Cryptocurrency News for 4 Sep 2017

 

Bitcoin Will Hit $5 Trln Market Cap: Aaron Lasher

 

Digital currency wallet Breadwallet co-founder and chief marketing officer (CMO), Aaron Lasher, has projected that the leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin will reach a market capitalization (cap) of up to $5 trln in the next 10 years as of early September 2017, according to Market Watch.

However, he claimed that the digital currency can experience some setbacks along the way.

In an interview, Lasher claimed that the current exemplary performance of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies could be followed by a very brutal bear market.

“As a longtime Bitcoin holder, I’m greatly enjoying the recent price action, even though I understand that this bull market will likely be followed by a pretty brutal bear market. Are cryptos in a bubble? Yes, absolutely. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily.”

Full story at http://bit.ly/2wAQhWO

Source: CoinTelegraph

 

Bitcoin Prices Retreat From All-Time High

 

Bitcoin prices retreated today, approaching $4,500 after surpassing $5,000 for the first time ever.

The price of Bitcoin fell to as little as $4,529.37 today, close to 10% below the all-time high of $5,013.91, data provided by CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) reveals.

At the time of report, the cryptocurrency had bounced back slightly, trading at $4,662.30, additional BPI figures show.

[Ed note: Investing in cryptocoins or tokens is highly speculative and the market is largely unregulated. Anyone considering it should be prepared to lose their entire investment.]

Full story at http://bit.ly/2wANs8b

Source: Forbes

 

China Halts 60 ICOs As Companies Cancel Sales Awaiting Legislation

 

ICOs are delaying or cancelling sales in China as regulators warn of impending legislative moves to formalize - or ban - the market.

Documents seen by Cointelegraph show up to 60 planned token distributions will now remain on the drawing board, as operators await regulatory responses.

According to local news outlet Caixin, several government commissions have “studied” ICOs over the previous month, the most recent of which has heightened rhetoric, suggesting a full ban was “not impossible.”

"90 percent of ICO projects are suspected of illegal fund-raising and intentional fraud,” a source told the publication.

The prospect of a heavy-handed response from Chinese authorities has appeared to make markets nervous. Bitcoin’s price has fallen around $600 since Saturday, and the majority of altcoin markets have repeated the trend.

Full story at http://bit.ly/2wArPoq

Source: CoinTelegraph

 

Two Big Tests For Bitcoin

 

Bitcoin, the digital currency that has turned into the new “gold” among investors and traders around the world, is in for two big tests. The first test is simple, and involves Bitcoin’s price chart. The digital currency must overcome the barrier of the $5000-mark, which it already crossed last night before pulling back towards the $4800-mark. Milestone numbers are important for traders following price and volume charts, as they confirm/reject market momentum.

The second test is more complicated. It involves the actions of big governments that have been following with great unease the rising in popularity of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that threaten to abolish their monopoly in creating money and collecting seigniorage income.

Back at the end of July, the SEC ruled that cryptocurrency “IPOs” or Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) are investments, and therefore, should be subject to the same rules as regular stocks.

That ruling sent all major cryptocurrencies sharply lower, before rebounding towards new highs.

Full story at http://bit.ly/2wAd1GD

Source: Forbes

 

Russia May Ban Bitcoin Mining In Residential Homes Over Electricity Costs, Heating

 

Russia is considering a ban on Bitcoin mining in private homes, despite electricity companies holding talks on giving miners spare capacity.

According to Russia Today and local news outlet RIA Novosti, the governmental Informational Democracy Fund will recommend banning participation in mining pools from private addresses at an upcoming meeting of a working group on Internet growth.

“Anything [mining-related] that continues inside the country is a waste of electricity,” RIA quotesthe Fund’s president Ilya Massukh as saying.

“It’s somewhat doubtful in terms of efficiency for the Russian economy.”

Full story at http://bit.ly/2wAAozw

Source: CoinTelegraph

 

As Crypto Market Sheds Billions, One Analyst Sees Buying Opportunity

 

The total value of all cryptocurrencies has dropped 11 percent since Saturday, declining from a high of nearly $180 billion to under $160 billion today. 

But that might not be cause for alarm, according to one bullish analyst. 

In fact, Ronnie Moas, the founder of Standpoint Research (known for his prediction that the cryptocurrency asset class will one day be valued in the trillions), contends that the price break is rather the work of larger traders who want to build up even bigger positions in cryptocurrency.

"When people panic and start selling, they are going to come in quietly and start buying again. So it's buying 50,000 then dumping 20,000, for example," he said, adding:

"They are trying to shake people out of the trade – so that they can get their hands on more bitcoin at lower prices."

Full story at http://bit.ly/2wB4MtS

Source: CoinDesk

 

 

 

Donation:
If you appreciate the things I share, consider making a contribution
no matter how small via PayPal or with TransferWise (EUR).
If you use Bitcoin you can send donations to my Bitcoin Wallet:
12pAsyMdZoTHPvkiRAZiuQhC8bF4DLbYpQ

 

 

Cryptocurrency News for 3 Sep 2017

 

Bitcoin Drops Below $5,000 as Crypto Markets See $13 Billion Sell-Off

 

It's the biggest sell-off since mid-July.

At press time, the total value of all publicly traded cryptocurrencies was $166 billion, a figure that was down more than 7 percent from a high of nearly $180 billion last night.

That's when bitcoin, surging on technical improvements and growing investor optimism, topped $5,000 on the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index for the first time.

The decline was similar to what was observed on bitcoin, with average global prices declining from a high of $5,013.91 to a low of $4,619.97, a more than $250 decline.

Full story at http://bit.ly/2wxIclP

Source: CoinDesk

 

Why Investors Dump After ICOs

 

A lot of once-promising ICOs get dumped at some point. Some go on to recover relatively quickly, while others wallow at the bottom longer than anticipated. This can cause investors to decide to save what they can of their initial investment.

One of the top reasons why people sell is simply the need for cash. Many issues crop up in people’s daily lives to warrant an immediate need for cash, and sometimes this leaves them with no choice but to sell part of their investment.

It could also be that one deems another investment opportunity more promising and decides to liquidate parts of the original investment for another. Sometimes the project simply isn’t living up to expectations. It may be that the project team has not been following their outlined roadmap or not taking other basic steps that could excite investors. Such steps include not communicating enough, not seeking to or getting listed on big exchanges, and so on. Being patient is a virtue that many in the crypto world lack.

Price manipulation could also come into play, especially by the use of trading bots which are used by some traders. Investors who own significant quantities of a token are known as whalesand may be able to control the price or manipulate it to their advantage.

Full story at http://bit.ly/2wxHcyc

Source: CoinTelegraph

 

Bitcoin QA: Scaling, trust, and trade-offs

 

Bitcoin scaling, on-chain vs. off-chain. Trustless second layer technologies. Lightning Network. Requiring a super-majority to make changes to the protocol, while others make trade-offs toward centralisation. Store-of-value. Different leagues of scaling and governance.

Full story at http://bit.ly/2vAI9IL

Source: https://steemit.com

 

Bubble? Think Stocks and Real Estate, Not Bitcoin

 

The rapid increase in the price of cryptocurrencies in 2017 has led to most people fearing the formation of a bubble and its impending explosion. What people need to fear are the bubbles in equity markets and real estate, not cryptocurrencies.

The genesis of All Time Highs in multiple asset classes can be traced to the 2008 financial crisis.

Post the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the ensuing financial mayhem, central banks around the world resorted to quantitative easing - a euphemism for the unrestricted printing of fiat. It was rationalized saying that the wheels of the financial system of the world had become stuck and needed to be "greased" to get them moving again.

"This easy money policy of Central Banks propped up asset prices, preventing people who had investments from seeing their financial worth getting wiped out".

Full story at http://bit.ly/2wyI31s

Source: CoinTelegraph

 

How to make upwards of $1,000 a month by mining cryptocurrency

 

In essence, cryptocurrencies are decentralized digital currencies that can be sent to anyone through the internet. They aren’t affiliated with any particular country so there’s no central bank that verifies these transactions. Instead, cryptocurrency miners use special software that creates a public record of each transaction and gives the miner a payment in return.

If you know what you’re doing, you can make a lot of money mining this digital currency. But how does it work and what’s the best way to do it? You can learn all of this from the Beginner’s Guide to Cryptocurrency Mining.

This course gives you access to 13 lectures so you can hit the ground running and make real money fast. You’ll learn a mining system that has low startup costs and requires no affiliate marketing or graphics card. You’ll also learn all the technical details about blockchains, general ledgers, hashes, and nonces that make up each successful transaction. 

Full story at http://on.mash.to/2wy4Gmv

Source: Mashable

 

Bitcoin By 2020

 

By now, many Bitcoin enthusiasts are trying to work out a realistic projection for Bitcoin over the next few years.

From analyst Ronnie Moas who sees a $15,000-$20,000 value by late 2020 to independent views that point at $1 mln per Bitcoin, some of these predictions seem outrageous and outright impossible.

Following the activation of the SegWit protocol and early testing of the Lightning Network that SegWit enables, the Bitcoin market has been gradually edging to a capitalization of almost $80 billion. Bitcoin’s market capitalization is now about 50% of the entire crypto market and has now exceeded 1% of gold’s estimated $7 tln market cap. Bitcoin is nearly half of Visa’s $200 bln cap.

Bitcoin’s daily transaction numbers have been growing steadily. According to Coinmarketcap, Bitcoin’s daily trading volume is about 400,000 BTC per day while only 1728 new Bitcoins are created through mining each day.

Full story at http://bit.ly/2wxHcOI

Source: CoinTelegraph

 

 

 

Donation:
If you appreciate the things I share, consider making a contribution
no matter how small via PayPal or with TransferWise (EUR).
If you use Bitcoin you can send donations to my Bitcoin Wallet:
12pAsyMdZoTHPvkiRAZiuQhC8bF4DLbYpQ

 

 

Cryptocurrency News for 2 Sep 2017

 

Bitcoin Price Soars to $5,000 Followed By Substantial Sell Off

 

Bitcoin just crossed the $5,000 mark in trading today, fulfilling the expectations and predictionsof a number of industry insiders. The rise was fueled by recent news regarding geopolitical instability and the search for a safe haven other than gold. Investors have been removing fundsfrom other stock indices as well as precious metals, and shifting them into cryptocurrencies, driving prices higher.

However, the peak price point was immediately followed by a substantial sell-off, as some large-scale traders sold large blocks in quick succession.  

Prices stabilized near the $4,700 mark after dropping as much as $400. The sell off may well be linked to some substantial BTC holders selling large blocks. The pullback is to be expected, as many sell orders likely had $5,000 as a price point, with investors and individuals taking profits at the high point.

The advice to ‘buy the dips’ has been much touted, and this may well be just such an example.

Full story at http://bit.ly/2vA9H0N

Source: CoinTelegraph

 

Literally just one huge chart showing bitcoin’s incredible rise to $4,800

 

Eight days.

That’s how long it took bitcoin BTCUSD, -5.34% back in April 2013, to rise from $100 for a single bitcoin to $200.

Fast forward four years and the cryptocurrency has reached an all-time high of $4,890.40 and has been scaling $100 milestones in a matter of hours on a routine basis. On Tuesday morning, the price of a single bitcoin was around $4,400; by Tuesday afternoon it had shot up to briefly top $4,700 for the first time. Friday, it scaled above $4,800 and has $4,900 in its sights.

While these milestones have become lesser and lesser accomplishments as bitcoin has continued to blaze along its upward path — bitcoin would now only need to rise 2.1% to go from $4,800 to $4,900, compared with 100% when it doubled to $200 — it is also indicative of just how astonishingly fast the digital currency has been rising this year. So fast we were barely able to fit all the milestones onto this whopper of a chart.

Full story at http://on.mktw.net/2vzMOut

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com

 

What Can Crypto Exchanges Learn From Traditional Banking?

 

The cryptocurrency world is unashamedly anti-bank. The centralized, profiteering and often fraudulent banking world is the very antithesis of what the cryptosphere is all about.

While this wholesale rejection of centralized structures may have merit, the reality is that legacy banking models have created spaces where users feel safe and transactions are generally smooth and rapid, with consistency in expected outcome. Your grandma probably won’t ever buy Bitcoin because it’s entirely unfamiliar territory.

Crypto exchanges, on the other hand, are gaining notoriety for wildly varying fee structures, financial limitations, and confusing and unhelpful reporting.  The technical aspects of cryptocurrencies make transfers safe, but also slow and tedious.

Full story at http://bit.ly/2vzhhZL

Source: CoinTelegraph

 

An Inside Look at Kim Dotcom’s Upcoming Bitcache and K.im Platform

 

Kim Dotcom has been teasing his fans and bitcoiners about his new Bitcache application for quite some time, while also fighting an extradition to the U.S. Bitcache works with the K.im platform and allows anyone to upload documents, code, videos, and music files so they can get paid in bitcoin for their work. Users just upload their content to a broad range of storage services and social platforms, and they get an embedding code for their websites, and the content can also be shared on Facebook, Twitter, via email, and Google. When the file is uploaded to a distribution site payment is required to download the content, and the creator gets paid in bitcoin.

We got early access invite to test K.im, as the application is currently in demo form. After getting a special link to the website, I was greeted by a page that lets you create a Bitcache wallet. Bitcache provides you with a private key, wallet ID, and a password and this is where bitcoin is sent when users download content. After I created my wallet, I decided to upload my “How to Solve the Rubik’s 3X3” document using the K.im platform.

While my Rubik’s 3X3 document was uploading, I selected a price to charge people who could later download my instruction manual. I set the price at five cents, and the value was converted into bits, and my upload was then complete. Next, I was directed to a page where users can customize how customers will see how the video, file, or document will look. You can add a title, introduction, description, cover image, and choose the content’s category.

Full story at http://bit.ly/2vzRQqG

Source: Bitcoin News

 

Cryptocurrency Market Cap Can Exceed $200 Bln by the End of 2017

 

10 years ago the cryptocurrency market did not exist, Bitcoin had yet to emerge from the mysterious brain of Satoshi Nakamoto, and Ethereum’s founder had just turned 13 years old.

In other words, the crypto market barely existed. Perhaps it was a glint in the eye of Bitcoin’s unknown inventor, but no one else had ever heard of “Blockchain technology”.

The means of creating a decentralized world were completely detached from reality. And yet, the crypto market cap is worth approximately $164.3 bln today.

It is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the fastest explosions of wealth in human history.

Full story at http://bit.ly/2wv1YhM

Source: CoinTelegraph

 

Creator of World's First Bitcoin Fuel Pump Plans Lightning Support

 

The creator of the first ever commercial fuel pump to accept bitcoin has revealed a plan to add Lightning Network functionality to his design.

The original machine, designed and built by Andy Schroder in 2014, allows users to scan a QR code and send bitcoin instead of more traditional means of payment. Schroder now wants to adapt his design to incorporate the Lightning's off-chain payments, he announced on the Lightning-dev mailing list yesterday.

However, Schroder pointed out some issues he has with Lightning – which he hopes will provide "real-time micropayments" – including that its invoice protocol BOLT 11 does not appear to accommodate refunds. Refunds are a necessity for the bitcoin fuel dispenser, because it runs on a fixed prepayment, and immediately returns any unused credit at the end of sale, he said.

Schroder is currently using bitcoin improvement protocol (BIP) 70, a user-friendly payment protocol that creates a receipt for the customer, as well as automatically providing a refund address to the seller.

Full story at http://bit.ly/2vA1jyv

Source: CoinDesk

 

 

 

Donation:
If you appreciate the things I share, consider making a contribution
no matter how small via PayPal or with TransferWise (EUR).
If you use Bitcoin you can send donations to my Bitcoin Wallet:
12pAsyMdZoTHPvkiRAZiuQhC8bF4DLbYpQ

 

 

Cryptocurrency News for 1 Sep 2017

 

Moscow Stock Exchange Plans Trading of Cryptocurrencies

 

The Moscow Stock Exchange plans soon to begin the trading of digital currencies. The exchange will also list derivatives and exchange-traded funds (ETF) based on different cryptocurrencies. The exchange is currently creating an infrastructure to trade Bitcoin and other virtual currencies as of August 2017. The move comes after Russia seemingly banned ‘ordinary people’ from buying cryptocurrency.

Based on a report by Russian state-owned news agency Tass, the exchange has claimed that a platform for the post-trading of cryptocurrency assets is already in the works.

Part of the exchange’s statement reads:

“We are already working on creating an infrastructure for such [cryptocurrency] trades, in particular, a platform for post-trading services for crypto assets.”

Full story at http://bit.ly/2gl6nvY

Source: CoinTelegraph

 

Bitcoin Is Becoming a Popular Investment for Middle-Class Americans

 

Bitcoin has grown very popular in the U.S. and data shows the region is consistently one of the top three countries leading in bitcoin trade volume. According to a recent study from the Cambridge University Business School’s Centre for Alternative Finance, the U.S. is the fourth leading country utilizing bitcoin for payments and as a form of cross-border money transmission. Further, the country has the third largest number of exchanges worldwide, and USD is one of the most widely supported currencies across a majority of global exchanges. This popularity has spread to American ‘mom and pop’ investors spending a few bucks on cryptocurrency investments that are turning out to be extremely lucrative.    

The vast amount of infrastructure in the U.S. and this year’s exponential BTC price spike, has led to middle-class Americans learning how to invest in cryptocurrencies. NBC interviewed a school bus driver, Ryan Williams, who used some of his bitcoin holdings to purchase a new pool for his kids. During the hot summer Williams thought he couldn’t afford a pool, but suddenly remembered he had a stash of bitcoin that gained quite a bit of value. Williams purchased the pool at Wal Mart using his Bitpay card, and now his mother and other family members are investing in bitcoin too.

Another 39-year-old ironworker from New Jersey, Greg Salerno, said he put $1,600 into bitcoin a while back, and now his stash is worth $20,000. Salerno tells the publication that he’s also started to talk about cryptocurrency investments to co-workers. “It’s like being in Apple at 10 cents,” Salerno tells NBC.

"In five to ten years you could be sitting on something nice."

Full story at http://bit.ly/2wrR9gp

Source: Bitcoin News

 

Gold Losing Safe Haven Status Due to Cryptocurrencies, Monetary Policy

 

Gold prices jumped 1% on Tuesday morning, fueled by geopolitical and market concerns, with the latest North Korean missile launch being the immediate catalyst.

However, according to Bloomberg, the jump in gold prices is a ‘too little too late’ response to the general state of geopolitics and market uncertainties. The precious metal appears to be losing its ‘safe haven’ status. Traditional models should have gold prices well above what they are now, and there are two things to blame for gold’s relatively poor performance.

Part of the reason gold hasn’t performed as well as expected is because investors are shifting their funds to digital currencies. Currencies such as Bitcoin have held their value quite well during recent crises, such as Venezuela’s hyperinflation.

Unconventional monetary policies by central banks has also eroded a bit of gold’s value. The unwinding of central bank balance sheets which must eventually happen is leaving investors nervous. Some of them are seeking a safe haven in Bitcoin.

Full story at http://bit.ly/2gl5HXC

Source: CoinTelegraph

 

Central Banks Can’t Ignore the Cryptocurrency Boom

 

The boom in cryptocurrencies and their underlying technology is becoming too big for central banks, long the guardian of official money, to ignore.

Until recently, officials at major central banks were happy to watch as pioneers in the field progressed by trial and error, safe in the knowledge that it was dwarfed by roughly $5 trillion circulating daily in conventional currency markets. But now as officials turn an eye toward the increasingly pervasive technology, the risk is that they’re reacting too late to both the pitfalls and the opportunities presented by digital coinage.

"Central banks cannot afford to treat cyber currencies as toys to play with in a sand box," said Andrew Sheng, chief adviser to the China Banking Regulatory Commission and Distinguished Fellow of the Asia Global Institute, University of Hong Kong. "It is time to realize that they are the real barbarians at the gate."

Bitcoin -- the largest and best-known digital currency -- and its peers pose a threat to the established money system by effectively circumventing it. Money as we know it depends on the authority of the state for credibility, with central banks typically managing its price and/or quantity. Cryptocurrencies skirt all that and instead rely on their supposedly unhackable technology to guarantee value.

Full story at https://bloom.bg/2wsFoGE

Source: Bloomberg

 

Tips for Investors: How to Protect Yourselves Against Possible Fraud Schemes

 

Today the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rolled out an investor alert which advises investors to be careful of trading in the stock of public companies claiming to be related to or asserting they are engaging in, Initial Coin Offerings (or ICOs).

This is the latest twist in the ICO saga where the earlier alerts were more focused on addressing the token sale offerings made by startups or non-public companies.

With this increased focus from the regulators, we may very well see much more detailed oversight of these potential offerings and maturing of the market to ensure that quality projects with high-quality development teams are funded using this new investment mechanism.

It remains to be seen though as to how the future steps are planned by the regulators to ensure that all these offerings continue to abide by the laws of the land and investor community does not suffer.

Full story at http://bit.ly/2glemcz

Source: CoinTelegraph

 

Why Big Investors Are Betting Real Money on a Kik Cryptocurrency

 

If there were any doubts about whether Kik would be able to attract investors to its initial coin offering (ICO), it's safe to say they have been put to rest.

In an announcement yesterday, the mobile messaging app provider revealed it has already raised $50 million from investors to launch its new "kin" token, and that it intends to raise a further $75 million in a public token distribution to be held in September.

It's a landmark for the nascent industry, one that finds a mainstream brand with millions of users backing a nascent funding mechanism that has been equally praised and parodied.

And while critics of ICOs, and Kik's particular plan, will remain, investors believe the kin token will boost the value of the company, and they're putting millions of dollars up to back the idea.

Full story at http://bit.ly/2wrRekd

Source: CoinDesk

 

 

 

Donation:
If you appreciate the things I share, consider making a contribution
no matter how small via PayPal or with TransferWise (EUR).
If you use Bitcoin you can send donations to my Bitcoin Wallet:
12pAsyMdZoTHPvkiRAZiuQhC8bF4DLbYpQ