Welcome to the Crowdify digest of interesting and important news and views about Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency.
Insufficient Understanding of Cryptocurrencies Results in Their Volatility
Bitcoin made the news in May when it passed the all-time high of $2,700 per unit, before swallowing a sharp correction and losing almost 30 percent of its value in 48 hours. Along the way, many other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Litecoin, Dash, Ripple and Monero have followed Bitcoin in its correction.
This scenario naturally leads us to think about the last quarter of 2013, when Bitcoin price jumped from $130 to over $1100. After this boom, we didn’t see a sharp correction, but a long and steady decline to the unit price of $200, followed by a long and steady increase period.
Will the same steady decline happen in 2017? The main difference between 2013 and 2017 is that the ecosystem of Blockchain and cryptocurrencies is widely more developed.
We went from theories and white papers to proof-of-concept, real world applications and significant investments. Nonetheless, little are those who truly understand the underlying technology powering this ecosystem.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2szs03G
Bitcoin, Ethereum and a New Direction for Cryptocurrency Investment
This week CoinDesk released its State of Blockchain Q1 2017 study, which details recent trends, statistics and sentiment around cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.
While the entire report is worth a read (there are some surprises), two slides especially caught my attention. When put together and compared with current data, they point to what could be a fundamental shift in market dynamics.
Ninety-four percent of respondents to our 'Bitcoin and Ethereum Sentiment Survey' indicated that they were positive on the outlook for ethereum – almost three times as many as for bitcoin. The main reasons for the disillusionment with bitcoin appear to be the high fees, the increasing centralization and the outlook for scaling.
Interestingly, this has not slowed down the increase in the bitcoin price, which has climbed 160% since the end of Q1. It does, however, point to a growing interest in ethereum as an investment vehicle. The price of the platform's ether token has increased by 420% in the same period.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2sA32Bq
Bitcoin Volatility Reaches Fee Estimates As Prices Stay High
Volatility is not just affecting Bitcoin’s price itself; it is also hitting Bitcoin fee estimates as transactions continue to be slow and expensive.
Data added to Twitter by BitGo engineer Jameson Lopp shows a giant increase in spreads of BitGo’s estimated most appropriate fee level for a Bitcoin transaction since the end of May.
The action contrasts markedly with previous data, which on a graph produces almost entirely flat lines.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2szgOEl
Ethereum Price Closes on $400, Can it Take Over Bitcoin Soon?
A week ago, Ethereum’s market cap reached 50 percent of Bitcoin’s. On June 12, Ethereum price reached $396, moving closer to Bitcoin’s current market cap of $46 bln.
The cryptocurrency industry, market and community are anticipating the “flipenning” or the possibility of Ethereum surpassing the market of Bitcoin. It is approximately $10 bln away from reaching the market of Bitcoin.
Before speculating on the possibility of Ethereum becoming the most dominant Blockchain network, it is important to consider whether its recent price rally can be justified. Has Ethereum demonstrated commercial success? Are actual users utilizing Ethereum to access decentralized applications? Or is it a completely speculative investment and not-so-smart money flowing into the market?
Objectively, Ethereum’s recent price rally has been mostly speculative. The vast majority of investors in South Korea, the largest Ethereum exchange market, do not have sufficient knowledge of the purpose, structure, technical intricacies and philosophy of the Ethereum network. Most investors can’t seem to differentiate Ethereum from Bitcoin when the two Blockchain networks fundamentally oppose each other in many ways.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2szBcVZ
Bitcoin Only Needs to Survive, Security is Priority: Prominent VC Investor
Naval Ravikant, a prominent venture capital investor and the CEO of AngelList, explains all Bitcoin has to do to become a premium store of value is to survive.
“All Bitcoin has to do to become the premier store of value is...survive,” said Ravikant.
Since its launch in 2009, Bitcoin’s two greatest features and characteristics have been its decentralized nature and security. Although Bitcoin is not as flexible as other Blockchain networks such as Ethereum, as a store of value and settlement network, it prioritizes security.
Over the past two years, the rise of Ethereum has led to the emergence of various Blockchain projects and networks. With a unique vision and strategy, Blockchain projects such as Ripple, NEM and Ethereum Classic have gained massive popularity among cryptocurrency traders and investors, earning multi-billion dollar valuations.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2szv9k8
Consortium Launched to Prevent Criminal Uses of Cryptocurrencies
In reaction to the infamous WannaCry ransomware attack on May 12, the European Commission announced the launch of a project dubbed “TITANIUM.” The word stands for “Tools for the Investigation of Transactions in Underground Markets.”
TITANIUM is a consortium of public organizations and national agencies of seven European countries which will work hand in hand with Interpol.
The project’s main goal is to develop tools to explore Blockchains in order to identify threats and illegal uses of cryptocurrencies, as well as to mitigate international terrorism and spot money-laundering initiatives.
The AIT Austrian Institute of Technology states that the project will “curtail criminals and attackers from using blockchain technology to avoid law detection, while at the same time respecting the privacy rights of legitimate users.”
Full story at http://bit.ly/2syVuz2
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