oil was rising to two-day highs, stocks hovered near Tuesday’s lows. Clearly the exuberance among crude oil traders had not inspired similar optimism among stock index futures traders or investors as a whole.
Later in the day stocks did rally, but at the day’s close, crude oil was up over 8% and equity indexes were unchanged. Clearly stock traders were not taking their cues from the bullishness of oil traders. In fact, it’s hard to say what crude oil traders were using to guide their decisions on Wednesday.
Why were oil traders so bullish following a fairly downbeat EIA report? You’d have to do some mental gymnastics to come up with a direct reason. The record supply glut set a new record, with global oil inventories rising to over half a billion barrels and driving up gasoline inventories as well.
Foreign output remains high, with Iran now adding more of its stockpiles and production to the world market. And with large inventories and weak demand, refineries are cutting back production.
The weak demand comes despite the low prices. Demand for gasoline is off 0.9% year on year, despite gas prices being down 25% from this time in 2015. Demand for heating oil and distillates is down a full 16%, thanks to a warm winter and weak industrial demand. That perception of industrial weakness got further proof with Monday’s weak ISM Manufacturing Index report, the fourth weak report in a row and the worst streak of manufacturing numbers since 2009.
And despite that substantial negative report, the bulls had the day in crude oil. And even though stocks ended flat, some analysts will say that crude oil’s rally had a delayed effect on stocks and caused the afternoon rally.
When crude oil’s price action doesn’t even seem to have a logical connection to the latest supply and demand report, is it reasonable to think that stock traders are tying their decisions to such an emotional and unpredictable market?
Stock traders aren’t showing much consistency in their reactions to the news, themselves. The recent earnings reports were overall positive among S&P 500 companies, indicating that US businesses continue to be profitable. Yet some are pointing to earnings per share as a problem sign. A report from Goldman Sachs even said that profit margins are too high and if they don’t go down and revert to the mean, they believe it raises questions about “the efficacy of capitalism” itself.
It is a time when short-term traders who simply watch price movement tend to have an advantage. On Nadex, binary option and spread traders can trade the ups and downs without speculating on the whys and wherefores. Sometimes that is best left to the analysts. For traders, explaining the move isn’t nearly as important as trading it.
This information has been prepared by Nadex, a trading name of North American Derivatives Exchange, Inc., prepared by independent third parties contracted by Nadex or reproduced form third party news agencies. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. Nadex accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication.
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© 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Investors Set Sail With Cruise-Line Investments In 2016: 2015 proved to be a lucrative year for many cruise liners, as an improving economy and low fuel prices created the perfect conditions for a rebuilding year. Industry juggernaut Carnival Corp (NYSE: CCL ) saw its shares rise 19.43 percent over the course of the year, and Barron's sees the firm climbing another 20 percent this year, a sign that the industry can expect smooth waters ahead. Safety In The Water Carnival Corp has been touted as one of the safest plays in the cruise industry, because the company is the largest operator in the world. Carnival has ships in almost every body of water on the planet, operating popular names like Carnival Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises and Costa Cruises. Not only does the company have a massive brand appeal and staying power, but Carnival also pays out the heftiest dividend with a yield of 2.2 percent. Related Link: Barron's Picks And Pans: Carnival, Pandora, American Capital And More Expanding Into China Another reason the cruise industry is set to continue gaining through 2016 is the potential for expansion in China as cruise holidays gain popularity. For investors looking to play this angle, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE: RCL ) or Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ: NCLH ) could be smart plays. Royal Caribbean has proven to be popular among the Chinese population and has been pushing upscale ships with luxury rooms that have brought in a great deal of interest. Norwegian is a relatively new entrant into the Chinese market, but the firm has been able to learn from its peers who have already penetrated the market and by offering customers a tailored experience different from what European or North American customers prefer. Image Credit: Public Domain See more from Benzinga 4 CEOs With A Tough Year Ahead Ledger Fights For Bitcoin's Staying Power At CES 2016 Virtual Reality In 2016 © 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || 5 'Bold' Predictions For 2016: In a new report, Cup & Handle Macro analyst Michael Lingenheld revealed five bold market predictions for 2016. Heres a breakdown of his list. 1. Revolution in a major emerging market Lingenheld believes that South Africa is the top target, but names Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and Russia as other possibilities. All of these countries are currently suffering from large debt burdens, poor leadership and high youth unemployment. 2. Bitcoin outperforms all fiat currencies Lingenheld made this same prediction prior to 2015, and it came true. Bitcoin gained 35 percent in 2015, and he sees no reason why the cryptocurrency wont outperform again in 2016. 3. A major currency peg will break Lingenheld notes that the IMFs annual review of currency regimes revealed than only 35 percent of member countries let their currencies float as of the beginning of 2015. He adds that Middle Eastern countries suffering from low oil prices are top candidates, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and UAE. Bringing down any of these pegs would be a major macro story, but a free-floating or devalued Hong Kong Dllar would be a monumental development, Lingenheld explains. 4. Corn and wheat will each rally at least 20 percent Global stock-to-use ratios are at 16-year highs, and low gas prices have been a major boost for farmers. However, Lingenheld is not convinced that crop prices are high enough to drive a huge planting season in the spring. 5. A unicorn company will go bankrupt Lingenheld sees a shift in market enthusiasm for new tech companies, including the disappointing Square Inc (NYSE: SQ ) IPO pricing. He believes that the reality of competing with big tech companies like Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL ) , Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL ) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN ) will start weighing heavily on smaller unicorn companies and their investors. Disclosure: the author holds no position in the stocks mentioned. Latest Ratings for AAPL Dec 2015 Cowen & Company Maintains Market Perform Dec 2015 Barclays Maintains Overweight Dec 2015 BMO Capital Initiates Coverage on Outperform View More Analyst Ratings for AAPL View the Latest Analyst Ratings Story continues See more from Benzinga Apple's Chart Indicates A Tough Start To 2016 Ahead CES 2016 Expected To Be Huge For Drones, Virtual Reality And Wearables Apple Stock For ? How Fractional Investing Changes The Game © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || JPMorgan launches blockchain trial project -FT: Jan 31 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase is partnering with start-up Digital Asset Holdings to launch a trial project using blockchain technology that could reduce the cost and complexity of trading, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
The agreement comes as another sign that blockchain, which is best known as the basis of the digital currency Bitcoin, has wide-ranging applications for some of Wall Street's biggest banks.
One potential use for the technology is addressing liquidity mismatches in some of JPMorgan's loan funds, the Financial Times said.
"To sell a loan is a very cumbersome, time-consuming process; settlement can take weeks," Daniel Pinto, head of JPMorgan's investment bank, told the Financial Times. It "makes all the sense in the world" to explore blockchain's potential to improve that process.
Digital Asset Holdings is run by Blythe Masters, JPMorgan's former head of commodities.
(Reporting by Carl O'Donnell; Editing by Peter Cooney) || Your first trade for Monday: The " Fast Money " traders delivered their final trades of the day. Tim Seymour was a seller of the iShares MSCI Japan ETF (NYSE Arca: EWJ) . David Seaburg was a seller of Twitter ( TWTR ) . Brian Kelly was a buyer of gold (CEC:Commodities Exchange Centre: @GC.1) . Guy Adami was a buyer of silver (CEC:Commodities Exchange Centre: @SI.1) . Trader disclosure: On December 11. 2015, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Tim Seymour is long AAPL, BAC, CLF, DIS, F, FCX, GE, GM, GOOGL, INTC, JCP, JPM, KO, LGF, RL, T, TWTR, VRX. Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, MCD, NKE, SBUX, YHOO. David Seaburg: No conflict. Brian Kelly is long BBRY, Bitcoin, GDX, GLD, Hong Kong Dollar, TLT, US Dollar; he is short Yuan, Candaian Dollar, GSG, EEM, EWC, EWH, SPY. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
$433.93 at 01:30 UTC [24h Range: $427.20 - $436.00 Volume: 4194 BTC] || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 14 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $33.51 #bitcoin #btc || Current price: 274.1£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2016-01-23 08:00:03 GMT || One Bitcoin now worth $369.58@bitstamp. High $374.00. Low $367.17. Market Cap $5.606 Billion #bitcoin || LIVE: Profit = $827.23 (8.53 %). BUY B23.29 @ $450.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $452.02 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 14 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $120.62 #bitcoin #btc || 1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$389.46/$390.00 #Bitstamp
$391.00/$391.26 #BTCe
⇢$1.00/$1.80
$389.95/$390.19 #Coinbase
⇢$-0.05/$0.73 || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 13 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $42.35 #bitcoin #btc || $457.14 #coinbase;
$457.00 #bitfinex;
$453.65 #bitstamp;
$448.88 #btce;
#bitcoin #btc via #ThePriceOfBTCpic.twitter.com/K76BqhymXh || BTC: $444.84, S: $14.00, G: $1078.60 | Act: 24,217 Open: 3559 BTC: 54,879.7 | Total: $24,421,956 http://goo.gl/U94Tki #bitcoin
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Trend: up || Prices: 376.03, 381.65, 379.65, 384.26, 391.86, 407.23, 400.18, 407.49, 416.32, 422.37
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
10 things you need to know before the opening bell: Justin Trudeau (Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on a kayak to mark World Environment Day on the Niagara River, which borders with the US.Reuters/Mark Blinch) Here is what you need to know. The World Bank says the global economy is improving, but risks remain . The World Bank held its 2017 global growth forecast at 2.7%, saying, "A recovery in industrial activity has coincided with a pick-up in global trade, after two years of marked weakness." UK polls keep tightening . A poll released by Survation late Monday showed Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party held a 1-point lead over Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party. Betting odds, however, still reflect a 92% chance the Conservatives maintain their majority. Australia keeps policy on hold . Australia's central bank held its key interest rate at 1.50% while maintaining a neutral bias for its interest-rate outlook. The 10-year is at its lowest level since the days following Trump's election win. The US 10-year yield is down by 3 basis points at 2.15%, a level last seen November 10. Bitcoin and ethereum hit record highs . Bitcoin trades up by 7.4% at $2,863 a coin, while its rival ethereum is higher by 5.4% at $257 a coin, both all-time highs. Goldman Sachs turned down a request from Venezuela . "In early May, Goldman Sachs turned down a request from Caracas to convert $5 billion in sovereign bonds into marketable securities partly because it would mean dealing directly with a Venezuelan state bank," Reuters says, citing people familiar with the talks. Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference is in the books . At the conference, the tech giant unveiled a Siri-enabled speaker called HomePod and updates to a bunch of its products. Some Tesla owners could see their insurance spike by 30% . US insurance providers have seen a high number of claim frequencies from Model S and Model X owners, and that could lead them to raise premiums by up to 30%, Automotive News says, citing AAA. Stock markets around the world trade mixed . Hong Kong's Hang Seng (+0.5%) led the gains in Asia and Germany's DAX (-0.5%) trails in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open down by 0.2% near 2,430. Story continues US economic data is light. Jolts Job Openings will be released at 10 a.m. ET. More From Business Insider One map shows how much trouble Qatar Airways may be in Here's the average net worth of Americans at every age 'Psychologically scarred' millennials are killing dozens of industries — and it's their parents' fault || Top Tech ETFs Of The Year: Technology investors are partying like it's 1999. That was the infamous final year of the dot-com bubble, when the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose a whopping 86%, an impressive end to one of the greatest bull markets in history.
Today's rally may not be as heady as it was back then―nor share prices as inflated―but for the first time in nearly two decades, tech is back to hitting new highs on a consistent basis. As measured by theTechnology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK), tech is the top-performing sector of the year, with a return of 15.8%, more than double the gain of the broader S&P 500.
Tech heavyweights like Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook are hitting new records seemingly every day. Their combined weighting in the S&P 500 is now 11%, while tech as a whole accounts for 23% of the index.
It's not just the giants. Tech companies big and small are performing well this year, as evidenced by the 15.9% return for theGuggenheim S&P 500 Equal Weight Technology ETF (RYT), a fund that gives the same weighting to Apple as it does to every other tech stock in its portfolio.
Indeed, to see the best returns among tech-focused exchange-traded funds, investors must venture outside of broad tech ETFs into more niche areas, and in a few cases, outside the U.S. altogether. Here are the top tech ETFs of the year so far.
China Internet ETFs
At the top of the tech heap are internet ETFs focused on China. TheEmerging Markets Internet & Ecommerce ETF (EMQQ)holds internet-related companies across emerging and frontier markets, but China accounts for about two-thirds of the portfolio.
Top holdings such as Tencent, Alibaba and Naspers have been on fire this year, buoying EMQQ to a year-to-date gain of 43.4%.
TheKraneShares CSI China Internet ETF (KWEB)and the broaderGuggenheim China Technology ETF (CQQQ)are in the same boat, with returns of 41.4% and 29.9%, respectively, in the period.
Though not focused on China, another international tech fund to see sizzling returns this year is theSPDR S&P International Technology Sector ETF (IPK), with its 23.4% gain. IPK holds a market-cap-weighted basket of tech stocks in developed markets outside of the U.S. Because it targets developed markets, it excludes China, giving it much different exposure than the aforementioned ETFs.
Currently, its three largest holdings are Samsung, SAP and ASML Holding.
Disruptive Technology ETFs
Back in the U.S., the top tech-focused fund is theARK Web x.0 ETF (ARKW), with a nice 33.5% return for the year so far. ARKW is an actively managed ETF that invests in companies that are "expected to benefit from shifting the bases of technology infrastructure to the cloud." Stocks held include firms tied to cloud computing, cyber security, big data, e-commerce and social media platforms.
The ETF also holds a 6% position in the Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC), something that has served it well, as prices for the digital currency have exploded to the upside recently. Other top holdings include Athenahealth, Amazon and 2U Inc.
ARKW is one offive ETFs from ARK Invest, an issuer that focuses on "disruptive innovation." Another of the firm’s active funds to do well so far this year is theARK Industrial Innovation ETF (ARKQ), with its 29.3% return. ARKQ invests in companies that are poised to benefit from technological advances related to energy, automation, manufacturing and transportation. Top holdings include Stratasys, Tesla and Nvidia.
Social Media ETFs
Shares of Snapchat parent Snap Inc. may be struggling this year, but an ETF that holds social media companies more broadly is doing just fine. TheGlobal X Social Media ETF (SOCL)is up a solid 32.7% year-to-date.
As the name suggests, SOCL holds a basket of social media stocks from all around the world. From Tencent to Twitter to Facebook, SOCL is a social media pure-play ETF.
Sharing some overlap with SOCL is thePowerShares Nasdaq Internet Portfolio (PNQI). PNQI's focus is broader in that it holds shares of internet companies in general. All of its holdings are U.S.-listed, but can be headquartered anywhere.
Amazon, Facebook and Netflix are the top three holdings currently, and the fund is up 25.2% year-to-date.
For a full list of this year's top technology ETFs, see the table below:
Top 15 Technology ETFs
[{"Ticker": "EMQQ", "Fund": "Emerging Markets Internet & Ecommerce ETF", "YTDReturn(%)": "43.40"}, {"Ticker": "KWEB", "Fund": "KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF", "YTDReturn(%)": "41.41"}, {"Ticker": "ARKW", "Fund": "ARK Web x.0 ETF", "YTDReturn(%)": "33.53"}, {"Ticker": "SOCL", "Fund": "Global X Social Media ETF", "YTDReturn(%)": "32.65"}, {"Ticker": "CQQQ", "Fund": "Guggenheim China Technology ETF", "YTDReturn(%)": "29.91"}, {"Ticker": "ARKQ", "Fund": "ARK Industrial Innovation ETF", "YTDReturn(%)": "29.26"}, {"Ticker": "PNQI", "Fund": "PowerShares NASDAQ Internet Portfolio", "YTDReturn(%)": "25.22"}, {"Ticker": "IGV", "Fund": "iShares North American Tech-Software ETF", "YTDReturn(%)": "25.08"}, {"Ticker": "IPK", "Fund": "SPDR S&P International Technology Sector ETF", "YTDReturn(%)": "23.40"}, {"Ticker": "PSI", "Fund": "PowerShares Dynamic Semiconductors Portfolio", "YTDReturn(%)": "22.47"}, {"Ticker": "PRNT", "Fund": "3D Printing ETF", "YTDReturn(%)": "22.35"}, {"Ticker": "QTEC", "Fund": "First Trust NASDAQ-100 Technology Sector Index Fund", "YTDReturn(%)": "21.44"}, {"Ticker": "FINX", "Fund": "Global X FinTech ETF", "YTDReturn(%)": "20.65"}, {"Ticker": "IXN", "Fund": "iShares Global Tech ETF", "YTDReturn(%)": "20.39"}, {"Ticker": "MTK", "Fund": "SPDR Morgan Stanley Technology ETF", "YTDReturn(%)": "20.29"}]
Contact Sumit Roy [email protected].
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Permalink| © Copyright 2017ETF.com.All rights reserved || Bitcoin 'nerds' give way to Wall Street suits at digital currency conference: The world of finance is getting so interested in bitcoin that it's no longer just the land of coders.
"At this conference, one thing I immediately noticed, I have a hard time finding the nerd table," said Joseph Poon, founder of theBitcoin Lightning Network, a system for digital payments. He was speaking on the sidelines of the Token Summit in New York, a conference Thursday that looked at the application of bitcoin's blockchain technology to business.
"For the past five years, it's always been easy to find the nerd table because it's everywhere. The conference was the nerd table. Now it seems like it's all ambassadors, and it's basically like I can only find like 10 people I can recognize here," Poon said.
Wall Street is getting more invested in digital currencies and just in time for Bitcoin to hit a record high. That may not be a coincidence.
Bitcoin has more than doubled in price this year and briefly surged to a record of $2,791.70 Thursday, before briefly erasing $400. The gains come with increased interest in digital currencies, or tokens. Bitcoin(Exchange: BTC=-USS)is a kind of token for which transactions are recorded in a secure accounting system called blockchain.
The demand to attend the Token Summit exceeded organizer William Mougayar's own expectation of 300 — there were as many on the waiting list before he closed it, he said.
He began organizing the Token Summit in December, and out of 650 registrants from 44 countries he said about a quarter were involved with the business and financing side. "I was surprised," he said.
Earlier in the week at another New York digital currency conference, Consensus, Fidelity announced it will allow clients tosee bitcoin and other cryptocurrenciesheld on Coinbase on its website, according to a Reuters report.
Fidelity CEO Abigail Johnson said in the report that the asset manager has also allowed employees to use bitcoin to pay in the firm's cafeteria.
"They basically let the world know they are looking at it," Nick Kirk, formerly of IBM Research and an investor in cryptocurrencies, said from the Token Summit. "The smart money is starting to come in now."
Kirk said he recently met with proprietary trading firms from Chicago that are interested in digital currencies.
It's not just Fidelity that's getting more public about their interest in digital currencies and the underlying blockchain technology. One currency in particular, ethereum, has gained more than 2,000 percent this year because investors see its potential in paving the way for a new, decentralized internet.
Last week, the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance announced 86 new members of the standards-setting development group, including financial communications company Broadridge, clearinghouse DTCC and consulting firm Deloitte. JPMorgan(NYSE: JPM), Intel(NASDAQ: INTC)and Microsoft(NASDAQ: MSFT)were among the founding group.
JPMorgan on Monday also announced at the Consensus conference that the bank is working with the makers of a digital currency called zcash to increase privacy forsettlement of transactions on a blockchain, according to CoinDesk, the conference host.
At Consensus "there were a lot of suits," David Vorick, co-founder and CEO of Sia, a cloud computing company based on blockchain, said of his experience at Consensus. "It just felt like everybody was there doing business. Even myself. I was wearing a suit, and that's not my natural state of being."
Watch: O'Leary suggests shorting bitcoin
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• Calvin Klein owner PVH's international potential is reason to buy the stock, JPMorgan says || Bitcoin storms back: Bitcoinhas come all the way back from Thursday's steep slide. The cryptocurrency tumbled as much as 18.5% to $2,076 a coin after riskier assets fell following the Fed rate hike. On Friday, it's trading up 3.5% at $2,520.
The selling on Thursday began when bitcoin-mining firm Bitmain outlined its "contingency plan."Coindeskexplained it best: "Most notably, the proposal would dedicate mining resources to hard forking the network to a rule set with a larger block size — an upgrade that would likely result in two bitcoin networks and two tradable bitcoin assets."
Riskier assets were already feeling some heat after the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate 25 basis points to a range of 1% to 1.25% on Wednesday.
The writing had been on the wall. Bitcoin gained about 180% from the beginning of April through the middle of June. That run prompted tech billionaire Mark Cuban to call bitcoin a "bubble."
Additionally,Goldman Sachshead of technical strategy Sheba Jafari also sounded the alarm on bitcoin in a note to clients sent earlier this week, saying that "the balance of signals are looking broadly heavy."
At least for now, it appears that Jafari nailed her call. "Consider re-establishing bullish exposure between 2,330 and no lower than 1,915," she concluded in this week's note.
(Investing.com)
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• Bitcoin is tumbling
• GOLDMAN SACHS: Bitcoin is looking 'heavy'
• Bitcoin nearly hits $3,000 before plunging || Bitcoin options exchange raises $11.4 million in funding: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ledger Holdings, the New York-based parent company of bitcoin options exchange LedgerX, said on Monday it closed $11.4 million in funding led by Miami International Holdings Inc and China's Huiyin Blockchain Venture Investments.
The funding supports LedgerX's plan to operate a regulated exchange and clearing house for bitcoin and other digital currencies.
LedgerX is awaiting regulatory approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to operate the first U.S. regulated exchange and clearing house for bitcoin options. On approval, participating institutions can use the LedgerX platform to obtain and hedge bitcoin using exchange-traded and centrally cleared options contracts.
"In the short term, these investments will further our application to become a regulated exchange and clearing house for bitcoin options," Paul Chou, chief executive officer of LedgerX LLC, said in a statement.
"In the long term, these strategic investors will help us enter additional marketplaces and territories," he added.
Chou sits on the CFTC's Technology Advisory Committee.
Miami International Holdings is the parent company of Miami International Securities Exchange LLC and MIAX PEARL LLC, two fully electronic options trading exchanges.
MIAX Options lists and trades options on more than 2,600 multi-listed classes. Huiyin Blockchain Venture is a subsidiary of investment conglomerate Huiyin Group.
LedgerX earlier raised $1.5 million from funders led by Google Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Bitcoin is a virtual currency that can be moved like money around the world quickly and anonymously without the need for a central authority. It hit a record high over the weekend, with one unit of bitcoin trading above $2,000 on the BitStamp platform (BTC=BTSP).
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Peter Cooney) || Bitcoin bulls runs wild as cryptocurrency surges above $3000: Bitcoin(Exchange: BTC=-USS)traded above $3,000 for the first time on Sunday, continuing this year's massive surge and helped by increased demand from Asia-based investors.
After trading in a range for the last week, bitcoin climbed to an all-time high Sunday of $3,012.05, according to CoinDesk.
On Chinese exchanges such as BTCC, the currency traded about $40 to $60 above that price. Last week, several major Chinese bitcoin exchanges allowed customers to resume withdrawals of the cryptocurrency, after haltingwithdrawals in early February amid scrutinyfrom the People's Bank of China.
Source: CoinDesk
The digital currency has had a stellar year, rising by more than 200 percent and easily outperforming stock market benchmarks like the S&P 500(INDEX: .SPX)Index and the Nasdaq composite(NASDAQ: .IXIC)in 2017. The cryptocurrency has now more than tripled in value since trading at $968 on Dec. 31, and has gained nearly 30 percent in June alone.
Bitcoin in 2017
Source: CoinDesk
Brian Kelly, CEO and founder of BKCM and a CNBC contributor, told CNBC this week that the cryptocurrency was "in the first years of what is likely to be a multi-year bull market. Of course there will be corrections and even crashes along the way, but bitcoin is here to stay."
A contributing factor to bitcoin's recent surge is growing demand from Asia. In addition to the China factor, Japanese interest has risen ever since the government approved bitcoin as a legal payment method in April.
Investors also plowed more money into the currency after Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari commented on the blockchain technology behind bitcoin, saying it "has more potential than bitcoin itself."
—CNBC's Fred Imbert contributed to this report.
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The cryptocurrency is up 5.71% at $1,758.45 a coin, as trade grinds higher for the 16th time in 18 sessions. It has gained nearly 50% during its run.
Tuesday's gain comes without any obvious catalyst as traders await the US Securities and Exchange Commission's ruling on whether it willreverse its decision to reject the Winklevoss twins' exchange-traded fund.
The SEC rejected two bitcoin ETFs back in March, saying it "is disapproving this proposed rule change because it does not find the proposal to be consistent with Section 6(b)(5) of the Exchange Act, which requires, among other things, that the rules of a national securities exchange be designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices and to protect investors and the public interest."
Bitcoin recently has shrugged offChina restricting trade, the SEC's rejecting of the two bitcoin ETFs, and threats from developers to create a "hard fork" that would split the cryptocurrency in two.
But there has also been some good news for bitcoin, which has posted an 85% gain this year.
At the beginning of April, Japan's financial regulators saidbitcoin would be considered a legal payment methodin the country, and days later Russia said it would consider bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in 2018.
Aside from 2014, bitcoin has been the top-performing currency every year since 2010.
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• Bitcoin is closing in on $1,500 || Tesla could be worth multiples of current $50 billion market cap by 2020, fund manager says: Investors who think Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) shares are overvalued are discounting the fact that the company will be a major player in the autonomous taxi market, a $2 trillion opportunity, one fund manager told CNBC, adding that the stock could be worth "multiples" more than its current $51 billion valuation. Last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced his intention to begin a Tesla ride-sharing platform when regulators approve fully self-driverless cars. "When true self-driving is approved by regulators, it will mean that you will be able to summon your Tesla from pretty much anywhere. Once it picks you up, you will be able to sleep, read or do anything else en route to your destination," Musk wrote in his "Master Plan, Part Deux" last year. "You will also be able to add your car to the Tesla shared fleet just by tapping a button on the Tesla phone app and have it generate income for you while you're at work or on vacation, significantly offsetting and at times potentially exceeding the monthly loan or lease cost. This dramatically lowers the true cost of ownership to the point where almost anyone could own a Tesla." Musk's plan poses a challenge to the likes of Uber, but also allows the company to tap into the autonomous taxi market, which could be worth $2 trillion globally in the next few years, according to research carried out by ARK Invest. Catherine Wood, the CEO of ARK Invest, said that many investors who think that Tesla is overvalued are missing the fact that Tesla could be a major player in the autonomous taxi market. "If we are correct and Tesla gets its fair share of the US autonomous taxi market, not to mention China's
then Tesla will be multiples of today's $51 billion market cap in 2020," Wood told CNBC by email on Friday. "We are astonished after listening to every Tesla earnings call that no analyst asks about the autonomous taxi network opportunity. Very little of that potential even if Tesla gets only 10 percent of the $2 trillion global market has been priced into the stock." Story continues Model 3 target In a TV interview with CNBC earlier in the day on Friday, Wood said she considers Tesla a technology rather than car company and therefore it's higher valuation versus auto stocks is fair. The company is ramping up production of its Model 3 car its lower priced variant out of all of its vehicles which is aimed the mass market. Earlier this month, Musk said the company would build a total of 500,000 all-electric vehicles in 2018. In 2016, Tesla produced 83,922 vehicles, and Wood said it would be a big jump for the company to produce 500,000 next year, but she said it would get closer to the figure than the market is expecting. "Nobody is really expecting that but we think they're going to get closer to 500,000 than most people think." Disclosure: ARK Invest's funds own shares of Tesla . More From CNBC Massive cyberattack 'huge screw-up' by government, Wikipedia's founder says Daily Mail has 'mastered the art of running' fake news, Wikipedia founder says Bitcoin hits $1,900 record high with market cap up $4 billion this week alone || The Market In 5 Minutes: IN THE NEWS
BENZINGA
Ousted FBI director James B. Comey, over the course of nine awkward private conversations, said President Donald Trump threatened his job, demanded his loyalty, and asked him to drop the probe into the Trump team’s dealings with Russia before ultimately firing him:Link
Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) is teaming up withAmazon.com, Inc.(NASDAQ:AMZN) to offer Prime Instant Video through Apple TV, a move Gene Munster considers "more of a negative forNetflix(NASDAQ:NFLX) than a positive for Apple or Amazon.":Link
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Wells Fargo(NYSE:WFC) has spent roughly nine months working to reform the sales culture that led to a $185 million fine, public humiliation and the departure of its chief executive. Now, the bank is confronting a new challenge: growing again:Link
The House is poised to pass sweeping legislation Thursday that would rewrite the rules governing Wall Street, an opening Republican bid to encourage economic growth by loosening regulation of the financial sector:Link
REUTERS
Britons began voting on Thursday in an election called by Prime Minister Theresa May to strengthen her hand in looming Brexit talks, with her personal authority at stake after a campaign that saw her lead in opinion polls contract:Link
A magistrate judge has ruled that Uber Technologies Inc must hand over a key document that could shed light on what its executives knew about alleged theft of trade secrets fromAlphabet Inc's(NASDAQ:GOOGL) Waymo self-driving car unit: Link
BLOOMBERG
Bitcoin is gold for millennials. Or maybe it’s that generation’s fine wine and collectible art. Or just a bubble waiting to burst: Link
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.(NYSE:BABA) forecast sales growth that topped every analyst’s estimate, defying expectations that growth must slow by dint of a decelerating economy and its own sheer scale: Link
NY POST
TheVerizon(NYSE:VZ) buyouts of AOL andYahoo(NASDAQ:YHOO) could result in the loss of 1,000 jobs across the companies, according to a report: Link
ECONOMIC DATA
• Initial Jobless Claims for Jun 2 245.0K vs 240.0K estimate; Continuing Claims for May 26 1.92M vs 1.92M estimate.
• The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.
• Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.
ANALYST RATINGS
• Stifel upgradedEnduro Royalty Trust(NYSE:NDRO) from Hold to Buy
• DA Davidson upgradedVista Outdoor(NYSE:VSTO) from Neutral to Buy
• BMO upgradedDover(NYSE:DOV) from Market Perform to Outperform
• Morgan Stanley downgradedLear(NYSE:LEA) from Equal-Weight to Underweight
• Buckingham downgradedDeckers Outdoor(NYSE:DECK) from Buy to Neutral
• Barclays downgradedSempra Energy(NYSE:SRE) from Overweight to Equal-Weight
This is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day — it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. To get the full version of this note every morning, click here or email [email protected].
See more from Benzinga
• The Market In 5 Minutes
• The Market In 5 Minutes
• The Market In 5 Minutes
© 2017 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Your first trade for Thursday, May 18: The "Fast Money" traders gave their final trades of the day.
Tim Seymour is a buyer of Starbucks (SBUX(NASDAQ: SBUX)).
Brian Kelly is a buyer of the Utilities SPDR ETF (XLU(NYSE Arca: XLU)).
Karen Finerman is a seller of United Rentals (URI(NYSE: URI)).
Steve Grasso is a buyer of the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX(NYSE Arca: GDX)).
Trader disclosure: On May 17, 2017 the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders:
Tim Seymour is long ABX, AAPL, APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, C, CLF, CVX, DO, DVYE, EDC, EWN, EWZ, F, FB, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GE, INTC, LQD, MAT, MOS, MCD, MUR, OIH, PG, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, SQ,T, TWTR, VALE, VRX, VZ, XOM. short: EEM, SPY, XRT;Tim's firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CBD, CLF, EEM, EWZ, F, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, TCEHY, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, X, YHOO, short EWG, HYG, IWMKaren is long AAL, BAC, BAC short calls, C, DAL, EEM, EPI, EWW, DVYE, FB, FL, GLMP, GLNG, GOGO, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, KORS calls, KORS puts, MA, SEDG, SPY puts, TACO, WFM. Her firm is long ANTM, BAC calls, C, C calls, FB, GOOG, GOOGL, GLNG, GMLP, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, PLCE, SPY puts, SPY put spreads, WIFI, UAL, her firm is short IWM, MDY.
BK is long Bitcoin, GE, HLF, IWM, TSLA, WMT.
Steve Grasso's firm is long stock AON, BX, CTL, CUBA, DIA, F, HES, ICE, KDUS, KORS, MAT, MFIN, MJNA, MSFT, NE, RIG, SNAP, SPY, SQBG, TIME, TITXF, UA, VEON, WDR, WPX, ZNGA. Grasso is long stock BABA, CHK, EEM, EVGN, GDX, KBH, LEN, MJNA, MO, MON, OLN, PHM, SQ, T, TWTR, VRX. Grasso's kids own EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY. NO SHORTS.
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[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
20:00~21:00のBitcoin市場はしっかりでした。
直近の市場の平均Bitcoinの価格は195537.0円
変化率は0.869%
22:00までは反騰かな?
【AIコメントです:テスト中@パターンB】
#bitcoin
#AI || 10 Interesting Facts About #bitcoin That You Must Know http://bit.ly/2trlh97 pic.twitter.com/1GchiQ43XO || One Bitcoin now worth $2862.99@bitstamp. High $2933.00. Low $2590.04. Market Cap $46.880 Billion #bitcoin || The latest Bitcoin Price Index is 2,274.22 USD http://www.coindesk.com/price/ pic.twitter.com/T9sZcj1AJZ || Join our referral program and get rewarded from your affiliate that subscribe on our $SFC Platform! https://goo.gl/Sd7dqN #Altcoin #BTC || XBT Provider Bitcoin ETN Hits $100 Mln, Partners With Xapo https://cointelegraph.com/news/xbt-provider-bitcoin-etn-hits-100-mln-partners-with-xapo … || BITCOIN PLUNGE COMING? Gold Reverses Early Gains. Fed Did It. http://finteknews.com/bitcoin-plunge-coming-gold-reverses-early-gains-fed-did-it/ … #bitcoin #gold #cryptocurrencies #coins #tokens || $1233.59 at 07:00 UTC [24h Range: $1199.00 - $1246.37 Volume: 4298 BTC] || #bitcoin #miner 13.5TH Bitmain Antminer S9, and APW3+ Power Supply $2000.00 http://ift.tt/2pATXHj pic.twitter.com/hEls5q5esW || #Russia #China #Japan are moving quickly to adopt #Bitcoin while #America will be in #HyperInflation b4 years end. Why are they employed?https://twitter.com/zerohedge/status/875104098089148417 …
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Trend: no change || Prices: 2548.29, 2589.60, 2721.79, 2689.10, 2705.41, 2744.91, 2608.72, 2589.41, 2478.45, 2552.45
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