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Bitcoin Price Nears $5,000; YTD Growth Exceeds 400%

Bitcoin Price Nears $5,000; YTD Growth Exceeds 400%

Bitcoin Price Nears $5,000; YTD Growth Exceeds 400%

2017 has been a breakout year for bitcoin and the cryptocurrency ecosystem as a whole. Now, as the bitcoin price approaches $5,000, it’s an excellent time to look back at the trials and triumphs that have contributed to this 400% YTD rally.

Global Adoption & the Road to $5,000

Bitcoin rang in the new year by crossing $1,000 for the first time since the 2013 melt-up, and the Financial Times promptly called it a pyramid scheme that would soon collapse to zero. The bitcoin price held at this level for the next three months, leading critics like Gizmodo writer Michael Nunez to complain that it “refuses to just die already.”

Of course, bitcoin obituaries like these ignored bitcoin’s increasing global expansion. There was once a time when bitcoin risked becoming a Western phenomenon, excluding the majority of the world’s population. Today, that could not be further from the truth. Bitcoin adoption has exploded in Asia, and the highest-volume cryptocurrency exchange is located in South Korea. Bitcoin has also made inroads into emerging markets such as Africa and India.

This year has also seen Japan embrace bitcoin more rapidly than perhaps any other nation. Toward the beginning of the year, Japan terminated its crippling 8% bitcoin consumption tax, and before long major retailers were accepting bitcoin payments. By the end of the year, analysts predict that as many as 300,000 Japanese businesses will accept bitcoin.

By late April, the crypto market advance had begun to pick up steam, leading to a market cap explosion in May and June. On May 20, the bitcoin price broke through $2,000. Less than a month later, it crossed $3,000 on several exchanges for the first time.

Bitcoin Price Nears $5,000; YTD Growth Exceeds 400%

YTD Bitcoin Price Chart from CoinMarketCap

Despite this bull run, bitcoin almost lost its status as the largest cryptocurrency by market cap. About this time, ethereum came within $10 billion of bitcoin’s market cap, making it seem inevitable that there would be a “Flippening” between the two cryptocurrencies. MarketWatch columnist Brett Arends, meanwhile, wrote that both cryptocurrencies were “complete garbage.” However, the Flippening never came. The markets took a bearish turn following the June 26 “Monday Massacre,” and bitcoin consolidated its position as the dominant cryptocurrency.

Eventually, the markets recovered. After falling as low as $1,900 during mid-July, the bitcoin price reversed course toward the end of the month, initiating the record rally that has carried bitcoin to the brink of $5,000.
 

Bitcoin Overcomes UAHF and PBoC Squeeze

The most astonishing aspect of the bitcoin price’s 2017 performance is not its 400% climb, but rather the trials it overcame to get there. Aside from the incessant claims by mainstream media analysts that bitcoin is a bubble, bitcoin faced adverse events that threatened its future. One of these was increasing regulation. Bitcoin has faced regulation since shortly after its inception, but its 2017 bull run has intensified government interest in cryptocurrency. As early as January, the People’s Bank of China (PBoc)–China’s central bank–began putting a regulatory squeeze on bitcoin exchanges in response to “abnormal [bitcoin] price fluctuations.” Exchanges shut their doors as the PBoC began conducting on-site inspections. However, the PBoC ultimately allowed Chinese bitcoin exchanges to continue their operations, albeit with strict supervision.

More recently, bitcoin survived the contentious bitcoin cash hard fork that split the bitcoin network into two different blockchains. Rather than lead the bitcoin price into decline, the hard fork actually appeared to build confidence in bitcoin’s ability to survive a serious community divide, and bitcoin soared more than 75% in the month that followed.

Scaling With SegWit

The bitcoin cash hard fork was caused by the debate about the best way to scale the bitcoin network. Bitcoin cash proponents, claiming to follow Satoshi’s vision, believed that raising the block size was the best way to ensure bitcoin remained a viable P2P transaction vehicle rather than just a settlement layer. Bitcoin Core, however, adopted Segregated Witness (SegWit), a scaling and transaction malleability fix that also facilitates the creation of Lightning Networks. SegWit was activated earlier this month, which should soon cause bitcoin transaction fees–which reached above $8 this month–to finally decrease to more acceptable levels.

SegWit2x and the Road Ahead

Of course, SegWit activation did not put the scaling debate to rest. Earlier this year, a group of prominent bitcoin companies and personalities signed the New York Agreement (NYA), which proposed a hard fork to the bitcoin protocol. SegWit2x, as the proposal is known, called for a block size increase in addition to SegWit activation. The proposal received near-universal support from miners, but Bitcoin Core developers have vociferously opposed it. Relations between Core and SegWit2x supporters have worsened over the intervening months, and several companies have reversed their NYA support. Despite Core opposition, SegWit2x proponents say they will proceed with the hard fork in November, creating a potentially-chaotic situation in which two blockchains will fight to be the “real bitcoin”.

Nevertheless, investors remain bullish on bitcoin, and the bitcoin price’s triumphant march toward $5,000 continue

 

Author: Josiah Wilmoth on 01/09/2017

 

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

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Bitcoin’s nearly five-fold climb in 2017 looks very similar to tech bubble surge

Bitcoin's nearly five-fold climb in 2017 looks very similar to tech bubble surge

Bitcoin's nearly five-fold climb in 2017 looks very similar to tech bubble surge

David Ader, chief macro strategist at Informa Financial Intelligence, shows how bitcoin's gains resemble that of the Nasdaq Telecommunications Index before the tech bubble burst.

Bitcoin has gained nearly 400 percent this year, helped by increased interest from institutional investors.

However, digital currency expert Chris Burniske points out the market value of bitcoin is still a fraction of what stocks were during the dot-com boom.

Vidoe blob:https://www.cnbc.com/e53fec4c-f5c1-4568-b72a-67d362f70882

When charted, bitcoin's rapid gains resemble how stocks surged into the tech bubble before collapsing.
 

David Ader, chief macro strategist at Informa Financial Intelligence, matched a graph of the Nasdaq Telecommunications Index at its peak in 2000 to bitcoin's five-year run to all-time highs.

"This is the price chart for an overly frothy market, in my opinion. I just don't see anything quite as comparable to this in bubblelicious terms," said Ader, a former top-rated bond market strategist.
 

Bitcoin climbed more than 3.7 percent Thursday to a record of $4,802.74, up nearly five times in price this year and about 67 percent higher for August, according to CoinDesk.

Bitcoin's nearly five-fold climb in 2017 looks very similar to tech bubble surge

"I think it's going to come to a sorry ending," Ader said. "I don't know anybody who's actually used a bitcoin for any purpose legal or otherwise. This looks like an overly frothy market and frothy markets lose their froth."

Ader said he used the Nasdaq telecom index since many of those stocks led the Nasdaq composite's overall gains during the tech bubble. The Nasdaq telecom index shot up more than 700 percent from 1995 to 2000, before collapsing 90 percent in the next two years. The index remains about 75 percent below its record high.

Bitcoin's meteoric surge this year comes as many on Wall Street are becoming more interested in the digital currency and the blockchain technology behind it. New digital asset investment funds are rolling out and the Chicago Board Options Exchange is planning to launch bitcoin futures.

Many investors also bought bitcoin this month after it survived a relatively uneventful split on Aug. 1 into bitcoin and bitcoin cash, an alternative version supported by only a few developers. Bitcoin cash is up about 180 percent from its Aug. 1 low, to Thursday's price of $588, according to CoinMarketCap.

However, bitcoin could split again this fall because there's another upgrade proposal, and others have warned that the speculative forces behind bitcoin could quickly turn against it.

Here are a few of the alarm bells sounded this summer:

The Elliott Wave Newsletter predicted bitcoin's surge from 6 cents in 2010, but in July said bitcoin's surge has surpassed the tulip mania of roughly 400 years ago and is now showing signs of nearing a sharp downturn.

Later in July, widely followed Bank of America Merrill Lynch commodity and derivatives strategist Francisco Blanch concluded in a sweeping report that bitcoin still faces many challenges to becoming a globally accepted currency.

Then about a week later, a New York University finance professor, Aswath Damodaran, said in a blog post that bitcoin may just be a "dangerous pricing game."

By percent change, analysis from Bespoke Investment Group shows how bitcoin's surge has already well surpassed that of any major stock market bubble.

Bitcoin's nearly five-fold climb in 2017 looks very similar to tech bubble surge

Source: Bespoke Investment Group

That said, some well-respected names on Wall Street have also issued positive reports on the digital currency.

In early July, Thomas Lee became the first major Wall Street strategist to issue a report on bitcoin. A former JPMorgan strategist who co-founded Fundstrat, Lee said bitcoin could reach $20,000 to $55,000 by 2022. On Aug. 18, he established a mid-2018 target of $6,000 for bitcoin.

According to a mid-July Forbes report, investing legend Bill Miller put 1 percent of his net worth into bitcoin in 2014, and the digital currency is one of the top holdings in Miller's $120 million hedge fund.

Stock analyst Ronnie Moas of Standpoint Research published a report in late July predicting bitcoin would rise nearly 80 percent to $5,000 in 2018. He then raised that target in mid-August to $7,500.

Lee and Moas both reason that bitcoin can climb to those levels if even a fraction of the trillions of dollars in gold or other traditional investments move into the digital currency.

Bitcoin has a market value of about $78 billion, and digital currencies overall are worth $170 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

That makes the value of all digital currencies less than 5 percent of the more than $4 trillion inflation-adjusted value of stocks during the tech and telecom boom, said Chris Burniske, author of the upcoming book, "Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor's Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond.
 

"If people think this is the 'big bubble,' then they don't have an appreciation for how big the idea of cryptoassets really is," he said.

Many digital currency enthusiasts agree there is speculation in the digital currency. But they note that, just like the dot-com bubble, companies that were able to utilize the underlying technology then became global giants.

 

Evelyn Cheng
Writer

 

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

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Ethereum, Bitcoin Prices Rally Despite Sluggish Market

Ethereum, Bitcoin Prices Rally Despite Sluggish Market

Ethereum, Bitcoin Prices Rally Despite Sluggish Market

Bitcoin and ethereum continued to rally on Wednesday, pushing the total value of all cryptocurrencies higher even as the wider markets were mostly red. The bitcoin price punched through $4,500 to set a new all-time high, while the ethereum price looks poised to make a record-setting run of its own.

The total cryptocurrency market cap climbed as high as $167 billion Wednesday morning, continuing its August bull run. At present, however, the crypto market cap has tapered to $162.6 billion.


Chart from CoinMarketCap

Bitcoin Price Targets $5,000

The bitcoin price spent the latter half of August stuck between $4,000 and $4,400. As the month waned, it did not appear bitcoin was going to be able to break past this level. However, the bitcoin price defied many investor expectations by spiking from $4,400 to $4,600 at about 12:30 UTC on August 29, posting a new CoinMarketCap average record of $4,627. On some individual exchanges, the price rose even further. The bitcoin price has not yet found solid support for $4,600, which has caused it to pull back to $4,501 this morning. Nevertheless, this represents a daily gain of 3% and gives bitcoin a $74.4 billion market cap.

Bitcoin Price Chart from CoinMarketCap

Now that bitcoin has broken through the $4,500 wall, many analysts predict it will cross the $5,000 threshold in short order. RT host Max Keiser, for instance, stated that he believes it will probably reach that level this week.

Ethereum Price Inches Closer to All-Time High

All eyes were on bitcoin as it set a new all-time high, but ethereum made impressive progress on Wednesday as well. Bolstered by increases in ETH/KRW and ETH/CNY, the ethereum price climbed to $389 on August 30, its highest level since June 14. At present, the ethereum price is $367, resulting in a market cap of $36.6 billion.

Ethereum Price Chart from CoinMarketCap

 

Altcoin Markets Take a Hit

Bitcoin and ethereum may have been posted solid gains on Wednesday, but traders dealt the altcoin markets a blow.

The bitcoin cash price fell to 2% to $573, continuing its week-long decline. The Ripple price managed to climb 1%, thanks to news that the FinTech startup had given a presentation on blockchain trends to officials from the central bank of China. The litecoin price was mostly stable, holding at about $62, while Dash and NEM each made minor advances.

Altcoin Price Chart from CoinMarketCap

This is where the chart starts to turn red. IOTA dipped 2% to $0.828, while the Monero price fell 6% to $128, despite strong volume from Bithumb’s newly-opened XMR/KRW market.

Monero Price Chart from CoinMarketCap

The hardest hit cryptocurrency in the top 10, however, was NEO. The “Chinese Ethereum” plunged by 17% to about $31. This reduced its market cap to $1.5 billion and gives it just a $41 million edge on 11th-ranked ethereum classic.

7-Day NEO Price Chart from CoinMarketCap

Outside of the top 10, the majority of cryptocurrencies engaged in a retreat. That retreat included Qtum and Hshare, which had just entered the $1 billion club on August 29. Unfortunately, these tokens had their membership cards revoked on Wednesday as they experienced declines of 19% and 27%, respectively.

 

Author: Josiah Wilmoth on 30/08/2017

 

Posted By David Ogden Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

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SEC Warns Public to Avoid ICO Scams Manipulating Stock Prices

SEC Warns Public to Avoid ICO Scams Manipulating Stock Prices

SEC Warns Public to Avoid ICO Scams Manipulating Stock Prices

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued an investor alert intended to warn the public about companies using claims about initial coin offerings (ICO) to manipulate their stock prices.

SEC: Avoid ICO-Related Microcap Scams

The alert, which was published by the SEC Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, specifically focuses on publicly-traded companies who claim to be involved with or investing in ICOs. They allege that companies use the lure of cutting edge technology like ICOs to manipulate their stock price and facilitate pump-and-dumps.
 

From the alert:

Fraudsters often try to use the lure of new and emerging technologies to convince potential victims to invest their money in scams. These frauds include “pump-and-dump” and market manipulation schemes involving publicly traded companies that claim to provide exposure to these new technologies.

 

The SEC had previously issued an investor alert regarding direct ICO participation, but they have found that companies may be “publicly announcing ICO or coin/token related events to affect the price of the company’s common stock.” This is particularly a problem with microcap companies, whose stock price can be manipulated in the same way that traders can artificially pump up the price of a cryptocurrency with a small market cap and then dump their coins to secure a profit.

SEC Cracks Down on Public Bitcoin Firms

The Commission says this type of fraud is often rampant within the emerging technologies sector. For this reason, they have been cracking down on publicly-traded bitcoin firms in recent months. In August alone, the SEC has suspended securities trading for CIAO Group (OTC: CIAU), First Bitcoin Capital Corp. (OTC: BITCF), and Bitcoin Crypto Currency Exchange Corporation (OTC: ARSC). All of these companies had seen dramatic increases in the price of their stock, leading the SEC to want to take a closer look at their operations.

According to the release, the SEC issues trading suspensions due to the following occurrences:

  • “A lack of current, accurate, or adequate information about the company — for example, when a company has not filed any periodic reports for an extended period;
  • Questions about the accuracy of publicly available information, including in company press releases and reports, about the company’s current operational status and financial condition; or
  • Questions about trading in the stock, including trading by insiders, potential market manipulation, and the ability to clear and settle transactions in the stock.”
  • A suspension does not necessarily mean a company is acting nefariously, but the SEC warns investors to take caution when considering an investment in a company whose stock has been suspended.

The SEC has been monitoring the cryptocurrency industry with an increasingly watchful eye. Last month, they issued a report concluding that DAO tokens are a security, which implies that smart contract tokens may also fall under securities regulations. This is one reason why Filecoin restricted its record-setting $250 million ICO to investors willing to submit to SEC accreditation.

 

Author: Josiah Wilmoth on 29/08/2017

 

Posted By David Ogden Entrepereneur

DAvid Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

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$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

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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

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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

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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

Markethive

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

Markethive

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