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Bitcoin is no long the only game in crypto-currency town

Bitcoin is no long the only game in crypto-currency town

Bitcoin is no long the only game in crypto-currency town

IT STARTED as a joke. Dogecoin was launched in 2013 as a bitcoin parody, using as its mascot a Japanese shiba inu dog, a popular internet meme. The crypto-currency was never really used, except for tipping online, and one of its founders has called it quits. But recently its price has soared: on January 7th the dollar value of all Dogecoins in circulation reached $2bn, a sign of how crazy crypto-currency markets have become. It is also a reminder that, for all the focus on bitcoin, it is no longer the only game in town. Its market capitalisation now amounts to only about one-third of the crypto-market (see chart).

Bitcoin is no long the only game in crypto-currency town

A new crypto-currency is born almost daily, often through an “initial coin offering” (ICO), a form of online crowdfunding. CoinMarketCap, a website, lists about 1,400 digital coins or tokens, including UFO Coin, PutinCoin, Sexcoin and InsaneCoin (worth $7m). Most are no more than curiosities, but by January 10th, around 40 had a market capitalisation of more than $1bn.

First on the list, after bitcoin, was Ethereum, whose coin, called ether, reached a market capitalisation of $137bn. Ethereum’s claim to fame is that it is also a platform for “smart contracts”—business rules encapsulated in software. Most ICO tokens, for instance, are issued by such contracts. Its success has attracted crypto-copycats: Cardano ($20bn) and NEO ($8bn), a Chinese version.

Ripple, too, is defying gravity. It is all the rage in crypto-crazy South Korea, which this week roiled crypto-markets with plans to ban trading on exchanges. Ripple sells software to move money between countries; more than 100 banks have signed up to its technology, based on a coin called XRP. Its market capitalisation jumped by more than 40,000% in 2017, reaching nearly $149bn on January 4th, before falling back to $78bn. That still makes Chris Larsen, a Ripple co-founder, one of the world’s richest people, at least on digital paper.

Less well-known coins have also taken wing. Monero ($6bn) and Zcash ($2bn) focus on privacy. Stellar ($9.8bn) has developed a system to transfer funds cheaply that is used by charities, particularly in poor countries. IOTA ($10.1bn) allows connected machines to exchange information and payments securely. And then there is Bitcoin Cash ($46bn), whose founders split from bitcoin in August 2017 because they were unhappy with how it was run.

Might any of these one day replace bitcoin as crypto-land reserve currency, something insiders call the “flippening”? Given bitcoin’s governance problems (another “fork”, or split, may be in the offing) and limited capacity (a transaction now costs nearly $30, on average, in fees), this cannot be excluded. But the others have problems, too. Ethereum’s user fees have soared and the system has again hit technical snags. As for Ripple, some question the extent to which XRPs are actually used.

Come what may, the field will only get more crowded. Kodak, the archetypal victim of digital disruption, wants to jump on the crypto-wagon: on January 9th it announced that it will launch a coin to allow photographers to charge for their works. More ambitious will be the ICO of Telegram, a messaging service with 180m users: it aims to raise $1.2bn and issue a token called Gram that can be used to pay for a range of services from online storage to virtual private networks. Even Facebook has reportedly started looking into creating a token. Should the world’s biggest social network ever make that move, bitcoin’s days as the leading crypto-currency would almost certainly be numbered.
 

Source: The Economist

 

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

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Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis for 10th January – Small Reversal Signal

Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis for 01/10/2018 – Small Reversal Signal

Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis for 01/10/2018 — Small Reversal Signal

Bitcoin Price Key Highlights

Bitcoin price appears ready for another selloff as price has formed a head and shoulders pattern on the 1-hour chart.

Price has yet to break below the neckline around the $14,000 major psychological support.

The chart pattern is approximately $3,000 tall so the resulting drop could be of the same height.

Bitcoin price is forming yet another selloff signal on a short-term time frame, but technical indicators are looking mixed.
 

Technical Indicators Signals
 

The 100 SMA is still above the longer-term 200 SMA on this time frame to suggest that the path of least resistance is to the upside or that the rally could continue. However, the gap between the moving averages has narrowed significantly to show that a downward crossover and and pickup in bearish momentum is imminent.

A break below the neckline could take bitcoin price down to the $10,000-11,000 region next while a bounce could lead to a move up to $15,000 then the highs at $17,000.

Stochastic is pulling up from the oversold region to signal a return in buying momentum while RSI also appears to be slowly heading north as well.

Market Factors

Dollar demand has once again ticked higher on record high Treasury yields, as well as record closes for equity indices. Traders are now looking ahead to a positive earnings season scheduled to start on Friday, and these upbeat expectations are likely to be sustained as tax reform kicks in.

Meanwhile, bitcoin price continues to reel from the hesitation among ETFs facing SEC regulation. A couple of funds withdrew their applications, citing pushback from the financial watchdog. Direxion Shares ETF Trust secretary Angela Brickl wrote
 

“On a call with the Staff on January 5, 2018, the Staff expressed concerns regarding the liquidity and valuation of the underlying instruments in which the Fund intends to primarily invest and requested that the Trust withdraw the Amendment until such time as these concerns are resolved. In response to the Staff’s request, the Trust respectfully requests withdrawal of the Amendment.”

This cryptocurrency is also losing ground to its altcoin rivals, as well as equities that are performing better.

 

Author: SARAH JENN

 

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

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Bitcoin drops below $15,000 as regulation, demand concerns linger

Bitcoin drops below $15,000 as regulation, demand concerns linger

Bitcoin drops below $15,000 as regulation, demand concerns linger

Bitcoin slumped, dragging down smaller rivals such as ether and litecoin, as concerns that regulators will tighten their grip on the market weigh on the world's largest cryptocurrency.

Regulators in China and South Korea are increasing oversight on cryptocurrency trading and mining, while the US Securities and Exchange Commission late last year started cracking down on some digital token sales, known as ICOs. Coinmarketcap.com's decision to exclude Korean pricing data for coins helped create the appearance of a large drop in prices, which some traders attributed as playing a part in the selloff.

"News on the regulatory front is dragging down cryptos," said Gabor Gurbacs, director of digital-asset strategy at VanEck Associates Corp. "South Korea and China tightening is weighing on bitcoin and in the ICO market, things started slowing down, with the SEC cracking down on illegal offerings."

Bitcoin slumped as much as 17 per cent to $14,820, the most in more than two weeks. The rout in bitcoin is part of a broader selloff in the cryptocurrency realm, with all of the top 10 by market cap falling, and most tumbling by at least 10 per cent, according to Coinmarketcap.com. Cardano fell 16 per cent, while litecoin slumped as much as 16 per cent to as low as $230. Bitcoin is little changed this year after surging about 1,400 per cent in 2017.

China plans to limit power use by some bitcoin miners, people familiar with the matter said last week, a potential challenge to an industry whose energy-intensive computer networks enable transactions in the cryptocurrency. The People's Bank of China outlined the plan Jan. 3 at a closed-door meeting, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because it wasn't public. They didn't detail how authorities plan to enact the curbs.

South Korea began inspections at six banks including Industrial Bank of Korea, that provide virtual accounts to companies related to cryptocurrency trading, to clamp down on potential money laundering. The nation last month said it will restrictively allow cryptocurrency trading on only qualified exchanges and review a possible capital gains tax on crypto trading as a way to restrain the nation's frenzied speculation.

Demand for cryptocurrencies in Korea is large enough to cause distortion on some prices. Ripple surged to almost $4 on some Korean exchanges, while it trades at around $2.50 elsewhere. Coinmarketcap.com is excluding Korean exchanges from its pricing, which helped cause ripple to tumble as much as 31 per cent today.

Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at TF Global Markets in London, said the increased regulatory oversight will weigh on prices in the short term, but should be positive in the longer term.

"We need regulators to look into the space more closely, the Korean exchanges have become crazy in terms of price differences so these regulatory actions would help the price stability," Aslam said. "As for the mining operations, China is making the process more difficult for miners, but opportunist have started to focus on Canada which is more regulatory friendly and cheap on the energy front."

Author : Camila Russo

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur.
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

 

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

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Why African millennials can’t get enough of Bitcoin

Why African millennials can't get enough of Bitcoin

Why African millennials can't get enough of Bitcoin

Bitcoin's eye-watering price surge over the past year is proving too tempting to resist despite fears that cryptocurrencies are a bubble floating towards an inevtitable burst. One group for whom it holds particular appeal is African millenials, writes the BBC's Catherine Byaruhanga.

Thirty year-old Peace Akware in Kampala is a convert to the crytocurrency craze. Like any self-respecting middle class millennial here her smartphone is always within reach and with it her digital wallet.

"I check my Bitcoin every day and any chance I can get. Any minute, any hour, anytime, as often as I can," she tells me from the small bungalow she rents on the outskirts of Kampala.

Finding a job here is almost like a lottery for graduates so Ugandans often have so-called side hustles. Peace has sold clothes and even got into money lending. Both failed. But buying cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin appeals to her because it requires less of her time and there are no upfront costs.

She's bought more than a thousand dollars worth of bitcoin. So far the gamble is paying off and overall she's seeing her digital value rise. "You know there's potential for it growing even further. I would like to buy a car. I would like to buy land. I would like to build with it".

Disrupting remittances

It's not just those hoping to get rich quick who are getting in on the action.

In parts of the continent — especially commercial hubs like Lagos, Nairobi and Johannesburg — a small but growing number of people are finding that cryptocurrencies offer a cheaper solution to an expensive problem — transferring funds across borders.

The technology platform Bitpesa uses Bitcoin as a medium to transfer cash across borders.

It's like a remittance company.

With traditional remittance companies like Western Union, when you transfer money initially it goes from your local currency into dollars then on the other side they receive dollars which are then converted into the local currency.

You lose a lot of money in that conversion.

What Bitpesa does is substitute the dollars with bitcoin. It's cheaper, especially when there is a shortage of dollars in the country or restrictions on accessing dollars. It's also quicker because you don't have to go through long complicated bank approvals.

Elizabeth Rossiello is the CEO of Bitpesa. Even as someone who knows how the finance world works, she gets frustrated with traditional banking.

"I've been in Nairobi for the past month and I had three big banking things to do. All three of these operations with three different Kenyan banks were cancelled for different reasons, or had delays or needed additional information so it took almost two and a half weeks per transaction to get them finalised and I'm an expert."

Bitpesa has been operating for four years now and has over 6,000 customers across the continent. It focuses on big-ticket transfers — for example, paying suppliers in China or employees in another country.

In Nigeria, when the government placed controls on access to the US dollar during a financial crunch, Bitcoin made it much easier for businesses to transfer cash abroad, something that has increased interest in cryptocurrencies in the country.

In places like Zimbabawe, where there has been political and economic instability, Bitcoin has become a place to store value, buy goods and services from abroad and crucially a vehicle for remittances from the diaspora.

Many central banks are sceptical. The Nigerian, Kenyan and Ugandan central banks have issued warnings about getting involved in the new and unregulated market. The Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya went as far as saying digital currencies are a type of Ponzi scheme because of the way their value often fluctuates.

Bitcoin classes

Martin Serugga, a sharply dressed currency trader in Kampala warns people to be cautious too.

He says unfamiliarity about the new financial instruments could lead to criminals duping customers out of their money.

Nevertheless, he's started weekly classes with over 50 people attending to learn about cryptocurrencies and how to trade them against traditional currencies like the US dollar or British pound.

He says high youth unemployment in Uganda is driving interest in Bitcoin and other products.

Martin teaching class.

 

Mr Serugga's class is made up of equal numbers of men and women majority of them are young. They come to an upmarket coffee shop for their dose of the financial markets. The bright projector on the screen flashes numbers, graphs and bright colours.

Joachim Ndhokero, a recent economics graduate, is still unemployed. His father encouraged him to attend the classes to make some money but it's not been easy. He lost over $900 (£664) in a trade gone wrong. Before he lost all his money he had just made a $200 profit. Then he went to the cinema and lost everything.

"I think it was within like two hours.

"That day I learnt that for crytocurrencies since they have a bigger spread they can easily bring in losses. If it's a loss, it's really a loss."

The expert advice here is "use what you can afford to lose".

Blockchain magic

But it's not just the currency aspect of this technology that people think will transform the continent.

Digital security expert Neil Blazevic sees the blockchain technology which underpins cryptocurrencies as the more important innovation.

Blockchain is a form of recording data that cannot be tampered with or hacked. It can be used for documents from contracts drawn up by lawyers to land registries.

He lists many more applications.

"If African developers, entrepreneurs, and governments can leverage blockchain technologies they may have a shot at tackling some of the continent's most intractable problems of the unbanked masses, digital identities, untrusted voting systems, to name only a few applications," Mr Blazevic explains.

"With the right support for innovation, and collaboration Africa could once again leapfrog over the digital divide and become a market leader just like it did in the move from landline communications infrastructure to the mobile phone ecosystem."

One person who has fully embraced the African mobile phone revolution is Ms Akware. She continues to watch over her digital wallet.

She knows that the value of Bitcoin could fall at any moment. If all fails she'll probably start again from scratch with a new venture.

For the moment she's holding on, hoping to buy her first car in two months.

 

Source BBC News

 

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur
Dacvid Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

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If the NYSE has its way, a risky leveraged ETF which doubles the return of bitcoin could soon hit the market

If the NYSE has its way, a risky leveraged ETF which doubles the return of bitcoin could soon hit the market

If the NYSE has its way, a risky leveraged ETF which doubles the return of bitcoin could soon hit the market

  • The New York Stock Exchange has asked SEC regulators to list five exchange-traded funds that track bitcoin futures on one of its markets.

  • The ETFs are short-term investment vehicles designed to multiply returns in the cryptocurrency market, the SEC filing said.

  • The NYSE has already issued several bitcoin-related filings to the SEC.

If the NYSE has its way, a risky leveraged ETF which doubles the return of bitcoin could soon hit the market
An improvised message tells passersby to "buy bitcoin" on the University of Oregon campus in December 2017 — the same month the cryptocurrency's price rocketed from $10,000 to nearly $20,000.

The New York Stock Exchange has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to allow it to list five bitcoin-related exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on one of its markets, according to an SEC filing.

The ETFs were created by Direxion Asset Management to track bitcoin futures trading. While they are not tied to the price of bitcoin itself, the funds aim to multiply investor returns when compared to the underlying market, the filing said.

The instruments, named 1.25X Bull Fund, 1.5X Bull Fund, and 2X Bull Fund, will leverage "investment results (before fees and expenses) that correlate positively to either 125%, 150%, or 200% the daily return of the target benchmark," the filing said.

For each fund, that means a 1 percent rise in the price of bitcoin futures should result in a per-share gain of between 1.25 percent and 2 percent, depending on which Bull Fund is used. However, the potential for higher rewards also comes with higher risk: If the price of bitcoin falls, investors' losses would be multiplied by 1.25.

As such, the funds are not intended for long-term investing, the filing said. The NYSE has issued several filings related to the bitcoin market, including for bitcoin-related ETFs, with the SEC.

If the SEC approves this request, the five ETFs will be listed on Arca, a secondary marketplace on the NYSE. The news was first reported by Business Insider and Reuters.

The NYSE's move comes after two of its rival exchanges, the Cboe and the CME, won approval to list bitcoin futures.

The buzz around bitcoin and its competing digital currencies exploded in 2017, driving a 1,300 percent annual gain in the price of bitcoin. Asset managers have been racing to design more than 10 proposals for bitcoin funds that are currently before U.S. regulators.

New ETFs could make access to bitcoin easier and, in the case of the Direxion product, mean bigger stakes for investors.

The NYSE did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

Author: Elizabeth Gurdus CNBC

 

Posted by David Ogden Entreprenuer
David ogden cryptocurrency entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

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Five predictions for digital currencies in 2018 — including stomach-churning drops, bitcoin-related IPO

Five predictions for digital currencies in 2018 — including stomach-churning drops, bitcoin-related IPO

 

  • More institutions will get into cryptocurrencies this year, analysts say.
  • They expect more regulation and bitcoin's price to drop, before recovering.
  • Stock investors may also get a chance to invest in a digital currency-related IPO.
  • After the bitcoin craze rose to a near-fever pitch in the last several weeks of 2017, several investors and analysts in the space see more growing pains for cryptocurrencies this year.

Here are five predictions for digital currencies, based on those interviews:

1. More institutions will get into cryptocurrencies.
"Our institutional investor base is very interested in learning more and getting exposure," said Michael Graham, a Canaccord Genuity analyst who has published several reports on digital currencies. "One of our major themes is that as we roll out through 2018, it's the year of institutions getting exposure to the space."
The number of institutional-level investment products related to bitcoin is increasing.
In addition to the CME and Cboe bitcoin futures that launched in December, Cantor Fitzgerald and Nasdaq are planning their own derivatives products. Analysts also expect regulators will approve a bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the second half of this year, or in early 2019.
"With the regulated futures markets going live in 2017, the stage is set for ETFs to gain approval in 2018," Nolan Bauerle, director of research at CoinDesk, said in an email. "In fact, the Cboe filed for 6 cryptocurrency ETFs at the end of 2017 which could go live in 2018. This would dramatically increase how institutional investors can get exposure."
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission declined to comment.

2. There will be more regulation and bitcoin's price will drop.
However, in the meantime, regulators will likely try to limit speculation in cryptocurrencies.
In the last several months, the SEC has become increasingly vocal in warning investors about the risks of cryptocurrencies. The commission also has suspended trading in some companies due to concerns about their claims regarding their token-related announcements.
"One of the things we'll see [is] enforcement here from the regulators," Canaccord's Graham said. He expects that greater regulation will cause a "major price dislocation event for the whole sector."
Bitcoin has soared more than 1,500 percent to near $16,200 over the last 12 months. But it is still down about 18 percent from its all-time high above $19,800 hit in mid-December. Meanwhile, smaller cryptocurrencies have surged hundreds of percent in the last several weeks, bringing the total market value of all digital coins to above $770 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Action by regulators could halt those gains. Bitcoin fell more than $2,000 in September when China cracked down on digital currencies.
Spencer Bogart, managing director and head of research at venture capital firm Blockchain Capital, expects that many cryptofunds will not be prepared to handle a monthly decline of 25 percent.
"I think we could easily purge 60-75% of crypto hedge funds in this type of market," Bogart said in an email. "In this environment, funds that can call capital and deploy it counter-cyclically stand to benefit significantly."
More than 120 such funds opened in 2017 for a total of 175 funds, according to financial research firm Autonomous Next.
In contrast to Bogart, Autonomous' global director of fintech strategy, Lex Sokolin, predicts the total number of cryptofunds will nearly triple to 500 this year. But he said the focus will be less on the number of funds and more on assets under management, which he expects to reach $20 billion.

3. It will be a wild, volatile ride. 

The contrasting views on the future of cryptofunds come as some analysts expect bitcoin to ride an even wilder wave this year.
Ari Paul, chief investment officer of cryptocurrency investment firm BlockTower Capital, predicts that bitcoin will trade at both $4,000 and $30,000 at some point in 2018.
One reason some analysts say bitcoin will ultimately rise further is that investors will bet on a payout from more splits in the digital currency. When some bitcoin developers decide to implement their own upgrade of the bitcoin network, bitcoin investors at the time of the split receive equal amounts of the split-off coin.
Aug. 1's split of bitcoin into bitcoin and bitcoin cash was "a change in the trend," said Ramon Quesada, a vocal member of Spain's cryptocurrency community. Developers "are using the brand bitcoin and they are splitting the main chain. They are making a fork. You create a new chain and you give a new name to this chain."
Bitcoin trades near $16,200, while bitcoin cash trades around $2,600.
"We think we're going to have more forks in 2018 than 2017," Canaccord's Graham said. "Ultimately we think those forks are going to be a short-term tail wind to bitcoin's value and a long-term headwind"
Bitcoin still faces many challenges, such as improving transaction fees and speed.

4. Bitcoin will prevail, while other cryptocurrencies grow. 
While bitcoin's price has stagnated in the last two weeks, smaller digital currencies such as ripple, stellar and tron have surged into the ranks of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
Erik Voorhees, CEO of digital asset exchange ShapeShift, said that in contrast to bitcoin's dominance on the platform a year ago, about half of transactions on the platform now don't involve the popular digital currency at all.
However, bitcoin should still benefit from the increased interest in the "alt-coins." Analysts also point out that since bitcoin is the most established digital currency, it is often the way new investors access the cryptocurrency space.
"Bitcoin has such magnificent network effects that I don't see another alt-coin that's a little better at payments" or some other function right now, Autonomous' Sokolin said. "One of the top 10 will collapse."

5. Stock investors may get a chance to invest in a digital currency-related IPO.
As interest in digital currencies has grown, the companies involved with the business have become billion-dollar entities. Leading U.S. cryptocurrency marketplace Coinbase, valued at $1.6 billion, has indicated it could pursue an initial public offering.
"I do think the public is going to see some crypto-owned IPOs this year and more broadly blockchain IPOs," Canaccord's Graham said. He said cryptocurrency-related companies that want to give U.S. regulators a better impression are likely "going to rely on old-fashioned equity."
Coinbase declined to comment.
Pic
But just as greater regulation in the U.S. has encouraged more blockchain development outside the country, the first crypto-related public offering may not happen in America either.
"IPOs are going to happen outside the U.S. first," said Ryan Gilbert, partner at Propel VC, which focuses on financial technology and has a $250 million fund. Propel is indirectly a minority investor in Coinbase, Gilbert said.
Regardless, investors will need to be extremely cautious about companies making announcements related to cryptocurrencies and adding "blockchain" to their name. Some tiny stocks have soared on such changes, prompting regulators to issue warnings about potential scams.
The market moves mirror the tech bubble, when many stocks saw a dramatic price surge after adding "dot-com" to their names.
A paper published in 2000 through Purdue University found the dot-com name changes began around June 1998 and picked up in the first five months of 1999, at an average rate of seven name changes a month. Most of the companies were traded over the counter, and regardless of their level of involvement with the internet, the name change resulted in returns of about 74 percent for the 10 days surrounding the announcement day, the paper said.
"What the dot-com paper shows is that reasoning goes away when you're looking at a hot industry," co-author Raghavendra Rau told CNBC in a phone interview this week. He is now a professor of finance at the University of Cambridge.
If he had to guess, Rau said it may take at least two or three years for the blockchain stock mania to subside. "My personal sense is the technology is good, but like every new technology I don't think the broad pattern [of] history changes very much. There will be manias."

Author: Evelyn Cheng

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

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BITCOIN PRICE — LIVE UPDATES: CRYPTOCURRENCY VALUE RECOVERING AFTER HEAVY RECENT SLUMPS

BITCOIN PRICE — LIVE UPDATES: CRYPTOCURRENCY VALUE RECOVERING AFTER HEAVY RECENT SLUMPS

The value of bitcoin appears to be recovering after a tumultuous period for the cryptocurrency.

After hitting a new record high when it passed the $19,850 mark in mid-December, it tumbled rapidly, falling to below $12,000 within days.

It has been constantly rising and falling ever since, and is worth $14,932 as of Wednesday afternoon UK time, according to the Coinbase exchange.

That’s a significant improvement on yesterday, when it almost slipped below the $13,000 mark. However, earlier this morning it had been worth more than $15,370.

Its value is up more than 30 per cent over last month and more than 1,320 per cent over the last year, but recent goings-on have demonstrated just how quickly the situation can change.

The cryptocurrency’s value fell dramatically just ahead of Christmas, dropping by almost $2,000 in just an hour at one point, and almost slipping below the $11,000 mark.

Bitcoin is notoriously volatile, and its value is expected to continue to shift unpredictably. Its rise has also led to increasing amounts of interest in alternative cryptocurrencies, such as ethereum, litecoin and XRP.

Those fluctuations have caused problems with actually using bitcoin, with Steam recently announcing that it won’t be able to take it any more and multiple exchanges saying the huge amounts of trading is leading to problems with actually transferring them.

Naturally, its spectacular rise has coincided with increasing amounts of interest, with more and more people now looking to invest.

However, there are serious fears that bitcoin has created a bubble that could burst at any moment.

Numerous financial experts are advising potential investors to avoid getting involved with bitcoin, though others are speculating that it could keep rising towards the $1m mark.

Bitcoin only exists online, has no central bank and isn’t linked to or regulated by any state.

An anonymised record of every bitcoin transaction is stored on a huge public ledger known as a blockchain.

However, transactions made with the cryptocurrency are irreversible, which makes investors in bitcoin attractive targets for cybercriminals.

 

Author AATIF SULLEYMAN

 

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

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Record-breaking 2017 Brought Bitcoin, Altcoins Drastically Increased Mainstream Acceptanc

Record-breaking 2017 Brought Bitcoin, Altcoins Drastically Increased Mainstream Acceptanc

Record-breaking 2017 Brought Bitcoin, Altcoins Drastically Increased Mainstream Acceptance

As non-profit cryptocurrency research institution CoinCenter’s Neeraj K. Agrawal wrote, 2017 was the year in which Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies went mainstream.

Wall Street

Numerous major financial institutions have integrated support for Bitcoin, with elite investment banks like Goldman Sachs contemplating the creation of Bitcoin trading desks in 2018. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) and CME Group, the two largest futures exchanges in the world, successfully launched Bitcoin futures trading last month.

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the biggest stock market in the world in terms of daily trading volume, has applied two launch two Bitcoin-related exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Cboe has applied to launch six such ETFs themselves. Bitcoin futures are strictly regulated investment vehicles that can provide institutional investors and high profile individual investors immediate access to the Bitcoin market. Bitcoin ETFs, on the other hand, will provide easy access to Bitcoin for retail investors and some classes of institutions that do not trade on the futures market.
 

Regulatory environment

In March 2017, as Cointelegraph reported, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected a Bitcoin ETF filing submitted by the Winklevoss twins, the first confirmed billionaire Bitcoin investors, because of the Bitcoin market’s lack of regulation. However, the global Bitcoin market and its regulatory landscape have drastically changed since then. The Japanese government recognized Bitcoin as a legitimate currency while other large markets like South Korea have introduced practical regulations for local cryptocurrency businesses and investors.

Most importantly, the SEC left the door open for approval of a future Bitcoin ETF in the event that regulated Bitcoin futures markets should be developed. As such, it is highly likely that Bitcoin ETFs will be approved in 2018, given that Cboe and CME have proven that Bitcoin can be traded on strictly regulated platforms with proper investment protection.
 

Mainstream media

Mainstream news publications around the world have drastically increased their coverage of Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies in the last year. Several news publications, including CNBC and Forbes, have created cryptocurrency-specific media channels to address the rapidly growing demand for Bitcoin and other digital currencies.

 

Frenzy

In some countries, cryptocurrency mania has formed, as investors of all ages have begun to engage in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency trading. In South Korea, speculation around the cryptocurrency market has reached a point in which the South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon released a public statement addressing the sudden increase in demand for digital currencies.

 

Several months ago, the South Korean government formed a task force to draft regulations to cover the digital currency market.

 

Extraordinary rise of altcoins

Over the past few months, the entire cryptocurrency market has experienced a drastic trend-shift as altcoins have surged in value. The “Bitcoin Dominance” metric has reached an all time low of 37.3%, indicating that the number one cryptocurrency now accounts for just over one third of the market cap of the entire digital currency sector. While there is some controversy over the use of market cap numbers to estimate the size of the market, it is clear that Bitcoin is no longer the only major player. Alternate digital currencies like Ethereum and Dash have increased in value over 100x in the past year.
 

Ripple in particular had an spectacular rally throughout 2017, as its value skyrocketed from $0.006 to $2.38, a 360-fold increase. While its current $88 billion market valuation is being questioned by analysts like Ryan Selkis from ConsenSys, it still remains as the second largest digital currency by market cap.

 

Author Joseph Young

 

Posted By David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneurs

 

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

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Bitcoin Alternatives — Ethereum Vs Litecoin Vs Verge Vs Ripple Vs Zcash

Bitcoin Alternatives - Ethereum Vs Litecoin Vs Verge Vs Ripple Vs Zcash

Bitcoin Alternatives — Ethereum Vs Litecoin Vs Verge Vs Ripple Vs Zcash

After bitcoin, ripple is one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization

The bitcoin prices may have stabilized but, they still hover around $13,000, a price far too high for a lot of potential investors. The exorbitant price of bitcoins dissuaded hundreds of thousands of potential investors who missed the 2017 rally. The bitcoin prices had jumped in the last month of 2017 in run up to the launch of futures trading by CBOE (Chicago Board of Options Exchange) and CME Group this month. After the futures trading launch, the prices have more or less fallen from the peak of $19,666, a feat achieved on December 17. However, there are numerous cryptocurrencies which are still not as popular and can be bought owing to their affordability.

Following are some of the bitcoins' smaller rivals

Ripple (XRP): Ripple, one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, claims to offer frictionless experience to its customers to send money globally using the power of blockchain. By joining Ripple, financial institutions can process their customers' payments anywhere in the world instantly. The Ripple woos banks and payment providers to use the cryptocurrency for reducing costs. Ripple's price had surged $1 for the first time on December 21.

 

Litecoin (LTC): The market capitalization of litecoin rose from $1 billion in November 2013 to $4.6 billion. What makes a litecoin appealing is that the price of a litecoin (at $277) is still affordable for many such investors, at least as of now. Another thing that distinguishes litecoin from a bitcoin is that the litcoin takes relatively less processing speed (2.5 minutes) unlike bitcoin that takes around 10 minutes for one block. The market capitalization of litecoin is over $15 billion.

 

Ethereum: Ethereum is a distributed public blockchain network. Ethereum was proposed in late 2013 by Vitalik Buterin, a cryptocurrency researcher. Bitcoin offers one particular application of blockchain technology, a peer to peer electronic cash system that enables online Bitcoin payments, the Ethereum blockchain focuses on running the programming code of any decentralized application. The value token of the Ethereum blockchain is called ether. The price of Ethereum is over $700.

 

Verge (XVG): Verge currency is a cryptocurrency that improves upon the original Bitcoin blockchain and aims to meet the primary purpose of providing individuals and businesses with a fast, efficient and decentralized way of making direct transactions while maintaining personal privacy, says the Verge currency's website. Verge makes it possible to engage in direct transactions quickly, efficiently and privately. With Verge currency, businesses and individuals have flexible options for sending and receiving payments. Verge uses multiple anonymity-centric networks such as Tor and 12P. The IP addresses of the users are obfuscated and the transactions are completely untraceable. Price of one verge is around $0.1583 on Saturday while the total market cap is over $2.2 billion.

 

Zcash (ZEC): While the bitcoin blockchain contains records of the participants in a transaction, as well as the amount involved, Zcash's blockchain shows only that a transaction took place, and not who was involved or what the amount was. Zcash is an open-source protocol because of which, the Zcash Company does not control it (including controlling the mining or distribution of it), not does it have any special access to private or shielded transactions. Just like anyone else, the Z cash Company only has the ability to see a private or shielded transaction if it is a party to that transaction or someone provides it with the correct view key. Zcash is valued at $518.

 

David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

 

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, IOTA, Litecoin, Dash, Monero: Price Analysis, Dec. 30

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, IOTA, Litecoin, Dash, Monero

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, IOTA, Litecoin, Dash, Monero: Price Analysis, Dec. 30

Cryptocurrencies have generated wealth for the traders like no other asset class. While Bitcoin has garnered most of the attention, it is not the only one to have risen in 2017. There have been scores of winners.

Ethereum was the second leading currencies aiming to overtake Bitcoin as the dominant leader of the year; it could never really achieve the feat.

However, within the past two weeks, Ripple has skyrocketed from a low of $0.22 on Dec. 10, to a high of $2.47 today. That’s a whopping rally of 1024 percent within a span of 20 days.

As a result, Ripple has now overtaken Ethereum as the second most valuable currency by market capitalization.

Bitcoin’s dominance, which had risen above 60 percent just a few weeks back has again cooled off to 38.3 percent.

As the market matures, we are likely to see a number of changes in the rankings of these currencies. Therefore, one has to keep an open mind towards all the cryptocurrencies because as traders; our main goal is to earn money.

So, do we have any good buy setups for the end of the year or is it best to remain on the sidelines and enjoy the holidays, returning to trade in the new year? Let’s find out.

BTC/USD

We expected a pullback from the trendline, however, due to lack of buyers, the recovery never gained strength. Today, the bears easily broke below the trendline support, which has escalated the selling.

Bitcoin has broken down of the neckline of the bearish head and shoulders pattern. If the cryptocurrency sustains below the neckline, it has a pattern target of $5,745.

However, we don’t expect to see such a plunge in the short-term.

We believe that the bulls will attempt to defend the recent lows of $10,704.99. But if they fail, the bears are likely to intensify their selling. A number of long positions will start to bleed, which is likely to lead to panic selling. We see another support at the $8,000 mark.

All these lower levels will come into play only if the BTC/USD pair breaks and sustains below the 50-day SMA.

Contrarily, if the bears are unable to breakdown of the 50-day SMA, we may see a recovery in the new year. Yet, we will prefer to wait until the digital currency breaks out of the downtrend line to initiate any position. We don’t find any trades at the current price.
 

ETH/USD

We mentioned that Ethereum will become positive in the short-term only on a breakout and close above the downtrend line. Yesterday, the bulls broke out of the trendline but could not manage a close above it.

On the downside, the 20-day EMA has been providing a strong support. If this support level breaks, we may see a slide towards $646.08 and thereafter to $600 levels. On the other hand, the ETH/USD pair will become positive above $770 because it has returned from the $760 levels on three occasions.

Between the 20-day EMA and $760, we are likely to witness a volatile range-bound trading action.

Therefore, we suggest waiting until we get a clear breakout and a confirmation of the resumption of the uptrend.
 

BCH/USD

For the past two days, the bulls had been defending the $2300 mark. But their attempt to resume the rally failed yesterday.

Today, the bears have broken down of the critical support level of $2300. The next downside target on the BCH/USD pair is a fall to the 50-day SMA.

We expect a strong buying around the $1,733 levels. Nonetheless, we recommend waiting until there is a clear bottom in sight.

Consider avoiding buying in a falling market.
 

XRP/USD

Ripple roared past our initial target objective of $1.5. Today, it reached an intraday high of $2.474.

Traders who had purchased on our bullish prediction should close their positions or at least trail with a close stop loss depending on their strategy.

After such a stellar rally, we expect the XRP/USD pair to enter into a correction or a consolidation. Therefore, we don’t have any fresh buy recommendations on it.

 

IOTA/USD

The bulls have successfully held on to the lower end of the range at $3.032 for the past few days. However, they have not been able to push the cryptocurrency higher.

Today, the IOTA/USD pair is again under a bear attack, which is threatening to break below the critical support. If the bears succeed, the cryptocurrency will fall to the 61.8 percent Fibonacci retracement level of $2.62196.

Yet, if the bulls manage to hold the supports once again today, IOTA will continue to trade inside the range. We shall initiate buy positions only on a breakout and close above the downtrend line. Until then, we shall remain on the sidelines.

LTC/USD

The bears have broken below the neckline of the head and shoulders pattern. Unless the bulls stage takes a sharp recovery today, chances are that Litecoin will continue lower in the next few days.

We anticipate a strong support at the recent lows of $175.199. The 50-day SMA is also just below this level, which should also provide some support.

However, if both these levels fail to hold, the LTC/USD pair will fall towards $110, which is the target objective of the breakdown of the head and shoulders pattern.

Our bearish view will be invalidated if the bulls manage to push the digital currency above the neckline at $240.
 

DASH/USD

For the past two days, the bulls managed to hold on to the 20-day EMA. But today, the bears have broken below the moving average support.

Dash has a strong support at the trendline. We expect the bulls to strongly defend this level.

Though we shall avoid buying until we get a confirmation of a bottom formation because if the trendline breaks, the DASH/USD pair can fall to $800 and thereafter to $650 levels.
 

XMR/USD

We were expecting a range-bound trading action in Monero. Despite that, the bears have taken control and have broken below the 20-day EMA today, which is a bearish development.

The immediate support on Monero is at $300. If this level breaks down, we are likely to see the decline extend to the recent lows of $245.1. The 50-day SMA is also at this level. Just below there is the 61.8 percent Fibonacci retracement level of $230.66.

We expect a strong support in this zone. At the same time, we don’t suggest buying until the fall is arrested.

When the markets are in a bear grip, it is a good strategy to wait until the decline ends, instead of being brave and attempting to catch a falling knife.

 

Author: Rakesh Upadhyay

 

Posted By David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member