How to Speculate on the Price of Gold Using Cryptocurrencies

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Earlier this week, gold spiked to over $2,000 for the first time in history.

The precious metal has been on the climb for more than two years straight, during which it has almost doubled in value, generating an incredible return for investors. 

Earlier this week, gold spiked to over $2,000 for the first time in history. The precious metal has been on the climb for more than two years straight, during which it has almost doubled in value, generating an incredible return for investors. Now, thanks to a cross-over between the traditional finance and cryptocurrency industries, investors can speculate on the value of gold using cryptocurrencies instead of fiat. Litecoin: Could 2019 be the end of LTC? : BTC Surprises Everyone Again (December 2019)Bitcoin: BTC Bulls Have othing To Worry About Yet (October 2019)

Invest in Gold-backed Tokens

Arguably the simplest way to speculate on the price of gold is by purchasing gold-backed tokens. In essence, these are tokens that are backed by a fixed allocation of gold, such that owning each token is equivalent to owning a fixed amount of gold. The amount of gold each token represents varies from provider to provider, but most stick with a ratio of 1 token equals 1 gram of pure investment grade gold. As such, the value of each token is usually roughly equivalent to the gold spot price, though it can fluctuate based on the economics of supply and demand, and several other factors. These tokens can usually be bought directly from the company or from third-party exchange platforms and can be traded or redeemed for real gold whenever the holder chooses. 

Though there is a wide range of gold-backed tokens available, it’s important to ensure that the ones you’re investing in meet certain basic criteria. The platform should offer a system to easily verify that it has sufficient gold in reserves to back the circulating supply 100%. CACHE Gold (GCT), for example, allows users to easily check how much gold it has in each of its vaults, with its GramChain® asset tracking system. Other platforms typically rely on irregular allocation reports to demonstrate their gold reserves. Beyond this, you should also consider the minimum redemption amount — or the minimum number of tokens that can be redeemed for physical gold. For CACHE Gold, this is 100 tokens (100 grams), whereas for Tether Gold (XAUt) this is 430 tokens (430 troy ounces). 

Trade Spot and Derivatives

For those looking to profit from the day-to-day fluctuations in the price of gold and gold-backed tokens, there’s also the option of trading gold derivatives and gold-backed tokens on a variety of cryptocurrency exchanges. Gold-backed tokens can be traded on most popular cryptocurrency exchanges. (Image: Huobi Global) Trading gold-backed tokens is no different from trading any other cryptocurrency. Once purchased, these tokens can be transferred to any cryptocurrency spot exchange that supports the cryptocurrency, where they can be traded against other cryptocurrencies or against fiat (where supported). Traders will then be able to capitalize on fluctuations in the token value as a result of changes in supply and demand, and the gold spot price. 

It’s also possible to trade a variety of gold derivatives using cryptocurrencies. These are essentially contracts that allow traders to speculate on the price of gold without actually purchasing or holding any gold or gold-backed tokens. These are typically considered more advanced financial instruments, however, since they can usually be traded with leverage — which can dramatically improve profits (or losses). 

Buy Gold Using Cryptocurrencies

Arguably one of the simplest ways to invest in gold and other precious metals is by simply purchasing physical gold bullion — essentially investment gold in the form of bars, ingots, and coins, using cryptocurrencies. Depending on where you live, the range of gold products available to you can vary considerably. Some of the more popular websites, including Money Metals and European Mint, offer a range of investment gold, ship worldwide, and accept payment in Bitcoin (BTC). Others, such as Bitgild and JM Bullion ship to a restricted range of countries. 

Though buying physical bullion with gold is a relatively simple endeavor in 2020, there are some downsides to the practice. For one, you’ll usually pay above spot price for the gold. This can range from just 1-2% above spot, to potentially much more depending on the vendor you choose. You will also likely need to pay shipping and insurance costs, which can become quite costly if you’re shipping large quantities of gold internationally. Physical gold also isn’t particularly liquid. This means you want to be able to liquidate your holdings easily, such as for trading purposes, or to capitalize on a temporary decline in value before buying back in. This is part of the reason why gold-backed tokens have achieved such popularity as an alternative. 

Article Produced By
Adrian Barkley

Adrian has been leading teams in the finance sector for over a decade. He is highly experienced, and is responsible for ensuring that the latest news is delivered to you as it is breaking. He has a keen interest in virtual currencies, and has even made investments himself, so is incredibly passionate when it comes to writing about this topic.

https://cryptodaily.co.uk/2020/08/how-to-speculate-on-the-price-of

 

Bitcoin-hating fed president calls for strict economic lockdown

Neel Kashkari is seemingly at odds with his party over how to control COVID-19.

CRYPTO PRICES INCREASE. BUT ARE THEY INFLATIONARY ASSETS? IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK

 

In brief

• The President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Neel Kashkari, has called for another strict lockdown.
• This is at odds with President Donald Trump, who spoke unfavorably on Monday about lockdowns.
• Kashkari's ideas have previously confounded the crypto community.

The President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis has called for another lockdown to save the US economy.

In a Friday New York Times op-ed, Neel Kashkari wrote that in order to “save lives, and save the economy, we need another lockdown.” 

Along with Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, Kashkari said that a “more restrictive lockdown,” state by state, is necessary to “crush the spread” of COVID-19. 

 

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He argued that “what we have done so far hasn’t worked,” and proposed that the new lockdown be for up to six weeks—and stricter than before. Not only will a stricter lockdown save lives but “there won’t be a robust economic recovery until we get control of the virus,” wrote Kashkari. 

The cryptocurrency community has also been at odds with Kashkari since he said in March that the Federal Reserve has an “infinite amount of cash”—prompting Bitcoiners to push the argument for the inflation-proof digital asset.  

In February, Kashkari likened cryptocurrencies to a “giant garbage dumpster,” arguing that the US dollar’s scarcity is what makes it valuable. One month later, the Federal Reserve launched a record $2.3 trillion rescue package.

Such a large stimulus package is regarded by some Bitcoin-faithfuls as a reckless; Bitcoin's monetary policy, however, is hard-coded into its consensus mechanism. 

A life-long Republican, Kashkari’s views may seem to conflict with those of his party—and president. Only this week President Donald Trump said that “a permanent lockdown is not a viable path” for controlling the pandemic. 

“Lockdowns do not prevent infection in the future,” he said at a Monday press conference. “They just don’t. It comes back many times, it comes back.”    By Mathew Di Salvo

 

New York Regulator Fast-Tracks 10 Cryptocurrencies

The New York State Department of Financial Services has created a Greenlist of pre-approved cryptocurrencies for custody service and listing. Meanwhile, crypto-friendly SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, also known as Crypto Mom, has been confirmed for another term at the commission.

NY Regulator’s Cryptocurrency Greenlist

The New York State Department of financial services (DFS), the Bitlicense regulator, has published a Greenlist comprising 10 cryptocurrencies for custody and eight cryptocurrencies for listing. “Any licensed entity may use coins on the Greenlist for their approved purpose(s),” the regulator explained.

The 10 cryptocurrencies are binance USD (BUSD), bitcoin (BTC), bitcoin cash (BCH), ethereum classic (ETC), ethereum (ETH), gemini dollar (GUSD), litecoin (LTC), pax gold (PAXG), paxos standard (PAX), and ripple (XRP). The same cryptocurrencies are pre-approved for listing, except for ETC and XRP. “If a licensed entity decides to use a coin on the Greenlist, it must inform DFS prior to beginning its use,” the regulator noted.

The DFS’ current Greenlist of approved cryptocurrencies for custody and listing.

The Greenlist follows guidance proposed by the DFS in December last year, which includes proposals for coin adoption or listing options that the regulator wanted to make available to crypto entities.

The DFS will maintain an updated list of all cryptocurrencies permitted for crypto companies’ business activities without its prior approval, “as long as such listed coins had not been subject to any material modification, division, or change after their listing on the DFS webpage (the ‘Greenlist’),” the regulator emphasized.

 

Crypto companies can create a “coin-listing or adoption policy” tailored to their specific business model and risk profile. If approved by the DFS, the company would be able to “self-certify the listing or adoption of new coins in addition to those on the Greenlist, without any further approval from DFS.” The guidance regarding the adoption or listing of cryptocurrencies can be found here.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate has confirmed Hester Peirce, the crypto-friendly commissioner often known as Crypto Mom, for another term at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Peirce has been pushing for the approval of bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). In February, she announced her “Token Safe Harbor Proposal,” which she described as “a proposal to fill the gap between regulation and decentralization.”

What do you think about the DFS’ crypto Greenlist? Let us know in the comments section below.

 

Hacker swiped $1.7 million in second Ethereum Classic attack.

A near identical double-spend attack on the Ethereum Classic blockchain to one just days ago has seen almost $1.7 million stolen from exchanges.

In brief

• The ETC 51% attacker is at it again, this time draining nearly $1.7 million from Bitfinex and a second unidentified exchange.
• The second attack was nearly identical to the first, perpetrated just days earlier.
• Ethereum Classic Labs is pursuing legal action against the attacker.

The Ethereum Classic attacker has made off again with yet more millions.

That fact was revealed today in a follow-up analysis performed by blockchain intelligence firm Bitquery. It shows how more than 465,000 ETC were allocated for a potential double-spend attack against exchanges, with nearly $1.7 million worth successfully converted out of the vulnerable currency and into other digital assets. 

 

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The second attack, which occurred yesterday, nearly identically resembles the 51% attack from last week, in a bold show of disregard for the potential consequences that come with such a large and, subsequently, well-documented heist.

The Bitquery analysis finds that the attacker employed the same methodology as the earlier July 31 attack, including the purchase of hash power from Nicehash provider daggerhashimoto.

The only notable change was the source of ETC sent to exchanges in transactions that were later overwritten; this time, those funds came from wallets that received funds in the previous attack, instead of moving ETC off of exchanges to be able to send them back later.

 

The attacker was able to successfully spend approximately 143,000 ETC on an exchange identified as Bitfinex worth an estimated $1 million. A second exchange Bitquery was unable to identify was also attacked for about $680,000. The exploit, during which the attacker sent ETC to the exchanges while mining their own blocks to “delete” those transactions later, lasted about 15 hours in total.

Following the 51% attacks and analysis that confirmed the amounts stolen and multiple addresses associated with the attacker, Ethereum Classic Labs enlisted the help of law firm Kobre and Kim and blockchain forensics firm CipherTrace to bring the offender to justice. CipherTrace CEO Dave Jevans indicated that both the theft of exchange funds and the violation of the integrity of the Ethereum Classic blockchain itself were grounds for legal action. By Alexander Behrens 

 

Introducing MARKETHIVE TV — Now LIVE on ROKU and AMAZON FIRE TV

In the last week of July 2020, Markethive TV launched and is now live on Roku TV and Amazon Fire TV which is just one of many joint ventures Markethive.com, the Social Market Network is working on collaboratively with the facilitator, Greg Hoyt, a significant investor in Markethive. 
 
This is a great opportunity for the continued growth of Markethive as more people are cutting the cord and canceling their subscriptions to cable and satellite TV. As of March 13, 2020, Roku TV has 39.8 million active users, while Amazon Fire TV has just surpassed 40 million. This by enlarge is because, while Roku has been popular in the USA, Amazon Fire TV sticks have shipped globally. These numbers are increasing in light of the pandemic as more people are at home either streaming for entertainment or looking for opportunities to work from home to replace the income they may have lost. 

What does this mean for Markethive? Through the Markethive TV portal with its valuable content means more people on a medium other than social media and advertising platforms, has exposure to Markethive, so it’s a whole new market being introduced to the Markethive social market platform, for entrepreneurs, artists, crypto enthusiasts, hobbyists, in fact, anyone looking to share and be part of an online community. 

 

Current And Future Programming On Markethive TV 

Currently, the Markethive TV channel consists of numerous videos, historic in nature, dating back to its inception and a great way to learn about Markethive, its mission, and values along with the all-encompassing platform that is the next generation in social media, automated inbound marketing, digital media broadcasting, ecommerce and a very accessible platform that drives a newly defined cottage industry in the online marketing world run by the community and tailored for the community. 

Click here to join for free

The direction in which Markethive TV plans to go would be the development of a live segment on the channel of interviews with industry experts about topics relevant to Markethive, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and anything that would be of interest to Markethive subscribers, along with educational and up to date news stories. 

Ultimately there would be a host or even multiple hosts for the different interests and topics that will allow Markethive TV to bring interesting and valuable information to the viewers. A very important component is the ability for all Markethivers to contribute to the channel, by supporting, viewing, and positively rating it.

Accelerating Markethive’s Growth And Ultimate Goals 

Markethive TV will help accelerate the growth of Markethive, the social market network platform and realize its goals including economic growth for its ILP holders. Furthermore, to expand and implement a globally distributed system with its mining hives creating a decentralized force that cannot be shut down resulting in a safe and secure haven for the Markethive community.  

When people realize that there is an organization, culture, and system that will give them what they need to be able to achieve financial sovereignty such as Markethive, (meaning we are not dependent upon governments or financial structures that oppress communities and Society in general), Markethive’s growth will be exponential and lead us to 1000’s of hybrid hive farms cultivating Medicinal Marijuana and producing or mining coins.

 Click here to join for free

 
The Architecture Of The Mining Hives

A simple explanation from CEO and Founder of Markethive, Thomas Prendergast explaining how Markethive will become an untouchable force; 

A server and farm at the bottom of the building, the second story is a greenhouse. The greenhouse is producing electricity to feed the servers below. The servers are producing the heat which in turn produces coin and at the core of all that is our Quantum dWave computer as one of the many decentralized database systems that are operated, controlled and protected by the blockchain of our wallet, meaning Markethives presence will be in every nook and cranny in the world and we will be spread out and decentralized along with many projects that will inspire and improve the world. 

Initially, 3 Data centers will work in conjunction with our wallet on the blockchain and will be part of managing our distributed database. Eventually, Markethive will have 10,000+ data centers spread out globally in our mining hive facilities so the entire system will run off the closest data center to you but all interconnected, all updating themselves and all managed by blockchain. This is a substantial technological advancement with no other company doing it presently. 

In a recent interview with Greg Hoyt, who is heading the Markethive TV venture, expressed,

“ My primary desire for Markethive TV is to expose as many people from all around the world as possible to Markethive and bring them into the fold so that they may take this journey with us. They may be people who don’t even realize yet that they want to be entrepreneurs, like people looking to quit their job or find themselves in a position where they need to find a reliable platform online that will help them produce an income.

We are in a rudimentary stage of development at this stage, but as we move forward, with new valuable content, live interviews, etc, anybody who comes across the channel will have the ability to join us at Markethive. The sky's the limit. For now, if we could get everyone in Markethive to tune in and rate our channel, will be a huge step forward.”

Cutting The Cord From Cable And Satellite TV 

Numbers are continually increasing of people purchasing a streaming device and subscribing to a streaming service rather than pay for cable TV. Labeled cord-cutting, and once seen as a revolutionary shift, has become commonplace. The top reasons for an OTT media service are to gain access to original programming (57%) and avoiding advertising (44%). 

The cord-cutting revolution isn’t slowing down anytime soon, in fact, it’s gaining traction with older audiences as 28% of consumers over 50 years old don’t pay for traditional TV service, and 61% get TV content from online sources, which is up more than 27% in two years. The proportion of Internet users watching videos online has grown from 45 percent in 2013 to 70 percent in 2017, and now 90% of consumers are tapping into their preferred content over the internet and unleashing their power of choice.

Apple TV (which launched November 1st, 2019 worldwide) and Google Chromecast are two more streaming services and are in the sights of Greg Hoyt with the potential to add the Markethive TV channel in the future. As more and more people move over from cable to streaming services, this puts Markethive TV right at the forefront of what’s happening in the industry. 

Click here to join for free

Basic Thru To High-End Streaming Devices Available 

Roku has been around for years and one of the first heavily advertised streaming devices that keep reappearing every year as one of the dominant ways to cut the cord. Roku Express is rated as the best for beginners and with fast, HD streaming, not 4K, which is excellent for lower bandwidth or slower WiFi internet services.

Roku Ultra streaming media player is America’s #1 streaming platform, based on hours streamed. The most powerful and feature-packed media player that streams HD/4K/HDR
Ultimate connectivity with dual-band wireless and an ethernet port. Voice remote with buttons for TV power and volume. Plus, lost remote finder and a headphone jack for private listening with included premium JBL headphones.
 
Amazon Fire TV Stick is another basic device for beginners, It’s simple to set up with a quad-core processor,  as well as 8 GB of storage and 1 GB of memory for apps and games that allows for fast streaming. 

The latest device from Amazon is the Fire TV Stick 4K which has Alexa built-in including voice remote, Ultra HD, and Dolby Vision. According to Amazon, it is the most powerful Ultra 4K streaming stick they make. You will need a faster level of bandwidth and WiFi to support HD picture quality.

Google Chromecast is a cheap and easy way to stream video content right to your TV and also enables you to share your phone or laptop's screen directly onto your TV. With a Chromecast, you have a fast path to bring Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, and many more services straight to the biggest screen in your house. 

Apple TV, very powerful, but pricey has 4K and HD boxes that feature the latest technology. creating a crisper picture using four times more pixels than a standard HD along with Dolby Atmos sound, along with 32GB of storage. 

The more hi-end streaming devices are the Fire TV Cube, Apple TV, and Google Chromecast Ultra with all the characteristics of the Roku Ultra and Amazon Fire Stick 4K and then some but are almost double in price. Depending on your requirements, the basic devices are often enough for the average user.

 

The Difference Between Paid Subscription Streaming Services and Devices

Netflix and Amazon Prime TV among many others are a more commercial, mainstream service where you can access movies and popular shows based around entertainment. The hardware like the Roku Express and Amazon Fire Stick are the devices that give you access to these streaming services and are a one-time purchase. As long as you have a wi-fi connection, you can browse the internet and have access to other video streaming apps. You do not need a paid service like Amazon Prime to use the Fire Stick.

What’s The Next Step? 

To access Markethive TV, you'll need to get the app devices (sticks), which you can get online from Amazon, Walmart, or the type of stores that specializes in electronics. Also, Greg Hoyt has created a banner ad where you can order the Roku or Fire Stick devices, so click on the banner at the bottom to order yours. Each app requires its own device. Notably, with Amazon Fire TV, you may need to search for Markethive TV under "APPS" rather than in the regular TV & movie sections.

To help bring Markethive TV into the limelight we would like as many Markethive entrepreneurs as possible to participate in promoting the channel in the Markethive newsfeed to create momentum so that the 1000’s of new members joining every day are aware of this venture. 

Then, go to Markethive TV on Roku or Amazon Fire TV (or both) and rate the channel after watching about 10 minutes of the content. The more consistent viewers and ratings the Markethive TV channel receives and the greater the audience gives a better chance of Markethive TV being displayed on a viewer’s TV screen as opposed to having to search for the channel to view it. 

One of many Markethivers who rated Markethive TV had this to say,

“I loaded it on my Firestick today. The videos look great in true HD. Gave the app 5 stars on Amazon, and then some. Thanks for all the hard work on the app. Very well done.”

As Greg says,

“The timing coincides nicely with the efforts of Thomas and the rest of the team, as Markethive continues its strong growth, along with the remarkable Alexa Ranking, Markethive TV will be adding to that momentum.”

Conclusion

Markethive, delivering a blockchain-driven Market Network for Entrepreneurs with a cryptocurrency ecosystem, integrated with an inbound marketing tools platform, multiple ecommerce tool platforms with blog broadcasting from members and staff writers delivering the latest news, insights, and analysis from 100,000s of bloggers and journalists from many industries. Now we have Markethive TV live on Roku and Amazon Fire streaming networks on a mission to deliver Markethive to a new level and market, creating an even more widespread reach illuminating the platform that has been built for the people, by the people, and of the people. 

 

Click here to join for free

 

Deb Williams
A Crypto/Blockchain enthusiast and a strong advocate for technology, progress, and freedom of speech. I embrace "change" with a passion and my purpose in life is to help people understand, accept, and move forward with enthusiasm to achieve

$5.6 Million Double Spent: ETC Team Finally Acknowledges the 51% Attack on Network

The Ethereum Classic (ETC) blockchain network lost $5.6 million to one miner following a 51% attack initially thought to be a chain split.

During the attack, the offending miner managed to double-spend 807,260 ETC ($5.6 million) after spending 17.5 BTC or $200,000 (at time of writing) to acquire the hash power for the attack.

The ETC team initially issued a statement advising its clients to halt interactions with the network while corrective steps were taken.

At the time, one of the developers at ETC, James Wo insisted the event “was not a 51% attack” while stressing that the “offending miner went offline and was using old client software.”

The investigation by Bitquery now debunks ETC team’s initial theory.

According to Bitquery, the attacker “mined 4280 blocks for four days.” It adds that “he did only a little mining before and stopped mining after the attack.”

In result, the miner “sent all the mining reward money (13K ETC ) to address 0x401810b54720faad2394fbe817dcdeae014066a1, where it resides at the time of writing.”

Bitquery’s report provides a timeline of how the sophisticated attack unfolded as well as the identity of the crypto exchange used by the miner to facilitate the attack.

Meanwhile, the ETC team now acknowledges the event is in fact an attack. In a statement issued late on 5 August the team said:

Today another large 51% attack occurred on ETC which caused a reorganization of over 4000 blocks. Until further notice ETC pool payouts are disabled and we encourage all our miners to switch to our ETH pool in the meantime.

Members of the ETC team also said, “in light of recent network attacks, it is recommended that all exchanges, mining pools, and other ETC service providers significantly raise confirmation times on all deposits and incoming transactions.”

Meanwhile, ETC Cooperatives says its director of developer relations, Yaz Khoury will be working Bitquery to learn out “more about the recent attack, including the attacker’s addresses, origin of hashpower, the flow of funds, and more important details.”

In 2019, ETC suffered a similar attack prompting some exchanges like Coinbase to immediately cease interactions with the blockchain.

What do you think about the latest attack on ETC? Share your thoughts in the comments section below

 

Trump urged US Treasury Secretary to “hunt” Bitcoin

At the time, according to John Bolton’s memoir, Donald Trump asked Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to restrict the trading and sale of the Bitcoin internet currency.

Mnuchin should not be demoted to a “trading negotiator” of the cryptocurrency, the US President is said to have told him. Rather, he should “track” Bitcoin for fraud. The Trump administration, to which Bolton belonged at the time, has always been skeptical about cryptocurrencies. New guidelines for trading and selling digital currencies were issued earlier this year. Steven Mnuchin said in February 2020 that they want to make sure that technology continues to advance in his country. On the other hand, the coins should not be used like Swiss secret number bank accounts.

Article Produced By
 Bitcoin News source since 2012

Virtual currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and accounts and value balances are not subject to consumer protections. TheBitcoinNews.com holds several Cryptocurrencies, and this information does NOT constitute investment advice or an offer to invest. Everything on this website can be seen as Advertisment and most comes from Press Releases, TheBitcoinNews.com is is not responsible for any of the content of or from external sites and feeds. Sponsored posts are always flagged as this, guest posts, guest articles and PRs are most time but NOT always flagged as this. Expert opinions and Price predictions are not supported by us and comes up from 3th part websites.

https://thebitcoinnews.com/trump-urged-us-treasury-secretary-to-hunt-bitcoin/

 

 

Why The Bitcoin Price Could Hit $50,000 In 2020

GETTY

While the Bitcoin price was on the decline for the second half of 2019, the reality is the crypto asset still roughly doubled in value over the course of the entire year. In fact, there were only two major cryptocurrencies that outperformed Bitcoin in 2019.

On Friday morning, Nexo co-founder Antoni Trenchev told Bloomberg’s Matt Miller why he thinks the Bitcoin price could continue to rise to the $50,000 mark in 2020.

“I think that, very easily, we could see Bitcoin going up to $50,000 by the end of this year,” said Trenchev.

Trenchev’s Nexo platform allows users to borrow fiat currency against their cryptocurrency holdings. According to Nexo’s researchers and analysts, a massive rise in the Bitcoin price could occur due to the upcoming halving event. A halving event in Bitcoin is when the amount of Bitcoin generated by the network roughly every ten minutes is cut in half. This event takes place about every four years.

“The last time this happened, Bitcoin rallied 4,000%,” noted Trenchev.

Bitcoin is Digital Gold

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Trenchev also pointed out that Bitcoin is mostly uncorrelated to the rest of the market, providing asymmetric returns for holders of the cryptocurrency.

Miller pointed out that Bitcoin hasn’t grown much as a payment option since he tried to live on the digital currency for a Bloomberg investigative report back in 2012, but Trenchev claimed the main selling point of Bitcoin has evolved over the years.

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“The initial idea was: We’re going to pay for coffees with Bitcoin,” said Trenchev. “But, obviously, that has failed to materialize. The narrative, now, that is much more persuasive is that Bitcoin is the new gold, and we see confirmation with the turmoil that we have this morning — Bitcoin is rallying on par with gold.”

Trenchev added that the Bitcoin price would reach the $50,000 level if the crypto asset is able to take hold of 10% of the current gold market. The Nexo co-founder claimed that, eventually, people will only be able to afford to buy satoshis rather than whole Bitcoins for their portfolios.

Members of the cryptocurrency industry are not the only ones who are aware of Bitcoin’s potential, as members of the United States Congress also envision a world where this technology could have a major impact on society. Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) has said Bitcoin has enormous long term value, while Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA) is worried about the cryptocurrency’s potential impact on the U.S. dollar as the major reserve currency in the world.

Kyle TorpeyContributor

 

How to avoid the latest Bitcoin scams

During the first quarter of 2020, more than $24 million worth of cryptocurrencies were stolen by Bitcoin scammers. The report that was published by Whale Alert, shows how persistent scammers can be despite a global economic crisis. Besides educating the community about exciting opportunities in the crypto industry, AltCoinTrader takes safety and security seriously. Here are a few tips on how to avoid the latest Bitcoin scams.

Latest Bitcoin scams

There are various ways scammers try to steal your cryptocurrencies. These schemes range from fake exchanges, Bitcoin recovery, Ponzi schemes, video scams, malware, fake tumblers and fake ICOs. Fraudsters aim to lure people into giving control of their cryptocurrencies to ruthless third parties who aims to enrich themselves.

Previously scammers would send phishing emails and SMSs, and pose as “customer support” of fake enterprises. The latest scam involves celebrities giving away cryptocurrencies as in the case of the Elon Musk BTC giveaway scam.

A fraudster posing as Elon Musk recently scammed millions of dollars from investors after promising them a cryptocurrency giveaway. YouTube videos and Twitter posts promised 5 000 — 10 000 BTC giveaway if viewers send Bitcoin immediately.

In South Africa, CEO of cryptocurrency investment firm VaultAge Solutions, Willie Breedt stands accused of defrauding 2 000 investors. An investigation by the Hawks revealed more than 2 000 investors paid Breedt R227 million to invest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Breedt is accused of fleeing after failing to repay investors. As a result, the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria forced him into bankruptcy.

Watch out for deepfake scams

It is only a matter of time before scammers will use deepfakes to scam the market. Deepfakes are synthetic media whereby an existing video or image can be replaced with someone else’s voice or image. This is done by means of artificial intelligence and machine learning. The system manipulates visual and audio content with the intention to deceive the audience. Deepfakes can be used to commit financial fraud, spread fake news and hoaxes. A good example of committing fraud with deepfakes is when a scammer uses audio deepfake technology to impersonate someone that is close to you. The voice may give you instruction to transfer funds into a specific bank account. It fools people into doing what trusted individuals ask of them.

It is clear that scammers are resorting to newer technologies to increase their effectiveness. These professional Bitcoin scammers prey on COVID-19 slowing down economies and investors desperately seeking good investment opportunities.

Here are a few helpful tips to protect yourself against cryptocurrency scams:

• Don’t share your personal information with unreliable sources. Never give away your Private Keys, credit card information, ID number or birthday.
• Don’t open emails without verifying the sender’s email address. Phishing emails are still a popular tool used by scammers.
• If you are considering an investment, take some time to think it through and ask someone you trust their opinion. The minute someone starts pressuring you to deposit your money by offering a limited time special, they are up to no good. Also, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Alleged Twitter Hack 'Mastermind' Owns $3 Million in Bitcoin, Bail Set at $725K

Regional reports from Tampa show that the alleged “Mastermind” behind the July 15, Twitter hack owns more than $3.3 million dollars worth of bitcoin. While appearing on a video screen at the Hillsborough County Courthouse, the judge set 17-year old Graham Clark’s bail at $25,000 per 29 counts or $725,000.

The teenager, Graham Clark, made headlines on Friday when he was charged with 30 counts of organized fraud, fraudulent use of personal information and communications fraud.

U.S. law enforcement accused Clark of being the “mastermind” behind the July 15 Twitter hack, which saw a large number of high profile Twitter accounts breached.

Estimates note that Clark had access to roughly 130 Twitter accounts belonging to people like Floyd Mayweather, Elon Musk, Kanye West, Joe Biden, Jeff Bezos, Mike Bloomberg, Warren Buffett, and companies like Apple and Uber as well.

The 17-year old Graham Clark appeared before County Judge Joelle Ann Ober on a video monitor due to the recent Covid-19 restrictions. Two other accomplices were arrested in California where they await federal charges.

Hillsborough County Judge Joelle Ann Ober said that if the 17-year old Graham Clark posts bail, he must turn in his U.S. passport and he will be subject to house arrest using an electronic anklet tracking device.

Clark ostensibly will be charged with state charges, as opposed to federal due to the fact that he is underage. During the hearing, the prosecutors and defense attorneys quarreled over the proper amount of bail to set for Clark. The teenager owns more than 300 BTC according to the prosecutors, which is worth $3.3 million at today’s exchange rates.

According to Clark’s defense attorney, Clark was under a criminal investigation in 2019, which led to law enforcement taking 400 BTC from him. However, defense attorney David Weisbrod told the court that the police had returned 300 BTC back to Clark. Weisbrod notes that this proves the funds did not stem from illegal activities.

Prosecutors disagreed and the state asked Judge Ober to set the teenagers bail at $1 million for being a flight risk. Court reporters said that Weisbrod asked Judge Ober to set bail at $20,000.

Judge Ober seemed to side with the prosecution and set the bail much higher than $20k. At the end of the hearing, Judge Ober set Clark’s bail at $25,000 per 29 counts or a total of $725,000.

The Twitter hack only netted $117,000 worth of BTC on July 15, and prosecutors believe because of this act the 300 BTC he still owns was probably illegally obtained.

For the 30th count, Judge Ober mandated that Clark wear an electronic tracking device if he posted bail. Alongside this, Clark is required to surrender his passport and he is barred from leveraging the internet during his trial.

What do you think about the arrest of the alleged Twitter hack mastermind? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.