Category: Markethive

No it is not New Years Eve but here is a promise I am making

What is it with working online that is so great … the possibility of flexible hours, working on cutting edge technlology projects, meeting thousands of people spread across the globe ???

frustrated at working online

That of course does happen but at what cost to your sanity?

I have met some amazing people online, that is a fact, but I have also met some real assholes and snakes too. From unfilled promises, to downright abuse of trust is the tip of the iceberg.

I vow this; if I ever get to the point where any one of my ventures gives me enough capital to hangup my coding gloves, I will do it big time. 

By this I mean, I will delete all my social media accounts, terminate my online phone numbers, terminate all my website domains, terminate all my hosting accounts, close my Skype account etc etc… You get the picture.

I will then go live away from it all, next to a beach or lake and say goodbye to the 'new era of technology'. Maybe it is coming sooner that I could hope for.

If you believe that my message is worth spreading, please use the share buttons if they show on this page.

Stephen Hodgkiss
Chief Engineer at MarketHive

markethive.com


Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

$154 Billion — Bitcoin Price Rally Carries Crypo Markets to New Record

$154 Billion - Bitcoin Price Rally Carries Crypo Markets to New Record

$154 Billion — Bitcoin Price Rally Carries Crypo Markets to New Record

The bitcoin price rallied on Wednesday, leaping 9% to cross $4,200. The wider crypto markets followed bitcoin’s lead, with 93 of the top 100 cryptocurrencies marching into positive territory for the day.

This near-universal advance added more than $10 billion to the total cryptocurrency market cap. After entering the day at $142.5 billion, the total value of all cryptocurrencies burst through the $150 billion threshold to set a new all-time high of $154 billion.

Popular Cryptocurrency Chart

Bitcoin Price Leaps Past $4,200

The bitcoin price had experienced an early-week correction, briefly diving as low as $3,675 on August 22. Theories for this decline include a hashrate shift from bitcoin to bitcoin cash, as well as concerns surrounding the Segwit/Segwit2x debate. However, the bitcoin price had strong support on the Asian exchanges, which helped prevent it from staying below $4,000 for long. Today’s 9% climb brings the bitcoin price to a present value of $4,243 and a market cap of just over $70.1 billion.

 

Ethereum Price Closes on $350

The ethereum price did not quite keep pace with bitcoin, but it did return a 4% increase for the day. At present, the value of ether is $323, bringing the ethereum market cap to $30.4 billion.

Metropolis, ethereum’s next major protocol upgrade is, quickly approaching. Although these protocol upgrades are implemented by hard forks, they have generally been supported by the community. Consequently, many investors believe the ethereum price will close on $350 as its September release nears.

 

Bitcoin Cash Price Stumbles Following Difficulty Adjustment

The bitcoin cash price surged close to $1,000 last week, one of several converging factors that made bitcoin cash more profitable to mine than bitcoin. Suddenly, the bitcoin cash hashrate exploded, nearly reaching parity with bitcoin. At its height, bitcoin cash boasted 44% of the combined hashrate between the two coins.

However, the hashrate increase triggered an August 22 difficulty adjustment that caused bitcoin cash mining profitability to plunge. Bitcoin cash is now just 42% as profitable to mine as bitcoin, which has led several miners to move hashpower back to the main blockchain. At present, bitcoin cash has about 27% of the combined bitcoin hashrate.

The difficulty adjustment coincided with a decrease in the bitcoin cash price. Despite the widespread market advance, the bitcoin cash price retreated 7% to $661. Bitcoin cash now has a $10.9 billion market cap.
 

Ripple Price Soars to 50% Gain

Bitcoin cash was the only top 25 cryptocurrency to decrease more than 1% for the day, and most coins returned significant gains.

popular chryptocurrency charts

Altcoin Price Chart from CoinMarketCap

The Ripple price led the way, posting a shocking 50% increase following a flood of volume on the major Korean exchanges. This rapid advance raised the Ripple price as high as $0.300 for the first time since June 25, although it has since tapered to $0.277. Ripple now has a market cap of $10.6 billion, putting it within striking distance of reclaiming the 3rd spot from bitcoin cash

Fifth-ranked IOTA rose 9% to $0.92, while the litecoin price increased 4% to $48. The NEM price saw just a 2% gain, but it was enough to raise its market cap to $2.3 billion. The Dash price rose 7% to $300, and NEO climbed 9% to about $38. Other than Ripple, ethereum classic was the only top 10 cryptocurrency to rise more than 10%. ETC’s 14% gain helped it secure the 10th place spot from Monero, who rose 8% to a new all-time high of $98.

 

Author: Josiah Wilmoth on 23/08/2017

 

Posted By David Ogden Entrepreneur

David Ogden Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Estonia could offer ‘estcoins’ to e-residents

Estonia could offer estcoins to e-reidents

Estonia could offer ‘estcoins’ to e-residents

The proposal to issue crypto tokens would make the Republic of Estonia the first country with an Initial Coin Offering (ICO).

What would happen if a country, such as Estonia, issued its own crypto tokens?

This radical question is at the heart of an ambitious new proposal that, if implemented, has the potential to benefit both the country and its fast growing community of e-residents.

‘Estcoins’ could be managed by the Republic of Estonia, but accessed by anyone in the world through its e-Residency programme and launched through an Initial Coin Offering (ICO).

First though, I want to tell you how we got to this point because it’s the result of another question that we asked almost three years ago, which seemed even more radical at first:

‘Estonia has just 1.3 million residents, but what would happen if our country had 10 million digital residents too?’

At that time, every citizen and resident could already obtain a secure digital identity that enabled them to access Estonia’s public services entirely online. This minimised bureaucracy and made every day life easier, especially for entrepreneurs.

So then we wondered — why stop there? Our digital infrastructure can handle far more ‘users’ than the current population.

If anyone, anywhere could also apply for a digital identity issued by the Estonian government then they too could access our public e-services and our business environment. They could then enjoy many of our same advantages online, especially when it came to starting and running a company, no matter where in the world they are.

E-residents and service providers gathered offline in Tallinn for an e-Residency roundtable

As a result, Estonia became the first country to launch e-Residency.

At first, we didn’t exactly know who would apply and what these people would want most from the programme, but it quickly became clear that e-Residency offered huge value to entrepreneurs seeking trust, location-independence, minimal bureaucracy, low business costs and access to a wider range of fintech services.

The latest statistics show that there are now more than 22,000 e-residents signed up from 138 countries and they make an enormous contribution to Estonia in return for the opportunities that we deliver to them. In fact, the weekly application rate is currently higher than Estonia’s weekly birth rate!

The ability to start a location-independent company is now the main ‘product’ that’s driving the growth of e-Residency. If we left it at this then it is likely that we could still achieve a respectable rate of growth (especially among the fast growing ‘digital nomad’ community) while solving a major problem facing our world, which is how to ensure everyone has the opportunity to benefit from entrepreneurship and rising e-commerce. Even the United Nations has now partnered with e-Residency to launch eTrade For All, which is helping tackle financial exclusion in developing countries.

But as more people discover e-Residency, more uses for e-Residency are being discovered.

The private sector is investing in products and services specifically for e-residents and there is a tremendous amount of excitement in how the secure digital identities offered by e-Residency can enable easier KYC and onboarding, therefore making the e-Residency community an attractive customer market for new online services. It’s incredibly exciting that so much of the fintech industry shares our vision for a borderless digital world with opportunities for all. In recent months for example, Holvi has invested in e-Residency business banking that can be accessed entirely online, TransferWise has unveiled their new borderless account, Change is creating the first decentralised bank for e-residents and Mothership is launching a cryptocurrency exchange.

As a result, e-Residency is now creating a new borderless digital nation where many opportunities provided by traditional nations can be offered entirely online to anyone, anywhere. As Estonian President Kaljulaid recently explained, we must keep innovating to ensure that governments remain relevant in the digital era.

Right now for example, Estonia is planning the world’s first ‘data embassy’, which will support Estonia’s digital infrastructure in a location abroad with the same protections granted to traditional embassies. Just as Estonia’s digital society has become location-independent, this development forms part of Estonia’s broader plan to ensure its state can function entirely independent of its own territory too.

The rise of cryptocurrencies and ICOs

It’s clear that there is strong interest in cryptocurrencies and other blockchain-based solutions among our growing community of e-residents.

Just like e-Residency, cryptocurrencies have evolved from a niche idea into an increasingly normal part of modern life for people everywhere in the world because they offer real solutions to real problems.

Several countries have begun experimenting with the introduction of their own digital currencies and China has even developed a prototype cryptocurrency that could one day be put into circulation.

However, Estonia has a clear advantage in this area due to its advanced digital infrastructure and its e-Residency programme. No other country has come close to developing both the technology and the legal frameworks that would enable them to introduce and securely manage tradable crypto assets globally.

It has understandably taken time for all governments to understand and embrace cryptocurrencies as they have a duty to address major challenges, such as the risk of money laundering. In the long term, however, governments may have no option but to (literally) accept cryptocurrencies.

Fortunately, the secure digital identities used by e-residents (as well as citizens and residents of Estonia) are now the ideal mechanism for securely trading crypto assets in a trusted and transparent digital environment. The tokens can not be counterfeited and the government oversight means they can not be used for illegal activities.

The rise of cryptocurrencies has led to another interesting blockchain-based innovation in the private sector called an Initial Coin Offering (ICO), which enables companies to crowdfund their finance and incentivise a wide range of people to help grow their business.

So could a government support an ICO too?

After all, people do already talk about ‘investing in a country’, but what they really mean is investing in opportunities related to that country — such as companies, property or bonds. You may believe in the future of the country and want to help it succeed, but you can only invest in it indirectly at present.

We already know that many people become e-residents simply because they are fans of our country, our technology and our ideas, and being an e-resident enables them to show their support.

A government-supported ICO would give more people a bigger stake in the future of our country and provide not just investment, but also more expertise and ideas to help us grow exponentially.

How could ‘Estcoins’ work?

This why we are proposing the introduction of estcoins, which could enable anyone to invest in a country for the first time.

Investing in any crypto asset can come with high risks and high rewards, but holders of estcoins would have the added incentive of supporting the development of our digital nation.

There are several ways that the initiative can be structured, but it is important that Estcoin investors gain only when all of Estonia gains.

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has a keen interest in Estonia's development as a digital nation and has provided valuable feedback for the estcoin proposal.

He believes estcoins could be used to incentivise investors to support the success of a country in a way that is not currently possible through existing means of raising international finance.

"An ICO within the e-Residency ecosystem would create a strong incentive alignment between e-residents and this fund, and beyond the economic aspect makes the e-residents feel like more of a community since there are more things they can do together,” says Buterin.

"Additionally if these estcoins are issued on top of a blockchain (they could possibly be issued in multiple formats at the same time, nothing wrong with this) then it would become easy and convenient to use them inside of smart contracts and other applications."

For a good example of how the additional money could be managed on behalf of the Estonian people, the Norwegian state pension fund (more commonly known as ‘the oil fund’) is a good example. It is regarded as one of the smartest investors on the planet and has achieved an impressive rate of growth.

The funds raised through estcoins could be managed through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) and only used as described in the agreement to actually help build the new digital nation. This would enable Estonia to invest in new technologies and innovations for the public sector, from smart contracts to Artificial Intelligence, as well as make it technically scalable to benefit more people around the world. Estonia would then serve a model for how societies of the future can be served in the digital era.

In addition, a large proportion of the funds could be used as a community-run VC fund on behalf of investors. The money could then be used to support Estonian companies, including those established by other e-residents.

As an investment opportunity, estcoins could benefit Estonia and be attractive to investors from the day it is launched. As with e-Residency however, the longer term opportunities could be far greater and possibly beyond anything we can currently comprehend.

In time, estcoins could also be accepted as payment for both public and private services and eventually function as a viable currency used globally. By using our APIs, companies and even other countries could accept these same tokens as payment. It will also be possible to build more functions on top of the estcoins and use them for more purposes, such as smart contracts and notary services.

‘Estcoin’ might make sense today as a name, but it might not be the right one long term because its use could grow far bigger than Estonia. The same thing is happening to e-Residency as a whole, which was initially thought of as a way to be part of the Estonian nation but is now creating a new global digital nation, powered by the Republic of Estonia.

If there is support for this proposal, then the next stage before the ICO would be to provide a white paper that outlines the value of estcoins and how the investment will be used to develop our digital nation. It is likely to begin as a pilot project that can be scaled up based on demand.

 

Kaspar Korjus

Managing Director at e-Residency Aug 21st

 

Posted by David Ogden
                Entrepreneur

 

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Cryptocurrency Mining — What It Is, How It Works And Who’s Making Money Off It

Cryptocurrency Mining - What It Is, How It Works And Who's Making Money Off It

Cryptocurrency Mining — What It Is, How It Works And Who's Making Money Off It

 

NVIDIA Corporation's second-quarter earnings released earlier this month, though exceeding expectations, elicited cautionary reaction from the investor as well as analyst communities. Traders bid down the stock by over 5 percent on Aug. 11.

One of the reasons cited for the negative reaction was cryptocurrency contributing to much of the outperformance.

Why should it be a cause for alarm?

Analysts Blayne Curtis and Christopher Hemmelgarn of Barclays believes revenue stream from cryptocurrency is fickle. Therefore, the analysts were not in favor of assigning a multiple to it, as it has the potential to become an eventual headwind.

Rival Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Also had a similar tale to tell. The company indicated that cryptocurrency demand remains strong, while also suggesting that the demand might not last forever.
 

What Is Cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency, as the name suggests, is a form of digital money designed to be secure and anonymous in most cases. It uses a technique called cryptography — a process used to convert legible information into an almost uncrackable code, to help track purchases and transfers.

Giving a simple definition, Blockgeeks says it is just limited entries in a database no one can change without fulfilling specific conditions.

Cryptography is a technique that uses elements of mathematical theory and computer science and was evolved during the World War II to securely transfer data and information. Currently, it is used to secure communications, information and money online.

Cryptocurrencies allow users to make secure payments, without having to go through banks.

Some cryptocurrencies include bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, DigitalNote, LiteCoin and PotCoin.

Bitcoin has the distinction of being the first cryptocurrency, having been introduced in 2009. Since then, this class of cryptocurrencies mushroomed, with more than 900 currently active.

How Cryptocurrencies Work

A cryptocurrency runs on a blockchain, which is a shared ledger or document duplicated several times across a network of computers. The updated document is distributed and made available to all holders of the cryptocurrency.

Every single transaction made and the ownership of every single cryptocurrency in circulation is recorded in the blockchain.

The blockchain is run by miners, who use powerful computers that tally the transactions. Their function is to update each time a transaction is made and also ensure the authenticity of information, thereby ascertaining that each transaction is secure and is processed properly and safely.

As payment for their services, miners are paid physically minted cryptocurrency as fees by vendors or merchants of each transaction.

The value of the cryptocurrency fluctuates based on demand and supply, although there is no fixed value for it. Buyers and sellers agree on a value, which is fair and is based on the value of the cryptocurrency trading elsewhere.

Since there is no intermediary like bank involved in the transaction, as it is a peer-to-peer transaction, the transaction fee that is associated with credit cards is eliminated. The identity of the buyer and seller are not revealed. However, each and every transaction is made public to all the people in the blockchain network.

One can acquire a cryptocurrency through exchanges found online or trade it for traditional currencies.

Assume X wants to buy an item valued at $10,000 and he realizes that the seller Y accepts cryptocurrency, say bitcoin, as a form of payment. X scouts around to find the prevailing exchange rate, say $1,000 per currency. X gets Y's public Bitcoin address from Y's website, although both parties remain anonymous to each other.

X can now instruct his Bitcoin client or the software installed on his computer to transfer 10 bitcoins from his wallet to Y's address. X's Bitcoin client will electronically sign the transaction request with his private key known only to him. X's public key, which is a public information, can be used for verifying the information.

When X's transaction is broadcast to the Bitcoin network, it would be verified in a few minutes by miners. The 10 bitcoins will now be transferred to Y's address.

 

Mining
 

Cryptocurrency mining includes two functions, namely: adding transactions to the blockchain (securing and verifying) and also releasing new currency. Individual blocks added by miners should contain a proof-of-work, or PoW.

Mining needs a computer and a special program, which helps miners compete with their peers in solving complicated mathematical problems. This would need huge computer resources. In regular intervals, miners would attempt to solve a block having the transaction data using cryptographic hash functions.

Hash value is a numeric value of fixed length that uniquely identifies data. Miners use their computer to zero in on a hash value less than the target and whoever is the first to crack it would be considered as the one who mined the block and is eligible to get a rewarded.

The reward for mining a block is now 12.5 bitcoins.

Earlier, only cryptography enthusiasts served as miners. However, as cryptocurrencies gained in popularity and increased in value, mining is now considered a lucrative business. Consequently, several people and enterprises have started investing in warehouses and hardware.

As enterprises jumped into the fray, unable to compete, bitcoin miners have begun to join open pools, combining resources to effectively compete.
 

Bank of New York Mellon Corp has been running an internal blockchain platform for U.S. Treasury bond settlements since early 2016, a Marketwatch report quoting Morgan Stanley said. The private nature of the platform has kept it out of the regulatory purview. Once the bank decides to roll it out to clients and use it commercially, regulatory oversight might come into the picture.

A complete mining kit consists of graphics cards, a processor, power supply, memory, cabling and a fan, which would cost between $2,400 and $3,800 on Amazon.com, Inc. According to Bloomberg.

The top three mining hardware, according to 99bitcoins.com, are Avalon6, AntMiner S7 and AntMiner S9.

Given that existing GPUs aren't powerful enough, now miners are flocking to application-specific integrated circuits, or ASICs. To circumvent this shortcoming, Nvidia and AMD are said to be working on GPUs, which could be used specifically for the purpose.

The two companies who are dominant in consumer-grade mining hardware are Canaan and Bitmain. Bitmain, based in Beijing, does mining as well as manufactures mining hardware.
 

Mining Pools And Their Share Of Mining

Mining pools including bitclub network

Mining pools are concentrated in China, which boasts of 81 percent of the network hash rate.

 

Why Mining Chips Are A Fickle Revenue Stream

For companies such as AMD and Nvidia, which have dominant positions in the gaming chip market, a focus away from their core business may not be a prudent course of action.

As seen, these companies may have to bring out new GPUs designed exclusively for this purpose to pose a real threat to the ASIC chips, which are predominantly manufactured by the Chinese, who are notorious for their low-cost market positioning. How viable is the spend on such exclusive chips is a moot point.

Additionally, national governments and exchanges are mulling over regulation of the whole realm of cryptocurrencies. Japan has recently introduced legislation to protect users after Tokyo-based Bitcoin exchange Mt Gox collapsed in 2014. Similarly, introducing taxation such as capital gains tax on Bitcoin sales may also impede the cryptocurrency industry.
 

Author: Shanthi Rexaline , Benzinga Staff Writer

August 21, 2017 8:59am

 

Posted by David Ogden
                 Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Get started in cryptocurrency with this beginner’s directory

Get started in cryptocurrency with this beginner's directory

Get started in cryptocurrency with this beginner’s directory

The wonderful world of cryptocurrency has grown from a budding idea to a full-fledged market bonanza. Hopefully you’re savvy to the terminology and ready to start putting your money where your technology is. This directory should provide you with the basic starting points to begin building your fortune in digital money.

(Don’t forget that cryptocurrency is an investment, and you shouldn’t trust your finances to an article you read on a news-source. We strongly advise contacting a financial adviser before risking your money.)

Bitcoin was founded in 2009. It represented the first decentralized cryptocurrency. It’s the oldest, and, as of August 17th it reached an all-time high of over $4,500. Just six months prior it was worth about $900. While you’re trying to wrap your head around that, keep in mind Bitcoin isn’t the only cryptocurrency.

How many cryptocurrency offerings are there? Over 850 are currently listed on CoinMarketCap. Before you decide which one to blow your speculation money on, make sure you have all your crypto-ducks in a row.

You need a wallet

Before you can buy into an initial coin offering (ICO), purchase cryptocurrency, or execute smart-contracts you’ll need a wallet. There are hardware wallets and software wallets; for now we’re only going to worry about software wallets.

Here’s a few to start you off:

  1. Blockchain — possibly the most popular cryptocurrency wallet

  2. Electrium — has been around since 2011

  3. Gemini — boasts regulation by New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS).

Buy an established coin

You don’t have to start off trying to predict which ICO is the best investment. There are numerous ways to aquire cryptocurrency from an established coin. Here are some of our favorite coins to get your research started:

  1. Bitcoin — The big one. If you’ve got $4,000+ to fork out for a Bitcoin you can get in on the over/under $5,000 action. For what it’s worth there are experts on both sides of that fence.

  2. Ethereum — Things get a little more complicated here, but worth listing as a currency simply because ETH is second only to Bitcoin in popularity.

  3. Litecoin — Launched in 2011 billing itself the “silver” to Bitcoin’s “gold”.

  4. Bitcoin Cash — Bitcoin managed to fork itself and now there’s this.

  5. Siacoin — Sometimes cryptocurrency comes in the form of cloud storage.

  6. World Coin Index — provides a great listing to check valuations out

  7. Coin Market Cap — another listing of coin valuations

Or just find an ICO and dive in

Which is easier said than done. It seems like there’s an ICO for everything. We’re hesitant to even list any here, simply because you should research an ICO much more in-depth than would be prudent for the purpose of this directory. However, we’re happy to provide some links that might help:

  1. Coin Schedule — provides analysis on current and upcoming ICOs

  2. Smith and Crown — A curated list of ICOs

  3. ICO List — One of the most popular international sites concerning ICOs

It’s time to hit the exchange

Depending on which coin you’re investing in you’ll either visit an exchange, or use whatever method of purchase or trade the offering requires. You may be able to set up an online store that accepts Bitcoin or ETH, for example. Or perhaps you know someone who will sell you some. One of the most common ways to get cryptocurrency is to visit an exchange.

  1. Coinbase — probably the most popular exchange there is

  2. Kraken — you’ll find this one is well-reviewed by insiders

  3. Bittrex — US based and supports nearly 200 cryptocurrencies

  4. Buy Bitcoin Worldwide— provides country-specific exchange information

The above links should provide you with enough information to get you started on a path to dominate the cryptocurrency markets and become rich beyond fantasy. Or you could lose a bunch of money.

by TRISTAN GREENE — 13 hours ago in EVERGREEN

 

Posted by David Ogden
Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Bitcoin Price to Reach $6,000 in 2018, Predicts Wall Street Strategist

Bitcoin Price to Reach $6,000 in 2018, Predicts Wall Street Strategist

Bitcoin Price to Reach $6,000 in 2018, Predicts Wall Street Strategist

 

The bitcoin price pulled back from its all-time high this weekend, weighed down by a bitcoin cash price surge and disagreements over the SegWit2x scaling proposal.

Bitcoin Price to Reach $6,000 in 2018, Predicts Wall Street Strategist

However, Wall Street strategist Tom Lee believes that the long-term prospects of the bitcoin price remain quite promising. As CNBC reports, Lee–who co-founded Fundstrat Global Advisors and is bearish on the outlook for the stock market–wrote a note to clients establishing a mid-2018 bitcoin price target of $6,000. He also forecasts that it could rise as high as $25,000 by 2022.
 

Bitcoin Price to Reach $6,000 in 2018

He says several factors will fuel bitcoin’s continued rise to $6,000, including a 50% increase public adoption of bitcoin as a store of value and mainstream financial investments in cryptocurrency:

We see bitcoin as gaining from institutional sponsorship, improving transaction platforms and ultimately, greater public adoption.

Pointing to LedgerX and CBOE Holdings, which have both receive regulatory approval, Lee says the availability of cryptocurrency options and futures trading will increase overall bitcoin transaction volume.

This implies significant rise in institutional holdings of Bitcoin in next 6-8 months given recent approvals….No doubt, this will lead to an increase in overall transaction volumes for bitcoin.

 

Central Banks Could Acquire Bitcoin

Lee’s comments echo a recent Goldman Sachs note, which advised that it is “getting harder” for institutional investors to ignore cryptocurrencies. He adds that even central banks may begin acquiring bitcoin if it reaches a market cap of $500 billion, which will happen if the bitcoin price reaches about $30,000.

While one may say this is preposterous to say central banks would own bitcoin — we believe that Central banks would view crypto currencies differently if Bitcoin’s aggregate value exceeded $500 billion

That said, Lee anticipates short-term volatility for the bitcoin price heading into late August of this year.

Short-term traders should be prepared for another volatile consolidation period heading into late August given the XBT is nearing our next resistance levels with daily/short-term momentum becoming overbought.

 

Other Bitcoin Price Forecasts

A number of financial analysts have issued bitcoin price forecasts. Sheba Jafari, a chief technical analyst at Goldman Sachs, believes the bitcoin price will near $5,000 but crash as low as $2,221 as its fifth wave ends. Stock researcher Ronnie Moas believes bitcoin will beat Lee’s target and cross $7,500 in 2018, and one Harvard academic believes a unique application of Moore’s Law could result in bitcoin breaking through $100,000 in 2021.

 

Author: Josiah Willmoth on 19/08/2017

 

Posted By David Ogden
                 Entrepreneur

 

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Bitcoin Cryptocurrency Breaks New Record High

Bitcoin Cryptocurrency Breaks New Record High

Bitcoin Cryptocurrency Breaks New Record High

FinancialBuzz.com News Commentary

 

NEW YORK, August 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ —

 

Bitcoin hit a record high above $4,500 yesterday and now putting the market capitalization over $73 billion according to CoinDesk. William Mougayar, the Founder of Startup Management, explained to Fortune that increased interest from Korean and Japanese exchanges are increasing the value of the cryptocurrency. "Another part of it is driven by the psychology of markets, as $USD 5,000 seems to be within reach, now that the $4,000 level has been easily broken," Mougayar said. The capitalization of Bitcoin is currently higher than some S&P 500 stocks, such as Netflix and PayPal. ChineseInvestors.com, Inc. (OTC: CIIX), NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA), Advances Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD), First Bitcoin Capital Corp (OTC: BITCF), MGT Capital Investments, Inc. (OTC: MGTI).
 

"PayPal was initially created with a similar vision to bitcoin — as permission less money," said Ari Paul, Chief Investment Officer of cryptocurrency investment firm BlockTower Capital, CNBC reported. "PayPal wasn't able to fulfill that vision, but bitcoin is well on the way. Bitcoin can be usSOURCE FinancialBuzz.comed to transfer $100 million anywhere in the world in 10 minutes and for less than $2. Bitcoin rising in value above PayPal reflects its growing role as the best way to move money globally."
 

ChineseInvestors.com, Inc. (OTCQB: CIIX) announced on August 14th the, "Launch of its cryptocurrency education and trading subscription service on ChineseIn.com, the Company's dynamic financial website that provides real-time market commentary, analysis, and educational related services to Chinese-speaking investors. The new subscription service will cover timely news and will provide analysis regarding all aspects of the emerging digital currency world, including coverage of cryptocurrencies including bitcoin and ethereum, industry trends, price movement, sector related stocks and ETFs, etc.

 

Cryptocurrency has attracted a lot of attention in recent years from the creation of bitcoin, the world's first decentralized digital currency to blockchain technology, which allows cryptocurrency to transfer value across the globe without resorting to traditional intermediaries such as banks. The ability to transfer value solely through software is a huge breakthrough. The cryptocurrency market has also created new phenomena such as currency mining, trading, tender, and storage. At the same time, it has significantly impacted industries such as cybersecurity, cloud computing and storage, and semiconductors."

 

"Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin have become a global phenomenon," says Warren Wang, Founder and CEO of CIIX. "Since January 2015, the price of Bitcoin has increased 500% from $200 to $1,000 in January 2017, and just spiked to a record high over $4,000 as US-North Korea tensions escalated. Likewise, ethereum has surged from less than $10 to more than $300 this year.

 

With the use and trading of cryptocurrencies on the rise in Asia, it appears that a much wider adoption of digital assets may be right around the corner. With an estimated 85% market share, China is one of the dominant players controlling bitcoin volume, along with Japan (which recently legalized bitcoin as a form of payment) and the United States. While many see the unique opportunity that cryptocurrency poses for investors and desire to capitalize on this market opportunity, they may not have a full understanding of the concept of digital currency or how the system works. CIIX intends to provide fundamental knowledge to Chinese speaking newcomers to cryptocurrency, including straightforward explanations of the basics of cryptocurrency, how to buy it and straightforward trading guidelines. For those with cryptocurrency experience, the Company will provide more detailed information regarding currency mining, blockchain technology, stock trends and ETFs. Through its innovative cryptocurrency education and trading subscription service, the Company endeavors to be the leading Chinese educational site providing up to date news and information on digital currencies."

 

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) sparked the growth of the PC gaming market with the invention of the GPU in 1999. The company redefined modern computer graphics and revolutionized parallel computing. On August 10th, the company announced second quarter financial results for fiscal 2018. According to the CFO's commentary, "Our PC OEM revenue includes GPUs designed for mainstream desktops, notebooks, and cryptocurrency mining. The recent rise in crypto coin prices resulted in increased demand in OEM GPU sales." GPU business revenue was $1.90 billion, up 59 percent from a year earlier and up 21 percent sequentially, led by strength across all platforms, including datacenter, gaming, and professional visualization platforms, along with PC OEM sales.

 

Advances Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) has driven innovation in high-performance computing, graphics, and visualization technologies, the building blocks for gaming, immersive platforms, and the datacenter. AMD announced its financial results for the second quarter on July 25th. On the earnings call, CEO of AMD, Lisa T. Su said, "In Graphics, GPU revenue increased by a strong double-digit percentage from year ago, with higher unit shipments and ASPs driving growth across our desktop and mobile GPU products. Demand for Radeon RX GPUs was strong in the quarter, driven by gaming and cryptocurrency mining."

 

First Bitcoin Capital Corp (OTC: BITCF) is engaged in developing digital currencies, proprietary Blockchain technologies, and the digital currency exchange — http://www.CoinQX.com . The company provides shareholders with diversified exposure to digital cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. On July 9th, invested its primary wallet owning dozens of cryptocurrencies into AlphaBIT in exchange for controlling interest, e.g. 200,000,000 ABCs. AlphaBIT is a closed-end crypto-exchange traded fund (CETF).

 

MGT Capital Investments, Inc. (OTC: MGTI) focus' on an expansion model to grow its crypto assets materially. The Company is also developing a portfolio of cyber security technologies, with industry pioneer John McAfee as its visionary leader, creating advanced protection technologies for mobile and personal tech devices, as well as corporate networks. On Thursday, MGT announced the deployment of 650 new Bitmain S9 Bitcoin mining rigs. These units are located at a new multi MegaWatt facility in central Washington state. Robert Ladd, Chief Executive Officer of MGT commented, "We are committed to this sector and look forward to updating stockholders on our continuing growth."

 

SOURCE FinancialBuzz.com

 

Posted By David Ogden
                 Entrepereneur

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Bitcoin Surging Demand Amidst Economic Uncertainty

Bitcoin Surging Demand Amidst Economic Uncertainty

Bitcoin Surging Demand Amidst Economic Uncertainty

After a strong week-long rally, bitcoin price has achieved yet another all-time high at $4,473, as demand from institutional investors and traders continue to rise amidst economic uncertainty and global markets instability.

Bitcoin Surging Demand Amidst Economic Uncertainty

Some regions including China demonstrated a meteoric increase in demand towards bitcoin, with bitcoin price surpassing the 30,000 Chinese yuan for the first time in history, which is equivalent to $4,495.

 

In previous coverages, Cryptocoinsnews noted that many analysts from prominent financial institutions including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan believe institutional and retail investors are shifting away from stocks and gold to bitcoin. Wall Street strategist Tom Lee said on CNBC that bitcoin will likely become the best performing asset and currency by the end of 2017. With the recent rise in bitcoin price, the prediction of Lee has become more realistic, as even with a 50 percent decline in value, bitcoin will still remain as the best performing asset in a yearly basis.
 

Earlier this morning, Morgan Stanley, the $89 billion investment banking company which manages over $1.3 trillion in assets, explained that an increasing number of investors, professional traders and portfolio managers have started to prefer bitcoin over gold for various reasons. As a start, despite being considered as a safe haven asset and long-term investment, as a digital currency, bitcoin is highly portable and liquid.

Over the past two years, overseas bitcoin exchange markets have matured significantly through the implementation of Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) systems, legalization of bitcoin by many governments and rapid increase in adoption by general consumers. More to that, large-scale financial institutions and leading bitcoin exchanges have started to target institutional investors by drastically improving liquidity of bitcoin.

 

In a note to its investors, Morgan Stanley equity strategist Tom Price stated:
 

The popular view that this immature currency is superior to gold as a hedge against inflation/uncertainty, still needs to be tested.
 

More importantly, Price emphasized that many investors see bitcoin as a better safe haven asset and store of value than gold in several aspects. He added:
 

“Some claim that the protocol limiting bitcoin’s supply growth rate, underpins its value, But if bitcoin is successful long term, we should continue to see competitor cryptocurrencies and market strategies emerge to exploit the new economic rent — a bearish risk for bitcoin’s price. [Bitcoin is] the latest money to offer gold’s long standing capabilities plus some other unique benefits. While it too may somehow undermine gold’s demand outlook, the rate/scale of the shift depends on the willingness of investors to engage bitcoin/cryptocurrencies.”

 

Yesterday, on August 16, when bitcoin price abruptly decreased from around $4,400 to $4,050 during a minor correction, investors and traders expected a steady mid-term decline in value. However, in a relatively short period of time, bitcoin price recovered beyond its previous peak and established a new all-time high, establishing a strong momentum for the week and upcoming months.

 

If the current levels and demand can be sustained throughout the week, the $5,000 target of Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and other prominent analysts including RT’s Max Keiser will become increasingly likely.

 

But, bitcoin price has since declined after a minor setback, from $4,473 to $4,300. It is already demonstrating indicators of recovery, as bitcoin price recovered to $4,330.
 

Originator and publisher:
Samburaj Das on 18/08/2017

 

Posted By David Ogden
Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

China’s Cryptocurrency Mining: Capital, Costs, Earnings

China's Cryptocurrency Mining - Capital, Costs, Earnings

China’s Cryptocurrency Mining: Capital, Costs, Earnings

Most Bitcoin mining operations are in China. As of July 2017, it is estimated that almost 70 percent of all Bitcoin mining is located in China.

Cryptocurrency mining, like other forms of businesses, needs capital to start and runs at an operation cost. Briefly, the startup cost includes the building, facilities and mining equipment.

On the other hand, the operation cost primarily includes electricity consumption, Internet bandwidth, manpower, equipment wear and tear and facilities maintenance.

Cheap electricity and mining machines are the two most critical factors for why mining operations are now thriving in China.

Cheap coal and massive hydroelectric power

It is not surprising that China is leading the world in cryptocurrency mining as its electricity tariff is one of the lowest in the world. Electricity in China is mainly generated by coal, which accounted for 57 percent of the total production and secondly by hydroelectric power — 20 percent.

With China being the world’s third largest coal reserve and coal being the cheapest source of power among the fossil fuels, electricity production costs a lot less than other parts of the world.

However, coal power is not the main source of power that is fuelling cryptocurrency mining, hydroelectric power is.

The largest concentration of miners are located in Sichuan China, estimated to be about 30 percent of the total. In Sichuan, hydroelectric makes up 79.5 percent of the total electricity capacity while fossil fuel makes 19.5 percent and it runs only during dry seasons. In wet seasons, Sichuan energy production exceeds consumption.

As of today, electricity in Sichuan costs around $0.08 to $0.09/kWh for commercial and industrial consumption.

Running a mining plant

A reporter from National Business Daily visited a mining operation and reported:

“The mining operation owned by a company called TianJia WangLuo located inside BaJiaoQi hydroelectric power plant has over 5,800 mining machines totaling more than 40 petahashes of processing power. The mining yields around 27 coins daily. This plant uses 7,000 units of energy an hour, amounting to 168,000 units of energy (kWh) a day, as the national average cost of electricity is about RMB 0.40 ($0.06) a unit, the cost of electricity for the plant is around RMB 6,720 ($1,000) a day.”

The cost of setting up the mining operation is by no means small. According to the plant supervisor, Mr. Lei, the company spent more than RMB five mln ($750,000) to build the plant.

The costs of the mining equipment aren’t small either. Each mining machine costs around RMB 10,000 ($1,500). In total, the capital investment was more than RMB 60 mln ($9 mln).

“This huge investment isn’t borne solely by the company as that is impossible. In fact, some of these machines don’t belong to the company; we operate them on behalf of others. For example, you buy a few machines and give them to me, I operate them for you, and in return, I receive a fixed service charge. In this way, the capital cost can be reduced and so is the risk,” Mr. Lei explained to the reporters.

How much can be earned?

The reporter estimated that this operation has a revenue of over RMB two mln a year. However, the net profit should take into consideration factors such as market price fluctuation, future halving of a number of coins and the changing of difficulty in mining.

The coin that is mined will eventually be traded in the market and cashed at certain time. Thus, the market price will determine how much the net profit is.

Mr. Lei also explained that for his operation, they sell only enough coin to cover their expenses. The surplus is kept for future as this is the long term strategy for his company. He also mentioned that not all mining companies follow this practice.

“In 2013, electricity tariff was high at RMB 0.70 ($0.10) to RMB 0.80 ($0.12) per unit, but at the same time, Bitcoin price was also high, around RMB 8,000 ($1,196). Many mining operations survived the high electricity cost but in 2015, the price fell to RMB 900 ($135), many mining operations closed down. It was a very bad time for the business,” Mr. Lei recalled.

Investment returns

Mr. Lei further told the reporter that the profit usually depends on changing factors but if things were stable and stayed the way they are as of now and you buy a machine, it takes about eight to nine months of continuously running to get the return back.

As a matter of fact, any businesses that have a return on investment of less than a year is considered very good.

“Like ore miners, our jobs are tough, but the people who make big profits are definitely not the miners. In our field, the logic is as the same (as ore mining). The ones who earn the most are the machine sellers and ore traders,” said Mr Lei.

 

By Willie Tan

 

Posted by David Ogden
Entrepreneur

 

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member